Hasta Khan—The Kurds—Their summer depredations—Our Sultan
ought to be Padishah in his own dominions—The English
Consul—A story about the Kurds—The Delsin—Arresting the
major—The major's dinner with the chief—Acknowledge
the Padishah—A sore back—The mule which is offered
in exchange—The pack-saddle—The Euphrates—Coal in the
neighbourhood—Kemach—The Caimacan—Djerrid—A National Guard—A
miniature Gibraltar—Turkoman horses—Numerous wells—One of the
faithful.
On we went, fortunately not down any more glaciers, and, after being
upset about twenty times in the snow-drifts, reached Hasta Khan. This
was a house built on the road-side for travellers. It was kept by an old
Turk. According to him, the Kurds in the neighbourhood were engaged all
the summer in robbing their neighbours, and were hardly ever brought to
justice.
"They take our cattle," said the man, "and they bribe the police. There
is no sort of order here. What we want is our Sultan to be Padishah in
his own dominions."
I subsequently heard from the English Consul at Erzeroum a story which
rather corroborated the Turk's account of the Kurds.
It appeared that in the Delsin, not far from Erzingan, a major
commanding a battalion of infantry received orders to apprehend a
Kurdish chief. Somehow or other the Kurd heard of this. One day, taking
with him about five thousand followers, he managed to surround the place
where the troops were encamped. Riding up to the commander's tent, he
accosted the officer—who was much surprised at the unexpected presence
of the culprit—with the words,—
"Peace be with you! I have come to dine here this evening."
It was a very disagreeable position for the major, but what could he do?
His battalion had been taken unawares; it was surrounded by the Kurd's
followers, and all of them were armed men. He put on the best face he
could about the matter, and gave his guest an excellent dinner. The
following morning the Kurd said to him,—
"I dined very well last night, and slept comfortably. I have accepted
your hospitality, and now you must accept mine. I am going to take you
to dine with me. Nay, I am!" he continued, to the officer, who appeared
a little indignant at the proposal, "and every man under your command
as well. They shall all dine and sleep in my encampment this evening."
"It was a disagreeable position for the major," observed the Consul at
Erzeroum, when he related the story to me. "He was ordered to arrest
the Kurd, and now the Kurd was about to arrest him! However, resistance
was useless. His battalion was surrounded by Kurds, who, at a sign from
their chief, would have massacred every Turk on the spot. The only thing
for the officer to do was to accept the invitation. The Kurd, when the
soldiers arrived at his mountain home, commanded his servants to make
preparation for a feast. Several hundred sheep were killed, to be cooked
for the occasion, and the stream on the hill-side ran red with the blood
of the slaughtered animals."
After dinner the major tried very hard to persuade the Kurd to recognize
the Sultan as his lord.
"You need only nominally acknowledge our Padishah," remarked the
officer; "you have 30,000 sheep; give 1500 piastres (10_l._) a year to
the Sultan. You have 10,000 retainers; give him 10 to serve in his army.
I can arrange the rest. You are a very rich man, but this need not be
known at Constantinople."
"I have never given any one of my children to serve another master,"
replied the chieftain, proudly. "Your Padishah is Sultan at Stamboul,
but I am Sultan here!"
The following morning, the Kurd allowed the battalion to return to their
quarters, and presented the major with an Arab charger as a memento of
his visit.
"All the circumstances were reported to the military authorities at
Erzeroum," added the Consul when he related the story, "and the officer
was afterwards promoted."
Shortly before leaving Hasta Khan, Mohammed came to me with a smile
on his countenance. I at once thought that something disagreeable had
happened. The Turk seldom indulged in a smile. Radford, too, in spite
of his illness, seemed rather more cheerful than usual. I began to be
a little alarmed.
"What is the matter?" I inquired.
"_At_—the horse!" said Mohammed.
"Yes, sir," said Radford, who had accompanied him, and had acquired the
habit of sometimes interlarding his English with a few words of Turkish;
"the At has a hawful sore back, and all the 'air is off it."
"Which horse?"
"The old pack-horse, the roarer."
Mohammed shook his head mournfully.
"We had better sell him," he said. "One of the Zaptiehs has a mule; he
is not a big mule, but he is a nice animal, sleek and comely, besides
being strong. The man says that if the Effendi will give him five liras
and the horse which makes a noise, that we may have his mule."
The animal in question was a brute which the gendarme rode, and which
was always trying to run away. I had previously gathered from the fellow
that his mule had escaped three times whilst he was being saddled.
However, the gendarme had forgotten that he had told me of this, and in
all probability had offered Mohammed a share of the five liras, should
I be fool enough to accept the proposal.
"Let me see the pack-saddle!" I exclaimed.
On looking at it I found that by cutting out a considerable portion of
the lining, it would be possible to prevent any weight pressing upon
the horse's sore place.
"He can carry his pack," I remarked to Mohammed.
"If I cut the saddle he can," replied my servant; "but it will cost
twenty piastres to mend it again."
"Yes," I observed, "and it will cost five liras to exchange the horse,
besides which we should have a worse animal than at present."
"The Effendi knows best," said the Zaptieh, with a grin.
"He knows," said Mohammed.
"Shall I have a little backsheesh?" remarked the gendarme, rather
alarmed lest his endeavour to deceive me might have done away with his
chance of a present.
"Inshallah!" I replied; and, this matter being arranged, we continued
our march across the mountains.
Presently we had to descend almost to the bed of the Euphrates. Here
there were traces of copper ore. A little farther on we came to a place
where what seemed to be iron ore was lying strewn along the mountain
side; I was informed by the guide that a few miles to the east there is
a substance in the earth which the villagers use as fuel. According to
my informant it is hard and black, and gives a bright flame; so in all
probability coal is also to be met with in these regions.
As we approached Kemach, the Euphrates became narrower; in many places
it was not more than thirty yards wide. The stream was very rapid. Any
man, no matter how good a swimmer he might be, would have a poor chance
for his life if he were to fall into the torrent. Here and there large
rocks and loose stones, which have been washed down from the mountain
sides, block up the channel; they check the waters for a second. The
river bubbles and roars; it lashes furiously against the boulders, and,
leaping over them, rushes headlong with a fall of at least four thousand
feet to the ocean.
The Caimacan of Kemach and a few of his friends were engaged in playing
at Djerrid near the outskirts of the town. It was a lovely scene. The
sun was setting on the snow-capped mountains; the river ran at my feet;
bright-coloured vegetation and many-tinted rocks looked down upon us
from either hand; cascades and waterfalls dashed over the rugged crags;
whilst the Caimacan and his party, who were immensely excited with their
game, shouted "Allah! Allah!" as they rode at each other and hurled the
wooden missile.
The governor stopped playing when he saw our party, and, riding up,
asked the Zaptieh who I was. He then introduced himself and the company
to me. They had been busily engaged in learning drill all the morning.
An order had been received from Constantinople for the Caimacan to form
a National Guard. Every able-bodied man in the district had at once
enrolled himself as a volunteer. On entering Kemach I was struck by a
high rock, which might have been a miniature Gibraltar, and which stands
immediately behind the town. The rock was about 500 feet in height, and
a ruined citadel on the summit towers above the Euphrates and the town.
The Caimacan and his friends were well mounted, their horses being of
a very different stamp to those which I had seen during my march from
Constantinople. They were most of them fifteen hands high, and one or
two over sixteen. On inquiry, I found that they were Turkoman horses.
I also learnt that most of the animals in the district had been bought
by Government agents for the use of the army at Erzeroum.
A large proportion of the houses in Kemach are constructed of dried
mud. Numerous wells, with high cross-bars and long iron chains for
the buckets, were to be seen along our path. One of the faithful, on a
tower above our heads, was calling the Mohammedans to prayer. His loud
but melancholy strains were being listened to with great attention by
Mohammed and my English servant. It appeared that Mohammed, through
some strange inadvertence, had omitted praying at mid-day. Radford was
a little alarmed lest the Turk might make up for his shortcoming by an
extra-long prayer that evening, which would have kept him from attending
to the horses.