Climbing the mountains—It is bitterly cold—Delan—The
soldiers—Kargan—A bridge over the Euphrates—Mohallata—Our
Padishah is poor now—The Captain of the Zaptiehs—He wishes
to be married—Promotion wanted—The Erzingan track meets the
Trebizond road—Bashi Bazouks—The Kara Su—Zaptiehs—Erzeroum—The
fortifications of Erzeroum—Ismail Pacha's residence—A pacific
speech made by Lord Derby—A decoration sent by the Tzar to the
Armenian Bishop of Erzeroum—An Armenian demonstration—Caravan
trade—_Timbaki_—Duties increased—The price of Timbaki—The
Kurds—Russian agents—A massacre of the Christians to be
brought about by Russian agents.
It was bitterly cold as we gradually climbed the mountains which lie
between Erzingan and Erzeroum, and after a nine hours' march we halted
for the night at a little village called Delan. There were only twelve
mud hovels. The three hundred Kurds stowed themselves away as best they
could. I was fortunate enough to obtain a resting-place in a stable. My
horses were packed together as closely as possible on one side of the
building. There was just room for my followers and myself on the other.
The inhabitants of this little hamlet were Kurds, and the people did
their best to make the newly-arrived soldiers comfortable. The latter
were all fed at the expense of the villagers; each inhabitant giving as
much bread as he could spare towards the rations of his countrymen. So
far as I could learn, none of the soldiers had any money with them, and
it was a five days' march to Erzeroum. But they evidently had solved the
problem of how to get on without money; a week later I saw them arrive
at their destination, and, with the exception of a few men laid up with
frost-bite, they were not much the worse for their journey.
It was very slippery as we descended the slope which leads from Delan.
We drove our horses before us; the little animals tacking from side to
side, like ships beating against the wind, and putting their feet down
with the greatest caution, so as to make sure of the ground before them.
We then had to lead the animals up the mountains, Radford having great
difficulty in wading through the snow, owing to his state of debility.
Fortunately we soon arrived at a place where it was possible to ride.
Here another path branched off to the village of Kargan, but continuing
by our old track we shortly came to a fine stone bridge, called the
Kutta Kupri. It is about seventy-five yards wide, and spans the river
Euphrates.
We passed through a series of natural basins, each of them two or three
miles in diameter, and after an eight hours' tiring march put up for the
night in the village of Mohallata. It contains about 100 houses, and a
small barracks, with quarters for a squadron of Zaptiehs.
A battalion of redifs had also halted here. The men had marched from
Erzingan without having had anything to eat since they left that
town—the soldiers had gone more than thirty hours without food. There
were no grumblers in the ranks.
One of the sergeants appeared rather an intelligent fellow; I spoke to
him about the matter.
"We came to a village," he said; "there was nothing to eat, and so we
went without our dinners."
"Did the men make any remarks?"
"No, Effendi, they knew that the people would have given them food if
they had any to spare. When we beat the Russians, go to St. Petersburg
and conquer all their country for our Padishah," said the sergeant, "we
shall have many paras, there will be plenty to eat. But our Padishah is
poor now," continued the man sorrowfully, "he cannot give us any pay,
there is no money in Stamboul."
The captain of the Zaptiehs accompanied me in my walk through the
barracks. This officer was anxious to obtain his promotion.
"I am forty years of age," he remarked, "and a captain's pay is very
little. It is not enough for me to keep a wife. I want to be married,
but before that event can take place I must be a major. Shall you see
the Pacha at Erzeroum?" he added.
"Yes."
"Will you speak to him for me, and recommend me for promotion?"
"How can I? I do not belong to your army, and am only here as a
traveller."
"But you are an Englishman!" exclaimed the Zaptieh excitedly. "That
is quite sufficient. The Pacha would know that no Englishman would
recommend any one without a reason. I should be promoted!"
"My good sir," I observed, "I have only seen you for a few minutes; how
could I solicit your promotion on the ground of your merits?"
The captain was not to be rebuffed.
"I will write down my name," he said, "and then you will speak to the
Pacha."
Taking a dirty piece of paper from his pocket, he scribbled something
and handed it to me.
Forward again for twelve more hours, our horses slipping up, or varying
the performance by falling into snow-drifts, and we came to a spot where
the Erzingan track meets the Trebizond and Erzeroum road. Here most
of the snow had been cleared away. There was but little to impede our
progress. Large caravans of several hundreds of horses and mules were
bringing cartridges from Trebizond; bands of Bashi Bazouks were with
them and on the march to Kars.
We rode along the left bank of the Kara Su (Black Water), the name
given to the Euphrates in this district, and presently were met by some
Zaptiehs. Their leader, advancing a few steps, said that he had been
ordered by the Pacha to meet me, and escort my party into the town.
Erzeroum lies at one end of a large plain. It is surrounded on the
north, south, and east sides by hills. A few detached forts had
been thrown up on these heights. The town itself is encircled by an
intrenchment of loose earth—this defence was in no place more than three
quarters of a mile from the city.
I rode to Ismail Pacha's residence. It is a large building in the middle
of the town, and is also used as an office by the military Pacha.
Ismail, the civil governor, is a Kurd by birth. Some of his female
relatives have made influential marriages: this, added to the talents
which the Pacha possesses, has raised him to his present high position.
He did not think that war would take place between Turkey and Russia. A
pacific speech made by Lord Derby had been telegraphed from London to
Erzeroum. It was the opinion of many of the townspeople that the Tzar
did not mean to break the peace.
"It will be much better for us if we fight now," said the Pacha, when
he gave me the above-mentioned information. "If war is postponed, Russia
will continue her intrigues[3] amidst our Christian population."
A few months previous the Tzar had sent a decoration to the Armenian
Bishop of Erzeroum. The order had been forwarded through the Russian
Consul. The latter, instead of asking Ismail to give the decoration to
the Bishop, had ignored the Pacha altogether, and had not even invited
him to the ceremony.
This had been converted into an Armenian demonstration. The relations
between the Mohammedans and Christians were not so friendly as could be
desired.
Erzeroum is the principal depôt for the caravan trade which is carried
on by the merchants in Teheran and their _confrères_ in Constantinople.
_Timbaki_, the tobacco used in nargilehs, is exported from Persia to
this part of Asia Minor. Of late, the Turkish authorities have increased
the duty on timbaki from eight to seventy-six per cent. This has been
done in consequence of many Turks liking the Persian plant better than
that which is grown in their own country. The price of ordinary timbaki
was formerly only twenty-five piastres an oke at Constantinople, whilst
Turkish tobacco of the same quality costs as much as sixty-one.
Ismail Pacha was doubtful whether in the event of war he would be able
to keep the Kurds quiet in the neighbourhood of Erzeroum. Russian agents
had been busily engaged for some time past in attempting to suborn these
mountaineers. Money had been lavished upon their chiefs. Anxiety was
expressed as to which side they would take.
"The Russians are nearly as poor as we are," continued the Pacha, "but
they have enough money left for the purpose of intrigue. If the war
breaks out, it is not at all improbable that they will bring about a
massacre of Christians in Asia Minor. Some of the Kurds would obey any
order they might receive from St. Petersburg. It would go very hard with
us in the court of European public opinion, if any fresh rebellions had
to be suppressed by strong measures on our part."