The weather—The number of troops in the town—Wood is very
dear—Tezek—The shape of the town—Trade with Persia—Ismail
Pacha's head servant—Have the Russians arrived? No, Effendi,
but the Pacha has hanged himself! that is all—The Pacha's
wives—He was gay and handsome—The Consul's dragoman—An
attack of dysentery—Starting for Van—Major-General
Macintosh—His opinion about the Kurds—The Bazaar at Van—Fezzee
Pacha—Kiepert's map—Erzeroum is very weak—Fezzee Pacha's
opinion about the impending war—The curious Caves.
It was bitterly cold at Erzeroum. The thermometer had fallen below
zero. The half-clad recruits could be seen running up and down in front
of their barracks endeavouring to keep themselves warm. There were at
that time about 12,000 troops in the town. The number was continually
changing, every week fresh battalions of redifs arrived from the
interior, and then the older soldiers were marched off in the direction
of Bayazid, Kars, or Ardahan.
Wood was dear in the market. The inhabitants had to trust to their
tezek, the dried excrement of cows, bulls, and oxen. The town is in the
form of a pentagon. Its appearance from afar off has been compared by
a traveller to a ship of enormous size, raised by the waves and thrown
into a neglected bay. The mainmast is an old tower which stands out
conspicuously amidst the mud-built houses.
Formerly there used to be a great trade between this town and Persia.
All the caravans going from the latter country to Trebizond pass through
Erzeroum, and halt a few days to dispose of some merchandise. Of late
years, a great deal of the Persian trade has found its way _viâ_ Khoi
and Erivan to Tiflis. The caravans between Persia and Erzeroum are not
so numerous as they were some eighteen years ago. Two per cent. duty is
charged upon all merchandise going from Erzeroum to Persia, and eight
per cent. upon imported goods. Any article manufactured in Erzeroum, and
sent out of the town without being marked with the Government stamp, as
a sign that it has paid the duty, is liable to be confiscated.
The following morning I was awoke by Ismail Pacha's head servant. It was
bitterly cold. He proceeded to make a little fire in the stove. From
time to time he looked at me in an excited manner, then he would blow
the fire. There was evidently something on his mind.
"What is it?" I inquired. "Have the Russians arrived?"
"No, Effendi, but the Pacha has hanged himself! that is all!"
"Not Ismail Pacha?" I exclaimed, at once thinking of my hospitable old
host.
"No, Effendi, not Ismail, but a military Pacha—a young man, only forty.
Woe is me! He has hanged himself; our Pacha has gone to his house, with
all the other Pachas. The body is quite cold; if the Effendi were to go
there, perhaps he might bring it to life again."
"I am not a Hakim," I said.
"Yes, Effendi, you are. Mohammed has told me that you have some
medicine."
"Nonsense! But what made the Pacha hang himself?"
"Effendi, no one knows for certain. It may have been owing to his wives;
some people say that he had lost all his money by lending it to the
Sultan. Allah only knows! I should say his wives had something to do
with it."
"Why so?"
"Because he was gay and handsome. His wives were jealous. They were
always scolding him—that is, whenever he went to his harem. If he had
not been a military Pacha, he might have abandoned his seraglio, but
he could not leave Erzeroum; the wives knew it, they had him in their
power. He was such a nice gentleman!"
Later in the day I met the Consul's dragoman. He was of opinion that
the Pacha had not committed suicide, but that some one in his house had
saved him the trouble. This was the impression of many people in the
town.
"Any how," continued my informant, "no one will be the wiser. The poor
fellow is in the ground; coroners' inquests, or any sort of judicial
inquiry as to the causes of death, are unknown in this part of the
world."
Radford was still looking ill. I wished to leave Erzeroum. It was
necessary for me to make up my mind as to what was to be done with him.
It is a six days' march from Erzeroum to Trebizond: once there he might
have gone on board a vessel bound to Constantinople. But on my proposing
this plan, the poor fellow so entreated to be allowed to continue the
journey, that rather reluctantly I consented.
When long forced marches have to be made through deep snow, an invalid
is a source of great inconvenience. In addition to this, I was anything
but well myself; a sudden chill had left me with an attack of dysentery.
The food supplied us by the Pacha at Erzeroum consisted of very rich
dishes. It was not the best thing for the digestive organs.
I was eager to commence the journey to Van; however, if both man and
master were to fall ill on the march, it would be next to impossible
to reach that city. When I announced to Ismail Pacha my intention of
starting for Van, he did his best to dissuade me from the undertaking.
"It is a fourteen days' march," he observed. "You will be in a country
infested by Kurds, many of whom are in Russia's pay.[14] The Russian
Consul in Erzeroum is aware that you are here, he also knows that
his Government looks upon you as an enemy—this I have heard from the
interpreter. Should the Kurds kill you, your countrymen would very
likely throw the blame on us. Take my advice," said Ismail Pacha; "do
not go to Van. There is nothing to be seen in that town. Go straight to
Kars, you will then meet with no Kurds on the road."
But I had made up my mind to see Van, and the more particularly because
I had been informed by many of my Armenian acquaintances that the bazaar
there had been recently set on fire by some Turkish troops, and that
the Christians had been robbed of all their effects by the Mussulman
soldiers. The bazaar was represented to me as having been of gigantic
dimensions. The Armenian merchants in Van were said to have been reduced
from a state of affluence to one of abject poverty.
I was anxious to ascertain for myself how far this story was true; and
as it is perfectly impossible to trust to any evidence in the east,
save to that of your own eyes, I had determined to visit the seat of
the conflagration.
Another Pacha called upon me, Fezzee Pacha (General Kohlmann), the
chief of the staff in Erzeroum. He was a Hungarian gentleman, and had
formerly been engaged as one of the leaders in a revolution in his own
country. At that time he had been ordered to blow up the bridge over
the river at Buda-Pesth, but had not done so. Shortly afterwards he
entered the army of the Sultan. He showed me one of Kiepert's maps of
Asia Minor, dated 1856, but with numerous corrections, which had been
made subsequently by European officers in the Turkish service. The Pacha
had enlarged this map by photography, he had then distributed facsimiles
of it to the officers under his command. He was a fine-looking old man,
nearer seventy than sixty, but upright as a lad of sixteen, and with a
pleasant, frank smile which did one's heart good to witness.
The Turks, as a rule, are not in the habit of smiling; indeed, Radford
often used to expatiate on the extreme melancholy which prevailed
throughout all the Mohammedan classes; his favourite remark being "that
they looked as if they had found a sixpence and lost half-a-crown."
General Kohlmann was an exception to this rule. He had adopted the
Mohammedan religion, but this had not taken away from him a keen sense
of the ridiculous. I have seldom found myself in pleasanter company than
that of the chief of the staff in Erzeroum. He had been in Kars during
the last siege, and was personally acquainted with Sir Fenwick Williams,
Colonel Teesdale, and several other Englishmen; besides having a great
deal to say about the gallantry and skill which had been shown by the
British officers during the investment of the fortress.
"Shall you remain much longer in the Turkish army?" I inquired.
"I am waiting here in hopes that there will be a war with our enemies
the Russians," said the old general, "and, if we can only beat them,
shall then return to Constantinople, and take my pension."
In the Pacha's opinion, Erzeroum was very weak and could not stand a
siege. He did not apprehend any danger from an attack along the Van
road, as there is a very strong position near Meleskert, and one which
the Russians would not be able to take without enormous loss. He did not
believe that the Tzar's troops were so strong[15] in the Caucasus as was
generally supposed. If the general could have had his way, he would at
once have commenced the war by an attack in that direction.
Later in the day, I heard from an Armenian that there were some curious
caves in the neighbourhood of Erzeroum, and which no one had ever
explored. They were said to extend for miles, and to pass under the
different detached forts. My informant declared that a priest who had
been in them for a short distance had said that they contained gigantic
halls, and seemingly never-ending passages.
I now asked the Pacha if I might undertake the exploration of the
cavern. It would be interesting from a military point of view to know
where the passage ended. Should there be a war, an attempt might be made
by Russian agents to blow up the batteries with gunpowder.
Ismail Pacha readily gave his consent, and at the same time ordered an
officer of engineers to take some men with lanterns and pick-axes to
aid me in the task. The English Consul, Mr. Zohrab, and his two sons,
expressed a wish to join the party. It was arranged that we should meet
the following morning at the consulate, and go from there to the caves.