CHAPTER XVI.A victim to the famine—Daili—A conversation with some Turkomans—The massacre of the Teke Turkomans by the Russians—Women violated—Little boys and girls abused and murdered—The Muscovite is a beast—Should not you like to cut the throats of all the Russians?—What is the best way to get rid of a wasp's nest?—A war of extermination—Yuzgat—A cavalcade of horsemen—Mr. Vankovitch—The telegram—Our reception—Old friends of the Crimea—Some visitors—Things have altered for the better—The Christians at Yuzgat—Armenians and Turks dine together—Mr. Vankovitch's experiences—The Polish insurrection—General Muravieff—Brutality to the women at Vilna.On the track once more; and now we came to a large stone, in the middle of the path. This marked the resting-place of a victim to the recent famine. The poor fellow had fallen down from exhaustion, and had died on this spot. It was too much trouble for the survivors to move his corpse, they had made a hole and buried him where he lay.My grey horse, which Osman was riding, still went very lame; so I limited our march to six hours, and stopped at the little village of Daili. Here there were only fifteen houses. Many camels and herds of cattle were grazing in the neighbourhood, and the ground appeared to have been cultivated for a considerable distance. On this occasion the fortune of travellers gave us better quarters. The house in which we were lodged was clean. A raised dais of wood was set apart for the servants. Mattresses with cushions were reserved for the proprietor and his guests.There were some Turkomans in the village, and when the news was spread that an Englishman had arrived, several of them came to see me."We are so glad to see an Englishman," said an old man, the spokesman for their party.Osman now interrupted him."Effendi, they want to tell you that they hate the Muscovites, and that they hope England will not allow the Tzar's soldiers to massacre them like they (the Russians) massacred the Teke Turkomans.""Were many women and children belonging to the Teke Turkomans killed by the Russians?"The old man shook his head."Many! many!" he replied. "The women were violated by the soldiers. The little boys and girls were abused and then murdered. The men took pleasure in these awful crimes. The Muscovite is a beast! He is worse than a hyena; the hyena sucks the blood of his victim, but the Russian satisfies his lust first, and then tears to pieces the object of his pleasure.""We hear," he continued, "you have as Padishah, a lady. What does she think of this way of treating the Turkoman's little ones?"[13]"And what do you think yourself?" he added. "Should not you like to cut the throats of all the Russians?"This was rather a strong way of dealing with the question. However, if I had been a Turkoman, and my own sisters had been treated by the Russians in the way the Turkoman women have been, I should have looked upon the matter from a Turkoman point of view."They are not all equally guilty," I replied."Equally guilty! Yes they are. From the Tzar upon his throne to the soldiers who do his bidding they are a nation of assassins! What isthe best way to get rid of a wasp's nest?" he now inquired."Smoke it, and destroy the young ones," I replied."Well, that," said the Turkoman, "is what we must do with the Russians. We must kill them all. And Allah will be with us; for He knows who began the butchery.""Have many men gone from this village to the army?" I asked."Every able-bodied man is serving, and we are now, all of us, going to the front; greybeards as well as boys. We feel that it is a war of extermination. If we do not defend our homesteads, woe betide us!"On leaving Daili the track was firm and good for the first three hours; it then became very precipitous, and led down steep declivities, and over a succession of boulders. At last we came to a large circular plain; it was surrounded by hills; on one side of this vast natural basin, and on a slope, lay Yuzgat.As we were nearing the walls a cavalcade of horsemen appeared in sight. One of them advancing saluted us by touching his fez, and then addressed me in excellent French. He was a Pole, Vankovitch by name, and was employed as chief engineer in the district. He had receiveda telegram from the Italian doctor, M. Gasparini, of Angora, to say that I was on the road, and had ridden out with some Armenian gentlemen to welcome us to the town.An Armenian now asked me to take up my quarters in his house. I had been lodged beneath a Turkish roof at Angora, and was curious to see the difference between the Christian and Mussulman mode of living. I gladly accepted the offer.Many more horsemen, Turks and Armenians, joined us ere we entered the city. I now learnt that my kind friend, the Bey at Angora, had telegraphed to some of his acquaintances, asking them to do what they could to make my stay at Yuzgat pleasant.The news of the approach of an Englishman had already been spread through the town. The inhabitants had all turned out to have a look at the stranger."An Englishman in Yuzgat is indeed a surprise for the inhabitants," said a young Turk who was riding by my side. "I do not believe that one of your nation has been here for the last twenty years. We Turks are not ungrateful," he continued, with a smile. "We have not forgotten our old friends of the Crimea, and what you did for us then.""Please God you will do as much now!" said another horseman. "Anyhow your arrival has created an immense excitement; there was not so great a crowd to see the Pasha of Angora, when he paid us a visit.""Sir," observed Radford, who, surprised at the tremendous ovation I was receiving from the crowd, had gradually sidled up to my horse, "this reminds me of our riding after Don Carlos in Spain. Only in Spain, all the people came to look at Don Carlos, and here they have come to look at us. Just, sir, for all the world as if we were a Lord Mayor with his men in harmour riding in state by the Horse Guards. There have been a lot of dirty Turks kissing Osman already, so pleased they seem to see him; and two or three men were slobbering over my boots as we rode up the hill!"We entered a courtyard: dismounting, I ascended some steps which led to my host's house. The room placed at my disposal was furnished in a similar fashion to the one which I had inhabited in Angora. Several servants hastened to pull off my riding-boots, and the proprietor said that some Armenians were waiting outside, they wished to speak to me. "Would I see them?""By all means," I replied; "show them in."Several men entered; they were dressed in various costumes, the dressing-gown pattern being evidently a favourite amidst the inhabitants of Yuzgat. The visitors ranged themselves against the wall in order, according to their social positions, and then salaamed me. On my returning the salute, the gentlemen squatted down upon the floor, and the salaaming ceremony was repeated."They have come to ask whether you will honour them by inspecting the Armenian school," said my host, who, of higher rank than the visitors, had not squatted down on the floor, but was seated with his legs tucked under him on the divan."We are all Christians," said an old, and very dirty Armenian, who looked as if water and he had long been strangers to each other."It is a pleasure to see a Christian," he added. "It does me good.""We are all delighted!" said the rest of the company. Whereupon we salaamed again."How do you like the Turks?" I now inquired."They get on very well together," observed the Pole, who had accompanied me home, "and the law is carried out very fairly for all classes. I will giveyou an instance. The chief of the telegraphs in Yuzgat is an Armenian. One day he saw a few Turkish boys teazing some Armenian children, and calling them giaours. He beat the Turkish children. Some Turks, coming up, took the part of the Mohammedan lads, and struck the telegraph-man. The latter complained to the authorities; the Turks who had beaten him were at once imprisoned.""Twenty years ago this would not have happened," said another of the visitors; "but here things have altered for the better.""However, at Sivas," he continued, "you will find that the Christians are horribly ill-treated by their Pacha. The prison is full of Christians. There is no sort of justice in that city. The Pacha takes away Christian little boys and girls from their parents, and shuts them up in his seraglio.""Is this true?" I inquired of Mr. Vankovitch."They say so. But you must remember that you are in the East," was the Pole's reply."Personally," he added, "I make a rule to believe nothing except what I see myself. You are going to Sivas?""Yes.""Well, you will be able to judge for yourself.At all events, the Christians in this town are not oppressed in any way. You see Armenians and Turks dining together at the same table, and so far as justice is concerned, the Christians obtain quite as much of it as the Mohammedans."The Armenians, who by this time had finished their coffee, now left the room; and Mr. Vankovitch remaining behind, began to tell me of his experiences in Asia Minor, and of the cause which had induced him to leave his own country.He had been educated in the Military College at St. Petersburg, and had passed his examination for the engineers just before the Polish insurrection. He had joined the rebels, and taking command of a large band which had assembled near Vilna, had fought against the Russians for more than two years. General Muravieff, known to history by his brutality to the women of Vilna, published four proclamations offering rewards for Vankovitch's head. Fortune favoured the young Pole, who was able to escape his foes. When the rebellion was suppressed, he succeeded in reaching Odessa, and made his way on board a Greek ship bound for Constantinople. After being two days at sea, the vessel, owing to bad weather, was obliged to put back into harbour. The captainthen said, that as some Russian officers would be certain to come on board, it would be better for Vankovitch to remain concealed in a friend's house, until the ship could sail. He took the advice; but left all his clothes and other effects in the cabin.The vessel started that night; he did not receive any warning, and the captain, carrying off his luggage, robbed him of everything he had in the world. The Polish committee in Odessa raised a little money for their brother in misfortune: after paying for his passage in another steamer, he arrived at Constantinople with barely five pounds in his pocket. This was soon spent, and then in order to earn his bread, he obtained employment as a road-maker. The engineer who superintended the work discovered that the navvy knew as much about road-making as he did himself. He promoted him to be assistant-engineer.Vankovitch complained that he was unable to write to his father, a gentleman who resided near Vilna. The engineer had sent two or three letters; but on each occasion the envelopes were opened by the Russian police, and the parent had been heavily fined, simply because Vankovitch had dared to write to him.
A victim to the famine—Daili—A conversation with some Turkomans—The massacre of the Teke Turkomans by the Russians—Women violated—Little boys and girls abused and murdered—The Muscovite is a beast—Should not you like to cut the throats of all the Russians?—What is the best way to get rid of a wasp's nest?—A war of extermination—Yuzgat—A cavalcade of horsemen—Mr. Vankovitch—The telegram—Our reception—Old friends of the Crimea—Some visitors—Things have altered for the better—The Christians at Yuzgat—Armenians and Turks dine together—Mr. Vankovitch's experiences—The Polish insurrection—General Muravieff—Brutality to the women at Vilna.
On the track once more; and now we came to a large stone, in the middle of the path. This marked the resting-place of a victim to the recent famine. The poor fellow had fallen down from exhaustion, and had died on this spot. It was too much trouble for the survivors to move his corpse, they had made a hole and buried him where he lay.
My grey horse, which Osman was riding, still went very lame; so I limited our march to six hours, and stopped at the little village of Daili. Here there were only fifteen houses. Many camels and herds of cattle were grazing in the neighbourhood, and the ground appeared to have been cultivated for a considerable distance. On this occasion the fortune of travellers gave us better quarters. The house in which we were lodged was clean. A raised dais of wood was set apart for the servants. Mattresses with cushions were reserved for the proprietor and his guests.
There were some Turkomans in the village, and when the news was spread that an Englishman had arrived, several of them came to see me.
"We are so glad to see an Englishman," said an old man, the spokesman for their party.
Osman now interrupted him.
"Effendi, they want to tell you that they hate the Muscovites, and that they hope England will not allow the Tzar's soldiers to massacre them like they (the Russians) massacred the Teke Turkomans."
"Were many women and children belonging to the Teke Turkomans killed by the Russians?"
The old man shook his head.
"Many! many!" he replied. "The women were violated by the soldiers. The little boys and girls were abused and then murdered. The men took pleasure in these awful crimes. The Muscovite is a beast! He is worse than a hyena; the hyena sucks the blood of his victim, but the Russian satisfies his lust first, and then tears to pieces the object of his pleasure."
"We hear," he continued, "you have as Padishah, a lady. What does she think of this way of treating the Turkoman's little ones?"[13]
"And what do you think yourself?" he added. "Should not you like to cut the throats of all the Russians?"
This was rather a strong way of dealing with the question. However, if I had been a Turkoman, and my own sisters had been treated by the Russians in the way the Turkoman women have been, I should have looked upon the matter from a Turkoman point of view.
"They are not all equally guilty," I replied.
"Equally guilty! Yes they are. From the Tzar upon his throne to the soldiers who do his bidding they are a nation of assassins! What isthe best way to get rid of a wasp's nest?" he now inquired.
"Smoke it, and destroy the young ones," I replied.
"Well, that," said the Turkoman, "is what we must do with the Russians. We must kill them all. And Allah will be with us; for He knows who began the butchery."
"Have many men gone from this village to the army?" I asked.
"Every able-bodied man is serving, and we are now, all of us, going to the front; greybeards as well as boys. We feel that it is a war of extermination. If we do not defend our homesteads, woe betide us!"
On leaving Daili the track was firm and good for the first three hours; it then became very precipitous, and led down steep declivities, and over a succession of boulders. At last we came to a large circular plain; it was surrounded by hills; on one side of this vast natural basin, and on a slope, lay Yuzgat.
As we were nearing the walls a cavalcade of horsemen appeared in sight. One of them advancing saluted us by touching his fez, and then addressed me in excellent French. He was a Pole, Vankovitch by name, and was employed as chief engineer in the district. He had receiveda telegram from the Italian doctor, M. Gasparini, of Angora, to say that I was on the road, and had ridden out with some Armenian gentlemen to welcome us to the town.
An Armenian now asked me to take up my quarters in his house. I had been lodged beneath a Turkish roof at Angora, and was curious to see the difference between the Christian and Mussulman mode of living. I gladly accepted the offer.
Many more horsemen, Turks and Armenians, joined us ere we entered the city. I now learnt that my kind friend, the Bey at Angora, had telegraphed to some of his acquaintances, asking them to do what they could to make my stay at Yuzgat pleasant.
The news of the approach of an Englishman had already been spread through the town. The inhabitants had all turned out to have a look at the stranger.
"An Englishman in Yuzgat is indeed a surprise for the inhabitants," said a young Turk who was riding by my side. "I do not believe that one of your nation has been here for the last twenty years. We Turks are not ungrateful," he continued, with a smile. "We have not forgotten our old friends of the Crimea, and what you did for us then."
"Please God you will do as much now!" said another horseman. "Anyhow your arrival has created an immense excitement; there was not so great a crowd to see the Pasha of Angora, when he paid us a visit."
"Sir," observed Radford, who, surprised at the tremendous ovation I was receiving from the crowd, had gradually sidled up to my horse, "this reminds me of our riding after Don Carlos in Spain. Only in Spain, all the people came to look at Don Carlos, and here they have come to look at us. Just, sir, for all the world as if we were a Lord Mayor with his men in harmour riding in state by the Horse Guards. There have been a lot of dirty Turks kissing Osman already, so pleased they seem to see him; and two or three men were slobbering over my boots as we rode up the hill!"
We entered a courtyard: dismounting, I ascended some steps which led to my host's house. The room placed at my disposal was furnished in a similar fashion to the one which I had inhabited in Angora. Several servants hastened to pull off my riding-boots, and the proprietor said that some Armenians were waiting outside, they wished to speak to me. "Would I see them?"
"By all means," I replied; "show them in."
Several men entered; they were dressed in various costumes, the dressing-gown pattern being evidently a favourite amidst the inhabitants of Yuzgat. The visitors ranged themselves against the wall in order, according to their social positions, and then salaamed me. On my returning the salute, the gentlemen squatted down upon the floor, and the salaaming ceremony was repeated.
"They have come to ask whether you will honour them by inspecting the Armenian school," said my host, who, of higher rank than the visitors, had not squatted down on the floor, but was seated with his legs tucked under him on the divan.
"We are all Christians," said an old, and very dirty Armenian, who looked as if water and he had long been strangers to each other.
"It is a pleasure to see a Christian," he added. "It does me good."
"We are all delighted!" said the rest of the company. Whereupon we salaamed again.
"How do you like the Turks?" I now inquired.
"They get on very well together," observed the Pole, who had accompanied me home, "and the law is carried out very fairly for all classes. I will giveyou an instance. The chief of the telegraphs in Yuzgat is an Armenian. One day he saw a few Turkish boys teazing some Armenian children, and calling them giaours. He beat the Turkish children. Some Turks, coming up, took the part of the Mohammedan lads, and struck the telegraph-man. The latter complained to the authorities; the Turks who had beaten him were at once imprisoned."
"Twenty years ago this would not have happened," said another of the visitors; "but here things have altered for the better."
"However, at Sivas," he continued, "you will find that the Christians are horribly ill-treated by their Pacha. The prison is full of Christians. There is no sort of justice in that city. The Pacha takes away Christian little boys and girls from their parents, and shuts them up in his seraglio."
"Is this true?" I inquired of Mr. Vankovitch.
"They say so. But you must remember that you are in the East," was the Pole's reply.
"Personally," he added, "I make a rule to believe nothing except what I see myself. You are going to Sivas?"
"Yes."
"Well, you will be able to judge for yourself.At all events, the Christians in this town are not oppressed in any way. You see Armenians and Turks dining together at the same table, and so far as justice is concerned, the Christians obtain quite as much of it as the Mohammedans."
The Armenians, who by this time had finished their coffee, now left the room; and Mr. Vankovitch remaining behind, began to tell me of his experiences in Asia Minor, and of the cause which had induced him to leave his own country.
He had been educated in the Military College at St. Petersburg, and had passed his examination for the engineers just before the Polish insurrection. He had joined the rebels, and taking command of a large band which had assembled near Vilna, had fought against the Russians for more than two years. General Muravieff, known to history by his brutality to the women of Vilna, published four proclamations offering rewards for Vankovitch's head. Fortune favoured the young Pole, who was able to escape his foes. When the rebellion was suppressed, he succeeded in reaching Odessa, and made his way on board a Greek ship bound for Constantinople. After being two days at sea, the vessel, owing to bad weather, was obliged to put back into harbour. The captainthen said, that as some Russian officers would be certain to come on board, it would be better for Vankovitch to remain concealed in a friend's house, until the ship could sail. He took the advice; but left all his clothes and other effects in the cabin.
The vessel started that night; he did not receive any warning, and the captain, carrying off his luggage, robbed him of everything he had in the world. The Polish committee in Odessa raised a little money for their brother in misfortune: after paying for his passage in another steamer, he arrived at Constantinople with barely five pounds in his pocket. This was soon spent, and then in order to earn his bread, he obtained employment as a road-maker. The engineer who superintended the work discovered that the navvy knew as much about road-making as he did himself. He promoted him to be assistant-engineer.
Vankovitch complained that he was unable to write to his father, a gentleman who resided near Vilna. The engineer had sent two or three letters; but on each occasion the envelopes were opened by the Russian police, and the parent had been heavily fined, simply because Vankovitch had dared to write to him.