CHAPTER XXIII.No signs of Khoi—At last we arrive—The Turkish Consul—Russian intrigues—Persian soldiers have attacked a Turkish village—Kashka Beulah—A Turkish Usebashe and seven men brought prisoners to Khoi—The Ambassador at Teheran—Retaliation—The exchange of prisoners—The origin of the disturbance—The Shah's uncle—Russian agents in Teheran—Kurdish girls make the best wives—They do not care about fine clothes—How to make use of your mother-in-law—The women in your country—A fortune on dress—My last wife cost ten liras—Persian women—The Persians are very cruel—Odd customs—The fortifications of Khoi—Soldiers gambling.Village after village were left behind us, still there were no signs of Khoi. We had been told that it was only an eight hours' march from Melhamee, two more sped by ere the walls of the city were in sight. Soon afterwards we rode through a narrow gate which gives access to the town, and presently pulled up at a house belonging to the Turkish Consul, who is the only diplomatic agent to be found in this city. He hadbeen educated in Constantinople, and spoke a little French. For the last two years he had been established in Khoi, and he greatly bewailed his thus being cut off from all European society.I now learnt that Russian intrigues had been the means of very nearly creating a war between Persia and Turkey. There is a Turkish border-hamlet, called Kashka Beulah, about nine miles from Khoi. Some Persian soldiers had recently attacked this village, and had robbed the inhabitants of everything they possessed.Whilst the Persians were engaged in their work of pillage, some Turkish soldiers, under a Usebashe, arrived from an adjacent guard-house. But the Persians were more numerous. They captured the captain and seven of his men, and brought them prisoners to Khoi. A Turkish lieutenant in the guard-house heard of the fate of his Usebashe, and arrested two Persian merchants who happened to be in the neighbourhood. He sent them as prisoners to Van. The Consul, on hearing of this, telegraphed to his Ambassador at Teheran, for instructions how to act. The latter official sent back an answer that the Persian merchants were to be immediately released. The Consul then wrote to the governor at Van, informinghim of the order he had received. The governor, however, declared that he could not comply with it without authority from Constantinople. After several weeks' delay, during which time the Turkish captain and his men had been kept in chains in the prison at Khoi, and had been treated like the commonest of malefactors, orders came from Teheran and Constantinople for the mutual exchange of prisoners.A day was fixed. At the appointed time the Turkish Consul, with the prisoners and three hundred Persian soldiers, started for the frontier. Here he was met by the Persian Consul from Van. The latter was accompanied by the Persian captives and by an escort of Turks. The troops then retired to a short distance. The Consuls remained alone with their prisoners. The exchange was effected."What was the origin of the disturbance?" I inquired of the Consul."That is exactly what I wished to discover," replied that official. "I went to the governor of Khoi, who, by the way, is the Shah's uncle, and asked him why his regular troops had first of all attacked our village. The reply was, 'My orders came from some one of higher rank than I am.' Later on, it turned out thatRussian agents at Teheran were the origin of the affair.""I am very dull here," now remarked the Consul. "My wife died six months ago. I have not been able to find any one to replace her.""Why do you not take a Kurdish girl?" observed the Usebashe. "They make the best of wives," he continued; "if their husbands have money they do not ask for any, if the husbands have no money the wives never bother their heads about the matter. In addition to this, they do not care about fine clothes. A long piece of calico and a pair of slippers content each one of them as well as all the silks and satins in the bazaar at Erzeroum.""My late wife was a Kurd," replied the Consul sorrowfully. "She cost me very little."A servant entered the room and lit the speaker's pipe."This man is my father-in-law," he added. "My mother-in-law cooks for me downstairs. When I married their daughter I wanted some servants; my wife proposed that we should engage her father and mother. I did so, and have found them hard-working people. When my poor wife died, I allowed them to remain with me. When I marry again, my new lady will probablywish her own relations to come here: I shall be obliged to get rid of my present servants.""It is a very economical way of providing for a wife's relatives," I observed."Yes," said the Consul, laughing. "You could not make use of your mother-in-law as a cook in either Constantinople or London. Besides that, the women in your country cost their husbands a fortune in dress.""Yes," I replied, "some of the women's dresses cost from 50 to 60 liras a piece, and, after having been worn once or twice, they are thrown away or given to the servants.""Allah!" said the Usebashe, "50 or 60 liras! Only think of it!""The Inglis speaks the truth," said the Consul. "I have heard of this before, when I was at Constantinople. My last wife cost 10 liras," he continued; "I could buy five or six wives for the same price as a great English lady gives for her dress!""Why do you not marry a Persian woman?" I now remarked. "By all account they are very pretty, and you would have an opportunity of learning the language"—the Consul having previously bewailed to me his ignorance of that tongue."Marry a Persian, indeed!" interrupted the Usebashe. "The Persians will not give their daughters in marriage to us Turks. They are very selfish," he added. "We make no objections to our daughters marrying Persians. But the latter are most particular about this subject.""You are both Mohammedan nations," I remarked."Yes, we are," said the Consul; "and the Armenians and yourselves are both Christian nations, but your forms of Christianity are very different. There is as much difference between a Persian and a Turk as between an Armenian and yourself.""The Persians are very cruel," observed the Usebashe. "If a man commits a crime, and is detected, the authorities are not satisfied by taking the culprit's life, but often torture him first—sometimes by taking out his eyes, and at others by mutilation."The inhabitants do very odd things," said the Consul. "For instance, a short time ago there was an official in this town who was extremely unpopular. He died, and you would have thought that the matter was over; but no, six months after the man's decease, some of the townspeople went to the cemetery, exhumed the body, and hacked it to pieces. This was done byway of revenging themselves upon the official. There was a robbery in the bazaar," continued the speaker. "A man was taken up on suspicion of being implicated in the theft; he swore that he was innocent, but accused another man. The latter had nothing whatever to do with the robbery, but was unpopular in the town. Some people belonging to the bazaar went to the governor, and said to him, 'The man last arrested is the thief; you must order the executioner to cut his throat.' The governor was weak enough to consent, the innocent person was put to death. Soon afterwards the governor repented of what he had done. However, he was in need of money at the time, he determined to turn his repentance to some account. He ordered fifty of the richest people amongst those who had pressed him to execute the innocent man, to be imprisoned, and he kept them in gaol until such time as they had paid him a large sum of money."I now walked round the fortifications of the town. They consist of a wall about thirty-five feet high, built of clay, with a brick foundation, and a dry ditch, which can be filled with water if necessary. There were sixteen old cannon on the ramparts. The Kurds and the inhabitants think that the place is impregnable. A battery of nine-pounderswould be quite sufficient to destroy the fortifications, which are much out of repair. Any properly equipped force ought to take the city, which contains 7000 houses, in about half an hour.The soldiers in the different guard-houses ran outside the buildings. They presented arms to the Consul as he walked with me through the streets. Presently we came to a place where two sentries had been posted. The men had put their flint muskets on the ground, and were engaged in gambling with each other—small balls of dried clay, something like marbles, taking the place of dice.
No signs of Khoi—At last we arrive—The Turkish Consul—Russian intrigues—Persian soldiers have attacked a Turkish village—Kashka Beulah—A Turkish Usebashe and seven men brought prisoners to Khoi—The Ambassador at Teheran—Retaliation—The exchange of prisoners—The origin of the disturbance—The Shah's uncle—Russian agents in Teheran—Kurdish girls make the best wives—They do not care about fine clothes—How to make use of your mother-in-law—The women in your country—A fortune on dress—My last wife cost ten liras—Persian women—The Persians are very cruel—Odd customs—The fortifications of Khoi—Soldiers gambling.
Village after village were left behind us, still there were no signs of Khoi. We had been told that it was only an eight hours' march from Melhamee, two more sped by ere the walls of the city were in sight. Soon afterwards we rode through a narrow gate which gives access to the town, and presently pulled up at a house belonging to the Turkish Consul, who is the only diplomatic agent to be found in this city. He hadbeen educated in Constantinople, and spoke a little French. For the last two years he had been established in Khoi, and he greatly bewailed his thus being cut off from all European society.
I now learnt that Russian intrigues had been the means of very nearly creating a war between Persia and Turkey. There is a Turkish border-hamlet, called Kashka Beulah, about nine miles from Khoi. Some Persian soldiers had recently attacked this village, and had robbed the inhabitants of everything they possessed.
Whilst the Persians were engaged in their work of pillage, some Turkish soldiers, under a Usebashe, arrived from an adjacent guard-house. But the Persians were more numerous. They captured the captain and seven of his men, and brought them prisoners to Khoi. A Turkish lieutenant in the guard-house heard of the fate of his Usebashe, and arrested two Persian merchants who happened to be in the neighbourhood. He sent them as prisoners to Van. The Consul, on hearing of this, telegraphed to his Ambassador at Teheran, for instructions how to act. The latter official sent back an answer that the Persian merchants were to be immediately released. The Consul then wrote to the governor at Van, informinghim of the order he had received. The governor, however, declared that he could not comply with it without authority from Constantinople. After several weeks' delay, during which time the Turkish captain and his men had been kept in chains in the prison at Khoi, and had been treated like the commonest of malefactors, orders came from Teheran and Constantinople for the mutual exchange of prisoners.
A day was fixed. At the appointed time the Turkish Consul, with the prisoners and three hundred Persian soldiers, started for the frontier. Here he was met by the Persian Consul from Van. The latter was accompanied by the Persian captives and by an escort of Turks. The troops then retired to a short distance. The Consuls remained alone with their prisoners. The exchange was effected.
"What was the origin of the disturbance?" I inquired of the Consul.
"That is exactly what I wished to discover," replied that official. "I went to the governor of Khoi, who, by the way, is the Shah's uncle, and asked him why his regular troops had first of all attacked our village. The reply was, 'My orders came from some one of higher rank than I am.' Later on, it turned out thatRussian agents at Teheran were the origin of the affair."
"I am very dull here," now remarked the Consul. "My wife died six months ago. I have not been able to find any one to replace her."
"Why do you not take a Kurdish girl?" observed the Usebashe. "They make the best of wives," he continued; "if their husbands have money they do not ask for any, if the husbands have no money the wives never bother their heads about the matter. In addition to this, they do not care about fine clothes. A long piece of calico and a pair of slippers content each one of them as well as all the silks and satins in the bazaar at Erzeroum."
"My late wife was a Kurd," replied the Consul sorrowfully. "She cost me very little."
A servant entered the room and lit the speaker's pipe.
"This man is my father-in-law," he added. "My mother-in-law cooks for me downstairs. When I married their daughter I wanted some servants; my wife proposed that we should engage her father and mother. I did so, and have found them hard-working people. When my poor wife died, I allowed them to remain with me. When I marry again, my new lady will probablywish her own relations to come here: I shall be obliged to get rid of my present servants."
"It is a very economical way of providing for a wife's relatives," I observed.
"Yes," said the Consul, laughing. "You could not make use of your mother-in-law as a cook in either Constantinople or London. Besides that, the women in your country cost their husbands a fortune in dress."
"Yes," I replied, "some of the women's dresses cost from 50 to 60 liras a piece, and, after having been worn once or twice, they are thrown away or given to the servants."
"Allah!" said the Usebashe, "50 or 60 liras! Only think of it!"
"The Inglis speaks the truth," said the Consul. "I have heard of this before, when I was at Constantinople. My last wife cost 10 liras," he continued; "I could buy five or six wives for the same price as a great English lady gives for her dress!"
"Why do you not marry a Persian woman?" I now remarked. "By all account they are very pretty, and you would have an opportunity of learning the language"—the Consul having previously bewailed to me his ignorance of that tongue.
"Marry a Persian, indeed!" interrupted the Usebashe. "The Persians will not give their daughters in marriage to us Turks. They are very selfish," he added. "We make no objections to our daughters marrying Persians. But the latter are most particular about this subject."
"You are both Mohammedan nations," I remarked.
"Yes, we are," said the Consul; "and the Armenians and yourselves are both Christian nations, but your forms of Christianity are very different. There is as much difference between a Persian and a Turk as between an Armenian and yourself."
"The Persians are very cruel," observed the Usebashe. "If a man commits a crime, and is detected, the authorities are not satisfied by taking the culprit's life, but often torture him first—sometimes by taking out his eyes, and at others by mutilation.
"The inhabitants do very odd things," said the Consul. "For instance, a short time ago there was an official in this town who was extremely unpopular. He died, and you would have thought that the matter was over; but no, six months after the man's decease, some of the townspeople went to the cemetery, exhumed the body, and hacked it to pieces. This was done byway of revenging themselves upon the official. There was a robbery in the bazaar," continued the speaker. "A man was taken up on suspicion of being implicated in the theft; he swore that he was innocent, but accused another man. The latter had nothing whatever to do with the robbery, but was unpopular in the town. Some people belonging to the bazaar went to the governor, and said to him, 'The man last arrested is the thief; you must order the executioner to cut his throat.' The governor was weak enough to consent, the innocent person was put to death. Soon afterwards the governor repented of what he had done. However, he was in need of money at the time, he determined to turn his repentance to some account. He ordered fifty of the richest people amongst those who had pressed him to execute the innocent man, to be imprisoned, and he kept them in gaol until such time as they had paid him a large sum of money."
I now walked round the fortifications of the town. They consist of a wall about thirty-five feet high, built of clay, with a brick foundation, and a dry ditch, which can be filled with water if necessary. There were sixteen old cannon on the ramparts. The Kurds and the inhabitants think that the place is impregnable. A battery of nine-pounderswould be quite sufficient to destroy the fortifications, which are much out of repair. Any properly equipped force ought to take the city, which contains 7000 houses, in about half an hour.
The soldiers in the different guard-houses ran outside the buildings. They presented arms to the Consul as he walked with me through the streets. Presently we came to a place where two sentries had been posted. The men had put their flint muskets on the ground, and were engaged in gambling with each other—small balls of dried clay, something like marbles, taking the place of dice.