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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5136.txt b/5136.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6db4a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/5136.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17523 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Around the World on a Bicycle V1, by Thomas Stevens + +(#1 in our series by Thomas Stevens) + + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Around the World on a Bicycle V1 + + + +Author: Thomas Stevens + + + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5136] + +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] + +[This file was first posted on May 12, 2002] + + + +Edition: 10 + + + +Language: English + + + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, AROUND THE WORLD ON A BICYCLE V1 *** + + + + + + + + + +Around the World on a Bicycle + Volume I. +From San Francisco to Teheran + +By Thomas Stevens + +Ray Schumacher +gutenberg@rjs.org +http://rjs.org + + +Scanner's Notes: +This was scanned from an original edition, copyright 1887, +547 pages. It is as close as I could come in ASCII to the printed text. +Scanning time: 15 hours +OCR time: 20+ hours +Proof #1: 25 hours +Proof #2: ? (A slow reading by a friend) + +The numerous italics have been unfortunately omitted, and the +conjoined '‘' have been changed to 'ae'; as well as others, similarly. +I have left the spelling, punctuation, capitalization as close as +possible to the printed text, including that of titles and headings. The +issue of end-of-line hyphenation was difficult, as normal usage in the +1880's often hyphenated words which have since been concatenated. + +Stevens also used phonetic spelling and italics for much of the unfamiliar +language or dialects that he heard; a great deal of foreign words and +phrases are also included and always italicized. A word which might seem +mis-spelled, such as 'yaort', was originally in italics and was the 1886 +spelling of 'yogurt'. Many of the names of places and peoples have long +since changed and so are no longer easily referenced. + +The book is written in the common English of a San Francisco journalist +of the era and so is filled with contemporaneous idioms and prejudices, +as well as his own wry wit. + +One of the more unfortunate issues is the omission of the over 100 +illustrations of the original edition. I also elected to omit the +informative captions. I hope to make an HTML edition available at +http://rjs.org/gutenberg/ which will include them. + +If you find any scanning errors, out and out typos, punctuation +errors, or if you disagree with my formatting choices please feel +free to email me those errors: gutenburg@rjs.org +The space between the double quotes and the quoted text is sometimes +omitted, usually included. This is an artifact of the OCR program +interpreting the small space in the original print, and if someone wants to +remove the space from all of the quotes, I would be glad to see it. + +I have written a wxPython program to assist in converting raw OCR text to +the project's formatting, as well as general punctuation and spelling. +http://rjs.org/gutenberg/OCR2Gutenberg/ +Code contributions/modifications are most welcome; it is a bit of a hack, +but it reduced the proof time needed by more than what it took to write +778 lines of code. + + +Ray Schumacher + + +****************************************************************************** + + + + CONTENTS. + + CHAPTER I. PAGE +OVER THE SIERRAS NEVADAS, . . . . . 1 + + CHAPTER II. +OVER THE DESERTS OF NEVADA, . . . . 21 + + CHAPTER III. +THROUGH MORMON-LAND AND OVER THE ROCKIES, . . 46 + + CHAPTER IV. +FROM THE GREAT PLAINS TO THE ATLANTIC, . . 70 + + CHAPTER V. +FROM AMERICA TO THE GERMAN FRONTIER, . . . 91 + + CHAPTER VI. +GERMANY, AUSTRIA, AND HUNGARY, . . . . 121 + + CHAPTER VII. +THROUGH SLAVONIA AND SERVIA, . . . . 153 + + CHAPTER VIII. +BULGARIA, ROUMELIA, AND INTO TURKEY, . . . 184 + + PREFACE. +Shakespeare says, in All's Well that Ends Well, that "a good +traveller is something at the latter end of a dinner;" and I never was +more struck with the truth of this than when I heard Mr. Thomas Stevens, +after the dinner given in his honor by the Massachusetts Bicycle Club, +make a brief, off-hand report of his adventures. He seemed like Jules +Verne, telling his own wonderful performances, or like a contemporary +Sinbad the Sailor. We found that modern mechanical invention, instead +of disenchanting the universe, had really afforded the means of exploring +its marvels the more surely. Instead of going round the world with a +rifle, for the purpose of killing something, - or with a bundle of tracts, +in order to convert somebody, - this bold youth simply went round the globe +to see the people who were on it; and since he always had something to +show them as interesting as anything that they could show him, he made +his way among all nations. + +What he had to show them was not merely a man perched on a lofty wheel, +as if riding on a soap-bubble; but he was also a perpetual object-lesson +in what Holmes calls "genuine, solid old Teutonic pluck." When the +soldier rides into danger he has comrades by his side, his country's +cause to defend, his uniform to vindicate, and the bugle to cheer him +on; but this solitary rider had neither military station, nor an oath +of allegiance, nor comrades, nor bugle; and he went among men of unknown +languages, alien habits and hostile faith with only his own tact and +courage to help him through. They proved sufficient, for he returned +alive. + +I have only read specimen chapters of this book, but find in them the +same simple and manly quality which attracted us all when Mr. Stevens +told his story in person. It is pleasant to know that while peace reigns +in America, a young man can always find an opportunity to take his life +in his hand and originate some exploit as good as those of the much-wandering +Ulysses. In the German story "Titan," Jean Paul describes a manly youth +who "longed for an adventure for his idle bravery;" and it is pleasant +to read the narrative of one who has quietly gone to work, in an honest +way, to satisfy this longing. THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. + +CAMBRIDGE, MASS., April 10, 1887. + + + + + +FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO TEHERAN. + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + + + +OVER THE SIERRAS NEVADAS. + +The beauties of nature are scattered with a more lavish hand across the +country lying between the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the +shores where the surf romps and rolls over the auriferous sands of the +Pacific, in Golden Gate Park, than in a journey of the same length in +any other part of the world. Such, at least, is the verdict of many whose +fortune it has been to traverse that favored stretch of country. Nothing +but the limited power of man's eyes prevents him from standing on the +top of the mountains and surveying, at a glance, the whole glorious +panorama that stretches away for more than two hundred miles to the west, +terminating in the gleaming waters of the Pacific Ocean. Could he do +this, he would behold, for the first seventy-five or eighty miles, a +vast, billowy sea of foot-hills, clothed with forests of sombre pine and +bright, evergreen oaks; and, lower down, dense patches of white-blossomed +chaparral, looking in the enchanted distance like irregular banks of +snow. Then the world-renowned valley of the Sacramento River, with its +level plains of dark, rich soil, its matchless fields of ripening grain, +traversed here and there by streams that, emerging from the shadowy +depths of the foot-hills, wind their way, like gleaming threads of silver, +across the fertile plain and join the Sacramento, which receives them, +one and all, in her matronly bosom and hurries with them øn to the sea. + +Towns and villages, with white church-spires, irregularly sprinkled over +hill and vale, although sown like seeds from the giant hand of a mighty +husbandman, would be seen nestling snugly amid groves of waving shade +and semi-tropical fruit trees. Beyond all this the lower coast-range, +where, toward San Francisco, Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais - grim +sentinels of the Golden Gate - rear their shaggy heads skyward, and seem +to look down with a patronizing air upon the less pretentious hills that +border the coast and reflect their shadows in the blue water of San +Francisco Bay. Upon the sloping sides of these hills sweet, nutritious +grasses grow, upon which peacefully graze the cows that supply San +Francisco with milk and butter. + +Various attempts have been made from time to time, by ambitious cyclers, +to wheel across America from ocean to ocean; but - "Around the World!" + +"The impracticable scheme of a visionary," was the most charitable +verdict one could reasonably have expected. + +The first essential element of success, however, is to have sufficient +confidence in one's self to brave the criticisms - to say nothing of the +witticisms - of a sceptical public. So eight o'clock on the morning of +April 22, 1884, finds me and my fifty-inch machine on the deck of the +Alameda, one of the splendid ferry-boats plying between San Francisco +and Oakland, and a ride of four miles over the sparkling waters of the +bay lands us, twenty-eight minutes later, on the Oakland pier, that juts +far enough out to allow the big ferries to enter the slip in deep water. +On the beauties of San Francisco Bay it is, perhaps, needless to dwell, +as everybody has heard or read of this magnificent sheet of water, its +surface flecked with snowy sails, and surrounded by a beautiful framework +of evergreen hills; its only outlet to the ocean the famous Golden Gate - a +narrow channel through which come and go the ships of all nations. + +With the hearty well-wishing of a small group of Oakland and 'Frisco +cyclers who have come, out of curiosity, to see the start, I mount and +ride away to the east, down San Pablo Avenue, toward the village of the +same Spanish name, some sixteen miles distant. The first seven miles are +a sort of half-macadamized road, and I bowl briskly along. + +The past winter has been the rainiest since 1857, and the continuous +pelting rains had not beaten down upon the last half of this imperfect +macadam in vain; for it has left it a surface of wave-like undulations, +from out of which the frequent bowlder protrudes its unwelcome head, as +if ambitiously striving to soar above its lowly surroundings. But this +one don't mind, and I am perfectly willing to put up with the bowlders +for the sake of the undulations. The sensation of riding a small boat +over "the gently-heaving waves of the murmuring sea" is, I think, one +of the pleasures of life; and the next thing to it is riding a bicycle +over the last three miles of the San Pablo Avenue macadam as I found it +on that April morning. + +The wave-like macadam abruptly terminates, and I find myself on a common +dirt road. It is a fair road, however, and I have plenty of time to look +about and admire whatever bits of scenery happen to come in view. There +are few spots in the "Golden State" from which views of more or less +beauty are not to be obtained; and ere I am a baker's dozen of miles +from Oakland pier I find myself within an ace of taking an undesirable +header into a ditch of water by the road-side, while looking upon a scene +that for the moment completely wins me from my immediate surroundings. +There is nothing particularly grand or imposing in the outlook here; but +the late rains have clothed the whole smiling face of nature with a +bright, refreshing green, that fails not to awaken a thrill of pleasure +in the breast of one fresh from the verdureless streets of a large sea- +port city. Broad fields of pale-green, thrifty-looking young wheat, and +darker-hued meads, stretch away on either side of the road; and away +beyond to the left, through an opening in the hills, can be seen, as +through a window, the placid waters of the bay, over whose glittering, +sunlit surface white-winged, aristocratic yachts and the plebeian smacks +of Greek and Italian fishermen swiftly glide, and fairly vie with each +other in giving the finishing touches to a picture. + +So far, the road continues level and fairly good; and, notwithstanding +the seductive pleasures of the ride over the bounding billows of the +gently heaving macadam, the dalliance with the scenery, and the all too +frequent dismounts in deference to the objections of phantom-eyed +roadsters, I pulled up at San Pablo at ten o'clock, having covered the +sixteen miles in one hour and thirty-two minutes; though, of course, +there is nothing speedy about this - to which desirable qualification, +indeed, I lay no claim. + +Soon after leaving San Pablo the country gets somewhat "choppy," and +the road a succession of short-hills, at the bottom of which modest-looking +mud-holes patiently await an opportunity to make one's acquaintance, or +scraggy-looking, latitudinous washouts are awaiting their chance to +commit a murder, or to make the unwary cycler who should venture to "coast," +think he had wheeled over the tail of an earthquake. One never +minds a hilly road where one can reach the bottom with an impetus that +sends him spinning half-way up the next; but where mud-holes or washouts +resolutely "hold the fort" in every depression, it is different, and +the progress of the cycler is necessarily slow. I have set upon reaching +Suisun, a point fifty miles along the Central Pacific Railway, to-night; +but the roads after leaving San Pablo are anything but good, and the day +is warm, so six P.M. finds me trudging along an unridable piece of road +through the low tuile swamps that border Suisun Bay. "Tuile" is the +name given to a species of tall rank grass, or rather rush, that grows +to the height of eight or ten feet, and so thick in places that it is +difficult to pass through, in the low, swampy grounds in this part of +California. These tuile swamps are traversed by a net-work of small, +sluggish streams and sloughs, that fairly swarm with wild ducks and +geese, and justly entitle them to their local title of "the duck-hunters' +paradise." Ere I am through this swamp, the shades of night gather +ominously around and settle down like a pall over the half-flooded flats; +the road is full of mud-holes and pools of water, through which it is +difficult to navigate, and I am in something of a quandary. I am sweeping +along at the irresistible velocity of a mile an hour, and wondering how +far it is to the other end of the swampy road, when thrice welcome succor +appears from a strange and altogether unexpected source. I had noticed +a small fire, twinkling through the darkness away off in the swamp; and +now the wind rises and the flames of the small fire spread to the thick +patches of dead tuile. In a short time the whole country, including my +road, is lit up by the fierce glare of the blaze; so that I am enabled +to proceed with little trouble. These tuiles often catch on fire in the +fall and early winter, when everything is comparatively dry, and fairly +rival the prairie fires of the Western plains in the fierceness of the +flames. + +The next morning I start off in a drizzling rain, and, after going sixteen +miles, I have to remain for the day at Elmira. Here, among other items +of interest, I learn that twenty miles farther ahead the Sacramento River +is flooding the country, and the only way I can hope to get through is +to take to the Central Pacific track and cross over the six miles of +open trestle-work that spans the Sacramento River and its broad bottom-lands, +that are subject to the annual spring overflow. From Elmira my way leads +through a fruit and farming country that is called second to none in the +world. Magnificent farms line the road; at short intervals appear large +well-kept vineyards, in which gangs of Chinese coolies are hoeing and +pulling weeds, and otherwise keeping trim. A profusion of peach, pear, +and almond orchards enlivens the landscape with a wealth of pink and +white blossoms, and fills the balmy spring air with a subtle, sensuous +perfume that savors of a tropical clime. + +Already I realize that there is going to be as much "foot-riding" as +anything for the first part of my journey; so, while halting for dinner +at the village of Davisville, I deliver my rather slight shoes over to +the tender mercies of an Irish cobbler of the old school, with carte +blanche instructions to fit them out for hard service. While diligently +hammering away at the shoes, the old cobbler grows communicative, and +in almost unintelligible brogue tells a complicated tale of Irish life, +out of which I can make neither head, tail, nor tale; though nodding and +assenting to it all, to the great satisfaction of the loquacious manipulator +of the last, who in an hour hands over the shoes with the proud assertion, +"They'll last yez, be jabbers, to Omaha." + +Reaching the overflowed country, I have to take to the trestle-work and +begin the tedious process of trundling along that aggravating roadway, +where, to the music of rushing waters, I have to step from tie to tie, +and bump, bump, bump, my machine along for six weary miles. The Sacramento +River is the outlet for the tremendous volumes of water caused every +spring by the melting snows on the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and these +long stretches of open trestle have been found necessary to allow the +water to pass beneath. Nothing but trains are expected to cross this +trestle-work, and of course no provision is made for pedestrians. The +engineer of an approaching train sets his locomotive to tooting for all +she is worth as he sees a "strayed or stolen" cycler, slowly bumping +along ahead of his train. But he has no need to slow up, for occasional +cross-beams stick out far enough to admit of standing out of reach, and +when he comes up alongside, he and the fireman look out of the window +of the cab and see me squatting on the end of one of these handy beams, +and letting the bicycle hang over. + +That night I stay in Sacramento, the beautiful capital of the Golden +State, whose well-shaded streets and blooming, almost tropical gardens +combine to form a city of quiet, dignified beauty, of which Californians +feel justly proud. Three and a half miles east of Sacramento, the high +trestle bridge spanning the main stream of the American River has to be +crossed, and from this bridge is obtained a remarkably fine view of the +snow-capped Sierras, the great barrier that separates the fertile valleys +and glorious climate of California, from the bleak and barren sage-brush +plains, rugged mountains, and forbidding wastes of sand and alkali, that, +from the summit of the Sierras, stretch away to the eastward for over a +thousand miles. The view from the American River bridge is grand and +imposing, encompassing the whole foot-hill country, which rolls in broken, +irregular billows of forest-crowned hill and charming vale, upward and +onward to the east, gradually getting more rugged, rocky, and immense, +the hills changing to mountains, the vales to ca¤ons, until they terminate +in bald, hoary peaks whose white rugged pinnacles seem to penetrate the +sky, and stand out in ghostly, shadowy outline against the azure depths +of space beyond. + +After crossing the American River the character of the country changes, +and I enjoy a ten-mile ride over a fair road, through one of those +splendid sheep-ranches that are only found in California, and which have +long challenged the admiration of the world. Sixty thousand acres, I +am informed, is the extent of this pasture, all within one fence. The +soft, velvety greensward is half-shaded by the wide-spreading branches +of evergreen oaks that singly and in small groups are scattered at +irregular intervals from one end of the pasture to the other, giving it +the appearance of one of the old ancestral parks of England. As I bowl +pleasantly along I involuntarily look about me, half expecting to see +some grand, stately old mansion peeping from among some one of the +splendid oak-groves; and when a jack-rabbit hops out and halts at twenty +paces from my road, I half hesitate to fire at him, lest the noise of +the report should bring out the vigilant and lynx-eyed game-keeper, and +get me "summoned" for poaching. I remember the pleasant ten-mile ride +through this park-like pasture as one of the brightest spots of the whole +journey across America. But "every rose conceals a thorn," and pleasant +paths often load astray; when I emerge from the pasture I find myself +several miles off the right road and have to make my unhappy way across +lots, through numberless gates and small ranches, to the road again. + +There seems to be quite a sprinkling of Spanish or Mexican rancheros +through here, and after partaking of the welcome noon-tide hospitality +of one of the ranches, I find myself, before I realize it, illustrating +the bicycle and its uses, to a group of sombrero-decked rancheros and +darked-eyed se¤oritas, by riding the machine round and round on their +own ranch-lawn. It is a novel position, to say the least; and often +afterward, wending my solitary way across some dreary Nevada desert, +with no company but my own uncanny shadow, sharply outlined on the white +alkali by the glaring rays of the sun, my untrammelled thoughts would +wander back to this scene, and I would grow "hot and cold by turns," in +my uncertainty as to whether the bewitching smiles of the se¤oritas were +smiles of admiration, or whether they were simply "grinning" at the +figure I cut. While not conscious of having cut a sorrier figure than +usual on that occasion, somehow I cannot rid myself of an unhappy, ban- +owing suspicion, that the latter comes nearer the truth than the former. + +The ground is gradually getting more broken; huge rocks intrude themselves +upon the landscape. At the town of Rocklin we are supposed to enter the +foot-hill country proper. Much of the road in these lower foot-hills is +excellent, being of a hard, stony character, and proof against the winter +rains. Everybody who writes anything about the Golden State is expected +to say something complimentary - or otherwise, as his experience may seem +to dictate - about the "glorious climate of California;" or else render +an account of himself for the slight, should he ever return, which he +is very liable to do. For, no matter what he may say about it, the "glorious climate" +generally manages to make one, ever after, somewhat +dissatisfied with the extremes of heat and cold met with in less genial +regions. This fact of having to pay my measure of tribute to the climate +forces itself on my notice prominently here at Rocklin, because, in- +directly, the "climate" was instrumental in bringing about a slight +accident, which, in turn, brought about the - to me - serious calamity of +sending me to bed without any supper. Rocklin is celebrated - and by +certain bad people, ridiculed - all over this part of the foot-hills for +the superabundance of its juvenile population. If one makes any inquisitive +remarks about this fact, the Rocklinite addressed will either blush or +grin, according to his temperament, and say, "It's the glorious climate." +A bicycle is a decided novelty up here, and, of course, the multitudinous +youth turn out in droves to see it. The bewildering swarms of these small +mountaineers distract my attention and cause me to take a header that +temporarily disables the machine. The result is, that, in order to reach +the village where I wish to stay over night, I have to "foot it" over +four miles of the best road I have found since leaving San Pablo, and +lose my supper into the bargain, by procrastinating at the village smithy, +so as to have my machine in trim, ready for an early start next morning. +If the "glorious climate of California " is responsible for the exceedingly +hopeful prospects of Rocklin's future census reports, and the said lively +outlook, materialized, is responsible for my mishap, then plainly the +said "G. C. of C." is the responsible element in the case. I hope this +compliment to the climate will strike the Californians as about the +correct thing; but, if it should happen to work the other way, I beg of +them at once to pour out the vials of their wrath on the heads of the +'Frisco Bicycle Club, in order that their fury may be spent ere I again +set foot on their auriferous soil. + +"What'll you do when you hit the snow?" is now a frequent question asked +by the people hereabouts, who seem to be more conversant with affairs +pertaining to the mountains than they are of what is going on in the +valleys below. This remark, of course, has reference to the deep snow +that, toward the summits of the mountains, covers the ground to the depth +of ten feet on the level, and from that to almost any depth where it has +drifted and accumulated. I have not started out on this greatest of all +bicycle tours without looking into these difficulties, and I remind them +that the long snow-sheds of the Central Pacific Railway make it possible +for one to cross over, no matter how deep the snow may lie on the ground +outside. Some speak cheerfully of the prospects for getting over, but +many shake their heads ominously and say, "You'll never be able to make +it through." + +Rougher and more hilly become the roads as we gradually penetrate farther +and farther into the foot-hills. We are now in far-famed Placer County, +and the evidences of the hardy gold diggers' work in pioneer days are +all about us. In every gulch and ravine are to be seen broken and decaying +sluice-boxes. Bare, whitish-looking patches of washed-out gravel show +where a "claim " has been worked over and abandoned. In every direction +are old water-ditches, heaps of gravel, and abandoned shafts - all telling, +in language more eloquent than word or pen, of the palmy days of '49, +and succeeding years; when, in these deep gulches, and on these yellow +hills, thousands of bronzed, red-shirted miners dug and delved, and +"rocked the cradle" for the precious yellow dust and nuggets. But all +is now changed, and where were hundreds before, now only a few "old +timers " roam the foot-hills, prospecting, and working over the old +claims; but "dust," "nuggets," and "pockets " still form the burden of +conversation in the village barroom or the cross-roads saloon. Now and +then a "strike " is made by some lucky - or perhaps it turns out, unlucky - +prospector. This for a few days kindles anew the slumbering spark of +"gold fever" that lingers in the veins of the people here, ever ready +to kindle into a flame at every bit of exciting news, in the way of a +lucky "find" near home, or new gold-fields in some distant land. These +occasions never fail to have their legitimate effect upon the business +of the bar where the "old-timers" congregate to learn the news; and, +between drinks, yarns of the good old days of '49 and '50, of "streaks +of luck," of "big nuggets," and "wild times," are spun over and over +again. Although the palmy days of the "diggin's" are no more, yet the +finder of a "pocket" these days seems not a whit wiser than in the days +when "pockets" more frequently rewarded the patient prospector than +they do now; and at Newcastle - a station near the old-time mining camps +of Ophir and Gold Hill - I hear of a man who lately struck a "pocket," out +of which he dug forty thousand dollars; and forthwith proceeded to imitate +his reckless predecessors by going down to 'Frisco and entering upon a +career of protracted sprees and debauchery that cut short his earthly +career in less than six months, and wafted his riotous spirit to where +there are no more forty thousand dollar pockets, and no more 'Friscos +in which to squander it. In this instance the "find" was clearly an +unlucky one. Not quite so bad was the case of two others who, but a few +days before my arrival, took out twelve hundred dollars; they simply, +in the language of the gold fields "turned themselves loose," "made +things hum," and "whooped 'em up" around the bar-room of their village +for exactly three days; when, "dead broke," they took to the gulches +again, to search for more. "Yer oughter hev happened through here with +that instrumint of yourn about that time, young fellow; yer might hev +kept as full as a tick till they war busted," remarked a slouchy-looking +old fellow whose purple-tinted nose plainly indicated that he had devoted +a good part of his existence to the business of getting himself "full +as a tick" every time he ran across the chance. + +Quite a different picture is presented by an industrious old Mexican, +whom I happen to see away down in the bottom of a deep ravine, along +which swiftly hurries a tiny stream. He is diligently shovelling dirt +into a rude sluice-box which he has constructed in the bed of the stream +at a point where the water rushes swiftly down a declivity. Setting my +bicycle up against a rock, I clamber down the steep bank to investigate. +In tones that savor of anything but satisfaction with the result of his +labor, he informs me that he has to work "most infernal hard" to pan +out two dollars' worth of "dust" a day. "I have had to work over all +that pile of gravel you see yonder to clean up seventeen dollars' worth +of dust," further volunteered the old "greaser," as I picked up a spare +shovel and helped him remove a couple of bowlders that he was trying to +roll out of his war. I condole with him at the low grade of the gravel +he is working, hope he may "strike it rich " one of these days, and +take my departure. + +Up here I find it preferable to keep the railway track, alongside of +which there are occasionally ridable side-paths; while on the wagon roads +little or no riding can be done on account of the hills, and the sticky +nature of the red, clayey soil. From the railway track near Newcastle +is obtained a magnificent view of the lower country, traversed during +the last three days, with the Sacramento River winding its way through +its broad valley to the sea. Deep cuts and high embankments follow each +other in succession, as the road-bed is now broken through a hill, now +carried across a deep gulch, and anon winds around the next hill and +over another ravine. Before reaching Auburn I pass through "Bloomer +Cut," where perpendicular walls of bowlders loom up on both sides of the +track looking as if the slightest touch or jar would unloose them and +send them bounding and crashing on the top of the passing train as it +glides along, or drop down on the stray cycler who might venture through. +On the way past Auburn, and on up to Clipper Gap, the dry, yellow dirt +under the overhanging rocks, and in the crevices, is so suggestive of " +dust," that I take a small prospecting glass, which I have in my tool-bag, +and do a little prospecting; without, however, finding sufficient "color" +to induce me to abandon my journey and go to digging. + +Before reaching Clipper Gap it begins to rain; while I am taking dinner +at that place it quits raining and begins to come down by buckets full, +so that I have to lie over for the remainder of the day. The hills around +Clipper Gap are gay and white with chaparral blossom, which gives the +whole landscape a pleasant, gala-day appearance. It rains all the evening, +and at night turns to heavy, damp snow, which clings to the trees and +bushes. In the morning the landscape, which a few hours before was white +with chaparral bloom, is now even more white with the bloom of the snow. +My hostelry at Clipper Gap is a kind of half ranch, half roadside inn, +down in a small valley near the railway; and mine host, a jovial Irish +blade of the good old "Donnybrook Fair" variety, who came here in 1851, +during the great rush to the gold fields, and, failing to make his fortune +in the "diggings," wisely decided to send for his family and settle +down quietly on a piece of land, in preference to returning to the "ould +sod."He turns out to be a "bit av a sphort meself," and, after +showing me a number of minor pets and favorites, such as game chickens, +Brahma geese, and a litter of young bull pups, he proudly leads the way +to the barn to show me "Barney," his greatest pet of all, whom he at +present keeps securely tied up for safe-keeping. More than one evil-minded +person has a hankering after Barney's gore since his last battle for the +championship of Placer County, he explains, in which he inflicted severe +punishment on his adversary and resolutely refused to give in; although +his opponent on this important occasion was an imported dog, brought +into the county by Barney's enemies, who hoped to fill their pockets by +betting against the local champion. But Barney, who is a medium-sized, +ferocious-looking bull terrier, "scooped"the crowd backing the imported +dog, to the extent of their "pile," by "walking all round" his adversary; +and thereby stirring up the enmity of said crowd against himself, who - so +says Barney's master - have never yet been able to scare up a dog able to +"down" Barney. As we stand in the barn-door Barney eyes me suspiciously, +and then looks at his master; but luckily for me his master fails to +give the word. Noticing that the dog is scarred and seamed all over, I +inquire the reason, and am told that he has been fighting wild boars in +the chaparral, of which gentle pastime he is extremely fond. "Yes, and +he'll tackle a cougar too, of which there are plenty of them around here, +if that cowardly animal would only keep out of the trees," admiringly +continues mine host, as he orders Barney into his empty salt-barrel +again. + +To day is Sunday, and it rains and snows with little interruption, so +that I am compelled to stay over till Monday morning. While it is raining +at Clipper Gap, it is snowing higher up in the mountains, and a railway +employee 'volunteers the cheering information that, during the winter, +the snow has drifted and accumulated in the sheds, so that a train can +barely squeeze through, leaving no room for a person to stand to one +side. I have my own ideas of whether this state of affairs is probable +or not, however, and determine to pay no heed to any of these rumors, +but to push ahead. So I pull out on Monday morning and take to the +railway-track again, which is the only passable road since the tremendous +downpour of the last two days. + +The first thing I come across is a tunnel burrowing through a hill. This +tunnel was originally built the proper size, but, after being walled up, +there were indications of a general cave-in; so the company had to go +to work and build another thick rock-wall inside the other, which leaves +barely room for the trains to pass through without touching the sides. +It is anything but an inviting path around the hill; but it is far the +safer of the two. Once my foot slips, and I unceremoniously sit down and +slide around in the soft yellow clay, in my frantic endeavors to keep +from slipping down the hill. This hardly enhances my personal appearance; +but it doesn't matter much, as I am where no one can see, and a clay- +besmeared individual is worth a dozen dead ones. Soon I am on the track +again, briskly trudging up the steep grade toward the snow-line, which +I can plainly see, at no great distance ahead, through the windings +around the mountains. + +All through here the only riding to be done is along occasional short +stretches of difficult path beside the track, where it happens to be a +hard surface; and on the plank platforms of the stations, where I generally +take a turn or two to satisfy the consuming curiosity of the miners, who +can't imagine how anybody can ride a thing that won't stand alone; at +the same time arguing among themselves as to whether I ride along on one +of the rails, or bump along over the protruding ties. + +This morning I follow the railway track around the famous "Cape Horn," +a place that never fails to photograph itself permanently upon the memory +of all who once see it. For scenery that is magnificently grand and +picturesque, the view from where the railroad track curves around Cape +Horn is probably without a peer on the American continent. + +When the Central Pacific Railway company started to grade their road-bed +around here, men were first swung over this precipice from above with +ropes, until they made standing room for themselves; and then a narrow +ledge was cut on the almost perpendicular side of the rocky mountain, +around which the railway now winds. + +Standing on this ledge, the rocks tower skyward on one side of the track +so close as almost to touch the passing train; and on the other is a +sheer precipice of two thousand five hundred feet, where one can stand +on the edge and see, far below, the north fork of the American River, +which looks like a thread of silver laid along the narrow valley, and +sends up a far-away, scarcely perceptible roar, as it rushes and rumbles +along over its rocky bed. The railroad track is carefully looked after +at this point, and I was able, by turning round and taking the down +grade, to experience the novelty of a short ride, the memory of which +will be ever welcome should one live to be as old as "the oldest +inhabitant." The scenery for the next few miles is glorious; the grand +and imposing mountains are partially covered with stately pines down to +their bases, around which winds the turbulent American River, receiving +on its boisterous march down the mountains tribute from hundreds of +smaller streams and rivulets, which come splashing and dashing out of +the dark ca¤ons and crevasses of the mighty hills. + +The weather is capricious, and by the time I reach Dutch Flat, ten miles +east of Cape Horn, the floodgates of heaven are thrown open again, and +less than an hour succeeds in impressing Dutch Flat upon my memory as a +place where there is literally "water, water, everywhere, but not a +drop to -;" no, I cannot finish the quotation. What is the use of lying'. +There is plenty to drink at Dutch Flat; plenty of everything. + +But there is no joke about the water; it is pouring in torrents from +above; the streets are shallow streams; and from scores of ditches and +gullies comes the merry music of swiftly rushing waters, while, to crown +all, scores of monster streams are rushing with a hissing sound from the +mouths of huge pipes or nozzles, and playing against the surrounding +hills; for Dutch Flat and neighboring camps are the great centre of +hydraulic mining operations in California at the present day. Streams +of water, higher lip the mountains, are taken from their channels and +conducted hither through miles of wooden flumes and iron piping; and +from the mouths of huge nozzles are thrown with tremendous force against +the hills, literally mowing them down. The rain stops as abruptly as it +began. The sun shines out clear and warm, and I push ahead once more. + +Gradually I have been getting up into the snow, and ever and anon a +muffled roar comes booming and echoing over the mountains like the sound +of distant artillery. It is the sullen noise of monster snow-slides among +the deep, dark ca¤ons of the mountains, though a wicked person at Gold +Run winked at another man and tried to make me believe it was the grizzlies +"going about the mountains like roaring lions, seeking whom they might +devour." The giant voices of nature, the imposing scenery, the gloomy +pine forests which have now taken the place of the gay chaparral, combine +to impress one who, all alone, looks and listens with a realizing sense +of his own littleness. What a change has come over the whole face of +nature in a few days' travel. But four days ago I was in the semi-tropical +Sacramento Valley; now gaunt winter reigns supreme, and the only vegetation +is the hardy pine. + +This afternoon I pass a small camp of Digger Indians, to whom my bicycle +is as much a mystery as was the first locomotive; yet they scarcely turn +their uncovered heads to look; and my cheery greeting of "How," scarce +elicits a grunt and a stare in reply. Long years of chronic hunger and +wretchedness have well-nigh eradicated what little energy these Diggers +ever possessed. The discovery of gold among their native mountains has +been their bane; the only antidote the rude grave beneath the pine and +the happy hunting-grounds beyond. + +The next morning finds me briskly trundling through the great, gloomy +snow-sheds that extend with but few breaks for the next forty miles. +When I emerge from them on the other end I shall be over the summit and +well down the eastern slope of the mountains. These huge sheds have been +built at great expense to protect the track from the vast quantities of +snow that fall every winter on these mountains. They wind around the +mountain-sides, their roofs built so slanting that the mighty avalanche +of rock and snow that comes thundering down from above glides harmlessly +over, and down the chasm on the other side, while the train glides along +unharmed beneath them. The section-houses, the water-tanks, stations, +and everything along here are all under the gloomy but friendly shelter +of the great protecting sheds. Fortunately I find the difficulties of +getting through much less than I had been led by rumors to anticipate; +and although no riding can be done in the sheds, I make very good progress, +and trudge merrily along, thankful of a chance to get over the mountains +without having to wait a month or six weeks for the snow outside to +disappear. At intervals short breaks occur in the sheds, where the track +runs over deep gulch or ravine, and at one of these openings the sinuous +structure can be traced for quite a long distance, winding its tortuous +way around the rugged mountain sides, and through the gloomy pine forest, +all but buried under the snow. It requires no great effort of the mind +to imagine it to be some wonderful relic of a past civilization, when a +venturesome race of men thus dared to invade these vast wintry solitudes +and burrow their way through the deep snow, like moles burrowing through +the loose earth. Not a living thing is in sight, and the only sounds the +occasional roar of a distant snow-slide, and the mournful sighing of the +breeze as it plays a weird, melancholy dirge through the gently swaying +branches of the tall, sombre pines, whose stately trunks are half buried +in the omnipresent snow. To-night I stay at the Summit Hotel, seven +thousand and seventeen feet above the level of the sea. The "Summit" +is nothing if not snowy, and I am told that thirty feet on the level is +no unusual thing up here. Indeed, it looks as if snow-balling on the " +Glorious Fourth" were no great luxury at the Summit House; yet +notwithstanding the decidedly wintry aspect of the Sierras, the low +temperature of the Rockies farther east is unknown; and although there +is snow to the right, snow to the left, snow all around, and ice under +foot, I travel all through the gloomy sheds in my shirt-sleeves, with +but a gossamer rubber coat thrown over my shoulders to keep off the snow- +water which is constantly melting and dripping through the roof, making +it almost like going through a shower of rain. Often, when it is warm +and balmy outside, it is cold and frosty under the sheds, and the dripping +water, falling among the rocks and timbers, freezes into all manner of +fantastic shapes. Whole menageries of ice animals, birds and all imaginable +objects, are here reproduced in clear crystal ice, while in many places +the ground is covered with an irregular coating of the same, that often +has to be chipped away from the rails. + +East of the summit is a succession of short tunnels, the space between +being covered with snow-shed; and when I came through, the openings and +crevices through which the smoke from the engines is wont to make its +escape, and through which a few rays of light penetrate the gloomy +interior, are blocked up with snow, so that it is both dark and smoky; +and groping one's way with a bicycle over the rough surface is anything +but pleasant going. But there is nothing so bad, it seems, but that it +can get a great deal worse; and before getting far, I hear an approaching +train and forthwith proceed to occupy as small an amount of space as +possible against the side, while three laboriously puffing engines, +tugging a long, heavy freight train up the steep grade, go past. These +three puffing, smoke-emitting monsters fill every nook and corner of the +tunnel with dense smoke, which creates a darkness by the side of which +the natural darkness of the tunnel is daylight in comparison. Here is a +darkness that can be felt; I have to grope my way forward, inch by inch; +afraid to set my foot down until I have felt the place, for fear of +blundering into a culvert; at the same time never knowing whether there +is room, just where I am, to get out of the way of a train. A cyclometer +wouldn't have to exert itself much through here to keep tally of the +revolutions; for, besides advancing with extreme caution, I pause every +few steps to listen; as in the oppressive darkness and equally oppressive +silence the senses are so keenly on the alert that the gentle rattle of +the bicycle over the uneven surface seems to make a noise that would +prevent me hearing an approaching train. This finally comes to am end; +and at the opening in the sheds I climb up into a pine-tree to obtain +a view of Donner Lake, called the "Gem of the Sierras." It is a lovely +little lake, and amid the pines, and on its shores occurred one of the +most pathetically tragic events of the old emigrant days. Briefly related +: A small party of emigrants became snowed in while camped at the lake, +and when, toward spring, a rescuing party reached the spot, the last +survivor of the partly, crazed with the fearful suffering he had under- +gone, was sitting on a log, savagely gnawing away at a human arm, the +last remnant of his companions in misery, off whose emaciated carcasses +he had for some time been living! + +My road now follows the course of the Truckee River down the eastern +slope of the Sierras, and across the boundary line into Nevada. The +Truckee is a rapid, rollicking stream from one end to the other, and +affords dam-sites and mill-sites without limit. There is little ridable +road down the Truckee ca¤on; but before reaching "Verdi, a station a few +miles over the Nevada line, I find good road, and ride up and dismount +at the door of the little hotel as coolly as if I had rode without a +dismount all the way from 'Frisco. Here at Verdi is a camp of Washoe +Indians, who at once showed their superiority to the Diggers by clustering +around and examining; the bicycle with great curiosity. Verdi is less +than forty miles from the summit of the Sierras, and from the porch of +the hotel I can see the snow-storm still fiercely raging up in the place +where I stood a few hours ago; yet one can feel that he is already in a +dryer and altogether different climate. The great masses of clouds, +travelling inward from the coast with their burdens of moisture, like +messengers of peace with presents to a far country, being unable to +surmount the great mountain barrier that towers skyward across their +path, unload their precious cargoes on the mountains; and the parched +plains of Nevada open their thirsty mouths in vain. At Verdi I bid good-by +to the Golden State and follow the course of the sparkling Truckee toward +the Forty-mile Desert. + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + + + +OVER THE DESERTS OF NEVADA. + +Gradually I leave the pine-clad slopes of the Sierras behind, and every +revolution of my wheel reveals scenes that constantly remind me that I +am in the great "Sage-brush State." How appropriate indeed is the name. +Sage-brush is the first thing seen on entering Nevada, almost the only +vegetation seen while passing through it, and the last thing seen on +leaving it. Clear down to the edge of the rippling waters of the Truckee, +on the otherwise barren plain, covering the elevated table-lands, up the +hills, even to the mountain-tops-everywhere, everywhere, nothing but +sagebrush. In plain view to the right, as I roll on toward Reno, are the +mountains on which the world-renowned Comstock lode is situated, and +Reno was formerly the point from which this celebrated mining-camp was +reached. + +Before reaching Reno I meet a lone Washoe Indian; he is riding a diminutive, +scraggy-looking mustang. One of his legs is muffled up in a red blanket, +and in one hand he carries a rudely-invented crutch. "How will you trade +horses?" I banteringly ask as we meet in the road; and I dismount for +an interview, to find out what kind of Indians these Washoes are. To my +friendly chaff he vouchsafes no reply, but simply sits motionless on his +pony, and fixes a regular "Injun stare" on the bicycle. "What's the +matter with your leg?" I persist, pointing at the blanket-be-muffled +member. + +"Heap sick foot" is the reply, given with the characteristic brevity +of the savage; and, now that the ice of his aboriginal reserve is broken, +he manages to find words enough to ask me for tobacco. I have no tobacco, +but the ride through the crisp morning air has been productive of a +surplus amount of animal spirits, and I feel like doing something funny; +so I volunteer to cure his " sick foot" by sundry dark and mysterious +manoeuvres, that I unbiushingly intimate are "heap good medicine." With +owlish solemnity my small monkey-wrench is taken from the tool-bag and +waved around the " sick foot" a few times, and the operation is completed +by squirting a few drops from my oil-can through a hole in the blanket. +Before going I give him to understand that, in order to have the "good +medicine " operate to his advantage, he will have to soak his copper-colored +hide in a bath every morning for a week, flattering myself that, while +my mystic manoauvres will do him no harm, the latter prescription will +certainly do him good if he acts on it, which, however, is extremely +doubtful. Boiling into Reno at 10.30 A.M. the characteristic whiskey- +straight hospitality of the Far West at once asserts itself, and one +individual with sporting proclivities invites me to stop over a day or +two and assist him to "paint Reno red " at his expense. Leaving Reno, +my route leads through the famous Truckee meadows - a strip of very good +agricultural land, where plenty of money used to be made by raising +produce for the Virginia City market." But there's nothing in it any +more, since the Comstock's played out," glumly remarks a ranchman, at +whose place I get dinner. "I'll take less for my ranch now than I was +offered ten years ago," he continues. + +The " meadows" gradually contract, and soon after dinner I find myself +again following the Truckee down a narrow space between mountains, whose +volcanic-looking rocks are destitute of all vegetation save stunted sage- +brush. All down here the road is ridable in patches; but many dismounts +have to be made, and the walking to be done aggregates at least one-third +of the whole distance travelled during the day. Sneakish coyotes prowl +about these mountains, from whence they pay neighborly visits to the +chicken-roosts of the ranchers in the Truckee meadows near by. Toward +night a pair of these animals are observed following behind at the +respectful distance of five hundred yards. One need not be apprehensive +of danger from these contemptible animals, however; they are simply +following behind in a frame of mind similar to that of a hungry school-boy's +when gazing longingly into a confectioner's window. Still, night is +gathering around, and it begins to look as though I will have to pillow +my head on the soft side of a bowlder, and take lodgings on the footsteps +of a bald mountain to-night; and it will scarcely invite sleep to know +that two pairs of sharp, wolfish eyes are peering wistfully through the +darkness at one's prostrate form, and two red tongues are licking about +in hungry anticipation of one's blood. Moreover, these animals have an +unpleasant habit of congregating after night to pay their compliments +to the pale moon, and to hold concerts that would put to shame a whole +regiment of Kilkenny cats; though there is but little comparison between +the two, save that one howls and the other yowls, and either is equally +effective in driving away the drowsy Goddess. I try to draw these two +animals within range of my revolver by hiding behind rocks; but they are +too chary of their precious carcasses to take any risks, and the moment +I disappear from their sight behind a rock they are on the alert, and +looking " forty ways at the same time," to make sure that I am not +creeping up on them from some other direction. Fate, however, has decreed +that I am not to sleep out to-night - not quite out. A lone shanty looms +up through the gathering darkness, and I immediately turn my footsteps +thitherwise. I find it occupied. I am all right now for the night. Hold +on, though! not so fast. "There is many a slip," etc. The little shanty, +with a few acres of rather rocky ground, on the bank of the Truckee, is +presided over by a lonely bachelor of German extraction, who eyes me +with evident suspicion, as, leaning on my bicycle in front of his rude +cabin door I ask to be accommodated for the night. Were it a man on +horseback, or a man with a team, this hermit-like rancher could satisfy +himself to some extent as to the character of his visitor, for he sees +men on horseback or men in wagons, on an average, perhaps, once a week +during the summer, and can see plenty of them any day by going to Reno. +But me and the bicycle he cannot "size up" so readily. He never saw +the like of us before, and we are beyond his Teutonic frontier-like +comprehension. He gives us up; he fails to solve the puzzle; he knows +not how to unravel the mystery; and, with characteristic Teutonic +bluntness, he advises us to push on through fifteen miles of rocks, sand, +and darkness, to Wadsworth. The prospect of worrying my way, hungry and +weary, through fifteen miles of rough, unknown country, after dark, looms +up as rather a formidable task. So summoning my reserve stock of persuasive +eloquence, backed up by sundry significant movements, such as setting +the bicycle up against his cabin-wall, and sitting down on a block of +wood under the window, I finally prevail upon him to accommodate me with +a blanket on the floor of the shanty. He has just finished supper, and +the remnants of the frugal repast are still on the table; but he says +nothing about any supper for me: he scarcely feels satisfied with himself +yet: he feels that I have, in some mysterious manner, gained an unfair +advantage over him, and obtained a foothold in his shanty against his +own wish-jumped his claim, so to speak. Not that I think the man really +inhospitable at heart; but he has been so habitually alone, away from +his fellowmen so much, that the presence of a stranger in his cabin makes +him feel uneasy; and when that stranger is accompanied by a queer-looking +piece of machinery that cannot stand alone, but which he nevertheless +says he rides on, our lonely rancher is perhaps not so much to be wondered +at, after all, for his absent-mindedness in regard to my supper. His +mind is occupied with other thoughts. "You couldn't accommodate a fellow +with a bite to eat, could you." I timidly venture, after devouring what +eatables are in sight, over and over again, with my eyes. "I have plenty +of money to pay for any accommodation I get," I think it policy to add, +by way of cornering him up and giving him as little chance to refuse as +possible, for I am decidedly hungry, and if money or diplomacy, or both, +will produce supper, I don't propose to go to bed supperless. I am not +much surprised to see him bear out my faith in his innate hospitality +by apologizing for not thinking of my supper before, and insisting, +against my expressed wishes, on lighting the fire and getting me a warm +meal of fried ham and coffee, for which I beg leave to withdraw any +unfavorable impressions in regard to him which my previous remarks may +possibly have made on the reader's mind. + +After supper he thaws out a little, and I wheedle out of him a part of +his history. He settled on this spot of semi-cultivable land during the +flush times on the Comstock, and used to prosper very well by raising +vegetables, with the aid of Truckee-River water, and hauling them to the +mining-camps; but the palmy days of the Comstock have departed and with +them our lonely rancher's prosperity. Mine host has barely blankets +enough for his own narrow bunk, and it is really an act of generosity +on his part when he takes a blanket off his bed and invites me to extract +what comfort I can get out of it for the night. Snowy mountains are round +about, and curled up on the floor of the shanty, like a kitten under a +stove in mid-winter, I shiver the long hours away, and endeavor to feel +thankful that it is no worse. + +For a short distance, next morning, the road is ridable, but nearing +Wadsworth it gets sandy, and " sandy," in Nevada means deep, loose sand, +in which one sinks almost to his ankles at every step, and where the +possession of a bicycle fails to awaken that degree of enthusiasm that +it does on a smooth, hard road. At Wadsworth I have to bid farewell to +the Truckee River, and start across the Forty-mile Desert, which lies +between the Truckee and Humboldt Rivers. Standing on a sand-hill and +looking eastward across the dreary, desolate waste of sand, rocks, and +alkali, it is with positive regret that I think of leaving the cool, +sparkling stream that has been my almost constant companion for nearly +a hundred miles. It has always been at hand to quench my thirst or furnish +a refreshing bath. More than once have I beguiled the tedium of some +uninteresting part of the journey by racing with some trifling object +hurried along on its rippling surface. I shall miss the murmuring music +of its dancing waters as one would miss the conversation of a companion. + +This Forty-mile Desert is the place that was so much dreaded by the +emigrants en route to the gold-fields of California, there being not a +blade of grass nor drop of water for the whole forty miles; nothing but +a dreary waste of sand and rocks that reflects the heat of the sun, and +renders the desert a veritable furnace in midsummer; and the stock of +the emigrants, worn out by the long journey from the States, would succumb +by the score in crossing. Though much of the trail is totally unfit for +cycling, there are occasional alkali flats that are smooth and hard +enough to play croquet on; and this afternoon, while riding with careless +ease across one of these places, I am struck with the novelty of the +situation. I am in the midst of the dreariest, deadest-looking country +imaginable. Whirlwinds of sand, looking at a distance like huge columns +of smoke, are wandering erratically over the plains in all directions. +The blazing sun casts, with startling vividness on the smooth white +alkali, that awful scraggy, straggling shadow that, like a vengeful fate, +always accompanies the cycler on a sunny day, and which is the bane of +a sensitive wheelman's life. The only representative of animated nature +hereabouts is a species of small gray lizard that scuttles over the bare +ground with astonishing rapidity. Not even a bird is seen in the air. +All living things seem instinctively to avoid this dread spot save the +lizard. A desert forty miles wide is not a particularly large one; but +when one is in the middle of it, it might as well be as extensive as +Sahara itself, for anything he can see to the contrary, and away off to +the right I behold as perfect a mirage as one could wish to see. A person +can scarce help believing his own eyes, and did one not have some knowledge +of these strange and wondrous phenomena, one's orbs of vision would +indeed open with astonishment; for seemingly but a few miles away is a +beautiful lake, whose shores are fringed with wavy foliage, and whose +cool waters seem to lave the burning desert sands at its edge. + +A short distance to the right of Hot Springs Station broken clouds of +steam are seen rising from the ground, as though huge caldrons of water +were being heated there. Going to the spot I find, indeed, " caldrons +of boiling water;" but the caldrons are in the depths. At irregular +openings in the rocky ground the bubbling water wells to the surface, +and the fires-ah! where are the fires. On another part of this desert +are curious springs that look demure and innocuous enough most of the +time, but occasionally they emit columns of spray and steam. It is related +of these springs that once a party of emigrants passed by, and one of +the men knelt down to take a drink of the clear, nice-looking water. At +the instant he leaned over, the spring spurted a quantity of steam and +spray all over him, scaring him nearly out of his wits. The man sprang +up, and ran as if for his life, frantically beckoning the wagons to move +on, at the same time shouting, at the top of his voice, "Drive on! drive +on! hell's no great distance from here!" + +>From the Forty-mile Desert my road leads up the valley of the Humboldt +River. On the shores of Humboldt Lake are camped a dozen Piute lodges, +and I make a half-hour halt to pay them a visit. I shall never know +whether I am a welcome visitor or not; they show no signs of pleasure +or displeasure as I trundle the bicycle through the sage-brush toward +them. Leaning it familiarly up against one of their teepes, I wander +among them and pry into their domestic affairs like a health-officer in +a New York tenement. I know I have no right to do this without saying, +"By your leave," but item-hunters the world over do likewise, so I feel +little squeamishness about it. Moreover, when I come back I find the +Indians are playing " tit-for-tat" against me. Not only are they curiously +examining the bicycle as a whole, but they have opened the toolbag and +are examining the tools, handing them around among themselves. I don't +think these Piutes are smart or bold enough to steal nowadays; their +intercourse with the whites along the railroad has, in a measure, relieved +them of those aboriginal traits of character that would incite them to +steal a brass button off their pale-faced brother's coat, or screw a nut +off his bicycle; but they have learned to beg; the noble Piute of to-day +is an incorrigible mendicant. Gathering up my tools from among them, the +monkey-wrench seems to have found favor in the eyes of a wrinkled-faced +brave, who, it seems, is a chief. He hands the wrench over with a smile +that is meant to be captivating, and points at it as I am putting it +back into the bag, and grunts, " Ugh. Piute likum. Piute likum!" As I +hold it up, and ask him if this is what he means, he again points and +repeats, " Piute likum;" and this time two others standing by point at +him and also smile and say, " Him big chief; big Piute chief, him;" +thinking, no doubt, this latter would be a clincher, and that I would +at once recognize in " big Piute chief, him " a vastly superior being +and hand him over the wrench. In this, however, they are mistaken, for +the wrench I cannot spare; neither can I see any lingering trace of +royalty about him, no kingliness of mien, or extra cleanliness; nor is +there anything winning about his smile - nor any of their smiles for that +matter. The Piute smile seems to me to be simply a cold, passionless +expansion of the vast horizontal slit that reaches almost from one ear +to the other, and separates the upper and lower sections of their +expressionless faces. Even the smiles of the squaws are of the same +unlovely pattern, though they seem to be perfectly oblivious of any +ugliness whatever, and whenever a pale-faced visitor appears near their +teepe they straightway present him with one of those repulsive, unwinning +smiles. Sunday, May 4th, finds me anchored for the day at the village +of Lovelocks, on the Humboldt River, where I spend quite a remarkable +day. Never before did such a strangely assorted crowd gather to see the +first bicycle ride they ever saw, as the crowd that gathers behind the +station at Lovelocks to-day to see me. There are perhaps one hundred and +fifty people, of whom a hundred are Piute and Shoshone Indians, and the +remainder a mingled company of whites and Chinese railroaders; and among +them all it is difficult to say who are the most taken with the novelty +of the exhibition - the red, the yellow, or the white. Later in the evening +I accept the invitation of a Piute brave to come out to their camp, +behind the village, and witness rival teams of Shoshone and Piute squaws +play a match-game of " Fi-re-fla," the national game of both the Shoshone +and Piute tribes. The principle of the game is similar to polo. The +squaws are armed with long sticks, with which they endeavor to carry a +shorter one to the goal. It is a picturesque and novel sight to see the +squaws, dressed in costumes in which the garb of savagery and civilization +is strangely mingled and the many colors of the rainbow are promiscuously +blended, flitting about the field with the agility of a team of professional +polo-players; while the bucks and old squaws, with their pappooses, sit +around and watch the game with unmistakable enthusiasm. The Shoshone +team wins and looks pleased. Here, at Lovelocks, I fall in with one of +those strange and seemingly incongruous characters that are occasionally +met with in the West. He is conversing with a small gathering of Piutes +in their own tongue, and I introduce myself by asking him the probable +age of one of the Indians, whose wrinkled and leathery countenance would +indicate unusual longevity. He tells me the Indian is probably ninety +years old; but the Indians themselves never know their age, as they count +everything by the changes of the moon and the seasons, having no knowledge +whatever of the calendar year. While talking on this subject, imagine +my surprise to hear my informant - who looks as if the Scriptures are the +last thing in the world for him to speak of - volunteer the information +that our venerable and venerated ancestors, the antediluvians, used to +count time in the same way as the Indians, and that instead of Methuselah +being nine hundred and sixty-nine years of age, it ought to be revised +so as to read " nine hundred and sixty-nine moons," which would bring +that ancient and long-lived person-the oldest man that ever lived-down +to the venerable but by no means extraordinary age of eighty years and +nine months. This is the first time I have heard this theory, and my +astonishment at hearing it from the lips of a rough-looking habitue of +the Nevada plains, seated in the midst of a group of illiterate Indians, +can easily be imagined. On, up the Humboldt valley I continue, now riding +over a smooth, alkali flat, and again slavishly trundling through deep +sand, a dozen snowy mountain peaks round about, the Humboldt sluggishly +winding its way through the alkali plain; on past Eye Patch, to the right +of which are more hot springs, and farther on mines of pure sulphur-all +these things, especially the latter, unpleasantly suggestive of a certain +place where the climate is popularly supposed to be uncomfortably warm; +on, past Humboldt + +Station, near which place I wantonly shoot a poor harmless badger, who +peers inquisitively out of his hole as I ride past. There is something +peculiarly pathetic about the actions of a dying badger, and no sooner +has the thoughtless shot sped on its mission of death than I am sorry +for doing it. + +Going out of Mill City next morning I lose the way, and find myself up +near a small mining camp among the mountains south of the railroad. +Thinking to regain the road quickly by going across country through the +sage-brush, I get into a place where that enterprising shrub is go thick +and high that I have to hold the bicycle up overhead to get through. + +At three o'clock in the afternoon I come to a railroad section-house. +At the Chinese bunk-house I find a lone Celestial who, for some reason, +is staying at home. Having had nothing to eat or drink since six o'clock +this morning, I present the Chinaman with a smile that is intended to +win his heathen heart over to any gastronomic scheme I may propose; but +smiles are thrown away on John Chinaman. + +" John, can you fix me up something to eat. " " No; Chinaman no savvy +whi' man eatee; bossee ow on thlack. Chinaman eatee nothing bu' licee +[rice]; no licee cookee." This sounds pretty conclusive; nevertheless I +don't intend to be thus put off so easily. There is nothing particularly +beautiful about a silver half-dollar, but in the almond-shaped eyes of +the Chinaman scenes of paradisiacal loveliness are nothing compared to +the dull surface of a twenty-year-old fifty-cent piece; and the jingle +of the silver coins contains more melody for Chin Chin's unromantic ear +than a whole musical festival. + +" John, I'll give you a couple of two-bit pieces if you'll get me a bite +of something," I persist. John's small, black eyes twinkle at the +suggestion of two-bit pieces, and his expressive countenance assumes a +commerical air as, with a ludicrous change of front, he replies: + +" Wha'. You gib me flore bittee, me gib you bitee eatee. " "That's what +I said, John; and please be as lively as possible about it." + +" All li; you gib me flore bittee me fly you Melican plan-cae." " Yes, +pancakes will do. Go ahead!" + +Visions of pancakes and molasses flit before my hunger-distorted vision +as I sit outside until he gets them ready. In ten minutes John calls me +in. On a tin plate, that looks as if it has just been rescued from a +barrel of soap-grease, reposes a shapeless mass of substance resembling +putty-it is the " Melican plan-cae; " and the Celestial triumphantly +sets an empty box in front of it for me to sit on and extends his greasy +palm for the stipulated price. May the reader never be ravenously hungry +and have to choose between a " Melican plan-cae " and nothing. It is +simply a chunk of tenacious dough, made of flour and water only, and +soaked for a few minutes in warm grease. I call for molasses; he doesn't +know what it is. I inquire for syrup, thinking he may recognize my want +by that name. He brings a jar of thin Chinese catsup, that tastes something +like Limburger cheese smells. I immediately beg of him to take it where +its presumably benign influence will fail to reach me. He produces some +excellent cold tea, however, by the aid of which I manage to "bolt" a +portion of the "plan-cae." One doesn't look for a very elegant spread +for fifty cents in the Sage-brush State; but this "Melican plan-cae" is +the worst fifty-cent meal I ever heard of. + +To-night I stay in Winnemucca, the county seat of Humboldt County, and +quite a lively little town of 1,200 inhabitants. "What'll yer have." +is the first word on entering the hotel, and "Won't yer take a bottle +of whiskey along." is the last word on leaving it next morning. There +are Piutes and Piutes camped at Winnemucca, and in the morning I meet a +young brave on horseback a short distance out of town and let him try +his hand with the bicycle. I wheel him along a few yards and let him +dismount; and then I show him how to mount and invite him to try it +himself. He gallantly makes the attempt, but springs forward with too +much energy, and over he topples, with the bicycle cavorting around on +top of him. This satisfies his aboriginal curiosity, and he smiles and +shakes his head when I offer to swap the bicycle for his mustang. The +road is heavy with sand all along by Winnemucca, and but little riding +is to be done. The river runs through green meadows of rich bottom-land +hereabouts; but the meadows soon disappear as I travel eastward. Twenty +miles east of Winnemucca the river arid railroad pass through the ca¤on +in a low range of mountains, while my route lies over the summit. It is +a steep trundle up the fountains, but from the summit a broad view of +the surrounding country is obtained. The Humboldt River is not a beautiful +stream, and for the greater part of its length it meanders through +alternate stretches of dreary sage-brush plain and low sand-hills, at +long intervals passing through a ca¤on in some barren mountain chain. +But "distance lends enchantment to the view," and from the summit of +the mountain pass even the Humboldt looks beautiful. The sun shines on +its waters, giving it a sheen, and for many a mile its glistening surface +can be seen - winding its serpentine course through the broad, gray-looking +sage and grease-wood plains, while at occasional intervals narrow patches +of green, in striking contrast to the surrounding gray, show where the +hardy mountain grasses venturously endeavor to invade the domains of the +autocratic sagebrush. What is that queer-looking little reptile, half +lizard, half frog, that scuttles about among the rocks. It is different +from anything I have yet seen. Around the back of its neck and along its +sides, and, in a less prominent degree, all over its yellowishgray body, +are small, horn-like protuberances that give the little fellow a very +peculiar appearance. Ah, I know who he is. I have heard of him, and have +seen his picture in books. I am happy to make his acquaintance. He is +"Prickey," the famed horned toad of Nevada. On this mountain spur, between +the Golconda miningcamp and Iron Point, is the only place I have seen +him on the tour. He is a very interesting little creature, more lizard +than frog, perfectly harmless; and his little bead-like eyes are bright +and fascinating as the eyes of a rattlesnake. + +Alkali flats abound, and some splendid riding is to be obtained east of +Iron Point. Just before darkness closes down over the surrounding area +of plain and mountain I reach Stone-House section-house. + +" Yes, I guess we can get you a bite of something; but it will be cold," +is the answer vouchsafed in reply to my query about supper. Being more +concerned these days about the quantity of provisions I can command than +the quality, the prospect of a cold supper arouses no ungrateful emotions. +I would rather have a four-pound loaf and a shoulder of mutton for supper +now than a smaller quantity of extra choice viands; and I manage to +satisfy the cravings of my inner man before leaving the table. But what +about a place to sleep. For some inexplicable reason these people refuse +to grant me even the shelter of their roof for the night. They are not +keeping hotel, they say, which is quite true; they have a right to refuse, +even if it is twenty miles to the next place; and they do refuse. "There's +the empty Chinese bunk-house over there. You can crawl in there, +if you arn't afeerd of ghosts," is the parting remark, as the door closes +and leaves me standing, like an outcast, on the dark, barren plain. + +A week ago this bunk-house was occupied by a gang of Chinese railroaders, +who got to quarrelling among themselves, and the quarrel wound up in +quite a tragic poisoning affair, that resulted in the death of two, and +nearly killed a third. The Chinese are nothing, if not superstitious, +and since this affair no Chinaman would sleep in the bunk-house or work +on this section; consequently the building remains empty. The "spooks" +of murdered Chinese are everything but agreeable company; nevertheless +they are preferable to inhospitable whites, and I walk over to the house +and stretch my weary frame in - for aught I know - the same bunk in which, +but a few days ago, reposed the ghastly corpses of the poisoned Celestials. +Despite the unsavory memories clinging around the place, and my pillowless +and blanketless couch, I am soon in the land of dreams. It is scarcely +presumable that one would be blessed with rosy-hued visions of pleasure +under such conditions, however, and near midnight I awake in a cold +shiver. The snowy mountains rear their white heads up in the silent +night, grim and ghostly all around, and make the midnight air chilly, +even in midsummer. I lie there, trying in vain to doze off again, for +it grows perceptibly cooler. At two o'clock I can stand it no longer, +and so get up and strike out for Battle Mountain, twenty miles ahead. + +The moon has risen; it is two-thirds full, and a more beautiful sight +than the one that now greets my exit from the bunk-house it is scarcely +possible to conceive. Only those who have been in this inter-mountain +country can have any idea of a glorious moonlight night in the clear +atmosphere of this dry, elevated region. It is almost as light as day, +and one can see to ride quite well wherever the road is ridable. The +pale moon seems to fill the whole broad valley with a flood of soft, +silvery light; the peaks of many snowy mountains loom up white and +spectral; the stilly air is broken by the excited yelping of a pack of +coyotes noisily baying the pale-yellow author of all this loveliness, +and the wild, unearthly scream of an unknown bird or animal coming from +some mysterious, undefinable quarter completes an ideal Western picture, +a poem, a dream, that fully compensates for the discomforts of the +preceding hour. The inspiration of this beautiful scene awakes the +slumbering poesy within, and I am inspired to compose a poem-"Moonlight +in the Rockies"-that I expect some day to see the world go into raptures +over! + + +A few miles from the Chinese shanty I pass a party of Indians camped by +the side of my road. They are squatting around the smouldering embers +of a sage-brush fire, sleeping and dozing. I am riding slowly and carefully +along the road that happens to be ridable just here, and am fairly past +them before being seen. As I gradually vanish in the moonlit air I wonder +what they think it was - that strange-looking object that so silently and +mysteriously glided past. It is safe to warrant they think me anything +but flesh and blood, as they rouse each other and peer at my shadowy +form disappearing in the dim distance. + +>From Battle Mountain my route leads across a low alkali bottom, through +which dozens of small streams are flowing to the Humboldt. Many of them +are narrow enough to be jumped, but not with a bicycle on one's shoulder, +for under such conditions there is always a disagreeable uncertainty +that one may disastrously alight before he gets ready. But I am getting +tired of partially undressing to ford streams that are little more than +ditches, every little way, and so I hit upon the novel plan of using the +machine for a vaulting-pole. Beaching it out into the centre of the +stream, I place one hand on the head and the other on the saddle, and +vault over, retaining my hold as I alight on the opposite shore. Pulling +the bicycle out after me, the thing is done. There is no telling to what +uses this two-wheeled "creature" could be put in case of necessity. +Certainly the inventor never expected it to be used for a vaulting-pole +in leaping across streams. Twenty-five miles east of Battle Mountain the +valley of the Humboldt widens into a plain of some size, through which +the river meanders with many a horseshoe curve, and maps out the pot-hooks +and hangers of our childhood days in mazy profusion. Amid these innumerable +curves and counter-curves, clumps of willows and tall blue-joint reeds +grow thickly, and afford shelter to thousands of pelicans, that here +make their homes far from the disturbing presence of man. All unconscious +of impending difficulties, I follow the wagon trail leading through this +valley until I find myself standing on the edge of the river, ruefully +looking around for some avenue by which I can proceed on my way. I am +in the bend of a horseshoe curve, and the only way to get out is to +retrace my footsteps for several miles, which disagreeable performance +I naturally feel somewhat opposed to doing. Casting about me I discover +a couple of old fence-posts that have floated down from the Be-o-wa-we +settlement above and lodged against the bank. I determine to try and +utilize them in getting the machine across the river, which is not over +thirty yards wide at this point. Swimming across with my clothes first, +I tie the bicycle to the fence-posts, which barely keep it from sinking, +and manage to navigate it successfully across. The village of Be-o-wa-we +is full of cowboys, who are preparing for the annual spring round-up. +Whites, Indians, and Mexicans compose the motley crowd. They look a +wild lot, with their bear-skin chaparejos and semi-civilized trappings, +galloping to and fro in and about the village. "I can't spare the time, +or I would," is my slightly un-truthful answer to an invitation to stop +over for the day and have some fun. Briefly told, this latter, with the +cowboy, consists in getting hilariously drunk, and then turning his "pop" +loose at anything that happens to strike his whiskey-bedevilled fancy +as presenting a fitting target. Now a bicycle, above all things, would +intrude itself upon the notice of a cowboy on a " tear" as a peculiar +and conspicuous object, especially if it had a man on it; so after taking +a "smile" with them for good-fellowship, and showing them the modus +operandi of riding the wheel, I consider it wise to push on up the valley. + +Three miles from Be-o-wa-we is seen the celebrated "Maiden's Grave," on +a low hill or bluff by the road-side; and "thereby hangs a tale." In +early days, a party of emigrants were camped near by at Gravelly Ford, +waiting for the waters to subside, so that they could cross the liver, +when a young woman of the party sickened and died. A rudely carved head- +board was set up to mark the spot where she was buried. Years afterward, +when the railroad was being built through here, the men discovered this +rude head-board all alone on the bleak hill-top, and were moved by worthy +sentiment to build a rough stone wall around it to keep off the ghoulish +coyotes; and, later on, the superintendent of the division erected a +large white cross, which now stands in plain view of the railroad. On +one side of the cross is written the simple inscription, "Maiden's +Grave;" on the other, her name, "Lucinda Duncan" Leaving the bicycle +by the road-side, I climb the steep bluff and examine the spot with some +curiosity. There are now twelve other graves beside the original +"Maiden's Grave," for the people of Be-o-wa-we and the surrounding country +have selected this romantic spot on which to inter the remains of their +departed friends. This afternoon I follow the river through Humboldt +Ca¤on in preference to taking a long circuitous route over the mountains. +The first noticeable things about this ca¤on are the peculiar water-marks +plainly visible on the walls, high up above where the water could possibly +rise while its present channels of escape exist unobstructed. It is +thought that the country east of the spur of the Red Range, which stretches +clear across the valley at Be-o-wa-we, and through which the Humboldt +seems to have cut its way, was formerly a lake, and that the water +gradually wore a passage-way for itself through the massive barrier, +leaving only the high-water marks on the mountain sides to tell of the +mighty change. In this ca¤on the rocky walls tower like gigantic +battlements, grim and gloomy on either side, and the seething, boiling +waters of the Humboldt - that for once awakens from its characteristic +lethargy, and madly plunges and splutters over a bed of jagged rocks +which seem to have been tossed into its channel by some Herculean hand - +fill this mighty "rift" in the mountains with a never-ending roar. It has +been threatening rain for the last two hours, and now the first peal of +thunder I have heard on the whole journey awakens the echoing voices of +the ca¤on and rolls and rumbles along the great jagged fissure like an +angry monster muttering his mighty wrath. Peal after peal follow each +other in quick succession, the vigorous, newborn echoes of one peal +seeming angrily to chase the receding voices of its predecessor from +cliff to cliff, and from recess to projection, along its rocky, erratic +course up the ca¤on. Vivid flashes of forked lightning shoot athwart the +heavy black cloud that seems to rest on either wall, roofing the ca¤on +with a ceiling of awful grandeur. Sheets of electric flame light up the +dark, shadowy recesses of the towering rocks as they play along the +ridges and hover on the mountain-tops; while large drops of rain begin +to patter down, gradually increasing with the growing fury of their +battling allies above, until a heavy, drenching downpour of rain and +hail compels me to take shelter under an overhanging rock. At 4 P.M. I +reach Palisade, a railroad village situated in the most romantic spot +imaginable, under the shadows of the towering palisades that hover above +with a sheltering care, as if their special mission were to protect it +from all harm. Evidently these mountains have been rent in twain by an +earthquake, and this great gloomy chasm left open, for one can plainly +see that the two walls represent two halves of what was once a solid +mountain. Curious caves are observed in the face of the cliffs, and one, +more conspicuous than the rest, has been christened "Maggie's Bower," +in honor of a beautiful Scottish maiden who with her parents once lingered +in a neighboring creek-bottom for some time, recruiting their stock. But +all is not romance and beauty even in the glorious palisades of the +Humboldt; for great, glaring, patent-medicine advertisements are painted +on the most conspicuously beautiful spots of the palisades. Business +enterprise is of course to be commended and encouraged; but it is really +annoying that one cannot let his esthetic soul - that is constantly +yearning for the sublime and beautiful - rest in gladsome reflection on +some beautiful object without at the same time being reminded of " corns," +and " biliousness," and all the multifarious evils that flesh is heir +to. + +It grows pitchy dark ere I leave the ca¤on on my way to Carlin. Farther +on, the gorge widens, and thick underbrush intervenes between the road +and the river. From out the brush I see peering two little round +phosphorescent balls, like two miniature moons, turned in my direction. +I wonder what kind of an animal it is, as I trundle along through the +darkness, revolver in hand, ready to defend myself, should it make an +attack. I think it is a mountain-lion, as they seem to be plentiful in +this part of Nevada, Late as it is when I reach Carlin, the "boys" +must see how a bicycle is ridden, and, as there is no other place suitable, +I manage to circle around the pool-table in the hotel bar-room a few +times, nearly scalping myself against the bronze chandelier in the +operation. I hasten, however, to explain that these proceedings took +place immediately after my arrival, lest some worldly wise, over-sagacious +person should be led to suspect them to be the riotous undertakings of +one who had "smiled with the boys once too often." Little riding is +possible all through this section of Nevada, and, in order to complete +the forty miles a day that I have rigorously imposed upon myself, I +sometimes get up and pull out at daylight. It is scarce more than sunrise +when, following the railroad through Five-mile Canon - another rift through +one of the many mountain chains that cross this part of Nevada in all +directions under the general name of the Humboldt Mountains-I meet with +a startling adventure. I am trundling through the ca¤on alongside the +river, when, rounding the sharp curve of a projecting mountain, a tawny +mountain lion is perceived trotting leisurely along ahead of me, not +over a hundred yards in advance. He hasn't seen me yet; he is perfectly +oblivious of the fact that he is in "the presence." A person of ordinary +discretion would simply have revealed his presence by a gentlemanly +sneeze, or a slight noise of any kind, when the lion would have immediately +bolted back into the underbrush. Unable to resist the temptation, I fired +at him, and of course missed him, as a person naturally would at a hundred +yards with a bull-dog revolver. The bullet must have singed him a little +though, for, instead of wildly scooting for the brush, as I anticipated, +he turns savagely round and comes bounding rapidly toward me, and at +twenty paces crouches for a spring. Laying his cat-like head almost on +the ground, his round eyes flashing fire, and his tail angrily waving +to and fro, he looks savage and dangerous. Crouching behind the bicycle, +I fire at him again. Nine times out of ten a person will overshoot the +mark with a revolver under such circumstances, and, being anxious to +avoid this, I do the reverse, and fire too low. The ball strikes the +ground just in front of his head, and throws the sand and gravel in his +face, and perhaps in his wicked round eyes; for he shakes his head, +springs up, and makes off into the brush. I shall shed blood of some +sort yet before I leave Nevada. There isn't a day that I don't shoot at +something or other; and all I ask of any animal is to come within two +hundred yards and I will squander a cartridge on him, and I never fail +to hit the ground. + +At Elko, where I take dinner, I make the acquaintance of an individual, +rejoicing in the sobriquet of "Alkali Bill," who has the largest and +most comprehensive views of any person I ever met. He has seen a paragraph, +something about me riding round the world, and he considerately takes +upon himself the task of summing up the few trifling obstacles that I +shall encounter on the way round: + +"There is only a small rise at Sherman," he rises to explain, " and +another still smaller at the Alleghanies; all the balance is downhill +to the Atlantic. Of course you'll have to 'boat it' across the Frogpond; +then there's Europe - mostly level; so is Asia, except the Himalayas - and +you can soon cross them; then you're all 'hunky,' for there's no mountains +to speak of in China." Evidently Alkali Bill is a person who points the +finger of scorn at small ideas, and leaves the bothersome details of +life to other and smaller-minded folks. In his vast and glorious imagery +he sees a centaur-like cycler skimming like a frigate-bird across states +and continents, scornfully ignoring sandy deserts and bridgeless streams, +halting for nothing but oceans, and only slowing up a little when he +runs up against a peak that bobs up its twenty thousand feet of snowy +grandeur serenely in his path. What a Ceasar is lost to this benighted +world, because in its blindness, it will not search out such men as +Alkali and ask them to lead it onward to deeds of inconceivable greatness. +Alkali Bill can whittle more chips in an hour than some men could in a +week. Much of the Humboldt Valley, through which my road now runs, is +at present flooded from the vast quantities of water that are pouring +into it from the Ruby Range of mountains now visible to the southeast, +and which have the appearance of being the snowiest of any since leaving +the Sierras. Only yesterday I threatened to shed blood before I left +Nevada, and sure enough my prophecy is destined to speedy fulfilment. +Just east of the Osino Ca¤on, and where the North Fork of the Humboldt +comes down from the north and joins the main stream, is a stretch of +swampy ground on which swarms of wild ducks and geese are paddling about. +I blaze away at them, and a poor inoffensive gosling is no more. While +writing my notes this evening, in a room adjoining the "bar" at Halleck, +near the United States fort of the same name, I overhear a boozy soldier +modestly informing his comrades that forty-five miles an hour is no +unusual speed to travel with a bicycle. Gradually I am nearing the source +of the Humboldt, and at the town of Wells I bid it farewell for good. +Wells is named from a group of curious springs near the town. They are +supposed to be extinct volcanoes, now filled with water; and report says +that no sounding-line has yet been found long enough to fathom the bottom. +Some day when some poor, unsuspecting tenderfoot is peering inquisitively +down one of these well-like springs, the volcano may suddenly come into +play again and convert the water into steam that will shoot him clear +up into the moon. These volcanoes may have been soaking in water for +millions of years; but they are not to be trusted on that account; they +can be depended upon to fill some citizen full of lively surprise one +of these days. Everything here is surprising. You look across the desert +and see flowing water and waving trees; but when you get there, with +your tongue hanging out and your fate wellnigh sealed, you are surprised +to find nothing but sand and rocks. You climb a mountain expecting to +find trees and birds' eggs, and you are surprised to find high-water +marks and sea-shells. Finally, you look in the looking-glass and are +surprised to find that the wind and exposure have transformed your nice +blonde complexion to a semi-sable hue that would prevent your own mother +from recognizing you. + +The next day, when nearing the entrance to Moutella Pass, over the Goose +Creek Range, I happen to look across the mingled sagebrush and juniper-spruce +brush to the right, and a sight greets my eyes that causes me to +instinctively look around for a tall tree, though well knowing that there +is nothing of the kind for miles; neither is there any ridable road near, +or I might try my hand at breaking the record for a few miles. Standing +bolt upright on their hind legs, by the side of a clump of juniper-spruce +bushes and intently watching my movements, are a pair of full-grown +cinnamon bears. When a bear sees a man before the man happens to descry +him, and fails to betake himself off immediately, it signifies that he +is either spoiling for a fight or doesn't care a continental password +whether war is declared or not. Moreover, animals recognize the peculiar +advantages of two to one in a fight equally with their human infer! - superiors; +and those two over there are apparently in no particular hurry to move +on. They don't seem awed at my presence. On the contrary, they look +suspiciously like being undecided and hesitative about whether to let +me proceed peacefully on my way or not. Their behavior is outrageous; +they stare and stare and stare, and look quite ready for a fight. I don't +intend one to come off, though, if I can avoid it. I prefer to have it +settled by arbitration. I haven't lost these bears; they aren't mine, +and I don't want anything that doesn't belong to me. I am not covetous; +so, lest I should be tempted to shoot at them if I come within the +regulation two hundred yards, I "edge off" a few hundred yards in the +other direction, and soon have the intense satisfaction of seeing them +stroll off toward the mountains. I wonder if I don't owe my escape on +this occasion to my bicycle. Do the bright spokes glistening in the +sunlight as they revolve make an impression on their bearish intellects +that influences their decision in favor of a retreat. It is perhaps +needless to add that, all through this mountain-pass, I keep a loose eye +busily employed looking out for bears. + +But nothing more of a bearish nature occurs, and the early gloaming finds +me at Tacoma, a village near the Utah boundary line. There is an awful +calamity of some sort hovering over this village. One can feel it in the +air. The habitues of the hotel barroom sit around, listless and glum. +When they speak at all it is to predict all sorts of difficulties for +me in my progress through Utah and Wyoming Territories. "The black gnats +of the Salt Lake mud flat'll eat you clean up," snarls one. "Bear River's +flooding the hull kintry up Weber Ca¤on way," growls another. "The +slickest thing you kin do, stranger, is to board the keers and git out +of this," says a third, in a tone of voice and with an emphasis that +plainly indicates his great disgust at "this." By " this" he means the +village of Tacoma; and he is disgusted with it. They are all disgusted +with it and with the whole world this evening, because Tacoma is "out +of whiskey." Yes, the village is destitute of whiskey; it should have +arrived yesterday, and hasn't shown up yet; and the effect on the society +of the bar-room is so depressing that I soon retire to my couch, to dream +of Utah's strange intermingling of forbidding deserts and beautiful +orchards through which my route now leads me. + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + + + +THROUGH MORMON-LAND AND OVER THE ROCKIES. + +A dreary-looking country is the " Great American Desert," in Utah, the +northern boundary line of which I traverse next morning. To the left +of the road is a low chain of barren hills; to the right, the uninviting +plain, over which one's eye wanders in vain for some green object that +might raise hopes of a less desolate region beyond; and over all hangs +an oppressive silence - the silence of a dead country - a country destitute +of both animal and vegetable life. Over the great desert hangs a smoky +haze, out of which Pilot Peak, thirty-eight miles away, rears its conical +head 2,500 feet above the level plain at its base. + +Some riding is obtained at intervals along this unattractive stretch of +country, but there are no continuously ridable stretches, and the principal +incentive to mount at all is a feeling of disgust at so much compulsory +walking. A noticeable feature through the desert is the almost unquenchable +thirst that the dry saline air inflicts upon one. Reaching a railway +section-house, I find no one at home; but there is a small underground +cistern of imported water, in which "wrigglers " innumerable wriggle, +but which is otherwise good and cool. There is nothing to drink out of, +and the water is three feet from the surface; while leaning down to try +and drink, the wooden framework at the top gives way and precipitates +me head first into the water. Luckily, the tank is large enough to enable +me to turn round and reappear at the surface, head first, and with +considerable difficulty I scramble out again, with, of course, not a dry +thread on me. + +At three in the afternoon I roll into Terrace, a small Mormon town. Here +a rather tough-looking citizen, noticing that my garments are damp, +suggests that 'cycling must be hard work to make a person perspire like +that in this dry climate. At the Matlin section-house I find accommodation +for the night with a whole-souled section-house foreman, who is keeping +bachelor's hall temporarily, as his wife is away on a visit at Ogden. +>From this house, which is situated on the table-land of the Bed Dome +Mountains, can be obtained a more comprehensive view of the Great American +Desert than when we last beheld it. It has all the appearance of being +the dry bed of an ancient salt lake or inland sea. A broad, level plain +of white alkali, which is easily mistaken in the dim distance for smooth, +still water, stretches away like a dead, motionless sea as far as human +vision can penetrate, until lost in the haze; while, here and there, +isolated rocks lift their rugged heads above the dreary level, like +islets out of the sea. It is said there are many evidences that go to +prove this desert to have once been covered by the waters of the great +inland sea that still, in places, laves its eastern borders with its +briny flood. I am informed there are many miles of smooth, hard, salt-flats, +over which a 'cycler could skim like a bird; but I scarcely think enough +of bird-like skimming to go searching for it on the American Desert. A +few miles east of Matlin the road leads over a spur of the Red Dome +Range, from whence I obtain my first view of the Great Salt Lake, and +soon I am enjoying a long-anticipated bath in its briny waters. It is +disagreeably cold, but otherwise an enjoyable bath. One can scarce sink +beneath the surface, so strongly is the water impregnated with salt. For +dinner, I reach Kelton, a town that formerly prospered as the point from +which vast quantities of freight were shipped to Idaho. Scores of huge +freight-wagons are now bunched up in the corrals, having outlived their +usefulness since the innovation from mules and "overland ships " to +locomotives on the Utah Northern Railway. Empty stores and a general air +of vanished prosperity are the main features of Kelton to-day; and the +inhabitants seem to reflect in their persons the aspect of the town; +most of them being freighters, who, finding their occupation gone, hang +listlessly around, as though conscious of being fit for nothing else. +>From Kelton I follow the lake shore, and at six in the afternoon arrive +at the salt-works, near Monument Station, and apply for accommodation, +which is readily given. Here is erected a wind-mill, which pumps the +water from the lake into shallow reservoirs, where it evaporates and +leaves a layer of coarse salt on the bottom. These people drink water +that is disagreeably brackish and unsatisfactory to one unaccustomed to +it, but which they say has become more acceptable to them, from habitual +use, than purely fresh water. This spot, is the healthiest and most +favorable for the prolific production of certain forms of insect life I +ever was in, and I spend the liveliest night here I ever spent anywhere. +These people professed to give me a bed to myself, but no sooner have I +laid my head on the pillow than I recognize the ghastly joke they are +playing on me. The bed is already densely populated with guests, who +naturally object to being ousted or overcrowded. They seem quite a +kittenish and playful lot, rather inclined to accomplish their ends by +playing wild pranks than by resorting to more austere measures. Watching +till I have closed my eyes in an attempt to doze off, they slip up and +playfully tickle me under the chin, or scramble around in my ear, and +anon they wildly chase each other up and down my back, and play leap-frog +and hide-and-go-seek all over my sensitive form, so that I arise in the +morning anything but refreshed from my experience. + +Still following the shores of the lake, for several miles, my road now +leads over the northern spur of the Promontory Mountains. On these hills +I find a few miles of hard gravel that affords the best riding I have +experienced in Utah, and I speed along as rapidly as possible, for dark, +threatening clouds are gathering overhead. But ere I reach the summit +of the ridge a violent thunder-storm breaks over the hills, and I seem +to be verily hobnobbing with the thunder and lightning, that appears to +be round about me, rather than overhead. A troop of wild bronchos, +startled and stampeded by the vivid lightning and sharp peals of thunder, +come wildly charging down the mountain trail, threatening to run quite +over me in their mad career. Pulling my six-shooter, I fire a couple of +shots in the air to attract their attention, when they rapidly swerve +to the left, and go tearing frantically over the rolling hills on their +wild flight to the plains below. + +Most of the rain falls on the plain and in the lake, and when I arrive +at the summit I pause to take a view at the lake and surrounding country. +A more auspicious occasion could scarcely have been presented. The storm +has subsided, and far beneath my feet a magnificent rainbow spans the +plain, and dips one end of its variegated beauty in the sky-blue waters +of the lake. From this point the view to the west and south is truly +grand-rugged, irregular mountain-chains traverse the country at every +conceivable angle, and around among them winds the lake, filling with +its blue waters the intervening spaces, and reflecting, impartially +alike, their grand majestic beauty and their faults. What dreams of +empire and white-winged commerce on this inland sea must fill the mind +and fire the imagery of the newly arrived Mormon convert who, standing +on the commanding summit of these mountains, feasts his eyes on the +glorious panorama of blue water and rugged mountains that is spread like +a wondrous picture before him. Surely, if he be devotionally inclined, +it fails not to recall to his mind another inland sea in far-off Asia +Minor, on whose pebbly shores and by whose rippling waves the cradle of +an older religion than Morrnonism was rocked - but not rocked to sleep. + +Ten miles farther on, from the vantage-ground of a pass over another +spur of the same range, is obtained a widely extended view of the country +to the east. For nearly thirty miles from the base of the mountains, +low, level mud-flats extend eastward, bordered on the south by the marshy, +sinuous shores of the lake, and on the north by the Blue Creek Mountains. +Thirty miles to the east - looking from this distance strangely like flocks +of sheep grazing at the base of the mountains - can be seen the white- +painted houses of the Mormon settlements, that thickly dot the narrow +but fertile strip of agricultural land, between Bear River and the mighty +Wahsatch Mountains, that, rearing their snowy crest skyward, shut out +all view of what lies beyond. From this height the level mud-flats appear +as if one could mount his wheel and bowl across at a ten-mile pace; but +I shall be agreeably surprised if I am able to aggregate ten miles of +riding out of the thirty. Immediately after getting down into the bottom +I make the acquaintance of the tiny black gnats that one of our whiskey- +bereaved friends at Tacoma had warned me against. One's head is constantly +enveloped in a black cloud of these little wretches. They are of +infinitesimal proportions, and get into a person's ears, eyes, and +nostrils, and if one so far forgets himself as to open his mouth, they +swarm in as though they think it the "pearly gates ajar," and this their +last chance of effecting an entrance. Mingled with them, and apparently +on the best of terms, are swarms of mosquitoes, which appear perfect +Jumbos in comparison with their disreputable associates. + +As if partially to recompense me for the torments of the afternoon, Dame +Fortune considerately provides me with two separate and distinct suppers +this evening. I had intended, when I left Promontory Station, to reach +Corinne for the night; consequently I bring a lunch with me, knowing it +will take me till late to reach there. These days, I am troubled with +an appetite that makes me blush to speak of it, and about five o'clock +I sit down - on the bleached skeleton of a defunct mosquito! - and proceed +to eat my lunch of bread and meat - and gnats; for I am quite certain of +eating hundreds of these omnipresent creatures at every bite I take. Two +hours afterward I am passing Quarry section-house, when the foreman +beckons me over and generously invites me to remain over night. He brings +out canned oysters and bottles of Milwaukee beer, and insists on my +helping him discuss these acceptable viands; to which invitation it is +needless to say I yield without extraordinary pressure, the fact of +having eaten two hours before being no obstacle whatever. So much for +'cycling as an aid to digestion. Arriving at Corinne, on Bear River, at +ten o'clock next morning, I am accosted by a bearded, patriarchal Mormon, +who requests me to constitute myself a parade of one, and ride the bicycle +around the town for the edification of the people's minds. + +" In course they knows what a ' perlocefede' is, from seein' 'em in +picturs; but they never seed a real machine, and it'd be a 'hefty' treat +fer 'em,"is the eloquent appeal made by this person in behalf of the +Corinnethians, over whose destinies and happiness he appears to preside +with fatherly solicitude. As the streets of Corinne this morning consist +entirely of black mud of uncertain depth, I am reluctantly compelled to +say the elder nay, at the same time promising him that if he would have +them in better condition next time I happened around, I would willingly +second his brilliant idea of making the people happy by permitting them +a glimpse of my " perlocefede " in action. + +After crossing Bear River I find myself on a somewhat superior road +leading through the Mormon settlements to Ogden. No greater contrast can +well be imagined than that presented by this strip of country lying +between the lake and the "Wahsatch Mountains, and the desert country to +the westward. One can almost fancy himself suddenly transported by some +good genii to a quiet farming community in an Eastern State. Instead of +untamed bronchos and wild-eyed cattle, roaming at their own free will +over unlimited territory, are seen staid work-horses ploughing in the +field, and the sleek milch-cow peacefully cropping tame grass in enclosed +meadows. Birds are singing merrily in the willow hedges and the shade-trees; +green fields of alfalfa and ripening grain line the road and spread +themselves over the surrounding country in alternate squares, like those +of a vast checker-board. Farms, on the average, are small, and, consequently, +houses are thick; and not a farm-house among them all but is embowered +in an orchard of fruit and shade-trees that mingle their green leaves +and white blossoms harmoniously. At noon I roll into a forest of fruit- +trees, among which, I am informed, Willard City is situated; but one can +see nothing of any city. Nothing but thickets of peach, plum, and apple +trees, all in full bloom, surround the spot where I alight and begin to +look around for some indications of the city. "Where is Willard City. " +I inquire of a boy who comes out from one of the orchards carrying a can +of kerosene in his hand, suggestive of having just come from a grocery, +and so he has. " This is Willard City, right here," replies the boy; and +then, in response to my inquiry for the hotel, he points to a small gate +leading into an orchard, and tells me the hotel is in there. + +The hote l -like every other house and store here - is embowered amid an +orchard of blooming fruit-trees, and looks like anything but a public +eating-house. No sign up, nothing to distinguish it from a private +dwelling; and I am ushered into a nicely furnished parlor, on the neatly +papered walls of which hang enlarged portraits of Brigham Young and other +Mormon celebrities, while a large-sized Mormon bible, expensively bound +in morocco, reposes on the centre-table. A charming Miss of -teen summers +presides over a private table, on which is spread for my material benefit +the finest meal I have eaten since leaving California. Such snow-white +bread. Such delicious butter. And the exquisite flavor of "spiced peach- +butter" lingers in my fancy even now; and as if this were not enough +for "two bits" (a fifty per cent, come-down from usual rates in the +mountains), a splendid bouquet of flowers is set on the table to round +off the repast with their grateful perfume. As I enjoy the wholesome, +substantial food, I fall to musing on the mighty chasm that intervenes +between the elegant meal now before me and the "Melican plan-cae " of +two weeks ago. "You have a remarkably pleasant country here, Miss," I +venture to remark to the young lady who has presided over my table, and +whom I judge to be the daughter of the house, as she comes to the door +to see the bicycle. + +"Yes; we have made it pleasant by planting so many orchards," she +answers, demurely. + +"I should think the Mormons ought to be contented, for they possess the +only good piece of farming country between California and 'the States,'" +I blunderingly continued. + +"I never heard anyone say they are not contented, but their enemies," +replies this fair and valiant champion of Mormonism in a voice that shows +she quite misunderstands my meaning. "What I intended to say was, that +the Mormon people are to be highly congratulated on their good sense in +settling here," I hasten to explain; for were I to leave at this house, +where my treatment has been so gratifying, a shadow of prejudice against +the Mormons, I should feel like kicking myself all over the Territory. +The women of the Mormon religion are instructed by the wiseacres of the +church to win over strangers by kind treatment and by the charm of their +conversation and graces; and this young lady has learned the lesson well; +she has graduated with high honors. Coming from the barren deserts of +Nevada and Western Utah - from the land where the irreverent and irrepressible +"Old Timer" fills the air with a sulphurous odor from his profanity +and where nature is seen in its sternest aspect, and then suddenly finding +one's self literally surrounded by flowers and conversing with Beauty +about Religion, is enough to charm the heart of a marble statue. Ogden +is reached for supper, where I quite expect to find a 'cycler or two +(Ogden being a city of eight thousand inhabitants); but the nearest +approach to a bicycler in Ogden is a gentleman who used to belong to a +Chicago club, but who has failed to bring his "wagon" West with him. +Twelve miles of alternate riding and walking eastwardly from Ogden bring +me to the entrance of Weber Canon, through which the Weber River, the +Union Pacific Railroad, and an uncertain wagon-trail make their way +through the Wahsatch Mountains on to the elevated table-lands of Wyoming +Territory. Objects of interest follow each other in quick succession +along this part of the journey, and I have ample time to examine them, +for Weber River is flooding the canon, and in many places has washed +away the narrow space along which wagons are wont to make their way, so +that I have to trundle slowly along the railway track. Now the road turns +to the left, and in a few minutes the rugged and picturesque walls of +the canon are towering in imposing heights toward the clouds. The Weber +River comes rushing - a resistless torrent - from under the dusky shadows +of the mountains through which it runs for over fifty miles, and onward +to the pkin below, where it assumes a more moderate pace, as if conscious +that it has at last escaped from the hurrying turmoil of its boisterous +march down the mountain. + +Advancing into the yawning jaws of the range, a continuously resounding +roar is heard in advance, which gradually becomes louder as I proceed +eastward; in a short time the source of the noise is discovered, and a +weird scene greets my enraptured vision. At a place where the fall is +tremendous, the waters are opposed in their mad march by a rough-and-tumble +collection of huge, jagged rocks, that have at some time detached +themselves from the walls above, and come crashing down into the bed of +the stream. The rushing waters, coming with haste from above, appear to +pounce with insane fury on the rocks that dare thus to obstruct their +path; and then for the next few moments all is a hissing, seething, +roaring caldron of strife, the mad waters seeming to pounce with ever- +increasing fury from one imperturbable antagonist to another, now leaping +clear over the head of one, only to dash itself into a cloud of spray +against another, or pour like a cataract against its base in a persistent, +endless struggle to undermine it; while over all tower the dark, shadowy +rocks, grim witnesses of the battle. This spot is known by the appropriate +name of "The Devil's Gate." Wherever the walls of the canon recede from +the river's brink, and leave a space of cultivable land, there the +industrious Mormons have built log or adobe cabins, and converted the +circumscribed domain into farms, gardens, and orchards. In one of these +isolated settlements I seek shelter from a passing shower at the house +of a "three-ply Mormon " (a Mormon with three wives), and am introduced +to his three separate and distinct better-halves; or, rather, one should +say, " better-quarters," for how can anything have three halves. A +noticeable feature at all these farms is the universal plurality of women +around the house, and sometimes in the field. A familiar scene in any +farming community is a woman out in the field, visiting her husband, or, +perchance, assisting him in his labors. The same thing is observable at +the Mormon settlements along the Weber River - only, instead of one woman, +there are generally two or three, and perhaps yet another standing in +the door of the house. Passing through two tunnels that burrow through +rocky spurs stretching across the canon, as though to obstruct farther +progress, across the river, to the right, is the "Devil's Slide" - two +perpendicular walls of rock, looking strangely like man's handiwork, +stretching in parallel lines almost from base to summit of a sloping, +grass-covered mountain. The walls are but a dozen feet apart. It is a +curious phenomenon, but only one among many that are scattered at intervals +all through here. A short distance farther, and I pass the famous +"Thousand-mile Tree" - a rugged pine, that stands between the railroad and +the river, and which has won renown by springing up just one thousand +miles from Omaha. This tree is having a tough struggle for its life these +days; one side of its honored trunk is smitten as with the leprosy. The +fate of the Thousand-mile Tree is plainly sealed. It is unfortunate in +being the most conspicuous target on the line for the fe-ro-ci-ous youth +who comes West with a revolver in his pocket and shoots at things from +the car-window. Judging from the amount of cold lead contained in that +side of its venerable trunk next the railway few of these thoughtless +marksmen go past without honoring it with a shot. Emerging from "the +Narrows" of Weber Canon, the route follows across a less contracted +space to Echo City, a place of two hundred and twenty-five inhabitants, +mostly Mormons, where I remain over-night. The hotel where I put up at +Echo is all that can be desired, so far as "provender" is concerned; +but the handsome and picturesque proprietor seems afflicted with sundry +eccentric habits, his leading eccentricity being a haughty contempt for +fractional currency. Not having had the opportunity to test him, it is +difficult to say whether this peculiarity works both ways, or only when +the change is due his transient guests. However, we willingly give him +the benefit of the doubt. + +Heavily freighted rain-clouds are hovering over the mountains next morning +and adding to the gloominess of the gorge, which, just east of Echo City, +contracts again and proceeds eastward under the name of Echo Gorge. +Turning around a bold rocky projection to the left, the far-famed +"Pulpit Rock" towers above, on which Brigham Young is reported to have +stood and preached to the Mormon host while halting over Sunday at this +point, during their pilgrimage to their new home in the Salt Lake Valley +below. Had the redoubtable prophet turned "dizzy " while haranguing his +followers from the elevated pinnacle of his novel pulpit, he would at +least have died a more romantic death than he is accredited with - from +eating too much green corn. + +Fourteen miles farther brings me to "Castle Rocks," a name given to the +high sandstone bluffs that compose the left-hand side of the canon at +this point, and which have been worn by the elements into all manner of +fantastic shapes, many of them calling to mind the towers and turrets +of some old-world castle so vividly, that one needs but the pomp and +circumstance of old knight-errant days to complete the illusion. But, +as one gazes with admiration on these towering buttresses of nature, it +is easy to realize that the most massive and imposing feudal castle, or +ramparts built with human hands, would look like children's toys beside +them. The weather is cool and bracing, and when, in the middle of the +afternoon, I reach Evanston, Wyo. Terr., too late to get dinner at the +hotel, I proceed to devour the contents of a bakery, filling the proprietor +with boundless astonishment by consuming about two-thirds of his stock. +When I get through eating, he bluntly refuses to charge anything, +considering himself well repaid by having witnessed the most extraordinary +gastronomic feat on record - the swallowing of two-thirds of a bakery. +Following the trail down Yellow Creek, I arrive at Hilliard after dark. +The Hilliardites are "somewhat seldom," but they are made of the right +material. The boarding-house landlady sets about preparing me supper, +late though it be; and the "boys" extend me a hearty invitation to turn +in with them for the night. Here at Hilliard is a long V-shaped flume, +thirty miles long, in which telegraph poles, ties, and cord wood are +floated down to the railroad from the pineries of the Uintah Mountains, +now plainly visible to the south. The "boys" above referred to are men +engaged in handling ties thus floated down; and sitting around the red-hot +stove, they make the evening jolly with songs and yarns of tie-drives, +and of wild rides down the long "V" flume. A happy, light-hearted set +of fellows are these "tie-men," and not an evening but their rude shanty +resounds with merriment galore. Fun is in the air to-night, and "Beaver" +(so dubbed on account of an unfortunate tendency to fall into every +hole of water he goes anywhere near) is the unlucky wight upon whom the +rude witticisms concentrate; for he has fallen into the water again to- +day, and is busily engaged in drying his clothes by the stove. They +accuse him of keeping up an uncomfortably hot fire, detrimental to +everybody's comfort but his own, and threaten him with dire penalties +if he doesn't let the room cool off; also broadly hinting their disapproval +of his over-fondness for "Adam's ale," and threaten to make him "set +'em up" every time he tumbles in hereafter. In revenge for these remarks, +"Beaver" piles more wood into the stove, and, with many a westernism +- not permitted in print - threatens to keep up a fire that will drive them +all out of the shanty if they persist in their persecutions. Crossing +next day the low, broad pass over the Uintah Mountains, some stretches +of ridable surface are passed over, and at this point I see the first +band of antelope on the tour; but as they fail to come within the +regulation two hundred yards they are graciously permitted to live. + +At Piedmont Station I decide to go around by way of Port Bridger and +strike the direct trail again at Carter Station, twentyfour miles farther +east. + +A tough bit of Country. The next day at noon finds me "tucked in my +little bed" at Carter, decidedly the worse for wear, having experienced +the toughest twenty-four hours of the entire journey. I have to ford no +less than nine streams of ice-cold water; get benighted on a rain-soaked +adobe plain, where I have to sleep out all night in an abandoned freight- +wagon; and, after carrying the bicycle across seven miles of deep, sticky +clay, I finally arrive at Carter, looking like the last sad remnant of +a dire calamity - having had nothing to eat for twenty-four hours. From +Carter my route leads through the Bad-Lands, amid buttes of mingled clay +and rock, which the elements have worn into all conceivable shapes, and +conspicuous among them can be seen, to the south, "Church Buttes," so +called from having been chiselled by the dexterous hand of nature into +a group of domes and pinnacles, that, from a distance, strikingly resembles +some magnificent cathedral. High-water marks are observable on these +buttes, showing that Noah's flood, or some other aqueous calamity once +happened around here; and one can easily imagine droves of miserable, +half-clad Indians, perched on top, looking with doleful, melancholy +expression on the surrounding wilderness of waters. Arriving at Granger, +for dinner, I find at the hotel a crest-fallen state of affairs somewhat +similar to the glumness of Tacoma. Tacoma had plenty of customers, but +no whiskey; Granger on the contrary has plenty of whiskey, but no +customers. The effect on that marvellous, intangible something, the +saloon proprietor's intellect, is the same at both places. Here is plainly +a new field of research for some ambitious student of psychology. Whiskey +without customers. Customers without whiskey. Truly all is vanity and +vexation of spirit. + +Next day I pass the world-renowned castellated rocks of Green River, and +stop for the night at Rock Springs, where the Union Pacific Railway +Company has extensive coal mines. On calling for my bill at the hotel +here, next morning, the proprietor - a corpulent Teuton, whose thoughts, +words, and actions, run entirely to beer - replies, "Twenty-five cents a +quart." Thinking my hearing apparatus is at fault, I inquire again. +"Twenty-five cents a quart and vurnish yer own gan." The bill is abnormally +large, but, as I hand over the amount, a "loaded schooner" is shoved +under my nose, as though a glass of beer were a tranquillizing antidote +for all the ills of life. Splendid level alkali flats abound east of +Rock Springs, and I bowl across them at a lively pace until they terminate, +and my route follows up Bitter Creek, where the surface is just the +reverse; being seamed and furrowed as if it had just emerged from a +devastating flood. It is said that the teamster who successfully navigated +the route up Bitter Creek, considered himself entitled to be called "a +tough cuss from Bitter Creek, on wheels, with a perfect education." A +justifiable regard for individual rights would seem to favor my own +assumption of this distinguished title after traversing the route with +a bicycle. Ten o'clock next morning finds me leaning on my wheel, surveying +the scenery from the "Continental Divide" - the backbone of the continent. +Pacing the north, all waters at my right hand flow to the east, and all +on my left flow to the west - the one eventually finding their way to the +Atlantic, the other to the Pacific. This spot is a broad low pass through +the Rockies, more plain than mountain, but from which a most commanding +view of numerous mountain chains are obtained. To the north and northwest +are the Seminole, Wind River, and Sweet-water ranges - bold, rugged mountain- +chains, filling the landscape of the distant north with a mass of great, +jagged, rocky piles, grand beyond conception; their many snowy peaks +peopling the blue ethery space above with ghostly, spectral forms well +calculated to inspire with feelings of awe and admiration a lone cycler, +who, standing in silence and solitude profound on the great Continental +Divide, looks and meditates on what he sees. Other hoary monarchs are +visible to the east, which, however, we shall get acquainted with later +on. Down grade is the rule now, and were there a good road, what an +enjoyable coast it would be, down from the Continental Divide! but half +of it has to be walked. About eighteen miles from the divide I am greatly +amused, and not a little astonished, at the strange actions of a coyote +that comes trotting in a leisurely, confidential way toward me; and when +he reaches a spot commanding a good view of my road he stops and watches +my movements with an air of the greatest inquisitiveness and assurance. +He stands and gazes as I trundle along, not over fifty yards away, and +he looks so much like a well-fed collie, that I actually feel like patting +my knee for him to come and make friends. Shoot at him . Certainly not. +One never abuses a confidence like that. He can come and rub his sleek +coat up against the bicycle if he likes, and - blood-thirsty rascal though +he no doubt is - I will never fire at him. He has as much right to gaze +in astonishment at a bicycle as anybody else who never saw one before. + +Staying over night and the next day at Rawlins, I make the sixteen miles +to Port Fred Steele next morning before breakfast, there bein" a very +good road between the two places. This fort stands on the west bank of +North Platte River, and a few miles west of the river I ride through the +first prairie dog town encountered in crossing the continent from the +west, though I shall see plenty of these interesting little fellows +during the next three hundred miles. These animals sit near their holes +and excitedly bark at whatever goes past. Never before have they had an +opportunity to bark at a bicycle, and they seem to be making the most +of their opportunity. I see at this village none of the small speckled +owls, which, with the rattlesnake, make themselves so much at home in +the prairie-dogs' comfortable quarters, but I see them farther east. +These three strangely assorted companions may have warm affections toward +each other; but one is inclined to think the great bond of sympathy that +binds them together is the tender regard entertained by the owl and the +rattlesnake for the nice, tender young prairie-pups that appear at +intervals to increase the joys and cares of the elder animals. + +I am now getting on to the famous Laramie Plains, and Elk Mountain looms +up not over ten miles to the south - a solid, towery mass of black rocks +and dark pine forests, that stands out bold and distinct from surrounding +mountain chains as though some animate thing conscious of its own strength +and superiority. A snow-storm is raging on its upper slopes, obscuring +that portion of the mountain; but the dark forest-clad slopes near the +base are in plain view, and also the rugged peak which elevates its white +crowned head above the storm, and reposes peacefully in the bright +sunlight in striking contrast to the warring elements lower down. I have +heard old hunters assert that this famous "landmark of the Rockies" +is hollow, and that they have heard wolves howling inside the mountain; +but some of these old western hunters see and hear strange things! + +As I penetrate the Laramie Plains the persistent sage-brush, that has +constantly hovered around my path for the last thousand miles, grows +beautifully less, and the short, nutritious buffalo-grass is creeping +everywhere. In Carbon, where I arrive after dark, I mention among other +things in reply to the usual volley of questions, the fact of having to +foot it so great a proportion of the way through the mountain country; +and shortly afterward, from among a group of men, I hear a voice, thick +and husky with "valley tan," remark: " Faith, Oi cud roide a bicycle +meself across the counthry av yeez ud lit me walluk it afut!" and +straightway a luminous bunch of shamrocks dangled for a brief moment in +the air, and then vanished. After passing Medicine Bow Valley and Como +Lake I find some good ridable road, the surface being hard gravel and +the plains high and dry. Reaching the brow of one of those rocky ridges +that hereabouts divide the plains into so many shallow basins, I find +myself suddenly within a few paces of a small herd of antelope peacefully +grazing on the other side of the narrow ridge, all unconscious of the +presence of one of creation's alleged proud lords. My ever-handy revolver +rings out clear and sharp on the mountain air, and the startled antelope +go bounding across the plain in a succession of quick, jerky jumps +peculiar to that nimble animal; but ere they have travelled a hundred +yards one of them lags behind and finally staggers and lays down on the +grass. As I approach him he makes a gallant struggle to rise and make +off after his companions, but the effort is too much for him, and coming +up to him, I quickly put him out of pain by a shot behind the ear. This +makes a proud addition to my hitherto rather small list of game, which +now comprises jack-rabbits, a badger, a fierce gosling, an antelope, and +a thin, attenuated coyote, that I bowled over in Utah. + +>From this ridge an extensive view of the broad, billowy plains and +surrounding mountains is obtained. Elk Mountain still seems close at +hand, its towering form marking the western limits of the Medicine Bow +Range whose dark pine-clad slopes form the western border of the plains. +Back of them to the west is the Snowy Range, towering in ghostly grandeur +as far above the timber-clad summits of the Medicine Bow Range as these +latter are above the grassy plains at their base. To the south more snowy +mountains stand out against the sky like white tracery on a blue ground, +with Long's Peak and Fremont's Peak towering head and shoulders above +them all. The Rattlesnake Range, with Laramie Peak rearing its ten +thousand feet of rugged grandeur to the clouds, are visible to the north. +On the east is the Black Hills Range, the last chain of the Rockies, and +now the only barrier intervening between me and the broad prairies that +roll away eastward to the Missouri River and "the States." + +A genuine Laramie Plains rain-storm is hovering overhead as I pull out +of Rock Creek, after dinner, and in a little while the performance begins. +There is nothing of the gentle pattering shower about a rain and wind +storm on these elevated plains; it comes on with a blow and a bluster +that threatens to take one off his feet. The rain is dashed about in the +air by the wild, blustering wind, and comes from all directions at the +same time. While you are frantically hanging on to your hat, the wind +playfully unbuttons your rubber coat and lifts it up over your head and +flaps the wet, muddy corners about in your face and eyes; and, ere you +can disentangle your features from the cold uncomfortable embrace of the +wet mackintosh, the rain - which "falls" upward as well as down, and +sidewise, and every other way-has wet you through up as high as the +armpits; and then the gentle zephyrs complete your discomfiture by +purloining your hat and making off across the sodden plain with it, at +a pace that defies pursuit. The storm winds up in a pelting shower of +hailstones - round chunks of ice that cause me to wince whenever one makes +a square hit, and they strike the steel spokes of the bicycle and make +them produce harmonious sounds. Trundling through Cooper Lake Basin, +after dark, I get occasional glimpses of mysterious shadowy objects +flitting hither and thither through the dusky pall around me. The basin +is full of antelope, and my presence here in the darkness fills them +with consternation; their keen scent and instinctive knowledge of a +strange presence warn them of my proximity; and as they cannot see me +in the darkness they are flitting about in wild alarm. Stopping for the +night at Lookout, I make an early start, in order to reach Laramie City +for dinner. These Laramie Plains "can smile and look pretty" when they +choose, and, as I bowl along over a fairly good road this sunny Sunday +morning, they certainly choose. The Laramie River on my left, the Medicine +Bow and Snowy ranges - black and white respectively - towering aloft to the +right, and the intervening plains dotted with herds of antelope, complete +a picture that can be seen nowhere save on the Laramie Plains. Reaching +a swell of the plains, that almost rises to the dignity of a hill, I can +see the nickel-plated wheels of the Laramie wheelmen glistening in the +sunlight on the opposite side of the river several miles from where I +stand. They have come out a few miles to meet me, but have taken the +wrong side of the river, thinking I had crossed below Rock Creek. The +members of the Laramie Bicycle Club are the first wheelmen I have seen +since leaving California; and, as I am personally acquainted at Laramie, +it is needless to dwell on my reception at their hands. The rambles of +the Laramie Club are well known to the cycling world from the many +interesting letters from the graphic pen of their captain, Mr. Owen, +who, with two other members, once took a tour on their wheels to the +Yellowstone National Park. They have some very good natural roads around +Laramie, but in their rambles over the mountains these "rough riders of +the Rockies" necessarily take risks that are unknown to their fraternal +brethren farther east. + +Tuesday morning I pull out to scale the last range that separates me +from "the plains" - popularly known as such - and, upon arriving at the +summit, I pause to take a farewell view of the great and wonderful inter- +mountain country, across whose mountains, plains, and deserts I have +been travelling in so novel a manner for the last month. The view from +where I stand is magnificent - ay, sublime beyond human power to describe - +and well calculated to make an indelible impression on the mind of one gazing +upon it, perhaps for the last time. The Laramie Plains extend northward +and westward, like a billowy green sea. Emerging from a black canon +behind Jelm Mountain, the Laramie River winds its serpentine course in +a northeast direction until lost to view behind the abutting mountains +of the range, on which I now stand, receiving tribute in its course from +the Little Laramie and numbers of smaller streams that emerge from the +mountainous bulwarks forming the western border of the marvellous picture +now before me. The unusual rains have filled the numberless depressions +of the plains with ponds and lakelets that in their green setting glisten +and glimmer in the bright morning sunshine like gems. A train is coming +from the west, winding around among them as if searching out the most +beautiful, and finally halts at Laramie City, which nestles in their +midst - the fairest gem of them all - the "Gem of the Rockies." Sheep +Mountain, the embodiment of all that is massive and indestructible, juts boldly +and defiantly forward as though its mission were to stand guard over all +that lies to the west. The Medicine Bow Eange is now seen to greater +advantage, and a bald mountain-top here and there protrudes above the +dark forests, timidly, as if ashamed of its nakedness. Our old friend, +Elk Mountain, is still in view, a stately and magnificent pile, serving +as a land-mark for a hundred miles around. Beyond all this, to the west +and south - a good hundred miles away - are the snowy ranges; their hoary +peaks of glistening purity penetrating the vast blue dome above, like +monarchs in royal vestments robed. Still others are seen, white and +shadowy, stretching away down into Colorado, peak beyond peak, ridge +beyond ridge, until lost in the impenetrable distance. + +As I lean on my bicycle on this mountain-top, drinking in the glorious +scene, and inhaling the ozone-laden air, looking through the loop-holes +of recent experiences in crossing the great wonderland to the west; its +strange intermingling of forest-clad hills and grassy valleys; its barren, +rocky mountains and dreary, desolate plains; its vast, snowy solitudes +and its sunny, sylvan nooks; the no less strange intermingling of people; +the wandering red-skin with his pathetic history; the feverishly hopeful +prospector, toiling and searching for precious metals locked in the +eternal hills; and the wild and free cow-boy who, mounted on his wiry +bronco, roams these plains and mountains, free as the Arab of the desert - +I heave a sigh as I realize that no tongue or pen of mine can hope to do +the subject justice. + +My road is now over Cheyenne Pass, and from this point is mostly down-grade +to Cheyenne. Soon I come to a naturally smooth granite surface which +extends for twelve miles, where I have to keep the brake set most of the +distance, and the constant friction heats the brake-spoon and scorches +the rubber tire black. To-night I reach Cheyenne, where I find a bicycle +club of twenty members, and where the fame of my journey from San Francisco +draws such a crowd on the corner where I alight, that a blue-coated +guardian of the city's sidewalks requests me to saunter on over to the +hotel. Do I. Yes, I saunter over. The Cheyenne "cops" are bold, bad men +to trifle with. They have to be "bold, bad men to trifle with," or the +wild, wicked cow-boys would come in and "paint the city red " altogether +too frequently. It is the morning of June 4th as I bid farewell to the +"Magic City," and, turning my back to the mountains, ride away over very +fair roads toward the rising sun. I am not long out before meeting with +that characteristic feature of a scene on the Western plains, a "prairie +schooner;" and meeting prairie schooners will now be a daily incident +of my eastward journey. Many of these "pilgrims" come from the backwoods +of Missouri and Arkansas, or the rural districts of some other Western +State, where the persevering, but at present circumscribed, cycler has +not yet had time to penetrate, and the bicycle is therefore to them a +wonder to be gazed at and commented on, generally - it must be admitted - +in language more fluent as to words than in knowledge of the subject +discussed. Not far from where the trail leads out of Crow Creek bottom +on to the higher table-land, I find the grassy plain smoother than the +wagon-trail, and bowl along for a short distance as easily as one could +wish. But not for long is this permitted; the ground becomes covered +with a carpeting of small, loose cacti that stick to the rubber tire +with the clinging tenacity of a cuckle-burr to a mule's tail. Of course +they scrape off again as they come round to the bridge of the fork, but +it isn't the tire picking them up that fills me with lynx-eyed vigilance +and alarm; it is the dreaded possibility of taking a header among these +awful vegetables that unnerves one, starts the cold chills chasing each +other up and down my spinal column, and causes staring big beads of +perspiration to ooze out of my forehead. No more appalling physical +calamity on a small scale could befall a person than to take a header +on to a cactus-covered greensward; millions of miniature needles would +fill his tender hide with prickly sensations, and his vision with floating +stars. It would perchance cast clouds of gloom over his whole life. +Henceforth he would be a solemn-visaged, bilious-eyed needle-cushion +among men, and would never smile again. I once knew a young man named +Whipple, who sat down on a bunch of these cacti at a picnic in Virginia +Dale, Wyo., and he never smiled again. Two meek-eyed maidens of the +Rockies invited him to come and take a seat between them on a thin, +innocuous-looking layer of hay. Smilingly poor, unsuspecting Whipple +accepted the invitation; jokingly he suggested that it would be a rose +between two thorns. But immediately he sat down he became convinced that +it was the liveliest thorn - or rather millions of thorns - between two +roses. Of course the two meek-eyed maidens didn't know it was there, how +should they. But, all the same, he never smiled again - not on them. + +At the section-house, where I call for dinner, I make the mistake of +leaving the bicycle behind the house, and the woman takes me for an +uncommercial traveller - yes, a tramp. She snaps out, "We can't feed +everybody that comes along," and shuts the door in my face. Yesterday I +was the centre of admiring crowds in the richest city of its size in +America; to-day I am mistaken for a hungry-eyed tramp, and spurned from +the door by a woman with a faded calico dress and a wrathy what - are? +look in her eye. Such is life in the Far West. + +Gradually the Rockies have receded from my range of vision, and I am +alone on the boundless prairie. There is a feeling of utter isolation +at finding one's self alone on the plains that is not experienced in the +mountain country. There is something tangible and companionable about a +mountain; but here, where there is no object in view anywhere - nothing +but the boundless, level plains, stretching away on every hand as far +as the eye can reach, I and all around, whichever way one looks, nothing +but the green carpet below and the cerulean arch above-one feels that +he is the sole occupant of a vast region of otherwise unoccupied space. +This evening, while fording Pole Creek with the bicycle, my clothes, and +shoes - all at the same time - the latter fall in the river; and m my wild +scramble after the shoes I drop some of the clothes; then I drop the +machine in my effort to save the clothes, and wind up by falling down +in the water with everything. Everything is fished out again all right, +but a sad change has come over the clothes and shoes. This morning I was +mistaken for a homeless, friendless wanderer; this evening as I stand +on the bank of Pole Creek with nothing over me but a thin mantle of +native modesty, and ruefully wring the water out of my clothes, I feel +considerably like one. Pine Bluffs provides me with shelter for the +night, and a few miles' travel next morning takes me across the boundary-line +into Nebraska My route leads down Pole Creek, with ridable roads probably +half the distance, and low, rocky bluffs lining both sides of the narrow +valley, and leading up to high, rolling prairie beyond. Over these rocky +bluffs the Indians were wont to stampede herds of buffalo, which falling +over the precipitous bluffs, would be killed by hundreds, thus procuring +an abundance of beef for the long winter. There are no buffalo here now +- they have departed with the Indians - and I shall never have a chance to +add a bison to my game-list on this tour. But they have left plenty of +tangible evidence behind, in the shape of numerous deeply worn trails +leading from the bluffs to the creek. + +The prairie hereabouts is spangled with a wealth of divers-colored flowers +that fill the morning air with gratifying perfume. The air is soft and +balmy, in striking contrast to the chilly atmosphere of early morning +in the mountain country, where the accumulated snows of a thousand winters +exert their chilling influence in opposition to the benign rays of old +Sol. This evening I pass through "Prairie-dog City," the largest +congregation of prairie-dog dwellings met with on the tour. The "city" +covers hundreds of acres of ground, and the dogs come out in such +multitudes to present their noisy and excitable protests against my +intrusion, that I consider myself quite justified in shooting at them. +I hit one old fellow fair and square, but he disappears like a flash +down his hole, which now becomes his grave. The lightning-like movements +of the prairie-dog, and his instinctive inclination toward his home, +combine to perform the last sad rites of burial for his body at death. +As, toward dark, I near Potter Station, where I expect accommodation for +the night, a storm comes howling from the west, and it soon resolves +into a race between me and the storm. With a good ridable road I could +win the race; but, being handicapped with an unridable trail, nearly +obscured beneath tall, rank grass, the storm overtakes me, and comes in +at Potter Station a winner by about three hundred lengths. + +In the morning I start out in good season, and, nearing Sidney, the road +becomes better, and I sweep into that enterprising town at a becoming +pace. I conclude to remain at Sidney for dinner, and pass the remainder +of the forenoon visiting the neighboring fort. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + + + +FROM THE GREAT PLAINS TO THE ATLANTIC. + +Through the courtesy of the commanding officer at Fort Sidney I am enabled +to resume my journey eastward under the grateful shade of a military +summer helmet in lieu of the semi-sombrero slouch that has lasted me +through from San Francisco. Certainly it is not without feelings of +compunction that one discards an old friend, that has gallantly stood +by me through thick and thin throughout the eventful journey across the +inter-mountain country; but the white helmet gives such a delightfully +imposing air to my otherwise forlorn and woebegone figure that I ride +out of Sidney feeling quite vain. The first thing done is to fill a poor +yellow-spotted snake - whose head is boring in the sand - with lively +surprise, by riding over his mottled carcass; and only the fact of the +tire being rubber, and not steel, enables him to escape unscathed. This +same evening, while halting for the night at Lodge Pole Station, the +opportunity of observing the awe-inspiring aspect of a great thunder-storm +on the plains presents itself. With absolutely nothing to obstruct the. +vision the Alpha and Omega of the whole spectacle are plainly observable. +The gradual mustering of the forces is near the Rockies to the westward, +then the skirmish-line of fleecy cloudlets comes rolling and tumbling +in advance, bringing a current of air that causes the ponderous wind-mill +at the railway tank to "about face" sharply, and sets its giant arms +to whirling vigorously around. Behind comes the compact, inky veil that +spreads itself over the whole blue canopy above, seemingly banishing all +hope of the future; and athwart its Cimmerian surface shoot zigzag streaks +of lightning, accompanied by heavy, muttering thunder that rolls and +reverberates over the boundless plains seemingly conscious of the +spaciousness of its play-ground. Broad sheets of electric flame play +along the ground, filling the air with a strange, unnatural light; heavy, +pattering raindrops begin to fall, and, ten minutes after, a pelting, +pitiless down-pour is drenching the sod-cabin of the lonely rancher, +and, for the time being, converting the level plain into a shallow lake. +A fleet of prairie schooners is anchored in the South Platte bottom, +waiting for it to dry up, as I trundle down that stream - every mile made +interesting by reminiscences of Indian fights and massacres - next day, +toward Ogallala; and one of the "Pilgrims" looks wise as I approach, +and propounds the query, "Does it hev ter git very muddy afore yer kin +ride yer verlocify, mister?" "Ya-as, purty dog-goned muddy," I drawl +out in reply; for, although comprehending his meaning, I don't care to +venture into an explanatory lecture of uncertain length. Seven weeks' +travel through bicycleless territory would undoubtedly convert an angel +into a hardened prevaricator, so far as answering questions is concerned. +This afternoon is passed the first homestead, as distinguished from a +ranch-consisting of a small tent pitched near a few acres of newly +upturned prairie - in the picket-line of the great agricultural empire +that is gradually creeping westward over the plains, crowding the +autocratic cattle-kings and their herds farther west,. even as the Indians +and their still greater herds - buffaloes - have been crowded out by the +latter. At Ogallala--which but a few years ago was par excellence the +cow-boys' rallying point - "homesteads," "timber claims," and "pre-emption" +now form the all-absorbing topic. "The Platte's 'petered' since the +hoosiers have begun to settle it up," deprecatingly reflects a bronzed +cow-boy at the hotel supper-table; and, from his standpoint, he is +correct. Passing the next night in the dug-out of a homesteader, in the +forks of the North and South Platte, I pass in the morning Buffalo Bill's +home ranch (the place where a ranch proprietor himself resides is +denominated the "home ranch" as distinctive from a ranch presided over +by employes only), the house and improvements of which are said to be +the finest in Western Nebraska. Taking dinner at North Platte City, I +cross over a substantial wagon-bridge, spanning the turgid yellow stream +just below where the north and south branches fork, and proceed eastward +as " the Platte " simply, reaching Brady Island for the night. Here I +encounter extraordinary difficulties in getting supper. Four families, +representing the Union Pacific force at this place, all living in separate +houses, constitute the population of Brady Island. "All our folks are +just recovering from the scarlet fever," is the reply to my first +application; "Muvver's down to ve darden on ve island, and we ain't dot +no bread baked," says a barefooted youth at house No. 2; "Me ould ooman's +across ter the naybur's, 'n' there ain't a boite av grub cooked in the +shanty," answers the proprietor of No. 3, seated on the threshold, puffing +vigorously at the traditional short clay; "We all to Nord Blatte been +to veesit, und shust back ter home got mit notings gooked," winds up the +gloomy programme at No. 4. I am hesitating about whether to crawl in +somewhere, supperless, for the night, or push on farther through the +darkness, when, "I don't care, pa! it's a shame for a stranger to come +here where there are four families and have to go without supper," greet +my ears in a musical, tremulous voice. It is the convalescent daughter +of house No. 1, valiantly championing my cause; and so well does she +succeed that her "pa" comes out, and notwithstanding my protests, insists +on setting out the best they have cooked. Homesteads now become more +frequent, groves of young cottonwoods, representing timber claims, are +occasionally encountered, and section-house accommodation becomes a thing +of the past. + +Near Willow Island I come within a trifle of stepping on a belligerent +rattlesnake, and in a moment his deadly fangs are hooked to one of the +thick canvas gaiters I am wearing. Were my exquisitely outlined calves +encased in cycling stockings only, I should have had a "heap sick foot" +to amuse myself with for the next three weeks, though there is little +danger of being "snuffed out" entirely by a rattlesnake favor these +days; an all-potent remedy is to drink plenty of whiskey as quickly as +possible after being bitten, and whiskey is one of the easiest things +to obtain in the West. Giving his snakeship to understand that I don't +appreciate his ''good intentions " by vigorously shaking him off, I +turn my "barker "loose on him, and quickly convert him into a "goody-good +snake; " for if "the only good Indian is a dead one," surely the same +terse remark applies with much greater force to the vicious and deadly +rattler. As I progress eastward, sod-houses and dug-outs become less +frequent, and at long intervals frame school-houses appear to remind me +that I am passing through a civilized country. Stretches of sand alternate +with ridable roads all down the Platte. Often I have to ticklishly wobble +along a narrow space between two yawning ruts, over ground that is +anything but smooth. I consider it a lucky day that passes without adding +one or more to my long and eventful list of headers, and to-day I am +fairly "unhorsed" by a squall of wind that-taking me unawares-blows +me and the bicycle fairly over. + +East of Plum Creek a greater proportion of ridable road is encountered, +but they still continue to be nothing more than well-worn wagon-trails +across the prairie, and when teams are met en route westward one has to +give and the other take, in order to pass. It is doubtless owing to +misunderstanding a cycler's capacities, rather than ill-nature, that +makes these Western teamsters oblivious to the precept, "It is better +to give than to receive;" and if ignorance is bliss, an outfit I meet +to-day ought to comprise the happiest mortals in existence. Near Elm +Creek I meet a train of "schooners," whose drivers fail to recognize +my right to one of the two wheel-tracks; and in my endeavor to ride past +them on the uneven greensward, I am rewarded by an inglorious header. A +dozen freckled Arkansawish faces are watching my movements with undisguised +astonishment; and when my crest - alien self is spread out on the prairie, +these faces - one and all - resolve into expansive grins, and a squeaking +female voice from out nearest wagon, pipes: "La me! that's a right smart +chance of a travelling machine, but, if that's the way they stop 'em, I +wonder they don't break every blessed bone in their body." But all sorts +of people are mingled promiscuously here, for, soon after this incident, +two young men come running across the prairie from a semi-dug-out, who +prove to be college graduates from "the Hub," who are rooting prairie +here in Nebraska, preferring the free, independent life of a Western +farmer to the restraints of a position at an Eastern desk. They are more +conversant with cycling affairs than myself, and, having heard of my +tour, have been on the lookout, expecting I would pass this way. At +Kearney Junction the roads are excellent, and everything is satisfactory; +but an hour's ride east of that city I am shocked at the gross misconduct +of a vigorous and vociferous young mule who is confined alone in a +pasture, presumably to be weaned. He evidently mistakes the picturesque +combination of man and machine for his mother, as, on seeing us approach, +he assumes a thirsty, anxious expression, raises his unmusical, undignified +voice, and endeavors to jump the fence. He follows along the whole length +of the pasture, and when he gets to the end, and realizes that I am +drawing away from him, perhaps forever, he bawls out in an agony of grief +and anxiety, and, recklessly bursting through the fence, comes tearing +down the road, filling the air with the unmelodious notes of his soul- +harrowing music. The road is excellent for a piece, and I lead him a +lively chase, but he finally overtakes me, and, when I slow up, he jogs +along behind quite contentedly. East of Kearney the sod-houses disappear +entirely, and the improvements are of a more substantial character. At +"Wood River I "make my bow" to the first growth of natural timber since +leaving the mountains, which indicates my gradual advance off the vast +timberless plains. Passing through Grand Island, Central City, and other +towns, I find myself anchored Saturday evening, June 14th, at Duncan - a +settlement of Polackers - an honest-hearted set of folks, who seem to +thoroughly understand a cycler's digestive capacity, though understanding +nothing whatever about the uses of the machine. Resuming my journey next +morning, I find the roads fair. After crossing the Loup River, and passing +through Columbus, I reach-about 11 A.M.- a country school-house, with a +gathering of farmers hanging around outside, awaiting the arrival of the +parson to open the meeting. Alighting, I am engaged in answering forty +questions or thereabouts to the minute when that pious individual canters +up, and, dismounting from his nag, comes forward and joins in the +conversation. He invites me to stop over and hear the sermon; and when +I beg to be excused because desirous of pushing ahead while the weather +is favorable His Reverence solemnly warns me against desecrating the +Sabbath by going farther than the prescribed "Sabbath-day's journey." + +At Premont I bid farewell to the Platte - which turns south and joins the +Missouri River at Plattsmouth - and follow the old military road through +the Elkhorn Valley to Omaha. "Military road" sounds like music in a +cycler's ear - suggestive of a well-kept and well-graded highway; but this +particular military road between Fremont and Omaha fails to awaken any +blithesome sensations to-day, for it is almost one continuous mud-hole. +It is called a military road simply from being the route formerly traversed +by troops and supply trains bound for the Western forts. Besting a day +in Omaha, I obtain a permit to trundle my wheel across the Union Pacific +Bridge that spans the Missouri River - the "Big Muddy," toward which I +have been travelling so long - between Omaha and Council Bluffs; I bid +farewell to Nebraska, and cross over to Iowa. Heretofore I have omitted +mentioning the tremendously hot weather I have encountered lately, because +of my inability to produce legally tangible evidence; but to-day, while +eating dinner at a farm-house, I leave the bicycle standing against the +fence, and old Sol ruthlessly unsticks the tire, so that, when I mount, +it comes off, and gives me a gymnastic lesson all unnecessary. My first +day's experience in the great "Hawkeye State" speaks volumes for the +hospitality of the people, there being quite a rivalry between two +neighboring farmers about which should take me in to dinner. A compromise +is finally made, by which I am to eat dinner at one place, and be "turned +loose" in a cherry orchard afterward at the other, to which happy +arrangement I, of course, enter no objections. In striking contrast to +these friendly advances is my own unpardonable conduct the same evening +in conversation with an honest old farmer. + +"I see you are taking notes. I suppose you keep track of the crops as +you travel along?" says the H. O. F. "Certainly, I take more notice of +the crops than anything; I'm a natural born agriculturist myself." "Well," +continues the farmer, "right here where we stand is Carson Township." +"Ah! indeed. Is it possible that I have at last arrived at Carson Township." +"You have heard of the township before, then, eh." "Heard of it! +why, man alive, Carson Township is all the talk out in the Rockies; in +fact, it is known all over the world as the finest Township for corn in +Iowa." This sort of conduct is, I admit, unwarrantable in the extreme; +but cycling is responsible for it all. If continuous cycling is productive +of a superfluity of exhilaration, and said exhilaration bubbles over +occasionally, plainly the bicycle is to blame. So forcibly does this +latter fact intrude upon me as I shake hands with the farmer, and +congratulate him on his rare good fortune in belonging to Carson Township +that I mount, and with a view of taking a little of the shine out of it, +ride down the long, steep hill leading to the bridge across the Nishnebotene +River at a tremendous pace. The machine "kicks" against this treatment, +however, and, when about half wray down, it strikes a hole and sends me +spinning and gyrating through space; and when I finally strike terra +firma, it thumps me unmercifully in the ribs ere it lets me up. "Variable" +is the word descriptive of the Iowa roads; for seventy-five miles due +east of Omaha the prairie rolls like a heavy Atlantic swell, and during +a day's journey I pass through a dozen alternate stretches of muddy and +dusky road; for like a huge watering-pot do the rain-clouds pass to and +fro over this great garden of the West, that is practically one continuous +fertile farm from the Missouri to the Mississippi. Passing through Des +Moines on the 23d, muddy roads and hot, thunder-showery weather characterize +my journey through Central Iowa, aggravated by the inevitable question, +"Why don't you ride?" one Solomon-visaged individual asking me if the +railway company wouldn't permit me to ride along one of the rails. No +base, unworthy suspicions of a cycler's inability to ride on a two-inch +rail finds lodgement in the mind of this wiseacre; but his compassionate +heart is moved with tender solicitude as to whether the soulless "company" +will, or will not, permit it. Hurrying timorously through Grinnell - the +city that was badly demolished and scattered all over the surrounding +country by a cyclone in 1882 - I pause at Victor, where I find the inhabitants +highly elated over the prospect of building a new jail with the fines +nightly inflicted on graders employed on a new railroad near by, who +come to town and "hilare" every evening. " What kind of a place do you +call this." I inquire, on arriving at a queer-looking town twenty-five +miles west of Iowa City. + +"This is South Amana, one of the towns of the Amana Society," is the +civil reply. The Amana Society is found upon inquiry to be a communism +of Germans, numbering 15,000 souls, and owning 50,000 acres of choice +land in a body, with woollen factories, four small towns, and the best +of credit everywhere. Everything is common property, and upon withdrawal +or expulsion, a member takes with him only the value of what he brought +in. The domestic relations are as usual; and while no person of ambition +would be content with the conditions of life here, the slow, ease-loving, +methodical people composing the society seem well satisfied with their +lot, and are, perhaps, happier, on the whole, than the average outsider. +I remain here for dinner, and take a look around. The people, the +buildings, the language, the food, everything, is precisely as if it had +been picked up bodily in some rural district in Germany, and set down +unaltered here in Iowa. "Wie gehts," I venture, as I wheel past a couple +of plump, rosy-cheeked maidens, in the quaint, old-fashioned garb of the +German peasantry. "Wie gehts," is the demure reply from them, both at +once; but not the shadow of a dimple responds to my unhappy attempt to +win from them a smile. Pretty but not coquettish are these communistic +maidens of Amana. At Tiffin, the stilly air of night, is made joyous with +the mellifluous voices of whip-poor-wills-the first I have heard on the +tour-and their tuneful concert is impressed on my memory in happy contrast +to certain other concerts, both vocal and instrumental, endured en route. +Passing through Iowa City, crossing Cedar River at Moscow, nine days +after crossing the Missouri, I hear the distant whistle of a Mississippi +steamboat. Its hoarse voice is sweetest music to me, heralding the fact +that two-thirds of my long tour across the continent is completed. +Crossing the "Father of Waters" over the splendid government bridge +between Davenport and Rock Island, I pass over into Illinois. For several +miles my route leads up the Mississippi River bottom, over sandy roads; +but nearing Rock River, the sand disappears, and, for some distance, an +excellent road winds through the oak-groves lining this beautiful stream. +The green woods are free from underbrush, and a cool undercurrent of air +plays amid the leafy shades, which, if not ambrosial, are none the less +grateful, as it registers over 100° in the sun; without, the silvery +sheen of the river glimmers through the interspaces; the dulcet notes +of church-bells come floating on the breeze from over the river, seeming +to proclaim, with their melodious tongues, peace and good-will to all. +Eock River, with its 300 yards in width of unbridged waters, now obstructs +my path, and the ferryboat is tied up on the other shore. "Whoop-ee," +I yell at the ferryman's hut opposite, but without receiving any response. +"Wh-o-o-p-e-ee," I repeat in a gentle, civilized voice-learned, by the +by, two years ago on the Crow reservation in Montana, and which sets the +surrounding atmosphere in a whirl and drowns out the music of the church- +bells it has no effect whatever on the case-hardened ferryman in the +hut; he pays no heed whatever until my persuasive voice is augmented by +the voices of two new arrivals in a buggy, when he sallies serenely forth +and slowly ferries us across. Riding along rather indifferent roads, +between farms worth $100 an acre, through the handsome town of Genesee, +stopping over night at Atkinson, I resume my journey next morning through +a country abounding in all that goes to make people prosperous, if not +happy. Pretty names are given to places hereabouts, for on my left I +pass "Pink Prairie, bordered with Green River." Crossing over into +Bureau County, I find splendid gravelled roads, and spend a most agreeable +hour with the jolly Bicycle Club, of Princeton, the handsome county seat +of Bureau County, Pushing on to Lamoille for the night, the enterprising +village barber there hustles me into his cosey shop, and shaves, shampoos, +shingles, bay-rums, and otherwise manipulates me, to the great enhancement +of my personal appearance, all, so he says, for the honor of having +lathered the chin of the "great and only--" In fact, the Illinoisians +seem to be most excellent folks. After three days' journey through the +great Prairie State my head is fairly turned with kindness and flattery; +but the third night, as if to rebuke my vanity, I am bluntly refused +shelter at three different farm-houses. I am benighted, and conclude to +make the best of it by "turning in" under a hay-cock; but the Fox River +mosquitoes oust me in short order, and compel me to "mosey along" through +the gloomy night to Yorkville. At Yorkville a stout German, on being +informed that I am going to ride to Chicago, replies, "What. Ghigago mit +dot. Why, mine dear Yellow, Ghi-gago's more as vorty miles; you gan't +ride mit dot to Ghigago;" and the old fellow's eyes fairly bulge with +astonishment at the bare idea of riding forty miles "mit dot." I +considerately refrain from telling him of my already 2,500-mile jaunt +"mit dot," lest an apoplectic fit should waft his Teutonic soul to realms +of sauer-kraut bliss and Limburger happiness forever. On the morning of +July 4th I roll into Chicago, where, having persuaded myself that I +deserve a few days' rest, I remain till the Democratic Convention winds +up on the 13th. + +Fifteen miles of good riding and three of tough trundling, through deep +sand, brings me into Indiana, which for the first thirty-five miles +around the southern shore of Lake Michigan is "simply and solely sand." +Finding it next to impossible to traverse the wagon-roads, I trundle +around the water's edge, where the sand is firmer because wet. After +twenty miles of this I have to shoulder the bicycle and scale the huge +sand-dunes that border the lake here, and after wandering for an hour +through a bewildering wilderness of swamps, sand-hills, and hickory +thickets, I finally reach Miller Station for the night. This place is +enough to give one the yellow-edged blues: nothing but swamps, sand, +sad-eyed turtles, and ruthless, relentless mosquitoes. At Chesterton the +roads improve, but still enough sand remains to break the force of +headers, which, notwithstanding my long experience on the road, I still +manage to execute with undesirable frequency. To-day I take one, and +while unravelling myself and congratulating my lucky stars at being in +a lonely spot where none can witness my discomfiture, a gruff, sarcastic +"haw-haw" falls like a funeral knell on my ear, and a lanky "Hoosier" +rides up on a diminutive pumpkin-colored mule that looks a veritable +pygmy between his hoop-pole legs. It is but justice to explain that this +latter incident did not occur in "Posey County." + +At La Porte the roads improve for some distance, but once again I am +benighted, and sleep under a wheat-shock. Traversing several miles of +corduroy road, through huckleberry swamps, next morning, I reach Cram's +Point for breakfast. A remnant of some Indian tribe still lingers around +here and gathers huckleberries for the market, two squaws being in the +village purchasing supplies for their camp in the swamps. "What's the +name of these Indians here?" I ask.. "One of em's Blinkie, and t'other's +Seven-up," is the reply, in a voice that implies such profound knowledge +of the subject that I forbear to investigate further. + +Splendid gravel roads lead from Crum's Point to South Bend, and on through +Mishawaka, alternating with sandy stretches to Goshen, which town is +said - by the Goshenites - to be the prettiest in Indiana; but there seems +to be considerable pride of locality in the great Hoosier State, and I +venture there are scores of "prettiest towns in Indiana." Nevertheless, +Goshen is certainly a very handsome place, with unusually broad, well-shaded +streets; the centre of a magnificent farming country, it is romantically +situated on the banks of the beautiful Elkhart Eiver. At "Wawaka I find +a corpulent 300-pound cycler, who, being afraid to trust his jumbolean +proportions on an ordinary machine, has had an extra stout bone-shaker +made to order, and goes out on short runs with a couple of neighbor +wheelmen, who, being about fifty per cent, less bulky, ride regulation +wheels. "Jumbo" goes all right when mounted, but, being unable to mount +without aid, he seldom ventures abroad by himself for fear of having to +foot it back. Ninety-five degrees in the shade characterizes the weather +these days, and I generally make a few miles in the gloaming - not, of +course, because it is cooler, but because the "gloaming" is so delightfully +romantic. + +At ten o'clock in the morning, July 17th, I bowl across the boundary +line into Ohio. Following the Merchants' and Bankers' Telegraph road to +Napoleon, I pass through a district where the rain has overlooked them +for two months; the rear wheel of the bicycle is half buried in hot dust; +the blackberries are dead on the bushes, and the long-suffering corn +looks as though afflicted with the yellow jaundice. I sup this same +evening with a family of Germans, who have been settled here forty years, +and scarcely know a word of English yet. A fat, phlegmatic-looking baby +is peacefully reposing in a cradle, which is simply half a monster pumpkin +scooped out and dried; it is the most intensely rustic cradle in the +world. Surely, this youngster's head ought to be level on agricultural +affairs, when he grows up, if anybody's ought. From Napoleon my route +leads up the Maumee River and canal, first trying the tow-path of the +latter, and then relinquishing it for the very fair wagon-road. The +Maumee River, winding through its splendid rich valley, seems to possess +a peculiar beauty all its own, and my mind, unbidden, mentally compares +it with our old friend, the Humboldt. The latter stream traverses dreary +plains, where almost nothing but sagebrush grows; the Maumee waters a +smiling valley, where orchards, fields, and meadows alternate with sugar- +maple groves, and in its fair bosom reflects beautiful landscape views, +that are changed and rebeautified by the master-hand of the sun every hour +of the day, and doubly embellished at night by the moon. It is whispered that +during " the late unpleasantness " the Ohio regiments could out-yell the +Louisiana tigers, or any other Confederate troops, two to one. Who has not +heard the "Ohio yell?" Most people are magnanimously inclined to regard this +rumor as simply a "gag" on the Buckeye boys; but it isn't. The Ohioans +are to the manner born; the "Buckeye yell" is a tangible fact. All along the +Maumee it resounds in my ears; nearly every man or boy, who from the +fields, far or near, sees me bowling along the road, straightway delivers +himself of a yell, pure and simple. At Perrysburg, I strike the famous +"Maumee pike"-forty miles of stone road, almost a dead level. The western +half is kept in rather poor repair these days; but from Fremont eastward it +is splendid wheeling. The atmosphere of Bellevue is blue with politics, and +myself and another innocent, unsuspecting individual, hailing from New York, +are enticed into a political meeting by a wily politician, and dexterously made to +pose before the assembled company as two gentlemen who have come - one +from the Atlantic, the other from the Pacific - to witness the overwhelming +success of the only honest, horny-handed, double-breasted patriots - the... +party. The roads are found rather sandy east of the pike, and the roadful +of wagons going to the circus, which exhibits to-day at Norwalk, causes +considerable annoyance. + +Erie County, through which I am now passing, is one of the finest fruit +countries in the world, and many of the farmers keep open orchard. Staying +at Eidgeville overnight, I roll into Cleveland, and into the out-stretched +arms of a policeman, at 10 o'clock, next morning. "He was violating the +city ordinance by riding on the sidewalk," the arresting policeman informs +the captain. "Ah! he was, hey!" thunders the captain, in a hoarse, bass +voice that causes my knees to knock together with fear and trembling; +and the captain's eye seems to look clear through my trembling form. +"P-l-e-a-s-e, s-i-r, I d-i-d-n't t-r-y t-o d-o i-t," I falter, in a weak, +gasping voice that brings tears to the eyes of the assembled officers +and melts the captain's heart, so that he is already wavering between +justice and mercy when a local wheelman comes gallantly to the rescue, +and explains my natural ignorance of Cleveland's city laws, and I breathe +the joyous air of freedom once again. Three members of the Cleveland +Bicycle Club and a visiting wheelman accompany me ten miles out, riding +down far-famed Euclid Avenue, and calling at Lake View Cemetery to pay +a visit to Garfleld's tomb. I bid them farewell at Euclid village. +Following the ridge road leading along the shore of Lake Erie to Buffalo, +I ride through a most beautiful farming country, passing through "Willoughby +and Mentor-Garfield's old home. Splendidly kept roads pass between avenues +of stately maples, that cast a grateful shade athwart the highway, both +sides of which are lined with magnificent farms, whose fields and meadows +fairly groan beneath their wealth of produce, whose fructiferous orchards +arc marvels of productiveness, and whose barns and stables would be +veritable palaces to the sod-housed homesteaders on Nebraska's frontier +prairies. Prominent among them stands the old Garfield homestead - a fine +farm of one hundred and sixty-five acres, at present managed by Mrs. +Garfield's brother. Smiling villages nestling amid stately groves, rearing +white church-spires from out their green, bowery surroundings, dot the +low, broad, fertile shore-land to the left; the gleaming waters of Lake +Erie here and there glisten like burnished steel through the distant +interspaces, and away beyond stretches northward, like a vast mirror, +to kiss the blue Canadian skies. Near Conneaut I whirl the dust of the +Buckeye State from my tire and cress over into Pennsylvania, where, from +the little hamlet of Springfield, the roads become good, then better, +and finally best at Girard-the home of the veteran showman, Dan Rice, +the beautifying works of whose generous hand are everywhere visible in +his native town. Splendid is the road and delightful the country coming +east from Girard; even the red brick school-houses are embowered amid +leafy groves; and so it continues with ever-varying, ever-pleasing beauty +to Erie, after which the highway becomes hardly so good. + +Twenty-four hours after entering Pennsylvania I make my exit across the +boundary into the Empire State. The roads continue good, and after +dinner I reach Westfield, six miles from the famous Lake Chautauqua, +which beautiful hill and forest embowered sheet of water is popularly +believed by many of its numerous local admirers to be the highest navigable +lake in the world. If so, however, Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada +Mountains comes next, as it is about six thousand feet above the level +of the sea, and has three steamers plying on its waters. At Fredonia I +am shown through the celebrated watch-movement factory here, by the +captain of the Fredonia Club, who accompanies me to Silver Creek, +where we call on another enthusiastic wheelman-a physician who uses +the wheel in preference to a horse, in making professional calls +throughout the surround-in' country. Taking supper with the genial "Doc.," +they both accompany me to the s.ummit of a steep hill leading up out of +the creek bottom. No wheelman has ever yet rode up this hill, save the +muscular and gritty captain of the Fredonia Club, though several have +attempted the feat. From the top my road ahead is plainly visible for miles, +leading through the broad and smiling Cattaraugus Valley that is spread +out like a vast garden below, through which Cattaraugus Creek slowly +winds its tortuous way. Stopping over night at Angola I proceed to +Buffalo next morning, catching the first glimpse of that important " seaport +of the lakes," where, fifteen miles across the bay, the wagon-road is +almost licked by the swashing waves; and entering the city over a " misfit" +plank-road, off which I am almost upset by the most audaciously +indifferent woman in the world. A market woman homeward bound with +her empty truck-wagon, recognizes my road-rights to the extent of barely +room to squeeze past between her wagon and the ditch; and holds her long, +stiff buggy-whip so that it " swipes " me viciously across the face, knocks +my helmet off into the mud ditch, and well-nigh upsets mo into the same. +The woman-a crimson-crested blonde - jogs serenely along without even +deigning to turn her head. Leaving the bicycle at "Isham's "-who volunteers +some slight repairs-I take a flying visit by rail to see Niagara Falls, returning +the same evening to enjoy the proffered hospitality of a genial member of +the Buffalo Bicycle Club. Seated on the piazza of his residence, on +Delaware Avenue, this evening, the symphonious voice of the club-whistle +is cast adrift whenever the glowing orb of a cycle-lamp heaves in sight +through the darkness, and several members of the club are thus rounded +up and their hearts captured by the witchery of a smile-a " smile " in +Buffalo, I hasten to explain, is no kin whatever to a Rocky Mountain "smile" +- far be it from it. This club-wliistle of the Buffalo Bicycle Club happens +to sing the same melodious song as the police - whistle at Washington, D. +C.; and the Buffalo cyclers who graced the national league - meet at the +Capital with their presence took a folio of club music along. A small +but frolicsome party of them on top of the Washington monument, "heaved +a sigh " from their whistles, at a comrade passing along the street +below, when a corpulent policeman, naturally mistaking it for a signal +from a brother "cop," hastened to climb the five hundred feet or thereabouts +of ascent up the monument. When he arrived, puffing and perspiring, to +the summit, and discovered his mistake, the wheelmen say he made such +awful use of the Queen's English that the atmosphere had a blue, sulphurous +tinge about it for some time after. Leaving Buffalo next morning I pass +through Batavia, where the wheelmen have a most aesthetic little club-room. +Besides being jovial and whole-souled fellows, they are awfully sesthetic; +and the sweetest little Japanese curios and bric-d-brac decorate the +walls and tables. Stopping over night at LeBoy, in company with the +president and captain of the LeBoy Club, I visit the State fish-hatchery +at Mumford next morning, and ride on through the Genesee Valley, finding +fair roads through the valley, though somewhat hilly and stony toward +Canandaigua. Inquiring the best road to Geneva I am advised of the +superiority of the one leading past the poor-house. Finding them somewhat +intricate, and being too super-sensitive to stop people and ask them the +road to the poor-house, I deservedly get lost, and am wandering erratically +eastward through the darkness, when I fortunately meet a wheelman in a +buggy, who directs me to his mother's farm-house near by, with instructions +to that most excellent lady to accommodate me for the night. Nine o'clock +next morning I reach fair Geneva, so beautifully situated on Seneca's +silvery lake, passing the State agricultural farm en route; continuing +on up the Seneca Eiver, passing-through Waterloo and Seneca Falls to +Cayuga, and from thence to Auburn and Skaneateles, where I heave a sigh +at the thoughts of leaving the last - I cannot say the loveliest, for all +are equally lovely - of that beautiful chain of lakes that transforms +this part of New York State into a vast and delightful summer resort. + +"Down a romantic Swiss glen, where scores of sylvan nooks and rippling +rills invite one to cast about for fairies and sprites," is the word +descriptive of my route from Marcellus next morning. Once again, on +nearing the Camillus outlet from the narrow vale, I hear the sound of +Sunday bells, and after the church-bell-less Western wilds, it seems to +me that their notes have visited me amid beautiful scenes, strangely +often of late. Arriving at Camillus, I ask the name of the sparkling +little stream that dances along this fairy glen like a child at play, +absorbing the sun-rays and coquettishly reflecting them in the faces of +the venerable oaks that bend over it like loving guardians protecting +it from evil. My ears are prepared to hear a musical Indian name - +"Laughing-Waters " at least; but, like a week's washing ruthlessly intruding +upon love's young dream, falls on my waiting ears the unpoetic misnomer, +"Nine-Mile Creek." Over good roads to Syracuse, and from thence my route +leads down the Erie Canal, alternately riding down the canal tow-path, +the wagon-roads, and between the tracks of the New York Central Railway. +On the former, the greatest drawback to peaceful cycling is the towing-mule +and his unwarrantable animosity toward the bicycle, and the awful, +unmentionable profanity engendered thereby in the utterances of the +boatmen. Sometimes the burden of this sulphurous profanity is aimed at +me, sometimes at the inoffensive bicycle, or both of us collectively, +but oftener is it directed at the unspeakable mule, who is really the +only party to blame. A mule scares, not because he is really afraid, but +because he feels skittishly inclined to turn back, or to make trouble +between his enemies - the boatmen, his task-master, and the cycler, an +intruder on his exclusive domain, the Erie tow-path. A span of mules +will pretend to scare, whirl around, and jerk loose from the driver, and +go "scooting" back down the tow-path in a manner indicating that nothing +less than a stone wall would stop them; but, exactly in the nick of time +to prevent the tow-line jerking them sidewise into the canal, they stop. +Trust a mule for never losing his head when he runs away, as does his +hot-headed relative, the horse; who never once allows surrounding +circumstances to occupy his thoughts to an extent detrimental to his own +self-preservative interests. The Erie Canal mule's first mission in life +is to engender profanity and strife between boatmen and cyclists, and +the second is to work and chew hay, which brings him out about even with +the world all round. At Rome I enter the famous and beautiful Mohawk +Valley, a place long looked forward to with much pleasurable anticipation, +from having heard so often of its natural beauties and its interesting +historical associations. "It's the garden spot of the world; and +travellers who have been all over Europe and everywhere, say there's +nothing in the world to equal the quiet landscape beauty of the Mohawk +Valley," enthusiastically remarks an old gentelman in spectacles, whom +I chance to encounter on the heights east of Herkimer. Of the first +assertion I have nothing to say, having passed through a dozen "garden +spots of the world " on this tour across America; but there is no +gainsaying the fact that the Mohawk Valley, as viewed from this vantage +spot, is wonderfully beautiful. I think it must have been on this spot +that the poet received inspiration to compose the beautiful song that +is sung alike in the quiet homes of the valley itself and in the trapper's +and hunter's tent on the far off Yellowstone - "Fair is the vale where +the Mohawk gently glides, On its clear, shining way to the sea." The +valley ia one of the natural gateways of commerce, for, at Little Falls - +where it contracts to a mere pass between the hills - one can almost throw +a stone across six railway tracks, the Erie Canal and the Mohawk River. +Spending an hour looking over the magnificent Capitol building at Albany, +I cross the Hudson, and proceed to ride eastward between the two tracks +of the Boston & Albany Railroad, finding the riding very fair. From the +elevated road-bed I cast a longing, lingering look down the Hudson Valley, +that stretches away southward like a heaven-born dream, and sigh at the +impossibility of going two ways at once. " There's $50 fine for riding +a bicycle along the B. & A. Railroad," I am informed at Albany, but risk +it to Schodack, where I make inquiries of a section foreman. "No; there's +no foine; but av yeez are run over an' git killed, it'll be useless for +yeez to inther suit agin the company for damages," is the reassuring +reply; and the unpleasant visions of bankrupting fines dissolve in a +smile at this characteristic Milesian explanation. Crossing the Massachusetts +boundary at the village of State Line, I find the roads excellent; and, +thinking that the highways of the " Old Bay State " will be good enough +anywhere, I grow careless about the minute directions given me by Albany +wheelmen, and, ere long, am laboriously toiling over the heavy roads and +steep grades of the Berkshire Hills, endeavoring to get what consolation +I can, in return for unridable roads, out of the charming scenery, and +the many interesting features of the Berkshire-Hill country. It is at +Otis, in the midst of these hills, that I first become acquainted with +the peculiar New England dialect in its native home. The widely heralded +intellectual superiority of the Massachusetts fair ones asserts itself +even in the wildest parts of these wild hills; for at small farms - that, +in most States, would be characterized by bare-footed, brown-faced +housewives - I encounter spectacled ladies whose fair faces reflect the +encyclopaedia of knowledge within, and whose wise looks naturally fill +me with awe. At Westfield I learn that Karl Kron, the author and publisher +of the American roadbook, " Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle" - not to be +outdone by my exploit of floating the bicycle across the Humboldt - undertook +the perilous feat of swimming the Potomac with his bicycle suspended at +his waist, and had to be fished up from the bottom with a boat-hook. +Since then, however, I have seen the gentleman himself, who assures me +that the whole story is a canard. Over good roads to Springfield - and on +through to Palmer; from thence riding the whole distance to Worcester +between the tracks of the railway, in preference to the variable country +roads. + +On to Boston next morning, now only forty miles away, I pass venerable +weather-worn mile-stones, set up in old colonial days, when the Great +West, now trailed across with the rubber hoof-marks of "the popular steed +of today," was a pathless wilderness, and on the maps a blank. Striking +the famous "sand-papered roads " at Framingham - which, by the by, ought +to be pumice-stoned a little to make them as good for cycling as stretches +of gravelled road near Springfield, Sandwich, and Piano, Ill.; La Porte, +and South Bend, Ind.; Mentor, and Willoughby, O.; Girard, Penn.; several +places on the ridge road between Erie and Buffalo, and the alkali flats +of the Rocky Mountain territories. Soon the blue intellectual haze +hovering over " the Hub " heaves in sight, and, at two o'clock in the +afternoon of August 4th, I roll into Boston, and whisper to the wild +waves of the sounding Atlantic what the sad sea-waves of the Pacific +were saying when I left there, just one hundred and three and a half +days ago, having wheeled about 3,700 miles to deliver the message. Passing +the winter of 1884-85 in New York, I became acquainted with the Outing +Magazine, contributed to it sketches of my tour across America, and in +the Spring of 1885 continued around the world as its special correspondent; +embarking April 9th from New York, for Liverpool, aboard the City of +Chicago. + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + + + +FROM AMERICA TO THE GERMAN FRONTIER. + +At one P.M., on that day, the ponderous but shapely hull of the City of +Chicago, with its living and lively freight, moves from the dock as +though it, too, were endowed with mind as well with matter; the crowds that +a minute ago disappeared down the gangplank are now congregated on the +outer end of the pier, a compact mass of waving handkerchiefs, and +anxious-faced people shouting out signs of recognition to friends aboard +the departing steamer. + +>From beginning to end of the voyage across the Atlantic the weather is +delightful; and the passengers - well, half the cabin-passengers are members +of Henry Irving's Lyceum Company en route home after their second +successful tour in America; and old voyagers abroad who have crossed the +Atlantic scores of times pronounce it altogether the most enjoyable trip +they ever experienced. The third day out we encountered a lonesome-looking +iceberg - an object that the captain seemed to think would be better +appreciated, and possibly more affectionately remembered, if viewed at +the respectful distance of about four miles. It proves a cold, unsympathetic +berg, yet extremely entertaining in its own way, since it accommodates +us by neutralizing pretty much all the surplus caloric in the atmosphere +around for hours after it has disappeared below the horizon of our vision. +I am particularly fortunate in finding among my fellow-passengers Mr. +Harry B. French, the traveller and author, from whom I obtain much +valuable information, particularly of China. Mr. French has travelled +some distance through the Flowery Kingdom himself, and thoughtfully +forewarns me to anticipate a particularly lively and interesting time +in invading that country with a vehicle so strange and incomprehensible +to the Celestial mind as a bicycle. This experienced gentleman informs +me, among other interesting things, that if five hundred chattering +Celestials batter down the door and swarm unannounced at midnight into +the apartment where I am endeavoring to get the first wink of sleep +obtained for a whole week, instead of following the natural inclinations +of an AngloSaxon to energetically defend his rights with a stuffed club, +I shall display Solomon-like wisdom by quietly submitting to the invasion, +and deferentially bowing to Chinese inquisitiveness. If, on an occasion +of this nature, one stationed himself behind the door, and, as a sort +of preliminary warning to the others, greeted the first interloper with +the business end of a boot-jack, he would be morally certain of a lively +one-sided misunderstanding that might end disastrously to himself; +whereas, by meekly submitting to a critical and exhaustive examination +by the assembled company, he might even become the recipient of an apology +for having had to batter down the door in order to satisfy their curiosity. +One needs more discretion than valor in dealing with the Chinese. At +noon on the 19th we reach Liverpool, where I find a letter awaiting me +from A. J. Wilson (Faed), inviting me to call on him at Powerscroft +House, London, and offering to tandem me through the intricate mazes of +the West End; likewise asking whether it would be agreeable to have him, +with others, accompany me from London down to the South coast - a programme +to which, it is needless to say, I entertain no objections. As the custom- +house officer wrenches a board off the broad, flat box containing my +American bicycle, several fellow-passengers, prompted by their curiosity +to obtain a peep at the machine which they have learned is to carry me +around the world, gather about; and one sympathetic lady, as she catches +a glimpse of the bright nickeled forks, exclaims, "Oh, what a shame +that they should be allowed to wrench the planks off. They might injure +it;" but a small tip thoroughly convinces the individual prying off the +board that, by removing one section and taking a conscientious squint +in the direction of the closed end, his duty to the British government +would be performed as faithfully as though everything were laid bare; +and the kind-hearted lady's apprehensions of possible injury are thus +happily allayed. In two hours after landing, the bicycle is safely stowed +away in the underground store-rooms of the Liverpool & Northwestern +Railway Company, and in two hours more I am wheeling rapidly toward +London, through neatly cultivated fields, and meadows and parks of that +intense greenness met with nowhere save in the British Isles, and which +causes a couple of native Americans, riding in the same compartment, and +who are visiting England for the first time, to express their admiration +of it all in the unmeasured language of the genuine Yankee when truly +astonished and delighted. Arriving in London I lose no time in seeking +out Mr. Bolton, a well-known wheelman, who has toured on the continent +probably as extensively as any other English cycler, and to whom I bear +a letter of introduction. Together, on Monday afternoon, we ruthlessly +invade the sanctums of the leading cycling papers in London. Mr. Bolton +is also able to give me several useful hints concerning wheeling through +France and Germany. Then comes the application for a passport, and the +inevitable unpleasantness of being suspected by every policeman and +detective about the government buildings of being a wild-eyed dynamiter +recently arrived from America with the fell purpose of blowing up the +place. On Tuesday I make a formal descent on the Chinese Embassy, to +seek information regarding the possibility of making a serpentine trail +through the Flowery Kingdom via Upper Burmah to Hong-Kong or Shanghai. +Here I learn from Dr. McCarty, the interpreter at the Embassy, as from +Mr. French, that, putting it as mildly as possible, I must expect a wild +time generally in getting through the interior of China with a bicycle. +The Doctor feels certain that I may reasonably anticipate the pleasure +of making my way through a howling wilderness of hooting Celestials from +one end of the country to the other. The great danger, he thinks, will +be not so much the well-known aversion of the Chinese to having an +"outer barbarian" penetrate the sacred interior of their country, as the +enormous crowds that would almost constantly surround me out of curiosity +at both rider and wheel, and the moral certainty of a foreigner unwittingly +doing something to offend the Chinamen's peculiar and deep-rooted notions +of propriety. This, it is easily seen, would be a peculiarly ticklish +thing to do when surrounded by surging masses of dangling pig-tails and +cerulean blouses, the wearers of which are from the start predisposed +to make things as unpleasant as possible. My own experience alone, +however, will prove the kind of reception I am likely to meet with among +them; and if they will only considerately refrain from impaling me on a +bamboo, after a barbarous and highly ingenious custom of theirs, I little +reck what other unpleasantries they have in store. After one remains in +the world long enough to find it out, he usually becomes less fastidious +about the future of things in general, than when in the hopeful days of +boyhood every prospect ahead was fringed with the golden expectations +of a budding and inexperienced imagery; nevertheless, a thoughtful, +meditative person, who realizes the necessity of drawing the line +somewhere, would naturally draw it at impalation. Not being conscious +of any presentiment savoring of impalation, however, the only request I +make of the Chinese, at present, is to place no insurmountable obstacle +against my pursuing the even-or uneven, as the case may be-tenor of my +way through their country. China, though, is several revolutions of my +fifty-inch wheel away to the eastward, at this present time of writing, +and speculations in regard to it are rather premature. + +Soon after reaching London I have the pleasure of meeting "Faed," a +gentleman who carries his cycling enthusiasm almost where some people +are said to carry their hearts-on his sleeve; so that a very short +acquaintance only is necessary to convince one of being in the company +of a person whose interest in whirling wheels is of no ordinary nature. +When I present myself at Powerscroft House, Faed is busily wandering +around among the curves and angles of no less than three tricycles, +apparently endeavoring to encompass the complicated mechanism of all +three in one grand comprehensive effort of the mind, and the addition +of as many tricycle crates standing around makes the premises so suggestive +of a flourishing tricycle agency that an old gentleman, happening to +pass by at the moment, is really quite excusable in stopping and inquiring +the prices, with a view to purchasing one for himself. Our tandem ride +through the West End has to be indefinitely postponed, on account of my +time being limited, and our inability to procure readily a suitable +machine; and Mr. Wilson's bump of discretion would not permit him to +think of allowing me to attempt the feat of manoeuvring a tricycle myself +among the bewildering traffic of the metropolis, and risk bringing my +"wheel around the world" to an inglorious conclusion before being fairly +begun. While walking down Parliament Street my attention is called to a +venerable-looking gentleman wheeling briskly along among the throngs +of vehicles of every description, and I am informed that the bold tricycler +is none other than Major Knox Holmes, a vigorous youth of some seventy-eight +summers, who has recently accomplished the feat of riding one hundred +and fourteen miles in ten hours; for a person nearly eighty years of age +this is really quite a promising performance, and there is small doubt +but that when the gallant Major gets a little older - say when he becomes +a centenarian - he will develop into a veritable prodigy on the cinder-path! +Having obtained my passport, and got it vised for the Sultan's dominions +at the Turkish consulate, and placed in Faed's possession a bundle of +maps, which he generously volunteers to forward , to me, as I require +them in the various countries it is proposed to traverse, I return on +April 30th to Liverpool, from which point the formal start on the wheel +across England is to be made. Four o'clock in the afternoon of May 2d +is the time announced, and Edge Hill Church is the appointed place, where +Mr. Lawrence , Fletcher, of the Anfield Bicycle Club, and a number of +other Liverpool wheelmen, have volunteered to meet and accompany me some +distance out of the city. Several of the Liverpool daily papers have +made mention of the affair. Accordingly, upon arriving at the appointed +place and time, I find a crowd of several hundred people gathered to +satisfy their curiosity as to what sort of a looking individual it is +who has crossed America awheel, and furthermore proposes to accomplish +the greater feat of the circumlocution of the globe. A small sea of hats +is enthusiastically waved aloft; a ripple of applause escapes from five +hundred English throats as I mount my glistening bicycle; and, with the +assistance of a few policemen, the twenty-five Liverpool cyclers who +have assembled to accompany me out, extricate themselves from the crowd, +mount and fall into line two abreast; and merrily we wheel away down +Edge Lane and out of Liverpool. + +English weather at this season is notoriously capricious, and the present +year it is unusually so, and ere the start is fairly made we are pedaling +along through quite a pelting shower, which, however, fails to make much +impression on the roads beyond causing the flinging of more or less mud. +The majority of my escort are members of the Anfield Club, who have the +enviable reputation of being among the hardest road-riders in England, +several members having accomplished over two hundred miles within the +twenty-four hours; and I am informed that Mr. Fletcher is soon to undertake +the task of beating the tricycle record over that already well-contested +route, from John O'Groat's to Land's End. Sixteen miles out I become +the happy recipient of hearty well-wishes innumerable, with the accompanying +hand-shaking, and my escort turn back toward home and Liverpool - all save +four, who wheel on to Warrington and remain overnight, with the avowed +intention of accompanying me twenty-five miles farther to-morrow morning. +Our Sunday morning experience begins with a shower of rain, which, +however, augurs well for the remainder of the day; and, save for a gentle +head wind, no reproachful remarks are heard about that much-criticised +individual, the clerk of the weather; especially as our road leads through +a country prolific of everything charming to one's sense of the beautiful. +Moreover, we are this morning bowling along the self-same highway that +in days of yore was among the favorite promenades of a distinguished and +enterprising individual known to every British juvenile as Dick Turpin - a +person who won imperishable renown, and the undying affection of the +small Briton of to-day, by making it unsafe along here for stage-coaches +and travellers indiscreet enough to carry valuables about with them. + +"Think I'll get such roads as this all through England." I ask of my +escort as we wheel joyously southward along smooth, macadamized highways +that would make the "sand-papered roads" around Boston seem almost +unfit for cycling in comparison, and that lead through picturesque +villages and noble parks; occasionally catching a glimpse of a splendid +old manor among venerable trees, that makes one unconsciously begin +humming:- "The ancient homes of England, How beautiful they stand Amidst +the tall ancestral trees O'er all the pleasant land." "Oh, you'll get +much better roads than this in the southern counties," is the reply; +though, fresh from American roads, one can scarce see what shape the +improvements can possibly take. Out of Lancashire into Cheshire we wheel, +and my escort, after wishing me all manner of good fortune in hearty +Lancashire style, wheel about and hie themselves back toward the rumble +and roar of the world's greatest sea-port, leaving me to pedal pleasantly +southward along the green lanes and amid the quiet rural scenery of +Staffordshire to Stone, where I remain Sunday night. The country is +favored with another drenching down-pour of rain during the night, and +moisture relentlessly descends at short, unreliable intervals on Monday +morning, as I proceed toward Birmingham. Notwithstanding the superabundant +moisture the morning ride is a most enjoyable occasion, requiring but a +dash of sunshine to make everything perfect. The mystic voice of the +cuckoo is heard from many an emerald copse around; songsters that inhabit +only the green hedges and woods of "Merrie England" are carolling their +morning vespers in all directions; skylarks are soaring, soaring skyward, +warbling their unceasing paeans of praise as they gradually ascend into +cloudland's shadowy realms; and occasionally I bowl along beneath an +archway of spreading beeches that are colonized by crowds of noisy rooks +incessantly "cawing" their approval or disapproval of things in general. +Surely England, with its wellnigh perfect roads, the wonderful greenness +of its vegetation, and its roadsters that meet and regard their steel-ribbed +rivals with supreme indifference, is the natural paradise of 'cyclers. +There is no annoying dismounting for frightened horses on these happy +highways, for the English horse, though spirited and brim-ful of fire, +has long since accepted the inevitable, and either has made friends with +the wheelman and his swift-winged steed, or, what is equally agreeable, +maintain a a haughty reserve. Pushing along leisurely, between showers, +into Warwickshire, I reach Birmingham about three o'clock, and, after +spending an hour or so looking over some tricycle works, and calling for +a leather writing-case they are making especially for my tour, I wheel +on to Coventry, having the company, of Mr. Priest, Jr., of the tricycle +works, as far as Stonehouse. Between Birmingham and Coventry the recent +rainfall has evidently been less, and I mentally note this fifteen-mile +stretch of road as the finest traversed since leaving Liverpool, both +for width and smoothness of surface, it being a veritable boulevard. +Arriving at Coventry I call on "Brother Sturmey, " a gentleman well and +favorably known to readers of 'cycling literature everywhere; and, as I +feel considerably like deserving reasonably gentle treatment after +perseveringly pressing forward sixty miles in spite of the rain, I request +him to steer me into the Cyclists' Touring Club Hotel - an office which +he smilingly performs, and thoughtfully admonishes the proprietor to +handle me as tenderly as possible. I am piloted around to take a hurried +glance at Coventry, visiting, among other objects of interest, the Starley +Memorial. This memorial is interesting to 'cyclers from having been +erected by public subscription in recognition of the great interest Mr. +Starley took in the 'cycle industry, he having been, in fact, the father +of the interest in Coventry, and, consequently, the direct author of the +city's present prosperity. The mind of the British small boy along my +route has been taxed to its utmost to account for my white military +helmet, and various and interesting are the passing remarks heard in +consequence. The most general impression seems to be that I am direct +from the Soudan, some youthful Conservatives blandly intimating The +Starley Memorial, Coventry, that I am the advance-guard of a general +scuttle of the army out of Egypt, and that presently whole regiments of +white-helmeted wheelmen will come whirling along the roads on +nickel-plated steeds, some even going so far as to do me the honor of +calling me General Wolseley; while others - rising young Liberals, +probably - recklessly call me General Gordon, intimating by this that the +hero of Khartoum was not killed, after all, and is proving it by sweeping +through England on a bicycle, wearing a white helmet to prove his identity! + +A pleasant ride along a splendid road, shaded for miles with rows of +spreading elms, brings me to the charming old village of Dunchurch, where +everything seems moss-grown and venerable with age. A squatty, +castle-like church-tower, that has stood the brunt of many +centuries, frowns down upon a cluster of picturesque, thatched +cottages of primitive architecture, and ivy-clad from top to bottom; +while, to make the picture complete, there remain even the old wooden +stocks, through the holes of which the feet of boozy unfortunates were +wont to be unceremoniously thrust in the good old times of rude simplicity; +in fact, the only really unprimitive building about the place appears +to be a newly erected Methodist chapel. It couldn't be - no, of course it +couldn't be possible, that there is any connecting link between the +American peculiarity of elevating the feet on the window-sill or the +drum of the heating-stove and this old-time custom of elevating the feet +of those of our ancestors possessed of boozy, hilarious proclivities! +At Weedon Barracks I make a short halt to watch the soldiers go through +the bayonet exercises, and suffer myself to be persuaded into quaffing +a mug of delicious, creamy stout at the canteen with a genial old sergeant, +a bronzed veteran who has seen active service in several of the tough +expeditions that England seems ever prone to undertake in various +uncivilized quarters of the world; after which I wheel away over old +Roman military roads, through Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, +reaching Fenny Stratford just in time to find shelter against the +machinations of the "weather-clerk", who, having withheld rain nearly all +the afternoon, begins dispensing it again in the gloaming. It rains +uninterruptedly all night; but, although my route for some miles is now +down cross-country lanes, the rain has only made them rather disagreeable, +without rendering them in any respect unridable; and although I am among +the slopes of the Chiltern Hills, scarcely a dismount is necessary during +the forenoon. Spending the night at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, I pull +out toward London on Thursday morning, and near Watford am highly gratified +at meeting Faed and the captain of the North London Tricycle Club, who +have come out on their tricycles from London to meet and escort me into +the metropolis. At Faed's suggestion I decide to remain over in London +until Saturday to be present at the annual tricycle meet on Barnes Common, +and together we wheel down the Edgeware Road, Park Road, among the +fashionable turnouts of Piccadilly, past Knightsbridge and Brompton to +the "Inventories" Exhibition, where we spend a most enjoyable afternoon +inspecting the thousand and one material evidences of inventive genius +from the several countries represented. + +Five hundred and twelve 'cyclers, including forty-one tandem tricycles +and fifty ladies, ride in procession at the Barnes Common meet, making +quite an imposing array as they wheel two abreast between rows of +enthusiastic spectators. Here, among a host of other wheeling celebrities, +I am introduced to Major Knox Holmes, before mentioned as being a gentleman +of extraordinary powers of endurance, considering his advanced age. After +tea a number of tricyclers accompany me down as far as Croydon, which +place we enter to the pattering music of a drenching rain-storm, +experiencing the accompanying pleasure of a wet skin, etc. The threatening +aspect of the weather on the following morning causes part of our company +to hesitate about venturing any farther from London; but Faed and three +companions wheel with me toward Brighton through a gentle morning shower, +which soon clears away, however, and, before long, the combination of +the splendid Sussex roads, fine breezy weather, and lovely scenery, amply +repays us for the discomforts of yester-eve. Fourteen miles from Brighton +we are met by eight members of the Kempton Rangers Bicycle Club, who +have sallied forth thus far northward to escort us into town; having +done which, they deliver us over to Mr. C---, of the Brighton Tricycle +Club, and brother-in-law to the mayor of the city. It is two in the +afternoon. This gentleman straightway ingratiates himself into our united +affections, and wins our eternal gratitude, by giving us a regular +wheelman's dinner, after which he places us under still further obligations +by showing us as many of the lions of Brighton as are accessible on +Sunday, chief among which is the famous Brighton Aquarium, where, by his +influence, he kindly has the diving-birds and seals fed before their +usual hour, for our especial delectation-a proceeding which naturally +causes the barometer of our respective self-esteems to rise several +notches higher than usual, and doubtless gives equal satisfaction to the +seals and diving-birds. We linger at the aquarium until near sun-down, +and it is fifteen miles by what is considered the smoothest road to +Newhaven. Mr. C---- declares his intention of donning his riding-suit +and, by taking a shorter, though supposably rougher, road, reach Newhaven +as soon as we. As we halt at Lewes for tea, and ride leisurely, likewise +submitting to being photographed en route, he actually arrives there +ahead of us. It is Sunday evening, May 10th, and my ride through "Merrie +England " is at an end. Among other agreeable things to be ever remembered +in connection with it is the fact that it is the first three hundred +miles of road I ever remember riding over without scoring a header - a +circumstance that impresses itself none the less favorably perhaps when +viewed in connection with the solidity of the average English road. It +is not a very serious misadventure to take a flying header into a bed +of loose sand on an American country road; but the prospect of rooting +up a flint-stone with one's nose, or knocking a curb-stone loose with +one's bump of cautiousness, is an entirely different affair; consequently, +the universal smoothness of the surface of the English highways is +appreciated at its full value by at least one wheelman whose experience +of roads is nothing if not varied. Comfortable quarters are assigned me +on board the Channel steamer, and a few minutes after bidding friends +and England farewell, at Newhaven, at 11.30 P.M., I am gently rocked +into unconsciousness by the motion of the vessel, and remain happily and +restfully oblivious to my surroundings until awakened next morning at +Dieppe, where I find myself, in a few minutes, on a foreign shore. All +the way from San Francisco to Newhaven. there is a consciousness of being +practically in one country and among one people-people who, though +acknowledging separate governments, are bound so firmly together by the +ties of common instincts and interests, and the mystic brotherhood of a +common language and a common civilization, that nothing of a serious +nature can ever come between them. But now I am verily among strangers, +and the first thing talked of is to make me pay duty on the bicycle. + +The captain of the vessel, into whose hands Mr. C---- assigned me at +Newhaven, protests on my behalf, and I likewise enter a gentle demurrer; +but the custom-house officer declares that a duty will have to be +forthcoming, saying that the amount will be returned again when I pass +over the German frontier. The captain finally advises the payment of the +duty and the acceptance of a receipt for the amount, and takes his leave. +Not feeling quite satisfied as yet about paying the duty, I take a short +stroll about Dieppe, leaving my wheel at tho custom-house and when I +shortly return, prepared to pay the assessment, whatever it may be, the +officer who, but thirty minutes since, declared emphatically in favor +of a duty, now answers, with all the politeness imaginable: "Monsieur +is at liberty to take the velocipede and go whithersoever he will." It +is a fairly prompt initiation into the impulsiveness of the French +character. They don't accept bicycles as baggage, though, on the Channel +steamers, and six shillings freight, over and above passage-money, has +to be yielded up. + +Although upon a foreign shore, I am not yet, it seems, to be left entirely +alone to the tender mercies of my own lamentable inability to speak +French. Fortunately there lives at Dieppe a gentleman named Mr. Parkinson, +who, besides being an Englishman to the backbone, is quite an enthusiastic +wheelman, and, among other things, considers it his solemn duty to take +charge of visiting 'cyclers from England and America and see them safely +launched along the magnificent roadways of Normandy, headed fairly toward +their destination. Faed has thoughtfully notified Mr. Parkinson of my +approach, and he is watching for my coming - as tenderly as though I were +a returning prodigal and he charged with my welcoming home. Close under +the frowning battlements of Dieppe Castle - a once wellnigh impregnable +fortress that was some time in possession of the English - romantically +nestles Mr. Parldnson's studio, and that genial gentleman promptly +proposes accompanying me some distance into the country. On our way +through Dieppe I notice blue-bloused peasants guiding small flocks of +goats through the streets, calling them along with a peculiar, tuneful +instrument that sounds somewhat similar to a bagpipe. I learn that they +are Normandy peasants, who keep their flocks around town all summer, +goat's milk being considered beneficial for infants and invalids. They +lead the goats from house to house, and milk whatever quantity their +customers want at their own door - a custom that we can readily understand +will never become widely popular among AngloSaxon milkmen, since it +leaves no possible chance for pump-handle combinations and corresponding +profits. The morning is glorious with sunshine and the carols of feathered +songsters as together we speed away down the beautiful Arques Valley, +over roads that are simply perfect for wheeling; and, upon arriving at +the picturesque ruins of the Chateau d'Arques, we halt and take a casual +peep at the crumbling walls of this of the famous fortress, which the +trailing ivy of Normandy now partially covers with a dark-green mantle +of charity, as though its purpose and its mission were to hide its fallen +grandeur from the rude gaze of the passing stranger. All along the roads +we meet happy-looking peasants driving into Dieppe market with produce. +They are driving Normandy horses - and that means fine, large, spirited +animals - which, being unfamiliar with bicycles, almost invariably take +exception to ours, prancing about after the usual manner of high-strung +steeds. Unlike his English relative, the Norman horse looks not supinely +upon the whirling wheel, but arrays himself almost unanimously against +us, and umially in the most uncompromising manner, similar to the phantom- +eyed roadster of the United States agriculturist. The similarity between +the turnouts of these two countries I am forced to admit, however, +terminates abruptly with the horse itself, and does not by any means +extend to the driver; for, while the Normandy horse capers about and +threatens to upset the vehicle into the ditch, the Frenchman's face is +wreathed in apologetic smiles; and, while he frantically endeavors to +keep the refractory horse under control, he delivers himself of a whole +dictionary of apologies to the wheelman for the animal's foolish conduct, +touches his cap with an air of profound deference upon noticing that we +have considerately slowed up, and invariably utters his Bon jour, monsieur, +as we wheel past, in a voice that plainly indicates his acknowledgment +of the wheelman's - or anybody else's - right to half the roadway. A few +days ago I called the English roads perfect, and England the paradise +of 'cyclers; and so it is; but the Normandy roads are even superior, and +the scenery of the Arques Valley is truly lovely. There is not a loose +stone, a rut, or depression anywhere on these roads, and it is little +exaggeration to call them veritable billiard-tables for smoothness of +surface. As one bowls smoothly along over them he is constantly wondering +how they can possibly keep them in such condition. Were these fine roads +in America one would never be out of sight of whirling wheels. A luncheon +of Normandy cheese and cider at Cleres, and then onward to Bouen is the +word. At every cross-roads is erected an iron guide-post, containing +directions to several of the nearest towns, telling the distances in +kilometres and yards; and small stone pillars are set up alongside the +road, marking every hundred yards. Arriving at Rouen at four o'clock, +Mr. Parkiuson shows me the famous old Rouen Cathedral, the Palace of +Justice, and such examples of old mediaeval Rouen as I care to visit, +and, after inviting me to remain and take dinner with him by the murmuring +waters of the historic Seine, he bids me bon voyage, turns my head +southward, and leaves me at last a stranger among strangers, to "cornprendre +Franyais" unassisted. Some wiseacre has placed it on record that too +much of a good thing is worse than none at all; however that may be, +from having concluded that the friendly iron guide-posts would be found +on every corner where necessary, pointing out the way with infallible +truthfulness, and being doubtless influenced by the superior levelness +of the road leading down the valley of the Seine in comparison with the +one leading over the bluffs, I wander toward eventide into Elbeuf, instead +of Pont de l' Arques, as I had intended; but it matters little, and I +am content to make the best of my surroundings. Wheeling along the +crooked, paved streets of Elbeuf, I enter a small hotel, and, after the +customary exchange of civilities, I arch my eyebrows at an intelligent +-looking madaine, and inquire, " Comprendre Anglais." "Non," replies +the lady, looking puzzled, while I proceed to ventilate my pantomimic +powers to try and make my wants understood. After fifteen minutes of +despairing effort, mademoiselle, the daughter, is despatched to the other +side of the town, and presently returns with a be whiskered Frenchman, +who, in very much broken English, accompanying his words with wondrous +gesticulations, gives me to understand that he is the only person in all +Elbeuf capable of speaking the English language, and begs me to unburden +myself to him without reserve. He proves himself useful and obliging, +kindly interesting himself in obtaining me comfortable accommodation at +reasonable rates. This Elbeuf hotel, though, is anything but an elegant +establishment, and le proprietaire, though seemingly intelligent enough, +brings me out a bottle of the inevitable vin ordinaire (common red wine) +at breakfast-time, instead of the coffee for which my opportune interpreter +said he had given the order yester-eve. If a Frenchman only sits down +to a bite of bread and cheese he usually consumes a pint bottle of vin +ordinaire with it. The loaves of bread here are rolls three and four +feet long, and frequently one of these is laid across - or rather along, +for it is oftentimes longer than the table is wide - the table for you to +hack away at during your meal, according to your bread-eating capacity +or inclination. + +Monsieur, the accomplished, come down to see his Anglais friend and +protege next morning, a few minutes after his Anglais friend and protege, +has started off toward a distant street called Rue Poussen, which le +garcon had unwittingly directed him to when he inquired the way to the +bureau de poste; the natural result, I suppose, of the difference between +Elbeuf pronunciation and mine. Discovering my mistake upon arriving at +the Rue Poussen, I am more fortunate in my attack upon the interpreting +abilities of a passing citizen, who sends an Elbeuf gamin to guide me +to the post-office. + +Post office clerks are proverbially intelligent people in any country, +consequently it doesn't take me long to transact my business at the +bureau de poste; but now - shades of Caesar! - I have thoughtlessly +neglected to take down either the name of the hotel or the street in +which it is located, and for the next half-hour go wandering about as +helplessly as the "babes in the wood" Once, twice I fancy recognizing +the location; but the ordinary Elbeuf house is not easily recognized +from its neighbors, and I am standing looking around me in the +bewildered attitude of one uncertain of his bearings, when, lo! the +landlady, who has doubtless been wondering whatever has become +of me, appears at the door of a building which I should certainly never +have recognized as my hotel, besom in hand, and her pleasant, "Oui, +monsieur," sounds cheery and welcome enough, under the circumstances, +as one may readily suppose. + +Fine roads continue, and between Gaillon and Vernon one can see the +splendid highway, smooth, straight, and broad, stretching ahead for miles +between rows of stately poplars, forming magnificent avenues that add +not a little to the natural loveliness of the country. Noble chateaus +appear here and there, oftentimes situated upon the bluffs of the Seine, +and forming the background to a long avenue of chestnuts, maples, or +poplars, running at right angles to the main road and principal avenue. +The well-known thriftincss of the French peasantry is noticeable on every +hand, and particularly away off to the left yonder, where their small, +well-cultivated farms make the sloping bluffs resemble huge log-cabin +quilts in the distance. Another glaring and unmistakable evidence of the +Normandy peasants' thriftiness is the remarkable number of patches they +manage to distribute over the surface of their pantaloons, every peasant +hereabouts averaging twenty patches, more or less, of all shapes and +sizes. When the British or United States Governments impose any additional +taxation on the people, the people gruinblingly declare they won't put +up with it, and then go ahead and pay it; but when the Chamber of Deputies +at Paris turns on the financial thumb-screw a little tighter, the French +peasant simply puts yet another patch on the seat of his pantaloons, and +smilingly hands over the difference between the patch and the new pair +he intended to purchase! + +Huge cavalry barracks mark the entrance to Vernon, and, as I watch with +interest the manoauvring of the troops going through their morning drill, +I cannot help thinking that with such splendid loads as France possesses +she might take many a less practical measure for home defence than to +mount a few regiments of light infantry on bicycles; infantry travelling +toward the front at the late of seventy-five or a hundred miles a day +would be something of an improvement, one would naturally think. Every +few miles my road leads through the long, straggling street of a village, +every building in which is of solid stone, and looks at least a thousand +years old; while at many cross-roads among the fields, and in all manner +of unexpected nooks and corners of the villages, crucifixes are erected +to accommodate the devotionally inclined. Most of the streets of these +interior villages are paved with square stones which the wear and tear +of centuries have generally rendered too rough for the bicycle; but +occasionally one is ridable, and the astonishment of the inhabitants as +I wheel leisurely through, whistling the solemn strains of "Roll, Jordan, +roll," is really quite amusing. Every village of any size boasts a church +that, for fineness of architecture and apparent costliness of construction, +looks out of all proportion to the straggling street of shapeless +structures that it overtops. Everything here seems built as though +intended to last forever, it being no unusual sight to see a ridiculously +small piece of ground surrounded by a stone wall built as though to +resist a bombardment; an enclosure that must have cost more to erect +than fifty crops off the enclosed space could repay. The important town +of Mantes is reached early in the evening, and a good inn found for the +night. + +The market-women are arraying their varied wares all along the main +street of Mantes as I wheel down toward the banks of the Seine this +morning. I stop to procure a draught of new milk, and, while drinking +it, point to sundry long rows of light, flaky-looking cakes strung on +strings, and motion that I am desirous of sampling a few at current +rates; but the good dame smiles and shakes her head vigorously, as well +enough she might, for I learn afterward that the cakes are nothing less +than dried yeast-cakes, a breakfast off which would probably have produced +spontaneous combustion. Getting on to the wrong road out of Mantes, I +find myself at the river's edge down among the Seine watermen. I am shown +the right way, but from Mantes to Paris they are not Normandy roads; +from Mantes southward they gradually deteriorate until they are little +or no better than the "sand-papered roads of Boston." Having determined +to taboo vin ordinaire altogether I astonish the restaurateur of a village +where I take lunch by motioning away the bottle of red wine and calling +for " de I'eau," and the glances cast in my direction by the other +customers indicate plainly enough that they consider the proceeding as +something quite extraordinary. Rolling through Saint Germain, Chalon +Pavey, and Nanterre, the magnificent Arc de Triomphe looms up in the +distance ahead, and at about two o'clock, Wednesday, May 13th, I wheel +into the gay capital through the Porte Maillott. Asphalt pavement now +takes the place of macadam, and but a short distance inside the city +limits I notice the 'cycle depot of Renard Ferres. Knowing instinctively +that the fraternal feelings engendered by the magic wheel reaches to +wherever a wheelman lives, I hesitate not to dismount and present my +card. Yes, Jean Glinka, apparently an employe there, comprehends Anglais; +they have all heard of my tour, and wish me bon voyage, and Jean and his +bicycle is forthwith produced and delegated to accompany me into the +interior of the city and find me a suitable hotel. The streets of Paris, +like the streets of other large cities, are paved with various compositions, +and they have just been sprinkled. French-like, the luckless Jean is +desirous of displaying his accomplishments on the wheel to a visitor so +distingue; he circles around on the slippery pavement in a manner most +unnecessary, and in so doing upsets himself while crossing a car-track, +rips his pantaloons, and injures his wheel. At the Hotel du Louvre they +won't accept bicycles, having no place to put them; but a short distance +from there we find a less pretentious establishment, where, after requiring +me to fill up a formidable-looking blank, stating my name, residence, +age, occupation, birthplace, the last place I lodged at, etc., they +finally assign me quarters. From Paul Devilliers, to whom I bring an +introduction, I learn that by waiting here till Friday evening, and +repairing to the rooms of the Societe Velocipedique Metropolitaine, the +president of that club can give me the best bicycle route between Paris +and Vienna; accordingly I domicile myself at the hotel for a couple of +days. Many of the lions of Paris are within easy distance of my hotel. +The reader, however, probably knows more about the sights of Paris than +one can possibly find out in two days; therefore I refrain from any +attempt at describing them; but my hotel is worthy of remark. + +Among other agreeable and sensible arrangements at the Hotel uu Loiret, +there is no such thing as opening one's room-door from the outside save +with the key; and unless one thoroughly understands this handy peculiarity, +and has his wits about him continually, he is morally certain, sometime +when he is leaving his room, absent-mindedly to shut the door and leave +the key inside. This is, of course, among the first things that happen +to me, and it costs me half a franc and three hours of wretchedness +before I see the interior of my room again. The hotel keeps a rude +skeleton-key on hand, presumably for possible emergencies of this nature; +but in manipulating this uncouth instrument le portier actually locks +the door, and as the skeleton-key is expected to manage the catch only, +and not the lock, this, of course, makes matters infinitely worse. The +keys of every room in the house are next brought into requisition and +tried in succession, but not a key among them all is a duplicate of mine. +What is to be done. Le portier looks as dejected as though Paris was +about to be bombarded, as he goes down and breaks the dreadful news to +le proprietaire. Up comes le proprietaire - avoirdupois three hundred +pounds - sighing like an exhaust-pipe at every step. For fifteen unhappy +minutes the skeleton-key is wriggled and twisted about again in the key- +hole, and the fat proprietaire rubs his bald head impatiently, but all +to no purpose. Each returns to his respective avocation. Impatient to +get at my writing materials, I look up at the iron bars across the fifth- +story windows above, and motion that if they will procure a rope I will +descend from thence and enter the window. They one and all point out +into the street; and, thinking they have sent for something or somebody, +I sit down and wait with Job-like patience for something to turn up. +Nothing, however, turns up, and at the expiration of an hour I naturally +begin to feel neglected and impatient, and again suggest the rope; when, +at a motion from le proprietaire, le portier pilots me around a neighboring +corner to a locksmith's establishment, where, voluntarily acting the part +of interpreter, he engages on my behalf, for half a franc, a man to come +with a bunch of at least a hundred skeleton-keys of all possible shapes +to attack the refractory key-hole. After trying nearly all the keys, and +disburdening himself of whole volumes of impulsive French ejaculations, +this man likewise gives it up in despair; but, now everything else has +been tried and failed, the countenance of la portier suddenly lights up, +and he slips quietly around to an adjoining room, and enters mine inside +of two minutes by simply lifting a small hook out of a staple with his +knife-blade. There appears to be a slight coolness, as it were, between +le proprietaire and me after this incident, probably owing to the +intellectual standard of each becoming somewhat lowered in the other's +estimation in consequence of it. Le proprietaire, doubtless, thinks a +man capable of leaving the key inside of the door must be the worst type +of an ignoramus; and certainly my opinion of him for leaving such a +diabolical arrangement unchanged in the latter half of the nineteenth +century is not far removed from the same. + +Visiting the headquarters of the Societe Velocipedique Mctropolitaine +on Friday evening, I obtain from the president the desired directions +regarding the route, and am all prepared to continue eastward in the +morning. Wheeling down the famous Champs Elysees at eleven at night, +when the concert gardens are in full blast and everything in a blaze, +of glory, with myriads of electric lights festooned and in long brilliant +rows among the trees, is something to be remembered for a lifetime. +Before breakfast I leave the city by the Porte Daumesiul, and wheel +through the environments toward Vincennes and Jonville, pedalling, to +the sound of martial music, for miles beyond the Porte. The roads for +thirty miles east of Paris are not Normandy roads, but the country for +most of the distance is fairly level, and for mile after mile, and league +beyond league, the road is beneath avenues of plane and poplar, which, +crossing the plain in every direction like emerald walls of nature's own +building, here embellish and beautify an otherwise rather monotonous +stretch of country. The villages are little different from the villages +of Normandy, but the churches have not the architectural beauty of the +Normandy churches, being for the most part massive structures without +any pretence to artistic embellishment in their construction. Monkish-looking +priests are a characteristic feature of these villages, and when, on +passing down the narrow, crooked streets of Fontenay, I wheel beneath a +massive stone archway, and looking around, observe cowled priests and +everything about the place seemingly in keeping with it, one can readily +imagine himself transported back to medieval times. One of these little +interior French villages is the most unpromising looking place imaginable +for a hungry person to ride into; often one may ride the whole length +of the village expectantly looking around for some visible evidence of +wherewith to cheer the inner man, and all that greets the hungry vision +is a couple of four-foot sticks of bread in one dust-begrimed window, +and a few mournful-looking crucifixes and Roman Catholic paraphernalia +in another. Neither are the peasants hereabouts to be compared with the +Normandy peasantry in personal appearance. True, they have as many patches +on their pantaloons, but they don't seem to have acquired the art of +attaching them in a manner to produce the same picturesque effect as +does the peasant of Normandy; the original garment is almost invariably +a shapeless corduroy, of a bagginess and an o'er-ampleness most unbeautiful +to behold. + +The well-known axiom about fair paths leading astray holds good with the +high-ways and by-ways of France, as elsewhere, and soon after leaving +the ancient town of Provins, I am tempted by a splendid road, following +the windings of a murmuring brook, that appears to be going in my +direction, in consequence of which I soon find myself among cross-country +by-ways, and among peasant proprietors who apparently know little of the +world beyond their native Tillages. Four o'clock finds me wheeling through +a hilly vineyard district toward Villenauxe, a town several kilometres +off my proper route, from whence a dozen kilometres over a very good +road brings me to Sezanne, where the Hotel de France affords excellent +accommodation. After the table d'hote the clanging bells of the old +church hard by announce services of some kind, and having a natural +penchant when in strange places from wandering whithersoever inclination +leads, in anticipation of the ever possible item of interest, I meander +into the church and take a seat. There appears to be nothing extraordinary +about the service, the only unfamiliar feature to me being a man wearing +a uniform similar to the gendarmerie of Paris: cockade, sash, sword, and +everything complete; in addition to which he carries a large cane and a +long brazen-headed staff resembling the boarding-pike of the last century. +It has rained heavily during the night, but the roads around here are +composed mainly of gravel, and are rather improved than otherwise by the +rain; and from Sezanne, through Champenoise and on to Vitry le Francois, +a distance of about sixty-five kilometres, is one of the most enjoyable +stretches of road imaginable. The contour of the country somewhat resembles +the swelling prairies of Western Iowa, and the roads are as perfect for +most of the distance as an asphalt boulevard. The hills are gradual +acclivities, and, owing to the good roads, are mostly ridable, while - +the declivities make the finest coasting imaginable; the exhilaration +of gliding down them in the morning air, fresh after the rain, can be +compared only to Canadian tobogganing. Ahead of you stretches a gradual +downward slope, perhaps two kilometres long. Knowing full well that from +top to bottom there exists not a loose stone or a dangerous spot, you +give the ever-ready steel-horse the rein; faster and faster whirl the +glistening wheels until objects "by the road-side become indistinct +phantoms as they glide instantaneously by, and to strike a hole or +obstruction is to be transformed into a human sky-rocket, and, later on, +into a new arrival in another world. A wild yell of warning at a blue- +bloused peasant in the road ahead, shrill screams of dismay from several +females at a cluster of cottages, greet the ear as you sweep past like +a whirlwind, and the next moment reach the bottom at a rate of speed +that would make the engineer of the Flying Dutchman green with envy. +Sometimes, for the sake of variety, when gliding noiselessly along on +the ordinary level, I wheel unobserved close up behind an unsuspecting +peasant walking on ahead, without calling out, and when he becomes +conscious of my presence and looks around and sees the strange vehicle +in such close proximity it is well worth the price of a new hat to see +the lively manner in which he hops out of the way, and the next moment +becomes fairly rooted to the ground with astonishment; for bicycles and +bicycle riders are less familiar objects to the French peasant, outside +of the neighborhood of a few large cities, than one would naturally +suppose. + +Vitry le Frangois is a charming old town in the beautiful valley of the +Marne; in the middle ages it was a strongly fortified city; the moats +and earth-works are still perfect. The only entrance to the town, even +now, is over the old draw-bridges, the massive gates, iron wheels, chains, +etc., still being intact, so that the gates can yet be drawn up and +entrance denied to foes, as of yore; but the moats are now utilized for +the boats of the Marne and Rhine Canal, and it is presumable that the +old draw-bridges are nowadays always left open. To-day is Sunday - and +Sunday in France is equivalent to a holiday - consequently Vitry le Frangois, +being quite an important town, and one of the business centres of the +prosperous and populous Marne Valley, presents all the appearance of +circus-day in an American agricultural community. Several booths are +erected in the market square, the proprietors and attaches of two +peregrinating theatres, several peep-shows, and a dozen various games +of chance, are vying with each other in the noisiness of their demonstrations +to attract the attention and small change of the crowd to their respective +enterprises. Like every other highway in this part of France the Marne +and Bhine Canal is fringed with an avenue of poplars, that from neighboring +elevations can be seen winding along the beautiful valley for miles, +presenting a most pleasing effect. + +East of Vitry le Francois the roads deteriorate, and from thence to Bar- +le they are inferior to any hitherto encountered in France; nevertheless, +from the American standpoint they are very good roads, and when, at five +o'clock, I wheel into Bar-le-Duc and come to sum up the aggregate of the +day's journey I find that, without any undue exertion, I have covered +very nearly one hundred and sixty kilometres, or about one hundred English +miles, since 8.30 A.M., notwithstanding a good hour's halt at Vitry le +Francois for dinner. Bar-le-Duc appears to be quite an important business +centre, pleasantly situated in the valley of the Ornain River, a tributary +of the Marne; and the stream, in its narrow, fertile valley, winds around +among hills from whose sloping sides, every autumn, fairly ooze the +celebrated red wines of the Meuse and Moselle regions. The valley has +been favored with a tremendous downpour of rain and hail during the +night, and the partial formation of the road leading along the level +valley eastward being a light-colored, slippery clay, I find it anything +but agreeable wheeling this morning; moreover, the Ornain Valley road +is not so perfectly kept as it might be. As in every considerable town +in France, so also in Bar-le-Duc, the military element comes conspicuously +to the fore. Eleven kilometres of slipping and sliding through the greasy +clay brings me to the little village of Tronville, where I halt to +investigate the prospect of obtaining something to eat. As usual, the +prospect, from the street, is most unpromising, the only outward evidence +being a few glass jars of odds and ends of candy in one small window. +Entering this establishment, the only thing the woman can produce besides +candy and raisins is a box of brown, wafer-like biscuits, the unsubstantial +appearance of which is, to say the least, most unsatisfactory to a person +who has pedalled his breakfastless way through eleven kilometres of +slippery clay. Uncertain of their composition, and remembering my unhappy +mistake at Mantes in desiring to breakfast off yeast-cakes, I take the +precaution of sampling one, and in the absence of anything more substantial +conclude to purchase a few, and so motion to the woman to hand me the +box in order that I can show her how many I want. But the o'er-careful +Frenchwoman, mistaking my meaning, and fearful that I only want to sample +yet another one, probably feeling uncertain of whether I might not wish +to taste a whole handful this time, instead of handing it over moves it +out of my reach altogether, meanwhile looking quite angry, and not a +little mystified at her mysterious, pantomimic customer. A half-franc +is produced, and, after taking the precaution of putting it away in +advance, the cautious female weighs me out the current quantity of her +ware; and I notice that, after giving lumping weight, she throws in a +few extra, presumably to counterbalance what, upon sober second thought, +she perceives to have been an unjust suspicion. While I am extracting +what satisfaction my feathery purchase contains, it begins to rain and +hail furiously, and so continues with little interruption all the forenoon, +compelling me, much against my inclination, to search out in Tronville, +if possible, some accommodation till to-morrow morning. The village is +a shapeless cluster of stone houses and stables, the most prominent +feature of the streets being huge heaps of manure and grape-vine prunings; +but I manage to obtain the necessary shelter, and such other accommodations +as might be expected in an out-of-the-way village, unfrequented by +visitors from one year's end to another. The following morning is still +rainy, and the clayey roads of the Ornain Valley are anything but inviting +wheeling; but a longer stay in Tronville is not to be thought of, for, +among other pleasantries of the place here, the chief table delicacy +appears to be boiled escargots, a large, ungainly snail procured from +the neighboring hills. Whilst fond of table delicacies, I emphatically +draw the line at escargots. Pulling out toward Toul I find the roads, +as expected, barely ridable; but the vineyard-environed little valley, +lovely in its tears, wrings from one praise in spite of muddy roads and +lowering weather. En route down the valley I meet a battery of artillery +travelling from Toul to Bar-le Duc or some other point to the westward; +and if there is any honor in throwing a battery of French artillery into +confusion, and wellnigh routing them, then the bicycle and I are fairly +entitled to it. + +As I ride carelessly toward them, the leading horses suddenly wheel +around and begin plunging about the road. The officers' horses, and, in +fact, the horses of the whole company, catch the infection, and there +is a plunging and a general confusion all along the line, seeing which +I, of course, dismount and retire - but not discomfited - from the field +until they have passed. These French horses are certainly not more than +half-trained. I passed a battery of English artillery on the road leading +out of Coventry, and had I wheeled along under the horses' noses there +would have been no confusion whatever. + +On the divide between the Ornain and Moselle Valleys the roads are +hillier, but somewhat less muddy. The weather continues showery and +unsettled, and a short distance beyond Void I find myself once again +wandering off along the wrong road. The peasantry hereabout seem to have +retained a lively recollection of the Prussians, my helmet appearing to +have the effect of jogging their memory, and frequently, when stopping +to inquire about the roads, the first word in response will be the pointed +query, "Prussian." By following the directions given by three different +peasants, I wander along the muddy by-roads among the vineyards for two +wet, unhappy hours ere I finally strike the main road to Toul again. +After floundering along the wellnigh unimproved by-ways for two hours +one thoroughly appreciates how much he is indebted to the military +necessities of the French Government for the splendid highways of France, +especially among these hills and valleys, where natural roadways would +be anything but good. Following down the Moselle Valley, I arrive at the +important city of Nancy in the eventide, and am fortunate, I suppose, +in discovering a hotel where a certain, or, more properly speaking, an +uncertain, quantity and quality of English are spoken. Nancy is reputed +to be one of the loveliest towns in France. But I merely remained in it +over night, and long enough next morning to exchange for some German +money, as I cross over the frontier to-day. + +Luneville is a town I pass through, some distance nearer the border, and +the military display here made is perfectly overshadowing. Even the +scarecrows in the fields are military figures, with wooden swords +threateningly waving about in their hands with every motion of the wind, +and the most frequent sound heard along the route is the sharp bang! +bang! of muskets, where companies of soldiers are target-practising in +the woods. There seems to be a bellicose element in the very atmosphere; +for every dog in every village I ride through verily takes after me, and +I run clean over one bumptious cur, which, miscalculating the speed at +which I am coming, fails to get himself out of the way in time. It is +the narrowest escape from a header I have had since starting from +Liverpool; although both man and dog were more scared than hurt. Sixty-five +kilometres from Nancy, and I take lunch at the frontier town of Blamont. +The road becomes more hilly, and a short distance out of Blamont, behold, +it is as though a chalk-line were made across the roadway, on the west +side of which it had been swept with scrupulous care, and on the east +side not swept at all; and when, upon passing the next roadman, I notice +that he bears not upon his cap the brass stencil-plate bearing the +inscription, " Cantonnier," I know that I have passed over the frontier +into the territory of Kaiser Wilhelm. + +My journey through fair Prance has been most interesting, and perhaps +instructive, though I am afraid that the lessons I have taken in French +politeness are altogether too superficial to be lasting. The "Bonjour, +monsieur," and "Bon voyage," of France, may not mean any more than the +"If I don't see you again, why, hello." of America, but it certainly +sounds more musical and pleasant. It is at the table d'hote, however, +that I have felt myself to have invariably shone superior to the natives; +for, lo! the Frenchman eats soup from the end of his spoon. True, it is +more convenient to eat soup from the prow of a spoon than from the +larboard; nevertheless, it is when eating soup that I instinctively feel +my superiority. The French peasants, almost without exception, conclude +that the bright-nickelled surface of the bicycle is silver, and presumably +consider its rider nothing less than a millionnaire in consequence; but +it is when I show them the length of time the rear wheel or a pedal will +spin round that they manifest their greatest surprise. The crowning glory +of French landscape is the magnificent avenues of poplars that traverse +the country in every direction, winding with the roads, the railways, +and canals along the valleys, and marshalled like sentinels along the +brows of the distant hills; without them French scenery would lose half +its charm. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + + + +GERMANY, AUSTRIA, AND HUNGARY. + +Notwithstanding Alsace was French territory only fourteen years ago +(1871) there is a noticeable difference in the inhabitants, to me the +most acceptable being their great linguistic superiority over the people +on the French side of the border. I linger in Saarburg only about thirty +minutes, yet am addressed twice by natives in my own tongue; and at +Pfalzburg, a smaller town, where I remain over night, I find the same +characteristic. Ere I penetrate thirty kilometres into German territory, +however, I have to record what was never encountered in France; an +insolent teamster, who, having his horses strung across a narrow road- +way in the suburbs of Saarburg, refuses to turn his leaders' heads to +enable me to ride past, thus compelling me to dismount. Soldiers drilling, +soldiers at target practice, and soldiers in companies marching about +in every direction, greet my eyes upon approaching Pfalzburg; and although +there appears to be less beating of drums and blare of trumpets than in +French garrison towns, one seldom turns a street corner without hearing +the measured tramp of a military company receding or approaching. These +German troops appear to march briskly and in a business-like manner in +comparison with the French, who always seem to carry themselves with a +tired and dejected deportment; but the over-ample and rather slouchy-looking +pantaloons of the French are probably answerable, in part, for this +impression. One cannot watch these sturdy-looking German soldiers without +a conviction that for the stern purposes of war they are inferior only +to the soldiers of our own country. At the little gasthaus at Pfalzburg +the people appear to understand and anticipate an Englishman's gastronomic +peculiarities, for the first time since leaving England I am confronted +at the supper-table with excellent steak and tea. + +It is raining next morning as I wheel over the rolling hills toward +Saverne, a city nestling pleasantly in a little valley beyond those dark +wooded heights ahead that form the eastern boundary of the valley of the +Rhine. The road is good but hilly, and for several kilometres, before +reaching Saverne, winds its way among the pine forests tortuously and +steeply down from the elevated divide. The valley, dotted here and there +with pleasant villages, is spread out like a marvellously beautiful +picture, the ruins of several old castles on neighboring hill-tops adding +a charm, as well as a dash of romance. + +The rain pours down in torrents as I wheel into Saverne. I pause long +enough to patronize a barber shop; also to procure an additional small +wrench. Taking my nickelled monkey-wrench into a likely-looking hardware +store, I ask the proprietor if he has anything similar. He examines it +with lively interest, for, in comparison with the clumsy tools comprising +his stock-in-trade, the wrench is as a watch-spring to an old horse-shoe. +I purchase a rude tool that might have been fashioned on the anvil of a +village blacksmith. From Saverne my road leads over another divide and +down into the glorious valley of the Rhine, for a short distance through +a narrow defile that reminds me somewhat of a canon in the Sierra Nevada +foot-hills; but a fine, broad road, spread with a coating of surface-mud +only by this morning's rain, prevents the comparison from assuming +definite shape for a cycler. Extensive and beautifully terraced vineyards +mark the eastern exit. The road-beds of this country are hard enough for +anything; but a certain proportion of clay in their composition makes a +slippery coating in rainy weather. I enter the village of Marienheim and +observe the first stork's nest, built on top of a chimney, that I have +yet seen in Europe, though I saw plenty of them afterward. The parent +stork is perched solemnly over her youthful brood, which one would +naturally think would get smoke-dried. A short distance from Marlenheim +I descry in the hazy distance the famous spire of Strasburg cathedral +looming conspicuously above everything else in all the broad valley; and +at 1.30 P.M. I wheel through the massive arched gateway forming part of +the city's fortifications, and down the broad but roughly paved streets, +the most mud-be-spattered object in all Strasburg. The fortifications +surrounding the city are evidently intended strictly for business, and +not merely for outward display. The railway station is one of the finest +in Europe, and among other conspicuous improvements one notices steam +tram-cars. While trundling through the city I am imperatively ordered +off the sidewalk by the policeman; and when stopping to inquire of a +respectable-looking Strasburger for the Appeuweir road, up steps an +individual with one eye and a cast off military cap three sizes too +small. After querying, " Appenweir. Englander?" he wheels "about face" +with military precision doubtless thus impelled by the magic influence +of his headgear - and beckons me to follow. Not knowing what better course +to pursue I obey, and after threading the mazes of a dozen streets, +composed of buildings ranging in architecture from the much gabled and +not unpicturesque structures of mediaeval times to the modern brown-stone +front, he pilots me outside the fortifications again, points up the +Appenweir road, and after the never neglected formality of touching his +cap and extending his palm, returns city-ward. + +Crossing the Rhine over a pontoon bridge, I ride along level and, happily, +rather less muddy roads, through pleasant suburban villages, near one +of which I meet a company of soldiers in undress uniform, strung out +carelessly along the road, as though returning from a tramp into the +country. As I approach them, pedalling laboriously against a stiff head +wind, both myself and the bicycle fairly yellow with clay, both officers +and soldiers begin to laugh in a good-natured, bantering sort of manner, +and a round dozen of them sing out in chorus "Ah! ah! der Englander." +and as I reply, "Yah! yah." in response, and smile as I wheel past +them, the laughing and banter go all along the line. The sight of an +"Englander" on one of his rambling expeditions of adventure furnishes +much amusement to the average German, who, while he cannot help admiring +the spirit of enterprise that impels him, fails to comprehend where the +enjoyment can possibly come in. The average German would much rather +loll around, sipping wine or beer, and smoking cigarettes, than impel a +bicycle across a continent. A few miles eastward of the Rhine another +grim fortress frowns upon peaceful village and broad, green meads, and +off yonder to the right is yet another; sure enough, this Franco-German +frontier is one vast military camp, with forts, and soldiers, and munitions +of war everywhere. When I crossed the Rhine I left Lower Alsace, and am +now penetrating the middle Rhine region, where villages are picturesque +clusters of gabled cottages - a contrast to the shapeless and ancient-looking +stone structures of the French villages. The difference also extends to +the inhabitants; the peasant women of France, in either real or affected +modesty, would usually pretend not to notice anything extraordinary as +I wheeled past, but upon looking back they would almost invariably be +seen standing and gazing after my receding figure with unmistakable +interest; but the women of these Rhine villages burst out into merry +peals of laughter. + +Rolling over fair roads into the village of Oberkirch, I conclude to +remain for the night, and the first thing undertaken is to disburden the +bicycle of its covering of clay. The awkward-looking hostler comes around +several times and eyes the proceedings with glances of genuine disapproval, +doubtless thinking I am cleaning it myself instead of letting him swab +it with a besom with the single purpose in view of dodging the inevitable +tip. The proprietor can speak a few words of English. He puts his bald +head out of the window above, and asks: "Pe you Herr Shtevens ?" "Yah, +yah," I reply. + +" Do you go mit der veld around ?" "Yah; I goes around mit the world." + +"I shoust read about you mit der noospaper." " Ah, indeed! what newspaper?" + +"Die Frankfurter Zeitung. You go around mit der veld." The landlord looks +delighted to have for a guest the man who goes "mit der veld around," +and spreads the news. During the evening several people of importance +and position drop in to take a curious peep at me and my wheel. + +A dampness about the knees, superinduced by wheeling in rubber leggings, +causes me to seek the privilege of the kitchen fire upon arrival. After +listening to the incessant chatter of the cook for a few moments, I +suddenly dispense with all pantomime, and ask in purest English the +privilege of drying my clothing in peace and tranquillity by the kitchen +fire. The poor woman hurries out, and soon returns with her highly +accomplished master, who, comprehending the situation, forthwith tenders +me the loan of his Sunday pantaloons for the evening; which offer I +gladly accept, notwithstanding the wide disproportion in their size and +mine, the landlord being, horizontally, a very large person. Oberkirch +is a pretty village at the entrance to the narrow and charming valley +of the River Bench, up which my route leads, into the fir-clad heights +of the Black Forest. A few miles farther up the valley I wheel through +a small village that nestles amid surroundings the loveliest I have yet +seen. Dark, frowning firs intermingled with the lighter green of other +vegetation crown the surrounding spurs of the Knibis Mountains; vineyards, +small fields of waving rye, and green meadow cover the lower slopes with +variegated beauty, at the foot of which huddles the cluster of pretty +cottages amid scattered orchards of blossoming fruit-trees. The cheery +lute of the herders on the mountains, the carol of birds, and the merry +music of dashing mountain-streams fill the fresh morning air with melody. +All through this country there are apple-trees, pear-trees, cherry-trees +In the fruit season one can scarce open his mouth out-doors without +having the goddess Pomona pop in some delicious morsel. The poplar +avenues of France have disappeared, but the road is frequently shaded +for miles with fruit-trees. I never before saw a spot so lovely-certainly +not in combination with a wellnigh perfect road for wheeling. On through +Oppenau and Petersthal my way leads - this latter a place of growing +importance as a summer resort, several commodious hotels with swimming-baths, +mineral waters, etc., being already prepared to receive the anticipated +influx of health and pleasure-seeking guests this coming summer - and then +up, up, up among the dark pines leading over the Black Forest Mountains. +Mile after mile of steep incline has now been trundled, following the +Bench River to its source. Ere long the road I have lately traversed is +visible far below, winding and twisting up the mountain-slopes. Groups +of swarthy peasant women are carrying on their heads baskets of pine +cones to the villages below. At a distance the sight of their bright red +dresses among the sombre green of the pines is suggestive of the fairies +with which legend has peopled the Black Forest. + +The summit is reached at last, and two boundary posts apprise the traveller +that on this wooded ridge he passes from Baden into Wurtemberg. The +descent for miles is agreeably smooth and gradual; the mountain air blows +cool and refreshing, with an odor of the pines; the scenery is Black +Forest scenery, and what more could be possibly desired than this happy +combination of circumstances. Reaching Freudenstadt about noon, the +mountain-climbing, the bracing air, and the pine fragrance cause me to +give the good people at the gasthaus an impressive lesson in the effect +of cycling on the human appetite. At every town and village I pass through +in Wurtemberg the whole juvenile population collects around me in an +incredibly short time. The natural impulse of the German small boy appears +to be to start running after me, shouting and laughing immoderately, and +when passing through some of the larger villages, it is no exaggeration +to say that I have had two hundred small Germans, noisy and demonstrative, +clattering along behind in their heavy wooden shoes. + +Wurtemburg, by this route at least, is a decidedly hilly country, and +the roads are far inferior to those of both England and France. There +will be, perhaps, three kilometres of trundling up through wooded heights +leading out of a small valley, then, after several kilometres over +undulating, stony upland roads, a long and not always smooth descent +into another small valley, this programme, several times repeated, +constituting the journey of the clay. The small villages of the peasantry +are frequently on the uplands, but the larger towns are invariably in +the valleys, sheltered by wooded heights, perched among the crags of the +most inaccessible of which are frequently seen the ruins of an old castle. +Scores of little boys of eight or ten are breaking stones by the road-side, +at which I somewhat marvel, since there is a compulsory school law in +Germany; but perhaps to-day is a holiday; or maybe, after school hours, +it is customary for these unhappy youngsters to repair to the road-sides +and blister their hands with cracking flints. "Hungry as a buzz-saw" I +roll into the sleepy old town of Rothenburg at six o'clock, and, repairing +to the principal hotel, order supper. Several flunkeys of different +degrees of usefulness come in and bow obsequiously from time to time, +as I sit around, expecting supper to appear every minute. At seven o'clock +the waiter comes in, bows profoundly, and lays the table-cloth; at 7.15 +he appears again, this time with a plate, knife, and fork, doing more +bowing and scraping as he lays them on the table. Another half-hour rolls +by, when, doubtless observing my growing impatience as he happens in at +intervals to close a shutter or re-regulate the gas, he produces a small +illustrated paper, and, bowing profoundly; lays it before me. I feel +very much like making him swallow it, but resigning myself to what appears +to be inevitable fate, I wait and wait, and at precisely 8.15 he produces +a plate of soup; at 8.30 the kalbscotolet is brought on, and at 8.45 a +small plate of mixed biscuits. During the meal I call for another piece +of bread, and behold there is a hurrying to and fro, and a resounding +of feet scurrying along the stone corridors of the rambling old building, +and ten minutes later I receive a small roll. At the opposite end of the +long table upon which I am writing some half-dozen ancient and honorable +Rothenburgers are having what they doubtless consider a "howling time." +Confronting each is a huge tankard of foaming lager, and the one doubtless +enjoying himself the most and making the greatest success of exciting +the envy and admiration of those around him is a certain ponderous +individual who sits from hour to hour in a half comatose condition, +barely keeping a large porcelain pipe from going out, and at fifteen-minute +intervals taking a telling pull at the lager. Were it not for an occasional +blink of the eyelids and the periodical visitation of the tankard to his +lips, it would be difficult to tell whether he were awake or sleeping, +the act of smoking being barely perceptible to the naked eye. + +In the morning I am quite naturally afraid to order anything to eat here +for fear of having to wait until mid-day, or thereabouts, before getting +it; so, after being the unappreciative recipient of several more bows, +more deferential and profound if anything than the bows of yesterday +eve, I wheel twelve kilometres to Tubingen for breakfast. It showers +occasionally during the forenoon, and after about thirty-five kilometres +of hilly country it begins to descend in torrents, compelling me to +follow the example of several peasants in seeking the shelter of a thick +pine copse. We are soon driven out of it, however, and donning my gossamer +rubber suit, I push on to Alberbergen, where I indulge in rye bread and +milk, and otherwise while away the hours until three o'clock, when, the +rain ceasing, I pull out through the mud for Blaubeuren. Down the +beautiful valley of one of the Danube's tributaries I ride on Sunday +morning, pedalling to the music of Blaubeuren's church-bells. After +waiting until ten o'clock, partly to allow the roads to dry a little, I +conclude to wait no longer, and so pull out toward the important and +quite beautiful city of Ulm. The character of the country now changes, +and with it likewise the characteristics of the people, who verily seem +to have stamped upon their features the peculiarities of the region they +inhabit. My road eastward of Blaubeuren follows down a narrow, winding +valley, beside the rippling head-waters of the Danube, and eighteen +kilometres of variable road brings me to the strongly fortified city of +Ulm, the place I should have reached yesterday, except for the inclemency +of the weather, and where I cross from Wurtemberg into Bavaria. On the +uninviting uplands of Central Wurtemberg one looks in vain among the +peasant women for a prepossessing countenance or a graceful figure, but +along the smiling valleys of Bavaria, the women, though usually with +figures disproportionately broad, nevertheless carry themselves with a +certain gracefulness; and, while far from the American or English idea +of beautiful, are several degrees more so than their relatives of the +part of Wilrtemberg I have traversed. I stop but a few minutes at Ulm, +to test a mug of its lager and inquire the details of the road to Augsburg, +yet during that short time I find myself an object of no little curiosity +to the citizens, for the fame of my undertaking has pervaded Ulm. + +The roads of Bavaria possess the one solitary merit of hardness, otherwise +they would be simply abominable, the Bavarian idea of road-making evidently +being to spread unlimited quantities of loose stones over the surface. +For miles a wheelman is compelled to follow along narrow, wheel-worn +tracks, incessantly dodging loose stones, or otherwise to pedal his way +cautiously along the edges of the roadway. I am now wheeling through the +greatest beer-drinking, sausage-consuming country in the world; hop- +gardens are a prominent feature of the landscape, and long links of +sausages are dangling in nearly every window. The quantities of these +viands I see consumed to-day are something astonishing, though the +celebration of the Whitsuntide holidays is probably augmentative of the +amount. + +The strains of instrumental music come floating over the level bottom +of the Lech valley as, toward eventide, I approach the beautiful environs +of Augsburg, and ride past several beer-gardens, where merry crowds of +Augsburgers are congregated, quaffing foaming lager, eating sausages, +and drinking inspiration from the music of military bands. "Where is the +headquarters of the Augsburg Velocipede Club?" I inquire of a promising-looking +youth as, after covering one hundred and twenty kilometres since ten +o'clock, I wheel into the city. The club's headquarters are at a prominent +cafe and beer-garden in the south-eastern suburbs, and repairing thither +I find an accommodating individual who can speak English, and who willingly +accepts the office of interpreter between me and the proprietor of the +garden. Seated amid hundreds of soldiers, Augsburg civilians, and peasants +from the surrounding country, and with them extracting genuine enjoyment +from a tankard of foaming Augsburg lager, I am informed that most of the +members of the club are celebrating the Whitsuntide holidays by touring +about the surrounding country, but that I am very welcome to Augsburg, +and I am conducted to the Hotel Mohrenkopf (Moor's Head Hotel), and +invited to consider myself the guest of the club as long as I care to +remain in Augsburg-the Bavarians are nothing if not practical. + +Mr. Josef Kling, the president of the club, accompanies me as far out +as Friedburg on Monday morning; it is the last day of the holidays, and +the Bavarians are apparently bent on making the most of it. The suburban +beer-gardens are already filled with people, and for some distance out +of the city the roads are thronged with holiday-making Augsburgers +repairing to various pleasure resorts in the neighboring country, and +the peasantry streaming cityward from the villages, their faces beaming +in anticipation of unlimited quantities of beer. About every tenth person +among the outgoing Augsburgers is carrying an accordion; some playing +merrily as they walk along, others preferring to carry theirs in blissful +meditation on the good time in store immediately ahead, while a thoughtful +majority have large umbrellas strapped to their backs. Music and song +are heard on every hand, and as we wheel along together in silence, +enforced by an ignorance of each other's language, whichever way one +looks, people in holiday attire and holiday faces are moving hither and +thither. + +Some of the peasants are fearfully and wonderfully attired: the men wear +high top-boots, polished from the sole to the uppermost hair's breadth +of leather; black, broad-brimmed felt hats, frequently with a peacock's +feather a yard long stuck through the band, the stem protruding forward, +and the end of the feather behind; and their coats and waistcoats are +adorned with long rows of large, ancestral buttons. I am now in the +Swabian district, and these buttons that form so conspicuous a part of +the holiday attire are made of silver coins, and not infrequently have +been handed down from generation to generation for several centuries, +they being, in fact, family heirlooms. The costumes of the Swabish peasant +women are picturesque in the extreme: their finest dresses and that +wondrous head-gear of brass, silver, or gold - the Schwabische +Bauernfrauenhaube (Swabish farmer-woman hat) - being, like the buttons +of the men, family heirlooms. Some of these wonderful ancestral dresses, +I am told, contain no less than one hundred and fifty yards of heavy +material, gathered and closely pleated in innumerable perpendicular folds, +frequently over a foot thick, making the form therein incased appear +ridiculously broad and squatty. The waistbands of the dresses are up in the +region of the shoulder-blades; the upper portion of the sleeves are likewise +padded out to fearful proportions. + +The day is most lovely, the fields are deserted, and the roads and +villages are alive with holiday-making peasants. In every village a tall +pole is erected, and decorated from top to bottom with small flags and +evergreen wreaths. The little stone churches and the adjoining cemeteries +are filled with worshippers chanting in solemn chorus; not so preoccupied +with their devotional exercises and spiritual meditations, however, as +to prevent their calling one another's attention to me as I wheel past, +craning their necks to obtain a better view, and, in one instance, an +o'er-inquisitive worshipper even beckons for me to stop - this person both +chanting and beckoning vigorously at the same time. + +Now my road leads through forests of dark firs; and here I overtake a +procession of some fifty peasants, the men and women alternately chanting +in weird harmony as they trudge along the road. The men are bareheaded, +carrying their hats in hand. Many of the women are barefooted, and the +pedal extremities of others are incased in stockings of marvellous +pattern; not any are wearing shoes. All the colors of the rainbow are +represented in their respective costumes, and each carries a large +umbrella strapped at his back; they are trudging along at quite a brisk +pace, and altogether there is something weird and fascinating about the +whole scene: the chanting and the surroundings. The variegated costumes +of the women are the only bright objects amid the gloominess of the dark +green pines. As I finally pass ahead, the unmistakable expressions of +interest on the faces of the men, and the even rows of ivories displayed +by the women, betray a diverted attention. + +Near noon I arrive at the antiquated town of Dachau, and upon repairing +to the gasthaus, an individual in a last week's paper collar, and with +general appearance in keeping, comes forward and addresses me in quite +excellent English, and during the dinner hour answers several questions +concerning the country and the natives so intelligently that, upon +departing, I ungrudgingly offer him the small tip customary on such +occasions in Germany. "No, Whitsuntide in Bavaria. I thank you, very +muchly," he replies, smiling, and shaking his head. "I am not an employe +of the hotel, as you doubtless think; I am a student of modern languages +at the Munich University, visiting Dauhau for the day." Several soldiers +playing billiards in the room grin broadly in recognition of the ludicrousness +situation; and I must confess that for the moment I feel like asking one of +them to draw his sword and charitably prod me out of the room. The unhappy +memory of having, in my ignorance, tendered a small tip to a student of the +Munich University will cling around me forever. Nevertheless, I feel that after +all there are extenuating circumstances - he ought to change his paper collar +occasionally. + +An hour after noon I am industriously dodging loose flints on the level +road leading across the Isar River Valley toward Munich; the Tyrolese +Alps loom up, shadowy and indistinct, in the distance to the southward, +their snowy peaks recalling memories of the Rockies through which I was +wheeling exactly a year ago. While wending my way along the streets +toward the central portion of the Bavarian capital the familiar sign, +"American Cigar Store," looking like a ray of light penetrating through +the gloom and mystery of the multitudinous unreadable signs that surround +it, greets my vision, and I immediately wend my footsteps thitherward. +I discover in the proprietor, Mr. Walsch, a native of Munich, who, after +residing in America for several years, has returned to dream away declining +years amid the smoke of good cigars and the quaffing of the delicious +amber beer that the brewers of Munich alone know how to brew. Then who +should happen in but Mr. Charles Buscher, a thorough-going American; +from Chicago, who is studying art here at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, +and who straightway volunteers to show me Munich. + +Nine o'clock next morning finds me under the pilotage of Mr. Buscher, +wandering through the splendid art galleries. We next visit the Royal +Academy of Fine Arts, a magnificent building, being erected at a cost +of 7,000,000 marks. + +We repair at eleven o'clock to the royal residence, making a note by the +way of a trifling mark of King Ludwig's well-known eccentricity. Opposite +the palace is an old church, with two of its four clocks facing the +King's apartments. The hands of these clocks are, according to my +informant, made of gold. Some time since the King announced that the +sight of these golden hands hurt his eyesight, and ordered them painted +black. It was done, and they are black to-day. Among the most interesting +objects in the palace are the room and bed in which Napoleon I. slept +in 1809, which has since been occupied by no other person; the "rich +bed," a gorgeous affair of pink and scarlet satin-work, on which forty +women wove, with gold thread, daily, for ten years, until 1,600,000 marks +were expended. + +At one of the entrances to the royal residence, and secured with iron +bars, is a large bowlder weighing three hundred and sixty-three pounds; +in the wall above it are driven three spikes, the highest spike being +twelve feet from the ground; and Bavarian historians have recorded that +Earl Christoph, a famous giant, tossed this bowlder up to the mark +indicated by the highest spike, with his foot. + +After this I am kindly warned by both Messrs. Buscher and Walsch not to +think of leaving the city without visiting the Konigliche Hofbrauhaus +(Royal Court Brewery) the most famous place of its kind in all Europe. +For centuries Munich has been famous for the excellent quality of its +beer, and somewhere about four centuries ago the king founded this famous +brewery for the charitable purpose of enabling his poorer subjects to +quench their thirst with the best quality of beer, at prices within their +means, and from generation to generation it has remained a favorite +resort in Munich for lovers of good beer. In spite of its remaining, as +of yore, a place of rude benches beneath equally rude, open sheds, with +cobwebs festooning the rafters and a general air of dilapidation about +it; in spite of the innovation of dozens of modern beer-gardens with +waving palms, electric lights, military music, and all modern improvements, +the Konigliche Hofbrauhaus is daily and nightly thronged with thirsty +visitors, who for the trifling sum of twenty-two pfennigs (about five +cents) obtain a quart tankard of the most celebrated brew in all Bavaria. + +"Munich is the greatest art-centre of the world, the true hub of the +artistic universe," Mr. Buscher enthusiastically assures me as we wander +together through the sleepy old streets, and he points out a bright bit +of old frescoing, which is already partly obliterated by the elements, +and compares it with the work of recent years; calls my attention to a +piece of statuary, and anon pilots me down into a restaurant and beer +hall in some ancient, underground vaults and bids me examine the +architecture and the frescoing. The very custom-house of Munich is a +glorious old church, that would be carefully preserved as a relic of no +small interest and importance in cities less abundantly blessed with +antiquities, but which is here piled with the cases and boxes and bags +of commerce. One other conspicuous feature of Munich life must not be +over-looked ere I leave it, viz., the hackmen. Unlike their Transatlantic +brethren, they appear supremely indifferent about whether they pick up +any fares or not. Whenever one comes to a hack-stand it is a pretty sure +thing to bet that nine drivers out of every ten are taking a quiet snooze, +reclining on their elevated boxes, entirely oblivious of their surroundings, +and a timid stranger would almost hesitate about disturbing their slumbers. +But the Munich cabby has long since got hardened to the disagreeable +process of being wakened up. Nor does this lethargy pervade the ranks +of hackdom only: at least two-thirds of the teamsters one meets on the +roads, hereabouts, are stretched out on their respective loads, contentedly +sleeping while the horses or oxen crawl leisurely along toward their +goal. + +Munich is visited heavily with rain during the night, and for several +kilometres, next morning, the road is a horrible waste of loose flints +and mud-filled ruts, along which it is all but impossible to ride; but +after leaving the level bottom of the Isar River the road improves +sufficiently to enable me to take an occasional, admiring glance at the +Bavarian and Tyrolese Alps, towering cloudward on the southern horizon, +their shadowy outlines scarcely distinguishable in the hazy distance +from the fleecy clouds their peaks aspire to invade. While absentmindedly +taking a more lingering look than is consistent with safety when picking +one's way along the narrow edge of the roadway between the stone-strewn +centre and the ditch, I run into the latter, and am rewarded with my +first Cis-atlantic header, but fortunately both myself and the bicycle +come up uninjured. Unlike the Swabish peasantry, the natives east of +Munich appear as prosy and unpicturesque in dress as a Kansas homesteader. + +Ere long there is noticeable a decided change in the character of the +villages, they being no longer clusters of gabled cottages, but usually +consist of some three or four huge, rambling bulldings, at one of which +I call for a drink and observe that brewing and baking are going on as +though they were expecting a whole regiment to be quartered on them. +Among other things I mentally note this morning is that the men actually +seem to be bearing the drudgery of the farm equally with the women; but +the favorable impression becomes greatly imperilled upon meeting a woman +harnessed to a small cart, heavily laboring along, while her husband - +kind man - is walking along-side, holding on to a rope, upon which he +considerately pulls to assist her along and lighten her task. Nearing +Hoag, and thence eastward, the road becomes greatly improved, and along +the Inn River Valley, from Muhldorf to Alt Oetting, where I remain for +the night, the late rain-storm has not reached, and the wheeling is +superior to any I have yet had in Germany. Muhldorf is a curious and +interesting old town. The sidewalks of Muhldorf are beneath long arcades +from one end of the principal street to the other; not modern structures +either, but massive archways that are doubtless centuries old, and that +support the front rooms of the buildings that tower a couple of stories +above them. + +As toward dusk I ride into the market square of Alt Oetting, it is +noticeable that nearly all the stalls and shops remaining open display +nothing but rosaries, crucifixes, and other paraphernalia of the prevailing +religion. Through Eastern Bavaria the people seern pre-eminently devotional; +church-spires dot the landscape at every point of the compass. At my +hotel in Alt Oetting, crucifixes, holy water, and burning tapers are +situated on the different stairway landings. I am sitting in my room, +penning these lines to the music of several hundred voices chanting in +the old stone church near by, and can look out of the window and see a +number of peasant women taking turns in dragging themselves on their +knees round and round a small religious edifice in the centre of the +market square, carrying on their shoulders huge, heavy wooden crosses, +the ends of which are trailing on the ground. + +All down the Inn River Valley, there is many a picturesque bit of +intermingled pine-copse and grassy slopes; but admiring scenery is +anything but a riskless undertaking along here, as I quickly discover. +On the Inn River I find a primitive ferry-boat operated by a, fac-simile +of the Ancient Mariner, who takes me and my wheel across for the +consideration of five pfennigs-a trifle over one cent -and when I refuse +the tiny change out of a ten-pfennig piece the old fellow touches his +cap as deferentially, and favors me with a look of gratitude as profound, +as though I were bestowing a pension upon him for life. My arrival at a +broad, well-travelled high-way at once convinces me that I have again +been unwittingly wandering among the comparatively untravelled by-ways +as the result of following the kindly meant advice of people whose +knowledge of bicycling requirements is of the slimmest nature. The Inn +River a warm, rich vale; haymaking is already in full progress, and +delightful perfume is wafted on the fresh morning air from aclows where +scores of barefooted Maud Mullers are raking hay, and mowing it too, +swinging scythes side by side with the men. Some of the out-door crucifixes +and shrines (small, substantial buildings containing pictures, images, +and all sorts of religious -emblems) along this valley are really quite +elaborate affairs. All through Roman Catholic Germany these emblems of +religion are very elaborate, or the reverse, according to the locality, +the chosen spot in rich and fertile valleys generally being favored with +better and more artistic affairs, and more of them, than the comparatively +unproductive uplands. This is evidently because the inhabitants of the +latter regions are either less wealthy, and consequently cannot afford +it, or otherwise realize that they have really much less to be thankful +for than their comparatively fortunate neighbors in the more productive +valleys. + +At the town of Simbach I cross the Inn River again on a substantial +wooden bridge, and on the opposite side pass under an old stone archway +bearing the Austrian coat-of-arms. Here I am conducted into the custom-house +by an officer wearing the sombre uniform of Franz Josef, and required, +for the first time in Europe, to produce my passport. After a critical +and unnecessarily long examination of this document I am graciously +permitted to depart. In an adjacent money-changer's office I exchange +what German money I have remaining for the paper currency of Austria, +and once more pursue my way toward the Orient, finding the roads rather +better than the average German ones, the Austrians, hereabouts at least, +having had the goodness to omit the loose flints so characteristic of +Bavaria. Once out of the valley of the Inn River, however, I find the +uplands intervening between it and the valley of the Danube aggravatingly +hilly. + +While eating my first luncheon in Austria, at the village of Altheim, +the village pedagogue informs me in good English that I am the first +Briton he has ever had the pleasure of conversing with. He learned the +language entirely from books, without a tutor, he says, learning it for +pleasure solely, never expecting to utilize the accomplishment in any +practical way. One hill after another characterizes my route to-day; the +weather, which has hitherto remained reasonably mild, is turning hot and +sultry, and, arriving at Hoag about five o'clock, I feel that I have +done sufficient hillclimbing for one day. I have been wheeling through +Austrian territory since 10.30 this morning, and, with observant eyes +the whole distance, I have yet to see the first native, male or female, +possessing in the least degree either a graceful figure or a prepossessing +face. There has been a great horse-fair at Hoag to-day; the business of +the day is concluded, and the principal occupation of the men, apart +from drinking beer and smoking, appears to be frightening the women out +of their wits by leading prancing horses as near them as possible. + +My road, on leaving Hoag, is hilly, and the snowy heights of the Nordliche +Kalkalpen (North Chalk Mountains), a range of the Austrian Alps, loom +up ahead at an uncertain distance. To-day is what Americans call a +"scorcher," and climbing hills among pine-woods, that shut out every +passing breeze, is anything but exhilarating exercise with the thermometer +hovering in the vicinity of one hundred degrees. The peasants are abroad +in their fields as usual, but a goodly proportion are reclining beneath +the trees. Reclining is, I think, a favorite pastime with the Austrian. +The teamster, who happens to be wide awake and sees me approaching, knows +instinctively that his team is going to scare at the bicycle, yet he +makes no precautionary movements whatever, neither does he arouse himself +from his lolling position until the horses or oxen begin to swerve around. +As a usual thing the teamster is filling his pipe, which has a large, +ungainly-looking, porcelain bowl, a long, straight wooden stem, and a +crooked mouth-piece. Almost every Austrian peasant from sixteen years +old upward carries one of these uncomely pipes. + +The men here seem to be dull, uninteresting mortals, dressed in tight- +fitting, and yet, somehow, ill-fitting, pantaloons, usually about three +sizes too short, a small apron of blue ducking-an unbecoming garment +that can only be described as a cross between a short jacket and a +waistcoat - and a narrow-rimmed, prosy-looking billycock hat. The peasant +women are the poetry of Austria, as of any other European country, and +in their short red dresses and broad-brimmed, gypsy hats, they look +picturesque and interesting in spite of homely faces and ungraceful +figures. Riding into Lambach this morning, I am about wheeling past a +horse and drag that, careless and Austrian-like, has been left untied +and unwatched in the middle of the street, when the horse suddenly scares, +swerves around just in front of me, and dashes, helter-skelter, down the +street. The horse circles around the market square and finally stops of +his own accord without doing any damage. Runaways, other misfortunes, +it seems, never come singly, and ere I have left Lambach an hour I am +the innocent cause of yet another one; this time it is a large, powerful +work-dog, who becomes excited upon meeting me along the road, and upsets +things in the most lively manner. Small carts pulled by dogs are common +vehicles here and this one is met coming up an incline, the man considerately +giving the animal a lift. A life of drudgery breaks the spirit of these +work-dogs and makes them cowardly and cringing. At my approach this one +howls, and swerves suddenly around with a rush that upsets both man and +cart, topsy-turvy, into the ditch, and the last glimpse of the rumpus +obtained, as I sweep past and down the hill beyond, is the man pawing +the air with his naked feet and the dog struggling to free himself from +the entangling harness. + +Up among the hills, at the village of Strenburg, night arrives at a very +opportune moment to-day, for Strenburg proves a nice, sociable sort of +village, where the doctor can speak good English and plays the role of +interpreter for me at the gasthaus. The school-ma'am, a vivacious Italian +lady, in addition to French and German, can also speak a few words of +English, though she persistently refers to herself as the " school +-master." She boards at the same gasthaus, and all the evening long I +am favored by the liveliest prattle and most charming gesticulations +imaginable, while the room is half filled with her class of young lady +aspirants to linguistic accomplishments, listening to our amusing, if +not instructive, efforts to carry on a conversation. ' It is altogether +a most enjoyable evening, and on parting I am requested to write when I +get around the world and tell the Strenburgers all that I have seen and +experienced. On top of the gasthaus is a rude observatory, and before +starting I take a view of the country. The outlook is magnificent; the +Austrian Alps are towering skyward to the southeast, rearing snow-crowned +heads out from among a billowy sea of pine-covered hills, and to the +northward is the lovely valley of the Danube, the river glistening softly +through the morning haze. + +On yonder height, overlooking the Danube on the one hand and the town +of Molk on the other, is the largest and most imposing edifice I have +yet seen in Austria; it is a convent of the Benedictine monks; and though +Molk is a solid, substantially built town, of perhaps a thousand +inhabitants, I should think there is more material in the immense convent +building than in the whole town besides, and one naturally wonders +whatever use the monks can possibly have for a building of such enormous +dimensions. Entering a barber's shop here for a shave, I find the barber of +Molk following the example of so many of his countrymen by snoozing the +mid-day hours happily and unconsciously away. One could easily pocket +and walk off with his stock-in-trade, for small is the danger of his awakening. +Waking him up, he shuffles mechanically over to hia razor and lathering +apparatus, this latter being a soup-plate with a semicircular piece +chipped out to fit, after a fashion, the contour of the customers' +throats. Pressing this jagged edge of queen's-ware against your windpipe, +the artist alternately rubs the water and a cake of soap therein contained +about your face with his hands, the water meanwhile passing freely between +the ill-fitting' soup-plate and your throat, and running down your breast; +but don't complain; be reasonable: no reasonable-minded person could +expect one soup-plate, however carefully chipped out, to fit the throats +of the entire male population of Molk, besides such travellers as happen +along. + +Spending the night at Neu Lengbach, I climb hills and wabble along, over +rough, lumpy roads, toward Vienna, reaching the Austrian capital Sunday +morning, and putting up at the Englischer Eof about noon. At Vienna I +determine to make a halt of two days, and on Tuesday pay a visit to the +headquarters of the Vienna Wanderers' Bicycle Club, away out on a suburban +street called Schwimmschulenstrasse; and the club promises that if I +will delay my departure another day they will get up a small party of +wheelmen to escort me seventy kilometres, to Presburg. The bicycle clubs +of Vienna have, at the Wanderers' headquarters, constructed an excellent +race-track, three and one-third laps to the English mile, at an expense +of 2,000 gulden, and this evening several of Austria's fliers are training +upon it for the approaching races. English and American wheelmen little +understand the difficulties these Vienna cyclers have to contend with: +all the city inside the Ringstrasse, and no less than fifty streets +outside, are forbidden to the mounted cyclers, and they are required to +ticket themselves with big, glaring letters, as also their lamps at +night, so that, in case of violating any of these regulations, they can +by their number be readily recognized by the police. Self-preservation +compels the clubs to exercise every precaution against violating the +police regulations, in order not to excite popular prejudice overwhelmingly +against bicycles, and ere a new rider is permitted to venture outside +their own grounds he is hauled up before a regularly organized committee, +consisting of officers from each club in Vienna, and required to go +through a regular examination in mounting, dismounting, and otherwise +proving to their entire satisfaction his proficiency in managing and +manoeuvring his wheel; besides which every cycler is provided with a +pamphlet containing a list of the streets he may and may not frequent. +In spite of all these harassing regulations, the Austrian capital has +already two hundred riders. The Viennese impress themselves upon me as +being possessed of more than ordinary individuality. Yonder comes a man, +walking languidly along, and carrying his hat in his hand, because it +is warm, and just behind him comes a fellow-citizen muffled up in an +overcoat because - because of Viennese individuality. The people seem to +walk the streets with a swaying, happy-go-anyhow sort of gait, colliding +with one another and jostling together on the sidewalk in the happiest +manner imaginable. + +At five o'clock on Thursday morning I am dressing, when I am notified +that two cyclers are awaiting me below. Church-bells are clanging joyously +all over Vienna as we meander toward suburbs, and people are already +streaming in the direction of the St. Stephen's Church, near the centre +of the city, for to-day is Frohnleichnam (Corpus Christi), and the Emperor +and many of the great ecclesiastical, civil, and military personages of +the empire will pass in procession with all pomp and circumstance; and +the average Viennese is not the person to miss so important an occasion. +Three other wheelmen are awaiting us in the suburbs, and together we +ride through the waving barley-fields of the Danube bottom to Schwechat, +for the light breakfast customary in Austria, and thence onward to +Petronelle, thirty kilometres distant, where we halt a few minutes for +a Corpus Christi procession, and drink a glass of white Hungarian wine. +Near Petronelle are the remains of an old Roman wall, extending from the +Danube to a lake called the Neusiedler See. My companions say it was +built 2,000 years ago, when the sway of the Romans extended over such +parts of Europe as were worth the trouble and expense of swaying. The +roads are found rather rough and inferior, on account of loose stones +and uneven surface, as we push forward toward Presburg, passing through +a dozen villages whose streets are carpeted with fresh-cut grass, and +converted into temporary avenues, with branches stuck in the ground, in +honor of the day they are celebrating. At Hamburg we pass beneath an +archway nine hundred years old, and wheel on through the grass-carpeted +streets between rows of Hungarian soldiers drawn up in line, with green +oak-sprigs in their hats; the villagers are swarming from the church, +whose bells are filling the air with their clangor, and on the summit +of an over-shadowing cliff are the massive ruins of an ancient castle. +Near about noon we roll into Presburg, warm and dusty, and after dinner +take a stroll through the Jewish quarter of the town up to the height +upon which Presburg castle is situated, and from which a most extensive +and beautiful view of the Danube, its wooded bluffs and broad, rich +bottom-lands, is obtainable. At dinner the waiter hands me a card, which +reads: "Pardon me, but I believe you are an Englishman, in which case +I beg the privilege of drinking a glass of wine with you." The sender +is an English gentleman residing at Budapest, Hungary, who, after the +requested glass of wine, tells me that he guessed who I was when he first +saw me enter the garden with the five Austrian wheelmen. + +My Austrian escort rides out with me to a certain cross-road, to make +sure of heading me direct toward Budapest, and as we part they bid me +good speed, with a hearty "Eljen." - the Hungarian "Hip, hip, hurrah." +After leaving Presburg and crossing over into Hungary the road-bed is +of a loose gravel that, during the dry weather this country is now +experiencing, is churned up and loosened by every passing vehicle, until +one might as well think of riding over a ploughed field. But there is a +fair proportion of ridable side-paths, so that I make reasonably good +time. Altenburg, my objective point for the night, is the centre of a +sixty-thousand-acre estate belonging to the Archduke Albrecht, uncle of +the present Emperor of Austro-Hungary, and one of the wealthiest land-owners +in the empire. Ere I have been at the gasthaus an hour I am honored by +a visit from Professor Thallmeyer, of the Altenburg Royal Agricultural +School, who invites me over to his house to spend an hour in conversation, +and in the discussion of a bottle of Hungary's best vintage, for the +learned professor can talk very good English, and his wife is of English +birth and parentage. Although Frau Thallmeyer left England at the tender +age of two years, she calls herself an Englishwoman, speaks of England +as "home," and welcomes to her house as a countryman any wandering +Briton happening along. I am no longer in a land of small peasant +proprietors, and there is a noticeably large proportion of the land +devoted to grazing purposes, that in France or Germany would be found +divided into small farms, and every foot cultivated. Villages are farther +apart, and are invariably adjacent to large commons, on which roam flocks +of noisy geese, herds of ponies, and cattle with horns that would make +a Texan blush - the long horned roadsters of Hungary. The costumes of the +Hungarian peasants are both picturesque and novel, the women and girls +wearing top-boots and short dresses on holiday occasions and Sundays, +and at other times short dresses without any boots at all; the men wear +loose-flowing pantaloons of white, coarse linen that reach just below +the knees, and which a casual observer would unhesitatingly pronounce a +short skirt, the material being so ample. Hungary is still practically +a land of serfs and nobles, and nearly every peasant encountered along +the road touches his cap respectfully, in instinctive acknowledgment, +as it were, of his inferiority. Long rows of women are seen hoeing in +the fields with watchful overseers standing over them - a scene not +unsuggestive of plantation life in the Southern States in the days of +slavery. If these gangs of women are not more than about two hundred +yards from the road their inquisitiveness overcomes every other +consideration, and dropping everything, the whole crowd comes helter-skelter +across the field to obtain a closer view of the strange vehicle; for it +is only in the neighborhood of one or two of the principal cities of +Hungary that one ever sees a bicycle. + +Gangs of gypsies are now frequently met with; they are dark-skinned, +interesting people, and altogether different-looking from those occasionally +encountered in England and America, where, although swarthy and dark-skinned, +they bear no comparison in that respect to these, whose skin is wellnigh +black, and whose gleaming white teeth and brilliant, coal-black eyes +stamp them plainly as alien to the race around them. Ragged, unwashed, +happy gangs of vagabonds these stragglers appear, and regular droves of +partially or wholly naked youngsters come racing after me, calling out +"kreuzer! kreuzer! kreuzer!" and holding out hand or tattered hat in +a supplicating manner as they run along-side. Unlike the peasantry, none +of these gypsies touch their hats; indeed, yon swarthy-faced vagabond, +arrayed mainly in gewgaws, and eying me curiously with his piercing black +eyes, may be priding himself on having royal blood in his veins; and, +unregenerate chicken-lifter though he doubtless be, would scarce condescend +to touch his tattered tile even to the Emperor of Austria. The black +eyes scintillate as they take notice of what they consider the great +wealth of sterling silver about the machine I bestride. Eastward from +Altenburg the main portion of the road continues for the most part +unridably loose and heavy. + +For some kilometres out of Raab the road presents a far better surface, +and I ride quite a lively race with a small Danube passenger steamer +that is starting down-stream. The steamboat toots and forges ahead, and +in answer to the waving of hats and exclamations of encouragement from +the passengers, I likewise forge ahead, and although the boat is going +down-stream with the strong current of the Danube, as long as the road +continues fairly good I manage to keep in advance; but soon the loose +surface reappears, and when I arrive at Gonys, for lunch, I find the +steamer already tied up, and the passengers and officers greet my +appearance with shouts of recognition. My route along the Danube Valley +leads through broad, level wheat-fields that recall memories of the +Sacramento Valley, California. Geese appear as the most plentiful objects +around the villages: there are geese and goslings everywhere; and this +evening, in a small village, I wheel quite over one, to the dismay of +the maiden driving them homeward, and the unconcealed delight of several +small Hungarians. + +At the village of Nezmely I am to-night treated to a foretaste of what +is probably in store for me at a goodly number of places ahead by being +consigned to a bunch of hay and a couple of sacks in the stable as the +best sleeping accommodations the village gasthaus affords. True, I am +assigned the place of honor in the manger, which, though uncomfortably +narrow and confining, is perhaps better accommodation, after all, than +the peregrinating tinker and three other likely-looking characters are +enjoying on the bare floor. Some of these companions, upon retiring, +pray aloud at unseemly length, and one of them, at least, keeps it up +in his sleep at frequent intervals through the night; horses and work-cattle +are rattling chains and munching hay, and an uneasy goat, with a bell +around his neck, fills the stable with an incessant tinkle till dawn. +Black bread and a cheap but very good quality of white wine seem about +the only refreshment obtainable at these little villages. One asks in +vain for milch-brod, butter, kdsc, or in fact anything acceptable to the +English palate; the answer to all questions concerning these things is +"nicht, nicht, nicht." - "What have you, then?" I sometimes ask, the +answer to which is almost invariably "brod und wein." Stone-yards thronged +with busy workmen, chipping stone for shipment to cities along the Danube, +are a feature of these river-side villages. The farther one travels the +more frequently gypsies are encountered on the road. In almost every +band is a maiden, who, by reason of real or imaginary beauty, occupies +the position of pet of the camp, wears a profusion of beads and trinkets, +decorates herself with wild flowers, and is permitted to do no manner +of drudgery. Some of these gypsy maidens are really quite beautiful in +spite of their very dark complexions. Their eyes glisten with inborn +avarice as I sweep past on my "silver" bicycle, and in their astonishment +at my strange appearance and my evidently enormous wealth they almost +forget their plaintive wail of "kreuzer! kreuzer!" a cry which readily +bespeaks their origin, and is easily recognized as an echo from the land +where the cry of "backsheesh" is seldom out of the traveller's hearing. + +The roads east of Nezmely are variable, flint-strewn ways predominating; +otherwise the way would be very agreeable, since the gradients are gentle, +and the dust not over two inches deep, as against three in most of Austro- +Hungary thus far traversed. The weather is broiling hot; but I worry +along perseveringly, through rough and smooth, toward the land of the +rising sun. Nearing Budapest the roads become somewhat smoother, but at +the same time hillier, the country changing to vine-clad slopes; and all +along the undulating ways I meet wagons laden with huge wine-casks. +Reaching Budapest in the afternoon, I seek out Mr. Kosztovitz, of the +Budapest Bicycle Club, and consul of the Cyclists' Touring Club, who +proves a most agreeable gentleman, and who, besides being an enthusiastic +cycler, talks English perfectly. There is more of the sporting spirit +in Budapest, perhaps, than in any other city of its size on the Continent, +and no sooner is my arrival known than I am taken in hand and practically +compelled to remain over at least one day. Svetozar Igali, a noted cycle +tourist of the village of Duna Szekeso, now visiting the international +exhibition at Budapest, volunteers to accompany me to Belgrade, and +perhaps to Constantinople. I am rather surprised at finding so much +cycling enthusiasm in the Hungarian capital. Mr. Kosztovitz, who lived +some time in England, and was president of a bicycle club there, had the +honor of bringing the first wheel into the Austro-Hungarian empire, in +the autumn of 1879, and now Budapest alone has three clubs, aggregating +nearly a hundred riders, and a still greater number of non-riding members. +Cyclers have far more liberty accorded them in Budapest than in Vienna, +being permitted to roam the city almost as untrammelled as in London, +this happy condition of affairs being partly the result of Mr. Kosztovitz's +diplomacy in presenting a ready drawn-up set of rules and regulations +for the government of wheelmen to the police authorities when the first +bicycle was introduced, and partly to the police magistrate, being himself +an enthusiastic all-'round sportsman, inclined to patronize anything in +the way of athletics. They are even experimenting in the Hungarian army +with the view of organizing a bicycle despatch service; and I am told +that they already have a bicycle despatch in successful operation in the +Bavarian army. In the evening I am the club's guest at a supper under +the shade-trees in the exhibition grounds. Mr. Kosztovitz and another +gentleman who can speak English act as interpreters, and here, amid the +merry clinking of champagne-glasses, the glare of electric lights, with +the ravishing music of an Hungarian gypsy band on our right, and a band +of swarthy Servians playing their sweet native melodies on our left, we, +among other toasts, drink to the success of my tour. There is a cosmopolitan +and exceedingly interesting crowd of visitors at the international +exhibition: natives from Bulgaria, Servia, Roumania, and Turkey, in their +national costumes; and mingled among them are Hungarian peasants from +various provinces, some of them in a remarkably picturesque dress, that +I afterward learn is Croatian. A noticeable feature of Budapest, besides +a predilection for sport among the citizens, is a larger proportion of +handsome ladies than one sees in most European cities, and there is, +moreover, a certain atmosphere about them that makes them rather agreeable +company. If one is travelling around the world with a bicycle, it is not +at all inconsistent with Budapest propriety for the wife of the wheelman +sitting opposite you to remark that she wishes she were a rose, that you +might wear her for a button-hole bouquet on your journey, and to ask +whether or not, in that case, you would throw the rose away when it +faded. Compliments, pleasant, yet withal as meaningless as the coquettish +glances and fan-play that accompany them, are given with a freedom and +liberality that put the sterner native of more western countries at his +wits' end to return them. But the most delightful thing in all Hungary +is its gypsy music. As it is played here beneath its own sunny skies, +methinks there is nothing in the wide world to compare with it. The music +does not suit the taste of some people, however; it is too wild and +thrilling. Budapest is a place of many languages, one of the waiters in +the exhibition cafe claiming the ability to speak and understand no less +than fourteen different languages and dialects. + +Nine wheelmen accompany me some distance out of Budapest on Monday +morning, and Mr. Philipovitz and two other members continue with Igali +and me to Duna Pentele, some seventy-five miles distant; this is our +first sleeping-place, the captain making his guest until our separation +and departure in different directions next morning. During the fierce +heat of mid-day we halt for about three hours at Adony, and spend a +pleasant after-dinner Lour examining the trappings and trophies of a +noted sporting gentleman, and witnessing a lively and interesting set-to +with fencing foils. There is everything in fire-arms in his cabinet, +from an English double-barrelled shot-gun to a tiny air-pistol for +shooting flies on the walls of his sitting-room; he has swords, oars, +gymnastic paraphernalia - in fact, everything but boxing gloves. Arriving +at Duna Pentele early in the evening, before supper we swim for an hour +in the waters of the Danube. At 9.30 P.M. two of our little company board +the up-stream-bound steamer for the return home, and at ten o'clock we +are proposing to retire for the night, when lo, in come a half-dozen +gentlemen, among them Mr. Ujvarii, whose private wine-cellar is celebrated +all the country round, and who now proposes that we postpone going to +bed long enough to pay a short visit to his cellar and sample the +"finest wine in Hungary." This is an invitation not to be resisted by +ordinary mortals, and accordingly we accept, following the gentleman and +his friends through the dark streets of the village. Along the dark, +cool vault penetrating the hill-side Mr. Ujvarii leads the way between +long rows of wine-casks, heber* held in arm like a sword at dress parade. +The heber is first inserted into a cask of red wine, with a perfume and +flavor as agreeable as the rose it resembles in color, and carried, full, +to the reception end of the vault by the corpulent host with the stately +air of a monarch bearing his sceptre. After two rounds of the red wine, +two hebers of champagne are brought - champagne that plays a fountain of +diamond spray three inches above the glass. The following toast is +proposed by the host: "The prosperity and welfare of England, America, +and Hungary, three countries that are one in their love and appreciation +of sport and adventure." The Hungarians have all the Anglo-American love +of sport and adventure.* A glass combination of tube and flask, holding +about three pints, with an orifice at each end and the bulb or flask +near the upper orifice; the wine is sucked up into the flask with the +breath, and when withdrawn from the cask the index finger is held over +the lower orifice, from which the glasses are filled by manipulations +of the finger. + +>From Budapest to Paks, about one hundred and twenty kilometres, the roads +are superior to anything I expected to find east of Germany; but the +thermometer clings around the upper regions, and everything is covered +with dust. Our route leads down the Danube in an almost directly southern +course. + +Instead of the poplars of France, and the apples and pears of Germany, +the roads are now fringed with mulberry-trees, both raw and manufactured +silk being a product of this part of Hungary. My companion is what in +England or America would be considered a "character;" he dresses in the +thinnest of racing costumes, through which the broiling sun readily +penetrates, wears racing-shoes, and a small jockey-cap with an enormous +poke, beneath which glints a pair of "specs;" he has rat-trap pedals to +his wheel, and winds a long blue girdle several times around his waist, +consumes raw eggs, wine, milk, a certain Hungarian mineral water, and +otherwise excites the awe and admiration of his sport-admiring countrymen. +Igali's only fault as a road companion is his utter lack of speed, six +or eight kilometres an hour being his natural pace on average roads, +besides footing it up the gentlest of gradients and over all rough +stretches. Except for this little drawback, he is an excellent man to +take the lead, for he is a genuine Magyar, and orders the peasantry about +with the authoritative manner of one born to rule and tyrannize; sometimes, +when, the surface is uneven for wheeling, making them drive their clumsy +ox-wagons almost into the road-side ditch in order to avoid any possible +chance of difficulty in getting past. Igali knows four languages: French, +German, Hungarian, and Slavonian, but Anglaise nicht, though with what +little French and German I have picked up while crossing those countries +we manage to converse and understand each other quite readily, especially +as I am, from constant practice, getting to be an accomplished pantomimist, +and Igali is also a pantomimist by nature, and gifted with a versatility +that would make a Frenchman envious. Ere we have been five minutes at a +gasthaus Igali is usually found surrounded by an admiring circle of +leading citizens - not peasants; Igali would not suffer them to gather +about him - pouring into their willing ears the account of my journey; +the words, "San Francisco, Boston, London, Paris, Wien, Pesth, Belgrade, +Constantinople, Afghanistan, India, Khiva," etc., which are repeated in +rotation at wonderfully short intervals, being about all that my linguistic +abilities are capable of grasping. The road continues hard, but south +of Paks it becomes rather rough; consequently halts under the shade of +the mulberry-trees for Igali to catch up are of frequent occurrence. + +The peasantry, hereabout, seem very kindly disposed and hospitable. +Sometimes, while lingering for Igali, they will wonder what I am stopping +for, and motion the questions of whether I wish anything to eat or drink; +and this afternoon one of them, whose curiosity to see how I mounted +overcomes his patience, offers me a twenty-kreuzer piece to show him. +At one village a number of peasants take an old cherry-woman to task for +charging me two kreuzers more for some cherries than it appears she +ought, and although two kreuzers are but a farthing they make quite a +squabble with the poor old woman about it, and will be soothed by neither +her voice nor mine until I accept another handful of cherries in lieu +of the overcharged two kreuzers. + +Szekszard has the reputation, hereabout, of producing the best quality +of red wine in all Hungary - no small boast, by the way - and the hotel and +wine-gardens here, among them, support an excellent gypsy band of fourteen +pieces. Mr. Garay, the leader of the band, once spent nearly a year in +America, and after supper the band plays, with all the thrilling sweetness +of the Hungarian muse, "Home, sweet Home," "Yankee Doodle," and "Sweet +Violets," for my especial delectation. + +A wheelman the fame of whose exploits has preceded him might as well try +to wheel through hospitable Hungary without breathing its atmosphere as +without drinking its wine; it isn't possible to taboo it as I tabooed +the vin ordinaire of France, Hungarians and Frenchmen being two entirely +different people. Notwithstanding music until 11.30 P.M., yesterday, we +are on the road before six o'clock this morning - for genuine, unadulterated +Hungarian music does not prevent one getting up bright and fresh next +day - and about noon we roll into Duna Szekeso, Igali's native town, where +we have decided to halt for the remainder of the day to get our clothing +washed, one of my shoes repaired, and otherwise prepare for our journey +to the Servian capital. Duna Szekeso is a calling-place for the Danube +steamers, and this afternoon I have the opportunity of taking observations +of a gang of Danubian roustabouts at their noontide meal. They are a +swarthy, wild-looking crowd, wearing long hair parted in the middle, or +not parted at all; to their national costume are added the jaunty trappings +affected by river men in all countries. Their food is coarse black bread +and meat, and they take turns in drinking wine from a wooden tube +protruding from a two-gallon watch-shaped cask, the body of which is +composed of a section of hollow log instead of staves, lifting the cask +up and drinking from the tube, as they would from the bung-hole of a +beer-keg. Their black bread would hardly suit the palate of the Western +world; but there are doubtless a few individuals on both sides of the +Atlantic who would willingly be transformed into a Danubian roustabout +long enough to make the acquaintance of yonder rude cask. + +After bathing in the river we call on several of Igali's friends, among +them the Greek priest and his motherly-looking wife, Igali being of the +Greek religion. There appears to be the greatest familiarity between the +priests of these Greek churches and their people, and during our brief +visit the priest, languid-eyed, fat, and jolly, his equally fat and jolly +wife, and Igali, caress playfully, and cut up as many antics as three +kittens in a bay window. The farther one travels southward the more +amiable and affectionate in disposition the people seem to become. + +Five o'clock next morning finds us wheeling out of Duna Szekeso, and +during the forenoon we pass through Baranyavar, a colony of Greek Hovacs, +where the women are robed in white drapery as scant as the statuary which +the name of their religion calls to memory. The roads to-day are variable; +there is little but what is ridable, but much that is rough and stony +enough to compel slow and careful wheeling. Early in the evening, as we +wheel over the bridge spanning the River Drave, an important tributary +of the Danube, into Eszek, the capital of Slavonia, unmistakable rain- +signs appear above the southern horizon. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + + +THROUGH SLAVONIA AND SERVIA. + +The editor of Der Drau, the semi-weekly official organ of the Slavonian +capital, and Mr. Freund, being the two citizens of Eszek capable of +speaking English, join voices at the supper-table in hoping it will rain +enough to compel us to remain over to-morrow, that they may have the +pleasure of showing us around Eszek and of inviting us to dinner and +supper; and Igali, I am constrained to believe, retires to his couch in +full sympathy with them, being possessed of a decided weakness for +stopping over and accepting invitations to dine. Their united wish is +gratified, for when we rise in the morning it is still raining. Eszek +is a fortified city, and has been in time past an important fortress. +It has lost much of its importance since the introduction of modern arms, +for it occupies perfectly level ground, and the fortifications consist +merely of large trenches that have been excavated and walled, with a +view of preventing the city from being taken by storm - not a very +overshadowing consideration in these days, when the usual mode of procedure +is to stand off and bombard a city into the conviction that further +resistance is useless. After dinner the assistant editor of Der Drau +comes around and pilots us about the city and its pleasant environments. +The worthy assistant editor is a sprightly, versatile Slav, and, as +together we promenade the parks and avenues, the number and extent of +which appear to be the chief glory of Eszek, the ceaseless flow of +language and wellnigh continuous interchange of gesticulations between +himself and Igali are quite wonderful, and both of them certainly ought +to retire to-night far more enlightened individuals than they found +themselves this morning. + +The Hungarian seems in a particularly happy and gracious mood to-day, +as I instinctively felt certain he would be if the fates decreed against +a continuation of our journey. When our companion' s conversation turns +on any particularly interesting subject I am graciously given the benefit +of it to the extent of some French or German word the meaning of which, +Igali has discovered, I understand. During the afternoon we wander through +the intricacies of a yew-shrub maze, where a good-sized area of impenetrably +thick vegetation has been trained and trimmed into a bewildering net-work +of arched walks that almost exclude the light, and Igali pauses to favor +me with the information that this maze is the favorite trysting place +of Slavonian nymphs and swains, and furthermore expresses his opinion +that the spot must be indeed romantic and an appropriate place to "come +a-wooin' " on nights when the moonbeams, penetrating through a thousand +tiny interspaces, convert the gloomy interior into chambers of dancing +light and shadow. All this information and these comments are embodied +in the two short words, "Amour, lima" accompanied by a few gesticulations, +and is a fair sample of the manner in which conversation is carried on +between us. It is quite astonishing how readily two persons constantly +together will come to understand each other through the medium of a few +words which they know the meaning of in common. Scores of ladies and +gentlemen, the latter chiefly military officers, are enjoying a promenade +in the rain-cooled atmosphere, and there is no mistaking the glances of +interest with which many of them favor-Igali. His pronounced sportsmanlike +make-up attracts universal attention and causes everybody to mistake him +for myself - a kindly office which I devoutly wish he would fill until the +whole journey is accomplished. In the Casino garden a dozen bearded +musicians are playing Slavonian airs, and, by request of the assistant +editor, they play and sing the Slavonian national anthem and a popular +air or two besides. The national musical instrument of Slavonia is the +"tamborica"-a small steel-stringed instrument that is twanged with a +chip-like piece of wood. Their singing is excellent in its way, but to +the writer's taste there is no comparison between their tamboricas and +the gypsy music of Hungary. There are no bicycles in all Eszek save ours - +though Mr. Freund, who has lately returned from Paris, has ordered one, +with which he expects to win the admiration of all his countrymen - and +Igali and myself are lionized to our hearts' content; but this evening +we are quite startled and taken aback by the reappearance of the assistant +editor, excitedly announcing the arrival of a tricycle in town. Upon +going down, in breathless anticipation of summarily losing the universal +admiration of Eszek, we find an itinerant cobbler, who has constructed +a machine that would make the rudest bone-shaker of ancient memory seem +like the most elegant product of Hartford or Coventry in comparison. The +backbone and axle-tree are roughly hewn sticks of wood, ironed equally +rough at the village blacksmith's; and as, for a twenty-kreuzer piece, +the rider mounts and wobbles all over the sidewalk for a short distance, +the spectacle would make a stoic roar with laughter, and the good people +of the Lower Danubian provinces are anything but stoical. Six o'clock +next morning finds us travelling southward into the interior of Slavonia; +but we are not mounted, for the road presents an unridable surface of +mud, stones, and ruts, that causes my companion's favorite ejaculatory +expletive to occur with more than its usual frequency. For a portion of +the way there is a narrow sidepath that is fairly ridable, but an +uninvitingly deep ditch runs unpleasantly near, and no amount of persuasion +can induce my companion to attempt wheeling along it. Igali's bump of +cautiousness is fully developed, and day by day, as we journey together, +I am becoming more and more convinced that he would be an invaluable +companion to have accompany one around the world; true, the journey would +occupy a decade, or thereabout, but one would be morally certain of +coming out safe and sound in the end. During our progression southward +there has been a perceptible softening in the disposition of the natives, +this being more noticeably a marked characteristic of the Slavonians; +the generous southern sun, shining on the great area of Oriental gentleness, +casts a softening influence toward the sterner north, imparting to the +people amiable and genial dispositions. It takes but comparatively small +deeds to win the admiration and applause of the natives of the Lower +Danube, with their childlike manners; and, by slowly meandering along +the roadways of Southern Hungary occasionally with his bicycle, Igali +has become the pride and admiration of thousands. + +For mile after mile we have to trundle our way slowly along the muddy +highway as best we can, our road leading through a flat and rather swampy +area of broad, waving wheat-fields; we relieve the tedium of the journey +by whistling, alternately, "Yankee Doodle," to which Igali has taken +quite a fancy since first hearing it played by the gypsy band in the +wine-garden at Szekszard three days ago, and the Hungarian national air - +this latter, of course, falling to Igali's share of the entertainment. +Having been to college in Paris, Igali is also able to contribute the +famous Marseillaise hymn, and, not to be outdone, I favor him with " God +Save the Queen" and "Britannia Rules the Waves," both of which he thinks +very good tunes-the former seeming to strike his Hungarian ear, however, +as rather solemn. In the middle of the forenoon we make a brief halt at +a rude road-side tavern for some refreshments - a thick, narrow slice of +raw, fat bacon, white with salt, and a level pint of red wine, satisfying +my companion; but I substitute for the bacon a slice of coarse, black +bread, much to Igali's wonderment. Here are congregated several Slavonian +shepherds, in their large, ill-fitting, sheepskin garments, with the +long wool turned inward-clothes that apparently serve them alike to keep +out the summer's heat and the winter's cold. One of the peasants, with +ideas a trifle befuddled with wine, perhaps, and face all aglow with +admiration for our bicycles, produces a tattered memorandum and begs us +to favor him with our autographs, an act that of itself proves him to +be not without a degree of intelligence one would scarcely look for in +a sheepskin-clad shepherd of Slavonia. Igali gruffly bids the man +"begone," and aims a careless kick at the proffered memorandum; but seeing +no harm in the request, and, moreover, being perhaps by nature a trifle +more considerate of others, I comply. As he reads aloud, "United States, +America," to his comrades, they one and all lift their hats quite +reverently and place their brown hands over their hearts, for I suppose +they recognize in my ready compliance with the simple request, in +comparison with Igali's rude rebuff-which, by the way, no doubt comes +natural enough-the difference between the land of the prince and peasant, +and the land where "liberty, equality, and fraternity" is not a meaningless +motto - a land which I find every down-trodden peasant of Europe has heard +of, and looks upward to. + +Soon after this incident we are passing a prune-orchard, when, as though +for our especial benefit, a couple of peasants working there begin singing +aloud, and with evident enthusiasm, some national melody, and as they +observe not our presence, at my suggestion we crouch behind a convenient +clump of bushes and for several minutes are favored with as fine a duet +as I have heard for many a day; but the situation becomes too ridiculous +for Igali, and it finally sends him into a roar of laughter that causes +the performance to terminate abruptly, and, rising into full view, we +doubtless repay the singers by letting them see us mount and ride into +their native village, but a few hundred yards distant. We are to-day +passing through villages where a bicycle has never been seen - this being +outside the area of Igali's peregrinations - and the whole population +invariably turns out en masse, clerks, proprietors, and customers in the +shops unceremoniously dropping everything and running to the streets; +there is verily a hurrying to and fro of all the citizens; husbands +hastening from magazine to dwelling to inform their wives and families, +mothers running to call their children, children their parents, and +everybody scampering to call the attention of their sisters, cousins, +and aunts, ere we are vanished in the distance, and it be everlastingly +too late. + +We have been worrying along at some sort of pace, with the exception of +the usual noontide halt, since six o'clock this morning, and the busy +mosquito is making life interesting for belated wayfarers, when we ride +into Sarengrad and put up at the only gasthaus in the village. Our bedroom +is situated on the ground floor, the only floor in fact the gaathaus +boasts, and we are in a fair way of either being lulled to sleep or kept +awake, as the case may be, by a howling chorus of wine-bibbers in the +public room adjoining; but here, again, Igali shows up to good advantage +by peremptorily ordering the singers to stop, and stop instanter. The +amiably disposed peasants, notwithstanding the wine they have been +drinking, cease their singing and become silent and circumspect, in +deference to the wishes of the two strangers with the wonderful machines. +We now make a practice of taking our bicycles into our bedroom with us +at night, otherwise every right hand in the whole village would busy +itself pinching the "gum-elastic" tires and pedal-rubbers, twirling the +pedals, feeling spokes, backbone, and forks, and critically examining +and commenting upon every visible portion of the mechanism; and who knows +but that the latent cupidity of some easy-conscienced villager might be +aroused at the unusual sight of so much "silver" standing around loose +(the natives hereabout don't even ask whether the nickelled parts of the +bicycle are silver or not; they take it for granted to be so), and +surreptitiously attempt to chisel off enough to purchase an embroidered +coat for Sundays. From what I can understand of their comments among +themselves, it is perfectly consistent with their ideas of the average +Englishman that he should bestride a bicycle of solid silver, and if +their vocabulary embraced no word corresponding to our "millionnaire," +and they desired to use one, they would probably pick upon the word +"Englander" as the most appropriate. While we are making our toilets in +the morning eager faces are peering inquisitively through the bedroom +windows; a murmur of voices, criticizing us and our strange vehicles, +greets our waking moments, and our privacy is often invaded, in spite +of Igali's inconsiderate treatment of them whenever they happen to cross +his path. + +Many of the inhabitants of this part of Slavonia are Croatians - people +who are noted for their fondness of finery; and, as on this sunny Sunday +morning we wheel through their villages, the crowds of peasantry who +gather about us in all the bravery of their best clothes present, indeed, +an appearance gay and picturesque beyond anything hitherto encountered. +The garments of the men are covered with braid-work and silk embroidery +wherever such ornamentation is thought to be an embellishment, and, to +the Croatian mind, that means pretty much everywhere; and the girls and +women are arrayed in the gayest of colors; those displaying the brightest +hues and the greatest contrasts seem to go tripping along conscious of +being irresistible. Many of the Croatian peasants are fine, strapping +fellows, and very handsome women are observed in the villages - women with +great, dreamy eyes, and faces with an expression of languor that bespeaks +their owners to be gentleness personified. Igali shows evidence of more +susceptibility to female charms than I should naturally have given him +credit for, and shows a decided inclination to linger in these beauty-blessed +villages longer than is necessary, and as one dark-eyed damsel after +another gathers around us, I usually take the initiative in mounting and +clearing out. + +Were a man to go suddenly flapping his way through the streets of London +on the long-anticipated flying-machine, the average Cockney would scarce +betray the unfeigned astonishment that is depicted on the countenances +of these Croatian villagers as we nde into their midst and dismount. + +This afternoon my bicycle causes the first runaway since the trifling +affair at Lembach, Austria. A brown-faced peasant woman and a little +girl, driving a small, shaggy pony harnessed to a basket-work, four-wheeled +vehicle, are approaching; their humble-looking steed betrays no evidence +of restiveness until just as I am turning out to pass him, when, without +warning, he gives a swift, sudden bound to the right, nearly upsetting +the vehicle, and without more ado bolts down a considerable embankment +and goes helter-skelter across a field of standing grain. The old lady +pluckily hangs on to the reins, and finally succeeds in bringing the +runaway around into the road again without damaging anything save the +corn. It might have ended much less satisfactorily, however, and the +incident illustrates one possible source of trouble to a 'cycler travelling +alone through countries where the people neither understand, nor can be +expected to understand, a wheelman's position; the situation would, of +course, be aggravated in a country village where, not speaking the +language, one could not make himself understood in his own defence. These +people here, if not wise as serpents, are at least harmless as doves; +but, in case of the bicycle frightening a team and causing a runaway +with the unpleasant sequel of broken limbs, or injured horse, they would +scarce know what to do in the premises, since they would have no precedent +to govern them, and, in the absence of any intelligent guidance, might +conclude to wreak summary vengeance on the bicycle. In such a case, would +a wheelman be justified in using his revolver to defend his bicycle ? + +Such is the reverie into which I fall while reclining beneath a spreading +mulberry-tree waiting for Igali to catch up; for he has promised that I +shall see the Slavonian national dance sometime to-day, and a village +is now visible in the distance. At the Danube-side village of Hamenitz +an hour's halt is decided upon to give me the promised opportunity of +witnessing the dance in its native land. It is a novel and interesting +sight. A round hundred young gallants and maidens are rigged out in +finery such as no other people save the Croatian and Slavonian peasants +ever wear - the young men braided and embroidered, and the damsels having +their hair entwined with a profusion of natural flowers in addition to +their costumes of all possible hues. Forming themselves into a large +ring, distributed so that the sexes alternate, the young men extend and +join their hands in front of the maidens, and the latter join hands +behind their partners; the steel-strung tamboricas strike up a lively +twanging air, to which the circle of dancers endeavor to shuffle time +with their feet, while at the same time moving around in a circle Livelier +and faster twang the tamboricas, and more and more animated becomes the +scene as the dancing, shuffling ring endeavors to keep pace with it. As +the fun progresses into the fast and furious stages the youths' hats +have a knack of getting into a jaunty position on the side of their +heads, and the wearers' faces assume a reckless, flushed appearance, +like men half intoxicated while the maidens' bright eyes and beaming +faces betoken unutterable happiness; finally the music and the shuffling +of feet terminate with a rapid flourish, everybody kisses everybody - save, +of course, mere luckless onlookers like Igali and myself - and the Slavonian +national dance is ended. + +To-night we reach the strongly fortified town of Peterwardein, opposite +which, just across a pontoon bridge spanning the Danube, is the larger +city of Neusatz. At Hamenitz we met Professor Zaubaur, the editor of the +Uj Videk, who came down the Danube ahead of us by steamboat; and now, +after housing our machines at our gasthaus in Peterwardein, he pilots +us across the pontoon bridge in the twilight, and into one of those wine- +gardens so universal in this part of the world. Here at Neusatz I listen +to the genuine Hungarian gypsy music for the last time on the European +tour ere bidding the territory of Hungary adieu, for Neusatz is on the +Hungarian side of the Danube. The professor has evidently let no grass +grow beneath his feet since leaving us scarcely an hour ago at Hamenitz, +for he has, in the mean time, ferreted out the only English-speaking +person at present in town, the good Frau Schrieber, an Austrian lady, +formerly of Vienna, but now at Neusatz with her husband, a well-known +advocate. This lady talks English quite fluently. Though not yet twenty-five +she is very, very wise, and among other things she informs her admiring +friends gathered round about us, listening to the - to them - unintelligible +flow of a foreign language, that Englishmen are "very grave beings," a +piece of information that wrings from Igali a really sympathetic response- +nothing less than the startling announcement that he hasn't seen me smile +since we left Budapest together, a week ago. "Having seen the Slavonian, +I ought by all means to see the Hungarian national dance," Frau Schrieber +says; adding, "It is a nice dance for Englishmen to look at, though it +is so very gay that English ladies would neither dance it nor look at +it being danced." Ere parting company with this entertaining lady she +agrees that, if I will but remain in Hungary permanently, she knows of +a very handsome fraulein of sixteen summers, who, having heard of my +"wonderful journey," is already predisposed in my favor, and with a +little friendly tact and management on her - Frau Schrieber's - part would +no doubt be willing to waive the formalities of a long courtship, and +yield up hand and heart at my request. I can scarcely think of breaking +in twain my trip around the world even for so tempting a prospect, and +I recommend the fair Hungarian to Igali; but "the fraulein has never +heard of Herr Igali, and he will not do." + +"Will the fraulein be willing to wait until my journey around the world +is completed." + +"Yes; she vill vait mit much pleezure; I vill zee dat she vait; und I +know you vill return, for an Englishman alvays forgets his promeezes." +Henceforth, when Igali and myself enter upon a programme of whistling, +"Yankee Doodle" is supplanted by "The girl I left behind me," much +to his annoyance, since, not understanding the sentiment responsible for +the change, bethinks "Yankee Doodle" a far better tune. So much attached, +in fact, has Igali become to the American national air, that he informs +the professor and editor of Uj Videk of the circumstance of the band +playing it at Szekszard. As, after supper, several of us promenade the +streets of Neusatz, the professor links his arm in mine, and, taking the +cue from Igali, begs me to favor him by whistling it. I try my best to +palm this patriotic duty off on Igali, by paying flattering compliments +to his style of whistling; but, after all, the duty falls on me, and I +whistle the tune softly, yet merrily, as we walk along, the professor, +spectacled and wise-looking, meanwhile exchanging numerous nods of +recognition with his fellow-Neusatzers we meet. The provost-judge of +Neusatz shares the honors with Frau Schrieber of knowing more or less +English; but this evening the judge is out of town. The enterprising +professor lies in wait for him, however, and at 5.30 on Monday morning, +while we are dressing, an invasion of our bed-chamber is made by the +professor, the jolly-looking and portly provost-judge, a Slavonian +lieutenant of artillery, and a druggist friend of the others. The provost- +judge and the lieutenant actually own bicycles and ride them, the only +representatives of the wheel in Neusatz and Peterwardein, and the judge +is " very angry " - as he expresses it - that Monday is court day, and to-day +an unusually busy one, for he would be most happy to wheel with us to +Belgrade. + +The lieutenant fetches his wheel and accompanies us to the next village. +Peterwardein is a strongly fortified place, and, as a poition commanding +the Danube so completely, is furnished with thirty guns of large calibre, +a battery certainly not to be despised when posted on a position so +commanding as the hill on which Peterwardein fortress is built. As the +editor and others at Eszek, so here the professor, the judge, and the +druggist unite in a friendly protest against my attempt to wheel through +Asia, and more especially through China, "for everybody knows it is +quite dangerous," they say. These people cannot possibly understand why +it is that an Englishman or American, knowing of danger beforehand, will +still venture ahead; and when, in reply to their questions, I modestly +announce my intention of going ahead, notwithstanding possible danger +and probable difficulties, they each, in turn, shake my hand as though +reluctantly resigning me to a reckless determination, and the judge, +acting as spokesman, and echoing and interpreting the sentiments of his +companions, exclaims, "England and America forever! it is ze grandest +peeples on ze world!" The lieutenant, when questioned on the subject by +the judge and the professor, simply shrugs his shoulders and says nothing, +as becomes a man whose first duty is to cultivate a supreme contempt for +danger in all its forms. + +They all accompany us outside the city gates, when, after mutual farewells +and assurances of good-will, we mount and wheel away down the Danube, +the lieutenant's big mastiff trotting soberly alongside his master, while +Igali, sometimes in and sometimes out of sight behind, brings up the +rear. After the lieutenant leaves us we have to trundle our weary way +up the steep gradients of the Fruskagora Mountains for a number of +kilometres. For Igali it is quite an adventurous morning. Ere we had +left the shadows of Peterwardein fortress he upset while wheeling beneath +some overhanging mulberry-boughs that threatened destruction to his +jockey-cap; soon after parting company with the lieutenant he gets into +an altercation with a gang of gypsies about being the cause of their +horses breaking loose from their picket-ropes and stampeding, and then +making uncivil comments upon the circumstance; an hour after this he +overturns again and breaks a pedal, and when we dismount at Indjia, for +our noontide halt, he discovers that his saddle-spring has snapped in +the middle. As he ruefully surveys the breakage caused by the roughness +of the Fruskagora roads, and sends out to scour the village for a mechanic +capable of undertaking the repairs, he eyes my Columbia wistfully, and +asks me for the address where one like it can be obtained. The blacksmith +is not prepared to mend the spring, although he makes a good job of the +pedal, and it takes a carpenter and his assistant from 1.30 to 4.30 P.M. +to manufacture a grooved piece of wood to fit between the spring and +backbone so that he can ride with me to Belgrade. It would have been a +fifteen-minute task for a Yankee carpenter. We have been traversing a +spur of the Fruskagora Mountains all the morning, and our progress has +been slow. The roads through here are mainly of the natural soil, and +correspondingly bad; but the glorious views of the Danube, with its +alternating wealth of green woods and greener cultivated areas, fully +recompense for the extra toil. Prune-orchards, the trees weighed down +with fruit yet green, clothe the hill-sides with their luxuriance; indeed, +the whole broad, rich valley of the Danube seems nodding and smiling in +the consciousness of overflowing plenty; for days we have traversed roads +leading through vineyards and orchards, and broad areas with promising-looking +grain-crops. + +It is but thirty kilometres from Indjia to Semlin, on the riverbank +opposite Belgrade, and since leaving the Fruskagora Mountains the country +has been a level plain, and the roads fairly smooth. But Igali has +naturally become doubly cautious since his succession of misadventures +this morning, and as, while waiting for him to overtake me, I recline +beneath the mulberry-trees near the village of Batainitz and survey the +blue mountains of Servia looming up to the southward through the evening +haze, he rides up and proposes Batainitz as our halting-place for the +night, adding persuasively, "There will be no ferry-boat across to +Belgrade to-night, and we can easily catch the first boat in the morning." +I reluctantly agree, though advocating going on to Semlin this evening. +While our supper is being prepared we are taken in hand by the leading +merchant of the village and "turned loose" in an orchard of small +fruits and early pears, and from thence conducted to a large gypsy +encampment in the outskirts of the village, where, in acknowledgment of +the honor of our visit-and a few kreuzers by way of supplement - the +"flower of the camp," a blooming damsel, about the shade of a total +eclipse, kisses the backs of our hands, and the men play a strumming +monotone with sticks and an inverted wooden trough, while the women dance +in a most lively and not ungraceful manner. These gypsy bands are a happy +crowd of vagabonds, looking as though they had never a single care in +all the world; the men wear long, flowing hair, and to the ordinary +costume of the peasant is added many a gewgaw, worn with a careless +jaunty grace that fails not to carry with it a certain charm in spite +of unkempt locks and dirty faces. The women wear a minimum of clothes +and a profusion of beads and trinkets, and the children go stark naked +or partly dressed. + +Unmistakable evidence that one is approaching the Orient appears in the +semi-Oriental costumes. of the peasantry and roving gypsy bands, as we +gradually near the Servian capital. An Oriental costume in Eszek is +sufficiently exceptional to be a novelty, and so it is until one gets +south of Peterwardein, when the national costumes of Slavonia and Croatia +are gradually merged into the tasselled fez, the many-folded waistband, +and the loose, flowing pantaloons of Eastern lands. Here at Batainitz +the feet are encased in rude raw-hide moccasins, bound on with leathern +thongs, and the ankle and calf are bandaged with many folds of heavy red +material, also similarly bound. The scene around our gasthaus, after our +arrival, resembles a popular meeting; for, although a few of the villagers +have been to Belgrade and seen a bicycle, it is only within the last six +months that Belgrade itself has boasted one, and the great majority of +the Batainitz people have simply heard enough about them to whet their +curiosity for a closer acquaintance. More-over, from the interest taken +in my tour at Belgrade on account of the bicycle's recent introduction +in that capital, these villagers, but a dozen kilometres away, have heard +more of my journey than people in villages farther north, and their +curiosity is roused in proportion. + +We are astir by five o'clock next morning; but the same curious crowd +is making the stone corridors of the rambling old gasthaus impassable, +and filling the space in front, gazing curiously at us, and commenting +on our appearance whenever we happen to become visible, while waiting +with commendable patience to obtain a glimpse of our wonderful machines. +They are a motley, and withal a ragged assembly; old women devoutly cross +themselves as, after a slight repast of bread and milk, we sally forth +with our wheels, prepared to start; and the spontaneous murmur of +admiration which breaks forth as we mount becomes louder and more +pronounced as I turn in the saddle and doff my helmet in deference to +the homage paid us by hearts which are none the less warm because hidden +beneath the rags of honest poverty and semi-civilization. It takes but +little to win the hearts of these rude, unsophisticated people. A two +hours' ride from Batainitz, over level and reasonably smooth roads, +brings us into Semlin, quite an important Slavonian city on the Danube, +nearly opposite Belgrade, which is on the same side, but separated from +it by a large tributary called the Save. Ferry-boats ply regularly between +the two cities, and, after an hour spent in hunting up different officials +to gain permission for Igali to cross over into Servian territory without +having a regular traveller's passport, we escape from the madding crowds +of Semlinites by boarding the ferry-boat, and ten minutes later are +exchanging signals! with three Servian wheelmen, who have come down to +the landing in full uniform to meet and welcome us to Belgrade. Many +readers will doubtless be as surprised as I was to learn that at Belgrade, +the capital of the little Kingdom of Servia, independent only since the +Treaty of Berlin, a bicycle club was organized in January, 1885, and +that now, in June of the same year, they have a promising club of thirty +members, twelve of whom are riders owning their own wheels. Their club +is named, in French, La Societe Velocipedique Serbe; in the Servian +language it is unpronounceable to an Anglo-Saxon, and printable only +with Slav type. The president, Milorade M. Nicolitch Terzibachitch, is +the Cyclists' Touring Club Consul for Servia, and is the southeastern +picket of that organization, their club being the extreme 'cycle outpost +in this direction. Our approach has been announced beforehand, and the +club has thoughtfully "seen" the Servian authorities, and so far +smoothed the way for our entrance into their country that the officials +do not even make a pretence of examining my passport or packages - an +almost unprecedented occurrence, I should say, since they are more +particular about passports here than perhaps in any other European +country, save Russia and Turkey. Here at Belgrade I am to part company +with Igali, who, by the way, has applied for, and just received, his +certificate of appointment to the Cyclists' Touring Club Consulship of +Duna Szekeso and Mohacs, an honor of which he feels quite proud. True, +there is no other 'cycler in his whole district, and hardly likely to +be for some time to corne; but I can heartily recommend him to any +wandering wheelman happening down the Danube Valley on a tour; he knows +the best wine-cellars in all the country round, and, besides being an +agreeable and accommodating road companion, will prove a salutary check +upon the headlong career of anyone disposed to over-exertion. I am not +yet to be abandoned entirely to my own resources, however; these hospitable +Servian wheelmen couldn't think of such a thing. I am to remain over as +their guest till to-morrow afternoon, when Mr. Douchan Popovitz, the +best rider in Belgrade, is delegated to escort me through Servia to the +Bulgarian frontier. When I get there I shall not be much astonished to +see a Bulgarian wheelman offer to escort me to Roumelia, and so on clear +to Constantinople; for I certainly never expected to find so jolly and +enthusiastic a company of 'cyclers in this corner of the world. + +The good fellowship and hospitality of this Servian club know no bounds; +Igali and I are banqueted and driven about in carriages all day. + +Belgrade is a strongly fortified city, occupying a commanding hill +overlooking the Danube; it is a rare old town, battle-scarred and rugged; +having been a frontier position of importance in a country that has been +debatable ground between Turk and Christian for centuries, it has been +a coveted prize to be won and lost on the diplomatic chess-board, or, +worse still, the foot-ball of contending armies and wrangling monarchs. +Long before the Ottoman Turks first appeared, like a small dark cloud, +no bigger than a man's hand, upon the southeastern horizon of Europe, +to extend and overwhelm the budding flower of Christianity and civilization +in these fairest portions of the continent, Belgrade was an important +Roman fortress, and to-day its national museum and antiquarian stores +are particularly rich in the treasure-trove of Byzantine antiquities, +unearthed from time to time in the fortress itself and the region round +about that came under its protection. So plentiful, indeed, are old coins +and relics of all sorts at Belgrade, that, as I am standing looking at +the collection in the window of an antiquary shop, the proprietor steps +out and presents me a small handful of copper coins of Byzantium as a +sort of bait that might perchance tempt one to enter and make a closer +inspection of his stock. By the famous Treaty of Berlin the Servians +gained their complete independence, and their country, from a principality, +paying tribute to the Sultan, changed to an independent kingdom with a +Servian on the throne, owing allegiance to nobody, and the people have +not yet ceased to show, in a thousand little ways, their thorough +appreciation of the change; besides filling the picture-galleries of +their museum with portraits of Servian heroes, battle-flags, and other +gentle reminders of their past history, they have, among other practical +methods of manifesting how they feel about the departure of the dominating +crescent from among them, turned the leading Turkish mosque into a gas- +house. One of the most interesting relics in the Servian capital is an +old Roman well, dug from the brow of the fortress hill to below the level +of the Danube, for furnishing water to the city when cut off from the +river by a besieging army. It is an enormous affair, a tubular brick +wall about forty feet in circumference and two hundred and fifty feet +deep, outside of which a stone stairway, winding round and round the +shaft, leads from top to bottom. Openings through the wall, six feet +high and three wide, occur at regular intervals all the way down, and, +as we follow our ragged guide down, down into the damp and darkness by +the feeble light of a tallow candle in a broken lantern, I cannot help +thinking that these o'erhandy openings leading into the dark, watery +depths have, in the tragic history of Belgrade, doubtless been responsible +for the mysterious disappearance of more than one objectionable person. +It is not without certain involuntary misgivings that I take the lantern +from the guide - whose general appearance is, by the way, hardly calculated +to be reassuring - and, standing in one of the openings, peer down into +the darksome depths, with him hanging on to my coat as an act of precaution. + +The view from the ramparts of Belgrade fortress is a magnificent panorama, +extending over the broad valley of the Danube - which here winds about +as though trying to bestow its favors with impartiality upon Hungary, +Servia, and Slavonia - and of the Save. The Servian soldiers are camped +in small tents in various parts of the fortress grounds and its environments, +or lolling under the shade of a few scantily verdured trees, for the sun +is to-day broiling hot. With a population not exceeding one and a half +million, I am told that Servia supports a standing army of a hundred +thousand men; and, when required, every man in Servia becomes a soldier. +As one lands from the ferry-boat and looks about him he needs no interpreter +to inform him that he has left the Occident on the other side of the +Save, and to the observant stranger the streets of Belgrade furnish many +a novel and interesting sight in the way of fanciful costumes and phases +of Oriental life here encountered for the first time. In the afternoon +we visit the national museum of old coins, arms, and Eoman and Servian +antiquities. A banquet in a wine-garden, where Servian national music +is dispensed by a band of female musicians, is given us in the evening +by the club, and royal quarters are assigned us for the night at the +hospitable mansion of Mr. Terzibachitch's father, who is the merchant +-prince of Servia, and purveyor to the court. Wednesday morning we take +a general ramble over the city, besides visiting the club's head-quarters, +where we find a handsome new album has been purchased for receiving our +autographs. The Belgrade wheelmen have names painted on their bicycles, +as names are painted on steamboats or yachts: "Fairy," "Good Luck," and +"Servian Queen," being fair specimens. The cyclers here are sons of +leading citizens and business men of Belgrade, and, while they dress and +conduct themselves as becomes thorough gentlemen, one fancies detecting +a certain wild expression of the eye, as though their civilization were +scarcely yet established; in fact, this peculiar expression is more +noticeable at Belgrade, and is apparently more general here than at any +other place I visit in Europe. I apprehend it to be a peculiarity that +has become hereditary with the citizens, from their city having been so +often and for so long the theatre of uncertain fate and distracting +political disturbances. It is the half-startled expression of people +with the ever-present knowledge of insecurity. But they are a warm-hearted, +impulsive set of fellows, and when, while looking through the museum, +we happen across Her Britannic Majesty's representative at the Servian +court, who is doing the same thing, one of them unhesitatingly approaches +that gentleman, cap in hand, and, with considerable enthusiasm of manner, +announces that they have with them a countryman of his who is riding +around the world on a bicycle. This cooler-blooded and dignified gentleman +is not near so demonstrative in his acknowledgment as they doubtless +anticipated he would be; whereat they appear quite puzzled and mystified. + +Three carriages with cyclers and their friends accompany us a dozen +kilometres out to a wayside mehana (the Oriental name hereabouts for +hotels, wayside inns, etc.); Douchan Popovitz, and Hugo Tichy, the captain +of the club, will ride forty-five kilometres with me to Semendria, and +at 4 o'clock we mount our wheels and ride away southward into Servia. +Arriving at the mehana, wine is brought, and then the two Servians +accompanying me, and those returning, kiss each other, after the manner +and custom of their country; then a general hand-shaking and well-wishes +all around, and the carriages turn toward Belgrade, while we wheelmen +alternately ride and trundle over a muddy - for it has rained since noon - and +mountainous road till 7.30, when relatives of Douchan Popovitz, in the +village of Grotzka, kindly offer us the hospitality of their house till +morning, which we hesitate not to avail ourselves of. When about to part +at the mehana, the immortal Igali unwinds from around his waist that +long blue girdle, the arranging and rearranging of which has been a +familiar feature of the last week's experiences, and presents it to me +for a souvenir of himself, a courtesy which I return by presenting him +with several of the Byzantine coins given to me by the Belgrade antiquary +as before mentioned. Beyond Semendria, where the captain leaves us for +the return journey, we leave the course of the Danube, which I have been +following in a general way for over two weeks, and strike due southward +up the smaller, but not less beautiful, valley of the Morava River, where +we have the intense satisfaction of finding roads that are both dry and +level, enabling us, in spite of the broiling heat, to bowl along at a +sixteen-kilometre pace to the village, where we halt for dinner and the +usual three hours noontide siesta. Seeing me jotting down my notes with +a short piece of lead-pencil, the proprietor of the mehana at Semendria, +where we take a parting glass of wine with the captain, and who admires +America and the Americans, steps in-doors for a minute, and returns with +a telescopic pencil-case, attached to a silken cord of the Servian" +national colors, which he places abound my neck, requesting me to wear +it around the world, and, when I arrive at my journey's end, sometimes +to think of Servia. + +With Igali's sky-blue girdle encompassing my waist, and the Servian +national colors fondly encircling my neck, I begin to feel quite a +heraldic tremor creeping over me, and actually surprise myself casting +wistful glances at the huge antiquated horse pistol stuck in yonder bull- +whacker's ample waistband; moreover, I really think that a pair of these +Servian moccasins would not be bad foot-gear for riding the bicycle. All +up the Morava Valley the roads continue far better than I have expected +to find in Servia, and we wheel merrily along, the Resara Mountains +covered with dark pine forests, skirting the valley on the right, sometimes +rising into peaks of quite respectable proportions. The sun sinks behind +the receding hills, it grows dusk, and finally dark, save the feeble +light vouchsafed by the new moon, and our destination still lies several +kilometres ahead. But at about nine we roll safely into Jagodina, well- +satisfied with the consciousness of having covered one hundred and forty- +five kilometres to-day, in spite of delaying our start in the morning +until eight o'clock, and the twenty kilometres of indifferent road between +Grotzka and Semendria. There has been no reclining under road-side +mulberry-trees for my companion to catch up to-day, however; the Servian +wheelman is altogether a speedier man than Igali, and, whether the road +is rough or smooth, level or hilly, he is found close behind my rear +wheel; my own shadow follows not more faithfully than does the "best +rider in Servia." + +We start for Jagodina at 5.30 next morning, finding the roads a little +heavy with sand in places, but otherwise all that a wheelman could wish. +Crossing a bridge over the Morava River, into Tchupria, we are required +not only to foot it across, but to pay a toll for the bicycles, like any +other wheeled vehicle. At Tchupria it seems as though the whole town +must be depopulated, so great is the throng of citizens that swarm about +us. Motley and picturesque even in their rags, one's pen utterly fails +to convey a correct idea of their appearance; besides Servians, Bulgarians, +and Turks, and the Greek priests who never fail of being on hand, now +appear Roumanians, wearing huge sheep-skin busbies, with the long, ragged +edges of the wool dangling about eyes and ears, or, in the case of a +more "dudish " person, clipped around smooth at the brim, making the +head-gear look like a small, round, thatched roof. Urchins, whose daily +duty is to promenade the family goat around the streets, join in the +procession, tugging their bearded charges after them; and a score of +dogs, overjoyed beyond measure at the general commotion, romp about, and +bark their joyous approval of it all. To have crowds like this following +one out of town makes a sensitive person feel uncomfortably like being +chased out of a community for borrowing chickens by moonlight, or on +account of some irregularity concerning hotel bills. On occasions like +this Orientals seemingly have not the slightest sense of dignity; portly, +well-dressed citizens, priests, and military officers press forward among +the crowds of peasants and unwashed frequenters of the streets, evidently +more delighted with things about them than they have been for many a day +before. + +At Delegrad we wheel through the battle-field of the same name, where, +in 1876, Turks and Servians were arrayed against each other. These battle- +scarred hills above Delegrad command a glorious view of the lower Morava +Valley, which is hereabouts most beautiful, and just broad enough for +its entire beauty to be comprehended. The Servians won the battle of +Delegrad, and as I pause to admire the glorious prospect to the southward +from the hills, methinks their general showed no little sagacity in +opposing the invaders at a spot where the Morava Vale, the jewel of +Servia, was spread out like a panorama below his position, to fan with +its loveliness the patriotism of his troops - they could not do otherwise +than win, with the fairest portion of their well-beloved country spread +out before them like a picture. A large cannon, captured from the Turks, +is standing on its carriage by the road-side, a mute but eloquent witness +of Servian prowess. + +A few miles farther on we halt for dinner at Alexinatz, near the old +Servian boundary-line, also the scene of one of the greatest battles +fought during the Servian struggle for independence. The Turks were +victorious this time, and fifteen thousand Servians and three thousand +Russian allies yielded up their lives here to superior Turkish generalship, +and Alexiuatz was burned to ashes. The Russians have erected a granite +monument on a hill overlooking the town, in memory of their comrades who +perished in this fight. The roads to-day average even better than +yesterday, and at six o'clock we roll into Nisch, one hundred and twenty +kilometres from our starting-point this morning, and two hundred and +eighty from Belgrade. As we enter the city a gang of convicts working +on the fortifications forget their clanking shackles and chains, and the +miseries of their state, long enough to greet us with a boisterous howl +of approval, and the guards who are standing over them for once, at +least, fail to check them, for their attention, too, is wholly engrossed +in the same wondrous subject. Nisch appears to be a thoroughly Oriental +city, and here I see the first Turkish ladies, with their features hidden +behind their white yashmaks. At seven or eight o'clock in the morning, +when it is comparatively cool and people are patronizing the market, +trafficking and bartering for the day's supply of provisions, the streets +present quite an animated appearance; but during the heat of the day the +scene changes to one of squalor and indolence; respectable citizens are +smoking nargilehs (Mark Twain's "hubble-bubble"), or sleeping somewhere +out of sight; business is generally suspended, and in every shady nook +and corner one sees a swarthy ragamuffin stretched out at full length, +perfectly happy and contented if only he is allowed to snooze the hours +away in peace. + +Human nature is verily the same the world over, and here, in the hotel +at Nisch, I meet an individual who recalls a few of the sensible questions +that have been asked me from time to time at different places on both +continents. This Nisch interrogator is a Hebrew commercial traveller, +who has a smattering of English, and who after ascertaining during a +short conversation that, when a range of mountains or any other small +obstruction is encountered, I get down and push the bicycle up, airs his +knowledge of English and of 'cycling to the extent of inquiring whether +I don't take a man along to push it up the hills! + +Riding out of Nisch this morning we stop just beyond the suburbs to take +a curious look at a grim monument of Turkish prowess, in the shape of a +square stone structure which the Turks built in 1840, and then faced the +whole exterior with grinning rows of Servian skulls partially embedded +in mortar. The Servians, naturally objecting to having the skulls of +their comrades thus exposed to the gaze of everybody, have since removed +and buried them; but the rows of indentations in the thick mortared +surface still bear unmistakable evidence of the nature of their former +occupants. An avenue of thrifty prune-trees shades a level road leading +out of Nisch for several kilometres, but a heavy thunder-storm during +the night has made it rather slavish wheeling, although the surface +becomes harder and smoother, also hillier, as we gradually approach the +Balkan Mountains, that tower well up toward cloudland immediately ahead. +The morning is warm and muggy, indicating rain, and the long, steep +trundle, kilometre after kilometre, up the Balkan slopes, is anything +but child's play, albeit the scenery is most lovely, one prospect +especially reminding me of a view in the Big Horn Mountains of northern +Wyoming Territory. On the lower slopes we come to a mehana, where, besides +plenty of shade-trees, we find springs of most delightfully cool water +gushing out of crevices in the rocks, and, throwing our freely perspiring +forms beneath the grateful shade and letting the cold water play on our +wrists (the best method in the world of cooling one's self when overheated), +we both vote that it would be a most agreeable place to spend the heat +of the day. But the morning is too young yet to think of thus indulging, +and the mountainous prospect ahead warns us that the distance covered +to-day will be short enough at the best. + +The Balkans are clothed with green foliage to the topmost crags, wild +pear-trees being no inconspicuous feature; charming little valleys wind +about between the mountain-spurs, and last night's downpour has imparted +a freshness to the whole scene that perhaps it would not be one's good +fortune to see every day, even were he here. This region of intermingled +vales and forest-clad mountains might be the natural home of brigandage, +and those ferocious-looking specimens of humanity with things like long +guns in hand, running with scrambling haste down the mountain-side toward +our road ahead, look like veritable brigands heading us off with a view +to capturing us. But they are peacefully disposed goatherds, who, +alpenstocks in hand, are endeavoring to see "what in the world those +queer-looking things are, coming up the road." Their tuneful noise, as +they play on some kind of an instrument, greets our ears from a dozen +mountain-slopes round about us, as we put our shoulders to the wheel, +and gradually approach the summit. Tortoises are occasionally surprised +basking in the sunbeams in the middle of the road; when molested they +hiss quite audibly in protest, but if passed peacefully by they are seen +shuffling off into the bushes, as though thankful to escape. Unhappy +oxen are toiling patiently upward, literally inch by inch, dragging +heavy, creaking wagons, loaded with miscellaneous importations, prominent +among which I notice square cans of American petroleum. Men on horseback +are encountered, the long guns of the Orient slung at their backs, and +knife and pistols in sash, looking altogether ferocious. Not only are +these people perfectly harmless, however, but I verily think it would +take a good deal of aggravation to make them even think of fighting. The +fellow whose horse we frightened down a rocky embankment, at the imminent +risk of breaking the neck of both horse and rider, had both gun, knife, +and pistols; yet, though he probably thinks us emissaries of the evil +one, he is in no sense a dangerous character, his weapons being merely +gewgaws to adorn his person. Finally, the summit of this range is gained, +and the long, grateful descent into the valley of the Nissava River +begins. The surface during this descent, though averaging very good, is +not always of the smoothest; several dismounts are found to be necessary, +and many places ridden over require a quick hand and ready eye to pass. +The Servians have made a capital point in fixing their new boundary-line +south of this mountain-range. + +Mountaineers are said to be "always freemen;" one can with equal +truthfulness add that the costumes of mountaineers' wives and daughters +are always more picturesque than those of their sisters in the valleys. +In these Balkan Mountains their costumes are a truly wonderful blending +of colors, to say nothing of fantastic patterns, apparently a medley of +ideas borrowed from Occident and Orient. One woman we have just passed +is wearing the loose, flowing pantaloons of the Orient, of a bright-yellow +color, a tight-fitting jacket of equally bright blue; around her waist +is folded many times a red and blue striped waistband, while both head +and feet are bare. This is no holiday attire; it is plainly the ordinary +every-day costume. + +At the foot of the range we halt at a way-side mehana for dinner. A daily +diligence, with horses four abreast, runs over the Balkans from Niseh +to Sophia, Bulgaria, and one of them is halted at the mehana for +refreshments and a change of horses. Refreshments at these mehanas are +not always palatable to travellers, who almost invariably carry a supply +of provisions along. Of bread nothing but the coarse, black variety +common to the country is forthcoming at this mehana, and a gentleman, +learning from Mr. Popovitz that I have not yet been educated up to black +bread, fishes a large roll of excellent milch-Brod out of his traps and +kindly presents it to us; and obtaining from the mehana some hune-hen +fabrica and wine we make a very good meal. This hunehen fabrica is nothing +more nor less than cooked chicken. Whether hune-hen fabrica is genuine +Hungarian for cooked chicken, or whether Igali manufactured the term +especially for use between us, I cannot quite understand. Be this as it +may, before we started from Belgrade, Igali imparted the secret to Mr. +Popovitz that I was possessed with a sort of a wild appetite, as it were, +for hune-hen fabrica and cherries, three times a day, the consequence +being that Mr. Popovitz thoughtfully orders those viands whenever we +halt. After dinner the mutterings of thunder over the mountains warn us +that unless we wish to experience the doubtful luxuries of a road-side +mehana for the night we had better make all speed to the village of Bela +Palanka, twelve kilometres distant over - rather hilly roads. In forty +minutes we arrive at the Bela Palanka mehana, some time before the rain +begins. It is but twenty kilometres to Pirot, near the Bulgarian frontier, +whither my companion has purposed to accompany me, but we are forced to +change this programme and remain at Bela Palanka. + +It rains hard all night, converting the unassuming Nissava into a roaring +yellow torrent, and the streets of the little Balkan village into mud- +holes. It is still raining on Sunday morning, and as Mr. Popovitz is +obliged to be back to his duties as foreign correspondent in the Servian +National Bank at Belgrade on Tuesday, and the Balkan roads have been +rendered impassable for a bicycle, he is compelled to hire a team and +wagon to haul him and his wheel back over the mountains to Nisch, while +I have to remain over Sunday amid the dirt and squalor and discomforts - to +say nothing of a second night among the fleas - of an Oriental village +mehana. We only made fifty kilometres over the mountains yesterday, but +during the three days from Belgrade together the aggregate has been +satisfactory, and Mr. Popovitz has proven a most agreeable and interesting +companion. When but fourteen years of age he served under the banner of +the Red Cross in the war between the Turks and Servians, and is altogether +an ardent patriot. My Sunday in Bela Palanka impresses me with the +conviction that an Oriental village is a splendid place not to live in. +In dry weather it is disagreeable enough, but to-day, it is a disorderly +aggregation of miserable-looking villagers, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens, +and dogs, paddling around the muddy streets. The Oriental peasant's +costume is picturesque or otherwise, according to the fancy of the +observer. The red fez or turban, the upper garment, and the ample red +sash wound round and round the waist until it is eighteen inches broad, +look picturesque enough for anybody; but when it comes to having the +seat of the pantaloons dangling about the calves of the legs, a person +imbued with Western ideas naturally thinks that if the line between +picturesqueness and a two-bushel gunny-sack is to be drawn anywhere it +should most assuredly be drawn here. As I notice how prevalent this +ungainly style of nether garment is in the Orient, I find myself getting +quite uneasy lest, perchance, anything serious should happen to mine, +and I should be compelled to ride the bicycle in a pair of natives, which +would, however, be an altogether impossible feat unless it were feasible +to gather the surplus area up in a bunch and wear it like a bustle. I +cannot think, however, that Fate, cruel as she sometimes is, has anything +so outrageous as this in store for me or any other 'cycler. Although +Turkish ladies have almost entirely disappeared from Servia since its +severance from Turkey, they have left, in a certain degree, an impress +upon the women of the country villages; although the Bela Palanka maidens, +as I notice on the streets in their Sunday clothes to-day, do not wear +the regulation yashmak, but a head-gear that partially obscures the face, +their whole demeanor giving one the impression that their one object in +life is to appear the pink of propriety in the eyes of the whole world; +they walk along the streets at a most circumspect gait, looking neither +to the right nor left, neither stopping to converse with each other by +the way, nor paying any sort of attention to the men. The two proprietors +of the mehana where I am stopping are subjects for a student of human +nature. With their wretched little pigsty of a mehana in this poverty-stricken +village, they are gradually accumulating a fortune. Whenever a luckless +traveller falls into their clutches they make the incident count for +something. They stand expectantly about in their box-like public room; +their whole stock consists of a little diluted wine and mastic, and if +a bit of black bread and smear-lease is ordered, one is putting it down +in the book, while the other is ferreting it out of a little cabinet +where they keep a starvation quantity of edibles; when the one acting +as waiter has placed the inexpensive morsel before you, he goes over to +the book to make sure that number two has put down enough; and, although +the maximum value of the provisions is perhaps not over twopence, this +precious pair will actually put their heads together in consultation +over the amount to be chalked down. Ere the shades of Sunday evening +have settled down, I have arrived at the conclusion that if these two +are average specimens of the Oriental Jew they are financially a totally +depraved people. + +The rain ceased soon after noon on Sunday, and, although the roads are +all but impassable, I pull out southward at five o'clock on Monday +morning, trundling up the mountain-roads through mud that frequently +compels me to stop and use the scraper. After the summit of the hills +between Bela Palanka and Pirot is gained, the road descending into the +valley beyond becomes better, enabling me to make quite good time into +Pirot, where my passport.undergoes an examination, and is favored with +a vise by the Servian officials preparatory to crossing the Servian and +Bulgarian frontier about twenty kilometres to the southward. Pirot is +quite a large and important village, and my appearance is the signal for +more excitement than the Piroters have experienced for many a day. While +I am partaking of bread and coffee in the hotel, the main street becomes +crowded as on some festive occasion, the grown-up people's faces beaming +with as much joyous anticipation of what they expect to behold when I +emerge from the hotel as the unwashed countenances of the ragged youngsters +around them. Leading citizens who have been to Paris or Vienna, and have +learned something about what sort of road a 'cycler needs, have imparted +the secret to many of their fellow-townsmen, and there is a general +stampede to the highway leading out of town to the southward. This road +is found to be most excellent, and the enterprising people who have +walked, ridden, or driven out there, in order to see me ride past to the +best possible advantage, are rewarded by witnessing what they never saw +before - a cycler speeding along past them at ten miles an hour. This gives +such general satisfaction that for some considerable distance I ride +between a double row of lifted hats and general salutations, and a +swelling murmur of applause runs all along the line. + +Two citizens, more enterprising even than the others, have determined +to follow me with team and light wagon to a road-side office ten kilometres +ahead, where passports have again to be examined. The road for the whole +distance is level and fairly smooth; the Servian horses are, like the +Indian ponies of the West, small, but wiry and tough, and although I +press forward quite energetically, the whip is applied without stint, +and when the passport office is reached we pull up alongside it together, +but their ponies' sides are white with lather. The passport officer is +so delighted at the story of the race, as narrated to him by the others, +that he fetches me out.a piece of lump sugar and a glass of water, a +common refreshment partaken of in this country. Yet a third time I am +halted by a roadside official and required to produce my passport, and +again at the village of Zaribrod, just over the Bulgarian frontier, which +I reach about ten o'clock. To the Bulgarian official I present a small +stamped card-board check, which was given me for that purpose at the +last Servian examination, but he doesn't seem to understand it, and +demands to see the original passport. When my English passport is produced +he examines it, and straightway assures me of the Bulgarian official +respect for an Englishman by grasping me warmly by the hand. The passport +office is in the second story of a mud hovel, and is reached by a +dilapidated flight of out-door stairs. My bicycle is left leaning against +the building, and during my brief interview with the officer a noisy +crowd of semi-civilized Bulgarians have collected about, examining it +and commenting unreservedly concerning it and myself. The officer, ashamed +of the rudeness of his country - and their evidently untutored minds, +leans out of the window, and in a chiding voice explains to the crowd +that I am a private individual, and not a travelling mountebank going +about the country giving exhibitions, and advises them to uphold the dignity +of the Bulgarian character by scattering forthwith. But the crowd doesn't +scatter to any appreciable extent; they don't care whether I am public or +private; they have never seen anything like me and the bicycle before, +and the one opportunity of a lifetime is not to be lightly passed over. +They are a wild, untamed lot, these Bulgarians here at Zaribrod, little +given to self-restraint. When I emerge, the silence of eager anticipation +takes entire possession of the crowd, only to break forth into a spontaneous +howl of delight, from three hundred bared throats when I mount into the +saddle and ride away into - Bulgaria. + +My ride through Servia, save over the Balkans. has been most enjoyable, +and the roads, I am agreeably surprised to have to record, have averaged +as good as any country in Europe, save England and France, though being +for the most part unmacadamized; with wet weather they would scarcely +show to such advantage. My impression of the Servian peasantry is most +favorable; they are evidently a warm-hearted, hospitable, and withal a +patriotic people, loving their little country and appreciating their +independence as only people who have but recently had their dream of +self-government realized know how to appreciate it; they even paint the +wood-work of their bridges and public buildings with the national colors. +I am assured that the Servians have progressed wonderfully since acquiring +their full independence; but as one journeys down the beautiful and +fertile valley of the Morava, where improvements would naturally be seen, +if anywhere, one falls to wondering where they can possibly have come +in. Some of their methods would, indeed, seem to indicate a most deplorable +lack of practicability; one of the most ridiculous, to the writer's mind, +is the erection of small, long sheds substantially built of heavy hewn +timber supports, and thick, home-made tiles, over ordinary plank fences +and gates to protect them from the weather, when a good coating of tar +or paint would answer the purpose of preservation much better. These +structures give one the impression of a dollar placed over a penny to +protect the latter from harm. Every peasant owns a few acres of land, +and, if he produces anything above his own wants, he hauls it to market +in an ox-wagon with roughly hewn wheels without tires, and whose creaking +can plainly bo heard a mile away. At present the Servian tills his little +freehold with the clumsiest of implements, some his own rude handiwork, +and the best imperfectly fashioned and forged on native anvils. His plow +is chiefly the forked limb of a tree, pointed with iron sufficiently to +enable him to root around in the surface soil. One would think the country +might offer a promising field for some enterprising manufacturer of such +implements as hoes, scythes, hay-forks, small, strong plows, cultivators, +etc. + +These people are industrious, especially the women. I have entry met a +Servian peasant woman returning homeward in the evening from her labor +in the fields, carrying a fat, heavy baby, a clumsy hoe not much lighter +than the youngster, and an earthenware water-pitcher, and, at the same +time, industriously spinning wool with a small hand-spindle. And yet +some people argue about the impossibility of doing two things at once. +Whether these poor women have been hoeing potatoes, carrying the infant, +and spinning wool at the same time all day I am unable to say, not having +been an eye-witness, though I really should not be much astonished if +they had. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + + +BULGARIA, ROUMELIA, AND INTO TURKEY. + +The road leading into Bulgaria from the Zaribrod custom-house is fairly +good for several kilometres, when mountainous and rough ways are +encountered; it is a country of goats and goat-herds. A rain-storm is +hovering threateningly over the mountains immediately ahead, but it does +not reach the vicinity I am traversing: it passes to the southward, and +makes the roads for a number of miles wellnigh impassable. Up in the +mountains I meet more than one " Bulgarian national express " - pony pack- +trains, carrying merchandise to and fro between Sofia and Nisch. Most +of these animals are too heavily laden to think of objecting to the +appearance of anything on the road, but some of the outfits are returning +from Sofia in "ballast" only; and one of these, doubtless overjoyed +beyond measure at their unaccustomed lissomeness, breaks through all +restraint at my approach, and goes stampeding over the rolling hills, +the wild-looking teamsters in full tear after them. Whatever of this +nature happens in this part of the world the people seem to regard with +commendable complacence: instead of wasting time in trying to quarrel +about it, they set about gathering up the scattered train, as though a +stampede were the most natural thing going. Bulgaria - at least by the +route I am crossing it - is a land of mountains and elevated plateaus, and +the inhabitants I should call the "ranchers of the Orient," in their +general appearance and demeanor bearing the same relation to the plodding +corn-hoer and scythe-swinger of the Morava Valley as the Niobrara cow-boy +does to the Nebraska homesteader. On the mountains are encountered herds +of goats in charge of men who reck little for civilization, and the +upland plains are dotted over with herds of ponies that require constant +watching in the interest of scattered fields of grain. For lunch I halt +at an unlikely-looking mehana, near a cluster of mud hovels, which, I +suppose, the Bulgarians consider a village, and am rewarded by the +blackest of black bread, in the composition of which sand plays no +inconsiderable part, and the remnants of a chicken killed and stewed at +some uncertain period of the past. Of all places invented in the world +to disgust a hungry, expectant wayfarer, the Bulgarian mehana is the +most abominable. Black bread and mastic (a composition of gum-mastic and +Boston rum, so I am informed) seem to be about the only things habitually +kept in stock, and everything about the place plainly shows the proprietor +to be ignorant of the crudest notions of cleanliness. A storm is observed +brewing in the mountains I have lately traversed, and, having swallowed +my unpalatable lunch, I hasten to mount, and betake myself off toward +Sofia, distant thirty kilometres. The road is nothing extra, to say the +least, but a howling wind blowing from the region of the gathering storm +propels me rapidly, in spite of undulations, ruts, and undesirable road +qualities generally. The region is an elevated plateau, of which but a +small proportion is cultivated; on more than one of the neighboring peaks +patches of snow are still lingering, and the cool mountain breezes recall +memories of the Laramie Plains. Men and women returning homeward on +horseback from Sofia are frequently encountered. The women are decked +with beads and trinkets and the gewgaws of semi-civilization, as might +be the favorite squaws of Squatting Beaver or Sitting Bull, and furthermore +imitate their copper-colored sisters of the Far West by bestriding their +ponies like men. But in the matter of artistic and profuse decoration +of the person the squaw is far behind the peasant woman of Bulgaria. The +garments of the men are a combination of sheepskin and a thick, coarse, +woollen material, spun by the women, and fashioned after patterns their +forefathers brought with them centuries ago when they first invaded +Europe. The Bulgarian saddle, like everything else here, is a rudely +constructed affair, that answers the double purpose of a pack-saddle or +for riding - a home-made, unwieldy thing, that is a fair pony's load of +itself. + +At 4.30 P.M. I wheel into Sofia, the Bulgarian Capital, having covered +one hundred and ten kilometres to-day, in spite of mud, mountains, and +roads that have been none of the best. Here again I have to patronize +the money-changers, for a few Servian francs which I have are not current +in Bulgaria; and the Israelite, who reserved unto himself a profit of +two francs on the pound at Nisch, now seems the spirit of fairness itself +along-side a hook-nosed, wizen-faced relative of his here at Sofia, who +wants two Servian francs in exchange for each Bulgarian coin of the same +intrinsic value; and the best I am able to get by going to several +different money-changers is five francs in exchange for seven; yet the +Servian frontier is but sixty kilometres distant, with stages running +to it daily; and the two coins are identical in intrinsic value. At the +Hotel Concordia, in Sofia, in lieu of plates, the meat is served on +round, flat blocks of wood about the circumference of a saucer - the +"trenchers" of the time of Henry VIII.- and two respectable citizens +seated opposite me are supping off black bread and a sliced cucumber, +both fishing slices of the cucumber out of a wooden bowl with their +fingers. + +Life at the Bulgarian Capital evidently bears its legitimate relative +comparison to the life of the country it represents. One of Prince +Alexander's body-guard, pointed out to me in the bazaar, looks quite a +semi-barbarian, arrayed in a highly ornamented national costume, with +immense Oriental pistols in waistband, and gold-braided turban cocked +on one side of his head, and a fierce mustache. The soldiers here, even +the comparatively fortunate ones standing guard at the entrance to the +prince's palace, look as though they haven't had a new uniform for years +and had long since despaired of ever getting one. A war, and an alliance +with some wealthy nation which would rig them out in respectable uniforms, +would probably not be an unwelcome event to many of them. While wandering +about the bazaar, after supper, I observe that the streets, the palace +grounds, and in fact every place that is lit up at all, save the minarets +of the mosque, which are always illumined with vegetable oil, are lighted +with American petroleum, gas and coal being unknown in the Bulgarian +capital. There is an evident want of system in everything these people +do. From my own observations I am inclined to think they pay no heed +whatever to generally accepted divisions of time, but govern their actions +entirely by light and darkness. There is no eight-hour nor ten-hour +system of labor here; and I verily believe the industrial classes work +the whole time, save when they pause to munch black bread, and to take +three or four hours' sleep in the middle of the night; for as I trundle +my way through the streets at five o'clock next morning, the same people +I observed at various occupations in the bazaars are there now, as busily +engaged as though they had been keeping it up all night; as also are +workmen building a house; they were pegging away at nine o'clock yestefday +evening, by the flickering light of small petroleum lamps, and at five +this morning they scarcely look like men who are just commencing for the +day. The Oriental, with his primitive methods and tenacious adherence +to the ways of his forefathers, probably enough, has to work these extra +long hours in order to make any sort of progress. However this may be, +I have throughout the Orient been struck by the industriousness of the +real working classes; but in practicability and inventiveness the Oriental +is sadly deficient. On the way out I pause at the bazaar to drink hot +milk and eat a roll of white bread, the former being quite acceptable, +for the morning is rather raw and chilly; the wind is still blowing a +gale, and a company of cavalry, out for exercise, are incased in their +heavy gray overcoats, as though it were midwinter instead of the twenty- +third of June. Rudely clad peasants are encountered on the road, carrying +large cans of milk into Sofia from neighboring ranches. I stop several +of them with a view of sampling the quality of their milk, but invariably +find it unstrained, and the vessels looking as though they had been +strangers to scalding for some time. Others are carrying gunny-sacks of +smear-kase on their shoulders, the whey from which is not infrequently +streaming down their backs. Cleanliness is no doubt next to godliness; +but the Bulgarians seem to be several degrees removed from either. They +need the civilizing influence of soap quite as much as anything else, +and if the missionaries cannot educate them up to Christianity or +civilization it might not be a bad scheme to try the experiment of +starting a native soap-factory or two in the country. + +Savagery lingers in the lap of civilization on the breezy plateaus of +Bulgaria, but salvation is coming this way in the shape of an extension +of the Eoumelian railway from the south, to connect with the Servian +line north of the Balkans. For years the freight department of this +pioneer railway will have to run opposition against ox-teams, and creaking, +groaning wagons; and since railway stockholders and directors are not +usually content with an exclusive diet of black bread, with a wilted +cucumber for a change on Sundays, as is the Bulgarian teamster, and since +locomotives cannot be turned out to graze free of charge on the hill-sides, +the competition will not be so entirely one-sided as might be imagined. +Long trains of these ox-teams are met with this morning hauling freight +and building-lumber from the railway terminus in Eoumelia to Sofia. The +teamsters are wearing large gray coats of thick blanketing, with floods +covering the head, a heavy, convenient garment, that keeps out both rain +and cold while on the road, and at night serves for blanket and mattress; +for then the teamster turns his oxen loose on the adjacent hill-sides +to graze, and, after munching a piece of black bread, he places a small +wicker-work wind-break against the windward side of the wagon, and, +curling himself up in his great-coat, sleeps soundly. Besides the ox- +trains, large, straggling trains of pack-ponies and donkeys occasionally +fill the whole roadway; they are carrying firewood and charcoal from the +mountains, or wine and spirits, in long, slender casks, from Roumelia; +while others are loaded with bales and boxes of miscellaneous merchandise, +out of all proportion to their own size. + +The road southward from Sofia is abominable, being originally constructed +of earth and large unbroken bowlders; it has not been repaired for years, +and the pack-trains and ox-wagons forever crawling along have, during +the wet weather of many seasons, tramped the dirt away, and left the +surface a wretched waste of ruts, holes, and thickly protruding stones. +It is the worst piece of road I have encountered in all Europe; and +although it is ridable this morning by a cautious person, one risks and +invites disaster at every turn of the wheel. "Old Boreas" comes howling +from the mountains of the north, and hustles me briskly along over ruts, +holes, and bowlders, however, in a most reckless fashion, furnishing all +the propelling power needful, and leaving me nothing to do but keep a +sharp lookout for breakneck places immediately ahead. In Servia, the +peasants, driving along the road in their wagons, upon observing me +approaching them, being uncertain of the character of my vehicle and the +amount of road-space I require, would ofttimes drive entirely off the +road; and sometimes, when they failed to take this precaution, and their +teams would begin to show signs of restiveness as I drew near, the men +would seem to lose their wits for the moment, and cry out in alarm, as +though some unknown danger were hovering over them. I have seen women +begin to wail quite pitifully, as though they fancied I bestrode an all- +devouring circular saw that was about to whirl into them and rend team, +wagon, and everything asunder. But the Bulgarians don't seem to care +much whether I am going to saw them in twain or not; they are far less +particular about yielding the road, and both men and women seem to be +made of altogether sterner stuff than the Servians and Slavonians. They +seem several degrees less civilized than their neighbors farther north, +judging from tieir general appearance and demeanor. They act peaceably +and are reasonably civil toward me and the bicycle, however, and personallv +I rather enjoy their rough, unpolished manners. Although there is a +certain element of rudeness and boisterousuess about them compared with +anything I have encountered elsewhere in Europe, they seem, on the whole, +a good-natured people. We Westerners seldom hear anything of the Bulgarians +except in war-times and then it is usually in connection with atrocities +that furnish excellent sensational material for the illustrated weeklies; +consequently I rather expected to have a rough time riding through alone. +But, instead of coming out slashed and scarred like a Heidelberg student, +I emerge from their territory with nothing more serious than a good +healthy shaking up from their ill-conditioned roads and howling winds, +and my prejudice against black bread with sand in it partly overcome +from having had to eat it or nothing. Bulgaria is a principality under +the suzerainty of the Sultan, to whom it is supposed to pay a yearly +tribute; but the suzerainty sits lightly upon the people, since they do +pretty much as they please; and they never worry themselves about the +tribute, simply putting it down on the slate whenever it comes due. The +Turks might just as well wipe out the account now as at any time, for +they will eventually have to whistle for the whole indebtedness. A smart +rain-storm drives me into an uninviting mehana near the Roumelian frontier, +for two unhappy hours, at noon - a mehana where the edible accommodations +would wring an "Ugh" from an American Indian - and the sole occupants +are a blear-eyed Bulgarian, in twenty-year-old sheep-skin clothes, whose +appearance plainly indicates an over-fondness for mastic, and an unhappy- +looking black kitten. Fearful lest something, perchance, might occur +to compel me to spend the night here, I don my gossamers as soon as the +rain slacks up a little, and splurge ahead through the mud toward Ichtiman, +which, my map informs me, is just on this side of the Kodja Balkans, +which rise up in dark wooded ridges at no great distance ahead, to the +southward. The mud and rain combine to make things as disagreeable as +possible, but before three o'clock I reach Ichtiman, to find that I am +in the province of Eoumelia, and am again required to produce my passport. + +I am now getting well down into territory that quite recently was +completely under the dominion of the "unspeakable Turk " - unspeakable, +by the way, to the writer in more senses than one - and is partly so even +now, but have as yet seen very little of the "mysterious veiled lady." +The Bulgarians are Christian when they are anything, though the great +majority of them are nothing religiously. A comparatively comfortable +mehana is found here at Ichtiman, and the proprietor, being able to talk +German, readily comprehends the meaning of hune-hen fabrica; but I have +to dispense with cherries. + +Mud is the principal element of the road leading out of Ichtiman and +over the Kodja Balkans this morning. The curious crowd of Ichtimanites +that follow me through the mud-holes and filth of their native streets, +to see what is going to happen when I get clear of them, are rewarded +but poorly for their trouble; the best I can possibly do being to make +a spasmodic run of a hundred yards through the mud, which I do purely +out of consideration for their inquisitiveness, since it seems rather +disagreeable to disappoint a crowd of villagers who are expectantly +following and watching one's every movement, wondering, in their ignorance, +why you don't ride instead of walk. It is a long, wearisome trundle up +the muddy slopes of the Kodja Balkans, but, after the descent into the +Maritza Valley begins, some little ridable surface is encountered, though +many loose stones are lying about, and pitch-holes innumerable, make +riding somewhat risky, considering that the road frequently leads +immediately alongside precipices. Pack-donkeys are met on these mountain- +roads, sometimes filling the way, and corning doggedly and indifferently +forward, even in places where I have little choice between scrambling +up a rock on one side of the road or jumping down a precipice on the +other. I can generally manage to pass them, however, by placing the +bicycle on one side, and, 'standing guard over it, push them off one by +one as they pass. Some of these Roumelian donkeys are the most diminutive +creatures I ever saw; but they seem capable of toiling up these steep +mountain-roads with enormous loads. I met one this morning carrying +bales of something far bigger than himself, and a big Roumelian, whose +feet actually came in contact with the ground occasionally, perched on +his rump; the man looked quite capable of carrying both the donkey and +his load. + +The warm and fertile Maritza Valley is reached soon after noon, and I +am not sorry to find it traversed by a decent macadamized road; though, +while it has been raining quite heavily up among the mountains, this +valley has evidently been favored with a small deluge, and frequent +stretches are covered with deep mud and sand, washed down from the +adjacent hills; in the cultivated areas of the Bulgarian uplands the +grain-fields are yet quite green, but harvesting has already begun in +the warmer Maritza Vale, and gangs of Roumelian peasants are in the +fields, industriously plying reaping-hooks to save their crops of wheat +and rye, which the storm has badly lodged. Ere many miles of this level +valley-road are ridden over, a dozen pointed minarets loom up ahead, and +at four o'clock I dismount at the confines of the well nigh impassable +streets of Tatar Bazardjik, quite a lively little city in the sense that +Oriental cities are lively, which means well-stocked bazaars thronged +with motley crowds. Here I am delayed for some time by a thunder-storm, +and finally wheel away southward in the face of threatening heavens. +Several villages of gypsies are camped on the banks of the Maritza, just +outside the limits of Tatar Bazardjik; a crowd of bronzed, half-naked +youngsters wantonly favor me with a fusillade of stones as I ride past, +and several gaunt, hungry-looking curs follow me for some distance with +much threatening clamor. The dogs in the Orient seem to be pretty much +all of one breed, genuine mongrel, possessing nothing of the spirit and +courage of the animals we are familiar with. Gypsies are more plentiful +south of the Save than even in Austria-Hungary, but since leaving Slavonia +I have never been importuned by them for alms. Travellers from other +countries are seldom met with along the roads here, and I suppose that +the wandering Romanies have long since learned the uselessness of asking +alms of the natives; but, since they religiously abstain from anything +like work, how they manage to live is something of a mystery. + +Ere I am five kilometres from Tatar Bazardjik the rain begins to descend, +and there is neither house nor other shelter visible anywhere ahead. The +peasants' villages are all on the river, and the road leads for mile +after mile through fields of wheat and rye. I forge ahead in a drenching +downpour that makes short work of the thin gossamer suit, which on this +occasion barely prevents me getting a wet skin ere I descry a thrice-welcome +mehana ahead and repair thither, prepared to accept, with becoming +thankfulness, whatever accommodation the place affords. It proves many +degrees superior to the average Bulgarian institution of the same name, +the proprietor causing my eyes fairly to bulge out with astonishment by +producing a box of French sardines, and bread several shades lighter +than I had, in view of previous experience expected to find it; and for +a bed provides one of the huge, thick overcoats before spoken of, which, +with the ample hood, envelops the whole figure in a covering that defies +both wet and cold. I am provided with this unsightly but none the less +acceptable garment, and given the happy privilege of occupying the floor +of a small out-building in company with several rough-looking pack-train +teamsters similarly incased; I pass a not altogether comfortless night, +the pattering of rain against the one small window effectually suppressing +such thankless thoughts as have a tendency to come unbidden whenever the +snoring of any of my fellow-lodgers gets aggravatingly harsh. In all +this company I think I am the only person who doesn't snore, and when I +awake from my rather fitful slumbers at four o'clock and find the rain +no longer pattering against the window, I arise, and take up my journey +toward Philippopolis, the city I had intended reaching yesterday. It is +after crossing the Kodja Balkans and descending into the Maritza Valley +that one finds among the people a peculiarity that, until a person becomes +used to it, causes no little mystification and many ludicrous mistakes. +A shake of the head, which with us means a negative answer, means exactly +the reverse with the people of the Maritza Valley; and it puzzled me not +a little more than once yesterday afternoon when inquiring whether I was +on the right road, and when patronizing fruit-stalls in Tatar Bazardjik. +One never feels quite certain about being right when, after inquiring +of a native if this is the correct road to Mustapha Pasha or Philippopolis +he replies with a vigorous shake of the head; and although one soon gets +accustomed to this peculiarity in others, and accepts it as it is intended, +it is not quite so easy to get into the habit yourself. This queer custom +seems to prevail only among the inhabitants of this particular valley, +for after leaving it at Adrianople I see nothing more of it. Another +peculiarity all through Oriental, and indeed through a good part of +Central Europe, is that, instead of the "whoa" which we use to a horse, +the driver hisses like a goose. + +Yesterday evening's downpour has little injured the road between the +mehana and Philippopolis, the capital of Eoumelia, and I wheel to the +confines of that city in something over two hours. Philippopolis is most +beautifully situated, being built on and around a cluster of several +rocky hills; a situation which, together with a plenitude of waving +trees, imparts a pleasing and picturesque effect. With a score of tapering +minarets pointing skyward among the green foliage, the scene is thoroughly +Oriental; but, like all Eastern cities, "distance lends enchantment to +the view." All down the Maritza Valley, and in lesser numbers extending +southward and eastward over the undulating plains of Adrianople, are +many prehistoric mounds, some twenty-five or thirty feet high, and of +about the same diameter. Sometimes in groups, and sometimes singly, these +mounds occur so frequently that one can often count a dozen at a time. +In the vicinity of Philippopolis several have been excavated, and human +remains discovered reclining beneath large slabs of coarse pottery set +up like an inverted V, thus: A, evidently intended as a water-shed for +the preservation of the bodies. Another feature of the landscape, and +one that fails not to strike the observant traveller as a melancholy +feature, are the Mohammedan cemeteries. Outside every town and near every +village are broad areas of ground thickly studded with slabs of roughly +hewn rock set up on end; cities of the dead vastly more populous than +the abodes of life adjacent. A person can stand on one of the Philippopolis +heights and behold the hills and vales all around thickly dotted with +these rude reminders of our universal fate. It is but as yesterday since +the Turk occupied these lands, and was in the habit of making it +particularly interesting to any "dog of a Christian" who dared desecrate +one of these Mussulman cemeteries with his unholy presence; but to-day +they are unsurrounded by protecting fence or the moral restrictions of +dominant Mussulmans, and the sheep, cows, and goats of the "infidel +giaour" graze among them; and oh, shade of Mohammed! hogs also scratch +their backs against the tombstones and root around, at their own sweet +will, sometimes unearthing skulls and bones, which it is the Turkish +custom not to bury at any great depth. The great number and extent of +these cemeteries seem to appeal to the unaccustomed observer in eloquent +evidence against a people whose rule find religion have been of the +sword. + +While obtaining my breakfast of bread and milk in the Philippopolis +bazaar an Arab ragamuffin rushes in, and, with anxious gesticulations +toward the bicycle, which I have from necessity left outside, and cries +of "Monsieur, monsieur," plainly announces that there is something going +wrong in connection with the machine. Quickly going out I find that, +although I left it standing on the narrow apology for a sidewalk, it is +in imminent danger of coming to grief at the instance of a broadly laden +donkey, which, with his load, veritably takes up the whole narrow street, +including the sidewalks, as he slowly picks his way along through mud-holes +and protruding cobble-stones. And yet Philippopolis has improved wonderfully +since it has nominally changed from a Turkish to a Christian city, I am +told; the Cross having in Philippopolis not only triumphed over the +Crescent, but its influence is rapidly changing the condition and +appearance of the streets. There is no doubt about the improvements, but +they are at present most conspicuous in the suburbs, near the English +consulate. It is threatening rain again as I am picking my way through +the crooked streets of Philippopolis toward the Adrianople road; verily, +I seem these days to be fully occupied in playing hide-and-seek with the +elements; but in Roumelia at this season it is a question of either rain +or insufferable heat, and perhaps, after all, I have reason to be thankful +at having the former to contend with rather than the latter. Two +thunderstorms have to be endured during the forenoon, and for lunch I +reach a mehana where, besides eggs roasted in the embers, and fairly +good bread, I am actually offered a napkin that has been used but a few +times - an evidence of civilization that is quite refreshing. A repetition +of the rain-dodging of the forenoon characterizes the afternoon journey, +and while halting at a small village the inhabitants actually take me +for a mountebank, and among them collect a handful of diminutive copper +coins about the size and thickness of a gold twenty-five-cent piece, and +of which it would take at least twenty to make an American cent, and +offer them to me for a performance. What with shaking my head for "no" +and the villagers naturally mistaking the motion for " yes," according +to their own custom, I have quite an interesting time of it making them +understand that I am not a mountebank travelling from one Roumelian +village to another, living on two cents' worth of black sandy bread per +diem, and giving performances for about three cents a time. For my +halting-place to-night I reach the village of Cauheme, in which I find +a mehana, where, although the accommodations are of the crudest nature, +the proprietor is a kindly disposed and, withal, a thoroughly honest +individual, furnishing me with a reed mat and a pillow, and making things +as comfortable and agreeable as possible. Eating raw cucumbers as we eat +apples or pears appears to be universal in Oriental Europe; frequently, +through Bulgaria and Roumelia, I have noticed people, both old and young, +gnawing away at a cucumber with the greatest relish, eating it rind and +all, without any condiments whatever. + +All through Roumelia the gradual decay of the Crescent and the corresponding +elevation of the Cross is everywhere evident; the Christian element is +now predominant, and the Turkish authorities play but an unimportant +part in the government of internal affairs. Naturally enough, it does +not suit the Mussulman to live among people whom his religion and time- +honored custom have taught him to regard as inferiors, the consequence +being that there has of late years been a general folding of tents and +silently stealing away; and to-day it is no very infrequent occurrence +for a whole Mussulman village to pack up, bag and baggage, and move +bodily to Asia Minor, where the Sultan gives them tracts of land for +settlement. Between the Christian and Mussulman populations of these +countries there is naturally a certain amount of the "six of one and +half a dozen of the other " principle, and in certain regions, where the +Mussulmans have dwindled to a small minority, the Christians are ever +prone to bestow upon them the same treatment that the Turks formerly +gave them. There appears to be little conception of what we consider +"good manners" among Oriental villagers, and while I am writing out a +few notes this evening, the people crowding the mehana because of my +strange unaccustomed presence stand around watching every motion of my +pen, jostling carelessly against the bench, and commenting on things +concerning me and the bicycle with a garrulousness that makes it almost +impossible for me to write. The women of these Eoumelian villages bang +their hair, and wear it in two long braids, or plaited into a streaming +white head-dress of some gauzy material, behind; huge silver clasps, +artistically engraved, that are probably heirlooms, fasten a belt around +their waists; and as they walk along barefooted, strings of beads, +bangles, and necklaces of silver coins make an incessant jingling. The +sky clears and the moon shines forth resplendently ere I stretch myself +on my rude couch to-night, and the sun rising bright next morning would +seem to indicate fair weather at last; an indication that proves illusory, +however, before the day is over. + +At Khaskhor, some fifteen kilometres from Cauheme, I am able to obtain +my favorite breakfast of bread, milk, and fruit, and while I am in-doors +eating it a stalwart Turk considerately mounts guard over the bicycle, +resolutely keeping the meddlesome crowd at bay until I get through eating. +The roads this morning, though hilly, are fairly smooth, and about eleven +o'clock I reach Hermouli, the last town in Roumelia, where, besides being +required to produce my passport, I am requested by a pompous lieutenant +of gendarmerie to produce my permit for carrying a revolver, the first +time I have been thus molested in Europe. Upon explaining, as best I +can, that I have no such permit, and that for a voyageur permission is +not necessary (something about which I am in no way so certain, however, +as my words would seem to indicate), I am politely disarmed, and conducted +to a guard-room in the police-barracks, and for some twenty minutes am +favored with the exclusive society of a uniformed guard and the unhappy +reflections of a probable heavy fine, if not imprisonment. I am inclined +to think afterward that in arresting and detaining me the officer was +simply showing off his authority a little to his fellow-Hermoulites, +clustered about me and the bicycle, for, at the expiration of half an +hour, my revolver and passport are handed back to me, and without further +inquiries or explanations I am allowed to depart in peace. As though in +wilful aggravation of the case, a village of gypsies have their tents +pitched and their donkeys grazing in the last Mohammedan cemetery I see +ere passing over the Roumelian border into Turkey proper, where, at the +very first village, the general aspect of religious affairs changes, as +though its proximity to the border should render rigid distinctions +desirable. Instead of the crumbling walls and tottering minarets, a group +of closely veiled women are observed praying outside a well-preserved +mosque, and praying sincerely too, since not even my ncver-before-seen +presence and the attention-commanding bicycle are sufficient to win their +attention for a moment from their devotions, albeit those I meet on the +road peer curiously enough from between the folds of their muslin yashmaks. +I am worrying along to-day in the face of a most discouraging head-wind, +and the roads, though mostly ridable, are none of the best. For much of +the way there is a macadamized road that, in the palmy days of the Ottoman +dominion, was doubtless a splendid highway, but now weeds and thistles, +evidences of decaying traffic and of the proximity of the Eoumelian +railway, are growing in the centre, and holes and impassable places make +cycling a necessarily wide-awake performance. + +Mustapha Pasha is the first Turkish town of any importance I come to, +and here again my much-required "passaporte" has to be exhibited; but +the police-officers of Mustapha Pasha seem to be exceptionally intelligent +and quite agreeable fellows. My revolver is in plain view, in its +accustomed place; but they pay no sort of attention to it, neither do +they ask me a whole rigmarole of questions about my linguistic +accomplishments, whither I am going, whence I came, etc., but simply +glance at my passport, as though its examination were a matter of small +consequence anyhow, shake hands, and smilingly request me to let them +see me ride. It begins to rain soon after I leave Mustapha Pasha, forcing +me to take refuge in a convenient culvert beneath the road. I have been +under this shelter but a few minutes when I am favored with the company +of three swarthy Turks, who, riding toward Mustapha Pasha on horseback, +have sought the same shelter. These people straightway express their +astonishment at finding rne and the bicycle under the culvert, by first +commenting among themselves; then they turn a battery of Turkish +interrogations upon my devoted head, nearly driving me out of my senses +ere I escape. They are, of course, quite unintelligible to me; for if +one of them asks a question a shrug of the shoulders only causes him to +repeat the same over and over again, each time a little louder and a +little more deliberate. Sometimes they are all three propounding questions +and emphasizing them at the same time, until I begin to think that there +is a plot to talk me to death and confiscate whatever valuables I have +about me. They all three have long knives in their waistbands, and, +instead of pointing out the mechanism of the bicycle to each other with +the finger, like civilized people, they use these long, wicked-looking +knives for the purpose. They maybe a coterie of heavy villains for +anything I know to the contrary, or am able to judge from their general +appearance, and in view of the apparent disadvantage of one against three +in such cramped quarters, I avoid their immediate society as much as +possible by edging off to one end of the culvert. They are probably +honest enough, but as their stock of interrogations seems inexhaustible, +at the end of half an hour I conclude to face the elements and take my +chances of finding some other shelter farther ahead rather than endure +their vociferous onslaughts any longer. They all three come out to see +what is going to happen, and I am not ashamed to admit that I stand +tinkering around the bicycle in the pelting rain longer than is necessary +before mounting, in order to keep them out in it and get them wet through, +if possible, in revenge for having practically ousted me from the culvert, +and since I have a water-proof, and they have nothing of the sort, I +partially succeed in my plans. + +The road is the same ancient and neglected macadam, but between Mustapha +Pasha and Adrianople they either make some pretence of keeping it in +repair, or else the traffic is sufficient to keep down the weeds, and I +am able to mount and ride in spite of the downpour. After riding about +two miles I come to another culvert, in which I deem it advisable to +take shelter. Here, also, I find myself honored with company, but this +time it is a lone cow-herder, who is either too dull and stupid to do +anything but stare alternately at me and the bicycle, or else is deaf +and dumb, and my recent experience makes me cautious about tempting him +to use his tongue. I am forced by the rain to remain cramped up in this +last narrow culvert until nearly dark, and then trundle along through +an area of stones and water-holes toward Adrianople, which city lies I +know not how far to the southeast. While trundling along through the +darkness, in the hope of reaching a village or mehana, I observe a rocket +shoot skyward in the distance ahead, and surmise that it indicates the +whereabout of Adrianople; but it is plainly many a weary mile ahead; the +road cannot be ridden by the uncertain light of a cloud-veiled moon, and +I have been forging ahead, over rough ways leading through an undulating +country, and most of the day against a strong head-wind, since early +dawn. By ten o'clock I happily arrive at a section of country that has +not been favored by the afternoon rain, and, no mehana making its +appearance, I conclude to sup off the cold, cheerless memories of the +black bread and half-ripe pears eaten for dinner at a small village, and +crawl beneath some wild prune-bushes for the night. + +A few miles wheeling over very fair roads, next morning, brings me into +Adrianople, where, at the Hotel Constantinople, I obtain an excellent +breakfast of roast lamb, this being the only well-cooked piece of meat +I have eaten since leaving Nisch. It has rained every day without +exception since it delayed me over Sunday at Bela Palanka, and this +morning it begins while I am eating breakfast, and continues a drenching +downpour for over an hour. While waiting to see what the weather is +coming to, I wander around the crooked and mystifying streets, watching +the animated scenes about the bazaars, and try my best to pick up some +knowledge of the value of the different coins, for I have had to deal +with a bewildering mixture of late, and once again there is a complete +change. Medjidis, cheriks, piastres, and paras now take the place of +Serb francs, Bulgar francs, and a bewildering list of nickel and copper +pieces, down to one that I should think would scarcely purchase a wooden +toothpick. The first named is a large silver coin worth four and a half +francs; the cherik might be called a quarter dollar; while piastres and +paras are tokens, the former about five cents and the latter requiring +about nine to make one cent. There are no copper coins in Turkey proper, +the smaller coins being what is called "metallic money," a composition +of copper and silver, varying in value from a five-para piece to five +piastres. + +The Adrianopolitans, drawn to the hotel by the magnetism of the bicycle, +are bound to see me ride whether or no, and in their quite natural +ignorance of its character, they request me to perform in the small, +roughly-paved court-yard of the hotel, and all sorts of impossible places. +I shake my head in disapproval and explanation of the impracticability +of granting their request, but unfortunately Adrianople is within the +circle where a shake of the head is understood to mean " yes, certainly;" +and the happy crowd range around a ridiculously small space, and smiling +approvingly at what they consider my willingness to oblige, motion for +me to come ahead. An explanation seems really out of the question after +this, and I conclude that the quickest and simplest way of satisfying +everybody is to demonstrate my willingness by mounting and wabbling +along, if only for a few paces, which I accordingly do beneath a hack +shed, at the imminent risk of knocking my brains out against beams and +rafters. + +At eleven o'clock I decide to make a start, I and the bicycle being the +focus of attraction for a most undignified mob as I trundle through the +muddy streets toward the suburbs. Arriving at a street where it is +possible to mount and ride for a short distance, I do this in the hope +of satisfying the curiosity of the crowd, and being permitted to leave +the city in comparative peace and privacy; but the hope proves a vain +one, for only the respectable portion of the crowd disperses, leaving +me, solitary and alone, among a howling mob of the rag, tag, and bobtail +of Adrianople, who follow noisily along, vociferously yelling for me to +"bin! bin!" (mount, mount), and "chu! chu!" (ride, ride) along the +really unridable streets. This is the worst crowd I have encountered on +the entire journey across two continents, and, arriving at a street where +the prospect ahead looks comparatively promising, I mount, and wheel +forward with a view of outdistancing them if possible; but a ride of +over a hundred yards without dismounting would be an exceptional performance +in Adrianople after a rain, and I soon find that I have made a mistake +in attempting it, for, as I mount, the mob grows fairly wild and riotous +with excitement, flinging their red fezes at the wheels, rushing up +behind and giving the bicycle smart pushes forward, in their eagerness +to see it go faster, and more than one stone comes bounding along the +street, wantonly flung by some young savage unable to contain himself. +I quickly decide upon allaying the excitement by dismounting, and trundling +until the mobs gets tired of following, whatever the distance. This +movement scarcely meets with the approval of the unruly crowd, however, +and several come forward and exhibit ten-para pieces as an inducement +for me to ride again, while overgrown gamins swarm around me, and, +straddling the middle and index fingers of their right hands over their +left, to illustrate and emphasize their meaning, they clamorously cry, +"bin! bin! chu! chu! monsieur! chu! chu!" as well as much other persuasive +talk, which, if one could understand, would probably be found to mean +in substance, that, although it is the time-honored custom and privilege +of Adrianople mobs to fling stones and similar compliments at such +unbelievers from the outer world as come among them in a conspicuous +manner, they will considerately forego their privileges this time, if I +will only "bin! bin!" and "chu! chu!" The aspect of harmless +mischievousness that would characterize a crowd of Occidental youths on +a similar occasion is entirely wanting here, their faces wearing the +determined expression of people in dead earnest about grasping the only +opportunity of a lifetime. Respectable Turks stand on the sidewalk and +eye the bicycle curiously, but they regard my evident annoyance at being +followed by a mob like this with supreme indifference, as does also a +passing gendarme, whom I halt, and motion my disapproval of the proceedings. +Like the civilians, he pays no sort of attention, but fixes a curious +stare on the bicycle, and asks something, the import of which will to +me forever remain a mystery. + +Once well out of the city the road is quite good for several kilometres, +and I am favored with a unanimous outburst of approval from a rough crowd +at a suburban mehana, because of outdistancing a horseman who rides out +from among them to overtake me. At Adrianople my road leaves the Maritza +Valley and leads across the undulating uplands of the Adrianople Plains, +hilly, and for most of the way of inferior surface. Reaching the village +of Hafsa, soon after noon, I am fairly taken possession of by a crowd +of turbaned and fezed Hafsaites and soldiers wearing the coarse blue +uniform of the Turkish regulars, and given not one moment's escape from +"bin! bin!" until I consent to parade my modest capabilities with the +wheel by going back and forth along a ridable section of the main street. +The population is delighted. Solid old Turks pat me on the back approvingly, +and the proprietor of the mehana fairly hauls me and the bicycle into +his establishment. This person is quite befuddled with mastic, which +makes him inclined to be tyrannical and officious; and several times +within the hour, while I wait for the never-failing thunder-shower to +subside, he peremptorily dismisses both civilians and military out of +the mehana yard; but the crowd always filters back again in less than +two minutes. Once, while eating dinner, I look out of the window and +find the bicycle has disappeared. Hurrying out, I meet the boozy proprietor +and another individual making their way with alarming unsteadiness up a +steep stairway, carrying the machine between them to an up-stairs room, +where the people will have no possible chance of seeing it. Two minutes +afterward his same whimsical and capricious disposition impels him to +politely remove the eatables from before me, and with the manners of a +showman, he gently leads me away from the table, and requests me to ride +again for the benefit of the very crowd he had, but two minutes since, +arbitrarily denied the privilege of even looking at the bicycle. Nothing +would be more natural than to refuse to ride under these circumstances; +but the crowd looks so gratified at the proprietor's sudden and unaccountable +change of front, that I deem it advisable, in the interest of being +permitted to finish my meal in peace, to take another short spin; moreover, +it is always best to swallow such little annoyances in good part. + +My route to-day is a continuation of the abandoned macadam road, the +weed-covered stones of which I have frequently found acceptable in tiding +me over places where the ordinary dirt road was deep with mud. In spite +of its long-neglected condition, occasional ridable stretches are +encountered, but every bridge and culvert has been destroyed, and an +honest shepherd, not far from Hafsa, who from a neighboring knoll observes +me wheeling down a long declivity toward one of these uncovered waterways, +nearly shouts himself hoarse, and gesticulates most frantically in an +effort to attract my attention to the danger ahead. Soon after this I +am the innocent cause of two small pack-mules, heavily laden with +merchandise, attempting to bolt from their driver, who is walking behind. +One of them actually succeeds in escaping, and, although his pack is too +heavy to admit of running at any speed, he goes awkwardly jogging across +the rolling plains, as though uncertain in his own mind of whether he +is acting sensibly or not; but his companion in pack-slavery is less +fortunate, since he tumbles into a gully, bringing up flat on his broad +and top-heavy pack with his legs frantically pawing the air. Stopping +to assist the driver in getting the collapsed mule on his feet again, +this individual demands damages for the accident; so I judge, at least, +from the frequency of the word "medjedie," as he angrily, yet ruefully, +points to the mud-begrimed pack and unhappy, yet withal laughter-provoking, +attitude of the mule; but I utterly fail to see any reasonable connection +between the uncalled-for scariness of his mules and the contents of my +pocket-book, especially since I was riding along the Sultan's ancient +and deserted macadam, while he and his mules were patronizing a separate +and distinct dirt-road alongside. As he seems far more concerned about +obtaining a money satisfaction from me than the rescue of the mule from +his topsy-turvy position, I feel perfectly justified, after several times +indicating my willingness to assist him, in leaving him and proceeding +on my way. + +The Adrianople plains are a dreary expanse of undulating grazing-land, +traversed by small sloughs and their adjacent cultivated areas. Along +this route it is without trees, and the villages one comes to at intervals +of eight or ten miles are shapeless clusters of mud, straw-thatched huts, +out of the midst of which, perchance, rises the tapering minaret of a +small mosque, this minaret being, of course, the first indication of a +village in the distance. Between Adrianople and Eski Baba, the town I +reach for the night, are three villages, in one of which I approach a +Turkish private house for a drink of water, and surprise the women with +faces unveiled. Upon seeing my countenance peering in the doorway they +one and all give utterance to little screams of dismay, and dart like +frightened fawns into an adjoining room. When the men appear, to see +what is up, they show no signs of resentment at my abrupt intrusion, but +one of them follows the women into the room, and loud, angry words seem +to indicate that they are being soundly berated for allowing themselves +to be thus caught. This does not prevent the women from reappearing the +next minute, however, with their faces veiled behind the orthodox yashmak, +and through its one permissible opening satisfying their feminine curiosity +by critically surveying me and my strange vehicle. Four men follow me +on horseback out of this village, presumably to see what use I make of +the machine; at least I cannot otherwise account for the honor of their +unpleasantly close attentions - close, inasmuch as they keep their horses' +noses almost against my back, in spite of sundry subterfuges to shake +them off. When I stop they do likewise, and when I start again they +deliberately follow, altogether too near to be comfortable. They are, +all four, rough-looking peasants, and their object is quite unaccountable, +unless they are doing it for "pure cussedness," or perhaps with some +vague idea of provoking me into doing something that would offer them +the excuse of attacking and robbing me. The road is sufficiently lonely +to invite some such attention. If they are only following me to see what +I do with the bicycle, they return but little enlightened, since they +see nothing but trundling and an occasional scraping off of mud. At the +end of about two miles, whatever their object, they give it up. Several +showers occur during the afternoon, and the distance travelled has been +short and unsatisfactory, when just before dark I arrive at Eski Baba, +where I am agreeably surprised to find a mehana, the proprietor of which +is a reasonably mannered individual. Since getting into Turkey proper, +reasonably mannered people have seemed wonderfully scarce, the majority +seeming to be most boisterous and headstrong. Next to the bicycle the +Turks of these interior villages seem to exercise their minds the most +concerning whether I have a passport; as I enter Eski Baba; a gendarme +standing at the police-barrack gates shouts after me to halt and produce +"passaporte." Exhibiting my passport at almost every village is getting +monotonous, and, as I am going to remain here at least overnight, I +ignore the gendarme's challenge and wheel on to the mehana. Two gendarmes +are soon on the spot, inquiring if I have a "passaporte;" but, upon +learning that I am going no farther to-day, they do not take the trouble +to examine it, the average Turkish official religiously believing in +never doing anything to-day that can be put off till to-morrow. + +The natives of a Turkish interior village are not over-intimate with +newspapers, and are in consequence profoundly ignorant, having little +conception of anything, save what they have been familiar with and +surrounded by all their lives, and the appearance of the bicycle is +indeed a strange visitation, something entirely beyond their comprehension. +The mehana is crowded by a wildly gesticulating and loudly commenting +and arguing crowd of Turks and Christians all the evening. Although there +seems to be quite a large proportion of native unbelievers in Eski Baba +there is not a single female visible on the streets this evening; and +from observations next day I judge it to be a conservative Mussulman +village, where the Turkish women, besides keeping themselves veiled with +orthodox strictness, seldom go abroad, and the women who are not Mohammedan, +imbibing something of the retiring spirit of the dominant race, also +keep themselves well in the background. A round score of dogs, great and +small, and in all possible conditions of miserableness, congregate in +the main street of Eski Baba at eventide, waiting with hungry-eyed +expectancy for any morsel of food or offal that may peradventure find +its way within their reach. The Turks, to their credit be it said, never +abuse dogs; but every male "Christian" in Eski Baba seems to consider +himself in duty bound to kick or throw a stone at one, and scarcely a +minute passes during the whole evening without the yelp of some unfortunate +cur. These people seem to enjoy a dog's sufferings; and one soulless +peasant, who in the course of the evening kicks a half-starved cur so +savagely that the poor animal goes into a fit, and, after staggering and +rolling all over the street, falls down as though really dead, is the +hero of admiring comments from the crowd, who watch the creature's +sufferings with delight. Seeing who can get the most telling kicks at +the dogs seems to be the regular evening's pastime among the male +population of Eski Baba unbelievers, and everybody seems interested and +delighted when some unfortunate animal comes in for an unusually severe +visitation. A rush mat on the floor of the stable is my bed to-night, +with a dozen unlikely looking natives, to avoid the close companionship +of whom I take up my position in dangerous proximity to a donkey's hind +legs, and not six feet from where the same animal's progeny is stretched +out with all the abandon of extreme youth. Precious little sleep is +obtained, for fleas innumerable take liberties with my person. A flourishing +colony of swallows inhabiting the roof keeps up an incessant twittering, +and toward daylight two muezzins, one on the minaret of each of the two +mosques near by, begin calling the faithful to prayer, and howling "Allah. +Allah!" with the voices of men bent on conscientiously doing their +duty by making themselves heard by every Mussulman for at least a mile +around, robbing me of even the short hour of repose that usually follows +a sleepless night. + +It is raining heavily again on Sunday morning - in fact, the last week has +been about the rainiest that I ever saw outside of England - and considering +the state of the roads south of Eski Baba, the prospects look favorable +for a Sunday's experience in an interior Turkish village. Men are solemnly +squatting around the benches of the mehana, smoking nargilehs and sipping +tiny cups of thick black coffee, and they look on in wonder while I +devour a substantial breakfast; but whether it is the novelty of seeing +a 'cycler feed, or the novelty of seeing anybody eat as I am doing, thus +early in the morning, I am unable to say; for no one else seems to partake +of much solid food until about noontide. All the morning long, people +swarming around are importuning me with, " Bin, bin, bin, monsieur." +The bicycle is locked up in a rear chamber, and thrice I accommodatingly +fetch it out and endeavor to appease their curiosity by riding along a +hundred-yard stretch of smooth road in the rear of the mehana; but their +importunities never for a moment cease. Finally the annoyance becomes +so unbearable that the proprietor takes pity on my harassed head, and, +after talking quite angrily to the crowd, locks me up in the same room +with the bicycle. Iron bars guard the rear windows of the houses at Eski +Baba, and ere I am fairly stretched out on my mat several swarthy faces +appear at the bars, and several voices simultaneously join in the dread +chorus of, " Bin, bin, bin, monsieur! bin, bin." compelling me to close, +in the middle of a hot day-the rain having ceased about ten o'clock-the +one small avenue of ventilation in the stuffy little room. A moment's +privacy is entirely out of the question, for, even with the window closed, +faces are constantly peering in, eager to catch even the smallest glimpse +of either me or the bicycle. Fate is also against me to-day, plainly +enough, for ere I have been imprisoned in the room an hour the door is +unlocked to admit the mulazim (lieutenant of gendarmes), and two of his +subordinates, with long cavalry swords dangling about their legs, after +the manner of the Turkish police. + +In addition to puzzling their sluggish brains about my passport, my +strange means of locomotion, and my affairs generally, they have now, +it seems, exercised their minds up to the point that they ought to +interfere in the matter of my revolver. But first of all they want to +see my wonderful performance of riding a thing that cannot stand alone. +After I have favored the gendarmes and the assembled crowd by riding +once again, they return the compliment by tenderly escorting me down to +police headquarters, where, after spending an hour or so in examining +my passport, they place that document and my revolver in their strong +box, and lackadaisically wave me adieu. Upon returning to the mehana, I +find a corpulent pasha and a number of particularly influential Turks +awaiting my reappearance, with the same diabolical object of asking me +to "bin! bin!" Soon afterward come the two Mohammedan priests, with the +same request; and certainly not less than half a dozen times during the +afternoon do I bring out the bicycle and ride, in deference to the +insatiable curiosity of the sure enough "unspeakable" Turk; and every +separate time my audience consists not only of the people personally +making the request, but of the whole gesticulating male population. The +proprietor of the mehana kindly takes upon himself the office of apprising +me when my visitors are people of importance, by going through the +pantomime of swelling his features and form up to a size corresponding +in proportion relative to their importance, the process of inflation in +the case of the pasha being quite a wonderful performance for a man who +is not a professional contortionist. + +Once during the afternoon I attempt to write, but I might as well attempt +to fly, for the mehana is crowded with people who plainly have not the +slightest conception of the proprieties. Finally a fez is wantonly flung, +by an extra-enterprising youth, at my ink-bottle, knocking it over, and +but for its being a handy contrivance, out of which the ink will not +spill, it would have made a mess of my notes. Seeing the uselessness of +trying to write, I meander forth, and into the leading mosque, and without +removing my shoes, tread its sacred floor for several minutes, and stand +listening to several devout Mussulmans reciting the Koran aloud, for, +be it known, the great fast of Ramadan has begun, and fasting and prayer +is now the faithful Mussulman's daily lot for thirty days, his religion +forbidding him either eating or drinking from early morn till close - +of day. After looking about the interior, I ascend the steep spiral +stairway up to the minaret balcony whence the muezzin calls the faithful +to prayer five times a day. As I pop my head out through the little +opening leading to the balcony, I am slightly taken aback by finding +that small footway already occupied by the muezzin, and it is a fair +question as to whether the muezzin's astonishment at seeing my white +helmet appear through the opening is greater, or mine at finding him +already in possession. However, I brazen it out by joining him, and he, +like a sensible man, goes about his business just the same as if nobody +were about. The people down in the streets look curiously up and call +one another's attention to the unaccustomed sight of a white-helmeted +'cycler and a muezzin upon the minaret together; but the fact that I am +not interfered with in any way goes far to prove that the Mussulman +fanaticism, that we have all heard and read about so often, has wellnigh +flickered out in European Turkey; moreover, I think the Eski Babans +would allow me to do anything, in order to place me under obligations to +"bin! bin!" whenever they ask me. At nine o'clock I begin to grow a trifle +uneasy about the fate of my passport and revolver, and, proceeding to +the police-barracks, formally demand their return. Nothing has apparently +been done concerning either one or the other since they were taken from +me, for the mulazim, who is lounging on a divan smoking cigarettes, +produces them from the same receptacle he consigned them to this +afternoon, and lays them before him, clearly as mystified and perplexed +as ever about what he ought to do. I explain to him that I wish to depart +in the morning, and gendarmes are despatched to summon several leading +Eski Babans for consultation, in the hope that some of them, or all of them +put together, might perchance arrive at a satisfactory conclusion +concerning me. The great trouble appears to be that, while I got the +passport vised at Sofia and Philippopolis, I overlooked Adrianople, and +the Eski Baba officials, being in the vilayet of the latter city, are +naturally puzzled to account for this omission; and, from what I can +gather of their conversation, some are advocating sending me back to +Adrianople, a suggestion that I straightway announce my disapproval of +by again and again calling their attention to the vise of the Turkish +consul-general in London, and giving them to understand, with much +emphasis, that this vise answers, for every part of Turkey, including +the vilayet of Adrianople. The question then arises as to whether that +has anything to do with my carrying a revolver; to which I candidly reply +that it has not, at the same time pointing out that I have just come +through Servia and Bulgaria (countries in which the Turks consider it +quite necessary to go armed, though in fact there is quite as much, if +not more, necessity for arms in Turkey), and that I have come through +both Mustapha Pasha and Adrianople without being molested on account of +the revolver; all of which only seems to mystify them the more, and make +them more puzzled than ever about what to do. Finally a brilliant idea +occurs to one of them, being nothing less than to shift the weight ot +the dreadful responsibility upon the authoritative shoulders of a visiting +pasha, an important personage who arrived in Eski Baba by carriage about +two hours ago, and whose arrival I remember caused quite a flurry of +excitement among the natives. The pasha is found surrounded by a number +of bearded Turks, seated cross-legged on a carpet in the open air, smoking +nargilehs and cigarettes, and sipping coffee. This pasha is fatter and +more unwieldy, if possible, than the one for whose edification I rode +the bicycle this afternoon; noticing which, all hopes of being created +a pasha upon my arrival at Constantinople naturally vanish, for evidently +one of the chief qualifications for a pashalic is obesity, a distinction +to which continuous 'cycling, in hot weather is hardly conducive. The +pasha seems a good-natured person, after the manner of fat people +generally, and straightway bids me be seated on the carpet, and orders +coffee and cigarettes to be placed at my disposal while he examines my +case. In imitation of those around me I make an effort to sit cross-legged +on the mat; but the position is so uncomfortable that I am quickly +compelled to change it, and I fancy detecting a merry twinkle in the eye +of more than one silent observer at my inability to adapt my posture to +the custom of the country. I scarcely think the pasha knows anything +more about what sort of a looking document an English passport ought to +be, than does the mulazim and the leading citizens of Eski Baba; but he +goes through the farce of critically examining the vise of the Turkish +consul-general in London, while another Turk holds his lighted cigarette +close to it, and blows from it a feeble glimmer of light. Plainly the +pasha cannot make anything more out of it than the others, for many a +Turkish pasha is unable to sign his own name intelligibly, using a seal +instead; but, probably with a view of favorably impressing those around +him, he asks me first if I am an Englishman, and then if I am "a baron," +doubtless thinking that an English baron is a person occupying a somewhat +similar position in English society to that of a pasha in Turkish: viz., +a really despotic sway over the people of his district; for, although +there are law and lawyers in Turkey to-day, the pasha, especially in +country districts, is still an all-powerful person, practically doing +as he pleases. + +To the first question I return an affirmative answer; the latter I pretend +not to comprehend; but I cannot help smiling at the question and the +manner in which it is put - seeing which the pasha and his friends smile +in response, and look knowingly at each other, as though thinking, " Ah! +he is a baron, but don't intend to let us know it." Whether this self- +arrived decision influences things in my favor I hardly know, but anyhow +he tosses me my passport, and orders the mulazim to return my revolver; +and as I mentally remark the rather jolly expression of the pasha's face, +I am inclined to think that, instead of treating the matter with the +ridiculous importance attached to it by the mulazim and the other people, +he regards the whole affair in the light of a few minutes' acceptable +diversion. The pasha arrived too late this evening at Eski Baba to see +the bicycle: "Will I allow a gendarme to go to the mehana and bring it +for his inspection?" "I will go and fetch it myself," I explain; and in +ten minutes the fat pasha and his friends are examining the perfect +mechanism of an American bicycle by the light of an American kerosene +lamp, which has been provided in the meantime. Some of the on-lookers, +who have seen me ride to-day, suggested to the pasha that I "bin! bin!" +and the pasha smiles approvingly at the suggestion; but by pantomime I +explain to him the impossibility of riding, owing to the nature of the +ground and the darkness, and I am really quite surprised at the readiness +with which he comprehends and accepts the situation. The pasha is very +likely possessed of more intelligence than I have been giving him credit +for; anyhow he has in ten minutes proved himself equal to the situation, +which the mulazim and several prominent Eski Babans have puzzled their +collective brains over for an hour in vain, and, after he has inspected +the bicycle, and resumed his cross-legged position on the carpet, I doff +my helmet to him and those about him, and return to the mehana, well +satisfied with the turn affairs have taken. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + + +THROUGH EUROPEAN TURKEY. + +ON Monday morning I am again awakened by the muezzin calling the Mussulmans +to their early morning devotions, and, arising from my mat at five +o'clock, I mount and speed away southward from Eski Baba, Not less than +a hundred people have collected to see the wonderful performance again. + +All pretence of road-making seems to have been abandoned; or, what is +more probable, has never been seriously attempted, the visible roadways +from village to village being mere ox-wagon and pack-donkey tracks, +crossing the wheat-fields and uncultivated tracts in any direction. The +soil is a loose, black loam, which the rain converts into mud, through +which I have to trundle, wooden scraper in hand; and I not infrequently +have to carry the bicycle through the worst places. The morning is sultry, +requiring good roads and a breeze-creating pace for agreeable going. +Harvesting and threshing are going forward briskly, but the busy hum of +the self-binder and the threshing-machine is not heard; the reaping is +done with rude hooks, and the threshing by dragging round and round, +with horses or oxen, sleigh-runner shaped, broad boards, roughed with +flints or iron points, making the surface resemble a huge rasp. Large +gangs of rough-looking Armenians, Arabs, and Africans are harvesting the +broad acres of land-owning pashas, the gangs sometimes counting not less +than fifty men. Several donkeys are always observed picketed near them, +taken, wherever they go, for the purpose of carrying provisions and +water. Whenever I happen anywhere near one of these gangs they all come +charging across the field, reaping-hooks in hand, racing with each other +and good-naturedly howling defiance to competitors. A band of Zulus +charging down on a fellow, and brandishing their assegais, could scarcely +present a more ferocious front. Many of them wear no covering of any +kind on the upper part of the body, no hat, no foot-gear, nothing but a +pair of loose, baggy trousers, while the tidiest man among them would +be immediately arrested on general principles in either England or +America. Rough though they are, they appear, for the most part, to be +good-natured fellows, and although they sometimes emphasize their +importunities of "bin! bin!" by flourishing their reaping-hooks +threateningly over my head, and one gang actually confiscates the bicycle, +which they lay up on a shock of wheat, and with much flourishing of +reaping-hooks as they return to their labors, warn me not to take it +away, these are simply good-natured pranks, such as large gangs of +laborers are wont to occasionally indulge in the world over. + +Streams have to be forded to-day for the first time in Europe, several +small creeks during the afternoon; and near sundown I find my pathway +into a village where I propose stopping for the night, obstructed by a +creek swollen bank-full by a heavy thunder-shower in the hills. A couple +of lads on the opposite bank volunteer much information concerning the +depth of the creek at different points; no doubt their evident mystification +at not being understood is equalled only by the amazement at my answers. +Four peasants come down to the creek, and one of them kindly wades in +and shows that it is only waist deep. Without more ado I ford it, with +the bicycle on my shoulder, and straight-way seek the accommodation of +the village mehana. This village is a miserable little cluster of mud +hovels, and the best the mehana affords is the coarsest of black-bread +and a small salted fish, about the size of a sardine, which the natives +devour without any pretence of cooking, but which are worse than nothing +for me, since the farther they are away the better I am suited. Sticking +a flat loaf of black-bread and a dozen of these tiny shapes of salted +nothing in his broad waistband, the Turkish peasant sallies forth +contentedly to toil. + +I have accomplished the wonderful distance of forty kilometres to-day, +at which I am really quite surprised, considering everything. The usual +daily weather programme has been faithfully carried out - a heavy mist at +morning, that has prevented any drying up of roads during the night, +three hours of oppressive heat - from nine till twelve - during which myraids +of ravenous flies squabble for the honor of drawing your blood, and then, +when the mud begins to dry out sufficient to justify my dispensing with +the wooden scraper, thunder-showers begin to bestow their unappreciated +favor upon the roads, making them well-nigh impassable again. The following +morning the climax of vexation is reached when, after wading through the +mud for two hours, I discover that I have been dragging, carrying, and +trundling my laborious way along in the wrong direction for Tchorlu, +which is not over thirty-five kilometres from my starting-point, but it +takes me till four o'clock to reach there. A hundred miles on French or +English roads would not be so fatiguing, and I wisely take advantage of +being in a town where comparatively decent accommodations are obtainable +to make up, so far as possible, for this morning's breakfast of black +bread and coffee, and my noontide meal of cold, cheerless reflections +on the same. The same programme of "bin! bin." from importuning crowds, +and police inquisitiveness concerning my "passporte" are endured and +survived; but I spread myself upon rny mat to-night thoroughly convinced +that a month's cycling among the Turks would worry most people into +premature graves. + +I am now approaching pretty close to the Sea of Marmora, and next morning +I am agreeably surprised to find sandy roads, which the rains have rather +improved than otherwise; and although much is unridably heavy, it is +immeasurably superior to yesterday's mud. I pass the country residence +of a wealthy pasha, and see the ladies of his harem seated in the meadow +hard by, enjoying the fresh morning air. They form a circle, facing +inward, and the swarthy eunuch in charge stands keeping watch at a +respectful distance. I carry a pocketful of bread with me this morning, +and about nine o'clock, upon coming to a ruined mosque and a few deserted +buildings, I approach one at which signs of occupation are visible, for +some water. This place is simply a deserted Mussulman village, from which +the inhabitants probably decamped in a body during the last Russo-Turkish +war; the mosque is in a tumble-down condition, the few dwelling-houses +remaining are in the last stages of dilapidation, and the one I call at +is temporarily occupied by some shepherds, two of whom are regaling +themselves with food of some kind out of an earthenware vessel. + +Obtaining the water, I sit down on some projecting boards to eat my +frugal lunch, fully conscious of being an object of much furtive speculation +on the part of the two occupants of the deserted house; which, however, +fails to strike me as anything extraordinary, since these attentions +have long since become an ordinary every-day affair. Not even the sulky +and rather hang-dog expression of the men, which failed not to escape +my observation at my first approach, awakened any shadow of suspicion +in my mind of their being possibly dangerous characters, although the +appearance of the place itself is really sufficient to make one hesitate +about venturing near; and upon sober after-thought I am fully satisfied +that this is a resort of a certain class of disreputable characters, +half shepherds, half brigands, who are only kept from turning full-fledged +freebooters by a wholesome fear of retributive justice. While I am +discussing my bread and water one of these worthies saunters with assumed +carelessness up behind me and makes a grab for my revolver, the butt of +which he sees protruding from the holster. Although I am not exactly +anticipating this movement, travelling alone among strange people makes +one's faculties of self-preservation almost mechanically on the alert, +and my hand reaches the revolver before his does. Springing up, I turn +round and confront him and his companion, who is standing in the doorway. +A full exposition of their character is plainly stamped on their faces, +and for a moment I am almost tempted to use the revolver on them. Whether +they become afraid of this or whether they have urgent business of some +nature will never be known to me, but they both disappear inside the +door; and, in view of my uncertainty of their future intentions, I +consider it advisable to meander on toward the coast. + +Ere I get beyond the waste lands adjoining this village I encounter two +more of these shepherds, in charge of a small flock; they are watering +their sheep; and as I go over to the spring, ostensibly to obtain a +drink, but really to have a look at them, they both sneak off at my +approach, like criminals avoiding one whom they suspect of being a +detective. Take it all in all, I am satisfied that this neighborhood is +a place that I have been fortunate in coming through in broad daylight; +by moonlight it might have furnished a far more interesting item than +the above. An hour after, I am gratified at obtaining my first glimpse +of the Sea of Marmora off to the right, and in another hour I am disporting +in the warm clear surf, a luxury that has not been within my reach since +leaving Dieppe, and which is a thrice welcome privilege in this land, +where the usual ablutions at mehanas consist of pouring water on the +hands from a tin cup. The beach is composed of sand and tiny shells, the +warm surf-waves are clear as crystal, and my first plunge in the Marmora, +after a two months' cycle tour across a continent, is the most thoroughly +enjoyable bath I ever had; notwithstanding, I feel it my duty to keep a +loose eye on some shepherds perched on a handy knoll, who look as if +half inclined to slip down and examine my clothes. The clothes, with, +of course, the revolver and every penny I have with me, are almost as +near to them as to me, and always, after ducking my head under water, +my first care is to take a precautionary glance in their direction. +"Cursed is the mind that nurses suspicion," someone has said; but under +the circumstances almost anybody would be suspicious. These shepherds +along the Marmora coast favor each other a great deal,: and when a person +has been the recipient of undesirable attention from one of them, to +look askance at the next one met with comes natural enough. + +Over the undulating cliffs and along the sandy beach, my road now leads +through the pretty little seaport of Cilivria, toward Constantinople, +traversing a most lovely stretch of country, where waving wheat-fields +hug the beach and fairly coquet with the waves, and the slopes are green +and beautiful with vineyards and fig-gardens, while away beyond the +glassy shimmer of the sea I fancy I can trace on the southern horizon +the inequalities of the hills of Asia Minor. Greek fishing-boats are +plying hither and thither; one noble sailing-vessel, with all sails set, +is slowly ploughing her way down toward the Dardanelles - probably a grain- +ship from the Black Sea - and the smoke from a couple of steamers is +discernible in the distance. Flourishing Greek fishing-villages and vine- +growing communities occupy this beautiful strip of coast, along which +the Greeks seem determined to make the Cross as much more conspicuous +than the Crescent as possible, by rearing it on every public building +under their control, and not infrequently on private ones as well. The +people of these Greek villages seem possessed of sunny dispositions, the +absence of all reserve among the women being in striking contrast to the +demeanor of the Turkish fair sex. These Greek women chatter after me +from the windows as I wheel past, and if I stop a minute in the street +they gather around by dozens, smiling pleasantly, and plying me with +questions, which, of course, I cannot understand. Some of them are quite +handsome, and nearly all have perfect white teeth, a fact that I have +ample opportunity of knowing, since they seem to be all smiles. There +has been much making of artificial highways leading from Constantinople +in this direction in ages past. A road-bed of huge blocks of stone, such +as some of the streets of Eastern towns are made impassable with, is +traceable for miles, ascending and descending the rolling hills, +imperishable witnesses of the wide difference in Eastern and Western +ideas of making a road. These are probably the work of the people who +occupied this country before the Ottoman Turks, who have also tried their +hands at making a macadam, which not infrequently runs close along-side +the old block roadway, and sometimes crosses it; and it is matter of +some wonderment that the Turks, instead of hauling material for their +road from a distance did not save expense by merely breaking the stones +of the old causeway and using the same road-bed. Twice to-day I have +been required to produce my passport, and when toward evening I pass +through a small village, the lone gendarme who is smoking a nargileh in +front of the mehana where I halt points to my revolver and demands +"passaporte," I wave examination, so to speak, by arguing the case with +him, and by the not always unhandy plan of pretending not exactly to +comprehend his meaning. "Passaporte! passaporte! gendarmerie, me, " +replies the officer, authoritatively, in answer to my explanation of a +voyager being privileged to carry a revolver; while several villagers +who have gathered around us interpose "Bin! bin! monsieur, bin! bin." +I have little notion of yielding up either revolver or passport to this +village gendarme, for much of their officiousness is simply the disposition +to show off their authority and satisfy their own personal curiosity +regarding me, to say nothing of the possibility of coming in for a little +backsheesh. The villagers are worrying me to "bin! bin!" at the same +time the gendarme is worrying me about the revolver and passport, and +knowing from previous experience that the gendarme would never stop me +from mounting, being quite as anxious to witness the performance as the +villagers, I quickly decide upon killing two birds with one stone, and +accordingly mount, and pick my way along the rough street out on to the +Constantinople road. The gloaming settles into darkness, and the domes +and minarets of Stamboul, which have been visible from the brow of every +hill for several miles back, are still eight or ten miles away, and +rightly judging that the Ottoman Capital is a most bewildering city for +a stranger to penetrate after night, I pillow my head on a sheaf of oats, +within sight of the goal toward which I have been pedalling for some +2,500 miles since leaving Liverpool. After surveying with a good deal +of satisfaction the twinkling lights that distinguish every minaret in +Constantinople each night during the fast of Ramadan, I fall asleep, and +enjoy, beneath a sky in which myriads of far-off lamps seem to be twinkling +mockingly at the Ramadan illuminations, the finest night's repose I have +had for a week. Nothing but the prevailing rains have prevented me from +sleeping beneath the starry dome entirely in peference to putting up at +the village mehanas. + +En route into Stamboul, on the following morning, I meet the first train +of camels I have yet encountered; in the gray of the morning, with the +scenes around so thoroughly Oriental, it seems like an appropriate +introduction to Asiatic life. Eight o'clock finds me inside the line of +earthworks thrown up by Baker Pasha when the Russians were last knocking +at the gates of Constantinople, and ere long I am trundling through the +crooked streets of the Turkish Capital toward the bridge which connects +Stamboul with Galata and Pera. Even here my ears are assailed with the +eternal importunities to "bin! bin!" the officers collecting the bridge- +toll even joining in the request. To accommodate them I mount, and ride +part way across the bridge, and at 9 o'clock on July 2d, just two calendar +months from the start at Liverpool, I am eating my breakfast in a +Constantinople restaurant. I am not long in finding English-speaking +friends, to whom my journey across the two continents is not unknown, +and who kindly direct me to the Chamber of Commerce Hotel, Eue Omar, +Galata, a home-like establishment, kept by an English lady. I have been +purposing of late to remain in Constantinople during the heated term of +July and August, thinking to shape my course southward through Asia Minor +and down the Euphrates Valley to Bagdad, and by taking a south-easterly +direction as far as circumstances would permit into India, keep pace +with the seasons, thus avoiding the necessity of remaining over anywhere +for the winter. At the same time I have been reckoning upon meeting +Englishmen in Constantinople who, having travelled extensively in Asia, +could further enlighten me regarding the best route to India. As I house +my bicycle and am shown to my room I take a retrospective glance across +Europe and America, and feel almost as if I have arrived at the half-way +house of my journey. The distance from Liverpool to Constantinople is +fully 2,500 miles, which brings the wheeling distance from San Francisco +up to something over 6,000. So far as the, distance wheeled and to be +wheeled is concerned, it is not far from half-way; but the real difficulties +of the journey are still ahead, although I scarcely anticipate any that +time and perseverance will not overcome. My tour across Europe has been, +on the whole, a delightful journey, and, although my linguistic shortcomings +have made it rather awkward in interior places where no English-speaking +person was to be found, I always managed to make myself understood +sufficiently to get along. In the interior of Turkey a knowledge of +French has been considered indispensable to a traveller: but, although +a full knowledge of that language would have made matters much smoother +by enabling me to converse with officials and others, I have nevertheless +come through all right without it; and there have doubtless been occasions +when my ignorance has saved me from a certain amount of bother with the +gendarmerie, who, above all things, dislike to exercise their thinking +apparatus. A Turkish official is far less indisposed to act than he is +to think; his mental faculties work sluggishly, but his actions are +governed largely by the impulse of the moment. + +Someone has said that to see Constantinople is to see the entire East; +and judging from the different costumes and peoples one meets on the +streets and in the bazaars, the saying is certainly not far amiss. From +its geographical situation, as well as from its history, Constantinople +naturally takes the front rank among the cosmopolitan cities of the +world, and the crowds thronging its busy thoroughfares embrace every +condition of man between the kid-gloved exquisite without a wrinkle in +his clothes and the representative of half-savage Central Asian States +incased in sheepskin garments of rudest pattern. The great fast of Ramadan +is under full headway, and all true Mussulmans neither eat nor drink a +particle of anything throughout the day until the booming of cannon at +eight in the evening announces that the fast is ended, when the scene +quickly changes into a general rush for eatables and drink. Between eight +and nine o'clock in the evening, during Ramadan, certain streets and +bazaars present their liveliest appearance, and from the highest-classed +restaurant patronized by bey and pasha to the venders of eatables on the +streets, all do a rushing business; even the mjees (water-venders), who +with leather water-bottles and a couple of tumblers wait on thirsty +pedestrians with pure drinking water, at five paras a glass, dodge about +among the crowds, announcing themselves with lusty lung, fully alive to +the opportunities of the moment. + +A few of the coffee-houses provide music of an inferior quality, +Constantinople not being a very musical place. A forenoon hour spent in +a neighborhood of private residences will repay a stranger for his +trouble, since he will during that time see a bewildering assortment of +street-venders, from a peregrinating meat-market, with a complete stock +dangling from a wooden framework attached to a horse's back, to a grimy +individual worrying along beneath a small mountain of charcoal, and each +with cries more or less musical. The sidewalks of Constantinople are +ridiculously narrow, their only practical use being to keep vehicles +from running into the merchandise of the shopkeepers, and to give +pedestrians plenty of exercise in jostling each other, and hopping on +and off the curbstone to avoid inconveniencing the ladies, who of course +are not to be jostled either off the sidewalk or into a sidewalk stock +of miscellaneous merchandise. The Constantinople sidewalk is anybody's +territory; the merchant encumbers it with his wares and the coffee-houses +with chairs for customers to sit on, the rights of pedestrians being +altogether ignored; the natural consequence is that these latter fill +the streets, and the Constantinople Jehu not only has to keep his wits +about him to avoid running over men and dogs, but has to use his lungs +continually, shouting at them to clear the way. If a seat is taken in +one of the coffee-house chairs, a watchful waiter instantly makes his +appearance with a tray containing small chunks of a pasty sweetmeat, +known in England as " Turkish Delight," one of which you are expected +to take and pay half a piastre for, this being a polite way of obtaining +payment for the privilege of using the chair. The coffee is served +steaming hot in tiny cups holding about two table-spoonfuls, the price +varying from ten paras upward, according to the grade of the establishment. +A favorite way of passing the evening is to sit in front of one of these +establishments, watching the passing throngs, and smoke a nargileh, this +latter requiring a good half-hour to do it properly. I undertook to +investigate the amount of enjoyment contained in a nargileh one evening, +and before smoking it half through concluded that the taste has to be +cultivated. + +One of the most inconvenient things about Constantinople is the great +scarcity of small change. Everybody seems to be short of fractional money +save the money-changers-people who are here a genuine necessity, since +one often has to patronize them before making the most trifling purchase. +Ofttimes the store-keeper will refuse point-blank to sell an article +when change is required, solely on account of his inability or unwillingness +to supply it. After drinking a cup of coffee, I have had the kahuajee +refuse to take any payment rather than change a cherik. Inquiring the +reason for this scarcity, I am informed that whenever there is any new +output of this money the noble army of money-changers, by a liberal and +judicious application of backsheesh, manage to get a corner on the lot +and compel the general public, for whose benefit it is ostensibly issued, +to obtain what they require through them. However this may be, they +manage to control its circulation to a great extent; for while their +glass cases display an overflowing plenitude, even the fruit-vender, +whose transactions are mainly of ten and twenty paras, is not infrequently +compelled to lose a customer because of his inability to make change. +There are not less than twenty money-changers' offices within a hundred +yards of the Galata end of the principal bridge spanning the Golden Horn, +and certainly not a less number on the Stamboul side. + +The money-changer usually occupies a portion of the frontage of a cigarette +and tobacco stand; and on all the business streets one happens at frequent +intervals upon these little glass cases full of bowls and heaps of +miscellaneous coins, varying in value. Behind sits a business-looking +person - usually a Jew - jingling a handful of medjedis, and expectantly +eyeing every approaching stranger. The usual percentage charged is, for +changing a lira, eighty paras; thirty paras for a medjedie, and ten for +a cherik, the percentage on this latter coin being about five per cent. +Some idea of the inconvenience to the public of this state of affairs +can be better imagined by the American by reflecting that if this state +of affairs existed in Boston he would frequently have to walk around the +block and give a money-changer five per cent, for changing a dollar +before venturing upon the purchase of a dish of baked beans. If one +offers a coin of the larger denominations in payment of an article, even +in quite imposing establishments, they look as black over it as though +you were trying to palm off a counterfeit, and hand back the change with +an ungraciousness and an evident reluctance that makes a sensitive person +feel as though he has in some way been unwittingly guilty of a mean +action. Even the principal streets of Constantinople are but indifferently +lighted at night, and, save for the feeble glimmer of kerosene lamps in +front of stores and coffee-houses, the by-streets are in darkness. Small +parties of Turkish women are encountered picking their way along the +streets of Galata in charge of a male attendant, who walks a little way +behind, if of the better class, or without the attendant in the case of +poorer people, carrying small Japanese lanterns. Sometimes a lantern +will go out, or doesn't burn satisfactorily, and the whole party halts +in the middle of the, perhaps, crowded thoroughfare, and clusters around +until the lantern is radjusted. The Turkish lady walks with a slouchy +gait, her shroud-like abbas adding not a little to the ungracefulness. +Matters are likewise scarcely to be improved by wearing two pairs of +shoes, the large, slipper-like overshoes being required by etiquette to +be left on the mat upon entering the house she is visiting; and in the +case of a strictly orthodox Mussulman lady - and, doubtless, we may also +easily imagine in case of a not over-prepossessing countenance - the yashmak +hides all but the eyes. The eyes of many Turkish ladies are large and +beautiful, and peep from between the white, gauzy folds of the yashmak +with an effect upon the observant Frank not unlike coquettishly ogling +from behind a fan. Handsome young Turkish ladies with a leaning toward +Western ideas are no doubt coming to understand this, for many are +nowadays met on the streets wearing yashmaks that are but a single +thickness of transparent gauze that obscures never a feature, at the +same time producing the decidedly interesting and taking effect above +mentioned. It is readily seen that the wearing of yashmaks must be quite +a charitable custom in the case of a lady not blessed with a handsome +face, since it enables her to appear in public the equal of her more +favored sister in commanding whatever homage is to be derived from that +mystery which is said to be woman's greatest charm; and if she has but +the one redeeming feature of a beautiful pair of eyes, the advantage is +obvious. In street-cars, steamboats, and all public conveyances, board +or canvas partitions wall off a small compartment for the exclusive use +of ladies, where, hidden from the rude gaze of the Frank, the Turkish +lady can remove her yashmak and smoke cigarettes. + +On Sunday, July 12th, in company with an Englishman in the Turkish +artillery service, I pay my first visit to Asian soil, taking a caique +across the Bosphorus to Kadikeui, one of the many delightful seaside +resorts within easy distance of Constantinople. Many objects of interest +are pointed out, as, propelled by a couple of swarthy, half-naked caique- +jees, the sharp-prowed caique gallantly rides the blue waves of this +loveliest of all pieces of land-environed water. More than once I have +noticed that a firm belief in the supernatural has an abiding hold upon +the average Turkish mind, having frequently during my usual evening +promenade through the Galata streets noted the expression of deep and +genuine earnestness upon the countenances of fez-crowned citizens giving +respectful audience to Arab fortune-tellers, paying twenty-para pieces +for the revelations he is favoring them with, and handing over the coins +with the business-like air of people satisfied that they are getting its +full equivalent. Consequently I am not much astonished when, rounding +Seraglio Point, my companion calls my attention to several large sections +of whalebone suspended on the wall facing the water, and tells me that +they are placed there by the fishermen, who believe them to be a talisman +of no small efficacy in keeping the Bosphorus well supplied with fish, +they firmly adhering to the story that once, when the bones were removed, +the fish nearly all disappeared. The oars used by the caique-jees are +of quite a peculiar shape, the oar-shaft immediately next the hand-hold +swells into a bulbous affair for the next eighteen inches, which is at +least four times the circumference of the remainder, and the end of the +oarblade is for some reason made swallow-tailed. The object of the +enlarged portion, which of course comes inside the rowlocks, appears to +be the double purpose of balancing the weight of the longer portion +outside, and also for preventing the oar at all times from escaping into +the water. The rowlock is simply a raw-hide loop, kept well greased, and +as, toward the end of every stroke, the caique-jee leans back to his +work, the oar slips several inches, causing a considerable loss of power. +The day is warm, the broiling sun shines directly down on the bare heads +of the caique-jees. and causes the perspiration to roll off their swarthy +faces in large beads, but they lay back to their work manfully, although, +from early morning until cannon roar at 8 P.M. neither bite nor sup, not +even so much water as to moisten the end of their parched tongues, will +pass their lips; for, although but poor hard- working caique-jees, they +are true Mussulmans. Pointing skyward from the summit of the hill back +of Seraglio Point are the four tapering minarets of the world-renowned +St. Sophia mosque, and a little farther to the left is the Sultana Achmet +mosque, the only mosque in all Mohammedanism with six minarets. Near by +is the old Seraglio Palace, or rather what is left of it, built by +Mohammed II. in 1467, out of materials from the ancient Byzantine palaces, +and in a department of which the sanjiak shereef (holy standard), boorda-y +shereef (holy mantle), and other venerated relics of the prophet Mohammed +are preserved. To this place, on the 15th of Ramadan, the Sultan and +leading dignitaries of the Empire repair to do homage to the holy relics, +upon which it would be the highest sacrilege for Christian eyes to gaze. +The hem of this holy mantle is reverently kissed by the Sultan and the +few leading personages present, after which the spot thus brought in +contact with human lips is carefully wiped with an embroidered napkin +dipped in a golden basin of water; the water used in this ceremony is +then supposed to be of priceless value as a purifier of sin, and is +carefully preserved, and, corked up in tiny phials, is distributed among +the sultanas, grand dignitaries, and prominent people of the realm, who +in return make valuable presents to the lucky messengers and Mussulman +ecclesiastics employed in its distribution. This precious liquid is doled +out drop by drop, as though it were nectar of eternal life received +direct from heaven, and, mixed with other water, is drunk immediately +upon breaking fast each evening during the remaining fifteen days of +Ramadan. Arriving at Kadikeui, the opportunity presents of observing +something of the high-handed manner in which Turkish pashas are wont to +expect from inferiors their every whim obeyed. We meet a friend of my +companion, a pasha, who for the remainder of the afternoon makes one of +our company. Unfortunately for a few other persons the pasha is in a +whimsical mood to-day and inclined to display for our benefit rather +arbitrary authority toward others. The first individual coming under his +immediate notice is a young man torturing a harp. Summoning the musician, +the pasha summarily orders him to play "Yankee Doodle." The writer +arrived in Constantinople with the full impression that it was the mosqne +of St. Sophia that has the famons six minarets, having, I am quite sure, +seen it thus quite frequently accredited in print, and I mention this +especially, in order that readers who may have been similarly misinformed +may know that the above account is the correct one, does not know it, +and humbly begs the pasha to name something more familiar. "Yankee +Doodle!" - replies the pasha peremptorily. The poor man looks as though +he would willingly relinquish all hopes of the future if only some present +avenue of escape would offer itself; but nothing of the kind seems at +all likely. The musician appeals to my Turkish-speaking friend, and begs +him to request me to favor him with the tune. I am of course only too +glad to help him stem the rising tide of the pasha's wrath by whistling +the tune for him; and after a certain amount of preliminary twanging be +strikes up and manages to blunder through "Yankee Doodle." The pasha, +after ascertaining from me that the performance is creditable, considering +the circumstances, forthwith hands him more money than he would collect +among the poorer patrons of the place in two hours. Soon a company of +five strolling acrobats and conjurers happens along, and these likewise +are summoned into the "presence" and ordered to proceed. Many of the +conjurer's tricks are quite creditable performances; but the pasha +occasionally interferes in the proceedings just in the nick of time to +prevent the prestidigitator finishing his manipulations, much to the +pasha's delight. Once, however, he cleverly manages to hoodwink the +pasha, and executes his trick in spite of the latter's interference, +which so amuses the pasha that he straightway gives him a medjedie. Our +return boat to Galata starts at seven o'clock, and it is a ten minutes' +drive down to the landing. At fifteen minutes to seven the pasha calls +for a public carriage to take us down to the steamer. + +"There are no carriages, Pasha Effendi. Those three are all engaged by +ladies and gentlemen in the garden," exclaims the waiter, respectfully. + +"Engaged or not engaged, I want that open carriage yonder," replies the +pasha authoritatively, and already beginning to show signs of impatience." +Boxhanna. "(hi, you, there!)" drive around here," addressing the driver. + +The driver enters a plea of being already engaged. The pasha's temper +rises to the point of threatening to throw carriage, horses, and driver +into the Bosphorus if his demands are not instantly complied with. Finally +the driver and everybody else interested collapse completely, and, +entering the carriage, we are driven to our destination without another +murmur. Subsequently I learned that a government officer, whether a pasha +or of lower rank, has the power of taking arbitrary possession of a +public conveyance over the head of a civilian, so that our pasha was, +after all, only sticking up for the rights of himself and my friend of +the artillery, who likewise wears the mark by which a military man is +in Turkey always distinguishable from a civilian - a longer string to the +tassel of his fez. + +This is the last day of Ramadan, and the following Monday ushers in the +three days' feast of Biaram, which is in substance a kind of a general +carousal to compensate for the rigid self-denial of the thirty days +'fasting and prayer' just ended. The government offices and works are +till closed, everybody is wearing new clothes, and holiday-making engrosses +the public attention. A friend proposes a trip on a Bosphorus steamer +up as far as the entrance to the Black Sea. The steamers are profusely +decorated with gaycolored flags, and at certain hours all war-ships +anchored in the Bosphorus, as well as the forts and arsenals, fire +salutes, the roar and rattle of the great guns echoing among the hills +of Europe and Asia, that here confront each other, with but a thousand +yards of dancing blue waters between them. All along either lovely shore +villages and splendid country-seats of wealthy pashas and Constantinople +merchants dot the verdure-clad slopes. Two white marble kiosks of the +Sultan are pointed out. The old castles of Europe and Asia face each +other on opposite sides of the narrow channel. They were famous fortresses +in their day, but, save as interesting relics of a bygone age, they are +no longer of any use. At Therapia are the summer residences of the +different ambassadors, the English and French the most conspicuous. The +extensive grounds of the former are most beautifully terraced, and +evidently fit for the residence of royalty itself. Happy indeed is the +Constantinopolitan whose income commands a summer villa in Therapia, or +at any of the many desirable locations in plain view within this earthly +paradise of blue waves and sunny slopes, and a yacht in which to wing +his flight whenever and wherever fancy bids him go. In the glitter and +glare of the mid-day sun the scene along the Bosphorus is lovely, yet +its loveliness is plainly of the earth; but as we return cityward in the +eventide the dusky shadows of the gloaming settle over everything. As +we gradually approach, the city seems half hidden behind a vaporous veil, +as though, in imitation of thousands of its fair occupants, it were +hiding its comeliness behind the yashmak; the scores of tapering minarets, +and the towers, and the masts of the crowded shipping of all nations +rise above the mist, and line with delicate tracery the western sky, +already painted in richest colors by the setting sun. On Saturday morning, +July 18th, the sound of martial music announces the arrival of the +soldiers from Stamboul, to guard the streets through which the Sultan +will pass on his way to a certain mosque to perform some ceremony in +connection with the feast just over. At the designated place I find the +streets already lined with Circassian cavalry and Ethiopian zouaves; the +latter in red and blue zouave costumes and immense turbans. Mounted +gendarmes are driving civilians about, first in one direction and then +in another, to try and get the streets cleared, occasionally fetching +some unlucky wight in the threadbare shirt of the Galata plebe a stinging +cut across the shoulders with short raw-hide whips - a glaring injustice +that elicits not the slightest adverse criticism from the spectators, +and nothing but silent contortions of face and body from the individual +receiving the attention. I finally obtain a good place, where nothing +but an open plank fence and a narrow plot of ground thinly set with +shrubbery intervenes between me and the street leading from the palace. +In a few minutes the approach of the Sultan is announced by the appearance +of half a dozen Circassian outriders, who dash wildly down the streets, +one behind the other, mounted on splendid dapple-gray chargers; then +come four close carriages, containing the Sultan's mother and leading +ladies of the imperial harem, and a minute later appears a mounted guard, +two abreast, keen-eyed fellows, riding slowly, and critically eyeing +everybody and everything as they proceed; behind them comes a gorgeously +arrayed individual in a perfect blaze of gold braid and decorations, and +close behind him follows the Sultan's carriage, surrounded by a small +crowd of pedestrians and horsemen, who buzz around the imperial carriage +like bees near a hive, the pedestrians especially dodging about hither +and thither, hopping nimbly over fences, crossing gardens, etc., keeping +pace with the carriage meanwhile, as though determined upon ferreting out +and destroying anything in the shape of danger that may possibly be +lurking along the route. My object of seeing the Sultan's face is gained; +but it is only a momentary glimpse, for besides the horsemen flitting +around the carriage, an officer suddenly appears in front of my position +and unrolls a broad scroll of paper with something printed on it, which +he holds up. Whatever the scroll is, or the object of its display may +be, the Sultan bows his acknowledgments, either to the scroll or to the +officer holding it up. + +Ere I am in the Ottoman capital a week, I have the opportunity of +witnessing a fire, and the workings of the Constantinople Fire Department. +While walking along Tramway Street, a hue and cry of' "yangoonvar! +yangoonvar!" (there is fire! there is fire!) is raised, and three +barefooted men, dressed in the scantiest linen clothes, come charging +pell-mell through the crowded streets, flourishing long brass hose-nozzles +to clear the way; behind them comes a crowd of about twenty others, +similarly dressed, four of whom are bearing on their +shoulders a primitive wooden pump, while others are carrying leathern +water-buckets. They are trotting along at quite a lively pace, shouting +and making much unnecessary commotion, and lastly comes their chief on +horseback, cantering close at their heels, as though to keep the men +well up to their pace. The crowds of pedestrians, who refrain from +following after the firemen, and who scurried for the sidewalks at their +approach, now resume their place in the middle of the street; but again +the wild cry of "yangoon var!" resounds along the narrow street, and +the same scene of citizens scuttling to the sidewalks, and a hurrying +fire brigade followed by a noisy crowd of gamins, is enacted over again, +as another and yet another of these primitive organizations go scooting +swiftly past. It is said that these nimble-footed firemen do almost +miraculous work, considering the material they have at command - an +assertion which I think is not at all unlikely; but the wonder is that +destructive fires are not much more frequent, when the fire department +is evidently so inefficient. In addition to the regular police force and +fire department, there is a system of night watchmen, called bekjees, +who walk their respective beats throughout the night, carrying staves +heavily shod with iron, with which they pound the flagstones with a +resounding "thwack." Owing to the hilliness of the city and the roughness +of the streets, much of the carrying business of the city is done by +hamals, a class of sturdy-limbed men, who, I am told, are mostly Armenians. +They wear a sort of pack-saddle, and carry loads the mere sight of which +makes the average Westerner groan. For carrying such trifles as crates +and hogsheads of crockery and glass-ware, and puncheons of rum, four +hamals join strength at the ends of two stout poles. Scarcely less +marvellous than the weights they carry is the apparent ease with which +they balance tremendous loads, piled high up above them, it being no +infrequent sight to see a stalwart hamal with a veritable Saratoga trunk, +for size, on his back, with several smaller trunks and valises piled +above it, making his way down Step Street, which is as much as many +pedestrians can do to descend without carrying anything. One of these +hamals, meandering along the street with six or seven hundred pounds of +merchandise on his back, has the legal right - to say nothing of the evident +moral right - to knock over any unloaded citizen who too tardily yields +the way. From observations made on the spot, one cannot help thinking +that there is no law in any country to be compared to this one, for +simon-pure justice between man and man. These are most assuredly the +strongest-backed and hardest working men I have seen anywhere. They are +remarkably trustworthy and sure-footed, and their chief ambition, I am +told, is to save sufficient money to return to the mountains and valleys +of their native Armenia, where most of them have wives patiently awaiting +their coming, and purchase a piece of land upon which to spend their +declining years in ease and independence. + +Far different is the daily lot of another habitue of the streets of this +busy capital - large, pugnacious-looking rams, that occupy pretty much the +same position in Turkish sporting circles that thoroughbred bull-dogs +do in England, being kept by young Turks solely on account of their +combative propensities and the facilities thereby afforded for gambling +on the prowess of their favorite animals. At all hours of the day and +evening the Constantinople sport may be met on the streets leading his +woolly pet tenderly with a string, often carrying something in his hand +to coax the ram along. The wool of these animals is frequently clipped +to give them a fanciful aspect, the favorite clip being to produce a +lion-like appearance, and they are always carefully guarded against the +fell influence of the "evil eye" by a circlet of blue beads and pendent +charms suspended from the neck. This latter precautionary measure is not +confined to these hard-headed contestants for the championship of Galata, +Pera, and Stamboul, however, but grace the necks of a goodly proportion +of all animals met on the streets, notably the saddle-ponies, whose +services are offered on certain streetcorners to the public. + +Occasionally one notices among the busy throngs a person wearing a turban +of dark green; this distinguishing mark being the sole privilege of +persons who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca. All true Mussulmans are +supposed to make this pilgrimage some time during their lives, either +in person or by employing a substitute to go in their stead, wealthy +pashas sometimes paying quite large sums to some imam or other holy +person to go as their proxy, for the holier the substitute the greater +is supposed to be the benefit to the person sending him. Other persons +are seen with turbans of a lighter shade of green than the returned Mecca +pilgrims. These are people related in some way to the reigning sovereign. + +Constantinople has its peculiar attractions as the great centre of the +Mohammedan world as represented in the person of the Sultan, and during +the five hundred years of the Ottoman dominion here, almost every Sultan +and great personage has left behind him some interesting reminder of the +times in which he lived and the wonderful possibilities of unlimited +wealth and power. A stranger will scarcely show himself upon the streets +ere he is discovered and accosted by a guide. From long experience these +men can readily distinguish a new arrival, and they seldom make a mistake +regarding his nationality. Their usual mode of self-introduction is to +approach him, and ask if he is looking for the American consulate, or +the English post-office, as the case may be, and if the stranger replies +in the affirmative, to offer to show the way. Nothing is mentioned about +charges, and the uninitiated new arrival naturally wonders what kind of +a place he has got into, when, upon offering what his experience in +Western countries has taught him to consider a most liberal recompense, +the guide shrugs his shoulders, and tells you that he guided a gentleman +the same distance yesterday and the gentleman gave - usually about double +what you are offering, no matter whether it be one cherik or half a +dozen. An afternoon ramble with a guide through Stamboul embraces the +Museum of Antiquities, the St. Sophia Mosque, the Costume Museum, the +thousand and one columns, the Tomb of Sultan Mahmoud, the world-renowned +Stamboul Bazaar, the Pigeon Mosque, the Saraka Tower, and the Tomb of +Sultan Suliman I. Passing over the Museum of Antiquities, which to the +average observer is very similar to a dozen other institutions of the +kind, the visitor very naturally approaches the portals of the St. Sophia +Mosque with expectations enlivened by having already read wondrous +accounts of its magnificence and unapproachable grandeur. But, let one's +fancy riot as it will, there is small fear of being disappointed in the +"finest mosque in Constantinople." At the door one either has to take +off his shoes and go inside in stocking-feet, or, in addition to the +entrance fee of two cheriks, "backsheesh" the attendant for the use of +a pair of overslippers. People with holes in their socks and young men +wearing boots three sizes too small are the legitimate prey of the +slipper-man, since the average human would yield up almost his last +piastre rather than promenade around in St. Sophia with his big toe +protruding through his foot-gear like a mud-turtle's head, or run the +risk of having to be hauled bare-footed to his hotel in a hack, from the +impossibility of putting his boots on again. Devout Mussulmans are bowing +their foreheads down to the mat-covered floor in a dozen different parts +of the mosque as we enter; tired-looking pilgrims from a distance are +curled up in cool corners, happy in the privilege of peacefully slumbering +in the holy atmosphere of the great edifice they have, perhaps, travelled +hundreds of miles to see; a dozen half-naked youngsters are clambering +about the railings and otherwise disporting themselves after the manner +of unrestrained juveniles everywhere - free to gambol about to their +hearts' content, providing they abstain from making a noise that would +interfere with devotions. Upon the marvellous mosaic ceiling of the great +dome is a figure of the Virgin Mary, which the Turks have frequently +tried to cover up by painting it over; but paint as often as they will, +the figure will not be concealed. On one of the upper galleries are the +"Gate of Heaven " and "Gate of Hell," the former of which the Turks +once tried their best to destroy; but every arm that ventured to raise +a tool against it instantly became paralyzed, when the would-be destroyers +naturally gave up the job. In giving the readers these facts I earnestly +request them not to credit them to my personal account; for, although +earnestly believed in by a certain class of Christian natives here, I +would prefer the responsibility for their truthfulness to rest on the +broad shoulders of tradition rather than on mine. + +The Turks never call the attention of visitors to these reminders of the +religion of the infidels who built the structure, at such an enormous +outlay of money and labor, little dreaming that it would become one of +the chief glories of the Mohammedan world. But the door-keeper who follows +visitors around never neglects to point out the shape of a human hand +on the wall, too high up to be closely examined, and volunteer the +intelligence that it is the imprint of the hand of the first Sultan who +visited the mosque after the occupation of Constantinople by the Osmanlis. +Perhaps, however, the Mussulman, in thus discriminating between the +traditions of the Greek residents and the alleged hand-mark of the first +Sultan, is actuated by a laudable desire to be truthful so far as possible; +for there is nothing improbable about the story of the hand-mark, inasmuch +as a hole chipped in the masonry, an application of cement, and a pressure +of the Sultan's hand against it before it hardened, give at once something +for visitors to look at through future centuries and shake their heads +incredulously about. Not the least of the attractions are two monster +wax candles, which, notwithstanding their lighting up at innumerable +fasts and feasts, for the guide does not know how many years past, are +still eight feet long by four in circumference; but more wonderful than +the monster wax candles, the brass tomb of Constantine's daughter, set +in the wall over one of the massive doors, the Sultan's hand-mark, the +figure of the Virgin Mary, and the green columns brought from Baalbec; +above everything else is the wonderful mosaic-work. The mighty dome and +the whole vast ceiling are mosaic-work in which tiny squares of blue, +green, and gold crystal are made to work out patterns. The squares used +are tiny particles having not over a quarter-inch surface; and the amount +of labor and the expense in covering the vast ceiling of this tremendous +structure with incomputable myriads of these small particles fairly +stagger any attempt at comprehension. + +An interesting hour can next be spent in the Costume Museum, where life- +size figures represent the varied and most decidedly picturesque costumes +of the different officials of the Ottoman capital in previous ages, the +janizaries, and natives of the different provinces. Some of the head-gear +in vogue at Constantinople before the fez were tremendous affairs, but +the fez is certainly a step too far in the opposite direction, being +several degrees more uncomfortable than nothing in the broiling sun; the +fez makes no pretence of shading the eyes, and excludes every particle +of air from the scalp. The thousand and one columns are in an ancient +Greek reservoir that formerly supplied all Stamboul with water. The +columns number but three hundred and thirty-four in reality, but each +column is in three parts, and by stretching the point we have the fanciful +" tbousand-and-one." The reservoir is reached by descending a flight of +stone steps; it is filled in with earth up to the upper half of the +second tier of columns, so that the lower tier is buried altogether. +This filling up was done in the days of the janizaries, as it was found +that those frisky warriors were carrying their well-known theory of +"right being might and the Devil take the weakest" to the extent of robbing +unprotected people who ventured to pass this vicinity after dark, and +then consigning them to the dark depths of the deserted reservoir. The +reservoir is now occupied during the day by a number of Jewish silk-weavers, +who work here on account of the dampness and coolness being beneficial +to the silk. The tomb of Mahmoud is next visited on the way to the Bazaar. +The several coffins of the Sultan Mahmoud and his Sultana and princesses +are surrounded by massive railings of pure silver; monster wax candles +are standing at the head and foot of each coffin, in curiously wrought +candlesticks of solid silver that must weigh a hundred pounds each at +least; ranged around the room are silver caskets, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, +in which rare illumined copies of the Koran are carefully kept, the +attendant who opened one for my inspection using a silk pocket-handkerchief +to turn the leaves. The Stamboul Bazaar well deserves its renown, since +there is nothing else of its kind in the whole world to compare with it. +Its labyrinth of little stalls and shops if joined together in one +straight line would extend for miles; and a whole day might be spent +quite profitably in wandering around, watching the busy scenes of +bargaining and manufacturing. Here, in this bewildering maze of buying +and selling, the peculiar life of the Orient can be seen to perfection; +the "mysterious veiled lady" of the East is seen thronging the narrow +traffic-ways and seated in every stall; water-venders and venders of +carpooses (water-melons) and a score of different eatables are meandering +through. Here, if your guide be an honest fellow, he can pilot you into +stuffy little holes full of antique articles of every description, where +genuine bargains can be picked up; or, if he be dishonest, and in league +with equally dishonest tricksters, whose places are antiquaries only in +name, he can lead you where everything is basest imitation. In the former +case, if anything is purchased he comes in for a small and not undeserved +commission from the shopkeeper, and in the latter for perhaps as much +as thirty per cent. I am told that one of these guides, when escorting +a party of tourists with plenty of money to spend and no knowledge +whatever of the real value or genuineness of antique articles, often +makes as much as ten or fifteen pounds sterling a day commission. + +On the way from the Bazaar we call at the Pigeon Mosque, so called on +account of being the resort of thousands of pigeons, that have become +quite tame from being constantly fed by visitors and surrounded by human +beings. A woman has charge of a store of seeds and grain, and visitors +purchase a handful for ten paras and throw to the pigeons, who flock +around fearlessly in the general scramble for the food. At any hour of +the day Mussulman ladies may be seen here feeding the pigeons for the +amusement of their children. From the Pigeon Mosque we ascend the Saraka +Tower, the great watch-tower of Stamboul, from the summit of which the +news of a fire in any part of the city is signalled, by suspending huge +frame-work balls covered with canvas from the ends of projecting poles +in the day, and lights at night. Constant watch and ward is kept over +the city below by men snugly housed in quarters near the summit, who, +in addition to their duties as watchmen, turn an honest cherik occasionally +by supplying cups of coffee to Visitors. + +No fairer site ever greeted human vision than the prospect from the Tower +of Saraka. Stamboul, Galata, Pera, and Scutari, with every suburban +village and resort for many a mile around, can be seen to perfection +from the commanding height of Saraka Tower. The guide can here point out +every building of interest in Stamboul-the broad area of roof beneath +which the busy scenes of Stamboul Bazaar are enacted from day to day, +the great Persian khan, the different mosques, the Sultan's palaces at +Pera, the Imperial kiosks up the Bosphorus, the old Grecian aqueduct, +along which the water for supplying the great reservoir of the thousand +and one columns used to be conducted, the old city walls, and scores of +other interesting objects too numerous to mention here. On the opposite +hill, across the Golden Horn, Galata Watch-tower points skyward above +the mosques and houses of Galata and Pera. The two bridges connecting +Stamboul and Galata are seen thronged with busy traffic; a forest of +masts and spars is ranged all along the Golden Horn; steamboats are +plying hither and thither across the Bosphorus; the American cruiser +Quinnebaug rides at anchor opposite the Imperial water-side palace; the +blue waters of the Sea of Marmora and the Gulf of Ismidt are dotted here +and there with snowy sails or lined with the smoke of steamships; all +combined to make the most lovely panorama imaginable, and to which the +coast-wise hills and more lofty mountains of Asia Minor in the distance +form a most appropriate background. + +>From this vantage-point the guide will not neglect whetting the curiosity +of his charge for more sight-seeing by pointing out everything that he +imagines would be interesting; he points out a hill above Scutari, whence, +he says, a splendid view can be had of "all Asia Minor," and "we could +walk there and back in half a day, or go quicker with horses or donkeys;" +he reminds you that to-morrow is the day for the howling dervishes in +Scutari, and tells you that by starting at one we can walk out to the +English cemetery, and return to Scutari in time for the howling dervishes +at four o'clock, and manages altogether to get his employer interested +in a programme, which, if carried out, would guarantee him employment +for the next week. On the way back to Galata we visit the tomb of Sulieman +I, the most magnificent tomb in Stamboul. Here, before the coffins of +Sulieman I., Sulieman II, and his brother Ahmed, are monster wax candles, +that have stood sentry here for three hundred and fifty years; and the +mosaic dome of the beautiful edifice is studded with what are popularly +believed to be genuine diamonds, that twinkle down on the curiously +gazing visitor like stars from a miniature heaven. The attendant tells +the guide, in answer to an inquiry from me, that no one living knows +whether they are genuine diamonds or not, for never, since the day it +was finished, over three centuries and a half ago, has anyone been +permitted to go up and examine them. The edifice was go perfectly and +solidly built in the beginning, that no repairs of any kind have ever +been necessary; and it looks almost like a new building to-day. + +Not being able to spare the time for visiting all the objects of interest +enumerated by the guide, I elect to see the howling dervishes as the +most interesting among them. Accordingly we take the ferry-boat across +to Scutari on Thursday afternoon in time to visit the English cemetery +before the dervishes begin their peculiar services. We pass through one +of the largest Mussulman cemeteries of Constantinople, a bewildering +area of tombstones beneath a grove of dark cypresses, so crowded and +disorderly that the oldest gravestones seem to have been pushed down, +or on one side, to make room for others of a later generation, and these +again for still others. In happy comparison to the disordered area of +crowded tombstones in the Mohammedan graveyard is the English cemetery, +where the soldiers who died at the Scutari hospital during the Crimean +war were buried, and the English residents of Constantinople now bury +their dead. The situation of the English cemetery is a charming spot, +on a sloping bluff, washed by the waters of the Bosphorus, where the +requiem of the murmuring waves is perpetually sung for the brave fellows +interred there. An Englishman has charge; and after being in Turkey a +month it is really quite refreshing to visit this cemetery, and note the +scrupulous neatness of the grounds. The keeper must be industry personified, +for he scarcely permits a dead leaf to escape his notice; and the four +angels beaming down upon the grounds from the national monument erected +by England, in memory of the Crimean heroes, were they real visitors +from the better land, could doubtless give a good account of his +stewardship. + +The howling dervishes have already begun to howl as we open the portals +leading into their place of worship by the influence of a cherik placed +in the open palm of a sable eunuch at the door; but it is only the +overture, for it is half an hour later when the interesting part of the +programme begins. The first hour seems to be devoted to preliminary +meditations and comparatively quiet ceremonies; but the cruel-looking +instruments of self-flagellation hanging on the wall, and a choice and +complete assortment of drums and other noise-producing but unmelodious +instruments, remind the visitor that he is in the presence of a peculiar +people. Sheepskin mats almost cover the floor of the room, which is kept +scrupulously clean, presumably to guard against the worshippers soiling +their lips whenever they kiss the floor, a ceremony which they perform +quite frequently during the first hour; and everyone who presumes to +tread within that holy precinct removes his over-shoes, if he is wearing +any, otherwise he enters in his stockings. At five o'clock the excitement +begins; thirty or forty men are ranged around one end of the room, bowing +themselves about most violently, and keeping time to the movements of +their bodies with shouts of "Allah. Allah." and then branching off into +a howling chorus of Mussulman supplications, that, unintelligible as +they are to the infidel ear, are not altogether devoid of melody in the +expression, the Turkish language abounding in words in which there is a +world of mellifluousness. A dancing dervish, who has been patiently +awaiting at the inner gate, now receives a nod of permission from the +priest, and, after laying aside an outer garment, waltzes nimbly into +the room, and straightway begins spinning round like a ballet-dancer +in Italian opera, his arms extended, his long skirt forming a complete +circle around him as he revolves, and his eyes fixed with a determined +gaze into vacancy. Among the howlers is a negro, who is six feet three +at least, not in his socks, but in the finest pair of under-shoes in the +room, and whether it be in the ceremony of kissing the floor, knocking +foreheads against the same, kissing the hand of the priest, or in the +howling and bodily contortions, this towering son of Ham performs his +part with a grace that brings him conspicuously to the fore in this +respect. But as the contortions gradually become more-violent, and the +cry of "Allah akbar. Allah hai!" degenerates into violent grunts of " +h-o-o-o-o-a-hoo-hoo," the half-exhausted devotees fling aside everything +but a white shroud, and the perspiration fairly streams off them, from +such violent exercise in the hot weather and close atmosphere of the +small room. The exercises make rapid inroads upon the tall negro's powers +of endurance, and he steps to one side and takes a breathing-spell of +five minutes, after which he resumes his place again, and, in spite of +the ever-increasing violence of both lung and muscular exercise, and the +extra exertion imposed by his great height, he keeps it up heroically +to the end. + +For twenty-five minutes by my watch, the one lone dancing dervish - who +appears to be a visitor merely, but is accorded the brotherly privilege +of whirling round in silence while the others howl-spins round and round +like a tireless top, making not the slightest sound, spinning in a long, +persevering, continuous whirl, as though determined to prove himself +holier than the howlers, by spinning longer than they can keep up their +howling - a fair test of fanatical endurance, so to speak. One cannot help +admiring the religious fervor and determination of purpose that impel +this lone figure silently around on his axis for twenty-five minutes, +at a speed that would upset the equilibrium of anybody but a dancing +dervish in thirty seconds; and there is something really heroic in the +manner in which he at last suddenly stops, and, without uttering a sound +or betraying any sense of dizziness whatever from the exercise, puts on +his coat again and departs in silence, conscious, no doubt, of being a +holier person than all the howlers put together, even though they are +still keeping it up. As unmistakable signals of distress are involuntarily +hoisted by the violently exercising devotees, and the weaker ones quietly +fall out of line, and the military precision of the twists of body and +bobbing and jerking of head begins to lose something of its regularity, +the six "encouragers," ranged on sheep-skins before the line of howling +men, like non-commissioned officers before a squad of new recruits, +increase their encouraging cries of "Allah. Allah akbar" as though fearful +that the din might subside, on account of the several already exhausted +organs of articulation, unless they chimed in more lustily and helped +to swell the volume. + +Little children now come trooping in, seeking with eager anticipation +the happy privilege of being ranged along the floor like sardines in a +tin box, and having the priest walk along their bodies, stepping from +one to the other along the row, and returning the same way, while two +assistants steady him by holding his hands. In the case of the smaller +children, the priest considerately steps on their thighs, to avoid +throwing their internal apparatus out of gear; but if the recipient of +his holy attentions is, in his estimation, strong enough to run the risk, +he steps square on their backs, The little things jump up as sprightly +as may be, kiss the priest's hand fervently, and go trooping out of the +door, apparently well pleased with the novel performance. Finally human +nature can endure it no longer, and the performance terminates in a long, +despairing wail of "Allah. Allah. Allah!" The exhausted devotees, soaked +wet with perspiration, step forward, and receive what I take to be rather +an inadequate reward for what they have been subjecting themselves to - +viz., the privilege of kissing the priest's already much-kissed hand, +and at 5.45 P.M. the performance is over. I take my departure in time +to catch the six o'clock boat for Galata, well satisfied with the finest +show I ever saw for a cherik. I have already made mention of there being +many beautiful sea-side places to which Constantinopolitans resort on +Sundays and holidays, and among them all there is no lovelier spot than +the island of Prinkipo, one of the Prince's Islands group, situated some +twelve miles from Constantinople, down the Gulf of Ismidt. Shelton Bey +(Colonel Shelton), an English gentleman, who superintends the Sultan's +cannon-foundry at Tophana, and the well-known author of Shelton's " +Mechanic's Guide," owns the finest steam-yacht on the Bosphorus, and +three Sundays out of the five I remain here, this gentleman and his +excellent lady kindly invite me to visit Prinkipo with them for the day. + +On the way over we usually race with the regular passenger steamer, and +as the Bey's yacht is no plaything for size and speed, we generally +manage to keep close enough to amuse ourselves with the comments on the +beauty and speed of our little craft from the crowded deck of the other +boat. Sometimes a very distinguished person or two is aboard the yacht +with our little company, personages known to the Bey, who having arrived +on the passenger-boat, accept invitations for a cruise around the island, +or to dine aboard the yacht as she rides at anchor before the town. But +the advent of the " Americanish Velocipediste " and his glistening +machine, a wonderful thing that Prinkipo never saw the like of before, +creates a genuine sensation, and becomes the subject of a nine-days' +wonder. Prinkipo is a delightful gossipy island, occupied during the +summer by the families of wealthy Constantinopolitans and leading business +men, who go to and fro daily between the little island and the city on +the passenger-boats regularly plying between them, and is visited every +Sunday by crowds in search of the health and pleasure afforded by a day's +outing. While here at Constantinople I received by mail from America a +Butcher spoke cyclometer, and on the second visit to Prinkipo I measured +the road which has been made around half the island; the distance is +four English miles and a fraction. The road was built by refugees employed +by the Sultan during the last Russo-Turkish war, and is a very good one; +for part of the distance it leads between splendid villas, on the verandas +of which are seen groups of the wealth and beauty of the Osmanli capital, +Armenians, Greeks, and Turks - the latter ladies sometimes take the privilege +of dispensing with the yashmak during their visits to the comparative +seclusion of Prinkipo villas - with quite a sprinkling of English and +Europeans. The sort of impression made upon the imaginations of Prinkipo +young ladies by the bicycle is apparent from the following comment made +by a bevy of them confidentially to Shelton Bey, and kindly written out +by him, together with the English interpretation thereof. The Prinkipo +ladies' compliment to the first bicycle rider visiting their beautiful +island is: "O Bizdan kaydore ghyurulduzug em nezalcettt sadi bir dakika +ulchum ghyuriorus nazaman bir dah backiorus O bittum gitmush." (He glides +noiselessly and gracefully past; we see him only for a moment; when we +look again he is quite gone.) The men are of course less poetical, their +ideas running more to the practical side of the possibilities of the new +ox-rival, and they comment as follows: "Onum beyghir hich-bir-shey +yemiore hich-bir-shey ichmiore Inch yorumliore ma sheitan gibi ghiti-ore," +(His horse, he eats nothing, drinks nothing, never gets tired, and goes +like the very devil.) It is but fair to add, however, that any bold +Occidental contemplating making a descent on Prinkipo with a, "sociable" +with a view to delightful moonlight rides with the fair; authors of +the above poetic contribution will find himself "all at sea" upon, his +arrival, unless he brings a three-seated machine, so that the mamma can +be accommodated with a seat behind, since the daughters of Prinkipo +society never wander forth by moonlight, or any other light, unless thus +accompanied, or by some; equally staid and solicitous relative. + +For the Asiatic tour I have invented a "bicycle tent" - a handy contrivance +by which the bicycle is made to answer the place of tent poles. The +material used is fine, strong sheeting, that will roll up into a small +space, and to make it thoroughly water-proof, I have dressed it with +boiled linseed oil. My footgear henceforth will be Circassian moccasins, +with the pointed toes sticking up like the prow of a Venetian galley. I +have had a pair made to order by a native shoemaker in Galata, and, for +either walking or pedalling, they are ahead of any foot-gear I ever wore; +they are as easy as a three-year-old glove, and last indefinitely, and +for fancifulness in appearance, the shoes of civilization are nowhere. +Three days before starting out I receive friendly warnings from both the +English and American consul that Turkey in Asia is infested with brigands, +the former going the length of saying that if he had the power he would +refuse me permission to meander forth upon so risky an undertaking. I +have every confidence, however, that the bicycle will prove an effectual +safeguard against any undue familiarity on the part of these frisky +citizens. Since reaching Constantinople the papers here have published +accounts of recent exploits accomplished by brigands near Eski Baba. I +have little doubt but that more than one brigand was among my highly +interested audiences there on that memorable Sunday. + +The Turkish authorities seem to have made themselves quite familiar with +my intentions, and upon making application for a teskere (Turkish passport) +they required me to specify, as far as possible, the precise route I +intend traversing from Scutari to Ismidt, Angora, Erzeroum, and beyond, +to the Persian frontier. An English gentleman who has lately travelled +through Persia and the Caucasus tells me that the Persians are quite +agreeable people, their only fault being the one common failing of the +East: a disposition to charge whatever they think it possible to obtain +for anything. The Circassians seem to be the great bugbear in Asiatic +Turkey. I am told that once I get beyond the country that these people +range over - who are regarded as a sort of natural and half-privileged +freebooters - I shall be reasonably safe from molestation. It is a common +thing in Constantinople when two men are quarrelling for one to threaten +to give a Circassian a couple of medjedis to kill the other. The Circassian +is to Turkey what the mythical "bogie" is to England; mothers threaten +undutiful daughters, fathers unruly sons, and everybody their enemies +generally, with the Circassian, who, however, unlike the "bogie" of the +English household, is a real material presence, popularly understood to +be ready for any devilment a person may hire him to do. + +The bull-dog revolver, under the protecting presence of which I have +travelled thus far, has to be abandoned here at Constantinople, having +proved itself quite a wayward weapon since it came from the gunsmith's +hands in Vienna, who seemed to have upset the internal mechanism in some +mysterious manner while boring out the chambers a trifle to accommodate +European cartridges. My experience thus far is that a revolver has been +more ornamental than useful; but I am now about penetrating far different +countries to any I have yet traversed. Plenty of excellently finished +German imitations of the Smith & Wesson revolver are found in the magazines +of Constantinople; but, apart from it being the duty of every Englishman +or American to discourage, as far as his power goes, the unscrupulousness +of German manufacturers in placing upon foreign markets what are, as far +as outward appearance goes, the exact counterparts of our own goods, for +half the money, a genuine American revolver is a different weapon from +its would-be imitators, and I hesitate not to pay the price for the +genuine article. Remembering the narrow escape on several occasions of +having the bull-dog confiscated by the Turkish gendarmerie, and having +heard, moreover, in Constantinople, that the same class of officials in +Turkey in Asia will most assuredly want to confiscate the Smith & Wesson +as a matter of private speculation and enterprise, I obtain through the +British consul a teskere giving me special permission to carry a revolver. +Subsequent events, however, proved this precaution to be unnecessary, +for a more courteous, obliging, and gentlemanly set of fellows, according +to their enlightenment, I never met any where, than the government +officials of Asiatic Turkey. Were I to make the simple statement that I +am starting into Asia with a pair of knee-breeches that are worth fourteen +English pounds (about sixty-eight dollars) and offer no further explanation, +I should, in all probability, be accused of a high order of prevarication. +Nevertheless, such is the fact; for among other subterfuges to outwit +possible brigands, and kindred citizens, I have made cloth-covered buttons +out of Turkish liras (eighteen shillings English), and sewed them on in +place of ordinary buttons. Pantaloon buttons at $54 a dozen are a luxury +that my wildest dreams never soared to before, and I am afraid many a +thrifty person will condemn me for extravagance; but the "splendor" +of the Orient demands it; and the extreme handiness of being able to cut +off a button, and with it buy provisions enough to load down a mule, +would be all the better appreciated if one had just been released from +the hands of the Philistines with nothing but his clothes - and buttons - and +the bicycle. With these things left to him, one could afford to regard +the whole matter as a joke, expensive, perhaps, but nevertheless a joke +compared with what might have been. The Constantinople papers have +advertised me to start on Monday, August 10th, "direct from Scutari." +I have received friendly warnings from several Constantinople gentlemen, +that a band of brigands, under the leadership of an enterprising chief +named Mahmoud Pehlivan, operating about thirty miles out of Scutari, +have beyond a doubt received intelligence of this fact from spies here +in the city, and, to avoid running direct into the lion's mouth, I decide +to make the start from Ismidt, about twenty-five miles beyond their +rendezvous. A Greek gentleman, who is a British subject, a Mr. J. T. +Corpi, whom I have met here, fell into the hands of this same gang, and +being known to them as a wealthy gentleman, had to fork over 3,000 ransom; +and he says I would be in great danger of molestation in venturing from +Scutari to Ismidt after my intention to do so has been published. + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + + +THE START THROUGH ASIA. + +In addition to a cycler's ordinary outfit and the before-mentioned small +wedge tent I provide myself with a few extra spokes, a cake of tire +cement, and an extra tire for the rear wheel. This latter, together with +twenty yards of small, stout rope, I wrap snugly around the front axle; +the tent and spare underclothing, a box of revolver cartridges, and a +small bottle of sewing-machine oil are consigned to a luggage-carrier +behind; while my writing materials, a few medicines and small sundries +find a repository in my Whitehouse sole-leather case on a Lamson carrier, +which also accommodates a suit of gossamer rubber. + +The result of my study of the various routes through Asia is a determination +to push on to Teheran, the capital of Persia, and there spend the +approaching winter, completing my journey to the Pacific next season. + +Accordingly nine o'clock on Monday morning, August 10th, finds me aboard +the little Turkish steamer that plies semi-weekly between Ismidt and the +Ottoman capital, my bicycle, as usual, the centre of a crowd of wondering +Orientals. This Ismidt steamer, with its motley crowd of passengers, +presents a scene that upholds with more eloquence than words Constantinople's +claim of being the most cosmopolitan city in the world; and a casual +observer, judging only from the evidence aboard the boat, would pronounce +it also the most democratic. There appears to be no first, second, or +third class; everybody pays the same fare, and everybody wanders at his +own sweet will into every nook and corner of the upper deck, perches +himself on top of the paddle-boxes, loafs on the pilot's bridge, or +reclines among the miscellaneous assortment of freight piled up in a +confused heap on the fore-deck; in short, everybody seems perfectly free +to follow the bent of his inclinations, except to penetrate behind the +scenes of the aftmost deck, where, carefully hidden from the rude gaze +of the male passengers by a canvas partition, the Moslem ladies have +their little world of gossip and coffee, and fragrant cigarettes. Every +public conveyance in the Orient has this walled-off retreat, in which +Osmanli fair ones can remove their yashmaks, smoke cigarettes, and comport +themselves with as much freedom as though in the seclusion of their +apartments at home. + +Greek and Armenian ladies mingle with the main-deck passengers, however, +the picturesque costumes of the former contributing not a little to the +general Oriental effect of the scene. The dress of the Armenian ladies +differs but little from Western costumes, and their deportment would +wreathe the benign countenance of the Lord Chamberlain with a serene +smile of approval; but the minds and inclinations of the gentle Hellenic +dames seem to run in rather a contrary channel. Singly, in twos, or in +cosey, confidential coteries, arm in arm, they promenade here and there, +saying little to each other or to anybody else. By the picturesqueness +of their apparel and their seemingly bold demeanor they attract to +themselves more than their just share of attention; but with well-feigned +ignorance of this they divide most of their time and attention between +rolling cigarettes and smoking them. Their heads are bound with jaunty +silk handkerchiefs; they wear rakish-looking short jackets, down the +back of which their luxuriant black hair dangles in two tresses; but the +crowning masterpiece of their costume is that wonderful garment which +is neither petticoat nor pantaloons, and which can be most properly +described as "indescribable," which tends to give the wearer rather an +unfeminine appearance, and is not to be compared with the really sensible +and not unpicturesque nether garment of a Turkish lady. The male companions +of these Greek women are not a bit behind them in the matter of gay +colors and startling surprises of the Levantine clothier's art, for they +likewise are in all the bravery of holiday attire. There is quite a +number of them aboard, and they now appear at their best, for they are +going to take part in wedding festivities at one of the little Greek +villages that nestle amid the vine-clad slopes along the coast - white +villages, that from the deck of the moving steamer look as though they +have been placed here and there by nature's artistic hand for the sole +purpose of embellishing the lovely green frame-work that surrounds the +blue waters of the Ismidt Gulf. Several of these merry-makers enliven +the passing hours with music and dancing, to the delight of a numerous +audience, while a second ever-changing but never-dispersing audience is +gathered around the bicycle. The verbal comments and Solomon-like opinions, +given in expressive pantomime, of this latter garrulous gathering +concerning the machine and myself, I can of course but partly understand; +but occasionally some wiseacre suddenly becomes inflated with the idea +that he has succeeded in unravelling the knotty problem, and forthwith +proceeds to explain, for the edification of his fellow-passengers, the +modus operandi of riding it, supplementing his words by the most +extraordinary gestures. The audience is usually very attentive and highly +interested in these explanations, and may be considerably enlightened +by their self-constituted tutors, whose sole advantage over their auditors, +so far as bicycles are concerned, consists simply in a belief in the +superiority of their own particular powers of penetration. But to the +only person aboard the steamer who really does know anything at all about +the subject, the chief end of their exposition seems to be gained when +they have duly impressed upon the minds of their hearers that the bicycle +is to ride on, and that it goes at a rate of speed quite beyond the +comprehension of their - the auditors' - minds; "Bin, bin, bin. Chu, chu, +chu. Haidi, haidi, haidi." being repeated with a vehemence that is +intended to impress upon them little less than flying-Dutchman speed. + +The deck of a Constantinople steamer affords splendid opportunity for +character study, and the Ismidt packet is no exception. Nearly every +person aboard has some characteristic, peculiar and distinct from any +of the others. At intervals of about fifteen minutes a couple of Armenians, +bare-footed, bare-legged, and ragged, clamber with much difficulty and +scraping of shins over a large pile of empty chicken-crates to visit one +particular crate. Their collective baggage consists of a thin, half-grown +chicken tied by both feet to a small bag of barley, which is to prepare +it for the useful but inglorious end of all chickendom. They have +imprisoned their unhappy charge in a crate that is most difficult to get +at. Why they didn't put it in one of the nearer crates, what their object +is in climbing up to visit it so frequently, and why they always go +together, are problems of the knottiest kind. + +A far less difficult riddle is the case of a middle-aged man, whose +costume and avocation explain nothing, save that he is not an Osmanli. +He is a passenger homeward bound to one of the coast villages, and +he constantly circulates among the crowd with a basket of water-melons, +which he has brought aboard "on spec," to vend among his fellow-passengers, +hoping thereby to gain sufficient to defray the cost of his passage. +Seated on whatever they can find to perch upon, near the canvas partition, +all unmoved by the gay and stirring scenes before them, is a group of +Mussulman pilgrims from some interior town, returning from a pilgrimage +to Stamboul - fine-looking Osmanli graybeards, whose haughty reserve not +even the bicycle is able to completely overcome, although it proves more +efficacious in subduing it and waking them out of their habitual +contemplative attitude than anything else aboard. Two of these men are +of magnificent physique; their black eyes, rather full lips, and swarthy +skins betraying Arab blood. In addition to the long daggers and antiquated +pistols so universally worn in the Orient, they are armed with fine, +large, pearl-handled revolvers, and they sit cross-legged, smoking +cigarette after cigarette in silent meditation, paying no heed even to +the merry music and the dancing of the Greeks. + +At Jelova, the first village the steamer halts at, a coupleof zaptiehs +come aboard with two prisoners whom they are conveying to Ismidt. These +men are lower-class criminals, and their wretched appearance betrays the +utter absence of hygienic considerations on the part of the Turkish +prison authorities; they evidently have had no cause to complain of any +harsh measures for the enforcement of personal cleanliness. Their foot-gear +consists of pieces of rawhide, fastened on with odds and ends of string; +and pieces of coarse sacking tacked on to what were once clothes barely +suffice to cover their nakedness; bare-headed - their bushy hair has not +for months felt the smoothing influence of a comb, and their hands and +faces look as if they had just endured a seven-years' famine of soap and +water. This latter feature is a sure sign that they are not Turks, for +prisoners are most likely allowed full liberty to keep themselves clean, +and a Turk would at least have come out into the world with a clean face. + +The zaptiehs squat down together and smoke cigarettes, and allow their +charges full liberty to roam wheresoever they will while on board, and +the two prisoners, to all appearances perfectly oblivious of their rags, +filth, and the degradation of their position, mingle freely with the +passengers; and, as they move about, asking and answering questions, I +look in vain among the latter for any sign of the spirit of social +Pharisaism that in a Western crowd would have kept them at a distance. +Both these men have every appearance of being the lowest of criminals - +men capable of any deed in the calendar within their mental and physical +capacities; they may even be members of the very gang I am taking this +steamer to avoid; but nobody seems to either pity or condemn them; +everybody acts toward them precisely as they act toward each other. +Perhaps in no other country in the world does this social and moral +apathy obtain among the masses to such a degree as in Turkey. + +While we lie to for a few minutes to disembark passengers at the village +where the before-mentioned wedding festivities are in progress, four of +the seven imperturbable Osmanlis actually arise from the one position +they have occupied unmoved since coming aboard, and follow me to the +foredeck, in order to be present while I explain the workings and mechanism +of the bicycle to some Arnienian students of Roberts College, who can +speak a certain amount of English. Having listened to my explanations +without understanding a word, and, without condescending to question the +Armenians, they survey the machine some minutes in silence and then +return to their former positions, their cigarettes, and their meditations, +paying not the slightest heed to several caique loads of Greek merry-makers +who have rowed out to meet the new arrivals, and are paddling around the +steamer, filling the air with music. Finding that there is someone aboard +that can converse with me, the Greeks, desirous of seeing the bicycle +in action, and of introducing a novelty into the festivities of the +evening, ask me to come ashore and be their guest until the arrival of +the next Ismiclt boat - a matter of three days. Offer declined with thanks, +but not without reluctance, for these Greek merry-makings are well worth +seeing. The Ismidt packet, like everything else in Turkey, moves at a +snail's pace, and although we got under way in something less than an +hour after the advertised starting-time, which, for Turkey, is quite +commendable promptness, and the distance is but fifty-five miles, we +call at a number of villages en route, and it is 6 P.M. when we tie up +at the Ismidt wharf. + +"Five piastres, Effendi," says the ticket-collector, as, after waiting +till the crowd has passed the gang-plank, I follow with the bicycle and +hand him my ticket. + +"What are the five piastres for." I ask. For answer, he points' to my +wheel. "Baggage," I explain. + +"Baggage yoke, cargo," he replies; and I have to pay it. The fact is, +that, never having seen a bicycle before, he don't know whether it is +cargo or baggage; but whenever a Turkish official has no precedent to +follow, he takes care to be on the right side in case there is any money +to be collected; otherwise he is not apt to be so particular. This is, +however, rather a matter of private concern than of zealousness in the +performance of his official duties; the possibilities of peculation are +ever before him. + +While satisfying the claim of the ticket-collector a deck-hand comes +forward and, pointing to the bicycle, blandly asks me for backsheesh. +He asks, not because he has put a finger to the machine, or been asked +to do so, but, being a thoughtful, far-sighted youth, he is looking out +for the future. The bicycle is something he never saw on his boat before; +but the idea that these things may now become common among the passengers +wanders through his mind, and that obtaining backsheesh on this particular +occasion will establish a precedent that may be very handy hereafter; +so he makes a most respectful salaam, calls me "Bey Effendi," and +smilingly requests two piastres backsheesh. After him comes the passport +officer, who, besides the teskeri for myself, demands a special passport +for the machine. He likewise is in a puzzle (it don't take much, by the +by, to puzzle the brains of a Turkish official), because the bicycle is +something he has had no previous dealings with; but as this is a matter +in which finances play no legitimate part - though probably his demand for +a passport is made for no other purpose than that of getting backsheesh - a +vigorous protest, backed up by the unanimous, and most certainly vociferous, +support of a crowd of wharf-loafers, and my fellow-passengers, who, +having disembarked, are waiting patiently for me to come and ride down +the street, either overrules or overawes the officer and secures my +relief. Impatient at consuming a whole day in reaching Ismidt, I have +been thinking of taking to the road immediately upon landing, and +continuing till dark, taking my chances of reaching some suitable stopping- +place for the night. But the good people of Ismidt raise their voices +in protest against what they professedly regard as a rash and dangerous +proposition. As I evince a disposition to override their well-meant +interference and pull out, they hurriedly send for a Frenchman, who can +speak sufficient English to make himself intelligible. Speaking for +himself, and acting as interpreter in echoing the words and sentiments +of the others, the Frenchman straightway warns me not to start into the +interior so late in the day, and run the risk of getting benighted in +the brush; for "Much very bad people, very bad people! are between +Ismidt and Angora; Circassians plenty," he says, adding that the worst +characters are near Ismidt, and that the nearer I get to Angora the +better I shall find the people. As by this time the sun is already setting +behind the hills, I conclude that an early start in the morning will, +after all, be the most sensible course. + +During the last Russo-Turkish war thousands of Circassian refugees +migrated to this part of Asia Minor. Having a restless, roving disposition, +that unfits them for the laborious and uneventful life of a husbandman, +many of them remain even to the present day loafers about the villages, +maintaining themselves nobody seems to know how. The belief appears to +be unanimous, however, that they are capable of any deviltry under the +sun, and that, while their great specialty and favorite occupation is +stealing horses, if this becomes slack or unprofitable, or even for the +sake of a little pleasant variety, these freebooters from the Caucasus +have no hesitation about turning highwaymen whenever a tempting occasion +offers. All sorts of advice about the best way to avoid being robbed is +volunteered by the people of Ismidt. My watch-chain, L.A.W. badge, and +everything that appears of any value, they tell me, must be kept strictly +out of sight, so as not to excite the latent cupidity of such Circassians +as I meet on the road or in the villages. Some advocate the plan of +adorning my coat with Turkish official buttons, shoulder-straps, and +trappings, to make myself, look like a government officer; others think +it would be best to rig myself up as a full-blown zaptieh, with whom, +of course, neither Circassian nor any other guilty person would attempt +to interfere. To these latter suggestions I point out that, while they +are very good, especially the zaplieh idea, so far as warding off +Circassians is concerned, my adoption of a uniform would most certainly +get me into hot water with the military authorities of every town and +village, owing to my ignorance of the vernacular, and cause me no end +of vexatious delay. To this the quick-witted Frenchman replies by at +once offering to go with me to the resident pasha, explain the matter +to him, and get a letter permitting me to wear the uniform; which offer +I gently but firmly decline, being secretly of the opinion that these +excessive precautions are all unnecessary. From the time I left Hungary +I have been warned so persistently of danger ahead, and have so far met +nothing really dangerous, that I am getting sceptical about there being +anything like the risk people seem to think. Without being blind to the +fact that there is a certain amount of danger in travelling alone through +a country where it is the universal custom either to travel in company +or to take a guard, I feel quite confident that the extreme novelty of +my conveyance will make so profound an impression on the Asiatic mind +that, even did they know that my buttons are gold coins of the realm, +they would hesitate seriously to molest me. From past observations among +people seeing the bicycle ridden for the first time, I believe that with +a hundred yards of smooth road it is quite possible for a cycler to ride +his way into the good graces of the worst gang of freebooters in Asia. + +Having decided to remain here over-night, I seek the accommodation of a +rudely comfortable hotel, kept by an Armenian, where, at the supper-table, +I am first made acquainted with the Asiatic dish called "pillau," that +is destined to form no inconsiderable part of my daily bill of fare for +several weeks. Pillau is a dish that is met - with in one disguise or +another all over Asia. With a foundation of boiled rice, it receives a +variety of other compounds, the nature of which will appear as they enter +into my daily experiences. In deference to the limited knowledge of each +other's language possessed by myself and the proprietor, I am invited +into the cookhouse and permitted to take a peep at the contents of several +different pots and kettles simmering over a slow fire in a sort of brick +trench, to point out to the waiter such dishes as I think I shall like. +Failing to find among the assortment any familiar acquaintances, I try +the pillau, and find it quite palatable, preferring it to anything else +the house affords. + +Our friend the Frenchman is quite delighted at the advent of a bicycle +in Ismidt, for in his younger days, he tells me with much enthusiasm, +he used to be somewhat partial to whirling wheels himself; and when he +first came here from France, some eighteen years ago, he actually brought +with him a bone-shaker, with which, for the first summer, he was wont +to surprise the natives. This relic of by-gone days has been stowed away +among a lot of old traps ever since, all but forgotten; but the appearance +of a mounted wheelman recalls it to memory, and this evening, in honor +of my visit, it is brought once more to light, its past history explained +by its owner, and its merits and demerits as a vehicle in comparison +with my bicycle duly discussed. The bone-shaker has wheels heavy enough +for a dog-cart; the saddle is nearly all gnawed away by mice, and it +presents altogether so antiquated an appearance that it seems a relic +rather of a past century than of a past decade. Its owner assays to take +a ride on it; but the best he can do is to wabble around a vacant space +in front of the hotel, the awkward motions of the old bone-shaker affording +intense amusement to the crowd. After supper this chatty and entertaining +gentleman brings his wife, a rotund, motherly-looking person, to see the +bicycle; she is a Levantine Greek, and besides her own lingua franca, +her husband has improved her education to the extent of a smattering of +rather misleading English. Desiring to be complimentary in return for +my riding back and forth a few times for her special benefit, the lady +comes forward as I dismount and, smiling complacently upon me, remarks, +"How very grateful you ride, monsieur!" and her husband and tutor, +desiring also to say something complimentary, echoes, " Much grateful - very." + +The Greeks seem to be the life and poetry of these sea-coast places on +the Ismidt gulf. My hotel faces the water; and for hours after dark a +half-dozen caique-loads of serenaders are paddling about in front of the +town, making quite an entertaining concert in the silence of the night, +the pleasing effect being heightened by the well-known softening influence +of the water, and not a little enhanced by a display of rockets and Roman +candles. Earlier in the evening, while taking a look at Ismidt and the +surrounding scenery, in company with a few sociable natives, who point +out beauty-spots in the surrounding landscape with no little enthusiasm, +I am impressed with the extreme loveliness of the situation. The town +itself, now a place of thirteen thousand inhabitants, is the Nicomedia +of the ancients. It is built in the form of a crescent, facing the sea; +the houses, many of them painted white, are terraced upon the slopes of +the green hills, whose sides and summits are clothed with verdure, and +whose bases are laved by the blue waves of the gulf, which here, at the +upper extremity, narrows to about a mile and a half in width; white +villages dot the green mountain-slopes on the opposite shore, prominent +among them being the Armenian town of Bahgjadjik, where for a number of +years has been established an American missionary-school, a branch, I +think, of Roberts College. Every mile of visible country, whether gently +sloping or more rugged and imposing, is green with luxuriant vegetation, +and the waters of the gulf are of that deep-blue color peculiar to +mountain-locked inlets; the bright green hills, the dancing blue waters, +and the white painted villages combine to make a scene so lovely in the +chastened light of early eventide that, after the Bosporus, I think I +never saw a place more beautiful. Besides the loveliness of the situation, +the little mountain-sheltered inlet makes an excellent anchorage for +shipping; and during the late war, at the well-remembered crisis when +the Russian armies were bearing down on Constantinople and the British +fleet received the famous order to pass through the Dardanelles with or +without the Sultan's permission, the head-waters of the Ismidt gulf +became, for several months, the rendezvous of the ships. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + + +ON THROUGH ASIA. + +Early dawn on Tuesday morning finds me already astir and groping about +the hotel in search of some of the slumbering employees to let me out. +Pocketing a cold lunch in lieu of eating breakfast, I mount and wheel +down the long street leading out of the eastern end of town. On the way +out I pass a party of caravan-teamsters who have just arrived with a +cargo of mohair from Angora; their pack-mules are fairly festooned with +strings of bells of all sizes, from a tiny sleigh-bell to a solemn-voiced +sheet-iron affair the size of a two-gallon jar. These bells make an awful +din; the men are unpacking the weary animals, shouting both at the mules +and at each other, as if their chief object were to create as much noise +as possible; but as I wheel noiselessly past, they cease their unpacking +and their shouting, as if by common consent, and greet me with that +silent stare of wonder that men might be supposed to accord to an +apparition from another world. For some few miles a rough macadam road +affords a somewhat choppy but nevertheless ridable surface, and further +inland it develops into a fairly good roadway, where a dismount is +unnecessary for several miles. The road leads along a depression between +a continuation of the mountain-chains that inclose the Ismidt gulf, which +now run parallel with my road on either hand at the distance of a couple +of miles, some of the spurs on the south range rising to quite an imposing +height. For four miles out of Ismidt the country is flat and swampy; +beyond that it changes to higher ground; and the swampy flat, the higher +ground, and the mountain-slopes are all covered with timber and a dense +growth of underbrush, in which wild-fig shrubs and the homely but beautiful +ferns of the English commons, the Missouri Valley woods, and the California +foot-hills, mingle their respective charms, and hob-nob with scrub-oak, +chestnut, walnut, and scores of others. The whole face of the country +is covered with this dense thicket, and the first little hamlet I pass +on the road is nearly hidden in it, the roofs of the houses being barely +visible above the green sea of vegetation. Orchards and little patches +of ground that have been cleared and cultivated are hidden entirely, and +one cannot help thinking that if this interminable forest of brushwood +were once to get fairly ablaze, nothing could prevent it from destroying +everything these villagers possess. + +A foretaste of what awaits me farther in the interior is obtained even +within the first few hours of the morning, when a couple of horsemen +canter at my heels for miles; they seem delighted beyond measure, and +their solicitude for my health and general welfare is quite affecting. +When I halt to pluck some blackberries, they solemnly pat their stomachs +and shake their heads in chorus, to make me understand that blackberries +are not good things to eat; and by gestures they notify me of bad places +in the road which are yet out of sight ahead. Eude mehanax, now called +khans, occupy little clearings by the roadside, at intervals of a few +miles; and among the habitues congregated there I notice several of the +Circassian refugees on whose account friends at Ismidt and Constantinople +have shown themselves so concerned for my safety. + +They are dressed in the long Cossack coats of dark cloth peculiar to the +inhabitants of the Caucasus; two rows of bone or metal cartridge-cases +adorn their breast, being fitted into flutes or pockets made for them; +they wear either top boots or top bootlegs, and the counterpart of my +own moccasins; and their headdress is a tall black lamb's-wool turban, +similar to the national headgear of the Persians. They are by far the +best-dressed and most respectable-looking men one sees among the groups; +for while the majority of the natives are both ragged and barefooted, I +don't remember ever seeing Circassians either. To all outward appearances +they are the most trustworthy men of them all; but there is really more +deviltry concealed beneath the smiling exterior of one of these homeless +mountaineers from Circassia than in a whole village of the less likely- +looking natives here, whose general cutthroat appearance - an effect +produced, more than anything else, by the universal custom of wearing +all the old swords, knives, anil pistols they can get hold of-really +counts for nothing. In picturesqueness of attire some of these khan +loafers leave nothing to be desired; and although I am this morning +wearing Igali's cerulean scarf as a sash, the tri-colored pencil string +of Servia around my neck, and a handsome pair of Circassian moccasins, +I ain absolutely nowhere by the side of many a native here whose entire +wardrobe wouldn't fetch half a mcdjedie in a Galata auction-room. The +great light of Central Asian hospitality casts a glimmer even up into +this out-of-the-way northwestern corner of the continent, though it seems +to partake more of the Nevada interpretation of the word than farther +in the interior. Thrice during the forenoon I am accosted with the +invitation "mastic? cogniac? coffee." by road-side klian-jees or their +customers who wish me to stop and let them satisfy their consuming +curiosity at my novel bagar (horse), as many of them jokingly allude to +it. Beyond these three beverages and the inevitable nargileh, these +wayside khans provide nothing; vishner syrup (a pleasant extract of the +vishner cherry; a spoonful in a tumbler of water makes a most agreeable +and refreshing sherbet), which is my favorite beverage on the road, being +an inoffensive, non-intoxicating drink, is not in sufficient demand among +the patrons of the khans to justify keeping it in stock. An ancient +bowlder causeway traverses the route I am following, hut the blocks of +stone composing it have long since become misplaced and scattered about +in confusion, making it impassable for wheeled vehicles; and the natural +dirt-road alongside it is covered with several inches of dust which is +continually being churned up by mule-caravans bringing mohair from Angora +and miscellaneous merchandise from Ismidt. Camel-caravans make smooth +tracks, but they seldom venture to Ismidt at this time of the year, I +am told, on account of the bellicose character of the mosquitoes that +inhabit this particular region; their special mode of attack being to +invade the camels' sensitive nostrils, which drives these patient beasts +of burden to the last verge of distraction, sometimes even worrying them +to death. Stopping for dinner at the village of Sabanja, the scenes +familiar in connection with a halt for refreshments in the Balkan Peninsula +are enacted; though for bland and childlike assurance there is no +comparison between the European Turk and his brother in Asia Minor. More +than one villager approaches me during the few minutes I am engaged in +eating dinner, and blandly asks me to quit eating and let him see me +ride; one of them, with a view of putting it out of my power to refuse, +supplements his request with a few green apples which no European could +eat without bringing on an attack of cholera morbus, but which Asiatics +consume with impunity. After dinner I request the proprietor to save me +from the madding crowd long enough to round up a few notes, which he +attempts to do by locking me in a room over the stable. In less than ten +minutes the door is unlocked, and in walks the headman of the village, +making a most solemn and profound salaam as he enters. He has searched +out a man who fought with the English in the Crimea, according to his +- the man's-own explanation, and who knows a few words of Frank language +and has brought him along to interpret. Without the slightest hesitation +he asks me to leave off writing and come down and ride, in order that +he may see the performance, and - he continues, artfully - that he may judge +of the comparative merits of a horse and a bicycle. + +This peculiar trait of the Asiatic character is further illustrated +during the afternoon in the case of a caravan leader whom I meet on an +unridable stretch of road. "Bin! bin!" says this person, as soon as +his mental faculties grasp the idea that the bicycle is something to +ride on. "Mimlcin, deyil; fenna yole; duz yolo lazim " (impossible; bad +road; good road necessary), I reply, airing my limited stock of Turkish. +Nothing daunted by this answer, the man blandly requests me to turn about +and follow his caravan until ridable road is reached - a good mile - in +order that he may be enlightened. It is, perhaps, superfluous to add +that, so far as I know, this particular individual's ideas of 'cycling +are as hazy and undefined to-day as they ever were. + +The principal occupation of the Sabanjans seems to be killing time; or +perhaps waiting for something to turn up. Apple and pear-orchards are +scattered about among the brush, looking utterly neglected; they are old +trees mostly, and were planted by the more enterprising ancestors of the +present owners, who would appear to be altogether unworthy of their +sires, since they evidently do nothing in the way of trimming and pruning, +but merely accept such blessings as unaided nature vouchsafes to bestow +upon them. Moss-grown gravestones are visible here and there amid the +thickets; the graveyards are neither protected by fence nor shorn of +brush; in short, this aggressive undergrowth appears to be altogether +too much for the energies of the Sabanjans; it seems to be encroaching +upon them from every direction, ruthlessly pursuing them even to their +very door-sills; like Banquo's ghost, it will not down, and the people +have evidently retired discouraged from the contest. Higher up on the +mountain-slopes the underbrush gives place to heavier timber, and small +clearings abound, around which the unsubdued forest stands like a solid +wall of green, the scene reminding one quite forcibly of backwoods +clearings in Ohio; and were it not for the ancient appearance of the +Sabanja minarets, the old bowlder causeway, and other evidences of +declining years, one might easily imagine himself in a new country instead +of the cradle of our race. + +At Sabanja the wagon-road terminates, and my way becomes execrable beyond +anything I ever encountered; it leads over a low mountain-pass, following +the track of the ancient roadway, that on the acclivity of the mountain +has been torn up and washed about, and the stone blocks scattered here +and piled up there by the torrents of centuries, until it would seem to +have been the sport and plaything of a hundred Kansas cyclones. Bound +about and among this disorganized mass, caravans have picked their way +over the pass from the first dawn of commercial intercourse; following +the same trail year after year, the stepping-places have come to resemble +the steps of a rude stairway. From the summit of the pass is obtained a +comprehensive view of the verdure-clad valley; here and there white +minarets are seen protruding above the verdant area, like lighthouses +from a green sea; villages dot the lower slopes of the mountains, while +a lake, covering half the width of the valley for a dozen miles, glimmers +in the mid-day sun, making altogether a scene that in some countries +would long since have been immortalized on canvas or in verse. The descent +is even rougher, if anything, than the western side, but it leads down +into a tiny valley that, if situated near a large city, would resound +with the voices of merry-makers the whole summer long. The undergrowth +of this morning's observations has entirely disappeared; wide-spreading +chestnut and grand old sycamore trees shade a circumscribed area of +velvety greensward and isolated rocks; a tiny stream, a tributary of the +Sackaria, meanders along its rocky bed, and forest-clad mountains tower +almost perpendicularly around the charming little vale save one narrow +outlet to the east. There is not a human being in sight, nor a sound to +break the silence save the murmuring of the brook, as I fairly clamber +down into this little sylvan retreat; but a wreath of smoke curling above +the trees some distance from the road betrays the presence of man. The +whole scene vividly calls to mind one of those marvellous mountain-retreats +in which writers of banditti stories are wont to pitch their heroes' +silken tent - no more appropriate rendezvous for a band of story-book +free-booters could well be imagined. + +Short stretches of ridable mule-paths are found along this valley as I +follow the course of the little stream eastward; they are by no means +continuous, by reason of the eccentric wanderings of the rivulet; but +after climbing the rough pass one feels thankful for even small favors, +and I plod along, now riding, now walking, occasionally passing little +clusters of mud huts and meeting with pack animals en route to Ismidt +with the season's shearing of mohair. "Alia Franga!" is the greeting I +am now favored with, instead of the "Ah, I'Anglais." of Europe, as I +pass people on the road; and the bicycle is referred to as an araba, the +name the natives give their rude carts, and a name which they seem to +think is quite appropriate for anything with wheels. + +Following the course of the little tributary for several miles, crossing +and recrossing it a number of times, I finally emerge with it into the +valley of Sackaria. There are some very good roads down this valley, +which is narrow, and in places contracts to but little more than a mere +neck between the mountains. At one of the narrowest points the mountains +present an almost perpendicular face of rock and here are the remnants +of an ancient stonewall reputed to have been built by the Greeks, somewhere +about the twelfth century in anticipation of an invasion of the Turks +from the south. The wall stretches across the valley from mountain to +river, and is quite a massive affair; an archway has been cut through +it for the passage of caravans. Soon after passing through this opening +I am favored with the company of a horseman, who follows me for three +or four miles, and thoughtfully takes upon himself the office of telling +me when to bin and when not to bin, according as he thinks the road +suitable for 'cycling or not, until he discovers that his gratuitous +advice produces no visible effect on my movements, when he desists and +follows along behind in silence like a sensible fellow. About five o'clock +in the afternoon I cross the Sackaria on an old stone bridge, and half +an hour later roll into Geiveh, a large village situated in the middle +of a triangular valley about seven miles in width. My cyclometer shows +a trifle over forty miles from Ismidt; it has been a variable forty +miles; I shall never forget the pass over the old causeway, the view of +the Sabanja Valley from the summit, nor the lovely little retreat on the +eastern side. + +Trundling through the town in quest of a khan, I am soon surrounded by +a clamorous crowd; and passing the house or office of the mudir or headman +of the place, that person sallies forth, and, after ascertaining the +cause of the commotion, begs me to favor the crowd and himself by riding +round a vacant piece of ground hard by. After this performance, a +respectable-looking man beckons me to follow him, and he takes me - not +to his own house to be his guest, for Geiveh is too near Europe for this +sort of thing - to a khan kept by a Greek with a mote in one eye, where a +"shake down" on the floor, a cup of coffee or a glass of vishner is +obtainable, and opposite which another Greek keeps an eating-house. There +is no separate kitchen in this latter establishment as in the one at +Isrnidt; one room answers for cooking, eating, nargileh-smoking, coffee- +sipping, and gossiping; and while I am eating, a curious crowd watches +my every movement with intense interest. Here, as at Ismidt, I am requested +to examine for myself the contents of several pots. Most of them contain +a greasy mixture of chopped meat and tomatoes stewed together, with no +visible difference between them save in the sizes of the pieces of meat; +but one vessel contains pillau, and of this and some inferior red wine +I make my supper. Prices for eatables are ridiculously low; I hand him +a cherik for the supper; he beckons me out of the back door, and there, +with none save ourselves to witness the transaction, he counts me out +two piastres change, which left him ten centa for the supper. He has +probably been guilty of the awful crime of charging me about three +farthings over the regular price, and was afraid to venture upon so +iniquitous a proceeding in the public room lest the Turks should perchance +detect him in cheating an Englishman, and revenge the wrong by making +him feed me for nothing. It rains quite heavily during the night, and +while waiting for it to dry up a little in the morning, the Geivehites +voluntarily tender me much advice concerning the state of the road ahead, +being governed in their ideas according to their knowledge of a 'cycler's +mountain-climbing ability. By a round dozen of men, who penetrate into +my room in a body ere I am fairly dressed, and who, after solemnly +salaaming in chorus, commence delivering themselves of expressive pantomime +and gesticulations, I am led to understand that the road from Geiveh to +Tereklu is something fearful for a bicycle. One fat old Turk, undertaking +to explain it more fully, after the others have exhausted their knowledge +of sign language, swells himself up like an inflated toad and imitates +the labored respiration of a broken-winded horse in order to duly impress +upon my mind the physical exertion I may expect to put forth in "riding"-he +also paws the air with his right foot-over the mountain-range that looms +up like an impassable barrier three miles east of the town. The Turks +as a nation have the reputation of being solemn-visaged, imperturbable +people, yet one occasionally finds them quite animated and "Frenchy" +in their behavior - the bicycle may, however, be in a measure responsible +for this. The soil around Geiveh is a red clay that, after a shower, +clings to the rubber tires of the bicycle as though the mere resemblance +in color tended to establish a bond of sympathy between them that nothing +could overcome, I pass the time until ten o'clock in avoiding the crowd +that has swarmed the khan since early dawn, and has been awaiting with +Asiatic patience ever since. At ten o'clock I win the gratitude of a +thousand hearts by deciding to start, the happy crowd deserting half-smoked +nargilehs, rapidly swallowing tiny cups of scalding-hot coffee in their +anxiety lest I vault into the saddle at the door of the khan and whisk +out of their sight in a moment - an idea that is flitting through the +imaginative mind of more than one Turk present, as a natural result of +the stories his wife has heard from his neighbor's wife, whose sister, +from the roof of her house, saw me ride around the vacant space at the +mudir's request yesterday. The Oriental imagination of scores of wondering +villagers has been drawn upon to magnify that modest performance into a +feat that fills the hundreds who didn't see it with the liveliest +anticipations, and a murmuring undercurrent of excitement thrills the +crowd as the word goes round that I am about to start. A minority of the +people learned yesterday that I wouldn't ride across the stones, water- +ditches, and mud-holes of the village streets, and these at once lead +the way, taking upon themselves the office of conducting me to the road +leading to the Kara Su Pass; while the less enlightened majority press +on behind, the more restless spirits worrying me to ride, those of more +patient disposition maintaining a respectful silence, but wondering why +on earth I am walking. + +The road they conduct me to is another of those ancient stone causeways +that traverse this section of Asia Minor in all directions. This one and +several others I happen to come across are but about three feet wide, +and were evidently built for military purposes by the more enterprising +people who occupied Constantinople and the adjacent country before the +Turks-narrow stone pathways built to facilitate the marching of armies +during the rainy season when the natural ground hereabout is all but +impassable. These stone roads were probably built during the Byzantine +occupation. Fairly smooth mule-paths lead along-side this relic of +departed greatness and energy, and the warm sun having dried the surface, +I mount and speed away from the wondering crowd, and in four miles reach +the foot of the Kara Su Pass. From this spot I can observe a small +caravan, slowly picking its way down the mountain; the animals are +sometimes entirely hidden behind rocks, as they follow the windings and +twistings of the trail down the rugged slope which the old Turk this +morning thought would make me puff to climb. + +A little stream called the Kara Su, or black water, comes dancing out +of a rocky avenue near by; and while I am removing my foot-gear to ford +it, I am joined by several herdsmen who are tending flocks of the +celebrated Angora goats and the peculiar fat-tailed sheep of the East, +which are grazing on neighboring knolls. These gentle shepherds are not +overburdened with clothing, their nakedness being but barely covered; +but they wear long sword-knives and old flint-lock, bell-mouthed horse- +pistols that give them a ferocious appearance that seems strangely at +variance with their peaceful occupation. They gather about me with a +familiarity that impresses me anything but favorably toward them; they +critically examine my clothing from helmet to moccasins, eying my various +belongings wistfully, tapping my leather case, and pinching the rear +package to try and ascertain the nature of its contents. I gather from +their remarks about "para " (a term used in a general sense for money, +as well as for the small coin of that name), as they regard the leather +case with a covetous eye, that they are inclined to the opinion that it +contains money; and there is no telling the fabulous wealth their untutored +minds are associating with the supposed treasure-chest of a Frank who +rides a silver "araba." Evidently these fellows have never heard of the +tenth commandment; or, having heard of it, they have failed to read, +mark, learn, and inwardly digest it for the improvement of their moral +natures; for covetousness beams forth from every lineament of their faces +and every motion of their hands. Seeing this, I endeavor to win them +from the moral shackles of their own gloomy minds by pointing out the +beautiful mechanism of my machine; I twirl the pedals and show them how +perfect are the bearings of the rear wheel; I pinch the rubber tire to +show them that it is neither iron nor wood, and call their attention to +the brake, fully expecting in this usually winsome manner to fill them +with gratitude and admiration, and make them forget all about my baggage +and clothes. But these fellows seem to differ from those of their +countrymen I left but a short time ago; my other effects interest them +far more than the wheel does, and one of them, after wistfully eying my +moccasins, a handsomer pair, perhaps, than he ever saw before, points +ruefully down to his own rude sandals of thong-bound raw-hide, and casts +a look upon his comrades that says far more eloquently than words, "What +a shame that such lovely moccasins should grace the feet of a Frank and +an unbeliever - ashes on his head - while a true follower of the Prophet +like myself should go about almost barefooted!" There is no mistaking +the natural bent of these gentle shepherds' inclinations, and as, in the +absence of a rusty sword and a seventeenth-century horse pistol, they +doubtless think I am unarmed, my impression from their bearing is that +they would, at least, have tried to frighten me into making them a present +of my moccasins and perhaps a few other things. In the innocence of their +unsophisticated natures, they wist not of the compact little weapon +reposing beneath my coat that is as superior to their entire armament +as is a modern gunboat to the wooden walls of the last century. Whatever +their intentions may be, however, they are doomed never to be carried +out, for their attention is now attracted by the caravan, whose approach +is heralded by the jingle of a thousand bells. + +The next two hours find me engaged in the laborious task of climbing a +mere bridle-path up the rugged mountain slope, along which no wheeled +vehicle has certainly ever been before. There is in some places barely +room for pack animals to pass between the masses of rocks, and at others, +but a narrow ledge between a perpendicular rock and a sheer precipice. +The steepest portions are worn into rude stone stairways by the feet of +pack animals that toiled over this pass just as they toiled before America +was discovered and have been toiling ever since; and for hundreds of +yards at a stretch I am compelled to push the bicycle ahead, rear wheel +aloft, in the well-known manner of going up-stairs. While climbing up a +rather awkward place, I meet a lone Arab youth, leading his horse by the +bridle, and come near causing a serious accident. It was at the turning +of a sharp corner that I met this swarthy-faced youth face to face, and +the sudden appearance of what both he and the horse thought was a being +from a far more distant sphere than the western half of our own so +frightened them both that I expected every minute to see them go toppling +over the precipice. Reassuring the boy by speaking a word or two of +Turkish, and seeing the impossibility of either passing him or of his +horse being able to turn around, I turn about and retreat a short distance, +to where there is more room. He is not quite assured of my terrestrial +character even yet; he is too frightened to speak, and he trembles visibly +as he goes past, greeting me with a leer of mingled fear and suspicion; +at the same time making a brave but very sickly effort to ward off any +evil designs I might be meditating against him by a pitiful propitiatory +smile which will haunt my memory for weeks; though I hope by plenty of +exercise to escape an attack of the nightmare. + +This is the worst mountain climbing I have done with a bicycle; all the +way across the Rockies there is nothing approaching this pass for +steepness; although on foot or horseback it would of course not appear +so formidable. When part way up, a bank of low hanging clouds come rolling +down to meet me, enveloping the mountain in fog, and bringing on a +disagreeable drizzle which scarcely improves the situation. + +Five miles from the bottom of the pass and three hours from Geiveh I +reach a small postaya-khan, occupied by one zaptieh and the station-keeper, +where I halt for a half hour and get the zaptieh to brew me a cup of +coffee, feeling the need of a, little refreshment after the stiff tugging +of the last two hours. Coffee is the only refreshment obtainable here, +and, though the weather looks anything but propitious, I push ahead +toward a regular roadside khan, which I am told I shall come to at the +distance of another hour - the natives of Asia Minor know nothing of miles +or kilometres, but reckon the distance from point to point by the number +of hours it usually takes to go on horseback. Reaching this khan at three +o'clock, I call for something to satisfy the cravings of hunger, and am +forthwith confronted with a loaf of black bread, villanously heavy, and +given a preliminary peep into a large jar of a crumbly white substance +as villanously odoriferous as the bread is heavy, and which I think the +proprietor expects me to look upon as cheese. This native product seems +to be valued by the people here in proportion as it is rancid, being +regarded by them with more than affection when it has reached a degree +of rancidness and odoriferousness that would drive a European - barring +perhaps, a Limburger - out of the house. These two delicacies, and the +inevitable tiny cups of black bitter coffee make up all the edibles the +khan affords; so seeing the absence of any alternative, I order bread +and coffee, prepared to make the most of circumstances. The proprietor +being a kindly individual, and thinking perhaps that limited means forbid +my indulgence in such luxuries as the substance in the earthenware jar, +in the kindness of his heart toward a lone stranger, scoops out a small +portion with his unwashed hand, puts it in a bowl of water and stirs it +about a little by way of washing it, drains the water off through his +fingers, and places it before me. While engaged in the discussion of +this delectable meal, a caravan of mules arrives in charge of seven +rough-looking Turks, who halt to procure a feed of barley for their +animals, the supplying of which appears to be the chief business of the +klian-jee. No sooner have these men alighted and ascertained the use of +the bicycle, than I am assailed with the usual importunities to ride for +their further edification. It would be quite as reasonable to ask a man +to fly as to ride a bicycle anywhere near the khan; but in the innocence +of their hearts and the dulness of their Oriental understandings they +think differently. They regard my objections as the result of a perverse +and contrary disposition, and my explanation of mimkin deyil" as but +a groundless excuse born of my unwillingness to oblige. One old gray-beard, +after examining the bicycle, eyes me meditatively for a moment, and then +comes forward with a humorous twinkle in his eye, and pokes me playfully +in the ribs, and makes a peculiar noise with the mouth: " q-u-e-e-k," +in an effort to tickle me into good-humor and compliance with their +wishes; in addition to which, the artful old dodger, thinking thus to +work on my vanity, calls me "Pasha Effendi." Finding that toward their +entreaties I give but the same reply, one of the younger men coolly +advocates the use of force to coerce me into giving them an exhibition +of my skill on the araba. As far as I am able to interpret, this bold +visionary's argument is: "Behold, we are seven; Effendi is only one; we +are good Mussulmans - peace be with us - he is but a Frank - ashes on his +head- let us make him bin." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + + + +THROUGH THE ANGORA GOAT COUNTRY. + +The other members of the caravan company, while equally anxious to see +the performance, and no doubt thinking me quite an unreasonable person, +disapprove of the young man's proposition; and the Man-jee severely +reprimands him for talking about resorting to force, and turning to the +others, he lays his forefingers together and says something about Franks, +Mussulmans, Turks, and Ingilis; meaning that even if we are Franks and +Mussulmans, we are not prevented from being at the same time allies and +brothers. From the khan the ascent is more gradual, though in places +muddy and disagreeable from the drizzling rain which still falls, and +about 4 P.M. I arrive at the summit. The descent is smoother, and shorter +than the western slope, but is even more abrupt; the composition is a +slaty, blue clay, in which the caravans have worn trails so deep in +places that a mule is hidden completely from view. There is no room for +animals to pass each other in these deep trench-like trails, and were +any to meet, the only possible plan is for the ascending animals to be +backed down until a wider place is reached. There is little danger of +the larger caravans being thus caught in these " traps for the unwary," +since each can hear the other's approach and take precautions; but single +horsemen and small parties must sometimes find themselves obliged to +either give or take, in the depths of these queer highways of commerce. +It is quite an awkward task to descend with the bicycle, as for much of +the way the trail is not even wide enough to admit of trundling in the +ordinary manner, and I have to adopt the same tactics in going down as +in coming up the mountain, with the difference, that on the eastern slope +I have to pull back quite as stoutly as I had to push forward on the +western. In going down I meet a man with three donkeys, but fortunately +I am able to scramble up the bank sufficiently to let him pass. His +donkeys are loaded with half-ripe grapes, which he is perhaps taking all +the way to Constantinople in this slow and laborious manner, and he +offers me some as an inducement for me to ride for his benefit. Some +wheelmen, being possessed of a sensitive nature, would undoubtedly think +they had a right to feel aggrieved or insulted if offered a bunch of +unripe grapes as an inducement to go ahead and break their necks; but +these people here in Asia Minor are but simple-hearted, overgrown children; +they will go straight to heaven when they die, every one of them. + +At six o'clock I roll into Tereklu, having found ridable road a mile or +so before reaching town. After looking at the cyclometer I begin figuring +up the number of days it is likely to take me to reach Teheran, if +yesterday and to-day have been expository of the country ahead; forty +and one-third miles yesterday and nineteen and a half to-day, thirty +miles a day-rather slow progress for a wheelman, I mentally conclude; +but, although I would rather ride from " Land's End to John O'Groat's " +for a task, than bicycle over the ground I have traversed between here +and Ismidt, I find the tough work interlarded with a sufficiency of novel +and interesting phases to make the occupation congenial. Upon dismounting +at Tereklu, I find myself but little fatigued with the day's exertions, +and with a view to obtaining a little peace and freedom from importunities +to ride after supper, I gratify Asiatic curiosity several times before +undertaking to allay the pangs of hunger - a piece of self-denial quite +commendable, even if taken in connection with the idea of self-protection, +when one reflects that I had spent the day in severe exercise, and had +eaten since morning only a piece of bread. + +Not long after my arrival at Tereklu I am introduced to another peculiar +and not unknown phase of the character of these people, one that I have +sometimes read of, but was scarcely prepared to encounter before being +on Asian soil three days. From some of them having received medical +favors from the medicine chest of travellers and missionaries, the +Asiatics have come to regard every Frank who passes through their country +as a skilful physician, capable of all sorts of wonderful things in the +way of curing their ailments; and immediately after supper I am waited +upon by my first patient, the mulazim of the Tereklu zaptiehs. He is a +tall, pleasant-faced fellow, whom I remember as having been wonderfully +courteous and considerate while I was riding for the people before supper, +and he is suffering with neuralgia in his lower jaw. He comes and seats +himself beside me, rolls a cigarette in silence, lights it, and hands +it to me, and then, with the confident assurance of a child approaching +its mother to be soothed and cured of some ailment, he requests me to +cure his aching jaw, seemingly having not the slightest doubt of my +ability to afford him instant relief. I ask him why he don't apply to +the hakim (doctor) of his native town. He rolls another cigarette, makes +me throw the half-consumed one away, and having thus ingratiated himself +a trifle deeper into my affections, he tells me that the Tereklu hakim +is "fenna; " in other words, no good, adding that there is a duz hakim +at Gieveh, but Gieveh is over the Kara Su dagh. At this juncture he seems +to arrive at the conclusion that perhaps I require a good deal of coaxing +and good treatment, and, taking me by the hand, he leads me in that +affectionate, brotherly manner down the street and into a coffee-Maw, +and spends the next hour in pressing upon me coffee and cigarettes, and +referring occasionally to his aching jaw. The poor fellow tries so hard +to make himself agreeable and awaken my sympathies, that I really begin +to feel myself quite an ingrate in not being able to afford him any +relief, and slightly embarrassed by my inability to convince him that +my failure to cure him is not the result of indifference to his sufferings. + +Casting about for some way of escape without sacrificing his good-will, +and having in mind a box of pills I have brought along, I give him to +understand that I am at the top of the medical profession as a stomach-ache +hakim, but as for the jaw-ache I am, unfortunately, even worse than his +compatriot over the way. Had I attempted to persuade him that I was not +a doctor at all, he would not have believed me; his mind being unable +to grasp the idea of a Frank totally unacquainted with the noble AEsculapian +art; but he seems quite aware of the existence of specialists in the +profession, and notwithstanding my inability to deal with his particular +affliction, my modest confession of being unexcelled in another branch +of medicine seems to satisfy him. My profound knowledge of stomachic +disorders and their treatment excuses my ignorance of neuralgic remedies. + +There seems to be a larger proportion of superior dwelling-houses in +Tereklu than in Gieveh, although, to the misguided mind of an unbeliever +from the West, they have cast a sort of a funereal shadow over this +otherwise desirable feature of their town by building their principal +residences around a populous cemetery, which plays the part of a large +central square. The houses are mostly two-story frame buildings, and the +omnipresent balconies and all the windows are faced with close lattice-work, +so that the Osmanli ladies can enjoy the luxury of gazing contemplatively +out on the area of disorderly grave-stones without being subjected to +the prying eyes of passers-by. In the matter of veiling their faces the +women of these interior towns place no such liberal - not to say coquettish - +interpretation upon the office of the yashmak as do their sisters of the +same religion in and about Constantinople. The ladies of Tereklu, +seemingly, have a holy horror of displaying any of their facial charms; +the only possible opportunity offered of seeing anything, is to obtain +an occasional glimpse of the one black eye with which they timidly survey +you through a small opening in the folds of their shroud-like outer +garment, that encases them from head to foot; and even this peeping +window of their souls is frequently hidden behind the impenetrable +yashmak. Mussulman women are the most gossipy and inquisitive creatures +imaginable; a very natural result, I suppose, of having had their feminine +rights divine under constant restraint and suppression by the peculiar +social position women occupy in Mohammedan countries. When I have arrived +in town and am surrounded and hidden from outside view by a solid wall +of men, it is really quite painful to see the women standing in small +groups at a distance trying to make out what all the excitement is about. +Nobody seems to have a particle of sympathy for their very natural +inquisitiveness, or even to take any notice of their presence. It is +quite surprising to see how rapidly the arrival of the Frank with the +wonderful araba becomes known among these women from one end of town to +another; in an incredibly short space of time, groups of shrouded forms +begin to appear on the housetops and other vantage-points, craning their +necks to obtain a glimpse of whatever is going on. + +In the innocence of an unsophisticated nature, and a feeling of genuine +sympathy for their position, I propose collecting these scattered groups +of neglected females together and giving an exhibition for their especial +benefit, but the men evidently regard the idea of going to any trouble +out of consideration for them as quite ridiculous; indeed, I am inclined +to think they regard it as evidence that I am nothing less than a gay +Lothario, who is betraying altogether too much interest in their women; +for the old school Osmanli encompasses those hapless mortals about with +a green wall of jealousy, and regards with disapproval, even so much as +a glance in their direction. While riding on one occasion, this evening, +I noticed one over-inquisitive female become so absorbed in the proceedings +as to quite forget herself, and approach nearer to the crowd than the +Tereklu idea of propriety would seem to justify. In her absent-mindedness, +while watching me ride slowly up and dismount, she allowed her yashmak +to become disarranged and reveal her features. This awful indiscretion +is instantly detected by an old Blue-beard standing by, who eyes the +offender severely, but says nothing; if she is one of his own wives, or +the wife of an intimate friend, the poor lady has perhaps earned for +herself a chastisement with a stick later in the evening. + +Human nature is pretty much the same in the Orient as anywhere else; the +degradation of woman to a position beneath her proper level has borne +its legitimate fruits; the average Turkish woman is said to be as coarse +and unchaste in her conversation as the lowest outcasts of Occidental +society, and is given to assailing her lord and master, when angry, with +language anything but choice. + +It is hardly six o'clock when I issue forth next morning, but there are +at least fifty women congregated in the cemetery, alongside which my +route leads. During the night they seem to have made up their minds to +grasp the only opportunity of "seeing the elephant" by witnessing my +departure; and as, "when a woman will she will," etc., applies to Turkish +ladies as well as to any others, in their laudable determination not to +be disappointed they have been patiently squatting among the gray +tombstones since early dawn. The roadway is anything but smooth, +nevertheless one could scarce be so dead to all feelings of commiseration +as to remain unmoved by the sight of that patiently waiting crowd of +shrouded females; accordingly I mount and pick my way along the street +and out of town. Modest as is this performance, it is the most marvellous +thing they have seen for many a day; not a sound escapes them as I wheel +by, they remain as silent as though they were the ghostly population of +the graveyard they occupy, for I which, indeed, shrouded as they are in +white from head to foot, they might easily be mistaken by the superstitious. +My road leads over an undulating depression between the higher hills, a +region of small streams, wheat-fields, and irrigating ditches, among +which several trails, leading from Tereklu to numerous villages scattered +among the mountains and neighboring small valleys, make it quite difficult +to keep the proper road. Once I wander off my proper course for several +miles; finding out my mistake I determine upon regaining the Torbali +trail by a short cut across the stubble-fields and uncultivated knolls +of scrub oak. This brings me into an acquaintanceship with the shepherds +and husbandmen, and the ways of their savage dogs, that proves more +lively than agreeable. Here and there I find primitive threshing-floors; +they are simply spots of level ground selected in a central position and +made smooth and hard by the combined labors of the several owners of the +adjoining fields, who use them in common. Rain in harvest is very unusual; +therefore the trouble and expense of covering them is considered +unnecessary. At each of these threshing-centres I find a merry gathering +of villagers, some threshing out the grain, others winnowing it by tossing +it aloft with wooden, flat-pronged forks; the wind blows the lighter +chaff aside, while the grain falls back into the heap. When the soil is +sandy, the grain is washed in a neighboring stream to take out most of +the grit, and then spread out on sheets, in the sun to dry before being +finally stored away in the granaries. The threshing is done chiefly by +the boys and women, who ride on the same kind of broad sleigh-runner-shaped +boards described in European Turkey. + +The sight of my approaching figure is, of course, the signal for a general +suspension of operations, and a wondering as to what sort of being I am. +If I am riding along some well-worn by-trail, the women and younger +people invariably betray their apprehensions of my unusual appearance, +and seldom fail to exhibit a disposition to flee at my approach, but the +conduct of their dogs causes me not a little annoyance. They have a noble +breed of canines throughout the Angora goat country - fine animals, as +large as Newfoundlands, with a good deal the appearance of the mastiff; +and they display their hostility to my intrusion by making straight at +me, evidently considering me fair game. These dogs are invaluable friends, +but as enemies and assailants they are not exactly calculated to win a +'cycler's esteem. In my unusual appearance they see a strange, undefinable +enemy bearing down toward their friends and owners, arid, like good, +faithful dogs, they hesitate not to commence the attack; sometimes there +is a man among the threshers and winnowers who retains presence of mind +enough to notice the dogs sallying forth to attack me, and to think of +calling them back; but oftener I have to defend myself as best I can, +while the gaping crowd, too dumfounded and overcome at my unaccountable +appearance to think of anything else, simply stare as though expecting +to see me sail up into space out of harm's way, or perform some other +miraculous feat. My general tactics are to dismount if riding, and +manoeuvre the machine- so as to keep it between myself and my savage +assailant if there be but one; and if more than one, make feints with +it at them alternately, not forgetting to caress them with a handy stone +whenever occasion offers. There is a certain amount of cowardice about +these animals notwithstanding their size and fierceness; they are afraid +and suspicious of the bicycle as of some dreaded supernatural object; +atnd although I am sometimes fairly at my wit's end to keep them at bay, +I manage to avoid the necessity of shooting any of them. I have learned +that to kill one of these dogs, no matter how great the provocation, +would certainly get me into serious trouble with the natives, who value +them very highly and consider the wilful killing of one little short of +murder; hence my forbearance. When I arrive at a threshing-floor, and +it is discovered that I am actually a human being and do not immediately +encompass the destruction of those whose courage has been equal to +awaiting my arrival, the women and children who have edged off to some +distance now approach, quite timidly though, as if not quite certain of +the prudence of trusting their eyesight as to the peaceful nature of my +mission; and the men vie with each other in their eagerness to give me +all desired information about my course; sometimes accompanying me a +considerable distance to make sure of guiding me aright. But their +contumacious canine friends seem anything but reassured of my character +or willing to suspend hostilities; in spite of the friendly attitude of +their masters and the peacefulness of the occasion generally, they make +furtive dashes through the ranks of the spectators at me as I wheel round +the small circular threshing-floor, and savagely snap at the revolving +wheels. Sometimes, after being held in check until I am out of sight +beyond a knoll, these vindictive and determined assailants will sneak +around through the fields, and, overtaking me unseen, make stealthy +onslaughts upon me from the brush; my only safety is in unremitting +vigilance. Like the dogs of most semi-civilized peoples, they are but +imperfectly trained to obey; and the natives dislike checking them in +their attacks upon anybody, arguing that so doing interferes with the +courage and ferocity of their attack when called upon for a legitimate +occasion. + +It is very questionable, to say the least, if inoffensive wayfarers +should be expected to quietly submit to the unprovoked attack of ferocious +animals large enough to tear down a man, merely in view of possibly +checking their ferocity at some other time. When capering wildly about +in an unequal contest with three or four of these animals, while conscious +of having the means at hand to give them all their quietus, one feels +as though he were at that particular moment doing as the Romans do, with +a vengeance; nevertheless, it has to be borne, and I manage to come +through with nothing worse than a rent in the leg of my riding trousers. +Finally, after fording several small streams, giving half a dozen +threshing-floor exhibitions, and running the gauntlet of no end of warlike +canines, I reach the lost Torbali trail, and, find it running parallel +with a range of hills, intersecting numberless small streams, across +which are sometimes found precarious foot-bridges consisting of a tree- +trunk felled across it from bank to bank, the work of some enterprising +peasant for his own particular benefit rather than the outcome of public +spirit. Occasionally I bowl merrily along stretches of road which nature +and the caravans together have made smooth enough even to justify a +spurt; but like a fleeting dream, this favorable locality passes to the +rearward, and is followed by another mountain-slope whose steep grade +and rough surface reads " trundle only." + +They seem the most timid people hereabout I ever saw. Few of them but +show unmistakable signs of being frightened at my approach, even when I +am trundling-the nickel-plate glistening in the sunlight, I think, +inspires them with awe even at a distance - and while climbing this hill +I am the innocent cause of the ignominious flight of a youth riding a +donkey. While yet two hundred yards away, he reins up and remains +transfixed for one transitory moment, as if making sure that his eyes +are not deceiving him, or that he is really awake, and then hastily turns +tail and bolts across the country, belaboring his long-eared charger +into quite a lively gallop in his wild anxiety to escape from my awe- +inspiring presence; and as he vanishes across a field, he looks back +anxiously to reassure himself that I am not giving chase. Ere kind friends +and thoughtful well-wishers, with all their warnings of danger, are three +days' journey behind, I find myself among people who run away at my +approach. Shortly afterward I observe this bold donkey-rider half a mile +to the left, trying to pass me and gain my rear unobserved. Others whom +I meet this forenoon are more courageous; instead of resorting to flight, +they keep boldly on their general course, simply edging off to a respectful +distance from my road; some even venture to keep the road, taking care +to give me a sufficiently large margin over and above my share of the +way to insure against any possibility of giving offence; while others +will even greet me with a feeble effort to smile, and a timid, hesitating +look, as if undecided whether they are not venturing too far. Sometimes +I stop and ask these lion-hearted specimens whether I am on the right +road, when they give a hurried reply and immediately take themselves +off, as if startled at their own temerity. These, of course, are lone +individuals, with no companions to bolster up their courage or witness +their cowardice; the conduct of a party is often quite the reverse. +Sometimes they seem determined not to let me proceed without riding for +them, whether rocky ridge, sandy depression, or mountain-slope characterizes +our meeting-place, and it requires no small stock of forbearance and +tact to get away from them without bringing on a serious quarrel. They +take hold of the machine whenever I attempt to leave them, and give me +to understand that nothing but a compliance with their wishes will secure +my release; I have known them even try the effect of a little warlike +demonstration, having vague ideas of gaining their object by intimidation; +and this sort of thing is kept up until their own stock of patience is +exhausted, or until some more reasonable member of the company becomes +at last convinced that it really must be "mimkin deyil, " after all; +whereupon they let me go, ending the whole annoying, and yet really +amusing, performance by giving me the most minute particulars of the +route ahead, and parting in the best of humor. To lose one's temper on +these occasions, or to attempt to forcibly break away, is quickly +discovered to be the height of folly; they themselves are brimful of +good humor, and from beginning to end their countenances are wreathed +in smiles; although they fairly detain me prisoner the while, they would +never think of attempting any real injury to either myself or the bicycle. +Some of the more enterprising even express their determination of trying +to ride the machine themselves; but I always make a firm stand against +any such liberties as this; and, rough, half-civilized fellows though +they often are, armed, and fully understanding the advantage of numbers, +they invariably yield this point when they find me seriously determined +not to allow it. Descending into a narrow valley, I reach a road-side +khan, adjoining a thrifty-looking melon-garden - this latter a welcome +sight, since the day is warm and sultry; and a few minutes' quiet, soulful +communion with a good ripe water-melon, I think to myself, will be just +about the proper caper to indulge in after being worried with dogs, +people, small streams, and unridable hills since six o'clock. "Carpoose +?" I inquire, addressing the proprietor of the khan, who issues forth +from the stable. + +" Peefci, effendi," he answers, and goes off to the garden for the melon. +Smiling sweetly at vacancy, in joyous anticipation of the coming feast +and the soothing influence I feel sure of its exerting upon my feelings, +somewhat ruffled by the many annoyances of the morning, I seek a quiet, +shady corner, thoughtfully loosening my revolver-belt a couple of notches +ere sitting down. In a minute the khan-jee returns, and hands me a +"cucumber" about the size of a man's forearm. + +"That isn't a carpoose; I want a carpoose-a su carpoose." I explain. + +"Su carpoose, yoke" he replies; and as I have not yet reached that +reckless disregard of possible consequences to which I afterward attain, +I shrink from tempting Providence by trying conclusions with the overgrown +and untrustworthy cucumber; so bidding the khan-jee adieu, I wheel off +down the valley. I find a fair proportion of good road along this valley; +the land is rich, and though but rudely tilled, it produces wonderfully +heavy crops of grain when irrigated. Small villages, surrounded by +neglected-looking orchards and vineyards, abound at frequent intervals. +Wherever one finds an orchard, vineyard, or melon-patch, there is also +almost certain to be seen a human being evidently doing nothing but +sauntering about, or perhaps eating an unripe melon. + +This naturally creates an unfavorable impression upon a traveller's mind; +it means either that the kleptomaniac tendencies of the people necessitate +standing guard over all portable property, or that the Asiatic follows +the practice of hovering around all summer, watching and waiting for +nature to bestow her blessings upon his undeserving head. Along this +valley I meet a Turk and his wife bestriding the same diminutive donkey, +the woman riding in front and steering their long-eared craft by the +terror of her tongue in lieu of a bridle. The fearless lady halts her +steed as I approach, trundling my wheel, the ground being such that +riding is possible but undesirable. "What is that for, effendi." +inquires the man, who seems to be the more inquisitive of the two. +"Why, to bin, of course! don't you see the saddle?" says the woman, without +a moment's hesitation; and she bestows a glance of reproach upon her +worse half for thus betraying his ignorance, twisting her neck round in +order to send the glance straight at his unoffending head. This woman, +I mentally conclude, is an extraordinary specimen of her race; I never +saw a quicker-witted person anywhere; and I am not at all surprised to +find her proving herself a phenomenon in other things. When a Turkish +female meets a stranger on the road, and more especially a Frank, her +first thought and most natural impulse is to make sure that no part of +her features is visible - about other parts of her person she is less +particular. This remarkable woman, however, flings custom to the winds, +and instead of drawing the ample folds of her abbas about her, uncovers +her face entirely, in order to obtain a better view; and, being unaware +of my limited understanding, she begins discussing bicycle in quite a +chatty manner. I fancy her poor husband looks a trifle shocked at this +outrageous conduct of the partner of his joys and sorrows; but he remains +quietly and discreetly in the background; whereupon I register a silent +vow never more to be surprised at anything, for that long-suffering and +submissive being, the hen-pecked husband, is evidently not unknown even +in Asiatic Turkey. + +Another mountain-pass now has to be climbed; it is only a short distance- +perhaps two miles - but all the way up I am subjected to the disagreeable +experience of having my footsteps dogged by two armed villagers. There +is nothing significant or exceptional about their being armed, it is +true; but what their object is in stepping almost on my heels for the +whole distance up the acclivity is beyond my comprehension. Uncertain +whether their intentions are honest or not, it is anything but reassuring +to have them following within sword's reach of one's back, especially +when trundling a bicycle up a lonely mountain-trail. I have no right to +order them back or forward, neither do I care to have them think I +entertain suspicions of their intentions, for in all probability they +are but honest villagers, satisfying their curiosity in their own peculiar +manner, and doubtless deriving additional pleasure from seeing one of +their fellow-mortals laboriously engaged while they leisurely follow. +We all know how soul-satisfying it is for some people to sit around and +watch their fellow-man saw wood. Whenever I halt for a breathing-spell +they do likewise; when I continue on, they promptly take up their line +of march, following as before in silence; and when the summit is reached, +they seat themselves on a rock and watch my progress down the opposite +slope. + +A couple of miles down grade brings me to Torbali, a place of several +thousand inhabitants with a small covered bazaar and every appearance +of a thriving interior town, as thrift goes in Asia Minor. It is high +noon, and I immediately set about finding the wherewithal to make a +substantial meal. I find that upon arriving at one of these towns, the +best possible disposition to make of the bicycle is to deliver it into +the hands of some respectable Turk, request him to preserve it from the +meddlesome crowd, and then pay no further attention to it until ready +to start. Attempting to keep watch over it oneself is sure to result in +a dismal failure, whereas an Osmanli gray-beard becomes an ever-willing +custodian, regards its safe-keeping as appealing to his honor, and will +stand guard over it for hours if necessary, keeping the noisy and curious +crowds of his townspeople at a respectful distance "by brandishing a +thick stick at anyone who ventures to approach too near. These men will +never accept payment for this highly appreciated service, it seems to +appeal to the Osmanli's spirit of hospitality; they seem happy as clams +at high tide while gratuitously protecting my property, and I have known +them to unhesitatingly incur the displeasure of their own neighbors by +officiously carrying the bicycle off into an inner room, not even granting +the assembled people the harmless privilege of looking at it from a +distance - for there might be some among the crowd possessed of the fenna +ghuz (evil eye), and rather than have them fix their baleful gaze upon +the important piece of property left under his charge by a stranger, he +chivalrously braves the displeasure of his own people; smiling complacently +at their shouts of disapproval, he triumphantly bears it out of their +sight and from the fell influence of the possible fenna ghuz. Another +strange and seemingly paradoxical phase of these occasions is that when +the crowd is shouting out its noisiest protests against the withdrawal +of the machine from popular inspection, any of the protestors will eagerly +volunteer to help carry the machine inside, should the self-important +personage having it in custody condescend to make the slightest intimation +that such service would be acceptable. Handing over the bicycle, then, +to the safe-keeping of a respectable kahuay-jee (coffee khan employee) +I sally forth in quest of eatables. The kah vay-jee has it immediately +carried inside and set up on one of the divans, in which elevated position +he graciously permits it to be gazed upon by the people, who swarm into +his khan in such numbers as to make it impossible for him to transact +any business. "Under the guidance of another volunteer, who, besides +acting the part of guide, takes particular care that I get lumping weight, +etc., I proceed to the ett-jees and procure some very good mutton-chops, +and from there to the ekmek-jees for bread. This latter person straightway +volunteers to cook my chops. Sending to his residence for a tin dish, +some chopped onions and butter, he puts them in his oven, and in a few +minutes sets them before me, browned and buttered. Meanwhile, he has +despatched a youth somewhere on another errand, who now returns and +supplements the savory chops with a small dish of honey in the comb and +some green figs. Seated on the generous-hearted ekmek-jee's dough-board, +I make a dinner good enough for anybody. + +While discussing these acceptable viands, I am somewhat startled at +hearing one of the worst "cuss-words " in the English language repeated +several times by one of the two Turks engaged in the self-imposed duty +of keeping people out of the place while I am eating - a kindly piece of +courtesy that wins for them my warmest esteem. The old fellow proves to +be a Crimean veteran, and, besides a much-prized medal he brought back +with him, he somehow managed to acquire this discreditable, perhaps, but +nevertheless unmistakable, memento of having at some time or other +campaigned it with "Tommy Atkins." I try to engage him in conversation, +but find that he doesn't know another solitary word of English. He simply +repeats the profane expression alluded to in a parrot-like manner without +knowing anything of its meaning; has, in fact, forgotten whether it is +English, French, or Italian. He only knows it as a "Frank" expression, +and in that he is perfectly right: it is a frank expression, a very frank +expression indeed. As if determined to do something agreeable in return +for the gratifying interest I seem to be taking in him on account of +this profanity, he now disappears, and shortly returns with a young man, +who turns out to be a Greek, and the only representative of Christendom +in Torbali. The old Turk introduces him as a "Ka-ris-ti-ahn " (Christian) +and then, in reply to questioners, explains to the interested on-lookers +that, although an Englishman, and, unlike the Greeks, friendly to the +Turks, I also am a " Ka-ris-ti-ahn; " one of those queer specimens of +humanity whose perverse nature prevents them from embracing the religion +of the Prophet, and thereby gaining an entrance into the promised land +of the kara ghuz kiz (black-eyed houris). During this profound exposition +of my merits and demerits, the wondering people stare at me with an +expression on their faces that plainly betrays their inability to +comprehend so queer an individual; they look as if they think me the +oddest specimen they have ever met, and taking into due consideration +my novel mode of conveyance, and that many Torbali people never before +saw an Englishman, this is probably not far from a correct interpretation +of their thoughts. + +Unfortunately, the streets and environments of Torbali are in a most +wretched condition; to escape sprained ankles it is necessary to walk +with a great deal of caution, and the idea of bicycling through them +is simply absurd. Nevertheless the populace turns out in high glee, and +their expectations run riot as I relieve the kahvay-jee of his faithful +vigil and bring forth my wheel. They want me to bin in their stuffy +little bazaar, crowded with people and donkeys; mere alley-ways with +scarcely a twenty yard stretch from one angle to another; the surface +is a disorganized mass of holes and stones over which the wary and +hesitative donkey picks his way with the greatest care; and yet the +popular clamor is "Bin, bin; bazaar, bazaar." The people who have been +showing me how courteously and considerately it is possible for Turks +to treat a stranger, now seem to have become filled with a determination +not to be convinced by anything I say to the contrary; and one of the +most importunate and headstrong among them sticks his bearded face almost +up against my own placid countenance (I have already learned to wear an +unruffled, martyr-like expression on these howling occasions) and fairly +shrieks out, "Bin! bin!" as though determined to hoist me iuto the saddle, +whether or no, by sheer force of his own desire to see me there. This +person ought to know better, for he wears the green turban of holiness, +proving him to have made a pilgrimage to Mecca, but the universal desire +to see the bicycle ridden seems to level all distinctions. All this +tumult, it must not be forgotten, is carried on in perfect good humor; +but it is, nevertheless, very annoying to have it seem that I am too +boorish to repay their kindness by letting them see me ride; even walking +out of town to avoid gratifying them, as some of them doubtless think. +These little embarrassments are some of the penalties of not knowing +enough of the language to be able to enter into explanations. Learning +that there is a piece of wagon-road immediately outside the town, I +succeed in silencing the clamor to so mo extent by promising to ride +when the araba yole is reached; whereupon hundreds come flocking out of +town, following expectantly at my heels. Consoling myself with the thought +that perhaps I will be able to mount and shake the clamorous multitude +off by a spurt, the promised araba yole is announced; but the fates are +plainly against me to-day, for I find this road leading up a mountain +slope from the very beginning. The people cluster expectantly around, +while I endeavor to explain that they are doomed to disappointment - that +to be disappointed in their expectations to see the araba ridden is +plainly their kismet, for the hill is too steep to be ridden. They laugh +knowingly and give me to understand that they are not quite such simpletons +as to think that an araba cannot be ridden along an araba yole. " This +is an araba yole," they argue, "you are riding an araba; we have seen +even our own clumsily-made arabas go up here time and again, therefore +it is evident that you are not sincere," and they gather closer around +and spend another ten minutes in coaxing. It is a ridiculous position +to be in; these people use the most endearing terms imaginable; some of +them kiss the bicycle and would get down and kiss my dust-begrimed +moccasins if I would permit it; at coaxing they are the most persevering +people I ever saw. To. convince them of the impossibility of riding up +the hill I allow a muscular young Turk to climb into the saddle and try +to propel himself forward while I hold him up. This has the desired +effect, and they accompany me farther up the slope to where they fancy +it to be somewhat less steep, a score of all too-willing hands being +extended to assist in trundling the machine. Here again I am subjected +to another interval of coaxing; and this same annoying programme is +carried out several times before I obtain my release. They are the most +headstrong, persistent people I have yet encountered; the natural pig- +headed disposition of the "unspeakable Turk" seems to fairly run riot +in this little valley, which at the point where Torbali is situated +contracts to a mere ravine between rugged heights. + +For a full mile up the mountain road, and with a patient insistence quite +commendable in itself, they persist in their aggravating attentions; +aggravating, notwithstanding that they remain in the best of humor, and +treat me with the greatest consideration in every other respect, promptly +and severely checking any unruly conduct among the youngsters, which +once or twice reveals itself in the shape of a stone pitched into the +wheel, or some other pleasantry peculiar to the immature Turkish mind. +At length one enterprising young man, with wild visions of a flying +wheelman descending the mountain road with lightning-like velocity, comes +prominently to the fore, and unblushingly announces that they have been +bringing me along the wrong road; and, with something akin to exultation +in his gestures, motions for me to turn about and ride back. Had the +others seconded this brilliant idea there was nothing to prevent me from +being misled by the statement; but his conduct is at once condemned; for +though pig-headed, they are honest of heart, and have no idea of resorting +to trickery to gain their object. It now occurs to me that perhaps if I +turn round and ride down hill a short distance they will see that my +trundling up hill is really a matter of necessity instead of choice, and +thus rid me of their undesirable presence. Hitherto the slope has been +too abrupt to admit of any such thought, but now it becomes more gradual. +As I expected, the proposition is heralded with unanimous shouts of +approval, and I take particular care to stipulate that after this they +are to follow me no farther; any condition is acceptable to them as long +as it includes seeing how the thing is ridden. It is not without certain +misgivings that I mount and start cautiously down the declivity between +two rows of turbaned and fez-bedecked heads, for I have not yet forgotten +the disagreeable actions of the mob at Adrianople in running up behind +and giving the bicycle vigorous forward pushes, a proceeding that would +be not altogether devoid of danger here, for besides the gradient, one +side of the road is a yawning chasm. These people, however, confine +themselves solely to howling with delight, proving themselves to be well- +meaning and comparatively well-behaved after all. Having performed my +part of the compact, a few of the leading men shake hands, and express +their gratitude and well-wishes; and after calling back several youngsters +who seem unwilling to abide by the agreement forbidding them to follow +any farther, the whole noisy company proceed along footpaths leading +down the cliffs to town, which is in plain view almost immediately below. + +The entire distance between Torbali and Keshtobek, where tomorrow forenoon +I cross over into the vilayet of Angora, is through a rough country for +bicycling. Forest-clad mountains, rocky gorges, and rolling hills +characterize the landscape; rocky passes lead over mountains where the +caravans, engaged in the exportation of mohair ever since that valuable +commodity first began to be exported, have worn ditch-like trails through +ridges of solid rock three feet in depth; over the less rocky and +precipitous hills beyond a comprehensive view is obtained of the country +ahead, and these time-honored trails are seen leading in many directions, +ramifying the country like veins of one common system, which are necessarily +drawn together wherever there is but one pass. Parts of these commercial +by-ways are frequently found to be roughly hedged with wild pear and +other hardy shrubs indigenous to the country-the relics of by-gone days, +planted when these now barren hills were cultivated, to protect the +growing crops from depredation. Old mill-stones with depressions in the +centre, formerly used for pounding corn in, and pieces of hewn masonry +are occasionally seen as one traverses these ancient trails, marking the +site of a village in days long past, when cultivation and centres of +industry were more conspicuous features of Asia Minor than they are to- +day; lone graves and graves in clusters, marked by rude unchiselled +headstones or oblong mounds of bowlders, are frequently observed, +completing the scene of general decay. While riding along these tortuous +ways, the smooth-worn camel-paths sometimes affording excellent wheeling, +the view ahead is often obstructed by the untrimmed hedges on either +side, and one sometimes almost comes into collision, in turning a bend, +with horsemen, wild-looking, armed formidably in the manner peculiar to +the country, as though they were assassins stealing forth under cover. +Occasionally a female bestriding a donkey suddenly appears but twenty +or thirty yards ahead, the narrowness and the crookedness of the hedged-in +trail favoring these abrupt meetings; shrouded perhaps in a white abbas, +and not infrequently riding a white donkey, they seldom fail to inspire +thoughts of ghostly equestriennes gliding silently along these now half- +deserted pathways. Many a hasty but sincere appeal is made to Allah by +these frightened ladies as they fancy themselves brought suddenly face +to face with the evil one; more than once this afternoon I overhear that +agonizing appeal for providential aid and protection of which I am the +innocent cause. The second thought of the lady - as if it occurred to her +that with any portion of her features visible she would be adjudged +unworthy of divine interference in her behalf - is to make sure that her +yashmak is not disarranged, and then comes a mute appeal to her attendant, +if she have one, for some explanation of the strange apparition so +suddenly and unexpectedly confronting them. + +In view of the nature of the country and the distance to Keshtobek, I +have no idea of being able to reach that place to-night, and when I +arrive at the ruins of an old mud-built khan, at dusk, I conclude to sup +off the memories of my excellent dinner and a piece of bread I have in +my pocket, and avail myself of its shelter for the night. While eating +my frugal repast, up ride three mule-teers, who, after consulting among +themselves some minutes, finally picket their animals and prepare to +join my company; whether for all night or only to give their animals a +feed of grass, I am unable to say. Anyhow, not liking the idea of spending +the whole night, or any part of it, in these unfrequented hills with +three ruffianly-looking natives, I again take up my line of march along +mountain mule-paths for some three miles farther, when I descend into a +small valley, and it being too dark to undertake the task of pitching +my tent, I roll myself up in it instead. Soothed by the music of a +babbling brook, I am almost asleep, when a glorious meteor shoots athwart +the sky, lighting up the valley with startling vividness for one brief +moment, and then the dusky pall of night descends, and I am gathered +into the arms of Morpheus. Toward morning it grows chilly, and I am but +fitfully dozing in the early gray, when I am awakened by the bleating +and the pattering feet of a small sea of Angora goats. Starting up, I +discover that I am at that moment the mysterious and interesting subject +of conversation between four goatherds, who have apparently been quietly +surveying my sleeping form for some minutes. Like our covetous friends +beyond the Kara Su Pass, these early morning acquaintances are unlovely +representatives of their profession; their sword-blades are half naked, +the scabbards being rudely fashioned out of two sections of wood, roughly +shaped to the blade, and bound together at top and bottom with twine; +in addition to which are bell-mouthed pistols, half the size of a Queen +Bess blunderbuss. This villainous-looking quartette does not make "a +very reassuring picture in the foreground of one's waking moments, but +they are probably the most harmless mortals imaginable; anyhow, after +seeing me astir, they pass onl with their flocks and herds without even +submitting me to the customary catechizing. The morning light reveals +in my surroundings a most charming little valley, about half a mile wide, +walled in on the south by towering mountains covered with a forest of +pine and cedar, and on the north by low, brush-covered hills; a small +brook dances along the middle, and thin pasturage and scattered clumps +of willow fringe the stream. Three miles down the valley I arrive at a +roadside khan, where I obtain some hard bread that requires soaking in +water to make it eatable, and some wormy raisins; and from this choice +assortment I attempt to fill the aching void of a ravenous appetite; +with what success I leave to the reader's imagination. Here the khan-jee +and another man deliver themselves of one of. those strange requests +peculiar to the Asiatic Turk. They pool the contents of their respective +treasuries, making in all perhaps, three medjedis, and, with the simplicity +of children whose minds have not yet dawned upon the crooked ways of a +wicked world, they offer me the money in exchange for my Whitehouse +leather case with its contents. They have not the remotest idea of what +the case contains; but their inquisitiveness apparently overcomes all +other considerations. Perhaps, however, their seemingly innocent way of +offering me the money may be their own peculiar deep scheme of inducing +me to reveal the nature of its contents. For a short distance down the +valley I find road that is generally ridable, when it contracts to a +mere ravine, and the only road is the bowlder strewn bed of the stream, +which is now nearly dry, but in the spring is evidently a raging torrent. +An hour of this delectable exercise, and I emerge into a region of +undulating hills, among which are scattered wheat-fields and clusters +of mud-hovels which it would be a stretch of courtesy to term villages. +Here the poverty of the soil, or of the water-supply, is heralded to +every observant eye by the poverty-stricken appearance of , the villagers. +As I wheel along, I observe that these poor half-naked wretches are +gathering their scant harvest by the laborious process of pulling it up +by the roots, and carrying it to their common threshing-floor on donkeys' +backs. Here, also, I come to a camp of Turkish gypsies; they are dark- +skinned, with an abundance of long black hair dangling about their +shoulders, like our Indians; the women and larger girls are radiant in +scarlet calico and other high-colored fabrics, and they wear a profusion +of bead necklaces, armlets, anklets, and other ornaments dear to the +semi-savage mind; the younger children are as wild and as innocent of +clothing as their boon companions, the dogs. The men affect the fez and +general Turkish style of dress, with many unorthodox trappings and +embellishments, however; and with their own wild appearance, their high- +colored females, naked youngsters, wolfish-looking dogs, picketed horses, +and smoke-browned tents, they make a scene that, for picturesqueness, +can give odds even to the wigwam-villages of Uncle Sam's Crow scouts, +on the Little Big Horn River, Montana Territory, which is saying a good +deal. Twelve miles from my last night's rendezvous, I pass through +Keshtobek, a village that has evidently seen better days. The ruins of +a large stone khan take up all the central portion of the place; massive +gateways of hewn stone, ornamented by the sculptor's chisel, are still +standing, eloquent monuments of a more prosperous era. The unenterprising +descendants of the men who erected this substantial and commodious retreat +for passing caravans and travellers are now content to house themselves +and their families in tumble-down hovels, and to drift aimlessly and +unambitiously along on wretched fare and worse clothes, from the cradle +to the grave. The Keshtobek people seem principally interested to know +why I am travelling without any zaptieh escort; a stranger travelling +through these wooded mountains, without guard or guide, and not being +able to converse with the natives, seems almost beyond their belief. +When they ask me why I have no zaptieh, I tell them I have one, and show +them the Smith & Wesson. They seem to regard this as a very witty remark, +and say to each other: "He is right; an English effendi and an American +revolver don't require any zapliehs to take care of them, they are quite +able to look out for themselves." From Keshtobek my road leads down +another small valley, and before long I find myself in the Angora vilayet, +bowling briskly eastward over a most excellent road; not the mule-paths +of an hour ago, but a broad, well-graded highway, as good, clear into +Nalikhan, as the roads of any New England State. This sudden transition +is not unnaturally productive of some astonishment on my part, and +inquiries at Nalikhan result in the information that my supposed graded +wagon-road is nothing less than the bed of a proposed railway, the +preliminary grading for which has been finished between Keshtobek and +Angora for some time. + +This valley seems to be the gateway into a country entirely different +from what I have hitherto traversed. Unlike the forest-crowned mountains +and shrubbery hills of this morning, the mountains towering aloft on +every hand are now entirely destitute of vegetation; but they are in +nowise objectionable to look upon on that account, for they have their +own peculiar features of loveliness. Various colored rocks and clays +enter into their composition; their giant sides are fantastically streaked +and seamed with blue, yellow, green, and red; these variegated masses +encompassing one round about on every side are a glorious sight-they are +more interesting, more imposing, more grand and impressive even than the +piny heights of Kodjaili. Many of these mountains bear evidence of mineral +formation, and anywhere in the Occident would be the scene of busy +operations. In Constantinople I heard an English mineralist, who has +lived many years in the country, express the belief that there is more +mineral buried in these Asia Minor hills than in a corresponding area +in any other part of the world; that he knew people who for years have +had their eye on certain localities of unusual promise waiting patiently +for the advantages of mineral development to dawn upon the sluggish mind +of Osmanli statesmen. At present it is useless to attempt prospecting, +for there is no guarantee of security; no sooner is anything of value +discovered than the finder is embarrassed by imperial taxes, local taxes, +backsheesh, and all manner of demands on his resources, often ending in +having everything coolly confiscated by the government; which, like the +dog in the manger, will do nothing with it, and is perfectly contented +and apathetic so long as no one else is reaping any benefit from it. + +The general ridableness of this chemin de fer, as the natives have been +taught to call it, proves not to be without certain disadvantages, for +during the afternoon I unwittingly manage to do considerable mischief. +Suddenly meeting two horsemen, when bowling at a moderate pace around a +bend, the horse of one takes violent exception to my intrusion, and, in +spite of the excellent horsemanship of his rider, backs down into a small +ravine, both horse and rider coming to grief in some water at the bottom. +Fortunately, neither man nor horse sustained any more serious injury +than a few scratches and bruises, though it might easily have resulted +in broken bones. Soon after this affair, another donkey-rider takes to +his heels, or rather to his donkey's heels across country, and his long- +eared and generally sure-footed charger ingloriously comes to earth; but +I feel quite certain that no damage is sustained in this case, for both +steed and rider are instantly on their feet; the bold steeple-chaser +looks wildly and apprehensively toward me, but observing that I am giving +chase, it dawns upon his mind that I am perhaps after all a human being, +whereupon he refrains from further flight. + +Wheeling down the gentle declivity of a broad, smooth road that almost +deserves the title of boulevard, leading through the vineyards and gardens +of Nalikhan's environments, at quite a rattling pace, I startle a quarry +of four dears (deers) robed in white mantles, who, the moment they observe +the strange apparition approaching them at so vengeful a speed, bolt +across a neighboring vineyard like the all-possessed. The rapidity of +their movements, notwithstanding the impedimenta of their flowing shrouds, +readily suggests the idea of a quarry of dears (deer), but whether they +are pretty dears or not, of course, their yashmaks fail to reveal; but +in return for the beaming smile that lights up our usually solemn-looking +countenance at their ridiculously hasty flight, as a reciprocation pure +and simple, I suppose we ought to give them the benefit of the doubt. + +The evening at Nalikhan is a comparatively happy occasion; it is Friday, +the Mussulman Sabbath; everybody seems fairly well-dressed for a Turkish +interior town; and, more important than all, there is a good, smooth +road on which to satisfy the popular curiosity; on 'this latter fact +depends all the difference between an agreeable and a disagreeable time, +and at Nalikhan everything passes off pleasantly for all concerned. Apart +from the novelty of my conveyance, few Europeans have ever visited these +interior places under the same conditions as myself. They have usually +provided themselves beforehand with letters of introduction to the pashas +and mudirs of the villages, who have entertained them as their guests +during their stay. On the contrary, I have seen fit to provide myself +with none of these way-smoothing missives, and, in consequence of my +linguistic shortcomings, immediately upon reaching a town I have to +surrender myself, as it were, to the intelligence and good-will of the +common people; to their credit be it recorded, I can invariably count +on their not lacking at least the latter qualification. The little khan +I stop at is, of course, besieged by the usual crowd, but they are a +happy-hearted, contented people, bent on lionizing me the best they know +how; for have they not witnessed my marvellous performance of riding an +araba, a beautiful web-like araba, more beautiful than any makina they +ever saw before, and in a manner that upsets all their previous ideas +of equilibrium. Have I not proved how much I esteem them by riding over +and over again for fresh batches of new arrivals, until the whole +population has seen the performance. And am I not hobnobbing and making +myself accessible to the people, instead of being exclusive and going +straightway to the pasha's, shutting myself up and permitting none but +a few privileged persons to intrude upon my privacy . All these things +appeal strongly to the better nature of the imaginative Turks, and not +a moment during the whole evening am I suffered to be unconscious of +their great appreciation of it all. A bountiful supper of scrambled eggs +fried in butter, and then the miilazim of zaptiehs takes me under his +special protection and shows me around the town. He shows me where but +a few days ago the Nalikhan bazaar, with all its multifarious merchandise, +was destroyed by fire, and points out the temporary stalls, among the +black ruins, that have been erected by the pasha for the poor merchants +who, with heavy hearts and doleful countenance, are trying to recuperate +their shattered fortunes. He calls my attention to two-story wooden +houses and other modest structures, which, in the simplicity of his +Asiatic soul, he imagines are objects of interest; and then he takes me +to the headquarters of his men, and sends out for coffee in order to +make me literally his guest. Here, in his office, he calls my attention +to a chromo hanging on the wall, which he says came from Stamboul - +Stamboul, where the Asiatic Turk fondly imagines all wonderful things +originate.This chromo is certainly a wonderful thing in its way. It +represents an English trooper in the late Soudan expedition kneeling behind +the shelter of a dead camel, and with a revolver in each hand keeping at +bay a crowd of Arab spearmen. The soldier is badly wounded, but with +smoking revolvers and an evident determination to die hard, he has checked, +and is still checking, the advance of somewhere about ten thousand Arab +troops. No wonder the people of Keshtobek thought an Englishman and a +revolver quite safe in travelling without zaptiehs; some of them had +probably been to Nalikhan and seen this same chromo. + +When it grows dark the mulazim takes me to the public coffee-garden, +near the burned bazaar, a place which ia really no garden at all only +some broad, rude benches encircling a round water-tank or fountain, and +which is fenced in with a low, wabbly picket-fence. Seated crossed-legged +on the benches are a score of sober-sided Turks, smoking nargilehs and +cigarettes, and sipping coffee; the feeble light dispensed by a lantern +on top of a pole in the centre of the tank makes the darkness of the +"garden" barely visible; a continuous splashing of water, the result of +the overflow from a pipe projecting three feet above the surface, furnishes +the only music; the sole auricular indication of the presence of patrons +is when some customer orders "kahvay" or "nargileh" in a scarcely +audible tone of voice; and this is the Turk's idea of an evening's +enjoyment. + +Returning to the khan, I find it full of happy people looking at the +bicycle; commenting on the wonderful marifet (skill) apparent in its +mechanism, and the no less marvellous marifet required in riding it. +They ask me if I made it myself and hatch-lira ? (how many liras ?) and +then requesting the privilege of looking at my teskeri they find rare +amusement in comparing my personal charms with the description of my +form and features as interpreted by the passport officer in Galata. Two +men among them have in some manner picked up a sand from the sea-shore +of the English language. One of them is a very small sand indeed, the +solitary negative phrase, "no;" nevertheless, during the evening he +inspires the attentive auditors with respect for his linguistic +accomplishments by asking me numerous questions, and then, anticipating +a negative reply, forestalls it himself by querying, "No?" The other +"linguist" has in some unaccountable manner added the ability to say +"Good morning " to his other accomplishments; and when about time to +retire, and the crowd reluctantly bestirs itself to depart from the +magnetic presence of the bicycle, I notice an extraordinary degree of +mysterious whispering and suppressed amusement going on among them, and +then they commence filing slowly out of the door with the "linguistic +person" at their head; as that learned individual reaches the threshold +he turns toward we, makes a salaam and says, "Good-morning," and everyone +of the company, even down to the irrepressible youngster who was cuffed +a minute ago for venturing to twirl a pedal, and who now forms the rear- +guard of the column, likewise makes a salaam and says, "Good-morning." + +Quilts are provided for me, and I spend the night on the divan of the +khan; a few roving mosquitoes wander in at the open window and sing their +siren songs around my couch, a few entomological specimens sally forth +from their permanent abode in the lining of the quilts to attack me and +disturb my slumbers; but later experience teaches me to regard my slumbers +to-night as comparatively peaceful and undisturbed. In the early morning +I am awakened by the murmuring voices of visitors gathering to see me +off; coffee is handed to me ere my eyes are fairly open, and the savory +odor of eggs already sizzling in the pan assail my olfactory nerves. The +khan-jee is an Osmanli and a good Mussulman, and when ready to depart I +carelessly toss him my purse and motion for him to help himself-a thing +I would not care to do with the keeper of a small tavern in any other +country or of any other nation. Were he entertaining me in a private +capacity he would feel injured at any hint of payment; but being a khan- +jee, he opens the purse and extracts a cherik - twenty cents. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + + + +BEY BAZAAR, ANGORA, AND EASTWARD. + +A Trundle of half an hour up the steep slopes leading out of another of +those narrow valleys in which all these towns are situated, and then +comes a gentle declivity extending with but little interruption for +several miles, winding in and out among the inequalities of an elevated +table-land. The mountain-breezes blow cool and exhilarating, and just +before descending into the little Charkhan Valley I pass some interesting +cliffs of castellated rocks, the sight of which immediately wafts my +memory back across the thousands of miles of land and water to what they +are almost a counterpart of the famous castellated rocks of Green River, +Wyo. Ter. Another scary youth takes to his heels as I descend into the +valley and halt at the village of Charkhan, a mere shapeless cluster of +mud-hovels. Before one of these a ragged agriculturist solemnly presides +over a small heap of what I unfortunately mistake at the time for pumpkins. +I say "unfortunately," because after-knowledge makes it highly probable +that they were the celebrated Charhkan musk-melons, famous far and wide +for their exquisite flavor; the variety can be grown elsewhere, but, +strange to say, the peculiar, delicate flavor which makes them so +celebrated is absent when they vegetate anywhere outside this particular +locality. It is supposed to be owing to some peculiar mineral properties +of the soil. The Charkhan Valley is a wild, weird-looking region, looking +as if it were habitually subjected to destructive downpourings of rain, +that have washed the grand old mountains out of all resemblance to +neighboring ranges round about. They are of a soft, shaly composition, +and are worn by the elements into all manner of queer, fantastic shapes; +this, together with the same variegated colors observed yesterday +afternoon, gives them a distinctive appearance not easily forgotten. +They are " grand, gloomy, and peculiar; " especially are they peculiar. +The soil of the valley itself seems to be drift-mud from the surrounding +hills; a stream furnishes water sufficient to irrigate a number of rice- +fields, whose brilliant emerald hue loses none of its brightness from +being surrounded by a framework of barren hills. + +Ascending from this interesting locality my road now traverses a dreary, +monotonous district of whitish, sun-blistered hills, water-less and +verdureless for fourteen miles. The cool, refreshing breezes of early +morning have been dissipated by the growing heat of the sun; the road +continues fairly good, and while riding I am unconscious of oppressive +heat; but the fierce rays of the sun blisters my neck and the backs of +my hands, turning them red and causing the skin to peel off a few days +afterward, besides ruining a section of my gossamer coat exposed on top +of the Lamson carrier. The air is dry and thirst-creating, there is +considerable hill-climbing to be done, and long ere the fourteen miles +are covered I become sufficiently warm and thirsty to have little thought +of anything else but reaching the means of quenching thirst. Away off +in the distance ahead is observed a dark object, whose character is +indistinct through the shimmering radiation from the heated hills, but +which, upon a nearer approach, proves to be a jujube-tree, a welcome +sentinel in those arid regions, beckoning the thirsty traveller to a +never-failing supply of water. At the jujube-tree I find a most magnificent +fountain, pouring forth at least twenty gallons of delicious cold water +to the minute. The spring has been walled up and a marble spout inserted, +which gushes forth a round, crystal column, as though endeavoring to +compensate for the prevailing aridness and to apologize to the thirsty +wayfarer for the inhospitableness of its surroundings. Miles away to the +northward, perched high up among the ravines of a sun-baked mountain-spur, +one can see a circumscribed area of luxuriant foliage. This conspicuous +oasis in the desert marks the source of the beautiful road-side fountain, +which traverses a natural subterranean passage-way between these two +distant points. These little isolated clumps of waving trees, rearing +their green heads conspicuously above the surrounding barrenness, are +an unerring indication of both water and human habitations. Often one +sees them suddenly when least expected, nestling in a little depression +high up some mountain-slope far away, the little dark-green area looking +almost black in contrast with the whitish color of the hills. These are +literally "oases in the desert," on a small scale, and although from a +distance no sign of human habitations appeal, since they are but mud- +hovels corresponding in color to the hills themselves, a closer examination +invariably reveals well-worn donkey-trails leading from different +directions to the spot, and perchance a white-turbaned donkey-rider +slowly wending his way along a trail. + +The heat becomes almost unbearable; the region of treeless, shelterless +hills continues to characterize my way, and when, at two o'clock P.M., +I reach the town of Bey Bazaar, I conclude that the thirty-nine miles +already covered is the limit of discretion to-day, considering the +oppressive heat, and seek the friendly accommodation of a khan. There I +find that while shelter from the fierce heat of the sun is obtainable, +peace and quiet are altogether out of the question. Bey Bazaar is a place +of eight thousand inhabitants, and the khan at once becomes the objective +point of, it seems to me, half the population. I put the machine up on +a barricaded yattack-divan, and climb up after it; here I am out of the +meddlesome reach of the " madding crowd," but there is no escaping from +the bedlam-like clamor of their voices, and not a few, yielding to their +uncontrollable curiosity, undertake to invade my retreat; these invariably +"skedaddle" respectfully at my request, but new-comers are continually +intruding. The tumult is quite deafening, and I should certainly not be +surprised to have the khan-jee request me to leave the place, on the +reasonable ground that my presence is, under the circumstances, detrimental +to his interests, since the crush is so great that transacting business +is out of the question. The khan-jee, however, proves to be a speculative +individual, and quite contrary thoughts are occupying his mind. His +subordinate, the kahvay-jee, presents himself with mournful countenance +and humble attitude, points with a perplexed air to the surging mass of +fezzes, turbans, and upturned Turkish faces, and explains - what needs no +explanation other than the evidence of one's own eyes - that he cannot +transact his business of making coffee. + +"This is your khan," I reply; "why not turn them out." "Mashallah, +effendi. I would, but for everyone I turned out, two others would come +in-the sons of burnt fathers." he says, casting a reproachful look down +at the straggling crowd of his fellow-countrymen. + +"What do you propose doing, then?" I inquire. "Katch para, effendi," +he answers, smiling approvingly at his own suggestion. + +The enterprising kahvay-jee advocates charging them an admission fee +of five paras (half a cent) each as a measure of protection, both for +himself and me, proposing to make a "divvy" of the proceeds. Naturally +enough the idea of making a farthing show of either myself or the bicycle +is anything but an agreeable proposition, but it is plainly the only way +of protecting the kahvay-jee and his khan from being mobbed all the +afternoon and far into the night by a surging mass of inquisitive people; +so I reluctantly give him permission to do whatever he pleases to protect +himself. I have no idea of the financial outcome of the speculative khan- +jee's expedient, but the arrangement secures me to some extent from the +rabble, though not to any appreciable extent from being worried. The +people nearly drive me out of my seven senses with their peculiar ideas +of making themselves agreeable, and honoring me; they offer me cigarettes, +coffee, mastic, cognac, fruit, raw cucumbers, melons, everything, in +fact, but the one thing I should really appreciate - a few minutes quiet, +undisturbed, enjoyment of my own company; this is not to be secured by +locking one's self in a room, nor by any other expedient I have yet tried +in Asia. After examining the bicycle, they want to see my "Alla Franga" +watch and my revolver; then they want to know how much each thing +costs, and scores of other things that appeal strongly to their excessively +inquisitive natures. + +One old fellow, yearning for a closer acquaintance, asks me if I ever +saw the wonderful "chu, chu, chu! chemin defer at Stamboul," adding that +he has seen it and intends some day to ride on it; another hands me a +Crimean medal, and says he fought against the Muscovs with the "Ingilis," +while a third one solemnly introduces himself as a "makinis " (machinist), +fancying, I suppose, that there is some fraternal connection between +himself and me, on account of the bicycle being a makina. + +I begin to feel uncomfortably like a curiosity in a dime museum - a +position not exactly congenial to my nature; so, after enduring this +sort of thing for an hour, I appoint the kahvay-jee custodian of the +bicycle and sally forth to meander about the bazaar a while, where I can +at least have the advantage of being able to move about. Upon returning +to the khan, an hour later, I find there a man whom I remember passing +on the road; he was riding a donkey, the road was all that could be +desired, and I swept past him at racing speed, purely on the impulse of +the moment, in order to treat him to the abstract sensation of blank +amazement. This impromptu action of mine is now bearing its legitimate +fruit, for, surrounded by a most attentive audience, the wonder-struck +donkey-rider is endeavoring, by word and gesture, to impress upon them +some idea of the speed at which I swept past him and vanished round a +bend. The kahvay-jee now approaches me, puffing his cheeks out like a +penny balloon and jerking his thumb in the direction of the street door. +Seeing that I don't quite comprehend the meaning of this mysterious +facial contortion, he whispers confidentially aside, "pasha," and again +goes through the highly interesting performance of puffing out his cheeks +and winking in a knowing manner; he then says-also confidentially and +aside - "lira," winking even more significantly than before. By all this +theatrical by-play, the kahvay-jee means that the pasha - a man of +extraordinary social, political, and, above all, financial importance - has +expressed a wish to see the bicycle, and is now outside; and the kahvay-jee, +with many significant winks and mysterious hints of " lira," advises me +to take the machine outside and ride it for the pasha's special benefit. +A portion of the street near by is " ridable under difficulties; " so I +conclude to act on the kahvay-jee's suggestion, simply to see what comes +of it. Nothing particular comes of it, whereupon the kahvay-jee and his +patrons all express themselves as disgusted beyond measure because the +Pasha failed-to give me a present. Shortly after this I find myself +hobnobbing with a small company of ex-Mecca pilgrims, holy personages +with huge green turbans and flowing gowns; one of them is evidently very +holy indeed, almost too holy for human associations one would imagine, +for in addition to his green turban he wears a broad green kammer bund +and a green undergarment; he is in fact very green indeed. Then a crazy +person pushes his way forward and wants me to cure him of his mental +infirmity; at all events I cannot imagine what else he wants; the man +is crazy as a loon, he cannot even give utterance to his own mother-tongue, +but tries to express himself in a series of disjointed grunts beside +which the soul-harrowing efforts of a broken-winded donkey are quite +melodious. Someone has probably told him that I am a hakim, or a wonderful +person on general principles, and the fellow is sufficiently conscious +of his own condition to come forward and endeavor to grunt himself into +my favorable consideration. + +Later in the evening a couple of young Turkish dandies come round to the +khan and favor me with a serenade; one of them twangs a doleful melody +on a small stringed instrument, something like the Slavonian tamborica, +and the other one sings a doleful, melancholy song (nearly all songs and +tunes in Mohammedan countries seem doleful and melancholy); afterwards +an Arab camel-driver joins in with a dance, and furnishes some genuine +amusement with his hip-play and bodily contortions; this would scarcely +be considered dancing from our point of view, but it is according to the +ideas of the East. The dandies are distinguishable from the common run +of Turkish bipeds, like the same species in other countries, by the +fearful and wonderful cut of their garments. The Turkish dandy wears a +tassel to his fez about three times larger than the regulation size, and +he binds it carefully down to the fez with a red and yellow silk +handkerchief; he wears a jaunty-looking short jacket of bright blue +cloth, cut behind so that it reaches but little below his shoulder-blades; +the object of this is apparently to display the whole of the multifold +kammerbund, a wonderful, colored waist-scarf that is wound round and +round the waist many times, and which is held at one end by an assistant, +while the wearer spins round like a dancing dervish, the assistant +advancing gradually as the human bobbin takes up the length. The dandy +wears knee-breeches corresponding in color to his jacket, woollen stockings +of mingled red and black, and low, slipper-like shoes; he allows his +hair to fall about his eyes a la negligee, and affects a reckless, love- +lorn air. + +The last party of sight-seers for the day call around near midnight, +some time after I have retired to sleep; they awaken me with their +garrulous observations concerning the bicycle, which they are critically +examining close to my head with a classic lamp; but I readily forgive +them their nocturnal intrusion, since they awaken me to the first +opportunity of hearing women wailing for the dead. A dozen or so of women +are wailing forth their lamentations in the silent night but a short +distance from the khan; I can look out of a small opening in the wall +near my shake-down, and see them moving about the house and premises by +the flickering glare of torches. I could never have believed the female +form divine capable of producing such doleful, unearthly music; but there +is no telling what these shrouded forms are really capable of doing, +since the opportunity of passing one's judgment upon their accomplishments +is confined solely to an occasional glimpse of a languishing eye. The +kahvay-jee, who is acting the part of explanatory lecturer to these +nocturnal visitors, explains the meaning of the wailing by pantomimically +describing a corpse, and then goes on to explain that the smallest +imaginable proportion of the lamentations that are making night hideous +is genuine grief for the departed, most of the uproar being made by a +body of professional mourners hired for the occasion. When I awake in +the morning the unearthly wailing is still going vigorously forward, +from which I infer they have been keeping it up all night. Though gradually +becoming inured to all sorts of strange scenes and customs, the united +wailing and lamentations of a houseful of women, awakening the echoes +of the silent night, savor too much of things supernatural and unearthly +not to jar unpleasantly on the senses; the custom is, however, on the +eve of being relegated to the musty past by the Ottoman Government. + +In the larger cities where there are corpses to be wailed over every +night, it has been found so objectionable to the expanding intellects +of the more enlightened Turks that it has been prohibited as a public +nuisance, and these days it is only in such conservative interior towns +as Bey Bazaar that the custom still obtains. When about starting early +on the following morning the khanjee begs me to be seated, and then +several men who have been waiting around since before daybreak vanish +hastily through the door-way; in a few minutes I am favored with a small +company of leading citizens who, having for various reasons failed to +swell yesterday's throng, have taken the precaution to post these +messengers to watch my movements and report when I am ready to depart. +Our grunting patient, the crazy man, likewise reappears upon the scene +of my departure from the khan, and, in company with a small but eminently +respectable following, accompanies me to the brow of a bluffy hill leading +out of the depression in which Bey Bazaar snugly nestles. On the way up +he constantly gives utterance to his feelings in guttural gruntings that +make last night's lamentations seem quite earthly after all in comparison; +and when the summit is reached, and I mount and glide noiselessly away +down a gentle declivity, he uses his vocal organs in a manner that simply +defies chirographical description or any known comparison; it is the +despairing howl of a semi-lunatic at witnessing my departure without +having exercised my supposed extraordinary powers in some miraculous +manner in his behalf. The road continues as an artificial highway, but +is not continuously ridable, owing to the rocky nature of the material +used in its construction and the absence of vehicular traffic to wear +it smooth; but it is highly acceptable in the main. From Bey Bazaar +eastward it leads for several miles along a stony valley, and then through +a region that differs little from yesterday's barren hills in general +appearance, but which has the redeeming feature of being traversed here +and there by deep canons or gorges, along which meander tiny streams, +and whose wider spaces are areas of remarkably fertile soil. While +wheeling merrily along the valley road I am favored with a "peace-offering" +of a splendid bunch of grapes from a bold vintager en route, to Bey +Bazaar with a grape-laden donkey. When within a few hundred yards the +man evinces unmistakable signs of uneasiness concerning my character, +and would probably follow the bent of his inclinations and ingloriously +flee the field, but his donkey is too heavily laden to accompany him: +he looks apprehensively at my rapidly approaching figure, and then, as +if a happy thought suddenly occurs to him, he quickly takes the finest +bunch of grapes ready to hand and holds them, out toward me while I am +yet a good fifty yards away. The grapes are luscious, and the bunch +weighs fully an oke, but I should feel uncomfortably like a highwayman, +guilty of intimidating the man out of his property, were I to accept +them in the spirit in which they are offered; as it is, the honest fellow +will hardly fall to trembling in his tracks should he at any future time +again descry the centaur-like form of a mounted wheelman approaching him +in the distance. + +Later in the forenoon I descend into a canon-like valley where, among a +few scattering vineyards and jujube-trees, nestles Ayash, a place which +disputes with the neighboring village of Istanos the honor of being the +theatre of Alexander the Great's celebrated exploit of cutting the Gordian +knot that disentangled the harness of the Phrygian king. Ayash is to be +congratulated upon having its historical reminiscence to recommend it +to the notice of the outer world, since it has little to attract attention +nowadays; it is merely the shapeless jumble of inferior dwellings that +characterize the average Turkish village. As I trundle through the +crooked, ill-paved alley-way that, out of respect to the historical +association referred to, may be called its business thoroughfare, with +forethought of the near approach of noon I obtain some pears, and hand +an ekmek-jee a coin for some bread; he passes over a tough flat cake, +abundantly sufficient for my purpose, together with the change. A zaptieh, +looking on, observes that the man has retained a whole half-penny for +the bread, and orders him to fork over another cake; I refuse to take +it up, whereupon the zaptieh fulfils his ideas of justice by ordering +the ekmek-jae to give it to a ragged youth among the spectators. + +Continuing on my way I am next halted by a young man of the better class, +who, together with the zaptieh, endeavors to prevail upon me to stop, +going through the pantomime of writing and reading, to express some idea +that our mutual ignorance of each other's language prevents being expressed +in words. The result is a rather curious intermezzo. Thinking they want +to examine my teskeri merely to gratify their idle curiosity, I refuse +to be thus bothered, and, dismissing them quite brusquely, hurry along +over the rough cobble-stones in hopes of reaching ridable ground and +escaping from the place ere the inevitable "madding crowd" become +generally aware of my arrival. The young man disappears, while the zaptieh +trots smilingly but determinedly by my side, several times endeavoring +to coax me into making a halt; which is, however, promptly interpreted +by myself into a paternal plea on behalf of the villagers - a desire to +have me stop until they could be generally notified and collected - the +very thing I am hurrying along to avoid, I am already clear of the village +and trundling up the inevitable acclivity, the zaptieh and a small +gathering still doggedly hanging on, when the young man reappears, +hurriedly approaching from the rear, followed by half the village. The +zaptieh pats me on the shoulder and points back with a triumphant smile; +thinking he is referring to the rabble, I am rather inclined to be angry +with him and chide him for dogging my footsteps, when I observe the young +man waving aloft a letter, and at once understand that I have been guilty +of an ungenerous misinterpretation of their determined attentions. The +letter is from Mr. Binns, an English gentleman at Angora, engaged in the +exportation of mohair, and contains an invitation to become his guest +while at Angora. A well-deserved backsheesh to the good-natured zaptieh +and a penitential shake of the young man's hand silence the self-accusations +of a guilty conscience, and, after riding a short distance down the hill +for the satisfaction of the people, I continue on my way, trundling up +the varying gradations of a general acclivity for two miles. Away up the +road ahead I now observe a number of queer, shapeless objects, moving +about on the roadway, apparently descending the hill, and resembling +nothing so much as animated clumps of brushwood. Upon a closer approach +they turn out to be not so very far removed from this conception; they +are a company of poor Ayash peasant-women, each carrying a bundle of +camel-thorn shrubs several times larger than herself, which they have +been scouring the neighboring hills all morning to obtain for fuel. This +camel-thorn is a light, spriggy shrub, so that the size of their burthens +is large in proportion to its weight. Instead of being borne on the head, +they are carried in a way that forms a complete bushy background, against +which the shrouded form of the woman is undistinguishable a few hundred +yards away. Instead of keeping a straightforward course, the women seem +to be doing an unnecessary amount of erratic wandering about over the +road, which, until quite near, gives them the queer appearance of animated +clumps of brush dodging about among each other. I ask them whether there +is water ahead; they look frightened and hurry along faster, but one +brave soul turns partly round and points mutely in the direction I am +going. Two miles of good, ridable road now brings me to the spring, which +is situated near a two-acre swamp of rank sword-grass and bulrushes six +feet high and of almost inpenetrable thickness, which looks decidedly +refreshing in its setting of barren, gray hills; and I eat my noon-tide +meal of bread and pears to the cheery music of a thousand swamp-frog +bands which commence croaking at my approach, and never cease for a +moment to twang their tuneful lyre until I depart. The tortuous windings +of the chemin de fer finally bring me to a cul-de-sac in the hills, +terminating on the summit of a ridge overlooking a broad plain; and a +horseman I meet informs me that I am now mid way between Bey Bazaar and +Angora. While ascending this ridge I become thoroughly convinced of what +has frequently occurred to me between here and Nalikhan - that if the road +I am traversing is, as the people keep calling it, a chemin de fer, then +the engineer who graded it must have been a youth of tender age, and +inexperienced in railway matters, to imagine that trains can ever round +his curve or climb his grades. There is something about this broad, +artificial highway, and the tremendous amount of labor that has been +expended upon it, when compared with the glaring poverty of the country +it traverses, together with the wellnigh total absence of wheeled vehicles, +that seem to preclude the possibility of its having been made for a +wagon-road; and yet, notwithstanding the belief of the natives, it is +evident that it can never be the road-bed of a railway. We must inquire +about it at Angora. + +Descending into the Angora Plain, I enjoy the luxury of a continuous +coast for nearly a mile, over a road that is simply perfect for the +occasion, after which comes the less desirable performance of ploughing +through a stretch of loose sand and gravel. While engaged in this latter +occupation I overtake a zaptieh, also en route to Angora, who is letting +his horse crawl leisurely along while he concentrates his energies upon +a water-melon, evidently the spoils of a recent visitation to a melon-garden +somewhere not far off; he hands me a portion of the booty, and then +requests me to bin, and keeps on requesting me to bin at regular three- +minute intervals for the next half-hour. At the end of that time the +loose gravel terminates, and I find myself on a level and reasonably +smooth dirt road, making a shorter cut across the plain to Angora than +the chin de fer. The zaptieh is, of course, delighted at seeing me thus +mount, and not doubting but that I will appreciate his company, gives +me to understand that he will ride alongside to Angora. For nearly two +miles that sanguine but unsuspecting minion of the Turkish Government +spurs his noble steed alongside the bicycle in spite of my determined +pedalling to shake him off; but the road improves; faster spins the +whirling wheels; the zaptieh begins to lag behind a little, though still +spurring his panting horse into keeping reasonably close behind; a bend +now occurs in the road, and an intervening knoll hides iis from each +other; I put on more steam, and at the same time the zaptieh evidently +gives it up and relapses into his normal crawling pace, for when three +miles or thereabout arc covered I look back and perceive him leisurely +heaving in sight from behind the knoll. + +Part way across the plain I arrive at a fountain and make a short halt, +for the day is unpleasantly warm, and the dirt-road is covered with dust; +the government postaya araba is also halting here to rest and refresh +the horses. I have not failed to notice the proneness of Asiatics to +base their conclusions entirely on a person's apparel and general outward +appearance, for the seeming incongruity of my "Ingilis" helmet and the +Circassian moccasins has puzzled them not a little on more than one +occasion. And now one wiseacre among this party at the road-side fountain +stubbornly asserts that I cannot possibly be an Englishman because of +my wearing a mustache without side whiskers-a feature that seems to have +impressed upon his enlightened mind the unalterable conviction that I +am an "Austrian," why an Austrian any more than a Frenchman or an +inhabitant of the moon, I wonder ? and wondering, wonder in vain. Five +P.M., August 16,1885, finds me seated on a rude stone slab, one of those +ancient tombstones whose serried ranks constitute the suburban scenery +of Angora, ruefully disburdening my nether garments of mud and water, +the results of a slight miscalculation of my abilities at leaping +irrigating ditches with the bicycle for a vaulting-pole. While engaged +in this absorbing occupation several inquisitives mysteriously collect +from somewhere, as they invariably do whenever I happen to halt for a +minute, and following the instructions of the Ayash letter I inquire the +way to the "Ingilisin Adam" (Englishman's man). They pilot me through +a number of narrow, ill-paved streets leading up the sloping hill which +Angora occupies - a situation that gives the supposed ancient capital of +Galatia a striking appearance from a distance - and into the premises of +an Armenian whom I find able to make himself intelligible in English, +if allowed several minutes undisturbed possession of his own faculties +of recollection between each word - the gentleman is slow but not quite +sure. From him I learn that Mr. Binns and family reside during the summer +months at a vineyard five miles out, and that Mr. Binns will not be in +town before to-morrow morning; also that, "You are welcome to the humble +hospitality of our poor family." + +This latter way of expressing it is a revelation to me, and the leaden-heeled +and labored utterance, together with the general bearing of my volunteer +host, is not less striking; if meekness, lowliness, and humbleness, +permeating a person's every look, word, and action, constitute worthiness, +then is our Armenian friend beyond a doubt the worthiest of men. Laboring +under the impression that he is Mr. Binns' "Ingilisin Adam," I have no +hesitation about accepting his proffered hospitality for the night; and +storing the bicycle away, I proceed to make myself quite at home, in +that easy manner peculiar to one accustomed to constant change. Later +in the evening imagine my astonishment at learning that I have thus +nonchalantly quartered myself, so to speak, not on Mr. Binns' man, but +on an Armenian pastor who has acquired his slight acquaintance with my +own language from being connected with the American Mission having +headquarters at Kaisarieh. All the evening long, noisy crowds have been +besieging the pastorate, worrying the poor man nearly out of his senses +on my account; and what makes matters more annoying and lamentable, I +learn afterward that his wife has departed this life but a short time +ago, and the bereaved pastor is still bowed down with sorrow at the +affliction - I feel like kicking myself unceremoniously out of his house. +Following the Asiatic custom of welcoming a stranger, and influenced, +we may reasonably suppose, as much by their eagerness to satisfy their +consuming curiosity as anything else, the people come flocking in swarms +to the pastorate again next morning, filling the house and grounds to +overflowing, and endeavoring to find out all about me and my unheard - of +mode of travelling, by questioning the poor pastor nearly to distraction. +That excellent man's thoughts seem to run entirely on missionaries and +mission enterprises; so much so, in fact, that several negative assertions +from me fail to entirely disabuse his mind of an idea that I am in some +way connected with the work of spreading the Gospel in Asia Minor; and +coming into the room where I am engaged in the interesting occupation +of returning the salaams and inquisitive gaze of fifty ceremonious +visitors, in slow, measured words he asks, "Have you any words for these +people?" as if quite expecting to see me rise up and solemnly call upon +the assembled Mussulmans, Greeks, and Armenians to forsake the religion +of the False Prophet in the one case, and mend the error of their ways +in the other. I know well enough what they all want, though, and dismiss +them in a highly satisfactory manner by promising them that they shall +all have an opportunity of seeing the bicycle ridden before I leave +Angora. + +About ten o'clock Mr. Binns arrives, and is highly amused at the ludicrous +mistake that brought me to the Armenian pastor's instead of to his man, +with whom he had left instructions concerning me, should I arrive after +his departure in the evening for the vineyard; in return he has an amusing +story to tell of the people waylaying him on his way to his office, +telling him that an Englishman had arrived with a wonderful araba, which +he had immediately locked up in a dark room and would allow nobody to +look at it, and begging him to ask me if they might come and see it. We +spend the remainder of the forenoon looking over the town and the bazaar, +Mr. Binus kindly announcing himself as at my service for the day, and +seemingly bent on pointing out everything of interest. One of the most +curious sights, and one that is peculiar to Angora, owing to its situation +on a hill where little or no water is obtainable, is the bewildering +swarms of su-katirs (water donkeys) engaged in the transportation of +that important necessary up into the city from a stream that flows near +the base of the hill. These unhappy animals do nothing from one end of +their working lives to the other but toil, with almost machine-like +regularity and uneventfulness, up the crooked, stony streets with a dozen +large earthen-ware jars of water, and down again with the empty jars. +The donkey is sandwiched between two long wooden troughs suspended to a +rude pack-saddle, and each trough accommodates six jars, each holding +about two gallons of water; one can readily imagine the swarms of these +novel and primitive conveyances required to supply a population of thirty- +five thousand people. Upon inquiring what they do in case of a fire, I +learn that they don't even think of fighting the devouring element with +its natural enemy, but, collecting on the adjoining roofs, they smother +the flames by pelting the burning building with the soft, crumbly bricks +of which Angora is chiefly built; a house on fire, with a swarm of half- +naked natives on the neighboring housetops bombarding the leaping flames +with bricks, would certainly be an interesting sight. + +Other pity-exciting scenes besides the patient little water-carrying +donkeys are not likely to be wanting on the streets of an Asiatic city; +one case I notice merits particular mention. A youth with both arms +amputated at the shoulder, having not so much as the stump of an arm, +is riding a donkey, and persuading the unwilling animal along quite +briskly - with a stick. All Christendom could never guess how a person +thus afflicted could possibly wield a stick so as to make any impression +upon a donkey; but this ingenious person holds it quite handily between +his chin and right shoulder, and from constant practice has acquired the +ability to visit his long-eared steed with quite vigorous thwacks. + +Near noon we repair to the government house to pay a visit to Sirra +Pasha, the Vali or governor of the vilayet, who, having heard of my +arrival, has expressed a wish to have us call on him. We happen to arrive +while he is busily engaged with an important legal decision, but upon +our being announced he begs us to wait a few minutes, promising to hurry +through with the business. We are then requested to enter an adjoining +apartment, where we find the Mayor, the Cadi, the Secretary of State, +the Chief of the Angora zaptiehs, and several other functionaries, signing +documents, affixing seals, and otherwise variously occupied. At our +entrance, documents, pens, seals, and everything are relegated to temporary +oblivion, coffee and cigarettes are produced, and the journey dunianin +-athrafana (around the world) I am making with the wonderful araba becomes +the all-absorbing subject. These wise men of state entertain queer, +Asiatic notions concerning the probable object of my journey; they cannot +bring themselves to believe it possible that I am performing so great a +journey "merely as the Outing correspondent;" they think it more probable, +they say, that my real incentive is to "spite an enemy" - that, having +quarrelled with another wheelman about our comparative skill as riders, +I am wheeling entirely around the globe in order to prove my superiority, +and at the same time leave no opportunity for my hated rival to perform +a greater feat - Asiatic reasoning, sure enough. Reasoning thus, and +commenting in this wise among themselves, their curiosity becomes worked +up to the highest possible pitch, and they commence plying Mr. Binns +with questions concerning the mechanism and general appearance of the +bicycle. To facilitate Mr. Binns in his task of elucidation, I produce +from my inner coat-pocket a set of the earlier sketches illustrating the +tour across America, and for the next few minutes the set of sketches +are of more importance than all the State documents in the room. Curiously +enough, the sketch entitled "A Fair Young Mormon " attracts more attention +than any of the others. The Mayor is Suleiman Effendi, the same gentleman +mentioned at some length by Colonel Burnaby in his "On Horseback Through +Asia Minor," and one of his first questions is whether I am acquainted +with "my friend Burnaby, whose tragic death in the Soudan will never +cease to make me feel unhappy." Suleiman Effendi appears to be remarkably +intelligent, compared with many Asiatics, and, moreover, of quite a +practical turn of mind; he inquires what I should do in case of a serious +break-down somewhere in the far interior, and his curiosity to see the +bicycle is not a little increased by hearing that, notwithstanding the +extreme airiness of my strange vehicle, I have had no serious mishap on +the whole journey across two continents. Alluding to the bicycle as the +latest product of that Western ingenuity that appears so marvellous to +the Asiatic mind, he then remarks, with some animation, "The next thing +we shall see will be Englishmen crossing over to India in balloons, and +dropping down at Angora for refreshments." A uniformed servant now +announces that the Vali is at liberty, and waiting to receive us in +private audience. Following the attendant into another room, we find +Sirra Pasha seated on a richly cushioned divan, and upon our entrance +he rises smilingly to receive us, shaking us both cordially by the hand. +As the distinguished visitor of the occasion, I am appointed to the place +of honor next to the governor, while Mr. Binns, with whom, of course, +as a resident of Angora, His Excellency is already quite well acquainted, +graciously fills the office of interpreter, and enlightener of the Vali's +understanding concerning bicycles in general, and my own wheel and wheel +journey in particular. Sirra Pasha is a full-faced man of medium height, +black-eyed, black-haired, and, like nearly all Turkish pashas, is rather +inclined to corpulency. Like many prominent Turkish officials, he has +discarded the Turkish costume, retaining only the national fez; a head- +dress which, by the by, is without one single merit to recommend it save +its picturesqueness. In sunny weather it affords no protection to the +eyes, and in rainy weather its contour conducts the water in a trickling +stream down one's spinal column. It is too thin to protect the scalp +from the fierce sun-rays, and too close-fitting and close in texture to +afford any ventilation, yet with all this formidable array of disadvantages +it is universally worn. + +I have learned during the morning that I have to thank Sirra Pasha's +energetic administration for the artificial highway from Keshtobek, and +that he has constructed in the vilayet no less than two hundred and fifty +miles' of this highway, broad and reasonably well made, and actually +macadamized in localities where the necessary material is to be obtained. +The amount of work done in constructing this road through so mountainous +a country is, as before mentioned, plainly out of all proportion to the +wealth and population of a second-grade vilayet like Angora, and its +accomplishment has been possible only by the employment of forced labor. +Every man in the whole vilayet is ordered out to work at the road-making +a certain number of days every year, or provide a substitute; thus, +during the present summer there have been as many as twenty thousand +men, besides donkeys, working on the roads at one time. Unaccustomed to +public improvements of this nature, and, no doubt, failing to see their +advantages in a country practically without vehicles, the people have +sometimes ventured to grumble at the rather arbitrary proceeding of +making them work for nothing, and board themselves; and it has been found +expedient to make them believe that they were doing the preliminary +grading for a railway that was shortly coming to make them all prosperous +and happy; beyond being credulous enough to swallow the latter part of +the bait, few of them have the least idea of what sort of a looking thing +a railroad would be. + +When the Vali hears that the people all along the road have been telling +me it was a chemin de fer, he fairly shakes in his boots with laughter. +Of course I point out that no one can possibly appreciate the road +improvements any more than a wheelman, and explain the great difference +I have found between the mule-paths of Kodjaili and the broad highways +he has made through Angora, and I promise him the universal good opinion +of the whole world of 'cyclers. In reply, His Excellency hopes this +favorable opinion will not be jeopardized by the journey to Yuzgat, but +expresses the fear that I shall find heavier wheeling in that direction, +as the road is newly made, and there has been no vehicular traffic to +pack it down. + +The Governor invites me to remain over until Thursday and witness the +ceremony of laying the corner-stone of a new school, of the founding of +which he has good reason to feel proud, and which ought to secure him +the esteem of right-thinking people everywhere. He has determined it to +be a common school in which no question of Mohammedan, Jew, or Christian, +will be allowed to enter, but where the young ideas of Turkish, Christian, +and Jewish youths shall be taught to shoot peacefully and harmoniously +together. Begging to be excused from this, he then invites me to take +dinner with him to-morrow evening: but this I also decline, excusing +rnyself for having determined to remain over no longer than a day on +account of the approaching rainy season and my anxiety to reach Teheran +before it sets in. Yet a third time the pasha rallies to the charge, as +though determined not to let me off without honoring me in some way; and +this time he offers to furnish me a zaptieh escort, but I tell him of +the zaptieh's inability to keep up yesterday, at which he is immensely +amused. His Excellency then promises to be present at the starting-point +to-morrow morning, asking me to name the time and place, after which we +finish the cigarettes and coffee and take our leave. We next take a +survey of the mohair caravansary, where buyers and sellers and exporters +congregate to transact business, and I watch with some interest the corps +of half-naked sorters seated before large heaps of mohair, assorting it +into the several classes ready for exportation. Here Mr. Binns' office +is situated, and we are waited upon by several of his business acquaintances; +among them a member of the celebrated - celebrated in Asia Minor - Tif- +ticjeeoghlou family, whose ancestors have been prominently engaged in +the mohair business for so long that their very name is significatory +of their profession - Tifticjee-oghlou, literally, "Mohair-dealer's son." +The Smiths, Bakers, and Hunters of Occidental society are not a whit +more significative than are many prominent names of the Orient. Prominent +among the Angorians is a certain Mr. Altentopoghlou, the literal +interpretation of which is, "Son of the golden ball," and the origin +of whose family name Eastern tradition has surrounded by the following +little interesting anecdote: Ages ago it pleased one of the Sultans to +issue a proclamation throughout the empire, promising to present a golden +ball to whichever among all his subjects should prove himself the biggest +liar, giving it to be understood beforehand that no "merely improbable +story" would stand the ghost of a chance of winning, since he himself +was to be the judge, and nothing short of a story that was simply +impossible would secure the prize. The proclamation naturally made quite +a stir among the great prevaricators of the realm, and hundreds of stories +came pouring in from competitors everywhere, some even surreptitiously +borrowing "whoppers" from the Persians, who are well known as the +greatest economizers of the truth in all Asia; but they were one and all +adjudged by the astute monarch-who was himself a most experienced +prevaricator - probably the noblest Roman of them all - as containing incidents +that might under extraordinary circumstances have been true. The coveted +golden ball still remained unawarded, when one day there appeared before +the gate of the Sultan's palace, requesting an audience, an old man with +travel-worn appearance, as though from a long pilgrimage, and bearing +on his stooping shoulders an immense earthen-ware jar. The Sultan received +the aged pilgrim kindly, and asked him what he could do for him. + +"Oh, Sultan, may you live forever!" exclaimed the old man, "for your +Imperial Highness is loved and celebrated throughout all the empire +for your many virtues, but most of all for your wellknown love of justice." + +"Inshallah!" replied the monarch, reverently. "May it please Your +Imperial Majesty," continued the old man, calling the monarch's attention +to the jar, "Your Highness' most excellent father - may his bones rest in +peace! - borrowed from my father this jar full of gold coins, the conditions +being that Your Majesty was to pay the same amount back to me." "Absurd, +impossible!" exclaimed the astonished Sultan, eying the huge vessel in +question. + +"If the story be true," gravely continued the pilgrim, "pay your father's +debt; if it is as you say, impossible, I have fairly won the golden +ball." And the Sultan immediately awarded him the prize. + +In the cool of the evening we ride out on horseback through vineyards +and yellow-berry gardens to Mr. Binns' country residence, a place that +formerly belonged to an old pasha, a veritable Bluebeard, who built the +house and placed the windows of his harem, even closely latticed as they +always are, in a position that would not command so much as a glimpse +of passers-by on the road, hundreds of yards away. He planted trees and +gardens, and erected marble fountains at great cost. Surrounding the +whole with a wall, and purchasing three beautiful young wives, the old +Turk fondly fancied he had created for himself an earthly paradise; but +as love laughs at locksmiths, so did these three frisky damea laugh at +latticed windows, and lay their heads together against being prevented +from watching passers-by through the windows of the harem. With nothing +else to do, they would scheme and plot all day long against their misguided +husband's tranquillity and peace of mind. One day, while sunning himself +in the garden, he discovered that they had managed to detach a section +of the lattice-work from a window, and were in the habit of sticking out +their heads - awful discovery. Flying into a righteous rage at this act +of flagrant disobedience, he seized a thick stick and sought their +apartments, only to find the lattice-work skilfully replaced, and to be +confronted with a general denial of what he had witnessed with his own +eyes. This did not prevent them from all three getting a severe chastisement; +but as time wore on he found the life these three caged-up young women +managed to lead him anything but the earthly paradise he thought he was +creating, and, financial troubles overtaking him at the same time, the +old fellow fairly died of a broken heart in less than twelve months after +he had so hopefully installed himself in his self-created heaven. + +There is a moral in the story somewhere, I think, for anybody caring to +analyze it. Mr. Binns says the old Mussulman was also an inveterate hater +of unbelievers, and that the old fellow's bones would fairly rattle in +his coffin were he conscious that a family of Christians are now actually +occupying the house he built with such careful regard for the Mussulman's +ideas of a material heaven, with trees and fountains and black-eyed +houris. + +Near ten o'clock on Tuesday morning finds Angora the scene of more +excitement than it has seen for some time. I am trundling through the +narrow streets toward the appointed starting-place, which is at the +commencement of a half-mile stretch of excellent level macadam, just +beyond the tombstone-planted suburbs of the city. Mr. Binns is with me, +and a squad of zaptiehs are engaged in the lively occupation of protecting +us from the crush of people following us out; they are armed especially +for the occasion with long switches, with which they unsparingly lay +about them, seemingly only too delighted at the chance of making the +dust fly from the shoulders of such unfortunate wights as the pressure +of the throng forces anywhere near the magic cause of the commotion. The +time and place of starting have been proclaimed by the Vali and have +become generally noised abroad, and near three thousand people are already +assembled when we arrive; among them is seen the genial face of Suleiman +Effendi, who, in his capacity of mayor, is early on the ground with a +force of zaptiehs to maintain order; and with a little knot of friends, +behold, is also our humble friend the Armenian pastor, the irresistible +attractions of the wicked bicycle having temporarily overcome his contempt +of the pomps and vanities of secular displays. + +"Englishmen are always punctual!" says Suleiman Effendi, looking at his +watch; and, upon consulting our own, sure enough we have happened to +arrive precisely to the minute. An individual named Mustapha, a blacksmith +who has acquired an enviable reputation for skill on account of the +beautiful horseshoes he turns out, now presents himself and begs leave +to examine the mechanism of the bicycle, and the question arises among +the officers standing by as to whether Mustapha would be able to make +one; Mustapha himself thinks he could, providing he had mine always at +hand to copy from. + +"Yes," suggests the practical-minded Suleiman Effendi, "yes, Mustapha, +you may have mariftt enough to make one; but when you have finished it, +who among all of us will have marifet enough to ride it?" + +"True, effendi," solemnly assents another, "we would have to send for +an Englishman to ride it for us, after Mustapha had turned it out. " + +The Mayor now requests me to ride along the road once or twice to appease +the clamor of the multitude until the Vali arrives. The crowd along the +road is tremendous, and on a neighboring knoll, commanding a view of the +proceedings, are several carriageloads of ladies, the wives and female +relatives of the officials. The Mayor is indulgent to his people, allowing +them to throng the roadway, simply ordering the zaptiehs to keep my road +through the surging mass open. While on the home-stretch from the second +spin, up dashes the Vali in the state equipage with quite an imposing +bodyguard of mounted zaptiehs, their chief being a fine military-looking +Circassian in the picturesque military costume of the Caucasus. These +horsemen the Governor at once orders to clear the people entirely off +the road-way - an order no sooner given than executed; and after the +customary interchange of salutations, I mount and wheel briskly up the +broad, smooth macadam between two compact masses of delighted natives; +excitement runs high, and the people clap their hands and howl approvingly +at the performance, while the horsemen gallop briskly to and fro to keep +them from intruding on the road after I have wheeled past, and obstructing +the Governor's view. After riding back and forth a couple of times, I +dismount at the Vali's carriage; a mutual interchange of adieus and well- +wishes all around, and I take my departure, wheeling along at a ten-mile +pace amid the vociferous plaudits of at least four thousand people, who +watch my retreating figure until I disappear over the brow of a hill. +At the upper end of the main crowd are stationed the "irregular cavalry" +on horses, mules, and donkeys; and among the latter I notice our +ingenious friend, the armless youth of yesterday, whom I now make happy +by a nod of recognition, having scraped up a backsheesh acquaintance +with him yesterday. + +For.some miles the way continues fairly smooth and hard, leading through +a region of low vineyard-covered hills, but ere long I arrive at the +newly made road mentioned by the Vali. After which, like the course of +true love, my forward career seldom runs smooth for any length of time, +though ridable donkey-trails occasionally run parallel with the bogus +chemin defer. For mile after mile I now alternately ride and trundle +along donkey-paths, by the side of an artificial highway that would be +an enterprise worthy of a European State. The surface of the road is +either gravelled or of broken rock, and well rounded for self-drain- +age; it is graded over the mountains, and wooden bridges, with substantial +rock supports, are built across the streams; nothing is lacking except +the vehicles to utilize it. In the absence of these it would almost seem +to have been an unnecessary and superfluous expenditure of the people's +labor to make such a road through a country most of which is fit for +little else but grazing goats and buffaloes. Aside from some half-dozen +carriages at Angora, and a few light government postaya arabas - an +innovation from horses for carrying the mail, recently introduced as a +result of the improved roads, and which make weekly trips between such +points as Angora, Yuzgat, and Tokat - the only vehicles in the country are +the buffalo-carts of the larger farmers, rude home made arabas with solid +wooden wheels, whose infernal creaking can be heard for a mile, and which +they seldom take any distance from home, preferring their pack-donkeys +and cross-country trails when going to town with produce. Perhaps in +time vehicular traffic may appear as a result of suitable roads; but the +natives are slow to adopt new improvements. + +About two hours from Angora I pass tbrough a swampy upland basin, +containing several small lakes, and then emerge into a much less mountainous +country, passing several mud villages, the inhabitants of which are a +dark-skinned people-Turkoman refugees, I think-who look several degrees +less particular about their personal cleanliness than the villagers west +of Angora. Their wretched mud hovels would seem to indicate the last +degree of poverty, but numerous flocks of goats and herds of buffalo +grazing near apparently tell a somewhat different story. The women and +children seem mostly engaged in manufacturing cakes of tezek (large flat +cakes of buffalo manure mixed with chopped straw, which are "dobbed" +on the outer walls to dry; it makes very good fuel, like the "buffalo +chips" of the far West), and stacking it up on the house-tops, with +provident forethought, for the approaching winter. + +Just as darkness is beginning to settle down over the landscape I arrive +at one of these unpromising-looking clusters, which, it seems, are now +peculiar to the country, and not characteristic of any particular race, +for the one I arrive at is a purely Turkish village. After the usual +preliminaries of pantomime and binning, I am conducted to a capacious +flat roof, the common covering of several dwellings and stables bunched +up together. This roof is as smooth and hard as a native threshing-floor, +and well knowing, from recent experiences, the modus operandi of capturing +the hearts of these bland and childlike villagers, I mount and straightway +secure their universal admiration and applause by riding a few times +round the roof. I obtain a supper of fried eggs and yaort (milk soured +with rennet), eating it on the house-top, surrounded by the whole +population of the village, on this and adjoining roofs, who watch my +every movement with the most intense curiosity. It is the raggedest +audience I have yet been favored with. There are not over half a dozen +decently clad people among them all, and two of these are horsemen, +simply remaining over night, like myself. Everybody has a fearfully flea- +bitten appearance, which augurs ill for a refreshing night's repose. + +Here, likewise I am first introduced to a peculiar kind of bread, that +I straightway condemn as the most execrable of the many varieties my +everchanging experiences bring me in contact with, and which I find +myself mentally, and half unconsciously, naming - " blotting-paper ekmek" +-a not inappropriate title to convey its appearance to the civilized +mind; but the sheets of blotting-paper must be of a wheaten color and +in circular sheets about two feet in diameter. This peculiar kind of +bread is, we may suppose, the natural result of a great scarcity of fuel, +a handful of tezek, beneath the large, thin sheet-iron griddle, being +sufficient to bake many cakes of this bread. At first I start eating it +something like a Shanty town goat would set about consuming a political +poster, if it - not the political poster, but the Shanty town goat - had a +pair of hands. This outlandish performance creates no small merriment +among the watchful on-lookers, who forthwith initiate me into the mode +of eating it a la Turque, which is, to roll it up like a scroll of paper +and bite mouthfuls off the end. I afterwards find this particular variety +of ekmek quite handy when seated around a communal bowl of yaort with a +dozen natives; instead of taking my turn with the one wooden spoon in +common use, I would form pieces of the thin bread into small handleless +scoops, and, dipping up the yaort, eat scoop and all. Besides sparing +me from using the same greasy spoon in common with a dozen natives, none +of them overly squeamish as regards personal cleanliness, this gave me +the appreciable advantage of dipping into the dish as often as I choose, +instead of waiting for my regular turn at the wooden spoon. + +Though they are Osmanli Turks, the women of these small villages appear +to make little pretence of covering their faces. Among themselves they +constitute, as it were, one large family gathering, and a stranger is +but seldom seen. They are apparently simple-minded females, just a trifle +shame-faced in their demeanor before a stranger, sitting apart by +themselves while listening to the conversation between myself and the +men. This, of course, is very edifying, even apart from its pantomimic +and monosyllabic character, for I am now among a queer people, a people +through the unoccupied chambers of whose unsophisticated minds wander +strange, fantastic thoughts. One of the transient horsemen, a contemplative +young man, the promising appearance of whose upper lip proclaims him +something over twenty, announces that he likewise is on the way to Yuzgat; +and after listening attentively to my explanations of how a wheelman +climbs mountains and overcomes stretches of bad road, he solemnly inquires +whether a 'cycler could scurry up a mountain slope all right if some one +were to follow behind and touch him up occasionally with a whip, in the +persuasive manner required in driving a horse. He then produces a rawhide +"persuader," and ventures the opinion that if he followed close behind +me to Yuzgat, and touched me up smartly with it whenever we came to a +mountain, or a sandy road, there would be no necessity of trundling any +of the way. He then asks, with the innocent simplicity of a child, whether +in case he made the experiment, I would get angry and shoot him. + +The other transient appears of a more speculative turn of mind, and draws +largely upon his own pantomimic powers and my limited knowledge of +Turkish, to ascertain the difference between the katch lira of a bicycle +at retail, and the hatch lira of its manufacture. From the amount of +mental labor he voluntarily inflicts upon himself to acquire this +particular item of information, I apprehend that nothing less than wild +visions of acquiring a rapid fortune by starting a bicycle factory at +Angora, are flitting through his imaginative mind. The villagers themselves +seem to consider me chiefly from the standpoint of their own peculiar +ideas concerning the nature of an Englishman's feelings toward a Russian. +My performance on the roof has put them in the best of humor, and has +evidently whetted their appetites for further amusement. Pointing to a +stolid-looking individual, of an apparently taciturn disposition, and +who is one of the respectably-dressed few, they accuse him of being a +Eussiau; and then all eyes are turned towards me, as though they quite +expect to see me rise up wrathfully and make some warlike demonstration +against him. My undemonstrative disposition forbids so theatrical a +proceeding, however, and I confine myself to making a pretence of falling +into the trap, casting furtive glances of suspicion towards the supposed +hated subject of the Czar, and making whispered inquiries of my immediate +neighbors concerning the nature of his mission in Turkish territory. +During this interesting comedy the "audience" are fairly shaking in +their rags with suppressed merriment; and when the taciturn individual +himself - who has thus far retained his habitual self-composure - growing +restive under the hateful imputation of being a Muscov and my supposed +bellicose sentiments toward him in consequence, finally repudiates the +part thus summarily assigned him, the whole company bursts out into a +boisterous roar of laughter. At this happy turn of sentiment I assume +an air of intense relief, shake the taciturn man's hand, and, borrowing +the speculative transient's fez, proclaim myself a Turk, an act that +fairly "brings down the house." + +Thus the evening passes merrily away until about ten o'clock, when the +people begin to slowly disperse to the roofs of their respective +habitations, the whole population sleeping on the house-tops, with no +roof over them save the star-spangled vault - the arched dome of the great +mosque of the universe, so often adorned with the pale yellow, crescent-shaped +emblem of their religion. Several families occupy the roof which has +been the theatre of the evening's social gathering, and the men now +consign me to a comfortable couch made up of several quilts, one of the +transients thoughtfully cautioning me to put my moccasins under my pillow, +as these articles were the object of almost universal covetousness during +the evening. No sooner am I comfortably settled down, than a wordy warfare +breaks out in my immediate vicinity, and an ancient female makes a +determined dash at my coverlet, with the object of taking forcible +possession; but she is seized and unceremoniously hustled away by the +men who assigned me my quarters. It appears that, with an eye singly and +disinterestedly to my own comfort, and regardless of anybody else's, +they have, without taking the trouble to obtain her consent, appropriated +to my use the old lady's bed, leaving her to shift for herself any way +she can, a high-handed proceeding that naturally enough arouses her +virtuous indignation to the pitch of resentment. Upon this fact occurring +to me, I of course immediately vacate the property in dispute, and, with +true Western gallantry, arraign myself on the rightful owner's side by +carrying my wheel and other effects to another position; whereupon a +satisfactory compromise is soon arranged between the disputants, by which +another bed ia prepared for me, and the ancient dame takes triumphant +possession of her own. Peace and tranquillity being thus established on +a firm basis, the several families tenanting our roof settle themselves +snugly down. The night is still and calm, and naught is heard save my +nearer neighbors' scratching, scratching, scratching. This - not the +scratching, but the quietness - doesn't last long, however, for it is +customary to collect all the four-footed possessions of the village +together every night and permit them to occupy the inter-spaces between +the houses, while the humans are occupying the roofs, the horde of watch- +dogs being depended upon to keep watch and ward over everything. The +hovels are more underground than above the surface, and often, when the +village occupies sloping ground, the upper edge of the roof is practically +but a continuation of the solid ground, or at the most there is but a +single step-up between them. The goats are of course permitted to wander +whithersoever they will, and equally, of course, they abuse their +privileges by preferring the roofs to the ground and wandering incessantly +about among the sleepers. Where the roof comes too near the ground some +temporary obstruction is erected, to guard against the intrusion of +venturesome buffaloes. No sooner have the humans quieted down, than +several goats promptly invade the roof, and commence their usual nocturnal +promenade among the prostrate forms of their owners, and further indulge +their well-known goatish propensities by nibbling away the edges of the +roof. (They would, of course, prefer a square meal off a patchwork quilt, +but from their earliest infancy they are taught that meddling with the +bedclothes will bring severe punishment.) A buffalo occasionally gives +utterance to a solemn, prolonged " m-o-o-o;" now and then a baby wails +its infantile disapproval of the fleas, and frequent noisy squabbles +occur among the dogs. Under these conditions, it is not surprising that +one should woo in vain the drowsy goddess; and near midnight some person +within a few yards of my couch begins groaning fearfully, as if in great +pain - probably a case of the stomach-ache, I mentally conclude, though +this hasty conclusion may not unnaturally result from an inner consciousness +of being better equipped for curing that particular affliction than any +other. From the position of the sufferer, I am inclined to think it is +the same ancient party that ousted me out of her possessions two hours +ago, and I lay here as far removed from the realms of unconsciousness +as the moment I retired, expecting every minute to see her appear before +me in a penitential mood, asking me to cure her, for the inevitable hakim +question had been raised during the evening. She doesn't present herself, +however; perhaps the self-accusations of her conscience, for having in +the moment of her wrath attempted to appropriate my coverlet in so rude +a manner, prevent her appealing to me now in the hour of distress. These +people are early risers; the women are up milking the goats and buffaloes +before daybreak, and the men hieing them away to the harvest fields and +threshing-floors. I, likewise, bestir myself at daylight, intending to +reach the next village before breakfast. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + + + +ACROSS THE KIZIL IRMAK RIVER TO YUZGAT. + +The country continues much the same as yesterday, with the road indifferent +for wheeling. Reaching the expected village about eight o'clock, I +breakfast off ekmek and new buffalo milk, and at once continue on my +way, meeting nothing particularly interesting, save a lively bout +occasionally with goat-herds' dogs - the reminiscences of which are doubtless +more vividly interesting to myself than they would be to the reader - until +high noon, when I arrive at another village, larger, but equally wretched- +looking, on the Kizil Irmak River, called Jas-chi-khan. On the west bank +of the stream are some ancient ruins of quite massive architecture, and +standing on the opposite side of the road, evidently having some time +been removed from the ruins with a view to being transported elsewhere, +is a couchant lion of heroic proportions, carved out of a solid block +of white marble; the head is gone, as though its would-be possessors, +having found it beyond their power to transport the whole animal, have +made off with what they could. An old and curiously arched bridge of +massive rock spans the river near its entrance to a wild, rocky gorge +in the mountains; a primitive grist mill occupies a position to the left, +near the entrance to the gorge, and a herd of camels are slaking their +thirst or grazing near the water's edge to the right - a genuine Eastern +picture, surely, and one not to be seen every day, even in the land where +to see it occasionally is quite possible. + +Riding into Jas-chi-khan, I dismount at a building which, from the +presence of several "do-nothings," I take to be a khan for the accommodation +of travellers. In a partially open shed-like apartment are a number of +demure looking maidens, industriously employed in weaving carpets by +hand on a rude, upright frame, while two others, equally demure-looking, +are seated on the ground cracking wheat for pillau, wheat being substituted +for rice where the latter is not easily obtainable, or is too expensive. +Waiving all considerations of whether I am welcome or not, I at once +enter this abode of female industry, and after watching the interesting +process of carpet-weaving for some minutes, turn my attention to the +preparers of cracked wheat. The process is the same primitive one that +has been employed among these people from time immemorial, and the same +that is referred to in the passage of Scripture which says: "Two women +were grinding corn in the field;" it consists of a small upper and nether +millstone, the upper one being turned round by two women sitting facing +each other; they both take hold of a perpendicular wooden handle with +one hand, employing the other to feed the mill and rake away the cracked +grain. These two young women have evidently been very industrious this +morning; they have half-buried themselves in the product of their labors, +and are still grinding away as though for their very lives, while the +constant "click-clack " of the carpet weavers prove them likewise the +embodiment of industry. They seem rather disconcerted by the abrupt +intrusion and scrutinizing attentions of a Frank and a stranger; however, +the fascinating search for bits of interesting experience forbids my +retirement on that account, but rather urges me to make the most +of fleeting opportunities. Picking up a handful of the cracked wheat, I +inquire of one of the maidens if it is for pillau; the maiden blushes +at being thus directly addressed, and with downcast eyes vouchsafes an +affirmative nod in reply; at the same time an observant eye happens to +discover a little brown big-toe peeping out of the heap of wheat, and +belonging to the same demure maiden with the downcast eyes. I know full +well that I am stretching a point of Mohammedan etiquette, even by coming +among these industrious damsels in the manner I am doing, but the attention +of the men is fully concentrated on the bicycle outside, and the +temptation of trying the experiment of a little jocularity, just to see +what comes of it, is under the circumstances irresistible. Conscious of +venturing where angels fear to tread. I stoop down, and take hold of the +peeping little brown big-toe, and addressing the demure maiden with the +downcast eyes, inquire, "Is this also for pillau." This proves entirely +too much for the risibilities of the industrious pillau grinders, and +letting go the handle of the mill, they both give themselves up to +uncontrollable laughter; the carpet-weavers have been watching me out +of the corners of their bright, black eyes, and catching the infection, +the click clack of the carpet-weaving machines instantly ceases, and +several of the weavers hurriedly retreat into an adjoining room to avoid +the awful and well-nigh unheard-of indiscretion of laughing in the +presence of a stranger. Having thus yielded to the temptation and witnessed +the results, I discreetly retire, meeting at the entrance a gray-bearded +Turk coming to see what the merriment and the unaccountable stopping of +the carpet-weaving frames is all about. A sheep has been slaughtered in +Jas-chi-khan this morning, and I obtain a nice piece of mutton, which I +hand to a bystander, asking him to go somewhere and cook it; in five +minutes he returns with the meat burnt black outside and perfectly raw +within. Seeing my evident disapproval of its condition, the same ancient +person who recently appeared upon the scene of my jocular experiment and +who has now squatted himself down close beside me, probably to make sure +against any further indiscretions, takes the meat, slashes it across in +several directions with his dagger, orders the afore-mentioned bystander +to try it over again, and then coolly wipes his blackened and greasy +fingers on my sheet of ekmek as though it were a table napkin. I obtain +a few mouthfuls of eatable meat from the bystander's second culinary +effort, and then buy a water-melon from a man happening along with a +laden donkey; cutting iuto the melon I find it perfectly green all +through, and toss it away; the men look surprised, and some youngsters +straightway pick it up, eat the inside out until they can scoop out no +more, and then, breaking the rind in pieces, they scrape it out with +their teeth until it is of egg-shell thinness. They seem to do these +things with impunity in Asia. + +The grade and the wind are united against me on leaving Jas-chi-khan, +but it is ridable, and having made such a dismal failure about getting +dinner, I push on toward a green area at the base of a rocky mountain +spur, which I observed an hour ago from a point some distance west of +the Kizil Irmak, and concluded to be a cluster of vineyards. This +conjecture turns out quite correct, and, what is more, my experience +upon arriving there would seem to indicate that the good genii detailed +to arrange the daily programme of my journey had determined to recompense +me to-day for having seen nothing of the feminine world of late but +yashmaks and shrouds, and momentary monocular evidence; for here again +am I thrown into the society of a bevy of maidens, more interesting, if +anything, than the nymphs of industry at Jas-chi-khan. There is apparently +some festive occasion at the little vineyard-environed village, which +stands back a hundred yards or so from the road, and which ia approached +by a narrow foot-way between thrifty-looking vineyards. Three blooming +damsels, in all the bravery of holiday attire, with necklaces and pendants +of jingling coins to distinguish them from the matrons, come hurrying +down the pathway toward the road at my approach. Seeing me dismount, +upon arriving opposite the village, the handsomest and gayest dressed +of the three goes into one of the vineyards, and with charming grace of +manner, presents herself before me with both hands overflowing with +bunches of luscious black grapes. Their abundant black tresses are +gathered in one long plait behind; they wear bracelets, necklaces, +pendants, brow-bands, head ornaments, and all sorts of wonderful articles +of jewelry, made out of the common silver and metallic coins of the +country; they are small of stature and possess oval faces, large black eyes, +and warm, dark complexions. Their manner and dress prove rather a puzzle +in determining their nationality; they are not Turkish, nor Greek, nor +Armenian, nor Circassian; they may possibly be sedentary Turkomans; but +they possess rather a Jewish cast of countenance, and my first impression +of them is, that they are "Bible people," the original inhabitants of the +country, who have somehow managed to cling to their little possessions here, +in spite of Greeks, Turks, and Persians, and other conquering races who +have at times overrun the country; perhaps they have softened the hearts of +everybody undertaking to oust them by their graceful manners. + +Other villagers soon collect, making a picturesque and interesting group +around the bicycle; but the maiden with the grapes makes too pretty and +complete a picture, for any of the others to attract more than passing +notice. One of her two companions whisperingly calls her attention to +the plainly evident fact that she is being regarded with admiration by +the stranger. She blushes perceptibly through her nut-brown cheeks at +hearing this, but she is also quite conscious of her claims to admiration, +and likes to be admired; so she neither changes her attitude of respectful +grace, nor raises her long drooping eyelashes, while I eat and eat grapes, +taking them bunch after bunch from her overflowing hands, until ashamed +to eat any more. I confess to almost falling in love with that maiden, +her manners were so easy and graceful; and when, with ever-downcast eyes +and a bewitching manner that leaves not the slightest room for considering +the doing so a bold or forward action, she puts the remainder of the +grapes in my coat pockets, a peculiar fluttering sensation - but I draw a +veil over my feelings, they are too sacred for the garish pages of a +book. I do not inquire about their nationality, I would rather it remain +a mystery, and a matter for future conjecture; but before leaving I add +something to her already conspicuous array of coins that have been +increasing since her birth, and which will form her modest dowry at +marriage. The road continues of excellent surface, but rather hilly for +a few miles, when it descends into the Valley of the Delijeh Irmak, where +the artificial highway again deteriorates into the unpacked condition +of yesterday; the donkey trails are shallow trenches of dust, and are +no longer to be depended upon as keeping my general course, but are +rather cross-country trails leading from one mountain village to another. +The well-defined caravan trail leading from Ismidt to Angora comes no +farther eastward than the latter city, which is the central point where +the one exportable commodity of the vilayet is collected for barter and +transportation to the seaboard. The Delijeh Irmak Valley is under partial +cultivation, and occasionally one passes through small areas of melon +gardens far away from any permanent habitations; temporary huts or dug- +outs are, however, an invariable adjunct to these isolated possession +of the villagers, in which some one resides day and night during the +melon season, guarding their property with gun and dog from unscrupulous +wayfarers, who otherwise would not hesitate to make their visit to town +profitable as well as pleasurable, by surreptitiously confiscating a +donkey-load of salable melons from their neighbor's roadside garden. +Sometimes I essay to purchase a musk-melon from these lone sentinels, +but it is impossible to obtain one fit to eat; these wretched prayers +on Nature's bounty evidently pluck and devour them the moment they develop +from the bitterness of their earliest growth. No villages are passed on +the road after leaving the vintagers' cluster at noon, but bunches of +mud hovels are at intervals descried a few miles to the right, perched +among the hills that form the southern boundary of the valley; being of +the same color as the general surface about them, they are not easily +distinguishable at a distance. There seems to be a decided propensity +among the natives for choosing the hills as an habitation, even when +their arable lands are miles away in the valley; the salubrity of the +more elevated location may be the chief consideration, but a swiftly +flowing mountain rivulet near his habitation is to the Mohammedan a +source of perpetual satisfaction. + +I travel along for some time after nightfall, in hopes of reaching a +village, but none appearing, I finally decide to camp out. Choosing a +position behind a convenient knoll, I pitch the tent where it will bo +invisible from the road, using stones in lieu of tent-pegs; and inhabiting +for the first time this unique contrivance, I sup off the grapes remaining +over from the bountiful feast at noon-and, being without any covering, +stretch myself without undressing beside the upturned bicycle; notwithstanding +the gentle reminders of unsatisfied hunger, I am enjoying the legitimate +reward of constant exercise in the open air ten minutes after pitching +the tent. Soon after midnight I am awakened by the chilly influence of +the "wee sma' hours," and recognizing the likelihood of the tent proving +more beneficial as a coverlet than a roof, in the absence of rain, I +take it down and roll myself up in it; the thin, oiled cambric is far +from being a blanket, however, and at daybreak the bicycle and everything +is drenched with one of the heavy dews of the country. Ten miles over +an indifferent road is traversed next morning; the comfortless reflection +that anything like a "square meal" seems out of the question anywhere +between the larger towns scarcely tends to exert a soothing influence +on the ravenous attacks of a most awful appetite; and I am beginning to +think seriously of making a detour of several miles to reach a mountain +village, when I meet a party of three horsemen, a Turkish Bey - with an +escort of two zaptiehs. I am trundling at the time, and without a moment's +hesitancy I make a dead set at the Bey, with the single object of +satisfying to some extent my gastronomic requirements. + +"Bey Effendi, have you any ekmek?" I ask, pointing inquiringly to his +saddle-bags on a zaptieh's horse, and at the same time giving him to +understand by impressive pantomime the uncontrollable condition of my +appetite. With what seems to me, under the circumstances, simply cold- +blooded indifference to human suffering; the Bey ignores my inquiry +altogether, and concentrating his whole attention on the bicycle, asks, +"What is that?" "An Americanish araba, Effendi; have you any ekmek ?" +toying suggestively with the tell-tale slack of my revolver belt. + +"Where have you come from?" "Stamboul; have you ekmek in the saddle- +bags, Effendi." this time boldly beckoning the zaplieh with the Bey's +effects to approach nearer. + +"Where are you going?" "Yuzgat! ekmek! ekmek!" tapping the saddle-bags +in quite an imperative manner. This does not make any outward impression +upon the Bey's aggravating imperturbability, however; he is not so +indifferent to my side of the question as he pretends; aware of his +inability to supply my want, and afraid that a negative answer would +hasten my departure before he has fully satisfied his curiosity concerning +me, he is playing a. little game of diplomacy in his own interests. + +"What is it for." he now asks, with soul-harrowing indifference to all +my counter inquiries." To bin," I reply, desperately, curt and indifferent, +beginning to see through his game. " Bin, bin! bacalem." he says; +supplementing the request with a coaxing smile. At the same moment my +long-suffering digestive apparatus favors me with an unusually savage +reminder, and nettled beyond the point where forbearance ceases to be +any longer a virtue, I return an answer not exactly complimentary to the +Bey's ancestors, and continue my hungry way down the valley. A couple +of miles after leaving the Bey, I intercept a party of peasants traversing +a cross-country trail, with a number of pack-donkeys loaded with rock-salt, +from whom I am fortunately able to obtain several thin sheets of ekmek, +which I sit down and devour immediately, without even water to moisten +the repast; it seems one of the most tasteful and soul-satisfying +breakfasts I ever ate. + +Like misfortunes, blessings never seem to come singly, for, an hour after +thus breaking my fast I happen upon a party of villagers working on an +unfinished portion of the new road; some of them are eating their morning +meal of ekmek and yaort, and no sooner do I appear upon the scene than +I am straightway invited to partake, a seat in the ragged circle congregated +around the large bowl of clabbered milk being especially prepared with +a bunch of pulled grass for my benefit. The eager hospitality of these +poor villagers is really touching; they are working without so much as +"thank you" for payment, there is not a garment amongst the gang fit +for a human covering; their unvarying daily fare is the "blotting-paper +ekmek" and yaort, with a melon or a cucumber occasionally as a luxury; +yet, the moment I approach, they assign me a place at their "table," +and two of them immediately bestir themselves to make me a comfortable +seat. Neither is there so much as a mercenary thought among them in +connection with the invitation; these poor fellows, whose scant rags it +would be a farce to call clothing, actually betray embarrassment at the +barest mention of compensation; they fill my pockets with bread, apologize +for the absence of coffee, and compare the quality of their respective +pouches of native tobacco in order to make me a decent cigarette. + +Never, surely, was the reputation of Dame Fortune for fickleness so +completely proved as in her treatment of me this morning - ten o'clock +finds me seated on a pile of rugs in a capacious black tent, "wrassling" +with a huge bowl of savory mutton pillau, flavored with green herbs, as +the guest of a Koordish sheikh; shortly afterwards I meet a man taking +a donkey-load of musk-melons to the Koordish camp, who insists on +presenting me with the finest melon I have tasted since leaving +Constantinople; and high noon finds me the guest of another Koordish +sheikh; thus does a morning, which commenced with a fair prospect of no +breakfast, following after yesterday's scant supply of unsuitable food, +end in more hospitality than I know what to do with. These nomad tribes +of the famous "black-tents " wander up toward Angora every summer with +their flocks, in order to be near a market at shearing time; they are +famed far and wide for their hospitality. Upon approaching the great +open-faced tent of the Sheikh, there is a hurrying movement among the +attendants to prepare a suitable raised seat, for they know at a glance +that I am an Englishman, and likewise are aware that an Englishman cannot +sit cross-legged like an Asiatic; at first, I am rather surprised at +their evident ready recognition of my nationality, but I soon afterwards +discover the reason. A hugh bowl of pillau, and another of excellent +yaort is placed before me without asking any questions, while the dignified +old Sheikh fulfils one's idea of a gray-bearded nomad patriarch to +perfection, as he sits cross legged on a rug, solemnly smoking a nargileh, +and watching to see that no letter of his generous code of hospitality +toward strangers is overlooked by the attendants. These latter seem to +be the picked young men of the tribe; fine, strapping fellows, well-dresed, +six-footers, and of athletic proportions; perfect specimens of semi- +civilized manhood, that would seem better employed in a grenadier regiment +than in hovering about the old Sheikh's tent, attending to the filling +and lighting of his nargileh, the arranging of his cushions by day and +his bed at night, the serving of his food, and the proper reception of +his guests; and yet it is an interesting sight to see these splendid +young fellows waiting upon their beloved old chieftain, fairly bounding, +like great affectionate mastiffs, at his merest look or suggestion. Most +of the boys and young men are out with the flocks, but the older men, +the women and children, gather in a curious crowd before the open tent; +they maintain a respectful silence so long as I am their Sheikh's guest, +but they gather about me without reserve when I leave the hospitable +shelter of that respected person's quarters. After examining my helmet +and sizing up my general appearance, they pronounce me an "English +zaptieh," a distinction for which I am indebted to the circumstance of +Col. N--, an English officer, having recently been engaged in Koordistan +organizing a force of native zaptiehs. The women of this particular camp +seem, on the whole, rather unprepossessing specimens; some of them are +hooked-nosed old hags, with piercing black eyes, and hair dyed to a +flaming "carrotty" hue with henna; this latter is supposed to render +them beautiful, and enhance their personal appearance in the eyes of the +men; they need something to enhance their personal appearance, certainly, +but to the untutored and inartistic eye of the writer it produces a +horrid, unnatural effect. According to our ideas, flaming red hair looks +uncanny and of vulgar, uneducated taste, when associated with coal-black +eyes and a complexion like gathering darkness. These vain mortals seem +inclined to think that in me they have discovered something to be petted +and made much of, treating me pretty much as a troop of affectionate +little girls - would treat a wandering kitten that might unexpectedly +appear in their midst. Giddy young things of about fifty summers cluster +around me in a compact body, examining my clothes from helmet to moccasins, +and critically feeling the texture of my coat and shirt, they take off +my helmet, reach over each other's shoulders to stroke my hair, and pat +my cheeks in the most affectionate manner; meanwhile expressing themselves +in soft, purring comments, that require no linguistic abilities to +interpret into such endearing remarks as, "Ain't he a darling, though?" +"What nice soft hair and pretty blue eyes." "Don't you wish the +dear old Sheikh would let us keep him. "Considering the source whence +it comes, it requires very little of this to satisfy one, and as soon +as I can prevail upon them to let me escape, I mount and wheel away, +several huge dogs escorting me, for some minutes, in the peculiar manner +Koordish dogs have of escorting stray 'cyclers. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + + + +FROM THE KOORDISH CAMP TO YUZGAT. + +>From the Koordish encampment my route leads over a low mountain spur by +easy gradients, and by a winding, unridable trail down into the valley +of the eastern fork of the Delijah Irmak. The road improves as this +valley is reached, and noon finds me the wonder and admiration of another +Koordish camp, where I remain a couple of hours in deference to the +powers of the midday sun. One has no scruples about partaking of the +hospitality of the nomad Koords, for they are the wealthiest people in +the country, their flocks covering the hills in many localities; they +are, as a general thing, fairly well dressed, are cleaner in their cooking +than the villagers, and hospitable to the last degree. Like the rest of +us, however, they have their faults as well as their virtues; they are +born freebooters, and in unsettled times, when the Turkish Government, +being handicapped by weightier considerations, is compelled to relax its +control over them, they seldom fail to promptly respond to their plundering +instincts and make no end of trouble. They still retain their hospitableness, +but after making a traveller their guest for the night, and allowing him +to depart with everything he has, they will intercept him on the road +and rob him. They have some objectionable habits, even in these peaceful +times, which will better appear when we reach their own Koordistan, where +we shall, doubtless, have better opportunities for criticising them. +Whatever their faults or virtues, I leave this camp, hoping that the +termination of the day may find me the guest of another sheikh for the +night An hour after leaving this camp I pass through an area of vineyards, +out of which people come running with as many grapes among them as would +feed a dozen people; the road is ridable, and I hurry along to avoid +their bother. Verily it would seem that I am being hounded down by +retributive justice for sundry evil thoughts and impatient remarks, +associated with my hungry experiences of early morning; then I was +wondering where the next mouthful of food was going to overtake me, this +afternoon finds me pedalling determinedly to prevent being overtaken by +it. + +The afternoon is hot and with scarcely a breath of air moving; the little +valley terminates in a region of barren, red hills, on which the sun +glares fiercely; some toughish climbing has to be accomplished in scaling +a ridge, and then. I emerge into an upland lava plateau, where the only +vegetation is sun-dried weeds and thistles. Here a herd of camels are +contentedly browsing, munching the dry, thorny herbage with a satisfaction +that is evident a mile away. From casual observations along the route, +I am inclined to think a camel not far behind a goat in the depravity +of its appetite; a camel will wander uneasily about over a greensward +of moist, succulent grass, scanning his surroundings in search of giant +thistles, frost-bitten tumble-weeds, tough, spriggy camel thorns, and +odds and ends of unpalatable vegetation generally. Of course, the "ship +of the desert" never sinks to such total depravity as to hanker after +old gum overshoes and circus posters, but if permitted to forage around +human habitations for a few generations, I think they would eventually +degenerate to the goat's disreputable level. The expression of utter +astonishment that overspreads the angular countenance of the camels +browsing near the roadside, at my appearance, is one of the most ludicrous +sights imaginable; they seem quite intelligent enough to recognize in a +wheelman and his steed something inexplicable and foreign to their +country, and their look of timid inquiry seems ridiculously unsuited to +their size and the general ungainliness of their appearance, producing +a comical effect that is worth going miles to see. It is approaching +sun-down, when, ascending a ridge overlooking another valley, I am +gratified at seeing it occupied by several Koordish camps, their clusters +of black tents being a conspicuous feature of the landscape. With a fair +prospect of hospitable quarters for the night before me, and there being +no distinguishable signs of a road, I make my way across country toward +one of the camps that seems to be nearest my proper course. I have arrived +within a mile of my objective point, when I observe, at the base of a +mountain about half the distance to my right, a large, white two-storied +building, the most pretentious structure, by long odds, that has been +seen since leaving Angora. My curiosity is, of course, aroused concerning +its probable character; it looks like a bit of civilization that has in +some unaccountable manner found its way to a region where no other human +habitations are visible, save the tents of wild tribesmen, and I at once +shape my course toward it. It turns out to be a rock-salt mine or quarry, +that supplies the whole region for scores of miles around with salt, +rock-salt being the only kind obtainable in the country; it was from +this mine that the donkey party from whom I first obtained bread this +morning fetched their loads. Here I am invited to remain over night, am +provided with a substantial supper, the menu including boiled mutton, +with cucumbers for desert. The managers and employees of the, quarry +make their cucumbers tasteful by rubbing the end with a piece of rock-salt +each time it is cut off or bitten, each person keeping a select little +square for the purpose. The salt is sold at the mine, and owners of +transportation facilities in the shape of pack animals make money by +purchasing it here at six paras an oke, and selling it at a profit in +distant towns. + +Two young men seem to have charge of transacting the business; one of +them is inordinately inquisitive, he even wants to try and unstick the +envelope containing a letter of introduction to Mr. Tifticjeeoghlou's +father in Yuzgat, and read it out of pure curiosity to see what it says; +and he offers me a lira for my Waterbury watch, notwithstanding its Alla +Franga face is beyond his Turkish comprehension. The loud, confident +tone in which the Waterbury ticks impresses the natives very favorably +toward it, and the fact of its not opening at the back like other time- +pieces, creates the impression that it is a watch that never gets cranky +and out of order; quite different from the ones they carry, since their +curiosity leads them to be always fooling with the works. American clocks +are found all through Asia Minor, fitted with Oriental faces and there +is little doubt but the Waterbury, with its resonant tick, if similiarly +prepared, would find here a ready market. The other branch of the +managerial staff is a specimen of humanity peculiarly Asiatic Turkish, +a melancholy-faced, contemplative person, who spends nearly the whole +evening in gazing in silent wonder at me and the bicycle; now and then +giving expression to his utter inability to understand how such things +can possibly be by shaking his head and giving utterance to a peculiar +clucking of astonishment. He has heard me mention having come from +Stamboul, which satisfies him to a certain extent; for, like a true Turk, +he believes that at Stamboul all wonderful things originate; whether the +bicycle was made there, or whether it originally came from somewhere +else, doesn't seem to enter into his speculations; the simple knowledge +that I have come from Stamboul is all-sufficient for him; so far as he +is concerned, the bicycle is simply another wonder from Stamboul, another +proof that the earthly paradise of the Mussulman world on the Bosphorus +is all that he has been taught to believe it. When the contemplative +young man ventures away from the dreamy realms of his own imaginations, +and from the society of his inmost thoughts, far enough to make a remark, +it is to ask me something about Stamboul; but being naturally taciturn +and retiring, and moreover, anything but an adept at pantomimic language, +he prefers mainly to draw his own conclusions in silence. He manages to +make me understand, however, that he intends before long making a journey +to see Stamboul for himself; like many another Turk from the barren hills +of the interior, he will visit the Ottoman capital; he will recite from +the Koran under the glorious mosaic dome of St. Sophia; wander about +that wonder of the Orient, the Stamboul bazaar; gaze for hours on the +matchless beauties of the Bosphorus ; ride on one of the steamboats; see +the railway, the tramway, the Sultan's palaces, and the shipping, and +return to his native hills thoroughly convinced that in all the world +there is no place fit to be compared with Stamboul; no place so full of +wonders; no place so beautiful; and wondering how even the land of the +kara ghuz kiz, the material paradise of the Mohammedans, can possibly +be more lovely. The contemplative young man is tall and slender, has +large, dreamy, black eyes, a downy upper lip, a melancholy cast of +countenance, and wears a long print wrapper of neat dotted pattern, +gathered at the waist with a girdle a la dressing-gown. + +The inquisitive partner makes me up a comfortable bed of quilts on the +divan of a large room, which is also occupied by several salt traders +remaining over night, and into which their own small private apartments +open. A few minutes after they have retired to their respective rooms, +the contemplative young man reappears with silent tread, and with a +scornful glance at my surroundings, both human and inanimate, gathers +up my loose effects, and bids me bring bicycle and everything into his +room; here, I find, he has already prepared for my reception quite a +downy couch, having contributed, among other comfortable things, his +wolf-skin overcoat; after seeing me comfortably established on a couch +more appropriate to my importance as a person recently from Stamboul +than the other, he takes a lingering look at the bicycle, shakes his +head and clucks, and then extinguishes the light. Sunrise on the following +morning finds me wheeling eastward from the salt quarry, over a trail +well worn by salt caravans, to Yuzgat; the road leads for some distance +down a grassy valley, covered with the flocks of the several Koordish +camps round about; the wild herdsmen come galloping from all directions +across the valley toward me, their uncivilized garb and long swords +giving them more the appearance of a ferocious gang of cut-throats +advancing to the attack than shepherds. Hitherto, nobody has seemed any +way inclined to attack me; I have almost wished somebody would undertake +a little devilment of some kind, for the sake of livening things up a +little, and making my narrative more stirring; after venturing everything, +I have so far nothing to tell but a story of being everywhere treated +with the greatest consideration, and much of the time even petted. I +have met armed men far away from any habitations, whose appearance was +equal to our most ferocious conception of bashi bazouks, and merely from +a disinclination to be bothered, perhaps being in a hurry at the time, +have met their curious inquiries with imperious gestures to be gone; and +have been guilty of really inconsiderate conduct on more than one occasion, +but under no considerations have I yet found them guilty of anything +worse than casting covetous glances at my effects. But there is an +apparent churlishness of manner, and an overbearing demeanor, as of men +chafing under the restraining influences that prevent them gratifying +their natural free-booting instincts, about these Koordish herdsmen whom +I encounter this morning, that forms quite a striking contrast to the +almost childlike harmlessness and universal respect toward me observed +in the disposition of the villagers. It requires no penetrating scrutiny +of these fellows' countenances to ascertain that nothing could be more +uncongenial to them than the state of affairs that prevents them stopping +ine and looting me of everything I possess; a couple of them order me +quite imperatively to make a detour from my road to avoid approaching +too near their flock of sheep, and their general behavior is pretty much +as though seeking to draw me into a quarrel, that would afford them an +opportunity of plundering me. Continuing on the even tenor of my way, +affecting a lofty unconsciousness of their existence, and wondering +whether, in case of being molested, it would be advisable to use my Smith +& Wesson in defending my effects, or taking the advice received in +Constantinople, offer no resistance whatever, and trust to being able +to recover them through the authorities, I finally emerge from their +vicinity. Their behavior simply confirms what I have previously understood +of their character; that while they will invariably extend hospitable +treatment to a stranger visiting their camps, like unreliable explosives, +they require to be handled quite "gingerly" when encountered on the +road, to prevent disagreeable consequences. + +Passing through a low, marshy district, peopled with solemn-looking +storks and croaking frogs, I meet a young sheikh and his personal +attendants returning from a morning's outing at their favorite sport of +hawking; they carry their falcons about on small perches, fastened by +the leg with a tiny chain. I try to induce them to make a flight, but +for some reason or other they refuse; an Osmanli Turk would have +accommodated me in a minute. Soon I arrive at another Koordish camp, +fording a stream in order to reach their tents, for I have not yet +breakfasted, and know full well that no better opportunity of obtaining +one will be likely to turn up. Entering the nearest tent, I make no +ceremony of calling for refreshments, knowing well enough that a heaping +dish of pillau will be forthcoming, and that the hospitable Koords will +regard the ordering of it as the most natural thing in the world. The +pillau is of rice, mutton, and green herbs, and is brought in a large +pewter dish; and, together with sheet bread and a bowl of excellent +yaort, is brought on a massive pewter tray, which has possibly belonged +to the tribe for centuries. These tents are divided into several +compartments; one end is a compartment where the men congregate in the +daytime, and the younger men sleep at night, and where guests are received +and entertained; the central space is the commissary and female industrial +department; the others are female and family sleeping places. Each +compartment is partitioned off with a hanging carpet partition; light +portable railing of small, upright willow sticks bound closely together +protects the central compartment from a horde of dogs hungrily nosing +about the camp, and small "coops" of the same material are usually +built inside as a further protection for bowls of milk, yaort, butter, +cheese, and cooked food; they also obtain fowls from the villagers, which +they keep cooped up in a similar manner, until the hapless prisoners are +required to fulfil their destiny in chicken pillau; the capacious covering +over all is strongly woven goats'-hair material of a black or smoky brown +color. In a wealthy tribe, the tent of their sheikh is often a capacious +affair, twenty-five by one hundred feet, containing, among other +compartments, stabling and hay-room for the sheikh's horses in winter. +My breakfast is brought in from the culinary department by a young woman +of most striking appearance, certainly not less than six feet in height; +she is of slender, willowy build, and straight as an arrow; a wealth of +auburn hair is surmounted by a small, gay-colored turban; her complexion +is fairer than common among Koordish woman, and her features are the +queenly features of a Juno; the eyes are brown and lustrous, and, were +the expression but of ordinary gentleness, the picture would be perfect; +but they are the round, wild-looking orbs of a newly-caged panther- +grimalkin eyes, that would, most assuredly, turn green and luminous in +the dark. Other women come to take a look at the stranger, gathering +around and staring at rne, while I eat, with all their eyes - and such +eyes. I never before saw such an array of "wild-animal eyes;" no, not +even in the Zoo. Many of them are magnificent types of womanhood in every +other respect, tall, queenly, and symmetrically perfect; but the eyes-oh, +those wild, tigress eyes. Travellers have told queer, queer stories about +bands of these wild-eyed Koordish women waylaying and capturing them on +the roads through Koordistan, and subjecting them to barbarous treatment. +I have smiled, and thought them merely "travellers' tales;" but I can +see plain enough, this morning, that there is no improbability in the +stories, for, from a dozen pairs of female eyes, behold, there gleams +not one single ray of tenderness: these women are capable of anything +that tigresses are capable of, beyond a doubt. Almost the first question +asked by the men of these camps is whether the English and Muscovs are +fighting; they have either heard of the present (summer of 1885) crisis +over the Afghan boundary question, or they imagine that the English and +Russians maintain a sort of desultory warfare all the time. When I tell +them that the Muscov is fenna (bad) they invariably express their approval +of the sentiment by eagerly calling each other's attention to my expression. +It is singular with what perfect faith and confidence these rude tribesmen +accept any statement I choose to make, and how eagerly they seem to dwell +on simple statements of facts that are known to every school-boy in +Christendom. I entertain them with my map, showing them the position +of Stamboul, Mecca, Erzeroum, and towns in their own Koordistan, which +they recognize joyfully as I call them by name. They are profoundly +impressed at the " extent of my knowledge," and some of the more deeply +impressed stoop down and reverently kiss Stamboul and Mecca, as I point +them out. While thus pleasantly engaged, an aged sheikh comes to the +tent and straightway begins "kicking up a blooming row" about me. It +seems that the others have been guilty of trespassing on the sheikh's +prerogative, in entertaining me themselves, instead of conducting me to +his own tent. After upbraiding them in unmeasured terms, he angrily +orders several of the younger men to make themselves beautifully scarce +forthwith. The culprits - some of them abundantly able to throw the old +fellow over their shoulders - instinctively obey; but they move off at a +snail's pace, with lowering brows, and muttering angry growls that betray +fully their untamed, intractable dispositions. + +A two-hours' road experience among the constantly varying slopes of +rolling hills, and then comes a fertile valley, abounding in villages, +wheat-fields, orchards, and melon-gardens. These days I find it incumbent +on me to turn washer-woman occasionally, and, halting at the first little +stream in this valley, I take upon myself the onerous duties of Wall +Lung in Sacramento City, having for an interested and interesting audience +two evil-looking kleptomaniacs, buffalo-herders dressed in next to +nothing, who eye my garments drying on the bushes with lingering +covetousness. It is scarcely necessary to add that I watch them quite +as interestingly myself; for, while I pity the scantiness of their +wardrobe, I have nothing that I could possibly spare among mine. A network +of irrigating ditches, many of them overflowed, render this valley +difficult to traverse with a bicycle, and I reach a large village about +noon, myself and wheel plastered with mud, after traversing a, section +where the normal condition is three inches of dust. + +Bread and grapes are obtained here, a light, airy dinner, that is seasoned +and made interesting by the unanimous worrying of the entire population. +Once I make a desperate effort to silence their clamorous importunities, +and obtain a little quiet, by attempting to ride over impossible ground, +and reap the well-merited reward of permitting my equanimity to be thus +disturbed in the shape of a header and a slightly-bent handle-bar. While +I am eating, the gazing-stock of a wondering, commenting crowd, a +respectably dressed man elbows his way through the compact mass of humans +around me, and announces himself as having fought under Osman Pasha at +Plevna. What this has to do with me is a puzzler; but the man himself, +and every Turk of patriotic age in the crowd, is evidently expecting to +see me make some demonstration of approval; so, not knowing what else +to do, I shake the man cordially by the hand, and modestly inform my +attentively listening audience that Osman Pasha and myself are brothers, +that Osman yielded only when the overwhelming numbers of the Muscovs +proved that it was his kismet to do so; and that the Russians would never +be permitted to occupy Constantinople; a statement, that probably makes +my simple auditors feel as though they were inheriting a new lease of +national life; anyhow, they seem not a little gratified at what I am +saying. + +After this the people seem to find material for no end of amusement among +themselves, by contrasting the marifet of the bicycle with the marifet +of their creaking arabas, of which there seems to be quite a number in +this valley. They are used chiefly in harvesting, are roughly made, used, +and worn out in these mountain-environed valleys without ever going +beyond the hills that encompass them in on every side. From these villages +the people begin to evince an alarming disposition to follow me out some +distance on donkeys. This undesirable trait of their character is, of +course, easily counteracted by a short spurt, where spurting is possible, +but it is a soul-harrowing thing to trundle along a mile of unridable +road, in company with twenty importuning katir-jees, their diminutive +donkeys filling the air with suffocating clouds of dust. There is nothing +on all this mundane sphere that will so effectually subdue the proud, +haughty spirit of a wheelman, or that will so promptly and completely +snuff out his last flickering ray of dignity; it is one of the pleasantries +of 'cycling through a country where the people have been riding donkeys +and camels since the flood. + +A few miles from the village I meet another candidate for medical +treatment; this time it is a woman, among a merry company of donkey-riders, +bound from Yuzgat to the salt-mines; they are laughing, singing, and +otherwise enjoying themselves, after the manner of a New England berrying +party. The woman's affliction, she says, is "fenna ghuz," which, it +appears, is the term used to denote ophthalmia, as well as the "evil-eye;" +but of course, not being a ghuz hakim, I can do nothing more than express +my sympathy. The fertile valley gradually contracts to a narrow, rocky +defile, leading up into a hilly region, and at five o'clock I reach +Tuzgat, a city claiming a population of thirty thousand, that is situated +in a depression among the mountains that can scarcely be called a valley. +I have been three and a half days making the one hundred and thirty miles +from Angora. + +Everybody in Yuzgat knows Youvanaki Effendi Tifticjeeoghlou, to whom I +have brought a letter of introduction; and, shortly after reaching town, +I find myself comfortably installed on the cushioned divan of honor in +that worthy old gentleman's large reception room, while half a dozen +serving-men are almost knocking each other over in their anxiety to +furnish me coffee, vishnersu, cigarettes, etc. They seem determined upon +interpreting the slightest motion of my hand or head into some want which +I am unable to explain, and, fancying thus, they are constantly bobbing +up before me with all sorts of surprising things. Tevfik Bey, general +superintendent of the Eegie (a company having the monopoly of the tobacco +trade in Turkey, for which they pay the government a fixed sum per annum), +is also a guest of Tifticjeeoghlou Effendi's hospitable mansion, and he +at once despatches a messenger to his Yuzgat agent, Mr. G. O. Tchetchian, +a vivacious Greek, who speaks English quite fluently. After that gentleman's +arrival, we soon come to a more perfect understanding of each other all +round, and a very pleasant evening is spent in receiving crowds of +visitors in a ceremonious manner, in which I really seem to be holding +a sort of a levee, except that it is evening instead of morning. Open +door is kept for everybody, and mine host's retinue of pages and serving +men are kept pretty busy supplying coffee right and left; beggars in +their rags are even allowed to penetrate into the reception-room, to sip +a cup of coffee and take a curious peep at the Ingilisin and his wonderful +araba, the fame of which has spread like wildfire through the city. Mine +host himself is kept pretty well occupied in returning the salaams of +the more distinguished visitors, besides keeping his eye on the servants, +by way of keeping them well up to their task of dispensing coffee in a +manner satisfactory to his own liberal ideas of hospitality; but he +presides over all with a bearing of easy dignity that it is a pleasure +to witness. The street in front of the Tifticjeeoghlou residence is +swarmed with people next morning; keeping open house is, under the +circumstances, no longer practicable; the entrance gate has to be guarded, +and none permitted to enter but privileged persons. During the forenoon +the Caimacan and several officials call round and ask me to favor them +by riding along a smooth piece of road opposite the municipal konak; +as I intend remaining over here today, I enter no objections, and accompany +them forthwith. The rabble becomes wildly excited at seeing me emerge +with the bicycle, in company with the Caimacan and his staff, for they +know that their curiosity is probably on the eve of being gratified. It +proves no easy task to traverse the streets, for, like in all Oriental +cities, they are narrow, and are now jammed with people. Time and again +the Caimacan is compelled to supplement the exertions of an inadequate +force of zaptiehs with his authoritative voice, to keep down the excitement +and the wild shouts of "Bin bacalem! bin bacalem." (Hide, so that we +can see - an innovation on bin, bin, that has made itself manifest since +crossing the Kizil Irmak Kiver) that are raised, gradually swelling into +the tumultuous howl of a multitude. The uproar is deafening, and, long +before reaching the place, the Caimacan repents having brought me out. +As for myself, I certainly repent having come out, and have still better +reasons for doing so before reaching the safe retreat of Tifticjeeo-ghlou +Effendi's house, an hour afterward. The most that the inadequate squad +of zaptiehs present can do, when we arrive opposite the muncipal konak, +is to keep the crowd from pressing forward and overwhelming me and the +bicycle. They attempt to keep open a narrow passage through the surging +sea of humans blocking the street, for me to ride down; but ten yards +ahead the lane terminates in a mass of fez-crowned heads. Under the +impression that one can mount a bicycle on the stand, like mounting a +horse, the Caimacan asks me to mount, saying that when the people see +me mounted and ready to start, they will themselves yield a passage-way. +Seeing the utter futility of attempting explanations under existing +conditions, amid the defeaning clamor of " Bin bacalem! bin bacalem '" +I mount and slowly pedal along a crooked "fissure" in the compact mass +of people, which the zaptiehs manage to create by frantically flogging +right and left before me. Gaining, at length, more open ground, and the +smooth road continuing on, I speed away from the multitude, and the +Caimacan sends one fleet-footed zaptieh after me, with instructions to +pilot me back to Tifticjeeoghlou's by a roundabout way, so as to avoid +returning through the crowds. The rabble are not to be so easily deceived +and shook off as the Caimacan thinks, however; by taking various short +cuts, they manage to intercept us, and, as though considering the having +detected and overtaken us in attempting to elude them, justifies them +in taking liberties, their "Bin bacalem!" now develops into the imperious +cry of a domineering majority, determined upon doing pretty much as they +please. It is the worst mob I have seen on the journey, so far; excitement +runs high, and their shouts of "Bin bacalem!" can, most assuredly, be +heard for miles. We are enveloped by clouds of dust, raised by the feet +of the multitude; the hot sun glares down savagely upon us; the poor +zaptieh, in heavy top-boots and a brand-new uniform, heavy enough for +winter, works like a beaver to protect the bicycle, until, with perspiration +and dust, his face is streaked and tattooed like a South Sea Islander's. +Unable to proceed, we come to a stand-still, and simply occupy ourselves +in protecting the bicycle from the crush, and reasoning. with the mob; +but the only satisfaction we obtain in reply to anything we say is " Bin +bacalem." One or two pig-headed, obstreperous young men near us, emboldened +by our apparent helplessness, persist in handling the bicycle. After +being pushed away several times, one of them even assumes a menacing +attitude toward me the last time I thrust his meddlesome hand away. Under +such circumstances retributive justice, prompt and impressive, is the +only politic course to pursue; so, leaving the bicycle to the zaptieh a +moment, in the absence of a stick, I feel justified in favoring the +culprit with, a brief, pointed lesson in the noble art of self-defence, +the first boxing lesson ever given in Tuzgat. In a Western mob this would +have been anything but an act of discretion, probably, but with these +people it has a salutary effect; the idea of attempting retaliation is +the farthest of anything from their thoughts, and in all the obstreperous +crowd there is, perhaps, not one but what is quite delighted at either +seeing or hearing of me having thus chastised one of their number, and +involuntarily thanks Allah that it didn't happen to be himself. It would +be useless to attempt a description of how we finally managed, by the +assistance of two more zaptiehs, to get back to Tifticjeeoghlou Effendi's, +both myself and the zaptieh simply unrecognizable from dust and perspiration. +The zaptieh, having first washed the streaks and tattooing off his face, +now presents himself, with the broad, honest smile of one who knows he +well deserves what he is asking for, and says, "Effendi, backsheesh." + +There is nothing more certain than that the honest fellow merits backsheesh +from somebody; it is also equally certain that I am the only person from +whom he stands the ghost of a chance of getting any; nevertheless, the +idea of being appealed to for backsheesh, after what I have just undergone, +merely as an act of accommodation, strikes me as just a trifle ridiculous, +and the opportunity of engaging the grinning, good-humored zaptieh in a +little banter concerning the abstract preposterousness of his expectations +is too good to be lost. So, assuming an air of astonishment, I reply: +"Backsheesh! where is my backsheesh. I should think it's me that deserves +backsheesh if anybody does." This argument is entirely beyond the zaplieh's +child-like comprehension, however; he only understands by my manner that +there is a "hitch" somewhere; and never was there a more broadly good- +humored countenance, or a smile more expressive of meritoriousness, nor +an utterance more coaxing in its modulations than his "E-f-fendi, +backsheesh." as he repeats the appeal; the smile and the modulation is +well worth the backsheesh. + +In the afternoon, an officer appears with a note saying that the Mutaserif +and a number of gentlemen would like to see me ride inside the municipal +konak grounds. This I very naturally promise to do, only, under conditions +that an adequate force of zaptiehs be provided. This the Mutaserif readily +agrees to, and once more I venture into the streets, trundling along +under a strong escort of zaptiehs who form a hollow square around me. +The people accumulate rapidly, as we progress, and, by the time we arrive +at the konak gate there is a regular crush. In spite of the frantic +exertions of my escort, the mob press determinedly forward, in an attempt +to rush inside when the gate is opened; instantly I find myself and +bicycle wedged in among a struggling mass of natives; a cry of "Sakin +araba! sakin araba!" (Take care! the bicycle!) is raised; the zapliehs +make a supreme effort, the gate is opened, I am fairly carried in, and +the gate is closed. A couple of dozen happy mortals have gained admittance +in the rush. Hundreds of the better class natives are in the inclosure, +and the walls and neighboring house-tops are swarming with an interested +audience. There is a small plat of decently smooth ground, upon which I +circle around for a few minutes, to as delighted an audience as ever +collected in Bamum's circus. After the exhibition, the Mutaserif eyes +the swarming multitude on the roofs and wall, and looks perplexed; some +one suggests that the bicycle be locked up for the present, and, when +the crowds have dispersed, it can be removed without further excitement. +The Mutaserif then places the municipal chamber at my disposal, ordering +an officer to lock it up and give me the key. Later in the afternoon I +am visited by the Armenian pastor of Yuzgat, and another young Armenian, +who can speak a little English, and together we take a strolling peep +at the city. The American missionaries at Kaizarieh have a small book +store here, and the pastor kindly offers me a New Testament to carry +along. We drop in on several Armenian shopkeepers, who are introduced +as converts of the mission. Coffee is supplied wherever we call. While +sitting down a minute in a tailor's stall, a young Armenian peeps in, +smiles, and indulges in the pantomime of rubbing his chin. Asking the +meaning of this, I am informed by the interpreter that the fellow belongs +to the barber shop next door, and is taking this method of reminding me +that I stand in need of his professional attentions, not having shaved +of late. There appears to be a large proportion of Circassians in town; +a group of several wild-looking bipeds, armed a la Anatolia, ragged and +unkempt-haired for Circassians, who are generally respectable in their +personal appearance, approach us, and want me to show them the bicycle, +on the strength of their having fought against the Russians in the late +war. "I think they are liars," says the young Armenian, who speaks +English; "they only say they fought against the Russians because you +are an Englishman, and they think you will show them the bicycle." Some +one comes to me with old coins for sale, another brings a stone with +hieroglyphics on it, and the inevitable genius likewise appears; this +time it is an Armenian; the tremendous ovation I have received has filled +his mind with exaggerated ideas of making a fortune, by purchasing the +bicycle and making a two-piastre show out of it. He wants to know how +much I will take for it. Early daylight finds me astir on the following +morning, for I have found it a desirable thing to escape from town ere +the populace is out to crowd about me. Tifticjeeoghlou Effendi's better +half has kindly risen at an unusually early hour, to see me off, and +provides me with a dozen circular rolls of hard bread-rings the size of +rope quoits aboard an Atlantic steamer, which I string on Igali's cerulean +waist-scarf, and sling over one shoulder. The good lady lets me out of +the gate, and says, "Bin bacalem, Effendi." She hasn't seen me ride yet. +She is a motherly old creature, of Greek extraction, and I naturally +feel like an ingrate of the meanest type, at my inability to grant her +modest request. Stealing along the side streets, I manage to reach ridable +ground, gathering by the way only a small following of worthy early +risers, and two katir-jees, who essay to follow me on their long-eared +chargers; but, the road being smooth and level from the beginning, I at +once discourage them by a short spurt. A half-hour's trundling up a steep +hill, and then comes a coastable descent into lower territory. A +conscription party collected from the neighboring Mussulman villages, +en route to Samsoon, the nearest Black Sea port, is met while riding +down this declivity. In anticipation of the Sultan's new uniforms awaiting +them at Constantinople, they have provided themselves for the journey +with barely enough rags to cover their nakedness. They are in high glee +at their departure for Stamboul, and favor me with considerable good-natured +chaff as I wheel past. "Human nature is everywhere pretty much alike the +world over," I think to myself. There is little difference between this +regiment of ragamuffins chaffing me this morning and the well-dressed +troopers of Kaiser William, bantering me the day I wheeled out of +Strassburg. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + + + +THROUGH THE SIVAS VILAYET INTO ARMENIA. + +It is six hours distant from Yuzgat to the large village of Koelme, as +distance is measured here, or about twenty-three English miles; but the +road is mostly ridable, and I roll into the village in about three hours +and a half. Just beyond Koehne, the roads fork, and the mudir kindly +sends a mounted zaptieh to guide me aright, for fear I shouldn't quite +understand by his pantomimic explanations. I understand well enough, +though, and the road just here happening to be excellent wheeling, to +the delight of the whole village, I spurt ahead, outdistancing the +zaptieh's not over sprightly animal, and bowling briskly along the right +road within their range of vision, for over a mile. Soon after leaving +Koehne my attention is attracted by a small cluster of civilized-looking +tents, pitched on the bank of a running stream near the road, and from +whence issues the joyous sounds of mirth and music. The road continues +ridable, and I am wheeling leisurely along, hesitating about whether to +go and investigate or not, when a number of persons, in holiday attire, +present themselves outside the tents, and by shouting and gesturing, +invite me to pay them a visit. It turns out to be a reunion of the Yuzgat +branch of the Pampasian-Pamparsan family - an Armenian name whose +representatives in Armenia and Anatolia, it appears, correspond in +comparative numerical importance to the great and illustrious family of +Smiths in the United States. Following - or doubtless, more properly, +setting - a worthy example, they likewise have their periodical reunions, +where they eat, drink, spin yarns, sing, and twang the tuneful lyre in +frolicsome consciousness of always having a howling majority over their +less prolific neighbors. + +Refreshments in abundance are tendered, and the usual pantomimic +explanations exchanged between us; some of the men have been honoring +the joyful occasion by a liberal patronage of the flowing bowl, and are +already mildly hilarious; stringed instruments are twanged by the musical +members of the great family, while several others, misinterpreting the +inspiration of raki punch for terpsichorean talent are prancing wildly +about the tent. Middle-aged matrons are here in plenty, housewifely +persons, finding their chief enjoyment in catering to the gastronomic +pleasures of the others; while a score or two of blooming maidens stand +coyly aloof, watching the festive merry-makings of the men; their heads +and necks are resplendent with bands and necklaces of gold coins, it +still being a custom of the East to let the female members of a family +wear the surplus wealth about them in the shape of gold ornaments and +jewels, a custom resulting from the absence of safe investments and the +unstability of national affairs. Yuzgat enjoys among neighboring cities +a reputation for beautiful women, and this auspicious occasion gives me +an excellent opportunity for drawing my own conclusions. It is not fair +perhaps to pass judgment on Yuzgat's pretensions, by the damsels of one +family connection, not even the great and numerous Pampasian-Pamparsan +family, but still they ought to be at least a fair average. They have +beautiful large black eyes, and usually a luxuriant head of hair; but +their faces arc, on the whole, babyish and expressionless. The Yuzgat +maiden of "sweet sixteen" is a coy, babyish creature, possessed +of a certain doll-like prettiness, but at twenty-three is a rapidly +fading flower, and at thirty is already beginning to get wrinkled and +old. Happening to fall in with this festive gathering this morning is +quite a gratifying and enlivening surprise; besides the music and dancing +and a substantial breakfast of chicken, boiled mutton, and rice pillau, +it gives me an opportunity of witnessing an Armenian family reunion under +primitive conditions. Watching over this peaceful and gambolling flock +of Armenian lambkins is a lone Circassian watchdog; he is of a stalwart, +warlike appearance; and although wearing no arms - except a cavalry sword, +a shorter broad-sword, a dragoon revolver, a two-foot horse-pistol, and +a double-barrelled shot-gun slung at his back - the Armenians seem to feel +perfectly safe under his protection. They probably don't +require any such protection really; they are nevertheless wise in employing +a Circassian to guard them, if for nothing else for the sake of freeing +their own unwarlike minds of all disquieting apprehensions, and enjoying +their family reunion in the calm atmosphere of perfect security; some +lawless party passing along the road might peradventure drop in and abuse +their hospitality, or partaking too freely of raki, make themselves +obnoxious, were they unprotected; but with one Circassian patrolling the +camp, they are doubly sure against anything of the kind. + +These people invite me to remain with them until to-morrow; but of course +I excuse myself from this, and, after spending a very agreeable hour in +their company, take my departure. The country develops into an undulating +plateau, which is under general cultivation, as cultivation goes in +Asiatic Turkey. A number of Circassian villages are scattered over this +upland plain; most of them are distant from my road, but many horsemen +are encountered; they ride the finest animals in the country, and one +naturally falls to wondering how they manage to keep so well-dressed and +well-mounted, while rags and poverty and diminutive donkeys seem to be +the well-nigh universal rule among their neighbors. The Circassians +betray more interest in my purely personal affairs - whether I am Russian +or English, whither I am bound, etc.- and less interest in the bicycle, +than either Turks or Armenians, and seem altogether of a more reserved +disposition; I generally have as little conversation with them as possible, +confining myself to letting them know I am English and not Russian, and +replying "Turkchi binmus" (I don't understand) to other questions; +they have a look about them that makes one apprehensive as to the +disinterestedness of their wanting to know whither I am bound - apprehensive +that their object is to find out where three or four of them could "see +me later." I see but few Circassian women; what few I approach sufficiently +near to observe are all more or less pleasant-faced, prepossessing +females; many have blue eyes, which is very rare among their neighbors; +the men average quite as handsome as the women, and they have a peculiar +dare-devil expression of countenance that makes them distinguishable +immediately from either Turk or Armenian; they look like men who wouldn't +hesitate about undertaking any devilment they felt themselves equal to +for the sake of plunder. They are very like their neighbors, however, +in one respect; such among them as take any great interest in my +extraordinary outfit find it entirely beyond their comprehension; the +bicycle is a Gordian knot too intricate for their semi-civilized minds +to unravel, and there are no Alexanders among them to think of cutting +it. Before they recover from their first astonishment I have disappeared. + +The road continues for the most part ridable until about 2 P.M., when I +arrive at a mountainous region of rocky ridges, covered chiefly with a +growth of scrub-oak. Upon reaching the summit of one of these ridges, I +observe some distance ahead what appears to be a tremendous field of +large cabbages, stretching away in a northeasterly direction almost to +the horizon of one's vision; the view presents the striking appearance +of large compact cabbage-heads, thickly dotting a well-cultivated area +of clean black loam, surrounded on all sides by rocky, uncultivatable +wilds. Fifteen minutes later I am picking my way through this "cultivated +field," which, upon closer acquaintance, proves to be a smooth lava-bed, +and the "cabbages" are nothing more or less than boulders of singular +uniformity; and what is equally curious, they are all covered with a +growth of moss, while the volcanic bed they repose on is perfectly naked. +Beyond this singular area, the country continues wild and mountainous, +with no habitations near the road; and thus it continues until some time +after night-fall, when I emerge upon a few scattering wheat-fields. The +baying of dogs in the distance indicates the presence of a village +somewhere around; but having plenty of bread on which to sup I once again +determine upon studying astronomy behind a wheat-shock. It is a glorious +moonlight night, but the altitude of the country hereabouts is not less +than six thousand feet, and the chilliness of the atmosphere, already +apparent, bodes ill for anything like a comfortable night; but I scarcely +anticipate being disturbed by anything save atmospheric conditions. I +am rolled up in my tent instead of under it, slumbering as lightly as +men are wont to slumber under these unfavorable conditions, when, about +eleven o'clock, the unearthly creaking of native arabas approaching +arouses me from my lethargical condition. Judging from the sounds, they +appear to be making a bee-line for my position; but not caring to +voluntarily reveal my presence, I simply remain quiet and listen. It +soon becomes evident that they are a party of villagers, coming to load +up their buffalo arabas by moonlight with these very shocks of wheat. +One of the arabas now approaches the shock which conceals my recumbent +form, and where the pale moonbeams are coquettishly ogling the nickel-plated +portions of my wheel, making it conspicuously sciutillant by their +attentions. Hoping the araba may be going to pass by, and that my presence +may escape the driver's notice, I hesitate even yet to reveal myself; +but the araba stops, and I can observe the driver's frightened expression +as he suddenly becomes aware of the presence of strange, supernatural +objects. At the same moment I rise up in my winding-sheet-like covering; +the man utters a wild yell, and abandoning the araba, vanishes like a +deer in the direction of his companions. It is an unenviable situation +to find one's self in; if I boldly approach them, these people, not being +able to ascertain my character in the moonlight, would be quite likely +to discharge their fire-arms at me in their fright; if, on the contrary, +I remain under cover, they might also try the experiment of a shot before +venturing to approach the deserted buffaloes, who are complacently chewing +the cud on the spot where their chicken-hearted driver took to his heels. + +Under the circumstances I think it best to strike off toward the road, +leaving them to draw their own conclusions as to whether I am Sheitan +himself, or merely a plain, inoffensive hobgoblin. But while gathering +up my effects, one heroic individual ventures to approach part way and +open up a shouting inquiry; my answers, though unintelligible to him in +the main, satisfy him that I am at all events a human being; there are +six of them, and in a few minutes after the ignominious flight of the +driver, they are all gathered around me, as much interested and nonplussed +at the appearance of myself and bicycle as a party of Nebraska homesteaders +might be had they, under similar circumstances, discovered a turbaned +old Turk complacently enjoying a nargileh. No sooner do their apprehensions +concerning my probable warlike character and capacity become allayed, +than they get altogether too familiar and inquisitive about my packages; +and I detect one venturesome kleptomaniac surreptitiously unfastening a +strap when he fancies I am not noticing. Moreover, laboring under the +impression that I don't understand a word they are saying, I observe +they are commenting in language smacking unmistakably of covetousness, +as to the probable contents of my Whitehouse leather case; some think +it is sure to contain chokh para (much money), while others suggest that +I am a postaya (courier), and that it contains letters. Under these +alarming circumstances there is only one way to manage these overgrown +children; that is, to make them afraid of you forthwith; so, shoving the +strap-unfastener roughly away, I imperatively order the whole covetous +crew to "haidi." Without a moment's hesitation they betake themselves +off to their work, it being an inborn trait of their character to +mechanically obey an authoritative command. Following them to their other +arabas, I find that they have brought quilts along, intending, after +loading up to sleep in the field until daylight. Selecting a good heavy +quilt with as little ceremony as though it were my own property, I take +it and the bicycle to another shock, and curl myself up warm and +comfortable; once or twice the owner of the coverlet approaches quietly, +just near enough to ascertain that I am not intending making off with +his property, but there is not the slightest danger of being disturbed +or molested in any way till morning; thus, in this curious round-about +manner, does fortune provide me with the wherewithal to pass a comparatively +comfortable night. "Rather arbitrary proceedings to take a quilt without +asking permission," some might think; but the owner thinks nothing of +the kind; it is quite customary for travellers of their own nation to +help themselves in this way, and the villagers have come to regard it +as quite a natural occurrence. At daylight I am again on the move, and +sunrise finds me busy making an outline sketch of the ruins of an ancient +castle, that occupies, I should imagine, one of the most impregnable +positions in all Asia Minor; a regular Gibraltar. It occupies the summit +of a precipitous detached mountain peak, which is accessible only from +one point, all the other sides presenting a sheer precipice of rock; it +forms a conspicuous feature of the landscape for many miles around, and +situated as it is amid a wilderness of rugged brush-covered heights, +admirably suited for ambuscades, it was doubtless a very important +position at one time. It probably belongs to the Byzantine period, and +if the number of old graves scattered among the hills indicate anything, +it has in its day been the theatre of stirring tragedy. An hour after +leaving the frowning battlements of the grim old relic behind, I arrive +at a cluster of four rock houses, which are apparently occupied by a +sort of a patriarchal family consisting of a turbaned old Turk and his +two generations of descendants. The old fellow is seated on a rock, +smoking a cigarette and endeavoring to coax a little comfort from the +slanting rays of the morning sun, and I straightway approach him and +broach the all-important subject of refreshments. He turns out to be a +fanatical old gentleman, one of those old-school Mussulmans who have +neither eye nor ear for anything but the Mohammedan religion; I have +irreverently interrupted him in his morning meditations, it seems, and +he administers a rebuke in the form of a sidewise glance, such as a +Pharisee might be expected to bestow on a Cannibal Islander venturing +to approach him, and delivers himself of two deep-fetched sighs of "Allah, +Allah!" + +Anybody would think from his actions that the sanctimonious old man-ikin +(five feet three) had made the pilgrimage to Mecca a dozen times, whereas +he has evidently not even earned the privilege of wearing a green turban; +he has neither been to Mecca himself during his whole unprofitable life +nor sent a substitute, and he now thinks of gaining a nice numerous +harem, and a walled-in garden, with trees and fountains, cucumbers and +carpooses, in the land of the hara fjhuz kiz, by cultivating the spirit +of fanaticism at the eleventh hour. I feel too independent this morning +to sacrifice any of the wellnigh invisible remnant of dignity remaining +from the respectable quantity with which I started into Asia, for I still +have a couple of the wheaten " quoits" I brought from Yuzgat; so, leaving +the ancient Mussulman to his meditations, I push on over the hills, when, +coming to a spring, I eat my frugal breakfast, soaking the unbiteable +"quoits" in the water. After getting beyond this hilly region, I emerge +upon a level plateau of considerable extent, across which very fair +wheeling is found; but before noon the inevitable mountains present +themselves again, and some of the acclivities are trundleable only by +repeating the stair-climbing process of the Kara Su Pass. Necessity +forces me to seek dinner at a village where abject poverty, beyond +anything hitherto encountered, seems to exist. A decently large fig-leaf, +without anything else, would be eminently preferable to the tattered +remnants hanging about these people, and among the smaller children puris +naturalis is the rule. It is also quite evident that few of them ever +take a bath; as there is plenty of water about them, this doubtless comes +of the pure contrariness of human nature in the absence of social +obligations. Their religion teaches these people that they ought to bathe +every day; consequently, they never bathe at all. There is a small +threshing-floor handy, and, taking pity on their wretched condition, I +hesitate not to "drive dull care away" from them for a few minutes, by +giving them an exhibition; not that there is any "dull care" among +them, though, after all; for, in spite of desperate poverty, they know +more contentment than the well-fed, respectably-dressed mechanic of the +Western World. It is, however, the contentment born of not realizing +their own condition, the bliss that comes of ignorance. They search the +entire village for eatables, but nothing is readily obtainable but bread. +A few gaunt, angular fowls are scratching about, but they have a beruffled, +disreputable appearance, as though their lives had been a continuous +struggle against being caught and devoured; moreover, I don't care to +wait around three hours on purpose to pass judgment on these people's +cooking. Eggs there are none; they are devoured, I fancy, almost before +they are laid. Finally, while making the best of bread and water, which +is hardly made more palatable by the appearance of the people watching +me feed - a woman in an airy, fairy costume, that is little better than +no costume at all, comes forward, and contributes a small bowl of yaort; +but, unfortuntaely, this is old yaort, yaort that is in the sere and +yellow stage of its usefulness as human food; and although these people +doubtless consume it thus, I prefer to wait until something more acceptable +and less odoriferous turns up. I miss the genial hospitality of the +gentle Koords to-day. Instead of heaping plates of pillau, and bowls of +wholesome new yaort, fickle fortune brings me nothing but an exclusive +diet of bread and water. My road, this afternoon, is a tortuous donkey-trail, +intersecting ravines with well-nigh perpendicular sides, and rocky ridges, +covered with a stunted growth of cedar and scrub-oak. The higher mountains +round about are heavily timbered with pine and cedar. A large forest on +a mountain-slope is on fire, and I pass a camp of people who have been +driven out of their permanent abode by the flames. Fortunately, they +have saved everything except their naked houses and their grain. They +can easily build new houses, and their neighbors will give or lend them +sufficient grain to tide them over till another harvest. Toward sundown +the hilly country terminates, and I descend into a broad cultivated +valley, through which is a very good wagon-road; and I have the additional +satisfaction of learning that it will so continue clear into Sivas, a +wagon-road having been made from Sivas into this forest to enable the +people to haul wood and building-timber on their arabas. Arriving at a +good-sized and comparatively well-to-do Mussulman village, I obtain an +ample supper of eggs and pillau, and, after binning over and over again +until the most unconscionable Turk among them all can bring himself to +importune me no more, I obtain a little peace. Supper for two, together +with the tough hill-climbing to-day, and insufficient sleep last night, +produces its natural effect; I quietly doze off to sleep while sitting +on the divan of a small khan, which might very appropriately be called +an open shed. Soon I am awakened; they want me to accommodate them by +binning once more before they retire for the night. As the moon is shining +brightly, I offer no objections, knowing that to grant the request will +be the quickest way to get rid of their worry. They then provide me with +quilts, and I spend the night in the khan alone. I am soon asleep, but +one habitually sleeps lightly under these strange and ever-varying +conditions, and several times I am awakened by dogs invading the khan +and sniffing - about my couch. My daily experience among these people is +teaching me the commendable habit of rising with the lark; not that I +am an enthusiastic student, or even a willing one - be it observed that +few people are - but it is a case of either turning out and sneaking off +before the inhabitants are astir, or to be worried from one's waking +moments to the departure from the village, and of the two evils one comes +finally to prefer the early rising. One can always obtain something to +eat before starting by waiting till an hour after sunrise, but I have +had quite enough of these people's importunities to make breakfasting +with them a secondary consideration, and so pull out at early daylight. +The road is exceptionally good, but an east wind rises with the sun and +quickly develops into a stiff breeze that renders riding against it +anything but child's play; no rose is to be expected without a thorn, +nevertheless it is rather aggravating to have the good road and the +howling head-wind happen together, especially in traversing a country +where good roads are the exception instead of the rule. About eight +o'clock I reach a village situated at the entrance to a rocky defile, +with a babbling brook dancing through the space between its two divisions. +Upon inquiring for refreshments, a man immediately orders his wife to +bring me pillau. For some reason or other - perhaps the poor woman has +none prepared; who knows? - the woman, instead of obeying the command +like a "guid wifey," enters upon a wordy demurrer, whereupon her husband +borrows a hoe-handle from a bystander and advances to chastise her for +daring to thus hesitate about obeying his orders; the woman retreats +precipitately into the house, heaping Turkish epithets on her devoted +husband's head. This woman is evidently a regular termagant, or she would +never have used such violent language to her husband in the presence of +a stranger and the whole village; some day, if she doesn't be more +reasonable, her husband, instead of satisfying his outraged feelings by +chastising her with a hoe-handle, will, in a moment of passion, bid her +begone from his house, which in Turkish law constitutes a legal separation; +if the command be given in the presence of a competent witness it is +irrevocable. Seeing me thus placed, as it were, in an embarrassing +situation, another woman - dear, thoughtful creature! - fetches me enough +wheat piilau to feed a mule, and a nice bowl of yaort, off which I make +a substantial breakfast. Near by where I am eating are five industrious +maidens, preparing cracked or broken wheat by a novel and interesting +process, that has hitherto failed to come under my observation; perhaps +it is peculiar to the Sivas vilayet, which I have now entered. A large +rock is hollowed out like a shallow druggist's mortar; wheat is put in, +and several girls (sometimes as many as eight, I am told by the American +missionaries at Sivas) gather in a circle about it, and pound the wheat +with light, long-headed mauls or beetles, striking in regular succession, +as the reader has probably seen a gang of circus roustabouts driving +tent-pins. When I first saw circus tent-pins driven in this manner, a +few years ago, I remember hearing on-lookers remarking it as quite novel +and wonderful how so many could be striking the same peg without their +swinging sledges coming into collision; but that very same performance +has been practised by the maidens hereabout, it seems, from time immemorial- +another proof that there is nothing new under the sun. Ten miles of good +riding, and I wheel into the considerable town of Yennikhan, a place +sufficiently important to maintain a public coffee-khan and several small +shops. Here I take aboard a pocketful of fine large pears, and after +wheeling a couple of miles to a secluded spot, halt for the purpose of +shifting the pears from my pocket to where they will be better appreciated. +Ere I have finished the second pear, a gentle goatherd, who from an +adjacent hill observed me alight, appears upon the scene and waits around, +with the laudable intention of further enlightening his mind when I +remount. He is carrying a musical instrument something akin to a flute; +it is a mere hollow tube with the customary finger-holes, but it is blown +at the end; having neither reed nor mouth-piece of any description, it +requires a peculiar sidewise application of the lips, and is not to be +blown readily by a novice. When properly played, it produces soft, +melodious music that, to say nothing else, must exert a gentle soothing +influence on the wild, turbulent souls of a herd of goats. The goatherd +offers me a cake of ekmek out of his wallet, as a sort of a I peace - offering, +but thanks to a generous breakfast, music hath more charms at present +than dry ekmek, and handing him a pear, I strike up a bargain by which +he is to entertain me with a solo until I am ready to start, when of +course he will be amply recompensed by seeing me bin; the bargain is +agreed to, and the solo duly played. East of Yennikhan, the road develops +into an excellent macadamized highway, on which I find plenty of genuine +amusement by electrifying the natives whom I chance to meet or overtake. +Creeping noiselessly up behind an unsuspecting donkey-driver, until quite +close, I suddenly reveal my presence. Looking round and observing a +strange, unearthly combination, apparently swooping down upon him, the +affrighted katir-jee's first impulse is to seek refuge in flight, not +infrequently bolting clear off the roadway, before venturing upon taking +a second look. Sometimes I simply put on a spurt, and whisk past at a +fifteen mile pace. Looking back, the katir-jee generally seems rooted +to the spot with astonishment, and his utter inability to comprehend. +These men will have marvellous tales to tell in their respective villages +concerning what they saw; unless other bicycles are introduced, the time +the "Ingilisiu" went through the country with his wonderful araba will +become a red-letter event in the memory of the people along my route +through Asia Minor. Crossing the Yeldez Irmak Eiver, on a stone bridge, +I follow along the valley of the head-waters of our old acquaintance, +the Kizil Irmak, and at three o'clock in the afternoon, roll into Sivas, +having wheeled nearly fifty miles to-day, the last forty of which will +compare favorably in smoothness, though not in leveluess, with any forty- +mile stretch I know of in the United States. Prom Angora I have brought +a letter of introduction to Mr. Ernest Weakley, a young Englishman, +engaged, together with Mr. Kodigas, a Belgian gentleman, for the Ottoman +Government, in collecting the Sivas vilayet's proportion of the Russian +indemnity; and I am soon installed in hospitable quarters. Sivas artisans +enjoy a certain amount of celebrity among their compatriots of other +Asia Minor cities for unusual skilfulness. particularly in making filigree +silver work. Toward evening myself and Mr. Weakley take a stroll through +the silversmiths' quarters. The quarters consist of twenty or thirty +small wooden shops, surrounding an oblong court; spreading willows and +a tiny rivulet running through it give the place a semi-rural appearance. +In the little open-front workshops, which might more appropriately be +called stalls, Armenian silversmiths are seated cross-legged, some working +industriously at their trade, others gossiping and sipping coffee with +friends or purchasers. + +"Doesn't it call up ideas of what you conceive the quarters of the old +alchemists to have been hundreds of years ago." asks my companion. +"Precisely what I was on the eve of suggesting to you," I reply, and then +we drop into one of the shops, sip coffee with the old silversmith, and +examine his filigree jewelry. There is nothing denoting remarkable skill +about any of it; an intricate pattern of their jewelry simply represents +a great expenditure of time and Asiatic patience, and the finishing of +clasps, rivetting, etc., is conspicuously rough. Sivas was also formerly +a seat of learning; the imposing gates, with portions of the fronts of +the old Arabic universities are still standing, with sufficient beautiful +arabesque designs in glazed tile-work still undestroyed, to proclaim +eloquently of departed glories. The squalid mud hovels of refugees from +the Caucasus now occupy the interior of these venerable edifices; ragged +urchins romp with dogs and baby buffaloes where pashas' sons formerly +congregated to learn wisdom from the teachings of their prophet, and now +what remains of the intricate arabesque designs, worked out in small, +bright-colored tiles, that once formed the glorious ceiling of the dome, +seems to look down reproachfully, and yet sorrowfully, upon the wretched +heaps of tezek placed beneath it for shelter. + +I am remaining over one day at Sivas, and in the morning we call on the +American missionaries. Mr. Perry is at home, and hopes I am going to +stay a week, so that they can "sort of make up for the discomforts of +journeying through the country;" Mr. Hubbard and the ladies of the +Mission are out of town, but will be back this evening. After dinner we +go round to the government konak and call on the Vali, Hallil Eifaat +Pasha, whom Mr. Weakley describes beforehand as a very practical man, +fond of mechanical contrivances; and who would never forgive him if he +allowed me to leave Sivas with the bicycle without paying him a visit. +The usual rigmarole of salaams, cigarettes, coffee, compliments, and +questioning are gone through with; the Vali is a jolly-faced, good-natured +man, and is evidently much interested in my companion's description of +the bicycle and my journey. Of course I don't forget to praise the +excellence of the road from Yennikhan; I can conscientiously tell him +that it is superior to anything I have wheeled over south of the Balkans; +the Pasha is delighted at hearing this, and beaming joyously over his +spectacles, his fat jolly face a rotund picture of satisfaction, he says +to Mr. Weakley: "You see, he praises up our roads; and he ought to know, +he has travelled on wagon roads half way round the world." The interview +ends by the Vali inviting me to ride the bicycle out to his country +residence this evening, giving the order for a squad of zaptiehs to +escort me out of town at the appointed time. "The Vali is one of the +most energetic pashas in Turkey," says Mr. Weakley, as we take our +departure. "You would scarcely believe that he has established a small +weekly newspaper here, and makes it self-supporting into the bargain, +would you." "I confess I don't see how he manages it among these +people," I reply, quite truthfully, for these are anything but newspaper- +supporting people; "how does he manage to make it self-supporting?" +Why, he makes every employe of the government subscribe for a certain +number of copies, and the subscription price is kept back out of their +salaries; for instance, the mulazim of zaptiehs would have to take half +a dozen copies, the mutaserif a dozen, etc.; if from any unforeseen cause +the current expenses are found to be more than the income, a few additional +copies are saddled on each 'subscriber.' "Before leaving Sivas, I +arrive at the conclusion that Hallil Eifaat Pasha knows just about what's +what; while administering the affairs of the Sivas vilayet in a manner +that has gained him the good-will of the population at large, he hasn't +neglected his opportunities at the Constantinople end of the rope; more +than one beautiful Circassian girl has, I am told, been forwarded to the +Sultan's harem by the enterprising and sagacious Sivas Vali; consequently +he holds "trump cards," so to speak, both in the province and the palace. +Promptly at the hour appointed the squad of zaptiehs arrive; Mr. Weakley +mounts his servant on a prancing Arab charger, and orders him to manoeuvre +the horse so as to clear the way in front; the zaptiehs commence their +flogging, and in the middle of the cleared space I trundle the bicycle. +While making our way through the streets, Mr. Hubbard, who, with the +ladies, has just returned to the city, is encountered on the way to +invite Mr. Weakley and myself to supper; as he pushes his way through +the crowd and reaches my side, he pronounces it the worst rabble he ever +saw in the streets of Sivas, and he has been stationed here over twelve +years. Once clear of the streets, I mount and soon outdistance the crowd, +though still followed by a number of horsemen. Part way out we wait for +the Vali's state carriage, in which he daily rides between the city and +his residence. "While waiting, a terrific squall of wind and dust comes +howling from the direction we are going, and while it is still blowing +great guns, the Vali and his mounted escort arrive. His Excellency alights +and examines the Columbia with much interest, and then requests me to +ride on immediately in advance of the carriage. The grade is slightly +against me, and the whistling wind seems to be shrieking a defiance; but +by superhuman efforts, almost, I pedal ahead and manage to keep in front +of his horses all the way. The distance from Sivas is four and a quarter +miles by the cyclometer; this is the first time it has ever been measured. +We are ushered into a room quite elegantly furnished, and light refreshments +served. Observing my partiality for vishner-su, the Governor kindly +offers me a flask of the syrup to take along; which I am, however, +reluctantly compelled to refuse, owing to my inability to carry it. Here, +also, we meet Djaved Bey, the Pasha's son, who has recently returned +from Constantinople, and who says he saw me riding at Prinkipo. The Vali +gets down on his hands and knees to examine the route of my journey on +a map of the world which he spreads out on the carpet; he grows quite +enthusiastic, and exclaims, "Wonderful." " Very wonderful!" says Djaved +Bey; "when you get back to America they will-build you a statue." Mr. +Hubbard has mounted a horse and followed us to the Vali's residence, and +at the approach of dusk we take our departure; the wind is favorable for +the return, as is also the gradient; ere my two friends have unhitched +their horses, I mount and am scudding before the gale half a mile away. + +"Hi hi-hi-hi! you'll never overtake him." the Vali shouts enthusiastically +to the two horsemen as they start at full gallop after me, and which +they laughingly repeat to me shortly afterward. A very pleasant evening +is spent at Mr. Hubbard's house; after supper the ladies sing "Sweet +Bye and Bye," "Home, Sweet Home," and other melodious reminders of the +land of liberty and song that gave them birth. Everything looks comfortable +and homelike, and they have English ivy inside the dining-room trained +up the walls and partly covering the ceiling, which produces a wonderfully +pleasant effect. The usual extraordinary rumors of my wonderful speeding +ability have circulated about the city during the day and evening, some +of which have happened to come to the ears of the missionaries. One story +is that I came from the port of Samsoon, a distance of nearly three +hundred miles, in six hours, while an imaginative katir-jee, whom I +whisked past on the road, has been telling the Sivas people an exaggerated +story of how a genii had ridden past him with lightning-like speed on a +shining wheel; but whether it was a good or an evil genii he said he +didn't have time to determine, as I went past like a flash and vanished +in the distance. The missionaries have four hundred scholars attending +their school here at Sivas, which would seem to indicate a pretty +flourishing state of affairs. Their recruiting ground is, of I course, +among the Armenians, who, though professedly Christiana really stand in +more need of regeneration than their Mohammedan neighbors. The +characteristic condition of the average Armenian villager's mind is deep, +dense ignorance and moral gloominess; it requires more patience and +perseverance to ingraft a new idea on the unimpressionable trunk of +an Armenian villager's intellect than it does to put up second-hand +stove-pipe; and it is a generally admitted fact - i.e., west of the Missouri +Elver - that anyone capable of setting up three joints of second-hand +stove-pipe without using profane language deserves a seat in Paradise. +"Come in here a minute," says Mr. Hubbard, just before our I departure +for the night, leading the way into an adjoining room.; I "here's shirts, +underclothing, socks, handkerchiefs-everything;.! help yourself to +anything you require; I know something about I travelling through this +country myself. " But not caring to impose too much on good nature, I +content myself with merely pocketing a strong pair of socks, that I +know will come in handy. I leave the bicycle at the mission over night, +and in the morning, at Miss Chamberlain's request, I ride round the +school-house yard a few times for the edification of the scholars. The +greatest difficulty, I am informed, with Armenian pupils is to get them +to take sufficient interest in anything to ask questions; it is mainly +because the bicycle will be certain to awaken interest, and excite the +spirit of inquiry among them, that I am requested to ride for their +benefit. Thus is the bicycle fairly recognized as a valuable aid to +missionary work. Moral: let the American and Episcopal boards provide +their Asia Minor and Persian missionaries with nickel-plated bicycles; +let them wheel their way into the empty wilderness of the Armenian mind, +and. light up the impenetrable moral darkness lurking therein with the +glowing and mist-dispelling orbs of cycle lamps. Messrs. Perry, Hubbard, +and Weakley accompany me out some distance on horseback, and at parting +I am commissioned to carry salaams to the brethren in China. This is the +first opportunity that has ever presented of sending greetings overland +to far-off China, they say, and such rare occasions are not to be lightly +overlooked. They also promise to send word to the Erzeroum mission to +expect me; the chances are, however, that I shall reach Erzeroum before +their letter; there are no lightning mail trains in Asia Minor. The road +eastward from Sivas is an artificial highway, and affords reasonably +good wheeling, but is somewhat inferior to the road from Yennikhau. +Before long I enter a region of low hills, dales, and small lakes, beyond +which the road again descends into the valley of the Kizil Irmak. All +day long the roadway averages better wheeling than I ever expected to +find in Asiatic Turkey; but the prevailing east wind offers strenuous +opposition to my progress every inch of the way along the hundred miles +or so of ridable road from Yennikhan to Zara, a town at which I arrive +near sundown. Zara is situated at the entrance to a narrow passage between +two mountain spurs, and although the road is here a dead level and the +surface smooth, the wind comes roaring from the gorge with such tremendous +pressure that it is only by extraordinary exertions that I am able to +keep the saddle. + +Tifticjeeoghlou Effendi was a gentleman of Greek descent. At Zara I have +an opportunity of seeing and experiencing something of what hospitality +is like among the better class Armenians, for I have brought from Sivas +a letter of introduction to Kirkor-agha Tartarian, the most prominent +Armenian gentleman in Zara. I have no difficulty whatever in finding the +house, and am at once installed in the customary position of honor, while +five serving-men hover about, ready to wait on me; some take a hand in +the inevitable ceremony of preparing and serving coffee and lighting +cigarettes, while others stand watchfully by awaiting word or look from +myself or mine host, or from the privileged guests that immediately begin +to arrive. The room is of cedar planking throughout, and is absolutely +without furniture, save the carpeting and the cushioned divan on which +I am seated. Mr. Tartarian sits crossed-legged on the carpet to my left, +smoking a nargileh; his younger brother occupies a similar position on +my right, rolling and smoking cigarettes; while the guests, as they +arrive, squat themselves on the carpet in positions varying in distance +from the divan, according to their respective rank and social importance. +No one ventures to occupy the cushioned divan alongside myself, although +the divan is fifteen feet long, and it makes me feel uncomfortably like +the dog in the manger to occupy its whole length alone. In a farther +corner, and off the slightly raised and carpeted floor on which are +seated the guests, is a small brick fire-place, on which a charcoal fire +is brightly burning, and here Mr. Vartarian's private kahvay-jee is kept +busily employed in brewing tiny cups of strong black coffee; another +servant constantly visits the fire to ferret out pieces of glowing +charcoal with small pipe-lighting tongs, with which he circulates among +the guests, supplying a light to the various smokers of cigarettes. A +third youth is kept pretty tolerably busy performing the same office for +Mr. Vartarian's nargileh, for the gentleman is an inveterate smoker, and +in all Turkey there can scarcely be another nargileh requiring so much +tinkering with as his. All the livelong evening something keeps getting +wrong with that wretched pipe; mine host himself is continually rearranging +the little pile of live coals on top of the dampened tobacco (the tobacco +smoked in a nargileh is dampened, and live coals are placed on top), +taking off the long coiled tube and blowing down it, or prying around +in the tobacco receptacle with an awl-like instrument in his efforts to +make it draw properly, but without making anything like a success; while +his nargileh-boy is constantly hovering over it with a new supply of +live coals. "Job himself could scarcely have been possessed of more +patience," I think at first; but before the evening is over I come to +the conclusion that my worthy host wouldn't exchange that particular +hubble-bubble with its everlasting contrariness for the most perfectly +drawing nargileh in Turkey: like certain devotees of the weed among +ourselves, who never seem to be happier than when running a broom-straw +down the stem of a pipe that chronically refuses to draw, so Kirkor-agha +Vartarian finds his chief amusement in thus tinkering from one week's +end to another with his nargileh. At the supper table mine host and his +brother both lavish attentions upon me; knives and forks of course there +are none, these things being seldom seen in Asia Minor, and to a cycler +who has spent the day in pedalling against a stiff breeze, their absence +is a matter of small moment. I am ravenously hungry, and they both win +my warmest esteem by transferring choice morsels from their own plates +into mine with their fingers. From what I know of strict haut ton Zaran +etiquette, I think they should really pop these tid-bits in my mouth, +and the reason they don't do so is, perhaps, because I fail to open it +in the customary haut ton manner; however, it is a distasteful thing to +be always sticking up for one's individual rights. A pile of quilts and +mattresses, three feet thick, and feather pillows galore are prepared +for me to sleep on. An attendant presents himself with a wonderful night- +shirt, on the ample proportions of which are displayed bewildering colors +and figures; and following the custom of the country, shapes himself for +undressing me and assisting me into bed. This, however, I prefer to do +without assistance, owing to a large stock of native modesty. I never +fell among people more devoted in their attentions; their only thought +during my stay is to make me comfortable; but they are very ceremonious +and great sticklers for etiquette. I had intended making my usual early +start, but mine host receives with open disapproval - I fancy even with a +showing of displeasure - my proposition to depart without first partaking +of refreshments, and it is nearly eight o'clock before I finally get +started. Immediately after rising comes the inevitable coffee and early +morning visitors; later an attendant arrives with breakfast for myself +on a small wooden tray. Mr. Vartarian occupies precisely the same position, +and is engaged in precisely the same occupation as yesterday evening, +as is also his brother. No sooner does the hapless attendant make his +appearance with the eatables than these two persons spring simultaneously +to their feet, apparently in a towering rage, and chase him back out of +the room, meanwhile pursuing him with a torrent of angry words; they +then return to their respective positions and respective occupations. +Ten minutes later the attendant reappears, but this time bringing a +larger tray with an ample spread for three persons; this, it afterward +appears, is not because mine host and his brother intends partaking of +any, but because it is Armenian etiquette to do so, and Armenian etiquette +therefore becomes responsible for the spectacle of a solitary feeder +seated at breakfast with dishes and everything prepared for three, while +of the other two, one is smoking a nargileh, the other cigarettes, and +both of them regarding my evident relish of scrambled eggs and cold fowl +with intense satisfaction. + +Having by this time determined to merely drift with the current of mine +host's intentions concerning the time of my departure, I resume my +position on the divan after breakfasting, simply hinting that I would +like to depart as soon as possible. To this Mr. Vartarian complacently +nods assent, and his brother, with equal complacency rolls me a cigarette, +after which a good half-hour is consumed in preparing for me a letter +of introduction to their friend Mudura Ghana in the village of Kachahurda, +which I expect to reach somewhere near noon; mine host dictates while +his brother writes. Visitors continue coming in, and I am beginning to +get a trifle impatient about starting; am beginning in fact to wish all +their nonsensical ceremoniousness at the bottom of tho deep blue sea or +some equally unfathomable quarter, when, at a signal from Mr. Vartarian +himself, his brother and tho whole roomful of visitors rise simultaneously +to their feet, and equally simultaneously put their hands on their +respective stomachs, and, turning toward me, salaam; mine host then +comes forward, shakes hands, gives me the letter to Mudura Ghana, and +permits me to depart. He has provided two zaptiehs to escort me outside +the town, and in a few minutes I find myself bowling briskly along a +beautiful little valley; the pellucid waters of a purling brook dance +merrily alongside an excellent piece of road; birds are singing merrily +in the willow-trees, and dark rocky crags tower skyward immediately +around. The lovely little valley terminates all too soon, for in fifteen +minutes I am footing it up another mountain; but it proves to be the +entrance gate of a region containing grander pine-clad mountain scenery +than anything encountered outside the Sierra Nevadas; in fact the famous +scenery of Cape Horn, California, almost finds its counterpart at one +particular point I traverse this morning; only instead of a Central +Pacific Railway winding around the gray old crags and precipices, the +enterprising Sivas Vali has built an araba road. One can scarce resist +the temptation of wheeling down some of the less precipitous slopes, but +it is sheer indiscretion, for the roadway makes sharp turns at points +where to continue straight ahead a few feet too far would launch one +into eternity; a broken brake, a wild "coast" of a thousand feet through +mid-air into the dark depths of a rocky gorge, and the "tour around the +world" would abruptly terminate. For a dozen miles I traverse a tortuous +road winding its way among wild mountain gorges and dark pine forests; +Circassian horsemen are occasionally encountered: it seems the most +appropriate place imaginable for robbers, and I have again been cautioned +against these freebooting mountaineers at Sivas. They eye me curiously, +and generally halt after they have passed, and watch my progress for +some minutes. Once I am overtaken by a couple of them; they follow close +behind me up a mountain slope; they are heavily armed and look capable +of anything, and I plod along, mentally calculating how to best encompass +their destruction with the Smith & "Wesson, without coming to grief +myself, should their intentions toward me prove criminal. It is not +exactly comfortable or reassuring to have two armed horsemen, of a people +who are regarded with universal fear and mistrust by everybody around +them, following close upon one's heels, with the disadvantage of not +being able to keep an eye on their movements; however, they have little +to say; and as none of them attempt any interference, it is not for me +to make insinuations against them on the barren testimony of their outward +appearance and the voluntary opinions of their neighbors. + +My route now leads up a rocky ravine, the road being fairly under cover +of over-arching rocks at times, thence over a billowy region of mountain +summits-an elevated region of pine-clad ridges and rocky peaks-to descend +again into a cultivated country of undulating hills and dales, checkered +with fields of grain. These low rolling hills appear to be in a higher +state of cultivation than any district I have traversed in Asia Minor; +from points of vantage the whole country immediately around looks like +a swelling sea of golden grain; harvesting is going merrily on; men and +women are reaping side by side in the fields, and the songs of the women +come floating through the air from all directions. They are Armenian +peasants, for I am now in Armenia proper; the inhabitants of this +particular locality impress me as a light hearted, industrious people; +they have an abundant harvest, and it is a pleasure to stand and see +them reap, and listen to the singing of the women; moreover they are +more respectably clothed than the lower class natives round about them, +barring, of course, our unfathomable acquaintances, the Circassians. + +Toward the eastern extremity of this peaceful, happy scene is the village +of Kachahurda, which I reach soon after noon, and where resides Mfrdura +Ghana, to whom I bring a letter. Picturesquely speaking, Kachahurda is +a disgrace to the neighborhood in which it stands; its mud hovels are +combined cow-pens, chicken-coops, and human habitations, and they are +bunched up together without any pretence to order or regularity; yet the +light-hearted, decently-clad people, whose songs come floating from the +harvest-fields, live contentedly in this and other equally wretched +villages round about. Mudura Ghana provides me with a repast of bread +and yaort, and endeavors to make my brief halt comfortable. While I am +discussing these refreshments, himself and another unwashed, unkempt old +party come to high, angry words about me; but whatever it is about I +haven't the slightest idea. Mine host seems a regular old savage when +angry. He is the happy possessor of a pair of powerful lungs, which are +ably seconded by a foghorn voice, and he howls at the other man like an +enraged bull. The other man doesn't seem to mind it, though, and keeps +up his end of the controversy - or whatever it is - in a comparatively cool +and aggravating manner, that seems to feed Mudura Ghana's righteous +wrath, until I quite expect to see that outraged person reach down one +of the swords off the wall and hack his opponent into sausage-meat. Once +I venture to inquire, as far as one can inquire by pantomime, what they +are quarrelling so violently about me for, being really inquisitive to +find out They both immediately cease hostilities to assure me that it +is nothing for which I am in any way personally responsible; and then +they straightway fall to glaring savagely at each other again, and renew +their vocal warfare more vigorously, if anything, from having just drawn +a peaceful breath. Mine host of Kachahurda can scarcely be called a very +civilized or refined individual; he has neither the gentle kindliness +of Kirkoragha Vartarian, nor the dignified, gentlemanly bearing of +Tifticjeeoghlou Effendi; but he grabs a club, and roaring like the hoarse +whistle of a Mississippi steamboat, chases a crowd of villagers out of +the room who venture to come in on purpose to stare rudely at his guest; +and for this charitable action alone he deserves much credit; nothing +is so annoying as to have these unwashed crowds standing gazing and +commenting while one is eating. A man is sent with me to direct me aright +where the road forks, a mile or so from the village; from the forks it +is a newly made road, in fact, unfinished; it resembles a ploughed field +for looseness and I depth; and when, in addition to this, one has to +climb a gradient of twenty metres to the hundred, a bicycle is anything +but a comforting thing to possess. The country becomes broken and more +mountainous than ever, and the road winds about fearfully. Often a part +of the road that is but a mile away as the crow flies requires an hour's +steady going to reach it; but the mountain scenery is glorious. Occasionally +I round a point, or reach a summit, from whence a magnificent and +comprehensive view bursts upon the vision, and it really requires an +effort to tear one's self away, realizing that in all probability I shall +never see it again. At one point I seem to be overlooking a vast +amphitheatre which encompasses within itself the physical geography of +a continent. It is traversed by whole mountain-ranges of lesser degree; +it contains tracts of stony desert and fertile valley, lakes, and a +river, not excepting even the completing element of a fine forest, and +encompassing it round about, like an impenetrable palisade protecting +it against invasion, are scores of grand old mountains - grim sentinels +that nothing can overcome. The road, though still among the mountains, +is now descending in a general way from the elevated divide, down toward +Enderes and the valley of the Gevmeili Chai River; and toward evening I +enter an Armenian village. + +The custom from here eastward appears to be to have the threshing-floors +in or near the village; there are sometimes several different floors, +and when they are winnowing the grain on windy days the whole village +becomes covered with an inch or two of chaff. I am glad to find these +threshing-floors in the villages, because they give me an excellent +opportunity to ride and satisfy the people, thus saving me no end of +worry and annoyance. + +The air becomes chilly after sundown, and I am shown into a close room +containing one small air-hole, and am provided with a quilt and pillow. +Later in the evening a Turkish Bey arrives with an escort of zaptiehs +and occupies the same apartment, which would seem to be a room especially +provided for the accommodation of travellers. The moment the officer +arrives, behold, there is a hurrying to and fro of the villagers to sweep +out the room, kindle a fire to brew his coffee, and to bring him water +and a vessel for his ablutions before saying his evening prayers. Cringing +senility characterizes the demeanor of these Armenian villagers toward +the Turkish officer, and their hurrying hither and thither to supply him +ere they are asked looks to me wonderfully like a "propitiating of the +gods." The Bey himself seems to be a pretty good sort of a fellow, +offering me a portion of his supper, consisting of bread, olives, and +onions; which, however, I decline, having already ordered eggs and pillau +of a villager. The Bey's company is highly acceptable, since it saves +me from the annoyance of being surrounded by the usual ragged, unwashed +crowd during the evening, and secures me a refreshing sleep, undisturbed +by visions of purloined straps or moccasins. He appears to be a very +pious Mussulman; after washing his head, hands, and feet, he kneels +toward Mecca on the wet towel, and prays for nearly twenty minutes by +my timepiece; and his sighs of Allah! are wonderfully deep-fetched, +coming apparently from clear down in his stomach. While he is thus +devotionally engaged, his two zaptiehs stand respectfully by, and divide +their time between eying myself and the bicycle with wonder and the Bey +with mingled reverence and awe. At early dawn I steal noiselessly away, +to avoid disturbing the peaceful slumbers of the Bey. For several miles +my road winds around among the foot-hills of the range I crossed yesterday, +but following a gradually widening depression, which finally terminates +in the Gevmeili Chai Valley; and directly ahead and below me lies the +considerable town of Enderes, surrounded by a broad fringe of apple-orchards, +and walnut and jujube groves. Here I obtain a substantial breakfast of +Turkish kabobs (tid-bits of mutton, spitted on a skewer, and broiled +over a charcoal fire) at a public eating khan, after which the mudir +kindly undertakes to explain to me the best route to Erzingan, giving +me the names of several villages to inquire for as a guidance. While +talking to the mudir, Mr. Pronatti, an Italian engineer in the employ +of the Sivas Vali, makes his appearance, shakes hands, reminds me that +Italy has recently volunteered assistance to England in the Soudan +campaign, and then conducts me to his quarters in another part of the +town. Mr. Pronatti can speak almost any language but English; I speak +next to nothing but English; nevertheless, we manage to converse quite +readily, for, besides proficiency in pantomimic language acquired by +daily practice, I have necessarily picked up a few scattering words of +the vernacular of the several countries traversed on the tour. While +discussing a nice ripe water-melon with this gentleman, several respectable- +looking people enter and introduce themselves through Mr. Pronatti as +Osmanli Turks, not Armenians, expecting me to regard them more favorably +on that account. Soon afterward a party of Armenians arrive, and take +labored pains to impress upon me that they are not Turks, but Christian +Armenians. Both parties seem desirous of winning my favorable opinion. +One party thinks the surest plan is to let me know that they are Turks; +the others, to let me know that they are not Turks. "I have told both +parties to go to Gehenna," says my Italian friend. "These people will +worry you to death with their foolishness if you make the mistake of +treating them with consideration." + +Donning an Indian pith-helmet that is three sizes too large, and wellnigh +conceals his features, Mr. Pronatti orders his horse, and accompanies +me some distance out, to put me on the proper course to Erzingan. My +route from Enderes leads along a lovely fertile valley, between lofty +mountain ranges; an intricate network of irrigating ditches, fed by, +mountain streams, affords an abundance of water for +wheat-fields, vineyards, and orchards; it is the best, and yet the worst +watered valley I ever saw - the best, because the irrigating ditches are +so numerous; the worst, because most of them are overflowing and converting +my road into mud-holes and shallow pools. In the afternoon I reach +somewhat higher ground, where the road becomes firmer, and I bowl merrily +along eastward, interrupted by nothing save the necessity of dismounting +and shedding my nether garments every few minutes to ford a broad, swift +feeder to the lesser ditches lower down the valley. In this fructiferous +vale my road sometimes leads through areas of vineyards surrounded by +low mud walls, where grapes can be had for the reaching, and where the +proprietor of an orchard will shake down a shower of delicious yellow +pears for whatever you like to give him, or for nothing if one wants him +to. I suppose these villagers have established prices for their commodities +when dealing with each other, but they almost invariably refuse to charge +me anything; some will absolutely refuse any payment, and my only plan +of recompensing them is to give money to the children; others accept, +with as great a show of gratitude as if I were simply giving it to them +without having received an equivalent, whatever I choose to give. + +The numerous irrigating ditches have retarded my progress to an appreciable +extent to-day, so that, notwithstanding the early start and the absence +of mountain-climbing, my cyclometer registers but a gain of thirty-seven +miles, when, having continued my eastward course for some time after +nightfall, and failing to reach a village, I commence looking around for +somewhere to spend the night. The valley of the Gevmeili Chai has been +left behind, and I am again traversing a narrow, rocky pass between the +hills. Among the rocks I discover a small open cave, in which I determine +to spend the night. The region is elevated, and the night air chilly; +so I gather together some dry weeds and rubbish and kindle a fire. With +something to cook and eat, and a pair of blankets, I could have spent a +reasonably comfortable night; but a pocketful of pears has to suffice +for supper, and when the unsubstantial fuel is burned away, my airy +chamber on the bleak mountain-side and the thin cambric tent affords +little protection from the insinuating chilliness of the night air. +Variety is said to be the spice of life; no doubt it is, under certain +conditions, but I think it all depends on the conditions whether it is +spicy or not spicy. For instance, the vicissitudes of fortune that favor +me with bread and sour milk for dinner, a few pears for supper, and a +wakeful night of shivering discomfort in a cave, as the reward of wading +fifty irrigating ditches and traversing thirty miles of ditch-bedevilled +donkey-trails during the day, may look spicy, and even romantic, from a +distance; but when one wakes up in a cold shiver about 1.30A.M. and +realizes that several hours of wretchedness are before him, his waking +thoughts are apt to be anything but thoughts complimentary of the spiciness +of the situation. Inshallah! fortune will favor me with better dues to- +morrow; and if not to-morrow, then the next day, or the next. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + + + +THROUGH ERZINGAN AND ERZEROUM. + +For mile after mile, on the following morning, my route leads through +broad areas strewn with bowlders and masses of rock that appear to have +been brought down from the adjacent mountains by the annual spring floods, +caused by the melting winter's snows; scattering wheat-fields are observed +here and there on the higher patches of ground, which look like small +yellow oases amid the desert-like area of loose rocks surrounding them. +Squads of diminutive donkeys are seen picking their weary way through +the bowlders, toiling from the isolated fields to the village threshing-floors +beneath small mountains of wheat-sheaves. Sometimes the donkeys themselves +are invisible below the general level of the bowlders, and nothing is +to be seen but the head and shoulders of a man, persuading before him +several animated heaps of straw. Small lakes of accumulated surface-water +are passed in depressions having no outlet; thickets and bulrushes are +growing around the edges, and the surfaces of some are fairly black with +multitudes of wild-ducks. Soon I reach an Armenian village; after +satisfying the popular curiosity by riding around their threshing-floor, +they bring me some excellent wheat-bread, thick, oval cakes that are +quite acceptable, compared with the wafer-like sheets of the past several +days, and five boiled eggs. The people providing these will not accept +any direct payment, no doubt thinking my having provided them with the +only real entertainment most of them ever saw, a fair equivalent for +their breakfast; but it seems too much like robbing paupers to accept +anything from these people without returning something, so I give money +to the children. These villagers seem utterly destitute of manners, +standing around and watching my efforts to eat soft-boiled eggs with a +pocket-knife with undisguised merriment. I inquire for a spoon, but they +evidently prefer to extract amusement from watching my interesting +attempts with the pocket-knife. One of them finally fetches a clumsy +wooden ladle, three times broader than an egg, which, of course is worse +than nothing. I now traverse a mountainous country with a remarkably +clear atmosphere. The mountains are of a light creamcolored shaly +composition; wherever a living stream of water is found, there also is +a village, with clusters of trees. From points where a comprehensive +view is obtainable the effect of these dark-green spots, scattered here +and there among the whitish hills, seen through the clear, rarefied +atmosphere, is most beautiful. It seems a peculiar feature of everything +in the East - not only the cities themselves, but even of the landscape - +to look beautiful and enchanting at a distance; but upon a closer approach +all its beauty vanishes like an illusory dream. Spots that from a distance +look, amid their barren, sun-blistered surroundings, like lovely bits +of fairyland, upon closer investigation degenerate into wretched habitations +of a ragged, poverty-stricken people, having about them a few neglected +orchards and vineyards, and a couple of dozen straggling willows and +jujubes. + +For many hours again to-day I am traversing mountains, mountains, nothing +but mountains; following tortuous camel-paths far up their giant slopes. +Sometimes these camel-paths are splendidly smooth, and make most excellent +riding. At one place, particularly, where they wind horizontally around +the mountain-side, hundreds of feet above a village immediately below, +it is as though the villagers were in the pit of a vast amphitheatre, +and myself were wheeling around a semicircular platform, five hundred +feet above them, but in plain view of them all. I can hear the wonder-struck +villagers calling each other's attention to the strange apparition, and +can observe them swarming upon the house-tops. What wonderful stories +the inhabitants of this particular village will have to recount to their +neighbors, of this marvellous sight, concerning which their own unaided +minds can give no explanation! + +Noontide comes and goes without bringing me any dinner, when I emerge +upon a small, cultivated plateau, and descry a coterie of industrious +females reaping together in a field near by, and straightway turn my +footsteps thitherward with a view of ascertaining whether they happen +to have any eatables. No sooner do they observe me trundling toward them +than they ingloriously flee the field, thoughtlessly leaving bag and +baggage to the tender mercies of a ruthless invader. Among their effects +I find some bread and a cucumber, which I forthwith confiscate, leaving +a two and a half piastre metallique piece in its stead; the affrighted +women are watching me from the safe distance of three hundred yards; +when they return and discover the coin they will wish some 'cycler would +happen along and frighten them away on similar conditions every day. +Later in the afternoon I find myself wandering along the wrong trail; +not a very unnatural occurrence hereabout, for since leaving the valley +of the Gevmeili Chai, it has been difficult to distinguish the Erzingan +trail from the numerous other trails intersecting the country in every +direction. On such a journey as this one seems to acquire a certain +amount of instinct concerning roads; certain it is, that I never traverse +a wrong trail any distance these days ere, without any tangible evidence +whatever, I feel instinctively that I am going astray. A party of camel- +drivers direct me toward the lost Erzingan trail, and in an hour I am +following a tributary of the ancient Lycus River, along a valley where +everything looks marvellously green and refreshing; it is as though I +have been suddenly transferred into an entirely different country. + +This innovation from barren rocks and sun-baked shale to a valley where +the principal crops seem to be alfalfa and clover, and which is flanked +on the south by dense forests of pine, encroaching downward from the +mountain slopes clear on to the level greensward, is rather an agreeable +surprise; the secret of the magic change does not remain a secret long; +it reveals itself in the shape of sundry broad snow-patches still lingering +on the summits of a higher mountain range beyond. These pine forests, +the pleasant greensward, and the lingering snow-banks, tell an oft-repeated +tale; they speak eloquently of forests preserved and the winter snow-fall +thereby increased; they speak all the more eloquently because of being +surrounded by barren, parched-up hills which, under like conditions, +might produce similar happy results, but which now produce nothing. While +traversing this smiling valley I meet a man asleep on a buffalo araba; +an irrigating ditch runs parallel with the road and immediately alongside; +the meek-eyed buffaloes swerve into the ditch in deference to their awe +of tho bicycle, arid upset their drowsy driver into the water. The mail +evidently stands in need of a bath, but somehow he doesn't seeiu to +appreciate it; perhaps it happened a trifle too impromptu, as it were, +to suit his easy-going Asiatic temperament. He returns my rude, unsympathetic +smile with a prolonged stare of bewilderment, but says nothing. + +Soon I meet a boy riding on a donkey, and ask him the postaya distance +to Erzingan; the youth looks frightened half out of his. senses, but +manages to retain sufficient presence of mind to elevate one finger, by +which I understand him to mean that it is one hour, or about four miles. +Accordingly I pedal perseveringly ahead, hoping to reach the city before +dusk, at the same time feeling rather surprised at finding it so near, +as I haven't been expecting to reach there before to-morrow. Five miles +beyond where I met the boy, and just after sundown, I overtake some +katir-jees en route to Erzingan with donkey-loads of grain, and ask them +the same question. From them I learn that instead of one, it is not less +than twelve hours distant, also that the trail leads over a fearfully +mountainous country. Nestling at the base of the mountains, a short +distance to the northward, is the large village of Merriserriff, and not +caring to tempt the fates into giving me another supper-less night in a +cold, cheerless cave, I wend my way thither. + +Fortune throws me into the society of an Armenian whose chief anxiety +seems to be, first, that I shall thoroughly understand that he is an +Armenian, and not a Mussulman; and, secondly, to hasten me into the +presence of the mudir, who is a Mussulman, and a Turkish Bey, in order +that he may bring himself into the mudir's favorable notice by personally +introducing me as a rare novelty on to his (the mudir's) threshing-floor. +The official and a few friends are sipping coffee in one corner of the +threshing floor, and, although I don't much relish my position of the +Armenian's puppet-show, I give the mudir an exhibition of the bicycle's +use, in the expectation that he will invite me to remain his guest over +night. + +He proves uncourteous, however, not even inviting me to partake of coffee; +evidently, he has become so thoroughly accustomed to the abject servility +of the Armenians about him - who would never think of expecting reciprocating +courtesies from a social superior - that he has unconsciously come to +regard everybody else, save those whom he knows as his official superiors, +as tarred, more or less, with the same feather. In consequence of this +belief I am not a little gratified when, upon the point of leaving the +threshing-floor, an occasion offers of teaching him different. + +Other friends of the mudir's appear upon the scene just as I am leaving, +and he beckons me to come back and bin for the enlightenment of the new +arrivals. The Armenian's countenance fairly beams with importance at +thus being, as it were, encored, and the collected villagers murmur their +approval; but I answer the mudir's beckoned invitation by a negative +wave of the hand, signifying that I can't bother with him any further. +The common herd around regard this self-assertive reply with open-mouthed +astonishment, as though quite too incredible for belief; it seems to +them an act of almost criminal discourtesy, and those immediately about +me seem almost inclined to take me back to the threshing-floor like a +culprit. But the mudir himself is not such a blockhead but that he +realizes the mistake he has made. He is too proud to acknowledge it, +though; consequently his friends miss, perhaps, the only opportunity in +their uneventful lives of seeing a bicycle ridden. Owing to my ignorance +of the vernacular, I am compelled to drift more or less with the tide +of circumstances about me, upon entering one of these villages, for +accommodation, and make the best of whatever capricious chance provides. +My Armenian "manager " now delivers me into the hands of one of his +compatriots, from whom I obtain supper and a quilt, sleeping, from a not +over extensive choice, on some straw, beneath the broad eaves of a log +granary adjoining the house. + +I am for once quite mistaken in making an early, breakfastless start, +for it proves to be eighteen weary miles over a rocky mountain pass +before another human habitation is reached, a region of jagged rocks, +deep gorges, and scattered pines. Fortunately, however, I am not destined +to travel the whole eighteen miles in a breakfastless condition-not quite +a breakfastless condition. Perhaps half the distance is traversed, when, +while trundling up the ascent, I meet a party of horsemen, a turbaned +old Turk, with an escort of three zaptiehs, and another traveller, who +is keeping pace with them for company and safety. The old Turk asks me +to bin bacalem, supplementing the request by calling my attention to his +turban, a gorgeously spangled affair that would seem to indicate the +wearer to be a personage of some importance; I observe, also that the +butt of his revolver is of pearl inlaid with gold, another indication +of either rank or opulence. Having turned about and granted his request, +I in turn call his attention to the fact that mountain climbing on an +empty stomach is anything but satisfactory or agreeable, and give him a +broad hint by inquiring how far it is before ekmek is obtainable. For +reply, he orders a zaptieh to produce a wheaten cake from his saddle-bags, +and the other traveller voluntarily contributes three apples, which he +ferrets out from the ample folds of his kammerbund and off this I make +a breakfast. Toward noon, the highest elevation of the pass is reached, +and I commence the descent toward the Erzingan Valley, following for a +number of miles the course of a tributary of the western fork of the +Euphrates, known among the natives in a general sense as the "Frat;" +this particular branch is locally termed the Kara Su, or black water. +The stream and my road lead down a rocky defile between towering hills +of rock and slaty formation, whose precipitous slopes vegetable nature +seems to shun, and everything looks black and desolate, as though some +blighting curse had fallen upon the place. Up this same rocky passage-way, +eight summers ago, swarmed thousands of wretched refugees from the seat +of war in Eastern Armenia; small oblong mounds of loose rocks and bowlders +are frequently observed all down the ravine, mournful reminders of one +of the most heartrending phases of the Armenian campaign; green lizards +are scuttling about among the rude graves, making their habitations in +the oblong mounds. About two o'clock I arrive at a road-side khan, where +an ancient Osmanli dispenses feeds of grain for travellers' animals, and +brews coffee for the travellers themselves, besides furnishing them with +whatever he happens to possess in the way of eatables to such as are +unfortunately obliged to patronize his cuisine or go without anything; +among this latter class belongs, unhappily, my hungry self. Upon inquiring +for refreshments the khan-jee conducts me to a rear apartment and exhibits +for my inspection the contents of two jars, one containing the native +idea of butter and the other the native conception of a soft variety of +cheese; what difference is discoverable between these two kindred products +is chiefly a difference in the degree +of rancidity and odoriferousuess, in which respect the cheese plainly +carries off the honors; in fact these venerable and esteemable qualities +of the cheese are so remarkably developed that after one cautious peep +into its receptacle I forbear to investigate their comparative excellencies +any further; but obtaining some bread and a portion of the comparatively +mild and inoffensive butter, I proceed to make the best of circumstances. +The old khan-jee proves himself a thoughtful, considerate landlord, for +as I eat he busies himself picking the most glaringly conspicuous hairs +out of my butter with the point of his dagger. One is usually somewhat +squeamish regarding hirsute butter, but all such little refinements of +civilized life as hairless butter or strained milk have to be winked at +to a greater or less extent in Asiatic travelling, especially when +depending solely on what happens to turn up from one meal to another. +The narrow, lonely defile continues for some miles eastward from the +khan, and ere I emerge from it altogether I encounter a couple of ill- +starred natives, who venture upon an effort to intimidate me into yielding +up my purse. A certain Mahmoud Ali and his band of enterprising freebooters +have been terrorizing the villagers and committing highway robberies of +late around the country; but from the general appearance of these two, +as they approach, I take them to be merely villagers returning home from +Erzingan afoot. They are armed with Circassian guardless swords and +flint-lock horse-pistols; upon meeting they address some question to me +in Turkish, to which I make my customary reply of Tarkchi binmus; one +of them then demands para (money) in a manner that leaves something of +a doubt whether he means it for begging, or is ordering me to deliver. +In order to the better discover their intentions, I pretend not to +understand, whereupon the spokesman reveals their meaning plain enough +by reiterating the demand in a tone meant to be intimidating, and half +unsheatns his sword in a significant manner. Intuitively the precise +situation of affairs seems to reveal itself in a moment; they are but +ordinarily inoffensive villagers returning from Erzingan, where they +have sold and squandered even the donkeys they rode to town; meeting me +alone, and, as they think in the absence of outward evidence that I am +unarmed, they have become possessed ot tue idea of retrieving their +fortunes by intimidating me out of money. Never were men more astonished +and taken aback at finding me armed, and they both turn pale and fairly +shiver with fright as I produce the Smith & Wesson from its inconspicuous +position at my hip, and hold it on a level with the bold spokesman's +head; they both look as if they expected their last hour had arrived and +both seem incapable either of utterance or of running away; in fact, +their embarrassment is so ridiculous that it provokes a smile and it is +with anything but a threatening or angry voice that I bid them haidy. +The bold highwaymen seem only too thankful of a chance to "haidy," and +they look quite confused, and I fancy even ashamed of themselves, as +they betake themselves off up the ravine. I am quite as thankful as +themselves at getting off without the necessity of using my revolver, +for had I killed or badly wounded one of them it would probably have +caused no end of trouble or vexatious delay, especially in case they +prove to be what I take them for, instead of professional robbers; +moreover, I might not have gotten off unscathed myself, for while their +ancient flint-locks were in all probability not even loaded, being worn +more for appearances by the native than anything else, these fellows +sometimes do desperate work with their ugly and ever-handy swords when +cornered up, in proof of which we have the late dastardly assault on the +British Consul at Erzeroum, of which we shall doubtless hear the particulars +upon reaching that city. Before long the ravine terminates, and I emerge +upon the broad and smiling Erzingan Valley; at the lower extremity of +the ravine the stream has cut its channel through an immense depth of +conglomerate formation, a hundred feet of bowlders and pebbles cemented +together by integrant particles which appear to have been washed down +from the mountains-probably during the subsidence of the deluge, for +even if that great catastrophe were a comparatively local occurrence, +instead of a universal flood, as some profess to believe, we are now +gradually creeping up toward Ararat, so that this particular region was +undoubtedly submerged. What appear to be petrified chunks of wood are +interspersed through the mass. There is nothing new under the sun, they +say; peradventure they may be sticks of cooking-stove wood indignantly +cast out of the kitchen window of the ark by Mrs. Noah, because the +absent-minded patriarch habitually persisted in cutting them three inches +too long for the stove; who knows. I now wheel along a smooth, level +road leading through several orchard-environed villages; general cultivation +and an atmosphere of peace and plenty seems to pervade the valley, which, +with its scattering villages amid the foliage of their orchards, looks +most charming upon emerging from the gloomy environments of the rock-ribbed +and verdureless ravine; a fitting background is presented on the south +by a mountain-chain of considerable elevation, upon the highest peaks +of which still linger tardy patches of snow. + +Since the occupation of Ears by the Russians, the military mantle of that +important fortress has fallen upon Erzeroum and Erzingan; the booming +of cannon fired in honor of the Sultan's birthday is awakening the echoes +of the rock-ribbed mountains as I wheel eastward down the valley, and +within about three miles of the city I pass the headquarters of the +garrison. Long rows of hundreds of white field-tents are ranged about +the position on the level greensward; the place presents an animated +scene, with the soldiers, some in the ordinary blue, trimmed with red, +others in cool, white uniforms especially provided for the summer, but +which they are not unlikely to be found also wearing in winter, owing +to the ruinous state of the Ottoman exchequer, and one and all wearing +the picturesque but uncomfortable fez; cannons are booming, drums beating, +and bugles playing. From the military headquarters to the city is a +splendid broad macadam, converted into a magnificent avenue by rows of +trees; it is a general holiday with the military, and the avenue is alive +with officers and soldiers going and returning between Erzingan and the +camp. The astonishment of the valiant warriors of Islam as I wheel briskly +down the thronged avenue can be better imagined than described; the +soldiers whom I pass immediately commence yelling at their comrades ahead +to call their attention, while epauletted officers forget for the moment +their military dignity and reserve as they turn their affrighted chargers +around and gaze after me, stupefied with astonishment; perhaps they are +wondering whether I am not some supernatural being connected in some way +with the celebration of the Sultan's birthday - a winged messenger, perhaps, +from the Prophet. Upon reaching the city I repair at once to the large +customhouse caravanserai and engage a room for the night. The proprietor +of the rooms seems a sensible fellow, with nothing of the inordinate +inquisitiveness of the average native about him, and instead of throwing +the weight of his influence and his persuasive powers on the side of the +importuning crowd, he authoritatively bids them "haidy!" locks the +bicycle in my room, and gives me the key. The Erzingan caravanserai - and +all these caravanserais are essentially similar - is a square court-yard +surrounded by the four sides of a two-storied brick building; the ground- +floor is occupied by the offices of the importers of foreign goods and +the customhouse authorities; the upper floor is divided into small rooms +for the accommodation of travellers and caravan men arriving with goods +from Trebizond. Sallying forth in search of supper, I am taken in tow +by a couple of Armenians, who volunteer the welcome information that +there is an "Americanish hakim" in the city; this intelligence is an +agreeable surprise, for Erzeroum is the nearest place in which I have +been expecting to find an English-speaking person. While searching about +for the hakim, we pass near the zaptieh headquarters; the officers are +enjoying their nargileh in the cool evening air outside the building, +and seeing an Englishman, beckon us over. They desire to examine my +teskeri, the first occasion on which it has been officially demanded +since landing at Ismidt, although I have voluntarily produced it on +previous occasions, and at Sivas requested the Vali to attach his seal +and signature; this is owing to the proximity of Erzingan to the Russian +frontier, and the suspicions that any stranger may be a, subject of the +Czar, visiting the military centres for sinister reasons. They send an +officer with me to hunt up the resident pasha; that worthy and enlightened +personage is found busily engaged in playing a game of chess with a +military officer, and barely takes the trouble to glance at the proffered +passport: "It is vised by the Sivas Vali," he says, and lackadaisically +waves us adieu. Upon returning to the zaptieh station, a quiet, unassuming +American comes forward and introduces himself as Dr. Van Nordan, a +physician formerly connected with the Persian mission. The doctor is a +spare-built and not over-robust man, and would perhaps be considered by +most people as a trifle eccentric; instead of being connected with any +missionary organization, he nowadays wanders hither and thither, acquiring +knowledge and seeking whom he can persuade from the error of their ways, +meanwhile supporting himself by the practice of his profession. Among +other interesting things spoken of, he tells me something of his recent +journey to Khiva (the doctor pronounces it "Heevah"); he was surprised, +he says, at finding the Khivans a mild-mannered and harmless sort of +people, among whom the carrying of weapons is as much the exception as +it is the rule in Asiatic Turkey. Doubtless the fact of Khiva being under +the Russian Government has something to do with the latter otherwise +unaccountable fact. After supper we sit down on a newly arrived bale of +Manchester calico in the caravanserai court, cross one knee and whittle +chips like Michigan grangers at a cross-roads post-office, and spend two +hours conversing on different topics. The good doctor's mind wanders as +naturally into serious channels as water gravitates to its level; when +I inquire if he has heard anything of the whereabout of Mahmoud Ali and +his gang lately, the pious doctor replies chiefly by hinting what a +glorious thing it is to feel prepared to yield up the ghost at any moment; +and when I recount something of my experiences on the journey, instead +of giving me credit for pluck, like other people, he merely inquires if +I don't recognize the protecting hand of Providence; native modesty +prevents me telling the doctor of my valuable missionary work at Sivas. +After the doctor's departure I wander forth into the bazaar to see what +it looks like after dark; many of the stalls are closed for the day, the +principal places remaining open being kahvay-khans and Armenian wine-shops, +and before these petroleum lamps are kept burning; the remainder of the +bazaar is in darkness. I have not strolled about many minutes before I +am corralled as usual by Armenians; they straightway send off for a +youthful compatriot of theirs who has been to the missionary's school +at Kaizareah and can speak a smattering of English. After the usual +programme of questions, they suggest: "Being an Englishman, you are of +course a Christian," by which they mean that I am not a Mussulman. +"Certainly," I reply; whereupon they lug me into one of their wine-shops +and tender me a glass of raki (a corruption of "arrack" - raw, fiery +spirits of the kind known among the English soldiers in India by the +suggestive pseudonym of "fixed bayonets"). Smelling the raki, I make a +wry face and shove it away; thev look surprised and order the waiter to +bring cognac; to save the waiter the trouble, I make another wry face, +indicative of disapproval, and suggest that he bring vishner-su. +"Vishner-su" two or three of them sing out in a chorus of blank amazement; +"Ingilis. Christian? vishner-su." they exclaim, as though such a +preposterous and unaccountable thing as a Christian partaking of a non- +intoxicating beverage like vishner-su is altogether beyond their +comprehension. The youth who has been to the Kaizareah school then +explains to the others that the American missionaries never indulge in +intoxicating beverages; this seems to clear away the clouds of their +mystification to some extent, and they order vishner-su, eying me +critically, however, as I taste it, as though expecting to observe me +make yet another wry countenance and acknowledge that in refusing the +fiery, throat-blistering raki I had made a mistake. + +Nothing in the way of bedding or furniture is provided in the caravanserai +rooms, but the proprietor gets me plenty of quilts, and I pass a reasonably +comfortable night. In the morning I obtain breakfast and manage to escape +from town without attracting a crowd of more than a couple of hundred +people; a remarkable occurrence in its way, since Erzingan contains a +population of about twenty thousand. The road eastward from Erzingan is +level, but heavy with dust, leading through a low portion of the valley +that earlier in the season is swampy, and gives the city an unenviable +reputation for malarial fevers. To prevent the travellers drinking the +unwholesome water in this part of the valley, some benevolent Mussulman +or public-spirited pasha has erected at intervals, by the road side, +compact mud huts, and placed there in huge earthenware vessels, holding +perhaps fifty gallons each; these are kept supplied with pure spring-water +and provided with a wooden drinking-scoop. Fourteen miles from Erzingan, +at the entrance to a ravine whence flows the boisterous stream that +supplies a goodly proportion of the irrigating water for the valley, is +situated a military outpost station. My road runs within two hundred +yards of the building, and the officers, seeing me evidently intending +to pass without stopping, motion for me to halt. I know well enough they +want to examine my passport, and also to satisfy their curiosity concerning +the bicycle, but determine upon spurting ahead and escaping their bother +altogether. This movement at once arouses the official suspicion as to +my being in the country without proper authority, and causes them to +attach some mysterious significance to my strange vehicle, and several +soldiers forthwith receive racing orders to intercept me. Unfortunately, +my spurting receives a prompt check at the stream, which is not bridged, +and here the doughty warriors intercept my progress, taking me into +custody with broad grins of satisfaction, as though pretty certain of +having made an important capture. Since there is no escaping, I conclude +to have a little quiet amusement out of the affair, anyway, so I refuse +point-blank to accompany my captors to their officer, knowing full well +that any show of reluctance will have the very natural effect of arousing +their suspicions still further. The bland and childlike soldiers of the +Crescent receive this show of obstinacy quite complacently, their swarthy +countenances wreathed in knowing smiles; but they make no attempt at +compulsion, satisfying themselves with addressing me deferentially as +"Effendi," and trying to coax me to accompany them. Seeing that there is +some difficulty about bringing me, the two officers come down, and I at +once affect righteous indignation of a mild order, and desire to know +what they mean by arresting my progress. They demand my tesskeri in a +manner that plainly shows their doubts of my having one. The teskeri is +produced. One of the officers then whispers something to the other, and +they both glance knowingly mysterious at the bicycle, apologize for +having detained me, and want to shake hands. Having read the passport, +and satisfied themselves of my nationality, they attach some deep +mysterious significance to my journey in this incomprehensible manner +up in this particular quarter; but they no longer wish to offer any +impediment to my progress, but rather to render me assistance. Poor +fellows! how suspicious they are of their great overgrown neighbor to +the north. What good-humored fellows these Turkish soldiers are! what +simple-hearted, overgrown children. What a pity that they are the victims +of a criminally incompetent government that neither pays, feeds, nor +clothes them a quarter as well as they deserve. In the fearful winters +of Erzeroum, they have been known to have no clothing to wear but the +linen suits provided for the hot weather. Their pay, insignificant though +it be, is as uncertain as gambling; but they never raise a murmur. Being +by nature and religion fatalists, they cheerfully accept these undeserved +hardships as the will of Allah. To-day is the hottest I have experienced +in Asia Minor, and soon after leaving the outpost I once more encounter +the everlasting mountains, following now the Trebizond and Erzingan +caravan trail. Once again I get benighted in the mountains, and push +ahead for some time after dark. I am beginning to think of camping out +supperless again when I hear the creaking of a buffalo araba some distance +ahead. Soon I overtake it, and, following it for half a mile off the +trail, I find myself before an enclosure of several acres, surrounded +by a high stone wall with quite imposing gateways. It is the walled +village of Housseubegkhan, one of those places built especially for the +accommodation of the Trebizond caravans in the winter. I am conducted +into a large apartment, which appears to be set apart for the hospitable +accommodation of travellers. The apartment is found already occupied by +three travellers, who, from their outward appearance, might well be taken +for cutthroats of the worst description; and the villagers swarming in, +I am soon surrounded by the usual ragged, flea-bitten congregation. There +are various arms and warlike accoutrements hanging on the wall, enough +of one kind or other to arm a small company. They all belong to the three +travellers, however; my modest little revolver seems really nothing +compared with the warlike display of swords, daggers, pistols and guns +hanging around; the place looks like a small armory. The first question +is-as is usual of late - "Russ or Ingilis." Some of the younger and less +experienced men essay to doubt my word, and, on their own supposition +that I am a Russian, begin to take unwarrantable liberties with my person; +one of them steals up behind and commences playing a tattoo on my helmet +with two sticks of wood, by way of bravado, and showing his contempt for +a subject of the Czar. Turning round, I take one of the sticks away and +chastise him with it until he howls for Allah to protect him, and then, +without attempting any sort of explanation to the others, resume my seat; +one of the travellers then solemnly places his forefingers together and +announces himself as kardash (my brother), at the same time pointing +significantly to his choice assortment of ancient weapons. I shake hands, +with him and remind him that I am somewhat hungry; whereupon he orders +a villager to forthwith contribute six eggs, another butter to fry them +in, and a third bread; a tezek fire is already burning, and with his own +hands he fries the eggs, and makes my ragged audience stand at a respectful +distance while I eat; if I were to ask him, he would probably clear the +room of them instanter. About ten o'clock my impromptu friend and his +companion order their horses, and buckle their arms and accoutrements +about them to depart; my "brother" stands before me and loads up his +flintlock rifle; it is a fearful and wonderful process; it takes him at +least two minutes; he does not seem to know on which particular part of +his wonderful paraphernalia to find the slugs, the powder, or the patching, +and he finishes by tearing a piece of rag off a by-standing villager to +place over the powder in the pan. While he is doing all this, and +especially when ramming home the bullet, he looks at me as though expecting +me to come and pat him approvingly on the shoulder. When they are gone, +the third traveller, who is going to remain over night, edges up beside +me, and pointing to his own imposing armory, likewise announces himself +as my brother; thus do I unexpectedly acquire two brothers within the +brief space of an evening. The villagers scatter to their respective +quarters; quilts are provided for me, and a ghostly light is maintained +by means of a cup of grease and a twisted rag. In one corner of the room +is a paunchy youngster of ten or twelve summers, whom I noticed during +the evening as being without a single garment to cover his nakedness; +he has partly inserted himself into a largo, coarse, nose-bag, and lies +curled up in that ridiculous position, probably imagining himself in +quite comfortable quarters. "Oh, wretched youth." I mentally exclaim, +"what will you do when that nose-bag has petered out?" and soon afterward +I fall asleep, in happy consciousness of perfect security beneath the +protecting shadow of brother number two and his formidable armament of +ancient weapons. Ten miles of good ridable road from Houssenbegkhan, and +I again descend into the valley of the west fork of the Euphrates, +crossing the river on an ancient stone bridge; I left Houssenbegkhan +without breakfasting, preferring to make my customary early start and +trust to luck. I am beginning to doubt the propriety of having done so, +and find myself casting involuntary glances toward a Koordish camp that +is visible some miles to the north of my route, when, upon rounding a +mountain-spur jutting out into the valley, I descry the minaret of +Mamakhatoun in the distance ahead. A minaret hereabout is a sure indication +of a town of sufficient importance to support a public eating-khan, +where, if not a very elegant, at least a substantial meal is to be +obtained. I obtain an acceptable breakfast of kabobs and boiled sheeps'- +trotters; killing two birds with one stone by satisfying my own appetite +and at the same time giving a first-class entertainment to a khan-full +of wondering-eyed people, by eating with the khan-jee's carving-knife +and fork in preference to my fingers. Here, as at Houssenbeg-khan, there +is a splendid, large caravanserai; here it is built chiefly of hewn +stone, and almost massive enough for a fortress; this is a mountainous, +elevated region, where the winters are stormy and severe, and these +commodious and substantial retreats are absolutely necessary for the +safety of Erzingan and Trebizond caravans during the winter. The country +now continues hilly rather than mountainous The road is generally too +heavy with sand and dust, churned up by the Erzingan mule-caravans, to +admit of riding wherever the grade is unfavorable; but much good wheeling +surface is encountered on long, gentle declivities and comparatively +level stretches. + +During the forenoon I meet a company of three splendidly armed and mounted +Circassians; they remain speechless with astonishment until I have passed +beyond their hearing; they then conclude among themselves that I am +something needing investigation; they come galloping after me, and having +caught up, their spokesman gravely delivers himself of the solitary +monosyllable, "Russ?" "Ingilis," I reply, and they resume the even tenor +of their way without questioning me further. Later in the day the hilly +country develops into a mountainous region, where the trail intersects +numerous deep ravines whose sides are all but perpendicular. Between +the ravines the riding is ofttimes quite excellent, the composition being +soft shale, that packs down hard and smooth beneath the animals' feet. +Deliciously cool streams flow at the bottom of these ravines. At one +crossing I find an old man washing his feet, and mournfully surveying +sundry holes in the bottom of his sandals; the day is hot, and I likewise +halt a few minutes to cool my pedal extremities in the crystal water. +With that childlike simplicity I have so often mentioned, and which is +nowhere encountered as in the Asiatic Turk, the old fellow blandly asks +me to exchange my comparatively sound moccasins for his worn-out sandals, +at the same time ruefully pointing out the dilapidated condition of the +latter, and looking as dejected as though it were the only pair of sandals +in the world. + +This afternoon I am passing along the same road where Mahmoud Ali's gang +robbed a large party of Armenian harvesters who had been south to help +harvest the wheat, and were returning home in a body with the wages +earned during the summer. This happened but a few days before, and +notwithstanding the well-known saying that lightning never strikes twice +in the same place, one is scarcely so unimpressionable as not to find +himself involuntarily scanning his surroundings, half expecting to be +attacked. Nothing startling turns up, however, and at five o'clock I +come to a village which is enveloped in clouds of wheat chaff; being a +breezy evening, winnowing is going briskly forward On several threshing-floors. +After duly binning, I am taken under the protecting wing of a prominent +villager, who is walking about with his hand in a sling, the reason +whereof is a crushed finger; he is a sensible, intelligent fellow, and +accepts my reply that I am not a crushed-finger hakim with all reasonableness; +he provides a substantial supper of bread and yaort, and then installs +me in a small, windowless, unventilated apartment adjoining the buffalo- +stall, provides me with quilts, lights a primitive grease-lamp, and +retires. During the evening the entire female population visit my dimly- +lighted quarters, to satisfy their feminine curiosity by taking a timid +peep at their neighbor's strange guest and his wonderful araba. They +imagine I am asleep and come on tiptoe part way across the room, craning +their necks to obtain a view in the semi-darkness. + +An hour's journey from this village brings me yet again into the West +Euphrates Valley. Just where I enter the valley the river spreads itself +over a wide stony bed, coursing along in the form of several comparatively +small streams. There is, of course, no bridge here, and in the chilly, +almost frosty, morning I have to disrobe and carry clothes and bicycle +across the several channels. Once across, I find myself on the great +Trebizond and Persian caravan route, and in a few minutes am partaking +of breakfast at a village thirty-five miles from Erzeroum, where I learn +with no little satisfaction that my course follows along the Euphrates +Valley, with an artificial wagon-road, the whole distance to the city. +Not far from the village the Euphrates is recrossed on a new stone bridge. +Just beyond the bridge is the camp of a road-engineer's party, who are +putting the finishing touches to the bridge. A person issues from one +of the tents as I approach and begins chattering away at me in French. +The face and voice indicates a female, but the costume consists of jack- +boots, tight-fitting broadcloth pantaloons, an ordinary pilot-jacket, +and a fez. Notwithstanding the masculine apparel, however, it turns out +not only to be a woman, but a Parisienne, the better half of the Erzeroum +road engineer, a Frenchman, who now appears upon the scene. They are +both astonished and delighted at seeing a "velocipede," a reminder of +their own far-off France, on the Persian caravan trail, and they urge +me to remain and partake of coffee. + +I now encounter the first really great camel caravans, en route to Persia +with tea and sugar and general European merchandise; they are all camped +for the day alongside the road, and the camels scattered about the +neighboring hills in search of giant thistles and other outlandish +vegetation, for which the patient ship of the desert entertains a +partiality. Camel caravans travel entirely at night during the summer. +Contrary to what, I think, is a common belief in the Occident, they can +endure any amount of cold weather, but are comparatively distressed by +the heat; still, this may not characterize all breeds of camels any more +than the different breeds of other domesticated animals. During the +summer, when the camels are required to find their own sustenance along +the road, a large caravan travels but a wretched eight miles a day, the +remainder of the time being occupied in filling his capacious thistle +and camel-thorn receptacle; this comes of the scarcity of good grazing +along the route, compared with the number of camels, and the consequent +necessity of wandering far and wide in search of pasturage, rather than +because of the camel's absorptive capacity, for he is a comparatively +abstemious animal. In the winter they are fed on balls of barley flour, +called nawalla; on this they keep fat and strong, and travel three times +the distance. The average load of a full-grown camel is about seven +hundred pounds. + +Before reaching Erzeroum I have a narrow escape from what might have +proved a serious accident. I meet a buffalo araba carrying a long +projecting stick of timber; the sleepy buffaloes pay no heed to the +bicycle until I arrive opposite their heads, when they - give a sudden +lurch side wise, swinging the stick of timber across my path; fortunately +the road happens to be of good-width, and by a very quick swerve I avoid +a collision, but the tail end of the timber just brushes the rear wheel +as I wheel past. Soon after noon I roll into Erzeroum, or rather, up to +the Trebizond gate, and dis-mount. Erzeroum is a fortified city of +considerable importance, both from a commercial and a military point of +view; it is surrounded by earthwork fortifications, from the parapets +of which large siege guns frown forth upon the surrounding country, and +forts are erected in several commanding positions round about, like +watch-dogs stationed outside to guard the city. Patches of snow linger +on the Palantokan Moiintains, a few miles to the south; the Deve Boyuu +Hills, a spur of the greater Palantokans, look down on the city from +the east; the broad valley of the West Euphrates stretches away westward +and northward, terminating at the north in another mountain range. + +Repairing to the English consulate, I am gratified at finding several +letters awaiting me, and furthermore by the cordial hospitality extended +by Yusuph Effendi, an Assyrian gentleman, the charg'e d'affaires of the +consulate for the time being, Colonel E--, the consul, having left +recently for Trebizond and England, in consequence of numerous sword-wounds +received at the hands of a desperado who invaded the consulate for plunder +at midnight. The Colonel was a general favorite in Erzeroum, and is being +tenderly carried (Thursday, September 3, 1885) to Trebizond on a stretcher +by relays of willing natives, no less than forty accompanying him on the +road. Yusuph Effendi tells me the story of the whole lamentable affair, +pausing at intervals to heap imprecations on the head of the malefactor, +and to bestow eulogies on the wounded consul's character. + +It seems that the door-keeper of the consulate, a native of a neighboring +Armenian village, was awakened at midnight by an acquaintance from the +same village, who begged to be allowed to share his quarters till morning. +No sooner had the servant admitted him to his room than he attacked him +with his sword, intending-as it afterward leaked out-to murder the whole +family, rob the house, and escape. The servant's cries for assistance +awakened Colonel E--, who came to his rescue without taking the trouble +to provide himself with a weapon. The man, infuriated at the detection +and the prospect of being captured and brought to justice, turned savagely +on the consul, inflicting several severe wounds on the head, hands, and +face. The consul closed with him and threw him down, and called for his +wife to bring his revolver. The wretch now begged so piteously for his +life, and made such specious promises, that the consul magnanimously let +him up, neglecting-doubtless owing to his own dazed condition from the +scalp wounds-to disarm him. Immediately he found himself released he +commenced the attack again, cutting and slashing like a demon, knocking +the revolver from the consul's already badly wounded hand while he yet +hesitated to pull the trigger and take his treacherous assailant's life. +The revolver went off as it struck the floor and wounded the consul +himself in the leg-broke it. The servant now rallied sufficiently to +come to his assistance, and together they succeeded in disarming the +robber, who, however, escaped and bolted up-stairs, followed by the +servant with the sword. The consul's wife, with praiseworthy presence +of mind, now appeared with a second revolver, which her husband grasped +in his left hand, the right being almost hacked to pieces. Dazed and +faint with the loss of blood, and, moreover, blinded by the blood flowing +from the scalp-wounds, it was only by sheer strength of will that he +could keep from falling. At this juncture the servant unfortunately +appeared on the stairs, returning from an unsuccessful pursuit of the +robber. Mistaking the servant with the sword in his hand for the desperado +returning to the attack, and realizing his own helpless condition, the +consul fired two shots at him, wounding him with both shots. The would-be +murderer is now (September 3,1885), captured and in durance vile; the +servant lies here in a critical condition, and the consul and his sorrowing +family are en route to England. + +Having determined upon resting here until Monday, I spend a good part +of Friday looking about the city. The population is a mixture of Turks, +Armenians, Russians, Persians, and Jews. Here. I first make the acquaintance +of a Persian tchai-khan (tea-drinking shop). With the exception of the +difference in the beverages, there is little difference between a tchai- +khan and a Icahvay-lchan, although in the case of a swell establishment, +the tchai-khan blossoms forth quite gaudily with scores of colored lamps. +The tea is served scalding hot in tiny glasses, which are first half-filled +with loaf-sugar. If the proprietor is desirous of honoring or pleasing +a new or distinguished customer, he drops in lumps of sugar until it +protrudes above the glass. The tea is made in a samovar-a brass vessel, +holding perhaps a gallon of water, with a hollow receptacle in the centre +for a charcoal fire. Strong tea is made in an ordinary queen's-ware +teapot that fits into the hollow; a small portion of this is poured into +the glass, which is then filled up with hot water from a tap in the +samovar. + +There is a regular Persian quarter in Erzeroum, and I am not suffered +to stroll through it without being initiated into the fundamental +difference between the character of the Persians and the Turks. When an +Osmanli is desirous of seeing me ride the bicycle, he goes honestly and +straightforwardly to work at coaxing and worrying; except in very rare +instances they have seemed incapable of resorting to deceit or sharp +practice to gain their object. Not so childlike and honest, however, are +our new acquaintances, the Persians. Several merchants gather round me, +and pretty soon they cunningly begin asking me how much I will sell the +bicycle for. " Fifty liras," I reply, seeing the deep, deep scheme hidden +beneath the superficial fairness of their observations, and thinking +this will quash all further commercial negotiations. But the wily Persians +are not so easily disposed of as this. "Bring it round and let us see +how it is ridden," they say, " and if we like it we will purchase it for +fifty liras, and perhaps make you a present besides." A Persian would +rather try to gain an end by deceit than by honest and above-board +methods, even if the former were more trouble. Lying, cheating, and +deception is the universal rule among them; honesty and straightforwardness +are unknown virtues. Anyone whom they detect telling the truth or acting +honestly they consider a simpleton unfit to transact business. The +missionaries and their families are at present tenting out, five miles +south of the city, in a romantic little ravine called Kirk-dagheman, or +the place of the forty mills; and on Saturday morning I receive a pressing +invitation to become their guest during the remainder of my stay. The +Erzeroum mission is represented by Mr. Chambers, his brother-now absent +on a tour-their respective families, and Miss Powers. Yusuph Effendi +accompanies us out to the camp on a spendid Arab steed, that curvets +gracefully the whole way. Myself and the-other missionary people (bicycle +work at Sivas, and again at Erzeroum) ride more sober and deco-ous +animals. Kirkdagheman is found to be near the entrance to a pass over +the Palantokan Mountains. Half a dozen small tents are pitched beneath +the only grove of trees for many a mile around. A dancing stream of +crystal water furnishes the camp with an abundance of that necessary, +as also a lavish supply of such music as babbling brooks coursing madly +over pebbly beds are wont to furnish. To this particular section of the +little stream legendary lore has attached a story which gives the locality +its name, Kirkdagheman. + +" Once upon a time, a worthy widow found herself the happy possessor of +no less than forty small grist-mills strung along this stream. Soon after +her husband's death, the lady's amiable qualities-and not unlikely her +forty mills into the bargain-attracted the admiration of a certain wealthy +owner of flocks in the neighborhood, and he sought her hand in marriage. +'No,' said the lady, who, being a widow, had perhaps acquired wisdom; ' +no; I have forty sons, each one faithfully laboring and contributing +cheerfully toward my support; therefore, I have no use for a husband.' +' I will kill your forty sons, and compel you to become my wife,' replied +the suitor, in a huff at being rejected. And he went and sheared all his +sheep, and, with the multitudinous fleeces, dammed up the stream, caused +the water to flow into other channels, and thereby rendered the widow's +forty mills useless and unproductive. With nothing but ruination before +her, and seeing no alternative, the widow's heart finally softened, and +she suffered herself to be wooed and won. The fleeces were removed, the +stream returned to its proper channel, and the merry whir of the forty +mills henceforth mingled harmoniously with tlie bleating of the sheep." +Two days are spent at the quiet missionary camp, and thoroughly enjoyed. +It seems like an oasis of home life in the surrounding desert of uncongenial +social conditions. I eagerly devour the contents of several American +newspapers, and embrace the opportunities of the occasion, even to the +extent of nursing the babies (missionaries seem rare folks for babies), +of which there are three in camp. The altitude of Erzeroum is between +six thousand and seven thousand feet; the September nights are delightfully +cool, and there are no blood-thirsty mosquitoes. I am assigned a sleeping- +tent close alongside a small waterfall, whose splashing music is a +soporific that holds me in the bondage of beneficial repose until breakfast +is announced both mornings; and on Monday morning I feel as though the +hunger, the irregular sleep, and the rough-and-tumble dues generally of +the past four weeks were but a troubled dream. Again the bicycle contributes +its curiosity-quickening and question-exciting powers for the benefit +of the sluggish-minded pupils of the mission school. The Persian consul +and his sons come to see me ride ; he is highly interested upon learning +that I am travelling on the wheel to the Persian capital, and he vises +my passport and gives me a letter of introduction to the Pasha Khan of +Ovahjik, the first village I shall come to beyond the frontier. + +It is nearly 3 P.M., September 7th, when I bid farewell to everybody, +and wheel out through the Persian Gate, accompanied by Mr. Chambers on +horseback, who rides part way to the Deve Boyun (camel's neck) Pass. On +the way out he tells me that he has been intending taking a journey +through the Caucasus this autumn, but the difficulties of obtaining +permission, on account of his being a clergyman, are so great-a special +permission having to be obtained from St. Petersburg-that he has about +relinquished the idea for the present season. Deve Boyun Pass leads over +a comparatively low range of hills. It was here where the Turkish army, +in November, 1877, made their last gallant attempt to stem the tide of +disaster that had, by the fortunes of war and the incompeteucy of their +commanders, set in irresistibly against them, before taking refuge inside +the walls of the city. An hour after parting from Mr. Chambers I am +wheeling briskly down the same road on the eastern slope of the pass +where Mukhtar Pasha's ill-fated column was drawn into the fatal ambuscade +that suddenly turned the fortunes of the day against them. While rapidly +gliding down the gentle gradient, I fancy I can see the Cossack regiments, +advancing toward the Turkish position, the unwary and over-confident +Osmanlis leaping from their intrenchments to advance along the road and +drive them back; now I come to the Nabi Tchai ravines, where the concealed +masses of Eussian infantry suddenly sprang up and cut off their retreat; +I fancy I can see- chug! wh-u-u-p! thud!-stars, and see them pretty +distinctly, too, for while gazing curiously about, locating the Russian +ambushment, the bicycle strikes a sand-hole, and I am favored with the +worst header I have experienced for many a day. I am-or rather was, a +minute ago-bowling along quite briskly; the header treats me to a fearful +shaking up; I arn sore all over the next morning, and present a sort of +a stiff-necked, woe-begone appearance for the next four days. A bent +handle-bar and a slightly twisted rear wheel fork likewise forcibly +remind me that, while I am beyond the reach of repair shops, it will be +Solomon-like wisdom on my part to henceforth survey battle-fields with +a larger margin of regard for things more immediately interesting. From +the pass, my road descends into the broad and cultivated valley of the +Passin Su; the road is mostly ridable, though heavy with dust. Part way +to Hassen Kaleh I am compelled to use considerable tact to avoid trouble +with a gang of riotous kalir-jees whom I overtake; as I attempt to wheel +past, one of them wantonly essays to thrust his stick into the wheel; +as I spring from the saddle for sheer self-protection, they think I have +dismounted to attack him, and his comrades rush forward to his protection, +brandishing their sticks and swords in a menacing manner. Seeing himself +reinforced, as it were, the bold aggressor raises his stick as though +to strike me, and peremptorily orders me to bin and haidi. Very naturally +I refuse to remount the bicycle while surrounded by this evidently +mischievous crew; there are about twenty of them, and it requires much +self-control to prevent a conflict, in which, I am persuaded, somebody +would have been hurt; however, I finally manage to escape their undesirable +company and ride off amid a fusillade of stones. This incident reminds +me of Yusuph Effendi's warning, that even though I had come thus far +without a zaptieh escort, I should require one now, owing to the more +lawless disposition of the people near the frontier. Near dark I reach +Hassan Kaleh, a large village nestling under the shadow of its former +importance as a fortified town, and seek the accommodation of a Persian +tchai-khan; it is not very elaborate or luxurious accommodation, consisting +solely of tiny glasses of sweetened tea in the public room and a shake-down +in a rough, unfurnished apartment over the stable; eatables have to be +obtained elsewhere, but it matters little so long as they are obtainable +somewhere. During the evening a Persian troubadour and story-teller +entertains the patrons of the tchai-khan by singing ribaldish songs, +twanging a tambourine-like instrument, and telling stories in a sing-song +tone of voice. In deference to the mixed nationality of his audience, +the sagacious troubadour wears a Turkish fez, a Persian coat, and a +Eussian metallic-faced belt; the burden of his songs are of Erzeroum, +Erzingan, and Ispahan; the Russians, it would appear, are too few and +unpopular to justify risking the displeasure of the Turks by singing any +Eussian songs. So far as my comprehension goes, the stories are chiefly +of intrigue and love affairs among pashas, and would quickly bring the +righteous retribution of the Lord Chamberlain down about his ears, were +he telling them to an English audience. I have no small difficulty in +getting the bicycle up the narrow and crooked stairway into my sleeping +apartment; there is no fastening of any kind on the door, and the +proprietor seems determined upon treating every subject of the Shah in +Hassan Kaleh to a private confidential exhibition of myself and bicycle, +after I have retired to bed. It must be near midnight, I think, when I +am again awakened from my uneasy, oft-disturbed slumbers by murmuring +voices and the shuffling of feet; examining the bicycle by the feeble +glimmer of a classic lamp are a dozen meddlesome Persians. Annoyed at +their unseemly midnight intrusion, and at being repeatedly awakened, I +rise up and sing out at them rather authoratively; I have exhibited the +marifet of my Smith & Wesson during the evening, and these intruders +seem really afraid I might be going to practise on them with it. The +Persians are apparently timid mortals; they evidently regard me as a +strange being of unknown temperament, who might possibly break loose and +encompass their destruction on the slightest provocation, and the +proprietor and another equally intrepid individual hurriedly come to my +couch, and pat me soothingly on the shoulders, after which they all +retire, and I am disturbed no more till morning. The " rocky road to +Dublin " is nothing compared to the road leading eastward from Hassan +Kaleh for the first few miles, but afterward it improves into very fair +wheeling. Eleven miles down the Passiu Su Valley brings me to the Armenian +village of Kuipri Kui. Having breakfasted before starting I wheel on +without halting, crossing the Araxes Eiver at the junction of the Passin +Su, on a very ancient stone bridge known as the Tchebankerpi, or the +bridge of pastures, said to be over a thousand years old. Nearing Dele +Baba Pass, a notorious place for robbers, I pass through a village of +sedentary Koords. Soon after leaving the village a wild-looking Koord, +mounted on an angular sorrel, overtakes me and wants me to employ him +as a guard while going through the pass, backing up the offer of his +presumably valuable services by unsheathing a semi-rusty sword and waving +it valiantly aloft. He intimates, by tragically graphic pantomime, that +unless I traverse the pass under the protecting shadow of his ancient +and rusty blade, I will be likely to pay the penalty of my rashness by +having my throat cut. Yusuph Effendi and the Erzeroum missionaries have +thoughtfully warned me against venturing through the Dele Baba Pass +alone, advising me to wait and go through with a Persian caravan; but +this Koord looks like anything but a protector; on the contrary, I am +inclined to regard him as a suspicious character himself, interviewing +me, perhaps, with ulterior ideas of a more objectionable character than +that of faithfully guarding me through the Dele Baba Pass. Showing him +the shell-extracting mechanism of my revolver, and explaining the rapidity +with which it can be fired, I give him to understand that I feel quite +capable of guarding myself, consequently have no earthly use for his +services. A tea caravan of some two hundred camels are resting near the +approach to the pass, affording me an excellent opportunity of having +company through by waiting and journeying with them in the night; but +warnings of danger have been repeated so often of late, and they have +proved themselves groundless so invariably that I should feel the taunts +of self-reproach were I to find myself hesitating to proceed on their +account. Passing over a mountain spur, I descend into a rocky canon, +with perpendicular walls of rock towering skyward like giant battlements, +inclosing a space not over fifty yards wide; through this runs my road, +and alongside it babbles the Dele Baba Su. The canon is a wild, lonely- +looking spot, and looks quite appropriate to the reputation it bears. +Professor Vambery, a recognized authority on Asiatic matters, and whose +party encountered a gang of marauders here, says the Dele Baba Pass bore +the same unsavory reputation that it bears to-day as far back as the +time of Herodotus. However, suffice it to say, that I get through without +molestation; mounted men, armed to the teeth, like almost everybody else +hereabouts, are encountered in the pass; they invariably halt and look +back after me as though endeavoring to comprehend who and what I am, but +that is all. Emerging from the canon, I follow in a general course the +tortuous windings of the Dele Baba Su through another ravine- riven +battle-field of the late war, and up toward its source in a still more +mountainous and elevated region beyond. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + + + +MOUNT ARARAT AND KOORDISTAN. + +The shades of evening are beginning to settle down over the wild mountainous +country round about. It is growing uncomfortably chilly for this early +in the evening, and the prospects look favorable for a supperless and +most disagreeable night, when I descry a village perched in an opening +among the mountains a mile or thereabouts off to the right. Repairing +thither, I find it to be a Koordish village, where the hovels are more +excavations than buildings; buffaloes, horses, goats, chickens, and human +beings all find shelter under the same roof; their respective quarters +are nothing but a mere railing of rough poles, and as the question of +ventilation is never even thought of, the effect upon one's olfactory +nerves upon entering is anything but reassuring. The filth and rags of +these people is something abominable; on account of the chilliness of +the evening they have donned their heavier raiment; these have evidently +had rags patched on. top of other rags for years past until they have +gradually developed into thick-quilted garments, in the innumerable +seams of which the most disgusting entomological specimens, bred and +engendered by their wretched mode of existence, live and perpetuate their +kind. However, repulsive as the outlook most assuredly is, I have no +alternative but to cast my lot among them till morning. I am conducted +into the Sheikh's apartment, a small room partitioned off with a pole +from a stable-full of horses and buffaloes, and where darkness is made +visible by the sickly glimmer of a grease lamp. The Sheikh, a thin, +sallow-faced man of about forty years, is reclining on a mattress in one +corner smoking cigarettes; a dozen ill-conditioned ragamuffins are +squatting about in various attitudes, while the rag, tag, and bobtail +of the population crowd into the buffalo-stable and survey me and the +bicycle from outside the partition-pole. + +A circular wooden tray containing an abundance of bread, a bowl of yaort, +and a small quantity of peculiar stringy cheese that resembles chunks +of dried codfish, warped and twisted in the drying, is brought in and +placed in the middle of the floor. Everybody in the room at once gather +round it and begin eating with as little formality as so many wild +animals; the Sheikh silently motions for me to do the same. The yaort +bowl contains one solitary wooden spoon, with which they take turns at +eating mouthfuls. One is compelled to draw the line somewhere, even under +the most uncompromising circumstances, and I naturally draw it against +eating yaort with this same wooden spoon; making small scoops with pieces +of bread, I dip up yaort and eat scoop and all together. These particular +Koords seem absolutely ignorant of anything in the shape of mannerliness, +or of consideration for each other at the table. When the yaort has been +dipped into twice or thrice all round, the Sheikh coolly confiscates the +bowl, eats part of what is left, pours water into the remainder, stirs +it up with his hand, and deliberately drinks it all up; one or two others +seize all the cheese, utterly regardless of the fact that nothing remains +for myself and their companions, who, by the by, seem to regard it as a +perfectly natural proceeding. + +After supper they return to their squatting attitudes around the room, +and to a resumption of their never-ceasing occupation of scratching +themselves. The eminent economist who lamented the wasted energy represented +in the wagging of all the dogs' tails in the world, ought to have travelled +through Asia on a bicycle and have been compelled to hob-nob with the +villagers; he would undoubtedly have wept with sorrow at beholding the +amount of this same wasted energy, represented by the above-mentioned +occupation of the people. The most loathsome member of this interesting +company is a wretched old hypocrite who rolls his eyes about and heaves +a deep-drawn sigh of Allah! every few minutes, and then looks furtively +at myself and the Sheikh to observe its effects; his sole garment is a +round-about mantle that reaches to his knees, and which seems to have +been manufactured out of the tattered remnants of other tattered remnants +tacked carelessly together without regard to shape, size, color, or +previous condition of cleanliness; his thin, scrawny legs are bare, his +long black hair is matted and unkempt, his beard is stubby and unlovely +to look upon, his small black eyes twinkle in the semi-darkness like +ferret's eyes, while soap and water have to all appearances been altogether +stricken from the category of his personal requirements. Probably it is +nothing but the lively workings of my own imagination, but this wretch +appears to me to entertain a decided preference for my society, constantly +insinuating himself as near me as possible, necessitating constant +watchfulness on my part to avoid actual contact with him; eternal +vigilance is in this case the price of what it is unnecessary to expatiate +upon, further than to say that self-preservation becomes, under such +conditions, preeminently the first law of Occidental nature. Soon the +sallow-faced Sheikh suddenly bethinks himself that he is in the august +presence of a hakim, and beckoning me to his side, displays an ugly wound +on his knee which has degenerated into a running sore, and which he says +was done with a sword; of course he wants me to perform a cure. While +examining the Sheikh's knee, another old party comes forward and unbares +his arm, also wounded with a sword. This not unnaturally sets me to +wondering what sort of company I have gotten into, and how they came by +sword wounds in these peaceful times; but my inquisitivencss is compelled +to remain in abeyance to my limited linguistic powers. Having nothing +to give them for the wounds, I recommend an application of warm salt +water twice a day; feeling pretty certain, however, that they will be +too lazy and trifling to follow the advice. Before dispersing to their +respective quarters, the occupants of the room range themselves in a row +and go through a religious performance lasting fully half an hour; they +make almost as much noise as howling dervishes, meanwhile exercising +themselves quite violently. Having made themselves holier than ever by +these exercises, some take their departure, others make up couches on +the floor with sheepskins and quilts. Thin ice covers the still pools +of water when I resume my toilsome route over the mountains at daybreak, +a raw wind coines whistling from the east, and until the sun begins to +warm things up a little, it is necessary to stop and buffet occasionally +to prevent benumbed hands. Obtaining some small lumps of wheaten dough +cooked crisp in hot grease, like unsweetened doughnuts, from a horseman +on the road, I push ahead toward the summit and then down the eastern +slope of the mountains; rounding an abutting hill about 9.30, the glorious +snow-crowned peak of Ararat suddenly bursts upon my vision; it is a good +forty leagues away, but even at this distance it dwarfs everything else +in sight. Although surrounded by giant mountain chains that traverse the +country at every conceivable angle, Ararat stands alone in its solitary +grandeur, a glistening white cone rearing its giant height proudly and +conspicuously above surrounding eminences; about mountains that are +insignificant only in comparison with the white-robed monarch that has +been a beacon-light of sacred history since sacred history has been in +existence. + +Descending now toward the Alashgird Plain, a prominent theatre of action +during the war, I encounter splendid wheeling for some miles; but once +fairly down on the level, cultivated plain, the road becomes heavy with +dust. Villages dot the broad, expansive plain in every direction; conical +stacks of tezek are observable among the houses, piled high up above the +roofs, speaking of commendable forethought for the approaching cold +weather. In one of the Armenian villages I am not a little surprised at +finding a lone German; he says he prefers an agricultural life in this +country with all its disadvantages, to the hard, grinding struggle for +existence, and the compulsory military service of the Fatherland. "Here," +he goes on to explain, "there is no foamy lager, no money, no comfort, +no amusement of any kind, but there is individual liberty, and it is +very easy making a living; therefore it is for me a better country than +Deutschland." " Everybody to their liking," I think, as I continue on +across the plain; but for a European to be living in one of these little +agricultural villages comes the nearest to being buried alive of anything +I know of. The road improves in hardness as I proceed eastward, but the +peculiar disadvantages of being a conspicuous and incomprehensible object +on a populous level plain soon becomes manifest. Seeing the bicycle +glistening in the sunlight as I ride along, horsemen come wildly galloping +from villages miles away. Some of these wonderstricken people endeavor +to pilot me along branch trails leading to their villages, but the main +caravan trail is now too easily distinguishable for any little deceptiona +of this kind to succeed. Here, on the Alashgird Plain, I first hear +myself addressed as "Hamsherri," a term which now takes the place of +Effendi for the next five hundred miles. Owing to the disgust engendered +by my unsavory quarters in the wretched Dele Baba village last night, I +have determined upon seeking the friendly shelter of a wheat-shock again +to-night, preferring the chances of being frozen out at midnight to the +entomological possibilities of village hovels. Accordingly, near sunset, +I repair to a village not far from the road, for the purpose of obtaining +something to eat before seeking out a rendezvous for the night. It turns +out to be the Koordish village of Malosman, and the people are found to +be so immeasurably superior in every particular to their kinsfolk of +Dele Baba that I forthwith cancel my determination and accept their +proffered hospitality. The Malosmanlis are comparatively clean and +comfortable; are reasonably well-dressed, seem well-to-do, and both men +and women are, on the average, handsomer than the people of any village +I have seen for days past. Almost all possess a conspicuously beautiful +set of teeth, pleasant, smiling countenances and good physique; they +also seem to have, somehow, acquired easy, agreeable manners. The secret +of the whole difference, I opine, is that, instead of being located among +the inhospitable soil of barren hills they are cultivating the productive +soil of the Alashgird Plain, and, being situated on the great Persian +caravan trail, they find a ready market for their grain in supplying the +caravans in winter. Their Sheikh is a handsome and good-natured young +fellow, sporting white clothes trimmed profusely with red braid; he +spends the evening in my company, examining the bicycle, revolver, +telescopic pencil-case, L.A.W. badge, etc., and hands me his carved +ivory case to select cigarettes from. It would have required considerable +inducements to have trusted either my L.A.W. badge or the Smith & +Wesson in the custody of any of our unsavory acquaintances of last night, +notwithstanding their great outward show of piety. There are no deep-drawn +sighs of Allah, nor ostentatious praying among the Malosmanlis, but they +bear the stamp of superior trustworthiness plainly on their faces and +their bearing. There appears to be far more jocularity than religion +among these prosperous villagers, a trait that probably owes its development +to their apparent security from want; it is no newly discovered trait +of human character to cease all prayers and supplications whenever the +granary is overflowing with plenty, and to commence devotional exercises +again whenever the supply runs short. This rule would hold good among +the childlike natives here, even more so than it does among our more +enlightened selves. I sally forth into the chilly atmosphere of early +morning from Maloaman, and wheel eastward over an excellent road for +some miles; an obliging native, en route to the harvest field, turns his +buffalo araba around and carts me over a bridgeless stream, but several +others have to be forded ere reaching Kirakhan, where I obtain breakfast. +Here I am required to show my teskeri to the mudir, and the zaptieh +escorting me thither becomes greatly mystified over the circumstance +that I am a Frank and yet am wearing a Mussulman head-band around my +helmet (a new one I picked up on the road); this little fact appeals to +him as something savoring of an attempt to disguise myself, and he grows +amusingly mysterious while whisperingly bringing it to the mudir's +notice. The habitual serenity and complacency of the corpulent mudir's +mind, however, is not to be unduly disturbed by trifles, and the untutored +zaptieh's disposition to attach some significant meaning to it, meets +with nothing from his more enlightened superior but the silence of +unconcern. More streams have to be forded ere I finally emerge on to +higher ground; all along the Alashgird Plain, Ararat's glistening peak +has been peeping over the mountain framework of the plain like a white +beacon-light showing above a dark rocky shore; but approaching toward +the eastern extremity of the plain, my road hugs the base of the intervening +hills and it temporarily disappears from view. In this portion of the +country, camels are frequently employed in bringing the harvest from +field to village threshing-floor; it is a curious sight to see these +awkwardly moving animals walking along beneath tremendous loads of straw, +nothing visible but their heads and legs. Sometimes the meandering course +of the Euphrates - now the eastern fork, and called the Moorad-Chai - brings +it near the mountains, and my road leads over bluffs immediately above +it; the historic river seems well supplied with trout hereabouts, I can +look down from the bluffs and observe speckled beauties sporting about +in its pellucid waters by the score. Toward noon I fool away fifteen +minutes trying to beguile one of them into swallowing a grasshopper and +a bent pin, but they are not the guileless creatures they seem to be +when surveyed from an elevated bluff, so they steadily refuse whatever +blandishments I offer. An hour later I reach the village of Daslische, +inhabited by a mixed population of Turks and Persians. At a shop kept +by one of the latter I obtain some bread and ghee (clarified butter), +some tea, and a handful of wormy raisins for dessert; for these articles, +besides building a fire especially to prepare the tea, the unconscionable +Persian charges the awful sum of two piastres (ten cents); whereupon the +Turks, who have been interested spectators of the whole nefarious +proceeding, commence to abuse him roundly for overcharging a stranger +unacquainted with the prices of the locality calling him the son of a +burnt father, and other names that tino-je unpleasantly in the Persian +ear, as though it was a matter of pounds sterling. Beyond Daslische, +Ararat again becomes visible; the country immediately around is a ravine- +riven plateau, covered with bowlders. An hour after leaving Daslische, +while climbing the eastern slope of a ravine, four rough-looking footmen +appear on the opposite side of the slope; they are following after me, +and shouting "Kardash!" These people with their old swords and pistols +conspicuously about them, always raise suspicions of brigands and evil +characters under such circumstances as these, so I continue on up the +slope without heeding their shouting until I observe two of them turn +back; I then wait, out of curiosity, to see what they really want. They +approach with broad grins of satisfaction at having overtaken me: they +have run all the way from Daslische in order to overtake me and see the +bicycle, having heard of it after I had left. I am now but a short +distance from the Russian frontier on the north, and the first Turkish +patrol is this afternoon patrolling the road; he takes a wondering +interest in my wheel, but doesn't ask the oft-repeated question, "Russ +or Ingiliz?" It is presumed that he is too familiar with the Muscovite +"phiz" to make any such question necessary. + +About four o'clock I overtake a jack-booted horseman, who straightway +proceeds to try and make himself agreeable; as his flowing remarks are +mostly unintelligible, to spare him from wasting the sweetness of his +eloquence on the desert air around me, I reply, "Turkchi binmus." Instead +of checking the impetuous torrent of his remarks at hearing this, he +canters companionably alongside, and chatters more persistently than +ever. "T-u-r-k-chi b-i-n-m-u-s!" I repeat, becoming rather annoyed at +his persistent garrulousness and his refusal to understand. This has +the desired effect of reducing him to silence; but he canters doggedly +behind, and, after a space creeps up alongside again, and, pointing to +a large stone building which has now become visible at the base of a +mountain on the other side of the Euphrates, timidly ventures upon the +explanation that it is the Armenian Gregorian Monastery of Sup Ogwanis +(St. John). Finding me more favorably disposed to listen than before, +he explains that he himself is an Armenian, is acquainted with the priests +of the monastery, and is going to remain there over night; he then +proposes that I accompany him thither, and do likewise. I am, of course, +only too pleased at the prospect of experiencing something out of the +common, and gladly avail myself of the opportunity; moreover, monasteries +and religious institutions in general, have somehow always been pleasantly +associated in my thoughts as inseparable accompaniments of orderliness +and cleanliness, and I smile serenely to myself at the happy prospect +of snowy sheets, and scrupulously clean cooking. + +Crossing the Euphrates on a once substantial stone bridge, now in a sadly +dilapidated condition, that was doubtless built when Armenian monasteries +enjoyed palmier days than the present, we skirt the base of a compact +mountain and in a few minutes alight at the monastery village. Exit +immediately all visions of cleanliness; the village is in no wise different +from any other cluster of mud hovels round about, and the rag-bedecked, +flea-bitten objects that come outside to gaze at us, if such a thing +were possible, compare unfavorably even with the Dele Baba Koords. There +is apparent at once, however, a difference between the respective +dispositions of the two peoples: the Koords are inclined to be pig-headed +and obtrusive, as though possessed of their full share of the spirit of +self-assertion; the Sup Ogwanis people, on the contrary, act like beings +utterly destitute of anything of the kind, cowering beneath one's look +and shunning immediate contact as though habitually overcome with a sense +of their own inferiority. The two priests come out to see the bicycle +ridden; they are stout, bushy-whiskered, greasy-looking old jokers, with +small twinkling black eyes, whose expression would seem to betoken +anything rather than saintliness, and, although the Euphrates flows hard +by, they are evidently united in their enmity against soap and water, +if in nothing else; in fact, judging from outward appearances, water is +about the only thing concerning which they practise abstemiousness. The +monastery itself is a massive structure of hewn stone, surrounded by a +high wall loop-holed for defence; attached to the wall inside is a long +row of small rooms or cells, the habitations of the monks in more +prosperous days; a few of them are occupied at present by the older men.; +At 5.30 P.M., the bell tolls for evening service, and I accompany my +guide into the monastery; it is a large, empty-looking edifice of simple, +massive architecture, and appears to have been built with a secondary +purpose of withstanding a siege or an assault, and as a place of refuge +for the people in troublous times; containing among other secular +appliances a large brick oven for baking bread. During the last war, the +place was actually bombarded by the Russiaus in an effort to dislodge a +body of Koords who had taken possession of the monastery, and from behind +its solid walls, harassed the Russian troops advancing toward Erzeroum. +The patched up holes made by the Russians' shots are pointed out, as +also some light earthworks thrown up on the Russian position across the +river. In these degenerate days one portion of the building is utilized +as a storehouse for grain; hundreds of pigeons are cooing and roosting +on the crossbeams, making the place their permanent abode, passing in +and out of narrow openings near the roof; and the whole interior is in +a disgustingly filthy condition. Rude fresco representations of the +different saints in the Gregorian calendar formerly adorned the walls, +and bright colored tiles embellished the approach to the altar. Nothing +is distinguishable these days but the crumbling and half-obliterated +evidences of past glories; both priests and people seem hopelessly sunk +in the quagmire of avariciousness and low cunning on the one hand, and +of blind ignorance and superstition on the other. Clad in greasy and +seedy-looking cowls, the priests go through a few nonsensical manosuvres, +consisting chiefly of an ostentatious affectation of reverence toward +an altar covered with tattered drapery, by never turning their backs +toward it while they walk about, Bible in hand, mumbling and sighing. +My self-constituted guide and myself comprise the whole congregation +during the "services." Whenever the priests heave a particularly deep- +fetched sigh or fall to mumbling their prayers on the double quick, they +invariably cast a furtive glance toward me, to ascertain whether I am +noticing the impenetrable depth of their holiness. They needn't be uneasy +on that score, however; the most casual observer cannot fail to perceive +that it is really and truly impenetrable - so impenetrable, in fact, that +it will never be unearthed, not even at the day of judgment. In about +ten minutes the priests quit mumbling, bestow a Pharisaical kiss on the +tattered coverlet of their Bibles, graciously suffer my jack-booted +companion to do likewise, as also two or three ragamuffins who have come +sneaking in seemingly for that special purpose, and then retreat hastily +behind a patch-work curtain; the next minute they reappear in a cowlless +condition, their countenances wearing an expression of intense relief, +as though happy at having gotten through with a disagreeable task that +had been weighing heavily on their minds all day. + +We are invited to take supper with their Reverences in their cell beneath +the walls, which they occupy in common. The repast consists of yaort and +pillau, to which is added, by way of compliment to visitors, five salt +fishes about the size of sardines. The most greasy-looking of the divines +thoughtfully helps himself to a couple of the fishes as though they were +a delicacy quite irresistible, leaving one apiece for us others. Having +created a thirst with the salty fish, he then seizes what remains of the +yaort, pours water into it, mixes it thoroughly together with his unwashed +hand, and gulps down a full quart of the swill with far greater gusto +than mannerliness. Soon the priests commence eructating aloud, which +appears to be a well-understood signal that the limit of their respective +absorptive capacities are reached, for three hungry-eyed laymen, who +have been watching our repast with seemingly begrudging countenances, +now carry the wooden tray bodily off into a corner and ravenously devour +the remnants. Everything about the cell is abnormally filthy, and I am +glad when the inevitable cigarettes are ended and we retire to the +quarters assigned us in the village. Here my companion produces from +some mysterious corner of his clothing a pinch of tea and a few lumps +of sugar. A villager quickly kindles a fire and cooks the tea, performing +the services eagerly, in anticipation of coming in for a modest share +of what to him is an unwonted luxury. Being rewarded with a tiny glassful +of tea and a lump of sugar, he places the sweet morsel in his mouth and +sucks the tea through it with noisy satisfaction, prolonging the presumably +delightful sensation thereby produced to fully a couple of minutes. +During this brief indulgence of his palate, a score of his ragged co- +religionists stand around and regard him with mingled envy and covetousness; +but for two whole minutes he occupies his proud eminence in the lap of +comparative luxury, and between slow, lingering sucks at the tea, regards +their envious attention with studied indifference. One can scarcely +conceive of a more utterly wretched people than the monastic community +of Sup Ogwanis; one would not be surprised to find them envying even the +pariah curs of the country. The wind blows raw and chilly from off the +snowy slopes of Ararat next morning, and the shivering, half-clad-wretches +shuffle off toward the fields and pastures, - with blue noses and unwilling +faces, humping their backs and shrinking within themselves and wearing +most lugubrious countenances; one naturally falls to wondering what they +do in the winter. The independent villagers of the surrounding country +have a tough enough time of it, worrying through the cheerless winters +of a treeless and mountainous country; but they at least have no domestic +authority to obey but their own personal and family necessities, and +they consume the days huddled together in their unventilated hovels over +a smouldering tezek fire; but these people seem but helpless dolts under +the vassalage of a couple of crafty-looking, coarse-grained priests, who +regard them with less consideration than they do the monastery buffaloes. +Eleven miles over a mostly ridable trail brings me to the large village +of Dyadin. Dyadin is marked on my map as quite an important place, +consequently I approach it with every assurance of obtaining a good +breakfast. My inquiries for refreshments are met with importunities of +bin bacalem, from five hundred of the rag-tag and bobtail of the frontier, +the rowdiest and most inconsiderate mob imaginable. In their eagerness +and impatience to see me ride, and their exasperating indifference to +my own pressing wants, some of them tell me bluntly there is no bread; +others, more considerate, hurry away and bring enough bread to feed a +dozen people, and one fellow contributes a couple of onions. Pocketing +the onions and some of the bread, I mount and ride away from the madding +crowd with whatever despatch is possible, and retire into a secluded +dell near the road, a mile from town, to eat my frugal breakfast in peace +and quietness. While thus engaged, it is with veritable savage delight +that I hear a company of horsemen go furiously galloping past; they are +Dyadin people endeavoring to overtake me for the kindly purpose of +worrying me out of my senses, and to prevent me even eating a bite of +bread unseasoned with their everlasting gabble. Although the road from +Dyadin eastward leads steadily upward, they fancy that nothing less than +a wild, sweeping gallop will enable them to accomplish their fell purpose; +I listen to their clattering hoof-beats dying away in the dreamy distance, +with a grin of positively malicious satisfaction, hoping sincerely that +they will keep galloping onward for the next twenty miles. No such happy +consummation of my wishes occurs, however; a couple of miles up the +ascent I find them hobnobbing with some Persian caravan men and patiently +awaiting my appearance, having learned from the Persians that I had not +yet gone past. Mingled with the keen disappointment of overtaking them +so quickly, is the pleasure of witnessing the Persians' camels regaling +themselves on a patch of juicy thistles of most luxuriant growth; the +avidity with which they attack the great prickly vegetation, and the +expression of satisfaction, utter and peculiar, that characterizes a +camel while munching a giant thistle stalk that protrudes two feet out +of his mouth, is simply indescribable. + +>From this pass I descend into the Aras Plain, and, behold the gigantic +form of Ararat rises up before me, seemingly but a few miles away; as a +matter of fact it is about twenty miles distant, but with nothing +intervening between myself and its tremendous proportions but the level +plain, the distance is deceptive. No human habitations are visible save +the now familiar black tents of Koordish tribesmen away off to the north, +and as I ride along I am overtaken by a sensation of being all alone in +the company of an overshadowing and awe-inspiring presence. One's attention +seems irresistibly attracted toward the mighty snow-crowrned monarch, +as though,the immutable law of attraction were sensibly exerting itself +to draw lesser bodies to it, and all other objects around seemed dwarfed +into insignificant proportions. One obtains a most comprehensive idea +of Ararat's 17,325 feet when viewing it from the Aras Plain, as it rises +sheer from the plain, and not from the shoulders of a range that constitutes +of itself the greater part of the height, as do many mountain peaks. A +few miles to the eastward is Little Ararat, an independent conical peak +of 12,800 feet, without snow, but conspicuous and distinct from surrounding +mountains; its proportions are completely dwarfed and overshadowed by +the nearness and bulkiness of its big brother. The Aras Plain is lava-strewn +and uncultivated for a number of miles; the spongy, spreading feet of +innumerable camels have worn paths in the hard lava deposit that makes +the wheeling equal to English roads, except for occasional stationary +blocks of lava that the animals have systematically stepped over for +centuries, and which not infrequently block the narrow trail and compel +a dismount. Evidently Ararat was once a volcano; the lofty peak which +now presents a wintry appearance even in the hottest summer weather, +formerly belched forth lurid flames that lit up the surrounding country, +and poured out fiery torrents of molten lava that stratified the abutting +hills, and spread like an overwhelming flood over the Aras Plain. Abutting +Ararat on the west are stratiform hills, the strata of which are plainly +distinguishable from the Persian trail and which, were their inclination +continued, would strike Ararat at or near the summit. This would seem +to indicate the layers to be representations of the mountain's former +volcanic overflowings. I am sitting on a block of lava making an outline +sketch of Ararat, when a peasant happens along with a bullock-load of +cucumbers which he is taking to the Koordish camps; he is pretty badly +scared at finding himself all alone on the Aras Plain with such a +nondescript and dangerous-looking object as a helmeted wheelman, and +when I halt him with inquiries concerning the nature of his wares he +turns pale and becomes almost speechless with fright. He would empty his +sacks as a peace-offering at my feet without venturing upon a remonstrance, +were he ordered to do so; and when I relieve him of but one solitary +cucumber, and pay him more than he would obtain for it among the Koords, +he becomes stupefied with astonishment; when he continues on his way he +hardly knows whether he is on his head or his feet. An hour later I +arrive at Kizil Dizah, the last village in Turkish territory, and an +official station of considerable importance, where passports, caravan +permits, etc., of everybody passing to or from Persia have to be examined. +An officer here provides me with refreshments, and while generously +permitting the population to come in and enjoy the extraordinary spectacle +of seeing me fed, he thoughtfully stations a man with a stick to keep +them at a respectful distance. A later hour in the afternoon finds me +trundling up a long acclivity leading to the summit of a low mountain +ridge; arriving at the summit I stand on the boundary-line between the +dominions of the Sultan and the Shah, and I pause a minute to take a +brief, retrospective glance. The cyclometer, affixed to the bicycle at +Constantinople, now registers within a fraction of one thousand miles; +it has been on the whole an arduous thousand miles, but those who in the +foregoing pages have followed me through the strange and varied experiences +of the journey will agree with me when I say that it has proved more +interesting than arduous after all. I need not here express any blunt +opinions of the different people encountered; it is enough that my +observations concerning them have been jotted down as I have mingled +with them and their characteristics from day to day; almost without +exception, they have treated me the best they knew how; it is only natural +that some should know how better than others. Bidding farewell, then, +to the land of the Crescent and the home of the unspeakable Osmanli, I +wheel down a gentle slope into a mountain-environed area of cultivated +fields, where Persian peasants are busy gathering their harvest. The +strange apparition observed descending from the summit of the boundary +attracts universal attention; I can hear them calling out to each other, +and can see horsemen come wildly galloping from every direction. In a +few minutes the road in my immediate vicinity is alive with twenty +prancing steeds; some are bestrode by men who, from the superior quality +of their clothes and the gaudy trappings of their horses, are evidently +in good circumstances; others by wild-looking, barelegged bipeds, whose +horses' trappings consist of nothing but a bridle. The transformation +brought about by crossing the mountain ridge is novel and complete; the +fez, so omnipresent throughout the Ottoman dominions, has disappeared, +as if by magic; the better class Persians wear tall, brimless black hats +of Astrakan lamb's wool; some of the peasantry wear an unlovely, close- +fitting skullcap of thick gray felt, that looks wonderfully like a bowl +clapped on top of their heads, others sport a huge woolly head-dress +like the Roumanians; this latter imparts to them a fierce, war-like +appearance, that the meek-eyed Persian ryot (tiller of the soil) is far +from feeling. The national garment is a sort of frock-coat gathered at +the waist, and with a skirt of ample fulness, reaching nearly to the +knees; among the wealthier class the material of this garment is usually +cloth of a solid, dark color, and among the ryots or peasantry, of calico +or any cheap fabric they can obtain. Loose-fitting pantaloons of European +pattern, and sometimes top-boots, with tops ridiculously ample in their +looseness, characterize the nether garments of the better classes; the +ryots go mostly bare-legged in summer, and wear loose, slipper-like foot- +gear; the soles of both boots and shoes are frequently pointed, and made +to turn up and inwards, after the fashion in England centuries ago. + +Nightfall overtakes me as, after travelling several miles of variable +road, I commence following a winding trail down into the valley of a +tributary of the Arasces toward Ovahjik, where resides the Pasha Khan, +to whom I have a letter; but the crescent-shaped moon sheds abroad a +silvery glimmer that exerts a softening influence upon the mountains +outlined against the ever-arching dome, from whence here and there a +star begins to twinkle. It is one of those. beautiful, calm autumn +evenings when all nature seems hushed in peaceful slumbers; when the +stars seem to first peep cautiously from the impenetrable depths of their +hiding-place, and then to commence blinking benignantly and approvingly +upon the world; and when the moon looks almost as though fair Luna has +been especially decorating herself to embellish a scene that without her +lovely presence would be incomplete. Such is my first autumn evening +beneath the cloudless skies of Persia. + +Soon the village of Ovahjik is reached, and some peasants guide me to +the residence of the Pasha Khan. The servant who presents my letter of +introduction fills the untutored mind of his master with wonderment +concerning what the peasants have told him about the bicycle. The Pasha +Khan makes his appearance without having taken the trouble to open the +envelope. He is a dull-faced, unintellectual-lookiug personage, and +without any preliminary palaver he says: "Bin bacalem," in a dictatorial +tone of voice. "Bacalem yole lazim, bacalem saba," I reply, for it is +too dark to ride on unknown ground this evening. " Bin bacalem, " repeats +the Pasha Khan, even more dictatorial than before, ordering a servant +to bring a tallow candle, so that I can have no excuse. There appears +to be such a total absence of all consideration for myself that I am not +disposed to regard very favorably or patiently the obtrusive meddlesomeness +of two younger men-whom I afterward discover to be sons of the Pasha +Khan - who seem almost inclined to take the bicycle out of my charge +altogether, in their excessive impatience and inordinate inquisitiveness +to examine everything about it. One of them, thinking the cyclometer to +be a watch, puts his ear down to see if he can hear it tick, and then +persists in fingering it about, to the imminent danger of the tally-pin. +After telling him several times not to meddle with it, and receiving +overbearing gestures in reply, I deliberately throw him backward into +an irrigating ditch. A gleam of intelligence overspreads the stolid +countenance of the Pasha Khan at seeing his offspring floundering about +on his back in the mud and water, and he gives utterance to a chuckle +of delight. The discomfited young man betrays nothing of the spirit of +resentment upon recovering himself from the ditch, and the other son +involuntarily retreats as though afraid his turn was coming next. The +servant now arrives with the lighted candle, and the Pasha Kahn leads +the way into his garden, where there is a wide brick-paved walk; the +house occupies one side of the garden, the other three sides are inclosed +by a high mud wall. After riding a few times along the brick-paved walk, +and promising to do better in the morning. I naturally expect to be taken +into the house, instead of which the Pasha Khan orders the people to +show me the way to the caravanserai. Arriving at the caravanserai, and +finding myself thus thrown unexpectedly upon my own resources, I inquire +of some bystanders where I can obtain elcmek; some of them want to know +how many liras I will give for ekmek. When it is reflected that a lira +is nearly five dollars, one realizes from this something of the +unconscionable possibilities of the Persian commercial mind. + +While this question is being mooted, a figure appears in the doorway, +toward which the people one and all respectfully salaam and give way. +It is the great Pasha Khan; he has bethought himself to open my letter +of introduction, and having perused it and discovered who it was from +and all about me, he now comes and squats down in the most friendly +manner by my side for a minute, as though to remove any unfavorable +impressions his inhospitable action in sending me here might have made, +and then bids me accompany him back to his residence. After permitting +him to eat a sufficiency of humble pie in the shape of coaxing, to atone +for his former incivility, I agree to his proposal and accompany him +back. Tea is at once provided, the now very friendly Pasha Khan putting +extra lumps of sugar into my glass with his own hands and stirring it +up; bread and cheese comes in with the tea, and under the mistaken +impression that this constitutes the Persian evening meal I eat sufficient +to satisfy my hunger. While thus partaking freely of the bread and cheese, +I do not fail to notice that the others partake very sparingly, and that +they seem to be rather astonished because I am not following their +example. Being chiefly interested in satisfying my appetite, however, +their silent observations have no effect save to further mystify my +understanding of the Persian character. The secret of all this soon +reveals itself in the form of an ample repast of savory chicken pillau, +brought in immediately afterward; and while the Pasha Khan and his two +sons proceed to do full justice to this highly acceptable dish, I have +to content myself with nibbling at a piece of chicken, and ruminating +on the unhappy and ludicrous mistake of having satisfied my hunger with +dry bread and cheese. Thus does one pay the penalty of being unacquainted +with the domestic customs of a country when first entering upon its +experiences. There seems to be no material difference between the social +position of the women here and in Turkey; they eat their meals by +themselves, and occupy entirely separate apartments, which are unapproachable +to members of the opposite sex save their husbands. The Pasha Khan of +Ovahjik, however, seems to be a kind, indulgent husband and father, +requesting me next morning to ride up and down the brick-paved walk for +the benefit of his wives and daughters. In the seclusion of their own +walled premises the Persian females are evidently not so particular about +concealing their features, and I obtained a glimpse of some very pretty +faces; oval faces with large dreamy black eyes, and a flush of warm +sunset on brownish cheeks. The indoor costume of Persian women is but +an inconsiderable improvement upon the costume of our ancestress in the +garden of Eden, and over this they hastily don a flimsy shawl-like garment +to come out and see me ride. They are always much less concerned about +concealing their nether extremities than about their faces, and as they +seem but little concerned about anything on this occasion save the +bicycle, after riding for them I have to congratulate myself that, so +far as sight-seeing is concerned, the ladies leave me rather under +obligations than otherwise. + +After supper the Pasha Khan's falconer brings in several fine falcons +for my inspection, and in reply to questions concerning one with his +eyelids tied up in what appears to be a cruel manner, I am told that +this is the customary way of breaking the spirits of the young falcons +and rendering them tractable and submissive the eyelids are pierced +with a hole, a silk thread is then fastened to each eyelid and the ends +tied together over the head, sufficiently tight to prevent them opening +their eyes. Falconing is considered the chief out-door sport of the +Persian nobility, but the average Persian is altogether too indolent for +out-door sport, and the keeping of falcons is fashionable, because +regarded as a sign of rank and nobility rather than for sport. In the +morning the Pasha Khan is wonderfully agreeable, and appears anxious to +atone as far as possible for the little incivility of yesterday evening, +and to remove any unfavorable impressions I may perchance entertain of +him on that account before I leave. His two sons and a couple of soldiers +accompany me on horseback some distance up the valley. The valley is +studded with villages, and at the second one we halt at the residence +of a gentleman named Abbas Koola Khan, and partake of tea and light +refreshments in his garden. Here I learn that the Pasha Khan has carried +his good intentions to the extent of having made arrangements to provide +me armed escort from point to point; how far ahead this well-meaning +arrangement is to extend I am unable to understand; neither do I care +to find out, being already pretty well convinced that the escort will +prove an insufferable nuisance to be gotten rid of at the first favorable +opportunity. Abbas Koola Khan now joins the company until we arrive at +the summit of a knoll commanding an extensive view of my road ahead so +they can stand and watch me when they all bid me farewell save the soldier +who is to accompany me further on. As we shake hands, the young man whom +I pushed into the irrigating ditch, points to a similar receptacle near +by and shakes his head with amusing solemnity; whether this is expressive +of his sorrow that I should have pushed him in, or that he should have +annoyed me to the extent of having deserved it, I cannot say; probably +the latter. My escort, though a soldier, is dressed but little different +from the better-class villagers; he is an almond-eyed individual, with +more of the Tartar cast of countenance than the Persian. Besides the +short Persian sword, he is armed with a Martini Henry rifle of the 1862 +pattern; numbers of these rifles having found their way into the hands +of Turks, Koords and Persians, since the RussoTurkish war. My predictions +concerning his turning out an insupportable nuisance are not suffered +to remain long unverified, for he appears to consider it his chief duty +to gallop ahead and notify the villagers of my approach, and to work +them up to the highest expectations concerning my marvellous appearance. +The result of all this is a swelling of his own importance at having so +wonderful a person under his protection, and my own transformation from +an unostentatious traveller to something akin to a free circus for crowds +of barelegged ryots. I soon discover that, with characteristic Persian +truthfulness, he has likewise been spreading the interesting report that +I am journeying in this extraordinary manner to carry a message from the +"Ingilis Shah " to the "Shah in Shah of Iran " (the Persians know their +own country as Iran) thereby increasing his own importance and the +wonderment of the people concerning myself. The Persian villages, so +far, are little different from the Turkish, but such valuable property +as melon-gardens, vineyards, etc., instead of being presided over by a +watchman, are usually surrounded by substantial mud walls ten or twelve +feet high. The villagers themselves, being less improvident and altogether +more thoughtful of number one than the Turks, are on the whole, a trifle +less ragged; but that is saying very little indeed, and their condition +is anything but enviable. During the summer they fare comparatively well, +needing but little clothing, and they are happy and contented in the +absence of actual suffering; they are perfectly satisfied with a diet +of bread and fruit and cucumbers, rarely tasting meat of any kind. But +fuel is as scarce as in Asia Minor, and like the Turks and Armenians, +in winter they have resource to a peculiar and economical arrangement +to keep themselves warm; placing a pan of burning tezek beneath a low +table, the whole family huddle around it, covering the table and themselves +-save of course their heads-up with quilts; facing each other in this +ridiculous manner, they chat and while away the dreary days of winter. + +At the third village after leaving the sons of the Pasha Khan, my Tartar- +eyed escort, with much garrulous injunction to his successor, delivers +me over to another soldier, himself returning back; this is my favorable +opportunity, and soon after leaving the village I bid my valiant protector +return. The man seems totally unable to comprehend why I should order +him to leave me, and makes an elaborate display of his pantomimic abilities +to impress upon me the information that the country ahead is full of +very bad Koords, who will kill and rob me if I venture among them +unprotected by a soldier. The expressive action of drawing the finger +across the throat appears to be the favorite method of signifying personal +danger among all these people; but I already understand that the Persians +live in deadly fear of the nomad Koords. Consequently his warnings, +although evidently sincere, fall on biased ears, and I peremptorily order +him to depart. The Tabreez trail is now easily followed without a guide, +and with a sense of perfect freedom and unrestraint, that is destroyed +by having a horseman cantering alongside one, I push ahead, finding the +roads variable, and passing through several villages during the day. The +chief concern of the ryots is to detain me until they can bring the +resident Khan to see me ride, evidently from a servile desire to cater +to his pleasure. They gather around me and prevent my departure until +he arrives. An appeal to the revolver will invariably secure my release, +but one naturally gets ashamed of threatening people's lives even under +the exasperating circumstances of a forcible detention. Once to-day I +managed to outwit them beautifully. Pretending acquiescence in their +proposition of waiting till the arrival of their Khan, I propose mounting +and riding a few yards for their own edification while waiting; in their +eagerness to see they readily fall into the trap, and the next minute +sees me flying down the road with a swarm of bare-legged ryots in full +chase after me, yelling for me to stop. Fortunately, they have no horses +handy, but some of these lanky fellows can run like deer almost, and +nothing but an excellent piece of road enables me to outdistance my +pursuers. Wily as the Persians are, compared to the Osmanlis, one could +play this game on them quite frequently, owing to their eagerness to see +the bicycle ridden; but it is seldom that the road is sufficiently smooth +to justify the attempt. I was gratified to learn from the Persian consul +at Erzeroum that my stock of Turkish would answer me as far as Teheran, +the people west of the capital speaking a dialect known as Tabreez +Turkish; still, I find quite a difference. Almost every Persian points +to the bicycle and says: "Boo; ndmi ndder. " ("This; what is it?") and +it is several days ere I have an opportunity of finding out exactly what +they mean. They are also exceedingly prolific in using the endearing +term of kardash when accosting me. The distance is now reckoned by +farsakhs (roughly, four miles) instead of hours; but, although the farsakh +is a more tangible and comprehensive measurement than the Turkish hour, +in reality it is almost as unreliable to go by. Towards evening I ascend +into a more mountainous region, inhabited exclusively by nomad Koords; +from points of vantage their tents are observable clustered here and +there at the bases of the mountains. Descending into a grassy valley or +depression, I find myself in close proximity to several different camps, +and eagerly avail myself of the opportunity to pass a night among them. +I am now in the heart of Northern Koordistan, which embraces both Persian +and Turkish territory, and the occasion is most opportune for seeing +something of these wild nomads in their own mountain pastures. The +greensward is ridable, and I dismount before the Sheikh's tent in the +presence of a highly interested and interesting audience. The half-wild +dogs make themselves equally interesting in another and a less desirable +sense as I approach, but the men pelt them with stones, and when I +dismount they conduct me and the bicycle at once into the tent of their +chieftain. The Sheikh's tent is capacious enough to shelter a regiment +almost, and it is divided into compartments similar to a previous +description; the Sheikh is a big, burly fellow, of about forty-five, +wearing a turban the size of a half-bushel measure, and dressed pretty +much like a well-to-do Turk; as a matter of fact, the Koords admire the +Osmanlis and despise the Persians. The bicycle is reclined against a +carpet partition, and after the customary interchange of questions, a +splendid fellow, who must be six feet six inches tall, and broad-shouldered +in proportion, squats himself cross-legged beside me, and proceeds to +make himself agreeable, rolling me cigarettes, asking questions, and +curiously investigating anything about me that strikes him as peculiar. +I show them, among other things, a cabinet photograph of myself in all +the glory of needle-pointed mustache and dress-parade apparel; after a +critical examination and a brief conference among themselves they pronounce +me an "English Pasha." I then hand the Sheikh a set of sketches, but +they are not sufficiently civilized to appreciate the sketches; they +hold them upside down and sidewise; and not being able to make anything +out of them, the Sheikh holds them in his hand and looks quite embarrassed, +like a person in possession of something he doesn't know what to do with. +Noticing that the women are regarding these proceedings with much interest +from behind a low partition, and not having yet become reconciled to the +Mohammedan idea of women being habitually ignored and overlooked, I +venture upon taking the photograph to them; they seem much confused at +finding themselves the object of direct attention, and they appear several +degrees wilder than the men, so far as comprehending such a product of +civilization as a photograph is an indication. It requires more material +objects than sketches and photos to meet the appreciation of these semi- +civilized children of the desert. They bring me their guns and spears +to look at and pronounce upon, and then my stalwart entertainer grows +inquisitive about my revolver. First extracting the cartridges to prevent +accident, I hand it to him, and he takes it for the Sheikh's inspection. +The Sheikh examines the handsome little Smith & Wesson long and wistfully, +and then toys with it several minutes, apparently reluctant about having +to return it; finally he asks me to give him a cartridge and let him go +out and test its accuracy. I am getting a trifle uneasy at his evident +covetousness of the revolver, and in this request I see my opportunity +of giving him to understand that it would be a useless weapon for him +to possess, by telling him I have but a few cartridges and that others +are not procurable in Koordistan or neighboring countries. Recognizing +immediately its uselessness to him under such circumstances, he then +returns it without remark; whether he would have confiscated it without +this timely explanation, it is difficult to say. + +Shortly after the evening meal, an incident occurs which causes considerable +amusement. Everything being unusually quiet, one sharp-eared youth happens +to hear the obtrusive ticking of my Waterbury, and strikes a listening +attitude, at which everybody else likewise begins listening; the tick, +tick is plainly discernible to everybody in the compartment and they +become highly interested and amused, and commence looking at me for an +explanation. With a view to humoring the spirit of amusement thus awakened, +I likewise smile, but affect ignorance and innocence concerning the +origin of the mysterious ticking, and strike a listening attitude as +well as the others. Presuming upon our interchange of familiarity, our +six-foot-sixer then commences searching about my clothing for the watch, +but being hidden away in a pantaloon fob, and minus a chain, it proves +beyond his power of discovery. Nevertheless, by bending his head down +and listening, he ascertains and announces it to be somewhere about my +person; the Waterbury is then produced, and the loudness of its ticking +awakes the wonder and admiration of the Koords, even to a greater extent +than the Turks. During the evening, the inevitable question of Euss, +Osmanli, and English crops up, and I win unanimous murmurs of approval +by laying my forefingers together and stating that the English and the +Osmanlis are kardash. I show them my Turkish teskeri, upon which several +of them bestow fervent kisses, and when, by means of placing several +stones here and there I explained to them how in 1877, the hated Muscov +occupied different Mussulman cities one after the other, and was prevented +by the English from occupying their dearly beloved Stamboul itself, their +admiration knows no bounds. Along the trail, not over a mile from camp, +a large Persian caravan has been halting during the day; late in the +evening loud shouting and firing of guns announces them as prepared to +start on their night's journey. It is customary when going through this +part of Koordistan for the caravan men to fire guns and make as much +noise as possible, in order to impress the Koords with exaggerated +ideas concerning their strength and number; everybody in the Sheikh's +tent thoroughly understands the meaning of the noisy demonstration, and +the men exchange significant smiles. The firing and the shouting produce +a truly magical effect upon a blood-thirsty youngster of ten or twelve +summers; he becomes wildly hilarious, gamboling about the tent, and +rolling over and kicking up his heels. He then goes to the Sheikh, points +to me, and draws his finger across his throat, intimating that he would +like the privilege of cutting somebody's throat, and why not let him cut +mine. The Sheikh and others laugh at this, but instead of chiding him +for his tragical demonstration, they favor him with the same admiring +glances that grown people bestow upon precocious youngsters the world +over. Under these circumstances of abject fear on the one hand, and +inbred propensity for violence and plunder on the other, it is really +surprising to find the Koords in Persian territory behaving themselves +as well as they do. Quilts are provided for me, and I occupy this same +compartment of the tent, in common with several of the younger men. In +the morning, before departing, I am regaled with bread and rich, new +cream, and when leaving the tent I pause a minute to watch the busy scene +in the female department. Some are churning butter in sheep-skin churns +which are suspended from poles and jerked back and forth; others are +weaving carpets, preparing curds for cheese, baking bread, and otherwise +industriously employed. I depart from the Koordish camp thoroughly +satisfied with my experience of their hospitality, but the cerulean +waist-scarf bestowed upon me by our Hungarian friend Igali, at Belgrade, +no longer adds its embellishments to my personal adornments. Whenever a +favorable opportunity presents, certain young men belonging to the noble +army of hangers-on about the Sheikh's apartments invariably glide inside, +and importune the guest from Frangistan for any article of his clothing +that excites the admiration of their semi-civilized minds. This scarf, +they were doubtless penetrating enough to observe, formed no necessary +part of my wardrobe, and a dozen times in the evening, and again in the +morning, I was worried to part with it, so I finally presented it to one +of them. He hastily hid it away among his clothes and disappeared, as +though fearful, either that the Sheikh might see it and make him return +it, or that one of the chieftain's favorites might take a fancy to it +and summarily appropriate it to his own use. + +Not more than five miles eastward from the camp, while trundling over a +stretch of stony ground, I am accosted by a couple of Koordiah shepherds; +but as the country immediately around is wild and unfrequented, save by +Koords, and knowing something of their little weaknesses toward travellers +under tempting, one-sided conditions, I deem it advisable to pay as +little heed to them as possible. Seeing that I have no intention of +halting, they come running up, and undertake to forcibly detain me by +seizing hold of the bicycle, at the same time making no pretence of +concealing their eager curiosity concerning the probable contents of my +luggage. Naturally disapproving of this arbitrary conduct, I push them +roughly away. With a growl more like the voice of a wild animal than of +human beings, one draws his sword and the other picks up a thick knobbed +stick that he had dropped in order to the better pinch and sound my +packages. Without giving them time to reveal whether they seriously +intend attacking me, or only to try intimidation, I have them nicely +covered with the Smith & Wesson. They seem to comprehend in a moment +that I have them at a disadvantage, and they hurriedly retreat a short +distance, executing a series of gyral antics, as though expecting me to +fire at their legs. They are accompanied by two dogs, tawny-coated +monsters, larger than the largest mastiffs, who now proceed to make +things lively and interesting around myself and the bicycle. Keeping the +revolver in my hand, and threatening to shoot their dogs if they don't +call them away, I continue my progress toward where the stony ground +terminates in favor of smooth camel-paths, about' a hundred yards farther +on. At this juncture I notice several other "gentle shepherds " coming +racing down from the adjacent knolls; but whether to assist their comrades +in catching and robbing me, or to prevent a conflict between us, will +always remain an uncertainty. I am afraid, however, that with the advantage +on their side, the Koordish herdsmen rarely trouble themselves about any +such uncongenial task as peace-making. Reaching the smooth ground before +any of the new-comers overtake me, I mount and speed away, followed by +wild yells from a dozen Koordish throats, and chased by a dozen of their +dogs. Upon sober second thought, when well away from the vicinity, I +conclude this to have been a rather ticklish incident; had they attacked +me in the absence of anything else to defend myself with, I should have +been compelled to shoot them; the nearest Persian village is about ten +miles distant; the absence of anything like continuously ridable road +would have made it impossible to out-distance their horsemen, and a +Persian village would have afforded small security against a party of +enraged Koords, after all. The first village I arrive at to-day, I again +attempt the "skedaddling" dodge on them that proved so successful on +one occasion yesterday; but I am foiled by a rocky "jump-off" in the +road to-day. The road is not so favorable for spurting as yesterday, +and the racing ryots grab me amid much boisterous merriment ere * I +overcome the obstruction; they take particular care not to give me another +chance until the arrival of the Khan. The country hereabouts consists +of gravelly, undulating plateaus between the mountains, and well-worn +camel-paths afford some excellent wheeling. Near mid-day, while laboriously +ascending a long but not altogether unridable ascent, I meet a couple +of mounted soldiers; they obstruct my road, and proceed to deliver +themselves of voluble Tabreez Turkish, by which I understand that they +are the advance guard of a party in which there is a Ferenghi (the Persian +term for an Occidental). While talking with them I am somewhat taken by +surprise at seeing a lady on horseback and two children in a kajaveh +(mule panier) appear over the slope, accompanied by about a dozen Persians. + +If I am surprised, the lady herself not unnaturally evinces even greater +astonishment at the apparition of a lone wheelman here on the caravan +roads of Persia; of course we are mutually delighted. With the assistance +of her servant, the lady alights from the saddle and introduces herself +as Mrs. E--, the wife of one of the Persian missionaries; her husband +has lately returned home, and she is on the way to join him. The Persians +accompanying her comprise her own servants, some soldiers procured of +the Governor of Tabreez by the English consul to escort her as far as +the Turkish frontier, and a couple of unattached travellers keeping with +the party for company and society. A mule driver has charge of pack-mules +carrying boxes containing, among other things, her husband's library. +During the course of ten minutes' conversation the lady informs me that +she is compelled to travel in this manner the whole distance to Trebizond, +owing to the practical impossibility of passing through Bussian territory +with the library. Were it not for this a comparatively short and easy +journey would take them to Tiflis, from which point there would be steam +communication with Europe. Ere the poor lady gets to Trebizond she will +be likely to reflect that a government so civilized as the Czar's might +relax its gloomy laws sufficiently to allow the affixing of official +seals to a box of books, and permit its transportation through the +country, on condition-if they will-that it should not be opened in +transit; surely there would be no danger of the people's minds being +enlightened -not even a little bit-by coming in contact with a library +tightly boxed and sealed. At the frontier an escort of Turkish zaptiehs +will take the place of the Persian soldiers, and at Erzeroum the +missionaries will, of course, render her every assistance to Trebizond; +but it is not without feelings of anxiety for the health of a lady +travelling in this rough manner unaccompanied by her natural protector, +that I reflect on the discomforts she must necessarily put up with +between here and Erzeroum. She seems in good spirits, however, and says +that meeting me here in this extraordinary manner is the "most romantic" +incident in her whole experiences of missionary life in Persia. Like +many another, she says, she can I scarcely conceive it possible that I +am travelling without attendants and without being able to speak the +languages. One of the unattached travellers gives me a note of +introduction to Mohammed. Ali Khan, the Governor of Peri, a suburban +village of Khoi, which I expect to reach some time this afternoon. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + + + +PERSIA AND THE TABREEZ CARAVAN TRAIL. + +A SHORT trundle to the summit of a sloping pass, and then a winding +descent of several miles brings me to a position commanding a view of +an extensive valley that looks from this distance as lovely as a dreamy +vision of Paradise. An hour later and I am bowling along beneath overhanging +peach and mulberry trees, following a volunteer horseman to Mohammed Ali +Khan's garden. Before reaching the garden a gang of bare-legged laborers +engaged in patching up a mud wall favor me with a fusillade of stones, +one of which caresses me on the ankle, and makes me limp like a Greenwich +pensioner when I dismount a minute or two afterward. This is their +peculiar way of complimenting a lone Ferenghi. Mohammed Ali Khan is found +to be rather a moon-faced individual under thirty, who, together with +his subordinate officials, are occupying tents in a large garden. Here, +during the summer, they dispense justice to applicants for the same +within their jurisdiction, and transact such other official business as +is brought before them. In Persi, the distribution of justice consists +chiefly in the officials ruthlessly looting the applicants of everything +lootable, and the weightiest task of the officials is intriguing together +against the pocket of the luckless wight who ventures upon seeking equity +at their hands. A sorrowful-visaged husbandman is evidently experiencing +the easy simplicity of Persian civil justice as I enter the garden; he +wears the mournful expression of a man conscious of being irretrievably +doomed, while the festive Kahn and his equally festive moonshi bashi +(chief secretary) are laying their wicked heads together and whispering +mysteriously, fifty paces away from everybody, ever and anon looking +suspiciously around as though fearful of the presence of eavesdroppers. +After duly binning, a young man called Abdullah, who seems to be at the +beck and call of everybody, brings forth the samovar, and we drink the +customary tea of good fellowship, after which they examine such of my +modest effects as take their fancy. The moonshi bashi, as becomes a man +of education, is quite infatuated with my pocket map of Persia; the fact +that Persia occupies so great a space on the map in comparison with the +small portions of adjoining countries visible around the edges makes a +powerful appeal to his national vanity, and he regards me with increased +affection every time I trace out for him the comprehensive boundary line +of his native Iran. After nightfall we repair to the principal tent, and +Mohammed Ali Khan and his secretary consume the evening hours in the +joyous occupation of alternately smoking the kalian (Persian water-pipe, +not unlike the Turkish nargileh, except that it has a straight stem +instead of a coiled tube), and swallowing glasses of raw arrack every +few minutes; they furthermore amuse themselves by trying to induce me +to follow their noble example, and in poking fun at another young man +because his conscientious scruples regarding the Mohammedan injunction +against intoxicants forbids him indulging with them. About eight o'clock +the Khan becomes a trifle sentimental and very patriotic. Producing a +pair of silver-mounted horse-pistols from a corner of the tent, and +waving them theatrically about, he proclaims aloud his mighty devotion +to the Shah. At nine o'clock Abdullah brings in the supper. The Khan's +vertebra has become too limp and willowy to enable him to sit upright, +and he has become too indifferent to such coarse, un-spiritual things +as stewed chicken and musk-melons to care about eating any, while the +moonshi bashi's affection for me on account of the map has become so +overwhelming that he deliberately empties all the chicken on to my sheet +of bread, leaving none whatever for himself and the phenomenal young +person with the conscientious scruples. + +When bedtime arrives it requires the united exertions of Abdullah and +the phenomenal young man to partially undress Mohammed Ali Khan and drag +him to his couch on the floor, the Kahn being limp as a dish-rag and a +moderately bulky person. The moonshi bashi, as becomes an individual of +lesser rank and superior mental attainments, is not quite so helpless +as his official superior, but on retiring he humorously reposes his feet +on the pillow and his head on nothing but the bare floor of the tent, +and stubbornly refuses to permit Abdullah to alter either his pillow or +his position. The phenomenal young man and myself likewise seek our +respective pile of quilts, Abdullah removes the lamp, draws a curtain +over the entrance of the tent, and retires. + +The Persians, as representing the Shiite division of the Mohammedan +religion, consider themselves by long odds the holiest people on the +earth, far holier than the Turks, whom they religiously despise as +Sunnites and unworthy to loose the latchets of their shoes. The Koran +strictly enjoins upon them great moderation in the use of intoxicating +drinks, yet certain of the Persian nobility are given to drinking this +raw intoxicant by the quart daily. When asked why they don't use it in +moderation, they reply, " What is the good of drinking arrack unless one +drinks enough to become drunk and happy. " Following this brilliant idea, +many of them get " drank and happy " regularly every evening. They +likewise frequently consume as much as a pint before each meal to create +a false appetite and make themselves feel boozy while eating. In the +morning the moonshi bashi, with a soldier for escort, accompanies me on +horseback to Khoi, which is but about seven miles distant over a perfectly +level road. Sad to say, the moonshi bashi, besides his yearning affection +for fiery, untamed arrack, is a confirmed opium smoker, and after last +night's debauch for supper and "hitting the pipe " this morning for +breakfast, he doesn't feel very dashing in the saddle; consequently I +have to accommodate myself to his pace. It is the slowest seven miles +ever ridden on the road by a wheelman, I think; a funeral procession is +a lively, rattling affair, beside our onward progress toward the mud +battlements of Khoi, but there is no help for it. Whenever I venture to +the fore a little the dreamy-eyed moonshi bashi regards me with a gaze +of mild reproachfulness, and sings out in a gently-chide-the-erring tone +of voice: "Kardash. Kardash." meaning " f we are brothers, why do you +seem to want to leave me." Human nature could scarcely be proof against +an appeal wherein endearment and reproach are so beautifully and +harmoniously blended, and it always brings me back to a level with his +horse. Reaching the suburbs of Khoi, I am initiated into a new departure - new +to myself at this time - of Persian sanctimoniousness. Halting at a fountain +to obtain a drink, the soldier shapes himself for pouring the water out +of the earthenware drinking vessel into my hands; supposing this to be +merely an indication of the Persian's own method of drinking, I motion +my preference for drinking out of the jar itself. The soldier looks +appealingly toward the moonshi bashi, who tells him to let me drink, and +then orders him to smash the jar. It then dawns upon my unenlightened +mind, that being a Ferenghi, I should have known better than to have +touched my unhallowed lips to a drinking vessel at a public fountain, +defiling it by so doing, so that it must be smashed in order that the +sons of the "true prophet" may not unwittingly drink from it afterward +and themselves become defiled. The moonshi bashi pilots me to the residence +of a certain wealthy citizen outside the city walls; this person, a mild- +mannered, purring-voiced man, is seated in a room with a couple of +seyuds, or descendants of the prophet; they are helping themselves from +a large platter of the finest, pears, peaches, and egg plums I ever saw +anywhere. The room is carpeted with costly rugs and carpets in which +one's feet sink perceptibly at every step; the walls and ceiling are +artistically stuccoed, and the doors and windows are gay with stained +glass. Abandoning myself to the guidance of the moonshi bashi, I ride +around the garden-walks, show them the bicycle, revolver, map of Persia, +etc.; like the moonshi bashi, they become deeply interested in the map, +finding much amusement and satisfaction in having me point out the +location of different Persian cities, seemingly regarding my ability to +do so as evidence of exceeding cleverness and erudition. The untravelled +Persians of the northern provinces regard Teheran as the grand idea of +a large and important city; if there is any place in the whole world +larger and more important, they think it may perhaps be Stamboul. The +fact that Stamboul is not on my map while Teheran is, they regard as +conclusive proof of the superiority of their own capital. The moonshi +bashi's chief purpose in accompanying me hither has been to introduce +me to the attention of the "hoikim"; although the pronunciation is a +little different from hakim, I attribute this to local brogue, and have +been surmising this personage to be some doctor, who, perhaps, having +graduated at a Frangistan medical college, the moonshi bashi thinks will +be able to converse with me. After partaking of fruit and tea we continue +on our way to the nearest gate-way of the city proper, Khoi being +surrounded by a ditch and battlemented mud wall. Arriving at a large, +public inclosure, my guide sends in a letter, and shortly afterward +delivers me over to some soldiers, who forthwith conduct me into the +presence of - not a doctor, but Ali Khan, the Governor of the city, an +officer who hereabouts rejoices in the title of the "hoikim." The +Governor proves to be a man of superior intelligence; he has been Persian +ambassador to France some time ago, and understands French fairly well; +consequently we manage to understand each other after a fashion. Although +he has never before seen a bicycle, his knowledge of the mechanical +ingenuity of the Ferenghis causes him to regard it with more intelligence +than an un-travelled native, and to better comprehend my journey and its +object. Assisted by a dozen mollahs (priests) and officials in flowing +gowns and henna-tinted beards and finger-nails, the Governor is transacting +official business, and he invites me to come into the council chamber +and be seated. In a few minutes the noon-tide meal is announced; the +Governor invites me to dine with them, and then leads the way into the +dining-room, followed by his counsellors, who form in line behind him +according to their rank. The dining-room is a large, airy apartment, +opening into an extensive garden; a bountiful repast is spread on yellow- +checkered tablecloths on the carpeted floor; the Governor squats cross- +legged at one end, the stately-looking wiseacres in flowing gowns range +themselves along each side in a similar attitude, with much solemnity +and show of dignity; they - at least so I fancy - evidently are anything but +rejoiced at the prospect of eating with an infidel Ferenghi. The Governor, +being a far more enlightened and consequently less bigoted personage, +looks about him a trifle embarrassed, as if searching for some place +where he can seat me in a position of becoming honor without offending +the prejudices of his sanctimonious counsellors. Noticing this, I at +once come to his relief by taking the position farthest from him, +attempting to imitate them in their cross-legged attitude. My unhappy +attempt to sit in this uncomfortable attitude - uncomfortable at least to +anybody unaccustomed to it - provokes a smile from His Excellency, and he +straightway orders an attendant to fetch in a chair and a small table; +the counsellors look on in silence, but they are evidently too deeply +impressed with their own dignity and holiness to commit themselves to +any such display of levity as a smile. A portion of each dish is placed +upon my table, together with a travellers' combination knife, fork and +spoon, a relic, doubtless, of the Governor's Parisian experience. His +Excellency having waited and kept the counsellors waiting until these +preparations are finished, motions for me to commence eating, and then +begins himself. The repast consists of boiled mutton, rice pillau with +curry, mutton chops, hard-boiled eggs with lettuce, a pastry of sweetened +rice-flour, musk-melons, water-melons, several kinds of fruit, and for +beverage glasses of iced sherbet; of all the company I alone use knife, +fork, and plates. Before each Persian is laid a broad sheet of bread; +bending their heads over this they scoop up small handfuls of pillau, +and toss it dextrously into their mouths; scattering particles missing +the expectantly opened receptacle fall back on to the bread; this handy +sheet of bread is used as a plate for placing a chop or anything else +on, as a table-napkin for wiping finger-tips between courses, and now +and then a piece is pulled off and eaten. When the meal is finished, an +attendant waits on each guest with a brazen bowl, an ewer of water and +a towel. After the meal is over the Governor is no longer handicapped +by the religious prejudices of the mollahs, and leaving them he invites +me into the garden to see his two little boys go through their gymnastic +exercises. They are clever little fellows of about seven and nine, +respectively, with large black eyes and clear olive complexions; all +the time we are watching them the Governor's face is wreathed in a fond, +parental smile. The exercises consist chiefly in climbing a thick rope +dangling from a cross-beam. After seeing me ride the bicycle the Governor +wants me to try my hand at gymnastics, but being nothing of a gymnast I +respectfully beg to be excused. While thus enjoying a pleasant hour in +the garden, a series of resounding thwacks are heard somewhere near by, +and looking around some intervening shrubs I observe a couple of far-rashes +bastinadoing a culprit; seeing me more interested in this novel method +of administering justice than in looking at the youngsters trying to +climb ropes, the Governor leads the way thither. The man, evidently a +ryot, is lying on his back, his feet are lashed together and held soles +uppermost by means of an horizontal pole, while the farrashes briskly +belabor them with willow sticks. The soles of the ryot's feet are hard +and thick as rhinoceros hide almost from habitually walking barefooted, +and under these conditions his punishment is evidently anything but +severe. The flagellation goes merrily and uninterruptedly forward until +fifty sticks about five feet long and thicker than a person's thumb are +broken over his feet without eliciting any signals of distress from the +horny-hoofed ryot, except an occasional sorrowful groan of "A-l-l-ah." +He is then loosed and limps painfully away, but it looks like a rather +hypocritical limp, after all; fifty sticks, by the by, is a comparatively +light punishment, several hundred sometimes being broken at a single +punishment. Upon taking my leave the Governor kindly details a couple +of soldiers to show me to the best caravanserai, and to remain and protect +me from the worry and annoyance of the crowds until my departure from +the city. Arriving at the caravanserai, my valiant protectors undertake +to keep the following crowd from entering the courtyard; the crowd refuses +to see the justice of this arbitrary proceeding, and a regular pitched +battle ensues in the gateway. The caravanserai-jees reinforce the soldiers, +and by laying on vigorously with thick sticks, they finally put the +rabble to flight. They then close the caravanserai gates until the +excitement has subsided. Khoi is a city of perhaps fifty thousand +inhabitants, and among them all there is no one able to speak a word of +English. Contemplating the surging mass of woolly-hatted Persians from +the bala-khana (balcony; our word is taken from the Persian), of the +caravanserai, and hearing nothing but unintelligible language, I detect +myself unconsciously recalling the lines: " Oh it was pitiful; in a whole +city full--." It is the first large city I have visited without finding +somebody capable of speaking at least a few words of my own language. +Locking the bicycle up, I repair to the bazaar, my watchful and zealous +attendants making the dust fly from the shoulders of such unlucky wights +whose eager inquisitiveness to obtain a good close look brings them +within the reach of their handy staves. We are followed by immense crowds, +a Ferenghi being a rara avis in Khoi, and the fame of the wonderful asp- +i (horse of iron) has spread like wild-fire through the city. In the +bazaar I obtain Russian silver money, which is the chief currency of the +country as far east as Zendjan. Partly to escape from the worrying crowds, +and partly to ascertain the way out next morning, as I intend making an +early start, I get the soldiers to take me outside the city wall and +show me the Tabreez road. + +A new caravanserai is in process of construction just outside the Tabreez +gate, and I become an interested spectator of the Persian mode of building +the walls of a house; these of the new caravanserai are nearly four feet +thick. Parallel walls of mud bricks are built up, leaving an interspace +of two feet or thereabouts; this is filled with stiff, well-worked mud, +which is dumped in by bucketsful and continually tramped by barefooted +laborers; harder bricks are used for the doorways and windows. The +bricklayer uses mud for mortar and his hands for a trowel; he works +without either level or plumb-line, and keeps up a doleful, melancholy +chant from morning to night. The mortar is handed to him by an assistant +by handsful; every workman is smeared and spattered with mud from head +to foot, as though glorying in covering themselves with the trade-mark +of their calling. + +Strolling away from the busy builders we encounter a man the "water +boy of the gang"- bringing a three-gallon pitcher of water from a +spring half a mile away. Being thirsty, the soldiers shout for him to +bring the pitcher. Scarcely conceiving it possible that these humble +mud-daubers would be so wretchedly sanctimonious, I drink from the jar, +much to the disgust of the poor water-carrier, who forthwith empties +the remainder away and returns with hurried trot to the spring for a +fresh supply; he would doubtless have smashed the vessel had it been +smaller and of lesser value. Naturally I feel a trifle conscience-stricken +at having caused him so much trouble, for he is rather an elderly man, +but the soldiers display no sympathy for him whatever, apparently regarding +an humble water-carrier as a person of small consequence anyhow, and +they laugh heartily at seeing him trotting briskly back half a mile for +another load. Had he taken the first water after a Ferenghi had drank +from it and allowed his fellow-workmen to unwittingly partake of the +same, it would probably have fared badly with the old fellow had they +found it out afterward. + +Returning cityward we meet our friend, the moonshi bashi, looking me up; +he is accompanied by a dozen better-class Persians, scattering friends +and acquaintances of his, whom he hag collected during the day chiefly +to show them my map of Persia; the mechanical beauty of the bicycle and +the apparent victory over the laws of equilibrium in riding it being, +in the opinion of the scholarly moonshi bashi, quite overshadowed by a +map which shows Teheran and Khoi, and doesn't show Stamboul, and which +shows the whole broad expanse of Persia, and only small portions of other +countries. This latter fact seems to have made a very deep impression +upon the moonshi banhi's mind; it appears to have filled him with the +unalterable conviction that all other countries are insignificant compared +with Persia; in his own mind this patriotic person has always believed +this to be the case, but he is overjoyed at finding his belief verified - +as he fondly imagines - by the map of a Ferenghi. Returning to the +caravanserai, we find the courtyard crowded with people, attracted by +the fame of the bicycle. The moonshi bashi straightway ascends to the +bala-khana, tenderly unfolds my map, and displays it for the inspection +of the gaping multitude below; while five hundred pairs of eyes gaze +wonderingly upon it, without having the slightest conception of what +they are looking at, he proudly traces with his finger the outlines of +Persia. It is one of the most amusing scenes imaginable; the moonshi +bashi and myself, surrounded by his little company of friends, occupying +the bala-khana, proudly displaying to a mixed crowd of fully five hundred +people a shilling map as a thing to be wondered at and admired. + +After the departure of the moonshi bashi and his friends, by invitation +I pay a visit of curiosity to a company of dervishes (they themselves +pronounce it "darwish") occupying one of the caravanserai rooms. There +are eight of them lolling about in one small room; their appearance is +disgusting and yet interesting; they are all but naked in deference to +the hot weather and to obtain a little relief from the lively tenants +of their clothing. Prominent among their effects are panther or leopard +skins which they use as cloaks, small steel battle-axes, and huge spiked +clubs. Their whole appearance is most striking and extraordinary; their +long black hair is dangling about their naked shoulders; they have the +wild, haggard countenances of men whose lives are being spent in debauchery +and excesses; nevertheless, most of them have a decidedly intellectual +expression. The Persian dervishes are a strange and interesting people; +they spend their whole lives in wandering from one end of the country +to another, subsisting entirely by mendicancy; yet their cry, instead +of a beggar's supplication for charity, is "huk, huk" (my right, my +right); they affect the most wildly, picturesque and eccentric costumes, +often wearing nothing whatever but white cotton drawers and a leopard +or panther skin thrown, carelessly about their shoulders, besides which +they carry a huge spiked club or steel battle-axe and an alms-receiver; +this latter is usually made of an oval gourd, polished and suspended +on small brass chains. Sometimes they wear an embroidered conical cap +decorated with verses from the Koran, but often they wear no head-gear +save the covering provided by nature. The better-class Persians have +little respect for these wandering fakirs; but their wild, eccentric +appearance makes a deep impression upon the simple-hearted villagers, +and the dervishes, whose wits are sharpened by constant knocking about, +live mostly by imposing on their good nature and credulity. A couple of +these worthies, arriving at a small village, affect their wildest and +most grotesque appearance and proceed to walk with stately, majestic +tread through the streets, gracefully brandishing their clubs or battle- +axes, gazing fixedly at vacancy and reciting aloud from the Koran with +a peculiar and impressive intonation; they then walk about the village +holding out their alms-receiver and shouting "huk yah huk! huk yah huk " +Half afraid of incurring their displeasure, few of the villagers +refuse to contribute a copper or portable cooked provisions. Most dervishes +are addicted to the intemperate use of opium, bhang (a preparation of +Indian hemp), arrack, and other baleful intoxicants, generally indulging +to excess whenever they have collected sufficient money; they are likewise +credited with all manner of debauchery; it is this that accounts for +their pale, haggard appearance. The following quotation from "In the +Land of the Lion and Sun," and which is translated from the Persian, is +eloquently descriptive of the general appearance of the dervish: The +dervish had the dullard air, The maddened look, the vacant stare, That +bhang and contemplation give. He moved, but did not seem to live; His +gaze was savage, and yet sad; What we should call stark, staring mad. +All down his back, his tangled hair Flowed wild, unkempt; his head was +bare; A leopard's skin was o'er him flung; Around his neck huge beads +were hung, And in his hand-ah! there's the rub- He carried a portentous +club. After visiting the dervishes I spend an hour in an adjacent tchai- +khan drinking tea with my escort and treating them to sundry well-deserved +kalians. Among the rabble collected about the doorway is a half-witted +youngster of about ten or twelve summers with a suit of clothes consisting +of a waist string and a piece of rag about the size of an ordinary pen- +wiper. He is the unfortunate possessor of a stomach disproportionately +large and which intrudes itself upon other people's notice like a prize +pumpkin at an agricultural fair. This youth's chief occupation appears +to be feeding melon-rinds to a pet sheep belonging to the tchai-khan and +playing a resonant tattoo on his abnormally obtrusive paunch with the +palms of his hands. This produces a hollow, echoing sound like striking +an inflated bladder with a stuffed club; and considering that the youth +also introduces a novel and peculiar squint into the performance, it is +a remarkably edifying spectacle. Supper-time coming round, the soldiers +show the way to an eating place, where we sup off delicious bazaar-kabobs, +one of the most tasteful preparations of mutton one could well imagine. +The mutton is minced to the consistency of paste and properly seasoned; +it is then spread over flat iron skewers and grilled over a glowing +charcoal fire; when nicely browned they are laid on a broad pliable sheet +of bread in lieu of a plate, and the skewers withdrawn, leaving before +the customer a dozen long flat fingers of nicely browned kabobs reposing +side by side on the cake of wheaten bread-a most appetizing and digestible +dish. Returning to the caravanserai, I dismiss my faithful soldiers with +a suitable present, for which they loudly implore the blessings of Allah +on my head, and for the third or fourth time impress upon the caravanseraijes +the necessity of making my comfort for the night his special consideration. +They fill that humble individual's mind with grandiloquent ideas of my +personal importance by dwelling impressively on the circumstance of my +having eaten with the Governor, a fact they likewise have lost no +opportunity of heralding throughout the bazaar during the afternoon. The +caravanserai-jee spreads quilts and a pillow for me on the open bala-khana, +and I at once prepare for sleep. A gentle-eyed and youthful seyud wearing +an enormous white turban and a flowing gown glides up to my couch and +begins plying me with questions. The soldiers noticing this as they are +about leaving the court-yard favor him with a torrent of imprecations +for venturing to disturb my repose; a score of others yell fiercely at +him in emulation of the soldiers, causing the dreamy-eyed youth to hastily +scuttle away again. Nothing is now to be heard all around but the evening +prayers of the caravanserai guests; listening to the multitudinous cries +of Allah-il-Allah around me, I fall asleep. About midnight I happen to +wake again; everything is quiet, the stars are shining brightly down +into the court-yard, and a small grease lamp is flickering on the floor +near my head, placed there by the caravan-serai-jee after I had fallen +asleep. The past day has been one full of interesting experiences; from +the time of leaving the garden of Mohammed Ali Khan this morning in +company with the moonshi bashi, until lulled to sleep three hours ago +by the deep-voiced prayers of fanatical Mohammedans the day has proved +a series of surprises, and I seem more than ever before to have been the +sport and plaything of fortune; however, if the fickle goddess never +used anybody worse than she has used me to-day there would be little +cause for complaining. + +As though to belie their general reputation of sanctimoniousness, a tall, +stately seyud voluntarily poses as my guide and protector en route through +the awakening bazaar toward the Tabreez gate next morning, cuffing +obtrusive youngsters right and left, and chiding grown-up people whenever +their inordinate curiosity appeals to him as being aggressive and impolite; +one can only account for this strange condescension on the part of this +holy man by attributing it to the marvellous civilizing and levelling +influence of the bicycle. Arriving outside the gate, the crowd of followers +are well repaid for their trouble by watching my progress for a couple +of miles down a broad straight roadway admirably kept and shaded with +thrifty chenars or plane-trees. Wheeling down this pleasant avenue I +encounter mule-trains, the animals festooned with strings of merrily +jingling bells, and camels gayly caparisoned, with huge, nodding tassels +on their heads and pack-saddles, and deep-toned bells of sheet iron +swinging at their throats and sides; likewise the omnipresent donkey +heavily laden with all manner of village produce for the Khoi market. +My road after leaving the avenue winds around the end of projecting +hills, and for a dozen miles traverses a gravelly plain that ascends +with a scarcely perceptible gradient to the summit of a ridge; it then +descends by a precipitous trail into the valley of Lake Ooroomiah. +Following along the northern shore of the lake I find fairly level roads, +but nothing approaching continuous wheeling, owing to wash-outs and small +streams leading from a range of mountains near by to the left, between +which and the briny waters of the lake my route leads. Lake Ooroomiah +is somewhere near the size of Salt Lake, Utah, and its waters are so +heavily impregnated with saline matter that one can lie down on the +surface and indulge in a quiet, comfortable snooze; at least, this is +what I am told by a missionary at Tabreez who says he has tried it +himself; and even allowing for the fact that missionaries are but human +after all and this gentleman hails originally from somewhere out West, +there is no reason for supposing the statement at all exaggerated. Had +I heard of this beforehand I should certainly have gone far enough out +of my course to try the experiment of being literally rocked on the +cradle of the deep. Near midday I make a short circuit to the north, to +investigate the edible possibilities of a village nestling in a cul-de-sac +of the mountain foot-hills. The resident Khan turns out to be a regular +jovial blade, sadly partial to the flowing bowl. When I arrive he is +perseveringly working himself up to the proper pitch of booziness for +enjoying his noontide repast by means of copious potations of arrack; +he introduces himself as Hassan Khan, offers me arrack, and cordially +invites me to dine with him. After dinner, when examining my revolver, +map, etc., the Khan greatly admires a photograph of myself as a peculiar +proof of Ferenghi skill in producing a person's physiognomy, and blandly +asks me to "make him one of himself," doubtless thinking that a person +capable of riding on a wheel is likewise possessed of miraculous all +'round abilities. + +The Khan consumes not less than a pint of raw arrack during the dinner +hour, and, not unnaturally, finds himself at the end a trifle funny and +venturesome. When preparing to take my departure he proposes that I give +him a ride on the bicycle; nothing loath to humor him a little in return +for his hospitality, I assist him to mount, and wheel him around for a +few minutes, to the unconcealed delight of the whole population, who +gather about to see the astonishing spectacle of their Khan riding on +the Ferenghi's wonderful asp-i-awhan. The Khan being short and pudgy is +unable to reach the pedals, and the confidence-inspiring fumes of arrack +lead him to announce to the assembled villagers that if his legs were +only a little longer he could certainly go it alone, a statement that +evidently fills the simple-minded ryots with admiration for the Khan's +alleged newly-discovered abilities. + +The road continues level but somewhat loose and sandy; the scenery around +becomes strikingly beautiful, calling up thoughts of "Arabian Nights " +entertainments, and the genii and troubadours of Persian song. The bright, +blue waters of Lake Ooroomiah stretch away southward to where the dim +outlines of mountains, a hundred miles away, mark the southern shore; +rocky islets at a lesser distance, and consequently more pronounced in +character and contour, rear their jagged and picturesque forms sheer +from the azure surface of the liquid mirror, the face of which is unruffled +by a single ripple and unspecked by a single animate or inanimate object; +the beach is thickly incrusted with salt, white and glistening in the +sunshine; the shore land is mingled sand and clay of a deep-red color, +thus presenting the striking and beautiful phenomena of a lake shore +painted red, white, and blue by the inimitable hand of nature. A range +of rugged gray mountains run parallel with the shore but a few miles +away; crystal streams come bubbling lake-ward over pebble-bedded channels +from sources high up the mountain slopes; villages, hidden amid groves +of spreading jujubes and graceful chenars, nestle here and there in the +rocky gateways of ravines; orchards and vineyards are scattered about +the plain. They are imprisoned within gloomy mud walls, but, like living +creatures struggling for their liberty, the fruit-laden branches extend +beyond their prison-walls, and the graceful tendrils of the vines find +their way through the sun-cracks and fissures of decay, and trail over +the top as though trying to cover with nature's charitable veil the +unsightly works of man; and all is arched over with the cloudless Persian +sky. + +Beaming the roads of this picturesque region in search of victims is a +most persistent and pugnacious species of fly; rollicking as the blue- +bottle, and the veritable double of the green-head horsefly of the Western +prairies, he combines the dash and impetuosity of the one with the +ferocity and persistency of the other; but he is happily possessed of +one redeeming feature not possessed by either of the above-mentioned and +well-known insects of the Western world. When either of these settles +himself affectionately on the end of a person's nose, and the person, +smarting under the indignity, hits himself viciously on that helpless +and unoffending portion of his person, as a general thing it doesn't +hurt the fly, simply because the fly doesn't wait long enough to be hurt; +but the Lake Ooroomiah fly is a comparatively guileless insect, and +quietly remains where he alights until it suits one's convenience to +forcibly remove him; for this redeeming quality I bespeak for him the +warmest encomiums of fly-harassed humans everywhere. Dusk is settling +down over the broad expanse of lake, plain, and mountain when I encounter +a number of villagers taking donkey-loads of fruit and almonds from an +orchard to their village. They cordially invite me to accompany them and +accept their hospitality for the night. They are travelling toward a +large area of walled orchards but a short distance to the north, and I +naturally expect to find their village located among them; so, not knowing +how far ahead the next village may be, I gladly accept their kindly +invitation, and follow along behind. It gets dusky, then duskier, then +dark; the stars come peeping out thicker and thicker, and still I am +trundling with these people slowly along up the dry and stone-strewn +channel of spring-time freshets, expecting every minute to reach their +village, only to be as often disappointed, for over an hour, during which +we travel out of my proper course perhaps four miles. Finally, after +crossing several little streams, or rather; one stream several times, +we arrive at our destination, and I am installed, as the guest of a +leading villager, beneath a sort of open porch attached to the house. +Here, as usual, I quickly become the centre of attraction for a wondering +and admiring audience of half-naked villagers. The villager whose guest +I become brings forth bread and cheese, some bring me grapes, others +newly gathered almonds, and then they squat around in the dim religious +light of primitive grease-lamps and watch me feed, with the same wondering +interest and the same unconcealed delight with which youthful Londoners +at the Zoological Gardens regard a pet monkey devouring their offerings +of nuts and ginger-snaps. I scarcely know what to make of these particular +villagers; they seem strangely childlike and unsophisticated, and moreover, +perfectly delighted at my unexpected presence in their midst. It is +doubtful whether their unimportant little village among the foothills +was ever before visited by a Ferenghi; consequently I am to them a rara +avis to be petted and admired. I am inclined to think them a village of +Yezeeds or devilworshippers; the Yezeeds believe that Allah, being by +nature kind and merciful, would not injure anybody under any circumstances, +consequently there is nothing to be gained by worshipping him. Sheitan +(Satan), on the contrary, has both the power and the inclination to do +people harm, therefore they think it politic to cultivate his good-will +and to pursue a policy of conciliation toward him by worshipping him and +revering his name. Thus they treat the name of Satan with even greater +reverence than Christians and Mohammedans treat the name of God. Independent +of their hospitable treatment of myself, these villagers seem but little +advanced in their personal habits above mere animals; the women are half- +naked, and seem possessed of little more sense of shame than our original +ancestors before the fall. There is great talk of kardash among them in +reference to myself. They are advocating hospitality of a nature altogether +too profound for the consideration of a modest and discriminating Ferenghi - +hospitable intentions that I deem it advisable to dissipate at once by +affecting deep, dense ignorance of what they are discussing. + +In the morning they search the village over to find the wherewithal to +prepare me some tea before my departure. Eight miles from the village I +discover that four miles forward yesterday evening, instead of backward, +would have brought me to a village containing a caravanserai. I naturally +feel a trifle chagrined at the mistake of having journeyed eight unnecessary +miles, but am, perhaps, amply repaid by learning something of the utter +simplicity of the villagers before their character becomes influenced +by intercourse with more enlightened people. + +My course now leads over a stony plain. The wheeling is reasonably +good, and I gradually draw away from the shore of Lake Ooroomiah. Melon- +gardens and vineyards are frequently found here and there across the +plain; the only entrance to the garden is a hole about three feet by +four in the high mud wall, and this is closed by a wooden door; an arm- +hole is generally found in the wall to enable the owner to reach the +fastening from the outside. Investigating one of these fastenings at a +certain vineyard I discover a lock so primitive that it must have been +invented by prehistoric man. A flat, wooden bar or bolt is drawn into a +mortise-like receptacle of the wall, open at the top; the man then daubs +a handful of wet clay over it; in a few minutes the clay hardens and the +door is fast. This is not a burglar-proof lock, certainly, and is only +depended upon for a fastening during the temporary absence of the owner +in the day-time. During the summer the owner and family not infrequently +live in the garden altogether. During the forenoon the bicycle is the +innocent cause of two people being thrown from the backs of their +respective steeds. One is a man carelessly sitting sidewise on his donkey; +the meek-eyed jackass suddenly makes a pivot of his hind feet and wheels +round, and the rider's legs as suddenly shoot upward. He frantically +grips his fiery, untamed steed around the neck as he finds himself over- +balanced, and comes up with a broad grin and an irrepressible chuckle +of merriment over the unwonted spirit displayed by his meek and humble +charger, that probably had never scared at anything before in all its +life. The other case is unfortunately a lady whose horse literally springs +from beneath her, treating her to a clean tumble. The poor lady sings +out "Allah!" rather snappishly at finding herself on the ground, so +snappishly that it leaves little room for doubt of its being an imprecation; +but her rude, unsympathetic attendants laugh right merrily at seeing her +floundering about in the sand; fortunately, she is uninjured. Although +Turkish and Persian ladies ride a la Amazon, a position that is popularly +supposed to be several times more secure than side-saddles, it is a +noticeable fact that they seem perfectly helpless, and come to grief the +moment their steed shies at anything or commences capering about with +anything like violence. + +On a portion of road that is unridable from sand I am captured by a +rowdyish company of donkey-drivers, returning with empty fruit-baskets +from Tabreez. They will not be convinced that the road is unsuitable, +and absolutely refuse to let me go without seeing the bicycle ridden. +After detaining me until patience on my part ceases to be a virtue, and +apparently as determined for their purpose as ever, I am finally compelled +to produce the convincing argument with five chambers and rifled barrel. +These crowds of donkey-men seem inclined to be rather lawless, and +scarcely a day passes lately but what this same eloquent argument has +to be advanced in the interest of individual liberty. Fortunately the +mere sight of a revolver in the hands of a Ferenghi has the magical +effect of transforming the roughest and most overbearing gang of ryots +into peaceful, retiring citizens. The plain I am now traversing is a +broad, gray-looking area surrounded by mountains, and stretching away +eastward from Lake Ooroomiah for seventy-five miles. It presents the +same peculiar aspect of Persian scenery nearly everywhere-a general +verdureless and unproductive country, with the barren surface here and +there relieved by small oases of cultivated fields and orchards. The +villages being built solely of mud, and consequently of the same color +as the general surface, are undistinguishable from a distance, unless +rendered conspicuous by trees. Laboring under a slightly mistaken +impression concerning the distance to Tabreez, I push ahead in the +expectation of reaching there to-night; the plain becomes more generally +cultivated; the caravan routes from different directions come to a focus +on broad trails leading into the largest city in Persia, and which is +the great centre of distribution for European goods arriving by caravan +to Trebizond. Coming to a large, scattering village, some time in the +afternoon, I trundle leisurely through the lanes inclosed between lofty +and unsightly mud walls thinking I have reached the suburbs of Tabreez; +finding my mistake upon emerging on the open plain again, I am yet again +deceived by another spreading village, and about six o'clock find myself +wheeling eastward across an uncultivated stretch of uncertain dimensions. +The broad caravan trail is worn by the traffic of centuries considerably +below the level of the general surface, and consists of a number of +narrow, parallel trails, along which swarms of donkeys laden with produce +from tributary villages daily plod, besides the mule and camel caravans +from a greater distance. These narrow beaten paths afford excellent +wheeling, and I bowl along quite briskly. As one approaches Tabreez, the +country is found traversed by an intricate network of irrigating ditches, +some of them works of considerable magnitude; the embankments on either +side of the road are frequently high enough to obscure a horseman. These +works are almost as old as the hills themselves, for the cultivation of +the Tabreez plain has remained practically an unchanged system for three +thousand years, as though, like the ancient laws of the Medes and Persians, +it also were made unchangeable. + +About dusk I fall in with another riotous crowd of homeward-bound fruit +carriers, who, not satisfied at seeing me ride past, want to stop me; +one of them rushes up behind, grabs my package attached to the rear +baggage-carrier, and nearly causes an overthrow; frightening him off, I +spurt ahead, barely escaping two or three donkey cudgels hurled at me +in pure wantonness, born of the courage inspired by a majority of twenty +to one. There is no remedy for these unpleasant occurrences except +travelling under escort, and the avoiding serious trouble or accident +becomes a matter for every-day congratulation. At eighteen miles from +the last village it becomes too dark to remain in the saddle without +danger of headers, and a short trundle brings me, not to Tabreez even +now, but to another village eight miles nearer. Here there is a large +caravanserai. Near the entrance is a hole-in-the-wall sort of a shop +wherein I espy a man presiding over a tempting assortment of cantaloupes, +grapes, and pears. The whirligig of fortune has favored me today with +tea, blotting-paper ekmek, and grapes for breakfast; later on two small +watermelons, and at 2 P.M. blotting-paper +ekmek and an infinitesimal quantity of yaort (now called mast). It is +unnecessary to add that I arrive in this village with an appetite that +will countenance no unnecessary delay. Two splendid ripe cantaloupes, +several fine bunches of grapes, and some pears are devoured immediately, +with a reckless disregard of consequences, justifiable only on the grounds +of semi-starvation and a temporary barbarism born of surrounding +circumstances. After this savage attack on the maivah-jee's stock, I +learn that the village contains a small tchai-khan; repairing thither I +stretch myself on the divan for an hour's repose, and afterward partake +of tea, bread, and peaches. At bed-time the khan-jee makes me up a couch +on the divan, locks the door +inside, blows out the light, and then, afraid to occupy the same building +with such a dangerous-looking individual as myself, climbs to the roof +through a hole in the wall. Eager villagers carry both myself and wheel +across a bridge-less stream upon resuming my journey to Tabreez next +morning; the road is level and ridable, though a trifle deep with dust +and sand, and in an hour I am threading the suburban lanes of the city. +Along these eight miles I certainly pass not less than five hundred pack- +donkeys en route to the Tabreez market with everything, from baskets of +the choicest fruit in the world to huge bundles of prickly camel-thorn +and sacks of tezek for fuel. No animals in all the world, I should think, +stand in more urgent need of the kindly offices of the Society for the +Prevention of Cruelty to Animals than the thousands of miserable donkeys +engaged in supplying Tabreez with fuel; their brutal drivers seem utterly +callous and indifferent to the pitiful sufferings of these patient +toilers. Numbers of instances are observed this morning where the rough, +ill-fitting breech-straps and ropes have literally seesawed their way +through the skin and deep into the flesh, and are still rasping deeper +and deeper every day, no attempt whatever being made to remedy this evil; +on the contrary, their pitiless drivers urge them on by prodding the raw +sores with sharpened sticks, and by belaboring them unceasingly with an +instrument of torture in the shape of whips with six inches of ordinary +trace-chain for a lash. As if the noble army of Persian donkey drivers +were not satisfied with the refinement of physical cruelty to which they +have attained, they add insult to injury by talking constantly to their +donkeys while driving them along, and accusing them of all the crimes +in the calendar and of every kind of disreputable action. Fancy the +bitter sense of humiliation that must overcome the proud, haughty spirit +of a mouse-colored jackass at being prodded in an open wound with a sharp +stick and hearing himself at the same time thus insultingly addressed: +"Oh, thou son of a burnt father and murderer of thine own mother, would +that I myself had died rather than my father should have lived to see +me drive such a brute as thou art." yet this sort of talk is habitually +indulged in by the barbarous drivers. While young, the donkeys' nostrils +are slit open clear up to the bridge-bone; this is popularly supposed +among the Persians to be an improvement upon nature in that it gives +them greater freedom of respiration. Instead of the well known clucking +sound used among ourselves as a persuasive, the Persian makes a sound +not unlike the bleating of a sheep; a stranger, being within hearing and +out of sight of a gang of donkey drivers in a hurry to reach their +destination, would be more likely to imagine himself in the vicinity of +a flock of sheep than anything else. As is usually the case, a volunteer +guide bobs serenely up immediately I enter the city, and I follow +confidently along, thinking he is piloting me to the English consulate, +as I have requested; instead of this he steers me into the custom-house +and turns me over to the officials. These worthy gentlemen, after asking +me to ride around the custom-house yard, pretend to become altogether +mystified about what they ought to do with the bicycle, and in the absence +of any precedent to govern themselves by, finally conclude among themselves +that the proper thing would be to confiscate it. Obtaining a guide to +show me to the residence of Mr. Abbott, the English consul-general, that +energetic representative of Her Majesty's government smiles audibly at +the thoughts of their mystification, and then writes them a letter couched +in terms of humorous reproachfulness, asking them what in the name of +Allah and the Prophet they mean by confiscating a traveller's horse, his +carriage, his camel, his everything on legs and wheels consolidated into +the beautiful vehicle with which he is journeying to Teheran to see the +Shah, and all around the world to see everybody and everything? - ending +by telling them that he never in all his consular experiences heard of +a proceeding so utterly atrocious. He sends the letter by the consulate +dragoman, who accompanies me back to the custom-house. The officers at +once see and acknowledge their mistake; but meanwhile they have been +examining the bicycle, and some of them appear to have fallen violently +in love with it; they yield it up, but it is with apparent reluctance, +and one of the leading officials takes me into the stable, and showing +me several splendid horses begs me to take my choice from among them and +leave the bicycle behind. + +Mr. and Mrs. Abbott cordially invite me to become their guest while +staying at Tabreez. To-day is Thursday, and although my original purpose +was only to remain here a couple of days, the innovation from roughing +it on the road, to roast duck for dinner, and breakfast in one's own +room of a morning, coupled with warnings against travelling on the Sabbath +and invitations to dinner from the American missionaries, proves a +sufficient inducement for me to conclude to stay till Monday, satisfied +at the prospect of reaching Teheran in good season. It is now something +less than four hundred miles to Teheran, with the assurance of better +roads than I have yet had in Persia, for the greater portion of the +distance; besides this, the route is now a regular post route with chapar- +khanas (post-houses) at distances of four to five farsakhs apart. On +Friday night Tabreez experienced two slight shocks of an earthquake, and +in the morning Mr. Abbott points out several fissures in the masonry of +the consulate, caused by previous visitations of the same undesirable +nature; the earthquakes here seem to resemble the earthquakes of California +in that they come reasonably mild and often. The place likewise awakens +memories of the Golden State in another and more appreciative particular +nowhere, save perhaps in California, does one find such delicious +grapes, peaches, and pears as at ancient Taurus, a specialty for which +it has been justly celebrated from time immemorial. On Saturday I take +dinner with Mr. Oldfather, one of the missionaries, and in the evening +we all pay a visit to Mr. Whipple and family, the consulate link-boy +lighting the way before us with a huge cylindrical lantern of transparent +oiled muslin called a farnooze. These lanterns are always carried after +night before people of wealth or social consequence, varying in size +according to the person's idea of their own social importance. The size +of the farmooze is supposed to be an index of the social position of the +person or family, so that one can judge something of what sort of people +are coming down the street, even on the darkest night, whenever the +attendant link-boy heaves in sight with the farnooze. Some of these +social indicators are the size of a Portland cement barrel, even in +Persia; it is rather a smile-provoking thought to think what tremendous +farnoozes would be seen lighting up the streets on gloomy evenings, were +this same custom prevalent among ourselves; few of us but what could +call to memory people whose farnoozes would be little smaller than brewery +mash-tubs, and which would have to be carried between six-foot link-boys +on a pole. Ameer-i-Nazan, the Valiat or heir apparent to the throne, and +at present nominal governor of Tabreez, has seen a tricycle in Teheran, +one having been imported some time ago by an English gentleman in the +Shah's service; but the fame of the bicycle excites his curiosity and +he sends an officer around to the consulate to examine and report upon +the difference between bicycle and tricycle, and also to discover and +explain the modus operandi of maintaining one's balance on two wheels. +The officer returns with the report that my machine won't even stand up, +without somebody holding it, and that nobody but a Ferenghi who is in +league with Sheitan, could possibly hope to ride it. Perhaps it is this +alarming report, and the fear of exciting the prejudices of the mollahs +and fanatics about him, by having anything to do with a person reported +on trustworthy authority to be in league with His Satanic Majesty, that +prevents the Prince from requesting me to ride before him in Tabreez; +but I have the pleasure of meeting him at Hadji Agha on the evening of +the first day out. Mr. Whippie kindly makes out an itinerary of the +villages and chapar-khanas I shall pass on the journey to Teheran; the +superintendent of the Tabreez station of the Indo-European Telegraph +Company voluntarily telegraphs to the agents at Miana and Zendjan when +to expect rne, and also to Teheran; Mrs. Abbott fills my coat pockets +with roast chicken, and thus equipped and prepared, at nine o'clock on +Monday morning I am ready for the home-stretch of the season, before +going into winter quarters. + +The Turkish consul-general, a corpulent gentleman whose avoirdupois I +mentally jot down at four hundred pounds, comes around with several +others to see me take a farewell spin on the bricked pavements of the +consulate garden. Like all persons of four hundred pounds weight, the +Effendi is a good-natured, jocose individual, and causes no end of +merriment by pretending to be anxious to take a spin on the bicycle +himself, whereas it requires no inconsiderable exertion on his part to +waddle from his own residence hard by into the consulate. Three soldiers +are detailed from the consulate staff to escort me through the city; en +route through the streets the pressure of the rabble forces one unlucky +individual into one of the dangerous narrow holes that abound in the +streets, up to his neck; the crowd yell with delight at seeing him tumble +in, and nobody stops to render him any assistance or to ascertain whether +he is seriously hurt. Soon a poor old ryot on a donkey, happens amid +the confusion to cross immediately in front of the bicycle; whack! whack! +whack! come the ready staves of the zealous and vigilant soldiers across +the shoulders of the offender; the crowd howls with renewed delight at +this, and several hilarious hobble-de-hoys endeavor to shove one of their +companions in the place vacated by the belabored ryot, in the hope that +he likewise will come in for the visitation of the soldiers' o'er- willing +staves. The broad suburban road, where the people have been fondly +expecting to see the bicycle light out in earnest for Teheran at a +marvellous rate of speed, is found to be nothing less than a bed of loose +sand and stones, churned up by the narrow hoofs of multitudinous donkeys. +Quite a number of better class Persians accompany me some distance further +on horseback; when taking their departure, a gentleman on a splendid +Arab charger, shakes hands and says: "Good-by, my dear," which apparently +is all the English he knows. He has evidently kept his eyes and ears +open when happening about the English consulate, and the happy thought +striking him at the moment, he repeats, parrot-like, this term of +endearment, all unsuspicious of the ridiculousness of its application +in the present case. + +For several miles the road winds tortuously over a range of low, stony +hills, the surface being generally loose and unridable. The water-supply +of Tabreez is conducted from these hills by an ancient system of kanaats +or underground water-ditches; occasionally one comes to a sloping cavern +leading down to the water; on descending to the depth of from twenty to +forty feet, a small, rapidly-coursing stream of delicious cold water is +found, well rewarding the thirsty traveller for his trouble; sometimes +these cavernous openings are simply sloping, bricked archways, provided +with steps. The course of these subterranean water-ways can always be +traced their entire length by uniform mounds of earth, piled up at short +intervals on the surface; each mound represents the excavations from a +perpendicular shaft, at the bottom of which the crystal water can be +seen coursing along toward the city; they are merely man-holes for the +purpose of readily cleaning out the channel of the kanaat. The water is +conducted underground, chiefly to avoid the waste by evaporation and +absorption in surface ditches. These kanaats are very extensive affairs +in many places; the long rows of surface mounds are visible, stretching +for mile after mile across the plain as far as eye can penetrate, or +until losing themselves among the foot-hills of some distant mountain +chain; they were excavated in the palmy days of the Persian Empire to +bring pure mountain streams to the city fountains and to irrigate the +thirsty plain; it is in the interest of self-preservation that the +Persians now keep them from falling into decay. At noon, while seated +on a grassy knoll discussing the before-mentioned contents of my pockets, +I am favored with a free exhibition of what a physical misunderstanding +is like among the Persian ryots. Two companies of katir-jees happen to +get into an altercation about something, and from words it gradually +develops into blows; not blows of the fist, for they know nothing of +fisticuffs, but they belabor each other vigorously with their long, thick +donkey persuaders, sticks that are anything but small and willowy; it +is an amusing spectacle, and seated on the commanding knoll nibbling +"drum-sticks" and wish-bones, I can almost fancy myself a Roman of old, +eating peanuts and watching a gladiatorial contest in the amphitheatre. +The similitude, however, is not at all striking, for thick as are their +quarter-staffs the Persian ryots don't punish each other very severely. +Whenever one of them works himself up to a fighting-pitch, he commences +belaboring one of the others on the back, apparently always striking so +that the blow produces a maximum of noise with a minimum of punishment; +the person thus attacked never ventures to strike back, but retreats +under the blows until his assailant's rage becomes spent and he desists. +Meanwhile the war of words goes merrily forward; perchance in a few +minutes the person recently attacked suddenly becomes possessed of a +certain amount of rage-inspired courage, and he in turn commences a +vigorous assault upon somebody, probably his late assailant; this worthy, +having become a little cooler, has mysteriously lost his late pugnacity, +and now likewise retreats without once attempting to raise his own stick +in self-defence. The lower and commercial class Persians are pretty +quarrelsome among themselves, but they quarrel chiefly with their tongues; +when they fight without sticks it is an ear-pulling, clothes-tugging, +wrestling sort of a scuffle, which continues without greater injury than +a torn garment until they become exhausted if pretty evenly matched, or +until separated by bystanders; they never, never hurt each other unless +they are intoxicated, when they sometimes use their short swords; there +is no intoxication, except in private drinking-parties. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + + + +TABREEZ TO TEHERAN. + +The wheeling improves in the afternoon, and alongside my road runs a bit +of civilization in the shape of the splendid iron poles of the Indo-European +Telegraph Company. Half a dozen times this afternoon I become the imaginary +enemy of a couple of cavalrymen travelling in the same direction as +myself; they swoop down upon me from the rear at a charging gallop, +valiantly whooping and brandishing their Martini-Henrys; when they arrive +within a few yards of my rear wheel they swerve off on either side and +rein their fiery chargers up, allowing me to forge ahead; they amuse +themselves by repeating this interesting performance over and over again. +Being usually a good rider, the dash and courage of the Persian cavalryman +is something extraordinary in time of peace; no more brilliant and +intrepid cavalry charge on a small scale could be well imagined than I +have witnessed several times this afternoon. But upon the outbreak of +serious hostilities the average warrior in the Shah's service suddenly +becomes filled with a wild, pathetic yearning after the peaceful and +honorable calling of a katir-jee, an uncontrollable desire to become a +humble, contented tiller of the soil, or handy-man about a tchaikhan, +anything, in fact, of a strictly peaceful character. Were I a hostile +trooper with a red jacket, and a general warlike appearance, and the +bicycle a machine gun, though our whooping, charging cavalrymen were +twenty instead of two, they would only charge once, and that would be +with their horses' crimson-dyed tails streaming in the breeze toward me. +The Shah's soldiers are gentle, unwarlike creatures at heart; there are +probably no soldiers in the whole world that would acquit themselves +less creditably in a pitched battle; they are, nevertheless, not without +certain soldierly qualities, well adapted to their country; the cavalrymen +are very good riders, and although the infantry does not present a very +encouraging appearance on the parade-ground, they would meander across +five hundred miles of country on half rations of blotting-paper ekmek +without any vigorous remonstrance, and wait uncomplainingly for their +pay until the middle of next year. About five o'clock I arrive at Hadji +Agha, a large village forty miles from Tabreez; here, as soon as it is +ascertained that I intend remaining over night, I am actually beset by +rival khan-jees, who commence jabbering and gesticulating about the +merits of their respective establishments, like hotel-runners in the +United States; of course they are several degrees less rude and boisterous, +and more considerate of one's personal inclinations than their prototypes +in America, but they furnish yet another proof that there is nothing new +under the sun. Hadji Agha is a village of seyuds, or descendants of the +Prophet, these and the mollahs being the most bigoted class in Persia; +when I drop into the tchai-khan for a glass or two of tea, the sanctimonious +old joker with henna-tinted beard and finger-nails, presiding over the +samovar, rolls up his eyes in holy horror at the thoughts of waiting +upon an unhallowed Ferenghi, and it requires considerable pressure from +the younger and less fanatical men to overcome his disinclination; he +probably breaks the glass I drank from after my departure. + +About dusk the Valiat and his courtiers arrive on horseback from Tabreez; +the Prince immediately seeks my quarters at the khan, and, after examining +the bicycle, wants me to take it out and ride; it is getting rather dark, +however, so I put him off till morning; he remains and smokes cigarettes +with me for half an hour, and then retires to the residence of the local +Khan for the night. The Prince seems an amiable, easy-going sort of a +person; while in my company his countenance is wreathed in a pleasant +smile continually, and I fancy he habitually wears that same expression. +His youthful courtiers seem frivolous young bloods, putting in most of +the half-hour in showing me their accomplishments in the way of making +floating rings of their cigarette smoke. Later in the evening I stroll +around to the tchai-khan again; it is the gossiping-place of the village, +and I find our sanctimonious seyuds indulging in uncomplimentary comments +regarding the Yaliat's conduct in hobnobbing with the Ferenghi; how +bigoted these Persians are, and yet how utterly destitute of principle +and moral character. In the morning the Prince sends me an invitation +to come and drink tea with them before starting out; he bears the same +perennial smile as yesterday evening. Although he is generally understood +to be completely under the influence of the fanatical and bigoted seyuds +and mollahs, who are strictly opposed to the Ferenghi and the Fereughi's +ideas of progress and civilization, he seems withal an amiable, well-disposed +young man, whom one could scarce help liking personally, arid feeling +sorry at the troubles in store for him ahead. He has an elder brother, +the Zil-es-Sultan, now governor of the Southern Provinces; but not being +the son of a royal princess, the Shah has nominated Ameer-i-Nazan as his +successor to the throne. The Zil-es-Sultan, although of a somewhat cruel +disposition, has proved himself a far more capable and energetic person +than the Valiat, and makes no secret of the fact that he intends disputing +the succession with his brother, by force of arms if necessary, at the +Shah's demise. He has, so at least it is currently reported, had his +sword-blade engraved with the grim inscription, "This is for the Valiat's +head," and has jocularly notified his inoffensive brother of the fact. +The Zil-es-Sultau belongs to the party of progress; recks little of the +opinions of priests and fanatics, is fond of Englishmen and European +improvements, and keeps a kennel of English bull dogs. Should he become +Shah of Persia, Baron Reuter's grand scheme of railways and commercial +regeneration, which was foiled by the fanaticism of the seyuds and mollahs +soon after the Shah's visit to England, may yet come to something, and +the railroad rails now rusting in the swamps of the Caspian littoral +may, after all, form part of a railway between the seaboard and the +capital. The road for a short distance east of Hadji Agha is splendid +wheeling, and the Prince and his courtiers accompany me for some two +miles, finding much amusement in racing with me whenever the road permits +of spurting. The country now develops into undulating upland, uncultivated +and stone-strewn, except where an occasional stream, affording irrigating +facilities, has rendered possible the permanent maintenance of a mud +village and a circumscribed area of wheat-fields, melon-gardens, and +vineyards. No sooner does one find himself launched upon the comparatively +well-travelled post-route than a difference becomes manifest in the +character of the people. Commercially speaking, the Persian is considerably +more of a Jew than the Jew himself, and along a route frequented by +travellers, the person possessing some little knowledge of the thievish +ways of the country and of current prices, besides having plenty of small +change, finds these advantages a matter for congratulation almost every +hour of the day. The proprietor of a wretched little mud hovel, solemnly +presiding over a few thin sheets of bread, a jar of rancid, hirsute +butter, and a dozen half-ripe melons, affects a glum, sorrowful expression +to think that he should happen to be without small change, and consequently +obliged to accept the Hamsherri's fifty kopec piece for provisions of +one-tenth the value; but the mysterious frequency of this same state of +affairs and accompanying sorrowful expression, taken in connection with +the actual plenitude of small change in Persia, awakens suspicions even +in the mind of the most confiding and uninitiated person. A peculiar +system of commercial mendicancy obtains among the proprietors of melon +and cucumber gardens alongside the road of this particular part of the +country; observing a likely-looking traveller approaching, they come +running to him with a melon or cucumber that they know to be utterly +worthless, and beg the traveller to accept it as a present; delighted, +perhaps with their apparent simple-hearted hospitality, and, moreover, +sufficiently thirsty to appreciate the gift of a melon, the unsuspecting +wayfarer tenders the crafty proprietor of the garden a suitable present +of money in return and accepts the proffered gift; upon cutting it open +he finds the melon unfit for anything, and it gradually dawns upon him +that he has just grown a trifle wiser concerning the inbred cunningness +and utter dishonesty of the Persians than he was before. Ere the day is +ended the same game will probably be attempted a dozen times. In addition +to these artful customers, one occasionally comes across small colonies +of lepers, who, being compelled to isolate themselves from their fellows, +have taken up their abode in rude hovels or caves by the road-side, and +sally forth in all their hideousness to beset the traveller with piteous +cries for assistance. Some of these poor lepers are loathsome in appearance +to the last degree; their scanty coverings of rags and tatters conceals +nothing of the ravages of their dread disease; some sit at the entrance +to their hovels, stretching out their hands and piteously appealing for +alms; others drop down exhausted in the road while endeavoring to run +and overtake the passer-by; there is nothing deceptive about these +wretched outcasts, their condition is only too glaringly apparent. Toward +sundown I arrive at Turcomanchai, a large village, where in 1828, was +drawn up the Treaty of Peace between Persia and Russia, which transferred +the remaining Persian territory of the Caucasus into the capacious maw +of the Northern Bear. It is currently reported that after depriving the +Persians of their rights to the navigation of the Caspian Sea the Czar +coolly gave his amiable friend the Shah a practical lesson concerning +the irony of fortune by presenting him with a yacht. Seeking the guidance +of a native to the caravanserai, this quick-witted individual leads the +way through tortuous alleyways to the other end of the village and pilots +me to the camp of a tea caravan, pitched on the outskirts, thinking I +had requested to be guided to a caravan; the caravan men direct me to +the chapar-khana, where accommodations of the usual rude nature are +provided. Sending into the village for eggs, sugar, and tea, the chapar- +khana keeper and stablemen produce a battered samovar, and after frying +my supper, they prepare tea; they are poor, ragged fellows, but they +seem light-hearted and contented; the siren song of the steaming samovar +seems to a waken in their semi-civilized breasts a sympathetic response, +and they fall to singing and making merry over tiny glasses of sweetened +tea quite as naturally as sailors in a seaport groggery, or Germans over +a keg of lager. Jolly, happy-go-lucky fellows though they outwardly +appear, they prove no exception, however, to the general run of their +countrymen in the matter of petty dishonesty; although I gave them money +enough to purchase twice the quantity of provisions they brought back, +besides promising them the customary small present before leaving, in +the morning they make a further attempt on my purse under pretence of +purchasing more butter to cook the remainder of the eggs. These are +trifling matters to discuss, but they serve to show the wide difference +between the character of the peasant classes in Persia and Turkey. The +chapar-khana usually consists of a walled enclosure containing stabling +for a large number of horses and quarters for the stablemen and station- +keeper. The quickest mode of travelling in Persia is by chapar, or, in +other words, on horseback, obtaining fresh horses at each chapar-khana. +The country east of Turcomanchai consists of rough, uninteresting upland, +with nothing to vary the monotony of the journey, until noon, when after +wheeling five farsakhs I reach the town of Miana, celebrated throughout +the Shah's dominions for a certain poisonous bug which inhabits the mud +walls of the houses, and is reputed to bite the inhabitants while they +are sleeping. The bite is said to produce violent and prolonged fever, +and to be even, dangerous to life. It is customary to warn travellers +against remaining over night at Miana, and, of course, I have not by any +means been forgotten. Like most of these alleged dreadful things, it is +found upon close investigation to be a big bogey with just sufficient +truthfulness about it to play upon the imaginative minds of the people. +The "Miana bug-bear" would, I think, be a more appropriate name than +Miana bug. The people here seem inclined to be rather rowdyish in their +reception of a Ferenghi without an escort. While trundling through the +bazaar toward the telegraph station I become the unhappy target for +covertly thrown melon-rinds and other unwelcome missiles, for which there +appears no remedy except the friendly shelter of the station. This is +just outside the town, and before the gate is reached, stones are exchanged +for melon-rinds, but fortunately without any serious damage being done. +Mr. F--, a young German operator, has charge of the control-station here, +and welcomes me most cordially to share his comfortable quarters, urging +me to remain with him several days. I gladly accept his hospitality till +tomorrow morning. Mr. F-- has a brother who has recently become a +Mussulman, and married a couple of Persian wives; he is also residing +temporarily at Miana. He soon comes around to the telegraph station, +and turns out to be a wild harum-skarum sort of a person, who regards +his transformation into a Mussulman and the setting up of a harem of his +own as anything but a serious affair. As a reward for embracing the +Mohammedan religion and becoming a Persian subject the Shah has given +him a sum of money and a position in the Tabreez mint, besides bestowing +upon him the sounding title of Mirza Ab-dul Karim Khan. It seems that +inducements of a like substantial nature are held out to any Ferenghi +of known respectability who formally embraces the Shiite branch of the +Mohammedan religion, and becomes a Persian subject - a rare chance for +chronic ne'er-do-wells among ourselves, one would think. + +This novel and festive convert to Islam readily gives me a mental peep +behind the scenes of Persian domestic life, and would unhesitatingly +have granted me a peep in person had such a thing been possible. Imagine +the ordinary costume of an opera-bouffe artist, shorn of all regard for +the difference between real indecency and the suggestiveness of indelicacy +permissible behind the footlights, and we have the every-day costume of +the Persian harem. In the dreamy eventide the lord of the harem usually +betakes himself to that characteristic institution of the East and +proceeds to drive dull care away by smoking the kalian and watching an +exhibition of the terpsichorean talent of his wives or slaves. This does +not consist of dancing, such as we are accustomed to understand the art, +but of graceful posturing and bodily contortions, spinning round like a +coryphee, with hand aloft, and snapping their fingers or clashing tiny +brass cymbals; standing with feet motionless and wriggling the joints, +or bending backward until their loose, flowing tresses touch the ground. +Persians able to afford the luxury have their womens' apartment walled +with mirrors, placed at appropriate angles, so that when enjoying these +exhibitions of his wives' abilities he finds himself not merely in the +presence of three or six wives, as the case may be, but surrounded on +all sides by scores of airy-fairy nymphs, and amid the dreamy fumes and +soothing bubble-bubbling of his kalian can imagine himself the happy - or +one would naturally think, unhappy - possessor of a hundred. The effect +of this mirror-work arrangement can be better imagined than described. + +"You haven't got one of those mirrored rooms, have you?" I inquire, +beginning to get a trifle inquisitive, and perhaps rather impertinent. +"You couldn't manage to smuggle a fellow inside, disguised as a seyud +or--" "Nicht," replies Mirza Abdul Kaiim Khan, laughing, "I have not +bothered about a mirror chamber yet, because I only remain here for +another month; but if you happen to come to Tabreez any time after I get +settled down there, look me up, and I'll-hello! here comes Prince +Assabdulla to see your velocipede!" Fatteh - Ali Shah, the grandfather of +the present monarch, had some seventy-two sons, besides no lack of +daughters. As the son of a prince inherits his father's title in Persia, +the numerous descendants of Fatteh-Ali Shah are scattered all over the +empire, and royal princes bob serenely up in every town of any consequence +in the country. They are frequently found occupying some snug, but not +always lucrative, post under the Government. Prince Assabdulla has learned +telegraphy, and has charge of the government control-station here, drawing +a salary considerably less than the agent of the English company's line. +The Persian Government telegraph line consists of one wire strung on +tumble-down wooden poles. It is erected alongside the splendid English +line of triple wires and substantial iron poles, and the control-stations +are built adjacent to the English stations, as though the Persians were +rather timid about their own abilities as telegraphists, and preferred +to nestle, as it were, under the protecting shadow of the English line. +Prince Assabdulla has an elder brother who is Governor of Miana, and who +comes around to see the bicycle during the afternoon; they both seem +pleasant and agreeable fellows. "When the heat of the day has given place +to cooler eventide, and the moon comes peeping over the lofty Koflan +Koo Mountains, near-by to the eastward, we proceed to a large fruit-garden +on the outskirts of the town, and, sitting on the roof of a building, +indulge in luscious purple grapes as large as walnuts, and pears that +melt away in the mouth. Mirza Abdul Karim Khan plays a German accordeon, +and Prince Assabdulla sings a Persian love-song; the leafy branches of +poplar groves are whispering in response to a gentle breeze, and playing +hide-and-seek across the golden face of the moon, and the mountains have +assumed a shadowy, indistinct appearance. It is a scene of transcendental +loveliness, characteristic of a Persian moonlight night. + +Afterward we repair to Mirza Abdul Kiirim Khan's house to smoke the +kalian and drink tea. His favorite wife, whom he has taught to respond +to the purely Frangistan name of " Eosie," replenishes and lights the +kalian-giving it a few preliminary puffs herself by way of getting it +under headway before handing it to her husband-and then serves us with +glasses of sweetened tea from the samovar. In deference to her Ferenghi +brother-in-law and myself, Eosie has donned a gauzy shroud over the +above-mentioned in-door costume of the Persian female. "She is a beautiful +dancer," says her husband, admiringly, "I wish it were possible for you +to see her dance this evening; bat it isn't; Eosie herself wouldn't mind, +but it would be pretty certain to leak out, and Miana being a rather +fanatical place, my life wouldn't be worth that much," and the Khan +carelessly snapped his fingers. Supper is brought up to the telegraph +station. Prince Assabdulla is invited, and comes round with his servant +bearing a number of cucumbers and a bottle of arrack; the Prince, being +a genuine Mohammedan, is forbidden by his religion to indulge; consequently +he consumes the fiery arrack in preference to some light and harmless +native wine; such is the perversity of human nature. + +Two princes and a khan are cantering (not khan-tering) alongside the +bicycle as I pull out eastward from Miana. They accompany me to the foot- +hills approaching the Koflan Koo Pass, and wishing me a pleasant journey, +turn their horses' heads homeward again. Reaching the pass proper, I +find it to be an exceedingly steep trundle, but quite easy climbing +compared with a score of mountain passes in Asia Minor, for the surface +is reasonably smooth, and toward the summit is an ancient stone causeway. +A new and delightful experience awaits me upon the summit of the pass; +the view to the westward is a revelation of mountain scenery altogether +new and novel in my experience, which can now scarcely be called unvaried. +I seem to be elevated entirely above the surface of the earth, and gazing +down through transparent, ethereal depths upon a scene of everchanging +beauty. Fleecy cloudlets are floating lazily over the valley far below +my position, producing on the landscape a panoramic scene of constantly +changing shadows; through the ethery depths, so wonderfully transparent, +the billowy gray foothills, the meandering streams fringed with green, +and Miana with its blue-domed mosques and emerald gardens, present a +phantasmagorical appearance, as though they themselves were floating +about in the lower strata of space, and undergoing constant transformation. +Perched on an apparently inaccessible crag to the north is an ancient +robber stronghold commanding the pass; it is a natural fortress, requiring +but a few finishing touches by man to render it impregnable in the days +when the maintenance of robber strongholds were possible. Owing to its +walls and battlements being chiefly erected by nature, the Persian +peasantry call it the Perii-Kasr, believing it to have been built by +fairies. While descending the eastern slope, I surprise a gray lizard +almost as large as a rabbit, basking in the sunbeams; he briskly scuttles +off into the rocks upon being disturbed. + +Crossing the Sefid Rud on a dilapidated brickwork bridge, I cross another +range of low hills, among which I notice an abundance of mica cropping +above the surface, and then descend on to a broad, level plain, extending +eastward without any lofty elevation as far as eye can reach. On this +shelterless plain I am overtaken by a furious equinoctial gale; it comes +howling suddenly from the west, obscuring the recently vacated Koflan +Koo Mountains behind an inky veil, filling the air with clouds of dust, +and for some minutes rendering it necessary to lie down and fairly hang +on to the ground to prevent being blown about. First it begins to rain, +then to hail; heaven's artillery echoes and reverberates in the Koflan +Koo Mountains, and rolls above the plain, seeming to shake the hailstones +down like fruit from the branches of the clouds, and soon I am enveloped +in a pelting, pitiless downpour of hailstones, plenty large enough to +make themselves felt wherever they strike. To pitch my tent would have +been impossible, owing to the wind and the suddenness of its appearance. +In thirty minutes or less it is all over; the sun shines out warmly and +dissipates the clouds, and converts the ground into an evaporator that +envelops everything in steam. In an hour after it quits raining, the +road is dry again, and across the plain it is for the most part excellent +wheeling. + +About four o'clock the considerable village of Sercham is reached; here, +as at Hadji Aghi, I at once become the bone of contention between rival +khan-jees wanting to secure me for a guest, on the supposition that I +am going to remain over night. Their anxiety is all unnecessary, however, +for away off on the eastern horizon can be observed clusters of familiar +black dots that awaken agreeable reflections of the night spent in the +Koordish camp between Ovahjik and Khoi. I remain in Sercham long enough +to eat a watermelon, ride, against my will, over rough ground to appease +the crowd, and then pull out toward the Koordish camps which are evidently +situated near my proper course. + +It seeins to have rained heavily in the mountains and not rained at all +east of Sercham, for during the next hour I am compelled to disrobe, and +ford several freshets coursing down ravines over beds that before the +storm were inches deep in dust, the approaching slopes being still dusty; +this little diversion causes me to thank fortune that I have been enabled +to keep in advance of the regular rainy season, which commences a little +later. Striking a Koordish camp adjacent to the trail I trundle toward +one of the tents; before reaching it I am overhauled by a shepherd who +hands me a handful of dried peaches from a wallet suspended from his +waist. The evening air is cool with a suggestion of frostiness, and the +occupants of the tent are found crouching around a smoking tezek fire; +they are ragged and of rather unprepossessing appearance, but being +instinctively hospitable, they shuffle around to make me welcome at the +fire; at first I almost fancy myself mistaken in thinking them Koords, +for there is nothing of the neatness and cleanliness of our late +acquaintances about them; on the contrary, they are almost as repulsive +as their sedentary relatives of Dele Baba-but a little questioning removes +all doubt of their being Koords. They are simply an ill-conditioned +tribe, without any idea whatever of thrift or good management. They have +evidently been to Tabreez or somewhere lately, and invested most of the +proceeds of the season's shearing in three-year-old dried peaches that +are hard enough to rattle like pebbles; sacksful of these edibles are +scattered all over the tent serving for seats, pillows, and general +utility articles for the youngsters to roll about on, jump over, and +throw around; everybody in the camp seems to be chewing these peaches +and throwing them about in sheer wantonness because they are plentiful; +every sack contains finger-holes from which one and all help themselves +ad libitum in wanton disregard of the future. + +Nearly everybody seems to be suffering from ophthalmia, which is aggravated +by crouching over the densely smoking tezek; and one miserable-looking +old character is groaning and writhing with the pain of a severe stomach- +ache. By loafing lazily about the tent all day, and chewing these flinty +dried peaches, this hopeful old joker has well-nigh brought himself to +the unhappy condition of the Yosemite valley mule, who broke into the +tent and consumed half a bushel of dried peaches; when the hunters +returned to camp and were wondering what marauder had visited their tent +and stolen the peaches, they heard a loud explosion behind the tent; +hastily going out they discover the remnants of the luckless mule scattered +about in all directions. Of course I am appealed to for a remedy, and I +am not sorry to have at last come across an applicant for my services +as a hakim, for whose ailment I can prescribe with some degree of +confidence; to make assurance doubly sure I give the sufferer a double +dose, and in the morning have the satisfaction of finding him entirely +relieved from his misery. There seems to be no order or sense of good +manners whatever among these people; we have bread and half-stewed peaches +for supper, and while they are cooking, ill-mannered youngsters are +constantly fishing them from the kettles with weed-stalks, meeting with +no sort of reproof from their elders for so doing; when bedtime arrives, +everybody seizes quilts, peach-sacks, etc., and crawls wherever they can +for warmth and comfort; three men, two women, and several children occupy +the same compartment as myself, and gaunt dogs are nosing hungrily about +among us. About midnight there is a general hallooballoo among the dogs, +and the clatter of horses' hoofs is heard outside the tent; the occupants +of the tent, including myself, spring up, wondering what the disturbance +is all about. A group of horsemen are visible in the bright moonlight +outside, and one of them has dismounted, and under the guidance of a +shepherd, is about entering the tent; seeing me spring up, and being +afraid lest perchance I might misinterpret their intentions and act +accordingly, he sings out in a soothing voice, "Kardash, Hamsherri; +Kardash, Kardash." thus assuring me of their peaceful intentions. These +midnight visitors turn out to be a party of Persian travellers from +Miana, from which it would appear they have less fear of the Koords +here than in Koordistan near the frontier; having, somehow, found out +my whereabouts, they have come to try and persuade me to leave the camp +and join their company to Zenjan. Although my own unfavorable impressions +of my entertainers are seconded by the visitors' reiterated assurances +that these Koords are bad people, I decline to accompany them, knowing +the folly of attempting to bicycle over these roads by moonlight in the +company of horsemen who would be continually worrying me to ride, no +matter what the condition of the road; after remaining in camp half an +hour they take their departure. + +In the morning I discover that my mussulman hat-band has mysteriously +disappeared, and when preparing to depart, a miscellaneous collection +of females gather about me, seize the bicycle, and with much boisterous +hilarity refuse to let me depart until I have given each one of them +some money; their behavior is on the whole so outrageous, that I appeal +to my patient of yesterday evening, in whose bosom I fancy I may perchance +have kindled a spark of gratitude; but the old reprobate no longer has +the stomach-ache, and he regards my unavailing efforts to break away +from my hoi-denish tormentors with supreme indifference, as though there +were nothing extraordinary in their conduct. The demeanor of these wild- +eyed Koordish females on this occasion fully convinces me that the stories +concerning their barbarous conduct toward travellers captured on the +road is not an exaggeration, for while preventing my departure they seem +to take a rude, boisterous delight in worrying me on all sides, like a +gang of puppies barking and harassing anything they fancy powerless to +do them harm. After I have finally bribed my freedom from the women, the +men seize me and attempt to further detain me until they can send for +their Sheikh to come from another camp miles away, to see me ride. After +waiting a reasonable time, out of respect for their having accommodated +me with quarters for the night, and no signs of the Sheikh appearing, I +determine to submit to their impudence no longer; they gather around me +as before, but presenting my revolver and assuming an angry expression, +I threaten instant destruction to the next one laying hands on either +myself or the bicycle; they then give way with lowering brows and sullen +growls of displeasure. My rough treatment on this occasion compared with +my former visit to a Koordish camp, proves that there is as much difference +between the several tribes of nomad Koords, as between their sedentary +relatives of Dele Baba and Malosman respectively; for their general +reputation, it were better that I had spent the night in Sercham. A few +miles from the camp, I am overtaken by four horsemen followed by several +dogs and a pig; it proves to be the tardy Sheikh and his retainers, who +have galloped several miles to catch me up; the Sheikh is a pleasant, +intelligent fellow of thirty or thereabouts, and astonishes me by +addressing me as "Monsieur;" they canter alongside for a mile or so, +highly delighted, when the Sheikh cheerily sings out "Adieu, monsieur!" +and they wheel about and return; had their Sheikh been in the camp I +stayed at, my treatment would undoubtedly have been different. I am at +the time rather puzzled to account for so strange a sight as a pig +galloping briskly behind the horses, taking no notice of the dogs which +continually gambol about him; but I afterward discover that a pet pig, +trained to follow horses, is not an unusual thing among the Persians and +Persian Koords; they are thin, wiry animals of a sandy color, and quite +capable of following a horse for hours; they live in the stable with +their equine companions, finding congenial occupation in rooting around +for stray grains of barley; the horses and pig are said to become very +much attached to each other; when on the road the pig is wont to signify +its disapproval of a too rapid pace, by appealing squeaks and grunts, +whereupon the horse responsively slacks its speed to a more accommodating +speed for its porcine companion. The road now winds tortuously along the +base of some low gravel hills, and the wheeling perceptibly improves; +beyond Nikbey it strikes across the hilly country, and more trundling +becomes necessary. At Nikbey I manage to leave the inhabitants in a +profound puzzle by replying that I am not a Ferenghi, but an Englishman; +this seems to mystify them not a little, and they commence inquiring +among themselves for an explanation of the difference; they are probably +inquiring yet. Fifty-eight miles are covered from the Koordish camp, and +at three o'clock the blue-tiled domes of the Zendjan mosques appear in +sight; these blue-tiled domes are more characteristic of Persian mosques, +which are usually built of bricks, and have no lofty tapering minarets +as in Turkey; the summons to prayers are called from the top of a wall +or roof. When approaching the city gate, a half-crazy man becomes wildly +excited at the spectacle of a man on a wheel, and, rushing up, seizes +hold of the handle; as I spring from the saddle he rapidly takes to his +heels; finding that I am not pursuing him, he plucks up courage, and +timidly approaching, begs me to let him see me ride again. Zendjan is +celebrated for the manufacture of copper vessels, and the rat-a-tat-tat +of the workmen beating them out in the coppersmiths' quarters is heard +fully a mile outside the gate; the hammering is sometimes deafening while +trundling through these quarters, and my progress through it is indicated +by what might perhaps be termed a sympathetic wave of silence following +me along, the din ceasing at my approach and commencing again with renewed +vigor after I have passed. + +Mr. F--, a Levantine gentleman in charge of the station here, fairly +outdoes himself in the practical interpretation of genuine old-fashioned +hospitality, which brooks no sort of interference with the comfort of +his guest; understanding the perpetual worry a person travelling in so +extraordinary a manner must be subject to among an excessively inquisitive +people like the Persians, he kindly takes upon himself the duty of +protecting me from anything of the kind during the day I remain over as +his guest, and so manages to secure me much appreciated rest and quiet. +The Governor of the city sends an officer around saying that himself and +several prominent dignitaries would like very much to see the bicycle. +"Very good, replies Mr. F--, "the bicycle is here, and Mr. Stevens will +doubtless be pleased to receive His Excellency and the leading officials +of Zendjan any time it suits their convenience to call, and will probably +have no objections to showing them the bicycle." It is, perhaps, needless +to explain that the Governor doesn't turn up; I, however, have an +interesting visitor in the person of the Sheikh-ul-Islam (head of religious +affairs in Zendjan), a venerable-looking old party in flowing gown and +monster turban, whose hands and flowing beard are dyed to a ruddy yellow +with henna. The Sheikh-ul-Islam is considered the holiest personage in +Zendjan and his appearance and demeanor does not in the least belie his +reputation; whatever may be his private opinion of himself, he makes far +less display of sanctimoniousness than many of the common seyuds, who +usually gather their garments about them whenever they pass a Ferenghi +in the bazaar, for fear their clothing should become defiled by brushing +against him. The Sheikh-ul-Islam fulfils one's idea of a gentle-bred, +worthy-minded old patriarch; he examines the bicycle and listens to the +account of my journey with much curiosity and interest, and bestows a +flattering mead of praise on the wonderful ingenuity of the Ferenghis +as exemplified in my wheel. + +>From Zeudjan eastward the road gradually improves, and after a dozen +miles develops into the finest wheeling yet encountered in Asia; the +country is a gravelly plain between a mountain chain on the left and a +range of lesser hills to the right. Near noon I pass through Sultaneah, +formerly a favorite country resort of the Persian monarchs; on the broad, +grassy plain, during the autumn, the Shah was wont to find amusement in +manoeuvring his cavalry regiments, and for several months an encampment +near Sultaneah became the head-quarters of that arm of the service. The +Shah's palace and the blue dome of a large mosque, now rapidly crumbling +to decay, are visible many miles before reaching the village. The presence +of the Shah and his court doesn't seem to have exerted much of a refining +or civilizing influence on the common villagers; otherwise they have +retrograded sadly toward barbarism again since Sultaneah has ceased to +be a favorite resort. They appear to regard the spectacle of a lone +Ferenghi meandering through their wretched village on a wheel, as an +opportunity of doing something aggressive for the cause of Islam not to +be overlooked; I am followed by a hooting mob of bare-legged wretches, +who forthwith proceed to make things lively and interesting, by pelting +me with stones and clods of dirt. One of these wantonly aimed missiles +catches me square between the shoulders, with a force that, had it struck +me fairly on the back of the neck, would in all probability have knocked +me clean out of the saddle; unfortunately, several irrigating ditches +crossing the road immediately ahead prevent escape by a spurt, and nothing +remains but to dismount and proceed to make the best of it. There are +only about fifty of them actively interested, and part of these being +mere boys, they are anything but a formidable crowd of belligerents if +one could only get in among them with a stuffed club; they seem but +little more than human vermin in their rags and nakedness, and like +vermin, the greatest difficulty is to get hold of them. Seeing me dismount, +they immediately take to their heels, only to turn and commence throwing +stones again at finding themselves unpursued; while I am retreating and +actively dodging the showers of missiles, they gradually venture closer +and closer, until things becoming too warm and dangerous, I drop the +bicycle, and make a feint toward them; they then take to their heels, +to return to the attack again as before, when I again commence retreating. +Finally I try the experiment of a shot in the air, by way of notifying +them of my ability to do them serious injury; this has the effect of +keeping them at a more respectful distance, but they seem to understand +that I am not intending serious shooting, and the more expert throwers +manage to annoy me considerably until ridable ground is reached; seeing +me mount, they all come racing pell-mell after me, hurling stones, and +howling insulting epithets after me as a Ferenghi, but with smooth road +ahead I am, of course, quickly beyond their reach. + +The villages east of Sultaneah are observed to be, almost without +exception, surrounded by a high mud wall, a characteristic giving them +the appearance of fortifications rather than mere agricultural villages; +the original object of this was, doubtless, to secure themselves against +surprises from wandering tribes; and as the Persians seldom think of +changing anything, the custom is still maintained. Bushes are now +occasionally observed near the roadside, from every twig of which a strip +of rag is fluttering in the breeze; it is an ancient custom still kept +up among the Persian peasantry when approaching any place they regard +with reverence, as the ruined mosque and imperial palace at Sultaneah, +to tear a strip of rag from their clothing and fasten it to some roadside +bush; this is supposed to bring them good luck in their undertakings, +and the bushes are literally covered with the variegated offerings of +the superstitious ryots; where no bushes are handy, heaps of small stones +are indicative of the same belief; every time he approaches the well-known +heap, the peasant picks up a pebble, and adds it to the pile. Owing to +a late start and a prevailing head-wind, but forty-six miles are covered +to-day, when about sundown I seek the accommodation of the chapar-khana, +at Heeya; but, providing the road continues good, I promise myself to +polish off the sixty miles between here and Kasveen, to-morrow. The +chaparkhana sleeping apartments at Heeya contain whitewashed walls and +reed matting, and presents an appearance of neatness and cleanliness +altogether foreign to these institutions previously patronized; here, +also, first occurs the innovation from "Hamsherri" to "Sahib," when +addressing me in a respectful manner; it will be Sahib, from this point +clear to, through and beyond India; my various titles through the different +countries thus far traversed have been; Monsieur, Herr, Effendi, Hamsherri, +and now Sahib; one naturally wonders what new surprises are in store +ahead. A bountiful supper of scrambled eggs (toke-mi-morgue) is obtained +here, and the customary shake-down on the floor. After getting rid of +the crowd I seek my rude couch, and am soon in the land of unconsciousness; +an hour afterward I am awakened by the busy hum of conversation; and, +behold, in the dim light of a primitive lamp, I become conscious of +several pairs of eyes immediately above me, peering with scrutinizing +inquisitiveness into my face; others are examining the bicycle standing +against the wall at my head. Rising up, I find the chapar-lchana crowded +with caravan teamsters, who, going past with a large camel caravan from +the Caspian seaport of Eesht, have heard of the bicycle, and come flocking +to my room; I can hear the unmelodious clanging of the big sheet-iron +bells as their long string of camels file slowly past the building. + +Daylight finds me again on the road, determined to make the best of early +morning, ere the stiff easterly wind, which seems inclined to prevail +of late, commences blowing great guns against me. A short distance out, +I meet a string of some three hundred laden camels that have not yet +halted after the night's march; scores of large camel caravans have been +encountered since leaving Erzeroum, but they have invariably been halting +for the day; these camels regard the bicycle with a timid reserve, merely +swerving a step or two off their course as I wheel past; they all seem +about equally startled, so that my progress down the ranks simply causes +a sort of a gentle ripple along the line, as though each successive camel +were playing a game of follow-my leader. The road this morning is nearly +perfect for wheeling, consisting of well-trodden camel-paths over a hard +gravelled surface that of itself naturally makes excellent surface for +cycling; there is no wind, and twenty-five miles are duly registered by +the cyclometer when I halt to eat the breakfast of bread and a portion +of yesterday evening's scrambled eggs which I have brought along. On +past Seyudoon and approaching Kasveen, the plain widens to a considerable +extent and becomes perfectly level; apparent distances become deceptive, +and objects at a distance assume weird, fantastic shapes; beautiful +mirages hold out their allurements from all directions; the sombre walls +of villages present the appearance of battlemented fortresses rising up +from the mirror-like surface of silvery lakes, and orchards and groves +seem shadowy, undefinable objects floating motionless above the earth. +The telegraph poles traversing the plain in a long, straight line until +lost to view in the hazy distance, appear to be suspended in mid-air; +camels, horses, and all moving objects more than a mile away, present +the strange optical illusion of animals walking through the air many +feet above the surface of the earth. Long rows of kanaat mounds traverse +the plain in every direction, leading from the numerous villages to +distant mountain chains. Descending one of the sloping cavernous entrances +before mentioned, for a drink, I am rather surprised at observing numerous +fishes disporting themselves in the water, which, on the comparatively +level plain, flows but slowly; perhaps they are an eyeless variety similar +to those found in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky; still they get a glimmering +light from the numerous perpendicular shafts. Flocks of wild pigeons +also frequent these underground water-courses, and the peasantry sometimes +capture them by the hundred with nets placed over the shafts; the kanaats +are not bricked archways, but merely tunnels burrowed through the ground. +Three miles of loose sand and stones have to be trundled through before +reaching Kasveen; nevertheless my promised sixty miles are overcome, and +I enter the city gate at 2 P.M. A trundle through several narrow, crooked +streets brings me to an inner gateway emerging upon a broad, smooth +avenue; a short ride down this brings me to a large enclosure containing +the custom-house offices and a fine brick caravanserai. Yet another +prince appears here in the person of a custom-house official; I readily +grant the requested privilege of seeing me ride, but the title of a +Persian prince is no longer associated in my mind with greatness and +importance; princes in Persia are as plentiful as counts in Italy or +barons in Germany, yet it rather shocks one's dreams of the splendor of +Oriental royalty to find princes manipulating the keys of a one wire +telegraph control-station at a salary of about forty dollars a month (25 +tomans), or attending to the prosy duties of a small custom-house. Kasveen +is important as being the half-way station between Teheran and the Caspian +port of Eesht, and on the highway of travel and commerce between Northern +Persia and Europe; added importance is likewise derived from its being +the terminus of a broad level road from the capital, and where travellers +and the mail from Teheran have to be transferred from wheeled vehicles +to the backs of horses for the passage over the rugged passes of the +Elburz mountains leading to the Caspian slope, or vice versa when going +the other way. Locking the bicycle up in a room of the caravanserai, I +take a strolling peep at the nearest streets; a couple of lutis or +professional buffoons, seeing me strolling leisurely about, come hurrying +up; one is leading a baboon by a string around the neck, and the other +is carrying a gourd drum. Reaching me, the man with the baboon commences +making the most ludicrous grimaces and causes the baboon to caper wildly +about by jerking the string, while the drummer proceeds to belabor the +head of his drum, apparently with the single object of extracting as +much noise from it as possible. Putting my fingers to my ears I turn +away; ten minutes afterward I observe another similar combination making +a bee-line for my person; waving them off I continue on down the street; +soon afterward yet a third party attempts to secure me for an audience. +It is the custom for these strolling buffoons to thus present themselves +before persons on the street, and to visit houses whenever there is +occasion for rejoicing, as at a wedding, or the birth of a son; the lutis +are to the Persians what Italian organ-grinders are among ourselves; I +fancy people give them money chiefly to get rid of their noise and +annoyance, as we do to save ourselves from the soul-harrowing tones of +a wheezy crank organ beneath the window. Among the novel conveyances +observed in the courtyard of the caravanserai is the takhtrowan, a large +sedan chair provided with shafts at either end, and carried between two +mules or horses; another is the before-mentioned kajaveh, an arrangement +not unlike a pair of canvas-covered dog kennels strapped across the back +of an animal; these latter contrivances are chiefly used for carrying +women and children. After riding around the courtyard several different +times for crowds continually coming, I finally conclude that there must +be a limit to this sort of thing anyhow, and refuse to ride again; the +new-comers linger around, however, until evening, in the hopes that an +opportunity of seeing me ride may present itself. A number of them then +contribute a handful of coppers, which they give to the proprietor of a +tributary tchai-khan to offer me as an inducement to ride again. The +wily Persians know full well that while a Ferenghi would scorn to accept +their handful of coppers, he would probably be sufficiently amused at +the circumstance to reward their persistence by riding for nothing; +telling the grinning khan-jee to pocket the coppers, I favor them with +"positively the last entertainment this evening." An hour later the khan- +jee meets me going toward the bazaar in search of something for supper; +inquiring the object of my search, he takes me back to his tchai-khan, +points significantly to an iron kettle simmering on a small charcoal +fire, and bids me be seated; after waiting on a customer or two, and +supplying me with tea, he quietly beckons me to the fire, removes the +cover and reveals a savory dish of stewed chicken and onions: this he +generously shares with me a few minutes later, refusing to accept any +payment. As there are exceptions to every rule, so it seems there are +individuals, even among the Persian commercial classes, capable of +generous and worthy impulses; true the khan-jee obtained more than the +value of the supper in the handful of coppers - but gratitude is generally +understood to be an unknown commodity among the subjects of the Shah. +Soon the obstreperous cries of "All Akbar, la-al-lah-il-allah" from the +throats of numbers of the faithful perched upon the caravanserai steps, +stable-roof, and other conspicuous soul-inspiring places, announces the +approach of bedtime. My room is actually found to contain a towel and +an old tooth-brush; the towel has evidently not been laundried for some +time and a public toothbrush is hardly a joy-inspiring object to +contemplate; nevertheless they are evidences that the proprietor of the +caravanserai is possessed of vague, shadowy ideas of a Ferenghi's +requirements. After a person has dried his face with the slanting sunbeams +of early morning, or with his pocket-handkerchief for weeks, the bare +possibility of soap, towels, etc., awakens agreeable reflections of +coming comforts. At seven o'clock on the following morning I pull out +toward Teheran, now but six chopar-stations distant. Running parallel +with the road is the Elburz range of mountains, a lofty chain, separating +the elevated plateau of Central Persia from the moist and wooded slopes +of the Caspian Sea; south of this great dividing ridge the country is +an arid and barren waste, a desert, in fact, save where irrigation redeems +here and there a circumscribed area, and the mountain slopes are gray +and rocky. Crossing over to the northern side of the divide, one immediately +finds himself in a moist climate, and a country green almost as the +British Isles, with dense boxwood forests covering the slopes of the +mountains and hiding the foot-hills beneath an impenetrable mantle of +green. The Elburz Mountains are a portion of the great water-shed of +Central Asia, extending from the Himalayas up through Afghanistan and +Persia into the Caucasus, and they perform very much the same office for +the Caspian slope of Persia, as the Sierra Nevadas do for the Pacific +slope of California, inasmuch as they cause the moisture-laden clouds +rolling in from the sea to empty their burthens on the seaward, slopes +instead of penetrating farther into the interior. + +The road continues fair wheeling, but nothing compared with the road +between Zendjan and Kasveen; it is more of an artificial highway; the +Persian government has been tinkering with it, improving it considerably +in some respects, but leaving it somewhat lumpy and unfinished generally, +and in places it is unridable from sand and loose material on the surface; +it has the appreciable merit of levelness, however, and, for Persia, is +a very creditable highway indeed. At four farsakhs from Kasveen I reach +the chapar-khana of Cawanda, where a breakfast is obtained of eggs and +tea; these two things are among the most readily obtained refreshments +in Persia. The country this morning is monotonous and uninteresting, +being for the most part a stony, level plain, sparsely covered with gray +camel-thorn shrubs. Occasionally one sees in the distance a camp of +Eliauts, one of the wandering tribes of Persia; their tents are smaller +and of an entirely different shape from the Koordish tents, partaking +more of the nature of square-built movable huts than tents; these camps +are too far off my road to justify paying them a visit, especially as I +shall probably have abundant opportunities before leaving the Shah's +dominions; but I intercept a straggling party of them crossing the road. +They have a more docile look about them than the Koords, have more the +general appearance of gypsies, and they dress but little different from +the ryots of surrounding villages. + +At Kishlock, where I obtain a dinner of bread and grapes, I find the +cyclometre has registered a gain of thirty-two miles from Kasveen; it +has scarcely been an easy thirty-two miles, for I am again confronted +by a discouraging head breeze. Keaching the Shah Abbas caravanserai of +Yeng-Imam (all first-class caravanserais are called Shah Abbas caravanserais, +in deference to so many having been built throughout Persia by that +monarch) about five o'clock, I conclude to remain here over night, having +wheeled fifty-three miles. Yeng-Imam is a splendid large brick serai, +the finest I have yet seen in Persia; many travellers are putting up +here, and the place presents quite a lively appearance. In the centre +of the court-yard is a large covered spring; around this is a garden of +rose-bushes, pomegranate trees, and flowers; surrounding the garden is +a brick walk, and forming yet a larger square is the caravanserai building +itself, consisting of a one-storied brick edifice, partitioned off into +small rooms. The building is only one room deep, and each room opens +upon a sort of covered porch containing a fireplace where a fire can be +made and provisions cooked. Attached to the caravanserai, usually beneath +the massive and roomy arched gateway, is a tchai-khan and a small store +where bread, eggs, butter, fruit, charcoal, etc., are to be obtained. +The traveller hires a room which is destitute of all furniture; provides +his own bedding and cooking utensils, purchases provisions and a sufficiency +of charcoal, and proceeds to make himself comfortable. On a pinch one +can usually borrow a frying-pan or kettle of some kind, and in such +first-class caravanserais as YengImam there is sometimes one furnished +room, carpeted and provided with bedding", reserved for the accommodation +of travellers of importance. + +After the customary programme of riding to allay the curiosity and +excitement of the people, I obtain bread, fruit, eggs, butter to cook +them in, and charcoal for a fire, the elements of a very good supper for +a hungry traveller. Borrowing a handleless frying-pan, I am setting about +preparing my own supper, when a respectable-looking Persian steps out +from the crowd of curious on-lookers and voluntarily takes this rather +onerous duty out of my hands. Readily obtaining my consent, he quickly +kindles a fire, and scrambles and fries the eggs. While my volunteer +cook is thus busily engaged, a company of distinguished travellers passing +along the road halt at the tchai-khan to smoke a kalian and drink tea. +The caravanserai proprietor approaches me, and winking mysteriously, +intimates that by going outside and riding for the edification of the +new arrivals I will be pretty certain to get a present of a keran (about +twenty cents). As he appears anxious to have me accommodate them, I +accordingly go out and favor them with a few turns on a level piece of +ground outside. After they have departed the proprietor covertly offers +me a half-keran piece in a manner so that everybody can observe him +attempting to give me something without seeing the amount. The wily +Persian had doubtless solicited a present from the travellers for me, +obtained, perhaps, a couple of kerans, and watching a favorable opportunity, +offers me the half-keran piece; the wily ways of these people are several +degrees more ingenious even than the dark ways and vain tricks of Bret +Harte's "Heathen Chinee." Occupying one of the rooms are two young +noblemen travelling with their mother to visit the Governor of Zendjan; +after I have eaten my supper, they invite me to their apartments for the +evening; their mother has a samovar under full headway, and a number of +hard boiled eggs. Her two hopeful sons are engaged in a drinking bout +of arrack; they are already wildly hilarious and indulging in brotherly +embraces and doubtful love-songs. Their fond mother regards them with +approving smiles as they swallow glass after glass of the raw fiery +spirit, and become gradually more intoxicated and hilarious. Instead of +checking their tippling, as a fond and prudent Ferenghi mother would +have done, this indulgent parent encourages them rather than otherwise, +and the more deeply intoxicated and hilariously happy the sons become, +the happier seems the mother. About nine o'clock they fall to weeping +tears of affection for each other and for myself, and degenerate into +such maudlin sentimentality generally, that I naturally become disgusted, +accept a parting glass of tea, and bid them good-evening. + +The caravanserai-Jee assigns me the furnished chamber above referred to; +the room is found to be well carpeted, contains a mattress and an abundance +of flaming red quilts, and on a small table reposes a well-thumbed copy +of the Koran with gilt lettering and illumined pages; for these really +comfortable quarters I am charged the trifling sum of one keran. + +I am now within fifty miles of Teheran, my destination until spring-time +comes around again and enables me to continue on eastward toward the +Pacific; the wheeling continues fair, and in the cool of early morning +good headway is made for several miles; as the sun peeps over the summit +of a mountain spur jutting southward +a short distance from the main Elburz Range, a wall of air comes rushing +from the east as though the sun were making strenuous exertions to usher +in the commencement of another day with a triumphant toot. Multitudes +of donkeys are encountered on the road, the omnipresent carriers of the +Persian peasantry, taking produce to the Teheran market; the only wheeled +vehicle encountered between Kasveen and Teheran is a heavy-wheeled, +cumbersome mail wagon, rattling briskly along behind four galloping +horses driven abreast, and a newly imported carriage for some notable +of the capital being dragged by hand, a distance of two hundred miles +from Resht, by a company of soldiers. Pedalling laboriously against a +stiff breeze I round the jutting mountain spur about eleven o'clock, and +the conical snow-crowned peak of Mount Demavend looms up like a beacon-light +from among the lesser heights of the Elburz Range about seventy-five +miles ahead. De-niavend is a perfect cone, some twenty thousand feet in +height, and is reputed to be the highest point of land north of the +Himalayas. From the projecting mountain spur the road makes a bee-line +across the intervening plain to the capital; a large willow-fringed +irrigating ditch now traverses the stony plain for some distance parallel +with the road, supplying the caravanserai of Shahabad and several adjacent +villages with water. Teheran itself, being situated on the level plain, +and without the tall minarets that render Turkish cities conspicuous +from a distance, leaves one undecided as to its precise location until +within a few miles of the gate; it occupies a position a dozen or more +miles south of the base of the Elburz Mountains, and is flanked on the +east by another jutting spur; to the southward is an extensive plain +sparsely dotted with villages, and the walled gardens of the wealthier +Teheranis. + + +At one o'clock on the afternoon of September 30th, the sentinels at the +Kasveen gate of the Shah's capital gaze with unutterable astonishment +at the strange spectacle of a lone Ferenghi riding toward them astride +an airy wheel that glints and glitters in the bright Persian sunbeams. +They look still more wonder-stricken, and half-inclined to think me some +supernatural being, as, without dismounting, I ride beneath the gaudily +colored archway and down the suburban streets. A ride of a mile between +dead mud walls and along an open business street, and I find myself +surrounded by wondering soldiers and citizens in the great central top- +maidan, or artillery square, and shortly afterward am endeavoring to +eradicate some of the dust and soil of travel, in a room of a wretched +apology for an hotel, kept by a Frenchman, formerly a pastry-cook to the +Shah. My cyclometre has registered one thousand five hundred and seventy-six +miles from Ismidt; from Liverpool to Constantinople, where I had no +cyclometre, may be roughly estimated at two thousand five hundred, making +a total from Liverpool to Teheran of four thousand and seventy-six miles. +In the evening several young Englishmen belonging to the staff of the +Indo-European Telegraph Company came round, and re-echoing my own above- +mentioned sentiments concerning the hotel, generously invite mo to become +a member of their comfortable bachelor establishment during my stay in +Teheran. "How far do you reckon it from London to Teheran by your +telegraph line." I inquire of them during our after-supper conversation. +"Somewhere in the neighborhood of four thousand miles," is the reply. +"What does your cyclometre say?" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + + + +TEHERAN. + +There is sufficient similarity between the bazaar, the mosques, the +residences, the suburban gardens, etc., of one Persian city, and the +same features of another, to justify the assertion that the description +of one is a description of them all. But the presence of the Shah and +his court; the pomp and circumstance of Eastern royalty; the foreign +ambassadors; the military; the improvements introduced from Europe; the +royal palaces of the present sovereign; the palaces and reminiscences +of former kings - all these things combine to effectually elevate Teheran +above the somewhat dreary sameness of provincial cities. A person in the +habit of taking daily strolls here and there about the city will scarcely +fail of obtaining a glimpse of the Shah, incidentally, every few days. +In this respect there is little comparison to be made between him and +the Sultan of Turkey, who never emerges from the seclusion of the palace, +except to visit the mosque, or on extraordinary occasions; he is then +driven through streets between compact lines of soldiers, so that a +glimpse of his imperial person is only to be obtained by taking considerable +trouble. Since the Shah's narrow escape from assassination at the hands +of the Baabi conspirators in 1867, he has exercised more caution than +formerly about his personal safety. Previous to that affair, it was +customary for him to ride on horseback well in advance of his body-guard; +but nowadays, he never rides in advance any farther than etiquette +requires him to, which is about the length of his horse's neck. When his +frequent outings take him beyond the city fortifications, he is generally +provided with, both saddle-horse and carriage, thus enabling him to +change from one to the other at will. The Shah is evidently not indifferent +to the fulsome flattery of the courtiers and sycophants about him, nor +insensible of the pomp and vanity of his position; nevertheless he is +not without a fair share of common-sense. Perhaps the worst that can be +said of him is, that he seems content to prostitute his own more enlightened +and progressive views to the prejudices of a bigoted and fanatical +priesthood. He seems to have a generous desire to see the country opened +up to the civilizing improvements of the West, and to give the people +an opportunity of emancipating themselves from their present deplorable +condition; but the mollahs set their faces firmly against all reform, +and the Shah evidently lacks the strength of will to override their +opposition. It was owing to this criminal weakness on his part that Baron +Eeuter's scheme of railways and commercial regeneration for the country +proved a failure. Persia is undoubtedly the worst priest-ridden country +in the world; the mollaha influence everything and everybody, from the +monarch downward, to such an extent that no progress is possible. Barring +outside interference, Persia will remain in its present wretched condition +until the advent of a monarch with sufficient force of character to +deliver the ipeople from the incubus of their present power and influence: +nothing short of a general massacre, however, will be likely to +accomplish complete deliverance. Without compromising his dignity as +"Shah-iri-shah," "The Asylum of the Universe," etc., when dealing with +his own subjects, Nasr-e-deen Shall has profited by the experiences of +his European tour to the extent of recognizing, with becoming toleration, +the democratic independence of Ferenghis, whose deportment betrays the +fact that they are not dazed by the contemplation of his greatness. The +other evening myself and a friend encountered the Shah and his crowd of +attendants on one of the streets leading to the winter palace; he was +returning to the palace in state after a visit of ceremony to some +dignitary. First came a squad of foot-runners in quaint scarlet coats, +knee-breeches, white stockings, and low shoes, and with a most fantastic +head-dress, not unlike a peacock's tail on dress-parade; each runner +carried a silver staff; they, were clearing the street and shouting their +warning for everybody to hide their faces. Behind them came a portion +of the Shah's Khajar bodyguard, well mounted, and dressed in a gray +uniform, braided with black: each of these also carries a silver staff, +and besides sword and dagger, has a gun slung at his back in a red 'baize +case. Next came the royal carriage, containing the Shah: the carriage +is somewhat like a sheriffs coach of "ye olden tyme," and is drawn by +six superb grays; mounted on the off horses are three postilions in +gorgeous scarlet liveries. Immediately behind the Shah's carriage, came +the higher dignitaries on horseback, and lastly a confused crowd of three +or four hundred horsemen. As the royal procession approached, the Persians- +one and all-either hid themselves, or backed themselves up against the +wall, and remained with heads bowed half-way to the ground until it +passed. Seeing that we had no intention of striking this very submissive +and servile attitude, first the scarlet foot-runners, and then the advance +of the Khajar guard, addressed themselves to us personally, shouting +appealingly as though very anxious about it: "Sahib. Sahib!" and motioned +for us to do as the natives were doing. These valiant guardians of the +Shah's barbaric gloriousness cling tenaciously to the belief that it is +the duty of everybody, whether Ferenghi or native, to prostrate themselves +in this manner before him, although the monarch himself has long ceased +to expect it, and is very well satisfied if the Ferenghi respectfully +doffs his hat as he goes past. Much of the nonsensical glamour and +superstitious awe that formerly surrounded the person of Oriental +potentates has been dissipated of late years by the moral influence of +European residents and travellers. But a few years ago, it was certain +death for any luckless native who failed to immediately scuttle off +somewhere out of sight, or to turn his face to the wall, whenever the +carriages of the royal ladies passed by; and Europeans generally turned +down a side street to avoid trouble when they heard the attending eunuchs +shouting "gitchin, gitchin!" (begone, begone!) down the street. But +things may be done with impunity now. that before the Shah's eye-opening +visit to Frangistan would have been punished with instant death; and +although the eunuchs shout "gitchin, gitchin!" as lustily as ever, +they are now content if people will only avert their faces respectfully +as the carriages drive past. + +An eccentric Austrian gentleman once saw fit to imitate the natives in +turning their faces to the wall, and improved upon the time-honored +custom to the extent of making salaams from the back of his head. This +singular performance pleased the ladies immensely, and they reported it +to the Shah. Sending for the Austrian, the Shah made him repeat the +performance in his presence, and was so highly amused that he dismissed +him with a handsome present. + +Prominent among the improvements that have been introduced in Teheran +of late, may be mentioned gas and the electric light. "Were one to make +this statement and enter into no further explanations, the impression +created would doubtless be illusive; for although the fact remains that +these things are in existence here, they could be more appropriately +placed under the heading of toys for the gratification of the Shah's +desire to gather about him some of the novel and interesting things he +had seen in Europe, than improvements made with any idea of benefiting +the condition of the city as a whole. Indeed, one might say without +exaggeration, that nothing new or beneficial is ever introduced into +Persia, except for the personal gratification or glorification of the +Shah; hence it is, that, while a few European improvements are to be +seen in Teheran, they are found nowhere else in Persia. Coal of an +inferior quality is obtained in the Elburz Mountains, near Kasveen, and +brought on the backs of camels to Teheran; and enough gas is manufactured +to supply two rows of lamps leading from the lop-maidan to the palace +front, two rows on the east side of the palace, and a dozen more in the +top-maid.an itself. The gas is of the poorest quality, and the lamps +glimmer faintly through the gloom of a moonless evening until half-past +nine, giving about as much light, or rather making darkness about as +visible as would the same number of tallow candles; at this hour they +are extinguished, and any Persian found outside of his own house later +than this, is liable to be arrested and fined. + +The electric light improvements consist of four lights, on ordinary +gas-lamp posts, in the top-maidan, and a more ornamental and pretentious +affair, immediately in front of the palace; these are only used on special +occasions. The electric lights are a never-failing source of wonder and +mystification to the common people of the city and the peasants coming +in from the country. A stroll into the maidan any evening when the four +electric lights are making the gas-lamps glimmer feebler than ever, +reveals a small crowd of natives assembled about each post, gazing +wonderingiy up at the globe, endeavoring to penetrate the secret of its +brightness, and commenting freely among themselves in this wise: +"Mashallah. Abdullah," says one, " here does all the light come from. +They put no candles in, no naphtha, no anything; where does it come from?" + +"Mashallah!" replies Abdullah, "I don't know; it lights up 'biff!' +all of a sudden, without anybody putting matches to it, or going anywhere +near it; nobody knows how it comes about except Sheitan (Satan) and +Sheitan's children, the Ferenghis." + +"Al-lah! it is wonderful." echoes another, "and our Shah is a wonderful +being to give us such things to look at - Allah be praised!" + +All these strange innovations and incomprehensible things produce a deep +impression on the unenlightened minds of the common Persians, and helps +to deify the Shah in their imagination; for although they know these +things come from Frangistan, it seems natural for them to sing the praises +of the Shah in connection with them. They think these five electric +lights in Teheran among the wonders of the world; the glimmering gas-lamps +and the electric lights help to rivet their belief that their capital +is the most wonderful city in the world, and their Shah the greatest +monarch extant. These extreme ideas are, of course, considerably improved +upon when we leave the ranks of illiteracy; but the Persians capable of +forming anything like an intelligent comparison between themselves and +a European nation, are confined to the Shah himself, the corps diplomatique, +and a few prominent personages who have been abroad. Always on the lookout +for something to please the Shah, the news of my arrival in Teheran on +the bicycle no sooner reaches the ear of the court officials than the +monarch hears of it himself. On the seventh day after my arrival an +officer of the palace calls on behalf of the Shah, and requests that I +favor them all, by following the soldiers who will be sent to-morrow +morning, at eight o'clock, Ferenghi time, to conduct me to the palace, +where it is appointed that I am to meet the "Shah-in-shah and King of +kings," and ride with him, on the bicycle, to his summer palace at +Doshan Tepe. + +"Yes, I shall, of course, be most happy to accommodate; and to be the +means of introducing to the notice of His Majesty, the wonderful iron +horse, the latest wonder from Frangistan," I reply; and the officer, +after salaaming with more than French politeness, takes his departure. +Promptly at the hour appointed the soldiers present themselves; and after +waiting a few minutes for the horses of two young Englishmen who desire +to accompany us part way, I mount the ever-ready bicycle, and together +we follow my escort along several fairly ridable streets to the office +of the foreign minister. The soldiers clear the way of pedestrians, +donkeys, camels, and horses, driving them unceremoniously to the right, +to the left, into the ditch - anywhere out of my road; for am I not for +the time being under the Shah's special protection. I am as much the +Shah's toy and plaything of the moment, as an electric light, a stop-watch, +or as the big Krupp gun, the concussion of which nearly scared the +soldiers out of their wits, by shaking down the little minars of one +of the city gates, close to which they had unwittingly discharged it on +first trial. The foreign office, like every building of pretension, +whether public or private, in the land of the Lion and the Sun, is a +substantial edifice of mud and brick, inclosing a square court-yard or +garden, in which splashing fountains play amid a wealth of vegetation +that springs, as if by waft of magician's wand, from the sandy soil of +Persia wherever water is abundantly supplied. Tall, slender poplars are +nodding in the morning breeze, the less lofty almond and pomegranate, +sheltered from the breezes by the surrounding building, rustle never a +leaf, but seem to be offering Pomona's choice products of nuts and rosy +pomegranates, with modest mien and silence; whilst beds of rare exotics, +peculiar to this sunny clime, imparts to the atmosphere of the cool +shaded garden, a pleasing sense of being perfumed. Here, by means of the +Shah's interpreter, I am introduced to Nasr-i-Mulk, the Persian foreign +minister, a kindly-faced yet business-looking old gentleman, at whose +request I mount and ride with some difficulty around the confined and +quite unsuitable foot-walks of the garden; a crowd of officials and +farrashes look on in unconcealed wonder and delight. True to their Persian +characteristic of inquisitiveness, Nasr-i-Mulk and the officers catechise +me unmercifully for some time concerning the mechanism and capabilities +of the bicycle, and about the past and future of the journey around the +world. In company with the interpreter, I now ride out to the Doshan +Tepe gate, where we are to await the arrival of the Shah. From the Doshan +Tepe gate is some four English miles of fairly good artificial road, +leading to one of the royal summer palaces and gardens. His Majesty goes +this morning to the mountains beyond Doshan Tepe on a shooting excursion, +and wishes me to ride out with his party a few miles, thus giving him a +good opportunity of seeing something of what bicycle travelling is like. +The tardy monarch keeps myself and a large crowd of attendants waiting +a full hour at the gate, ere he puts in an appearance. Among the crowd +is the Shah's chief shikaree (hunter), a grizzled old veteran, beneath +whose rifle many a forest prowler of the Caspian slope of Mazanderau has +been laid low. The shikaree, upon seeing me ride, and not being able to +comprehend how one can possibly maintain the equilibrium, exclaims: +"Oh, ayab Ingilis." (Oh, the wonderful English!) Everybody's face is +wreathed in smiles at the old shikaree's exclamation of wonderment, and +when I jokingly advise him that he ought to do his hunting for the future +on a bicycle, and again mount and ride with hands off handles to demonstrate +the possibility of shooting from the saddle, the delighted crowd of +horsemen burst out in hearty laughter, many of them exclaiming, "Bravo! +bravo!" At length the word goes round that the Shah is coming. Everybody +dismounts, and as the royal carriage drives up, every Persian bows his +head nearly to the ground, remaining in that highly submissive attitude +until the carriage halts and the Shah summons myself and the interpreter +to his side. I am the only Ferenghi in the party, my two English companions +having returned to the city, intending to rejoin me when I separate from +the Shah. + +The Shah impresses one as being more intelligent than the average Persian +of the higher class; and although they are, as a nation, inordinately +inquisitive, no Persian has taken a more lively interest in the bicycle +than His Majesty seems to take, as, through his interpreter, he plys me +with all manner of questions. Among other questions he asks if the Koords +didn't molest me when coming through Koordistan without an escort; and +upon hearing the story of my adventure with the Koordish shepherds between +Ovahjik and Khoi, he seems greatly amused. Another large party of horsemen +arrived with the Shah, swelling the company to perhaps two hundred +attendants. Pedaling alongside the carriage, in the best position for +the Shah to see, we proceed toward Doshan Tepe, the crowd of horsemen +following, some behind and others careering over the stony plain through +which the Doshan Tepe highway leads. After covering about half a mile, +the Shah leaves the carriage and mounts a saddle-horse, in order to the +better "put me through some exercises." First he requests me to give +him an exhibition of speed; then I have to ride a short distance over +the rough stone-strewn plain, to demonstrate the possibility of traversing +a rough country, after which he desires to see me ride at the slowest +pace possible. All this evidently interests him not a little, and he +seems even more amused than interested, laughing quite heartily several +times as he rides alongside the bicycle. After awhile he again exchanges +for the carriage, and at four miles from the city gate we arrive at the +palace garden. Through this garden is a long, smooth walk, and here the +Shah again requests an exhibition of my speeding abilities. The garden +is traversed with a network of irrigating ditches; but I am assured there +is nothing of the kind across the pathway along which he wishes me to +ride as fast as possible. Two hundred yards from the spot where this +solemn assurance is given, it is only by a lightning-like dismount that +I avoid running into the very thing that I was assured did not exist-it +was the narrowest possible escape from what might have proved a serious +accident. + +Riding back toward the advancing party, I point out my good fortune in +escaping the tumble. The Shah asks if people ever hurt themselves by +falling off bicycles; and the answer that a fall such as I would have +experienced by running full speed into the irrigating ditch, might +possibly result in broken bones, appeared to strike him as extremely +humorous; from the way he laughed I fancy the sending me flying toward +the irrigating ditch was one of the practical jokes that he is sometimes +not above indulging in. After mounting and forcing my way for a few yards +through deep, loose gravel, to satisfy his curiosity as to what could +be done in loose ground, I trundle along with him to a small menagerie +he keeps at this place. On the way he inquires about the number of +wheelmen there are in England and America; whether I am English or +American; why they don't use iron tires on bicycles instead of rubber, +and many other questions, proving the great interest aroused in him by +the advent of the first bicycle to appear in his Capital. The menagerie +consists of one cage of monkeys, about a dozen lions, and two or three +tigers and leopards. We pass along from cage to cage, and as the keeper +coaxes the animals to the bars, the Shah amuses himself by poking them +with an umbrella. It was arranged in the original programme that I should +accompany them up into their rendezvous in the foot-hills, about a mile +beyond the palace, to take breakfast with the party; but seeing the +difficulty of getting up there with the bicycle, and not caring to spoil +the favorable impression already made, by having to trundle up, I ask +permission to take my leave at this point, The request is granted, and +the interpreter returns with me to the city - thus ends my memorable +bicycle ride with the Shah of Persia. + +Soon after my ride with the Shah, the Naib-i-Sultan, the Governor of +Teheran and commander-in-chief of the army, asked me to bring the bicycle +down to the military maidan, and ride for the edification of himself and +officers. Being busy at something or other when the invitation was +received, I excused myself and requested that he make another appointment. +I am in the habit of taking a constitutional spin every morning; by means +of which I have figured as an object of interest, and have been stared +at in blank amazement by full half the wonder-stricken population of the +city. The fame of my journey, the knowledge of my appearance before the +Shah, and my frequent appearance upon the streets, has had the effect +of making me one of the most conspicuous characters in the Persian +Capital; and the people have bestowed upon me the expressive and +distinguishing title of "the aspi Sahib" (horse-of-iron Sahib). + +A few mornings after receiving the Naib-i-Sultan's invitation, I happened +to be wheeling past the military maidan, and attracted by the sound of +martial music inside, determined to wheel in and investigate. Perhaps +in all the world there is no finer military parade ground than in Teheran; +it consists of something over one hundred acres of perfectly level ground, +forming a square that is walled completely in by alcoved walls and +barracks, with gaily painted bala-kkanas over the gates. The delighted +guards at the gate make way and present arms, as they see me approaching; +wheeling inside, I am somewhat taken aback at finding a general review +of the whole Teheran garrison in progress; about ten thousand men are +manoeuvring in squads, companies, and regiments over the ground. + +Having, from previous experience on smaller occasions, discovered that +my appearance on the incomprehensible "asp-i-awhan" would be pretty +certain to temporarily demoralize the troops and create general disorder +and inattention, I am for a moment undetermined about whether to advance +or retreat. The acclamations of delight and approval from the nearest +troopers at seeing me enter the gate, however, determines me to advance; +and I start off at a rattling pace around the square, and then take a +zig-zag course through the manoeuvring bodies of men. + +The sharp-shooters lying prostrate in the dust, mechanically rise up to +gaze; forgetting their discipline, squares of soldiers change into +confused companies of inattentive men; simultaneous confusion takes place +in straight lines of marching troops, and the music of the bands degenerates +into inharmonious toots and discordant squeaks, from the inattention of +the musicians. All along the line the signal runs - not "every Persian +is expected to do his duty," but "the asp-i-awhan Sahib! the asp-i-awhan +Sahib!" the whole army is in direful commotion. In the midst of the +general confusion, up dashes an orderly, who requests that I accompany +him to the presence of the Commander-in-Chief and staff; which, of course, +I readily do, though not without certain misgivings as to my probable +reception under the circumstances. There is no occasion for misgivings, +however; the Naib-i-Sultan, instead of being displeased at the interruption +to the review, is as delighted at the appearance of "the asp-i-anhan, +as is Abdul, the drummer-boy, and he has sent for me to obtain a closer +acquaintance. After riding for their edification, and answering their +multifarious questions, I suggest to the Commander-in-Chief that he ought +to mount the Shah's favorite regiment of Cossacks on bicycles. The +suggestion causes a general laugh among the company, and he replies: +"Yes, asp-i-awhan Cossacks would look very splendid on our dress parade +here in the maidan; but for scouting over our rough Persian mountains" +- and the Naib-i-Sultan finished the sentence with a laugh and a negative +shrug of his shoulders. Two mornings after this I take a spin out on the +Doshan Tepe road, and, upon wheeling through the city gate, I find myself +in the immediate presence of another grand review, again under the +personal inspection of the Naibi-Sultan. Disturbing two grand reviews +within "two days is, of course, more than I bargained for, and I would +gladly have retreated through the gate; but coming full upon them +unexpectedly, I find it impossible to prevent the inevitable result. The +troops are drawn up in line about fifty yards from the road, and are for +the moment standing at ease, awaiting the arrival of the Shah, while the +Commander-in-chief and his staff are indulging in soothing whiffs at the +seductive kalian. The cry of "asp-i-awhan Sahib!" breaks out all along +the line, and scores of soldiers break ranks, and come running helter-skelter +toward the road, regardless of the line-officers, who frantically endeavor +to wave them back. Dashing ahead, I am soon beyond the lines, congratulating +myself that the effects of my disturbing presence is quickly over; but +ere long, I discover that there is no other ridable road back, and am +consequently compelled to pass before them again on returning. Accordingly, +I hasten to return, before the arrival of the Shah. Seeing me returning, +the Naib-i-Sultan and his staff advance to the road, with kalians in +hand, their oval faces wreathed in smiles of approbation; they extend +cordial salutations as I wheel past. The Persians seem to do little more +than play at soldiering; perhaps in no other army in the world could a +lone cycler demoralize a general review twice within two days, and then +be greeted with approving smiles and cordial salutations by the commander +and his entire staff. Through November and the early part of December, +the weather in Teheran continues, on the whole, quite agreeable, and +suitable for short-distance wheeling; but mindful of the long distance +yet before me, and the uncertainty of touching at any point where supplies +could be forwarded, I deem it advisable to take my exercise afoot, and +save my rubber tires for the more serious work of the journey to the +Pacific. There are no green lanes down which to stroll, nor emerald meads +through which to wander about the Persian capital, though what green +things there are, retain much of their greenness until the early winter +months. The fact of the existence of any green thing whatever - and even +to a greater extent, its survival through the scorching summer months - +depending almost wholly on irrigation, enables vegetation to retain its +pristine freshness almost until suddenly pounced upon and surprised by +the frost. There is no springy turf, no velvety greensward in the land +of the Lion and the Sun. No sooner does one get beyond the vegetation, +called into existence by the moisture of an irrigating ditch or a stream, +than the bare, gray surface of the desert crunches beneath one's tread. +There is an avenue leading part way from the city to the summer residence +of the English Minister at Gulaek, that conjures up memories of an English +lane; but the double row of chenars, poplars, and jujubes are kept alive +by irrigation, and all outside is verdureless desert. + +Things are valued everywhere for their scarcity, and a patch of greensward +large enough to recline on, a shady tree or shrub, and a rippling rivulet +are appreciated in Persia at their proper value- appreciated more than +broad, green pastures and waving groves of shade-trees in moister climes. +Moreover, there is a peculiar charm in these bright emerald gems, set +in sombre gray, be they never so small and insignificant in themselves, +that is not to be experienced where the contrast is less marked. Scattered +here and there about the stony plain between Teheran and the Elburz foot- +hills, are many beautiful gardens-beautiful for Persia-where a pleasant +hour can be spent wandering beneath the shady avenues and among the +fountains. These gardens are simply patches redeemed from the desert +plain, supplied with irrigating water, and surrounded with a high mud +wall; leading through the garden are gravelled walks, shaded by rows of +graceful chenars. The gardens are planted with fig, pomegranate, almond +or apricot trees, grape-vines, melons, etc.; they are the property of +wealthy Teheranis who derive an income from the sale of the fruit in the +Teheran market. The ample space within the city ramparts includes a +number of these delightful retreats, some of them presenting the additional +charm of historic interest, from having been the property and, peradventure, +the favorite summer residence of a former king. Such a one is an extensive +garden in the northeast quarter of the city, in which was situated one +of the favorite summer palaces of Fatteh-ali Shah, grandfather of Nasree. + +It was chiefly to satisfy my curiosity as to the truth of the current +stories regarding that merry monarch, and his. exceedingly novel methods +of entertaining himself, that I accepted the invitation of a friend to +visit this garden one afternoon. My friend is the owner of a pair of +white bull-dogs, who accompany us into the garden. After strolling about +a little, we are shown into the summer palace; into the audience room, +where we are astonished at the beautiful coloring and marvellously life- +like representations in the old Persian frescoing on the walls and +ceiling. Depicted in life-size are Fatteh-ali Shah and his courtiers, +together with the European ambassadors, painted in the days when the +Persian court was a scene of dazzling splendor. The monarch is portrayed +as an exceedingly handsome man with a full, black beard, and is covered +with a blaze of jewels that are so faithfully pictured as to appear +almost like real gems on the walls. It seems strange - almost startling - +to come in from contemplating the bare, unlovely mud walls of the city, and +find one's self amid the life-like scenes of Fatteh-ali Shah's court; +and, amid the scenes to find here and there an English face, an English +figure, dressed in the triangular cockade, the long Hessian pigtail, the +scarlet coat with fold-back tails, the knee-breeches, the yellow stockings, +the low shoes, and the long, slender rapier of a George III. courtier. +>From here we visit other rooms, glittering rooms, all mirror-work and +white stucco. Into rooms we go whose walls consist of myriads of tiny +squares of rich stained glass, worked into intricate patterns and +geometrical designs, but which are now rapidly falling into decay; and +then we go to see the most novel feature of the garden-Fatteh-ali Shah's +marble slide, or shute. Passing along a sloping, arched vault beneath a +roof of massive marble, we find ourselves in a small, subterranean court, +through which a stream of pure spring water is flowing along a white +marble channel, and where the atmosphere must be refreshingly cool even +in the middle of summer. In the centre of the little court is a round +tank about four feet deep, also of white marble, which can be filled at +pleasure with water, clear as crystal, from the running stream. Leading +from an upper chamber, and overlapping the tank, is a smooth-worn marble +slide or shute, about twenty feet long and four broad, which is pitched +at an angle that makes it imperative upon any one trusting themselves +to attempt the descent, to slide helplessly into the tank. Here, on +summer afternoons, with the chastened daylight peeping through a stained- +glass window in the roof, and carpeting the white marble floor with +rainbow hues, with the only entrance to the cool and massive marble +court, guarded by armed retainers, who while guarding it were conscious +of guarding their own precious lives, Fattehali Shah was wont to beguile +the hours away by making merry with the bewitching nymphs of his anderoon, +transforming them for the nonce into naiads. + +There are no nymphs nor naiads here now, nothing but the smoothly-worn +marble shute to tell the tale of the merry past; but we obtain a realistic +idea of their sportive games by taking the bulldogs to the upper chamber, +and giving them a start down the slide. As they clutch and claw, and +look scared, and appeal mutely for assistance, only to slide gradually +down, down, down, and fall with a splash into the tank at last, we have +only to imagine the bull-dogs transformed into Fatteh-ali Shah's naiads, +to learn something of the truth of current stories. After we have slid +the dogs down a few times, and they begin to realize that they are not +sliding hopelessly down to destruction, they enjoy the sport as much as +we, or as much as the naiads perhaps did a hundred years ago. That portion +of the Teheran bazaar immediately behind the Shah's winter palace, is +visited almost daily by Europeans, and their presence excites little +comment or attention from the natives; but I had frequently heard the +remark that a Ferenghi couldn't walk through the southern, or more +exclusive native quarters, without being insulted. Determined to +investigate, I sallied forth one afternoon alone, entering the bazaar +on the east side of the palace wall, where I had entered it a dozen times +before. + +The streets outside are sloppy with melting snow, and the roofed passages +of the bazaar, being dry underfoot, are crowded with people to an unusual +extent; albeit they are pretty well crowded at any time. Most of the +dervishes in the city have been driven, by the inclemency of the weather, +to seek shelter in the bazaar; these, added to the no small number who +make the place their regular foraging ground, render them a greater +nuisance than ever. They are encountered in such numbers, that no matter +which way I turn, I am confronted by a rag-bedecked mendicant, with a +wild, haggard countenance and grotesque costume, thrusting out his gourd +alms-receiver, and muttering "huk yah huk!" each in his own peculiar +way. The mollahs, with their flowing robes, and huge white turbans, +likewise form no inconsiderable proportion of the moving throng; they +are almost without exception scrupulously neat and clean in appearance, +and their priestly costume and Pharisaical deportment gives them a certain +air of stateliness. They wear the placid expression of men so utterly +puffed up with the notion of their own sanctity, that their self-consciousness +verily scorns to shine through their skins, and to impart to them a +sleek, oily appearance. One finds himself involuntarily speculating on +how they all manage to make a living; the mollah "toils not, neither +does he spin," and almost every other person one meets is a mollah. + +The bazaar is a common thoroughfare for anything and everything that can +make its way through. Donkey-riders, horsemen, and long strings of camels +and pack-mules add their disturbing influence to the general confusion; +and although hundreds of stalls are heaped up with every merchantable +thing in the city, scores of donkeys laden with similar products are +meandering about among the crowd, the venders shouting their wares with +lusty lungs. In many places the din is quite deafening, and the odors +anything but agreeable to European nostrils; but the natives are not +over fastidious. The steam issuing from the cook-shops, from coppers of +soup, pillau and sheeps'-trotters, and the less objectionable odors from +places where busy men are roasting bazaar-kabobs for hungry customers +all day long, mingle with the aromatic contributions from the spice and +tobacco shops wedged in between them. + +The sleek-looking spice merchant, squatting contentedly beside a pan of +glowing embers, smoking kalian after kalian in dreamy contemplation of +his assistant waiting on customers, and also occasionally waiting on him +to the extent of replenishing the fire on the kalian, is undoubtedly the +happiest of mortals. With a kabob-shop on one hand, a sheeps'-trotter-shop +on the other, and a bakery and a fruit-stand opposite, he indulges in +tid-bits from either when he is hungry. With nothing to do but smoke +kalians amid the fragrant aroma of his own spices, and keep a dreamy eye +on what passes on around him, his Persian notions of a desirable life +cause him to regard himself as blest beyond comparison with those whose +avocations necessitate physical exertion. All the shops are open front +places, like small fruit and cigar stands in an American city, the goods +being arranged on boards or shelving, sloping down to the front, or +otherwise exposed to the best advantage, according to the nature of the +wares; the shops have no windows, but are protected at night by wooden +shutters. The piping notes of the flute, or the sing-song voice of the +troubadour or story-teller is heard behind the screened entrance of the +tchai-khans, and now and then one happens across groups of angry men +quarrelling violently over some trifling difference in a bargain; noise +and confusion everywhere reign supreme. Here the road is blocked up by +a crowd of idlers watching a trio of lutis, or buffoons, jerking a +careless and indifferent-looking baboon about with a chain to make him +dance; and a little farther along is another crowd surveying some more +lutis with a small brown bear. Both the baboon and the bear look better +fed than their owners, the contributions of the onlookers consisting +chiefly of eatables, bestowed upon the animals for the purpose of seeing +them feed. Half a mile, or thereabouts, from the entrance, an inferior +quarter of the bazaar is reached; the crowds are less dense, the noise +is not near so deafening, and the character of the shops undergoes a +change for the worse. A good many of the shops are untenanted, and a +good many others are occupied by artisans manufacturing the ruder articles +of commerce, such as horseshoes, pack-saddles, and the trappings of +camels. Such articles as kalians, che-bouks and other pipes, geivehs, +slippers and leather shoes, hats, jewelry, etc., are generally manufactured +on the premises in the better portions of the bazaar, where they are +sold. Perched in among the rude cells of industry are cook-shops and +tea-drinking establishments of an inferior grade; and the occupants of +these places eye me curiously, and call one another's attention to the +unusual circumstance of a Ferenghi passing through their quarter. After +half a mile of this, my progress is abruptly terminated by a high mud +wall, with a narrow passage leading to the right. I am now at the southern +extremity of the bazaar, and turn to retrace my footsteps. So far I have +encountered no particular disposition to insult anybody; only a little +additional rudeness and simple inquisitive-ness, such as might very +naturally have been expected. But ere I have retraced my way three hundred +yards, I meet a couple of rowdyish young men of the charuadar class; no +sooner have I passed them than one of them wantonly delivers himself of +the promised insult - a peculiar noise with the mouth; they both start off +at a run as though expecting to be pursued and punished. As I turn +partially round to look, an old pomegranate vender stops his donkey, and +with a broad grin of amusement motions me to give chase. When nearing +the more respectable quarter again, I stroll up one of the numerous +ramifications leading toward what looks, like a particularly rough and +dingy quarter. Before going many steps I am halted by a friendly-faced +sugar merchant, with "Sahib," and sundry significant shakes of the head, +signifying, if he were me, he wouldn't go up there. And thus it is in +the Teheran bazaar; where a Ferenghi will get insulted once, he will +find a dozen ready to interpose with friendly officiousness between him +and anything likely to lead to unpleasant consequences. On the whole, a +European fares better than a Persian in his national costume would in +an Occidental city, in spite of the difference between our excellent +police regulations and next to no regulations at all; he fares better +than a Chinaman does in New York. The Teheran bazaar, though nothing to +compare to the world-famous bazaar at Stamboul, is wonderfully extensive. +I was under the impression that I had been pretty much all through it +at different times; but a few days after my visit to the "slummy " +quarters, I follow a party of corpse-bearers down a passage-way hitherto +unexplored, to try and be present at a Persian funeral, and they led the +way past at least a mile of shops I had never yet seen. I followed the +corpse-bearers through the dark passages and narrow alley-ways of the +poorer native quarter, and in spite of the lowering brows of the followers, +penetrated even into the house where they washed the corpses before +burial; but here the officiating mollahs scowled with such unmistakable +displeasure, and refused to proceed in my presence, so that I am forced +to beat a retreat. The poorer native quarter of Teheran is a shapeless +jumble of mud dwellings, and ruins of the same; the streets are narrow +passages describing all manner of crooks and angles in and out among +them. As I emerge from the vaulted bazaar the sun is almost setting, and +the musicians in the bala-khanas of the palace gates are ushering in the +close of another day with discordant blasts from ancient Persian trumpets, +and belaboring hemispherical kettle- drums. These musicians are dressed +in fantastic scarlet uniforms, not unlike the costume of a fifteen century +jester, and every evening at sundown they repair to these balakhanas, +and for the space of an hour dispense the most unearthly music imaginable. +tubes of brass about five feet long, which respond to the efforts of a +strong-winded person, with a diabolical basso-profundo shriek that puts a +Newfoundland fog-horn entirely in the shade. When a dozen of these +instruments are in full blast, without any attempt at harmony, it seems to +shed a depressing shadow of barbarism over the whole city. This sunset +music is, I think, a relic of very old times, and it jars on the nerves +like the despairing howl of ancient Persia, protesting against the +innovation from the pomp and din and glamour of her old pagan glories, +to the present miserable era of mollah rule and feeble dependence for +national existence on the forbearance or jealousy of other nations. +Beneath the musicians' gate, and I emerge into a small square which is half +taken up by a square tank of water; near the tank is a large bronze cannon. +It is a huge, unwieldy piece, and a muzzle-loader, utterly useless to such +a people as the Persians, except for ornament, or perhaps to help impress +the masses with an idea of the Shah's unapproachable greatness. + +It is the special hour of prayer, and in every direction may be observed +men, halting in whatever they may be doing, and kneeling down on some +outer garment taken off for the purpose, repeatedly touch their foreheads +to the ground, bending in the direction of Mecca. Passing beneath the +second musicians' gate, I reach the artillery square just in time to see +a company of army buglers formed in line at one end, and a company of +musketeers at the other. As these more modern trumpeters proceed to toot, +the company of musketeers opposite present arms, and then the music of +the new buglers, and the hoarse, fog-horn-like blasts of the fantastic +tooters on the bala-khanas dies away together in a concerted effort that +would do credit to a troop of wild elephants. + +When the noisy trumpeting ceases, the ordinary noises round about seem +like solemn silence in comparison, and above this comparative silence +can be heard the voices of men here and there over the city, calling out +"Al-lah-il-All-ah; Ali Ak-bar." (God is greatest; there is no god but +one God! etc.) with stentorian voices. The men are perched on the roofs +of the mosques, and on noblemen's walls and houses; the Shah has a strong- +voiced muezzin that can be heard above all the others. The sun has just +set; I can see the snowy cone of Mount Demavend, peeping apparently over +the high barrack walls; it has just taken on a distinctive roseate tint, +as it oftentimes does at sunset; the reason whereof becomes at once +apparent upon turning toward the west, for the whole western sky is aglow +with a gorgeous sunset-a sunset that paints the horizon a blood red, and +spreads a warm, rich glow over half the heavens. + +The moon will be full to-night, and a far lovelier picture even than the +glorious sunset and the rose-tinted mountain, awaits anyone curious +enough to come out-doors and look. The Persian moonlight seems capable +of surrounding the most commonplace objects with a halo of beauty, and +of blending things that are nothing in themselves, into scenes of such +transcendental loveliness that the mere casual contemplation of them +sends a thrill of pleasure coursing through the system. There is no city +of the same size (180,000) in England or America, but can boast of +buildings infinitely superior to anything in Teheran; what trees there +are in and about the city are nothing compared to what we are used to +having about us; and although the gates with their short minars and their +gaudy facings are certainly unique, they suffer greatly from a close +investigation. Nevertheless, persons happening for the first time in the +vicinity of one of these gates on a calm moonlight night, and perchance +descrying "fair Luna "through one of the arches or between the minars, +will most likely find themselves transfixed with astonishment at the +marvellous beauty of the scene presented. By repairing to the artillery +square, or to the short street between the square and the palace front, +on a moonlight night, one can experience a new sense of nature's loveliness; +the soft, chastening light of the Persian moon converts the gaudy gates, +the dead mud-walls, the spraggling trees, and the background of snowy +mountains nine miles away, into a picture that will photograph itself +on one's memory forever. On the way home I meet one of the lady missionaries - +which reminds me that I ought to mention something about the peculiar +position of a Ferenghi lady in these Mohammedan countries, where it is +considered highly improper for a woman to expose her face in public. The +Persian lady on the streets is enveloped in a shroud-like garment that +transforms her into a shapeless and ungraceful-looking bundle of dark-blue +cotton stuff. This garment covers head and everything except the face; +over the face is worn a white veil of ordinary sheeting, and opposite +the eyes is inserted an oblong peep-hole of open needle-work, resembling +a piece of perforated card-board. Not even a glimpse of the eye is +visible, unless the lady happens to be handsome and coquettishly inclined; +she will then manage to grant you a momentary peep at her face; but a +wise and discreet Persian lady wouldn't let you see her face on the +street - no, not for worlds and worlds! + +The European lady with her uncovered face is a conundrum and an object +of intense curiosity, even in Teheran at the present day; and in provincial +cities, the wife of the lone consul or telegraph employee finds it highly +convenient to adopt the native costume, face-covering included, when +venturing abroad. Here, in the capital, the wives and daughters of foreign +ministers, European officers and telegraphists, have made uncovered +female faces tolerably familiar to the natives; but they cannot quite +understand but that there is something highly indecorous about it, and +the more unenlightened Persians doubtless regard them as quite bold and +forward creatures. Armenian women conceal their faces almost as completely +as do the Persian, when they walk abroad; by so doing they avoid unpleasant +criticism, and the rude, inquisitive gaze of the Persian men. Although +the Persian readily recognizes the fact that a Sahib's wife or sister +must be a superior person to an Armenian female, she is as much an object +of interest to him when she appears with her face uncovered on the street, +as his own wives in their highly sensational in-door costumes would be +to some of us. In order to establish herself in the estimation of the +average Persian, as all that a woman ought to be, the European lady would +have to conceal her face and cover her shapely, tight-fitting dress with +an inelegant, loose mantle, whenever she ventured outside her own doors. +With something of a penchant for undertaking things never before +accomplished, I proposed one morning to take a walk around the ramparts +that encompass the Persian capital. The question arose as to the distance. +Ali Akbar, the head fan-ash, said it was six farsakhs (about twenty-four +miles); Meshedi Ab-dul said it was more. From the well-known Persian +characteristic of exaggerating things, we concluded from this that perhaps +it might be fifteen miles; and on this basis Mr. Meyrick, of the Indo- +European Telegraph staff, agreed to bear me company. The ramparts consist +of the earth excavated from a ditch some forty feet wide by twenty deep, +banked up on the inner side of the ditch; and on top of this bank it is +our purpose to encompass the city. + +Eight o'clock on the appointed morning finds us on the ramparts at the +Gulaek Gate, on the north side of the city. A cold breeze is blowing off +the snowy mountains to the northeast, and we decide to commence our novel +walk toward the west. Following the zigzag configuration of the ramparts, +we find it at first somewhat rough and stony to the feet; on our right +we look down into the broad ditch, and beyond, over the sloping plain, +our eyes follow the long, even rows of kanaat mounds stretching away to +the rolling foothills; towering skyward in the background, but eight +miles away, are the snowy masses of the Elburz Range. Forty miles away, +at our back, the conical peak of Demavend peeps, white, spectral, and +cold, above a bank of snow-clouds that are piled motionless against its +giant sides, as though walling it completely off from the lower world. +On our left lies the city, a curious conglomeration of dead mud-walls, +flat-roofed houses, and poplar-peopled gardens. A thin haze of smoke +hovers immediately above the streets, through which are visible the +minarets and domes of the mosques, the square, illumined towers of the +Shah's anderoon, the monster skeleton dome of the canvas theatre, beneath +which the Shah gives once a year the royal tazzia (representation of the +tragedy of "Hussein and Hassan"), and the tall chimney of the arsenal, +from which a column of black smoke is issuing. Away in the distance, far +beyond the confines of the city, to the southward, glittering like a +mirror in the morning sun, is seen the dome of the great mosque at +Shahabdullahzeen, said to be roofed with plates of pure gold. As we pass +by we can see inside the walls of the English Legation grounds; a +magnificent garden of shady avenues, asphalt walks, and dark-green banks +of English ivy that trail over the ground and climb half-way up the +trunks of the trees. A square-turreted clock-tower and a building that +resembles some old ancestral manor, imparts to "the finest piece of +property in Teheran" a home-like appearance; the representative of Her +Majesty's Government, separated from the outer world by a twenty-four-foot +brick wall, might well imagine himself within an hour's ride of London. + +Beyond the third gate, the character of the soil changes from the stone- +strewn gravel of the northern side, to red stoneless earth, and both +inside and outside the ramparts fields of winter wheat and hardy vegetables +form a refreshing relief from the barren character of the surface +generally. The Ispahan gate, on the southern side, appears the busiest +and most important entrance to the city; by this gate enter the caravans +from Bushire, bringing English goods, from Bagdad, Ispahan, Tezd, and +all the cities of the southern provinces. Numbers of caravans are camped +in the vicinity of the gate, completing their arrangements for entering +the city or departing for some distant commercial centre; many of the +waiting camels arc kneeling beneath their heavy loads and quietly feeding. +They are kneeling in small, compact circles, a dozen camels in a circle +with their heads facing inward. In the centre is placed a pile of chopped +straw; as each camel ducks his head and takes a mouthful, and then +elevates his head again while munching it with great gusto, wearing +meanwhile an expression of intense satisfaction mingled with timidity, +as though he thinks the enjoyment too good to last long, they look as +cosey and fussy as a gathering of Puritanical grand-dames drinking tea +and gossiping over the latest news. Within a mile of the Ispahan gate +are two other gates, and between them is an area devoted entirely to the +brick-making industry. Here among the clay-pits and abandoned kilns we +obtain a momentary glimpse of a jackal, drinking from a ditch. He slinks +off out of sight among the caves and ruins, as though conscious of acting +an ungenerous part in seeking his living in a city already full of gaunt, +half-starved pariahs, who pass their lives in wandering listlessly and +hungrily about for stray morsels of offal. Several of these pariahs have +been so unfortunate as to get down into the rampart ditch; we can see +the places where they have repeatedly made frantic rushes for liberty +up the almost perpendicular escarp, only to fall helplessly back to the +bottom of their roofless dungeon, where they will gradually starve to +death. The natives down in this part of the city greet us with curious +looks; they are wondering at the sight of two Ferenghis promenading the +ramparts, far away from the European quarter; we can hear them making +remarks to that effect, and calling one another's attention. The sun +gets warm, although it is January, as we pass the Doshan Tepe and the +Meshed gates, remarking as we go past that the Shah's summer palace on +the hill to the east compares favorably in whiteness with the snow on +the neighboring mountains. As we again reach the Gulaek gate and descend +from the ramparts at the place we started, the clock in the English +Legation tower strikes twelve. + +"How many miles do you call it." asks my companion. "Just about twelve +miles," I reply; "what do you make it?" "That's about it," he agrees; +"twelve miles round, and eleven gates. We have walked or climbed over +the archway of eight of the gates; and at the other three we had to climb +off the ramparts and on again." As far as can be learned, this is the +first time any Ferenghi has walked clear around the ramparts of Teheran. +It is nothing worth boasting about; only a little tramp of a dozen miles, +and there is little of anything new to be seen. All around the outside +is the level plain, verdureless, except an occasional cultivated field, +and the orchards of the tributary villages scattered here and there. In +certain quarters of Teheran one happens across a few remaining families +of guebres, or fire-worshippers; remnant representatives of the ancient +Parsee religion, whose devotees bestowed their strange devotional offerings +upon the fires whose devouring flames they constantly fed, and never +allowed to be extinguished. These people are interesting as having kept +their heads above the overwhelming flood of Mohammedanism that swept +over their country, and clung to their ancient belief through thick and +thin - or, at all events, to have steadfastly refused to embrace any other. +Little evidence of their religion remains in Persia at the present day, +except their "towers of silence" and the ruins of their old fire-temples. +These latter were built chiefly of soft adobe bricks, and after the lapse +of centuries, are nothing more than shapeless reminders of the past. A +few miles southeast of Teheran, in a desolate, unfrequented spot, is the +guebre "tower of silence," where they dispose of their dead. On top of +the tower is a kind of balcony with an open grated floor; on this the +naked corpses are placed until the carrion crows and the vultures pick +the skeleton perfectly clean; the dry bones are then cast into a common +receptacle in the tower. The guebre communities of Persia are too +impecunious or too indifferent to keep up the ever-burning-fires nowadays; +the fires of Zoroaster, which in olden and more prosperous times were +fed with fuel night and day, are now extinguished forever, and the +scattering survivors of this ancient form of worship form a unique item +in the sum total of the population of Persia. + +The head-quarters - if they can be said to have any head-quarters - of the +Persian guebres are at Yezd, a city that is but little known to Europeans, +and which is all but isolated from the remainder of the country by the +great central desert. One great result of this geographical isolation +is to be observed to-day, in the fact that the guebres of Yezd held their +own against the unsparing sword of Islam better than they did in more +accessible quarters; consequently they are found in greater numbers there +now than in other Persian cities. Curiously enough, the chief occupation - +one might say the sole occupation - of the guebres throughout Persia, is +taking care of the suburban gardens and premises of wealthy people. For +this purpose I am told guebre families are in such demand, that if they were +sufficiently numerous to go around, there would be scarcely a piece of +valuable garden property in all Persia without a family of guebres in +charge of it. They are said to be far more honest and trustworthy than +the Persians, who, as Shiite Mohammedans, consider themselves the holiest +people on earth; or the Armenians, who hug the flattering unction of +being Christians and not Mohammedans to their souls, and expect all +Christendom to regard them benignly on that account. It is doubtless +owing to this invaluable trait of their character, that the guebres have +naturally drifted to their level of guardians over the private property +of their wealthy neighbors. + +The costume of the guebre female consists of Turkish trousers with very +loose, baggy legs, the material of which is usually calico print, and a +mantle of similar material is wrapped about the head and body. Unlike +her Mohammedan neighbor, she 'makes no pretence of concealing her features; +her face is usually a picture of pleasantness and good-nature rather +than strikingly handsome or passively beautiful, as is the face of the +Persian or Armenian belle. The costume of the men differs but little +from the ordinary costume of the lower-class Persians. Like all the +people in these Mohammedan countries, who realize the weakness of their +position as a small body among a fanatical population, the Teheran guebres +have long been accustomed to consider themselves as under the protecting +shadow of the English Legation; whenever they meet a "Sahib" on the +street, they seem to expect a nod of recognition. + +Among the people who awaken special interest in Europeans here, may be +mentioned Ayoob Khan, and his little retinue of attendants, who may be +seen on the streets almost any day. Ayoob Khan is in exile here at Teheran +in accordance with some mutual arrangement between the English and Persian +governments. On almost any afternoon, about four o'clock, he may be met +with riding a fine, large chestnut stallion, accompanied by another +Afghan on an iron gray. I have never seen them riding faster than a walk, +and they are almost always accompanied by four foot-runners, also Afghans, +two of whom walk behind their chieftain and two before. These runners +carry stout staves with which to warn off mendicants, and with a view +to making it uncomfortable for any irrepressible Persian rowdy who should +offer any insults. Both Ayoob Khan and his attendants retain their +national costume, the main distinguishing features being a huge turban +with about two feet of the broad band left dangling down behind; besides +this, they wear white cotton pantalettes even in mid-winter. They wear +European shoes and overcoats, as though they had profited by their +intercourse with Anglo-Indians to the extent of at least shoes and coat. +The foot-runners have their legs below the knee bound tightly with strips +of dark felt. Judging from outward appearances, Ayoob Khan wears his +exile lightly, for his rotund countenance looks pleasant always, and I +have never yet met him when he was not chatting gayly with his companion. +Of the interesting scenes and characters to be seen every day on the +streets of Teheran, their name is legion. The peregrinating tchai-venders, +who, with their little cabinet of tea and sugar in one hand, and samovar +with live charcoals in the other, wander about the city picking up stray +customers, for whom they are prepared to make a glass of hot tea at one +minute's notice; the scores of weird-looking mendicants and dervishes +with their highly fantastic costumes, assailing you with " huk, yah huk," +the barbers shaving the heads of their customers on the public streets - +shaving their pates clean, save little tufts to enable Mohammed to pull +them up to Paradise; and many others the description and enumeration of +which would, of themselves, fill a good-sized volume. + + + + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, AROUND THE WORLD ON A BICYCLE V1 *** + + + +This file should be named 5136.txt or 5136.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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