appearance till the next morning, and then were taken by force from some poor villages near the town. For being always ready in this remarkable manner he proposed to charge treble for the horses, which I consented to do if he would find it in the post-order. 1

1

There are four Greek churches and one Armenian in Gumush Khaneh, but no Bishop resident. The place belongs to the diocese of Trebizond. Most of the Christians are miners, and as the mines have nearly failed, numerous families are reduced to a state of utter destitution.

1 Post-orders (menzil emri) are given to travellers in Turkey, who choose to travel with post-horses. Those issued at Constantinople bear the Sultan's cipher, and specify the number of horses that the traveller requires, and sometimes the post-rates, which were formerly fixed, but now vary from one to two and a half piastres, in different parts of the empire. The traveller pays in advance at each post-house from one to two and a half piastres (two pence to five pence sterling) for each horse per hour, the hour being a measure of distance, about three miles.

CHAPTER III.

The Road. The Osmanl:es and the Turks.-Sunset Scene.-The Ayan's Palace. Reception.-Lesson on Hospitality.-Repose in a Village.— Kara Hissar.-Its Ancient Citadel.-Preparations for a Journey.The Plain of Ashkar.-Ancient Remains.-The Greek Population of the Interior.-Face of the Country.-The Day's Stage.-The Armenians. Their Dispersion.-National Character.-Their Church.-Its Changes. Its present State.-Its Necessities.

FROM Gumush Khaneh we crossed the mountains to the south of the town. The road was hardly yet open. Heavy drifts of snow were lying in the hollows, and in one or two instances we were compelled to go half a mile out of our way in order to get round them. The view from the heights sometimes revealed to us prospects of richly wooded vallies, and at others we passed under towering rocks where the eagle sat upon his aerie, and watched us with his fierce glancing eye as we went silently on our way. Thence we descended to the village of Keklit through vallies and along hill-sides covered with pine and spruce. Keklit itself is on one of those beautiful plains which abound in Turkey, where every thing that nature can give of rich and well-watered soils is found, and nothing seems wanting to make it the abode of perfect happiness but a moral beauty, whose absence is more deeply felt where nature has been so lavish of her gifts.

From Keklit to Sheiran the road lies over an undulating country, much of it covered with oak shrubbery. We were

advised at Keklit to take a guard on account of a recent robbery on the road, and did so; but instead of meeting with blood-thirsty men, we were regaled all the way with the songs of myriads of nightingales. I thought I could see as we advanced westward the gradual change, which is more evident at long distances, from the rough and original Turkish character which prevails in the Eastern provinces, to the more humane traits of the Mussulmans of Asia Minor. The contrast in this respect between Erzroum and Tocat is very striking, but whether it arises from a radical difference of races, or from those farther West being more affected by the somewhat civilizing influence of the capital, I cannot Certain it is that the races are different, and that of the Osmanlees appears to be superior to any other. The contempt which they have for the Turkish races to the East shows their own sense of this superiority.

say.

At sunset on the second day we found ourselves about eighty miles from Gumush Khaneh, in the midst of a fine lowland country and near the habitation of the Ayan, or governor, of the district. Our guide told us that he had from fifty to sixty villages under his control, and spoke so largely of his hospitality that I determined to partake of it. His house was a prominent object in all the country around, standing alone upon an eminence in the midst of the vale, and looking like a palace in comparison with the log-cabins which we had every where seen since leaving Gumush Khaneh. The day was declining, the herds were coming in over the lea, the boys and girls about the villages were letting loose the lambs that had been kept in confinement at home, now to meet their dams and to receive their evening repast. It was pleasant to see how every little one went bleating about till it found its mother, and how every mother seemed grateful and happy when she recognized her young. And then what capering and frolicking and shouts of laughter, when the youngsters of the village attempted to separate them for

the purpose of returning the lambs to the fold and driving back the flock to the pasture. Nothing was to be heard besides their merry laugh and the distant baying of dogs. The air was calm and still, and the smoke went straight up from the chimney of the Ayan's palace, giving promise of good cheer within. It was that quiet repose of nature which sinks so gently into the traveller's heart, and repays him at sweet eventide for the toil and labor of the day. How often have troubled feelings been soothed and loneliness cheered by sights and sounds like these! And what stores of pleasant pictures have been treasured up to beguile weary hours with grateful recollections of the past!

We approached the Ayan's house, rode up the little hill on which it stood, and stopped before the door. The building was not so imposing at close view as it had been in the distance. The walls were of earth, after the fashion of the houses in Persia, and the only opening in them was the door before which we stood. I sent in Basil with my selam, and a respectful request for a night's lodging. He soon returned with the information that the house was full. The guide whispered that such an excuse was never made when the guests were acceptable, but that doubtless the Ayan had no particular desire to accommodate strangers and Christians. Basil added that the answer was conveyed to him in a very angry and unbecoming manner. I did not like the tone of it, and still less the act which almost immediately followed. While we were considering what was to be done, a young man came out, whom, from the style of his dress, I took to be the Ayan's scribe. He stood at the door and began to abuse the guide for bringing guests to the house. The poor fellow did not answer a word, and I undertook to reply for him by a lecture on hospitality. The young man listened in silence, and I went on to tell him that the language which he had used was dangerous for the Ayan, that

I had in my pocket a bouyouroultou from his master the Pasha of Trebizond, with which I could compel him to admit me if I pleased. At this the young man lowered his tone, and humbly protested that the house was full, that if I pleased I might enter and examine every room. I told him that I had no wish to intrude, and that if he had given me a civil answer in the first place, I should have gone on my way without saying a word. He then went in and immediately returned with a bit of paper with the Ayan's seal upon it. This he gave to the guide, telling him that by showing it in the next village, we should receive every thing that we needed for man and beast. As night had now set in, and the guide did not know the road, I asked for a servant from the Ayan to show us the way. The young man demurred, but I insisted upon it, and told him that if he gave me any more trouble, I would report the matter to the Pasha. This brought him again to terms, and he ordered a servant to accompany us.

It was now quite dark; the evening was chilly; we had been in the saddle ten hours without dismounting, and had been drenched by one of those afternoon showers which are of almost daily occurrence at this season, and which pour like a torrent upon the traveller. Our way was over a low meadow ground, cold and damp, and the village, which the young man had said was close by, proved to be nearly an hour distant. I attempted to beguile the way by talking with the servant about his master, and I was not a little surprised and amused to find that the young man whom I had taken for a scribe, was the Ayan himself. Perhaps I should have been more sparing of my advice if I had known it at the moment, but as he was a very young man, and evidently had not yet learned good manners, doubtless it was best that he should hear the whole, and his age at least gives hope of improvement.