Turkey Part 2

Villagers and Armenians from the interior are remarkable for their honesty, and have been entrusted for generations with the guardianship of merchants' offices, banks, shops, and the surveillance of public establishments.

Their inducements to faithfulness are strengthened by their conviction that honesty is the best policy, for as a result of their proverbial trustworthiness their functions have come to be regarded as hereditary, and when one servant dies or returns to his family, he is replaced by his son, or brother, or near relative. There is thus solidarity between the members of a family, and even between the citizens of a town, for there are some towns--Mush, for instance--that hold the palm for the integrity of its inhabitants.

An occupation, akin to the previous one, held by Armenians, in common with Turks of Asia Minor, is that of porterage, an inst.i.tution of the greatest importance, especially in Constantinople, where the narrowness or steepness of the streets often prevents wheeled conveyance.

These porters, known under the name of _hamals_, carry their burden on their back by means of a leather cushion, which is strapped over their shoulders, and called a _semer_, or saddle (see ill.u.s.tration, "In the Grand Bazaar," Chapter IV.), and it is extraordinary what weight and bulk they can carry. The object to be carried, if heavy, is lifted by one or two companions, and rested on the _semer_, while the wearer stoops forward to receive it.

Great care is necessary to poise and balance it properly, as the secret of lifting lies in the correct adjustment--an art which with the _hamals_ seems instinctive. A short rope is then thrown over the burden, and the ends are held by the porter so as to prevent the burden from slipping as he proceeds on his way with heavy but steady steps. Should the road be steep, he will generally find resting-stones, which have been placed at regular intervals, where he can lean his burden without removing it, and obtain a brief repose. The placing of these resting-stones is considered a meritorious act among Moslems, and finds its equivalent in the Rest-and-be-Thankful Stones to be met with in many places in this country, where the weary traveller sits and blesses the donor.

It is an interesting study to watch the muscles of the _hamal's_ legs distend and his veins dilate as, nearly bent in two, he treads leisurely along, groaning under a weight which it would take two ordinary men to carry.

Conveying a piano, for instance, is no unusual occurrence, and on one occasion the writer had coals conveyed to his house, situated on a hill, and about three miles from the ship, at the same price as they would have been conveyed by horses, each _hamal_ carrying half a horseload. A _hamal's_ carrying capacity may therefore be expressed, after this experience, as equal to a half horse-power.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IN THE GRAND BAZAAR]

If the object to be conveyed is a very heavy one, it is suspended on a long pole, and carried between two _hamals_, the rounded ends of the poles resting on their shoulders, with perhaps a leather pad between to protect the bone.

Should the weight be heavier still, say a large bale of merchandise or a pig of lead, four, six, or eight _hamals_ combine, each pair carrying a separate pole. As they march swinging and staggering along, with their right hand resting on their neighbours' left shoulder, and occupying half the street, they shout _Varda!_ which means "Make room!" and everybody has to clear out and rush to the sidewalk, or run the risk of being thrown over.

_Hamals_ form themselves into Guilds, allotting themselves special spheres of work or districts, and are very jealous of interference by outsiders in what they consider their monopoly.

In addition to the porterage of goods they also undertake the hewing of wood, such as is used for warming purposes in the East. They begin by conveying it on their backs in lengths of 5 or 6 feet, in which it arrives from the forests, and, throwing it in a heap in front of your door, they proceed forthwith to chop it with their axes into lengths of 12 to 14 inches, and then store it. In the meanwhile half the street is occupied by the hewers, and chips fly right and left, endangering the eyes and faces of pa.s.sers-by.

Up to the time of the Armenian ma.s.sacres, Armenian _hamals_ had nearly the entire monopoly of the Constantinople Custom-house porterage, but the majority were slaughtered in cold blood or had to flee, and Kurds (many of whom were their murderers) were engaged in their place.

But the latter had neither the experience, nor the skill, nor the obliging manners of the Armenians, and for a long time business was disorganized, and merchants were discontented.

Before dismissing the subject of the _hamals_, reference may be made to a peculiar contrivance they adopt for preventing water conveyed in open barrels from spilling, through the vibration. It simply consists in floating a disc of wood on the surface, and this seems as effectual as the sailors' device of throwing oil over the troubled waters. Anyone may try it and see the result.

It is difficult to depict the habits of a people in a country so widespread as Armenia, but I may briefly allude to the houses they inhabit in Erzerum, the princ.i.p.al town of Armenia, and one which, according to Armenian tradition, stands on the site of the Garden of Eden! In any case, the climate has changed since those blissful days, for owing to its high lat.i.tude of 5,000 feet above the sea, that district is bitterly cold during the winter and hot during the summer.

Indeed, for six months of the year, and more, snow is said to lie in the streets of Erzerum. The houses are in consequence low and small, consisting generally of a ground-floor only, with a flat roof over it.

They are built of stone against the sides of a hill, and each room stands with a separate roof. As these roofs or terraces are connected with steps, one can walk a very considerable way over them. During the summer they are overgrown with gra.s.s, and are the favourite resort of women and children, the latter taking with them their lambs to browse over the gra.s.s and flowers. Each room of these houses has a fireplace, where cow-dung fuel is consumed. The furniture is very simple, and consists of a raised divan round three sides of the room, on which the family sit during the day, and often sleep at night. Only few houses possess chairs and tables. Meals are served on a round tray placed on a stool, around which the family squat and partake from a common dish. The characteristic feature of the house is the stable for oxen, one portion of which has a raised platform, with divans and carpets, and is used as the men's reception-room. The breath of the cattle helps to keep it warm and cosy, and underneath the platform the dogs lie and sleep, while on the divan, resting along with the men, are lovely silken-haired cats, many of which have their tails dyed red with henna.

In winter the houses can hardly be distinguished under the snow, and the town is described as a great rabbit-warren, with the pa.s.sages leading to the doors of the houses like so many burrows.

CHAPTER V

GREEKS AND VLACHS

In our account of the races ruled over by the Turks we must not forget the Greeks, those enterprising colonists who, long before the Christian era, settled along the coast of the Black Sea, and all along the sea-line which now fringes the Ottoman Empire, as well as in its islands, and who also founded commercial stations in the interior. In earliest times we find them connected with such expeditions as the Argonautic, in quest of the Golden Fleece, and returning, not only with rich trophies, but with wonderful legends regarding the lands they visited. I could entertain you at great length on their adventures in the countries I am describing, but this is not the object of this book, and my reference to the past must only be to show you that the present Greeks in Turkey are much the same people as their ancestors, with the same love for commerce, the same love for the beautiful and the same glowing imagination. Yet they differ in this respect, that they are now a subject instead of an independent people. They also differ in not calling themselves h.e.l.lenes, but Romei--_i.e._, Romans--an appellation which, strange to say, applies only to members of the Greek Church.

Roman Catholics contemptuously refuse to be called Romei, and style themselves Latins.

Intermarriages have somewhat tainted the purity of their blood, and in many cases they have lost the use of their mother-tongue, and can only speak Turkish, but still they are Greeks to all intents and purposes, and mostly members of the Greek or Orthodox Church.

The Greek type of face is much the same as what we see in the statuary in our museums. The forehead is broad but rather low, the nose and profile straight, the eyes large, the lips full, the chin firm, and the neck rounded. They are tall and stately, and graceful in their movements, and have small hands and feet.

In character they are highly imaginative, superficial, and shrewd, but make excellent husbands and wives, and inspire their children with a love for home and respect for their parents.

In education the wealthier cla.s.ses are advanced, but the peasantry are still backward. The Greek spoken by the latter is very corrupt, and has a large admixture of Turkish and Italian, but the efforts of School Boards and of the local newspapers are tending to purify and elevate it.

At present even the New Testament Greek is above the average man's comprehension.

The Greeks, as of yore, have much of the heroic in their character, and their ballads are full of the n.o.ble deeds, both of men and of women, in their defence against their oppressors.

Their usual method of vindicating their rights and protecting themselves consisted in forming bands of _Armatolae_, or _Kleptae_, and occupying strongholds in the mountains, from which they would sweep down unexpectedly and avenge themselves, or carry away some wealthy Pacha as captive until he was ransomed.

These bands were looked up to by the people as heroes and deliverers--the Jephthas and Gideons of their captivity.

But unfortunately their exploits were not resorted to for the cause of freedom and justice alone, and have often degenerated into sheer acts of brigandage. A series of them were recently enacted in Macedonia, and on one occasion an Englishman was surprised, surrounded, and carried to the mountains. A messenger was sent down with a demand for his ransom, and with a threat that unless this was produced within a stated time, or if pursuit was made, his life would be forfeited. The sum fixed upon was the captives' weight in gold, and as he unfortunately happened to be a heavy man, the amount represented 12,000. The ransom was duly paid, but the money afterwards recovered from the Turkish Government.

As an instance of the strange mixture of superst.i.tion and depravity among some of these brigand bands, it is related that on one occasion a band plundered a church, and then, seizing the priest, the _Kleptae_ put a sword to his throat until he absolved them from the offence.

Acts of brigandage are not, however, limited to Greeks, though they are the chief offenders, but are shared with Albanians and Turks. Nor have Macedonia and Greece had the monopoly, but Smyrna and the hill-country near Constantinople have given scope for their activities. Their spies and agents in these towns supplied them with information, and the villagers and shepherds about their districts being in full sympathy, kept them in supplies and ammunition.

From the bandit it is pleasant to turn to the agricultural and pastoral life of the Greeks in Turkey, and describe the a.s.sistance that boys and girls give to their parents.

When the wheat or barley has been harvested, the sheaves are spread on the threshing-floor, which has previously been carefully prepared with clay and stones beaten down into a smooth surface. A broad wooden sledge is then provided, with sharp flint-stones firmly embedded into the under portion. One or two horses are attached to the sledge and a boy or girl, seated on a stool on the sledge, seizes the reins, and whip in hand, drives the horses at full gallop round and round the threshing-floor.

The sharp flints, acting as knives, soon cut up the long stalks into straw, and separate the grain. Then a windy day is selected, and with long wooden forks the straw is tossed up into the air, the wind carrying the chaff and straw to a short distance, and leaving the heavier grain at the winnower's feet. The winnowed grain is then shovelled up into a heap, and there it must remain until the tax-gatherer has come and removed one-tenth on behalf of the Government. The harvest-festival follows, when, attired in their best clothes and with flowers on their heads and sheaves of golden grain in their hands, the harvesters proceed to the towns, and dance and sing before the doors of their patrons.

One of their favourite dances is the old cla.s.sical _syrto_, or long-drawn dance, performed on the village green. The youths and maidens don their picturesque gala costumes, and prepare for the dance, while the elderly men group themselves round the coffee-house, smoking their pipes and sipping coffee, and the matrons, with little ones, sit under the trees and gossip. A musician, with fiddle, pipe, or viol, sits on a barrel, while each youth produces his coloured handkerchief, and, holding it by one corner, presents the other to the girl at his side.

She in her turn presents her own to the dancer next to her; a long line or circle is formed, and the dance is proceeded with, the youths and maidens responding to each other in the words of a song.

The dress of the girls differs very much according to the locality where they reside. That of the villages near Constantinople consists of a loose, bright-coloured bodice, worn over a blouse open at the neck, and a coloured kerchief twisted round the head, from under the folds of which the hair hangs down the back in rich plaited tresses. The trousers are loose, baggy, and voluminous, and are fastened with a cord round the waist.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A SHEKERDJIS' SHOP.]

Over the bodice a bright zouave is worn, richly embroidered in gold or silver, and strings of gold or silver coins hang round the head, or as a necklace round the throat, while on the wrists are heavy bracelets.

In other places it is described as consisting of "a skirt woven in stripes of silk and woollen, reaching to the ankles, with a tight-fitting bodice of the same, a cloth jacket braided or embroidered round the borders in gold thread and lined with fur, and in some districts a bright-coloured ap.r.o.n ornamented with needlework" (L.

Garnett, "Women in Turkey").

The same writer reports that in the islands a favourite amus.e.m.e.nt on these occasions is for the girls to suspend a rope across a narrow street from the wall of their own house to that of a neighbour, and every youth who wishes to pa.s.s by must pay toll in the form of a small coin, and give one of the girls a swing, while he sings the following verse:

"O swing the clove-carnation red, The gold and silver shining: And swing the girl with golden hair, For love of her I'm pining."

To which the maiden replies:

"O say what youth is swinging me, What do you call him, girls?

For I a fez will broider him, With fairest, whitest pearls."

The Vlachs that inhabit Macedonia follow princ.i.p.ally pastoral and agricultural pursuits. They spend the winter in their mountain villages, but during the summer they lead a nomadic life in quest of pastures, and move about, gipsy-like, in caravans.

The care of their father's flock is committed to the charge of the daughters, whose beauty has often been extolled in many an amorous folklore song. Their duties are to milk the sheep and goats, churn the milk into b.u.t.ter, or convert it into cheese, bleach and spin the wool, and weave garments for the use of the family. A loom occupies the corner of every dwelling, and every spare moment is given to twisting thread with a spindle.

There is considerable dislike among the Greeks to let their daughters go out to service, but this feeling is not shared by the inhabitants of the Greek islands. On the contrary, they supply the main stock of domestic servants, and recognized agents sail to and from the islands to find them occupation and attend to their interests. These Greek servants are generally very ignorant, can seldom write, and depend on the agent or some kind friend both for reading and writing their letters. They do not draw their pay monthly or quarterly, but prefer to allow it to acc.u.mulate with their masters, and withdraw it in a lump sum. After having stayed for some years in service, the girls are greatly in demand with their countrymen, and return to their islands and marry, but only to go back to service when their lazy husbands have expended their savings. Many of them return in the capacity of wet-nurses, a vocation greatly in demand in the East, where children are seldom brought up on the bottle. They are highly paid, and, moreover, receive presents on such important occasions as the child's cutting its first tooth and the like.