"Yes," said the doctor, and he began to give me a long account of the domestic life in some of the harems in Angora.
According to the doctor's experiences there was a great deal of immorality amidst the fair sex in the city, although nothing to what existed in Yuzgat, another town which I should pass by on the way to Kars. In Angora, although the women are very unfaithful to their husbands, yet everything is kept more or less concealed. In Yuzgat it was very different, and there you could actually see the dance of the Turkish gipsy women, although in Angora it was strictly prohibited.
M. Gasparini was doing a large practice. He had been established for ten years in Angora and its neighbourhood. From his position as a medical man he had the opportunity of knowing more about the domestic life of the inhabitants than the other European residents.
"Well, although the women may be immoral, the men are very hospitable," said the Consul. "Wherever a stranger may go he is always received with the greatest hospitality. A few years ago a friend of mine, Mr. Thompson, was travelling from the Black Sea to Angora. He arrived at a village. The Khan was full, every room was occupied. However, he was an old traveller, and could easily accommodate himself to circumstances. Taking his cloak, he lay down in the yard and prepared to pass the night in the open air. Presently he was awakened by a tap on the shoulder. On looking up, he found an old Turk bending over him.
"Why are you sleeping here?" inquired the Mohammedan.
"Because there is no room in the Khan."
"This is not right. A stranger, and outside the gate. Come with me."
Taking Mr. Thompson by the hand, the Turk led him to his house, gave him a clean bed and his breakfast, waited himself upon his guest, and would not receive any remuneration.
"Now," added the Consul, "the Turk was a Mohammedan, and Mr. Thompson a Christian; if the Turk had been in England, and had found himself placed in a similar predicament to Mr. Thompson, do you think that there are many Englishmen who would have behaved so generously to an utter stranger?"
The following day I called upon some Armenian gentlemen, and found their houses furnished like my host's, with thick carpets, divans, and pipes, the walls being bare and whitewashed. Pictures and looking-glasses were seldom to be seen, the latter being a very costly luxury, owing to the difficulty of carriage.