I was awakened late the following afternoon by something cold and clammy against my hand. On looking up, I found it was one of the cows. My arm was stretched out by her trough. The animal was licking my fingers with her tongue.
"I was afraid that she would awake you, sir," remarked my servant Radford, coming to my side. "I wished to drive her away, but was afraid of disturbing you."
CHAPTER XXXI.
Mohammed's febrifuge—The doctor's medicine—Zedhane—Daha—Hassan Bek—Bash—The garrison—We cross the Araxes—The bridge made by a Circassian—Karakroot—The Circassian horsemen—The inhabitants—Their eyes and teeth—Gedjerharman—The plain around Kars—The streets of the town—The sewerage of the population—The civil governor—The river—The war with the Persians—Mount Kara Dagh—The fortifications.
The rest had done me good. Mohammed's febrifuge seemed to agree. Later on, the doctor's medicine arrived. I took a dose, and felt myself much worse in consequence. I determined to stick to the native remedy.
Day after day passed by. At last I was able to raise myself a little from the floor. My appetite gradually returned; and one fine morning I determined to make an attempt to reach Kars. My servants lifted me on my horse: once on his back, I made them strap me to the high pommel in front of the saddle—a Turkish one.
The fresh air did wonders, and, though very weak, I managed to reach Zedhane, a village which we had stopped at on our way to Bayazid, and which lay on the route between Van and Kars.
We rode to Daha, passing by Kurdali, a small village, seven miles from Zedhane, and with some strong positions, from a military point of view, in the neighbourhood. The track was very different to what it had been a few weeks previous. There was little snow, and we were able to reach Daha in five hours. Our course was almost due north, and ran through a broad mountain pass to Hassan Bek, a Kurd hamlet, and from there to Bash, an Armenian village with a hundred Khans. Here a battalion was quartered. The men had fought at Alexinatz, and, according to their lieutenant-colonel, an officer whose acquaintance I had made at Erzeroum, they were eager to cross bayonets again with the Russians.
We left Bash, and after a two hours' march crossed the Araxes on a rickety wooden bridge. It had been made by an enterprising Circassian. There is a ford several miles down the stream, but the Circassian had thought that, if he were to make this bridge, a great many passengers would prefer taking the short cut, and would gladly pay a few piastres for the privilege of crossing the structure.
We came to the village of Karakroot, in which the Circassian lived. The sheik, a fine-looking man, informed us that here there were only twenty-five houses, but there were 1005 houses which belonged to people of his nation in the neighbourhood. In the event of war, the inhabitants of this district could muster 2000 horsemen. The houses belonging to these Circassians were far cleaner than any which I had seen in the Kurdish or Armenian villages. They were all built of wood, with wooden floors. A small enclosure, made of sharp-pointed stakes, surrounded each of the dwellings. There were quantities of buffaloes, cows, and sheep in some adjacent fields, and the granaries were said to be well supplied with corn and barley.