On the north-west of the citadel, and in a commanding position stood the Veli Pacha Tabia with fourteen guns; and to the right of this battery, and slightly in advance of it, some earthworks had been thrown up at the suggestion of Bloom Pacha, a German officer; here there were five guns. The river separates these works from the Kara Kalpak Tabia, a strong position adjoining the Kara Dagh, and defended by ten guns.
In the citadel known as the Itch Kale, and which is slightly in rear of Bloom Pacha Tabia, and on the opposite side of the river, there were twelve guns. To the left of Veli Pacha Tabia was a battery of thirteen guns, known as the Tchim Tabia. Closely adjoining this battery, but more to the west I saw the Tamar Tabia with twenty-three guns; here there was a barrack for one battalion. Five hundred yards in rear of the Tamar Tabia stood the Diktipe Tabia with thirteen guns; and about the same distance behind Diktipe, covering the northern slopes, the Tachmach Tabia with eighteen guns. On the east of Bloom Pacha Tabia there was a work with four guns, known as Inglis Tabia; and slightly in advance of this battery Williams Pacha Tabia with twelve guns. This made up all the defences on the north side of Kars. Most of these redoubts had been very much neglected; however, the town was better fortified on the northern side than from the south. Every facility was afforded to me for viewing the works in question, and I was permitted to take the angles between the different positions, besides being shown the exact bearings of all the powder-magazines.
CHAPTER XXXII.
The garrison of Kars—Dr. Lanzoni—A probable outbreak of typhus—The two Pachas—Whose fault is it?—If God wills it, there will be no Cholera—If God wills it, the Russians will not come here—The hospitals full of men suffering from typhus fever—The International Commission—The Grand Duke Michael—Gumri—The Armenians and their nationality—The speech of the Grand Duke—The Master of the Armenian school—You shall go to prison—The Emperor Nicholas—Religious liberty granted to Armenians in Russia—The document—The Patriarch's death—Suspicious circumstances—Cossacks firing upon Mohammedans—Three children wounded—Clergymen of the Church of England—Hankering after the idolatrous practices of the Greek faith—Wolves in sheep's clothing—Colonel Lake—A little boy shot by the Cossacks—Russia the father of the fatherless—The Right Hon. R. Lowe, M.P.—The Author of the Bulgarian horrors—English officers and soldiers massacred in the Crimea—The Court of Inquiry—The Duke of Newcastle's speech—Russian officers butchering the English wounded.
There were at the time of my visit to Kars about 20,000 troops quartered in and about the town; but large reinforcements could be sent from Erzeroum should occasion arise for their services. Later in the day Dr. Lanzoni, of the Quarantine, called upon me; he is an Italian, and in the International Service. On my alluding to the state of the streets in Kars, he remarked that he had written twice to the authorities at Constantinople, but that no notice had been taken of his letters. "We shall have an outbreak of typhus or plague in the summer," continued the doctor. "The mortality will be very great, if we are besieged before the filth is cleared away."
The civil governor entered the room. He joined in the conversation.
"It is the fault of the military Pacha," he observed. "The soldiers have made this mess in the streets, and the military Pacha thinks that the civilians in the town ought to clear it up. I have told him that this work ought to be done by the troops, but he says that the soldiers are the Padishah's servants, and that their duty is to fight, and not to be scavengers."
"What have you done about the matter?" I inquired.
"We have written to Constantinople," replied the governor.
"How long does it take for a letter to go there?"