The governor stopped playing when he saw our party, and, riding up, asked the Zaptieh who I was. He then introduced himself and the company to me. They had been busily engaged in learning drill all the morning. An order had been received from Constantinople for the Caimacan to form a National Guard. Every able-bodied man in the district had at once enrolled himself as a volunteer. On entering Kemach I was struck by a high rock, which might have been a miniature Gibraltar, and which stands immediately behind the town. The rock was about 500 feet in height, and a ruined citadel on the summit towers above the Euphrates and the town.
The Caimacan and his friends were well mounted, their horses being of a very different stamp to those which I had seen during my march from Constantinople. They were most of them fifteen hands high, and one or two over sixteen. On inquiry, I found that they were Turkoman horses. I also learnt that most of the animals in the district had been bought by Government agents for the use of the army at Erzeroum.
A large proportion of the houses in Kemach are constructed of dried mud. Numerous wells, with high cross-bars and long iron chains for the buckets, were to be seen along our path. One of the faithful, on a tower above our heads, was calling the Mohammedans to prayer. His loud but melancholy strains were being listened to with great attention by Mohammed and my English servant. It appeared that Mohammed, through some strange inadvertence, had omitted praying at mid-day. Radford was a little alarmed lest the Turk might make up for his shortcoming by an extra-long prayer that evening, which would have kept him from attending to the horses.
CHAPTER VI.
Kemach—Its population—Barley is very cheap—An English traveller—Conversation about the impending war—If we beat Russia, will England permit us to take back the Caucasus?—Yakoob Khan—The Poles to be freed—Germany to have the Baltic Provinces—What about the Crimea?—We ought to cripple Russia—The floggers of women—Crossing the Euphrates—Radford is poorly—Erzingan—The intendant of Issek Pacha—Pretty Armenian women—An intelligent Turk—Iron, silver, gold—Coal—Lead-mines worked by the Kurds—The peasantry and coal—The Government and the mines—A relation of the Pacha of Sivas—The old doctor—Firing a patient for gout.
There are 800 houses or about 4000 inhabitants in Kemach, and barley is very plentiful throughout the district, the price for the maintenance of my five horses not exceeding sevenpence per day.
This town had been visited by an English traveller about five years previous; whereas no Englishman, so far as I could learn, had been in Divriki or Arabkir in the memory of the oldest inhabitant.
The Caimacan, who informed me about my compatriot having been in Kemach, was very curious to learn my opinion about the impending war; and when I told him that I believed England would remain neutral, remarked,—
"Yes; but if we beat Russia, will England permit us to take back the Caucasus?"
"I really do not know, but I should hope so."