If a bombshell had exploded in the room where I was sitting, there could not have been greater consternation than that which was evinced by the members of my host's family. Springing to their feet, they fled from the building—an old woman very nearly upsetting Radford's cooking-pot in her haste to escape into the open air. The captain looked at me, and then indulged in a sort of suppressed laugh.
"What has frightened them?" I inquired.
"Effendi," he replied, "you mentioned the word 'Shaitan' (devil). It is very lucky for you," continued the old man, "that there are five of us, and we are all well armed; for, if not, the Yezeeds would have attacked our party for a certainty. Any disaster which may happen in this village during the next twelve months will be put down to you. If a man's cow or camel dies, the fellow will say that it is all your fault; the sooner we continue our march the better."
It was getting late; the inhabitants had withdrawn to some distance from their houses, they were gazing at our party with lowering brows. I would gladly have repaired the mischief that I had done; but an apology might have only made matters worse. I was the more sorry, as I had hoped to have had the opportunity of questioning the Yezeeds as to some of their customs. What I had heard about them from the Turks was so different to what is related of this singular people by Mr. Layard in his admirable work, "Nineveh and its Remains," that I had become rather sceptical as to the veracity of my informants. The old captain, however, consoled me by saying that, on my journey from Van to Kars, I should have to pass by many other Yezeed villages, and would there be able to pursue my inquiries upon this subject.
Very shortly after leaving our halting-place, the guide stopped, and said something to the officer.
"What is he saying?" I inquired.
"The summit of this hill is the border-line," was the reply. In another minute we had entered the territory of the Shah.
The track was good and firm; although there was plenty of snow on the hills, there was but little on the plain below. After a few hours' march, we halted for the night in a village called Kelise Kandy.
The Usebashe was well known to the chief proprietor in the district, and, coming out to meet us, he invited our party to enter his house.
Kelise Kandy is a large village, and much cleaner than any of those which I had seen on the Turkish side of the frontier. The houses were well built, and many of them whitewashed. Several haystacks were in a yard belonging to our host, hundreds of sheep and cattle stood in a large enclosure near his dwelling.