Published by A. & C. BLACK, LTD., 4, 5 & 6, Soho Square, London, W. 1.[{436}]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The direct journey across the desert occupies about ten days, and this is the route followed by the Government pack mules which carry the mails; but we diverged slightly to the northward in order to visit Urfa, Diarbekr, and Mardin.
[2] Yaili is really a Turkish word meaning “springy.”
[3] Hierapolis, alias Bambyce, or Bembij, was sacred to the worship of Astarte. Here one of the most notable remains is a great underground conduit, with deep circular inspection pits descending into it at frequent intervals. An American lady inspecting these pits observed artlessly that “now she understood where all those columns came from.” Apparently she imagined that they had been extracted like so many corks!
[4] A Khanji keeps a khan (an inn), just as an Arabaji drives an araba (a carriage), or a Katarji a katar (a mule). The ji is simply a suffix meaning a worker.
[5] It may be said that the Government revenue is entirely derived from the land; and it is at least quaint to observe that the pet ideal of our own extremest Radicalism is at present actually realized (of all places in the world) in Turkey!
[6] An English cheque in Turkey will often pass from hand to hand like a banknote, and may be current for months before it reaches the bank. Indeed a cheque is more readily accepted than a banknote. It is more familiar to the money-changers. Also, if it gets purloined in the post, the loss is more easily recoverable.
[7] Weights and measures are in a similar state of chaos: e.g. each village has its own “stone” (a real material stone varying in size and weight ad libitum), and will sell its produce by no other standard.