218 SHORT STALKS 



" Maimim Dagli," we struck our camp and journeyed 

 tliitlier. At tlie foot of this rano-e was a cliarmino; villao;e, 

 with a copious stream, which sprang full-bodied from the 

 living rock and worked numerous small mills, the splash- 

 iug of which, and the greenery of the walnut-trees, were 

 refreshing after our arid experiences. Every village has 

 its guest-house, and this one was comfortable, and the 

 Agha or headman hospitable. Indeed, that virtue, accord- 

 ing to our experience, is universal among the Turks in the 

 country districts. When any distinguished or very holy 

 persons are received as guests in the villages of the Turko- 

 mans, who must not be confounded with the Turks, I was 

 credibly informed that the hospitality of these people 

 extends to lengths which are surprising to our ideas of the 

 exclusiveness of the harem. 



The Aglia's friends Avere not less pleased than he to 

 see the foreigners eat. The host likes not only to enter- 

 tain the stranger, but to show off the latest lion to his 

 friends. These Turks are themselves very abstemious, 

 and our appetites seemed to astonish them. "Heaven 

 be praised ! the Efiendi wants more meat I What an 

 appetite ! " they said. Bouba's customary evening greet- 

 ing, "May your food sit heavy on you, my lords!" was 

 another sign of this friendly interest, and not tlie brutal 

 curse which it sounds like. 



A word here may not be out of place about the various 

 races which inhabit this land. Turks, Turkomans, Cir- 

 cassians, Yuruks, differ in their customs and modes of 

 life ; each race, generally speaking, living in villages apart 

 from the others. The Turks, according to our experience, 

 exhibited a more sincere and dignified, if less ostentatious. 



