ON THE NOMAD TRIBES OF ASIA MINOR. 543 
distinctly Christian origin: ‘the image of Ali,’ as they call it, is passed 
round and partaken of by each of the guests; first the Seid, or priest, 
drinks some and hands it to his right-hand neighbour, who kisses his 
hand and passes it on: whereas a distinct trace of Judaism is found in 
the Persian mountains—a sheep without blemish is roasted without its 
hoofs and horns, and the Seid distributes the meat in portions to the 
assembled worshippers; but I could not find that this was done at the 
Ansairee feasts in the Cilician plain. Some say, whether from this cause 
I know not, that the Ansairee are Canaanites, descendants of those whom 
the children of Israel cast out of Palestine; but I do not see any 
foundation for this theory. 
With the Christians the Ansairee observe Epiphany, the feast of 
St. John the Baptist, the feast of Mary Magdalene, Good Friday, and 
Christmas. One of their prayers for Christmas Eve, the feast of Melad 
as they call it, is very curious: ‘Thou didst manifest in that night thy 
name, which is thy soul, thy veil, thy throne to all creatures as a child, 
and under human form’; but whilst they do not believe in the Crucifixion, 
but say that Ali took up Kesa to himself, as they call Jesus, they will at 
the same time go to the Greek church at Tarsus on Good Friday, and, 
like the Greeks, pass under the representation of the Entombment, appear- 
ing to derive physical good from so doing. 
Epiphany is called by them the feast of Yetas, and on this day the 
Ansairee of Tarsus go in parties to the banks of the river Cydnus, perform 
their ablutions, and wash their clothes. 
Some of their prayers to or invocations of Aliare really very beautiful, 
and great solemnity is a feature in their worship, silence being always 
observed ‘over the myrtle,’ as they term their services, from the myrtle 
boughs which are spread for them to sit upon. Sometimes before the 
Sheikh or Seid a bowl of water is placed, and olive-twigs are put inside. 
Afterwards these are distributed to the people, who stick them in their 
gardens and beehives for good luck. From a Greek of Tarsus, who 
professed to have been eye-witness of one of their services from a lemon- 
tree in a remote garden, I had evidence confirming the use of the myrtle 
amongst them as a sacred plant. It is very plentiful in this locality, and 
the name of the town, Mersina, is derived from it. 
At Tarsus the Ansairee are all gardeners, and own most of the pro- 
ductive gardens filled with oranges, lemons, and pomegranates, which 
surround the city; their love of flowers is excessive. Ansairee women, 
who go about unveiled, wear an extravagant number of flowers in their 
hair, and at an Ansairee wedding I witnessed the display of flowers was 
magnificent; the women dance publicly before men, a thing which 
greatly scandalises the Turks, who would not so much as touch a piece 
of meat which had been killed by an Ansairee. Their Sheikh goes once a 
week to the Mosque for appearance sake. 
Sheikh Hassan is the chief of the Kalazians at Tarsus, and one of 
the richest men in the place; he has a fine open countenance, ruddy 
complexion, and long grey beard; he told me that he came to Tarsus 
with others of his race from the Lebanon about fifty years ago, probably 
the time of the first Ansairee colony in Cilicia ; they were poor, and came 
in search of work, but now by their industry they have got most of the 
good land of Tarsus into their own hands, and they are reported to be 
10,000 strong. Be this as it may, they practically govern the town, and 
dictate to the Turkish governor what terms they please. Many entire 
