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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



houses, robbing our shops, and carrying 

 off our wives and daughters. Now you 

 have come and we shaU be safe, but look 

 out that they don't shoot you unawares." 



So it went on aU day, for a deep plot 

 had been laid by the reactionaries. 

 About four o'clock a soldier was actu- 

 ally shot, not by Armenians, but, as is 

 generally agreed, by some Turk who 

 thought it worth while to sacrifice a sol- 

 dier for the sake of inflaming the rest. 



The plot v/as successful. The soldiers 

 became fully convinced of the perfidy of 

 the Armenians, their stolid minds were 

 inflamed, and nothing but a massacre 

 would satisfy theni. The soldiers be- 

 lieved that they were slaughtering their 

 enemies and the enemies of their faith. 

 They did not stop to think or reason ; 

 they simply accepted what was told them 

 by those in authority, especially by the 

 religious leaders. 



The Turk is a slow man, mild and 

 gentle and easy to deal with on ordinary 

 occasions, but when he is aroused I ^ 

 loses all common sense and is a meie 

 wild animal. This contrast between his 

 ordinary mildness and his occasional 

 ferocity is the explanation of much in 

 his history. Possibly it has something 

 to do with the fact that for long ages 

 before his arrival in Asia Minor, six or 

 eight centuries ago, his ancestors lived 

 the life of nomads in the deserts of Cen- 

 tral Asia. Such a life consists chiefly 

 of long periods of passive inactivity, 

 when the cattle and flocks are grazing 

 peacefully and a man has no need to 

 think, for there is nothing to do except 

 watch the women work. Now and then, 

 however, there come periods of the most 

 intense and exhausting activity, when 

 the animals are lost or are in peril from 

 storms, wild animals, or raiders. Then 

 the nomad becomes well nigh a mono- 

 maniac, and will endure almost unlimited 

 privation and distress to accomplish his 

 purpose. 



To come back now to the two divisions 

 of Asia Minor, the Cilician plain belongs, 

 of course, to the well-watered coastal 

 region. Going northward across it, one 

 soon comes to the narrow valley which 



leads up to the Cilician Gates. Mag- 

 nificent pine trees cover the mountain 

 slopes, for rain falls even in the summer, 

 when most parts of Asiatic Turkey are 

 suffering from four or five months of 

 absolute drought. 



On our first night out from Tarsus 

 we slept on the flat roof of the khan, or 

 inn, but had to get up in the middle of 

 the night and carry our beds under the 

 shelter of a booth of leaves. Twenty 

 miles seaward or 20 miles landward 

 there was probably no rain, but we were 

 in just the position wher'^ the air rising 

 up the slope of the mountains was cooled 

 sufficiently to give up its moisture. 



In the khans the talk was still of the 

 massacres at xAdana, and especially of the 

 punishment meted out to some of those 

 who had taken part in them. The Turks 

 did not seem to be much impressed by 

 the fact that six Armenians had been 

 hung for shooting some of the Moham- 

 medan mob, in the attempt to defend 

 their homes and families and their own 

 lives. What cViO impress them was the 

 nine Moslems who had swung for kill- 

 ing Christians. 



To many it seemed to be an absolutely 

 new idea that a Turk could be punished 

 for any wrong done to an Armenian. 

 "What," they said; ''hang a Turk for 

 killing a Christian ! It cannot be. They 

 surely would never do that." 



And then one of them, wishing to 

 clear his own skirts, told how some one 

 had offered him a horse stolen from a 

 Christian at the time of the massacre. 

 He had refused to buy it, although the 

 price was extremely low, because, for- 

 sooth, it had been stolen. The man may 

 have been lying, but the fact that he 

 should think it worth while to lie in re- 

 gard to such a matter is significant. 

 Formerly he would have boasted of 

 plundering Christians ; but now a new 

 spirit is beginning to spread abroad, 

 vaguely and unconsciously, to be sure, 

 but with possibilities of growth. 



The gorge leading up to the Cilician 

 Gates is a fine bit of scenery, much bet- 

 ter illustrated by pictures than described 

 by words. The gate itself well deserves 



