TURKEY IN ASIA. 



907 



Tartar. 



Tartar IVomen. 



and although, owing to the clangers of the roads, and the want of facilities of uitercomiiiunica- 

 tion, the commerce of this fine country is only a shadow of what it has been, still its central 

 position between Europe, Asia, and Africa, the rich productions of ils soil, and tiie manu 

 factures of the great cities, sustain an active and profitable trade. 



11. Inhabitants, Manners, &c. The inhabitants are various, and many of them may be 



ranked as nations. They are Turks, 

 Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Arabs, 

 Turcomans, Koords or Curds, and 

 others. The dress of the Turks is 

 principally the same as in European 

 Turkey, and that of the other nations 

 composing the Asiatic dominions, has 

 a general resemblance to it. The 

 languages are Turkish, Arabic, Chal- 

 dee, Koordish, Lingua Franca, and 

 a motley mixture of all these. 



The character of the population is 

 various and discordant. The Turk 

 is everywhere the same haughty, in- 

 dolent being. The Armenian is timid, 

 obsequious, fi'ugal, industrious, and 

 avaricious. He traverses all coun- 

 tries for gain, and generally the fac- 

 tors of the Turks, the merchants, and 

 mechanics, are Armenians. They 

 are a very ancient people ; pliant to circumstances, bending to authority, and living by peaceful 

 pursuits ; they have an animated physiognomy and good features ; they live in large families, 

 closely united. The Jews do not essentially differ from them. The Greek is, as elsewhere, 



subtile, cheerful, and adroit. The 

 Turcomans are boisterous, igno- 

 rant, brave, and hospitable ; they 

 will shed their blood in defence of 

 those with whom they have eaten. 

 The Koords are robbers and 

 thieves, and one tribe is often at 

 war with another. The amuse- 

 ments of the various people, that 

 inhabit Asiatic Turkey, are not 

 of an intellectual or refined char- 

 acter. Tricks of jugglers, exhi- 

 bitions of dancing females, feats 

 of horsemanship, and recitals of 

 stories, are common. The an- 

 nexed cut represents an oriental 

 conversazione. The arts ai'e in a 

 very low state, and the chief end 

 of education seems to be to read 

 the Koran. The prevailing reli- 

 gion is the Mahometan. 'I'here 

 are a great many Christians, chiefly 

 of the Armenian or of the Greek 

 church ; the Chaldean Christians have been able to maintain a political ascendency, and Ma- 

 hometanism is barely tolerated among them ; they do not permit the muezzin to make his call 

 for prayers. Polygamy is not uncommon among the Mahometans, though it is chiefly con- 

 fined to the rich. The government is that of the Pachas, appointed by the Porte, and the laws 

 are the same as in European Turkey, principally the precepts of the Koran. Justice, how- 

 ever, is seldom obtained by an appeal to them, and there is little security for property or ]i(p. 



Jin. Oriental Conversazione. 



