438 
CONSULAR EXPERIENCES IN TURKEY. 
J ourney 
through 
Sassoun. 
while the wood was beaten towards os. A bear was soon on foot, but 
some one in our line fired a shot and the bear broke back through 
the line of beaters without coming out into the open. 
On my way back to Van from Kochannes I met Mr. Rassam on his 
way from Nineveh to Van, to finish the excavations of the old city 
which I had begun. He had spent the previous night in the en¬ 
campment of the Hartushi Kurds, one of the great nomad tribes. 
The chief of this tribe had told him that he wished very much to be 
reconciled with the Tiyari Nestorians with whom he had a feud, as 
their hostility forced his tribe to make a long detour on their way from 
their winter to their summer pasturages. Mr. Rassam said he expected 
to meet me and would ask me to try and arrange matters. I accor¬ 
dingly turned back to the Kurdish camp, where I was received by 
Hajji Agha, the chief, a very fine-looking young man over 6 feet in 
height. I spent the night in his camp, very picturesque with the 
large black tents of camel hair and, having talked over the matter 
with him, I decided to return to Kochannes and get Mar Shimoun to 
send for the headmen of Tiyari, so as to try and effect the reconcilia¬ 
tion. Unfortunately the Tiyari Nestorians were at strong variance 
with Mar Shimoun and refused to obey his summons, so that, after 
waiting several days, I had to return to Van without having made 
peace. I heard afterwards that the Tiyari men were very sorry they 
had not come. 
I may mention one more journey, as it led through Sassoun where 
the first of the recent massacres took place and some of the incidents 
throw a light on the state of the country. 
I had gone to Sert, via Bitlis, and I wished to get to Mush without 
retracing my steps through Bitlis. The people of Sert said it would 
not be possible to get through that part of the country, it was so wild, 
but, if I wished it strongly, I had better go to the Pasha who was en¬ 
camped three days off at the foot of the mountains. He was an old 
friend of mine, so I willingly adopted this course. I found him en¬ 
camped with a small military force in a delightful spot. His tent was 
pitched in a grove of trees in a valley between fine hills and a small 
stream ran in front of the tent and had been dug out to form a small 
pool. It was delightfully cool after the terrific heat of Sert arid the 
journey thence. The Pasha said there would be no difficulty in my 
getting to Mush, he would send two troopers with me and tell the chief 
of the neighbouring Kurdish village to send twenty of his men in 
addition for the first day’s journey with letters to the chiefs of the 
two villages, where I should have to sleep on the way, to tell them to 
send an escort of their men each for a day’s journey. I stayed a couple 
of days with the Pasha and then set out. The way was very difficult, 
through high mountains, the path in many places being a mere shelf 
about a couple of feet wide in an almost precipitous hillside and with 
very steep, rugged pitches in other places, up which one could only 
just manage to drag the loaded horses. We passed several villages on 
the way, looking better than most of those in this country, for the 
houses were neatly built of stone and were surrounded by trees and 
