^ 
 
 sT 
 
 z')/
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA
 
 THE CATHOLICOS OF ARMENIA, 
 
 WITH ETCHMIADZIN CATHEDRAL AND MOUNT ARARAT IN THE BACKGROUND. 
 
 From a Photograph by the Monks o/ Etchmiadzin.
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA 
 
 THE RECORD OF A JOURNEY ACROSS THE BALKANS 
 
 THROUGH TURKEY, THE CAUCASUS, 
 
 AND PERSIA IN 
 
 1895 
 
 E. A. BRAYLEY HODGETTS 
 
 AUTHOR OF "IN THE TRACK OF THE RUSSIAN FAMINE," ETC. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON AND COMPANY 
 
 LIMITED 
 
 Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, 'E.C. 
 1896 
 
 ' Vl ■ c.
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITKI), 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CKOSS.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The book herewith offered to the public is in no 
 sense a reprint of the letters which appeared in the 
 Daily Graphic in the first half of last year, but is a 
 consecutive record of my travels in the East in 1895, 
 written in the light of the most recent events. 
 
 In this record I have laboured rather to explain the 
 causes which have brought about the present state of 
 affairs in Asia Minor, than to excite the passions of 
 the reader by a recital of the repulsive details of 
 cruelty which attended the massacres. Those details 
 are unfit for publication, and, in my opinion, unless it 
 is possible to publish a full and exhaustive body of 
 evidence, it is better to limit the statement to general 
 terms. Besides, the Blue Books have already made 
 accessible to the public a sufficiently blood-curdling 
 series of authentic " atrocities." 
 
 The objection may be raised that as my journey 
 was undertaken in the first half of 1895, the wholesale 
 massacres with which Asia Minor was visited since 
 then could not have come under my observation, and
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 that, therefore, the present book belongs to a chapter 
 of the ancient history of the Armenian Question, but 
 cannot pretend to take in the entire situation. With 
 this view I may be permitted to disagree. The 
 tactics of the ruHng Powers of Turkey have not 
 altered, the policy remains the same, and, notwith- 
 standing the popular outbreak in Constantinople, 
 which the Ambassadors to the Porte themselves as- 
 serted in their Collective Note was carefully planned 
 at Yildiz Kiosk, the situation is stationary, except that 
 the massacre of a few thousand Armenians in the 
 streets of Constantinople seems to have excited 
 English public opinion far more than the nameless 
 horrors perpetrated over the entire extent of Turkish 
 Armenia. 
 
 In thQ Pall Mall Gazette for January 14th, 1896, I 
 summed up, in an article entitled " The Revolutionary 
 Movement in Armenia," the state of affairs in the 
 following words : — 
 
 " Turkey, egged on by Russia, has been wiping out the 
 Armenians in order to suppress the revolutionary move- 
 ment, which has been fed by Russian Armenians, and with 
 Armenian gold. ... By thus wiping out the Armenians in her 
 traditional manner, she has brought her own disintegration 
 within visible distance, and Russia, posing as the friend of 
 peace, the protector of Christians, and the great humani- 
 tarian Power of Eastern Europe, is quietly sitting down, 
 pretending to help both Europe and Turkey, but really 
 obstructing them all, and calmly waiting for the fulness of 
 time when Turkey will fall to pieces, and she will i)ick up
 
 PRE FA CE. ix 
 
 the fragments. In the meantime, the Armenians, who 
 wanted to found an independent Armenia, are being 
 massacred, and perfidious England gets all the blame ', 
 while Germany and Austria, fearful of opening up the 
 Eastern Question, are backing up Russian diplomacy. 
 Verily Prince Lobanofif-Rostovski is a second Bismarck. 
 But the end is not yet, and what that end will be depends 
 upon so many factors that he would be a bold man who 
 would venture on a prophecy." 
 
 Nothing has happened since those words were 
 written to alter my view of the situation. In my 
 opinion, the duty and interests of England are clear, 
 and I am glad to see that such authorities as Canon 
 MacColl and Mr. James Bryce, M.P., seem to share 
 my sentiments. Mr. Bryce, who is perhaps at once 
 one of the greatest living authorities on International 
 Law and on Armenia, said, in a letter read at the 
 Corn Exchange Meeting at Oxford, and published in 
 the Times for September 25th, 1896 : — 
 
 " Do not let us assume that the action of Britain is 
 confronted by the risk of European war. The documents 
 bearing on the question, so far as they are known to us, 
 supply no sufficient ground for this assumption, and the real 
 danger to the peace of Europe seems rather to lie in a 
 continuance of the reign of terror in Constantinople and 
 Asia Minor, which must ultimately bring about the inter- 
 ference of some at least of the Powers under circumstances 
 far more likely to lead to a conflict than would the removal 
 from the throne he has disgraced of the author of these 
 misdeeds." 
 
 That is pretty plain language. Those who still
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 place their faith in Russia should read Lord Robert 
 Montagu's interesting book on " The Eastern Ques- 
 tion," published in 1877 by Messrs. Chapman and 
 Hall, in which a masterly picture of the policy of 
 Russia is presented, and where the author illustrates, 
 by extracts from the despatches of our Ambassador 
 to the Court of St. Petersburg, Lord Augustus Loftus, 
 what sort of treatment the Armenians may expect 
 from the benignant rule of Russia. The atrocities 
 committed by the Cossacks on the Uniate Greek 
 Catholics of Poland were only one degree less horrible 
 than those perpetrated in the name of the Sultan 
 upon the Armenians. 
 
 We are going through a critical period in our 
 history, for there is a general tendency among the 
 Powers to hustle us at every turn, whether with the 
 object of forcing us to join one or the other of the 
 opposing camps of European politics, as some suppose, 
 or simply with the view to weakening us, as I think 
 more probable, does not signify. I believe that, if we 
 do not actively intervene in Turkey, we shall presently 
 find the diplomatical chess-board so disposed that we 
 shall be at a great disadvantage. The examples of 
 Siam, China, and Madagascar are not alarming, but 
 they are significant. 
 
 On October 31st, 1895, Vanity Fair published an 
 article in which I said : — 
 
 " Whatever happens there can be little doubt that we are, 
 diplomatically, in hot water everywhere. At this juncture,
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 especially after the Armenian fiasco, it would be well for us 
 to take to heart the advice of Polonius to Laertes : ' Be- 
 ware of entrance to a quarrel ; but, being in, bear it, that 
 the opposer may beware of thee.' For the rest we have been 
 in the same predicament before, especially at the beginning 
 of the present century. Curiously enough, these periods 
 have synchronised with those of our greatness." 
 
 I do not think that our international position has 
 improved since the above was written, and I fail to 
 see what object can be served by holding public 
 meetings to denounce the Sultan if we always make 
 it clear that nothing will induce us to take independent 
 and active steps to translate our sentiments into acts. 
 
 We have lived at peace with all the world for so 
 long that it is difficult for us to bring ourselves to face, 
 in any other than an academic attitude, the possible 
 contingency of having to fight for our national exist- 
 ence, to say nothing of our Empire. But it would 
 seem that that contingency is not so remote as some 
 people suppose. 
 
 I have appended to this book the best map of 
 Armenia that I could find, and I hope the reader will 
 agree in pronouncing it to be excellent ; yet it fails 
 to indicate all the places where massacres have 
 occurred. I have, however, marked in red a sufficient 
 number to give a fairly good general idea of the area 
 over which they have extended. 
 
 A word about the Armenians themselves. These 
 much abused people, although undoubtedly sharing in
 
 xii PREFACE. 
 
 the vices common to oppressed nationalities, struck 
 me in the main as being a fine, sturdy, and industrious 
 race, who, under favourable conditions, could develop 
 into a respectable and vigorous nation. 
 
 E. A. Brayley Hodgetts. 
 
 39, Redcliffe Square, 
 
 South Kensington, 
 September, i Sg6.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 I. — Sofia and Constantinople 
 
 11. — The Black Sea to Trebizond 
 
 III. — TiFLis, THE Queen of the Caucasus 
 
 IV. — The State of Parties in Russian 
 Armenia ..... 
 
 V. — The Sassun Massacres . 
 
 VI. — Resources and Economic Condition of 
 Turkish Armenia 
 
 VII. — Social Amenities .... 
 
 VIII.— Baku . . . . . 
 
 IX. — Across the Caspian to Resht 
 
 X. — On Horseback to Tabreez 
 
 XI. — Tabreez to Erivan 
 
 XII. — Etchmiadzin ..... 
 
 XIII. — The Russian Shores of the Blaciv Sea 
 
 XIV. — The Armenian Question 
 
 I 
 
 24 
 43 
 
 62 
 
 135 
 
 147 
 167 
 189 
 208 
 226 
 
 245 
 266 
 
 Index ..... . 291
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 It was in the January of 1895 that I started, for the 
 Daily Graphic, on a journey of investigation into 
 the Armenian atrocities. It was my first visit to the 
 East. Russia I knew well, I had travelled over 
 the principal countries of Europe, and had been as 
 far west as New York ; but I felt that until I had 
 seen Constantinople I could not pretend to know 
 anything about the world. 
 
 It was therefore with a feeling of more than or- 
 dinary excitement and anticipation that I took my 
 seat in the train which was to whirl me direct to the 
 capital of the Osmanli. 
 
 For equipment for my mission I had two general 
 ideas. One developed out of my inner consciousness, 
 the other obtained from a friend in London who had 
 special means of hearing the views of the ruling 
 powers in Turkey. For the sake of convenience 
 
 15
 
 IWUAD ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 I will state my friend's theory of the massacres 
 before giving my own. 
 
 He said in the first place that there had been no 
 massacres at all, and in the second that the dis- 
 turbances had arisen out of some disputes between 
 Kurds and Armenians, which the Turks had put down 
 with some severity, and that that was all there was to 
 be said. 
 
 The theory I had evolved out of my inner conscious- 
 ness was equally simple. It was that history was 
 repeating itself, and that we were on the eve of the 
 enfranchisement of Armenia. The dissolution of the 
 Turkish Empire has been going on piecemeal for 
 the last century or so by provinces. l'>ach province 
 falls away from Turkey very much on the following 
 lines. First, there is a revolutionary movement, then 
 there are massacres, which enlist the sympathy of 
 Europe. These are succeeded by an organised re- 
 bellion ; the rebels are assisted by foreign volunteers, 
 and generally obtain their independence. It was 
 more or less on these lines that the independence of 
 Greece and of the many states of the Balkan penin- 
 sula has been achieved, and I thought that we had 
 before us once more a similar national movement. 
 
 Looking back upon all I have seen, heard, and read, 
 I am now inclined to believe that, after all, my own 
 theory was not so far out. According to this theory 
 of course it would be necessary to assume that the 
 massacres were provoked by designing persons, whose;
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 3 
 
 object it was to excite the indignation of European 
 public opinion against the Turks. Emancipators are 
 usually rather careless about spilling the blood of 
 the people they wish to emancipate. One historical 
 axiom it is well to bear in mind — whenever Turkey 
 is about to lose a province she first massacres the 
 population. 
 
 As we go on, however, we shall see that general 
 ideas, excellent as they are, are apt to be complicated 
 with special ideas, and that the situation in Armenia 
 is not quite so simple or so easy of comprehension 
 as would at first appear. 
 
 Having stated my general idea, the reader will not 
 be surprised to learn that I determined to make a 
 halt at Sofia on my way to Constantinople, to en- 
 deavour to ascertain there whether there was not 
 going on simultaneously with the Armenian move- 
 ment a Macedonian movement. 
 
 Subsequent events have shown that I was not 
 mistaken in my surmise, but I had omitted several 
 factors from my calculation. One was the appoint- 
 ment of Prince Lobanoff Rostovski to the Chancellor- 
 ship of the Russian Empire, and the return by him 
 to the old active policy of Russia. I knew Prince 
 Lobanoff Rostovski w^as going to succeed M. de Giers, 
 and I knew that he was one of the ablest diplomatists 
 and statesmen Russia possessed ; but even so I find 
 I underrated his ability. He has proved more than 
 a match for the whole of Europe. The other factor 
 
 B 2
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 was the murder of Stambuloff and the consequences 
 of that disaster on the political attitude of Bulgaria. 
 That Stambuloff was a doomed man everybody knew, 
 and nobody better than Stambuloff himself, but that 
 Bulgaria should after his death have thrown itself 
 without reservation into the arms of Russia, even 
 M, Sto'iloff did not suspect at the time. These 
 two factors have altered the course of events. Had 
 Macedonia risen, as was intended, Turkey would have 
 had her hands full, and Russia could not have inter- 
 fered to help her in Armenia. All this is now 
 changed, for the moment at least, though we may 
 yet see another turn in the kaleidoscope of continental 
 politics. 
 
 One thing seems to be certain, the Powers appear 
 to have made up their minds that the lives of a few 
 thousand Armenians, more or less, are not worth 
 incurring the risk of a European war. But this is not 
 the first time that the Powers have tried to prevent a 
 war over the Eastern question ; nevertheless, they 
 have not been invariably successful. 
 
 The train which took me to Vienna was represented 
 to me as a through train from Ostend to Constanti- 
 nople. It was nothing of the kind. It went to 
 Vienna directly enough, but there it stopped, and 
 I had to get out and take my chance of getting a 
 berth in the Oriental express from Paris. This is 
 a grievous inconvenience, and travellers should be 
 warned against it.
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 The train was certainly very luxurious, and went 
 through beautiful scenery. On board I met a British 
 artillery officer, who was going on leave of absence to 
 Egypt. Hearing that I was going to Armenia, he 
 asked me to allow him to accompany me, and I 
 accepted his offer with pleasure. I shall have more 
 to say of him presently. 
 
 The Sofia station is several miles from the town of 
 that name, and I was driven in an open carriage 
 drawn by two horses along a road which was covered 
 with mud about a foot deep. In this conveyance I was 
 taken to the only hotel which Sofia boasts, the Hotel 
 Bulgaria. It was fairly clean, roomy, and comfortable, 
 but the food was execrable. The police regulations 
 were easy, I was not bothered about my passport, 
 
 Sofia is little better than a village, it is a sort of 
 Slough of Despond, surrounded by hills, and paved, 
 like the road to another place, with good intentions, 
 and nothing else. There are one or two houses in 
 this curious capital of the peasant state which look as 
 though they might have belonged to the outermost 
 outskirts of Berlin or even Paris, but with these 
 exceptions, and the really pretty palace of the Prince, 
 the handsome public park, and a few villas, the town 
 of Sofia is not unlike the town of Trebizond, or any 
 other third-rate Turkish city. 
 
 To me it was strangely suggestive of Thackeray's 
 celebrated Pumpernickel. There was an air of un- 
 reality about everything. The bodyguard of the
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Prince is composed of a squadron of hussars without 
 horses. The Prime Minister presides over a Council 
 of Ministers composed principally of himself. At the 
 time I was at Sofia he was Minister of the Interior, 
 Minister of P^inance, and half a dozen other Ministers 
 all rolled into one. The Prince's private secretary 
 has some tremendous high-sounding office, that of 
 Chief of Chancellerie, I believe, and everybody has a 
 title ; all educated Bulgarians are doctors. 
 
 But if the state and pomp of the little peasant 
 principality seem somewhat like that of the Grand 
 Duchy of Geroldstein, the army is not an army/^v/r 
 rire at all, but a very serious body. A nation under 
 arms must be serious, but when that nation is com- 
 posed of hardy peasants, and the soldiers average six 
 feet in their stockings, and are broad shouldered and 
 well set up, it is most impressive. As there is no 
 aristocracy in Bulgaria, the officers are peasants too, 
 and fine men they are, dignified and workman-like, 
 thoroughly smart and soldierly, but without the least 
 vestige of swagger. I had seen some Servian troops 
 on my journey through that country, and was much 
 struck by the contrast between them and the Bul- 
 garians. The Servians I saw were a slouching untidy 
 lot, not to be compared with the quiet earnest 
 Bulgarians. During my stay at Sofia I had the good 
 fortune to see a review, and I was astounded at the 
 precision and smartness of the men. They marched 
 better than German or Russian troops.
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 Thus the first impression produced upon the mind 
 by Sofia is comic. You see the gorgeous princely 
 palace in this desert of mud, the smart sentries and 
 the smart officers rubbing shoulders with slovenly 
 dirty peasants in a slovenly dirty village, and you feel 
 inclined to laugh. But you look up at the frowning 
 snow-clad Balkans towering over you, and down again 
 upon the earnest simple faces of these soldiers and 
 peasants, and you feel that this is no swaggering 
 burlesque, but very serious real life. These men 
 have fought for their independence ; they have spent 
 their blood and their hard-earned coin to get their 
 freedom, and they are terribly in earnest. That is 
 indeed the whole secret of Bulgarian independence 
 — everybody is in grim earnest. The Bulgarians do 
 not care about amusements. Sofia has no theatres, 
 only cafes. The principal articles of merchandise 
 seem to be newspapers and revolvers. The papers 
 are not filled with gossip and chit-chat, but arc deadly 
 serious, so are the people in the cafes who discuss 
 them. It is not safe to contradict a Bulgarian. 
 Another peculiarity of Sofia is that you see no old 
 men there. I only saw one myself, and I am per- 
 suaded that he was an accident. . The tradespeople 
 arc mostly Austrians, and the fathers of the young 
 men who are serving their country, or making history 
 at the Sobranye, are minding their farms. 
 
 During the few days that I stayed at Sofia I saw 
 Dr. Stoilofif, Mr. Stambulofif, Sir Arthur Nicolson, and
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 many other notabilities. Prince Ferdinand refused 
 to see me, because he had ascertained that I had 
 previously called on Sir Arthur Nicolson, whose 
 children were down with chicken-pox, and the health 
 of Prince Boris is guarded with almost superstitious 
 care. Dr. Stoiloff, who spoke P2nglish perfectly, 
 impressed me very favourably. He was full of fiscal 
 reforms. With regard to Russia, he gave me to 
 understand that Bulgaria had no intention of reviving 
 the days of the Russian occupation, and did not 
 intend to make concessions to Russia without receiv- 
 ing something in return. Prince Ferdinand's private 
 secretary expressed himself very much to the same 
 effect, and said that Bulgarians were " Slavs '' and 
 long-headed. 
 
 My visit to Stambuloff was surrounded with a 
 certain atmosphere of romance. In the first place, it 
 was not easy to get admission. I rang the bell at the 
 door of his low and simple dwelling, but it was some 
 time before it was answered, and even then his 
 servant would not let me in, but demanded my 
 business, took my card, and slammed the door in my 
 face. I waited fully five minutes on the doorstep 
 before I was admitted. Finally I was ushered into 
 Stambuloff's sanctum, which looked more hke an 
 armoury than a study, so well provided was it with 
 revolvers and guns. 
 
 Stambuloff received me with much simplicity of 
 manner. Not tall in stature, he had a face disfigured
 
 SOFIA AXD CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 by a pair of black and straight bushy eyebrows, and a 
 frown like that of Ivan the Terrible. His face was 
 pale, rather soft and plump about the cheeks, and 
 he had most uncanny black eyes. I had never seen 
 eyes like his before. They looked absolutely small, 
 leaden, and dead, and then they could flash out bright 
 and glowing, full of life and passion, and of genius. 
 But there was something secretive and reserved about 
 Stambulofif, though he spoke frankly enough to me. 
 In all he said I felt that he was scrupulously honest, 
 and even morbidly afraid of influencing me by the 
 angry passions which I could see surging up in his 
 nervous face. I could not help feeling, as I talked to 
 him and heard him talk, that his mind was like a 
 seething cauldron, but unfathomable. From Stam- 
 buloff" I gathered that the annexation of Macedonia 
 was but a question of time, and from my conversa- 
 tions with the various gentlemen I named I arrived at 
 the following conclusions. 
 
 Bulgaria has no industries and no capital, and is 
 groaning under excessive taxation. Owing to the 
 capitalisation treaties with Turkey, Bulgaria, which 
 is a vassal state of Turkey, is hopelessly handicapped 
 by Austria. Austrian trade in Eastern Europe is a 
 very much more important factor than we in England 
 perhaps think. At present Bulgaria is in the hands 
 of Austria. Her alternative is to throw herself into 
 the arms of Russia. In order to maintain a large and 
 magnificent army, Bulgaria is being slowly ruined.
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 There is only one way of averting this ruin, that is 
 by conquest. It is no use bHnking this question. 
 But conquest of what ? Well, Macedonia. That will 
 mean the enmity of Greece and Servia. Of course if 
 Bulgaria could have carried out Stambuloff's idea and 
 formed a sort of triple alliance with Turkey and 
 Roumania, all might have been well ; she would have 
 been able to snap her fingers at Greece and Servia, 
 and even escape from the upper and nether millstones 
 of Russia and Austria. But that was not to be. The 
 affairs of Bulgaria have fallen out of the iron hand of 
 Stambulofif into the supple grasp of Prince Ferdinand, 
 whose one ambition is to become a recognised ruler. 
 Whether that ambition will be gratified for long 
 remains to be seen. 
 
 The present situation in Bulgaria is therefore briefly 
 this : Here is a peasant population, surrounded by 
 enemies, which has maintained itself, armed to the 
 teeth, in spite of its foes, who are now, however, 
 sapping its vitals. The country imports all manu- 
 factured articles, and must pay for them with corn, 
 wine, and cattle. But both Russia and Austria are 
 agricultural as well as industrial countries, and it does 
 not therefore signify greatly to l^ulgaria whether she 
 is exploited by one or the other. What is of conse- 
 quence is that to-day the markets of the world are 
 already glutted with agricultural produce. A peaceful 
 solution of Bulgaria's impulse is practically impossible, 
 and my own opinion is that Bulgaria will either
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 become a Russian province, which does not seem 
 probable, or will have to fight for her existence. If 
 she adopts the latter policy I believe that she will 
 come out strong, and may become the Prussia of the 
 Balkans. This I shrewdly suspect Stambulofif saw. 
 He would have secured the friendship of Austria, and 
 defied Russia. With the Armenian rebellion in one 
 corner of her dominions, and a Macedonian rising in 
 the other, Turkey would have been helpless ; but 
 Stambulofif is no more, the political cards have been 
 shuffled, and Russia holds all the trumps. I do not 
 think, however, that the English people need take 
 more than a platonic interest in the Balkans. Some 
 time or other there will be a disturbance of the centre 
 of gravity in those regions, but for the present at least 
 that time seems to have been postponed indefinitely. 
 Several friends of mine have told me that in the view 
 I take of the condition of Bulgaria I am prejudiced, 
 and that there is no reason whatever why that country 
 should not gently and peacefully develop. They 
 may be right, at the same time I must be allowed to 
 retain my prejudices. 
 
 Equipped with these prejudices, hastily acquired, 
 I went ofif to Constantinople. I will not dwell upon 
 the amusing experiences that I had on the Turkish 
 frontier. My own passport was in perfect order, but 
 in the same train there was an unfortunate French 
 engineer, who had no passport at all, and who further 
 excited the suspicions of the Turkish custom-house
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 authorities, by a very curious apparatus, which turned 
 out to be a photographic camera, and a couple of 
 mysterious boxes, which contained plates. These 
 plates he had to expose to the rude and puzzled gaze 
 of the ingenuous Turks ; but I am afraid I do not 
 remember his fate. Whether he was cruelly tortured 
 in a dark dungeon, or sewn up in a sack and thrown 
 into the Bosphorus, I am quite unable to say. On 
 board the train I received a very curious indication of 
 the way the wind was blowing in Germany. Among 
 the passengers was a German lawyer attached to the 
 German Embassy at Constantinople, and this gentle- 
 man on one occasion, while the conversation was 
 turning on the subject of the Armenian massacres, 
 expressed his compassion for the Sultan and the 
 unfortunate Turks, who were being so unjustly 
 calumniated and ill-treateJ. 
 
 " The poor Turk ! " he said, with much dignity, '' he 
 is so courteous and charming and amiable ; it really 
 is wicked that he should be thus persecuted and made 
 the subject of horrible accusations and political 
 intrigues ! " 
 
 I had hitherto rather stupidly supposed that the 
 Armenian was the person who was being persecuted, 
 but it is wonderful how the mind is enlarged by 
 travel. 
 
 On my arrival at Constantinople, in which capital 
 by the bye I was much disappointed, I met my friend 
 the artillery officer who had preceded me, and put
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 13 
 
 up at the right hotel, opened the campaign at the 
 Embassy for me, and had actually bought a map of 
 Armenia in the Grande Rue de Pera. I afterwards 
 discovered that the same map had been prohibited in 
 Russia, and when I wanted to get another copy at 
 Tiflis, I found that no shopkeeper could supply it. 
 One of the first people I met in Constantinople was 
 a gentleman, who told me he belonged to the young 
 Turkey party. His general views are so interesting 
 that I think I cannot do better than state them here, 
 especially as I discovered later that this gentleman 
 was a person of considerable political importance. I 
 will not do him the bad service of revealing his name, 
 especially as I do not know whether he has escaped 
 imprisonment or not. 
 
 In the first place he informed me, what has since 
 been corroborated by events, that Turkey was honey- 
 combed with revolutionary societies, but that there 
 was very little cohesion amongst them. "What is 
 sucking the vitals of Turkey," he said, " is polygamy. 
 Many of our young men recognise this, and do not 
 have more than one wife. But even so the women 
 are stupid and uneducated. We want in Turkey 
 clever, well-educated women to be the mothers of our 
 children, and to bring up a race which shall revolt 
 against the Iniquities of the present regime. The 
 subjugation of woman is the great curse of Turkey. 
 As long as the present family-life and general 
 structure of society continues in Turkey we shall go
 
 U ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 from bad to worse. There is nothing to save us. 
 The government is rotten. Those whom the Sultan 
 distrusts or who have disgraced themselves, but who 
 are too powerful to be punished, he makes governors 
 of distant provinces. The Sultan is absolutely wicked. 
 He has no sense of patriotism, no feeling of justice or 
 honesty. Do you know that he spends millions a 
 year on the press of Europe, in order to humbug and 
 bamboozle public opinion .'' But he allows his fleet to 
 rot. Do you know why } He is afraid that those 
 very vessels might be used against him. He trusts 
 nobody. His great fear is assassination. He lives 
 in terror of that all his days. His great passion is 
 avarice. He hoards and hoards, and all for no reason, 
 with no object. He is a miserable creature, with a 
 weak constitution, delicate chest, and a low type of 
 mind ; but he is very cunning. Some day or other, 
 however, he will be murdered, we shall have a revolu- 
 tion, and then Turkey will revive. The Turks are not 
 played out yet. They are a fine race, and they have 
 plenty of reserve force." 
 
 With regard to the Armenian massacres his views 
 were equally sharp and well-defined. 
 
 "How," said he, "could the Armenian survivors of 
 the massacres have written the letters which have 
 appeared in the press ? Those survivors are supposed 
 to be illiterate peasants. As a matter of fact, I know 
 that the letters were written in London in the rooms 
 of the agitators, they never came from Sassun ! What
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 15 
 
 really happened was this. The Kurds and Armenians 
 live in scattered villages, and there is no dividing line 
 to show where the Kurds leave ofif and the Armenians 
 begin. But the Kurds being Mahomedans, and the 
 Armenians Christians, conflicts continually arise be- 
 tween the two races. Sometimes, of course, these 
 conflicts assume larger proportions than usual, and it 
 is necessary for the Turkish troops to come and 
 establish order. This is what has happened at 
 Sassun. The Kurds and Armenians have had a more 
 than usually severe tussle, and so the governor of the 
 district sent troops to quell the disorders. When 
 these troops arrived at Sassun they found the Ar- 
 menians drawn up to receive them, for they mistook 
 them for Kurds. The Turkish troops, on the other 
 hand, thinking the Armenians had turned out to 
 resist them, opened fire on them, and thus a fight 
 was precipitated, in which women and children were 
 shot down as well as men ; but then the women were 
 armed. Out there the women are quite as good 
 fighters as the men." 
 
 It is quite unnecessary to make any comments on 
 these statements. I have little doubt that, as a 
 general review of the condition of things in Armenia, 
 my informant was for a Turk fairly impartial ; but 
 as I have already hinted, the Armenian question is 
 too intricate and too large to be settled oft" hand in 
 a few glib sentences. 
 
 The father of my friend, the artillery ofliccr, had
 
 i6 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 been engaged years ago upon the construction of the 
 great arsenal at Constantinople, the Top-hanc, and 
 the son was naturally very anxious to view it. He 
 therefore made application to the Grand Master of 
 the Ordnance, Zekki Pasha, and took me with him. 
 It was a most interesting visit. In the first place, I 
 must in fairness admit that Stamboul is a much fmer 
 city than Pera. The streets are broad and clean, the 
 air is pure, and the people look dignified and decent. 
 This cannot be said of the European city of Pera, 
 which is a dirty, dingy, disgusting collection of defile- 
 ment. The Grande Rue de Pera is for the best part 
 of its length narrow and filthy, with few shops, but no 
 pavements. Still Pera is an interesting place, on 
 account of the wonderful variety of national costume 
 which one meets in the streets ; and the view from the 
 hill, where the principal hotels are, into the Golden 
 Horn is really beautiful. P^or all that, Pera is not the 
 city of all others in which I should like to settle down 
 and spend my days. Besides, of recent years it has 
 become dull and monotonous ; there is a theatre for 
 Greek and Armenian plays, and a circus, and a very 
 vile cafe cJiantant, but beyond this there are no 
 amusements. There is scarcely a provincial town in 
 Russia which is not a more agreeable place to 
 live in. 
 
 The Top-hanc is situated in Galata, and is there- 
 fore half way between Stamboul and Pera. It is a 
 surprising place. The enormous entrance hall, to get
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 17 
 
 to which a dirty but spacious courtyard had to be 
 traversed, looked very much like a big stable. In it 
 were standing horses and carriages of all descriptions, 
 and there was a perpetual flow of persons coming 
 to see the officials. Many of these were English 
 mechanics, decked out in the uniform of the Turkish 
 army, and holding the rank of colonels and generals. 
 What struck me most about all the people was their 
 shortness of stature, and the slightness of build of 
 the younger men. Of course the older Turks were 
 very portly and podgy, but they were all small and 
 weak looking. Even the Englishmen were slight and 
 short, but they could be easily distinguished from 
 the Turks by reason of their fair complexion, clear 
 blue eyes, neat figures, and general smartness. We 
 ascended a broad wooden staircase, at the top of 
 which we were stopped by a sentry, and we had to 
 send a dragoman inside to explain our business 
 before we were admitted. These dragomans seem 
 to know everybody, and to have the open sesame 
 everywhere. They are generally in the pay of the 
 police, and those who are not thieves and scoundrels 
 are spies. Some combine the two functions. 
 
 At length we were ushered into a long low room, 
 badly lighted, the walls whitewashed, and the general 
 appearance anything but prepossessing. Here we 
 were kept waiting some time, and presently were 
 escorted by a smart young aide-de-camp, very 
 beautiful to look upon, and covered with gold lace, 
 
 C
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 into the presence of Zckki Pasha. His office was 
 furnished Hke a Russian drawing-room. In the 
 centre of the room, which was very large and air}% 
 stood a handsome writing-table, commodious and 
 elegant. Round this were placed a number of very 
 ordinary armchairs covered with some cheap kind of 
 red silk. The floor was handsomely carpeted. 
 
 Zekki Pasha is a quaint little man, with a fat 
 round back, a fat paunch, a hook nose, grey beard, 
 and spectacles. He received us with true Oriental 
 politeness, and spoke French, German, and English 
 perfectly, I learned later that he had been the tutor 
 of one of the Imperial Princes, and was in great 
 favour with the Sultan. He told my friend that he 
 must ask his master the Sultan for permission to let 
 him see the arsenal. Then coffee was served in 
 Turkish fashion with cigarettes, on a tawdry Russian 
 tray, and thereupon, without any warning, Zekki Pasha 
 began discoursing on the Armenian question. 
 
 His views were as quaint as he was himself. He 
 explained to us that Turks were not fanatics, and 
 that all educated men, no matter what their nation- 
 ality, had the same religion. I suppose he meant 
 that they had none at all. He said that a ruler had 
 the right to punish refractory subjects, and that the 
 Armenians had revolted against their ruler, and had 
 therefore been punished. The right of punishment 
 was accorded to the ruler of every civilised country. 
 It was a mistake to suppose that the Armenians were
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 19 
 
 a separate race. They were of no nationality. In 
 Constantinople there were 200,000 Armenians among 
 the population ; but the Armenians were a sect, not 
 a nation. They were tolerated, and enjoyed perfect 
 religious freedom. He thought it was unwise of 
 England to quarrel with an old friend like Turkey 
 about questions that did not really concern her, and 
 expressed his opinion that such a policy was rash 
 and imprudent. 
 
 While he was speaking fresh visitors kept coming 
 in and sitting down to await their turn. I felt very 
 much as though I was in the open market-place, and 
 not in the private office of the chief of a great Govern- 
 ment department ; but I must say that I was glad 
 when I got out of the place and found myself safe 
 and sound in my hotel within a stone's throw of the 
 British Embassy. The next day an English officer in 
 the Turkish service, who had relatives who were 
 artificers at Woolwich — he himself was a colonel — ■ 
 brought my friend the permission of the Sultan to see 
 the arsenal. 
 
 This little fact alone indicates how hard the Sultan 
 works, and how he enters personally into every trifling 
 detail connected with the management of the great 
 and little affairs of his Empire, 
 
 While on the subject of the Turkish army, I may 
 here note down a few observations. What very much 
 astonished me was to see that the historic fez was 
 rapidly giving way to a head-dress very similar to 
 
 C 2
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 that of the Russian Cossacks, and that, generally, the 
 Turkish uniform was being assimilated as much as 
 possible to that of Russia. A straw will show which 
 way the wind blows ! I had heard a great deal of 
 the magnificent Turkish soldiery, and was surprised 
 to find the Turkish soldier a slouching, dirty, badly 
 set-up weedy-looking creature. The men stoop when 
 they march, and look half-starved and sickly. But it 
 is not always the showiest horse which can do the 
 most work, and stand the most hardships, and, after 
 all, men are very much like horses, so that it is not 
 safe to jump at conclusions from appearances. Never- 
 theless, I never saw a more miserable and utterly 
 despicable set of men than the Turkish soldiers. 
 
 At the British Embassy Sir Philip Currie received 
 me with that dignified urbanity for which he is dis- 
 tinguished, and expressed his concern at the discom- 
 forts that were in store for me. Among the attaches 
 the feeling that seemed to prevail was briefly this : 
 Armenians were reported to have been massacred. 
 Was this true .'' If it was true, then it did not signify 
 whether their numbers were represented by tens, 
 hundreds, or thousands, or whether they had been 
 tortured and brutally ill-used as well. The massacre 
 of peasantry, no matter in what numbers, or how 
 executed, was in itself a disgrace to civilisation, and 
 was not to be tolerated. This view, I take it, is that 
 which must be ultimately adopted by every right- 
 minded Englishman. The details and the horrors are
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 21 
 
 of no importance ; th'^y can be elaborated in Fleet 
 Street, for there is nobody who can come forward as 
 an impartial eye-witness and contradict them. But 
 the massacres are a fact, about which there can to-day 
 be no doubt, and as such they are also a disgrace. 
 Whether it is reasonable to expect Turkey to behave 
 in harmony with the latest ideas of modern enlight- 
 ened humanity is a very different question. 
 
 Interesting as all the views I had hitherto heard no 
 doubt were, they did not come from unbiassed sources, 
 and, in order to get a side-light thrown on the situa- 
 tion from an impartial authority totally uninterested 
 in the deep political game which I felt certain was 
 going on underneath, I traced my steps to the Lega- 
 tion of the United States and introduced myself to 
 Mr. Terrell, the American Minister. That gentleman 
 I found to possess a strong bias in favour of the 
 Sultan. Of course it is unnecessary to explain what 
 large social interests America has in Turkey. Her 
 missionary enterprise and missionary colleges are 
 deservedly famous, I had therefore expected a more 
 sympathetic attitude towards the Armenians from 
 Mr. Terrell. But he told me that he had lived many 
 years in Constantinople, that he had the greatest 
 personal regard for the Sultan, with whom he was on 
 exceptionally pleasant terms, and that he felt sorry 
 for him. The Armenians, he said, were a bad, 
 intriguing lot, and had for years been plotting and 
 planning rebellion against Turkey. He said there
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 were Armenian revolutionary societies all over 
 America, in London, at Marseilles, at Geneva, in 
 Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria ; that they were hand 
 and glove with the Nihilists of Russia. These mas- 
 sacres were, he believed, the results of a deep-laid plot, 
 and of a revolutionary movement that had extended 
 over years. He did not believe in the atrocities. 
 They were all lies invented by malignant Armenians 
 in London and elsewhere. He had himself good 
 reason to know what was going on in Armenia. One 
 of the favourite devices of the Armenian revolution- 
 aries was to emigrate to America, become American 
 citizens, and then return to Armenian in order to 
 spread sedition and incite to rebellion. When the 
 Turkish authorities arrested them, they claimed the 
 protection of the United States, until the American 
 Government had been compelled to refuse to interfere 
 on their behalf. 
 
 I will not attempt to conceal from the reader that 
 the recital of all these indictments against the Ar- 
 menians, tended rather to excite my pity for, than 
 any detestation of, them. I felt that these poor 
 Armenians, in their struggle for freedom, were cold- 
 shouldered by everybody, and that even the great and 
 glorious land of freedom refused to have anything to 
 say to them. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the views in Constanti- 
 nople were conflicting and puzzling, but through them 
 all I seemed to get gh"mpses of the truth, and these
 
 SOFIA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 23 
 
 glimpses only served to strengthen me in the original 
 opinion which I had formed on undertaking my 
 journey. 
 
 I had, however, no intention of remaining in Con- 
 stantinople, which I soon saw was but the bazaar in 
 which all kinds of rumours, some of the wildest, were 
 focussed ; and so, without wasting much time or even 
 calling on the Armenian Archbishop, I made prepara- 
 tions for my journey. 
 
 A brother correspondent came to me with an 
 elaborate plan in which he asked me to join, but this 
 I declined for many reasons, and proceeded to have 
 my passport vised for Erzeroum, the capital of Ar- 
 menia. Once there I felt certain that I shoulci be 
 able to get further. I was assured that I would not 
 be allowed to proceed thither, but, nothing daunted, I 
 took out my teskere, or Turkish travelling permit, and 
 started, accompanied by my friend, for Trebizond on 
 board one of the little Austrian-Lloyd steamers which 
 ply on the Black Sea.
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE liLACK SEA TO TRElilZUND. 
 
 Getting into Constantinople is much easier than 
 leaving it. My passport and my luggage were care- 
 fully examined at the custom-house before I was 
 allowed to get into the caique which was to take me 
 to my steamer. People talk of the romance of being 
 rowed about in a caique ; but it is sad to have to 
 relate that much of this romance, so attractive at a 
 distance, fades utterly when one is on the spot. The 
 caYques are dirty and uncomfortable, and the boat- 
 men are clumsy. Once or twice on our way to the 
 steamer the boatman managed to get the caique 
 nearly swamped with the waves from the wash of 
 passing tugs. Just as we thought wc had got safely 
 to the steamer we were stopped by a police caique, 
 and had once more to show our teskcrcs. At last 
 we got on board the steamer, a dirty little boat, but 
 even that was infested with police. There was a 
 gendarme officer of the guard on board, who was 
 going somewhere, and an official besides, who had 
 charge of a number of peasants, whom he was taking
 
 THE BLACK SEA TO TREBIZOND. 25 
 
 to a port in the Black Sea, and these two important 
 personages had small levees of friends who had come 
 to see them off. As the Mahomedan religion does 
 not approve of wine, these pious Turks were drinking 
 each other's healths in bottled beer ! 
 
 We did not get well off before nightfall, and there- 
 fore much of the beautiful scenery of the Bosphorus 
 was obscured ; but it was a curious sensation steaming 
 along midway between Europe and Asia, and to see 
 the green lights of the one and the red lights of the 
 other flash alternately along the opposite shores. 
 
 Our boat, though it looked small and dirty at 
 Constantinople, improved on closer acquaintance. 
 The weather was beautifully warm, and the next 
 morning as I came on deck, refreshed by a night's 
 rest away from the pestilential air of Constantinople, 
 I felt happy and cheerful. On the lower deck a 
 curious sight met my eye. The steerage passengers 
 had arranged themselves in squares lining the ship's 
 side, and had warded off their separate sections with 
 many-coloured cotton cloths, their mattresses were 
 also gay with colour, and so were they themselves. 
 Here on an Austrian steamer the lower deck had 
 been converted into an Oriental bazaar. It was a 
 marvellous sight. Some of the men were villainous 
 to see ; with fierce moustaches, horrible eyes, and 
 swarthy faces, all armed to the teeth, they looked 
 liked brigands out of a comic opera. Some had 
 brought their women and children with them.
 
 26 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 The food was coarse, bad, but plentiful, and the 
 wines of Austria, which were served free with the 
 meals, were pure and invigorating. 
 
 On our way to Trebizond, a journey which took us 
 about three days, we made three stoppages at the 
 three only Turkish ports of the Black Sea, besides 
 Trebizond, namely Ineboli, Samsun, and Kiresun, 
 all of them little better than villages. At each of 
 these we stopped several hours, and got rid of some 
 of our passengers. I made a practice of landing in 
 the curious boats which looked exactly like the 
 viking ships one sees in pictures, and are probably 
 built very much on the same plan as the galleys of 
 the ancients. The jabbering of the natives was like 
 pandemonium. At Ineboli I saw a sentinel, sitting 
 down in front of his sentry-box, his gun leaning up 
 against it, and he himself busily engaged hunting 
 for vermin about his person. It was a sickening 
 sight. 
 
 Asia Minor is the land of promise flowing with 
 milk and honey ; flanked by Mount Ararat on the 
 cast, and Mount Lebanon on the west,, it embraces a 
 most fertile country. Rich in every natural resource, 
 grain, wine, sheep, and other products, Asia Minor 
 is nevertheless on the verge of bankruptc)^ and this 
 is due entirely to the iniquities of Turkish rule. The 
 grain trade has fallen off, and to-day the principal 
 exports from the languishing Turkish ports of the 
 Black Sea are nuts and wood. Imagine an entire
 
 THE BLACK SEA TO TREBIZOND. 27 
 
 nation living on such a trade as that ! The popula- 
 tion is declining, and the land is rapidly becoming 
 bare and desolate. As we sailed for miles and miles 
 along the coast we saw few evidences of habitation. 
 Here and there the lurid glare of the charcoal-burner's 
 fire betrayed signs of life and human industry. The 
 villages were wretched. The people live in houses 
 built of matchwood with interstices through which 
 one can look into them. They are erected on wooden 
 piles, and under the first floor there are no walls. 
 Here are kept the cattle, and what cattle ! Bullocks, 
 the size of an able-bodied dog, with their bones 
 sticking out, looking more like pantomime mon- 
 strosities than real live animals. There is no butter 
 in these regions, because the cows are so poorly fed 
 that they do not produce any. The people themselves 
 are wretched beyond description. Oh, the glamour 
 of the East ! It makes me melancholy to think of 
 it. Whatever the condition of the Armenians may 
 be, that of the Turkish peasantiy is pitiable beyond 
 description. One of the passengers on board our 
 steamer was a young Greek merchant who was 
 going back to his native place, which he had not seen 
 since his childhood ; he spoke a little Russian, and 
 told me that trade was so bad in the Turkish ports 
 of the Black Sea that most of the merchants were 
 emigrating to Odessa or Batoum, where they had 
 a chance of making a living, but that in Turkey 
 something like a general stagnation prevailed.
 
 2S ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 The gendarme officer, who turned out to be a 
 personal aide-de-camp of the Sultan, was the pink of 
 politeness. All the English he knew was " Good- 
 morning, gentlemen," but this he kept repeating 
 whenever he met us. He neither undressed nor 
 shaved all the time he was on board, but he did not 
 look any dirtier than he did at Constantinople ; indeed, 
 it would have been difficult. This gallant and 
 intrepid officer supported life on some mysterious 
 packages which he had brought with him, and smelt 
 horribly of garlic and onions. 
 
 When we arrived at Trebizond we had our tereskcs 
 taken from us, and proceeded to the H6tel d'ltalie, 
 the only hostelry at Trebizond. It resembled in 
 many respects the well-known inn of comic opera. 
 There was a large room in the centre into which the 
 bedrooms opened out. Here one could imagine the 
 celebrated Princess of Trebizond coming out at mid- 
 night and singing her earnest sentimental songs, 
 much to the annoyance, no doubt, of the other guests, 
 and meeting the chosen of her heart. The poor 
 Greek who kept the hotel has since been murdered. 
 
 After taking our rooms we proceeded to the house 
 of the English Consul, escorted by a cavasse. It 
 was an interesting walk through the streets of this 
 Oriental city, with ne'er a European in sight. In the 
 market-place we saw crowds of camels with their 
 Persian drivers in curious fur caps, and looking quite 
 exceptionally dirty. They were mostly small, hardy-
 
 THE BLACK SEA TO TREBIZOND. -jg 
 
 looking men, and I heard afterwards that they were 
 not real Persians, but Persian Tartars, simple, honest- 
 looking fellows they were. Another curious sight 
 was to see an aged Turkish officer mounted on a 
 horse, and supported on each side by a soldier 
 walking beside him, over whose shoulder he had 
 thrown an arm. His toes were turned out like a 
 dancing master's, and his knees were also pointing in 
 opposite directions. He looked as though he was 
 a corpse which had been slung over the horse's back 
 and was being taken to be buried, but he was really 
 one of the commanding officers of the garrison. 
 
 As we crossed the spacious square of Trebizond, 
 which has a sort of garden in the middle of it, and 
 has some pretensions to beauty, we saw the young 
 merchants sitting in the dirty little cafes, drinking 
 coffee and gambling. In the narrow streets we had 
 continually to get out of the way of long caravans of 
 camels, whose monotonous bells reminded me of the 
 homely muffin man. Besides these Persian caravans 
 there were also Turkish donkey caravans, ver}' 
 amusing to see. No carts are used. All merchan- 
 dise is carried in packs on the backs of horses, 
 mules, or donkeys. Occasionally our cavasse un- 
 ceremoniously shoved people on one side to make 
 room for us. 
 
 The town is built in a curious straggling way, and 
 we had to climb up numerous winding alleys, which 
 apparently led nowhere, until we reached the top of
 
 30 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 the hill, where the residence of Mr. Longworth, the 
 British Consul, is situated. As is befitting to his 
 dignity, his house stands high above the town, and 
 surveys the bay beneath. Yet in the case of Mr. 
 Longworth, as in the case of most of the British 
 Consuls whom I have since visited in the East, I noted 
 a curious circumstance, namely, that he was entirely 
 overshadowed by his Russian colleague. In Turkey 
 and Persia I have indeed found that, as a rule, 
 the Russian Consul generally took the lead, and was 
 in all respects in a better position than his English 
 colleague. He has better pay, spends more money, 
 and keeps up a greater state. Whether this is 
 desirable it is not for me to say, but it is nevertheless 
 a fact that the Russian Government spends more 
 money on its Oriental consulates than we do, and is 
 very jealous of their prestige. Of course the Oriental 
 mind is rather apt to judge of things and people by 
 external glitter and surroundings, often mistaking 
 appearances for realities, and hence the wisdom of the 
 Russian Government can only be commended. 
 
 Mr. Longworth received us very pleasantly, and 
 asked us who we were. We replied that we were 
 English tourists who were on our way to Teheran, vid 
 Erzeroum. 
 
 "That is all very well," said Mr. Longworth, "but 
 of course you are correspondents. It is much better 
 to make a clean breast of it at once. Of course it is 
 none of my business to cross-question you ; still, I
 
 THE black: sea to TREBIZOND. 31 
 
 must tell you that the Turkish authorities have 
 definite instructions not to allow any Europeans to 
 proceed into Armenia, and unfortunately for you, a 
 gentleman has just managed to elude their vigilance, 
 and has gone through. In these circumstances it is 
 extremely difficult for me to assist you. Where are 
 your passports ? " 
 
 We delivered up our passports with the docility 
 of lambs. 
 
 " Have you taken out teskercs ? " 
 
 We explained that we had, but that they had 
 been taken by the police on our landing. At this 
 Mr. Longworth got very excited. 
 
 " Were they in order } Where were they vised 
 for .' " 
 
 " They were vised for Erzeroum." 
 
 " And do you mean to tell me that the Constanti- 
 nople police vised your teskercs for Erzeroum and 
 let you go } " 
 
 " Yes, we do." 
 
 " Well, that beats everything. You certainly have 
 a strong case ; but you won't be allowed to proceed. 
 You will be kept here for a few days, while they are 
 telegraphing for instructions to Constantinople, and 
 then you will be sent back." 
 
 This prophecy was literally fulfilled. We had to 
 take up our quarters at the disgusting little hotel and 
 wait for developments in the meantime. Mr. Long- 
 worth was politeness itself, and sent his secretary with
 
 32 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 mc to the Vali, or Governor, to intercede. This 
 Oriental functionary was sitting in the courtyard of 
 the Konak, or Government House, under a mulberry- 
 tree, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. He was 
 surrounded by numerous other officials, all sitting in 
 a circle round him, and there was a continuous stream 
 of jDcrsons soliciting favours, whom he received, 
 listened to, and dismissed with a lazy good-nature 
 really quite delightful to behold. He formed a 
 curious picture in his red fez, grey overcoat, and 
 cheap ten-and-sixpenny trousers. A man of comfort- 
 able rotundity, with a genial self-indulgent face, heavy 
 black eyes, and a jet-black beard, he looked delight- 
 fully indifferent to all that was going on, and seemed 
 to be laughing in his sleeve at the farce of Govern- 
 ment in which he was playing so leading a part. He 
 smiled upon mc, showed a pair of bright red lips very 
 full and heavy, and a magnificent row of regular 
 carnivorous-looking teeth, listened to the Secretary, 
 and then dismissed me. 
 
 Mr. Longworth did what he could to make our 
 stay pleasant for us, and introduced us to the entire 
 consular circle, which consisted of representatives 
 of Russia, Austria, Hungary, Italy, and France. 
 There was also a Persian Consul, but he did not 
 receive because he had a Mahomedan wife. There 
 were a few other notabilities in the place, and the 
 order of life at Trebizond seemed to be very much as 
 follows : Every day in the week one of the Consuls
 
 THE BLACK SEA TO TREBIZOND. 33 
 
 was at home, and received all the other Consuls with 
 their wives. At these receptions cards were the only 
 relaxation ; but during the evening or afternoon, as 
 the case might be, and at frequent intervals, servants 
 in gorgeous Oriental costumes came in with trays, on 
 which were various delicacies, which were regularly 
 handed round. It seemed to me a very monotonous 
 way of improving (.'') the shining hours. The weather, 
 however, was beautiful, much more pleasant than 
 anything I had experienced on the Riviera, for there 
 was an absence of that peculiarly malarial air at 
 night, which makes the Riviera so dangerous. The 
 people were all very charming ; the Russian Consul 
 in particular was delightful, and very pleased to meet 
 an Englishman who had lived in Russia. 
 
 I was amused to find that when all these various 
 Consuls came to return my visits, as in due; course 
 they did, they each of them had much to tell me 
 about the intrigues of the countries represented by 
 the others. Scandal was of course an impossibility in 
 a society limited to so few families, and political 
 intrigue was a god-send. 
 
 The Russian Consul told me that although about 
 two thousand Russian vessels put in at this port, nearly 
 all the shipping at Trebizond was in the hands of 
 smugglers, and that beyond smuggling there was very 
 little trade. He also informed me that arms had 
 been smuggled through Trebizond, and from Persia 
 as well, in fairly large quantities, to the Armenian in- 
 
 D
 
 34 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 siirgents. Of these he spoke in very L,uiarded terms, 
 calhng them unfortunate people. He evidently con- 
 sidered them the puppets of agitators. 
 
 Another Consul, not the English one, came to me 
 and communicated the fact that the Kurds, whom the 
 Turks had armed and uniformed, and given the 
 generic name of Hamedji, were all in the pay of 
 Russia. 
 
 "These Kurds," he said, "who are little better than 
 brigands, have Russian gold pieces, imperials and 
 half-imperials, which they pretend to have obtained 
 in the ordinary course of trade ; but, as you know, the 
 currency of Russia is paper money, and there is an 
 agio on the gold which does not circulate, so that they 
 could have got it only from the Russian Government. 
 The idea of the Sultan was to turn these Kurds into 
 a sort of Cossacks, to oppose the Cossacks of the 
 Caucasus, but all that was only a pretext. The 
 Hamedji would be useless against Cossacks ; they 
 have been armed and equipped as a measure of 
 precaution in the event of an Armenian rising." 
 
 This view, interesting in itself, throws some light 
 on the general situation. There can be no doubt that 
 the Sultan, at the time of the Sassun massacres, and 
 for some years previously, was really in a state of 
 considerable nervousness. 
 
 One evening, while I was sitting in my hotel 
 chatting with my friend the artillery officer, and 
 concocting plans, a visitor was announced. He was
 
 THE BLACK SEA TO TREBIZOND. 35 
 
 a mysterious person ; he insisted on seeing me alone, 
 and would not give his name. I had him shown into 
 my room. He was muffled up, but wore a fez. When 
 he was alone with me, he threw back his overcoat, 
 and revealed the most forbidding pock-marked face I 
 ever saw. He had wicked, twinkling, little eyes, of 
 which one squinted, and he was a miserable, weedy, 
 little specimen of humanity. He could not speak 
 above a whisper, because his throat was ulcerated. 
 But on introducing himself to me, he produced a 
 letter from somebody I knew, which convinced me 
 that my friend at least trusted him. It would not be 
 prudent for me to say more. 
 
 " What can I do for you .'' " I asked. 
 
 " I am an Armenian merchant," he replied, " resident 
 at Trebizond, and I can give you some valuable 
 information. I do not want pay for it. I am myself 
 a revolutionary, and I am anxious to tell you all I 
 know. I have many sources of news. Turkey is an 
 intolerable country to live in, and everywhere there are 
 to-day revolutionary societies, ready to help to over- 
 throw the present regime. The Greeks are quite as 
 dissatisfied as the Armenians, so are the Turks them- 
 selves. The tyranny of the police is intolerable. I 
 know a case of a Greek merchant who has been 
 transported because a revolutionary Armenian paper 
 was sent to him to forward to some Armenian 
 customer of his for whom he was in the habit of 
 executing commissions. That unfortunate Greek has 
 
 D 2
 
 36 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 been horribly tortured in order to make him reveal 
 the names of his confederates ; but the poor man has 
 no confederates, and knows nothing to reveal." 
 
 My informant spoke in broken French, which made 
 his communications still more ghastly. By the light 
 of a vile tallow candle, which was all the illumination 
 we had, and even that was carefully concealed from 
 the window, so that no shadow might betray him, he 
 looked indescribably weird. 
 
 " The state of Armenians is truly deplorable. In 
 former years we were wealthy and prosperous, and 
 Turkey flourished, we stimulated trade, the grain of 
 central Armenia was the best in the world. To-day 
 we are down-trodden and persecuted. In a court 
 of law an Armenian witness is not credited, and 
 a Mussulman's evidence cannot be shaken by any 
 number of Armenian contradictions, however circum- 
 stantial. The officials of the Government single out 
 the rich Armenians for their prey, conspire against 
 them, concoct evidence, and defraud and ruin them. 
 All commerce is at a stand-still, and it is not too 
 much to say that the whole of Asia Minor is ruined." 
 
 My informant substantiated these general state- 
 ments with a mass of detailed illustrations, for which 
 there is no space in this short work, 
 
 " The Kurds," he continued, " are lazy brigands, 
 who go about in tribes and live upon the Armenians, 
 They are supposed to be shepherds, but they are really 
 robbers. The poor Armenian peasantry are very
 
 THE BLACK SEA TO TREBIZOND. 37 
 
 industrious and good agriculturists, but all the results 
 of their labour are the prey either of greedy officials 
 or of these Kurdish robbers." 
 
 " Now tell me something about the massacres," I 
 said. 
 
 " All that has been published about the massacres 
 is true. The case of the poor peasants has been 
 under-stated, not exaggerated. But when you get 
 to Tiflis, which is a much better place for you to go 
 to than Erzeroum, you will get full particulars of what 
 has actually occurred ; we here know little. But 
 there is one thing which I want to tell you. It is 
 supposed that these massacres were the result of 
 disturbances between Kurds and Armenians. That is 
 not true. Those disturbances were simply a pretext. 
 The massacres were deliberately planned and pre- 
 pared by the Sultan at Yildiz Kiosk last May, and his 
 Secretary, who was the sole possessor of the Sultan's 
 notes, mysteriously died, and all his papers were 
 destroyed. Zekki Pasha, not the Master of Ordnance 
 at Constantinople, but the Sultan's brother-in-law, 
 and the Commander of the Army Corps, whose head- 
 quarters are at Erzignan, received instructions from 
 the Sultan's private Secretary to carry out these 
 massacres in every detail. The Sultan afterwards 
 disavowed Zekki Pasha's action, but he has presented 
 him with a golden sword of honour, and has generally 
 expressed his favour in unmistakable ways. I know 
 for an absolute fact that what I am saying is true, and
 
 38 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 that it was the Sultan who planned the massacres 
 himself. He personally hates the Armenians." 
 
 I have subsequently discovered, on my return to 
 London, that the reason why the Sultan hates the 
 Armenians is that he is suspected of being himself an 
 Armenian, and not the son of his reputed f^ither. I 
 have also met lately in London an ' English civil 
 engineer who was at Diarbekir many years ago when 
 similar massacres occurred, and he told me that, through 
 the telegraph clerk, who was in his pay, he ascertained 
 that all the outrages perpetrated, even in their 
 minutest particulars, had been dictated by the Sultan 
 himself. How the Sultan controls everything, even 
 to the smallest detail, the reader will have seen in the 
 case of my visit to the Trop-hane. The Turk is, and 
 all my informants agreed on this point, a rather stupid, 
 but harmless and inoffensive person ; it is the ad- 
 ministration which is vindictive and cruel. 
 
 " In order to prevent exposure," my new-found 
 friend continued, " and when the massacres were over, 
 the authorities declared the district to be visited by 
 cholera, and put a cordon round it, to prevent people 
 going there until the snows covered up the evidences 
 of their crime ; but even now Europeans are not 
 allowed to travel through the place, and you will be 
 stopped and turned back, but when you get to Tiflis 
 you will find out what is going on. All Armenia is in 
 arms. All the young men are ready to shoulder 
 muskets and march out to save their brethren, and the
 
 THE BLACK SEA TO TREBIZOND. 39 
 
 Catholicos will place himself at their head. We shall 
 soon be free." 
 
 It is a curious circumstance that at every place I 
 went to I was always told that at the next place 
 I should get better information. 
 
 "In Tiflis," said the Armenian, "you will find 
 regular revolutionary committees ; everything is ready, 
 we are waiting for the spring. Guns are being 
 smuggled into the country, everybody is "armed." 
 
 My new acquaintance, after consuming a certain 
 number of bottles of beer, and an incredible quantity 
 of cigarettes, in spite of his ulcerated throat, took his 
 departure as mysteriously as he had come. 
 
 The next day I went to call on the American 
 missionary who lived at Trebizond. He was a sombre- 
 looking individual of true puritanical New England 
 type, but he was not communicative. I was led 
 to believe that the missionaries were making a 
 small " corner " out of the news which they obtained, 
 and were supplying, by underground means, the 
 American press with sensational details, so that they 
 regarded me as a trespasser on their preserves. They 
 certainly do not live luxuriously, and seem to have to 
 endure many hardships. The house in which the 
 Trebizond missionary resided was very barely furnished, 
 and did not even strike me as particularly clean. 
 Beyond the following facts relating to the condition of 
 the Armenian peasantry and their relations with the 
 Kurds, I elicited very little information from him.
 
 40 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 The Armenian peasants li\'e in mud huts on the 
 slopes of hills, and partially underground. They herd 
 together with their cattle, which help to keep them 
 warm at night, and their fuel is dung. Their prin- 
 cipal article of food is a peculiar kind of dried and 
 smoked meat. This meat they export, and it is said 
 to be very unwholesome, and in some cases even 
 poisonous. Their staple industry is wool and grain, 
 besides cattle. The tithe is levied in kind, and there 
 is very little money used amongst them ; but they are 
 subjected to numerous and vexatious forms of taxa- 
 tion, of which I obtained more particulars in Tiflis. 
 There are three classes of Kurds : the resident aris- 
 tocracy, or beys, who are a sort of feudal lords ; the 
 nomadic predatory brigands, who live by grazing, 
 cattle lifting, and sheep stealing ; and the poorer sub- 
 servient Kurdish peasants, who in many cases work 
 for the Armenians and ;perform menial services for 
 them. Still, the general economic condition of the 
 Armenian peasantry is very bad, and they are in a 
 chronic state of starvation and famine. The pressure 
 of taxation is so great that the male population are in 
 the habit of going to Constantinople, Batoum, and 
 other towns in the winter in search of work. ; i In 
 Constantinople they are the water-carriers and dock- 
 labourers of the place, and in the Caucasus they do 
 the work of navvies, especially at Batoum, Poti, and 
 other ports. The Kurds, I was given to understand, 
 recognised no authority, and had to be coaxed and
 
 THE BLACK SEA TO TREBIZOND. 41 
 
 cajoled into allegiance by the Government ; they lead 
 irregular and dissolute lives, while the morality of the 
 Armenians, on the contrary, is said to be excellent, and 
 their women, while very beautiful, are all that they 
 should be. 
 
 Equipped with these scraps of information, and 
 having heard that the authorities at Constantinople 
 had definitely refused me permission to proceed, I 
 took leave of my friend the British officer, who 
 thought it would not be prudent for him to go on to 
 Russia without special permission from the War 
 Office, and prepared to leave Trebizond, which I 
 must say is a beautifully-situated town, and in which 
 I had spent a very pleasant week. 
 
 Before taking my departure, I had an illustration 
 offered me of the peculiar state of the law in Turkey. 
 
 Mr. Longworth, when I came to say good-bye to 
 him, was in a great state of excitement about a 
 certain young Turkish nobleman whom he was trying 
 to bring to justice, but without success. It appeared 
 that this young man was openly defying the law. 
 He was in the habit of going about with loaded 
 revolvers, forcibly entering the dwellings of peaceable 
 citizens, and outraging the women. He had wantonly 
 shot several people, and had, at the instigation of 
 Mr. Longworth, been brought up for trial ; but owing 
 to the influence at high places of his mother, the 
 proceedings had been quashed, and he was still at 
 large, continuing his wild and lawless conduct. Mr.
 
 42 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Longworth had succeeded in getting the Vali to arrest 
 him again, but he had once more been set at liberty. 
 As far as I can remember, one of the servants of the 
 American missionary had been subjected to his 
 forcible attentions, and Mr. Longworth was justly 
 indignant. 
 
 With this little incident in my mind I left 
 Trebizond for Eatoum, on board a Russian steamer, 
 which was much more comfortable than the Austrian- 
 Lloyd boat, and I carried with me a feeling that in 
 the Turkish ports of the Black Sea Russian influence 
 and prestige were the dominant features. 
 
 Another fact which I learned at Trebizond, and 
 which I give with all reservation, is that the Sultan 
 is supposed to be in league with his fraudulent 
 officials, and is paid a commission on all bribes and 
 pickings !
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TIFLLS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 
 
 The transition from Trebizond to Batoum is a rapid 
 change from barbarism to civilisation. It is a crude and 
 rough form of civiHsation, harsh and discordant if you 
 will, but still it is civilisation. As soon as we entered 
 the harbour of Batoum I could discover the stalwart 
 forms of Russian soldiers and sailors, in their wide 
 caps, keeping order amongst a crowd of Oriental 
 rifF-rafif. These representatives of autocracy were 
 dirty and slovenly, but in contrast with what I had 
 left behind me, they seemed the pink of smartness. 
 Upon their faces I could see no trace, as we got 
 nearer, of that fierce and cruel fanaticism and that 
 animal stupidity which cloud the countenances of 
 the officials of the Sultan. I was in another world. 
 Here was shipping of every description, locomotives 
 standing on the quay with long trains of goods 
 waggons waiting for merchandise, and a certain air of 
 vastness and order, which is peculiar to Russia. The 
 police officer who came on board to examine our 
 passports was a courteous European gentleman, who
 
 44 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 wore a look of calm dignity, which was very different 
 from the low cunning insolence of the Turks. 
 
 As I put my foot on land and looked up at the 
 glorious mountains of the Caucasus, I breathed more 
 freely. The very air seemed to be different. I felt 
 instinctively that I was in a great country, young, 
 energetic, and full of hope and promise. A little less 
 than twenty years ago Batoum was a small fishing 
 village, pestilent and vile. Its very name meant " the 
 end of everything," it was the ultinm tluile of Turkish 
 dominion in the Black Sea. To-day there is a 
 flourishing town, a town which has still many pro- 
 mises to redeem, but a town which has at least made 
 promises. Mr. Stead, in his book on America, likens 
 that country to Russia, and to me Batoum was 
 strongly reminiscent of a transatlantic port. Here 
 were the same low wooden houses, the same broad 
 streets, and the same air of work and of bustle. But 
 there the comparison ended. The people were totally 
 different. The tall wolfish Circassians, the poor ragged 
 Armenians, the broad placid Russians, these were not 
 features of an American city. Besides, there were no 
 cable-cars, no sky-scrapers, no newspaper boys, and 
 no bars. Of course it is the petroleum wells of Baku 
 which have given Batoum its impetus. 
 
 As I arrived on a Sunday I had to stay a day at 
 Batoum to get my passport inscribed by the police, 
 and so I put up at a very neat and comfortable hotel, 
 and then proceeded to take a walk.
 
 TIFLIS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 43 
 
 I found the shores of the Black Sea Hned with a 
 beautiful and a handsome broad walk, not unlike the 
 Promenade des Anglais at Nice, where the bureaucrats 
 of Batoum, with their wives, sisters, and sweethearts 
 disported themselves. The trip from Trebizond had 
 been charming, the beautiful mountains of the 
 Caucasus giving grandeur to the scenery ; but here 
 at Batoum, where I had leisure to study them, the 
 beauty of these mountains exceeded my liveliest 
 expectations. In short, I was quite sorry to take 
 leave of this quaint mixture of prosaic business and 
 picturesque romance, but I was looking forward to 
 Tiflis, the Queen of the Caucasus. 
 
 Here let me record a circumstance which I had 
 omitted to note before. The captain of the Russian 
 steamer which had brought me from Trebizond, and 
 with whom I foregathered afterwards, was of Austrian 
 extraction. The Russians are bad sailors. As I 
 noted at Sofia, the Eastern trade of Austria is very 
 much more important than is generally supposed. 
 Austria is not the decadent country which some 
 people think she is, and of late years her trade has 
 made enormous strides. Whatever good qualities the 
 Russians may possess, and they have many, among 
 which their invariable good nature and kindliness are 
 not the least, they have so far proved very bad traders. 
 
 The journey from Batoum to Tiflis was a revela- 
 tion ! The road beats the Corinche hollow. Through 
 mountain passes, amid deep ravines and steep preci-
 
 46 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 pices, now keeping the waters of the Black Sea in 
 view, now along the valley of a romantic river, with 
 steep and hill}- banks, with the ruins of the castles of 
 former robber princes frowning down upon us — the 
 railway winds its picturesque course. True it is only 
 a single line, and proceeds at so slow a rate that 
 snailway would be a more fitting designation, but 
 then that gave me time to admire the scenery. Here 
 and there I came across tea plantations minded by 
 the affable heathen Chinee, who had been imported 
 with the tea by Russian tea-planters, who were 
 anxious to make the experiment of growing tea 
 nearer home than in China. So far I find the 
 experiment has not been very successful, and in 
 Odessa, and in fact all over the south of Russia, I 
 found on my return that Ceylon tea was rapidly 
 superseding the boasted caravan tea of which 
 Russians arc so proud, and \\'hich is generally not 
 caravan tea at all, but shipped from China to London, 
 and then sold to the large Russian tea-dealers. As 
 the train slowly meandered on towards its destination, 
 and I must say that the carriages were luxuriously 
 comfortable, mounted Circassians occasionally came 
 in sight, wearing their curious sheepskin caps, and 
 equally curious capes. Horse and rider seemed to 
 form part of the same organism. The men were all 
 armed to the teeth, and were extremely handsome. 
 Circassians have the air of princes, and indeed they 
 nearly all bear that title. Their sharp regular
 
 TIFLIS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 47 
 
 features, tall elegant figures and graceful carriage, 
 denote purity of race. They have a walk peculiarly 
 their own which nobody could imitate. All the men 
 are brave, and all the women beautiful. The women 
 ride sideways, as they would in England, but wear 
 the picturesque national costume ; occasionally you 
 will see them perched behind the saddle of their lord 
 and master. 
 
 On board the train was an inquisitive Russian officer, 
 who entered into conversation with me, and to whom 
 I finally confided who I was. I am very glad that I 
 did so, for he afterwards veiy kindly introduced me to 
 some of the principal officers at Tiflis. At the time 
 I had my misgivings about taking him into my con- 
 fidence, but I thought it was better to make a friend of 
 him than an enemy, and the result proved I was right. 
 
 He was a personal aide-de-camp of General Kura- 
 patkin, the Commander-in-Chief of Russian Central 
 Asia, and was just returning from a long jouniey in 
 Europe, where he had attended the French and 
 German manoeuvres, and had also spent some time in 
 England. He professed himself delighted with the 
 British troops, and also spoke very highly of the 
 French army. I ascertained that he was preparing 
 an official report on the German and French man- 
 oeuvres, but he was very reticent about the German 
 army, though I rather fancy he had not formed so 
 high an opinion of it as he had anticipated he would. 
 
 This officer kept pointing out to me interesting
 
 48 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 features in the landscape, and at one of the stations he 
 made me get out to see the pretty girls, for which this 
 place was famous. He also informed me that the 
 Russian Government had introduced silk-culture in 
 the Caucasus, and had even established a model silk- 
 farm, where the peasants could obtain cocoons and 
 could get such technical instruction as they required. 
 Subsequently, however, in Tiflis, I learned that this 
 establishment had proved a ghastly failure, and that 
 the Russian attempt to foster a silk industry had 
 ended in a fiasco. The same, I also learned, might be 
 said of the efforts of the Government to encourage 
 cotton growing in the Caucasus. In fact, Russia 
 cannot be said to have been fortunate with her State- 
 fostered industries. Even the wine and petroleum 
 trades are in a poor way. 
 
 Another occupant of the train was a drunken 
 Armenian, who was making a debt-collecting tour. 
 He was a genial blood-sucker, and told us, in intervals 
 of hiccuping, that he was going to get out at the 
 next station and intended to get his money there or 
 die for it. 
 
 "If the scoundrels don't give me the money they 
 owe I will sell up every stick they have in the place." 
 
 " Take care you don't get killed," said another 
 fellow-traveller. 
 
 " Oh ! I don't mind. They have threatened to kill 
 me often enough, but nobody has done so yet. They 
 dare not do it."
 
 TIFLIS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 49 
 
 The man who had thus warned the Armenian 
 turned out to be a railway official, and when the 
 Armenian left us I got into conversation with him. 
 
 " What sort of a place is the Caucasus ? " I asked. 
 
 " Beastly place," he replied. " There is no law, no 
 order, no anything. The people are unruly, and have 
 been pampered and spoilt by the Government. They 
 are all allowed to carry arms, and they use them. 
 Human life is of no value, and the Government has 
 no authority. It is a dreadful place. Did you see 
 that fellow who got out } That was an Armenian 
 money-lender. He is pretty sure to get murdered 
 somewhere before he has done. Those Armenians 
 are the curse of the country. As it is they have got 
 nearly all the land of the Caucasus into their clutches. 
 The entire population is in their debt. They are 
 sucking the life-blood of the country. The Circassians, 
 are a lazy, proud, good-for-nothing lot of fellows who 
 won't work, and care for nothing but enjoyment, and 
 the Armenians have got the whip-hand of them. 
 The country is going to the devil ! " 
 
 This statement quite took me aback, for in Russia 
 I had heard the Caucasus lield up as the most pros- 
 perous of the possessions of the Tsar, and the 
 Circassian peasant praised for his industry and manly 
 qualities. But things look so different at a distance 
 to what they do at close quarters. 
 
 As it was very hot in the train, I went and stood on 
 the platform at the end and admired the scenery we 
 
 E
 
 50 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 were passing through. I had for my companion the 
 guard, a good-natured, simple-looking Russian, and 
 began chatting with him. 
 
 " What a pretty country ! " I said. 
 " Yes," he replied, indifferently; "very pretty, but 
 all jungle. It is a most unwholesome place. We 
 Russians cannot stand it ; it is malarious. There are 
 lots of Russian settlers here, but they all die of fever ; 
 the climate is damp and unhealthy. You see, there is 
 so much rotting timber and underwood, which fills the 
 air with poisonous exhalations. We Russians lan- 
 guish in it. If the people were not so lazy, and would 
 clear away all this jungle growth when it rots, there 
 might be a chance for us." 
 
 Here was another illusion dispelled. The Caucasus, 
 the sanatorium of Russia, malarious ! I could scarcely 
 trust my cars, and yet I had before me only too good 
 evidence of the truth of what the guard was saying. 
 Wc were going through a veritable jungle. Presently 
 the guard went away and I was joined by the in- 
 quisitive but omniscient Russian officer. 
 
 " So you are going to Armenia .'' " he said, incredu- 
 lously. " But how do you propose to proceed ? I do 
 not see that you have a proper plan. You have no 
 base to start from." 
 
 "Well, no ; I have no plan. I am going to try the 
 best I can. I thought of getting through across the 
 Russian frontier." 
 
 "That you will find very difficult. We are not
 
 TIFLIS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 51 
 
 particularly fond of the Armenians. But, at any rate, 
 I should very strongly advise you to apply to the 
 Governor-General of the Caucasus for permission. If 
 he grants it, you will have your journey very much 
 facilitated, and if not you will be saved a great deal 
 of trouble by learning the fact at Tiflis. It would be 
 very unpleasant for you to be arrested at some little 
 frontier town and escorted back by gendarmes." 
 
 I thought over this advice and felt that it was 
 sound, especially as I knew the ways of the Russian 
 police. 
 
 We arrived' at Tiflis at midnight. For some reason, 
 which it is very difficult to discover, the Russian rail- 
 way engineers always construct their stations at some 
 distance from the places after which they are named. 
 Perhaps this is to encourage the local cab trade. 
 Whatever the reason may be, Tiflis is no exception, 
 and it took me quite half an hour to three-quarters to 
 drive from the station to the town of Tiflis proper. 
 Here I found an excellent hotel, the Hotel de Londres, 
 which I can honestly recommend to all travellers in 
 the Caucasus. 
 
 The next morning I proceeded to call upon several 
 of the Armenians who had been indicated to me, as 
 well as on the editor of the Mshak, the great 
 Armenian paper. 
 
 Before making these visits, however, I, according to 
 my custom, took a turn round the town of Tiflis. 
 Perhaps I was a little disappointed with it after all 
 
 E 2
 
 52 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 I had heard ; still, it is a pretty town, beautifully 
 situated, and surrounded by glorious snow-capped 
 mountains, and infinitely more civilised than vaunted 
 Constantinople. It is very hilly, and some of the 
 streets look like huge toboggan-slides ; but the 
 principal thoroughfare, in which are situated the chief 
 public buildings, is really very handsome. Of enor- 
 mous breadth, it is so wide that the houses in it arc 
 dwarfed by comparison with the vastness of the road- 
 way. But the church and theatre, one in purest 
 Byzantine style of architecture, and the other Arab- 
 esque and exceedingly quaint-looking ; the palace of 
 the Governor ; the severely classical Museum ; the 
 somewhat tawdry Temple of Fame, wherein are 
 preserved the trophies and mementoes of Russian 
 valour in the Caucasus ; all these, with numerous 
 handsome shops and broad footways, on which are 
 seen promenading officers in every variety of uniform 
 — Circassians, Armenfans, Turks, and Europeans — 
 form a gorgeous picture. Speaking of the Temple of 
 Fame, it is a curious circumstance that this interesting 
 museum of war memorials is nearly always under- 
 going repairs, and for this reason rarely open to the 
 public. If the European town of Tiflis is handsome 
 and promises to develop into an extremely fine city, 
 the Tartar or Oriental town is even more picturesque 
 and interesting. This is the happy hunting-ground of 
 the collector of Oriental antiquities, and while I was 
 at Tiflis I found, staying at my hotel, a Frencji gen-
 
 TIFLIS, THE QUEEN OE THE CAUCASUS. §3 
 
 tleman with his wife, who spent the best part of his 
 day rev'elling among the curios of the Oriental town, 
 and picking up bargains, which he told me would 
 excite the envy of his friends in Paris. 
 
 The Museum of the Caucasus is a model of what 
 such a museum should be. The genial and learned 
 Dr. Radde, its eminent curator, whose reputation is 
 world-wide, and who is deservedly esteemed and 
 respected in English scientific circles, took me over 
 this building himself and explained to me his method 
 of arrangement. He is a modern of the moderns, 
 and has adopted the latest scientific ideas. Working 
 on the same lines as Dr. Bowdler Sharpe in London, 
 he has made his museum a veritable object-lesson. 
 The walls are painted to represent the landscapes of 
 the Caucasus, and his specimens of animals are re- 
 presented amidst the surroundings and flora in which 
 they occur. I was much astonished to find tigers and 
 bisons included in the collection, and to learn that 
 they had been shot in the Caucasus. The arrange- 
 ment of the ethnographical section is also extremely 
 instructive and popular. Weeks could be spent in 
 that museum, and my only regret is that, as my book 
 purports to treat of Armenia only, I must not dwell 
 on this remarkable museum at greater length. I 
 may, however, assure my readers that a visit to this 
 interesting collection would alone repay a journey 
 from London to Tiflis. It would be well worth the 
 time and money to any intelligent person.
 
 54 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Should anybody be induced by this recommendation 
 to make a trip to Tiflis, let me advise him to visit the 
 celebrated sulphur baths, which are so luxurious and 
 invigorating, and in connection with which the most 
 remarkable legends exist. 
 
 As I have stated above, I called on the editor of 
 the MsJiak and found most of the members of the 
 staff assembled. With the greatest courtesy these 
 gentlemen placed themselves unreservedly at my 
 disposal, and gave me access to all their information. 
 I found that rumour had already announced my im- 
 pending arrival, and that my visit to Trebizond in the 
 company of a British officer was perfectly well known. 
 
 The editor, an extremely cultured and able gentle- 
 man, endorsed the advice of the officer whom I had 
 met in the train, and strongly recommended my calling 
 upon the Governor-General. He also informed me 
 that Mr. P'itzgcrald, the enterprising correspondent of 
 the Daily Neivs, was commonly reported to have been 
 murdered by Kurdish robbers somewhere in Turkish 
 Armenia. This was not altogether encouraging in- 
 telligence. 
 
 As I found there was a "consensus of opinion " in 
 favour of my soliciting the permission of the Governor- 
 General to travel through the Caucasus over into 
 Turkey, I waited on His Excellency, who received me 
 with that charming, graceful, and dignified amiability 
 which is peculiar to the Russian courtier. But to my 
 great surprise he informed me that he could not grant
 
 TIFLIS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 55 
 
 me the permission off-hand, but that I must await the 
 reply that he would receive from St, Petersburg, 
 whither he would be compelled to telegraph for in- 
 structions. " Our relations with Turkey," he said, 
 " are in a very delicate state, and our Government is 
 very anxious not to do anything that might be at 
 all calculated to be disagreeable to the Sultan. In 
 the meantime," he continued, with a wave of the hand, 
 " you will remain our guest a little longer." There 
 was a nobility, a graciousness, and an air of hospitality 
 in his gesture which almost made me feel under an 
 obligation to him, although I knew perfectly well that 
 he was simply using a very ordinary Russian phrase, 
 and that in remaining the guest of Tiflis I should 
 find that my hotel-keeper would demonstrate his 
 hospitality in the usual manner. 
 
 Owing to a break-down of the wires, I did not 
 receive a reply from St. Petersburg for some weeks, 
 and at the end of that time I was informed that I 
 should not be allowed to proceed to Turkish Armenia. 
 The intimation was brought me by a civilian official 
 of the Governor-General's, who had formerly been in 
 the diplomatic service, and had served, among other 
 places, in Sofia and Japan. An extremely interesting 
 man therefore. 
 
 "May I cross over to the Russian frontier.''" I 
 asked, " via Erivan and Julfa } " 
 
 " Certainly not," he replied ; " the Government does 
 not approve of your travelling in the Caucasus at all."
 
 56 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 " Then would your Government have any objection 
 to my going to Baku, and travelling across the 
 Caspian ? " 
 
 The official smiled at my perseverance. 
 
 " You may go to Baku as much as you like. Baku 
 is a commercial port, we cannot prevent you from 
 going there." 
 
 " Thank you," I said, " I am very much obliged to 
 you," and I was, for I wanted an excuse to visit Baku 
 and cross the Caspian. 
 
 I next turned my steps to the Persian Consul- 
 General, the famous Mirza Reeza Khan, who some 
 time ago was commonly reported to have been en- 
 gaged to be married to Miss Nikita, a well-known 
 American prima-donna, who had given] a series of 
 concerts at Tiflis. 
 
 This wily Oriental diplomatist, who has since been 
 promoted to St. Petersburg, received me with fitting 
 dignity. He was magnificently installed in a sort of 
 brummagem palace. I told him I was an PLnglish 
 tourist, and that I wished to have my passport vised 
 for travelling in Persia. 
 
 Mirza Reeza Khan looked at me dubiously, and an 
 incredulous smile lighted his countenance. 
 
 " I have had instructions not to allow any journalists 
 to travel through Persia into Armenia. His Majesty 
 the Shah of Persia is a friend and ally of His Majesty 
 the Sultan of Turkey, and does not wish to do any- 
 thing that might cause his friendly neighbour annoy-
 
 TIF LIS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 57 
 
 ance. You tell me that you are an English tourist, 
 but permit me to inform you that even before you 
 arrived I knew all about you, knew that I might 
 expect you, that you were an English newspaper 
 correspondent, and that }'ou wished to proceed to 
 Armenia." 
 
 I felt very flattered to find that my movements had 
 been the subject of so much gossip, but I told His 
 Excellency, Mirza Reeza Khan, that I could not be 
 responsible for the rumours that might be spread 
 abroad about me. Everybody was being suspected 
 of being a correspondent. I had met an English 
 officer at Trebizond, who was travelling for pleasure, 
 and he was also suspected of the same crime. But I 
 asked Mirza Reeza Khan to accept my assurance that 
 I was in very truth an English tourist. 
 
 The Persian Consul-General again smiled, and told 
 me that he was of course compelled to accept my 
 assurance, and so my passport was vised, and I paid 
 a handsome fee. But I realised that my movements 
 were being watched and giving His Majesty the 
 Sultan some anxiety. 
 
 Presently I discovered another rumour that was being 
 circulated about me, namely, that I was not a corre- 
 spondent at all, but a British officer in disguise, come 
 to spy out the nakedness of the land, and especially 
 to report upon the state of the fortress of Kars, and 
 the railway preparations that were in progress in 
 Russia. Of course this suspicion arose largely from
 
 S8 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 the fact that I had been trav^elling with an officer to 
 Trebizond. On the whole I am not sorry that this 
 was the case. It secured me most friendly treatment 
 from the Russian officers at Tiflis, who used to lunch 
 rei^ularly at my hotel, and with all of whom I was on 
 the best of terms. Some of these good-natured, jovial 
 fellows spoke English perfectly, some had served on 
 the Afghan Frontier Delimitation Commission ; they 
 were all great admirers of everything English, were 
 full of stories about the way the Cossacks and the 
 English soldiers used to fraternise, and were generally 
 most agreeable. 
 
 This fraternisation of English and Russian soldiers 
 was indeed a very remarkable feature of the frontier 
 delimitation, and considerably puzzled the Russian 
 officers, who asked their men how they managed to 
 understand the Englishmen. 
 
 " Oh ! we get on all right, sir," the Russian soldiers 
 replied. " We understand each other ! " 
 
 " But what do you do .'' How do you get on } " 
 
 " We drink, sir, and they drink back. We under- 
 stand each other. They are very good fellows, those 
 English, sir ! " 
 
 It was pleasant to learn that our Tommy had made 
 so favourable an impression. 
 
 But one day all the officers came into the hotel 
 looking most disgusted and angry. They complained 
 of the beastly bore that the}- had to go through, of 
 attending council meetings every day. Something
 
 TIFLIS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 59 
 
 was going to be up next spring, movements of troops 
 were on the tapis, and all on account of those brutes 
 of Armenians. All those fellows were scoundrels. 
 One of the officers, who was stationed near the frontier, 
 complained that instead of being able to go shooting, 
 as he had intended, he would have to work all the 
 spring, and then he added : 
 
 "An order has been passed that no Armenian 
 refugees are to be allowed to cross the frontier, either 
 coming or returning. They are to be arrested and 
 sent back ; and if they won't stop when they are 
 called upon to do so, our Cossacks have orders to 
 shoot them. Pretty rough on the poor fellows. All 
 this is not their fault after all. But I expect the 
 Cossacks won't have the heart to shoot them. Ough, 
 that kind of work is disgusting, firing on non- 
 combatants ! " 
 
 Thus the reader will see that, while I was waiting 
 for the Russian Government to make up its mind 
 whether I was to be allowed to go to Armenia or not, 
 I was collecting impressions. These desultory facts, 
 which I am thus relating in a rambling way, just as I 
 stumbled across them myself, when they come to be 
 focussed, as they presently will, if the reader have 
 patience, produce, I fancy, a very complete picture of 
 the general situation. 
 
 From the editor of the MsJiak I got every assist- 
 ance as to information for my journey across Persia ; 
 the editor of the Ardzagank was equally civil, and I
 
 6o ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 had not been many days in Tiflis before mysterious 
 visitors came trooping in to see me, and to tell me 
 what they knew and what they thought. 
 
 I learned that the Daily Telegraph correspondent 
 had preceded me to Tiflis by about a week, and left 
 for Kars ; and one day I was told, by the editor of 
 the Mshak, that he had obtained, from a trustworthy 
 source, the intelligence that, escorted by a troop of 
 Cossacks, the correspondent of the Daily Telegraph 
 had safely crossed the Turkish frontier, and had 
 arrived at Erzeroum. Seeing that my own progress 
 had been stopped, this information edified me con- 
 siderably ; it made me begin to wonder whether the 
 gentlemen of the Armenian press were at all familiar 
 with American joiu'nalistic methods. 
 
 One thing, however, they told me which delighted 
 me much, and that was, that seven refugees from the 
 district of Sassun had just arrived at Tiflis, that they 
 were the first batch of survivors to arrive, and that 
 hitherto all information received had been from the 
 lips of Moorish peasants, whose evidence was not so 
 trustworthy. I was a little afraid that these Sassun 
 peasants might have some affinity with the Cossacks 
 who had accom])anied the Daily Telegraph correspon- 
 dent to Erzeroum ; but, as will presently appear, there 
 can be little doubt that these peasants were what they 
 represented themselves to be. 
 
 Before, however, I give a detailed account of the 
 interview I had with them, and the lengthy cross-
 
 T/FLIS, THE QUEEN OF THE CAUCASUS. 6i 
 
 examination to which I subjected them — it lasted 
 three hours on one day and two-and-a-half another 
 — I shall have to note down a few general considera- 
 tions regarding the state of affairs at Tiflis, and the 
 numerous currents, parties, interests, and intrigues in 
 that very remarkable city.
 
 62 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 
 
 In order to understand anything of the movement in 
 Turkish Armenia, it is necessary to know something 
 of the condition of the Armenians on Russian terri- 
 tory. The real home of the Armenians Hes at the 
 foot of Mount Ararat. Here is the ancient monastery 
 of Etchmiadzin, here are populous Armenian villages, 
 which testify, by their prosperous condition, to the 
 industry and aptness for agricultural pursuits of the 
 Armenians. To the north-cast of Mount Ararat, on 
 the shores of the Caspian, lies the town of Baku, 
 which owes its prosperity and wealth largely to 
 Armenian enterprise. If we cross from Baku by 
 steamer to Enzeli, and penetrate into Persia, we 
 shall find that the vanguard of Russian trade is 
 composed of Armenians. When we enter the region 
 of the Caucasus from the Black Sea at Batoum, we 
 find again that the work of the Caucasus is done by 
 Armenians. The dock-labourers, the navvies, all 
 those people who do the vague, undefined work
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 63 
 
 which the great industrial progress of the nineteenth 
 century has created, are Armenians, It is esti- 
 mated that in ordinary years about fifty thousand 
 Armenians annually leave their native villages in 
 Turkish Armenia to find work on the Caucasus. In 
 Constantinople we have already seen that the hard 
 work of the port is performed by the same industrious 
 race. But Tiflis and Constantinople are the head- 
 quarters of the aristocracy and plutocracy of Armenia. 
 In Constantinople, owing to unfavourable conditions, 
 the wealthy Armenians prefer to efface themselves. 
 They work secretly, and this habit of secret intrigue, 
 peculiar to all oppressed nationalities, has here led to 
 the development of those undesirable characteristics 
 which have distinguished the Greeks and many other 
 of the races subject to Moslem. In short, the Turkish 
 Armenians distrust each other, they are not proof 
 against bribes, and their political virtue is a doubtful 
 quantity. Many of the spies and secret tools of the 
 Turkish Government, whose name is legion, are 
 Armenians. These Armenians have frequently mis- 
 applied the funds collected for national purposes, and 
 can only be described as despicable people. Such 
 Armenians will be found at Tiflis and Teheran, nay, 
 within the precincts of the residence of the Catholicos 
 himself. It is even whispered that the Sultan is of 
 Armenian descent. This is one of the reasons why 
 the present agitation in Armenia has not been more 
 successful. The agents employed have not always
 
 64 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 been honest, and the Armenian cause has often been 
 betrayed by Armenians. 
 
 If we glance at the map we shall see that Armenia 
 is a very large geographical expression. Although 
 Armenia proper has no sea-coast, the frontiers are 
 within easy access of the sea. Trebizond is practically 
 an Armenian port, which leads straight to Erzeroum, 
 the capital, and lived on Armenian trade, although it 
 technically belongs to Anatolia, a narrow belt of 
 territory, stretching along the southern shores of the 
 Black Sea. From Baiburt, the northern frontier town 
 of Turkish Armenia, which is at a distance of 
 about twelve hours' march from Trebizond, Armenia 
 stretches into Russia at Olti and Bayazid, and con- 
 tinues to the foot of the Caucasus Mountains and the 
 shores of the Caspian, including a large slice of Persia, 
 with the beautiful lake of Urumiyah. On the west, 
 Armenia practically begins at Alexandretta, and 
 reaches up north to Sivas and the port of Samsun. 
 So that it is not too much to say that to-day 
 Armenia really embraces the largest part of Asia 
 Minor and the Caucasus. The ancient empire of 
 Armenia was bounded on the north by Pontus, 
 between which and Colchis she inserted the small 
 end of a wedge, giving her a port on the Black Sea, 
 probably the I^atoum of to-day, and by Iberia and 
 Albania. On the east her shores were washed by the 
 Mare Caspium, her southern frontiers were conter- 
 minous with Media and Assyria, and on the west she
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 65 
 
 was flanked by Cappadocia. Gibbon somewhat cir- 
 cumscribes Armenia in his map of the Eastern Roman 
 Empire, but even he, who is not particularly partial to 
 the Armenians, accords them a very handsome place 
 in Asia Minor. 
 
 Within the century the gradual awakening of 
 Oriental countries has not been without its influence 
 on the Armenians, and we find them constituting a 
 large part of the population of Constantinople, and 
 spreading themselves all over Turkey and Eastern 
 Russia, Persia, and even parts of India. 
 
 From time immemorial they have been a remark- 
 able race, but their geographical position has made 
 their country the battlefield of empires. Alternately 
 conquered by Persians and Turks, they have thrown 
 themselves into the arms of Russia in the vain hope 
 of salvation. Gibbon says that their ancient Christian 
 kings or despots, " who arose and fell in the thirteenth 
 century on the confines of Cilicia, were the clients of 
 the Latins, and the vassals of the Turkish Sultan of 
 Iconium." The Cilicia of those days is the modern 
 Zeithun. He continues : — 
 
 "The helpless nation has seldom been permitted to enjoy 
 the tranquility of servitude. From the earliest period to 
 the present hour, Armenia has been the theatre of perpetual 
 war ; the lands between Tauris and Erivan were dispeopled 
 by the cruel policy of the Sophies, and myriads of Christian 
 families were transplanted, to perish or to propagate in the 
 distant provinces of Persia. Under the rod of oppression, 
 the zeal of the Armenians is fervid and intrepid ; they have 
 
 F
 
 66 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 often preferred the crown of martyrdom to the white turban 
 of Mahomet; they devoutly hate the error and idolatry of 
 the Greeks ; and their transient union with the Latins is 
 not less devoid of trutli than the thousand bishoi)s whom 
 their Patriarch offered at the feet of the Roman pontiffs. 
 The Catholic (Catholicos), or Patriarch of the Armenians, 
 resides in the monastery of Ekmiasin (Etchmiadzin), three 
 leagues from Erivan. Forty-seven archbishops, each of 
 whom may claim the obedience of four or five suffragans, 
 are consecrated by his hand ; but the far greater part are 
 only titular prelates, who dignify with their presence and 
 service the simplicity of his court. As soon as they have 
 performed the liturgy, they cultivate the garden ; and our 
 bishops will hear with surprise that the austerity of their 
 life increases in just proportion to the elevation of their 
 rank. In the fourscore thousand towns or villages of his 
 spiritual empire the Patriarch receives a small and voluntary 
 tax from each person above the age of fifteen; but the 
 annual amount of six hundred thousand crowns is insuf- 
 ficient to supply the incessant demands of charity and 
 tribute. Since the beginning of the last century (1600), 
 the Armenians have obtained a large and lucrative share 
 of the commerce of the East. In their return from Europe 
 the caravan usually halts in the neighbourhood of Erivan ; 
 the altars are enriched with the fruits of their patient in- 
 dustry, and the faith of Eutyches is preached in their 
 recent congregations of Barbary and Poland." 
 
 It is sUi'prising to find how correctly Gibbon wrote 
 about this ancient nation more than a hundred years 
 ago. When describing the religion of the Armenians, 
 he says : — 
 
 " Since the age of Constantine the Armenians had 
 signalised their attachment to the religion and empire of
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 67 
 
 the Christians. The disorders of their country and their 
 ignorance of the Greek tongue prevented their clergy from 
 assisting at the Synod of Chalcedon, and they floated 
 eighty-four years in a state of indifference or suspense till 
 their vacant faith was finally occupied by the missionaries 
 of Julian of Halicarnassus, who in Egypt, their common 
 exile, had been vanquished by the arguments or the in- 
 fluence of his rival Severus, the Monophysite Patriarch of 
 Antioch. The Armenians alone are the pure disciples of 
 Eutyches, an unfortunate parent who has been renounced 
 by the greater part of his spiritual progeny. They alone 
 persevere in the opinion that the manhood of Christ was 
 created, or existed without creation, of a divine and incor- 
 ruptible substance. Their adversaries reproach them with 
 the adoration of a phantom ; and they retort the accusation 
 by deriding or execrating the blasphemy of the Jacobites, 
 who impute to the Godhead the vile infirmities of the flesh, 
 even the natural effects of nutrition and digestion." 
 
 In a note Gibbon says that " it is from the year of 
 Christ 552 that we date the era of the Armenians." 
 
 These short extracts will sufficiently explain the 
 attitude of the Russian Church towards the Armenians. 
 Upon that attitude much depends. 
 
 Having looked at the ancient history of Armenia 
 thus cursorily through Gibbon's spectacles, let us now 
 glance at the modern re-awakening of the Armenian 
 nation. Here we shall find the influence of Russia 
 all important. 
 
 Russia herself has only recently awakened from 
 slavery. The close of the Crimean war and the death 
 of Nicholas I. mark a new epoch in Russian history. 
 
 F 2
 
 6s ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA, 
 
 With the emancipation of the serfs, Russia has been 
 brought face to face with new problems and ideals. 
 
 The emancipation of a population of over a hundred 
 million people, all speaking the same language, obey- 
 ing the will of the same master, appealed to the 
 imagination of the educated classes of Russia, and led 
 them to dream of the future great destiny of their 
 country. Hitherto Russia had had little intellectual 
 life ; she had been reclaimed from Orientalism by an 
 eccentric and energetic ruler who had slavishly fol- 
 lowed European models. Russian nationality was a 
 thing to be ashamed of rather than to develop- 
 Nevertheless, Peter I. was a Russian, and was followed 
 by a line of Russian rulers. But Peter III. was a 
 German ; his wife, who became the celebrated Empress 
 Catherine, was a German, and her descendants, who 
 have invariably married German princesses, can have 
 small claim to be regarded as Russians. 
 
 These German rulers had little sympathy with 
 Russian national characteristics. With the accession 
 of Alexander II., and the emancipation of the serfs, 
 there came a great change. Russia became a nation, 
 developed institutions and ideals, and necessarily 
 parties. At that time there were practically four 
 parties in Russia. The Westerns, or European Liberals, 
 the Conservative Reactionaries, the Anarchists or Nihil- 
 ists, and the Russian Nationalists, of which there were 
 two sections, the Panslavists, who were for expansion, 
 and the Philoslavs, who were for the development of
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 6g 
 
 Russian nationality from within. The Church party 
 played a small and unimportant part. The alien 
 emperors, although at the head of the Church, had 
 little sympathy with dogma, and had inherited from 
 their ancestress Catherine a certain weakness for 
 French philosophy. Alexander II. was a German 
 with a French education ; his political views were a 
 strange mixture of doctrinaire liberalism and belief in 
 the autocratic principle. In obedience to the liberal 
 precepts he had imbibed by study, he was tolerant 
 of racial differences and indifferent about religion. 
 In his days the Baltic provinces and the Duchy of 
 Finland were amongst his most loyal dependencies. 
 The Caucasus under his brother Michael, who fully 
 shared his views, was happily and beneficiently 
 administered. Little sympathy was felt for that spirit 
 of Russian nationalism which was then already gaining 
 shape and strength. The Jews were tolerated, and en- 
 joyed more influence and power than ever before ; the 
 Armenians were the spoilt children of the Empire. 
 Loris Melikoff was even made dictator of Russia. 
 
 But the outbreak of Nihilism brought about a revul- 
 sion of feeling, and the final murder of Alexander II. 
 plunged Russia back into the Middle Ages. Every- 
 body felt that things had gone too far, that liberal 
 education and irreligion had undermined the classes, 
 that freedom from control had debauched the masses. 
 Something had to be done to save Russia from rotting 
 away. In the meantime the Slavophil party had
 
 ^o ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 been slowly organising and gaining strength ; its 
 secret societies covered the country. Its prophets, 
 notably Aksakofif, had even dared to reproach the 
 Emperor with want of patriotism, and had done so 
 with impunity. The Heir Apparent had been won 
 over to this party, and had placed himself at its 
 head, and on his accession to the throne in 1881 the 
 state of parties in Russia may be thus described : 
 
 The Panslavists and Conservatives had joined forces, 
 but had been absorbed by the more vigorous con- 
 structive section of the Philoslav party, of which 
 Katkoff was the leader. The Nihilists had been lost 
 in the revolutionary or radical section of the Philoslav 
 party, and the Westerns, the European Liberals, of 
 whom Turgueniev was an eminent example, dared 
 not lift their voices ; they were designated as un- 
 patriotic, as renegades to their country. From hence- 
 forth, under the auspices of Katkoff, and with the aid 
 of Pobedonostzev and the leadership of General 
 Ignatieff, the reign of the Slavonic idea was to com- 
 mence. That idea meant a sort of Tory democracy, 
 or a national family, with the Emperor for father, the 
 people for children, and the Greek Church for mother. 
 Russian institutions were represented by the village 
 commune, a primitive system of land tenure, and the 
 artel, a co-operative labour association. The in- 
 fluences of Western liurope were disintegrating — they 
 were to be kept out. The various dependencies of 
 Russia, the alien races who owed her allegiance, were
 
 STATE OF PAR TIES IN R USSIA N A RMENIA . 7 r 
 
 no longer to be regarded merely as appanages of 
 the crown, they were the national heritage of Russia, 
 they must be Russianised, and when once the entire 
 Russian Empire had become homogeneously Slavonic, 
 the regenerating influences of the Slavonic idea would 
 be permitted to expand, until the whole world had 
 been evangelised and saved from the yoke of Western 
 materialism. It was a beautiful idea, and Alexander III. 
 grasped it fairly well. He also understood that it 
 was an excellent instrument of government, but he 
 refused to allow its prophets to dominate him. Igna- 
 tiefif 's fall proclaimed to the world that the Emperor 
 had so thoroughly mastered the Slavonic idea that he 
 would allow nobody to interpose himself between the 
 people and the autocrat. He also understood that 
 unless the Greek Church was rehabilitated, he would 
 be unable to retain his hold over the masses. Russia 
 thus became, under Alexander III., a sort of fanatic 
 religious empire. 
 
 The effect of this altered attitude towards depen- 
 dent races and other religions was disastrous. The 
 first warnings Europe received of the change of front 
 were the outrages on the Jews under the auspices of 
 General Ignatieff in Odessa and other southern towns. 
 The Dissenters were the next victims. The Polish 
 Catholics, the Lutherans of the Baltic, these have also 
 felt the heavy hand of Pobedonostzev. 
 
 But perhaps the case of the Armenians is more 
 pitiable still. Here is a nationality, possessing an
 
 72 ROi'ND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 ancient Christian faith, a beautiful language, and 
 a rich literature, which have been maintained in- 
 violate through centuries of oppression amidst hostile 
 Mahomedan races. It is not likely that such a 
 people should be wanting in tenacity. When the 
 Russian armies appeared on the Caucasus, the Ar- 
 menians welcomed their fellow-Christians as deliverers, 
 and held out to them the hand of brotherhood. By 
 their active aid Russia succeeded in gaining a firm 
 footing in this part of the East. In the wars which 
 Russia has waged for centuries against Turkey, she 
 has always found helpful friends in the enemy's 
 country among the Armenians. 
 
 She now embraces within her frontier a very large 
 slice of Armenia. The seat of the Catholicos is 
 part of Russian territory. Russian Cossacks patrol 
 the foot of Mount Ararat. Erzeroum is within a 
 day's march of the Russian frontier. 
 
 And the condition of the Armenians under Alex- 
 ander II. was enviable. The Grand Duke Michael 
 recognised their commercial qualities, the Emperor 
 was grateful for their loyalty. They were allowed to 
 follow their religion, to maintain their own parochial 
 schools, to print their own newspapers in their own 
 language. Owing to their superior education and 
 industry, they became the dominant race on the 
 Caucasus. To-day half Tiflis belongs to them. The 
 great banks and conunercial houses of tliat capital are 
 Armenian.
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 72, 
 
 But with the advent of Alexander III, and his 
 fanatical creature, Pobedonostzev, the Armenians 
 were made to feel that their religion, their language, 
 their nationality, were threatened. Many of their 
 schools were closed. When old churches had to be 
 rebuilt, permission was refused. The Catholicos was 
 snubbed, and a sort of general crusade was instituted 
 against the Armenians. 
 
 The result of this has been to knit the members of 
 this oppressed nationality more closely together, to 
 make them feel that Russia is a cruel stepmother, 
 and to inspire them with a sentiment of Armenian 
 patriotism which had very nearly been extinguished 
 by prosperity and ease. Where formerly the Ar- 
 menians looked hopefully towards the gradual absorp- 
 tion of the whole of Asia Minor by Russia, they are 
 now beginning to dread that consummation. 
 
 Indeed, the attitude of Russia towards Turkey has 
 within recent years undergone a very remarkable 
 change. When Turkey was a strong and formidable 
 Empire, supported by powerful allies, Russia treated 
 her as an enemy, and waged successive wars upon the 
 Sultan until he had become so weakened that his 
 former allies forsook him. Then Russia became the 
 friend of the weak potentate. She will gradually 
 draw him into the sphere of her influence until he 
 becomes of about as much political importance as the 
 Ameer of Bokhara, and practically subject to Russia ; 
 then she will be able to swallow him whenever a
 
 74 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 convenient opportunity presents itself. Hence the 
 Armenians, who were formerly useful to her, have 
 become inconvenient. She does not wish to nourish 
 any separate national tendencies within the confines 
 of the Turkish Empire. 
 
 Thus we see that, both from the point of view of 
 home and foreign politics, Russian interests are at 
 present opposed to those of Armenia. 
 
 The Armenians fully understand this, but their 
 attitude towards Russia varies. 
 
 One party, ostensibly the largest and most powerful, 
 the party of the Mshakists, pretend still to regard 
 Russia as the saviour of the Armenians, and consider 
 it politic to maintain an appearance of loyalty and 
 friendship towards their northern stepmother. Their 
 arguments are as follows, and were expounded to me 
 by their official leader. 
 
 In Turkey the Armenians are oppressed and 
 massacred. Their economic condition is rendered 
 precarious by the predatory Kurds, whose depreda- 
 tions are winked at by the authorities. What is left 
 by the Kurds is swallowed up by the officials and 
 the State. Their women are not safe. They are 
 threatened with extermination ; their condition is 
 devoid of all hope. 
 
 In Russian Armenia there may not be as much 
 freedom as the Armenians might wish. It is true 
 that they are hampered in their commercial operations, 
 in their schools and churches, that they have to pay
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 75 
 
 the blood-tax by serving in the army of the Tzar, 
 that their rehgion and language, their nationality, are 
 threatened. But Russia is a civilised country. In 
 Russia the lives of the Armenians are at least safe. 
 They are permitted to amass fortunes, to teach, to 
 follow the learned professions. They may enter the 
 service of the State, they may hold commissions in 
 the army, they may practise at the bar. Russia is a 
 great country with large trade interests — there is room 
 for everybody. If the Armenians are threatened 
 with extinction as a race, it is better that they should 
 be absorbed by a civilised state like Russia, than be 
 exterminated by Turkey. Possibilities are open to 
 them as Russian citizens which must for ever be denied 
 them as subjects of the Sultan. They therefore 
 pretend they would like to see Turkish Armenia 
 annexed by Russia. 
 
 With this party the question of religion does not 
 carry much weight. It is tainted with the liberal 
 tendencies of a certain school of Russian thinkers not 
 altogether inimical to Nihilism, and it secretly hopes 
 that the present condition of Russia will not last. It 
 looks forward to a great Slavonic republic, of which 
 Armenia shall form part, a sort of confederation of 
 Eastern European races, which will be allowed in- 
 dividual autonomy and scope to develop separate 
 national characteristics. In Poland and on the 
 Balkans we shall find similar dreamers. Stambuloiif 
 himself was once a believer in this view.
 
 76 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 This party is composed of cultivated but weak- 
 kneed people, who sympathise with the aspirations of 
 Russian liberalism, who are as hostile to the Catholicos 
 and their own religion as to that of Russia, and whose 
 ideas of patriotism are merged in vague humanitarian 
 internationalism. These are not the men of action. 
 But amongst them are many agitators. They are 
 the Girondists of the Armenian movement, and they 
 will talk loudly of humanity, of freedom, and even 
 make collections in aid of the cause ; but they are 
 devoid of courage, and are not made of the stuff of 
 which martyrs are made. They would run with the 
 hare and hunt with the hounds. 
 
 Then there is the religious party ; the party which 
 sees in the Catholicos the emblem of Armenian 
 nationality, which cherishes a sentimental reverence 
 for the literature and language of Armenia, and for 
 all the national traditions, but docs not go much 
 beyond. Its attitude is more speculative than 
 practical. To it belong a very large number of 
 young men, of ladies, of Armenian nobles and mer- 
 chants, and of course the priests, that is, those priests 
 who have embraced religion as a vocation. There 
 are, however, many political monks. 
 
 At the head of this party is the Catholicos, whose 
 position is very difficult, but who, notwithstanding his 
 great age, is a man of rare sagacity, eloquence, and 
 energy. His attitude has so far been disappointingly 
 correct. lie has stirred up the hearts of his i)eople to
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA, jj 
 
 pity and sympathy for the terrible sufferings of their 
 co-religionists in Turkey, but has not done much 
 beyond that. He petitioned the Emperor for an 
 interview, that he might intercede with him for the 
 destitute Armenians, who are indeed sheep of his 
 flock, but with whom he has little means of being in 
 touch. The Emperor, however, refused to see the 
 Catholicos, and though he has the legal right of 
 audience of the Emperor, he wisely preferred not to 
 put that technical right to the test. The Catholicos 
 was elected for his vehement and patriotic eloquence, 
 but since his election he has disappointed his sup- 
 porters. He is accused of temporizing. But what is 
 he to do .'* Some people thought he would put him- 
 self at the head of a revolutionary movement. He 
 has the energy and personal courage necessary, and 
 is still an excellent horseman. Of his fearlessness all 
 will be convinced who have had the privilege of an in- 
 terview with him. He is a noble and romantic figure, 
 with a magnificent flowing beard, lambent eyes, and 
 the mouth of an orator. His voice is magnetic. But 
 he possesses more than the ordinary share of human 
 shrewdness, and impressed me as a wise and crafty 
 statesman. 
 
 Of his personal courage, it is related that, when 
 attacked by brigands not many years ago, he shot one 
 of them and got clear away. 
 
 Nobody reproaches him with cowardice, though he 
 is accused of excess of caution. He must, however,
 
 78 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 know the difficulties he has to contend with, the 
 untrustworthiness of the people who surround him, 
 and the hopelessness of his cause. Perhaps he is wise 
 in waiting for the intervention of foreign Powers, and 
 perhaps he still believes that England will save. In 
 any case he has by his prudence prevented an estrange- 
 ment between himself and the authorities. 
 
 These are the two principal parties in Russian 
 Armenia, but there are yet several more, which can be 
 conveniently divided into two categories : the party of 
 action and the party of quiescence or indifference. 
 
 The party of action is more powerful than people 
 think. It has many sections. First amongst these, as 
 being the most statesmanlike, is the national party, 
 with the leaders of which I have spent many hours. 
 These long for a free and independent Armenia. 
 They do not care how it shall begin. If Turkish 
 Armenia with Erzeroum should receive autonomy and 
 be its nucleus they would be satisfied for a time. 
 Nearly every able-bodied Armenian would emigrate 
 from the Caucasus, and settle in this autonomous 
 Armenia, whose frontiers would gradually extend, for 
 no patriotic Armenian would be content with so small a 
 national heritage. This party has already designated 
 the future Prime Minister, and has a constitution care- 
 fully stowed away in a pigeon-hole. It is in touch with 
 the Armenians of Constantinople, and also with the 
 more active revolutionary Armenians. But it is at 
 the mercy of .spies and selfish intriguers, and is not at
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 79 
 
 present doing much, although it has the secret sym- 
 pathies of the vast majority of the Armenians. 
 
 The revolutionary party, which is secretly in touch 
 with the Mshakists and the national Ardzagank party, 
 have their ramifications all over the world. They 
 have organisations and secret societies in London and 
 New York, in Constantinople, in the Balkans and 
 Greece, in Persia, everywhere. They are intimately 
 associated with the remnants of the Nihilist party ; 
 they have friends even among the Kurds. 
 
 The Armenian troops of the Tzar are said to belong 
 to this party to a man, and nearly all the young men 
 of Armenia are its adherents. The vast armies of 
 commercial travellers which travel through Persia and 
 Turkish Armenia are all more or less members of this 
 party. Their agitators, educated at Geneva and other 
 European Universities, visit, disguised as peasants, the 
 villages of Sassun, Diarbekir, Sivas, and penetrate as 
 far as Zeithun. Many call themselves Americans, and 
 as medical men carry sedition, conspiracy, and rebellion 
 in their medicine chests among the rural population 
 of Turkish Armenia. 
 
 Van, Bitlis, and similar towns are full of them. 
 They are fearless, cunning, full of expedients, and 
 elusive. Amongst them are numerous spies of the 
 Turkish Government, and they can be little trusted. 
 They will be found in the service of foreign consulates. 
 In a word, they are ubiquitous. Some of them are 
 members of the ancient Armenian aristocracy. They
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 talk glibly of dynamite, and their probity is doubtful. 
 They know all the mountain paths, and smuggle arms 
 and ammunition, which they occasionally sell for their 
 own profit. 
 
 I was assured that at a given signal all the time- 
 expired Armenian soldiers of the Tzar would spring 
 to arms, and that they would be joined by the bulk of 
 the male population. This is a sanguine estimate, 
 and necessarily conditioned by the amount of arms and 
 ammunition at the disposal of the revolutionary 
 committees. Still I think there is a good deal of 
 truth in it, and the recent appearance of armed bodies 
 of trained men apparently from nowhere, at Van and 
 Zeithun, show that this statement was not a mere 
 empty boast. When the revolt, which is now spreading 
 all over Turkey, becomes more general, and Syria and 
 the Lebanon, besides Macedonia and Arabia, have 
 risen, we may expect the Armenians will be ready. I 
 shall not be surprised if the present troubled state of 
 Turkey gets more acute next year. 
 
 From this active revolutionary party, with its under- 
 ground ramifications, its secret societies, its emissaries 
 even within the precincts of Yildiz Kiosk, its American 
 citizen agitators, who appeal to the United States' 
 Minister at Constantinople for protection, let us turn 
 to the purely passive party, their natural antithesis. 
 
 This is theparty of vested interests and disappointed 
 patriots, who, from self-interest or disillusionment, long 
 for quiet. They do not want any revolutionary move-
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 8i 
 
 ments, they have become indifferent to the fate of 
 Armenia. All they want is peace and security in 
 which to pursue their worldly avocations. 
 
 Among these we shall find many of the Armenian 
 officials of the Russian Government, the owners of 
 oil wells at Baku, the large class of usurers, and the 
 bankers, merchants, and capitalists. Many of these 
 have ever been selfish and occupied with the accumu- 
 lation of wealth, for which the Armenians have great 
 natural aptitude. But there are also very many who 
 distrust their compatriots. They have so often been 
 cheated, they have so frequently subscribed large 
 sums which have found their way to the pockets of 
 the agitators, that they have grown cautious. 
 
 While I was at Tiflis I heard loud complaints of 
 the indifference to the national cause of the wealthy 
 classes. But representatives of these wealthy classes, 
 whose hospitality I enjoyed, explained to me how 
 difficult it was for them to believe or trust in the 
 assurances of the various national agitators. I was 
 given an instance of the leader of one of the parties, 
 since deceased, at whose instigation a large sum of 
 money was collected for purposes of agitation. That 
 leader died, no record had been kept of the money he 
 had got together, for it was feared that the Russian 
 Government might confiscate it, and up to the present 
 day nobody knows what has become of this sum. On 
 another occasion a large sum of money was collected 
 for the purchase of, I think it was ten thousand, rifles, 
 
 G
 
 82 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 if not more, with ammunition. These rifles were 
 successfully smuggled into Persia. I saw the man 
 who managed that part of the business, he is living in 
 Tiflis now. But when these rifles arrived in Persia 
 they were lost, all trace of them disappeared ! 
 
 Too many repetitions of this kind of thing will cool 
 the ardour of the most zealous patriot when it is he 
 who provides the money. I have met men who have 
 been ruined by too lavish gifts. There are, never- 
 theless, many wealthy Armenians remaining who 
 contribute largely to the collections made on behalf of 
 their Turkish compatriots. 
 
 Finally, there is the old school of Armenian soldier, 
 the men who have fought side by side with Loris 
 MelikofT and LazarefF, who are honoured and respected 
 by Russians and Armenians alike, whose breasts are 
 covered with decorations, and who do not understand 
 the situation at all. These brave warriors burn with 
 hatred against the Sultan, are full of loyalty for the 
 Tzar, and do not realise that to-day the Tzar and the 
 Sultan are to all practical intents and purposes allies. 
 Some of these even write pamphlets describing the 
 condition of the Turkish Armenians, and some sub- 
 scribe towards their relief, but they are absolutely 
 loyal soldiers of the Tzar, and are quite incapable of 
 any logical political thought. 
 
 I have here endeavoured to give a sketchy picture 
 of the state of public feeling among the Armenians 
 of Tiflis. There are many contrary currents^ many
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN RUSSIAN ARMENIA. 83 
 
 divergent streams. There are shopkeepers and 
 bankers, journalists and lawyers, monks and priests, 
 officials and soldiers, usurers and scoundrels, and 
 amongst them all, moving about like vague un- 
 definable spectres, are revolutionary agitators, mys- 
 terious individuals from America, emissaries from 
 Constantinople, peasant refugees, and spies of all 
 sorts. 
 
 But all these people are welded together by one 
 common sympathy, by one great bond, the bond of 
 language and brotherhood. 
 
 They are hated by the Russian population of 
 Tiflis. And what is that Russian population ? We 
 shall look in vain for Russian pioneers of commerce, 
 for Russian capitalists, shopkeepers, speculators, mer- 
 chants. The officers are Russian, nearly all generals. 
 The Cossacks and policemen are Russian, one or two 
 of the schoolmasters are Russian, the officials of the 
 Government are Russian, so are the railway employees, 
 and that is all. England has to-day a greater vital 
 hold over Egypt than Russia has over the Caucasus. 
 Frenchmen, Germans, Belgians, one or two English- 
 men, and Poles, Armenians, Circassians, and Tartars 
 — these are the people who constitute the life of the 
 Caucasus. 
 
 The few Russians who reside there loathe the 
 prosperous and pushing Armenians who confront 
 them at every step and elbow them out everywhere. 
 The Armenian churches and priests are an insult to 
 
 G 2
 
 84 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 them ; the Armenian newspapers, the Armenian 
 characters on the signboards of the smaller shops, 
 the easy-going, comfortable familiarity of the Arme- 
 nian and Circassian populations, their cordial relations 
 — all these things are like gall and wormwood to the 
 Russians. 
 
 Everywhere Russia has tried to impede the develop- 
 ment of the commerce of the Caucasus. The railway 
 from Batoum to Baku is only a single line. The 
 oil producers of Baku have been refused a concession 
 to lay a pipe. The mineral wealth of the Caucasus 
 lies undeveloped, owing to Russian official red-tape. 
 The port of Batoum, which was to have been free, 
 has been closed, and so the trade between the Black 
 Sea and Persia still goes by caravan, when time is no 
 object. All goods going over Batoum have to pay 
 the same duties as though they were destined for 
 Russian consumption. 
 
 In the public schools of Tiflis only a certain per- 
 centage of the scholars may be Armenians. 
 
 To say that the population of the Caucasus are 
 discontented would be to put it mildly. Both 
 Circassians and Armenians are disaftected, and in- 
 telligent Russians are disgusted. 
 
 Such is the state of things in the Caucasus. Tillis 
 is languishing for want (jf trade, Baku is suffering 
 from American competition at its very door, and the 
 curse of militarism is crushing out the life of the 
 people.
 
 ( 85 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SASSUX MASSACRES. 
 
 Ix the last chapter I have drawn a sketchy and 
 perhaps a somewhat blurred picture of the state of 
 the Armenian population of Tiflis, and of those 
 Armenians who, while sitting at their ease in com- 
 parative safety, are devising plans for the aggran- 
 disement of their country and themselves. These 
 patriots of the drawing-room and study rarely risk 
 their own lives. The brunt of the indignation of the 
 Sultan has been borne by the simple, honest, and 
 courageous peasantry of Asia Minor. It is always 
 the people who have to suffer. Of course it would 
 be false to imagine that these honest peasants have 
 not been prepared and led by heroic agitators, and 
 that occasionally there have even been volunteers 
 from Russian Armenia who have given up their 
 comfortable homes for the dangers and adventures 
 of a life of insurrection and rebellion. But they have 
 so far been few, though I should not be surprised to 
 hear that their numbers are increasing, and may 
 eventually assume formidable proportions. Still, I
 
 86 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 cannot help thinking that if the Russian Armenians 
 had been as prodigal of their lives as the Russian 
 volunteers in Servia and Bulgaria, things might be 
 very different to-day. I will give an instance in my 
 own experience. When I was at Tiflis and announced 
 my intention of making an attempt, at least, of 
 getting as far as Sassun, I was offered the services 
 of a well-known Armenian agitator, a powerful man, 
 who had travelled all over that district a year or two 
 before. Of course I gladly accepted his proffered 
 assistance ; but when it came to the push and I was 
 about to leave, I was informed that my guide was 
 prevented by private and family reasons from joining 
 me, and that it would moreover be inconvenient for 
 him to go, because if he once fell into the hands of 
 the Turks his life would not be worth a day's 
 purchase. 
 
 But let us turn from these highly-cultured gentle- 
 men to the men who have faced the Turks in the 
 field — the Turkish-Armenian peasants. 
 
 I have already referred in Chapter III. to the 
 presence in Tiflis on my arrival of a number of 
 refugees, survivors of the Sassun massacres. These 
 peasants I succeeded in interviewing, once in the 
 board-room of the Armenian Benevolent Society, 
 and under the auspices of the Mshakist party, the 
 doctrinaire party, and once at my own hotel, when I 
 had for my interpreter a member of the Ardzagank 
 party, the nationalist party. I met them again by
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 87 
 
 accident at the house of a Russian veteran, who had 
 shown them a great deal of kindness. I can only say 
 that on each occasion these hardy mountaineers filled 
 me with admiration. 
 
 The three media through which I thus heard their 
 story were all hostile to each other. We have seen 
 that the Mshak and Ardzagank parties have totally 
 opposite aims, whereas the simple-minded old Arme- 
 nian soldier was as unsophisticated as a child. Yet 
 on each of these three separate occasions the Arme- 
 nian refugees told me substantially the same story. 
 On referring to my letters to the Daily Graphic, I find 
 the following passage referring to my interview with 
 these peasants : — 
 
 " On two separate occasions I submitted them, with the 
 aid of different interpreters belonging to opposing camps 
 of Armenian politics, to severe cross-examination. One 
 examination lasted three hours, the other two hours and 
 a half. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that 
 these men told me the truth, for much of what they said 
 tends to upset the theory current here that there has been 
 no revolutionary movement in Armenia, and the cross- 
 examination to which I submitted them was so severe that 
 they must inevitably have contradicted themselves in more 
 than one instance if they had been telling lies." 
 
 It was not without difficulty, and only after many 
 futile attempts, that I succeeded in seeing these sons 
 of the soil. Having at last got them, I determined to 
 make the interview as full and complete as possible. 
 Seated at a long table with a green cloth on it, I was
 
 S8 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 supported by the Secretary of the Armenian Bene- 
 volent Socict}' and several of its most inlluential 
 members. Three interpreters were present. One 
 had accompanied the peasants, one was supplied by 
 the Society, a third, a Turkish-Armenian gentleman, 
 who spoke no Russian, and consequently could not 
 understand the interpretations of the other two, but 
 who spoke French, had come at my invitation. 
 
 The Armenian peasants entered the room, and after 
 saluting me, and shaking hands in a charmingly frank 
 and simple manner, they sat down. They were very 
 sun-burnt, but had pleasant honest faces. None of 
 them exceeded the middle height, and they were all 
 young, able-bodied, active fellows, with curly black 
 hair cropped close to their heads, which were oval, 
 and strong beards of about three weeks' growth. 
 They had clear eyes, which did not shrink from a 
 close scrutiny. There was nothing fierce about them ; 
 on the contrary, they looked rather gentle and amiable, 
 and they were certainly free from those cringing and 
 fawning ways which seem to be inseparable from the 
 Oriental. Clad in an apology for European costume, 
 which they had got together hurriedly, they looked 
 very quaint. 
 
 I opened the ball by telling them it might be to 
 their advantage to inform me truthfully of all they 
 knew, because I was going to send an account of 
 what they would say to England. At this they all 
 .seemed very pleased.
 
 THE S ASS UN MASSACRES, 89 
 
 I then asked them whether they were Christians 
 or Mahomedans. This question caused a sensation, 
 and one of them darted looks of fire at me, and said 
 something which I was told meant that he had not 
 come to be insulted, and if this was the kind of thing 
 they were to expect they had better go away. With 
 great difficulty were they pacified. Two of them had 
 been wounded, and had bullets in their bodies. 
 
 They told me they had come from Sassun, and 
 were natives of the village of Galeguzan. It had 
 taken them nearly a month to get to Tiflis. 
 
 •'' Now," I said, " tell me exactly what happened 
 at Sassun." 
 
 They laughed, and replied that if they were to tell 
 me all they had seen and all they had gone through 
 they would have to talk for months. 
 
 " Well then," I said, " I will ask you questions 
 which you must answer. What kind of peasants are 
 you ; well off.'" 
 
 From their replies I gathered that they had been 
 very well off indeed, and that their fathers had pos- 
 sessed flocks of sheep and cattle of all sorts. They had 
 lived on good terms with the Turks, who were in the 
 habit of collecting the taxes in the summer. The 
 Kurds used to swoop down on them occasionally and 
 lift their cattle, but on the whole they lived com- 
 fortably. It seems there were good and bad Kurds, 
 and that some tribes were friendly. 
 
 " Are you afraid of the Kurds ? " I asked.
 
 go ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 They showed their healthy white teeth and laughed 
 contemptuously. 
 
 "No," they answered ; "we always thrash them." 
 
 " Now," I said ; " the massacres occurred last year, 
 in 1894?" 
 
 " Yes," was the reply. 
 
 " Tell me what happened in 1893." 
 
 This took everybody by surprise. The interpreters 
 in chorus told me that the massacres occurred in 
 1894. 
 
 " Yes," I said, " I know, but I want to hear what 
 happened in the summer of 1893." 
 
 "In 1893," said the peasants, "the Kurds came 
 and attacked us : there were two tribes, the Riantzi 
 and Bagrantzi, and they attacked the neighbouring 
 village of Talvorik." 
 
 " Were they beaten back .'' " 
 
 "Yes, they were beaten back. We always beat 
 them." 
 
 " Why did they attack you > " 
 
 The peasants said something which seemed to 
 annoy the interpreter, and the Secretary of the 
 Society said it was of no importance ; but I insisted 
 on knowing what they had said. 
 
 " Oh," said my Turkish friend, " the Kurds asked 
 them to give up Murath, an agitator educated at 
 Geneva, who had lived with them and was supposed 
 to be stirring them up to rebellion, but they refused, 
 and for that reason they were attacked." ^
 
 THE S ASS UN MASSACRES. 91 
 
 It appeared that the Kurds went to Moosh, the 
 neighbouring garrison town, and reported the in- 
 subordination of the Armenians, complaining how 
 they had been treated and repulsed, and exaggerating 
 the armed strength of the peasantry. The peasants 
 claimed to have killed thirty Kurds. The commander 
 of the garrison of Moosh immediately sent troops 
 to Sassun to punish the peasantry and quell the 
 insurrection ; but the Armenians, on the approach of 
 the Turkish soldiers, fled to the mountains with their 
 women, children, and cattle ; and the soldiers, who 
 seemed to be good-natured sort of people, finding 
 the village deserted, returned without doing any 
 damage. 
 
 Here I again put some questions, 
 
 " It seems you were armed. Where did you get 
 your guns from .'' " 
 
 " We make them ourselves." 
 
 Of course this answer did not convince me, but it 
 was a great admission. It proved, notwithstanding 
 what I had been repeatedly told by the Armenians 
 of Tiflis, that the Turkish Armenian peasantry were 
 armed, although they were distinctly forbidden by 
 the Sultan from carrying arms of any kind, and it 
 showed that the numerous attempts to smuggle rifles 
 into Armenia had not all been as fruitless as I had 
 supposed. 
 
 I now ascertained that when the Armenians were 
 convinced of the departure of the Turkish troops
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 they came down from their mountains and returned 
 to their villages. One would have thought the in- 
 cident was closed ; but it was clearly the cause of 
 the massacres. The refusal of the Armenian peasants 
 to give up Murath was probably reported to the 
 Sultan, who, in order to punish such insubordination, 
 planned the massacres which were to set his kingdom 
 in a blaze, and may cause the final dissolution of 
 Turkey. 
 
 The snows now descended, the winter set in, and 
 all was quiet. In the early spring of 1894, the 
 peasants said, the Kurds, mindful of the thrashing 
 they had received, showed no inclination to visit 
 Sassun ; but friendly Kurds informed the Armenians 
 that the Turks insisted on their coming, and collected 
 forty tribes to come and surround the district. These 
 tribes arrived separately ; altogether they were about 
 a month in coming. They came pouring in and 
 ominously camping round the district. The villagers 
 of Sassun, who had never before witnessed such a 
 gathering of the clans, suspected mischief, but main- 
 tained an expectant attitude. They had Murath for 
 their leader, who seems to hav^e promised them help 
 from England. He apparently had two assistants, and 
 the village priests acted as his lieutenants. I strongly 
 suspect that my informants exaggerated the number 
 of the Kurds. It has been my experience that the 
 populace are rather inclined to over-estimate numbers. 
 But these tribes were not all hostile, and at least one,
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 93 
 
 the Harzan tribe, was friendly ; their chief was sub- 
 sequently arrested. I have heard it stated that these 
 friendly tribes actually took the part of the Armenians 
 in the proceedings which followed. Besides all these 
 wild nomadic Kurds, there was a battalion of five 
 hundred Turkish regular infantry, who were stationed 
 near the village of Shenik, and maintained a neutral 
 attitude. The Kurds were all armed with rifles. 
 The Turkish soldiers, who pretended to have arrived 
 for the collection of taxes, were supplied with food 
 and necessaries by the peasants. 
 
 It seems that the Harzan tribe had already warned 
 the villagers of Sassun of the intention of the Kurds, 
 and that the Armenians were prepared for what was 
 to follow, 
 
 " But," I asked, "how did hostilities commence ?" 
 From the answer I received to this question it 
 appeared that on the night of the 19th of July the 
 Bragantzi tribe descended on the village of Semal 
 and tried to steal the cattle of the peasants. One of 
 the shepherds, probably a friendly Kurd, was killed. 
 The villagers immediately gave the alarm to the 
 neighbouring villages, and with combined forces 
 attacked the Bragantzi at daybreak, beating them 
 back with heavy losses and capturing all their cattle. 
 My informants now gave me rather a confused account, 
 from which I gathered that the Kurds reinforced, 
 made a fresh attack on the villagers, and were then 
 finally routed, losing large numbers. From this
 
 94 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 narrative it seems pretty evident that the Armenians 
 must have been well led and were probably well 
 trained. The Kurds, it would seem, had done all 
 they could to provoke the Armenians, so that they 
 might not be technically the aggressors ; and had 
 not been attacked until they had tried to lift cattle. 
 The Turkish soldiers appear so far to have main- 
 tained an irreproachably correct attitude. For a 
 whole month the Kurds and Armenians had been 
 looking at each other ; in other words, the Kurds 
 had been blockading the district of Sassun. It seems 
 cjuite clear that the plan of the Turks was to place 
 the Armenians in the wrong, and to leave the odium 
 of the dirty work to the Kurds. In these calculations 
 they were destined to be mistaken. 
 
 The district of Sassun has in its midst a mountain, 
 the mountain of Andok. After repelling the Kurdish 
 attack, the villagers of Sassun, with their wives and 
 children and all their portable goods and chattels, 
 fled to this mountain, where a sort of council of war 
 was held, and it was determined to resist to the 
 utmost any fresh attacks. So, but indifferently 
 armed, as they maintained, they took up a strong 
 position on the mountain of Andok, prepared for the 
 worst. 
 
 The Kurds soon returned in much larger numbers 
 and attacked Andok, and now a regular siege com- 
 menced, which lasted ten days, after which the Kurds, 
 who had lost heavily, were once more compelled to
 
 THE S AS SUN MASSACRES. 95 
 
 retire. It was at this point that Turkish intervention 
 and Turkish cruelty began. My informants were 
 particularly anxious to impress upon me that they 
 feared the Kurds but little, that they were always 
 able to repulse them, and that whatever might be 
 objected against these predatory tribes, they were at 
 least human beings, and perpetrated none of the 
 atrocities which have been laid at their door. These 
 the peasants insisted, and they were never tired of 
 emphasising the fact, were entirely the work of the 
 regular troops of the Sultan, hounded on by their 
 inhuman commanders. The Kurds actually refused 
 to have any share in the horrors which followed : for 
 these the Turks are alone responsible. 
 
 The Kurds retired before the Armenians, so at 
 least the peasants averred, and it is quite possible 
 that they somewhat exaggerated their own prowess ; 
 but the Armenians were not to be let off so easily 
 this time. 
 
 After the routing of the Kurds, Zekki Pasha ap- 
 peared on the scene with an army of 70,000 of all 
 arms, including artillery. Here again some allowance 
 must be made for the curious difficulty peasants have 
 in estimating numbers, to which I have already 
 alluded. I am assured that there are altogether no 
 more than forty-seven regiments of Hamedji in the 
 whole of Kurdistan, about 20,000 men, and that the 
 army corps of Erzignan, with all its subsidiary 
 garrisons, does not number more than 30,000 men at
 
 96 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 a liberal calculation. Assuming that Zekki Pasha 
 had denuded his district of troops and hurled all his 
 forces at Sassun, that would have meant an army of 
 50,000 men. But although these figures are greatly 
 exaggerated, there can be little doubt that a large 
 army was collected and marched against Sassun. 
 Zekki Pasha had had the whole winter to prepare in, 
 and ample time to make his dispositions ; and it is 
 quite clear that the manoeuvring of the Kurds was 
 part of his plan, in order to prevent the Armenians 
 from escaping, and to give him plenty of time to 
 concentrate his troops. Zekki Pasha drew a cordon 
 of troops round the Mount of Andok, and then pro- 
 ceeded to bombard it without any notice or warning. 
 For twenty-five days, the peasants told me, did the 
 bombardment of Andok with musketry and artillery 
 last. 
 
 Owing to their knowledge of the country and the 
 excellent dispositions made by their leaders, it would 
 appear that the Armenians were at a great advantage, 
 and that it was no easy matter to dislodge them as 
 long as their ammunition lasted. But when this was 
 expended they felt it was no use to continue their 
 resistance, but decided on flight — flight by twos and 
 threes. No organised retreat, but a sort of saiive qui 
 pent into the mountains, where the Turks would have 
 difficulty in pursuing them. For it seems that the 
 Armenians had no illusions as to the clemency of the 
 Turks, and a very shrewd notion of what they might
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 97 
 
 expect if they should by any chance happen to fall 
 into the hands of their enemies. 
 
 The Turks pursued them for forty days, and killed 
 every Armenian, man, woman or child, whom they 
 came across. Although the Kurds helped the 
 soldiers in their chase, the peasants were very careful 
 to explain that the Kurds themselves refused to 
 slaughter the unfortunate fugitives. At last Zekki 
 Pasha commanded a truce to the butchery, and the 
 word was given that the Armenians were to return to 
 their homes, and would not be molested any further. 
 A proclamation was issued to that effect, and the 
 wings of the wind carried the matter. However this 
 may be, the peasants were evidently under the im- 
 pression that such a proclamation had been issued, for 
 they descended from their mountains and returned to 
 their villages to find them burnt to the ground. 
 
 My informants arrived at Galeguzan in time to see 
 their priest flayed alive and compelled to dance and 
 sing, while soldiers stood over him with their bayonets 
 ready to prod him if he stopped. He was singing 
 the old Armenian hymns they loved when the 
 peasants appeared. Subsequently he was thrown 
 into the flames and burnt alive. On the site of the 
 house of the Res, or village elder of Galeguzan, an 
 enormous pit was dug, and into this were thrown 
 the mutilated remains of one hundred men, women 
 and children. This famous pit of Galeguzan was 
 afterwards discovered by the European Commission. 
 
 ^
 
 98 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Some of these unfortunate people were still living, 
 and driven into the pit at the point of the bayonet, 
 and then buried alive. 
 
 My informants were so terrified at what they saw 
 that they took to flight again, carrying away with 
 them the venerable priest, Petros, who they told me 
 was a man of such wisdom and piety that people 
 travelled great distances to see him, and that he was 
 visited even by Englishmen ! They were quite 
 surprised that I had never heard of him, but the 
 ignorance of journalists is proverbial ! Hiding in 
 caves they were able for a long time to elude the 
 vigilance of the Turkish sleuth-hounds, but at last 
 their want of caution betrayed them. Fancying 
 themselves safe from pursuit they kindled a fire one 
 day to roast some food at. The fire was discovered 
 by some Turkish soldiers on the prowl who called 
 on them to surrender. The peasants had only one 
 musket among them and three rounds of ammunition. 
 The principal witness, who was standing at the mouth 
 of the cave and overlooking a precipice, was on the 
 point of firing on the Turks, when the priest begged 
 him to desist from shedding blood. It was an 
 opportunity lost. Immediately one of the soldiers, 
 who had kiboriously climbed up, seized the gun and 
 secured it. In an instant the peasant plunged his 
 dagger into the soldier's breast and the two rolled 
 down the precipice. When they reached the foot the 
 soldier was dead and the peasant badly scratched, but
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 99 
 
 otherwise unhurt. He looked up and saw one of the 
 Turks slicing off his brother's ears, and another 
 splitting open the priest's head with two blows 
 planted crosswise over his skull. The peasants made 
 good their escape, and I was told that the peasant 
 whose ears were cut off was still living. The priest's 
 body was cut up into small circular pieces. 
 
 Until November the refugees managed to hide in 
 caves and forests, but they were at last caught and 
 taken back to their village, which was destroyed. 
 There was no shelter to be found, no food to eat. 
 The peasants implored the soldiers, who had made 
 an end of the massacres, to give them food or money. 
 But they laughed at them, and told them to get help 
 from their new masters, the English. The peasants 
 now went to Moosh, and asked the governor of the 
 town for food, saying that they were starving, and 
 begged to be allowed to leave the country. For all 
 reply they were marched back to other villages in the 
 neighbourhood, and billeted on the population. But 
 the peasants of these villages turned them out as 
 soon as they could, for they were themselves in want 
 of assistance, and had no food to spare for others. 
 So the peasants returned to Moosh, and, going this 
 time to the soldiers, implored them to kill them as 
 they had killed the others. But the soldiers replied 
 that this was not so, that they had killed nobody, 
 and that the massacres had been committed by the 
 Kurds. If any one should question them about the 
 
 H 2
 
 loo ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 events at Sassun they were to say that the Kurds 
 alone had perpetrated the cruelties. The peasants 
 told me that they had indeed noticed that many of 
 the Turkish soldiers had disguised themselves as 
 Kurds ; but they were quite certain that the real 
 perpetrators of the inhuman massacres had been the 
 Turkish soldiers. After this the soldiers conducted 
 the peasants back to Sassun. Here the priests made 
 a list of the missing. It was found that, roughly, 
 about 4C00 of the original population had survived, 
 and that 12,850 were missing. I cannot think that 
 all these were killed, but so the peasants believe. 
 The peasants then erected a hut at Galeguzan, on 
 the spot where the dwelling of the elder had stood, 
 and where now one hundred bodies lay buried. Here 
 they left Avo, the nephew of Peto, the murdered 
 village elder, so that there might be somebody to 
 show the spot where the pit was. I understand that 
 the European Commission had this pit dug up, and 
 were disappointed to find so few bodies. Be this how 
 it may, my report appeared in the Daily Graphic of 
 February 12th, ICS95, and the fact that the pit was 
 afterwards discovered is strong presumptive evidence 
 in favour of the depositions of my witnesses. Another 
 great point in their favour, and one which I wish had 
 been shared by the correspondents of several of our 
 leading newspapers, was, that although they gave me 
 a very circumstantial account of what occurred, they 
 did not harrow my feelings by dwelling upon rq-
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 
 
 volting details. When it is once understood that the 
 Turkish soldiers were let loose to work their sweet 
 will, all further particulars are unnecessary. We all 
 know what that means. 
 
 Of course, a few horrible facts could not escape me. 
 For instance, I endeavoured to ascertain how they 
 were punished — for the peasants had told me that, 
 occasionally, when the Kurds complained to the 
 authorities of the behaviour of the Armenians, the 
 Turks would punish the Armenians. This conversa- 
 tion took place during my second interview with the 
 peasants at my hotel. They told me that sometimes 
 the punishment was death, sometimes the tongues of 
 the delinquents were pulled out by means of iron 
 tongs, which were occasionally made red hot. A 
 favourite form of punishment was to load the victim 
 with irons, provided with sharp projecting prongs and 
 rough jagged ends. The irons were then fastened on 
 so tightly that these sharp and rough ends entered the 
 soft parts of the flesh, and caused exquisite pain. 
 Another form of punishment was to brand the body 
 with red-hot iron. The peasants informed me that 
 they knew of a man, named Khloa Khazo, who was 
 then at the Moosh prison, who had been suspended 
 in mid-air by his feet, had then had his tongue pulled 
 out with red-hot tongs, after which a red-hot bar of 
 iron had been rolled over his body, and he had been 
 branded at intervals of about an inch apart. 
 
 I was unable to eet them to tell me whether the
 
 102 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 more ordinary forms of corporal punishment were 
 ever inflicted. As to the treatment of women, the 
 following instances, the least repulsive, will speak for 
 themselves. 
 
 As a wedding-party was returning to its village, it 
 met a band of Kurds. These at once attacked the 
 men — I forget whether they contented themselves 
 with tying them up, or whether they killed them — but 
 they carried off the women into the mountains, out- 
 raged them, and then sent them back into their 
 village. This is of common occurrence ; the Kurds 
 are continually waylaying Armenian women, kid- 
 napping them, carrying them off, and then, when 
 they have got tired of them, sending them back. I 
 am told by Mr. Atkin, the Secretary of the Anglo- 
 Armenian Association, that this practice continues to 
 this day, and that the Armenian women of certain 
 districts have petitioned Lord Salisbury for the help 
 of England in this matter. 
 
 During the massacres a batch of ten girls was 
 outraged by Turkish soldiers, who then offered to 
 marry the girls if they would embrace Islamism. 
 This they stoutly refused, and they were all cut into 
 small pieces, with the usual Turkish repulsive cruelty, 
 the details of which are too obscene for publication. 
 
 Many women, to escape from the Turks, committed 
 suicide, previously killing their children ; some of 
 them throwing themselves from the tops of mountains 
 into abysses, to be broken to pieces against the rocks.
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 
 
 One of my informants belonged to a family which 
 had had ten male members ; now only five remained 
 living. The others had suffered similar bereavements. 
 One of the peasants had lost sight of his wife during 
 his flight. They were a newly-married couple, and 
 her loss had greatly afflicted him. But in a village 
 in Russian Armenia he found her again. She had 
 managed to get there before him, and one can 
 imagine the joy of this unexpected meeting. Each 
 had given up the other for lost. 
 
 I was told that the entire district of Sassun was 
 desolate ; that there was not a habitation left standing 
 except the hut over the pit at Galeguzan ; and, as the 
 peasants vividly expressed it, that there was not even 
 a sparrow to be found there. 
 
 I naturally asked the peasants what their object 
 was in coming to Russia, and what they proposed 
 to do } 
 
 They told me that they had come to Russia for 
 help — that is to say, to collect funds to purchase 
 weapons with, and with the intention of returning to 
 Sassun in the spring, in order to avenge themselves 
 on the Turks. They told me that they had nothing 
 left to live for, that they had lost their parents, their 
 relations, their flocks, and that revenge was now the 
 one animating passion of their lives. They told me 
 that all the survivors of the Sassun massacres had 
 the same sentiment. There was an old woman in the 
 mountains who had had her hands and feet chopped
 
 lo4 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 off, and was unable to walk, but could only crawl 
 along the ground ; but even she was longing for 
 revenge. 
 
 "Vengeance! " they exclaimed, "vengeance is what 
 we want ! " — and their fierce eyes gleamed as they 
 pronounced in deep gutturals a terrible " Akha ! " 
 They explained to my interpreter that rivers of blood 
 had been shed at Sassun ; that the blood had 
 streamed in torrents down the mountains ; that they 
 had seen the things they had told me with their own 
 eyes — children mutilated, women foully outraged, 
 men killed and tortured, priests and people buried 
 alive. They said that I, who had not myself seen 
 these things, could form no idea, no conception of the 
 scenes they had witnessed. They said they knew 
 that death stared them in the face, and that they 
 must die either of starvation or at the hands of 
 Turks ; but they wanted, at least, to kill a few of 
 the Turks before they themselves had to give up the 
 ghost. 
 
 I then asked them from whom they expected 
 assistance. And they replied that God above would 
 save them, and that they believed England would 
 also help. 
 
 I was much surprised at this answer, and am 
 inclined to think the Armenian agitators, who have 
 been preparing the peasantry of Turkish Armenia 
 for a national movement for the last few years, must 
 have spread this idea amongst them, otherwise it is
 
 THE SASSUiSf MASSACRES. lo^ 
 
 inconceivable how a number of ignorant peasants, 
 living in a mountain district which, to say the least, 
 is not easy of access, should have got general political 
 ideas, and should even have heard of England at all. 
 
 The peasantry of Russia, for instance, think of 
 England, as I know from personal experience, as a 
 wicked witch living in a distant place, and plotting 
 the ruin of Russia by means of cunning enchant- 
 ments. England is scarcely a country to them — it 
 is a person. 
 
 But the Armenian peasantiy are evidently better 
 informed. I felt constrained to disillusion these 
 simple sons of Nature, and to tell them that there 
 was little hope of England's helping them. In doing 
 so, I must confess to a feeling of shame for my coun- 
 try, which has certainly not acted gloriously in this 
 question, either before or since. 
 
 I then asked the peasants whether they did not 
 expect any help from Russia. 
 
 This did not seem to produce an agreeable im- 
 pression. The peasants looked indescribably dis- 
 appointed and unhappy, and finally replied that they 
 could see there was nothing left for them but to 
 return to their mountains and die. Their object in 
 returning in the spring was, as I ascertained, to build 
 huts, and to save what little property remained. 
 
 " We must build nests," they said. 
 
 They also gave me to understand that they medi- 
 tated concerted action against the Turks in the
 
 io6 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 following summer, when the Turks would come for 
 their taxes. 
 
 It is probably in anticipation of this meditated 
 movement that the Russian authorities have given 
 instructions to prevent the return of the Armenian 
 refugees to their own country, lest trouble might 
 ensue. I was assured by Russian officers that orders 
 had been issued by the Governor of Kars prohibiting 
 anybody from crossing the frontier, so that refugees 
 from Armenia should not be admitted into the 
 country, and returning refugees or Russian-Armenian 
 Volunteers should not be allowed to enter Turkish 
 territory. In this way the Russian Government has 
 been rendering Turkey the same kind of service 
 which Prussia rendered Russia in 1863, when she 
 guarded the Prussian frontiers of Poland, and made 
 it impossible for Polish refugees to escape. 
 
 I find that on February 12th, 1895, the Daily 
 Graphic published a letter from me in which the 
 following comment appeared : " If, therefore, some- 
 thing is not done soon by the Powers who took the 
 Armenians under their protection, and then left them 
 a prey to the Turk, the most fearful bloodshed may 
 be expected." How prophetic those words were it is 
 unnecessary for me to insist on. The massacres of 
 1895-96 have thrown those of 1894 completely into 
 the shade. 
 
 While conversing with these Armenian refugees I 
 mentioned incidentally that I had the intention of
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 107 
 
 penetrating as far as Sassun if possible, and they 
 instantly, and with great alacrity, offered to take me 
 there themselves, carrying me over the mountains if I 
 got tired. On the whole I am not sorry that I did not 
 accept this friendly offer, I did not doubt the ability 
 of these peasants to get me into Sassun, but whether 
 they would be able to get me out of it was a very 
 different matter. My duty was to try to arrive at 
 some kind of an understanding of the Armenian 
 question, and that could be better obtained by travel- 
 ling about round the frontiers of Armenia than by 
 penetrating into a country the language of which I 
 did not understand, and with the customs and ways of 
 whose inhabitants I was unfamiliar. 
 
 At a subsequent interview with these Armenian 
 peasants I obtained from them a complete list of the 
 seventy-four villages destroyed by the Turks, and 
 this list is appended at the end of the present chapter. 
 
 All that they told me has been since confirmed 
 in a very remarkable manner by the report of the 
 Commission appointed to inquire into the massacres. 
 In some details there is a slight difference. It was 
 discovered, for instance, that the pit at Galeguzan did 
 not contain quite as many bodies as had been ex- 
 pected, and the number of victims estimated by the 
 commissioners is not quite the same. But we must 
 not forget that immediately after the massacres were 
 perjDetrated the Turkish authorities proclaimed the 
 district to be visited by cholera, placed a cordon of
 
 io8 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 troops round it. and prohibited travellers from visiting 
 it. Then came the snows of winter which covered up 
 the traces of their infamous deeds. We do not know 
 whether bodies were removed from the pit or not, 
 although it is highly probable that they were, and 
 that Avo recovered as many as he could find when 
 the snows had melted. 
 
 One curious confirmation of the story of these 
 refugees comes to me from Mr. Atkin, the Secretary 
 of the Anglo-Armenian Association, who told me 
 recently that the district of Sassun was all quiet, 
 and was in need of very little relief. This is not 
 surprising when we remember that of the 17,000 
 inhabitants only about 4000 survived, and that these 
 survivors fled. Of course some of the refugees found 
 their way back to Sassun, and erected huts and 
 dwellings ; how many we do not know, but probably 
 a very inconsiderable number. In considering the 
 story of the peasant refugees two circumstances force 
 themselves upon our attention. One is the fact, sad 
 and melancholy, that the revolutionary movement, 
 organised and fed by the more wealthy and educated 
 Armenians of Constantinople and Tiflis, was carried 
 out by the strong arms of hardy Armenian moun- 
 taineers, upon whose bodies fell the weight of the 
 Sultan's anger. It is sad to reflect that these fine 
 fellows have been killed, tortured and exterminated 
 for the political ambitions of others. As I beheld 
 these fine, honest, noble, and single-minded moun-
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 109 
 
 taincers I could not help feeling indignant at the 
 selfishness of the ambitious wire-pullers who were 
 hounding them to their destruction. 
 
 Another circumstance, equally forcible, is that these 
 Armenian peasants do not appear to be by any means 
 the despicable wretches which they have been repre- 
 sented. I think the cause of the Armenians has 
 suffered by the fact that they have been painted to 
 us too much as poor, helpless, miserable sheep, 
 slaughtered by " a brutal and licentious soldiery." 
 That view of the Armenians is not calculated to 
 excite our respect for them, though it may arouse 
 our pity. If the Armenians are really so help- 
 less, shiftless, and invertebrate as people are in the 
 habit of portraying them,, then there would be small 
 hope for them should they ever gain any degree of 
 independence. 
 
 The popular idea of the Armenian is that he is a 
 lazy, cunning, slippery person, who can be trusted to 
 cheat anybody he meets, who has no manly qualities, 
 and who can never be induced to do honest work. 
 
 I think I have already shown that the Armenian 
 lower classes do not answer to that description, how- 
 ever accurate it may unfortunately be of certain types 
 of small Armenian traders. The Armenians do the 
 hard manual labour of the Caucasus and Turkey. 
 They are not slothful as the Turks, and that they 
 have grit in them their history proves and even 
 Gibbon admits. We know that Lord Byron, who
 
 no ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 had no patience with grovellers, had the warmest 
 admiration for the Armenian people, and the plain 
 unvarnished story of these Armenian refugees does 
 not exhibit them in a cringing light. It will interest 
 my readers to know that they refused money from 
 me, and only accepted a trifle after they had obtained 
 m\^ unwilling consent to their purchasing revolvers 
 and cartridges with it. From all they told me it was 
 abundantly clear that they were not afraid of the 
 Kurds, that they fought like heroes, that they were 
 armed, that they were industrious and had large flocks 
 and all such goods as they required, and that they 
 were not cowed, but intended to fight again. 
 
 These men, notwithstanding the terrors they have 
 experienced, have shown themselves in every way 
 worthy of comparison with the sturdy burghers of the 
 Netherlands, who revolted against the persecutions of 
 Philip II., and in some respects profit by such a 
 comparison. They have no William of Orange, no 
 wealthy nobles to lead them to victory, no adjoining 
 sympathisers like the Huguenots of France and the 
 German princes. Alone and unaided they have 
 supported the shock of the armies of the Sultan, and 
 well-nigh exhausted his resources. 
 
 These are heroes to be respected, not miserable 
 wretches deserving only of compassion and pity. 
 
 Unfortunately the revolutionary agitators have not 
 always been men of the same metal. Permeated by 
 the vices inseparable from centuries of association
 
 THE SASSUN MASSACRES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 with Turkey, they have come before Europe in the 
 garb of miserable supphcants for mercy, astute 
 Oriental mendicants. But if the agitators have often 
 been wanting in manliness and courage, the same 
 cannot be said of the peasantry. 
 
 The following is a list of the villages of Sassun 
 destroyed by the Turks. I also obtained a map of 
 the district, drawn up by a gentleman who had visited 
 it some years ago, but this map, I regret to say, has 
 been lost. 
 
 HE Villages of Sassun 
 
 DESTROYED BY THE TURKS 
 
 IN 1 
 
 894. 
 
 
 I. Galeguzan. 
 
 23- 
 
 Sevid. 
 
 2. Shenik. 
 
 24. 
 
 Inguznak. 
 
 3. Semal. 
 
 -5- 
 
 Sivok. 
 
 4. Talvorik. 
 
 26. 
 
 Pokhnatnin. 
 
 5. Hakmak. 
 
 27. 
 
 Navalay-Shavy. 
 
 6. Harthu. 
 
 28. 
 
 Kovrasspi. 
 
 7. Hart. 
 
 29. 
 
 Mandedan-Kumani 
 
 8. Purkh. 
 
 30. 
 
 Murkoe-Damvin. 
 
 9. Dvalink. 
 
 31- 
 
 Balloc-Ordcr. 
 
 10. Ekuter. 
 
 32. 
 
 Monnoe-Tun. 
 
 II. Isparank. 
 
 33- 
 
 Mardastan-Ovid. 
 
 12. Hettink. 
 
 34- 
 
 Ovaness-Damvin. 
 
 13. Arbik. 
 
 35- 
 
 Akopuy-Tun. 
 
 14. Dohal. 
 
 36. 
 
 Merguir. 
 
 15. Ilantzik. 
 
 37. 
 
 Amakanin. 
 
 16. Mazere. 
 
 38. 
 
 Tchai. 
 
 17. Sorik. 
 
 39- 
 
 Gurdjok. 
 
 18. Bisharatkan. 
 
 40. 
 
 Kalekancman. 
 
 19, Ishkhandzor. 
 
 41. 
 
 Dapeh. 
 
 20. Kalek. 
 
 42. 
 
 Dashtock. 
 
 21. Norhan. 
 
 43- 
 
 Blur. 
 
 22. Kissirkvarter. 
 
 44. 
 
 Kapre Sor.
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 45. Khissilgu-Artcr. 
 
 46. Teretin. 
 
 47. Sevid. 
 
 48. Hatchkukh, 
 
 49. Tetck. 
 
 50. Orguin. 
 
 51. Kakhmatur. 
 
 52. Ardgung. 
 
 53. Karmir-Ard. 
 
 54. Khuissein-Tzik. 
 
 55. Herin. 
 
 56. Sardun. 
 
 57. Parka. 
 
 58. Ars. 
 
 59. Tap-Kar. 
 
 60. Bahamada. 
 
 61. Grcmuri, 
 
 62. Akharon. 
 
 63. Kerervan. 
 
 64. Passur. 
 
 65. Ehu. 
 
 66. Idskar. 
 
 67. Shirgcd. 
 
 68. Konadzor. 
 
 69. Kaparnin. 
 ^o. Davala-Kajcr. 
 
 71. Nertchi-Kalin. 
 
 72. Amk. 
 
 73. Khatan. 
 
 74. Kharipchari.
 
 ( "3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC CONDITION OF 
 TURKISH ARMENIA. 
 
 For my facts in this chapter I am indebted largely to 
 Colonel Lazarefif, the brother of the celebrated General 
 Lazareff, justly famous for his storming of Kars, an 
 Armenian, and to the following works : a Russian 
 translation from the Armenian by A. Arelyantz of 
 Dr. Gregory Artzrun's public lecture on " The 
 Economic Condition of the Turkish Armenians," 
 delivered at Tiflis, and printed at Moscow in 1880; 
 and another lecture by the same gentleman, translated 
 into German by A. Amirkhanyantz entitled "Die 
 Hungersnoth in Tiirkisch-Armenien " (The Eamine 
 in Turkish Armenia), printed at Tiflis, also in 1880. 
 
 After enumerating the principal towns of Turkish 
 Armenia, Erzeroum, Hassan-Kaleh, Nariman, Alash- 
 kert, Bayazid, Van, Bitlis, Moosh, Skhert, Diarbekir, 
 Edesia, Kharbert, each of which is surrounded by 
 about two or three hundred villages, three quarters 
 of the population of which arc described as Armenian, 
 Dr. Artzrun says that Armenia is a tableland which 
 
 I
 
 114 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 has been called by an eminent German geographer, 
 " Einc luftige Berginsel " (an airy mountain island). Of 
 this Erzeroum occupies the most elevated part. The 
 whole of Armenia is rich in minerals, for it abounds 
 in mineral springs. At a distance of a few miles 
 from Erzeroum, and in the neighbourhood of Hassan- 
 Kaleh, there are abundant oil-wells, which could be 
 worked very much like those at Baku. The natives 
 employ the most patriarchal methods. They dip 
 long poles with rags securely fastened round them 
 into the wells, and when these poles have been 
 sufficiently saturated with naphtha they use them for 
 fuel and lighting purposes. Near Hassan-Kaleh there 
 is a sulphur-mine, and there are also large coal-fields. 
 At Erzeroum there are sulphur and iron springs, 
 much prized for their medicinal properties. These 
 springs seem to abound all over Armenia. Near 
 Kagizman a kind of marble is obtained, which, when 
 broken up, is so soft that it can be cut with a knife, 
 but which, when exposed again to the action of the 
 air, becomes hard. A kind of black amber occurs at 
 Olta, the like of which is not to be found anywhere. 
 
 At Van naphtha abounds. Near Kamakh, in the 
 province of Erzeroum, salt-mines and coal-fields occur ; 
 but the richest salt district is near Moosh. It is 
 estimated that Moosh is so rich in salt that it could 
 supply the entire demand of Europe and Asia. 
 Between Bitlis and Diarbekir a copper-mine has been 
 recently discovered, but there are many iron and
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 115 
 
 copper-mines in Armenia. It is said that King 
 Solomon got his gold from Armenia, between 
 Erzeroum and Trebizond, and to-day we may still 
 find traces of ancient gold-mines in these regions. 
 There is a splendid silver-mine at Kumiish-Khaneh 
 (the House of Silver), on the borders of the province 
 of Erzeroum, which is worked by the natives in the 
 most primitive manner. Lesser Armenia, or Cilicia 
 where Zeithun is situated, is quite as rich in minerals. 
 Here are iron and silver-mines, and the natives get 
 from the first the metal from which they make their 
 own weapons. Close to the town of Antapha there 
 is white and black marble. 
 
 The natural flora of Armenia is not luxuriant, and 
 the principal Armenian forest, near Erzeroum, now 
 belongs to Russia. The Turkish-Armenian popula- 
 tion experience great difficulty in obtaining wood for 
 fuel and other purposes, and consequently dung is 
 used in the villages. In the towns the use of this 
 fuel is inadmissible, and consequently, owing to the 
 difficulty of getting fuel, many industries at Erzeroum 
 and other places have been ruined. Let us remember 
 that this was written in 1880. Of course it might be 
 urged that, in view of the abundance of coal and 
 petroleum, the lack of timber would hardly be an 
 insuperable obstacle to industrial undertakings. But 
 in order to develop the mineral resources of Armenia 
 large commercial operations would have to be con- 
 ducted, industrial companies organised, and in the 
 
 1 2
 
 ii6 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 present anarchic condition of Turkish misrule such 
 enterprises would be impossible, owing to a lack 
 of confidence in the Government and insufficient 
 guarantees of security. This sentence describes the 
 commercial prospects of Turkish Armenia as com- 
 pletely and truly as one could desire. For the same 
 reason nothing has been done to artificially plant 
 forests, or to import timber via Trebizond. In ancient 
 days the Armenians were celebrated for their forestry 
 and irrigation works, but of late the Turkish 
 Armenians seem to have become wanting in energy 
 and enterprise, and no wonder ; besides, the communi- 
 cations are so bad that the importation of timber is 
 next to impossible. 
 
 In some districts of Armenia the peasantry live in 
 huts built of stone and earth, while the Kurds use a 
 kind of reed or cane known as " stag's tail " with 
 which they plait their habitations, which thus have 
 the appearance of cages. The Kurds, being nomads, 
 naturally prefer these lighter and less substantial 
 erections, but wherever we go we shall find the 
 Armenians attached to the soil and leading an 
 agricultural life. 
 
 Turning now to the fauna of Armenia we shall find 
 the country to abound in game. In the forests on the 
 Russian frontier, and the jungles of the south, will be 
 met every conceivable kind of wild beast, especially 
 the stag, all kinds of mountain deer, buffaloes, bears, 
 and even lions and tigers. I have myself seen a tiger
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 117 
 
 nine feet long who had been shot in Russian Armenia, 
 and it is not impossible that the small Persian lion 
 may occasionally lose his way so far north as to 
 penetrate into Armenia, but I confess to being a little 
 sceptical about this. 
 
 From time immemorial the Armenians have been 
 the horse-dealers of the East, and their pasturages are 
 still famous, and may be said to be inexhaustible. 
 During the Russo-Turkish war the province of 
 Erzeroum was able to feed the cavalries of the 
 Turkish and Russian armies, and yet there was plenty 
 of hay and forage left for the domestic wants of the 
 population. 
 
 Not content with the natural advantages of their 
 immeasurable meadows, the Armenians labour to im- 
 prove them by sowing all kinds of grasses, especially 
 clover. It is probably for this reason that the Kurds 
 have developed such a fondness for pasturing their 
 herds and flocks on the succulent meadows of the 
 Armenian villages, a practice in which cattle-lifting 
 is only an incident. 
 
 The ingenuity of the Armenian peasants also 
 exercises itself in improving the breeds of sheep and 
 oxen. The size of their cows is remarkable, and they 
 have sheep whose tails are so fat and heavy that they 
 have to be supported on little two-wheeled go-carts 
 attached to them. Armenian mutton is a great 
 industry and is exported to all parts of the world. 
 Dr. Artzrun says that the whole of Egypt is fed on
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Armenian mutton, but he wrote in 1 880 : in those 
 days there were Armenians who sold as many as 
 20,000 and 30,000 head of sheep a year. The 
 Armenian peasant displays an affectionate gentleness 
 in his treatment of animals, indeed he shares with 
 them his home and his food. For instance, he is in 
 the habit of rubbing the hides of his bulls and 
 buffaloes with oil, so as to protect them from the cold 
 and give them a glossy appearance. 
 
 The Angora goats, who are so justly famed all over 
 the world, are not a monopoly of that region, and are 
 to be met with in the province of Van. 
 
 It is unnecessary to dwell upon the birds and fishes 
 which are to be found in Armenia. All those who 
 have travelled in the Caucasus and the East, and have 
 had the good fortune to taste the varieties of fish 
 which occur in the lakes and rivers of Armenia, know 
 what capital eating they are, especially when prepared 
 by an experienced Armenian cook. 
 
 We must now cast a rapid glance over the agri- 
 cultural condition of the Armenian peasantry, and 
 here I may say that I am happy to be able, from 
 personal observation, to endorse the eulogistic com- 
 ments of the learned doctor, who, being himself an 
 Armenian, speaks with, pardonable pride of the in- 
 telligent industry of his countiymcn. He says : — 
 
 " The agriculture of Armenia, nolwillistanding the bad 
 government of the country, notwithstanding the fact that, 
 owing to its geographical position, it is completely cut off
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 119 
 
 from all enlightened countries, may be said to be in a 
 comparatively flourishing condition, thanks to the fertility 
 of the soil and the industry of the Armenian lower classes. 
 It is (with a few small exceptions) nearly exclusively in the 
 hands of Armenians." 
 
 The whole of Turkey is fed by Armenian corn, and 
 if there were facilities for export Armenia could 
 furnish forth no inconsiderable proportion of the corn 
 that is placed on the markets of the world. Fruits 
 also abound. Armenia is the country where the 
 manna of the Scriptures is found. This manna 
 appears in the early mornings of the spring and 
 autumn on the leaves of trees, especially oak trees, 
 in the shape of dewdrops. These dewdrops gradually 
 congeal in the cold morning air, and are then gathered 
 by the inhabitants ; they have a sweet flavour, and 
 are exported throughout Asia Minor. They are 
 supposed to be composed of the juice of the trees, 
 which is exuded in the night air and adheres to the 
 leaves. 
 
 The Armenians also grow their own wines, some of 
 which are said to be superior to those of the Caucasus, 
 and this in my opinion they might well be if they are 
 ever to obtain the suffrages of Europe. One of these 
 wines in particular is said to have a flavour which is 
 half way between sherry and Madeira. If Noah's 
 Ark really stopped at Mount Ararat, the vine-culture 
 of the Armenians must have a very respectable 
 antiquity.
 
 I20 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Another industry of the Armenians is silk, in which 
 also they do a large trade. 
 
 The population of Armenia is roughly divided into 
 three races, the Armenians, the Kurds, and the Turks. 
 The Kurds are mostly cattle-dealers, and roam about 
 the mountains in search of pasturage for their herds 
 and flocks, though a few follow handicrafts and trades. 
 Thus they may be described as the gipsies of Asia 
 Minor. Their wives assist them in their avocations ; 
 they also make carpets and shawls. The Turks 
 partly follow agriculture and partly trades or handi- 
 crafts. Their wives do nothing in the poorer as well 
 as in the wealthier classes. The Turkish woman is 
 exclusively her husband's plaything and the ornament 
 of the harem. The Turks are clumsy workmen, and 
 principally follow the trades of cobblers, saddlers, and 
 other branches of the leather trades. Occasionally 
 carpenters may be found amongst them. The Arme- 
 nians purchase the rough wares of the Turks, 
 ornament and improve them, and then sell them 
 again. The higher walks of agriculture and the 
 skilled trades are all in the hands of the Armenians, 
 who are agriculturists, craftsmen, and everything. 
 All dairy produce and cheese-making, for instance, are 
 in the hands of Armenians. Particularly industrious 
 are the Armenian women. Whether rich or poor, 
 married or single, every Armenian woman, in addition 
 to her agricultural work, follows some trade. The 
 linen and cloth used in the house, and for the clothing
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 121 
 
 of the family, is all prepared by the women, who also 
 make linen, cloth, and silk materials for sale. All 
 this is done by means of very primitive domestic 
 appliances ; the tools are made at home by the 
 women themselves. Turkish towels, beautiful carpets, 
 woollen stockings, shawls, silken goods, all those 
 articles sold in the bazaars of Constantinople, are 
 frequently the work of the industrious fingers of some 
 Armenian woman ; and so beautifully are they made 
 that the European would have difficulty in believing 
 that they could be produced by the primitive appli- 
 ances used in Armenian villages. The Armenian 
 women are besides distinguished for their beauty and 
 modesty. A poor Armenian woman thus begins her 
 work. She saves a small sum which will enable her 
 to buy, we will say, a quantity of wool. This she will 
 weave, and will exchange for a larger quantity of 
 raw material. This she will again literally manu- 
 facture until she can exchange it for a greater 
 quantity, and so on. She leads a laborious life, and it 
 is said that an Armenian woman cannot keep idle for 
 a single minute ; she is always doing something. 
 Even when summoned to attend a court of law, a 
 frequent occurrence in recent times, she takes her 
 work with her so as not to waste valuable moments. 
 All the metal-workers in Armenia are Armenians, 
 and all the artistic work is done by Armenians. 
 They are excellent black- and locksmiths, and are 
 celebrated for making a certain kind of secret lock
 
 122 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 which is said to rival those of Chubb and Bramah. 
 They make their own rifles, copying the Martini- 
 Henry system, with which they became acquainted in 
 the Russo-Turkish war. The pictures in the local 
 churches are painted by self-educated artists, and 
 some possess considerable merit. Turkish authorities 
 bear witness to the abilities and application of these 
 remarkable people ; thus in 1S62 a certain Khurshid- 
 Effendi compares, in a work on this region, the Turks 
 and Armenians, very much to the advantage of the 
 latter. He says the Turks are lazy, but gives the 
 Armenians credit for industry. 
 
 " Wherever Armenians live," says Dr. Artzrun, " their 
 agricultural and industrial ability, their public spirit and 
 tlieir natural aptitude for culture, make themselves felt. But 
 this is more especially the case when Armenians live sepa- 
 rately and free from the destroying influences of Kurds and 
 Turks." 
 
 In illustration of this the doctor draws an interest- 
 ing picture of the villages which constitute the district 
 of Zeithun, the population of which has since, alas ! 
 been decimated. He shows how these peasants 
 formed a sort of republic, governed by representative 
 institutions, and says that they were remarkably 
 prosperous and cultured. 
 
 Dr. Artzrun, having thus patriotically enumerated 
 the virtues of his compatriots, and pointed to their 
 many good qualities, concludes his paper with the 
 melancholy admission that these virtues are counter-
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 123 
 
 balanced by vices, one of the most dangerous of 
 which is that strong tendency towards decentralisation 
 and splitting up into small parties which I have had 
 occasion to illustrate in a previous chapter. Personally 
 I am inclined to think that too much importance may 
 be attached to such so-called vices, which under 
 favourable conditions become virtues, as in England 
 for instance. On the other hand, we must not lose 
 sight of the fact that the Armenians have been an 
 oppressed nationality for centuries, that they have 
 always been industrious and patient, and that they 
 have broken out into revolt only when life had 
 become impossible. In this respect they very strongly 
 remind us of the Swiss people, who were philosophic 
 enough to bear without a murmur the oppression of 
 Austria up to a certain point, until their patience gave 
 way, and the bands were snapped asunder after a long 
 and heroic struggle. 
 
 But if we wish to understand more fully the present 
 condition of the Armenian people, their hopelessness 
 and despair, we must not neglect a factor which has 
 been very instrumental in bringing about the present 
 state of things — I mean the Armenian famine of 1879, 
 which followed close upon the heels of the Russo- 
 Turkish war. 
 
 For this purpose we will turn to Dr. Artzrun's 
 interesting and admirable lecture on this subject, 
 " Die Hungersnoth in Tiirkisch-Armenien." 
 
 He says that the famine embraced the whole of
 
 124 ROrAD ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Armenia, extending far into Asia Minor. From 
 Erzcroum to Bagdad, from the Black Sea to the 
 Persian Gulf, the entire stretch of country was desti- 
 tute. He confirms these statements by extracts from 
 official reports from different places, painting a most 
 melancholy picture of the condition of the population. 
 
 What was the cause of the famine .-' The bad- 
 harvest of 1879 alone could hardly account for it. 
 Previous to that year the country had been devas- 
 tated by a war, of the horrors of which we can have 
 no conception. The fanaticism of the Turk was let 
 loose ; entire towns, like Van, were burnt to the 
 ground. The race hatred was something phenomenal. 
 The Turkish Government had besides prepared for 
 this war for two years previously. The taxes had 
 been doubled ; men were taken from their work in 
 the fields to execute public works for the Govern- 
 ment, and so when the famine (the failure of the 
 crops of 1879) came, it found a ruined population, 
 already ground down to the last extremity, who had 
 been compelled to expend their reserves and supplies, 
 and were therefore entirely incapable of fighting 
 against so great a visitation. 
 
 Nevertheless, as soon as the failure of the crops 
 became known, the Turkish Government at once 
 prohibited the importation of corn or other food-stuffs 
 from across the Persian or Russian frontiers ! A 
 reference to our own consular reports for that period 
 will reveal a condition of things that would make any
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 125 
 
 decent person burn with a desire to massacre every 
 Turk he could come across. The officials of the 
 Turkish Government sold the grain which was given 
 them to distribute amongst the peasantry to usurers, 
 who retailed it at enormous profits to the starving 
 Armenians, or it was given to the Kurds, who also 
 sold it in the same manner. 
 
 Space will not permit me to enumerate all the 
 cruelties practised in that terrible year. 
 
 Dr. Artzrun points to all these contributing factors, 
 and comments on the curiously infatuated policy of 
 the Turkish Government, which is concerned in 
 ruining its wealth-producing Armenian population 
 in order to supplant them with lazy Mahomedans 
 who have no aptitude either for agriculture or trade, 
 and arrives at the conclusion that Turkey is following 
 a carefully thought out political plan for the gradual 
 extinction of all the Armenians in her dominions. 
 
 We can thus understand that the Armenian people, 
 ground down by taxation and tyranny, decimated 
 by the war, killed by the famine, have had barely 
 fifteen years to recoup themselves in when they 
 were overtaken once more by the vengeance of the 
 Sultan, and to-day arc nearer total extermination 
 than ever. 
 
 There is therefore little cause for surprise that 
 a nation like the Armenians, notwithstanding their 
 many excellent qualities, should have been unable to 
 show a stronger front to an overwhelming enemy,
 
 126 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA, 
 
 considering how they have been bled during the last 
 twenty-five years. 
 
 I.est there should be sceptical people who doubt 
 the oppression of the unspeakable Turk, and believe 
 him to be so kind and amiable that he can never be 
 roused to lift his little finger, except in kindness, 
 against an Armenian, let us inquire into the incidence 
 of taxation in Turkish Armenia and the economic 
 condition of the people. 
 
 This is the picture which we shall find presented to 
 us. The Armenian works, tills the soil, and produces ; 
 the Turk, his legal master, lives on him ; the Kurd, 
 his parasite, preys on him, and in the end, when he 
 has given up all he has, he is massacred for refusing 
 to give more, or for, at last, resenting the intrusion of 
 robber bands, and driving them back with the arms 
 he has himself manufactured. 
 
 To quote Dr. Artzrun : — 
 
 " The Kurd leads a migratory life, he is a nomad, his 
 ])rincipal occupation is theft. Where the Kurd is found 
 living side by side with the Armenian, he is his servant, lie 
 looks after his sheep, and attends to his horses. The Kurd 
 pretends to be the true friend of the Armenian, goes to the 
 Armenian church, talks Armenian, and ofters up alms and 
 oblations at the shrines of Armenian saints ; he lives for 
 years in the house of his master, and is his most trusted 
 servant. But as soon as a favourable opportunity presents 
 itself, he will leave the house of his master and run away to 
 form a band of robbers, or to join one; he now appears as 
 his master's enemy, robs and murders him, outrages his
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 127 
 
 wife and daughters, plunders all his property, destroys his 
 house, burns his fields and gardens. ... As for the Turk, 
 he is a listless, careless creature, accustomed to live on 
 others. He can only command, but is incapable of work ; 
 and he expects everybody to submit to his will. He be- 
 lieves himself to be created to rule, and others to obey and 
 work for him. He regards all work as base and vile. The 
 Turk lives at the expense of the Armenian. The Armenian 
 pays the Government a poll-tax, fixed by law, but the 
 Turkish official frequently arbitrarily exacts more than the 
 legal sum. The Armenian peasant, besides the poll-tax, 
 pays the Government one-tenth of all he produces. 
 
 " The collection of this tenth part of all the produce of 
 the peasant is farmed by the Vali, or Governor, to a person 
 (the publican of the Scriptures) who, of course, abuses the 
 power entrusted to him, and collects very much more than 
 his legal tenth share. This he can do with impunity, for 
 the Vali himself aids and abets him. The Pasha, in letting 
 a district to a tax-farmer, makes it a condition that he shall 
 have a fat share of the pickings. Should an Armenian 
 citizen embark in any trade, or on any undertaking, should 
 he conclude a contract, or let or lease any business, 
 premises, or land, you may be sure that the Pasha, the 
 Kaimak, the Mudir, and the whole army of minor officials, 
 including the Pasha's secretary, will all expect to get some- 
 thing out of him because he is ' making money.' 
 
 " The Armenian has no right to benefit by the profits of 
 any work or undertaking without assigning a share of those 
 profits to the Turk. 
 
 " Land in Turkey may be divided into a ' mioulk ' 
 (private property), 'tafu' (farmed or leasehold), 'vakf 
 (church jjroperty, belonging to mosques and monasteries), 
 and ' makhlul ' (land without an owner). 
 
 "Although the Armenian peasant is allowed to hold 
 private property in land, this right, as we shall presently see,
 
 128 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 is frequently rendered nugatory by abuses. All land 
 coming under the category of ' makhlul,' the Government 
 arrogates to itself, and either sells or leases out on ' tafu,' 
 handing the title-deeds over to the purchaser ; nevertheless, 
 the purchaser does not become the absolute proprietor, but 
 has only a temporary enjoyment of the land. The Govern- 
 ment remains the real owner. The 'vakf is ecclesiastical 
 property, but Christian monasteries and churches have no 
 legal corporate existence. For this reason we frequently 
 find among the official documents of the Armenian Patri- 
 archate at Constantinople complaints to the effect that the 
 estates of monasteries and churches have been declared 
 ' makhlul,' and that the Government has sold or farmed out 
 those estates without the least compensation. 
 
 " Pasturages are regarded in general as Government 
 property. In proof of this we find that the Government 
 lays a heavy tax on every sheep for the right of pasturing 
 on Government pastures. . . . 
 
 " From the complaints of peasants to the Patriarch, it 
 appears that when agricultural produce fetches a good price 
 in the market, the tax-farmer who collects a tenth part takes 
 the raw products, and, of course, a great deal more than his 
 just share. When, however, the price of agricultural produce 
 is low, the tax-farmer values the produce at his own valua- 
 tion, which is then of course much higher than the market- 
 price, and takes Iiis tciitli share in money." 
 
 Dr. Artzrun further states that in cases of the 
 taxation of personal property in villages or towns 
 where Armenians and Mahomedans live side by 
 side, the incidence of taxation is always made to fall 
 most heavily on the Armenians, while every preference 
 and indulgence is shown the Mahomedans. 
 
 " 'i'he Armenian ])<'asaiit," he rontiiuics, "either lives on
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA, 129 
 
 his own property or on Government leasehold land ; but 
 the official protocols of the Armenian Patriarchate contain 
 numerous complaints to the effect that the land of the 
 Armenians frequently illegally finds its way into the posses- 
 sion of Turkish and Kurdish Beys. In this way the 
 Armenian, who has never, throughout the whole course of 
 his historical life as a nation, been in servile bondage, 
 becomes the serf of the Derebeys. 
 
 " The Armenian who lives on the land of a Bey has to 
 pay him a tax on his personal property, and a tenth part of 
 his produce, in addition to similar taxes already levied by 
 the Government. From the complaints it is evident that 
 the land property of the Armenians is not protected from 
 arbitrary abuse. Besides paying the Government the taxes 
 enforced by statute, the Armenian has to bribe the Vali and 
 his army of officials, etc. 
 
 " If an Armenian, by dint of his intelligence, inventive- 
 ness, and energy, competes with a prominent Turk, he is 
 unceremoniously killed in the open day, as, for instance, 
 Basturmandjan, a wealthy and important man, who enjoyed 
 a great reputation and authority in the neighbourhood, and 
 was murdered in the presence of the Erzeroum merchant, 
 Khatchatur Effendi. Is it possible, in these circumstances, 
 to expect any kind of progress in this country ? Is it 
 possible to found any productive or profitable businesses, to 
 establish joint stock companies, or similar associations? 
 
 " It is said that there are written laws in Turkey, but 
 these laws remain a dead letter. An Armenian, being a 
 Christian, has no right to carry weapons in Turkey, nor to 
 give evidence in a court of law." 
 
 These considerations of the learned Doctor, founded 
 on the protocols of the Armenian Patriarchate at 
 Constantinople, confirm in a remarkable manner the 
 evidence I myself collected at Trcbizond.
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Let us now proceed to examine what the actual 
 
 legal taxes arc under which the Turkish-Armenian 
 peasant is weighed down. 
 
 Particulars of these I have obtained from Colonel 
 Lazarefif, to whom I have already referred, an Arme- 
 nian officer who has made a life-long study of the 
 condition of the Turkish-Armenian peasantry, and 
 whose character and position give great weight to his 
 statements. 
 
 This officer is preparing a pamphlet which will, he 
 believes, throw considerable light on Turkish misrule. 
 
 In the Daily Graphic for March i8th, 1895, the 
 following extracts from the list he submitted to me 
 were printed : — ■ 
 
 "The taxes of Turkish Armenia now in force have all 
 been introduced since 1880, so that Turkish Armenia may 
 truly be said to have a totally new fiscal system. 
 
 " These taxes may be roughly divided into four classes ; — 
 
 1. Tlx> Nufus. 
 
 2. 'I'he Amlat. 
 
 3. 'I'he KhamU hur. 
 
 4. The Intihal. 
 
 " The Nufus is a jjoll-tax, and is levied in ])lace of the 
 old tax for exemption from military service. \\\ 'I'urkey 
 only Mahomedans are allowed to serve the country as 
 soldiers, although, of course, in the higher grades of the 
 army and navy, there are Christians. 
 
 " This tax is very grievous ; every male, including 
 children from the date of birth, must pay annually one 
 Medjidje (or three shillings and sixjjence), so that a father
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 131 
 
 may have to pay five or six Medjidje a year poll-tax 
 alone. 
 
 "Of the Amlats there are many kinds. The most 
 grievous is the land-tax, which has been substituted for the 
 old and easy Salian (which Sassun still pays). 
 
 " The Government has divided the land into three cate- 
 gories : — 
 
 1. Alia, or fertile land ; 
 
 2. Avsad, or second-class land ; and 
 
 3. Adna, or sandy and rocky soil. 
 
 " By the old tax the peasant paid on an average five 
 Medjidje a year, but to-day he may have to pay as much as 
 fifteen and twenty Medjidje. The land is measured off 
 arbitrarily by means of ropes. 
 
 " Then there is the Amlat for market-gardening produce ; 
 this reaches ;^T.5 a year. 
 
 " Next comes the Amlat for hay, for eight cartloads of 
 which the peasant has to pay a tax of two and a-half 
 Medjidje. Formerly the Government took one cartload out 
 of every eight for itself; but to-day it has arbitrarily fixed 
 the price at the above figure. 
 
 " Then there is the Amlat for brushwood, which amounts 
 only to five grush ; but the Amlat for the right to make and 
 use dung fuel amounts to half a Medjidje. 
 
 " We now come to the inhabited-house Amlat, which 
 amounts to two Medjidje; the cattle-shed Amlat, from one 
 to three Medjidje ; the stable Amlat, also from one to three 
 Medjidje ; the sheep-pen Amlat, from one to one and a-half 
 Medjidje ; the straw-loft Amlat, one to one and a-half 
 Medjidje. 
 
 " Besides these regular Amlats, there are the marriage- 
 licence Amlat, which is only three-quarter Medjidje, and 
 fhe emigration Amlat, which is also three-quarter Medjidje. 
 
 *' The Khamtchur, or sheep-tax, is one-quarter Medjidje ;
 
 KOUA/) AHOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 and the Intihal, or succession duty, which includes the 
 Kotchan, or tithe, is never less than ;!^T.2o, and often 
 exceeds ;^T.30. 
 
 "When it is remembered that in an average Armenian 
 hut there are often eight and even ten males, that a family 
 has about three hundred sheep, and that the peasants 
 emigrate annually to earn a little money during the winter, 
 some idea may be formed of the weight of taxation with 
 which they are burdened." 
 
 Nor should it be forgotten that these taxes are all 
 in addition to the iniquitous tithe, or tenth part, which 
 is so fruitful a source of oppression. 
 
 Colonel Lazarefi" informed me that the method of 
 collecting these taxes was not mild. Troops usually 
 accompany the tax-collectors, and these troops are 
 quartered on the peasants, who have to lodge and 
 feed them. In return for this the peasants receive 
 stamped receipts indicating the quantity of food 
 consumed, and these receipts are really vouchers, and, 
 legally, the value of the amounts certified should be 
 deducted from the amounts demanded in payment of 
 the taxes. Usually, however, these technical details 
 are but little respected. 
 
 Refractory tax-payers are brutally beaten over the 
 head and shoulders with the butt-ends of muskets, 
 and very often die under the punishment or from its 
 effects. 
 
 On receiving the amcnnit of the taxes the tax- 
 collectors have to give a receipt, which is a certificate 
 that the taxes have been duly paid. But very often
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 133 
 
 the collectors refuse to give these official receipts 
 unless they receive a gratuity for themselves. 
 
 Having thus enumerated the grievances from which 
 the Armenians suffer, and formed some sort of idea 
 of the burdens of taxation to which they are subjected 
 by their ignorant and narrow-minded rulers, let us 
 pause to consider their general economic condition. 
 We have seen that the natural resources of Armenia 
 are abundant ; that coal, iron, copper, gold, silver, 
 marble, and petroleum are plentiful ; but that, owing 
 to the anarchic state of the Government, these 
 mineral resources remain undeveloped. The land is 
 fertile and well cultivated. The Armenian peasant 
 is an excellent agriculturist, his women are industrious, 
 he is also a raiser of stock. Notwithstanding the 
 heavy taxation by which he is ground down, and the 
 arbitrary misrule from which he suffers, he is usually 
 wealthy and independent. 
 
 But he has been visited by wars, famine, and 
 butchery. The native population of Armenia is to- 
 day decimated. His condition is therefore deplorable ; 
 nevertheless, he has to support two lazy races, the 
 Turks and Kurds. His property is not safe, his 
 women are at the mercy of predatory tribes, and his 
 very life is in peril. 
 
 This is, indeed, a gloomy picture. Is it possible to 
 imagine a worse state of things t Yet to-day that 
 worse state of things has actually arrived. The 
 greater part of the population of Armenia arc starving
 
 134 KOfND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 and living upon the charitable contributions, but 
 indifferently distributed, of foreign countries. 
 
 Can it be possible that such a state of things will 
 endure ? It is against all natural laws that it should. 
 
 Surely the limit of human endurance has been 
 reached
 
 135 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SOCIAL AMENITIES. 
 
 Lest readers should conclude from what has been re- 
 counted in the preceding chapters that the Armenians 
 are a soulless race of sordid money-seekers, out of 
 whom all spirit and life have been crushed by centuries 
 of tyranny, who are either sullenly thirsting for revenge 
 and standing obstinately at bay, or, having forsaken 
 all ideals and higher aspirations, are devoting them- 
 selves solely to the baser forms of commercial 
 operations, I propose in this chapter to give my 
 experiences of the social customs of the better classes 
 of Armenians. 
 
 In the first place, then, let me say that the Armenian 
 language has a rich and beautiful literature, a literature 
 for the sake of which Lord Byron learnt it. This 
 literature, which abounds in poetry and song, is not 
 confined to such modes of expression, and has in- 
 vaded the stage. At Constantinople there was an 
 Armenian theatre ; there is one at Tiflis also. There 
 are Armenian actors and actresses of great power 
 and talent who draw largely, and whose names are
 
 i36 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 household words. In Tiflis Armenian plays are in 
 great favour, and are played to crowded houses. I 
 am told that these plays arc instinct with humour 
 and pathos, and that in their interpretation Armenian 
 actresses develop a very high order of histrionic 
 talent. Needless to say that the personal beauty 
 of the actresses counts for a great deal. 
 
 The drama then is one of the amusements of 
 cultivated Armenians. There are also Armenian 
 writers of fiction, Armenian historians and political 
 economists ; nor should the eloquence of the Arme- 
 nian clergy be omitted from this enumeration of 
 the elements in Armenian society which " make for 
 culture." I have heard nothing to equal Armenian 
 orators outside Hungary. The eloquence of the 
 Hungarian orator is somewhat of the same order 
 as that of the Armenian : it is moving, impassioned, 
 but harmonious. 
 
 Armenian art is necessarily in a more languishing 
 condition, although Armenia has produced some 
 notable artists of the first magnitude, such as 
 Aivazofski, for instance, whose paintings were ex- 
 hibited in London, but who is thoroughly Russianised. 
 While I was at Tiflis preparations were in progress 
 for an Armenian art exhibition — an annual affair, 
 I understand. I had not time to stay to see it, 
 but I was told that the collection would probably 
 scarcely repay a visit. 
 
 Nevertheless, Art and the Drama are rei)rescnted
 
 SOCIAL AMENITIES. 137 
 
 and find exponents. There is also Armenian music, 
 there are Armenian concerts and Armenian singers, 
 some of them famous, especially the women, who 
 have beautiful voices — remarkable sopranos, rich and 
 passionate contraltos. The music is not always 
 joyous, melancholy strains and pathetic motifs seem 
 to predominate, though these are not the only ones, 
 and many are the wild lively airs that I have heard 
 at the convivial meetings in hospitable Armenian 
 houses ; contagious is their dance music. 
 
 We therefore see the Armenian race presents to us 
 all the features of culture — a literature, a drama, art, 
 music, and poetry. When in the next chapter I shall 
 have to paint a picture of the life led by the merchants 
 of Baku, a life which is not distinctive of any particular 
 class or city of Russia, we shall have all the more 
 occasion to wonder at the contrast, and be compelled 
 to admit that even in Russia the Armenians constitute 
 one of the cultured elements of the country. 
 
 The social life of the Armenians, as I witnessed 
 it, is indeed very different from that of the Russian 
 officers, functionaries, and merchants who live side 
 by side with them. With the Armenians the family 
 is the basis of life. You will rarely meet the 
 Armenians away from their wives and families in- 
 dulging in the orgies and dissipations of the res- 
 taurants and temples of vice for which Tiflis is as 
 famous as Constantinople. Armenians rarely get 
 drunk. I have never seen a drunken Armenian in
 
 138 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 the streets of Tiflis, although drunken Russians 
 abound there. Yet the Armenians are a convivial 
 race, they are fond of the pleasures of the table, and 
 will, when establishing a " feast," spend an incredibly 
 long time at the festive board ; but on these occasions 
 they will sit side by side with their wives and families, 
 and behave in a decorous and thoroughly civilised 
 manner. 
 
 Younsf Armenians, who had been educated in Paris, 
 and had tasted the delights of the wild life of the 
 Quartier Latin, confidentially confessed to me their 
 disenchantment on returning to their native land, 
 where they found the conventional and moral codes 
 much more stringent than in the gay capital of 
 pleasure. As soon as a young Armenian arrives at 
 the age of discretion he is expected to marry, and 
 old bachelors are regarded with an unfavourable, 
 not to say a suspicious eye. The young women are 
 most carefully brought up and watched over. I 
 never heard of, or saw, an Armenian woman of the 
 unfortunate class. Constantinople is full of Greek and 
 German women of doubtful character ; but there arc 
 no Armenians, so far as I could ascertain, in the 
 ranks of this class of women either there or at Tiflis. 
 
 The young gallicised Armenians I referred to, 
 complained that their difficulty was to find an 
 Armenian girl in their own class of society whose 
 intellectual training and general education was such 
 as to make her a fit companion and helpmate. For
 
 SOCIAL AMENITIES. 139 
 
 this backwardness in the mental equipment of the 
 average Armenian girl, the Russian Government is 
 largely to blame. Only a certain percentage of the 
 scholars of the high schools, both male and female, 
 in the Caucasus, may be Armenians. As the 
 educated classes of the Caucasus are principally of 
 this race, and as this is the only race on the Caucasus 
 which has any distinct tendency towards intellectual 
 progress, this arbitrary provision is manifestly unfair. 
 
 For this reason the wealthier Armenians send their 
 children to be educated either in Moscow or abroad ; 
 but of course this means a considerable expense, and 
 consequently it is not possible for all. 
 
 Nevertheless, I have met in various parts during 
 my travels gifted Armenian women of a very high 
 grade of intelligence, devoting their lives with a rare 
 and beautiful devotion to the education of the young, 
 to charitable and public work, to the dissemination of 
 " sweetness and light." 
 
 Another difficulty in the way of the higher educa- 
 tion of Armenian women is caused by the custom ot 
 contracting early marriages. This is the curse of the 
 East. We have all heard of the child marriages of 
 India ; in Persia it is usual for a girl to be married at 
 the age of eleven, and hence it is not surprising to 
 find girls of fourteen among the married women ot 
 Armenia. 
 
 Seeing that convivial gatherings play an important 
 part in the amusements of the Armenians, and that
 
 140 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA, 
 
 the amusements of a people are an index to their 
 character, I will now relate my own experience of 
 Armenian dinner-parties. 
 
 The first and largest I ever attended was given by 
 an Armenian widow lady, much respected for her 
 many chanties, and the mother of a large and pros- 
 perous family. The members of this family, with its 
 numerous collateral adherents, were all invited to 
 meet me. It was a big feast. The time appointed 
 was half-past three, and I arrived to the minute. I 
 found the spacious room of my hostess's apartment 
 filled with people : many charming young ladies, 
 several officers, a Georgian prince, and a number of 
 civilians. What was my surprise to discover them all 
 drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes ! Could it be 
 that I had mistaken the hour of dinner and arrived 
 after the feast ! Presently my doubts were set at 
 rest and dinner was announced. We sat down in a 
 large saloon, along three walls of which tables were 
 ranged. The ladies all sat side by side, the men 
 facing them. Vodka and zakouska, or Jiors d'cviivres, 
 were now produced, and then a sumptuous banquet 
 was served, at which we remained seated from half- 
 past four to eight. It was excellently cooked, but 
 the fish came last, rather an inversion of the European 
 order. Before we commenced dinner a toastmaster 
 was elected, and he appointed an assistant. I was 
 told that this was an invariable custom at all 
 Armenian dinners, and that the gentleman elected
 
 SOCIAL AMENITIES. 141 
 
 was a man of great experience in these matters. I 
 was soon to see what his functions were. We had 
 scarcely begun dinner before the toastmaster rose and 
 carefully inspected the table, his eagle eye passing 
 our glasses in rapid review. Then he ordered us to 
 charge our glasses, and informed us that he meant 
 business, and would not allow any scamping of the 
 important duties which awaited us. The first toast 
 proposed was that of the Emperor. We had to drink 
 this standing and drain our glasses. The toastmaster 
 and his assistant afterwards ascertained that we had 
 complied with this necessary formality. Then we sat 
 down, and we had music. One man whacked an 
 enormous tambourine, while another played a curious 
 kind of lute, a cross between a guitar, a mandoline, 
 and a banjo. We then drank the health of the 
 Queen of England in the same manner, which was 
 followed by the same honours. Then we drank to 
 the British Press, and we drank confusion to Turkey, 
 and the health of every individual in the room, and 
 all their cousins, always standing. Towards the end 
 of dinner the fun grew fast and furious. After the 
 toasts, ladies got up and danced the national Lis- 
 guinka ; and even when dinner was over we remained 
 seated for a long time, like the famous monks, re- 
 membering one saint more. It was an extremely 
 jovial meeting, and impressed me very favourably. 
 
 I have dined and supped at numerous other 
 Armenian houses, but always found a very similar
 
 143 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 order of ceremony adhered to, and always the same 
 wholc-hcartcd joviality. The Armenians arc all fond 
 of speechifying, and make very good, very amusing, 
 and sometimes very eloquent and pathetic speeches. 
 At one dinner to which I was invited, national and 
 ancient Armenian songs were sung with great artistic 
 effect. 
 
 At a supper, given by a wealthy Armenian mer- 
 chant, to which I was bidden, a different state of 
 things obtained. The surroundings were such as 
 might have been found in any wealthy house in Paris 
 or Berlin. The apartments of my host were most 
 interesting. The walls were hung with rare etchings 
 and pictures, his bookshelves contained a most perfect 
 library of rare books, among them a complete collec- 
 tion of ancient and modern Armenian literature, many 
 of the specimens in quaint and beautiful bindings. 
 The conversation was most cultured, the guests had 
 the most distinguished manners and that perfect ease 
 and grace which are characteristic of good breeding. 
 Here of course there were no toastmasters and no 
 cjuaint national customs. 
 
 But on another occasion I had an opportunity of 
 witnessing an Armenian wedding, and that was very 
 curious. It was celebrated in the evening. The 
 family belonged to the wealthy merchant class, and 
 occupied a very handsome flat in the principal street 
 of Tiflis, where the Governor-General's palace and 
 nearly all the public buildings are situated, Th^
 
 SOCIAL AMENITIES. 143 
 
 bride and bridesmaids were in wiiite, and the bride 
 had a beautiful veil which fell to her feet, and the 
 usual wreath of orange blossoms. The men were 
 dressed in the conventional evening dress of the 
 nineteenth century, but there were many officers 
 present in uniform, and a goodly number of well- 
 decorated generals, without whom no party in the 
 dominions of the Tzar can make any pretensions to 
 fashion. 
 
 The grand main staircase was covered with a hand- 
 some red carpet, and profusely decorated with palms, 
 laurels, and evergreens. After the ceremony in 
 church, whither the party proceeded in numerous 
 carriages, after previously assembling in the apartment 
 of the bride's father, the return of the bride and 
 bridegroom was announced by Bengal lights. Two 
 priests in their sacerdotal robes of cloth of gold 
 ascended the stairs and took up a position on a 
 landing, holding massive candles in handsome candle- 
 sticks, which were now lighted. These priests in 
 their curious hats, resembling that of a Jewish Rabbi, 
 with flowing beards and hair hanging down to their 
 shoulders, looked solemn, venerable, and imposing. 
 Soon there were more Bengal lights, and the bridal 
 procession formed at the foot of the stairs and 
 ascended them, the bride and bridegroom leading the 
 way. The priests now began a solemn chant as the 
 bride and bridegroom, now husband and wife, ap- 
 proached ; flanking the priests stood two gentlemen
 
 14+ ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 in evening dress, each with a drawn sword in his 
 hand. As the newly-married couple arrived at the 
 landini^ where the priests were waiting to receive 
 them, these two gentlemen crossed their swords in 
 mid-air, thus forming an arch under which the 
 husband and wife stood while the priests blessed and 
 kissed them. 
 
 The priests, bearing the candles alight, now pre- 
 ceded the bridal procession into the apartment, where 
 a hospitable supper was spread, which was followed by 
 rollicking fun, the dancing of the Lisguinka, singing 
 and revelry, which was continued long into the night, 
 and after the wedded pair had departed for their 
 honeymoon. 
 
 On another occasion I had an opportunity of seeing 
 the youth and beauty of Armenian fashion : a grand 
 ball was given at the Nobles' Club of Tiflis by the 
 Armenian community. These balls are of frequent 
 occurrence at Tiflis during the winter, but this 
 particular one had been got up for the benefit of the 
 sufferers from the massacres, and it was a point of 
 honour for all Armenians of any pretensions to social 
 position, to attend. The committee did me the 
 honour of inviting me, and of course I went. I may 
 say that I was fairly astonished with what I saw. 
 The handsome saloons of the Nobles' Club were 
 crammed ; I believe there were something like five 
 hundred people present. Never, not even in Paris, 
 have I seen a more brilliant gathering, more elegant
 
 SOCIAL AMENITIES. U5 
 
 toilettes, more taste, beauty, and chic. Several 
 great ladies and Armenian princesses had arrived 
 from Constantinople on purpose to give the ball the 
 lustre of their presence. Many of these had flower 
 stalls, where bouquets and buttonholes, principally 
 roses, were sold. It is a common belief that all 
 Armenian women are dark, languorous, and Oriental- 
 looking ; but this idea is erroneous, there is a fair type 
 of Armenian as well as a dark, and I can only say 
 that the great ladies, young, beautiful, and graceful, 
 whom I saw collected at this ball, were fairly dazzling. 
 These Armenian ladies spoke French, German, and 
 Russian, some of them even English. They were 
 surrounded by distinguished-looking men, and it was 
 a revelation to see the number of Armenian officers 
 wearing the Russian uniform. 
 
 The ball was a brilliant success, it was conducted 
 on European lines and might have taken place at 
 Paris, Berlin, or Vienna, or even St. Petersburg ; and 
 to judge by the surroundings and demeanour of 
 everybody, one would scarcely have believed that it 
 was going on in a provincial town like Tiflis, inhabited 
 principally by pensioned Georgian generals. 
 
 Enough has been said to show that the Armenians 
 are far from being an uncultured, uncivilised people. 
 But those who think that refined pleasures, polite 
 literature, artistic tastes, and elegant genial social 
 habits are not sufficient to establish a claim for the 
 consideration of cultured Europe, had better turn to 
 
 L
 
 146 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA, 
 
 the records of the universities of Paris, Geneva, Berlin, 
 and other university towns, and hear in what estima- 
 tion the Armenian students are held there. Armenian 
 professors lecturing on scientific branches of study 
 will be found scattered over the entire globe. The 
 Russian minister of education, Delyanoff, is an 
 Armenian. 
 
 It may be objected against the Armenians as a race 
 that they have no national athletic games, and cannot, 
 therefore, find in their national life that stimulus for 
 activity which has given England her supremacy, and 
 which founded the Olympian games of Greece. How 
 can we expect a nation ground down by taxes to 
 play when they have had to spend their lives in 
 work ? Besides, the Armenians are not singular in 
 this respect. The Turks and Persians, the Russians, 
 and in fact all the neighbouring races, are more 
 distinguished for their indolence than their fondness 
 of games. 
 
 But then the Armeiiians, in common with nearly all 
 Orientals, are gamblers — that unfortunately cannot 
 be denied. It is a vice, however, which they share 
 with the majority of the inhabitants of the globe.
 
 ( 147 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I5AKU. 
 
 Having been prohibited by the Russian Government 
 from crossing over the Russian frontier either into 
 Turkish or Persian territory, it was necessary for me 
 to try to get to Persia across the Caspian, and thence 
 ride back. Baku is a commercial town, and there is 
 considerable commercial intercourse between Persia 
 and Russia, so that the Government informed me 
 that they could not object to my taking this route. 
 
 I had collected sufficient materials in Tiflis and was 
 anxious to push on. Still I kept my friends, Armenian 
 and Russian, in happy ignorance of my movements, 
 and decamped one day without warning for the com- 
 mercial port of the Caspian. 
 
 The journey from Tiflis to Baku is scarcely as 
 interesting, from the point of view of scener)-, as the 
 journey from Batoum to Tiflis. Gradually the country 
 begins to assume that flat and barren aspect which is 
 characteristic of the shores of the Caspian and the 
 northern plateau of the stony tableland of Asia Minor. 
 The poor little single tramway-line which has been 
 
 L 2
 
 148 kOiJND ABOUT AKMeNLL 
 
 dignified with the grandiloquent title of the Trans- 
 Caucasian Railway, winds its slow and tedious way at 
 a pace that is simply exasperating. 
 
 But then the company was more interesting. One 
 of the occupants of the compartment in which I found 
 myself was an officer of police, the other a quaint- 
 looking person, with an extremely intelligent cast 
 of countenance. This gentleman had a wonderful 
 quantity of curios with him, and being of an expan- 
 sive disposition, very soon entered into conversation 
 with us and proceeded to unpack his treasures. These 
 he had collected wherever he had travelled, for, as he 
 told us, he was very extravagant and was unable to 
 keep money ; for this reason, he said, he always spent 
 a large part of the money he took with him on a 
 journey in the purchase of objects of antiquarian 
 interest, and thus he flattered himself that if he was 
 unable to keep his money he at least did not waste it. 
 This revelation of ingenuousness was followed by a 
 voluntary communication as to where he was at 
 present coming from. He had been to St. Petersburg 
 as a member of one of the deputations of the nobles 
 of the Caucasus to do homage to the young P^mperor 
 Nicholas II. It turned out that ho was an Armenian 
 nobleman and had relations in high positions at 
 St. Petersburg, and so his conversation was most 
 interesting. 
 
 He told us the story of the famous speech of the 
 Emperor to the nobles, in which all hopes of Russia's
 
 BAKU. 149 
 
 ever obtaining any measure of political freedom was 
 completely dispelled. Here is the story, which I 
 think bears upon it the stamp of probability ; at any 
 rate my informant could have no possible object in 
 inventing it. 
 
 The programme of the reception had been carefully 
 prepared. A speech from the Emperor did not 
 figure in it. The deputations took up their position 
 in the Hall of St. George at the Winter Palace. 
 Each deputation was to be received separately by the 
 Emperor and Empress in an adjoining apartment, and 
 was then to be dismissed. In accordance with these 
 arrangements the nobles were assembled, when Count 
 Vorontzoff-Dashkoff, the Minister of the Court, made 
 his appearance and announced that, before receiving 
 the deputations separately, His Imperial Majesty 
 wished to address a few words to them in a body. 
 This was a departure from the programme, and put 
 everybody on the tiptoe of expectation. Presently 
 the Imperial body-guards took up a position in the 
 hall. The officers of the court arrived. A long wait 
 ensued. Messengers came and went. There were 
 hurried consultations. Something had gone wrong. 
 Suddenly it was announced that his Imperial Majesty 
 had changed his mind. The body-guards were with- 
 drawn, and the deputations were left to speculate on 
 what might be the cause of these alterations. After 
 the lapse of about half an hour, the large folding 
 doors of the hall were thrown o\)Q:x\, and on the
 
 ISO ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 threshold appeared the Emperor himself. In a clear 
 ringing voice he made the famous speech which was 
 telegraphed all over the world. It was short and was 
 delivered in a few minutes. When His Majesty had 
 finished speaking, he turned on his heel and was 
 gone. Every individual member of the deputations 
 felt himself personally insulted. At the same time 
 the nobles thought they could see by his countenance 
 that the Emperor recognised his mistake, even while 
 speaking. This impression was strengthened by the 
 way in which he afterwards received them. He was 
 particularly cordial, conciliatory, and even apologetic 
 in his manner. The Empress, by her grace, dignity, 
 charm, and beauty, won the hearts of all. 
 
 What did it mean } What was the reason for this 
 moral box on the ear to the Emperor's most loyal 
 and dev^oted subjects.'' The mystery was soon solved. 
 
 It appears that before the announcement by Count 
 Vorontzofif-Dashkoff w^as made, M. Pobedonostzeff, 
 the Procureur of the Holy Synod, and M. Dournovo, 
 the Minister of the Interior, insisted on seeing the 
 Emperor, and, on being admitted to his presence, 
 presented him with the text of the speech, solemnly 
 impressing upon him the necessity of delivering it. 
 The Emperor at first refused to comply, but after- 
 wards yielded to pressure. The deputation was 
 thereupon informed of his intention of addressing 
 them. At this juncture the Emperor's most influen- 
 tial cousin, the Grand Duke Constantine Constantino-
 
 BAKU. 151 
 
 vitch, succeeded in dissuading him from making his 
 speech, and so the body-guards were withdrawn from 
 the hall. But MM. Dournovo and Pobedonostzeff 
 now returned to the charge, and implored the 
 Emperor not to neglect this great opportunity of 
 declaring his views. It is even believed that they 
 threatened to resign if he refused. So he yielded. 
 
 Everybody will remember the speech in which the 
 Emperor told the nobles of Russia that they must 
 for ever banish from their minds all foolish dreams of 
 liberty. It was provoked by a loyal address from 
 the Zemstvo — or county council — of Tver, which was 
 a covert petition for a constitution. But the nobles of 
 Russia were in no way associated with this address, 
 and came to St. Petersburg solely to do homage 
 to their sovereign, as an act of allegiance. His 
 unprovoked rebuke came upon them like a thunder- 
 bolt. 
 
 The garrulous Armenian nobleman informed us 
 that the Emperor was looking very well and robust, 
 and was very much in love with his beautiful consort, 
 who had already won golden opinions. 
 
 He also told us an amusing story of the Marshal of 
 Nobility of a district in the Caucasus, which quaintly 
 illustrates the manners of that region. This high 
 functionary was noted for his avarice, and complained 
 that, on his way to the railway which was to take him 
 to St. Petersburg for the coronation, he was attacked 
 by brigands, who robbed him of his luggage, including
 
 152 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 valuable diamonds and a very handsome new mar- 
 shal's uniform, profusely decorated with gold lace. A 
 Marshal of Nobility holds a position somewhat 
 analogous to our Lord Lieutenants of counties. 
 His story, received on the word of so high a func- 
 tionary, had to be credited. His losses were refunded 
 to him, and the police are still looking for the 
 brigands, who have not, however, been found. Now 
 it was a matter of common knowledge amongst his 
 intimates that the Marshal had not purchased a new 
 uniform at all, and possessed no diamonds, and it was 
 generally believed that he had himself arranged or 
 invented the attack by brigands. 
 
 This story was considered a very good joke, and 
 heartily laughed at. It did not occur to the man 
 who told it, or to the police official who was listening, 
 that it cast a very serious reflection on the state of 
 society in the Caucasus. The country life of Russia 
 abounds in similar episodes. 
 
 It was now the turn of the police official to enter- 
 tain us, and he proved quite as garrulous and com- 
 municative as the Armenian country gentleman. He 
 talked about the Russo-Turkish war and General 
 Skobeleff; but what interested me most was a piece 
 of intelligence, which he communicated quite un- 
 suspectingly, little dreaming of its value to me, to 
 whom he was an absolute stranger. I was supposed 
 to be travelling to Baku on business. So I was. It 
 appears that this police official was the prefect or
 
 BAKU. 153 
 
 commissioner of a large district, with a population of 
 100,000, all Mahomedans. He complained of the 
 extreme ignorance and stupidity of peasants. We 
 had been discussing the remarkable phenomenon 
 exhibited by Russia where the peasants have lately 
 taken to emigrating to Siberia in large numbers, 
 generally to return impoverished, often to die of 
 want in that distant region, because the Government 
 had very badly organised the system of allotment 
 of land. Of course the reason why the Russian 
 peasant emigrates is, that his life is made impossible 
 for him at home. Of late, harvests have been bad, 
 but taxes have to be paid. On the one hand he is 
 ground down by the Government and its officials, on 
 the other, by the petty tyranny of the village com- 
 mune, or Mir, and the local money-lender, who is 
 often the village elder. 
 
 The police prefect, however, developed a very 
 curious theory. He maintained that all peasant 
 populations were prone to emigration, an obviously 
 false statement, and supported it by adducing a very 
 startling fact. He stated that, in his own district, his 
 Mahomedan population had developed a totally 
 inexplicable fondness for emigrating, and an illogical 
 partiality for the dominions of the Sultan. A rumour 
 had reached them that, if they went to Turkey, land 
 would be given them, and so they were anxious to 
 go. It was useless to point out to them that they 
 were much better off under Russian rule, had less
 
 154 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 taxes to pay, and enjoyed better government. These 
 arguments would not convince them. They clamoured 
 for permission to emigrate. It was most irrational 
 and stupid. 
 
 Personal)}', I was not inclined to think that these 
 Mahomedans were acting quite so foolishly as the 
 police-prefect seemed to believe. On the contrary, I 
 thought it was not unlikely that they had more sub- 
 stantial data to go on than mere rumours. I was 
 therefore not surprised when the Armenian noble- 
 man, having asked the official how long this move- 
 ment had been going on, and learnt that it had 
 developed to alarming proportions only within two 
 years, said : 
 
 " I should not wonder if it was connected with the 
 Armenian question." 
 
 All I can say is, no more should I. The Sultan, 
 having determined on exterminating the Armenians, 
 would very naturally be looking round for an indus- 
 trious and wealth-producing Mahomedan population 
 to take their place. Perhaps such a supposition is 
 calculated to credit the Sultan with more statesman- 
 ship than we believe him possessed of ; but then, 
 life is full of strange surprises, and the workings 
 of the human mind arc difficult to fathom. 
 
 My two travelling companions left me one by one, 
 and I spent the night by myself in my compartment. 
 The day had well advanced before I reached Baku. 
 
 A strange spectacle awaits you on your arrival at
 
 BAKU. 155 
 
 this city. You see before you an enormous barren 
 sand waste, beyond it the sea. No town is in sight. 
 Suddenly you discover that the sand plain is the end 
 of a plateau, and as you descend it you see the town 
 of Baku fringing the shores of the Caspian. On 
 your approach your nostrils become invaded by that 
 odour of naphtha which shall never leave you until 
 you have left Baku miles behind you. 
 
 It is a strange looking town, and would be hand- 
 some were the houses loftier. The streets are broad 
 and clean ; there is a magnificent quay. Tramways 
 abound. Here the telephone is in full operation, and if 
 there was a little more bustle in the streets one might 
 almost fancy oneself in an American city out West. 
 There is the same air of newness about everything, 
 the same sanguine atmosphere. Everybody is hope- 
 ful. But the quantities of Persians and Tartars in 
 their picturesque costumes, the camels in the market- 
 place, the Persian citadel, and the Russian peasants 
 and soldiers, dispel the illusion. No vegetation of 
 any kind can flourish in Baku, owing to the aridity 
 of the soil ; but the town is enterprising, and has 
 laid out a park. The footpaths of this park arc of 
 asphalte ; the earth in which the trees, shrubs, and 
 flowers have been planted and pine, was brought from 
 some more fertile region. 
 
 There are three hotels in Baku, all beyond expres- 
 sion vile. In one the food is less bad than in the 
 other two, another has the best accommodation, and
 
 156 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 tlic tliird the best liquor. The division of labour is 
 thus carried to an absurd extreme. 
 
 I was fortunate in making the acquaintance, at 
 Tiflis, of M. Dubail, the French Vice-Consul at Baku, 
 a gentleman of considerable parts, who had been a 
 journalist in Paris, had gone on missions to Bulgaria, 
 Roumania, and other places for Mr. Gordon Bennett's 
 New York Herald, and who had, besides, visited 
 North and South America. This gentleman, about 
 thirty years of age, is leading a melancholy existence 
 in the Russian Petrolia, and was consumedly glad of 
 my arrival. Owing to the very defective steam-packet 
 service across the Caspian, and unfavourable weather, 
 I had to spend three mortal weeks at this delightful 
 spot, and had therefore ample opportunity to study 
 the petroleum industry of Baku. 
 
 Thanks to the courtesy of the genial representative 
 of a sprightly nation I saw a great deal of this city, 
 and was able to make a careful study of the life led 
 there by the leading merchants, which resembles the 
 life led in all the commercial towns of Russia, and 
 may be conveniently summed up in one word — drink. 
 
 The petroleum industry is not in quite so flourishing 
 a condition as people over here, who are unacquainted 
 with the ways of Russian officialism, may be inclined 
 to think. 
 
 I was taken over the largest works at Baku — I will 
 not mention names — and found the appliances and 
 arrangements of {I very prijnitivc order, nor was I
 
 surprised to hear in the result that the American 
 Standard Oil Company was competing with the 
 Caucasus at its very doors, and successfully. Baku 
 seems to be sufifering- under two curses which together 
 are preventing her development, one is a want of 
 solidarity and co-operation among producers, the other 
 Government interference. 
 
 The principal grievance of the producers against the 
 Government is its refusal to construct, or allow any- 
 body else to construct, a pipe from Baku to Batoum 
 for the direct delivery of the oil to the tank steamers. 
 That is a very great grievance. The Government is 
 actuated by curiously mixed motives. 
 
 In the first place it does not wish the small producer 
 to disappear and be swallowed up by the eventual 
 monopolist. For the small producer is at the mercy 
 of the Government, the monopolist may become too 
 powerful for it. Besides, the Government pretends to 
 foster minor industries, and to encourage the small 
 man, and further it adheres to the socialistic theory 
 that the monopolist is always an extortioner, who 
 sucks the life-blood of the people. 
 
 These ideas are very altruistic and have a rosy 
 colour, but they cannot prevail. Already the petroleum 
 industry of Baku is virtually in the hands of tivo 
 monopolists, the Nobel Syndicate, and the Rothschild 
 Syndicate, and the minor producers are all more or 
 less pledged either to them or to what I must call 
 petroleum-sweaters, for want of a better term — capi-
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 talists in short. Whether many abuses would not be 
 removed and the quaHty of the oil greatly improved 
 by permitting the formation of a great oil trust is 
 hardly a question. But this the Government do not 
 wish, as we shall see. 
 
 Another argument which is urged against the con- 
 struction of a pipe is that the railway lives on its 
 petroleum carriage, and that to take that away would 
 mean ruination to the railway. This argument is not 
 sound either, because if the petroleum industry was to 
 receive a great stimulus, the wealth of the whole 
 region would grow enormously, new industries would 
 spring into being, and the Trans-Caucasian Railway 
 would participate in the increased trade and the 
 general prosperity. 
 
 But it is this general prosperity of the Caucasus 
 which the Government is preventing by its venal 
 officials and blindness. 
 
 The real reason, however, why the Government do 
 not wish to see the oil-wells of Baku developed to too 
 great an extent, is that they do not wish to encourage 
 the production of refined petroleum, but arc very 
 anxious to secure an abundant and cheap supply of 
 the low grade oil called " ostatki," upon which they 
 depend for fuel for their steamers on the Caspian, and 
 their locomotives on the Trans-Caspian and the Trans- 
 Caucasian Railways. In other words, if you allow 
 monopolists to get the petroleum into their hands, or 
 if you develop the petroleum industry to such an
 
 BAKU. 159 
 
 extent as to drive out the competition of America, 
 you run the risk of raising the price of the ostatki, and 
 that the Government do not wish to do. 
 
 There is yet another factor in the Russian com- 
 mercial policy which must not be forgotten, and this 
 is the " industrial region of Moscow," as Russian 
 economists call it. The great manufacturers in and 
 around Moscow do not wish to see industrial centres 
 springing up within the confines of the Empire. 
 They even wish to be protected against the com- 
 petition of Poland ! And as they are wealthy and 
 powerful and St. Petersburg is near, they are able to 
 bring their influence to bear in an irresistible manner 
 on the higher officials of the State. 
 
 There are mines and works in the Caucasus going 
 to rack and ruin for want of capitalists to develop or 
 undertake them. One particular ironworks comes to 
 my mind in this connection. The company to whom 
 the works belonged were promised a railway. That 
 railway was never built. Another railway was built 
 instead which left them out in the cold. They have 
 gone bankrupt, and successively have these ironworks 
 caused the ruin of numerous individuals and com- 
 panies. There is some fatality about every industrial 
 undertaking on the Caucasus. 
 
 But this has been a long digression. Let me 
 illustrate the way the petroleum industry is baulked, 
 by an incident which came under my personal 
 observation.
 
 t6o ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 A gentleman of great commercial shrewdness took 
 me one day to see a petroleum fountain situated to 
 the south of Baku on the Ba'ilofF promontory. Here 
 an exceptionally good naphtha had been found. My 
 friend took me over the primitive works, and then 
 showed me some waste land adjoining. " That land," 
 he said, '* is exactly of the same sort as the land on 
 which the neighbouring oil-works are built. It is waste 
 and idle, but I have reason to believe that oil of quite 
 as good a quality as that produced in its vicinity 
 could be found underneath it. I wanted to purchase 
 this land, but it is impossible. The land belongs to 
 the Admiralty, and they will not part with it." 
 
 This astonished me considerably, for in its present 
 condition the land could not possibly be of any benefit 
 to the Admiralty ; it was at a considerable distance 
 from the sea, unsuitable for stores or barracks, and 
 close to inflammable oil-works ! 
 
 My friend declined to explain the mystery. It was 
 not until I returned to London and met a Russian 
 gentleman who had had considerable experience with 
 Russian officials that the mystery was cleared up. In 
 conversation over the commercial possibilities of the 
 Caucasus I mentioned this incident. He laughed and 
 said : 
 
 " D(jn't you know why that was ? " 
 
 " No," I replied. " I cannot understand the motives 
 of the Government." 
 
 " The Government had no'diin": to do with the
 
 BAKU. i6i 
 
 matter ; I had a similar experience, and know exactly 
 how these things are managed. A friend of mine 
 wanted to purchase some land in the same way, which 
 belonged to the Government. What happened .'' The 
 clerk through whom the petition had to pass was 
 appointed by his chief to report upon the land. He 
 requested permission to call at his chief's private 
 residence, and came the same evening. ' Well, what 
 is it .'' ' his chief enquired. ' That land, sir, is very 
 good. It is a pity to sell it now. Let us wait, sir, 
 until you are the head of the office and I am your 
 assistant, and then we can sell the land and make 
 something out of the transaction. For the present, I 
 should think it would be more advisable to say that 
 the department sees no advantage in selling the land ! ' 
 This, I am quite sure, is what occurred at Baku also. 
 But I will give you another instance of the public 
 spirit of our officials. In a part of Siberia, the 
 province of Yennisseisk, a Russian merchant, Buikoff 
 by name, discovered a spring of pure naphtha which 
 was running to waste into the Yennissei. He applied 
 for permission to acquire this land, foolishly giving 
 his reason. The petition was put before the Governor 
 of the province. That important functionary flew into 
 a violent passion, abused his underlings roundly, and 
 told them there was no petroleum in his province. 
 ' But, your Excellency, there can be no doubt that 
 Mr. Buikoff is quite right,' his Secretary replied ; ' we 
 have had the plans inspected and find that there are, 
 
 M
 
 1 63 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 indeed, petroleum springs there.' ' You arc all of you 
 a parcel of fools,' the Governor-General cried, beside 
 himself with rage. * We are all living here very 
 comfortably, are we not ? We are all making money 
 in a modest way, are we not ? We may get promoted 
 in time, and get sent to St. Petersburg, and live in 
 luxury. And here you come with your foolish 
 petroleum. If petroleum wells are opened up we 
 shall have engineers and lawyers and all sorts of 
 clever people here, and we shall no longer be able to 
 live. Tear up all those reports and do not let me 
 hear another word about it.' That is how we are 
 governed, my dear sir." 
 
 This gentleman was not a Nihilist or a refugee, but 
 a prosperous merchant. 
 
 One of the features of Baku is its celebrated towen 
 Keez-Kala, erected by a Khan to humour a whim of 
 his daughter's, who subsequently threw herself into 
 the sea from the top. This tower has recently been 
 painted a gloomy black, and I was told the reason 
 was that an official wanted to make some money out 
 of the paint. 
 
 Baku is divided into two towns, the white and the 
 black. In the black town are the oil refineries ; it is 
 separated by an enormous sandy waste about five 
 miles in extent from Baku proper, the white town, 
 and is built entirely of wood, so that if it should burn, 
 as it often does, no valuable materials would be 
 wasted. Shortly before I arrived at Baku a very
 
 BAKU. 163 
 
 handsome arcade in the white town had been com- 
 pletely gutted. I was edified to learn that the 
 building was not insured, and that the stall-holders 
 had lost enormously. 
 
 The most prolific oil region in the neighbourhood 
 of Baku is the district of Balakhanui. I was con- 
 ducted over this place by M. Despot-Zenovitch, 
 former Mayor of Baku. To his ability and energy 
 Baku owes what measure of prosperity it has achieved, 
 and he is one of the few public-spirited men in this 
 arid region. 
 
 At Balakhanui the visitor will be surprised to find 
 enormous, almost illimitable, lakes, and still more 
 astonished to learn that these lakes are composed of 
 petroleum. All over the district are quaint pyra- 
 midical timber structures, like gigantic windmills 
 without sails. These are fountains. Occasionally a 
 fountain will be too impetuous for such control, and 
 will burst the bands of the timber structure, I have 
 seen such fountains spouting forth dense black 
 naphtha a hundred feet high, and thus forming 
 naphtha lakes around them. Such fountains of course 
 make the fortunes of their lucky owners while they 
 last ; but they are very capricious in their behaviour, 
 and will stop as suddenly as they start. While they 
 are spouting the proprietor is the popular hero of the 
 day. He is photographed, feted, pointed out in the 
 street. He is a celebrity, and all because he has been 
 lucky enough to strike oil. While he is sitting in his 
 
 M 2
 
 164 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 club, drinking champagne and playing cards, his 
 fountain is patiently working for him and vomiting 
 forth from the bowels of the earth a fabulous wealth, 
 which keeps on increasing day by day, without any 
 effort of his, and then unexpectedly fails. 
 
 Sometimes these fountains take fire, and then the 
 conflagration is terrible. 
 
 Not far from Balakhanui is Sourakhani, the Mecca 
 of the fire-worshippers, with its marvellous temple 
 of eternal fire, to which pilgrimages are yet made 
 annually by the disciples of Zoroaster. 
 
 Baku has a population of 110,000, and exports 
 annually about nine thousand million pounds of 
 petroleum. The largest part of this industry is in 
 the hands of Tartars — illiterate millionaires — of whom 
 the Russians are in sufficient terror. There is besides 
 a large floating Persian population, and seven per 
 cent, of the inhabitants of the province of Baku, 
 including the Transcaspian district of Linkoran, are 
 Armenians. The Mahomedans form seventy-six per 
 cent, of the population, and the Russians proper do 
 not constitute more than three or four per cent. 
 
 The life of the merchants and officials is one con- 
 tinued orgy. They begin to get drunk in the morning, 
 and continue in that state until the small hours. Con- 
 sequently people do not live to a great age, but are 
 old and decrepit at fifty. There arc no other amuse- 
 ments. Some interesting data regarding the condition 
 of the drama in Russia will be gathered from a perusal
 
 BAKU. 165 
 
 of the ' Baku Annual,' published by Mishon, an Arme- 
 nian photographer. Thus, in deploring the absence 
 of a permanent theatre, the Annual states that 
 managers are discouraged from visiting Baku by 
 the apathy of the public and the expenses inseparable 
 from all theatrical enterprises. " Every one knows," 
 says the Annual, " that the remuneration of dramatic 
 artists, and of all theatrical employees, which managers 
 have to give is much higher than in any other pro- 
 fession. It is not unusual for the monthly salaries of 
 the interpreters of leading parts to vary from 250 to 
 400 roubles (;^ 2 5-40), while actors of a secondary 
 category receive as much as from 60 to 1 50 roubles 
 (^^6-15) a month." The Annual thereupon makes 
 an estimate of the expenses of management and 
 arrives at the conclusion that a season costs a 
 manager as much as four hundred pounds a month. 
 
 This shows how very moderate salaries are, and 
 how very little enterprise there must be at Baku. 
 
 A perusal of the various accessible documents from 
 which it is possible to obtain anything approaching to 
 a trustworthy statement of the resources and pros- 
 perity of Baku is melancholy. Education is in a bad 
 state, trade is languishing, the petroleum is kept down 
 by American competition and other causes. The 
 recreations of the people may be summarised in the 
 three words drunkenness, debauchery, and murder. 
 Such is the unflattering picture of the social and 
 economic condition of Baku.
 
 i66 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Needless to say that here there has been very little 
 display of that national Armenian spirit which is so 
 strongly developed in Tiflis under the very eyes of 
 the authorities. For all that there has been a won- 
 derful amount of money bestowed to the Armenian 
 cause by the wealthy Armenian merchants of this 
 city, who, by the way, are among the least debauched 
 of its inhabitants. 
 
 But much of this money has found its way into the 
 pockets of dishonest persons, and so there is some 
 hesitation to contribute more. Nevertheless, public 
 subscriptions arc still kept up ; charity balls and con- 
 certs are given. On the whole, however, the spirit of 
 Baku is commercial and oleaginous ; there is little 
 room for altruistic emotion.
 
 ( it7 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. 
 
 At last, after three weeks of unprofitable trifling at 
 Baku, I got on board the Grand-Diike Constantine, 
 and started for my trip across the Caspian. The 
 steamers run once a fortnight. They are owned by a 
 company, but are officered and manned by naval 
 reserve men, and form virtually part of the Russian 
 transport service. There are about six of them, and 
 they average 600 tons, if as much. They might be 
 turned into very comfortable yachts if they were 
 properly fitted, and had new engines put into them ; 
 but in their present state they are indescribably dirty, 
 alive with every possible kind of vermin, and have 
 miserable engines, which shake them nearly to pieces 
 at every revolution, although their average speed does 
 not exceed six knots an hour. The Admiralty House 
 and naval barracks at Baku are very extensive ; there 
 must be at least three thousand men quartered in 
 those commodious buildings, which are larger than 
 any ordinary German military barracks, and constitute 
 a little separate town on the Bailoff promontory. But
 
 i68 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 there are no ships ! Of course there are one or two 
 gun-boats ; but how, in the event of a descent on 
 India or Persia, Russia is to pour her troops over the 
 miserable Caucasian tramway, in rickety Httle 
 steamers across the Caspian, and then over another 
 single line of tramway through Central Asia, is a 
 puzzle. Nobody in his senses, who has studied the 
 question, can believe that Russia would ev^er become 
 a serious menace to England, provided England does 
 not allow herself to be bullied and bluffed into a 
 position which would put her at a great disadvantage. 
 
 Anybody who has the vaguest general acquaintance 
 with military matters, knows that a modern army of 
 100,000 or so takes something to move and transport. 
 But if wc cast a glance over the melancholy spectacle 
 of the Trans-Caucasian Railway, with its innumerable 
 truck-waggons standing on sidings all along the road, 
 waiting to be transported to Batoum, where their 
 advent is being greedily awaited by the tank-steamers 
 which will take the oil to the markets of the world, we 
 shall understand that, if commerce cannot stimulate 
 this railway into activity, it is hopeless to expect it 
 to render any effective service in the hour of national 
 emergency or danger. 
 
 Russia has about 100,000 regular troops on the 
 Caucasus, the Volga is practically denuded of soldiers, 
 and she can ill spare many men from the Black 
 Sea ports. All her strength is concentrated on the 
 German and Austrian frontiers ; such troops as she
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. 1C9 
 
 can spare from Poland she has massed in St. Peters- 
 burg, Moscow, and Kieff. 
 
 But supposing her to be engaged in a war with 
 Persia or in Central Asia, she would have to send 
 her supplies from her nearest centre, and that is the 
 Black Sea. 
 
 From Odessa, Nikolaieff, and Sevastopol she might 
 be able to fit out an expeditionary army. This army 
 would have to be transported across the Caucasus, over 
 the Caspian, and be compelled to travel very slowly. 
 
 The Russians are thoroughly alive to the weakness 
 of their Caucasian link. It is their most vulnerable 
 point. 
 
 My wretched little steamer, with its horrible smell 
 of naphtha, its filthy cabins, the berths in which were 
 even unprovided with sheets, took about three days to 
 get to Enzeli, the Persian port. 
 
 She rolled and vibrated horribly, and stopped at 
 innumerable little stations, all of which received con- 
 tributions from amongst our passengers, who turned 
 out to be chiefly officials of the Government. There 
 was a small sprinkling of Armenian commercial 
 travellers, fierce, hardy-looking men, the pioneers 
 of Russian trade, who spoke, besides their native 
 language, Russian, Turkish, Persian, and often Tartar 
 and Greek. There was also a Belgian merchant, an 
 extraordinarily enterprising man, who had established 
 a depot at Enzeli, and traded in everything. He had 
 some excellent Caucasian brandy, of which I bought
 
 170 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 a dozen bottles, and very glad I was of it afterwards, 
 and he also made me buy a Belgian fowling-piece 
 with cartridges, for which I was very grateful, and 
 which I subsequently sold on my return journey. 
 Two other individuals aroused my suspicions, they 
 were Greeks ; one, a Greek merchant who had a large 
 store at Rcsht, and was going to develop the silk 
 industry in Persia. Another, also a Greek, but from 
 Constantinople, who pretended that he, likewise, was 
 bent on cocoons, but who let out to me in confidence, 
 that he was on the staff of the JUonitair Oriental, the 
 agent of the Turkish Foreign Office, and who sub- 
 sequently disappeared most mysteriously. His very 
 strange conduct during his stay at Resht led me to 
 believe that he was really a Turkish spy. 
 
 At length we reached Enzeli ; but there is a bar at 
 Enzeli, and the Russian steamers are unable to cross 
 it. Consequently it is usual to fetch the passengers 
 in a small steam tender, which is kept at Enzeli for 
 the purpose. Occasionally, however, the breakers 
 passing over the bar are so dangerous that the tender 
 refuses to come out. Then enterprising boatmen in 
 quaint barges, like viking ships, and entirely flat- 
 bottomed, sally forth. There are times, however, 
 when even these deem the sea too dangerous. Then 
 the steamer waits for the sea to go down. If it does 
 not go down in forty-eight hours, the steamer returns 
 to Baku without delivering its cargo, and one has to 
 wait another fortnight for a fresh steamer, when it is
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. 171 
 
 quite possible that a similar fate will be in store for 
 one. On this occasion a fierce storm was raging, 
 the rain was descending, the wind was blowing its 
 hardest, and the dirty little Constantine was riding at 
 anchor, rolling and tossing about in the most absurd 
 manner. The passengers all looked pitiable objects. 
 For myself, I was in despair, for the captain told me 
 cheerfully that he expected the storm would last, and 
 that we should be unable to land. 
 
 Presently the rain stopped, and we were able to see 
 the palace of the Shah in the distance and the little 
 steam-launch, which ought to have come out to fetch 
 us, but would not, lying snug and comfortable in the 
 harbour or bay. 
 
 The palace of the Shah was a strange-looking struc- 
 ture in the shape of a tower, white, picked out with 
 blue, and looking like some gigantic piece of crockery- 
 ware. The Shah has no authority in the Caspian, 
 where he may not even fly his flag. I was told later 
 by our Consul at Resht, Mr. Churchill, that when the 
 late Shah paid his last visit to Europe and crossed the 
 Caspian to Baku in his yacht, a Russian gunboat 
 threatened to open fire on him if he did not hoist 
 down his standard. He was reluctantly compelled 
 to obey ; but the Russian flag may be seen flying 
 insolently at Enzeli. 
 
 We remained at anchor for twenty-four mortal 
 hours, tossed about by the surging waves. On the 
 following morning we found ourselves surrounded by
 
 172 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 small craft ; and a Russian courier, an officer of 
 Cossacks, came on board. He looked pale and 
 emaciated and in a terrible state of fear when he 
 staggered into our saloon cabin. He had come direct 
 from Teheran and reported the roads to be in a 
 fearful condition. His orderly, a fine, tall young 
 fellow, had sunk exhausted on his master's saddle- 
 bags and fallen incontinently to sleep. This was a 
 pleasant foretaste of what was in store for me ! 
 
 The Greek merchant, who had a store at Resht 
 and spoke very good French, offered me a seat in his 
 boat on my proposing to share expenses with him, 
 and my luggage was thrown in. By a sheer miracle 
 I succeeded in getting into his boat, and we were 
 soon rowing off to shore, pulled by the most villainous- 
 looking crew I ever set eyes on. They were half 
 naked, and looked starved and wretched, but ex- 
 tremely ferocious. I learned that these unfortunate 
 men were engaged by a contractor, who was himself 
 employed by another contractor, and that they got a 
 very small share of the profits. So that even in 
 Persia sweating exists. Some of them had the most 
 repulsive sores on their bare arm.-: and legs, and the}' 
 were certainly not a decent spectacle for a lady to 
 look at. Fortunately there were no ladies with us, 
 and, indeed, European ladies are rarely met with 
 travelling in Persia. 
 
 Instead of taking the breakers nose on, as I 
 expected we should, we took the bar broadside on,
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. 173 
 
 and were gently washed over, though how we managed 
 to escape being upset is beyond my comprehension. 
 After long and toilsome pulling we at last made the 
 bay of Enzeli, and a beautiful spectacle unfolded itself 
 before us. In front of us lay the expansive waters of 
 the Murghab, a large freshwater lake opening on to 
 the sea. In the background were beautiful forests, 
 snow-capped mountains, and the water was fringed 
 with that rich vegetation which is characteristic of 
 marshy land. On our right was the inconceivably 
 quaint palace of the Shah, with the bazaars and 
 picturesque wooden buildings of Enzeli farther on. 
 On our left was the Persian custom-house, with the 
 hotel, kept by an Armenian of course, and the 
 store-houses of the steamboat company. Farther 
 on were the fishermen's huts of another Armenian 
 merchant, who had the fishing of the Murghab. 
 
 The sky had cleared up, and was of an intense blue, 
 and the air was alive with birds and water-fowl of 
 every description. I quite fell in love with Persia 
 on this my first introduction to it. 
 
 The custom-house authorities had not yet arrived, 
 and so we had once more to row across the Murghab 
 to fetch them out of the town of Enzeli and bring 
 them back. The noise and shouting that went on 
 were perfectly demoniacal. Fortunately I had little 
 trouble with the officials, my papers were in order ; 
 but I had to pay an extortionate fee for the dirty 
 Persian stamp and its curious hieroglyphics which
 
 174 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 were affixed. My Greek friend had a different for- 
 tune, and spent about an hour in a terrific swearing 
 match, in which he was pitted apparently against 
 the entire population of Enzeli, but seemed to come 
 off with flying colours. I did not understand a word 
 of what he said, but was immensely impressed by 
 his language, and feel confident that it would have 
 completely collapsed any able-bodied English bargee 
 had it been literally translated. 
 
 This part of the business done, we got into our 
 boat again and rowed peacefully up the Murghab 
 towards Pir Bazaar, the port of the Murghab and 
 the commercial outpost of Resht. The journey in 
 the boat was delightful. We refreshed the inner 
 man with Muscovite beer, a kind of sour cream 
 cheese, and flaps of thin, flabby bread, which looked 
 like flannel doilies. 
 
 But on our arrival at Pir Bazaar my martyrdom 
 commenced. The bazaar was in charge of an 
 Armenian clerk, who was reading a revolutionary 
 Armenian paper published at Marseilles, and was 
 deep in " atrocities." The building was an island in 
 a sea of mud, knee deep. Everything was covered 
 with mud, our luggage, our clothes, horses and carts, 
 and everything seemed to be alive with vermin, 
 
 I have never anywhere seen such mud as I saw at 
 Pir Bazaar ; it was wonderful, thick, succulent, black, 
 boggy. One sank into it at every step, and there 
 seemed no refuge from it — it was all pervasive.
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. i7S 
 
 On the journey by boat I noticed numerous 
 flamingoes, herons, storks, and similar birds, and as 
 we got more inland, and left the magnificent lake 
 behind us with its glorious mountain scenery, we 
 approached a country which strongly reminded me 
 of the smiling green fields and underwood which 
 skirt our own Thames. On the banks I saw grazing 
 the quaint little Persian bulls with humps on their 
 backs. These humps, by the way, are very good 
 eating, and when salted resemble tongue. Here, 
 also, are the tobacco-fields for which Enzeli is famous. 
 The fishing of the Murghab is farmed by the 
 ubiquitous Armenians of the Caucasus. 
 
 I performed the journey from Fir Bazaar to Resht 
 in a conveyance resembling a victoria, and not unlike 
 the hooded droshkis familiar to the traveller who has 
 been to Moscow. The horse was harnessed in the 
 Russian fashion, with a bow, or " douga," over its neck. 
 I was surprised to see that all the cart-horses which I 
 met on the road were harnessed in a similar manner. 
 Trifling details often produce general impressions, 
 and, what with the Russian Armenian clerks at Pir 
 Bazaar, the Russian droshka, the Russian flag waving 
 on the Murghab, I felt that, although I had left Russia 
 behind me, I was still within the sphere of Russian 
 influence, and that here at least Russia was synony- 
 mous with civilisation. At Pir Bazaar the Armenian 
 clerk in charge had a Russian samovar ! 
 
 My Greek friend, with whom I parted company at
 
 176 HOUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Pir Bazaar, recommended me the only hotel Resht 
 could boast of, kept by a Greek also, and told me that 
 the road from Pir Bazaar to Resht had been recently 
 mended for the passage of General Kurapatkin, the 
 Russian special envoy to Teheran. 
 
 It is a fine road about four miles long, straight and 
 broad, but paved with cobbles. These cobbles had 
 sunk into the soil in parts, and here and there 
 enormous ditches had been formed. Over these 
 cobbles had been strewn in a loose, careless way, 
 and this was what was called repairing the road, I 
 fervently wished it had been left in its original state. 
 Never shall I forget the horrors of that drive to Resht. 
 The sea voyage was nothing to it. It was drizzling 
 most depressingly, and we bumped about in a terrific 
 manner, while I held on to my baggage with the 
 tenacity of despair, feeling that if one of my packages 
 were to tumble into the slough of despond beneath 
 me, I should never be able to fish it out again. Nearly 
 every bone in my body was bruised by the time I got 
 to Resht. It was heart-rending to see the carts and 
 pack-horses laden with goods which we met on the 
 way. Bales of cotton, pieces of machinery, all 
 manner of merchandise lay scattered about on the 
 road, firmly embedded in the mud, and covered with 
 slimy filth. 
 
 Enzeli is the only port of Persia in the Caspian, and 
 Resht the first town of importance on the way to 
 Teheran. Yet, notwithstanding the undoubted
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. 177 
 
 influence of Russia, the port is in a pitiable condition. 
 We have seen how difficult of access it is by sea. The 
 arm of the Murghab, which runs to Pir Bazaar, is so 
 shallow that steamers cannot navigate it. A small 
 steam launch does run to the mouth of this narrow 
 inlet, but here its cargo has to be transhipped and put 
 into primitive boats, which are rowed and towed to 
 Pir Bazaar. Why a tramway has not been laid from 
 Pir Bazaar to Resht is beyond my comprehension ; 
 but if the Russians are supine, the Persians are 
 apathetic. The population do not seem to live, they 
 appear to be in a state of suspended animation. 
 
 Much has been said about the picturesqueness of 
 Persian costume. Of this I am compelled to say I 
 saw no traces among the peasantry. They were 
 clothed in rags, which might have belonged originally 
 to Italian lazzaroni, Irish beggars, or anybody. What- 
 ever their colour might once have been, they were of 
 a uniform neutral tint, and could only be described as 
 filthily dirty. The people who wore them looked like 
 scarecrows with horribly emaciated faces, all skin and 
 bones. Nowhere have I ever seen more pitiable 
 objects. I had been told that the Persians were 
 very fanatical, but I thought they looked more like 
 famished wild beasts than dangerous fanatics, and 
 seemed to regard me more with fear than hatred. 
 As I got to know more of the country, I came to 
 the conclusion that the Persians were much more 
 intelligent and cultiired than the Turks, though they 
 
 N
 
 I7S ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 had, of course, fewer opportunities of rubbing 
 shoulders with Europeans. By culture I must not 
 be understood to mean familiarity with Western 
 civilisation, but native culture, the indigenous culture 
 of their own peculiar institutions, and I found them 
 brighter, more intelligent, more sympathetic and 
 imaginative than the moribund Turks. 
 
 If a country is to be judged by its form of govern- 
 ment, then Persia is indeed hopelessly backward. In 
 my journey through Turkey, Russia, and Persia, I 
 came upon three degrees of despotism. The civilised 
 European despotism of Russia, presenting a social 
 organism still very rudimentary in form, but more 
 highly developed than the semi-barbarous Turkey, 
 where despotism is hideous, but where the government 
 is nevertheless vertebrate. In Persia, however, we 
 have an entirely rudimentary and invertebrate form 
 of government, the lowest type of an Oriental despot- 
 ism. The government is divided up among local 
 satraps, who again have satraps under them ; the taxes 
 are farmed, and the people are afraid of showing any 
 outward signs of prosperity lest they should lose what 
 little property they have. They bury their treasure, 
 and even their corn and flour, and go about half-naked. 
 The bastinado is the common form of punishment, and 
 nobody is exempt — not even members of the Imperial 
 family. Mutilations are common. Thieves are 
 punished by having their right hands cut off. I'eet 
 are cut off ; the tongue is pulled out. But for all tl^at
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. 179 
 
 the bastinado is the usual form of punishment, and is 
 less barbarous than one is inclined to believe. Of course, 
 to be beaten on the naked soles of the feet is very pain- 
 ful, and sometimes as many as five hundred blows are 
 administered, the recipient being crippled for life. It 
 is not at all uncommon for the toes to fall off after 
 excessive punishment, and the pain is always so acute 
 that the nervous system receives a severe shock from 
 which, in the case of sensitive subjects, it never re- 
 covers. But these are extreme cases, and on the 
 whole the bastinado, though a very painful, is not a 
 very inhuman form of punishment. For instance, 
 under its infliction people do not bleed to death. 
 Though toes may drop off, the entire body is not 
 ruined. Take, on the other hand, the results of 
 punishment with a cat-o'-nine tails. It is not so many 
 years ago that soldiers in this country received as many 
 as five hundred lashes with this fiendish instrument of 
 torture. It was generally considered that a soldier 
 who had been flogged was unfitted for active service, 
 and he was generally discharged a broken-down, ruined 
 man. Many men have died under the lash, or in 
 consequence of a flogging. In the navy, punishment 
 was, if possible, more brutal still, and the custom of 
 flogging a man through the fleet was simply barbarous. 
 In Russia, the pleyt is a terrible form of punishment, 
 which is still, I believe, administered in rare instances 
 in Siberia. It is not ten years ago that a woman was 
 flogged to death in Siberia. 
 
 N 2
 
 1 8o RO UND ABOUT A RMENIA . 
 
 Running the gauntlet in the Prussian army was 
 not a mild form of punishment either. I made 
 numerous inquiries while I was in Persia, and could 
 not hear of a single case of a man having been 
 bastinadoed to death ; and when once the soles are 
 healed the person who has suffered punishment is as 
 well as he was before. Of course in administering 
 the bastinado, as in every other form of corporal 
 punishment, everything depends upon the executioner. 
 He is frequently bribed to spare the culprit, and lay 
 on his blows gently. And here I may say by way of 
 parenthesis that bribery is as rampant in Persia as in 
 Turkey. 
 
 But to continue my journey. More dead than alive 
 I arrived at Resht, and was driven to the hostelry of 
 the Greek, which looked into a very pretty garden 
 with a fountain in the middle, and was exactly like 
 a house taken bodily out of the Arabian Nights. I 
 was led up some curious stairs, which were really 
 outside the house, and made of large stones ; so 
 high were the steps that it was an effort to ascend 
 them. I was then shown into a spacious room, with 
 Oriental ornaments in stucco, an elaborate system of 
 curtains, and no furniture beyond an iron bedstead, 
 a rickety table, and a couple of chairs. In this room 
 I spent three weeks of my life. The walls were white- 
 washed, and the whitewash came off on one's clothes 
 on going incautiously near them. 
 
 I was very hungiy, and so dinner was served in thq
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. i8i 
 
 common dining-room, an equally gorgeous apartment 
 with very little furniture. The food was coarse but 
 not bad ; but the famous Persian wine was dis- 
 gusting. 
 
 I spent my evening taking my ease at mine inn, 
 and chatting with the Greek commercial travellers 
 who were staying there, among them being the 
 venerable gentleman who was pretending to be 
 interested in cocoons, but had confided to me that 
 he was the correspondent of the Moniieur Oriental of 
 Constantinople, usually called the Menteur Oriental, 
 or Oriental Liar. 
 
 The next day I proceeded, escorted by a guide, to 
 the house of the English Consul, Mr. Churchill. The 
 road lay through the best part of the town, which 
 seemed to consist entirely of bazaars, and reminded 
 me of nothing so much as of an enormous country 
 fair. The road was muddy, irregular, and narrow ; 
 but the people were a great sight. The distinctive 
 note of the people of Resht is their extreme emacia- 
 tion, pallor, and suppleness of figure. Their faces are 
 intensely intelligent, though long and narrow ; but 
 there is a fire in their eyes which the Turk lacks 
 altogether. The Turks always seemed to me to be 
 only partially re-animated corpses; the Persians 
 looked like evil genii. Of course, everybody knows 
 the usual costume of the Persian, his long peaked 
 cap, and his long cloak or caftan, as well as the green 
 turban and coat of the Sayed, or son of the Prophet, of
 
 182 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 whom there arc, it is needless to say, great quantities. 
 But what struck me about the costumes of these 
 Frenchmen of the East, as they are called most 
 appropriately, for they are certainly most courteous 
 and polished, was the wonderful way in which they 
 harmonised their colours. Blues, greens, yellows, 
 browns, and drabs prevailed ; but there were no dis- 
 cordant colours, and bright reds seemed to be 
 eschewed. Quietness was the prevailing tone, though 
 of course this quietness invariably vanished whenever 
 Persian met Persian over a bargain. Then the yells 
 and shrieks were something blood-curdling, one would 
 have thought that the people were murdering each 
 other, to hear them. 
 
 The emaciated appearance of the people was due 
 to the fact that the great Mahomedan fast of the 
 Rhamazan was being solemnised, and the faithful 
 followers of the Prophet during this period are not 
 allowed to touch food from sunset to sunrise. In 
 revenge they turn night into a veritable saturnalia. 
 The women of Persia dress much more gracefully 
 than those of Turkey. They generally wear a kind of 
 loose black bournous of alpaca, with dainty bloomers, 
 terminating in exquisitely pretty little shoes. Over 
 their heads they wear a kind of hood, from which is 
 suspended a white veil which hangs down, and is pro- 
 vided with a couple of eyelets, from which they can 
 peep at the stranger. Their general appearance is that 
 of the members of some Roman Catholic Sisterhood.
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO kESMT. 183 
 
 When we had at last got out of the bazaar and 
 proceeded through what I suppose was the town 
 proper, I was surprised to see with what regardlessness 
 to plan the houses had been grouped. Indeed, the 
 fashionable part of Resht, which is a town with a 
 population of 100,000, although the gazetteers do not 
 accord it more than 35,000, can only be described 
 as a colony of houses, fortuitously grouped together, 
 not a city. There is a Governor, and there are officials ; 
 but the place looks like a huge village with a fair in 
 the centre. Trees and plots of green grass abound, 
 for vegetation is abundant, and the general aspect of 
 the country reminds one of a sort of wild England. 
 Private houses stand in their own grounds and are 
 surrounded by gardens and courtyards, which are 
 enclosed in stern, forbidding walls, as is indeed the 
 custom in most Oriental countries. 
 
 Mr. Churchill, who has spent the best part of his 
 life in Persia, speaks and writes Persian like a native, 
 and has married the daughter of Dr. Tolozon, the 
 Body-Physician of the late Shah, received me with the 
 greatest hospitality. He apologised for not being 
 able to put me up, but explained that in his little 
 cottage — it is indeed little more — there was no room 
 or the reception of visitors. He nevertheless insisted 
 upon my spending my days and taking my meals 
 with him, and used regularly to have me escorted 
 home, mounted on one of his horses, by his chief 
 cavassc, a colonel of artillery, or '' topchce," as he was
 
 1 84 JiO VND ABOUT A KM EN I A . 
 
 called. He also introduced me to his Russian 
 colleague, who was lodged in a veritable palace, had 
 a guard of honour of — I think it was twelve — mounted 
 Cossacks, a vice-consul, a clerk, and a regular con- 
 sular staff, so that his household represented a small 
 Russia in Persia, He was a most amiable and 
 charming man, and gave a dinner in my honour, to 
 which he invited the entire European colony of 
 Resht, the Governor, several local dignitaries, the 
 Ahmid es Sultaneh, Governor of Talish, and several 
 Armenians, who were the only Russian subjects under 
 his care. 
 
 It was at Resht that I heard of General Koura- 
 patkin's report. Of his mission the whole of the 
 Caucasus was full ; but his secret report to the 
 Emperor, on his return to St. Petersburg from 
 Teheran, was new to me. In this document I learned 
 that he recommended the construction of a harbour 
 at Enzeli, the laying down a railway from Pir Bazaar 
 to Resht, and continuing it from Resht to Teheran ; 
 but this was only one part of his scheme. While 
 the line Enzeli-Resht-Teheran was in progress, 
 another line was to be constructed, from Kars to 
 Erivan, Julfa, Tabreez, and Teheran, this line to be 
 ultimately continued to Bushire. Meshed was also to 
 be connected with the Transcaspian line. These 
 schemes are not new. Some five years ago or more 
 the Russian Consul-Gcneral of Tabreez wrote a secret 
 report to his Government on the conquest of Persia, in
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. 185 
 
 which he recommended a very similar programme, 
 and is stated to have expressed the opinion that one 
 regiment of Cossacks would suffice to conquer the 
 whole of Persia ; and, indeed, the Persians I saw did 
 not strike me as very warlike. 
 
 In Mr. Churchill's house I saw and read Mr 
 Curzon's remarkably compendious book on Persia, 
 and was grieved to find that that statesman had been 
 so impressed by the growth of the influence of Russia 
 in Northern Persia that he considered it hopeless for 
 England and English trade to attempt to recover lost 
 ground. Mr. Curzon seems to think that the inevit- 
 able must be faced, and that in the not distant future 
 England will have to limit her sphere of influence to 
 Southern Persia, while resigning the north to Russia. 
 How little this is likely to content that country 
 General Kourapatkin's report shows. Russia longs 
 to get to the Persian Gulf, and there are not want- 
 ing English politicians who would be inclined to 
 humour her. 
 
 During my stay at Resht, and during my journey 
 through Persia, I was impressed at least with one 
 fact, and that was the remarkable hold which Russia 
 seems to have got on the trade of the country. The 
 Russian samovar, or hot-water urn, is in use in every 
 Persian family. Everybody drinks tea, and the tea is 
 imported from Russia. All imports of value come 
 across the Caucasus : Russian furniture, Russian 
 cotton manufactures, Russian boots, Russian harnesses
 
 i86 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 — in short, quantities of Russian manufactures for 
 daily use abound. The fishing trade is practically a 
 Russian monopoly. Against this invasion of Russian 
 commerce the Imperial Bank of Persia is the only 
 counterbalancing factor on the side of Great Britain. 
 It has a hard battle to fight against Russian influence, 
 but it is doing so bravely and with a certain measure 
 ot success. Still Russia looks with disfavour on all 
 enterprise that is not of a Russian source, and I was 
 told that it was for this reason that the port of 
 Enzeli was in such a disgraceful state, and that Pir 
 Bazaar was still unconnected by railway with Resht. 
 On several occasions Belgian and other capitalists 
 had obtained concessions for these and other public 
 works, but their concessions had always lapsed, and 
 nothing had come of the undertakings, thanks to the 
 active hostility of Russia. 
 
 To all practical intents and purposes Persia is 
 already a Russian Protectorate, and English influence 
 is a mere cipher in that country. 
 
 With the object of facilitating my journey to 
 Tabreez, where my Armenian friends in Tiflis had 
 told me I should find bold and determined people who 
 would convey me across the frontier to Van, from 
 whence it would be easy to get to Bitlis and Moosh, 
 Mr. Churchill introduced me to the Ahmid es 
 Sultaneh, a powerful nobleman, the Governor of 
 Talish, and the feudal lord of a fine body of cavalry 
 recruited from the hills. In any case, I should have
 
 ACROSS THE CASPIAN TO RESHT. 187 
 
 to ride through his territory, and so Mr. Churchill 
 thought I had better do so as his guest. 
 
 This great noble, a wiry mountaineer, as hard as 
 nails, received me with true Oriental politeness, and 
 in the course of conversation I hinted that Russia was 
 waiting for Persia to fall into her lap like a ripe 
 apple. 
 
 The wily Oriental smiled , nodded and agreed with 
 this opinion. I thereupon hinted that I thought 
 Persia should lose no time in making herself strong, 
 and in preparing to resist invasion. He shook his 
 head, and told me there was no occasion for that ; 
 Persia need not trouble about Russia, because 
 England would never forsake her, and would never 
 allow her to fall a prey to Russia. " And Russia," he 
 added significantly, "is afraid of your big guns." 
 
 This is in a nutshell the political philosophy ot 
 Persia. It is no use bothering about resisting Russia 
 because England will not allow her to go too far ; 
 but in the meantime Russia is slowly and firmly 
 encircling Persia in her aff*ectionate embrace. 
 
 The Ahmid es Sultaneh readily promised to receive 
 me as his guest, offered to make me a present of a 
 horse, and promised me an escort. All along the 
 journey I was to be lodged at his houses and palaces, 
 and in short, I was to have a good time. 
 
 Unfortunately the weather was beginning to break, 
 and the rainy season threatened to set in. The Ahmid 
 es Sultaneh had to issue instructions for my reception.
 
 i88 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 I had to make preparations for my journey, and lay 
 in a stock of provisions, besides purchasing travelling 
 requisites, such as a saddle and bridle, a Persian 
 abbah, a cloak of camel's hair, through which neither 
 rain nor cold can penetrate, saddle-bags, and numerous 
 other articles. All these I got with the aid of Mr. 
 Churchill's youngest brother, a youngster of eighteen, 
 boiling over with life and energy, whom his brother 
 lent me to act as my interpreter during the journey. 
 
 We made several false starts, and were driven back 
 by the unpreparedness of the Ahmid es Sultaneh's 
 men ; but at last, after waiting three weeks in Resht, 
 I finally started, having previously entertained, by way 
 of a joke, Mr. Churchill and his family at dinner at my 
 little inn, for mine host had discovered a couple of 
 bottles of champagne, and I wanted to surprise the 
 Enelish Consul.
 
 ( iSg ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TABREEZ. 
 
 In a deluge of rain, and escorted by Mr. and Mrs, 
 Churchill, young Churchill, a scamp of a servant, also 
 lent me by Mr. Churchill, a Greek merchant, and a 
 pack horse, we started for Pir Bazaar. There we 
 ound our old friend the Armenian clerk still reading 
 his Armenian paper, published at Marseilles, a new 
 number, let us hope, for I had spent three weeks at 
 Resht ; and I took leave of our hospitable Consul and 
 jumped into the primitive flat-bottomed tub provided 
 for me, and, accompanied by young Churchill and our 
 servant, was rowed off to Enzeli. 
 
 It had been decided that, as the rivers were much 
 swollen by the rains, I should ride along the shores of 
 the Caspian, stopping in the houses of the Ahmid es 
 Sultaneh on the way, to Astara, where I should be 
 passed on to the Governor of that place, who in turn 
 would pass me on to the Governor of Ardabil, from 
 whence I was to proceed to Tabreez. 
 
 I should not forget to mention that the Greek 
 gentleman, who had told me that he was the co re-
 
 193 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 spondent of the Moniteur Oriental, had left Resht, 
 and had returned to Enzeli, ostensibly to look after 
 some merchandise which he was expecting. At 
 Enzeli I discovered that no merchandise had arrived 
 for him, but that he had returned by steamer to Baku. 
 I also learned from the English Consul that this honest 
 Greek merchant had called on the Governor of Resht, 
 and had reported to him that I was a suspicious 
 character and ought to be sent back to Baku. The 
 Governor made inquiries of Mr. Churchill, and having 
 ascertained that I was going to visit the English 
 Consul at Tabreez, and was meanwhile to be the 
 guest of the Ahmid es Sultaneh, felt that he could not 
 take any notice of the officious action of the corre- 
 spondent of the Moniteur Oriental, who returned to 
 his native country probably with his mission unfulfilled. 
 But that the Turkish Government was carefully 
 shadowing me I had reason to know at Tabreez. 
 That, however, is advancing matters. 
 
 When we arrived at Enzeli, dined on the 
 veranda of the Armenian hotel, and lighted our pipes 
 with some excellent English contraband tobacco, 
 which I had taken the precaution of buying in 
 Constantinople, both young Churchill and myself felt 
 that we were something like sucking Stanleys, and had 
 an adventurous journey to look forward to. It was a 
 beautiful evening ; before us under the veranda lay 
 the wide expanse of the Murghab, opposite the town 
 of Enzeli proper, with the remarkable palace of the
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TABREEZ. 191 
 
 Shah, where, by the bye, Mr. Churchill was born, 
 and here and there a light reflected on the water. 
 
 Presently we were approached by an emissary of 
 Ahmid es Sultaneh, who came to receive our orders as 
 to when and where we should like to have our horses, 
 so at least he said. As a matter of fact he came 
 to tell us what the programme was that had been 
 arranged for us, and we very soon discovered that this 
 programme would have to be very strictly adhered 
 to if we did not wish our escort to " eat the stick," as 
 the poetical Persians say. For in Persia the verb to 
 eat is used very loosely and vaguely. Thus, when a 
 man falls he is said to " eat the earth," when he i:; 
 drowned he " eats the water " ; in short, it would seem 
 that there was nothing that an able-bodied Persian 
 could not eat. 
 
 As we sat on our veranda, gazing on the stars and 
 into the darkness, we could hear in the distance, and 
 proceeding from the other side of the Murghab, an 
 uncanny sound of barking. 
 
 " Those are the jackals. If you hear them replying 
 from the other side it means that we shall have a fine 
 day to-morrow," said Churchill. 
 
 But they did not reply. 
 
 The next morning we started in a boat for our point 
 of departure. jWe were told this was distant only 
 about three hours from Enzeli, and we were soon 
 sailing merrily along the Murghab. Presently a 
 pretty fresh breeze sprung up, the breeze stiffened
 
 193 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 into a mild sort of squall, and our boatmen insisted 
 on putting back. Hitherto I had meekly acquiesced 
 in everything ; but I was not going to waste another 
 day at Enzeli, and so I managed to make myself most 
 unmistakeably understood, and we did not put back, 
 but we lost our way ! It was not till midnight that we 
 reached our destination a small village in the territory 
 of the Ahmid es Sultaneh. We went through a good 
 deal of shouting, whistling, and whooping before we 
 found the place, and then we were not sure that it was 
 not a nest of brigands. This was annoying, for I had 
 converted a very large part of my worldly wealth into 
 silver coin of the realm, and this was carried in canvas 
 bags. I also had a few notes of the Bank of Persia, 
 but there is no gold coinage, and the silver is in a 
 debased currency and worth very little. However, all 
 turned out well. We were taken to the house of the 
 village elder, and shown into a beautifully carpeted 
 room, entirely destitute of furniture ; we had to leave 
 our boots outside, and squat on the ground. Our 
 host, a stolid person with grave staring eyes, which he 
 never kept off me, opened the ceremonial of reception 
 by taking about half a dozen puffs at a very handsome 
 silver pipe, which made a fearful row, and then we 
 were fed. .The food was brought in on enormous 
 trays and placed on the floor before us. It consisted 
 of various kinds of ])illaus, curries, stewed chicken, 
 kabob, or little bits of meat stuck on a skewer and 
 roasted, and plenty of water. I drank brandy with
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TA/IREEZ. 193 
 
 my water, and I made Churchill do the same. The 
 food was too rich and greasy to please my palate. 
 Later in the evening mattresses were brought in, and 
 beautiful embroidered coverlets, and I began to realise 
 that I was indeed in the East, and would have to 
 live on the floor and without furniture throughout this 
 expedition. That night we heard the jackals bark to 
 each other and reply, and knew that the next day 
 would be fine. We slept fairly well, and in the morn- 
 ing performed a hurried toilet, of a very perfunctory 
 nature. A large silver basin was brought in, a servant 
 held a silver ewer, and out of this he poured water 
 into our hands and over our faces. That was our 
 toilet, and for nearly a month that was all the washing 
 I had! 
 
 In a bright, clear, bracing morning we sallied forth 
 from the chieftain's hut and inspected the horses 
 provided for us. The scene had a somewhat martial 
 air, for a small party of the horsemen of the Ahmid 
 es Sultaneh was waiting for us. These were active, 
 workman-like looking little men on wiry mountain 
 ponies. They were armed with Martini-Henry carbines, 
 and wore a uniform resembling that of the Russian 
 Cossacks, except that they had the peculiar Tartar 
 fur cap, which looks like a huge mushroom. 
 
 The horse provided for me was a villainous beast 
 with a Roman nose and a sore on it. 
 
 This animal highly resented being mounted, and I 
 was very glad when I got rid of him. For the present 
 
 o
 
 194 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 our road lay by the side of the Caspian, the blue 
 sea to our right, the mountains and the jungle to our 
 left. It was a beautiful and enjoyable ride, the 
 pleasure of which was occasionally interrupted by the 
 rivers which wc had to ford, never an agreeable 
 operation, but particularly unpleasant when one is 
 mounted on an ill-tempered steed. 
 
 While we were thus riding along the shore of the 
 Caspian, in brilliant weather, we espied in the distance 
 a large cavalcade, which as we came nearer turned 
 out to be headed by the brother and the son of the 
 Ahmid es Sultaneh, and was composed of about fifty 
 horsemen. After a due interchange of greetings we 
 were now escorted to the mountain residence of my 
 host at Kerganarud. The weather suddenly changed, 
 and as we galloped through swamp and river the rain 
 descended in torrents. One of the gallant escort lost 
 his carbine in a river ! 
 
 At Kerganarud we were made comfortable in the 
 visitors' wing of the palace, and such a palace ! It 
 looked like a ruined prison, and was gorgeously 
 furnished with tawdry, cheap Russian furniture and 
 splendid Oriental carpets. The mixture of vulgarity 
 and splendour was most incongruous. The brother of 
 the Ahmid es Sultaneh was a jovial person, who bore 
 a very strong personal resemblance to a popular anel 
 promising British naval officer of my acquaintance. I 
 told him this, and he felt very flattered. 
 
 We were forcibly retained for nearly a week as the
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TAB REE Z. 195 
 
 guests of this Persian nobleman, for the rain was so 
 torrential that the country was partially flooded and 
 the rivers too swollen to cross. At length we started, 
 and I found that my Roman-nosed steed, full of beans 
 and vice, had not become more tractable for his rest. 
 We had not been many hours on our journey, during 
 which the troopers of our escort entertained us with 
 feats of horsemanship, when I had an unpleasant 
 adventure. But let me first say a few words about 
 these troopers. They were all short, light, active 
 men, without any fat about them, and apparently 
 made of leather and iron. As light cavalry they were 
 certainly preferable to the overgrown Cossacks of 
 Russia, who generally look too heavy for their little 
 ponies, but who, to my thinking, are better horsemen. 
 The horsemanship of the Persians is not remarkable. 
 Their saddles resemble those of the Cossacks, except 
 that they are larger and more like easy-chairs. They 
 ride with an absurdly short stirrup, and use a most 
 cruel bit, which has a plate of iron in the middle of 
 it. By pulling the bridle, this bit turns in the horse's 
 mouth, and the sharp end of the plate of iron is raised 
 to the palate, causing excruciating pain. The horse 
 prances and froths, and this is considered very pretty. 
 The Persian horseman keeps his horse's head well 
 up, and is continually tugging and worrying it. My 
 horse, probably accustomed to this sort of treatment, 
 and finding himself fitted with a mild European bit, 
 was very unmanageable. 
 
 O 2
 
 196 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 While we were racing each other on the grass, I 
 
 had the greatest difficulty in keeping him from the 
 jungle, from whence he could hear the seductive 
 neighing of the wild mares. Finally he bolted with 
 me and pelted into a bush, a projecting branch of 
 which just missed my eye and sent me head over 
 heels on the grass, greatly to the amusement of the 
 escort. Of course the animal was caught and got a 
 severe punishment, which made him behave himself 
 
 At our next halting-place I was given a splendid 
 mountain pony, as fine an animal as I could wish 
 to ride, and very soriy I was when I had to part 
 company with him later. 
 
 Never shall I forget that glorious ride along the 
 shores of the Caspian. It was arranged in easy 
 stages, never exceeding two menzils, or fifty miles a 
 day, and sometimes not even as much as one menzil, 
 that is about twenty-five miles. Followed by an 
 escort of fifty mounted men, with young Churchill 
 at my side to act as interpreter, and always attended 
 by some local chieftain, or member of the Ahmid es 
 Sultaneh's family, whose guest I cither had been that 
 night or was about to become, it was a most dignified 
 progress, enlivened by pleasant and amusing incidents. 
 Excruciatingly funny was the dear old brother of the 
 Ahmid, who told me tales of his prowess against the 
 Afghans, and how his brother and his men had fought 
 against them and had " brought their fathers out of 
 their graves," a splendid Persian expression which
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TABREEZ. 197 
 
 cannot be equalled even in the figurative American 
 language. 
 
 Here and there on our journey, and dotted along 
 the coast, we chanced upon small colonies of Russian 
 fishermen, who came principally from the banks of 
 the Volga, and were engaged in the caviarre trade. 
 They looked like giants by comparison with the 
 puny little Persians, broad-shouldered, blue-eyed, 
 fair-haired, honest, simple, child-like and courteous, 
 with a courtesy so different from that of the Oriental ; 
 they resembled the stalwart north-countrymen of 
 home. They had brought their little Russia with 
 them too. Their log-huts were Russian, In the 
 corner of each room was the little ikon, which showed 
 that each dwelling had been duly blessed by the 
 priest, and they had their Russian bedding and black 
 bread, everything complete. They were most hos- 
 pitable, and gave us caviarre freshly prepared, and 
 some of their delicious bread and salt to eat with it, 
 and even some vodka ! 
 
 I have travelled much in many parts of Russia, and 
 in a good number of other countries besides, and I do 
 not think that there is in the world a more charming, 
 a more delightful, a more lovable creature than the 
 average Russian peasant. 
 
 These Russians had little respect for the Persians, 
 and we could see that the Persians feared and hated 
 them. They live a hardy life on the desolate banks 
 of the Casoian.
 
 198 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 Here and there, too, we came upon Persian settlers 
 who had returned as Russian subjects in the employ- 
 ment of Russian or Armenian merchants. These, who 
 spoke Russian fluently, were loud in their praises of 
 Russian institutions and freedom ! and contrasted the 
 benefits of Russian rule with the t)'ranny of Persia ! 
 All these things make one think. 
 
 At Astara my escort had dwindled down to two 
 troopers, who came with me as far as Tabreez, and 
 afterwards escorted young Churchill back to Rcsht. 
 I had besides a graceless varlet called Yussuff, a 
 servant of Mr. Churchill's, also lent me, who behaved 
 in an exemplary manner while we were in the 
 territory of the Ahmid es Sultaneh, but who now 
 developed all the vices of the lazy servants of ancient 
 romance, and, although a devout Mahomedan, who 
 would not taste a morsel of food from sunrise to 
 sunset during the great fast, he had no scruples about 
 stealing my brandy. Astara is the frontier town of 
 Persia ; there are two Astaras side by side, one 
 Russian and the port, the other Persian. 
 
 The Governor of Astara received us as all Orientals 
 do, with great solemnity and a certain fierce savage 
 hospitality, which makes one feel that they would kill 
 one if they dared. 
 
 On the following morning we had to start by break 
 of day, for we had a long and tedious journey before 
 us. Between us and Ardabil, the next important 
 town, there lay a steep and difficult mountain range,
 
 O.V ilORSEDACK TO TABRLEZ. 199 
 
 which had to be ascended. When we had reached the 
 plateau beyond, we were to sleep in a village, and 
 then proceed to descend into the plain where stands 
 the ancient Persian capital of Ardabil. 
 
 In order to avoid entering Russian territory we had 
 to ford and re-ford a winding river something like 
 twelve times, but my splendid little pony was equal 
 to it, and behaved nobly. Presently we began the 
 ascent of the mountains, not, however, without having 
 had an occasional interchange of anything but compli- 
 ments with the Russian Cossack outposts, for it seems 
 that we were not always able to keep strictly within 
 Persian territory, the high road to Ardabil leading 
 to the Russian port of Astara, where the Caspian 
 steamers are in the habit of calling. 
 
 The ascent of that mountain range was grand, 
 perilous, and amazing. The little bridle-path which 
 skirted the precipice was frequently covered with 
 loose pebbles, along which the horses' hoofs slipped. 
 Occasionally we came upon loamy soil, into which the 
 horses sank up to their haunches. At other points 
 the road was skirted by rough rocks and so narrow 
 that we had to cock our legs up on the saddle to pre- 
 vent their being ground against the rocks. Hundreds 
 of feet beneath us we could see mountain streams 
 gurgling and foaming in their courses. The sides of 
 the mountains were often beautifully wooded, and 
 altogether it was a most exciting ride, especially 
 when we met caravans of camels or little grey donke}-s.
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 for which we had to make way by scrambhng up the 
 sides of the hills. The shouts of the drivers, the 
 tinkhng of the bells, the swearing of our own troopers, 
 and the peril we were in, heightened the excitement 
 of the situation. Truly quaint are these caravans, of 
 which, in the course of my journey, I met great 
 numbers. The camels are generally preceded by the 
 queen camel, who wears a curious kind of bonnet or 
 cap, quaintly decked out with ribbons, tassels, and 
 bells. The dignity with which she carries these 
 gaudy trappings, the daintiness with which she steps 
 out on her gawky legs, and the ugly grace of her long 
 neck, her protruding under-lip and her teeth, which 
 remind one of the French caricatures of the English 
 Mees of a bygone generation, makes one understand 
 all the satire of the French name of chanieaiL for an 
 old maid. 
 
 Ardabil is a holy place ; there are the shrines and 
 tombs of the Shamuls, and the great Meshet, and so 
 we were constantly coming across bands of pilgrims, 
 and fakirs or hermits, on their return. These used to 
 blow trumpets to announce their approach, and were 
 quaintly dressed in white faced with red, and carrying 
 strange staves surmounted by golden crescents. They 
 always rode on white horses or asses, and usually 
 sang doleful songs and begged for alms. Some of 
 these fakirs were wild men, whose nakedness was 
 scarcely covered, loathsome sights, who made hideous 
 noises, and cursed us if we did not give them money.
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TABREEZ. 
 
 At last, after many hours of toilsome travelling, we 
 reached the snow-capped summit of the mountain. 
 Here the air was cold and bracing, and the ground 
 bare, A little shepherd boy made a great lamentation, 
 telling us that one of his sheep had strayed and had 
 been devoured by a wolf. We were all agog for the 
 wolves ; but, although we had a good look for them, 
 we could not find any trace of the animals, though wc 
 saw the sheep huddled together in a cleft in the rocks, 
 and trembling with fear. We now lost our way, and 
 got among swampy ground. Darkness was upon us, 
 and the village where we were to stop was not in 
 sight. We had to dismount and walk gingerly by 
 the sides of our horses, often sinking up to our knees 
 in the swamp, until we got on to firm ground again. 
 Our guide now recognised a landmark or two, and off 
 we went at a hard gallop, and arrived at the village 
 in the middle of the night. The dogs turned out and 
 received us in true Oriental fashion, making a horrid 
 noise. The intrepid Yussuff wasted a cartridge out 
 of my revolver on one of them and killed it. All 
 over the East the dogs are the scavengers, and 
 Constantinople is not the only city where the pariah 
 dogs are an eyesore, only they seem to be more 
 tractable in the capital of the Sultan, and of a special 
 breed. 
 
 Refreshed by a few hours' slumber, we rose early 
 the next morning and started for Ardabil. The 
 descent from the plateau in the early morning was a
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 wonderful sight. We had left behind us the gorgeous 
 vegetation which had charmed me at Resht, and 
 which skirts the Caspian. Here were nothing but bare 
 rocks and immense vistas of stony steppe. No trees, 
 no habitations were in sight, and as we descended 
 the plateau an illimitable expanse seemed to be 
 unfolded before us. Hills and mountains looked like 
 sugar- loaves. Colour was not wanting. Here tall peaks 
 were covered with snow, others gilded by the rising 
 sun, some looked red, some yellow, some purple. It was 
 truly gorgeous ; but amidst all these mountains there 
 lay straight in front of us a plain which seemed to 
 extend for miles and miles, and was only bounded by 
 the horizon. Through this plain there meandered, 
 like a river, the track which had been followed 
 for centuries, probably by successive caravans and 
 travellers, while to the right and left of us the curious 
 hills and mountains seemed to slope off and fade away 
 into nothing. It was one of the most remarkable 
 sights I have ever witnessed, and made a deep 
 impression upon me. 
 
 At a sharp trot we now proceeded towards Ardabil. 
 When at last that city came in sight, the trooper in 
 charge of us begged us to wait while he proceeded to 
 the city and gave notice of our approach. 
 
 What lies he told about us to the good people of 
 Ardabil I am to this day in ignorance of, but I know 
 that we had a royal reception. After about half an 
 hour the trooper returned, and asked us to ride slowly.
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TABREEZ. 
 
 At a short distance from the gates of the town a pro- 
 cession came to meet us. Preceded by an official, who 
 held a gaily caparisoned led-horse, and surrounded 
 by dignified Persians, I made my state entry into 
 Ardabil, and felt like the general of a conquering 
 army who is riding through a city which has capitu- 
 lated. The people all turned out and made obeisance 
 to me, and I had to bow to their salaams with due 
 dignity. We were taken, I verily believe, through 
 every street of that muddy city. The procession 
 lasted about half an hour. Then we came to the 
 Governor's palace, riding through gateways and 
 arches. I had to return the salutes of the sentries, 
 who presented arms as I passed ; and what funny 
 soldiers they were ! Arrived at the palace I dis- 
 mounted and walked through the courtyard, the 
 guard turning out. The Commandant of the palace, 
 a handsome young fellow, who seemed to feel that 
 this was an event in his life, received me with every 
 ceremony. He apologised for the absence of the 
 Governor, who was away, but introduced to me several 
 high functionaries, whose dignity and distinguished 
 bearing showed that they were men of importance. 
 After I had had some coffee and the inevitable Russian 
 cigarette — the Commandant and I were seated on 
 chairs, while a crowd of people, who came to pay me 
 court, had either to stand or to squat Oriental fashion 
 — we proceeded to the Meshed and saw the Mullahs 
 and Sayeds. On approaching this place of worship my
 
 204 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 cars were saluted with the most horrible and uncanny 
 h()\vlin<^, like that of wild beasts. In the courtyard, in 
 front of tlie Meshed, were some temporary tents or 
 huts, from whence this howling proceeded, and where 
 I could also hear the clank of chains. I ascertained 
 that these places were tenanted by holy men who had 
 come there on a pilgrimage, and that they were 
 absolutely naked, and that the people came and gave 
 them alms and solicited their prayers and advice. At 
 the door of the church there were crowds of sturdy 
 beggars. The church itself was very interesting, 
 so were tombs of the Shamals, and the chambers 
 with the urns of the remains of their wives and 
 descendants ; but I was glad to get away. On my 
 return the Commandant asked me how I liked the 
 place, and told me that all the Mullahs were scoun- 
 drels. He had known an honest priest, but he 
 regretted to say that he was dead. We were now 
 introduced to an Armenian, who had lived at Baku 
 and wore European clothes, and was, generally 
 speaking, a sort of worthy who had seen the world. 
 This individual had received carte-blancJic to provide 
 us with a European dinner. h2ver since I had left 
 Rcsht I had been living on Persian foods — greasy 
 pillaus, kabobs, and other abominations, until I had 
 been seized with a sort of nausea for all kinds of 
 Oriental food. The reader can imagine how delighted 
 I was to find myself seated at a table and on a 
 chair, and to have placed before me an excellent
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TABREEZ. 205 
 
 and elaborate European dinner, which would have 
 done credit to a Parisian restaurant, and which was 
 washed down with excellent wines. 
 
 We were waited upon by a solemn individual, 
 who also was our body-servant and assisted at 
 my toilet, and who turned out to be the Mayor of 
 Ardabil ! 
 
 Our host, the smiling Commandant, refused to cat, 
 but watched us with satisfaction. When our European 
 dinner was over he asked us whether we would care 
 to begin again, and now a Persian repast was served, 
 which young Churchill walked into with a veracity 
 that alarmed me. 
 
 At Ardabil I had to part with my good pony, 
 which was sent back to the hills of Talish, and has 
 since died, I hear. I engaged a man who provided 
 horses for the journey to Tabreez, which now laid 
 along the high road, and took us about a week. 
 That journey was really hard. We slept in stables 
 on the bare ground ; we fed on what we could shoot, 
 and on eggs which had been boiled in oil, and had a 
 horribly greasy flavour. On one occasion we came 
 across a number of Armenians who wanted us to spend 
 the night in their company, but our troopers warned 
 us that they were brigands, and so we slept at another 
 end of the village, with our guns and revolvers by 
 our sides. When we once got into the high road 
 wc met crowds of people : women in litters, cara- 
 vans of camels and donkeys, etc. Here and there
 
 :o6 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 we came upon the bodies of dead camels partially 
 eaten by vultures. The camel will sometimes sit 
 down and refuse to move. He is then relieved of 
 his load and left to die. Donkeys have their 
 peculiarities also, I have seen a donkey in sight 
 of a town lie down in the mud, and refuse to stir, 
 regardless of blows and objurgations, until his load 
 was taken off, when he would merrily jump up and 
 gallop into the khana, where he knew he was to 
 spend the night. 
 
 On one occasion I saw a magnificent sight, a group 
 of condors sitting on a rock, looking placidly into the 
 vasty blue of the sky. 
 
 But throughout this journey I came upon no 
 evidence of Persian vitality. A few interesting ruins 
 here and there met the eye ; but no new public 
 buildings. The villagers were of a wretchedness 
 beyond description. People live in mud huts, which 
 have no value, and arc frecjucntly destroyed by a 
 shower, only to be reconstructed the next day. The 
 people have no furniture, no belongings, no property, 
 no industries, no anything. I never saw a country in 
 which the population seemed to be so abject. The 
 carpet industry of Persia is completely ruined, and 
 I was told at Ardabil, and later at Tabreez, that 
 most of the Persian carpets arc manufactured in 
 England. 
 
 At length we arrived at the imposing town of 
 Tabreez, which is apj^roachcd by a fine avenue of trees,
 
 ON HORSEBACK TO TABREEZ. 207 
 
 and is distinguished for its blue mosque and round 
 towers. 
 
 As we approached the city we met an obvious 
 Enghshman in a pith hehnet, and perfectly appointed 
 with a native courier. This turned out to be the 
 Tabreez agent of the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society.
 
 2oS KOUiXD ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TABREEZ TO ERIVAN. 
 
 Taorkkz, like Resht, is a city of bazaars, but these 
 bazaars are more substantially built than at Resht, 
 and there is altogether a greater air of prosperity 
 than in the other city. The bazaars are nearly all 
 covered in and have a certain musty smell which 
 reminded me of the bazaars of Moscow. There are 
 no European hotels at Tabreez and so we made 
 straight for the house of the English Consul-Gcneral, 
 a handsome building standing in its own grounds and 
 guarded by a strong body of porters, mostly colonels 
 in the Persian artillery, from which class the porters 
 of the various consulates are apparently principally 
 recruited. The Russian Consul, I afterwards learned, 
 was able to live in much greater state, possessed an 
 escort of about one hundred Cossacks, and was a man 
 of influence and power. But Mr. Godfrey Wood, our 
 Consul-Gencral, who has spent all his life in the h^.ast 
 and is well acciuaintcd with the Oriental mind, has 
 made a bold fight, and stands up to his Russian 
 colleague with admirable pluck. He has organised
 
 tahreez to erivan. 269 
 
 a racing club among the European colony, among 
 which there are several English merchants, and a 
 small staff of clerks, attached to the Imperial Bank, 
 besides the telegraph people, and of course the Bible 
 Society officials and missionaries, who are naturally 
 not given to sport. 
 
 Riding through Tabreez one is at once struck by 
 the fact that here is a different race of people, more 
 sturdy and vigorous than those which inhabit the 
 Caspian littoral. They have, indeed, very little pure 
 Persian blood in them and are of Tartar origin, 
 racially akin to the Afghans I believe, and even 
 speak a language entirely different from that spoken 
 in the south. 
 
 Mr. Wood had gone out for his daily drive when 
 we arrived. This daily drive we afterwards ascertained 
 was a very important ceremonial function. Preceded 
 by out-riders in uniform, and surrounded by a small 
 cavalcade, Mr. Wood took the air in a handsome 
 victoria drawn by two spirited and well-appointed 
 horses. People saluted him in the streets as he 
 passed. This ceremony was necessary, because the 
 Russian Consul, with his mounted Cossacks, cut an 
 imposing figure, except that his equipage was not 
 nearly so well appointed or so smart as Mr. Wood's, 
 and this the Persians appreciated. 
 
 As Mr. Wood was out we consulted — travel-stained 
 and weary, we had not had a bath or even a decent 
 wash for something like three weeks— on what we 
 
 1'
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 should do, when ]\Ir. Wood's housekeeper appeared, 
 took upon herself to ask us in, and, looking at mc 
 critically, asked me whether I should like to have a 
 bath. Here, I thought, is true hospitality ! In about 
 an hour I had made myself fairly clean and present- 
 able, and was able to saunter into Mr. Wood's 
 drawing-room with the air of a man who was calling 
 on his friend in Mayfair. Oh ! the luxury of being 
 clean ! And the luxury of being again in a well- 
 appointed English house, with good food and good 
 wines, and even whiskey ! Mr. Wood w^as kindness 
 itself. We had arrived at a most inconvenient time. 
 His wife and family were down with diphtheria or 
 scarlatina, or some such awful complaint. It turned 
 out to be a false alarm, and we were very soon intro- 
 duced to the rest of his household. For that day at 
 least it was a man's party, and very jolly it was after 
 
 dinner to sit in a comfortable arm-chair, smoking a 
 pipe, sipping our whiskey, and talking over things in 
 
 general. 
 
 " Do you know what these are made of ? " Mr. 
 
 Wood asked me, as he handed me an ash-tray of 
 
 papier-mache. 
 
 "They look like papier-mache," I replied. 
 
 " So they are," he said ; " but they are made of 
 
 British Bibles, You have no idea what a boon these 
 
 Bibles arc to the village industries of Persia." 
 
 I was very much amused at this statement, and 
 
 naturally accepted it with the proverbial grain of salt ;
 
 TABREEZ rO ERIVAN. 211 
 
 but I have since ascertained that Mr. Wood's informa- 
 tion was absokitcly trustworthy. Indeed, our mis- 
 sionary efforts in Mahomedan countries can scarcely 
 be described as altogether successful. A predecessor 
 of Mr, Wood's had turned the consulate into a sort of 
 chapel, and had held regular Salvationist meetings in 
 it ; but I am afraid that the solid benefits which he thus 
 conferred on the community were few, and the spiritual 
 good doubtful. It is sad to think that the cause of 
 Christianity frequently suffers through the over 
 zealous and often injudicious action of people who, 
 however estimable they are in many respects, are 
 lamentably deficient in a sense of humour. Chris- 
 tianity has made but little progress in Mahomedan 
 countries, and I cannot help thinking that this is 
 largely due to the fact that the methods adopted for 
 spreading it are too distinctively European to meet with 
 response in Oriental minds. Still the missionaries are 
 doing excellent work, although they seem to have 
 more success with the Armenians, who are Christians 
 already, than with the Mahomedans. On the Turkish 
 frontier, near the shores of Lake Urumiyah, and in 
 the neighbourhood of Khoi, the missionaries carry 
 their lives in their hands. This district is rendered 
 most unsafe by bands of Kurdish brigands, who 
 acknowledge no authority and are a constant source 
 of danger. As for the district in Kurdistan itself 
 between Van and Khoi, I was told it was absolutely 
 dangerous at present. The Kurds were in open revolt, 
 
 P 2
 
 212 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 the caravans were being attacked, and generally a 
 state of anarchy existed. Mr. Wood had despatched 
 his vice-Consul, with an escort, to Khoi and Urumiyah 
 to report upon the condition of things, and was 
 anxiously awaiting his return when we arrived. 
 
 On the following morning I called on the Arme- 
 nians who had been indicated to me at Tiflis, and was 
 surprised to find how distance seems to distort the 
 mental vision. These Armenians, who had been 
 represented to me as bold, daring, and faithful, who 
 would take me across the frontier, and who were 
 obliged to do so by the conditions of their member- 
 ship of some secret society or other, proved to be 
 very lukewarm in their offers of assistance. They 
 confirmed what I had heard from Mr. Wood, namely, 
 that the regions of the frontier were in a state of 
 anarchy, and that the Turkish Government had issued 
 strict instructions prohibiting people from entering or 
 leaving Turkey by way of Persia. 
 
 " We could smuggle you across," they said ; " but 
 we cannot guarantee your getting to Van. The 
 Kurdish brigands will murder you, and nobody will 
 know what has become of you. The same fate befell 
 Lcnz, the American cyclist, who was making a tour 
 round the world — it has befallen, very probably, 
 Mr. Fitzgerald, of the Daily News. What possible 
 object would be served by your losing your life in 
 such a useless enterprise .'' You will obtain no in- 
 formation that you have not already obtained at Tiflis.
 
 TABREEZ TO ERIVAN. 213 
 
 You do not speak the language. What do you pro- 
 pose to do ? Even supposing you get safely to Van, 
 your troubles would then only begin. It is true that 
 there are means of concealing you at Van ; but how 
 you are to be conveyed from Van to Bitlis or Moosh, 
 both garrison towns and full of Turkish soldiers, we 
 do not see. Besides, it is quite unnecessary for the 
 Turks to arrest you. The Kurdish brigands can put 
 you out of the way without causing the Turkish 
 authorities any trouble. This will probably happen 
 after you have passed Khoi, for you may be quite 
 sure that the Turkish authorities have got their eye 
 on you," 
 
 Of this I was speedily to have a convincing proof. 
 I had not returned to the consulate long before a 
 gentleman with an Armenian name was announced. 
 He spoke French, told me that he had been the 
 Persian Commissioner to the Chicago World's Fair, 
 that he knew I was an English journalist, and was 
 ready to offer me his services to smuggle me across 
 the frontier. I told him that I was no journalist, but 
 an English tourist, that I had had no intention of 
 going across Turkey, but that if he really thought he 
 could get me through that way I should be inclined 
 to consider his offer, as anything in the shape of an 
 adventure was an attraction to an Englishman. I 
 then asked him to call again the following day with 
 particulars of his proposal, and I would think over his 
 idea in the meantime.
 
 214 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 He had not been gone long before I ascertained 
 from a trustworthy source that he was in the service 
 of the Turkish Government, and had really been sent 
 o\'er by the Turkish Consul to sec what I was like. 
 
 That evening Mr. Wood told me that the Turkish 
 Consul was making inquiries about me, and that I 
 had better go and sec him and get my passport 
 visecd for Trebizond. 
 
 This I boldly did, the Turkish Consul receiving me 
 with great courtesy. He told me, however, that he 
 had instructions not to vise the passports of journalists, 
 as His Majesty the Sultan did not wish journalists to 
 travel through the disturbed districts of Kurdistan. 
 
 " If you are simply a tourist, as you say," he con- 
 tinued, " I would strongly advise not to risk your 
 life in crossing ov^cr the Persian frontier into Turkey. 
 The roads are very unsafe, Kurdish and Armenian 
 brigands abound, and if you should get murdered you 
 will only have yourself to blame. Disturbances have 
 occurred in this neighbourhood, and hence, if you 
 insist on taking this route you must clearly understand 
 that you are doing so at your own risk ; the Govern- 
 ment cannot be expected to Ijc responsible for you. 
 Of course, if nothing will deter you from going this 
 way I shall vise your passport ; but I must warn }'ou 
 that that will be of very little avail." 
 
 This was certainly what is called " the straight tip " 
 in sporting parlance. 
 
 Mr. Wood himself did not do an\'thin!7 to weaken
 
 TABREEZ TO ERIVAN. 
 
 the effect of the Turkish Consul's words. He told me 
 that he knew I was being watched, and that he felt 
 pretty certain that I should be murdered. 
 
 " In fact," he added, " so strongly do I feci on this 
 subject that I would, if I had the power, cause you to 
 be arrested in order to prevent you from going across, 
 and thus save your life." 
 
 He urged upon me in the strongest words to at 
 least write home for instructions before undertakincr 
 this foolhardy expedition, as he called it. I followed 
 his advice the more readily as my funds were running 
 low, and besides, completely cut off as I was from 
 news and European papers, I could not tell whether 
 the pubhc interest in the Armenian question was still 
 as keen as ever. I sent my telegram over the 
 English wires and got a reply brief and peremptory : 
 "" Return." I naturally concluded that the Armenian 
 question had once more " fizzled out," and prepared to 
 leave vid Julfa and Erivan, the very route which the 
 Governor-General of the Caucasus had especially pro- 
 hibited my taking. There was an element of danger 
 in this which recompensed me for being compelled to 
 give up my original plan ; besides, there was a chance 
 of my being able to visit Etchmiadzin, and that I felt 
 would be much more interesting than visiting the scenes 
 of the Sassun massacres, where there was nothing left 
 for me to see, and whither the European Commission 
 was believed to be already travelling. ]\Ir. Wood 
 very kindly sent my passport over to the Russian
 
 2 1 6 KOI \YD ABO UT A RMENIA . 
 
 consulate, where it was viseed for Europe vid Russia, 
 and I commenced making preparations for my 
 departure. 
 
 Having parted with young Churchill and the scape- 
 grace Yussuff, I now had to engage a servant and 
 make arrangements to go " chuppa," or at a gallop, 
 literally, which is the usual method of posting on the 
 high roads of Persia. Just as I had got everything 
 ready for my journey, a fresh downpour set in, and 
 I was prevailed upon, not with great difficulty, to 
 remain a few more days in the comfortable house 
 of the English Consul-General until the rain should 
 have subsided. 
 
 I thus had leisure to study a little the situation 
 at Tabreez. Tabreez is within a three days' journey 
 of the Russian frontier ; but here Russian influence 
 does not make itself so conspicuously felt as at 
 Resht. There is also a very large Armenian popu- 
 lation, which cannot be described as being particu- 
 larly favourably disposed to Russia. Here, as 
 everywhere else where Armenians occur in these 
 Eastern countries, Russia not excepted, they are 
 the centres of culture and education. The Armenian 
 schools of Tabreez are excellent, and compare 
 favourably with those of Tiflis. Devoted Armenian 
 men and women, highly cultured, and educated in 
 .some European country, are giving their lives to the 
 noble task of teaching and bringing up the rising 
 generation of Persian Armenians, They receive in
 
 TAB REE Z TO ERIVAN. 217 
 
 return a bare pittance, upon which they are just able 
 to support a penurious Hfe. They are all plain livers 
 and high thinkers. Round Urumiyah there are 
 Armenian settlements and American and English 
 missionaries, who are doing excellent work. Tabreez 
 is the seat of the Patriarch of the Persian Armenians, 
 who is under the jurisdiction, like the Patriarch of 
 Constantinople, of the Catholicos at Etchmiadzin. 
 These Armenians, cut up between Turkey, Russia, 
 and Persia, are really one nation, recognise one head, 
 and are longing for some form of national unity. 
 
 Tabreez is really the northern capital of Persia, 
 it is in a line with Cyprus, and on the high road 
 to Teheran. Russia would therefore like to see 
 General Kourapatkin's strategic railway rapidly com- 
 pleted. Why England should not build a counter- 
 railway is one of those conundrums which the high 
 priests of diplomacy would probably answer very 
 wisely. 
 
 For my part, I think that a railway from Alexan- 
 dretta, via Diarbekir, Bitlis, Van, and Tabreez, would 
 be an excellent idea, and would materially help 
 Russia in achieving her great civilising mission in 
 Asia Minor, and enable us perhaps to stop her from 
 carrying that mission too far. 
 
 There can be no doubt that Tabreez is a centre of 
 intrigue, a sort of caldron where many currents meet 
 and bubble. The Armenians, as I have said, are 
 numerous ; but there is, unfortunately, little solidarity
 
 2iS ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 among them, for there are spies and traitors in their 
 midst. On the frontier, however, the Armenians, 
 according to all accounts, are more sure of themselves, 
 and even able to present a bold front to the Kurdish 
 brigands who infest the neighbourhood. One thing 
 at all events is certain, and that is that under Persian 
 rule the Armenians enjoy relatively more freedom 
 than under Turkey or even Russia. They are, as I 
 cannot too often repeat, the soul of Persian commerce. 
 During my journey there I frequently came upon 
 bands of Armenian commercial travellers going to 
 Astara, and, as we have seen, at Ardabil for instance, 
 Armenians enjoy the favour of the ruling Powers. 
 
 Provided with a Persian servant who spoke a little 
 Russian, I now proceeded to Julfa, the Russian frontier 
 town, which is about three days' journey. We went 
 chuppa — that is galloping all the way — and a most 
 enjoyable ride it was. At distances of about twenty- 
 five miles apart I changed horses at the little post- 
 stations, at some of which I had to spend the night, 
 where I had to sleep on the bare ground, for European 
 beds arc unknown, and the Scriptural injunction to 
 the sick man by Our Lord " to take up his bed 
 and walk " is not so difficult to accomplish as we 
 Europeans imagine. Indeed, a journey through the 
 luist helps to make us understand the Scriptures 
 more clcarl}'. The house-tops arc flat, and generally 
 used as we do courtyards, gardens, and balconies — for 
 purposes of taking the air. The houses are so flimsily
 
 TABREEZ TO ERIVAN. 219 
 
 built that we can well understand how important it is 
 that they should be erected upon rocks. Frequently 
 when the rains descend and beat upon the houses 
 of Tabreez entire neighbourhoods are destroyed and 
 washed away. * 
 
 I arrived at Julfa on the Easter Saturday of 
 1895, slept like a top in the Oriental hostelry, which 
 is maintained on the Persian side of the river which 
 divides Persia from Russia. My couch v.'as composed 
 of mattresses and coverlets placed on the floor ; there 
 were, indeed, one or two wooden beds, but, having a 
 wholesome dread of insects, I preferred to sleep on 
 the floor. 
 
 The communication between Russia and Persia at 
 Julfa is kept up by a ferry-boat, which resembles 
 nothing so much as an enormous packing-case. The 
 next morning being Easter Sunday, this boat would 
 not run, and so I had the pleasure of spending. the 
 whole day indoors, for it was pelting with rain outside, 
 and looking over into Russian territory, where I could 
 occasionally distinguish a Cossack belonging to the 
 P'rontier police w'alking across a large square. The 
 Persian Julfa is built of mud ; that of Russia of wood. 
 There is an ugly Russian wooden church in the centre 
 of this frontier town the domes and cupolas of which 
 are ]3ainted a bright green, as is the abiding custom 
 of the Russians. 
 
 On Easter Monday, in a drizzling rain, I was at last 
 able to get taken over. Of all my experiences, that
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 was perhaps the most unpleasant that I ever went 
 through. I was jambed into this packing-case of 
 a ferry-boat, which was flat-bottomed and had four 
 perpendicular sides, but no seats. It was about fifty 
 feet long by ten broad, and was "filled to overflowing 
 by a quantity of Persian emigrants, navvies, and work- 
 people, all indescribably filthy, infested with vermin, 
 and all yelling at the tops of their voices. Among 
 the passengers was a horse, which was got in with 
 great difficulty, but got out more easily. The River 
 Aras is a turbulent swift-flowing stream, which was 
 much swollen by recent floods, and things did not 
 look at all hopeful ; still, we managed to get across, 
 and then I had to carry my luggage for about a mile 
 to the custom-house, for I had dismissed my servant, 
 who could now be of no use to me, but might, on the 
 contrary, cause me trouble. 
 
 Some time was spent in finding the custom-house 
 officials, for Easter Monday is quite as great a 
 holiday in Russia as it is in England ; but when these 
 were once found I was treated with the same polite- 
 ness and courteousness which I have ever experienced 
 from the officials of the Tzar. My passport was in 
 order, my gun was winked at, and I was allowed to 
 proceed. My next care was to engage a conveyance 
 at the post-house, and here I discovered that the only 
 means of progress was an open springlcss cart, drawn 
 by two horses. This was pleasant in a drizzling rain ; 
 l)Ut I had my Persian abbah of camel's hair, and this
 
 TABREEZ TO ERIVAN. 221 
 
 did me good service, for it turned out to be absolutely- 
 watertight. 
 
 It was now getting late, and since early morning 
 I had not had a morsel of food, but anything like a 
 meal was out of the question. There is no inn at 
 Julfa. In a miserable sort of grocer's shop, kept by 
 an atrocious Jew, I bought some bread and half a 
 smoked sausage. This I eat, while I washed it down 
 with some coarse vodka. Then I leapt into the 
 springless cart, and presently, in the face of a pitiless 
 drizzle, I was bumped along at a fearful rate over an 
 unmacadamised track, composed principally of ruts. 
 The springless cart shook every bone of my body, till 
 I thought I could hear my vertebrae rattle in my back, 
 and occasionally I was in imminent peril of being 
 pitched out. I drove through a waste and wild 
 track of country, with little to recommend it. Here 
 and there I started some cock, but as my gun was not 
 loaded, and I did not feel in a very sporting humour, 
 I did not try to shoot anything. Occasionally I met 
 doubtful characters on the road, who eyed my gun 
 respectfully, but even these were rare. At long 
 intervals I came upon police-stations which have 
 been established by the Government to keep the 
 road free from brigands. In this the police have 
 not been very successful, for they are recruited from 
 the very tribes who supply the robbers. Villainous 
 faces these Cossacks have, and I am informed that 
 they are mostly in collusion with their tribesmen, the
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 brigands. But Russia is a poor country, and has 
 large tracts of barren land on her hands, and so she 
 has to do the best she can. 
 
 That night I slept on a hard wooden bench in a 
 vile and filthy post-house. On the whole I cannot 
 recommend my method of spending the Easter 
 Monday of 1895 as either enjoyable or invigorating. 
 
 It took three days' open-cart driving — such a cart 
 is called a "tarantass" — before I reached Erivan, and, 
 notwithstanding its many discomforts, it was an 
 interesting, though bone-shaking, drive. Of course 
 the food at the wayside inns consisted principally of 
 sausage and black bread. It was not until I reached 
 Erivan that I was able to taste any cooked food. 
 
 Gradually, as I got farther away from the Persian 
 frontier, the country began to improve in appearance, 
 and villages came in sight. As I drove into these 
 villages I noticed a board on a sign-post on which was 
 written in Russian the name of the village, the popula- 
 tion, and the creed of the people. Thus I was able to 
 distinguish, as the population grew more dense, be- 
 tween Mussulman, Armenian, and Russian villages. 
 Very soon, however, I found that it was quite unneces- 
 sary to look at these boards. After passing several 
 of these villages I was able to distinguish the race 
 they belonged to without any such assistance. The 
 condition of the Armenian peasantry reminded me 
 of that of the peasantry of Poland, and is infinitely 
 superior to that of the typical Russian peasant of
 
 TABREEZ TO ERIVAN. 223 
 
 Central Russia or even the Volga. The fields were 
 all well cultivated, the cows were well fed, the horses 
 well groomed. The various carts and agricultural 
 implements I saw in the Armenian villages were far 
 superior to anything one sees in Russia. The men 
 were all tall and handsome, and very intelligent- 
 looking fellows, neat in their dress, and very proud 
 and haughty in their bearing. The women were 
 modest and seemed to avoid the gaze of strangers. 
 In these Armenian villages the roads were good, the 
 houses clean and well built. In short, the contrast be- 
 tween them and the Mussulman villages was apparent 
 at a long distance. And yet people have reproached 
 the Armenians with being a non-agricultural race ! 
 
 Of the Russian villages and settlements of dissenters 
 I shall have a few words to say later. 
 
 In the inn in which I spent my second night I was 
 the witness of a curious scene. On my arrival the 
 passage was full of drunken Cossacks, at whose head 
 was an equally drunken officer. What was remark- 
 able was that this officer was a puny, wizen, miserable 
 specimen of humanity, about five foot nothing, while 
 his men were all splendid fellows, some of them six 
 foot three in their boots, but hopelessly brutalised, 
 and evidently fearing neither God nor devil ; but 
 their obedience to, and afTection for, their little officer 
 was amusing to witness. This was a loud-voiced, 
 insolent little beast, who was bent on persecuting an 
 unfortunate post official who had been sent down on
 
 224 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 a tour of inspection, and was evidently on his way to 
 some neighbouring post town. I le had locked himself 
 in his room, and was pleading from behind his door, 
 in a plaintive voice, to be left alone and allowed to go 
 to sleep, as he had to get up early. But the officer 
 kept hammering at his door, and threatened to drive it 
 in if the post-office official did not come out and stand 
 treat all round. At last the door was opened, and a pale, 
 emaciateci figure in the uniform of the Russian post- 
 office showed itself Immediately the officer called to 
 his men, and shouted, " Now then, children, seize him ! " 
 Before the unoffending civilian knew where he was, 
 he was seized by the Cossacks, thrown up to the 
 ceiling and caught again, this tossing being continued 
 amidst shouts and military cheers. "We won't let 
 you go till you stand treat ! This is holiday time," 
 the officer shouted. The official's face was a study. 
 He was evidently in terror of his life, and looked 
 as white as a sheet ; but he remained obdurate, pro- 
 testing that he had no money. At last the Cossacks 
 got weary of their prey. " Well, this is no use," said 
 the little officer; "we must go somewhere else and 
 see whether we cannot get a drink from another 
 quarter " ; and they departed. With such intellectual 
 amusements do the weary officers in these distant 
 stations while away the time. I am told that at 
 some places they play at being the members of a 
 farmyard, each player having to take the part of 
 some fowl or animal, and imitate its voice.
 
 TABREEZ TO ERIVAN. 225 
 
 While I was watching the riotous conduct of these 
 gallant defenders of the Russian Empire, a mysterious 
 individual, with police-spy written on every line of 
 his countenance, accosted me, and asked who I was 
 and whither I was going. I promptly told him this 
 was no business of his, and retired into my room. 
 
 At another inn the attendant asked me whether I 
 could intercede for him with the Emperor. It appeared 
 that he was a dissenter from the neighbourhood of 
 Kieff. He had joined an evangelical sect somewhat 
 resembling that started by Count Tolstoy. This 
 was his only crime, and for it he had been exiled to 
 this distant region for life. He did not know what 
 had happened to his wife and children, whether they 
 were alive or dead, or in want. 
 
 On my journey through the Caucasus I came across 
 entire settlements of Molokane, another sect of dis- 
 senters, who had been exiled for their religion. Their 
 villages looked like those of the Dutch, owing to the 
 remarkable cleanliness of their cottages. The women 
 are beautiful, and the men industrious. Frequently I 
 met large carts or vans laden with these Molokane, 
 who were on their way to the region to which they 
 had been exiled. 
 
 While this kind of religious persecution, to say 
 nothing of the outrages on the Jews, is common in 
 Russia, there are yet people in England, who read 
 the papers, simple enough to believe that Russia will 
 befiicnd the persecuted .Armenians of Turkey ! 
 
 ( )
 
 ROIW'D ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ETCIIMIADZIN. 
 
 It was a fine bright morning when I arrived at 
 Erivan, one of the oldest of Armenian cities, and was 
 deposited at the post-house. Erivan is the capital of 
 a Russian province, has a Governor-General, and is 
 provided with all the bureaucratic machineiy of what 
 is called a " Government " town. It was the first 
 town of importance that I had struck since leaving 
 Tabrcez. I had ascertained that F>tchmiadzin was 
 within easy distance of Erivan, and that I could 
 possibly manage to pay that monastery a visit without 
 exciting attention. I had also learned that there 
 was a diligence service from Erivan to the nearest 
 point on the Trans-Caucasian Railway, and I thought 
 it would be a good plan to take this diligence, as I 
 would probably attract less notice if I travelled 
 with a number of other people than if I posted it 
 in solitary grandeur. 
 
 At the post-house I was informed by a bright-eyed 
 intelligent Armenian that the diligence would not 
 start until the following da}-.
 
 ETCHMIADZIN. 227 
 
 " Dear me ! " I said, dolefully. " What am I to do 
 with myself in this miserable place for twent}^-four 
 hours ? " 
 
 " Oh ! " said the intelligent Armenian, " you could 
 pay a visit to the monastery of Etchmiadzin. It is 
 well worth seeing." 
 
 " Etchmiadzin ? " I said. " Where is that .-* I have 
 never heard of the place before." 
 
 " Oh ! it is a ten mile drive from here and would 
 repay a visit." 
 
 " So be it then. I will go to Etchmiadzin. Order 
 me a carriage. But first tell me where the baths are, 
 for I must have a bath." 
 
 In Persia the public baths are filthy. The water in 
 the pool or plunge is not changed from week's end to 
 week's end, and I had often seen on my journey the 
 naked figures of Persian men running out to cool 
 themselves after their bath, and looking indescribably 
 dirty. Horrid gaunt, lanky figures they were. But 
 the Russian baths, especially in a Government town, 
 are generally luxurious, and I felt I should be com- 
 paratively safe in trusting myself to one. Neverthe- 
 less, this was a great tactical error. If I had not had 
 this fatal craze for cleanliness I might have slipped 
 through the Caucasus without detection, but this was 
 not to be. 
 
 I proceeded along the street in the direction 
 indicated by the Armenian innkeeper, towards the 
 baths, when I suddenly came upon a higher police 
 
 Q 2
 
 22S ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 functionary attended by a policeman. He shouted to 
 me to stop, and beckoned to me to cross the road and 
 give an account of myself 
 
 " Who arc you ? " he said ; " how long have you 
 been here ? where do you come from ? " he asked, in 
 one breath. 
 
 I saluted him politely, and told him I was a British 
 subject travelling from Tabreez and on my way to 
 London, in confirmation of which statement I pro- 
 duced my passport, and showed him that it had been 
 viseed for Europe via the Caucasus. 
 
 " When did you arrive .'' " 
 
 " This morning, and I am just on my way to the 
 baths, for I am very dirty. Could you tell me 
 whether I am in the right direction for the bath .'' " 
 
 " Yes," he replied ; " go straight on, and turn to the 
 right. On your way you will pass the police station. 
 Will you be so good as to leave your passport there. 
 I am the chief of police here and have strict in- 
 structions to ^'/ji'the passports of all travellers." 
 
 " Certainly," I said, quite unconcernedly, but feeling 
 inwardly that I was in a regular fix. 
 
 " That is the man I told you about, and reported to 
 your Excellency," said the policeman. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," I answered, " but I do not 
 think you could have seen me before, seeing that I 
 have only just arrived at h>ivan." 
 
 The chief of police, who was a very gentlemanly 
 persoi), repeated his rc<|ucst that I should report
 
 ETCHMIADZIN. 229 
 
 myself, and then went on. There was nothing for it, 
 so I traced my steps to the pohce station, which I 
 easily recognised by the conning tower of the fire- 
 brigade, and left my passport with an official who 
 looked as though he was preserved in vodka. 
 
 Thereupon I had my bath and returned to the post- 
 house, when I told my Armenian friend my experience 
 with the police. 
 
 " That is all right, sir," he said. " I will see that 
 you get your passport by to-morrow morning." 
 
 " Look here ! " I replied, " I do not mind paying 
 for it, but I must have my passport in order by 
 to-morrow morning, so as to be able to start by the 
 diligence." 
 
 " I will look after that," the Armenian said. " If 
 
 you are now going to Etchmiadzin ask for Z . He 
 
 is a very educated monk and a very nice man, and he 
 will show you over the place." 
 
 A wink is often as good as a nod, and so I acted on 
 my new found friend's suggestion. 
 
 Seated in a capital victoria, the springs of which 
 made me feel myself in Paradise after my experience 
 of the hard unyielding tarantass, drawn by a pair of 
 capital horses, I was whirled at a pleasant pace to 
 the capital of Armenian religious life. 
 
 All along the road — as indeed I had been for the 
 last twenty-four hours — I was haunted by Mount 
 Ararat, which stood immovable in the distance, and 
 from which there seemed to be no getting away. The
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 monastery and religious town of Etchmiadzin, with its 
 seminary and cathedral, whose quaint sugar-loafed 
 steeples look so funny, has in front of it a suburb in 
 which are the residences of the Russian officials, and 
 the few other lay individuals, shopkeepers, etc., who 
 have clustered round this centre. 
 
 As I drove through the broad street of this suburb, 
 I saw a stout Russian officer sitting on the balcony of 
 a house, in front of which were posted a couple of 
 police sentinels. A mounted policeman was talking 
 to him. 
 
 He did not at first see us ; and it was not until I 
 had passed that I heard him shouting to the driver to 
 know who I was. The mounted policeman had by 
 this time galloped off towards Erivan, The officer, 
 my driver told me, was the Police Prefect of 
 Etchmiadzin, and I had had a narrow escape of being 
 turned back. 
 
 Arrived at the seminary, or ecclesiastical college of 
 Etchmiadzin, I had some difficulty in finding the 
 worthy monk to whom I had been recommended, and 
 whom I will not do the bad service of further 
 particularising. He received me with the greatest 
 cordiality, and I thought the wisest course for me to 
 adopt was to tell him frankly and fully who I was. 
 
 He told me that the attitude of the Russian 
 Government towards the Armenians had within 
 recent years undergone a great change, and that 
 Russia was in her way, and by more civilised
 
 ETCHMIADZIN. 
 
 methods, doing just as much to exterminate the 
 Armenian race as Turkey. 
 
 "The great difficulty we Armenians have to-day is 
 to get education," he said. " We are an ancient race 
 with a noble literature and a great cultural history 
 behind us, but everything is being done to undermine 
 that culture, to reduce us to the condition of brutes, 
 to make us learn Russian, forget and neglect our own 
 language, and thus become assimilated by Russia. 
 But the Russians are intellectually, culturally, and 
 racially our inferiors, and we mean to do all we can 
 to retain our superiority." 
 
 The eyes of the haughty monk flashed, his pure 
 and almost girlishly modest face flushed crimson, and 
 I felt that a patriot was standing before me. 
 
 " In our seminaiy and schools we have a number of 
 scholars from all parts of Armenia, Persia, Turkey, 
 and Russia, and we do what we can to make them 
 intelligent and high-spirited. The most stupid boys 
 are those who come from the Turkish towns. Some 
 of those who have been educated by missionaries are 
 bright lads. Formerly we enjoyed the rights of 
 sanctuary, but latterly this has been taken away from 
 us. Immediately after the Sassun massacres, large 
 numbers of refugees came over, and we were able to 
 feed and clothe and help a large number of them ; 
 although quite recently the Russian Government has 
 taken our right of sanctuary from us ; we are not 
 permitted to give shelter to people without passports.
 
 J32 r^OUA'D ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 and I may just as well tell you that we arc practically 
 under police surveillance. But come, let me show 
 you the sights." 
 
 This kindly monk now took me round and showed 
 me the remarkcible Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, which 
 it is said was built some eight hundred years ago by 
 a pious hermit, to whom the injunction to build this 
 cathedral on this particular site had been communi- 
 cated in a dream, in which also the shape and archi- 
 tectural features, dimensions, and interior arrangements 
 had been likewise revealed. Thus this cathedral 
 came to be the model upon which all Armenian 
 churches have been built. It contains a miraculous 
 picture of the Virgin, about which there is quite a 
 literature of legendary lore. The altar stands in the 
 centre. In this cathedral is kept the sacerdotal oil 
 with which every true Armenian, wheresoever he may 
 be, must be anointed on the occasion of his birth and 
 marriage, and before his death. The oil, which is 
 blessed by the Catholicos, who is the head of the 
 Church, is distributed from time to time to every part 
 of the world where there is an Armenian Church. 
 
 From the cathedral, where I examined the gor- 
 geous vestments and many curious relics, I was taken 
 to the celebrated tank in the garden of the monastery 
 where are kept the famous Armenian fish. 
 
 I was then handed over to another monk, who 
 spoke German — in which language we conversed — 
 and taken to see the library.
 
 ETCHMIADZIN. 233 
 
 This monk, an archdeacon I believe he was, had 
 been educated in Bedin, and had been originally 
 intended for the Church. He had embraced the 
 religious life from a passionate love for his race, and 
 as the Armenian religion is to-day practically the 
 only remaining symbol of Armenian national unity, 
 he has devoted his life to it. He was, like all the 
 monks I saw at Etchmiadzin, an extremely refined, 
 cultured, and well-educated man. High thinking and 
 plain living seemed to be the motto of these simple, 
 gentle, courteous Armenian ecclesiastics. I have seen 
 the monks of Kiefif, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, but 
 these cannot compare for a moment with the lofty and 
 noble Armenians. 
 
 The library of Etchmiadzin is world-famed. Here 
 was recently discovered, by an English scholar, a 
 celebrated gospel, more than a thousand years old, 
 magnificently bound in a beautiful Ravenna binding. 
 There are something like three thousand illuminated 
 manuscripts in this literary treasure-house. 
 
 While I was looking over the interesting manu- 
 scripts, testaments, bindings, portraits, and other 
 remarkable objects, a gentleman came up to us and 
 said to my cicerone, in German : 
 
 " You speak German. You seem to be a well- 
 educated man for an Armenian monk .'' " 
 
 The monk smiled, but did not make any reply. 
 
 " Have you come across an English ofiicer, a 
 Colonel Clark, who is travelling over the Caucasus,
 
 234 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 looking into this Armenian question ? " the Russian 
 continued, darting a suspicious and penetrating look 
 at me, I am afraid my appearance was calculated to 
 excite suspicion. I was attired in a loose brown 
 abbah, a cloak of camel's hair, under which I had 
 a reefer jacket, knickerbockers, and heavy Russian 
 riding-boots, reaching above the knee. I wore 
 besides a grey felt wide-awake hat, and a Persian 
 walking stick. A beard of six weeks' growth or 
 more adorned my countenance, and the hair of my 
 head was cropped short like that of a convict. 
 
 The monk replied to the inquisitive querist that he 
 did not know anything of Colonel Clark. 
 
 " And who are you } " asked the Russian, turning 
 on me severely ; "you seem to speak German also." 
 
 I told him that I did not think it was his business ; 
 but he replied that he was the civilian official of the 
 Governor-General, and that it was his business. So I 
 told him, what was absolutely true, that I was born in 
 Berh'n, that I had been in Persia on business, and 
 coming back found that I had to wait a day at 
 Erivan for the diligence. Erivan seemed a dull, 
 stupid place, and I had not known what to do with 
 myself, so my innkeeper had advised me to look at 
 this strange old monastery. 
 
 " Yes," said the official, with a sneer, " Erivan is a 
 dull place; Where is your passport ? " 
 
 " At the Erivan police-office," I replied promptly. 
 
 "Well," said the official, turning to the monk, "I
 
 ETCHMIADZIN. 235 
 
 suppose they will make a bishop of you soon ; with 
 your knowledge of German and foreign languages, I 
 dare say you are very useful." 
 
 With these words he left us, and I was taken to the 
 palace of the Catholicos, which was certainly sim- 
 plicity itself. Very few signs of luxury could I 
 discover. The Catholicos himself was away. I had 
 seen him at Tiflis and had been entrusted by him 
 with a mission to the English people, which was duly 
 published in the Daily GrapJiic for February 26th, 
 1895, and I may here quote the passage in which it 
 occurs : — 
 
 " On my arrival at Tiflis it was my good fortune to find 
 the Catholicos had not yet left, as had been reported, that 
 he was still lingering on, but that his ultimate destination 
 was shrouded in mystery. He was living at the Armenian 
 Episcopal Palace at Tiflis, where he was besieged all day 
 long by visitors of all sorts and conditions; for he is, it 
 must be remembered, apart from his position as head of the 
 Church, perhaps the most popular man in Armenia. He is 
 seventy-iive years of age, but, notwithstanding his years, 
 still prefers riding on horse-back to every other form of 
 travelling. He is, I am told, a capital shot, and has, so it 
 is whispered, more than once shot his man — in self-defence, 
 of course. His seat is at Etchmiadzin, almost on the 
 frontier of Turkey, and he probably knows more about 
 what is actually going on at Sassun than anybody who does 
 not live there. He is considered a great orator and also 
 a great author. Besides this he is a holy man of great 
 austerity and deep piety, though genial and kindly. Such a 
 man, it is needless to say, is well calculated to fill the 
 popular imagination.
 
 236 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 " The palace of the l)ishops of Tiiiis is not very palatial 
 in appearance. It is a i)lain white building with two stories, 
 standing in a courtyard, the toy-shop cathedral fronting it. 
 
 " After applying for an audience I was received by the 
 Catholicos in a very plain sort of drawing-room, the walls of 
 which were bare. The furniture consisted of a sofa, a tal)le, 
 and a few chairs. The Catholicos, who was somewhat 
 indisposed, occupied the sofa. He is a man of imposing 
 presenc{?, over six feet three in height, with fire in his eye, 
 and a majestic simplicity of demeanour. His white flowing 
 beard haS' still many streaks of gold. He has the nose of 
 a warrior, and the mouth of an orator. Owing to my 
 ignorance of Armenian, the editor of the Armenian Echo 
 acted very kindly as my interpreter. His Holiness was 
 attired in an ample fox-skin fur coat, and wore on his head 
 a purple velvet cap, somewhat similar to the head-coverings 
 worn by the Greek priests. 
 
 "The Catholicos received me with frank cordiality, 
 grasped my hand instead of stretching forth his own to 
 be kissed, and shook it heartily. Although, as I have said 
 before, I was unable to understand him, there was a peculiar 
 fascination in listening to the musical cadence of his voice 
 and the sonorous phrases which it uttered. Of course, in 
 the peculiar circumstances of his case, it was extremely 
 difiicult for him to allow himself to be ' drawn,' but from 
 his answers to a few questions I ])iit, I understood the 
 following. His attitude is one of strict legality. Before 
 being the Catholicos of Armenia, he is above all things the 
 loyal subject of the Emperor of Russia, and must in every- 
 thing submit himself to the authority of his sovereign. 
 Therefore the Catholicos does not wish it to be thought that 
 he had determined ui)on any individual line of action with 
 regard to the oppressed sheep of his flock. These were im- 
 mediately under the care of the Patriarch of Constantinople, 
 with whom he stood in direct relations. When T told him
 
 ETCHMIADZIN. ill 
 
 that in Trebizond there was a belief that he intended to visit 
 the disturbed districts, he smiled and looked extremely- 
 pleased ; but our intermediary conveyed to me that as the 
 Patriarch had difficulty in obtaining permission for a dele- 
 gate of his own to visit the places in question, it was not 
 probable that he would be allowed to do so, even supposing 
 he had that intention, I then asked him whether he wished 
 to send any message through me to the English people, 
 and he charged me to convey them his benediction. He 
 bestowed his benediction on the Queen, who was always 
 the friend of the poor and oppressed, and also on that great 
 and noble people whose instincts were ever on the side of 
 freedom, and who had together done so much for Armenia." 
 
 In a subsequent letter I described the departure of 
 the Catholicos from Tiflis to Batoum. He was attired 
 in his majestic black robes and hood, and was attended 
 by body-guards in scarlet and gold, and followed by 
 a long train of bishops and clergy. He drove through 
 the streets of Tiflis in 
 
 " a closed carriage witli four horses and an outrider, and 
 with two scarlet body-guards mounted behind. The carriage 
 was i)receded by two venerable priests with flowing white 
 beards, mounted on grey horses and carrying banners, one 
 the standard of the Catholicos, the other the standard of 
 the Bishop of Tiflis. A long line of carriages brought up 
 the rear, and the whole procession was escorted by mounted 
 Cossacks. The concourse of people was tremendous, and 
 vociferous cheering rent the air as the aged prelate drove to 
 the station, where a special train awaited him. A friend 
 who accompanied him, and has just returned, tells me that 
 the railway was lined all the way with people, and that the 
 train had fre([uently to slow down, so as to avoid running
 
 238 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 over the enthusiastic throng. At one of the stations a 
 sjilcndid banquet -was served, and the soldiers of an 
 Armenian regiment which is stationed there turned out to 
 receive the CathoHcos. His ultimate destination is still a 
 secret. But no monarch could travel with greater pomp or 
 receive a heartier ovation." 
 
 The CathoHcos is the Pope of the Armenian Church, 
 has the title of Holiness, and is elected by the suf- 
 frages of the entire Armenian community. He is at 
 once the spiritual head of an ancient and respectable 
 religion and the personification of the national unity 
 of the Armenians. As such, he is therefore an 
 extremely interesting and important national figure. 
 He is a much travelled man, who has visited the 
 capitals of Europe, and whose fearless eloquence on 
 behalf of the community which he represents, obtained 
 for him his election. My visit to his private residence 
 convinced me of the truth of Gibbon's statement that 
 the austerity of the lives of the Armenian prelates 
 increases in just proportion to the elevation of their 
 rank. But the austerity and simplicity of the 
 Catholicos has added little to the esteem in which he 
 is held. On the other hand, his strictly loyal attitude 
 towards Russia has been attributed to cowardice 
 rather than to wisdom. The laity of Armenia are pro- 
 foundly disappointed in him, nor the laity only. The 
 feeling of disillusionment and discontent has spread 
 to the more enlightened and active of the clergy. 
 
 The Armenian clergy may be conveniently divided
 
 ETCHMIADZIN. 239 
 
 into two categories : the simple, ignorant, but pious 
 and obedient ecclesiastics of the old school, whose 
 minds are but little occupied with questions outside 
 the domain of religion and ritual ; and the younger, 
 intelligent, and often highly educated priests, who 
 look upon their religion more as a political institution 
 than a creed, and dream of reuniting the scattered 
 members of the Armenian race in one grand Armenian 
 nation. These have but scant regard for the old 
 superstitions with which the Armenian religion has 
 become incrustated. They are mostly enlightened 
 and broad-minded, and many of them have little 
 vocation for a religious life, having, in the majority of 
 cases, embraced it purely as a convenient cloak for 
 political propaganda. Some of them have told mo 
 that they now regretted entering the Church, the 
 discipline of which considerably hampered their 
 activity, and others even went so far as to say that 
 they were disgusted with the supineness of the more 
 exalted members of the hierarchy, and that if they 
 had known how little vigour the Catholicos would 
 display in the present national emergency, they would 
 not have voted for him, and would in fact never have 
 taken orders. 
 
 These political monks and priests are "nevertheless 
 a great source of strength to the present national 
 movement. They are really conspirators in disguise, 
 who succour the weak-hearted, raise up them that 
 fall, and would Hnally beat down the Sultan under
 
 240 ROUXD ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 their feet. They have done much to help the Ar- 
 menian refugees from Turkey ; have concealed men, 
 clothed and fed them, and have generally aided and 
 abetted the revolutionary movement to the utmost of 
 their power, especially by exhortation and precept. 
 Of course the influence of the clergy is incalculably 
 great. They have many difficulties to contend with, 
 for the spies of the Russian Government are at their 
 heels, and watch their every movement. Yet they 
 are bold and stout-hearted, not the least striking of 
 their characteristics is their lofty contempt for the 
 police, and the courage with which they devote them- 
 selves to the cause in exceptionally difficult circum- 
 stances. 
 
 One thing my visit to Etchmiadzin made me sure 
 of, and that was that the Armenian clergy were pos- 
 sessed of a deep-rpoted conviction that the Russian 
 Government was determined to undermine, and if 
 possible abolish, their religion, and I felt that their 
 hatred of " ungrateful " Russia was only one degree 
 less intense than their detestation of the " Great 
 Assassin." 
 
 These tall gaunl figures, in their sombre black- 
 robes, and (luainL hocxls, impressed me very strongly. 
 I felt that here was a force which Sultan and Tzar 
 would be alike unable to conquer, and which might 
 yet accomplish the salvation of the Armenian race. 
 They were emphatically members of the Church 
 militant.
 
 ETCHMIADZIN. 241 
 
 Altogether I spent a most interesting day at 
 Etchmiadzin, and among the sights I saw, the 
 printing works of the monastery did not seem to me 
 to be the least important. The monastery prints and 
 publishes its own journal. In the photographic studio 
 of this religious retreat, where the modern and the 
 ancient world are so strangely blended, I purchased a 
 photograph of the Catholicos, a reproduction of which 
 accompanies the present volume. 
 
 I inspected the schools, and saw the intelligent 
 Armenian boys, though the time was not a favour- 
 able one, for the Easter holidays were in full swing. 
 Nevertheless, several Armenian boys, who had no 
 homes to go to, were staying on at the monastery. 
 
 Finally, I had tea with the monks, and then drove 
 back to Erivan, just as the sun was setting. The 
 monks rather speedied my departure, for they told m.e 
 the roads, especially in the vicinity of Erivan, were 
 very unsafe. I am bound to say that on my return 
 journey, and as darkness was coming on, I met 
 several very unpleasant-looking characters, but no 
 adventures occurred to give an air of romance to this 
 very matter-of-fact recital of what I saw and heard. 
 
 Arrived at Erivan, I met at the post-house one of 
 those strange characters which abound throughout 
 Russia and the East. He was a German piano-tuner, 
 who had come to Erivan to tune the pianos of the 
 Governor-General and the aristocracy. Bibulous and 
 communicative, he was a most amusing fellow, full of 
 
 R
 
 KOUiXJ) ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 stories of bribery and corruption, and of his exploits 
 among the fair sex. 
 
 These piano-tuners are people of great importance. 
 On my journey to Rcsht, a broken down Russian 
 officer, a charming fellow, came on board at Linkoran 
 and tuned the ship's piano. He was taken over to 
 Resht gratis, and I shall never forget the sight of him, 
 mounted on a Persian horse and galloping from 
 Pir-Bazaar. At Resht he tuned the pianos of the 
 English and Russian Consuls, as well as of the Greek, 
 and gave a concert at the residence of the Russian 
 Consul, and was made a great fuss of. He had a 
 glorious time, and was, I believe, drunk for one entire 
 month at Resht. 
 
 When I arrived at Erivan, I confess to feeling 
 considerable anxiety about my passport. It had not 
 been returned. The diligence would start next 
 morning, and I wanted to be out of Erivan and well 
 on my way to Tiflis, for I had come here in open 
 violation of the express prohibition of the Russian 
 Government, which had been communicated to me by 
 the Governor-General of the Caucasus at Tiflis. 
 
 " How about my passport ? " I asked of my funny 
 Armenian inn-keeper friend. 
 
 " That will be all right, sir. I will look after 
 that." 
 
 " Well, look here, I want it now, and if }'ou will get 
 it for me I will give you five roubles." 
 
 That worked like a charm, and sure enough that
 
 E TCHMIA DZIN. 243 
 
 evening I got my passport, so that there was now 
 nothing to prevent my journeying by dih'gence next 
 day. 
 
 The dih'gence drive was very amusing ; we had 
 strange passengers, of all sorts, and it took the best 
 part of a week ; but we drove through beautiful 
 scenery — scenery of every description, mountain and 
 forest. I certainly got a very good sight of the 
 Caucasus, and was impressed with its gigantic un- 
 developed resources. Here is a great country running 
 to waste for want of intelligent workers and a wise 
 administration. 
 
 Wherever I came across settlements of Russian 
 dissenters, or Armenian villages, I saw prosperity and 
 cheerfulness ; but the Circassian indigenous population 
 are hopelessly slothful. 
 
 One of the most interesting spots I passed was 
 Lake Sevan, famous for its fish and its monastery, 
 which is situated on a bare and bleak island. The 
 climate on Lake Sevan, which is situated on a table- 
 land, is particularly severe, and hither are sent for 
 punishment such naughty Armenian monks as have 
 misbehaved themselves ; it is, in short, the Siberia of 
 Etchmiadzin. 
 
 When finally our diligence drove up at the railway- 
 station, we learned that a train had recently been 
 attacked and robbed by a band of Circassian robbers. 
 Life in the Caucasus is still therefore far from safe. 
 
 Among my fellow-passengers was a lady, the wife 
 
 R 2
 
 2 14 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 of a Russian colonel stationed in the Caucasus, and it 
 was interesting to hear her chat. I made friends with 
 this lady, and elicited from her, in the course of 
 conversation, that her daughters were being educated 
 at the expense of the State ; her sons also, in reward 
 for certain services her husband had rendered ; but 
 she had many grievances, the greatest being the 
 expense of the coronation. Her husband had been 
 compelled to purchase a new uniform, and had spent 
 a lot of money at St. Petersburg.
 
 ( 345 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 
 
 Immediately on my arrival at the station of the 
 Trans-Caucasian Raihvay, I took my ticket for Batoum, 
 and when, some four hours later, the train actually 
 steamed in, I took my seat and did not think of 
 breaking my journey at Tiflis. Having defied the 
 Russian Government successfully so far, I was not 
 going to court disaster now. 
 
 At Batoum I had a narrow escape from travelling 
 to England in a petroleum-tank steamer. I was 
 introduced to the captain of this malodorous vessel, 
 a typical British tar, by our Consul at Batoum, and 
 the idea of becoming his passenger struck me as 
 original. But wiser counsels prevailed, and I took my 
 ticket for Odessa at the offices of the Russian Steam- 
 boat Company. 
 
 In the last chapter I described my unprepossessing 
 appearance and costume. I need only add that my 
 journey by diligence and train, during the whole of 
 which time I had been unable to v/ash, had not 
 improved me ; but the sensual man has fleshly
 
 246 ROUXD ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 appetites. It was a considerable period since I had 
 had a really comfortable and palatable square meal, 
 and I knew from experience that the cooking at the 
 Hotel de France at Batoiim was excellent. So, all 
 grimy, uncouth, unwashed, and unshaven, I walked 
 into the restaurant of this swagger hostelry. Seated 
 at one of the tables I espied a French gentleman, the 
 business manager of a large firm in the Caucasus, and 
 the personal friend of the newly-appointed Governor 
 of Batoum, whose acquaintance I had made at Tiflis. 
 This gentleman was lunching with an eminently re- 
 spectable friend. I walked up to him and asked him 
 how he was. He shrank back, looked horrified, and 
 assured me that I had the advantage of him. But 
 when I told him who I was and recalled to him the 
 circumstances under which I had been introduced 
 to him at Tiflis, he burst into a roar of laughter, and 
 told me he would not have known me anywhere, but 
 had taken me for a sturdy beggar, who was on the 
 point of asking for alms. Highly gratified at this 
 sincere and genuine compliment, I partook of a capital 
 luncheon and proceeded to the steamer, which, luckily 
 for me, was to leave that night. It was a magnificent 
 and luxuriously appointed vessel, with electric light 
 and every comfort. It might have challenged com- 
 parison with the ocean palaces which ply between 
 h'^urope and America, and in the matter of cuisine 
 it was vastly superior to them. I felt like a disem- 
 bodied spirit, which, after the trials of a life in this
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 247 
 
 sublunary world, had at length been admitted into 
 heaven ! 
 
 One of my fellow-travellers was a colonel of 
 Cossacks, invalided home. He had the cross of 
 St. George for valour, and had been one of Skobelefif's 
 officers, serving under him in the Russo-Turkish 
 war, and at Geok-Teppe. I soon fraternised with this 
 genial hero, who was as honest and unsophisticated 
 as a child, and a splendid fellow in every respect. He 
 told me his life history, which was a very chequered 
 one, and his misfortunes and troubles. How he had 
 gone to the devil, and then pulled himself together, 
 and was now about to retire to his estates, and end his 
 days peacefully in the bosom of his family. He was 
 a man of good family, had been educated at the 
 aristocratic Corps des Pages in St. Petersburg, and 
 knew Russian society and Court life thoroughly, but 
 had a manly contempt for its rottenness. He was 
 also a pronounced antagonist of priestcraft. He had 
 a brother an admiral, and other relations all enjoying 
 brilliant positions. Altogether, he was a t\^pical 
 Russian officer of the old school, and reminded mc 
 of some of the noble characters to be met with in 
 Turguenicv's novels. 
 
 The scenery was magnificent. As our vessel 
 steamed away from Batoum, and the mountains of 
 the Caucasus receded from us, we could see the snow- 
 capped peaks of that glorious range meeting the deejD 
 blue sky above. Under the snow-capped mountains
 
 24S ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 lay a t'er of smaller hills covered with smiling verdure, 
 then came a belt of forests, for the shores of the Caspian 
 arc well-wooded, and this was fringed by a border of 
 yellow sand terminating in the dark blue of the 
 Black Sea. The colour effect was superb. 
 
 As we steamed along, stopping at every port, I had 
 opportunities of studying the pleasant patriarchal 
 methods of government which still prevail. But from 
 the confidences of the owner of a sawmill, a French 
 pioneer of industry on the Caucasus, I discovered that 
 life was not so easy and charming as it appeared on 
 surface. This Frenchman is opening up a big trade 
 with France, and exports to Paris large quantities of 
 long strips of rare woods which are used for veneering 
 purposes. He had also purchased wood-working 
 machinery, and produced numbers of carvings which 
 in Paris were fitted to furniture. This simple trade, 
 perfectly straightforward and uncomplicated one 
 would imagine, had aroused the covetousness and 
 jealousy of the officials, and the way this Frenchman 
 had been bled, if all his accounts were true, was 
 marvellous. In all sorts of petty ways had the local 
 Jacks-in-office tried to hamper him, often with con- 
 siderable success. They took the part of his work- 
 people against him. They tried to control him in 
 innumerable ways ; in short, he was getting very sick 
 and tired of life in Russia. Yet he was a P>enchman, 
 and the authorities are supposed to look on France, 
 and all that comes from there, with loving eyes. But
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 249 
 
 it is always the same story. The Russian official 
 dreads progress of all kinds, for the same reason that 
 the Psalmist says men prefer the darkness to the day, 
 because their works are evil. The commercial and 
 lower classes, on the other hand, are still so backward 
 in their economic education that they look with eyes 
 of hatred on all enterprises which enrich their neigh- 
 bours. The Russian mind argues that if a man has 
 acquired wealth it must have been at the expense of 
 his neighbours, and it cannot understand that the rich 
 producer, or industrial capitalist must, by the very 
 condition of his continued prosperity, be a centre of 
 distribution. Wealth makes wealth. This the average 
 Russian mind cannot understand. 
 
 Another scourge of this unfortunate Frenchman 
 was the brigands who infested the richly timbered 
 forests of the Caucasus. These brigands were mostly 
 in league with the police, as I have already pointed 
 out, and used to attack his clerks and travellers, whom 
 he would send to purchase timber, and who had to 
 carry the money with them, for banking operations 
 are still but imperfectly understood in these regions. 
 
 The Cossack colonel also told me that most of the 
 Cossacks settled in the Caucasus were brigands. 
 
 " Splendid fellows ! " he said. " Plucky scoundrels, 
 who won't work, but value their lives as little as I do 
 this cigarette. Those chaps will never be tamed." 
 
 The first place of interest, to me at least, which we 
 touched was the monastery of New Athens. This
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 monastery, which is situated picturesquely on a hill 
 overlooking the sea, is partly buried in trees. 
 There are about one hundred and fifty monks in this 
 place, who live on the fat of the land, and arc kept 
 flourishing by the contribution of pilgrims from all 
 parts of Russia. As our steamer stopped at some 
 distance from this holy place, whose respectable 
 antiquity does not date farther back than 1875, 
 crowds of steerage passengers came on deck and 
 demanded to be allowed to land. They wore every 
 variety of national costume, and made a highly 
 picturesque group. Presently clumsy barges were seen 
 to put off from the shore ; they were rowed by monks, 
 in quaint-looking velvet sugar-loaf caps, long hair 
 streaming down their shoulders, and long cloaks. As 
 they came alongside I could see that they were 
 revoltingly filthy to look at, and had the most evil faces 
 I ever gazed upon. Such a contrast to the intelligent 
 monks of Etchmiadzin. 
 
 My Cossack friend drew my attention to them and 
 said : " Aren't they disgusting } Until I saw them I 
 thought it would be a good thing to be a monk. 
 Nothing to do, plenty to eat and drink, and no worries 
 — a glorious life. The disgusting, loathsome rascals ! " 
 
 I find that although the monastery was not com- 
 menced until 1 87 5, and not completed until 1879, 
 there is, nevertheless, an ancient ruin of a church in 
 the neighbourhood, from which the place derives its 
 sanctity.
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 251 
 
 The Cossack colonel now discovered to his alarm 
 that several priests were going to honour us with their 
 company as first-class fellow-passengers, and he was 
 beside himself with rage. He told me we should all 
 be alive with vermin, and asked me to consider the 
 vileness and sinister cast of the countenances of these 
 priests. I must in truthfulness admit that I did not 
 see reflected on the impassive faces of these stolid 
 recluses the evidences of an exceptional malignity of 
 heart within. They struck me more as lazy and stupid, 
 from whose eyes the light of intelligence had departed, 
 if, indeed, it had ever illuminated them, and who were 
 good-natured, self-indulgent, and slothful, rather than 
 actively wicked. 
 
 But the Cossack colonel would not hear of my 
 defence of these harmless parasites of a superstitious 
 peasantry. 
 
 "They are the curse of the country," he said ; "they 
 have made progress impossible, and they are becoming 
 powerful and insolent." 
 
 The next place of interest at which we stopped was 
 Novorossisk. This is the new granary of the Black 
 Sea. It has been created and fostered by the Govern- 
 ment in order to weaken Odessa, which the ruling 
 powers hate for its large foreign population, its 
 intelligence, and its liberal aspirations. Odessa is 
 regarded as the home of the Jew and the Greek, and 
 as a sort of commercial ulcer, which has been sapping 
 the vitals of the Russian commonwealth, and is under-
 
 -S:: ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 mining the integrity of the honest Russian people. 
 But a curious thing occurred here. A gentleman 
 came on board who turned out to be the head of a 
 famous firm of Jewish grain merchants, whose business 
 offices were in former times situated at Odessa, and 
 whose name was, as it afterwards turned out, wrong- 
 fully held up to opprobrium during the famine year 
 of 1892. As a matter of fact, his firm was made 
 responsible for the peculations and malfaisance of the 
 Russian railway officials, and its honour was sub- 
 sequently fully vindicated. It was the celebrated 
 firm of Dreyfus and Co., which practically monopolised 
 the grain trade of the Black Sea. To-day it is still 
 bravely fighting against adverse circumstances, and, 
 now that the grain trade has been deflected from 
 Odessa to Novorossisk and Kertch, it has established 
 branches and agencies all along the Black Sea. So 
 that the authorities have not after all succeeded in 
 turning out the great Jewish commercial houses of the 
 south. In fact, if they did, there would be nobody 
 to take their place. The grain trade of Russia is 
 languishing, but this is due not to the tricky and 
 tivaricious methods of the great Jewish firms, but to 
 many causes. New countries have been opened out of 
 late years ; Hungary, Canada, America, the Argentine 
 Republic, and India are competing with Russia in the 
 grain markets of the world. This competition is all 
 the more keenly felt because, as I had occasion to 
 point out in a book I published in 1892, entitled ; " In
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 253 
 
 the Track of the Russian Famine," the Russian pro- 
 ducers are dishonest ; they do not dehver to sample, 
 and their grain is inferior to that of other countries 
 by reason of its adulteration with gravel, sand, and 
 similar ingredients. This is a melancholy state of 
 things for which the great Jewish export houses can 
 scarcely be held responsible. 
 
 At Novorossisk there is an enormous grain-elevator, 
 of which the Russians are inordinately proud. Here 
 the railway systems of Russia meet, and it is a much 
 more convenient port for that reason than Odessa. 
 But all the efforts of the Government to stimulate it 
 into commercial activity have proved of questionable 
 value. The town looks desolate and moribund. 
 Russian enterprise and business ability is a minus 
 quantity unless stimulated by foreigners, as in Moscow 
 for instance. Hence the policy of the Government to 
 keep the foreigner out has had melancholy results. 
 For all that there is visible all over the south of 
 Russia a sort of surface activity which will deceive the 
 traveller. He will see railways, harbours, telephones, 
 telegraphs, and all the evidences of modern in- 
 dustrialism, and will hastily conclude that Russia is 
 a thriving young giant ; but these indications of 
 industrial life are deceptive. They are mostly fostered 
 by the State and have no real vitality ; they can 
 scarcely be said to have been created by popular 
 demand or native enterprise. 
 
 The Russian is at heart an official. His great idea
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 is to get a good Government post and retire on a 
 comfortable pension with the money which he has 
 accumulated in questionable ways. But he regards 
 with suspicion all commercial enterprise, and is too 
 much in the habit of denouncing all classes of 
 merchants and traders as thieves and scoundrels. 
 
 Thus we see that the natural jDroducts of Russian 
 life are the official, the soldier, and the priest, who live 
 on the people. The Russian middle classes are 
 educated in this direction. Their sole ambition is 
 to " serve the State," and Russia is a large country 
 with enormous tracts of land inhabited by an ignorant 
 and semi-civilised peasantry, and for the administration 
 of these tracts of land educated officials are required. 
 The Government of Russia is a sort of socialistic 
 despotism, in which the State does everything and 
 the individual nothing ; indeed, the individual is dis- 
 couraged from doing the little that he seems to do. 
 
 From Novorossisk we proceeded to Kertch, and 
 then continued our voyage along the smiling shores 
 of the soft and luxuriant Crimea, the Riviera of 
 Russia. Here we definitely bade farewell to the 
 grand scenery of the Caucasus, whose retreating 
 shores had kept in sight for an incredibly long time. 
 We stopped at Yalta and passed Livadia, the scene of 
 the last days of the late Emperor, Alexander III., and 
 now we got into Balaklava. 
 
 " Here we shall catch it," said my Cossack friend. 
 "The sea is always rough at Balaklava."
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 255 
 
 It was appropriately just before luncheon. 
 
 " That is to remind you fellows of us," I said, 
 grimly, at which the Cossack laughed very good- 
 naturedly. Just off the Balaklava Heights I looked 
 up and saw the Balaklava monument, and I thought 
 of that terrible day when the British army saw from 
 those heights the transports, laden with the supplies 
 and the warm clothing they so much needed, dash 
 themselves to pieces against the rocks before their 
 very eyes. 
 
 As we steamed into Sevastopol Harbour we saw 
 unfolded before us the imposing panorama of the 
 Black Sea Fleet ; but when we got nearer to the 
 individual vessels I was surprised at the bad condition 
 in which they appeared to be. Their sides were 
 sadly in need of paint, and they looked dirty and out 
 of repair. There was no neatness or smartness about 
 them. The discipline seemed slack, the yards were 
 badly trimmed, and there was a general happy-go- 
 lucky air about everything. 
 
 There was a stoppage of several hours at Sevas- 
 topol, and so I went on shore to look at the town ; 
 but there was no time to go to see the cemetery. I 
 am bound to say that in my walk round the town 
 I experienced no annoyance of any kind, and I was 
 surprised to learn later from the papers that a party of 
 English gentlemen had not been allowed to land. 
 
 Although it is about forty years ago since the 
 Crimean War, Sevastopol still looks as though it had
 
 256 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 but recently emerged from a siege. In the new and 
 handsome streets there are countless ruins. Rows of 
 shattered barracks are still standing. Everywhere 
 the eye meets evidences of the severity of the 
 bombardment. Side by side with these crumbling 
 mementoes of the past are the noble promises of 
 the future, really beautiful public buildings, severely 
 classical in style and white and new, pretty parks, 
 broad boulevards. Altogether Sevastopol is a beauti- 
 ful city ; nevertheless, it looks as though an invading 
 army had passed through it but yesterday. Lest the 
 people of Russia should be blind to the ruins which 
 still remain standing, and forget the lessons they 
 teach, the Government has erected a number of 
 museums in which the history of Russian prowess 
 and of Russian reverses is treasured for the edifica- 
 tion of future generations. Close to these national 
 treasure-houses are the forts to protect them, and at 
 the foot of the city, which is built on a hill, in the 
 spacious harbour, are riding at anchor the frowning 
 battleships, which will prevent, it is believed, a repeti- 
 tion of history. 
 
 The population of Sevastopol seems to consist 
 principally of naval officers, tradespeople, and very 
 gorgeously-attired ladies. I was subsequently in- 
 formed that the naval officers of Sevastopol arc the 
 terror of the tradespeople. Those whom I saw were 
 fine strapping fellows, but I am assured that they 
 are dissipated and impecunious ; besides, the life is
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 257 
 
 extravagant, and they are not as a rule wealthy. 
 Nevertheless, they are very much underpaid. As a 
 protection to the tradespeople the authorities fre- 
 quently administer the debts of these young officers. 
 What happens is, I am told, this: A tradesman will 
 complain in the right quarter that a certain officer 
 owes him money for goods delivered, and cannot be 
 induced to pay. The authorities will thereupon stop 
 a certain proportion of the officer's pay until the debt 
 is liquidated. In the case of several tradespeople 
 coming together a similar course is adopted. When 
 it is remembered that the average pay of a Russian 
 sub-lieutenant does not amount to more than about 
 five pounds a month, and that very often that is all 
 he has to live on, people will understand what this 
 means. Necessarily the dare-devil Russian officer, 
 who is generally a gambler and an admirer of the fair 
 sex, besides being a sworn foe to total abstainers, is 
 heavily in debt by the time he gets a responsible 
 command. Is it surprising that he should endeavour 
 to retrieve his fortunes at the expense of the State .'' 
 Besides, everybody does it. There is even a pretty 
 little word for peculation in Russia ; it is called 
 "economy." An officer who has never been known 
 to exercise that virtue on himself may prove a wonder- 
 ful practitioner of economy where the State is con- 
 cerned. The Russian navy is not more free from 
 abuses and corruption than any other branch of the 
 Russian service, and presents more opportunities. 
 
 S
 
 238 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 For this reason the stores and ammunition are open 
 to grave suspicion. 
 
 The Russian navy is composed of a guard and a 
 hne, and, while our navy is stated to be under-manned, 
 the reverse may be said to be the case with the 
 Russian. All the great naval stations, including 
 St. Petersburg, have enormous blocks of barracks, 
 where the sailors who are not away on active service 
 are housed, drilled, and trained. They are mostly 
 tall, powerful fellows, a little heavy and awkward 
 perhaps, and generally pale-faced. They are fed 
 principally on black bread and porridge, have no end 
 of endurance, wear heavy, long-heeled boots up to 
 their knees, and are not smart, nor even tidy in 
 appearance. Of their intelligence the less said the 
 better. They are simply fine raw material. Well 
 fed, well groomed, and well led, they would do any- 
 thing ; but whether their officers have sufficient self- 
 restraint and education to mould them into what we 
 .should call able seamen is very doubtful. There can 
 be no question but that these officers are of a superior 
 class to that from which the officers of the Russian 
 infantry of the line arc drawn, but whether their 
 technical knowledge is abreast of the times is a 
 different matter. For brilliant cutting out expedi- 
 tions the Russian naval officer is eminently fitted, and 
 during the last Russo-Turkish war the Russian navy 
 proved itself to be possessed of dash and pluck ; but 
 these qualities were manifested by the torpedo service.
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 259 
 
 The managing, fighting, and manoeuvring of large 
 battleships is not quite the same thing. 
 
 We have been told repeatedly that the Russian 
 Black Sea Fleet is ready to steam into the Bosphorus 
 on the shortest notice ; but very few of the vessels I 
 saw were fit to go into action. 
 
 I made the acquaintance on the way to Odessa of 
 an English engineer who had been engaged on some 
 Russian battleships, and was going home for his 
 holiday. He was thoroughly acquainted with the 
 condition of the Russian nav\-. It is curious that 
 the Russian Government is obliged to get English 
 engineers to work for them. But the reason for this 
 was explained to me. 
 
 " They have no good engineers," the Englishman 
 said. " The Russian engineers do not know their 
 work and cannot be trusted. They often spoil and 
 break machinery, and are then unable to mend it. 
 Besides, they very frequently allow steering and other 
 gear to rust." 
 
 "That is very bad, is it not } " I inquired, 
 
 " Yes," he replied. " I do not know what would 
 happen to the Russian navy if it had really to fight. 
 I think it would go to pieces for want of technical know- 
 ledge. They do not understand their machinery." 
 
 "It strikes me," I said, "that the Black Sea Fleet 
 does not seem to be in an efficient state of repair." 
 
 " Of course not," he answered. " It is rotting for 
 want of paint. The commanding officers steal the 
 
 S 2
 
 cCo ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 money for the paint and the ships have to go without. 
 You should see their bottoms I " 
 
 " Why ? What is the matter with them ? " 
 
 " They are nearly all rotten. You see, the water 
 of the Black Sea has a peculiar corroding action 
 on copper, and the vessels must be turned up and 
 painted periodically to protect them. But this cannot 
 be done when a ship is fully fitted out ; and do you 
 know how long it takes to fit out a Russian man-of- 
 war ? Four years after she is delivered ! They are 
 so slow, and such thieves ! It is nobody's interest to 
 hurry." 
 
 This staggered me. 
 
 " Yes," he continued, " and by that time her bottom 
 is completely corroded by the action of the water of 
 the Black Sea." 
 
 " Then the Black Sea Fleet is only formidable on 
 paper t " 
 
 " That is about it. It is a fine fleet, but it is not fit 
 to go anywhere. Besides, the officers and men are a 
 seedy drunken lot ! " 
 
 This was a somewhat sweeping statement, but, 
 allowing perhaps for a little exaggeration, it was not 
 far from the truth. A pretty severe indictment it was 
 of the Russian navy. 
 
 Odessa is probably the most beautiful city in the 
 dominions of the Tzar — it is certainly the prettiest that 
 I have seen. The town itself is situated on a plateau 
 commanding the harbour, which is of grand dimen-
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 261 
 
 sions and full of shipping. At night the lights of 
 Nikolaieff are just visible in the distance. Fronting 
 the town, and commanding a splendid view of the 
 harbour, is a series of spacious boulevards, beautifully 
 laid out. Here are band-stands where the bands of 
 the various regiments stationed at Odessa discourse 
 sweet music at night. There are restaurants with 
 gardens overlooking the harbour on these boulevards, 
 and here of an evening come the citizens of Odessa, 
 with their wives and daughters, to sip lemonade or 
 drink mild beer, listen to the band, and look down on 
 the harbour brightly illuminated with electric light. 
 The ladies of Odessa are remarkable for the elegance 
 of their toilettes and their voluptuous beauty. Al- 
 together these boulevards present a gay and brilliant 
 spectacle. From the principal of these there is a 
 grand flight of granite steps leading straight down 
 into the harbour, a distance of several hundred feet. 
 
 The public buildings of Odessa are magnificent. 
 The town-hall is a beautiful and severely classical 
 Greek temple built of white marble. The theatre is 
 a replica of the Grande Opera at Paris. The streets 
 are wide, shops plentiful and handsome, the hotels 
 excellent. In short, Odessa is a splendid modern city, 
 with substantially built private houses and every 
 indication of wealth, but it owes its prosperity mainly 
 to its own enterprise. It is the foreign merchants of 
 Odessa who have made her what she is ; the great 
 Greek and Jewish houses. Polished, enlightened and
 
 :63 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 educated, the citizens of Odessa have ever been in 
 sympathy with the liberal aspirations of Russia. They 
 have little in common with the narrow spirit of a 
 " zoological patriotism," as Professor Solovieff desig- 
 nated it, which has animated the ruling powers of late. 
 They cannot understand the fanatic Slavophilism of 
 the new school of Russian patriots, and think that 
 education ' and commercial enterprise are better 
 calculated to help on the progress of a great country 
 w^ith vast natural resources than the shibboleths of 
 mystic dreamers. For this reason Odessa is regarded 
 as a disintegrating force in the Russian empire, as 
 unpatriotic, as disaffected, and hence the Government 
 is doing all in its power to deflect from Odessa the 
 trade which used formerly to flow to it. 
 
 This policy has only been partially successful. 
 Odessa still is, and will probably always remain, the 
 commercial capital of the south of Russia, notwith- 
 standing the fact that Kieff is the headquarters of the 
 militaiy district, and Novorossisk, as we have seen, 
 the depot of the grain trade. 
 
 The enterprising and wily Greek and Jewish mer- 
 chants of Odessa are likely to make a stubborn fight 
 for their commercial existence ; they are resourceful, 
 self-reliant, and wealthy, and moreover educated. 
 Nevertheless the town of Odessa is feeling the con- 
 sequences of the distrust of the Government, and 
 complaining of bad trade. The good old times have 
 passed, it is said, and all that people can do is to live.
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 263 
 
 The days of money-making are over. I am inclined 
 to think, from the evidences of the prosperity which 
 I saw, that this is an unduly pessimistic view. Un- 
 doubtedly Odessa is participating in the bad times 
 which have come over the entire trade of Russia. 
 The decline of the grain trade, to which I have al- 
 ready referred, is only one of numerous factors in the 
 commercial depression of Russia. One of the principal 
 reasons for this decline of Russian trade is undoubtedly 
 purely fiscal, and must be sought in the rise of the 
 exchange value of the rouble. That rise has been 
 caused by no appreciable improvement in the financial 
 condition of Russia, in the solvency of her peasantry, 
 or in the increase of productive work. It is due 
 entirely to cleverly manipulated loan operations on 
 the bourses of Europe, by means of which Russia has 
 been able to reduce the interest on her debt, and to 
 perform certain gymnastics in the world of haute 
 finance, the utility of which 'has been very great to 
 her financiers, but is very doubtful for the country. 
 When the prices of her exports are raised on the 
 markets of the world by a rise in the exchange value 
 of her currency, but the purchasing power of that 
 currency has not been proportionately increased, but 
 has rather declined within its own frontiers, a country 
 is necessarily very much hampered in its competition 
 with other countries. In other words, while th<i 
 rouble will buy no more in Russia than formerly, but 
 rather less, its exchange value has been artificially
 
 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 raised. This may be clever finance, and must have 
 benefited a great many astute gentlemen in Paris and 
 St. Petersburg, but it can hardly be looked upon as 
 a cause for congratulation for the nation. Besides, 
 Russian trade is not based on such solid and firm 
 foundations as to be able to afford such handicapping. 
 \Ve must not forget that Russian trade and prosperit}- 
 are not based upon lier manufacturing industries, or 
 her mineral exports, but upon the peasant. But the 
 Russian peasant is in a state verging upon bankruptcy. 
 He is impoverished beyond the conception of European 
 economists, his taxes are hopelessly in arrear, he is 
 visited by periodic famines, and he is kept in a state 
 of ignorance and backwardness verging on barbarism. 
 
 Yet it is the Russian peasant who must eventually 
 pay for everything. But his condition is not much 
 better than that of the French peasant before the 
 French Revolution, so graphically described by Arthur 
 Young in 1787-1789, and though he has to find the 
 soldiers and sailors that shall carry out the schemes 
 for aggrandisement of his statesmen, pays the salaries 
 of all those statesmen and their armies of officials, 
 pays for her railways, for the ships, for everything, 
 and is robbed right and left, a limit must be reached, 
 a time will come when he will no longer be able 
 to bear his ever increasing load, and the moment of 
 breaking strain will be reached. 
 
 F'rom Odessa I returned home, via Kieff, Warsaw, 
 and Berlin. Kieff, the ancient capital of Russia, with
 
 RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA. 265 
 
 its magnificent river and its wonderful old monastery, 
 is a strange object lesson of the present condition of 
 Russia. While on the one hand I saw long trains of 
 pilgrims coming on foot from villages a thousand 
 miles distant, and bringing their humble donations to 
 enrich the coffers of the rich and indolent priests, who 
 live upon the credulity and benightedness of the 
 masses, I found that all the commercial enterprise of 
 this very progressive city was in the hands of Jews 
 and Poles — a melancholy testimony to the incapacity 
 for business of the pure Russian. 
 
 And the contrast between the villages of Russia, 
 poverty-stricken and untidy, and the neatness of the 
 fields of Poland ! Then again, on crossing the 
 Russian frontier into Germany I experienced very 
 much the same feeling which I did when I arrived 
 at Batoum from Trebizond. Here were civilisation, 
 order, and energy. The very atmosphere was 
 different.
 
 266 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Tllli ARMENIAN QUESTION. 
 
 Having concluded my rambles " round about Ar- 
 menia," and recorded them to the best of my ability, 
 however faultily and incompletely, I propose now to 
 connect the threads of my story and to ask the reader 
 who has patiently followed me from Constantinople 
 to Tiflis, and from Tiflis across Northern Persia to 
 Etchmiadzin and Warsaw, to bear with me yet a little 
 longer while I endeavour to reproduce as well as I 
 am able the general impression left upon my mind of 
 the Armenian question. 
 
 That question is full of interest to all thinking 
 people, and to many emotional temperaments who do 
 not think at all. But, before talking about Armenia, 
 let us define it. It is a much more important country 
 than is generally supposed, and may be conveniently 
 called the Switzerland of the East. Within its con- 
 fines stands Mount Ararat, and it forms a sort of 
 cushion between Turkey, Persia and Russia. To-day 
 it is a kind of Poland — indeed its population have
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 267 
 
 many of the characteristics of the Poles — and it is 
 omnia divisa in partes tres : Turkish Armenia, Russian 
 Armenia, and Persian Armenia. If we push the com- 
 parison further, we may hken Russian Armenia, with 
 Kars and Etchmiadzin, the ancient cathedral and 
 seat of the Catholicos, to Austrian Poland, with its 
 Cracow ; Turkish Armenia, with Erzeroum, the 
 capital, to Russian Poland, which retains Warsaw ; 
 and Persian Armenia to German Poland, for there 
 the Armenians appear to have most liberty. 
 
 But comparisons are odious. What is interesting 
 is that Armenia is a natural buffer state between 
 three countries, who are inimical one to the other. 
 For Turkey cannot hate Russia more than she does 
 Persia, and Russia's appetite for Constantinople, and 
 for absolute dominion in the Black Sea, can only be 
 equalled by her longing for a port in the Persian Gulf, 
 and her determination to make the Caspian Sea an 
 integral part of her Empire. Unless something un- 
 foreseen occurs, Russia must, from the sheer force of 
 circumstances, eventually swallow, even though she 
 may never be able to digest, both Turkey and Persia. 
 Will Armenia develop into this unforeseen something.^ 
 That is the question which British statesmen have to 
 ask themselves. 
 
 When regarded in this light, and in connection with 
 the surrounding political facts, the Armenian question 
 assumes a peculiarly interesting aspect for English 
 people.
 
 268 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 In the present case it is very easy to lose sight of 
 the forests of fact for the trees of incidents of which 
 these facts are constituted. 
 
 We cannot too much honour the noble sympathy 
 and enthusiasm which the British public — which has 
 ever befriended oppressed nationalities — has mani- 
 fested for the unfortunate victims of human or, rather, 
 fiendish cruelty. But the cynical " practical politi- 
 cians " are ever repeating to us that mere sentiment 
 is out of place in the game of international politics. 
 
 As early as February 6th, 1895, I said in the 
 Daily Graphic, foreseeing this probable attitude of the 
 Philistines : — 
 
 "Whatever the truth may be, one factor must not be 
 omitted, and that is (lii)h)macy. High dijjlomatic con- 
 siderations are very mysterious, but after all it is question- 
 al)le whether the lives of two hundred, or even twenty 
 thousand Armenians, are worth risking the lives of millions 
 for, and it is quite possible that the maintenance of peace 
 in Europe may be of greater importance to humanity than 
 the security of Armenia." 
 
 These words were prophetic. Let us ptn-ge our 
 minds of sentiment, and endeavour to take a calm, 
 common-sense and self-interested view of the situation. 
 
 I know that will be difficult for many people. The 
 massacres are a fact, and although I have described 
 only those of Sassun, the i)ublic need not be reminded 
 that they were but the commencement of a series of 
 atrocities spread over the length and breadth of this
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 
 
 once smiling and prosperous land of Turkish Armenia. 
 The foulness of the deeds perpetrated in the name of 
 the Sultan, and at his express behest — for nothing is 
 done in Turkey without the Sultan, as I have shown — 
 is so great, so horrible, that no pen would consent to 
 write them down in all their obscene particulars, no 
 self-respecting publisher would give them to the world. 
 Imagination pales before the diabolical ingenuity of 
 these persecutions. The wildest fiction would not 
 come near the terrible realities of the truth. 
 
 For this reason I have abstained from dwelling upon 
 the lurid details of the massacres. They convince 
 nobody, they seem too horrible to be true, and hence 
 those faithful scribes who have reported them, in part 
 only, of course, in our daily papers have been accused 
 of exaggeration and falsehood. But these details 
 have been confirmed in the sober language of the 
 oflicial reports of our consuls. For some time the 
 Government hesitated in having these reports printed. 
 I have mj'self seen the unprinted MSS. of some of 
 them, and their perusal made my blood run cold. 
 
 Face to face with those horrors it is almost impossible 
 to discuss the question calmly and prudently. But it is 
 absolutely indispensable, in the very interests of the 
 persecuted Armenians themselves, that we should 
 divest ourselves of all passion, and look the whole 
 problem fairly and squarely in the face. 
 
 We have to ask ourselves this question : " Is it 
 England's duty to succour these Armenians, and to
 
 :7o ROUXD ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 do so even in the face of the united millions of armed 
 Europe ? ' 
 
 That question honourable and upright men can 
 only answer in the affirmative, and unless England 
 has lost her manhood, become a craven nation, and is 
 no more worthy of her great empire, she must answer 
 it in the same way. Who of us seeing a boy, a woman 
 or other helpless person, nay even an animal, brutally 
 used by some ruffian, would not step in and defend 
 the victim ? It is the duty of humanity L to protect 
 the weak, and it is the duty of everybody professing 
 or calling himself Christian. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, we shall be met on the 
 very threshold of our argument by the cynical 
 Philistines, who will tell us that this is all foolish 
 sentiment, and that it is not worth while risking the 
 continued existence of the British Empire for the 
 sake of a few Armenians. This seems an extreme 
 statement of the views of the party for non-interven- 
 tion, but it is nevertheless the argument which has 
 been publicly set forth in the press. 
 
 It so happens, however, that this reasoning is 
 fallacious. It is not true that intervention would en- 
 danger the British Empire ; I do not even believe it 
 would disturb the peace of Europe. But if we allow 
 things to go on as they are, that would indeed en- 
 danger our future, and embolden the Powers to carry 
 out still further their notable policy of thwarting 
 England.
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 
 
 That the Powers of Europe arc bent on crippling, 
 and if possible ruining, England is no mere nightmare, 
 the foolish fancy of alarmists. It is the determined 
 policy of three great countries, Russia, Germany, 
 and France. Prince Bismarck was the successor of 
 Napoleon the Great in his active hatred of England, 
 and to-day the German Emperor and M. Hanotaux 
 are at one on this point. Of the attitude of Russia it 
 is needless to speak- 
 In 1894 I was for a short period the resident 
 correspondent in Paris of a great American paper, 
 and had frequent occasion to visit the Quai d'Orsay, 
 with the officials of which I was on pleasant and 
 friendly terms. 
 
 One day, while I was calling on the chief of a 
 department, the card of a French diplomatist from 
 the Far East was brought in. 
 
 " That is a man you should see," said the chief of 
 department ; " he is most interesting and very clever." 
 I was therefore introduced to this gentleman, and 
 we had a long and, to me at least, most instructive 
 conversation, at the end of which he concluded with 
 the words : 
 
 " Voiis ver7'ez, au bout de qiidqnes ans il liy aura 
 plus d 'A ngletei're ! " 
 
 In the spring or summer of 1895 it will be re- 
 membered that a French paper predicted that the 
 Egyptian question was going to be brought up for 
 definite settlement in the autumn. A cabinet crisis
 
 212 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 in France prevented the execution of these plans. 
 AI. Hanotaux was out of office, and M. Bertholet, a 
 man of great scientific attainments, was not quite up 
 to date in his diplomatic methods. 
 
 Of the brilliant and da/zling career of Prince 
 Lobanoff-Rostovski, who flashed like a comet across 
 the firmament of diplomacy, it has been said that 
 its dominating feature was hatred of England. 
 
 The recently published letter of Prince Bismarck to 
 his royal master, commenting on the Queen's despatch 
 to the German Emperor in 1875, sufficiently betrays 
 that statesman's animus towards England, if additional 
 indications were wanted. But his cynical confession 
 that he encouraged England to go to Egypt in order 
 to create difficulties for her, published some years 
 ago, places his policy in so strong a light that 
 all supplementary testimony is superfluous. The 
 present German Emperor has shown that he did 
 not sit at the feet of the Iron Chancellor for so 
 man}' years without imbibing his prejudices. 
 
 The simple-minded, unthinking " man in the street " 
 is for ever expressing his surprise at the hostility of 
 the " foreigner " towards us, and in club smoking- 
 rooms it is the fashion to attribute to our insular 
 angularity the hatred of the Continent. 
 
 For my part, and I have lived a great deal on the 
 Continent, I am constrained to wonder at this hasty 
 conclusion. The " insular angularity," which was 
 once the favourite theme of the comic papers of
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 273 
 
 France, made us respected, if it did not make us 
 beloved, and has been copied all over Europe, but, 
 strange to say, we ourselves have successfully and 
 definitely rubbed it off. 
 
 I am willing to admit that very frequently our 
 statesmen, educated in the arena of party politics, 
 have assumed the reins of the Foreign Office with 
 too scanty an equipment of diplomatic training. But 
 although this may have been true of Lord Palmerston 
 and his school, it cannot be predicated either of 
 Lord Granville, Lord Rosebery, or Lord Salisbury. 
 
 There must be other causes at work to produce 
 this universal jealousy of England. That jealousy 
 is not a thing of yesterday. It has existed from 
 time immemorial. Without exaggeration the student 
 of history may say that every new century brings 
 England face to face with new dangers, or with a 
 powerful combination threatening to the continuance 
 of her national life. 
 
 To go no farther back than the days of Queen 
 Elizabeth, we find the Powers of Europe, divided 
 though they were amongst themselves, united in one 
 thing, hatred of England, and that condition was 
 not altered at the accession of Queen Anne, the close 
 of the eighteenth century, or during the prosperous 
 reign of Queen Victoria. 
 
 For a great deal of this jealousy we have to thank 
 our geographical position, which, while it has made 
 us independent of the rest of Europe, has enabled 
 
 T
 
 274 ROUA'D ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 "US always to pursue steadily our own policy, to 
 harass our neighbours, and to throw the weight of 
 our i)owcr, influence, and wealth in the scales on 
 behalf of any country whom we chose to befriend 
 without reference to the political calculations of 
 Europe. 
 
 In other words, England has been a disturbing 
 element in the councils of Europe. Her interests 
 have never been identical with those of other Powers 
 for any considerable time, and her possessions beyond 
 the seas have been f^ictors in her calculations which 
 the rest of Europe was frequently unable to clearly 
 understand. 
 
 Our geographical position has led to our assuming 
 the command of the sea, to our carrying our adven- 
 turous sons into distant and undiscovered countries, 
 there to settle and form new Englands. We have 
 thus put a girdle of English settlements round 
 the earth, we have peopled three continents, we 
 govern a large part of a fourth, and, outside Europe, 
 no country is of any consequence by the side of 
 England. 
 
 European countries, jealous of our achievements, 
 are endeavouring to imitate our example. But they 
 find that, while on the one hand the principal squat- 
 ting-grounds of the habitable globe have already been 
 "coralled" by the Anglo-Saxon race, Continental 
 races have not, on the other, the ability of colonising 
 those that remain.
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUEHTION. 
 
 The futile efforts of Germany and France to build 
 up colonies in Asia and Africa* would be ludicrous if 
 they were not so pathetic. 
 
 Besides giving us colonies, our geographical position 
 gave us trade. Modern research seems to have 
 established that the history of English trade is 
 practically coincident with that of England, England 
 has ever, protected by the silver streak, followed the 
 peaceful arts of industry and trade, whereas her less 
 fortunate Continental neighbours have spent a great 
 part of their time in defending themselves against 
 each other. 
 
 With the new era of modern civilisation the wealth 
 of nations became the first solicitude of statesmen. 
 Napoleon III, and Prince Bismarck have, it is not 
 too much to say, created the capitalism of Europe, 
 
 Hedged in by protective tariffs, the Continent has 
 produced manufactures as grapes are produced in a 
 hothouse, and before the wealth of the masses had 
 progressed sufficiently to create a demand for them 
 within their own frontier. The necessary consequence 
 is that melancholy disease of our modern industrialism, 
 called over-production. 
 
 A large class of wealthy manufacturers has been 
 artificially produced by these means, but, coincidently 
 therewith, the civilised world has now got a much 
 larger class of underpaid, discontented slaves, factory- 
 hands, whose methods of wage-earning have led to 
 the disruption of family ties, the demoralisation of 
 
 T 2
 
 276 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 large numbers of the community, and to the formu- 
 lation of a new theory of life called " Socialism." 
 
 Foreign countries, in imitating the example of 
 luigland, have created for themselves a Frankenstein, 
 which they dread, but which they cannot kill. 
 
 To provide food for this hungry monster they are 
 seeking for new markets, but wherever they go the\- 
 are confronted by British trade, British enterprise, and 
 British perseverance. However they may deceive 
 themselves, they generally find in the long run that 
 by their insensate competition they are harming 
 themselves much more than they are injuring us. 
 
 With Socialism and discontent in their midst, 
 heavy armaments to maintain, and an ever-increasing 
 national expenditure, the countries of Europe turn 
 their eyes to England and see that we are compara- 
 tively free from the burdens which are well-nigh 
 bearing them down. Owing to our peculiar institu- 
 tions, our habits of sport and freedom, we have 
 developed a national character which is resourceful 
 and patient, practical, and comparatively constant. 
 
 We cannot understand their fear of revolution, for 
 in our country revolutions are frequent, peaceful, and 
 automatic. We cannot follow their political com- 
 binations, for wc have no need of them. The English 
 people, from time immemorial, have been accustomed 
 to help themselves, and to distrust the State. Neces- 
 sarily, our whole methods of thought and bent of 
 mind arc totally different.
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 277 
 
 But the countries of Europe dread our increasing 
 power, they dread the fearless force of a nation which 
 has ever hated tyranny, no matter of what kind, and 
 which is to-day, by its moral and intellectual influence, 
 slowly conquering the world. 
 
 Do not let us deceive ourselves — it is futile to hope 
 that the military despotisms of Europe, for they are 
 nothing else, whatever their outward forms of govern- 
 ment may be, will ever become the friends and allies 
 of England. 
 
 These general considerations are not new, they are 
 familiar to all who have studied the history of modern 
 Europe ; but it is necessary that we should focus them, 
 so that we may bring these facts to bear upon the 
 present political situation, and see how they affect it. 
 
 What does the present crisis in Armenia really 
 mean .'' Here is a race of sturdy peasants, the wealth 
 producers of a not too prosperous Empire, threatened 
 with extermination. For what reason ? 
 
 To say that the massacres are the results of an 
 outbreak of religious fanaticism is, on the face of it, 
 false. Everybody knows to-day that they were directly 
 instigated by the Sultan ! Why ? Is he a criminal 
 madman, wilfully slaughtering his most profitable 
 subjects .^ The astuteness of his policy shows that, 
 if he is, he has at least many lucid intervals. 
 
 We must seek for the cause of these outrages not 
 in Turkey, but in Russia ; there we shall find an 
 answer.
 
 278 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 As I have pointed out in a previous chapter, the 
 emancipation of the serfs heralded a social revolution, 
 and gave birth to political aspirations, which at present 
 have no prospect of realisation. A school of thought 
 sprang up in Russia, of which Nihilism was only a 
 phase. This has infested dependent races, among 
 which the Armenians are not the least intelligent. To 
 combat these political aspirations, Russian statesmen 
 have invented a strident nationalism, in which all 
 political aims were to be merged, and all non-Russian 
 races subject to the Tzar lost. But the Armenians 
 could not contemplate with equanimity the extinction 
 of their nationality, which, through centuries of perse- 
 cution, had managed to preserve inviolate a religion, 
 a culture, a language, and a literature which age has 
 made respectable. We are therefore confronted by 
 a great awakening of the Armenian race. It is 
 damaging to the cause of the Armenians to represent 
 them as miserable, helpless sheep. On the contrary, 
 they have proved themselves lions. The records of 
 Yildiz Kiosk may show what their resistance has cost 
 the Sultan ; but it is not likely that he will lower his 
 prestige by publishing figures to prove how stubborn 
 a stand they have made against his soldiery. 
 
 The Armenian national movement is of the greatest 
 inconvenience to Russia, and if successful would throw 
 all her calculations out of gear ; an independent 
 country between herself and Constantinople and 
 Persia would be a thorn in her side.
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 279 
 
 Therefore the poUcy of extermination could only be 
 grateful to Russia, and, in his endeavour to carry it 
 out, the Sultan could count upon and has received her 
 passive, if not her active, co-operation. 
 
 The course adopted by her Government in prohi- 
 biting my journey to Turkey across the frontiers of 
 the Caucasus is an eloquent corroboration of this 
 statement, if such were needed. 
 
 Russia's position as the protector of the confessors 
 of the Orthodox religion has not suffered by this 
 attitude, because the Armenian Christians do not 
 belong to the Orthodox Church. In the case of 
 Crete she was compelled to abandon her policy of 
 friendship towards the Sultan. 
 
 Whether this national awakening of the Armenians 
 will prove successful or will turn out to be a death 
 struggle remains to be seen ; but on March 12th, 1895,. 
 the Daily Grapliic published the following sentences, 
 which still express my opinions : — ■ 
 
 " Much as cynics may sneer at it, what we call modern 
 progress is an irresistible motive force which cannot to-day 
 be dammed up for any length of time by any form of 
 mediaeval barbarism. In these days of rapid communi- 
 cations, of commercial enterprise, of newspapers and 
 education, it is impossible to keep a people determined to 
 join the great march of intellect out of the procession. 
 Individual members will slip through the barriers of Govern- 
 mental police, and get among the onward pressing throng. 
 Their example will fire the rest, and no Kurds or Turks, nor 
 even Russian Cossacks, will be able to keep them back.
 
 2So ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 What has happened in Armenia? Here and there Ar- 
 menians have forced their way into the Universities of 
 western Europe ; numbers have emigrated to America. Is 
 it possible that they could have been disinfected from all 
 notions of liberty on their return? Their contagious ideas, 
 on the contrary, have been transmitted throughout the 
 length and breadth of their native land. Even the poor 
 peasants of Sassun spoke to me of autonomy. And what 
 force is Turkey opposing to this awakening? The dis- 
 integrating influence of uncivilised predatory nomadic tribes 
 of Kurds. To them has been confided the salvation of 
 Turkish Armenia. The situation is simply monstrous ! 
 AVill these Kurds lie able to dam up the swelling rivers of 
 modern enlightenment which are showing signs already 
 of broadening and overflowing their artificial banks? 
 Assuredly not." 
 
 I do not believe that a national movement can be 
 stopped, and I fancy that the Mrs. Partington mop of 
 the Sultan is too feeble an instrument to stem the 
 advancing tide. 
 
 Now Great Britain's duty is clear. If we allow the 
 Sultan to continue uninterrupted in his present course 
 of massacre and extermination he will not succeed — 
 it is impossible to exterminate a nation in that way. 
 Ikit he will bring about a general disintegration of his 
 dominions, and then the very thing that is feared will 
 liappen. The Powers will quarrel over the fragments. 
 They are not ready for war at present, and they do 
 not want this disintegration to occur until they are. 
 That is the true inwardness of the situation. 
 
 In order to prevent this war, Great Britain should
 
 THE ARMENIAN (2U EST ION. 281 
 
 step in before it is too late and restore order, by 
 deposing the Sultan and granting an autonomy to 
 Armenia ; not wait for the convenience of the Powers. 
 
 If we determine on adopting this course, we have 
 two factors to consider : one is Turkey, the other the 
 Powers. 
 
 Turkey, it is supposed, would oppose our passage 
 of the Dardanelles. Let us grant that she would 
 endeavour to do so. But what do we hear ? A 
 Russian general has just inspected the Dardanelles, 
 and has found them in so bad a condition that he has 
 made a report urgently recommending changes and 
 improvements. 
 
 Besides, it is doubtful whether the Turkish troops 
 would make a very brave fight of it. They are as 
 tired of the Sultan as most of his subjects, and many 
 of the officers belong to the Young Turkey party. 
 
 We have been told that if we forced the Dardanelles 
 we would run the risk of losing perhaps one or two of 
 our battleships. That is an unpleasant contingency, 
 but it is an argument which I hope would not deter 
 our sailors from doing their duty. Besides, I am 
 unsophisticated enough to believe that our battleships 
 were built to fight as well as to be looked at. 
 
 The possible active interference of the Powers is 
 another contingency. Let us review their position. 
 
 On paper, Russia is our most serious opponent, and 
 perhaps our only active enemy in the present case. 
 But, as I have shown in the previous chapter, the
 
 2S2 KOU\D ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 strength and efficiency of her navy are very much 
 exaggerated, and she is so permeated with corrup- 
 tion that even a victorious war would be disastrous 
 to her. 
 
 Within recent times Russia has had two ICuropean 
 wars. The first, the Crimean, demonstrated to the 
 satisfaction of everybody the collapse of the old 
 regime; it was the death of Nicholas I., and it com- 
 pelled Alexander II. to commence his reign with an 
 era of reforms. The second, the Russo-Turkish war, 
 was successful, but it revealed an amount of corruption 
 in the Russian army which was simply appalling. 
 The soldiers were fed on biscuits adulterated with 
 plaster of Paris, while the generals drank champagne. 
 The boots of the troops were made of paper. After 
 the war an enquiry was held into the malversations of 
 the authorities, with the result that three Grand Dukes, 
 two of them commanders of armies, were banished, 
 and several highly-placed persons imprisoned. That 
 war, it is said, made such an impression upon Alex- 
 ander III., then Heir Apparent, who also commanded 
 an army, that his fanaticism for peace dates from that 
 time. Besides, Russia is not prepared for, and cannot 
 go to, war. 
 
 France is a more dangerous factor, but it is in- 
 conceivable that any Government could possibly face 
 a war in favour of Turkey in view of the strong 
 popular indignation against the Sultan. Countries 
 like Austria, Germany, and 1^'rancc are nations under
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 283 
 
 arms, and with the present state of feeling among 
 the masses in Europe it is impossible for these 
 countries to make war on any other pretext than 
 that of self-defence. Unless they can raise the cry 
 that the nation is in danger there is little probability 
 of their being able to induce their subjects to bleed 
 for them. 
 
 But I do not believe in the seriousness of the 
 opposition of the Powers. That opposition is purely 
 diplomatic, and simply intended to drive England 
 into a corner and weaken her. It is the first step 
 towards the settlement of the Egyptian question, 
 which will be followed by the settlement of the South 
 African question, and so on. The Powers may indeed 
 unite to bring diplomatic pressure to bear upon us ; 
 but I doubt whether they could so far sink their 
 mutual difterences as to effectually combine against us. 
 
 Diplomacy is like a game of chess, and everybody 
 who plays the game by the recognised book openings 
 knows exactly what moves must be made in certain 
 circumstances. It is also very much like the art of 
 war as followed by the polite and accomplished 
 generals of Austria. Napoleon the Great, by his 
 disregard for the old-fashioned rules of the game, drew 
 down upon himself the condemnation of all polished 
 soldiers, and was accused of ungentlemanly conduct ; 
 but he won his battles. Prince Bismarck in the same 
 way made use of the forms and rules of diplomacy in 
 order to confound his opponents whenever he departed
 
 284 ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 from them. Oliver Cromwell was not what we should 
 
 call a diplomatist, but he knew how to uphold the 
 dignity of England. 
 
 There is, however, another factor in international 
 politics, besides diplomacy, which is perhaps even 
 more important, and that is finance. The great 
 financiers of Europe really pull the strings which 
 make the puppets of politics dance. It is very 
 generally believed that we are in Egypt to-day by 
 the grace of the Egyptian bondholders. Since our 
 occupation of that country those bonds have stood 
 above par. The Turkish bonds are not at present an 
 alluring investment, but it is quite possible that if we 
 actively intervened in Turkey their financial status 
 would be greatly improved. That consideration alone 
 should carry weight with the bourses of Europe. 
 
 For all these reasons I am therefore of opinion 
 that the Powers are playing a game of bluff. It is of 
 course possible that we may have submitted a scheme 
 for the partition of the Turkish Empire to which the 
 Powers do not see their way to agree. 
 
 Unless this is the case, I do not think that anything 
 can stand in the way of our actively intervening on 
 behalf of Armenia. Should our Intelligence Branch 
 opine that the Dardanelles were indeed impassable — ■ 
 which I do not think — why should we not land an 
 expeditionary force at Alcxandretta, and proceed to 
 bombard the Turkish ports of the Levant t Cyprus 
 still belongs to us.
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 2.S5 
 
 There is an objection, and so far as I can see, only- 
 one, to our actively coercing the Sultan, and that is the 
 probable impression such coercion might make on 
 our Mahomedan subjects in India. That objection 
 has been stated to me as a very valid one by an 
 eminent British diplomatist. I do not think it 
 amounts to much. From my experience of the 
 Oriental mind, I am convinced that Orientals mistake 
 consideration for weakness. We hold India by the 
 sword, and unless we are able to keep it by the sword 
 we shall lose it. Russia, who is herself only an 
 Oriental country in disguise, understands these things 
 better. A Russian officer explained to me one day that 
 the celebrated Penjdeh incident owed its occurrence 
 to the desire of the Russians to strike terror into the 
 hearts of the Afghans. Orientals have been ruled by 
 force so long that they understand no other argument 
 than force. 
 
 Some people imagine that if we attempt to coerce 
 Turkey, that would be the signal for a general 
 massacre of the Christian European colony of Con- 
 stantinople. But let it be clearly understood that if 
 a Christian is killed the Sultan will be hanged like a 
 common criminal, and I am convinced that not a hair 
 of a Christian's head would be injured. 
 
 Then again it is objected, that even if an autonomy 
 were granted to Armenia, that would not secure peace 
 and order on account of the large Kurdish population, 
 who would revolt.
 
 286 ROi'ND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 From the depositions of the Sassun peasants and 
 the lecture of Dr. Artzrun, I am inclined to think that 
 is another bogy. There are Kurds and Kurds, and it 
 would seem that some of them are even friendly to- 
 wards the Armenians, while the Armenian peasants 
 themselves told me that they stood in no fear of the 
 Kurds, and that the massacres had not been perpe- 
 trated by them, but by Turkish troops. A modus 
 Vivendi could, I am confident, be found without 
 difficulty between the Armenians and Kurds. We 
 have seen that the Kurds actually made overtures 
 to the Armenians to join forces with them against the 
 Sultan. One of the most influential of the Kurds is 
 a member of the Young Turkey party, and a violent 
 enemy of the Sultan. 
 
 In the Caucasus we find the greatest harmony and 
 good feeling existing between the Circassian, Georgian, 
 Lisguin, and other native populations, and the Ar- 
 menians, and there is consequently no reason to 
 suppose that the same happy results could not be 
 achieved in Turkish Armenia between the Armenians 
 and the Kurds. 
 
 Before concluding I should like to say a few words 
 about the dynamitards who entered tne Ottoman 
 Bank. These people have been reviled in the press 
 as though they were common criminals. In the first 
 place, it is not at all clear that they were not the 
 creatures of agents provocatcws, for it is most incredible 
 that the Sultan should have kept faith with them
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 287 
 
 otherwise, seeing how frequently he has broken his 
 word to his subjects. But supposing them to have 
 been genuine Armenian revolutionaries, I am not so 
 sure that the line of action they adopted was not 
 patriotic. One thing at least must be admitted. 
 They have, by their boldness and by provoking the 
 massacres in Constantinople, brought the Armenian 
 question a good many stages nearer towards solution. 
 The selfishness of mankind is proverbial. While a 
 hundred thousand or so of Armenians were killed in 
 the obscure villages of Asia Minor nobody took more 
 than a sort of academic interest in their fate ; but as 
 soon as Europe had these massacres brought to our 
 very doors, as it were, and enacted in the full view of 
 the Ambassadors of the Powers, the whole attitude 
 of the world changed. America joined with England 
 in the cr}- of indignation ; even Germany, France, and 
 Italy woke up. Everybody felt that things were 
 getting serious. 
 
 When I was at Tiflis I was approached by several 
 members of the violent revolutionary party and asked 
 what in my opinion the effect of a whiff of dynamite 
 would be on Europe in general. I implored them to 
 discard all thoughts of dynamite outrages from their 
 minds. By such measures, abhorrent to every civilised 
 countr}-. they would only alienate for ever the 
 s}-mpathy they then possessed. My very strong 
 expression of disapproval seemed to convince them, 
 and for over a year nothing was heard of dynamite.
 
 288 ROCND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 But presumably their patience was exhausted. They 
 had waited for the Powers to act, but the " Grandes 
 Faiblesses " remained true to the nickname they have 
 so righteously deserved, and meanwhile Armenians 
 were being slaughtered by the hundred thousand. 
 Is it surprising that they at last broke loose ? Rather 
 should we wonder at their marvellous patience and 
 moderation, and the diplomatic wisdom they displayed 
 in taking possession of the Ottoman Bank and not 
 blowing up Yildiz Kiosk, and thus provoking a 
 general massacre of all the Christians. 
 
 Some of the enemies of the Armenians have 
 described them to the European public as a lazy, 
 scoundrelly set of rogues and thieves, who live by 
 swindling the honest Mahomedan. That this is a 
 gross and infamous libel I hope I have abundantly 
 proved. Of course there are Armenian usurers, 
 money-lenders, and blood-suckers, but I am given 
 to understand that such persons may be found even 
 in London and of the English race. Yet we would 
 all of us be justly indignant if we were told that we 
 were a nation of swindlers. The Armenian peasants 
 are the wealth producers of Turkc}' — this cannot be 
 too strongly insisted on ; and to give them their 
 liberty could not have other than beneficial results 
 for the entire civilised world. Nevertheless, abuse of 
 the Armenians is no argument. Iwen if they were 
 as vile as they are made out to be, that is only another 
 reason why, in the interests of humanity at large, they
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION 
 
 should be liberated from conditions in which their 
 moral nature has been warped, and be given a chance 
 to work out their salvation. 
 
 England has to-day a great opportunity of re- 
 asserting her ancient claim to be regarded as the 
 friend of oppressed nationalities. And, fortunately for 
 her, such action would be in accordance with her own 
 best interests. 
 
 It is time that we showed the world that we are the 
 descendants of the men who fought at Trafalgar, and 
 that nearly a century of peace has not weakened our 
 nerves or softened our muscles. 
 
 England is in great danger of being slowly but 
 surely out-manoeuvred and squeezed into a corner by 
 the wily diplomatists of the Continent. Let us not 
 wait for their convenience and until they are ready 
 for us, but let us boldly take this Continental bull by 
 the horns and be confident that God will defend the 
 right. 
 
 If, however, it be decreed that we must go down, 
 and that the great power and might of England's 
 empire shall depart from us, then let us boldly 
 "take it fighting," even as our British traditions 
 would teach us to. Better to die like men than to 
 fall to pieces like a decomposing corpse. It is not 
 by weakly giving in to the Powers at every turn, as 
 we have done of late, that this great Empire can be 
 maintained. By the strength of our right arm have 
 we won and made it, and by the strength of our right 
 
 U
 
 2go ROUND ABOUT ARMENIA. 
 
 arm must we keep and defend it against the jealous 
 covetousness of our neighbours. 
 
 Therefore let every humane person, every patriotic 
 Englishman, demand loudly the liberation of Armenia, 
 and never think of the consequences. If we have to 
 face a war let us face it, and remember that to-day 
 the cause of the poor down-trodden Armenians is the 
 cause of the British Empire. 
 
 THE END.

 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abuses of Turkish regime, 27 
 Agricultural condition of Armenia, 
 
 118, 222, 243 
 Ahmid es Sultaneh, 186 
 , I become his 
 
 guest, 187 
 American missionaries in Trebizond, 
 
 39 
 
 Amusements of Cossack ofi&cers, 
 
 223 
 Andok, battle of, 96 
 Apology for Sultan, 18 
 Ardabil, 202 
 Aras, crossing the, 219 
 Armenia, extent of, 64 
 , the Switzerland of the 
 
 East, 266 
 Armenian amusements, 136 
 '• attitude towards Russia, 
 
 74, 240 
 
 169 
 
 ball, 144 
 brigands, 205 
 church, 65, 230 
 commercial travellers. 
 
 dinner-parties, 140 
 
 labour, annual emigra- 
 tion to Constantinople and 
 Caucasus, 40 
 
 illusions about England, 
 
 104 
 
 Armenian ladies, elegance of, 145 
 
 merchants at Enzeli, 173 
 
 — mercantile prosperity, 
 
 decline of, 36 
 
 money-lender, 48 
 
 " monks, 233, 238 
 
 national movement, in- 
 convenience of, to Russia, 278 
 
 Question, the, 266 
 
 peasantry, their life, 40, 
 
 120 
 
 political parties in Tiflis, 
 
 62 
 refugees, Russian Govern- 
 ment instructions concerning, 59 
 
 schools at Etchmiadzin, 
 
 231, 241 
 
 soldiers, 79, 82 
 
 theatre, 16, 135 
 
 villages in the Caucasus, 
 
 222, 243 
 
 wedding, 142 
 
 women, industry of, 121 
 
 , state of education 
 
 among, 13S 
 Armenians and Russian Nihilists, 
 22, 75, 278 
 
 as American citizens, 22 
 
 compare favourably with 
 
 the Dutch who revolted against 
 Philip II., no
 
 292 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Armenians, condition of, under 
 
 Alexander II., 69, 72 
 , condition of, under 
 
 Alexander III., 73 
 
 in Constantinople, num- 
 
 ber of, 19 
 
 in Persia, comparative 
 freedom of, 218 
 
 -, industry of, 109, 1 18, 
 
 126 
 
 of Tabreez, 212, 217 
 
 -, Russian opinion regard- 
 
 ing them, 49, 83 
 , the labourers of the 
 
 East, 62, 109, 118, 126 
 Austrian commanding Russian 
 
 steamer, 45 
 
 trade, 9 
 
 Astara, 198 
 
 Baku, 147 
 Balakhanui, 163 
 Balaklava, 254 
 Bastinado, the, 178 
 Baths, Persian and Russian con- 
 trasted, 227 
 Batoum, 43, 245 
 
 Bibles, 210 
 
 Bismarck's policy towards England, 
 
 272 
 Bosphorus, 25 
 Bribery and the Sultan, 42 
 
 in Russia, examples of, 160 
 
 British Embassy at Constantinople, 
 
 opinions of attachis regarding the 
 massacres, 20 
 
 Buffer state between Russia, Turkey, 
 and Persia, 267 
 
 Bulgaria, 3-1 1 
 
 Bulgarian army, 6 
 
 Byron's admiration for the Ar- 
 menians, 109, 135 
 
 Capitalism of Europe, 275 
 
 Carpets, Persian, manufactured in 
 England, 206 
 
 Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, 232 
 
 Catholicos, the, 66, 76, 235 
 
 Caspian, the, 167 
 
 Caucasus, industrial undertakings 
 of, fatality about, 159 
 
 , opinions of Russians con- 
 cerning the, 49 
 
 , police of the, 221 
 
 , Russia's vulnerable point, 
 
 169, 221, 243, 247 
 
 scenery, 45 
 
 , trade of, 84 
 
 Caviarre trade in Persia, 197 
 
 Character of Armenians vindicated, 
 288 
 
 Christian Missionaries and Ma- 
 homedans, 211 
 
 Chuppa travelling, 218 
 
 Circassians, 46 
 
 Colonies, 275 
 
 Condors, 206 
 
 Constantinople, 12 
 
 Continental hostility towards Eng- 
 land, reason for, 272 
 
 Cossack Colonel, a typical, 247 
 
 Cotton growing in the Caucasus, 48 
 
 Cows of Armenia, 117 
 
 Crossing the mountains in Persia, 
 199 
 
 Culture of Armenians, 135 
 
 Curzon's view of Persia, 185 
 
 Cyprus, 284 
 
 Dardanelles, 281, 284 
 
 Desolation of Sassun, 103 
 
 Despotisms of Russia, Turkey, and 
 Persia compared, 178 
 
 Diligence drive through the Cau- 
 casus, 243
 
 INDEX. 
 
 293 
 
 Diplomacy, 283 
 
 Dissatisfaction of commercial classes 
 of Turkey, 35 
 
 Distrust amongst Armenians, 63, 
 81 
 
 Donkeys in Persia, their pecu- 
 liarities, 206 
 
 Dreyfus and Co., 252 
 
 Dragomans, 17 
 
 Dynamitards, 2S6 
 
 Early marriages among Arme- 
 nians, 139 
 
 Easter, 1895, how I spent it, 219 
 
 Egyptian Question, 283 
 
 Emigration of Mahomedans from 
 Russia to Turkey, 153 
 
 England's danger, 289 
 
 duty, 269, 280 
 
 opportunity, 289 
 
 English and Russian Consuls, com- 
 parative position of, in the East, 
 
 30 
 
 and Russian soldiers in 
 
 Afghanistan, 58 
 
 Consul of Resht, 183 
 
 Tabreez, 208 
 
 Trebizond, 28 
 
 journalist eludes police 
 
 vigilance, 31 
 mechanics in the Turkish 
 
 service, 17, 19 
 railway from Alexandretta 
 
 to Tabreez, 217 
 Enzeli, 170 
 Erivan, 226 
 Etchmiadzin, 226 
 
 Fakirs, 200, 204 
 Famine, the, of 1879.. 123 
 Fanaticism and the massacres, 277 
 Fauna of Armenia, 116 
 
 Financiers of Europe and Turkish 
 
 bonds, 284 
 Flora of Armenia, 115 
 Food in Persia, 193 
 France a dangerous factor, 282 
 French pioneer of industry in the 
 
 Caucasus, 248 
 
 Geographical position of Eng- 
 land, 273 
 
 German views, 12 
 
 Germany and Russia, contrast 
 between, 265 
 
 Gibbon's account of Armenia, 65 
 
 Governor-General of the Caucasus, 
 
 54 
 Grain trade of Russia, 251, 262 
 Greek merchants in Russia, 251, 
 
 261 
 Greeks discontented, 35 
 
 Hamedji, Turkish Cossacks, 34 
 Hardships of travelling in Persia, 
 205 
 
 Imperial Bank of Persia, 186 
 Indifferent Armenians, 80 
 Industries of Armenians, 120 
 Insular angularity, 272 
 Isolation of England, 273 
 
 Jewish merchants in southern 
 
 Russia, 251, 261 
 Julfa, on the Russian frontier, 219 
 
 Kertch, 252 
 
 Kerganarud, 194 
 
 Kourapatkine's, General, report, 
 
 184 
 Kurds, habitations of, 116 
 
 in the pay of Russia, 34 
 
 , their treachery, 126
 
 294 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Land tenure in Armenia, 127 
 
 Pasturages of Armenia, 117 
 
 Lawlessness in Turkey, illustration 
 
 Pera, 16 
 
 of this, 41 
 
 Persia a Russian protectorate, 186 
 
 Legal status of Armenians in 
 
 
 ) cllllVcXi ill) *• 1^ 
 
 Turkey, 36 
 
 ^1 „ ^C ^^/C 
 
 
 Library of Etchmiadzin, 233 
 
 , English influence in, on the 
 
 Lobanoff-Rostovski, Prince, 3, 272 
 
 wane, 185 
 
 
 , enterprise in, Russia's op- 
 
 Macedonia, 9-1 i 
 
 position to all, 186 
 
 Mahomedans in India, 285 
 
 Persia's policy, views of a Persian 
 
 Manna, 119 
 
 statesman, 187 
 
 Massacres planned by Sultan, 37, 
 
 Persian bazaars, iSl, 208 
 
 85 
 
 bits, 195 
 
 Mineral wealth of Armenia, 1 14 
 
 boatmen, 1 72 
 
 Modern progress and Armenia, 279 
 
 bulls, 175 
 
 Molokane, 225 
 
 
 cavairy, \.^'^^ 194 
 
 Moscow manufacturers, their in- 
 fluence and selfishness, 159 
 
 i^^«r-,-.l /^««««,-.l ^■TT'ifl;^ f£i 
 
 
 costunicSj lol 
 
 Mshakists, 74 
 
 frontier, anarchy there, 211 
 
 Murghab, the, 175 
 
 ■ flag prohibited on the Cas- 
 
 Mrs. Partington and the Sultan, 
 
 pian, 171 
 
 280 
 
 Government, 178 
 
 Museum of the Caucasus, 53 
 
 Gulf, Russia wants to get 
 
 
 there, 185, 267 
 
 Naval officers, life of, at Sevas- 
 
 horses, 193 
 
 topol, 256 
 
 hospitality, my experience 
 
 New Athens, 249 
 
 of, 190 
 
 Nihilism, 278 
 
 
 ■ JJCcioailLiyj *■ 1 1 
 
 Nicholas IL, his famous speech. 
 
 
 oLlUJCLLb yjl. iXllooiti |JiCH,l 
 
 148 
 
 Russian rule, 198 
 
 Nobel syndicate, 157 
 
 .,,«,^, «., wQf* 
 
 
 Novorossisk, 251 
 
 Persians, compared with Turks, 
 
 181 
 Piano-tuners in the East, 241 
 
 Odessa, 260 
 
 Oil industry of Baku, 156 
 
 Pir Bazaar, 174 
 
 
 , Armenian clerks at, 174 
 
 
 Government towards, 158 
 Origin of Sassun massacres, 90, 277 
 
 rnnr! \c\ Pr^^ht" \*^f\ 
 
 Pit of Galeguzan, 97, lOO, 107 
 
 
 Policy of England, 273 
 
 Park of Baku, 155 
 
 Polygamy, 12 
 
 Passport difficulties, 31, 56, 173, 
 
 Popular feeling on the Continent 
 
 214, 227, 242 
 
 would prevent war, 282
 
 INDEX. 
 
 295 
 
 Ports of Black Sea, Turkish, 26 
 
 Powers bluffing, 2S3 
 
 , conspiracy of the, against 
 
 England, 271 
 Printing works of Etchmiadzin, 
 
 241 
 Protection, 275 
 Punishments inflicted by Turks on 
 
 Armenians, loi 
 
 Resht, 180 
 
 Revolutionary Armenian party, 79, 
 
 287 
 Rothschild Oil Syndicate, 157 
 Rouble, the rise of the, 263 
 Russia and Turkey, 73, 279 
 , cause of Armenian outrages 
 
 to be sought in, 277 
 
 -, England's most serious 
 
 opponent, 281 
 Russian ambitions, 267 
 
 Black Sea fleet, 255, 259 
 
 colonies on the Caspian, 
 
 197 
 
 Consul of Resht, 184 
 
 Tabreez, 208 
 
 Trebizond, 33 
 
 custom-house officials, 220 
 
 Government prohibits my 
 
 travelling in the Caucasus, 55 
 
 influence at Resht, 175 
 
 merchants, debauched life 
 
 of, 164 
 
 middle-classes, their atti- 
 tude towards the Government, 
 244. 253 
 
 monks, 250, 265 
 
 Navj', 258 
 
 officers at Tiflis, 58 
 
 peasants, 197, 264 
 
 - population of the Caucasus, 
 
 Russian public schools and the 
 
 Armenians, 84 
 railway schemes for Persia, 
 
 184 
 sects, exiled to the Cau- 
 casus, 225 
 Russia's altered attitude towards 
 
 Armenia, 71, 231 
 
 — hold on Persian trade, 185 
 
 political condition, 69, 
 
 278 
 power of concentrating 
 
 troops for a descent on India or 
 
 Persia, 1 68 
 renascence, 67 
 
 83 
 
 Sassun massacres, story of, 85 
 Sentimental enthusiasm of the 
 
 British public, 268 
 Sevan, the Siberia of Armenian 
 
 monks, 243 
 Sevastopol, 255 
 Shah's palace at Enzeli, 171 
 Sheep of Armenia, 117 
 Silk culture, Russian Government 
 
 fostering, 48 
 Sofia, 5 
 
 Socialism, causes of, 275 
 , fear of, on the Continent, 
 
 276 
 Sourakhani, 164 
 South African Question, 283 
 Stambuloff", 8 
 , a believer in a great 
 
 Slavonic Republic, 75 
 Steamers on the Caspian, 167, 169 
 StoilofF, 8 
 
 Sulphur Baths of Tiflis, 54 
 Sultan, character of, 14 
 
 , passion for detail of, 19 
 
 Sweating at Baku, 157 
 in Persia, 172
 
 296 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tabreez, 208, 216 
 
 Turkish troops, 20, 26, 29 
 
 
 
 
 281 
 of 
 
 Tarantass travelling, 221 
 Tartar millionaires at Baku, 164 
 
 
 Liixiiuiiiibj cvnaciik-Co 
 
 
 Taxation of Armenians in Turkey, 
 
 Russian influence, 19 
 
 
 127, 130 
 
 
 
 Tea-growing in the Caucasus, 46 
 
 United States, opinions 
 
 of 
 
 Terrell, Mr., interview with, 21 
 
 American Minister, 21 
 
 
 Theatrical enterprises, cost of, in 
 
 
 
 Russia, 165 
 
 Vali of Trebizond, 32 
 
 
 Tiflis, 51 
 
 Vices of Armenians, 122 
 
 
 Timber, scarcity of, II5 
 
 Villages destroyed at Sassun, list of. 
 
 Tobacco-fields of Enzeli, 175 
 
 III 
 
 
 Top-hane, 16 
 
 
 
 Trebizond, 28 
 
 War, danger of, 280 
 
 
 1 i C^ -* *. .^ ^ 
 
 , England to prevent, 280 
 
 , Russia's dread of, 282 
 
 
 -, me at, 33 
 Turk, laziness of, 127 
 
 
 Turkish Consul of Tabreez, 214 
 
 Washing in Persia, 193 
 
 
 fleet, 14 
 
 Wines of Armenia, 119 
 
 
 misrule in Asia Minor, 26 
 
 
 
 J. i.v;_„ _f ^^ 
 
 Young Turkey Party, 12 
 
 
 
 
 r'-r^Xt^r- rt« »^ * « 1 f- /C T M^ 
 
 
 
 - spies on my iracK, 30, ijo^ 
 
 
 181, 189, 213 
 
 Zekki Pasha, 16, 18 
 
 
 LONDON : I'RINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMIIED. 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
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 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 Series 9482
 
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