The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-12-31
LIFE IN ASIA MINOR.
LETTER FROM NARY IRVING.

So little is known beyond the ocean of III;
in these interior cities of Asia Minor, that sow,
notes from this high table-land may serve +
instruct as well as to amuse your readers.
This city of Sivas, seated among environi at
hills, on q plateau some four thousand fse
above the level of the sea, enjoys fine, dy
bracing atmosphere, and most pleasantly to "a
pered summer heat. The winters are lo4g
clustering, and cold; but their discomforts ire
little needed by the well-inured natives, W o
shutting themselves within walls of stone, mi d
and mortar, two or three feet thick, wrap ag
themselves in furs and woollens, and envel p
ing their heads in clouds of fragrant smo Sc
pass their days in a manner, however unin el
lectual, most agreeable to themselves. . be
poor little children suffer most, as they are Of en-
left to run, with bare, purple feet, over the IN.
covered stone floors. This mode of treatme at
like that of the ancient Spartans, kills ell be
weak, and tends to strengthen those str{ ng
enough to live through it. So that, althot Oh
mo IT of the children whom we meet are health FOL
and rudy, it is not uncommon to find lat
their parents have buried more than the nv IN.
Der still surviving.
There are three routes from Tocat to silva -
a narrow mountain road, impossible in win er,
from the SHOWS; wider summer road, i'm as.
sable in spring, from the melting of tb use
SHOWS, which swell the unbridged rivers; shd
more accommodating, but longer pathS W,
which will probably be the guide to the prof CT
ed railway. Along the first named of tbsse
highways we took our winding way" ne
clouded morning of August. The ascent as
quite steep for some hundreds of feet, until we
reached the rim of the hillbasin which clio; .ly
shuts in the city of Tccat. Then, pausin( to
look down on the red roofs and brown W Ms
in their emerald setting of lourishing vineya De,
we waved farewell to them for tin,e, nd
pressed forward, though under pouring RI in
Before many hours, we were IN as we'll as
under the clonds, while crossing ,dge of
Tschumla Bel Dagh, pine Ridge) Tie v sw
from this mountain is ordinarily very s.leas INT
one, but was limited in our case, to f. " ys IDS
beyond the heads of our horses. Pie b ses
everywhere doomed through the miat tho Oh
by no means such pine trees as our Vest .rD
forests can show. Sweet wild howers-the le-
mats, the harebell, and hundreds tbs i've
neither name nor notice in Woods Rotan -
peeped mp from road side and hilltop.
Nine hours steady riding brought us to he
mudbuilt village of Gharkin, our half' ray
house. This hamlet the abode of sheph. IDS
and cattle'tenders, stands ON high eleva ion
at the foot of Yeldiz Dagh, Star Mou6tain q
beautiful peak, probably Of volcanic orr in,
which shoots up like pyramid into ,he Ky,
and commands q view of the far.awsy 81 .ck
Sea. The natives have q curious story about
the rising of the sun, az beheld from this int
of observation, quite in keeping with their en-.
sgs geogipapsSa IDEAS They ssy the ge
bound to disengsge himself from the wat rs
but the latter are too strong for him, and sv sep
him downward. A second time he strug lies
skyward. again to be overwhelmed. Ap Ito,
grown desperate, at length gathers all his
strength for q third leap, which carries him c ear
of the waves, to the height of nearly a sard
above the horizon!
A fact far more interesting than this fa icy,
biased upon some freak Of refraction.) is the
following: On the summit are found, say the
natives, near q fine spring of water, the rem lins
of an ancient, strong stone fort Nov, ST. abo
describes such mountain as this, with q oev.
er-failing spring at it's summit, and says that
here was one of the frmest stronghelds OF old
King Mithridates. We cast longing looks TO-
ward the towering peak, but had no time hen
to go and verify the reports.
We found in the village a hut for oui &C.
commodation, stable and all under one mud
roof, as usual. Going down into the room,
which was more than half under ground, lighted
dimly by two holes near the root, we kindled
bright fire Of pine knots, brought from the
mountains, and rested from our days lsbors.
First, however, it was necessary to exclude what
little light came in from the world without, by
fastening bits of newspapers over the rude win.
dows aforesaid, at which ona curious phz after
another was being framed in fast succession.
But alas for our anticipssions of pleasant
rest They were doomed to such a realization
as too often haunts the tired traveller seeking
sleep in these vermin-infested hooks So,
with moonlight we prepared for fresh ttart
Early though it was, the thousands of sheep
and cattle about the village, watched by their
grim dog-gusrdians, had already began to
browse the dry, coarse grass.
We fell into the shadow Of the hills that
skirt the river Hays, after the su1 arosi and
proceeded very pleasantly for time. soon,
however, we forsook the region of strean and
trees, and came upon wide, dreary plain,
which might have passed for ON Illinois prai
RE, but tor its utter restitution of q w RS or
green grass. Some struggling spires of grass
had indeed found root there, and served Sartly
to bind together the caked soil, which every
where yawned in vide seams but their ,reen-
ness had long ago withered up under th sum.
mer suns. The parched, desert-like land acted
as a reflector to the suns rays, and ref 'dered
the heat almost intolerable. At the We fge of
this plain we came upon curious tract o. some
acres in extent, covered by what seems B. have
been shower of small stones, strongly sug
gestive of the dragons teeth sown by Gao mus ,
Leaving this ARABIA Desertas and cara
bia Petrea" in miniature, we descend ID alb
ruply ledge of white Limestone, two b. inbred
feet in height, and after another hours riding
along a road diversified by neither trtie nor
shrub, came in sight of this city, the capital of
oar " Pachalk" Its cool, bluish- green adorn.
ing of willows and Lombardy poplars never
looked more grateful to weary eyes than 10 ours,
after that horseback ride of ffty-four miles.
Spread out upon the plain, with it's white min.
arets and its mud-colored buildings, mostly sur.
mounted by grass grown roofs, it realized, far
better than Tocat, the ideal of an Oriental city.
formed in childhood from the pictures in "Peter
Parley's Geography"
Sivas is strictly, and of necessity, CONNER.
cial city; for its summers are too short and cool
for the cultivation of most agricultural prod.
ucts. Scarcely any fruit trees are found hardy
| enough to bud and bloom here. Only wheat
| and barley-.he chief subsistence of man and
of besst-are thickly sown upon the wide plain
surrounding the city. From some one Of the
environing hills, this plain looks like many
| colored map-a Germany in miniature with
it's ferceless patches Of crops in various stages
of progress, intersected by bitches dug for the
purpose Of irrigation. In consequence Of this
state of things, three-fourths of the fifty thou.
ssnd inhabitants hera live by the business of
buying and selling. The "bazsars" are quite
extensive and complicated.
Having desire to venture where no woman