St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-10-15
Letter from Turkey.
SIvAs, TURKEY, Aug, 80.
Concluded.

SIvAs, TURKEY, Aug, 80.
IConcluded.l
One evening before sunset upon reach
ing village, the chief man in prepar-
ing a room for US, according to custom
to lay the dust of the earth floor made
it so damp before he swept it with the
broom made of a bundle of dried herbs,
that we dared not enter, until fire was
made to dry the air of this cellar-like
place, for fever and ague are very pre-
valent here. Afterwards, when we
seated ourselves outside the door with
a piece of newspaper, men began to
approach nearer and nearer, and as they
saw we seemed to be harmless and not
armed, their curiosity soon led them to
feel of the paper and our dresses; final
ly the longing to hear something there
was in the paper led them in their ca
gerness to crowd us so that we were
compelled to retreat into the house for
safety. Their large, dark eyes were
like those of oxen and cows,--no look
of intelligence in them, but perfect as
tOnishment had drawn them to us and
invited them to the spot.
Nothing SO impresses one with the
antiquity of this land as the vast cities
of the dead which surround every large
town, and even little villages of 20 OIL
80 houses will have hundreds of graves
near them. As you approach you know
if the stones are all upright that it is a
Moslem town, for only MohammedanS
are permitted to have upright grave
stones; not unfrequently you will see
three separate places of burial, reveal
ing at glance that three races inhabit
that town. In Vermont, where many
of our towns do not date back more
than century, we think that our ceme-
teries are large; but think of these
resting places of the dead which have
been used for perhaps thousands Of
years! Occasionally we pass on oul
journeys the tomb or burial place ot
some distinguished Turk, whose grave
is surrounded by rude fence, and
where travellers stop to tie a bit OF
bright cloth in honor of the departed
one, as some 300 to 500 have done be-
fore, and say their prayers looking to-
ward Mecca, hoping they will thus be
preserved from robbers. We observed
a poor traveller, whose feeble old horse
had severe collie, occasioned by
drinking too much cold water, and he
was pulling the old creature around
this holy place. To our irreverent
eyes exercise seemed an excellent thing
to cure him, but no such thoughts en-
tered the mind of the animals owner
and the cure was not effected, for only
with forcible arguments and the CO.
operation of the owner was the pool
beast able to reach the next village
where he was left for nature to restore
him if possible.
The animals in this land are all infe.
rior in size to those in America: you
can purchase a good little horse fol
$50, and few horses, except occasionally
an Arabian steed, owned by some ricf
man, are held at more than 500; bu
now we are SO near the region where
famine prevails, we could not keep ont
for less than $50, and doubtless barle,
and straw enough to keep one in gooi
condition would cost more than that
but the mud here is as deep as in tn,
muddy regions of the West, for the mut
in this land has quite too much glue il
it, and adheres to your feet until yol
are reminded of the sugar SHOWS in Yer
mont which form balls on your feet
only this clay mud is so heavy that yol
are obliged to try more than once be
fore you can raise your feet from th
ground.
The horses are only broken to tn,
bit, and do not like American saddles
You can hire horse for twenty-fiv,
cents to ride for two hours, but yol
must take what you can get; it may b.
a colt three years old, or a hard hors,
which has worked until standing still i
its strong point, and you work your pas
sage or a good horse with raw plac,
as large as your hand on his back, ant
in return for carefully cushioning thi
place for his comfort, he runs away will
you, refuses to let any one pass you ant
elevates his hind feet at irregular in
walls, giving variety and additional ex
ercise to your ride. We see occasiona
hocks of beautiful Angora goats, ani
the little snow-white and jet black kid
are beautiful creatures. The sheer
have long ears, that stand out mucf
farther in front than those in America
wool is used almost entirely for com