St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-10-08


even in August the old Hays is murky
with the red soil which mingles with
its waters. All these instrumentalities
combine to fertilize the land which fol
so many centuries has yielded 80, 60,
and even 100 fold.
There is good deal of lime in the
stones of this region, and you can pick
up pieces of quite pure gypsum twice
as large us your fist. The practiced eye
in travelling will detect village or city
long distance off, when a stranger
would only see little roughness of the
land; perhaps a village nesting in
some valley and betrayed by the smoke
of the fire, resembling haze or mist in
the distance, and the traveller hastens
on and overtakes the flocks and herds,
which ale an additional proof that
there is a camp or village near. The
location of these villages are always
determined by the presence of water,
usually a fountain, where the entire
village are in the habit of gathering to
perform their ablutiOns; they get wa
ter i'll copper kettles, much larger at
the bottom than the top (made in this
way to save fueD, or in immense un-
glazed jugs to take to their houses. You
think you will try the native manner of
washing, so armed with towel and
soap, you proceed to the fountain (or
watering trough) and find a fat old
Turk has taken possession of the place,
and you dare not intrude by approach
ing too near, as this is Ramason, one of
the great fasts and no Turk can eat from
the rising of the sun to the going down
of the same, and what he feels more
keenly, is he cannot smoke, so you wait
impatiently ten minutes for him to pu-
rify himself, and every moment the
crowd about you gathers, Greek, Ar
menian, Turk and Koord, mostly wo-
men and children, come nearer as
they find you harmless, and wish to
know where you come from, whether
married 3? Did you make your hat, and
every woman must put her hand on it.,
and in no gentle way, until you are
glad to take it off in self defense. An
old Koordish woman, to show her dis
appreciation of your uncovered head
says, "She is an infidel dog; she wears
a hat" the reply is, ~ believe in God
as much as you do" Astonished for a
moment only, she retorts, "Say that
Mohammed is the prophet of God,
then"
One day we launched beside stream
at the entrance of a village, and soon
learned that our drinking water must
come fiom that source; we looked up
and down for the best place to obtain
it; above two men were fording it,
near us some 40 geese were alternately
basking on the bank or floating on its
surface !; below us, a fOOt-worn pilgrim
bathed his weary feet, and a dog cool
ed his tongue by his side; little fur
ther down, a man had driven in his
buffaloes to cool themselves in the ele-
ment of which they are always so fond
still farther down the stream several
boys were enjoying MONDAY bath
We drank no water that day, for none
of the party seemed to care for any.
Mr.. Bartlett of Cesarea had what we
should call in America an express wag-
on, made very narrow to run in the
roads in the fiat country south of us.
Nothing like this had been seen beyond
BrOosa, and in all the villages such
queer, strange persons as crowded
aboutit and felt of the tongue, wheels.
frame, in fact all parts were handled by
the more intelligent; one man gazed a
long time at the step on the side, and
at last discovered what it was intended
for, and such look of delight as came
to him at the discovery! L. B. c.
Concluded next week.