The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-11-15
THE CITY OF TREB,zonp.

Some Of the Main Features Of - ImPof-
tant City In western ASIA
Trebizond is city of some thirty
thousand Inhabitants Persia begins
here, practically If not politically, and
the road from Trebizond. through Erze-
roum. to Tabreez, or Tauris, the largest
city in Persia, Is the oldest caravan
route in the world. All the merchan-
disc from the north of Persia to western
Europe and England passes over it, and
the return tariff is equally important
The time of transit is rather uncertain.
We were told in Tabreez that it often
took three months from Persia to the
Black Sea by camel caravans. which
usually travel by night, and rest dur
ing the day. When they reached a
grassy nook, or fertile hollow high
among the hills, the beasts are un-
loaded and turned out to pasture,
while the drivers light their camp-fires
and brazen samovars under roughly ex-
temporized shelters of rugs and hempen
mats, erected among the square bales
of merchandise packed at Tabreez or
Teheran.
The main bazar Of Trehizond. which
is interesting on account Of the variety
of its products from the east and the
far west, has one long artery partly
rooted over, and some narrower par
allel veins of commerce struggling up
and down the hill: it is particularly
rich in the emboidered bags and sad
dlery and the roughly picturesque mule
trappings Of Asia Minor and Kurdistan.
Here, too, are weapons of every de-
scription, from the silver-hiited pistols
and swords left by the Kurdish cava-
liers, to the latest Martini and Win
chester rifles. The genuine Smith &
Wesson revolver is not rare. but more
frequent still is the clever imitation
made in Russian workshops.
In the center of the town is small
parklike inelosure. much frequented
by resident Persians as tea-garden,
and nothing stronger than eff5rvesent
lemonade is sold there Nearby are
several great caravansaries with court
yards, where the ''arabas' and other
quaint vehicles from the interior are
put up. A winding road bordered, by
pleasant gardens and cemeteries with
venerable black expresses leads to the
hills high above the bay. Down this
road come the Kurdish horsemen and
the long camel trains led by fat-faced
and ruddy Tartar drivers. their sun
burnt cheeks shaded by shaggy peaked
caps of camers-hair or sheepskin. The
leading camel, always majestic
brute, carries his head proudly aloft,
decorated with a ponderous mass of
colored tassels and jingling bells
A favorite resort in the late after
noon is little Persian tea-garden by
the roadside. looking down on the
harbor and the distant town. The
view is like vigneete, framed by trel-
lises with vine leaves and the dropping
fronds of the weeping willow. Pink
and white-fiowering
shrubs are set in moss-covered pots
and boxes. A rude projecting balcony,
higher up, over the shrubbery, is fre-
quented by Turks, whose turbaned
heads cut like black silhouettes against
the pale orange of the evening sky.
Only tea is served here, and the wait
ers are two Persian boys, who bring it
in small glass cups, together with burn
ing Goals in metal trays, for the kaly-
ans and cigarettes of the loungers at
the little round tables A row of dis
tant and slender expresses of inky
blackness is penciled against the sky
Lord Weeks, in Harper's Mag
aZine