Year: 1877

In q former letter | spoke Of a
visit to the Adshara district, and an
unexpected circumstance induced
me to 60 there in spite of the rain.
Some officers, in an unguarded
moment Of hilarity, forgot that l
was a Giaour, and spoke in my pres
ence of pretty Christian girls being
for sale at the low price Of 1000 to
1000 piastres, in the neighborhood
of the camp. They soon repented
their communicativeness, and all
my endeavors to find out the place
were in vain. | could learn no
more than that the unhappy girls
were Greeks, eleven in number,
who had been carried off few DAYS
before by the Adshares, as they
were at work in the gardens Of
their village. Probably most of the
readers of the Standard are like
your correspondent; / had no idea
that in the northeast of ASiatic
Turkey the robbery Of human be-
ings to be sold into slavery still
fiourished. | thought l might by
chance learn more in the land of
the robbers on the subject, and
therefore set out the day before
yesterday before sunrise. 1t was
impossible to ride on the slippery
clayey soil, SO we Bought light I-Al-
zian shoes and leather CATERS. Our
first attempts at walking were not
very successful, but after few
hours we managed to keep up with
our two TAzian guides. We passed
the chain of sentinels, which ex-
tends from the headquarters to the
Adshara valley, and in parts is very
weak, in others altogethers want
ing. The twenty battalions of ir-
regulars which would have to pre-
vent an attack coming from the
east had returned to their villages
on account of the bad weather,
and left only a small number be-
hind them. Probably they will not
return until there is some prospect
of battle. AS far as the frontier
mountains we did not see Il single
habitation, and only some miles
from the river we met with several
forsaken wooden houses in which
we took up our quarters for the
night Early yesterday We centin-
ned our way to the river, and
few miles up it to Ghitta, where
Ismail Bey, the chief of the tribe,
which can place six thousand to
eight thousand armed men in the
field, lives. We were led TO the
house of the Bey, who received us
with true Oriental grandezzl. He
would not allow us to cleanse our
mud-covered clothes until we had
squatted down on divan covered
with red woollen stuff and partaken
ofcofIee and a chibouque /; then we
were led into an elegant room, ac-
cording to Oriental ideas, and here
allowed to get rid Of as much dirt
as possible and have a sleep.


lsmail Bey, at the present mo-
ment the most powerful .robber
chief in the world, is one of the
most remarkable looking men | |
have met in the East. His face is
almost white, and its fine profile is
not spoiled by any whiskeFs OF
beard. The effect of the hooked
nose is softened by a coquettish
little mustache, and with his slight |
figure heis a striking contrast to
the corpulent, apathetic Turkish
dignitaries. But his restless ewes
have something very disquieting
about them. While overwhelming |
US with marks of hospitality, he
kept assuring us that he hated the |
English to death and could not
bear the Turks. ] learned here
that he receives a considerable |
Russian pension. | fear the st. |
Petersburg government, by paying
a large sum to this strange vassal
Of the Porte, might purchase a free
passage for their troops through |
the Adshara Valley. In that case
Batoum would be hopelessly lost.
Paskiewitsch was able to purchase
peace from the Lazan Beys with |
money. We were aroused from our
slumbers to go to the house OF the
Hodscha lecclesiastic), who de-
manded surgical aid of us Ny
dragoman being successful in