Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/174



1. The Scenery in a Turkish Street. The Turkish cities are generally in good locations. The streets are narrow, irregular and dirty. The houses are large and strong, but not attractive. They have but few and small windows, and are on the second floor. Every house is surrounded by a high and thick stone wall, with only one gateway, which is locked or barred day and night. In the interior of Turkish houses, from the most destitute to the most elegant and royal, in the houses of poverty and wealth, we find the same degree of sin and misery.

The scenes and events of a Turkish street cannot be told on paper. Muleteers and carriage men drive and curse their animals and cry to the passing multitude, "Be careful; let it not touch you." Street sellers are crying in every style and tone. Porters are carrying heavy burdens on their backs. Dervishes are howling and the fortune-tellers prophesying. The public criers are making official announcements: "O, Moslem servants! may Allah give long life to our padishah (Sultan)! Hereafter whoever walks in the streets after three o'clock in the evening (three hours after sunset), whether he has a lamp or not, will be arrested and imprisoned and heavily fined; this is the command of his excellency, our governor.