Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/445

Rh no means of defraying them. The tax-gatherers, moreover, frequently give the poor people teskerés, or receipts, for the preceding year, (by which artifice they pocket the money themselves,) and should they happen to go into a different district, or another official be appointed to their own, they are generally called upon to produce these vouchers, and forced to pay a second time. The villagers assured me that the proceedings of these officials were vexatious in the extreme. They always come accompanied by several followers, take possession of the best houses during their stay, make the most preposterous demands upon them for luxuries which they never heard of, eat up their stock of provisions, and on leaving, give them a piastre or two, so as to be able to say that they paid for their entertainment, according to the requirements of the Tanzeemât! It is possible, indeed, that conduct such as this may not be sanctioned by the governor of Bash Kala; but no Nestorian would dare to complain of it, lest he should bring down upon himself the vengeance of these Turks, who are for the most part uneducated unprincipled men, promoted to office by the favouritism of the Pashas from amongst their orderlies, pipe-bearers, or coffeemakers. Only very lately, a circumstance occurred which, had not mercifully thwarted the wicked designs of the conspirators, might have been attended with serious consequences to the Nestorians. It appears that two of these tax-gatherers had been sent by the government to collect the kharâj from the villages of lower Tyari. The subaltern officer entered into a compact with two of his followers to do away with their superior, and to lay the blame upon Mar Shimoon and the Nestorians of the district. Just as the scheme was matured and about to be executed, one of the accomplices disclosed the plot, and thus saved the Christians from what would readily have been construed into a just ground for some fresh act of tyranny and oppression.

Hearing that Mar Shimoon was then at Be-Rawolé, about six hours distant, I despatched a messenger to inform him of our arrival, and requesting him to send me the Ordination services of the Nestorians. We then chatted with the villagers