DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4752#0125
OF ASIA MINOR 115
he called sherbet, which was only dirty-looking
water sweetened with sugar. Sterrett manfully
drank his glass, and kept up our credit for decent
manners; but I could not get the stuff down.
The same general type of character seemed to rule
everywhere we met them ; and in 1886 Brown and
I, crossing the Eastern Haimane, spent a night at
the camp of the other great Bey, and I acquired a
positive dislike for Kurds. They were not inhospit-
able : they sold us all we wanted, and invited us
to call on the great man, close to whose tent ours
was pitched. But they were to me repellent; and
I doubt if I could ever have been able to get on
friendly terms with them.
The Kurds of the Haimane had the reputation
of being very unruly and dangerous. At one time
they were practically independent, and paid no
tribute; but now they are more peaceable. It
seemed advisable in 1883 to take a zaptieh, in order
to have some show of authority, while we were
wandering in this district. He told us that the
Kurds were now perfectly quiet, and travelling was
quite safe : it had been very different formerly, but
the present Kaimmakam, a Circassian, had taught
them a lesson: he could not, of course, get
authority to execute any of them (p. 149), but he
had a practice of beating severely any one that
was arrested, and it chanced that every one after
he called sherbet, which was only dirty-looking
water sweetened with sugar. Sterrett manfully
drank his glass, and kept up our credit for decent
manners; but I could not get the stuff down.
The same general type of character seemed to rule
everywhere we met them ; and in 1886 Brown and
I, crossing the Eastern Haimane, spent a night at
the camp of the other great Bey, and I acquired a
positive dislike for Kurds. They were not inhospit-
able : they sold us all we wanted, and invited us
to call on the great man, close to whose tent ours
was pitched. But they were to me repellent; and
I doubt if I could ever have been able to get on
friendly terms with them.
The Kurds of the Haimane had the reputation
of being very unruly and dangerous. At one time
they were practically independent, and paid no
tribute; but now they are more peaceable. It
seemed advisable in 1883 to take a zaptieh, in order
to have some show of authority, while we were
wandering in this district. He told us that the
Kurds were now perfectly quiet, and travelling was
quite safe : it had been very different formerly, but
the present Kaimmakam, a Circassian, had taught
them a lesson: he could not, of course, get
authority to execute any of them (p. 149), but he
had a practice of beating severely any one that
was arrested, and it chanced that every one after