| Show LETTER FROM SYRIA since last writing to you we hav nave changed our field of labor from adana to a city on the Ja noat Ohern borderline border line of syria and k I 1 a place of some note as a seat of learning here the protestants have a good college a hospital and an orphanage from adana to we traveled about due et east a distance of about miles over a very interesting country traveling in this part is still quite dangerous and few persons risk the trip alone people are yet at times stripped and killed and the animals of the caravan run off to aleppo or other large cities for sale the government have some stations at certain places and in order to secure peace hive have h ive ave erected a fort on n glaur mount a mountain noted as being for a long time the home of robbers dervish pasha is said to have had the honor of conquering the brigands brigande bri gands only a few years ago therefore now with a reasonable amount of precaution people who travel in caravans of ten men and upward may do so with tolerable safety A few minor offenses had been committed by roving brig ands just previous to our journey but we traveled quite unmolested and felt very thankful to our heavenly father for his continued blessings we noticed many things of interest pa a few of which I 1 will briefly mention one matter bound to command especial attention is that of so much fine country richly provided with the elements necessary to sustain life ly ine almost without inhabitants the first three days out from adana we traveled a distance of about 70 miles over the chukur valley the soil of which here is a fine loam easy to cultivate and yields a very good crop even with the poor tending which the natives give it this eastern part of the valley is richly watered by several streams something like the cottonwood creeks flowing from the wasatch mountains salt lake county and also a large centre stream called the jihan coming from the akhir mountains further back in the interior which forms a big river when it reaches theocian the ocean this large valley could be irrigated with ea seand the suffering which the few inhabitants endure in dry seasons would be thus overcome but not so the turk often spends most of his time in pray 1 ing and smoking and such minor considerations as how to live comfortably was never allowed to trouble him the christians are not a whit better they complaisantly double up their legs in some corner and put the whole difficulty upon the Muss ulmen whom they say are tyrannizing them etc As with the master so with the servants ant they are all indolent when we stop at a village iuen will gather in and ask all manner of silly questions and idle away day after day wt but when questioned about their work and how thoy they find time to sit around so they will coolly tell one that they are out of work that their fields are sown and dedicated to god and that they can only wait for his bles blessings sinis we called their attention to the stones in the fields of those living in mountain districts and to the lack of trees for wood and gardens for fruit many kinds of which grow luxuriantly anywhere here to this they would answer these men here bere dont understand such things this country shows signs of a once very highly cultivated state but alas the same as in other places here in the orient only a few lonely ruins and weatherworn weather worn stones placed as a monument to the dead remain to show the travelers of today that the country was formerly inhabited in many districts acres of graveyards may be seen and not a house to mark the place of the lost ity on the jilian are located the ancient armenian capitals and sis here the armenians Armen ians made their last stand agai against ast the approaching saracena saracens Bara Sara cens and here levan their last king lost his throne in this spot are also located a number of the cherkes mo hamm edans refugees from cau casla casia they are contemptuously called dussias Rus sias gift to turkey J because they are of often ten desperate characters and always carry weapons they aie rather more keen than the turks and show signs of intelligence and activity like the turks they are strongly devoted to islam they stop on the road when prayer time comes and if water for performing their ablutions cannot be found they use dust and make their prayers grayem by the roadside with the face turned towards mecca along the mountain streams the vegetation is quite prolific the myrtle the oleander and many semitropical semi tropical apical plants and flowers or of various kinds flourish all tending to make the trip very pleasant at this time of the year could the inhabitants but appreciate these thing sit might be madi made to them a paradise on earth but these arrangements of a wise creator do not interest them they only wondered at our stupidity in troubling ourselves with the different varieties and orders of the vegetable kingdom they were further amazed that we could be such numbskulls numb skulls as not to believe that alt all the prophet meds son in sawhorse law and all jumped from a cliff feet the place being pointed out to us and also that on a distant bill called Hok eshye a lot of demons who used to trouble the inhabitants were turned into stone the stones we were told are still there and are highly rever encee numerous villagers go there to sacrifice and worship god for their deliverance the villagers are generally heavy set and as the women did not cover their faces we saw some very pretty faces round and plump with chim ney looking head coverings cooki looking dikea piece aing eight inches high coverd covered with a heavy white cloi cloth th brought down around the neck to keep it in place with a large round piece of metal somewhat larger than an american silver douar dollar grace gracefully folly fastena fastened into the hair and hanging down just in front ot of the ear if the lady is wen well todo to do she sports two and they are supposed to be gold sometimes she is decorated with a kind of brooch on one side of the nose many of the people here are stock raisers the cattle looked well but were very small camels and sheep made up a good share of the herd in the spring ng they move off I 1 uto into the mountain districts where they spend the summer 00 on the trips or moves to the hill one may see the camels laden with tents food and household utensils the donkeys borne down with tired lambs kids pups children and young camels all promiscuously huddled together in bags laid over the docile donkeys backs all d riven driven by women often with babies on their backs and a spindle dudl e in the hand band spinning spi thread ahr ej women in turkey are industrious I 1 did not mention the goats they must not be forgotten for what would they do without them they use their milk mi ak and flesh for food and their skins for shoes and for mats mate to pray on and for water lags bags yes a novel sight in syria the girls walk as straight as a pole with a jug on their heads here they push a goat out of hla his hide tie up the hole he leaves and fill it with water lay them over their backs and wallow off eight or ten in a row they may use their hollow goats for many other domestic purposes but the most hovel was that of a churn some are strung up by the legs and after being filled with crem creim the women take their places at the one end of the goat churn and by a sudden movement jerk the cream into butter others who are more anxious for modern inventions stand the goat on his head bead tie up his hind limbs an I 1 thus with a stick patiently perform the churning may ath 1889 |
