Bitlis, like Van, was in the throes of a Reign of Terror when we were guests within her precincts. The storm was then brewing which was to burst in the Sasun massacre, the forerunner of the whole series of butcheries. The town was full of tales relating to a notorious Armenian conspirator, who not many months ago had been captured in the Sasun region, some said by treachery and others at the hands of a Kurd disguised as an Armenian. His name is Damadean, and he was lodged in the jail at the time of our visit. Sasun is comprised within a section of the same zone of mountains as those which rise about the site of Bitlis. In other words, it is a district of the southern peripheral ranges of the Armenian tableland, and it lies to the south of the plain and town of Mush. The Armenians who inhabit it are on terms of subjection to the Kurdish chiefs, to whom they pay sums fixed by custom for protection against other Kurdish tribes. Each chief has his own Armenian dependants, who are in possession of arms. Being a race of mountaineers they are noted for their courage and stubbornness; and there can be little doubt that Armenian political agitators, such as Damadean, fixed upon them as suitable material for a conflagration. The object of these men is to keep the Armenian cause alive by lighting a flame here and there and calling: Fire! The cry is taken up in the European press; and when people run to look there are sure to be some Turkish officials drawn into the trap and committing abominations. On this occasion the scene of the trouble had been the village of Talori or Talvorik--the same village which played a part in the later tragedies. Its inhabitants earn a livelihood by the primitive exploitation of mines of iron, and there is sufficient wood in the neighbourhood for smelting purposes. Damadean had for some time been busy in the district, and he had endeavoured to effect a coalition between Kurds and Armenians to resist the levy of taxes for Government. At the same time the Vali of Bitlis, Tahsin Pasha, happened to be on bad terms with the authorities at Constantinople. It was said in Bitlis that he was delighted to be afforded an opportunity of recovering favour by suppressing a so-called rebellion. The result of these opposite tendencies was a little piece of warfare, in which Turkish troops, accompanied by the Vali in person, appeared before Talori. Taxes were demanded and refused. The villagers, who had fled to a strong place in the vicinity--where they had already successfully resisted two tribes of Kurds friendly to the Government--stated to the official envoy with much reason that they could not afford to pay a double set of taxes, one to Government and the other to Kurds. If they yielded to the present demand, was it likely that the chiefs would forego payment when the Turkish force had turned their backs upon Sasun? The Vali appears so far to have acted with good sense, that he avoided bloodshed.