Bleeding Armenia: Its history and horrors under the curse of IslamWilliams, Augustus Warner
History
Bleeding Armenia: Its history and horrors under the curse of Islam
Williams, Augustus Warner
Armenian question
About seven miles to the south from Great Mountain, rises the
singularly elegant peak of Little Ararat, which in the autumn is free
from snow.
Armenian Types and Costumes.--Page 38. The costumes of the better class
of Armenian women, before these terrible days, were very picturesque
and some quite costly.
They are fond of personal adornment, and wear silver coins about the
head and neck; sometimes the ornaments are of gold, very handsome and
expensive. The costume of the men varies considerably according to
the province and occupation. Many of the merchant class have adopted
the European dress almost entirely.
Monastic Rock-Chambers at Gueremeh.--Page 55. The mountains in
this neighborhood of Kaiserieh are remarkable for the numerous
rock-chambers and caves, which were filled with hermits in the early
days of Christianity.
In one valley, about one mile in length and one thousand feet
across, a gorge opens out about five hundred feet deep. The cliffs
fall steeply away, sometimes with a sheer descent; sometimes in a
succession of terraces, and from them rise up pyramids and pinnacles
of rock; the wonders of the valley. On both the face of the cliffs,
and in these detached masses there are caves and niches, all the work
of human hands. At one time the whole valley was the abode of a vast
monastic community.
The Sultan in the Park of the Yildiz Palace.--Page 74. The Sultan
rises at six o'clock, and labors with clerks and secretaries until
noon, when he breakfasts. Then he goes for a drive, or a row on the
lake in the palace park, and returning gives audience until eight. At
that hour he dines as a rule, alone.
The Sultan's food is prepared by chosen persons, cooked in sealed
vessels, within locked rooms, and tasted before it is served to
him. The water he drinks is brought from a distance in sealed barrels.
Sometimes the Sultan, who is fond of light operatic music, plays
duets on the piano with his younger children. For other recreations,
he studies odd machines and novelties of inventions.
He never sleeps two successive nights in the same room, and when the
fear of death is strongest upon him, he goes to a chamber reached by
a ladder, which he draws up after him.
Types of Softas.--Page 91. At Cairo, in Egypt, are the most famous
universities of Islam. To these schools, students flock from all
quarters of the Mahommedan world.
These Softas are the most fanatical of the Moslems; their entire
training is one of bitter intolerance and hatred of Christianity;
they have been the inciters to riots in many cities in the Turkish
Empire, notably in that of Constantinople, in September, 1895. The
number of Softas in the Empire, is said to be about 30,000--8,000 of
them being in Stamboul.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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