"You ought to burn that quilt," I observed next morning to the farmer; "I have not closed my eyes during the entire night." "What, burn my grandfather's marriage _yorgan_—my father's _yorgan_, and my own _yorgan_! Never, Effendi! There are fleas, it is true, but they will die, and the quilt will do for my son and his wife, if ever he has one." The country which we next traversed was entirely uncultivated, although it would have well repaid a farmer. This, however, is the case with millions of acres in Turkey. There are no labourers. The country is depopulated to the last degree, and land which might produce wheat enough for the whole of Great Britain is left fallow. Presently we came to an old Khan. It had been built by a former sultan, as a refuge for travellers during the winter. At this season of the year the ground is sometimes covered with snow for several weeks in succession, and travelling is very dangerous. Two soldiers were the sole tenants of the building. Whilst I was performing my ablutions in the open air, one of them came to me and asked for a little tea. His comrade was ill, and tea he thought would be good for him. I went to look at the invalid. He was lying on a dirty mattress, and was shivering violently. It was clearly a case of fever, so taking some quinine from my medicine-chest, I administered a dose, and directed his comrade to procure a clean bed for the sufferer. The sick man was very grateful. Eagerly seizing my hand, he kissed it. "What countryman are you?" "I am English." "Your religion is not that of Islam?" "No." "What are you?" "I am a Protestant." "Protestant," repeated the poor fellow, "I shall remember that." "A Christian," he continued, "even if he had the medicine, would have let me die like a dog." It was very clear that the sufferer had not much opinion of the Armenian and Greek Christians. But this was no solitary expressed opinion. Throughout my journey, I found Armenians and Greeks equally despised by the Mohammedans. It is a great pity that the votaries of Christianity in the East should have brought the only pure religion into so great disrepute. CHAPTER X. Radford and Osman—The quarrel—Do the Roossians kiss each other?—Bei Bazar—The pig tobacco—Osman's honesty—Forage for five horses—It is a good sign in a horse to be always hungry—The Tchechmet river—The Mudir at Istanos—The Cadi's mule—The tradition about Istanos—Caverns formerly inhabited by marauders—A chasm—The entrance to the caverns—A levee of the inhabitants—No newspapers in the villages—An Armenian priest—The furniture of the room—Has the Conference commenced?—What is it all about?—Russia is strong and we are weak—The other Powers are afraid of Russia—Will England be our ally?—Are the Christians tortured?—Here we get on very well with the Mussulmans—The pack-saddle.