A PICKNICKING RESORT To face page 54 A VILLAGE WEDDING PROCESSION " " 70 A TURKISH CEMETERY " " 84 OFFICERS OF LANCERS " " 114 HAMIDIEH MOSQUE " " 172 AN OLD SERAGLIO " " 184 A WRESTLING MATCH IN OLDEN DAYS " " 220 THE DIARY OF A TURK CHAPTER I. MY HOME IN ASIA MINOR. My Asiatic origin--My great-grandfather's religious order--His miracles--My grandfather and Sultan Mahmud II.--An ordeal by wine--My father's charitable extravagance--His death--Primitive surgery in Asia Minor--The original home of vaccination--My mother's European ancestors--Writing a forbidden accomplishment for women. I was born in the ancient town of Angora, Asia Minor, famous not alone for its silky-haired cats and goats, but also for its historical and archæological importance, and with it my memories of early days, and therefore the pages of my desultory journal, naturally begin. Men of learning who have engaged in researches into the archæology and biblical history of Asia Minor have come to the conclusion that this town was once in the remote past the principal centre of a wandering branch of the Celtic peoples who ultimately settled in Asia Minor. Although, of course, it was conquered and held during later generations by the Eastern invaders, it is even nowadays noticeable that there is a difference, both of character and physique, between most of the inhabitants of our province and those of other provinces, more especially of Southern and Eastern Asia Minor. By remarking on this I do not wish to seem to be trying to trace my origin to a European race, though I am aware that many people in this country are unsympathetic, and even, perhaps, prejudiced, where Orientals are concerned. My paternal ancestors came across from Central Asia, and first settled in Khorassan, in Persia. But as they were devout followers of the orthodox creed of the Arabian Prophet they were subjected to the intolerant oppression of the Persian Moslems, between whom and the orthodox believers the history of Western Asia records many a sanguinary feud, the result of their doctrinal antagonism. My ancestors were compelled eventually to emigrate to Asia Minor over a hundred and fifty years ago, and there they found a more hospitable reception. My great-grandfather was the sheikh or head of a religious order called _Halvati_, or, to give the name an English equivalent, "those who worship in seclusion." The name arises from one of the strict rules of the order, that its rites must not be displayed to the outside public, doubtless a measure for the prevention of hypocrisy. Historical research has traced the foundation of the order to Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed. Shortly after settling in Asia Minor the disciples of the great sheikh increased to a number approaching eighty thousand,