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FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO BATUM 45
descended upon our deck. And then those female spectres
swathed in black veils—evidently not of the family of Sarah,
who laughed in the tent ; while in and out among them all
the children—the eternal spring of life—played with indefati
gable spirit and energy.
At sundown two good Musalmans performed their prayers
and penances on the main hatch. Sitting cross-legged on
their mats, with their faces towards Mecca, which was prac
tically south of us, they went through all their remarkable
exercises. First they would prostrate themselves with the
palms of their hands on the ground before them, then they
would sit up, and so on, over and over again. Then they
would rise to their feet, bend right down to the deck—a
remarkable feat for an old rnan—then stand upright again,
repeating this three times. After that they would sit down
cross-legged and prostrate themselves as before. This went
on for a very long time—I cannot say how long. It seemed
wonderful that these two old men should have such supple
and untiring limbs ; but such exercises must be extremely
healthy, and were presumably intended by the wise Prophet
to keep his people in health, like the frequent ablutions that
he also prescribed.
Next morning, Friday, June i2th, wc arrived at Samsun,
where wc anchored outside in the roads, and I was able to
send off some letters by a Frenchman who went ashore. From
this town a railway runs inland to Sivas. Seen from the sea
the town looked far from impressive ; I estimated the
population at " not more than ten thousand, probably much
less," but learnt subsequently that its inhabitants now number
over thirty-five thousand, and that it is important as a centre
for the excellent tobacco cultivated in these parts, and as a
tobacco mart. I learnt also that the Americans, among others,
were fully aware of this ; an American tobacco trust had
bought up the whole of the last tobacco harvest in this part
of the world, and in due course wc should see some of it
again, I was told, in the form of " Virginia " cigarettes.
Wc steamed on at once. In the afternoon wc had a sudden
shower, and it was amusing to see all these solemn Kurds
and Turks, the aged Semitic patriarchs, and the Persians with
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