volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

Murder of a Soldier by an Officer. 49
fell down on it and so inflicted on himself the wound
which caused his death. No one believed the statements
of these hired witnesses, for when they were
cross-examined it appeared that none of them had been
present when the soldier was killed. After much talk
the Pashi called upon an Austrian or Polish military
doctor to give evidence, and he said that he had made
a post-mortem examination, and had seen on the heart
of the deceased a mark which showed that he was fated
to die at the very moment in which he died, and that
the blow from the carbine, which smashed in his skull,
had nothing to do with the cause of his death. And
on this evidence the officer was acquitted. As the
PashS. invited me to his room and gave me the chance
of expressing my opinion I did so, and he seemed
genuinely surprised and troubled ; he assured me that
the post-mortem examination had been made expressly
at his request, and considered this to prove his sincerity
in dealing with the case. When I said that I doubted
the doctor's statement and that I did not believe his
statement about the mark on the man's heart he said,
" "
Am I Allah to know such things ? Allah forbid !
And then adding the fatalistic words, " It was written,"
he went on to ask if we had found treasure in the mound,
and said he was sorry we were leaving Mosul so soon,
for he liked the English. As I was saying " Good-bye " to
him he remarked, " No man hath seen the camel or the
camel's driver," by which I understood him to mean
that he did not wish me to talk about the trial I had
seen that day.