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ROAD OF EVIL NAME 107
there were the easy attitudes of the zaptiehs riding
with the grace of centaurs, and the strangely
oblivious attitudes of the driver and another official
crouching in the waggon. Such were the fleeting
impressions one had of the Imperial Ottoman Mail
from Sivas to the coast. In this fashion it
goes day and night, changing horses and men frequently,
and covering its hundred or a hundred and
fifty miles in twenty-four hours when the weather is
not unfavourable.
In years gone by the valley road between Jelat and
Tokat had been the scene of many robberies, nor had
they altogether ceased at this time.
It lay near enough to such lawless districts as
Kurdistan and Lazistan, and was used by the rich
merchants of Tokat and Sivas ; therefore two chief
circumstances necessary for robbery had always existed.
I knew people who had been robbed on this
stretch of road, and had heard their stories. The
robbers had come up in single file, as if passing, and
generally from behind ; they had then covered driver
and occupants of the araha with revolvers. I intended
that no such simple process should avail with
me. Robbery on Turkish roads is usually due as
much to the victims' carelessness as to any special
daring on the part of the robbers. Make the opportunity
difficult for them, and they may think it no
opportunity at all, and go by with salutations to rob
some one less prepared. It was the native custom,
I found, to pass wide on any lonely road. A couple
of men approaching me would gradually incline to
right or left when still at a little distance, and give
eight or ten yards of space if the road permitted.
And after dark or with cause for suspicion, any one
may without offence call to another to pass wide on
the other side. With these as recognised customs of
the road it was not difficult to take such simple precautions
as I thought necessary. I never let any one
approach me closely ; I watched all horsemen as men
of necessity under suspicion, and particularly I kept