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—
196 ACEOSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
Young Turks could ofier, and had nothing buHJ^ntempt
and hatred for the party of" reformation.
In taking me about the city Ighsan^^^rst care as
a staunch Moslem was to show the-^mbs of sheikhs
—dreary spaces grown with weeds and enclosed by
railings. From these melancholy spots he passed to
mosques, particularly to the great mosque of Houen,
or Houvant. It was just before the midday service,
and hundreds of men were performing their preparatory
rites of washing in the mosque -3''ard. Neither
place nor time was propitious for a Christian, but
the quality of my guide ensured a welcome, and I
held something like a reception. One mullah, indeed,
a stout, black- bearded man with the wild eye of
a fanatic and huge arms and hands, proposed that
we should go into the mosque ; but Ighsan politely
put this suggestion aside, and yet, I thought, with
a touch of caution behind his excuse. Not always is
it acceptable to worshippers that Christians should
enter a mosque, even on the invitation of a Moslem.
It had happened to me before when in a mosque with
a Moslem that another Moslem objected, finding the
presence of a Christian disturbing to him in his
prayers. After this example of Ighsan's discretion I
had more confidence in him than ever, and was prepared
to follow his advice in many things ; so when
he suggested that I should take a photograph here,
it seemed warrant enough. Every one was willing
and too willing, for more wished to be photographed
than could be included—and I got little more than
a crowd of faces gathered around the black-bearded
mullah.
The castle of Kaisariyeh is a structure going back
to the Seljuks, but is said to be on Roman foundations.
It now encloses a village which has become
a sort of inner dwelling-place of Moslem fanatics.
No Christian other than a doctor could venture
here, I was told, except at some risk ; but into this
castle and village Ighsan presently brought me as
a place of his friends. He went familiarly among