acrossasiaminoro00chiluoft

210 ACROSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
an "Ingleez" traveller practising the customs of his
country and eating food which, as Ighsan found
strength to explain, was Ingleez food. All these
men were young peasants, amongst whom horse-play
or jokes at my expense might well have been expected.
They showed not even a smile, however,
and spoke always in undertones, and one man rolled
and offered me a cigarette in a friendly way. A
Turk eating pilaf with his hand in an English
barber's shop, crowded with customers, would have
fared much worse than I did here.
Injesu is noted for its wine. Soil and climate, and
perhaps the race of Greek wine-growers, who live here
side by side with Moslems, have combined to produce
the wines of Injesu, the fame of which extends far
beyond the district itself To be in Injesu and not
taste its wine was unthinkable, so I asked if any one
would get a bottle of it for me. At once a bullet-
brush
headed young Moslem, who had just begun to
his hair with my brushes, offered to fetch some from
a grower. I gave him five piastres for the wine, and
promised something extra for himself on his return.
After he had been gone an hour, the company
explained that his errand involved a journey of half
an hour each way. He came back a few minutes
later, bringing a quart bottle stoppered with a plug
of Greek newspaper, and handed me three piastres
change. You who have never had to do with races
whose constant thought is to possess themselves of
your money, by fair means or by foul, may see little
in this example of native honest3\ But to me it came
gratefully, though not unexpected, and in appreciation,
and for the man's ready service, I added five
piastres to the change and said the eight were for
him. With that he went off as surprised and pleased
as if he had unexpectedly received double pay for a
whole day's
work.
On looking more closely at Ighsan, I was disturbed
to see how completely exhausted he seemed. He sat
stone-still, his face drawn, his colour an ashy grey.