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—
THE CILICIAN PLAIN 341
land and island, the last distinguishable by their
picturesque dress—Arabs, Fellaheen, Syrians, Cretans,
Algerians, Negroes, Afghans, Hindus, and others not
easy to recognise. It was the true medley of the
Levant ; malodorous, perhaps, for one who is nice in
such matters, and yet with a friendly quality to be
recognised. For besides various doubtful elements,
there was the pleasant smell of Turkish tobacco
mingled with warm sea air, and now and then, from
warehouses near by, came an unmistakable whiff of
Manchester bales and boxes.
In portions of Mersina may be found a curious
resemblance to an Australian town, due partly to
the presence of Australian trees, but also to the
British influence of those who constructed the railway
in a new town of wide spaces and cheap land
and hot climate. Approach the low- built railway
station along its avenue of young eucalyptus trees
red-gums I think they are—and the illusion becomes
almost perfect.
Having now tramped from the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean, I returned to Tarsus, purposing to set
out thence for wanderings in the north-east and east.
I would go into the mountains of Albistan and visit
Zeitt\n, a famous robber town, a fastness of warlike
Armenians who had never really been subdued by the
Osmanlis. They gave trouble still, and at this time
were in a state of unrest consequent upon the
Italian war, and harbourino- deserters from the Turkish
army. In going there I should cover the whole
length of the Cilician plain ; I should also see Adana,
of sinister name, scene of the great massacre, and
capital of Cilicia, where I proposed to stay awhile.
Tarsus to Adana is nearly thirty miles by almost
straight road along the plain. Fields of wheat and
maize, and cotton and tobacco, and patches of sugarcane,
were varied by great prairie -like expanses of
coarse grass. No villages could be seen, though I
supposed that in Turkish fashion they must be hidden
somewhere. Here and there was a low kahveh, and