acrossasiaminoro00chiluoft

410 ACROSS ASIA MINOK ON FOOT
old enough to have been seen by Crusaders. Early
in the afternoon white domes and minarets and tall
dark cypress shafts appeared ahead above the green
of wheat, and in an hour we entered the little town
of Killis.
Somehow I was conscious now of having got quite
out of Asia Minor ; there were changes of air, of
scenery, of buildings and people, hard to fix in
detail, yet convincing in their whole effect ; I had,
as a matter of fact, though not of geography, reached
the borders of Syria. You are told that entering
Killis from the north you will find the language
Turkish, but when passing out to the south will
hear only Arabic. And this was my experience to
the letter both in entering and leaving. Seeing that
I was taking the wrong turning to the kho.n as I
went into the town, a man hailed me in the friendly
Turkish phrase, " Heimshire ! '^
(My countryman!
which is always a pleasure to hear), and set me on
the right road. But just outside the town next
morning, a farmer standing beside his well, with
almond blossom and trailing green willows around
him, had not a word of Turkish when Mustapha
asked the way.
The cool, clean stone khan, the sunlight almost
tropical in its heat, the white buildings, the olivetrees
and dark tapering cypresses, and the green
wheat like a sea around the town, made Killis a
spot of which I retain the pleasantest memories.
Even a disturbance in the market - place on the
morning of coming away did not do prejudice to
these delightful impressions. The large square was
crowded with vendors and buyers, when a boy yelled
" Italiaiio ! Italiano ! " referring to myself. A crowd
ran up immediately, as noisy and threatening as I
cared to see, and there was every prospect of a great
row. Mustapha shouted loudly that I was English,
and some believed him, while others did not ; many,
indeed, seemed not to understand him at all, though
the cry of " Italiano " left them in no doubt. But