acrossasiaminoro00chiluoft

;
32 ACROSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
there were said to be Greek inscriptions built into
the walls of the baths.
The hhan to which Achmet took me as the one, lie
liked best was large and rambling and old. It had
two floors of interior balconies supported by wooden
posts, and would have been picturesque in any other
land, but by no goodwill of imagination could be
called picturesque in its present condition here. It
was flimsy and rickety and dilapidated. There were
broken boards and windows plaster was falling from
;
walls ; holes were patched by pieces of paraflin-tins
and the quadrangle itself, with its horses and dogs
and fowls, had the appearance of a farmyard. Yet
as khans went the building was passably clean, and
a good many visitors found it well enough to their
liking. Through half-open doors on the balcony I
saw into rooms littered with bedding, and cooking
utensils, and food, and articles of dress, and heard
the voices of women and children. Evidently families
in search of health thought nothing of herding together
three or four or Ave in a room while taking
the baths.
Soon after getting in I found the jar in my room
empty, and therefore called loudly from the balcony
for water, as a thing strangely overlooked in a lcha7i
of such fashion and importance. No one was in sight
below, and my shouting, if heard, passed unheeded.
So it became necessary to wait upon myself; but as
I went, earthenware jar in hand, a voice beside me
said, " Here is water," and a female arm slid round
a nearly-closed door and placed a tin vessel outside.
The door was shut when I returned the tin, and
remained so whenever I passed afterwards, and 1
never saw the person who had shown kindness to a
stranger and foreigner.
But water was still my need, and not wishing to
shout again, I set out once more with the jar. This
time I came upon three well-dressed women in a dark
corner of the balcony, who fluttered off" like startled
doves at my approach, and covered their heads with