e waist, and a necklace of coins calls
attention to her pretty neck. When washing clothes by the stream, they
frequently show a gold ring encircling an ankle.

In the simplicity of their costumes, as well as in the fact that they do
not expose the face, the Turkish women stand in strong contrast to the
Armenian. Baggy trousers _a la_ Bloomer, a loose robe skirt opening at the
sides, and a voluminous shawl-like girdle around the waist and body,
constitute the main features of the Turkish indoor costume. On the street
a shroud-like robe called yashmak, usually white, but sometimes crimson,
purple, or black, covers them from head to foot. When we would meet a bevy
of these creatures on the road in the dusk of evening, their white,
fluttering garments would give them the appearance of winged celestials.
The Turkish women are generally timorous of men, and especially so of
foreigners. Those of the rural districts, however, are not so shy as their
city cousins. We frequently met them at work in groups about the villages
or in the open fields, and would sometimes ask for a drink of water. If
they were a party of maidens, as was often the case, they would draw back
and hide behind one another. We would offer one of them a ride on our
"very nice horses." This would cause a general giggle among her
companions, and a drawing of the yashmak closer about the neck and face.

[Illustration: ARABS CONVERSING WITH A TURK.]

The road scenes in the interior provinces are but little varied. One of
the most characteristic features of the Anatolian landscape are the
storks, which come in flocks of thousands from their winter quarters in
Egypt and build summer nests, unmolested, on the village housetops. These,
like the crows, magpies, and swallows, prove valuable allies to the
husbandmen in their war against the locust. A still more serviceable
friend in this direction is the _smarmar_, a pink thrush with black wings.
Besides the various caravan trains of camels, donkeys, horses, and mules,
the road is frequently dotted with ox-carts, run on solid wooden wheels
without tires, and drawn by that peculiar bovine species, the buffalo.
With their distended necks, elevated snouts, and hog-like bristles, these
animals present an ugly appearance, especially when wallowing in mud
puddles.

Now and then in the villages we passed by a primitive flour-mill moved by
a small stream playing upon a horizontal wheel beneath the floor; or, more
primitive