A Caravan of Women.—[1] . . .
A Night’s Shelter for Fifty Pounds.—The man who showed the greatest capacity for exterminating Armenians was Reshîd Bey, the Vali of Diarbekir. I have already stated how many were killed in his Vilayet. When news of his removal arrived, the remaining Armenians, and the Christians generally rejoiced, and shortly after the report was current some Armenians, who had hidden themselves, came out from their concealment and walked about the city. The Vali, who was anxious to keep his removal secret and to inspire terror, began deporting Armenians with still greater energy, and those who had come out returned to their hiding-places. One of the principal men of Diarbekir stated that one Armenian had paid fifty Turkish pounds to an inhabitant for shelter in his house during the night before the Vali’s departure, and another told me that a man had received an offer of three pounds for each night until the same event, but had refused from fear of the authorities.
Chastity of the Armenian Women.—[2] . . . An Arab of the Akidât told me that he was going along the bank of the Euphrates when he saw some
- ↑ Unimportant. The writer describes the inhabitants of Diarbekir, on the arrival of a party, as hastening to select women. Two doctors pick out twenty of them to serve as hospital attendants.—Translator.
- ↑ An official relates how he wanted to choose a servant from a boatload of victims, who said they were willing to come as servants, but as nothing else. He took one, and on coming home one night drunk he tried to offer her violence; she reproved him in suitable terms and he conducted himself well thenceforward.—Translator.
