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Introduction To Wind Power 1st Edition Franklin Coyle
Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Franklin Coyle
ISBN(s): 9789381157749, 938115774X
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 4.61 MB
Year: 2011
Language: english
First Edition, 2011

ISBN 978-93-81157-74-9

© All rights reserved.

Published by:
The English Press
4735/22 Prakashdeep Bldg,
Ansari Road, Darya Ganj,
Delhi - 110002
Email: info@wtbooks.com
 Table of Contents
Chapter 1- Introduction

Chapter 2 - History of Wind Power

Chapter 3 - High Altitude Wind Power

Chapter 4 - Wind Turbine

Chapter 5 - Floating Wind Turbine

Chapter 6 - Darrieus Wind Turbine

Chapter 7 - Unconventional Wind Turbines

Chapter 8 - Small Wind Turbine

Chapter 9 - Vertical Axis, Savonius & Airborne Wind Turbine

Chapter 10 - Wind Turbine Design

Chapter 11 - Wind Turbine Aerodynamics

Chapter 12 - Wind Farm

Chapter 13 - Windmill

Chapter 14 - Environmental Effects of Wind Power

Chapter- 1

Introduction

Wind power: worldwide installed capacity 1996-2008

Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm, at the entrance to the River Mersey in North West
England.
A modern wind turbine in rural scenery.

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using
wind turbines to make electricity, wind mills for mechanical power, wind pumps for
pumping water or drainage, or sails to propel ships.

At the end of 2009, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was

159.2 gigawatts (GW). Energy production was 340 TWh, which is about 2% of
worldwide electricity usage; and has doubled in the past three years. Several countries
have achieved relatively high levels of wind power penetration (with large governmental
subsidies), such as 20% of stationary electricity production in Denmark, 14% in Ireland
and Portugal, 11% in Spain, and 8% in Germany in 2009. As of May 2009, 80 countries
around the world are using wind power on a commercial basis.

Large-scale wind farms are connected to the electric power transmission network; smaller
facilities are used to provide electricity to isolated locations. Utility companies
increasingly buy back surplus electricity produced by small domestic turbines. Wind
energy, as an alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean,
and produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation. However, the construction
of wind farms is not universally welcomed because of their visual impact and other
effects on the environment.

Wind power is non-dispatchable, meaning that for economic operation, all of the
available output must be taken when it is available. Other resources, such as hydropower,
and load management techniques must be used to match supply with demand. The
intermittency of wind seldom creates problems when using wind power to supply a low
proportion of total demand, but as the proportion rises, problems are created such as
increased costs, the need to upgrade the grid, and a lowered ability to supplant
conventional production. Power management techniques such as exporting excess power
to neighboring areas or reducing demand when wind production is low, can mitigate
these problems.

History

Medieval depiction of a wind mill

Windmills are typically installed in favourable windy locations. In the image, wind power
generators in Spain near an Osborne bull

Humans have been using wind power for at least 5,500 years to propel sailboats and
sailing ships. Windmills have been used for irrigation pumping and for milling grain
since the 7th century AD in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

In the United States, the development of the "water-pumping windmill" was the major
factor in allowing the farming and ranching of vast areas otherwise devoid of readily
accessible water. Windpumps contributed to the expansion of rail transport systems
throughout the world, by pumping water from water wells for the steam locomotives. The
multi-bladed wind turbine atop a lattice tower made of wood or steel was, for many
years, a fixture of the landscape throughout rural America. When fitted with generators
and battery banks, small wind machines provided electricity to isolated farms.

In July 1887, a Scottish academic, Professor James Blyth, undertook wind power
experiments that culminated in a UK patent in 1891. In the United States, Charles F.
Brush produced electricity using a wind powered machine, starting in the winter of 1887-
1888, which powered his home and laboratory until about 1900. In the 1890s, the Danish
scientist and inventor Poul la Cour constructed wind turbines to generate electricity,
which was then used to produce hydrogen. These were the first of what was to become
the modern form of wind turbine.

Small wind turbines for lighting of isolated rural buildings were widespread in the first
part of the 20th century. Larger units intended for connection to a distribution network
were tried at several locations including Balaklava USSR in 1931 and in a 1.25 megawatt
(MW) experimental unit in Vermont in 1941.

The modern wind power industry began in 1979 with the serial production of wind
turbines by Danish manufacturers Kuriant, Vestas, Nordtank, and Bonus. These early
turbines were small by today's standards, with capacities of 20–30 kW each. Since then,
they have increased greatly in size, with the Enercon E-126 capable of delivering up to 7
MW, while wind turbine production has expanded to many countries.

Wind energy

Distribution of wind speed (red) and energy (blue) for all of 2002 at the Lee Ranch
facility in Colorado. The histogram shows measured data, while the curve is the Rayleigh
model distribution for the same average wind speed. Energy is the Betz limit through a
100 m (328 ft) diameter circle facing directly into the wind. Total energy for the year
through that circle was 15.4 gigawatt-hours (GW·h).

The Earth is unevenly heated by the sun, such that the poles receive less energy from the
sun than the equator; along with this, dry land heats up (and cools down) more quickly
than the seas do. The differential heating drives a global atmospheric convection system
reaching from the Earth's surface to the stratosphere which acts as a virtual ceiling. Most
of the energy stored in these wind movements can be found at high altitudes where
continuous wind speeds of over 160 km/h (99 mph) occur. Eventually, the wind energy is
converted through friction into diffuse heat throughout the Earth's surface and the
atmosphere.

The total amount of economically extractable power available from the wind is
considerably more than present human power use from all sources. An estimated
72 terawatt (TW) of wind power on the Earth potentially can be commercially viable,
compared to about 15 TW average global power consumption from all sources in 2005.
Not all the energy of the wind flowing past a given point can be recovered.

Distribution of wind speed

The strength of wind varies, and an average value for a given location does not alone
indicate the amount of energy a wind turbine could produce there. To assess the
frequency of wind speeds at a particular location, a probability distribution function is
often fit to the observed data. Different locations will have different wind speed
distributions. The Weibull model closely mirrors the actual distribution of hourly wind
speeds at many locations. The Weibull factor is often close to 2 and therefore a Rayleigh
distribution can be used as a less accurate, but simpler model.

Because so much power is generated by higher wind speed, much of the energy comes in
short bursts. The 2002 Lee Ranch sample is telling; half of the energy available arrived in
just 15% of the operating time. The consequence is that wind energy from a particular
turbine or wind farm does not have as consistent an output as fuel-fired power plants;
utilities that use wind power provide power from starting existing generation for times
when the wind is weak thus wind power is primarily a fuel saver rather than a capacity
saver. Making wind power more consistent requires that various existing technologies
and methods be extended, in particular the use of stronger inter-regional transmission
lines to link widely distributed wind farms. Problems of variability are addressed by grid
energy storage, batteries, pumped-storage hydroelectricity and energy demand
management.

Electricity generation
Typical components of a wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) being
lifted into position

In a wind farm, individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage (often 34.5
kV), power collection system and communications network. At a substation, this
medium-voltage electric current is increased in voltage with a transformer for connection
to the high voltage electric power transmission system.

The surplus power produced by domestic microgenerators can, in some jurisdictions, be

fed into the network and sold to the utility company, producing a retail credit for the
microgenerators' owners to offset their energy costs.

Grid management

Induction generators, often used for wind power, require reactive power for excitation so
substations used in wind-power collection systems include substantial capacitor banks for
power factor correction. Different types of wind turbine generators behave differently
during transmission grid disturbances, so extensive modelling of the dynamic
electromechanical characteristics of a new wind farm is required by transmission system
operators to ensure predictable stable behaviour during system faults (see: Low voltage
ride through). In particular, induction generators cannot support the system voltage
during faults, unlike steam or hydro turbine-driven synchronous generators. Doubly-fed
machines generally have more desirable properties for grid interconnection .
Transmission systems operators will supply a wind farm developer with a grid code to
specify the requirements for interconnection to the transmission grid. This will include
power factor, constancy of frequency and dynamic behavior of the wind farm turbines
during a system fault.

Capacity factor

Worldwide installed capacity 1997–2020 [MW], developments and prognosis.

Since wind speed is not constant, a wind farm's annual energy production is never as
much as the sum of the generator nameplate ratings multiplied by the total hours in a
year. The ratio of actual productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum is called the
capacity factor. Typical capacity factors are 20–40%, with values at the upper end of the
range in particularly favourable sites. For example, a 1 MW turbine with a capacity factor
of 35% will not produce 8,760 MW·h in a year (1 × 24 × 365), but only 1 × 0.35 × 24 ×
365 = 3,066 MW·h, averaging to 0.35 MW. Online data is available for some locations
and the capacity factor can be calculated from the yearly output.

Unlike fueled generating plants, the capacity factor is limited by the inherent properties
of wind. Capacity factors of other types of power plant are based mostly on fuel cost,
with a small amount of downtime for maintenance. Nuclear plants have low incremental
fuel cost, and so are run at full output and achieve a 90% capacity factor. Plants with
higher fuel cost are throttled back to follow load. Gas turbine plants using natural gas as
fuel may be very expensive to operate and may be run only to meet peak power demand.
A gas turbine plant may have an annual capacity factor of 5–25% due to relatively high
energy production cost.

In a 2008 study released by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy, the capacity factor achieved by the wind turbine fleet is shown to
be increasing as the technology improves. The capacity factor achieved by new wind
turbines in 2004 and 2005 reached 36%.

Penetration
Kitegen

Wind energy "penetration" refers to the fraction of energy produced by wind compared
with the total available generation capacity. There is no generally accepted "maximum"
level of wind penetration. The limit for a particular grid will depend on the existing
generating plants, pricing mechanisms, capacity for storage or demand management, and
other factors. An interconnected electricity grid will already include reserve generating
and transmission capacity to allow for equipment failures; this reserve capacity can also
serve to regulate for the varying power generation by wind plants. Studies have indicated
that 20% of the total electrical energy consumption may be incorporated with minimal
difficulty. These studies have been for locations with geographically dispersed wind
farms, some degree of dispatchable energy, or hydropower with storage capacity, demand
management, and interconnection to a large grid area export of electricity when needed.
Beyond this level, there are few technical limits, but the economic implications become
more significant. Electrical utilities continue to study the effects of large (20% or more)
scale penetration of wind generation on system stability and economics.

At present, a few grid systems have penetration of wind energy above 5%: Denmark
(values over 19%), Spain and Portugal (values over 11%), Germany and the Republic of
Ireland (values over 6%). But even with a modest level of penetration, there can be times
where wind power provides a substantial percentage of the power on a grid. For example,
in the morning hours of 8 November 2009, wind energy produced covered more than half
the electricity demand in Spain, setting a new record. This was an instance where demand
was very low but wind power generation was very high.

Wildorado Wind Ranch in Oldham County in the Texas Panhandle, as photographed

from U.S. Route 385

Intermittency and penetration limits

Electricity generated from wind power can be highly variable at several different
timescales: from hour to hour, daily, and seasonally. Annual variation also exists, but is
not as significant. Related to variability is the short-term (hourly or daily) predictability
of wind plant output. Like other electricity sources, wind energy must be "scheduled".
Wind power forecasting methods are used, but predictability of wind plant output
remains low for short-term operation.

Because instantaneous electrical generation and consumption must remain in balance to

maintain grid stability, this variability can present substantial challenges to incorporating
large amounts of wind power into a grid system. Intermittency and the non-dispatchable
nature of wind energy production can raise costs for regulation, incremental operating
reserve, and (at high penetration levels) could require an increase in the already existing
energy demand management, load shedding, or storage solutions or system
interconnection with HVDC cables. At low levels of wind penetration, fluctuations in
load and allowance for failure of large generating units requires reserve capacity that can
also regulate for variability of wind generation. Wind power can be replaced by other
power stations during low wind periods. Transmission networks must already cope with
outages of generation plant and daily changes in electrical demand. Systems with large
wind capacity components may need more spinning reserve (plants operating at less than
full load).

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity or other forms of grid energy storage can store energy
developed by high-wind periods and release it when needed. Stored energy increases the
economic value of wind energy since it can be shifted to displace higher cost generation
during peak demand periods. The potential revenue from this arbitrage can offset the cost
and losses of storage; the cost of storage may add 25% to the cost of any wind energy
stored, but it is not envisaged that this would apply to a large proportion of wind energy
generated. The 2 GW Dinorwig pumped storage plant in Wales evens out electrical
demand peaks, and allows base-load suppliers to run their plant more efficiently.
Although pumped storage power systems are only about 75% efficient, and have high
installation costs, their low running costs and ability to reduce the required electrical
base-load can save both fuel and total electrical generation costs.

In particular geographic regions, peak wind speeds may not coincide with peak demand
for electrical power. In the US states of California and Texas, for example, hot days in
summer may have low wind speed and high electrical demand due to air conditioning.
Some utilities subsidize the purchase of geothermal heat pumps by their customers, to
reduce electricity demand during the summer months by making air conditioning up to
70% more efficient; widespread adoption of this technology would better match
electricity demand to wind availability in areas with hot summers and low summer winds.
Another option is to interconnect widely dispersed geographic areas with an HVDC
"Super grid". In the USA it is estimated that to upgrade the transmission system to take in
planned or potential renewables would cost at least $60 billion.

In the UK, demand for electricity is higher in winter than in summer, and so are wind
speeds. Solar power tends to be complementary to wind. On daily to weekly timescales,
high pressure areas tend to bring clear skies and low surface winds, whereas low pressure
areas tend to be windier and cloudier. On seasonal timescales, solar energy typically
peaks in summer, whereas in many areas wind energy is lower in summer and higher in
winter. Thus the intermittencies of wind and solar power tend to cancel each other
somewhat. A demonstration project at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy shows the
effect. The Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology of the University of Kassel
pilot-tested a combined power plant linking solar, wind, biogas and hydrostorage to
provide load-following power around the clock, entirely from renewable sources.

A report on Denmark's wind power noted that their wind power network provided less
than 1% of average demand 54 days during the year 2002. Wind power advocates argue
that these periods of low wind can be dealt with by simply restarting existing power
stations that have been held in readiness or interlinking with HVDC. Electrical grids with
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
whether Ottoman or foreign. According to the Frenchman's
reckoning, about twenty-five thousand gifts of this order have been
made up till now. The old Turkish orders of the Medjidieh and
Osmanieh are nowadays being so freely distributed, that the breasts
of even the most ordinary Government servants are ornamented by
one or other of them.
Decorated people are so numerous among the members of the
Sultanic bureaucracy that it is hardly possible to meet any official,
high or low, without one decoration or more. It is not surprising,
then, that there is a class of persons, honest, educated, and of good
birth, outside the circle of the Palace favourites, who boast, and very
rightly too, that "they are honoured by being undecorated."
Decoration and promotion are not the only methods by which his
Majesty imagines that he can gain attachment to himself. He takes a
different way when it is the sympathy of foreigners he desires to
win. It may, perhaps, be possible for the Sultan to induce foreign
correspondents and the editors of some Continental journals to write
nice things about him by offering them bakhsheesh or stars, or by
giving them commercial, industrial, or other concessions in Turkey.
But how is he to gain the golden opinions of the foreign rulers and
statesmen interested in the Eastern Question? Is it possible to make
an incorruptible British Minister, for example, speak favourably of his
Majesty's rule, by conferring on him some order set with brilliants, or
by quietly offering him a big bakhsheesh? Certainly not But the
Sultan has an unshakable belief in the wisdom of an Arab proverb,
which says, "Man is the slave of favours"; and so, if he cannot offer
money or decorations, he will request the acceptance of some
keepsake, with a hypocritical affability peculiar to himself.
The presents of the Sultan vary, of course, both in quality and
quantity. Decorations set in brilliants, gold snuff-boxes, cigarette-
cases and holders, watches initialled and ornamented with precious
stones, magnificent Arab horses, richly worked Oriental swords,
daggers, and pistols from the imperial Treasury, which was most
sacredly preserved intact by all the former Sultans of the House of
Osman: such things form the greater part of the gifts sent to
European potentates and notabilities. Others are made in the
imperial factories.
Among the great personages who get presents from the Sultan, the
German Emperor is the most highly favoured. Besides having
received numerous and valuable keepsakes during his two visits to
the Ottoman capital, the Kaiser gets from time to time Arab horses
and objects of the rarest Eastern skill and art The Emperor of Russia
also receives presents from the Sultan every now and then, but his
Russian Majesty is generous in sending presents to the Sultan in
return. A summer mansion on the Bosphorus was given by the
Sultan to the Prince of Montenegro about ten years ago, and a
steam-yacht, which was built in the State dockyards on the Golden
Horn, was recently sent to the Adriatic for the use of the same petty
ruler. Lord Salisbury received some two years ago a very large and
magnificent vase, which was brought to England by a special aide-
de-camp of the Sultan, and was presented to the Prime Minister by
the late Turkish Ambassador.

AN OLD SERAGLIO.
Whether these various devices had any real effect or no, the Sultan
has certainly succeeded in attaining the object he desired; he still
remains on his throne, and his power is absolute. This alone, when
one reflects upon the history of the reign of the present Sultan,
makes one fully admit that he is a man of vast ability. His ability has,
however, been productive solely of evil. If he were a good as well as
an able man, his country would be powerful and prosperous. His
indifference to insults and hatred, his calmness in dealing with
difficulties of the most perplexing kind, and his tenacity of purpose
are remarkable. Unlike many of his predecessors, he is not much
under the influence of women; nor does he care for their company,
though he still maintains m his palace the old system of the harem,
with its numerous inmates and slaves, possibly only for the purpose
of impressing the uncultivated section of his subjects with the sight
of barbaric splendour. His phenomenal shrewdness is shown by his
making the Mussulmans believe that the misfortunes endured by
Turkey under his caliphate are entirely due to the hostile interference
of grasping Europe with Turkish affairs. To Europeans, on the other
hand, he often succeeds in conveying the impression that the people
in whose name he rules are incapable of appreciating the value of
progressive and constitutional government, and in order to justify
this, he puts every obstacle in the way of their making progress in
industry, science and literature. Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid, although he
has played so notable a rôle in the preservation of his own personal
sovereignty, is a man of but poor educational attainments. It is said
by those who know him well that before his accession he was
considered far inferior to the other royal princes of his house in
attainments and culture. In spite of this drawback, he has for over
twenty-six years shown himself superior to all opposition, rivalry, and
attack.
There is no doubt that he works harder than any man in Turkey, and
that he reads and makes his secretaries read to him a great deal;
but what he reads principally consists of the reports of his spies and
agents, which pour in in hundreds every day. Besides these, his
favourite literature, which is translated from many languages and
read aloud to him, is composed of biographies and historical
sketches of the despotic sovereigns of the world and their doings,
and also of their enemies, so that he is interested in accounts of the
organisation of secret societies and conspiracies. He is also
passionately fond of all kinds of detective stories.
 CHAPTER XI.

THE STRUGGLE WITH YOUNG-TURKEY.

The Sultan's opponents—His manner of dealing with them —The 'humanity' of

Europe—Attempts on the Sultan's life—Lack of organisation in Young-Turkey—
refuge for the reformers in England—The short-lived Parliament suppressed by
the Sultan—Opposition of English Russophiles to Turkish schemes of reform—
What Young-Turkey wanted—Persecution of Young-Turks—A long tale of
victims—The possibility of a revival.

In spite of all the measures taken by the Sultan to preserve his

personal rule, he has met at times with serious opposition from a
section of his Turkish subjects, the only people in Turkey who see
the state of affairs clearly and can read the signs of their country's
decadence. They understand that, among the peoples of the
Ottoman empire, the Turkish race, in whose name the misrule of a
cosmopolitan Palace faction is maintained, suffer most from the
existing tyranny. These men compose what is commonly known in
Europe as 'the Young Turkish Party.' By them attempts have been
made now and then to rid the throne of Abd-ul-Hamid, and for this
reason there has been a constant struggle between them and the
Sultan. He is aware that the Turks, unlike his non-Mohammedan
subjects, would not allow themselves to be tools for the political
designs of any European Power, and therefore would never be likely
to receive foreign help against his tyranny. Consequently he feels at
liberty to deal with them in a much more absolute fashion than with
any of his other subjects. And so, with a relentless determination, he
does all he can to crush any of the Turks who may attempt to check
him. If they escape from his hands and fly to other countries, he will
make almost any sacrifice to get hold of them again. It is said that
he connived at the French designs on Tunis in order to get Midhat
Pasha from the French consulate at Smyrna, when the latter took
refuge there. Quite recently an Italian consul in Switzerland called on
the late Mahmud Pasha, the Sultan's brother-in-law and enemy, who
was staying at Lucerne, and requested him not to go to Italy,
because the Government of that country wished to be on good
terms with the Sultan; and this was at a time when Italy was making
an intimidating naval show in the Albanian and Tripolitan waters. It
is an open secret that the Sultan's representatives have often
approached some European Foreign Offices with the promise of
concessions to be granted on condition that the Turkish refugees in
their territories were handed over to the Sultan, or at any rate
expelled across the frontiers.
Yet, in spite of his uniform success in the struggle with his Turkish
subjects, the Sultan has more than once been face to face with
imminent danger owing to the efforts of this party. The most daring
of these attempts was made by a certain Suavi Effendi, whose name
I mentioned before, who was a very cultured as well as courageous
member of the Ulema class, and was one of the organisers of the
once powerful Young-Turkish movement Suavi Effendi was in London
about thirty-five years ago, finding it safer to print here the political
literature of the movement to be smuggled into Turkey, but before
the fall of the late Sultan he went back to Constantinople, and was
engaged in educational and journalistic work. Soon after the
accession of Abd-ul-Hamid, Suavi collected a band of some hundreds
of desperate refugees, who had flocked into the capital from the
provinces which were lost as the consequence of the Russo-Turkish
War, and with them he attacked the Sultan's palace. Before,
however, they could release the ex-Sultan Murad from his captivity,
to be reinstated in his place, they were overtaken by the guards in
the palace garden, and, after a fearful struggle, Suavi and most of
his followers perished. The mere rustic private who is credited with
having cut Suavi Effendi himself down is now the all-powerful
Hassan Pasha, the present head of the police guarding those
quarters of the capital which border on Yildiz Kiosk. He is a man of
great physical strength and ferocity. Most men who are denounced
as being Young-Turkish adherents are handed over to him before
being sent into exile, and terrible tales are related about his beating
the prisoners. The Sultan not long ago conferred on him the rank of
a Field-Marshal for his loyal service, though Hassan is so ignorant
that he cannot even write his own name.
Another attempt to depose the Sultan was made some twenty years
ago by a Circassian cavalry regiment which was quartered near Yildiz
Kiosk. The men of the Circassian regiment, who evidently had lady
friends in the harem of the palace, laid a plot against Abd-ul-Hamid.
They also failed at the last moment in their attempt, and the
regiment speedily and mysteriously disappeared. The last projected
attempt of a serious nature was reported to have been nearly carried
out during the Armenian troubles. At that time the door of the
Sultan's room was guarded by two Kurds, and these men were the
disciples of a religious order which prescribes to its followers a self-
sacrificing devotion towards their sheikhs or chiefs. The sheikh of
this order, who was won over by the adherents of the Reform Party,
explained to his two Kurdish followers the true character of the man
who occupied the office of the caliphate, and, according to the same
report, they both bound themselves by an oath to get rid of him
when their turn came to guard his room. Fate was, however, again
on the side of Abd-ul-Hamid, and the plot failed in due course.
About the progressive element which has inspired and maintained so
obstinate an opposition to the Sultan, much has been heard in
England, but little is really known. I will therefore touch upon its
history, aims, and present position.
The common name for this element, the 'Young-Turkish Party,'
though widely used, is inaccurate, and I do not propose to use it
myself in connection with these advocates of the progressive reform.
There is no organised body such as could properly be called a 'party,'
though on various occasions different societies have been formed by
agitators for reform, whose chief aims and aspirations have been
identical; namely, to check the Sultanic absolutism, to secure a
representative mode of government, and introduce necessary
reforms. The growth of the revolutionising element in Turkey cannot
be traced to the influence of the French Revolution; it was due to
the introduction, for the first time, of English ideas of liberty, and the
spread of information about the English system of constitutional
government It is perhaps known to few that the first Ottoman
reformer was a member of the first Ottoman diplomatic mission to
the Court of St James's. Agah Effendi, the first Turkish Ambassador
who was accredited in England, some hundred years ago, was
accompanied by a young man named Ra-if Mahmud Effendi, who
acted as his private secretary. This young secretary remained in
England many years and devoted himself to the study of scientific
subjects, more especially geography, and afterwards published a
translation of an English atlas into Turkish, the first ever prepared in
that language. While in England, Mahmud Effendi used to send
reports to the Sublime Porte on the forms of administration and
system of government in this country. When Sultan Mahmud II.
came to the throne, the young diplomatist was invited to
Constantinople to assist in the work of reorganising the
administration; but during one of the fanatical outbursts which
preceded the extermination of the Janissary corps, this first
modernised statesman of Turkey was accused of being a man of
'broad views,' and killed in a mélée. The seeds of reform sown by
him, however, were not entirely destroyed; and it was chiefly owing
to the work of the later Turkish statesmen, who followed his
example in reorganising the system of their country, that the famous
Hatt-i Sherif, or first reform charter of the Ottoman empire, was
drawn up, and, with the assistance of the friendly Powers,
proclaimed.
As I said before, it is not correct to call the Ottoman empire a part of
the 'unchanging East'; Turkey has seen many essential changes
during the last century, though not always for the better. Shortly
after his accession to the throne, the late Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz
attempted to disregard the newly established statutes of the empire,
and to rule in a most unconstitutional fashion. Instead of following
the constitutional methods of the country which had previously
contributed to the consolidation of his empire, he adopted the
absolutism of the Russian autocracy, and a Palace Party was formed
to combat the then growing national liberalism. The young reformers
of that period ventured to criticise vehemently the arbitrary conduct
of the Sultan and his advisers. But the country was not sufficiently
educated to give them support, so their remonstrances were
severely punished by the Government. Some of the leaders were
imprisoned in different citadels throughout the empire, but others
managed to escape to Europe. Some of these fugitives settled in
London. It is now more than thirty years since an active movement
for reform was started by the 'Young-Turks,' as they were then first
styled. The reformers published pamphlets and journals in England,
and sent them out to Turkey by means unknown to the Sultan Aziz's
officials. Being men of letters of recognised ability, they contributed
considerably by their writings to the enlightenment of public opinion
in their country, and did a good deal for the cause of education
among their countrymen. The effects of their agitation began to be
felt by the Palace Party and the corrupt officials of the old school in
the Sublime Porte.
About the beginning of the unfortunate reign of the present Sultan,
the reformers found so many adherents among the educated classes
of the people, as well as in the army, that Abd-ul-Hamid thought it
imperative to promise to Midhat Pasha, the chief reformer, that
immediately after his coronation he would proclaim constitutional
law, and sanction an assembly of the representatives of the various
communities of the empire. He did as he said, but he was only
waiting for an opportunity of making away with the leaders of the
constitutional movement and of re-establishing the personal rule of
the sovereign. The war with Russia in 1877 gave him his
opportunity; as the Turkish people were suffering from the terrible
results of the war, they were not in a position to forestall the evil
designs of Yildiz Kiosk, and to make the friends of Turkey in Western
Europe understand that the only way of preserving the integrity of
the empire was through the formation of a responsible constitutional
government. The short-lived Ottoman constitution, which Abd-ul-
Hamid destroyed, was therefore the work of the Young-Turkish Party,
who aimed at the regeneration of their country by founding a
"reasonable representative Government," to quote a phrase of the
late Mr Gladstone, and was not merely a ruse on the part of the
Sultan whereby "he might throw dust into the eyes of the Western
Powers," as the irreconcilable enemies of the Ottoman empire
interpreted it Mr Gladstone and his political friends, however, never
really sympathised with the attempts to establish such a government
in Turkey. The late Duke of Argyll said, in one of his books on
Eastern matters, "We in England laughed at their constitution." As a
matter of fact, these politicians of England wanted reforms only for
the Christian subjects of the empire.
Thus, after the Russo-Turkish war, the country was not able to give
material support to the Reform 4 Party,' while, on the other hand,
this party received no effective support from the well-wishers of the
Ottoman empire in England. The Yildiz junta took full advantage of
this, made the constitution a dead letter, got rid of the most
powerful and most honest reformers by sending them as governors
or mere exiles to distant provinces, and established a bureaucratic
authority of the most intolerably oppressive kind, the misrule of
which has caused the Ottoman empire irreparable harm. In the hope
of preventing the formation of an opposition party, Abd-ul-Hamid
began to stir up the old religious and racial hatreds, which were then
almost dead, among the various nationalities of the empire, and to
crush every sort of industrial energy and collective enterprise of the
people. He further threatened private property, more especially of
the reform adherents, with confiscation on the slightest excuse. In
spite, however, of fiendish and systematic persecution of the
reformers and their followers, the Sultan has never succeeded in
entirely stamping out the reform movement He was too late in his
attempt to suppress education, and the spread of Western learning
among the Turkish people has brought about the dissemination of
the ideas of Western Europe as to the legitimate liberty of the
people and the responsibility of the government; hence, discontent
among the more thoughtful of the community has steadily gone on
increasing.
About the beginning of the Armenian revolt there was an energetic
revival of the reform agitation. The would-be reformers earnestly
tried to upset the misrule of the Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid. They wanted
a brave Sultan to rule over a brave people; they wanted an honest
sovereign, not an intriguer, clever enough when his personal safety
is concerned, but otherwise a lunatic, who has shut himself up in his
fortified palace for the last six-and-twenty years; they wanted a
worthy Caliph, who would impress the Mohammedan world with the
fact that as a Mohammedan power Turkey had a respectable position
among the civilised powers of Europe; they wanted a responsible
Turkish Ministry, not a cosmopolitan clique of adventurers, whose
misrule brought the very name of the Turkish nation into contempt.
Persecution of some twenty-five thousand Young-Turkish adherents
did not prove sufficient to suppress this movement. Therefore the
Sultan had to devise further ingenious means for bringing it to
naught Many of his spies fled to Europe as though they were Young-
Turks, and joined the different Young-Turkish committees; they
reported secretly everything they discovered concerning them to the
Sultan, and tried to sow discord among the members. As most of the
fugitives depended for their livelihood on their resources in Turkey,
the Sultan succeeded in driving them into the utmost destitution by
cutting off these resources. Meanwhile his emissaries came forward
with large sums of money and with promises of appointments in
Government offices, to induce the refugees to return to Turkey.
Some of them accepted the pecuniary assistance of his benevolent
Majesty, and therefore lost the sympathy of the Turkish people.
Certain office-seekers and concession-hunters, some of whom were
not Turks at all, pretending to be Turkish reformers, published
seditious papers in London and elsewhere in order to blackmail the
Sultan, and in this way brought shame upon the honour of the
Young-Turks.
Thus the Young-Turkish movement is disorganised, but it has not
been wholly suppressed. It may reorganise its forces, and continue
its campaign against the Yildiz monsters, though in a pacific manner;
because an armed uprising against the tyranny of Abd-ul-Hamid by
the Turks alone would be represented in Europe as prelude to a
'massacre of the Christians.' Moreover, such a revolution would be a
bloody one, for Yildiz Kiosk is guarded by armed men of different
races, hostile to one another. Besides, in case of an extreme danger
to his person, the Sultan would open the gates of the capital to the
forces of the traditional enemy of Turkey, as he has on more than
one occasion hinted.
 CHAPTER XII.

ENGLAND AND THE CALIPHATE.

Abd-ul-Hamid's use of his power as Caliph—What the Moslems think of him—

British Mohammedan subjects —The validity of the Ottoman claims to the
Caliphate —The mistaken policy of British Statesmen in opposing them—
Danger of alienating the Mohammedan world—The errors of English writers.

There can hardly be found in the history of nations a more fortunate

tyrant than the autocrat of Yildiz Kiosk. Besides all the circumstances
I have noted, Abd-ul-Hamid has at his back the authority of the
Caliphate, which he can, when he chooses, ingeniously employ for
his own ends. The devotion of the Mussulmans of Turkey and the
respect of orthodox Mohammedans of other countries for the Caliph
are very great, and becoming greater every day. As a matter of fact,
the attachment of Mohammedans is to the office of the Caliph rather
than to his person, and according to the qualities necessary for the
man who holds it, a true Caliph must be a perfect specimen of
humanity. If he cannot fulfil the prescribed conditions of the Islamic
religious law, that law orders the faithful to depose him, and justifies
the election of a proper Caliph. There are not lacking in the history
of Islam instances in which the Caliph has been deposed solely on
these religious grounds. It is almost impossible for these people to
comprehend that the present Sultan does not possess any of these
good qualities, and is therefore quite unworthy of his office. The
Sultan employs subtle methods that he may pose before the
Mohammedans as the true Caliph and the sole champion of the
Islamic cause, and spends immense sums of money for the same
purpose. In reality, however, he should be known as the worst
enemy of Islam, as no Moslem ruler has ever brought by his
misdeeds so much shame upon his faith as he has. Anyone who has
observed his career closely knows that his actions are diametrically
opposed to the principles of the Mussulman law and creed. But it is
the hardest thing in the world to make Moslems understand this.
Those in Turkey are just beginning to understand what he really is,
but outside Turkey he is held in blind veneration by all Moslems. An
Englishman, who had great experience of the East, and who
followed the Prince of Wales during his tour round the Colonies, told
me that the further you go away from Turkey the greater is the
influence of the Sultan among the followers of Islam.
In pursuance of my remarks on the way in which the Sultan makes
use of the influence of the Caliphate for his personal ends, it may
perhaps be of some interest if I make some general remarks on the
Caliphate, and the influence of the Caliph among the Mussulmans of
the world. It must be remembered that Great Britain has under her
rule or protection a very large number of the followers of Islam.
Some authorities say that her Moslem subjects are five times as
many as those who belong to Turkey itself. It follows that this
immense Mohammedan population in Great Britain's Eastern
dominions will some day prove of the highest importance in
determining the direction of her policy in the East There are now
symptoms of rivalry between the Sultan of Turkey and those British
authorities whose business it is to maintain their country's prestige
and influence in the Moslem world. It is on account of this rivalry
that some British writers and politicians try to represent the religious
influence of the Sultan as being less than it is, while others seek to
deny the validity of the Ottoman Caliphate. That the present Sultan
is unworthy of the title cannot be questioned; but the validity of the
claim of the occupant of the Turkish throne to the office, quite apart
from his character, is incontestable. Those who deny this, or seek to
depreciate the influence of the Ottoman Sultanate on orthodox
Mohammedans, periodically shower abuse on Turkey, as was done
during the Armenian agitation, perhaps with the view of creating a
breach between the Moslem populations of British territories and
Turkey. And I cannot but think that this policy is having just the
opposite effect. The study of the English language is increasing
steadily but surely among the Mohammedan subjects of Great
Britain, and so they read or hear many of the hostile sentiments
published and uttered in England against the Ottoman Caliphate,
and become suspicious and irritated. In fact, the more this hostility
is displayed, the closer will become the attachment of the Moslem
subjects of England towards the Ottoman Caliphate. Such alienation
of feeling, which is at present latent, will be anything but favourable
for England in case of international complications in some part of the
Orient. There are European Powers who may take advantage of it,
and use it against the interests of the British Government The
speech of the Kaiser delivered at Damascus must still be fresh in the
memory of many people. It was certainly with the object of
increasing the influence of his country in the East that he said that
he would stand side by side with the head of three hundred million
Mohammedans. A highly connected Russian once told me that
during Queen Victoria's reign Great Britain waged over fifty different
wars, small and great, and added that most of these wars were
carried on against Mohammedan peoples in different parts of Asia
and Africa, in order to crush their independence and take their
countries. Very likely he used to relate this to other compatriots or
co-religionists of mine whom he met, so that the idea became
popular, and would add to the belief that Great Britain is the worst
enemy of the cause of Islam. "Supposing that the fanaticism of the
Mohammedans under our rule were stirred up by Turkey, what could
they do?" a proud Jingo once asked me, at a time when some
persons were urging Lord Salisbury to send the British fleet over the
mountains of Asia Minor to avenge the Armenian wrongs. "We could
put them down," added this Jingo, with an increased air of proud
confidence, "any time and anywhere." Yes, in the East we know
England's might, and we all admire the Englishman's great tenacity
in defence of the interests of his country. But there are instances in
history of small and backward nations having inflicted irreparable
damage on mighty Powers, and Mussulmans will not always fight—if
it should, unfortunately, ever come to fighting—with spears and
mediæval weapons. They will not easily be exterminated or
subjugated; nor is it true that the Mohammedans will ever be won
over by conversion, as the missionaries assert. These millions of
Mohammedans will continue to exist, and some day there will
certainly be a general awakening among them, which will make the
adoption of modern methods and means of war imperative. I do not
imagine that it would be to Turkey's interest to alienate Great Britain
by attempting to stir up her Moslem subjects, and I am sure that
when once the present regime is over, everyone in Turkey will
heartily, welcome the re-establishment of England's prestige. There
is, therefore, no sound reason for the attitude of malignant jealousy
towards the Ottoman Caliphate which some Englishmen have chosen
to adopt It seems to me that past generations of British statesmen
must have had sounder statesmanlike qualities than the present
generation, for they used to benefit their country by the influence of
that Caliphate. For instance, during the earlier periods of the
conquest of India, the English representative in Turkey requested the
Porte to use its good offices in the court of certain Mohammedan
rulers of India in favour of his country.
Leaving the political aspect, I will say something as to the validity of
Turkey's claim to the Caliphate. In discussing this subject some
English writers use such phrases as the "pretensions of the Ottoman
Sultans" to the headship of Moslems. So long as the great bulk of
those who profess that religion recognise that authority, what value
can be attached to the attempts to question it on the part of
prejudiced outsiders? It is argued that the sect of Shiites, or the
unorthodox Moslems, do not recognise the Caliphate in question. But
there are strong indications that they too will, sooner or later,
recognise it for political if not religious reasons, as the danger
threatening the remaining vestige of Islamic independence looms
equally large before orthodox and unorthodox alike. One of the
arguments brought forward against the Ottoman Caliphate is that
the Caliph must be appointed from among the Koreish, the Prophet's
own people, and must be his direct descendant. It is probable that
the tradition related in connection with this argument is one of the
many spurious sayings made up by individuals after the time of
Mohammed, as such a just legislator would not show partiality
towards his own family and people by restricting to them the
privilege of being his Caliphs. According to his doctrine, community
of faith is tantamount to community of race, and he founded a
perfect democratic equality between his followers, whatever their
race or colour, and called them all 'ommetee,' that is, 'my nation.' A
Caliph, therefore, need not necessarily be a descendant of the
Prophet Besides, he left no male issue; and according to the Moslem
law, female issue has not the right of succession, the Caliph being a
temporal and not a spiritual head.
Another strong argument is the length of time for which the
Ottoman sovereigns have held the title of Caliph. This title was first
assumed by the Ottomans during the conquest of Egypt by Sultan
Selim I. in 1517 a.d., when the keys of the sacred places of Mecca
and Medina were handed over to him at Cairo by a deputation which
came from Hijaz expressly to accept him as Caliph. From that
moment up till now the Ottoman sovereigns have uninterruptedly
held the title, and have been the guardians of the standard of
Mohammed. The provinces of Mecca and Medina have ever since
that time formed an integral part of the Ottoman empire. A Caliph
must be an independent ruler, and must in particular be ruler over
those holy places. It would certainly never do if an Arab were
appointed as the spiritual head of Islam by a Power of alien faith.
Such mischievous suggestions are merely an expression of the
political hostility which is often shown by some individuals in England
to the Turkish Caliphate. An ultra-patriotic evening paper once said
that there could not be a better Caliph than the 'British Raj.' To make
the Mussulmans recognise the 'British Raj.' as the supreme religious
head of their community is as impossible and ridiculous as to
attempt to convert this country to Islam. If Englishmen are really
patriotic in guarding and promoting the interests and prestige of
their country in the Islamic world, they should not attack the
Ottoman Caliphate, but make good use of its influence. Such a
suggestion as I have quoted would not appear to the Moslem mind
to be a friend's advice, as the general tendency among the
Mohammedans is to strengthen the position of the existing
Caliphate. This tendency is becoming so evident that some
Continental journals have already believed it to be the result of Pan-
Islamic organisation, though in reality there is no such organisation.
 CHAPTER XIII.

A LAST VISIT TO ASIA MINOR.

I become an object of interest to the Palace spies—I therefore leave

Constantinople for a time—England and the Anatolian Railway—Prosperous
whitewash and a deceitful governor—Bureaucratic changes in Asia MinorThe
measures for restricting large gatherings of the people—Wedding
entertainments diminished—The war-game of Jareed—My mother's objections
to my visiting England—A perversion of the truth on my part.

At this time, when I was making a fair living by means of the

business entrusted to me by those European concessionnaires whom
I have mentioned, I thought it convenient to take up my residence in
Pera, the European quarter of the capital. But my residing in Pera
among foreigners must have made me an object on which some
persons connected with the Palace deemed it worth while to keep an
eye. I began to suspect that my movements were being shadowed
by some mysterious individuals, though I could hardly be sure. I
informed my English friend, the late correspondent of the Times,
that I had reason to fear that the spies were after me, and that I
thought the time had come to carry out my old intention of going to
England. He agreed with me as to the advisability of my getting out
of Turkey, but he warned me that unless I secured some means of
livelihood beforehand, it was a most risky matter to give up my
work, my hopes and probable chances at home, and go over to a
country which was absolutely foreign to me. A strong presentiment,
however, possessed my mind that I should, sooner or later, be added
to the list of the victims of the prevailing tyranny. Taking advantage
of the approach of the summer vacation, I thought it would be
better at least to go away for some little time from Constantinople.
My English friend recommended me to the director of the then newly
opened Anatolian railways, and he gave me a first-class free ticket to
Angora, which I had not seen for several years. A few days later I
crossed over the harbour of Constantinople to the Asiatic shore, and
from the Haidar Pasha terminus I took the train which carried me
away at once towards the heart of Asia Minor. The distance between
Haidar Pasha and Angora is shorter, I should say, than between
London and Glasgow, yet the express train takes two whole days to
cover it. The German Railway Company does not seem generous in
affording facilities to the people of the country, and the customs
officers and the rough inspectors employed by the Tobacco Régie
Company (one of the European companies) give the traveller an
intolerable amount of trouble by seizing and examining his
belongings at different places on the journey. The train stops when it
has gone half-way on the first evening, as it is not allowed to run at
night The traveller's inland passport is examined, and he himself is
subjected to a perfect inquisition of questionings, first in the capital,
again on the first night, and finally on the second night, when he
reaches his destination.
When the Anatolian line was first constructed as far as Angora, the
general belief in the country was that the long projected trunk line
from the Ottoman capital to the Persian Gulf would pass through
Angora. This has not been the case, and the main line changes its
course at Eski-Shehir, which is situated half-way between the capital
and Angora, and runs to the south, towards Konia (ancient Iconium).
It is no doubt within the recollection of many people that the
scheme of shortening and facilitating communication between
Europe and the nearer East and India by constructing a great line
over Asiatic Turkey was first projected by English engineers,
supported by the British Government. This enterprise, however,
could not be realised. The Germans, ever ready to seize all
commercial and political ground lost by the English in the nearer
East, took the matter into their own hands, and are now going to
have the control of what should have been essentially the British
route to India through the friendly Ottoman empire. I do not know
whether the possession of this line by Germans is a loss to England,
but it is really a loss for my countrymen that this enterprise should
not have been in the hands of an English company, because they are
aware that in dealing with the English there is a fair possibility of
mutual benefit; while in bargaining with Germans, the greediest of
all grasping Europeans, Turkey has little to expect in return for what
she has to give.
On the second evening after my departure the train arrived at
Angora at the moment of sunset. I saw from the window of my
carriage that some of the mud-walled houses of the town and the
walls of the ancient citadel were white and glistening. At first I
thought that they were some new buildings which had sprung up as
a sign of the prosperity produced by the opening of the railway. But
I soon discovered my mistake. The Governor-General had given
orders that the municipal authorities were to whitewash the citadel
and that many of the citizens were to do the same to their houses
before the formal opening of the railway, so that the European
visitors and official commissioners who should come to Angora for
the first time might suppose that the town was as smart and
prosperous as it looked. The governor must have learnt this mode of
deception from the Yildiz authorities, who caused all the more
ruinous quarters of Constantinople to be whitewashed or surrounded
with high timber hoardings before the German Emperor first came to
the city. I was particularly surprised that the great time-worn stones
of the ancient citadel should have been so monstrously disfigured by
a vulgar coat of whitewash. The governor was a certain Abideen
Pasha, and he is now the Vali of the Turkish Archipelago. He is an
Albanian by birth, and was first educated in Athens. He can write
poems in ancient Greek, and is known to be a linguist and scholar.
He had been governor of Angora for several years, yet he had done
almost nothing to improve the condition of the province. In other
countries such a man would perhaps have been given a professorial
chair in some educational institution, but he would hardly have been
put in a responsible government post which requires practical
administrative capacity. Turkey cannot expect beneficial reforms from
such learned theorists, any more than from the ignorant incapable
officials who are still entrusted by the Palace with the administration
of many of the important provinces.
Some years had elapsed between my last trip and the present one
into Asia Minor, and during this period I found that serious changes
had taken place in the state of the interior. Among other things, the
number of useless officials sent by the central Government had
increased alarmingly, to the detriment of the inhabitants of the
provinces. For instance, there is no piece of land in Angora which
could properly be called forest, yet a Department of Woods and
Forests had been created there; directors, sub-directors, and several
subordinate officials had been sent out by the central government,
and in connection with this office new taxes and unaccustomed laws
had been imposed upon the inhabitants. The fact is that, in order to
show the Powers that it had been introducing reforms, the
Government of the Sultan had adopted among other laws the French
regulations relating to the management of forests, and a new
department had been created in Constantinople. This central
department had opened branch offices in all vilayets or counties, and
many Palace favourites were sent to them as forest officials, without
regard to the circumstances that in some vilayets there was not an
acre which could be considered forest land. In order to crush local
influence in the government of the provinces, the administrative
councils of the towns, on which the notabilities and religious heads
of all communities in each locality, Mussulman and non-Mussulman,
sit ex officio in company with the officials of the Sultan's
Government, were discouraged from attending meetings.
 A WRESTLING MATCH IN OLDEN DAYS.
Such events as would occasion the gathering of large crowds were
either prohibited or restricted, after the custom of the capital. "He
who is a traitor is also a coward," said the Prophet, and Abd-ul-
Hamid, who has caused irreparable harm to Turkey, is afraid that
such gatherings might be the prelude to a general uprising. I will
mention here two things which used to cause great masses of
people to collect. One was a wedding entertainment, and the other
the war-game of jereed. The restriction of the former to a 'simpler'
form was, according to the reasons openly given for it, one of the
Sultan's so-called 'paternal' measures. It was alleged to be necessary
because people on such occasions indulged in ruinous expenses, and
thus fell into the hands of the Armenian and other money-lenders,
and became victims of their extortions. As a matter of faot, to
maintain a wife is not an expensive luxury in Asia Minor, but people
are fond of grand wedding entertainments. Several days before a
wedding, luncheons and dinners are given to large parties of rich
and poor, who are entertained with string music and spectacles
indoors. A great procession passes through the chief streets of a
town bringing the bride and bridesmaids in closely shut palanquins,
which are carried by mules or horses. At night there is a display of
fireworks and illuminations composed of torches, and by day
exhibitions of wrestling are given by local champions. (Wrestling is
one of Turkey's most ancient and favourite pastimes, and in the
provinces all schoolboys practise it, besides a large number of
adults. It is of the greatest use in developing the physical strength of
the provincial Turks.) Both the bride's procession and these outdoor
entertainments are accompanied by the incessant beating of drums
and blowing of long trumpets, or sometimes of a kind of bagpipe,8
the most favourite and in fact the only music of the humbler class of
people and peasants. The old national game of jereed, which used
to attract an immense crowd of spectators, was, I learned on this
visit, also prohibited in Angora. This game used to be most popular
in every town of Asiatic Turkey. On Fridays, in the afternoon, when
the khutba or prayer-oration in the mosques was over, people used
to hasten out of the towns, mounted on their trained horses, and
armed with several long and heavy sticks. The jereed is a game for
the able-bodied alone. Two things are essentially necessary for
players —they must be first—rate horsemen, and must be skilled in
throwing their sticks straight and hard while galloping. There are
about twenty men on each side, and they take up their positions
about fifty yards apart The spectators look on from some high
ground, where there is no danger of their being trampled upon by
the struggling horsemen. The game is opened by one man, who
gallops forward from one side and throws one of his sticks at one of
the enemy; as soon as he throws it he is pursued. The pursuers do
the same in their turn, and so the game goes on. There must be no
confusion or unfairness, and everyone must play his game 'bravely,'
as they call it. The sticks must not wilfully be aimed at the heads of
the enemy. The players are allowed to do anything to avoid being hit
by the sticks, and in order to avoid it they play risky tricks, such as
bending from the saddle down towards the neck and belly of their
galloping horses. Anyone who has thrown away all his sticks is free
to pick up any stick lying on the ground, with a pole which has a
hook at the end, or by dexterously bending down and snatching it
up with his hand as the horse gallops by. Sometimes, of course, the
horses of two opponents collide, and then most likely both men fall
in a heap, and very often under the horses. The most exciting way
to play the game is that adopted by a man whose horse is unusually
swift After throwing his stick at the enemy he does not hurry back
towards his own line, but dashes away toward the open country and
rides as fast as he can. Some of the enemy pursue him far away
down the valley, until he is either caught up or escapes.
During this last visit the game was no longer played, because some
serious accidents had happened and lives had been lost, and the
kind Government accordingly prohibited it Seeing all these
prohibitions, I was perhaps rather injudicious and outspoken in
criticising the Government. So a relation of mine reminded me of the
old proverb which runs, "A man's safety lies in holding his tongue."
He, moreover, warned me that times were now different, and added,
"If you are not careful you will go...." I understood what he alluded
to. He meant, of course, that I should be sent into exile or thrown
into prison if I went on criticising the existing regime. I did not stay
long in Asia Minor during this last visit, and after settling my affairs I
hastened my packing and returned to Constantinople, where it is,
comparatively speaking, easier to find means of getting out of
Turkey. With us there is filial obligation for a man of right feeling, no
matter how old he may be, to secure his parents' consent to any
venture on which he is going to embark. So, guardedly and in
confidence, I broke to my mother my intention of going to the land
of Ingliz. The poor Mussulman lady was terrified at the idea, and
began to put to me such questions as—Who would look after me?
Who would take care of me in case of my falling ill in that distant
strange land? And if I died there, should I desire to be buried
according to the rites of the infidels? It perhaps never occurred to
her that there was a danger far greater than those she instanced—
the danger of falling into destitution in a foreign land. This was the
possibility which I dreaded most, as I knew that anyone who left the
Sultan's dominions without his august permission could not depend
for his living upon any resources he might have at home. So, while I
was making ready to return to Constantinople, my mother entreated
me to renounce the idea of going to England, and to calm her I was
wicked enough to make some evasive promises, which to me meant
nothing.
 CHAPTER XIV.

A SPY IN A PUBLIC BATH.

The Turkish bath—Some of its features—Great number of baths in Constantinople

—Women's baths and a proverb—Evening parties at the bath—I encounter a
spy in a bath—He is well informed about me—I am alarmed—I appeal to an
Englishman for help in escaping—The 'cursed country.'

When I came back to Constantinople I decided to lead a more or less

retired life, so that I might if possible avoid becoming a prey to the
victim-hunting Palace spies. A year passed without fresh alarms, and
meanwhile no easy opportunity of leaving the country presented
itself. I was just beginning to feel satisfied that my caution was
rendering any such disagreeable change in my career unnecessary
when one night I was alarmed to discover that a spy was actually at
work plotting my ruin. This happened in a Turkish bath. Before
relating how this occurred, I will describe our baths. The Turkish
baths are much favoured in England, and perhaps there may be
some among the readers of this book who may like to know
something about the baths in Turkey. "Is the Turkish bath known in
Turkey?" This curious question is not infrequently put to travellers
from the East by English people. It is true that there is not much
resemblance between the external appearance and management of
the so-called Turkish bath in England and those of the hammam in
Turkey. Outwardly the hammam usually presents something of the
appearance of a domed sepulchral edifice. Of the little domes or
cupolas which rise from its roof, that in the middle is the highest,
and is set with many small windows for the purpose of lighting the
bath. The massive walls that form the sides of the hammam have no
windows, as it is thought that if the walls were pierced the outside
air would penetrate into the interior and cause variations in the
evenness of temperature which it is held desirable to maintain. The
interior thus often becomes very dose, as ventilation is very slow,
being only through the opening by passers to and fro of the double
doors of the passage which leads to the cool entrance-hall. Every
now and then attendants burn frankincense in the interior of the
bath with the idea of purifying the air. The great warm hall under the
central dome has generally three large niches, two on each side and
one in front, as well as two little chambers. Each of these niches and
chambers has a roof in the shape of a half-hemisphere, which
contains a few tiny glass apertures, and which is joined to the
central dome roof. In all these niches and chambers there are,
according to the size of the bath, one, two, or three marble basins,
which are fixed to the low part of the wall, each basin being
provided with hot and cold water taps. Round these basins people sit
on marble or wooden seats, which are raised about five or six inches
above the floor, and seated thereon they have their bath. The little
chambers can be engaged for private use on application. One of
these is excessively hot, being situated close to the hot-water
reservoir. Some people go to this hottest chamber not only in order
to perspire, more freely, but also for the purpose of washing
themselves with the warmest water in the bath. In the hot hall just
under the central roof there is a wide circular marble seat, raised
about two feet above the floor. Every bather sits or lies on this seat
before going up to one of the basins to have his bath, and he stays
there till he has sufficiently perspired. While he is resting there an
attendant comes forward and rubs him with a rough glove which is
made of horse-hair; and also massages him, if this is required. After
this operation the bather goes up to one of the fixed basins, and the
attendant follows him with a large copper hand-basin and a big
piece of Cretan soap. The attendant then turns on the hot and cold
water taps, letting as much water as may be required run from both
into the marble basin; he next proceeds to wash the customer by
soaping him with his loofah, and then pouring water over him with
the copper hand-basin. Most Mohammedans, after thus having a
bath, make their ablution with the flowing water, as is prescribed by
their religious law. When this is over the attendant claps his hands
loudly enough to be heard in the entrance-hall, another bath-servant
then enters and rubs the customer with one of the dry Brossa towels
which he brings with him; then covering him up with others, he
leads him out, holding him by the arm. In the bath everyone walks
on high wooden pattens, as after having made the ablution one
must not touch the floor over which the used water runs; moreover,
it is somewhat dangerous to walk barefoot on the marble slabs with
which the bath is paved, as they are very slippery. Between the
warm hall and entrance-hall there is a large square room, round
which are arranged several beds. The people sometimes dress and
undress in this room, especially in winter, as, besides being free from
draughts, this apartment is warmer in temperature than the
entrance-hall. The latter is cool, and the air is not so close and stuffy
as in the middle room.
The entrance-hall is also square, and has galleries running along on
each side, in which are many beds. The bath-keeper is always to be
seen in his place close to the door, smoking his pipe or narguileh,
and saluting the customers who come and go. In the middle of the
entrance-hall is a fountain, the pure and cold water of which is
ceaselessly splashing into its marble tank. In this water fresh fruits
and bottles of lemon squash are kept cool in summer time for the
use of customers. Near it a man may be seen always busy making
coffee on the charcoal fire; for most people are ready to take a tiny
cup of coffee at almost any time during the day. There are some
persons who stay in the bath for a very long time, and at the meal
hours attendants may frequently be observed bringing trays covered
with dishes from neighbouring restaurants.
The stove-room, where a huge fire is kept up day and night all the
year round, is situated at the back of the bath building. It is
underground, and a large portion of its floor is covered with piles of
logs, the fuel used for heating the water of the bath. The furnace
itself is very much like an oven upon which is placed a huge boiler.
This boiler receives cold water from one side, and after heating it
gives it to the reservoir. Many homeless young vagrants go to this
underground place at night in winter and sleep on the heaps of dried
horse droppings which are used as fuel along with the wood, and
which are piled up opposite the fireplace. It is a dismal sight to see
those poor young fellows lying in that foul and filthy place. They are
allowed to shelter there by the fireman, because he employs them in
the hardest part of his work without giving them any money.
Many of the Turkish baths are built double, one part being assigned
for the use of ladies. In some places ladies go to the bath only on
certain days of the week which are given up to them. Certain baths
again are used by them every day up till seven o'clock in the
evening, after which hour they are made over for the use of men.
The charges are very reasonable. A man can have a complete bath,
and may stay on the premises of the establishment as long as he
pleases, by paying a sum of about is. 8d., and when going out, after
paying this, he will be respectfully greeted by the bath-keeper and
the attendants. Ladies pay much less than this sum; their expenses
can hardly be much over sixpence, as they take all their own soaps,
towels and clogs with them. What they pay is really the 'water fee'
and a penny or two for the attendants.
Women go to the bath oftener than men, and they go in groups of
three or four or more, always taking their children with them. Boys
over eight or nine years of age are not allowed to go to the women's
bath, and even tall boys under that age are sometimes pushed back
from the door by the manageress, who is always a stern and
unbending personage. She usually says to such tall boys, "Good
heavens! Is your father coming too?" and she will listen to no
expostulations from the boy's mother as to his real age. The
women's bath is always crowded, and free fights for the fixed basins
are of not unfrequent occurrence. Shrill voices, mingled with the
howlings and cryings of children anxious to be taken out of the
almost suffocating hot room, may sometimes be heard from outside.
This has given rise to a well-known saying in Turkey which is used to
describe a noisy gathering where many persons try to speak at the
same time: "the place was turned into a women's bath." When
women go to the bath they stay there all day long, and on such
occasions the poor husbands do not get much to eat in the evening.
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