te and smiling disdainfully.

[Illustration: HELPING A TURK WHOSE HORSES RAN AWAY AT SIGHT OF OUR
BICYCLES.]

It was in the company of one of these military champions that we emerged
on the morning of April 12 upon the plateau of Angora. On the spring
pasture were feeding several flocks of the famous Angora goats, and the
_karamanli_ or fat-tailed sheep, tended by the Yurak shepherds and their
half-wild and monstrous collies, whose half-savage nature fits them to
cope with the jackals which infest the country. The shepherds did not
check their sudden onslaught upon us until we were pressed to very close
quarters, and had drawn our revolvers in self-defense. These Yuraks are
the nomadic portion of the Turkish peasantry. They live in caves or rudely
constructed huts, shifting their habitation at will, or upon the
exhaustion of the pasturage. Their costume is most primitive both in style
and material; the trousers and caps being made of sheepskin and the tunic
of plaited wheat-straw. In contradistinction to the Yuraks the settled
inhabitants of the country are called Turks. That term, however, which
means rustic or clown, is never used by the Turks themselves except in
derision or disdain; they always speak of themselves as "Osmanli."

[Illustration: AN ANGORA SHEPHERD.]

The great length of the Angora fleece, which sometimes reaches eight
inches, is due solely to the peculiar climate of the locality. The same
goats taken elsewhere have not thriven. Even the Angora dogs and cats are
remarkable for the extraordinary length of their fleecy covering. On
nearing Angora itself, we raced at high speed over the undulating plateau.
Our zaptieh on his jaded horse faded away in the dim distance, and we saw
him no more. This was our last guard for many weeks to come, as we decided
to dispense with an escort that really retarded us. But on reaching
Erzerum, the Vali refused us permission to enter the district of Alashgerd
without a guard, so we were forced to take one.

[Illustration: 1, THE ENGLISH CONSUL AT ANGORA FEEDING HIS PETS; 2,
PASSING A CARAVAN OF CAMELS; 3, PLOWING IN ASIA MINOR.]

We were now on historic ground. To our right, on the Owas, a tributary of
the Sakaria, was the little village of Istanas, where stood the ancient
seat of Midas, the Phrygian king, and where Alexander the Great cut with
his sword the Gordian knot to prove his right to the rulership of the
world. On the plain, over which we were now