d to be; but even now its _charshi_, or inclosed
bazaars, are among the finest in Turkey, being far superior in appearance
to those of Constantinople. These _charshi_ are nothing more than narrow
streets, inclosed by brick arches, and lined on either side with booths.
It was through one of these that our only route to the khan lay--and yet we
felt that in such contracted quarters, and in such an excited mob as had
gathered around us, disaster was sure to follow. Our only salvation was to
keep ahead of the jam, and get through as soon as possible. We started on
the spurt; and the race began. The unsuspecting merchants and their
customers were suddenly distracted from their thoughts of gain as we
whirled by; the crowd close behind sweeping everything before it. The
falling of barrels and boxes, the rattling of tin cans, the crashing of
crockery, the howling of the vagrant dogs that were trampled under foot,
only added to the general tumult.

Through the courtesy of Mr. Peet of the American Bible House at
Constantinople, we were provided with letters of introduction to the
missionaries at Kaisarieh, as well as elsewhere along our route through
Asiatic Turkey, and upon them we also had drafts to the amount of our
deposit made at the Bible House before starting. Besides, we owed much to
the hospitality and kindness of these people. The most striking feature of
the missionary work at Kaisarieh is the education of the Armenian women,
whose social position seems to be even more degraded than that of their
Turkish sisters. With the native Armenians, as with the Turks, fleshiness
adds much to the price of a wife. The wife of a missionary is to them an
object both of wonderment and contempt. As she walks along the street,
they will whisper to one another: "There goes a woman who knows all her
husband's business; and who can manage just as well as himself." This will
generally be followed in an undertone by the expression, "Madana satana,"
which means, in common parlance, "a female devil." At first it was a
struggle to overcome this ignorant prejudice, and to get girls to come to
the school free of charge; now it is hard to find room for them even when
they are asked to pay for their tuition.

The costume of the Armenian woman is generally of some bright-colored
cloth, prettily trimmed. Her coiffure, always elaborate, sometimes
includes a string of gold coins, encircling the head, or strung down the
plait. A silver belt incloses th