er tribes in these regions. When they heard what
had fallen upon their brethren at Diarbekir and the vicinity they
assembled, fortified themselves in three villages near Madiat, and made
a heroic resistance, showing a courage beyond description. The
Government sent against them two companies of regulars, besides a
company of gendarmes which had been despatched thither previously; the
Kurdish tribes assembled against them, but without result, and thus they
protected their lives, honour, and possessions from the tyranny of this
oppressive Government. An Imperial Iradeh was issued, granting them
pardon, but they placed no reliance on it and did not surrender, for
past experience had shown them that this is the most false Government on
the face of the earth, taking back to-day what it gave yesterday, and
punishing to-day with most cruel penalties him whom it had previously
pardoned.

CONVERSATION between a postal contractor from Bitlis and a friend of
mine, as we were sitting at a cafe in Diarbekir:

Contractor: I see many Armenians in Diarbekir. How comes it that they
are still here?

My Friend: These are not Armenians, but Syriacs and Chaldeans.

Contractor: The Government of Bitlis has not left a single Christian in
that Vilayet, nor in the district of Moush. If a doctor told a sick man
that the remedy for his disease was the heart of a Christian he would
not find one though he searched through the whole Vilayet.

PROTECTION AFFORDED BY KURDS TO ARMENIANS ON PAYMENT.--The Armenians
were confined in the main ward of the prison at Diarbekir, and from time
to time I visited them. One day, on waking from sleep, I went to see
them in their ward and found them collecting rice, flour and moneys. I
asked them the reason of this, and they said: "What are we to do? If we
do not collect a quantity every week and give it to the Kurds, they
insult and beat us, so we give these things to some of them so that they
may protect us from the outrages of their fellows." I exclaimed, "There
is no power nor might but in God," and went back grieving over their
lot.

DESPATCH OF THE ARMENIANS TO THE SLAUGHTER.--This was a most shocking
proceeding, appalling in its atrocity. One of the gendarmes in Diarbekir
related to me how it was done. He said that, when orders were given for
the removal and destruction of a family, an official went to the house,
counted the members of the family, and delivered them to the Commandant
of Militia or one