Sophia. At  first  they   all  wore  the  new  hay-coloured


Arriving  from  Asia

uniform  of  Young  Turkey. Then  older  reservists  began
to  appear  in  the  dark  blue  piped  with  red  of  Abd  iil
Hamid's  time. Meanwhile,  conscripts  and  volunteers  of
all  ages  and  types  and  costumes  filled  the  streets. It
took  a  more  experienced  eye  than  mine,  generally,  to
pick  out  a  Greek  or  an  Armenian  marching  to  war  for
the  first  time  in  the  Turkish  ranks. The  fact  is  that  a
Roumelian  or  seaboard  Turk  looks  more  European  than


WAR  TIME


461


an  Anatolian  Christian. Nevertheless,  the  diversity  of
the  empire  was  made  sufficiently  manifest  to  the  most
inexperienced  eye. The  Albanians  were  always  a  strik-
ing note. Hundreds  of  them  flocked  back  from  who
knows  where,  in  their  white  skull-caps  and  close-fitting
white  clothes  braided  with  black. They  are  leaner  and


Reserves


often  taller  than  the  Turks,  who  incline  to  be  thick-
bodied;  fairer,  too,  as  a  rule,  and  keener-eyed. Some-
thing like  them  are  the  Laz,  who  are  slighter  and  darker
men  but  no  less  fierce. They  have  the  name  of  being
able  to  ride  farther  in  less  time  than  any  other  tribe  of
Asia  Minor. Their  uniforms  were  a  khaki  adaptation  of
their  tribal  dress  —  zouave-jackets,  trousers  surprisingly
full  at  the  waist  and  surprisingly  tight  about  the  leg,


462      CONSTANTINOPLE  OLD  AND  NEW

and  pointed  hoods  with  long  flaps  knotted  into  a  sort  of
turban. This  comfortable  Laz  hood,  with  slight  varia-
tions of  cut  and  colour,  has  been  adapted  for  the  whole
army. I  shall  always  remember  it  as  a  symbol  of  that
winter  war. Certain  swarthy  individuals  from  the
Russian   or   Persian   frontiers   also   made   a   memorable


Recruits


figure,  in  long  black  hairy  sleeveless  cloaks  and  tall
caps  of  black  lamb's  wool,  tied  about  with  some  white
rag. They  gave  one  the  impression  that  they  might  be
very  uncomfortable  customers  to  meet  in  a  blind  alley
on  a  dark  night. These  gentlemen,  none  the  less,  wore  in
their  caps,  Hke  a  cockade,  what  might  have  seemed  to
the  vulgar  a  paint-brush,  but  what  was  in  reahty  the
tooth-brush  of  their  country. Last  of  all  the  Syrians


WAR  TIME


463


began  to  appear. They  were  very  noticeably  different
from  the  broader,  flatter,  fairer  Anatolian  type. 