Sinop

“ SINOPE, Turk. Sinūb, a town on the N. coast of Asia Minor in the vilayet of Kastamūni, on a low isthmus which joins the promontory of Boz Tepé to the mainland. Though it possesses the only safe roadstead between the Bosporus and Batum, the difficulties of communication with the interior, and the rivalry of Ineboli on the W. and Samsun on the E. have prevented Sinope from becoming a great commercial centre. ”

“ The fair damsel also wears all her worldly wealth on her head and neck, and hanging from her ears, in the shape of long strings of gold or silver coins.
Unlike their Turkish neighbours, therefore, the Sinope Greeks have the inestimable advantage of being able to ascertain by the same glance whether the fortune equals the fair face of the young beauties amongst whom they have to select their wives. ”

“ Sinopah was the first to notice them, and what he saw was so surprising that at first he could hardly believe his eyes, and stood staring with his little mouth wide open. And well he might; for except that they were packed dogs instead of packed horses, it was as if the women were moving camp. The first dog carried a small, new, and brightly painted parfleche, or rawhide pouch shaped like an envelope, on each side of its saddle, and piled on top, and firmly lashed with a stout rawhide rope, were several small blankets and buffalo robes. ”

“ Old Red Crane was bending over the body examining it: "'T is a Crow warrior," he suddenly shouted, "and 't was my son who killed him. Great is White Wolf, the chief."
"True! True!" everyone cried. "White Wolf is a chief."
The old man looked around, saw Sinopah, and took him from his mother's arms: "Look, little one," he said: "See what your father has done. He has killed an enemy. That is a Crow warrior; your father killed him." ”

“ XCII — TRAJAN TO PLINY
I WOULD have you proceed, my dearest Secundus, in carefully examining whether the ground you suspect is firm enough to support an aqueduct. For I have no manner of doubt that the Sinopian colony ought to be supplied with water; provided their finances will bear the expense of a work so conducive to their health and pleasure.
XCIII — To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
THE free and confederate city of the Amiseni [1063] enjoys, by your indulgence, the privilege of its own laws. ”

“ The inhabitants are a commercial people, being mechanics and merchants, with some Sheikhs and Ulemas. They commonly wear ferrájís of cloth and caftáns of Bogassin. The mountains on the east and Kiblah side of the town are laid out in gardens. The town of Kastemúní is three journies distant on the east side. Sinope is situated on a cape of the Black sea, which bears the same name. Opposite to it on the European shore of the Black sea are the rocks of Kilghra Sultán, and the Black sea appears between them like a straight, which widens towards Constantinople and Trebisonde. ”

“ All knew what that meant: the men of the camp had killed some of the enemy and were returning. At that the people began to pour out of the lodges, each one joyfully shouting the name of husband, brother, or son who had been in the fight.
Sinopah's mother gently lifted him from the couch and hurried out with him in her arms, crying: "White Wolf! My man White Wolf! He has fought the enemy and returns victorious; a great chief is my man White Wolf."
Close in front of the lodge a crowd of women and children was gathering, and she edged her way into it. ”

“ As the reader will probably decline to follow Mr Kinglake over his slender bridge of inference, we must look beyond Sinope for the naval movement instigated by the French Emperor and turning the scale in favour of war; and, as only one remains to be accounted for, we have not far to look. The next orders sent to the fleets were intended to obviate another disaster and disgrace such as that of Sinope. They provided that Russian ships met with in the Euxine should be requested, and, if necessary, constrained, to return to Sebastopol. ”

“ As to ourselves, men of Sinope, having got so far, we are well content to have saved our bodies and our arms. Indeed it was impossible at one and the same moment to keep our enemies at bay and to despoil them of their goods and chattels. And now, since we have reached Hellenic cities, how has it fared with us? At Trapezus they gave us a market, and we paid for our provisions at a fair market price. In return for the honour they did us, and the gifts of hospitality they gave the army, we requited them with honour. ”

“ That evening, when the family were all sitting around the lodge fire, Sinopah rolled across the couch into his father's arms and asked: "Who is the Sun? How can he tell [Pg 71] us what to do? Who is Old Man to whom I hear you praying?"
"I am glad you asked," White Wolf replied. "It is time for you to know all about these things and to begin praying with us. Listen, now, and I will try to make you understand.
"In the beginning was no one but Old Man. ”

“ Grandfather was right there; he was never far away from the boy, always watching to see that he came to no harm.
"Now, what is the trouble?" he asked; but Sinopah was crying so hard that he could not answer, and so Lone Bull told him how Crow Foot had won the top.
"Well, well. That is bad," said the old [Pg 107] man, and he led Sinopah away up the river, Lone Bull and Otaki going also.
"You mustn't cry. No matter what happens, you must not cry," Red Crane began. "Women and girls may cry, but boys and men never." ”

“ He extended his sway over the whole of Asia Minor and the Crimea (p. 568) , but was finally subdued by the Romans in three hardfought campaigns. Sinope, formerly the starting-point of an important caravan-route to Cappadocia and the lands of the Euphrates, now possesses, notwithstanding its excellent harbour, little more than the shadow of its former greatness. The poor little town, inhabited by about 8000 Greeks and Turks, entirely lacks roads to the interior. The barracks at the W. end of the headland serve as a quarantine lazaretto. ”

“ They also brought the news that hundreds of gendarmes were being sent to Sinope from Kastamuni, but as there were never many at Kastamuni we were somewhat sceptical about this also. Crossing the main road, we found we were close to the sea, and a little further on entered a copse where we spent the rest of the night. At dawn we went still further in, and sentries were posted. Meanwhile, the pony boy had gone off on his steed to Sinope to interview the boatman, and we waited till the afternoon, hoping that we might hear the boat was coming to pick us up that night. ”

“ Then the snow falls deep, and the thermometer stays away down below zero, and the animals and birds die by the hundred. At such a time I have seen more than a hundred antelope, a whole band, lying frozen to death on the plain.
This was a good winter; too good, the boys and girls thought, for they wanted the river to freeze over so they could play on the ice. So it was that one night when Sinopah was going to crawl into his warm buffalo-robe couch, he made a short prayer to Ai-sto-yim-sta, Cold-Maker. ”

“ The moral and political condition of the country contrasts forcibly with the flourishing aspect of nature. At Sinope there is no commerce, and the Greeks having, in consequence, deserted the place, the population is at present below 5,000. This city, once the capital of the great Mithridates, enjoys natural advantages, which, but for the barbarism of the Turkish government, would soon raise it into commercial eminence. ”

“ He tossed up a feather, found that the wind was from the northwest, and gave orders for the people to go to the rock-piles. In a few minutes several hundred men and women, girls and boys, were climbing a trail out of the valley at the lower end of the cliffs. They went on foot, Sinopah's father leading him and helping him up over the hardest places. Not until all of the climbers had reached the top of the cliff, and disappeared out on the plain, did old Red Crane start. He rode a small, swift horse that was covered with a buffalo robe, and himself wore a robe of the same kind. ”

“ As it grew dark we moved off picking up some others of the akhardash shortly afterwards, and took a line which would bring us towards the coast while at the same time approaching Sinope. After some hours, it became evident that they were not very sure of the way, with the result that in the early hours of the morning they decided to stop where they were and reach the appointed place the following evening. At dawn a countryman stumbled upon a sentry guarding a path near which we lay. ”

“ This prince was born and brought up in this city, on which he conferred distinguished honour, and made it a capital of the kingdom. It has received advantages from nature which have been improved by art. It is built upon the neck of a peninsula; on each side of the isthmus are harbours, stations for vessels, and fisheries worthy of admiration for the capture of the pelamydes. Of these fisheries we have said1131 that the people of Sinope have the second, and the Byzantines the third, in point of excellence. ”

“ White Wolf replied, [Pg 142] pointing at Sinopah, who was far in the lead of the boys and girls who chased him. "I tell you this, father," he added, "there is in this child of ours the making of a great chief. Some day, if we live, we are going to be very proud of him."
"Ai! Ai! That is so. You never spoke truer words," old Red Crane agreed. "How good he is, and how fearless! And how popular also! Children from all parts of the camp are ever coming to ask him to play with them."
"That is the great point in the making of a chief," said White Wolf. ”

“ It has saved my life in many a dangerous place, so I put the mark of it on here and will pray to it, to help you until you get a medicine, a secret helper, for yourself."
"And when shall I get it?" Sinopah asked.
[Pg 151]
"Let me see; let me see," Red Crane mused. "You are now of age twelve winters. Three winters after this will be your time to fast. You will go alone to some sheltered place away from camp. You will lie there without food. You will pray continually to the Sun; to the Moon; the Stars; to all the world animals. ”

“ But in White Wolf's lodge not a sound was to be heard. Little [Pg 27] Sinopah waked up, heard the shooting and yelling and confusion of noise, and began to cry, but his mother quieted him at once: "There! there!" she said, putting him back in the bed and covering him up; "it is nothing; only some men come to steal horses and father is driving them away."
But for all her brave words her heart was full of fear. The enemy was shooting back at the men of the camp; one of their bullets might make her a widow and Sinopah an orphan. She began praying the gods to bring White Wolf safely back. ”

“ They wondered how it was that the birds and the [Pg 129] women of the camp had not long since found and taken them all.
They soon ate all they could hold, and then said Lone Bull: "We should have all these berries for our lodge; there is a great quantity of them; enough to last us all winter."
"You talk wisely," Sinopah answered. "But of course gathering berries is not men's work. It is best that we bring Otaki up here to gather them."
"But she isn't strong enough for that," Lone Bull objected. "Of course she should come and help, but I think that we ought to get our mothers to do the work." ”

“ It can be understood only by reference to an imperial centre far in the north. The old trade-route from Cappadocia to Sinope, which had passed out of use centuries before the time of Strabo (pp. 540, 546) , fixes this centre with precision. It must be far enough west to explain why trade tended to the distant Sinope, [4] hardly accessible behind lofty and rugged mountains, and not to Amisus by the short and easy route which was used in the Graeco-Roman period. This road-system, then, points distinctly to a centre in northern Cappadocia near the Halys. ”

“ Meanwhile ambassadors arrived from Sinope, full of fears, not only for the Cotyorites and their city, which belonged to Sinope, and brought in tribute, but also for the territory which, as they had heard, was being pillaged. Accordingly they came to the camp and made a speech. Hecatonymus, who was reported to be a clever orator, acted as their spokesman: "Soldiers," he said, "the city of the Sinopeans has sent us to offer you, as Hellenes, our compliments and congratulations on your victories over the barbarians ”

“ From the nature of the country in which it is situated, M. Rottiers is disposed to believe that Sinope holds out peculiarly strong inducements to European enterprise. He also had an opportunity of observing, that its defences were gone totally to ruin, and significantly remarks, that it could not possibly withstand a coup de main. Amastra, a great and wealthy city while possessed by the Genoese in the middle ages, is now a wretched village, occupied by a few Turkish families, whose whole industry consists in making a few toys and articles of wooden ware. ”

“ He is very much too young to be turned loose."
So White Wolf let her have her way until Sinopah's fourth summer came, and then he said to her one day: "You have done well with this boy of ours. You have fed him good food and kept him strong and healthy. But it is not right for a boy to be long kept in the lodge; he must learn early to make a play of the things that he will have to do in [Pg 34] earnest when he grows up. From this day on he shall go about as he pleases with the children of the camp." ”

“ After following the main road a little way on towards Sinope we left it, climbing slowly and going farther away from the sea. After some hours they found that they had missed the way again, although we were close to our destination, which was the inevitable akhardash's house. Making across some fields and hedges, we gained a lane, but soon had to leave this, as carts were heard coming along. Luckily, Turkish carts make their presence known a long way off by their perpetual creaking, so that we were all safely under cover by the time they passed. ”