Caravanserai

“ The Erzingan caravanserai - and all these caravanserais are essentially similar - is a square court-yard surrounded by the four sides of a two-storied brick building; the ground- floor is occupied by the offices of the importers of foreign goods and the customhouse authorities; the upper floor is divided into small rooms for the accommodation of travellers and caravan men arriving with goods from Trebizond. Sallying forth in search of supper, I am taken in tow by a couple of Armenians, who volunteer the welcome information that there is an "Americanish hakim" in the city ”

“ Near the caravanserai we turned into a small street where coffee is roasted and ground, horses are shod, ropes are made and bags for the transport of merchandise on camels are strongly stitched, where, in a word, everything that is needed by the owners or drivers of caravans is prepared or offered for sale. ”

“ Cairns had been erected in various prominent points by caravan men, to show future travellers the way to Naiband for Birjiand and Meshed.
Following this in an easterly direction we came to a large basin, and then further on to another. We continued in zig-zag for a short distance, when we arrived at a place where the river-bed makes an elbow, turning to the north. At this spot a caravanserai was in course of construction, built at the expense of some charitable person. There was only one well of brackish water, and very little of that, too. The workmen would not let us partake of it. ”

“ Torches are lighted on the road, the pace is slower than that of an ordinary caravan, and does not exceed 2 m. an hour.
See Mecca and Mahommedan Religion.
1 In Arabia proper it is rarely employed in speech and never in writing, strictly Arabic words such as Rikb (“assembled riders”) or Qāfila (“wayfaring band”) being in ordinary use.
2 The Syrian and Egyptian haj; have been able, since 1908, to travel by the railway from Damascus to the Hejaz.
CARAVANSERAI, a public building, for the shelter of a caravan (q.v.) and of wayfarers generally in Asiatic Turkey. ”

“ Merchants and travelers, and many others who wish to go to the distant places across the desert, for any purpose whatever, go with the caravan. It is the safest way, for the train is guarded, and has, I imagine, the protection of the government. There is something singularly poetical, as well as practical, in the moving of the caravan. It is a thing which does not occur every day. Much commercial gain depends upon its safe conduct and arrival. The camels must be of just the right kind to endure the long journey and the great fatigue. ”

“ Two men are required for leading one elephant, five for three dromedaries, and seven for 41eleven camels. This multitude of servants, together with the officers and passengers, whose number is uncertain, serve to support the escort in case of a fight, and render the caravan more formidable and secure. The passengers are not absolutely obliged to fight; but according to the laws and usages of the caravans, if they refuse to do so, they are not entitled to any provisions whatever from the caravan, even though they should agree to pay an extravagant price for them. ”

“ The united caravan of Doctor Bronson's party and the merchant, Ahmed ibn Suleyman, numbered a little over three hundred porters, besides an escort of twenty askari, armed with muskets. Numbers in an African caravan are both an advantage and the reverse. A large caravan is less liable to attack than a small one; but, on the other hand, it is much more difficult to feed while on the road. Many of the places where water is obtainable consist of small springs, and a large caravan is too much for their capacity. ”

“ The baggage animals are fine, powerful mules and horses, with not a sore back among them. The pack saddles and tackle are all in good order. The caravan is led by a horse caparisoned with many bells and tassels, a splendid little gray fellow, full of pluck and fire, called Cock o' the Walk. He comes in at the end of a long march, arching his neck, shaking his magnificent mane, and occasionally kicking off his load. Sometimes he 340 knocks down two or three men, dashes off with his load at a gallop, and even when hobbled manages to hop up to the two Arabs and challenge them to a fight. ”

“ The caravansary is an improved khan.13 Commerce with the interior of Asia is carried on principally by the Armenians, who travel in caravans. Companies of merchants combine and travel together; and when the number is considerable, a chief is appointed, who commands and regulates the march. They are often attended by hired soldiers, and every man is himself armed with some weapon. When a pasha, or other great man, is known to be about to make a movement, the caravan awaits his departure, and proceed under his protection, like a fleet of merchantmen under the convoy of a man-of-war. ”

“ They rose on every side of the road, completely shutting out the view, and their pale livid yellowness, scarcely relieved with a glimpse of greenness, was wearisome and lonely in the extreme. As we advanced among them, the road we were pursuing grew worse and worse, till it became so choked and covered with drifted sand as to be hardly recognizable, and I need hardly say that it was hard work for one horse to pull the caravan along; more than once, indeed, the wheels fairly stuck, and Tim and I had to pull with might and main to get them free. ”

“ The rear is brought up by the master or the masters of the caravan, who often remains far behind for the convenience of walking and to prevent desertion.
All the caravan is habited in its worst attire, the East African derides those who wear upon a journey the cloth which should be reserved for display at home. If rain fall they will doff the single goat-skin hung round their sooty limbs, and, folding it up, place it between the shoulder and the load. When grain is served out for some days’ march, each porter bears his posho or rations fastened like a large “bussel” to the small of his back. ”

“ Some were already loaded, and were pausing for the rest. I know not how long it requires for the completing of a caravan. But it seems that when some camels are loaded they are taken to the outside space, and are kept watch over until all of the others are ready. It must be no small or brief matter to get a caravan ready. Then, when the last camel is laden, and he takes his place in the caravan, and the signal is given to move on, what a commotion it makes! Friends come down to see their friends off. It is the moving off of many people, and of vast treasures of merchandise. ”

“ But really, without a cycle, one would sometimes feel lost in caravan travelling. The Wanderer is so large that she cannot turn on narrow roads, so that on approaching a village, where I wish to stay all night, I find it judicious to stop her about a quarter of a mile out and tool on, mounted on the Marlborough, to find out convenient quarters. Then a signal brings the Wanderer on.
Another advantage of having a tender is this. In narrow lanes your valet rides on ahead, and if there really be no room for a trap to pass us, he warns any carriage that may chance to be coming our way. ”

“ They are also generally hillier, and so narrow that once a caravan is in one on it has to go whatever happens, trusting to luck not to meet anything else on wheels till it reaches, after many anxieties, the haven of another highroad. This lane ran deep between towering hedges and did not leave off again for five miles,{173} and none of you would believe how long it took us to do those five miles because none of you know—how should you?—what the getting of caravans up hills by means of tracing is. ”

“ If you do, you are liable to accidents of all kinds. I have been run into more than once at night by recklessly-driving tipsy folks. Certainly it only slightly shook my great caravan, but capsized the dogcart.
While on the Road. While on the road, your coachman will for the horses’ sakes keep on the best parts. Make room, however, wherever possible for faster vehicles that want to pass you. But whenever the drivers of them are insolent I laugh and let them wait; they dare not “ram” me. Ramming would not affect the Wanderer in the slightest, but would be rough on the rammer. ”

“ The number of camels or mules in a single caravan varies from forty or so up to six hundred and more; sometimes, as on the reopening of a long-closed route, it reaches a thousand. The ordinary caravan seasons are the months of spring, early summer and later autumn. Friday, in accordance with a recommendation made in the Koran itself, is the favourite day for setting out, the most auspicious hour being that immediately following noonday prayer. The first day’s march never does more than just clear the starting-point. Subsequently each day’s route is divided into two stages,—from 3 or 4 a.m. ”

“ Occasionally a caravan of laden camels stalk gravely through the alleys, scattering the yelling crowd right and left, only to reassemble the moment it has passed, like water in the wake of a ship. Again it separates, and a sedan, preceded by a couple of gholams with long wands, is carried by, and one gets a momentary glimpse of a pair of dark eyes and henna-stained finger-tips, as a fair one from the "anderoon" [C] of some great man is carried to her jeweller's or perfumer's. ”

“ Menzies-Legh’s desire for the pretty (unsatisfied I am glad to say on that occasion, because the so-called sea-mist clung close round us like a wet gray cloak) —we had got into an almost mountainous lane. We were tracing the whole time, dragging each caravan up each hill in turn, leaving it solitary at the top and returning with all three horses for the next one left meanwhile at the bottom. I never saw such an endless succession of hills. If tracing does not teach a man patience what, I would like to know, will? ”

“ She had an idea, however, that they were all singing the Ferry Song, and that they had just got to a new part, beginning—
⁠“It pours into picnics and swishes the dishes,”
when a terrible commotion began on top of the coach, and she saw that Bob Scarlet had suddenly appeared inside the cage without his waistcoat, and that the Caravan were frantically squeezing themselves out between the wires. At the same moment a loud roaring sound arose in the air, and the quadrupeds and the storks began jumping out of the windows in all directions. ”

“ Our caravan is composed of twenty-eight pagazis, including the kirangozi, or guide; twelve soldiers under Capt. Mbarak Bombay, in charge of seventeen donkeys and their loads; Selim, my interpreter, in charge of the donkey and cart and its load; one cook and sub, who is also to be tailor and ready hand for all, and leads the grey horse; Shaw, once mate of a ship, now transformed into rearguard and overseer for the caravan, who is mounted on a good riding-donkey, and wearing a canoe-like tepee and sea-boots ”

“ But there is no escaping these anomalies if you caravan; they crop up continually; and however much you try to dam them out, the waters of awkwardly familiar situations constantly break through and set all your finer feelings on edge. Fain would I have let the rain work its will on Jellaby’s back, but what about the sausages? As they turned and twisted in the pan, obedient to his guiding fork, I could not find it in me to let a drop of rain mar that melodious fizzling. ”

“ Provisions for seven months, tents, furs, beds, weapons, and boxes were carried by 39 camels, 45 horses and mules, and 60 asses; and we also had 50 sheep for food, several dogs, and a tame stag.
When all was ready we set out towards the lofty mountains and crossed one range after another. When we reached the great heights the caravan lost strength day by day. The atmosphere is so rare that a man cannot breathe without an effort, and the slightest movement produces palpitation of the heart. The grazing becomes more scanty the higher you go, and many of the caravan animals succumbed. ”

“ Another kind of officers are the Mathematicians, without whom no caravan will presume to set out. There are commonly three of them attached to a caravan of large size; and they perform the offices both of quarter-masters and aides-de-camp, leading the troops when the caravan is attacked, and assigning the quarters where the caravan is appointed to encamp.
There are no less than five distinct sorts of caravans: first, the heavy caravans, which are composed of elephants, dromedaries, camels, and horses ”

“ Face me with cannon, and I have the courage of any man living, but place me on the edge of the supernatural and I can only stay beneath the bedclothes and grow most lamentably damp. Such a thin skin of wood divided me from the night outside. Any one could push back the window standing out there; any one ordinarily tall would then have his head and shoulders practically inside the caravan. ”

“ In attacking a caravan the Tuaregs first send out scouts in advance. These men are not armed, and under pretense of seeking food or by offering their services as guides, try to mingle with the caravan. Their object is to lead it to wells near which they know their warriors are lying in wait hidden behind sand hills.
Night is the time usually chosen for an onslaught, and generally at watering places a long distance apart. It is the custom for a caravan to stop several days at a well to allow the camels an opportunity to graze. ”