'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎379] (456/905)

CHAP. XVI.]
PIETY OF THE TURKS.
379
his delight; and horses, dogs, cats, and pigeons, share in his
consideration : scarcely anywhere else are birds so tame, and
so much linked with mankind, as they are in Turkey; even
children respect their nests; and it is not by any means
uncommon to find tombstones on which, in addition to the
sculptured devices indicating the vocation, and sometimes also
the manner of the death of the deceased, a little basin has been
hollowed out by the workmen, in which the smaller birds find
a supply of water. These tombstones are usually beneath the
shade of a cypress-tree or a rose-bush.
In summing up his character, it may here be observed, that Their Piety,
truth, openness, and candour, contentment and entire resigna
tion to his lot, are qualities seldom denied by any one to the
Turk: his memory is extraordinary, and his judgment is
generally sound ; while the safety of travellers, as well as the
attention commonly paid to them, sufficiently proves his fidelity
and hospitality. Religion, such as it is, being founded upon
the Koran, pervades almost every act of his life, and mixes
with every occupation. Frequent prayer is universally prac
tised, whether the individual be in the bath, the field, the coffee
house, or the mosque; and as alms are freely bestowed, abject
poverty may be said to be scarcely known in the country.
Amongst men of the higher class, the stranger meets with
a measured and distant, but a refined manner ; and among all
a ready attention to his personal wants ; 1 the chief inconveni
ence which he feels while in the country arises from the
retardation of his progress, which is caused by the general
indolence and procrastinating disposition of the people.
At the conquest of the country, the Turks allowed the TheMtan
people to retain a number of their ancient customs; and they
made the rulers whom they placed over the different provinces
nearly independent of one another, as they had been under the
reigns of the ancient Persian monarchs. This kind of govern
ment exists at the present time, the rulers being, as in Europe
1 On one occasion the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. , returning with an aged Turk and his wife to a
small farm, which had just been evacuated by the Russians, the good couple
shared with him their dwelling and a little food which had been brought
thither, and prepared principally for, their only child.