Passing through the North Caucasus, Fuad Bey paid careful
attention to his surroundings.
11 May 1916 Thursday
We were approaching the Grozni station when
I woke up in the morning.
There are many trees here and the station is somewhat large. The
city
and town are big and cute. The nationality of the people here is Kazak
(Cossack). There
are Moslems and Turks too. The terrain beyond here
is uncultivated. Some settlements were as
wide as plains and some
places were as narrow as passes. This discrepancy continued for some
time. For the most part, though, the terrain was open and had a certain
flatness that
continued a bit further. Then there were trees and tucked
in between them were many villages, presenting
a very pleasant view.
Toward sunset we followed a little valley, the beauty of which I have
never seen anywhere else. During the day, somewhat after mid-
afternoon, the treeless places we
saw were all meadows and fields. We
saw mosques in the stations and villages we passed and
stopped at today,
realizing that there are mostly Turks and Moslems here. At night we see
that the
surroundings are mostly flatlands. At many stations we saw that
the Russians are transporting
vehicles, horses, provisions, lots of
soldiers and ammunition to our front line on rail cars. Today
Zühdü did
something I didn’t like and I got angry.
Beautiful Villages Amidst Greenery
12 May 1916 Friday
When I woke up in the morning our train was
approaching the
Kudsavka station. The rail line was double track here. We moved on,
passing a number of stations,
the biggest of which were Kobanski,
Kavkarkaya and Tihuratskaya
(Tikhoretskaya). These are big and
well-appointed, nice. The terrain is mostly flat, though
there are
some rises. Greenery is prevalent here. The trees are relatively few
but the meadows,
vegetable gardens and fields are lavish. In fact,
one is awed by the beauty of the villages
set among this greenery.
We take pleasure in spotting and looking at the villages. The beauty
of
nature here leaves a person bewildered. Today we saw mosques
and their splendid minarets in
towns, villages and even cities. There
are many Moslems here. The Russians continue to send lots of
provisions, ammunition, vehicles, etc. aboard rail cars. When we
reached the big rail hub at
Tihuratskaya (Tikhoretskaya) at night I
went to sleep. Today we saw large numbers of women working
in the
fields and gardens. In particular, at the small stations there are
women instead of
men. It may be that all the workers are women.
There’s a shortage of men here.
13 May 1916 Saturday
When I awoke our train was moving along.
The terrain was pretty.
Toward noon we saw the city of Rostov from afar and we judged from
this view that it
s a big and pleasant city. The small house gardens
(with trees) in the city
increased this delight even more. Before e
ntering Rostov we saw the vast expanse of the Don River.
We first
went on a filled spot of land that extended into this great body of
water like a tongue
and then we proceeded by crossing three bridges
– one about 60-80 meters long and other two
400-500 meters long –
that were adjacent to the land spit. There’s aothe 500-meter long
bridge
beyond these. The tongue is 50 meters wide. They’re trying
to build another bridge next to the
long bridge. We saw small
steamboats here. Just at noon we came to Rostov station but
unfortunately they wouldn’t let us get off the train. We waited in
the rail car until evening. There
are lots of Moslems and Turks here
but the Russians wouldn’t let us talk with them. From the
train this
place looks very nice. There’s an electric tramway and the station is
quite big. A bit
after sunset our train began to move again. We
proceeded along the river bank. Until I
went to sleep (11 o’clock)
the river remained broad and wide, like the sea. The rail line from
Rostov is double track. Prior to coming to Rostov we
saw many women working as laborers on the
roads.
14 May 1916 Sunday
I awoke in the morning to a noise and a
trembling. Our train had just
come to Sulin station and was waiting there. A bit later we moved
from here. Nearby there was a big factory around which there was a
group of villages. Around
here there are coal or iron mines. The terrain
is lightly sloping but there are few rises.
Sometimes because of the
very slightness of the terrain’s rises it seems like it’s a plain.
We moved
ahead quite a bit and in the afternoon we reached Kamaşıskaya station,
where there
was a very beautiful view. The city is close by, covering a
wide area with lots of
trees. There’s a big river that runs
here, adding
to the beauty. It’s like heaven here. I liked it
very much. It resembles
Izmit. Moving on from here we saw several villages and a rather pretty
town. Around the towns and villages
there are sometimes large areas
like valleys with
trees and in other places meadows with some gardens
and fields.
When we arrived at Milledev station it was evening and I
went to sleep
two hours later. The double tracks continue. We have
seen many women and girl laborers along the road since Rostov.
They’re repairing the roads.
Fuad Bey's train proceeded north toward Moscow after
leaving Rostov.
15 May 1916 Monday
When we awoke our train was at Jurovka
station. We moved a bit
afterwards. It was rather cold here. I opened the window and looked
at the scenery, as did my friends. Today I felt cold whereas on other
days I didn’t. Anyway,
we’ve been heading north since Rostov.
We’ll probably feel cold from now on. At
Subisantisiya station we
encountered Moslem prisoners who had been driven from the
battlefield. They (Turks and Moslems) told us that our
army is
advancing. We crossed a river over a 300-meter bridge at a place
near Liski station (this was the Don). Again we passed by a number
of villages that were comprised of
thatched roof, unappealing
buildings. But the village houses have gardens and they are
surrounded by
trees. There was just one thing I liked and that was
even in the smallest village there’s a church
and a school. The terrain
here (after Rostov) is mostly flat and in many neighborhoods there
are some
ponds and swamps because of the depressions. We were
able to go to the market at Liski station.
This place stuck in our minds.
At night in my dream the horrible calamity at the War College came
to life again.
16 May 1916 Tuesday
When I awoke the train was nearing Beliyaevo
station. Again today we
passed many stations and saw lots of villages. The village buildings
are
made from thatch, shapeless. The terrain is made up of small rises and
flatlands. In the
surrounding areas there are ponds and swamps. In the
afternoon we came to Kozluva station and stayed there
quite a while.
This place is quite big and we were able to go to the market near the
station. I
didn’t like it though. There are lots of Moslems here who seem
to have been driven here from the coast. We
talked with them and they
told us that Erzurum had been retaken and the Russians are in
trouble.
We left here and two stations later evening fell. This morning especially
we felt a very chilling
cold that stayed with us till noon. We find that as
we continue north the mornings are colder. At
night we played games
for fun so I couldn’t sleep. The nights are getting shorter with the season
as we move further north. During the day the train went fast so I wasn’t
able to learn the names of
the stations we passed today.
//END of PART XXV//
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