| THE TURKMEN Part 11 Turkmen Part 1 - Turkmen Part 2 - Turkmen Part 3 - Turkmen Part 4 - Turkmen Part 5 - Turkmen Part 6 - The Turkmen Part 7 -
Turkmen Part 8 - Turkmen Part 9 - Turkmen Part 10 - Turkmen Part 11 - Turkmen Part 12
This favorable opinion is formed by a man who has been
brought much into contact with them, and although the
evidence may not be free from the suspicion of personal
sympathy with the Turkmen, it is of the highest
importance, inasmuch as it must tend to undeceive those
who believe that the Teke will oppose Russia on his own
resources alone. The Teke is “shrewd and alive to
his own interests," and also “to the advantages
he enjoys in the possession of one of the most fertile
tracts in the world." Unless we are alive, then, to
our interests, and while the opportunity is in our hands
proceed to bind the Turkmen in a firm alliance with us,
we shall probably discover that the Teke may prove his
shrewdness and the perception of his own interests by
coming to terms with Russia. In this nineteenth century
even the Teke Turkmen are not paladins of romance.
But of all living authorities on the subject, none
deserves to rank higher than Captain, or Major he is now
called, Francis Butler, of the 9th Regiment. This
officer, in the spring of the year 1876, passed his leave
in exploring the valley of the Atrek. He carried on his
investigations in an unostentatious manner, and,
publishing no narrative of his journey, received small
notice, and less credit, for his very gallant and useful
undertaking. But for one circumstance it is probable that
nothing more would have been heard of this affair. For
reasons that have not been divulged, but possibly on
account of his ignorance of Persian, Captain Butler
travelled on this occasion in the disguise of a Chinaman.
Travelling on the borders of civilized life,' in the
neighborhood of the marauding Teke and the
scarcely-more-to-be-trusted Kurd, the English officer
found security in the dress of a subject from far Cathay.
So far as we know, Captain Butler was permitted to go
where he liked, and without molestation.
To us we admit this fact is most significant, showing not
only the wide influence of China, but also the great
difference there is between Asiatic life and our own. An
Englishman would scarcely care to speculate on what
Captain Butler's reception would have been had he chosen
the same disguise for a visit to the Potteries. To this
circumstance may indubitably be traced the attention
which Captain Butler's first journey to the Atrek
received at head-quarters in India.
The following year, when the relations between England
and Russia were becoming strained over the development of
the Eastern Question, Captain Butler received
instructions to repeat his journey to the Turkmen country
— this time in the proclaimed character of a British
officer. During this later journey he appears to have
entered into more circumstantial negotiations with the
Tekes; making the Persian frontier town of Ghoochan his
base, he explored the passes of the Kuren Dagh, which he
found passable for artillery, and resided for some time
among the Turkmen themselves at the village of Feruza. In
these later explorations he was accompanied by a young
Englishman, Mr. Henry Hammond. Captain Butler more than
confirms what Captain Napier has said about the
possibility of greatly improving the physical condition
of the Tekes, and from his interviews with their chiefs
he has arrived at the decided opinion that the Tekes are
most anxious to become our subjects. Of the difficulties
and dangers encountered by this gallant officer during
his later journey we know little, but the following
incident will suffice to show that they deserve the
epithet of hair-breadth.
Early on the day following his arrival at a village
beyond Ghoochan, the Persians ordered a body of sixty
soldiers into the fort, where they deprived Captain
Butler and his companion of their arms and luggage; while
on the morning following this the governor of the place,
with some forty men, took them to a spot in the glen,
and, after separating them, ordered Captain Butler to
dismount, as he was about to be shot. With this request
he refused to comply, adding that, if he were to be shot,
he would give the signal to fire by taking off his hat.
The governor thereupon cocked and presented his gun, but
he put it down in astonishment when the Captain took off
his hat, and in admiration of his courage asked him to be
their chief. The governor was subsequently flogged and
dismissed from his post.
During Captain Butler's absence from India on Government
service, the Eastern Question reached so acute a stage
that Kaufmann openly broke ground in Kabul, and war
between England and Russia was imminent. At that crisis
much was expected to result from Butler's successful
mission among the Turkmen. For a brief space during the
summer of 1878 he stood a good chance of finding himself
a lion on his return either to England or India. But
before he got back the Eastern Question once more
slumbered. The advantages of an alliance with the Turkmen
sank into the back-ground, and Captain Butler's activity
amongst them, from which so much was at one time
expected, became absolutely a source of annoyance and
inconvenience to our Foreign Office.
Turkmen Part 1 - Turkmen Part 2 - Turkmen Part 3 - Turkmen Part 4 - Turkmen Part 5 - Turkmen Part 6 - The Turkmen Part 7 -
Turkmen Part 8 - Turkmen Part 9 - Turkmen Part 10 - Turkmen Part 11 - Turkmen Part 12
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