A MODERN AMAZON

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1767, 15 February 1888, Page 2

A MODERN AMAZON

m People jnst now m Co.,Htantinople are inter stei m the prasenoo among them of K»ra Fatima, the redoubtable femai' warrior of Kurdistan, who han o^rne on a brief visit to toe Turkish capital Her de d« of i-rowHS date back to th« moff of the Crimean war, wht n whe led a 1 r<?e Itody of Kurrtinh vnlunteern, wh fought with Bnjsui r daring; for Turkey. The^ toman Ct verum nr, remembers her SBrvices, and equitHß these >>y a m -nti.ly pension of 5 XX) piastres a Bam tnat m hop ownfru.al • ome allows her to livr with eaaa. fclhe 's tall, thm, with abr «wn, hawklike »aoo j her cheeks are the col r of parchment, and eomned with soars We inng th»- national dre-<s of the sterner box, she looks like a man of forty, not H^ea womno who will nov r see seventyfive »lung across h r shoulders m ; oseack ft-ahiuD is t'er long abre with its j.mel ed hilt; deeor<i'ionH hhine aod ►•partilo on her breast, while ihw strip s ajrose her s'eove show tar to t>e a captain iv the Ottoman army. Washing thin ! int^re^tinff figar© p»p» aonu the Hfreete |of Ptambonl, one . c -emiDdod of a epihode m th© ci-topaign of G«»er»l ' e»-p>n «so m the Dobrulji Home *hort while before the allie i armie* landed m the Oriiuo*. Wmit, B.uofalng aoa ehatiing ouc da? m Ml tent *ith several of bis brother « ffijera, the General heard at far distance a ••range raa.ic-» medley of drams »nn cUrloofts, tomtotni, aud pteicinu horn«» oil-j Whence o-me (hi* w«ird min.tr, 1j J All too men m o*u»p lur ad ont to lv en to it ani dlsiern i\% origin, when fr< m orerthehiln they s»w * band of sorot <ree handred bortemen »«pj.r <aohin k £*• mat tnU gallop At their head rode » b owo-faoed womin, with fl .shing eyeh and lisiome Hmb«— the very picture of an Am a»n. V^ultintf from her saddle, sbe graweiy saluted Gen La.piQMee, a«d through an l.teipreiert»d him that nhe •at oi me to fi hi tha <<nßv»u», hoih sho at.d her b/ave Kurds rel.g completely at his service, ih.t ol g ., t her roeo wer» qtiartered In oamp wlrh th^ Fre»oh troops, Ha' they were ill-pioaseH to be ao billeted. Thty wanted thtir Jndeperderce, and not «v«u their unrest and leader ahoold barter it away for tbam. By daybreak lu^Y?* c ln tQ Blr saddle*, riding off torou the hilU to meet the dawn, to the sounds or that weird, strident muilo whioh bad prooUimed their -pwroaoh.