THE RED RUGS OF TARSUS
Adana more picturesque. The background of mountains and rich plain is the same, however. Turkish wooden houses are built haphazard, with no idea of architecture, and they are never repaired. All except the new ones look as if they were just about to fall down. Many are falling down. Holes are patched with new boards or more frequently with flattened-out petroleum tins. Balconies are stayed with props. When the inevitable day of collapse arrives, the Turks thank Allah that the catas- trophe did not happen sooner, and praise Al- lah's mercy in giving them firewood for next winter. A mass of wooden houses in Turkey makes an ensemble of brown, of different shades, depending upon the age of the house. The Turks do not paint : for they calculate that a house will last at least as long as the man who built it. The next generation can look after itself.
Oriental houses are reticent, like the women who live in them. They are meant for ani- [41]
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