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The line from Smyrna to Angora had been cut at Gunhani, as had the line from Haïdar Pasha at Bilidjik and Kara-Keuy.

From Gunhani we had to reach Afioun-Karahissar as we best could, partly by Deacoville, then by ox-wagon and luggage trains to Ouchak and on to Afioun. The railway bridge destroyed at Gunhani was a fine example of French engineering, which went right over the mountains, from eight hundred to a thousand feet high. It will take years to rebuild. The Turks do not complain, and have cheerfully accepted the terrible discomfort to passengers and goods traffic, with their usual philosophy. “The destruction of an important railway,” as they calmly remark, “is legitimate warfare and first-class strategy.”

We could realise, however, what the disaster really meant, as we climbed down, without the help of any kind of pathway, from the commandant’s little house on the steep hills. Once on the road we took an ox-wagon, drawn by mules, for what was still little better than a mountain track, to the nearest point of the railway that was in order, in the direction of Afioun-Karahissar. Unable, like the cheik or any Oriental, to sit on my legs, I had to let them hang over the side of our wagon.