‘The Camels of the Empire’

Travel writer Edmondo de Amicis, who visited Constantinople in the late 19^th century, wrote: “The Turks call them [the Armenians] ‘the camels of the empire,’ and the Europeans say that every Armenian is born shrewd: these two sayings are largely justified by the facts; for thanks to their physical strength, and their agile mental acuity, they not only  furnish Constantinople with a large number of architects, engineers, doctor an ingenious an patient artisans of many kinds, but also most of the porters and bankers: porters who carry extraordinary weights and banker who amass fabulous treasures

Travel writer Edmondo de Amicis, who visited Constantinople in the late 19^th century, wrote: “The Turks call them [the Armenians] ‘the camels of the empire,’ and the Europeans say that every Armenian is born shrewd: these two sayings are largely justified by the facts; for thanks to their physical strength, and their agile mental acuity, they not only  furnish Constantinople with a large number of architects, engineers, doctor an ingenious an patient artisans of many kinds, but also most of the porters and bankers: porters who carry extraordinary weights and banker who amass fabulous treasures