Miss Mclaren's story begins with the description of the situation in Van where she was a nurse in a hospital. During the siege, Mclaren was told at the request of Cevdet Bey to remain in the hospital during the siege. Meanwhile, she wrote, "We pictured our Armenian friends as being driven from their homes and cruelly massacred."[56] Mclaren did not remain in Van long and was relocated to Bitlis by boat across Lake Van.