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Presented to the

LfflRARY of the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

by
Willard G. Oxtoby

WITH

STAR AND CRESCENT

A FULL AND AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OP A RECENT JOURNEY WITH A

W.HAVAN FROM BOMBAY TO CONSTANTINOPLE, COMPRISING

A DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY, THE PEOPLE, AND

UJTERESTING ADVENTURES WITH THE NATIVES

BY

A. LOCHER

AOTHOR OP " TRIP TO HrDIV " "TH THE LOORIAII DESERT,"
•^AHAa SLAVERS." ETC-

friNELY ILLUSTRATED

PHILADELPHIA.

JETNA PUBLISHING COMPANY.

1891

Obpyright, 1888,
by

PREFACE.

The author of the following pages, descrip-
tive of interesting travel, accomplished the jour-
ney therein described, in company with an at-
tachee of the French Government, together with
escorts of natives selected from place to place, as
they moved forward from Bombay, the place
from which they started, to Constantinople, the
ultimate destination of the. caravan.

The description of objects, customs, and
peculiar habits of the people, and the relating of
amusing and adventurous incidents, are entirely
from personal obsei'vations and -experiences of the
author, and do not refer in any manner to any
preceding publication upon a kindred siibject.

The illustrations are from original pencil
drawings sketched by the author upon the spot,
and coiTectly picture the present unprogressive
state of that Eastern country.

6 PREFACE.

As the caravan went into camp from time
to time, unusual opportunities were afforded the
author for excursions of exploration, investi-
gation, and adventure with the rascally Bedounis
common to the deserts of Persia and Arabia.

As the rising sun first casts its effulgent
rays upon the eastern horizon, leaving it, as day
advances, darker and more sombre, so do progress
and light, watchwords of intellectual activity,
now cast their direct rays upon the more western
hemisphere, leaving in fixed, apparently unalter-
able attitude the "orient" — the "cradle of the

human family."

Publishers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

L

AT BOMBAY.

Cordial Reception — Introduction to Signor P. — A Valuable Acquaint-
ance— Preparation lor a Journey Together — Bound for the Persian
Gulf — The Steamer " Penang" — Fellow Passengers — IShoals of Fish.

17
II.

LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT.

Sighting Land — Muscat Harbor — Saluting the Mail Steamer — A
Visit on Shore — Surprising the Soldiers — Inspecting the Arsenal —
At the Bazaar — Arab Beauties — Driving a Pig through the Street-
Sleeping on the Koof — Returning to the Steamer — Rumored death
of the Imaum — All Aboard. 23

IIL

ANCHORED.

Landing the Mail — Lord High Chancellor— Violent Storm — Alarm
Guns — Getting Aboard — Passing the "Old Fort" — Linga — "Red
and Yellow" — Beautiful Women — Pirates — Diving for Pearls — Fight
under Water — Again Aboard — Short Trip — In the Harbor of
Buaheer — On Shore Alone — " Arms Down " — Governor's Residence
— Hiding behind the Vail. 42

IV.

CROSSING THE GULF TO EL KERWETK.

Starved Soldiers — The First Mail Steamer— A rich Arab— Astonished
Natives — The Explosion — Sheik's Residence — Expensive Jewelry —
Viewing our Steamer — Making a " Salaam " — A Turkish Sherbit —
Clearing a Passage — " Leave yotir Shoes at the Door and keep your
Hat on" — Persian Hospitality— Bagalows — Snow-white Donkeys —
Dinner in Oriental Style — Disturbed Slumbers — Return to the
Steamer — A ride on the Shatt al Arab — Water Buffaloes — On a
Sand Bank— Bassorah. 52

7

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

V.

MOSLEM SLAVES.

Residence of Arab Slaver — Getting Admitted — The Serdap — Passing
Examination —Cheerful Subjects — Beauty — Purchase — Smuggling.

78

VL

STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

Mohamnjed Ali — A " Serenade " — Taking Invoice of our Passengers-
Fig Trees En-Route — Tax — Mesopotamia — Hadiaha — Korni —
Garden of Eden — Climbing the Famous Tree — On a Sand Bank —
Tomb of Ezra — New Passengers. 87

VIL

ABOUT BAGDAD.

The Canal — Shooting Pelicans and Jackals — A Fuel Station — Trapping
a Lion — Anecdote — Camels — Getting Food — Caravan in Distance —
Camp of Bedouins — Shamamia — Shooting Pigs. 104

VIII.

J)n Foot — Ruins of Taak Ktita — A Shot — Deafness — Sand Grouse —
Wonderful Garden — Archway • — History — Bagging Partridges —
Bagdad in Sight 121

IX.

SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

Appearance — Oriental Architecture — Natural Scenery — Landing —
Passing Outy — Hribery — Mohammedanism — Walls and Ditch — For-
tifications— (lovernor's palace — Namyk Pasha's Carriaee — Moving
the Walls — Narrow Streets — The Uarem — Guarding the Inmates —
Mosques. 13(»

X.

MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY.

Class Distinctions — A Model Coffee House — Camels' Resting Plao^—
" Fifty Cents Per Day "—Peddling Wafer—" Basket Boat "—Social
Life— F>qnipped for an Excursion — Our (Jiiide — Sighting Gazelles —
Training the Falcon and Greyhound — Arch of Clenphen — Peculiari-
ties of Women of Bagdad. 154

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 9

XL

VISITING HISTOKIC PARTS.

Akr Roof— Median Wall Origin — Monument of Lobaida — The Old
Janitor — Mosque of El Madern — Golden Crescent — "Troraba" Gar-
dens' Proceeds — Visited by Ladies of the Harem — Mysterious Hillah
— Night Visit to a Sleeping Kahn — Jackals — Chasing Bedouins —
Mahawal — Our Reception — The Astonished Guide — The Mounds —
Sumptuous Meal — Mayor's Residence — Soldiers' Wash-Day. 173

xn.

« ROUGHING IT."

** Datemarks "—Pirates — Nimrods Well — Kerbela — A feat of Horse-
manship— A Hot Chase. 208

XIIL

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

Preparing for a Tramp — Early Morning Camp — Buying an Arabian
Steed — Free Passage to Persian Gulf — In a Hole — Killing Hyenas —
Casseba — An Adventure — Pig Hunting — In Dire Distress — A Diffi-
cult Mission — Meeting with Highwaymen— Endurance of an Arab
Steed. 223

XIV.

NEAR CARARA.

Visiting an old Friend — A Sirocco in Earnest — The Flickering Light —
Rainstorms at Hand — Breaking up of Camp — Preparations for
Crossing the Desert — The Great Caravan — Prejudice against Sea
Voyages — The Bazaar's Harvest — An "Invoice" — Taking Leave of
Friends. 266

XV.

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND.

Arabian Custom— Selecting Escorts— Stock Partnership in the Arab
Horse— Our Picket Guard — Sanctity for the Steed — The Oath —
Bedouin Hospitality — The Imperial Firman — Royal " Desert Mail "
— Orfa— Frencli Enterprise — " Dachterwan" — An Arab Forse-Shoe.

10 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

XVL

FORWARD MARCH.

An Oriental Picture — The Signal — Red and Yellow Again — Order of
March — Api)roach ot Twilight — Kirst Halt — The Sleepy Khaiijee —
Mysterious Movements — Asleep on the Roof — KibrisU-r^achuiana
— Lively News — "Speak Arabic" — The Abyssinian (lirl — Two Days'
Detention — Loorian Desert — The Wrong Path — Fifty Thousan 1
Camels — Strange Observers — Fatal White Spot — Faithful Felix
— Kiffri— A Rough Experience — Suspicious Characters — Aa Acci-
dent. 801

XVII.

NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING.

Taking Inventory of Limbs— Badly Scarred — Felix Waiting — Caught —
My Horse Stolen — "Stand and Deliver" — Grit — A J'liyht Imminent
— Realizing the Position — Flight— Tracking the Thief— Surrounded
■ — "Surrender" — Felix Recovered — Khan Tholia — "A Slight Mis-
take "—A Short Rest. 345

XVIII.
ORIENTAL LAND MARKS.

Castle of Karkuk — Turkish Cavalry — Military Visitoru — Melons and
Fruit — Wine Making — Toolooche — Season of Rain — In Camp. 364

XIX.

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

Present Appearance — Short Reminiscences — Cafe — Breaking Camp —
Zab Ala Kiver — Fording the River — Mountains of Koonlistan —
Mossul in View — A Beautiful Valley — In Mossul — A Tricky Pasha
— XIossul Merchant — Ninevah Ruins. 370

XX.

MOVING WESTWARD.

Present Complexion of the Caravan— Asleep in the Khan — \ "Close
Call" — Tricks of the " Hangers-on " — Scenery in a Gorge — Lachu
— Pesireh— An Adventure— The " Errant Knight." 411

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 11

XXI

ABOUT NISIBIN.

The Arab and the Frogs — Forward — At Nisibin — The Count's En-
counter with Bedouins — Hammerdieh — Eeceived by the Sheik — "A
Pearl" — Mardin Mountain in the Distance. 487

XXII.

OVER MOUNT MARDIN.

Lost Sheep — Mount Mardin at Last — View of El Jesireh Plains^
Experience in Buying Provisions — Interview with the Kaimakan
— The Citadel — Roasted Locusts — Armenian Distiller — Muezzins —
Descent of the Mountain — A Shot in the Rear. 450

XXIIL
VALLEY OF EL JESIREH.

Through the Valley — Meeting a Circassian Caravan — Meshed Village
Peculiarities — Stampede of the Horses — Turkish Soldiers Guard our
Camp — Uses of a Circassian Cart — Female Costumes — Domestic
Life — Onward Again — The Ancient Fortress — ^Aa Ostrich Race^
Shooting an Elephant by Mistake. 468

XXIV.
ABOUT DIABEKIR.

Village of Pigeons — Poor " Laird " — Hussein Keif Fortress — Grandeur
of Diabekir — The French Consul — Entering the Citadel — The Kahn
— Closing the Gates for the Nigut — Consulate's Residence — An
Evening's Entertainment — Diabekir by Moonlight — Heralding the
Approach of Day — Eastern Market— Mishnooni. 491

XXV.

« KARA AMID."

Ancient Amida — Silk and Leather — Religious Dance— Resuming our
Journey — The Mountains — Turkish Mail — Ascending the Mountains
— Encamped among Nomadic Koords — Koordian Chief — Distributing
Presents — Farewell to Kara Amid. 518

12 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

XXVI.

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN.

The Discovery — An Investigation — Vineyards of Suverek — Oriental
Wine — In Camp for the Night — Decline of the Town — The Arrogant
Turk — On the Eoad to Bireh-Jek — Our New Guide.— Ordek —
A Beautiful Picture — Seeking Quarters — A Short Rest — The Na-
tives— Importance of the City's Location — The Ferry. P2"

XXVII.

THROUGH THE VALLEY.

The " Captain" — Historical Battlefields — L^nique Sheep Shearing — A
Night's Itest — Forward Again — Meeting a Strange Cavalcade— The
Arab's Diversion — Tattoos — Occupation of the Female Natives. 541

XXVIIL

BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

Desert — Armenian Caravan — Fertile and Beautiful Valley— Aleppo
River — Aleppo in the Distance — Mohammed Cemetery — Gateway to
Aleppo — Received by the Consulate — Sumptuous Dinner — Attack on
the Count's Caravan — Lost in Aleppo — Similarity of Streets — Ruins
— The Aqueduct — Minarets. 551

XXIX

IN ALEPPO.

A Visit to the Citadel — The Sentinel — Strength of the Fortress— View
of the Gardens— Dress Parade — Workshops and Storeliouses — Our
Aleppo Merchant — European Fashions — Alcppine Women — Their
Recreation — Prej)aring to Resume Our Journey — A Ludicrous Inci-
dent— Our Adonis Guide. 574

XXX.

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENTS.

Moving Forward Lively— A Race— The Solitary Gazelle — Romantic
History of the Depresflion— ^^e^chandise Caravan — The Abandoned
Orchard- Encamped in (he Villatro — Drenched— Vallpy of the
Afrin— The Plains — Boyda Eggs— P>athers— Queer Hamlet — Queer
Looking People— Picketed for the Night. 586

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 13

XXXI.

NEAKING THE GOAL.

Watchmen — Chamber of Torture — Missing Property — Kara Su — The
Picturesque Canyon — Mediterranean in the Distance — The Karrow
Pass — Passing under an Overleaping Stream — Healthy Beilan —
Private Khan— A Ramble through the Streets—" Turning In." 601

XXXII.

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

"Last Night Out "— " Holwah "— The Narrow Descent— The Storm-
Through the Gate — Delivering the Stock — Our Genial Greek Mer-
chant— A Night to Remember — Custom House Familiarities — The
Mail Steamer — Good-Bye to the Home of Islam. 617

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. Marabello (Steel) Frontispiece

2. Examining English Importation of Small Arms ... 31

3. Novel Method of Crossing the Tigris 71

4. Shah of Persia (Steel) 83

5. Visiting the Historical Fig-tree.. 95

6. Mayor's Residence in Bagdad 141

7. After Lunch in Bagdad Cafe 157

8. Encamped in the Shadow of Median Wall 175

9. Funeral to Kerbela 219

10. An Adventure — Pig-sticking in Arabia 245

IL Fight With Bedouins 261

12. Ro3^al Turkish Mail and Escort 295

13. Dentistry on the Plains 367

14. A Midnight Disturbance 447

16. Sultan of Turkey (Steel) 615

AT BOMBAY.

L'ordial reception — Introduction to Signer P — A valuable acquaint-
ance— Preparations for a journey together — Bound for the Persian
Gulf — The Steamer " Penang" — Fellow passengers — Shoals of fish.

On the mornino; of the 1st of March I arrived in
Bombay from a hunting expedition in the jungles and
forests of Candeish and ]^agpoor, where I had enjoyed,
in company with two officers of the Indian army, sev-
eral weeks' excellent sport in the pursuit of nearly every
species of the larger game for which the interior of In-
dia is justly famous. My friends in Bombay received
me with a cordiality, peculiar to European residents in
India, a cordiality in fact, which I never met with in
all my travels elsewhere. They evinced great disap-
pointment when I informed them that I should be
obliged to leave by the mail steamer for Arabia and the
Persian Gulf, and that my departure was fixed for the
3d of March, the very day they had chosen for a pic-
nic excursion to the far-famed caves of Elephanta ; un-
luckily no other steamer would leave Bombay for the
East Arabian coast before the following month, and as
I had already remained much longer in India than I
had intended, it was necessary for me to leave on the
3d.

On the day of my arrival I was introduced by my

friends to Signor P ,an Italian gentleman, who after

the usual preliminaries of a new acquaintaince, in-
formed me that he should be one of my fellow travel-
er, and that he intended to visit Arabia, and Mesopota-
mia for the purpose of buying a troop of thorough-bred

(17)

18 AT BOMBAY.

Arabian horses for Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.
He was the bearer of numerous letters of introduction,
and what is of intinitely more consequence in a foreign
land — of credit, and had at the time of my tirst ac-
quaintance with him always won the affection of all
who knew him in Bombaj^, though he had i^y a few
days before arrived by mail steamer from Suez (Egj'pt.)

Signor F on learning that Mv. AV ,a European

merchant of Bagdad, was my brother-in-law, informed
me that he was accredited to that gentleman, and ex-
pressed in the polished manners peculiar to Italians his
happiness in making my acqaintance. As he had en-
gaged his passage on the steamer of the 3d of March,
he naturally suggested that we should make the jour-
ney together, a proposition to which I of course most
gladly agreed, as travelling in company with gentle-
men, especially in uncivilized countries like Arabia,
and Mesopotamia is always much more agreeable than
travelling alone. It was therefore as much a pleasure
as a duty that I should assist him in procuring certain
necessary articles, which consisted of a small Indian
tent, an English saddle, a dozen bridles, horse blankets,
knee-caps, fire arms, ammunition, medicines, etc., in the
purchase of which I was enabled to be very useful to
him, as he was unacquainted with the English as well
as the Ilindoostaneo lanfjuas-e, and a stranger in Bom-
bay, while I had spent three years there.

On the morning after the 3d of March we drove
down to Mazogon dock, to wish a festive day, and bid
farewell to the picnic party, which consisted of about
twenty ladies and gentlemen, provided with a whole
boat full of refreshments. As soon as the boats contain-
ing the pleasure party had left the pier, we drove hastily
back to Meadow street, and 2 P. M. saw us with all our
traps safely deposited on board the screw steamer " Pe-

AT BOMBAY. 19

11:1:12"', bound for the Persian Gulf. Half an hour after-
vvaid we steamed out of the harbor, the Penaug wind-
in^ her way through a forest of ships and boats of all
descriptions and nationalities. I had scarcely time
left to cast my parting look over the extensive, busy,
and highly interesting city where I had spent some of
the happiest years of my life, scarcely time to look once
more on the lovely islands of Salsette, Elephanta, and
Carindja, with their gorgeous tropical vegetation, their
beautiful hills, covered with innumerable cocoanut
trees, palms, banian trees, and other majestic growth,
with cacti of gigantic size, where I had first tasted the
sweet independence of a hunter's life ; when we passed
the light house of Colaba, and already rode on the deep
azure waters of the Indian ocean. Turning from a
scene so fairy-like, our attention was suddenly arrested
by a sight, which forcibly reminded us of the dangers
we might perhaps encounter. A few hundreds yards
ahead of us we could see two steamers occupied in ex-
amining a fine ship, which three days before, favored
by perfectly calm weather had left the harbor like our-
selves, but most mysteriously and suddenly sank in
forty feet of water. There the noble craft lay, with her
masts and spars looming skeleton-like out of the water,
as if remonstrating against the foul play which caused
her destruction. The captain of the vessel was tried
for and convicted of scuttling the craft.

Once fairly out on the sea, we had ample time to
look around, and make a survey of our fellow passengers.
The sight was a curious and interesting one. The
steamer, a vessel of about eight hundred tons, was
crowded with a most varied living freight, but there

was only one European beside Signor P aid myself

among the repre=sentives of so many nationalities. He
proved to be a young Catholic priest from Belgium, who

20 AT BOMBAY.

had lived and labored hard and cheerfully live years in
Colombo, a seaport of co^lsiderable importance on the
northwestern coast of the island of Ceylon, where he
had acted as a missionary, and was now returning to
his native country, by the very route I intended to take
in company with Signor P ,my newly acqiT?Pbd Bom-
bay friend. At the dinner table we entered into conver-
sation with the young missionary, who soon proved to
be a very intelligent, liberal-minded, and exceedingly
jovial fellow. On learning that we were returning to
Europe together, he at once begged that he might be
allowed to make up the trio of our travelling expedi-
tion, a request which we readily granted. The re-
mainder of the passengers consisted chiefly of Moham-
medans, some Persians, and some Afghans; but the
greater part were natives of that portion of the Arabian
coast in business relations with India. But very few
Hindoos were among this assembljige, and what there
were belonged exclusively to the enterprising and ad-
venturous caste called " Marwarees." The exact proto-
type of this caste is found among the Jews in our own
country. Dangers the greatest, or difficulties apparent-
ly the most insurmountable, do not deter them from
the prosecution of their business, possessing as they do
all the commercial characteristics of their Hebrew tyjies.
As a proof I need but refer to the enormous fortune ol
70,000,000 rupies, equal to $.3.5,000,000 in g()ld,anias>c(l
ill the incredibly short space of three years In' Brani-
chund Roychund, a Bombay Marwaree, wlio began
life with $2.50, and an unlimited supply of assurance.
During the share mania in Bombay which shook the
commercial credit of the place to its very foundations
in 1803-5, and when all around was financial chaos
and ruin, this far-seeing Marwaree was accumulating a
fortune at the rate of very nearly ^32,000 per day.

AT BOMBAY. 2).

This was getting ricli at a rate whicli would satisfy the
money-making propensities of even the shrewdest
American speculator.

As a contrast to this, let us glance for one moment
at the portly and stern Afghan as he passes through the
crowd, silently inviting attention to his dignified mien
and carriage, and complacently caressing his silky
black beard. How strangely his style of doing busi-
ness contrasts with that of the restless Marwaree, while
to the latter no amount of trouble or perseverance is
thought too great to realize his gains, the former ap-
pears to scorn any manifestations of anxiety on this sub-
ject, haughtily waits for the customer to come to him,
thinking apparently it would be inconsistent with his
dignity to make the first advance.

The ship was so inconveniently crowded with cargo,
that the comforts of the passage were not heightened
by the natives being compelled to sleep on deck, with
the softest piece of merchandise they could find, in the
shape of iron bound bales, barrels, and sugar chests for
pillows. The rights of the cabin passengers were
greatly disregarded by the captain, who, being a Scotch-
man, and finding the European passengers largely in
the minority, it being on that route, indeed, an event,
for any to be passengers at all, took upon himself,
either with a due resrard to the religious feelino;s of
his Mohammedan passengers, or what is perhaps more
probable, w^ith an eye to their future patronage, to
place the poop deck at their disposal, for the exercise
of their religious devotions, which take place five
times a day, and are peculiarly solemn. During the
voyage, which was a very agreeable one, we passed
several ships and Arabian bagalows sailing towards
ports of the Persian Gulf and India. These bagalows
were heavy clumsy wooden craft, varying from fifty

22 AT BOMBAY.

to two hundred tons, laden with dates, coffee, wheat,
wool, etc. Their crews were almost in the costume,
or want of costume of the garden of Eden, the " nacoda,''
or captain, not excepted, and consisted chiefly of Somali
and Zanzibar negroes, a remarkably well -kuilt, and
muscular race, imported into Arabia by slavers of that
country. When within about one hundred miles of
the Arabian coast, the sea became alive with shoals of
fish, and we were literally cutting our w^ay through
these finny inhabitants of the deep. I do not remember
ever to have seen such an immense mass of fish as oS
the eastern coast of Arabia.

IL

LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT :o

Sighting Land — Muscat Harbor — Saluting the Mail Steamer— A. Visit
On Shore— Surprising the Soldiers— Inspecting the Arsenal— At the
Bazaar— Arab Beauties — Driving a Pig Through the Street— Sleep-
ing on the Eoof— Returning to the Steamer — Rumored Death of the
Imaum — All Aboard.

At sunrise on the morning of the 8th of March we
sighted Rasal Had, i. e. " Cape of Rocks," on our lee
bow, the first land perceptible when approaching from
the East, but it was far from presenting a very cheerful
aspect. The country along the shore seemed sterile and
barren, and in the rear was a range of rugged and bleak
hills, of a yellowish-red tint, apparently without the
slightest sign of life or vegetation; in fact, as far as
could be seen, the entire coast looked uninhabited.
Two or three hours steaming brought us in sight of RSs
Hairan, a rocky promontory of considerable height,
standinar boldlv out into the sea, and formins:, as it
were, the southern curbstone at the entrance to the
harbor of Muscat, or Mascat. On passing this cape,
the town, lying snugly imbedded between immense
rocks which lined both sides of the deep and narrow
harbor with a natural mammoth- wall, fully 250 feet
high, met our view. The sight was most interesting,
as at first we could only see a row of large, massive
stone houses, drawn up along the beach at the inner-
most end of the rock-bound harbor; the most conspicu-
ous of these buildings turned out to be the residences,
three or four stories in height, of the Imaum, or Sultan,
his harem, and family. On the right of the former we

(2^1

24 liUOKINQ AROUND MUSCAT.

noticed an extensive two-story building, with a very
decent garden, occupied by the English Consul, or
Political Resident, the only European living in Muscat.
By and by, as we approached nearer, we could discover
on every available crag and plateau of the rocks over-
hanging the harbor, small torts, built evidently for the
protection of the town. The inhabitants, endeavoring
to complete the almost impregnable position created b^
Nature, have spared no pain or ingenuity in raising
upon summits of great height, these numerous little
forts, which completely command the harbor and the
town. The works, however, though almost inaccessi-
ble to man, one must confess would be but little u?e
against modern artillery, as a single solid shot would be
amply sufHcient to cause the complete destruction of any
of these fast decaying fortitications, which never could
boast of good masonry, and were evidently built more
for scaring away invaders, than for doing them much
real injury.

On arriving in the middle of the most romantic
little harbor, tlie usual salute of the mail steamer was
fired, echoing lialf a dozen times with a truly apalling
thunder through the rugged cliffs. No sooner had the
anchor settled do^vn into the deep sea, than we wore
already surrounded by a shoal of " balams," a kind of
canoe, about twenty feet in length, by two in breadlh,
with sharp pointed ends, hollowed out of the trunk of
a tree. Each canoe carried either two Arabs, or two
negroes, all of them desirous to sell us fruit and fish,
or to take us ashore. As we were not ready to go oft' in
the large boat which came for the mail, the un})l('asant
alternative was presented of risking our lives in one of
these unsafe looking craft, without a keel, or perfectly
sound bottom, the slightest change of position, when in
them, being amply sufficient to cause a capsize ; but as

LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT. ^fi

the sea was alive witli sharks, we were very careful to
sit perfectly still, till we reached the shore, which we
happily accompli 4ied without accident. The tirst im-
pression made upo, us by the beach of Muscat, came
through our olfactory organs, which were most unmis-
takably and unpleasantly assailed by an odor, so unlike
the Eastern perfumes, of which we had i-ead so much
in the fairy tales of the " Thousand and One Nights,"
that an immediate investigation revealed to us the dis-
agreeable presence of innumerable lish-heads, varying
in size from a strawberry to that of a bullock's head,
scattered all over the beach, in every stage of decom-
position, and emanating the horrid stench in question.
The natives are so accustomed to this species of per-
fume, that they almost appear to like it, at least they
can talk away unconcernedly for hours, in the imme-
diate neighborhood of this offal.

While recovering from the shock to our olfactory
nerves, we were beset by immense numbers of the
inhabitants, who seemed to be astonished at our care-
lessness or recklessness in venturing among them un-
armed. It was evidently a novel sight, as Europeans do
not often arrive in Muscat, and unless compelled,
seldom go ashore, jtreferring, from the most authentic
accounts of the manners and customs of the inhabitants,
to keep them at a wholesome distance. Pressing
through the crowd, we walked to the row of buildings
already mentioned as appearing first in view when we
entered the harbor, and found that they formed the
principal part of the town. They are large, high,
stone houses, built in the Arabic style with flat roofs,
and but few windows ; the largest is the residence of
the Imaum, who was at this time absent on an expe-
dition against the hostile Arabs of the district "El
Hassa," or "EI Hadjar," on the northwest frontier,

26 LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT.

who had been making raids into his territory. To the
left of this building, and of nearly the same size is
another, occupied by the '• Harem," or iemale estab-
lishment of the Imaum, the windows of which are all
iron-barred, and carefully provided with deuse trellis
work, thus very ettectually preventing those outside
gaining an}' view of the inmates. Both these buildings
are guarded by numerous soldiei*s, if we may apply so
respectable a term to a set of the most dirty, villainous
looking ragamuffins and cut-throats it has ever been my
lot to see. They were lying lazily on the stairs, and in
the nooks and corners of the housc^s, some playing
" back-gammon," and other games. Tiiey all wore the
usual Arabian costume, and every one of them was
provided with a sort of private arsenal on his person,
in the shape of a gun, two or three pistols, a sword,
and several daggers. As we passed by they gazed at
us listlessly. To the right of the Sultan's residence is
that of the British Consul, who is said to be on very
good terms with the Imaum. The house which he oc-
cupies is undoubtedly the cleanest looking abode in the
whole town of Muscat, which, I confess, is not saying
much. We then proceeded to the Imaum's arsenal, a
few hundred yards in the rear of his house, on the road
to which our nostrils were ai^ain refraled; but this time
with a new perfume, emanating from the carcasses of
that animal, which is popularly supposed never to die,
two dead donkeys, that had probably ended their
earthly career weeks and weeks l)efore. We arrived at
the Arsenal, (a very sorry looking depot for im()lements
of war, the building having formerly been a caravan-
sar}', or house of shelter for caravans,) a kind of square
building consisting only of four naked walls, with an
open court yard in the centre, enclosirg an area of
about two hundred feet square. At the entrance we

LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT. 27

were startled by the simultaneous appearance on either
side of the gateway of two fierce looking guards, of the
type described as stationed at the Imaum's palace.
They appeared to be not less taken aback by the sight
of "Frankies," which term the natives apply to all
Europeans, and evidently regarded us as personages of
great importance, no doubt from the imposing appear-
ance of Signer P , whose tall person and martial

bearing heightened by his noble countenance, snow-
white hair, moustache, and beard, could not fail to com-
mand respect, especially the snowy hair, which is
deeply venerated, not only by the Arabs, but by all
Moslems. Signor P always wears, with much ele-
gance, a Turkish " fez " or" tarbush," as the Arabs call
it, the well-known conical, scarlet, woolen cap, with
long blue tassel, worn by the Zouaves, which caused
the guard no doubt to take him for a Turkish officer of
high rank ; for not only did we pass unchallenged into
the court yard, but they actually presented arms as we
entered the arsenal.

We found a great number of old cast-iron and
brass guns of English, Portugese, Turkish, Arabian, and
even Indian manufacture ; some lying in the open court-
yard half buried in the dust, the rest elevated on mis-
erable, rickety looking carriages, quite destitute of
paint, and the iron fastenings corroded by the tooth of
time. Several of these carriages afforded an amusing
spectacle, as they were of most primitive construction,
standins: on wheels manufactured from a solid block of
wood, a cross cut from a big stout tree, with only a
round hole cut in the centre for the axle tree, and a
Btout iron hoop around the wheel. With the exception
of the three or four English guns presented by the
British Government to the Imaum many years ago, and
which are not at all of modern construction, being old

28 LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT.

clumsy ship guns, all the Iraaum's artillery is extremely
ancient, as their shape and corroded appearance fully
prove, and I would not vouch for the safety of them,
should they be put to the test ; at any rate I should not
relish the idea of standing within ten yards- ^ any one
of them when fired off.

The small arms department was in a bad enough
state, also ; in fact, we could only see a pile of sorry-
looking, rusty musket barrels minus their stocks, and
stocks minus their barrels, intermixed with here and
there a sword blade without a handle, or a handle with-
out a sword blade, and broken off" bayonets lying in the
corner of the building ; a heap of old iron which affor-
ded a capital refuge to ants, lizards, rats and snakes, of
the first two species of which we could see a great num-
ber enjoying a walk along the barrels, and crawling
into them through the muzzles, exhibiting conjointly
with the old iron, as it were, to the beholder, the in-
signia of peace and war in one tableaux. All the avail-
able part of the implements of war were said by the
guards to be in the field, as the Imaum had ransacked
his arsenal for this purpose before going to war with
the troublesome Bedouins of the frontier.

I'erfectly satisfied with the Imaum's fighting ca-
pacity, we left Ilirt Royal Highness' arsenal, and turned
our steps toward the " Bazaar," that is tlie market, or
rather the quarter of the town where the stalls of the
merchants and dealers in the necessaries of life, as well
as the workshops of all the tradesmen, from the jeweler
down to the scissors grinder, are situated; in short,
where all the business of the place is transacted. This
is naturally the busiest and most populous part of every
Eastern town, and consequently the most interesting spot
to a foreigner. Almost every west Asiatic town has its
bazaar, a place where you may sec a long row ot jeweler's

LOOKING ARC 'JND MUSCAT. • 31

stalls, whose proprietors aid workmen are all busily en-
gaged in manufactur'ng filigree work, ankle-rings,
bracelets, necklaces ear-rings, nose-rings, and finger-
rings, or setting r.earls, and precious stones in the same.
Look at those ■'.v\'o Bedouins rasc^ed, dirty, reo-ular cut
throat looking fellows, they came into the town from
the desert co buy, or if possible to steal something, and
are gazirg with covetous eyes upon the richly jeweled
ornarae'its, to buy which they cannot aflbrd, nor can
they gi'asp them, and make ofl*, as they are exhibited in
a kin<i of iron show case, screwed firmly to the stall,
looking like a square bird cage or rat trap of strong
iron V ire work, and only accessible to the jeweler him-
sell ]y means of a key. Take a sly glance at those
thref young Arab beauties, unfortunately we can only
supi ose them to be young and pretty, for their features
are ■ losely veiled by a kind mask of red or black silk,
not i-nlike those worn by female dominos at masquer-
ade? 'n oar own country; but to judge by their erect
can ia i^e, their elastic step, and nicely rounded forms,
dist\nc!:ly discernible, in spite of their long, gaudily
colored silken "Esars"or gowns, which cover them
froi I h iad to foot, to judge by their large soft black
eyes fla hing fiery glances from between their remark-
ably long eye-lashes, their beautifully shaped chins, ruby
lips di;- closing, when they smile, a set of enchanting,
httle, pearly teeth ; all these compel me to think that
the thn;e women are not only young and handsome,
but the daughters of wealthy parents ; for their tiny
han.ls, ?nd well rounded armsare sparkling with richly
jew.',led rings, and bracelets. Their skin is almost as
fair as ihat of a Sicilian brunette, being only tinged
with a fi int olive hue. They are escorted by three ap-
parently, also young, Abissinian female slaves, who seem
to be treated rather az friends, than slaves. One of the

32 •LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT.

three fairies tries on a pair of splendid filigree ear rings,
and in doing so, sufficiently remove her mask as to
unconsciously prove to us that she is really beautiful
On turning to ask the opinion of one of her friends, she
for the first time discovers us watch ius^ her, and with a
scarcely audible scream, retreats quick as lightning
under the folds of her "Esar," whereupon they all
burst into a most hearty giggling, intermixed with
melodious ejaculations of astonishment.

Of course we do not stay there much longer, as the
slightest familiarity with a respectable ^Mohammedan
female by a Christian would end in the instantaneous
murder of the hapless offender, and in cruel thrashing
should the individual be a Mohanmiedan. In Bagdad
I have known a miserable Hindoo, literally hacked in
pieces by a fanatic mob, for having dared to lift the
pagee (horse-hair veil) of a Mohammedan female of
more than doubtful character in the street. This sort
of vengeance is strictly executed, so that were I to see
a Mohammedan women fall into a river, and in danger
"of drowning, I would most certainly not jump in to
rescue her in the ])rescnce of Moslems, nor even ofifer
my hand to raise one who should fall in the street, as I
know too well that my life woiiM be the price of my
gallantry.

Returning to the scenery of the" l)azaar," we beli"](l
this long array of stalls, filled with cotton, silk, W(jolcn,
and linen goods from all parts of the globe. There sits
a .stern haughty Persian or an Afghan, surrounded by
the rich })roduce of Xofth "Western Asia, his huge
\xn\y comfortably moored in the center of a very rich
carftet of Isphahan, or Mazenderan manufacture, his
conical, or rather sugar loaf 8ha})ed woolen hat, two
feet high, composed of a series of black dyed fleeces of
hi nibs scarcely born, sticking out like an enormous horn

LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT. 33

from the back of his head, the flaps of his tight fitting
short frock, generally of a green color, carefully gath-
ered in his lap, while he is sucking solemly away at
the long flexible tube of his cherished " narghileh," or
water pipe, pufling in austere silence the fumes of the
delicious and aromatic Isphaham tobbacco, slowly
smoothing his long jet black glossy beard, and mous-
tache, all the while staring vaguely before him, not
unlike a sulky bull, or contemplating in a highly satis-
factory manner his bright crimson dyed finger-nails,
hardly condescending to look at the passers by, or
even at buyers presenting themselves before his stall.
The next stall is occupied by a portly and ponderous
Turk, on whose voluminous body it would be difficult
to discover any symptoms of rapid consumption. He
is neatly dressed in a long floating gown with wide
hanging sleeves, generally of a bright blue, green,
purple, or brown color ; his head is covered with a heavy
turban, a " fez," or Turkish cap encircled by a white or
green scarf, embroidered with gold, a head-cover of con-
siderable weight, and which would be unbearable in a
suffocating hot country like Arabia, if the wearers did
not always keep their scalps shaved scrupulously clean.
He sits " a I'Oriental," in the to Americans rather
uncomfortable appearing posture of a tailor, with his
legs crossed under him, calmly smoking his " chibook "
(a straight pipe, with a tube from four to six feet long)
and exhibiting his goods consisting of linen and cotton
cloth, rich woolens, silks and velvets. Though appar-
ently so phlegmatic, that he finds it hard work to keep
his eyes open during the day, he is keenly alive to his
interests, as is evinced by the polite and graceful lan-
guage in which he addresses his customers, and recom-
mends his goods. The adjoining stalls are occupied by
Indian Mohammedans called "Borahs," dressed in snowy

34 LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT.

white from head to foot, with small turbaus, long,
rather tight-fitting gowns, and wide trowsers, gathered
at the ankles. They have come from ITindoostan laden
with the rich products of that prolific and wonderful
land, consisting of various kinds of magnificent precious
stones, either loose., or set in filigree work oT exquisite
manufacture, for which India, and especially the island
of Ceylon is justly famous. These stalls are also well-
filled with beautiful, gaudy-colored embroideries,
brought from the Punjaub, the country situated along
the river Indus. Beside these goods they sell caskets,
boxes, paper-knives, etc., made ot the peculiar smelling
sandal-wood, beautifully carved, or inlaid with ebony,
ivory and silver of Bom'. ay make, and finding ready
sale here, the strong per ume of the sandal-wood being
very acceptable to the feiiale sex of Arabia.

The trade of this interestins; mart is not confined
to Mohammedans, as witness yonder Jew, who even
here on the borders of the desert, boldly challenges the
world to sell better or cheaper articles than he, violent-
ly brandishing a handkerchief of very inferior make,
which he oflfers to sell for half its cost. However he
always manages with the business ta t peculiar to his
remarkable and enterprising race, not to be a loser by
the transaction. The other portions of the Bazaar are
teeming with workmen making, and exhibiting for
sale, every possible requirement for the Arab and Be-
douin. Look at the gaudily dressed saddles of Ara-
bian fashion, neatly embroidered pistol holders, leather
powder flasks, shot pouches, and bridles, ornamented
with "cowries," little white sea shells, which in some
parts of Asia and Africa are used as currency. There
are gunsmiths exhibiting a whole arsenal of fire arms,
comprising the rudest, as well as the most finished speci-
men of warlike implements, from the Bedouin flint or

LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT. 35

match-lock, with a barrel of awkward length, the pon-
derous Portugese ship musket of very large gauge, the
short Spanish blunderbuss, with its muzzle widening
toward the end like a trumpet, and the Persian horse-
pistol beautifully inlaid with silver, to the English shot-
gun of exquisite workmanship, scimetars, yataghans
and Persian straight, double edged swords, Damascene
daggers, with suitable warlike inscriptions, such as "Al-
lah protects the arm of the faithful, who brandishes
this sword ; " or " May the arm which wields this
sword ever be victorious," " May the wearer's shadow
never be less." Altogether a visit to an Arabian Ba-
zaar is most interesting to a student of character ; the
scene must be personally witnessed to be fully un-
derstood, for it altogether defies description. !N"ever-
theless picture to yourself long lines of wooden stalls,
ranged on either side of the passage way, which is left
from three to six feet wide, and is called by courtesy a
street, in which two horses meeting can hardly pass
each other. This passage is crowded with people, from
sunrise to sunset, chatting, laughing, vociferating, push-
ing and squeezing each other ; add to this a deafening
noise, arising from the combined efforts of the copper-
smiths, battering the metal that, they are manufactur-
ing, the clang of the blacksmith's hammer, the batter-
ing of hundreds of shoemaker's hammers, belaboring
the leather, the screaming voices of pedlars, the inces-
sant ficrhtino; of the innumerable masterless curs that
infest the place refusing to stir out of one's path, the
yelling and cursing of the donkey drivers, the mourn-
ful shout of the camel drivers, with the various voices
of buyers, and sellers ; in short a place where every-
body seems intent upon adding to the reigning chaos ;
picture your elf all this, and you have a faint idea of
an Asiatic Bazaar. The atmosphere of the Bazaar it

86 LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT.

naturally none of the best, the heat in these crowded
thoroughfares, though they are somewhat protected from
the rays of the broiling sun, by mats, which are
stretched overhead across the street, and which serve
only to darken the narrow and crowded passage, h al-
ways most unpleasant to foreigners ; but Nature, full of
compensation as she always is, mollifies this by the
grateful perfume, emitted from the stalls of the dealers
inthefragant spices, otto of roses, rose oil, etc., etc., of
the Orient.

It was no small amount of trouble we passed
througli the Bazaar, brushing by well dressed mer-
chants clad in every variety of Oriental costume, tat-
tered Bedouins, half-naked beggars, carefully veiled fe-
males, sliding rather than walking along, in their
yellow gown, or red morocco slippers, the fore part of
which ends in a sharp point, and bends backward, like
the iron of a pair of skates, their very loose and gau-
dily colored trousers tied fast round the ankle, and al-
most dragging on the ground. By and by we arrived
at a part of the Bazaar, where the cooks, confectioners,
but'.'hers, fishmongers, fruit and vegetable dealers trans-
act their business. The former were doing a busy trade
for in front of each shop, was a seething cauldron of
meat and vegetables, which they retailed in large por-
tions for a few paras. This was naturally the gather-
ing place for great numbers of starving, and dirty beg-
gars and ragamuffins who were disputing for a stray
bone or rib, with the emaciated dogs, which infest
in great crowds these cooking establishments.

A very jirofitable trade is done also by the confec-
tioners of Muscat, who, among other sweet-meats, make
a kind of solid gelatinoussubstance, which is composed of
camel's milk, flour, wild honey and butter. This kind
of Bweet-meat is called " Ilolwa " by the natives, is very

LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT. S\

agreeable in taste, and nourishing, and is, Ibeliere, very
wholesome food, also. It is sold in blocks about one
inch square, and is sent all over Arabia, Persia and
India. The butchers of Muscat sell chiefly goat and
camel meat ; mutton and beef can scarcely be found in
the town, as there is seldom any demand for it. Pork,
of course, is quite out of the question ; the pig being de-
clared unclean food by the Koran, and is consequently
a horror to Mohammedans. Calling a Mohammedan a
" Chanseer," the Arabic name for pig, is the greatest
insult you can offer to him. I often endangered my
life by using this term when angry. For all the treas-
ure of Golconda I would not undertake to drive a pig
throufich the streets of any Mohammedan town unless
I was tired of life, and desirous of immediately parting
with it. Camel's meat is highly esteemed throughout
eastern Arabia, and the killing of a young camel to
supply a visitor with food is considered by the Arabs
of the desert the greatest honor that can be conferred
upon a guest. The meat of from two to four months'
old camels is excellent food, indeed, especially when
roasted, being whiter and more juicy than veal.

The greater part of the inhabitants of Muscat, how-
ever, especially the poorer classes, live almost entirely
upon fish, which article of food is, as I have already
stated, exceedingly abundant and cheap there. I have
no doubt that this excessive consumption of fish, and
the almost entire absence of bread, fruit and vegetables,
the cause of the alarming number of lepers in Muscat,
leprosy being almost exclus ively an Oriental disease, and
a main feature of the sea-coast of eastern Arabia. At
least one-half the population is all the year round
occupied solely with the catching, cutting up, salting
or dryino- offish. Immense quantities of smoked and
sun-dried fish are exported from here to Persia, India,

38 LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT.

the Malay Islands, the islands of Zatizibar, Mauritius,
and Bourbon, a great part of which is bought by the
planters with which to feed the coolies or laborers.
Large quantities are also consumed by the crews of the
Asiatic steamers, which, with the exception ot]^ the oflS.-
cers and engineers, are chiefly composed of "Lascars,"
or East Indian sailors, and East African negroes, who
subsist almost entirely upon curry, a strongly spiced
Indian dish, prepared from fresh or smoked fish, chicken
or eggs and rice. The vegetable market of Muscat is
rather poor, the whole country round the town being
so exclusively stony and barren, and the climate so very
hot, that vegetables can only be raised with a great
deal of trouble, and only in spots where uninterrupted
irrigation can be established. Onions, garlic, a kind of
white carrots, a fruit called " okkra " in India (auber-
gines by the French), and a species of small gherkin,
were about the only vegetables I saw in the market ;
and of fruit, there were only a few miserable looking
bananas, lemons, pomegranates and mulberries visible,
dates, oranges, sweet lemons and water-melons not be-
inci: in season at the time of our visit.

The streets of Muscat are all very narrow and
dirty. The houses of the wealthier classes are not over
two stories high built of sun-dried brick, with flat
roofs, and sniall iron barred windows, presenting alto-
gether a very gloomy' prison-like appearance. The
poorer peo{)le live in small liuts made of nmd blocks
dried in the sun, with flat roofs, on which the inhabi-
tants sleep at night, it being almost impossible to sleep
inside the houses, the heat, even at midnight, being
almost insupportable ; moreover there ares warms of
centipedes, scorpions, rats and mice, which usurp com-
plete dominion over the lower part of these dwellings
after darkness sets in, but strange as it may appear,

LOOKING ^ilOUND MUSCAT. 39

thej never Tenture on the roof. The dwellings in the
outskirts of the town are even more slightly built than
those inside the walls, being simply small huts, com-
posed of a frame work of sticks, not over seven feet
high, and covered with palm-leaf or reed-mats; the
inmates sleep also on mats or coarse carpets spread on
the ground in the midst of donkeys, goats, dogs, fowls
and vermin, ad libitum. The four or five mosques or
moslem temples which I noticed were large, square,
stone buildings, but very plain, bearing a dilapidated
appearance, and but for the cupolas surmounting the
roofs and the adjacent minarets I would hardly have
been able to distinguish them from the rest of the
stone buildino;s.

The town of Muscat, which is the capital of the
independent State of Muscat, is surrounded on three
sides by a wall, now much dilapidated, the passages
through the gates of which there are three or four, are
very narrow and gloomy. The gates are made ot
wood, with strong iron fastenings, but they would
afford poor protection for the inhabitants in case of an
assault. Muscat contains from sixty to seventy thou-
sand inhabitants, nine-tenths of whom profess the
Mohammedan faith. The remainder is composed of
Jews and Hindoos ; the latter, however, are only temp-
orary residents. It is considered one of the hottest
places under the sun, if indeed it cannot claim pre-
eminence in that respect, the thermometer varying
from 84° to 44° Reaumure in the shade, equal to from
110° to 130° Fahrenheit, during the nine months of
the hot season. Rain here, and as far north as the
28th degree of latitude, seldom or never falls. During
the winter months, say from December to February,
the soil is moistened by a heavy dew. I^o vegetation
not even a blade of grass is to be seen, except when

40 LOOKINa AROUND MUSCAT.

raided by arnfical means. Water for domestic pur-
poses is hoisted up with a rope fastened to a bucket,
made of goat skin, lowered into cisterns or draw-wells,
vary from fifty to a hundred feet in depth, by means of
a wheel fixed at the mouth of the well and worked by
ahorse, donkey or camel. Wherever there ha])pens to
be a little soil covering the rocks, it is fertile enough
and produces grass, grain, and vegetables with very
light labor, irrigation alone being absolutely necessary.
Our inspection of this interesting town being
finished, we hastened to the steamer, and returning to
her in the frail craft which brought us ashore, passed
the floating wreck of a European vessel which only a
few days previous was lying quietly at anchor, laden
with a cargo of dates, but during the night a fire broke
out and consumed the craft. Just before we left Mus-
cat, a rumor reached the capital, that the Imaum had
suddenly died in the field, and that one of his youngilr
brothers had alroiidy assumed conmiand of the arm^
but was doing all in his power to prevent the news of
the Imaum's death from reaching the capital. It
seems, however, that he was not successful, for a week
afterwards it was known already in Bombay that the
Sultan had l)een murdered, shot in his tent by one of
his own brothers, the very villian who had assumed
command of the troops, and proclaimed himslf successor
to the throne. Nobody interfered in the matter, and
the fratricide is now Rultan of Musc/it, but in all
probability will be served in the same way by one of
his younger brothers sooner or later. An hour after
we steamed out of the harbor, steering due north and
bound for Bunder Abbas, a little seaport situated on
the northern or Persian seacoast at the entrance to the
Persian Gulf, on the strait of Ormus. Steaming out of
the harbor of Muscat, we caught a glimpse of the town

LOOKING AROUND MUSCAT. 41

of Gobra, a nice little seaport, where a flotilla of the
Imaum's men-of-war, consisting of two small wooden
brigs and five or six schooners, were riding at anchor.
Gobra lies about four miles northwest of Muscat, is
like the latter surrounded by high clifis, separated
from the capital only by the range of rocks forming
the western boundary of the harbor of Muscat.

m.

ANCHORED.

Landing the Mail — Lord High Chancellor — Violent Storm — Alarm
Guns — Getting Aboard — Passing the "Old Fort" — Linga — "Rel
and Yellow" — Beautiful Women — Pirates — Diving for Pearls —
Fight Under Water — Again Aboard — Short Trip — In the Harbor
of Bufcheer — On Shore Alone — "Arms Down" — Governor'g Resi-
dence—Hiding Behind the Rail.

Ten miles north of the harbor of Muscat, we passed
quite close to leeward of a small, rocky island, not over
three miles in circumference, and inhabited only by
wild goats, whose means of subsistence puzzled us
extremely, as there is but little vegetation visible on
the island. On the following morning we entered the
Strait of Ormus, which is about twenty miles broad at
its narrowest part, and forms the outlet of the Persian
(inlf into the Indian Ocean. Here we passed on our
left the Cape and Island of Musendorm, which is now a
station of the Indo European Telegraph. There is a
substantial stone house on the island, occupied l)y four
fui] (loves of the telegraph, who are all Englishmen.
The Island of ^fusondorni is hardly over two hundred
yards square, a mere barren rock, and all the necessaries
of life, even the water, must be brought in boats fiom
Bunder Abbas, I do not envy the poor "knights of
the wire," who are left to whatever enjoj-ment of life
tlioy may find on that desolate cliff. Arrived in the
roadstead of P>under Abbas we were compelled to cast
anchor about a mile and a half from the shore, the
water being too shallow for us to approach any nearer,
and landed the mail, which T accompanied on shore,
and saw safely delivered int(^ tbe hands of an old and

(42)

ANCHOEED. 43

surly native, who combined in his sins/e person the
multifarious officers of Governor, Judge, Custom House
Officer, Superintendent of Police, and Postmaster of the
little seaport. My impression o.f the town was not
favorable, it being a most miserable place, composed of
about two hundred mud huts, all built on the sands,
and outrageously filthy. Muscat, by comparison with
this place, appeared to be a magnificent city. With
the exception of a few dreary and half dried-up palm
trees, scattered here and there, no vegetation was visi-
ble; the country all round Bunder Abbas being very
barren and sandy. To the background of the little sea-
port rises an enormous mountain range, whose highest
peak towers about 9,000 feet above the level of the
ocean, presenting a very imposing appearance from the
sea, and visible at an immense distance. This moun-
tain rano-e forms the natural frontier of the three most
southern provinces of Persia, the Province of Beloo-
chistan lying to the east of it, the Province of Kohis-
tan to the north, and the Province of Kirman, in which
Bunder Abba is situated, to the west.

Toward afternoon the atmosphere became extremely
sultry and oppressive, the western sky assumed a cop-
per-colored hue, and before we had time to complete
our business on shore, a frightful gale of wind suddenly
sprung up, lashing the sea into fury in an incredibly
short time. The waves rolled appallingly high, so much
80 that the boisterous surf carried away all the huts that
were nearest to the shore, the wretched inhabitants
hardly being able to save their lives, so sudden and
violent was the storm, which, by the way. had thrown
our boat high and dry upon the beach. The gale, after
raging about an hour, ceased as abruptly as it had com-
menced, and the captain, anxious, as usual, for our
safety amono- tha dastardly and fanatical native? on

44 ANCHORED,

shore, and afraid that the storm might increase again,
caused alarm guns to be ft red, warning us to return im-
mediately to the ship. With the assistance of a few
friendly natives, we made several unsuccessful attempts
to get the boat oif, and were as often driveu^Qn shore ;
after immense difhculty we got her afloat, and then en-
deavored to reach the steamer ; but the current was so
strong that we drifted dead to leeward, and but for the
captain's vigilance would inevitably have been driven
out to sea. Seeing our danger, he ordered two boats
with several hundred fathoms of rope to our assistance.
Providentially, they intercepted our course, and catch-
ing their tow line, we were successfully brought along-
side the steamei", but with considerable difficulty.

AVe lifted anchor for Linga, or Congoon, and had
scarcely done so, when the squall, which had so instan-
taneously sprung up and raged so furiously, gave way
to a perfect calm. The day closed with a clear and
beautiful evening, and the stormy sea became, toward
sunset, perfectly smooth and pellucid. Early next
morning we passed between two rocky islands, " Kishm "
on the north, and " Ormns," from which the strait that
connecU the Persian Gulf with the Gulf Oman, derives
it8 namo, to the south. The latter is much smaller
than tho former, but has some historic importance,
owing to its having formerly been the chief stronghold
of the Poil:igepe in the Persian Gulf. The ruins of an
extensive fortress built by that nation, are still visible
at an immense distance on the eastern point of the
island ; it is said that similar fortifications formerly
existed on the northern and southern coasts of the
island of Xishm, by which means the Portugese effect-
ually hold the Strait of Ormus for over a century, but
were rl riven from this position by Shah Abbas, King
of Persia, assisted by the English, in the year 1622.

ANCHYRED. 4&

Both islands belong now to the Imaiim of Masvj^t.
Thej are at present inhabited by a few fishermen and
their families only. Soon we lost sight of them, steam-
ing along the Persian coast, which is very mountainous,
some of the highest peaks being covered with snow
during the greater part of the year. The following
afternoon we sighted the little seaport ot Linga, sit-
uated not far from the river Congoon, on the frontier
of the two provinces of Laristan on the east, and Far-
sistan on the west. During our short call here, we, that
is, my two companions and myself, paid a visit to the
shore, and found Linga, though belonging to Persia,
partly built and inhabited by Arabs, or natives of the
southern shore of the Persian Gulf. The difference
between the huts of Persian and Arabian architecture
was very striking; all the Persian huts had slanting
roofs, covered with coarse mats, while those of Arabian
workmanship had flat roofs, made of a layer of brush
wood, covered and made water-tight by a thick layer
of clay, intermixed with short cut grass. The village
of Linga is let by the Shah of Persia for a hundred
years, and a good sum of money, to the Arab Sheik of
Bahrein. This little colony occupies a lovely and fer-
tile spot, with the invaluable advantage of an inex-
haustible supply of pure water.

Lino-a is a direct and striking contrast to the wretched
Bunder Abbas, the houses, though only built of mud, or
sun-dried brick, are, as well as the streets, kept scru-
pulously clean, and the whole village is seated within
a circle of date trees, whose verdant and luxurious
foliao-e, surrounded by so much sterility, was refreshing
to the sio-ht. Although on Persian territory, the in-
habitants, all of pure Arabian descent, insist on retain-
ino- their own language, manners, and customs, and ap-
peared to me far superior to the type of Persian peas-

46 ANCHORED.

antry usually found in the small ports along the Per-
sian Gulf. The Arahs here, being, as it were, in a for-
eign land, seem to pride themselves on retaining their
national character. Both sexes dress well, and in tiie
romantic costume of their own country. ^'^iQ Arab
inhabitants of Linga are not allowed to penetrate more
than a hundred miles into the interior, nor do they wish
to do so, being apparently quite happy to remain ii>
what may fairly be called the Eden of the Persiau
Gulf. AVith the curiosity which is said to be an
attribute of the female sex in every part of the globe,
the native females seemed to think us objects of consid-
erable interest; although the custom of the country
required their faces to be closely veiled, after the fash-
ion of the fair sex at Muscat, and avoid as much as pos-
sible the attention of foreigners, they could not restrain
their in<|uisitiveness, for after having passed a group,
we could hear them chatting and laughing, and see
them peeping through the mats which serve as doors
to their dwellings.

The male as well as the female population of Linga
dress verv much like the inhabitants of Muscat , l>ut are
superior to them in form, stature, and looks, owing
probably to the healthier locality they occupy, and the
less excessive use of fish as a means of subsistence ; they
are also neat in their habits, while the Persians of the
seacoast are slovenly an<l filthy. The fair sex particu-
larly appear to be superior to that of Muscat in ev^ery
respect. The women of Linga seem to be passionately
fond of red and yellow, for they all wear dresses of one
of these colors, which peculiar taste greatly increases
the bright and cheerful ajipearance of the village,
making it like an oasis in the desert. The motley
crowd of women and girls, all dressed in gaudy cos-
tume, and covered with a profusion of beads, trinkets,

ANCHORED. 47

and cowrie shells, advancing slowly, but erect as
statues, skilfully balancing a water-jug, with per^ctly
round convex bottom, on the top of their heads, from
the beautiful date tree groves, surrounding the huge
cisterns or draw-wells in the rear of the village, would
make a subject worthy the pencil of a ^lurillo, or Sal-
vator Rosa,

The cisterns which supply this little colony with
water are at least a dozen in number, scattered among
the many date trees, and about half a mile from the
beach. They may be seen at a great distance, each be-
ing surmounted by a kind of cover or roof, built of
bricks dried in the sun, and resembling a mausoleum
in shape. The wells are about fifty feet deep and
twenty in diameter ; the buildings placed over them are
about twenty feet in height, and are for the purpose of
protecting the water against the heat of the sun and
the dust, so that the pure element is delightfully fresh
and clear as crystal. On the Arabian side of the Per-
sian gulf, due south of Linga, lies Cape Aufir or Olir,
and to the westward of this cape is the island of Bah-
rein, governed by an independant Arab Shiek or Chief.
The inhabitants of this island were as far back as 1850,
rather notorious for their lawless life, practising piracy,
and the slave trade to a considerable extent, and were
it not for th^ continual cruising of British gunboats in
their waters, they would still be very troublesome to
commerce.

To the eastward of Cape Aufir lie the celebrated
pearl-banks of the Persian Gulf, where at certain sea-
sons of the year may be found a large congregation of
Arab, Persian and Indian bagalows, fishing for the
precious pearl-shells, which are some times very num-
erously found in depths varying from twenty to sixty
feet. This fishery is performed in the following man*

48 ANCHORED.

Qer: The diver, stark naked, with only a kind of bag
or pouch fastened round his loins to hold the pearl
shells, and armed with a long, sharp knife in a leather
sheath, strapped round the upper part of his left arm,
takes firm hold with both hands of a heavyweight (a
Btone, a lump of iron, or lead), which is tied fast to a
line or rope, the other end of which is attached to the
boat, jumps overboard with this weight in his hands,
and is, of course, drawn right down to the bottom of
the sea ; there he carries with the greatest ease the
W'eight, which on the deck of the boat he was scarcely
able to lift, and walking about with his eyes of course
always wide open, picks up as many shells as he can
and stows them hastily in the bag fastened round his
waist; of course, never dropping the weight till he can
Btand it no longer without air, when he has only to let
go his hold of the weight and is instantly carried like
a cork to the surface, where he is taken on board, and
the weight hoisted up from the deep by means of the
line to which it is attached. lie remains on board till
he has emptied the bag of the pearl shells, which are
opened by one of the crew (always the same person, in
order to avoid fraud), and the pearls withdrawn, if there
are any in the shell, which is not always the case. Of-
ten'sliolls are brought up in which the animal has been
dead for weeks, months, or even years, in which case
the shell either contains no pearl at all, or only a yellow,
light-brown, or even jet-black one, which are almost of
no value ; l)ut it is very dilHcult, if not impossible, to
distinguish the live shells from the dead ones while un-
der water.

As soon as the diver had sufficiently recovered his
breath and strength to undertake another journey to
tlie deep, he jumps overboard again. There urc gener-
ally two divers on board of each boat, who dive in

ANCHORED. 49

turns, so that while one is on board, gasping for breath,
the other is wandering on the bottom of the sea. They
generally remain submerged from two to three minutes ;
very few of them can remain for five minutes. It is,
altogether, an extremely hard, dangerous and unwhole-
some trade, as it affects the lungs fearfully, and the poor
fellows never attain any great age, — at least, you never
aee an old diver, — they are excessively lean, and have
a peculiar staring look, the natural consequence of over-
straining their eyes while submerged. A pearl diver
certainly requires no small amount of courage and
presence of mind, as these waters are infested with
innumerable sharks, which often attack them, but
generally get the worst of it, as these daring fellows are
always wide awake, and well aware that they cannot
escape from the observation of the hyena of the briny
deep. They never refuse to show fight, and generally
come oif victorious, though every season many of them
have to pay for their courage with their lives. As a
result of the dangers to which a diver is constantly ex-
posed,they are handsomely paid, especially expert divers,
who are naturally very scarce, a number of them dis-
appearing as above stated every season, in the volumi-
nous stomach of the monster of the deep. Few ladies,
when adorning their person with these costly playthings,
ever reflect at what a fearful risk of life they have been
procured.

After heaving anchor at Linga, the Penang steamed
toward Busheer, Abusheer or Bender Abusheer, keep-
ing always in sight of the mountainous and deso-
late-looking Persian coast, and arrived there the follow-
ing morning, sighting the little city from afar, built out
into the sea, with its yellow stone and mud houses.
"We had to cast anchor at least two miles from the city,
as there is a long and dangerous reef, rumimg straight

50 ANCHORED.

across the harbor, at a distance of about two miles from
the uttermost end of the sandy promontory, tlius suc-
cessfully preventing all ships from coming nearer to the
shore.

There were five or six European shipa^And many
Arabian and Persians bagalows riding in the roadstead,
all of them busily engaged taking in, or discharging
cargoes. As we had a large number of passengers, and
a heavy cargo of merchandise for this port, it took us
all day to discharge them, so I concluded to go on shore
with my friends, that we might have a look at the place.
Busheer, is situated in the province of Farsistan, and
is the principal Persian seaport on the Persian Gulf,
containing from fifteen to twenty thousand inhabitants,
almost exclusively Persians, and Afghans. The town
is built at the uttermost point of a low sandy cape, the
inner i)art of which lies so low, that at high water,
Busheer is almost an island. The houses of the town
are not bad looking for Persian habitations, some of
them indeed are rather well-built stone houses, flat
roofed, with very small windows toward the street, like
all Mohammedan houses. The streets are extremely
narrow, so much so, that a man with outstretched arms
can touch the houses on both sides of the street ; they
are outrageously dirty, and swarm with mastcrless dogs,
noisy and cowardly curs, fighting all day among them-
selves, and lazily barking at the moon by night.

The governor's residence is a large, square dilapi-
dated stone building, with many outhouses, the latter
probably occujiied by the numerous servants. In the
middle of the courtyard stands a very decent flag-statt*,
evidently the work of European sailors, from the top of
which floats the Persian flag, of a green color, with a
yellow lion couchant gardant in the centre, and behind
the same, or ra*^her in the background thereof, the ria-

ANCHORED. 51

ing sun ; also in yellow. The residence and flag-staff
of the British consul, and political resident is on the
opposite side of the town. This consul has been the
only European residing in the place until the establish-
ment of the Indo European Telegraph, when four Eng-
lish employees arrived, who live now in the telegraph
office, situated in the centre of the town. The male
inhabitants of Busheer dres^ very much like the Per-
sian merchants, mentioned in the descrip tion of the Ba-
zaar at Muscat ; nearly all of them wearing the high
Persian sugar-loaf shaped hat, of black dyed lamb's
fleece, tight fitting coats, closed in front, and of black,
green, blue or brown color, with a white, or colored
scarf round their loins, in which they generally carry
a fine, silver-mounted, curved dagger, or a pair of long,
single-barrelled pistols. Some of them wear also a short
broad, double-edged sword, sharply pointed at the end,
not unlike those once used by the Roman gladiators,
dangling from a leathern belt. ISTearly all of them,
young men as well as old, had their finger nails painted
crimson, and the palms of their hands dyed with Hen-
na, a kind of reddish brown powder, which when mixed
with fat sticks so fast to the skin, that it does not wash.
or wear off for months, the dyed parts resembling in
color the hands of a person, who has been peeling green
walnuts. Henna is very extensively used among Persians
Arabs, and Turks, and even by native Christians in the
East, men dye their hair, beards, and moustaches with
it, giving them a reddish brown color, considered very
fashionable, especially by Mohammedans.

The Persian women wear garments very much like
those of their Arabian and Turkish sisters, with the excep-
tion of the veil, which, with the women of eastern Arabia,
consists of akind of a small mask, of dark red or black silk,
biding the face from the lower eye lashes nearly down to

52 ANCHORED.

the mouth, leaving the eyes, mouth and chin exposed;
while the veil of the Pei^ian women consists of a piece
of white muslin, about ten inches broad by three feet
long, hanging over the entire face, tied with a string
round the head, and dangling nearly to thokoees. The
place for the eyes to look through is cut out, and a
kind of needle net-work is placed there instead, througl
which they can see with more ease than through tht
muslin, ^fany of the Persian females also paint or dye
their finger nails and the palms of tneir hands, as well
as those of their children, with "henna." Girls under
eight years of age do not wear the veil. The latter
marry, like their Turkish, Indian and Arabian sisters,
at a very early age, and it is by no means uncommon to
see an Asiatic girl a wife and mother when only from
ten to twelve years old, and often married to a man who
might be taken for he- great-grandiather.

The men of Persia are generally of a fine athletic
stature, with noble features, and very erect carriage.
The women are rather small in proportion, but welb
developed, and. Avhen young, generally good-looking,
having tinel^ cut features, large, jet black eyes, with a
very soft expression, beautifully arched eye-brows, small
mouths and pretty teeth. They fade, however, very
quickly, owing, }trol)ably, to their early marriages, and
a woman of thirty may be considered old. The natives
of Persia^ born, and living on the sea-coast, liuve mueh
darker ccjmplexions than those of the interior, who are
almost as fair as Europeans. The same thing is
observed among the natives of Arabia, India and the
whole of Africa; in fact, it is the same all over the
world. The Persian of Busheer has a iniich darker
i^kin than the Persian of Isphahan or Teheran ; the Arab
of Muscat or Aden is very dark, compared to the Arab
of Bagdad or Damascus; the Hindoo of the Malabar

ANCHORED. 5£

coast is many shades darker than the Hindoo of
Rajpootana; the Somali of the sea-coast is almost black,
while the Galla is of a mahogany brown color; the
Zulu, Amaponda and Fingo Caffres, on the south-east
coast of Africa, might almost be termed " niggers " by
the Macololo and Matabete of the interior. This estab-
lishes the fact that it is not heat alone, but heat and
moisture of the atmosphere combined, vhich induecc©
the color of the human skin.

IV.

CROSSING TEE GULF TO EL KURWEIT.

Starved soldiers — The first mail steamer — A rich Arab — Astoni^llel^
natives — The explosion — fcheik's residence — Expensive jewelry —
Viewing our steamer — Making a "salaam" — A Turkish iSherbii —
Clearing a passage — " Leave your shoes at the door and keep your I. at
on" — Persian hospitality — Bagalows— Snow white donkeys — Dinner
in Oriental style — Disturbed slumbers — Keturn to tlio steamer — A
ride on the shatt al arab^ Water Butlaloes — On a sand bauk — Bas-
sorah.

About sunset the steamer was ready for departure,
and just as the last ray of the parting sun disa^ipeared
beyond the western horizon, we steamed away, steering
due west, across the Gulf, to El Ivurweit, or Kurein.
During the night, wo passed to the southward of the
little island of Karak, on the northeast extremity of
which there is a small wretched looking Persian fort-
ress, occupied by a few half-starv^ed soldiers, for what
purpose I am at a loss to say. About ten o'clock, the
next morning, we passed south of the little island of
Fehidsheh, a low, flat, sandy island, hardly visible
above the level of the sea, belonging to the 8heik, or
Governor of Kuweit. Wa arrived at the latter port an
hour afterwards, casting anchor about a mile and a half
from the shore, as the captain was unacquainted with
tlic harbor, it being the first time a mail steamer had
ever touched there. The reason of our doinjr so was
that among our passengers was a very rich Arab mer-
chant, who had several hujidred bales of piece goods on
hoard, which he had bought in Bombay. He was a
near relation of the Sheik of Kuweit, and consequently
a very influentiid man in the place, who promised th(,

(64)

CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURWET. 55

company all the assistance, and patronage, liis influence
with the Sheik might procure, if in future they would
cause their steamers to touch there once a month.

On entering the harbor, or rather the bay, the
steamer fired three guns, which echoed loudly over the
calm, mirror-like surface of the extensive bay, sur-
rounded on the north, west, and south by the sandy
desert. The shots attracted at once the attention of the
inhabitants of the little town, who all flocked to the
beach, staring and gesticulating in the direction where
we lay at anchor. "With this exception, there reigned
a dead calm everywhere, not a single boat being visibly
afloat in any direction, though we could see a great
many of them drawn high and dry upon the shore, look-
ing in the distance very much like huge alligators
basking in the rays of the boiling sun; and there
seemed to be no dispositon on the part of the natives to
get any of them afloat, to come alongside the steamer.
Soon we observed a number of half naked men pouring
out of a large decent locking building near the shore,
which proved to be the Sheik's residence. We could
see them busily occupied in lifting, and arranging some-
thing heavy, when, bang-bang — they fired two guns in
quick succession, a third shot soon after came thunder-
ing over the water with a tremendous crash, which vis-
ibly caused much confusion among the crowd on shore,
and led us at once to suppose that some accident had
happened, as no further shots were fired. After awhile
we saw a large boat launched, furnished with a sort of
deck cabin, made of a frame work of wood and covered
with a large green carpet. This boat rowed by ten or
twelve stalwart Arabs, naked to the waist, made straight
for the steamer. A jet black negro of gigantic size
was at the helm, singing in a stentorian voice, a slow,
long-drawn song, keeping time wtih the oars, as the

I^g CROSSINQ THE GULF OF Mi KURWET.

men rowed lazily along and joined in the chorus at the
end of each verse, the last word ending invariably with
a soft, long drawn, melancholy sound. The boat was
crowded with fine looking men, in gaudy colored Be-
douin dresses, armed profusely with innne;j^cly long,
single barrelled guns and pistols with flint locks, scim-
etars, yataghans, and daggers. These heavily armed
men formed the body guard of the Sheik, who, on com-
ing alongside stepped out of his cabin, and came on
board the steamer, where he was received by his rela-
tive, the Arab merchant. They embraced in the usual
Arab manner by kissing each other on both shoulders.
The merchant then introduced the Captain to the Sheik,
ftud acted as interpreter, translating the Sheik's Arabic
into Ilindoostanee, which latter language the Captain
understood.

The Sheik was a tall, muscular man, with hand-
some features, and flowing silver beard. He was over
eighty years of age, had a very intelligent face, and was
profusely polite in his speech, and Eastern maimers.
He wore a magnificent silk Arabian costume, and over
his shoulders hung an "abba," or mantle, of purple
color richly embroidci'cd with gold. ITis hands s}>ar-
kled with diamond,, and in the white silken scarf round
his waist, was stuck a small dagger, with a handle of
solid gold, set with pearls, turrpioiscs, rubies, and eme-
ralds, weapons evidently intended more for show than
use. He was accom[tanied by a crowd of followers, all
in splendid co3tumc,and dazzling Avith jewelry. Among
them we saw several young negroes, one carrying the
Sheik's scimetar, or curved sword, richly jeweled, and
ofexfpiisite workmanshi]t. Another young negro car-
ried his narghilch, or water ]iipe of Persian manufac-
ture, the richest I have ever seen; two others carried
his "shattabs," or long Turkish pipes, called "chibooks**

OROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURWET. 57

by the Turks, likewise profusely ornamented. It was
evident that the Sheik was prepared for the visit, and
had turned out to receive the Captain in his grandest
state. He solicited a view of the interior of the steam-
er, and was shown into the Captain's state-room, the
salon, passenger's cabins, kitchen, and the engine-rooms,
with the sight of which he seemed highly pleased, es-
pecially with the engine, which was made to work
backwards and forwards a few evolutions for the Sheiks'
inspection, a sight he had never witnessed before, al-
though he had previously seen steamers several times
in the offing, but had never before been on board of
one, nor did ever any one come ashore from these ves-
sels, which led us to suppose that they must have been
British men of war, one or two of which are contin-
ually cruising in the Persian Gulf, to suppress the slave
trade and piracy in those waters.

Wliile passing through the crowd of native passen-
gers on deck, the Sheik was every where most respect-
fully saluted in the Eastern manner, the natives of Ilin-
doostan and Arabia making their salaam, which, with
these two nations, consists in saluting with a low bow,
touching while bowing, the middle of their foreheads
with the tips of the iingei*s of their open hands, the
palms turned inwards, while the Turks and Persians
only bowed, with their forearms crossed on their breast.
Among all these four nations, the custom is for inferiors
to salute the superiors first, sometimes by seizing the
hem or lower part of the cloak or mantle of the latter,
and imprinting a kiss thereon, a salutation implying
the most abject servility, and doglike humiliations, un-
bearable in civilized life. The Sheik having partaken
of some refreshment with us in the saloon, consisting of
a little cup of strong, pure coifee, in the Oriental style, a
glass of sherbet or Eastern lemonade, and some sweet-

oS CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURWET,

meats, invited the Captain and all the European pas-
sengers to dine with him, and spend the night on shore,
an invitation which the Captain accepted, more to
oblio-e the Sheik, and for the sake of business tlinn for
his own pleasure. Being urgently request^to accom
pany him, we went along ; he leaving orders that a boat
should be sent for us at sunrise the next morning. On
our way to the shore, the Sheik told us that one of his
guns had burst, killing two men on the spot, and wound-
ing severely four or live more. He would have fired
more guns, but for the accident, which completely de-
moralized his artillery.

On our arrival, we found the beach crowded with
spectators of both sexes, eager to see the " Nacoda," or
Captain of the "fire-sliip" as they called the steamer,
shooting through the water, without any sails set even
when there was not a breath of wind, and without the
use of oars. Our little Scotch Captain was snugly
rifrsed in his new uniform, and had a small straiirht

CO ' o

sword dangling from his side, which, like the Sheik's
dagger, seemed more intended for show, than use. But
for the presence of the Sheik, we should certainly have
been crushed by the crowd, so eager were they to catch
a glimpse of the Feringhies, or Frankies (Europeans);
many of them, especially the females, had probably
never seen such creatures in their lives before. The
guards of the Sheik cleared us a passage through the
crowd, rather roughly it is true, and we arrived safely
at his residence, a strong, square, ])ri('k building, with
a spacious courtyard inside, in the middle of which was
a cluster of small straggling trees, and fiowers, an apol-
ogy for a garden. ^Ve were led by the Sheik into his
reception liall, a spacious lofty room, admitting fresh
air, and davliii;ht throui^h two windows and the door
wliich led into the courtyard.

CEOSSINQ THE GULP OF EL KURWET. S9

The rjom was simply a large apartment with white-
flashed walls, and ceiling, painted with a sort of scanty
blue fresco, the only ornament of Mohammedan house;?,
pictures of any living thing being strictly prohibited by
the Koran. The whole floor was covered with rich
Persian carpets, and along the walls of the room were
purple divans, a kind of low flat, broad sofa, on which
the Turks, as also the Persians and Arabs, male as well
as female, squat cross-legged after the fashion of our
journeymen tailors, when they are at work. It is a
rather tiresome and uncomfortable posture for Euro-
peans, jut one soon becomes accustomed to it. It is
the usual way of sitting vrith all Moslems, also with
most of the natives of Asia, who ca? occupy this posi-
tion for hours or even days, without besoming tired.
There is a Moham^medan custom, that whenever a man or
woman enter either their own or any person's room,
they leave their shoes or slippers outside the door, or
at least slip them off before sitting on the divan, in the
above-mentioned manner. All Mohammedans except the
military, however high their position, comply with this
custom, and it is considered a great favor and sign of
deep respect shown them, if European visitors will con-
sent to accept and wear a kind of very light Morocco
slippers in exchange for their shoes or boots, as long as
they remain in the room.

In well-bred society of civilized countries it is con-
sidered a gross insult not to take off one's hat when en-
tering a room, but among Mohammedans it is just the
reverse ; they never take off their head-dress, be it tur-
ban, Persian hat, keffich or fez, except on going to bed
at night ; and no European acquainted with the man-
ners and customs of Mohammedans, will ever 'take off
his hat in their presence, unless he wishes to insult them.
"Wlien entering the Shiek's room, therefore, we kept

60 CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURWET.

our hats tight on our heads, but slipped off our boots
at the entrance on the appearance of four gaudily dressed
negro boys, each bearing in his hands a pair of perfectly
new 3'ellow morocco sli})pers, with upturned points.
AVe put them on, walked gravely to the divlin, and be-
ing invited by the Sheik to take a seat, slipped them otf
again, and seated ourselves cross-legged in true Oriental
style, the captain starting a fresh conversation with our
host, the Arab merchant being interpreter. Narghi.
lehs and shattabs filled with fragrant tobacco and ready
lighted were brouglitby the negro boys, and we putted
away right lustily. Presently a slave brought a heavy
silver censer resembling a candelabra, from which ema-
nated a most delicious perfume, and placed it in the
middle of the room. Other slaves placed themselves
one by the side of each European, one by the side of the
Shi(k, and one by his intrepreter, waving large fans of
ostriejh feathers, gently stirring the perfumed air and
driving awav the innumerable tiies. Others ajjain made
tlicir appearance, each bearing a little silver tray, on
which stood five or six tiny gold goblets (looking just
like ogg cups), filled with excellent but very strong
(•'>ttce, which they served and retired, returning pres-
ently with other trays, on which they oflTered us little
rose-cobtred goblets filled with sherbert, a delicious
Persian drink, most nearly resembling an excellent lem-
onade ; wino and spirits of any kind being strictly for-
bidden to true believers by the Koran. Beside sher-
bert they ottered us Ilolwa from Muscat, the sweet-
meat ])n'viously described.

With the exception of Signor P who had spent

over twenty ^'cars of liis life in Egyptand Arabia, none
of us felt at all comfortable in the cross-legged Oriental
position we had adopted, as was evident by the contor-
tions of our faces, and the anxious glances we cast at

CROSSING THE GULP OF EL KURWET. 61

each other. Finally, it becoming unendurable, we re^
solved to take a walk to see the town, when the Shiek
ordered that eight " cavasses " or guards should attend
us. This escort the captain endeavored with great
politeness to decline, but in vain, and thej proved very
useful in keeping the wondering crowd and importu-
nate beggars at a respectable distance. "We found the
town greatly resembling ^Muscat, but differing advan-
tageously from that city in regard to cleanliness ; Ku-
weit beino; remarkablv clean for an Arab town, thouo;h
up to the time of our visit it had scarcely ever been
visited by a European, and was looked ujDon as an out
of the way place, even by the Arabs.

El Kuweit or Kurein is situated about forty miles
due south from the mouth of the Shatt al Arab (the
joint waters of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris), and
consequently on the Arabian coast. It is a seaport,
containing from fifteen to twenty thousand inhabitants
almost exclusively Arabs, and is the most northern sea-
port of the country, " El Hassa," or " El Hadjar," which
territory is known also as "Arabia Deserta." The climate
of Kuweit is fearfully hot, the town being surrounded
on the north, south, and west by the dismal desert " El
Dahana." So hot and barren indeed is the neighbor-
hood of Kuweit, that with the exception of the Sheik's
little garden in the courtyard of his residence, not a
tree, shrub, or even blade of grass is visible either in,
or out of the town as far as the eye can reach. There
is no soil, nothing but glowing, drifting sand from the
adjoining desert, and many of the houses most distant
from the shore are buried almost to the roofs in sand
drifts. But there are said to be some small oases in the
desert, within thirty miles of the town, scattered here
and there, like islands in the ocean ; spots where grass,
and bushes are growing in consequence of the presence

62 CROSSING THE GULF OF EL RURWET.

of water, more or less abundant, and it is partly from
tliese fertile spots, partly from Bassorah, near the mouth
A' the Shatt al Arab, that the Kuweities obtain their
supplies of vegetable food for man and beast. From
Bassorah they bring whole cargoes of rice,-<Jates, cotiee,
barley, corn, straw, etc. in their bagalows. These baga-
lows are heavy, roughly built sail boats, carrying from
fifty to two hundred and fifty tons of cargo ; their hull
is very broad wedge-shaped, the keel sharp, and the
rudder very uncouth, being ridiculously large and
clumsey. On the after part of the vessel, is a kind of
a cabin, or state-room, on the top of which the helms-
man stands, managing the unweildy rudder by means
of a long pole fixed at one end in a horizontal position
to the rudder, wliich serves fixed in this way as a han-
dle or lever to the latter. The bagalow carries but one
mast, standing in the middle of the craft ; but this mast
instead of being upright, or inclining slightly back-
wards, as in our American craft, stands forwajrd at an
angle of nearly sixty degrees. To the top of this mast?
the large and single sail is hoisted by means of a pulley.
The most striking peculiarity of the bagalow is that
when loaded and under sail, her bow is only two to six
feet above the water's edge, while the man at the helm
stands ten or even twenty feet above the same, accord-
ing to the size of the craft. Notwithstanding the singu-
larly awkward shape of these boats, the Arabs sail ex-
ceedingly well in them, and venture out even in the
roughest weather ; in some of the larger ones, they make
voyages as far as India, Madagascar, Mauritius, and the
eastern coast of Africa.

The male inhabitants of Kuweit are nearly al'
either merchants or sailors, trading with Bassorah, and
the Persian coast, or with the wild Bedouin tribes of
the d^ert, in the pearls, frankincense, firearms, ammu-

CKOSSINQ THE GULF OF EL KURWET. 60

nition, cloth, saddles, carpets, etc., for skins, sheep's
wool, camel's hair, gum arable, coftee, dates, etc. Many
of the inhabitants raise herds of sheep, horses, donkeys,
goats and camels, which they rear on the oases above
mentioned ; their camels are celebrated throughout
Arabia for their great speed and endurance, as are their
snow-white donkeys also. The women of Kuweit are
reputed for their industry, and skill at all sorts of handi-
work such as knitting, spinning, weaving, etc., as well
as for their good looks, they being considered even by
the Turks and Persians, as by far the handsomest
women along the Persian Gulf.

On our return to the Sheik's residence, we found
him still sitting cross-legged on the very spot where we
had left him, busily engaged in giving orders to his
slaves, who were making preparations to serve up din-
ner. The table, if I may call it so, was already laid,
in the shape of an Indian straw mat of fine texture,
about ten feet square, spread on the rich Persian carpet
which covered the floor. Half a dozen soft pillows,
covered with blue cloth, having tassels at each corner,
were laid on the mat in a circle, at equal distances from
each other, and intended as seats for the guests. Be-
fore each pillow lay a little yellow straw mat, perfectly
round, about two feet in diameter, and as finely knit as
a Panama hat. In the middle of each of these mats,
stood a kind of heavy silver bowel, empty as yet, and
on each side of it was a silver goblet, one containhig
water, the other sour milk called "Laban " by the Arabs,
but from what animal it came, or where the Sheik erot
it, I was at a loss to know, for we had seen neither cow,
sheep, mare or female camel in the whole town. We
were afterwards told that it was milk of camels or
dromedaries, which are kept in large numbers by the
Kuweites on one of the above mentioned oases in the

64 CROSSING THE GULP OP EL KURWET.

desert, and the milk had been brought to town on the
back of one of the animals in a bag made of goat skin,
the usual implement for carrying water, milk, oil,
butter, etc., in Arabia.

But what struck me most forcibly in - tke arrange-
ment of the dinner table was a beautiful set of silv^er
cutlery of European manufacture, evidently perfectly
new, having as we afterwards learned been brought from
Bombay by the Arab merchant. "We were naturally
anxious to see the Sheik, and his enterprising nephew
handle for the first time in their lives these implements
of civilized gastronomy. Dinner was served in superb
style, the slaves bring in an immense variety of dishes,
consisting of boiled goat's flesh, a lamb roasted whole,
roasted camel's meat, chicken, three varieties of fish,
and "pellauw" (a dish composed of cooked rice, butter,
onions sliced, almonds, raisins and roast chicken, which
forms the national dish of Arabia, and is somewhat
similar to a dish, common in the northern part of Af-
rica, called Kusskussoo). Besides these dishes, there
was a profuse supply of vegetables, and fruit indigen-
ous to Arabia, but brought from Bassorah. The whole
dinner was indeed worthy of a " chef de cuisine."

AVhcn all was served, our host, taking his seat
" A, rOricntale," motioned us to do the same, and helped
himself first to a portion of every dish ; not from want
of courtesy, but because it is the Arabian custom, to
show that the food has not been tampered with or
poisoned. As soon as these tasting formalities had
])ecn gone through with by our host, we all fell to, and
helped ourselves ";\ discretion" to everything.. The
conversation came to a pause for a while till the dinner
was nearly over, the Sheik, and his relative amusing us
hugely, by the extremely awkward manner in which
they handled their forks, and spoons, being evidently

CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KUEWET. 65

much more used to eat with their finsiers. Forks and
spoons are nowhere used by the natives of the East,
owing probably to the aversion of all Orientals to
deviate from the manners and customs of their ancestors
in need. I question whether even the Sultan himself
makes use of them when taking his meals privately.
The bread, which was served to us at the table, was
good, baked in the shape of a pancake, and made of
corn, ground with the common Eastern hand-mill, which
is composed of two round flat stones, resembling two
grindstones, lying horizontally upon each other. The
upper stone turns round on a swivel in the centre,
when moved by means of a wooden handle fixed verti-
cally into the stone near the edge. Through a hole, also
in the upper stone, the corn is made to fall between the
two flat stones, and is there crushed and ground by the
pressure and friction of the upper stone on the lower
one, and ejected in the shape of coarse flour, I need
hardly say it is the most primitive mill known, and
had probably already been in use in the time of
Abraham.

There was also abundance of butter and cheese ;
the former however was not very good, having a strong
disagreeable taste, it was made from the milk of sheep.
The cheese called " chibben " by the natives, was
greenish white of good taste and made of goat's and
sheep milk. I fear our appetites must have appeared
very vulgar to our host and his relative ; at all events
they ate very sparingly, and chiefly of vegetables, the
natives of Arabia being very abstinent, and preferring
vegetable to animal food. Dinner being ended we
resumed our pipes, cofiee and sherbet, which were served
as before. By this time the day was far advanced and
the sun fast disappearing in the West, compelling our
host to beg leave to preform his prayer and ablutions.

16 CROSSING THE GULF OP EL KURWET.

During his absence, wc conversed about our day's iiiter-
^sting experience. On his return, he invited us to ao
company him to the flat roof of the house, whicL
throughout Arabia is the usual place of promenade, it
being by far the best place to enjoy the evening breeze.
The roof also serves as dormitory for the inhabitants,
t\'ho are compelled by the excessive heat of the atmos-
phere to sleep on the top of these houses, the only place
open to the fresh air and comparatively free from dust
and vermin. The beddino; is carried into the house in
the morning, and placed on the roofagain shortly before
sunset. From the top of the roof, we had an extensivft
view over the tranquil bay containing 302-4 small, bar-
ren islands, and saw our steamer quietly at anchor. The
whole population of Kuweit seemed to have assembled
on their roofs to enjoy the refreshing breeze, which
came wafted gently across the bay. The scene before
Us was one of great interest. Here was a faithful
Mohammedan still engaged in earnest prayer; there a
young couple whispering the soft tale of love, further
on a mother tending hor children, and Arab maidens
singing their melodiously plaintive native songs, and
there far out in the desert several solitary travelers, on
foot, on horseback and on camels, the dark forms ot
which contrasted strangely with the golden horizon in
the background. An American sleepi??g for the iirst
time on the roof of an Arabian house, teds himself in
an extremely awkward position, the privacy of the
bedroom is entirely gone, and he feels the uni)leasant
sensation of being an object of intense curiosity to the
occupants of the adjoining houses, with all his move-
ments closely watched. The unconcerned maimerof the
natives however, and tlicir indiftoren-je to the scrutiny
of their neighbors, soon has a reassuring effect upon hira,
jiud he retires with the most stoical " non-chalance."

CEOSSINQ THE GULP OF EL KURWET. 67

As in all Southern countries, darkness soon suc-
ceeds to sunset. There being scarcely any twilight in
Arabia, the weary traveler may De seen hastening into
the villages before nightfall, to avoid falling into the
hands of highway robbers, coming across wild beasts,
losing his way, etc., etc., dangers which are imminent
to the belated wanderer, especially if he should be wan-
derino; after niii^htfall in the desert. As the. evenins:
wears on, the hum of human voices gradually dies
away, and the calm stillness of the night is broken only
by the plaintive barking of the innumerable masterless
dogs that infest all Eastern towns, and whose appetites
seem whetted by the refreshing and invigorating night
breeze; during the hottest part of the day they gener-
ally lie sleeping among the ruins and by -places, whence
they emerge toward nightfall. About midnight, the
dogs get tired of barking, but hardly has their noise
ceased for five minutes, when the whining howl of a
solitary jackal may be heard iu the distance; soon he
is joined by another, then by a third, a fourth, and so
on, till the horrible noise seems to be produced by thou-
sands of these wily and cowardly midnight prowlers.
But hark I ^Vhat unearthly sound meets my ears just
now ? And why have the voices of the jackals so sud-
denly died away? Now you may hear it again — a
horrible, hoarse laughter; the laughter of a maniac.
ISo ! 1^0 1 It is not the laughter of a human being ; see
how the cowardly curs sneak aw^ay through the deso-
late streets, their tails pressed tightly between their
legs, looking anxiously for some place of refuge ; could
they speak they would tell you that they had heard the
laughter of the ghastly hyena, attracted, perhaps, from a
distance of twenty miles, by the fetid smell of the putrid
carcass of some fallen animal, lying somewhere in the
suburbs ; the gentle evening breeze, wafting from t he

68 CROSSING THE GULF OP EL KURWET.

sea, carried the loathsome-smelling message to thesmv-
enger of the dismal desert.

Our host had provided us with silken couches, on
which, fanned all night by the gentle sea-breeze, we
slept so soundly that the Sheik was oblfi!|i?d to waken
us in the morning, for fear that the powerful rays of the
rising sun might fall on our faces ere we rose — a thing
much dreaded by all the Arabs, as it invariably causes
intense headache to the inconsiderate sleeper. Looking
round, we saw the jolly-boat from tlie steamer already
waiting for us at the beach, which hastened our depar-
ture After cordially thanking our host for his sump-
tuous liospitality, which brought a beam of sunshine
over his stem and swarthy face, the Captain promised
to use all his powers of pei'suasion to cause Kuweit
henceforth to be made a regular place of calling for the
Company's steamers, which promise visibly brightened
the usually serious countenance of our host still more
than our eulogies of his unlimited hospitality, as the
latter is a virtue pertaining to every Arab, however
poor he may be. There is scarcely a doubt, though,
that our host expected to hear this remark from the
Captain, which circumstance had no small weight in
the more than ordinary cordiality of our entertainment.
Tlie Sheik accompanied us to the beach, and his last
words were an apology for not saluting us on our
departure, owing to a fear that after the disastrous
eft'ects caused by an explosion of one of his guns in
salutinc: ns on our arrival, the two that remained miirht
meet with a similar fate if put to the test again. The
imminent peril to which his men might be exposed by
a second discharge of the guns, seemed to be a secondary
consideration with him — quite a business-like view of
Uiings we thouciht.

After we arrived on board once more, the captain

CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURWET. 69

ordered a parting salute of three guns to be fired, and
we steamed out of the harbor, the Sheik as a matter of
politeness remaining on the beach surrounded by his
people, till we had disappeared from his sight.

An hour before sunrise the next morning we
entered the mouth of the Shatt al Arab, the name
given by the natives to the joint waters of the two
large rivers Euphrates and Tigris. The Shatt al Arab
is about two miles wide, and navigable from its mouth
up to Bassorah for large ships. The territory on the
right bank is under Turkish rule, as is that on the left
bank as far down as Mohammra, from this place down
to the mouth of the river the territory on the left bank
belongs to Persia. Soon after entering the river, we
passed Fao, one of the stations of the Indo-European
telegraph, situated on the right bank, which is here
very low and swampy, and therefore exceedingly un-
healthy, especially during the hot season. The Tele-
graph station consists of a very inferior looking wooden
building, provided with two verandahs, and surround-
ed by native huts and a couple of little outhouses; it is
occupied by four young English telegraph operators in
the service of the British Government. The swampy
country all around is covered w^ith large herds of cattle,
especially water-buflTaloes belonging to the Arabs.

The water-buffalo, as its name implies, belongs to
the bovine race, and though not quite so high in
stature as a full grown ox, is considerably longer in the
body, heavier and stronger built than the latter ; the
skin is very thick, jet black, and almost destitute of
hair, something like an elephant's, but tighly stretched
over the body of the animal. The scanty hair that is
visible is black or dark gray, and very bristly ; the
older the animal the more devoid it is of hair, the skin
of the calves being quite well covered with it. The

70 CROSSING THE GULF OP EL KURWET.

head is large and bony, furnished with a powerful pair
of black horns, sometimes over three feet long, falling
in a curve along the neck of the animal. The forehead
is covered with black curls, and the ears with long
bristly hair. The neck is very short, and "alTnost stift*,
the animal generally carrying his head stretched
straight before him. The legs are very stout and bony
and seem shorter than those of the ox. Its gait is very
slow and ambling, but when excited it can run quite
fast. Notwithstanding their savage appearance they
are generally good natured. The milk of the water-
hutfalo is not as white as that of the common cow,
having a slightly hluish color ; nor is it as rich and
nourishing. As the name indicates the animal is ex-
ceediniclv found of water, and will not thrive in dis-
triers where that element is scanty. They will remain
during the liotter part of the day completely immersed
with nothing but their nostrils out of the water; where
it is not deep enough to submerge their bodies, they
will roll till they are perfectly covered with mud.
They are excellent swimmers, and are therefore used
by the Arabs inhabiting:; the banks of the Tiirris and
Euphrates as a kind of living ferry boat, the natives
traversing these rivers on the broad backs of these
animals. The water-bufhdo is indigenous to India,
Arabia, Egypt, and Xorthern Africa, where it is kept
in large numbers. Their meat is inferior to that of
the ox.

An hour after pa^^sing Fao, wo arrived at Moliam-
mra, a wretched little town on the right bank or Per-
sian side of the river, surrounded by a dense forest of
date trees, which are almost the lirst trees to be seen as
you steam up the river. The town is situated about
two miles from the bank of the Shatt al Aral>, on the
triangular piece of land formed by the confluence of the

CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURWET. 73

Kuren or Karoon river witli the Shatt al Arab. The
former is an important tributary of the latter, and has
its source in the mountainous regions of the province
of Looristan. Mohammra is a fearfully dirty place, in-
habited by about five thousand persons, chiefiy Pei'sian,
who live in wretched little flat roofed houses built of
mud blocks dried in the sun. The town lies almost
level with the water's edge, and is surrounded by im-
mense swamps. The locality is therefore considered
very unhealthy, even by the natives, and absolutely un-
inhabitable by Europeans, at least during the summer.
Mohammra and Busheer were taken by the English
about thirty years ago, when the latter were engaged
in war with the Persians ; butsoon after were restored
to the Shah of Persia.

Passino; Mohammra about eisrht o'clock in the
mornino; we arrived in the course of an hour near two
little islands situated in the middle of the river, and
covered with date trees of a majestic growth. Here the
steamer ran upon a sand bank, but was got off without
much exertion. Another hour's steaming brought us
to anchor in front of the Custom House of Bassora.
Here we had to take leave of the good steamer " Pe-
nang," which had brought us safely thus far. After
wishing a hearty " God speed " to the captain we trans-
ferred our luggage to the river steamer " Dijelah " or
"Tigris," which was to convey us to Bagdad, and went
to pjay a visit to the town of Basra or Bassora, which
we found to be a miserable, filthy, unhealthy place of
considerable extent, lying in a very low swampy posi-
tion, notorious for the prevalence of fever and ague. A
few centuries ago this place covered an area of several
miles, containing then over two hundred thousand in-
habitants ; but at the time of our visit the populatioD
scarcely numbered forty thousand, mostly Moslems.

74 CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURAVET.

Tlie diminution is owinsi; entirely to the plague wbicli
with all its horrors has repeatedly visited this place.
Tliis terrible disease, thou2:h somewhat resemblinij: the
cholera, is far more sudden and deadly than the latter,
as those attacked never by any possibility -*iecover, but
die a few hours after they are seized, the bod}' aftei
death becomino; of a sicklv leaden hue. The last vis-
itation of tliis scourge was in 1831, I believe, when
great numbers fell before this fiital foe, so that Bassora
is now but scantily populated, and the place is in a
most miserable plight. It has also suffered greatly
from the incursions of hostile Bedouin tribes durins: the
last century. The town of Bassora was built about the
year 685 by the caliph Omar I, and up to the seven-
teenth century was one of the chief ])la(,'es of merchan-
tile importance in "Western Asia ; but the greater pai't
of it is now in ruins. It lies about a mile from the
left bank of the river, with which it is connected by a
narrow muddy canal, on whose shallow waters com-
munication with the Tigris is kept up by means of
balams, the little frail craft mentioned in the descrip-
tion of Muscat. Bassora is surrounded by a huge nmd
wall, which may in former days have afforded some
protection against the marauding Bedouins, but is now
lying in ruins. The streets are narrow, crooked, and
filthy ; the houses gloomy, one and two story buildings,
of sun-dried Ijricks, with flat roofs, while the jtoorcr
classes live in little huts made of mud mixed with
short cut straw. The Bazaars formerlj' famous through-
out Asia now present a very poor ajtpearancc, and are
barely worth seeing. The atmosphere of Bassora is
fearfully hot and opi)ressive, which makes the town
absolutely uninhabitai)le for lun-opeans in summer.

It is garrisoned by about one thousand Turkisli
troops, and on the river rides the terrible Turkish fleet

CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURWET. 75

of the Pei-sian Gulf, consisting of f^ur miserablj-armed
and unseaworthy schooners. Ba:sora is now only
important as an exporting place for horses, sheep's
wool, dates and grain, which are raised on a large scale,
about 30,000 tons of produce being exported every year,
principally to India, Mauritius, to the ports on the Red
Sea, and to Europe. Bassora is, like Muscat, notorious
for its slave markets, the traffic in human beings, though
ostensibly prevented by the Turkish authorities, is, in
reality, not interfered with at all by those worthies,
unless a slave dealer should refuse to pay the necessary
bribe, which, as slaves are almost as current as specie,
and the latter not always being at hand, usually consists
in the present of a valuable female slave. To this cir-
cumstance is owing the fact that the houses of the
higher government officials are the principal and best
stocked slave depots in the town.

During my subsequent stay in Bagdad, I had occa-
jion to accompany a young friend to Bassora on matters
»)f business, which necessitated a two days' residence in
that place. Our agent, before he was employed in legi-
timate business, had speculated extensively in slaves,
and was consequently on intimate terms with nearly all
the dealers in human flesh of Bassora, an acquaintance
not so easily obtained as might be imagined, the slave
dealers in that part of the country being peculiarly
cautious and reticent. Our ao;ent. anxious to make our
stav in the wretched town of Bassora as asrreeable and
interesting as possible, invited us one morning to walk
v^nth him to the Bazaar. After an hour's ramble
through the over-crowded locality, we took refuge from
the over-powering heat in one of those impromptu
coffee houses which abound in all Mohammedan cities.
This " cafe," like the majority of these Arabian coffee-
drinking establishments, consists merely of a small

76 CROSSING THE GULF OP EL KURWET.

space of level ground, overshadowed by a roof of date-
tree leaves, supi»ortcd by' four poles, beneath which stood
an indefinite number of little rickety wooden stools
and large benches for the customers. In one corner was
a hearth made of mud, on which crackled- »«mall fire,
for the purpose of brewing the favorite beverage of the
Arab, or, indeed, of the Moslem, called by the Arabs
«ihueh, from which we derive our word coftee.

After having swallowed the customary " fenchan"
(a tiny cup, not larger than an egg cup) of delicious
coffee, we mused the time away with the inevitable
narghitch, the soothing fumes of which seemed for the
time to constitute our entire happiness. We had evi-
dently dropped into one of the swell establishments of
this kind in the town, for it was crowded with cus-
tomers of all complexions, customs, and languages, hail-
ing from every part of western Asia, the enterprising
" Borah " or Mollammedan merchant from Ilindoostan,
the taciturn Afghan, the noisy Beloochee, the stern
Persian, the jiortly Turk, the lazy Koord or Turkoman,
the grave Arab, the reticent Bedouin, the circumsi)ect
Armenian, the wide awake Tchoodee or Hebrew, and
the unconcerned negro, were all to be found under the
lios|»itable shelter of the cafe, and attracted our atten-
tion. For some time I had noticed that a tall, power-
fully built Arab, whose open garment displayed a
brawny chest such as Hercules might have envied, was
casting })eculiar glances at us, and I almost came to
suspect that he meant mischief. I soon found, however,
that this was not the case, for he walked straight up to
our agent, and, without uttering a word, tapped him on
the shoulder, and walked out of the establishment.
The agent evidently knew him, and also what was
meant by the tap, for lie rose immediately, begging us
to excuse him (frerpient dealing with Euroi)cans had

CROSSING THE GULF OF EL KURWET. 77

taught him some faint knowlodge of etiquette), as he
would soon return. A short distance from the cafe the
two held a brief consultation, and then separated, the
tall fellow disappearing in the crowd thronging the
narrow, gloomy streets of the Bazaar, the other resum-
ing his seat near us.

The latter seemed unwilling to speak for some
minutes, when suddenly he told us that his brother in
Bao-dad had sent him word to buv him a g-ood slave
girl, and if we had no objection to accompany him to
the residence of one of the dealers, he would be highly
honored by our company.

V.

MOSLEM SLAVES.

Residence of Arab Slaver — Getting Admitted— The Serdap — Passing
Examination — Cheerful Subjects — Beauty — Purchase — Smuggling.

The surprise and the novelty of the invitation in-
duced us to accept it at once, and we forthwith followed
our friend through the intricate windings of a laby-
rinth of exceedingly narrow, crooked, and filthy lanes,
and so-colled short cuts, which lead from the main
street of the Bazaar to the residence of the Arab slaver.

After walking briskly for about a quarter of an
hour, we suddenly came to a stand-still before a large,
and very decent looking dwelling-house, decent at least
for that part of the world. Our pilot knocked twice
with a peculiar rap on the ponderous wooden door, but
nobody seemed stirring in the house. All was silent as
the grave, and the sound of our summons echoed dis-
mally througli the halls and corridors of an apparently
uniidiabited building. Nothing daunted by the appar-
ent usclessness of his repeated efforts to obtain admit-
tance, our friend stoically persevered in ra})ping at cer-
tain intervals, till finally our patience was crowned
with success. A plaintive voice issuing from belli nd
the wooden trellis-work of a "chenashiel" (projecting
window-balcony) overhead, asked what we wanted.
Our agent pronounced the name of the tall fellow who
had taken him aside in the coffee house, whereupon a
fiort of consenting grunt was returned. Presently we
heard somebody lazily dragging a pair of slipporshod
feet across the paved courtyard, approach, and unbolt
the heavy door, which opened with a loud creak, and

(78)

MOSLEM SLAVES. 79

introduced to our presence an old shrivelled negro
woman, who evidently knew our worthy guide, for
with a sort of half grin, half smile, she seized the hem
of his long '• abba," imprinting upon it a sort of sub-
missive kiss, while to us strangers, she only tendered
the customary salaam, at the same time casting an anx-
ious look at our friend, as if to inquire whether she
should let the two "giaours" (mibelievers) cross the
threshold ; but on learning from him that we were his
" habibs" (friends), she seemed forthwith to feel at ease.
In the meantime the tall, athletic fellow, who had so un-
ceremoniously taken our friend aside at the Bazaar, and
then disappeared, issued from the serdap (a kind of
vaulted basement apartment peculiar to Lower Meso-
potamia). After the usual exchange of salaams, our
agent introduced my friend and myself to the proprietor
of the house, in a half Oriental, half French style,
which produced an involuntary smile upon our features,
most impolite and undignified behavior, I acknowledge,
in the presence of a stern Arab, particularly a stranger.
Our new acquaintance, however, took no notice of
our breach of Moslem etiquette, and led us into a
serdap (not the one whence he had issued), where we
squatted " a I'Orientale " (cross-legged) on a fine, soft
divan, and were at once served with the usual fenchan
of delicious cofl^ee, and a fragrant narghilch for each
of us, by two little Xubian boys, about ten years of age,
nicely dressed in Arab costume — no business transaction
being considered possible in Irak Arabi without the
usual ]iveliminaries of coffee sipping and tobacco puff-
ing. Shortly after we had finished our narghilchs, our
new acquaintance walked up to a gong, a kind of
metallic basin, dansjling like a bell, from a chain
attached to the ceiling, and gave it a rap, thereby pro-
ducing a loud, vibrating sound. This was evidently

80 MOSLEM SLAVES.

done to give notice of our coming, that the slaves might
be prepared for our visit ; about five minutes after he
motioned us to rise and follow him. Obeyhig the sig-
nal, we were conducted by the proprietor across the
court yard to the serdap, whence he had wsued on our
entering the liouse. As we crossed the yard we heard
a lively chatting of female voices in a strange language,
intermixed with Arab words ; but this conversation
stopped abruptly when we entered the serdap (a nice
cool vault of considerable dimensions, but rather
gloomy looking, owing to a deficiency of daylight,
which was, however, somewhat improved by raising
the straw mats which hung over the window-openings),
and there we found ourselves in the presence of about
twenty young females of the i^ubian, Abyssinian,
Galla, and Somali type, and of all ages, from ten to
eighteen years. They occupied, in various more or less
graceful attitudes, a large divan, which extended on
three sides of the apartment, and were all dressed in
dark-blue cotton shirts, very loose, and reaching nearly
to their feet. They all looked healthy and satisfied
with their situations, some even ajipeared cheerful,
fiiintly smiling, and seeming to care very little for the
presence of their owner and our Arab companion, but
staring wildly at my friend and myself, visibly more
from curiosity than fright, having undoubtedly, never
before seen an American or European. The Abyssinian
damsels were bv far the fairest of the collection, one or
two of them being almost as fair as mulattoes. Their
features were regular, and exhibited scarcely any trace
of Ethiopian origin. They wore their hair, or rather
wool, considerably long, were very slender, and not
nearly as robust looking as their darker sisters, but had
very small hands and feet. Tlie Xubian beauties were
almost jet black, with a kind of velvety smoothness of

MOSLEM SLAVES. 81

skin. They bore more traces of Ethiopian descent than
the Abyssinians, but not to an unpleasant degree.
They had oval faces, foreheads considerably high,
large, round, flashing eyes, voluptuous coral lips, and
the most beautiful teeth I ever saw human beings pos-
sessed of, though the snowy whiteness of the teeth was
probably the more striking from its strange contrast
with the darkness of the skin. The Galla maidens
were fairer than the Nubians, their skin being of a
dark walnut color, thin features, too, showed little
of the negro type, but their hair or wool was very
short. They were more strongly built than either the
Abyssinians or Nubians, and slightly inclined to em-
bonpoint. The Somali girls betrayed more negro char-
acteristics than either of the others. Their skins were
quite black, and they had regular negro features, with
short wool, short necks, broad shoulders, big feet, and
small hands. If we had been asked like Prince " Paris "
of old, to give prizes to the several nationalities, ac-
cording to their respective claims, to beauty, we would
have unhesitatingly given the first to the Abyssinians,
to the Nubians the second, to the Galla maidens the
third, and to the Somali the fourth, or consolation
prize.

While my friend and myself were busily engao-ed
ia discussing the respective qualities of these represen-
atives of four nationalities, the proprietor, by a motion
■ if his hand, required one of the best looking, an Abys-
sinian girl about 16 years old, to accompany our Arab
friend and himself to the other end of the serdap, where
tliere was more daylight. My friend and myself
thinking that our Arab companion had finished the
business, and had already bought the girl who followed
them, also went to the other end of the serdhap, where
we witnessed the final examination, which was very

4

82 MOSLEM SLAVES.

inncli as a butcher or horse dealer examines an ox or
horse he intends buying, lifting her eyelids with their
rude fingers, and staring into her eyes, feeling and
counting her teeth, feeling her hips, sounding her chest,
etc. The would-be purchaser seemed t^Jbe satisfied
with her appearance and condition, and well he might
be, for her face was good looking, and Venus herself
miffht have envied her bust. After about ten minutes
her master uttered the word "Root-h!"* ("Go I")
whereupon she at once returned, smilingly to her com-
panions on the divan. It seems, however, that the two
Arabs could not agree as to her price, which was 8,500
Turkish piastres, about $383 in American gold ; for
they subsequently called up nearly all of the stronger
girls, and subjected them to the same process. Though
my friend and myself were thoroughly disgusted
with the treatment of the poor creatures, we could
not leave the room without thereby insulting the
]»n)j)rietor of the house, and our Arab friend also,
which we were unwilling to do, as both were very in-
fluential men in the town. AVe therefore waited bon
gre, mal gre, till they had finished their nefarious busi-
ness transaction, which resulted in settling upon a price
for a strapping Kubian lass, fourteen years old, with
good-looking features, but blessed with a comjdexion
as black as a rook, for the sum of 5,250 Turkish piastres,
about $226 American gold, to be paid on delivery. The
heroine of this little business matter was the most un-
concerned of the trio, as she knew nothing of her fate
till the next dav, when she wis removed to the house
of her purchaser. Tli ui;)! the above incidents are not
cheerful to contemj)late, the life of the Moslem slave is
by no means as dreadful as might be supposed ; but is

* The " ch" pronounced gutturally, aa in the Scotch word " Loch" —
lake.

MOSLEM SLAVES. 85

Jifinitely superior to that of a slave ou a plantation in
the "West Lidies, a great deal hotter than that of a
Hindoo or Chinese Coolie, and perfect happiness
compared to that of a poor father of a numerous family,
who lia<? to stru2:2:le to o-ain a livelihood for his lovins:
but perhaps invalid wife, and some half dozen or more
little children.

The Moslem slave is well fed, well clothed, and has
but little work to do ; if it is a female slave, she has
onlv to take care of a child or t^vo, do some little cook-
iiig, or if she happens to be young and handsome, spends
an easv,lazv life in the harem. If it be a male slave, he
has perhaps to keep his master's saddle horse in order,
keep the court yard clean, go on errands, or serve the
customary coffee, and the tobacco-smoking implements
to his master, and the guests of the latter. The slaves
eat the same food as their masters, sometimes even out
of the Rame plate. Tliey sleep on the same roof w^ith
their master's family, are allowed to marry, and their
children are treated almost like members of the family,
and are not as a rule considered as slaves, at any rate
are seldom disposed of for money. Owing to this kind
treatment it is therefore not often the case that a slave
runs away from a ]Moslem, and rarely leaves liis or her
master even after being presented with his or her free-
dom; of course they are all supposed to profess the
Moslem religion, and their children are brought up in
this faith. Female slaves generally bring rather higher
prices than males, as they are less numerous in the
market, and their transport more difficult and expensive
than that of the latter. They are also less likely to run
away from their masters, and are therefore more in de-
mand. The o;reater part of the iN'es-ro slaves in Asia
come fi'om Eastern Africa, where they are stolen by
professional slave hunters, and sold by them for money

86 MOSLEM SLAVES.

or mercliandise in the ports situated along the seacoast.
Thence they are transported, partly hy sea, partly by
land, to Egypt, Arabia, Turkey, Mesopotamia, Persia
and Afghanistan. As far back as the year 1850 thous-
ands of slaves were annually imported l)}'*'Moslems into
Arabia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Then they could be
bought for a mere trifle, say $'20; but since then the
British cruisers in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and
Persian Gulf, have greatly spoiled this flourishing trade,
accordino; to the notions of the worthies who had been
engaged in the business; as they liang all the slavers,
and destroy all the shipping engaged in this nefarious
traffic, whenever they catch them. A proceeding for
which the world should give them due credit.

YI.

STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

Mohammed All — A "Serenade" — Taking invoice of our Passengers —
Fig trees en Route — Tax — Mesopotamia — Hadiska — Horni — Garden
of Eden — Climbing the famous Trees — On a sand Bank — Tomb of
Ezra — New Passengers.

As the river steamer Dijileh (the Arabic name for
the river Tigris), which was to bring us up to Bagdad,
did not leave Bassorah till the following morning, we
accepted an invitation to dinner, from Mr. J., the British
Vice-consul of Bassorah, who resides in a big extension
"khan" or caravan serai, (an Oriental building with a
spacious courtyard in its centre, large enough to contain
a small caravan.) This khan is situated about four
miles from Bassorah, higher wp the river, on its right
bank, at a place called Marghill, or Koot al Frankee,
by the Arabs, the latter of which means "Harbor of the
Franks or Europeans," because the main building in
the little village is the khan occupied by a European.
The natives of Marghill live in miserable little huts
built of clav and covered with leaves of the date tree,
manufactured into a kind of coarse mat. These trees
are so very abundant along the river, that they literally
cover in some places both banks of the broad Shatt al
Arab with a dense forest.

We ascended the river from Bassorah to Marghill,
in the small sailboat of the Penang, and as there was a
good strong breeze at the time, the gallant little craft
sailed up the river in splendid style, in spite of the
strong current, and we landed at !Nrarghill in a very
short time. ^Ir. J. welcomed us heartily, and presented

(87)

88 STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

U3 to His Highness Mohammed Ali, ^-oungest hrother
of the murdeivd Imauiii of JNIuscat, who had been en-
camped with his uufortuuate brother and the troops on
the Iroutier, and hearing of the Imaum's assassination
by his own brother, JSaid fcSelim, had managet^to avoid a
similar fate from tlie hands of this precious relative, by
a hasty escape in disguise, on the back of a fleet drom-
edary, across the desert El Hammad or El Dabna into
Turkish territory, where he at once placed himself under
the protection of Mr. J., the British Vice Consul of
Bassorah. Mohammed Ali is a young man, about six-
teen or seventeen years old, rather small in stature for
his age, light brown complexion, handsome features,
jet black hair, large black eyes, finely shaped nose,
somewhat thick lips, slight a}>pearaiice of mustache and
beard, and a mouth filled with beautiful teeth. He
wore European clothes of a light brown color, and
sported a blazing red smoking cap, richly embroidered
with gold, of Cashmere work jauntily stuck on the
right side of his head. He spoke the Arabic, Hindoo-
stanee, Persian, and Turkish language fluently ; but did
not look vcrv intclliirent after all, bavino- rather a
sleepy, indolent appearance. He seemed not to be in
the least disconcerted bv the sudden and melancholy
end of his eldest brother, and appeared only happy to
find liis-own head still upon his shoulders. That it did
remain there was prol)al)ly owing less to his? own
shrewdness and sagncity tluin to the fidelity of some
poor, half starved "^rahorry," or camel driver, who at
the risk of his own life, piloted him safely across the
dismal desert El Hammad into Bassorah. "We found
Mr. J., the Vice-Consul, settled in a very comfortable
residence at Marghill, a buildino; that was twenty times
too largo for a bachelor. Tbe a])artments he occupied
were richly furnished, and provided with every possible

STEAMING TO BAGDAD. 89

European comforf;, so that visitors feel quite at home,
and can even enjoy a finely fitted up billiard saloon on
the premises, a luxury very rarely to be met with in
these countries

The dinner was all that might be expected from
the well-known princely hospitality of our host. After
dinner, or rather supper, we adjourned to the flat roof
of the building, where we found the beds already spread.
Here we enjoyed our host's fragrant Manila cigars fo^
awhile, and then went down to play billiards ; but the
atmosphere was so oppressively hot that we could not
stay in the billiard room, but were obliged to return to
the roof Toward midnio;ht we thouo;ht it advisable
to retire to rest; but soon found that sleep was out of
the question, for though all our beds were provided
with fine mosquito netting, the little winged tormenters
nevertheless managed in some way to get inside of
them, and began their attacks upon us with vengeance,
alighting on every inch of skin that was left uncovered.
To hide our faces beneath the sheets would simply have
been an attempt at suicide by smothering, as the air
was outrageously hot. But even without the presence
Ol the terrible mosquitos, we would have found it hard
work to fall asleep, as the noise of millions of music-
ally inclined frogs, innumerable curs barking at the
moon, and the yet more disagreeable howling and yel-
ling of large gangs of cowardly jackals in the surround-
ing forest of dat entrees, and on the swampy river-banks,
was deafening, and literally defying all description.
With a desperate rush we jump from our beds much to
the amusement of our fugitive Arab prince, a native of
this wretched country, and that of our host, an old resi-
dent, who being acciimated, were left scathless by the
mosquitos, and "had by dint of time, become so accus-

90 STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

tomed to th« above mentioned night serenade, that to
use their own expressioii " they rather liked it I"

It is a well-known fact that in all countries where
mosquitos, sand tleas, and other phlebotoraists of the
same kind abound, new comers, and new laiaidents will
always be far more liable to sufter from their attacks,
than the natives, or those whose life has been "long in
the land." In fact natives often remain quite un-
touched by these obnoxious insects, simply because
they are acclimated. These diminutive tormentors
abound in hot climates where the blood of the inhabi-
tants of those regions is thinner, and lighter colored
than that of persons coming from colder climates, it is
therefore quite natural that the mosquitos and Utas
should prefer the latter, when they have a chance to
obtain it. Though we did not relish the idea of lying
awake all night, we had perforce to submit, and make
the best of a bad bargain; so we quietly extended our
patronage to our host's cigars and liquors, kee[)ing up a
dense smoke, and lively conversation till about day-
break, when we heard the distant stroke of our paddle
wheel steamer working up the river, and the first rays
of the rising'sun foinid us upon the deck of the " Bije-
leh," bound for Bagdad, and loaded down to the water's
edge with a varied cargo of human beings, and goods of
every description.

Signor P. Monseigneur M. or Father M., as we used
to call him, and myself were the only Euro[)ean passen-
gers on board the steamer. Our companions were mer-
chants from all parts of the Persian Gulf, proceeding to
TJagdad on business, a number of Arabs of both sexes,
and some Jews from Bassorah. Afost of the latter
were accompanied by their families, and engaged on a
l»ilgrimage to Ezra. El Asr, or Oseir, a kind of mauso-
leum, or building over a tomb, where according to the

STEAMING TO BAGDAD. 91

traditions of the Jews, the prophet Ezra is buried, who,
according to the Bible, lived in Babvlon about the year
458 B. C. We steamed the whole day between inter-
minable forests of date trees, which covered both banks
of Shatt al Arab, and give the country a cheerful and
fertile appearance. These forests do not however grow
far inland, as the date tree only thrives where water is
plentiful, and where continual irrigation can be main-
tained. The natives remote from the river appear
either too lazy, or more likely too poor to cut canals into
the country, as no trees are visible beyond about five
hundred yards from the river. I subsequently learned
that this apparent neglect is not owing to indolence or
pecuniary difficulties on the part of the natives ; but
simply to the oppressive rule of the Turkish authori-
ties, who levy an annual tax of not less than fifty Turk-
ish piastres, equal to about two dollars and a quarter of
American gold, on every date-tree however small,
planted by the inhabitants ; and as it takes at least ten
years from the time of planting the young tree till it
bears its first fruit, the tree costs its owner for govern-
ment tax alone twenty-seven dollars in gold, not to
speak of the labor required, irrigation by natural or ar-
tificial means being necessary, day and night, almost
without interruption through the whole ten years.
When the tree is old enough to bear fruit, it will yield
a yearly produce of from one to four dollars, of which
the Turkish Government claims two and a quarter as an
annual tax. It is not therefore astonishing, and not to
be taken as a proof of indolence, that the oppressed na-
tives not only abstain from planting date-trees ; but de-
stroy thousands of those which, though fully grown, do
not yield sufficiently to pay the cruel taxes imposed by
the authorities. Is it any longer astonishing, and inex-
plicable that Mesopotamia, once one of the most beau-

02 STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

tiful, the most densely populated, and the most fertile
countries of the globe, should now he nothing more
than an endless wilderness, scorched and parched by
the broiling sun, and hardly inhabited by anybody ex-
cept wandering Bedouins, and wild -beasteMi- Mesopo-
tamia, once the "Garden of Eden," the cradle of man-
kind is now almost deserted by human beings, and only
fit to be inhabited by the abstemious camel, the cow-
ardly hyena, and the loathsome vulture, tlie two latter
only able to keep themselves from starvation by devour-
ing the emaciated carcass of the former.

Mesopotamia that once yielded food for more than
fifty million of people, and now scarcely })rovides for
the insignificant wants of a few, straggling Bedouin
tribes, has still the same rich and productive soil it
boasted when the Almighty selected this country for
the site of Paradise, and created our great father Adam
to pass his life here in endless bliss. It is the same fer-
tile land as when gigantic Babylon and Niniveh, now
almost a myth, were in their glory, and shown as the
finest jewels in the tiara of the old and powerful Assy-
rian monarch}' ; but innumerable cruel wars, and conse-
quent devastation, famine and pestilence, assisted by
despotic governments, have naturally produced depopu-
lation and general ruin.

We passed the little village of Hadidsha on the
left Ijank of the river, and, an liour after, arrived at
Korna, or Gorna, a station where the steamers have to
stop for an hour or two to take in fuel. Korna is a
little Arab village, snugly ensconced in a cluster of
beautiful date, fig, pomegranate, lemon and orange trees,
at the uttermost point or promontory formed by the
confluence of the stately, broad and wonderfully clear
waters of the famous river, Euphrates, with the less
broad, but deeper, and racre muddy, but scarcely less fa-

STEAMING TO BAGDAD. 93

mous Tigris, both of which derive their waters from the
Alpine region of northern Koordistan, whence tLey roll,
the Tigris in the north, and the Euphrates in the south,
through the whole length of Mesopotamia, finally
eflecting a junction at Korna; whence, the joint waters
flow, ULder the name of "Shatt al Arab," toward the
Persian Gulf, receiving, a few hundred yards below
Korna, on the left river bank, the stagnant waters of
the Shaab, or Kercha, which originates in the snow-
covered peaks of the Persian province of Looristan,
glides slowly through the immensely large and deadly
Samargha swamps, and mixes its stagnant waters of an
inky hue with those of the mighty " Shatt al Arab."

A lovelier and more enchanting spot than this
little Korna, at the confluence of these three might}^
rivers, so difl'erent in their character, can hardly be
found in parched and desolate Mesopotamia. But what
makes the place, though scarcely known in the civilized
world, of great interest to all, is the staunch belief of
the Turks, Arabs and Persians, as well as most of the
savants of the civilized world, that it is the site of the
famous Garden of Eden, or Paradise of the Bible
(Genesis, Chap, ii., v. 14) ; only a few of the latter try-
ing to make themselves and other people believe that
Father Adam tramped the soil of Paradise, either
on the island of Ceylon or in Central Asia. I naturally
felt an ardent desire to see an old and knotted wild fio;-
tree pointed out by the natives to all visitors there, as
a descendant of the identical tree that about six thou-
sand years ago had the unspeakable honor of furnishing
the material to our common parents, Adam and Eve,
for their first clothino;. Though harborino; some doubts
with regard to the pedigree of the fig-tree, which the
people of Korna are so anxious to show to visitors, I
could not help feeling some slight emotion when we

94 STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

arrived near the spot pointed out by an old Arab, who
served as our guide, as the ground once trodden by the
happy couple, our first parents. The tree in question
was hidden in a cluster of trees of different species, not
more than five hundred yards distant " froni-"^e place
where our steamer lay. The Captain, who had many
times previously visited the famous spot, was not able
to find the tree, though to me it appeared easily recog-
nizable by the knotted and scarred appearance of its
trunk, covered by the still visible initials and names of
former visitors, two or three of which would hardly
have been left by their respective owners to record their
folly, if they had not believed in the historical identity
of the spot, if not in the reputed descent of the tree
itself. Being ourselves more disposed to believe this
spot the original site of Paradise, than to trust the
descent of the famous tree, we turned to retrace our
way to the steamer, when it occurred to us that we
ought to take a small supply of the first clothing mate-
rial of our ancestors with us as a souvenir of the
memorable spot. We, therefore, turned to the tree,
which, by the way, is about twenty feet in height, with
a knotty, knobby, but nearly erect trunk, almost three
feet in diameter, and tried to get some leaves ; but the
lower branches being already picked clean, we could
not reach high enough to procure any, so I determined
to climl) the tree, and take my choice of fruit and leaves ;
when, lo I I had scarcely embraced the gnarled and half-
decayed trunk preparatory to climbing, when I saw a
beautiful snakoof amaijrnificent irrecn hue on the back,
and a yellowish white on the belly, shoot out of a hole
in the tree just above my head, where a branch had
once been broken off*, drop down in the long, dry, yel-
lowish grass underneath the tree, and ilisaf)pear before
my companions could kill it with their sticks. It was

STEAMING TO BAGDAD. 97

about five feet long, but not more than a finger in cir-
cumference round the largest part of the body, and
belonged to a species very abundant in the gardens and
plantations of India, and some parts of the Persian Gulf,
called the whip snake, from its slender body resembling
the thong of a whip. This snake lives almost exclu-
sively in trees with green foliage, where it can easily
hide itself, being of the same hue, and darting from
beneath the leaves upon birds, mice, squirrels, etc. I
subsequently saw several specimens of this snake in the
gardens of Bagdavl, where they generally hide in the
fresh and fragrant foliage of the orange trees, and jas-
mine bushes. They are said to be venomous. This
incident of the serpent's presence rather served to
strengthen our belief in the identity of the spot. Hav-
ing made sure, by battering the hollow trunk with our
sticks, that it contained no more snakes, I crawled up
and obtained a good supply of the celebrated leaves,
which I intended to dry and take to America. I do
not know whether my two companions succeeded in
doing so or not. Some j'oung ladies in Bagdad, Aleppo
and Smyrna, on hearing that I had in my possession
some of the leaves with which Mother Eve made her
first attempt at dress-making, were very anxious to cul-
tivate my acquaintance, and succeeded so well that they
managed to wheedle me entirely out of them. How-
ever, if any of the pretty young ladies of America
should wish to see Mother Eve's first article of dress,

she has only but to ai)ply to Captain II of Bagdad,

Mesopotamia, who, by the way, though a married man,
is a gallant old fellow, and will be happy to call at the
original millinery store in Korna, and procure the
desired supply.

As I was gazing upon the site of ancient Paradise,
I thought I might just as well profit by the opportunity

98 STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

to ask for the tree wliieh produced the fatal apple, the
taste of which phiuged the hitlierto happy couple into
eo much trouhlc ; hut nobody knew anything about it,
though I could scarcely believe thea[)i)le tree had gone,
when I looked in the direction whore tliOc^iake had
disappeared. All the episodes of the last days of Adam
and Eve in Paradise, involuntarily flashed through our
minds, and some of us actually turneil round more than
once on our march back, almost dreading to see the
cherubims, with their long and flaming swords, follow
us in order to regain the leaves and fruit we had stolen
from the flgtree of the Garden of Eden.

We had stopped atTvorna considerably longer than
we had expected, but Anally got under weigh again,
and proceeded at a brisk rate up the tortuous river, in
order to get as quickly as possible out of reach of the
pernicious exhalations of the immense Samargha
swamps, extending between the rivers Tigris and
Shaab, as well as those of the Aboo Kelam swamps,
which extend between the Tigris and Euphrates
These swamps of course have not existed in the days
of Adam, as it is not at all likely that the Creator sur-
rounded the beautiful Garden of Eden, the abode of
his masterpiece, man, by such horrid marshes as now
encircle the lovely Ivorna- with an ocean of stairnant
water and tall reeds, abounding with reiitiles and water
foul of every description. The real cause of the exist-
ence of these swamjts is evidently the total neglect,
and coiis(H[ueMt choking up of the numerous canals,
which the ancient rulers of Babylonia had cut from one
ri\er to the other for the jturpose of irrigating the
intermediate territory. J>ut time and neglect have
woefnll}' changed the as] lect of the country since the
l:ill of Babylon. Endless flats of tall grass now occupy
the ])lace of former corn lields of erpial extent, and

STEAMING TO BAGDAD. 99

where formerly millions of happy human beings lived,
now roam lions, hyenas, jackals, boars, wolves, and
gazelles, and breed millions of flamingos, pelicans,
cranes, geese, ducks, partridges, bustard, etc., and rep-
tiles without number, all in perpetual warfare with
each other.

What a splendid field of action for the sportsman.
Hardly inferior to the vast jungles of Hindoostan, or
the boundless Karoos of South Africa ; for here, in
Mesopotamia, the plucky sportsman can bestride a
steed, which has no equal on the globe for the superior
qualities which make a horse a perfect hunter, and as
such an inestimable jewel to the true sportman. I
have enjoyed the pleasures of a hunter's life in the
jungles of India, on the Karoos of South Africa, and
in the forests of Madagascar, and I fearlessly assert
tha " - have never seen a horse equal to the Mesopota-
mian thoroughbred Bedouin steed. If Mesopotamia
is ":;. I cradle of mankind, it is also the original and
natural home of the horse ; let others say what they
like about English, American, or any other breed of
horses, my unalterable opinion is that the Arab steed,
and among this blood the Mesopotamian in particular,
is the king of the whole equine race, both in beauty
and symmetry of body, as well as in those qualities
which often make them seem almost endowed with
reason.

During the night we suddenly came to a standstill
for several hours, the steamer having in the darkness
run upon a sand-bank in the river; but by dint of hard
labor, the crew finally got her off, and we reached
" Ezra," " El Asr," or " Oseir," just at sunrise the next
morning, where the majority of the Jewish passengers
left the steamer. Ezra is a great resort of Jewish
pilgrims, and said to be the tomb of the prophet Ezra,

STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

who accordins: to Biblical tradition was such a favorit*
with Artaxerxes, about . the year 457 before Christ,
ruler of Media and Babylonia.

The mausoleum lies upon the right river bank,
close to the water's edge, and is composed of a large
high square building of brick work, appai^ntly very
old, with two or three small iron barred windows on
each side of the building, at an elevation of at least
twenty feet from the ground. The top, or rather the
flat roof, is surmounted by a large cupola covered with
glazed bricks of a greenish blue color like the mosques
or ^Mohammedan temples, or like some of the Russian
churches.

To satisfy our curiosity, we went to have a look at
this place held in such reverence by the Jews. On enter-
ing the building, we found ourselves in a large, square
courtyard, paved with glazed brick slabs, laid out in
mosaic style. A draw well or cistern occupied the
middle of the yard, out of which the pilgrims drew
water by means of a wheel winding up a rope to which
a leather bucket was attached. From the courtyard, a
dark narrow corridor led to a spacious, square hall,
scantily lighted by a few brass lamps suspended from
the ceiling. The centre of the hall was occupied by a
large, dark gray tombstone placed on the prophet's
grave, and covered with inscriptions in Hebrew charac-
ters. Rantjed alonj; the naked walls were a number of
Jews of both sexes, old and young, leaning with their
faces toward the wall, and their backs toward the. grave,
hiding their faces, some praying, some shouting and
gesticulating, others sobbing and crying, all apparently
bemoaning the death of the j)rophet. There were other
rooms in the building, but as we found the atmosphere
in these vaulted halls rather sultry, and impregnated
with an inexplicable odor, we did not look at the other

STEAMING TO BAGDAD. 101

apartments, but beat a hastj retreat into the open
air.

On board we found many new passengers of both
sexes, all of them Jews from Bagdad, who having per-
formed their religious dutj of lamenting the death of
the prophet were returning to their homes. AH bore,
without exception, those unmistakable features which
betray the member of the Hebrew faith all over the
world. The high, narrow, receding forehead, large
eyes and heavy eyebrows, prominent aquiline nose, full
voluptuous lips, and nicely rounded chin, with the
strong beard, and moustache of the man ; their exceed-
ingly expressive gesticulations with hands, shoulders,
and eyebrows betray their origin at once. The Jews
of the Orient may also be easily distinguished by
their manner of dress. The men wear a long, loose,
white muslin shirt, and over it a long gown closed in
front, reaching nearly to their feet, made of striped cot-
ton cloth, with wide open sleeves, loose trowsers of white
muslin or cotton, open at the bottom of the leg, not
gathered like a bag round the ankle, as is the Moham-
medan fashion. The male sex also wears a long striped
waistcoat of gaudy colors, closed from the neck down-
wards with a profusion of flat-, square silver buttons.
Both sexes wea- short white socks, and a kind of lemon
colored morocco slippers, the toe ending in a sharp
point bending back, like the iron on a pair of skates.
Round the loins the men wear a white or colored mus-
lin scarf, in which they usually carry in dagger-like
fashion a small brass inkstand, with hermetically shut-
ting cover, attached to a tube of the same metal, con-
taining their pens, which are made of thin reeds. On
their heads, which they shave clean, with the exception
of a long lock of hair dangling from each temple, the
men wear a large red Fez, or Tarbush, with a heavy

1(12 STEAMING TO BAGDAD.

ta^sle of blue silk, surrounded by a tbiu, dotted or
striped muslin scarf, the tassle hanging over the back
of the lioad. Strange to say in all my travels, I never
saw an Oriental Jew carry arms of any sort, even when
they were travelling through very un^^afe pftTts of the
countrv. I cannot o-ive a reason for this, not do I know
whether it is foi-bidden by their religion. The fair sex
wear very loose drawers of thin white muslin, embroi-
dered with flowers, reaching nearly to the ground, and
gathered round the ankle. Over this garment, tliey
wear a kind of petticoat also of embroidered muslin or
striped cotton cloth with narrow sleeves, very much in
the fashion of our ladies forty years ago, when they
were as yet innocent of hoop skirts. This cloak is
open in front over the bosom, which is covered with a
piece of almost transparent muslin fastened round their
necks like what the French call a chemisette. Their
rich black hair is invariably parted in the middle, and
haniics down over their backs in from two to six louij
luxuriant braids. A blue, white, or light green hand-
kerchief is worn turban-fashion over their heads, jaunt-
ily inclining on one side. Girls and young women, es-
pecially those of the weathy classes sometimes wear a
small cap of red, blue, yellow, or white silk or velvet,
richly embroidered, with the handkerchief above men-
tioned tied turban-fashion around it. Inside their
houses the women and girls move about with their faces
uncovered; but when they go out of doors, they cover
their faces with the "pagee," apiece of black horse
liair cloth, about eighteen inches long, by twelve in
width, whicli is tied with a string round their foreheads.
This cloth is perfectly transparent, but impenetrable to
the eye of the outsider. Over all their garments, they
wear tlie " Esar," a kind of thin sheet, or shawl of striped
cotton or silk of various colors, not unlike, but consid-

STEAMING TO BAGDAD. 103

erably. larger than the mantillas worn by the ladies of
Malta, Spain, Mexico and Peru, which is coquettislily
drawn over their persons, shrouding them from head to
foot, except their faces, which are already sufficiently
veiled by the "pagee." The Tew^ of both sexes are
generally very good looking; but the women are small
and slightly built, and their beauty fades soon after
marriage.

vn.

ABOUT BAGDAD.

The Canal— Shooting Pelicans and Jackals — A Fuel vStation — Trap-
ping a Lion — Anecdote — Camels — Getting Food — Caravan in Dis-
tance—Camp of Bedouins— Shamamia — Shooting Pigs.

Toward noon of the same day we reached a ruined
and deserted fortress called Ymvar. It is situated on the
right bank of the river at a spot where the remains of
a large broad canal are still visible. This canal is
called by the Arabs, "Ommal Chamfd," now com-
pletely tilled with mud and overgrown with grass. It
was evidently used in former times for irrigating pur-
poses, or as a kind of short-cut route for boats to go
from the Euphrates to the Tigris, and vice versa, which
at the present day can only be accomplished in a vessel
or boat by going down to Konia, at the confluence of
the two rivers. Tlie canal appears to be of very great
age, and was probably constructed by some of the rulers
of ancient Chaldea, in the time when gigantic Babylon
was in its glory. The whole extent of Mesopotamia,
above and Ijclow Bagdad, abounds in these neglected
and dricd-up canals, nearly all dating from the time
when that country was the garden of the then known
world. In my opinion, the swampiness of Lower
Mesopotamia, and the sterility of Upper Mesopotamia,
is unmistakably owing to the gross neglect of these
canals.

The higher we advanced up the river, the less
swampy seemed the country, and the more scarce
became vegetation along the river banks. Soon after
we passed Inwar the swamjis disappeared altogether.

(104)

ABOCT BAGDAD. 105

We whiled away the time very agreeably on board,
amusing ourselves from morning till night with rifle
practice, trying our skill on the immense numbers of
wild geese and ducks flying in every direction on our
approach. AVe also fired at the stately rose-colored and
white flamingos, stalking gravely about in the shallow
places of the river, standing upright and soldier-like on
their lono- slender le^js. Sometimes we sent a bullet
whizzino; into the midst of a cons-regation of thought-
fill, or sleepy looking pelicans, standing motionless on
the sand banks of the river, basking their snow white
bodies in the broiling sun, too lazy to take wing till
they saw one of their number knocked over by a bullet,
when they always made off" in great haste, rising in a
circle high up in the air, but returning to their old
quarters when we were out of range. About an hour
before sunset we invariably saw a couple of jackals
sneak along the river banks, waylaying the innumer-
able black partridges as they came out of the tall grass
to the bank to quench their thirst. Many a jackal
knocked over by our rifles rolled down the banks into
the water, and took free passage down the river to the
Persian Gulf.

On the morning after we passed Inwar, we were
awakened about sunrise by a tremendous shouting and
yelling of the deck passengers, and presently heard sev-
eral shots fired in quick succession. "We jumped hastily
from our beds, firmly believing that the steamer had
been attacked by Bedouins ; but looking from the cabin
windows, we saw three splendid Asiatic lions walk
slowly up the bank. One of them, a beautiful, noble
looking male of large size, stopped, and turning majes-
tically round, calmly watched the crowded steamer as
she passed within sixty yards of him, apparently won-
dering what those people were making such a fuss

106 ABOUT BAGDAD.

about. Unluckily, the captain was asleep, havino-
turned in a short time previously from his night watch
on deck. He subsequently told us that if he had seen
the lions, he would have stopped the steamer for a
short time, so that we might have had a sko^-at them.
As bad luck would have it, our boat turned a curve in
the river before we could get our firearms.

A few hours afterward, we arrived at the second
fuel station ot the steamer, situated about half an hour's
walk from the little Arab village called Yubeila, on
the right bank of the river, the same bank on which
we saw the lions. Here we were to stop for an hour
an a half to take in fuel, so we went ashore (accom-
panied by the purser, a passionate lover of sport), with
our rifles on our shoulders, to ask the Arab in chartre
of the station if there was any game in the neighbor-
hood. We found him in his little mud hut cleaning a
tremendous long, single-barreled matchlock gun, and
far from being in a good humor. Questioning him as
to what had disturbed his equanimity, he told us that
two days before the lions had killed one of his two
cows, his only property, and had dragged the carcass
into the tall, reedy grass, about half a mile distant from
the hut, and there devoured it. He followed their
track the next morning, and found the bones and horns
of the hapless cow on ihc very spot whore he had shot
a lion about three months previously, and whose skin
was then in possession of Captain H. of our river boat.
Having sworn revenge, our surly Arab, the day before
our arrival, had brought a dying donkey, which he in-
tended to use as bait for the lions, on his shonldors all
the way from Yubeila, depositing it near the spot where
the remains of the murdered cow lay. There he dug a
deep hole, which he carefully covered with brushwood,
leaving only a small hole, through which to put his gun

ABOUT BAGDAD. Jq-j

barrel. He ensconced himself therein shortly after
nightfall, anxiously awaiting the appearance of the
lions, whose powerful roar not far distant he heard
soon after the moon had risen. He waited and waited,
doubled up like a monkey in his deep, narrow watch
hole, almost sufibcated by the intense heat, and suffer-
ing terribly from thirst in consequence, without daring
to stir. About three in the morning he heard a scarcely
audible step outside, and, gazing through the loophole,
could just see a huge lion tiot off and disappear in the
tall grass, carrying the donkey's body with him as
easily as a cat carries a mouse. The brute, becoming
suspicious, had sneaked on his belly to the dying don-
key, snatched it up and bolted instantly. The Arab,
of course, did not think it prudent to follow in the
dark, and retraced his steps, sullenly, to his hut on the
banks of the river, where we found him brooding over
his bad luck, evidently not in the best of humor, hav-
ing just returned from a march through the reeds
without having tracked the lion or its prey. A fort-
night afterwards Captain H. brought a freshly flayed
lion's skin to Bagdad, a present from the persevering
Arab, who watched for the beast till he succeeded in
putting a bullet through its heart as it was drinking
out of the river.

The Asiatic lion, though slightly inferior to his
African brother in size, strength, and courage, is never-
theless far from being a despisable antagonist for the
hunter, especially after he has been wounded. The
Asiatic lion is maneless, like the lioness, while the
African lions, especially those of North and South
Africa, have beautiful dark brown manes, which some-
times almost reach the ground, giving the animal a
commanding and majestic appearance never to be for-
gotten when once seen at close quarters^ but hardly vis-

108 ABOUT BAGDAD.

ible on the poor specimea exhibited in menageries.
The Asiatic lion is seldom heard to roar, and then only
in short single growls, while the stony ravines of Mount
Atlas in Algeria, the l)arren flats of the Karoos, and
the reedy banks of the Orange, Vaal, and'^TJimpopo
riverf , in South Africa, sometimes in sultry moonlight
nights, literally shake under the incredibly powerful
echo of the voice of the king of the wilderness; a long
drawn, vibrating roar, of such tremendous power that
it strikes terror into the hearts of all the rest of the ani-
mal world, and sadly tries the nerves of even the bravest
man, when heard for the first time through the thin can-
vas of a frail tent. The home of the Asiatic lion is Ara-
bia, the southern part of Palestine, Lower Mesopotamia,
Southern Persia, and Northwestern India; but it is
most frequently found in Lower Mesopotamia and the
district of Rajpootana, in Northwestern India; I doubt
its beinff found farther north than the 35th des^ree of
latitude. The following anecdote, for the truth of
which I can vouch, was told to me by several European
residents of Bas-dad.

A few years ago Captain S., then a resident of
Bagdad, jind commanding the river gunboat at the
service of the British Consul General in that city,
steame<l up the river in the aforesaid gunboat, returning
nith several Eurojjean friends and residents of Bagdad
from a hunting expedition near Bassorah. They had
tlieir horses on board, and stopped at the fuel station,
to which I have before referred, when the Captain's
horse, a splendid charger, becoming startled, jumped
ashore. Elated at his temporary liberty, he cantered
a'vay and disappeared in the tall grass. Search was
made for him several hours, but in vain night came on,
and they were obliged to give it up; the steamer could
not be detained any longer, wherefore ; orders were left

ABOUT BAGDAD. ]09

with the Arab at the station to send the horse, if found
alive, to Bagdad, without delay. During the night
the steamer ran upon a sand bank, so that when sha
got off again in the morning she had made but little
headway. About sunrise, the attention of those on
board was attracted by a loud rustling noise is the tall
grass along the'banks. Wliat was their astonishment,
when, shortly after, they saw a white horse, which they

at once recognized as that of Captain S , crashing

through the thicket at full speed, dripping with per-
spiration, and neighing lustily at the welcome sight of
the steamer. But the noble animal was closelj^ pursued
by a huge lion, which came thundering after him with
prodigious leaps, his tongue hanging out of his widely
open mouth, his face and powerful chest covered with
blood ; thus the wild chase continued, till they came up
with the steamer, which approached closer to the shore,
and fired one of her guns. Startled by the sudden flash
of fire and loud report, the baffled lion gave up the
chase, and disappeared in the thicket. The noble
charger, covered with foam and perspiration, and pant-
ing heavily, had evidently had a long race for life ; but
he almost seemed to have enjoyed it, for whenever his
ferocious pursuer came within reach of his heels, the
noble steed lashed out with such good will that the
lion's head was sadly injured, and his broad chest freely
covered with his own blood. Of course, the horse was
at once taken on board and properly cared for. lie is
still alive, and I saw him in Bagdad as the property of
Mr. A , and, though very old now, is still a splendid

horse.

The following morning, on rising, we found the
right bank of the river, as far as the eye could reach,
covered with immense herds of camels of every size
and color, all belonging to the Bedouins of the Montefik

110 ABOUT BAGDAD.

tribe, who inhabit the whole of the extensive territory
of lower Mesopotamia, to' the right of the river Tig»'is,
and north of the desert El Ilammad, or El Dahna.
They number over eighty thousand men, women and
children, and possess over a hundred thousattd. camels,
more than forty thousand horses, and innumerable
cows, sheep, goats, etc. They lead, as the word
" Bedouin " implies, a nomadic life, living all the year
round in large tents, made invariably of coarse, black
cloth of sheep's wool or goat's hair, and supported by
boles. Owing to the scarcity of good grass on the
parched flats of Mesopotamia, they have to travel round
the country with their immense herds, as they can only
remain in one place till all the grass is eaten by their
live stock, when they have to move on in search of a
new place, so that they are hardly to be met with in
one spot f(n' longer than a fortnight. Each of the
Bedouin tribes is subdivided into several smaller tribes,
each of which travel in a different direction in search
of food and drink for their herds. A more lively and
interesting scene than a settling Bedouin tribe can
scarcely be seen by a traveler, ai\d the noisy bustle inva-
riably recalls the patriarchal and nomadic life depicted
in the Bible, as led by Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Esau, Jacob,
etc., etc., who were all nomads, or Bedouins. The life
of the wild Bedouins of our day is, in many respects,
exactly like that led by our ancesters spoken of in the
Bible.

Far away on the barren i)lain,yousee the immense
caravan slowly moving toward the river, the banks of
which, owing to the moisture of the earth, are always
more or loss covered with verdure, even during the hot
season, when every vestige of vegetation has been
parched and burned up in the desert. Like a mam-
moth snake, winding its gigantic body slowly but

I

ABOUT BAGDAD. Ill

steadily along the endless flat, the huge train draws
nearer and nearer, so that its head can be clearly distin-
guished, in spite of the vibrating atmosphere on the
plains. Clouds of dust are raised by a calvacade of
wild, dark-featured horsemen, wrapped in brown and
white striped mantles, and their gaudy-tasseled head
muffler can be seen wildly fluttering in the wind, their
swords, daggers and immensely long guns flashing like
lightning in the sun, while thousands of bright spear-
heads glitter like stars at every motion of the dashing
horsemen. Every now and then you can a-^e some
twenty or thirty riders issue from the ranks of the
nearer and nearer approaching calvacade, and, with a
short, exhilarating yell, they dash away from the bulk
of the caravan, with the speed of gazelles, clearing
ditches, stones and bushes with marvellous grace and
facility, all the time brandishing in playful, yet wild
and war-like manner, their bright, curved swords, and
whirling their glittering spears and guns over their
heads. Their headlong career is directed toward yonder
sand-hills, on the crest of which you will presently see
them canter leisurely along, performing tlie duties of
scouts, while another party, from a different direction,
dash in a similar manner toward the sloAvly-moving
column to make their report, riding as hard as their
panting steeds can carry them, never slackening rein
till perhaps ten yards from the main corps, when, as if
by enchantment, the dashing riders stop their foaming
horses as suddenly as if they had been struck dead by
lightning. As this wild cavalry draws nearer, you may
observe that it is headed and commanded by an old,
but still dashing horseman, with long flowing silver
beard, moustache and hair, deep set eyes, black as night,
and keen as those of the eagle. Add to this the supe-
riority of his equipment, the richness of his costume,

112 ABOUT BAGDAD.

and it will not be difficult for you to recognize in tliis man
the " Sheik,'' or chief of the tribe. See how the rest of
the horsemen keep at a respectful distance behind him,
and how their swarthy faces all turn toward him, as he
points to a green spot on the river bank, indi«ating by
this gesture that he has selected this place for their
temporary camping gi'ound.

On their arrival at the spot, all jump simultane-
ously from their panting steeds ; the chief alone remains
in the saddle, surveying the locality, while his men
proceed to picket their horses, either by tying them to
their long lances stuck vertically in the ground, or by
fettering them with a pair of privately locked iron
shackles. As soon as the horses are secured, most of
the men proceed at once to the river, where after wash-
ing their face, hands, and feet, they kneel down and
drink copious draughts of water. By and by the
came -8 move noiselessly up, raising their sagacious
headr, and gazing wonderingly round, with their
large, soft, h^zel eyes, as they approach the river.
Foretflost among them come those which convey the
wivoo of the Sheik, of which, like a good Moslem, he
has from one to four. Almost every man of the tribe
has one or more wives, the number being regulated by
his ability to support them. The wives of the SL>yik
are, like himself, easily recognized, even at eomr, dis-
tance, by the tall, beautiful camels which they be//,'.ide,
by their richly decorated saddles, by the si /-/ji-ior
quality of the dresses they wear, and the profusion of
jewelry with which they generally adorn their persons,
particularly the Naswan, the Sheik's first or head wife,
who v/ears beside otlier ornaments, a whole collection
of old Persian, Arabian, Turkish, Egyptian, and Indian
gold coins joined together in such a manner that they
look like the scales of a fish, or like a coat of mui', in

ABOUT BAGDAD. 113

the form of a cap or helmet, which they wear on their
heads. I once took one of these scaly head ornaments
in my hand to feel its weight, which was over four
pounds. I often wondered how a human being could
ride all day beneath the Arabian sun with such a bon-
net on without being smitten dead by sun stroke or
brain fever, but the Bedouin women do not even suffer
headache from wearing it. Immediately behind the
Sheik's family follow the wives and children of the
rest of the tribe, everybody, of course, mounted on
camels, the married women carrying their babies in a,
kind ot small sheet on their backs in the way soldiers
carry their haversacks.

The marriageable girls also bestride camels ; some-
times two or even three of them ride on the same animal,
more clinging to than sitting on its back, holding them-
selves fast by the wool or hair on the back of the beast,
evidently enjoying this sort of ride more for the sake of
company than for comfort, as the camel's saddle is in-
tended for one person only. The young folks are sing-
ing, laughing and chattering in such a way that it is
quite cheerful to hear them, while the married women
try their best to keep their temper with the screaming,
squealing babies molested by the clouds of flies crawling
all over the faces of the poor creatures, who are nearly
choked with dust. Behind the camels which carry the
people, come innumerable animals of the same species
carrying pack saddles on their humps, to which are
lashed tent poles, tent covers, pillows, blankets, hen-
coops, pigeon cages, leather buckets, tooloochs (water-
skins), straw mats, carpets, corn-grinding stones, cala-
bashes, tools, cooking utensils, water jugs, provisions,
etc., and driven by armed men on horseback. In this
department of the 'caravan you may see the camel iq
every state of existence, from the little trembling crea-

114 ABOUT BAGDAD.

ture born only a few hojurs ago, up to the sliakj limp-
ing, halt-blind animal, ready to break down from sheer
old age. After the beasts of burden appear a lot of half-
naked boys and old men mounted on the bare backs of
brood mares, which are still nursing the*5^?>Ung colts,
and must threfore be gently treated ; this troop drive
before them an immense herd of cows, calves, oxen,
donkeys, sheep, and goats, guarded on all sides by over
two hundred big, shaggy, savage-looking curs, or Bed-
ouin dogs. The latter are assisted in this task by hun-
dreds of rao-o-ed or stark-naked bovs rid in o; on bare-
backed donkeys, every one of these hopeful sons of the
desert carrying a lame dog, a new-born kitten, or lamb
in his lap. The tail of the caravan is finally made up
by another strong force of mounted men, armed to the
teeth ; their duty consists in protecting the caravan in
the rear, and picking up occasional stragglers. To the
right and left of the long caravan, at distances varying
from two hundred to two thousand yards, are numerous
scouts, of course, all mounted, who keep a good look-
out, especially when they know other tribes to be en-
camped in the neighborhood. Bedouin tribes, though
not always at war with each other, are not at all scrupu-
lous about stealing their neighbors' live stock when
opportunity oflfers, ai.d cattle thefts are the usual cause
of their brawls.

The Montetik Bedouins are fond of kidnajijung
cattle from the Beni-Lam Bedouins, who occui)y the
northeastern border of the Tigris, and nearly the whole
of the Lorian desert ; the Aneri Bedouins of U[)per
Mesopotamia, occupying the territory south of the
Eiijihrates, delight in lifting cattle among the Shammir
Bedouins north of the Euphrates and vice versa. As
soon as the whole caravan has arrived on the territory
selected by the Sheik, all hands turn to unloading the

ABOUT BAGDAD. 116

beasts of burden. This being done, the Sheik, by vir-
tue of his prerogative, points out where he wishes his
own tent, and those of his family to be pitched indis-
criminately all round the tents of the chief, which lat-
ter invariably form the centre of the canvas city. A
space at least twenty yards broad all round the Sheik's
main tent is left unoccupied, and serves as the public
meeting ground of the men, who generally congregate
there morning and evening to smoke their pipes, and talk
over their affairs, some standing or walking, others
squatting on the ground, cross-legged in the Oriental
fashion, or half reclining on straw mats, skins, or car-
pets. The tents of all the Bedouin tribes are invaria-
bly made of coarse black or brown cloth, manufactured
by the women from sheep's wool or goat's hair, which
cloth, though almost transparent, is water-proof, and
very elastic. The tents are supported by poles, and
fixed to the ground by wooden pins and ropes made of
goat's hair. The iloor or ground is covered by straw
mats, skins, or carpets, according to the means of the
occuijants. The beds are spread by the women at sun-
set, and rolled up and stowed away again in a corner at
sunrise. "Whoever enters the tent, even its owner him-
self, slips off his shoes at the entrance. Europeans and
Americans only are exemjjted from following this ob-
servance ; but Arabs consider it mark of great respect
paid them, if the European or American traveller will
comply with this Oriental custom. It vastly increases
their proverbial hospitality, so much so, that a stranger
will find it much to his advantao-e to fulfil this triflino^
act of courtesy. The horses are invariably picketed at
the entrance of their owner's tent, so that he always has
them in sight. At nightfall the Bedouin puts private
iron shackles on his best horses, the key of which he
alone possesses. In some of the wilder tribes, each man

116 ABOUT BAGDAD.

keeps one of liis horses constantly saddled, ready for an
emergency. The Bcdoiiin horses are almost without
exception remarkably quiet and good tempered, so
much so that I have seen them lying down on the
sand and basking in the sun, while a coupl«.of little
stark naked Bedouin imps, scarcely two years old,
crawled and climbed all over their bodies, pulling their
tails, ears and manes, and even creeping between their
legs with perfect impunity. The herds of camels and
cattle are never brought into the camp, but at night are
gathered in the neighborhood, and carefully guarded
by armed watchmen and numerous dogs, who give in-
stant alarm on the slightest approach of danger. The
Bedouins as a rule live to a great age. It is not at all
uncommon to see persons among them much over a
hundred yers old, the pure air of the desert, the hot,
but stable temperature, their constant outdoors exercise,
and above all their sober, temperate habits, contribute
to longevity.

It took the steamer fully two hours to pass the
camp of the above mentioned Montefik Bedouins. We
steamed for a considerable time up the river, surrounded
on the right and left by endless barren flats which ap-
I)eared to be totally uniiibabited, and even destitute of
animal life, until we reached Seroot al Cantara, a small
abandoned Turkish fort with mud walls fast crumblinc:
to pieces, and situated on the right river bank. Xot the
slightest mark of vegetation is visible round this fort
as far as the eye can reach, so that the troops formerly
stationed at this dismal place must have been obliged
to get all their provisions from Kootal Amfira, a village
sixty miles higher up the river. Seroot al Cantari is
situated near the spot where Alexander, King of Mace-
donia, the great conqueror, crossed the Tigris with his
immense army, intent upon invading India, B. C. 330 ;

ABOUT BAGBAB. 117

Bome few remains of the bridge of bricks, that be built
for the purpose, are still plainly visible on both banks.
About fifteen miles above Seroot al Cantara, the Tigris
is joined on the left bank by a tributary called ISTahr
Mendeli, Congetoon, or Badnii, names given to the same
river by different tribes inhabiting the Loorian desertc
which stretches with the ri^'cr Tigris as its South-
western, and the mountain range of Pushti Xooh as its
Xorth-eastern limit, from the dismal Samargha swamps
to far bevond Bao*dad, measuring at least three hundred
miles in length, andabout sixty miles in breadth, of the
Xahr ^lendeli, only the source, which lies in the
mountain chain forming the South-west frontier of
Persia,-and the lower part of the river are as yet known
to geographers, the remainder running through a terri-
tory not yet explored by civilized men, owing to the
exceedingly hostile disposition evinced by the savage
natives toward all intruders. The inhabitants ot this
desolate territory are the Beni Lam Bedouins, who
occupy it all along the Tigris, from Bagdad down to
Korna ; the Abladani Bedouins, inhabiting the centre
of the Loorian desert, and the terrible Hamawend, a
tribe of uncertain nationality, of half Arab, half Persian
descent, roaming about the l^ahr Mendeli, on the hilly
territory between the river and the mountains of the
Persian frontier. This last mentioned tribe is notorious
throughout Mesopotamia for its ferocity and daring,
and the fiendish yells of the marauding Hamawend
strike terror and dismay into every caravan, no matter
how strong it may be; for in these outlaws are combined
the fighting propensity of the bull dog, the ferocity of
the tiger, the agility of the monkey, and the cunning
of the fox They will never leave off dodging, and
harassing a caravan they have once " spotted," till they
secure their prey ; woe to that incautious caravan which

118 ABOUT BAGDAD.

does not keep a good lookout at night ; woe to the
Iiai)les8 stragglers, who chance to fall behind the main
bod V, or to lose their way; their doom is sealed, for
b'jf ore they are aware, the wily Ilamawend^Jthe most
expert horsemen in the world, will be upon them, and
never stop in the work of slaughter, till neither man,
woman nor child is left to tell the tale. They were
never known to show mercy, and they never ask for it ;
in fact a more dangerous set of desperadoes cannot bo
found in the world. Numerous highlv romantic, but
bloody stories are told by the natives of ^Mesopotamia
of the daring, ferocity, and cunning of the dreaded
Hamawend, who obedient to the dictates of their law-
less vocation Avill not encumber them-^elves with cattle,
nor keep any animals but horses and dogs. Their tents
are composed of two woolen blankets, or felt covers, and
two sticks; each tent does not weigh above ten pounds,
and may be pitched and struck in two minutes. The
whole of this household furniture consists of a copper
cooking pot, a water -^kin or bag, and a straw mat.
Men, women and children are almost continually
mounted on horseback, and scarcely ever live for more
than two days in the same locality. All the booty made
in their de})redations is disposed of by some of the tribe
sent in disguise to J\^rsia or to Upper Mesopotamia.
They are invincible, for no army can be sent against
them into the barren desert, of which they alone know
the advantages, and points of access, and by careful
manrrnivoring could lead to certain destruction any force
that might be sent against then; luckily for mankind
they are not numerous and must soon become extinct.
They are not Mohammedans, like the Arabs and Persians,
but " Ycridies," or worshippers of the devil.

A little above the confluence of the Nahr Mendeli
with the Tigris, and situated on the right river bank,

ABOUT BAGDAD. 119

lies the village of Mendelia, a wretched little place,
consisting of about twenty flat-roofed mud huts and
some Bedouin tents, but notorious for its deadly scor-
pions, the sting of which is said by the Arabs to be
certain death, unless the part poisoned be cut or burned
out instantly. They are of the same shape as other
scorpions, but smaller, not measuring more than two
inches in length, of a grayish color, and live in old walls
and holes in the ground. At sunset we arrived at Koot
al Amara, an Arab village of considerable importance,
governed by a Sheik, and situated on the right bank
of the Tigris, as indeed have been all the villages we
have passed since leaving Hadidsha, below Ivorna, a
distance of nearly three hundred miles. Koot al Amara
is the third fuel station of the steamer, and only impor-
tant to Bagdad as a market for sheep's wool, which the
Beni Lam Bedouins bring here for sale. A little below
the village the Tigris divides into two branches; the
right one is the Tigris proper, the left is the Shaft al
Haih, which flows almost due south and falls into the
Euphrates at the village of Alfaria. From Knot al
Amara to Bagdad, in a straight line, the distance is only
about one hundred miles; but by the river it is over
two hundred miles, owing to its extreme sinuosity,
some of its curves measuring almost twenty miles,
while the one distance in a straight line is hardly two
miles.

The next morning we reached Shamamia, also called
Azizia. This villao-e is situated on the left side of the river,
and though not large is nevertheless of some importance
to Bagdad merchants, and enjoys the benefits of a small
Bazaar, where the Bedouins buy their necessities and
luxuries. In the afternoon, while steaming up the river,
we saw numerous herds of wild pigs scampering about
the banks, and several times saw a number of them

120 ABOUT BAGDAD.

swimmino; across the river; we shot one of them, hut it
sank instantly, so that we could not procure it, and it
was as well that we did lose it, for if we had tried to
haul it on board we should have had a serious row with
the captain, and a still more serious one wirft*Our Mos- .
lem and Hebrew fellow passengers. The captain had
given us notice to this effect before we fired, assuring
us that he would never be able to obtain another Mo-
hanmiedan passenger as long as the steamer floated, if it
were known that a pig had ever been brought on board.
Tliis aversion of Jews and Moslems to the pig is so in-
tense that in many of the places in the Orient, hardly
any crops can be raised owing to the ravages of immense
numbers of wild pigs, which the natives refuse to kill,
or even to come in contact Avith,from religious motives.
Rather than pollute themselves by touching one of
these animals they will give up agriculture, and even
leave the territory. The greater part of the inhabitants
of Asia abhor the pig, ))articularly, TTcbrews, Hindoos,
and Moslems, partly for religious and partly for sanitary
reasoud.

vin.

On Foot — Ruins of Taak Kesra — A Shot — Deafness — Sand Grouse-^
Wonderful Garden — Archway — History — Bagging Partridges — Bag-
dad in Sight.

About thirty miles from Azizia, on the right bank,
is the little Arab village of Tuaja, where the river
makes an immense bend of nearly twelve miles in cir-
cuit; here most of our passengers were temporarily set
on shore, in consequence of the steamer having run fast
on a sandbank. Leaving the crew to extricate the boat
as best they could, we proceeded at once to walk across
the narrow strip of land three miles broad. My two
European travelling companions and myself, who
thought this a fine opportunity to get some game, went
ashore also in the boats, and bagged during our stroll
across the peninsula many brace of fine partridges and
two hares ; we also started several wild pigs, but did
not molest them. T\"e reached the other side of the
little peninsula just before sunset, and nearly an hour
in advance ot the steamer, which had been got off with-
out much difficulty. The steamer could make very
little headway during the night owing to the numerous
sand banks in this part of the extremely sinuous river.
She ran on them several times, in spite of all precau-
tions, so that at daybreak we found ourselves just op-
posite the gray and majestic ruins of " Taak Kesra," as
the Arabs call them, at anchor, for the purpose of taking
in fuel. The Captian told us that the steamer would
not be ofi" again for two hours, so we availed ourselves
of the opportunity to inspect the ruins, which are less
than two miles distant from the left bank of the river.
A brisk walk in the refreshing early morning air soon

(121)

122 ABOUT BAGDAD.

broiiofht us to them. We were struck with wonder
at the magnificent and gio^antic building, which is really
one of the grandest ana most majestic ruins in the
Orient, ranking, iu my estimation, but little below
those of Baalbec, about fifty miles liorth^^' of Bey-
rout, or those of Palmyra, or Tadmor in the desert aboit
one hundred and fifty miles northeast of Damascus,
both of world wide fame. The huge building known
as ''Taak Kesra" is a strong quadrangular structure
composed of brick and mortar, the latter of which has
by dint of time become entirely petrified, and adheres
80 tenaciously to the bricks that it is almost impossible
to separate them. The bricks are consideral)ly smaller
than the huge ones found in Babylon, and measure only
about one foot square by three o • four inches in thick-
ness; they are composed of yellowish clay, but not cov-
ered with inscriptions like those of Babylon. In qual-
ify they are hardly inferior to the latter, and the Arabs
of the neighborhood, aware of their great superiority to
modern bricks, are constantly engaged in detaching,
and selling them in Bagdad, to blacksmiths, bakers,
and cooks, to build their stoves, furnaces, and chim-
neys, as these bricks will stand any amount of heat,
and are almost indestructible. It is a great pity that
the natives should be aware of the value of these bricks,
ashy detaching them, they much impair the appearance
of the noble edifice, and hasten its ruin, when it might
otherwise successfully brave the tooth of time for an-
other millenium. The approximative dimensions of
"Taak Kesra" are: width of front, three hundred feet,
depth, two hundred feet, lieiglit, one hundred and
twenty feet, and the thickness of the walls throughout
is from six to ten feet. A gigantic archway in the
centre of the front, and ruiuiing down through the
middle of the entire building, forms the entrance, but

ABOUT BAGDAD. 123

S.oea not pierce the back walls, a small doorway, meas-
uring about live feet in width by nine in height, form-
ing the only means of egress in the rear. This beauti-
ful archway is close on eighty feet in width, two hun
dred in length, and one hundred feet in height. Its
sides are now quite plain, and of a gray color, but prob-
ably were originally decorated. The front of the build-
ing strongly resembles a huge palace, owing to four or
live rows of niches, bearing the appearance of so many
large windows, which have been bricked up, and make
it look several stories high. There is however nothing
to indicate any apartments, or chambers, elevated above
the ground, though there may have been many of them
in former times, to judge from the immense quantity of
debris strewed on the ground. In the left front cor-
ners of the building, to the right of the entrance
through the porch, is a little narrow gateway, leading
from the main gallery or archway into a square room,
which being destitute of windows, or any openings in
the wall, except the doorway, is exceedingly dark, and
tilled with a cold, grave like atmosphere, chilling the
very bones of the visitors. Being desirous of seeing
the interior of the room, we lighted a pile of dry grass
at the entrance, the glare of which enabled us to see
that the room was large, empty, and nicely vaulted, but
infested with snakes, scorpions and bats, which were
considerably startled by our unexpected visit and illum-
ination, especially the bats, which flitted in laree num-
bers round our heads. In order to keep them at a more
respectful distance, I fired a shot, the effects of which
I shall never forget in my life; for Father M., one of
my Europeans travelling companions, and two Arabs,
who had accompanied us from the steamer, dropped as
suddenly as if they had been struck by lightning, and
friend P. looked ghastly pale, and was unab^Q to speak.

124 ABOUT BAGDAD.

For a moment I was hocribly wretched, fearing that 1
had shot them, though I could not imagine how, for
they stood behind me ; I examined my gun to see if it
had burst ; no, that was all right. Just as I was bend-
ing down to examine the supposed lifeless bodies, up
they all jumped, as if stung by scorpions, and rushed
out of the gloomy abode, to my intense relief, as it was
certainly the most convincing proof that they were not
dead ; but this only served to puzzle me the more.
Turning to Signor P., I saw him gesticulating violently,
and opening and shutting his mouth, but could not
hear him say a word. I was afraid my friend had lost
his voice, and in dismay hastened from the fatal cham-
ber. Arrived in the open air, I was addressed by the
trio of whom 1 had fancied myself the murderer. I saw
their gestures, and the motions of their mouths, but
but could not hear a word. Oh, horror! I found that I
was deaf as a post ; luckily this only lasted about ten
minutes, when m}' sense of hearing gradually returned.
Signor P. had experienced the same effect as myself;
the cause is easily explained. The report of the gun in
that close room, filled with the heavy atmosphere, pro-
duced such a tremendous concussion of the air, that it
knocked some of the party completely over, and tempo-
rarily deprived P. and myself, who were probably less
nervous, of our sense of hearing, producing for a consid-
erable time a loud, ringing noise in our ears.

In many places in the building large logs protruded
from the dilapidated walls. This wood, though un-
doubtedly much over a thousand years old, is still well
preserved. It seems to be cedar, as a strong odor still
emanates from it like that from the cedars of Leba-
non. It is also of the same reddish color. A large
triangular fissure, about twenty feet wide, nearly on the
toji of the gigantic archway, admits now daylight from

ABOUT BACiDAD. 125

above, and greatly impairs the noble appearance of the •
building, otherwise well preserved, and remarkably im-
posing. The Arabs living in the neighborhood assert
that this fissure was caused by a terrific stroke of light-
ning about sixty years ago, of such tremendous force
that it not only knocked a fearfully large hole through .
the ten feet thick ceiling, but literally split the whole
mammoth building from the top to its very foundation.
Owing to this fissure, it is now not very diflicult to
climb on the outside to the top of the venerable ruins,
and magnificent views enjoyed from this elevated po-i-
tioii amply repays the visitor for the trouble of the
ascent. I climbed the ruins with my travelling com-
panions, and the Arabs before referred to, a little before
sunrise, and the prospect was truly marvellous. Before
us, over the boundless barren flats of the Loorian desert,
rose majestically the fiery orb of day, throwing with
his first dazzling rays a kind of copper-colored hue on
the imposing, weather beaten front of the wonderful
representative of ancient architecture ; while the endless
plains, strewed with the debris of the two famous cities,
Seleucia and Ctesiphon, w^ere still clad in the dim haze
of early dawn, and wrapped in mysterious grave-like
silence, broken occasionally by the faint parting howl
of some distant jackal retiring unwillingly to his lair
before the bright messenger of day, or at intervals by
the scarce audible shriek of a flock of water-fowl, in the
direction of the river, startled from their slumber by
the mingled noise of rattlinor chains and human voices
on board the steamer. Slowly, but steadily, the glori-
ous life-D-ivino; orb rose hio-her and higher, enliveninoj

too O O ' O

the silent river, and transforming with marvellous speed
its dull waters into an interminable stream of liquid
silver of dazzling brilliancy, so that with its innumera-
ble graceful curves, the broad river closely resembled a

]26 ABOUT BAGDAD.

•mammoth silver snake winding its scaly body over the
endless plain. By and by the whole country rejoiced
in broad daylight, the hawks and falcons, hidden dur-
iniT the niu-ht in the crevices of the gigantic walls of
Taak Kesra, issued forth, with a sharp wiflSTshriek, in
search of prey. The wild pigeons and turtle doves as-
sembled in numbers on the cupola, and surrounding
walls of a small mosque, situated about three hundred
yards to the left of the ruins, cooing joyously, and ex-
panding their wings in the sunshine, while immense
clouds, composed of thousands of the sand-grouse,
alighted on the sandy plains around, in search of their
scanty food. Sand-grouse or ganga, or still more cor-
rectly termed the pin-tailed sand-grouse (Pteroclea
arenarius). This bird is of migratory habits, and is
met with every wlw?re m the arid sandy regions of
northern Africa and western Asia, as far north as the
Black Sea, soaring in rapid flight, and in siich vast
numbers as to resemble an immense cloud sweeping
over the barren plains. Alighting from time to time
for rest and food, they never settle on trees, bushes or
grassy spots; but invariably on the barren, sandy ground,
W) that thev are killed in countless numbers bv prowling:
jackals, when they have settled for the night. The
"Pin-tailed sand-grouse" of Mesopotamia, liowever, must
not be confounded with the Banded Sand-grouse (Pter-
oclcs setarius), which is rarely found as far south as Me-
sopotamia, though extremely abundant on the steppes
of southern Russia.

About two mile in front of the ruins of Taak Kesra,
which occupy tlie centre of the vast area of ruins of the
city of Ctesiphon, spread the huge remains of Soliman
Bhag, tliat is the Garden of Soliman, covering an area of
over one thousand acres of land, and situated like Ctesi-
phon on the left bank of the Tigris. According to the

I

ABOUT BAGDAD. ]27

traditions of the Arabs, this place was once a wonderful
garden, owned hy the warlike caliph, Omar I, who
one day made a present of it to his slave Soliman or
Seliman for valuable services rendered his master in
faithfully guarding the harem of the caliph against in-
truders, while his lord was absent on a campaign
against the enemies of his country. Butiilas! of this
wonderful garden, once the delight of Mesopotamia,
nothing is now left but part of the gigantic mud walls,
now scarcely more than tiiirty feet high, and about
forty feet thick at the base, which formerly sur-
rounded this beautiful spot, now a desert, covered
with scanty shrubbery. These walls are slowly crumb-
ling away, so that after the lapse of a few more
centuries they willprobably be nearly level vrith
ground.

On the right bank of the river, just opposite the
ruins of the city of Ctesiphon, which, by the way, con-
sists merely in a series of huge irregular and barren
mounds scattered promiscuously over an area of more
than twenty square miles, the visitor espies the vast
ruins of ancient Seleucia. The course of the streets of
this famous city and the sites of its principal buildings
are still clearly discernible by the elevation of the ground
along the sides of the ancient thoroughfares, but not a
brick, not a stone is now visible on the whole area of
the enormous city, which to judge from the extent of
its gigantic mud walls, still i-ising over thirty feet above
the ground, must have covered an immense space, which
is now a perfect desert. Over the very spot where two
thousand years ago magnificent palaces, temples, monu-
ments, and thousands of other stately buildings stood,
intersected by innumerable streets teeming with human
beings, sneak now the cowardly jackal and horrid
hyena, trots the sulky boar, and boimds the graceful

128 ABOUT BAGDAD.

gazelle, in happy iinconsciousness of its former glory.
Sic transit gloria mundi.

Historical ^vriter3 diiFer considerably in regard to
the origin of these two cities. Most of them, however,
agree that Seleucia owes its origin to Seleucti^I (I^ica-
tor), one of the chief generals of Alexander of Macedo-
nia, who on the death of that great conqueror, August
X, 324 B. C, made himself king of the Syrian empire,
comprising the whole of Syria and Mesopotamia. About
the year 311 B. C, Seleucia is said to have still been a
small village, but it grew so quickly that it soon became
the capital of the empire, and as such had over six hun-
dred thousand inhabitants, principally Greeks. The
city had a senate of three hundred patricians, Greek
laws and institutions, and preserved its original Greek
character fathfuUy throughout its numerous mishaps
and vicissitudes. Soon after the death of Seleucus,
Babylonia fell into the hands of the Parthians or Per-
sians, who began to build a city on the left bank of the
Tigris, just opposite Seleucia, and called it Ctesiphon.
At the outbreak of the war between the Romans and
the Parthians, 117-114 years before Christ, Ctesiphon is
said to have still been a very small city, and to have
fallen, together with Seleucia, into the hands of the vic-
torious Romans. Trajanus, then Roman emperor, an,
nexed the conquered territory to his empire. About
sixty years after, the Parthians regained their lost terri-
tory, and under the patronagcof their rulers, Ctesiphon
grew so rapidly that it soon successfully rivalled Se-
leucia, and became, like her sister city, one of the two
capitals of the vast Parthian empire. Marcus Aurelius,
the Roman emperor, during the second war between the
Romans and Parthians, retook the territory, and plun-
dered and entirely destroyed both cities, A. D. 165.
Such was the fury of the victorious Romans that three

ABOUT BAGDAD.

hundred thousand of the inhabitants of Seleucia are
said to have perished during the capture and devasta-
tion of that city. Seleucia never rose again from its
ruins, but Ctesiphon was immediately rebuilt by the
Parthians, who held it only thirty-three years, when it
ao-ain fell into the hands of the Romans, duiins; the
reign of Septimus Severus, and was once more leveled
to the ground, A. D. 198. Again it rose, Phoenix-like,
from its ashes ; but though still figuring as the capital
of the Parthian empire it never recovered its former
size and grandeur, but relapsed so rapidly that the Ro-
man emperor, Julianus, who appeared A. D. 362, with
an army of 65,000 men before Ctesiphon, found only a
suburb left of the famous capital of Parthia, which
about four centuries previously ranked amongst the
laro:est and most masinificent cities of the then known
world.

The city had assumed the Assyrian name of
" Coche,"* Assyrian language and customs, whilst Greek
art and science, which used to flourish there, had entirely
disappeared, and the former capital of the vast Parthian
empire dwindled into utter oblivion for a period of
nearly three centuries.

Mohamed died A. D. 632 (the tenth year of the
Mohammedan era), and in obedience to his bidding, his
representatives, the caliphs, at once began to spread the
It lam (Mohammedan) creed with fire and sword all over
Arabia and Mesop«otamia. In the beginning of the year
637 the Caliph, Omar I, at the head of an army of dis-
ciples of ]SIohamed, took possession of Ctesiphon, or
Coche, and gave the place the Arabic name of El
Madain, by which the ruins of Ctesiphon are known
among the Arabs to this day. The religiously inspired

* The " ch" pronounced gutturally, as in the Scotch word "loch"
(lake).

130 ABOUT BAGDAD.

Moslems henceforth made' El Madain their headquarters,
whence they subsequently spread the Islam all over
Persia and Western India. Durino; the reisin of the
above-mentioned cali]»h, one of their camps near the
mouth of Shatt al Arab gave the origin oflPffe city of
Bassorali.

The total destruction of Ctesiphon probably took
place A. D. 1.258, when the wild JSIongolian hordes
under their ferocious leader, Ilolagu, invaded the whole
of western Asia, devastating Bagdad and, very likely,
Ctesiphon. Taak Kesra, the magniiiocnt ruin described
as now forming the chief attraction of Ctesiphon, was
probably too strongly built for the devastating Mongols
to level it with the ground, though there is no doubt
that they ransacked and partly destroyed it, as there
are evidences that the building is not now complete,
having apparently formerly been much higher. The
ground is strewed with debris of brick, and part of the
walU are greatly damaged; beside, there are indications
that several outbuildings were formerly connected with
the main edifice, which are not now to be found. The
opinions of arehicologists who have visited the ruius
vary considerably as to the age and character of this
buildinsr. Some assert that it is of Greek origin, dating
as far back as B. C. 300, and that it was used as a hall
of assenddy; others declare it the work of the Romans,
built during the reign of Trajanus as a palace for the
governor of the colony. Others, again, believe it to be
of Parthian architecture, and to have served either as a
place of worship, or as a palace of the Parthian kings
of the second century of the Christian era, while others
still ascribe it to one of the calii)hs, probably Omar I,
who, as previously stated, is said to have owned and
presented to his slave the beautiful garden known to
posterity as Soliman Bhag.

I

ABOUT BAGDAD. 131

M. G. Lejean, a French traveller and archteologist
of high merit, with whom I have the honor to be per-
sonally acquainted, and who traversed Mesopotamia
about the same time I did, ascribes the construction of
Taak Kosra to the Sassanid Kesra, or Khusru, or Kos-
roes I, better known under the name of ISToosheerwan
the Just, ruler of Persia (A. D. 531-579); and its de-
struction, to the Caliph Giaffar al Mansoor (Taffar al
Mansoor), the founder of Bagdad (about the year A. D.
762).

During my stay in Bagdad I often visited these
ruins, so full of historical interest, for the sake of sport;
but being always on horseback with my rifle on my
shoulder, and accompanied by friends who did not care
about digging for antiques, I never found any object of
real value. I have, however, often seen Arabs there,
searching and digging for curiosities, which they readily
find purchasers for, sometimes at exorbitant prices if
they bring them to Bagdad, which is not more than
twenty miles farther up the river, and from the extreme
flatness of the country can easily be seen in the morn-
ing, when the atmosphere is clear, from the summit of
the solitary ruins of Taak Kesra.

"While standing one morning on this elevated spot,
we were surprised by a wonderful phenomenon of ex-
quisite perfection, although by no means a novelty to
me, having often beheld similar scenes in my travels
through Egypt, India and South Africa. I speak of
the Fata Morgana, a marvellous meteor visible only in
the desert, or in places where the atmosphere is light
and pure. As minute a description of the Fata Morgana
in this particular instance as I am able to give may not
be uninteresting. On reaching the top of the ruins, we
were all simultaneously struck with the remarkable
character of the atmosphere of this early morning,

132 ABOUT BAGDAD.

toward the north-west, which appeared to bo so pure,
that hills, bushes, walls, etc., which could not be less
than two miles distant, seemed so near that we fancied
a stone thrown in that direction might reach them, or
at least a shot from a revolver certainly wenid. By and
by, as the sun rose above the horizon, there appeared
on the extreme border ot the latter, a scarcely percep-
tible light slate colored haze, which grew more and
more distinct, when wonderfully, to us, it turned hy
degrees into most magnificent scenery, and we saw before
us a large and beautiful lake, with a series of lovely little
bays and creeks, the smooth and silvery waters of
which seemed so clear that we almost fancied we could
eee the fish living in its depths. The borders of the
lake were covered with beautifully fresh green grass,
and numerous clusters ot date trees, of tall and slender
growth, apparently bending beneath their weight of
fruit, and casting their graceful shadow over tho limpid
mirror, into which, like Narcissus of old, they gazed so
lovingly. The ruins ot several magnificent palaces of
ancient architecture, apparently of enormous size, with
numerous stately columns, and bold arches, graced the
borders of the lake, and were reflected with really
wonderful accuracy by the silver sheet in front of them.
An endless caravan moved slowly toward the fairy-like
scenery of the lake, the measured stately gait of the
camels, the rocking motion of the ^faherries or camel
drivers, as they sat on the humj)3 of the slowly advanc-
ing animals, even the long lances which the men bore,
were as distinctly visible, and as strangely natural, as
if the whole of this fairy -like scenery were a reality,
and the men and beasts composing the caravan real
flesh and blood, and not mere phantoms. With unfeigned
wonder, and a thriljinij recoijnition in our hearts of
the sublime powers of nature and its Almighty Creator,

ABOUT BAGDAD. 133

Tve gazed at the enchanting phenomenon, Until, alas ! the
sconerv ""rew fainter and fainter. First the side border
of the lake disappeared, so that for awhile the landscape
on the other side appeared as if floating between heaven
and earth, ami the caravan seemed moving in the air.
Dinnner and more dim they became ; first, the desert in
the background, from which the caravan seemed to be
approaching toward the inviting green borders of the
ailvery lake; then the caravan vanished, first, the camels
still far away ; then those in the centre, and finally the
leaders ; then column after column of the ruined palaces
faded away; then the trees another minute, and the
lake itself melted away in the slightly vibration, but
nevertheless exceedingly transparent atmosphere, and
the magnificent panorama was gone. Breathing heavily,
we turned for the first time to each other, hardly find-
ing words to express our admiration of the beautiful
vision we had enjoyed.

It is not diflScult to believe the many stories cur-
rent amono; the Bedouins that whole caravans, mad-
dened by the pangs of thirst, have been known to devi-
ate from their right path to seek relief in the crystal
waters of such a phantom lake, or to rest and feed in
the enchanting shade of those imaginary date tree oases.
The Bedouins assert that even the camels themselves
are often deceived by the fatal Fata Morgana, and
sometimes when sufiering very much from thirst can-
not be prevented from rushing straight toward the
phantom lake, never slackening their speed until they
drop dead from thrist and exhaustion. The Fata Mor-
gana is a phenomenon most common, though by no
means of every day occurrence on the boundless sand
ocean of the Sahara in ]!!^orth Africa, all over Egypt,
Arabia, Southern Mesopotamia, the Kalahari desert in
South Africa, etc. ; but especially in the district east of

134 ABOUT BAGDAD.

Bagdad which forms a part of the Loorian desert. It
is mostly visible in the morning about or soon after sun-
rise, and sometimes, though very seldom, in the even-
ing about or soon after sunset ; at least I never noticed
it any other time. -*»-

Highly satisfied with the result of our visit to this
interesting spot, we returned to the steamer not to leave
her again till we should arrive in Bagdad, which city
we hoped to reach before sunset of that day. On our
way to the river, a distance of not more than half an
hour's walk, A\e bagged twenty-eight beautiful black
and white dotted partridges, indigenous only to the
plains of Mesopotamia ; and so plentiful are they in the
low shrubbery round Ctesiphon and Seleucia, that it is
impossible to advance one hundred yards without start-
ling some of them. The Arabs, who are all more or
less very bad shots with their inferior guns at moving
game, cannot kill them wbile Hying or running; but
they dig deep holes in the sandy banks of the river
where they hide and fire at the partridges all day long
as the birds issue from the shrubbery on their way to
the river's edge to quench their thirst. In this way they
kill them liy cart-loads and bring them to Bagdad,
where they sell for about ten paras, e([ual to one cent
apiece; they are excellent eating, their flesh being
whiter and superior in flavor to that of chicken. In
the same way they kill the gazelles, which, however,
only come to drink aitcr nightfall ; but the wily Arab,
blessed with wonderful ]>atience, hardly ever lies in
wait for them in vain, lie usually brings his spoils to
town, where he sells the whole animal, often weighing
from thirty to fifty i)ounds, for from ten to twenty Tur-
kish piastres (forty to eighty cents, American money).
Tlie flesh of the gazelle, particularly the young one,
when properly prepared, is exceedingly tender and

ABOUT BAGDAD. 135

savory, and in my estimation is superior to any venison
I ever tasted.

On our return to the boat we found our Asiatic
passengers busily engaged in getting their goods
and chattels ready to leave the steamer as soon as
she arrived at Bagdad. Continuing our route up the
river we observed that both banks began to appear more
densely populated as we drew nearer to the capital, the
great centre of Lower Mesopotamia. An hour after
leaving Ctesiphon, we passed the high, steep banks of
Kasseba, on the left side of the river, where a large car-
avan, coming from the Loorian desert, had encamped
during the night, and was now preparing to continue
its journey toward Bagdad. In another hour we ar-
rived at the mouth of the Diyala, a pretty large river,
which has its origin in the mountains of southern Per-
sia, and after crossing the north-western frontier of the
Loorian desert, joins the Dijeleh, or Tigris, about ten
miles below Bagdad. Here we passed one of the two
Turkish Government steamers plying on the river
bound for Bassorah, run high and dry upon a sand
bank. The lazy Turkish crew were not exerting them-
selves in the least to get her off again, but snugly seated
in the shade of the awnings they quietly smoked their
pipes, apparently desirous of giving the steamer a chance
to get herself off. An hour later brought us round a
couple of very tortuous bends of the river to Carara, a
little villasce of mud huts on the left bank, about six
miles by the river, but only two miles by land from the
gates of Bagdad.

IX.

SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

Appearance — Oriental Arcliitecture — Natural Scenery — Landing —
Passing Duty — Bribery — Mohammedanism— Walls and Ditch — For-
tifications— Governor's Palace — Namyk Pasha's Carriage — Moving,
the Walls — Narrow Streets — The Harem — Guarding the Inmates
— Masques.

From Carara upwards the river flows almost in a
straight line, which enabled us to see Bagdad, the far-
famed city of the caliphs, Bagdad of the Arabian
Kights, Bagdad, in the glorious times of Ilaroun al
Kaschid, the caliph, perhaps the queen of the cities of
the globe. There she lies sadly altered, it is true, since
the days of that famous ruler, immortalized by history,
song, and romance, still lovely, mysterious, and there-
fore full of interest to the visitor; there she lies, open
like a mammoth book to tell her own story. Extend-
ing far away, over both banks of the river, and beauti-
fully ensconced in a gigantic, luxuriant carpet ot per-
petually green gardens, filled with lovely blossoms of
myriads of evergreen, jasmine bushes, rose bushes,
orange, lemon, peach, and pomegranate trees, and num-
berless other trees, bushes, and shrul)s, which emit,
especially at morning and evening, the mo^t delicious
perfumes. The gardens and houses along the river are
overtopped by an endless forest of stately date trees,
the tall and slender trunks of which are almost break-
ing beneath the weight of the sweet golden fruit, while
their nol)le evergreen crowns cast a delightful shade
over the ground beneath. The high, steep banks of
the river are covered with innumerable buildings of

(136)

SOJOURN IN BAGDAD. J 37

Oriental architecture, some of which, especially those
ou the left bank of the river, are of considerable size
and imposing appearance when seen from afar. Prom-
inent among these are the high, slender minarets, and
vast mosques, whose cupolas tower far above all other
buildings of the city, even above the tallest date trees.
These cupolas are all built of highly glazed brick, iu
black, blue, white, and green colors, placed in Mosaic
style, and glittering with dazzling brightness in the
sun, which renders them visible at a great distance.
The top of the cupola is mounted with a richly gilt
crescent, the symbol of the Islam or ^Mohammedan
faith, just as the cross is the symbol of Christianity.
This crescent surmounts every minaret, mosque, and
Moslem mausoleum, and dazzles the eye like a bright
star far over the country, forming with the tall minar-
ets, and the huge cupolas of the mosques, one of the
chief features in the outward aspect of a Mohammedai?
town, and of Bagdad especially. As we steamed up
the river from Carara to Bagdad, surrounded by this
beautiful scenery, the conviction forced itself upon me
that in all the world there is hardly a city that can
equal Bagdad in the lovliness of its scenery, when
viewed from a steamer ascending the river. A short
run of an hour brought the steamer to her anchorage
opposite the Custom House, on the left bank, just
r-eiow the clumsy pontoon bridge across the river.
I"he landing place, as well as the pontoon, was crowded
with people of all nations and vocations, gaudily dressed
in their national costume ; Turkish soldiers, noisy Jews,
lively Armenians, lazy and sleepy looking Koords, or
natives of Koordi?tan, ragged Bedouins, carefully veiled
women, half naked children, and last but not least, six
or seven Europeans, relatives, and friends of Captain H.
and myself; these latter naturally receiving us with

138 SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

the greatest cordiality. ' Signer P. thankfully accepted
the protiered hospitality of my brother-in-law and re-
mained with us, while Father M., as a Roman Catholic
priest, took up his abode with the French ^aissionaries
resident in Bagdad.

After about a fortnight's preparations for a visit
of several months' duration to the various i3edouin
tribes inhabiting the banks of the lower Euphrates,
amongst whom he expected to find the required num-
ber of faultless, thoroughbred Arab horses, which he
was commissioned to procure for the private stables of
the Emperor of the French, Signer P. departed for the
desert.

As for Father M. and mj'self, who had agreed to
await P's. return to Bagdad, in order to travel in his
company to the shores of the ^lediterranean, we passed
the period of P's. absence from Bagdad most pleasantly
in making, with our Bagdad friends, almost daily ex-
cursions on horseback for the purpose of getting thor-
oughly acquainted with the City of the Caliphs and its
environs.

Bagdad is the capital and seat of government of
the Pashalic, or province of Lower Mesopotamia, or, as
the Arabs call it, " Irak Arabi," a province extending
over an area of about seventy thousand square miles.
In point of size it is the largest province of the Ottoman
Empire, but contains only thirteen hundred thousand
inhabitants. "Irak Arabi" is governed l)y a ])a,s]ia,
or governor, who is invested with his high office and
the necessary power by the Sultan. The city of Rag-
dad was commenced in the year of our Lord 762, by
the Caliph (riaiFar al Afansoor, and said to have been
finished in the incredibly short space of four years, and
to have attained the greatest splendor under the wise
rule of the famous caliph, Ilaroun al Rashid (Ilaroun

SOJOURN IN BAGDAD. 139

the Just), during tlie middle of the 8th century, when
it is said to have numbered two million inhabitants,
and to have been the centre of art, science, and com-
merce of western Asia. Bagdad is reported to have
been devastated and leveled to the ground by the Turks,
hardly a century after the reign of Haroun al Raschid,
since which time it has been repeatedly built and
destroyed. liolager, grandson of the terrible Mongol
conqueror, Tingis Khan, captured and utterly devas-
tated Bagdad in February, 1258. Timur, or Tamer-
lane, the conqueror, a Mongol despot still more fero-
cious than Lingis Khan or Holager, devastated Bagdad
in 1392, and celebrated his victory by erecting on the
ruins of the hapless city, a pyramid, built of ninety
thousand human heads. In 1412 Bagdad was again
wasted by Kara Yussef, chief of the Turcomans. Ii]
the following century Shah Ismael, ruler of Persia,
took possession of the city. From that time up to
1638 the Persians and Turks were continually fighting
for supremacy in Mesopotamia, till Sultan Amurath
4th, succeeded in taking possession of Bagdad, since
which time the Turks have held it. To-day its popu-
lation hardly exceeds sixty thousand, composed of
Turks, Arabs, Persians, Koords, Ariuenians, Syrians,
Africans, and a few East Indians, i^bout forty-five
thousand of the inhabitants profess tlie Mohammedan,
twelve thousand the Jewish, and three thousand tho
Christian religion. Among the latter we may count
about twenty European residents. The present city is
fortified all round by a wall six miles in circumference,
forty feet high, and from six to eight feet thick, built
of sun-dried bricks, no stones for building purposes being
found within a hundred miles of Bagdad ; in fact, th6
whole of Lower Mesopotamia, from Bagdad to Bas-
sorah, is totally destitute of stone. Outside the walbs

140 SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

runs a ditch about thirty feet deep, by forty feet broad,
which in bygone years must have been filled with
water from tlie river, and may with the walls have
been a sufficient protection from invasion by foes armed
only with small arms ; but at the present time the
ditch is dry, and the walls crumbling to pieces, so that
in many places a bold rider might succeed in climbing
over them even on horseback. The fortifications of the
town form a regular octagon, each corner of which is
surmounted by a round tower, bearing a couple of old,
rusty iron guns, which grin in a dreary manner over
the deserted and dilapidated walls beneath. They are
guarded by a few sentinels only, in the person of some
sleepy looking Turkish soldiers, in dusty and thread-
bare uniforms, generally enjoying an undisturbed nap
on the vshady side of the rickety wooden gun carriages,
mounted with guns of such doubtful age and strength,
that I should fear to stand witiiin twenty yards of
them, or of the wall, if the guns were submitted to a
test with powder and ball ; not from fear of being hit
by the shot, but from the danger of being killed by the
exjilosion of the guns, or buried in the ruins of tumbling
walls.

The inside of these walls, that is the side looking
towards the town is lined with two rows of niches, one
row placed above the other. These niches are slightly
vaulted, measure about six feet in width, six feet in
lieight, and five feet in de[)th, and were probably in-
tended to a fiord shelter to the defenders of the town
against the scorcliing rays of the sun. The inside of
the town wall, owing to these niches, resembles some-
what the outside aspect of the Coliseum of Home or to
a Ivoman aqueduct. Tliere are three strong wrought
iron j»lated wooden gates in the wall surrounding the
city on the left or eastern river bank; their names are

SOJOURN IN BAGDAD. 143

Bab al Madern, or the gate of Madern, Bab al Bostan,
the gate of tlie garden, and Bab al Serkis, the gate of
Serkis, which are always closely guarded by Turkish
soldiers, and Custom-house officers, levying a small
duty on the produce of the poor Arabs and Bedouins,
v.'ho bring sheep's wool, goat's hair skins, vegetables,
eggs, venison, milk, cheese, butter, small fire-wood, etc.,
to town every morning on their donkeys' backs. In
the evening, when they leave town, after having dis-
posed of their produce, they are again carefully exam-
ined by the watchmen at the gates, lest they should
carry some stolen property with them, unless they can
bribe the custom house officers, which, by the way, is
not a difficult thing to do. The gates are regularly
closed at sunset, and not opened under any pretence
whatever, until sunrise, a foolish custom, which serves
only to annoy decent and honest people, as thieves and
robbers can easily find access or egress day or night, by
climbing over the dilapidated walls. The walls round
the city on the right bank are in worse state even than
elsewhere, and are in many places almost level with the
ground. During the night the communications between
the right and left banks of the city by means of the
pontoon bridge, is suspended from sunset till sunrise,
bv the removal of two boats in the centre. This bridcre
of boats is the only bridge in Lower Mesopotamia across
the Tigris, and is six hundred and twenty feet long.
Gooflas or round boats for crossing the river can easily
be obtained, however, at any hour.

The " Scrail " (the Governor's or Pasha's palace),
all the principal buildings of Bagdad, the dwellings of
all the Europeans, native Christians, and Jews, and of
all the wealthy Turks, are in that part of the city
which lies on the Eastern, or left bank of the river,
while the Persians, Afghans, Koords, and the poorer

144 SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

classes of the Turks and Arabs occupy the western or
rii^ht hank. The Eastern city is consequently the
principal part of Bagdad, the more so as the main
bazaar, or market known as the bazaar, built by Daud
Pasha, a former governor, is also situated' in this
locality, and has the reputation of being the finest,
richest, and most extensive in \Vestern Asia. The
streets throughout the city are exceedingly narrow,
filthy, and very crooked, like those in most Oriental
towns ; Xamyk Pasha, the governor, however, slightly
improved some of them during the past' year. Being
suddenly seized with a passion for driving, he procur^'d
a fine carriage at great expense from Bombay. His
coachman manasred to drive about ten yards, when the
carriage ran against a wall, whereupon the Pasha flew
into a rage, and ordered all the buildings against which
the carriage grated, or the walls toward the streets
through which he chose to pass, to be removed two or
three feet back. This incident serves to illustrate the
character of Eastern thoroughfares, and the arbitrary
manner in which Turkish officials settle difliculties.
Most of the streets are so narrow that two loaded
camels, or two men on horseback, cainiot pass each
otlter, which circumstance has induced the Pasha to
issue an order forbidding loaded camels to pass through
the city. The South-eastern rpiarter of the left bank
city is almost uninhabited. Hundreds of houses are
abandoned, and are either in ruins, or fast crumbling to
pieces, serving only to shelter the iimumerable beggars,
vagrants, and ownerless curs, with which Bagdad, like
C)riental cities, is infested. The whole of this aban-
doned rpiarter was formerly densely populated ; but Bag-
dad lias at various times been visited by the flood or in-
undations of the river Tigris, as well as by iha plague,
or pestilence, which must not be confounded with Asi-'

SOJOURN IN BAGDAD. 145

atic cholera, being a far more fatal disease than the lat-
ter. This terrible scouro;e infested Bag-dad for the last
time, if my memory is correct, in the year 1831, at
which time over forty thousand of the inhabitants fell
victims to its savage fury within the short space of
three months.

The houses of Bagdad are built in the usual Mos-
lem style ; that is to say, the poorer classes live in mis-
erable brick-houses or rather huts with flat roofs, scarcely
ten feet in height and containing but one or two apart-
ments. The dwellings of the wealthier classes are
somewhat better built, though of the same material.
They too are flat-roofed, but none of them is over forty
feet in height, and they all provided with a sort of bal-
cony, called " eheuashil" by the Arabs. These balco-
nies protrude considerably over the walls, about ten feet
above the street, and are carefully barricaded with iron
bars or wooden trellis work. In outward appearance,
most of the houses and streets are so much alike, that
it is almost impossible to distinguish one from another,
and as the houses are not numbered and the streets not
named, it is a perfect puzzle for a stranger, especially a
European, to find the street or house he is looking for,
and he is sure to lose himself if without a guide in the
labyrinth of narrow lanes, winding between gloomy
and dangerously tottering gray walls, which every mo-
ment threaten to fall upon him. At night the streets
are pitch dark, except when lighted by the moon, and
are teeming with vagrant dogs too lazy to get out of
the way, some howling piteously when trampled upon,
others barking furiously, and all an intolerable nuisance.
Each house contains a court-yard in the centre which is
open to the free air of heaven, and generally ornamented
by a statety date tree in the middle of a little gar-
den. In this yard the whole family live all day long.

146 SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

except at noon, perhaps, when the sun has risen so high
that hardly any shady spot is left, so that they are
obliged to retire till about five o'clock in the afternoon
to the"serdap," a kind of square under-ground vault or
basement room, to be found in almost evQ*^Jiouse of
ordinary size; here the atmosphere during the whole
day is very cool and pleasant. Daylight is admitted
through the open doorway, and windows towards the
court-yard. The serdap is furnished in the eastern style,
with divans,low broad couches ranged along one or two
sides of the apartment. The flo(^r is covered with car-
pets or straw mats, according to the means of the owner.
This forms almost the entire furniture of the serdap or
drawing-room of the Asiatic population. Euroi)eans
alone use tables, chairs, clocks, etc., which are chiefly
imported from Bombay. On the first and oidy story of
the house are the sleeping apartments of the fiimily,
occupied only from November till February, when it is
too chilly to sleep on the flat roofs in the open air, the
usual sleeping place during the other nine months of
the year, and during which jieriod it never rains in
Lower Mesopotamia. The climate, though terribly hot
during the summer months, is considered healthy ; the
thermometer hardly ever ranges beyond 110° Fahren-
heit in summer and the coldest day in winter never
marks below 40° above zero. Suoav is of course quite
out of the question, and as far as I could learn has never
been seen in Bagdad.

The '" Serail," or palace of the Governor, is situated
a little above the pontoon or bridge of boats across the
river, and is said to be on the very spot occupied in
former times by the palaces of the caliphs. It is an
immense building, with a court yard at least one hun-
dred yards square, and situated directly on 'the utter-
most river bank, aflbrding a be^^'itiful view up and

SOJOURN IN BAGDAG. 14 '7

down the stately Tigris. The building itself is very
plain, and looks more like a large cavalry casern, or a
State prison, than a palace; the Pasha's reception room
itself is only a large square room with white-washed
walls, adorned with a few wretchedly painted blue fres-
coes, and a very ordinary crystal lustre is suspended
from the midst of the ceiling. The only furniture is
the inevitable divan or sofa, and the floor is covered
with rich Persian carpets. It is not from parsimony, or
carelessness, that even the wealthiest Moslems keep their
rooms rather poor and dull-looking, but the dictates of
tlie Koran, which strictly prohibits the presence of any
picture, statue, etc., representing any living thing, in
the house of a Moslem. The zenana or harem of the
Pasha is situated within the area of the laro;e building:,
but forms a house by itself. It has only very few win-
dows, carefully screened and is surrounded by a wall
over twenty feet high, the gate of which is closely
guarded by soldiers, while the doora of the house and
apartments are guarded by eunuchs and female slaves,
both black and white. European ladies, however, easily
found access to the wives of jSTamyk Pasha, of whom
there are four ; the eldest is fifty-two years of age, the
youngest is only fourteen ; a beautiful Circassian and a
present from the Sultan, Abdul Aziz, since murdered.
Each wife has from four to six female attendants, or
rather, slaves, both black and white, who like their mis-
tresses, are always closely watched by the eunuchs.
These slaves lead a very easy life, having nothing to do
but dress their mistresses, sing, dance, and laugh and
play with them, or relate love stories and fairy tales:
their mistresses meanwhile reclining on the soft silken
divans, playing with their jewelry, admiring their
images reflected in the mirrors, or smoking the narg-
hilch for which Oriental women have a weakness.

X48 SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

My sister, accompapied by Madame B., often visited
these captive damsels, and were always most cordially
welcomed and treated by everybody in the Serail with
the most jDrofound respect; they invariably had to an-
swer innumerable questions regarding thcTWanners and
customs of American ladies, single as well as mariied,
whereupon the Pasha's wives would loudly praise the
happiness of our country-women in being the sole object
of their husband's love, while the true Moslem had so
many wives that, in their opinion, it was imi)0ssible
that the love of all could be duly reciprocated by
one man alone. They greatly admired also the perfect
liberty enjoyed by American women, they being allowed
to walk and ride whenever and wherever they please,
to stay as long as they like and to show their faces
whenever they choose, etc., while the poor multifarious
wives of the Sultan are only allowed to take a ride or
a walk once or twice a week, and then only for an hour
or two, always carefully veiled, and guarded by a whole
crowd of cowardly eunuchs and female slaves, who fol-
low them as closely as their own shadows. They iound
it difficult to believe that European women, married
and single, always took their meals with their husbands
and brothers if they had any, and sometimes even with
j>erfect strangers, and without even a " pagee" or veil
over their faces, while they, poor souls, had to eat and
drink alone, and were not allowed to leave their room
imder any pretense unless accom[)anied by slaves and
eunuchs. They greatly regretted not being able to read
and write, or jday the guitar or piano, with other accom-
plishments not possessed by many Mohammedan females
as far as I know, as they are not allowed, or at any rate,
not encouraged in cultivating their intellect. With the
exception of these drawbacks, however, th<;/ seem as
liajipy as the day is long, and the two ladies so freely

SOJOURN IN BAGDAD. 149

admitted to their privacy never found them jealous, or
quarreling with each other, though the Circassian girl
was at the time decidedly the favorite of the Pasha ;
the more so because she had just given birth to a son.

Xamyk Pasha is the civil military governor of the
province of Irak Arabi, or Lower Mesopotamia, also
Minister of War, and is one of the four Mushiers, or
Field Marshals of the Ottoman Empire. He is the iden-
tical fellow who so narrowly escaped with his head for
his complicity in the notorious massacre of the French
and Ensrlish residents of Dsheddah or Teddah on the Red
Sea, which took phice June 15th, 1858, at which time
he was governor of that seaport. He is a tall," slender,
and rather handsome man about seventy years of age,
slightly decrepit, with gray hair, moustache and beard,
a fanatic Mussulman, but well educated, exceedingly
polite and fond of conversation. He is very shrewd,
and the most acute politician in the whole Turkish em-
pire. He occupied for several years the high position
of minister of foreign affairs of the Sublime Porte ; but
as he was very ambitious and full of intrigue, the Sul-
tan feared for his own personal safety, and removed his
dangerous minister as far away from Constantinople as
possible, investing him as a sop to Cerberus with the
governorship of Irak Arabi, the province most remote
from the imperial abode, where he is now making
money fast and putting it of course in his own j^ockets,
doing what he likes, and never heeding a firman or or-
der from his master the Sultan, if it does not suit him.
He has studied in Paris and Berlin, and travelled all
over Europe, speaks Turkish, Arabic, English, French
and German perfectly well, though the wily fellow tries
to make the European residents of Bagdad believe that
he does not undersand any of the last-mentioned lan-
guages. He always wears the uniform of a Turkish

150 SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

General, and is constantly surrounded by soldiers, and
a profusion of courtiers, servants and slaves. Though a
dano-erous Moslem fanatic, he is too acute to let Euro-
peans know it. On the contrary, he alwapi^rofesses a
strong friendship for them, especially for the English
and French consuls, accepts invitations to dine with
them, and gives them regular entertainments in return ;
but in reality he hates them. Of all the Europeans in
Bagdad, none perhaps was as intimate with U^amyk
Pasha as my brother, whom he frequently visited in
his office during my stay in Bagdad, always attended
by a crowd of body-guards, and fellows of every de-
Boription ; and it was in that office I first made the
kasha's acquaintance.

Naniyk Pasha did an extensive business with my
brother, who every year sold him European goods to a
large amount, for his (the pasha's) own use as well as
for that of his troops. Around the scrail are situated
several large casernes or soldier's barracks, occupied by
a part of the stationary Turkish force, comprising in
all about five thousand men, artillery, cavalry, and in-
fantry ; but these troojts are very badly organized,
badly paid, badly equipped and badly drilled; the ad-
ministrators of the military department from the gen-
eral downward, being wide awake to their own inter
est, ai)propriate a great })art of the fund of this depart-
ment to their own u^^e, thus following the good example
given them by the Pasha himself, wlio pockets the pub-
lic money right and left, and is said to be immensely
rich in consequence. Being likely sooner or later to lose
his high position, the Pasha is careful to save money, as
it may come in handy some future day. Tiie Custom
HousB is another of the large buildings, is situated high
'•n this river bank, a little below the casernes near the
place where the pontoon stretches across the river, and

SOJOF\?» IN BAOir\B. 151

where the four Bagdad steeimcrs, a^d the rmraerous
bagalows, or Arab boats plving between Bagdad and
Bassorah, ride at anchor. Part of this Custom House is
said to have been in former times the kitchen of Har-
oun al Kashid, the famous caliph, an Arabic inscrip-
tion to that effect, cut in gigantic relieve letters, dating
from those olden times, being carefully preserved and
distinctly legible on the wall facing the river. Every-
body crossing the river by the pontoon has to pas»
through the Custom House, which is swarmino- with
petty officials of every description, shouting, yelling
and cursing all day long, as if they were bound to imi-
tate certain specimens of our so-called civilized Custoir
House officers.

The buildings inhabited by the English and th«
French Consuls, as well as those occupied by the othef
Europeans and some of those of the wealthier natives,
are very substantial and as comfortable as may be
expected in that part of the world, especially those
tenanted by the Europeans, nearly all of which are
situated close to the left river bank, small gardens orly
intervening them and the river.

The houses of the Europeans are well furnished ii?
half European, half Oriental style ; those of the two
above mentioned consuls are rendered conspicuous
amongst them by their tall flag-staffs, in A\hich the
respective owners appear determined to outdo each
other, as if their very existence and their influence
with the Turkish government depended upon the height
of their flao;-staffs.

Probably the largest and most comfortable dwelling
house in Bascdad is the residence of His Roval Hio-h-
ness "Agbal al Daub," late Xawab (king ruler) of
Lucknow (India), who after the Indian mutiny (1857
1850) retired to Bagdad on a pension paid to him by

lo2 SOJOURN IN BAGDAD.

the British government amounting to about $30,000
American gold per annum. lie is said to be im-
mensely rich and to have brought over two hundred
followers along with him from India. Shortlv after
his arrival in the city of the Caliphs, he buTft-for him-
self his harem and his retinue the large residence above
mentioned, situated close to the left bank of the Tigris,
surrounded by beautiful gardens overlooking the river,
and furnished with cverv Asiatic luxury. Ba2:dad
contains between forty and fifty mosques, and as many
minarets (pillar shaped towers of the muezzins, oi
p ubl ic prayer singers). The mosques are spacious, high ,
square buildings, generally faced by an extensive court-
yard, surrounded by a high wall, something like our
penitentiaries. The mosque itself is surrounded by a
large cupola of glazed bricks, or earthen slabs of divere
colors set in mosaic ; every cupola is as previously stated
surmounted by the golden crescent, or moon in her first
quarter, the symbol of Islam. The interior of the
mosque is merely an em]»ty hall, the walls of which are
adorned with verses from the Koran and paintings in
fresco; besides these there are no ornaments in the hall
except perhaps some tall slender pillars of marble or
wood supporting the ceiling, executed in some mosques
in plain Arabic, in others in elegant Moorish or Byzan-
tine style. In some of the chief mosques, a few silver
or gold vessels are suspended by thick silken cords and
tassels from the ceiling or cupola, serving jiartl}' as
lamps and partly as vessels in which to burn frankin-
cense. The whole of fhe floor in the larger mosques
is generally covered with black and white marble slabs,
imported from Koordistan or from Persia, laid in
mosaic. At regular distances from each other, small
carpets are spread on the ground, upon which the
Moslems perform their j^rayers. The native Christians,

SOJOURN IN BAGDAD. 153

the majority of whom are Roman Catholics, had until
lately no other place of worship than the spacious
serdap or vault in the building occupied by the French
missionaries, who with great perseverance and under
considerable difficulties manao-ed a tew vears asjo to get
up a fund, collected by subscription, and amounting tc
about $40,000, with which they built and furnished a
very nice, large chapel in Gothic style. The ten or
twelve Europeans, who are not Roman Catholics are
the worst off", for they have now no place of worship
owing to the English missionaries, who for many years
preached and taught in Bagdad, having been recalled
to the great regret of all ; but especially of the natives
to whom they had been very benevolent, and for the
education of whose children they had worked so deter-
minedly that some of the latter now read and write not
only their own, but also the English language, for which
many of them evinced a great fondness and acquired it
with considerable facility. As to the Americans, who
are all Greek Catholics, they congregate for divine
service in the building occupied by their bishop, a tall,
noble looking old man with flowing silver beard, the
finest featured, and at the same time most venerable
looking old man I ever saw.

MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY.

Class Distinction.— .\. Model Coflfee House. — Camels' Eesting Place. —
Fifty Cents per Day. — Peddling Water. — " Basket Boat." — Social
Life. — Equipped for an Excursion. — Our Guide. — Sighting (la-
zelles. — Training the Falcon and Greyhound.— Arch of Ctesiphon.
— Peculiarities of Women of Bagdad.

The city on the right river bank is considerably
smaller than that on the left, and is occupied by the
most fanatic part of the Moslem poi)ulation of Bagdad,
viz., Persians, Afghans, Koords, and the poorer chisses
of the Turks and Arabs, who will not sutier eitlier a
Jew or a Christian to inhabit this part of the city. The
houses on this side of the Tigris are far inferior in com-
fort and size to those on the left bank, many of them
being mere huts, consisting of four very rough and
carelessly built walls of sun-dried bricks, not over ten
feet hiij^h, and covered with a tiat roof of boughs or
reeds plastered over with a thick layer of mud. Win-
dows, of course, are out of the question. The continually
open doorway and one or two small square holes in the
wall admit sulliciont daylight to enable the inhabitant'?
of the hut to see each other, which is all that is required,
there being no danger of damaging the furniture of
these miserable dwellings, as with the exception of a few
straw mats on the ground and, perhaps, a few earthen
water j ugs, and copper cooking utensils lying in one
corner, and a stark naked babe, or a couple of young
dogs or kids in the other, there is nothing in the whole
hut to obstruct the way.

The right-bank city sports a kind of bazaar for it-

(154)

MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITT. 155

self, situated in the street nearest to the river and run-
ning parallel with the latter. This bazaar, however, is
far inferior to that in the left-bank city, and is only
remarkable for its great number of coffee houses, or
rather coffee drinking establishments, for they are, in
fact, no houses at all ; the proprietor being the happy
inhabitant of a country where rain is almost unknown,
can dispense with a house. The carpenter, therefore,
makes him a few clumsy benches or stools, which he
places in some locality good for business, generally
close to the river's edge, where water is handy and
where customers may enjoy the gentle breeze and splen-
did view of the noble river. If he is a man of sense
and the happy owner of a few piasters, he will invest
his funds in procuring some shade for his customers by
protecting his establishment from the rays of the scorch-
ing sun by means of an awning constructed in the most
primitive manner. Four long poles are stuck upright
into the ground about twenty feet apart, at right angles
with a largre, coarse straw mat extended between them
about twelve feet above the ground. Under this awn-
inor the customers slowly and solemnly take their seats
and patiently wait till the cahnagee or cafetier brings
them a "narghilch" (water-pipe), a"shattab" (long
pipe), or a " sebil " (short pipe), stuffed full of tobacco,
lighted and ready for use; the cahnagee generally
knowins by experience to which of these three tobacco-
smoking implements his customer gives the preference.
While the latter is lazily yielding to the soothing effect
of the tobacco, the cafetier hastens to his kitchen — that
is to a small tire burning between three or four large
bricks stuck upright in the ground— where the coffee
is boiling in an iron or copper pot; which he lifts, boil-
ing hot, from the fire and carries to his customers, fill-
ing a little " fenshan " (a small coffee cup holding not

156 MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY.

more than from one to two tablespoonfuls) witli the
delicious beverage of which he passes one or more fen-
shans full to each customer.

I call it a delicious beverasie, for such in fact it is ;
a widely different mixture from the nauseous drug hon-
ored with the name of coffee as prepared, in many in-
stances, all over the rest of the world. The Arab knows
how to make coffee as it should be made. The Turks
and Persians are pretty good coffee brewers, too, but
nothing in comparison with the Arab. J^either of the
above-mentioned nations ever grind the roasted coffee
kernels, but invariably pound them in iron or stone
mortars, a difference of manipulation which has doubt-
less much to do with the superior flavor of their bever-
age. Their coffee is very thick and strong, without
that disasjrecable taste of beinff boiled down or concen-
trated. Moslems never drink their coffee sweetened
in any way.

This absence of sugar is in my opinion the only
reason that Europeans do not relish the coffee of the
Arabs first; but I have invariably heard those who
had drank it for any length of time declare that they
would never again taste any European coffee.

In that part of the right bank city most remote
from the river are situated the innumeral)le stables for
the camels of the large caravans wjiich arrive at. and
•start from Bagdad almost every day, laden with mer-
chandise from all parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
These stables are of very simple construction, consisting
merely of a series of large or small areas of level ground,
enclosed by rough mud or l)rick walls about ten feet
in height, intersected by one or two large gates. They
are only occupied during the night, as the camels are
driven every morning first to the river to drink, and
thence to the desert which surrounds the suburbs of

AFTER LUNCH IN THE CAF&,

MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY. 159

Baghdad on all sides, where they feed all day on the
Scanty supply of a prickly shrul), generally about eight
inches high, of a light green color, and a very bitter
taste. This plant, the name of which I cannot recol
lec-t, is entirely a native of Arabia; is the only vegetation
in tlie desert, and is exceedingly scanty itself in certain
parts of the country during the hot season. At sunset
the camels are driven back to town, and shut up for
the night in the stables. The suburbs of Bagdad, along
both river banks, are covered with numerous luxuriant
gardens, each surrounded by a mud wall about eight
ieet high. These gardens, owing to the scorching hot
climate of this country, have to be irrigated day and
night almost without interruption, hy means of a kind
of draw well, dug from ten to twenty feet deep into the
bank of the river; out of it the water is drawn by a
pair of oxen or horses, which raise it from the bottom
of the well in a huge leather bag, tied to the end of a
rope, running round a wheel fixed above the mouth of
the well, the other end of which is attached to the
animals working the well. The leather bag is so
arrano;ed that as soon as it arrives at the surface of the
earth, it empties itself into a wooden trough, which
conducts the water into the innumerable small ditches,
that run in different directions all through the gardens,
and, by their uninterrupted suppl}^ of water, cause the
vesretation to remain in a wonderfullv fresh and luxur-
iant state all the year round, so much so indeed that
these gardens amply repay their owners for the ex-
penses of labor and irrigation, by the astonishing
quantity of dates, grapes, mulberries, figs, oranges,
lemons, pomegranates, peaches, plums, almonds, sugar
melons, water melons, all sorts of vegetables, and the
profusion of flowers of every kind which they produce.
I have myself seen a Persian merchant and distiller of

160 MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY.

the fragrant Oriential rpse-oil pay 2,000 Persian Kerans
($500 in gold) cash down, to the proprietor of an
ordinary sized garden, for one season's crop of roses

only.

Living is very cheaj) in Bagdad ; native families
live comfortably on two Kerans (about fifty cents) per
day, and a European, if he is a bachelor, can live with
great comfort on four thousand Kerans per annum,
equal to twenty thousand Turkish piasters, or one
thousand dollars in gold. With this amount he can
rent as comfortable a house as could be found in the
city, keep two or three native servants, one or two
horses, and a good table all the year round. The in-
habitants of Bagdad are obliged to procure from the
river Tigris all the water they use, for there is none
other fresh to be found within twenty miles. The few
cisterns remote from the river contain only bad water,
of a stagnant, saltish taste, which i)roduces malaria and
fever. The Tigris water, though - slightly muddy, is
very good, and may be drank in large quantities with-
out any bad effect, especially wlien filtered, which is
done l)y a peculiar kind of very porous unglazed earthen
jars, or rather, urns, called "sherbi,"' munufactured by
the Araljs. The water is kei)t in these vessels in a
flhady corner of the house, especially where there is a
draught of air. As soon as it is put into the "sherbi "
it begins at once tt) clear, the mud settling at the bot-
tom of the jar, and the air striking the extorior of the
porous urn, soon renders the contents delightfully clear,
and so cool that it almost makes a person's teeth ache
when it is held in the mouth. This Avater is carried
from the river into the houses by jnen or boys called
"saka," ?'. 6"., water carriers, each of whom owns a don-
key and a large leather water bag made of goatskin,
capable of holding about five gallons, which they fill

MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY. I6l

at the river, tie up the mouth with a string and fling
them across the donkey's back, and thus carry it round
to their customers. Thousands of people gain their
livelihood in this way, not only in Bagdad, but all over
the Orient, and are constantly obstructing the narrow
thoroughfares so characterietic of Eastern towns. It
is very amusing to witness the horror of strangers, and
of Europeans especiallj^, at the idea that thej must
quench their thirst with the water of the river in which
thej daily see thousands upon thousands of people of all
ages, sexes, creeds, and colors, bathing, and just as fre-
quently behold a dead camel, horse, mule, donkey, or
dog, drifting down with the current ; sometimes, even
a human corpse advanced in decomposition. Nothing,
indeed, but the excruciating thirst from which strangers
and new comers invariably suffer during the first few
weeks of their residence in Bagdad, could induce them
to break their too hastily made vows never to touch the
water of the river Tigris.

The inhabitants of the banks of both the Tificrie
and the Euphrates, but especially the people of Bagdad,
use a peculiar boat, or rather, a basket, for the purposs
of crossing the river. This boat is called "gooifa" by
the natives, and is in fact nothing but a mammoth bas-
ket, perfectly round and shaped like a round loaf of
bread, or a thick double-cased watch. They are from
four to eight feet in diameter, and will carry from half
a ton to two tons, or from four to twenty persons.
They are made of very strong wicker work thickly
tarred inside and outside, so as to make them perfectly
water-tight. The gooft'a, like the balam, a canoe pre-
viously described, is propelled by either one or two
men, each using a short paddle or oar shaped like a
spoon, or shovel, resembling the paddles of the Indians,
or Esquimaux. With this they manage to move the

162 MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY,

gooffa through the water, slowly enough, however, aa
Bhe has no keel and draws but little water unless heavily
loaded. It is altogether a very clumsy and unwieldy
kind of boat, and can only be propelled against the cur-
rent by dint of great exertion and by^'^?ontinually
changing the paddle, giving alternately one stroke to
the right and one to the left ; but when it has to go for
any considerable distance up the river, it is dragged by
means of a long rope, pulled by one or more men walk-
ing along the river bank. Owing to the scarcity, or
rather, scantiness of wind on the plains of Lower Mes-
opotamia, all the bagalows or sail-boats previously re-
ferred to as plying on the river Tigris between Bagdad
and Bassorah, and on the Euphrates between Ilillah
and Bassorah, carrying merchandise, firewood, etc.,
have to employ, every time they make their up-river
iourney, from four to eight men, who pull the boat along
against the current in the same way that the gooffas
are moved up the river ; the sails of the boat being but sel-
dom swelled sufficiently by the breeze to urge the boat
against the current without the assistance of these men.
As may be presumed, this boat pulling is very hard
work, and what makes it worse, very badly paid, each
man getting but two Turkish piasters per diem, equal
to about nine ce!its in American money. Owing to the
intense heat during the day, these men generally work
only during the night and early in the morning; that is,
from about 6 P. M. till 10 A. M., the bagalow being at
anchor the hottest part of the day, during which period
the whole crew, except the watchman, devote themselves
to the worship of Morpheus. Marauding Bedouins
sometimes surprise and plunder these bagalows, burning
or sinking them, afterwards killing the crew and throw-
nig them in the river if tliey offer any resistance. The
downward journey of these bagalows from Bagdad or

MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY. 163

ITillah to Bassorah consumes generally from four to
eight days, while the up-river journey naturally requires
from two to four weeks.

The goofia is unmistakably the most primitive boat
known. Its fii'st use must date three thousand years
back, as fac-similes of this clumsy craft may be seen on
some of the relics excavated from the ruins of Babylon,
Xineveh, Selencia, etc., and described by Delia Yalle
Eennel, Rich, Xiebuhr, Sayard, Botta, and other
travelers. Another interesting and scarcely less primi-
tive means of navigation is the " keleck," a kind of
small raft, made of a frame work of poles, with boughs
of trees lain crosswise upon it, and fastened to poles by
means of ropes, strips of rawhide, willows, etc. This
raft is supported and lifted at least six inches above the
water by a great number of tooloochs, or inflated goat-
skins, attached to the under part of the raft at distances
from each other, varying from six to twelve inches, so
that a raft ten feet square would be supported by from
one hundred to four hmidred inflated goat-skins, accord-
ing to the weight it is intended to carrj'. The usual
size of these rafts is about fifteen feet in length by
about ten feet in width. They are generally manned by
two men, who work alternately, as the boat is only
provided with one oar, which serves more for steering
than propelling, so that the men have scarcely anything
to do but to keep the keleck nicely in the middle of the
current of the river, or in deep water, to prevent the
tooloochs from getting torn by coming in contact with
snags and sharp rocks. These rafts are of course only
used for'down river navigation; those arriving in Bag-
dad generally come from two large cities higher up the
river from Diarbekir, the capital of Koordistan, anu
from Mossul, the capital of Upper Mesopotamia, whence
they are freighted with merchandise brought by

164 MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY.

caravans from the shores of the Mediterranean sea, the
conveyance by the river being effected much cheaper,
quicker, and safer than by hand. Many of the kelecks
also bring passengers or stone and wood for building
purjioses to Bagdad, there being no large stones to be
found within two hundred miles of that city, nor any
wood (except date-tree wood, which is unfit for building
purposes) thicker than a broom-handle.

The kelecks made for European passengers are
comparatively comfortable, there being generally a little
wooden house built, or a tent pitched for them on the
raft in which they can live quite snugly.

In the spring of 1865, I traveled in company with

Mr. J , a countryman of mine, on one of these kelecks

from Diarbekir to Bagdad, a distance of over 600 miles.
"We journej-ed day and night, making the voyage from
Diarbekir to Mossul in five days, and from Mossul
to Bagdad in six days; but we could have made it
in considerably less time, if we had not stopped at
several of the principal villages situated on the banks
of the river. I shall never forget the beautiful scenery
we occasionally fell in with, especially when seen by
moonlight. We had a capital time, and were very
comfortable indeed ; we cooked our meals on the
keleek, and were well provided with a good stock of
provisions, splendid Diarbekir wine, and Manila cigars.
We liad half a dozen living fowls on board, which
walked about the keleek in perfect liberty, and even
hiid eggs on board, while the cock made himself useful,
by waking us np every morning before sunrise, by his
loud exulting cry. All day long we were firing at
the ducks, geese, flamingos, pelicans, etc., we saw
promenading on the sand banks of the river, and at
night we shot at the numerous herds of wild pigs,
gazelles, and jackals, which came down to the rivor

MORF ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY. 165

to drink, never noticing our keleck as it glided
smoothly, silently down the silvery stream, though the
moon shone so brightly that the night was almost
as light as day. We had good comfortable beds, but
made hardly any use of them, as we passed the night
in singing, talking, and smooking, when tired of
shooting;.

The social life of Bagdad is natu^-ally at a low ebb.
Theatres, balls, concerts, etc., are of course entirely out
of the question. Most of the European residents there
are bachelors. Some of those who are married have
taken native women for their wives, who though try-
ing hard to assume European manners, find it difficult
to throw off the indolence and reserve, and the foolish
bashfulness, characteristic of the women of the Orient,
who, from their defective education, do not care, or
rather cannot undertake to talk about anything but
local matters. The Europeans in Bagdad are therefore
limited to out-door amusements, such as riding, shoot-
ing and boating. Some of them own fine European
built row and sailing boats, but all outdoor exercise
can, during nine months of the year, only be enjoyed
early in the morning and late in the evening, the heat
of the sun being too intense during the remainder of
the day.

Of the five or six European ladies residing in
Bagdad at the time of my visit, most of them have left
there since, owing to their inability to stand the ener-
vatino; climate.

During our stay in Bagdad, we made almost daily
excursions into the neighborhood of the city, partly for
sport, partly for curiosity, and as our friends had placed
their numerous splendid horses at our disposal, we
frequently availed ourselves of their kindness. Our
first excursion of this kind was made about a week

1G6 MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY.

*

after our arrival, to the already described ruins of
Ctesiplion, for the purpose of hunting gazelles with
falcons and Arabian greyhounds, up to then an entire-
ly novel kind of sport to me. I \vitt'*^^ive a brief
account of the incidents of one day's hunt.

W^e left the city two hours before sunset, and keep-
ing our fiery horses in a brisk canter nearly all tlie way,
arrived just at sunset, at the mosque in the imme,
diate neiichborhood of the ruins of Taak Kesra, The
janitor of the mosque is a Bedouin named Abdallah
ebn Ismael (Abdallah son of Ismael) well known
among the Arabs of that district as a very skill ul
falconer, greyhound trainer, and horse-breaker. lie
seemed to feel highly honored by the unexpected visit
of six "Frankies." (Europeans). On hearing the
cause of our call, he at once declared himself ready to
comply with our wishes. Long before daybreak he
rf'Uscd us from our morning sleep, and we started for
the field of action, our JJedouin leading the little caval-
cade, riding on an outrageously ugly pony, entirely
iimocent of horse shoes, which, by the way, the Be-
douins never use. He wore the usual loose dark
brown woolen Bedouin gown, with a scarf round his
loins. On his outstretched right hand, which was
covered with a tliick leather glove, was perched a
powerful falcon, about the size of a full grown kite,
with a gaudily ornamented leather cap drawn tiglitly
over its head. In his left hand he held his horse'a
bridle and a lonii* line drawn throuu^h the collars of
two rough-haired, dreadfully lean, thoroughbred grey-
hounds, trotting silently by the side of their master's
pony, ready to be slipped at a moment's notice. Our
guide was closely followed by his son, a boy about
twelve years old, mounted and equipped like hia
father; my friends and myself followed, riding silently?

MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICTNITY. 167

in Indian file. The two Bedouins were each armed only
with a long knife, while we wore revolvers in case we
should be attacked by Bedouins, who are notorious for
committing highway robberies in that neighborhood.

'We rode about six miles into the desert, in a due
easterly direction, when day began to break and,
soon after we discovered a herd of about twenty
gazelles ahead of us, quietly feeding on the scanty her-
bage and shrubbery of the parched plain. Our Bedouin
motioned us to slacken our horses' pace, to ride slow-
ly ahead two abreast and close together, while he
swerved at an angle of about forty-five degrees from
the course he had hitherto taken, and Ave followed
closely in his tracks, passing the gazelles within a
quarter of a mile. The graceful animals, always wide
awake and ready to bound away, could not help seeing
U8 at a long distance, as the desert seemed one endless
level; but havhig perfect confidence in their trul}'
wonderful speed, they did not heed us at all, till we
swerved from the track, when they raised their heads
to look at us, apparently wondering what we were
dodging about for so early in the morning ; but seeing
us proceed quietly and silently in a slightly slanting
direction, they soon felt confident that we did not mean
mischief, and resumed their feeding. Their suspicions
had no sooner been lulled than the Bedouin slowly and
almost imperceptibly resumed his former direction so
that we got within three hundred yards of them, when
a noble old buck, the leader of the herd, proudly drew
up his head, furnished with a beautiful set of knf)tted
finely horns, and repeatedly stamped the ground with
one of his tapering fore feet, as if to warn his
company of imminent danger; whereupon the^' all drew
up their heads almost simultaneously to watch our
movements. Directly a sort of commotion was clearly

/68 MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY.

discernible among theili, followed by a sort of sharp
nasal whistle or cry issuing from the nostrils of the
wily old buck, and off they bounded with astonishing
velocity and elasticity of limb over the^^arren flats,
leavino; but a little cloud of dust behind to indicate
the course which they had taken. But, alas! in spite
of all their speed, they were overtaken ; for the moment
the old buck blew his whistle, the cap of the falcon
was removed, and almost simultaneously the gallant
bird rose into the air, like an arrow sped from the bow ;
at the same time the dogs, which had all the time kept
remarkably quiet by our .side, though they had espied
the gazelles as soon as we did, were slipped from the
leash, and shot off at an alarming pace after the nimbel
fugitives. With a cry of joyous excitement we
thundered in pursuit, as fast as our horses could pelt
over the rouirh e-round, the surface of which was rent
i 1 many places with innumerable clefts of considerable
width and depth, caused by the excessive heat of the
climate, exceedingly dangerous for both rider and steed.
A horse going at full speed would certainly break
his legs if he made but one false step, and put his foot
in one of the gaping crevices, some of which were at
least live feet doep by eight inches wide. Luckily all
of our horses were so sure-footed that no accident hap-
pened, and our small troop kept well together, led by
the two Bedouins who, though mounted on ugly luilf
starved looking nags, had such confidence in their
steeds, that they dropped the bridles on tlie horses' necks,
and never once looked on the rough ground before them -,
but kept their eyes steadily fixed on a scarcely visible
black spot high in the air, which was nothing less than
the gallant ialcon darting like a thunderbolt from the
« louds into the midst of the terror stricken gazelles
nr.d ali^rhtino; on the head of one of the finest of the

MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY. 169

herd, took a firm hold with his long, sharp claws, as
well as with his heak, on the skin of the forehead of
the doomed gazelle. This done, he began to hatter the
eyea of tlie trembling fugitive with his large powerful
wings, with so much effect as to cause it to lag behind
its fleet comjianions, so completely absorbed in the
desperate but vain endeavor to shake off its audacious
tormentor, by tossing its head in every direction, or by
transfixing him with its sharp horns, that the hapless
creature quite forgot the two large panting grey-
hounds, who came bounding towards it with incredible
speed.

Another moment and the noble gazelle rolled over
and over, raising a cloud of dust, and was instantly pini-
oned to the ground by its fierce canine pursuers. The hap-
less animal uttered a loud and truly piteous death-cry,
and struggled hard until the Bedouin, who arrived first on
the spot, leaped from his horse and put an end to the
agonies of the poor creature with a quick cut across its
throat. At the sight of blood, the falcon, who had
never let go his hold during the whole scufile, even at
the risk of his life, now changed his position for the
purpose of feeding upon the reeking flesh of his victim,
which he attacked with the voracity peculiar to his
species. The gallant bird had not tasted food for three
days, the falconers being obliged to starve their birds
and hounds to induce them to chase any game. Some=
times they are not fed even after having caught their
victim, in order to force them to hunt a second, or third
time the same day, which they will not do after their
hunger is appeased. The plucky dogs, as soon as the
gazelle had expired, thre^^ themselves flat on the ground,
panting heavily and apparently in great distress, for
the chase had been long and hard. The Bedouin boy,
however, soon restored them by sprinkling over their

170 B«ORE ABOUT eAQD^lD AND VTCINTTT.

heads, Cv^&st3, and bellies, the water he carried in the
skin atta:;hed to his horsci's saddle for that puriwse.

After about a quarter of an liour's rest, the boy
attached the gazelle to his saddle, and we slowly re-
traced )ur way to Ctesiphon, the beams Q£»the suu
already beginning to be intensely hot, although it was
hardly more than two hours after sunrise. The Bed-
ouins seldom if ever chase the gazelle after sunrise,
considering it foolish to overstrain their horses and
gre^'hounds ; moreover, they all assert that the heat of
the early morning sun is far more injurious to man
and beast than at any other time during the remainder
of the day, as the change of temperature is far greater
and more abrupt from night to morning than from
evening to night. On our way home we espied, both
on our right and left, several other small herds ; they
were very shy, however, and made off before we could
get within half a mile of them ; besides, both of the
dogs weot lame, so we had good reasons for not trying
another chase. Not far from Taak Kesra we started
seveni^ bustards, called by the Arabs " hoobarah."

These large birds are of a bluish gray and white
color, in shape and size very much like a large goose.
On their heads they carry a tuft of feathers which can
be raised like a cockatoo's. They are exceedingly shy
and take readily to wing, but will settle again soon if
not pursued. They live on grass and other vegetable
matter, and their flesh, though not as juicy as that of
the domestic goose, is very good. The Arabs hunt
them with falcons, which, when properly trahied, attack
and kill them with great dexterity by darting at their
heads and picking out their eyes. The bustard, when at-
tacked by the falcon, ruffles ujj his feathers j ust like a tur-
key, and ma^es a few awkward attempts to show fight
with his bill, when the idea seems to strike him that it is

MORS ABOUT BAGDAD AND \^CINITY. 171

better to run or fly away, and " live to fight another day."
The falcon, however, means business. He soon over-
takes and attacks the cowardlv bird with a will, not
leaving oft' till he has disabled or killed his victim,
which is not always an easy matter, for the cowardly
bustard has the power of ejecting with fatal precision,
a sticky, offensive matter from under its tail, which, if
thrown in the eyes of his antagonist, will instantly
blind him, and should it fall on his plumage render
him incapable of flying ; a punishment which so dis-
gusts a falcon that, if once energetically served in this
way by a bustard, can never be induced to face one of
these nasty customers again. Our second and smaller
falcon baggtd three of them on the way home without
meeting with any mishap.

The Arabs train the falcon in the following way :
They starve them, and oblige them from youth to eat
all the food they get (consisting invariably of fresh raw
meat) from the forehead of a stuffed gazelle's head, on
which the meat is fastened by a string. As soon as the
falcon has settled on the stuffed animal's head and be-
gins to tear away the meat, the head is waved to and
fro in every direction, in order to teach the bird to
stick fast to his prey and by no means allow himself to
be shaken off. When the falcon has learned a little of
what he is required to do in future, the meat is tied on
the forehead of a tamed, living gazelle, or a gazelle
colored goat. As soon as the leather cap, which they
are obliged to wear almost continually, is removed, the
falcon flies to attack the meat voraciously, inserting his
claws into the skin of the poor animal, which, tortured
by the pain, tries, of course, to shake off its tormentor
by violently tossing its head in all directions, rolling on
the ground, etc. Th^ falcon, determined to stick to the
meat, naturally flaps his wings to retain his equilibrium,

172 MORE ABOUT BAGDAD AND VICINITY.

which serves to confuse and blind the animal, on whose
head he is so obstinately perched. Sometimes, though
not often, the gazelle succeeds in killing its tormentoi',
by transfixing him with its sliarp-pointed horns, or by
squeezing him to death by rolling itself on*fRe ground.
The Arabs often hunt the gazelle without falcons,
merely with greyhounds ; but this is always killing
work for the poor horses and greyhounds, and can only
be accomplished after several days' rain, when the sur-
face of the earth becomes moist and cloggy. Then the
gazelle hunters grease the feet of their horses and dogs
so thoroughly that the mud will not stick to them,
while it does to the feet of the gazelles, and so much
impedes the speed of the latter that they may be over-
taken both by horses and dogs. In dry weather and on
solid ground, however, no other living creature than
the falcon, or some very fast flying bird, can compete in
speed with this fleetest of quadrupeds. The Bedouins,
also, occasonally hunt the gazelle on camels, as it is less
afraid of the approach of the camel than of the horse.
By dint of great patience, and by lying flat on their
faces on the camel's back, as if asleep, the wily Bed-
ouins approach within a hundred j'ards of a herd, and
van easily bring them down with a shot.

J

XL.

VISITING HISTORIC PARTS.

Akr Koof^Median Wall — Origin— Monument of Zobaida — The old
Janitor — Mosque of El Madem -Golden Crescent —" Tromba " Gar-
dens'Proceeds - Visited by Ladies of the Harem— Mysterious Hillah
— Night Visit to a sleeping Kahn — Jackals — Chasing Bedouins—
Mahawal— Our Reception — The Astonished Guide — The Mounds —
Sumptuous Meal — Mayor's Residence— Soldiers' Wash-day.

A fcAv days after this gazelle hunt we made another
very interesting excursion to the ruins of "Akr Xoof,"
situated about twelve miles to the northwest of Bagdad,
on the southern bank of a little river called Xahr Esa
Saklawia, and which appears to have formerly been a
canal connecting the river Euphrates with the Tigris.
We started from Bagdad a little before da3'iight, five
of us in number, accompanied by almost as many
servants carrj'ing provisions, and all mounted on horse-
back. The first part of our way led along the right
bank of the lovely Tigris, embedded between evergreen
gardens and tall stately date-trees, till we reached "El
Hor" or "El Chor," a little choked-up right-hand
tributary of the Tigris, joining the latter just below
Bagdad. Here the gardens and date-trees gave way to
immense clusters of tall red grass, densely covering
both banks of the swampy rivulet which appears to have
formerly been connected by a canal with the Xahr Esa
Saklawia above mentioned. Its reedy banks are fairly
alive with wild ducks, geese, flamingos, cranes, and
other waterfowl, of the first mentioned species of which
we shot a goodly number. On our arrival at Akr Koof
we were rather disappointed to find that all the ruins

(178)

174 VISITING HISTORIC PARTS.

visible on the spot consisted of a few tumuli, or mounds,
most of them perforated with holes dug by the Arabs
in search of antiques. One of ''.hese tumuli, a little
larger than the rest, is surmounted by a low square
tower, which must formerly have been of coTisTderable
height ; but the three to four thousand years which have
witnessed its existence have succeeded in reducing the
tower (one of the most interesting architectural relics
of that period) to its jiresent dimensions of about one
hundred feet in height by about eighty feet in diameter.
It is built of large sundried bricks intersected by layers
of petrified clay and reedgrass ; its upper part is still in
comparatively good preservation, but its base, owing
no doubt to the frequent excavations of the natives in
search of antiques or treasure, is fast crumbling to
pieces. The structure docs not appear to have had any
windows; there are not even any indications that it was
funiishcd with loopholes, at least as for down as the
present height of the tower. "What struck me now
most, in the aspect of these remai'kable ruins, was the
fact that there is no opening visildc by which one
may gain access to the tower. The Arabs, some of
Avhom are sai<l to have climbed the ruins on the out-
side, say that the walls are immensely thick ; but that
there is no access to tlie interior, owins: to its beino;
entirely filled up with debris of brick and mortar
intermixed with sand.

This tower is saiil by archfrologians to have been
used as a fortress as well as a lookout. Even in its
present state of greatly rcfluced height, it must com-
mand a view of more tlian two liundrcd square miles
of the perfectly flat valley of the Tigris and Eujjh rates.
Akr TCoof is supposed to be of great age. ITistory,
however, only casually mentions it, and does not give
tlie date of its destruction. About twelve miles higher

VISITING HISTORIC PARTS. 177

up the plain, where the country reassumes the aspect
of the desert, lie the huge remains of the famous Median
wall, called by the Arabs " Sidd Ximrood," which we
reached after an hour's brisk ride across the parched
and dreadfully monotonous plain. This wall formerly
stretched from the northern bank of the river Euphrates
right across the whole country lying between the two
great rivers to the southern bank' of the river Tigris.
Viewed from afar the remains of this mammoth wall
strikingly resemble a long chain of high, steep and flat-
topped hills of equal height, or the remains of the
wall of Soliman Bhag, previously described in my
report on the ruins of Ctesiphon and Selenica. The
Median wall is, like the latter, merely an earthwall, but
is of immensely larger size, as, to judge from the
remains still visible on the ground, it must have
originally measured at least one hundred feet in height,
from eighty to one hundred feet in thickness, and from
sixty to seventy miles in length. It is supposed, as its
Arabic name implies, to have been built by j^imrod,
one of the earliest rulers of Babylonia or Chaldea.*
Accordino- to tradition the wall was surrounded bv
huge towers, or forts built of bricks, stationed at regular
distances from each other. These forts were garrisoned
all the year round by large numbers of Babylonian
warriors.

As to its origin, historians and archseologians
greatly difter in their opinions ; some, as above stated,
ascribe it to Ximrod, who according to biblical tradi-
tion ruled over the country about 2200 years B.C. ;
others date its origin to about 1000 B.C., and its com-
pletion to about 700 B.C. The latter opinion, however,
is probably incorrect. However this may be, it is cer-
tain that this mammoth structure must have been the

* Genesis x, 8-10.

178 VISITING HISTORIC PARTS.

work of hundreds of thousands of human beings,
lasthig perhaps for centuries; even the fastidious
Greeks considered it one of the architectural wonders
of the world. It was unmistakably -SMiformidable
barrier, the assault and capture of which in times when
gunpowder and artillery were not yet dreamed of, and
defended as it was by an army of desperate warriors,
must have been a very difficult task for any invader.
The tooth of time has, however, left sad marks on this
relic of ancient history, as the wall is now scarcely
more than half of its orisrinal size and intersected or
leveled to the ground for many miles; but whether its
destruction has been accomplished by the hand of man,
by earthquakes, or by floods, cannot be ascertained.
What struck me most vividly, on my visit to the
Median w^all, was the circumstance that there are no
ditches or hollows visible all over the country', except
the canals in the neighborhood, which seems to imply
that the immense quantity of earth required for the
construction of the gigantic wall, must either have
been the material dug out of the canals which intersect
tliis part of the country, brought thither from a great
distance, or that large hills, scattered over the ])lains,
must have been leveled to furnish the requisite material.
I iHso noticed the same peculiarity on the walls of
Soli man Bhao;.

Leaving the ]\rcdian wall about 3 P. M., we rode
ten miles in a southeasterly direction, when we reached
"Tell Heir," a little Arab village on the right bank of
the Tigris, where wo rested our horses for an hour.
Resuming our journey, we followed the road down-
ward along the banks of the stately river, and arrived
in Bagdad just before the gates were closed for the
night.

Three days afterwards, we paid a visit to the

VISITING HISTORIC PARTS. 179

"Monument of Zebeida," or "Zobaida,"a kind of huge
mausoleum, said to have been erected by Haroun al
Raschid, the caliph, in memory of his favorite wife,
who died on that very spot in the prime of youth and
feminine beauty. The mausoleum is erected on a sandy,
slightly elevated spot, about three miles west of
Bagdad, between the river Tigris and the rivulet " El
Hor," near their confluence. The monument is a square
building constructed of large yellowish gray bricks,
and measures about one hundred feet on each side by
about thirty feet in height. This structure seems to
have been intended as a kind of pedestal to a large
round spiral-shaped tower cut off horizontally on the
top — the probable height of the monument or mauso-
leum, including the tower, being between one hundred
and twenty and one hundred and fifty feet. The roof
of the lower building or pedestal is flat; on each corner
of this platform protrudes a small cupola, which forms
the ceiling or rather vault of a chamber underneath.
Access to the top of the tower must be gained from
the inside, as the breadth of the spiral-shaped windings
round the tower hardly exceeds eighteen inches, a space
too narrow to permit an ascent from the outside. The
whole structure has but one door, and no windows at
all, air and light being admitted by a series of small
loopholes in different parts of the building. Xone but
Mohammedans are allowed access to the interior, which
I have been told looks like an ordinary mosque. The
janitor of the building is an old gray-haired dervish or
Mohammedan priest, who is said never to leave the
premises.

We also enjoyed several very interesting visits on
horseback to the mosque of " El Madem," which is only
about four miles north of Bagdad, and scarcely a mile
distant from the left bank of the Tigris. This mosque

180 VISITING UISTORIC PARTS.

is the most beautiful place of Mohummedan worship, not
only of Bagdad, but of all Mesopotamia. It is a square
building of large size. Its tall and slender minarets,
and bold cupolas, gorgeously ornamented with white,
green, blue, yellow and black mosaic wor^,^ glazed all
over, and glittering like diamonds in the sun. High
over these shines the golden crescent, the symbol of
Islam, visible far, far away in the desert, serving as a
guiding star or compass to the weary traveler on the
sandy ocean, perched on his animated ship, the faithful
dromedarj'. The mosque " El Madem " is surrounded
on all sides by gardens filled with tall and slender date-
trees, most luxuriant shrubbery and fruit-trees. " El
Madem " is said to be the burial place of several of the
caliphs of Bagdad, and like most of the places of
Moslem worship is inaccessible to unbelievers. The
only mosque I ever entered is that of Sultan Hussein
or Hassan, in Cairo, in Egypt, which is, I believe, the
only one in the world accessible to visitors of all creeds.
Between " El Madem " and the left bank of the Tigris
are situated the " Tromba " gardens, belonging to the
Turkish government, or rather the latter has assumed
the })roprietorship of them, in the arbitrary manner
with which it usually settles disputes regarding mine
and thine. These beautiful gardens are of great
extent, and though very little trouble is taken to kee[)
them in order, they are filled with the most beautiful
flowers and delicious fruit which this exceedingly
fertile country is capable of producing when projjcrly
irrigated. The annual proceeds from the sale of flowers,
esftecially roses and jasmine, as well as of oranges,
lemons, dates, mullierries, guavas, figs, pomegranates,
plums, peaches, grapes, melons, cucumbers, etc., from
these gardens, are really astonishing. Near the entrance
is situated a kind of summer house, or pavilion, resorted

VISITING HISTORIC TARTS. 181

to bj the members of the Pasha's harem, who frequently
visit these gardens ; during their visits, however, no-
body else is admitted. On such occasions the female
department of the Pasha's establishment forms a vei-y
numerous and amusing cavalcade; the ladies of the
harem carefully veiled, riding astride, (as is customary
with the female sex throughout Asia and Africa,) on
their snow-white, richly caparisoned donkeys of a breed
indigenous only to Bagdad, Bassorah, and Kuwrit,
justly prized for their size and superior qualities, and
therefore much in demand throughout Mesopotamia,
Arabia, and Syria. This gay female cavalry is sur-
rounded on all sides by numerous eunuchs, mostly
Xubian or Abyssinian negroes, forming a bodyguard
armed to the teeth, and looking consequently rather
dangerous on their beautiful and wildlj^ prancing Arab
horses. These w^orthies are, however, not near as des-
perate as they look ; most abject cowardice is the pro-
minent features in their real character, and not one of
them could in case of danger muster courage enough
to defend the hapless women under his charge, but
would at once make use of his splendid charger to put as
great a distance as possible between himself and the
scene of danger.

A week or two after our visit to " Aler Koof " and
" Sidd Ximrood," we made preparations for a visit to
Babylon, mysterious Babylon ! that mammoth city over
which more than four thousand years have passed,
nearly one-half thereof in dismal silence and desola-
tion. Wc started, five in number, accompanied by two
cavasses (body guards) and two native servants, all of
us well mounted, on Saturday afternoon from Bagdad,
in a due southerly direction on the road to Ilillah.
The sun was still high above the horizon when we
issued from the gates of Bagdad, and gave us the full

182 VISITINa HISTORIC TARTS.

benefit of its scorcli'iiig rays, as we emerged from
beneath the hist of the shady date trees which grow
along tlie road, as far as it leads along the river; but
we soon found ourselves on the barren plain. Kuow-
iiiff that we should have moonlio;ht almost all through
the night, we rode leisurely till about 7 P. M., when the
fiery orb of day slowly and majestically disappeared
behind the solitary chain of sandhills, at the uttermost
edge of the western horizon, the summits of which
retained their hue of burnished gold long after sunset.
As soon as the moon rose we accelerated our puce, and
after riding till about 9 o'clock over a perfectly flat,
barren, and apparently quite uninhabited country, we
heard the distant barking of various dogs, and soon
after perceived about a mile ahead, the dark outlines
of the khan, or caravanserai of Bironoos about twenty-
two miles from Bagdad, where we gave our horses a
few liours' rest. The night being beautifully clear and
pleasant, and our company in the best spirits, we
availed ourselves of this opportunity to look at the
caravanserai. It is a large substantial Ijrick building,
about two hundred feet square, with walls about twenty
feet in heiglit, and over three feet thick. About
fifteen feet above the ground, and all around the build-
ing was a row of loop holes, or small openings for the
admittance of air and light, the only openings in the
walls, except the i)()nder()U8 iron bound wooden gate
which stands open all day, but is shut in the evening.
Above the door is an inscription in large, blue Arabic
letter informing the reader that this khan or caravan-
serai was erected at the expense of a wealthy Persian
mercliant for the })rotection and shelter of weary
travelers; a very sensible gift in a country where law-
less bands of Bedouins continually prowl about the
plains, to attack and plunder solitary travelers anc^

VISITINQ HISTORIC PARTS. 183

small caravans, committiug atrocious murders, some-
times even before the very gates of Bagdad. Shelter is
very welcome both to man and beast, during the

hottest part of the day, on the parched plains, where
there is not a tree, not a building to afford shade,
not a drop of water within many miles. The
inside of the caravanserai consists of a series of
vaulted rooms and corridors, where it is delightfully
cool during the day, and where man and beast enjoy
shelter from the scorching rays of the sun. A large
square open to the sky occupies the centre of the build-
ing. In the middle of the square is a cistern or draw
well some forty Or fifty feet deep, from which the
water is drawn by a leather bucket attached to a rope.
From each corner of the interior of the buildino; nar-
row stairs lead up to the flat roof, which, like that of
all Arabian buildings, is used as a resting place at
night. On the roof soon after sunset all the inmates
regularly spread their carpets or straw mats, and retire
to sleep, the heat issuing from the earth, rendeiing the
atmosphere in these vaulted rooms so intensely hot
toward evening that it is impossible to sleep down
stairs ; besides this, thousands of mosquitos, centipedes,
scorpions, rats, mice, etc., emerge from the crevices of
the walls, and from the earth as soon as the sun sets.
Not one of these disagreeable creatures will molest roof
sleepers, and there you can enjoy the gentle breath of
a delightfully refreshing breeze, and the beauties of a
starlight night, such as can be only enjoyed in Arabia
and Lower Mesopotamia.

When our party arrived at the caravanserai the
court-yard was filled with horses, mules, donkeys, and
camels, many of them saddled and packed ready to con-
tinue their journey. We soon discovered that most of
the inmates of the caravanserai were Persians, without

184 VISITTIiG HISTORIC PABTSL

havins: as yet seen auv of them, they beincc nearly all
asleep up<Mi the roof. It is easy in Arabia to discoyer
the creed and nationality of a trayeler from the appear-
ance and etijuipments of the animal he bertftdes. The
larsce number of mules in the yard; the numerous dach-
terwans (a kind of trayeling se«lan chair for ladies and
invalids) ; the large pear shape«l bells attached to the
latter, the thick, bony, short-necketi, and yisoious horses,
yelling, bitiuaj and kiekins^ indiscriminately at each
other ; the peculiarities of their saddles and bridles, and
the sonorous yoiee of some sleepy, but as yet invi-sible
niukaree (muleteer) invoking in a strange tongue fright-
tul curses on the noisy horses — all these things made
OS at once aware of the fact that the greater f»art of our
fellow-trayelers were Persians, accomj>;iined by many of
the fair sex, engaged in a pilgrimage to Kerl>ela, or
Mushc<l Hussein, the Mecca of the Persians, Afghans,
Turcomans, many of whom cannot affonl the jouniey
to the real Mecca. The khan of Tuwibah is situated
just at the point where the main road divides into two
branches, that leading to the right is the direct road
to Kerbela, and the lett branch leads straight toHillah.
Kr-rliela lies al>out twentv-five miles southwest, and
Ilillah about twenty-five miles due south from this
i-aravanserai. A curiosity to learn how far we were

•

out of our reckoning in supposing the grciiter part of
the inmates of the khan to be Persians, naturally
induced us to go up stairs on the roof, oi platform,
where we well knew we should fin«l them all, or nearly
all sound a-leep. When we reached the roof, we found it
oci'Upiefl by over two hundred people, male and female,
young and old,stretche«l on their l»eils,carpet>5, or straw
mats, some even on their abl^s (traveling cloaks),
saddles, and luggage, all apj^arently sound asleep.
Except three Nubian slaves, nobody seemed to haT«

VISITING fflSTORIC PAETSk 185

noticed our arrival, and the promiscuous snoring of
some of the sleepers did not diminish at all during our
inspection of the roof. The three slaves were rather
crouching than sitting near the stairs bj which we
ascended, two of them with their naked ebonv backs
of athletic forms turned toward us, were busilj engaged
in conversation in a foreiorn tonsrue in a scareelv audible
undertone, while the third, who up to the time of our
appearance had calmlv listened to the two others,
resumed the slow and long drawn pull at his almost
neglected narghileh. His expressive and steady gaze
at us did not fail to attract the attention of his two
friends, who, turning half round on their haunches,
eyed us for a moment, and then quietly resumed their
conversation.

Though rather jovially disposed, we were anxious
not to disturb the rest of our weary fellow travelers,
so silently walked to the other end of the roof, as if in
search of a comfortable place to lie down. Passing
noiselessly along, we came first to about a dozen
Armneians, who, with the exception of one or two old
fellows, were all young men, and, to all appearance, native
of Bagdad, and dealers in spices, as the strong odor of
the contents of the packages serving them as pillows
seemed to indicate. They were all fast asleep, and
badly armed, as I saw but two or three double-barreled
oTins of cheap Belgian make, and a few single-barreled
pop pistols in their possession. A little further on we
eame to a group of Jews, easily recognized in the beau-
tifully clear moonlight by the peculiar features, which
betray the members of the Hebrew race all over the
world, and never to be mistaken whether you meet
them in the eastern or western hemisphere. Some of
the Jewish merchants were probably proceeding to
Hillah, for the purpose of bartering with the Arabs of

186 VISITING HISTORIC PARTS.

that neigliborbood for antiques, which the latter continu-
ally excavate or pick upon the site of Ancient Babylon.
Near them lay a Hebrew family, consisting, apparently,
of a father, mother and two grown up dau^jj;^ters. The
latter had, evidently, on going to rest, taken care not
to remove their " pagies " — the little square veils made
of horse hair — not only in order to keep the glare of
the moonlight from their faces, but also to avoid being
gazed at by intruders while asleep. Unluckily their
precautions were of no avail, for either they had found
the heat too great, and had voluntarily unveiled them-
selves, or, while turning from side to side, the misera-
ble stiff fabric must have slipped off. At any rate, we
gazed upon the charming faces, whose peaceful, angelic
expression was naturally heightened by the calm moon-
light. The old lady alone, whom we easily recognized
by the wrinkles on her hands and neck, had her veil
fixed in its proper position. I A\as iifraid that some of
my jovial companions would cough, or by some means
awaken and greatly scare the young sleeping beauties ;
but it seemed as if, for the moment, a sudden feeling of
solemnity i)ervadcd our whole J)arty, and they were all
so quiet that you might have heard a mosquito buzzing
in the air.

N^oiie of the Jews were armed ; at least there were
no arms visible near them ; in fact it is my belief that,
as a rule, they never carry arms, and, when attacked,
they will readily deliver up all they i)Ortsess to save tlieir
lives. I have often traveled with Oriental Jews, and
never noticed their bearing arms of any kind, but for
what reason I cannot explain ; for though the Hebrew
of the present day has but very rarely made himself
conspicuous by his valor and combat iveness, the exploits
of his ancestors, such as Saul, David, Sampson, etc.,
sufficiently prove that cowardice is not a hereditary

VISITING HISTORIC PARTS. 187

evil of that nation. They seldom travel alone, but gen-
erally place themselves under the protection of caravans,
or hire men to escort them. In the corner opposite
that iji which the three negroes were conversing and
smoking, a portly Turkish officer, girded with sword
and pistols, slept on a carpet, his horse's saddle serving
him as a pillow, while around him, stretched on straw
mats, were scattered six or eight dirty-looking soldiers
in thread-bare uniforms, snoring away lustily, each
with his hand on his saddle, and his musket within
reach of his hand. Doubtless this small posse of men
accompanied as an escort the four Turkish merchants,
who glept closely surrounded by a heap of trunks, bags
and other traveling gear, and who seemed to be men of
wealth, judging from their bedding and the jewelry on
their hands. Still further on, stretched on their Abbas
(coarse woolen cloaks), lay the dark, half-naked forms
of about twenty Bedouins, evidently the owners or in
charge of numerous camels down in the yard, as their
neglected beards and mustache, their coarse, loose dress,
bare feet and wild appearance in general seemed to in-
dicate, without mentioning their arms, consisting of a
profusion of long lances, peculiarly-shaped Bedouin
guns, with enormously long, thin barrels, fire-lock pis-
tols, yataghans (curved swords), daggers, etc., all care-
fully placed close at hand, ready in case of an attack.

A great portion of the other end of the room was
20vered with sleepers of unmistakably Persian nation-
ality, at least one hundred in number. Their stalwart
forms, jet black bail', glossy beards and mustaches, the
palms of their hands, and their finger nails stained with
henna; their tall, sugar-loaf shaped hats of black lamb-
skin, their tight fitting coats, wide trousers, richly
colored stockings, and peculiar shaped canvas shoes,
the well known short, straight, double-bladed swords,

188 VISITING HISTORIC PARTS.

the long thin-barreled pistols, the sharp, bent, broad
daggers, richly inlaid with silver or gold — all betrayed
their origin. A kind of screen, built of trunks, cases,
saddles, tents, cooking utensils, etc., separated them
from their women and children, of whom there must
have been at least fifty, judging from the space they
occupied. Through the interstice* of their temporary-
screen we could see several of the sleeping females, all
of whom api)eared to have their faces covered wnth
white muslin veils. The Persian women are all ridicu-
lously determined never to allow a stranger to see their
features. In this respect they are far more particular
than any other women of the Orient. Though we would
have liked to draw a comparison between the looks of
the two fair Jewish maidens, and some of the Persian
beauties, we did not get a chance, and, therefore, thought
it advisable to retreat as quietly as possible without de-
lay ; for though we were well armed, and not afraid of
fighting, we well knew the vindictive and fanatic char-
acter of the Persians, especially when they fancy their
women to have been insulted by unbelievers; moreover,
they were at least twenty times our number. It was
high time for us to retreat, for hardly had we gained
the other end of the roof, when — bang, bang — went
two shots in succession, which, of course, awoke every
sleeper in the khan, ^fany of them, as they jum])ed to
their feet, grasj)ed tlieir arms firmly, believing that the
khan was attacked by Bedouins. They were, however,
foolishly and unnecessarily scared bv the ridiculous
conceit of the young Armenifui spice merchant, who,
during our inspection of the sleepers, being thirsty, had
risen, and, in advancing toward his leather water-bag
lying on the wall, had seen some animal, probably a
miserable jackal or desert wolf, prowling about the low-
shrubbery round the khan. Thinking no doubt that

VISITINa HISTORIC PARTS. 189

he might gain some credit by a good shot, he seized his
$10 gun and blazed away.

It was about 2 A.M. when our cavasses informed us
that our horses were ready to continue the journey, and,
ten minutes afterward, we rode out of the gates of the
khan, and advanced leisurely toward Hillah, where we
expected to arrive before sunrise, as it was only about
twenty-five miles distant from Tuweibah. The night
was still beautifully clear, though the atmosphere was
ratlier hot ; a solemn stillness reigned over the desert,
interrupted occasionally by the melancholy call of some
invisible night-bird soaring through the air high above
our heads. Sometimes we heard a bustling noise, and
saw the shadows of a herd of fugitive gazelles, startled
by our approach, vanish with the rapidity of the wind.
N^ow and then we could see the dark outlines of a
couple of jackals cunningly and distrustfully eyeing us
from the top of some neighboring sandhill. Often, as
our small cavalcade passed silently by, these wily ani-
mals stood in such tempting proximity to each other,
as well as to us, that we could with difficulty abstain
from trving a shot at them ; but it had been ao-reed that
no unnecessary shot should be fired under any pretence
whatever during our night excursions, in order to avoid
attracting the attention of marauding Bedouins, who
prowl around the country in gangs of from five to fifty
strong, on their matchless horses, in search of plunder,
especially during the season of the Ramadan, the great
fasting month of the Moslems, the time when the
greatest number of Persian pilgrim caravans proceed
to Kerbela. European travelers are, however, much
less exposed to thenfr attacks than any other people,
partly because the Bedouins are well aware that Euro-
peans when traveling through this country are alwavs
well armed, well escorted, and will generally show fight

190 VISITING HISTORIC TARTS.

when attacked. lu such ' cases they know well how to
handle a rifle or revolver. The Bedouins know also
that Europeans seldom travel through their country on
business, but almost invariably for pleasure, -suid, there-
foi'c, seldom carry money or goods enough to counter-
balance the risk of attacking them. The Bedouin is
individually a coward, and only shows fight when in
3U{)erior numbers ; but the sight of a killed or wounded
companion, or even a slight scratch on his own person,
will reduce his courage at once to zero, and he disap-
pears phantom-like on his fleet charger as suddenly as
he came.

About half-way between Tuweibah and ITillah we
arrived at the banks of a dried-up rivulet, a tributary
of the Euphrates. When we were fully one hundred
yards from this spot a most horrible stench oti'onded
our olfactory organs, which by experience we knew to
be produt'cd by some dead body, either human or aiii
mal, far advanced in <lecomposition lying near by, but
where we could not tell at first. Soon after crossin<r
the rivulet, we perceived about one hundred yards oft'
on our riijht the dead bodies of two mules or horses
lyij)g in close proximity to each other, and surrounded
by three or four large hyenas busily engaged in hold-
ing an inrpiest over them, attended by over fifty jackals,
wliich last however kept at a respectful distance, anx-
iouslv waitinij till their turn to feed should come. The
tram}) of our horses attracted their attention, where-
upon they moved oft' en. masse, reluctantly however,
and with the evident intention of returning as soon as
we should leave. The sii^ht of this conffrejjation of
niidnight prowlers was too much for Mr. P., who, for-
getting our agreement that no shot should be fired
during the night unless absolutely necessary, let fly at
them, knocking one jackal over and wounding another.

i

VISITING HISTORIC PARTS. 191

I don't know whether it was curiosity, or a providential
warning which made our imprudent sportsman ride up
to the spot where the jackal had fallen ; but no sooner
had he reached the place, than he observed two dead
human bodies, lying between those of the horses, to
which he called our attention. "We rode within twenty
yards of the dismal spot, but the horrible stench which
made us sick and faint, and our horses nearly frantic,
prevented our making any closer inspection. Though
the bodies were i>artly reduced to skeletons, everything
indicated that they had fallen victims to a gang of
marauders ; for not a vestige of clothing or equipments
was left on them. The two unfortunate men lay side
by side close to each other, both with their faces turned
toward mother earth, as if the murderers had feared to
meet the ghastly gaze of their victims. The sandy
ground around still showed marks of a scuffle and nu-
merous foot-prints of horses, while some broken sherba
(earthen water-bowl) and a piece of rope made of goat's
hair, was all the robbers left behind. The murder must
have been committed at least a fortnight previous to
our discovery. Unable any longer to endure the sick-
ening atmosphere of the gloomy spot, we resumed our
journey, thinking no more of the uncalled-for shot
fired by our companion, but silently riding along, mus
ing on the mournful scene we had just witnessed, some
of us feeling rather sleepy, and none of the party seeming
at all anxious for conversation. In order to keep myself
awake, and to try to free myself from the disgusting
odor that still seemed to haunt me, I made up my mind
to enjoy a quiet smoke, in which I was joined by my
friend J. Getting our sebils (a sort of short Arab
tobacco pipe) ready, we called Mustapha, one of our
eavasses, to give us a light, but in attempting to strike
fire, he dropped the steel in the sand, and was obliged

192 VISITING HISTOIUC PAET8.

to dismount to look for it; but some time elapsed,
however, before he recovered it, and this naturally made
us fall back a little, but not more than two hundred
yards behind the rest of the little cavsUoade. As
we approached the Euphrates, the country assumed a
slightly undulated appearance, owing to a series of low
aiounds scattered here and there. I rode by the side
of Mr. J., both of us quietly enjoying our pipes, and
3ach absorbed in his own thoughts, when I once or
twice fancied that I saw the head of a Bedouin rise
above the top of a neighboring sand hillock, and in-
stantly disappear again ; but on straining my sleepy
eyes steadily in that direction, I could see nothing but
the bare sand. This led me to think I had perhaps
mistaken some prowling jackal for the swarth}' face of
a Bedouin, and not liking to figure as a greenhorn or
a coward in the opinion of m}' companions, I said
nothing about it at the time. But we had hardly
advanced two hundred yards further, before the same
object again attracted my attention ; rising slightly in
my stirru])s, I was certain this time I was not mistaken,
and that what I liad thought might be a jackal was
really the head of a man covered with the usual brown,
coarse koffich worn by Bedouins in this country. I at
once confided my suspicions to my friend J.; but no
sooner had I o[»ened my mouth than Musta])ha, Avho
rode by my side, though not understanding a word I
said, must have accidentally cast a glance in the same
direction, for he suddenly wheeled round, and the next
moment we saw him going full tilt straight towards
the little hillock not more than one hundred vards
flistaut, on our left, and stopping his horse abruptly
when on the summit of the ridge, fired two pistols in
quick succession. In an instant we were by his side,
and just arrived in time to see eighteen or twenty

VISITING HISTORIC PARTS. 193

Bedouius thunder over the phi in at their utmost speed,
the bright gun-barrels and the bLades of theii- lances
flashing in the clear moonlight, and finally fading away
in the distance. Never in my life have I seen horsemen
go at such speed. In less than half a minute they were
out of shot range. Not so the swarthy scoundrel who
acted as scout for the lawless gang. His horse must
have been w^ounded by Mustapha's shot, for though we
could see that the vagabond did his best to accelerate
his speed, we could easily have overtaken and dis-
patched him had we not been afraid that the precipi-
tate flight of the others w^as only a " ruse de guerre"
to separate us from the rest of our companions, and
thus draw us into ambush, a dodge often practiced by
these wily scoundrels. Even if this had been their
intention, the cow^ardly vagabonds must have expected
a sound volley from our rifles and revolvers; for in their
hurried flight they leaned far over the right-hand side
of their horses, so that no part of their bodies remained
visible; and in this awkward position scattered in
every direction, and changed every moment the frantic
course of their horses, so as to prevent our taking steady
aim at them. This little incident had the eflect of
curing all the members of the party of their drowsiness
in wonderfully quick time ; the main body of our expe-
dition not knowing what was the matter, had speedily
joined us, arriving just in time to witness the dis-
appearance of the fugitives in the distance.

Of course we all complimented Mustapha (who by
the way felt as proud as a peacock) upon his acuteness,
prompt action, and courage, for which we promised him
a fi.ne bakshish (gratuity) in the shape of a revolver he
ardently coveted, and which was presented to him on
our return to Bagdad. Though we knew the same
vagabonds would not dare to show themselves again

1 94 VISITING HISTORIC PARTS.

that night, we thought 'it advisable thenceforth to ride
close together. Mustaplia subsequently related to us
several incidents much like the above, most of which
had been witnessed by himself in diflexftut parts of
Arabia, Syria and Mesopotamia, whereby he became
well ac(j[uainted with the numerous dodges employed
by marauding Bedouins to secure their prey. lie stated
that in our case he accidentally espied the head of the
swarth}' villain sliglitly protruding over the summit of
the low range of sand hills, and instantly perceiving
the full extent of the danger of being surprised, and
cut oif from our friends, judged that this dilemma could
only be counterbalanced by turning the tables, and
surprising our would-be-surprisers, knowing by experi-
ence the effect of a few well directed shots upon the
nerves of a gang of cowardly Bedouins suddenly sur-
prised, he proceeded forthwith to make practical use of
his experience.

At 4 A. M. we reached Mahawal,an old dilapidated
caravanserai situated between two little tributaries
of the Euphrates, and only aljout a mile from the Shatt
en Nil, an old neglected canal probably contemporary
with the ruins of Babylon and connecting the
Kuphi-ates a little above Babylon, with the Tigris a
little below Koot al ITamfira. In Mahawal however we
only stopped long enough to give Mustaplia time to
rejiort to the inmates of the khan that bad characters
were prowling about the neighborhood, of which they
seemed to be aware, as they had kept a vigilant look-
out all night from the top of the caravanserai. Learn-
ing that we had come across the dead bodies of two
men, and two horses, lying in the dry rivulet between
Tuweibali and this khan, we were informed that they
knew about them, and that the unfortunate men were
Armenians from Ilillah bound for Bagdad. They were

VISITING UISTORIC PARTS. 195

a part of a small caravan which had passed Mahawal a
fortnight previously. These poor fellows had evidently,
like ourselves, unconsciously straggled a little behind,
been attacked, and cut ofi" from the rest of the caravan,
killed and rifled, undoubtedly, by the same gang which
had an eye upon us. Just as day began to break we
crossed the old canal above referred to. The upper
end of this canal appears in other times to have formed
the northern part of the huge ditch which is said to
have surrounded the walls of Babylon. We had hardly
crossed this canal, when the distant crowing of numer-
ous cocks, the loud and angry barking of huge Bedouin
dogs, and the discordant voice of a sleepless donkey
greeted our ears; I say greeted, because these are in fact
welcome sounds (though far from being harmonious)
to the weary traveler after a long night's journey on
horseback. They are always striking proofs that human
beings are not far off, who will either for the sake of
hospitality or money provide for the comfort of both
man and beast. This feeling of satisfaction I always
experienced, especially while traveling in India, Arabia,
Mesopotamia, and South Africa, where the heat of the
atmosphere during the day necessitates journeying by
night, and it would be difficult to describe with what
feelings of joy my horse and myself welcomed these well
known sounds, when weary, hungry, thirsty and sleepy,
we came within reach of the voices of these animal
dilletanti. The repeated morning call of these creatures
did not fail to make us espy a number of small l)lack
Bedouin tents, pitched close upon the banks of the canal,
some six hundred yards to the left of the road. Toward
these tents we directed our horses' steps, thereby increas-
ing the fury of the peculiarly savage dogs, until an old
gray haired Bedouin almost in a state of ;iudity emerged
from one of the tents, and by dint of angry words,

196 VISITING niSTOllIC TARTS.

and a few well directed-bows, managed to impose silence
upon the infuriated curs. He then advanced stealthily
toward us, and going through the customary movement
of slightly touching his forehead with tlte^'t-ips of the
fingers of his right hand, gave us the usual salutation
"Salaam Alelkum" (mj^ salutation to 3^ou, or, my
welcome to you), which salute we returned, accompanied
by the same motion of the hand, by our "Alelkum
Salaam" (our salute to you, or we thank you).

After this short introduction Mustapha proceeded
to explain to him that the Frankees came to see the
" dead city," and wanted a man to pilot them about
the country. To ask them to show you the sites of
the difterent buildings of' the fiillen mammoth city
mentioned in history or to give you information con-
cerning them would be nonsense, as they know no more
about the history of Babylon than an American In-
dian. All they can show you is the probable extent of
the former city, wlicre, and what sort of antiques have
been found in its precincts. AVith regard to the latter,
however, they are naturally rather reserved, eyeing
every foreigner arriving with suspicion, iind generally
regarding him as an intruder, intent upon digging for
antiques, and in this way robbing them of their liveli-
hood, and of what they consider their absolute birth-
right. This feeling of com[)etition is so strong that it
renders the inhabitants of this district rather averse to
visitors of any kijid, and it is therefore not advisable
for travelers to visit this spot, unless in company with
several others, well armed, and escorted. But as we
ofiered to pay liberally for any antiques we should
carry away with us, even if we picked them up our-
selves ; upon this the old man's scruples were all done
away with, and he was quite ready to give us one of
his sons as a guide through the ruins, evidently in the

VISITING HISTORIC TAilTS. 197

firm belief that the Frankees would pick up every
fragment of brick in the road themselves, and then
pay him handsomely for the trouble they had been to.
In this reckoning, however, he was slightly mistaken,
as the Frankees would not pick up nearly as much of
the rubbish strewed over the ground as he expected.

During our conversation nearly all the inmates of
the fifteen or twenty tents had risen from their beds,
about a dozen sleepy and dirty looking men, wrapped
only in their abbas, or coarse brown woolen cloaks,
stood gazing at us, while a goodly number of slender
legged boys, stark naked, with their long shaggy black
hair in wild confusion, kept off the still threatening curs
and inquisitive goats. By and by some old women and
girls made their appearance clad in long brown, blue,
or dark red shirts, which hung loosely on their shoul-
ders, reaching nearly to their feet, and thus composed
their only garment. Some of the, younger damsels
might have been very decent looking if they had un-
dergone a thorough process of washing and combing ;
however, they did not seem very anxious to improve
their appearance, as they proceeded at once to bring
water, not for washing, but for cooking purposes, and to
milk the cows and goats about the tents. Having
heard that it would take us a least till noon to be
shown over the ruins, we arranged it so that our two
servants, and Ali, our second cavass, should j)roceed at
once to Hillah, about six miles off, and deliver a letter
of introduction, which we carried with us, to Iladjee
Alohamed ebn Said Ahmed, a wealthy Arab merchant,
and business acquaintance of my brother, who, accord-
ing to the Arab hospitality, would of course forthwith
place his house at our disposal. There they should ar-
range things as comfortably as possible, and have a
good dinner ready for us upon our arrival, which we fixed

198 VISITING HISTORIC PARTS.

I

at 11 o'clock A. M. As an additional protection, two
men of these tents were to accompany them on horse-
back, fully armed, to Ilillah, and on our arrival there
were to receive five Turkish piasters *(?f15out twenty-
five cents American money) each, while our guide should
receive for his services ten piastres in Ilillah. After
partaking of a hasty breakfast consisting of cold fowl,
basterman (a kind of highly peppered sun-dried raw
meat resembling the beldong of the Dutch Bool's in
South Africa), fresh milk, and backsam (a kind of hard,
brown biscuit), which provisions we had brought from
Bagdad in our saddle bags, we all started again, AH,
with the two servants and the two Bedouins, g-oino; due
south, straight toward Ilillah, and we, accompanied by
Mustapha and the guide, going in an easterly direction
across the plain.

The sun was just rising, and beautifully illumi-
nated the apparently endless plain, limited only toward
the east by a long and singularly regular hill, about
eighty feet in Iieight, and seeming to be very steep.
"VVe made straight toward it at a brisk canter, over
perfectly level ground, overgrown in some parts with
low shrubbery, in others with patches of scanty grass,
while in the direction of the river, and that of the ca-
nal also, where the soil was probably more moist, and
consequently more productive, the country appeared to
be under good cultivation, and covered with immense
fields of barley ( the main article of cultivation in
Aral>ia and Mesopotamia), Indian corn, water-melons,
etc. After riding about five miles, we arrived at the
foot of the hill, the peculiar shape of which was not as
striking as when we saw it at a distance ; hitherto we
had hardly spoken a word, but when we came to a halt
at the foot of the hill, the guide and Mustapha jumped
from their horses as if by mutual consent, quietly

VISITINO HISTORIC PARTS. 199

motioning us to do the same. The idea struck us that
it was high time to make them understand that we did
not come from Bagdad to see if our horses could climb
the steep hills out here, but that we came to see the
ruins of Babylon.

Our Bedouin guide was struck with astonishment
at this sudden remark. He actually seemed spell-bound,
unable to utter a word, and with mouth wide open
stood contemplating, with unfeigned horror, our unpar-
donable ignorance. Mustapha, however, broke the
spell by quietly remarking that these were part of the
ruins of " the dead city," at the same time pointing to
the top of the imaginary hill. It was now our turn to
look foolish, and I have no doubt we did, staring at
each other, as if we wished to receive an indelible im-
pression of each other's faces. But there could be no
doubt on the subject, for ^lustapha was never heard to
tell a lie (a rare virtue in a cavass, by the by), and he
made the remark so quietly that we knew it must be
the truth. "We dismounted, and with difficulty as-
cended the exceedhigly steep side of the questionable
hill, till we reached the top. Our horses, led by the
bridle, found no difficultv in followins; us. All Arab
horses, being peculiarly sure-footed, are sagacious in
climbing or descending slopes. Finally we reached the
summit, and, in this elevated position, it was not diffi-
cult to see that what we had hitherto taken for a hill
was in reality nothing less than part of the relics of the
mammoth walls of ancient Babylon ; for though inter-
rupted, or leveled to the ground for miles and miles,
we could clearly trace their former course. They must
have formed a regular parallelogram, two sides of
which must have run in a due south-east direction, par.
allel with, and the other two at right angles with the
course of the Euphrates, which magnificent river we

200 VISITING mSTORIG PARTS.

could distinctly see 'about three miles to the right,
silently but proudly displaying its smooth, silvery sur-
face to our deliirhted fijaze. On the western or rii^ht
bank of the river we spied the motley caaip of a tribe of
Shammr Bedouins, numbering over three thousand
tents, manufactured, as they all are, of black or brown
coarse cloth of goat's hair, or sheep's wool. Those low,
dark-colored tents would have aftbrded a rather gloomy
and disagreeable appearance to an inexperienced bo-
holder, had it not been for the great number of human
beings, the immense herds of camels, horses, donkeys,
water buffaloes, cows, oxen, sheep, etc., scattered by the
thousand all round the temporary city of tents. We
also saw Ilillah, which lay about six miles further
down from the spot where the Bedouins camped, on the
same bank, and a short distance below one of the
numerous lovely bends of the glorious river, which are
said to have given the main charm to Babylon ; famous,
according to tradition, as one of the most imposing, and
at the same time most picturesque cities of the then
known world. The country round us presented a
strange aspect. The territory to our right, all along
tlie Euphrates, looked beautifully fertile and cheerful,
while that on the left was nothing but a barren desert,
with hardly any vegetation as far as the eye could
reach.

After having enjoyed the view from the top of this
mound for some time, we descended into tlie plain,
whicli, by the way, was more difhcult than the ascent,
and, following our guide, cantwred leisurely across the
barren ground, toward another mound, situated not
more than a mile fntm the Euphrates, almost in the
centre of the supposed limits of Bal)ylon. This mound
is not as high as the one we liad just left, but perfectly-
level on the top, and of considerable extent, measurin<^

VISITING HISTORIC PARTS. 20]

at least two square miles. From its very central posi-
tion, its great extent, its almost regular form, and the
fact that the Arabs excavate from this mound more
valuable antiques than from any other, I formed the
idea that it must be the site of some former palace or
temple. Perhaps here stood the gigantic palace of
iSTebuehadnezzar. Sites of this mound are perforated
with holes dug by the Arabs or Bedouins in search of
antiques or treasures. The poor devils are often amply
repaid for their trouble, as they occasionally Und really
valuable objects, such as gold, silver and copjter coins,
rings, engraved stones, and cylinders (a kind of cylin-
drical shaped stone bead, generally from one to two
inches long and from one to two inches in circum-
ference). These cylinders are usually of black, white,
brown or slate-colored stone, nicely polished, and
engraved with wonderful accuracy, with human fig-
ures, such as gods, goddesses, kings, queens, war-
riors, tradesmen, women, animals or letters in the
Assyrian or Chaldean language. There is a little hole,
runnins; longitudinallv through each of them, a clear
proof that they must have been worn as beads or orna-
ments round the neck, arms, w^rists or ankles, probably
by both sexes, as some of those found are so large and
heavy that they could not have been worn by women.
A great many of these cylinders are sold in Bagdad at
fancy prices, varying from five piastres to five hundred,
according to the quality of their workmanship, and state
of preservation. While we were examining this mound,
we caught sight of a few Arabs clad in tattered gar-
ments, busily engaged in exploring a hole recently dug
in the eastern side of this mound. When we rode up
to them, they exhibited to us a quantity of antiques,
part of which had just been picked up, consisting of
various engraved cylinders, curiously shaped finger and

202 VISITING UISTORIC PARTS.

ear-rings, bracelets, a small bronze lamp of peculiar
shape, and blueisli green color, fragments of eartlien
jugs, gold, silver and copper coins, and a small brazen
statue, representing a human figure, sittiw^on a chair
or throne. We bouijht some of these curiosities at a
comparatively low figure; the Arabs also offered us
some large bricks for sale, that they had recently dug
up, each of them bearing an inscription in the Chaldean
language, which impression was yet wonderfully dis-
tinct and well-preserved, in spite of the vast age of the
bricks. Owing to their great size and weight, we were
obliged to decline buying.

On leaving this spot our guide took us to a kind of
valley, perfectly equal in breadth from one end to the
other, and leading in a southeast direction, straight
towards the Eui»hrates. This valley is a[)parently about
two thousand yards long, but its depth does not exceed
fifteen feet below the level of the plane. It is bordered
here and there by mounds of inferior size, and over-
grown with scanty grass and low shrubbery. The bot-
tom of the valley is perfectly level, and also overgrown
in some parts with shrubl)ery. out of wiiich we started
now and then, during our jtrogress, a brace or more of
the beautilul black and yellow spotted Frankolin, or
Mesopotanjian partridge, so extremely {>]cntiful on the
borders of the Euphrates and the Tigris. This appa-
rent valley is unmistakably the work of human hands,
and over two thousand years ago probably formed one
of the streets or canals traversing the immense city.
When we arrived on the batiks of the Euphrates we
spie<l a few miles further down the river another mound
of considerable size, boldly standing out into the river,
thereby causing it to make a large circuit round the
Inige mound, from the top of which we resolved to take
a final view of the place. From this elevated spot we

VISITING HISTORIC PARTS. 203

were eniiLled to overlook not oiilj the whole site of
Babylon on this side of the Euphates, but also of that
part of the city that lay on the other or right bank
of the river ; of the ruins of the latter, however, there
are scarcely any traces left, the g;reater part of them at
the time of our visit being covered by the innumerable
tents of a subdivision of the Shammr Bedouins tribe,
with all the paraphernalia of nomadic life. The remain-
der of the ruins visible from the top of the momid pre-
sented more or less the same character as those already
described. I must confess we were greatly disappointed
in our visit to the ruins of Babjdon, if I maybe allowed
to dignify the few remaining unsightly mounds of yol-
low clay and sand, the only witnesses to mark its for-
mer grandeur, by the name of ruins. I am sure all Eu-
ropean and American visitors to the place prior to and
after our visit have been and will be equally disap-
pointed. I had always imagined that some gigantic
walls of former palaces, the debris of some vast columns
or monuments, or some considerable portion of the re-
mains of the huge SusjDension Gardens of ITebuchad-
nezzar at least ought to be visible ; but no ! with the
exception of the few moinids looking just like ordinary
hills, and two or three straight passages between these
mounds, resembling natural little valleys, not a trace is
left to immortalize the oldest city on record, the first
stone or rather brick of which was laid accordino- to
the traditions of the Holy Bible more than four thou-
sand years ago. How different has been the fate of Bab-
ylon, from the Cyclopean built pyramids of Geezeh, and
those of Sakkarah from venerable Thebes, from mys-
terious Suxor, from awe-inspiring Baalbec (Heliopolis),
and from majestic Palmyra (Tadmour). Though of
comparatively the same age, their ruins are and proba-
bly will be for centuries dumb, and yet loudly speaking

204 VISITING HISTORIC PARTS.

witnesses of former gldry and splendor, while Babylon,
the mother and queen of cities, has long since ceased to
exist, leaving hardly a trace of former life except in the
annals of History, and over the ground fi^^ucrly trod-
den by the gorgeous court of queenly Semiramis, by
the triumphal corteges of warlike Nebuchadnezzar, and
by the invincible legions of Alexander the Conqueror,
now steal in utter solitude the vagrant Bedouins, the
timid gazelle, the wily jackal and the cowardly hyena,
afraid almost of their own shadow.

Slowly continuing our route along the left river
bank wc arrived about noon opposite the little town of
Ilillah. Here we had to wait till the lazy gooifajees
(proprietors of gooffas, a kind of Arab boat) from the
other river bank choose to fetch us in their awkward
looking craft. The sun stood almost at its zenith, and
shone upon us with relentless power. IIap}>ily, the goof-
fajees soon made their appearance, and paddled us across,
one by one, witliout accident ; but one of the horses
getting dizzy from the spinning motion of the gooffa
boldly jum[)ed overboard and swam across, arriving in
Ilillah before the gooffa, which should have carried
liim over. After the unavoidable quarrel witli the
gooft'ajcsR regarding the bakshish or gratuity (every
tourist through Oriental countries knows this to be one
of the chief annoyances of eastern traveling) was
settled, we rode (h rough the town toward the house to
which we were piloted by our servants, who had been
anxiously awaiting our arrival on the river bank. We
found a sumptuous dinner ready for us. Our host,
lladjce Mohamed ebu Said Ahmed, an old shrivelled,
silver-bearded Arab, dressed in a ]nuvr ])urple gown,
green waistcoat gaudily embroidered, wliite muslin
shirt, loose white trousers carefully gathered at the
ankle, white turban end^roidered with gold, and

VISIT! NO HISTORIC PARTS. 20r

carmine colored leather slippers with xiptiirned points
was indeed a most gorgeously attired individual.
He received us with a deep salaam, almost pros-
trating himself before us, and profuse in his
acknowledgments of the unspeakable honor done
him by our visit. AVith the proverbial hospi-
tality of the Arab, he placed his whole house at our
disposal, and could only with much difficulty be
persuaded to set down with us upon his own divan, and
share with us his own provisions. We enjoyed a hearty
dinner of roast lamb, roast fowls, pellauw, ragout, eggs,
wild honey, cheese, water melons, grapes, oranges, etc.
After dinner, sherbet (a kind of sweet lemonade),
delicious coffee in tiny silver cups, called fenthans by
the Arabs, and pipes with fragrant tobacco were
served. After this we took a nap till four o'clock in
the afternoon, by which time the sultry atmosphere,
which had been heightened during the day by the
suffocating samoom, or southerly wind from the
desert, had cooled down, N^otwithstanding the oppres-
sive heat and swarms of flies, we had slept soundly for
several hours, attended closely by the servants of the
house, who gently waved large fans over our faces
while we slept. At five P. M. we all turned out to
take a look at the town. We wandered through a
labyrinth of narrow, crooked, dusty, and filthy lanes,
winding between a confusion of low, dark, dirty,
wretched-looking, flat-roofed houses, the walls of which
were mostly built of sim-dried mud, mixed with short
cut straw. The greater part of the houses were not
over twelve feet high. Xow and then we passed a
mosque, a lofty minaret, a dilapitated khan or
caravanserai, or a series of vast camel stables without
roofs, from which emanated a strong, but not disagree-
able odor peculiar to " the ship of the desert," which

206 VTSITING HISTORIC PARTS.

only inhabits these stablfes during the night. The best
houses in llillah are situated near the river ; some of
them are even built of sun-dried bricks and wood,
twenty or thirty feet in height, and short^^^^euashils.
Prominent among these houses stands the residence of
the Mayor, or representative of the Turkish govern-
ment, a spacious square building with a large open
court-yard in the centre, looking like a caravanserai.
The building is dark and gloomy, and only recognis-
able as the residence of the Governor of the place by
the number of ragged Turkish soldiers, and dirty,
drowsy, slovenly-looking cavasses lounging id)out the
premises. It is situated on the river bank, and affords
a beautiful view on the left bank opposite. In its
immediate neighborhood stand two or three casernes,
or soldiers' barracks. These are large brick buildings,
but with their strongly iron-barred windows, they look
more like prisons than soldiers' homes. During the
nit;ht about two thousand Turkish soldiers are stowed
away in these buildings. At the time of otir visit,
however, nearly all of tliem wore down at the river,
some 'occupied in washing their linen, others in bathing
themselves, neither of all these occupations being at
all suj)erfluous with these wretched Turkish soldiers.
Hundreds of women, girls, and boys, the two for-
mer clad only in a long coarse woolen shirt of dark
brown, red, or dark blue color, reaching nearly to their
ankles ; the boys almost in a state of nudity, walked
slowly but very erect to and from the river, adroitly
balancing their big earthen water-jugs or urns on the
top of their heads and shoulders. Though the long shirt
was the only garment most of the female sex wore, their
ears, foreheads, necks, wrists, fingers, and, with some
of them, even the noses, ankles and toes were adorned
with ornaments of glass, ivory, brass, silver, or gold.

VISITINO HISTORIC PARTS. 207

The fair sex did not, like their sisters of Bagdad, wear
the pagee or horse-hair veil. They wore no veil at all.
Somf of the younger ones, though shamefully neglecting
their complexions as well as their long jet-black hair of
luxuriant growth, were quite good-looking, reminding
me of Rebecca of the Bible, who, about 3725 years ago,
carried her water-jug in exactly the same way as her
Arabian sisters carry it now, and who is represented by
artists in the same costume as that worn by the females
ol the present day, Rebecca according to the Bible hav-
ing been a native of Mesopotamia.

xn.

"ROUGHING IT."

" Date marks."— Pirates— Nimrod's Well.— Kerbela.— A Feat of Horse-
manship.— A Hot Chase.

The water of the Euphrates is as clear as crystal,
but, in spite of this, it is not nearly as soft as the muddy
water oi the Tigris, which, when properly filtered, is
certainly the best water I ever drank, tliongh some of
the inhabitants of Bagdad give it an exeeediugly bad
character. This is owing to a horrid boil, or kind of
ulcer, peculiar to certain countries situated between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean ; this sore or
ulcer is the terror of all the cities or villages infested
with it, and is called by the P]uropean residents of Bag-
dad " the date mark," and by the Arabs " ocht ma]
danimr," Avhich means "sister of the date," they aver-
ing that these ulcers are produced by eating dates. The
French residents "simitly give them what I thiidc the
most approi)riatename, "Boutons de Bagdad," i.e., Bag-
dad boils, not being able to account with any certainty
for their origin. These disgusting ulcers make their
appearance on the bodies of the natives, when the latter
are still in their infancy, generally when they are from
one to two years old. Foreigners, no matter of what
nation, sex, age, or mode of life, are attacked by them
after a residence of from one to t%velve months from
their first arrival in Hagdad. They generally appear
on the face, especially on the cheeks and forehead, on
the surface of the hand, seldom in the palm, on the
fingers, elbows, haunches, thighs, knees and feet, in the
shajie of a very minute, though In'illiantly red spot, no

(208)

Jf oriTTnTTTiwn tti "

ROUGHING IT." 209

longer than a flea-bite. These red spots grow larger
and larger every day, though exceedhigly slow, some-
times taking several months to increase to the size of a
split pea, which they do without causing the slightest
pain. But after the lapse of six to nine months, ac-
cording to the constitution of the afilicted, when they
have reached their climax, they slowly suppurate, be-
come very painful, and eject henceforth a sort of greenish
yellow, sticky fetid matter, slowly but continually
flowing day and night. "While in this state, the un-
happy victim afilicted with them undergoes a kind of
martyrdom, and deserves sympathy indeed. If he puts
on a bandage to hide the disgusting object from view,
in the course of an hour it will become stiffened by the
discharge, so that he will be obliged either to cut oft'
the bandage round the ulcer, or tear it oft", causing in-
tense agony ; and he cannot use water to moisten it, as
it is generally believed that the contact of water, either
warm or cold, will but increase its enormity and delay
its cure. On the other hand, if the ulcer is not bandaged,
the slightest friction will cause the most acute agony ;
every article of clothing and bedding will be covered
with the fetid discharge ; the dust will get into the
wound, swarms of flies will be attracted to it, causing
it to smart most painfully. By this time it has attained
the size of from half an inch to two inches in diameter,
and the smell is almost unendurable, so that I have
known "persons of delicate health vomiting and fainting
from the smell of their own sores. Strange to say, with
the exception of the nausea caused by the odor of the
ulcer, and the pain caused by the accidental touch of it,
the person afflicted feels in perfect health all the time,
and eats, drinks, and sleeps just as well as ever.

After the lapse of two or three months, the ejec-
tion of matters decreases slowly, and finally stops alto-

210 "ROuaniNG it."

gether, and the ulcer dries up by degrees, covering it-
self with a thick, rough, 3'ellowish gray crust, which
by and by drops off, leaving a brown scar which never
entirely disappears, and will always be vbiijle as a red-
ish or bluish spot or scar in cold weather, or when
the part which has been affected is bathed in cold wa-
ter, as long as the person lives. I myself possess for
life sixteen of these date marks; therefore I have had
ample oj)j)ortunity to watch them from begiiming to
end.

"Whoever succeeds in discovering an effectual pre-
ventive against this direful scourge will not only con-
fer a great boon on the inhabitants of this country, but
will be a rich man, and whose name will endure as long
as the Nile and Tigris flow. AVhat would not many a
wealthy pasha pay, if he could prevent this dreadful
scourge from disfiguring the lovely faces of the.younger
beauties of his harem? What would not many a
wealthy European or native husband pay, if he could
insure the radiant face of his young and lovely wife,
or the angelic features of his darling little child against
the ravages of this scourge of the country, which,
though not deadly, leaves indelible marks scarcely less
horrid tlian those of the small-pox.

A great deal of course depends ui»on the jjosition
of the ulcer and its size; the most fatal spot for them
to appear is on the tij) of the nose, in which case they
frequently disfigure this prominent feature terribly and
forever, by eating away i)art of the cartilage, as cancer
does. It is also very distressing if they break out near
the eyes, as they are apt to contract the skin, thereby
dilating the eyelids, and thus impart perhaps forever a
horrid, wildly staring look painl'ul to behold. Persons
who bear the date mark on the chin, jaw, lips or scalp
will never have any hair on the place occupied by the

^^ TJiTfrnrrnvrrt tii "

ROUGHING IT." 211

scar. Though date marks, as the English baptize
them, do not improve the looks of anj'body, they are
of less importance to the male than to the female sex,
to whom personal attractions are naturally more valu-
able. Unfortunatelv, it is a remarkable fact that with
the fair sex these horrid marks seem to delio-ht in
appearing on the face, while among men they mostly
show themselves on the hands, arms, and legs. Per-
sons of robust health, and abundance of rich blood,
gene rail V have more and laro;er date marks than weak
or sickly persons ; some have as many as forty ;
some only a single one, or two or three of them.
Strange to sav of all the inhabitants of Bag-dad, the
native Christians suffer the most from this scouro;e.
Xext to them the Moslems, especially the negroes, on
whom they leave ghastly slate-colored scars. Then
the European residents, and lastly the Jews. AVhy
the latter are the least affected by date marks I cannot
tell, but it is a fact admitted by all the inhabitants of
Bagdad. The cause of these ulcers nobody knows as
yet; some ascribe them to the eating of dates, some to
the Tio-ris waters, some to the samoom or hot desert
wind, and others to the bite of some insect; but what
insect they cannot tell. In my opinion their appear-
ance has nothing to do with eating dates, as I can
testify in my own case I was forewarned, and there-
fore forearmed, and did not eat or touch a single date,
either dried or fresh, until I saw that two date marks
had already appeared on my hands. IsTor can the
Tigris water or the " samoom " be the cause, for a
Carara, a wretched little town situated only about
two miles lower down the river, none of the inhabi-
tants, unless they have lived f 3r more than a week in
Bagdad, can show a date mark on their bodies, nor
can anybody else within three hundred miles up or

212 "RouainNQ it."

dou-n the river, though thej all drink Tigris water and
are fanned by the same wind as the inhabitants of
Bagdad. Bassorah, at the mouth of the Shaft al Arab,
or joint waters of the Tigris and Enptuattes, is as
notorious for date marks as Bagdad, where everybody
has got or will get them; while in Gorna or
Corna, situated on the same river, they are unknown.
Between Bagdad and Mossul, which latter town is
also on the banks of the Tigris, the date mark is never
seen ; in Mossul it is plentiful ; between Mossul and
Diarbekir on the same river, it is also unknown,
though in the latter place it is very frequent. On the
other hand date marks are known in jilaces far away
from the banks of the Tigris, — in Kerbela for instance,
situated in the desert, sixty miles from the Tigris, and
twenty from the Euphrates, — in Aleppo, on a table
land nearly two hundred miles from the Tigris it is
almost universal. Something similar to, if not the
name as the date mark, is what the English call the
Egyptian boil, which is met with more or less all
overEgyjit. For my part, I am inclined to believe
that tlie date mark is caused by the bite or sting of an
insect, probably of some sort of Hy yet unknown,
similar to, though not as fatal in its ravages as the
" tsetse'* fly in certain districts in South Africa (vide
Livingstone's Missionary Travels and Researches in
South Africa), whose sting is certain death to horse,
cow, ox, goat, sheep, dog, etc., though j)erfectly harm-
less to man, mule, donkey, ele])hant, rhinoceros, etc.
Though every resident, native as well as foreigner, is
sure to have them, nobody has ever been known to die
in consequence of date marks, which by the by appear
not to confine themselves to the human species, as I
have seen them frequently on the nose, ears and lips of
dogs, cats, horses, sheep, and goats; but they do not

" TjnynTTTXK^ tt "

ROUGHING IT." 213

seem to suffer any bad effects from tliem. Amoug the
European residents in Bagdad, Mossul, Diarbekir and
Aleppo these dreaded marks are considered the stamp
of acclimation, and as frequently form the topics of
conversation as the state of the weather does in Europe
or America.

On our way back to our headquarters we took a
stroll through the bazaar. Hillah, though a small town
of not more than about twenty thousand inhabitants,
mostly Arabs and Turkish troops, boast of a tolerably
extensive bazaar. This is chiefly owing to its being
located so near the desert, in consequence of which' it
does a brisk trade with the numerous Bedouin tribes
inhabiting the latter, to whom the merchants of Hillah
sell cloths, provisions, jewelry, saddlery, arms, am-
munition, etc., in exchange for camels, horses, donkey's,
goats, sheep, sheep's wool, goat's hair, camel's hair,
etc. Hillah is said to have been built about A.D. 1100,
but has since then been captured, pillaged, and devas-
tated by Bedouin and other hoards, and rebuilt again
a great many times. Several attempts have been made
by Europeans, especially the English, to explore the
Euphrates, which is said to be navigable for river
steamers, not drawing over five feet of water, from its
confluence with the Tigris at Coma, as far up as
Biradshig, or Birachich, on the left bank of the river,
forty miles west of the town of TJrfa, or Orfa, and
sixty miles northeast of Aleppo. The last expedition
for that purpose left Bagdad a few years ago, under
command of Captain S., then commander of the little
British gunboat Comet, on the Tigris, Several friends
of the captain joined the expedition, among them
were the French Consul, and my brother, more to satis-
fy curiosity than anything else. The gunboat brought
them safely from Bagdad down to Corna, whence they

i' oriTinrTTMn Tfi "

214 "roughing it.

ascended the Euphrates. ' All went well, till thej reached
Semauwa, one of the four abandoned Turkish torts at the
couHuenee of the waters of the Chor Allah, with the
Euphrates, on the right river bank, wheiutke steamer
ran aground, sprung a leak, and was obliged to stop for
several hours to re[)air damages. Toward evening she
was suddenly attacked by several hundred Bedouins,
who fired on the crew and passengers, from the banks,
killing two of the former, and wounding several others,
until Captain S., who had been taken by surprise,
returned the compliment by giving them several broad-
sides of grape shot, which brought down a good num-
ber of the assailants, causing the remainder to fly in
confusion, carrying their killed and wounded with
tliem. The attack took place at a spot where the river
is very narrow, and the banks densely covered with
shrubbery and tall grass, so that the BedouiiLS could
easily a]»proac-h without being noticed, and blaze away
at the crippled gunboat. Tliey were all mounted, but
left many of their horses dead and wounded on the
bank. They had evidently watched the little steamer,
which carried only about thirty persons all told, and,
having suspected her crijipled condition, resolved upon
attacking her, and after destroying the Frankies, to
board and plunder her, in which intention they were
foiled by not being aware that any such ugly play-
things as grape and canister existed. Tlie leak was
repaired, and the steamer continued her journry up-
wiirds, but ran every now and then on a sand bank,
which so disgusted the ca[)tain that he [»romptIy
returned with her to Bai'dad.

Between eight and ten miles south of Ilillah lies a
wretched little Aarb village, comj»osed of eighteen or
twenty mud walled liuts, inliabited by from eighty to a
huudred people. This little village is called by the

"roughing it." ' 215

Arabs, Birs Ximrood (Ximrod's Well), and is said by
historians to occupy the very spot where nearly five
thousand years ago the world famed tower of Babel
stood; but I need hardly say hot the slightest trace is
left of that famous building. The villao;e is situated
on a little promontory of the eastern border of Lake
Hiiidija, a sweet lake connected on its northern end by
an old canal with the river Euphrates, from Avhich it
derives its water. The lake is about forty miles long
by eight miles broad. On its southern bank by the
ruins of Koofa, (not to be confounded w^th Akr Ivoof
near the Median wall), of these ruins, also there is
hardly any trace left, though Koofa was contemporary
with Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and like them was
formerly one of the largest cities of Lower Mesopotamia.
A little stream not more than five miles Ions: connects
Lake Hindija with Bahr Xedjef, a lake or rather a
swamp of somewhat larger extent than the former.
On the northern bank of this lake lies the Arab villao-e
of Mushed Ali, five miles southwest of Koofa, and on
its southern bank the little villao-c of Shinafieh, where
there is an outlet of about fifteen miles in length, for
the water of Bahr ISTedjef to run into a third lake or
swamp, called Chor Allah by the natives, situated a
little to the southeast of the two former lakes, but
slightly inferior to them both in size and dtpth, which
fiually returns its waters to the Euphrates, near the
four little abandoned Turkish forts, Dshera, Semanwa,
Kiran and Grahim, by means of a narrow stream, also
about fifteen miles in length. The two last named lakes
or swamps lie in a slightly hollow, partly sandy, partly
swampy plain, still bearing traces of having in former
days been traversed by numerous canals in all directions.
This circumstance makes me believe that these lakes
are only the natural consequence of the choking up of

216 "BOuaniNa it."

these canals, formerly used to irrigate the country,
which would prove these lakes to ])e of comparatively
recent date, as it must have taken centuries for the
mud to choke these large canals. Each jjctL.the three
lakes, but especially the deepest of them,Lake llindija,
is exceedingly rich in fish, introduced by the waters of
the Euphrates, which river contains fish weighing as
much as a hundred pounds. The borders of the lakes,
especially the two latter, are very swampy, covered
with tall reeds, the place of refuge of innumerable
pelicans, flamingos, cranes, geese, ducks, snakes, turtles,
etc., the former rise in immense luimbers when startled
by a gun shot. The country all round is perfectly flat,
devoid of trees, butaftbrding pasture to immense lierds
of camels, horses, donkeys, water buflaloes, oxen, cows,
goats and sheep, belonging to the Montefik, and Shamme
Eedouins, whose black tent villages maybe seen scat-
tered in numerous camps all over the endless flats, where
they live in hapi)y unconsciousness of the trouble of
the rest of the universe, on the produce of the vast
herds, and the spoils of the chase. In fact their life is
as free an<l independant as the eagle in the clouds.

About thirty miles northwest of llillah, and about
fifteen miles southwest of the Eui)hrates, built on both
sides of a little tributary of the latter, lies the small, but
in]i)ortant townof Kcrbchi or Mushed Hussein, i. ^., the
mosque of Hussein, luimed after the prophet Hussein or
Hassan, who is highly revered, especially by the Per-
sians, Turkomans and Afghans, and who, they assert,
is buried there. Kerbela, therefore, stands little below
Mecca, with the three just mentioned nations, as re-
gards its importance as a place of worship and ]iil
grimage. Every true believer of Persian, Turkoman,
or Afghan descent, however poor he may be, tries to
make a pilgrimage to that happy place at least once in

"roughing it." 21 1

his lifetime, if lie caunot afford the far more expen-
sive jouruej to Mecca ; and wealthy persons spend
enormous sums of money to have deceased members
of their family embalmed, packed and sent off by cara-
vans to Kerbela for burial, is^ot only are dead bodies
sent there by members of the three above-named na
tions residing in Bassorah, Bagdad etc., but they
arrive even from Cabool, Teheran, Isphahan, Hamadan,
Shiras, Kirmanshah and other places, two hundred to
one thousand miles from Kerbela. Owing to the long
journeys of from one to three months of the rough cof.
fins lashed together over the back of a horse, mule or
camel, the greater part of this horrid human freight is
literally knocked to pieces before the caravan arrives
at Kerbela. I once had the bad luck, while on horse-
back near Bagdad with some of my friends, to meet
one of these funeral caravans, and the disagreeable odor
emanating from it, though the bodies were all supposed
to be embalmed, was so dreadful that we almost fainted,
and readilv gave the caravan a wide berth. The Per-
sians mukaries or mule drivers had evidently no very
sensitive olfactories, for they jogged along in the sick-
ening atmosphere apparently as comfortable as possible,
humming their monotonous songs, or smoking their
pipes : na}', we actually saw one of them eating his fru-
gal breakfast, consisting of coarse bread and dried
dates, amid this sepulchral aroma, with as much
appetite as. any exquisite of the Fifth Avenue
Hotel in New York could enjoy a sumptuous
dinner. Kerbela is geographically healthily located,
lying as it dose in the immediate vicinity of the
vast Arabian desert ; but owing to the disgustingly
filthy condition of its houses, streets and suburbs, and
undoubtedly to the presence '^f the enormous burial
grounds in the immediate neighborhood of the town,

218 "roughing it."

it is continually infested with all kinds of diseases, es-
pecially cholera, which, soon after my visit there, car-
ried off ten thousand peoi)le in less than three months,
fully one-third of its whole population. A beautiful
mosque of enormous proportions built over the grave
of Hassan, the jjrophet, forms the center of the city,
and is the only decent looking building in Iverliela.
The bazaars, though very dark, filthj', and filled with
the most fetid atmosphere imaginable, arc }»rctty ex-
tensive, and well-stocked with all the ditfc rent products
of Western Asia, as well as with European goods.

About fifteen miles northeast of Kerbela, built on
the left bank of the Eui)hrates, and surrounded by well-
cultivated gardens, and clusters of shady date trees,
lies the small town of Mussejjib, or Mushedjib, whore
all the travelers going to, or coming from Kerbela have
to cross the river in the same way that we did at Ilil-
lah. This place looks considerably more decent inside,
as well as outside, than Kerbela ; but has nevertheless a
very dilapidated aj)i)earance, and its narrow thorough-
fares are very filthy. It is like Kerbela surrounded
by an old mud wall, excojit toward the river; but the
walls are in bad condition, and of no earthly use now.
The town contains about twenty thousand inhabitants,
mostly Arabs and Persia.iS, and is occupied by a small
Turkish garrison. Many mosques, with white cui)ola^
and lofty minarets, are scattered over the place,greatly
improving its appearance, as the houses except a few
along the river, an<l the soldier's barracks, are misera-
ble structures, square flat-roofed mud-huts,hardly ten feet
in height, by ton to twenty foot square. We started
from Mushodjib about 4 I'. M., in order to reach the
khan of Terweiba, about ten miles distant, before sun-
set. On the way we saw about half a mile to our left
a troop of Bedouin horsemen coming full s[)eed across

"roughing it." 221

the plain straight toward us. My companions and myself
naturally thought they were another gang of maraud-
ers going to attack us, and made ready to receive them
accordingly, when Mustapha, who was quietly riding a
few yards ahead of us, turned round, and seeing our
warlike preparations, smilingly begged us to desist, as
the party thundering so wildly toward us had no hos-
tile intentions. He had hardly uttered the words,
when they were within twenty yards of us, still at full
speed, so that we began to feel considerably nervous;
when lo ! they stopped as suddenly as if a yawning
abyss had just opened before them.

It was indeed a splendid feat of savage horseman-
ship ; not one of the dark-featured riders overstepped
the mark, and the panting horses stood all in a line,
with their fore-feet as firmly planted on the ground as
if they had grown there.

After the usual salutation, the oldest horseman, a
tall, broad-shouldered fellow, seeming nothing but skin
and bone, with sharply marked features, small, dee|)-set
jet-black eyes of piercing power, fine aquiline nose, and
snow-white moustache and beard, who evidently was the
leader of the party, asked us in the calm, solemn way
peculiar to the Bedouins, if we had not met or seen a
fellow riding a bay mare without a saddle, going to
Mushedjib. He then proceeded to give us the most
minute description of the animal, adding that it was
stolen while grazing in the neighborhood of their tents,
about ten miles east of the khan of Tuweibah, three
hours previous to our meeting with them. TVe told
him that nobody had passed us since we had left the
Euphrates. Just then one of the Bedouins spied at the
extreme horizon of the immense flat before us, a single
horseman riding a dark horse ; but whether it was
black, chestnut, or brown, he of course could not make

222 "roughing it."

out at such a distance.' Everybody strained his eyes in
the direction indicated by the hand of the far-sighted
Bedouin, when, after a pause of perfect silence, they ap-
proached each other and held a short uniiiJt4^.1igible con-
versation in an undertone, whereupon they took leave
of us, and started off at the same furious speed with
which they had advanced, and in the direction of the
solitary horseman, who was fast disappearing beyond
the western horizon. These Bedouins belonged to the
Montefik tribe, were fully armed, some with lances
nearly twelve feet long, others with long single-barreled
A rabian guns, others Avith pistols, swords, and daggers, so
that the situation of the horse-thief was scarcely enviable
if they caught him that evening. We never knew the
result of that haphazard chase. Just about sunset we
reached the khan of Tuweibah, where we stopped till
about ten o'clock, when the moon rose. This was the
signal for us to resume our journey, and we arrived in
Bagdad the next morning soon after sunrise.

xin.

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

Preparing for a Tramp — Early Morning in Camp — Buying an Arabian
Siied — Free Passage to Persian Gulf — In a Hole — Killing Hyenas
— Casseba — An Adventure — J'ig Hunting — In Dire Distress — A
LitHcult Mission — Meeting with Highwaymen — Endurance of an
Arab Steed.

On my arrival in Bagdad I found a letter \yaiting
for me from Sigiior P., who was still among the
Bedouins, buying horses, camels, and water buttaloes.
This letter was brought from Divanieh by a Bedouin
horseman, and informed me that I need not expect my
friend back in Bas^dad for another month. This news was
very welcome to me, as I was longing for a fortnight's
sport along the banks of the Tigris, and heartily sick
of travelling about the country, examining ruins of by-
gone cities, and digging for antiques, and had come to
the conclusion that it was rather dull work after all.
What I sighed for was excitement, and this I knew I
should fully enjoy in a fortnight's encampment on the
left bank of the Tigris, below Bagdad, hunting par-
tridges, ducks, geese, flamingos, pelicans, bustards,
foxes, jackals, gazelles, wild boars, hyenas, and lions, all
of which are to be met with in that locality ; and this
sport could be agreeably diversified by an occasional
day or two of fishing, both the Tigris and Euphrates
abounding in large and excellent fish. My friends,
whom I had invited to join in my expedition, declined
the invitation, phlegmatically replying that the season
was far too hot to think of sport, and that I would kill
toy horse within a few days by hunting in such op

(223)

J»

224 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

pressivelj sultry weather. Luckily, or rather unluck
ily, the cholera broke out iu Bagdad the following cla
and Epread so rapidly that hundreds of the inhabitants
died within a few days of this deadly, scoiij;^^. A sud-
den and marvellous change now took place in rny
l)hk'gniatic friends; they all came simultaneously to the
conclusion that their constitutions required a change
of air without delay. Strange to say, though every one
of them declared he was not a bit afraid of the terrible
disease, he suddenly felt sure that all he wanted was
excitement, not in the filthy town, but out in the open
desert, and the heat of the sun was declared not to be
so ojipressive after all, nor was there any more fear of
overtaxing their horses. In short, three days afterward
not one of the European residents, except the French
missionaries, was to be found in town ; but all were
snugly encamped in tents, on a very pleasant spot about
two miles below Ctesiphon, between the ruins of the
walls of Soliman Bagh and the left bank of the Tigris,
just where I wanted thoi7i to come. Even of the native
iidiabitants of IJagdad, all those who had the means to
live for a few weeks on their income, hastily deserted
their homes in the city, and pitched their tents on the
river banks, outside the town, about half way between
the town walls and the little villasxe of Carara.

Our camp consisted of about thirty tents, erected
in a wide circle, in the centre of which stood picketed
tliirty-four splendid horses, and was guarded day and
night by about twenty Agbels (armed Bedouins, who
;nake the escorting and protecting of caravans their
profession), and a goodly number of excellent watch
dogs and -grayhounds, and last but not least, was pro-
tected by the guns of the gallant little gunboat "Satel-
lite," which had been kindly placed at our service by
the British Consul General of Bagdad, and rode snuglj

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 225

at anclior on the stately river in front of our camp. It
would have been no easy matter for any marauding
Bedouin gang to take possession of our property, even
if the Frankees, who numbered about twenty, and w^ere
provided with a profusion of the best firearms, had
happened to be far away from the camp at the time.
It never did happen, however, that we were all absent
at once, as there were a few ladies to attend to, who
shared our camp life, and enjoyed it hugely.

Our time passed in splendid style ; indeed, long
before the dawn of day, the bustle in the camp com-
menced. Then you could see swarthy grooms busy
rubbing down, saddling, and bridling horses ; others
might be seen engaged in coupling grayhounds; here
a sportsman carefully examining his firearms and
ammunition ; there another engaged in the sensible oc-
cupation of stowing away a few of such provisions as
were easily transportable ; in the low shrubbery some
two hundred yards distant from the camp, the last
plaintive howl of a jackal dies away, as he retires to his
lair at the approach of daybreak. Soon a small squad-
ron of silent horsemen issues from the camp, led by a
Bedouin, who carries a falcon for huntino* g-azelles on
his risrht hand, which is covered with a thick leather
glove, and following the coarse of the broad river,
finall}' disappears in the dim haze of the early dawn.

Again the camp is silent for an hour or so ; no
sound interrupts the quiet slumber of its inmates,
except the occasional cough of a horse, the loud snoring
of the sleeping sais, or grooms, the sudden splash of a
fish in the river, or the call of " When-ek " (where are
you)? of one or the other of the Bedouin watchmen on
the lookout, w^ith which question he occasionally hails
nis fellow-watchmen on the opposite side of the camp,
who, to prove that he is not asleep, shouts back the

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

answer "Iloni" (here),, which short conversation is in-
dulged in by these watchmen about every quarter of an
hour, both day and night. By and by the nocturnal
shadows disappear entirely, the morning star is alone
visible in the firmament ; but the light of even this last
beacon of the night is unsteadily glimmering, and so
rapidly declining that in a few minutes it will fade
away altogether. Presently the herald of the morning,
the proud and wakeful chanticleer perched on the fire-
wood piled near the improvised kitchen, flaps his
wings, stretches his neck, and salutes the new l)orn day
with his shrill, cheerful voice. Iladjee Ilabib, tlie head
sais, jumps up, and with an energetic pull of the arm,
recalls his still soundly sleeping inferiors to a con-
sciousness of their daily duties.

Other horses are rubbed down, saddled, and bridled,
some for ladies, some for gentlemen, who presently
issue from their tents, and then canter in company
gaily out of the camp, for their usual morning ride, up
to the ruins of Ctesiphon, or out on the desert, while
two or three of the Khowatchies (gentlemen) remain at
liome to see that everything goes on all right. The
drowsy night watchmen are relieved by others, and re-
tire to their tents to rest. ITumerous camp fires soon
crackle energetically for the purpose of cooking the
various breakfasts, the horses are im[)atient, and neigh
lustily for barley and w^ater, and the dogs are loudly
challenging a number of dusky human forms, who
slowly amble up to the camp. These latter are Bedouin
women, bringing milk, butter, cheese, eggs, fowls,
sheep, etc., for sale. They are not allowed to enter the
camp, as they are all more or less afflicted with klepto-
mania, so sonje of the numerous servants go out to bar-
ter with them about fifty yards from the camp, near
the river's edge, where the servants from the gunboat

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 227

also have an opportunity of joining them. Now and
then a shot, either by an officer on board or by one of
the parties who staid at home, is fired into a swarm of
wild ducks, geese, or partridges flying overhead, set-
tling on the river, or emerging from the shrubbery
down to the water to quench their thirst, while others
of the crew of the steamer are busy fishing. After an
hour or two of this industrious bustle, the party that
went out to enjoy an early morning ride returns to the
camp, both man and beast in the best of spirits ; that is,
provided the former finds breakfast ready upon the
table, to which more than ordinary attention is paid,
even by the generally delicate looking fair sex, whose
appetite has been wonderfully sharpened by the pure
morning air of the desert. After breakfast, a game of
whist, ecarte, chess, or dominos is played till about ten,
or eleven o'clock, at which time the hunting party
usually returns. This welcome event is announced by
a servant on the lookout for them, stationed on the
ruins of the huge walls close by. These walls form the
only remains of Seliman Bhagh. Finally our Nimrods
make their appearance, not with the dashing canter of
the party of ladies and gentlemen, who had already re-
turned from their morning ride, but slowly and steadily,
horse and rider covered with perspiration and dust, and
looking altoo-ether much the worse for wear. Even
the proud falcon droops his wings and head, and the
hounds, with their long tapering tails trembling between
their legs, limp painfully by the side of the panting
steeds, mouth wide open, and tongues swollen and pro-
truding ; in short, everything indicating that our little
band had a long break-neck chase after the fleet gazelles,
justly famed as the swiftest quadrupeds on earth. It
appears, however, that their wonderful speed was of no
avail to some of them in their precipitous flight before

228 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

the gallant falcon, as two 'of their species may be seen
dangling from the saddles of two of the horsemen, in
company with a splendid gray fox, various hares, par-
tridges, bustards, etc. The horses in camp Uwiily hail
the arrival of the little cavalcade with a"* deafening
neigh, while the young curs about the tents run to
caress their canine playmates, which latter, however,
tired to death by their hard work, and almost starving,
are in no mood for play, and snap fiercely at the good-
natured puppies whenever they come within reach.
The gallant little band is cordially welcomed by every-
body at home. The horses are unsaddled, and walked
straight to a large sandy spot close by, where they at
once lie down, and roll in the soft sand ad libitum.
All Bedouins greatly advocate this latter proceeding,
so much so, that many of them will obstinately refuse
to buy a horse that does not roll as soon as he is unsad-
dled, no matter how old, or how tired, hungry, or
thirsty he may be. The horses, after liaving rolled in
the sand, are led about for about ten minutes, and then
picketed, rul)bed down, and fed ; but are only given
water twice each day, once before sunrise, and once
ai'ter sunset, no matter what work they may have to go
til rough in the meantime. After lunch, which serves
for breakfast to the weary hunters, a nap is taken, till
the hottest part of the day is over, when a general
stampede takes place for a refreshing bath in the river,
and then a short excursion is made in the boats of the
steamer. After sunset a most sumptuous dinner is
served " en plein air," where claret and Shiras wine,
and even India pale ale and porter flow freely, followed
by champagne. This important matter being settled,
almost the whole population of the camp assembles on
the level spot in its centre to enjoy the beautiful even-
ing of these regions, listen to a series of European and

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 229

Arab songs or stories, to an impromptu concert gotten
up by tbe combined eftbrts of amateui-s on tbe guitar,
violin, flute and triangle, or witness a war dance of the
always lively Aghels, who, attired in all the war-like
paraj)hernalia of their tribe and profession, are proud
of exhibiting their skill in the use of their voices, limbs,
and instruments of war and music. By the time this
is over, night has again come on ; the ladies, children,
married men and old bachelors then retire to their
respective tents. But the young men seem in no par-
ticular hurry to woo the embraces of ^Morpheus. Thej"
order their narghiles, shattabs, sebils, meerschaums,
cigai's, cigarettes, or whatever smoking implement
they most fancy (in Mesopotania everybody" smokes),
and quietly while away the time, puffing tobacco till
ihe first howl of the jackal is heard, when they sally
forth with their guns or rifles some distance from the
river, to lie in ambush for game, which comes about
this time to the river's edge to drink ; and seldom do
they come home empty handed. They usually return
to camp between 10 P. M. and midnight. As they
approach they are challenged by the watchful Aghels,
and the still more watchful dogs, and, of course, must
reply, unless they wish to run the risk of being fired
at, which is, to say the least, very unpleasant, and even
dangerous, as these dusky watchmen are very plucky
fellows, ready to fire on the slightest alarm, and, though
provided with common Arab flint lock guns only, are
excellent marksmen at a short distance.

Arrived in camp the beds are carried out of the
tents, and spread on the ground in the centre of the
piazza, near the horses, as the young folks prefer to
sleep in the open air, under the starry heavens, to being
smothered in the dust and oppressive atmosphere of the
tents. On retiring to rest each of them places a loaded

230 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

gun or rifle under his pillow, less for the purpose of
protection than to keep the jackals at bay ; for as soon
as the camp is silent these beasts of prey will prowl in
small troops about the low shrul)bery which srrwounds
the camp, attracted by the inviting scent of fat poultry,
game, mutton, and fish in abundance. After awhile
everybody in the camp seems to be soundly asleep, ex-
cept two awkward and boisterous greyhound pupi)ies»
They, elated by the bright moonlight and the delicious
night breeze, are determined to allow nobody to sleep,
and therefore outrageously persist in chasing each other
all round the camp, upsetting everything in their way,
narghiles, bottles, chairs, buckets, running against the
tables and the horse's legs, tumbling over tent poles,
and tent pegs, walking off with somebody's boots or
shoes, pulling at the sheets of the beds, running a hur-
dle race over the human forms stretched in all direc-
tions, or rolling over the beds, burying them and the
sleepers in tlie sand as if they had only been placed
there for tlic dog's amusement. Presently an energetic
curse is heard, followed bv a well-diro<'ted boot comini£
in rough contact with the head of one of the young
curs, eliciting an miearthly whelp, and causing their
abrujtt and ignominious disa})pearance from the arena.
Hardly has order been restored when from the neigh-
l»oring shrul)bery tlie ]ialf-}»laintive, half-jubilant long-
<lrawn liowl of a jackal is heard, soon followed by ap-
j»arently all the available vocal talent of his species in
the desert, to the intense disgust of every living thing
in creation except themselves. "Whoever has had the
misfortune to be once seranadcd bv these midniif-ht
prowlers can well understand the grudge everybody in
carnp bears them.

Soon a keen-eyed observer might notice a stir hardly
perceptible, though it might be among the human forms

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 231

stretched on the ground. The doa"8 receive the horri-
ble serenade with a furious barking, but are quickly
silenced by a few commanding words in an undertone.
Halt a dozen apparent sleepers may now be seen to turn
slowly over on their faces, and lie immovable with gun
or rifle in hand to receive the disturbers of night ap-
propriately. Soon the brutes appear on the top
of the mound rising about one hundred 3'ards in the
rear of the camp. This mound commands an excellent
view, and here the jackals generally first post them-
selves in order to reconnoitre and see if evervthino- is
quiet. Ha ! there is one, there another, there a third,
and so on ; none of them makes the least noise, but
with snitfling nose, pricked ears, and knowing e^'e each
of them makes his survey, and before five minutes have
passed, the dark forms of more than forty of these wor-
thies occupy the mound. Then a scarcely audible com-
mand is heard in camp : " Attention ! " " Fire ! " Bang,
go half a dozen rifles like a well-fired broadside from a
mau-of war, and down to the foot of the mound roll as
manv or more of the would-be intruders, some of them
dead, others dying, others crippled and anxious to
sneak away, but speedil}' overtaken and mercilessly
dispatched by the keen -eyed Agliels, who impale them
on their lances, considering gunpowder far too valuable
to be wasted on such game. The carcasses are at once
dragged down to the river's edge, jiitched into the
Tigris and thus get a free passage to the Persian Gulf.
Such is a minute description of a day's camp life during
our sojourn among the ruins of Ctesiphon. I venture
to add a few incidents which happened to our party
during that period, for the perusal of those of my read-
ers who may feel interested in sporting scenes and ad,
ventures.

Returning to our camp one evening from a ramble

232 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

Up the river on horseback, with two of mj friends,
we noticed abont five miles from camp, at a place
called Casseba, on the left bank of the river, a field
belonging to the poor Arabs, who are eiiii^^yed to
watch a fuel station some distance further down the
river. ■ We found the field quite devastated by a herd
of wild pigs, whose footprints were easily discernible,
and were evidently made not more than twenty-four
hours previous; we resolved to watch the game the
next evening. So the followinjj morninn; we sent two
men with spades to the spot to dig three holes for our
liiding place, as there was neither shrubbery nor tree
within five hundred yards of the field. Shortly before
sunset three of our young men repaired there, accom-
panied by a native with a strong donkey to carry home
the spoil, in case we should be successful. There being
no hiding place for the man and donkey, we were
obliged to leave them at some distance behind, with
orders not to stir; and to jtrevent the donkey's bray-
ing we tied a five or six pound stone to its tail, a
remedy usually adopted by the natives of Arabia, as no
donkey will bray if he cannot raise liis tail. ^Vith tliese
restrictions we left them, and walked up to the holes,
which were about a hundred yards apart, and three
feet deep, by about two and a half feet in diameter.
As soon as the sun had disa[)peared in the west, each
of us retired to liis hole, stowing himself and his rifle
away as best he could in the narrow accommodations.
It was not long before my patience, and that of my
tv/o companions, was put to a severe test.

The sun liad shone all day with unrelenting power
i!ito the holes we occupied, the sides of whi< li had
retained the heat, and now diftnsed it with such good
will that we hanlly dared to lean our backs against
them, while the heat from the bottom almost raised

A SHORT SEASOX IN CAMP. 233

blisters when we sat down. The atmosphere of the
holes was in perfect harmony with the temperature of
the sides, and drove the perspiration in profusion from
all the pores of our bodies, much more effectually than
the hottest atmosphere of a Turkish bath. Unluckily
this was not all, for the holes were infested with myr-
iads of sand flies, a tiny little yellowish brown fly,
about one-sixth of the size of a musquito, but biting
much more obstinately. Their furious attacks almost
drove me to despair, forcing me to cover my neck and
face with my handkerchief, hold my rifle between my
knees, and stow my hands away in my pockets. Had
I been allowed to smoke my pipe, I could soon have
been rid of my tormentors, as they cannot stand smoke.
But this indulgence was of course out of the question,
as wild pigs have wonderfully keen olfactories, and
would never have made their appearance on the field,
which, considering the torture I was enduring, I was
anxious they should do as soon as possible, so that I
might be released the earlier from the little hell I
occupied. Repeatedly did I stretch my neck to survey
the neigrhborhood : but thousrh the shadows of night
had lono; ago settled on the river bank, everything around
was wrapped in grave-like silence ; a bat only fluttered
by me now and then, and once or twice I heard the
splashing of a flsh or turtle in the river. Had I not
distinctly seen the bright stars above me, I really
think I should have doubted whether I was not buried
alive by mistake. Two hours I sat doubled up like a
monkey, with my knees drawn up to my ears, and
from mere tedium began to count the stars over my
head; but getting confused in the numbers, after count-
ing them once or twice, I gave it up, and wondered if
my companions were enjoying the luxury of their
hiding place as much as I did, or if they had left me

234 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

alone to ponder undisturbedly upon the nothingness of
human existence.

I don't know how much longer I sat in this way ; all
I remember is that I felt drowsy, and was^just about
to indulge in an involuntary nap, when I was'hrought
back to reality by a strange noise resembling the cough
of a bio- dog endeavoring to clear its throat of a piece
of bone. Stretching my neck to its full length, I stared
in the direction from which the noise came, but could
not see anything moving. In the meantime the noise
had ceased; but I was sure I had not made a mis-
take and upon looking steadily a little longer, to my
intense satisfaction, I saw a dark object standing im-
movable, about half way between my hiding place and
that of friend ^V., fifty yards off the direct line between
us. Though the moon was just rising, there was not
suificicnt light forme to make out what animal it was;
but I wondered what had become of both my com[)an-
ions, who must have heard the noise if they were still
in their hiding places, and awake. I was just about
to let fly at the brute, when bang — bang, flashed two
shots almost simultaneously, enabling me to see that
the object shot at was not a wild boar, but either a
hyena or a huge wolf. The brute dropped without a
o-roan, as if struck by lightning; but as soon as friend
W. stepped from his ambush, it jumped to its feet and
made off, passing witliin forty yards of my retreat. I
fired one shot at it, also, which laid it on the ground to
rise no more. It proved to be a large male hyena,
which had probably come to quench his thirst at the
river. One shot had passed through the base of its
neck, a second through its shoulders, and the third
through the fleshy part of its hind-quarters. Though
we should have jtreferred to bag a fat young pig in-
stead of this nasty beast, it was clear that we should

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 235

not get a chance at the pigs that night, as they were
sure to be frightened away by our shots, so we con-
cluded to carry the hyena to camp and try our luck at
pigs another day.

^Tiile we were examining the carcass, the Arab
joined us; but no sooner did the donkey espy the
hyena than he pricked up his ears, shook his head,
swerved suddenly round, fLnmr the Arab unceremo-
nionsly over his head, by the side of the dead hyena,
and bolted, which abrupt proceeding of course pro-
duced a shout of rino;ino; lauo-hter from us. It caused us
considerable trouble to recapture the fugitive, and lead
him back to where he was wanted ; but he resolutely
declined carrying our spoil back to camp, snorting
ferociously, shaking his head, rearing and kicking in
all directions, whenever we tried to put the animal on
his back ; aware of the uselessness of our attempts to
break him into this kind of work, we gave it up, and
proceeded to skin the hyena, which was quickly accom-
plished, whereupon we left the carcass, but took the
skin away with us. The Arab thought the donkey
would not object to carrying the skin, so he mouuted ;
friend J. tossed him the skin, while I covered the don-
key's eyes with my handkerchief; all went on pleas-
antly, the Arab on the donkey's back, with the hyena's
skin over his shoulders, led the way home, while we
followed on foot, indulging in a smoke. The Arab
told us that as soon as the shots were fired a larsje herd
of wild pigs rushed by his hiding place in the bush,
led by a boar much larger than his donkey, and if we
had not fired on the disgusting hyena, we would no
doubt shortly afterward have had a chance at the pigs,
which he, though a Moslem, did not mind touching if
he was paid foi; it, but would not eat for any money.
He had hardly finished his speech, when the donkey,

236 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

which had walked at ^ wonderfully hrisk pace all the
way back, accidentally caught sight of the obnoxious
skin again, and suddenly diving his head between his
fore-legs, lashed out furiously and bolted with the hap-
less Arab ; in spite of the latter's despera{eattempts to
keep him in the path, straight across the country
he rushed, and finallv threw his rider into the thorn
bushes. Once more his own master, the donkey did not
await our arrival, but struck out for the camp, about
two miles distant, and did not slacken his pace till he
arrived there ; while we picked up our Arab, fortunately
coming across the hyena's skin, which had been lost in
the involuntary steeple chase. An hour afterward we
found our long-eared fugitive quietly standing near the
horses in camp.

A few nights after, we went again to Casseba to
secure a wild pig, for the purpose of changing our diet
a little ; for though I have never been very fond of pork
in any form, I do not hesitate to eat the meat of the
wild boar or pig, which is far preferable to that of the
domesticated animal, for the following good sanitary
reasons: The wild pig is far more dainty in its food
than the latter, it being in fact a strict vegetarian, and
not as fond of rolling in mud and filth ; on the contrary
it is very fond of pure water, to which it takes naturally
and is withal a splendid swimmer; all its life it has
breathed the pure fresh air of the wilderness, and, ow-
ing to its restless roving propensity, it is never unnat-
urally fat. For those reasons it is evident that its
liealth, and, consequently, its flesh must be superior to
that of the domesticated pig, as has been amply attested
by medical exaininations. But to return to our adven-
ture, we foinid the holes which we had occupied on the
former occasion undisturl)cd and took possession of
them immediately after sunset. This time we had not

A SHORT SEASON IX CAMP. 237

to wait long for the game, for hardly had we ensconced
ourselves in our hiding places, than a loud rustling of
the dry leaves covering the surface of the field, and an
occasional abrupt grunt informed us of the approach of
the bristly customers. I could not refrain from raising
myself to get a glance at them. There they stood in
the middle of the field, about sixty yards distant from
our retreats. It was a nice family often porkers, eio-ht
of them only medium size, apparently about a year old,
under the guardianship of two enormously big ones^
evidently their parents. The latter kept a good look-
out and lowered their ponderous heads only occasionally,
while the younger ones were busil}- digging awaj', bu-
rying their muzzles up to their ears in the dry leaves
and stalks. The huge old fellow especially attracted
my attention, I might almost say my admiration, for
there he stood in the fast fading twilight, his powerful
frame profusely covered with a coat of long coarse
bristles, which stood almost erect on his broad back ;
his square and ponderous head was nearly as heavy as
the rest of his body ; his lower jaw armed with enormous
tusks, bent boldly back in the form of the blade of a
sickle, or a crescent, and certainly measuring fully
eight inches in length, while the whole weight of the
animal could not have been less than four hundred
pounds. The dark powerful frame of this ferocious
looking creature stood forth in bold relief from the
faintly rosy tinted sky, which constituted the beautiful
background to this "Evening Landscape on the Borders
of the Loorian Desert," illuminated as it was by the last
hues of the parting twilight, and I could not help con-
fessing that this fierce boar suspiciously snufiing the
air, and stamping on the ground with his fore-feet,
presented the very embodiment of savage independence
and defiance. This circumstance alone induced me to

238 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

covet liis head, for I kiaew that owing to his great age
and size his flesh would naturally taste very strong and
far less palatable than that of his smaller companions
Presently I saw them advancins; leisurely toward mv
hiding place, the old fellow leading. They were not
more than forty yards from my retreat, and I was just
about leyelino; my rifle at them, when two larsje clods
of earth detached from the brink of the hole and fell at
my feet. Slight as was the noise produced by this fall,
it was sufiicient to rouse the suspicions of the cautious
leader of the troop, which instantly raised his ugly
head, and in doing so spied part of my rifle, or of my
head, and, before I had time to cover him properly with
my doulde barrel, he gave a loud sharp grunt and
bolted, crashino; throusjli the ])eans. Bansc — ban*; —
went both of my shots in quick succession, and, though
disappointed in my attempts at the old fellow, I had
the satisfaction of seeing one of his offspring roll over,
kickins: on the fjround. The others made oft' straiirht
for the brushwood about five hundred yards distant,
followed by four more bullets from my friends, who
succeedc<l in seriously cripi)ling the old sow, bowling
lier over; but before we could overtake her she was on
her leirs a<i:ain and succeeded in gettim; under cover.
We had the pleasure, however, ofseeing our Arab, whom
we had left at the very spot where the pigs disappeared,
give us a gratis exhibition of his pedestrian abilities.
Though armed with a Bedouin flintlock gun and a long
curved (bigger, when he saw tlie fugitives charge
straiglit towards bim, he tliouglit discretion was tlie
better i)art of valor and took to his heels with the
speed of a greyhound, sliamefully abandoning his
donkey to its own resources. Noticing the stam-
f>ede of its lord and master, it tf»ok the hint
and rushed after him, kicking up its heels and

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 239

braying furiousl3\ Never did I witness a more ludicrous
sight.

Retracing our steps to where our victim lay, we
found it to be a nice fat pig yearling, weighing about a
hundred pounds, and just the thing for a dinner party.
Soon after we heard the distant voice of our Arab,
urging his old donkey into a slow trot by a series of
unearthly yells, blows with the butt end of his gun,
and well-directed kicks. Coming up he assured us that
the old boar had discovered him, and would have
ripped him open if he had not got out of the way ; infuri-
ated as the boar was by a wound in the shoulder, from
which the Arab declared he saw the blood flowing as*
the animal came crashing along. We had no difficulty
this time in loading our donkey with the game, as we
had taken the precaution of wrapping a large woolen
blanket, we liad brought for that purpose, round the
pig. On our way home we knocked over two jackals
that, in company with several others, were admiring
the rising moon from the top of a mound, a little above
Ctesiphon, and startled a small herd of gazelles, which
had lain down some two hundred yards to the left
of our track ; but owing to their proverbial agility, they
were off almost before we caught sight of them, so that
we failed to bag them, though we fired three shots
after them. Three days subsequently, we bagged two
of them, however, by means of trained hunting falcons
and greyhounds, the favorite way of hunting gazelles
among the Arabs, and minutely described in a former
part of this book.

One morning before sunrise 1 went out partridge
shootino; with four of mv friends, amono- whom Avere
two English missionaries, Messrs. B. and E., who had
lived, with their families more than ten years in
Bagdad. ' A few miles from camp we separated, the

240 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

missionaries with another of the party scouring the low
shrubbery round a little creek formed by a swamp con-
nected with the river, while my friend T. and myself
followed the course of the river. We k»4- bagged a
good many brace of partridges and ducks, and in con-
sequence of the heat of tlie sun, which toward noon
always became very oppressive, had resolved to return
home. We also felt hungry, and were a long way
from camp. Just as we were about to retrace our steps,
friend J. called my attention to a small sand-bank,
about a mile lower down the river, which was literally
covered with ducks, geese, pelicans, and flamingos.
Among the latter were some particularly desirable ones,
owing to their bright rosy and crimson plumage, which
induced us to advance another mile in spite of the
earnest protest of our emj)ty stomachs. Whon we
came within two hundred yards of the island
of birds, I noticed, while creeping through the tall
reeds on the bank to keep out of sight of the birds, a
large animal, looking very much like a huge Bedouin
dog, crouching down on a low grass-covered mound on
the opposite shore, and gazing apparently on the
feathered commtuiity stationed on the little island.
Tbis opposite spectator was of a light brown color with
a yellowish white cliest, round head, ami peculiar cat-
like look ; not being aware of the presence of any
Bedouin campin that locality, I doubted its being a
dog ; but the idea that it was a lion was almost absurd,
as according to the natives they had of late become
verv scarce in that neighborhood, and if there had been
a solitary lion prowling about, it would doubtless
have been scared off long before by the regular thunder
of the steamer's gun, which was fired every cvenirg at
sunset, and must have been audible in that locality ;
for, though by our route it was a long distance from

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 241

camp, owing to our following the course of the
extremely tortuous river, yet it was in reality only
about two miles distant in a direct line. Being at a
loss by what name to call the animal, I thought it best
to tell my friend that a dog %vas in charge of the sand-
bank. Vpon his asking " where ? " I pointed out the
direction, when he at once declared that our vis a-vis
was a lion. Findinj; that we were both of the same
opinion, I motioned for him to stoop down and talk
the matter over with me. If w^e had but brought our
rifles instead of harmless shot-guns, it would have been
all right, and we could have settled him with perfect
ease and safety to ourselves ; but provided as we were
with only small slugs and bird shot, we had to take
our chances in the finest opportunity a man could wish
for. With such ammunition it would be impossible to
do him any harm, though at this place the river was
only about eighty yards broad. "We ransacked our
pockets and belts for heavier ammunition. As luck
would have it, we found one ball, only one, and this
was a conical rifle ball, and therefore much too small
for a smooth bore gun. This did not discourage us,
however, as we hoped to make up the deficiency by
wrapping a shred of my handkerchief round the bullet ;
the remaining gun barrels we loaded carefully with
slugs ; glancing from time to time through the reeds to
watch the lion, who appeared to be in blissful ignorance
of our presence and murderous intent. It was agreed
that I should first fire the bullet, and then as soon as
he should spring to his feet, we would sprinkle him
with three charo;es of sluo;s. I took a o;ood, stead v aim,
and fired ; but lo 1 the wretched bail lodged in the
mound about a foot below the brute. With light-
ning like rapidity the stately animal rose to his feet;
with head erect and waving tail, he looked proudly

242 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

around as if at a loss to'know what this meant ; but h*
had not long to wait for an explanation, for bang —
bang — bang — we peppered him with slugs, which
raised a cloud of dust round him, ainl matl«-him per-
form a prodigious leap, and disappear forever frOm our
eyes in the tall reeds on the river bank, leaving nothing
but the remembrance of him behind. Fearfuilv dis-
appointed, we picked u}» our traps and made toward
the camp, unmindful of the loud shriek of hundreds of
flamingos, geese, and other water fowl, which had been
startled by our guns, and were now gyrating high
above our heads.

My friends J. and "W. having with myself, several
times during our sojourn near Ctesiphon, returned to
camp with wild pigs which we had shot, a young Eng-
lishman, Capt. C, once made the foolish remark, at a
dinner in our camp, that it was neither sportsmanlike
nor gentlemanlike to hunt pigs with powder and ball,
but that it sl)()uld invariably be done on horseback with
the lance. I told him that I had the pleasure of being
personally acquainted with Major Probin, the famous
one-armed tiger-slayer, of Western India ; Capts. Da-
vidson and Baumgardtner, of India sporting fame, and
Afessrs. Green and Anderson, of South African elephant
shooting propensities, as well as with many others, all
of them acknowledged gentlemen and first-class sports-
men, and that none of them considered it beneath his
iligiiity, or injurious to his sporting ftime, to bowl over
a wild boar with a ball from their unerring rifles.
Only partially satisfied with my explanation, Capt. C.
made arrangements for a pig-sticking expedition to take
place the following week. On the day fixed for the
sport seven or eight horsemen left the camp long before
sunrise, splendidly mounted, and armed with long spears
or lances. Not far from camp they came up to a small

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 243

herd of pigs, which, however, took refug4 on their ap-
proach in the dense and thorny brushwo )d close by.
Owing to the small number of Arab beaters (men on
foot employed to scare and drive the game before them
by yelling and beating of the bushes with heavy sticks
they had with them), our sportsmen had to perform most
of this unpleasant work themselves by forcing their
horses through the densest thickets. By dint of almost
superhuman labor the party succeeded in driving the
pigs out on the open plain ; but at what a price I The
legs of the poor fellows, as well as those of theip gallant
horses, were horribly lacerated by the bushes, prickly
pears, and other thorny plants, and blood marked their
track as they advanced. As soon as the game wes driven
out, a hot chase commenced, poor piggy taking to his
legs with a will, endeavoring to reach another cover
some few hundred yards distant, closely pursued by the
well-mounted hunters, who thrust at them right and
left with their sharp spears whenever they succeeded in
coming up to them, which, by the way, was no easy
work, for though the fleet Arab horses can easily over-
take any wild pig in a straight-forward race, the latter
when pursued, will never take a direct course, but will
dodge and evade his pursuer by swerving abruptly
round to either right or left, by running in zigzag line,
by stopping suddenly, turning round, and running back
in the direction whence he came.

Pig sticking on the borders of the Loorian desert
is particularly hard and dangerous work, for the pigs
ot this region appear not only to be much fleeter than
those of any other country, but the country itself is
particularly unfavorable and dangerous for both horse
and rider by reason of its clayey ground, baked as
hard as a stone bv the scorchins: heat of summer, and
split in all directions by deep fissures, varying from

244 A SHORT SEASON IN CA>rP.

one incli to two feet in width, and from one to six feet
in depth, so that any horse going at full speed, and
happening to fall with his feet in one of these larger
fissures, must inevitably break his legs, a4itl at the
same time afi:brd his rider a splendid opportunity' to
break his neck, amusements which may be con-
sidered as rather too expensive to be indulged ill for
the sake of a paltry wild pig. After a hot chase of
about a thousand yards, Mr. E. and Mr. J., two excel-
lent horsemen, each succeeded in securing his pig,
while Capt. C. (the one who had objected to shooting
pigs) was still dashing after the wily porker he had
singled out for his prey. Ileedless of the dangerous
ground over which he sped with lightning-like rapidity,
his eyes intently fixed on the bristly fugitive scarcely
five yards ahead of him, he was just about plunging
the point of his glittering spear into the panting
side of the exhausted ])oar, when — crash ! down
came horse and rider with a terrible shock. When
the rest of the party arrived at the spot a horrid sight
presented itself; with both his fore-legs wedged in one
of the fissui'es lay the poor horse, completely stunned
by the terrific fall, with head, chest and knees fright-
fully lacerated and bleeding; about twenty feet ahead
i)f the horse lay the hapless rider, with his face down
ward just as he fell, and to all appearances a corpse.
On picking him up his face was fr)und to be one horrid
mass of blood flowing from nose, mouth and ears,
while his eyes were shut and the orbs turned up-
wards. A field flask of brandy, the only stimulant
at hand, was applied at once, but without avail, for
he gave no signs of life. As there were no appro-
priate means to transport the man back to camp in his
critical condition, one of the horsemen was sent back
to the tents to obtain a litter and mattress, and to

>

>

|i|".i|iiiiii

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 247

procure the immediate attendance of the surgeon of
the gunboat. While some of the party attended to
the prostrate man, the rest proceeded to extricate the
horse. Finding both of his fore-legs broken, it was of
course immediately despatched by a dagger in the
hands of one of the Arab beaters. Assistance from the
camp soon arrived. Upon careful examination the Dr.
pronounced the prostrate man still alive, but in a very
critical condition, having sustained a concussion of the
brain, broken his left arm, right wrist, and collar bone,
and but for his excellent constitution the sutferer
would have likely succumbed to his injuries. He was
still senseless when brought into the camp, but soon
after recovered sufficiently to be able to open his eyes.
It took the patient fully three months to recover
entirely from the effects of his accident, and he never
again conversed with me upon the respective merits of
pig-sticking and pig-shooting.

An accident of a considerably less serious nature
than the preceding, and that caused us to be for some
time the butt of bad jokes, happened to a friend of
mine and myself a few days afterward. We had
repeatedly noticed while out fishing and bathing that
a large covey of fat wild geese used to settle toward
sunset on the uttermost end of a low, sandy promon-
tory in the river, for the purpose of passing the night
there, which induced us one evening to watch and try
a shot at them from behind a tuft of low shrubbery
growing on a slight elevation of the sandy river bank.
Soon after sunset the geese settled in their usual haunt;
we fired simultaneously into them, killing two of the
birds outright, and wounding two other of the birds so
severely that they remained struggling and fluttering
on the spot; being anxious to secure them, and observ-
ing that they were trying to reach the water, in which

248 A SHORT SEASON IN CAINIP.

case we wourd perhaps ' have lost them, we left the
guns on the river bank, so that they should not be wet,
and ran at full speed toward the unfortunate birds.
But when within six yards of one of ou4iiyictims,
unexpectedly and much to my dismay, I sank up to
my waist in the soft mud that I had mistaken for terra
fii-m/i ; there I was, solidly wedged in the mud, like a
cork in the neck of a bottle ; with a fooling of deep
disgust I turned to look at my friend, who was taller
a; id heavier than myself, when, oh, horror! I saw him
;il)out three yards behitid me in the same predicament
n.-; myself, and laughing immoderately. Though there
was some consolation in being able to see a friend's
cheerful face so close to me, it was not quite what I
wished, for though only a few yards apart, we could
render no more assistance to each other than if we
!Kid been thirty miles distant, so that if we had been
musically inclined, our resi)ective positions would liave
perfectly justified us in singing with the i)oet, " Thou
art so near, and yet so far."

The prospect of being buried alive, standing up-
right in a mud-bank, with notliing near us but two
dead and two lame geese, and that too in a locality
where a week might elapse and not a human being
pass l)y, was not very cheerful. To be sure, there was
no danger of our being snutfed at by curious jackals,
nor being gnawed at by hungry hyenas, as these crea-
tures would be too cautious to venture on such treach-
erous territory ; and even if they were audacious enough
to insist upon making our closer acquaintance, they
would have to pay for it by getting in the same trouble
as ourselves; but the idea of spending even one night
in sneh a tight-fitting and damp bed induced us to
make the most streinious eftbrts' to release ourselves.
We soon gave it up, however, finding it only caused us

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 249

to sink deeper and deeper, till we were up to our arm-
pits in the soft mud. Very cheerful, indeed ! with the
additional lively prospect of disappearing altogether from
the surface durino- the nisrht, leavino; nothing above the
earth but our hats to serve as tomb-stones. The last shade
of twilight had disappeared, and a solitary star glim-
mered here and there on the darkening horizon, the
gloomy silence of nature was only interrupted by the
distant howl of the prowling jackal, or the splashing
of a fish in the smooth, silvery waters of the Tigris,
and we had given up all hopes of rescue, when the
distant screeching yell of a ragged old Arab, urging
on his lazy doukey laden with two bundles of brush-
wood, echoed along the banks of the river like strains
of heavenly music in our ears. " Dal, Dal. Come,
come ! " we roared at the imminent risk of burstins;
our lungs, and this cry we kept up incessantly till we
had the unspeakable happiness of finding that we had
attracted his attention. Fully aware of the fine oppor-
tunity for earning a liberal reward, the old fellow at
once stopped his donkey, and proceeded quietly to
unload the animal so as to avail himself of the ropes
and leather thongs for the purpose of efiecting our
rescue. Tying these together, he made a line long
enough for one end, thrown with force, to reach my
friend, who grasped it eagerly. But it required a con-
siderably stronger line to drag him out of the mud, for
that one snapped asunder every time the Arab put it
to the test, unceremoniously seating the latter on the
muddy ground, while my poor friend involuntarily
slipped back into his former position, cheered by a
loud laugh from his fellow-prisoner, who, notwith-
standing the similar predicament he was in, could not
help feeling amused at the futile attempts he was wit-
nessing. Finding that it was useless to make any

250 A SHORT SEASON IN CA>n».

further attempts with such insufficient means, we told
the Arah to run back to camp and procure a stronger
line from Hadjee Habib, our chief sais or groom, with
strict injunctions not to tell anybody what had happened
to us ; but in case of urgency, he might say ^e needed
the rope to bring home our game. The Arab was
instantly on his donkey and off for the camp. Owing
to the fast increasing darkness, he did not see our guns,
which were resting against a small bush, though he
passed within three yards of them; and it was lucky
for us that it happened so, for the old fellow, who was
a perfect stranger to us, would no doubt have preferred
the possession of two splendid double-barreled guns to
the expected baksheesh (reward), and would most cer-
tainly have disappeared forever with them, leaving
their lawful owners to their fate. In due time the
Arab arrived in camp, and applied to the proper party
for the desired rope ; but Iladjco Ilabib doubted the
honesty of the applicant, and ilatly refused to give him
the rope, declared himself willing liowever to accom-
pany him to the scene of reported distress. The Arab
was anxious to earn the whole baksheesh himself, but
seeing there was no alternative, he consented reluc-
tantly, and was instantly escorted by Iladjee Habib on
horseback well armed, and carrying u long, stout rope.
The faithful sais almost fainted when he heard the
voices of his two masters, sticking up to their shoul-
ders in the mud ; but he lost no time in throwing the
line to my friend, and with the energetic assistance of
his fellow-countrymen succeeded in landing him on
terra Jirmn. Then the trio set to work with right
good will to liberate my precious self, which was also
accomplished without much difficulty. We at once
secured our guns and ammunition, and gave them into
the charge of Hadjee Habib, while we jumped into the

A SHORT SEASON TN CAMP. 251

river with our clothes on to get rid of the thick laver
of sticky clay with which we were of course covered
from head to foot. Half an hour after we arrived
safely in camp, sneaked quietly into our tents to change
our clothes, paid our Arab deliverer, and mixed with
the other inhabitants of the camp as if nothing had
happened. But though Hadjee Habib swore hy his
beard (the usual way for Moslems to take an oath) he
would reveal nothing, in some way the matter became
known after all, and for several weeks we were victim-
ized by bad jokes and sarcasms.

During one of thofe magnificent moonlight nights
for which Arabia and Mesopotamia justly are a world-
wide fame, I went to the river's edge to try a shot at
the gazelles by moonlight, accompanied by the same
friend who had shared the muddy bed with me. We
had selected a narrow inlet of the river where these
beautiful creatures come at midnight to drink, not far
from camp. As it was a locality destitute of vegetable
matter of any kind, we had been obliged to dig two
deep holes during the day, into which we retired
shortly before midnight, anxiously waiting the arrival
of the game. The moonlight was so bright that we
could easily have read a book if it had not been for the
troublesome musquitoes which swarmed in myriads,
requiring all our attention to keep them at bay ; the
night was remarkably quiet, as is usual after an op-
pressively hot day, and it seemed as if every living
thing, except ourselves and our diminutive tormentors'
was asleep, or in a kind of languid stupor from the
effect of the still sulty atmosphere. This calm natur-
ally made us feel very drowsy, and bc^th of u-s would
likelv have fallen into a doze, had not at that moment
a gang of about ten jackals appeared in view, slowly
advancing down the bank of the river toward the

252 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

water. "WTiile doing so they kept a good lookout,
snuffing the air with upturned noses as if they had
some suspicion that all was not quite right. These
suspicions, however, seemed to disappear as they came
down to the water between our two hiding places,
which were not more than forty feet from each other.
One of the prowlers walked unsuspectingly up to the
brink of my pit, so close indeed that I might have
caught hold of one of his paws, had I not been afraid
of his sharp teeth. What must have been his astonish-
ment at finding that he was looking directly down
upon a man with a rifle. Just as he noticed me I
coughed slightly so as to scare them away, not wishing
to spoil our chance at the gazelles by firing at jackals.
AVith a suppressed shriek the dreadfully frightened
jackal swerved around, which was the signal for a
general and ridiculously abrupt stampede.

Once more all nature was wrapped in deep silence;
the only creatures visible were a few bats fluttering
noiselessly over our heads, and the only sound that
struck the ear was the shrill " Kee-wee " of the desert
plover, a bird about the size and color of a magpie, with
long red legs, and bill of tlie same color ; this cry may
hr heard at short intervals by day or night in all the
solitary spots of Northern Arabia, Mesopotamia and
Syria. Just about midnight I was roused from my
drowsiness by a faint splash in the water, which I at
first ascribed to the leap of a fish, or to some startled
water-fowl ; but as I heard the same noise immediately
after, I slightly raised my head, when to my joyous
surprise I saw right before me on the outside of the
little creek eight or ten fine gazelles, standing in about
one foot depth of water, some drinking, others contem-
j»lating their graceful forms in the silvery mirror, others
still were raising their heads and reconuoitering. I

A SHORT SEASON IN CAJIP. 253

silently adjusted mv rifle, and was about to take aim at
tlie foremost one in the water, when a sudden flash and
simultaneous report cut things short. With the speed
of liurhtnino; the srame dashed oft\ hardly firiving; me
time to fire a random shot into the midst of the fugi-
tives, with apparently no further efleet than scattering
them, and hastening their disappearance in the open
desert. The next 1 saw was a fine buck h'ino; on his
side and kicking in the agonies of death, half of his
body in the water and half on the land : my friend
had knocked him oyer by a shot throusrh the chest.
He bore his trophy on his shoulders to the camp where
we passed the remainder of the night. On the approach
of morning, we went out partridge shooting, and were
quite successful. To enjoy a better yiew of the majesti3
sunrise, we climbed one of the many mounds which
compose the ruins of Seliman Bhagh. We had scarcely
arrived on the top, when we noticed three or four
jackals congregated on the open plain, about half a mile
from where we stood, apparently fighting over something
that lay on the ground. Thinking it strange that
jackals should so far forget themselves as to allow
the sun to witness their quarrels, we resolved to
investio-ate the matter and send them home. Aware
of our approach they very reluctlantly skulked off, till
we fired two shots after them, when they took to their
heels with a hearty good will. Coming up to the
object they had been fighting over, we found it to be
a gazelle with a bullet hole through the neck ; the body
being still fresh, and evidently only a few hours dead,
we had not the slisrhtest doubt that this was one of the
gazelles we had been watching the preceding night?
accidentally wounded in its rapid flight by my random
shot, producing hemorrhage, and subsequently death,
either from exhaustion, or by the jackals. The body,

254 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

however, was so dreadfully mangled by the dastardly
brutes that it was quite worthless ; the head alone was
not disfigured, and was armed with a Ijeautiful pair of
horns, so that we cut it ofi" and took it. to tli^^amp.

During our sojourn at Ctesiphon, the two Arabs
emjiloyed to proceed with two donkeys to Bagdad,
alternately every day of the week, to buy groceries,
vegetables, and other necessaries for our camp, returned
several times a few hours after their departure, without
either money or provisions, urging the jtlea that they
had been attacked and robbed of the money with which
they had been entrusted, by a gang of five marauding
Bedouins on horseback, who as thev asserted were con-
tinually prowling about Casseba, a place situated about
half way between our camping ground and the mouth
of the Diyala, which river joins the Tigris just lialf way
between the ruins of Ctesiphon and tliecity of Bagdad.
It was in this locality we shot the hyena previously
mentioned. Densely covered with bushes, especially
along the road, or ratlier footpath; and as there are no
liuman lial)itations within eight miles, that district af-
fords a cafiital hiding place for highwaymen. Our Arabs
were never attacked when on their way back to the
camp, but invariably on their way to town, i.e.^ when
tlicy had the ready money in their possession, and the
robbers relieved them of the money only, as ])oth don-
keys were branded on their haunches, and wonld more-
over have only been an imi>e(liment to the rol)berH in
case of pursuit; the donkeys were also old and almost
valueless, though they constituted all (licwoi-Jdy riches
of the two poor devils, whose scanty and tattered cloth-
ing was not likely to excite the cupidity of the gang.
As both fellows were notorious in cani]i for tolling lies,
and the proverb " there is but little ditlerence between
a liar and a thief" is common in Mesopotamia, our

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 255

enspieions were aroused that these two rascals either
pockoted tlie money themselves, or that they were in
league with the marauders, allowing themselves to be
robbed for the i)urpose of getting their share of the
booty afterwards. In less than a month over one thou-
sand Turkish piasters (about $45 American money) of
our money disappeared in this way ; but the loss of the
money was not as aggravating as our being obliged to
dispense with groceries and veg^ tables often for days,
to the great discomfort of the ladies and children in
camp, who greatly preferred vegetable to animal diet
(a characteristic ot European life in Arabia and Meso-
potamia). It was therefore resolved that every day
three of our young men well mounted and armed
should escort the two Arabs as far as the Diyfda, be-
yond which river there was no danger of an attack;
strange to say the escort never saw or met with any
suspicious characters on the road, but the very first
time the three young men staid at home, the Arabs
returned with long faces, and minus our money, of
course. This so exasperated everybody in camp that
we vowed vengeance, and resolved to spot the dastardly
vagabonds. As if sent by Providence to exculpate his
two fellow-countrymen on whom our grave suspicions
rested, an unknown Arab made his appearance in camp
about sunset, nearly naked, and apparently greatly
frightened and exhausted. After having seized and
kissed the hands (the customary way of introducing
oneself, as well as claiming protection among the
Arabs) of the first party he met outside the camp, who
happened to be Mr. R., a young man speaking and
writing Arabic as well as a native Arab ; the stranger
told him that he came from Bagdad, and was return-
ing to Azizea, a little town on the Tigris, about thirty-
eix miles below Seliman Bhagh ; but that he had been

256 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

attaekcil in the bushes of Cassehii hy live ruHiuus who
had relieved him of a jouiig brown mare saddled and
bridled, a woolen blanket, a sword, two pistols, a small
amount of money and all his wearing ap}tMH«el, except
a pair of old trousers, lie begged to be allowed to
spend the night in camp, as he was liungry, thirsty,
and exhausted. lie looked like a fellow who told the
truth, so his request was granted m ith the proviso that
he was not to leave till daylight the next morning,
which he })romised faithfully. Upon tliis he was pro})-
erly cared for by his countrymen in camp, and aftei-
refreshing himself a little, he proceeded to describe the
five hiijhwavmen who had robbed him. His descrip-
tion of these worthies corres[)Onded minutely with that
given by our two donkey drivers. Though there was
every appearance of truth in the story, there were men
ill camp who were too well acquainted with the char-
acter of Arabs in general, and Bedouin tricks in })ar-
ticular to put much confidence in it. They suspected
tliat the poor devil was an accomplice of the marau-
ders sent into camp as a spy, or for the purpose of rob-
bery. It was thought advisable not to show any sus-
jiicions and to treat him ostensibly as the victim of
rol)bers ; but in realty all his movements were to be
closely watched by the shrewd Aghels, in wliose tent
he was to sleep during the night, and who had been
made responsible for his safe keejiing, with strict or-
ders to shoot liim if he attempted to leave the camp
Ijefore sunrise. Previous to our retiring to rest
it was agreed that he should be provided with a
donkey in the morning, and that he should pro-
ceed with one of our two donkey drivers quietly
toward I>ag<lad, for which journey we would pay
him two hundred Turkish jiiasters (about $10 in
American currency) in case of his being attacked

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMl«. 257

again in the neighborliood of Casseba, to which he
agreed.

After this arrangement was concluded, everybody
in the camp retired to rest except the Aghels, who kept
an unusually vigilant lookout that night ; but the
stranger slept soundly, and had to be awakened next
morning. Soon after sunrise, the two men mounted
their donkeys and went towards Bagdad, with a small
amount of money to buy provisions. Scarcely were
they out of sight, when an air of bustle pervaded the
camp. Horses were hastily saddled and bridled, rifles
and revolvers were examined and loaded, and, ten min-
utes later, eiglit horsemen rode slowly and silently out
of the camp toward Casseba, not on the Arabs' track,
but by a great circuit, and hidden from view by a long
rano;e of high mountains which constitute the ruins
of Seliman Bhagh and Ctesiphon; thus successfully
evading detection on the part of our two Arabs. On
account of the wide circuit, we had to fall into a brisk
pace, so that we might reach Casseba before the two
men. About two miles above Ctesiphon, at a spot
where the regular path to Bagdad forms a kind of de-
file through a cutting in one of the enormous mud-
walls or mounds, we saw the two men disappear behind
the mound, quite unconscious that they were so closely
watched. As soon as they had disappeared in the
bushes the other side of the mound, we separated ; four
men following the course of the river, the banks of
which are here overgcrown with tall reeds and brush-
wood for several miles ; while the other four followed
the range of mounds to its uttermost end, keeping
themselves closely concealed behind the mounds till
they should hear the report of firearms, when they
would dash out on the open plain and try to take the
marauders prisoners, or else shoot them. Friend J. and

258 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

myself joined the latter party, who reached the end of
the range about twenty minutes after we had sepa^
rated from our companions. Immediately after our
arrival, we dismounted and climbed the mo«wi for the
purpose of reconnoitering. A large tuft of dry grass
aftbrded a ca]iital screen for our faces. The whole
bushy plain lay like an immense chart before us ; every-
thing was distinctly visible from our exalted position.
Moreover, we had the advantage of having the sun
behind us. At first we could see no human beings ex-
cept our two Arabs, trudging on one behind the other,
on account of the narrowness of the path, which wound
serpent-like through the bushes. They w^ere on^y
about six hundred yards to the left of us, riding rather
slowly, as if they neither knew of nor cared for the
dangerous character of the locality. Presently we saw
them battering their donkeys' sides with the heels of
their bare feet, and even heard them yelling in the
usual way of the Arabs wlien urging a donkey to
greater speed, which in<liscretion rather surprised us,
the more so that both of them must have been fully
aware that it "was quite against the rules of caution to
make much noise in that neighborhood. This soutid
of the human voice brought round a slight change in
the tableau before our eyes; for soon, to our great
excitement, we noticed a slight commotion in the dense
bushes scarcely three hundred yards ahead of the two
travelers, and about a hundred yards to the left of their
l»at]i. "We distinctly saw the swarthy figure of an
Arab mount a bay horse, and, rising in the stirrups,
stretcli his neck and scan all the country round. After
remaining half a minute in this position, he Limbly
dismounted, and Imriicclly leading his horse by the
bridle, disappeared in the thicket a hundred yards fur-
fher on. About the same time we had the unspeakable
pleasure of spying the smooth, womanlike face of our

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 259

tall friend, W.jand the red tarboosh or fez of friend R.
peeping cautiously over a dense bush not more than
two hundred yards from the spot where the suspected
individual disappeared. They seemed to be unaware
of the whereabouts of our two Arabs, and quite uncor.-
scious of the presence of others. Kearer and nearer to
the dangerous spot advanced the two travelers. Gladly
would we have stopped to see the rascals pounce upon
the two poor fellows ; but we had lingered too long on
the mound, and expected every minute to see the dance
begin. We therefore hurried down, vaulted into the
saddle, got ready for the charge and waited impatiently
for the sio-nal.

Ten minutes, at least, elapsed before the tremen-
dous report of two Arab pistols was heard. Like light-
ning we dashed round the corner, and headed straight
towards a cluster of date trees of enormous heio-ht
growing near the mouth of the river Diyala and visible
at a distance of over twenty miles. But scarcely had
we made our appearance on the open plain, when five
villainous looking Bedouins, profusely armed, and well
mounted, but in tattered garments, crashed at a break-
neck pace through the bushes to our left, some three
hundred yards ahead of us, hotly pursued by our four
companions, who tried hard to make them prisoners,
and did not fire a single shot at first. The savage
scoundrels uttered a yell of rage as they spied us four
dashing upon them in an opposite direction, and shook
their long lances in defiance, as they reached the open
ground before we had time to cut them off". Though
they were at least three hundred yards ahead of us, we
did not give up the hope of catching some of them, and
kept up the pursuit at a break-neck pace for some time:,
but they were too well mounted, and too well acquainted
Avith the territory over which they sped to allow us

260 A SHORT SEASON IN' CAMP.

to overtake them so easily, iioticing, however, to their
consternation, tiiat we succeeded in shortening the dis-
tance hetween us considerahly, they were just about
trying their usual dodge of separating, and riding in
diiferent directions, when we gave them a volley from
our revolvers, which only had the effect of increasing
the s})eed of their horses, while the hold riders, natur-
ally expecting another volley, stooped down over the
right side (oft-side) of their steeds, thus effectually
getting out of our sight, leaving only the right leg
visible in the saddle, almost as if the five horses sped
away without any riders at all. Never before did I wit.
ness such dashing horsemanship ; but scarcely had two
minutes elapsed, when we were gratuitously treated to
a second feat, which far exceeded the former, and filled
us all \\ ith wonder. As they had anticipated we gave
them another volley, but this time with our rifles and
guns, as we thouglit them beyond jti^tol range. This
volley was more effective than the first, for it ])rought
down the horse of the foremost rider with a tremendous
crash, the ])oor animal rolling over and over, while its
rider, who had probably thouglit himself out of range,
and had resumed his usual scat in the saddle, was
thrown at least ten yards ahead of his horse flat upon
his face. Whether he was killed outright by the terrible
fall, or only stuimed, remains a mystery that can only be
solved by himself, if he recovered, or by liis savage com-
panions; for no sooner did he touch the ground than two
of the latter, without slackening even for an instant the
apjialling speed of their horses, came up, one on each
side of their prostrate friend, suddenly bent from their
saddles, and with a simultaneous Herculean grasp raised
the body entirely from the ground, deposited him safe-
ly on tlie lap f»f one of them, dashing along all the time
tills was being done, as fast as tlieir horses c(»uld run

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 263

The novelty and daring of the performance elicited an
involuntary exclamation of astonishment, I might
almost have said of admiration, from us; I must not
omit to add that the instant the horse and rider fell,
the rest of the marauders turned in their saddles, and
fired into us, less for the sake of returning the compli-
ment, I believe, than for the purpose of keeping us a
little at bay, so as to facilitate the rescue of their un-
fortunate friend ; but they had aimed too high, and
their bullets whizzed harmlessly over our heads. When
we came up to the horse, which still lay apparently
lifeless on the ground, we gave up the chase. On ex-
amination we found that the animal was only stuinied
by the fall. The latter had evidently been caused by a
conical rifle ball, which had struck the shoulder blade
in an oblique direction, and therefore glanced off, pro-
ducing an ugly, but not dangerous wound. The poor
brute was a middle-aged, but beautiful dark brown
mare of the purest Anezee breed; satisfied that she
would be all right again in a few weeks, if properly
cared for, we dressed her wounds, of which she had
several produced by her severe fall, beside the shot
wound. She soon revived, and was gently brought to
camp, Avhere Hadjee Habib, our chief groom, who had
the reputation of being a skilful veterinary surge m,
took her under his care, and succeeded in restoring her
to perfect condition in a few weeks. She was after-
wards sold at auction in our camp, and knocked doA'n
to friend J., who kept her till he took a fancy to a lar<;er
animal. I hear she was sold lately for an enormr us
price ; the captured saddle and lance of her previous
proprietor was awarded to her medical attendant, while
the Arab who had been robbed by the marauders, and
had taken refuge in our camp, received one-half of the
proceeds of the sale at auction of the captured mare,

264 A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP.

with which amount he proceeded at once to Bagdad to
buy anotlicr horse and equipment for his joiirnoy to
Azizia. In order that our meeting with the highway-
men should be fully understood, it is ne^ssary to ex-
plain that the four horsemen, who constituted the other
half of our party, followed at a quick pace the bank of
the river, up to the spot where we espied two of them
from the top of the mound. There the}' halted to learn
the whereabouts of our two Arabs, who, when they came
up to the place where the highwaymen lay concealed,
were poanced upon by the latter, w^ho fired two pistol
shots over them to terrify the poor devils, a dodge usually
practiced by Bedouin marauders. This report naturally
attracted the attention of our four horsemen near the
river, who made straight for the locality whence the
sound proceeded; unfortunately, their horses, which
were ail stallions, became aAvare of the presence of mares
and began to neigh lustily, to the intense disappoint-
ment of their masters; for no sooner did the noise reach
the ears of the Bedouins, than they began to suspect
something, and abandoning all hope of plunder, de-
camped through thick and thin, as already described
Had this uncalled for neighing not taken place, we
should i)robably have caught part if not all the robbers
alive; this very circumstance is one of the princii)al
reasons why nearly all Arabs, and especially marauding
Bedouins, give such a preference to mares, as they sel-
• li'iii or never neigli, while most Arab stallions will
neigh at the sight of any horse even when still far olf,
and all will inevitably neigh if they see a mare. Arab
horses have the remarkal)le instinct of making them
out at almost incredible distances. The oLl sheik,
F'orchan, chief of a section or the tribe of Shamnir
Bedouins, once offered to bet mo any number of sheep
that he would tell me the sex of any horse, two miles

A SHORT SEASON IN CAMP. 2^h

off, simply "by the behavior of his stallion, a beautiful,
thoroughbred chestnut, provided, of course, that he
and h:s horse should be placed in a locality from which
they could see the object in dispute at a distance ; T
accepted the bet three times and lost each time.

XIV.

NEAR CARARA. --m.^

Visiting an old Friend — A Sirocco in Earnest — The Flickering Ligm —
Rainstorms at Hand — Breaking up of Camp — Preparations for
Crossing the Desert — The Great Caravan — Prejudice againsi fSea
Voyages — The Bazaar's Harvest — An "Invoice" — Taking Leave of
Friends.

Toward the end of our sojourn in the desert,! j.aid
a visit to Mr. V., a Belgian mechanic in the servic»; of
the Turkish government of Bagdad, who during the
cholera jtanic had been encamped with liis family near
Carara, the little village previously spoken of; several
hundred wealthy native families from town were also
encamped near liis tents, and seemed to enjoy thcni-
selves in their own way, as much as we did in Selimnn
Bhag. Ex])ecting a moonlight night, I did not liasUm
my de])arture for homo, as I iclt sure of being able to
pcrlorm tlie trip to our camp, a distance of abc.nt
eighteen miles, in two hours, easily, with my excellent
young horse, so that I did not leave Carara much
before sunset. The day had been unusuall}' sultry,
sunset had jiroduced no change in the atmosjjhere, and
tlie liazr and barren luie of the southern horizon clearly
indicated the close advent of the scourge of the desert,
the Simoom, a scorching wind, in civilized countries
better known by its Italian name of Sirocco. I had
liardly arrived at the little village on tlie right bank of
the Diyala, whose wretched inhabitants earn a scanty
livelihood by ferrying travellers ajid caravans across the
river, by means of a kind of rough, wooden ferry-boat,
looking somewhat like a liuo;e wooden shoe, attached
to a long stout tow-line made of the fibres of date-tree

NEAR CARARA. 26'i

leaves, and stretching across the river, a breadth ot
about eighty yards, when the horrid wind began to
blow. I took refuge in the largest building of the vil-
lage, a little hut, made of sun-dried mud or clay,
standing in a small yard, surrounded by walls composed
of the same material. I left my horse in the yard,
gave hira some mashed straw, the only feed procurable
in the place, removed saddle and bridle, and retired to
the furthermost corner of the hut, almost stifled with
the oppressive atmosphere and the fine dust that came
whirling through every fissure in the ricketty old door.
My only companions in the wretched place were an old
broken down Arab and his half starved dog, both of
whom had buried themselves in a heap of dry grass
lying in one of the corners, which appeared to me to
be an omnibus bed, or one intended to accommodate all
parties. This induced me to join them, and with my
saddle as a pillow, and my white woolen abba, or
riding-mantle, as my veil against the fine dust, I lay
down near my two bed-fellows, and awaited quietly the
cessation of the suflibcatinor wind.

The Simoom or Sirocco is a scorching hot southerly
wind which blows in puffs, and by doing so raises all
the fine flour-like dust on the desert, and sweeps it in
immense clouds over the country, threatening with
suftbcation both man and beast, and destroying almost
anything which is not composed of stone or metal.
Leather ware is rendered as hard and brittle as sflass
by this terrible wind; horn, bone, ivory, wood, etc,
split and crack ; everything made of paper or paste-
board becomes warped ; catgut strings snap asunder ;
pianos get entirely out of tune and burst; furniture
splits; human and animal hair becomes stiff, brittle
and drops off; photographs fade; paint, varnish and
gilding crack ; even looking-glasses are totally de-

268 NEAR CARARA.

stroyed, the quicksilven becoming liquid and running
down the glass, so much so that a looking-glass repairer
could easily make his fortune simply by travelling
through North Africa and Arabia for the^^urpose of
restoring the mirrors destroyed by the Sirocco. Though
far from being a blessing to Arabia or Mesopotamia,
the Sirocco is not nearly so destructive in those
countries as it is in i^orth Africa, especially in the
dominions of Fez and Morocco, where whole caravans
while travellino; throui!;h the endless Sahara have met
with a horrible death by sutfocation. The camel?
obstinately refuse to proceed, lie down and are quickly
buried in the stifling, glowing sand, as soon as they are
overtaken by the Sirocco, which among other bad
qualities has the fatal effect of causing intense thirst,
totally enervating man and beast. Sometimes the men
save themselves and their animals by wrapping cloaks,
keffic-hs, blankets, etc., round their heads, thus often
successfully preventing the sand getting into their
respiratory organs. Fatal accidents of this kind are
by no means rare, and I myself knew of a caravan
which, during my stay in Bagdad, perished in this wise
in the desert on its way from Bagdad to Damascus ;
and several of the couriers of the "Royal British Desert
Afiiil " were lost in the same mamier between these two
cities above mentioned. The Sirocco blows generally
during the most sultry days of August and September,
and exceptionally, but very rarely, in October, and to
no great extent during the two latter months of the
year.

AlK)«it two hours after my arrival on the banks of
the DyrIkI), the Simoom had completely died away;
but the atmosphere had not improved by the wind, and
the sky was still covere^l with a dense haze, which
rendered the stars invisible and the night pitch-dark.

NEAR CARARA. 269

Nevertheless I made up my mind to reach camp that
night, as neither my horse nor myself could get any-
thing decent to eat in the wretched village, besides it
was only a ride of fourteen miles from the Dyfilah to
the camp. I thought I was well acquainted with the
road, and though the night was very dark, I could not
help finding the camp ; even if I should lose the way,
all I had to do was to keej^ close to the right, which
must sooner or later bring me back to the banks of the
Tigris, and following the course of this river, I could
not help finding my place of destination. The old
fellow humbly advised me to stay with him till day-
light; the night was too dark, the Simoom might come
on again, he said; I might lose my way, and be attacked
by wild beasts, or even by robbers, who would most
certainly kill me. But I remained obstinate as a mule,
pointing to my two revolvers as the pill boxes for any
person who might venture to meddle with me, presented
him with a " Beshlik " (five j)i^stres, a piece equal to
about twenty-five cents American currency), and told
him to ferry me across the river. He silently obeyed,
carried my horse and myself safely over, invoked Allah's
protection upon me, and then as silentlj' recrossed the
stream. Leading my horse up the steep bank, I lighted
my pipe, vaulted into the saddle, and cantered out into
the pitch-dark open desert. There was not the slightest
danger of running over any person, or aga'nst a wall or
tree, or of stumbling into a ditch or swamp, as the
country from the Dyalah nearly to Casseba, a distance
of about eight miles, was as flat, dry and smooth as a
billiard table. ^Yhen I lighted my pipe, I also looked
at my watch, and found it was just nine o'clock when
I left the Dytdah. After a good long canter I stopped,
lighted a fusee, and looked at my timepiece again. It
was a quarter past eleven o'clock. How could that be?

270 NEAR CARARA.

At the rate my gallant horse went over the ground, we
must have come twenty miles at least, and yet I had
not reached the bushes of Casseba. It was clear that I
had lost myself on the immense plain ; and there I was
in a predicament ; how to get out of it, I was at a loss
to conjecture. There I was in the desert, in a place
where perhaps neither I nor anybody else had ever been
before, surrounded by Egyi)tian darkness, which would
not permit me to see my hand before my face, without
a star, a light, a bush, an elevation of the ground, or
anything else to guide me. I listened for the cry of
some water fowl to indicate the whereabouts of the
Tigris ; but everything was hushed in a silence like
that of the grave, not even broken by the howl of a
stray jackal, and the dastardly hyena itself seemed
afraid to roam over the dismal locality on such a pitch-
dark night. What was I to do ? It was of no earthly
use to continue this Don Quixote course, as I might
ride my horse's legs off, and perhaps be traveling in
just the opposite direction from the place to which I
was bound ; moreover, my horse showed signs of fatigue,
as I had cantered l)riskly for more than two hours
without interruption. I, therefore, made up my mind
not to move an incli further without knowimj Avhere I
was going. I dismounted, slackened the saddle girths,
sat on the ground, and waited for "something to turn
up." As that "something " was rather tardy in making
its appearance, I began to feel lonely and sleepy, which
induced me to appeal to the faithful and ever successful
comforter of the solitary hunter, the weary soldier, and
the drowsy sailor — I mean the soothing tobacco pipe.
Time passed on; the hands of my watch pointed to one
o'clock, tlien to two o'clock ; but as yet, my chance of
relief remained apparently as distant as ever.

I was just about calculating how much longer it

NEAR CARARA. 2 i I

would take the lazj day to break, when I suddenly
noticed a faint lioht iar awav to nivleft, which, h.>\v-
ever, only dickered a minute and then was completely
lost to my view. Thouirh I had not the sli«i:htest idea
ill A\hat part ot" the compass I had seen the light, or
who the people were that lighted it, I resolved that if
1 >hould be lucky enough to spy it once more, I vvould
make directly for it regardless of the consepiences; it
might proceed from our camp, or from the little village
on ihe Dyalah, from some Bedouin camp, or the beacon
of some fi-hermen on the bank of the Tigris, or of
marauders in Casseba bushes. To my intense delight,
the little flame appeared again. To tighten my saddle
girths, vault into the saddle, and start at full speed
towiinls my guiding star was the work of an instant.
I rode hard for about half an hour, when, to my utter
dismay, the light again disappeared; but I still kept
straiiht ahead, though at a slackened pace, for fear of
overshooting my mark. Suddenly I heard a furious
barkins of dogs a little ahead of me, a noise which
sounded like music in mv ears. Immediately after,
I faintly heard the voice of a man attempting to quiet
the anofrv curs, and at the same moment a brio-ht lio-ht
dazzled my eyes. It was high time for me to find out
my whereabouts, for scarcely twenty yards in front of
me I noticed the high and almost perpendicular banks
of the Dyalah, with the ferry-boat that had carried me
across six hours before, attached to the opposite shore.
I dismounted, and began to hail the man on the other
side ; but he gave no answer, while the dogs resumed
their boisterous occupations ; seeing that the man was
not inclined to notice me either through fear or lazi-
ness, and not seeing any other around the fire, I dis-
charged one of my revolvers for the purpose of arous-
ing the old fellow who had ferried me across. In thig

272 NEAR CARARA.

I was successful, for he soon made his appearance, and
hailed me. I answered that I was the Frankee whom
he had carried over the evening before; that I had lost
mv wav, and wanted to wait in the ferry-boat till dav-
break. Fully aware that lie would be the recipient of
a good bakshesh, and wide awake to his personal inter-
ests, the old rascal was soon on hand with his ferrv-
boat and transferred mo to the other side, whore mv
horse and mvsolf took iii> the same quarters which we
had occupied the evening before. At the first dawn of
day I crossed the river again, readied Casseba by sun-
rise, and passing the ruins of Ctesiphon arrived in
camp in the best of humor, but hungry as a lion, and
just in time for breakfast.

About a week after this adventure, our camp at
Seliman-Bhagh, where we had enjoyed ourselves so
much for a month, was broken up in consequence of
the disappearance of cholera in town ; but chiefly be-
cause the time of the annual rains was fast approa<;h-
ing. The rainy season of Lower Mesopotamia gener-
ally begins about the end of November and closes
about the beginning of March, while during the rest
of the year not a drop of rain falls. Early on the
morning of the day fixed for our return to Bagdad,
everybody could be seen busy packing boxes, hand-
ling leather trunks, striking tents, etc., and transport-
ing goods and chattels on board the Comet. As soon
as the task was accomplished, the ladies, small chil-
dren, and servants also went on board the steamer,
which soon after weighed anchor amid the firing of
l)arting salutes, and then started up the river, followed
by the cheers of the male population of our camp, who
were to proceed to Bagdad on horseback. All the
availalde horses and donkeys, about forty in number,
were brought into requisition: and ten minutes after

NEAR CARARA. 273

the departure of our calvacade tlie spot where for
several weeks so much bustle and confusion had reigned
resumed its former solitude. Half an hour afterward
the only human beings to be seen there were one or
two ragged Bedouins, who stealthily stalked about the
precincts of our camp in search of trifles that might
have been lost in the quicksands, or been intentionally
left behind by the Frankees.

Some time after we arrived in town we heard that
the great pilgrim caravan would shortly leave Bagdad
for Mecca, a town in Arabia Felix, or Southern Arabia,
distant about one hundred and fifty miles from Dshed-
dah, or Jeddah, a small seaport on the eastern coast
Mecca, as everybody knows, is the birth-place and
burial-place of Mohammed, the illustrious prophet
and founder of the " Islam " faith, who, as I have pre-
viously mentioned, was born there in April, 571, of
our Christian era; and shortly after his death, which
took place in 632, was brought there and interred;
Mohammed being recognized by all adherents of Islam
as their prophet, the man who stands next to God;
in consequence of which belief Mecca, since it con-
tains the remains of ^lohammed, is considered by all
Moslems to be their chief place of worship and pil-
grimage, just what Jerusalem was to the Christians at
the time of the Crusades, and still is. The believers
of no other creed in the world adhere so strictly to the
dictates of their religion as do the Moslems, the height
of whose worldly ambition is to obtain the cognomen
of "Haji," or "Iladjee," i. e., "Pilgrim to the Holy
City," a title put before their personal names, and the
only means of obtaining this distinction so intensely
coveted is the performance of a journey to ^Nlecca.
This journey is by no means an easy thing for anybody,
but very difficult for poor devils of Turkey, Mesopo-

274 NEAR CARARA.

tamia, Persia, India pv Afghanistan, their countriea
being very remote from Mecca. They have to traverse
from two to live tliousand miles, which involves con-
siderable expense, even to the most economical travel-
ers, who journey singly, not to mention those who take
a whole train of women, servants and slaves along
with them; as, for instance, a certain East Indian ex-
qucen (since the Indian revolt a resident of Bagdad),
who, during my residence at "the city of the Califs,"
chartered a large steamer from a Bombay steam navi-
gation company at an enormous price, for the purpose
of conveying Her Royal Highness from Bassorah to
Dsheddtdi, whence she intended to proceed to Mecca.
Very few of the faithful can afford to spend money as
freely as the above named person, and thousands upon
thousands of poor men proceed annually by sea and by
land on their pilgrimage, as body-guards, grooms, bar-
bers, secretaries, etc., to parties who can afibrd to pay
for their services, and bear their traveling expenses.
The easiest and cheapest way for most of the Moslems
to proceed to Mecca is by sea, as they can travel on
shipboard within two or three days' journey from
Mecca. Until lately, however, they have always evinced
a great aversion to sea voyages, carrying their prejudice
to such an extent that they prefer the numerous toils
and dangers of a six or twelve months' journey over
tlic burning sands of Arabia to the comparatively
trifling drawljacks of a sea voyage. Last year, how-
ever, an enterprising Bombay firm obtained permission
from tli(! Pallia of ]Jagdad to convey pilgrims for
Mecca from Bassorah, the seaport of Irak Arai)i (Lower
Mesopotamia) to Bsheddah, provided that the ship or
steamer intended for this jmrposc should have a Mo-
hamniodan commander an«l crew, and be exclusively
ust^il f ir the conveyance of Moslem passengers. These

NEAR CARARA. 275

conditions were accepted, and the ship started in due
time, with a full cargo of Moslems, arriving safelj at
Dsheddah, and proving, as I was informed, a verjr
profitable enterprise to her owners. From thirty to
sixty thousand pilgrims annually congregate around
Bagdad from Bokhara, Afghanistan, Persia, Koor-
distan and Mesopotamia, for the purpose of joining the
great Mecca caravan, which generally leaves Bagdad at
the approach of cool weather. Thousands had already
arrived, awaiting with patience and true Moslem gravity,
the completion of the huge caravan by the daily arrival
of smaller caravans from all parts of Western Asia.
The narrow thoroughfares of the city of the Caliphs,
for many weeks previous to the departure of the re-
ligious devotees of the doctrines of Mohammed, pre-
sented a most interesting appearance. Too narrow
already for the usual population of the city, these
thoroughfares became daily more crowded with Mos-
lem representatives (principally males) of all the nations
of Asia and Africa, displaying such variety of costumes,
physiognomies, manners and customs as can be met
with only in the great mercantile centres of Asia and
Africa. The extensive bazaars of the famous city be-
came naturallv the chief rendezvous of these foreis-ners,
who, though bound on a religious journey, did not
think it improper to combine sacred with mercantile
business, and therefore brought with them great quan-
tities of merchandise and the produce of their native
countries, which they were all anxious to dispose of in
the bazaars of Bagdad.

l^ever before did I see the market of any Oriental
city so overstocked with goods of every description as
I had the pleasure of witnessing in Bagdad at that
period. Every imaginable article of manufacture or
produce indigenous to Western Asia, mingled with an

2V6 NEAR CARARA.

immense variety of European merchandise, could be
seen exhibited at this improptu world's fair. The
finest shawls of Cashmere; the coarsest of Arabian can-
vas; the most dazzling diamond, ruby, emerald and
turquoise jewelry that had ever been produced by
India, Bokhara and Persia, down to the most insignifi-
cant brass or zinc ornament ; from the most beautifully
finished shot-guns of English or French workmanship
down to the unwieldv Afghan blunderbuss and the

\^ CD

original Bedouin match-lock ; from the most delicious
rose oil and other perfumes of the Orient down to the
most horribly smelling fish oil. In short, everything
was to be had during that period for money or money's
value. But this bustle was not restricted to the city
only, but also to the suburbs, the inhabitants of which,
mostly agriculturists and cattle herders, thronged the
numerous gates from sunrise to sunset in their eager
attempts to provide the overcrowded city with vegeta-
bles and Iruit of every kind; besides eggs, milk, but-
ter, cheese, corn, poultry, fresh game, firewood, etc.;
which necessaries of life were transported to town on
the backs of thousands of donkeys; which animals, on
their return home with their empty baskets on their
bjicks, were constantly getting into direful confusion
with herds of sheep and goats driven to town for the
itutchers. Often have I seen the narrow gates blocked
uji by these animals, harassed on all sides by the sticks
and unearthly yells of their drivers; which foolish
proceedings naturally only served to increase the dread-
ful confusion, y)rcsenting a scene which entirely defies
description.

Tlie suburbs of the right-bank city were literally
covered with tents iidiabited by j)eople who would not
or could not find shelter in the overcrowded city.
Those who would not live within the town walls were

NEAR CARARA. 277

chiefly Bedouins from the desert and the banks of the
Euj»hrates, who are all greatly averse to town life,
having passed their whole existence in the open air ; but
had been attracted to the city by the great demand for
camels, horses, mules and donkeys, unavoidably required
by the pilgrims for their journey to Mecca. The
Bedouins had brought thousands upon thousands of
these animals with them, and for some time did a brisk
and highly profitable trade, knowing, as they did, that
they could command almost any price for their animals,
as the pilgrims must have them.

On the day fixed for the departure of the caravan,
just before sunrise, I rode with my friends over the
pontoon which stretches across the Tigris in the centre
of the city, and passing the limits of the right-bank
city, soon reached the vast plains stretching between
the monument of Zobeida and Sidd J^imrud (median
wall), where a grand sight presented itself to our eyes.
Upward of eighty thousand people, intermixed with
at least a hundred thousand camels, horses, mules
and donkeys — the former dressed in their various cos-
tumes, and the latter gaudily caparisoned and fully
equipped with all the paraphernalia requisite for the
journey — covered the plain almost as far as the eye
£ould reach. The immense mass of people, the deafen-
ing noise produced by the mixture of so many human
and animal voices, the bustle, the glitter of innumerable
lance-heads, silver-mounted sabres, guns, pistols, etc., in
the first rays of the rising sun, presented a picture
impossible for my pen to describe, and never to be
efi'aced from my memory.

Here fathers, sons, husbands, relatives and friends
were taking leave of their families by tender embraces,
and each bestowing a parting kiss on the other's shoul-
ders. There, inhabitants of Bagdad consoling a few

218 NEAR CARARA.

young women whose husbands have already taken
leave of them, and whom they will probably never see
again alive. Here, a sobbing young Wife, surrounded
by lier parents, brothers and sisters. Rather than live
all the while in suspense as to the fate ofner lord and
master, she is determined to accompany him, sharing
with him the toils and dangers of the enormous jour-
ney. Here are a couple of dashing horsemen vaulting
into their saddles ; there a group of swarthy Bedouins
trying to make an obstreperous camel lie down to
receive its rider or his luggage. There a dervish (a
wandering ^Moslem priest, or rather devotee, living
ujion alms), with long beard and tattered garments,
stalking gravely through the crowd ; here a youngster,
having lost himself in the confusion, crying bitterly for
his father and motlier. Here a couple of burly Persians
mounted on lively "rahwans" — ponies with the pe-
culiar gait already described ; there a number of Arabs
on horses of the finest breed ; and there a troop of Bed-
ouins, with faces muffled up to their eyes, squatted on
the backs of tall and powerful dromedaries, which they
pilot admirably through the dense crowd to join the
ranks of the already a})parently endless caravan. The
vanguard of the caravan, consisting chiefly of Bedouin
guides and a heavily armed escort, started on the jour-
ney long before sunrise and has already disappeared in
tilt' haze of the distant horizon ; while the caravan
itself, like the body of a mammoth snake, winds
slowly l>ut steadily across the immense plain, in the
direction of "Hit," or "Heet," a little town on the
right bank of the river Eujihratcs, about sixty miles
west of r)agdad, where the ])ilgrims cross that river at
a very shallow place. Thence they proceed, keep-
ing always within ten miles of the river, towards
" VVady Suwab" — i. e., Valley (of the river) Suwab

NEAR CARARA. 279

— which stream is a right-hand tributary of the Euph-
rates.

From there they cross the Syrian desert in a west-
erly direction until they reach " Tadmoi " — better
known as the Kuins of Palmyra — and thence they con-
tinue their route across another terribly arid territory,
first westward and then south-westward, to " Deniesk-
esh-Sham " (Damascus). In this queen city of Syria
the pilgrims rest for about a fortnight ; during Avhich
time their enormous caravan daily increases by the
incorporation of smaller pilgrim caravans from Syria,
Koordistan, and Asia Minor, all of which rendezvous
at Damascus ; whence the entire mammoth caravan, on
a certain day known to every Moslem in that part of
the world, starts on the regular "Derb-el-Hadsh-esh-
Shami" — i. e., "Syrian Pilgrim Road" — due south
towards the shores of the Red Sea; and thence, via
Medina, to Mecca.

XT.

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND.

Arabian Customs — Selecting Escorts — Stock Partnership in the Arab
Horse — Our Pitket Guard — Sanctity for the Steed — The Oath —
Bedouin Hospitality — The Imperial Firman — Royal ''Desert Mail"
Oxfa — French Enterprise — " Dachterwan" — An Arab Horse Shoe.

It was toward the end of the month of July that
Signor P. reappeared in Bagdad with twelve of the
mo8tbeautiful,tlioroughbred-stallionsIeversaw,escorted
by a gang of about forty swarthy, savage-looking Be-
douins, with faces emaciated, and muffled, not unlike
Egyptian munmiies, with deeply set, jet black eyes, of
sparkling brightness and piercing keenness. They were
all very badly mounted ; though their tribe owns the
most magnificent horses to be found in Mesopotamia,
or anywhere else, the wily fellows, with the precaution
which characterizes most Bedouin tribes, took care to
leave their good horses at home, well-tauijht bv sad ex-
j)orience that by bringing them into Bagdad they might
attract the attention of the Pasha, the Cadi (judge), or
the Rais Pasha (brigadier-general), who might covet
the stately animals, and with well-known gubernatorial
sense of justice, either offer to the luckless owner a
price of about one-fourth the value of his horse, or
if he should refuse to part with it at such a price, he
may find himself quietly arrested on some pretence,
before he is many hours older. His horse, the unmis-
takeable cause of his sudden imprisonment, is also
taken care of; but, of course, most mysteriously disap-
pears during his confinement. Should the unlucky pri-
Boner ever be fortunate enough to be set at liberty and

(280)

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND. 281

that the audacity to make inquiries as to what had
become of his four-footed friend, no one ever knows
any tiling about it ; but the best advice to be given the
poor Bedouin is to leave town immediately, if he would
not wi^h being imprisoned again, or swallowing some-
thing in his coftee that will not agree with his stomach.
As I said, the Bedouins escorting Signor P. rode, for
obvious reasons, inferior horses commonly called by the
Arabs ''gheddish." Their equipment, too, was not
of such a description as to excite the cupidity of others.
They wore the common long, loose gown of brown
sheeps' wool gathered round the loins with a woollen
scarf or rope, over their shoulders hung the usual white
" abba," or Turkish burnous, previously described as
worn by nearly all the Bedouin tribes, as well as the
people of Mespotamia, Arabia, and Xorth Africa.
They were all barefooted, had long, shaggy, coal-black
hair, scanty beards and moustachios, except two or
three old fellows, whose hair and beards were almost
snowy white, and their heads covered with the usual
keffich (the large multi-colored and sometimes richly
tassel led handkerchiefs worn by Arabs on their heads
and shoulders). Their saddles of peculiar shape, with
extremely narrow seat, conspicuously high pommels,
and saddle-bows were covered with tanned goat skin,orna-
mented with coarse embroidery, and iurnished with
large quadrangular stirrup-irons, suspended by leather
straps. This kind of etirrup-iron is peculiar to the
Moslem. Its base is slightly convex and large enough
for the entire foot of the rider to rest upon, while its
sharp corners serve him for spurs. Their bridles were
of ribbons manufactured from goat's hair. The bit was
of wrought iron, and also of peculiar shape, having a
rins: of about three and a half inches in diameter attached
to the middle of the cross bar or mouth-piece, just large

282 BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND.

enougli to be pasf?ed over the lower jaw of tlie horse.
By pulling tlie reins the ring presses on the under jaw,
thus actino; on it as a kind of lever. It is a most cruel
bridle, and punishes a horse severely when energetically
pulled ; but is entirely out of jdace on Arabian horses
which are so remarkably gentle and docile. All the mem-
bers of the escort carried lances from ten to twelve feet in
length, the original and favorite weapon of the Bedouins,
which they handle i^'ith great skill. They were also
provided with the usual carved double-edged dagger,
or kris, worn by nearly all Arabs. As to firearms,
only a few possessed any, and they consisted of the
long-barrelled Arabian «:un, and belt pistols. They all
belonged to a sub-tribe of the Shamnir Bedouins, called
the " Sacclavi Simbri," temporarily encamped on the
plain, between the three previously described lakes,
Ilindijia, Bahr Xedjes, ai^d Chor Allah, and the riglit
bank of the river Euphrates, probably the very tribe
which twelve years ago made the attack on the expedi-
tion of the gunboat " Come*;" but this, however, they
strenuously deny.

As Signor P. had bough'; the greater part of his
horses from this tribe, and had enjoyed their hospi-
tality for over two months, he thought it best to select
his escort from among thorn, well knowing that they
had rather suffer death, than allow any of their famous
horses to fall into the hands of a maraudinir rival tribe.
It is a well known peculiarity of *he Bedouin tribes
who are most famous for their horses; that although
they do not object to selling their best stallions (pro-
vided they get their i)ricc and the purchaser agrees to
send tlicm across the sea), for no consideration are any
of tlicm sold, given, or in any other way transferred to
the possession of another Bedouin tribe. Such indeed
is tlie importance of this condition in the Jiargaiy *hMt

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND. 283

the purchaser is not only obliged to sign a paper to
this eifect, but they actually force him to take an oath,
according to the customs of his religion, that he will
not violate the condition ; death and theft of the animal
being the only exceptions to the rule. In order that
such an event may be made almost an impossibility,
the Sheiks of the Sacclavi Simbri had o;iven Sio-nor P.,
v,'ho pretended to buy the horses for the Sultan Abdul
Aziz and not for France, an escort of forty men, to see
him safely through the territory infested with rival
Bedouin tribes. Luckily for both sellers and purchas-
ers, no accident happened to the horses, and they ar-
rived safely in Bagdad Had there been any attempts
by marauding bands of other tribes to get possession of
the horses the escort would certainly have defended
them with their lives, or at any rate would never have
returned home to their tents on the bank of the
Euphrates unless they had succeeded in stealing them
again from anybody but their lawful owners. The
Bedouins are far more particular with their brood
mares, with which they never part under any consider-
ation whatever ; no matter what amount may be of-
fered, or who may want them, it would not be of half
so much consequence in their estimation for half a
dozen members of their tribe to be murdered, as to lose
a famous brood mare, either by theft, disease, or acci-
dent. She is the pride of the men, the favorite of the
women, the playmate of the children, and her loss is
bemoaned by every member of the tribe. Anxiously
watched, and kept in view day and night like a price-
less jewel by keen eyes, it is by no means an easy
task even for the most cunning horse thief to elops
with her. In many instances, especially when she is
in foal, she is not only living in a tent pitched for her
special use, but is continually fettered with strong iron

284 BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND.

shackles round the patterns of her fore-legs, and the
key of these shackles is always kept by the chief of the
tribe, or one of the owners. Generally among Arabs,
but chiefly among the Bedouins, valuable horses, especi-
ally celebrated brood mares, are owned by two, three,
four, or even more parties. The animal is thus a sort
of joint stock property, divided into shares, which are
bought and sold among the members of their family,
tribe, and community, or acquaintances, just as railway
shares, bonds, etc., change hands in a stock exchange
in the United States. It thus happens, perhaps, that
some horse is partly owned by one party in the Desert,
another in Bagdad, and a third in Bassorah. The one
who feeds the horse is entitled to its use, but is not
allowed under any pretence to part with the animal,
its foal, or its services, unless he has the written con-
sent of each of the stockholders. The purjiose of this
joint ownership is palpable enough. It is thus ar-
ranged so that in case the horse should be lost by theft
or disease, the pecuniary loss will not fall so heavily
on one person ; insurance companies being of course un-
known as yet in Arabia and ^lesopotamia.

A large ]5ed()uin camp is, moreover, carefully
watched by several hundred big, powerfully built,
sliaggy -haired dogs, notorious for their ferocity, and
famous throughout the East for their watchfulness.
They amiounce the approach of a stranger by a furious
barking when he is at an almost incredible distance,
even wlien quite out of sight. Woe to the stranger
who dares to enter the camp unless he is on horseback,
and consequently out of their roach. If on foot he
would be instantly torn to pic(;('S by the furious curs,
but for the en(!ro;etic interference of tlie inmates of the
camp. In spite of these extraordinary precautions, it
Bometimcs happens that a cunning thief succeeds iu

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND. 285

making oif with the coveted steed. A well-known
traveler is authoritj for the following: One evening,
just before nightfall, one of these wandering lords of
the desert, badly mounted and equipped, approached
the camp of a foreign Bedouin tribe, far-famed for the
excellence of its horses in general, but especially tor the
possession of a beautiful black mare, said to be un-
equaled in speed by any horse in the desert. As fate
would have it, the first person the stranger met on ap-
proaching the camp was the lucky owner of this equine
paragon. His hospitality was instantly claimed by the
wavfarer, and of course readily o-ranted by his unsus-
picious victim, as hospitality is one of the chief ordi-
nances of Mohammed, and rigorously exercised by the
Bedouins even toward their most bitter enemies. The
stranger pretended to belong to a friendly tribe ; that
he had been gazelle hunting with a party, but had been
separated from his companions and chased by maraud-
ers. His lean horse, indeed, was in distress, but he had
purposely tired and lamed it to make his story appear
plausible. As may be surmised he was nothing but a
professional horse thief, bent upon securing the famous
black mare. Every circumstance seemed to favor tlie
wily scoundrel. The atmosphere that night was un-
usually oppressive and sultry, plunging even the savage
and proverbially wakeful dogs into a sort of lethargy.
Stealthily he arose in the middle of the night, cau-
tiously crept up to the spot where the mare stood, put
on the bridle, noiselessly removed the shackles, and
was just about leading her quietly past the outermost
tents of the camp, when one of the dogs gave the
alarm, joined at once by all the others. Quick as
lightning the audacious villain vaulted on the bare-
backed steed, and disappeared phantom-like in the
darkness. The next moment the loss was discovered,

286 BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND.

the camp aroused, and d few moments later some two
Iniiidrcd dashing horsemen divided into small bands,
and" riding in different directions, swept over the
boundless desert, vowing vengeance on the daring
fugitive.

Onward and onward they speed over the desolate
plains with gazelle-like velocity. Hours pass away,
but their maddening course never slackened, nor a
word passed between them ; but their silence is more
eloquent than language, and their pinched features,
convulsively closed mouths and flashing eyes, are un-
mistakably expressive of determination and vengeance.
Woe to the wretch if they overtake him. Presently a
slight tinge of gray appears on the starry firmament,
toward the east, which slowly increases its dimensions.
The little, glimmering stars fade rapidly away — even
the morning star begins to glitter very unsteadily, and
finally disa]>pears altogether. The gloomy shades of
night vanish in half an hour more, and a slightly
coj»por-colored cloud in the eastern hori/.on heralds the
advent of the messenger of dav. But who comes
thundering along at such a fearful jjace over the barren
plains, straight along as if toward the goal on a race
course? It is a race for life or death. The flying
fugitive is the wild horse thief, and his pursuers, hos-
pitable Bedouins. How the earth trembled as the
frantic racers api)roach closer! How nobly the beau-
tiful mare keeps the lead ; l)ut, lo ! she must be over-
taken, for her rider, though a rascal and a wonderful
horseman, is riding bareback, and has no other means
of urif-inLT her on than the heels of his naked feet and
his husky voice, which appears strange to her. A few
strides more and the most ardent of his j)ursuers will
be by his side. " Pinch her loft ear, oh, kafir ! " (one
of the greatest insults one Moslem can give to another

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND. 28 1

is to ^11 him kafir, or unbeliever). "Piucli her in the
left ear, oh, kafir," yells once more the old, gray-haired
fellow, who is about to grasp the fugitive. The thief
takes the hint, and, to his utter astonishment, thus
urged onward, as her lawful master had taught her
from her youth, the mare dashed away from her pur.
suers, and is soon lost to sight. "Allah agbar " (God
is great), "Allah kerim " (God is good), exclaims the
proud but hapless Bedouin, as he gives up the now
useless chase, and sees his beloved steed banish forever
from his sight. Being questioned by his companions
as to his reasons for ffivino; with his own tongue, to
the rascally fugitive information as to the only possible
way of escape, he answered, choked by his grief:
" That mare has never yet been overtaken by any
steed ; rather would I lose her forever than that she
shouM lose her reputation." An answer, from a Be-
douin standpoint, worthy of a hero.

Another beautiful anecdote is told, by the same
traveler, illustrative cf the sanctity with which hospi-
tality is regarded by the Bedouins. Two Bedouins of
dilierent tribes became involved in a quarrel one day
in the open desert, and which resulted in one of the
disputants being stabbed to the heart. The murderer,
who happened to be traveling alone, fled immediately
after the commission of the bloody deed, but of course
was closely pursued by the companions of the mur-
dered man. Seeing that he would be finally overtaken,
he piloted his horse straight toward a Bedouin camp,
which he had spied in the distance, being fully aware
that he would be a doomed man, and instantlv cut to
pieces by his pursuers, if overtaken before he could
reach the camp and claim the hospitality of one of the
tribe, who would be bound to protect the fugitive with
his own life, if he could be lucky enough to cross the

288 BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND.

threshold of his protector's tent before being over-
taken. Of course, the murderer urged his steed to itg
utmost speed, and reached the uttermost tent of the
camp before his vindictive enemies could come up with
him. To vault from his panting horse, rusH into the
tent and lay hold of the silver beard of an old, shriveled
Bedouin (the customary way of applying for protec-
tion among the wild sons of the desert), was the work
of an instant for the hunted-down criminal. To this
prompt action he owed his safety ; for no sooner had
the two entered the tent too-ether than the blood-
thirsty gang thundered up to the spot, bringing to the
old man the news that he harbored the murderer of
his only son. As fate would liave it, the murderer had
unconsciously sought and found protection from his
ardent pursuers, not only in their own camp, but in the
very tent of the father of his victim. Awful must
have been the news to the bereft father; but the old
man and the would-be avengers both held hosi>itality
as too sacred to be violated, even in such extremities.
The fugitive and liis liorse were properly cared for by
the old man ; but a little after midnight the latter
cautiously awakened hi« strange guest and told liim to
make ready to start if he valued his life ; indicated to
him the direction in which he would have to })roceed
to reach the camp of his own tribe, about thirty miles
distant, in the quickest manner possible. lie promised
to allow him half an hour's start (timed by the hour-
glass); but cautioned him that immediately after the
lapse of that time he would be on the track of hia
enemy with one hundred and fifty horsemen, and take
blood for blood, if thoy succeeded in overtaking him.
I need not say that his guest did not tarry much
longer, or spare liis horse in his race for life or death.
Half an hour after his departure one hundred and fiftj,'

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND. 289

horsemen, led by the old man, well and splendidly
armed and mounted on their fastest steeds, dashed off
into the darkness and swept over the dismal desert,
hunting for the fugitive, whose steed must have made
good time, as his pursuers returned without man or
beast.

The grant of hospitality and protection with the
Bedouins is not an exclusive privilege of the adult
male sex, but also of females, provided they be married.
"No such grant is so much respected by them, as that of
an enceinte woman ; such indeed is the respect paid to
this duplicate of humanity, that the clutching of the
hem of her dress by the intended victim is certain to
save the life of the otherwise doomed man, even if this
should happen in the open desert far away from any
tent.

The arrival of so many beautiful horses, escorted
by members of a Bedouin tribe very rarily seen within
the walls of Bagdad, created quite a commotion among
the inhabitants, who are all, more or less, good judges
of horseflesh. Bagdad, indeed, was till lately the chief
market in Asia for Arab horses. But a firman or de-
cree was issued by the present Sultan Abdul Aziz, that
during the next four years no thorough-bred Arab
horses should be exported from the Turkish empire.
Heretofore five thousand or more were annually sent
from Bagdad alone to all parts of the world, but chiefly
to India, where some of them have been sold for twenty
thousand rupees ($10,000 in gold). Horse-dealers have
oft'ered such enticing prices to the Bedouins of Meso-
potamia (justl}^ celebrated for the purity of blood of
its stock), that they have parted with nearly all their
finest breed. To recruit this raj)idly diminishing race
of the noblest horses in the world, the imperial firman
was issued, and any person detected transgressing it ia

290 BAGDAD LEFT BEHIN©.

cast into prison, or the horses are confiscated by gov*
crnmcnt. Thou2:h the firman was still in force at the
time of our stay in Bagdad, it was no obstacle to Sig-
nor P., who was the bearer of a "vvrittqi^^ermission,
signed by the Sultan himself, to purchase and export
Ihe requisite number of horses for the Sultan's august
cousin, the ex-premier of France ; Abdul Aziz being prob-
ably aware that it would be bad policy to refuse such a
trifling courtesy, as liis great cousin in France might re-
turn his impoliteness with interest. Shortly before the
arrival of the horses in Bagdad, two hundred camels, one
hundred and eighty water bufialoes, and sixty-two white
donkeys arrived there also in charge of Bedouins from
the banks of the lower Euphrates, where Signor P. had
bought them for the present Viceroy of Egypt to re-
stock that country with these useful animals, immense
numbers of which had been lost there about two yeara
ago, by an unknown disease, a sort of cattle plague.
The camels, buffaloes, and donkeys were at once dis-
patched to Egypt by way of Koordistan, Syria and
Palestine, in charge of about fifty Arabs from Bagdad;
etraiijce to sav, thouirh these animals had to travel over
nearly three thousand miles of desert, and to undergo
all sorts of hardships, especially hunger and thirst, not
one of them died on the road, but all arrived in the
land of the Pharaohs safe and sound, excepting two
camels that were probably stolen. By dint of liberal
presents to the Sheiks or chiefs of the wild Bedouin
tribes oi the Aneizee, Shammr and others who roamed
over the desert extending south of the Euphrates, be-
tween Lower Mesopotamia and Syria, the British Gov-
ernment had already succeeded in establishing an over-
Inud mail rout between Bagdad and Damascus, or
rather between Bagdad and Beyrout (the chief seaport
of Syria), straight across the desert. In return for the

I

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND. 291

annual tribute of forty thousand Turkish piastres
(about $1800) paid to them by the British Govern-
ment, the Sheiks agree to let the mail riders pass un-
molested through their territory, provided they carry
nothing but letters, and to furnish them also in case of
accident with fresh dromedaries that they may con-
tinue their journey. As may be presumed the mail
riders are selected from among the Bedouins, the
greater number belonging to the Aneizee, the most
powerful of all the tribes, who claim to be the lawful
owners of the greatest part of the territory over which
the mail riders have to travel.

The Aneizee Bedouin moreover, like his camel and
his horse, is famous all through Arabia for his endur-
ance, courage and prowess, particularly in piloting his
living craft, the faithful dromedary, through an almost
interminable ocean of sand. The animals used for this
desert mail service are a kind of fleet dromedary, called
" heiri " by the Bedouins, is considerably smaller than the
camel or dromedary of burden, its frame less powerful,
the skin less thick and the hair not so coarse ; but the
body is more compact, its gait more elastic, and every
motion of its body is quicker. In short, the thorough-
bred " heiri " stands in the same relation to the camel
or dromedary as the race horse does to the dray horse.
They are never used for carrying loads, as they will
not move an inch if made to carry dead weight ; but
they are remarkably fleet and persevering, and will
easily carry a man from eighty to one hundred miles a day
across the sandy desert, for several consecutive weeks
performing for instance the journey from Bagdad to
Damascus, a distance of about five hundred miles, iii
from five to seven days. They seem to know no other
gait than a peculiar kind of long heavy swinging trot,
very tiresome to those unused to this kind of traveling,

292 BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND.

causi^ig tliem for the firfet two or three days excruciate
ing j>iiiii in tlie chest, spine and loins, also in the small
of the back, and dreadful headache, producing in fact
very much the same feeling as that cau^d by sea-
sickness. This is as I have already stated, owing to the
peculiar gait of these animals, which consists in moving
the two legs on the same side of the body together,
striking out the left fore and hind leg together, and
then the two right legs, while the horse, donkey, ox,
etc., never move the two legs on the same side simul-
taneously, but alwaj's the left fore leg and the right
hind leg and vice versa. The former gait is peculiar to
the dromedary, the Bactrian, or two humped camel, and
the camclopard or giraffe, which animals seem to owe
to this peculiarity the capacity of running all day long
at this swinging sort of trot, so that it is sometimes
almost impossible to stop them when once they are
fairly started. It is a sight worth seeing, and truly
characteristic of Aral)ian life, to see one of these sable
sons of the desert equipped for asolitary journey across
the sandy ocean, leave the hospitable gates of the city
of the Califs, for the distant shores of the Mediter-
ranean, perched cross legged on his dromedary's back,
the uj)per part of the body moving compulsively
forward and backward like a living pendulum keeping
time to the swiuLriufj motion of the animal which
carries him on the monotonous journey. There he sits
muffled up not unlike an Egyptian mummy in his
brightly colored kefUch, and the ami)le fold of his long
abba. From the peculiarly shaped saddle dangle right
and left, numerous leather bags, those on the right side
contain the Royal British mail, while those on the left
side contain the scanty provisions of the frugal traveler,
consisting of a few pounds of hard dried dates, a few
handfula of rice, a slice of " basterman," a kind of sun

BAODAD LEFT BEHIND. 293

dried meat, and a small baij made of oroatskin and
filled with water, the heiri lie bestrides has hud food
and water, before he started, and has now to trot one
or two hundred miles, before it reaches a place where
it can replenish its stomach.

The hardy Bedouin mail rider is armed only with
two pistols, and a scimeter, lances or guns being too
cumbersome playthings on such a forced march. By
the side of the mail rider canters a horseman equipped
with all the paraphernalia of a Bedouin, probably a
friend who will escort him a short distance. A few
hundred yards beyond the gate, the two Bedouins
exchange a few short sentences, the horseman suddenly
swerves his horse round and leaves the other to pilot
his "ship of the desert," the bearer of the "royal
British desert mail," over the unspeakably tiresome
ocean of sand as best he can. Seven days and nights
the faithful animal speeds silently yet cheerfully and
without hardly ever requiring encouragement by word
or whip over the apparently endless gravelike solitude,
so dreadfully monotonous that the stern pilot almost
involuntarily shudders at the sound of his own voice.
Yet in spite of the truly awful prospect before him,
should the strength of his faithful dromedary give way,
or should his sleepy eyes, rendered bloodshot by cruel
and almost incessant wakefulness, assisted by the heat
and dust, mistake his usual o-uidinor star for another of
the myriads visible in the firmament, nothing short of
a special miracle can save hira and his mute companion
from the most horrible of deaths,a death from the want
of water, the terrors of which nobody can even know,
unless they have themselves experienced the agonies of
thirst. Let us suppose that in his wanderings he is
lucky enough to reach a camp of wild Bedouins, belong-
ing to his own tribe. As soon as they discover him, he

294 BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND,

is immediately siirroun'ckHl, and all that lie carries with
himi.s iiiiiiutely examined. Anyletterscontainingahard
object is unceremoniously torn open, and its contents
generally abstracted, but the letter itsult^js usually
returned without being torn in pieces. Should he fall
into the hands of any other wandering tribe than his
own he is robbed of everything, and must consider it a
great favor if stripped of every stitch of clothing, and
all the arms and ammunition he owns, he is allowed to
pick up the letters composing the mail, which are torn
and scattered over the ground, to proceed with his life.
The faithfu.l heiri, the property of the British Govern-
ment for which from ten to twenty thousand Turkish
jiiasters, from ^450 to ^900 in gold, have been paid, is
most probably confiscated, and a miserably slow old
dromedary, scarcely worth thirty dollars, given liim in
its stead. Outrageous as is this Bedouin rascality, it
must be borne, as there is no way of punishing the
rascals. All the armies of Europe and America
combined could do nothing against a single one of these
vagabonds, as the wily fellow would simply retreat into
tlie desert, and lead all who attempted to follow him
into certain destruction. One might as well try to catch
a ground shark on the botton of the Atlantic Ocean, as
to catch one of these highwaymen of the desert.

The privations, dangers, and sufferings which the
wretched mail rider meets, and the courage he disi)]ay-<
on every journey, truly constitute him a hero, unhappily
all the reward he ever gets, if he succeeds in arriving
safely, is one thousand Turkish piasters, or about
forty-five dollars in gold, a low price for a human life.
Owing to the comparative success of the Royal Brifish
Desert Mail route, a party of French mercliants of
Beyrout formed a company several years ago, for tht
purpose of laying out a direct caravan route between

'^^^

i

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND. 297

Bagdad and Bey rout. Count de B , a resident of

Beyrout, and manager of the undertaking, visited the
Aneizee Shammr, and other tribes along the intended
route for the purpose of making a treaty with them,
regarding tlie free and safe passage of future caravans
through the territory ; he was accompanied by a large
party composed of two interpreters, one of whom was
an European, two Arab guides, one Arab scribe and
?bout a dozen well armed Bedouins, all well mounted
on fleet dromedaries. This little caravan, after leaving
Beyrout in the beginning of March of the year above
mentioned, proceeded to Damascus, and thence in a
northeasterly direction pass the ruins of Palmyra, or
Tadmor, straight toward the southern bank of the
river Euphrates, following the downward course of
which they reached Bagdad with comparative ease.
But oaring to their having been obliged to visit every
tribe along the route to arrange the treaty with them,
the journey lasted over three months. A great quantity
of money and presents were distributed among the
different tribes by the enterprising company. The
Bedouins seemed perfectly satisfied, and received their
visitors with great hospitality, promising to do every-
thing that was required of them, and the expedition
arrived at Bagdad in high glee over their success.
Hitherto all caravans bound from Syria to Bagdad
had, owing to the insecurity of the desert from Damas-
cus northeast across the desert (the Royal British
Desert mail track) to make an immense circuit, going
as far north as Aleppo, or Haleb, crossing the Euphra-
tes at Biradshick, and proceeding by way of Orfa and
Mardin, two considerable cities of Upper Mesopotamia,
to Mossul, the capital of the province, and thence along
the Tigris, down to Bagdad, a circuit of at least four
hundred miles. The new caravan route would there-

298 BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND.

fore have proved a great deal shorter, and very welcome
indeed to merchants and travelers ; the sequel, however,
will show how far this French enterprise proved to be
successful. During his visit to Bagdad, the Count de
B: resided with Monsieur P., his brother-Tfi^law, and
Vice-Consul of France, in that city ; the mother and
wife of the latter gentleman, after several years' resi-
dence, were anxious to proceed with their relative, the
Count, to Beyrout, where he had invited them to come
for a year or two, to restore their health, as the intense
heat of the climate in Lower Mesopotamia greatly
reduces the vigor of Europeans residing there, especially
of females. The two ladies were assured by the Vice-
Consul that as soon as he could obtain official leave
from his Government, he would follow them to Syria,
never to return to Bagdad ; so they were glad to accept
the invitation of the Count, who, by the way, was a
warm friend of my traveling companion, Signor P.
Each of these gentlemen was at the head of a small
caravan, and as both believed in the old adage "Union
makes strength," they resolved to travel together, and
the day of cfcparture was fixed for the 30th of August.
P)()th parties went at once to work, that their caravans
might be properly equipped. Count de B. bought the
necessary mules, and the " dachterwans," a kind of
spacious sedan chair, fixed on mules or horses, the
usual mode of taveling among aged and feeble j)crsons
in the Orient, particularly among the Persians, Tur-
comans and Tartars. There are two kinds of dachter-
wans, one very much resembling an East Indian palan-
quin, but furnished with two poles like a sedan chair,
to be carried by two mules or horses, one in front of the
other, straps running across their backs holding the
l>jilanquin or sedan suspended, and preserving its equi.
librium by means of a kind of felt saddle lashed securely

BAGDAD LEFT BEHIND. 299

with straps on the animal's backs ; the other kind of
dachterwan is not very diiierent, but is destitute of
poles, and therefore only intended for one horse or
mule, forming thus a kind of sheltered saddle large
enough for two persons to sit in, and is lashed on the
animal's back with tough leather straps like an ordinary
saddle. This is more in use than the former, as it costs
less, and requires but one animal to carry it ; but is less
steady, as it is continually rocking or balancing itself
when the animal is in motion, so that it is more liable
to capsize than the other ; many travelers prefer it, how-
ever, especially on a rough road, or mountain pass, as it
can be more easily carried around sharp curves. The
dachterwan, as its name shows, is of Persian origin,
and is most extensively used in that country. Beside
these vehicles, Count de B. had to have several tents,
camels, horses, etc., while Signor P. had to have all
his horses shod, which was no easy matter ; for, though
raturally gentle, they would not willingly submit to
euch an operation, never having been shod before. It
is not customary among the Bedouins, their horses' hoofs
being kept so hard that they do not require shoes. It is
only the Arabs in town who shoe their animals, having
no doubt learned the custom from the Persians or Turks.
The horse shoes they manufacture are of peculiar shape
they are not a sixth of an inch in thickness, made oi
the best soft iron and furnished with an exceedingl_y
sharp edge around the lower surface. They cover the
whole base of the hoof except in the centre, where a
small oval hole is left for the admittance of fresh air,
which is absolutely necessary, as the hoof would other-
wise become soft and putrid. A rivet joins the two
ends of the shoe, which is slightly turned upward at
this spot and the point opposite, so as to fit the base of
the shoe to perfection. The shoe is fixed with five

300 BAGDAD LEFT BEniND.

sharp pointed, thin, square nails of exceedingly soft and
flexible iron, about an inch and a half in length, of
which three are driven into the outside, and two inside
the circumference of the horse shoe. Thej^ adhere to
the horse's hoof very well, last a long time, are very
light, and protect the hoof from stones better than any
f)f our American or European horse shoes. They never
cut the horse's feet or legs, can be bought from any
hardware dealer in Arabia, can be easily put on by any-
body, can be carried on a journey without trouble, and
are less dangerous on the feet of vicious horses than our
heavy shoes. In short, I consider them much superior
to ours, especially for saddle and light carriage horses.

XVI.

FORWAED MARCH.

An Oriental Picture — The Signal — Red and Yellow Again— Order of
March — Approach ol Twilight — First Halt — The Sleepy Khanjee— =
Mysterious Movements — Asleep on the Roof — Kibrisli — Rachmaus
— Lively News — "Speak Arabic" — The Abyssinian Girl — Two Days
Detention — Loorian Desert — The Wrong Path — Fifty Thousand
Camels — Strange Observers — Fatal "White Spot — Faithful Felix
— Kiffri — A Rough Experience —Suspicious Characters— An Acci-
dent.

The 30th of August finally arrived, and about
3 P. M. the open square, situated outside the town
walls, between the northern gate, or Bab-el-]Vradem,
and the quarantine building, which had been fixed
upon as the meeting ground for the two caravans,
presented a very lively appearance, and a thoroughly
Oriental one, differing much from its usual deserted
aspect during the heat of the day. The centre of the
square was occupied by about sixteen dromedaries, tall,
sturdy animals, some of them already laden with
leather trunks, boxes, tents, beds, provisions, " too-
lochs " or water-bags, firewood, in short, with all the
requisitesof a European travelling party, determined to
make the journey over the desolate and scantily inhab-
ited regions of Mesopotamia with as much comfort as
possible. Two delicate European ladies, and a little
girl, attended by two Arabian female nurses, formed
part of the caravan. The dromedaries stood, immove-
able as statues, stretching their long necks, and survey-
ing with the clear, soft, wondering look peculiar to
them, the motley crowd of lookers on that had issued
from the gates of the city to witness the departure.

(301)

302 FORWARD MARCH.

The men among the crowd no doubt came for the pur-
pose of seeing the beautiful horses about to leave their
native land forever, while the women were anxious to
get a glimpse of the two ladies from Frankwiiln. Few
of them, perhaps, had ever seen an European fema1<'
before, they being exceedingly scarce in Bagdad. It h
not customary in Bagdad for ladies to go into the strcc t
often, and never without being attended by one or two
cavasses, or armed servants, who, however, are not so
much needed as a guard against insult, of which there
is scarcely any danger, as to clear a passage for the
ladies through the crowd of men, horses, donkeys, etc.
The natives feel a sort of awe and servile respect for
European women, or rather for tlie entire female sex of
European descent, almost painful to see, and will press
themselves in a corner, or agaiijst the wall, on her
approach through these narrow thorough fa rc\s. The
grave Persian looks u\) and stares at tlie object of liis
interest, quite regardless of the consequences of his
inattention to business; the slovenly Turkish oflicer
drawahimself w\) to his full height, hurriedlj' buttoning
his threadbare coat ; the ragged Bedouin hides his dark
brown chest, generally exposed to view ; the i'emjde
native, ambling through the street, as soon as she spies
her European sister is all attention, and either throws
her head backward, or slightly raises her protecting
" pagee," or stift' veil, to get n better view of the trans-
marine female who is bold enough to venture into the
street with her face unveilod. Even the wretched curs
stop liostilities for the time, and the sleepy donkey
wakes and pricks up his ears at the unusual sight of a
human being moving along, enveloped to the waist in
a balloon of rustling silk.

AVhile the camels already laden stood quietly
gazing at the crowd of spectators, others were kneeling

FORWARD MARCH. 303

on the ground, as they generally do, with that part of
the fore legs from the knees downward, doubled up
under the body, and those of the hind legs stretched
backward, the position in which these animals are
usually loaded. Those of Count de B.'s caravan, how-
ever, proved particularly obstreperous, and flatly refused
to allow anything to be placed on their backs. This
obstinacy was caused by their having been idle ever
since their arrival in Bagdad, a period of over three
months. Almost all camels growl more or less when
being loaded. Vicious ones even attempt to bite,
sometimes inflicting dangerous wounds. Their teeth
are from two to three inches long, always covered with
a green or yellowish saliva. I have often seen Arabs
seriously hurt by vicious camels. Some camels delight
in kicking with their hind legs; though their feet con-
sist only of two very powerful, sinew^y toes, without
nails, joined together at the bottom by a very thick
skin, or foot sole, they have immense strength in their
long gaunt legs, and can easily break any man's leg
with a single stroke. Luckily, most camels are pro-
verbially good-tempered. When they are made to
kneel on the ground to receive their burden, or when
they imagine themselves overloaded, their cry is of
itself peculiarly awful to the ear of a foreigner, sound-
ing like a medium between the powerful roar of a lion,
and the hoarse gurgling laughter of the hyena, a cry
expressive of intense agony not easily forgotten, when
once heard.

Outside the troop of camels stood four horses, and
about eight mules, the former ready saddled and
bridled, and destined to carry Count de B., his two in-
terpreters, and his cavass, or armed servant, who all
seemed to prefer horses to camels, as far as it was prac-
ticable for travelling. The mules were to carry the two

304 FORWARD MARCll.

already described daehterwaus, which were ready to
receive their future inmates, one of them intended for
the two ladies, the other was for the little girl and her
two Arab nurses, who were still engagatlJn taking
leave of their relatives and friends. In the meantime
the maherries (camel drivers), the mukaries (mule-
teers), the siddies (negroes), and Bedouins in the service
of Count de B., engaged in finishing the loading of the
rest of the animals, ran to and fro, and vied with each
other in creating as much confusion as possible, by
yelling, swearing, and abusing everybody, in the usual
Oriental style. Finally, everything was packed, and
only awaited the arrival of the horse caravan of Signer
P., which was behig made ready in the spacious khan,
or caravansera, situated inside the town walls. Pres-
ently Mustapha, Signor P.'s cavass, the same servant
who had accompanied us to Babylon, issued from the
city gate, and cantering up to the Count, informed him
that Sit^-iior P. desired the camel caravan to start, as the
horses were too lively and unmanageable to mix with
the camels, but that he would overtake him the follow-
ing day, and then they would travel together. Here-
upon the caravan prepared to start, the ladies, child,
and nurses took up their quarters in the dachtenvans,
the Count, his cavass, Ali,his two intcrjireters, and the
Bedouin escort on their horses, the maherries on their
camels, the mukaries on the spare mules, every one
armed to the teeth, and the caravan was at once in
motion. Ali, the faithful cavass of the French Count,
was foremost, with half the Bedouin escort, then the
camels, next the spare mules, then those carrying the
dacht^rwans, and finally Count de B., with his inter-
preters and the other half of the Bedouin escort, com-
posing in all about forty persons. They were hardly
gone an hour, when our caravan, (as I will henceforth

FORWARD MARCH. 305

call that ofSignor P., I having traveled with it all the
way from Bagdad to Smyrna, in Asia Minor) issued
from the gate of Madem. Foremost came Mustapha,
armed to the teeth, mounted on a very restive horse,
and sporting a new keffich of lively red and yellow.
Behind him came four Bedouin horsemen, in tattered
eoitume, but well mounted and armed with swords,,
pistols, and tremendously long lances ; then came a
dozen mules and pack horses, heavily laden with all tlie
necessaries for the long journey, especially with a great
quantity of horse gear, such as bridles, halters, knee-
caps, water buckets, horse shoes, shackles, etc., driven
by the mukaries, also armed and mounted on donkeys.
About five hundred yards behind followed the splendid
stallions bought by Signor P. for the emperor, twelve
of the most perfect animals that Mesopotamia, the
cradle and paradise of the equine race, ever produced.
It was a splendid sight, this beautiful array of noble
horses, each gaily caparisoned, and protected with
covers and knee caps, and led by two sturdy Arabs,
who, but for the length of the ropes with which they
held the animals would often have been lifted entirely
from the ground. ]S"ever in my life have I seen horses
so full of spirit, vigor, and elasticity in all their
motions. They would not only stand perfectly erect
on their hind legs, but actually walk in this unnatural
position for a distance of nearly twenty yards ; some
almost pitched over on their heads by kicking too high
with their hind legs ; such extraordinary gymnastics
were never seen ; yet it was not viciousness, but a mere
overflow of health and happiness produced by excellent
treatment. They never attempted to bite or kick their
grooms. As they moved on prancing, snorting, and
neighing lustily, with elastic steps, curved necks, wide
open nostrils, and flashing eyes, they presented the very

806 FORWARD MARCH.

picture of equine felicity. Many an old Bedouin among
the crowd of spectators frowned, and pulled his beard,
even almost wept, as he saw these noble animals leaving
their country forever. An experienced j^^cksmith had
been engaged to accompany us all the way to the Med-
iterranean coast, and was entrusted with the care of the
horses' feet, and had received orders to examine them
minutely after each day's march. Immediately behind
followed Signor P., perfectly happy, and i)roud of his
success. He was mounted on a magnificent horse, and
armed with two of Colt's revolvers ; by his side rode
Father M., the young Belgian priest and missionary,
who had been our fellow-traveler first on board the
steamer Penang, from Bombay to Bassorah, and then
in the river boat Dijeleh, to Bagdad, where he had
been staying with the French missionaries of that city,
determined to be our traveling comi)anion all the way
to Europe. Since the day of his departure from India,
he had done away with all the para{)hernalia of his
clerical profession, and assumed the garb of an ordinary
traveler; not being able "to witch the world with noble
horsemanship," he secured for himself a rachwan ghed-
dish (a gelding with a peculiar kind of shufiling pace,
much used by Persian travelers). To protect himself
from marauders, he sported a revolver, with which he
meant to do dreadful execution in case of necessity.
As to the writer of these pages, who made up the trio
of travelers, he bestrode a beautiful chestnut stallion,
too young and spirited for a long, steady journey across
Mesopotamia ; being a passionate lover of sport, I did
not omit to take, beside my revolver, an excellent dou-
ble-barreled gun, and a long liunting knife, expecting
to have some exciting sport on the way. Several of
our European friends and Arab acquaintances accom-
panied us for some distance beyond the gates of Bag-

FORWARD MARCH. 307

dad. Immediately behind us rode four more armed
horsemen of our Bedouin escort, who brought up the
rear. Half way between Bagdad and the Khan of
Dsheddeidah, all of our city friends left us, excepting
two young countrymen of mine, who determined to
accompany us as far as the above mentioned khan, sit-
uated on the left bank of the Tigris, about twenty miles
due north of Bagdad. Before we had traveled five
miles, the sun had disappeared beyond the western
horizon, and a short twilight gave place to a beautiful
clear, moonlight night, though it was disagreeably sul-
try ; owing to the oppressive atmosphere, and the heav-
ily laden pack horses, the caravan advanced but slowly.
My two friends and myself therefore informed Signor
P. that, in order not to fall asleep, we would ride ahead
of the party, and see if there would be room for both
caravans in the Khan of Dsheddeidah. "We started at
a brisk canter, passing Count de B.'s caravan half an
hour after leaving our oavu, and reaching the khan
about ten o'clock, found it quite deserted, neglectel,
and the courtyard strewed with debris from the walls.
After straining our lungs in vain for about a quarter
of an hour trying to attract the attention of the lazy
khanjee (the man in charge of the khan), we heard a
sort of grunt issuing from one of the vaults or stables
of the dilapidated building, and on examination found
the fellow stretched to his full length on the bare
ground, snoring lustily. A good sound shake brought
him back to consciousness, whereupon we told him
that we wanted food and water for ourselves and horses,
and that a whole caravan would arrive before longf. He
seemed totally indifferent to the news, quietly remark-
ing that he had nothing to eat himself; but as for water
there was plenty of it in the river close by. On exami-
nation, however, we found the stream at this place lay

308 FORWARD MARCH.

between perpendicular' banks, over fifteen feet in
lieiglit, and quite inaccessible for camels and horses,
and there was no bucket or vessel of any kind in the
deserted caravansary for carrying water. ^V^ w^ere told
that there was no other water to be had in the neigh
borhood, nor a handful of mashed straw nor barley,
the usual food for horses all over Arabia and Mes >po-
tamia, nor any human food to be had in the place.
Cheerful as was this prospect for hungry, thirsty trav-
elers, we knew too well the character of the natives to
allow ourselves to be trifled with in this manner. We
therefore handed him three "kerans" (a Persian silver
coin current in Bagdad, and worth five Turkish pias-
ters, or about twenty-five cents in American currency),
and warned him not to show his face in the kahn
again, unless he came with food for us, as well as the
horses, under penalty of a sound thrashing. He went
out, and woke another Arab, who, as is the custom in
Lower Mesopotamia, slept on the flat roof of one of
the few little huts, built of sun-dried mud, and roofed
with date tree leaves, situated close by, and told him
to show us the way to the swamp. Reluctantly and
slowly the fellow obeyed, and telling us to follow him
with our horses to the w^ater, he led us into a dense
thicket of reeds, and brushwood, rendered still more
gloomy by the shadows of a cluster of date trees sur-
rounding it, in the centre of which lay a small, but
very deep pool, or rather swamp, the water of which
could not have been of the best quality, as the horses
refused to drink, and soon began to plunge energetic-
ally, almost succeeding in })itching us out of our sad-
dles and into the 8wamj». This was owing chiefly to
the mosquitoes, which assailed us furiously on every
side, causing us to beat a hasty retreat. Our horses,
however, most mysteriously continued kicking and

FORWARD MARCH. 309

plunging all tbe way to tlie khan, and it, was not be-
fore we were about taking oft* their saddles that we
discovered that their legs and lower parts were covered
with leeches. In the meantime the khanjee had re-
turned with three rations for the horses, and two
watermelons, a little basket of dates, and a quantity
of coarse pancake-shaped bread, and a dish of sour
milk or "laban," as the natives call it, a great deal
more than we expected to get in this wretched place.
After feeding our horses, we retired to the flat roof of
the building, and attacked the provisions right man-
fully ; after the meal we had a quiet smoke k I'Arabe,
and then lay down to sleep with our saddles for pillows
unmindful of the clouds of mosquitoes dancing horn-
pipes on our faces. '^''e had scarcely slept two hours,
when the tinkling of numerous bells awoke us, giving
notice of the arrival of Count de B.'s caravan, which,
however, did not enter our khan, but kept straight on
to the next one, called Kibrisli-khan, about fifteen
miles distant. We only exchanged a few words with
them as they passed, and then lay down again. Hardly
half an hour had elapsed, when we were once more
roused by the l>ells of the pack-horses of the second
caravan, which hearing that the first had gone on to
Kibrisli-khan, and being informed of the inaccessi-
bility of the river, and the scarcity of food, moved on
also, I promising Signor P. to overtake him in the
morning. We passed the rest of the night quietly,
rising before sunrise. After taking a final leave of
each other, we started in different directions. My two
friends returning to Bagdad, accompanied by the fel-
low who had piloted us into the swamp the night be-
fore, and who was now to serve me as guide. I pro-
ceeded due north in order to overtake the caravans at
the next khan. Beyond the little village of Dshed-

310 FORWARD MARCH.

tlc'idah the path became .very narrow and uneven, being
nothing more than a narrow footpath, winding its way
tlirougli dense clusters of date trees and bushes, and
an occasional swamp or ditch, thouirh it is the track
traveled over twice each month hy the Turkisli
courier, and the inevitable escort of horsemen, and I
could not help wondering if the two caravans lia<l
manaired to travel bv nijj-ht over this road without anv
accident. By and by vegetation disaiipeared alto-
gether, and I found myself on an open barren jdain,
where I could see at an immense distance eiirht horse-
men moving toward me with the customary quick
pace of the Turkish courier, well-known among the
Arabs and Persians as "rachwan," a peculiar shutting
gait. This is a very unnatural gait, and horses in-
tended for rachwans have to be broken expressly for
this ])ur[>ose, by being taught-to canter with their fore
legs, while they trot with their hind legs, which
double motion counteracts the sliock exi)erienced by
the rider in either cantering or trotting, so that even
the very poorest equestrian can sit as iirndy on a
"rachwan" liorse as if he were screwed to the saddle,
liachwans ]»roperly broken sell at i'ancv prices, and are
generally bought by wealthy, i)ortly and heavy Turks,
Persians, and Arabs, anxious to avoid the shaking of
their clumsy bodies. It is almost impossible ever to
make a nnchwan go at any other pace than this pe-
culiar one, which they seem to j)refer. They generally
possess great endurance, and will l)cat almost any
other horse in a journey of over a week, as they can
keeji up the swift shuffling pace all day long without
])eini; disturbed. There is no doubt that the rrichwan
gait has been introduced into ^fcsopotamia, Syria, and
Arabia by the Persians, who seldf)m ride any other
liorse; wliile Bedouins despise them, declaring it to be

FORWARD MARCH. 311

the gait of a donkey, and an insult to their noble race,
never break their horses to the pace. In Mesopotamia,
Syria, and Arabia they are less in use than in Persia,
and no fine, well bred horses are ever broken in for
rachwans in those countries. The Boers, or Dutch
African farmers are fond of this kind of gait ; at least
I have seen rachwans in o-eneral use amono; them.

Owing to the excellent qualities of this kind of
horse for Ions; iournevs, thev are general! v used bv the
Turkish couriers or mail riders, who are mostly natives
of Tartary or of Koordistan, and their escorts, and it
was owing to this fact that I recognized afar off the
horsemen moving towards me across the plain as the
men in charge of the Turkish Government mail. As
they came closer I could distinguish the lances of the
escort, and presently came up to them, when one of the
escort stopped and begged me to give him some tobacco,
which I did, whereupon he informed me that they had
passed Kibrisli Klian early before sunrise; that the
camel caravan was encamped outside, and the horse
caravan inside the building, and that they expected
me to arrive bv noon. I must here remark that news
travels with wonderful swiftness in that part of the
world, comparatively speaking, notwithstanding the
uncivilized condition of the country. This is owing
t'. the fact that travelers in these countries hardly ever
pass each other without stopping their horses for a few
minutes, for the purpose of asking each other's desti-
nation and starting point, as well as the news of the
dav. As mv o-uide had to travel on foot, I could not
ride fast, and it was therefore 9 A. M., and already
l»retty hot, when I reached a wretched little Arab vil-
lage, called Mu-aba, where I alighted to light my pipe
in one of the huts. Tlie inhabitants crowded around
my guide and myself, asking him a hundred questions

312 FORWARD MARCH.

about the Feringee (European) he had with him, sup
posing that I did not iinderatand a word of Arabic.
Apropos of this, I remember an amusing anecdote told
me by a jioung gentleman still residing^^^j. Bagdad.
Two or three days after his arrival there fr.)m EuroiJC
he accomj)anicd another Bagdad friend of mine to tlic
lxr:aar. While walking through the densely crowded
streets of that locality his companion entered into con
versatiou with a native merchant. Xot understandinpr
a word of the conversation, my friend amused himself
with y-azing at the bustle around him, when he was
politely accosted by a well-dressed Arab, with a long
silver}"^ beard. Not comprehending a syllable, my
friend turned to his companion (a long resident) for
him to act as interpreter. The latter informed the
Arab that his friend could not speak the Arabic lan-
guage, whereupon the old man, in utter astonishment
at this unpardonable ignorance, exclaimed: "Good
God! Wiiv ever V little child in Ba2:<lad understands
Arabic." The good people insisted u}»on selling me
fowls, eggs, watermelons, pumpkins, sour milk, etc.,
which, being on horseback, I of course declined to buy ;
wh reupon they (!onmienced to bother me, as is cus-
tomary with nearly all Arabs in Africa and Asia, for
bakshesh (a present), for tobacco, etc;., when I, \vc\\
aware that I would never be rid of them if I complicil
with their request^, resumed my journey. N^ear tlic
village were several large kham, surrounded by mu«l
walls, almost ten feet in iieight, overshadowed by
statelv date trees; a lame Persian caravan had been
encamped fhere for the niglit, and was now busily pre-
jiaring to pack up and commence their journey. Great
numbers of horses, camels, mules, and donkeys were
standing in the yards, already' equipped. There were
evidently a number of females in the caravan, as numer-

FORWARD MARCH. 313

ous dachterwans were visible ; though I saw only three
or four women, carefully veiled, lounging about the
khans ; but upon their becoming aware that they were
for a moment the objects of my attention, I distinctly
heard them utter the words "Giaour!" (a Turkish
word meaning a non-Moslem, unbeliever, Christian),
and "Kelp ! " (an Arabic word, meaning a dog, a cur),
expressions freely used by all Moslems upon us Chris-
tians, and expressly uttered by the irate women in
both languages of the country to insure their being
understood by me. I quietly rode on, and perceived
about three miles ahead of me the large khan, where
the two caravans were encamped, on a slight elevation
of the barren plain, in which Musaba figured like a
green oasis in the desert. The sun burned fearfully ;
not a breath fanned the weary traveler, and the barrels
of the gun across my shoulder became so heated that I
dared not touch them with my bare hands. Fortu-
nately another half hour's ride brought me to the khan.
On arriving at the slight elevation of ground on which
the building was situated, I perceived at the foot of the
other side of the hill, close by a little brook, the snow
white tents of Count de B.'s caravan, the camels and
mules feeding on the scanty grass along the borders of
the brook, near the water. All the persons of the car-
avan seemed to be also overpowered by the oppressive
heat, and were asleep in their respective tents, with the
exception of two of the " Aghels," or Bedouin escort,
who watched the camp and animals, and joyously
hailed mv arrival.

At the entrance of the khan, I was met by Mustapha,
who had spied me when I was still far away on the
plain. He took charge of my horse, telling me that
the building was only occupied by our own caravan,
and that everything was fast asleep. I found the

314 FORWARD MARCH.

twelve horses securely, picketed in the shady vaulted
corridor along the walls, while the beasts of burden
stood with drooping, drowsy heads, huddled up in the
shady corners in the khan. In the yicinitj^^of the bag-
gage stowed away in a corner near the horses, stretched
at full length, and stripped of almost every stitch of
clothing, the dusky forms of the sais, or grooms,
mukarries, mule and pack horse drivers, and Aghels
totally regardless of fleas, mosquitoes, and sand-flies,
which agreeable insects abound in all caravan serais.
Entering a dark but lofty apartment, directly opposite
the corridor, where the horses were picketed, I found
lying on blankets on the ground, and apparently fast
asleep, Signor P., Father M., and Bahri (an Abyssinian
negro girl), about fifteen ye*irs old, whom I forgot to
mention, as forming part of our caravan, on leavitig
Bagdad. This girl made the long journey with us from
Bagdad to the shores of the Mediterranean on the back
of a white donkey, and, though in poor health then,
performed in half European, lialf Asiatic male attire,
the long, difticult, and fatiguing journey on one and
the same donkey, sharing voluntarily, and cheerfully
all the toils, privations, and dangers of the expedition
with truly wonderful energy and perseverance. Her
biograpy is somewhat romantic, and may not be un-
interesting to some of my roa<lers. "When a girl of but
ten or eleven years, she lived with her parents in a
larij-e villaije situated on the beautiful banks of a
river (the name of which she could not tell) in South-
ern Abyssinia. The tribe lived very happily, as they
had plenty of cattle, and the fertile soil yielded vege-
table food in abundance. One day towards evening,
she went out with her aged mother (who seems to
have had many more children than Bahri, whose real
name seems to have been " Mahura "), in search of a

POEWARD MARCH. 315

strayed goat, the pursuit of which led them about two
miles from the village. "While rambling quietly
through the grass, they were startled by the sudden
appearance of a big, powerful man who had been lying
concealed in the grass, or low shrubbery. This fellow
rushed towards the two helpless creatures and attempted
to seize the child ; but the mother suspecting his
mtentions, and noticing some people belonging to the
tribe at work in the fields some distance ofi", gave the
alarm, tenaciously clinging to the child; upon which
the dusky slave hunter, for such he was, drew a dagger,
and stabbed the helpless mother to the heart. He then
gagged the crying child, flung a blanket over her head,
carried her to a neighboring bush, where his horse was
concealed, and before the people in the field could inter-
fere had disappeared.

Overcome with terror, and almost suffocated with
the gag in her mouth, and the blanket over her face,
the poor child lost consciousness, and for a time was dead
to all knowledge of her misery. On regaining her senses
she found herself still in the arms of her captor, whose
horse was going at full speed. Toward morning they
came to a halt, the horseman dismounted,, and carried
his captive into a large hut surrounded by a high and
almost impenetrable thicket. Wlien the blanket was
removed from her face, she found herself in the presence
of over twenty girls and young women of all ages,
from six to sixteen, all well secured with sliLdit iron
shackles round their ankles, and carefully guarded by
two or three well armed rufiians squatted down on a
straw mat at the entrance to the hut. Many of the
poor captives were perfectly naked, and all looked very
wretched. Xot a word was uttered, however, except
by the ruffians themselves, who used to lash the pri-
soners brutally on the slightest attempt at speaking,

316 FORWARD MARCH.

crying, or escaping. Mahura wus of course, treated like
her sisters in misfortune, Avliom she discovered were not
all of her tribe, but had been stolen from different
localities. When they numbered about sixty the
shackles were removed, the captives were fettered in
couples at the wrists, allowing them to separate about
four feet from each other ; each one over ten years of
age was obliged to carry a bag of* durrah " (Egyptian
millet, a kind of round corn common in Xortheastern
Africa and Western Asia), which weighed from ten to
thirty pounds, according to the strength of the bearer,
and contained the captives' food for the journey to the
seacoast. The camels that were to carry the slave
hunters, and the necessary supi)ly of water, started for
the shores of the Red Sea, the human spoil driven
before them. After a journey of two or three months,
during which the poor creatures suffered terribly, the
numbers were sadly diminished. The greater part of
the journey led across barren and scarcely inhabited
districts. Almost daily, one or more of the hapless
wretches dropped on the way, never to rise again, and
were left like cattle to die where they fell. Of fifty-
six captives, but eighteen reached the Bay of Tajurrah,
a little seaport notorious for its slave trade, and distant
about one hundred and fifty miles due south of the strait
of Bab el Maiidcb, on the African shore. There they
were fed and fattened for about two months to get them
in good condition, and afterwards sold to an Arab
slave dealer, despatched on board a bagalow, trans-
ferred to the Arabian coast, and landed in Muscat.

Owing to the man}' British cruisers continually
Hcouring these waters, but, especially those of tlie Per-
sian Gulf in which they have caught many trader,
slavers sailing along the coast of Arabia, always keep
close to the shore, in order to give a chance of escape

FORWARD MARCH. 31 T

tj themselves, if not to their living freight, in case of
their being chased by a British cruiser. They Urfuallj
sail only at night, remaining carefully hidden during
the day in the inlets and creeks so numerous along the
coast, where the water is generally so shallow that
cruisers cannot approach closely. In Muscat some of the
slaves were sold, and the rest sent by caravan along the
seashore of the arid provinces of Oman and El Hassa,
or El Iladjer to Bassorah, which awful journey the
poor creatures had to perform on foot. In Bassorah
they were all disposed of at prices ranging from one
thousand to two thousand Turki^^h piasters (forty dol-
lars to four hundred and fifty American currency), ac-
cording to their age and condition. ]Mahura was bought
for two thousand piasters (ninety dollars American
gold) by an old Turkish merchant, who kept her but a
short time owing to her poor health, apparently shat-
tered forever by her dreadful sufferings on the long
journey, which lasted over a year. lie, therefore, sent
her as a present to his brother, a wealthy horse dealer
in Bagdad, and head of a large family, where in the
course of time she learned to talk Turkish and Arabic ;
but entirely forgot her native language. During Sig-
nor P.'s visit in Bagdad, he often had occasion to be
at the house of her master, with whom he had deal-
ings in horse flesh, and frequently saw the poor negro
girl; struck with the superiority of her intellectual
qualities compared with those of other women of her
race, he resolved to buy her, if possible. The owner cr
Bahri, (for such was the Arabic name given to the giA
in exchano-e for her native one of Mahura,) had a short
time after the return of Signor P. from the desert
evinced a great fancv for one of the horses of the latter,
a most beautiful animal. The experienced eye of the
Italian veterinary surgeon, however, soon detected that

318 FORWARD MARCH.

beautiful creature was not sound, so lie consented to
part with it for a fair price ; the horse was bought from
the Bedouins for six thousand Turkish piasters. Signor
P. asked nine thousand for it, but finallx.^(ionsented to
take six thousand in cash and the girl Bahri for the
horse, to which the wily Moslem gladly consented, con-
fident that before a week had elapsed, the slave girl,
secretly encouraged by his promise of lil)cral presents
if she would run away from Signor P., the giaour (un-
believer), and take refuge in her master's house, where
it would be easy for him to stow her away in some
place of concealment, until the Italian should be gone
forever from Bagdad. In this well-planned speculation,
however, the good Moslem was mistaken, for Bahri
who received her liberty from Signor P. the very day
the caravan started from Bagdad, and was conse-
quently free to go where she pleased, soon found
tliat the Christian treated her not as a slave, but
almost as a child of his own ; so she did not
only return to the knavish horse-dealer, but actu-
ally prostrated herself before Signor P., placed his
foot ujton her neck as a token of the most abject sub-
mission and respect, and entreating him with heart-ren-
dering lamentations, and a profusion of tears, not to
abandon licr like a leprous cur in the streets of Bag-
dad ; but to take pity on her, and rath r kill her at
once than refuse her only wish to be his slave, and as
such to follow his footsteps wherever he went. She
iervently added that if hereafter he might deem her
w(»rthy of so great a favor, he would allow her to be-
<'ome a Christian and l)el>aptized, and honored with the
name of ^^aria, a name she greatly cherished, as she
said she had often been shown where on the flat roof of
the Turkish residence a picture of a beautiful and good-
hearted Christian woman of that name (evidently a

FORWARD MARCH. 319

picture of the Virgin), by an Armenian girl of her own
age across the street. This, owing to the extreme nar-
rowness of the eastern streets, would be an easy matter;
but Bahri would luive been severely punished by the
Turk, if she had been caught conversing with an un-
believer while in his house. In vahi were all the re-
monstrances of Signor P. that a distance of at least fif-
teen hundred miles lay between Bagdad and Smyrna
(Asia Minor), where his family lived, and that in her
weak physical condition, she would never be able to
bear the fatigue and privations of the long journey, but
would assuredly die before he reached Diarbekir (the
capital of Ivoordistan). She, however, replied that, as a
frail little girl of ten j^ears, she had been torn from all
that was dear to her, and had to perform the drea<lful
journey from the interior of Abyssinia to Bagdad,
mostly on foot and under horrible treatment, and that
Allah had not let her die, though she had often longed
for death while in the hands of the slaves, and that
now she felt confident of being able to perform, as a
young woman, the comparatively easy journey to the
country of the N^azranee — the Arabic expression for
Christian, derived from Nazareth. But even in case
she should be doomed to die on the road, she wished to
die near her master, and if possible a Christian.
Against such painful entreaties surely no human heart
could be proof, and Signor P. consented reluctantly to
take her with him, as he felt certain the journey would
kill her. lie expressed the wish, however, that she
would postpone her baptism until their arrival at Smyr-
na, so that his two young daughters about her age,
might share in the holy rite. To this, of course, she
joyfully assented. Father M., the young Roman Catho-
lic priest and missionary, a member of our caravan,
promised that if she should die on the road, he would

320 FORWARD MARCH.

baptize her in " extretiiis " (in the last moments), for
wliieli ofler she thanked him with tears in her eyes.

On entering the dark apartment of Kibrisli Khan, I
found them all apparently fast asleep, anii^tjieir faces
covered with handkerchiefs, to protect them from the
myriads of flies and sand-flies which infested the khan,
and whose number was really appalling ; but this cov-
ering, light as it was, was hardly bearable, as the heat
of the day even in this vaulted room was almost suf-
focating. Hearing my voice, they all i)ulled ofl' their
impromi)tu veils. Signor P. and Father M. rose
l)romptly, and welcomed me cordially ; but Bahri, as I
will continue to call her, was too weak to stand ; the
fatigue of the whole night's journey had proved too
much for her; besides this an attack of fever beo-an to
manifest itself in her frail body. Though she only
(•()nii»lained of being very tired, the keen eye of Signor
P. detected the real state of things, and he proceeded at
once to administer the proper remedies out of the little
medicine chest he carried with him; but in spite of
these the poor girl grew worse as evening approached,
so that the idea of resuming the journey that night had
to be given up. Count de B.'s caravan, however, as
soon as the heat of the day was over, struck their tents
and started for Delhi Abbas, twenty-eight miles
further on. As circumstances would liave it, we did
not see this caravan again until we arrived at Mopul
for P>ahri was still worse during the night, and the
followinir dav she was so ill that Signor P. believed
her to be beyond all hrqies, and judging it wrong to
detain the caravan longer was. towards evening aljout
making arrangements either for her return to Bagdad,
or for her burial, when a sudden change took i)Iace in
the condition of the patient. The fever disapi»eared,
her thirst abated, her appetite returned and by four

FORWARD MARCH. 321

o'clock she was strong enough to walk about the khan.
The setting sun disappeared in fiery grandeur beliind
the western horizon, and a delightfully cool and re-
freshing breeze fortunately sprung up after sunset.
Bahri declared herself well enough to resume the jour-
ney, and an hour after nightfall found our whole cara-
van on the war to Delhi Abbas, Bahri on her white
donkey, with a man on foot on each side of her, to keep
her from falling, in case her strength should give way.
This however was scarcely necessary, for the girl gained
strength from the very moment the fever disappeared.
She grew stronger every day, and performed the rest
of the long and tedious journey to the Mediterranean,
as well as any of us, winning the favor of even the
Arabs of our caravan ; though Arabs as a rule have a
great contempt for negroes. The country over which
we traveled was perfectly level, and the ground very
smooth, and so barren that even a goat would have
been at a loss where to find a sino;le mouthful of vege-
table matter, or a drink of water on the endless plain,
which is nothing less than the northwestern part of
the vastLoorian desert previously described. Through
the night no sound was heard in that seemingly God-
forsaken territory, but the tinkling of the bells of our
pack-horses, the occasional humming of a monotonous
Arab melody, as if the singer were trying to keep him-
self awake, and once or twice we heard the shrill cry
kee-huee, kee-huee produced by a medium sized bird, a
kind of desert plover, whose means of subsistence is a
puzzle to me, unless it lives on hope and moonshine,
which seem to be the only thing in which it can
indulge on that desolate j)lain. After midnight the
pace of our pack-horses, which were all heavily laden,
began to slacken a little, and about the same time, the
moon which had hitherto illuminated the ground over

S22 FORWARD MARCH.

which we liad traveled disappeared behind a sort of
haze in tlie sky. Signor P. witli the canvass, one-half
of the Bedouin escort, and the horses, by degrees got
about five hundred yards ahead of me. I escorted the
pack-horses, in company with Father M.,Baliri, and the
other half of the Bedouin escort, so we jogged on quite
unsuspectingly. After awhile it struck me that I did
not hear anything of the party ahead, and consequently
I pressed the drowsy mukries most energetically to
urge on their pack-horses. IS'ow we went over the
ground quite rapidly, and ought to have overtaken the
othei*s in a very short time; but strange to say we did
not, yet it w^as sufficiently clear for us to see that we
had not lost our path. So we concluded that Signor
P. could no longer be ahead of us. In this perplexity
I thought it best to stop my division, and let everybody
listen if they could hear anjtliing of our missing com-
l>anions; but no sound of any kind could be heard, not
even the w^eird call of the solitary desert plover. I
therefore thouc^ht it would be advisable to fire a shot
in the air, and wait for an answei. I fired, and all looked
anxiously out into the darkness, eagerly waiting for a
resj»onse, when about two minute^s after a flash of fire,
a loud report, and a bullet whi^-ziug over our heads
made us aware of our whereabouts. We found that
we were nearly half a mile from the others, who had
deviated to the right, and were considerably behind us.
We therefore moved briskly, retracing our steps
towards them, and soon heard tlie tramp of their
horses; when we met, the matter was readily explained.
The road divided into two branches ; they had taker*
the right, and we the left branch ; neither party waj
wrong, however, as both patlis would have led to the
same place after all, only ours would have led us for
about two miles over rougher gromid. We thought it

FORWARD MARCH. 323

prudent to keep close together in future, as it is very
unpleasant to lose one's "way in a country destitute of
both food and water.

In order that my readers may fully understand the
slow progress that our caravan made, T have to state
that before starting from Bagdad, it had been agreed
between Signor P. and the men in charge of the
stallions bought by the former, that the latter should
perform the whole journey from Bagdad to the Medi-
terranean on foot ; each man leading the horse in his
charge all the way by means of a rope attached to the
head-stall of the animal, and that they should only be
allowed to mount the horses when crossing the river.
This precaution was taken by Siguor P. to prevent the
possibility of the horses getting sore backs during the
journey ; besides, if everybody was mounted, the heavily
laden mules and packhorses could not have kept pace
with the main body of our caravan, which it was abso-
lutely necessary they should do. The consequence was
that our average rate of traveling from Bagdad to the
Mediterranean hardly ever exceeded three miles an
hour, the usual rate of a person traveling on foot ; as
may be presumed this slow progress was often far more
fatiguing to those on horseback than to those on foot,
as it produced intense drowsiness ; the more so, that we
had not slept properly since we left Bagdad ; quite re-
freshing rest being out of the question, owing to the
terrible heat and the myriad of troublesome insects,
especially sand flies, which infest the khans or caravan-
serais, and instantly torture the poor traveler, particu-
larly if he is an European and not accustomed to such
rough treatment. Toward morning, and just about
davbreak, we crossed a canal which runs in a direction
from east to west, leading part by the waters of the
river Diyalah in to the Tigris. Owmg to the neg-

824 FORWARD MARCH.

lected state of the old canal, which was about fifty feet
wide and rather shallow, we experienced considerable
difficulty in fording it, as our horses sank up to their
knees in the soft mud. The noise pLQ<]l^ced by our
caravan wadins; throu2;h the water roused the doo;s of
a little village, as yet invisible on the opposite bank,
and a short distance to the right of the ford. Every-
thing in the village then seemed buried in the deepest
slumber, with the exception of the dogs, who challenged
us furiously, and a couple of chanticleers who, anxious
to augment the noise, gave forth their universally
known vociferous mornins: call. We left the villag-e
undisturbed and following the path which, after cross-
ing the canal, led aloLg it for a considerable distance,
we soon discovered the gray walls of the khan of Delhi
Abbas, situated close by the spot where the canal re-
ceives its waters from the river Diyfilah, within two
hundred yards of a high roughly constructed stone
bri<lge across the river, which is about fifty yards wide
at this i)lace and very deep in the middle. Xo sooner
liad the shades of night been chased from the firma-
ment by the rising sun, then we percieved at a distance
of about four miles. in a due northwesterly direction,
the low dark-brown and black tents of the largest
Be<louin camp I ever saw, which would have looked
intensely gloomy, but for the thousands of swarthy
human figures moving to and fro in all directions;
while the vast plain to the north, east and west of the
camp for miles and miles, was literally covered with
incredible numbers of camels, horses, sheep and goats
by far outnumbering any herd of cattle I have ever
seen. Of camels there could scarcely have been less
than fifty thousand, the horses must have numbered at
least ten thousand, donkeys and cattle also by the
thousands, while the sheep and goats were literally in-

FORWARD MARCH. 32-^

numerable. It was a grand sight and indelibly im-
printed on my memory, leaving with me the impres-
sion of a mammoth colony of ants, compared to which
the inhabitants of a gigantic anthill, the height of a
two story house, I one day happened to see while
hunting on the banks of the Orange river in South
Africa, appeared to me to dwindle into a mere nothing.
Approaching the khan, we passed a small cluster
of mud huts, the inhabitants of which, men and boys,
were almost naked ; the women were dressed in long,
dark red woolen shirts. All scanned us with intense
curiosity as we passed, loudly praising our beautiful
horses, and smilingly doubting the pretended sex of a
slender and delicate, but dusky human being (the girl
Bahri), dressed in European male attire, and a tarbush
or red woolen Turkish scull-cap with a black tassel, who
gallantly bestrode a beautiful snow-white donkey, and
rode beside us with imperturbable sangfroid. Inquir-
ing of these people we learned that the chaos on the
plain was caused hy the temporary encampment of a
powerful tribe of Shammr Bedouins, under Sheik
Forchan, an old, but influential chief, the reputed
leader of twenty thousand Bedouins. TVe reached the
khan just at sunrise, and entered it as soon as Mus-
tapha, our cavass,had created a little order in the build-
ing, which sheltered about twenty Persians, bound for
Bagdad, they having been gruffly addressed by Musta-
pha, and driven from the shady side of the courtyard
with their luggage and horses, attempted to remon-
strate ; but the cavass haughtily silenced them, showing
a Turkish passport signed by Xamyk Pasha himself,
which had a wonderful effect, silencing them instan-
taneously. "WTien we entered the khan, our horses,
noticing the twenty ugly, thick necked, big headed
Persian rachwans standing lazily in a corner of the

326 FORWARD MARCH.

building, struck up a boisterous neighing, plunging
and kicking, as if they were just out of the stable
instead of having made a thirty miles' journey. Un-
loading the mules and pack-horses, picketing the stall-
ions and feeding all our animals, was the work of not
more than twenty minutes, as our men were very
hungry theniBelves, and therefore went through their
work with unusual dispatch. Mustapha posted himself
at the gate, where he kept at bay a crowd of ragged
men, women and children, who were attempting to
gain admittance, partly from curiosity, and partly for
the purpose of selling to the newcomers provisions in
the form of sheep, kids, fowls, butter, milk, eegs,
melons, etc. It w^as not long before they began to do
a brisk business with our hungry men and with Yussef,
our American cook, and his assistant, Iladjee Ahmed
(the "h" in Ahmed is gutteral, like the " ch" in the
Scotch word loch), who filled the double office of cook's
assistant and paymaster of the men till we reached
AIossul, where Signor P. relieved him of the latter
office, having detected him appropriating to his own
use what belonged to others. A sumjituous breakfast,
with a liberal allowance of claret and " rake" (arrack),
soon set our inner man all right, and we retired to rest;
but the flies, fleas, sandHies, and the dust raised by so
many horses in their futile ettbrts to free themselves
from their tormentors, were unbearable, aud made sleep
an impossibility. Hardly kjiowing what to do with
ourselves till sunset, Signor 1*. and myself applied to
our usual solace, tobacco, and rci)aired to the entrance
of tlie khan, through the open doorway of which a gen-
tle breeze was blowing, making it the coolest spot in
the whole building. Poor Padre M., evidently anticipa-
ting a second edition of our torture the previous day by
the pestilent insects previously mentioned, was deter-

FORWARD MARCH. 321

mined not to suffer this time, and had, therefore, so
cordially patronized the bottle, that he soon fell asleep
and snored most vigorously, totally regardless of conse-
quences, till towards evening, when he awoke with his
face and hands so feartully marked by the attacks of
the sandflies, that he looked as if he had the measles.
In the meantime, Signor P., Mustapha and myself
viewed the immense masses of camels, horses, sheep,
goats, etc., slowly winding their way to the river to
drink, accompanied by hundreds of Bedouins of both
sexes. As they advanced we could see that most of the
men were provided with smallleatherbuckets, in which
to carry the water from the river, as the banks were too
Eteep and stony to allow any animals but the sheep and
the goats to descend to the water's edge, but the nati\'es
had constructed a series of large troughs of sun-dried
bricks and clay on the banks, about three hundred yards
from each other. As soon as they arrived at these
troughs, some of the Bedouins turned to with a will to
fill them with water, placing themselves in a line do^vn
to the brink of the river, and passing the buckets from
one to the other as our firemen do, while others endea-
voured by means of long sticks and whips, and with
unearthly yells, to prevent the overcrowding of the
troughs, or the squeezing to death of the baby camels,
calves, fillies, etc., of which there were a number in all
stages of their infancy, liable to come to grief in the
universal rush for water. The horses and cows, which
were carefully kept apart from each other, were driven
to troughs for their especial use, as they are more par-
ticular about their food and drink than camels ; beside
this, the camels have a peculiar, strong smelling perspira-
tion, particularly noticeable when they are congregated
in large numbers, which perfume is not much relished
by the keen-scented horses and cows, both of which

328 FORWARD MARCH.

animals will refuse to drink out of a vessel that has been
used by a camel.

Having, like Signor P., since my arrival in Arabia,
made the characteristics of the Arabian^horse a study,
and having, from early youth, had a passion for horse
flesh, the congregation of such vast numbers of these
animals, in a sort ot semi-savage state, oflercd a fine
field for study to myself and to Signor P., who was
anxious to purchase a few more stallions. We there-
fore repaired to the place where the horses were wa-
tered, and passed them in review.

As we exi>ected, they were all mares, accompanied
by their oftspring, from the struggling filly of one week
old, up to the mischievous colt of eighteen months;
(full grown stallions are ridden down to the water by
the Bedouin youngsters, after the others have with-
drawn.) There was a great variety of color among
these hoi'ses, represented numerically in the following
order: iron gray, light slate color, chestnut, dark brown,
flea-bitten (white sprinkled with little black or brown
spots), bay, white, black, and cream colored. Iron-
gray is the color most frequently met with in Arabian
horses, while black ones are exceedingly rare through-
out the countr}', and a glossy black is seldom if ever
fi)und, as the horses are never stabled, seldom groomed
j)ro])erly, and are exposed all the year round to the
rays of the sun, deadening the lustre ot the coat, which
can only be made glossy by careful grooming and con-
finement in a stable. Still more rare, I might almost
call it a wonder, is the sight of a thorough-bred
Arabian horse of a cream color, or as the French call
\t coulcur Isabelle. Xot only are they scarce, but
those to be met with are of a mixed blood, or bad
stock, contemptuously called by the Arabs "gheddish,"
a worthless, — a pack-horse, a gelding, and they assert

FORWARD MARCH. 329

that it is almost impossible to find a horse of this color
that is of pure Arab blood. Signor P., in forty years'
residence and travels through all parts of Arabia, Mes-
opotamia, Syria, Egypt, and iN'orth Africa, only met
with one, and bought it for II. M. Victor Emanuel,
King of Italy, who by the way owns the finest Ara-
bian horses in all Europe, and is such an enthusiast in
horse-flesh that he is said to pass more time in his
stable, than in his cabinet. Most Moslems, especially
the Turks, are particulary superstitious regarding the
color, and marks of a horse, while a dark horse, with
a white star, or narrow white stripe on its forehead,
with one, or three white feet, is readily bought by
them, at even more than its value. They will obsti-
nately refuse to buy, and will even give a wide berth
to a dark horse destitute of white hair, either on its
forehead or feet, or furnished with too much white on
the forehead, with a white nose, with two or four
white feet, or with a large white, or other abnormous
spot on some other part of its body, as they consider
these marks bad omens, and sure to prove fatal in one
way or another to the owner. Owing to this foolish
predjudice, a Turkish cavalry officer of Hillah was
exceedingly glad to sell m.e a most beautiful young
horse that I rode on our departure from Bagdad, for
a mere trifle, simply because it had the misfortune (or
good luck for me) to have been born with a spot of white
hair, about the size of a lady's hand, on the left haunch.
But for this the animal could not have been purchased
from him at any price. A better, more intelligent steed,
a more courageous and reliable hunter never walked on
four legs. My affection for the noble animal afterwards
became so strong that among all the reminiscences of my
sojourn in the Mesopotamia those of my faithful Felix,
as I called him, will be among the last to escape memory.

30 FORWARD MARCH.

From shortly after sunrise till near sunset, one
/argc herd of camels, horses, sheep and goats, one after
the other, moved to and fro from the river without in-
terruption ; hut though during that timdoi-^r two thou-
sand horses passed in view before us, Signor P. did not
succeed in making a purchase, as by far the greater
part were mares, colts and fillies, and he had strict
orders to buy only stallions of a bay or black color, of
which the Bedouins had none equal to those already
in his possession. The Shammr Bedouins, thougli ex-
tensive horse breeders, are not so famous for their ani-
mals as the Aneize or the Montefik Bedouins ;but their
camels are considered the finest in Mesopotamia. Their
sheep are all of the original Arabian breed, called in
some parts of the world "the fat-tailed or broad-tailed
sheep," owing to the remarkable development of their
caudal apjtcndages, consisting merely of the vertebme
of the tail, surrounded by an extraordinary lump of
pure spongy fat, which in a well-grown healthy sheep
attains the weight of from twenty to fifty pounds.
This }>onderous tail gives the animal a curious, clumsy,
waddling ai>pc'arance, especially in walking or running,
when the itondcrous tail dangles heavily to the right
and left, not unlike a bag of sand hanging from its
haunches. Even at their birth, the young lambs show
a considerable accumulation of fat in that jtoriton of
their body, which steadily increases with age and size,
j.rovided of course that the animal is in good health.
This peculiar construction seems to have the cftcct of
draining all the fat of the body into the hind quarters
of the animal, as the head, neck and chest of this kind
of sheep are almost invariably destitute of greasy mat-
ter, and look strangely lean compared with the rest of
its body. The fat of the tail when melted does not
taste in the least tallowy, but somewhat like fresh but-

FORWARD MARCH. 331

ter, forming a capital substitute for it. Owing to this
unequal distribution of fat the meat is inferior to our
mutton, but is quite palatable. All the sheep in
Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Southern Persia
and Koordistan are of this breed. They are also to be
found in China, India, North and South Africa, in
which countries the shepherds sometimes attach a
small carriage or a board to the hind quarters of those
sheep which have usually heavy tails, and deposit the
caudal appendage upon it in order to prevent it from
dragging on the ground. The fat-tailed sheep is
smaller and slighter built than ours, ears much longer
and broader, and its wool is usually shorter and softer
than that of our sheep of equal growth. The Arabian
goat on the contrary is much taller and more slender
built than ours, has also much broader and longer ears,
and has hair from four to fourteen inches in length ;
part of it is exported, part is manufactured into tent
cloth, bagging, head stalls, carpet", ropes, etc., by the
native women. The Arabin sheep and goat give
less milk than those of Europe and of an inferior quality.
Toward sunset the ground in front of the large khan,
but a short time before alive with people and animals,
resumed its quiet, undisturbed appearance, inducing us
to enjoy the luxury of a bath in the refreshing, trans-
parent waters of the Diyalah. Two hours after sunset
saw our caravan again, hale and hearty, en route for
Karatepi, a village about thirty-two miles due north ot
Delhi Abbas. The moon rose above the horizon in
silent majesty, illuminating the smooth sandy plain so
effectually, that even at the distance of twelve miles
we could easily discern the bold outlines of Bshebl
Xarin, Tebl Xarin, or Mount i!Tarin, a branch of the
still higher Dshebl Hamrin, a long, low mountain
range, traversing from northwest to southeast the vast

332 FORWARD MARCH.

plain between the rivers Tigris and Diyalali. Owing
to its exceedingly barren condition, the country over
which we traveled was entirely uninhabited, except by
gazelles, of which we saw more in this district than at
any time since we left Bagdad; though tti^ "beautifully
smooth and level ground almost seemed to solicit a
chase then, we did not deem it prudent to do so, as our
horses required all their strength for the journey. The
country lying between Delhi Abbas and Kiffri, a small
town north of Karatepi, is notorious throughout Meso-
potamia for its insecurity, its inhabitants, almost with-
out exception, being professional thieves, highwaymen
and marauders, living upon the proceeds of their law-
less deeds. A few years ago this part of the country
was so unsafe for travelers that nobody except the
Turkish Government Overland Post, protected by a
\'Qry strong escort of regular cavalry, ventured to take
this road; and even now the mail rider, if not provided
with a sufficient escort, is occasionally attacked and
plundered. Solitary travelers or stragglers from cara-
vans are often murdered. To put a stop to these crimes
and encourage travelers to patronize the Imjierial Post,
the Sultan issued a firman, according to which the gov-
ernors of the respective provinces have to answer for
all loes of life and property sustained by all travelers
attacked and robbed within the Ottoman Empire Avhile
under the jirotection of a government escort. In return
the governor holds the inhabitants of the town or vil-
lage nearest to which the robbery was committed
responsible for the immediate delivery of the criminals
to the authorities for punishment, or else the full in-
denniification of the sufferers by the robbery, including
government expenses, in the shape of money, produce,
or extra recruits for the army. As may be expected,
this law, though rather despotic in its character, soon

FORWARD MARCH. 333

proved to be wonderfully effective, and is very credit-
able to the man whose brain devised it, whoever he
may be. Traveling, either by Imperial post, if in small
numbers, or in large caravans, became the order of the
day. Eobbery and murder, till lately of frequent occur-
rence, suddenly became wonderfully scarce in many
parts of the Ottoman Empire. But though law greatly
reduced highway robbery in the districts north of
Bagdad, it did not succeed in rendering travel through
them entirely safe. This is owing to their vicinity to
the Persian frontier, thirty miles from Karatepi, and
twenty-five from Kiffri, where, of course, Ottoman
power ceases. Both sides of the frontier are inhabited
by a wild, fanatical, rapacious population, of half Tur-
coman, half Persian extraction. The men, a filthy,
lazy, ruffianly set of vagabonds, generally well-mounted
and to all appearances well- organized and trained to
their nefarious calling, turn out and pursue the Otto-
man subjects into Persian territory, the Persians into
Ottoman jurisdiction, commit there robberies and occa-
sionally murders. Immediately after the commission
of which crimes they retreat in hot haste across the
frontier to their own country ; thereby rendering it ah
most impossible to overtake and bring them to justice.
Almost all the highway robberies committed in that
part of the Ottoman empire since the above law was
enforced have been by these Persian " border ruffians."
Perfectly conscious of the insecurity of the road,
we resolved to keep a good look out all night, and tra-
veled in a close, compact body, not permitting anybody
to loiter behind. About midnight we arrived at the
foot of Dshebl-I^arin, a barren ridge of hills, over which
our path led. Owing to the beautifully clear moonlight,
we traveled it with comparative ease ; though the north
side of the hill was quite rugged and ste^p, it was not

334 FORWARD MARCH-

sufficient to overcome" the drowsiness which tormented
us night after night more and more, especially from
about 1 to 3 A. M., when we always suffered terribly
from sleepiness and inflamed eyes. . ^„„^^

IS'otwithstanding the insecurity of the road and the
danger of falling from our horses, our most strenuous
efforts to keep our eyes open finally proved futile; talk-
ing, singing, smoking, taking snuff', drinking arak (a
kind of strong brandy, distilled from dates, tasting
somewhat like absynthe and like that assuming a milky
color when diluted with water), chewing gunpowder,
bathing forehead and temples with arak, biting our lips,
and j)inching our ears till we drew blood — all this was
of no avail — nature insisted on having her due, and our
eyes would close in sjiite of our desperate resistance.
Finally Father M. lost h-is equilibrium and fell from
his horse, severely bruising his right arm and shoulder;
about half an hour later poor Bahri lost her balance
while asleep on lur donkc}' and rolled down a small
embankment, luckily without much injury to herself.
The excitement caused by these two accidents somewhat
roused us from our lethargy and gave us strength to
keep awake the rest of the night ; but I shall never for-
get the torture we experienced in our efforts to keep
our inflamed and bloodshot eyes open. Though the
moon shone brightly, our overstrained eyesight made
us feel as if we were traveling through Egyptian dark-
ness, which would not allow us to see each other's forms
distinctly even at the short distance of three yards, and
often caused us to bring our horses' heads into danger-
ous proximity to the heels of those preceding. Luckily
(•ur animals did not appear to sutler like their masters,
who wisely abandoned their bridles, leaving the horses
to choose the track for themselves, which they did with
wonderful sagacity, never once deviating from the right

FORWARD MARCH. 335

course, and quietly following in Indian file the stallions
led by our Arabs, who, accustomed to flies and fleas,
having slept at every halt, did not feel any of the tor-
ture we experienced. In addition to a deafening ring-
ing noise in my ears, as if produced by thousands of
little bells, I was continually tormented by appalling
visions, a gigantic palace, for instance, of magnificent
structure and illuminated by a thousand lights, suddenly
rose majestically before me ; to my utter astonishment,
before I could pull my bridle, my horse walked directly
through its splendid walls, without the slightest diffi-
culty, only to carry me soon after in front of a massive
stone wall, toward which we approached so rapidly
that I was sure my horse would be crushed against it
in another moment. To save my life, I was just about
vaulting from the saddle, leaving my obstinate steed to
go by itself, when,loI through the immense blocks of
granite we slipped without coming in contact with any-
thing. On we jogged, when suddenly the ground be-
came softer and softer. Already my poor horse was up
to its chest in mud ; still it pushed on, scaring thousands
of blistered toads, ghastly lizards, horrid snakes and
bats, which hurriedly escaped to the right- and left as
we advanced. Up to its neck my horse sank ; still it
pushed gallantly through the mire, splashing it on all
sides, making prodigious efforts to extricate itself; soon
the poor animal disappeared altogether from the surface,
my shouklers were submerged, then my mouth — a shriek
of despair, and I was gone ! that is to say, I traveled
for some time underground, with the perspiration of
agony pouring down mj face, till I suddenly felt myself
clutched by some demon who severed my arm from
behind. Just as I was about to settle him with my re-
volver, the familiar cry " qu'-est-ce qu'il y-a?" (what is
the matter?) of Signor P., who had been attracted by

33G FORWARD MARCH.

my shriek, brought me back to reality, to my intense
satisfaction. But half an hour had scarcely elapsed,
when I was again traveling alone in some queer terri-
tory' where suddenly I found myself in an impenetrable
thicket of gigantic cacti and other plants furnished with
thorns two feet long ; from their recesses crawled horrid
si)iders of at least fifty pounds' weight, hairy cater[)il-
lars fully ten feet long, and other charming little insect?
of corresponding size, staring at me with villainous
green eyes, but not daring to touch me. My horse
stalked through these thorny plants as if walking
through a clover field, and we continued our journey
unhurt till we reached a green meadow where we were
surrounded by thousands of hump-backed dwarfs with
ugly faces and mischievous eyes, who cheered vocifer-
ously on my approach, grinning at me, jumping into
the air and going through a series of somersaults,
whistlinij and hootincr like madmen. Not satisfied with
this, thoy lai<l hold of my poor horse's tail and tried to
stop him, till I lost my temper and, applying my spurs,
he lashed out in sj>ite of his sorry half-starved appear-
ance and swollen legs, with such tremeiidous etlect
that al)out twenty of the rascally humpbacks were sent
flying into the air as if they had been sitting on an ex-
ploding barrel of gunpowder. The other dwarfs now
lost their temper, and yelling — " Stop him, stop him ! "
aasailed me on all sides with sticks and stones ; but,
Don Quixote like, I dug my spurs into Rosinante,
dashed through the crowd, and took to flight, hotly
pursued by the little urchins, when. Heavens ! I sud-
denly found myself at the brink of a yawning perpen-
dicular abyss, several hundred feet in depth, with a
roaring torrent at the bottom. Giving my bridle a tre-
mendous pull I tried to stop my horse, but it was too
late. Down, down, I fancied my horse and myself went

FORWARD MARCH. 331

into the abyss. In dreadful agony I closed my eyes, ex-
pecting every momeot to be dashed to atoms. After
awhile, astonished to find myself still alive, I ventured
to open my eyes, only to see the raging' torrcLt once
more still hundreds of feet below me at the bottom of
the precipice, and my horse, instead of lying on the rocks
below or in the foaming whirlpool, coolly striding in
the air, carrying me safely across the abyss, which de-
lighted me so much that my spurs involuntarily came
in contact with the sides of my real charger, causing
him to make a sudden plunge toward that of Signer P.
throwing him nearly out of his saddle. Those who have
ever been troubled with nightmare when asleep in their
beds, and know what a dreadful feeling it produces,
can imagine how much more dreadful it must be when
experienced while traveling through the desert on
horseback, with eyes open, indeed, but inflamed, blood-
shot and intensely painful, and almost blind from sheer
want of sleep. It is, in my opinion, the greatest agony
a man in perfect health of body and mind can be called
to suffer.

This torture was resorted to as one of the last resour-
ces of the demons of the Spanish Inquisition to elicit a
confession from a prisoner. The obstinate victim was de-
prived of his sleep by professional torturers, whose duty
it was to prevent the wretched being under th«ir care
from losing his sense of suffering by all possible means.
They regularly relieved each otber at intervals, till
finally the lethargy became so intense that they were
obliu^ed to resort to the most horrid means, ticklins; the
soles of the feet, pricking with needles, crushing the vic-
tim's fingers, and burning with a hot iron, till the poor
wretch, in despair, either made the desired confession,
or was released by death, or incurable insanity. Though
I had only been four days and nights, say about one

338 FORWARD MARCH.

hundred hours without any sleep at all, I suffered tho
above described agony in consequence, and I do not
think that any human being can live with sound mind
and body through an ordeal of two hundred consecu-
tive hours without sleep. *'""'"

Father M., Bahri and myself were not the only
ones in the caravan subjected to the above ordeal. Sig-
nor P., himself, an old and experienced traveler, suffered
greatly from the same cause, and more than once during
the journey that night suddenly shouted his orders for
the caravan to stop, to save us from falling into imagin-
ary rivers and swamps and over precipices. Toward
daybreak the dreadful lethargy disappeared ; but we
only began to feel cheered when we caught sight of a
small forest, luxuriant with dark green foliage, imme-
diately behind which was the little town of Karatepi,
snug'y ensconced, and where we arrived soon after sun-
rise. The ajipea ranee of our caravan created consider-
able excitement among the inhabitants, who sallied out
to meet us hwlen with milk, eggs, fowls, and whatever
they could nuistcr from their scanty resources of animal
and vegetable food, lioping to prevail upon us to trade.
^Ve were too fatigued however to notice them, and
anxious to procure rest passed straight through the
crowd of dirty sore-eyed natives to the khan, which we
luckily found unoccupied. This khan, though a very
primitive building, w;is more comfortable than any in
which we liad sojourned since our exodus from Bagdad.
It was a large square building made of sun-dried bricks;
but the walls were much more lofty than usual, throw-
in<r a shadow entirelv across the court-yard of the
building, thus affording a most grateful and refreshing
nhade, where, after picketing our horses and partaking
of a frugal breakfast, we enjoyed a delicious rest till
late in the afternoon.

FORWARD MARCH. 339

We now began to realize for tlie first time that we
were gradually leaving the Arabs behind us, and enter-
ing into a new territory inhabited by Turcomans,
Koords and Persians. Karatepi is a true specimen of
an Arab frontier town. The Arab element has almoGt
disappeared, and the natives are a curious melange of
Arabs, Turks and Persians. The Arabic lansruao-e is
but little used, and the Turkish is generally employed
in conversation on account of the much greater facility
with which the Persians learn it. The inhabitants
have hardly any legitimate mode of existence, but are
in reality outlaws and bad characters from the adja-
cent countries. The region is so barren that a^ricul-
ture or cattle breeding would not be practicable except
on the most limited scale. Aware of the bad reputa-
tion of the people, Mustapha, who kept guard at the
door of the khan, would not allow any of them to
enter the building. Late in the afternoon, Signor P.
and myself also repaired to the entrance of the court-
yard, and were enjoying the invariable pipes and coffee,
when our attention was suddenly attracted by a horse-
man coming toward us with headlong speed. On nearer
approach he proved an ol)ject worthy of our regard ;
for I have never seen a finer specimen of the Asiatic
cavalier, nor a horse bettf r matched with the rider —
young, tall, handsome, with a commanding bearing,
and seeming almost a part of the noble animal he be-
strode. With his picturesque, bright-colored and richly
embroidered Turcoman costume floating gracefully about
him, he seemed a very hero of romance, reminding me
more of Rinaldo Rinaldini, or Sara, than anybody I
have ever seen. As he passed he gave us three salaams
in the most aristocratic and approved Oriental style ;
while Mustapha, who had scanned him very closely,
was explaining to us that this individual was one of

340 FORWARD MARCH.

the most noted and daring leaders of the handitti that
infest this part of the country, and, from its convenient
situation near the Persian frontier, make Karatepi
their headquarters. We again heard the tramping of
hoofs, and our picturesque frieud " camt*M;0\vard us at
the same rapid pace with which he had passed, keep-
ing it up till lie almost rode over us, when he suddenly
stop[»ed his charger, and gracefully alighting, he again
salaamed, and stood before us as fine a si)ecimen of a
picturesque cut-throat as could be seen. He com-
menced a lively conversation in Turkish with Mus-
tapha in the most unembarrassed manner, and saying
that having heard of our desire to procure a thorough-
bred, black Arab stallion, he had come to offer his
services. If we would accompany him to a village a
few miles ofii" he thought he could show us just what
we wanted. Now this was rather a suspicious circum-
stance, as our intentions and desires had not been men-
tioned since we left Delhi Abbas, so he must liave re-
ceived the news from there in some special manner,
and, doul)tless, at the same time an exaggerated ac-
count of our wealth and su[»}»ly of Turkish gold; so
that had we trusted ourselves with our friend to see
the liorse in question there would have been l>ut little
probability of our returning with whole skins and
pursues. AVith true Moslem courtesy Signor P. asked
him to sit down, oflered him a pijie, and then told him
in Arabic, which our visitor spoke with perfect ease,
that he was sorry he could not leave the caravan,
though he was anxious to procure a good black stal-
lion ; however, as the village was such a short distance,
doubtless he could give onlers to somebody to bring
the animnl, and he (tlie stranger) might be sure ot
cf»mm:inilin<j: a good price if it should prove what w^e
wished. This evidently disappointed the gentleman,

I

FORWARD MARCH. 341

thougli he took particular pains to hide it. After
asking a few questions as to our intended route, etc.,
he took his leave, promising to bring the horse before
sunset.

About sunset, two men, apparently Arabs in travel-
ing equipments, and evidently having been , several
days on the journey, approached the khan on their
weary horses, and sought admittance, which we could
not refuse them, it being a public caravanserai. They
were well-armed, and had the appearance of Zaptichs,
(mounted men who make it their business to escort
horse caravans and travelers, just as the Aghels make it
theirs to escort camel caravans). They said they were
from Bagdad, proceeding to Karkuk, and hearing from
our people that we were to set out that evening in the
same direction, asked leave to travel in our com])any.
As we expressed no objection, they picketed their
horses and mingled freely with our people. They
greatly admired the revolvers, which for the sake of
comfort Signor P. and myself had taken from our belts,
and put in front of us. They asked to be allowed to
look at them, examined them most minutely, expressed
their astonishment in Eastern fashion, and lauded the
great superiority of European fire-arms over their own.
At last they wished to purchase them, and producing
a very valuble collection of finger-rings and other orna-
ments, ofiered part of them in exchange. Intrinsically
the jewelry was of the greater value ; but we did not
feel inclined in that isolated portion of the country to
part with our chief means of defence. It was lucky
we did not, as we discovered afterward, thouo-h at the
time we had no suspicion of anything wrong, for we
had often noticed, in the bazaars of Bagdad, the avidity
with which the Bedouins and other natives of Western
Asia clustered round and admired European fire-arms.

842 FORWARD MARCH,

By tins time the sun had set, and the weather hud
become cool enough to travel. We were preparing to
resume our journey, when a tattered Arab made his
appearance on a prancing black horse, which he said he
had brought according to orders. Oii examination
however the horse proved far below the mark of Signor
P., and although a likely horse was not suitable for his
purpose. My young horse had suHered greatly during
the journey, and I should have been glad to purchase
the Arab stallion for my own riding; but he asked such
an exorbitant price, that atter nearly an hour's bargain-
ing I was fain to send him away, and content myself
with my own nag. This protracted conversation delayed
us 80 that Ave did not set out for Kaiiri till an hour
before midnight.

The first part of the night was very dark, and
we had to proceed cautiously to keep on the right track ;
moreover the road was uneven, rough, and intersected
with numerous dry water-courses ; but our long rest
had invigorated us, and we were in high spirits.
Shortly after midnight the moon rose, atibrding us
the benefit of her light; the road too became smooth,
and slightly undulating, with a gradual ascent. Tims
far tlie two Arab strangers had traveled along quietly
and peacefully, which would have quelled all suspicion,
if any had been aroused. Toward dawn, as I was riding
about fifty yards in advance of the caravan, I observed
by the indistinct light, lialf dayliglit, halt moonshine,
numerous dark bodies moving about among the scanty
heather a short distance off to our right. At first 1
thought they were gazelles, but on nearer approach,
1 saw they were much too large; and comiiig still
closer, I discovered them to be a herd of wild pigs,
very common in this district. T immediately com-
municated my discovery to Signor P., offering to go in

FORWARD MARCH. 343

pursuit of them, and gain a bonne bouehe for our

breakfast. lie endeavored to dissuade me from the

enterprise by reminding me of the unsettled state of

the country ; but instead of heeding his sound advice,

I remained obstinate, a failing which has often brought

me in trouble before. I was also urged on by Father

M., who had a strong desire for a slice of grilled pork,

provided he could get it without any effort of his own,

and the Arab strangers smiled knowingly, as if they

meant to insinuate that I could not bag a wild pig.

This imaginary insult stung me acutely, so, unslinging

my gun, I dug spurs into my horse, and gave chase to

the porkers who, soon discovering my intention, dashed

away to the most dangerous and broken part of the

country ; my young and powerful horse however soon

brought me up within about fifty yards of them, when

I fired the right barrel, which was loaded with bullet,

at the largest of them ; but owing to the rough ground,

and the tremendous speed with which my horse carried

me over it, I missed my aim. I was, however, more

fortunate with the second barrel, loaded with large

slugs, which I delivered into my porker. Over and

over he rolled, but regained nis feet in an instant,

and bolted. lie was, however, unable to keep up with

ihe rest of the herd, and I made up my mind to stick

to him. Unluckily I had no more ammunition with

me, and somehow I could not manage to draw my

revolver from the holster. However, I deterruined not

to let the bristly customer escape. I thought of the

long hunting knife I carried in my right boot, with

Avhich I might easily kill the boar, if I could first stun

him with a blow from the butt of my gun. Suiting

the action to the thought, and in the excitement of the

chase, quite forgetting that my gun could be shattered

to splinters on the powerful, massive scull of the old boar,

344 FORWARD MARCH.

T brandished it wildly over my head, and hearing nearly
the whole weight of my body on my right stirrup, waa
just in the act of bringing down my gun with tremend-
ous force on the boar's cranium, when I heard a sudden
snapping of the saddle girth, and felt myself slipping.
I fancied I heard the report of a firearm, and then lost
consciousness. When I recovered I found myself
bleeding profusely from mouth and nose, my head
dreadfully dizzy, a loud ringing noise in my ears, and
acute pain in my neck and shoulders. I jumped to my
feet and looked round. The pigs were nowhere to be
seen, and my horse, with the saddle under its belly, was
speeding wildly along, and just disappearing behind a
small hill in the direction of Kiffri. I called him, but
he was too far to hoar me ; beside the stirrups still
hanging to the saddle struck the poor brute at every
stride, fearfully lacerating his legs as he pursued his
maddened career. As to the caravan, it was nowhere
to l)e seen, and there I stood, bleeding profusely, terribly
bruised in the face, and all over my body, and dread-
fully sick a heart at this result of my foolish obstinacy ;
on foot, exhausted, and suffering most acute bodily
pain, and intense thirst, in a desert notorious for ban-
ditti, unable to overtake my caravan, and at least tea
miles distant from the ij<jarest water.

xvn.

NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING.

Taking Inventory of Limbs —Badly Scarred — Felix Waiting — Caught^
My Horse Stolen — "Stand and Deliver" — Grit — A Fright Imminent
— Realizing the Position — Flight — Tracking the Thief — Surrounded
— "Surrender" — Felix Recovered — Khan Tholia — "A Slight Mis-
take "—A Short Rest.

I picked up my gun, the stock of whicli was
cracked through and through ; then I felt for my
revolver, which was still in the holster strapped about
my loins; but one of the shots had been discharged
as I fell headlong from my horse. The bullet had
passed through the bottom of the holster and along-
side my leg, fortunately without wounding me; and
this was no doubt the shot which I thought I heard
just before losing consciousness. To my surprise, not
one of my teeth was missing, though the skin of my
forehead, nose, upper lip, elbows and knees was all gone.
There was no time left for further examination, if I
hoped ever to overtake my caravan ; so I quickly
shouldered my gun and started off at a brisk pace
after my poor horse ; but, owing to the rough ground
over which I had to travel, advanced but slowly.
I aimed directly for the slight elevation on which I
had last seen my chesnut charger. Fancy my joy,
when, on arriving there, I espied, not more than one
mile ahead of me, the caravan halting. I could dis-
tinctly see, in the increasing daylight, the towering
form 'of Signor P., overtopped by his huge, fiery-red
Egyptian tarbush (Turkish skullcap). Fastening my
originally white, but now blooay handkerchief, to the

end of my gun, I waved it to and fro, to show the men
•^ ^ (345)

346 NEW PHASES OF TllAVELLINQ.

of the caravan my wkereabouts. Failing in this signal,
I drew my revolver and fired two shots in the air, and
soon felt convinced that every one of our men could
see and had seen me, the more so as most Arabs are
wonderfully far-sighted. About half way between me
and the caravan lay the dry bed of the broad periodica^
river, the banks of which were densely overgrosvn with
shrubs and bushes. Kot more than five hundred yards
ahead of me, close to the left side of the road, stretched
a small poppy-field, about two acres in extent, bemg
the only sign of agriculture between Karatepi and
Kifri. There, on the border of this poppy-field, stood
my young horse, with the saddle still dangling by one
of its girths underneath his belly, quietly^ nibbling the
scanty herbs that grew on the outskirts of the field.

In the centre of the poppy-field, I noticed two
horsemen dressed in white abbas (riding-hoods), and
looking exactly like the two Arabs who had joined
our caravan in Karatepi the preceding evening. They
were both armed with lances, pistols and scimitars
(strongly curved swords), and had alighted from their
horses, one of which was of a gray, and the other of a
chcsnut color, just like those of the two Arab travellers.
Both fellows stood immovable in the poppy-field,
leisurely smoking their sibils (short earthen-bowl
pipes), while their horses fed on the scanty grass around
them. Almost simultaneously, T noticed a third indi-
vidual, short, thick-set, with closely cut hair; with no
clothing on his swarthy body, but the usual long,
coarse, brown woolen shirt worn by the Bedouins of
Mesopotamia. Tie irently issued from the poppy-field,
and with outstretched hand ap])roachcd my horse, which
made no attempt to escape. I was perfectly satisfied
that those three men formed part of our caravan, as no
other human being, or tent, hut, or any living creature

NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING. 347

were visible as far as the eye could reach, and I had
iK)t the slightest doubt that Siguor P., anxious about
my safety, had ordered these three men to wait for me
and conduct me to the caravan. Moreover, the field in
which the men and horses stood was in a slight hollow
and considerably lower than the ground where the
caravan halted, and the distance between the field and
the caravan was less than half a mile, so that I felt sure
that every one of the caravan must be aware of the men
and horses in the poppy-field. Feeling much exhausted
by my long trot up hill, and seeing my horse so near
by, and about being caught and brought back to me,
as I supposed, by one of our own men, I sat down and
quietly looked on. The man caught hold of my horse,
patted him, and replaced the saddle upon the back of
the animal, then made a motion towards me with his
right hand — for each of those three individuals saw
me — as if to imply that I might remain where I was,
as he was going to bring me the horse forthwith.
Presently I saw him vault lightly into the saddle
without the use of stirrups, and now noticed for the
first time that the stirrups had both been lost in the
mad race. However, instead of bringing my horse to
me, he dug his heels into the animal's flanks and
started oflf at a brisk canter in the direction of the
caravan, and T soon lost sight of him in the shrubbery
which grew upon the river banks.

The fellow's delightfully cool proceeding so
incensed me that, had I possessed a good loaded rifle
at the time, I would not have hesitated an instant to
fire at the wretch, even at the risk of killing my horse.
Commanding, as I did, only an empty, shattered shot-
gun and a short-range revolver, nothing was left but to
submit quietly to a tramp after the scoundrel. The two
vagabonds in the poppy-field calmly waited till I had

348 NEW PUASES OF TRAVELLING.

nearly reached them, when they made preparations to
remount. I passed them in disgust without even
looking toward where they were, when they had the
insolence to ride quite close up, leaving me to walk
like a prisoner between them. They Cook good care,
however, to give me a pretty wide berth, as they saw
by the expression of my still bloody and disfigured
counteuance that I was not in the sweetest of humors.
I slackened my pace a little to let them go ahead, but
they seemed disinclined to do so. This only served to
strengthen my belief that they belonged to the caravan.
I, therefore, asked one of them abruptly, in Arabic :
" Wheiio al hassan inalee ? " (AVliere is my stallion —
horse?) Whereupon he coolly and shortly replied:
" Md arf! " (I don't know.) Disgusted by this bare-
faced lie, I turned my face from the rascals, without
another word, but determined to be even with them ere
long. Presently one of them presumed to addre>;3 me
with: " Cowajec! Gowajee! sookfcl Caravan fd atchel!'"
(Sirl Sirl hasten to join the caravan!) This biting
sarcasm raised my temper like lightning, and with an
abru[)t '•'- Rooch chanzeer!" (Be off, you hog!) I sent
him about his business. This complimentary soubriquet
had the desired effect, for it had no sooner passed my
lips than the fellow wheeled his horse around and was
about to make a lunge at me with his long, ngly lance.
Anticipating this, I was prepared for him. Before he
had wheeled his horse quite around, I had stepped
quickly about ten yards liackwards, cocked both
barrels of my gun, and taking aim at his ohoM. gave
him to understand that it mi<rlit bo greatly to the
advantajje of himself and his frioiul to be off at onoe.
My left hand customer took the hint, nnr|, without
bidding either of us good-bye, he violently struck the
horse with his heels, and was off at full speed, leaving

NEW PHASES OP TRAVELLING. 349

his companion and myself to settle our differences
privately. My antagonist, finding himself in the lurch,
gnashed his teeth with rage, and, muttering something
I could not comprehend, also dashed off; but, while
going at a rapid rate, turned half round in his saddle,
and, drawing one of his pistols, gave me a parting
salute. Though well meant, the bullet whizzed harm-
lessly above my head into the poppy-field behind me.
Always ready to return a compliment, I gave him the
benefit of two shots from my six-shooter, the second of
which seemed to have hurt his feelings considerably.
The pointing of the cocked gun at the scoundrel's car-
cass was a mere ruse de guerre^ for the gun was not
loaded ; but I knew full well the respect paid by
Bedouins to a double barrel in the hands of an Euro-
pean, which greatly exceeds their reverence for a
revolver, because they believe the latter to be compara-
tively harmless from their inferior size. Having suc-
ceeded in ridding myself of my disagreeable company,
I shouldered my gun again, and, advancing about two
hundred yards, noticed a distinct line of blood-spots
upon the gravelly path, which seemed to indicate that
either the fellow himself, or his horse, was wounded,
and, if so, by one of my random shots. On arriving at
the opposite side of the dry river-bed, I lost all further
traces of blood.

Thence, the road to Kiffri ascended, in an almost
interminable zigzag line, a high and steep range of
hills, behind which the notorious and filthy little town
of Kiffri lies ensconced. I, ere long, arrived at a point
whence I could survey a large extent of the sinuous
mountain road. About two miles ahead of me, I espied
the white forms of my two troublesome Arabs, slowly
jogging up hill on their lean horses ; while only about
half a mile beyond them, I saw the caravan ; but owing

350 NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLINQ.

to the dust raised by the feet of so many horses and
mules, I could not, at such a distance, recognize any
person or animal, and it was, therefore, impossible to
tell whether my horse and the supposed miikkari were
with the caravan or not. However, F^d not doubt
that they were, as they had started long before the
two Arabs, and the latter were scarcely half a mile
behind the caravan. Owing to an abrupt turn of the
road round a projecting rock, I soon lost sight of
them altogether, when I stopped quite exhausted from
loss of blood and thirst. I sat down for a moment tx)
rest upon a piece of rock, and took a survey of the
country lying like an immense chart at my feet.
There was the ill-starred spot where I fell from my
horse; there the little hill, where I first saw my horse
again; there the green poppy-field; there the dry river
bed, and the brushwood where I last saw him ; but as
far as my keen sight could reach, no house, no tent, no
living thing could be seen on the vast barren plain ex-
cept a numl)er of carrion vultures gyrating high above
in the clouds, apparently enjoying the sultry morning
— a great deal more than I did, for by this time the
sun had risen high above the horizon, and the atmos-
phere was becoming disagreeably oppressive. A
swarm of flies, attracted by the clotted blood upon my
face and garments, began to disturb me terribly ; but
even worse than heat and flies was the excruciating
thirst which began to torture me, and which I with
difficulty succeeded in allaying temporarily by rolling
a small, round pebble in my mouth — the usual remedy
against thirst employed by Bedouins, travelers, hunt-
ers, etc.

Aware that by merely sitting on a rock, I should
not reach Kiftri, I pressed on up hill as well as I could,
inwardly sore at my bad luck, and at the ingratitude

NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING. 351

of Signor P. in abandoning me to my fate. As to the
snpiiosed wxkkaree who luid so eooll}' enjoyed a ton
mile ride on mv horse's hack at my expense, I \vu>
determined to dis|.atcli him outright with the hist sliot
ill mv revolver, as sneh a monstrous ass had, in my
estimation, no right to live.

This de-ire for vengeance gave me wonderful
stfenii'th and energy, and absorbed all consciousness of
mv physical suffering, and finally enabled me to reach
the top of the barren mountain without another halt.
On mv arrival at the summit of the mount I saw at
the distance of about four miles, Kiflri lying in the
centre of a small, barren valley at my feet, with a
beautiful, silvery rivulet w^inding its way through the
middle of the small, suspicious looking town, sur-
rounded on the south side by several large and shady
fruit gardens, encircled by high mud walls. AVhile
on the west side of the town several spacious, butdeso.
late looking khans w^ere discernible, the latter having
much the aj pearance of dismal Turkish prisons. A
rather romantic background to this panorama w^as
furnished bv a double chain of high, ruo;ged moun-
tains, apparently totally destitute of verdure, the
>' YeblAli" (Momit Ali) and the " Kara Dayh " (Black
mountain), the one rejoicing in an Arabic, the other in
a Turkish name, and the former ten miles, the latter
about twenty miles northeast of Kiffri.

The coming in sight of a place sought by the
weary traveler tends greatly to cheer and invigorate
him, and such was the effect upon me of this view of
Kiflri from to top of the mountain, although it was
after all a rather dismal and inhospitable looking place;
so that, without allow^ing myself a moment's rest, I
marched down into the valley with a right good will,
notwithstanding the piercing rays of the sun, which

352 NEW PHASES of travelling.

had by this time so heated the barrels of my gun that
they literally scorched the skin of my hands. It was,
indeed, an unusually hot day, which seemed to keep
even the scipsv faced inhabitants of Kifiri indoors, as,
with the excei)tion of three stark "nakecTTioys driving
a number of camels to the rivulet to drink, not a living
beinir was visible either in or round KitlVi. It was
about ten o'clock when I finally reached the suburbs
of the little town, hungry, thirsty, and utterly ex-
hausted. Like a duck, I made straight for the water,
where des[»ite my tender knees I threw myself down at
the water's edge and drank copiously of the ice-cold
water. While engaged in washing the blood from my
face and g-arments, I observed four men carrving water-
melons into a laro-e khan near the entrance of the town,
which led me to believe that our caravan was installed
there. My supposition proved correct, for on entering
the khan I was immediately hailed by our Arabs,
while I saw Signor P. and Mutapha in earnest conver-
sation with five or six horsemen armed with lances,
pistols, swords, and daggers. I walked straight up to
Signor I*, and told him rather bluntly that I felt very
much obliged to him for leaving me, an intimate friend,
so coolly in the lurch, to find my way as I might to
KifiVi. Signor I', was quite thunderstruck at my ap-
jtcarance, and by my unceremonious reproof; but especi-
ally when my al)rupt question, " AVhere is Felix ? "
(my horse) was spoken sinndtaneously with his own,
in the same words. To be brief, after a thorough in-
vestigation of the case I learned that, although they had
halted from time to time on the road, no one in the
caravan had seen or heard anything cither of me or of
my horse, from the time that I left them in pursuit of
game ; and that, consequently, no one had been sent to
assist me in catching my runaway horse or to conduct

NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING. 353

me to the caravan. No one of the caravan had observed
the three scoundrels in the poppy-field. Some of the
Mukkanas hringhig up the rear of the caravan had
noticed the two horsemen, who had joined it at
Karatepi, falling behind and dismounting for the
ostensible purpose of refixing a shoe which one of
their horses had apparently cast ; but this proceeding
being of every day occurrence did not attract any par-
ticular attention, especially as the two strangers soon
rejoined the caravan, and had entered KifFri in their
company. The latter part of this testimony was suf-
ficient lor Signor P., Mustapha and myself to make
us suspicious, and we forthwith came to the conclusion
that poor Felix had been dexterously stolen by thtse
unknown rascals. "We resolved, therfore, to secure with-
out delay those two horsemen, who, by-the-way, had
been shrewd enough to disappear on their arrival at
Kiflri ; having never entered our khan, but were said to
have dismomited at one of the Persian coiFee-houses in
town — Mustapha, with the six Ziitiehs (irregular
cavalry), who had been furnished to Signor P. by the
" Kaimakam " (chief of a Turkish village or town, who
fills the united positions of mayor, judge, superinten-
dent of police, revenue collector, etc., etc.), for the pur-
pose of going in search of me, and escorting me safely
to camp — -repaired at once to the respective coffee-
houses to arrest the two fellows; but the w^ary birds
had flown, and all the researches of Mustapha for them
were fruitless, the two highwaymen having in the
meantime probably been safely hidden by their associ-
ates. Ilowever, no time was to be lost, if I ever hoped
to see my poor horse again. We therefore applied to
the Kaimakam for six more horsemen to pursue the
actual thief, without awaiting the return of Mustapha
and his men from their search after the highwaymen.

354 NEW PHASBS OF TRAVELLINQ.

The men were immediately furnished, and receiving a
brief but minute description of horse and rider, and
the promise of a reward of two Turkish liras (about nine
dollars in American gold), for the recovery of the horse,
and double the sum for the recovery of'tlie horse and
the capture of the thief ; they thundered away towards
Karatepi at a break-neck pace, and soon disappeared
behind the mountain. Signor V. and myself had very
slight hope of recovering the horse, as more than five
hours had elapsed since I had last seen the animal, and
it was not at all probable that the thief, after get-
ting possession of the horse, would linger near the
scene of his crime any longer than was absolutely
necessary.

Mustapha however felt sure that if the thief had
not already succeeded in escaping with his booty into
Persian territory, he would not now be able to do so, and
would be hunted down by the men before nightfall. The
first mentioned six horsemen immediately after their
return from their unsuccessful search for the two other
villains in the town, started off at full speed for the
Persian frontier, in order to prevent the fellow's escape
into Persia, or to pursue him in that direction, and with
fair prospects of capture, as their horses were quite
fresh, while mine was by that time quite jaded; mcrc'
over, the wretch, in order to gain the Persian territory,
must either take the road to Iviffri, or make a detour
of at least thirty miles round the steep mountain range,
whicli was accossil)le to horses, only by the road to
Kitlri. To this geographical character of the country
I no doubt owe the recovery of my horse; for the robber,
aware that the animal, badly lacerated on the legs by
the stirrup- irons, during his mad race with the saddle
nndirneath his belly, besides l)eing hungr}-, thirsty, and
exhausted, could not well carry him on a forced journey

NEW I'UASES OF TRAVELLING. 355

of forty or fifty miles more without food, water, or rest,
over a barren country, and during the most oppressive
heat of the dav. lie therefore must have thouo-ht it
advisable to ride a distance of several miles along the
bush-covered banks of the river bed, to hide himself
with the horse in some dense thicket or dell, until
nightfall, and then to steal in the darkness to the
suburbs of Kiffri, there to mount a fresh horse of one of
his associates, and decamp with both animals across
the Persian frontier. His plan, though strategic, did
not prove successful, as the sequel will show.

Snuglj' ensconced in a dense thicket, with my poor
horse standing near him, the scoundrel either in antici-
pation of a whole night's hard work, or, what is more
likely, overpowered by the excessive heat of the sun,
had fallen sound asleep in blissful unconsciousness of the
silent approach of six keen-eyed horsemen, who with
the instinct of the bloodhound had discovered the
scarcely perceptible marks of my horse's hoofs on the
rocky banks of the dry river bed, and were within one
hundred yards of their game, when one of the horses,
tickled in the nostrils by the dust, snorted. The sound
was instantly responded to by my poor Felix from the
bush, who, neighing lustily, to the great dismay of his
captor, caused the latter to spring to his feet with the
velocity of a startled panther, vault upon the animal's
back, and crash away through the dense brushwood.
He would probably have made good his escape after all
had not two men of the second troop of horsemen sent
out, separated from the rest and gone down through the
upper end of the valley. Imagine the disappointment
of the would-be runaway when he suddenly found him-
self caged. To the right and left he found himself
hemmed in by almost perpendicular mountains, and
two stalwart horsemen with cocked pistols and long

356 NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING.

glittering lances barring the upper end of tlie narrow
guUey, while six others were close at his heels. Armed
only with the usual curved dagger, he saw that it was
useless to resist, and not having exactly the mettle of a
Leonidas at Thermopylae, he surrendered. He was
thrown unceremoniously to the ground by one of his
captors, and his arms firmly bound behind his back by
means of a tough leather thong. This accomplished,
the captive was replaced upon the back of my horse
and led off to Kiff ri in triumph. Meanwhile our cara-
van was busy making preparations to continue our
journey, tlie sun having nearly gone down, and the
heat abated. Signor P. and myself had already aban-
doned all hope of ever seeing the horse again, but left
word with the Kaimakam to forward him, if caught
within three days, to the agent of my brother at Mos-
8ul; but if found later, to send him back to my relatives
in Bagdad ; which orders that worthy official for a
" douceur " of one Turkish lira, promised, of course,
to faithfully execute. The Kaimakam, however, was
of the o[)inion, as was also Mustapha, that the horse,
if not taken into Persia, would sooner or later be traced
all through Mesopotamia, from the fact that he bore a
l)ecnliar white mark on his left haunch, and that the
thief would never liave touched the animal if he had
noticed that fatal mark. As we were again about to
start u}»on our journey, a noise and commotion out-
side tlie khan attracted our attention, while Yoossooff-
el-Yezidee (anglice: Joseph, the Yezidce, /. «., of the
sect of the Yezidees — a tribe or ratlier sect who are
said to worship tlie devil, and inhabit the mountains
of Koordistan — for twenty years a slave, and afterwards
a free, converted Moslem) rushed in through the door-
way, gesticulating and yelling: "Cowajee! cowajee!
dal, shooff el hassan malek ! " (Arabic : " Master, master,

NEW PHASES OP TRAVELLING. 351

come, behold thy horse.'') Hastening to the gate we
did indeed see poor Felix, covered with foam and dust,
with his cajitor on his back, heading a troop of armed
horsemen slowly approaching the khan, and neighing
vociferously at the sight of persons familiar to him.
This outburst of animal affection and fidelity moved
me almost to tears, and drawing my revolver, I would
have served out condign punishment to the wretc^ ni
the saddle, had not Signor P. wisely arrested my arm.

The pinioned prisoner, in consequence of an invol-
untary movement at the sight of my six shooter lost
his equilibrium, and tumbling headlong from the horse,
lay senseless and bleeding upon the stony ground. The
sight of the prostrate wretch, bleeding and helpless at
my feet, instantly cooled down my wrath, and giving
orders to the men to remove the bonds and restore him
to consciousness, I was about giving him hie liberty,
when Signor P. protested and insisted that he should be
delivered to the Kaimakam, the proper authority for
punishment. This was accordingly done, and half an
hour later his captors returned to receive their reward
of four liras, which I gladly paid, making them an ad-
ditional present of a flask of Hall's gunpowder, upon
which they set a value almost liigher than the gold it.
self (good powder is a scarce article in that part of the
world). What became of the prisoner afterwards, I
do not know, as we left an hour after his arrival : but I
do not doubt that Kaimakam bribed by the friends and
accomplices of the prisoner, and probably himself a
rogue, released him as soon as we had gone ; for not only
are these officials open to bribery, but many of them are
in league with robbers, smugglers and other law-
breakers.

Poor Felix, though visibly glad to be with ua
again, was in a fearful condition, and unable to do duty

358 NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING.

for some time. His ' legs swelled from the numerous
cuts from the stirrup irons; his former smooth and
glossy skin was covered with scratches ; his back was
chafed and he was minus two shoes, aud. of course
walked lame, the general result of the day's wild work.
His shoes were soon replaced by the farrier of our cara-
van ; but Felix had to be put on the sick list, and a large
strong mule hired in his place at Kifiri to convey me to
Karkuk, while its owner had to walk, leading our pa-
tient bv a headstall.

Owing to the utter prostration of poor Felix our
departure was delayed till just before sunset. The
road to Tooz Choormaly* (the next station) led right
through the centre of Kiflri along tlie little brook or
rivulet previously mentioned. Nearly all the inhabi-
tants, male and female, of this thieving nest were al-
ready assembled on the flat roofs of their mud-houses,
preparing to go to rest. The jnissage of the caravan
naturally attracted their attention and they gazed
down in hundreds upon us as we went through the
rugged and filthy lanes. Many of the men struck me
as peculiarly well-made athletic fellows, and some of
the younger portion of the women were decidedly
good-looking, and even pretty, though dreadfully
slovenly and dirty; both sexes had, however, j)eculiarly
savage, bold and mischievous countenances, and the
Dccasionally audible epithets, "/.«/';/' (dog), ^i'ao^r (un-
believer), kajir (infidel), were showered u[ton us, chiefly
by members of the fair sex, who are like their more
favored sisters in civilized lands, gifted with a pro-
digious oral facility. We received their anathemas,
however, with stoical forbearance and good nature,
thereby only increasing their volubility until we began

W , . ^m ■, ■,■■■■— ^ ^

* The " Ch" pronounced gutteraJlj as in " Loch" (lake).

NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLINQ. 359

to think ^ve should have a ducking of hot water, or a
sherha (earthen water-bowl) on our heads. Luckily for
us we were soon out of sight of the furies. We felt
much relieved to find ourselves once more upon the
open desert, rvlthough experience had taught us that the
utmost caution and strictest vigilance were henceforth
absolutely necessary, as long as we traveled during the
night, and over such precarious ground. A rugged
road led us in a due northwesterly direction for many
miles along the southern slope of the mountain range
which surrounds Kiftri. This road was an uninterrupted
series of steep ascents and decents, rendered rather dif-
ficult to travel in the darkness by rough gravel and
detached pieces of rock, until we reached a tributary
of the " Ki>seh Si " or " Adhem," a considerable river
which has its source in the Kara Dagh and joins the
waters of the Tigris just below "Khan Tholia," a large
caravansary on the left bank of the Tigris, thirty miles
west of "Delhi Abbas." The road became more level
and smooth, as we approached this tributary, the banks
of which appeared to have some cultivation, and to be
inhabited, as we heard numerous dogs barking. Over
this river was a high and steep bridge, a luxury indulged
in in this part of the world, only when the rivers are
absolutely impassable without it. "We crossed the bridge
between one and two o'clock in the morning, and found
ourselves, when a few yards further on, assailed by
the furious dogs of Tooz Choormaly, the noise of which
aroused several of the natives, Avho were sleeping on the
tops of their dwellings. We accosted one- of them, and
asked him to direct us to the khan, no very difiicnlt mat-
ter, as we were standing directly before it. We had tra-
veled only about twenty miles that night, and as "Tauk,"
or next station, was not over fifteen miles distant, we
determined to remain until three o'clock in the after-

360 NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING.

noon confident that we should easily reach Tank by
sunset. I had therefore full leisure to examine the
large village by daylight. It made a far better im-
pression upon me than any of the places we had visited
since our departure from Bagdad.

The houses, though still of rather rough material
and primitive architecture, were clean and cheerful
looking; the streets were not nearly as neglected and
filthy as were those of the preceding station. The
inhabitants themselves looked tidy, active and happy,
and had none of the villanous, hang-dog look which
characterizes the people of Kifri and Karatepi. They
own large herds of donkeys, sheep, goats, and immense
numbers of fowl; they practice agriculture as much as
the rather calcareous, gravely ground will permit; raising
barley, Indian corn, cucumbers, water-melons, etc. Tho
village is surrounded on three sides by water, being
located on the extreme corner of the land formed by
the confluence of two tributaries of the river Adhem,
each of which is spanned by a high, rudely constructed
stone bridge, l)uilt in an angle of about 120 degrees,
and paved with huge round boulders which ofler a
peculiarly slippery footing to shod horses. Both rivers
aljound with excellent fish of which we caught three
during the morning. The inhabitants were quite
astonished to see us catch, cook and eat them. It is &
sinffular fact that the Moslems as a rule do not care
much about fish, especially sweet water fish, and in
many places do not cat the latter at all.

In the afternoon I went out for an hour or two
with my gun, bagging' one hare and many brace of
desert j»artridges and wild pigeon. In returning to
carnp along the banks of the river, I found the shore
below the village literally covered with natives, — men,
women and children splashing in the water in high

NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING. 361

glee. I too felt inclined for a dive, but was afraid that
while enjoying my bath my gun and clothes might
vanish. An hour after my return to the khan, we
resumed our journey. The sun was still high above
the horizon when our caravan crossed the second brido;e
at the further end, or northwestern side of the village;
but as a refreshing breeze had sprung up in the after-
noon, we traveled comfortably enough.

The road continued rather rugged, and intersected
by many of the minor tributaries of the Kesseh Su or
Adhem river. Our men were in the best of spirits; a
hilarity probably d ue to the prospect of an easy day's
pedestrian expedition. About half way between the
two stations, the road ascended a very steep hill. I was
riding, as usual, about thirty yards ahead of the cara-
van, when I noticed a number of fine partridges scaling
the hill, some two hundred yards ahead of me.
Anxious to secure a brace or two of them before the
caravan should come up and frighten them away, I dug
spurs into my animal, quite forgetting that I was no
longer mounted on Felix, but on an outrageously lazy,
obstinate mule, which vehemently protesting against
being so energetically startled out of his reveries by a
pair of sharp spurs, suddenly plunged his ' monstrous
head between his fore-legs, and simultaneously kicking
up his hind-legs to a prodigious height, successfully
reversed my usual position, by pitching me straight on
my head in the middle of the road, upon a sharp stone,
which made a rather painful impression on my cranium
and caused the " crimson" to flow copiously. This
abrupt protest from the lazy brute caused the ther-
mometer of my temper to rise prodigiously, the more
so that, having some pride in my horsemanship, I was
rather ashamed to be unseated by a miserable mule,
and that too wh^n going up a very steep hill, a per*

362 NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING.

formance whicli might have baffled the most vicious
horse.

Determined not to let the mule have the mastery,
I declined the offer of Signer P.'s splendid horse, with
which to continue my journey, resolveS*'to be quits
with the brute, and to ride him as hard as he could
travel to Tauk, our next station, if it should cost me
my life. For this purpose I borrowed from one of the
men a stick about two feet long. This stick I pointed
sharply at both ends, and attached it underneath the
mule's neck in such a manner that whenever he
attempted to lower his head, the upper end would poke
him between the jaws, while the other end would press
ao-ainst his chest. In order to steer him better in case
of his attempting to bolt I tightened the curb chain of
his bridle as much as possible, and vaulted into the
saddle. " Old Longear," on feeling my spurs again,
naturally had recourse to his old dodge ; but he soon
found out that it wouldn't work, and for his trouble sfot
a vigorous poke from the sharp pointed stick, as well as
from my spurs, which made him shake his head
lustily, and snort like a hippopotamus. Another
touch with my spurs made him bolt, but as the road
led 8teei)ly up the hill, he soon tired of it. However, I
urged him on with my rowclled persuaders, and soon
brought him up more dead than alive at the top. Not
inclined to give the brute the benefit of a moment's
rest, I trotted him gently down the hill, and, once on
the plain, I induced him not only to resume, but to
keep up a brisk canter till he was thoroughly subdued,
and brought me to the gate of the khan of Tauk, fully
two hours before the caravan arrived, and I doubt
whether that mule ever made a quicker journey. Pie
was wonderfully improved by the performance, and
gave no further evidence of his dislike to the spurs.

NEW PHASES OF TRAVELLING. 363

Thereafter he carried me as gently to Karkuk as my
Felix himself would have done.

The caravan arrived soon after sunset and we gave
our men and animals a rest till midnight. The khan
was of the usual description and unoccupied, which
circumstance enabled us to picket our horses very com-
fortably. But there was nobody living near by from
whom we could purchase food for man or horse, so we
had to make the best of our scanty provisions, and re-
sume our journey after midnight.

xvm.

ORIENTAL LAND MARKSr^*-

Castle of Karkuk — Turkish Cavalry — Military Visitors — Melons and
Fruit — Wine Making — Tooloochs — Seasons of Kain — In Camp.

About one o'clock we set out, and travelling in a
close column over a pretty fair road, and passing within
hailing distance of two or three wretched little villages,
we espied by daybreak, in the distance, the faint out-
lines of the old Castle of Karkuk, built on a huge
mound or steep hill, which was of a yellowish red clay,
two hundred feet or more in height, by from one to
two miles in circumference at the base. This eminence
rises boldly, almost perpendicularly out of the centre of
a broad valley, and is surrounded at its base by the
building constituting the town of Karkuk. As we
drew closer, the scenery before us became very pictur-
esque.

The glorious sun, just rising in its majesty from
behind the dark and rugged summits of Tebl Ali, and
the still more imposing "Kara Dagh " beautifully
illuminated the view, and gave a brazen lustre to the
towering castle, and the high and slender minarets and
liuge glazed domes of the various mosques of the town
surrounding the citadel, which former was encircled by
a wreath of luxurious gardens, overshadowed by dense,
dark green foliage, irrigated by a charming little stream,
winding its glittering silver waters from one garden to
another.

In front of the town, toward the North, lay a large
sandy plain, upon which a considerable number of
Turkish Cavalry went through their evolutions, their

(364)

ORIENTAL LAND MARKS.

bright swords flashing in the early morning simlight.
It was about eight o'clock in the morning, when we
entered the town, winding our way through dark nar-
row and crooked streets, linallj entering u small khan
adit;inino- one of the streets of the bazaar. The kahn
was crowded with men, camels, horses, mules and
donkeys, and soon alter our entrance became a scene oi
terrible confusion. Ovving to the carelessness of ouj
men, the horses were placed in too close proximity tc
each other, and the immediate consequence was ar
indiscriminate kicking, biting, rearing,jumping, snort
ing and yelling among the equine species in the khan,
rendered worse by the breaking loose of Felix, and
three or four more of our stallions, in spite of the
almost superhuman eflbrts of the men in charge. As
soon as the stallions found themselves at liberty they
pitched into each other with indescribable fury, sjiortino;,
yelling, biting and lashing out their hind legs, some-
times rising like dogs upon their hind legs, and attack-
ing each other in that position ferociously with teeth
and forelegs. Kever before did I witness such a scene
of confusion. There, in the centre of the khan were
four infuriated stallions ficrhtinsi; each other like so
many lions in the arena, knocking over and trampling
tmderueath their feet, men, horses, mules and donkeys.
The ponderous camels, alarmed at the deafening noise
and confusion, tremblingly squeezed each other against
the walls of the building, and others dashed terror-
stricken out of the khan, and down the densely crowded
bazaar. The intense distress we experienced in

v.'itnessing the beautiful and costly h ^rses trying to
destro}' each other, as well as the sight of two poor
fellows lying helpless on the ground with a good chance
of being trampled to death, gave Signor P. and myself,
with some of our men, a kind of desperate courage,

366 ORIENTAL LAND -MARKS.

and at the iininineut risk of our lives we rushed at the
furious horses. By means of two long poles, which
fortunately stood in a corner of the building, we finally
succeeded in separating and securing tlL(i.i;onibatauts,
while some of our men picked up the two fellows lying
upon the ground. They had been badly kicked and
bruised in the melee, but happily not dangerously
inj uried.

A third man was brought in from the ba-aar where
he had been almost crushed to death against the wall,
by one of the frigitive camels.

On examination we, to our surprise, found that
none of the horses w^ere visibly injured, and the damage
done by the stampede of the camels to life and property
in the bazaar was very slight. This '■Hnttrmezzo"
though very disagreeable, had one good effect. It had
cleared, the khan with wonderful rapidity, of most of
the obnoxious men, camels, horses and mules occupying
the place previous to our arrival.

The news of the impending arrival of the caravan
of horses for the Sultan of Frankistan had reached,
Karkuk long before our arrival, by means of the
caravan of Count de B. and other travellers who had
passed through the town two days previous. The news
spread like wild fire, and our khan was soon besieged
with visitors curious to see the famous animals. Among
our visitors were both the civil and military Governor
of the town; two portly Turks, accompanied by a
crowd of officers who were all loud in praise of the
horses. A wealthy native Christian an agent for my
brother, who had received orders from Bagdad to
rejilenish our purses if required, also made his appear-
ance, and with true Oriental courtesy, at once placed
himself and his whole house at our disjiosal. We were,
however, forced to decline his hospitatity, as we could

ORIENTAL LAND MARKS. 367

not well leave the horses over night, in the care of a
gang of careless Arabs. He insisted, however, on. send-
ing us an immense quantity of provisions of all kinds,
not even omitting tobacco, and speedily replenished our
twenty-four empty wine bottles, with delicious dark
red Diarbekoi wine, to which of course we could not
abject, as we had to recruit our physical condition.

During the afternoon, our agent came to take us
out for a walk through the town. Most of the houses
appeared to us very solidly built of stone, in the
Oriental style. Many of the buildings are of consider-
able size and some of them apparently of great age,
especially some of the mosques and minarets, of which
there is a goodly number in Karkuk. The streets too
have the Oriental character ; the principal ones were
paved through wretchedly uneven, owing to the
boulders used. The bazaar is extensive and well stock-
ed with goods of Asiatic and European manufacture
and produce. Provisions were wonderfully cheap,
especially fruit, the finest melons, pomegranates,
peaches, and most delicious grapes (principally imported
from Persia), were selling for a mere trifle. The market
was crowded with them, but the inhabitants were some-
what afraid to indulge freely in their use, as there were
rumors of cholera throughout the town. If the
inhabitants of Mesopotamia knew how to make wine
of the tons and tons of grapes which are annually al-
lowed to decay and waste in that country, they might
produce a large quantity of a most delicious article.

The bulk of the population of Western Asia is oi
the Moslem creed, and consequently forbidden to taste
wine. The native Christians and Jews prefer Arak
(a spirituous liquor distilled from dates and sometimeij
peaches) to wine, consequently there is very littla
demand for it.

368 ORIENTAL LAND MARKS.

The manufacture of wine in these countries is,
therefore, naturally yet in its infancy; in fact it is still
(lone in the very way in which father Noah contrived,
about five thousand four hundred years^a^o, to manu-
facture a bowl of it for his own personal use, which,
according to Genesis, chapter 9, verse 21, got the better
of the old fellow. Up to this very time, some of the
wine manufacturers of Mesopotamia, Koordistan, and
Persia employ the original method of squeezing the
grapes, one after the other, with their hands, over one
earthen or glass bowl, allowing the juice to trickle into
the latter ; others still less delicate, pound their grapes
in a wooden or earthen trough, by means of their feet,
a proceeding which scarcely improves the ^'■bouquetV of
the wine. If after the fermenting process the wine
remains good, so much the better ; but if it turns to
vinegar, it matters little, for vinegar is extensively used
in almost every household in the Orient, and sells,
therefore, more readilv than wine.

Ivarkuk numbers from fifteen to twenty thousand
inhabitants, three-quarters of whom are Moslems,
chiefly Turks, Turcomans, Persians and Arabs. The
rest of the population is made up of Armenians,
Christians and Jews. The place has a permanent gar-
rison of from one to two thousand Turkish soldiers.
The infantry occupies barracks in the castle on the top
of the hill, and the cavalry and artillery occupy
quarters in the suburbs of the town, the citadel being
inaccessible to horses.

Xarkuk is a jdace of considerable importance,
owing to its extensive trade connections with Persia,
chiefly in tobacco, sheep-wool, goat-hair and carpets.
On our return to the khan in the evening, we found
three Armenian priests sitting with Father M., our
Belgian missionary, and compagnon de voyage^ who feel-

ORIENTAL LAND MARK& 369

ing too tired to take a walk remained in the khan aU
day. They were all in a dilemma until we came, as
neither of the Armenians knew a word of any European
language, and Father M. did not know any of the West
Asiatic languages, so they were obliged to use
pantomime till we made our appearance, when Signor
P. offered his services as interpreter of Arabic and
French.

The Armenians stated that they had come to pay
their respects to their clerical brother, of whose impend-
ing arrival they had been informed by friends in
Bagdad several days previously, and asked humbly if
they could be in any way useful to him. Father M.,
who had taken a considerable fancy to Karkuk arak^
smilingly replied that a few bottles of the '' pure stuff""
would be acceptable to him and his companions, as a
medicine on the journey, in case of accident.

Soon after this, the Armenians made their salaams
and departed, promising to furnish the desirable liquid,
which was duly received at sunset, and the favor returned
by a quantity of the best Holland snuff*, of which
luxury Father M. had a supply j^resented him by the
Pasha of Bagdad when the priest took leave of that
worthy personage.

The night passed very quietly, and Father M. slept
as soundly as an infant till morning, when he returned
the visit of his clerical friends.

Our caravan had now rested nearly two days, and
promptly resumed its march in good condition. We
traveled due north, toward Altyn Kopru, a small, dirty
village on the left bank of Zab Asfal (lower or smaller
Zab), about sixteen miles from Karkuk. Our road led
across a high table land till we reached the steep and
rocky banks of the river. Here, in the dim light of
the early dawn, Signor P. espied a couple of gazelles

370 ORIENTAL LAND MARKS.

grazing in a ravine., He took mj gun, fired, and
brought down one; but before anyone could descend
into the ravine and secure the game, it regained its feet
and escaped. Hearing that the distance between Alt^-n
Kopru and Erbil was nearly forty miles,'a*distance too
great for our men and heavily-laden pack-horses and
mules to travel in one day, we resolved to go into
camp a few miles from Altyn Kopru in order to reduce
the length of the next day's journey. The people of
the village, however, tried to dissuade us from doing
80, asserting that we should find neither houses nor
water near the road till we reached Erbil. Believing:
that the villagers wanted us to remain only to make
money out of us, we pushed on through the river,
which was rather deep, and saturated our baggage.
Poor Father M., who gallantly bestrode an old pony,
and the negro girl, Bfdiri, who was still sporting her
snow-white donkey, almost came to grief in fording
the rapid river; for their small animals could not touch
bottom in the middle of the current, and, naturally,
took to swinmiing. Both priest and negro lost their
presence of mind and equilibrium simultaneously, and
but for the prompt assistance of some of our men
would certainly have been drowned. A new, bright-
red tarbush, which the young priest bought in Karkuk
for night wear, was, however, lost, and floated down
the stream, bound for the Persian Gulf, much to the
discomfiture of its bareheaded owner, who reluctantly
pulled his old felt hat out of his wet portmanteau.

Our path continued to lead us due north, and we
traveled till about ten o'clock over a perfectly level
and barren plain, when some four miles to the left we
saw a small village, calle<l Kushtcpe, built on the east-
era slope of a long range of low hills, which bordered
the plain towards the west. This village was, however,

ORIENTAL LAND MARKS. 371

far from the road and looked miserable; so we pushed
on till noon, without finding water or a human habita-
tion. The sun had by this time become so oppressively
hot that our men and pack-horses were quite worn out,
and we judged it high time to halt. We had taken
the precaution to refill our iooloochs (water-tight bags
of goat-skin, used to carry butter, oil, water, etc.) at the
river which we had forded in the morning, and men
and animals had assuaged their thirst at the same time.
By husbanding our supply a little, we knew we should
have water enough for all the men, and the animals
would not suffer from thirst until towards the next
morning, by which time we felt sure we should find
water. AVe were about looking out for a smooth place
to camp when one of the men, an old mule driver, de-
clared that we should find some water a little further
on, as he had seen several plovers rise in the air a few
hundred yards ahead of us. We moved on, and soon
reached a brooklet, where we halted for the nio:ht.

After picketing our horses we pitched our tents
for the first time since leaving Bagdad, as this was the
first time since our exodus from the "City of the
Caliphs" that we had to camp in the open air, having
hithc ....vavs manao;ed to reach a khan or a village,
at the close of each day's journey, which had hitherto
rendered a tent unnecessary. Owing to the total
absence of trees and bushes on the utterly barren plain
.ve W8re obliged to pitch the tent, in order to protect
us against the sun, which scorched our devoted heads
with relentless power. Our intention was to rest till
about midnight, then resume our journey and reach
Erwil by six or seven o'clock the next morning. As
soon as the sun had set, we struck our tent, rolled it up
and replaced it in the bag, prepared to start. The day
had closed with one of those glorious sunsets such as

372 ORIENTAL LAND MARKS.

can be seen only in those desert regions; but the refresh-
ing zephyr usually fanning the weary traveler immedi-
ately after sunset unaccountably failed to spring up,
and the night came on without producing the very
desirable change in the oppressive atmo'Sptiere. This
only served to increase the sort of lethargy produced
in man and beast by the cruel heat of the day. Aftei
stationing some of the men at different points round
our picket of horses, with orders to keep a good look-
out, we unrolled our beds and sooq fell asleep ; the rest
of the men crawled in between the luggage, bestowing
themselves as best they could between boxes, leather-
trunks, car[:)et-bags, horse-rugs, saddles, cooking uten-
sils, etc., etc., and quickly followed our example. The
night was unusually dark. A dead silence reigned in
the camp where but an hour before the buzz as of a
beehive had been audible ; now a traveler might have
passed within fifty yards of us totally unconscious of
the presence of twenty-five men and as many horses.
About an hour before midni<i:ht I awoke and noticed
tlien for the first time, lively heat-lightning on the
western horizon. Astonished at what was a very
unusual phenomenon for those regions I par*^ially rose
on my bed and awaited the next two flashes, ..^ he
sharp, abrupt light of which I could just cast a glance
over our camp. Seeing that none of our principal
hoi^ses wore missing and every thing seemed quiet, I
laid down again, believing that there would be no rain,
and the stifling atmos[»here would bo rarified by the
lightning. Though already near the middla of Sep-
tember, it lacked almost a month yet of the time for
the first rains of the season; moreover, it was not likely
that I, of all those in camp, should have been the only
one to notice the lightning, as certainly some of the
watchmen must have been awake. Satisfied that my

ORIENTAL LAND MARKS. 3*73

apprehensions of a rain storm were preposterous, 1
endeavored to go to sleep ; but for some reason could
not. I got up, lighted my pipe, took a look at Signor
P. and Father M., who were both fast asleep, and
leaving them walked up to the horses, and endeavored
to count them, but could not succeed, as the electric light
lasted but for an instant, leaving all in Egyptian dark-
ness again. Failing in that, I was about to pass review
of the watchmen, who had apparently been overpowered
by sleep, when suddenly down came such a torrent
of rain as I never witnessed in my life. It was no
ordinary rain ; it came in sheets, in bucketfulls, in tons ;
in short it was a diluvian rain. I need hardly say that
it had a wonderful effect upon the sleepers, who all
sprang to their feet as if stung by hornets — anxious to
protect the bedding, which had already become soaking
wet before they were aware of what had occurred. A
sorrier looking picture than our camp presented during
the time of this deluging and chilling rain can hardly
be imagined. Some of us were standing, shivering
with cold, with chattering teeth and dripping clothes,
groping for our shoes or other wearing apparel, while
the horses and mules, with drooping heads, and closed
eyes, resignedly waited for the rain to oease. This
occurred in about a quarter of an hour as abruptlj'- as
it had commenced, and in a few moments the earth,
scorched and fissured by an eight months' drought,
absorbed all the water, and its surface again appeared
quite dry. ]^ot so with our clothing, bedding, etc.,
which the rain had nearly doubled in weight, much to
the discomfort of man and beast. This unexpected
shower-bath had however dispelled our drowsiness, and
as it was near midnight, we broke camp, and resumed
our journey, notwithstanding the almost impenetrable
darkness, for the heat lightning had by this time

374 ORIENTAL LAND MARKS.

entirely disappeared.- Kot a star was visible, and a
dreary silence reigned. A sharp, cold wind, accom.
panied by showers arose, causing our wet clothes to
adhere to our shivering bodies. and^.j3[jaking that
night's journe}' about as disagreeable a jnece of work as
ever fell to my lot.

Day finally dawned, the rain ceased, the cold wind
died away, and the rising sun finally dispersed the
heavy clouds. iN^ever did I welcome the rays of the
sun so ardently as after that dismal night. The rest of
the caravan sympathized witli me iully. Signor P.
resumed his wonted joviality, and hummed his usual
morning song — usually from " Martha "' or " N"orma" or
"Trovatore ;" Father M., with a heavy sigh, took his last
. pull from the field flask ; Bahri cheered up and smiled ;
our A rabs, who had preserved a mournful silence since
midnight, resumed their wonted conversation, and even
the horses began to step out with more alacrity.

On reaching the top of a low hill we espied, scarcely
two miles beyond, the little town of Erbil, shadowed
by a kind of citadel situated upon a high, stcej) hill,
with soil similar to that of Karkuk, and considerably
larger. A mass of horses, mules, donkeys, sheep and
goats, issuing from the southern gate of the town, and
a vast number of camels heavily laden with merchan-
dise, moving slowly toward us, clearly indicated that
the inhabitants of the place Avere already engaged in
their daily duties, especially those of the female sex, a
great many of whom we found congregated drawing
water from the deep cisterns or wells situated without
the limits of the town, and carrying the same in large
earthen bottles or unis like the Rebecca and Rachel of
the Bible. They carry them on their shoulders, or
gracefully balanced upon their heads. On coming near
the town, the young Arab, whom Signor P. had engaged

ORIENTAL LAND MARKS. 3T5

in Bagdad as " Nalhun " (horseshoer) to our caravan,
asked leave to run ahead and inform his father, also a
horseshoer, of our arrival. His request being granted
he ran off, and soon reappeared accompanied by his
father, a gray-bearded old follow, who piloted us to the
best khan in town. It had just been evacuated by a
caravan, probably the one we had met before our
entrance into the town.

As soon as the horses were securely picketed, every
one was of course anxious to discard his wet clothing ;
but only a few of our men were able to do so, most of
them having only what they carried on their backs.
Nevertheless, these worthies did not seem the least dis-
composed by this circumstance, and simply selected the
sunniest spot they could find in the khan, stretched
themselves flat and face downward on the ground, and
remaining so till their posterior man was perfectly dry,
when they quietly rolled over on their backs and dried
their fronts in the same way. The day proved warm
and delightful, and induced us to take a short ramble
through the place

XIX. ^^^

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

Present Appearance — Short Reminiscences — Cafe — Breaking Camp —
Zab Ala River — Fording the River — Mountains of Koordistan —
Mossul in View — A beautiful Valley — In Mossul — A tricky Pasha
— Mossul Merchant — Ninevah Ruins.

The town, if such a miserable nest may be so called,
is much smaller than Karkuk, and contains hardly
over five thousand inhabitants, who are mostly Mos-
lems, Christians and Jews finding Erbil too fanatic a
place to live in peaceably. The dwellings constituting
the town are not nearly as decent looking as those at
Karkuk, and many of them are uninhabited and Ij'ing
in ruins. The streets are narrow, dark, and crooked,
devoid of pavement and therefore covered in summer
with half a foot of dust, and in winter with a still
greater depth of mud. The place sports a little bazaar
overshadowed with torn and rotten straw mats. Its
narrow thoroughfares were originally paved with huge
round stones. Time and neglect have, however, rendered
the remnants of this pavement rather dangerous to man
as well as beast as the narrow passages are teeming with
deep holes and projecting stones which are hardly visi-
ble in the gloomy, badly ventilated and densely crowded
liazaar; i. «?., if a series of dark, low, wretched, little
stalls, composed of roughly hewn stone, mud, and
worm-eaten timber, and scarcely furnished with the
most common requisites of every day life may be called
a bazaar. Though a wretched place now Erbil is of
historical fame, the place where Alexander the Con-
queror, fought and won the memorable battleof Arbela

(376)

* NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 3V7

(the ancient name of Erbil or Arbil) on the second of
October, three hundred and thirtj-one years before
Christ, against the immense army of Darius Codoma-
mus. King of the Persians, whom he totally defeated,
and cut to pieces. Darius, who escaped being taken
prisoner by Alexander, fled to the mountains, but was
soon after taken and murdered by Bessus, who had un-
doubtedly acted under Alexander's order ; the latter,
however, feigning pity for the tragical fate of his dead-
liest enemy, imprisoned Bessus, and dispatched him
with his own hand. The above mentioned contest is
also known as the " battle of Qaugamela," so named
after the river lying sixteen miles northwest of Erbil,
better known to us as the " Zab Ala," where Darius's
forces endeavored vainly to prevent Alexander's army
from crossing the river,

Sigiior P., and myself, spent the afternoon in the
various gloomy, smoky and dirty coffee houses of the
place, for the purpose of buying some more fine horses.
These coffee drinking and tobacco smoking establish-
ments are well patronized throughout the Orient, and
might appropriately be called the Stock Exchange of
Eastern cities, as the greater part of the business of the
male portion of the popultition is really transacted
therein. They enjoy the patronage of the rich as well as
the pocr. There you may see the millionare and the
beggar, the Jew and the Christian, the Moslem and the
heathen, the priest, and the slave-dealer, the General and
the private soldier, the master and the slave, the Arab
sailor, the banker, the barber, the merchant, the clerk,
the eunuch, the horse dealer and horse-thief, the money
lender and the porter (?Iammal) the jeweller, zaptich
(police), the cavass (armed servant) and the scavenger,
each of these individuals sipping coffee, smoking to-
bacco and thinking, or talking over his own or his

3t8

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

neighbor'^ affairs ; \yhile the bf zaar proper is destined
more for the exposition of good for sale or exchange, as
well as ior the various workshops of the tradesman.
From daybreak till late in the night, the Eastern cofiee
houses are crowded with real and apparent idlers, occu-
pying in all positions the rough stools, chairs, and divans;
some calmly pufHng away at their narghilchs^ shadahs,
or sehils^ others sipping scalding hot coffee ; and others
again, gesticulating violently, and talking vociferously
to each other. Many of them sit for hours, nay, for days
thus occupied, no dohbt considering it the duty of all
those who wish to deal with them, to call upon them.

A great many horses were shown to us that after-
noon, but with the exception of a beautiful jet black
yearling colt, they were below our mark. Signor P.
would gladly have bought the latter even at the extrav-
agant price of ten thousand Turkish piastres (four hun-
dred and fifty dollars) which they asked for it, but he
feared that the young fiery creature would not stand
the slow and tedious journey. lie afterwards regretted
8erioui*ly that hi did not [mrchase it.

The following morning long before sunrise we took
leave of Erbil, without oar young blacksmith, Avho pre-
ferred to remain with his Father. "WTien day broke
we noticed a gnsat many gazelles grazing on the scanty
herbs of the plains over which we travelled, but we did
not attempt to shoot any of them, as they kept too far
out of our tracks; audit would have been useless to
pursue them, no horse being able to overtake them on
hard ground.

Towards noon we arrived at the highly pictu-
resque banks of the Zfib Ala or upper Zab — a deep and
rapid torrent about fifty yards wide, wliifh rolied its
chrystal waters at least two hnndred feet below the
level of the plain through a narrow rocky valley or

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

rather mountain gorge, with extremely steep, almost
perpendicular sides covered with scanty grass. -

Before descending the steep banks, we noticed a
short distance to our right, an abandoned village of about
twenty mud huts, the roofs of all of which had fallen
in. The deserted place was however teeming with
wild pigeons, many thousand of which were congregated
on the small open space of ground in the centre of the
ruins, where to all appearance some of the former in-
habitants of the village had recently been thrashing
wheat or larley. Additional pigeons could be seen
flocking to the place, occasionally hotly pursued by
hawks or falcons, skimming swiftly along the towering
rocks or gyrating silently high above the abysses of the
beautiful mountain gorge. Anxious to secure some of
the pigeons for breakfast I rode within two hundred
yards of the village, where I left my horse to graze till
my return, and succeeded in getting under cover of a
hut unnoticed by the pigeons, within fifty yards of
them. They were so numerous that they covered the
little square like a greyish-blue carpet. Bang ! Bang 1
went both my barrels, and twent^'-eight pigeons fell
to earth. I was rather taken aback when I saw three
ferocious looking fellows fully armed, rush out of one
of the dilapidated huts, as I advanced to pick up my
birds. My six shooter was out in an instant and I re-
solved to shoot at the first who should interfere with
me. I soon saw however that they evinced as much
surprise at our encounter as I felt. They noticed how-
ever the struggling pigeons on the ground, and com-
posed themselves, and one of them the eldest, addressee!
me with " Sabach allah hdcher" (Good-morning), thb

* A natural stronghold and defended as it was by the army of Da
^ius. 331 B. C, impregnable to anybody but an Alexander or Napo
icon I.

380 NEAR mSTORICAL ERBIL.

usual morning salutation in Mesopotamia and Syria
and which I of course returned. I now noticed that
they were native Christians, as evidenced by their dress
and long hair. They asked me if I wep^^lone. I said
no, and at the same time heard the snorting of my
horse at my back, and giving a quick glance behind
me, I saw Mustapha coming up the hill mounted on his
iron-gray nag, leading mine by the bridle. lie uncere-
moniously hailed the throe men, and offered them five
piasters (about twenty-two cents in gold) if they would
pilot the caravan across the river. They consented
forthwith, picked up my pigeons and joined the cara-
van with us. The men then told us that they belonged
to the village which was visible, and a short distance
from the opposite bank, and they had been awaiting all
the morning a caravtm of donkeys in charge of some of
the villagers, whom they expected from Erbil, where
they had sold their barley crop. They said they had
rptired to the hut for a short nap, were startled by my
shots, and rushed out to see what was the matter.

Leading our caravan very cleverly in a zigzag line
down the steep banks to the river, they piloted us
across a drift some hundred yards higher up, the only
I»lace where the roaring, deep and rapid stream was
fordable, but not without drenching the luggage car-
ried by the two smallest mules, which were swept off
the bottom by a strong current, and with difficulty
saved from drowning. Poor Father M. was in too
great a hurry to cross the Rubicon and got again into
deep water; but this time he stuck to his pony by ten-
derly clinging with both arms to his neck, and got off
without further damage than a jolly cold bath. When
the caravan was safely landed, two of our pioneers
stripped off their garments and accoutrements, and car-
rying them in a bundle on their heads, re-forded the

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 381

river, while the third guided us to his village, where
we resolved to stay until suuset.

The right bank of the river was not nearly as steep
as that Avhich we had left, but was covered with tall
grass, shrubbery, and alive with splendid waterfowl,
among which I especially noted a black, yellow and
white species of wild duck. I also shot a large duck,
or rather goose, for its legs were longer than those of
any duck, but inferior in size to the domestic goose,
and it had a short yellow bill and light brown plumage
with white tipped wing feathers. The latter bird is
very numerous on the uninhabited parts of the banks
of the Tigris and the Euphrates, but I had never before
seen it upon those of their tributaries. Its flesh, though
dark, is tender and excellent.

Not feeling at all tired, I sallied out as soon as
breakfast was over, with my gun on my shoulder, and
rambling along the bank, soon espied in a shallow
water-hole, surrounded by tall grass and fine flowers, a
bevy of ducks, which took wing as soon as they saw
me ; but I brought down two of them. On walking
toward the pond to pick them up, I saw a reptile glide
with lightning-like rapidity across my path, and imme
diately afterwards heard a splash in the pond. Believ-
ing it to be a large snake — a species of the animal crea-
tion which I make it a point to destroy whenever I
come across it — I ran to the pond and fired at it before
it reached the opposite side, whereupon it sank. Be-
lieving it to be dead, I laid down on the edge of the pond
and just managed to reach it with my hand ; but I could
feel by the writhing of its smooth, slippery body, that
it was still alive. I v>dthdrew my hand quickly, as it
felt very much like a snake and waited awhile for it to
die. Sometime after I groped for it again, but only
succeeded in getting my fingers desperately bitten with

382 NEAR nrSTORICAL ERBTTi.

its teeth. Instinctively I jerked back my hand, and to
my astonishment I pulled out a writhing animal of the
11/curd species, with viciously glittering greenish e^'es.
The singular reptile was nearly six feet long. Its back
was covered with a rough skin of the saifi'feMescription
as that of an alligator ; belly smooth and of a greenish
white color, and the toes of its four feet were armed
with extremely sharp talons like those of the eagle. I
disengaged my fingers with difficulty, as the teeth were
long and sharp like those of a wild cat. Though not
relishing particularly having an unknown reptile make
so free with my fingers, I was glad it was not a.snake ;
for I saw on examining the animal's teeth that its bite,
though rather serious, was not venomous or deadly.
Nevertheless, I took the precaution to suck and after-
wards to bathe freely the wounds. This accomplished,
and anxious to learn the character of what looked like
a young alligator or a mammoth lizard, T fished out the
two ducks I had sliot, cauo;ht hold of the tail of mv
last victim, and dragging it after me in the long grass,
strolled back to the caravan. Signor P., however, did
not know its real name, and the Arabs called it by a
name which has escaped my memory, I had seen and
killed in my travels in South Africa, Madagascar,
India, etc., numerous specimens of the saurian or lizard
order, from the huge alligator measuring sixteen feet,
down to the tiniest lizard scarcely one inch in length.
Of those difierent specimens o^ saurians the "guana" or
" iguana" resembled my animal most closely.

The iguana, is a species of lizard from two to five
feet in length found in Southern A>.ia, in Africa south
f>f tlie Sahara, and America south of Texas, inhabiting
tufts or patches of luxuriant grass or bushes, but
particularly fond of the gloomy shadows and undis-
turbed silence of virgin forests, where it is found

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 383

principally on the gigantic trees or climbing from
branch to branch with remarkable agility in search of
prey. It feeds upon small birds, bird's eggs, squirrels,
insects, and vegetable matter. Many of the natives of
the above named countries hunt this animal for the
pake of food, as they consider it a great delicacy. I
once tasted its flesh, from curiosity, while hunting in
the territory of the Amazooloo Kafiirs in South Africa
in 1863.

The Xatfirs had cut off the tail of a large iguana
which I had shot, and they roasted and ate it. On
tasting it I found it very like fish, but tainted with a
peculiar musk-like flavor, barring which I found it
decidedly palatable. The specimen I shot on the banks
of the Zab Ala was certainly not an iguana, as it
differed considerably from the latter in color, size and
shape of the body ; besides, the iguana never, that I am
aware of, takes to the water, even when pursued, and
I doubt if it exists as far north as the thirty -fifth degree
of latitude. The creature could not have been a young
alligator either, for it was too quick in its movements ;
alligators, moreover, being quite unknown in Meso-
potamia.*

About midnight we resumed oUr journey, but had
to proceed very cautiously, owing to the unevenness of
the o-round we hadto travel over. Soon after our leavingr
this mountain torrent, it began to rain, much to the
disgust of man and beast, as it rendered the ground very
cloggy and slippery, and consequently still more difficult
to travel. Towards three o'clock in the morning the
drizzling rain ceased, and the moon and stars began to
re-appear, thus considerably facilitating our progress

* I have since ascertained that the animal referred to belongs to
the family Monitoridse and was a very large sized specimen of Monitor
Nitoticus.

384 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

over the undulating ground. When day began t(
dawn we found ourselves at the foot of a double
chain of very steep, rocky, and barren mountains,
separated from each other by a little river called
" Ghazir " by the natives, and our road led in a zio-zas:
line straight across both of them. Strange to say not
a drop of rain had fallen at these mountains, and the
road was thickly covered with dust, while but a few
miles further east it had rained considerably for nearly
three hours. Having been told by one of our men that
we should have a splendid view of the town of Mossul
from the top of the mountain, Father M. and myself
started in advance of the caravan, anxious to get as
soon as possible a sight of the Capital of Upper Meso-
potamia. On arriving on the summit of the first
mountain chain we were rather disappointed by finding
out that we must cross still another high range before
we could have the desired view. The panorama we
enjoyed at the top of the first range was however highly
gratifying and interesting to us, for we found the
country c/n our right bristling with innumerable moun-
tain i)eaks of Koodistan, some of whicli are of imposing
height, and their lofty summits were already beautifully
illnininated with the crimson lustre imparted by the
lif^lit heralding the advent of the morning sun, while
their smaller brethren were still wrapt in the dim haze
of early dawn, and intersected by innumerable chasm-
like valleys, so deeply ensconced between the mountains
that daylight had not as yet been able to penetrate
them.

Anxious to witness the rising of the glorious sun
from the top of the mountain chain in front of us, we did
not await the arrival of the caravan, which slowly jogged
along the steep defile, but descended without delay to
the little river before mentioned as separating the two

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 385

mountain ranges, crossed it and arrived on the summit
of the second range just as the sun rose in all his
majesty above the mountain region of Western Looris-
tan. What a sublime scene lay before us I Directly in
front, and nearly one thousand feet below, lay the im-
mense Tigris valley, and the noble river whose broad
and glittering sheet of silver lost itself in endless
cur\es in the haze of the distant horizon. Upon thc^
steep bank of the opposite shore, we descried Mossul,
with the apparently snow-white walls of its huge
mosques, their minarets, ending in the invariable golden
crescent, already illuminated with that peculiar rosy
tint given by the first rays of the fiery orb. The
higher the latter rose in the cloudless horizon, the more
distinct became every object, and for a brief time the
whole landscape about us seemed as if illuminated
by Bengal fire, and during those moments, even the
vast and monotonous flats of El Tesirch or El Tezirch
{i. e., the island, — the name given by the natives to the
large territory lying between the rivers Tigris and
Euphrates) looked lovely. The magnificient panorama
we enjoyed from our lofty position was rendered still
more interesting by the fact that we stood directly above
the far-famed ruins of Nineveh, scattered over the whole
plain intervening between the mountain range, and the
left bank of the Tigris, an area of about thirty miles
in length by about ten miles in breadth. But, alas !
all that we could see of the relics of the former mam-
moth city consisted of a series of large irregular
mounds or hills, of diflferent sizes and shapes apparently
composed of yellowish red clay, and entirely destitute
of vegetation, resembling from the distance an aband-
oned fortification consisting of gigantic entrenchments
and breastworks thrown up by an army, for the purpose
of besieging Mossul, or blockading the river. Certairi

386 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

it is that no man, , unacquainted with tlie historical
character of tliat locality, would recognize in the huge
elongated earthen mounds scattered here and there over
the plain, the remains of the largest city that ever was
liuilt upon the globe.

Quite absorbed in the contemplation of the won-
lerful scenery around us, we did not observe the arri-
val of our caravan till wo heard the cheerful neiii'hins:
of the numerous horses ; which became almost deafen-
ing afterwards on the approach of a long caravan of
mules and horses slowly wending their way u[) the
mountain from the Mossul side. The sijrht of a horse
was invariably the cause of a boisterous vocal demon-
stration by our stallions, who, as we traveled from
Bagdad to Mossul only by night, rarely met any horses
on the road, and when they did, always saluted them
loudly and joyously, while several among them showed
their avereion to the tall, gaunt camels which occasion-
ally passed us, by shaking their heads and laying back
their cars.

Though from the mountain top Mossul looked but
four or five miles distant, it was in reality over twelve.
AVe had therefore no time to lose if we wished to enter
the town before the heat of the day became oppressive,
and proceeded to descend the moutitain without delay.
We soon met the caravan, which numbered about two
hundred and fifty men, women, and children, and about
an erpial number of horses and mules. On inquiry,
they told us they had left Moi^sul aljout two hours be-
fore sunrise and were going to Karkuk. They were
chiefly natives of Koordistan and Mossul, accompanied
by several young Turkish officers and privates about to
join the garrison at Karkuk. Each man was heavily
armed, and though all of tliem were probably peaceable
travelers, many of them looked like highwaymen or

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBTX. 387

guerillas in their gaudy apparel, shaggy beards and
warlike accoutrements. The women and girls, as they
filed past us on their ghedishes (cross-bred or inferior
horses) and mules, riding astride, as is customary with
the women all over the Orient, eyed the "Feringhies"
with intense curiosity, and smiled knowingly at the
disguise of " Bahri," whose sex was discovered instantly
by their keen eyes. "With the exception of four or five
Persian women, the rest wore no veils, as they evidently
belonged to the poorer classes of Upper Mesopotamia,
who are less particular about veiling their faces than
the women of Trak Arabi, or Lower Mesopotamia.
"We jogged slowly down the steep mountain road, and
in doing so, noticed to the right and left of the road
several graves. On one of them we saw a little wooden
cross, evidently intended to indicate that a Christian
was buried there. On inquiring of two of our Muk-
karies, who belonged to Mossul, how the occupants of
the graves came to perish on the road so near Mossul,
one of them told us that they were all victims of high-
way robbers, killed at different times. The other con-
tradicted his statement by averring that they had all
died of cholera while fleeing from Mossul, where that
epidemic created sad havoc some ten years before. On
our arrival on the plain, we passed another caravan
composed of about fifty camels, all laden with merchan-
dise for Karkiik and Bagdad.

We now found ourselves in the midst of the famous
ruins of is^ineveh, which overshadowed the road on
both sides in the shape of huge long mounds of yellow-
ish-red clay which, when viewed from their bases, pre-
sented,like the mounds of Babylon previously described,
more the appearance of steep and barren hills than the
ruins of a city.

About two hours' brisk march brought us to the

388 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

banks of the Tigrjs, where the caravan halted until
Signor P. — who had entered the town to give notice
of our arrival to Mr. W.,mv brother's a<!;cnt — returned.
After the lapse of about half an hour, he rejoined us in
company with Mr. W., who had alr'eiuly prepared a
khan or caravansary for our accommodation ; and who
being a friend and a countryman of mine, and had
shared my camp life in Soliman Bhagh, received us
with the greatest cordiality.

The caravan proceeded without further delay to
cross the high, roughly constructed bridge, partly of
wood and partly of stone, and the only one across the
Tigris between Bagdad and !N[ossul, and which con-
nects Mossul with the ruins of Nineveh. The bridij-e
was crowded with people, horses and camels, going
to and fro as we passed ; and the ricketty struc-
ture fairly bent under the weight of the crowd. ^Never-
theless, we crossed safely and entered Mossul through
the gate adjoining the bridge, almost unable to pass
along through the dense throng of eager spectators
anxious to get a look at our beautii'ul horse, of whoso
expected arrival many of them had been informed.

After following Mr. W. through a labyrinth of
narrow tortuous streets, or rather lanes, on the right and
left of which are higli, bare walls of dwelling-houses,
from the top of which the inhabitants of Mossul, male
and female, young and old, gazed down upon our cara-
van, we finally came to a halt before the huge gate of
a khan, situated almost in the centre of the town. Its
doors were flung open by the proprietor, and we entered
a spacious courtyard, where our men proceeded forth-
with to picket the stallions, and unload the pack-horses
and inules, wliich, owing to the constant practice they
have had on our route from Bagdad, they accomplished
with great celerity. Pignor P. then told the men that

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 389

he would give the caravan three days' rest, and at once
despatched some of them to the bazaar to procure the
necessary provisions for man and beast.

Father M. longed for a comfortable bed and a few
nights of unbroken rest, and availed himself of a letter
of introduction given to him by the French Mission-
aries of Bagdad to those of Mossul, with whom he
spent the whole time of our sojourn in the Capital of
Upper Mesopotamia. Signor P. and myself were in-
vited to take up our quarters with Mr. W., which
Signor P., however, courteously declined, pleading that
he could not leave the valuable horses in cbarsre of his
men without risk. Having no responsibility except
for myself, I did not hesitate to accept Mr. "W.'s invita-
tion to share for a few days his quiet bachelor home,
especially as my host, being like myself an inveterate
sportsman, would no doubt render my sojourn quite
agreeable. Bahri, the negro girl, was temporarily
cared for by the French Sisters of Charity, who act as
female missionaries in that town, and as such do much
good among the semi-civilized population. They were
to impart to the poor girl the first ideas of Christianity,
which the latter so ardently coveted, and also to pro-
vide for her external appearance by clothing her with
decent garments in accordance with her sex (and after
the fashion of the Euiopean), as she would not be re-
ceived aboard the mail steamer in male attire when we
should arrive at the shores of the Mediterranean.

The day or our arrival, Signor P. and myself,
accompanied by Mr. W., paid a visit to the Count de B.,
whose caravan, my readers will remember, had started
simultaneously with ours from Bagdad ; but owing to
longer marches had reached Mossul nearly three days
before us. He was encamped in a khan not far from
the one occupied by our caravan, and was in the best

390 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

of spirits. The lad,ie3 appeared much stronger than
^vhell they left Bagdad in spite of the continued jolting
of the dachterwan^ and all the various discomforts of the
journey. They were amused by my adventure between
Karatepi and Kiffri,and congratulated me on the recov-
ery of my horse from tlie clutches of the highwaymen.
Count de B. declared his intention to shorten the journey
to Bey rout by proceeding from Mossul due west across
the territory of El Tesireh towards the Euphrates,
cross that river at Rakka, a little Arab town about
one hundred and twenty miles below Berachick, and
travel thence straight towards Hamah, a town of con-
siderable size, about seventy-five miles south of Ilaleb,
or Aleppo, thereby shortening his journey by at least
four hundred miles. Signor P. disapproved of the
plan, which he declared was very hazardous. He
reminded his friend of the lawless character of tlie
Bedouins who roamed that territory, and finally advised
him for the ladies' sake to take the more circuitous
but less dangerous route via Diarbekir and Aleppo.
Count de B., however, remained inexorable, insinuated
cowardice on our part, and turned the conversation to
other topics. The same evening Signor P. had the mis-
fortune of unconsciously interfering with the Count
by purchasing a magnificent stallion for which Count
de B. had been negotiating before our arrival. This
imaijinarv insult brought matters to a crisis, and the
following day, before sunrise, the irate count left Mos-
sul at the head of his caravan withor.t bidding us fare-
well.

My bachelor host, Mr. W., was very comfortably
installed in his snug little castle. ITe had, in order to
counterbalance the advantages or drawbacks of ''single
blessedness," surrounded himself with all the parapher-
nalia of a I^imrod, viz. : an old male cook groaning

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 391

ander the weight of the united dignities of gastronom-
ille^ chamber-maid, hostler, veterinary, dog-ti'ainer, fal-
coner, laundress and errand boj. This individual was
in fact in charge of everything, the factotum of the
household. The horses — two splendid hunters and a
young colt — picketed right in front of the dining-
room and protected from the rays of the sun by a lofty
*hed of straw mats, were as scrupulously clean as race-
horses, while their saddles, bridles, knee-caps, etc.,
appeared as if their welfare was a matter of no small
consideration. Half a dozen rough-haired greyhounds,
kept purposely lean, almost by starvation, that they
might travel over the ground more fleetly, lay scattered
about the shady nooks in the courtyard, while two or
three portly cats occupied the divan in the dining-room,
buzzing like the pulleys in a cotton mill, apparently
plunged in deep thought. A little, ugly, mischievous
monkey attempted all sorts of impossible gymnastic
evolutions on the clothes-line in the yard, and a couple
of sleek feathered falcons perched on a pole near the
entrance of the dining-room (and like the hounds
almost starved to death to prevent them from gettino-
lazy), uttered a piercing cry whenever the cook made his
appearance, they evidently supposing him to be con-
tinually carrying food about his portly person. The
interior walls of the dining-room, a whitewashed
a]iartment about ten by twenty feet, instead of beino-
adorned like the European shooting boxes with pic-
tures by Landseer, Rosa Bonheur, etc., exhibited no
such embellishments (which are too costly for Mesopo-
tamia), but the stuffed heads and skins of boars, gazelles,
foxes, leopards, etc., varied b}^ an occasional gun,
revolver, hunting knife, powder flask, shotbag, leash,
whip, etc., while dangling from a peg in the walls,
were the ornaments of the room. Li short, everything

392 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

in the little residence , of Mr. W. indicated that a bach-
elor, and a passionate sportsman dwelt there; and as I
am pretty much of the same persuasion, I could not
have dropped into more congenial qua^^ters, and felt
immediately at home.

The houses of Mossul are very similar in shape and
convenience to those of Bagdad, excepting that the
material used for the former is almost invariably stone,
while that for the latter is without exception, brick, or
rather sun-dried clay. The " Serdap" the subterranean
vault or basement-room, is, however, rarely to be met
with in Mossul houses, there being no necessity for it,
owing to the climate of Mossul being less hot than that
of the "City of the Caliphs."

The thoroughfares of Mossul are, as in all other
Moslem towns in the Orient, uncomfortably narrow and
tilthy, being in fact nothing better than a series of zig-
zag lanes winding in snake-like lines between high,
bare walls, the latter pierced here and there by a door-
way and a couple of small, square window openings at
lca>;t ten feet from the ground and strongly barricaded
by iron b-rs or wooden trellis-work. These thorough-
fares, besides being narrow, are extremely diflicult to
travel, especially on iiorsoback, when they are really
dangerous, as the horses are likely to slip on the exces-
sively smooth, round boulders with which most of the
streets of Mossul are paved. This circumstance na-
turally increaFCS the dangerous condition of the streets.

In my various rambles about the town I had an
opportunity to visit the bazaar, which, though far infe-
rior to the main bazaar of Bagdad in size and richness,
is, nevertheless, very interesting, but bears the usual
characteristics of Oriental hazaars.

The first time I rambled through the bazaar of
Mossul my sense of smell was cruelly outraged by a

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 393

pestilential odor from the carcass of a dead dog, covered
with flies, lying in the centre of one of the most popu-
lated streets. Every passer-by gave the obnoxious
canine a wide berth, and my horse gave evidence of the
same intention by repeated loud snorts. "Within four
yards of where the dog lay stood the stall of a Moslem
butcher. From the hooks in the wall of his establish-
ment hung the various parts of an animal which was
probably a dead sheep of extreme leanness, but to me
looked suspiciously like a playmate of the defunct
animal in the street. The portly butcher, seeing that
the passers-by, instead of stopping at his stall to buy
meat, had been for some time hurrying by, probably
came to the conclusion that the broil ins; sun had not
improved the atmosphere around his stall, and made
up his mind to sacrifice himself fro bono •publico by
having the obnoxious canine remains removed at his
own expense. Suiting the action to the thought, he
forthwith called in a 3'oung half-starved and outra-
geously dirty and filthy vagrant, a native of Koordistan,
with whom he struck a bargain for the removal of the
carrion. The vagrant, having received perhaps a
kfimeri (^ Turkish piaster, about 1| cents American mo-
ney), flings a noose round the leg of the carrion, drags
it, according to the pay, ten, twenty, or thirty yards
farther down the street, slips the noose off" and walks
away unconcernedly without the dog, which continues
to perfume that locality until the person occupying
that house or stall nearest to it can stand it no longer,
and has to sacrifice another kameri in order to have it
removed from ten to thirty yards further on ; and thus
the carcass travels by degrees till it finally reaches the
suburbs or the river. Not one of the inhabitants will
pay for its entire removal, but will just pay enough to
have it taken from his own and deposited at the door

394 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

of an enemj or disagreeable neighbor. Tliis custom ia
j.iot prevalent in Mossul only, ])ut is so all over the
Orient, and is, no doubt, often the cause of the fearful
diseases and ei)idemics of the East.

This city, like Bagdad, is surrouncte^T^ by a high
wall, which is however mostly reduced to ruins, and
scarcely of any use now, except to oblige people to
enter or leave the city by the various gates, which are
all guarded by custom-house officials.

Mossul, as previously stated, is the capital of Upper
Mesopotamia, and numbers about forty thousand
inhabitants, composed of Turks, Koords (Turcomans),
Persians and Arabs, of whom sixteen thousand profess
the Islam, fourteen thousand the Hebrew, and the
remainder the Christian faith. The European residents
of Mossul number about fifteen, composed of the French
missionaries and the Sisters of Charity, the French
Vice-Consul and my brother's agent.

As to their comforts, they are still worse off than
the Europeans in Bagdad; in fact they literally live as
hermits, dwelling as they do in a dreadfully dull city,
surrounded on all sides by the desert destitute almost
entirely of vei:;etation. The forests of date trees which
surround Bagdad contribute much to the comfort and
embelli.^hmciit of that city, but Mossul is situated
beyond the latitude in which dates abound.

The largest, and by for the best looking building
of Mossul, is the '■'• SeraiV^ or residence of Pasha,* the
Governor, a very large, plain square building situated
outside the city near the river ; but though a very
substantial building, it looks more like a factory, or an
arsenal, than the residence of a Governor.

The garrison of Mossul, numbering from three to

* Since removed from office by the Sultan.

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 395

four thousand men, mostly infantry, and quartered in
the various large harracks along the river banks, does
consequently not stand under t]\e command of the Pasha
of Mossul, but under that of a Brigadier-General, who
receives his orders from the Governor of Irak Arabi.

Pasha having heard that Signor P. was anxious
to buy a few more thoroughbred horses, and having
probably been told that the "• Feringhee," if shown a
suitable animal, would certainly buy it at any price,
knew that one of the colonels of the garrison owned a
most magnificent stallion. He bought the horse from
the Colonel, who, in order to remain on good terms with
the Pasha, was obliged of course to take for his animal
whatever the Pasha chose to pay or to promise to pay.
No sooner was the stallion the property of the Pasha,
than he offered to sell it to Signor P., who went the
same evening, in company of Mr. W. and myself, to the
Serail, for the purpose of examining the horse. We
waited there impatiently fur two hours for the appear-
ance of the horse, which was kept in a stable by itself,
and to which no one had access. The gate of the court-
yard finally opened, and an Arab " Sais " (groom),
mounted on a magnificent bay horse, made his appear-
ance in front of the Serail. The animal, the very
counterpart of the famous " Bucephalus" of Alexander
of Macedonia, was indeed the ne plus ultra of equine
beauty, and to give its appearance still more eflfect the
Pasha had wisely caparisoned it in the most gorgeous
style, with saddle, bridle and martingale covered with
solid gold and silver ornaments. The horse, as if aware
of the impression it was intended to make upon the
"Peringhees," was almost unmanageable. He foamed,
pranced and plunged in a manner most trying to the
horsemanship of any but the most skilful rider. The
Arab, however, a true sou of the desert, kepv his seat

396 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

with imperturbable coolness, and admirable dexterity.
The matchless symmetry of the magnificent steed, his
great size for a thoroui»hbred Arab hoi*se, and the
comparatively low price demanded for the animal, ten
thousand Turkish piasters, about $450 ^M, induced
Signor P., after a thorough examination, to pro-
ceed forthwith to the Pasha for the purj)Ose of closing
up the trade or purchase; but on counting out the
money, the Pasha coolly told him that he had made uji
his mind that the horse was fully worth eleven thousand
piasters and would therefore be held at that price.
Signor P., rather vexed at the turn matters had taken,
withdrew with the intention of thinking the matter
over. The following day he called again at the Serail,
agreeing to pay the eleven thousand piasters, whereupon
the Pasha, anxious to get a few more thousand out of
the giaour (Christian), coolly told the Signor that if the
horse was worth to him, Signor P., eleven thousand
piasters, he was worth twelve to the Pasha. Disgusted,
Signor P. withdrew without showing any outward
signs of discontent; but determined to 1)e even with the
I'asha, he begged permission to see the horse once more
on the following (lay. The Pasha, supposing that the
stujtid "Feringhee" would finally agree to pay even the
twelve thousand piasters, smilingly consented. Signor
I', then disitatchedhismento the bazaar, directing them
to spread cautiously the rumor tliatthe Pasha was going
to exhibit on the day the finest stallion that ever trod
the soil of ^reso]»otamia, and that at the same time the
animal would be examined by the famous giaour, the
veteriiiary of the Sultan of Frankistan, who was
unequiilled in the world, as an authority in judging
horse-flesh. This rumor had the desired effect. A large
crowd, composed chiefly of horse dealers, horse fanciers,
etc., assembled at the time appointed in front of the

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 89t

Serail. The horse was brought forth and elicited a
murmur of approbation from the crowd of spectators,
which died away to a profound silence when Signor P.'s
tall, commanding form approached for the purpose of
examining the magnificent creature, and every eye was
strained to read his verdict from the expression of the
face of the famous gray-haired judge. After some
examination of the mouth, nostrils, eyes, ears, throat,
chest, feet,. etc., etc., Signor P. finally spoke gravely,
declaring the horse to be a model of equine symmetry,
but unfortunately liable to become affected with the
glanders. Then coolly turning towards the officer and
the " sais " (groom) in charge of the horse, he civilly
requested them, in a tone loud enough to be heard
distinctly by the spectators, to give the Pasha his
respects, and to tell him at the same time that the
"Feringhee" declined to buy the animal at any price.
He then quietly returned to the caravansary with us,
satisfied that he had well punished the Pasha.

Just before our departure from Mossul, the Pasha
sent word by one of his officers that he was willing to
part with the horse for the original price of ten
thousand piasters ; but Signor P. declined to have any-
thing more to do with him.

Owing to the majority of the inhabitants of Mossul
being of Turkoman, Turkish or Persian extraction, the
lano;uage principally used is Turkish, more so than the
Arabic as we travelled north ; so that in Diarbekir, the
capital of Koordistan, we found the latter language
as rarely used as, for instance, the French is in America,
or even less. Both sexes dress very much like those of
Bagdad, only somewhat more substantially, owing no
doubt to the difference of the climate. The natives of
Upper Mesopotamia, male and female, are considerably
stronger, and of stouter build than those of Lower

398 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

Mesopotamia. Their features are also quite different,
those of the former "being of rosier, healthier com-
plexion, fuller, more fleshy, and consequently coarser
looking than the former. Brown, auburn, and curly
hair, blue eyes and rosy cheeks are by no-Tneans scarce
in Upper Mesopotamia ; but they are very nmch so in
Lower Mesopotamia.

The male population of Mossul consists chiefly of
merchants, carriers, and tradesmen. The former do an
extensive trade with Koordistan, Persia, Lower Meso-
potamia, and the Bedouin tribes of Upper Mesopo-
tamia ; exchanging European merchandise brought by
camel caravans from the Mediterranean sea; and home-
made goods,such as coarse carpets, clothing, leather ware,
fire-arms, etc.; for gall-nuts, timl)er, tobacco and goats'
hair, chiefly imported from Koordistan and Persia, and
also for shee}»'s wool |)roduced by the large herds of
sheep owned by the Bedouin tribes of El Teserch. The
Mossul carriers gain their livelihood by carrying mer-
chandise to and from the surrounding countries by
means of camels, horses, mules and donkeys, or by
kelecks down the river to Bai!:'lad. The Mossulites are
good metal workers, shoemakers and saddlers, but
especially good weavers, having iu former times been
famous aa the manufacturers of a thin cotton fabric,
called to this day "muslin" (French ^^ mousseline " ,)
derived from " Mossul," or " Mosul." The greater part
of the vegetable food of the population is iTn])orted;
agriculture being practiced only on a very limited
scale. There are, however, abundant indications that
the whole Tigris valley contains many rich petroleum
wells, which only need developing to prove their value.
Several years ago, an enterprising German Jew,
Mr. Sp., who had, under the protection of the famous
Omer Pasha, while the latter was Governor of Mesopo-

NEAR nrSTORICAL ERBTL. 399

tamia, amassed a fortune in Bagdad by means of skill-
ful speculations, and afterwards squandered it rapidly,
tried to conciliate the fickle Goddecs Fortuna by ex-
ploring the numerous petroleum we\h below Bagdad,
ensraoring Bedouins to bail the crude stuff out of the
wells and bring it to Bagdad in leather bags, where he
extracted the petroleum, and in absence of any more
appropriate vessels bottled it. I do not know how he
disposed of it or whether he managed to make it pay.
I can say however that petroleum wells are now plenti-
ful in Lower Mesopotamia, The age of the town of
!Mossul is not exactly known;but it is supposed thatit was
built by the Turcomans about the time of the crusades.
Our departure from Mossul had been fixed by Signor P.
for the third da}' after our arrival, but was unavoidably
postponed for a couple of days, which I spent in visit-
ing the ruins of Aineoch in company with Mr. W".
and an acquaintance of his.

The first day we proceeded to Ximrod, the highest
and largest of all the huge mounds, which now form all
that is left of the ruins of the ancient mammoth city.
Ximrod is situated about four miles above the junction
of the Zab Ala with the river Tigris, and about twenty-
six miles below Mossul. "We left town two hours
before dav-break, and after crossing the rouo-h bridge
over the Tirj-ris, followed Mr. ^^.'s cavass in a brisk
canter over the perfectly level country along the left
river bank. The stars shone beautifully bright, and
enabled us to see our path distinctly for a considerable
distance ahead. Now and then we passed within a few
hundred yards of a solitary mound, which, owing to
the entire absence of vegetation, and the ghastly yellow-
ish red color of the soil of which all these mounds are
composed, presented an extremely gloomy aspect. In-
numerable bats could be discovered whirring noiselessly

400 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

in all directions through the sultry atmosphere, ren-
dered almost unendurable by the dead silence which
reigned over the desolute plain. Only once or twice
during that desolate morning ride could the half jubil-
ant, half wailing howl of the prowl ing-^^^iickals echoed
over the dismal plain, and the occasional shrill cry of
the Kee wee or desert plover be heard.

During the course of our progress we had to ford
several littlo tributaries of the Tigris, and in doing so
startled numerous water-fowls, which invariably took
to wing with vociferous shrieks, and vanished quickly
out ot sight and hearing. The fir!>t light of day re-
vealed to us Nimrod in the shape of a huge, gray,
quadrangular hill or mound with almost jierpendicular
sides and flat top, which rose like a mammoth wall
before us at a distance of not over six miles. Half an
hour later, we arrived at the foot of the mound, and
ibund it to be inaccessible to horses ; but seeing about
half a mile distant from where we stood a couple of
low, black, Bedouin tents, we sent the cavass
thither with our liorses, which he was to picket and
feed there, while we proceeded on foot to inspect the
ruins.

We found them strewn with debris of brick, and
the hu<re mound, which could not be less than one
hundred feet in height by about eight hundred yards
square, was very uneven and intersected by numerous,
large, irregular lioles and ditches resembling abandoned
atone quarries or excavations, evidently the work of
human hands, and i)rol)ably the very places where Rich,
Botta, Layard and other travelers and archajologiaos
searched for, and brought to light, the numerous
antiques which now adorn the British Museum, and
whicli have given us more information about the
history, tlie degree of civilization, etc., of Nineveh and

II

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 401

the Assyrians, than all the traditions and reports of our
ancient historians combined.

Anxious to visit all the principal mounds scattered
over the site of the ancient citj, we tarried but a few
hours at Nimrod ; but after our inspection of the ruins,
we repaired without delay to the Bedouin tents, where
our horses were picketed. "We were received by the
inhabitants of these tents with the wonted hospitality
of these nomades, the head man of the little community
having prepared quite a sumptuous breakfast composed
of boiled goat's flesh, roast lamb, a kind of onion salad,
butter, cheese, milk and bread. Our host remembered
perfectly well the " Feringhee," Mr. Austen Henry
Layard, who, in 1849, visited the ruins of Mneveh,
discovered and carried off to Frankistan (Europe), at
such inmiense expense, the huge lion with a human
face, as the natives call the mammoth sphinx of stone
now exhibited in the British Museum in London.

The heat of the day being less oppressive than we
had expected, we made up our minds to return to
Mossul before night, and left the little Bedouin camp
about noon, after having bought a few small antiques
from the hospitable Bedouins, they persistently refusing
to accept any remuneration for their hospitality. On
our way home we made a considerable detour by visit-
ing the mound of Selamia or Selamiyah, situated about
three miles and a half north of Ximrod, and thence the
momid Khariimles or Charamles, which lies about fifteen
miles northeast of is'imrod. Both these mounds are,
however, inferior to Ximrod in size as well as in general
appearance, and bear as yet hardly any traces of having
been examined or explored by archaeologists, or even by
the natives. We, therefore, did not stop long at either
of them, but pushed on across the barren plain to Mossul,
the gates of which town we entered an hour before sun-

402 NEAR niSTORICAL ERBTL.

set, after a hard day's journey of at least sixty miles.
The following day we recrossed the bridge and pro-
ceeded to Kouyiinjik or Koj'unjik, a mound situated
but a few miles from Mossul on the opposite side of the
Tigris, and ruiniing parallel with the left bank.

This mound is nearly nine h and r(*ft* "yards long.,
over five hundred broad, and about eighty feet liigh.
The sides, though steep, can be climbed with little diffi-
culty, and from its summit the visitor enjoys a splendid
view over the whole area of ruins, as well as over the
Tigris and eastern portion of the town of Mossul.
Close by is another large mound, called by the natives
Kcbbi Yunus (?'. ^., the grave of Jonah), because of their
belief that the prophet Jonah, the submarine traveling
celebrity (Jonah i, 17), who visited Xineveh about the
year 862 B.C. (Jonah iii, 3-5), lies buried in this mound,
and in whose honor the native Christians of Mossul have
built a small chapel on the top of the mound, quite a
decent looking structure built in European style, with
high, narrow ghiss windows and white-washed walls.
The road from Ebil toMossul jiasscs wilhin one hundred
yards north of this chapel, which owing to its familiar
arclutecture is pleasant to the eye of the European
traveler, and })robably the only building of the sort in
Mesopotamia ; which leads me to believe that its archi-
tect was some Euroj)ean missionary.

About twelve miles northeast of Mossul lies Khorsa-
bad or Chorsabad, another or these mounds; but it is far
inlerior in size to any of the belbre-mentioned ones, and
its only special interest is its level top. The first
explorations of jS^ineveh by Europeans were probably
those of Mr. Claudius J. Rich during the year 1820, at
w hieh period he acted as political agent of the East
India Compaiiy at Bagdjid. This gentleman drew a
chart of the locality, and owned a fine collection of

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 403

antiques found in these ruins, consisting of urns,
alabaster slabs, bricks, etc., some of them bearing
inscriptions in cuneiform, or arrow-head characters
decipherable as yet to a very limited number of English
and German philologists only.

In 1843, Mr. Paul Emil Botta, the French Consul
of Mossul, assiduously explored that part ot the ruins
of !N"ineveh situated just opposite Mossul, and not only
excavated a great many antiques, but actually discovered
in the sides of Konyunjik the remains of a magnificent
palace adorded with beautiful bas-reliefs representing
human beings and animals, some of them bearhig also
inscriptions in cuneiform characters, and all with more
or less traces of having been subjected to fire, by which
element this palace, and indeed the whole city is sup-
posed to have been destroyed. Two years after Botta's
discoveries, Austen Henry Layard, the English traveler,
visited the ruins of Xineveh, and began excavations
at Ximrod, Nebbi Yunus and Konyunjik; bat soon
becoming aware of the expensiveness of his under-
taking returned to England, but re-appeared at Mossul
in 1847 or 1848, and resumed his excavations on a ofrand
scale, being provided with funds for the purpose by the
trustees of the British Museum. For a Ions; time he
employed several thousand natives, and sent to England
an astonishing quantity of antiques, some of which
were of great size.

He was most successful in his explorations at Xim-
rod, where he had laid bare the remains of an immense
palace supposed to have been nearly four hundred feet
long by three hundred feet wide,and ascribed to Asshur-
danpal, better known as Sardanapal ; not to be con-
founded, however, with the effeminate and debauched
ruler of Xineveh, but the famous warrior, who is sup-
posed to have ruled Assyria about the year 950 B. C.

404 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

The remains of this palace were discovered on the
no^th^ve^^t side of the mound. In his excavation iu the
centre of the mound he struck upon the scanty remains
of another palace supposed to have heen built by Shal-
mannbar, son of Asshurdanpal, who stfti^tcded to the
throne of his father, and rebuilt by Ivalush III. (the
king "Tur'of the Bible, 2d Kings xv, 19, 20), suc-
cessor to Shalmannbar, who ruled Assyria about the
year 770 B. C. Mr. Layard was likewise very success-
ful in his researches in Konyunjik, where he discovered
the ruins of the palace of Sennacherib, who ruled
Assvria, and on whose monuments the name of
Ilezekiah, king of Judah, is mentioned, as well as the
invasion of his dominions by the Assyrians.

All the remains of the palaces brought to light by
the above-mentioned explorers were buried in the sides
and tops of the mounds, and in difterent parts of the
jtlain in dej>ths varying from three to thirty feet. The
extent of the ruins, the situation, size, and shape of
the diflerent mounds, the character of the innumerable
antiques excavated there, the places where these relics
have been discovered, etc., etc., combined with the tra-
ditions of the Bible and historians, enable the present
generation to conjecture with considerable certainty
the extent, sha[)e, j»opulation, institutions, age, history,
etc., of the mammoth city, as well as of its principal
buildings.

With regard to the origin of Nineveh, some his-
torians differ irom the Bible, as is the case with regard
to the origin of Babylon ; for while the Bible (Gen. x,
11) ascribes the creation of Nineveh to Asshur, some his-
torian believe its founder to ])e Xinus, the husband of
the famous Semiramis, who is supposed to have ruled
over Assyria, Babylonia, Media and Armenia about
the year 1900 B. C. Tlie same writers assert also that

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 405

the city derived its uaine from that of the last-men-
tioned rulor ; while still others, and conspicuously
among them, Sir Henry Rawlinson (formerly British
political agent in Bagdad, and prohably the most
competent authority in deciphering or reading the
cuneiform or arrow-headed characters), believe JS^inus
and Semiramis to be mythical personages of Greek inven-
tion, as they appear to be unknown to Babylonian writers.
However this may be, there is every probability
that the foundino- of Xineveh dates as far back as that
of Babylon, though the most ancient palace yet dis-
covered at ISTineveh (the northwest palace at l!^imrod)
does not date back of the tenth century B. C. From
thirty to forty kings are believed to have reigned over
Assyria during the existence of Kineveh, but nothing
definite is known of most of them.

The firet king, of whose rule over Assyria we have
proof, was Bellush, and the last was Sardanapalus, an
effeminate debauchee caring little about the welfare of
his subjects, and spending his time in sensual revelries;
in consequence of which Arbaces, the Governor of the
province of Media, and Belesys, Governor of Baby-
lonia, assisted by the Governor of Bactria, conspired
against him, and finally besieged him at Xineveh.

For fully two years they beleagured the Capital
without success, but during the third year, the riv'er
Tigris iimndated Its banks, and destroyed twelve thou-
sand feet of the city walls, through which breach the
rebels entered, Sardanapalus, aware that he was a
doomed man, had collected his whole court and his
immense treasures within the precincts of his gorgeous
palace, and being informed of the conquest of i^ineveh,
deliberately set the palace on fire, and with his adher-
ents perished in the flames before the victorious rebek
could reach him.

406 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

Nineveh, the capital of ancient, or rather primitive
Assyria, was devastated; t)ut a second Xineveh soon
arose out of the ruins of the first, and as the capital
of modern Assyria attained still larger dimensions than
it had before its fall. Although it is gei>e«illy believed
that the final fall and destruction of Nineveh took pla^;e
about the year 603 B. C, there are eminent historians
and archa^ologians who difi'er more or less from thia
opinion. So, for instance, the famous historian, Herod-
otus, who lived from about the year 484 to 408. B. C,
and who avers that Nineveh was destroyed about two
hundred years before his own time. The distinguished
British archfieologian. Sir Harry Rawlinson, dates the
final fall of Nineveh about the year 625 B. C. What-
ever the exact date of the destruction of Nineveh may
be, 80 much is certain, that its demolition was accom-
plished so thoroughly, that Xcnoi)hon, the general and
historian, who in the year 401 B. C. led ten thousand
Greek warriors over the site of the capital of Assyria,
did not notice any evidences of a bygcme city, and
probably for the same reason none of Alexander's
liistorians refer to Nineveh or its ruins, although the
entire army of the famous conqueror marched across its
site a day or two previous to the memorable battle of
Arbela, or Gangamela, Oct. 2, 331 B. C. As to the extent
of Nineveh, the most autlientic writers agree with each
other. The prophet Jonah, wlio, as before stated,
visited the capital of Assyria about the year 862 B. C,
describes Nineveh as " an exceedingly great city of three
days' journey (60 miles) in length," Jonah, iii, 3, 4.
AVith regard to its population and moans of subsistence,
we read in Jonah, iv, 11, that the Lord said to him :
" And should not I spare Ninoveli, that great city, where-
in are more than six score tiiousand jtersons, that can-
not discern between their right hand and their left

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 407

hand ; and also much cattle ? " By the six score thous-
and pei-sons unable to discern their right hand trotn
their left is meant, no doubt, that Nineveh contained iu
the time of Jonah, one hundred and twenty thousand
infants, viz. : innocent human beings, for whose sake
the Lord would spare the wicked city. Xow, if we
calculate the average of only ten persons above the age
of three years (the age, in my opinion, a human being
of ordinary intelligence may fairly be expected to dis-
tinguish their right from their left hand), to every
infant or child below that age, the population of Nine-
veh could not be less than one million two hundred
thousand. There can, however, scarcely' be a doubt,
that it was considerably more numerous, as the human
being, up to this day, develops itself very early in that
country, and lives to a great age.

Ancient historians describe Nineveh as having
been a quadrangular city, situated on the left bank of
the Tigris. They give the city an extent of only sixty
miles, but this is very likely, nay, undoubtedly, incor-
rect ; for it must not be forgotten that all of the last-
named writers lived centuries after the destruction of
Nineveh, consequently all of their reports are from
"hearsay;" while Jonah, who (in Jonah iii.) describes
the city as being three days' journey (sixty miles) in
length alone, dwelt in Nineveh when it was still in its
glory. Moreover, it is stated (in Jonah iv., 11) that
Nineveh " contained much cattle." Nearly all histo-
rians and archseologians, however, agree that Nineveh
was much larger than the city of Babj'lon ; was strongly
fortified by a wall one hundred feet high, broad enough
on the top for three chariots driven abreast, and sur-
mounted by fifteen hundred towers, each 200 feet in
height. This mammoth fortress was connected by a
ditch two hundred feet broad, which could be flooded

<08 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

by means of sluices and canals, and the city rendered
thereby unapproachable, like Babylon ; and, like the
latter city, Nineveh is said to have contained enough
vacant ground within its v/alls to produce sufficient
corn for the population, and food fo retire cattle, to
enable the inhabitants to stand a siege of several years'
duration without much inconvenience to man or beast.
Now, it must be admitted, that it required a large and
pretty fertile piece of ground to produce sufficent food
to keep from one to two million human beings, and.
perhaps, one hundred thousand head of cattle, comfort-
ably, for even one year. But even without reference
to the above, I am inclined to believe that the extent
of Nineveh, though, perhaps, not quite so immense as
might be supposed on reading Jonah's description of
the city, considerably exceeded sixty miles ; far there
can scarcely be a doubt that the front or river side of
the city extended, at the least, from the mound of
Koiivimjik to that of Selamiviih, if not as far as Nim-
rod, a distance of nearly thirty miles; and if the
mound of Xhorsabad (about twelve miles northeast of
]Mo?sul) and the mound of Kharamles (about fifteen
miles nortlieast of Nimrod) formed the two rear cor-
ners of the qua<lraiiL'"ulnr city, which we have every
reason to believe that tljcy did, we come to the con-
clusion that Nineveh measured at least seventv-five
miles in circuit.

The original Nineveh, said by Greek historians to
have had a circumference of only about nii e miles, is
univci'sally believed to have occupied the centre of the
subsequent manmioth city.

As to the buildings of Nineveh, they are supposed
to have consisted chiefly of kiln-burnt bricks; at least
the palaces discovered l)y Botta and Layard appear to
have had brick walls fully fifteen feet thick, and to

NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL. 409

have been Luilt upon huge platforms or pleateaux of
pounded or stamped earth, raised about forty feet
above the level of the plain. Magniticent archways
formed the entrances of these palaces, and huge
pphinxes (stone (>r metal figures of wild animals — lions
and bulls — with human heads) occupied both sides of
the entrance to the archways. The palaces contained
few but large and lofty apartments, the sides of which
were lined with gypsum and alabaster slabs, eight to
ten feet high, by three to four feet broad, and from one
to one and a half feet in thickness, all of them covered
with bas-reliefs, representing scenes and episodes of
war and peace, chiefly the former, with a description
at the foot of each bas-relief, written in the characters
of the language of that period. Even the floor through-
out the building was laid with alabaster slabs similarly
ornamented. The apartments on the ground floor were,
moreover, decorated with ornaments of cedar-wood,
enamel, ivory, bronze, etc., and appear to have all been
destitute of windows, which seems to imply that they
received the necessary light through apertures in the
ceiling above, i. c, through skylights, or, if the build-
ings were of more than one story, through openings in
the floor of the second story. The ceiling of the apart-
ments in the upper story or stories — if the Assyrian3
ever built edifices of two or more stories — must have
been supported by columns, and served as balconies or
as summer residences, in which case the rays of the
sun and the gaze of outsiders could be excluded by the
use of curtains or awnings. The description of these gor-
geous palaces, together with the history of Assyria, as
reported by the bas-reliefs excavated by the explorers,
and deciphered by men of undoubted ability and au-
thenticity, are almost of themselves sufiicient proof
that the Assyrians were for nearly six hundred and

410 NEAR HISTORICAL ERBIL.

fifty years not only one of the most powerful nations of
the then known work^, but also with regard to civili-
zation fully equal to any nation of their period.

XX

MOVING WESTWAED.

Present Complexion of the Caravan — Asleep in the Khan — A " Clos«
Call " — Tricks of the " Hangers-on " — Scenery in a Gorge — Lachu
— Pesireh — An Adventure— The "Errant Knight."

The day fixed for the departure of our caravan
from Mossul arrived ; we were to start by ten o'clock
in the morning, and I had as yet no horse to carry me
on my journey, for poor Felix, my young chesnut stal-
lion from Bagdad, had not yet recovered from the
etfects of that unfortunate boar-hunt on the plains
between Karatepi and Xifsi. From that very morning
the poor horse's condition began rapidly to decline ; he
grew leaner and weaker day by day, and it soon became
evident that I should have to leave him in Mossul, in
the charge of my host, Mr. W., who kindly promised
to take care of him, and to send him back to my friends
in Bagdad, if he should recover, and to provide him
with "a hunter's grave," if he should die. During my
seven years of travel in Egypt, India, Madagascar,
South Africa, Persia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria,
Asia Minor, etc., etc., I had mounted and owned a
goodly number of excellent horses, and a few bad ones ;
but I never felt so much attached to any of them, as 1
did to poor Felix. I felt as if my heart would break,
when the noble animal, with sorrowful eye, licked my
forehead, as I patted him on the shoulders for the last
time. Many weeks elapsed, before Felix was strong
enough to be sent by caravan to Bagdad, and for a
short time he was even daily expected to leave for the
" happy hunting-grounds ; " but fate would have him

(411)

412 MOVING WESTWARD.

live to return to tlie " city of the caliphs," where, as I
heard shortly afterwards, he was doing well and the
favorite of his new proprietor — a German mining
engineer, employed by the Turkish government to
search for coal and explore other mines iii*the province
of Irak Arabi,

A very strong bay horse, which belonged to a
horse-dealer of Mossul, and which I had mounted on
my rambles over Nineveh, had proved himself to be an
indefatigable traveller; and, though rather vicious with
his teeth and hind-legs and by no means a beauty, he
became mj property that morning, and consequently
had the unspeakable honor of carrying me from Mossul
to the genial shores of the Mediterranean Sea, a dis-
tance of about four-hundred and fifty miles, which feat
he accomplished to my entire satisfaction. An hour
after my purchase, I rode, in company with ray host
and the horse-dealer, into the khan which Signor P.
occupied with his caravan. Though it was as yet
hardly eight o'clock in the morning, a motley crowd
had already assembled in the spacious court yard, one
corner of which was occupied by the numerous pack-
horses of our caravan, about to be loaded by our men,
wlio were much impeded in their duty by the numerous
lookers-on, crowding around them, anxious to witness
the departure of the " Frankies."

The remainder of the court-yard was teeming with
horse-dealers and horse-owners of Arab, Turkish and
Persian nationality, whose grooms cantered a great
many liorses in all directions over the spacious court,
yard, much to the peril of life and limb of themselves
and the spectators, and amidst the vociferous neighing
of our groop of blood-horses in the stables close by.

We found Signor P. in his usual good humor,
Btanding at the entrance of the stables busily engaged

MOVING WESTWARD. 413

ill giving his various orders to the Arabs of our
caravan, and, at the same time, keeping a watchful eye
upon the horses cantering about the court-jard. It
was evident that he did not much fancj any of these
animals, as on observing our arrival he gave the horse-
dealers by a motion of his hand to understand that he
did not want any of their stock, whereupon they, with
a civil salaam, quietly withdrew. Signor P. then
informed us that Pasha, the governor, was still very
wroth that he, Signor P., persisted in refusing to buy
his (the Pasha's) horse, for the reasons previously men-
tioned, and that the Pasha meant to behave meanly by
him, by not furnishing us in time with the necessary
escort as directed by a " firman," of which Signor P.
was the bearer. Signor P., tired of waiting for the
escort to be furnished bv the Pasha, and determined
not to be baffled by the arbitrary Turk, resolved to
start without the escort, confident that we could do
without it, especially as he had concluded to travel only
by day. "^\^e had now already reached a latitude where
caravans can travel without much inconvenience from
the heat of the sun, even during the hottest part of the
day, especially from the beginning of October to the
end of March.

The order to start had hardly been given, when
our caravan, being all ready, marched out of the gates
of the khan, in Indian file. First the pack-horses,
heavily laden with our goods and chattels, creating a
deafening noise by the tinkling of the numerous bells
dangling from the neck of each horse or mule. The
Spanish muleteer as well as the Persian mukaree, would
no more think of travelling without this monotone
music than a sea captain would without a compass, and
give as a reason that neither pack-horse nor mule travel
nearly as well without bells. Our batch of horses had

414 MOVING WESTWARD,

during tlieir five days rest at Mossul regained all their
spirit and [»layfiiluess, and behaved as unmanageably
as they did when they left Bagdad; but our men,
haviniJ- become thoroughly acquainted with their
"carambols" soon reduced them to obedience. Crowds
of the inhabitants of Mossul gathered as we crossed
the Tigris bridge, and swerved off to the left, taking
the road leadiiisi; bi^tween the riv^er Tii^-ris and the
northwe.-^t limits of the ruins of Xineveh, towards
" Sacho," a small town some sixty miles north-north-
west of Mossui. My host, Mr. "\V., accom[)anied us for
a considerable distance ; but, finally taking leave of us,
struck across the barren, undulating country on our
riirht, towards a little Arab villaire. lie was mounted
on a iDag'iificent and immensely powerful chesnut
stallion, which up to the time of our leaving Mossul
had formed part of our batch of select horses, and had
been purchased in Ilillah, near the ruins of Babylon,
by Signor P., for his own use, but exchanged with
Mr. W. for a bay horse. ^Nlr. "W. soon disappeared from
our sight, and we found ourt^elves alone, journeying
towards the distant Mediterranean.

Father M., the 3'oung Catholic priest, had recruited
his strength during our sojourn at Mossul, by restricting
his diet to plenty of mutton cho[>s and gallons of im-
ported claret, of which latter commodity lie had taken
a good supjily when he left his good and hospitable
clerical brothers at Mossul. As for the negro girl
liahri, whether inspired by the rudiments of Chris-
tianity imparted to her by the sisters of charity, or
whether the donkey she rode had become more sjiirited
by his rest at Mossul, I am unable to say; but certain I
am that she kejtt the lead of our caravan till we reached
Sacho. Two badly armed and worse mounted saptiechs
(irregular cavalry) overto'^k us shortly after our parting

MOVING WESTWARD. 415

with Mr. "W., and proved to be the escort sent us by
the Pasha, who, probably afraid that Signor P. would
expose his conduct at headquarters, had sent them
aiter us, with orders to conduct us to Sacho, tol^isibin,
or even as far as Mardin. As the sequel wdll show, we
got along well enough without them, and but for use-
less oflence, Signor P. would have sent them directly
back to ^Mossul.

After journeying for nearly three hours across the
barren and apparently uninhabited plain, we reached a
wretched little village composed of about a dozen low,
square, flat-roofed huts built of sun-dried clay or mud,
and situated on the south side of one of the many low
hills scattered over the plain. This miserable village
is called Tell Keif, and is situated about twelve miles
from Mossul. Here Signor P. ordered a halt for two
or three hours, intending to continue our journey in the
more genial atmosphere of the evening, for the day
had turned out rather sultry for that season of the year.
Our horses were soon picketed and provided with food
and water, whereupon all the members of the caravan,
with the exception of two or three of the grooms — who
were ordered to keep watch over the horses — retired
to rest, part of the men securing some shady spot out-
side, and others retiring into some of the nearest huts.
Signor P., Father M., myself, Bahri, and our cook
Joseph, an Armenian, took possession of the hut nearest
to our horses, occupied up to the time of our arrival
only by an old lady and a squealing baby, the latter
being swung to and fro in a little straw mat suspended
by two strings from the top of the hut. The old lady,
well knowing that she would be the recipient of
" bakshish " (a present, gratuity), offered to withdraw
and spend the afternoon in some other hut in the
village wath her child ; but as the little creature had

416 MO VINO WESTWARD.

stopped squealing, we did not object to lier remaining.
We spread blankets on the ground, shut the door to
keep out the hot Avind, and were soon asleep in the
I>itch-dark room.

Daring the entire journey from Bagdad to the
Mediterranean Sea, I had carried my money in a little
leather satchel suspended by a strap from my shoulder,
and always took good care to stow it away, together
with my fire-arms and hunting-knife, under my pillow,
before going to rest. Much to my regret and incon-
venience, my hunting-knife disappeared mysteriously
the first night we passed in Karkuk. I was afraid
that my gun, revolver, and money might vanish in the
same manner ; so I took every precaution to protect
them. Fire-arms and money certainly form the most
essential part of a traveler's equipment in a semi-civilized
country, and, when once lost, caimot be easily replaced,
especially in Mesopotamia. I had slept soundly for
about three hours, when I awoke. Instinctively I looked
for the things I had stowed away under my head. I
missed the satchel of monej'^; thought it advisable,
however, not to make any outcry about it, but informed
Signor P. of my loss. lie was astonished and said that
no one could have entered the room, as lie liad bolted
the door himself on the inside and had not slept a
quarter of an hour since. He also said that he would
answer for the honesty of all the occupants of the hut,
except the old Arab woman. In consequence of our
conversation, I charged the old woiriiin with the theft,
and, to frighten her, told her coolly that if the money
Wiis not returned at once 1 would set fire to the hut.
Slie screamed, and lamciiti'd, and wept, and declared her
innocence; l)nt I knew too well the character of these
natives to put much faith in her protestations. Mean-
time the news of my loss had reached tliose outside,

MOVING WESTWARD. 417

whereupon every member of our caravan declared lus
innocence, and so, of course, did all the inhabitants t f
the village. Father M. coolly remarked that I unjustly
accused any one of theft, as I had lost the bag on the
road, and got into such a hot altercation with me that
he threatened to shoot me, and, suiting the action to
the word, presented his revolver. This outrageous con-
duct of a man teaehino; relio-ion and forbearance so in-
censed me that, with my left hand, I sent the pistol fly-
ing, and followed it up by knockhig him down witk
my right. On turning round, I saw two men of the
village escaping from the grasp of Signor P. and bolt
from the village. In the firm belief that Signor P. had
discovered the thieves, I started in pursuit of the fugi-
tives, followed by two or three of our men.

I don't know whether it was from a feeling of re-
venge or excitement which gave me more than ordinary
speed, but certain it is that I leaped over the gromid
with the agility of an antelope, leaving my party a long
way behind. I soon noticed that the strength of one
of the fugitives gave way, as I gained upon him at every
stride, and a moment after I pinioned him to the
ground. He yelled in deadly fear that I was going to
kill him. Quite absorbed in holding the writhing, half-
naked wretch, I did not notice that his companion had
returned to his rescue, and had already raised his long,
glittering knife to plunge it between my shoulders —
when, crash! he fell prostrate by my side. Mahomed
Abdallah, the most sturdy of our " sais " (grooms), who
had gone with me in pursuit of the two fugitives, came
up just in time to prevent the fellow stabbing me, by
knockins: him senseless with a stone.

Our two antagonists turned out to be quite innocent
of the theft, and had taken to their heels merely from
fear that Signor P. was going to beat them, as he went

418 MOVING WESTWARD.

up to tliem during my altercation with tlie priest. On
our return to the village, we found Signor P. surrounded
hy a dense crowd of men, women and children. lie
was holding fast to one of our men, A\hile two others
searched the pockets of the suspected i«*lividual, who
was ghastly pale and trembling like a leaf. When the
wretched man saw me, he begged to speak with me in
private. I took him behind the hut, when he confessed
his guilt; he said that he liad stowed himself away in
a dark corner of the hut before we entered it, and waited
quietly till we were all asleep, when, noiselessly on all
fours, he crept towards me, and, imitating a fly passing
across my face, by tickling me with a blade of straw,
he succeeded in disturbing me enough to turn over,
whereby he was enabled to draw the satchel gently
from under the blanket. Returning with his booty to
his hiding-place, he attempted to open the satchel, but
it was locked and I had the key ; so he simjtly ripped
open the seam of the satchel with his knife, al)stracting
its contents, which, together with the satchel, he buried
in a dark corner of the hut.

The suspicion of the theft fell upon him rather
accidentally, through the negro girl Bahri, who after
we had all left the hut had occasion to return to it for
the j»urpose of getting some water to drink, while
fum])ling for the big earthen water-jug usually to be
found in one corner of these dark huts, she discovered
to her astonishment the prostrate form of this young
fellow in the darkest corner of the liut feigning to be
asleep. In order to make him believe that she did not
notice him, she continued to fumble about the dark
room, and finally glided out of the hut bolting the door
after her. She immediately gave notice of her dis-
covery and suspicion to Signor P., who unceremoni-
ously dragged the villian out of the hut. lie promised

MOVING WESTWARD. 419

to return everything he had stolen from me, if I would
protect him from Signor P., and the men of our cara-
van. I promised to do so, when he conducted me into
the hut and to the corner where he had lain concealed,
then he knelt down and dug with his hands in the
sandy ground and brought to light the empty satchel
ripped open at the bottom. Some feet distant from
this hole he dug another one, and unearthed the con-
tents of the satchel. On counting my money I found
the amount incorrect, but he swore that he had buried
it just as he took it from the satchel.

Signor P., incensed at this barefaced lie, could not
refrain from boxing the fellows ears, and thereby
knocked off the turban of the culprit, which in falling
to the ground displayed the missing money. The
furv of our men, as well as of the inhabitants of the
village, on many of whom the grave suspicions of the
theft had rested, knew on bounds. In spite of my en-
deavors to protect him, they crowded around the help-
less wretch, and belabored him terribly, and would
probably have killed him outright, if Signor P., Father
M., and myself had not finally succeeded in breaking
through the crowd and threatened to shoot the first
who should strike the miserable man ao;ain. After
this occurrence Signor P. could not, of course, permit
the culprit to accompany the caravan, especially since
he proved to be a professional thief, having confessed,
also, to the theft of my hunting-knife. Signor P, was
anxious to get rid of the zapfichs as well as the robber,
and very shrewdly thought this a splendid opportunity
to " kill two birds with one stone." lie therefore
ordered the zapfichs to return to ^lossul with the
prisoner and deliver him to the Pasha, who should
punish him according to the crime. They forthwith
immediately mounted their horses and returned to

420 MOVING WESTWARD.

Mossul, tlie prisoner marching between them with a
rope tied around his loins, the other end of which was
atta(rhed to the saddle-o-irth of one of the horses.

For a long distance we could see the prisoner still
marching steadily between his escorts, Vfff: we filially
lost sii?ht of the trio. I have not the slio-litest doubt,
however, that they reached Mossul in safety ; but I have
good reason to doubt that the prisoner ever was accused
before th-^ Pasha, but was rather on the best of terms
with the men as soon as they left us ; the leading of
the prisoaer being mere sham, only to deceive u^, and
was undoubtedly done away with as soon as they got
out of night ; theft not being considered by these
natives a crime, if the theft is not detected, and
especially if a giasur (infidel or Christian) has been
victimized. This fellow was young, liandsorae and
intelligent, and had loft Bagdad with our caravan, pre-
tending to be bound for Diarbekir. He was hot in our
employ, but merely traveled under the i)rotection of
our caravan, as it is customary in that part of the
world, Avhcn single solitary travelers, who have to
journey through a territory notorious for highway rob-
beries, generally await the departure of a caravan
which is proceeding in their direction, which they join,
and travel under its protection. Many of these " travel-
ers" are, however, nothing but professional thieves,
who join and travel with caravans merely for the sake
of J)! under. To insure success in their villainous plans,
they usually make themselves vciy useful, being always
ready to assist in loading and unloading camels, pack-
horscM and mules, for the sole purpose of learning the
vahiv and position of the luggage and merchandise,
speck', and other valuables, and the best means to
ab-tract them. Many of these individuals are in direct
connection with gangs of highwaymen, etc., and act as

MOVING WESTWARD. 421

spies for them. A "svell-known dodge of theirs is to
oifer their services t« caravans, as aghels or zaptichs,
whose duty it is to protect caravans on the journe}',
and keep watch over the camp at night. As escort
they generally bring np the rear ; they profit by this
opportunity, especially when the caravans travel at
night, and even by day, when passing through a
mountain gorge, through underwood, or over deep sand,
and, at their convenience, adroitly cut through, or
half through, the ropes with which the luggage or
goods are bound to the pack-saddles of the camels,
horses or mules. The trunk, box, bale, or bag, drops
to the ground instantly, or otherwise, according to the
cut in the rope, when it is at once hidden in the brush-
wood, or buried in the deep sand, either by themselves
or their accomplices, who are generally not far distant.
By the time the loss is discovered, the villains have
either decamped, or are too well hidden and are already
miles off. A favorite dodge is acting in the capacity
of spies for highwaymen or marauders, and wdiilc,
with apparent curiosity examining the fire-arms of the
other members of the caravan, or while the latter are
asleep, fill the nipples and touch-holes with w'ooden or
leaden plugs to render them useless. To be brief, the
tricks "and dodges, employed* by these vagabonds, aVe
so numerous, and so ingenious that a caravan has to be
•jareful who is admitted to its protection.

Shortly after the two zaptichs had left with the
prisoner, w^e resumed our journey after amply indemni-
fying the old lady w^hose hut we had occupied and whom
we had unjustly accused. We traveled briskly till
about a half an hour after sunset, when we reached a
little village the name of which I have forgotten. Its
inhabitants had already -retired to the flat roofs of their
huts, where the females were busily engaged in spread-

•122 MOVING WESTWARD.

ing the carpets and straw mats which serve these na-
tives as bedding. Oiu' unexpected arrival of course
caused quite a commotion among these people, and
especially among the curs of the village, which struck
up a deafening noise hy their furious Jjiarking, till
forcil)ly silenced hy a few w^ell-directed missiles thrown
by the villagers.

After a futile search in the village for a vacant
space of ground large enough for our caravan, we with-
drew and picketed our horses outside of the place. In
a wonderfully short time the tent was pitched, and al-
most simultaneously our various camj>iires illuminated
the suburbs of the village, which was already wn-ai)i»c(l
uj) ill the sliadows of the night.

An hour afterwards the occasional snort of a hoi'se,
the challenge of our watchman, and the distant howl
of a prowling jackal, answered l)y the angry barking
of a village dog, were the only sounds of life. Every-
'jody seemed to enjoy an excellent rest till towards
laybreak, when the vociferous crowing of numberless
?ocks, and anything but melodious braying of about
a dozen donkeys, heralded the coming day and pro-
duced a lively stir in our camp and the village.

The first rays of a magnificent sunrise found us
already on the march across a very fertile, but to all
ap[»ea ranee, an uncultivated plain, scattered over which
we espied numbers of ])eautiful gazelles, many of tliem
within a few hundred yards of our track, quietly
nibbling the wccdsand shrubs, and not at all shy,as they
siarcely lifted their lieads to look at us as we passed.
Their indifference to our presence hurt my pride con-
sideraldy, and I resolved to profit by their recklessness.
For this purjiose I cantered about a mile ahead of our
caravan, intending to keep up that distance from it
till I had had a shot at my game. I had not proceeded

MOVING WESTWARD. 423

far, when I noticed about half a mile ahead of me five
of the gazelles, a little at the right of our track, slowly
walkino; in Indian-file in the direction of Sacho. I had
kept my eyes steadily upon them, when suddenly they
were lost to view, one after the other, as if they were
sinking one by one into the ground. This circum-
stance proved to me that they had descended into a
ravine as yet invisible to me, perhaps for the purpose
of crossing to the other side, as it is not the habit
of gazelles to drink after sunrise.

There was no time to be lost. I knew well it
would not do to canter up to the edge of the ravine, as
the alert creatures would have heard and felt the jar-
ring of the ground by my horse's hoofs and taken to
flight. To prevent this, I dismounted, threw the reins
on the ground (the usual mode of the Boers and hunters
of South Africa, when they wish their horses to graze,
and consequently remain quiet till they return and
resume their seat in the saddle), ran as fast as my legs
would carry me to the spot where the gazelles had dis-
appeared, and then cautiously approached them on all
fours. On peeping over I saw them crossing a brook-
let at the bottom of the ravine. Taking a steady aim,
I fired both barrels and sent one of the leaders struggling
into the water. The eifect of the surprise of the gazelles
was amusing to witness. Almost simultaneously wdth
the detonation of the shots, the uninjured gazelles
jumped fully four feet into the air, and splashed back
again into the water, two of them missing their footing
and rolling in the water. In an instant, however, they
recovered their foothold and dashed wildly up the less
steep opposite bank. Anxious lest my still struggling
and splashing gazelle should regain its feet, I hurried
down the ravine, and by the time I reached the gazelle
she had ceased struggling, and Ihadnodifliculty in carry-

424 MOVING WESTWARD.

ing her on my shoulder through the shallow water and
up the ravine. On the arrival of the caravan, Signor P.
ordered a short halt to enable YoossooiF, the cook, to
skin and cut up the game, after which we continued
our journey pleasantly until we rea('hed^Jt|ie foot of a
high and densely wooded mountain chain which
stretches from the Tiij-ris in a dueeasterlv direction to the
frontier of Persia. The road to Zachu, or Sacho, leads
straight across the mountain range, intersected by deep
mountain gorges, with almost perpendicular sides, at
the bottom of which ran small but rapid torrents. The
road itself looks rather like the dry bed of a mountain
torrent, owing to its being strewn with rocks and boul-
ders, some of which are of prodigious size and weight;
in fact the road leads across the bare rock, a sort of light
gray granite, as hard as flint and in many places as
smooth and slippery as ice. This road is in my estima-
tion the worst I ever saw on the western boundary,
except the one which leads across Oofa, the ancient
Edessa, a town between Birehjlk and Suverick (Upper
Euphrates).

In many places there were distinct impressions,
many inches deep, of horse's feet imprinted in the solid
granite, a clear proof that the passage was so difficult,
that for centuries every horse had been obliged to step
exactly in the footsteps of its predecessor in order to
pass over the difficult point. Aside from this the
scenery in this Oriental mountain gorge was charm-
ingly romantic. The steep sides of the gorge were
covered with an almost impenetrable thicket of under-
wood in which I noticed numerous wild ap[)le and
cherry trees, a kind of wild plum, walnut trees, hazel-
nut buslies, gall-nut bushes, vines, lianas, prickly pears,
cacti, and numerous bushes with berries and aromatic
blossoms. After a mile or two the road became more

MOVING WESTWARD. 425

even, larger trees were more abundant, and when we
had nearly reached the foot of the mountain, we found
the little toAvn of Zacliu prettily ensconced at the
mouth of the gorge, partly encircled by a beautiful
little river, the fertile and lovely banks of which were
lined with females in gaudy Oriental costume busily
engaged in carrying the pure, crystal water into the
town, while merrily laughing and chatting ; the whole
scene was one of happiness. As usual, our caravan
created qu'te a sensation among the inhabitants who
crowded around us and followed us from street to street
as we went in search of a suitable khan for our reception.
But we soon found that there was not a buildins: in
Zachu large enough to contain the caravan, and as level
ground was equally scarce within the precincts of the
little town, we forded the stream and encamped on a
smooth piece of ground on the opposite bank not more
than three hundred yards from the town. As soon as
the horses were picketed, the pack-horses unloaded, and
our tent pitched, the greater part of our men recrossed
the river for the purpose of buying provisions, of which,
especially of fruit, they bought a large quantity for a
mere trifle. Almost all Orientals have an aversion,
more or less, to animal food, and consequently live
chiefly on vegetable matter, such as rice, onions, cucum-
bers, bread, and fruit of every kind. Of fruit, especi-
ally, they can consume large quantities, apparently
without any bad eifect, and though they almost in-
variably eat their fruit and vegetables raw. I have
seen our men eat nothing for days but watermelons,
sometimes one single man consuming one of from ten
to fifteen pounds weight, at one meal, a feat which
might prove fatal to any one unaccustomed to such
diet. The only meat sold in bazaars in the most of
Oriental cities is mutton, goat's meat, game, fowl and

426 MOVING WESTWARD.

occasionally fish and camel meat, most of which is used
by the Avealthier classc:*, though it is by no means be-
yond tlie reach of the poor to purchase animal food ;
but as I have stated they prefer to subsist chiefly on
delicious grapes, figs, peaches, orange^^\yater and
sugar- or mnsh-melons, cucumbers, etc., which are so
abundant and cheap in some places in Upper Mesopo-
tamia, especially in Zachu. "With the fine fat gazelle
which I had fecured on the road, and a good supply of
domestic meat and fowl procured in Zachu, and an
abundance of groceries we carried with us, our cook was
aide to get up an excellent dinner for us, after which
Signor r. and myself repaired to town, fording the river
on the backs of two of our men, for the purpose of re-
cruiting our supply of wine and " arak " (brandy distilled
from dates, tasting something like absinthe).

We found that the town bad been formerly well
fortified, but the greater part of the fortifications are
now level with the ground ; only two large, round un-
sightly towers remain, one serving as the office of the
Tvaimakam, the other as a prison.

Zachu sports a little bazaar chiefly occupied by
Christians and Jews, who form the greater part of a
population of about four thousand inhabitants; the
Mohammedans numbering!: about one thousand. "We
found the inhabitants remarkably intelligent and tidy
in tlicir dross and api»earan('0, especially the women,
who dress almost coquettisbly and are quite famous
throughout Upper Mesopotamia for their good looks,
which rc])utation they undoubtedly merit, as they are
gifted with finely cut Oriental features, a peculiarly
liealtby, rosy color, and a much gayer disposition than
is Tisual with Eastern females.

About sunrise next morning we resumed our jour-
ney, mnrching in a northwesterly direction across a

MOVTNQ WESTWARD. 421

beautiful fertile plain alive M'itli gazelles. Signer P.
and I tried several times to get a fair shot, but thej'
were too shy and took to flight before we could get
within three hundred yards of them. However, wo
shot a good many pin-tailed sand grouse, which soared in
dense masses like an immense cloud over the plains.
One w^ho has not been an eye-witness cannot form any
adequate idea of the number of these birds on the plaine
of Mesopotamia. They exist there in millions upon
millions. I have often seen them passing from ons
hundred to five hundred feet above our heads in such
immense numbers as to make them appear like a vast
cloud driven by a hurricane, and actually excluding the
sun, while they passed above us. Their approach
can be heard at the distance of a mile or more, owing
to a peculiar noise produced by the velocity with which
they dart through the air, and by the quick flapping
of their wings, which produces a noise strongly resem-
bling the sound of a strong wind blowing through a
forest. They always travel in masses together, rise and
settle together, and generally keep on the wing during
the hottest part of the day, soaring over the almost
endless barren plains. Before sunrise, and after sunset,
they are never seen moving unless disturbed ; but are
closely congregated on some sandy or gravelly piece of
ground, ^"hen so settled, it is very diflicult to approach
them while the sun is still visible ; but before sunrise
and after sunset one may with a little discretion easily
approach within one hundred yards of them before they
rise.

The morning of our departure from Zachu was
not very bright; the sun disappeared behind some
heavy clouds, and it soon began to rain so hard that
every member of the caravan was drenched to the skin
before we reached the next village. A cold north wind

428 MOVING WESTWARD.

sprang up, and caused us all to shiver in our wet
clothes. About an hdur before noon we arrived at a
small village called Rabahi, which luckily sported a
khan or caravansary sufficiently large to afford shelter
to the whole caravan, and where we resqij^d to await
a chano-eof weather. An hour or two after our arrival
at the village the rain ceased, the sky cleared up, and
the sun re-appeared, enabling us to dry our clothes.
The road, or rather track, had also been rendered very
slippery and difficult by the rain, and we concluded
not to travel any further that day.

The following morning broke with every sign of
a rainy day; however we resumed our journey, owing
to the scantiness of food for man and beast. Our way
led over a very undulating country apparently fertile,
but almost uninhabited. AVe had proceeded but a few
miles, when a drizzling rain began to fall, and con-
tinued to do so until nearly noon. While gently jog-
ging uj) one of the low hills across which our path
led us, we were startled by the sudden appearance of
about a dozen gazelles dashing across our path, onlj'
about two hundred yards ahead of us, liotly pursued by
eight savage looking greyhounds. A moment after,
four native liorsemen, shaggy-bearded, bare-footed, and
clad in tattered garments, made their appearance,
thundering i>ast us in the track of the gazelles and
hounds, along the ridge of the low hill; but gazelles,
hounds, and liorsemen went on at such a tremendous
rate of speed that we soon lost sight of them on the
underlating plain, and never heard the result of the
chase.

Soon after meeting with the gazelle hunters, we
reached an old, abandoned Turkish castle or fort, built
on a rock slightly projecting into the river Tigris, and
surrounded by a garden or park in which were rose,

MOVING WESTWARD. 429

jessamine, oieander, pomegranate, and orange bushes
in full Llossom, but overgrown with a profusion of
climbers and other parasitical, plants which, together
with the dilapidated walls of the building densely over-
grown w'ith ivy, gave evidence that the castle had long
been miinhabited.

From this locality our path led us close by the
side of the river till we arrived opposite Teslreh, our
next halting place. To our agreeable surprise the
whole caravan crossed the rickety, wooden bridge
in safety. Signor P. finding that, owing to the bad
repute of the inhabitants, it was advisable not to enter
the town with the caravan, selected a suitable spot for
our camp on the south side of the town walls, wdiere
wearrived just at noon. The drizzling rain that had
follen all the morning had ceased by this time, and the
sun shone down upon our camp, from the clouded sky,
with right good will, and rendered the atmosphere,
which a few hours before w^as chilly, quite oppressive.

Having been descried by the armed men standing
guard at the different gates of the town walls, wdiile we
were yet on the opposite side of the river, our arrival
was generally known before we had barely pitched our
tent, and our camp was soon surrounded by a crowd of
eager spectators of the male sex, while the more timid
females peeped down upon us from the top of the town
walls near us, as well as from the flat roofs of their
dwellings.

Leaving orders with our men to keep a good look-
out, and to allow no one to approach too close to our
camp, Signor P. and myself, accompanied by our
sturdy Sa'is Abadallah and the cook, Yoossooff, pro-
ceeded to town to buy provisions. We went straight-
way to the bazaar, which we found crowded with
people; well-dressed men in Turcoman costume, with

430 MOVING WESTWARD.

quite a collection of daggers and pistols in their belts
and scarfs, and heavy scimetars dangling from their
loins, giving their bearers more the aspect of bandits,
and bravoes, than of peaceable people ; bare-footed Be-
douins dressed in coarse, brown "\vool(»v»-garments.
shaggy haired^ wild featured, and inseparable from their
long, sharp pointed lances; bareheaded and barefooted
females, clad only in a loose, long woolen shirt of dark
red, or dark blue color ; half-naked negroes, ragamuffins,
and beggars ; camels, horses, donkeys, and half-starved
dogs without number, thronged through the narrow,
crooked, and wretchedly paved lanes of the bazaars in
utter confussion. Excessively thronged as was the
bazaar, equally abandoned and desolate w^as the rest of
the town's thoroughfares, where a few^ girls carrying
large earthen water-urns on their shoulders, a couple of
naked urchins playing in the dusty lanes, a bevy of
lean fowl, or an invalid dog, or decrepit donkey, were
the only signs of life and habitation.

The houses and streets we found to be much like
those throughout Mesopotamia. "Je.slreh-ebn-Omar "
{i. e., the island of the son of Omar) is a fortified town
containing at the present time from ten to twelve
thousand inhabitants, though it appears to have been
far more numerously populated in earlier days,judging
from the fact that a great many houses are uninhabited,
and partially in ruins. T)ie fortifications are also in a
\cry j)oor state of preservation, and numberless well-
tenanted stork's nests occujiy the pinnacles of the nu-
merous "lookout" towers and minarets of the place
Certiiinly, most positive i)roof that the thunder of gun-
powder and the noise of war liave net been heard there
for many years.

(h\ returning to camp, we found everything in
good f)rder, ai.d our men in the best of humor, because

MOVING WESTWARD. 431

they had succeeded in di-ying all the garments satu-
rated by tlie morning's rain. Towards evening 1 went
out for a stroll along the banks of the river to enjoy a
refreshing bath. While going round one of the sand-
hills which border the river below the town I unex-
pectedly confronted about twenty females of all ages,
some of whom were standing in extreme neglige on the
river brink, while others were splashing about in the
waters of the beautiful Tigris.

Not all the females living on the banks ot the
Tigris are so delicate in this respect as the. belles of
Jeslreh, It is customary among the women and girls
of the Bedouius encamped daring the dry season along
the river banks, between ^lossul and Bagdad, to watch
the kelecks (rafts) floating dow^n the river, when, as
soon as the}' espy one of them, numbers of them rush
to the river side with a wooden bowl of " laban " (curd
or sour milk), or " dood " (fresh milk), or a basket of
eggs in one hand and an inflated " toolooch " (ch as in
loch-lake) or bag of goat's-skin in the other, and w^ait
till the keleck has floated down nearly opposite them,
when they all plunge into the river, each holding her
inflated "toolooch" under hsr left arm, firmly, as a
buoy, and the milk or eggs in her left hand, while sho
uses the right in paddling (as .she also uses her feet),
and ofoes risfht out into the middle of the stream. Sur-
rounding the keleck on all sides, they ofter the milk
or eggs to the occupants of the raft for sale for a feAv
coppers or trifles, and will even climb aboard, if al-
lowed to do so, which, by-the-by, it is bad policy to
permit. Besides being bold, they all suffer more or
less from kleptomania, and the indiscreet passengers
are likely to find themselves minus all sorts of objects
after these water nymphs have left the keleck. In the
spring of 1865, while I was traveling in company with

432 MOVING WESTWARD.

Mr.. J., a young countryman of mine, in one of these
kelecks, from Diarbekrr to Bagdad, our craft was re-
peatedly surrounded by these amphibious females, of
whom we bought our regular supply of sour milk,
eggs, fowls, etc., but we took good ci\re neap' to allow
them to climb aboard; yet they did manage to steal
from us two live fowls which w^ere quietly strolling
about the keleck, and sundry other articles at hand.

During the night of our encampment at Jesireh a
a terrific thunder and rain storm raged about midnight,
threatening to destroy our new tent. Peal after peal
of thunder rolled over our camp, and echoed with
terrific powder along the river banks ; the rain fell in
torrents, and every few seconds the dark firmament
was for an instant illuminated bv the blindinoj flashes of
lightning, which darted out of the black electric clouds
to the ground, invariably and instantaneously followed
by deafening detonations of the thunder. I could not
refrain from pitying our poor men, who, wrapped from
head to foot in their "abbas" (thin woolen cloaks)
and shivering with cold and fear, were exposed to the
weather outside the tent ; but the greater part of our
luggage had to be protected under the tent, and occu-
l)ied all the space underneath those frail sheets. The
horses, though, like the men, unaccustomed to such
rough weather, stood the storm In-avely, and remained
as quiet as lambs. Fortunately it soon abated, and
our men rose and managed to kindle and keep up a
jolly good fire till daybreak.

Tlie rising sun inspired with new life and vigor
both man and Ijeast, and by seven o'clock in the morn-
iiio- we were in the saddle again bound for Arnooz or
Ernooz, a little village about half way between Jesireh
and Xisibin, about twenty -five miles west of JesTreh.
Anxious to secure some game for our empty larder, I

MOVING WESTWARD. 43 ii

rode on in advance of the caravan, and had traveled
but a few miles, when I saw about a mile ahead of me
a solitary horseman proceeding in our direction. At
first this vexed me a little, because there was no chance
of coming across any game as long as this fellow kept
ahead of me, so I started my horse into an easy can-
ter, and as I shortened the distance to the stranger, I
saw that he was badly mounted, the animal he bestrode
being a small and fearfully lean pony staggering pain-
fully along over the rugged ground. In fact, on closer
approach, horse and rider elicited a smile, as I thought
of the picture of Don Quixote, " the errant knight,"
on his emaciated steed, "Rosinante." On coming
up to the stranger (who was, by the way, a short,
thick-set man of about forty-five years, whose face
was three-quarters overgrown by a jet black beard
utterly neglected, while his person was arrayed in a
Turkish costume, or rather in half Turkish, half Eu-
ropean, and armed with a heavy scimitar), I felt con-
fident that he w'as an Osmanli (Turk), but not being
able to accost him in his mother tongue, I saluted him
in Arabic. I was not a little taken aback by being
answered in good English. Expressing my surprise at
this, he quietly unbuttoned the old threadbare Turkish
military coat he wore, and displayed two medals, one a
Turkish brass,and the other the well-known British silver
medal of the Crimean war. Traveling slowly on with me,
he related a variety of incidents of the various battles of
the Crimea in which he had participated, and showed me
two ugly scars which he said he had received at the
assault and capture of the tower of Malakoff, and loudly
praised the exploits of the French and English at Balak-
lava, Inkerman, on the Alma, etc., etc. It appears
that the composed and quiet manner of the English
was more congenial to the stern Mussulman thaa

434 MOVING WESTWARD.

the mercurial disposition of the French, and he
candidly acknowledged that he always preferred the
society of the forniei", in whom lie became so interested
that he learned to converse in English, of which
accomplishment he was unspeakably proitti5" On inquir-
ing, he told me that he had been in service of the com-
mander of the garrison, at Karkuk, in the capacity ot'
cavass (armed servant) for a teim of nearly ten years;
but getting tired of the position had given it up, and
was now on his way home to his native place, Stambul
(Constantinople). On my asking him, in a jocose way,
if he were ashamed of his medals, since he wore them
on the inside of his coat, he gave me such a look ! but
knowing that I said it jestingly, he replied that lie did
60 to avoid the covetousness of thieves and highway-
men. His pluck, in traveling alone, and badly mounted
and equipped, in a country so notorious for its lawless-
ness, as well as his frankness and good humor, and
pity for the poor emaciated nag he rode (for which he
said he had paid two Turkish lires — nine dollars — cash
down), induced me to offer him the protection of our
caravan, which I told him was pursuing the same route
he was, till we came nearCouotantinople. lie "jumped
at the chance," and I gave up the idea of looking f >r
game, and proposed to him to slacken our horses' jjace,
in order to let the caravan overtake us, when I would
introduce him to our traveling companions. Signor 1*.
was i>lea.sed with our new acquaintance, and gave him
position as cavass of our caravan, which entitled
Mohammed (his name), as well as his horse, to share the
rations of our men and beasts, which were liberally
distributed. In a few days, man and beast looked con-
siderably nioie comfortable than when I picked them
up. Mohanmied proved very useful to our caravan, so
much so that on our arrival at Iskanderoon (Alexan-

MOVING WESTWARD. 435

dretta), Signer V. not only jtaid his passage to Con-
stantinojile, but made liini a handsome present in
Turkish gold.

The further we went towards our next halting
place, Ernooz, the rougher and narrower became our
path, so that before we reached that village, the whole
country, as far as the eye could reach, was a mass of
rugged rocks studding densely the country around, and
giving it the appearance of an ocean covered with pet-
rified waves.

For miles and miles, the tortuous path was hardly
discernible amidst the sea of rocks, and so narrow that
it was nearly impossible for a quadruped the size of a
cow or a horse to place a foot on real soil, a fact which
renders that part of the country most difficult and
dangerous for man and hoi'se to travel over. Yet it is
the regular highway traveled by everybody bound
Irom Mossul to Diarbekir (the Turkish mail carrier
not excepted). Almost miraculously our whole caravan
finally succeeded in reaching the little village above
mentioned without accident, but Mohammed's poor
nag had kept me all the w^ay in a state of ferish excite-
ment as he staggered along, not unlike a drunken man,
and ihreatening at every step to fall to rise no more.

We found Ernooz to be composed of about a dozen
miserable, low, flat-roofed hovels, the walls of which
were constructed of stones and pieces of rock piled
u[)on each other, the interstices being filled with clay
mixed with a kind of moss and dry grass. Of course
we had to picket our horses in the open air, as there was
not a building in the place large enough to hold even
a half a dozen horses. As luck w^ould have it, there
was an open space of ground in the village free of stone
and large enough to accommodate the caravan. I did
not succeed in ascertaining how the inhabitants of that

436 MOVING WESTWARD.

village manage to live all the3'ear round ; for with the
exception of a few miniature water melons, a couple of
cucumbers and about twenty pounds of barley, there
were absolutely no other provisions either visible or
attainable in or around the miserable kmTilct. Fortu-
nately, we had taken with us from Jeslreh, a good sup-
ply of barley for our horses, having been forewarned
that that article would be very scarce between Jeshvh
and Xisibin. That circumstance enabled us to distrib-
ute some of the barley among the men who made it
into bread.

XXI.

ABOUT NISIBIN.

The Arab and the Frogs — Forward — At Nisibin — The Count's En-
counter with Bedouins — Hammerdich — Received by the Sheik — "A
Pearl" — Mardin Mountain in the Distance.

Our men, as well as the villagers, who noticed us
splashing about in the mud and water, wondered what
on earth we were doing there, and naturally went to
the brooklet to see what we were about, and saw, to
thoir unfeigned amazement and horror, " the queer
Feringhies "(Franks or Europeans) hunting frogs. There
they stood, with mouths and eyes wide open, gazing at
us ; but none stirred to help us, till Signor P., without
looking up from his work, shouted " a kameri (one
quarter Turkish piaster, equal to five-eighths of a cent
American money) for every frog." This unexpected
offer acted like magic on the lookers-on, and in a mo-
ment the brooklet was alive with frog hunters, old and
young, male and female, most of whom, probably, had
never intentionally touched a frog in their lives; and
such an onslaught on the poor frogs never took place
since the creation of that gentle stream. In less than
fifteen minutes eighty-two ice-cold living frogs were
imprisoned, struggling and wriggling in the bottom of
a good sized forage-bag, and were transported forthwith
on the back of one of our men to headquarters. There
Signor P. (who, by-the-bye, like most of his country-
men,, was an excellent gastronomist) commenced a
terrible slaughter on them by decapitation, disem-
bowelling and flaying one after the other, and finish-
ing the job by throwing them into the frying-pan,

(437)

438 ABOUTT NISTBIN.

which soon transmuted them into an excellent dish,
far superior to any We had tasted on our journey
through Mesopotamia ; and even the scrupulous Arabs
ventured to taste them, and, with a grin on their faces,
pronounced them "keter tayeb" (very good). Though
there were frogs enough in the brooklet, we could
hardlv have induced our horses to feed on them if our
supply of l)ar]ey should become exliausted.

TVe, therefore, broke up our camp the next morning
as soon as there was enough daylight to enable us^to
resume our journey over the dreadfully stony and tire-
some country, across which we had to travel so slowly,
that we did not reach Nisibin (only twenty-two miles
southwest of Ernooz) before two o'clock in the after-
noon, for a wonder, without accident to man or beast.
In order to give the reader a fair idea of the country
we traveled over, I need only say that every one of our
horses reached I^isibin, minus one, two, three and some
even four shoes, a circumstance' which comj»clled us to
remain a day longer at Nisibin than we had intended,
to enable Iladjee Afahommed, the little farrier whom
Signor P. had hired in Mossul, to replace the lost shoes.
Fortunately the khan we occupied was comparatively
comfortable; the little town not uninteresting and the
weather jdcasant, so that we spent the time agreeably
enough. Nisibin is a little town of about one thousand
inhabitants, chiefly ^foslems, Jews, and Christians (the
latter numbering scarcely two hundred) The chid'
personage in the town is the Ivaimakam, an officer who
throughout the Ottoman Empire enjoys as before stated
the various dignities of mayor, judge, chief-of-police,
and sometimes also that of postmaster of the place.
The buildings of the town bear the usual Mesopota-
miati characteristics, and are without exception miser-
ublf dwellings. Like every other town in Western

ABOUT NISIBIN. 439

Asia, Nisibin has its bazaar, which, chough of poor
appearance compared with those of ^Bagdad and Mos-
sul, is nevertheless well stocked with merchandise ; the
people of Nisihin doing considerable trade with the
various wild Bedouin tribes who inhabit the desolate
and parched plains of the upper section of El Jesireh,
or rather the arid territory south and southwest of
Xisibin, with whom they exchange goods of Asiatic or
European manufacture and 'produce for sheep's wool,
goats' hair, skins, horses, cattle, etc. Is"isibin lies at the
confluence of two of the branches of a considerable river,
called by the natives Hirmas, or Jachjacha, which is
joined about forty miles south of Xisibin on the left bank
by the many-armed river "Hassawee",or'"Hesawi," as
well as by two other smaller rivers, the latter originating
in two small lakes, or rather swamps, at the foot of the
northwestern slope of Jebl Sindshar (Sindshar Moun-
tain). This mountain range is situated exactly in the
centre of El Jesireh, that vast desolate territory inter'
vening between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. From
the southeastern slope of Jebl Sindshar, also, two rivers
descend towards the basin of the Euphrates, which they
finally join together with the Jachjacha and Hesawi,
under the joint names of Chabur, at a point near th«
little village of Abu Sarai (father of Sarai'or Sarah).
Some geographers call another river originating in
the Karadsha Dagh (a mountain chain lying between
the two towns of Mardin and Suverek), Jachjacha,
which is also supposed to be a tributary of the Chabur.
Though few charts mention this river, there is no doubt
of its existence and that it is considerably larger than
either the Jachiacha or the Hesawi. I am inclined to
think that this river is nothing less than the real source
of the Chabur itself. The interior of El Jesireh, as well
as the immense territory south of the Euphrates, is as

440 ABOUT NISIBIN.

yet but very imperfectly known to geographers and
travelers, and lias neyer been properly explored by
any of tliem, owing no doubt to its extremely de-
solate character, and the very hostile disposition
of the wild Bedouin tribes inhabiting that district.
Their hostility is great towards all intruders, especially
towards those "srho are not Moslems.

But to return to Nisibin. On the east side of the
little town, where the soil can be flooded at will by
means of sluices, there is a series of well-stocked gar-
dens overshadowed by fine fruit and shade trees ; the
only vegetation visible around Xisil)in as far as the eye
can reach. At the south end of the town a stone
bridge crosses one of the arms of the river. At this
spot I amused myself for hours with fishing, and suc-
ceeded in hauling in several fine fish, a species of trout,
out of the pure waters of the deep and rapid stream.
Although now a very small town of scarcely two hun-
dred houses, encircled by an old and shaky wall of
stone, hardly twenty feet high, pierced by four gates,
Xisibin evidently was once a much larger place, as its
suburbs bear ample testimony of having formerly been
densely covered with buildings (though at the present
day they are utterly desolate), which circumstance ap-
pears to justify the supposition of some writers, that
Nisibin occupies the very spot where stood Js'isil/is, the
famous cai)ital of Mygdonia, also known as Antiochea
Mygdonia, referred to so often by historians in their
rei)ortsof the wars between thcR(imans and Parthians.
In the course of the afternoon of the second day of our
sojourn, while Signor P. and I sat smoking and talking
in a coflfee-house of the little bazaar, we were informed
by some of our men who had been loitering through
the streets that an Arab merchant had just arrived in
town from the interior of El Jesireh, and had brought

ABOUT NISTBTN. 441

the news that a caravan, headed byaFeringhee (Frank,
European), accompanied by two Feringhee ladies, had
been attacked three days previous to his arrival by a
horde of mounted Bedouins, two days' journey west of
Jebl Lindshar ; but *that after a F.harp fight had got off
with a loss of three men killed (one of them being the
Feringhee himself), and several wounded, and that all
the saddle horses' had been taken pff. There could be
no question as to the identity of the caravan. It was
Count de B.'s party which had so unceremoniously left
us at Mossul. We were not surprised, but felt sincere
regret for the trao-ieal end of Count de B, and the
unprotected condition of the ladies. Anxious to learn
details, we dispatched one of our men with a friendly
message to the Arab merchant, soliciting an interview
with him at the coifee-house. Ho made his appear-
ance without much delay. He was tall, athletic and
sharp featured, of dark walnut comj^lexion, and dressed
in full Bedouin costume still covered with the dust of
his journey. After the customary exchange of civili-
ties and the serving of the usual " fenchan " (little cup)
of coffee and "narghlleh" (water-bowl tobacco-pipe),
he quietly and apparently very truthfully answered our
questions, but with the characteristic reserve of the
Arab. We felt, however, considerably relieved when
on Signor P. asking him if he had himself seen the
Feringhee's caravan either before or after the assault,
he answered in the negative, saying that he had
received his information from a Bedouin who wished
to sell him a horse. The description he gave of the
animal tallied exat^tly with that of one in Count de B.'s
caravan, but then it might have been stolen in the same
manner as my horse Felix on the plains below Kifri.
Moreover, it was not at all likely that so large a force
of well-mounted Bedouins, after killing the leader of

442 ABOUT NISIBIN.

the caravan, would have allowed the rest of the party
to escape with their fine camels and valuables. Aa
soon, therefore, as we found that our informant spoke
only from hearsay, we discredited the truth of some of
the news; of course, without lettino; the Arab know it,
as he only professed to be repeating what he had really
heard. He withdrew soon afterwards, and we talked
the matter over among ourselves. We were aware of
the tendency of the natives to exaggerate ; nevertheless
we could not doubt that some accident had given rise
to the tale, while we did doubt the death of the Count
and hoped to learn the truth on our arrival at Aleppo.

The following morning, we resumed our journey,
re-inforced by four zaptiehs whom the Ka'imakam of
Nisibin advised us to take along as far as Hamudieh
or Amudleh, a large village about sixteen miles north-
west of Xisibin, as the road was not at all safe to travel,
especially in small force, owing to a tribe of rapacious
Bedouins being encamped on the desert south of
Ilaniudieh, who were without a doubt well informed,
not only of our arrival, but also of the number and
value of our horses, our men, their armament, and their
own chances of success in case of an attack upon us; as
they had reliable spies both in Xisibi?i and Hamudieh.

In consequence of this information, we traveled in
a compact body and kept a vigilant lookout as we
marched over the parched and level, though no longer
stony country, which on the north was bounded by the
rocky desert of the district of Tur Abdin extending
between the mountain region of Mardin and the right
bank of the Tigris, while toward the south and west,
\t formed part of the smooth and endless plains of El
Jeslreh. During that morning's march we repeatedly
noticed in the distance susiiicious looking horsemen,
with long lances, in gangs of from three to six in num-

ABOUT NISIBIN. 443

ber, apparently traveling across the country, and though
there were numbers of fine gazelles, wild pig-^, and
clouds of desert pigeons visible on the plain, I
concluded that this time it was advisable to spare my
ammunition and keep with the caravan.

We did not reach Ilamudleh until noon, though
we saw the large dark-gray village loom up far away
on the flat and, to all appearance, perfectly barren plain
while we were fully twelve miles oflT, and had it con-
stantly before us till we finally arrived there. Con-
spicious among the buildings of the good-sized Arab
villages is always the dwelling of the Sheikh (chief),
which, though constructed like the other houses of the
village, merely of sun-dried brick, was in this instance
plastered over with a thick layer of mud, rendered
more adhesive by being mixed with mashed or cut
straw and camel's or cattle dung. As this seemed the
only place in Hamudieh large enough to contain the
whole of the caravan in its spacious court yard, and
was the safest against intruders and thieves, we, as is
customary in Mesopotamia and Arabia, made ourselves
the guests of the Sheikh, a tall, powerful Arab of about
forty years of age in elegant Arabian costume, which
was evidently donned for the occasion; our host having
had ample time to change his clothing, as he could see
the caravan jogging along when many miles distant
lie had on a large, fine, woolen gown of purple, ovei
which he wore a sky-blue woolen abba (long, flowing
cloak or mantle), his legs covered with a pair of red
and white striped cotton trowsers gathered at the
ankle in Moslem fashion, while his feet were encase(^
in crimson colored leather shoes without heels and witli
upturned toes. In the white muslin scarf around hn
loins stuck the curved dagger, with silver mounte^l
handle, worn by nearly all Arabs, and on his closely

444 ABOUT NISIBTN.

shaven head, he wore a huge snow-white turban, the
distinction and sole privilege of tlie Iladji (pilgrim to
^lecca). lie was surrounded by his male friends (who
were, however, dressed with considerably less show
than their chief) in front of his house, deeply-^absorbed
in contemplating the merits of our drove of horses; all
the while mechanically passing through his fingers his
cliaplet (a strhig of large beads of amber, or glass, or
other material resembling the Rosary used by Roman
Catholics in their devotions), which nearly all Moslems
possess, but used merely as toja or "pastimes." The
Sheikh received us in the calm, dignified manner
peculiar to the Arabs, and with the pro verbal hospitality
of his nation, and placed his whole house at our dis-
posal, having previously sent his household to take up
quarters with some of his friends or relatives in the
village till we left. The apartment allotted to us was
the Sheikh's state-room, a quadrangular chaml>cr of
about twenty feet by twelve facing the street. The walls
of theroom contained four small loopholes through which,
and the constantly open doorway, the daylight was
admitted into the apartment. The sides of the state-
room were merely four plain mud walls entirely desti-
tute of woodwork or other ornaments ; the floor was
covered with coarse but clean straw mats, and in one of
the corners of the apartment were piled up the mattresses
and jtillows of the Sheikh's family left there for our use.
AVe have, however, always been averse to using any
bedding but our own on such a journey, having been
taught by experience that Arab bedding as a rule har-
i)ors all sorts of vermin. Therefore we left that undis-
turbed in the corners, and felt truly grateful when our
host, seeing that we had our own bedding, liad it re-
moved for the use of his family in their temporary
quarters.

ABOUT NisFBIN. 446

The Sheikli sent us milk, butter, cheese, eggs,
several fowls, and six or eight water-melons ; hut where
he got the fruit we were at a loss to guess, there being
no sio-n of vesretation visible within ten miles around
the village.

The day closed with one of those wonderful sun-
sets, such as are to be seen only in the desert. The
majestic fiery orb of day threw a crimson lustre over
the entire desert landscape, which was literally teeming
with small camel caravans, wild horsemen, and cattle
herds pouring in with hurrid step from all points of
the compass, endeavoring to reach the village shelter
before nightfall, ^^e prepared our beds in the centre
of the court-yard, which was splendidly illuminated by
the starry firmament, where we lay down for the night,
surrounded by our men and horses, expecting to enjoy
a good sound sleep, if only for a few hours ; but there's
many a slip 'twixt cup and lip. Though quite pros-
trated from the excessive heat of the day, we could find
no repose, the little tormentors called sand-flies, a tiny
and scarcely visible yellowish fly, extremely troublesome
in the sandy regions of Mesopotamia and Arabia, kept
us busily rubbing and scratching ourselves all night.
Towards midnight we were treated to a prolonged
serenade of prowling jackals and musically disposed
dogs. By two o'clock in the morning, the canine
vocalists got tired of howling and relapsed into silence ;
but hardly had they withdrawn from the stage, when
suddenly the shrill " loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo " of
apparently a hundred female voices, accompanied by
the clapping of as many pair of hands, echoed dismally
through the sultry night air.

It is customary with the Moslem women of the
Orient, especially with those of Mesopotamia and
Arabia, immediately after the birth of a child, to

446 ABOUT NISIBTN.

assemble in the house of its parents to congratulate the
iiappy niotlier on the evelit ; il", however, the new-born
habe has the bad luck to be a girl, though it is not
drowned or otherwire dispatched, there are no great
demonstrations of joy made in her honor ;.^ould the
child prove to be a boy, the jny of all interested in the
event knows no bounds, and the whole house is turned
topsy-turvey by the female friends of the unspeakaldy
liappy mother; loads of sweet-meats and other dainties
are procured and consumed by the numerous congratu-
lating female guests, who are loud in their i)raise of
the favored mother, and finally they repair in a body
to the court-yard, or on the flat roof of the house, squat
down on the floor in a circle, and strike up the above-
mentioned yell or song in chorus, repeating the same
for hours, once in about every five minutes, and varying
the entertainment with a loud clapping of the hands,
without the vocal accompaniment, and with cliatting
or laughing.

AVhat they mean to express by their monotonous
and shrill chant, I am at a loss to say, unless it be to
express their opinion that one more pearl has been
ushered into the world, the Arabic word " Lulu "
meaning a pearl. Yet it can hardly be thus exi)laine(l,
as they do not bestow this name on the " lords of crea-
tion," but, on the contrary, on the oi)posite sex, " Luhi "
Ijeing a very common name for Arabian females. The
concert of the women of Ilamudieh lasted till nearly
three o'clock in the morning, when it was succeeded by
the braying of all the donkeys in the village, several
hundred in number, assisted by the exultant cries of as
manv clianticlcers, which creatures from time imraemo-
rial havinff been accustomed to herald the dawn insisted
on their privilege of doing so that morning, and,
together with the sand-flies, jackals, dogs, donkeys and

>

n
pi

>

ABOUT NISIBIN. 449

women, effactuallj managed to keep us awake all
nigkt.

Utterly disgusted witii our night quarters at
Hamudleh, we rose before daybreak and found the
Sheikh already standing outside the court-yard, sur-
rounded by ten horsemen armed with lances and dag-
gers, whom he ordered to escort us to the foot of the
mountain of Mardin, as the road was very unsafe.

Signor P. thanked him for his hospitality, and we
marched out of Hamudieh in the best of spirits, not-
withstanding our sleepless night, directing our course
northwest across the barren plain towards a hio;h rusf-
ged mountain chain called by the Arabs Jebl Mardin
(Mardin mountain), some sixteen mil ''s distant from
Hamudieh.

CHAPTER XXn.

OVER MOUNT MARDIN^^*.

Lost Sheep — !Mount Mardin at Last — View of El Jesireh Plains —
Experience in lluying Provisions — Interview with tlie Kaimakan
— The Citadel — Roasted Locusts — Armenian Distiller — Muezzins —
Descent of the Mountain — A Shot in the Rear.

Before we liad proceeded many miles we were joined
by fourteen more horsemen, armed, like our escort,
with long lances. At first we eyed them with suspi-
cion, but one of the Sheik's horsemen, Avho Avas also his
nephew, said that we need not doubt, as he knew them
all. Our caravan now numbered over fifty men, and
ran little risk of being attacked, yet our escort contin-
ually kept a good look-out on all sides.

The men who had joined us on the road belonged
to a little village half way between Ilanmdreh and
Mardin, and informed us that they were just returning
from a search after a herd of sheep, which had been
driven off by a band of marauding Eedouins a couple
of days before; that they had discovered no traces of
the two sliei»herds (men of their village), and had rea-
son to believe that both had been murdered and buried.
As to the sheep, they had traced them by a circuitous
route to a small Bedouin camp close to the banks of
the Jachjaclia, and that they were now returning home
to collect all the available men of their village, and
with the assistance of some friends of Kotchhissar (a
villar^e at the foot of the south side of the ^lardin
Mountains), intended to make a raid on the robbers
with the view of regaining their lost property, and at
the same time get their revenge; in other words, to

(450)

OVER MOUNT MARDTN. 451

recover their own sheep and steal those of the thieves.
About two hours afterwards these men left us abruptly,
and rode slowly across the country towards their vil-
lage, visible about three miles to the left of the road.
I never heard the sequel of their expedition. "We
travelled until about half-past ten in the forenoon, when
we found ourselves at the foot of the high and rugged
Jebel Mardin, where our escort took leave of us. Here
the road, which had been quite fair, became very steep
and stony, and grew harder and harder to travel as we
advanced into the huge, highly picturesque mountain
gorge through which the road to Mardin leads. "While we
were still many miles away on the plain we could dis-
tinctly trace the outlines of this remarkable mountain
fastness, dazzling in the rays of the early morning sun;
but after entering the mountain gorge we were not a
little astonished to see the snoAV- white minarets,
mosques and other buildings clinging, as it were, like
swallows' nests, to the bare, excessively high and almost
inaccessible rocks, which form the southeastern slope of
the lebl Mardin. Indeed, a more thrillingly romantic
situation for a town can scarcely be imagined. Tower-
ing as it does at the height of at least twenty-two hun-
dred feet above the immense plains of El Jesireh, its
buildings rather hanging to than standing upon the
bleak mountain side. "WTien viewed from below it ap-
pears downright impossible for man to climb up to it,
not to speak of horses and camels and other beasts of
burden. Nevertheless, numerous caravans are daily
ascending and descending the mountain pass, with
heavy loads, and strange as it may appear, an accident
rarely happens to them.

After toiling painfully along over the outrageously
uneven pavement of huge round boulders of extreme
smoothness, with which the road at the entrance of the

452 OVER MOUNT MARDIN.

gorge 13 covered, we crossed tlic little brooklett liat
runs through this awe-inspiring gorge, and ignorantly
gtruck into the wrong path, by swerving to our right,
instead of tlie left, and soon found ourselves on very
difficult and dangerous ground. 1Iow«*¥«f, we had to
push on to the spot where the two paths rejoined each
other, as there was no room to turn our horses round
on the excessively narrow mountain path (hardly three
feet wide), with a yawning precij^ice on one side and
a bare, perpendicular rock on the other. Not a zephyr
Btirred the air, and the sun shone with relentless power
upon our backs, as we slowly and cautiously climbed
from ledge to ledge, leading our animals by the bridle.
Time wore on, and we began to think that we should
never reach Mardin; for the more we advanced the
more difficult became the ascent, and it took us fully
three hours from the time we entered the gorge to
reach our final halting place, a narrow space of nearly
level ground, about four hundred yards to the left of
the town, just where the mountain chain, overtuwering
the rear of the town, is intersected by a breach, or gap,
so that from our position we could see not only the
eastern, but also the northern slope of the mountain,
with the Tigris valley in the distance (which we had
not seen since we left Teserehebn-Omar). I need hardly
say that the panorama we viewed from this elevated
point was intensely interesting. Looking towards the
south, we saw extended at our feet the endless, barren
plains of El Jesireh, the land of the nativity of Abram,
the "TJr" of the Chaldecs, very much resembling a
huge, yellow isli gray ma]>, dotted here and there with
a miserable village, a Bedouin camp, or a patch of low
nhrubs and bushes — not twenty trees being visible on
the plains as far as the eye could reach, rendering this
territory drearily monotonous and desolate in its aspect

OVER MOUNT ivIARDIN. 453

Quite a different scene presented itself on the north
side of the niountuiu chain — this side of the country
presenting rather an irregular, mountainous character,
looked fiertile, well wooded and watered, and more
thickly inhahited. It was studded with hills, moun-
tains, and deep narrow valleys, some of which latter
showed unmistakeable signs of cultivation. The sub-
urbs of Mardin, too (though viewed from the foot of
the mountain, quite barren-looking), presented a much
less desolate aspect when seen from near by, for wher-
ever there w^as the slightest deposit of soil on the
granite rock it was overgrown with grass, bushes, vines,
and even fruit and shade trees of considerable size,
which gave the otherwise gloomy town an appearance
of cheerfulness. Our horses were soon picketed, and
our tent pitched in an equally short time, whereupon
Signor P. desj)atched some of our men to the town to
buy provisions, while two others were ordered to pilot
Father M. to the monastery of the Jacobites, the prior
thereof being an Italian, to whom Father M. was intro-
duced by means of a letter from his clerical friend at
Mossul. Our men soon returned with ample provisions
and delicious fruit in the shape of figs and grapes.
After breakfast I accompanied Signor P. to the town
to see the Kairaakam about a new escort. We found
this worthy, an old, surly Turk, sitting cross-legged,
surrounded by his clerks, and by his side another stern-
looking personage in a wdiite turban, who appeared to
be the Cadi (judge), both sitting on a carpet in a corner
of the apartment, settling disputes, and passing judg-
ment right and left; tremblingly gaped at by a set of
half-starved, dirty ragamuffins, who all had their com-
plaints and defences to make. A gang of sorry -looking,
drowsy Turkish soldiers, who had evidently been born
and reared in a country destitute of soap and water,

454 OVER MOUNT MARDIN.

guarded the entrance to the apartment, and bullied the
wretched natives who thronged in and out.

After waiting a long time in the sultry audience-
room, without being invited by the Kaimakam to sit
down — as is the usual custom of these, officials when
visited by Europeans — we got tired of waiting, and
intended to withdraw; but the soldiers at the door at-
tempted to prevent us. TTe pushed them aside, how-
ever, and walked off; but we had not reached the street
when one of the soldiers came running after us, and
told us that the Kaimakam was now at our service.
We let him know, however, that that worthy's ser-
vices were no longer required. This abrupt answer
was evidently quite unexpected, and caused some un-
easiness to the phlegmatic Turkish magistrate, who
correctly believed us to be in the possession of a "Firman"
or order from his imperial master, the Sultan, for our
safe conduct, and to ignore such an order would have
been fraught with dire consequences to the disobedient
official. It was not, therefore, surprising that shortl}^
after our return to camp the portly old Kaimakam
paid us a visit, accompanied by his suite of attendants,
and being confronted with the hieioglyphics well
known as the signature of the Sultan Abd-ul-Azis, and
reverently kissing that talisman, he burst into a pro-
fusion of apologi'^s for his seeming neglect of us, and
pleaded hard to be permitted to serve us in any way,
and insisted upon our accepting a huge tray of sweet-
meats and a basket of delicious fruit, which he sent for,
and of which, after keeping our visitor in terrible sus-
pense for a long time, we accepted a portion in token
of amity.

While still engaged with the Kaimakam in talk-
in£r, smokintr and drinkiny; coffee, we received another
visit. The strangers were two young men in European

OVER MOUNT MARDIN. 455

costume, but wearing the inevitable "tarboosh," or
fez, of the government official. On being introduced to
us by the Ka'imakam, they proved to be telegraph ope-
ratoi-s stationed at Mardin, one of the stations ot the
telegraph line between Constantinople and Bassora.
One of the vounsc men was an Ensflishman, the other a
Greek, and both wore the tarboosh only because it was
compulsory for employees in the Ottoman service. As
soon as the Ka'imakam had withdrawn, after humbly
promising to have fifty zaptiehs ready to escort us to
Diarbekir, if necessary, whenever we required them,
the two young men became quite loquacious, the one in
good, sound English, the other in fluent Italian. They
admired our horses, complained of the dull life in this
gloomy mountain fastness, and afterwards proposed
walk through the town, a proposal which we gladly
accepted, as we had all sorts of purchases to make in
the bazaar. Of course we found all the streets, or
rather sinuous passages, in this crowded place very
narrow and rugged ; the principal streets boasted of a
pavement composed of cobble-stones and huge boulders,
most of them worn excessively smooth and slippery,
and very dangerous to the legs and necks of man and
beast All the buildings in the city are of the usual
Oriental style, and though rather small are composed
entirely of stone, and evidently well built, or they
would long since have rolled into the yawning abyss
beneath them. .

Mardin contains a pretty, strong citadel located
near the centre of the town, which is garrisoned by
about one hundred and twenty soldiers (Turkish) very
poorly clad, fed and armed. The entrance or gate of
the citadel is magnificently ornamented with old ara-
besques, said to be the finest in the world, superior even
to those of any of the ^[oorish masterpieces of archi*

456 OVER MOUNT MARDIN.

tocture in Spain, the famous Alhambra not excepted.
Besides the citadel, tliere are many mosques with lofty
minarets, several public baths, two small but well-
stocked bazaars, a fine library and a Jacobite monas-
tery (occupied by quite a number of Frerrch and Italian
monks), and several other buildings. The inhabitants
number about fifteen thousand, whereof one-half pro-
fessed the Moslem faith, the other half the Christian
creed; the latter community being composed of Chal
dean, Maronite and Jacobite sects. The Arabic lan-
guage is little spoken, and their manners, customs, dress
and physiognomy are no longer Arabic, but unmistak-
ably Turkish, or Kurd, as in fact they are not Arabs,
but Turcomans or Kurds. These characteristics are
more or less noticeable in the majority of the inhabit-
ants of the cities and villages along our line of march
from Kifri ui»wards; but in the population of Kifri,
Karkuk, Erbil, Zachu, Jeslreh-ebn-Omar, Nisibin, etc.,
having a considerable mixture of Arab blood, betrays
characteristics not purely Turcoman or Kurd; speaks
princi|ially the Arabic language, and is not the true
representative of the genuine native of that portion of
the world.

While i)crambulating the streets, or rather lanes,
of Mardin, we were struck l)y the rcmarkal)ly healthy
and vigorous appearance of its native inhabitants, both
young and old, male and female. Their fair and rosy
complexion, symmetric and athletic forms, clearly
demonstrated the salulu'ity of the justly famed climate
of this mountain fastness. Another pleasing charac-
teristic of that place, evidently the result of the whole-
some influence of a healthy and invigorating climate,
is the industry of its population, especially of the
Christian portion of it; numbers of whom are manu-
facturers of silk, woolen and cotton goods, leather ware,

OVER MOUNT MARDIN. 45 T

firearms, cutlery, jewelrv, etc., etc., all of which find a
ready sale in the bazaars of Mardin, as many of the
Bedouin tribes on the plains of El Jesireh itay periodi-
cal visits to Mardin for the double purpose of making
their annual purchases and disposing of their own pro-
duce, such as sheep's wool, goat's hair, skins, butter,
cheese, poultry, cattle, horses, camels, asses, etc.

In the course of our stroll through that part of the
bazaar set apart for the sale of meat, fruit, grain, and
other provisions, I noticed several baskets full of
roasted locusts, a kind of fruit much in demand among
the poorer classes of Mesopotamia, Arabia and Persia,
especially by the inhabitants of Eastern Arabia and
those of the coasts of the Persian Gulf, where thev are
exposed for sale in every bazaar, and, as may be pre-
sumed, disposed of at a very low price. They are
roasted either on a thin stone slab or iron tray placed
over a brisk fire until they are rendered quite brown
and crisp, when they are considered fit for food. I have
tasted them, and found them to be much like the tails
or fins of fish when well fried. Though they are C[uite
edible when fresh from the fire, they are not over good
when eaten a few days after roasting, especially if not
crisply done, as by that time they acquire a kind of
stale shrimp odor. I never liked them much, probably
owing to my prejudice against swallowing any kind of
insects. I have, however, frequently seen Arabs and
Afghans eat them by the pound apparently with
great relish.

During our prolonged ramble through the bazaars
of Mardin, our lucky star led us into the store of an
old silver-bearded Armenian of gigantic stature, who
did a thriving business in the distillery line ; manufac-
turing a species of arak, of excellent flavor, which,
when undiluted, had the peculiarity of being as pure

458 OVER MOUNT MARDTN.

and transparent as the clearest water, but as soon as it
■was brought in contact with that element it assumed a
beautiful rose color.

Besides arak, he distilled spirits of wine or alcohol,
rose water, ottar of roses, sherbet, etc. ^^"e bought a
good supply of this arak (Mardin Arak having a con-
siderable reputation in Alesopotamia). ^Ve were, how-
ever, particularly anxious to purchase wine, as it is not
only more agreeable to drink in hot climates than
spirituous liquor, but far more capable of quenching
excruciating thirst than the latter.

AVine is generally preferred to water by the
traveler in the East, not only because of its flavor, but
in a sanitary point of view being more invigorating ;
ai'd lar^e quantities of water consumed in hot cli'
mates are liable to cause lassitude and fever. Our
distiller did not, however, deal in wine, but referred us
to his brother, Avho was immediately sent for. This
individual piloted us through a labyrmth of narrow
Janes and passages to a cave in the rocks behind his
dwelling; the entrance to this cave was gained through
a stout wooden door secured by a padlock of very
primitive construction, which promptly yielded on
application of an odd sha[)ed key in the liand of our
"Cicerone." The cave was low, about thirty feet
square, inhabited by a family of bats which fluttered
silently around us. On the ground, along the walls,
stood a half a dozen earthen jars or urns capable of
containing at least fifty gallons each. Some of them
were empt}-, but the rest were full of excellent wine of
a dark red color, the ]»ure juice of grapes, which we
were told were cultivated in large quantities on the
nortlieasteni slope of Jcbl Madrin. The wine v/as icy
cold, as was also the atmosphere of the cave, which
really chilled us to the bone. AVe bought about six

OVER MOUNT MARDIN. 459

gallons for the very low price of twenty piasters (about
one dollar), to be delivered, and paid for at our camp,
at the other end of the town. Thereupon, we tramped
back to the camp accompanied by our wine merchant,
who, thanks to his wonderful sure-footedness, managed
to carry the heavy earthen jug over the treacherous
and slippery cobblestones of the outrageous pavement
without " smashing " it. Arrived in camp, the wino
was at once transferred to empty glass bottles, which
had repeatedly been filled and emptied since our de-
parture from Bagdad, and which we always kept care-
fully stowed away among our luggage in order to
preserve them on our journey, as glass bottles were very
scarce in that region, and cannot easily be bought
throughout Mesopotamia ; and even corks are held in
high value in that country.

Shortly after our arrival in camp, the glorious sun
began to descend behind the low, sandy undulating
hills far away on the western horizon. What a mag-
nificient sight was that sunset ! The entire panorama
was illuminated with a rosy, golden tint, which was
conspicuous upon the snow white walls of the lofty
mosques, with their glazed cupolas, the gilt crescents
of the latter glittering like so many brilliant stars. By
and by, however, the far thin clouds visible on the
distant horizon, the mountain peaks, the minarets
and mosques, a few moments before tinged with the
richest hues, resumed their quiet color ; the shadows
grew longer and longer; the firmament assumed a dark
blue hue ; the echoof the plaintive and not unmelodious
chorus of voices of the muezzins, who, walking slowly
and solemnly round the lofty balustrades of the differ-
ent minarets, loudly summoned the " faithful " of the
mountain city to prayer, gradually died away ; a belated
falcon or eagle soared overhead uttering one last, pierc-

400 OVER MOUNT MARDTN.

ing scream as lie disappeared from our view. Here and
there a bat flitting noiselessly, but in fantastic irregular
lines through the cooling atmosphere, heralded the
approach of night. The last ray of the sunlight faded
from the horizon, and after a twilight of but a few
moments one star after the other appeared, and the
silvery moon rose gently from behind the dark outlines
of the distant mountain cliain, and spread soft light
over the quiet landscape. The majestic sunset, the
lovely starry moonlit night, and the wonderfully exhilor
ratinsc nigrht breeze blowino; through the mountain
gap, formed a delightful contrast to the suftbcating,
sultry nights and days, which we had hitherto experi-
enced during our slow and toilsome march over the
scorching and sandy plains of El Jcsireh, We noticed
this remarkable contrast the more, because of its being
the first night which we passed in the invigorating
atmosphere of the lofty mountain regions of KCirdistan.
An indescribable feeling swei)t over us at the thought
that the most wearisome and monotonous part of our
journey was over; and to accomplish the remainder of
it seemed in comparison mere child's play ; and
although we had as yet scarcely achieved half our
journey, we felt as if it were nearly at an end. Even
Signor P., the head of our caravan, was rejoicing that
he had brought his horses at least so far without
accident. lie knew how dangerous to the feet and legs
of his extremely valuable drove of young and s})irited
Arabian horses were these rugged, mountainous passes,
and he now felt that only by unceasing watchfulness
and careful management would he succeed in deliver-
ing them to their imperial owner in Paris in proper
condition. Our Arab grooms, too, few of whom had
ever been so far north, or in a country so cool and
mountainous, showed a marked change in their deport-

OVER MOUNT MARDTN. 461

ment for the quiet, grave mood so characteristic with
the Arah gave vray to a communicative, joyous dispo-
sition seldom seen among them. Every member of
our caravan having experienced such a marked change
for the better, it is not to be wondered at that our
entrance into the territory of Kiirdistan was duly cele-
brated that night by an improvised banquet, at
which Signor P. and myself entertained, to the best of
our ability, our newly made acquaintances, the two
telegraph operators before mentioned.

A sumptuous dinner, to which we sat down in the
open air under the starry firmament, was duly honored
by a respectable number of bottles of the highly pala-
table Mardin wine. AVe had scarcely finished oui-
meal, when our traveling companion, Father M., who
had left us in the morning for the purpose of paying ?.
visit to his clerical brethern at the Jacobite monastery,
returned to camp, accompanied by three cf the monks
and a servant carrying a dozen bottles of wine in a
basket as a present from the monastery.

Our visitors remained with us unti] near midnight
seeming greatly to enjoy themselves. They took leave
of us afiectionately, and returned to the city together.
Our Arab men had spent the eveijing in true Arab fash-
ion ; that is, they sat down on the ground in a circle,
and sipped strong, scalding hot cofi:ee, smoked mild
tobacco, and listened to a btory teller, laughing now
and then, clapping with their hands occasionally to
manifest their approbation, and shouting every little
while, " Mashallah ! " (glory be to God), meaning,
when spoken in that manner, " very good," " excellent,"
" well done." A few minutes after our visitors had
left our camp was plunged in silence ; everybody, with
the exception of the three ^^'atchmen stationed about
the camp, being asleep ; and had it not been for an

462 OVER MOUNT MARDIN.

occasional snort of a horse, or the stamp of a horse's
foot, few passers-bj would have been aware of the vi-
cinity of a living being. Owing, undoubtedly, to the
cool atmosphere, and to the entire absence of sand-flies,
musquitoes, and other nocturnal tormentas;^ both man
and beast enjoyed that night the soundest sleep that we
had had while in Mesopotamia. So comfortably indeed
did we rest, that none of the many sleepers stretched
out on the ground was aware of the heavy dew which
fell. The early morning sun already threw its dazzling
rays upon the silent camp, when the increasing noise of
approaching horses, saluted by a vigorous neighing
from our own studs, roused us all from our shnnbers,
and warned us that it was high time to be stirring.
The approaching troop of horsemen proved to be ten
zapfiehs (irregular cavalry used for escorting caravans)
sent by the Kaimakam of Mardin to escort us as far as
Diarbekir, the capital of Kurdistan, distant about sixty
miles from the former in a northwesterly direction.
All of these horsemen were Kurds, or genuine natives
of Kurdistan, but not equipped with the customary
long lances and curved dagger of the Arab, j)robably
because the former must be rather an awkward weapon
in a mountainous country. Each of these men was
armed with a short, single barrelled matchlock musket,
a pair of long, single barrelled flintlock pistols, and a
large, strongly curved cavalry sword, the latter dang-
liiiir from two leather strai)S attached to a broad leather
])elt, which served in the treble capacity of sword-belt,
ammunition pouch and i)istol holster. The saddles, also,
of these rnftianly looking horsemen were no longer the
small, narrow wooden framed, high pommelled, hard
Arab saddles; but large, soft and roomy, composed of
very smooth and pliable leather of a bright red, yellow or
green oolor, amply stuffed with horse hair or sheep's wool.

OVER MOUNT MARDIN. 463

Unable to see the necessity of such a iiumeroug
escort, we retamed but five of the best mounted
zaptiehs, and sent the others back to the Kaimakam
with our thanks. A frugal breakfast was then taken ;
our camp speedily broken up; all our luggage securely
packed on our beasts of burden; our valuable horses
well muffled in blankets, knee and fetlock caps, and
by eight o'clock in the morning our whole caravan
was slowly and cautiously descending the extremely
steep and rocky northeastern slope of Jebl Mardin.

If the ascent of this mountain chain from the south
side had been a very difficult task for us, the descent
on the opposite side was still more so ; for not only was
the latter at least equally steep and dangerous, but the
road, or rather footpath, was even narrower, in many
places, indeed, so much so that not only our animals,
but ourselves, who had of course to lead ihem by the
bridle, had difficulty to find a spot whereon to place
our feet. A slight idea of the nature of the locality is
best given by telling my readers that in a good many
places there were circular holes from one to three
inches in depth, and from six to eight inches in diam-
eter, deeply worn in the solid flinty rock, which, to
judge from their respective positions and distance from
each other, were evidently the footprints of every
horse, camel, mule, and donkey ascending or descend-
ing the mountain for centuries — they being obliged,
owing to the nature of the ground, and extreme nar-
rowness of the path, to place their feet, each in the very
same spots, in consequence of which practice the holes
or imprints in the granite were gradually produced.
The process of wearing these footmarks to such a depth
in the hard rock must have been very slow ; wherefore.
I should not wonder if those very footmarks had been
noticed by the wild horsemen of the terrible Timur or

464 OVER MOTTNT MARDTM.

Tamerlane, the famous Mongol conqueror, who assailed.
capturcd and devastated ^Nlardin about the ^^ear 1392,
and who, like the traveler of the present day, had ne
way to reach or leave Mardin except by the very road
we traveled, there being no possibility Ji£, getting to
or leaving this mountain fastness by any other route.
The footmarks above mentioned were visible also on
the track by which we had ascended to the city. Xow
and then, we reached a part of the mountain i»ath
which was not very steep, and allowed us to rest our
horses a little.

During these short pauses, we enjoyed a most ex-
tensive view from our elevated position. On our right
were the rugged mountain peaks and barren highlands
of the territory of Tur Abdin extending north and
eastward to the banks of the river Tigris, intersected
here and there by deep, narrow ravines, the bottoms
and both sides of which were lined with a dense growth
of stunted trees and bushes covered with a dark green
foliage, remarkal)ly contrasting with the otherwise
bleak and desolate looking rocky country around. On
our left we noticed the less steep and more fertile hills
and table lands which form the eastern end of a crescent
shaped mountain chain, called Karadsha Dagh, and
extending in a northwesterly direction from Jebl Mar-
din to the banks of the river Eujihrates. Right before
and deep below us extended a beautiful and fertile
little valley, in some parts densely wooded, in others
presenting excellent j>astnre ground, and exhibiting
unmistakable proofs of cultivation in the shape of green
corn-fields and vineyards, especially at the upper end of
the valley at the base of the mountain on which we
stood, A small, raj)idly flowing river, the beautifully
clear waters of which sparkled in the sunshine with
intense brilliancy, and looked like liquid silver as it

OVER MOrNT MARDTN. 465

pursued its tortuous course towards the north, and waa
lost to view in the distance by a sudden bend of the
valley. Far away on the hazy horizon, we espied the
silvery, winding sheet of water well known to us as
the river Tigris, an old acquaintance to which the
rivulet of the little valley served as a tributary ; but
what attracted our attention much more than the
scenery about us was the appearance of large numbers
of hoi'ses and cattle scattered along the banks of the
little stream; and the presence of numerous strangely
clad human beings among them ; although — with the
exception of a single mosque, dilapidated, and situated
some distance from the rio-ht bank of the river — we
could not discover tents, huts, or any other habitation
of human construction, as far as we could gaze along
the valley. Yet numerous columns of smoke slowly
curling up from the densest clusters of trees and bushes
seemed to indicate that we were approaching a large
camp. The result of our discovery will hereafter be
told.

Our descent into the valley below was naturally
very slow and tiresome. Owing to the dangerous con-
dition of the mountain path, everybody was compelled
to travel on foot, carefully leading his horse by the
bridle, almost the entire distance between Mardin and
the foot of the mountain. Even Bahri, the negro girl,
had to do the same with her snow-white donkey, an
animal of truly wonderful power of endurance. By
eleven o'clock in the forenoon, we had nearly reached
the foot of the mountain, and tlie road had by that
time assumed a more practicable character, so that we
could resume our position in the saddle. Our track led
now for a considerable distance right through the mid-
dle of an extensive area of vineyards ; every vine in
whicn was literally borne to the ground by the weight

466 OVER MOUNT MARDTN.

of the grapes growing upon it; atid what grapes!
averaging a pound eaeli bunch, with the fruit of the size
of wahiut?, having a skin of ahnost transparent thin-
ness, and full of a delicious juice ; sweet as honey, and
when rubbed between the fingers, quite-»4-hesive, like
mucilage. N"ever before or since did I see in any vine-
yard such a profuse crop of grapes, and of so matchless
a quality. All the vineyards appeared as if they were
carefully watched, for we noticed numerous individuals
on the lookout, some of whom, attracted by the tramp
of the caravan, came down to the road, offering large
quantities of grajtes for sale, for a mere trifle. Others
we saw sitting on a sort of r.arrow wooden platform,
erected on an elevated spot, and roofed over Avith brush-
wood or grass as a protection against the rays of the
scorching sun. These lookouts presented very much
the appearance of huge bee-hives perched on four long
poles or stakes, driven into the ground, similar to the
huts of some of the savage tribes of Africa and Asia,
who thus protect themselves against the moisture of
the ground, as well as against the attacks of wild ani-
mals and dangerous reptiles. The grapes being ob-
tainable at so small a jirice, Signor P. ordered a short
halt, bought a large (juanity of them, and distributed
them liberally among the men, but strictly forbid thera
to steal a single grajie, however closely the vines might
grow by the road-side. This order was for a time faith-
fully obeyed; but we had scarcely g(Mie a mile further,
when we were startled by the loud report of a musket
in our rear. At a loss what to think of this, we looked
back, almost suspecting that we had been way-laid,
and were about preparing to defend ourselves, when we
saw one of our men about a hundred yards behind us,
f'lcar the low wall which separated the vineyards from
the road, alight in the middle of the narrow road-way,

OVER MOUNT MARDIN. 487

and run as fast as his leors could carrv^ him toward our car-
avail. The cause of the shot was now evident ; the fel
low, knowing that Signor P. would not permit him to
take grapes, managed to lag behind the caravan unsus-
pected by anybody, and, stealing into a vineyard, helped
himself to the tempting fruit. His suspicious move-
ments, however, must have been noticed by some
watchman concealed about the vinevards ; suffice it to
say that the grape thief got shot at; and hearing a bul
let whistle by his ears, and strike the wall behind him,
he could not appreciate the joke, but bolted back to
the caravan for protection. Signor P. gave the fellow
who happened to be one of the Mukaries, a severe re-
buke ; but it was hardly necessary, for he was fright-
ened almost out of his wits by his narrow escape.

XXIIT.
VALLEY OF EL JESEIEEH^-.

Through the Valley — Meeting a Circassian Caravan — Meshed Village
Peculiarities — Stampede of the Horses — Turkish Soldiers Guard our
Camp — Uses of a Circassian Cart — Female Costumes — Domestic
Life — Onward Again — Tlie Ancient Fortress — An Ostrich Race —
Shooting an Elephant by Mistake.

Slowly passing on through the narrow valley, an
abrupt curve brought us suddenly face to face with live
warlike, strangely equipped and still more strangely
costumed horsemen evidently bound for Mardin. The
Arabs and Koords of our caravan gaped with unfeigned
wonder at the to them mysterious strangers with their
outlandish garb and equipments, and, mounted on
foreigti-bred horses, presenting an altogether different
aspect to either "Feringhies" (Europeans), Turks, Per-
sians, Arabs, or any other nation our men had as yet
seen. We, however, the European members of our
caravan, were not long in defining the nationality of
our unexpected friends. The very first glance at them,
in fact, was sufficient for us to* unanimously pronounce
them to be Circassians; and we almost immediatelv
remembered that just before our departure for Batrdad
we had read in the Joiirvnl de Covstantinopk — a
paper whi(^'h finds its way through Turkish couriers
to the ''City of the Caliphs"— that in conse-
quence of a mutual agreement between the courts
of St. Petersburg and Constantinople, his Majesty the
Emperor of Russia woidd exchange an equal num-
Ijer of subjects with his >rajesty the Sultan of tlie Otto-
man Empire, several htmdred native Christians (Greek
Catholics) of Turkey in Asia having petitioned the

(468)

VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH. 469

Sultan for permission to emigrate, giving as their
reason their inability any longer to endure the persecu-
tions of the Moslems among whom they were living.
The Czar of Russia, hearing of this petition, and being
aware that a portion of his own subjects in Circassia
were very fanatical and unruly Moslems, proposed the
above mentioned exchange to the Sultan. The offer
was promptly accepted ; and shortly after, about ten
thousand Greek Catholics of the Ottoman Empire emi-
grated and settled on the Russian shores of the Black
Sea ; while an equal number of Moslems packed up
their goods and chattels, left Circassia, the land of their
birth, entered the Turkish dominions in Asia, and,
after wandering about for some time in the Ottoman
Empire in quest of a suitable place of settlement,
finally brought up in mountainous Kiirdistan, and
selected the wild and almost uninhabited valleys of the
district of Tur Abdin for their future home, as the
country nearest resembling the one they had abandoned
forever. The five Circassian horsemen, who had met
us so unexpectedly, were evidently despatched to
Mardin by their chief, either to confer with the Turkish
authorities there, or for some other important purpose ;
for they passed us at a sharp trot, their small, rough-
haired, strong-jointed, vicious-looking horses fairly
steaming with perspiration. They passed us in sullen
silence, eyeing us closely as they brushed by ns ; and
what struck us forcibly was, that they scarcely looked
at our magnificent drove of horses, which compared
with their own rough Cossack ponies as the graceful
gazelle compares with an old he-goat. However, as
they so haughtily ignored ns, I will be even with them
and pass them without further notice in my narrative,
until I give an accurate description of the whole tribe,
whereof these five worthies were, I presume, but insig-

470 VALLEY OF EL JESEIREU,

nificant members. For more than an hour after meeting
these strangers, we travelled a solitary road, seeing no
signs of human life, until we reached an elevation, from
which we could again survey the valley into which we
descended, and at the bottom thereof tha-stuall mosque
we had before seen, lying at the edge of a fine green
lawn bordered by dense foliage trees, and a couple of
low, wretched, flat-roofed dwellings, built of rough,
unhewn stone and sun-dried brick. The whole place
and surroundings teemed with human beings, carts,
horses, cattle, etc., etc. ; and innumerable camp-fires
could be seen smouldering and smoking all around.
A short march brought us to the village, or rather
hamlet, called by some Scheichan, by others Meshed
Hussein {Anglice, Mosque of Hussein or Hassan), and at
the same time we found ourselves at the head-quarters
of a vast Circassian camp. At first we felt rather
uncomfortable in the midst of so many athletic, des-
perately warlike looking individuals, who by their
numerical strength alone might have " eaten us up,
without salt or pepper," had they been so disposed.
It was, therefore, but natural that we selected a quiet
spot, some five hundred yards distant from the village,
for our halt. A narrow, but very rapid mountain
stream of crystal pure water divided our camping
ground from the village and from the Circassians,
which fact led us to hope that it would serve as a sort
of barrier against inquisitive spectators and other
unwelcome intruders from the opposite side of the
river. This expectation was, however, doomed to be
disappointed ; for, we had no sooner forded the stream,
than we were followed by crowds of Circassians, some
on horseback and some on foot, all of them fording the
river to satisfy their curiosity and get a good look at
the " Giaours " (infidels, Non-Moslems). Indeed, before

VALLEY OF EL JESElREH. 471

we had picketed our horses, we were fairly surrounded
by a perfect living wall of these painfully inquisitive
semi-savages, who in their eagerness to witness every-
thing that we were doing, drew the circle gradually
closer and closer around us, so that they at last inter-
fered with our movements. Signor P., annoyed with
their obtrusiveness, remounted his horse, and addressed
them in Arabic, French, and Italian ; but they under-
stood neither language, though they did the Circassian,
Russian, Persian, or Turkish. In this emergency,
Mohammed, the Turkish soldier, cavass, and veteran
of the Crimean war, whom, as previously mentioned,
we had picked up on the road between Jesireh-eben-
Omar and Ernooz, jumped into his saddle for the pur-
pose of requesting the inquisitive crowd in polite
Turkish to stand back; but he had scarcely begun to
speak, when a number of the horses became restive, as
the Circassians came too near them, and were for a
time ungovernable, causing a stampede in which
several of the unwelcome visitors were injured. The
equine riot had the effect of causing 'the inquisitive
crowd to keep at a more respectful distance ; moreover,
the sudden stampede from our camp had been wit-
nessed by the officers of a detachment of Turkish
soldiers stationed near the village for the purpose of
preserving order among the Circassian immigrants,
and suspecting that the latter had made an attack upon
the camp of the Feringhies, the officer in command
crossed the river with a strong guard of men to give
us assistance and protection. Upon learning the true
state of things he smiled ; but being soon after con-
fronted with the execrable hieroglyph, at the foot of
our letter of safe conduct, so well known amono;
Turkish officials, he recognized the "handwriting" n-
the autograph signature of Sultan Abdul Azzis, and

472 VALLEY OP EL JESETREH.

kissed that charming scrawl most reverently, declaring
himself anxious to serve us in every possible way, and
insisted upon stationing a strong guard of soldiers
round our camp, to which Signor P., our chief, did not
object, less from necessity, than to oblige our military
visitor, who proved to be a prominent general of the
Turkish army, and wore on his breast various high
militarv bado-es and medals. lie staved in our camp
nearly all day, enjoying our hospitality, admiring our
horses, and keeping up a lively coiwersation through
Mohiimmed, our interpreter. He told us that thr Cir-
cassians had only arrived in that valley a few days
previous to our visit ; that all of them ititended to
settle permanently in that district, and were only
awaitiii<r the arrival of the commissioners of the
Turkish government, who were hourly expected from
Mardin with a laro-e caravan of camels loaded with
cereals, salt and other necessaries of life, to be distrib-
uted among the immigrants ; while he had been com-
missioned by the government with their protection and
the preservation of order among them. Although
liimself not long acquainted with these immigrants,
he considered them a bold an<l energetic class of i)eople,
but at the same time very proud and insolent; and
though a})parently cpiite honest and peaceable among
themselves, were in reality of a rather warlike and tur-
bulent disposition, possessed of proclivities for pilfering
and vagrancy, and that he had already l)cen compelled
to shoot two of them, convicted of higliway robbery
and murder. He was strongly inclined to believe that
the Muscovite government had })rofited by the ex-
chamre and was undoul)tedlv clad to be rid of this
unruly element. " However," he added, with true
Moslem submission and devotion, "the judgment of
the Ruler of the faithful " — meaning, of course, the

VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH. 4T3

Sultan — " cannot but be wise and riglit, and there
must, therefore, be good reason for it."

Our camp, guarded as it was by twenty Turkish
sentinels, with loaded muskets, placed there by an officer
of high rank in the Turkish army, who was invested
with full authority to shoot any of the soldiers or (Cir-
cassians disobeying his orders, could well dispense with
our presence for a few hours. "We three Europeans,
therefore, gladly accepted the invitation of our mili-
tary protector to join him in holding a review of the
foreigrners under his charo;e, which review he held
daily for the purpose, as he said, of learning the con-
dition of these people, hearing their complaints,
ascertaining their wishes, and distributing rations,
medicines, etc., etc. Considering this an excellent
opportunity of observing the characteristics of a nation
hitherto too romantically described, we eagerly mounted
our horses, and with the officer and an escort of soldiers
started towards the Circassian camp. "We moved straight
toward a large crowd of men assembled on a level piece
of ground in the vicinity of the mosque. On our arrival
among them, it was evident that they were holding a
sort of public meeting ; for, in the centre of the crowd,
which was drawn up in a large circle, we noticed
several old men sitting k la Tare on a large felt carpet;
and, in the middle of this carpet, standing erect on an
improvised platform, a large, broad-shouldered man
with a deeply furrowed and weather-beaten countenance,
was haranguing the crowd. His shaggy eyebrows, and
longhair and l>eard nearly as white as snow, contrasted
strangely with his dark-brown complexion and his
intelligent, though wrinkled features, animated by the
fire of his unusually large, bluish gray eyes. Unfortu-
nately for us, he spoke in a strange, guttural tongue,
utterly unintelligible to all of us, the Turkish General

474 VALLttY or EL JESEIREH.

not excepted. A dead silence reigned throughout the
circle as long as the venerable orator — who proved to
be the chief of the Circassian colony — was speaking,
and when he concluded, the crowd slowly and quietly
dispersed, the majority proceeding to their quarters;
but many remained on the ground eagerlT'^anning the
movements of the Turkish officer and his European
companions, and commenting upon us in their peculiar,
but not wholly unmclodious lanij-uafre. Amono- those
who remained were the Circassian chief, and his atten-
dants. We rode up to him, and after the customary
salaam, were, through an interpreter, formally intro-
duced by the Turkish officer. On learning our desire
to inspect the Circassian camp the chief volunteered to
guide us through it, and ordered his horse and those of
his attendants to be brought. The majority of the
Circassians were encamped among the trees that line
the river bank, and thither we rode. We found a pro-
digious number of small gii>sy tents pitched under the
trees, and awnings suspended between two or more trees
or low hanging branches. The material used for most
of these tents was a kind of coarse cloth, manufactured
of sheep's wool, goat or horse hair; others were made
of a sort of coarse dirty white felt; others, again, were
composed of thin pliant leather or untanncd skins, with
the hair still upon them. I noticed but very few canva-^s
tents, and the few I saw had undoubtedly been oricj-iii-
ully used by Russian soldiers, as Russian letters and
the Russian eagle could be plainly discerned upon
them. To judge from their contents, the greater part
of these tents were oidy occupied during the day, or
were more used for storage than for the purpose of
living therein, for all the bedding, utensils etc., were
stowed away in large old-fashioned roughly-constructed,
two wheeled carts, with stout wooden axletrees, and

TALLEY OP EL JESEIREH. 475

huge, cumbrous, wooden wheels. Each wheel was
composed of one solid piece of wood, at least six inches
thick, cut from the trunk of a tree, three to five feet in
diameter, with a round hole cut in the centre to admit
the axletree ; and through the ends of the latter, large
wooden spikes were driven to prevent the wheel from
going off. There were no iron hoops about the wheels ;
indeed the entire vehicle was guiltless of iron or other
metal fastenings of any description.

I am convinced that any backwoodsman, with
nothing but an axe and a saw at his command, could
construct a much more respectable and easy going
vehicle. I was told that every one of these antedilu-
vian carts was dragged all the way from the Caucasus
by oxen, which I readily believe, for surely any horse
would have died of shame fastened to one of those un-
couth machines. ISTevertheless, these carts must have
proved very useful to the emigrants in their wearisome
journey over mountains and through valleys ; through
chasms and rivers, over a thousand miles of rough un-
even country, utterly destitute of roads and bridges.
In these clumsy affairs they transported their goods
and chattels, and also such members of the tribe as
were unable to travel on horseback, either from being
too young, too old, or too feeble ; and now that they
were encamped, they used these sadly worn, 3'et still
strong vehicles, for temporary habitations for both
sexes, young and old. They were all drawn up in a
row beneath the trees, just opposite the tents, a large,
coarse felt blanket or woolen or canvass cover being sus-
pended horizontally over each cart, and another in
front. The unexpected appearance of their venerable
commander, the Turkish " General," the few Euro-
pean strangers and the numerous escort on horseback
caused considerable commotion among the occupants of

476 VALLEY OF EL JESETREB.

the tents and wagons, wherever we passed ; our advent
heing loudly announced by a multitude of savage curs,
as well as by the numerous children playing about.
Some of these dogs were really quite dangerous brutes,
and made me feel right glad that I ^^•as on horseback.
Many of the children were entirely desTrfiite of clotli-
ing, and most of them were clad oidv in tattered sar-
ments ; their dirty faces and dishevelled hair indicat-
ing utter neglect and want of cleanliness ; but the elas-
ticity of their step, their agility, and their cheerful
faces denoted vigorous health. In various places we
saw infants, hardly able to walk or creep, left to shift
for themselves, but fastened to a tent peg, cart or
tree by one end of a rope or leather thong, the other
end being bound about their waists. Boys over twelve
years of age were dressed like full-grown men, and
girls over eight years old wore the regular costume o
the Circassian woman. As to the men and youths, they
were clad much alike, in a sort of militarv sarb, a
loose tunic reaching to the knees, made of a coarse
strong woolen fabric, usually of dark gray, dark green,
or dark brown hue. This tunic was entirely destitute
of buttons, and was closed so that it had to be sli}i{>ed
over the head of the wearer, and had small j)ockets, from
eiglit to twelve in nunil)er, on each side. Each of these
was about one inch wide and Itetwecn three and four
inches deej), just large enougli to hold a cojipor or brass
tube about the size of a man's finger. These tubes
contain the powder, wadding and balls of the wearer,
and eacli one is furnished with a movable bottom and
a cover, which is supposed to close tlie tube, so that it
is air and water tiglit, keej)ing the powder dry. Thus
the Circassian not only carries his ammunition con-
i^tantly about him, but this hidden row of closely ar-
ranged CO] >i»er nr l)ra88 tubes may also j)rove useful as a

VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH. 477

sort of armor, or coat of niail, partially protecting him
from the dagger thrusts, sabre cuts, Lulhts, lances or
arrows of the enemy.

The lower part of the body was encased in a pair
of pantaloons of the same material as tl e tunic, tight-
tittiiiii: and rcaeliinc: from the waist to the ankle.
Those which 1 ^a\v we're lined with soft leather around
the ankle, and on the inner side fiom the knee down-
ward. The shoes woi-n hy these Circassians were made
of one sin-de T'iece of soft liii;ht-<rrav felt or leather, and
reached to just above the ankle. The s)le was a piece
of stout, tough leather sewed on the she e, and destitute
of a liecl. They wore a high conical fur hat or cap
made of sheepskin with the wool on. The inside of
these caps, which measured at least twelve inches in
height, was lined with thin cloth and the top of the
caj) was made of bright scarlet cloth, or in some cases
brown, green or black. Tlie color of the cap wa;?
usually gray mingled with vhite, but eometimes it was
black or brown. This head piece was without excep-
tion worn consideralily backwards over the neck.
During inclement weather, a kind of fur mantle of the
same material, color and workmanship as the cap, and
reaching from the shoulder nearly to the knee is also
worn. Almost every 3'outh and man in this Circassian
camp wore, dangling from a narrow leather girdle, the
short sword with the short handle of horn, ivory or
silver-wire, used by the Circassians, Afghans and
Persians, and already fully described in another part of
of this book. In addition of the sword just spoken of,
these Circassians carry, when fully armed, a pair of
long, single barrelled, cavalry pistols iu leather or felt
holsters hanging under the left arm, and a long single
barrelled musket provided with either flintlock or
matchlock. Althous-h furnished with locks of a rather

478 VALLEY OP EL JESEIREH.

antique pattern, the firearms themselves are of very
good workmanship, ami hit at short distances with
considerable accuracy. As to the Circassian women,
they wore a costume similar to that which during my
travels I had observed that the Persian wDinen ad opted:
that is R kind of Ions; gown of colored merino or muslin,
fitting closely about the uj^pcr part of the body, with a
very short waist, and tight sleeves from shoulder to
elbow, gradually increasing in width to the wrist,
where they were very wide.

The bodice opens over an under-dress of thin white
muslin-gauze, embroidered with silk or gold thread,
the same as worn by the Persian and Christian women
of Bagdad. All these Circassian girls and women
wore the "iiajamas," characteristic of the Moslems of
both sexes throughout the Orient, a sort of wide
trousers of striped muslin or silk gathered round
tlie waist and ankles. There feet were encased in
slippers of embroidered cloth, felt, or leather. The
only point noticeable to me in which the costume
ditfered materially from that of the ordinary female
Oriental dress, lay in the fact that although Moslems,
none of the Circassians whom I saw wore veils. Another
difference was in the peculiar head dress, which seemed
to be a very small round hat, or sknll-cap, resting
jauntily on the side of the head, api)arently composed
of fine straw or wicker-work and about the shape, size
and color of the crown of a baby's white straw hat. I
should be under any circumstances very inexpert in
deseribing any kind of female dress or fashion, but in
this instance I trust that I may be excused, because of
the difiicultics I met with in obtaining information.
Tlie female j)opulation of the Circassian camp, although
intensely curious and anxious to get a good peep at the
Europeans, were, with the true Moslem character,

VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH. 479

nnwilling to expose themselves to strangers; and
hurriedly took refuge behind carts, tents, trees, bushes,
or cattle, on our passing them; 80 that had I not been
very quick and keen-sighted T would have seen but
little of the vaunted Circassian female beauty. The
Circassians, so far as I can judge by those I saw, are
rather a fine looking race ; for they were tall, robust
and healthy, and remarkable well-developed physically.
The expression of their faces was pleasing and indica-
tive of considerable intelligence. Their symmetrical
features and large blue, gray, or light brown eyes, give
to their countenances a look of frankness, honesty and
innocence, which I fancy is deceptive, if the stories of
the atrocities committed by them on the Russian
soldiers and travelers be true. Their most noticeable
bodily characteristics were a fine erect carriage, even
when old and gray headed; small hands and feet, oval
face, expansive chest, well shaped chin and mouth,
small white teeth, Greek nose, and eyes as described
above. They have boldly arched brows, finely shaped
foreheads and luxuriant hair, blonde, light brown,
auburn, or even red; black being very rare among
them. Indeed, but for their outlandish costume, large
numbers of them mio-ht have been taken for natives of
northern Europe ; for instance, of Denmark or Sweden.
Their complexion, too, especially that of the younger
women, is very fair, and has that peculiar rosy, velvety
texture so frequent among the inhabitants of Northern
Europe and America, and usually regarded by us as an
indication of health. In this they contrasted favorably
with the sallow, or parchment-skinned denizens of
"Western Asia previously described.

Although they are unquestionably a fine looking
people, I did not see any of these world renowned
beauties, the heroines of so many tales, romances, and

480 VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH.

poems, immortalized by Lotli Christian and Moslem
writers of poetry and fiction, and so eagerly sought
and purchased at enormous prices, by wealthy Moslems
when they were taken to the slave market. Although
a large number of the younger women iuilie Circassian
camp were decidedly good looking, it is certain that
very few, if any of them, were gifted with rare beauty.
The clan or tribe to which they belonged were a hardy,
war-like tribe of mountaineers of Circassia proper,
dwelling on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, while
the people so famous for their beauty, and who stock
the slave markets and harems of the Orient with the
fairy like beauties of romance are Georgians, natives of
the country of Georgia, situated southeast of Circassia*
and northeast of Persia, having the Caucasian moun-
tain chain for its northern boundary, wherefore it is
also called Trans-Caucasia. The Georgians are also
subjects of the Czar of Russia and are mostly Greek
Catholics, consequently monogamists, while the Cir-
cassians are, as Moslems, j)()lygamists. The former
speak a language differing from that of the Circassian
and are much less warlike. In their general appear-
ance, these two nations present great similarity, espec-
ially as regards the fair sex, and the difference between
them might be described by comparing them to two
bank notes, a genuine and a counterfeit one, at first
sight seeming alike ; but on closer examination a very
}>lain (liflerence exists so that one caimot be mistaken
ior the other. Many a Circassian beauty is sold and
paid for as a (jeorgian, bnt never a Georgian for a
Circassian. As with all nations, so it is with these
two, ahhongh each connts among its members some
very good looking people; there is a majority of plain
ones among them, a considerable number of the Cir-
cassians and Georgians owing their inferior personal

VALLEY OF EL iESEIREH. 481

appearance to the dreadful ravages of tne small-pox.
The Circassiai: and Georgian women sold in the mar-
kets are mostly captives taken in war, or they have
been kidnapped in one way or another ; though some
are actually sold by their parents, who are well aware
that if their daughters are of attractive appearance,
their lot will be that of any handsome woman in the
Orient, namely, that of luxurious ease and pleasant
captivity ; and if they be not gifted with personal
charms, the parents consider that they will be no
Tvorse off if sold to the highest bidder, than if they
were taken to wife by any of the poorer classes of the
men of their own country ; because in either case, they
will have to do the work of their master's or theii
husband's household, luxury, idleness, and the othei
privileges of the zenana (harem) being in prospect for
those only who belong to wealthy Moslems, as they
alone can afford to pay high prices and keep in idleness,
handsome but useless women. Of course both the fair
and plain looking girls are in reality slaves, unless given
to their husbands directly by their parents. If sold to
a stranger, they are nothing but slaves until they are
raised to the position of wives by their " lords and
masters," but as I have previously stated, the lot of a
Moslem female slave is far from being a hard one, and
slavery for them is only a temporary deprivation of
liberty, as all are sooner or later granted their freedom.
Female slaves are raised occasionally to the dignity of
wives by their masters, or given in marriage to members
of the master's own family, and sometimes to " out-
siders." Male slaves are after a while permitted to
marry female slaves and sometimes even the daughters
or other relatives of their masters, after receiving their
freedom. On their marriage with slaves, which must
be authorized by their masters, both male and female

482 VALLEY OP EL JESEIREH.

slaves receive their liberty. Most people unacquainted
with the true state of affairs will naturally condemn
the apparently outrageous conduct of Circassians and
Georgian parents in selling their daughters as soon as
they have attained womanhood, i. e., their 10th, 11th,
or 12th year. But these censors shouUrconsider that
these peojjle, hardly half civilized, are utterly destitute
of education ; that, like other Orientals, they have
peculiar notions of morality ; that they still adhere to
their old, traditional custom of disposing of their
daughters to the hest advantage.

Much pleased with our inspection of the Circas-
sion's camp, we were compelled hy the a})proaching
night to take leave of our two guides, much to the re-
gret of both, but especially of the old Circassian chief
who had oftered us the hospitality of his tent ; and to
insure our acceptance the old fox had told us that there
would be a pei'formance of beautful " Almas " (female
dancers) in the evening. The bait, though well thrown,
did not take ; for although we were sorry to disappoint
the old man (who was a relative of the famous "Schamyl,
the Circassian Abd-el-Kadcr, so long the terror of the
Russian soldiery), we could not help it; for it was near
Bunset, and we had been absent from our camp already
too long ; we were also familiar with the Kurdish and
Arabian " Almas," whose exhibition is nothing but a
Beries of slow dances executed to wretchedly monoton-
ous music by one or more fantastically dressed girls,
who, while dancing, seem to vie with each otlicr in the
execution of the most voluptuous gestures and postures,
an exhibition essentially demoralizing ; and presuming
that Circassian dance would be of the same character,
we respectfully declined, recrossed the river and reached
our camp just before sunset, pretty well tired, hun-
gry and thii-sty, which troubles we soon remedied at

VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH. 488

our camp- table, which was literally groaning under tha
weiffht of inviting; dishes. Soon after niy-htfall ou**
camp was plunged into deep silence, broken only now
and then by the challenge of the Turkish sentinels
v.ho had received orders from their superior officer to
stay with us all night. On the other side of the river,
however, there seemed more life; for until midnight the
distant sound of rude and monotonous Oriental music
echoed from different quarters, ligh;s and torches could
be seen moving weirdly about the Circassian camp
and numerous camp-fires blazed in all directions. The
night air was humid and quite chilly, necessitating the
use of woolen blankets, and the skies were overcast
with a dense haze, so that neither moon nor stars were
visible. Toward daybreak the haze dispersed, and the
dark blue tint of the sky indicated a very hot day.
An hour before sunrise we were once more on the road,
winding our way down the deep narrow valley, along
the outskirts of the camp of the Circassians, which
was still j)lunged in peaceful quietude, but carefully
watched by the shaggy and savage shepherd dogs.
Scattered in groups all along the valley we noticed
numbers of horses, or rather ponies (for they were
much smaller than our own horses), oxen, cows, sheep
and goats, all of them rough-haired, emaciated and
miserable looking, evidently in consequence of their
recent change of climate and pasture ground, as well as
their long marches. It was painful to see tho\r dejected
gaze at us as we passed by.

After following the course of the little river for
about two hours, it suddenly swerved off towards the
northeast, while our route lay in a northwesterly direc-
tion, up and down hill, across a very uneven, barren and
stony country, apparently uninhabited, except by im-
mense numbers of the sand-grouse so often mentioned.

484 VALLEY OF EL JBSEIREH.

Signer P. and I (riding, as I usually did, in advance of
our caravan) shot freely at them, and they were quickly
picked up by our followers on foot. The loud echo
of the report of our guns startled a flock of large vul-
tures which had evidently been hoveriu^vround some
dead animal, as yet invisible, Ij'ing iu or near the road
some distance ahead of us. Rising in wide sjdral
circles from the ground, they gyrated higher and
higher above our heads, the rustling noise created by
the slow, phlegmatic flapping of their powerful wings
being distinctly audible to us before we saw them.
Slowly we moved ou,but the nearer we drew to the spot
whence they had risen, the more the sickening odor
which permeated the air increased, its unpleasant effect
being evidenced by the snorting and sneezing of our
horses. A further progress of a hundred yards brought
us to the source of the pestilential odor. There, right
alongside the road, in a little dried-up gully or ravine,
lay the putrid carcases of at least forty oxen, cows,
horses and sheep, immistakeably of Circassian breed,
which, unable from exhaustion to proceed any further,
or <lying from thirst or disease, were led, or more prob-
ably thrown into the ravine to die. On every rock and
stun+ed tree in the ravine were perched hundreds of
ghastlj- vultures, so completely gorged with carrion as
to be utterly unable to take wing, and so hel[)les3 that
two of our men bowled over several of them with sticks
and stones. Disgusted with the ofi:ensive picture we
hurried on, but during the next two hours' march we
re[>ea(edly passed similar scenes, and in one instance
actually saw two hyenas and a gang of jackals feast on
the carrion in plain daylight, scarcely noticing us until
a shot was fired at them, when they took to their heels
in good earnest and rapidly disappeared over the hills.
About eleven o'clock in the forenoon we sighted a

VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH. 485

fortified village situated on the top of a steep conical
hill entirely destitue of vegetation. Although appa-
rently not far off, it took us nearly two hours to reach it.
When we finally got to the foot of the hill we judged
it advisahle to give our horses and men a few hours'
rest, because both appeared to be suffering from the
intense heat of the day. Upon close examination the
sides of the hill upon which the village stood proved
to be so excessively steep, that we thought it almost
impossible for our heavily laden beasts of burden, ex-
hausted as they were by the scorching heat of the sun,
to climb up to the village ; moreover, there was such a
fine shady grove, on the banks of a rivulet which irri-
gated the gardens at the base of the hill, tliat we pre-
ferred to stay at the foot. We were not long in discover-
ing that we acted wisely in the matter, for shortly after
our arrival we noticed a long file of women of all ages,
issuing from one of the gloomy gates of the lofty
ancient fortress (for such, indeed, this dismal looking
nest proved to be), and slowly descending the steep and
narrow footpath to the river to fill their earthen jugs ;
and we learned from them that every drop of water
consumed in the village, which they called Khanich,
had to be carried up there from the river, owing to the
exhaustion of rain water in the dilapidated old cisterns
of the fortress, caused by leakage and long drought. A
very pleasant place to live in, that old Kiirdian moun-
tain-nest must be, without a drop of water within its
tottering brick walls, which look as if they were only
awaiting a good excuse to tumble down into the valley
beneath, and crush the miserable little hamlet of sun-
dried mud houses in the vicinity of which we were en-
camped. During the course of the afternoon I strolled
over to the hamlet with Signor P. to purchase, if
possible, some fruit for our table. "We succeeded in

486 VALLEY OP EL JESEIREH.

procuring some delicious musk- and water-melons. The
individual "who sold us the fruit offered for sale a num-
ber of wild asses and ostriches, which he kept in a
spacious yard enclosed by a low wall of sun-dried
brick. He informed us that they belonged ioJiis brother,
a trader, then absent on a trading tour among the
Anezzi Bedouins, on the borders of the river Euphr^ites,
who li:ul bought them from the Bedouins and sent
them home by caravan, bound for Diarl)ekir. The asses
as well as the ostriches were all young, but nearly
grown, and remarkably fine specimens. As it is not
every one's good fortune to fall in with the " wild ass
of the desert," I deem it appropriate to describe those
which I saw. The asses were of a light fawn color,
almost white on the legs and under-part of the body.
They had short woolly manes of jet black, and a line of
bushy hair along the whole length of the spine from
head to tail, a streak of black hair in the shape of a
crescent over the withers. In form, they resembled the
domestic ass, exce[>t that their proportions were much
more symmetrical. Their legs were considerably longer;
their bodies, heads, necks, and especially their ears,
were less fleshy and ponderous than those of the domes-
tic specimen ; presenting altogether a better appearance ;
their infinitely greater activity and vivacity, and nobler
carriage, causing the difierencc between the two speci-
mens to be as striking as that between a spirited racer
jind a comTnon dray horse.

The wild ass is a native of the vast and arid ])lains,
and mountainous regions of Asia, especially of Tartary,
Persia and Mesopotamia, where he roams in droves of
from ten to one hundred in number, the strongest and
most active of them leading the others. It is a very
fleet and wary animal, of great endurance, and conse-
rpiently very diflRcult to catch, or hunt down, even by

VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH. 48T

the best mounted hunters. Its flesh is considered a
delicacy by the natives of the countries where it
abounds, and they delight in the hunt for it. Xenophon,
the famous Greek general and historian, described it
about the year 400 B. C, in his " Anabasis," as fleeter
than the horse, and its flesh resembling that of the red
deer, but more tender. The few that were offered to
us in that village had been caught when very young,
for they were apparently quite tame and domesticated.
Upon our trying to touch them, however, they began to
kick and snap at us so furiously that we had to beat a
hasty retreat. The wild ass, owing to its vicious
temper, is considered to be utterly unfit for domestica-
tion, at least for any length of time ; besides, it either
cannot, or will not live long in captivity, however.great
the care taken of it ; therefore, it is rarely if ever seen
alive in Europe or America. As to the ostriches
exhibited to us, they also were evidently caught when
quite young, for they were remarkably tame, and fed
out of our hands, and even allowed us to touch them
for the purpose of examining their plumage.

Although they all stood nearly six feet in height
from the ground to the top of the head, they were
considerably inferior in height to those I had seen and
killed while traveling through the interior of South
Africa in 1863-1865 (where, by the way, I once narrowly
escaped trouble in attempting to shoot one which I
happentd to espy in a desolate and apparently uninhab-
ited country beyond the Gariep, or Orange river), when
the remarkable indifference to my approach, evinced
by my intended victim, kindled my suspicion, and a
closer investio-ation revealed to me the startling fact
that the ostrich was a prisoner, having fastened round
its ankles two stout ivory rings connected by a thick
plaited rope or thong, scarcely two feet long, composed

488 VALLEY OP EL JESEIREH.

of raw hide. At that instant I was surprised by the
sight of eight naked,' greasy Hottentots, armed with
javelins, bows and poisoned arrows, starting up from
the ground within twenty yards of the ostrich. None
of my servants being within call to act «*• interpreter,
I withdrew without excusing myself for the intrusion,
and looking rather foolish.

Nevertheless I got out of the dilemma better than
did a certain young lieutenant in the British army in
a regiment stationed at a place in Southern India. An
inveterate sportsman, he went out hunting whenever
he could get off duty. One day, while going cautiously
through the jungles, he was startled by the loud crash-
ing of handles in a thicket near where he was moving.
Steathily api)roaching the locality, he suddenly con-
fronted the huge form of an elephant busily browsing
the leaves of the trees. Anxious to add to his glory
that of bagging the giant of the forest, he bla/,od away
at him, and crash ! down went the elephant, to the in-
tense delight of the 3'oung Nimrod ; but in his death
struggle the poor brute kicked violently, and in doing
80 furiously rattled and jingled a heavy iron chain
encircling one of his feet; the terrible dismay of our
hero may be imagined, as almost simultaneously a
couple of Hindoo " mahouts " (elephant drivers) ap-
peared on the scene, ^-elling, gesticulating, and tearing
their " puggarees " into shreds in the frenzy of their
grief and distress. The rest is soon told. Our hero
made his vray back to camp with downcast looks and
giant8trides,but was liarassed all the way by a violently
excited crowd of gesticulating, lamenting natives. Ho
was sued for damages by the owner of the elephant,
who placed the amount at four thousand rupees ($2000
gold); but the slaughtered animal having been in realty
wort^' only half that sum, the judge gave the plaintiff

VALLEY OF EL JESEIREH. 489

judgment in two thousand rupees. Begging pardon
of my readers for this " intermezzo " I resume the
thread of my narrative. The ostrich, being a creature
much better known than the wild ass, no description is
needed. As may well be supposed we declined to
become the purchasers of either, though they were
ofiered to us at a very low price. We had quite
trouble enough to conduct our caravan safely to the
shores of the Mediterranean without thQ unnecessary
addition of an improvised menagerie. It was most fortu-
nate for us that none of the " go-ahead " Von Maltitz or
some other enterprising " Dutch African " settlers ac-
companied our caravan, as they would have insisted on
taking at least the ostriches with us ; for it is not a
generally known, but is a positive fact that the " Boers "
(Dutch African settlers of South African birth) have
proved that ostrich farming in South Africa is infinitely
more lucrative than sheep farming, owing to the
continually increasing demand for ostrich feathers, and
as the ostrich is a bird of very hardy nature — thrives
in places where almost any living thing would starve
to death ; requires scarcely any care, and has many
other advantages over the sheep — many sheep farmers
have turned their attention to raising ostriches. They
either barter with the Hottentots for young ostriches,
as also with other tribes in the interior of South
Africa, who capture them on the plains, or they obtain
ostrich eggs and hatch them either with the domes-
ticated ostrich, or bv artificial means. The oro-inators
of ostrich farming were the Messrs. Yon Maltitz Bros,
of Hopetown, Cape Colony, who owned and bred a
large number of these birds, which were kept in a vast
corral hundreds of acres in extent, enclosed by a high
palisade or fence. The male birds furnish the most
valuable feathers, but the females make up for their

490

VALLEY OP EL JESEIREH.

inferiority of plumage by the production of eggs which
are readily bought up Or hatched on the premises.

By the time we returned to camp, after our inspec-
tion of the animals above described, it was too late to
resume our journey that day. We therefep© passed the
night at the foot of the old romantic fortress, and
resumed our march about sunrise next moruing.

XXIV.

ABOUT DIABEKIK.

Village of Pigeons— Poor " Laird "—Hussein Keif Fortress— Granfifiur
of Diabekir— Tlie French Consul — Entering the Citadel — The Kahn
—Closing the Gates for the Night — Consulate's Residence — An
Evening's Entertainment — Diabekir bj Moonlight — Heralding the
Approach of Day — Eastern Market— Mishnooni.

Our road led us along the ridge of a long cliain of
low, gravelly hills, until we suddenly saw a small vil-
lage of about twenty houses built on the bank of the
email river near the source of which we had hf^en
encamped the night before, and which waters the west-
em base of the chain of hills over which we were then
travelling, and thence winds its course in a north-
easterly direction to join the river Tigris. From our
lofty position we could look right down upon the roofs
of the houses, which appeared to us unusually large
compared with the miserable structures which are
everywhere to be met with outside of the chief towns.
It did not take us long to reach the village which
greatly attracted our curiosity, for here we found it
composed cf large, well-built houses constructed entirely
of stone, most of them two, and even three stories high,
and to all appearance of Persian architecture. Not-
withstanding their being still in very good repair, the
entire village seemed to have been abandoned by man
and beast ; for not a single human being could we dis-
cover on our march through this strange place, although
our caravan duly announced its presence everywhere
by the loud jingling of the numerous bells attached to
the neck of every mule and " gheddish," pack-horse of

<491>

492 ABOUT DIABEKIR.

the caravan, as well as by the frequent neighing of our
horses, and the noisy chattering of our men. Hitherto,
whenever we had marched through a hamlet, village or
town, we had attracted crowds of eager spectators ; not
so, however, in this solitary place, where -««t a living
creature stirred, except thousands and thousands of
domestic pigeons, of every imaginable plumage, from
the snowy white to the brilliant black, congregated in
groups on every roof, nook and corner outside and
inside of these buildings. The loud cooing by such an
immense number of little throats created quite a pecu-
liar, rumbling noise, echoing weirdly and monotonously
through the spacious halls of the deserted buildings,
and indeed throughout the entire atmosphere which
seemed to hang gloomily over the mysterious place.

Our Arabs, superstitious, like all uncivilized people,
had shown a perceptible uneasiness in our march
through the deserted village, for their usual boisterous
conversation suddenly stopped, and their temporary
silence was only broken by an occasional murmur or
low whisper; nay, they actually liaslened their progress
and hardly darod to look around them. Quite unin-
tentionally, and I might say foolishly, i gave them a
terrible fright, which came near degenoialing into a
general stampede of the poor fellows. In order fully to
ascertain whether there were any human beings to be
stirred up in the dismal place, I, as we had reaohcd
about the centre of the village, took it into ni}' liead to
fire a shot. Unperceived ])y anybody, I adjusted
my gun, and wantonly fired into the air. If a
thunderbolt had burst it could not have caused
greater commotion ; for before the loud report of the
gun had re-echoed from the bigli rocks lining the oppo-
site side of the river which ran behind tlic village,
dense clouds of pigeons rose into the air above our

ABOUT DIABEKIR. 493

heads, while columns of them, intermixed with large
and small bats, poured wildly out from every opening
of the deserted buildings, like volumes of smoke from
a b.iilding on fire. But if my shot created an excite-
meut among the cooing pigeons and drowsy bats, it
created quite as much in our caravan ; horses reared,
riders were thrown, and heavily laden mules, as well as
terror-stricken men turned right about and bolted, to
the great dismay of our party, especially my own ; for
although far from intending any mischief, I had nearly
succeeded in causing serious accidents by my untimely
shot, whose triple echo through that gloomj^, clift-bound
vilkge, startled even myself. Signor P. very properly
censared my indiscretion ; but knowing that no harm
was meant, he soon burst out laughing, and acknowl-
edged that he, too, had been quite startled, and ex-
pressea his surprise that so loud a demonstration had
not brcTight forth a living creature — not even a dog —
except the bats and pigeons. Henceforth our Arabs
insisted that the village was haunted.

Wo had not travelled many miles beyond the
" Piseonopolis," when our caravan was suddenly
brought to a standstill by a serious accident which
befell two of our men. The majority of them, consid-
erino= themselves by this time well out of reach of the
evil spirits haunting the village, had regained their
speech, and were eagerly discussing the probable cause
of tl e inhabitants abandoning such a well-built place,
when one of the grooms, Said, who, as usual, was lead-
ino a horse by the bridle, inadvertently allowed his
aniinal to bring its nose into too close proximity with
the hind-quarters of one directly in front of him. The
natural consequence was that the latter uttered a
piercing yell, and lashed out furiously with his hind
feet, and struck poor Said in the stomach, which

494 ABOUT DIABEKTR,

prostrated him instatitly. Islimael,aiiotlier groom, and
a bosom friend of the. injured man, regardless of liis
own safety, stooped to raise his friend and was floored
himself by a vicious kick on his shoulder. Had the
horse been shod in the European or Amerj^jaii manner,
both men must have been dangerously, if not fatally
injured ; but, having the light and thin Arab shoe, the
damage was not very serious, although it took Said
some time to recover his breath, and the other fellow's
shoulder caused him such agony that he could no
longer walk, and had to be placed in the saddle. Said,
suffering intense pain, was also disabled, and was placed
on horseback. Signor P. humanely ordered the cara-
van to move very slowly, to spare unnecessary suffering
to our injured men, and determined to encamp for the
day at the nearest place where water could be obtained.

AVe soon reached another small tributary of the
river Tigris, where we stopped and encamped in close
proximity to a few dwellings which stood near the spot
where we crossed the rivulet. Here our two invalids
were duly doctored, in the regular Arab style, by the
liberal aitplication of cold water to the bruises, and
before nightfall they were so far restored as to be able
to participate in the everlasting tattle of the Arab^
when seated around their camp-fires. As may be sup-
posed, the principal topic of their conversation that
night ran on the events of the day, and, having learned
from the people near whose houses we were encamped,
tliat the deserted village was actually haunted, they all,
of course, ascribed the accident to tlie influence of the
evil spirits who, they argued, must have been irate at
my wanton shot.

According to our charts, we were only a short
day's journey from Diabekir, and, being anxious to get
there early to have ample time to look up comfortable

ABOUT DIARBEKIR. 495

quarters, as we intended to rest our caravan a few days
ill that city, it was arranged that we should start early
the next morning. By daybreak, everybody in camp
was wide awake and getting ready for the road. The
early morning air was quite cold, owing to a thick fog,
which chilled our thinly clad Arab grooms, who were
unaccustomed to such bracing weather, to their very
marrow We had not been traveling very far, however,
whej" une damp mist dissolved into a drizzling rain,
which continued until sunrise, when the atmosphere
became transparent again, and unveiled to our view the
beautiful green valley of the upper Tigris. From the
snow-covered mountain peaks, where lies the source of
this mighty river, to the perpendicular rocks upon the
almost inaccessible crest of which rests the picturesque
fortress of " Hussein Keif," or Hesu Keifa, i. e., Hussian's
Delight, notorious for its brigand p)opulation,the mam-
moth rock on which stands the castle, rising abruptly,
with overawing grandeur, from the river, to a height
of nearly eight hundred feet, and seeming to threaten
annihilation to the travelers on the river by toppling
down on them. Some ten miles distant, partially
screened from our view by a projecting hill covered
with a luxuriant growth of bushes and trees, towered
the imposing but gloomy-looking, dark gray basalt
walls of the town and fortress of Diarbekir, bristling
with strong battlements, loop-holed watch-towers, lofty,
slender minarets, and glittering roofs of mosques.
Instead of following the rugged right bank of the
Tigris, we crossed the river at a very shallow place, and
advanced upon Diarbekir along the left bank, where the
road became more passable.

Observing that the gravelly banks of the river
teemed with wild ducks, geese and other water fowl, I
resolved to ride along close by the river, while tha

496 ABOUT DIARHEKTR.

caravan followeil the regular route. By the time I had
reached the high granite bridge whioli crosses tho
Tigris about a mile below the city, I had bagged six-
teen fine ducks and geese, and might have secured
many more if I had been so inclined ; for, to my surprise,
these birds seemed to be totally ignorant 'oF the effects
of gunpowder and shot; wherefore, I concluded that
the denizens of Biarbckir must be either too lazy to go
out shooting, or too liarmless. Although ignorant of
the whereabouts of the caravan, having lost sight of it
soon after I had crossed the river, I reached the In'idge
at the same time that it arrived there.

A rather steep road, flanked on the left side by the
villas of Monsieur M , the French Consul of Biarbc-
kir, and other dignitaries of the place, and on the right
by a kind of public garden or grove, led from the bridge
up to the city, before the southern gate of which, at
the moment of our arrival, the head of a long caravan
appeared. It consisted of heavily-laden and gigantic
Kurdian camels, and was issuing from the gate, much
to our disgust, for we knew by the slow, phlegmatic
movements of the ponderous animals, that it would
take fully an hour for only two hundred of them to
pass out of the gate, which was so narrow that we did
not like to venture in while these leviathans were pass-
ing out, for fear of criisbing our valuable horses, as well
as ourselves. Vainly hoping that the caravan might
be less numerous than it appeared, we waited for half
an hour, casting an occasional side glance upon a troop
of shabbily uniformed Turkish soldiers, wlio were put
through their drill by a few bow-legged, blear-eyed old
ofHccrs.

Just as we were disorusted with waitins:, and
about to proceed to the eastern gate of the fortress, our
lucky star brought along a well-dressed Euroi:)eau

ABOUT DTARBEiaa. 497

gentleman wearing a fine Panama hat, and mounted on
a splendid charger richly caparisoned. At the right
and left of this horseman walked, or rather trotted,
two uniformed cavasses armed to the teeth. This gen-
tleman jDroved to he the French Consul, who was on
his Avay to his office in the city, and having heen
informed by mail, by the French Consul at Bagdad,
that a caravan conveying superb Arab horses for his
majesty, the Emperor of the French, was on its way to
Diarbekir, he at once introduced himself to us in his
official capacity, and received our letters of introduction.
Thereupon he rode up to the Turkish officers (the
soldiers presenting arms as he approached), and politely
requested the officer in command to clear the gate. The
soldiers, however, did not need to act alone, for as soon
as the gate-keepers saw the approach of the Consul,
they set to work, with alacrity, to stop the exodus of
the camels. This, however, was not an easy task, as
camels, like sheep, insist upon following their leaders,
wherever they go. In spite of all the yelling and ges-
ticulating of the gate-keepers and soldiers, the obstinate
brutes would not be kept back, and threatened to
trample their antagonists into a jelly beneath their
ponderous feet, until, as a last resort, the iron gate was
closed, and the foremost of the camels driven into a
side street, where all the rest followed ; then the gates
were opened, and the soldiers again presented arms to
the Consul ; as he entered at the head of our caravan,
the gate-keepers saluted him with a deep salaam, and
we found ourselves in Diarhekir, marching in Indian
file through the dirty narrow street, over the slippery
paving stones which were intersected here and there by
deep holes and mud-puddles. Brushing past, and run-
ning foul of the camels, which, being heavy laden,
were obliged either to come in contact with us, or thd

498 ABOUT DIARBEK.IR.

sides of the houses, it became necessary to keep oi d'a
"weather eye open:" 'not to he ground to povv(?er.
From the numerous obstructions it must have been
over an hour before we reached the gate of the Frencb
consulate, which was a large, massive stdH« building.
Here a miscellaneous crowd of spectators was assem-
bled, and scanned us with evident curiosity, for which
they had ami)le time, as we had to await the arrival
of the Armenian mcreliant, who was agent for my
brother-in-law of Bagdad, and for whom we were obliged
to send a man to search through the bazaar. On his
arrival, v,q j)resented our credentials, whereupon he
sent for his horse, and piloted us through the entire
city, and thence through the northern gate to Sibby (or
" Chibby ") khan, a large well-built caravansary some
two miles beyond the town, which he had engaged for
our sjjecial accommodation, and had, with laudable fore-
thought, caused it to be cleaned and made habitable for
civilized people. We were soon installed in our own
temporary quartei*s and rendered as comfortable as cir-
cumstances would permit. Although these were the
best quarters we had bad since we left Mossul, our
obliging host thought that they were not good enough
for Signor P. and the author of his book (Father M.,
the only other European member of the caravan having
accepted the hospitality of a Catholic priest, who was
at the consulate at the time of our arrival) insisted,
upon our taking up our residence at his dwelling, which
ofier Signor V. thankfully declined, pleading his duty
to the caravan as an excuse. lie however suy-ijested
the propriety of my accepting the invitation, as my
]>resence in the khan was less necessary. Conforming
to the wishes of my venerable friend, I vaulted into
the saddle, and returned with the Armenian to town to
spend the night at his residence. AVe had to strike

ABOUT DIARBEKIR. 49*

into a brisk canter to reach town before sunset, at which
time its grates were closed for the nis-ht. We had not
a moiuent to lose and galloped up to the gate just in
time to slip in. Almost simultaneously with the clos-
ure of the gates, the plaintive chorus of all the muez-
zins of Diarbekir echoed solemnly through the air.
The bustle in the streets rapidly decreased, especialh' in
the various bazaars where the shop-keepers were busily
fastening shutters and doors with iron bars, and huge
old fashioned padlocks. Here and there a solitary
" sakka " (water-carrier) or a burly " hammal " (heavy
porter), barefooted, scantily attired and tired to death
by hard work and privation, staggered on towards his
hovel eagerly counting, by the fast fading light, his few
coppers, the hard earnings of his precarious calling ;
and thus absorbed in thought almost stumbling upon a
couple of closely veiled Moslem women, who, preceded
by a negro eunuch bearing a lantern, were wrapped
from head to heel in the voluminous folds of their dark
colored silken "esars" (shrouds), their feet encased in
yellow, loose fitting leather boots, with toes upturned
and gaudily tasselled boot legs reaching nearly to the
knee. The gait of these women might be compared
to ducks waddlins: toward the water. Scenes like this
were, however, too familiar for us to attract our atten-
tion to any extent, and I was kept on the " qui vive "
in followins: mv host throus-h the labvrinth of narrow,
tortuous, uneven streets, until we finally brought up at
his residence. It was a large, massive edifice of dark
basalt, a hard coarse-grained kind of stone much used
in the principal buildings of that district, and wdiich
by its sombre hue gives the town and fortifications of
Diarbekir a very gloomy and uninviting appearance.

The residence of my host was, like that of the
French Consulate, constructed strictly in conformity

600 ABOUT DTARBEKIR.

witli Oriental nations, /. ^., with scarcely a window
opening on the street, und was a huge pile of masonry
built as if it were intended to last forever. Although
these !Mesopotamian dwellings cover a considerable area
of ground, their accommodations for hurujMx beings are
decidedly limited, because the greater part of the space
is occupied by the court yard; the actual accommo-
dations of the house consisting of two verandahs, or
halls, one above the other, and facing the courtyard,
with a chamber or two at each end of the verandahs;
a flat roof (which is used as a promenade and sleeping
place), and a " serdap," or deep, vaulted basement as a
place of refuge for the inmates of the house during the
hottest hours of the daytime. The latter apartment
is not frequently met with in houses north of Diar-
bekir. A peculiar rap at the ponderous door by my
host caused the heavy bolts to be withdrawn, and the
swarthv, shrivelled face of an aiced but still athletic
servitor appeared. Recognizing his master, he threw
open the door, and we passed through into the spacious
courtyard dimly lighted by a stable lantern, placed
upon the ground, near several horses, which were drawn
up in a line along the wall at the further end. We
then dismounted, the old servant taking charge of our
horses. Following the master of the house up two steps,
I found myself in a s|»acious open hall facing the court-
yard, and the proprietor invited me to be seated on the
divan or lounge which ran around the wall, when he
disappeared into one of the side chambers. A young
negro girl then entered the hall, and lighted a number
of lamps, some of them hanging by cords from the
ceiling, others fastened to the walls, and their light
heiglitened by large metallic reflectoi-s, soon illumi-
nated the ball, as well as the whole courtyard in front,
almost as efiectually as the sun could have done. A

ABOUT DIARBEKIR. 501

table, covered with a clotli cf magnificent rcrsian em-
broidery, Avas then hrought in by servants and placed
in the centre of the hall. Even the most opulent of the
natives of the East seldom use tables, being accustomed
to take their meals sitting on the ground or lying face
downwards on pillows or bolsters around the tray or
vessel which contains their food, and which is usually
placed on a piece of matting in lieu of a table. After
the absence of but a few moments my host returned,
elegantly dressed, in Oriental costume. He politely
asked me to excuse him for leaving me alone, and added
that his mother, wife, and sister w^ uld soon be there
to welcome me.

In the meantime decanters filled with wine and
" raki " (arrack) were brought in and served in large
glasses. I did not like to taste it, as I had not tasted
food since davbreak, and I feared that the strons: Diar-
bekir wine, and the still stronger alcoholic "raki"
taken into my famished stomach would intoxicate me ;
but as it is considered an insult by the Orientals to re-
fuse a drink or gift of any description, I accepted and
emptied a glass of wine. A moment later, the ladies
of the house entered, and made a most reverential
salaam, and one of them, the wife of my host, even
mustered courage enough to approach and shake hands
with me. They were attired in the height of Arme-
nian female fashion ; a tight fitting robe with sleeves
increasing in width from the elbow downwards; this
robe reaches from the neck to about six inches below
the knee, and is cut wide open from the throat to the
waist, which opening is covered by a chemisette of
gauze richh' embroidered with a gay colored silk or
gold thread, and sometimes ornamented with ruffles.
A silken scarf encircles the waist of those in full cos-
tume. Pajamas, white stockings and leather slippers

502 ABOUT DIARBEKIR.

vrithout heels complete tlie dress. The brllliantlj
Mack, or dark brown luxuriant hair of the Armeniar
woman is generally worn in plaits or broad braids fall-
ing down between the shoulders, and in some instances
reaching almost to their feet. The licadi.4cess is a lit-
tle round silken cap, with a very low crown, from the
centre of which dan2:lcs a larg-e silk tassel.

Another head-dress is a brisfht-colored, thin silk
scarf, wound turban fashion round the head. The
former headdress is almost exclusively worn by young
irirls, while the other is more used bv matrons and
elderly females. Armenian women appear to care less
about trinkets and jewelry than the fair Moslems, being
generally satisfied with wearing a small quantity ; while
the latter, if they can afford it, wear jewelry not oidy
on their foreheads, ears, necks, wrists and fingers, but
frequently on their toes, and even in their noses ! Many
of them, especially those of India and Egypt, wearing
golden ornaments in the form of a little rosette or star
(sometimes set with pearls or precious stones) on the
outer cartilage of the left nostril, fastened by a screw
attached to the reverse side of the ornament. In Meso-
jtoramia this nose ornament is rather small, scarceh'
larger than a gold d(»llar; but in India and Egypt they
are the size and shape of a large ear-ring, or of a small
padlock, fairly covering the entire left half of the
wearer's mouth. Thougli the nose is unquestionably a
very conspicuous place for an ornament, the wearing
of jewels in the nostril is not at all to my taste, or of
any civilized being; yet I doul>t that if the whilom
creator of fashion, the Empress Engenic, liad taken it
into lier licad, the wearing of such an ornament,
whether her sisters would have hesitated to follow her
example, as they did the equally ludicrous and bar-
barian chignon and crinoline.

ABOUT DIARBEKIR. 503

It was evident that the female relatives of my
host, his wife at least, had been somewhat in civilized
societv, or had a little more cultivation than is usual
with ]Mesopotamian women ; for hut little of that awk-
ward shyness, and tiresome reticence, so characteristic
of the untutored, penned-up women of the Orient, was
noticeable in them. On the contrary, they readily an-
swered my questions ; the lady of the house, especially,
became quite talkative and fairly overwhelmed me with
questions concerning my brother-in-law, Mr. W., of
Bagdad ; and his wife, my sister, who had about three
years previously stayed at this house a ^q^ days, in
course of their journey from Switzerland to Bagdad.
My fair interlocutor was quite a handsome woman,
apparently scarcely twenty years of age, gifted with
more than the average intelligence of Oriental ladies,
and like all women in good circumstances in that coun-
try rather inclined to embonpoint. Iler sister-in-law
was a good looking girl, about fifteen years old, some-
what delicate in health ; and her mother-in-law was a
happy, motherly old lady with snow white hair. As
to my host, he was a man of about twenty-five years,
but, like most Orientals, looking much older. Rather
small in stature, he was remarkably lively and intelli-
gent, and a shrewd business man. A substantial supper
was promptly served, greatly to my relief; for the fiery
wine gulped down began to make me feel rather dizzy,
and I was well aware that the best antidote for it Avas
a " set-to " with knife and fork. Consequently I offered
little resistance to the invitation of my entertainer to
"sit down and consider myself at home;" but on looking
round for the ladies of the house to ask them to be
seated first, they were gone, it not being customary
for the Eastern women to take their meals with men,
not even with their own male relatives ; moreover,

504 ABOUT DIARBEKTR,

there were knives, forks, and spoons upon the table, im-
plements which very few of the natives of the Orient
know how to handle, and in consequence do not care to
use them in the presence of Europeans. Even my host
declined to sit down, for, as he afterwards acknowl-
edged, the same reason ; hut seeing that I waTJTetermined
to leave the table to its fiite, and that it was a clear case
of ''^ sine qua non,'^ he changed his tactics, sat
down to the table, and conmieneod with a will.
My ravenous appetite scarcely permitted me to cast
occasionally a furtive glance at the gastronomic move*
ments of my vis-a-vis, who, by the way, wielded the
implements named with greater ease than I had expected,
though he had probal)ly not touched them since the
before-mentioned visit of my brother-in-law ; for
although they are now to be found in the houses of the
rich of the East, they are used on]y when Europeans
are present. After supper, the inevitable fenchan of
coffee, "shattab" (a long stemmed pipe with large round
amber mouthpiece), and " narghileh " were served, and
half an hour later, my host perceiving my fatigue,
asked me whether I preferred to sleep on the roof, in
a chamber, or in the dining luill. I chose the latter, and
instantly a bed was spread for me, and such a bed!
The quilts and pillows were covered witli sky-blue silk,
and of delicious softness.

I could not help smiling as I thought of my dust-
jovered, mud-stained self, d'^'posited on a couch fit to
receive the form of a Sultan; but objections were all
over-ruled, and into the bed T dived, just as I stood,
barring my liat, jack-boots and spurs, and in less than
five minutes I was fast asleep. When I opened my
eyes in the morning, the cheerful voice of Signor P.
rang a rousing "bon j"nr,'' into my ear?. He had
kept his word faithfully, and had called early that we

ABOUT DIARBEKIR. 505

might take a stroll through the city. The Armenian
having urgent business to attend to, could not accom-
pany us, hut said he would meet us in the bazaar,
where, like the majority of the merchants of the city,
he owned shops or stores filled with dry goods and
other merchandise. Mounting our horses we started
on our tour of inspection. Our first point of destina-
tion was the provision bazaar, where Signor P. had
ordered a few of the mukaries (muleteers) to wait for
him with their beasts of burden, in order to transport
the provisions which he intended to buy for the use of
the caravan.

After passing through a quarter of the city, where
well built, substantial houses of basalt-stone were
prevalent, apparently the most respectable part of
Diarbekir, the scenery about us suddenly assumed a
different character ; houses of decent apj^earance seemed
more and more scarce, and in their stead we saw only
small, one story buildings roughly constructed of un-
hewn stone cemented with a mixture of clay and short
hair or straw, and uninviting in appearance both in-
side and outside. Here we passed a spacious yard,
shut oft' from the street by a high, but tottering wall,
which had a large gate ; but although the door was
closed, the prevalence of a strong odor which emanted
from it at once demostrated that it was a camel's stable.
Almost adjoining it is the thriving establishment of
a " cahuejee " (dispenser of coftee), derived from the
Arabic cahueh, anglice coffee, where a heterogeneous
crowd of Turkish soldiers, camel drivers, mukaries,.
negroes, Albanese and Turcoman zeptiehs, Kiirdian
hammals, cavasses, horse mongers, Greek, Turkish,
Persian, Arabian, Armenian and Jewish merchants^
etc., lounge in every position, some mute and immova-
ble as statues, others gesticulating and noisily convers-

60G ABOUT DIARBEKIR.

ing; but all of them, without exception, evidently
enjoying their coffee, and smoking their pipes in spite
of the close proximity of the fetid stables. Adjoining
the coffee house we saw a long row of rough, wooden
sheds, the woodwork split and crisp from^he effects
of rain, the sun, and old age, and in many places per-
forated by tlic destructive wood-worm and white ant.
Yet those unsightly shanties were alive from early
mornino; till sunset with a most industrious and skilful
community ; for there the raw material of cotton,
sheep's wool, Angora goat's hair, and silk, undergoes
all the various processes requisite to transform it into the
merchandise so celebrated throughout the Orient.

Ilere we see hundreds of men, women and children
engaged in ginning cotton, carding wool and hair,
spinning, bleaching, dyeing, printing, weaving, etc.,
etc. ; and all these various manipulations are performed
with implements and machines, so simple and old-
fashioned, as to leave no doubt that most of them are
of the same pattern as those in use with the ancient
Assyrians and Egyptians; indeed, many implements
used to this day by the manufacturers of Diarbekir, as
Avell as by the population throughout Mesopotamia, are
faithfully represented, and can be easily recognized on
the bas-reliefs and obelisks discovered at Persepolis,
P)al)yl(»n, ISTineveh, Luxor, TTeliopolis or Thebes. Op-
posite those factories could be seen the small work-
shops of the knights of tlie needle and Hcissors, and
those of the disciples of St. Crispin, the majority of
them engaged in mending articles peculiar to their
trade, and which were in many cases hardly fit to put
into the absorbing basket of the ragman ; yet these
nrtizans had a number of their customers around them
patiently awaiting their amended outfit; while close
iiy the proprietors of greasy barber-shops manipulated

ABO»TT DIABEKIR. 507

with astonishing sang-froid the heads of their victims,
mostly Moslems, lathering and shaving, or rather scrap
ing with the same brush and razor, the obnoxious
quick growing bristles on the scalps of the Moslerr
millionaire and the negro slave.

Further on we passed open sheds used as restaur
ants, where the proprietors and their assistants dispensed
for a few Paras (a copper coin of the value of one-uintt
of an American cent), miscellaneous rations of broth
slices of mutton, goat's flesh, cooked rice, vegetables.
and a sort of salad, or pickle. These were served from
sootj kettles, and greasy tubs ; in wooden bowls and
tin phites. Their customers were usually the poorest
and most ragged part of the population. They were,
as may be supposed, not at all fastidious, but on the
other hand they consumed their rations with enviable
appetite and good nature, notwithstanding the stifling
smoke and hot steam of those abominable kitchens.
We passed by in succession the workshops of tinkers,
cutlers, coppersmiths, locksmiths, etc., etc., all vieing
with each other which should make the most noise,
rendering conversation practically impossible in their
immediate neighborhood, and the street anything but
a pleasant quarter for nervous people. Riding on, we
reached the entrance of a long arch-way or vault, a
passage of massive mason work, lighted from above by
a number of large open sky-lights, through which fresh
air also found admittance, and whitewashed to improve
the lio-ht. The air within was remarkably cool, and
rendered it a pleasant abode in very hot weather.

The passage was thirty feet wide and twenty-five
hio-h, and was lined on each side by niches which were
tenanted by rope-makers, saddlers, turners in wood,
horn, ivory, and metal ; engravers, grocers, apothe-
caries, physicians, scribes, money changers, distillers,

608 ABOUT DIABEKIB,

and in fact dealers in every kind of merchandise. In
tlie Orient all business h transacted in the bazaar or
market ; even tradesmen do not follow their vocation
at home. Each tradesman, merchant, or dealer has
his stall or workshop in the bazaar, where,.^4U'ing the
daytime, he is always to be found, returning to his
family only at sunset; when business is susi:)ended
until sunrise the next morning. Another characteristic
of Oriental cities is, that all merchants or tradesmen
following the same, or similar Viue of business, occupy
shops or stalls in close proximity to each other, while
every one knows that in civilized countries it is just
the reverse. For instance, in this country, if a shoe-
maker has the imaginary misfortune of having a
supposed rival open a shop in his immediate vicinity,
he thinks that his business viH be injured thereby, and
will either sell out, or remov^ if he can, or annoy the
other until he drives him to more congenial quarters;
indeed, the only pc(>i>le who appear to do business in
the same line, right next door to each other, — and
thrive, — arc the Israelites, who doubtless have inherited
this business method from their Oriental ancestry.

In my oi)inion this Eastern custom is preferable to
our own, for if yon want to buy an article in a bazaar,
there is but one loc^ality in which to search for it, and,
when there, you liave the advantage of immediately
comparing tlie price and fpiality of every article of the
kind you wish, and knowing there is no other place in
the town wlicie it is sold, you are thus spared the
trouble and fatigue of going from one end of the city
to the other.

I have said that sonic of the stalls were occupied
by scribes — a sort of notarj- public who occupy them-
selves with all sorts of writing, sncli as drawing up
bills of sale, deeds, contracts, accounts, recei})ts, mem-

ABOUT DTARBEKIR. 509

oranda, etc. ; writing, copying, or translating letters, or,
indeed, manuscript of any description. They are under
oath not to divulo;e anvthina: that conies to their know!-
edge in this way : and owe to their clients' io;norance
much more of their success, than do our lawyers and
notaries, because the majority of the people of the
Orient cannot read or write their own language, to say
nothing of a foreign one, so that they depend exclus-
ively on this serviceable class of men. It is done for
recompense of course, but the charges are so small that
their services are within the reach of even the poorest
of the ]iopulation.

In Spain, Italy and France there is also a large
percentage of the people unable to read or write, and
the scribes of those countries derive a fair income by
conducting the correspondence between lovere alone, in-
dependent of what they make from other writing.
Upon emerging from the vaulted bazaar, we found our-
eelvs under the roofs of an uninterrupted row of spacious
open ?heds, the wood-work of which was almost black
from exposure to sun and rain. This was the provision
bazaar, which, together with the horse, mule, donkey,
cattle, sheep, goat and poultry market adjoining, was
a Babylon in extent, and a Bedlam in confusion. As
if to heighten the general chaos, part of this bazaar is
located in a quarter of the city where the narrowest
and most crooked streets seemed to concentrate, thug
rendering it almost as hopeless a task for anybody not
born and bred in that market to find the outlet, as it
must have been to find that of the Cretan labyrinth
Here we found immense quantities of musk and water-
melons, pumpkins, egg-plants, cucumbers and a variety
of other vegetables piled up in every direction and
almost blocking the.narrow thoroughfare.

There lay heaps of delicious grapes, figs, pome-

510 ABOUT DTARBEKni.

granatcs, oranges, lemons, etc. ; and further on camel
loads of dates, pistachios, almonds, rasins, (.'urrants,
ginger, wild hces' honey, milk, and liquid butter,* cheese,
eggs, etc. Further on we found vendors of flour, grain
and feed ; and last, but not least, the dealers in domes-
tic animals of all kinds, except the pig, an animal un-
known in the land of the Moslem in its domestic state,
and an outcast under any circumstances with both
Mussulman and Hebrew ; and the Christian of that
country dare not raise it for fear of being lynched b}^
the fanatics. Declared unclean both by Moses and
^Mohammed, the porcine species has ever since been
shunned and cursed by the orthodox of each creed.

Having now furnished a minute description of the
locality of the bazaar, I beg the reader to depict to
himself the same place, permeated with all kinds of
odors from sunrise to sunset, and thronged with a
heterogenous crowd of human beings, young and old,
rich and poor, male and female, arrayed in every im-
aginable variety of Oriental costume, and intermingled
more or less with the variety of specimens of the ani-
mal world before-mentioned, and he will see a true and
singular picture.

Durino; our itroc-ress throno-h the bazaar we were
hailed by men belonging to our caravan. All of them
had that morning received part of their wages, so that
they might enjoy themselves in their own way, and
provide themselves with tobacco and other trifles which
they might require. Lucky dogs, these fellows, with
their features radiant at the thouo;ht of havinc; a few
]»iasters in their pockets, and hardly knowing what to
do with them; for the cares and wants of these chil-
dren of nature are so few and trifling, and their "keif"

* These three laUer articles are brought to the market in air tight
bags of goal's skin.

ABOUT DIARBEKIR. 511

(merry-making or amusement) usually so innocent and
inexpensive — their disposition naturally so happy and
content — that they may well he classed among the
most enviahle of human beings. These men piloted ua
to the spot where the mukaries were awaiting us with
their mules and pack-horses. Then began the purchase
of provisions for the members of our caravan, and of
barley for our horses and mules sufficient to last until
we reached Suverek, or Severek, a town of some im-
portance about forty-five miles southwest of Diarbekir.
This accomplished, the mukaries started with their
loads towards home ; that is, for the khan. The "sa'is"
(grooms) got leave of absence until noon, and we (Sig-
ner P. and I) continued our ramble through the city.

While pushing our w^ay out of the bazaar, we
noticed a peculiarily repulsive specimen of those de-
plorable beings, known throughout Lower Mesopo-
tamia as " mishnoonis," i. 5., idiots or fools (derived
from the Arabic "mishnoon," foolish, crazy, idiotic).
As his name indicates, this scum (for humanity's sake
I should prefer to call them " these mental wrecks of
humanity," if I could ; but I regret to say that there
are a good many sham idiots among them) is supposed
to be mentally deranged, and consequently irresponsible
for his acts; goes about in public in a state of nudity;
wallows in dirt, filth, and vermin; like the pariah dog
of the Orient is without home or shelter; makes him-
self at home anywhere where his presence is suffered ;
wanders day and night about the streets of the cities
without aim or purpose; satisfying the wants of na-
ture wherever and whenever he experiences necessity ;
is either unable to talk, or shams dumbness ; and either
is, or feigns to be, utterly iguorant of decency ; is, in
short, a mere animal in human form. The super-
stitious Moslem is inspired with awe, mingled with

612 ABOUT DTAHBEKTR.

pity, for the really wretched object, and a dread to
interfere with a creature afflicted by omnipotent wis-
dom, lest he who did so should be visited by the
Divine wrath. It is remarkable that I never saw a
female " mishnoon " in tliat country. ^.^^

The Christian and Jew, though compassionating
the miserable creature, are naturally shocked by hie
loathsome appearance, and avoid him whenever it is
possible ; but they are afraid to treat him ungently,
even under great provocation, for they are greatly
outnumbered by the fanatic Moslems whose protection
he enjoys to so great an extent. Conscious of this im-
munity, the " mishnoon," whether genuine or false,
knows scarcely any restriction. If he is hungry he will
stray into any house the door of which is not fastened,
and help himself to anything in the shape of food that
he can lay hands on ; or, if he chooses, will grab any
food exposed for sale, which he may funcy^ being only
gently led away if ho attempts to carry off more than
is necessary to appease his api>etite. To prevent their
goods being handled by the filthy vagabond, the pro-
prietors generally take him by the forelock, and pre-
sent him with a slice, a handful, or a few, according
to the nature of the article he covets, before he has
time to help himself to it ; and as he always appears in
nature's garb alone, and of course never has a basket
or any vessel to carr}- his food in, because that would
show some degree of sanity, he generally trots off satis-
fied with a mouthful. The creature being allowed to
follow all his impulses unchecked is an unspeakable
uuisauca.

XXY.

« KARA AMID."

Ancient Amida — Silk and Leather — Eeligious Dance — Resuming our
Journey — The Mountains— Turkish Mail — Ascending the Mountains
— Encamped among Nomadic Koords — Koordian Chief — Distributing
Presents — Farewell to Kara Amid.

Signor P. and I spent tlie greater part of the day
in inspecting the metropolis of Koordistan ; tlie " K^ra
Amid," (Black Amid) of the Turks ; so called, in all
probability on account of the dark and sombre aspect
of the principle quarter of the town, but especially ot
the strong, lofty, stone walls, crested everywhere with
battlements and built of the same black basalt which
gives to Diarbekir its gloomy appearance. The town or
fortress is almost quadrangular, with the corners of the
quadrangle rounded off. Each side of the quadrangle is
pierced by an arched gate, finely ornamented with Ara-
besques, and inscriptions of Saracenic origin. The pon-
derous wooden doors of these gates are covered inside
and outside with thick plates of wrought iron riveted
together with strong iron bolts.

Diai'bekir is said to have formerly contained a pop-
ulation of two hundred thousand, but to-day its inhabi-
tants probably do not number over forty thousand, of
whom three quarters are Moslems ; chiefly Turks, and
the remainder are Jews, Armenians, and a few Greeks
and Roman Catholics. It contains a number of fine
large mosques, spacious khans or caravanseries ; five or
six Christian churches and convents ; one or two Jewish
synagogues, and its bazaars, still very extensive, were
formerly classed among the richest of the Orient. The

(518)

514 " KARA AMID."

decline of tlie latter, and as a natural consequence, that
of the population is Inainly due to the lawless, preda-
tory dis. position of some of the Kurdish tribes, who,
during the course of the last century, have been in the
habit of attacking and plundering the Mwoaerous cara-
vans, which have hitherto been the principal mediums
of commercial intercourse between the two great com-
mercial centres, Aleppo and Bagdad. A century ago,
when Diarbckir was in the zenith of its grandeur, it
was one of the chief silk markets of the East ; deriving
most of its raw material from Persia and manufacturing
the same into the costliest fabrics; at the same time
that it had an extensive manufacture of cotton goods,
leather ware, cutlery, fire arms, etc., and the goods
svere famous for their superior quality.

At the present day however, the manufacture of
silk and leather is the chief occupation of the people.
A considerable proportion of the inhabitant is engaged
in the earrvino; business cither bv means of beasts of
burden or by " kelcks," the roughly constructed,
wooden rafts, supported by *' loolooths" (inflated bags
of goat skin,) which I described in an earlier part of
this work, as being constructed in Diarbckir for the
purpose of floating passengers, merchandise, building
material and firewood from Diarbckir, domi the river
to Mossul, Bagdad, and the intermediate places along
the river. Diarbckir is not only the capital of Txiirdis-
tan, but was once the seat of the "pashalic" (province)
of DiarlK'kir, the pasha residing in a huge stone build-
ing, situated near the heart of the city. In former
times, the pasha's residence was in the citadel ; which
is in the north-eastern part of the city, but it is now in
ruins like a great many other buildings of the place.
Kara Amid is a strong military post of the Turkish
government, and garrisoned all the year around, by

"KARA AMID." 515

from ttree hundred to twelve hundred men of the
standing army.

Amida, the ancient Diarbekir was a place of im-
portance even in the times of the Romans, who wrested
it from the possession of the Persians, and held it for a
long time. In the year 502 A. D., this stronghold
again fell into the hands of the Persiant, who, on recap-
turing it, killed no less than eighty thousand of its in-
habitants. Being a perpetual bone of contention it
passed through a great many vicissitudes until the
Turks under Sultan Selim conquered it in the year
1515, A. D., and kept possession of it. The country
around Diarbekir is fertile, but the climate is not con-
sidered very healthy, fever and ague being very preva-
lent, during certain seasons of the year. But very few
Europeans reside there, and the positions of the British
and French consuls in that place, though scarcely in-
volving official labor, are not coveted, as Diarbekir is
known to be a dreadfully dull place by Europeans in
general.

During the course of the evening of our third
days' sojourn at Diarbekir, Signor P. and I, hapj)ening
to be at the house of the Armenian who had so hospit-
ably entertained me on the night of our arrival in town,
witnessed the final act of a verv interesting scene, from
the roof of the house of the Armenian. It was a re-
ligious dance performed by five or six "dervishes" on a
large carpet spread in the centre of the courtyard of an
adjoining building, which happened to be one of their
convents. Unfortunately the ceremonies were just
about closing, before we were informed of them ; more-
over beinsr aware of the fanatical character of this re-
ligious brotherhood, and fearful of getting our landlord
into trouble with them, by letting them become aware
of their being watched by unbelievers, we did not dare

516 "KARA AMID."

to look down upon tliem openly, and had to satisfy our
curiosity by peeping through a hole in the wall ; and
thus restrained, only a part of the scene was visible to
us. All that we could see was about a half a dozen of
these religious devotees, attired in long^'fenow-white
robes of linen, or book-muslin, so vctliiniinous and so
stiffly starched as to assume the shape of a bell, or open
umbrella ; indeed it appeared as if a crinoline or hoop-
skirt must be worn under it. The upper part of this
garment, from the neck to the waist, was rather tight
fitting, with a wide opening from the throat, filled by
a piece of green silk, looking at a distance like a green
shirt-bosom. Over this garment, the dervishes wore a
short, tight-fitting white jacket stiffly starched and
open in front. On their heads, they wore a yellowish-
gray felt sugar-loaf hat with very narrow, up-turned
brim. All these worthies wore stockings, but no shoes,
and, with open hands and extended arms, danced to the
music of a monotonous chant constantly decreasing,
and increasing in sound and measure, each individual
dancing by himself, but keeping time with the others.
Before beijinnino; the dance, these dervishes form a
large circle, and salute each other with a few reveren-
tial salaams ; then swaying to and fro, with u[)lifted
liands they take a few steps forwards, toward the centre
of the carpet and backward again ; then turning
round and round on one spot, witli the velocity of a
top, they spin round like hornets shut up in a lantern,
for so long a time, that it is a marvel that dizziness
does not compel them to stop, or throw them down, or
]>ring them in rough contact with each other; but again
and again they perform these evolutions, and do not
give in until brain and muscle cannot endure any
longer, t^jd one dancer after the other drops down ex-
hausted, until the last •of them staggers into a corner in

"KARA AMID." 517

a swoon ; then the " dauce of the dervishes" is at an
end.

In addition to these saltatorian excesses committed
in honor of religion by these ^loslem devotees, their
duties consist of almost hourly prayers, and occasional
mortifications of their bodies. The latter is undoubt-
edly the severest of their exercises, as it required a vig-
orous constitution to stand all the sufifering: incident to
the ordeal ; for it consists in long fasting ; tearing their
beard and clothes, amid loud lamentations ; scorching
and scratching their skin ; thumping their chest with
their fists, and evon with stones ; ramming their heads
against stone walls, besides several other modes of self-
torture. The dismal, agonizing sounds uttered by them
has given to them quite appropriately the name of
'•' the howling dervishes." Dervish is a Persian word
synonymous with the Arabic word " fakir," which
means "poor." Fakir, however, is the term by which
a similar class of religious Moslems and Hindoos are
known in India,

The dervish brotherhood is divided into numerous
orders, some of which are of long existence, having been
established centuries as-o. The members of most of
these orders are abjectly poor, in obedience to the Koran
which recommends poverty to the faithful, and live
chiefly upon alms voluntarily tendered to them every-
where by the " true believers" in the doctrines of Mo-
hammed the prophet, who pay their dervishes due
reverence. Other orders of these devotees are richly
endowed by Moslem princes, and highly respected by
the faithful of all classes. Many a dervish has, in former
times, been said to be quite eminent for his sagacity
and wit, and a variety of very interesting anecdotes
about them are in circulation, not only among Moa-
lems, but also among Christians and Jews.

*t XT' A t> 4 A liTTTk "

bl8 " KARA AMID.

After three days' rest in Diarbekir, and varioiia
visits from the Freucli Consul and missionaries, and
returns cf their visits on our parts, it was time to re-
sume our journey westward. It was therefore decided
that we should start about noon of the f»mH:h day, and
word to this effect was sent to our traveling com-
panion, Father M., the young Catholic priest who had
taken up quarters with the missionaries. The day of
our departure dawned brilliantly, and Father ^Nf. made
his appearance fully prepared for the journey full two
hours before the appointed time, and our caravan, after
many delays, finally marched out of the kahu about
eleven o'clock A. M.

Striking into the road which leads across the Ka-
radsha-Dagh mountain chain to the town of Suverek,
we briskly advanced across the tiresome, dusty plain,
which lies between Biarbekir and the aforesaid moun-
tain. Our batch of horses were rather unruly at first,
as they always were when they had been well fed, and
rested, both of which tended to exhilarate them, and
they gave our grooms much trouble to keep them under
control, several of them trying to walk on their hind-
legs, like trained circus dogs, and one of them, an ani-
mal of rare beauty, but very vicious temper for an Arab
Lorse, took every ojiportunity to do mischief with his
teeth and hoofs ; but a few miles of brisk marching in
the scorching sun, and suffocating heat and dust brought
them to terms.

On the plain, we met crowds of people of both
sexea and all ages; some on foot; some on camels,
horses, mules, donkeys, and oven on the Ijacks of bul-
locks; some well armed, otliers provided only with
sticks; some without loa<ls, others with l)ales, bags,
vegetables, grain, and poultry; others driving cattle,
sheep, etc., before them, all evidently bound to town.

"KARA AMID. ■• 519

At the foot of tlie mountain we passed the Turkish
mail, a small, rough looking cavalcade, well known to
the traveler in that reo;ion. The leader of this caval-
cade is worth description. He was a short, broad
shouldered individual with weather beaten face, and
long shaggy hair and beard, clad in a thick, coarse
woolen garment ; his powerful, hairy chest fully exposed
to view ; a rag tied turban-fashion round the greasy
skull cap on his head ; a short *' chibook " (Turkish
tobacco pipe) and tobacco pouch dangling by a string
about his neck ; and a heavy knot or cow-hide, by a
loop from his right fore-arm ; a large sheath knife, and
two brass-mounted pistols, stuck in his belt; his feet,
encased in large clumsy Turcoman boots, rest in huge
Ottoman stirrup irons, which, being pointed at the ends,
may be used as spurs. He was mounted on a small,
lank gheddish (a low bred gelding), and led another
(heavily laden with locked leather bags containing the
mail matter) by the bridle. Both animals moved along
with that peculiar, shuffling gait, known in Persia and
Mesopotamia as " rhwan, " and is peculiar to the Turk-
ish mail horses, the Persian roadster, and the " hunter "
of the Boer, or Dutchman, of South Africa, The
individual thus described is a Tartar, like the majority
of mail riders in Asiatic Turkey and Persia ; as only
Tartars and Turcomans can bear, and are willing to
perform for small pay, the fearfully onerous work of
traveling day and night, summer and winter, with
scarcely any rest or interruption, through the monoton-
ous and unsafe territories of the vast Ottoman and
Persian dominions. Constantly in the saddle, day and
night, they are accustomed to eat and sleep in it, and it
is by no means rare to meet with one of these worthies
coming along the road at his usual gait, although fast
asleep.

620 "KARA AMID."

At a distance of from twenty to fifty 3'ards, follows
his escort of from two to six zai)tielis of the character
already described. The duty of the zaptieh is light,
compared with that of the mail rider, as they seldom
have to escort the latter further than ftujaiLone station
to another, a distance of from thirty to forty miles,
when he stoi>s only long enough to change horses, and
continues his journey with another escort to the next
relay, while his late escort has to wait at the halting
place for the arrival of the mail rider coming in the
opposite direction. At the time of my visit, there
being only a semimonthly mail communication be-
tween Stamboul (Constantinople) and Bagdad, the
zaptiehs on the route had only once a fortnight to ride
a distance of thirty miles or more, while the j^oor mail
rider had, as I have been informed, to travel day and
night the year round over the entire distance between
the two cities, a jo'7rney of over twelve hundred
miles.

Silently the cavalcade passed by scarcely deigning
to notice us, and was soon lost to view in the cloud of
dust in our reai'. Then began for us the arduous
ascent of the stee[> and rocky mountain, a compara-
tively easy task for the horses that were not burdened
by a rider or other load ; but for those that were, it
was very hai-d. After about two liours' climbing, we
reached a sort of plateau, or table-land, studded with
stately sliade trees, and clusters of wild jessamine, and
other fragrant bushes, on which a few large, gaunt
camels, some shecji, etc., were browsing in charge of a
trio of rascamuffins stretched out at full length under
the shady trees. On this level ground we made a short
halt, only long enough to allow our weary animals to
regain their breath, we, meantime, enjoying the pano-
rama before us.

" KARA AMID." 52 J

Far away, towards the north and east, the horizon
bristled with the dark and lowering mountain peaks ot
Kudistan and Armenia, the tallest crested with snow
and ice ; in the south and west laid the soiled valleys
and barren yellow mountains of Tur Abdin and the
upper part of the endless, parched plains of El Jeslreh,
while fully twelve miles distant the huge, sombre quad-
rangle Diarbekir loomed up with a long string of
dark spots moving slowly toward it. These of course
were the people and animr.ls we had met on the road,
and resembled in the distance a strino; of ants crawlins:
toward an ant hill. Again our caravan moved forward,
and, after traversing the narrow table land, ascended
the upper part of the fearfully steep and rugged moun-
tain slope, studded with huge boulders, until we reached
the summit; where we found a tribe of nomadic
Kurds encamped in spacious, comfortable tents of brown
or black woolen fabric, pitched a few miles above the
wretched little villaore called Karabao-tshe.

Signor P. having decided to make a forced march
the next day, in order to reach Suverek before night-
fall, concluded to proceed no farther that day, but to
pass the night in the midst of the Kurdian camp,
though he had been warned by various parties in
Diarbekir of the notorious lawlessness of the nomadic
Kurds. He, however, thought it best to disarm the
rascals by pitching his tent right in their midst, and
by claiming their hospitalit}-, the sacredness of which
even a Kurd rarely violates.

In pursuance of this resolution, we swerved abruptly
from the road, and made straight for the large tent
pitched in the centre of the camp, which we well knew
to be the residence of the shiekh of the tribe. Our
unceremonious introduction created quite a commotion
among the ruifianly looking mountaineers, the male por-

522 ''KARA AMID."

tion of which we su rprisecl at their usual pastime of squat-
ting in all attitudes on the open space of ground in
front of the shiekh's tent, some talking, or smoking,
vothers sleeping or playing cards or backgammon, while
some were chasing the youngsters and*0-'<^^"Vg curs
around the camp. Of the women, the greater number
were inside the tents attending to household afhiirs.
Some were sitting on the ground engaged in grinding
corn : others were grooming the horses of their lazy
lords and masters picketed in front of the tents. Signor
P. forthwith singled out an old gray-bearded, wrinkled-
faced little man sitting on a pillow or bolster, and sur-
rounded by a few of the better clad Kurds, as the chief
among them, rode up to him, salaamed, and made
known his wishes. A moment after the sliiekh arose,
issued a few orders, and in a short time the ground in
front of his tent was cleared. Our mukiiries advanced
with our beasts of burden, which carried our cam})ing
materials; stakes were driven in the ground; ropes
stretched ; horses made fast, etc.

Half an hour afterwards we found ourselves snugly
encamned amidst a tribe of about four hundred Kurds.
Tlieshiekh, during the time we were engaged in pitch-
ing our camp, had caused the women of his household
to remove all incumbrances in his tent to one side of it
and then partitioned it into two compartments by
means of a large piece of tent cloth. lie then occupied
one-half of the tent with his family, and offered tlie
other half for our accommodation, whicli we thank-
fully accepte<l. After awhile our host sent us a sub-
stantial meal composed of roast lamb, boiled goat's
6esh, rice, " laban " (curd or n«.wly made white cheese),
bowls of sour milk, and cakes of coarse bread. Before
wo sat down to it, he appeared, and as if it were under-
stood, walked up to the dishes, tasted of each of them,

•' KARA AMTD." 523

and silently withdrew. Anybody not ver-sed in Oriental
manners would call this a rather cool proceeding, to
say the least; but as 1 have stated, it is customary with
many nations in the Orient, and practiced to show that
the food has not been tampered with or poisoned.
Highly pleased with the unexpected hospitality of the
Koordian chief, we should have been glad to treat him to a
bumper of wine or even arrack, if we had ventured to
make him the offer ; but his whole tribe, like nearly all
other nomadic Kurds, being, at least nominally, Mos-
lems, consequently forbidden to taste wine or intoxi-
cating liquors, it would not do ; yet I doubt whether
tie would have felt insulted, as he and his crowd did not
seem to be very strict Moslems, ^"e treated him and
the chief men of the tribe with coffee and tobacco "ad
libitum," and they became quite communicative.
Even the women, some of whom were quite good look-
ing, were, contrary to the usual habit of the Orientals,
evidently interested in the Feringhies, and surprised us
with their volubility. By nightfall plenty of bedding
was spread for us in the tent by the shiekh's wives; we
rather shrank from using it, anticipating a sleepless
night from the invasion of phlebotomistic insects ; but
rather than insult our host, we mustered pluck enough
to go through the ordeal of passing a night on it. To
our agreeable surprise we slept as soundly as an infant
in its mother's arms, A solitary star was still glim-
mering in the dark blue firmament, when the four
watchmen on guard, by the orders of Signor P., went
among the sleeping grooms and mukaries of the caravan
to rouse them from their slumbers. On the embers of
the dying camp fire, Yoossooff, our caterer and his
assistant, hurriedly made the everlasting coffee, while
every one else was occupied getting ready to start.
Pleased "and surprised that not a single article belong-

524 '* KARA AMID."

ing to our caravan had l^eeii appropriated by the
usually unscrupulous' mountaineers, we distributed a
few presents among the women of the shickh's house-
hold, who, with many other members of the tribe, had
risen to see us off, as by the rays of the risilig sun, we
moved onward. A dense fog covered the plain below
us, the air was quite bracing and the heavy dew-drops
glittered like diamonds in the morning sunlight.

XXVI.

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN.

The Discovery — An Investigation — Vineyards of Suverek — Oriental
Wine — In Camp for the Night — Decline of the Town — The Armgant
Turk — On the Eoad to Bireh-Iek — Our New Guide — Ordek —
A Beautiful Picture — Seeking Quarters— A Short Rest — The Na-
tives— Importance of the City's Location — The Ferry.

In due time, we passed the little village of Kara-

bagtslie, the inhabitants of which eagerly gazed upon

us. Some ten or twelve miles further on, we met with

a stony, lonely ravine, or gully, watered by a rivulet,

a tributary of the river Sham Shatt, which latter, in

its turn, is a tributary of the mighty river Euphrates.

On the point of crossing this rivulet, I, who usually

rode in advance of the caravan in the early morning

for the purpose of shooting game, was startled by the

sight of a dead man lying face downwards in about

eix inches of water some thirty yards below the

crossing. This unpleasant discovery induced me to

stay where I was until the caravan, which was not

more than two hundred yards behind, could come up.

I did not need to report my discovery ; for, almost as

soon as they came in sight of the water, I saw several

arms pointing in the direction of the corpse, and heard

their exclamations of surprise, Signor P. cantered up

to me, deathly pale, and enquired hastily what was the

matter, apparently afraid that I had killed the poor

fellow. Upon giving him an explanation, he felt easier ;

but requested me to follow him. He rode straight up

to the corpse, as far as his horse would quietly carry

him J but the noble animal suddenly stopped, pricked

C )

526 ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN.

up his ears, stretched his arched neck, planted hoth
forefeet firmly on the ground and, snorting furiously,
vehemently protested against any further advance.
My own horse was bolder, but could not be induced,
even by spurs, to approach within fiv<J"*5^rds of the
body ; and that distance was quite close enough for
anybody with (Sensitive nostrils, for the, corpse emitted
a sickening etHuvia clearly demonstrating my inno-
cence. Signor P., the worthy, kind-hearted old soul,
could not for his life have left that dismal spot without
burying that corpse, whether it was Christian, Jew, or
Heathen, so long as it was that of a human being. We
had accomplished about half a day's journey, and
needed two or three hours' rest ; the more so, as we had
been told that there was no water, beyond this rivulet,
within ten miles. Signor P., therefore, ordered a halt.
After the animals were cared for, he hired some of the
men of our caravan to bury the dead. Deposited in
an humble, lonely grave, Father M. gave his benedic-
tion, after which the corj»se was gently covered with
earth ; and, to jirevent the grave from being disturbed
by ])easts of prey, three lai'ge flat stones \\ere placed
upon it. Poor man! will his bereaved wife and children
ever know of his lonely death and grave ? The inci-
dent cast a gloom over most of the caravan.

Eager to get away from such a sad locality, we
immediately resumed our march. About five miles
further on, in a similarly secluded spot equally favor-
able for ambuscades and murders, we saw a little stone
structure, the size of a modoratcly large coflin. It was
fonned of rough stone slabs, and w^as within a few feet
of the road-side. We dil not doubt that this little
rudely constructed way-mark was the scene of another
road-side horror. Curiosity caused me to investigate
its contents. To do this, I had of course to dismount,

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN. 6^^'

and lie on my face, as the whole structure was not over
sixteen inches high, and its largest aperture a fissure
scarcely six inches from the ground. Peeping in, I
espied, sure enough, a complete, well-bleached human
skeleton lying flat on its back. Further on, we passed
several others of these wayside tombs ; but I left them
unexplored. Our conversation, from the time we left
the grave near the rivulet, naturally bore on the
mournful incident, and there was no end of the sur-
mises about the manner in which the unfortunate man
lost his life ; but what puzzled us most was, that his
body, so long unburied, had not been torn to pieces by
the wild animals abounding in that district. That it
had been left to decay, uninterred, did not surprise us,
for we were aware of Oriental indiflerence to the fate
of their fellow beings. Xone but a well-armed caravan,
or a number of fearless, well-armed travellers, would
have dared to linger as long as we did in that noto-
riously unsafe portion of the road, where there is not a
human dwelling, or a place of shelter, within ten miles
in any direction ; and where even the Turkish courier
was frequently waylaid and his mail-bags ransacked
by highwaymen, in spite of his escort of four to eight
well-armed zaptiehs.

After a dull march of ten miles more, over com^
paratively easy ground, partly through a lonely valley,
partly across a sort of indulating, sterile plain, which
extends from the foot ol the Karad^ha-Daofh westward
to the banks of the Euphrates, we crossed another
rivulet, from which the mad began to ascend and to
assume gradually a very rock}', narrow and imprac-
ticable character. Finally we reached the extensive
vineyards of Suverek, situated in the northeastern and
southea^^tern suburbs of the town just named.

The road led right through the midst of them; bat

^^28 ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN.

as each vineyard adjacent to the road was protected by
a high, rough stone wall, their grapes were pretty well
out of the reach of wayfarers.

These vineyards yield an abundance of delicious
grapes, which would furnish one of the most delightful
wines of the Orient, if the population of Suverek under-
stood how to press them, and the treatment of the juice
so extracted; for, up to this time, they press the grapes
with their hands and feet — not scrupulously clean —
then let the juice stand, in large earthen urns or jars,
until required for use, thus allowing the most essential
quality of wine — the aroma — to escape. However, in
spite of all this carelessness, most of the Oriental wines
retain qualities enough to render them the most
delicious and intoxicating of beverages; a fact to
which the first historical ti]»pler, "Father !N'oah,"
might have testified.

While passing through the vineyards of Suverek,
we noticed with much regret that the well-known dis-
ease " rust " was creating great havoc among the
vines, and if there be no cure for this destructive
vegetable ojtidemic, the vineyards of Suverek will soon
have to be counted among the things that were.

On emerging from the vineyards, we found our-
selves on the threshold of Suverek ; and, amidst the
usual demonstrations of surprise and curiosity on the
part of the population, we marched into the town to
the only khan it contained. Large enough, however,
to receive our caravan, we were soon installed as com-
fortably as the wretched accommodations would
permit. The khan contained a spacious quadrangular
courtyard paved with large round cobble-stones. An
old, rickety, screachiug draw-well, half full of stagnant
water, occupied the cemrc of the yard. Along one of
the inner sides of the kha:i was a long, lofty, wooden

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN. 529

roof supported by a few worm-eaten poles. The roof
itself was very old, perforated everywhere, and so
tottering that it threatened to come down upon us
every moment. Yet it was the only place where a
human being might look for shelter in this caravan-
sary from rain, sunshine, or dew. The gate of the
khan was effectually closed by a pair of ponderous
wooden doors, both of them so dilapidated by the dry
rot, that the heaviest members of the "Fat men's
association " mio-ht have crawled throus-h without
touching the doors, j^otwithstanding these paltry
defects, an American real estate expert would probably
have called this " valuable building property," as it
was located in the centre of the town. Its right hand
neighbor, a Hebrew money-changer, who sat in his
little stall smiling, clinching his greasy wooden cash-
box between his knees, waiting for somebody from
" down east " (Diarbekir) to arrive and ask him please
to receive sterling silver " kerans " (a Persian coin,
worth in the Ottoman empire five Turkish piasters,
but not generally current west of Diarbekir)for greasy,
silver-plated copper, " beshlicks " (five piaster piece of
the Ottoman empire), charging the trifle of five per
cent, exchansre or commission for the favor.

On the left hand side of the khan, we noticed an
establishment kept by a portly Turk, and probably
intended to represent a butcher's stall ; but the headlesa
carcases of several nondescript animals, pretending to
be those of sheep and goats, looked suspiciously like
flayed curs and infantile donkeys. Just opposite the
khan was a blacksmith's shop, the sanctum sanctorum
of an overgrown, fearfully lank Koord, with sooty face,
staring ejeSy desperately crooked nose, and satanic
smile, the image of Lucifer with his caudal appendage
snugly stowed away in a pair of voluminous pajamas.

630 ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN.

This sable necromancer inauag«>s in some way to affix
old shoes, with old nails, to the hoofs of new customers'
horses, mules, and asses, charging their weight in
Turkish piasters for the job ; hut he never had to put them
on a second time for the same owner of tli^same animal.
We found Suverek a town of about five thousand
inhabitants, mostly Turks, , with a thin sprinkling of
Jews, Armenians, and Christians. It is built on the
gently rising slope of a long range of parched, gravelly
hills studded here and there with a solitary tree or a
cluster of bushes. The town is not now enclosed by
walls or fortifications ; but there are am}>le and unmis-
takable evidences that it was formerly so. The streets
of the town are very narrow, uneven, unpaved, and
of course suftocatingly dusty in dry weather, ani
shockingly muddy after a few days' rain. Like all
Oriental towns, Suverek is built very irregularly ; the
majority of its buildings are flat-roofed ; the poorer ones
are of clay mixed with straw and dry grass and the
better class of roughly hewn stone. A great many of
the buildings are in ruins, and the town bears evidence
of having once contained a muth larger population.
The cause of this decline I do not know, but presume
it to be due to war and pestilence in former periods.
Suverek also rejoices in a little bazaar, but its trade is
not important; and, if it wei'c not located on the high
road between Aleppo and Diar])ekir, it would hardly
ever be visited by strangers.

Chief in authority at this place is the Kaimakara,
an arrogant old Turk, a petty tyrant, privileged ex«
tortioner, and thief of the first water, who resides in a
khan resembling in outward appearance a country jail,
and occupied by his worthy self, his pretty harem and
a crowd of the moat ruflianly looking sub-oflicials and
hangers-on imaginable, most of them " armed to the

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN. 53J

teeth,'* and as insolent and overbearing as cowardly
villains can possibly be.

The Moslem inhabitants of Suverek stand in rather
bad repute with the Christians and Jews of that section
of the world for religious fanatacism, quarrelsomeness
and lawlessness, and thev are the most slovenlv and
treacherous looking people to be found in Upper Meso-
potamia. It is needless to add that we were anxious to
quit the place as soon as practicable ; even our horses
seemed anxious to get away.

Aw easy march of ten miles in a southwesterly
direction, over tolerable ground, took us to a little
tributary of the river Euphrates, which we crossed, and
continued our journey leisurely for fifteen miles to the
river Sham Shaft. After traveling twenty-five miles
without meeting a human being we concluded, although
it was scarcely two o'clock in the afternoon, to go no
further that day, but to encamp until sunrise next
morning near that village, and in the meantime get a
suitable man to pilot us by another route less difiicult
than the usual one, via. Orfa to Bireh-jik, our nextf)lace
of destination.

There was no difficulty in finding for good pay a
serviceable guide. Indeed there were so many of them
eager to officiate in the capacity required, that each of-
fered to do it cheaper than the other. TTe finally se-
cured one who was ready, not only to serve us as a
guide, but to do almost anything for a mere trifle. This
individual led us, early on the next day, for a short dis-
tance along the usual route ; but on coming to a side
path on our right, he suddenly turned off into the lat-
ter, and conducted ns across an almost perfectly level
plain toward a little village called Ordek, built on the
delta formed by the*two sources of a small tributary of
the river Euphrates.

632 ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN.

Arriving there about noon, we gave our men and
horses two hours' rest', and then resumed march, strik-
ing due west towards anotlier village on the right bank
of another of the innumerable tributaries of the Upper
Euphrates. This village, called " Jalla©k«" by its in-
habitants, although not containing a building large
enough to accommodate twenty men (to say nothing of
horses), was so snugly located that we made it our head-
quarters until daybreak the following morning, and
havinji' been told bv the villagers that we should meet
neither human dwellings nor water between that place
and Bireh-jik, a distance of nearly thirty miles,
we provided a good supply of water in tooloochs,
a precaution that had not been necessary for several
weeks past. Determined to reach Bireh-jik the next
day at all hazards, we were at sunrise a long distance
from our last night's resting place, gallantly striding
across the arid i)lain. During the course of the first
ten miles, we crossed a bed of a periodical river, like-
wise a tributary of the Euphrates ; but it was as dry as
a bone at that time, and had evidently been so for
months, l^ot a tree, nor a shady place of any descrip-
tion was met with, and by eleven o'clock in the fore-
noon we were compelled to stop for an hour and a half
in the burning sun to rest, and distribute water and
provisions among men and horses.

About three o'clock in the afternoon we suddenly
slood upon the high clift's which tower over the left
bank of the Eu})hrates in that section. As if a curtain
was suddenly withdrawn from before us, we stood en-
tranced by tlie glorious view we beheld ; even the phleg-
matic Arabs exclaimed, "y-Allah " ("Oh, God"); and
well might they do so, for fully one thousand feet below
us glided the majestic river Euphrates ; its broad sheet
of water of the purest azure hue, and as smooth as a

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN. 533

mirror, flowing silently tlirougli the wide cliff-bound
vallej, after emerging like a stream of fluid silver from
behind the high barren mountain (which projects boldly
into the valley ten miles further up the river), and
after describing an endless variety of graceful curves
along the valley, lost itself to our views, in the yellow-
ish gray arid plains of El Jesireh (Mesopotamia) far
away in the dim haze of the southern horizon. The
valley itself is bordered on the right side by undulating
barren hills apparently uninhabited. On the left, by
almost perpendicular rocks of prodigious height, inter-
sected and deeply furrowed here and there by yawning
chasms and wild gorges, clinging to the precipitous sides
of which grow stunted trees and tufts of coarse grass,
which are utterly inaccessible to man or beast, and,
therefore, safe perches for the numerous eagles, haw^ks,
and vultures, w^hich incessantly chase each other with
shrill, piercing cries along the crests of the towering
cliffs, or g} rate silently in mid-air high above the
watery mirror. Far below our feet we beheld a broad,
deep, mountain gorge thickly sown with mammoth
rocks and huge boulders, interspersed with irregular spots
of green sward and little gardens ; the latter literally
over'3-rown with vegetables, grapes and creeping vines,
flowers, fraerrant bushes, and luxurant fruit and shade
trees, wherever there was soil enough for them to take
root, and immediately below^ the gardens, the quaint
old town of Bireh-jik, rising like an ampitheatre (but
in shape like a pyramid), with the water's edge at its
base, and gradually ascending far up the gorge, bristles
with lofty, slender minarets, spacious mosques, towers
and castles, scattered among two thousand minor build-
ino-s of a dazzling white hue, which with the bright zinc
and o-lazed tiled cupolas of the minarets and mosques
is blinding to the eye, especially when the rays of

534 ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN.

the sun fall upon these gleaming roofs, at which time the
image of the entire city, with all its grand surrounding
scener}', is accurately reflected in the deep hlue water.

Reluctantly leaving this ravishing picture, wo
slowly and cautiously descended the tociAious and pre-
cipitous defile. AVe passed a series of natural grottoes
and artificial caverns on the way, and finally reached
the narrow lanes at the upper end of the town, which
were bordered on both sides by high garden walls
overgrown by luxuriant grapevines, while fig, orange,
lemon, pomegranate, and a variety of other semi-tropi-
cal fruit-trees, groaning under the weight of delicious
fruit, overshadowed the little gardens.

A few minutes' progress down a terribly steep and
rudely paved street, and we found ourselves right in the
heart of the romantic city, gaped at and ogled by every-
body, from the skulking street car and the tattered
street beggar to the gazelle-eyed inmates of the harem,
whose fair, oval faces, and delicate, white, bejewelled
hands, we could distinctly discern through the inter-
stices of the wooden lattice work, which, throughout
the Orient, screens the windows of the apartments of
these fair captives. After marching down nearly to
the river's edge, through the centre of the town, we
ascertained that there was not a level spot in the entire
place large enough to accommodate the caravan. Com-
jilctcly at a loss where to look for a suitable locality
anywhere on this steep, rocky, mountain slope, we
were on the point of crossing the river for the purpose
of camping on the other side where the ground was
more level, when a Turkish official, evidently sus[)ecting
the cause of our perplexity, spoke to Signor P. with a
grace and politeness unusual with the majority' of
Turkish government oflScials, informed liim in broken
Italian that in consequence of the unfavorable nature

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN. 535

of the ground in the to^Yn, it was customary for larger
caravans to take up their quarters in one of the large
caves which he said we must have noticed in the per-
pendicular rocks towering just above the city, and
located on the left hand side of the path by which we
had descended the side of the mountain. Beins; assured
that we should there find comfortable quarters large
enough for double our number, we turned about, which,
by the way, was no easy matter in the very narrow,
steep, and slippery-paved streets of the lower city,
re-ascended the mountain slope until we reached the
caves, which, on closer inspection, really proved to be
the most convenient quarters a caravan can possibly
fall in with anywhere in Mesopotamia, or indeed
throughout the Orient. There are several of these
large, artificial caverns or subterranean khans in that
localit3\ The one which we selected was hewn horizon-
tally out of the solid mass of perpendicular rock of
gray sandstone, which rises to a height of about one
hundred feet some twenty paces to the left of the
mountain road. The cave was a perfectly level, plain
apartment about sixty feet deep, forty feet in width
and of a uniform height of eight or nine feet. Although
cut in the solid rock, its ceiling was supported bj^ two
rows of round pillars, about three feet in diameter,
likewise cut out of the solid rock. The sides, floor,
and ceiling of the cave are tolerably smooth, and per-
fectly free from dampness ; the entrance is on a level
with the ground outside, and of the height and nearly
the width of the cave itself, thus admitting plenty of
fresh air and lio-ht. It would be difficult to state with
accuracy the age of these caves, or their original pur-
pose ; the one we occupied, however, must be several
centuries old, and appears to have been intended for
the purpose for which it is now used; viz. : that of a

536 ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN.

subten-anean khan or caravansary, for it contained a
number of mangers hewn into the solid rock, and iron
bolts with rintrs for securins: the horses. All of these
were very much worn and evidently of great age.

The originator of these subterraneaij^Jchans, who.
ever he may be, is certainly entitled to the praise and
thanks of every traveler in the Orient ; for safer and
better quarters cannot possibly be found in that region,
because they are not only water, fire, and shot proof,
but in every way inaccessible to thieves and other
intruders, except by the regular entrance, which can be
easily guarded and defended. Besides, they are delight-
fully cool in summer and quite warm during the winter,
or rather during the cold season. Upon entering this
khan we found it unoccupied ; but it had evidently not
been long so, for there were here and there the smoking
remains of camp tires. The place was tolerably clean,
and we were soon snugly ensconced. The day had been
suffocatingly sultry, and we sincerely longed, sheltered
though we were, for a brisk shower of rain to cool the
atmosphere and lay the dust.

By the time we were properly installed in our
subterranean quarters, it was too late to think of going
to the bazaar to procure the necessary provisions for
our journey to Alepjio, a distance of more than fifty
miles. It was thcrei'ore doubtful if we should start
before noon of the next dav. At niu;htfall two senti-
nels were stationed at the entrance of the cave, and a
camp-fire lighted. The night passed away quietly, al-
though we were twice awakened by the loud challenge
of the watchmon. As soon as the sun rose, Signor P.
and myself started Avith some of our men and pack-
horses for the bazaar to make the rec^uisite purchases.
This accomplished, our men returned to the cave wMth
the i)rovisioiis,and with orders to get everything ready

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN. 537

for the start. "We took a short stroll through the city,
and then proceeded to the river in order to arrange
with the officials in charo;e of the ferrv for the trans-
port of our caravan across the Euphrates. On our
return to the cave we found that our companion,
Father M., and the negro girl Bahri, were both indis-
posed and weak, in consequence of a slight attack of
chills and fever, due probably to the very cool atmo-
sphere in the cave. The leader of our caravan, always
more considerate for his traveling comj^anions than
for himself, therefore humanely postponed our depart-
ure till the following day. This unexpected turn of
affairs gave me time to learn considerably more of
Bireh-jik. "Bir" (as the place is plainly called by
the Arabs, "bir" means in Arabic "well," "cistern"),
but generally known by its Turkish name, "Bireh-jik,"
the ancient " Birtha," is a town of from eio-ht to ten
thousand inhabitants, artificially fortified, wherever
otherwise accessible, bv rather low but thick stone
walls, surmounted by battlements and loop-holed
towers; fortifications which centuries ago undoubtedly
have made the place (all but inaccessible by nature) a
very powerful stronghold.

In this enlightened age of mammoth siege guns,
however, these defences would be worse than useless,
for a few well-directed shots from a larg-e calibre
Parrot, Armstrong, or Krupp siege gun, planted on the
opposite bank ot the river, would destroy the town:
nor would castle and citadel, the latter being already
partly in ruins, and built on eminences to the right
and left of the town, and commanding the valley and
river, stand any better chance in such a case. Against
unruly Koord and Arab tribes they may, however,
still prove eflfective for some time yet in case of emer-
gency. The garrison of the place consists of a few

b'dS ACIIOSS THE MOUNTAIN.

hundred badly drilled and worse equipped soldiers, and
the lew guns of the fortress are old fashioned, worthless
and evidently more intended to overawe the ignorant
natives than to do active service. The military
throughout the Ottoman Empire is in^-general, but
especially in the garrison townsof Mesopotamia, rather
unwilling to allow strangers to inspect the tottering
fortresses and useless guns; but whether from shame
or suspicion of espionage, I am really unable to say,
though I truly believe the latter feeling predominates
with them. Bireh-jik is a thoroughly Turkish city,
far more so than even Suverek, Diarbekir or Mossul,
and the vernacular of the place is Turkish, the Arab
language being no more spoken there than the French
language in England or the jSTorthern States of the
Union, and the few Arabic speaking inhabitants are
only temporary residents. ' There are a small num-
ber of Jews, Armenians and Roman Catholics to be
found in Bireh-jik; but not, to my knowledge, a single
European resident except a couple of Albanians and
Greeks, who were probably born in the Ottoman Em-
pire, and may in that case be called Asiatics. The
mosrpies, minarets and the better class of private build-
ings are constructed with great solidity, ajul of a hard,
yellowish white limestone. The necessity of their
being well-built is apparent, considering the nature of
the ground upon which the}' arc erected. The dwellings
of the poorer classes, however, are miserable hovels,
rather clinging to than being built u[)on the very steep
mountain slope. The thoroughfares, as already alluded
to, are very narrow, tortuous and filthy, like all those
in the Ottoman Empire; but their greatest nuisance
lies in their wretched pavements, which afford unusual
facilities to break one's neck. The town sports a small
bazaar, but it is hardly worthy of notice when com-

ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN. 639

pared with those of Diarbekir, Mossul or Bagdad.
There is not much business done in Bireh-jik, and the
place owes its importance (commercially) entirely to its
being situated right on the great caravan route between
the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia, and on thp
frontier between Mesopotamia and Syria, the river
Euphrates forming the boundary line between the two
countries. Its chief importance, however, unquestion-
ably lies in the fact that it commands the principal
crossing of the Upper Euphrates, the travelers and
caravans going from Syria to Mesopotamia, or vice versa,
being almost compelled to cross the Euphrates at Bireh-
jik; and it is from this ferry service that the majority
of the inhabitants of this town derive their sustenance.
The boat, or rather boats (for although but one is
used at a time, there are several others on hand in case
of accident), are very clumsy, uncouth looking wooden
crafts of about sixty tons' carrying capacity, and resem-
ble in size and shape the small class Arab " baglows '*
or sailing vessels which ply on the river Tigris between
Bagdad and Bassora. Indeed, but for the mast and
sails, of which the ferry boats of Bireh-jik are desti-
tute, the latter could hardly be distinguished from the
ordinary Arab baglows. The boats are wretchedly
arranged as regards comfort, the floors being destitute
of even a rough floor of planks for passengers and
animals to stand upon, but exhibiting the bare frame
work of their hulls, upon which man and beast have
to secure a footing the best way they can. On both
sides of the stream, which at Bireh-jik has a width of
about two hundred and fifty yards, and a maximum
depth of fifteen feet during the dry season, there is a
sort of wooden platform projecting a few feet into the
water, at which the ferry boat lies for the purpose of
discharging her cargo, as she cannot c :)me closer in

£>10 Across the mountain.

shore, although she does not draw over five feet of
water when loaded. '

The crew of the ferrj' boat, when in active service,
is composed of a captain and six or eight men. The
onerous duty of the former seems to oou&ist in doing
nothing but sitting cross-legged a la Turc on the poop,
smoking a chibook (long stemmed pipe) ; that of the
latter, however, imposes ratlier hard work, as the poor
fellows have to push, by means of long wooden poles,
the cumbrous craft, by sheer muscular power, from one
side of the stream to the other, while one of them
works the large, uncouth rudder of the boat.

During and immediately after the wet season,
when the stream rises to nearly double its usual size,
and overflows the low lands of El Jesireh as regularly
as the y ile does those of Egypt, the crew cannot always
touch bottom with their poles, and then, I am told,
they use oars instead as a motive power. The current
of the Euphrates, as I have already stated, is very slow,
or they would nevor be able to stem the tide with their
clumsy boat. This ferry boat, owing to her shape and
interior arrangement, is not capable of carrying more
than eight or ten loaded camels, or more than twenty
horses, at a time, which will give the reader an idea how
long it takes to ferry one of the ordinary caravans across,
which number from one hundred to five hundred camels,
especially when there are many animals among them
which refuse to embark at all ; a frequent occurrence,
by the way. Towards nightfall of the second day of
our sojourn at Bireh-jik, our two invalids had so far
recovered that it was decided to resume our journey
by sunrise the next morning, the ferry boat running
only between sunrise and sunset; and everthing was
put in readiness that evening for our prompt departure
in the morning.

XXYIL

THROUGH THE VALLEY.

The " Capiain" — Historical Baltlelields — Unique Sheep Shearing — A
^'iiiht's Rest — Forward Again — Meeting a Strange Cavalcade — The
Arab's Diversion — Tattoos — Occupation oi the Feaiale 2satives.

After another night's pleasant rest in the deep re-
cesses of the spacious cavern, oar caravan proceeded,
hale and hearty to the ferry, shortly hefore sunrise. In
evident eX[)eetation of a liberal " bakshish" (present,
gratuity), from the '" Feringhee" (European) travellers,
the otherwise imperturbably phlegmatic captain of the
antifpie ferry-boat had roused his tattered crew a little
earlier than usual out of their slumbers, for although
Phoebus had not yet shed his rays into the deep valley
of the Euphrates, captain, crew and boat were all ready
for our embarkation, so that much to our satisfaction,
one horse after the other, almost as fast as they could
be brought to the river's edge, could be stowed away
on board, and under the careful superintendence of the
head of our caravan; all but one of our valuable stal'
lions were safely got on board, and nearly filled all the
available space on the craft. The one left behind with
the beasts of burden, although the finest horse in our
caravan, was left purposely, on account of his very
vicious disposition, and as he might otherwise have
done a o-reat deal of damasre with his feet and teeth
among his mates in the narrow boat, he was judiciously
condemned by Signor P. to take passage with the
rear-guard, ?. e., with the beasts of burden composed
chiefly of mules, to fight which, this equine bruiser, we

(541)

542 THROUGH THE VALLEY.

hoped, would regard beneath his dignity. The boat
being full, started with us to the opposite river bank,
at such an amazing rate of speed, that it took us just
half an hour to get there, where alread}^ a heterogene-
ous crowd of Syrian peasantry, some oniloiot, others on
donkeys, mules, horses, and camels, bound to town with
loads of vegetables, poultry, sheep, goats, firewood,
etc., Avere impatiently awaiting ferriage across the
stream.

Signor P. left me in charge of the horses, while he
returned with the boat to convey the balance of our
caravan over, which was efiected in an hour or more,
without further accident than a few bruises received by
the poor heavily laden beasts of burden from the hoofs
of our vicious stallions. The captain of the boat duly
received his " bakshish' with a deep reverential salaam,
and inmiediately after resumed his phlegmatic smoke,
puffing his fragrant tobacco fumes from his perch on
the jioop of the "ark" which returned to 13ireli-jik,
while we struck briskly across the valley of the Eu-
phrates, towards the lonely hills in front of us.

An hour's brisk march brought us up to the top
of the range of hills, whence we followed the road for
some time, across a sort of table-land, various parts of
which exhibited signs of cultivation ; but the country
all around, as far as we could see, was totally destitute
of trees, as well as of human dwellings, except some dis-
tance off the road on our left, where, built on the north-
em slope of a low hill, we espied the wretched little
village of Nisib, composed of about fifty roughly built,
•lilajiidated stone houses, of one story, with flat roofs
ap[.arently all built to the right and left of a single
street, and surrounded by ruins. This humble little
village, seeming to be hardly worth noticing by casual
passers-by, is nevertheless a place of decided historical

THROUGH THE VALLEY. 54b

interest, and an object of considerable wrangling be-
tween historians, because it contests with Xisibin the
honor of occupying the site of Xisibis.

However that may be, it is certain that the little
village of Kisib has been a historical spot, during the
last thirty -four years, owing to its being in the imme-
diate vicinity of the battle field (the table-land just
described) where on June 24th, 1839, Ibrahim Pasha,
commander-in-chief of the armv of the famous Mehemet,
or Mohammed Ali, viceroy of Egypt (and adopted son
of that warlike prince), with an army of but ten thou-
sand Egyptians, utterly routed, and almost annihilated
that of Sultan Mahmud, which was at least forty thou-
sand strong. Signor P., at that time in the prime of
life, was a cavalry ofiicer in the service of Mehemet
Ali ; and was not onlv an eve witness of the battle of
Xisib, but took an active part in it. I listened with
great interest to the minute details of that startling
historic event, as related to me by Signor P., an event
which, but for the interference of the European powers,
would have induced the ambitious and victorious Me-
hemet Ali to annex all of the Turkish dominions in
Asia, to Egypt, as he had already done with the island
of Candia in .1830, and the whole of Syria in 1833.
The features of my venerable companion were abso-
lutely radiant with enthusiasm as he vividly described
and pointed out to me the respective positions of the
t\ro armies on the table-land over which we were then
travelling ; the intrenchments ; the attack r the thun-
der of artillery ; the terrible carnage ; the wavering,
retreat, and the final stampede of the entire Turkish
force, in dire confusion towards Bireh-jik, hotly pur-
sued by the fleet Egyptian cavalry to the very banks
of thQ Euphrates, and within range of the guns of the
fortress; driving thousands upon thousands of the

514 THROUGH THE VALLEY.

Turkish soldiers into the broad stream, where they
jreri^hed like rats as they attempted to swim across.

About an hour afterwards we arrived at a small
village consisting of about thirty very low, flat roofed
stone dwellings, where we took two houn^rest. It is
called Tell Basher, and is located on the southeastern
slope of the table-land of Nisib, which we had just
travelled. The entire portion of the population seemed
to be engaged in shearing sheep, a large number or'
these meek animals having been collected in and around
the village for the purpose of having their fleeces
clipped ofi:'; an operation performed, in spite of the in-
ferior shape and quality of the shears used for the pur-
pose with astonishing dexterity, especially by the fe-
males, who appeared to be adepts at this work ; but
what surprised us still more was the unusual readiness
with which the flock submitted to the operation ; very
few of the sheep requiring to be held down by force,
or to have their legs tied. Indeed many of the veterans
of the henl, evidently quite familiar with the perform-
ance, and sure of gentle treatment, laid down almost of
their accord, at the feet of the operator, to submit to
the clipping. A good many of the finest ewes, and es-
pecially those with lambs, wore a fetich, or charm, in
the shape of a triangular l)ag filled with certain roots,
herbs and other matter, and dangling like a bell, from
a cord, or leather strap lied around the neck of the an
imal. These fetiches are in u-eneral use throughout the
Orient, but particularly so among the painfully supersti-
tious natives of Syria, Meso|)otamia and Arabia, who
staunchly believe that they are an effective protection
against witchcraft, evil spirits, accidents, disease; in
fact, against every misfortune ; therefore they are worn
by most of the natives of both sexcs,and all ages, and also
by \'aM«.lo, horses, cattle, sheep and goats, especially by

THROUGH THE VALLEY. 545

the females of the human and the animal families. In-
deed, there are few Bedouin Arabs who will ever allow
their favorite wife, child, or animal to be without a
fetich.

During^ the course of the afternoon we ag-ain started
on our journey, in a southerly direction, along the base
of a long range of rugged hills to the banks of the
Sandshur river, a tributary of the Euphrates. "We got
there just at sunset. Immediately after crossing the
river, the road led us up a rather steep hill until we
could hear the distant barkins; of numerous lars-e do2;s
ahead of us, a sure sign that some village or camp was
not far off, though yet invisible. The further we ad-
vanced, however, the louder and more furious became
the barking, and we soon heard human voices, the
faint outlines of buildings became discernible, and we
finally found ourselves in Tshanguly, a poor, dilapidated
looking village inhabited by about twenty families.
Here we determined to rest for the night, having made
a good day's journey, and tasted scarcely any food since
leaving Bireh-jik.

A house, a trifle more decent looking and slightly
larger than the rest, which were really not much better
than the worst human dwellings we had hitherto met
on our journey, was selected for our headquarters, its
inmates consenting as usual to vacate their premises
for the night in consideration of appropriate compen-
sation in the shape of ten piasters (about fifty cents
American coin), which was, in my opinion, about ten
piasters too much ; as the little courtj'ard was of no use
to us, it being much too small to accommodate our car-
avan, and as for the little house itself, we soon found to
our dismay that it was alive with vermin of every de-
scription, so that Father M., Signor P. and myself
passed the night in perpetual motion. "Ho one who

646 THROUGH THE VALLEY.

has not been similarly situated is competent to form an
approximate idea of the pleasure with which we sav/
the daylight appear, and I doubt if poor YoossoofF, the
cook, was ever shaken so unceremoniously out of a
happy slumber to the performance of hia^ijiily duties.
He was wonderfully gifted with sleeping powers, how-
e^er, and snored furiously all night, notwithstanding
the it?gi()ns of crawling, jumping, and flying vermin
devouring iiim.

Tlie morning was rendered dismal by a dense fog
which hung over the horrid place, and kept the smoke
of our fuel hanging heavily about us. These cakes of
fuel, "artistically" prepared by the females of the coun-
try from camel and horse manure mixed with chopped
straw, or other vegetable matter, and baked quite hard
in the sun, are in general use not only in the desolate,
arid and barren districts of Arabia, Mesopotamia and
Sj-ria, but throughout Asia and Africa, wherever w^ood
is scarce or altogether absent. The maiuifacture of
these fuel cakes forms a considerable branch of the in-
dustry of the poorer classes of those countries, the
more so as peat and coal has not as yet been discovered
in these regions.

Our eagerness to leave our wretched night quarters
with all possible haste caused us to take a very frugal
breakfast in a dangerously short time — dan.gerous to our
stomachs at least — and to rc^sumc our march immedi-
ately afterwards acrossa wide, perfectly level, and appa-
rently fertile jilain, though utterly destitute of trees, or
even bushes, and withal very scantily poi)ulated. The
further we advanced on this i)laiii, the more the misty
vapor that hung over the country disi)ersed, and an
hour after sunrise the sky was as blue and the atmos-
])here as transparent as they are ever seen in Syria.
Scattered over the vast plain, we espied several small

THROUan THE VALLEY. 547

villages, and in tlieir vu-iuitj- herds of camels, horses,
donkeys, cuttle, shee]» Jiml goats ; but on the road we
did not meet a human beina: i'ov over fifteen miles,
which brought us nearly to the suburbs of Ak Dejarin,
a village equally distant from our previous night's
quarters and Aleppo. Within two miles of this place,
we overtook and passed a number of villagers, male
and female, young and old, who, sitting on miserably
small and ugly donkeys, and equii)ped with hoes,
spades, sickles and other agricultural implements, were
evidently returning from the fields to their homes,
being compelled to suspend their labor during the
intensely hot hours of noon. We could not help
laughing at the extremely ludicrous appearance of this
strange cavalcade, as it slid along, enveloped in a cloud
of dust stirred up the nimble little hoofs of the dwarf-
ish donkeys, most of which animals were so inferior in
size that their riders had to keep their knees constantly
bent to prevent their feet from dragging on the ground.
Indeed, when they wished to dismount, all they had to
do was to straighten their lower limbs so that their
feet would rest on the ground, when the donkeys could
slip from under the riders and leave the latter standirio-
on the ground. IS"© one, who has ever witnessed the
performance of the donkeys of the Orient, can help
admiring their truly wonderful strength andenduranci3,
for it is an eveiy day thing in Egypt, Arabia, Syria,
and Mesopotamia to see them carrying loads greatly
exceeding their bodily Aveight from twenty to thirty
miles every day. These donkeys are a peculiar species
of the asinine race of a dwarf breed, gray and black, not
over two hundred pounds in weight (some of them
scarcely one hundred pounds), and correspond with the
Shetland and Pegu ponies of the equine race.

While out hunting one day in the desert with a

548 THROUGH THE VALLEY.

friend, we fell in with a big, heavy Arab sitting on an
unii!-ually small donkeV, which he thrashed unmercifully
with a stick, and yelled like a demon to urge the stag-
o-erino; little animal alono;. Noticing: two o-ood sized
bags dangling by the side of the little aifi«wMil, we rode
up to the Arab, and in a friendly tone asked him what
the bags contained. Being answered gruthy, "salt,*' a
heavy weight by itself, we determined to punish the
cruel wretch, and ordered him to dismount forthwith,
and change places with the donkey, i. e., carry the
donkey and the bag of salt for a mile or so. He
evidently considered such an insinuation rather cool,
and beneath his dignity to heed, and attempted to move
on, whereupon we covered him with our rifles and
threatened to perforate him if he continued, unless he
heeded our command. He dismounted and, muttering
angrily, marched by the side of the donkey, but was
still unwilling to shoulder the burthen. No sooner,
however, did he hear the " click " of our firearms, than
he began to tremble, knowing well that resistance
would be useless, lie being armed with a stick and
knife only; so with a grunt expressive of his disgust,
knelt down in the sand, and pushing his head through
the oi)ening between the fore and hind legs of the
animal, shouldered it bodily just as a she[)herd would
a sheep which was unable to walk, and without any
visible effort <ni his part rose to his feet. Thus loaded,
we ordered him to move on, and following in his wake,
made him carry his little ass and the two bags of salt for
nearly a mile. AVc then permitted him to unload, but
before we left told him that if he attempted to mount
the donkey, or ill treat him, within our sight, we
would follow him, and make him retake the place of
the poor brute. The fellow evidently saw that we were
in earnest, for as far as we could see him on the level

THROUGH THE VALLEY. 549

desert, he was quietly trani[)iiig on behind his ass ; but
lookino; back over his shouWer from time to time to see
whether we were still watching him, and no doubt
invoking the wrath of Allah, and Mohammed, the pro-
phet, on the heads of the two infamous "Kafirs," (iniidels,
non-Moslems,) who dared to interfere in his affairs and
heap insult on him a devoted Hajji, a honorary title
among the Moslems, and meaning a Moslem who has
made a pilgrimage to Mecca. The majority of the
members of the rustic cavalcade, which we passed in
the neighborhood of Ak Dejarin, were females, they
being there, as everywhere in the Orient, indeed,
wherever civilization has not yet taken root, the tillers of
the soil. All of them were dressed in the usual dark
blue colored homespun cloth of the Syrian and Meso-
potamian peasant women, and seemed to be remarkably
hilarious and light hearted after so many hours of toil ;
for although it was not yet noon when we passed them,
they had probably already done what is called a full
day's work, it being customary among that peasantry
to turn out to their field labor as early as one
o'clock in the morning during sultry weather, and to
work till about ten o'clock in the forenoon, by which
time the heat of the sun becomes too of)pressive for
field labor. These females, though sadly in want of a
good shower-bath, and a thorough application of the
comb, looked remarkably healthy and robust, and some
of the younger ones might even have laid claim to good
looks had they not spoiled their natural appearance
with abominable and indelible tattoo marks of indio-o
blue and scarlet, in the manner so customarv with our
marines and sailors. These men generally content them-
selves with disfio-urino; the skin on the inside of their
fore-arms onlv, but the Moslem women are not satisfied
with that, but mark their foreheads between the eye-

550 THROUGH THE VALLEY.

brows, the chin, aronnjl the neck, in the middle of the
chest, the back of the liands, around the wrists and
ankles, etc. These tattoo marks, though as common a
sight with Mohammedan females, as the wearing of
finger a. id earrings by women of civil izecT^nations are
never '^een on the person of a Jewish female, because
the imprinting of marks on the human body is forbid-
den b}' the Mosaic law.

Although it was scarcely afternoon when oar
caravan entered Ak Dejarin, Signor P. resolved to
travel no further that day. B3ing justly proud of his
rarely magnificent Arab horses, which he actually cared
for and fostered like a doting mother, and, moreover,
having a number of friends and acquaintances in
Aleppo, which city he had frequently visited on
previous journeys in search of Arab horses, he was
naturally anxious to enter that city with " flying colors,"
an iimocent vanity quite excusable in the veteran. It
was, therefore, his intention'to spend the remainder of
the day in getting everything in perfect order.

Our little farrier TTajji Mohammed, and his assis-
tant, received strict orders to carefully overhaul the
hoofs and shoes of every liorse, mule and donkej^ in
the caravan. The " sais " (grooms) and nuikaries were
enjoined to groom, wash, comb and brush every animal
in their cliarge, as well as to get their own person in
order, and to clean every saddle, bridle, blanket, pack-
saddle, or other equine outfit, improvements which
were very much needed, as may well be imagined, after
so many weeks' tedious travel. Even we Europeans
founl an improvement in our personal appearance
highly desirable. In order to effect this, our trunks,
liitjierto hariUy opened since our departure from Bag-
dad, wt.'rc made to disgorge clean wearinof apparel,
scirfsor.-^, razors, soap, etc.

XXYIII.

BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

Desert — Armenian Caravan — Fertile and Beautiful Valley — Alepp«
River — Aleppo in the Distance — Mohammed Cemetery — Gateway to
Aleppo — Received at the Consulate — Sumptuous Dinner — Attack on
the Count's Caravan — Lost in Aleppo — Similarity of Streets — Ruins
— The Aqueduct — Minarets.

The foUowiuo; morniuo; the risino; sun must have
liad difficulty in recognizing, in the much altered ap-
pearance of every man and beast of the caravan, the
dusty, travel stained, neglected looking cavalcade of the
previous day as we strode along briskly and cheerfullj'
towards Aleppo. An hour's march brought us to a
sinuous stream called Aleppo river, which winds its
way along the base of a long range of low hills (arid
and of limestone) in a southeasterly direction towards
the great city. The whole country south of Ak Dejarin
abruptly reassumes that stony arid and utterly desolate
aspect so characteristic of the plains of Upper Mesopo-
tamia. It surpasses the latter in this respect, and
presents to the eye absolutely the dismal appearance of
veritable desert.

After crossing this stream, the road became beau-
tifully rugged, and rather difficult to travel. Not a
living being was visible anywhere, except immense
clouds of the oftmentioned sand grouse which rose up
from the barren gravelly ground in every direction.
For many miles we had entirely lost sight of the Aleppo
river, but about two hours after parting with it we saw
it again about half a mile to the right of our road pur-
suino; its tortuous course towards the South. Thence-
forward its course was distinctly indicated by an ap-

(551)

052 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

jiarently interminable streak of dark green-forest trees
and bushes which densely lined both sides of the stream,
in the centre of the narrow valley through which it
meandered ; the only vegetation around.

"When within four miles of Aleppo*-we met a
(arge caravan, composed of Aleppine merchants, chiefly
Jews and Armenians, some with their wives and
children, and a few Turkish officers and soldiers, the
latter probably on their way to the garrison of
Diarbekir, Mossul, or Bagdad. All ot those travellers
were mounted on ghedishes (common road horses) and
mules, and eyed us with great curiosity, evidently per
ceiving by the costumes of many of our men, that we
came from Lower Mesopotamia, and astonished no
doubt at our trim appearance after so long a journey.

Shortly after passing the caravan, the road led down
into a deep ravine, and up again on the other side. Then
we passed between several fine villas or country seats,
built in the genuine Oriental style, surrounded by
extensive grounds, encircled by low stone walls, and
studded with fine shade and fruit trees, fragrant bushes,
patches of Indian Corn, etc., strangely and }>leasantly
contrasting with the calcined, arid country all around.
Every handful of the fertile soil of these luxuriant
gardens must have been taken there from a considera-
ble distance, and can be kept fertile and rendered jiro-
ductive only by constant artificial irrigation; but where
the requisite water is obtained, I am at the loss to
determine, as the nearest water which I could discover
was that of the Alejtpo several hundred yards off, and
at least seventy feet below the level of those villas;
although it is more than probable that the water
requisite for irrigation is brought from the river, car-
ried on tlie backs of camels, horses and mules in large
tooloochs.

BOUND FOR ALEPPO. 553

The pleasant picture above describe! soon vanished
from our eyes, and after marching a few hundred
yards further, we again found ourselves travelling over
parched and stony ground, along the northern slo[)e of
a low hill ; but before long we preceived, to our intense
satisfaction, that the narrow streak of dark green woods
along the banks of the iNTahrel-Haleb became broader
and broader, and shortly after we saw it extend to the
valley on our left to the size of a vast park, a sure
proof that we had nearly our goal, and would presently
be in full view of the city of Aleppo. Our supposition
proved correct, for as soon as we arrived on the crest of
a low gravelly hill, we surveyed at a distance of less
than a mile the entire northern part of the city loom-
ing up silently and solemnly from the bottom of a
shallow, barren valley, or rather basin bordered on the
]^orth by the rivulet Apello River, which there
irrigates a large area of the most luxurious gardens,
studded with clusters of stately shade and fruit trees,
to all appearances the only vegetation visible within a
day's journey of Aleppo, which, surrounded as it is by
a most desolate looking country, presents to the stranger
a majestic (though not inviting) picture with its
thousands upon thousands of buildings of every
description ; its hundreds of minarets and mosques,
glittering in the scorching rays of the sun, and thus
rendering, by the injury of the sight, a good view of
the city between sunrise and sunset, almost an impossi-
bility.

But what give^ to Aleppo a peculiarly grand and
imposing aspect is the huge castle or citadel which
towers fully two hundred feet above the base of the
town, on the crest of a steep, inaccessible height, rising
abruptly and phantom-like out of the very heart of
A^leppo. It was about one o'clock in the afternoon

BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

when we first got sight of the citj. The heat of the
sun had bj this time become dreadfully oppressive;
the arid and stony ground over which we travelled
fairly glowed underfoot, and its peculiar w^hite, inten-
sified by the glare of the fiery Orb, <t*SV absolutely
painful to the eyes of man and beast.

Shortly after our arriving in sight of the town
our route again led us along the northern slope of a
low hill adjacent to the city. The entire surface of
this hill, for a distance of a mile or more, was one vast
burial ground bristling with at least two hundred
thousand tombstones; the majority, if not all of them,
" in memoriam " of deceased Moslems, to judge from
their shape, emblems, and inscriptions. To my intense
relief, I noticed that a large proportion of them were a
great many years old ; the " faithful " buried beneath
them having long ago joined Mohammed, the prophet,
in Paradise, and had undoubtedly by that time fully
accustomed themselves to thocompanvof the charmino-
Ilural-Oyun (Tlouris, or Idack-cycd fairies of ravishing
beauty, bodily perfection, and composed of pure musk)
promised by ^Mohammed the prophet to his followers,
as their constant attendants from the day of their
entrance into Paradise. Heartily glad that it was not
T who enjoyed this privilege, I jiassed on in silence,
and, with the caravan, entered the northern gate of
Aleppo.

A zig-zag march of about half a mile througli
narrow, roughly i)aved, unclean streets, or lanes, flanked
on both sides by gloomy looking, though substantial
brick and stone buildings of considerable size, some of
them erected right over the streets, thus forming
vn lilted i^assagos or archways, we struck into a wider,
better paved street than we had seen anywliere in Syria
and Mesopotamia. It led througli the European

BOUND FOR ALEPPO. 555

quarter of the city. Even if we had not met any
person in this street with European costumes or man-
ners, other things would have given us proof that this
was the haunt of Europeans, such as the following :
coflee, wine and billiard-rooms ; liquor, boot and shoe
stores ; chemists' shops, and other miscellaneous estab-
lishments stocked with European goods, and furnished
in European style, many of them bearing sign-boards
exhibiting European names and inscriptions in French,
Italian, or Greek.

Proceeding along this nearly level street almost to
its upper end, we suddenly came to a halt before a
long two-story building of stone, with green blinds and
iron-barred windows, the latter actually filled with
panes of window glass, a rather rare and costly article
throughout the Orient, but especially in the interior of
Asiatic Turkey', and a luxury indulged in by wealthy
Europeans and Americans only, as a rule. A spacious
arched gateway, closed by a ponderous door of wood,
covered with a sheet of wrought-iron, constituted the
entrance to this Ijuilding, and to a spacious court-yard
in its centre, filled with chests and bales of European
and Asiatic merchandise, the former having just
arrived by caravan from the shores of the Mediter-
ranean, the latter awaiting transport thither by the
same medium. This building proved to be the resi-
dence of Mr. St., a Swiss gentleman and one of the
principals of the firm of St. Z. & Co., a long estab-
lished Swiss mercantile house of Aleppo, and the
leading firm of the place, who use the building
described as their office, jilace of business and store-
house, and as the residence of the family of the senior
of the firm.

As may be supposed, these gentlemen had long
before been apprized by Messrs. J. W. & Co., of

656 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

Basrclad and Mossul, their business assents and friends
in Mesopotamia, of our departure from Bagdad and
subsequently from Mossnl, and bad been expecting us
for several days. Our caravan had hardly reached the
gate of the city before the news of our*arrival had
been reported to them, so that when we drew up before
their office, one of the firm and a number of employees
stood ready for us, at the gate of the building, to give
us a hearty reception. After the exchange of the usual
salutations, we were informed that a spacious and con-
venient khan, or caravansary, called Khan-el-Katab,
situated in the western suburbs of the city, between
the city walls and the gardens before mentioned, had
been expressly engaged for our caravan during its
sojourn in Aleppo. As for the European members of
the caravan, we were all cordially invited to take up
our quarters at the residence of ^lessrs. St. and Z. Sig-
nor P. thankfully declined, pleading the absolute neces-
sity of his staying with the valuable horses in his charge.

Father M., the young missionary, held, as usual,
letters of introd;.. tion to his clerical brothers in the
town, with whom he was to stay. As for myself, hav-
ing neither horse-flesh or clerical brethern to influence,
I gladly accepted the kind invitation, having, by that
cime, become heartly sick of filthy quarters in cara-
vansaries and open air camping and sincerely longing
for even a temporary change.

After unloading my luggage, the caravan, headed
tjy Signor P., and piloted by one of the employees of
the house, proceeded to the Khan el Katab. A servant
guided Father M. to the convent, while I was installed
in the snug residence of Mr. St., who had so kindly
tendered his hos[>itarity. During my ten days' visit,
the social Mr. St. and his amiable wife, the ever affiible
Mr. and Mrs. Z , aud the four young gentlemen em-

BOUND FOR ALEPPO. 651

ployed by the firm, vied witli each other in rendering
my sojourn among them as agreeable as possible; and
treated Signor P. also with marked attention and gen-
uine kindness "svlienever he called.

On the evening of our arrival, our hosts gave us a
sumptuous dinner at the residence of Mr. Z., a large
substantial building of the pure Syrian style of archi-
tecture, located about two hundred yards distant from
the residence of Air. St., from which latter it is sepa-
rated by the lower branch of the bazaar.

During the course of the evening, Signor P. and I
heard for the first time the truth about the accident
which had happened to the caravan of the Count de B.,
who left Bagdad a few hours before us at the head of
a small camel caravan bound to Beyrout, the principal
seaport of the Syrian coast, via Damascus, accompanied
by two ladies, the mother, wife of Monsieur P., tlion
consul of France at Bagdad.

Count de B. , although warned against the dangers
incident to the journey across the desert of El Jesireh,
would not take the circuitous northern route, which
we followed, but left us at Mossul in a rather abrupt
manner, struck direct across the arid plains of El Jes-
ireh, in a westerly direction toward Jebl Sindshar
(Sindshar mountains), two days' journey west of which
mountain chain, he was said to have been attacked and
killed, together with some of his men, by a gang of
marauding Bedouins, as reported to us at Xisibin by an
Arab trader, who had arrived from that region. It
will also be remembered that we doubted the truth of
the report of his murder, although we could not doubt
that some accident had happened to the caravan.

Count de B. having at the head of his caravan left
Aleppo for Beyront, via Ibamah and Iboms (interme-
diate cities), only a fortnight previous to our own

558 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

arrival, and having, like myself, been the guest of
Messrs. St. and Z., these gentlemen had of course heard
all the particulars of the accident from the lips of
Count de B. and the two ladies accompanying him.
It was true that their caravan had bee»>'e.ttacked by
marauding Bedouins in the desolate locality mentioned,
but nobody was killed on their side. The caravan had
left Mossul hale and hearty and journeyed very cau-
tiously for several days across the arid resrion without
noticing the least sign of danger from any quarter —
without even meeting with, or seeing any Bedouin
camps on the vast plains. In d'lie time they reached
the little natron-lake of Katunya at the western base
of Jebl Sindshar, a district still more desolate than the
one hitherto travelled over, and apparently uniidiabited
by man, but in his stead by large numbers of gazelles
and other game, which could be seen roaming undis-
turbed over the apparently endless desert.

This was just the country where the utmost
caution was necessary, as Bedouin marauders, fully
aware of the fondness of most European travellers of
hunting, especially where game is so plentiful, and as it
were blissfully ignorant of the effect of gunpowder and
lead, generally swoop down upon their victims in such
localities where, only too frequently, a caravan is sorely
weakened just by that portion of it which is most able
to offer effective resistance, by its lagging behind while
stalking or pursuing the game.

Although travelling over territory apparently des-
titute of human beings, and nothing within the range
of eyesight to excite suspicion, travellers in the desert
have frequently been followed for days by gangs ot
from ten to two hundred Bedouin marauders, well-
armed and mounted on horses gifted v/ith the marvel-
lous speed and endurance of the gazelle.

BOUND FOR ALEPPO. 55^»

These vagabonds, bred and born in these dismal
regions, know every inch of the territory ; the slightest
deitres>ion or elevation of the ground serves their
scouts for ambush ; and for this purpose the latter
"usually leave their horses with their accomplices; and
as soon as an op[)ortunity otfers, the scout, by a sign
with the hand, agreed upon beforehand, causes the whole
gang, geuerallj^ not far oif, to dash from their hiding
jilaces and swoop down with amazing rapidity upon
their unsuspecting victims from every direction, amidst
demoniac yells and gestures intended to terrify their
opponents and paralyze them with the shock. Their
invariable " ruse de guerre " is a strenuous effort to scat-
ter their victims. If unsuccessful in this strateo;em
they endeavor to cut off that portion of the caravan
which promises the richest booty, i. e., the beasts of
burden carrying the luggage or merchandise, which,
if they do not succeed in driving off", they hamstring,
rendering thein useless forever, and of course unable to
escape. Of course this is done to make it uecessary to
the caravan to abandon the goods, for want li animals
to carry them, even if the traveller should prove vic-
torious in the contest. The cruel ham^tripa-insr, how-
ever, is only practiced by these consummate villains
when all other means of securing the booty proves
abortive, for the vagabonds are shrewd enoiMjh never
to forget that an able-bodied camel, horse, or mule i?
always of some value to the owner. If the maui bod_y
of the caravan should seem too strong to be attacked,
they take good care not to meddle with it. When
they attack the rear, or the stragglers, they surround
them from all sides, ride over, or despatch them with
their long lances (for they seldom use firearms, lest the
noise of the gun should alarm the main body of the
caravan and thus defeat their purpose), then make off

560 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

as speedily as possible Avith their booty. "WTien not
obstinately opjiosed dr irritated by the loss of any of
their comrades, these highwaymen of the desert, after
conquering their victims, usually content themselves
with taking possession of all the valuabl«8«of the latter,
often including the camels, horses, mules, etc., even the
clothes of the travellers (except European or American
wearing apparel, which is all but useless to tham).
Pocket-books and letters are torn open with avidity, as
they may contain precious stones, pearls, etc. ; but if
found empty they are either returned to the owner or
destroyed in disgust. Occasionally, the unfortunate
V'ictims, out of sheer malice or deviltry, are stripped of
every particle of their clothing, even their hats and
Bhoes, and allowed to proceed on their journey in
a state of entire nudity, to die a miserable death by
sunstroke, or suffer a thousand agonies during their
awful journey on foot, bareheaded, barefooted, and in
every way exposed to the scorcliing sun and the burn-
ing sands of the desert. Such occurrences are by no
means rare in some parts of Arabia, Mesopotamia and
Syria, as many an American or European traveller can
testify.

Count dc B,, who had travelled several days over
the i)lains of El Jeslreh without noticing anything sus-
picious, became negligent of the necessary precautions,
60 that when the caravan reached the arid plains west
of Jobl Sindshar, where gazelles, wild jiigs, and other
game abound, his love of sport "got the better of him,"
and caused him to allow the main body of the caravan
to jog on at its usual pace, wliile he, with four of his
best horses and three of his servants, lagged a few hun-
dred yards behind, or strayed that distance from the
track in search of game ; they were well armed, and
Count de B. had had considerable experience in Oriental

BOUND FOB ALEPPO. 5G1

travel, j-et they were mucli Burprised when a troop of
some twenty Bedouin horsemen silently and suddenly
spread over the ground between the little party and the
caravan. Count de B. had only a few weeks before
visited the Bedouin tribea of the vast desert lying
between Damascus and Bagdad, in the official capacity
of delegate from the mercantile community of the port
of Beyrout, for the purpose of opening a short and
direct route between Beyrout and Bagdad ; and had
in this capacity drawn up and signed written contracts
with the sheiks of the various Bedouin tribes, who,
roaming the territory along the proposed direct caravan
route, had received valuable monetary subsidies in con-
sideration of their acuaranteeino- a free and unmolested
passage for caravans across their territory.

Count de B., the delegate, was naturally thunder-
struck at finding himself waylaid, and on the point of
being attacked by some of the inhabitants of the very
territory for which he had made the contract of a free
and unimpeded passage, and had at that very time the
document upon his person. The suspicious movements
and evolutions of the vagabonds could not be mistaken.
They clearly intended to intercept Count de B. and his
companions, and to prevent him from rejoining the
caravan. Count de B. saw this at a glance. He knew
that if they should succeed in capturing him and big
attendants, the villains would not only strip them to
the very skin and perhaps murder them, but would,
emboldened by success, immediately attack the caravan
itself, deprived, as it would be, of its leader and best
armed men. Fortunately, Count de B., tried soldier
and experienced Oriental traveller as he was, could not
be frightened out of his self-possession. Explaining to
his attendants, in a few appropriate wor(?s, their des-
perate situation, he ordered them to follof ' hw "wb^r*^

662 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

ever he went ; to prepare for a fight, aucl to try their
best to break through the picket of the Bedouin
marauders, who drew a circle closer and closer around
the gallant little party. Unfortunately for the latter,
their caravan was about half a mile in aidvance at the
time of their first discovering the suspicious horsemen,
and entirely out of sight owing to the undulatory
character of the ground in that locality ; otherwise, a
single shot fired by the little party in distress would
have sufliced to attract the attention of the caravan,
and would probably have brought it back to their
assistance. As matters stood, however. Count de B.
and his servants had either to cut a passage through
the contracting circle of Bedouins, or surrender them-
selves to the tender mercies of the latter. They chose
the former, well knowing that they had little of mag-
nanimity to expect from the rufiians.

Full tilt they ran the gauntlet. Count de B., an
athletic, heavy man, a splendid horseman to boot,
mounted on a powerful horse, his double-barrelled gun
in hand, in advance. The Bedouins, with their long
lances in position, dashed towards the spot where,
according to all appearances, the little band attempted
to break through the circle. Count de B., however,
when within thirty yards, discharged the contents of
both barrels into the crowd, unhorsing two of them,
and then abruptly wheeled his charger around, and
broke through on the opposite side, where there
were only two or three of the rufiians to oppose
his furious onset, but stationed so far apart that he,
with two of his followers, managed to slip between
them before they could close up the gap. The third
servant, however, was less fortunate. Either through
inattention or inability to turn his horse, he did not
swerve around with his companions, but rushed right

BOUND FOR ALEPPO. 5C3

into the midst of the euemv. While firiug oiF his gun,
his horse, startled hy the writhing forms of the two
Bedouins on the ground, who had heen unhorsed by
Count de B., reared. His well meant dose of powder
and shot went harmlessly into the air, and almost simul-
taneouslj he received a thrust with a lance in his
abdomen, and fell from the saddle bleeding. A few
of the robbers took care of him and his horse, while the
bulk of the gang dashed after the three fugitives, who
sped away at a terrific pace toward the caravan. The
Bedouins, also splendidly mounted, made strenuous-
exertions to overtake them. Fortune seemed propitious
to their nefarious purpose, for they succeeded in captur-
ing all except Count de B., whose charger was more
than a match for any of their own horses, and had
carried its master safely beyond the reach of their
lances and inferior firearms, of which latter they made
an energetic use during the pursuit in the hope of
crippling the faithful steed of the fugitive. IN^o sooner
had Comit de B. reached a slight elevation of the
ground, whence he could see his caravan only a few
hundred yards further on, than the robbers abruptly
gave up the chase and gallojied back to where their
accomplices were with the confiscated horses, firearms,
clothing, etc., of the three captives. A moment after
the entire gang disappeared with their booty at the top
of their horses' speed, so that by the time Count de B.
reappeared on the scene, reinforced by his entire cara-
van, he saw them vanish from view on the distant
horizon enveloped in a cloud of dust. His three ser-
vants, however, he found in a sorry plight, slowly
advancing towards the caravan, stripped to the very
skin ; the two who had been captured kindly support-
ing the one who was wounded by the lance of one of
the marauders.

564 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

Thej had all been rather roughly handled by the
highwaymen; the two former, although not danger-
ously wounded by their captors, had sustained severe
bruises by falling from their horses, one of them by his
falling accidentally, and the other had be^^ unhorsed
in his t^io-ht by one of his iieet pursuers. The poor
fellow who had been stabbed in the abdomen was
besmeared with blood which flowed from the deep
gash. ^Notwithstanding his terrible sutlerings, the
unfortunate man had walked quite a distance, supported
by his two fellow sufferers, but by the time the caravan
reached them he was nearly fainting from loss of blood.
Of course he was taken care of forthwith, and his
wound properly dressed ; but as there was not a drop
of water in the neighborhood, the caravan could not
camp on the spot, but was compelled to proceed slowly
some ten miles further, with the wounded man carried
on a litter, borne by two mules, until they arrived upon
the banks of the river Ilesawi. He had throuo-h this
accident lost three line horses (one of them a splendid
thoroughbred little black m;ire, the pn^jierty of the
vounirer of the two ladies who travelled witli liim to
Beyrout), and their equipments, two double-barrelled
guns, and one revolver, while the three servants lost
all their clothing.

Had the latter not been Moslems, or offered an
obstinate resistance, they would have been killed by
their ca[)tors, a fate that would ccrtaitdy have befallen
their master had he not made good his escape. The
servants declared that Count do B.'s shots, which had
brouijht down two of the ruffians, must have wounded
both of them severely, as one of them was unable to
regain liis saddle without assistance, and was supported
on the right and left of his horse by his comrades, and
the other could not sit in the saddle at all, and was

BOUND FOR ALErPO. 565

carried off by a burly fellow on a powerful horse. The
servants bad been closely questioned by their captors
about tbe nature of the goods carried by the camels of
the caravan ; but on being told that they were not valu-
able, and were principally wearing apparel belonging
to the two Feringhee women, they seemed greatly dis-
appointed, as if they were sorry they had taken so
much trouble and risk for the sake of valueless
plunder. One of the ruffians, evidently considering
himself shrewder than the rest, inquired whether the
two ladies were not the wives of some sheik of
" Feringhistan " (Europe), and receiving a negative
answer, he snapped his fingers (a token of disgust
among the Bedouins) at the poor prospect of a remu-
nerative "haul." Count de B., thouo'h doubtins: the
probability of another attack from the same band,
judged it prudent to keep a good lookout during the
night for "surprise parties,'"' and stood sentinel himself
all night with part of his men.

The wounded man, who, by the way, was the
Count's head sais (groom), grew worse hourly, inflam- .
mation having set in, aggravated, no doubt, by his
unavoidable transportation over ten miles of the road,
and his aij-ouv increased, until about two o'clock in the
morning, when death relieved him from his earthly
sufferings. By daybreak Count de B. caused two of
his men to dis; a grave in the rear of their tents for
their deceased companion, and the victim of man's
rapacity was silently deposited in the bosom of mother
earth. A layer of rude stone slabs, procured at the
river, and covered with heavy stones to prevent hyenas
and jackals from exhuming the remains, formed the
poor fellow's monument; and there, in the dismal
desert, he awaits the general resurrection prophesied
and promised by Mohammed, the prophet, as the reward

5G6 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

of every true believer in " Islam " (submission to the will
and dictates of God). The two French ladies of tlie
caravan, naturally delicate in health and nervous, had
received such a severe shock, during the course of that
sad day, that they were more dead than'aTive, and it
was not until after midnight that they sank into a sort
of comatose condition which lasted until sunrise.
Their first inquiry on awaking was about the condition
of the wounded man, and Count de B., unwilling to
add to their distress, said he was "all right." When,
however, the elder lady issued from the tent to look for
the j)atient, the Count was obliged to inform her of the
man's demise and burial, and she in turn informed her
daughter-in-law of the painful occurrence. This sad
event, of course, ^ast a gloom over the whole caravan
for many a day.

Much of the time oi my sojourn in the town of
Alejif-o was spent in daily visits to my estimable trav-
elling companion, Signor P., who was comfortal)ly
installed witli his caravan in the spacious, shady court-
yard of the khan "El Katab," and (unintentionally on
his psirt) was made "the lion " of the day by the good
pcf'[>ie of Aleppo, his headquarters being invaded from
early morning until night by numbers of friends and
curious visitors, all anxious to inspect the splendid
equine sj)ecimens whose fame had already spread over
the city.

Between receiving so many visitors, superintend-
ing tlie daily work of the grooms and the drivers of
pack-horses ainl mules, scouring the vast"sookh"
(A ral»ic for "bazaar") for the purpose of purchasing
provisions and otl;er requisites for man and beast, and
attending to his financial affairs at the office of Messrs.
St. Z. il- Co., the head of our caravan had but very
little ei>are time left for making visits himsfelf, or in-

BOUND FOR ALEPPO. 667

specting the points of interest in Aleppo. Almost the
first thing he did, after installing himself in the khan
"El Katab," was to go to the French nunnery to beg
the Lady Superior of the convent to take care of
"Bahri," the negro girl, who, the reader will remem-
ber, was bought by Signor P. from a slave dealer of
Bagdad, for the original purpose of making a present
to his daughters, whom he had placed in a young
ladies' boarding-school of the city of Smyrna, in Asia
Minor, to whom she would have been assigned as
waiting-maid. The girl, evincing an unbiased and ar-
dent desire to become a Christian, he felt as if he could
not treat her as a slave, and before leavins; Bao-dad
he gave her her freedom. J'ust before we left Bagdad
she fervently implored Signor P. not to abandon her,
but to take her with him, and permit her to be a ser-
vant in his family. Signor P., moved by her earnest
pleading, her helpless state, and laudable traits of char-
acter, consented, and she continued with us during the
entire journey, attired in Armenian male costume,
except during our sojourn at Mossul and Diarbekir,
when she dressed in the garb of European females. The
wearing of male attire while travelling with us was due
to the suggestion of Signor P., who was justly of the
opinion that a person in male costume can sit a saddle
more comfortably and firmer than in any female dress,
especially so as side saddles are quite unknown to
Oriental females.

Signor P.'s object in applying at the convent for
the admission of the negro girl was that she might be
instructed in the Roman Catholic faith and the Arabian
language, she having been kidnapped from her home
in Abyssinia only about a year before, and had not
learned the language of the country.

The lady superior readily consented to take charge

568 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

of the girl flaring Signer P.'s sojourn at Aleppo; and
Bahri, or Maria (by AVliich Christain name she delighted
to be called), was removed without delay to the convent,
where she remained until the hour of our departure
from that city. -»~

Commercial business not being very brisk at the
time of our arrival at Aleppo, my host, ^Ir. St., was
kind enough to allow one of the four European young
gentlemen in the employ of the firm to accompany me
in my rambles through the city, because on the second
day after our arrival, disliking to interrupt the business
of my host, I had wandered off myself through the
intricate network of the sinuous streets and lanes of
Aleppo. I roamed about for houi-s, and was so ab-
sorbed in contemplation of everything around me that
I totally forgot to note the erratic course of my rambles,
and the natural consequence was that when luncheon
time was near, and I bethought myself of returning to
hoadfpiartors, and started therefor, after marching
bri>kly for over two hours, I found myself at the very
spot from which I had started, perspiring like a race-
horse. I finally succeeded in finding my hcadquartera
just in time for dinner, and causing a perfect storm of
laughter by my tale of woe. It is no easy matter for
foreigners, those especially who do not understand the
language of the country, to walk out without losing
themselves, unless accompanied by a native or some
one else who can speak the language of a Afoslem city.
The streets are not named, the houses are not numbered,
and one house can scarcely be distinguished from
another; indeed, walking through the majority of the
streets and lanes of a Moslem city for one familiar with
the characteristics of Oriental daily life, is about as
interesting as the march through the trenches of a for-
tress must bo to a soldier, or the rope walk to the ropa

BOUND FOR ALEPPO. 569

maker, and it is this very monotony of the surroimfl-
ings which confuses the inexperienced stranger while
wandering through the minor streets of a Moslem
city.

A friend undertook to walk from one house to
another, a distance of less than three hundred yards,
and by losing his way took over four hours to accom-
plish the task. I know of another party similarlj^
situated, who went from one house to another, scarcely
a stone's throw apart, and on starting to return, one
hour afterwards, would probably not have found his
way back without assistance, if he had walked till
doomsday. He could not speak a word of Arabic,
Turkish or Persian ; nor could he for the life of him
remember the exact outward appearance of the house.
Fortunately, he met a European gentleman, while
straying about on the opposite end of the city, and this
party very kindly escorted him to the place of destina-
tion.

After my own unpleasant acquaintance with the
topography of Aleppo, I was always pleased to be
accompanied, in my subsequent rambles, by one or the
other of the gentlemen of the house, especially as they
were very obliging and anxious to show me everj'thino-
of interest. Aleppo is the largest tov^n of Northern
Syria and the capital of the pashalic of Aleppo. It
contains at present a population of ninety thousand, of
which nearly one-fourth are Christians (a few of them
Europeans), and about five thousand Jews,^ while tbe
majority of the inhabitants are Moslems.

Aleppo, however, bears ample evidence of having
formerly contained a much larger population, which is
said to have been over two hundred thousand as
late as 1822, when a terrible earthquake destroyed
not only the greater part of the famous city, but also

570 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

fully two-thirds of its inhabitants. Heaps of ruins are
to be met with in alm,ost every quarter of the town, as
well as in its suburbs, silent yet eloquent witnesses of
that terrible catastrophe. One of the greatest com-
mercial centers of the Orient before thcj^^earthquake,
Aleppo would soon have recovered its foimer size and
importance had it not been decimated live years after-
wards by the plague. The cholera, the direful scourge
of the present century, swept away another large por-
tion of the remaining population during the year 1832,
and the cruelly oppressive rule of the Egyptian tyrant,
Mehemet Ali, who had wrested the whole of Syria
from the Turks immediately after the disappearance of
the deadly epidemic from Aleppo, and held it with an
iron grasp till 1840, continued the misfortunes of the
doomed city. In 1865, the ravages of the cholera de-
stroyed eighteen thousand lives.

After passing through these terrible afflictions,
unlieard of in the history of any city in the world,
within the short period of forty-three years, it is only
astonishing that it was not entirely abandoned by its
people. The origin of the city is supposed to date
back to the beginning of the Mohammedan era; at
any rate it was a place of importance, and a formida-
ble strontj-hold of the Saracens in the time of the
Crusades. Aleppo is somewhat better built than the
majority of towns in that part of the world. It con-
tains a larger number of decent buildings than any
jilacc hitherto described. The greater portion of its
thoroughfares are cleaner, better paved, and wider
than the average of the streets in Syrian, Mesopotamian,
Arabian and Persian towns; but its site is rather un-
even, and its thoroughfares correspondingly so. Nearly
all the buildings are of the pure Moslem style ; only a
few of them in the Frank ish or Euroi>ean quarter

BOUNB FOR ALEPPO. 571

miugling with Oriental architecture and exhibiting
some of the European conveniences, such as glass
windows, shutters, awnings, balconies, sign boards, etc.,
towards the street. The cleanest, wealthiest and best
part of the town is the northern portion, which, beside
the Frankish quarter, contains that in which tha
Christians live, and the district where the richest part
of the bazaar is located. The majority of the buildings
in this section are good sized, substantial brick, and
gray stone structures, from two to three stories high;
and those which are inhabited by the wealthier classes
are very comfortably arranged inside, richlj- ornamented
with Arabesques, stucco, mosaic, and marble floors, etc.,
and otherwise furnished in gorgeous Oriental style.

The Jewish and Moslem quarters of the city are
less inviting, the thoroughfares being narrower, dirty
and crooked, and the most of the buildings decidedly
shabby and gloomy in outward appearance, though
many of them are inhabited by opulent people who,
however, generally spend more money on the interior
than the exterior of their residences, and live in true
Oriental luxury in buildings which look more like
bleak prisons than homes.

The oldest structure in Aleppo is said to be the
aqueduct, which is composed of two tiers of lofty
arches, one tier built above the other, and supporting a
water course, or small canal, which formerly supplied
the town with water ; but the greater part of it is in
ruins, all that is left being scarcely six hundred yards
in length and broken off abruptly at both ends, proba-
bly the effect of the earthquake. It is in the eastern
part of the town, and owing to its ghastly white ap-
pearance, and towering height, is visible at a great
distance. Close by the aqueduct, and built on a gently
rising slope, are a number of large, massive, gray -stone

572 BOUND FOR ALEPPO.

buildings. These are of modern construction and are
used as barracks by the Turkish garrison. A short
distance from the European quarters, between it and
the bazaar, stands the onl}' building of European archi-
tecture in A]ei)po; it is an object of gi-wrt- interest to
every European of any feeling as a venerable relic of
bygone ages. This structure is, or rather was, a church
said to have been erected by the Crusaders about the
beginning of the twelfth century ; but it figures now as
a ^Moslem institution. The nave of the venerable church
is used as a school-room for Moslem children, and the
quadrangular tower as a minaret. From the outside
balcony, near the top of this improvised minaret, the
" muezzin " chants now fi.ve times every twenty-four
hours, with melodious voice, the " Adfui " (call) by
which the " faithful " Moslems are called to prayeri and
which, translated into English, is worded as follows byall
muezzins throuirhout the world, wherever the crescent
sways: " Allah is most great." " I testify that there
is no God, but Allah." "I testif\ that Mohammed is
the apostle of Allah." "Come to prayer." "Come
to security." The "Adan" is invariably repeated
several times, at short intervals, to insure attention.
The first of the five times, at about sunset (Mohgrib),
Moslems count the days from sunset to sunset; the
second at nightfall (Esheh), the third at dawn (Subah),
the fourth at noon (Dur), and the fifth in the afternoon
(Asser), tlic latter corresponding to the hour of four
P. ^^. In many Moslem countries wliere tlie heat of
the climate compels the population to spend the night
on the flat roofs of the buildings, the oflice of muezzin
is only given to blind or near-sighted men, as the per-
sons least likely to take advantage of tlieir elevated
position, when pacing tlic lofty balconies near the top of
the minarets, hy peering into the privacy of marital
and harem life.

BOUND FOR ALEPPO. 573

In Aleppo and other districts situated in tlie same or
a still liiglier latitude, this caution is scarcely necessary,
as in those regions the coolness of the night and the fall-
ing dew render the inside of the dwellings preferable
during the greater part of the year. That the build-
ing above referred to, as a relic of the Crusaders, is
really of European architecture (probably Saxon) there
is not a doubt, as the entire outward appearance of the
square, massive tower (about one hundred and twenty
feet in height) of the large quadrangular structure of
the church itself, and the position, shape and size of
the doors, windows, ornaments, etc., clearly demonstrate.
The tower, although now used as a minaret, has under-
gone scarcely any alteration beyond the addition of the
necessary balcony near its top, required by every mina-
ret. As for the church, it is outwardly still in its
original shape excepting its roof, which is now flat and
of the true Moslem style, and the openings for the
windows are filled in with masonry ; the interior of the
building being lighted probably through the roof.

• XXIX.

IN ALEPPO.

A Visit to the Citadel— The Sentinel— Strength of tlTe"" Fortress— View
of the Gardens — Dress Parade —Workshops and Storehouses — Our
Aleppo Merchants European Fashions— A leppine Women — Their
Ixecreation — Preparing to Resume our Journey —A Ludicrous Inci-
dent—Our Adonis Guide.

The most elevated and unquestionably most attrac-
tive poiut to the beholder, from the outside of the city,
is the huge conical rocky mound in the centre of the
city, with the gloomy and almost inaccessible castle or
citadel on its summit. This citadel covers about two
acres of ground, is of a regular octagon shape, and
commands not only every part of the city, but the en-
tire shallow valley or basin in which the city of Aleppo
stands. A large, but now dry ditch about tilty feet
deep, and at least one hundred feet wide, encircles the
base of the mound. The outer limit of this ditch is a
perpendicular wall of solid masonry, the inner is formed
by the lofty, almost perpendicular, rock on which the
citadel stands, so that access to the latter can be gained
only by means of a drawbridge placed on the south
side of the fortress.

As there is no difRculty in obtaining permission to
enter and examine the castle, I visited it in company
with my host and several of the gentlemen of the
house. The two Turkish soldiers, who stood sentinel
at the entrance of the drawbridge, allowed us to pass
them unmolested, even presented arms as we went b}'.
A magnificent arch of Saracenic workmanship, richly
ornamented with arabesques, rises high over the gate-
way of the citadel, the ponderous iron gate of which

(574)

IN ALEPPO.

stood wide open. Here were posted two otlier senti-
nels, one of whom, as we approached, shouted some-
thing in Turkish ; whereupon a sergeant issued from a
niche in enormously thick walls, and saluting, while
the seutnels presented arms, as we passed in, led us,
without asking a question, to the commander of the
garrison, who together with some other officers, all of
them in rather lax undress uniform, sat smokins in the
shade of a knotty tree that grew in front of a small
weather beaten stone building improvised as a coliee
house.

After the usual salute, and the senior officer's polite
inquiry as to our wishes, he ordered one of the younger
officers, who, spoke Arabic tolerably well, to show us
around the citadel. We found everything in a neg-
lected, dilapidated state, especially the parapets or bat-
tlements, which had nearly crumbled to pieces or other-
wise disappeared in many places. I^ot more than forty
guns were visible on the walls ; all iron-guns of small
calibre ; none larger than a twenty-tour pounder,
smooth bored, of a very old pattern, and resting oi\
rough, rickety wooden gun carriages, and having the
appearance of not having been used in many years.
The view which we enjoyed from the lofty crest of the
citadel of the imposing city lying at our feet, and the
magnificent o;ardens which surround it on the north
and west, was charming. All the country round this
wonderful oasis was calcined and arid, studded, only
here and there, by wretched hamlets, caravansaries, etc.;
and enlivened by occasional troops of dashing horse-
men in spectre-like Bedouin garb; and long lines of
slowly moving camel caravans ; scattered herds of sheep
and goats wandering about in quest of their scanty
food ; and the motley crowd of promenaders lounging
about the luxuriant gardens and the vast cemeteries in

r»76 IN ALEPPO.

the suburbs of the city. Everything combined to present
to tlie eye a panorama of ravishing beauty of the genu-
ine Oriental type. The magazines and l^arracks of the
citadel, we found, like everything else in the fortress,
ill a deplorably neglected condition. Ktul&.quadrangu-
lar structures of careless masonry, covered with flat
roofs, dark, gloomy and badly ventilated, and scarcely
fit to be inhabited by human beings (principally on ac-
count of their filth), even by the slovenly, easily satis-
fied Turkish soldier. These poor fellows, about three
hundred in luimber, were having a "washing day,"
when we visited the fortress, and it was apparently a
rare occurrence, to judge by the general appearance of
that portion of clothing which had not yet undergone
the process of cleansing after the Oriental fashion.
Their system of washing is to pound the articles of
clothing with the feet, while wet with water, or batter
with a flat stick, or slap upon the surface of a smooth
stone slab unceasingly', until it assumes a shade some-
what resemblini:: what it oui>:ht to have. The water is
furnished b}' two large open cisterns of rain water sunk
deeply into the ground. An artesian well of enormous
depth furnishes plenty of ice cold, pure water to quench
the thirst of the garrison, and it is situated ri<:;ht in the
centre of the citadel. A few knotty fruit and shade
trees grow out of heaps of rubbish, which, before the
earthquake of 1882, constituted the barracks, maga-
zines, etc., of the stronghold, and give by their fresh
green foliage a rather cheerful appearance to the other-
wise dreary aspect of this old Saracenic fortress. A
number of fine horses, the property of the officers of the
garrison, picketed in a grou}* close to the officer's quar-
ters, contributed likewise to enliven the scene within
the fort.

The walls of the citadel are fully fifty feet high

IN ALEPPO. 677

and twelve feet thick, composed of hard, heavy stones,
and are still in tolerably good preservation. The area
of the interior of the citadel is divided into four or hve
distinct areas of smaller size by walls of about fifteen
feet in height and three feet in thickness, pierced by
gateways provided with ponderous wooden doors
sheathed with wrought ii'ou.

The citadel of Aleppo has sustained many a siege
and repulsed many an assault, and was formerly con-
sidered impregnable. Xearly opposite the drawbridge
is a large open space of ground, part of which is used
as a drill-ground by the garrison ; the other part as a
horse, mule, camel and cattle market. By far the most
interesting portion of the interior of the city is indis-
putably the " sookh," or bazaar, which extends over a
large area of ground, beginning near the end of the
main street of the European quarter, and gently
ascending toward the citadel , which it almost reaches.
It is stocked profusely with European and Asiatic
manufactures and produce, and is justly considered the
richest and most extensive bazaar of "Western Asia,
the immense ruimber of its stalls exhibiting an endless
variety of goods of every description ; the workshops
of thousands of industrious tradesmen, full of noise and
bustle from sunrise to sunset, and the deafening hum
of about thirty thousand people of all ages, sexes,
nationalities and creeds continually surging to and fro,
on foot, on camels', horses' and donkeys' backs, all day
long, through the labyrinth of interminable corridors
or arched passages which receive air and light from
above through large open skylights placed at regular
distances. Some of these passages are of massive
masonry ; others only of wood ; but all of them in a
sort of gloomy twilight, and permeated by an atmo-
sphere redolent with all kinds of odors, good and bad*

578 IN ALEPPO.

peculiar to the Orient. These scenes are not readily
described, nor are they soon forgotten by an eye-witness.
Aleppo, though at the present day so much less
populous and prominent than when it ranked as the
commercial centre of the East, is still* of great im-
portance as the principal inland mercantile depot of
Xorthern Syria, Koordistan and ^Mesopotamia, with
which it keeps u[) a large trade by means of numerous
immense caravans. It imports all kinds of European
manufactures, and exports large cpiantities of raw
cotton, silk, sheep's wool, goats' hair, skins, tobacco,
oil, wine, pistachios, gall-nuts, etc. The Aleppine
merchants have the reputation of being shrewd and
enterprising, and to excel, in this respect, those of
almost any other place of Turkey in Asia ; moreover,
they are somewhat famous throughout the Orient for
their polished conversation, neatness of person, and ele-
gant manners, as indeed are the higher classes of both
sexes of the population. The wealthier classes of the
native Christians, owing to their daily intercourse with
European residents and visitors to Ale|)po, have gradu-
ally assumed various European manners and customs,
such as social equality, mutual regard, and equality of
sexes in society ; with the use also of knives and spoons,
boots and shoes, stockings, drawers, pantaloons, vests,
coats, shirts, neckties; in fact many of the adjuncts of
European dress and Eurojtean jewelry, such as watches,
lockets, etc. Notwithstanding this assumption of Euro-
pean attire, the male Aleppine Christian of fashion still
adheres tenaciously to his genuine Oriental head cover-
ing, viz., the " Tarbush ; " while the female Christian,
however fashionable, just as conscientiously retains the
customary " Esar," the ample shroud previously de-
scribed as worn by all Oriental females. The Aleppine
Christian female, however, makes a distinction between

IN ALEPPO. 579

her Esar and that worn hy her Hebrew or Moslem sis-
ters ; for while the latter wear only those which are
colored, the former wear almost invariably snow-white,
with very few exceptions, and this custom forms one
of the most striking characteristics of Aleppo.

Being excessively fond of promenading at a very
slow gait, and generally in groups numbering from
three to twenty, these females may be seen at almost
any time during daylight — except at noon, when the
heat of the sun is intense — enveloped from the crown
of the head to the sole of the foot in their spotless
white Esars, standing still, or moving slowly along,
among the innumerable tombstones of the vast o-rave-
yards. When seen from a distance of at least one
hundred yards, these muffled, ghostly figures, followed
by their 3hadows, among the tombstones, or under the
weird mammoth trees of the gardens, present to the
stranger a peculiar spectre-like appearance, and suggest
the idea that they have just arisen from their silent
graves. i^Totwithstauding their sepulchral costume,
some of the fair Aleppine women are by no means dis-
agreeable ; for many of them are quite intelligent, social
and lively — a very pleasant change to the stranger
comino- from the interior of the Turkish dominions,
where the native women are dreadfully dull, ignorant,
awkward and shv in conversation with foreis-ners. A
large portion of the Aleppine Christian women are stri-
kingly fair, and many among them are decidedly good-
looking, if not beautiful. The skin of the younger fe-
males is almost of a waxy transparency, wdth a scarcely
perceptible tinge of rose-color; the hair black or brown,
luxuriant, lustrous, and slightly inclined to curl ; the face
oval and regular, and of a Greek type ; the forehead well
shaped ; the eyebrows finely arched ; the eyes large and
soft, and embellished by long eyelashes ; the nose also

580 IN ALEPPO.

of the Greek shapQ; the mouth small, and furnished
with small pearly-white teeth, and the chin is nicely
rounded and in perfect proportion to the face. They
are rather short in stature, hut well formed, especially
their hands and feet, which are small. Their carriage
is very erect, and their gait invf.iiahly slow, as is usual
with all Oriental females. Most of them are more or
less inclined to embonpoint^ undouhtedly the consequence
of insufficient bodily exercise. The male portion of the
Aleppine native Christians are also rather handsome,
but somewhat vain and efteminate. The wealthier
families have of late paid considerable attention to the
better education of their children of both sexes, many
of whom speak Greek, Italian and French quite flu-
ently ; a few even sing quite well and play on the piano.
The female Christians, indeed, have so far advanced
in civilization that they have nearly discarded the
abominable " Pajch," that traditional quadrangular,
stifi'veil of black horse-hair cloth described in some
previous l>age as worn by all the decent native women
f)f the towns of Syria and Mcso[)otaraia, and which has
hitherto been considered a "sine qua non," or criterion
of respectability, the abolition of whicli, in a country
inhabited by a people so prejudiced and tenaciously oo-
posed to civilization, certainly required a good deal of
moral courage on the part of the Aleppine Christians,
which is undeniably creditable to them. The chief
recreation of the population of both sexes, and of all
ages and creeds, but especially of the Christian portion,
consists in daily promenades either in the forenoon, or
late in the afternoon, through the suburbs of the city;
but especially through the shady evergreen groves of
the magnificent public gardens on both banks of the
sinuous rivulet, Alep})0, where can be seen, at any time
between sunrise and sunset, motley groups of Alejipines

IN ALEPPO. 581

of both sexes squatted on tlie green sward, or on some
shady spot, or ensconced in some retired arbor, chat-
ting, laughing, singing, smoking, eating fruit and
sweetmeats, and sipping rfikee (arrack) and sherbet
(lemonade), and after having indulged in a few hours
"keif" — the Arabic term for amusement — they return
slowly and silently to the city.

After an agreeable sojourn in Aleppo for about ten
days, Signor P. informed me that his caravan would be
ready to resume the journey to the Mediterranean Sea in
two or three days, and if I would continue to travel
with him, he would be highly pleased. Father M.
was apprised of our intended departure, but, much to
our resfret, he informed us that he would have to take
leave of us, as he intended to visit Jerusalem, proceed
thence to Jaffa, the nearest seaport, and there take a
steamer for France. We took an affectionate leave of
our genial travelling companion, and went to work in
earnest to prepare for our departure. Before leaving
Aleppo, a ludicrous incident, that might have had se-
rious results, created no little merriment among the
members of the family and friends of my host ; and
the humble author of this work was the unconscious
cause of it. Ever since my taking up quarters with
Mr. St., I had noticed that his male cook, an old, but
still robust man, a native Christian who rejoiced in the
euphonious name of " Yacoob " (Jacob), became gradu-
ally infatuated with my English double-barrelled fowl-
ing piece, so much so that more than once, on suddenly
entering my room, I surprised him engaged in hand-
ling it. He never seemed at all embarrassed by my
unexpected appearance, and I concluded that he was
partially deranged in mind, wherefore I never chid him
for his intrusion. Xevertheless, I informed my host of
the strange behavior of his caterer, insinuating at the

582 IN ALEPPO.

same time tluit the old felloM' might contemplate sui-
cide, or murder, if .he obtained ammunition. Mr St.
assured me that the cook never thought of such a
thing, nor was he deranged in mind, on the contrary
of sound judgment; that the old fellow was pimply an
inveterate sportsman, who would only work during the
hot season of the year to earn money enough to enable
him to go out sliooling every day through the cool sea-
son,such game as snipe, qiuiil, partridges, sand-grouse,
pigeons, ducks, etc.; that the old fellow was disgusted
with his single-barrelled shooting iron, and had long
ago declared that his whole worldly ambition consisted
in becoming the law proprietor of a double-barrelled
gun, such as " Feringhies " use ; that the old isTimrod
had saved every Para (Turkish copper coin) of his
wages in order to secure the coveted price ; but being
very fastidious in his choice, and a good judge of fire-
arms, he would never buy one of those offered for sale
in the bazaar. The old fellow had hitherto never men-
tioned it to me ; but having learned that I was about to
leave, and anxious not to lose such a rare chance, he
mustered courage enough to ask me one day after sup-
per, when I was alone, if I would sell him my gun.
Observing his intense desire for an affirmative answer,
and not deeming it necessary for my further protection^
besides havinc: a revoh^er left, I told him he could have
the gun for six Turkish liras (about $27 American
gold),' which was about half its actual value. ITe in-
stantly pulled out of his pocket an old handkerchief,
untied one corner, and prom[)tly counted out the neces-
sary sum. I handed him the gun, which he eagerly
grasped with the trembling hand of a miser, and
taking my hand kissed it in true Oriental fash-
ion in token of gratitude. He was about to leave
the room, when I asked him if he would not like to

TN ALEPPO. 583

have some ammunition. lie said he would, and I gave
him the contents of my powder flask, a handful of
bullets, slu2:s and shot, and a lot of cartridjj-es belons:-
ing to a revolver which I lost on the journey from
Bagdad to ^lossul. I gave him the latter because they
did not fit my new revolver, and I thought he could
make use of them by breaking out the bullets which
protrudes from the copper shells, and could cast them
over at his leisure ; but the thought never struck me
that he might be ignorant of the character of metallic
cartridges, as he appeared to be perfectly well ac-
quainted with every sort of fire-arm and ammunition,
and the European gentlemen of the house used similar
ammunition for their revolvers, all of which he must
have seen, as he used to keep their rooms in order.
The following morning, as I sat quielty at the break-
fast table with the members of the household, we
were suddenly startled by a terrific explosion resem-
bling a brisk musketry fire, accompanied by an un-
earthly yell, and the shattering of window glass. Of
course everybody sprang from the breakfast table in ter-
ror, and rushed out to see what had happened. We all
supposed that the house was attacked by a mob and
that some one had been killed. On reaching the hall-
way, however, a cloud of gunpowder smoke issued from
the kitchen, and, 'on running thither, we beheld old
Yacoob lying in a corner all in a heap, his face ashy pale,
. nd bleeding profusely in several places, the kitchen floor
fctrewn with cooking utensils, glass and crockery- ware of
every description. The rest of the story is soon told.
Grood-natured, simple-minded old Yacoob, after trying
vainly to extricate the bullets from the metallic cartrid-
ges, very shrewdly thought that the quickest waj' to sepa-
rate the lead from the copper was to place the metal] io
cartridges in a ladle over the fire. Luckily there had

584 IN ALEPPO.

been more noise than damage, and although old Yacooh
was ignomhiiously ilmig into a corner, he escaped with
a few superficial wounds ; hut I verily believe it was
the first and the last time he ever attempted to roast
metallic cartridges. ^*•-

On the day previous to our departure our mukaries
sot into a fio-ht Avith our Arab sais about some trivial
matter, which, but for the opportune return of Signor
P., would have ended in bloodshed, as they were on
the point of settling the difficulty with their curved
daggers, Signor P., however, dismissed all the muka-
ries, as they were found to be the ofi:enders, and thus
restored peace. The remainder of the day was spent in
engaging a gang of Aleppine mukfiries in their stead,
in getting Baliri from the convent, and in taking leave
of our friends in Aleppo, i. e., excepting those who
were to accompany us in the morning to see us fairly
on our way. By daybreak we started in the best of
Bjjirits. Half a dozen of our Aleppo friends, well-
mounted, escorted us a few miles beyond the suburbs,
until we reached a solitary well near to and on the left
side of the road, the only thing that broke the dread-
ful monotony of the barren, calcined, low hill due west
of Aleppo. There our friends took leave of us, bade us
God speed, and leisurely cantered towards Aleppo,
turning round \m their saddles from time to time and
waving their hats to us. On the crest of the hill we
took one final view of Alepjio, and then lost sight of
it as we went slowly down the hill. An unusually
intelligent young ^Nfoplem, a horse dealer and resident
in Aleppo, named Alxlallah, a regular Adonis in figure
and face, and clad in the charmingly picturesque cos-
tume of a merchant of Damascus (his birth-place), had
joined our caravan on its departure from Aleppo, by
permission of Signor P., who had dealt extensively in

IN ALEPPO. 585

horseflesh with the deceased father of Ahdallah, and
had known the latter as a child. They had met in the
bazaar at Aleppo, where the keen eye of the young
man instantly recognized the veteran Italian, whom he
had not seen for nearly twenty years. Having business
to transact on the coast, young Abdallah asked and,
of course, received permission to travel with us, and
proved a very agreeable companion ; and, as he spoke
French and Italian quite fluently, was very entertain-
ing, and knew perfectly every inch of ground over
which we travelled. He was a brilliant horseman, and
the break-neck evolutions wherewith he entertained us
on the road, merely to break the tedium of our jour-
ney, would have astonished the most expert circus
rider, and proved the lean and ugly old mare which ho
rode to be an animal of truly wonderful speed, endur-
ance and sure-footedness, evidences of untarnished
©(^uine pedigree.

XXX.

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT.

«t. ■» *!.

Moving Forward Lively — A Race — The Solitary Gazelle — Romantic
History of the Depression — Merchandise Caravan — The Aband>ned
Orchard — Encamped in the Village — Drenched— Valley of the Af-
rin— The Plains — Boyda Eggs — Bathers — Queer Hamlet — Queer
Looking People— Picketed for the Night.

For nearly two hours after parting with our friends,
we travelled over the undulating gravelly, desolate
country surrounding Ale[»po. Then, Abdallah drew
my attention to a low, gently rising mound at our
right, and quite near the road. I did not see anything
of interest about the mound, hut he beckoned me to
follow him. Being under the impression that he pro-
posed to give me a race, I dug spurs into my nag, and
was about to pass him at full speed, when he dexter-
ously pulled, quick as lightning, my horse's bridle, and
abruptly brought the animal to a full stop, nearly un-
horsing me. At a loss what to think, I was about to
uj)braid him for it, when I discovered to my indescrib-
able horror that I stood within a few yards of an im-
mense yawning abyss. Tii an instant, however, T recov-
ered from this shock to my nerves, and advancing cau-
tiously with Abdallah a few feet further, stood on the
very brink of an awful cha?m, fairly shu<ldering as I
gazed down at the wonderful work of nature. Imagine
a ]ierfectly circular piece of ground at least one thousand
feet in diameter, comprising the entire upper portion of
a gently rising hill, suddenly sunk to a depth of five
hunrlred feet or more into the earth, the sides of the
chasm thus created forming perpendicular walls, with
here and there a dwarfish shrub clinging to them, and

(586)

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT. 58'i

at the bottom of the chasm grew a solitary tree, and a
few clusters of bushes, high above which soars the
swallow and gyrates the preying, shrieking falcon.
No other sound can be heard through the gravelike
solitude of that weirdly wild and lonely spot ; add to
this the gloom which permeates the bottom of the
chasm, except once a year, when the sun shines verti-
cally into the hiatus.

"Many years before," said Abdallah, " a solitary
gazelle could be seen grazing on the bottom of that
abyss ; but nobody could tell how the poor animal got
there, and the general belief was that it fell into the
chasm without injury. My theory is that the animal
might have been lowered by means of a rope of the re-
quisite length, a proceeding which would really have been
" im jeu qui ne vaut pas la chandelle." That a solitary
gazelle was seen for some years alive, at the bottom of
that abyss, is an undeniable fact, for hundreds of people
bear witness to this, among them some Europeans
of undoubted veracity ; but how it got there, and what
became of it, nobody seems to know."

As to the orio;in or character of that remarkable
depression of the earth's surface my friend, Abdallah,
seemed to be as ignorant as the rest of his countrymen,
for, although he evidently considered the yawning abyss
to be of no ordinary formation, he accounted for its ex-
istence by relating to me some melancholj^ Arabian
love story, which ended by the cruel murder of the
lovers by some jealous villian, and the instantaneous
engulfment of all the actors in the drama, together with
the scene of the murder in the bowels of the earth. I
am satisfied that this circular chasm is neither more nor
less than the mouth or crater of some antediluvian or
pre-historic volcano.

By the time that we had concluded our inspection

588 DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT.

of that remarkable place, the caravan, which had
steadily continued its march without stopping, was
just disappearing hehind a low hill about a mile ahead
of us, and we dashed after and soon overtook it.
During the course of that morning WQ^jnet a camel-
caravan coming from Iskanderoon, by which name the
little town and seaport ol Alcxandretta is known to
the natives of that region. The caravan proceeded very
slowly, every camel being heavily laden with European
merchandise, chietiy dry goods packed in boxes and
bales and lashed to the strong pack-saddles of these in-
dispensable beasts of burden of the Orient. One extra
large and powerful camel jogged slowly- in the rear of
the caravan, carrying, firmly lashed to the right side of
the sadvile, a huge box the size and shape of which
clearly betrayed that it contained a full-sized square
piano, the prodigious weight of which was counter-
balanced by a pile of personal luggage, such as ladies'
trunks, carpet bags, hat-boxes, etc., so that the aggre-
gate weight on that poor camel's back could not have
been less tlian half a ton.

The heat of the day became intense towards noon
and the whitish glare of the parched and desolate
country all round us was absolutely hurtful to the eyes.
Shortly after noon we descended the rugged side of a
low hill into a shallow valley, through the centre of
which a small stream of crystal pure water glided, irri-
gating the sole vegetation which we had seen since we
left Aleppo, except the few shrul)s noticeable in the
chasm. On the left of the road, close to the spot where
it crossed the stream, was a small abandoned orchard
of about two acres in extent, surrounded by a dilapidated
stone wall, and in the crumbling walls were discernible
the ruins of former dwellings, one of which still bears
traces of having been a palatial residence, judging by

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT. 689

the remnants of beautiful arabesques in fresco yet to
be seen on its facade. This lonely orchard, so near the
road, with plenty of fresh water, and its dense canopy
of luxuriant fruit and shade trees, its cosy groves, its
soft green carpet of fragrant grass, studded with bushes
and flowers, is a God-send both to man and beast in
that locality so isolated by the fearfully arid and deso-
late country all round. It is, therefore, invariably made
a halting place by .the weary travellers over that road,
and our caravan was no exception. We stopped there
for two hours, unloading our beasts of burden and
allowing them to browse on the luxuriant verdure of
the grove, while our stallions were picketed and got
their regular rations of barley. Camp fires were soon
smoking, and delicious coftee — the beverage "par excel-
lence " of those regions — passed around, together with
such edibles as could be promi:)tl3^ disposed of Imme-
diately after partaking of this frugal meal, I took a
stroll through the grove, which I found studded with
almond, fig, orange, lemon and other fruit trees ; but
most of them showed the inroads of visitors.

"While strolling through the ruins of the buildings,
I started two cats, which — though unmistakeably of
the domesticated species — were quite wild and darted
oif with amazing speed on my approach. They had
evidently been left behind by the people who last lived
there, and, according to their nature, were loth to quit
what had been their home, though abandoned by man
for years.

About three o'clock of the afternoon we resumed
our journey, and, after an extremely tedious march, the
latter part over a broad hill studded everywhere with
huge boulders, and sharply pointed rocks projecting in
every direction from under the scanty soil, leaving a
zigzag path scarcely twelve inches wide, dreadfully

590 DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCITENT.

difficult, liresomo and dangerous to travel. About
uisjlitiViU we reached the miserable hamlet of " Ter-
manin," situated on the brink of a broad valley, through
the bottom of which the river Afrin, the cbifif tributary
of a large but shallow luko called " AkDeniz," flows.

The five or six miserable stone hovels constitutins
the wretched hamlet were so small that, " nolens vo-
leus," we found ourselves compelled to camp in an open
courtyard, about fifty feet square, the only piece of
level ground within sight. In ordftr to get the whole
of our caravan into that small area of ground, we were
obliged first to clear it of its legitimate occupants —
a herd of donkeys and goats. We jiicketed our animals
as closely together as possible, partook of a frugal hup-
per, and then stretched full length on the bare ground
for the night, wrapped up in blankets, for the dew was
heavy and the air chilly. Toward midnight the dew
changed into a cold drizzling rain, compelling us to
pitch our tent, which we had not used for weeks. The
night was pitch-dark; the rain, which rapidly increased,
had extinguished the embers of our camp-fire, and we
had to grope in the dark so long for our tent pegs and
hammer that we became drenched to the skin before
completing the erection of the tent. As man}' of us as
the tent would hold crawled under the shelterinff
canvas and laid down to sleep in wet clothes. I^ut we
were not destined to enjoy this questionable luxury
long, for in less than two hours after retiring for the
second time, a boisterous wind sprung up, and as the
soil of the entire area of the courtyard was a mere con-
glomeration of cattle manure and earth rendered dis-
agreeably soft by the pelting rain, the pegs gave way,
and, much to our dismay, the cold dripping-wet tent
came down upon us, all in a heap. Discovering that
most of our men had taken refuge in one of the wretched

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT. Jj91

hovels, tLiy rickety door of wbich they hud burst open
without asking permission of the inmates, we joined
them, awaiting the daylight, shivering with cold and
listening gloomily to the howling of the wind and the
patter of the rain, to the crowing of the chanticleers
of the hamlet and the hideous braying of the dispos-
sessed donkeys.

YoossooiF, our chief groom, noticing that it was
always the same donkey which led the chorus, deter-
mined to put a " brake " on that fellow, went to him
and tied a five pound weight stone to his tail, thereby
effectually stopping his music for that morning, and,
strange to say, the other artists, deprived of their
leader, kept quiet also. Bedouins employ the same
means to prevent their horses from neighing.

The night spent at Termanin was about the most
wretched we had spent during our whole journey, and
you may readily imagine how gladly we hailed the
first glimpse of daylight.

By this time the rain had ceased falling, and the
storm had completely abated ; but everything was satu-
rated and man and beast were shivering with the cold.
A dense fog crept lazily through the valley, and gave
the bleak landscape a still more dismal appearance. It
was with difficulty and imperturbable patience that the
cook could start a camp-fire with the wet fuel at his
command, and prepare our breakfast. The rising sun
cheered us up, dispersed the fog, and warned us to be
stirring. Our beasts of burden, always heavily laden,
were almost unable to carry the wet luggage, when it
was lashed to their pack-saddles that morning, and the
prospect of a whole day's ride on a soaking-wet saddle,
over a wretched road, was far from pleasant to antici-
pate ; but we had to put up with it, and we left about
eight o'clock in the morning, proceeding in a west,

592 DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT.

northwesterly direc1;iou cautiously down hill, toward
the valley of the Afrin, which river we crossed on a
bridge, one of those rare commodities to be met with
in the Turkish Dominions east of the Mediterranean
Sea.

Ascending a rugged hill, after crossing this river,
we reached a sort of tableland, which we traversed,
and then cautiously descended the rough road into the
extensive plain of Antioch, This fertile, grassy basin
is nearly circular in shape, between fifteen and twenty
miles in diameter, and surrounded on all sides by steep
rugged hills, or low mountains. A lake, called by the
natives "Ak Deniz," occupies the centre of this huge
basin, and receives the waters of five or six small rivers :
namely, those of the Kara Su (Turkish, Black River,
or Black water) on the north, those of the Afrin on
the east, and those of two or three minor streams on
the south. Its 8uri)lus waters find an outlet on the
western border of the lake, and running due south, join
after a nearly straight course of about six miles, the
Nahr-el-Asy, better known by its. ancient name "Oron-
tes," a few miles above the ancient and famous city of
Antioch, which not many years ago was shaken al-
most out of existence by a terrible earthquake, destroy-
m^ not only the venerable city, but nearly one-third of
its population. The borders of Ak Deniz, which name
is, strange to say, given by the Turks to the Mediter-
ranean Sea also, are extremely low and marshy ; in fact,
they appear in many places to be on a level with the
surface of the water, edged with a broad belt of tall
reed-grass, the elysium of myriads of frogs, eels, snakes,
turtles, and of clouds of lively mosquitoes. Though
evidently very shallow for its size, the lake is said to be
alive with fish, and while travelling along its shores,
we saw several large specimens dart high out of the

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT. 59».

silvery water, and fall back again to their native ele-
ment with a loud splash.

The plain around the lake offers a rich and inex-
haustible pasture ground, and thousands of camels,
hoi-ses, cattle, sheep and goats can be seen grazing all
the vear on the o-reen thoucjh treeless sward, the entire
wealth of the inhabitants of a few hamlets and several
Bedouin camps scattered here and there, which, with
the flat-roofed hovels of the former, and the sombre
dark-brown and black woolen tents of the latter, swarm-
ing with human beings in Bedouin garb, give the plain
of Antioch a very Oriental aspect, and remind the
beholder of the patriarchal life depicted in the book of
Genesis. Even to this day, the people on the banks
of this lake seem to care as little about fish or establish-
ing communication with each other by water as did
Abrahr.m, or any of the patriachs subsequent to !N^oah,
who himself only ventured upon the water in preference
to remaining under it. Xot a fish is caught or eaten by
anybody living around the Ak Deniz ; and not a boat, or
even a raft, is seen anywhere on the lake, which is fully
five miles wide, and being almost quadrangular in shape,
must be at least twenty miles in circumference ; but
rather than venture upon its placid waters, if they
have to go to the opposite side of the lake, they travel
all round it. This peculiar aversion to water and its
inhabitants is noticeable among all Arabs except those
living on the seacoast, who are sailors and fishermen,
as bold and skilful as any in the world, and live prin-
cipally on fish. Leisurely jogging along the eastern
border of the lake in the oppressive heat of the noonday
sun, we reached a spot wtiere a powerful, hot, sul-
phurous spring issues from a crevice in the rock, at the
base of a low, rough hill, not more than ten yards to the
right of our track, jt»t about half way between the

694 DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT.

two hamlets of Termanin and Aiii-cl-Beda, or "Am-el-
Boyda " (the latter .name probably alluding to this
spring, as the Arabic " Ain" means a spring, and
" Bojda," eggs), and whoever tasted the water of this
spring will readily admit that it reny^^^cls one very
much of hard-boiled eggs. Our beasts of burden, stag-
gering under the weight of the still damp luggage,
showed signs of great weariness. Noticing a brooklet
of crystal pure water in the immediate vicinity of the
sulphurous spring, we concluded to make a short halt
there and then, as the only spot within eyesight where
we might find shade was a low quadrangular stone
structure, with a flat roof, about thirty feet long by
eighteen broad, erected just opposite, and about sixty
feet from the spot where the hot spring steamed out of
the rock.

No sooner had we dismounted and picketed our
horses, when Signor P. and I, accompanied by Abdallah,
went to exi»lore the building from which we had heard
the sound of human voices. Enteiino: throuLfh a low,
narrow doorway, we found ourselves in a plain, gloomy
and very damj* apartment covering almost the whole
area of the building. A few steps from the door, a
quadrangular basin of solid masonry lay at ouv feet,
measuring al)Out twenty feet in length, and twelve in
width, and about six in dejtth. There were about four
feet of water in this public bath-tub, and about a dozen
men, women and cliildren, the males entirely nude, and
tlie females elad in long, loose skirts, were splashing
about in high glee, in the te[»id element. The moment
they saw us, their gambols came to an end, and hip-
poj)otami-like, they all vanislied up to their nostrils in
the water gazing at us as silently and immovably
as trogs in a pond. I have always observed, during
my travels in the east, that the unexpected appear-

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT. 595

ance of a European or American, among a number
of these denizens of the Orient, has invariably a kind
of perplexihg, embarrassing effect upon them ; for no
matter how bold or vivacious their dispositions, they
always seemed to be suddenly stricken with bashful
awkwardness, stupid reserve, and almost complete oral
paralysis in the presence of the travellers.

Aware of this peculiarity, and unwilling to prolong
their discomfort, we quickly withdrew without speak-
ing to them, and proceeded directly to the orifice in the
rock, from which the spring gushes, wrapt in a cloud
of steam. To our surprise we found water issuing
scalding hot, and perfectly transparent, although of a
slightly bluish tint, when examined in a glass tumbler.
It possesses a very strong sulphurous taste, stronger
than that of any other spring of the kind I knew of.
The water, either on account of its high temperature,
or its stronor taste and odor, seemed to blast all veo;eta-
tion in its immediate vicinity ; for not a shrub or blade
of grass grows along its course, and a bluish gray
sediment covers the stones and sands over which it
flows. Like other sulphurous springs, however, it ap-
pears to possess great medical properties, for though
hardly known as yet beyond the limits of Syria, the
untutored natives, and the other inhabitants of that
region, are fully aware of its value. Thousands of
Syrians, aflicted with leprosy, that bane of the Orient,
and other cutaneous diseases, flock annually to " the
healing spring of Am el Beda," and are said to return
to their homes generally restored to health. The spring
and unassuming bath house already described are
evidently the property of the government, and given
by the latter for the free use of the people, so that the
poorest of lepers can enjoy its benefits as long as he
chooses. If this were not the case, I longed to take a

696 DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT.

\

bath myself in that Syrian " Bethesda," to try the
effect of the sulphuroils water on my own body ; but
to take a bath at the source of the spring where the
water was, of course, the purest, would have been
simply suicide by boiling. To dive recklessly into the
universal both tub lower down., where I knew that the
leprous Syrians shed their skin, and drowned their
vermin, was altogether beyond my heroism, and I con-
cluded to defer this delightful recreation until I should
be able to indulge it on the not distant shores of the
^Mediterranean. The existence of this spring within
twentv-five miles of the remarkable circular chasm,
situated between Aleppo and Termanin, fully established
in my mind its character.

After nearly two hours' rest, we resumed our
march around the northeastern portion of the lake,
meeting occasionally a caravan bound for Aleppo, or a
small troop of Bedouin horsemen armed wi^h their
traditional long lances, sometimes meeting also a few
peasants of both sexes mounted on diminutive donkeys,
following some of their stray cattle for which they had
been search ing, and were contentedly driving home to
their hamlets.

The sun by this time shone obliquely upon the
broad silvery water at our left, and the dazzling glare
of the latter was exceedingly i)ainful to the eyes.
Large numbers of wild ducks, geese, and other water
fowls rose from the water and passed and re-passed
over the lake in every direction, only to settle down
again upon the placid water or among the tall reeds, a
broad belt of wliich borders the lake, and is the favorite
haunt of thousands of herons, cranes and bitterns.

On the mud banks, projecting here and there
from the shore into the lake, stood rows of long
legged flamingoes poised on one leg with an air of

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT. 597

deep meditation, and storks gazing intently into the
water as if admiring their own images, as they were
faithfully reflected in the silvery mirror before them.
Through the shallow water the glossy and " sacred
Ibis " stalked cautiously, while the light and nimble
jacana, with widely spread toes, promenaded gracefully
upon the broad green leaves of the water lily ; and high
above all gyrated, slowly and majestically, the bold
white-headed eagle, which occasionally darted down
with lightning swiftness, to the surface of the lake,
rising again with a piercing cry of exultation with its
prey, a writhing fish firmly clasped by its formidable
talons. We travelled for several honrs at a leisurely
pace over the smooth and level plain, covered with a
rich carpet of grass studded here and there with clus-
ters of flowers and low bushes in full blossom. Myriads
of brilliant butterflies fluttered in every direction over
the beautiful plain, while the constant hum of the
honey-bees and the buzz of the humble-bees and
beetles, the monotonous chirp of the cricket and
grass-hopper around us, and the distant croaking of
frogs among the bulrushes of the lake eflectually pre-
vented all conversation ; yet we all enjoyed this part of
the journey so much that on turning around the base
of a hill which projected far into the plain and sighting
the miserable hamlet of Ain-el-Beda, where we were to
camp for the night, we felt really sorry that we were
so near the end of that day's journey ; a feeling that we
had not experienced since we left the " city of the
Caliphs."

Twenty minutes after we rounded the base of the
hill our caravan entered the hamlet amidst the furious
barking of numerous curs. This miserable way station
is situated at the southwestern base of a low, ruo-cred
hill, and is composed of three or four strange looking

698 DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT.

massive stone buikling which seem to be uninhabited,
and about a half a dozen of low, wretched thatched
huts. The former are two stories high, square built
and flat roofed and hiirhor than they are broad. Each
is provided with a small, though strong, door and a
few small, square window openings, and is of excessively
bleak and gloomy appearance, as if haunted. The huts
are miserable structures of stone about twenty feet long
by ten feet deep ; the walls scarcely three feet high, but
covered with sloping roofs, composed of a wooden
frame well thatched with reed-grass and reaching nearly
to the ground.

The interior of these hovels is very dark, being
lighted only by the scanty day light which is admitted
through one or two apertures in the side walls, not
more than fourteen inches square, which together with
the low and narrow doorway through which a full-
grown person has to crawl on hands and knees, serve the
double purpose of ventilators and windows. None of
these wretched human dwellings exceed seven feet in
height to the top of the roof, so that a full-grown per-
son can stand erect only in the center of the hut. Yet,
miserable as the accomodations of those hovels were,
even these modest comforts were not within our reach
that eveninjr, for on our arrival we found the little
hamlet crowded with people, both natives and foreigners,
who had already secured and taken j)Ossession of all
hired quarters for the night. Ain-el-Beda, being a relay
station where the Turkish courier changes his horses,
is situated just twenty miles (one day's journey by
caravan) from the seaport of Iskanderoon, or Alexand-
retta, and about the same distance Termanin. The
latter being about twenty miles from Alepj)0 is
naturally made a halting i)lace by nearly all the
travellers on the road.

DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT. 599

The crowd we found in temporary possession of
Ain-el-Beda was heterogeneous in an eminent degree.
There were very unmilitary looking Turkish officers
and soliders on their way to the different garrison
towns of the interior ; there were sharp featured
Greeks, evidently merchants, judging from the large
hundles and boxes piled up in their vicinity, whi -h
they all appeared to watch with nervous care. There
were burly, slovenly, hard looking Dalmatians and
Montenegrins with huge bristly moustaches and a look
of ferocity about them, which indicated perfect willing-
ness to stab on the slightest provocation. There were
several Xubians, with complexions not merely black, but
literally jet black, evidently slaves of the Turkish
officers, for they wore Turkish uniforms and obeyed
the orders of the officers.

Beside these, there were Italians, Maltese, Syrian
Jews, Armenians, Koods, Arabs and Persians, and even
an Englishman, with the characteristic Dundreary
whiskers and eyeglass, in full travelling rig, and with
an Indian " Solar Topee " (helmet shaped felt or cork
hat) on his cranium. lie was accompanied by two
ladies, one young and handsome ; the other probably
her mother.

The two latter were evidenty greatly fatigued
from their first day's rough riding in Syria, and
nothing but the startling news communicated to them
by their protector could induce them to crawl for a
moment from under the shelterino; roof of the hut
they occupied, to satisfy their curiosity. A French-
man, dressed in the height of fashion and sporting an
immaculate Panama hat, with a white muslin scarf
tied turban-fashion around it, was also in the motley
crowd bound for Aleppo. Poor fellow ! he was in
agonies, for unaccustomed to the climate of Syria, and

600 DIVERSIFIED SCENERY AND INCIDENT.

rather corpulent in person, the perspiration oozed out
of every pore ^vhile h'e was nervously fanning his wife,
with a newspaper, a young and pretty lady, hut very
delicate, and of deathlike paleness, looking as if she
were about to expire upon the trunk on ¥>»l»ich she sat.
Fortunately she was traveling in a " dachterwan," the
kind of palanquin forming part of the outfit of the
caravan of Count de B.

But for that I doubt if the poor lady would have
endured even the first day's journey. In the absence
of any available hut for us, we concluded to picket
our horses, and beasts of burden, in a circle on the only
level piece of ground in the place ; which happened to
be Justin front of the hut secured by the Frenchman,
and as we were suspicious of sneak thieves in so mis-
cellaneous a crowd, the greater part of which had, like
oui-selves, to camp in open air, we \)\\cd our luggage
and sjiread our beds right in the center of the circle of
pickets.

XXXI.

NEAEING THE GOAL.

Watchmen — Chamber of Torture — Missing Property — Kara Su — The
Picturesque Canyou — Mediterranean in the Distance — The Narrow
Pass — Passing Under an Overleaping Stream — Healthy Beilan —
Private Khan — A Ramble through the Street — " Turning In,"

It was near sunset when we arrived at the hamlet,
and by the time we had completed our camp arrange-
ments night had set in, and a heavy dew began to fall
which drove to tents those of the weary travellers who
had secured shelter under the thatched roofs of the huts.

Those who had to camp out around the smoulder-
ing camp-lires, lighted here and there, wrapped them-
selves up from head to foot in blankets, mantles, carpets,
tarpaulins, or anything else they could get hold of, and
took for pillows anything they could lay their hands
on, such as a bag, box, saddle-bag or saddle, and then
immediately fell asleep.

Of course each group had, like ourselves, taken the
precaution to pile up the luggage and picket the horses
and beasts of burden in the immediate vicinity of their
respective camp-fires, and, as every adult male traveller
was more or less armed, each was expected and sup-
posed to take his turn in watching the property of the
group to which he belonged, while his companions
slept. An hour after nightfall, the hamlet of Ain-el-
Beda was wrapped in deep silence, and the only sound
to be heard was the incessant, dismal croaking of the
frogs in the distant marAes, the snore of a drowsy
sleeper, the stamp of a horse's foot, or the gurgling
sound produced by one of the watchmen smoking his
"hoboboble" to keep himself awake, and an occasional
equine snort or cough.

(601)

602 NEARINQ TUE GOAL.

A fresh, though gentle breeze sprang up soon after
hiffhtfall in the dh'ection of the lake, distant about a
mile to the southwest of the hamlet ; and wafted clouds
of savage mosquitos from the marshes towards our
camp, to the great discomfort of man and b«is»t. Though
provided with a good tent, the chief of our caravan
purposely* abstained from putting it into requisition
that evening, merely to save the time and trouble of un-
packing, pitching, striking and repacking it ; and we
were therefore fully exposed to the heavy dew that was
fallino;, and to the ferocious attacks of our winged tor-
mentors.

The former did not inconvenience us much, but the
latter grew absolutely intolerable, as they actually in-
sinuated their proboscis through everything less com-
pact than jackboots. Disgusted with this insect-pest,
I got up and joined my comjtanion, Signor P., whom I
found seated on a camp stool close to the lire, convers-
ing with two persons muffled in shawls and l)lankets
from their head to foot. Tlio latter proved to be Ihe
Frenchman and his dulii-ate wife, who unaccustomed to
the inconveniences of Oriental travelling, and unable
longer to endure their torment had taken refuge near
our camp-fire, which we studiously kept ablaze all
night.

As may readily be supposed, the mosquitos found
their way into the huts also, and as is well known, pre-
ferring the close atmosphere of a room to a cool breeze,
tliey collected in immense numbers in the low hovels,
and unmercifully persecuted the drowsy inmates.

We wondered how long the Englishman and his
two proteges (who by the way occupied a liut next to
that of the Frenchman) would hold out, and we mo-
mentarily expected them to dash from under the totter-
ing thatch roof of their " chamber of torture," but to

NEAaiNQ THE GOAL. 603

our surprise they clung with true British tenacity to
their ground ; but lo ! when the trio made their ap-
pearance early on the following morning they looked
like convalescents from the small-pox, and so did most
of those who attempted to sleep indoors, while those
compelled to spend the night outside were compara-
tively unharmed.

Long before the first streak of day appeared on the
eastern horizon, some of the muffled figures prostrate on
the ground arose, spectre-like one by one. These were
sais, mukaries, and cooks, or such of the travellers as
voluntereed to make a cup of coffee, or prepare a frugal
breakfast for their hungry and shivering companions,
who rose to their feet slowly, and yawning and stretch-
ing their benumbed limbs, staggered about the camp,
some aiming for the smouldering camp-fires, others
with eyes still half closed with sleep, cruising about in
search of misplaced and missing traps, some of th^m
however searching in vain ; and the disappearance of
various articles of value was conclusive proof that there
were thieves among the numbers forming the various
groups. There is no one here authorized to sea)'ch the
person or baggage of any individual suspected to be the
thief, and if such individual should object to being
searched, there is no alternative left* to the party de-
spoiled, but to take the matter into his own hai^ds and
search by main force the property, etc., of the suspected
party, at the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest and
getting into a fight, or if he be loth to run such a risk
to bear his loss as best he can.

Already, an hour before sunrise the exodus of this
motley crowd of travellers began, mounted on emaciated,
weak-kneed, worn out pack horses, mules and donkeys,
not (as is customary in the Orient, when travelling over
unsafe ground) in one large caravan, but in little bands

604 NEAR! NO THE GOAL.

of from three to fifteen persons. The last to leave us
were the Frenchman and the Englishman, with their
respective companions and their two interpreters, two
cooks, and quite a host of nmkaries, the latter hired to
convey the rather voluminous luggag^T)T the august
"Feringhies" (Arabic term for Franks or Europeans) to
the capital of northern Syria.

As soon as they were gone we hastened our depar-
ture and set out hardly twenty minutes later, though
in an opposite direction. The glorious sun was rising
majestically over the hills which form the eastern
boundary of the beautiful plain of Antioch, as we
marched out of the hamlet of Ain-el-Beda, as if to con-
gratulate us that we were within two days journey of
the hospitable shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Pro-
ceeding in a westerly direction across the plain we
reached " Kara Su" about an hour before noon. This
river originates in the mountain gorges of the eastern
slope of "Guzel Dagh," the northern branch of the
mountain chain bordering the right shore of the Bay
of Alexandretta ; the southern portion being known as
" Djeble Tolos," whose westerly end projects far into
the sea, forming a bold and precij)itous promontory,
closely resembling a pig's back, "Ras-el-Chanzeor,"
(Arabic) " cape of the pig." As the population of Ihat
district is about equally composed of people of Turkish
and Arabian descent, and speak both languages equally
well, it happens that some of the towns, mountains,
rivers, etc., etc., bear Turkish names, while others in
their immediate vicinity are known only by Arabic
names.

About an hour after crossing the Kara Su, we
reached the hamlet of Bagras, which stands on the
junction of the road to Antioch with that to Aleppo,
and here our caravan entered the narrow, deep and

NEARING THE GOAL. 605

winding eanjon which intersects tlie two ah-eady men-
tioned mountain ranges, Gerzel Dagh and Djehl Tolos,
and til rough which the road (if such a steep rugged
mountain path can he called so) leads in a northwesterly
direction. Advancing cautiously in Indian file, there
hcing no room for two horses to walk abreast, we
slowly ascended the steep grade, in an excessively op-
pressive atmosphere; but it was permeated Avith the
most delicious odors emanatino- from svreet scented
blossoms of thousands of jessamine, oleander and other
semi-tropical plants, which grew thickly on both sides
of our path.

We finally reached the apex of the mountain pass,
and as each miember of the caravan arrived on the sum-
mit of the defile, an involuntary exclamation of rapture
and sur[»rise escaped his parched lips, and even the
panting horses and jaded mules, with their limbs
quivering from exhaustion, pricked up their ears at the
welcome sight before us. Exclamations, such as
"Thank God!" "At last!" freelv mingled with the
calm, though not less earnest utterance of " El Bahril
Mashallah !"' " The sea ! God be praised," by twenty
hoarse Arab voices ; for right at our feet, as it were,
the mao;nificent sheet of water knowm as the Med iter-
ranean lay in beautiful azure, and extended far, far
away to the western horizon, sparsely sprinkled with
snow white sails, all apparently motionless, a dead
calm seeming to reign over the watery mirror, for not
even along the entire length of the rock bound shore,
deep below us, could we notice the slightest ripfde.

Right at our feet lay the little, though important^
seaport of Iskauderoon, or Alexandretta, the principal
port on the gulf of that name. It is surrounded in the
rear by a belt of swamp or marsh land, covered with a
luxuriant growth of wild date trees and bushes, while

606 NEARINQ THE GOAL.

a short distance off the low sandy beach eight sailing
vessels quietly rode at anchor. Far away towards the
north stretched the beautiful bay that gave the name
to this town and seaport, encircled by rolling hills
and lofty, ragged mountain peaks, most^Tff- the former
well covered with timber and underwood. Towards
the south that high, steep, and imposing mountain chain,
known as Djebl Tolos, projected far into the sea, and
ended abruptly in the bold promontory already men-
tioned and described as Ras-el-chanzeer.

Columbus could not hail the dim outlines of the
island of San Salvador more joyously than we, the
European members of our caravan, did the sight of the
Mediterranean Sea, as it abruptly burst upon us on
our arrival at that elevated spot, and I verily believe
that that rapturous moment will for ever remain im-
printed on our minds as one of the happiest moments of
our lives, harbinger as it was of the speedy conclusion of
our journey across one of the most arid, monotonous and
desolate regions of the globe, although, according to
history, the cradle of mankind. With a sigh of intense
relief we descended the declivitous slo[te towards the
sea, meeting, much to our dismay, in the narrowest
part of the mountain-i)ass, a long string of camels slowly
jogging up hill, in Indian lilo, every one of them carry-
ing some monstrous box or bale of European dry goods
or other merchandise, securely lashed to each side of his
pack-saddle, grating against and even running foul of
the rocks projecting along their line of march.

It was almost impossible for any one on horseback
to pass one of these " ships of the desert," as the Bed-
ouins delight to call these cund)ersome creatures, with-
out being either crushed to a jelly, or puslied into the
abyss, the point to which I allude being bounded on
one side by a high perpendicular wall, and in some

SEARING THE GOAL. 607

places by overhanging cliffs, and on the other hy a
yawning abyss. It was clue solely to thb presence of
mind of the leader of our caravan that we were saved
from inevitable destruction, for on the approach of
the caravan, he applied without mercy the loaded
handle of his whip to the nose of the first camel com-=
pelling it and its followers to take the outside track.

I hardly dared to look behind me, expecting noth-
ing else but to see one camel after the other tumble into
the gulf at their side ; but to my intense relief, every
one of these wonderfully sure-footed animals managed
to pass us all right, and the two caravans went by each
other on a path scarcely five feet wide, without a
scratch ; but what still more surprised me was the cool-
ness and equanimity of the camel-drivers, who did not
manifest the least discomposure or anxiety in their
perilous, situation, being evidently accustomed to such
contingencies. A short time after passing the caravan,
on turning a curve in the steep mountain path around
one of the towering cliffs, we caught sight on our left
of the houses which form the uppermost portion of the
small town of " Beilan," our next halting place. Upon
'vur further descent of about a quarter of a mile, we
passed several cataracts of prodigious height, but of
insignificant volume of water, leaping, foaming, and
seething from cliff to cliff, from far above our heads,
and disappearing from view through a precipitous
natural sewer, or tunnel, opening between the tower-
ing rock and the path ; one only of these cataracts
leaps from a high overhanging cliff clear over the path
into the gloomy abyss below, and not a drop falls upon
the path, although this volume of water expands in its
descent to its utmost capacity, and resembling a
gigantic veil of crystal, reflecting all the colors of the

608 NEARING THE GOAL.

rainbow, like a prism of glass, whenever the sun throw*
his rays upon it, most charming to behold.

Through the bottom of the chasm below thundered
a mountain stream of considerable size, which origina-
ted near the summit of the northeastern "^^pe of Djebl
Tolos, and leaping from rock to rock, spraying, seeth-
ing and foaming in an endless number of cataracts, and
finally pours its turbulent waters into the Mediter*
ranean, or, more correctly exi)ressed, into the Gulf of
Iskanderoon, two miles southwest of the port of the
same name.

As if to render the wild scenery of the mountain
gorge still more grandly romantic, Dame ^N'ature has
thought fit to provide both sides of the gorge with
niches, dark crevices and spacious caverns, some high
up in the rocks and utterly inaccessible, except to
birds, for whom they are safe roosting and breeding
places, especially of the numerous white-headed eagles,
falcons and hawks, which gyrate all day long over the
gloomy chasm, and chasing each other through space,
fill the air with their hideous, piercing screams, which
echo dismally through the canyon.

The wildest scenery of the Alps or of the Rocky
Mountains cannot surpass that locality in wildly ro-
mantic weirdness, and no scenic painter could possibly
fin(^ a spot more fit to furnish the wolf's den in "Weber's
famous opera.

No sooner had we passed the last of this scries of
cataracts than we found oui'selves upon the threshold
of " Beilan," descending into the heart of the town,
tlirougli the upjKM- end of the narrow, crowded bazaar,
amid tlie loud jingling of tlic bells of our pack-mules
and '\gheddishes," the Tu-ighing of horses, the howling
of the street curs, and the vociferous shouting and
yelling of the usual crowd of young ragamuffins, who

NEARING THE GOAL. 609

habitually prowl about the bazaars of the Orient, and
who always hail the arrival of a caravan with delight,
generally because of their prospect of pilfering, and
obtaining " bakshish " (alms or small present of money),
these prospects being brighter when there are Fering-
hies (Franks or Europeans) with the caravan.

Though *it was still early in the evening, the entire
bazaar was wrapt in the dim twilight of the approach-
ing night, by reason of the tattered, dark-colored awn-
ings of coarse woolen tent cloth ; and the sun-burnt and
w^eather-beaten straw mats, which hung over the entire
length of the bazaar, suspended between the two rows
of old, rickety, worm-eaten wooden stalls and booths,
on both sides of the narrow thoroughfare, which effec-
tually succeeded in excluding not only sunshine, but
also daylight and fresh air from the filthy, sultry
bazaar.

It was only with difficulty and the exercise of ex-
treme caution that our horses and mules felt their way
over the outrageously uneaven, slippery pavement,
downwards to the khan or caravansary, where, at the
suggestion of Abdallah, our Arab traveling companion
from Aleppo, we were to spend the night. Guided by
the latter, we soon brought up before the building de-
signated ; but a hasty inspection of the premises re-
vealed to us the fact that the place was too filthy
and damp to receive a decent caravan ; moreover, it
was occupied by a dying camel, apparently abandoned,
and but for the risk of having to pay for the animal,
or creating a disturbance, we would gladly have ended
its misery with a pistol.

Under these circumstances we were not willing: to
occupy the khan, even for a single night, and went in
search of more suitable quarters, which we found a short
distance below. It was a large, square stone building

610 NEARING THE GOAL.

standing on tlie right, and about tliirty yards off the
main street, which is the thoroughfare on wliich the l)a-
zaar is located. Like the first mentioned kahn, this
structure was two stories high, resting on a ground
floor, cellar or basement of the whole are£ttff the build-
ingr. This floor lav about four feet below the level of
the ground, while the vaulted ceiling was'supported by
two rows of stout, cylindrical, stone pillars about eight
feet hio-h. Admittance to this semi-subterranean vault
was gained by descending a sloping plane, about six
feet wide, in front of the entrance.

Only the ground floors of these buildings are used
as caravansaries, and every caravan entering a private
kahn has, of course, to pay the " khanjce," i. e., the
proprietor or man in charge of the khan, who usually
lives with his family on one of the upper floors, a cer-
tain sum for the privilege of using the ground floor.

The consideration is oi»tional with the kahnjee,
the usual demand being from twenty to twenty-five
piasters, /. e., ninety cents to one dollar twelve and a
half cents gold, for a day or night of twelve hours, for
the whole caravan. Europeans have generally to pay
more, especially if the khanjee considers that they are
fit subjects to be fleeced.

Public khans belonging to and established for this
purpose by the Turkish government are free to all, but
being, fiir this very reason, the refuge of the poorest
and most slovenly of travelers and vagabonds, are gen-
erally found to be so filthy and so full of vermin, that
no decent traveler will enter them if he can help it.

Our caravan was soon snugly quartered in the spa-
cious kahn, as comfortably as circumstances would per-
mit ; moreover none of us were, after so tedious a jour-
ney, any longer over fastidious. A sumptuous meal
was promptly prepared and consumed, and the tired

NEARING THE GOAL. 611

unimals also properly cared for. !N"igbt had set in by
the time that dinner was over, but it was a magnificent
moonlight night, almost as bright as daylight, for
which the Orient has ever been famous.

After supper Abdallah proposed to the chief of
the caravan a ramble through the town, which was
promptly accepted. We found Beilan, or Beylan to be
a place of about five thousand inhabitants, chiefly Mos-
lems, with a few hundred Jews and Armenian Chris-
tians among them. The greater part of the male popu-
lation is engaged in traffic, and in conveying merchan-
dise and travelers across the mountain pass, to and fronq
the port of Iskanderoon, by means of camels, pack-horses,
mules and donkeys. The balance of the population is
occupied in manufacturing cotton, woolen or silk goods,
leather goods and hardware ; and in raising sheep, goats
and poultry. Some of the merchants or Beilan are re-
puted to be wealthy ; and the majority of the popula-
tion of the place seem to dwell in comfort and ease in
spite of their slovenly dress and appearance, and the
undeniable squalor of the town. Their generally
healthy looks and vivacious happy temper are, however,
solely due to the remarkably salubrious climate, and
the excellence of the water of their mountain home
situated as it is, not less than sixteen hundred feet above
the sea, and constantly exposed to the delicious invigo-
rating breezes that waft across the beautiful bay of
Iscanderoon.

The town of Beilan is built on both sides of the
deep mountain gorge before described; but the prin-
cipal portion is situated on the right hand side of the
gorge on going down the mountain pass, which is also
on that side. The principal buildings in this portion
of the town are composed chiefly of stone or sun-dried
brick, erected in the usual style of Syrian architecture;

612 NEARINQ THE GOAL.

being square or elongated in shape, from one to three
stories high, including 'the ground floor, with flat roofs,
vaulted cellars and scanty, iron-harred window open-
ings. The remainder of the buildings on the principal
side of the gorge are all built of wood;"as are also
those on the ojiposite side. They resemble one and
two-storied log houses, decked with large, low, thatched
or shingled roofs, the ends of whicli project far beyond
tiie four sides of the building, which rest on foundation
walls of rude masonry, the entire wood-work turned
dark brown, indeed, almost black, by the action of the
sun and rain. These buildings remind one of the old,
weather-beaten chrdcts one meets everywhere in the
canton of Berne, and along the wildly-romantic shores
of the "Lake of the four cantons," in Switzerland, and
attached, rather than built, to the steep mountain side,
like swallows' nests ; and because of their contrast to
the usual Oriental style of building, from their sombre
color, as well as their perilous position, they present
an oppressively gloomy and weird a}t})earance.

Tliere is not a new building to be found in the
town; indeed, every houpe looks as if it were a century
old, and even the numerous little aqueducts, which
carry the water from the basins at the foot of each suc-
cessive cascade to tlie various quarters and garden-
patches of the town, bear the stamp of antiquity.

The town of Beilan owes its origin and existence
to the present day to the mountain pass, which
aiipears to have been known to the ancients as the
lower of the two Amanian passes, that are decribed by
Cicero as " easy of ascent l)ecause of their narrowness."

There seems to be no doubt that this pass figured
as an important strategical i)oint in the war between
Aloxaiulcr the Great, and Darius Codomannus, or
Darius III, (334-330, B.C.)

WEARING THE GOAL. 613

A century ago Beilan is said to have been the
secret stronghold, or rather place of refuge, of a notori-
ous pirate, named Kara Yoossooff (Black Joseph), who,
surrounded hy a gang of desperate cut-throats like
himself, kept a good lookout from the window of his
residence at Beilan, for becalmed sails appearing on the
western horizon, and when he espied one, hastily
descended to the shore, accompanied by his desperate
crew, where he kept hidden among the cliffs, or in
some lonely inlet, screened by forest trees ; a fleet " fe-
lucca " (a small sailing vessel, provided with lateen
sails, and capable of being propelled by from ten to
sixteen oars) with which he pounced upon his prey,
invariably destroying all evidences of his crime by sink-
ing or burning the craft, with her murdered crew, and
then the villain would cruise about until nig-htfall, when
he would land his booty in some hidden nook upon the
coast, and retreat by circuitous ways, with his spoils,
to his lair at Beilan ; and there, wath his gang, spend
their leisure time in the grossest orgies. The utterly
demoralized population, being not only afraid to betray
him ; but finding it also to their pecuniary interest not
to betray the source of their wealth.

The Turkish government, however, got on his
scent, and his capture was accomplished. He was
finally " officially " starved to death in an iron cage.

In the year 1832, Beilan acquired its latest histori-
cal renown, by the battle which was fought between
the army of the warlike and ambitious Mehemed Ali,
Viceroy of Egypt, and that of Mahmud II, Sultan of
the Ottoman Empire, in which the latter was worsted ;
the Turkish government driven to the brink of ruin,
and saved only by the timely interference of the Euro-
pean powers.

^ hen I returned with my two companions, from

614 NEARING THE GOAL.

my rambles tlirough tjie town, it was quite late, an<l
even then were reluctant to " turn in," for the night
was lovely, the full moon illuminated the mountain
scenery, and the air was so delightfully invigorating,
that, although we had been in the saddle since sunrise,
we felt stronger and in better spirits than when we set
out on the day's journey. To retire to the gloomy
recesses of the ground floor of the khan, out of the
beautiful moonlight, was exasperating, yet we were
obliged to do so in order to keep everything belonging
to the caravan under our control, and to be ready in
case of any emergency ; such as sudden sickness among
the men or beasts of burden ; or fire, or robbery, for, to
be candid, the Beilanese, although no longer known
as professional highwaymen and pirates, are said to be
still rather afflicted with kleptomania and in bad repute
among travelers, as " sneak thieves." Every member of
the caravan would undoubtedly have preferred to camp
in the open air; but outside of the khan, there was not
a level space of ground i?i the whole town large enough
for even a smaller caravan than ours to camp on.

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

"Last Night Out"— "Holwah "—The Narrow Descent— The Storm-
Through the Gate — Delivering the Stock — Our Genial Greet
Merchant — A Night to Remember — Custom House Familiarities —
The Mail Steamer — Good-Bye to the Home of Islam.

The night passed over quietly enough, and by sun-
rise next morning we were busy preparing for our last
day's journey through the " Land of the Star and the
Crescent." Before leaving, the chief of our caravan
had occasion to go to the bazaar to make some pur-
chases, and when he returned he had a good supply of
that delicious, genuine Arabic sweetmeat which I
described in my account of Muscat as "Holwah," a
quantity of which we intended to present to our friends
in Europe. Immediately after the return of our chief
the caravan set out, and we resumed the perilous
descent of the fearfully steep and rugged mountain-
pass, ^hen the sun peeped over the ri gged mountain
peak into the gorge that morning, we noticed its
unusual crimson lustre, which in those latitudes indi-
cates an excessively hot day ; the slight morning haze
which had hung over the landscape up to the advent
of the fiery orb dissolved into a kind of humid air,
which, wherever the sun penetrated, could be seen to
vibrate vividly up and down : a very common pheno-
menon, to be sure, even in more northern latitudes, but
hardly anywhere so annoying to the traveller as in that
break-neck defile. Imagine, my reader, that you are
to descend steep stairs on horseback, the stairs about
ten miles long, varying from ten feet to ten inches in
width, leading in zig-zag course partly along the very

(617)

018 THE END OP OUR JOURNEY.

brink of a perpendicular abyss, partly through tht
stunted forest and thorny underwood of a mountain-
slope, the steps of the stairs composed of huge boul-
ders of irregular size and shape, thrown promiscuously
together, and a constantly vibrating vapor before your
own and your horse's eyes to dazzle you both — ^you
will have a fair idea of the pass of Beilan.

To render matters worse, our caravan w^as no
sooner under way again, than to our dismay we saw
that the western horizon was rapidly assuming a dull,
leaden hue, the faint breeze dying away and a dead
calm reigning on the sea before us, which was plain
enough not only from the smooth surface of the water,
but by the stationary position of the white sails
sprinkled here and there upon the azure sheet spread
out before our feet. Huge dark clouds rose one by
one from the sea towards the westward horizon, and
crowding upon each other with irresistible power,
amidst the faint roll of distant thunder, soared straight
towards us with giant sweeps.

The winged songsters of the forest relapsed into
silence ; even the monotonous chirp of the cricket and
grasshopper was no longer heard ; a sufibcating heat
permeated the atmosphere ; not a rustle of the leaves
was heard, not a blade of grass stirred ; indeed, the
entire vegetable and animal world had suddenly
dropped into deathlike silence. Hark! the shrill cry
of a falcon I There l;e darts like an arrow into the
mountain gorge, seeking a shelter. A blinding flash
of lightning, followed immediately by an appalling
peal of thunder, shaking the very rocks down which
we were climbing and echoing dismally along the
mountains; a few heavy large drops of rain, another
fla-sh, another peal ; then a perfect deluge of water, ac-
companied by flash after flash of lightning and peal

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. 619

upon peal of thunder, gave us a specimeu of the storms
of that region and naturally increased the difficulties
of our descent to the coast. The delude lasted for
nearly two hours without the slightest interruption.
The rainstorm had at least cooled the atmosphere to
such a degree that none of us felt very sorry for our
drenching.

By the time the rain was over, we had nearly
reached the base of the mountain, and the most difficult
portion of the pass lay behind us. The road, hitherto
a mere rugged path, began to widen there and led us
in a due northerly direction across a narrow grassy
plain gently sloping towards the sea-shore, to the town
and seaport of Alexandretta. This plain, although
looking perfectly smooth from a distance, is furrowed
by deep gullies, through which during the wet season
the water rushes down from the mountains to the sea.
Great numbers of worn-out camels, horses and donkeys
sent there to recuperate their vital powers, may be seen
browsing, in company with herds of goats and sheep,
on the scanty herbage and on the foliage of the bushes
and thickets which line these periodical water-courses,
guarded bj^ half-naked old men, women and children
lounging in the shade of solitary trees.

Nearer to the seashore the plain is almost spirit-
level, extremely marshy and full of holes of stagnant
water, thickly overgrown with bushes, luxurious
creepers and water plants ; a veritable elysium for rep-
tiles, waterfowl and wild pigs, and the chief cause of
the notoriously deleterious climate of that seaport.
A rouo;hlv constructed dam of unhewn timber, filled-in
with unhewn stone, constitutes the road across this
marsh, and over it our caravan scrambled upon the low
Bandhills in the rear of the town which loomed up to
view scarcely one hundred yards off. "Wading this

620 THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

short distance almost knee-deep through quicksand, we
reached the narrow dilapidated southern gate and
picked our way along the narrow sinuous streets
through the usual crowd of gaping loungers to the
building in which the office of the agent of our Ale[)po
friends was located, and where we were piloted bj a
hanimrd (public porter) who happened to be acquainted
with that gentleman. In due time we brought up be-
fore the house in question, and, finding the gentleman
in, handed him our letters of introduction, whereupon
he immediately placed himself at our service, together
with his whole staff of clerks. Having been apprized
beforehand by the Aleppo firm, he had secured and
prepared the largest and best khan in the town for the
exclusive use of our caravan, and conducted us thithor
after refreshing us with a few glasses of delicious Cyprus
wine, the produce — our host asserted — of the famous
vineyards of Nikosia, capital of the island of Cyprus.
A motly crowd of naked urchins, tattered street btg-
gars, inquisitive loungers of both sexes, and slovenly
Turkish sinecure officials followed eagerly in the wake
of our caravan till we reached the designated khan,
distant about one hundred and fifty yards from the
office of our host and about the same from the beach.

It was an unsightly edifice; like most of the
l)uilding3 in the wretched towns, composed of a very
spacious vaulted ground floor of massive masonry, the
vault at least fifteen feet above the floor, supported by
rows of stout wooden pillars resting on pedestals of
masonry. The upper story was constructed entij^ely of
wood, and covered with a huge unsightly roof with gable
ends; the edges of the roof projecting so far beyond
the four sides of the building as to completely shelter
from the sun the rickety wooden verandah or balcony,
that ran all round the second story of the building.

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. 621

The entire wood-work outside and in, was utterly
destitute of paint; and was cracked and dark, almost
black from the action of the sun, wind and rain ; indeed,
man and elements seem to have combined to give the
building as gloomj and inhospitable an aspect as possi-
ble. This, however, is the general character of the ma-
jority of buildings in the Orient, especially of dwelling-
houses ; and this is why the graceful mosques and min-
arets so strangelv contrast with the other structures of
any Mohammedan city and enliven the otherwise
sombre aspect of Oriental cities in general. As in most
buildings of similar construction in that region, the
lower or ground floor of a khan is intended for the ac-
conmiodation of travelers, or caravans, for horse, mule,
donkey or camel stables, or for the storage of the
so-called imperishable goods, and coarse merchan-
dise; such as iron, cement, lime, salt, pottery, wood,
rags, gall-nuts, dye-woods, goats' hair, sheep's wool,
hides, sole leather, oil, etc., while the upper portion of
the building is generally arranged for dwelling pur-
poses, oflices, or store-rooms for perishable goods and
fine merchandise, such as dry-goods, raw and manufac-
tured silk, morocco, leather, arms, hardware, tobacco,
drugs, spices, etc.

Gloomy and inhospitable though the khan was,
to all appearance, that portion which was designed to
receive our caravan was clean, in comparison with scores
of other khans between Bagdad and the Mediterranean,
which by force of circumstances, had had the honor to
receive us during our long journey from Lower Meso-
potamia, and it was evident to us that its temporary
cleanliness was due solely to the provident care of our
host, who had caused the premises to be put in order for
our reception. Situated so close to the beach, our
quarters had, moreover, the advantage of a thick layer

622 THE END OP OUR JOURNEY.

of clean dry sand as a floor, which was greatly prefera-
ble to the floors of damp black soil, or the manure
mixed dust or hard cobblestone pavements usually to
be met with in these caravansaries. It "wu&. therefore
with genuine delight that we took possession of our
quartei's, and we were soon snugly installed therein,
the animals picketed along the walls, our luggage piled
in the centre of the hall and two sentinels placed at the
entrance, merely in a kind of medical capacity, to
suppress the plightest symptoms of an outbreak of
kleptomania among the slovenly crowd that beleagured
the gate.

Our amiable host, before returning to his office,
had, after attending to all our wants, invited Signor P.
and the author of this narrative, to spend the evening
with him and his friends at his residence in the
southern part of the town, and promised to call for us
about sunset. As it was late in the afternoon by the
time we were fairly installed in the khan, we spent the
^ew hours of daylight left to us in overhauling our
trunks containing our crumpled and disordered ward-
robe, which was still quite damp from the ducking we
jTot that mornino; in the mountains. A dive in the
j)lacid bay was next taken, and the refreshing bath, a
coarse Turkish towel and an aggravatingly dull razor
imparted a rosy hue to our bronzed features.

When we got back to the khan we were surprised
to find Yoossooflf, the cook, applying of his own accord
the artistic brush to our boots, as if the poor fellow felt
that his faithful services would soon be dispensed Avith
for ever by the two " Feringhies " whom he had
followed step by step from the " city of tlie Caliphs " to
the distant shores of the Mediterranean. Towards
sunset, our host, accompanied by his three clerks, an
Italian, a Greek, and an Armenia!), made his appear-

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. 623

ance and conducted us to his residence, a medium sized
dwelling-bouse surrounded hy a pretty garden. On
the spacious piazza sat three ladies fanning themselves,
for the air was hot and oppressive, and the mosquitoes
quite troublesome. Our host introduced to us the
eldest of the trio, a lady of about twenty-two years of
age, of comely form and handsome features, as his wife.
She was a Greek from the isle of Cyprus, and her
husband an Italian. Of the other two ladies, the
youngei a pretty girl of fifteen, but with a develop-
ment which would have done honor to a woman of
twenty, was the sister of our hostess, and the other
slightly her senior, bore the same relation to our host.
Unfortunately neither Signor P. or I were familiar
with the Greek language, which was all that our
hostess and her sisters could speak fluently ; but the
other members of the party were ready to interpret,
though conversation in that way is rather up-hill
work.

We sat down to as delightful a repast as the port
of Iskanderoon could possibly offer ; and the palatable
Cyprus wine succeeded wonderfully well in enlivening
us, and interpretation was graduUy dispensed with, and
we were at last able to understand each other. After
dinner, delicious coffee (a rare article all through the
Orient) and the traditional water-pipe, " narghileh,"
and " shattab " (long-stemmed tobacco pipe), were
served by the servants, while the sister of our host
played on the piano the accompaniment of some very
fu'elodious Greek ballads which were sung by the sisters.
After a while the ladies retired, and our conversation
centred on horse-flesh (a favorite topic in those regions).
Our host's charger had become disgusted with the try-
ing climate of Iskanderoon, and fled to the equine para-
dise only a week before our arrival, and as no European

C24 THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

in the Orient will do without a horse, he proposed to
buy mine if I would allow him to give the nag a
lair trial the following day, to which I, of course,
assented. Although he was a good horseman, the trial
resulted more in a test of his ability in thllttine, than
in a trial of my nag's speed and endurance, for he was
no sooner in the saddle thai: he was pitched wrong side
up in the sand, which, strange to say, infatuated him
so with the gentle creature, that he paid at once the priye
I asked for him, which was treble what I had paid for
him at Mossul. In extenuation, however, I must state,
that the horse was well worth the money at Iskanderoon,
where horses are scarce, poor, and good ones consequently
expensive.

AbJiough only a " gheddish " (low-bred horse), and
an ugly one at that, the remarkable animal carried me
all the way from Mossul, doing duty as roadster, and
hunter, to boot, when game was visible, and I have
(lashed over many a mile with him after the fleet boars
and fleeter gazelles, on the table lands and plains of
Mesopotamia and Syria, while we had still a long
journey befonj us ; yet, that pony grew fatter every
day, in spite of all hard work, so that by the time we
reached the Mediterranean, he was as round and sleek
as an eel. A more sure-footed, enduring, genuinely
gritty horse, I never saw, and I am not asliamed to say
that I actually felt that my heart would break when
the moment came to part with him. Had I only been
bound to Europe instead of distant America, I would
not have left him behind.

About midnight our party broke up. The night
being very dark, our host invited both Signor P. and
myseif to remain until morning, and offered the best
room." in the house. Signor P., who had never yet slept a
night ^way from the horses under his charge, politely.

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. 625

but positively declined, but as I was more at liberty, 1
accepted the invitation. Friend P. was therefore
escorted to the khan by two servants bearing lanterns,
while I was assio-ned to a neatlv furnished room, and
being very tired soon fell asleep. I was not destined,
however, to enjoy much sleep, for I soon began to feel
such a crawling and buzzing about me, that I got up,
struck a lio;ht, and discovered ^o mv dismav, that the
snow white bed was alive with bedbugs, and the room
swarming with mosquitoes of the most bloodthirsty
kind. To sleep in that chamber of torture was absolutely'
out of the question. How I cursed my bad luck in not
having hit upon some pretext of declining my host's too
great hospitality. How I wished myself on the quicksand
of the stable, even though sand-fleas abounded, for they
are harmless in comparison with famished Syrian bed-
bugs ! and the exposure of the khan to the sea-breeze
seemed to justify my belief that it was free from mos-
quitoes. To be sure I might have jumped out of the
window and groped my way through the stygian dark-
ness to the khan, but leaving the house of my host
clandestinely, would have been an unpardonable breach
of etiquette, which I was reluctant to commit, nor
could I well disturb the slumbers of the household by
tramping the room all night. Xo alternative was left
me, therefore, but to sit quietly at the open window
and await the daybreak as patiently as I might, keep-
ing the mosquitoes off with occasional puffs of smoke.
Almost anything comes to an end, however, sooner
or later, and so did my tribulations. Long before sun-
rise any sleex>less member of the family, looking out
of the Avindow, might have seen the guest of the house
walking about the garden, to all^ appearance deeply
engaged in botanical studies, while in reality he was
endeavoring to keep awake and kill time, till the lazy

62 G THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

Armenian cook could make up his mind to strike the
gong in token of breakfast being ready. And strike it
he did at last ; but although I was young, it did not
seem to me that I should live long enough to see my
host and hostess among the living. WJiAn they finally
appearcHl delicacy would not permit me to tell tne
entire truth, for when they asked me how I slept, I
said "well." And so I had, only not long enough ; but
when I got back again to the khan I went straight for
my blankets, rolled myself in them, and vowed I would
not spend another night under that roof.

I slept till Signor P. aroused me at noon, and asked
me to accompany him to the bazaar, Avhere he was
going to make his i)urchases of a week's provisions,
etc., for our expected voyage by the next mail steamer
to Smyrna (Asia Minor). A short ramble through the
narrow and filthy thoroughfares led us there. To the
traveller coming from the interior, who has seen the
immense bazaars of Bagdad, Damascus and Aleppo,
stocked with enormous quantities of Asiatic and Euro-
pean merchandise and produce ; thronged from sunrise
till sunset with a chaos of human beings and domestic
animals, and filled from morning till night with the din
of thousands of human voices, and the bustle and clatter
of an army of tradesmen of every deseription, the small,
poorly stocked and sparsely frequented "sookh," or
bazaar, of Iskan<leroon, is hardly worth noticing, as it
contains little more than is absolutely requisite for the
everyday corisumption of the small seaport town.

The comparative quiet of that part of any Moham-
medan town which is always the busiest is an unerring
evidence of commercial and industrial dullness, and the
only })eople engaged in traffic there, in that bazaar, ap-
pear to be those who are administering to the wants of
the numerous travellers bonn 1 for or arriving from the

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. 627

interior of the country; and to those of the many
camel, horse, mule, and donkey caravans which consti*
tute as yet the only means of communication and con-
veyance between the seaport and the interior, and the
wear and tear of whose equipments across that terrible
mountain pass of Beilan, and over those wretched
roads in general, is naturally very severe. Though
rather dull in a strictly commercial sense, there is no
lack of frequenters at the bazaar, or rather the filthy,
smoky Turkish coffee-houses, and G-reek or Armenian
dram-shops, gambling hells, and other establishments
of still worse repute located there, and as well as in
other quarters of the town.

In the former may be seen congregated, sitting
cross legged upon low, broad, upholstered wooden
benches, or squatted on little wooden stools, conversing,
smoking, sipping thick, black coffee, old blear-eyed^
bow-legged Turkish oificers of the army and navy, and
villainous looking dealers in horses, mules or camels,
trying to palm off some worthless animal on an in-
experienced customer. Add to these sluggish and
slovenly custom-house officers who, instead of watching
the arrivals in port, are on terms of " Hail fellow, well
met I" with some Greek or Italian smuggler, a couple
of wide-aAvake Maltese, and you will have a fair idea
of the company assembling at these places.

These Maltese are genuine specimens of that rest-
less class of natives of the island of Malta who are to be
found in every port of the Mediterranean ; they are re-
markable linguists, possessmg the faculty of picking
up any language in the world in less than a fortnight,
and in consequence of this talent, lomige about those
seaports, anxious to be engaged by foreigners in the
capacity of "dragoman" (interpreter, guide and
courier), and ever ready to start with their employer at

fi28 THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

five minutes' notice, to any part of the liabitabU ,;\6he.
The drum shops and other resorts of vice, altho ighto
be found in all the larger towns of the interior by a
close observer, have the effrontery to show in public,
only on the thresholds of civilization, ancl'^rskanderoon
makes no exception to the rule ; and these dens of
iniquity seem to flourish there, being the resorts of the
"canaille" of the port, as well as of drmiken sailors of
Greek, Russian, French, Austrian and Italian
nationality ; the vessels entering that port chiefly fly
the flags of those nations, though there are a few
coasters which hail from Tunis, Egypt, Palestine, the
Islands of Candia, Rhodes, Cyprus, etc., which sail
under Turkish colors and carry mixed crews of Turks,
Mongrel Greeks, Arabs and Negroes, who, when on
shore and "on a bender," (to use a sailor phrase),
eclipse the sea-faring " giaours" downright in bestiality.
The population of Iskanderoon, which by the way
numbers onlv from twelve or fifteen hundred persons,
is, like all other seaports very mixed as regards
nationality, and composed of Turks, Arabs, Persians,
Armenian Christians, Ryrian Jews, Egyptians, Greeks,
Albanians or Arnauts, Montenegrins, Dalmatians, a few
Maltese, Italians, and Frenchmen, some of the latter
acting as representatives or agents for European mail
steamers, which ply regularly along the whole coast
between the ports of Alexandria in Egypt, and Smyrna
in Asia Minor, calling at the principal intermediate
ports, as well as at that of Rhodes, the capital of the
island bearing the same name. The houses, with the
exception of a few in the immediate vicinity of the
port, are small, low, poorly built hovels, of wood, stone,
or sun-dried brick. The harbor, however, is the best
and safest on the Syrian coast, frequented annually by
from five to six hundred sailing vessels, small and of

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. fi29

medium carrying capacity. On our return from the
bazaar to the khan, followed by our whole train of pack-
horses and mules, which were required to transport the
large stock of i)rovisions, etc., for a week's voyage,
aboard the steamer, all our mukkaries were paid off by
Signor P. and honorably dismissed with their respective
beasts of burden. Each of them made his reverential
salaam and quietly departed with his animals for the
bazaar, where they all watched for a chance to find
return freights for their home (Aleppo). Early in the
afternoon of our last day on the Syrian coast, our agent
and host visited us at the khan for the ostensible pur-
pose of inviting us to spend the evening with him, but
in reality to break to me the welcome news that a case
of wearing apparel, books, stationery, and other
requisites of European residents in the Orient, had
arrived.

This case had been forwarded to my address in
Bagdad by my relatives in Switzerland, and had arrived
at Iskanderoon nearly eighteen months before my
return to that part, and which by reason of the shock-
ing muddle prevalent in Turkish custom-houses in
general, and that of Iskanderoon in particular, stuck
fast in some way, and had just been discovered and
could be obtained by my personal application. For a
year I had given up all hope of ever seeing it, and dur-
ing the whole time of my residence in ^Mesopotamia, I
was obliged to draw whatever was indispensable from
Bombay, at ruinously high prices. Indignant though
t was, in having the memory of my annoyance revived,
I was glad enough after all to rescue my property from
the thievish custom-house rabble. On the back of a
herculean " Hammal " (Turkish, " porter," or "human
camel " ) the case was brought to our khan, and there
the contents were promptly overhauled ; but, no words

g30 THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

can describe their condition. An India rubber overcoat

nicely folded, was pasted together so thoroughly, that

no human being could undo it. Fine English razors

were as rusty as the hoops of a vinegar barrd, and no

muscular power on earth could open a pair of new

scissors. All the new boots and shoes were green and

hairy from mildew, like mouldy cheese ; while the moth

had eaten through a layer of new woolen suits and

undergarments to the depth of two feet. In short, the

whole contents of the case were hardly worth the five

piasters (22| cents American money) which I paid the

nrimmal for conveying the case from the Custom-house

to the khan. At the conclusion of my inspection I

really felt sorry that the case had not been made away

with by the officials.

In return for his friendly attention, Signor P. and
myself spent that evening with our agent and host.
Hardly had we returned to the khan, and retired to
rest, when the boom of two guns discharged at short

intervals vih'-^ ■" ^"nm -;"- ^'-- ■-"^"''. and echoed
' .c dismally along the silent shore. VVe Kucvr

^^.. to be the signal of the expected French mail
steamer from down the coast, which, as is customarj)
almost everywhere, thus announced her arrival in port.
Congratulating ourselves upon the prospect of a
speedy departure from the sickly coast, and wearisome
seaport, we bade each other good-night, and were soon
asleep. AVitli the first streak of dayliglit we got up
and aroused our men to prepare for our embarkation,
whicli Signor P. was anxious should take place as early
in the morning as possible.

The requisite number of strong wooden boxes or
stalls furnished by the steamship comjtan}' for the ac-
commodation of our animals on board the ship, stood
already in a row beyond high water mark, on the

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. 631

eaiulj beach, having, at the request of our agent, been
brought along from Beyrout by the preceding mail
steamer and landed on the beach. About sunrise the
barges, or lighters, which rode at anchor in the vicinity
of the stalls, drew broadside as close inshore as practic-
able, and soon afterwards a messenger was sent from
the steamer to inform us that the captain was ready to
receive us. Ten minutes afterwards we marched with
all our horses to the beach, followed by quite a train of
sturdy Ilammjils carrying all our goods and chattels.
We found twenty stalls upon the beach, but only nine-
teen were required, eighteen for the horses, and one for
the splendid she-ass " Zobeida," which Bahri had rid-
den all the way from Bagdad. All the stalls were
shipped, however, the supernumerary one to be used in
case of accident to one of the others while being hoisted
aboard the vessel. A bridge of stout planks established
communication between each lighter and the beach.
Each craft was capable of loading five stalls, which
were placed on deck by the combined strength of our
Hammals. Then the horses were blindfolded, and
cautiously led over the planks and secured in their re-
spective boxes, the sides of which were carefully pad-
ded, to prevent any injury to the hor.-^es from chafing
against the stall while afloat. Each stall was provided
with a strong canvas belt fully one jsivd wide attached
to one side of the stall. When the animal was seasick
or sleepy, this belt could be passed under his belly and
fastened to the opposite side of the stall so as to sup-
port the entire weight of the body, the box being too
narrow for a horse to lie down in it. "WTien each lifirhter
had taken its load, Signor P., with five grooms jumped
aboard of one, and I, also with five grooms, embarked
in the other. Six sturdy oarsmen propelled the cum-
bersome craft rapidly towards the steamer, the stroke

632 THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

of their oars keeping time with a plaintive, monotonoua
song chanted by the man at the helm, the oarsmen fall-
ing in with a chorus at the end of each verse, with an
approbative grimt. The horses and men left on the
beach were in charge of Abdallah, wh(T^ad accom-
panied us to the shore to see us off. The captain of the
steamer havins; been told that the horses were for his
Imperial Majesty of France, was on hand, with his
officers, to receive us, as we came alongside, and after
saluting, issued prompt ordeis to the crew, to assist in
getting the valuable living cargo on board ; and as the
commander superintended the work in person, and the
steamer was provided with the most improved steam
hoisting apparatus, all was safely landed on deck in
less than an hour. After i)artaking of some refresh-
ment, Signor P. and I returned in the lighters for the
balance of our animals and luggage, leaving thegrooma
in charge of the horses on the steamer.

Our second load was not so easily shi[>i)ed, for one
of our horses, a vicious brute, though one of the finest
of the lot, would not be blind-folded, or take a single
step towards the boat until we were finally obliged to
gag him and tie his legs in such a manner, that he
could not injure anybody, when eight Ilanmirils lifted
him up bodily, aTid carried him on board, and into his
stall. Bidding Abdallah good-bye we again set out
for the steamer and got everything aboard without ac-
cident. Xo sooner, however, were the gag and ro[)e3
taken off, when the stallion sent his stall flying into
splinters about our heads and ears, and he was with
the utmost difficulty again secured, gagged and fettered
and transferred in this condition, into the extra stall.
This equine maniac was kept in fetters until we were
well at sea, when he became so dreadfully seasick, that
he became gentle and harmless as an infant. When all

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. 633

was safely arranged on board, Signer P. called all our
twenty native servants together, including the cook,
and paid them off, explaining to them that their services
were no longer required, except those of four " sais,"
for the horses, and inquired which of them would ac-
company us to Fninghistrm (Europe). They were all
eager to go, but Signor P. selected Yoossooff el Yez-
zidee the chief groom, Mohammed, Ali and Achmed,
the four best sa'is among them ; they all seemed over-
joyed by the prospect of visiting the country of the
ISTazrani (Christians) while the others looked downright
dejected, especially Yoossooff the cook, who sobbed
from genuine grief, but an extra bakshish from our
purses partially restored his composure.

One could readily see by their sorrowful mien how
hard it was for the poor fellows to part with us. They
tarried on board until the boatmen who were being
paid off by Signor P., informed them that the boats
were going to the shore at once, whereupon each of
them made his most reverential salaam to Signor P.,
myself, aLd the girl Bahri, and grasping the right
hand of each of us, imprinted a humble kiss thereon, and
mournfully descended the vessel's side into the lighters,
keeping their eyes fixed on the steamer until they
landed on the beach where they remained awhile, and
then gradually disappeared among the houses. Daring
the remainder of the forenoon the steamer took in coal,
and in the afternoon, several lighters with passengers,
chiefly Turks, Greeks and Armenians, and a considera-
ble quantity of Persian, Syrian, and Mesopotamian
merchandise and produce came alongside and trans-
ferred their passengers and cargo to the steamer. The
latter consisted of carpets, rugs, raw silks, camels' hair,
goats' hair, sheep's wool, tobacco, gall-nuts, pistachios,
almonds, dates, etc., in boxes, bags and mats. Towardi

bM THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

four o'clock in the afternoon, tlie agent of the steam
ship line came ahoard hrijiging the mail with him, and
accompanied hy our agent and host, who came to bid
us a final farewell. Ten minutes afterwards the steam
hoisting apparatus began to wind up th5"'^?ftble, when
the two last named gentlemen hurriedly took their de-
parture. Presently the steamer swung gently around,
the screw began to revolve, and slowly we glided out
of the harbor, casting every now and then a parting
glance towards the little seaport, and the towering
mountain chain in the background, which hid from
our view, probably forever, that region so vast, so arid
and desolate — still so full of interest and mystery: the
ITome of Islam, — the reputed Cradle of the Human
Elace.

V

7