ASHEETHA. — A NESTORIAN HOUSE. THE MASSACRE. — ZAWEETHA. — NESTORIAN PRIESTS. — MURGHI. — LIZAN. — SCENE OF THE MASSACRE. — A TIYARI BRIDGE. RAOLA. — THE HOUSE OF THE MELEK. — TIYARI WOMEN. — THE DISTRICT OF TKHOMA ALARM OF THE INHABITANTS. — CHURCH SERVICE. — TKHOMA GOWAIA. — A KURDISH CHIEF. — PASS INTO BAZ. — ERGUB RETURN TO TICHOMA. — BE-ALATHA. — ROADS OF TIYARI. — CHONBA. — MURDER OF MELEK ISMAIL. — RETURN TO ASHEETHA. — KASHA AURAHAM. — A COPPER MINE. — CHALLEK. OURMELI. — A SU BASHI. — A KURDISH SAINT. — MALTHAYIAH. SCULPTURES. — ALKOSH. — TOMB OF THE PROPHET NAHUM. — RABBAN HORMUZD. — TELKEF AND ITS CHRISTIAN INHABITANTS. — RETURN TO MOSUL. — SECOND MASSACRE IN THE NESTORIAN MOUNTAINS. — CAPTURE AND EXILE OF BEDER KHAN BEY.

We had no sooner reached the house of Yakoub Rais, than a cry of "The Bey is come," spread rapidly through the village, and I was surrounded by a crowd of men, women, and boys. My hand was kissed by all, and I had to submit for some time to this tedious process. As for my companion, he was almost smothered in the embraces of the girls, nearly all of whom had been liberated from slavery after the great massacre, or had been supported by his brother for some months in Mosul.¹ Amongst the men were many of my old workmen, who were distinguished from the rest of the inhabitants of Asheetha by their gay dresses and arms, the fruits of their industry during the winter. They were anxious to show their gratitude, and their zeal in my service. The priests came tog Kasha Ghioorghis, Kasha Hormuzd, and others. As they entered the room, the whole assembly rose; and lifting their turbans and caps reverentially from their heads, kissed the hand extended to them. In the mean while the girls had disappeared; but soon returned, each bearing a platter of fruit, which they placed before me. My workmen also brought large dishes of boiled garas swimming in butter. There were provisions enough for the whole company.

The first inquiries were after Mar Shamoun, the Patriarch. I produced his letter, which the priests first kissed and placed to their foreheads. They afterwards passed it to the principal men, who went through the same ceremony. Kasha Ghioorghis then read the letter aloud, and at its close, those present uttered a pious ejaculation for the welfare of their Patriarch, and renewed their expressions of welcome to us.

These preliminaries having been concluded, we had to satisfy all present as to the object, extent, and probable duration of our journey. The village was in the greatest alarm at a threatened invasion from Beder Khan Bey. The district of Tkhoma, which had escaped the former massacre, was now the object of his fanatical vengeance. He was to march through Asheetha, and orders had already been sent to the inhabitants to collect provisions for his men. As his expedition was not to be undertaken before the close of Ramazan, there was full time to see the proscribed districts before the Kurds entered them. I determined, however, to remain a day in Asheetha, to rest our mules.

On the morning following;; our arrival, I went with Yakoub Rais to visit the village. The trees and luxuriant crops had concealed the desolation of the place, and had given to Asheetha, from without, a flourishing appearance. As I wandered, however, through the lanes, I found little but ruins. A few houses were rising from the charred heaps; the greater part of the sites, however, were without owners, the whole family having perished. Yakoub pointed out, as we went along, the former dwellings of wealthy inhabitants, and told me how and where they had been murdered. A solitary church had been built since the massacre, the foundations of others were seen amongst the ruins. The pathways were still blocked up by the trunks of trees cut down by the Kurds. Watercourses, once carrying fertility to many gardens were now empty and dry; and the lands which they had irri2:ated were left naked and unsown. I was surprised at the proofs of the industry and activity of the few surviving families, who had returned to the village, and had already brought a large portion of the land into cultivation.

The houses of Asheetha, like those of the Tiyari districts², are not built in a group, but are scattered over the valley. Each dwelling stands in the centre of the land belonging to its owner; consequently, the village occupies a much larger space than would otherwise be required, but has a cheerful and pleasing appearance. The houses are simple, and constructed so as to afford protection and comfort, during winter and summer. The lower part is of stone, and contains two or three rooms inhabited by the family and their cattle during the cold months. Light is admitted by the door, and by small holes in the wall. There are no windows, as in the absence of glass, a luxury as yet unknown in Kurdistan, the cold would be very great during the winter, when the inhabitants are frequently snowed up for many days together. The upper floor is constructed partly of stone, and partly of wood, the whole side facing the south being open. Enormous beams, resting on wooden pillars and on the walls, support the roof. This is the summer habitation, and here all the members of the family reside. During July and August, they usually sleep on the roof, upon which they erect stages of boughs and grass resting on high poles. By thus raising themselves as much above the ground as possible, they avoid the vermin which swarm in the rooms, and catch the night wind which carries away the gnats. Sometimes they build these stages in the branches of high trees around the houses. The winter provision of dried grass and straw for the cattle is stacked near the dwelling, or is heaped on the roof.

As this was the first year that the surviving inhabitants of Asheetha, about 200 families, had returned to the village and had cultivated the soil, they were almost without provisions of any kind. We were obliged to send to Zaweetha for meat and rice; and even milk was scarce, the flocks having been carried away by the Kurds. Garas was all we could find to cat. They had no corn, and very little barley. Their bread was made of this garas, and upon it alone they lived, except when on holidays they boiled the grain, and soaked it in melted butter.

The men were now busy in irrigating the land; and seemed to be rewarded by the promise of ample crops of their favourite grain, and of wheat, barley, rice, and tobacco. The boys kept up a continued shrill shriek or whistle to frighten away the small birds, which had been attracted in shoals by the ripe corn. When tired of this exercise, they busied themselves with their partridges. Almost every youth in the country carries one of these birds at his back, in a round wicker cage. Indeed, whilst the mountains and the valleys swarm with wild partridges, the houses are as much infested by the tame. The women, too, were not idle. The greater part of them, even the girls, were beating out the corn, or employed in the fields. A few were at the doors of the houses working at the loom, or spinning wool for the clothes of the men. I never saw more general or cheerful industry; even the priests took part in the labours of their congregation.

I walked to the ruins of the school and dwelling-house, built by the American missionaries during their short sojourn in the mountains. These buildings had been the cause of much jealousy and suspicion to the Kurds. They stand upon the summit of an isolated hill, commanding the whole valley. A position less ostentatious and proportions more modest might certainly have been chosen; and it is surprising tbcat persons, so well acquainted with the character of the tribes amongst whom they had come to reside, should have been thus indiscreet. They were, however, most zealous and worthy men; and had their plans succeeded, I have little doubt that they would have conferred signal benefits on the Nestorian Chaldeans. I never heard their names mentioned by the Tiyari, and most particularly that of Dr. Grant, without expressions of profound respect, amounting almost to veneration.³ There are circumstances connected with the massacre of the Nestorians most painful to contemplate, and which I willingly forbear to dwell upon.

During the occupation of Asheetha by the Kurds, Zeinel Bey fortified himself with a few men in the house constructed by the Americans; and the position was so strong, that, holding it against all the attempts of the Tiyari to dislodge him, he kept the whole of the valley in subjection.

Yakoub Rais, who was naturally of a lively and jovial disposition, could not restrain his tears as he related to me the particulars of the massacre. He had been amongst the first seized by Beder Khan Bey; and having been kept by the chief as a kind of hostage, he had been continually with him, during the attack on the Tiyari, and had-witnessed all the scenes of bloodshed which he so graphically described. The descent upon Asheetha was sudden, and unexpected. The greater part of the inhabitants fell victims to the fury of the Kurds, who endeavoured to destroy every trace of the village. We walked to the church, which had been newly constructed by the united exertions and labour of the people. The door was so low, that a person, on entering, had to perform the feat of bringing his back to the level of his knees. The entrances to Christian churches in the East, are generally so constructed that horses and beasts of burthen may not be lodged there by the Mohammedans. A few rituals, a book of prayer, and the Scriptures all in manuscript were lying upon the rude altar; but the greater part of the leaves were wanting, and those which remained were either torn into shreds, or disfigured by damp and water. The manuscripts of the churches were hid in the mountains, or buried in some secure place, at the time of the massacre; but as the priests, who had concealed them, were mostly killed, the books have not been recovered. A few English prints and handkerchiefs from Manchester were hung about the walls; a bottle and a glass, with a tin plate for the sacrament, stood upon a table; a curtain of coarse cloth hung before the inner recess, the Holy of Holies; and these were all the ornaments and furniture of the place.

I visited my former workmen, the priests, and those whom I had seen at Mosul-; and as it was expected that I should partake of the hospitality of each, and eat of the dishes they had prepared for me — generally garas floating in melted rancid butter, with a layer of sour milk above — by the time I reached Yakoub's mansion, my appetite was abundantly satisfied. At the door, however, stood Sarah, and a bevy of young damsels with baskets of fruit mingled with ice, fetched from the glacier; nor would they leave me until I had tasted of every thing.

We lived in a patriarchal way with the Rais. My bed was made in one corner of the room. The opposite corner was occupied by Yakoub, his wife, and unmarried daughters; a third was appropriated to his son and daughter-in-law, and all the members of his son's family; the fourth was assigned to my companion; and various individuals, whose position in our household could not be very accurately determined, took possession of the centre. We slept well nevertheless, and no one troubled himself about his neighbour. Even Ibrahim Agha, whose paradise was Chanak Kalassi, the Dardanelles, to which he always disadvantageously compared every thing, confessed that the Tiyari Mountains were not an unpleasant portion of the Sultan's dominions.

Yakoub volunteered to accompany me in the rest of my journey through the mountains; and as he was generally known, was well acquainted with the by-ways and passes, and a very merry companion withal, I eagerly accepted his offer. We left part of our baggage at his house, and it was agreed that he should occasionally ride one of the mules. He was a very portly person^ gaily dressed in an embroidered jacket and striped trowsers, and carrying a variety of arms in his girdle.

The country through which we passed, after leaving Asheetha, can scarcely be surpassed in the beauty and sublimity of its scenery. The patches of land on the declivities of the mountains were cultivated with extraordinary skill and care. I never saw greater proofs of industry. Our mules, however, were dragged over places almost inaccessible to men on foot; but we forgot the toils and dangers of the way in gazing upon the magnificent prospect before us. Zaweetha is in the same valley as Asheetha. The stream formed by the eternal snows above the latter village, forces its way to the Zab. On the sides of the mountains is the most populous and best cultivated district in Tiyari. The ravine below Asheetha is too narrow to admit of the road being carried along the banks of the torrent; and we were compelled to climb over an immense mass of rocks, rising to a considerable height above it. Frequently the footing was so insecure that it required the united force of several men to carry the mules along by their ears and tails. We, who were unaccustomed to mountain paths, were obliged to have recourse to the aid of our hands and knees.

I had been expected at Zaweetha; and before we entered the first gardens of the village, a party of girls, bearing baskets of fruit, advanced to meet me. Their hair, neatly platted and adorned with flowers, fell down their backs. On their heads they wore coloured handkerchiefs loosely tied, or an embroidered cap. Many were pretty, and the prettiest was Aslani, a liberated slave, who had been for some time under the protection of Mrs. Rassam; she led the party, and welcomed me to Zaweetha. ]\Iy hand having been kissed by all, they simultaneously threw themselves upon my companion, and saluted him vehemently on both cheeks; such a mode of salutation, in the case of a person of my rank and distinction, not being, unfortunately, considered either respectful or decorous. The girls were followed by the Rais and the principal inhabitants, and I was led by them into the village.

The Rais of Zaweetha had fortunately rendered some service to Beder Khan Bey, and on the invasion of Tiyari his village was spared. It had not even been deserted by its inhabitants, nor had its trees and gardens been injured. It was consequently, at the time of my visit, one of the most flourishing villages in the mountains. The houses, neat and clean, were still overshadowed by the wide-spreading walnut-tree; every foot of ground which could receive seed, or nourish a plant, was cultivated. Soil had been brought from elsewhere, and built up in terraces on the precipitous sides of the mountains. A small pathway amongst the gardens led us to the house of the Rais.

We were received by Kasha Kana of Lizan, and Kasha Yusuf of Siatha; the first, one of the very few learned priests left among the Nestorian Chaldeans. Our welcome was as unaffected and sincere as it had been at Asheetha. Preparations had been made for our reception, and the women of the family of the chief were congregated around huge cauldrons at the door of the house, cooking an entire sheep, rice, and garas. The liver, heart, and other portions of the entrails, were immediately cut into pieces, roasted on ramrods, and brought on these skewers into the room. The fruit too, melons, pomegranates, and grapes, all of excellent quality, spread on the floor before us, served to allay our appetites until the breakfast was ready.

Mar Shamoun's letter was read with the usual solemnities by Kasha Kana, and we had to satisfy the numerous inquiries of the company. Their Patriarch was regarded as a prisoner in Mosul, and his return to the mountains was looked forward to with deep anxiety. Everywhere, except in Zaweetha, the churches had been destroyed to their foundations, and the priests put to death. Some of the holy edifices had been rudely rebuilt; but the people were unwilling to use them until they had been consecrated by the Patriarch. There were not priests enough indeed to officiate, nor could others be ordained until Mar Shamoun himself performed the ceremony. These wants had been the cause of great irregularities and confusion in Tiyari; and the Nestorian Chaldeans, who are naturally a religious people, and greatly attached to their churches and ministers, were more alive to them than to any of their misfortunes.

Kasha Kana was making his weekly rounds to the villages which had lost their priests. He carried under his arm a bag full of manuscripts, consisting chiefly of rituals and copies of the Scriptures; but he had also one or two volumes on profane subjects which he prized highly; amongst them was a Grammar by Rabba lohannan bar Zoabee, to which he was chiefly indebted for his learning. He read to us — holding as usual the book upside down — a part of the introduction treating of the philosophy and nature of languages, and illustrated the text by various attempts at the delineation of most marvellous alphabets. A taste for the fine arts seemed to prevail generally in the village, and the walls of the Rais's house were covered with sketches of wild goats and snakes in every variety of posture. The young men were eloquent on the subject of the chase, and related their exploits with the wild animals of the mountains. A cousin of the chief, a handsome youth very gaily dressed, had shot a bear a few days before, after a hazardous encounter, and he brought me the skin, which measured seven feet in length. The two great subjects of complaint I found to be the Kurds and the bears, both equally mischievous; the latter carrying off the fruit both when on the trees and when laid out to dry; and the former, the provisions stored for the winter. In some villages in Berwari the inhabitants pretended to be in so much dread of the bears, that they would not venture out alone after dark.

The Rais, finding that I would not accept his hospitality for the night, accompanied us, followed by all the inhabitants, to the outskirts of the village. His frank and manly bearing, and simple kindness, had made a most favourable impression upon me, and I left him with regret. Kasha Kana, too, fully merited the praise which he received from all who knew him. His appearance was mild and venerable; his beard, white as snow, fell low upon his breast; but his garments were in a very advanced stage of rags. I gave him a few handkerchiefs, some of which were at once gratefully applied to the bettering of his raiment; the remainder being reserved for the embellishment of his parish church. The Kasha is looked up to as the physician, philosopher, and sage of Tiyari, and is treated with great veneration by the people. As we walked through the village, the women left their thresholds and the boys their sports to kiss his hand — a mark of respect, however, which is invariably shown to the priesthood.

We had been joined by Mirza, a confidential servant of Mar Shamoun, and our party was further increased by several men returning to villages on our road. Yakoub Rais kept every one in good humour by his anecdotes, and the absurdity of his gesticulations, lonunco too, dragging his mare over the projecting rocks, down which he generally contrived to tumble, added to the general mirth, and we went laughing through the valley.

From Zaweetha to the Zab, there is almost an unbroken line of cultivation on both sides of the valley. The two villages of Miniyanish and Murghi are almost buried in groves of walnut-trees, and their peaceful and flourishing appearance deceived me until I wandered amongst the dwellings, and found the same scenes of misery and desolation that I had witnessed at Asheetha. But nature was so beautiful that we almost forgot the havoc of man, and envied the repose of these secluded habitations. In Miniyanish, out of seventy houses, only twelve had risen from their ruins; the families to which the rest belonged having been totally destroyed. Yakoub pointed out a spot where above three hundred persons had been murdered in cold blood, and all our party had some tale of horror to relate. Murghi was not less desolate than Miniyanish, and eight houses alone had been resought by their owners. We found an old priest, blind and grey, bowed down by age and grief, the solitary survivor of six or eight of his order. He was seated under the shade of a walnut-tree, near a small stream. Some children of the village were feeding him with grapes, and on our approach his daughter ran into the half-ruined cottage, and brought out a basket of fruit and a loaf of garas bread. I endeavoured to glean some information from the old man as to the state of his flock; but his mind wandered to the cruelties of the Kurds, or dwelt upon the misfortunes of his Patriarch, over whose fate he shed many tears. None of our party being able to console the Kasha, I gave some handkerchiefs to his daughter, and we resumed our journey.

Our road lay through the gardens of the villages, or through the forest of gall-bearing oaks which clothe the mountains above the line of cultivation. But it was everywhere equally difficult and precipitous, and we tore our way through the matted boughs of overhanging, trees, or the thick foliage of creepers which hung from every branch. Innumerable rills, led from the mountain springs into the terraced fields, crossed our path and rendered our progress still more tedious. We reached Lizan, however, early in the afternoon, descending to the village through scenery of extraordinary beauty and grandeur.

Lizan stands on the river Zab, which is crossed by a rude bridge. I need not weary or distress the reader with a description of desolation and misery, hardly concealed by the most luxuriant vegetation. We rode to the graveyard of a roofless church slowly rising from its ruins — the first edifice in the village to be rebuilt. We spread our carpets amongst the tombs; for as yet there were no inhabitable houses. The Melek, with the few who had survived the massacre, was living during the day under the trees, and sleeping at night on stages of grass and boughs, raised on high poles, fixed in the very bed of the Zab. By this latter contrivance they succeeded in catching any breeze that might be carried down the narrow ravine of the river, and in freeing themselves from the gnats and sandflies abounding in the valley.

It was near Lizan that occurred one of the most terrible incidents of the massacre; and an active mountaineer offering to lead me to the spot, I followed him up the mountain. Emerging from the gardens we found ourselves at the foot of an almost perpendicular detritus of loose stones, terminated, about one thousand feet above us, by a wall of lofty rocks. Up this ascent we toiled for above an hour, sometimes clinging to small shrubs, whose roots scarcely reached the scanty soil below; at others crawling on our hands and knees; crossing the gullies to secure a footing, or carried down by the stones which we put in motion as we advanced. We soon saw evidences of the slaughter. At first a solitary skull rolling down with the rubbish; then heaps of blanched bones; further up fragments of rotting garments. As we advanced, these remains became more frequent — skeletons, almost entire, still hung to the dwarf shrubs. I was soon compelled to renounce an attempt to count them. As we approached the wall of rock, the declivity became covered with bones, mingled with the long platted tresses of the women, shreds of discoloured linen, and well-worn shoes. There were skulls of all ages, from the child unborn to the toothless old man. We could not avoid treading on the bones as we advanced, and rolling them with the loose stones into the valley below. " This is nothing," exclaimed my guide, who observed me gazing with wonder on these miserable heaps; " they are but the remains of those who were thrown from above, or sought to escape the sword by jumping from the rock. Follow me!" He sprang upon a ledge running along the precipice that rose before us, and clambered along the face of the mountain overhanging the Zab, now scarcely visible at our feet. I followed him as well as I was able to some distance; but when the ledge became scarcely broader than my hand, and frequently disappeared for three or four feet altogether, I could no longer advance. The Tiyari, who had easily surmounted these difficulties, returned to assist me, but in vain. I was still suffering severely from the kick received in my leg four days before; and was compelled to return, after catching a glimpse of an open recess or platform covered with human remains.

When the fugitives who had escaped from Asheetha, spread the news of the massacre through the valley of Lizan, the inhabitants of the villages around collected such part of their property as they could carry, and took refuge on the platform I have just described and on the rock above; hoping thus to escape the notice of the Kurds, or to be able to defend, against any numbers, a place almost inaccessible. Women and young children, as well as men, concealed themselves in a spot which the mountain goat could scarcely reach.⁴ Beder Khan Bey was not long in discovering their retreat; but being unable to force it, he surrounded the place with his men, and waited until they should be compelled to yield. The weather was hot and sultry; the Christians had brought but small supplies of water and provisions; after three days the first began to fail them, and they offered to capitulate. The terms proposed by Beder Khan Bey, and ratified by an oath on the Koran, were the surrender of their arms and property. The Kurds were then admitted to the platform. After they had taken the arms from their prisoners, they commenced an indiscriminate slaughter; until weary of using their weapons, they hurled the few survivors from the rocks into the Zab below. Out of nearly one thousand souls, who are said to have congregated here, only one escaped.

We had little difficulty in descending to the village; a moving mass of stones, skulls, and rubbish carried us rapidly down the declivity. The Melek, who had but recently been raised to that rank, his predecessor having been killed by the Kurds, prepared a simple meal of garas and butter — the only provisions that could be procured. The few stragglers who had returned to their former dwellings collected round us, and made the usual inquiries after their Patriarch, or related their misfortunes. As I expressed surprise at the extent of land already cultivated, they told me that the Kurds of some neighbouring villages had taken possession of the deserted property, and had sown grain and tobacco in the spring, which the Tiyari were now compelled to irrigate and look after.

The sun had scarcely set, when I-was driven by swarms of insects to one of the platforms in the river. A slight breeze came from the ravine, and I was able to sleep undisturbed.

The bridge across the Zab at Lizan is of basket-work. Stakes are firmly fastened together with twigs, forming a long hurdle, reaching from one side of the river to the other. The two ends are laid upon beams, resting upon piers on the opposite banks. Both the beams and the basket-work are kept in their places by heavy stones heaped upon them. Animals, as well as men, are able to cross over this frail structure, which swings to and fro, and seems ready to give way at every step. These bridges are of frequent occurrence in the Tiyari mountains.

As some of the beams had been broken, the bridge of Lizan formed an acute angle with the stream below, and was scarcely to be crossed by a man on foot. We had consequently to swim the mules and horses, a labour of no slight trouble and difficulty, as the current was rapid, and the bed of the river choked with rocks. More than an hour was wasted in finding a spot sufficiently clear of stones, and in devising means to induce the animals to enter the water. We resumed our journey on the opposite side of the valley. But before leaving Lizan I must mention the heroic devotion of ten Tiyari girls, from the village of Serspeetho, who, as they were led across the bridge by the Kurds, on their return from the great massacre, — preferring death to captivity and conversion, — threw themselves simultaneously into the Zab, and were drowned in its waters.

We now entered a valley formed by a torrent which joins the Zab below Lizan. On the opposite side, but far in the distance, were the Kurdish villages of the district of Chal⁵, surrounded by trees and gardens. We passed through the small Chaldaean village of Shoordh, now a heap of ruins, inhabited by a few wretched families, whose priest had been recently put to death by Nur-Ullah Bey, the Cliief of the Hakkiari tribes. From Shoordh we descended into a wild and rocky ravine, leading to the once rich and populous valley of Raola. We soon found ourselves on the outskirts of cultivation. A few feet of soil were rescued from the bed of the torrent, and sown with tobacco or garas. These straggling plots led us into a series of orchards and gardens, extending to the district of Tkhoma.

We were nearly two hours in reaching the house of the Melek.⁶ My party having gradually increased as we rode among the scattered cottages, I was followed by a large company. Melek Khoshaba⁷ had been apprised of my intended visit; for he met us with the priests, and principal inhabitants at some distance from his dwelling. I was much struck by his noble carriage and handsome features. He wore, like the other chiefs, a dress of very gay colours, and a conical cap of felt, slightly embroidered at the edges, in which was stuck an eagle's feather. The men who accompanied him were mostly tall and well made, and were more showily dressed than the inhabitants of other villages through which we had passed. Their heads were shaved, as is customary amongst the Tiyari tribes, a small knot of hair being left uncut on the crown, and allowed to fall in a plat down the back. This tail, with the conical cap, gives them the appearance of Chinese. The boys, in addition to their inseparable partridges, carried cross-boys, with which they molested every small bird that appeared, and almost every one had an eagle's feather in his cap.

We followed the Melek to his house, which stood high above the torrent on the declivity of the mountain. The upper or summer room was large enough to contain all the party. The Melek and priests sat on my carpets; the rest ranged themselves on the bare floor against the walls. The girls brought me, as usual, baskets of fruit, and then stood at the entrance of the room. Many of them were very pretty; but the daughter of the chief, a girl of fourteen, excelled them all. I have seldom seen a more lovely form. Her complexion was fair; her features regular; her eyes and hair as black as jet; a continual smile played upon her mouth; and an expression of mingled surprise and curiosity stole over her face, as she examined my dress, or followed my movements. Her tresses, unconfined by the coloured handkerchief bound loosely round her head, fell in disorder down her back, reaching to her waist. Her dress was more gay, and neater, than that of the other women, who evidently confessed her beauty and her rank. I motioned to her to sit down; but that was an honour only reserved for the mother of the Melek, who occupied a corner of the room. At length she approached timidly to examine more closely a pocket compass, which had excited the wonder of the men.

The threatened invasion of Tkhoma by Beder Khan Bey, was the chief subject of conversation, and caused great excitement amongst the inhabitants of Raola. They calculated the means of defence possessed by the villagers of the proscribed district; but whilst wishing them success against the Kurds, they declared their inability to afford them assistance; for they still trembled at the recollection of the former massacre, and the very name of the Bohtan chief struck terror into the hearts of the Tiyari. They entreated me to devise some mode of delivering them from the danger. "It is true," said the Melek, "that when Nur-Ullali Bey joined Beder Khan Bey in the great massacre, the people of Tkhoma marched with the Kurds against us; but could they do otherwise? — for they feared the chief of Hakkiari. They are our brothers, and we should forgive them; for the Scriptures tell us to forgive even our enemies." This pious sentiment was re-echoed by all the company.

Several men, whose wives and daughters were still in slavery, came to me, thinking that I could relieve them in their misfortune; and there was scarcely any one present who had not some tale of grief to relate. Several members of the family of Melek Khoshaba, including his cousin, to whom he had succeeded in the chief-ship, had been killed in the massacre. The villages in the valley of Raola having, however, suffered less than those we had previously visited, were fast returning to their former prosperity.

Whilst we were discussing these matters the women left the room, and I observed them, shortly after, performing their ablutions by a rill in a garden below. They stripped themselves without restraint of all their garments, and loosed their hair over their shoulders. Some stood in the stream, and poured water over one another out of wooden bowls; others combed and platted the long tresses of their companions, who crouched on the grass at their feet. The younger girls and children played in the brook, or ran over the meadow. They remained thus for above an hour, unnoticed by the men, and as unmindful of their presence as if they bathed in some secluded spot, far distant from any human habitation.

The Melek insisted upon accompanying us, with the priests and principal inhabitants, to the end of the valley. As we passed through the village we saw the women bathing at almost every door; nor did they appear at all conscious that we were near them. This simple and primitive mode of washing is thus publicly practised amongst all the Chaldaean tribes, particularly on the Saturday. The men neither heed nor interfere, and their waves and daughters are not the less virtuous or modest.

Although all this district is known as Raola, yet its length has rendered distinct names for various parts of the village necessary. The houses are scattered over the sides of the mountains, and surrounded by gardens and vineyards. A torrent, rising at the head of the valley is divided into innumerable watercourses, carried along the sides of the hills to the most distant plots of cultivation. Its waters are consequently entirely absorbed, except during the period of winter rains, when they seek an outlet in the Zab. The gardens are built up in terraces, and are sown with tobacco, rice, and such vegetables and grains as are peculiar to the mountains. The valley is well wooded with fruit trees, amongst which are the walnut, fig, pomegranate, apple, and mulberry.

Melek Khoshaba accompanied me to a rude monument raised over the bodies of fifty prisoners, who had been murdered at the time of the invasion, and left me at the entrance of the village. We had to pass through a narrow and barren ravine, and a rocky gorge, before entering the district of Tkhoma. Our path lay in the bed of the torrent; and the mountains, rising precipitously on either side, shut in a scene of extraordinary wildness and solitude. This was the only road by which we could reach Tkhoma, without crossing the lofty ranges of rocks surrounding it on all other sides. A resolute body of men might have held the ravine against any numbers. This was one of the most dangerous tracts we had to traverse during our journey. On the heights above are one or two villages, inhabited by the Apenshai⁸ Kurds, who are always engaged in hostilities with the Tiyari, and fall upon such as are crossing the frontiers of Tkhoma. My party was numerous and well armed, and keeping close together we travelled on without apprehension.

We emerged suddenly from this wilderness, and saw a richly cultivated valley before us. Flocks of sheep and goats were browsing on the hill sides, and herds of cattle wandered in the meadows below. These were the first domestic animals we had seen in the Chaldaean country, and they showed that hitherto Tkhoma had escaped the hand of the spoiler. Two villages occupied opposite sides of the valley; on the right, Ghissa, on the left, Birijai. We rode to the latter. The houses are built in a cluster, and not scattered amongst the gardens, as in Tiyari. We were surrounded by the inhabitants as soon as we entered the streets, and they vied with one another in expressions of welcome and offers of hospitality. Kasha Hormuzd, the principal priest, prevailed upon me to accompany him to a house he had provided, and on the roof of which carpets were speedily spread. The people were in great agitation at the report of Beder Khan Bey's projected march upon Tkhoma. They immediately flocked round us, seeking for news. The men were better dressed than any Nestorian Chaldaeans I had yet seen. The felt cap was replaced by turbans of red and black linen, and these two favourite colours of the Kurds were conspicuous in their ample trowsers, and embroidered jackets. As they carried pistols and daggers in their girdles, and long guns in their hands, they could scarcely be distinguished from the Mussulman inhabitants of the mountains. The women wore small embroidered scull-caps, from beneath which their hair fell loose or in plaits. Their shirts were richly embroidered, and round their necks and bosoms were hung coins and beads. They were happy in having escaped so long the fanaticism and rapacity of the Kurds. But they foresaw their fate. All "was bustle and anxiety; the women were burying their ornaments and domestic utensils in secure places; the men preparing their arms, or making gunpowder. I walked to the church, where the priests were collecting their books, and the holy vessels to be hid in the monasteries. Amongst the manuscripts I saw many ancient rituals, forms of prayer, and versions of the Scripture; the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles on vellum, the first and last leaves wanting, and without date, but evidently of a very early period; and a fine copy of the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles also on vellum, entire, with numerous illuminations, written in the year of the Seleuciclæ 1552⁹, in the time of " Mar Audishio, Patriarch of the East, and of the Chaldaeans."

I was much touched by the unaffected hospitality and simple manners of the two priests, Kashas Hormuzd, and Khoshaba, who entertained me; a third was absent. Their dress, torn and soiled, showed that they were poorer than their congregation. They had just returned from the vineyards, where they had been toiling during the day; yet they were treated with reverence and respect; the upper places were given to them, they were consulted on all occasions, and no one drew nigh without kissing the hand, scarred by the plough and the implements of the field.

Almost every house furnished something towards our evening repast; and a long train of girls and young men brought us in messes of meat, fowls, boiled rice, garas and fruit. The priests and the principal inhabitants feasted with us, and there remained enough for my servants, and for the poor who were collected on the roof of a neighbouring house. After our meal many of the women came to me, and joined with the men in debating on their critical position, and in forming schemes for the security of their families, and the defence of their village. It was past midnight before the assembly separated.

The following day being Sunday, we were roused at dawn to attend the service of the church. The two priests officiated in white surplices. The ceremonies were short and simple; a portion of Scripture was read, and then interpreted by Kasha Hormuzd in the dialect in use in the mountains — few understanding the Chaldaean of the books. His companion chanted the prayers — the congregation kneeling or standing, and joining in the responses. There were no idle forms or salutations; the people used the sign of the cross when entering, and bowed when the name of Christ occurred in the prayers. The Sacrament was administered to all present — men, women, and children partaking of the bread and wine, and my companion receiving it amongst the rest. They were inclined to feel hurt at my declining to join them, until I explained that I did not refuse from any religious prejudice. When the service was ended the congregation embraced one another, as a symbol of brotherly love and concord¹⁰, and left the church. I could not but contrast these simple and primitive rites with the senseless mummery, and degrading forms, adopted by the converted Chaldaeans of the plains — the unadorned and imageless walls, with the hideous pictures, and monstrous deformities which encumber the churches of Mosul.

The vestibule of the church was occupied by a misshapen and decrepit nun. Her bed was a mat in the corner of the building, and she was cooking her garas on a small fire near the door. She inquired, with many tears, after Mar Shamoun, and hung round the neck of my companion when she learnt that he had been living with him. Vows of chastity are very rarely taken amongst the Nestorian Chaldaeans; and this woman, whose deformity might have precluded the hope of marriage, was the sole instance we met with in the mountains. Convents for either sex are unknown.

Birijai contained, at the time of my visit, nearly one hundred houses, and Ghissa forty. The inhabitants were comparatively rich, possessing numerous flocks, and cultivating a large extent of land. There were priests, schools, and churches in both villages.

One of the Meleks of the tribe came early from Tkhoma Gowaia¹¹, the principal village in the district, to welcome me to his mountains, and to conduct me to his house. He explained that as it was Sunday the Chaldaeans did not travel, and consequently the other Meleks, and the principal inhabitants had not been able to meet me. We took leave of the good people of Birijai, who had treated us with great hospitality, and followed Melek Putros up the valley.

To our left was the small Kurdish hamlet of Hayshat, high up in a sheltered ravine. An uninterrupted line of gardens brought us to the church of Tkhoma Gowaia, standing in the midst of scattered houses, this village being built like those of Tiyari. Here we found almost the whole tribe assembled, and in deep consultation on the state of affairs. We sat ill a loft above the church during the greater part of the day, engaged in discussion on the course to be pursued to avoid the present difficulties, and to defend the valley against the expected attack of Beder Khan Bey. The men, who were all well armed, declared that they were ready to die in the defence of their villages; and that, unless they were overcome by numbers, they would hold the passes against the forces of the Kurdish chief. The Kurds, who inhabited two or three hamlets in Tkhoma, had also assembled. They expressed sympathy for the Christians, and offered, to arm in their behalf. After much debate it was resolved to send at once a deputation to the Pasha of Mosul, to beseech his protection and assistance. Two priests, two persons from the families of the Meleks, and two of the principal inhabitants, were chosen; and a letter was written by Kasha Bodaca, one of the most learned and respectable priests in the Mountains. It was a touching appeal, setting forth that they were faithful subjects of the Sultan, had been guilty of no offence, and were ready to pay any money, or submit to any terms that the Pasha might think fit to exact. The letter, after having been approved by all present, and sealed with the seals of the chiefs, was delivered to the six deputies, who started at once on foot for Mosul. At the same time no precaution was to be omitted to place the valley in a state of defence, and to prepare for the approach of the Kurds.

There were in Tkhoma three Meleks, each chosen from a different family by the tribe. The principal was Melek Putros, — a stout, jovial fellow, gaily dressed, and well armed. His colleagues were of a more sober and more warlike appearance. There were no signs of poverty among the people; most of the men had serviceable weapons, and the women wore gold and silver ornaments. All the young men carried cross-bows; in the use of which they were very skilful, killing the small birds as they rested on the trees. A well-armed and formidable body of men might have been collected from the villages; which, properly directed, could, I have little doubt, have effectually resisted the invasion of Beder Khan Bey.

There are five Chaldaean villages in the district of Tkhoma, Ghissa, Birijai, Tkhoma Gowaia, Muzra, and Gunduktha; and four Kurdish, Apenshai, Hayshat, Zaweetha, and Guzeresh. The largest is Tkhoma Gowaia, containing 160 houses, and the residence of the Meleks. By the Kurds, Tkhoma is corrupted into Tkhobi; and the greater part of the Chaldaean names undergo similar changes.

We passed the night on the roof of the church, and rose early to continue our journey to Baz. The valley and pass, separating Tkhoma from this district, being at this time of the year uninhabited, is considered insecure, and we were accompanied by a party of armed men, furnished by the Meleks. The chiefs themselves walked with us to the village of Mezrai, whose gardens adjoin those of Tkhoma Gowaia. The whole valley, indeed, up to the rocky barrier, closing it towards the east, is an uninterrupted line of cultivation. Above the level of the artificial watercourses, derived from the torrent near its source, and irrigating all the lands of the district, are forests of oaks, clothing the mountains to within a short distance of their summits. Galls are not so plentiful here as in Tiyari; they form, however, an article of commerce with Persia, where they find a better market than in Mosul. Rice and flax are very generally cultivated, and fruit-trees abound.

We stopped for a few minutes at Gunduktha, the last village in Tkhoma, to see Kasha Bodaka, whom we found preparing, at the request of his congregation, to join the deputation to the Pasha of Mosul. We took leave of him, and he started on his journey. He was an amiable, and, for the mountains, a learned man, much esteemed by the Chaldaean tribes. Being one of the most skilful penmen of the day, his manuscripts were much sought after for the churches. He was mild and simple in his manners; and his appearance was marked by that gentleness, and unassuming dignity, which I had found in more than one of the Nestorian Chaldaean priests.¹²

The torrent enters the valley of Tkhoma by a very narrow gorge, through which a road, partly constructed of rough stones piled up in the bed of the stream, is with difficulty carried. In the winter, when the rain has swollen the waters, this entrance must be impracticable; and even at this time, we could scarcely drag our mules and horses over the rocks, and through the deep pools in which the torrent abounds. All signs of cultivation now ceased. Mountains rose on all sides, barren and treeless. Huge rocks hung over the road, or towered above us. On their pinnacles, or in their crevices, a few goats sought a scanty herbage. The savage nature of the place was heightened by its solitude.

Soon after entering the ravine, we met a shepherd boy, dragging after him a sheep killed by the bears; and a little beyond we found the reeking carcase of a bullock, which had also fallen a victim to these formidable animals, of whose depredations we heard continual complaints. I observed on the mountainsides several flocks of ibex, and some of our party endeavoured to get within gun-shot; but after sunrise their watchfulness cannot be deceived, and they bounded off to the highest peaks, long before the most wary of our marksmen could approach them.

We were steadily making our way over the loose stones and slippery rocks, when a party of horsemen were seen coming towards us. They were Kurds, and I ordered iny party to keep close together, that we might be ready to meet them in case of necessity. As they were picking their way over the rough ground like ourselves, to the evident risk of their horses' necks as well as of their own, I had time to examine them fully as they drew near. In front, on a small, lean, and jaded horse, rode a tall gaunt figure, dressed in all the tawdry garments sanctioned by Kurdish taste. A turban of wonderful capacity, and almost taking within its dimensions horse and rider, buried his head, which seemed to escape by a miracle being driven in between his shoulders by the enormous pressure. From the centre of this mass of many coloured rags rose a high conical cap of white felt. This load appeared to give an unsteady rolling gait to the thin carcase below, which could with difficulty support it. A most capacious pair of claret-coloured trowsers bulged out from the sides of the horse, and well nigh stretched from side to side of the ravine. Every shade of red and yellow was displayed in his embroidered jacket and cloak; and in his girdle were weapons of extraordinary size, and most fanciful workmanship. His eyes were dark and piercing, and overshadowed by shaggy eyebrows; his nose aquiline, his cheeks hollow, his face long, and his beard black and bushy. Notwithstanding the ferocity of his countenance, and its unmistakable expression of villany, it would have been difficult to repress a smile at the absurdity of the figure, and the disparity between it and the miserable animal concealed beneath. This was a Kurdish dignitary of the first rank; a man well-known for deeds of oppression and blood; the Mutesellim, or Lieutenant-Governor under Nur-Ullah Bey, the chief of Hakkiari. He was followed by a small body of well-armed men, resembling their master in the motley character of their dress; which, however, was somewhat reduced in the proportions, as became an inferiority of rank. The cavalcade was brought up by an individual differing considerably from those who had preceded. His smooth and shining chin, and the rich glow of raki¹³ upon his cheeks, were undoubted evidences of Christianity. He had the accumulated obesity of all his companions; and rode, as became him, upon a diminutive donkey, which he urged over the loose stones with the point of a clasp-knife. His dress did not differ much from that of the Kurds, except that, instead of warlike weapons, he carried an ink-horn in his girdle. This was Bircham, the " goulama d'Mira,"¹⁴ as he was commonly called, — a half renegade Christian, who was the steward, banker, and secretary of the Hakkiari chief. I saluted the Mutesellim, as we elbowed each other in the narrow pass; but he did not seem inclined to return my salutation, otherwise than by a curl of the lip, and an indistinct grunt, which he left me to interpret in any way I thought proper. It was no use quarrelling with him, so I passed on. We had not proceeded far, when one of his horsemen returned to us, and called away Yakoub Rais, Ionunco, and one of the men of Tkhoma. Looking back, I observed them all in deep consultation with the Kurdish chief, who had dismounted to wait for them. I rode on, and it was nearly an hour before the three Chaldaeans rejoined us. lonunco's eyes were starting out of his head with fright, and the expression of his face was one of amusing horror. Even Yakoub's usual grin had given way to a look of alarm. The man of Tkhoma was less disturbed. Yakoub began by entreating me to return at once to Tkhoma and Tiyari. The Mutesellim, he said, had used violent threats; declaring that as Nur-Ullah Bey had served one infidel who had come to spy out the country, and teach the Turks its mines, alluding to Schultz¹⁵, so he would serve me; and had sent off a man to the Hakkiari chief to apprise him of my presence in the mountains. "We must turn back at once," exclaimed Yakoub, seizing the bridle of my horse, " or, Wallah! that Kurdish dog will murder us all." I had formed a different plan; and, calming the fears of my party as well as I was able, I continued my journey toward Baz. Ionunco, however, raked his brain for every murder that had been attributed to Nur-Ullah Bey; and at each new tale of horror Yakoub turned his mule, and vowed he would go back to Asheetha.

We rode for nearly four hours through this wild, solitary valley. My people were almost afraid to speak, and huddled together as if the Kurds were coming down upon us. Two or three of the armed men scaled the rocks, or ran on before us as scouts; but the solitude was only broken by an eagle soaring above our heads, or by a wild goat which occasionally dashed across our path. In the spring, and early summer, these now desolate tracts are covered with the tents of the people of Tkhoma, and of the Kurds, who find on the slopes a rich pasture for their flocks.

It was mid-day before we reached the foot of the mountain dividing us from the district of Baz. The pass we had to cross is one of the highest in the Chaldaean country, and at this season there was snow upon it. The ascent was long, steep, and toilsome. We were compelled to walk, and even "without our weight, the mules could scarcely climb the acclivity. But we were well rewarded for our labour when we gained the summit. A scene of extraordinary grandeur opened upon us. At our feet stretched the valley of Baz, — its villages and gardens but specks in the distance. Beyond the valley, and on all sides of us, was a sea of mountains — peaks of every form and height, some snow-capped, others bleak and naked; the furthermost rising in the distant regions of Persia. I counted nine distinct mountain ranges. Two vast rocks formed a kind of gateway on the crest of the pass, and I sat between them for some minutes, gazing upon the sublime prospect before us. The descent was rapid and dangerous, and so precipitous that a stone might almost have been dropped on the church of Ergub, first visible like a white spot beneath us. We passed a rock, called the " Rock of Butter," from a custom, perhaps of pagan origin, existing amongst the Chaldaean shepherds, of placing upon it, as an offering, a piece of the first butter made in the early spring. As we approached the village, we found several of the inhabitants labouring in the fields. They left their work, and followed us. The church stands at some distance from the houses; and when we reached it, the villagers compelled all my servants to dismount, including Ibrahim Agha, who muttered a curse upon the infidels as he took his foot out of the stirrup. The Christians raised their turbans, — a mark of reverence always shown on these occasions.

The houses of Ergub are built in a group. We stopped in a small open space in the centre of them, and I ordered my carpet to be spread near a fountain, shaded by a cluster of trees. We were soon surrounded by the inhabitants of the village. The Melek and the priest seated themselves with me; the rest stood round in a circle. The men were well dressed and armed; and, like those of Tkhoma, they could scarcely be distinguished from the Kurds. Many of the women were pretty enough to be entitled to the front places they had taken in the crowd. They wore silver ornaments and beads on their foreheads, and were dressed in jackets and trowsers of gay colours.

After the letter of the Patriarch had been read, and the inquiries after him fully satisfied, the conversation turned upon the expected expedition of Beder Khan Bey against Tkhoma, and the movements of Nur-Ullah Bey, events causing great anxiety to the people of Baz. Although this district had been long under the chief of Hakkiari, paying an annual tribute to him, and having been even subjected to many vexatious exactions, and to acts of oppression and violence, yet it had never been disarmed, nor exposed to a massacre such as had taken place in Tiyari. There was, however, cause to fear that the fanatical fury of Beder Khan Bey might be turned upon them, as well as upon Tkhoma; and their only hope was the friendly interference of Nur-Ullah Bey, whose subjects they now professed themselves to be. They had begun to conceal their church-books and property, in anticipation of a disaster.

Both the Melek and the priest pressed me to accept their hospitality. I preferred the house of the latter, to which we moved in the afternoon. My host was suffering much from the ague, and was moreover old and infirm. I gave him a few medicines to stop his fever, for which he was very grateful. He accompanied me to the church; but the bare walls alone were standing; the books and furniture had been partly carried away by the Kurds, and partly removed for security by the people of the village.

After the events of the morning I had made up my mind to proceed at once to Nur-Ullah Bey, whose residence was only a short day's journey distant; but on communicating my intention to Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, he became so alarmed, and so resolutely declared that he would return alone rather than trust himself in the hands of the Mir of Hakkiari, that I was forced to give up my plan. In the present state of the mountains there were only two courses open to me; either to visit the chief, who would probably, after learning the object of my journey, receive and assist me as he had done Dr. Grant; or to retrace my steps-without delay. I decided upon the latter with regret, as I was thus unable to visit Jelu and Diz, the two remaining districts of the Nestorian Chaldaeans. I did not, however, communicate my plans to any one; but learning that there were two of Nur-Ullah Bey's attendants in the village, I sent for them, and induced them, by a small present, to take a note to their master. I instructed them to report that it was my intention to visit him on the following day, and sent a Christian to see that they took the road to Julamerik. The treachery and daring of Nur-Ullah Bey were so well known, that I thought it most prudent to deceive him, in case he might wish to waylay me on my return to Tkhoma. I started therefore before day-break without any one in the village being aware of my departure, and took the road by which we had reached Baz the day before.

The district of Baz contains five large villages; Ergub, Makhtayah, Shoaoutha, Orwantiz, and Besanna, which follow in this order down the valley. It is well cultivated and well watered, producing tobacco, flax, rice, and grain of various kinds.

We crossed the pass as quickly as we were able, hurried through the long barren valley, and reached Gunduktha, without meeting any one during our journey; to the no small comfort of my companions, who could not conceal their alarm during the whole of our morning's ride.

We stopped to breakfast at Gunduktha, and saw the Meleks at Tkhoma Gowaia. The people of this village had felt much anxiety on our account, as the Mutesellim had passed the night there, and had used violent threats against us. I learnt that he was going to Chal to settle some differences which had arisen between the Kurds of that district and of Hakkiari, and that Bircham had been sent to Tkhoma by Nur-Ullah Bey to withdraw his family and friends; "for, this time," said the chief, "Beder Khan Bey intends to finish with the Christians, and will not make slaves for consuls and Turks to liberate."

As I was desirous of leaving Tkhoma as soon as possible, I refused the proffered hospitality of Melek Putros, and rode on to Birijai.

Being unwilling to return to Asheetha by Raola and the villages I had already visited, I determined — notwithstanding the account given by the people of Tkhoma of the great difficulty of the passes between us and the Zab — to cross the mountain of Khouara, which rises at the back of Birijai. I found that their descriptions had not been exaggerated. We were two hours dragging ourselves over the loose stones, and along the narrow ledges, and reached the summit weary and breathless. From the crest we overlooked the whole valley of Tkhoma, with its smiling villages, bounded to the east by the lofty range of Kareetha; to the west I recognised the peaks of Asheetha, the valley of the Zab, Chal, and the heights inhabited by the Apenshai Kurds.

The mountain of Khouara is the Zoma — or summer pasture-grounds — of the inhabitants of Ghissa and Birijai. As we ascended we passed many rude sheds and caverns, half-blocked up at the entrance with loose stones, — places in which the flocks are kept during the night, to preserve them from wild animals. There is a fountain at a short distance from the top of the pass, and a few trees near it; but the mountain is otherwise naked, and, at this time of the year, without verdure.

My companions amused themselves by rolling large stones clown the declivity, and watching them as they bounded over the rocks, till they disappeared in the ravines beneath; setting in motion an avalanche of rubbish, which swept down the sides of the mountain, and threatened to overwhelm the stragglers, who still toiled up the ascent, or a solitary shepherd keeping his flock in the valley.

An hour's rapid descent brought us to the Tiyari village of Be-Alatha, — a heap of ruins on the opposite sides of a valley. The few surviving inhabitants were in extreme poverty, and the small-pox was raging amongst them. The water-courses destroyed by the Kurds had not been repaired, and the fields were mostly uncultivated. Even the church had not yet been rebuilt; and as the trees which had been cut down were still lying across the road, and the charred timber still encumbered the gardens, the place had a most desolate appearance. We were hospitably received by a Shamasha, or deacon; whose children, suffering from the prevailing disease, and covered with discoloured blains, crowded into the only small room of the wretched cottage. Women and children, disfigured by the malignant fever, came to me for medicines; but it was beyond my power to relieve them. Our host, as well as the rest of the inhabitants, was in extreme poverty. Even a little garas, and rancid butter, could with difficulty be collected by contribution from all the houses, and I was at a loss to discover how the people of Be-Alatha live. Yet the deacon was cheerful and contented, dwelling with resignation upon the misfortunes that had befallen his village, and the misery of his family.

On leaving the village, now containing only ten families, I was accosted by an old priest, who had been waiting until we passed, and who entreated me to eat bread under his roof. As his cottage was distant I was compelled to decline his hospitality, though much touched by his simple kindness, and mild and gentle manners. Finding that I would not go with him, he insisted upon accompanying us to the next village, and took with him three or four sturdy mountaineers, to assist us on our journey; for the roads, he said, were nearly impassable.

Without the assistance of the good priest our attempt to reach Marth d' Kasra would certainly have been hopeless. More than once we turned back in despair, before the slippery rocks and precipitous ascents. Ibrahim Agha, embarrassed by his capacious boots, which, made after the fashion of the Turks, could have contained the extremities of a whole family, was more beset with difficulties than all the party. When he attempted to ride a mule, unused to a pack-saddle, he invariably slid over the tail of the animal, and lay sprawling on the ground, to the great amusement of Yakoub Rais, with whom his adventures were a never failing source of anecdote in the village assemblies. If he walked, either his boots became wedged into the crevices of the rocks, or filled with gravel, to his no small discomfort. At length, in attempting to cross a bed of loose stones, he lost all presence of mind, and remained fixed in the middle, fearful to advance or retreat. The rubbish yielded to his grasp, and he looked down into a black abyss, towards which he found himself gradually sinking with the avalanche he had put in motion. There was certainly enough to frighten any Turk, and Ibrahim Aoha clunsi: to the face of the declivity — the picture of despair. " What's the Kurd doing?" cried a Tiyari, with whom all Mussulmans were Kurds, and who was waiting to pass on; " Is there anything here to turn a man's face pale? This is dashta, dashta" (a plain, a plain). Ibrahim Agha, who guessed from the words Kurd and dashta, the meaning of which he had learnt, the purport of the Christian's address, almost forgot his danger in his rage and indignation. " Gehannem with your dashta! " cried he, still clinging to the moving stones, " and dishonour upon your wife and mother. Oh! that I could only get one way or the other to show this Infidel what it is to laugh at the beard of an Osmanli, and to call him a Kurd in the bargain! " With the assistance of the mountaineers he was at length rescued from his perilous position, but not restored to good humour. By main force the mules were dragged over this and similar places; the Tiyari seizing them by the halter and tail, and throwing them on their sides.

We were two hours struggling through these difficulties before reaching Marth d' Kasra, formerly a large village, but now containing only forty houses.¹⁶ Its appearance, however, was more flourishing than that of Be-Alatha; and the vineyards, and gardens surrounding it, had been carefully trimmed and irrigated. Above Marth d' Kasra, on a lofty overhanging rock, is the village of Lagippa, reduced to ten houses. It is not accessible to beasts of burden. I rode to the house of a priest, and sat there whilst the mules were resting.

As we were engaged in conversation, Ibrahim Agha, who had not yet recovered his composure, entered the room labouring under symptoms of great indignation. The cause of his anger were some women who had commenced their ablutions, in the manner I have already described, near the spot where he had been sitting. " When I told them to go to a greater distance," said he, "they replied, that if I did not wish to see them, I might turn my head the other way. If these infidels have no modesty," continued he, " let them at least know that we Mussulmans have. Mohammed Pasha, upon whom God has had mercy! declared of the Arabs, that the men were without religion, the women without drawers, and the horses without bridles; but these unbelievers eat more dirt than all the Arabs, and are verily little better than the beasts of the field." Having calmed the wrath of the Cawass, I reasoned with the priest on the impropriety of this habit; but he did not appear at all sensible of it, only observing that the custom was general in the mountains.

The road between Marth d' Kasra and Chonba was no less difficult and dangerous than that we had taken in the morning. The gardens of the former village extend to the Zab, and we might have followed the valley; but the men who were with us preferred the shorter road over the mountain, that we might reach Chonba before night-fall. On approaching the Zab, I observed a most singular mass of conglomerate, the deposits of the river, but raised about 500 feet above its bed by a substratum of schists; and apparently upheaved from its original site by a comparatively recent convulsion of nature.

The villages in the valley of the Zab had suffered more from the Kurds than any other part of Tiyari. Chonba was almost deserted; its houses and churches a mass of ruins, and its gardens and orchards uncultivated and neglected. There was no roof, under which we could pass the night; and we were obliged to spread our carpets under a cluster of walnut trees, near a clear and most abundant spring. Under these trees was pitched the tent of Beder Khan Bey, after the great massacre; and here he received Melek Ismail, when delivered a prisoner into his hands. Yakoub, who had been present at the murder of the unfortunate chief of Tiyari, thus described the event. After performing prodigies of valour, and heading his people in their defence of the pass which led into the upper districts, Melek Ismail, his thigh broken by a musket-ball, was carried by a few followers to a cavern in a secluded ravine; where he might have escaped the search of his enemies, had not a woman, to save her life, betrayed his retreat. He was dragged down the mountain with savage exultation, and brought before Beder Khan Bey. Here he fell upon the ground. "Wherefore does the infidel sit before me? " exclaimed the ferocious chief, who had seen his broken limb, "and what dog is this that has dared to shed the blood of true believers?" "O Mir," replied Melek Ismail, still undaunted, and partly raising himself, " this arm has taken the lives of nearly twenty Kurds; and, had God spared me, as many more would have fallen by it." Beder Khan Bey rose and walked to the Zab, making a sign to his attendants that they should bring the Melek to him. By his directions they held the Christian chief over the river, and, severing his head from his body with a dagger, cast them into the stream.

All the family of the Melek had distinguished themselves, at the time of the invasion, by their courage. His sister, standing by his side, slew four men before she fell mortally wounded.

Over the spring, where we had alighted, formerly grew a cluster of gigantic walnut trees, celebrated in Tiyari for their size and beauty. They had been cut down by the Kurds, and their massive trunks were still stretched on the ground. A few smaller trees had been left standing, and afforded us shelter. The water, gushing from the foot of an overhanging rock, was pure and refreshing; but the conduits, which had once carried it into the fields, having been destroyed, a small marsh had been formed around the spring. The place consequently abounded in musquitoes, and we were compelled to keep up large fires to escape their attacks.

On the following morning we ascended the valley of the Zab, for about three miles, to cross over the river. The road led into upper Tiyari, its villages being visible from the valley, perched on the summits of isolated rocks, or half concealed in sheltered ravines. The scenery is sublime. The river forces itself through a deep and narrow gorge, the mountains rising one above the other in wild confusion, naked and barren; except where the mountaineers have collected the scanty soil, and surrounded their cottages with gardens and vineyards.

The bridge of wicker work was in better repair than that of Lizan, and we crossed our mules without difficulty. Descending along the banks of the Zab for a short distance, we struck into the mountains; and passing through Kona Zavvi and Bitti, two Kurdish villages buried in orchards, reached Serspeetho about mid-day. We sat for two hours in the house of the priest, who received us very hospitably. Out of eighty families thirty have alone survived; the rest were utterly destroyed. The two churches were still in ruins, and but a few cottages had as yet been rebuilt.

In the afternoon we resumed our journey, and crossing a high and barren mountain descended into the valley of Asheetha.

I spent a day in the village, to give rest to our mules; for they stood in great need of it, after crossing the mountains of Tiyari. As I was desirous of visiting some copper mines, described to me by the people of the district, I engaged Kasha Hormuzd, and one Daoud, who had been a workman at Nimroud, to accompany me. We left Asheetha, followed by Yakoub, and the priests and principal inhabitants, who took leave of us at some distance from the village. We chose a different road from that we had followed on entering the mountain, and thus avoided a most precipitous ascent. Descending into the valley, leading from Berwari to Asheetha, we came upon a large party of travellers, whom we at first took for Kurds. As they discharged their guns, and stopped in the middle of a thicket of rushes growing in the bed of the torrent, we approached them. They proved to be Nestorian Chaldaeans returning from Mosul to the mountains. Amongst them, to my surprise, I found Kasha Oraho.¹⁷ This very amiable, learned, and worthy priest, had fled from Asheetha at the time of the massacre; and from his erudition, and intimate knowledge of the political condition of the tribes, and of the tenets and ceremonies of the Chaldsean church, had acted as the secretary of Mar Shamoun during his exile. Nearly three years had elapsed since he had quitted his mountains, and he pined for his native air. Against the advice of his friends he had determined to leave the plains, and he was now on his return, with his wife and son, to Tiyari. I sat with him for a few minutes, and we parted never to meet again. A few days after our meeting Beder Khan Bey and his hordes descended into Asheetha. Fresh deeds of violence recalled the scenes of bloodshed to which the poor priest had formerly been a witness; and he died of grief, bewailing the miserable condition of the Christian tribes.

We no longer followed the same valley we had ascended on our approach to Tiyari; but entered the mountains to the right, and, after a rapid ascent, found ourselves in a forest of oaks. Our guides were some time in finding the mouth of the mine, which was only known to a few of the mountaineers. At a distance from the entrance, copper ores were scattered in abundance amongst the loose stones. I descended with some difficulty, and found many passages running in various directions, all more or less blocked up with rubbish and earth, much of which we had to remove before I could explore the interior of the mine. The copper runs in veins of bright blue; either in small crystals, compact masses, or in powder, which I could scrape out of the cracks of the rocks with a knife. I recognised at once in the latter the material used to colour the bricks and ornaments in the Assyrian Palaces. After following several ramifications, as far as the accumulated rubbish would permit, I returned into the open air. The mine had evidently been opened, and worked at a very remote period; and its entrance was so well concealed by rocks and stones, that it was difficult to account for its discovery. In the Tiyari mountains, particularly in the heights above Lizan, and in the valley of Berwari, mines of iron, lead, copper, and other minerals abound. Both the Kurds and the Chaldaeans make their own weapons and implements of agriculture; and cast bullets for their rifles, collecting the ores which are scattered on the declivities, or brought down by the torrents.

Leaving the district of Holamoun and Geramoun¹⁸ to our right, we entered a deep valley, and rode for live hours through a thick forest of oak, beech, and other mountain trees. We passed a few encampments of Kurds, who had chosen some lawn in a secluded dell to pitch their black tents; but we saw no villages until we reached Challek. By the roadside, as we descended to this place, I observed an extensive ruin, of substantial masonry of square stones. I was unable to learn that any tradition attached to the remains; nor could I ascertain their name, or conjecture the nature and use of the building. It was evidently a very ancient work, and may have been an Assyrian fort to command the entrance into the mountains. The pass is called Kesta, from a Kurdish village of that name.

Challek is a large village, inhabited partly by Chaldaeans and partly by Kurds. There are about fifteen families of Christians, who have a church and a priest. The gardens are very extensive, and well irrigated, and the houses are almost concealed in a forest of fruit-trees. We passed the night in the residence of the Kiayali, and were hospitably entertained.

In the morning we rode for some time along the banks of the Khabour, and about five hours and a half from Challek forded the Supna, one of its confluents. The valley of Berwari is here broken up into numberless ravines, and is thickly wooded with the gall-bearing oak. The mountain-range separating us, at this point, from the valley of Amadiyah, is considerably lower than where we had previously crossed it. Scattered over the hills are numerous Kurdish villages, and the turreted castle of a chief may occasionally be seen, in the distance, crowning the summit of some isolated rock. Kalah Gumri, the residence of Abd-ul-Summit Bey, is visible from all parts of Berwari.

We stopped at the Kurdish village of Ourmeli during the middle of the day, and found there a Su-bashi — a kind of superintendent tax-gatherer — from Mosul, who received me in a manner worthy the dignity of both. He was dressed in an extraordinary assortment of Osmanlu and Kurdish garments, the greater part of which had been, of course, robbed from the inhabitants of the district placed under his care. He treated me with sumptuous hospitality, at the expense of the Kurds, to whom he proclaimed me a particular friend of the Vizir, and a person of very exalted worth. He brought, himself, the first dish of pillau, which was followed by soups, chicken-kibaubs, honey, yaghourt, cream, fruit, and a variety of Kurdish luxuries. He refused to be seated, and waited upon me during the repast. It Avas evident that all this respectful attention, on the part of so great a personage, was not intended to be thrown away; and when he retired I collected a few of the Kurds, and, obtaining their confidence by paying for my breakfast, soon learnt from them that my host had dealt so hardly with the villages in his jurisdiction, that the inhabitants, driven to despair, had sent a deputation to lay their grievances before the Pasha. This might explain the fashion of my reception, which I could scarcely attribute to my own merits. As I anticipated, he came to me before I left, and commenced a discourse on the character of Kurds in general, and on the way of governing them. "Wallah, Billah, Bey!" said he, "these Kurds are no Mussulmans; they are worse than unbelievers; they are nothing but thieves and murderers; they will cut a man's throat for a para. You will know what to tell His Highness when he asks you about them. They are beasts that must be driven by the bit and the s]3ur; give them too much barley," continuing the simile, " and they will get fat, and vicious, and dangerous. No, no, you must take away the barley, and leave them only the straw." " You have, no doubt," I observed, eyeing his many-coloured Kurdish cloak, "taken care that as little be left them to fatten upon as possible." " I am the lowest of His Highness's servants," he replied, scarcely suppressing a broad grin; " but, nevertheless, God knows that I am not the least zealous in his service." It was at any rate satisfactory to find that, in the Su-bashi's system of government, Kurds and Christians were placed on an equal footing, and that the Mussulmans themselves now tasted of the miseries they had so long inflicted with impunity upon others.

We soon crossed the valley of Amadiyah, and meeting the high road between Daoudeeya¹⁹ and Mosul, entered some low hills thickly set with Kurdish villages. In Kuremi, through which we passed, there dwells a very holy Sheikh, who enjoys a great reputation for sanctity and miracles throughout Kurdistan. He was seated in the Iwan, or open chamber, of a very neat house; built, kept in repair, and continually white-washed by the inhabitants of the place. A beard, white as snow, fell almost to his waist; and he wore a turban and a long gown of spotless white linen. He is almost blind, and sat rocking himself to and fro, fingering his rosary. He keeps a perpetual Ramazan, never eating between dawn and sunset. On a slab, near him, was a row of waterjugs of every form, ready for use when the sun went down. Ibraham Agha, who was not more friendly to the Kurds than the Su-bashi, treated the Sheikh to a most undignified epithet as he passed; which, had it been overheard by the people of the village, might have led to hostilities. Although I might not have expressed myself so forcibly as the Cawass, I could not but concur generally in his opinion when reflecting that this man, and some others of the same class, had been the chief cause of the massacres of the unfortunate Christians; and that, at that moment, his son, Shiekli Taliar²⁰, was urging Beder Klian Bey to prove his religious zeal by shedding anew the blood of the Chaldaeans.

We stopped for the night in the large Catholic Chalda3an village of Mungayshi, containing above forty Christian houses, a new church, and two priests. The inhabitants carry on a considerable trade with Mosul in raisins, and their vineyards are extensive and well cultivated. They complained bitterly of the governor of Daoudeeya, who had plundered them, they said, of every thing; and they also had sent a deputation to the Pasha.

A pass, over a richly wooded range of hills, leads from Mungayshi into a fertile plain, watered by several streams, and occupied by many Kurdish villages. Beyond, the mountains are naked and most barren. We wandered for some hours amongst pinnacles, through narrow ravines, and over broken rocks of sandstone, all scattered about in the wildest confusion. Not a blade of vegetation was to be seen; the ground was parched by the sun, and was here and there blackened by volcanic action. We came to several large pools of hot, sulphurous springs, bubbling up in many parts of the valley. In the spring, both the Kurds and the people of the surrounding villages congregate near these reservoirs, and pitch their tents for nearly a month; whilst they bathe continually in the waters, which have a great reputation for their medicinal qualities.

A long defile brought us to the town of Dohuk, formerly a place of some importance, but now nearly in ruins. It is built on an island formed by a small stream, and probably occupies an ancient site. Its castle, a mud building with turrets, was held for some time, by the hereditary Kurdish chief of the place, against Injeh Bairakdar Mohammed Pasha; but was reduced, and lias since been inhabited by a Turkish governor. Ismail Bey, the Mutesellim, received me very civilly, and I breakfasted with him. The son of a Kurdish chief, of some importance in the neighbourhood, was visiting the Bey. Pie was dressed in a most elaborately embroidered suit, had ponderous jewelled rings in his ears, carried enormous weapons in his girdle, and had stuck in his turban a profusion of marigolds and other flowers. He was a handsome, intelligent boy; but, young as he might be, he was already a precocious pupil of Sheikh Tahar; and when I put him upon a religious topic, he entered most gravely into an argument to prove the obligation imposed upon Mussulmans to exterminate the unbelievers, supporting his theological views by very apt quotations from the Koran.

My horses, which had been sent from Amadiyah, were waiting for me here; and leaving our jaded mules we rode on to the Christian village of Malthayiah, about one hour beyond, and in the same valley as Dohuk. Being anxious to visit the rock-sculptures near this place, I took a peasant with me and rode to the foot of a neighbouring hill. A short walk up a very difficult ascent brought me to the monuments.

Four tablets have been cut in the rock. On each tablet are nine figures. The sculpture is Assyrian, and evidently of the later period, cotemporary with the kings of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik. The subject represented in the four bas-reliefs is the same, and appears to be an adoration of the gods. Two figures, the first and the last, are those of kings; the remainder those of divinities, standing upon animals. The first god wears the horned cap, square, not rounded at the top, and surmounted by a point, or by a fleur-de-lys; the ornament being so much defaced that I was unable to distinguish clearly which. He holds a ring in one hand, and a thong or snake in the other, and stands on two animals, a bull and a kind of grifiin or lion, with the head of an eagle, but without wings. The second divinity is beardless, holds a ring in one hand, and is seated on a chair, the arms and lower parts of which are supported by human figures with tails (somewhat resembling those on the vase discovered at Nimroud²¹), and by birds with human heads. The whole rests upon two animals, a lion and a bull.

The third divinity resembles the first, and stands on a winged bull. The four following have stars with six rays, resting on the top of the horned cap. The first of them has a ring in one hand, and stands on a griffin without wings; the second also holds the ring, and is raised on a horse, caparisoned after the fashion of the horses represented on the sculptures of Khorsabad; the third wields an object precisely similar to the conventional thunderbolt of the statues and pictures of the Greek Jove, and is supported by a winged lion; and the fourth is beardless, carries a ring, and stands on a lion without ^vings.

The two kings, who are facing the divinities, have one hand elevated, and bear a mace, or some instrument resembling it, in the other.

All the tablets have suffered much from long exposure to the atmosphere, and one has been almost destroyed by the entrance into a chamber, which probably at one time served for a tomb, cut in the rock behind it. As the sculpture has been sacrificed to this excavation, it would appear to owe its origin to a people differing from those who buried their dead there, and occupying the country at an earlier period. It is possible, however, that the door of the tomb was closed by a slab, upon which the bas-relief was continued, and that the whole was carefully united to conceal the entrance. Similar excavations occur among the rock-sculptures of Bavian, which belong to the same period as those of Malthayiah.

The details in these bas-reliefs are, as far as they can be distinguished, precisely similar to those in the later Assyrian monuments. In the head-dress of the kings, in the form of the chair of the sitting divinity, and in the mode of treatment, the sculptures of Malthayiah closely resemble those of Khorsabad.

I returned to the village after sunset. My Cawass and servants had established themselves for the night on the roof of the church; and the Kiayah had prepared a very substantial repast. The inhabitants of Malthayiah are Catholic ChaldEeans; their conversion not dating many years. The greater part joined us in the evening; and my companion, who was always ready to plunge into a religious controversy, and delighted in the subtle distinctions between the Nestorian and Roman Catholic creeds, engaged them at once on these subjects; and brought about a noisy theological combat, which lasted till past midnight, without any one being convinced of his errors.

Next morning we rode over a dreary plain to Alkosh. In a defile, through the hills behind the village, I observed several rock-tombs, — excavations similar to those of Malthayiah; some having rude ornaments above the entrance, and the door-ways of others being simply square holes in the rock.

On reaching Alkosh I proceeded at once to the house of the Kiayah, but found his apartments occupied by a Su-bashi, a pompous, ill-favoured Turk; who, putting his head out of the window, asked, in a very impertinent way, who I was, whence I came, where I was going, and what I wanted, — questions which were not otherwise answered than by his being speedily dislodged from his corner, and pushed by the shoulders into the street, to his no small surprise, and to the great satisfaction and delight of a crowd of bystanders, who had been all more or less the victims of his extortions. "What dog are you," exclaimed Ibrahim Agha, as lie gave him the last push into the gutter, and made many very offensive and unwarrantable allusions to the female members of his family, " to establish a makiamah²² up there, and cross-question people like his Reverence the Cadi? you offspring of a bad breed! you shall have the Dahiakparasi²³; but it shall be on the soles of your feet."

Alkosh is a very considerable Christian village. The inhabitants, who were formerly pure Chaldaeans, have been converted to Roman Catholicism. It contains, according to a very general tradition, the tomb of Nahum, the prophet — the Alkoshite, as he is called in the introduction to his prophecies. It is a place held in great reverence by Mahommedans and Christians, but especially by Jews, who keep the building in repair, and flock here in great numbers at certain seasons of the year. The tomb is a simple plaster box, covered with green cloth, and standing at the upper end of a large chamber. On the walls of the room are slips of paper, upon which are written, in distorted Hebrew characters, religious exhortations, and the dates and particulars of the visits of various Jewish families. The house containing the tomb is a modern building. There are no inscriptions, nor fragments of any antiquity about the place; and I am not aware in what the tradition originated, or how Ions' it has attached to the village of Alkosh.²⁴

After visiting the tomb I rode to the convent of Rabban Hormuzd, built on the almost perpendicular sides of lofty rocks, enclosing a small recess or basin, out of which there is only one outlet, — a narrow and precipitous ravine, leading abruptly into the plains. The spot is well suited to solitude and devotion. Half buried in barren crags, the building can scarcely be distinguished from the natural pinnacles by which it is surrounded. There is scarcely a blade of vegetation to be seen, except a few olive trees, encouraged, by the tender solicitude of the monks, to struggle with the barren soil. Around the convent, in almost every accessible part of the mountains, are a multitude of caves or chambers in the rock, said to have once served as retreats for a legion of hermits, and from which most probably were ejected the dead, to make room for the living; for they appear to have been, for the most part, at a very remote period, places of burial — a few having been purposely constructed for dwelling places, whilst others may have been enlarged to meet the increased wants of the new tenants. The number of these recesses must at one time have been very great. They are now rapidly disappearing, and have been so doing for centuries.²⁵ Still the sides of the ravine are in some places honeycombed by them.

The hermits, who may once have inhabited the place, have left no successors. A lonely monk from the convent may occasionally be seen clambering over the rocks; but otherwise the solitude is seldom disturbed by the presence of a human being.

The ascent to the convent, from the entrance of the ravine, is partly up a flight of steps rudely constructed of loose stones, and partly by a narrow pathway cut in the rock. We were, therefore, obliged to dismount, and to leave our horses in a cavern at the foot of the mountain.

Rabban Hormuzd was formerly in the possession of the Nestorian Chaldeans; but has been appropriated by the Catholics since the conversion of the inhabitants of Alkosh, Tel Kef, and other large villages of the plain. It is said to have been founded by one of the early Chaldaean patriarchs, in the latter part of the fourth century. The saint, after whom the convent is called, is much venerated by the Nestorians. He was, according to some traditions, the son of a king of Persia, and a Christian martyr. The convent is an extensive building, partly excavated in the rocks, and partly constructed of stones well cut and fitted together. Since it was plundered by the Kurds, under the Bey of Rowandiz, no attempt has been made to restore the rich ornaments which once decorated the chapel, and principal halls. The walls are now naked and bare, except where hung with a few hideous pictures of saints and holy families, presented or stuck up by the Italian monks who occasionally visit the place. In the chapel are the tombs of several Patriarchs of the Chaldaean church, buried here long before its divisions, and whose titles, carved upon the monuments, are always "Patriarch of the Chaldaeans of the East."²⁶ Six or eight half famished monks reside in the convent. They depend for supplies, which are scanty enough, upon the faithful of the surrounding country.

It was night before we reached the large Catholic village of Tel Kef. I had sent on a horseman in the morning, to apprise the people of my intended visit; and Gouriel, the Kiayah, with several of the principal inhabitants, had assembled to receive me. As we approached they emerged from a dark recess, where they had probably been waiting for some time. They carried a few wax lights, which served as an illumination. The motion of these lights, as the bearers advanced, was so unsteady, that there could be no doubt of the condition of the deputation.

Gouriel and his friends reeled forward towards my Cawass, who chanced to be the first of the party, and believing him to be me they fell upon him, kissing his hands and feet, and clinging to his dress. Ibrahim Agha struggled hard to extricate himself, but in vain. "The Bey's behind," roared he. " Allah! Allah! will no one deliver me from these drunken infidels?" Rejoicing in the mistake, I concealed myself among the horsemen. Gouriel, seizing the bridle of Ibrahim Agha's horse, and unmindful of the blows which the Cawass dealt about him, led him in triumph to his residence. It was not before the wife of the Kiayah and some women, who had assembled to cook our dinner, brought torches, that the deputation discovered their error. I had alighted in the meanwhile unseen, and had found my way to the roof of the house, where all the cushions that could be found in the village were piled up in front of a small table covered with bottles of raki and an assortment of raisins and parched peas, all prepared in my honour. I hid myself among the pillows, and it was some time before the Kiayah discovered my retreat. He hiccuped out excuses till he was breathless, and endeavouring to kiss my feet, asked forgiveness for the unfortunate blunder. "Wallah! Bey," exclaimed Ibrahim Agha, who had been searching for a stable, " the whole village is drunk. It is always thus with these unbelievers. They have now a good Pasha, who neither takes jerums nor extra salian,²⁷ nor quarters Hytas upon them. What dirt do they then eat? Instead of repairing their houses, and sowing their fields, they spend every para in raki, and sit eating and drinking, like hogs, night and day." I was forced to agree with Ibrahim Agha in his conclusions, and would have remonstrated with ray hosts; but there was no one in a fit state to hear advice; and I was not sorry to see them at midnight scattered over the roof, buried in profound sleep. I ordered the horses to be loaded, and reached Mosul as the gates opened at daybreak.

The reader may desire to learn the fate of Tkhoma. A few days after my return to Mosul, notwithstanding the attempts of Tahyar Pasha to avert the calamity, Beder Khan Bey marched through the Tiyari mountains, levying contributions on the tribes and plundering the villages, on his way to the unfortunate district. The inhabitants of Tkhoma, headed by their Meleks, made some resistance, but were soon overpowered by numbers. An indiscriminate massacre took place. The women were brought before the chief, and murdered in cold blood. Those who attempted to escape were cut off". Three hundred women and children, who were flying into Baz, were killed in the pass I have described. The principal villages with their gardens were destroyed, and the churches pulled down. Nearly half the population fell victims to the fanatical fury of the Kurdish chief; amongst these were one of the Meleks, and Kasha Bodaca. With this good priest, and Kasha Auraham, perished the most learned of the Nestorian clergy; and Kasha Kana is the last who has inherited any part of the knowledge, and zeal, which once so eminently distinguished the Chaldaean priesthood.

The Porte was prevailed upon to punish this atrocious massacre, and to crush a rebellious subject who had long resisted its authority. An expedition was fitted out under Osman Pasha; and after two engagements, in which the Kurds were signally defeated by the Turkish troops headed by Omar Pasha, Beder Khan Bey took refuge in a mountain-castle. The position had been nearly carried, when the chief, finding defence hopeless, succeeded in obtaining from the Turkish commander, Osman Pasha, the same terms which had been offered to him before the commencement of hostilities. He was to be banished from Kurdistan; but his family and attendants were to accompany him, and he was guaranteed the enjoyment of his property. Although the Turkish ministers more than suspected that Osman Pasha had reasons of his own for granting these terms, they honourably fulfilled the conditions upon which the chief, although a rebel, had surrendered. He was brought to Constantinople, and subsequently sent to the Island of Candia, — a punishment totally inadequate to his numerous crimes.

After Beder Khan Bey had retired from Tkhoma, a few of the surviving inhabitants returned to their ruined villages; but Nur-Ullah Bey, suspecting that they knew of concealed property, fell suddenly upon them. Many died under the tortures to which they were exposed; and the rest, as soon as they were released, fled into Persia. This flourishing district was thus destroyed; and it mil be long ere its cottages again rise from their ruins, and the fruits of patient toil again clothe the sides of its valleys.

1) It may be remembered, that Beder Khan Bey, in 1843, invaded the Tiyari districts, massacred in cold blood nearly 10,000 of their inhabitants, and carried away as slaves a) large number of girls and children. But it is perhaps not generally known, that the release of the greater part of the captives was obtained through the humane interference and generosity of Sir Stratford Canning, who prevailed upon the Porte to send a commissioner into Kurdistan, for the purpose of inducing Bedor Khan Bey and other Kurdish chiefs, to give up the slaves they had taken, and advanced, himself, a considerable sum towards their liberation. Mr. Rassam also obtained the release of many slaves, and maintained and clothed at his own expense, and for several months, not only the Nestorian Patriarch, who had taken refuge in Mosul, but many hundred Chaldeans who had escaped from the mountains.

2) Asheetha and Zaweetha were formerly looked upon as half-independent districts, each having its own Rais or head. They were neither within the territories nor under the authority of the Meleks of Tiyari.

3) Dr. Grant, who published an account of his visit to the mountains, fell a victim to his humane zeal for the Chaldeans in 1844. After the massacre, his house in Mosul was filled with fugitives, whom he supported and clothed. Their sufferings, and the want of common necessaries before they reached the town, had brought on a malignant typhus fever, of which many died, and which Dr. Grant caught whilst attending the sick in his house. Mosul holds the remains of most of those who were engaged in the American missions to the Chaldeans.

4) When amongst the Bakhtiyari I saw a curious instance of the agility of the women of the mountains. I occupied an upper room in a tower, forming one of the corners in the yard of the chief's harem. I was accustomed to lock my door on the outside with a padlock. The wife of the chief advised me to secure the window also. As I laughed at the idea of any one being able to enter by it, she ordered one of her handmaidens to convince me, which she did at once, dragging herself up in the most marvellous way by the mere irregularities of the bricks. After witnessing this feat, I could believe any thing of the activity of the Kurdish women.

5) Their names are Chal, Sershkioutha, Beliedri, Besliouklia, Shuraisi, Beea, and Dalasha. The district is under an hereditary chief, Tatar Bey, who pays tribute to the Governor of Amadiyah, and is consequently within the territories of the Pasha of Mosul.

6) Literally, King, the title given to the chiefs of Tiyari

7) A corruption of Khath Shaba, Sunday.

8) By the Kurds they are called Pinianshi.

9) The era of the Seleuciclæ (the Greek or Alexandrian year, or the era of contracts, as it is sometimes called,) was once in general use amongst both the Christians, Jews, and Mussnlmans of the East, and is to this day always employed by the Chaldaeans. It commences in October u. c. 312; according to the Chaldeans one year later.

10) This custom, it will be remembered, prevailed generally amongst the primitive Christians. The Roman Catholic church has retained the remembrance of it in the " Pax."

11) i. e. middle or centre Tkhoma.

12) Mr. Ainsworth, writing of Kasha Kana of Lizan, observes that he resembled In his manners and appearance an English clergyman.

13) Ardent spirits, extracted from raisins or dates.

14) The servant of the Mir or Prince.

15) It will be remembered that this traveller was murdered by Nur-Ullah Bey.

16) The village contains two churches and two priests.

17) A corruption of Auraham, Abraham.

18) Two large villages so called, inhabited by Nestorian Chaldaeans; but forming a separate district, and paying tribute directly to the Pasha of Mosul. They were formerly very flourishing; but having recently been much harassed by Beder Khan Bey, the inhabitants have mostly fled to the higher mountains. The district produces very fine galls.

19) The principal place of a district of the same name, which has a governor appointed from, and accounting directly with, Mosul.

20) This fanatic, who was one of Beder Khan Bey's principal advisers, when entering Mosul, was accustomed to throw a veil over his face that his sight might not be polluted by Christians, and other impurities in the place. He exercises an immense influence over the Kurdish population, who look upon him as a saint and worker of miracles.

21) See antè, p. 128.

22) Court of justice.

23) The tax on suits paid to the Cadi.

24) According to St. Jerome, El Kosh or El Kosha, the birth-place of the prophet, was a village in Galilee, and his tomb was shown at Bethogabra near Emmaus. As his prophecies were written after the captivity of the ten tribes, and apply exclusively to Nineveh, the tradition, which points to the village in Assyria as the place of his death, is not without weight.

25) When Mr. Rich visited the convent, in the early part of this century, the number of the caves was daily diminishing. The rock in which they had been cut was rapidly crumbling away, filling up with rubbish many of these recesses, and carrying away others altogether. The monks too had destroyed many, when hewing stone for the repair of the building. (Rich's Narrative of a Resideuce in Koordistan, &c. vol. ii. p. 94.)

26) The seal used by Mar Shamoun bears the same title, and the Patriarch so styles himself in all public documents. It is only lately that he has been induced, on some occasions, when addressing Europeans to call himself "Patriarch of the Nestorians;" the name never having been used by the Chaldaeans themselves. The distinction becomes important, inasmuch as the see of Rome and the Catholics have endeavoured, with considerable success, to fix the title of Chaldaeans upon the converted alone, using that of Nestorian as one of contempt and reproach, in speaking of those who have retained their ancient faith. So much odium attaches to the name, that many have joined the Catholic party to avoid it. I have termed the Nostorians "Chaldaeans," or "Nestorian Chaldaeans," and the new sect "Catholic Chaldaeans."

27) At Mosul Jerums mean fines; salian, the property tax, or taxes levied on corporations under the old system.