360

ALONE ON A VAST PLAIN.

At midnight we reached Sewerik, and having outstripped the baggage, lay down on the ground and slept very well. Sewerik is a small town, standing under a tel, on which is built a castle, now little more than a heap of ruins. The castle, like many others I have described, covers the crest of the hill, the face of which still bears marks of having been revêted with masonry. The town at the foot is a collection of flat-roofed houses, built of flints, one or two of tolerable size, three minarets, and a large khan. The tomb-land is very extensive, even more so than around most Oriental towns, where, as they seldom bury a second time on the same spot, they cover a great deal of ground.

May 30th. The mountains north of us take a northerly direction here, so appear on our west. Off at two we started round the town on its western side; the road then led E.S.E., winding over low stony hills partially covered with wild barley and wild flowers. While thinking of anything, my horse far outstripped the rest, nor did I wake up till I found myself alone on that vast plain. A sense of loneliness crept over me. What was

even this vast plain ?-an atom! yet I again but

ARRIVAL AT TEL BAGDAD.

361

an atom on it; the vast plain on all sides rolling like the long broad swell of the ocean settling to calm after a gale: on all sides not a trace of man. He might never have been here, for not a wreck had he left, not a mark of him remains. In woods the view is circumscribed; human beings may be close at hand; but here the eye attests one is alone with God and nature only. While our honest industrious population lie in masses, each unable to work from the press of his neighbour, these vast plains lie unoccupied. How their skill, their intelligence would touch them as with an enchanter's wand, and bring forth towns, cities, and cultivation; make them yield more than mines, and give up their wealth, now wasted on savages.

We found a caravan had halted, therefore did the same until the tent was pitched and the horses hobbled. The place where we were was merely a fountain called Utschkupu. Just above it was a large tel,-Tel Bagdad. The moon rose red, and of that shape as if it had been badly packed over night; the high grass in the tents waved above the camp bedsteads. The stream Kasa Tschai runs beneath the encampment.

362 ESTIMATE OF TEL BAGDAD BY THE MULETEER.

CHAPTER XXII.

Apostrophe of the old Muleteer to Tel Bagdad-The Dying Englishman -The Khan of the Black Garden-Incivility of some Koords-View of the Tigris-Diarbekr-General Description of that place-Made Acquaintance with more English Families-Silk produced at Diarbekr-Description of them-Bargain for a Raft-Ancient Accounts of Diarbekr-Description of the Raft, and how it was put together -Scenery on the Voyage-Places passed-Aledino Kalessi-Misadventure on the Voyage-A Man drowned-A halt-Excessive Heat as we proceed-The Pious Boatman-Mosul in Sight.

MAY 31st. Our old muleteer awoke me. He was apostrophising the place: "Oh Uutsch Kupu," he said, "I have visited you in the summer, I have visited you in the winter, but you are always the same nasty cold place as you are now. Your neighbours are warm, and why are not you? Storks will not live on you." I met a mule coming along; on either side hung what resembled a very roughly made Bath-chair; it was a takterwan, and contained an Englishman and his wife, on their return from Bagdad. We halted, and conversed for some half-hour. Poor man! the next news I heard of him was his death from the fatigues of this journey.

THE KHAN OF THE BLACK GARDEN.

363

We passed a few villages whose names I could not learn, and passed another, Berguttar. The road now became a steep ascent; at the upper portion we reached the large ruinous khan called Khan Karabaytsche, or khan of the black garden. The people from it were out in tents. We continued our ascent, and in half an hour reached the site of their encampment. Here the view was lovely an immense expanse of undulating plain to the north, shut in by lofty mountains; to the west and south, hill and plain in beautiful variety; the tints and colours shed over the whole rendered the scene one of great beauty. This place was 1905 feet by the aneroid barometer above the spot where we began the ascent. There was also some wood, a pleasant sight, for it was the first almost we had seen, save about the towns, since we left Aleppo.

The Koords near were very uncivil. At first, they took us for Turks, and swore on their lives they had nothing; now they say, as we are not Turks, they will sell us nothing. We were joined by a Turk and his suite. He had accompanied the Persian princes to England, and had certainly gained much by his voyage. His janissary quickly

364

VIEW OF THE TIGRIS.

made the Koords give of their abundance; but they appeared to wish to have nothing to do with us, pay or no pay.

June 1st.-Off early. We wound down a rocky ravine. Ascending again, we reached the summit, whence a noble view burst before us. Dr. Johnson says the sublime consists in general descriptions, not in descending to details. It was, indeed, magnificent; and countless folds of the Tigris glistened like silver here and there along the plain before us. Diarbekr was there. We descended 1202 feet to the plain; here we halted, and found the post waiting, and a poor caged one in a closed takterwan,-a poor thing, transported like a canary in a cage, save of one the bars are open, of the other shut,-beyond hope of the smallest peep. The plain that from the mountain top had seemed so far and smooth, was sadly hilly work to traverse. We arrived at the gate in the afternoon, and pitched our tents at a village some half-mile from the town of Diarbekr.

Sunday, June 2nd.-Walked from the tents to the town the village near which they are pitched is one that has deserted its creed,-the Nestorian --and lately become Roman Catholic, or, rather