ENGLISH CONSULAR AGENT AT ORFA.

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ning along the hill in front, and then, on the left, the ruins of a castle. And this was the Ur of the Chaldees, the Edessa of the Romans, the Orfa of our day. Here God spake to Abram!

Passing through the gardens, we rode to the house of the English consular agent, who pressed us most warmly to remain with him; but we preferred the convent, so were soon established in the Nestorian one, which is without the town, or rather in a suburb on the other side of the water. The kind old man sent us a dinner, saying, if we would not eat his dinner at his house, we must eat it at our own. He received the honorary distinction as a tribute for his humane and kind protection of the Nestorian Christians. We explained to him our resolution to go by the Desert to Mosul: this he could not understand; the regular way was enough for him, and he spoke long and fearfully of the Arabs-the bad, savage Arabs.

282

VISIT FROM THE CONSULAR AGENT.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Eastern Bath-How thoroughly to enjoy it-Visit the Pasha-Incongruous Dresses of his Attendants-Arrangements for crossing the Desert-Town of Orfa-Well of Abraham-Sacred Carp-Inquiry as to the ancient Worship of Fish-Mosque and College of the Patriarch described-Birthplace and Tomb of Abraham-Moslem Veneration for Abraham-Account of the Patriarch in the Book of Jasher-Terah and Nimrod - Caves and Tombs in the Rocks described-Pillars of the Throne of Nimrod-Castle of Orfa-Its present Condition-Vicissitudes of the City in ancient times-Its various Conquerors-Present Sate of Orfa-Its rude Cotton Printing —Its Manufactures-Dresses of the People-Diversity of Languages heard at Orfa.

MAY 15th.-At daylight the worthy representative of her Majesty paid us a visit. paid us a visit. As we showed no inclination to rise, he grew dreadfully impatient, opened all the windows, and finally pressed us to visit the Pasha off-hand. We compromised the matter by going to the bath. Here his kindness led him, and he even washed with us. The bath is certainly a great luxury; few Englishmen, however, enjoy it properly: they hurry over the process, and as the bath-men know they do it from a species of curiosity, they act accordingly.

But voyagers extend the luxury thus :-Send a

HOW TO ENJOY THE EASTERN BATH. 283

servant before you to warn the bath-keeper you are coming, or, if the bath is small, have it cleared altogether; send your own carpets, clothes, soap, scents, nargilleh, coffee, and sherbet. I need not describe the bath (vide Titmarsh, "Cornhill to Cairo;" vide Warburton's "Crescent and Cross"). The one is a caricature, the other is as he and I enjoyed our bath at Deir el Khamar. Spend in it two or three hours, having previously settled your affairs, so that nothing may interrupt the perfection of the kief. Well, we saw the consul dirty, we saw him washed, and then, after breakfast, at all of which delays he complained sadly, we walked to the serai.

The Pasha received us kindly, in a wretched room, hung with a dingy curtain, and furnished with a red baize divan. He was dressed in the semi-European dress of Stamboul. The dress of a Pasha's attendants is a curious melange. They wear embroidered coats, faded, a little torn; straps probably cut, no socks, or huge Persian socks; their clothes unbrushed and unfitting; some European waistcoats, some native; some had shirts, others not. Why not have preserved their own handsome flowing robes and Oriental costume?

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THE TOWN OF ORFA.

After the grandiloquent compliments were over, we stated our desire to cross the Desert; he offered us fifty horsemen if we needed them, but at the same time said he thought we could not do it safely with five hundred; finally, he begged to refer the matter to the Medjelis, which was to sit next day. To this we agreed, and thanking him for his civility on the road, retired. On reaching the convent we found the Rev. Mr. M had arrived. He proved indeed a welcome addition to our party, which he kindly consented to join. Accompanied by our constant friend the consul, we then sallied out to see the place. I was much struck by the numbers of green turbans here: it shows either more wealth, or more disposition to spend it in the purchasing such a now nominal distinction. Also there were no dogs in the streets.

The town is clean for an Eastern town, and has fewer bare places than most. We visited first the Birket el Ibrahim el Khaled, or the Well, literally, of Abraham the Beloved. This is a large reservoir, filled by means of a channel from a small stream, rising a short distance S.W. of the town. The reservoir is thus fresh, the water being supplied by the river. In this water are preserved carp, which

multiply exceedingly: they are not allowed to be taken. The infidel Giaours, however, sometimes eat the sacred food, catching by stealth those that wander from the sacred precincts. Being fed by all who are charitable, they are fat and large. The consul's kavais poured some eatable into the water, and they rushed to it, forming literally a tangled body of wreathing fish. In the reservoir, a shallow place of some sixty feet long and about forty broad, there could not have been less than fifty thousand fish.

It would afford a curious subject of inquiry, the origin of this veneration for a creature uninteresting in every way. It is probably a relic of a more ancient worship. In Deuteronomy the Jews are warned against making any image of fish to worship it. We find the fishes, or images, rather, with fishes' scales and tails, among the excavations at Nimroud and Koyunjik. The worship of fish would also belong to Mesopotamia, for here Osiris was metamorphosed into a fish when flying from Typhon - Timebant ne sibi membra si animalibus hisce vescerenter a vindicta Deæ intumescerent, ulceribus scaterent, aut tabe consumerentur." mens remarks that the Phoenicians of Syria

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