Chaldæans. A Kurd met us as we were entering the former, with a message from Abd-ul-Summit Bey, to the effect that, having guests, he could not receive us there, but had provided a house in the Christian village, where he would join us after his dinner. I rode on to the lower Mia, and found a party of Kurds belabouring the inhabitants, and collecting old carpets and household furniture. Finding that these proceedings were partly meant as preparations for our reception, though the greater share of the objects collected was intended for the comfort of the Bey's Mussulinan guests, I at once put a stop to the pillaging, and released the sufferers. We found a spacious and cleanly roof; and with the assistance of the people of the house, who were ready enough to assist when they learnt we were Christians, established ourselves for the night. Soon after dark another messenger came from Abd-ul-Summit Bey to say that as the Cadi and other illustrious guests were with him, he could not visit me before the morning. I had from the first suspected that these delays and excuses had an object, and that the chief wished to give a proof of his dignity to the Kurds, by treating me in as unceremonious a manner as possible; so, calling the Kurd and addressing him in a loud voice, that the people who had gathered round the house might hear, I requested him to be the bearer of a somewhat uncivil answer to his master, and took care that he should fully understand its terms. Ionunco's hair stood on end at the audacity of this speech, and the Nes torians trembled at the results. Ibrahim Agha tittered with delight; and pushing the Kurd away by the shoulders, told him to be particular in delivering his answer. The message had the effect I had anticipated; an hour afterwards, shuffling over the house-tops at the great risk of his shins, and with a good chance of disappearing down a chimney, came the Bey. He was enveloped in a variety of cloaks; he wore, after the manner of the Bohtan chiefs, a turban of huge dimensions, about four feet in diameter, made up of numberless kerchiefs and rags of every hue of red, yellow, and black; his jacket and wide trowsers were richly embroidered; and in his girdle were all manner of weapons. In person he was tall and handsome; his eyes were dark, his nose aquiline, and his beard black; but the expression of his face was far from prepossessing. I left him to open the conversation, which he did by a multiplicity of excuses and apologies for what had passed, not having, by the Prophet, been aware, he said, of the rank of the guest by whose presence he had been honoured. I pointed out to him one or two fallacies in his assertions; and we came to a distinct understanding on the subject, before we proceeded to general topics. He sat with me till midnight, and entered, amongst other things, into a long justification of his conduct towards Christians, which proved that his authority was not established as well as he could desire. In dealing with a Kurd, you are generally safe as long as you can make him believe that you are his superior, or his equal. 4 In the morning the Bey sent me a breakfast and a party of Kurdish horsemen to accompany us as far as the Tiyari frontier, which was not far distant. Beyond Mia we passed through Bedou, the largest and most populous Kurdish village I had seen. The valley was generally well cultivated; the chief produce appeared to be tobacco and rice, with " garas and "uthra," two kinds of grain, of the English names of which I am ignorant. The garas is, I think, millet. Our guards would not venture into the territories of the Tiyari, between whom and the Kurds there are continual hostilities, and quitted us in a narrow desolate valley, up which our road to Asheetha now led. I lectured my party on the necessity of caution during our future wanderings; and reminded my Cawass and Mohammedan servants that they had no longer the quiet Christians of the plains to deal with. Resigning ourselves to the guidance of Ionunco, who now felt that he was on his own soil, we made our way with difficulty over the rocks and stones with which the valley is blocked up, and struck into what our guide represented to be a short cut to Asheetha. The pathway might certainly, on some occasions, have been used by the mountain goats; but the passage of horses and mules was a miracle. After a most tedious walk, we reached the top of the pass and looked down on the village. From this spot the eye rested upon a scene of great beauty. In front rose the lofty peak, with its snows and glaciers, visible even from Mosul. At our feet the village spread over the whole valley; and detached houses, surrounded by gardens and orchards, were scattered over the sides of the mountains. To the right ran the valley which leads to the Zab. We had little difficulty in descending through the loose stones and detritus which cover the face of the mountain, although both our mules and ourselves had frequent falls. On reaching the entrance of the valley, we rode at once to the house of Yakoub, the rais or chief of Asheetha, who received us with grateful hospitality. CHAP. VII. ASHEETILA. —A NESTORIAN HOUSE.—THE MASSACRE.—ZAWEETIA. -NESTORIAN PRIESTS. — MURGII. — LIZAN. — SCENE OF THE MASSACRE. — A TIYARI BRIDGE. — RAOLA. — THE HOUSE OF THE MELEK.—TIYARI WOMEN. —THE DISTRICT OF TKHOMA. — ALARM - CHURCH SERVICE. TKHOMA GOWAIA. OURMELI. —A SU OF THE INHABITANTS. 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.* Amongst the men were 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 women 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 Beder |