CHAPTER VI.

THE preparations for my departure for the Tiyari mountains were completed by the 28th August, and on that day I started from Mosul. My party consisted of Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, Ibrahim Agha, two Albanian irregulars, who were to accompany me as far as Amadia, a servant, a groom, and one Ionan, or Ionunco, as he was familiarly called, a half-witted Nestorian, whose drunken frolics were reserved for the entertainment of the patriarch, and who was enlisted into our caravan for the amusement of the company. We rode our own horses. As Ionunco pretended to know all the mountain roads, and volunteered to conduct us, we placed ourselves under his guidance. I was provided with Bouyourouldis, or orders, from the Pasha to the authorities as far as Amadiyah, and with a letter to Abd-ul-Summet Bey, the Kurdish chief of Berwari, through whose territories we had to pass. Mar Shamoun, the patriarch, furnished me with a very strong letter of recommendation to the meleks and priests of the Nestorian districts.

As I was anxious to visit the French excavations at Khorsabad on my way to the mountains, I left Mosul early in the afternoon, notwithstanding the great heat of the sun. It was the sixth day of Ramazan, and the Mahommedans were still endeavoring to sleep away their hunger when I passed through the gates, and crossed the bridge of boats. Leaving my baggage and servants to follow leisurely, I galloped on with the Albanians, and reached Khorsabad in about two hours.

The mound is about fourteen miles N.N.E. of Mosul. A village formerly stood on its summit, but the houses were pur

chased and removed by M. Botta, when the excavations were undertaken by the French Government. It has been rebuilt in the plain at the foot of the mound. The Khausser, a small stream issuing from the hills of Makloub, is divided into numerous branches as it approaches the village, and irrigates extensive rice grounds. The place is consequently very unhealthy, and the few squalid inhabitants who appeared, were almost speechless from ague. During M. Botta's excavations, the workmen suffered greatly from fever, and many fell victims to it.

The mode of carrying on the excavations resembled that which I adopted at Nimroud; and the general plan of construction is the same as in the Assyrian edifices already described. There are, however, more narrow passages in this building than at Nimroud, and the chambers are inferior in size. At the same time the slabs used in their construction are in general higher, though narrower. The relief in the larger figures is more bold, in the smaller there is little differThe human-headed bulls differ principally in the headdress from those of the earliest buildings at Nimroud; the three-horned cap is higher, and is not rounded off, the top being richly ornamented. The head-dress, in fact, is like that of similar winged animals at Persepolis. The faces of several of the bulls were turned inwards, which gave them an awkward and unsightly appearance.

ence.

Since M. Botta's departure the chambers had been partly filled up by the falling in of the trenches; the sculptures were rapidly perishing; and, shortly, little will remain of this remarkable monument. Scarcely any part of the building had escaped the fire which destroyed it, and consequently very few sculptures could be removed. Of exterior architecture I could find no trace except a flight of steps, flanked by solid masonry, which appears to have led up to a small temple of black stone or basalt, a few traces of which still remain. At the foot of the mound lies an altar or tripod,

similar to that now in the Louvre, and part of a shaft of a column, which probably did not belong to the building.

The subjects of the sculptures, and the characters used in the inscriptions, have a general resemblance to those of Nimroud. I shall point out hereafter in what manner they differ.

Khorsabad, or Khishtabad, is mentioned by the early Arab geographers. It is described as a village occupying the site of an ancient Assyrian city called "Saraoun," or "Saraghoun;" and Yakuti declares, that soon after the Arab conquest considerable treasures were found amongst the ruins. It was generally believed at Mosul, where a copy of Yakuti's work exists. that it was in consequence of this notice, and in the hopes of further riches, M. Botta excavated in the mound-hence much of the opposition encountered from the authorities.

I had finished my examination of the ruins by the time the baggage reached the village. The sun had set, but being unwilling to expose my party to fever by passing the night on this unhealthy spot, I rode on to a small hamlet about two miles distant. It was dark when we reached it, and we found ourselves in the midst of a marsh, even more extensive than that of Khorsabad. As there was no village beyond, I was obliged to stop here; and clambering up to a platform, formed of branches of trees and elevated upon poles, I passed the night free from the attacks of the swarms of gnats which infested the stagnant water below.

We left the hamle long before sunrise, and soon reached some of the springs of the Khausser, a small stream which rises at the northern extremity of the Jebel Maklub, irrigates the lands of numerous villages on its course towards Mosul, and falls into the Tigris near Kouyunjik, after traversing the large quadrangle, of which that mound forms a part.

Our road crossed the northern spur of Jebel Maklub, and then stretched over an extensive level to the first range of the Kurdish hills. The heat soon became intense, the plain was parched and barren; a few mud-built walls marked here and

there the ruins of a village, and the silence and solitude were only broken by parties of Kurds, who were lazily driving before them, towards Mosul, donkeys heavily laden with rich clusters of grapes from the mountains.

A weary ride brought us to the Yezidi village of Ain Sifni. Its white houses and conical tombs had long been visible on the declivity of a low hill; its cleanliness was a relief after the filth of Mussulman and Christian habitations. I had expected to find here Sheikh Naser, the religious chief of the Yezidis. As he was absent I continued my journey, after partaking of the hospitality of the chief of the village, to the tomb of Sheikh Adi. A ride of two hours through a pleasant valley, watered by a mountain torrent, whose banks were concealed by flowering oleanders, brought us to a well-wooded basin, in the centre of which rose the white spire of the tomb of the great Yezidi saint.

I was soon stretched by a fountain in the cool shade, flung over the tomb by a cluster of lofty trees, and gave myself up to a full flow of gratitude, at this sudden change from the sultry heat and salt streams of the plains, to the verdure and sweet springs of the Kurdish hills. There were "pleasureplaces" enough for all my party, and each eagerly seized his tree, and his fountain. The guardians of the tomb, and a few wanderers from a neighboring village, gathered round me, and satisfied my curiosity as far as their caution and prejudices would allow. But I will defer until I relate my second visit to this place, a fuller description of the spot, and such information as I could collect relative to the singular rites and traditions of the disciples of Sheikh Adi.

We passed the night on the roof of one of the buildings within the precincts of the sacred edifice, and continued our journey at dawn on the following morning.

Quitting the Yezidi district, we entered the mountains inhabited by the large Kurdish tribe of Missouri. The valleys were well wooded; many-shaped rocks towered above our

heads, or hung over the streams of the Gomel,

which almost

A few vil

cut off our passage through the narrow defiles. lages were scattered on the declivities, but their inhabitants had deserted them for rude huts, built of branches of trees, their summer habitations.

In four hours we reached the large village of Kaloni, or Kalah-oni, built amongst vineyards, and hanging over the bed of the Gomel. The houses, well constructed of stone, were empty. Huge horns of the ibex ornamented the lintels of the gateways, and the corners of the buildings. The inhabitants. were at some distance, on the banks of the stream, living under the trees in their temporary sheds.

These Kurds were of the Badinan branch of the Missouri tribe. Their chief, whose hut was in the midst of this group of simple dwellings, was absent; but his wife received me with hospitality. Carpets, the work of her own women, were spread under a mulberry tree; and large bowls of milk and cream, wooden platters filled with boiled rice, slices of honeycomb, and baskets of new-gathered fruit, were speedily placed before us. The men sat at a respectful distance, and readily gave me such information as I asked for. The women, unembarrassed by the veil, brought straw to our horses, or ran to and fro with their pitchers. Their hair fell in long tresses down their backs, and their foreheads were adorned with rows of coins and beads; many were not unworthy of the reputation for beauty which the women of Missouri enjoy.

The spot was rich in natural beauty. The valley, shut in by lofty rocks, was well wooded with fruit trees-the mulberry, the peach, the fig, the walnut, the olive, and the pomegranate ; beneath them sprang the vine, or were laid out plots of Indian corn, sesame, and cotton. The sheds were built of boughs; and the property of the owners, carpets, horse-cloths, and domestic utensils, were spread out before them. From almost every door, mingling with the grass and flowers, stretched the

* Or Gomer; this stream forms the principal branch of the Ghazir or Bumadus.