of Mosul, of coloured tiles and bricks, is a conspicuous object from all parts of the plain. There are very abundant springs within the circuit of the old walls; the air is declared to be salubrious, and the soil rich and productive. All the villages of the Sinjar are built upon one plan. The houses rise on the hill-sides, and are surrounded by terraces, formed of rough stones piled one above the other as walls, to confine the scanty earth. These terraces are planted with olive and fig trees; a few vineyards are found near some villages. The houses, which are flat-roofed, are exceedingly clean and neat. They frequently contain several apartments. The walls of the interior are full of small recesses, like pigeon-holes, which are partly ornamental, and partly used to keep the domestic utensils and property of the owner. They give a very singular and original appearance to the room; and the oddity of the effect is considerably increased by masses of red and black paint daubed on the white wall, in patches, by way of ornament. The principal, and indeed now the only, trade carried on by the inhabitants of the Sinjar, is in dried figs, which are celebrated in this part of Turkey, and supply all the markets in the neighbouring provinces. The soil is fertile, and, as the means of irrigation are abundant, corn and various useful articles of produce might be raised in great plenty from the extensive tracts of arable land surrounding the villages. But the people have been almost ruined by misgovern ment; they can now scarcely cultivate corn enough for their own immediate wants. * The Pasha still lingered at Mirkan; and as I was anxious to return to Mosul, to renew the excavations, I took my leave of him, and rode through the desert to Tel Afer. I was accompanied by a small body of irregular cavalry,- a necessary escort, as the Aneyza Arabs were hanging about the camp, and plundering stragglers and caravans of supplies. As evening approached, we saw, congregated near a small stream, what appeared to be a large company of dismounted Arabs, their horses standing by them. As we were already near them, and could not have escaped the watchful eye of the Bedouin, we prepared for an encounter. I placed the baggage in the centre of my small party, and spread out the horsemen as widely as possible to exaggerate our numbers. We approached cautiously, and were surprised to see that the horses still remained without their riders; we drew still nearer, when they all galloped off towards the desert. They were wild asses. We attempted to follow them. After running a little distance they stopped to gaze at us, and I got sufficiently near to see them well; but as soon as they found that we were in pursuit they hastened their speed, and were soon lost in the distance.† the only * Some account of the Sinjar, by the late Dr. Forbes European, besides myself, who has, I believe, visited this singular district— will be found in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. †The reader will remember that Xenophon mentions these beautiful animals, which he must have seen during his march in these very plains. He faithfully describes the country, and the animals and birds which in I reached Mosul in two days, taking the road by Kessi Kupri, and avoiding the desert beyond AbouMaria, which we had crossed on our march to the Sinjar. habit it, as they are to this day, except that the ostrich is not now to be found so far north. "The country," says he, was a plain throughout, as even as the sea, and full of wormwood; if any other kinds of shrubs or reeds grew there, they had all an aromatic smell; but no trees appeared. Of wild creatures, the most numerous were wild asses, and not a few ostriches, besides bustards and roe deer (gazelles), which our horsemen sometimes chased. The asses, when they were pursued, having gained ground of the horses, stood still (for they exceeded them much in speed); and when these came up with them, they did the same thing again; so that our horsemen could take them by no other means but by dividing themselves into relays, and succeeding one another in the chase. The flesh of those that were taken was like that of red deer, but more tender." (Expedition of Cyrus.) In fleetness they equal the gazelle; and to match them is a feat which only one or two of the most celebrated mares have been known to accomplish. The Arabs sometimes catch the foals during the spring, and bring them up with milk in their tents. I endeavoured in vain to obtain a pair. They are of a light fawn colour-almost pink. The Arabs still eat their flesh. CHAP. X. EXCAVATIONS ON A LARGE SCALE UNDERTAKEN BY THE BRITISHI DISCOVERED. - DISCOVERY OF ARMOUR AND HELMETS. ARAB WEST CORNER OF THE MOUND. — WINGED LIONS. -CROUCHING ARAB EXCITEMENT. DIVORCE. THE TIYARI OR DEPARTURE OF ON my return to Mosul, I received letters from England, informing me that Sir Stratford Canning had presented the sculptures discovered in Assyria, and had made over all advantages that might be derived from the order given to him by the Sultan, to the British nation; and that the British Museum had received a grant of funds for the continuation of the researches commenced at Nimroud, and elsewhere. The grant was small, and scarcely adequate to the objects in view. There were many difficulties to contend with, and I was doubtful whether, with the means placed at my disposal, I should be able to fulfil the expectations which appeared to have been formed, as to the results of the undertaking. The sum given to M. Botta for the excavations at Khors abad alone, greatly exceeded the whole grant to the Museum, which was to include private expenses, those of carriage, and many extraordinary outlays inevitable in the East, when works of this nature are to be carried on. I determined, however, to accept the charge of superintending the excavations, to make every exertion, and to economise as far as it was in my power that the nation might possess as extensive and complete a collection of Assyrian antiquities as, considering the smallness of the means, it was possible to collect. I had neither knowledge nor experience as a draughtsman; and this I felt to be a great drawback, indeed a disqualification, which I could scarcely hope to overcome. Many of the sculptures, and monuments discovered, were in too dilapidated a condition to be removed, and others threatened to fall to pieces as soon as uncovered. It was only by drawings that the record of them could be preserved. There was no inclination to send an artist to assist me, and I made up my mind to do the best I could; to copy as carefully and accurately as possible, that which I saw before me. I had therefore to superintend the excavations; to draw all the bas-reliefs discovered; to copy and compare the innumerable inscriptions; to take casts of them*; and to preside over the moving and packing of the sculptures. As there was no one whom I could trust to overlook the diggers, I was * Casts of the inscriptions and of some of the sculptures were taken with brown paper, simply damped and impressed on the slab with a hard brush. |