A Woman's Journey Round the World Part 37

During this excursion we pa.s.sed a number of fields, in which the people were engaged in separating the corn from the straw in a very peculiar manner. For this purpose, a machine was employed, consisting of two wooden tubs, between which was fastened a roller, with from eight to twelve long, broad, and blunt knives or hatchets.

This was drawn by two horses or oxen over the bundles of corn laid on the ground, until the whole of the corn was separated from the straw. It was then thrown up into the air by means of shovels, so that the chaff might be separated from the grain by the wind.

We finally visited the sulphur springs, which lie close to the walls of Mosul. They are not warm, but appear to contain a large quant.i.ty of sulphur, as the smell is apparent at a considerable distance.

These springs rise in natural basins, which are surrounded by walls eight feet in height. Every one is allowed to bathe there without any charge, for people are not so n.i.g.g.ardly and sparing of nature's gifts as in Europe. Certain hours are set apart for women, and others for the men.

On the following day we rode to the Mosque Elkosch, near the town.

Noah's son Shem has found a resting-place here. We were not allowed to enter this mosque, but certainly did not lose much by that, as all these monuments are alike, and are not remarkable either for architecture or ornament.

The Nineveh excavations are carried on most extensively at Tel- Timroud, a district where the mounds of earth are the most numerous.

Tel-Nimroud is situated about eighteen miles from Mosul down the Tigris.

We took our seats one moonlight evening upon a raft, and glided down between the dull banks of the Tigris. After seven hours, we landed, about 1 o'clock in the morning, at a poor village, bearing the high sounding name Nimroud. Some of the inhabitants, who were sleeping before their huts, made us a fire and some coffee, and we then laid down till daybreak upon some rugs we had brought with us.

At daybreak we took horses (of which there are plenty in every village), and rode to the excavations, about a mile from Nimroud.

We found here a great number of places which had been dug up, or rather, uncovered mounds of earth, but not, as at Herculaneum, whole houses, streets, squares, indeed, half a town. Nothing beyond separate rooms has been brought to light here, or at the utmost, three or four adjoining ones, the exterior walls of which are not, in any case, separated from the earth, and have neither windows nor doors visible.

The objects which have been discovered exactly resemble those in the neighbourhood of Mosul, but occur in greater numbers. Besides these, I saw several idols and sphynxes in stone. The former represented animals with human heads; their size was gigantic--about that of an elephant. Four of these statues have been found, two of which were, however, considerably damaged. The others were not indeed in very good preservation, although sufficiently so to show that the sculptors did not particularly excel in their profession.

The sphynxes were small, and had unfortunately suffered more damage than the bulls.

Shortly before my arrival, an obelisk of inconsiderable height, a small and uninjured sphynx, together with other remains, had been sent to England.

The excavations near Tel-Nimroud have been discontinued about a year, and Mr. Layard has been recalled to London. An order was afterwards given to cover in the places which had been dug open, as the wandering Arabs had begun to do a great deal of injury. When I visited the spot, some places were already covered in, but the greater part remained open.

The excavations near Nebbi Yunus are still being carried on. An annual grant is made by the British government for this purpose.

The English resident at Baghdad, Major Rawlinson, had made himself perfectly master of the cuneiform character. He reads the inscriptions with ease, and many of the translations are the results of his labours.

We returned to Mosul on horseback in five hours and a half. The power of endurance of the Arabian horses is almost incredible. They were allowed only a quarter of an hour's rest in Mosul, where they had nothing but water, and then travelled the eighteen miles back again during the hottest part of the day. Mr. Ross told me that even this was not equal to the work done by the post horses: the stations for these are from forty-eight to seventy-two miles distant from each other. It is possible to travel from Mosul by Tokat to Constantinople in this way. The best Arabian horses are found round Baghdad and Mosul.

An agent of the Queen of Spain had just purchased a stud of twelve magnificent horses (eight mares and four stallions), the dearest of which had cost on the spot 150 pounds sterling. They stood in Mr.

Ra.s.sam's stable. Their handsome, long, slender heads, their sparkling eyes, slight bodies, and their small delicately formed feet, would have filled any admirer of horses with delight.

I could now venture, not, indeed, without considerable risk, although with the possibility of some insult, upon the desired journey into Persia. I sought a caravan to Tebris. Unfortunately, I could not find one which went direct there, and I was, therefore, compelled to make this journey in separate stages, a circ.u.mstance which was so much the worse for me, as I was told that I should not find any Europeans on the way.

Nevertheless I took the chance. Mr. Ra.s.sam arranged for me the journey as far as Ravandus, and furnished me with a letter of recommendation to one of the natives there. I wrote out a small lexicon of Arabian and Persian words, and took leave of this hospitable family at sunset, on the 8th of July. I started on this journey with some feelings of anxiety, and scarcely dared to hope for a fortunate termination. On that account I sent my papers and ma.n.u.scripts from here to Europe, so that in case I was robbed or murdered my diary would at least come into the hands of my sons.

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CHAPTER XX. PERSIA.

JOURNEY OF THE CARAVAN TO RAVANDUS--ARRIVAL AT AND STAY IN RAVANDUS-- A KURDISH FAMILY--CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY--SAUH-BULAK--OROMIA-- AMERICAN MISSIONARIES--KUTSCHIE--THREE GENEROUS ROBBERS--PERSIAN CHANS AND ENGLISH BUNGALOWS--ARRIVAL AT TEBRIS.

On the 8th of July the caravan guide called for me in the evening.

His appearance was so unfavourable that I should scarcely have ventured to travel a mile with him had I not been a.s.sured that he was a man well known in the place. His dress consisted of rags and tatters, and his countenance resembled that of a robber. Ali, that was his name, told me that the travellers and goods had already gone on and were encamped in the chan near Nebbi-Yunus, where they were to pa.s.s the night. The journey was to be commenced before sunrise.

I found three men and some pack-horses; the men (Kurds) were no better in appearance than Ali, so that I could not promise myself much gratification from their society. I took up my quarters for the night in the dirty court-yard of the chan, but was too much frightened to sleep well.

In the morning, to my astonishment, there were no indications of starting. I asked Ali what was the cause of this, and received as answer that the travellers were not all a.s.sembled yet, and that, as soon as they were, we should proceed immediately. In the expectation that this might soon happen, I dared not leave the miserable shelter to return to Mosul, from which we were only a mile distant. The whole day was spent in waiting; these people did not come until evening. There were five of them: one, who appeared to be a wealthy man, with his two servants, was returning from a pilgrimage. We started at last about 10 o'clock at night. After travelling for four hours we crossed several ranges of hills, which form the boundaries of Mesopotamia and Kurdistan. We pa.s.sed several villages, and reached Secani on the morning of the 10th of July.

Ali did not halt at the village which lies on the pretty river Kasir, but on the other side of the river near a couple of deserted, half-ruined huts. I hastened directly into one of the best to make sure of a good place, where the sun did not come through the sieve- like roof, which I fortunately found but the pilgrim, who hobbled in directly after me, was inclined to dispute its possession. I threw my mantle down, and seating myself upon it, did not move from the place, well knowing that a Mussulman never uses force towards a woman, not even towards a Christian one. And so it turned out; he left me in my place and went grumbling away. One of the pedlars behaved himself in a very different manner: when he saw that I had nothing for my meal but dry bread, while he had cuc.u.mbers and sweet melons, he gave me a cuc.u.mber and a melon, for which he would not take any money. The pilgrim also ate nothing else, although he had only to send one of his servants to the village to procure either fowls or eggs, etc. The frugality of these people is really astonishing.

About 6 in the evening we again proceeded on our journey, and for the first three hours went continually up-hill. The ground was waste and covered with boulders, which were full of shallow holes, and resembled old lava.

Towards 11 at night we entered an extensive and beautiful valley, upon which the moon threw a brilliant light. We purposed halting here, and not continuing our journey further during the night, as our caravan was small, and Kurdistan bears a very bad name. The road led over fields of stubble near to stacks of corn. Suddenly half a dozen powerful fellows sprung out from behind, armed with stout cudgels, and seizing our horses' reins, raised their sticks, and shouted at us terribly. I felt certain that we had fallen into the hands of a band of robbers, and was glad to think that I had left my treasures which I had collected at Babylon and Nineveh, together with my papers, at Mosul; my other effects might have been easily replaced. During the time this was pa.s.sing in my mind, one of our party had sprung from his horse and seized one of the men by the breast, when he held a loaded pistol before his face and threatened to shoot him. This had an immediate effect; the waylayers relinquished their hold, and soon entered into a peaceful conversation with us; and at last, indeed, showed us a good place to encamp, for which, however, they requested a small bachshish, which was given to them by a general collection. From me, as belonging to the female s.e.x, they required nothing. We pa.s.sed the night here, though not without keeping guard.

11th July. About 4 o'clock we were again upon the road, and rode six hours, when we came to the village of Selik. We pa.s.sed through several villages, which, however, had a very miserable appearance.

The huts were built of reeds and straw; the slightest gust of wind would have been sufficient to have blown them over. The dress of the people approaches in character to the Oriental; all were very scantily, dirtily, and raggedly clothed.

Near Selik I was surprised by the sight of a fig-tree and another large tree. In this country trees are rare. The mountains surrounding us were naked and barren, and in the valleys there grew at most some wild artichokes or beautiful thistles and chrysanthemums.

The n.o.ble pilgrim took upon himself to point out my place under the large tree, where the whole party were encamped. I gave him no reply, and took possession of one of the fig-trees. Ali, who was far better than he looked, brought me a jug of b.u.t.termilk, and altogether today pa.s.sed off tolerably pleasantly.

Several women from the village visited me and begged for money, but I gave them none, as I knew from experience that I should be attacked by all if I gave to one. I once gave a child a little ring, and not only the other children, but their mothers and grandmothers, crowded round me. It cost me some trouble to keep them from forcibly emptying my pockets. Since that time I was more cautious. One of the women here changed her begging manner into one so threatening, that I was heartily glad at not being alone with her.

We left this village at 4 in the afternoon. The pilgrim separated from us, and the caravan then consisted of only five men. In about an hour and a half we reached an eminence from which we obtained a view of an extensive and well cultivated hill country. The land in Kurdistan is without comparison better than in Mesopotamia, and the country is consequently better inhabited; we were, therefore continually pa.s.sing through different villages.

Before nightfall we entered a valley which was distinguished for fresh rice plantations, beautiful shrubs, and green reeds: a brisk stream murmured at our side, the heat of the day was now succeeded by the evening shadows, and, at this moment we had nothing to wish for. This good fortune, however, did not last long; one of the pedlars was suddenly taken so ill that we were obliged to stop. He nearly fell off his mule, and remained motionless. We covered him with rugs, but beyond that we could not do anything for him, as we had neither medicines nor other remedies with us. Fortunately, he fell asleep after a few hours, and we squatted down on the ground and followed his example.

12th July. This morning our patient was well again; a doubly fortunate circ.u.mstance, as we had to pa.s.s a terribly rocky and stony road. We were obliged to scramble up and down the mountainous side of a valley, as the valley itself was completely occupied by the irregular course of the river Badin, which wound in a serpentine direction from side to side. Pomegranates and oleanders grew in the valley, wild vines twined themselves round the shrubs and trees, and larches covered the slopes of the hills.

After a difficult and dangerous ride of six hours, we came to a ford of the river Badin. Our raft turned out to be so small that it would carry only two men, and very little baggage; and we were, in consequence, four hours in crossing. We stayed for the night not far from the ferry of Vakani.

13th July. The road still continued bad; we had to ascend an immense pile of mountains. Far and wide, nothing was to be seen but rock and stone, although, to my astonishment, I observed that in many places the stones had been gathered on one side, and every little spot of earth made use of. A few dwarf ash-trees stood here and there. The whole has the character of the country near Trieste.

Although there were no villages on the road, there appeared to be some near, for on many of the heights I observed large burial- places, especially on those which are overshadowed by ash-trees. It is the custom throughout Kurdistan to establish the burial-places on high situations.

We did not travel more than seven hours today, and halted in the valley of Halifan. This little valley has an uncommonly romantic situation; it is surrounded by lofty and beautiful mountains, which rise with a gentle slope on one side, and on the other are steep and precipitous. The whole valley was covered with a rich vegetation; the stubble-fields were interspersed with tobacco and rice plantations, and meadows. Poplar-trees surrounded the village, which was pleasantly situated at the foot of a hill, and a stream of crystalline clearness rushed forcibly out of a mountain chasm, and flowed calmly and still through this delightful valley. Towards evening, numerous herds of cows, sheep, and goats came from the mountain-slopes towards the village.

We encamped at some distance from the village; I could not procure any relish for my dry bread, and had no other bed than the hard ground of a stubble-field. Nevertheless I should include this evening among the most agreeable; the scenery round compensated me sufficiently for the want of every other enjoyment.

14th July. Ali allowed us to rest only half the night; at 2 o'clock we were again mounted. A few hundred paces from our resting-place was the entrance of a stupendous mountain-pa.s.s. The s.p.a.ce between the sides of the rocks afforded only sufficient room for the stream and a narrow pathway. Fortunately the moon shone out brilliantly, otherwise it would have been scarcely possible for the most practised animal to ascend the narrow and extremely dangerous road between the fallen ma.s.ses of rock and rolling stones. Our hardy animals scrambled like chamois along, over the edges of the steep precipices, and carried us with safety past the terrible abyss, at the bottom of which the stream leapt, with a frightful roaring, from rock to rock. This night-scene was so terrible and impressive that even my uncultivated companions were involuntarily silent--mute, and noiseless, we went on our way, nothing breaking the death-like stillness but the rattling steps of our animals.

We had proceeded about an hour in this way, when the moon was suddenly obscured; thick clouds gathered round from all sides, and the darkness soon became so great that we could scarcely see a few steps before us. The foremost man continually struck fire, so as to light up the path somewhat by the sparks. But this did not help us much, the animals began to slip and stumble. We were compelled to halt, and stood quiet and motionless, one behind the other, as if suddenly changed to stone by magic. Life returned again with daybreak, and we spurred our animals briskly forwards.

We were in an indescribably beautiful circle of mountains; at our side lay high cliffs; before and behind, hills and mountains crowded over each other, and in the far distance an enormous peak, covered with snow, completed the romantic picture. This mountain-pa.s.s is called Ali-Bag. For three hours and a half we continued going up hill, without intermission.

A short distance before reaching the plateau, we observed, in several places, small spots of blood, of which n.o.body at first took much notice, as they might have been caused by a horse or mule that had injured itself. But shortly we came to a place which was entirely covered with large blood-spots. This sight filled us with great horror; we looked round anxiously for the cause of these marks and perceived two human bodies far down below. One hung scarcely a hundred feet down on the declivity of the rock, the other had rolled further on, and was half-buried under a ma.s.s of rock. We hastened from this horrible scene as quickly as we could; it was several days before I could free myself from the recollection of it.

All the stones on the plateau were full of holes, as if other stones had been stuck in. This appearance ceased as we went further up.

In the valley, at the other side of the plateau, there were vines, which, however, did not rise far above the ground, as they were not supported in any way.

Our road continued on through the mountains. We frequently descended, but again had to cross several heights, and, finally, came out upon a small elevated plain, which, on both sides, was bounded by steep declivities. A village of huts, made of branches, was situated on this plain, and on the summits of two neighbouring rocks fortified works were erected.

My travelling companions remained behind here; but Ali went with me to the town of Ravandus, which only becomes visible from this side at a very short distance.

The situation and view of this town is most charming; not indeed from its beauty, for it is not more remarkable in that respect than other Turkish towns, but on account of its peculiarity. It is situated upon a steep, isolated cone, surrounded by mountains. The houses are built in the form of terraces, one above another, with flat roofs, which are covered with earth, stamped down hard, so as to resemble narrow streets, for which they serve to the upper houses, and it is frequently difficult to tell which is street and which roof. On many of the terraces, walls, formed of the branches of trees, are erected, behind which the people sleep. Lower down, the hill is surrounded by a fortified wall.