JUNE 25th.-Had my guide appeared at the appointed hour, it would have been worthy of remark, as a singular instance of Eastern punctuality; but it was high noon before he came, and then other causes delayed us still longer.

This man, whose name was Hussein, was one of the most notorious robbers among the Koord horsemen belonging to the different independant chiefs in this neighbourhood; and, by some of those who exercised their kind offices for me in the affair of engaging him for the journey, he was chosen as the safest passport I could have through my intended route; though, by others, it was prophesied, as certain, either that he would pilfer me, under the pretence of presents due to himself, or that he would cause me to

be well fleeced by others with whom he would place himself in league. The former was the confidence of the many, the latter the fears of the few. The very existence of these, however, induced us to take all possible precaution in the affair, and it was determined that I should conceal what money I had in my khomr, or girdle, and pass as an unfortunate merchant of Egypt, who had no property, but was going to Bagdad under the hope of amending my fortune.

The Patriarch and Chiefs of the convent, with their mercantile friends of the city, all approved of this measure, so that such duplicity must be common in the country, and the necessity for it very strong to induce such men to advise it. The Koord pledged himself, by all that was sacred, to protect my person from the open insult of strangers, and to die in my defence; adding, that this was the only danger to be apprehended, for, as to being pilfered, we were going the whole of the way among his friends and companions, who were men much too honourable to be guilty of such treachery.

We set out together about an hour after noon, and going to the western quarter of the town, passed through the Bab el Room. It could be seen here, that the whole of the wall of enclosure, going from the extremities of the castle-rock around the town, was of Mohammedan work, and of the most inferior kind.

From this gate we descended over the steep side of the hill, into a broad and deep valley, drinking at a fountain in the way, and leaving on our right a small village called Allipoor, seated beneath the castle, on its northern side, amidst gardens and wild brush-wood. We went nearly north through this valley, and, ascending over its boundary-hill in that quarter, came in about two hours to a beautiful winding vale, called Waadi Zennaar, or the Valley of the Girdle. Its name was most appropriate, as it formed a narrow belt of the richest verdure, between two bare ridges of rock, and was watered by a small rivulet following the course of its

centre.

Descending into this, we halted at a delicious spot, and reposed

for an hour upon a carpet of green turf, beneath the shade of lofty and wide-spreading trees, in the midst of which reared some tall and stately cypresses, whose dark and thickly-interwoven foliage formed an impenetrable veil to the sun declining in the west behind them. We were served here by a Pilgrim Shereef, one of Hussein's best friends, with coffee and fruits, among which were cherries and apples, equal to those of England, and produced in the Shereef's own garden.

An Indian Dervish, who had been thirteen years from his home, on a journey to Mecca, and had reached thus far on his way back again, joined us here; and, after partaking of our fare, sung both Arabic and Hindoostanee songs, to the sound of a tambour, with which he measured his time. Some of these men, I was told, spend the best half of their lives in making only one pilgrimage to the Caaba, and the city of their Prophet. We heard indeed of one who had been thirty years thus employed, and who only six months since had set out from Mardin towards Mousul.

These Pilgrims begin their pilgrimages at the age of manhood, from various parts of India, and as they carry nothing with them but their scrip and staff, and subsist entirely by charity on the way, they are often three or four years before they reach the object of their devotion, making long halts at every town they pass, and travelling always on foot. On their return from Mecca, however, their progress is still more tardy, for being now honoured with the title of Hadjee, and highly respected as the holiest kind of Dervishes, they are well treated and well fed wherever they go. This life of indolence and good living is found by them so superior to that of their early days in India, that it is scarcely to be wondered at if they should wish to perpetuate it, by prolonging their stay in the countries in which they enjoy it. Some, therefore, end their days in their journey back. If any reach their own land again, it is that, going always farther and farther on, to keep up the pretence of moving homeward, after a length of time they find themselves getting out of the great Mohammedan world, upon the confines of

their own country, where infidels and idolaters pay them no such honours as had strewed their way thus far, and they hasten to end their pilgrimage among such of their friends as are of their own faith, and such of their relatives as may be still left alive to welcome their protracted return.

On remounting our horses, we followed the course of the Waadi Zennaar to the north-west, having water, wood, and gardens, all the way, and seeing many small red squirrels playing on the branches of the trees. It was here, that I first saw the common magpie, a bird not before remarked by me in any part of Turkey, and even here seemingly rare, as this solitary bird was the only one that appeared.

We continued to go through the valley for about an hour, when, passing over the ridge of hills that bounded it on the north, we entered into a second valley, called Waadi Bermān, equally fertile and well wooded with the former, and having in it several wellcultivated corn-fields still green, though the grain was fully formed in the ear. There were two villages, Awēna and Berman, each consisting of about fifty dwellings of Koord families, and both under the government of an independant chief, called Tamar Aga. The situation of these was, in every respect, agreeable, and their inhabitants seemed to enjoy at once security, health, and abundance.

The residence of my companion Hussein being at Bermān, we alighted at it just as the sun was sinking behind the hills by which the villages on the west are hemmed in, and we were received, by his wife and children, with a respect bordering on fear. A clean cotton mattress and cushions being placed for me on the terrace, my guide absented himself for some time, leaving me alone to receive those who came to pay their evening visit to the stranger; but, as not one of these spoke Arabic, and I myself did not understand the Koord tongue, we could not communicate with each other.

Hussein soon returned, however, with an invitation from his

chief, Tamar Aga, to visit him. I at first declined, suspecting the extortion of a present at least; but though I strongly objected, it was insisted that it was impossible to pass without visiting the chief, and that, in short, I could not be suffered to depart without performing this necessary duty.

We accordingly waited on the Aga, and were received by him with that mixture of dignity and ease, which belongs even to the lowest classes of the Turks, who display, on all occasions, great selfcommand and natural politeness. The chief was surrounded by his armed followers, in all the pomp of feudal authority; and though these men would each of them use liberties in conversation with their lord, which would scarcely be tolerated between equals among us, yet no one dared to seat himself in his presence.

As not even my guide was aware of my being an European, I was introduced to the Aga as a merchant of Aleppo going to Bagdad with the caravan now at Mardin; but who, having some affairs to transact at Diarbekr, had profited by their halt, to go up to that city, and, in a day or two, intended returning again by the same route. Our conversation was at first general, but soon turned towards the dangers of the road, and the important benefits conferred on travellers, by those whose vigilance kept the roads clear of the robbers which usually infested them. This was followed by a commission to procure certain articles from Diarbekr, in lieu of paying the usual tribute exacted from passengers who went this way; and after some ineffectual remonstrances on my part, I was obliged to yield to the demand, and to promise obedience.

In the true spirit of the people of this country, the chief first exacted an arbitrary contribution, as a tribute to his local authority, and then entertained me with all the liberality of a friend of long standing. We all supped together, from rich dishes mostly prepared for the occasion; the house of the Aga was offered for my use, as long as I chose to remain in it, and the protection of his name or of his people for the remainder of my journey. I was glad to have the power of declining this last, however, as the price of such safeguards is often more than their value. I therefore retired