so that, as the blocks were well hewn into square forms, alternate layers of black and white were produced; this is a caprice of taste to which both Arabs and Turks are very partial, if one may judge from the frequent instances in which it is met with in their masonry, as well as others in which it is imitated by painting. The minaret of this mosque was still standing, and perfect; but the mosque was without a roof, and seemed to have been uncovered from the beginning. Beyond this was a deep well, at which some damsels of the village watered our horses, and permitted us to drink from their vessels, when, after an exchange of inquiries and benedictions, we pursued our journey.

It was sun-set when we first came in sight of the Tigris, an elbow of which here bent towards the west, and came within less than a quarter of a mile of our path. The river appeared from this distance to be narrow, sluggish, and low in its bed.* It was here that we first saw the black porous basalt, so common in the Hauran and the plains east of the Euphrates, all the hills that we had traversed from Mardin thus far being of lime-stone. The basalt appears here, however, on the river's bank, and is said to follow the course of the road all the way down to Jezeeret and Mousul, and to be still found upon the banks of the Tigris upward beyond Diarbekr, to near its source. It evidently extends westerly also from hence, probably falling into the Kara Dagh, or Black Mountains,

* Of the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, which enclose Assyria, and give it the name of Mesopotamia, the channel of the Tigris, lying much lower, receives the water of the latter by many trenches; and, several streams also falling into its own bosom, it becomes a great river before it glides into the Persian Gulf, insomuch that it is every where impassable by a ford, for it spreads not out in breadth so as to diminish its depth, the land on both sides being much higher than the water; and it is not dispersed into other channels, nor conveyed into other rivers, but takes them into itself. But the Euphrates glides along a much higher channel, and is, in many places, of equal height with the lands on each side, so that several streams are cut from it; some constant ones, which supply the inhabitants with water, others only occasional, when the neighbouring countries happen to be parched up with drought, for rains seldom fall in these parts.— Plin. Nat. Hist. b. vii. c. 7. v. 2. p. 138.

and then joining the basaltic basis of the great plains, over which we had journeyed since leaving Orfah.

It was not yet dark when we reached a village called Poorang, where we halted to pass the night, as there was no hope of reaching Diarbekr in time to be admitted within the gates. The chief of this village received us very readily; and while the younger part of his family took care of our horses, and set about to prepare our supper, he himself spread carpets and cushions for us on the terrace of his house, and sat to entertain us with such civilities as he conceived most agreeable to us after our journey. The population of this village, to the number of about a hundred families, were wholly Koords, descendants of early settlers in the plains, who had originally come down from the opposite mountains of Koordistan. The physiognomy of such as we saw seemed to be different both from the Turks and the Arab countenance. The form of the head and face was rounder, the features in general flatter, the complexion fair and ruddy, and the eyes dark and expressive. The abodes of these people were cleaner and neater than the habitations of the same class of peasantry are found to be either in Egypt or Syria, and the furniture and conveniences of the household establishment are, in every respect, superior.

In addition to the hospitable treatment which we received from our host, we were entertained by a party who were called in by the old man expressly for our amusement. This consisted of a robust mountaineer, who wore a pointed bonnet and a fantastic dress, an effeminate youth dressed in female apparel, and decked with ornaments, and three men who played on musical instruments, including a rude guitar, a reed or pipe, and a drum, beaten on by the palm of the hand and the fingers. The man exhibited some extraordinary feats of strength and agility; the boy danced, and placed himself in such lascivious and wanton attitudes, as to draw forth shouts of approbation from all beholders. * The music

* See the Note on these Eastern dances in a former chapter, at page 58.

In less than an hour we reached the Tigris, which here came from the south-west on our left, and flowed to the north-east on our right, making a great westerly bend as it goes by the town of Diarbekr; and here taking an easterly bend, so as to get again in the proper line of its descent to the sea, which is from north-west to south-east. The banks of the river were shelving, and its bed a mixture of earth and sand. Its breadth across was not more than a hundred feet, and it was so shallow as to be fordable by our horses without wetting their riders. The waters were tolerably clear, and sweet to the taste, and the rate of the current seemed not to exceed two miles per hour.*

After crossing the river, we came on a fine light soil, now used as corn-land, and, as we rode past, started large flocks of black starlings, to the number of several hundreds in each flight. Continuing on a course inclining more northerly, we came, in another hour, to the banks of the Tigris again, the river here coming from the northeast on our right, and flowing to the south-west on our left, or exactly the reverse of what we had found it before, from its making the serpentine bend described.

It was on the moment of our coming on the brow of the slope, which here formed the southern bank of the river, and gave us the view of the stream flowing by, that we caught the first sight of Diarbekr, which burst upon us all at once, and presented a picture of so much interest, that I involuntarily checked the bridle of my horse to dwell upon the scene; while my companions, to whom it was a familiar one, dashed across the river without heeding it for a moment, and stemmed together a broader, deeper, and more rapid stream than we had crossed before.†

* While the Ten Thousand were encamped between the mountains of Curdistan and the Tigris, before they struck off among the Curds, they had the curiosity to attempt ascertaining the depth of the river. On one side of them, says Xenophon, were exceeding high mountains, and on the other a river so deep, that, when they sounded it with their pikes, the ends of them did not even appear above the water.

Pliny says, that the Tigris, in Mesopotamia, is reckoned among the rivers that go under ground and re-appear again.-Nat. Hist. b. 2, c. 103-b. 6, c. 27.

The aspect of Diarbekr, at this first view, is that of a walled and fortified city, seated on a commanding eminence, appearing to be strongly defended by its position as well as its works without, and splendid, and wearing an air of great stateliness and opulence, in its mosques and towers within. The country, amid which it is seated, is every where fertile and productive. Lofty mountains in the distance, while looking eastward toward Koordistan, give an outline of great grandeur; in that direction, gardens and bridges, and pleasant summer-houses, seen nearer at hand, add softer beauties to the scene; while the passage of the Tigris, at the foot of the hill on which the town is seated, offers a combination of picturesque beauty, agricultural wealth, domestic convenience, and rural enjoyment.

After passing the Tigris a second time, we went up a steep road on the side of the hill, having gardens below us on our right, and extensive cemeteries, in more abrupt valleys, on our left, till we approached the gate called, by the Turks, Mardin Kaupusee, and by the Arabs, Bab el Mardin, from its being the gate leading to and from that town. A mass of the basaltic rock, on which the whole city of Diarbekr is built, having recently fallen away, exposed to view an extensive cluster of distinctly-formed basaltic columns. These were in general of a pentagonal form, some of them shewing a length of ten or fifteen feet, and appearing to be about a foot or fifteen inches in diameter. The stone was of a dark colour, closegrained, and was the same kind of basalt as that we had seen, in all its different degrees of firmness and porosity, from the valley of the Jordan to this place.

On entering Diarbekr, by the gate of Mardin, we passed through paved streets and crowded bazārs, till we came nearly into the centre of the city, where we alighted at the house of a certain Yuseff, a Christian merchant, to whom the Syrian Patriarch, at Mardin, had given me a letter. He received us with great kindness, and offered his utmost assistance during our stay. The whole of his family and dependants were called in, to bid us welcome, and a

number of his friends and acquaintances, chiefly Christians, followed to see and congratulate the strangers. To Yuseff I knew I might safely entrust the secret of my being an Englishman, being aware that the communication of this would be as flattering to him as advantageous to myself. It was still concealed, however, from my guide, and from the few other Mohammedans who visited us; but when these had retired, and the entertainment that had been hastily prepared for the occasion was set before us, my guide, who had no more scruples than myself as to the use of forbidden draughts, followed my example in this particular, and we, therefore, still retained our Moslem characters in each other's eye, though our practices were entirely Christian. While we sat around the board of our hospitable host, messengers were sent to the Konauk Tatar Agasi, or rendezvous of the Tartars, to ascertain whether there were any despatch-bearers destined for Bagdad, or whether any were soon expected from Constantinople. The principal object of our journey to this place was, indeed, to find such messengers, if possible, in the direct road between these great cities, which stand at the extremes of the Turkish empire, and to accompany them on their way. This cannot be done casually at any of the intermediate posts on the road, but must be effected at some one of the head-quarters, in the great towns at which they halt. It is here only that travellers can make the necessary arrangement for the proper supply of such a number of horses as they may require: a firman is then given to them, by the governor of the city, authorizing them to demand the number specified, from those who have contracted to supply the post-horses on the road, and all then goes on smoothly. Without such authority from the government, the suppliers of the horses would not grant them to a stranger, even on payment of the common hire; as it is not the custom to lend out horses in this way to any one, except the Sultan's messengers, for whom they are carefully reserved.

Our disappointment was great when the messengers returned to tell us, that though there were several Tatars going to the north,