The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-26 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENYNG, DECEMBER 26, 1854.

oND 0 N JOINT STOCK BANK;
21 ST. DECUIE ER, 1854.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That the next GENERAL
MEETING of the SHAREHOLDERS of this COMPANY w.ll be
held in the Board Room of the Bank, in Princes-street, Mansion
House, on THURSDAY, the 18th dap of January next, at Twelve
o'clock precisely, to receive,thd Report of the Directors, and to elect
Four Directors in the place of Philip Flower, ,Esq. • Geo:•ge
Holgate Foster, Esq.; George Meek,,Ecq.; and George Topler, Esq.,
who will on that day go '414 of office, in conformity with the provi4
siona of the Deed of Settlement, all of whom offer theme-elves for
re-election.

Notice Is also given. that the Trrnsfer Books of the Bank will be
Closed on Saturday, the 30th instant, and remain so until Friday,
the 19th January next.

By order of the Botrd.
F. BEWETT, Secretary.

THE GENERAL LIFE AND FIRE
ASSURANCE COMPANY.

Established 1837.
Empowered by Special Acts of Parliament.
62, King Wiliiam•street, London.
Capital, 1,000,0001.

DIRECTORS.

George Bougfleld, Esq. ' 141111 am Hunter, Esq., Alierman.
T. Chail►s, F.,...A , Alderman, M.P. lames Pilhington. Esq., M.P.
Ja2ob Geo. Cope, Esq. Thomas Piper, Esq.
John Dixon, Esq. I Thomas B. Simpson, Esq.
John T. Fletch 3r, Esq. The Right lion. Chas. P. VialerP,
Chas. Hindley, Esq., M.P. M.P.
Edward lYilson, Esq.

The CHRISTMAS Fire Renewal Receipts are now ready, and
may be had on application at the Ileall-oftice of the Company, or
of any of its agents lirtmghout the country. '

In the LIFS DEPAR CMENT FOUR-FIE rils of the PROFITS
divisible by the Company's Peed of Settlement, all•iwed to Assurers;
and the Company transacts all business relating to Life Assurances,
Deferred Annuities, or Family Endowments. on the most liberal
terms consistent with sound principles and public security. -
No charge for Stamps on Life Assurance Policies.
LOANS granted on personal security, and the deposit of a Life
Policy to be effected by the borrower.
To all Agents, &netters, Auctioneers, and Surveyors, a liberal
allowance is made.

By order of th,) Di' ctorl
1 fIO:U.IS ritun, secretary.

PROSPECTUS
OF THE

INVERNESS AND KLGIN JUNCTION
RAILWAY.
[FROM NAIRN TO FORRES AND ELGIN--FORMING A.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INVERNESS AND ELGIN
IN CONTINUATION OP THE INVERNEiS AND NAIRN
RA.LLWAY-}PITH A BRANCH TJ F./NI:01101LN.]

CAPITAL,
In Sharps of £lO each. "Deposit £1 103. per Share.,

CHAIRMAN.
The Right Honourable the Earl of Sealeld.
DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN.
Captain William rroser-Tytler of Allottle and Burdsyards.
PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE.
Robert Anderson farmer, Maisie Klldrummie
T. P. [l. Biscoe, of Newton
The Hon. Thomas C. 'truce, Commissioner for the Earl of Seafleld
Richard Bntler, farmer, Chapeltown, of Burdsya
Angu' Came' on, of Firhail
John Chi-hohn, merch.int, Inverness
John Cruickshank, Cloc, s
Thomas Davidson. hanker, Forres
Alexander G. DaVs, late of Shanghai, Inverness
Alexander Dallas, Commissioner for John G. Golan, of Gollanfleld
John Dougal, of t,lenferness
Henry J. Brodie Dunn, of Milton-Brodie
W. S. Ferguson, Elkin
Colonel Alexander Findlay, of MI lbank
George Alexander Forteath, of Newton
Robert Fraser, Brackla
William Geddes, of Laurel Bank, Elgin
Captain James Gordon, of Ivybank
James Gordon, merchant Inverness
The Hon. Lewis Alexander Grant, of Grant
Robert Grant, of Kiner-rth
John Or mt, of Glen-Grant
Alexander A. Gregory, merchant, Inverness
Alex order Mackintosh, of Mackintosh
Enett.s William Mackintosh, of Ralgmore, Deputy-Chairman of the
Inverness and Nairn Railway Company
Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Inglis. of KiogsreilL9
Lachlan Kenne4y, merchant, Nairn
John Kynoch, Provost of Forres
Neil Maclean, Factor on the Estates of Kilravock and Cantray
John Maclennan, corn merchant, Beauly
Cluny Macpherson, Chairman of the Inverness and Nairn Railway

Company
D. D. Manson, M.D., Spynie
John Mitchell, We-itcr Alves, Factor for Seaforth
Bailie Riach,. Forres
Al.xander I. Robertson, of Aultnaskiah
David Rose, of Vieumont, corn-merch ant, Inverness
Adam Sharp, merchant, Rothes
Alexander Smyth, of Balnageith
James Stephen, of Brueeland, M.D., Elgin
William Stephen, Inehbroom
Major Donald Stuart, late 46th Regiment
Charles Stewart, solicitor, Inverness ,
James Sutherland. Provost of Inverness
Eric Sutherland, Shem2ston, Factor for Sir Win. Gordon Cumming
of Altyre, Bart.
Alexander Thurburn, of Drumdiran
Henry Wm. White, of Manor and Lentran
James Wilson, solicitor and bank-agent, Inverness

ENGINEER. •
John Mitchell, F.R.S.E.
CONSULTING ENGINEERS.

gosoph Locke, Esq., M.P.

1 E. J. Errington, Esq., C. E.

BANKERS.
The Caledonian Banking Company, Inverness, and its Branches
Messrs. Barclay,,Bevon, Tritton, and Co., London
The Union Bank of Scotland, Edinburgh, and Glasgow
Manchester and Liverpool District Bank, Liverpool and Manchester

SOLICITORS.
Messrs. G. P. Anderson, Inverness
Mr. Adam Davidson. Nairn . .
Mr.' WlElam Selanders, Forms
31r. no, ert Urquhart, ditto
Mr. John D. Davidson, ditto •
Mr. George Leslie, Elgin
P IELIAMENTARY AGENT.

Theodore Martin, Esq., 10, New Palace Yard, Westminster.
Messrs. G. and P. Anderson, Inverness, Interim Secretaries.

The present time seems to be peculiarly satiable for the establish •
ment of the proposed Lin • of Railway. The works upon the Inver-
ness and Nairn line have been commenced, and the contractors un-
dertake that the line shall be open for traffic by the let of August
next. On the other hand, the chain of Railway communication on
the south is complete as far as the town of flually, and measures are
understood to be in progress for extending the line northward Lorn
fluntly. •
In these circumstances, it has been thought desirable to apply to
Parliament, in.the ensuing session, for the incorporation of a Com-
pany for mating a Railway from Nairn to Elgin, which shall com-
plete the communication between Inverness and Elgin. The com-
pany will thus be in a position to commence the necessary works
next summer, and thereby, with the least possible delay, to place
the fair and ancient province of Moray on such a footing, with regard
to Railway communication, 'that the laying down of an ironway
throughoet its whole extent, from the Beauly to the Spey, and un-
interrupted connection with the Southern markets mutt immediately
follow.
With this view, applications have been made to all the principal
proprietors along the line, who have, without exception, declared
themselves favourable to the enterprise, and ready to afford facilities
for its construction. The Titans have been finished, minute e•timates
of the c'st have been made, and the line has been gone over and
exarrined by contractors of the highest respectability; and the pro-
moters le rre no doubt that the works will be endertaken by them
for a sum which, together with the purchase of land, rolling stock,
Preliminary metes's, and all other charges necessary for the com-
pletion of the undertaking, will certaUly not exceed 200,0001., or
8,0001. a mile, inclu ling bridges over the Nairn, Findhorn, and
Lossie. For this sum Vas Company will be in possession of a single
line of railway—double wherever this is necessary for its efficient
working—and with bridges built and land purchased for a double
line. And the promoters are is a position to state, that the contrac-
tors with whom they have been in comma, 'cation will be prepared
to take payment of one-third of the oost of the works in stock.
The Engineering Works —from the level nature of the country,
and the light gravelly soil over which the line for the most part
passes—are of a simple character, and are certain to be completed
within the specified time.
Besides the large lofted traffic arising from the line passing through
the centre of the richly cultivated and populous comity of %foray.
this Railway, when connected with the Great North of Scotland
Railway, now in progress of extension, will form part of the great
through communication from Inverness by Aberdeen to the south.
From the character of the country the line can never be exposed to
railway competition.
Through the Levelness and Nairn Railway—with the directors of
which the promoters of this undertaking are in cordial ce-operation
—the line will be enabled to communicate with the Caledantan Canal
at Inverness, and thereby to establish a connection with the large
and rapidly-increasing traffic Sowing along that great artery of com-
ma tdcatien to and from the counties of Banff, Moray, and Nairn.
At its other extremity, tke line will communicate with the Elgin and
Lossiemoilth Railway, and the pert of Lossiemouth. Besides these,
the Railway will receive the traffic of the several ports of Nairn,
Findhorn, and 'forehead.
Careful observations of the traffic, made in 1845, with a view to a
Railway from Inverness to E'en, showing a local revenue amply
sufficient to yield a liberal return upon a railway of a much more
expensive nature. Since that period, however, the wealth and
traffic of the district have been materially augmented, and are still
rap
T iadkl n
tehr ea as n .
basis
of the observations of 1545, the result will be as
follows :---

E4lmated amount of local revenue ... 421,000 0 0
Deduct 40 per cent. for working expenses 8,400 0 0

Z 12,600 0 0
Of interest on 50,0001, borrowed

Leaving.• .

For division, on a called-up capital of 150,0001., or a dividend of 7
per cent. immediately after the opening of the line, with the cer-
tainty of a large eventual increase.
The undertaking, thereto-e, eresents these v•eculiar advantages:-
1. It will be compiet-d and opened for working In two years from
the passing of the act.
2. It will cost only 8.000/. a mile, for a single line, while the
average co•.t of railways in Scotland, with a double line o;
rails, has been 30,0001. a mile.
3. While the average return per mile per annum,in Scotland, has
been 2,0001., a sum of only 8501. per mile per annum, on
this line, will yield a dividend of 7 per cent.
4. The line, from its situation, secures in perpetuity the whole
through railway traffic passng northward of Elgin from
• Aberdeen, and passing eastward of Nairn from the Western
and Northern II ighlan s.
b. Tee line will be worked in convection with the Inverness and
Nairn Railway, under efficient Parliamentary powers,
'whereby the facilities of transit will be on the one hand
gre stiy increased, while on the other hand the working ex.
penses will be greatly economised.
6.' Lines of this character, constructed at a moderate cost, in the
north of Scotland, have proved highly remunerative, as in-
stanced in the Loi...siemouth and Deeside Railways, recently
opened—both of which have returned dividends of 5 per
'cent. on the 'first year's traffic.
7. The promoters are justified in stating that payment of one-
third of the cost of the works will be taken in stock, as a
guarantee for the due completion of the undertaking, and
in evidence of the conviction of its soundness as a commer-
cial enterprise.
Applications for Shares to be made, in the form annexed, to
Messrs G. and P. Anderson, solicitors, Inverness; Messrs Grant and
Leslie, solicitors, Elgin ; Mr Adam Davidson, town-clerk, Nairn -
Mr Robert Urcpthart, banker, and Mr William Sclanders, and Mr
John D. Davidson, solicitors, Forres ; Messrs. James Black and Co.,
sharehr,kers, Aberdeen ; Mr John Maciver, banker, Dingwall ; Mr
J. S. Taylor, sheriff-clerk, Cromarty ; Mr John Grant, writer,
Taira ; Mr William Miller, town-clerk, Wick ; Mr William Fleming,
banker, Grantown ; Mr Donald Mscr .e, writer, Kingusste ; Mr Pa-
trick Duncan, sharebroker, 1, Kirkgate. Perth ; Mr James Black-
wood, sharebroker. I3anover-street, Edinburgh; Mr James Wat-
son, sharebroker, 32, St• Vincent-place, Glasgow; Messrs Drewry
and Richardson, sharebrokers, Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; Messrs 11.
Watson and Co., sharebrokers, Yorks Messrs henry Davis and Co.,
Sharebmkers, 5, Dale-street, Liverpool ; Messrs Johnstone and Wal-
ker, sharebrokers, St. Ann's Church-yard, and Messrs 11ayland,
Son, and Co., sharebrokers, Exchange-chambers, Bank-street, Man-
chester; and Messrs Foster and Braithwaite, 65, Old Broad-street,
London.

FORM OF APPLICATION.

To tho Provisional Committee of the
Railway . Inverness and Elgin Junction

übseribers' Agree-
to Pay the deposit
Gentlemen,—I request that you will allot me Shares,
of 101. each, in this undertaking, and I agree to accept the same, or
laine rd ns
iugnm bthe re tpharal inalma ye
nbtae
rayl 1
co totnetdr
at
cot%
ment, when required. taleyrelomaa,
I am, Gentlene 1,
You obedient Servant, _
Signature.- •• • •••.. •• •• •• •. ea

Full Christian and Surname ..... ........
Profession
Address
PAtilituottt...l4lllmlollll•o4l"",.

STATE OF THE...ARMY IN THE CRIMEA.

(From tire Times.)
We believe we have fallen,into considerable disgrace
among well fed gentlemen, in well-warmed houses and
well-aired beds, fentaking up vying they are pleased to
call a croaking" tone about the state of affairs in the
East. We oug'st to have confined ourselves just now,
at all events, to transmittipg the comaliments of the
season to the Allies in the Crimea and their anxious
friends at home. Indeed, if the war can be conducted
anywhere exactly as one pleases, it melt be on-paper.
Here, at least, there need he no fury of the winds or in-
clemency of the skies, no " charm of mild," no midnight
orenorning surprises. If the placid, well-favoured army
of writers, compositors, and printers are.good for any-
thing, they can at least make it all pleaeant, and "cook"
up a Christmas carol, even out of such materials as the
letters of our correspondents in the Crimea. That is the
feeling in high quarto:B, and we cannot be surprised
' that gentlemen wile are now scattered to the four quar-
ters of the social and political horizon making a merry
Christmas of their own, should
.wish Sebastopol to be
made safe till the end of the holydays. Very well, we
will do what'we cati, though it certainly does ferce itself
on our recollection that the most terrible disaster-that
has fallen upon the British arras during the present
generation happened just at this time of the year. It
was in a merry Christmas that la large British force dis-
apsfpuerrieru. eds inTeueahluea, and
l.stßutlepterthhiaaptsaltehe alone. To, the task
i)
do is to represent faithfully the expectations stiilvechcearn-
ished, and just now rather revived. Our official people
say that matters have certainly seep their Worst. The
mortality has hem frightful, bat the rain is over ;
there will now be at, spell of fine open weather ; mate-
rials for " hutting' must be weer errivirigeevery day,
end other supplieeeire abant-laece.. Teseee-easFeenveseeeeee..
-
fore Sebastopol—so we are assured at home, though
we do not find it in our let ers-45,000 French and
25,000 British troops. These are sufficient for the
rightvriri various usp
flank,u rpmo saeusnoi
nf
gpar
it et chtei Da
seal
aa
ukil
ta, v
wa,hgi
cuha rmd nygt
aokuer
trenches and batteries, and
inpl el
aa
vc
ng 10,a0n0y0
for ail assault, if only to put au earl to their o en misery.
dtsoysp:ereplfsoarset.h
Tee whole army is eager
e
The Allies are only waiting till the English have mounted
the new guns and mortars of large calibielately arrived.
This operation has hitherto beer; impeded by the unfor-
tunate circumstance that, ever since the Battle of Bala-
klava, •Liprandi's corps has held possession of the best
road, or rather the only regularly made- road, from Bala-
klava to Sebastopol ; and we have been obliged to drag
our cannon and everything else as well as we could up
the steep face of the bill from Balaklava towards the
French position, and that through mud instead of along
a high road. It is this thai has killed nearly all our
horses and a great number of men, brought our army to
half-rations, prevented supplies of all kinds from reach-
ing our camp, and, in feet, prolonged the siege to the
middle of the winter. Happily, however, the retreat of
Liprandi has left the regular road open, and doubtless
the British army has profited by the opportunity to
bring up its heavy pieces to the newly-constructed bat-
teries. No impediment is ,now seen in the way of an
assault; and in " well-informed circles" there prevails a
confident expectation that ere this an assault has actu-
ally taken place, and that it is more than possible the
city is now in our hands.
We only wish the it may be so. Dreadful as it must
be to relied on the possibility of 70,000 British and
French soldiers and some 30,000 Turks suddenly let
loose upon a city that has so long defied their efforts,
and for the possession of which they have gone through
so much suffering, yet lee must desire it as the choice
of evils. We desire it index], and it is but natural
we should desire, at any sacrifice, the cessation
of a state of things which costs us every week
as much death and sickness as a pitched battle,
without the glory, and, still more, without any result.
Nevertheless, we are obliged to confess' that we have
little expectation that-any such event has happened, or
is likely to happen .at present. We bear in mind the
unpleasant fact that Sebastopol is very • Much stronger
than it was when the allies first found themselves before
it. .It is better fortified, better garrisoned, and, for
aught we know, quite as wel provisioned. The new
works thrown up for the protection of the town-on
every side exeite. the astonishment of the besiegers, not
merely for their extent,- their scale, and their complete-
ness, but for the fastidious neatness with which they
have been -executed. They indicate an abundance of
hands, and a zeal for the work presenting a strange cone
trast to the operations of our own _over-woiked. army.
From the first day of the siege it has always been
thought quite possible to take the place by assault, at a
certain large sacrifice of men ; and the question is whe-
ther the generals who did not feel themselves equal to
the responsibility of such a step in, September should
have got over their scruples nom, when the odds are evi-
dently so much morgragainst us. In fact, the price ofc.
the oapture rises like' that of the Sybiyino books, and
Lord m Raglan,us
must
make
a if
up
fh esehoiusldmeivnedr
tsee
followtbe Sebas-
topol,ntshiedeex,tipleof
the King of Rome, and give three times as many men
for the city now as he would have had to pay at first.
For our part, there is hardly Lary present cost that we
should think too great fur it now. Were the immediate
capture of the place to cost the 'allies 10,000 men in
killed and wounded, we aro persuaded that three months
more of such work as we have had would cost as many,
more and leave the work still to be done. Done, how-
ever, it must be, unless we would make ourselves the
laughing-stock. of the world, and enable Russia to say
that we had (lone our worst, and that she feared us no
longer.

Since, however, we have given publicity to these con-
fident expectations, we will add a word of another
purport. Should these expectations be utterly disap-
pointed ; should the army of the Allies dwindle down
from 70,000 to the old dead level of 45,000 men ; and
should the Generals still think it necessary to wait for
inforoements, then we must say that.the disappointed
public will require rather imperatively that the army
be reinforced, not only with fresh sinew and bone, but
also with new heart and mind. It is head—head—
head that is wanted, as well tV3 the limbs of the rude
helpless soldier. What is the ties of sending regiments
perpetually onwards to the seat of war, to perish by
scores from the very day of their arrival, if we do not
send out men who can take care of them t The regi-
ments advanced from Gibraltar, Malta, and Corfu, and
even the 50 strong, healthy policemen, sent from this
metropolis sicken and die, where they have to live, to
shiunmeeanthferawmeerkvvah
work, to walk, to sit, to eat and drink and sleep, in wet
clothes and wet boots, under wet tents, on the wet
ground, in watery trenches, under rainy skies. The
as not s
doubled.,me d forthe thisfood sorthee of
half rations, and the tents been blown away, the
n
pest has stalked triumphant throughout the camp.
rweclourkc'edantdo
What, too, can bs the use of sending for more of the
unfortunate Turks when they bring no food with them,
are dependent on a very short allowance of biscuit from
the British stores, and like Irish labourers on fourpence
a day, do nothing for nothing It is head that has
been wanted throughout. There is no denying it. A
plain proof is found in the fact that nothing has hap-
pened in the Siege that was not known beforehand,
and that could not have been provided for. This was
not the case of a fortress or a position in the interior,
some hundreds of miles from the coast, attacked
after a long and destruCtive march, presenting
unexpected obstacles, to be encountered by ' an
army diminished beyond computation. This was
a fortress on the sea, which we call our own, filled
with our sm.*
e within 48 hours' sail of friendly
shores and cities, the besieging army being all the time
within sight, and even within sound of the surge. There
was nothing whatever that could not' have been pro-
vided against. We knew the size and wide-spread posi-
tion of Sebastopol. The very maps hanging up on our
walls are from plans that existed in this country long
' before the siege began. We knew that the siege might
be protracted into the heart of winter, and that the lat-
ter months of the year would be rainy and stormy. We
knew that soldiers would infallibly peiish without suffi-
cient food, clothing, and covering over their heads.
We knew the sort of distances and roads we should have
to traverse in the event of our having to establish on.-
selves outside the walls. We knew perfectly well the
nature of the soil round Seba9topol, and that, while we
were hammering in vain at the exterior defences, it
would be in the power of the Russians to construct an
inner. line. We knew that whatever could be dnne
would be done. Yet we had foreseen nothing ; and,
possessing the most ingenious, as well as the richest
people in the world, we have really shown no more
!skill or artifice in the siege of Sebastopol than our•an-
cesters would have done 2,000 years ago. All this time
we are surpassed by everybody, and only boast a sorry
superiority over the Turks, whom accordingly we abuse
very freely. The French surpass us in their roads, in
their port, in their huts, in their food and clothing, in
their hospitals, in everything, and are beginning to look
on our helplessness much as we look on that of our bar-
barous allies. The Russians surpass all three—French,
British, and-Turks—in everything, except in mere phy-
sical strength and courage. There we come off the best.
Yet how disgraceful that England, so wealthy, so me-
chanical, and with such infinity of resoiarcee,should,
after all, depend on the rawest material of war—the
British soldier—and should be reduced to throw him
away by wholesale in order to make up for our
want of military science, not to say common sense!
That has been the case hitherto, though we cannot think
that it will last much longer.

FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE SOUTH STAPFORDSHIRE
RAILWAY.—On Saturday• another accident, by which
one man lost his life, occurred at the Walsall station of
the South Staffordshire Railway. About one o'clock a
goods train arrived from Barton-upon-Trent, and had to
wait the departure of a passenger train before entering
the station. Whilst remaining on the main line in the
cutting another double goods train, heavily laden, and
drawn by two engines, came up on the same side, and
dashed into the luggage train with great violence, smash-
ing eight or nine of the waggons, and almost totally de-
stroying one of the engines. A breaksman on the train,
named Strett'on, was severely injured, and died on Sun-
day morning. Very fortunately, a passenger train from
Burton, which was due at the time, did not arrive, or in
all probability a frightful catastrophe would have been
the consequence. The loss of property by the destruc-
tion of the engine and waggons must be eery consider-
able.

THE FRONTIER: OF' TURKEY AND

PERSIA.

011005HAII, Oct. 13.-4 have just retwned from visit-
ing a Kurdish notability of .a.,,iflicient local rank and
importance to merit a brif.f mention in your celuiuns—
an individual, whoie _brother, up till his death some 18
months ago, was one. of the :nest, infleentiat friends of,
and in constant coin;nunication with, Eehanayl. . The
residende of .Sheikh Baieh, the individual in question,
is at Thardasoor, a Kurdish- village, distant front this- a
few days' jeurney into t!(i ineuntaii:s ; and thinking. it
probable that he might be able to give me some fuller
and more authentic ,infirrniation about • the Daglies-
tanee chief than -usuany- rea-Ales Europe, I resolved
-to see him in person, and glean what I could. His
brother, Sheikh Thhar, had while he Lind been the
most influential and revered "ecclesiastic" throughout
the-whole of Kurdistan : the most savage of the chief,
who acknowledged no secular' sovereign; submitted to
his guidance, and their people made pilgrimages, to him
as' a second prophet. Holding and teaching the
same sufee doctrines of which Schamyl has become'
the great exponent and • high
.priest, he was—asj
have remarked—one of the most intimate friends of
the Imauna ; and, next to him, was considered the
greatest of the M thommedan "New Lights." At his
death, about a y&r and a half ago, he was succeeded.
by his brother Sheikh Said), also a True Believer of
great.sanctity, -and a zealous disciple of the " reformed"
faith. In proper course,` his son should have inherited
the sacred office and itis dignity ; but as a Kurd ex-
preSsefl it to me, "Sheikh Abdullab (so the young man
is called) is fonder Of horses and fighting than of his
prayers," and has, consequently, ti o reputation or n-
fluence .as a holy man—whatever lie may enjoy as- a
warrior.
.;,.

eh ;therefore, rather than to his nephew,
I resolved to go.' Burdasoor lies at' the base of what
may be censidered the first of the Kurdistan chain of
mountains, which stretch seuilewest from the plain of
Oroomiah to the neighbourhood of Mosul, and north-
wards into Armenia, From the plain the road winds
along the' anks of a rapid mouetain torrent, through a
long and tortuous ravine. The mountain slopes en either
silo arc covered with the flocks of the tribe now in tem-
pernry occupation of the district, and clusters of
black tents everywhere abound in the neighbourhood of
the richest grazing grounds. As I rode past several
of these cenvae hamlets with the gentleman who was
to act as my Kurdish interpreter, we had occasion to ob-
serve what I had previously noticed elsewhere, that the
pleysNue of the Kurdish women is, as a rule, much
inferior to that of the men, In saying that in appear-
ance one of them closely resembles a very ugly and very
dirty English gipsy, I describe pretty accurately the ex-
tent of their claims to admiration. The men, on the
other hand—whatever may be their rascality—are as fine
a race physically as an eastern traveller often sees ; the
Persians, indeed excepted, I have myself seen none finer.
Kurdistan, however, though rich in this human materiel,
is not to be recommended to ethnologists as a field for
study ; enthusiastic Pritchards and Latharns might be
interrupted in their scientific researches by certain prac-
tical freaks of their "subjects" which would summarily
put an end to their pursuit of knowledge under diffi-
culties, and to themselves at the same time.
Before reaching the village wo sent on a servant to
apprise the chief of our coming ' • as it would not have
been commcil font to have gone direct and without in-
vitation to the house of the Sheikh. Unlike the under-
ground villages of Armenia, Burdasoor is mostly cern-
posed of substantial stone houses entirely above ground,
and laid out with a degree of regularity creditahle on
the whole to the builders' notions of convenience and
comfort. Passing through groups of idle gazers—
mostly women and children--we ascended the steep
cliff, on the overhanging summit of which is perched
the castle or fort, occupied by Mellinend Khan,
the chief. At the tap see were met by this
individual--a youth of eineteen —and his uncle,
Schamyl Beg, who was as floe a specimen of a wild
mountain chief as I have se,a ; of lofty stature and ad-
mirable symmetry of bui d, li streak me as being the
very ideal of a Kurdish it )1, Rey. The young Khan
led the way into the castle —now in a half ruinous state
—and, with rather a sheepish effete to do the hospitable,
assured us that "his house and ell in it were our own."
The inevitable pipes and coffee disposed of, Schamyl
Beg relieved his nepheev by starting a' lively conversa-
tion in Turkish on the war. the U evernor of Oroomiah
(with whom the tribe is new at loggerheads) and Sultan
Beg. This last is the chief of a neighbouring and hostile
tribe, between whom and the Kurds of Burdasoor a
violent and bloody feud has existed for several years.
Unfortunately, my companion mentioned that I had
received a letter from Sultan Beg, promising me a safe
conduct and a guard over whatever part of the moun-
tains I should need to pass. This seemed to imply that
I was on terms of friendship with his enemy, and it
was not till I had explained the extent of my acquaint-
ance with hirli that the fiery Scharnyl became disposed
to enter into "relations." Soon after sunset dinner
was brought in ; but it would not have tempted an
epienre, consisting merely of bread, sour milk, and
dishes of bad pilau, finterspereed with pieces of meat,
much in the same proportion as raisins it a school
plem-pudding. After dinner the conversation was re-
sumed, and we were then entertained with an account
of the famous Nur-Ulleh Beg's stay at Burdasoor. When
driven from his stronghold at Julamerik by the
Turks, this powerful chief; the murderer of the unfortu-
nate German traveller at Schulz, and the ally of Beder
Khan Beg ie his massacre of the Nestorians, took refuge
in the strong castle of our host's father, and we were
now shown some Persian writing which he had left in-
scribed on the wall as a memento of his visit. As Bur-
dasoor is in Persian territory, the Turks demanded his
extradition from the Shah's Government, and a party of
troops was accordingly sent from Oroomiah to effect his
capture for that purpose. Achmet Khan, however, was
not the man to surrender so distinguished a guest with-
out a struggle ; a body of Kurds, under his brother
Schamyl Beg, was therefore despatched to meet the Per-
sians at the entrance to the ravine ; a fight followed,
and more than 30 of the former were killed and the re-
mainder driven back to the city. Schamyl Beg boasted
to us that he had slain four of the Shah's men with his
own hand ; since then he had been "on his keeping,"
and did not venture to make his appearance in the plain.
A still stronger force, however, being soon after sent in
pursuit of him, the Hakkiari chief was compelled to seek
shelter elsewhere ; and after having been driven from
rock to rock like a patridge was at last taken by the
Turks and exiled, in company with Beder Khan Beg,
to Caadia, where they now are.
This subject and its allied episodes supplied matter
for conversation till bed-time, when I discovered that
the small. and not over clean apartment we had hitherto
occupied was to be the sleeping place of the whole com-
pany, with the exception of the young Khan, who retired
to probably more sgreeable quarters. ior the nine
who remained, including a mollah and two unwelcome
visitors from the governor of Oroomiah, we had a room
of about 11 feet by 13 ; and as this was likely to be a
tight fit, I measured off space to suit my own propor-
tions, allowing a fair margin for turning and kicking
room. By this timely provision, and an ominous dis-
play of a pair of heavy jeck-b mte, I succeeded in ob-
taining from the mallet), who flanked on the left, a toler-
ably wide berth ; and bringing down my spurred heel
with a thump that made his reverence start, turned over
on the mattress, and hied to sh•ep. As I more than half
expected, however, the effort was useless. Through
jack boots and everything else the teeming population
of the coverlet penetrated, torturing me with their
vampire fangs in a manner which would have kept even
the fat boy in " Pickwick" from bobbing an eye. I
had passed through a pretty severe noviciate of flea
endurance, but these of Burlaenor fairly put to shame
the most lively specimens 1 hail suffered from as yet.
Sleep, therefore, being out ot the question, I made my-
self some compensation by aihni aistering an occasional
awakener to the snoring mollah, and so managed to
while away the time till daylight.
After the Sheikh had performed his sunrise prayers
we were told he would see us ; so, accompanied by our
host, our host's uncle, and some others, we descended
from the castle to his house. To enhance his own im-
portance, however, the old heathen kept us waiting the
greater part of an hour, but had the civility to treat us
to a very passable breakfast of fruit, honey, and yaourt
in the meantime. He then made his appearance, dres-
sed in a flowing robe of blue cloth, which hung loosely
over an under garment of some white fabric, which again
was enveloped round the waist in the ample folds of a
good Persian shawl. But even this comparative rich-
ness of rig, with the addition of a rabbinical beard and a
ponderous white hat, which completely buried his fore-
head, could not redeem a strikingly mean and stupid ex-
pression
of features. As we had not come, however,
to study physiognomy, after the usual hyperbolical
welcomes and compliments, which neither party meant,
my friend introduced the object of our visit, judiciously
enlarging, by way of introduction, on the great fame of
Sheikh Tabar in England. But this imaginative tribute,
though it evidently gave great satisfaction, in no way
lessened the old man's caution—and it was not till I had
given him very sufficient proof of my trustworthiness,
that he consented to answer a single question. He then
spoke freely of his late brother's intimacy and frequency
of communication with Schamyl—whom, I observed,
both the Sheikh and the others present invariably spoke
of as Schamyl Shah—but said that since his death last
year only one letter had been received, owing to the
greatly increased difficulties of passing through Georgia
and over the frontier since the breaking out of the war.
In Sheikh Tahar's time the communication had invari-
ably been carried on through Lesghian messengers, who
knew the country and spoke the local dialects. They
came from Schamyl, and carried back the Sheikh's let-
ters to Daghestan. Since last autumn, however, n•
communication of any kind had been received, owing,
as the Sheikh supposed, to the cause I have mentioned.
In reply to my inquiry, if he thought an attempt to reach
Daghestan from Persia might be successful, ho said that
unless the individual making it were thoroughly familiar
with the interjecent parts of Georgia, and spoke either
Georgian or Armenian like a native, his seizure would
be certain. He had strong hopes, however, of receiving
news during the winter ; and if so, ho promised to de-
tain the messenger till he communicated with myself.
Seeing my interest in the "Shah," he also engaged to
procure me one of his autograph letters to Sheikh Ta-
bor, and to forward it to me through my friend at
Oroomiah.
4 00 much or rather %OA X regret W ;ay, JAM thiii