The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1867-10-26
SELECTED STORY,
[Fron Frnser's Magazine
Abdalllah and saida. -;
A TALE OF MEsopoTAM1A.

The sslSr,yl oa Bass,hd b la,ss ldparteis The
city where !Caliph once displayed gorgeous
splcndor and maGnfcence that :stonishcd an
ambassador from Stamboul, and where lTaroun
al Raschil used to play, his pranks of love and
mcrrimcnt attended by Jaater the vzcr and
Mcsroor the cxccutioncr, amid gildcd halls and
luxurious gardens. is now reduced to the insig-
nificance of dirty, sceond-ratc Turkish town
Basrah, formerly her rival in wealth, has
siarcd her fall; those quays and magazines
which Of old tccmcd "with the wcaltI, Of Or
'nuz and of Ind, :. arc now silent and unfrc-
T;eHted aipopqiation of two hundred thou
said ; msrshcs and <stugnant POOLS have re-
placed her fragrant orange groves and her rose,
hcls, fahous as those ofIShifazi Such have
s.eeI t!G c7yNSeqpsefes VI, apguc; eholera; ana,
dSu'dlfcst pest Of ;al1, Turkish rule Nor Has
the country Jared better than the towns All
this rcgni. like Holland, depends for its pros
pcrity dn'its dykes and cmbanknicnts the re-
mains Of such works constructed by ancient
princes, arc still an extent and magnitude to
arrest the travellers eye and claim his almra-
ton ;fbht,l 'having been aonge neglected they
have fallen into ruin; and now the greater part
of the southeastern district of Mcsopotaniia is
huge Jake. intcrspcrsed with jnnglcs Of reed,
the "habitatioh of frogs, wild-fowl, and am
phibious Arabs. The great tribe iphabiting
the northern side of this peninsula, washed by
the 'Tigris is che Abon Aoha,niped ;'thc tribe
exercising dominion over the southern or Eu-
pirates side, is the Montcfk. Both noniinally
acknowledged tho sovereignty of the Porte
but they levy black. mail, which they n,odcstly
terin8 fdptiessn snTenssall boats, passing through
their waters and woe bethc ldtkless wight who
'endenYorsl ojelaini exemption front payment
exhibiting frnan from the Pasha of Bag.
dad! Circumstances have lately led me I'd
pase through this region id d native boat. I
fonpd myself ,fpnle ,fpnle day, ip the yHyeh,Ia a large
twnteroourse connecting the,waters of the Tig,s
with those of'thc Euphrates the black fonts
of the MonteGk were numerous in thei neigh
borhood, though not visible from the river,
owing 70 the dense jungle that lined the bank.
While our men were cutting some wood to cook
their breakfast, one or two Arabs came down,
and overheard them saying, that during the
night A. .Gopf bed e9rriel off and deyourcd one
of theit COWS, hot far from III or boat some of
our crew had heard the lordly brute roaring
oyeg his prey, bnt had slept too squudly. to
Be thereby awakened This ihtcfdchf led mo
to talk With the Ai1sbs about lions, Of Which
there scems 70 ben scepsiderehlc s1iun.ber in
tlhegs jn44gles FdpI qnd5of thSm ,M moA tho
following story, which he stated to be founded
on facts we'll khewn' to persons still living:
"somc years laggoJ; a wealthy merchant of
Bdsrah, .saxldE 'conttatteR his daughter, ssaida,
in marriage, ,withtheson of brother merchant
in ,Bagdad, sent her. up, with several female att
!, ,rdants in one his merchandise boats, in or
lor H., It tie Contract might be fulfilled One
,a,bt Will Tic boat Was mbored to the bank
,f 9 TIC = Hyych It was hattackcd by largc PARTY
Of the Montefix, who having easily mustered
md bound the crew, p;Rcce1cd deliberately to
npp9pgatsIsn as1 SCI the a&R9 a&loss .l,sh (which
promised an amount Of booty exceeding their
utmost expsctatioh2 lin fhe party was young
Arab named ,Abdslah, famed for his daring
.ruS HQRlIJ9hltasMag HQlJ9 9ltsMag lhadsaIanvadso2 suddenly
into the caahi{1, fo9nf hih'self'In presence of
thes s faamalos fal t6oro ia o.. .scnbfed: fsqidt % er
flight and confusion,a rada drofncd, tho vail
from hef head laid hc was 50 struck by her
exceeding beauty, that he caught her up in hi