The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1870-09-01
The City of Bagdad.

lne Ouilphs
Among the natives liferlns on in the |
same smpoth channel that it did in the
time Of Haroun al Raschid The rich
loaf away their tipe in the bath, in the !
harem anl in the diYan, everywhere
smoking nargeelahs aud drinking coffee
and solemuly chatting And the poor,
rising at daybreak at the call nf the
priests, from the half score Of nina
rets, perform their ahlqtinns, spread
their little devotional carpet, say their
prayers aud then betake themselves to
their various ayooations. Lqboring, not
very actively, as it seems to US, until
sunset, each man goes home to his pibob
or pilaf, melons aud oranges, his coffee
aud hubble bubble, served to him by
the fair hands of his brace of wives.
The Bagdadees have 20 amusements
except such as theJ find in talking po.
litics in .he coffee shops, or in laughing
at the misfortunes Of their acquaintances,
or in telling stories il the society of
III ir wives, or ia wedding or fune
raj. Every night the Pacha's banG
(lor there is turkish band here) plays
in front Of the seral, but the Bagdadees
do not care to listen to it. A company
of Italian acrobats and singers have also
come here aud fitted up house as u
theatre, but are playing only to empty
benches. And newspaper, published
in Turkish aud Arabic, by the Pacha's
printer, amusing as are the lies it tells
OF the wonderful prowess Of the troops
fighting against the Arabs, finds no
subscribers and subsists only by official
advertisements. Your Bagdadee has
no soul for music, no taste for the tra-
peze or the ballet, no appetite for jour.
nalistic sensations. Society here, in
deed, has reached, Us Chinese society
did a couple Of thousand years ago, the
fossil stage of existence.
Bagdad, as | have already said, is a
great commercial city. 1t is one of the
few markets accessible to the people of
Central Asia aud Persia, and caravans
are constantly setting out for Aleppo
and Damascus, for Mosul aud Diarbeker
for Teheran and Ispahan. Its seaport
u.s. Of course, Bassorah, 500 miles away;
but a couple of steamship lines make
communication easy and speedy. A
great deal Of bulky produce is still
however, sent down the river on RATS
or brought up in bugalas-small Arat
vessels towed by rope against the cur.
rent by dozen Arabs. The chief arti
cles of export are wool and grain. The
imports are mostly English aud French
dry goods, cutlery, Indian fabrics, &c
The trade in European goods passe,
each year more and more out Of ths
hands Of the European houses into the
hands Of American aud Jewish and
Arab merchants, who have agencies ia
lndia and Europe. The custom dutie.
are now very light--a uniform ad ga
Iorem tariff Of eight per cent. One
great obstacle in the way Of foreigr
traders is the complex system of cur
rency prevailing in Bagdad. There il
no regular currency, but any money o.
any country is current. Payment of {
small parcel of goods will perhaps be
made in Austrian and Mexican dollars
in Mahomed shah kerauns, in Turkish
medjidies, in Indian rupees, and il
French francs. Scarcely any gold is il
circulation. Owing to this variety ol
coins current, the government fixes 4
specific rate of exchange, at which il
will accept payment of imports in alier
money, and in which it will il its turr
make payments. But this rate is very
different to the general rate of Exchange
fixed by the merchants in the bazaar
indeed this latter rate fuctuates YER,
greatly. Indian rupees are perhaps tn,
best currency for the traveller to tax,
with him to Bagdad.
The antiquities Of Bagdad have beer
so often and so exhaustiyely described
that | shall not infiict au elaborate ac
count Of them upon The reader. Tn,
tower from which criminals used to be
thrown; the gate, now closed up, a
which thirty-three thousand Persian
throats were cut by the Sultan Morad
the Tombs of Sheikh omer Shahafood
deem aud Sheikh Marnf no doubt wher
any any one is in Bagdab, those are al
well worth seeing, though il is not wortl
while to go to Bagdad to see them.
Inc s,eas zata;S sisas' 'h0agh, Is the toml
this is not very imposing; it is gracefu
"a ;so.,o@onai D s;,h ha' als.a = a', iu shape
;nU 70 h;,,h. @ nr ssnue' @ uou'e spl.ng
TEo S y ;,,or;as ss =; p;h slAsy ~ seventy iee'
"e iu.1.ioi % hsn'ee ny openings II