The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-20

The province Of Mosul, which lies north of the
province Of Irnk Arab, Is tho ancient Assyria,
tho capital of which was Ninevoh, which lay
near Mosul. To tho cast Of Mosul lies Kurdi-
stan. tho ancient Media, tho capital OF which
was Ecbatana, now called Hnmadan. We shall
note presently what our author has to toll ne
about tho ruins OF Perscpolls, Susa. and Ecba-
tana. all Of which he visited.
Bassorah itself recalls Venice. It IL built on
piles, and tho little creeks which run into the
Shntcl Arab, as the estuary formed by the Juno
tlon OF tho TiEris and tho Euphrates Ia called,
Termed q street. Along tho banks of these
canals are built tho brick warehouses and villas
of tho British traders and Turkish officials. To
tho wost lie the bnEanrs and the Arab, Christian,
jewish, and Sablnn quarters. OF tho so-callcd
Sabians, q word must be said presently. The
spoken tongue Of tho pooplo Is chiefly Arabic,
but Turkish Is tho official language. Trade Is
almost entirely in the hands Of the English, who
have several largo mercantile firms. Tho
Tigris ia novigated as far rs Bugdad by two
steamship companies, ono British and tho other
Turkish, and there is also a certain amount of
traffic dono by sailing vessels. Tho four kinds
of boats used arc Nicholas or foluccns. having
ono largo sail; kalatchcs, or pigskin RATS; bel.
lums, o sort of small gondola, and gophers,
which arc nothing more than primitive tubs.
For some miles up tho river stretch beautiful
RuTuenB uObUou Wltn Unlm JrtcSt Wncu bneg onu,
one encounters swamps, with plenty of snipe and
pig. Beyond them the desert. Tho town Of Bias
sorah itself is fairly clean, and the bazaars are
airy and well stocked. Neither tho palace nor
mosques arc worth seeing, and the only good
building ia q new military hospital. There are
three Turkish cruisers in the Shatel Arab
armed with n few guns, but totally
unprovidcd with ammunition. We are told
that their commanders live In terror Of the oc-
casional visits of British men-of-war. English
influence in Arabia is. in fact, all powerful. as
troops could at any time be shipped from Bonn
bay to Bassorah or Bagdad, or even to Jeddah.
The interesting fact is mentioned that during
tho Armenian troubles in 1895 the Turkish
officials in Arabia were afraid of this being done,
and the moro so because they are aware that
English rule would be by no means unpopular
with tho Inhabitants of Jeddah or even Of Mec-
Gu. Tho Sultnn's authority as Sultan amounts
to very little, and rs Caliph it is Min Arabia. II
he lost tho temporal sovereignty, the Sunnis
would quickly abjurc his spiritual rule. Our au-
thor. therefore. finds 1t difficult to see where tho
Turks could establish their capital II they wcre
turned out of Europe. Mecca would be impos.
sible, for not only would tho sheriff of that
holy city never brook any rival TO his power.
but the means OF communication with the rest
of the empire would depend entirely on the
good will OF the masters of tho SueE Canal.
Bagdad Is too close 10 the Persian and Arabian
frontier: there the Sultan would lilo at the mercy
of lukewarni allies and bitter foes. At Damascus
he would be in the country Of the Nestorians.
and at Erzerum. in the heart Of Armenia. An
CORA, CRsarea, or Sivas in Asia Minor, where he
could coun5 upon the firm support of the Os-
manli Turks and their friends, the Moslcm Cir.
cassians, are pronounced the only possible
places. This is equivalent to saying that the
loss of Stamboul would mean practically the
end Of the Ottoman Empire.
We have referred to the Sabians. to whom ono
of the quarters of Bassorah is allotted. Con.
siderable numbers of them are also found at
Mohammerah, where the Karun joins the Shatel
Arab, at Dizful and at Amarah, on the Tigris.
The religion Of this remarkable people obliges
them to live near running water; they call
themselves not Sabians but "Mandayi," or pos
SCISSORS Of the living word. A popularity Is their
custom OF bearing two names; ono their Or
binary or everyday name and the other their
religious namc, only used among themselves.
They 1.-Two very much to themselves. never at
tempting to proselytize; tho men are skilful
workers in gold and silver. and make
beautiful inlaid boxes. which. however.
are very difficult to buy. as the Sabians dislike
selling to strangers. Their language is q &c.
mitic one, akin to Hebrew and Aramaic, and in 1t
is written their holy book, tho Sidra Raba. As
far as can be ascertained, their religion 10
mainly a worship Of St John the Baptist. from
whom they profess to DO descended. Baptism 10
q great feature in their ceremonial, and Is al
ways administered at weddings and funerals
and on feast days. This is the reason of their
invariably choosing to live on the banks of a
river. Whether they are connected with
the Sabaans is questionable, but it 10
certain that the Pole Star enters into
their worship. The reticcnce thcy maintain
about themselves Is extraordinary. and the
greater part Of their tenets is still obscure.
They arc. VIC are told. devout and upright men.
and they have lately begun to look on the Eng
lish with much respect, because the English
Consuls have protected them from the persecu-
ton of the Turks. Mr.. Bigham got hold OF q
small manuscript containing n summary Of the
Sidra Raba, or Book OF Order, which purports to
be n complete history Of tho world, written by
God and given by Him to the first man. Accord
ing to this scripture, the world is to exist for
four periods of a hundred thousand years each.
At the end of the first period it was destroyed
by fire, at the end of the second by the sword,
and at the end of the third by the
flood. We arc now, it seems. In the
fourth period, of which about sixty thousand
years have already passed; at the end OF this
term the world will DO destroyed by wind. OF
tho immediate future the book says that Islam
Will continue Tor seventy years, at the end OF
which time Christianity will become supreme.
and will remain so for 400 years. during which
time, however. all creeds will be tolerated.
Antichrist will then appear in Egypt, and the
Messiah will rise up in Russia. The last two
pages of the manuscript are said to be missing,
80 that what is to happen after the coming of the
Messiah is unknown. The Sabians represent
apparently. q very early form Of the Christian
Church. for they have far more points In com.
mon with 1t than with Islam. and they hato
the
or Bagdad. the so-called Garden of David. and
under the Abbassid Caliphs the capital Of Islam,
wo learn that it still has over two hundred
thousand inhabitants, and contains one hun.
dred mosques and fifty public baths. 1t lies on
both banks Of the Tigris. the Sunnis and Chris
tian traders dwelling on the eastern side: on the
western shore live the Shiahs, the Persian
colony that looks after the shrines of Kerbela
and kazimaim; hero. too. is Haroun-al-Itas
chid's house and the tomb of his favorite wife.
Zobeida. Tho two banks arc usually connected
by q bridge Of boats, but. when Mr.. Bigham was