The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1911-11-09
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Old Assyrla Awaits New Llfe-The
American Flag Goes Down the
TigrIs River In the Same Way That
Men Went 1000 Years Ago.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

tue news OF the awakening OF the OLD
er nations, am on my way to the site
Of the Garden of Eden and the home
Of the very Oldest nations, In the Tig-
ris-Euphrates valley. Report has it
that this old Mesopotamia Is to bios
som again as the rose, by the help of
modern irrigation methods; of all of
which more later.
is shown by the fact that am at this
moment travelling in kelek, or raft
made of inflated goat skins, on which
Is fastened crude platform of light
poles tied together The inscriptions
show that this identical method of
travel down the Tigris was employed
1000 years ago. 1t seems to have con-
tinued uninterruptedly since that time.
The kelek, like some politicians, is
supported by wind, and can travel
only with the current. After Bagdad
or Mosul is reached the skins are de-
flated (and Shiny mess they make)
and carried back to the point of de-
parture on the backs of donkeys. My
raft is made of 1870 skins. Sometimes
these are punctured when shooting the
numerous rapids, and then the rent is
fastened over curious wooden plug
or button Some Of the skins show as
many as dozen of these buttons
Ornamenting them. To see the men
initiating the skins with their lungs is
an interesting illustration of the prim-
tive methods in vogue in this land,
where women still grind their corn at
hand mills, even as they did at the
very beginning of civilization.
An Old Craft for Niagara Rapids.
Foreigners travel by kelek different
ly from natives. The latter carry their
bag Of bread, and their bundle OF
clothes or rugs, and perch on the car
90, regardless of the kind of weather.
What an oriental can stand in the
hard conditions of life here passes
westerner's knowledge. When, at
rare intervals, a foreigner, either a
CONSUL missionary, an archaeologist
or an adventurer, goes down the Tig-
ris-and they average about one a
month-he builds a hut or pitches
tent on the kelek. Of course my tent
flies the American flag.
The journey from Diarbekir to Bag
dad takes from ten days to month,
according to the state of the water.
1t is really the acme of delightful trav-
ell, provided one has proper equipment
The motion is altogether restful, ex-
cept for the mild thrills of going
through the numerous rapids, when
the raft twists and bends in fashion
that seems more dangerous than it
really is, because of the flexibility OF
the construction. There are numerous
Whirlpools, and in one of these my
raft was caught for a time, and when
the two Arabs who man the huge
sweeps got it out they thanked Allah
with more sincerity than / had ever
before witnessed in them.
The question naturally arises in the
mind of an American, Why could not
a kelek be made that would ride the
Niagara rapids? The experiment
would be an inexpensive one, and it
could be made without risk of life
by sending down an empty kelek. 1t
would be of interest if the wisdom
Of the very ancient ancients should
surmount this problem, which, as a
mere proftless feat, has long held
public interest.
In the new day that is surely COM
ing, the Tigris, with it's incompatible
scenic panorama, and Its wealth OF
historical associations, will be ia
vorite travel route. Some American
will come along shortly, l have no
doubt, and be the first to go down the
Tigris in a canoe. The river is teem
ing with fish, which the natives have
not ambition enough to catch. and
there are millions of wild fowl upon
which he cannot afford to spend pow
der. Most interesting of all is the
panorama of life, from the Kudish
women that battle themselves and
their clothes by the waterside, not
wearing even so much as an Atlantic
City bathing suit, to the shepherds
with their flocks of fat-tailed sheep,
and the women filling the same sort
Of water jars that Rebecca carried.
Markets That Are Waiting.
AS one passes scores of villages,
many of them amid the picturesque
ruins of once great cities, which could
rise again to life under proper condi-
'tions, he is impressed with the fact
that here is virgin market for al
most everything. 1t is true that the
scale of living is low; some of the
villagers are still living in the numer-
Gus cliff dwellings, of prehistoric man;
yet the appetite for foreign fashions
is as strong as that for strong drink,
and, like the latter, grows by what it
feeds upon. The house, even If it is
but a cave, needs lamps and lamp
chimneys that will not break easily.
The man needs tools, and especially
farming implements, and he and his
whole family need various kinds OF
cheap cloths to be made up into cloth
ing.
The vail of Diarbekir, in long and