The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-11-17
eneAAkING
aI'il!NAITONS
0'o AssyrIa Awaits New LIfe-rh.
american Flag Goes Down the
'sr's River In the Same Way That
men Went 1000 Years AGO,
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

Nh the Ttgris River.-In pursuit of
me news of the awakening of the old.
er nations, am on my way to the site
OF the Garden OF Eden and the homo
OF the very oldest nations, in the TIC.
'tiS-huphrates valley. Report has II
'nat THIS old Mesopotamia is to bios.
som again as the rose, by the helm Of
modern irrigation methods; of all of
which more later.
Inc persistence of ancient usages
Is shown by the fact that am at this
moment travelling in a keIek. or raft
maze OF inflated goat skins, on which
Is fastened crude platform of light
poles tied together. The inscriptions
snow that this identical method Of
travel down the Tigris was EMPLOYED
LOVO years ago. 1t seems to have con.
tlnued 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-
mated land Shiny mess they make)
and carried back to the point of de-
parture on the backs of donkeys. NV
ratt Is made Of 1870 skins. Sometimes
these are punctured when shooting the
numerous rapids, and then the rent is
fastened over a curious wooden plug
or button. Some of the skins show as
many as dozen Of these buttons
ornament1ng 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
go, regardless of the kind of weather.
What an oriental can stand in the
hard conditions of life here passes a
westerner's knowledge. When, at
rare intervals, 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 a
tent on the kelek. OF course my tent
flies the American flag.
The journey from Diarbekir to Bag
dad takes from ten days to a 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 ieXibility of
the construction. There are numerous
whirlpools, and in one Of these my
raft was caught for time, and when
the two Arabs who me- the huge
sweeps got it out they thanked Allah
with more sincerity than l had ever
before witnessed in them.
The question naturally arises in the
mind of an American, Why could not
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 profitless feat, has long held
public interest.
In the new day that is surely COM
ing, the Tigris, with its Incompatible
scenic panorama, and its wealth OF
historical associations, will be a Ia
vorite travel route. Some American
will come along shortly, 1 have no
doubt. and be the first to go down the
Tigris in a canoe. The river Is tenn
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 kudlsn
women that battle themselves ana
their clothes by the waterslde, not
wearing even so much as an Atlantic
City bathing suit, to the shepherds
with their flocks of fattailed 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 coulu
rise again to life under proper condl-
tons he is impressed with the fact
that here is a virgin market for al
most everything. 1t is true that the
scale of living is low; some Oh tne
villagers are still living in the numer-
ous cliff dwellings of prehistoric man.
vet the appetite for foreign fashions
Is as strong as that for strong drink
and like the latter, grows by What II
feeds upon. The house, even II II Is
hut a cave, needs lamps and lamp
cbimnevs that will not break easily
The man needs tools, and especlaliy
farming implements, and he ana MS
whole family need various KINDS OF
cbAan cloths to be made up into CLOTH
ing. ~.tr ,o,g and
oornest talk with me, made reany