The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-13

species from the camel but is an i'm
proved breed, blooded animal and there,
is as great difference between the ami
mai and an ordinary camel as there is
between cart horse and a racing stallion
or hunter. He has but one hump. as
II Is only the Bactrian beast that pos
sesses two humps, but one soon becomes
accustomed to this desideratum. NV new
experience in Mesopotamia, however. was
the arabanah. a crude, clumsy stage
draWn by four mules. Its rocking was
worse than that of 5000 ton craft in
the middle of a tempestuous ocean. What
ADDED to the discomfort of the vehicle
was the bitches of the innumerable canals
which once criss-c crossed the entire land
for the purposes of irrigation and made
the country a veritable Eden upon earth
TO avoid the excessive heat / Travelled
only early in the morning and late in the
afternoon. The rest of the day was con-
sumed In resting under the shade of the
mounds of pottery and glass and fighting
the flies or gnats. Indeed, these insects
were SO annoying that l was compelled
TO fasten rubber band arouid my have
lock to shield my neck and stretch a
handkerchief from the visor of my trop-
1cal helmet to collar to protect my face
with a hole in the kerchief for breath
ing purposes. 1 would have slept while
resting had 1t not been for the hordes of
scorpions that infested the mounds. My
dragoman offered to watch and keep the
pests off of me but feared to trust the
reptiles. The other experience was the
sight of thousands of pilgrims who wan
dered patiently over the desert track and
carried upon their backs the salted num-
mics of their relatives which they were
bringing many miles to inter them in
the holy cities of Kerbela and Nedjed
These pilgrims came from all over Per-
sia and even the southern provinces of
Russia to bury their dead in sacred
ground near Bagdad and it is said that
100000 annually perfom this rite.
The one setting of brightness to the
scene was the encountering of a goodly
number of wealthy Shis who had brought
their wives and dance girls with them,
the men astride camels or horses and
the women in palanquins strung on long
piles between pair of mules moving
tandem.
At night the girls would dance and
sing beside the camp fires and when
was fortunate enough to halt by such
a bivouac the werdness and romance of
the environment added no little pleasure
to my journey.
have always been fond of acquir-
ing at least a smatterng of many for
eign languages and they are easily
picked up Charles said that for
every new idhS tdSt q pCiSOii iNiiiitu
he gained new soul and Bayard
Taylor has declared that with knowl-
edge of not over 300 words of the lam
guage of the people a stranger may
pass through the land with perfect
convenience. From these pilgrims 1
learned much of their tongue but there
are other divers ways of acquiring such
a knowledge if one Will only use his
Wits. one instance VIII suffice. When
fr Arnbia mel W. =
named Nourmahal. Most every one OF
culture has read of the Tai Mahal near
Agra and knows that its name signifies
gem of palnces Thus l knew that
Mahal meas palace. Again everyone
has heard of the celebrated diamond
called the koh-i-nour and knows that
il means mountain of light. This name
is familiar to the most ordinary of
mortals through the lead pencil in daily
use with the name stamped upon 1t.
The relation lies in the fact that the
carbon in the pencil and a diamond
are one and the same thing only in
an ailotropic state. From the name of
the diamond l knew that Nour signi-
fed lisht and with this word attached
to Mahal tpalace) Nourmahal must
mean light Of the palace and it really
is delight of the harem, which is the
same thing. Thus | have succeeded IL,
fashioning an Arabic glossary of no
inconsiderable size
AT last | reached Babylon, the great.
city that once occupied an area ii
miles square, with popula tion of over
a million and its huge walls $50 feet
high, IS feet thick and pierced with a
hundred gates of brass. Babylon means
CITY of Cod and 1t WAS once upon
the Euphrates but that river has now
made new channel for itself some
miles from the walls it once Tapped
The ruins are being excavated under
the auspices of the German Oriental
society. but the work is tedious. the
debris being removed in baskets in
the same manner IS the unearthing Of
lompeii Is being conducted The most