Year: 1870

der, for which their race has ever been conspicu.
ons. The government has declared that it will
show mercy to none Of them; IL they are cap
turcd they will certainly be hanged, and they are
therefore nnrestraned by any motive OF prudence.
Their style Of robbery il altogether different from
that Of the Bcdouin. The latter viii take every
rag on a mans back, but are averse to blood
shed II no Resistance is offered. These Koords,
however, seem to have horrible pleasure in TAX
ing human life; they have even been known to cut
the throa's OF carayaniees, simply because they
have been too poor to have anything TO be robbed
or II may easily be guessed that this informa-
ton did not make us feel very comfortable.
Gums were brought out and carefully loaded;
the caravan was kept together In a compact
mass IN place OF straagling along in a
dcmoraiized line, as had hitherto been the
case; the guards were sent forward, whenever
a little swell OF ground seemed TO give possible
cover for the enemy, and instructions were issued
by my Friend the Pole that IN ease Of actual con-
fict the men were not to fire until the foe came
within three or four yards Of their guns, while
their courage was confirmed by the announce
ment that the first man to turn tail and run away
would certainly be fired at as foe. The fourth
day, on leaving Deli Abbas we had mustered a
guard OF twenty or twenty-five soldiers, and some
other travellers, who had been waiting to accom-
pany some strong caravan, also Joined US, so that
altogether we made quite formidable party.
Three hours journey over q painfully stony road
brought us fairly upon the surface OF the ridge.
There is khan here with a strong garrison, and
we were told that two days before a very strong
caravan had been attacked, that sharp fight had
taken place and that three Of the honest men and
one of the thieves had been killed. but that the
latter had in tho end been victorious 1t was
thought that this was lucky thing for MS, as the
Hamavans had probably ran away into Persia with
their booty. The soldiers had been out
after them, since the fight, all over the
mountains, but had been unable to find any trace
of them. good deal cheered by this intelli-
gcnec, we set forward through the pass. The
road was dreadfuly bad, frequently narrowing
to single bride path between not very high
banks Of rock, aid then passing over long
reaches Of loose stones, over which the miserable
horses slipped and stumbled. Every here and
there little cairn had been erected by the piety
of subsequent travellers to mark tho site OF the
unhappy death OF some victim of bandits. These
heaps of stones may be seen along nearly all the
roads OF Turkey-in many places, indeed, whore
the energy of the local Pacha has in the present
cleared the country Of lawlessness. Here, of
course, they were very numerous. We could
scarcely get along compile Of hundred yards with
out passing one, aud in specially favorable places
for highway robbery there were sometimes as
many as dozen. At last we came 60 the spot
where, only two short days ago, the
fight had taken place. Three small heaps
OF stones had already b'gun to ap
pear, though the blood beneath them was
still visible, in spite Of an attempt
to cover it with earth. We also flung few stones
on the cairn. And now / may as well say at once
that we luckily came through the whole of the
journey without mishap, though we were subse.
left my Polish friend at Mosul had constantly all
the way to Aleppo an escort OF couple and
sometimes OF three and four men. The Turkish
Asiatic roads are at present-none Of them-safe;
on most there are regular corps of professional
bandits, and where there not the peaceful vii
layers take their place. A European traveller
must, perfOrce, have guards, to show that If he is
plundered the Pacha will do his best to reach the
offenders. And if he be wise he will be well armed
himself also, and on any occasion where it can be
done without ostentation he will display his
weapons for the admiration Of the indgenes. ALI
these things in his favor, he may, perhaps, thrce
times out of four, get through in safety. But it


s less than two years since an Irish gentleman
(who ia said to have sworn about his misfor-
tune for four months subsequently, was stripped
absolutely naked less than q days journey from
Bagdad.


GENERAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY.


1t Is scarcely worth while to give the names Of
the villages through which We passed until we
reached Kerkook, distance of 200 miles from
Bagdad. The whole intervening country between
these two points is almost destitute Of Inhabitants
and such of the people as are left seem to have no
other manner. Bad government has reduced this
fertile and once densely peorled region into q
desolate wilderness. There are plenty of people


however, in the high chain Of mountains that d.
vdes Turkey from Persia who would be only toe
glad to descend into the more fertile plain if they
could be of being well treated. All the pre-.
sent Inhabitants OF this region came from those
same mountains. In fact the whole country from





children. They are called Koords, and are mar
kedy different from the Turks and the Arabs.
High cheek bones; long, narrow head; an oval
face, firm chin and mouth; tall, muscular frame
these are the chief physical characteristics of the
Koord: In intelligence ho is by far the
most hopeful of the various elements Of
the Turkish population. His moral attri-
butes, however, are somewhat paradoxical.
He Is reported to be hospitable, affectionate,
grateful; but, when moved by passion, ferocious
to the point of brutality. In short, he is good
friend and very bad enemy. In the mountains
which have been the home of their race, the diff
Guilty of existence has prevented the KoOrds be-
coming very numerous; and from this cause,
probably, they have never yet made an organized
attack upon the tempting plain that lies spread
open beneath them. They have been content to
occupy 1t with the acquiescence OF its nominal
lord-the Sultan-and have peaceably pursued tho
cultivation Of the soil, paying their taxes and
homage with praiseworthy regularity to the local
Turkish Governor. OF late years, however
within the last half century-the eXac lions of the
government have been so oppressive that they
have frequently revolted, and at present there
can be no doubt that when Turkey comes to be
disnembered the Koords will mako bold effort
for independence. Even q passing traveller will
find abundant evidence, too that French agents
have indeed been, as is reported working among
them. Every Frank joorneying through tho
country is sounded by the Koords, who tell him
Frances and the u gleze that they are tired
of the Osraanli, al do no want TO fail under the
too rigorous rule OF the "a r.


KERgOoK--A "cl. DuILr UPON HILL"


Kerkook is large town of some ten thousand
people and is tho first among those curious cities
built upon a hill'' that one comes to ou the way
from Bagdad. From Kerkook to Orfa every now
aud then encounters these singular towns.
Many hundreds of years ago, after the break up
of the grand old empires that once had their seat
here, the inhabtan Of this vast plain of Shinar
that stretches very nearly all the way from Ker-
kook to Diarbekir. were forced for security to
gather themselves into towns. They generally
pitched upon some swell of ground as the site Of
their infant city, and this rhey converted, with All
expenditure of labor at which we can only wonder,
into an artificial hill such hills varying of course
very greatly in height and extent The top of the
hill fattened and its outer edge encrcled with
wall of mud or bricks. In later times more
powerful rulers adopted tne same form of defence
for their cities, and in consequence the plain is
now dotted in countless places with these curious
hills. Under the Turks, in the old days when the