Dr. Bacon and Rev. Mr. Marsh, attempted to cross from the city of Mosul,
on the Tigris, to Oroomiah, the residence of the Nestorian Christians.
On their passage through the Kurdish mountains, they were robbed, and
narrowly escaped being murdered, and were finally forced to return
to Mosul.
Dr. Bacon, after describing their departure from Diarbekr, says:
"I defer to another time the description of our romantic and picturesque
passage down the Tigris. By the care of Providence, our whole party
completed this stage, as they had completed the previous and more
fatiguing ones, in safety and comfortable health. We arrived in Mosul
on the 16th of May, in seven days from Diarbekr, and immediately set
about making preparations for continuing our journey into the mountains.
"The engaging of mules, the hiring of servants, and the preparation of
provisions, detained us in Mosul until Wednesday, the 21st of May. The
meantime was spent by us in visiting the excavations on the opposite
side of the river. In the mound of Koyunjik, we followed our guide
through a labyrinth of narrow corridors, lighted dimly by occasional
openings in the firm clay overhead. Some of the sculptures were
described in Mr. Leyard's volumes; others have been since unearthed, and
some most interesting galleries had just been left by the picks of the
workmen. Time, at present, does not permit me to describe them; but I
may mention as among the most interesting of the recent discoveries, a
succession of slabs carved with a representation of the original
transportation of the great winged bulls which adorned the stately
entrances of the palaces of Ninus and Sardanapalus. A collection of
small, inscribed stones, has also been found, supposed to contain public
records; and, but a day or two ago, the workmen brought in the report of
new and still grander sculptures just discovered.
"We had expected to start on Wednesday at sunrise; but various petty
hindrances detained us until late in the afternoon. We then united in
prayer with the family in whose cares, anxieties, and dangers we had
shared through so many weary weeks, and hastened to our saddles. Passing
the Tigris by a rude ferry, we rode in the setting sunlight by the once
mysterious mounds of Koyunjik. The reapers who were still busy within
the grassy walls of fallen Ninevah, came up to us as we passed, with
their sickles on their heads, to present the offering of the first
fruits of harvest. We hurried on, however, and stopped for the night at
a small village little more than an hour from the gate of Mosul."
On the third day they reached the town of Akkre, among the mountains,
where they were obliged to stay three days, waiting for the Kurdish
muleteers. They performed the Sabbath service in a cavern of the
mountain which the native christians had fitted up as a secret chapel.
Leaving Akkre on Monday morning, the 26th of May, they entered the most
dangerous part of the mountains. Mr. B. says:
"We spent this day's nooning by a spring that bursts out near the top of
a steep mountain, and ate our dinner under a tree that distilled upon
the rocks a fragrant gum. Mounting again at two o'clock, in half an
hour we reached the summit, whence we looked down a giddy descent upon
the swift but winding Zab. Here it became necessary to leave our
animals, and work our way down the almost precipitous road, while the
mules slid, scrambled, and tumbled after us as best they might. As I was
pushing on a little in advance of the party, I was met, in a narrow turn
of the path, by an old bearded man, with a dagger in his girdle, who
reached out his hand toward me. I was uncertain at first how to
understand it; but his only object was to press my hand to his lips with
a fervent '_salam aleikum_' (Peace be with you,) to which I responded,
according to usual form, '_aleikum salam_,' (with you be peace.) Meeting
with others of his party, they asked us if we were Nesrani,
(Nazarenes--Christians,) and saluted us with the same respect, going
some distance back on their path with us to show us a cool water spring.
'They then went their ways, and we saw them no more;' but I shall not
easily forget the satisfaction which they showed in recognizing us as
fellow believers here in the land of the infidel, and the kindness with
which they went out of their way to offer us a 'cup of cold water in the
name of a disciple.'"
That night they spent on the banks of the river Zab. The next day,
after traversing a wild pass, hemmed in by perpendicular rocks, more
than a thousand feet in hight, they reached the village of Bizeh, in a
valley of the mountains, and secured a house-top for the night:
"About the middle of the night, Mr. Marsh was waked by a slight noise,
and, lifting his head, saw a party of five or six armed men creeping
stealthily toward our roof, which, on the side toward the hill on which
they were, was only four or five feet from the ground. The foremost man
stopped short for a moment at Mr. Marsh's movement, and turning to his
followers, called out 'Khawaja!' (the gentlemen!) Then seeing that our
old guard was asleep at the stepping stone, he climbed upon the roof at
another corner, and stood for a moment with his long gun at his side.
Mr. Marsh raised himself upon his arm, and demanded in Arabic, 'What do
you want?' The man probably did not understand the language: at any
rate, he made no answer, but turned to the old man, and conversed
earnestly with him in a low tone. The other men gathered near them, as
if to listen and take part. But they all finally went away without doing
any mischief."
The next morning the sentinel who had kept watch over their baggage
attempted to dissuade them from going the direct road, as the people of
the next village had heard of their coming, and were determined to kill
them. However, they kept on; and, in the course of two or three hours,
their guide was stopped by a company of six armed men:
"The place was admirably chosen for the purpose. The narrow path along
the cliff by which we had come, here widened into a little platform
large enough for our mules to stand upon together. In front of us, a
ledge of broken rocks jutted from the mountain and ran down, crossing
our path, and leaving only a very small passage. In front of this path
stood our challengers. Six worse-looking men, whether in form, dress, or
feature, it would be difficult to imagine. Each man wore around his
high, conical felt hat, a turban of handkerchiefs of every hue and
texture; in his hand a long gun with short and narrow breech; and in his
belt the universal Kurdish curved and two-edged dagger. The leader of
the gang was a man of middle age, with black eyes and a grisly,
untrimmed beard, and with half his front teeth knocked out."
After some discussion, the robbers consented to allow them to pass, on
the payment of fifty piastres, (two dollars and a half,) which they
agreed to do, provided they were conducted to the house of the Agha. The
robbers objected to this, and, provoked by the delay, leveled their guns
at the party. At this juncture, the chief muleteer advanced the
necessary money, and they were spared.
"These transactions, from the time we were stopped, occupied about an
hour. We now passed with our ragged regiment straggling around us, now
with their long guns under our ears, and now cutting off the long bends
of our crooked and little used path. In about ten minutes from the pass,
we were hailed by another party, posted upon a hillside, and a
discussion of many minutes ensued between them and our escort, in which
our Kurdish muleteers took an active part. The result was, that we moved
on with an addition of two men to our guard. We soon began to perceive
that we were going toward the Agha rather as prisoners than as guests.
The castle, (if it may be dignified by the name,) which was now in
sight, was of no promising appearance. It was a rude, rectangular
building, with a small white tower at one corner, on which the workmen
were still engaged. It was situated on the side of a hill which formed
the head of a valley opening into the ravine we had just left. The small
windows and the roof were crowded with men, women, and children, gazing
at our singular cavalcade. As we drew near, some women who were bathing
in a brook, rose, and gazed at us with irrepressible curiosity. We
stopped at the door of the castle.
"Here the assault began. The men of our guard flew like savage dogs at
our servants: Khudhr and Ablahad seized the arms which were girded about
them, slashing furiously with their daggers, to cut the straps of their
guns and pistols. The turbans were torn from their heads, and
appropriated among the rabble. Similar violence was about to be shown
us, when these operations were suddenly interrupted by the appearance,
from the castle, of Melul Agha.
"He was a man taller by several inches than any of his tribe, and with
an expression of face which was that of one accustomed to be obeyed, He
was dressed in a more elegant style than could have been expected in
these mountains; wearing upon his head a turban of gray silk, and a long
rifle slung from his shoulders. With a melo-dramatic wave of his hand,
which was at once obeyed, he motioned his noisy tribe to desist, and,
approaching us, pointed out a tree, a few hundred feet up the hill, to
which we might retire. As we moved alone toward this spot, a grim
suspicion of his intentions crossed our minds. Might it not be for
convenience in dispatching us, that we had been removed? We seated
ourselves quietly in the shade, and watched the proceedings. The
property of the muleteers and donkey-drivers had been unloaded and
placed by itself. One of our loads had been thrown from the mule, and
the other was now brought near us, taken from the animal, and laid under
a neighboring tree. Mr. Marsh now went down toward the castle to assist
Khudhr in bringing the rest of our property toward the tree. This done,
Khudhr returned to the crowd to learn what he could of their intentions.
He soon came back to us in evident terror, and said, with a significant
motion of his hand, that they were intending to kill us."
After sending the servant a second time, he came back with the
announcement that the Agha would examine their baggage, take what he
pleased, and send them on to another Agha; but would not allow them to
return to Mosul.
This examination was soon made, and the party was plundered of one
thousand piasters, (forty-four dollars,) besides razors, knives, and a
quantity of clothing.
The whole affair was conducted with a politeness of manner which was
highly creditable to the Agha, and calculated to put us very much at our
ease. He showed himself, in every thing,
----"As mild a mannered man
As ever scuttled ship, or cut a throat"
For instance, in searching our trunk, his eye was caught by a small,
sealed parcel, which I supposed to contain jewelry; I immediately told
him, through a servant, that it was not mine, but had been given to me,
in America, to be delivered in Europe. He immediately put it down, and
proceeded with the search.
"During these operations, several women, some from curiosity, others
from pity, had gathered around us. Among the latter class, was one, who,
from her dress, beauty, and demeanor, could be no other than the wife
of the Agha. She was dressed in a faded, but once magnificent
robe, and trowsers of silk, and wore upon her head a massive and
elaborately-carved ornament of silver. She moved among the fierce and
blood-thirsty savages, with an air of mingled scorn and anxiety,
reproaching them with the shame of the transaction, and pleading
earnestly that our lives and property be spared. She warned them, also,
that our injuries would inevitably be visited upon their heads.
"Having finished his search, the Agha, with the old men of the tribe,
gathered on a ledge of rocks, just behind us, and consulted long and
earnestly. We sat down and dined with what appetite we could muster."
After the robbers had come to their decision, a second search of the
baggage took place, which Mr. Bacon thus describes:
"The pressure of greater and more important dangers had made me quite
resigned to such petty losses as these, and I watched, with much
amusement, the appropriation of unusual articles. A black silk cravat
which had seen much service in New Haven drawing-rooms, was twisted
about the suspicious-looking head of an uncommonly dirty boy. A pair of
heavy riding-boots were transferred to the shoulders of a youth who bore
the 'gallows mark' upon his features with unmistakable distinctness. A
satin vest of Mr. Marsh's was circulating through the crowd, on the
person of a dirty child, who boasted no other wealth but a ragged shirt
and a green pomegranate. I looked at the youngster with a smile of
congratulation; but he turned upon his heel and strutted gravely away,
his new garment trailing on the ground at every step.
"Having lightened our baggage considerably at this haul, they proceeded
to search our persons. It had been our first movement, on being placed
by ourselves, to transfer our watches, together with a locket,--all
priceless memorials of distant or departed friends--from the waistcoat
to the pantaloons fob; a pocket compass attached to my watchguard, was
cared for; likewise, the little note-book in which I was accustomed to
place the map of each day's journey. We knew not how soon we might be
wandering in the mountains on foot, and without a guide. Dr. Bacon had
with him two English sovereigns, and we were uncertain what to do with
them. If we should openly give them to the robbers, we dreaded the
effect of the _auri sacra fames_. If discovered in a secret place, we
might be stripped in the search for more. The attempt to conceal them in
the earth might be perilous. They were finally placed in the waistcoat
fob, from which the watch had been taken, with the hope that the clumsy
Kurds might overlook it.
"They began with me. The Agha, with an irresistible smile and bow of
apology, passed his hand about my waist, feeling for a money belt, then
over my dress; finding that one of my breeches' pockets was full, he
motioned me to empty it, and seemed satisfied when I drew out a
handkerchief and a pair of gloves. Dr. Bacon was then searched, even
more superficially; but as the hand passed over the waistcoat pocket,
something jingled. I held my breath as Dr. B. put in his hand and drew
out a seal, which he had bought at Mosul as an antique Upon Mr. Marsh,
the Agha found a gold pencil case, which pleased him wonderfully. On
being told of its use, he scrawled with the pencil on the beyur-haldeh,
an autograph, for which I have a peculiar value. The mystery of this
was, that he restored the pencil, with a grin of self-righteousness, to
Mr. Marsh."
After waiting some time in suspense, the travelers were suffered to
leave, in charge of a Kurdish guard:
"It soon became evident that we were not on the road to Oroomiah.
Whither we were going, was a matter of painful mystery. At the distance
of more than a mile, as we passed a village, a single Christian, a man
of Akkre, came out in a crowd of curious villagers, to offer his
sympathy. As each of us passed him, he bowed, with his head to the
ground, and with the strongest expression of regard, urged us to remain
with him there, as he would guarantee our safety. It was not for us,
however, to say, and we pressed forward; but Khudhr soon brought us the
intelligence, which he had obtained here, that we were being led to the
village of a Mullah, a very holy man, under whose protection we might
feel entirely secure. He added, that toward Oroomiah it would be quite
impossible to go; our only escape was toward Mosul."
The Mullah received them kindly, entertained them a day in his house,
where all the diseased persons in the neighborhood were brought for them
to cure, and started with them early on the morning of the 30th of May,
to accompany them on their way back to Mosul. On reaching a village,
toward noon, a scene took place, which is of so much interest that we
give Mr. Bacon's account of it in full:
"We were assisted from our horses by a remarkably ill-looking set of
men, whom we supposed to have come out to see us from curiosity. An
unprepossessing young gentleman, with a scar that divided his nose and
his upper lip, and a silver-mounted dagger, took a seat near the Mullah,
and a violent discussion immediately commenced, of the drift of which,
we were, happily, ignorant. Soon, another party of villagers appeared,
headed by another young man, who was quite the counterpart of the first,
even to the scar in his lip; but his dagger-hilt and sheath were of
solid silver, set with precious stones, and the long ringlets which hung
upon his shoulders, were still more daintily curled. The arrival of this
reinforcement renewed the violence of the discussion, between the Mullah
on one side, and the young men on the other. It plainly related to us,
and the fierce looks of the Kurds, as they walked to and fro with their
hands on their daggers, would have alarmed us, had we not had full
confidence in the power and good will of our friend. The controversy had
a good deal subsided, when the approach of still another party renewed
it once more. The Agha himself was coming. He was a man of fifty years,
with a once gray beard, dyed a bright red, and with his lower eyebrows
stained a livid blue-black. He greeted us with a ferocious smile, and
entered at once into earnest conversation with Mullah Mustafa. The
conversation was interrupted, now and then, by one of his amiable sons
leaping from his seat, and speaking violently, to the great apparent
satisfaction of the crowd.
"We soon learned the nature of these discussions from Khudr, who had
been an attentive and agitated listener to the whole. The respectable
old gentleman, it seems, had sent his first son to murder us, placing
the second at a convenient distance to assist him. The latter, surprised
that the business lagged, came up to see to it. And the Agha himself,
finding that business lagged, came finally to attend to it himself. The
Mullah urged the danger of injuring persons of consequence. 'The sword
of the Frank is long,' said he. But this argument was without effect.
Mustafa then appealed to him not to disgrace his hospitality. These men
were under his own protection, and he would not see them wronged. This
argument also failed. He now urged that we were men of influence at
Mosul, and were going direct to Constantinople; that, by securing our
influence against his colleague and rival, Melul Agha, he might secure
a perpetual supremacy in the district of Sherwan.
"This plea gained the case; the eyes of the old savage glistened with
diabolical satisfaction as he thought of the villainous trick he was
about to play upon his rival. He drew from his bosom a letter and handed
it to the Mullah, who read it and handed it to our servant. It was
written by Melul Agha, to Khan Abdul, our present host, directing him to
take the rest of our property, and murder us without fail. This letter
had been written on the blank page of another letter, sent to Melul
Agha, by Mustafa Agha, of Ziba, who resides at Akkre. It was the last
scoundrel who had sent letters in advance of us into the mountains,
inviting them to murder us--and this, all for the sake of making a
little impression on the government at Mosul."
After these hair-breadth escapes from murder, the party returned in
safety to Mosul.