DEPARTURE FROM BOMBAY--SMALL-POX--MUSCAT--BANDR-ABAS--THE PERSIANS--
THE KISHMA STRAITS--BUSCHIR--ENTRANCE INTO THE SCHATEL-ARAB--
BASSORA--ENTRANCE INTO THE TIGRIS--BEDOUIN TRIBES--CTESIPHON AND
SELEUCIA--ARRIVAL AT BAGHDAD.
The steamer "Sir Charles Forbes" (forty horse-power, Captain
Lichfield) had only two cabins, a small and a large one. The former
had already been engaged for some time by an Englishman, Mr. Ross;
the latter was bespoken by some rich Persians for their wives and
children. I was, therefore, obliged to content myself with a place
upon deck; however, I took my meals at the captain's table, who
showed me the most extreme attention and kindness during the whole
voyage.
The little vessel was, in the fullest sense of the word, overloaded
with people; the crew alone numbered forty-five; in addition to that
there were 124 passengers, chiefly Persians, Mahomedans, and Arabs.
Mr. Ross and myself were the only Europeans. When this crowd of
persons were collected, there was not the smallest clear space on
the deck; to get from one place to another it was necessary to climb
over innumerable chests and boxes, and at the same time to use great
caution not to tread upon the heads or feet of the people.
In such critical circumstances I looked about immediately to see
where I could possibly secure a good place. I found what I sought,
and was the most fortunate of all the passengers, more so than even
Mr. Ross, who could not sleep any night in his cabin on account of
the heat and insects. My eye fell upon the under part of the
captain's dinner-table, which was fixed upon the stern deck; I took
possession of this place, threw my mantle round me, so that I had a
pretty secure position, and no cause to fear that I should have my
hands, feet, or indeed my head trodden upon.
I was somewhat unwell when I left Bombay, and on the second day of
the voyage a slight attack of bilious fever came on. I had to
contend with this for five days. I crept painfully from my asylum
at meal times to make way for the feet of the people at table. I
did not take any medicine (I carried none with me), but trusted to
Providence and my good constitution.
A much more dangerous malady than mine was discovered on board on
the third day of the voyage. The small-pox was in the large cabin.
Eighteen women and seven children were crammed in there. They had
much less room than the negroes in a slave-ship; the air was in the
highest degree infected, and they were not allowed to go on the
deck, filled as it was with men; even we deck passengers were in
great anxiety lest the bad air might spread itself over the whole
ship through the opened windows. The disease had already broken out
on the children before they were brought on board; but no one could
suspect it, as the women came late at night, thickly veiled, and
enveloped in large mantles, under which they carried the children.
It was only on the third day, when one of the children died, that we
discovered our danger.
The child was wrapped in a white cloth, fastened upon a plank, which
was weighted by some pieces of coal or stone, and lowered into the
sea. At the moment that it touched the water, the waves closed over
it, and it was lost to our sight.
I do not know whether a relation was present at this sad event; I
saw no tears flow. The poor mother might, indeed, have sorrowed,
but she dare not accompany her child; custom forbade it.
Two more deaths occurred, the other invalids recovered, and the
contagion happily did not spread any further.
30th April. Today we approached very near to the Arabian coast,
where we saw a chain of mountains which were barren and by no means
attractive. On the following morning (1st of May) small forts and
watch-towers made their appearance, here and there, upon the peaks
of beautiful groups of rock, and presently, also, a large one was
perceptible upon an extensive mountain at the entrance of a creek.
We came to anchor off the town of Muscat, which lies at the
extremity of the creek. This town, which is subject to an Arabian
prince, is very strongly fortified, and surrounded by several ranges
of extraordinarily formed rocks, all of which are also occupied by
forts and towers. The largest of these excites a sad reminiscence:
it was formerly a cloister of Portuguese monks, and was attacked by
the Arabs one night, who murdered the whole of its inmates. This
occurrence took place about two centuries since.
The houses of the town are built of stone, with small windows and
terraced roofs. Two houses, distinguished from the others only by
their larger dimensions, are the palaces of the mother of the
reigning prince, and of the sheikh (governor). Some of the streets
are so narrow that two persons can scarcely walk together. The
bazaar, according to the Turkish custom, consists of covered
passages, under which the merchants sit cross-legged before their
miserable stalls.
In the rocky valley in which Muscat lies the heat is very oppressive
(124 degrees Fah. in the sun), and the sunlight is very injurious to
the eyes, as it is not in the slightest degree softened by any
vegetation. Far and wide there are no trees, no shrubs or grass to
be seen. Every one who is in any way engaged here, go as soon as
their business is finished to their country-houses situated by the
open sea. There are no Europeans here; the climate is considered
fatal to them.
At the back of the town lies a long rocky valley, in which is a
village containing several burial-places, and, wonderful to say, a
little garden with six palms, a fig, and a pomegranate-tree. The
village is larger and more populous than the town; containing 6,000
inhabitants, while the latter has only 4,000. It is impossible to
form any conception of the poverty, filth, and stench in this
village; the huts stand nearly one over the other, are very small,
and built only of reeds and palm-leaves; every kind of refuse was
thrown before the doors. It requires considerable self-denial to
pass through such a place, and I wonder that plague, or some other
contagion, does not continually rage there. Diseases of the eyes
and blindness are, however, very frequent.
From this valley I passed into a second, which contains the greatest
curiosity of Muscat, a rather extensive garden, which, with its
date-palms, flowers, vegetables, and plantations, constitutes a true
picture of an oasis in the desert. The vegetation is only kept up,
for the most part, by continual watering. The garden belongs to the
Arabian prince. My guide seemed to be very proud of this wonderful
garden, and asked me whether there were such beautiful gardens in my
country!
The women in Muscat wear a kind of mask of blue stuff over the face,
fastened upon springs or wires, which project some distance beyond
the face; a hole is cut in the mask between the forehead and nose,
which allows something more than the eyes to be seen. These masks
are worn by the women only when they are at some distance from home;
in and near their houses they are not used. All the women that I
saw were very ugly; the men, also, had not the fine, proud features
which are so frequently met with among the Arabians. Great numbers
of negroes are employed here as slaves.
I made this excursion at the time of the greatest heat (124 degrees
Fah. in the sun), and rather weakened by my illness, but did not
experience the slightest ill consequences. I had been repeatedly
warned that in warm countries the heat of the sun was very injurious
to Europeans who were not accustomed to it, and frequently caused
fever and sometimes even sun-stroke. If I had attended to every
advice, I should not have seen much. I did not allow myself to be
led astray--went out in all weathers, and always saw more than my
companions in travel.
On the 2nd of May we again set sail, and on the 3rd of May entered
the Persian Sea, and passed very near to the island of Ormus. The
mountains there are remarkable for a variegated play of colours;
many spots shine as if they were covered with snow. They contain
large quantities of salt, and numbers of caravans come annually from
Persia and Arabia to procure it. In the evening we reached the
small Persian town of Bandr-Abas, off which we anchored.
May 4th. The town is situated on low hills of sand and rocks, which
are separated from higher mountains by a small plain. Here also the
whole country is barren and wild; solitary groups of palms are found
only in the plains.
I looked wistfully towards the land,--I would gladly have visited
Persia. The captain, however, advised me not to do so in the dress
I wore; because, as he informed me, the Persians were not so good-
natured as the Hindoos, and the appearance of a European woman in
this remote district was too uncommon an event; I might probably be
greeted with a shower of stones.
Fortunately there was a young man on board who was half English and
half Persian (his father, an Englishman, had married an Armenian
from Teheran), and spoke both languages equally well. I asked him
to take me on shore, which he very readily did. He conducted me to
the bazaar, and through several streets. The people indeed flocked
from all sides and gazed at me, but did not offer me the slightest
annoyance.
The houses here are small, and built in the Oriental style, with few
windows, and terraced roofs. The streets are narrow, dirty, and
seemingly uninhabited; the bazaar only appeared busy. The bakers
here prepare their bread in the most simple manner, and, indeed,
immediately in the presence of their customers: they knead some
meal with water into a dough, in a wooden dish, separate this into
small pieces, which they squeeze and draw out with their hands,
until they are formed into large thin flakes, which are smeared over
with salt water, and stuck into the inner side of a round tube.
These tubes are made of clay, are about eighteen inches in diameter,
and twenty-two in length; they are sunk one half in the ground, and
furnished with an air-draft below. Wood-charcoal is burnt inside
the tube at the bottom. The cakes are baked on both sides at once;
at the back by the red-hot tube, and in front by the charcoal fire.
I had half-a-dozen of such cakes baked--when eaten warm, they are
very good.
It is easy to distinguish the Persians from the Arabs, of whom there
are many here. The former are larger, and more strongly built;
their skin is whiter, their features coarse and powerful, and their
general appearance rude and wild. Their dress resembles that of the
Mahomedans. Many wear turbans, others a conical cap of black
Astrachan, from a foot to one and a half high.
I was told of so great an act of gratitude of the young man, Mr.
William Hebworth, who accompanied me to Bandr-Abas, that I cannot
omit to mention it. At the age of sixteen he went from Persia to
Bombay, where he met with the kindest reception in the house of a
friend of his father's, by whom he was assisted in every way, and
even obtained an appointment through his interest. One day his
patron, who was married, and the father of four children, had the
misfortune to be thrown from his horse, and died from the effects of
the fall. Mr. Hebworth made the truly noble resolve of marrying the
widow, who was much older than himself, and, instead of property,
possessed only her four children, that he might in this way pay the
debt of gratitude which he owed to his deceased benefactor.
In Bandr-Abas we hired a pilot to take us through the Straits of
Kishma. About noon we sailed.
The passage through these straits is without danger for steamers,
but is avoided by sailing vessels, as the space between the island
Kishma and the mainland is in parts very narrow, and the ships might
be driven on to the shore by contrary winds.
The inland forms an extended plain, and is partially covered with
thin underwood. Great numbers of people come from the neighbouring
mainland to fetch wood from here.
The captain had spoken very highly of the remarkable beauty of this
voyage, the luxuriance of the island, the spots where the sea was so
narrow that the tops of the palms growing on the island and mainland
touched each other, etc. Since the last voyage of the good captain,
a very unfrequent phenomenon would seem to have taken place--the
lofty slender palms were transformed into miserable underwood, and,
at the narrowest point, the mainland was at least half a mile from
the island. Strange to say, Mr. Ross afterwards gave the same
description of the place; he believed the captain in preference to
his own eyes.
At one of the most considerable contractions stands the handsome
fort Luft. Fifteen years since the principal stronghold of the
Persian pirates was in this neighbourhood. A severe battle was
fought between them and the English, near Luft, in which upwards of
800 were killed, many taken prisoners, and the whole gang broken up.
Since that event, perfect security has been restored.
5th May. We left the straits, and three days later came to anchor
off Buschir.
There are considerable quantities of sea-weeds and molluscae in the
Persian Gulf; the latter had many fibres, were of a milk-white
colour, and resembled a forest agaric in form; others had a
glistening rose colour with small yellow spots. Conger eels of two
or three feet in length were not uncommon.
8th May. The town of Buschir is situated on a plain six miles from
the mountains, whose highest peak, called by the Persians Hormutsch,
by the English Halala, is 5,000 feet high.
The town contains 15,000 inhabitants, and has the best harbour in
Persia; but its appearance is very dirty and ugly.
The houses stand quite close together, so that it is easy to pass
from one to the other over the terraces, and it requires no great
exertion to run over the roofs, as the terraces are enclosed only by
walls one or two feet high. Upon some houses, square chambers
(called wind-catchers), fifteen or twenty feet high, are erected,
which can be opened above and at the sides, and serve to intercept
the wind and lead it into the apartments.
The women here cover up their faces to such a degree that I cannot
imagine how they find their way about. Even the smallest girls
imitate this foolish custom. There is also no lack of nose-rings,
bracelets, sandals, etc.; but they do not wear nearly so many as the
Hindoos. The men are all armed; even in the house they carry
daggers or knives, and besides these, pistols in the streets.
We remained two days in Buschir, where I was very well received by
Lieutenant Hennelt, the resident.
I would gladly have left the ship here to visit the ruins of
Persepolis, and travel by land from thence to Shiraz, Ispahan,
Teheran, and so onwards; but serious disturbances had broken out in
these districts, and numerous hordes of robbers carried on their
depredations. I was in consequence compelled to alter my plan, and
to go straight on to Baghdad.
10th May. In the afternoon we left Buschir.
11th May. Today I had the gratification of seeing and sailing on
one of the most celebrated rivers in the world, the Schatel-Arab
(river of the Arabs), which is formed by the junction of the
Euphrates, Tigris, and Kaurun, and whose mouth resembles an arm of
the sea. The Schatel-Arab retains its name as far as the delta of
the Tigris and Euphrates.
12th May. We left the sea and the mountains behind at the same
time, and on both shores immense plains opened before us whose
boundaries were lost in the distance.
Twenty miles below Bassora we turned off into the Kaurun to set down
some passengers at the little town of Mahambrah, which lies near the
entrance of that river. We immediately turned back again, and the
captain brought the vessel round in the narrow space in an
exceedingly clever way. This proceeding caused the uninitiated some
anxiety; we expected every moment to see either the head or stern
run a-ground, but it succeeded well beyond all measure. The whole
population of the town was assembled on the shore; they had never
before seen a steamer, and took the most lively interest in the bold
and hazardous enterprise.
About six years ago, the town Mahambrah experienced a terrible
catastrophe; it was at that time under Turkish rule, and was
surprised and plundered by the Persians; nearly all the inhabitants,
amounting to 5,000, were put to death. Since that period it has
been retained by the Persians.
Towards noon we arrived at Bassora. Nothing is visible from the
river but some fortified works and large forests of date-trees,
behind which the town is situated far inland.
The journey from Bombay to this place had occupied eighteen days, in
consequence of the unfavourable monsoon, and was one of the most
unpleasant voyages which I ever made. Always upon deck in the midst
of a dense crowd of people, with a heat which at noon time rose to
99 degrees 5' Fah., even under the shade of a tent. I was only once
able to change my linen and dress at Buschir, which was the more
annoying as one could not prevent the accumulation of vermin. I
longed for a refreshing and purifying bath.
Bassora, one of the largest towns of Mesopotamia, has among its
inhabitants only a single European. I had a letter to the English
agent, an Armenian named Barseige, whose hospitality I was compelled
to claim, as there was no hotel. Captain Lichfield presented my
letter to him and made known my request, but the polite man refused
to grant it. The good captain offered me accommodation on board his
ship, so that I was provided for for the present.
The landing of the Persian women presented a most laughable
spectacle: if they had been beauties of the highest order, or
princesses from the sultan's harem, there could not have been more
care taken to conceal them from the possibility of being seen by
men.
I was indebted to my sex for the few glimpses which I caught of them
in the cabin; but among the whole eighteen women I did not see a
single good-looking one. Their husbands placed themselves in two
rows from the cabin to the ship's ladder, holding large cloths
stretched before them, and forming in this way a kind of opaque
moveable wall on both sides. Presently the women came out of the
cabin; they were so covered with large wrappers that they had to be
led as if they were blind. They stood close together between the
walls, and waited until the whole were assembled, when the entire
party, namely, the moveable wall and the beauties concealed behind
it, proceeded step by step. The scrambling over the narrow ship's
ladders was truly pitiable; first one stumbled, and then another.
The landing occupied more than an hour.
13th May. The captain brought me word that a German missionary was
accidentally at Bassora, who had a dwelling with several rooms, and
could probably give me shelter. I went to him immediately, and he
was so obliging as to provide me with a room in which, at the same
time, I found a fireplace. I took leave of the good captain with
sincere regret. I shall never forget his friendliness and
attentions. He was a truly good-hearted man, and yet the
unfortunate crew, mostly Hindoos and negroes, were treated worse on
board his ship than I had observed elsewhere. This was the fault of
the two mates, who accompanied nearly every word with pushes and
blows of the fist. In Muscat three of the poor fellows ran away.
The Christian Europeans excel the pagan Hindoos and Musselmen in
learning and science; might they not also at least equal the latter
in kindness and humanity?
A small English war-steamer was expected at Bassora in the course of
a few days, which carried letters and dispatches between this place
and Baghdad, and whose captain was so good as to take European
travellers (of whom there are not many that lose themselves here)
with him.
I availed myself of the few days of my stay to look about the town,
and see what still remains of its ancient celebrity.
Bassora, or Bassra, was founded in the reign of the Caliph Omar, in
the year 656. Sometimes under Turkish, sometimes under Persian
dominion, it was at last permanently placed under the latter power.
There are no vestiges of antiquity remaining; neither ruins of
handsome mosques nor caravansaries. The fortified walls are much
dilapidated, the houses of the town small and unattractive, the
streets crooked, narrow, and dirty. The bazaar, which consists of
covered galleries with wretched stalls, cannot show a single good
stock of goods, although Bassora is the principal emporium and
trading port for the Indian wares imported into Turkey. There are
several coffee-stalls and a second-rate caravansary in the bazaar.
A large open space, not very remarkable for cleanliness, serves in
the day as a corn-market; and in the evening several hundred guests
are to be seen seated before a large coffee-stall, drinking coffee
and smoking nargillies.
Modern ruins are abundant in Bassora, the result of the plague which
in the year 1832 carried off nearly one half of the inhabitants.
Numbers of streets and squares consist only of forsaken and decaying
houses. Where, a few years back, men were busily engaged in trade,
there is now nothing left but ruins and rubbish and weeds, and palms
grow between crumbling walls.
The position of Bassora is said to be particularly unhealthy: the
plain surrounding it is intersected at one extremity with numerous
ditches filled with mud and filth, which give off noxious
exhalations, at the other it is covered with forests of date trees,
which hinders the current of air. The heat is so great here, that
nearly every house is furnished with an apartment, which lies
several feet below the level of the street, and has windows only in
the high arches. People live in these rooms during the day.
The inhabitants consist for the most part of Arabs; the rest are
Persians, Turks, and Armenians. There are no Europeans. I was
advised to wrap myself in a large cloth and wear a veil when I went
out; the former I did, but I could not endure the veil in the
excessive heat, and went with my face uncovered. The cloth (isar) I
carried so clumsily that my European clothes were always visible;
nevertheless I was not annoyed by any one.
On the 16th of May, the steamer Nitocris arrived. It was small
(forty horse power), but very handsome and clean; the captain, Mr.
Johns, declared himself ready to take me, and the first officer, Mr.
Holland, gave up his cabin to me. They would not take any
compensation either for passage or board.
The journey from Bassora to Baghdad would have been very fatiguing
and inconvenient if I had not met with this opportunity. With a
boat it would have required forty or fifty days, as the distance is
500 English miles, and the boat must have been for greater part of
the distance drawn by men. The distance by land amounts to 390
miles; but the road is through deserts, which are inhabited by
nomadic tribes of Bedouins, and over-run with hordes of robbers,
whose protection must be purchased at a high price.
17th May. We weighed anchor in the morning at 11 o'clock, and
availed ourselves of the current which extends 120 miles up the
stream.
In the afternoon we reached the point Korne, also called the Delta
(fifty miles from Bassora). The Tigris and Euphrates join here.
Both rivers are equally large, and as it could not, probably, be
decided which name should be retained, both were given up, and that
of Schatel-Arab adopted.
Many learned writers attempt to give increased importance to this
place, by endeavouring to prove by indubitable evidence that the
garden of Eden was situated here. If this was the case, our worthy
progenitor made a long journey after he was driven out of Paradise,
to reach Adam's Peak in Ceylon.
We now entered the Tigris. For a distance of three miles further,
we were gratified by the sight of beautiful forests of date-trees,
which we had already enjoyed, almost without intermission, from the
mouth of the Schatel-Arab; they now suddenly terminated. Both sides
of the river were still covered with a rich vegetation, and
beautiful orchards, alternated with extended plots of grass, which
were partially covered with bushes or shrub-like trees. This
fruitfulness, however, is said to extend only a few miles inland:
more distant from the river the country is a barren wilderness.
We saw in several places large tribes of Bedouins, who had pitched
their tents in long rows, for the most part close to the banks.
Some of these hordes had large closely-covered tents; others again
had merely a straw mat, a cloth, or some skins stretched on a pair
of poles, scarcely protecting the heads of those lying under them
from the burning rays of the sun. In winter, when the temperature
frequently falls to freezing point, they have the same dwellings and
clothing as in summer: the mortality among them is then very great.
These people have a wild appearance, and their clothing consists of
only a dark-brown mantle. The men have a part of this drawn between
the legs, and another part hung round them; the women completely
envelop themselves in it; the children very commonly go quite naked
until the twelfth year. The colour of their skin is a dark brown,
the face slightly tattooed: both the men and women braid their hair
into four plaits, which hang down upon the back of the head and
temples. The weapons of the men are stout knotted sticks; the women
are fond of adorning themselves with glass beads, mussel-shells, and
coloured rags; they also wear large nose-rings.
They are all divided into tribes, and are under the dominion of the
Porte, to whom they pay tribute; but they acknowledge allegiance
only to the sheikh elected by themselves, many of whom have forty or
fifty thousand tents under their control. Those tribes who
cultivate land have fixed dwellings; the pastoral tribes are
nomadic.
Half-way between Bassora and Baghdad, the lofty mountain chain of
Luristan becomes visible. When the atmosphere is clear, the
summits, 10,000 feet high, and covered with perpetual snow, may be
seen.
Every step in advance leads to the scene of the great deeds of
Cambyses, Cyrus, Alexander, etc.: every spot of ground has
historical associations. The country is the same; but what has
become of its towns and its powerful empires? Ruined walls and
heaps of earth and rubbish are the only remains of the most
beautiful cities; and where firmly established empires formerly
existed, are barren steppes overrun by robber hordes.
The Arabs engaged in agriculture are themselves exposed to the
depredations of their nomadic countrymen, especially in harvest
time. In order to avoid this evil as much as possible, they bring
their crops into small fortified places, of which I observed many
between Bassora and Baghdad.
We took in wood several times during the passage, and on these
occasions I could approach the inhabitants without fear, as they
were inspired with respect for the well-manned and armed vessel. In
one instance, I was led far into the underwood in pursuit of some
beautiful insects, when I found myself on a sudden surrounded by a
swarm of women and children, so that I thought it advisable to
hasten back again to the ship's people--not that any one offered me
any violence; but they crowded round me, handled my dress, wanted to
put on my straw bonnet; and this familiarity was far from pleasant
on account of their extreme dirtiness. The children seemed
shockingly neglected; many were covered with pimples and small
sores; and both great and small had their hands constantly in their
hair.
At the places where we stopped they generally brought sheep and
butter, both of which were singularly cheap. A sheep cost at the
utmost five krans (4s. 6d.). They were very large and fat, with
long thick wool, and fat tails of about fifteen inches long and
eight inches broad. Our crew had a better diet than I had ever
noticed on board any ship. What pleased me even more was the equal
good treatment of the natives, who were not in any particular less
thought of than the English. I never met with greater order and
cleanliness than here--a proof that blows and thumps are not
indispensably necessary, as I had so often been assured.
In the districts where the ground was covered with underwood and
grass, I saw several herds of wild swine; and there were said to be
lions here, who come from the mountains, especially during the
winter time, when they carried off cows and sheep: they very seldom
attacked men. I was so fortunate as to see a pair of lions, but at
such a distance, that I cannot say whether they exceeded in beauty
and size those in European menageries. Among the birds, the
pelicans were so polite as to make their respects to us by scraping.
21st May. Today we saw the ruins of the palace of Khuszew
Anushirwan at Ctesiphon. Ctesiphon was formerly the capital of the
Parthian, and afterwards of the new Persian empire: it was
destroyed by the Arabs in the seventeenth century. Nearly opposite,
on the right bank of the Tigris, lay Seleucia, one of the most
celebrated towns of Babylon, and which, at the time of its
prosperity, had a free independent government and a population of
600,000 souls. The chief portion were Greeks.
One obtained two views of Ctesiphon in passing, in consequence of
the river winding considerably--almost running back again several
miles. I made a trip there from Baghdad, and therefore reserve my
account of it.
The old caliphate appears in marvellous magnificence and extent from
a distance, but unfortunately loses this on nearer approach. The
minarets and cupolas, inlaid with variegated earthenware tiles,
glitter in the clear sunlight; palaces, gateways, and fortified
works, in endless succession, bound the yellow, muddy Tigris; and
gardens, with date and other fruit trees, cover the flat country for
miles round.
We had scarcely anchored, when a number of natives surrounded the
ship. They made use of very singular vehicles, which resemble round
baskets: these are formed of thick palm leaves, and covered with
asphalt. They are called "guffer;" are six feet in diameter and
three feet in height; are very safe, for they never upset, and may
be travelled in over the worst roads. Their invention is very
ancient.
I had a letter to the English resident, Major Rawlinson; but as Mr.
Holland, the first officer of the ship, offered me the use of his
house, I took advantage of this, on account of his being a married
man, which Mr. Rawlinson was not. I found Mrs. Holland a very
pretty, amiable woman (a native of Baghdad), who, though only three-
and-twenty, had already four children, the eldest of whom was eight
years old.