Chapter I: Preface

I have endeavoured in this book to give some account of that inner life of the East of which a traveller, however keen-sighted and intelligent, seldom gains more than a passing glimpse. In a residence of eight years in Persia and Turkish Arabia I have become intimate with a large circle of friends whose life is passed behind the veil, and as the wife of a medical missionary I have had unusual opportunities of winning their confidence and becoming acquainted with their thoughts. Of direct missionary effort I have said very little, but I hope that the picture I have given may arouse interest in lives spent amongst surroundings so different from our own.

It is impossible for any one, however unversed in politics, who has lived so long in Mesopotamia, not to be deeply interested in the future of the country. While all Europe has been filled with astonishment at the bloodless revolution in Turkey, we who have become familiar with its inner life are touched with a feeling of admiration and something akin to awe. Whatever misgivings there may be as to the permanence of this reformation we hope and trust that it will endure.

Of one imminent change the effect is likely to be far-reaching. The new government has secured the services of Sir William Wilcox as their adviser in great irrigation schemes. Irrigation in Mesopotamia will change the whole face of the country; vast stretches of desert will be transformed into a garden, ruined villages will be restored, a new kingdom may be born, and Babylon possibly rebuilt. Mosul, practically on the site of ancient Nineveh, will become easy of access from Europe by means of the Baghdad railway and the restored navigation of the Tigris. Its waste places may be filled with corn, and the city be crowned once more with some of its ancient glory.

I should like to take this opportunity of thanking all those who have kindly allowed me to use their photographs, amongst them the Rev. C. H. Stileman, Dr. Saati of Mosul, and the Publishing Department of the Church Missionary Society.

I am indebted to Professor Brown's valuable book entitled "A Year amongst the Persians" for information on the Babi religion, and to Sir A. H. Layard's classical work on the excavations of Nineveh, which I have frequently had occasion to consult.

M. E. H.-G.

CONTENTS

Part I

Chapter I

Early Impressions
Page

Start for Persia--Arrival at Isphahan--Departure for
Kerman--The Land of the Lion and the Sun--A rainy day and its
effects--Eclipse--Locusts--Sand-storms--Land of cats--Modes of
conveyance--Inhabitants 17

Chapter II

Kerman

Short history of Kerman--Its overthrow--City of beggars--Story
of the fort--The jackal's "tale of woe" 30

Chapter III

Persian Industries

Carpet-making--How to tell a good carpet--How
to make a carpet--The cry of the children--Shawl
manufactures--Calico-printing--Brass-work--Agricultural
industries--Water disputes--Kanats--Poppy crops--Wheat and
corn--Tobacco-growing 40

Chapter IV

The Climate of Persia

Resht, Teheran, Isphahan--Dryness of atmosphere--Cellars--Roof
life--Children attacked by jackals--Chequered history of work in
Kerman 50

Chapter V

Holidays in Persia

How to ensure a prosperous journey--Natanz--Astonishment of natives
at sight of hairpins--Pulivagoon--Mahoon--Aliabad--Prince under
canvas--Visit from a Persian princess--A Persian deer hunt 59

Chapter VI

Social Life in Persia

Kerman--House-hunting and building--White ants--Housekeeping
in Kerman--Servant question--Truth v. falsehood--Abdul
Fateh--Bagi--Recreations--Some exciting rides--Persian
etiquette--Dinner at the governor's 71

Chapter VII

The Women of Persia

Home Life--Anderoon, women's quarters--Jealousy in
the anderoon--Anderoon of Khan Baba Khan--Two days in an
anderoon--H.R.H. Princess Hamadane Sultane--Visit to the anderoon
of H.R.H. the Zil-es-Sultan 84

Chapter VIII

More About Persian Women

Costumes--Wedding festivities--Wedding dinner--Kindness of Persian
husbands--Story of brutality--Divorce--Aids to beauty--Degradation
and cruelty of women 95

Chapter IX

Some Points in the Moslem Faith

Fasts and feasts--Seyyids, Dervishes, Mullahs--Legends of the
drowning mullah, and the yard-square hole 106

Chapter X

Other Religious Sects

The Bab and Babism--Short sketch of life of the Bab--His
imprisonment and execution--Parsees, or Zoroastrians--Persecutions
of Parsees in seventh century--Sacred writings of Parsees,
Zendavesta--Fire-worshipping--Fire temples--Holy fire--Parsee
wedding--Costume of women--Death customs--Burial customs 116

Chapter XI

Desert Delights

Songs of the desert--Sunsets, sunrises, mirages--Illness in the
desert--Mehman khanehs, caravanserais--Chappa khanehs--Lost in
the desert--Its cruelties and sadness 130

Chapter XII

Persian Medical Missions

The need of them--Work in Isphahan--The "little devil" transformed
into a boy--Amputation--Brothers in adversity--H.R.H. Zil-es-Sultan
as a patient--Fanaticism overcome 140

Chapter XIII

Pioneer Medical Mission Work in Kerman

Waiting for drugs and instruments--Native assistant proves
a broken reed--First operation in Kerman--An anxious
moment--Success--Doctrine of "savab" convenient to the
Moslem--Fanaticism tempered with prudence--Opium slaves--Persian
therapeutics--Persian quacks and their methods--Sure way of curing
cancer--Hysteria 151

Chapter XIV

Medical Mission Work in Yezd

A hospital--A friendly governor--A suspicious
case--Superstition--The opium habit--A case of cataract--We return
to England 164

Part II

Chapter I

The City of Nineveh

The fast of Jonah--The bridge of boats--Traditions as
to ancient history of Mosul--Elkos, birthplace of Nahum
the prophet--Shurgat--Climate of Mosul--Cultivation and
industries--Importance of Mosul 173

Chapter II

The People of Mosul

Population--Moslems--Christians--Chaldeans--Nestorians--Jacobites
--Arabs--Kurds--Jews--Yezidees--Recreations--Warfare
of the slingers--Hammam Ali--The recreation ground of Mosul men
and women 186

Chapter III

The River Tigris

Ancient historical interest--Garden of Eden--Origin of name
unknown--Swiftness--Sources--Navigation--Keleqs--Bathing, fishing,
washing--Crossing rivers 198

Chapter IV

The Children of Mosul

Spoiling process--Despair of the parents--The "god" of the
hareem--Death by burning--Festivities at birth of boy--Cradles
and cradle songs--School life--Feast in honour of a boy having
read the Koran through--"Only a girl"--Girl life--Girl victims
of Naseeb--Marriage 208

Chapter V

The Moslem Women of Mosul

Beauty behind the veil--Types of beauty--My dear old friend of 110
years of age--Aids to beauty described--Pretty children--Beauty
tainted with sin--Imprisonment of women--Peeps into some
hareems--Warm receptions--A visit from the ladies of a select
hareem--Love the magic key to open hearts 219

Chapter VI

Moslem Family Life

No home life--Women equal with the beasts--Evils
of divorce--Naseeb--The will of God--Truth and
falsehood--Honesty prevalent--A thief caught--Swearing and
anti-swearing--Fighting--Hair-tearing and biting--Hammam, the
ladies' club 231

Chapter VII

Customs of Mosul

Wedding ceremonies--Great expense to parents--Method of
procedure--Funeral customs--Customs at birth--Some other customs
244

Chapter VIII

Dreams and Visions

Ezekiel's vision by the river Chebar--Our vision by the river
Khabour--Rivers identical--"A wheel within a wheel"--Babylonish
emblem of divinity--Origin of the cherubim--Dream of a woman
suffering from cataract--Effect of dream on her character--Watch
and chain recovered by means of a "faked" dream--Illustration
of the doctrine of Kismet or Naseeb--"Ghosts" in our
compound--Atmosphere of ghosts bad for fowls 257

Chapter IX

Manners and Superstitions in Mosul

Characteristics of inhabitants of Mosul--Social habits--Love of
drink--An effectual cure--Gambling--Tel Kaif: a story of Uncle
Goro--The Angel of Death, and other titles--Difficulties over
name and age--Some superstitions--Effect of scent on women--Birds
of good omen--Thieves--Sheep-killing--Sheikh Matti--An angel's
visit--Medical superstitions--Cure for hydrophobia 269

Chapter X

The Yezidees

Gratitude to the English--Persecutions--"Devil-worshippers"--Sun
and fire worship--Priesthood--A visit to Sheikh Adi--Peacock
wands--A sacred shrine 284

Chapter XI

Travelling in the Desert

Monotony of desert travelling--A puppy and a kitten
tragedy--Accident by the river Euphrates--Riots in Mosul--Robberies
and murder excited by love of gold 294

Chapter XII

The Pleasures of Desert Travelling

Desert blossoms as a rose--Flowers of the desert--Arabs, their
occupation and women--Arab dancing--Robbers of the desert--An
army of 10,000--Five hundred armed men--False alarms--Lost in
the desert--Delights and disturbances of travelling 307