Part 15 (1/2)
That night they spent on the banks of the river Zab The next day, after traversing a wild pass, hemmed in by perpendicular rocks, e of Bizeh, in a valley of the ht:
”About the ht noise, and, lifting his head, saw a party of five or six ar stealthily toward our roof, which, on the side toward the hill on which they were, was only four or five feet froround The foremost man stopped short for ato his followers, called out 'Khawaja!' (the gentleuard was asleep at the stepping stone, he climbed upon the roof at another corner, and stood for a un at his side
Mr Marsh raised himself upon his arm, and demanded in Arabic, 'What do you want?' The e: at any rate, he made no answer, but turned to the old man, and conversed earnestly with hiathered near them, as if to listen and take part But they all finally went aithout doing anythe sentinel who had kept watch over their baggage atte the direct road, as the people of the next village had heard of their co, 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 ad the cliff by which we had coh for our e of broken rocks jutted fro only a very sers Six worse-looking men, whether in forine Each h, 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 risly, 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 ere stopped, occupied about an hour We now passed with our ragged regiuns under our ears, and now cutting off the long bends of our crooked and little used path In about ten minutes from the pass, ere 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 an to perceive that ere going toward the Agha rather as prisoners than as guests
The castle, (if it ht, was of no pro, with a small white tower at one corner, on which the worked It was situated on the side of a hill which for into the ravine we had just left The small s and the roof were croith ular cavalcade As we drew near, soazed at us with irrepressible curiosity We stopped at the door of the castle
”Here the assault began The s at our servants: Khudhr and Ablahad seized the ar furiously with their daggers, to cut the straps of their guns and pistols The turbans were torn fro the rabble Similar violence was about to be shown us, when these operations were suddenly interrupted by the appearance, froha
”He was a man taller by several inches than any of his tribe, and with an expression of face which was that of one accustoant style than could have been expected in these ray silk, and a long rifle slung from his shoulders With a melo-dramatic wave of his hand, which was at once obeyed, heus, pointed out a tree, a few hundred feet up the hill, to which we riht 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 froht near us, taken fro tree Mr Marsh noent doard 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 canificantto kill us”
After sending the servant a second tiha would exae, take what he pleased, and send theha; 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 ha, and calculated to put us very ,
----”As mild a mannered man As ever scuttled shi+p, 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 ih a servant, that it was not iven to me, in America, to be delivered in Europe He immediately put it down, and proceeded with the search
”During these operations, several woathered around us A the latter class, was one, who, from her dress, beauty, and deha She was dressed in a faded, but once nificent robe, and trowsers of silk, and wore upon her head a massive and elaborately-carved orna the fierce and blood-thirsty savages, with an air ofthe 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 e of rocks, just behind us, and consulted long and earnestly We sat down and dined hat appetite we could muster”
After the robbers had coe took place, which Mr Bacon thus describes:
”The pressure of greater and ned to such petty losses as these, and I watched, with much amusement, the appropriation of unusual articles A black silk cravat which had seen -roo head of an unco-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 shi+rt and a green poratulation; but he turned upon his heel and strutted gravely away, his new garhtened our baggage considerably at this haul, they proceeded to search our persons It had been our firstplaced 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 couard, was cared for; likewise, the little note-book in which I was accustomed to place the ht be wandering in the uide Dr Bacon had with hins, and ere uncertain what to do with theive them to the robbers, we dreaded the effect of the _auri sacra faht be stripped in the search for ht be perilous They were finally placed in the waistcoat fob, from which the watch had been taken, with the hope that the cluha, with an irresistible sy, passed his hand aboutfor athat one of my breeches' pockets was full, he motioned me to empty it, and seeloves Dr Bacon was then searched, even more superficially; but as the hand passed over the waistcoat pocket, soled 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 hi told of its use, he scraith the pencil on the beyur-haldeh, an autograph, for which I have a peculiar value The rin of self-righteousness, to Mr Marsh”
After waiting some tie of a Kurdish guard:
”It soon became evident that ere not on the road to Oroo, was a matter of painful mystery At the distance of le Christian, a ers, to offer his sympathy As each of us passed hiest expression of regard, urged us to reuarantee 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 ere being led to the village of a Mullah, a very holy ht feel entirely secure He added, that toward Orooo; our only escape was toward Mosul”