THE MESOPOTAMIAN VALLEY.

23

banks. The oak forests and groves of walnuts that stud the higher slopes are already in full leaf, and by the yellow-green hue of their newly expanded leaves, refresh the eye of the beholder. The southern declivities are cultivated: well-fenced fields, verdant with the springing wheat, are interspersed with vine

THE PERSIAN CYCLAMEN.

yards and olive-yards, and with orchards and gardens in which grow the fig, the mulberry, the pomegranate, the apple, the pear, the almond, and the apricot.

These are for the most part richly covered with their sheets of beauteous blossom. The silvery pine, the tamarisk, and the poplar shoot out of the clefts of the rocks, and the spreading limbs of a gigantic plane-tree afford shadow to a cottage with its adjuncts.

The banks of the river, and the whole surface of the valley, are like a vast flower-garden. Beds of poppies, scarlet and white; bugloss, borage, and larkspur of the richest azure; white and blushing cistuses; anemones, with white, scarlet and delicately pencilled petals; ranunculuses, campanulas, and a thousand other flowers with names unknown to us, display their beauties or diffuse their fragrance on every side. But chiefly the bulbous-rooted plants abound in this region: wild tulips, white, red, and blue, yellow daffodils and jonquils, gladioluses, hyacinths of many species, cyclamens with drooping, blushing blossoms, and lilies of every gay hue, scarlet, orange, yellow, white, purple, shoot up their sword-like leaves and expand their lovely corollas from the mossy turf, enamelling its surface like a gorgeous carpet.

But what is that moving mass slowly emerging from a dark gorge far up in the hills, and gradually extending itself in a long winding line on the mountainside? The shouts of men, softened by the distance, come distinctly upon the ear, mingled with the lowing of oxen, the bleating of calves and sheep, and other confused sounds that are too far off to be recognised. The tortuous train of living things still lengthens, and long before the last of the file has issued from the distant pass, the van has approached sufficiently near for us to perceive the nature and character of

the procession. Its course is evidently towards yonder level spot, where the Euphrates, spreading itself over the ground in a broad but shallow lake, may without much difficulty be forded.

In front, seated on a milk-white ass of great size and noble bearing, is one who is evidently the lord of the party. His fine features, though browned by habitual exposure, have the freshness which marks the native of an upland country. His erect carriage, the calm dignity of his countenance, and the compression of his finely-formed lips, tell of one accustomed to command; though at present he seems to take little part in the active superintendence of the cavalcade, and the fire of his large dark eyes is tempered by a meekness that seems habitual to them. He is clothed in a long white robe, as are many of his companions, and only the large jewel that blazes in the front of his richly-coloured turban, distinguishes his dress from theirs. The raven blackness of his hair begins to yield to the assaults of years, yet the venerable man before us can scarcely yet be considered as beyond the prime of life.

By his side, mounted like himself on a white ass, is a man apparently of the same rank in life, but considerably younger. His features are cast in the same mould, but are less pleasing in their expression; and his unquiet eye lacks the meekness of his more aged companion's. They converse together with an unreserved freedom, and there is in their deportment toward each other an affectionate cordiality, which indicates that they are bound by the tie of friendship, if not of kindred.

The procession is evidently that of a wealthy

C

pastoral emir, migrating with his numerous household and retainers, and with his flocks and herds, from one country to another. The long, curved, ungainly necks of hundreds of camels rise above the general level, and their hunched backs are loaded with tents, poles, the larger articles of furniture, and various packages of baggage, so as often to project far on each side. On the very summit of some of these, seated on the immense piles of lighter luggage, at an elevation which makes us tremble for the security of their position, we see women, old men, and even children, who gaze about with an indifference or a curiosity which shows us that the apparent danger of their position is not at all occupying their thoughts. These are the slaves and inferior domestics of the household.

The baggage camels follow one another in single file, each being led by a halter fastened to the harness of the one that precedes it; the foremost of the number is guided by an experienced servant, who either leads it by the halter, or rides upon its hunch. Around are many saddled and bridled dromedaries, camels of a lighter and more elegant form, differing not in species, but only in breed, from their more clumsy and ungainly fellows, just as a riding-horse differs from a cart-horse. These bear the officers of the establishment, the stewards, the chief herdsmen and shepherds, and the superintendents of the various classes of menials which belong to so extensive a household, together with their wives and elder children. They are not strung together like the drudging baggage-camels, but each rider governs his own beast.

Asses are prominent in the cavalcade. Not the poor, ragged, spirit-broken drudges of modern times, with which we in the west are familiar, but sleek, well-formed, high-mettled animals, little inferior to horses in size, figure, or speed. Most of these are led; though a few are saddled, and bear some of the most confidential of the domestic servants, immediately behind the emir and his young companion. The she-asses are accompanied by their prancing foals.

Herds of lowing oxen and kine, some with long pendent horns, and others with short horns and a

prominent hump on the shoulders; flocks of sheep of a beautiful breed, with tall twisted horns, and goats with long hanging ears, bring up the rear, making the rocks around vocal with the echoes of their pertinacious cries. These are specially valuable not only for their flesh, but also for their milk, which,