Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan
AMONG the prayers recited by the Hadjis are those with which the pilgrims circle the Kaaba at Mecca, a translation of which was given by Canon Tristram in a delightful paper on Mecca contributed to the Sunday at Home volume for 1883. The following is a specimen : God, I extend my hands to Thee : great is my longing towards Thee. Accept Thou my supplication, remove my hindrances, pity my humiliation, and mercifully grant me Thy pardon. "O God, I beg of Thee that faith which shall not fall away, and that certainty which shall not perish, and the good aid of Thy prophet Mohammed- may God bless and preserve him! O God, shade me with Thy shadow in that day when there is no shade but Thy shadow, and cause me to drink from the cup of Thy prophet Mohammed-may God bless him and preserve him ! - that pleasant draught after which is no thirst to all eternity." LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
IN VOLUME II
Church of Mar Shalita, Kochanes
Stone Lion and Guide / 8
Karun at Pul-i-Ali-Kulu / 10
Killa Bazuft / 19
Fording the Karun / 23
Sar-i-Cheshnieh-i-K urang / 29
Zard Kuh Range / 30
Aziz Khan / 37
Yahya Khan / 10
A Twig Bridge / 114
Tomb of Esther and Mordecal / 153
Kurd of Sujbulak / 208
Hesso Khan / 264
A Syrian Family / 273
Designs on Tombs at Kochanes / 297
Syrian Cross / 297
Syrian Priest and Wife / 310
A Syrian Girl / 315
Rock and Citadel of Van / 338
Kurds of Van / 339
A Hakkiari Kurd / 372 LETTRE XVI
ALI-KUH, June
Two days before we left Chigakhor fierce heat set in, with a blue heat haze. Since then the mercury has reached 9 8° in the shade. The call to "Boot and Saddle" is at 3.45. Black flies, sand-flies, mosquitos, scorpions, and venomous spiders abound. There is no hope of change or clouds or showers until the autumn. Greenery is fast scorching up. "The heaven above is as brass, and the earth beneath is as iron." The sky is a merciless steely blue. The earth radiates heat far on into the night. "Man goeth forth to his work" not "till the evening," but in the evening. The Ilyats, with their great brown flocks, march all night. The pools are dry, and the lesser streams have disappeared. The wheat on the rain-lands is scorched before the ears are full, and when the stalks are only six inches long. This is a normal Persian summer in Lat. 32° N. The only way of fighting this heat is never to yield to it, to plod on persistently, and never have an idle moment, but I do often long for an Edinburgh east wind, for drifting clouds and rain, and even for a chilly London fog! This same country is said to be buried under seven or eight feet of snow in winter.
JOURNEYS IN PERSIA AND KURDISTAN
INCLUDING A SUMMER IN THE UPPER KARUN
REGION AND A VISIT TO THE NESTORIAN RAYAHS
By Mrs. Bishop (Isabella L. Bird)
Honorary fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
author of “Six months in the Sandwich Islands”
“Unbeaten Tracks in Japan“ etc.
In two volumes-vol. II.
With portrait, map and Illustrations
London
John Murray, Albemarle street
1891 | 
