'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎127] (180/905)

CHAP. VI.]
TAXES, COMMERCE, ETC.
127
and the houses are roofed with ponderous logs of wood, which
are covered with several feet of earth. They usually consist
of three or four dark rooms on the ground, communicating
with each other, and separately allotted for the family, their
cattle, sheep, goats, &c., an arrangement which appears to
have been resorted to as a protection from the severity of the
winter; and, being suited to the climate and limited wants
of the people, this mode of constructing houses has remained
unchanged since the passage of the Ten Thousand Greeks
through the country. 1
The Turks, as well as the Persians, obtain for their cavalry
a great many horses from Kurdistan, which, according to
some estimates, might annually supply from 60,000 to 80,000
of these animals; but such numbers could scarcely fail to
drain the country entirely, if the demand were to be kept up
year after year, without intermission. The Kurdish houses,
being formed in the sides of the mountains, possess a degree
of comfort, as to temperature, which could not be obtained
in ordinary buildings. After sun-set, a bright lamp and a
large wood fire supply that light which is sparingly admitted
during the day through one or two small windows, usually
closed with oiled paper instead of glass. The Kurdish women
do not cover their bodies so much with apparel, nor do they
keep so much by themselves, as in other parts of the East.
Cooking, and other domestic duties, devolve upon them, as
usual; but, at intervals, they join the guests, and the rest of
the family circle, round the blazing hearth.
There are many different tribes in Kurdistan, and these
are generally divided into small chieftainships, forming sepa
rate patriarchal governments, under an hereditary chief, called
Dereh-Beg, 2 who possesses an extensive tract of land, which,
in all probability, has been in his family for many generations.
The rent-charges drawn by the local chieftain from the people
are on a moderate scale, and the taxes paid to the Sultan do
not appear to be by any means oppressive.
We have seen already that there is some commerce in
1 Xenophon's Expedition of Cyrus, book IV.
2 Lord of the Valley.