'DIARY OF A TOUR IN THE PERSIAN GULF AND IN TURKISH ARABIA, DECEMBER, 1906 (WITH MAP)' [‎19r] (37/106)

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brick as building material operated to
prevent the erection of any noteworthy,
or at any rate any durable structure, no
matter how great may have been the
magnificence of the local monarchs. Still,
there are parts of old Bagdad, not ancient
perhaps, in length of years, but seemingly
reproducing the tone and atmosphere of
the Arabian Nights, where, without any
great effort of the imagination, one might
fancy oneself transported to the times of
the Caliphs ; where the winding lanes, the
jutting balconies with occasional bright
eyes looking from them, the black eunuchs,
the rich merchandise, the cafes, the baths,
the market porters, the water carriers and
donkey drivers all remind one irresistibly
of the days of Kamaralzaman and Badoura,
of Sinbad, Masrur the Sworder, J’afar the
Barmecide, Abu Nowas the Jester, and all
that merry crowd which moved around the
throne of the great Commander of the
Faithful.
little. Arabs predominate, but the cafes
are largely frequented by the Turkish
soldiery who, for the most part slouch
ing and out-at-elbows, seem to have little
enough to do. The military efficiency of
the Bagdad Army Corps, in fact, is re
puted to be at a low ebb. The main ob
ject in life of the units comprising it is to
avoid being sent to the Persian frontier,
where there is a possibility of active service
and other unpleasantnesses. Very dif
ferent must be these degenerate and un
willing troops from those Osmanli soldiers
on whose valour and steadfastness the
Sultan’s main strength is based. The
women of Bagdad of course go veiled when
abroad, even those of the numerous Chris
tian sects and the Jewesses. The latter wear
extraordinarily gorgeous silken garments,
and the really smart thing is to possess a
white donkey tended by the blackest and
ugliest of negro slaves. The children in
many cases are fair and pretty, but most
are blemished by the 4 date mark,’ the result
of the as yet incurable Bagdad sore, from
which, indeed, few escape. Whether the
utter want of even elementary sanitation
is responsible for this scourge it is impos
sible to say. Certain it is that the primi
tive habits of the people have been re
sponsible within recent times for epidemics
of plague and cholera, during which thou
sands of people have died daily.
midnight on Christmas Eve and proceeded
in one of the Comet's boats to the river
steamer Khalifa. Here we found awaiting
us our friend M. Mashkoff, the Russian
Consul, who had kindly come to see us off.
The people of Bagdad.
Of the people of Bagdad I have said
Departure from Bagdad.
We left the Bagdad Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. close on