'Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, and on the Site of Ancient Nineveh; with Journal of a Voyage down the Tigris to Bagdad and an Account of a Visit to Shirauz and Persepolis.' [‎114] (147/450)

114
MINERAL SPRING.
[CH. XVII.
the Mahometan conquest of these parts, and that if
was usurped by the Nestorians. Dhaher Bibars, tlie
hero of tlie romance of El Dhaheria, was imprisoned,
or said to have been imprisoned, in a subterranean
vault under the convent. It was ruined by Nadir
Shah.
The convent is situated in a little hollow or valley
about two and a half miles south-west ol our garden,
and is a bare secluded spot, fit for monastic retire
ment, commanding no prospect whatever. ^ et in
the spring, when all is green, it is a favourite haunt ol
the people of Mousul, principally on account ot the
mineral spring hard by, which is in great repute
here. The water fills an oval reservoir, and is
sulphureous, the surface being covered with a
whitish scum, beneath which it is quite clear and
not warm. No tar is produced here, as in a similar
spring in the neighbourhood at Hamaum All.
The convent is now a heap ot ruins. On the east
side of the principal court (about which are some
foundations of other inclosures, little domed cells
nearly sunk below the present level, and some vaulted
reservoirs) is a long building or corridor with three
open arches, entering from the court. On one oi the
piers between these arches, on the inside, is a beau
tifully ornamented niche, and on the corresponding
one a tablet inscribed with old Chaldean letters, ol
such an age^ and so placed as to height and light, as