'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎331] (440/496)

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superintendence of his little army, and in agricultural improvements.
Possessing such qualifications for a ruler, it is painful to think that his
tenure hangs by a thread, and that he may be arbitrarily removed from
the seat of his usefulness by the lavish promises of a higher bidder, who,
in order to fufil his baneful contract, must further oppress the already
distressed ryot and landholder.
I must here close the journal. The pernicious quality of the water in
the regions through which we have lately been travelling has for some
time affected me, and I am now rendered so weak that I must quit Kur
distan. My poor Arab, whose gentle and quiet paces induced me to
bring him into this mountainous tract, as indispensable to the person
that carried the chronometer, is a sufferer as well as myself, and for the
last twenty days has been straggling after the party without either halt
er or rider. Major Kawlinson's public avocations will delay him some
days longer in the neighbourhood, but as he purposes returning to
Baghdad by a longer, and hitherto a less frequented, road, the astrono
mical observations that he may make I shall append to the journal, to
render it, in this respect, the more complete.
•
September 29^.—Taking leave of my companions, and the kind Pa
cha, who has given me letters for my safe conduct on the road, I left
Sulimaniyeh at noon.—Crossing the head of the Shahri-Zur plain in a W.
by S. direction, over fields of rice, and occasionally wading through
swampy grounds, I traversed the low range of Karadagh by a difficult
path, and descended over undulating slopes to a village of the same name,
romantically situated in a defile between the Karadagh and Seghirmeh
chains, the latter of which rises to an elevation of about 4000 feet above
the valley. The village may contain about 500 houses, and appears a
quiet and thriving place. Its Grovernor, Abderahman Beg, a connection
and stanch supporter of Ahmed Pacha, is one of the handsomest men I
have seen, and possesses a frankness and urbanity of manner that at once
secures the confidence of the stranger. I sat conversing with him to a
late hour, during which time he was constantly occupied in dispatching
and receiving letters, but at the same time he never allowed the conver
sation to flag. At night, indeed, the Kurds hold their mejlis or assem
blies, and transact most of their business. This at least I had cause to
regret, for the constant influx of visitors prevented my sleeping until it
was time to mount in prosecution of the journey. By day-dawn the
busy throng had all retired to rest, and I departed without a single be