DOWN THE TIGRIS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 85, 4 January 1919, Page 7

DOWN THE TIGRIS

FEOM DIAKBEKIK OF THE BLACK ■ ■ \ WALLS.. .'.'" . . Now that we. have captured Aleppo, including the remains oi the Turmsh Army, the waterway of the Tigris. to Mosul is open to us, and a very fuscinating way it is. . ... The starting point for the grain merchants and others who use the Tigris waterway begins at Diarbekii'i the blaokwalled city. Diarbekir is the most dismal of all dismal Eastern towns. Everywhere black basalt predominates'and is reflected in the gloomy countenances of its inhabitants. But with tho coming of spring the face of the Diarbekian lights up a little and he hies him to a goat-skin merchant and purchases a hundred goat-skine which he proceeds to inflate with air. Hie next step is to go 'down to the river bank and cut slender poplar poles to serve as a foundation for his kellak, or raft. The poles are lashed together, the goat-skins tied underneath, a rude tent built on the top, with a clumsy arrangement for steering at onp end of it, and hey, presto!; tliere is his raft ready to bo launched and entrusted to the spring flood of the Tigris. ... When his cargo is put on the raft he takes a touching farewell of his family, arms himself with a rusty old matchlock wherewith to ward off Kurd robbers, and, in company with half a dozen other rafts, commits himself to the swollon river in order to float down it- with as little exertion as possible. At night the merchants tie their' rafts to the bank, go on shore, light fires, put up camel-hair tents, post sentries, and sedately enjoy their evening meal. ' At daybreak they shivc-ringly ■ awake, cqok their breakfasts, and once moro.commit, themselves to the swollen flood. ' "Floating as we sometimes glide j Through a quiet dream." Occasionally the "quiet dream" is broken by a host of predatory Kurds artfully posted at a narrow bend of the rivor and intent on plunder. Then, with a.Jn'avo show o'f matchlocks which would fail to kill a cat at ten yards, the merchants utter terrifyjng yells and boldly press ■ onward. If a raft gets stranded at an awkward corner it is stripped of everything by, the marauding Kurds. The Tigris is a picturesque river, although tlio surrounding county- is flat. 1 oncn saw a tree in 'Mesopotamia.'with. a roftl live crow on it. for Mesopotamia, formerly the granary of tho world, is now a desolate waste. Here and tliere are huge cliffs with a rude ladder leaning against them. Aboye_ tho ladder is a little hole, through which tne cavedweller creeps at night and pulls bin ladder up after him—ft most successful way l of withdrawing from the cares which infest tho day and the Kurds who "silently steal away" all they can lay their hands 0h.—"G.8.8.," in the "Daily Mail."