Our Future Highway

Front matter

■ n I I _■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ I OUR FUTURE HIGHWAY. KURDISH SHEPHERD. Vol. II. P. 220. Our Future Highway BY VERNEY LOVETT CAMERON, C.B., D.C.L., COMMANDER ROYAL NAVY, Medallist of Royal, Paris, Lisbon Geo. Soc. of Soc. of Arts; Corresponding Member of Paris, Lyons, Norman. Italian, French Commercial, Belgian, Antiverp, Brussels. Berlin. Vienna. Hungarian Geo. Soc; Member of Committee of International Geo. aud Com. Soc, F.R.G.S., P.S. A., M.A.I., P.R. His. Soc, etc. TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. II. iTotrtmn: MACMILLAN AND CO. i88o. The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved. LONDON : R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, BREAD STREET HILL. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Shaykh Abed — Aneizeh — True nomads— Coffee — Circassians — The Sultan's message — The Shaykh's reply — Yuzbashi Erat — Impunity in evil-doing — Relations in the desert — Unbearable — Reduced to pauperism — Consular intervention — Consultation over — Spiked things — The coffee-maker — A master of the art — A curious party — Barr-el-Soudan — Tobacco-pouches — Beautiful scene — The sounds of revelry — "Tented fields" — True to his word — His favourite mare — No kill — Shoot for the pot — Ruins of Hierapolis — The ire of the Arabs — Three hundred priests — Equally futile — Five kettah for two cartridges — A medical levee — A huge bonfire — Target practice — Mixed bag — A swan — A miss fire — Packs of kettah — A dispute — Trust to myself — The right road — Go on — Hockey — Caverns — " Blue -rocks " — Emerging from a valley — A glowing report , Pages I — 24

Chapter II

More hieroglyphics — Assyrian fashion — No luck — An excuse — Vague complaints — Hajji Schalbach — Tithes — Corvee — A challenge — No to be found — A bapor — Wound a pig— Shaykhs Mohammed and Murad — Seglawimare — Unwieldy craft — Real Arabs — Stock getting low — More efficient supervision — The race — Take his cloak — Laughter — Visit to Ras Ali — Neatly arrange — Prisoners of war — Three piastres — Patriotism — More sick — The duties of a doctor — A nasty day — Not sorry — Castle of Bir-ed-jik — No boats plying — CONTENTS. VI A nondescript craft — A Blackwall clipper — A huge paddle — Contor tions and evolutions — No cook and no beds — Our predicament— A jolly old gentleman — We wax friendly — A telegram — Horses stabled — Our sleeping sacks — Close quarters— Turkish bath — An acquaintance — Small necessaries Pages -5 — 4^

Chapter III

English merchants, Ralf Fitch — Sir Edward Osbome — Birra — Feligia — A gun is very good — John Eldred — A dry town — Maundrell — Bashaw of Ursa — Chesney — Travelling bad — A curious town — A mere shell — Large tents — Caves — German sausage — Sport — Scouts the idea — A curious instance — A wizard — Full confidence — A samovar — Carts — A procession — The Mustafii — Three instead of two — Mohair goats — A wild-looking fellow — In the wars — A dispute — Robbers — Starts off running — The most cowardly — Mock courage — Patrol — Quite happy — Tsamelik — Wet and cold — Splash, splash, splash — Smell smoke — Fear of robbers — A dreary scene — Nimshi — Close proximity — Dull and gloomy — Weary plodding — The Cadi — Orfa — Liquid mud — Pitchy darkness — The Serai — The Sergeant-Major — The Bimbashi — An invitation . , Pages 47 — 67 •

Chapter IV

The purest dialect — The Abgari — Leprosy — Our Lord — Marvellous — Sacrilegious hands — Naked and wounded — Healed — Pious visitants — Chiefest treasure — Ransomed — Nimrod and Abraham — Disapproves of sermons — A huge fire — Two springs — Sacred fishe1 — "The prophets" — A blessed admonition — Manifest error — " Brake them all in pieces " — Bear witness — Impious persons — Burn him — Jewish version — Terah — Sacrilegious action — Ur of the Chaldees — Baal — A Magian priest — Cfitha — Odoriferous air — Tower of Babel — A cure for headache — Eastern Christians — Odenathus — Julian — Satire — Chosroes — Emperor Maurice — Baldwin — Courtenays — Zenghi — Bimbashi's horses — Monsieur Martin — Stock of spoons — Wanderers — English schoolmaster — Slaves — Supposed to govern — Our portly friend — Heavy bribes — Legends — Arab honour — A promise — The value of a knife — Feed the fishes — Ibrahim Chaoush — His father — Soaking clothes — Five lumps — Wool — Huge loads — Promiscuous confusion — " Nasty particular " — Severick. Pages 6S — CONTENTS. VII

Chapter V

A Protestant's complaints — Syrian Bishop — Too fat — Citadel — Severus — Serving out corn — A chief mustcian — The instruments — Vocalists — A Turkish entertainment — Early to bed — A road — Bitter cold — Snow — Sunshine — Sturdy beggars — Kara-Bagh-shu — Interiors — Sunset — A blazing fire — Which road — Game — A roll — Many a slip — Crocuses — The plain — Major Trotter — Intimate knowledge — Kurdish troubles — The brothers — A famous family — Mighty ancestry — Seize Jezireh — Instructions — Absurd messages — Kurdish chiefs — Defeat of the brothers — Pensions and rewards — Captive rebels — F'athers of families — Decoration — A judicious mixture. Pages 96—118

Chapter VI

Diarbekr — Asshur-izi-pal — Sapjjr — Grumbates — Treachery — Noble Romans — Capital of Armenia — Kobad — Effects of a debauch — Courageous priest — Timely flattery — Their opponents' difficulties — The very walls — The citadel — The bridge — Its importance — Ismail's railway — Heathen temple — An ancient church — Carelessness — A bad temper — Turned into a mosque — Mr. Boyajan — A dispute — Not settled — Visit from bishops — Their rivalry — A widespreading church — Roman Catholic missionaries — The mejliss of Diarbekr — Bribes — Justice and reason — The Cadi — A diamond ring — Fear of influence — Manufactures — An afternoon visitor — A capital linguist — Start for Orfa— Grading — All well Pages 119— 139

Chapter VII

Garrison turn out — Reception of the rebels — A character — A Houri — A telling salute — New wives — An expensive mare — Commotion — Calmed down — Leave Orfa — A brother — Haran — Roman camp — A Norman keep — Christian work — Measure a base — Fog — A short course — Too far south — Christian hermits — Nomad Kurds — Sign of the cross — Bustard — Ruins — Lodge in caves — The devil — Laid — The proper track — Arabs on Ghazou — Neighbours in camp — Very nervous — Kurds — Adwan and Aneizeh — A mirage — Armed — River Khabour — Lodgings Pages 140 — CONTENTS.

Chapter VIII

Resaina — Inroads — Constant feuds — More aversion — The highest boast — Fights with the Shammar — A sous-offieer — This lout — A nuisance — Fishing — Ancient dykes — An old hag — The Kaimacan — Herds of gazelle — Thieves — Sultan missing — Nocturnal rambles — Deserted villages — Several tels — Perhaps Trotter — Levelled guns — Thief catching — Robbers — A good chance — Picketing — Ruins — Towers — Christians — The Priests — Very successful — Jealousy — A pitched battle — A fresh levy — A synod — Very pious — Natural convulsion — American Mission Pages 160 — 179

Chapter IX

Young ladies — A regular furnace — Back hair — The vakil — Seven-shooter ready — Chief lions — Kaukab — Tamerlane — A stratagem — The population — A better road — A race — An inferior sportsman — Dara — Its founder — Described by Gibbon — Its fortifications — Water supply — Belisarius — Perozes — Breakfastand bath — Chosroes — Five years' truce — Maiden - fortress — Maurice — Arched vaults — Square building — Tank — The walls — Caverns — The Agha — Copper coins. Pages 1S0 — 198

Chapter X

Kasr Serdchan — Chists — Sons of Darius — Nisibin — Illness — Sanitary precautions — Carbolic acid — Christians and Moslems — Tai Arabs — Remains — Trajan — Sapor — St. James — Another army — Count Lucilianus — An artificial sea — Again repulsed — Masagetæ — Ceded — Loth to go — A free fight — A fertile plain — Asmaur — Kisses — Christian hardships — Izzet Pasha — The shaykh's woes — Cowardly zaptieh Pages 199 — 216

CHAPTER XL

Nahr al Fieruz — Muran — Tchil Agha — Rumeilat — Wild-looking fellows — A stray dog — An early start — A false alarm — Gazelle — Bustards — Hogna — Ruined village — Herd of horses — Mosul — Disputed entrance CONTEN IX — Mrs. Russell — A fellow African — Ferhan Pasha — Raids — Koy unjik — Unis Bey — Coursing — Hawking — A Boar — Our bag — Eski Mosul — Present importance — Dominican fathers — Chaldeans — Division of churches Pages 2 1 7 — 240

Chapter XII. Au

the glories — The shaykh himself — Unpleasant ride — Dirty village — Lost their wits — The most comfortable place — Different looking — Hammam Ali — Persian Consul — Nimroud — The escort — Great southern plain — Shaykh Azowy — Jebour Arabs — A fox-hunt — Irrigation — A camp — A petition — Sherghat — Supper — Pot shots — Shamas-Vul — Hamrin mountains — A wady — Women's work — Bela-dij — A storm — Infernal charivari — Squalls — A clear sky — Coffee for all — Boundless plain — A short march — Mountain sheep — Bag one — Mutilated — The horns of a male — Cold rain squalls — Kala'-at Mekrun — Tekrit — Pilgrims Pages 241 — 266

Chapter XIII

Supposed impregnability — The mudir — Luxurious conveyance — Kufas — Dura — Aschik — Eski Baghdad — Primitive agriculture — Samara — Mosque — Haroun al Raschid's palace — Naharwan canal — Karegite;. — Istalibat — Majaliweh — Farewell — Canals — Jisr Hartha — Sumeischah — Gazelle — Mirage and mistakes — Khan Suediyah — Pilgrims — Kansimain — Tigris — The Blunts — Isandula — The Patna — Karachi — Laconic telegram — Too late .... Pages 267 — 2SS

Chapter XIV

General principles — Present route — Brindisi — Constantinople — Enumeration of rival routes — Discussion of their claims — The tenth — Tripoli — To Horns — Present carriage — Present trade — To Hamah Mara — Idlib — Aleppo — Traffic — Interest — To Haran and Ursa — To Mosul — Down the Tigris Valley — Baghdad to Bushire — Bushire — The Indo-Mediterranean railway Pages 2S9— CONTENTS. X

Chapter XV

Anxiety of the people — Entrepreneurs — Russian influence — Midhat Pasha — Judicious advisers — "The great Elchi" — The sentinel- Balkan Peninsula — Alteration of dogmas — Venal beauties — What possible fitness — Ottoman dynasty — Age of miracles — Self-deception — Contrasts — Right to insist — Absolute right — Carrion crew — Good communications — Civilization — Mohammedanism — Christian races — Greeks and Armenians — Byron — Comparison — Solid qualities — Native support — Fiction and fact — Arguments — Admissions — Consular reports — Irrigation — Russian assimilation — Strategical value — Tentative scheme — Our Future Highway . . . Pages 321 — ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Ferry-boat, Bir-ed-jik 41 Kurdish Shepherd To face 220 Bullock Raising Water 250 Kufa, or Round Boat 269 Primitive Plough 273 [By Helena Cameron, from the Author's sketches.)

Chapter I

Shaykh Abed — Aneizeh — True nomads — Coffee — Cir cassians — The Sultan's message — The Shaykh's reply — Yuzbashi Erat — Impunity in evil-doing — Relations in the desert — Unbearable — Reduced to pauperism — Consular intervention — Consultation over — Spiked things — The coffee-maker — A master of the art — A curious party — Barr el-Soudan — Tobacco-pouches — Beautiful scene — The sounds of revelry — " Tented fields " — True to his word — His favourite mare — No kill — Shoot for the pot — Ruins of Hiera polis — The ire of the Arabs — Three hundred priests — Equally futile — Five kettah for two cartridges — A medical levee — A huge bonfire — Target practice — Mixed bag — A swan — A miss fire — Packs of kettah — A dispute — Trust to myself — The right road — Go on — Hockey — Caverns — " Blue-rocks " — Emerging from a valley — A glowing report.

IKE many of his followers Shaykh Abed, chief of the Arab camp, was a very favourable specimen of the semi-nomad. Indeed his people had only begun agriculture thirty years before, when they were forced to settle down at Mombedj by the Turkish Government as a guarantee for the b « VOL. TRUE NOMADS. [chap. 2 behaviour of the rest of the Aneizeh tribe, to which they claimed to belong. Most probably there was something behind this story, for all the Arabs look upon the purely nomad exist ence as the most gentlemanlike and aristocratic and despise agriculture ; naturally, therefore, Shaykh Abed and his people liked to claim relationship with one of the greatest and most powerful of Arab clans, and to describe their agriculture as being only subsidiary to their pastoral pursuits. They were still all living in tents of precisely the same pattern as the true nomads, and, though not making the great migrations which the latter do, occasionally changed their location to find more food or water for their flocks and herds, but always made the Mombedj their head-quarters, and occupied the same place at seed-time and harvest.

When all was arranged, tents pitched and horses and mules stabled under the Shaykh's large tent, one side of which was open, we assembled there, round a fire, for the inevitable ••] CIRCASSIANS. 3 coffee and talk. Shaykh Abed, who was a fine handsome man of about five and thirty, said he just remembered the settling down of his father at Mombedj, and that since that time all had gone well with them until the Circassians were told to take up their habitation there also. Whilst he was speaking about this some Circassians came strolling in and had to be invited to sit down and join in the coffee-drinking ; this prevented for the time any further confidences. The conversation chang-ed from the Circassians to shootinoand hunting, and the Shaykh, who possessed a brace of very handsome black and white greyhounds, said that if we would stop the next day he would go out with us after gazelle, when we could take our own dogs as well as his and some others that were in the camp.

The Circassians said that their headman wanted very much to see us, and we therefore told them that if he would send to us in the morning and say whether he would come to us or we should go to see him we should be B [chap. THE SULTAN'S MESSAGE. 4 glad to have a talk with him. When the Circassians went away the Shaykh said that he would come into our tent and tell us all about his grievances, as people would be always coming and going in his large one so that we could not talk quietly there. We accordingly moved over with two or three men who were more in his confidence than the rest, and he opened his mind very fully. Before the Circassians had come to Mombedj he had received a message that the Sultan wished them to settle there, and that as they were Mohammedans who had been driven out of their homes by the common enemy he hoped they would be kindly received.

They were to be allowed to build a village in the ruins, and to pasture their cattle near, and also to cultivate ground, but were not to interfere with any that was already cultivated by the Arabs. He replied that they should be welcome, and that he and his people would assist them to the best of his power. The Circassians — when they arrived — were not I.] IMPUNITY IN EVIL-DOING. 5 content with the land given them to culti vate, and tried to take that of the Arabs ; and when the latter objected broke their ploughs and drove them, and prevented them cultivating any land at all. An officer, Yuz bashi Erat, had been named to settle and arrange all disputes between the Arabs and Circassians, but seemed to have neglected his duty wofully. He had left the place soon after the Circassians arrived, and when the Arabs sent in to him at Aleppo, had promised to come out directly after Bairam.

More than six weeks had elapsed since then, and though the Arabs had sent many messages to him and a petition to the Wali imploring his presence, no notice had been taken of their appeals. The Circassians, through impunity in evil-doing, were growing bolder, and now were constantly stealing cattle and sheep, and had even set upon women and children collect ing brushwood for firing, and beaten and robbed them. Shaykh Abed said that this state of affairs could go on no longer, and [chap. 6 UNBEARABLE. that when we arrived he had been on the point of starting for Aleppo himself to see if his own presence would have any influence on the Wali ; if that sailed his intention was to seek assistance from other Arabs and his relations in the desert and drive the Circassians away by force. The superior arms of the latter had hitherto prevented the Arabs from taking the law into their own hands, but, as the Shaykh said, matters were becoming unbearable, and that, though the Circassians were the better armed, numbers would be on the side of the Arabs, and even if they did lose many men it would be better than putting up with matters as they stood then.

We strongly urged him not to resort to force, as it would put him and his people in the wrong, and that even if they did overcome the Circassians there were enough soldiers at Aleppo to put him and all he could bring down easily ; in which case, instead of being rich and prosperous, they would be reduced to pauperism, as the troops would be sure to I-] CONSULTATION OVER. 7 take all their cattle and sheep away from them, so that they would have to depend entirely on the land for their support, while the Circassians, instead of being merely unpleasant neighbours, would develop into tyrannical masters. Our advice was that he should represent his case to the consular body at Aleppo and pray for their intervention, and we promised to write to Henderson on the subject and inclose a statement drawn up by himself and his prin cipal men as to the causes of their dissatisfaction with the Circassians.

This letter he could send in at once to Aleppo ; and we promised that if Henderson should meet us at Jerablus, as he had promised to do if possible, we would send over a messenger to let him know, so that he might have a personal interview with him. Our consultation being over, we ordered supper to be brought, and asked the Shaykh to join ; he said he had also had supper cooked for us, and proposed, as a compromise, that we should eat ours first and then send for [chap. 8 SPIKED THINGS. his and eat that. We first had ours served in European fashion, with a table and seats. The Shaykh and one of his friends who stayed with him managed very fairly with knives and forks, though they had never seen them used before, and as we afterwards heard they could not make out the reason why we wanted spiked things to put our food in our mouths when fingers were so much more handy.

When our supper was done the table was cleared away and the Shaykh's produced, when we had to squat down on the ground and conform to the Arab manner of eating, the Shay-kh arguing, plausibly enough, that as we had made him eat like a European it was only fair that we should now eat like Arabs. After this double-barrelled supper we went back to the Shaykh's large tent, in the centre of which was a fire of brushwood and where a number of his people were assembled. The coffee-maker, who occupied the principal place in the circle, was an adept in his art, roasting the berries to the exact point required, then •■] A MASTER OF THE ART. 9 pounding them in his mortar with a sort of rythmical cadence of the blows of the pestle, occasionally allowing some aspiring youth to imitate his performance, but always being dis satisfied and resuming the duty himself.

The coffee being pounded, he paid the greatest at tention to boiling the water, putting in the coffee and pouring it from pot to pot, ere it was pro nounced fit for use ; then a delicate rinse of the cups with the smallest possible drop of the pre cious fluid ; and at last, having first tasted the brew himself, the exactitude with which he poured it into the tiny cups out of which it was to be drunk ; all these were done with the precision and grace of a master of the art. The coffee, when made, certainly repaid the pains bestowed on its making, and the services of the artist were in demand during the whole evening. A curious party it seemed, all squat ting and sprawling about on carpets and cushions, the Shaykh and ourselves in the centre, and conversation about all things, from sport to war ; questions about railways, BARR-EL-SOUDAN. [chap. 10 telegraphs, English horses, dogs, guns, houses ; how it was possible to live in a country where there was no sun ; in fact all sorts of questions both absurd and sensible, ranging from the wildest vagaries of " the thousand and one nights " to the most prosaic details of the nineteenth century.

All were eager to know about Africa, and were delighted to hear that Arabs were the most adventurous and successful of merchants in the Barr-el-Soudan, and that I had lived with and made friends with Arabs in those far-distant lands. They could hardly, however, understand how Arabs managed to exist in a country where they had neither camels nor horses, and protested that they would prefer to remain poor in their own land to get rich in one where they would have to make painful journeys on foot. Our tobacco pouches were freely indented on by our friends, as the tobacco they grew for themselves or bought in small towns or villages was not so good in their opinion as ours, which we had brought from Aleppo. I] THE SOUNDS OF REVELRY. 11 The scene was very beautiful ; out in the clear cold moonlight stood our white tent glistening in the rays, flocks of sheep and herds of cattle clustering round the black tents of their owners, and in the centre the circle of Arabs in their picturesque dresses, the hanging kofia or handkerchief which they wear on their heads heightening the wild look of their features, alternately in brilliant light or deep shade as the fire blazed up when fresh brushwood was added, and then died down again to a mere heap of mouldering embers.

It was nearly midnight ere we broke up, and the sounds of revelry continued some time longer in another tent where our servants and muleteers had been making merry with some of the Arabs. Songs and dancing had been going on uninterruptedly ever since eight o'clock, and had not ceased when we went to sleep. Although Arab music is very different from the European idea of harmony, and in a house or room is abominable to most civilised ears ; still here, in " tented fields," the wild [chap. TRUE TO HIS WORD. 12 choruses seem to have a spirit and a swing, and are not destitute of a rude harmony which is particularly appropriate to the surroundings. The Shaykh, true to his word, had his horses and dogs ready in the morning, and after an early breakfast we went out to look for gazelle. We had not been long away before we saw a herd of nearly forty, and got up to within about fifty yards before they saw us ; we slipped the dogs, six in all, as they started ; but it was a case of an embarras de richesses, as the greyhounds were confused and kept on changing.

However we had a delightful gallop, and scat tered the herd into small groups of three and four each. After half-an-hour of galloping we pulled up to collect the dogs again, and I got off to let my horse Sultan have a rest, as he had been hard worked the day before. Whilst I was standing by his side two gazelle came over the crest of a hill close by, and away swept the Arabs and dogs after them ; as I tried to mount the saddle turned round, and Sultan I] NO KILL. 13 was so excited that it was ten minutes ere I could girth it up again and remount. He seemed to enjoy the fun just as much as any of us, and when we had another run shortly afterwards, passed the whole field, though the Shaykh did his utmost to hold his own on his favourite mare. We had no kill, though several gazelle had shaves, and after a bit the greyhounds got so beat that it was no use going on.

Indeed it is very rare indeed that a greyhound can run down a gazelle unless he can get within twenty yards or so before he is slipped, and at this season of the year, January, when the gazelle are in good condition for going, the only chance the dogs have is after heavy rain, when the small feet of the gazelle sink into the mud, and they can get no resistance to spring from. When we got back to the tents Schaefer went out shooting, and I lent my gun to Elias the cook to shoot for the pot, whilst I rode over on Count to have a look at the ruins and to RUINS OF HIERAPOLIS. [chap. see why the Circassians had not sent over to arrange about their headman's visit. The ruins of Hierapolis are clearly visible, parts of the walls still standing, and in some places being nearly forty feet high ; lines of streets may be traced, as also of aqueducts, and small reservoirs may be seen, besides the large one into which the subterranean canal discharges its waters.

The stone of which it was built is a yellowish fossiliferous limestone, the same stone as is used in Aleppo at the present day ; and though there were not any great archi tectural remains there was enough to prove that in ancient days it had been a prosperous and well-built town. Two small mosques mark the burial-places of some Mohammedan santons, and the Circassians had raised the ire of the Arabs by violating these ; as, although not fanatical or austere in their religion, indeed very often so lax as to neglect prayers and rites altogether, the Arabs pay a great re spect to the memory of the dead, and could not understand the Circassians, who were I] THREE HUNDRED PRIESTS. 15 said to be of the same religion as them selves, desecrating spots which they held in veneration. Hierapolis is famous as the point where Julian the Apostate collected the armies which he destined to overturn the empire of Sapor, the representative of Sassanian monarchy.

It possessed at one time a magnificent temple, whose rich endowments supported three hundred priests in ease and luxury. The term " Ninus vetus " used by Ammianus seems to give some authenticity to an idea that it was once a seat of the Assyrian monarchy, and perhaps had somewhat to do with its identification with Karchemish, which has been upset by Mr. Smith's discoveries. Now all that is to be seen are the ruins and the square huts of the Circassians, into whose village I rode after having been round the ruins ; I tried in vain to find any one who could, or would, understand me, and my search for their chief or the man whom I had seen the previous evening was equally futile, so that I was obliged A MEDICAL LEVEE. [chap. 16 to come away without hearing their side of the story in their disputes with the Arabs.1 Disappointed in this I rode back to our tent, where I found Schaefer had had very good sport, having shot several snipe and teal, whilst Elias, by crafty and pot-hunting tactics, had secured five kettah for two cartridges.

The rest of the afternoon passed away in a medical levee, and if I was not able to relieve all who applied to me, I was able favourably' to impress others by the power of my remedies. Ophthalmia was very prevalent, and I had to treat both children in arms and toothless old greybeards for it. The favourite remedy of the Arabs for ophthalmia is pounded sugar-candy, which they call English sugar, distinguishing it from Zuka-al-Mesr, or Egyptian sugar, which they only use for eating, and of which they are 1 Some time afterwards I heard from Henderson that Shaykh Abed had been in to see him at Aleppo, and that things had been going on from bad to worse until they had culminated in the Circassians murdering an Arab. Henderson had taken up the cause of the Arabs, and was in hopes that the Circassians would be removed from the neighbourhood of Mombedj.