the thrones and palaces of babylon and nineveh

Front matter

, OE tat hon a

By bo etree Ae pak oe glo B mlasircme

re peed Sehove tate ne a a Oe

Chapter I

Up the Persian Gulf.—Brilliant Anticipations—Memorable Historic Lands. —Preparations for the Journey.—Our Party.—Steamer Burmah.— English Travelers.—Pilgrims to the Shrine of Dwaka.—Kurrachee.— Its History and Commerce.— Civilizations Compared.—Worshiping Alligators.— Oriental Gamblers—— Looking for a Harbor.— Guadur.— Appearance and History of Muscat.—Its King and his Kingdom.— Delicious Dates.— Ornamented Women.—Reign and Forts of the Portuguese.— Terrible Massacre.— Sunset at Sea.—Arabian-and Persian Mountains. —Persian Gulf Described.—Bunder Abbas.— Portuguese and Ormuz.— Fire-worshipers.—Islands in the Persian Gulf.—Kishm and Larrack. —Lingah.—Pearl-divers of Bahrein.— Pearl-fisheries.— Costly Pearls.— A Sea of Blood.—Bushire.—Tragie Scenes.—England’s Lion Share.— Ancient and Modern Persia.— Brilliant Phosphorescent Display.— Slowness of the Orientals.— Dreadful Storm.— Farewell to the Persian Gulf. —Great Shaat-el-Arab.— Beautiful River Scenery.— Sheikh of Mahomerah.— First Stage of our Journey Ended.—Commerce of Busrah.— Enchanting Rivulet.— Busrah.— Home of Sindbad the Sailor.— Ancient VU Ste ATC ENOL HIG Gn mrernatiesenssetce esasor eonae ase se cea coaeaaaearies Page 17

CHAE ETL,

Historic Lands.—Anticipations and Emotions.—Steamer City of London.— The Three Great Rivers.—Confluence of the Tigris and of the Euphrates. —Steaming up the Shaat-el-Arab.—The Floods Prevail.—Shepherds and their Flocks.—The Garden of Eden.—Its Appearance.—Inhabitants and History.—Sail up the Tigris—Wild Boars of the Forest.—Daring and Successful Lion-hunt.—Tomb of the Prophet Ezra.—Scenes on the Banks of the Tigris.—Grand Mountains.—Arab Villages.—Ruins of Ancient Seleucia and Ctesiphon.—First View of Bagdad.—Guests of Captain Holland.—Wonders of Bagdad.—The People, Bazaars, Mosques, Churches, Tombs, Baths, Jews, and Christians of the City of “The Thousand and One Nights.”—Turkish Railroads—Commerce with the United States,— American Petroleum the Light of the World... ..2......0....ccleesstsesvessecees 63

12 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER It,

Five Days among the Ruins of Ancient Babylon.—Preparations for the Journey,—Early Start.—Bridge of Boats.—Crowd of People.—Celebrated Tombs.—Raising Water——Luncheon by the Way-side.—First View of the Ancient Ruins.—The Pilgrim’s Khan.—First Night among the Ruins.— Again in the Saddle.—Ancient Walls——Arab Villages.—Telegraph Poles. —The Old Canals.—Remains of Belshazzar’s Palace-—The Famous Hanging Gardens.—Daniel’s Lion’s Den.—Harps on the Willows.—Rivers of Babylon.—The Euphrates.—Immense Palm-groves.—Bridge of Boats.— Modern Hillah.—®ur Khan.—American Petroleum.—Telegraph Station. —Call upon the Pasha.—Playing with a Lion.—Sail on the Euphrates.— A Night in Hillah.—Start for the Tower of Babel—Dangers in the Way. —Wonderful Ruins.—Ascend the Tower of Babel.—The Fiery Furnace.— The Glory of Babylon.—Progress of its Decline——Prophecy Fulfilled. The Warriors of the Desert.—Return to Bagdad....................006 Page 122

CHAPTHRR IV.

Sail on the Tigris.—Perilous Situation.—Shrines of Kathimain.—Modes of Traveling.—Making a Bargain.—Departure from Bagdad.—First Night’s Experience.—Half-way House——Delli Abbass.—Adam’s Fleas——Den of Robbers.—Hills of Hamreen.—Beautiful Flowers.—Karateppeh.—Storks, and their Habits.—Jebarah Portrayed.—War of Words.—Walking Qualities of the Arab.—Town of Kifrii—Turkish Soldiers.—Day of Rest.— Storm on the Desert.—Crossing the Dreaded Dooz.—Dooz Khurmuttee. —Changeless East.—Conscripts.—Dandy Officer.—Village of Tayok— Singing Dervish.—Robbers.—American Songs.—City of Kerkook.—Traveling with the Pasha’s Wives.—Excitement in the Hills—Altoon Kupri. —Remarkable Bridge.—Ancient Arbela.—Battle between Darius and A1- exander the Great.—Greater Zab.—A Night with the Shepherds.—Habits and Customs of the Bedouins.—Eleventh Day Out.—Domes of Mosul, and Gates of Nineveh.—Crossing the River.—Mine Host.—Mr. Rassam.— Splendid Residence.—City of Mosul.—Mosques, Churches, and Bazaars.— Haster-Sunday.—Wlegant Ladies..s.t..>ssscces<tuee<avanseyaey vaeteeenteuener te eee 185

CHAPTER V.

Among the Ruins of Ancient Nineveh.—Historical and Scriptural Allusions, —Nimrod, the Mighty Hunter.—Asshur and his Colony.—Extent and Duration of the Assyrian Empire.—Extent and Glory of Nineveh.—Its Walls, Gates, and Palaces.—Identity of its Ruins.—Jonah’s Visit to Nineveh.— His Mission and his Tomb,—Sail down the Euphrates.—Beautiful Scenery.—Selamiyah.—Donkey-ride.—Birthplace of Saladin.—Great Image of Nebuchadnezzar.—Exploring the Ruins.—Tower of Nimroud.—Ancient

CONTENTS. 1s

Temples.—Wonderful Sculptures.—Palace of Asshurizir-pal.—Splendid Remains.— Palaces of Shalmaneser II., and of Tiglath-pileser I1.—The Marble Obelisk.—Palace of Esar-haddon.—God Nebo.— Horrid Night with the Arabs.—Return to Mosul.—Grand Palace of Sennacherib, and its Magnificent Sculpture——Annals and Will of Sennacherib.—Palace of Sardanapalus, and its Splendid Bass-reliefs.—Assyrian Wars—Fall of Nineveh.—The Last Battle —Prophecy Fulfilled...................00.. Page 253

CHAPTER VI.

Discovery of the Royal Library of Asshur-bani-pal.—Rawlinson on the Nature and Style of Assyrian Writing—Eminent Cunciform Scholars.—Layard’s History of the Process of Deciphering the Cuneiform Characters. —Triumphant Success.—Specimens of the Translated Tablets—Promissory Note.—Bill for the Sale of Slaves.—Deed of Conveyance.—Religious Views of the Assyrians.—Forms of Prayer.—Death of a Righteous Man.—Harmony between the Bible and the Assyrian Records.—Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and his Companions in the Fiery Furnace.—Modes of Punishment.—Chaldean Account of the Creation and of the Deluge by Berosus.—Original Account of the Flood by the Assyrians, Discovered by Mr. Smith, and his more recent Translation of the Same.—Copy of the Record.—Its Agreement and Disagreement with the Bible-—Probable Future Discoveries, and their Bearing on Biblical Interpretation — What the United States should do in the Work of Exploration...............-.. 321

CHAPTER VII.

Christianity in the East.—Origin of the Nestorians.—Their Great Learning. —Their Vast Missions.—Letter from Mr. Hormuzd Rassam on the Eastern Churches.—Syrian Jacobites.-_Syrian Catholics.—Chaldean Nestorians.— Their Chaldean Origin.— Opinions of Ancient and Modern Authors.— Language of the Chaldeans.—History and Creed of the Nestorians— Mein Present ands Ub elms) WW tr essen wesecsoncnssssoteesmcees svorersces eras anceeas 362

CHAPTER VIII.

Departure from Mosul.— Horseback Ride of Six Hundred Miles.— Last View of Nineveh.—First Day’s Ride-——A Night with the Devil-worshipers.—Hills of Kurdistan—The Kurds.—Stuck in the Mud.—Xenophon’s Retreat.— Sabbath of Feshapoor.—Crossing the Tigris. —Traveling in Mesopotamia. —Girls of Uznaoor.—Beautiful Scenery.—Nisibeen and the Nestorians.—Roman Ruins at Dara—The True Ararat.—Heights of Mardeen.—American Mission.—Jacobite Christians.—Missionary Meeting.— Dance of the Devyil-worshipers.—Attacked by Robbers.—-Great Caravan. —No Water.—Beautiful Orfah.—Abraham’s Fishes and Birthplace —Ur

14 CONTENTS.

of the Chaldees.— Armenian Christians and their Creed.—A Letter to Christ.— American Church.— Roman Roads and Reservoirs. — Milking Sheep.—Picturesque Town of Birijik.—Crossing the Euphrates.—Traveling in Syria.—American Petroleum.—-Three Hundred Camels, and their Habits.— Aleppo and its People.—A Funeral.—Commerce.— American Mission.—A Beautiful Lady.—Charming Scenery.—The Flood.—Roman Roads.—Wild Pass of Beylan.— First View of the Sea.—End of the J OUTN CY score cseaoesne signe snacnsteweee ears leeansVenasusaeeeont san teneenncmese re seuaass Page 392

ILLUSTRATIONS.

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THRONES AND PALACES

OF

BABYLON AND NINEVEH.

CHAPTER. L

Up the Persian Gulf.—Brilliant Anticipations—Memorable Historic Lands. —Preparations for the Journey.x—Our Party.—Steamer Burmah.—Enelish Travelers.—Pilgrims to the Shrine of Dwaka.—Kurrachee.—Its History and Commerce.—Civilizations Compared.—Worshiping Alligators.—Oriental Gamblers—Looking for a Harbor.—Guadur.—A ppearance and History of Muscat.—Its King and his Kingdom.—Delicious Dates.—Ornamented Women.—Reign and Forts of the Portuguese.— Terrible Massacre. —Sunset at Sea.— Arabian and Persian Mountains. —Persian Gulf described.—Bunder Abbas.—Portuguese and Ormuz.— Fire-worshipers.—Islands in the Persian Gulf.—Kishm and Larrack. —Lingah.—Pearl-divers of Bahrein.—Pearl-fisheries——Costly Pearls.— A Sea of Blood.—Bushire.—Tragie Scenes.—England’s Lion Share. — Ancient and Modern Persia.—Brilliant Phosphoreseent Display.—Slowness of the Orientals—Dreadful Storm.—Farewell to the Persian Gulf. —Great Shaat-el-Arab.—Beautiful River Scenery—Sheikh of Mahomerah.—First Stage of our Journey Ended.—Commerce of Busrah.—Enchanting Rivulet.—Busrah.—Home of Sindbad the Sailor.— Ancient Ruins.—Garden of Eden.

Tue lights along the lengthened bund* burned dimly as we steamed out of the spacious harbor of Bombay. The evening star shone over the Caves of Elephanta. The elegant villas and woodland slopes of Malabar Hill were on our right when we made our exit to the sea, We were en route to the most ancient and renowned

* Wharf in India. 9 od lands known to history, whose monumental ruins bespeak a civilization earlier than that of Greece and Rome, and whose exhumed annals contain the record of events coeval with our race. The dreams of other years were soon to be realized, and long-maturing plans were at the point of consummation. Guided by the stndies of former days, the imagination dwelt with delight upon the pleasures that awaited us. We were to enjoy the delicious excitement of

“Moonlight over Oman’s sea ;”

scent afar the spicy breezes of “Araby the blest;” linger in the date-groves of Muscat; gather pearls from the shores of Bahrein ; behold “ Kishm’s fair isle ;” roam through the Garden of Eden; sail up the Tigris and the Euphrates; stand on the Tower of Babel, and explore the ruins of ancient Babylon; stroll through the bazaars of Bagdad, the city of “The Thousand and One Nights ;” examine the remains of Nineveh, and wander through the palace of Sennacherib; traverse the whole length of Mesopotamia, Where Job lived, where Abraham was born, where Jacob wooed his beautiful Rachel; pass over the battlefields of Cyrus, of Alexander, and Trajan ; follow the “ Retreat of Xenophon and the Ten Thousand ;” visit Nisibis of the Nestorians, Mount Masius of the Romans, and Antioch, where “the disciples were first called Christians.” Such was the fascinating vision that floated before our imagination, and allured us by its entrancing hopes. It was not easy, however, to obtain accurate and reliable information necessary to make the tour. The route is not frequented by ordinary travelers, and only a few have made the journey for research and exploration. Nine-tenths of the persons of whom we made inquiries discouraged the attempt. We were told that terrific storms frequent the Persian Gulf; that robbers infest those countries; that competent guides could not be obtained ; that there were no places of entertainment for the accommodation of the traveler; that numberless streams, swollen by the melted snows from the Hamreen and Taurus Mountains, would prove impassable; and that a journey of a thousand miles on horseback must be performed. Stories were related of personal hardship, of robberies and murders, and confirmed by Buckingham, by Ainsworth, by Layard. But occasionally we had met some brave, hopeful, intelligent person, whose encouraging words were an inspiration. And, fortunately, we were favored with letters of commendation from the high officials of British India to the English consul at Bushire, at Busrah, and at Bagdad.

Happily our party was small. If great hardships were to be endured, there were but few to suffer. If lives were to be sacrificed, there were only three to die. One of our companions was a lady whom we had known for eighteen beautiful years, and could rely upon her courage in danger, her endurance in fatigue, her enthusiasm in exploration. The other compagnon de voyage was a gentleman who had seen the beauty of sixty summers, who was quiet, intelligent, and brave.*

Our steamer was the Burmah, of the British India Steamship Navigation Company, and was bound for Busrah, on the Shaat-el-Arab, the end of the first stage of our journey. Of a thousand tons, the Burmah proved an admirable steamer. Her saloon was large, tastefully ornamented, and furnished with mirrors, sofas, and a library. The staterooms were not inferior in size and convenience to those on the Atlantic and Pacific steamers.

* Mr, C. B. Collins, of New York.

The bill of fare was good, the attendance excellent, and the officers were competent and gentlemanly. Our captain was a thorough seaman, and a thorough Englishman. He was a sailor among his crew, a gentleman among his passengers. THis vigilance knew no cessation; and although the first officer was one of the most efficient seamen I have ever met, yet the captain remained on deck from sunset to sunrise. In conversation he was genial and entertaining. He was familiar with the ancient and modern history of the Persian Gulf, and seemed happiest when reciting some legend of the sea. Although small of stature, he was every whit a man. Gifted with a merry laugh, he drove dull care away. Born to command, his stentorian voice rose above the storm. He had the habit of omitting the 2 where he should have put it, and of putting it where it did not belong. One day when sailing along the Persian coast, I inquired: “Captain, what peaks are those?” “Those hare the Hass’s Hears, sir,” was his aspirated response. On board the Lurmah was an English party bound for Bagdad, and consisted of the Hon. E. H. Ellis, his mother, Lady Howard de Walden, and his sister, the Hon. Miss Ellis. He was a young gentleman of fortune, and traveled for pleasure. His previous voyage over the same route had made him familiar with every island, peak, and river, and his genial manners rendered him a delightful companion. He was an amateur photographer, and his proficiency in the art is best evinced by some of the pictures that illustrate this volume. His mother and sister kept a pictorial journal of their tour, and sketched in colors each town and temple and ruined tower, each quiet bay and beetling crag, each emerald isle and palm-date grove, with a rapidity and accuracy that excited our admiration. Stately in her bearing as

N

IDOL TEMPLE AT DWAKA, a queen, the mother was a lady of much culture, and of extensive reading. The daughter displayed less reserve of manner, and gave expressions to her wit, which was as brilliant as it was caustic.

The first night at sea had passed, and the morning found us on the Indian Ocean, whose waters lave the distant shores of Arabia, and form the western boundary of British India, a prize coveted oft by earth’s greatest conquerors. The wind blew hard, and the waves ran high; but as the day declined and we neared the land, the sea became calm:

“ All hush’d, there’s not a breeze in motion, The shore is silent as the ocean.

If zephyrs come, so light they come, Nor leaf is stirr’d, nor wave is driven.”

At nine o’clock on Sunday morning we dropped anchor in the harbor of Dwaka, three hundred miles from Bombay. The small village of Dwaka is on a white sandy beach, and is the site of one of the richest idoltemples in India. We had stopped to land two hundred and fifty Hindoo pilgrims, who had come to offer their devotions at this most sacred shrine. The occasion was a méla, which occurs once in twenty-five years, and thither these devotees had journeyed to worship and to pay. On leaving port, they had expressed their superstition by throwing cocoa-nuts into the sea to insure a pleasant voyage; but the gods of the deep had been indifferent to their offerings, and the sea continued rough. The women were extravagantly ornamented with ivory anklets, with gold ear-rings, and with silver rings in their noses; but they were thinly clad, and suffered much in the keen winds of February. According to report, these Hindoos save the earnings of a quarter of a century, to present them at this famous shrine; and such is the accumulated wealth of the temple, that the eyes of the gods are diamonds, and the priests live in princely magnificence. Dwaka is a walled city, and within the walls is a spacious areaded court, adorned with miniature temples. In the centre of the court stands the great temple, a cluster of buildings, crowned with a dome of white marble, above which is a pinnacle of the same material, magnificently gilded. In the sea-front of the tower are a series of ornamental balconies, and from its peak floated a banner bearing a curious device. To witness their devotions, we joined the vast procession of pilgrims, who pressed, with boisterous excitement, toward the idolshrine. All the streets, all parts of the court, the temple itself, and the tower thereof, were filled with worshipers, Whose offerings to the idol amounted to millions of rupees. From the temple the idolaters, old and young, male and female, priest and layman, hastened to the sacred tank, and to the streams that issued therefrom, and plunged tumultuously therein, believing that the waters were efficacious to wash away their sins. The enthusiasm of the devotees rose to madness; and, to prevent injurious results to life and limb, the soldiers on guard interfered, but with more violence than discretion.

In the gray of the next morning we sighted the red bluffs of Kurrachee, and soon thereafter saw the long, low, sandy beach, with irregularly formed hills beyond, and vast, gloomy mountains extending far away to the north-east. At noon we approached Manora Point, whereon is a light-house one hundred and nineteen feet above the level of the sea, and seen on a clear night a distance of seventeen miles. From the highest bluff floated the English flag, and within the bay were steamers, men-of:war, and native boats, quietly at anchor. As the bar across the mouth of the harbor is ever shifting, dredging-ma-

~

I chines were employed to keep the channel open. From Manora Point there has been constructed a stone breakwater a thousand feet long, and on its extreme point is an iron lantern, wherein a fire is placed at night. The view from the deck of our steamer was exceedingly picturesque. On our left were the Government buildings, and near them was a pretty Gothic church; on our right was beautiful Clifton ; to the north-east was Kiamari; and hear us were rocks carved by the waves into fantastic forms. The most conspicuous object was Trinity Church, whose square tower is one hundred and fifty feet high, erected by a seaman to guide the inward-bound mariner.

Situated near the mouth of the ancient Indus, Kur. rachee has a historical and commercial interest of more than ordinary significance. It was here that Alexander the Great, returning from his expedition into India, embarked to join his fleet on the Persian Gulf, under the command of Nearchus; and for a thousand years thereafter Kurrachee was the seat of an extensive trade. Prior to the eighth and ninth centuries of our era, the Red Sea was the chief channel of trade between India and Europe; but after the Mohammedans had seized Egypt, the merchants of the East sought a new channel of commerce through the Persian Gulf and the valley of the Euphrates. Since the decay of the Mohammedan power, trade has returned to the Red Sea, but not to the disadvantage of Kurrachee. Under British rule, it is the sea-port of the rich province of Sinde, and of the whole valley of the Indus, from Cashmere to the Indian Ocean. It is the most north-westerly port of British India, and the coming rival of Bombay for the trade of the great North-west. A railroad is now in process of construction along the banks of the Indus, extending from Kurrachee to Moultan, to Lahore and Peshawar, and, when completed, will not only connect Kurrachee with all parts. of Northern and Central India, but will bring to its harbor the products of the Sinde, of the Punjab, of Afghanistan, and of Cashmere. At present, large quantities of cotton, wool, wheat, indigo, hides, and horns are brought here for shipment. In 1878, the imports were valued at nearly $5,000,000, and the exports exceeded that amount. During our late war, Kurrachee was the principal port for the shipment of Indian cotton, which was raised in the valley of the Indus, and which gave considerable importance to the place; but since the return of peace and the re-appearance of American cotton in European markets, the city has declined, and real estate is now sold fora song. The present embarrassment, however, is only temporary, and results from wild financial speculations rather than from permanent causes. Under the new impulse from railroads, trade will rapidly revive. Sooner or later, the Euphrates valley railroad will be an accomplished fact; and when that great work is done, Kurrachee will be the second commercial emporium in British India, and trade will be restored to one of the most ancient channels of commerce known to history.

Here, as in other parts of India, the effete civilization of the East is gradually succumbing to the better civilization of the West. By the liberality of the European residents, a library of six thousand well-selected volumes has been opened to the public. Adjoining the library is a museum, wherein are specimens of native minerals and petrified wood; a variety of cereals, of fishes, of red and white corals; a large number of stuffed birds, of deer and wild goats, and a quantity of Sinde pottery, rich and rare. Near the entrance to the museum are two pillars, each one resting on the back of an elephant, and each composed of a series of carved men and women

BABYLON AND NINEVEH. OG in the grotesque costumes of India. Those pillars are the spoils of war. When the English captured the city of Beyt, they blew up a famous idol temple therein, and from the débris thereof carried away the pillars as the trophies of victory.

Here, as elsewhere in India, the light of a purer faith is sensibly dissipating the darkness of pagan superstition and ignorance. Houses of mercy, schools of learning, temples of piety, open their portals to the 30,000 idolaters of insular Kiamari, and the results are as beneficent as they are gratifying. But the darkness that remains is palpable. In the small adjacent village of Muggapoor are performed idolatrous rites debasing to all that is noble in man. Thither the people go to worship alligators, regarded as sacred animals, and daily fed by the idol priests. Near a temple, and within a large tank, are twenty of those hideous creatures, which are treated with more than human kindness. Pilgrims come from afar to offer sheep and goats to these horrid monsters. On the neighboring plains, the priestly shepherds keep large flocks to supply the pious market at a cost of two rupees per head. As an act of devotion, the pilgrim throws the purchased sheep to the alligators, which fight over the offering in a most ungodlike manner. But feeding them with sheep is a great improvement compared with the horrid custom of the past, when mothers threw their infants to the monsters that sported in the Indus and the Ganges.

At eight o’clock in the morning, the Burmah started for Guadur, two hundred and eighty miles from Kurrachee, and nearly eight hundred miles from Bombay. The air was hazy, filled with a fine sand blown from the distant shore of Beloochistan. On our right was Ras Malan, where recently a whale had become entangled

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FEEDING THE SACRED CROCODILES, with the submarine cable, and, failing to extricate himself, had been completely devoured by the sharks. The number of our passengers had been increased by an addition of many Turks, Arabs, Persians, Jews, Parsees, and mt

Armenians. Whatever their wealth and their style of living at home, these Orientals never travel as first-class passengers. Their respect for caste, their religious superstition, their mode of cooking and eating, their pastime amusements, and their national self-conceit, render them exclusive. They prefer to sleep on the deck rather than in a well-furnished state-room, and to eat on their mat rather than sit with Christians in an elegant saloon. As they constitute the majority of travelers on all the steamers in the Far East, their wishes are respected, and the whole deck is accorded to them. They prefer midships, and the hatchway is their favorite resort. Once in possession of this, they will fight for it to the death. Rows frequently occurred, and blood was shed in the struggle for this preferable spot. Our hatchway amidships was held by five Arabs—four men and a boy. They were of the better class of their race,and their costume was of the gayest colors. Each one was a walking armory, and was armed with a Damascus blade, a nicely curved cimeter, a brace of silver-mounted pistols, and a rifle ornamented with mother-of-pearl. A Persian rug covered the spot they occupied, on which they ate and slept, prayed and gambled. At sunrise, at noon, at sunset, they made long prayers, offered with many genuflections. At sunset—fit emblem of man’s dying hour— they seemed most devout. The coming twilight, the silence of all nature sinking to rest, added to the solemnity of the scene. Nothing diverted their attention. They appeared unconscious of the eyes that gazed upon them. How reverential was each act! how measured each sentence of prayer! how exact each prostration before the Lord and his prophet, Mohammed! Yet their religion allowed them to shed blood in defense of trivial and fancied rights. They retained possession of the hatchway even to blows, and threatened death to all intruders. Theirs is the religion of the sword. “ Blood for blood” is a maxim of every-day life. The hours intervening between their acts of solemn worship were spent in gambling. They gambled for gold, for the swords they carried, for the jewels they wore. Occasionally, the game was suspended long enough for prayer, and then resumed with renewed zest. Their love for a game of chance was not peculiar to them, for it is a ruling passion in the East. Gambling is universal in Japan and China, in Persia and India, in the islands on the equator,in Egypt and Palestine, in the cities of Asia Minor, in the palaces of Constantinople, in the Turkish empire from the Persian Gulf to the banks of the Danube. ‘Those who cast lots on Mount Calvary for the seamless garment have more followers than the prophet Mohammed.

We should have been at Guadur at 5 p.m. on the second day from Kurrachee; but the fog was dense, the harbor difficult to enter, the officers indifferent to the lapse of time, and fearful to make a bold venture. As night came on we slowed, and moved at the rate of a mile an hour till morning. The fog and the darkness passed simultaneously away. The sun rose clear and bright, but no one knew where we were. For twenty hours we steamed up and down the coast, looking for the harbor. ach man had his opinion, charts were consulted, landmarks were scanned, and each mountain and inlet was carefully viewed through the glass. It was apparent to every one that we were all at sea. For three hours we ran along the bold white bluffs of Ras Noo. All agreed that we were near the place. At length we sighted the low white sandy beach extending from Ras Noo to Castle Hill,a bluff five hundred feet high, composed of white rock, whose summit the elements had wrought into the semblance of a castle, which had given name to the place. Fancy could discern columns and galleries and pinnacles, and, when viewed in the moonlight, seemed weird, like the haunted ruin of some forsaken palace.

It was high noon when we anchored in the harbor, which, though difficult to find, is one of the best on the coast. As Kurrachee is the most north-westerly port of British India, so Guadur is the extreme north-western limit of Beloochistan. It is an insignificant place, but has long been the disputed ground between Beloochistan and Persia, and the battle-field of many a struggle for possession. It has a population of four Europeans and three hundred natives, whose rags their poverty proclaimed. Near it is a larger town, wherein is a telegraph station, the only sign of a better civilization.

Once more afloat, we were now bound for Muscat, Arabia, one thousand and twenty-five miles from Bombay, and located on the Gulf of Oman, which is intermediate between the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

The bold bluffs of Castle Hill and Ras Noo

“Over the deep their shadows flung,”

as in the evening twilight we turned our prow toward the Arabian shore. All that night, all the next day, all the ensuing night, we steamed over a placid sea, not faster than seven knots per hour. It was a run of two hundred and forty-five miles, and occupied more than thirty hours to accomplish. While yet the stars were bright, we anchored in the outer harbor, and waited for the dawn. And when the sun rose, the cove, the forts, the city of Muscat, lay before us. On our right and on our left were rock islands, the dreary home of fishermen and pirates. From out the sea appeared rocks, six hun-

Be THRONES AND PALACES OF dred feet high, and beyond them, and far inland, could be seen the mountains of Northern Arabia. The increasing light revealed the deep caves along the shore, that echoed the roar of the waves; and far up the rugged rocks appeared Arabs in white, climbing the narrow, winding paths. On the boldest peaks were the old forts of the Portuguese, now the watch-towers of the Arabians. Conspicuous amoug the buildings of the town, were the king’s palace, the English residency, and the custom-house. ‘The scene in the harbor was no less pleasing to contemplate. The beautiful cove is a semicircle, and therein fifty vessels can safely anchor at the same time. A mile long and three-fourths of a mile wide, it is safe and well sheltered. When we arrived, an English gun-boat, a Turkish man-of-war, and many coasting boats, were at anchor in the quiet waters of the bay. Commercially and politically, Muscat has had an eventful history. Three centuries ago, Alphonso d’Albuquerque, of Portugal, conquered all the islands of the Persian Gulf, and the Portuguese held them till 1707, when the Muscat Arabs gained the ascendency. On all the higher rocks commanding the entrance to the harbor the Portuguese constructed strong forts, that for two centuries bade defiance to Turk, to Arab, and Persian. During all those years of possession and prosperity the merchants of Portugal controlled the commerce of the gulf, and amassed immense fortunes. Under their prosperous reign Muscat became a city of wealth and luxury, and the genius and beauty of Europe adorned society ; and under those Catholic conquerors, churches and monasteries were built, and priest and monk held undisputed sway. In the rocks by the sea are the cells of the anchorites, while here and there may be seen the prostrate column of some grand cathedral. But all now is changed.