CANAL OF HYE.

27

this particular purpose. They are trained, in Egypt, into dromedary corps for the supply of lancers and couriers, and perform wonderful journeys, both as to speed and distance. They are called, by the Arabs, Hedjeen; while the camel is called Gemel, or Jemel, according to the district in which the hard or soft pronunciation of the g prevails."

Immediately opposite the village is a canal called the Hye, which runs into the Euphrates to the north of Soogishiookh: † its banks are a noted haunt for lions, and other ferocious animals. At this time its bed is perfectly dry, though it is navigable for eight months in the year. Hence to the mouth of the river Al Hud, the Arabs call this beautiful stream Amarah.

During the whole of the day it rained so hard, that my progress was not so great as I wished and expected; at night, however, the cold was piercing; and my followers, who were

* See Buckingham's Travels in Mesopotamia, vol. ii. p. 207. + Literally the Sheikh's bazaar, or mart. This town is the head-quarters of the Montefik Arabs, who occupy both banks of the river, north and south, to a great distance.

28

SINGULAR AMUSEMENT.

in high spirits at having advanced so far, as well as from the pleasure they felt in breathing their native air, (many of whom were from the country near Bagdad,) collected themselves round a fire, formed a circle, and exhibited their native dance till midnight. For music, they were contented with a kettle covered with a round empty sheep-skin bag, which in general is used for holding oil, but on the present occasion served to form a drum. The harmony of the instrument was heightened by the clapping of hands, and a loud chorus of so peculiar a strain, that I am incapable of describing it, and such as I never heard before. One person at a time came forward and danced, keeping up a constant wriggling motion with his feet, hands, breast, and shoulders, until his gestures became too fatiguing to be continued.

The deportment of these people in towns bears a striking contrast to the insolent independence they assume in the Desert. They are a merry race, with a keen relish for drollery, endued with a power over their features, that is

RUINS OF A BRIDGE.

29

shown off in the richest exhibitions of grimace.

I

gave them a sheep, which they roasted whole, and devoured in a few minutes; they were shortly afterwards in a profound sleep. *

At sunrise on the following morning, after making a present to the Sheikh† of the village, I departed; and four hours' march over a barren plain brought me near the ruins of a bridge, which evidently has spanned the river; for, from the disturbed rippling of the water, I could distinctly observe where the fragments lay beneath. By this time the rain had ceased; the rising sun, gleaming upon the river, threw a beautiful radiance over the brushwood in the direction of the mountains: I embarked as soon as my boat came up, and had the satisfaction of examining these remains. The bed of the river here is considerably enlarged; the bridge occupies a central position, and consists of three equal piers, of the finest kiln-burnt bricks, which exhibit a great resemblance to the Babylonian

* See Appendix, F.

+ Presents are considered in Eastern countries essential to kind and civil intercourse.

30

RUINS OF A BRIDGE.

material in dimension and composition, and are as hard as stone. This is a singular circumstance, when we consider that they are, for the greater part of the year, beneath the surface of the stream. The extent of the ruins, at present above water, is sixty feet in length, and seventeen in breadth; and the height of the most perfect pier, eight. This was the first time I had met with any remains of antiquity: none of my people had ever seen these before, having always passed the spot when the river was at the full.

ASPECT OF THE DESERT.

31

Colonel Macdonald Kinneir, on his journey from Constantinople to Bussorah, in the year 1813, mentions the circumstance of his boat being stranded on one of the piers of an ancient stone bridge, and that it was so old, no one could tell by whom, or in what age, it was erected.* As the position of this bridge agrees within a few miles to the one he alludes to, I apprehend it must be the same; but Kinneir is mistaken when he says it is of stone. My boatmen were at first afraid to approach it, as the "stones," they said, might materially injure their boat; it was only on extracting the bricks that they were convinced of its being of this material. The face of the country was still open and flat, presenting to the eye one vast level plain, where nothing is to be seen but here and there a herd of half-wild camels, whose flesh is thought by the Arabs to be superior to venison.

This immense tract is very rarely diversified with any trees of moderate growth; but

* Vide Kinneir's "Travels in Asia Minor, Armenia, and Kurdistan," page 501.