I Hoped Soon To Have Had A Similar Dainty Meal, But The Arab Does Not Live So Extravagantly; I Was Obliged To Remain Satisfied With Bread And Some Cucumbers, Without Salt, Oil, Or Vinegar.

26th June.

We left the village and passed Kerku. At sunrise, we ascended a small hill, from the summit of which I was astonished by a beautiful prospect: a majestic lofty chain of mountains extended along an enormous valley, and formed the boundary between Kurdistan and Mesopotamia.

In this valley there were the most beautiful flowers, mallows, chrysanthemums, and thistly plants. Among the latter, there was one which frequently occurs in Germany, but not in such richness and magnificence. In many places these thistles cover large spaces of ground. The country people cut them down, and burn them instead of wood, which is here a great luxury, as there are no trees. We saw, today, some herds of gazelles, which ran leaping past us.

On the 27th of June we made our encampment near the miserable little town Attum-Kobri. Before reaching it, we crossed the river Sab (called by the natives Altum-Su, golden water), by two old Roman bridges. I saw several similar bridges in Syria. In both instances they were in good preservation, and will apparently long remain as evidences of the Roman power. Their wide and lofty arches rested upon massive pillars, and the whole was constructed of large square blocks of stone; the ascent of bridges of this kind is so steep that the animals are obliged to scramble up like cats.

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