Some Books of the Week
CHANCE brought to Sir Hermann Gollancz a Latin manuscript recording the affairs of the Carmelite mission at Basra between 1623 and 1733, and he has edited it with a translation and notes. (The Settlement of the Order of Carmelites in Mesopo- tamia. Oxford University Press. 42s.) Much of the document is concerned with the fathers' religious difficulties ; the Arabs and Turks were at times intolerant, Armenians and Sabaeans were hard to convert, and plausible renegades were too common. The mission in the early days was nearly ruined because the fathers tried to smuggle away to Goa a Christian girl who had been forcibly converted to Mohammedanism. On the historical side the references to the Turkish occupation and to the coming and going of East Indiamen are of interest. English and French traders visited the port and did good business ; to them the Carmelite house was an agreeable and useful place of call, where money and goods could be stored in case of need. It was dangerous for Europeans to walk about the streets, especially at night. A French captain who ventured out despite the missionaries' warning was stabbed to death. The fathers held their ground and on the whole contrived • to keep in favour with successive Pashas. Similar missions were scattered through Turkey and Persia, and this interesting record is probably typical of many that have been lost. " * * * *
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