AN ARTIST'S JOURNEY IN THE EAST.*

(SECOND NOTICE.]

IT is a shock to learn that, compared with almost any other great Oriental city, Baghdad is mean ; that its streets are .crooked, uneven, and unpaved, deep in dust in hot, and deep in mud in wet, weather; that its bazaars abound in Manchester prints and London-made pickles ; and that its gilded and other youth wear " loud " checked trousers, cut-away coats, and the European chimney-pot hat. Quite recently, an attempt has been made, entirely without success in our case, to demolish -the reputation of Haroun Alraschid ; but even those who weakly gave up the Caliph will have clung to the City of Delight, where one might fall in with the three Calendars, overhear the soliloquy of Alnaschar, see the Hunchback himself perhaps, and even catch a decorous glimpse of the mournful eyes of Zobelde. Mr. Ellis deprives his readers of this blissful dream, for though he describes much that is beautiful in the place and the people, it is all quite unlike one's cherished notions. Moon- faced beauties there are, indeed, but they wear what they call " European costume," and this is the fashion of it :—" A straight skirt, even to the ground all round, a more or less elaborate belt round the waist, and either a close-fitting bodice, or a Garibaldi,' with a. Zouave jacket." This, with a load of jewellery, must be an entirely disenchanting costume. The beautiful lady of Baghdad, of whom the artist gives a charming picture, wears the most picturesque of dresses, but it is confined to the older Mahommedan families, " where," says the author, " the women are never seen by us Christians." There is but one place in the town where one can get the slightest feeling of space, it is the Midan, or fodder-market ; the tile-covered domes and minarets form the only relief to the appearance of squalor that the city presents. The fortifications are in such a state of rain that "they would be useless to resist even an attack of Bedaween, whom a tolerably high mud wall is • On a Raft, anel Through tLe Desert. By Tristram J. Ellis. London: Field and Tuer.

quite sufficient to stop entirely." When Midhat Pasha was Vali at Baghdad, he had a scheme for changing the fortifications into a series of boulevards, and for a short time the works were actively pushed on. " But," says the author, "like most things undertaken by the Turks, it only got as far as the destructive" portion, the constructive never having even been commenced. Midhat did not, however, fail in everything ; he built huge bar- racks, the most imposing building in the city—it dwarfs the Palace of the Pacha, which stands next to it-- and it rejoices in the possession of a clock-tower, said to be the only one in the Turkish Asiatic dominions. The clock, of course, does not go, " but that does not detract from the feeling of pride in the hearts of the Baghdadis at this extremely civilised and Western possession." It is on the river that the life of the City of the Caliphs may be seen to the greatest advantage, and the river, with the palms and the domes, with the serene sky, just flecked with flights of birds above it, and a fleet of graceful boats upon it, is beautifully presented by the artist, as an illus- tration to a vivid description of the scene.

Not even of the gardens of Baghdad, celebrated all over Mesopotamia, is Mr. Ellis able to write with unmixed admira- tion. He says they scarcely come up to the Western idea of a garden, because they contain no flowers, except those of useful plants, and the ground even in winter is totally devoid of grass, or indeed, anything green ; but there are palm trees in pro- fusion, of every age, from the little shrub that looks like a fern to the tall and slender palm of two hundred years' growth ; and there is great beauty in the foliage overhead, in the heavily- laden branches of the fruit-trees, figs, oranges, and mulberries. The latter fruit, both white and black, is extremely large and good at Baghdad.

"The town," says Mr. Ellis, "has had an eventful history since it was built by the Caliph Al-Mausour, in 762-6. Its name at that time was Medinat-el-Salem, or the City of Peace,' and it became the favourite residence of the Abbaside Caliphs, and was known as the great seat of Arab learning. In less than a century, or about 873, its population is said to have been as much as two millions. At that time it seems to have deserved the old title, but situated as it was almost on the borders between Arabia and Persia, it could not long remain in a peaceful condition. It was taken again and again, be- sides suffering most severely of all Eastern cities from the plague, and finally came into the hands of the Turks some four centuries ago. The population is now estimated at scarcely more than 100,000, and immense open spaces exist between the houses and the old fortifications."

Disappointing as Baghdad was, it supplied a good centre from whence the author might make excursions to wonderful places in its neighbourhood. Ctesiphon is only twenty miles of per- fectly smooth desert away, and although Mr. Ellis was nearly blinded, and we should suppose, nearly maddened, too, by the sand, blown up from the bed of the Tigris, and rising in the faces of the party until it blotted out the landscape, he studied the magnificent ruin, "looking like a huge rock jutting out of a sea of sand," and he successfully conveys his pleasure to his readers. The drawing of the palace, supposed to have been built by Cyrus the Great, more than 2,000 years ago, is addi- tionally valuable, because the long term of its existence is coming to an end. The Arabs have carried away masses of stone rent from the wonderful arch called the Lewfin, the founda- tions have " settled " in various parts, and " the face-wall leans over very much at one end, so that it cannot be many years before the whole structure comes to the ground." Mr. Ellis enjoyed the view from it under some difficulties. He says :- "A Bedawee, who had, doubtless, been attracted by the firing of my gun at the pigeons that inhabit, in large numbers, the old holes formerly used for supporting the centring of the arch, told me he would show me the way up to the top. We two went together, none other of the party being willing to venture. To mount, it is neces- sary to hold on with fingers and toes at overhanging bricks, keeping the body flat up against the exterior face of the arch. From the top, the minarets of Baghdad can be seen in the far distance, some trees in the way hiding the town itself. The wondrous windings of the Tigris can be traced to one's very feet. Near this part the river sometimes completely doubles on itself, leaving only a few yards of solid earth between. I noticed a crack at the summit of the arch, evidently a new ono, for some of the lichens growing on the surface had been sharply split in two."

The great golden-domed mosque of Kathimain, although of

modern construction, is nearly as interesting a building as the ruin of Ctesiphon. The town is not walled, the mosque is double, and covers two tombs of Shiah saints ; the courtyard contains several fountains, and domed and square buildings. On one side there is a large colonnade of carved and gilded wooden columns, and the entrance is nearly covered with gold plates. The view shown in the beautiful etching that accompanies the

author's description of Kathimain, is taken from the roof a house belonging -to one of the minor Indian Nawabs. "The fanaticism of the Shiahs," says Mr. Ellis, "precludes the possibility of taking a sketch from any point at all near the mosque, unless it be private ground." He adds the following strange fact, " There is a large clock inside the mosque, and as there are no Shiah clockmakers, but only Sonnies, who are not allowed to enter, it was for a long time out of use, for they were even unable to wind it up. At last they persuaded a French engineer to keep it in order, for, as he was a Christian, the objection to admitting him was not so great as with a Sonnie. He is said to be the only Christian who has ever entered that mosque."

One cannot help wondering that Mr. Ellis could resist the temptation to visit Babylon, only two days from Baghdad, and Birs Nimroud, one day farther ; but he was anxious to get across the Desert to Damascus, and he "was assured on all hands that there was nothing artistic to be seen at Babylon," so he did not go there. His account of his preparations for his ride through the Desert, the purchasing of the camels, the procuring of the guide, the fattening of the camels for the journey, which is so fatiguing that although the letter-carrier performs it once every six weeks, the mail-camels can only take it twice a year, is ex- tremely interesting. He tells us incidentally that the Desert post now carries so great a number of letters and book packets, that it pays the whole expense of the service, which is costly, on

account of the large stud of camels it is necessary to keep. He adds:— "The carriers are always Bedaween, and scarcely a single instance is known of the letters failing to arrive at the other end. The post has frequently been robbed by other Bedaween, every valuable, even the letter-bags, having been taken. The ordinary letters not contain- ing valuables were, of course, useless to the robbers, and these have always been faithfully brought in by the postman."

How Mr. Ellis was cheated about his camels, and how he was bound by a contract which was quite complete and regular without the formality of receiving his own signature, what pro-

visions he took with him, and what Karwania is, the reader must learn from the book, in which he will also find a singularly beautiful etching of a camel and his rider. Of this portion of the narrative, we must say we feel inclined to fulfil the good old instructions for a pleasing review, "praise everything, and quote the whole;" and we desire to direct the reader's attention in particular to a charming description of the manners and cus- toms of the camel, when fairly started in the Desert, which he will find at page 41 of Vol. II. It is full of a pleasant, frank humour, that, indeed, distinguishes the whole book. Mr. Ellis agrees with a good many travellers that one's first ride on a camel is a sensation never to be forgotten.

The Desert journey was a dangerous one, but the party was strong and well-armed, and it was successfully accomplished. The different stages of it are represented by little gems of art.

There is an etching of Hit, on the Euphrates, with a palm, a sky, and a distance which we have never seen excelled in work of this kind. The narrative becomes more and more interesting as the travellers advance into the Desert, fall in with the Bedaween, to the great alarm of the guides, but with no ill result, and come upon flocks of young camels, " with heads like young donkeys, without the long ears, and their bodies covered with thick wool." The travellers occasionally suffered severely from mosquitoes, and from the staleness, after intervals of three days, of the water which they carried with them. From Deir to Palmyra they were told the way was clear, but they had a brisk encounter not far from Deir with a couple of splendidly-mounted and picturesque Bedawees, of whom Mr. Ellis says, "It seemed a thousand pities I could not get them there and then to pose

as models." They put the robbers to flight, and afterwards came upon frequent traces of them and their doings on the way

to Palmyra. A chapter on " An Oasis in the Desert " is of singular interest. The author gives us beautiful drawings of the Temple of Baal and the Street of Columns in " Tadmor," as the Arabs properly call Palmyra. Every line of his descrip- tion of the ruins and their surroundings, of the traces of art and architecture, is full of interest ; so is the story 'of the journey beyond, with a beautiful picture of the thirsty caravan eagerly drinking the delicious water of the springs of Kurietain.

On once more, until they get into the great oasis in the middle of which stands Damascus :—

" At the outskirts runs a stream called the Little Barada, where we stopped to give the animals a rest, and took a bath ourselves. We then sauntered through miles of gardens, crossing watercourses at every turn, and hailed by the villagers working in the fields, under the thick shadow of the fruit-trees. I could well understand the enthusiasm of the Arabs about the beauty of Damascus, for these gardens, always rich and luxuriant in the spring-time, seemed an un- mitigated paradise, after the Desert. An hour passed very quickly.. We went through a gateway and the arched portico of an old mosque into an open space. Opposite was the ancient wall of Damascus, and our road turned to the left and skirted the exterior. We presently passed the leper village, said to be the house of Naaman, and came almost immediately upon Bab Sharki, the gate at the end of the street called Straight.' In ten minutes more I had descended at the house door of my friend, Mr. Jago, the Vice-Consul of Damascus, on the twenty-second day after leaving Baghdad. The total distance covered was 750 miles."

The change from the Desert had more than one exciting feature, for Mr. Ellis's party arrived just as what the Paris Figaro calls a "drama" had occurred,—a well-known Christian doctor had just poisoned his wife. Damascus is, indeed, won- derfully beautiful, as depicted by the author's pencil and pen, but all its beauty must be insufficient to make it endurable, on account of the sufferings of the animals there. This dreadful drawback, and hideous demoralising evil, spoils the journey almost all throughout it. The high opinion the Arabs have of the beauty of their town is illustrated by the explanation which they give of why Mahommed never visited Damascus. It is that, beholding from the shoulder of the hill behind Salahieh the rich verdure of the oasis lying beneath his feet, with the town gleaming white among the dark foliage, he said, " It is given unto man to enter Paradise but once," and passed on: After Damascus comes another short desert journey, and then Mr. Ellis takes us to Baalbec. The three last etchings in the second volume show us a beautiful Damascus girl, the great ruins at Baalbec, and a scene in a Druse dwelling. They are of great excellence and interest. With a chapter called. " Beyrout and Home," this thoroughly delightful book comes.

to an end.