1901.] on Turkish Kurdistan. 651 



with stones above the stream, ami irrigated by tiny channels hewn 

 out in the same way. There are few trees of any kind except tere- 

 binth and juniper, but the boulders and cliffs are often carpeted with 

 vines and blackberry bushes, and their interstices filled with little 

 brilliant patches of purple and yellow colchicum. 



In Upper Tiyari the stream, though rapid, is generally fordable, 

 but in Lower Tiyari it runs deep, even in autumn and early winter, 

 and on one occasion near Lizan, a Turkish soldier in my escort was 

 drowned while attempting to cross it. The ordinary bridge for foot 

 passengers consists of nothing but a slippery poplar stem thrown 

 across a chasm, but at Lizan a more ambitious structure has been 

 attempted. Stone piers are built out on either bank, and a row of 

 poplar trunks inserted in the masonry. These in their turn are 

 covered with successive layers of poles, each projecting further across 

 the stream, and finally the surface is covered with a loose basket- 

 work of osier, and large flat stones are laid over it to conceal the gaps 

 and crevices. 



Leaving the maiu gorge of the Zab and turning eastward, we find 

 four lateral valleys formed by small tributary streams. Diz, lying 

 aloug the course of the Deezen Su, and Baz, along that of the Kun Su, 

 provide alternative means of access to Jelu ; Tal is a tiny ravine 

 leading up to the high bleak volcanic range which separates Tiari 

 from Tkhoma ; and the Salabegan river provides a second and easier 

 avenue of commuuication between Tkhoma and the Zab valley below 

 Lizan. 



In Tkhoma, although the scenery is tamer than that of Tiyari, 

 there is far more cultivation, and the greater width of the valley 

 allows of the villages being built on the low ground. The stream, 

 however, is very liable to sudden rises from the melting snows, and 

 when I visited the place many of the fields had been so overwhelmed 

 with stones and debris as to be rendered totally unfit for cultivation. 

 Owing to the greater intensity of the summer heat the houses in 

 Tkhoma, unlike those of Tiyari, are provided with an upper story. 

 The walls, built of rough blocks of stone, are raised to a height of 

 about 8 feet, with a low narrow doorway, and roofed with poplar 

 trunks. In the centre, or at the far end of the room, a hole is 

 scooped out in the mud floor to hold the fire, which is fed with 

 branches and twigs of dwarf oak, and the smoke, after circling about 

 the blackened rafters, escapes through small loopholes in the walls, 

 which also serve for purposes of defence against the Kurds. During 

 the winter the inmates sleep on quilts and strips of felt near the fire, 

 and in the poorer cabins a wooden railing serves to partition them 

 off from the buffaloes, sheep and poultry, which are herded together 

 on the further side. Luring the summer they remove for the night 

 either to the upper story, which has an open front screened with 

 vines and fig-trees, or else to the mud roof, which has been rolled 

 smooth and water-tight by means of heavy stone cylinders. The 

 main object being to get as far from the mosquitos as possible, a 

 kind of tall scaffolding is raised, with a platform supported by four 



