652 The Bight Hon. Earl Percy [May 17, 



poplar trunks, and sometimes you find these curious sleeping-places 

 erected in the very centre of a dry torrent bed. 



Like the Persians, the men of Tkhoma and Salabegan are ex- 

 cessively clever carvers, and make beautiful spoons, with elaborate 

 chains attached to them, out of single pieces of wood. Another of 

 their accomplishments, and one not usually associated with the male 

 sex, is that of knitting socks ; while a less useful habit, which 

 reminds one of similar customs in India, is that of adorning them- 

 selves, and any guests to whom they wish to pay special honour, by 

 sticking marigold flowers behind their ears. 



Retracing our steps from Tkhoma to Julamerk, and following 

 the Zab northward, we enter, after a few hours' ride along a deep 

 cleft, the valley of the Deezen river, which forms the connecting 

 link between the central mountain chain and the transverse range of 

 the Jelu Alps, containing some of the loftiest summits in Hakkiari. 

 The approach to this district is marked by a distinct change in the 

 shape of the peaks, many of which bear a strong resemblance to the 

 pointed sugar-loaf formation of the Austrian Dolomites, and also by 

 the thick forest growth of oak, beech and hawthorn which clothes 

 their lower slopes. Tobacco and maize are cultivated in considerable 

 quantities, and one is struck with the uncommon size and girth of 

 the planes, maples, sycamores and walnuts which border the edge of 

 the stream. In the depth of winter the Jelu is probably not passable 

 at all, and caravans would take the easier route through the valley 

 of Baz. When I crossed the Douruk pass in October the snow lay 

 deep at an altitude of 10,200 feet, and a little further to the west the 

 peak of Galeashin rises to an elevation of 13,500 feet, and glaciers 

 mark the limit of perpetual snow. The trend of the range is from 

 north-east to south-west, and the sides are so steep that but for the 

 natural ledges formed by the projecting strata it would be im- 

 possible to cross them at all. The villages are perched on small 

 grassy promontories along the foot of the ravines, and in order to 

 pass from one to the other it is necessary to toil painfully up, it may 

 be, 2000 feet, while the muleteers cling on behind to the mules' 

 tails, only to descend again almost immediately to the original level. 

 In this way you can skirt the whole range from Zerani, which lies 

 under the three great peaks, the Douruk, the Suppa Douruk and the 

 Shinna Jelu, to Ishtazin, which commands the eastern passes into 

 the fertile lake basin of the Diza or Gawar plain. This portion of 

 the country is called Upper Jelu, while Lower Jelu stretches south- 

 ward to the borders of the practically unknown territory of the 

 Oramar and Apemshai Kurds. 



The readiest avenue of communication between the two is by the 

 gorge of the Ishtazin river, which, flowing parallel to the Greater 

 Zab, joins it in the lower reaches a little above Rizan. So far as I 

 know, the greater part of the district south of this river, the region of 

 the Dustik Kurds, has never been explored by Europeans. I 

 succeeded myself in reaching the village of Oramar, but was prevented 

 from going any further by the absolute refusal of both the soldiers 



