80 THE LANDS OF THE TIGRIS. 



few who will not agree with Sir F. Goldsmid when he 

 says that " the streets are narrow, dirty, gloomy, and 

 irregular ; " ^ or again, when he opines that the occa- 

 sional prettily - domed mosque is, after all, " painfully 

 like a crockery Jingan, or coffee-cup, of the blue flower 

 pattern." ^ The river is perhaps the most attractive 

 feature of the town, being covered with native craft of 

 all sorts, and presenting a scene of lively animation. 

 Conspicuous among them are the curious round giiffas, 

 a form of boat which appears to have remained constant 

 since the days of Herodotus. From the appearance of 

 the vessel in question, a specimen of which may be seen 

 in the foreground of the photograph here reproduced, it 

 will be observed how accurately the description given 

 by that historian fits at the present day : " Their 

 vessels that sail down the river to Babylon are cir- 

 cular, and made of leather. For when they have cut 

 the ribs out of willows that grow in Armenia above 

 Babylon, they cover them with hides extended on the 

 outside, by way of a bottom ; neither making any dis- 

 tinction in the stern, nor contracting the prow, but 

 making them circular like a buckler." ^ 



Is Baghdad, then, a great commercial centre ? The 

 answer may be given in the aflirmative, provided you 

 qualify it with the all-important words " for Turkey." 

 The whole of the surrounding country is fed by Baghdad, 

 as also are many of the markets of Western Persia, 

 notably those of Kermanshah and Hamadan ; but they 

 are not fed to the extent that they ought to be : firstly, 

 because of lack of communications other than mule- 

 tracks ; and, secondly, because of obstruction on the part 

 of the Turkish Government, where assistance and en- 



^ Telegraph and Travel. Sir F. Goldsmid. 



-' Ibid. 



2 Herodotus, Book I. chap. 194. 



