G I r THE MOUNTAINEERS OF THE EUPHRATES 151 



after time we were drenched in great 

 waves which broke over us at the foot 

 of smooth-sloping sheets of water, where 

 the raft seemed to drop like a toboggan. 

 Once one of the men was washed over- 

 board by a wave, but was caught by his 

 companion, who seized the skirt of his 

 gown as he disappeared. Once the raft 

 struck upon rocks in the midst of a wild 

 rapid, but fortunately it held together 

 and we came through safely. 



On this journey down the Euphrates, 

 our first contact with the Kurds was at 

 a ferry. As we glided toward the ferry 

 the Armenian raftsmen said : "Do you 

 see that boat? It belongs to the village 



next above ours. East winter the old 

 boat belonging to the Kurds was carried 

 away in a flood. As soon as the water 

 fell they came up to our neighbors' vil- 

 lage and carried off their boat. And 

 what could the poor Armenians do? 

 They have no guns. The Turks have 

 taken them all away." 



As we floated toward the Kurds we 

 approached the shore, and finally stopped 

 close to them. "Backsheesh ! Back- 

 sheesh ! A present," was their greeting. 

 "This is our ferry, and you must pay us." 

 It made no difference to them that, as we 

 pointed out, we were using our own con- 

 veyance, and were going down the river > 



