Part II. Travels into the l^Ev A s T. 
59 
heretofore divided them, and that they go by Iffahan, and reach as far as 
the Ww, and in that Countrey they affiim, that thefe Hills, (which are 
of a white Rock,) encompafs all the World. At Sun-fetting we went a- 
flioar on the Hde of Mefcpotamia, over againft Kiz.il- Han ; which is a Hun KJ:iil-Htu2: 
not far from it , and the fifth Lodging of the Caravans that come from 
Moful. 
We did not take our Lodging on the other fide as the nights before, becaufe 
of the Lions that are there, and are to be feen in Flocks like Sheep We kept 
good Guard, becaufe our ftation was pretty near to the Houfes of fome Arabs ; 
befides, there were fome Lions alfo on that fide. Amongft the reft, there is 
one that is in great reputation among the people of the Countrey ; he is called, 
the Lion of Kiz,il-Han, and is faid to be as big as an Afs, and of extraordinary A Lion of 
ftrength ; who never fails to take a man of every Caravan, and it was very ?>^^^^ bigneft. 
honourable for ours that we paid him not that Tribute. They add, that he 
commonly fets upon thofe who ftraggle in the rear ; and ( that it may nor be 
thought that it's for want of courage, but only out of cunning, that he does 
fo, ) they iky he is fo bold, that if he fee no more but two or three men, he 
comes confidently up to them , and taking one of them in his Claws , 
lays him upon his Back, and carries him away. Some Caravanifts told 
me a great many Tales upon that fubjeft, which I fhall give as cheap as I 
had them. 
They told me very ferioufly, that the Lion never lets upon a man but 
when he is very hungry, and that he feeds upon him backwards, beginning 
always at his Buttocks, becaufe he is afraid of the face of a man. That when 
he takes a Camel or a Buffle, he lays him on his Back, and eafily carries that 
Load ; but that he cannot do fo with an He-Buffle nor a Sheep ; for he dares ' 
notfet upon an He-Buffle, becaufe he would certainly be killed by him : As 
to a Sheep, that he can very well take and kill it, though he cannot carry it, 
but is obliged to drag it ; and the reafon is,, becaufe heretofore the Lion ta- 
king a Buffle or Camel, faid, I carry it in the ftrength of GoJ^ knowing that A Fable of die 
it was above his power ; but having found a Sheep, he (aid, 77/ carry this -well Lion. 
enough by my oivn ftrength ; and therefore God punifhed his Prefumption, by 
difabling him to carry it. This they have got from the Fables of damned 
Calil've. They affirm moreover, that the Lion underfbands what a man fays, 
and weeps when a man (peaks. The Arabs are not afraid of Lions, and TX^z Arabs 7.xt 
provided an Arab have but a ftick in his Hand, he'll purfiie a Lion, and kill not ^ifraif^ of 
him if he can catch him. 
This evening about nine a clockone of the men of our Keleck, wich_a Hook 
took a great Fifh ; it was above five foot long, and though it was as big as a AFifh as big 
man, yet he told me k was a young one, and that commonly they are much ^ man, 
bigger. TheHead of it was above a foot long ; the Eyes four inches above 
the Jaws, round, and as big as a brafs farthing ; the mouth of it was round, 
and being opened as wide as the mouth of a Cannon, fo that my head could 
eafily have gone into it; about the mouth on the out- fide, it had four white 
long Beards of Flefh, as big as ones little finger ; it was all over covered with 
fcales like to thofe of a Carp ; it lived long out of the water, died when they 
opened the Belly to skin it, and was a Female ; the flefh of it was white, tafted 
much like a Tunny, arid was as foft and loofe as Flax. 
We embarked again next day (the twelfth of Auguft) in the dawning, and 
about two a clock after noon came to Tikri, which is in Mefopotamia, and the Tikj-i, 
fixth Lodging of the Caravans from A{oful : there we fpent the reft of the 
day. I endeavoured twice to go thither, but couUl nor, becaufe in ten or 
twelve places there is danger of breaking ones neck ; fo that I relied fatisfied 
to fee the Houfes which are to the water-fide, and are well enough built for 
that Countrey, being all of rough Stone. I underflood that heretofore it ^ 
had been a great Town, but at prefent it is no more but ruins, and hardly 
to be reckoned a good Village ; and indeed, we had much ado to find Bread 
in it, and to have a little Meat it behoved me to buy a whole Sheep. It is 
built upon a very high Rock, becaufe of the overflowings of the Tygrts which 
happens in the Spring; for then it fwells fo confiderably, that it feems to be a 
little Sea, and is deeper than in Summer by above four or five Pikes length,- 
1 % - 3'=; 
