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cannot be obtained in the villages. The only commodities 
that can be obtained away from large towns are fodder for the 
animals, fuel for cooking, milk, eggs, fowls, and sheep if re- 
quired, there being no butchers in the rural districts. If a 
traveller cannot do without meat, he has to buy a live sheep or 
goat, and have it slaughtered, the price of which is not 
ruinous, as the best can be purchased for four or five shillings; 
and considering that in the cool weather the meat can be kept 
for two or three days, and the interior parts, with the skin of 
the animal's head, and trotters, which are generally given to 
the host to make his heart glad, it is good policy sometimes to 
indulge in this extravagance. 
7. From Aleppo there are two ways of proceeding to Mos- 
sul ; one is by way of Diarbekir, and the other is via Orfa 
(the ancient Eddesa, or the supposed site of Ur of the Chal- 
dees), but both routes meet again at Nissibeen, or Nissibis. 
The former route is considered the safest, but the latter the 
quickest. After leaving Aleppo, the traveller crosses the 
Euphrates by the ferry at Biraj eek, after three days' slow 
march through an almost level plain. Thence he proceeds to 
Orfa, through the plain or hills of Serooj (Serug of the Bible), 
or diverges northwards to Diarbekir, over the Karach-Dagh, 
which means “ craggy mountain." During the hot season the 
last-mentioned route is preferable for the benefit of cooler air 
and better supply of water, though it is two days longer than 
the other. Both the roads, by way of Orfa and Diarbekir, meet 
at Nissibeen, and here it is left to the traveller to go on to 
Mossul direct, leaving the Tigris on the left and the mountain 
of Sinjar on the right, — risking an encounter with Arab 
marauders who would dispossess him of whatever he has, 
even to the clothes he wears, if he try to resist them; or 
cross the river higher up at Jazeera or Paishapoor, and finish 
the journey on the left side of the Tigris, on the confines of 
Assyria proper, until he crosses a bridge of boats which con- 
nects Nineveh with Mossul. 
8. From Diarbekir, a traveller who likes ease more than 
sight-seeing, can go down to Mossul on a raft of sheepskins ; 
but as the Tigris is very rocky and rapid between Diarbekir 
and Mossul, he might be upset in passing some of the 
rapids, and lose his baggage in the river. I do not, however, 
remember hearing of any such accidents occurring to any 
European traveller, as the native raftsmen know those rapids 
well, and make their passengers disembark and walk along 
the river side at the dangerous parts. 
9. From Mossul, the traveller can either float down the 
