430 
MR. RICH’S TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES. 
tue to value, the plain sense, modesty, purity, 
and good-nature, which will, I hope, make 
her a source of happiness to him during life. 
Soon after, the most urgent necessities 
of the public called for a Resident at Bagdad. 
He alone was universally acknowledged to be 
qualified for the station. Hewas appointed : 
having thus, twice befoi'e he was twenty-four, 
commanded promotion by mere merit. They 
were married, and are gone to Bagdad.” 
At Bagdad, a high spirit, sound political 
views, a perfect knowledge of the native cha- 
racter, and a profuse generosity, speedily 
gained him the highest reputation both with 
the local government and with the people. 
He resided six years at Bagdad with no 
European Society save that of his accom- 
plished lady, and of Mr. Hine, the surgeon 
to the Residency, who was also his assistant. 
There, however, the leisure hours of Mr. 
Rich were occupied in making collections 
for a history, and for a geographical and 
statistical account, of the Pashalik of Bag- 
dad. He examined all the remains of antiqui- 
ty within his reach, and commenced his col- 
lection of Oriental manuscripts, which he 
spared no labour or cost to render complete. 
He formed a rich collection of medals and 
coins, and of the gems and engraved stones 
found at Babylon, Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and 
Bagdad. He made an excursion to Babylon 
for the purpose of examining the remains 
of that ancient city. 
In 1813 Mr. Rich, on account of ill health, 
travelled to Constantinople. In 1814 he pro- 
longed his journey through Bulgaria, Wal- 
lachia,and Hungary to Vienna, and thence to 
Paris. Mr. Rich, returning to Bagdad, passed 
through Switzerland to Milan, thence to Ve- 
nice. He crossed over to Trieste, whence he 
proceeded, by Corfu and the Archipelago, to 
Constantinople, touching at several of the 
islands, and landing to examine and explore 
the site of ancient Troy. From Constanti- 
nople he returned to Bagdad, through 
Asia Minor, taking as far as possible 
a different road from that which he had 
pursued on his way to Europe, noticing 
particularly the geography of the country and 
especially the lying of the chains of moun- 
tains ; and as he came nearer Mesopotamia, 
visiting the Syrian and Chaldean convents, and 
h 
collecting information regarding the singular 
race of Yezzidis. After his return to the Re- 
sidency he added so largely to his collection 
of MSS. as to render it perhaps the most 
extensive and valuable ever brought together 
by any private person in the East. In 1820 
his state of health requiring again change of 
air, he made a tour into Koordistan, of which 
the work under review contains the Journal. 
On his return he visited the ancient Chris- 
tian churches of Chaldea, and was enabled 
to preserve and add to his library many 
valuable and xerj ancient Syrian and Chal- 
dean versions of the sacred Scriptures. Mr, 
Rich also made a tour to Shirauz and visited 
the ruins of Persepolis, the tomb of Cyrus, 
and the other remains of antiquity in that 
neighbourhood. While at Shirauz, the 
cholera broke out, of which this distin- 
guished in dividual died on the 5th of October^ 
With the exception of a few communica- 
tions printed in the Mines de 1’ Orient the only 
writings which he published in his lifetime 
were the Memoirs on Babylon. He has left 
however a considerable number of manu- 
scripts ; in particular an ample journal of his 
route from Bagdad to Constantionople. His 
magnificent collection of Oriental MSS, 
of coins and antiquities, was purchased by 
the British parliament, for the use of the 
British Museum. In the work before us the 
geography of Koordistan and the manners 
of the inhabitants are placed in a new 
and strong light, to which we shall advert 
particularly in our next. 
Art. IV. — Observations on the Flora 
of Court allum. By Robert Wight, 
Esq. m, d. — Madras Journal of Litera- 
ture and Science, 1836. 
Dr. Wight is already well known to 
most of our readers as a talented and in- 
defatigable labourer in the Science of Bo- 
tany. The following paper we are about to 
review is another valuable acquisition to our 
knowledge of the Botany of India. The 
paper opens with a description of 
