the town, which, however, does not present any very
remarkable features. It is surrounded by fortified works, and
contains 25,000 inhabitants, among which there are scarcely twelve
Europeans. The bazaars are extensive, but not in the least degree
handsome; between them lie several coffee-stalls and some chans. I
found the entrances to all the houses narrow, low, and furnished
with strong gates. These gates are relics of former times, when the
people were always in danger from the attacks of enemies. In the
interiors, there are very beautiful court-yards, and lofty, airy
rooms, with handsome entrances and bow-windows. The doors and
window-frames, the stairs and walls of the ground-floor rooms, are
generally made of marble; though the marble which is used for these
purposes is not very fine, yet it still looks better than brick
walls. The quarry lies close to the town.

Here also the hot part of the day is passed in the sardabs. The
heat is most terrible in the month of July, when the burning simoom
not unfrequently sweeps over the town. During my short stay at
Mosul, several people died very suddenly; these deaths were ascribed
to the heat. Even the sardabs do not shelter people from continual
perspiration, as the temperature rises as high as 97 degrees 25'
Fah.

The birds also suffer much from the heat: they open their beaks
wide, and stretch their wings out far from their bodies.

The inhabitants suffer severely in their eyes; but the Aleppo boils
are not so common as in Baghdad, and strangers are not subject to
them.

I found the heat very oppressive, but in other respects was very
well, especially as regards my appetite: I believe that I could
have eaten every hour of the day. Probably this was in consequence
of the hard diet which I had been obliged to endure on my journey.

The principal thing worth seeing at Mosul is the palace, about half
a mile from the town. It consists of several buildings and gardens,
surrounded with walls which it is possible to see over, as they lie
lower than the town. It presents a very good appearance from a
distance, but loses on nearer approach. In the gardens stand
beautiful groups of trees, which are the more valuable as they are
the only ones in the whole neighbourhood.

During my stay at Mosul, a large number of Turkish troops marched
through. The Pasha rode out a short distance to receive them, and
then returned to the town at the head of the foot regiment