he river banks, in and by which garrisons are located. Since
the time (1868-1872) of Midhat Pasha, who did much to bring the independent
Arab tribes under control, the Turkish government has been, however,
gradually strengthening its grip on the country and extending the area of
conscription and taxation. But from both the racial and religious
standpoint, the Arab and Persian Shi'as, who constitute the vast bulk of
the population, regard the Turks as foreigners and tyrants.

Of crops the vilayet produces wheat (which is indigenous), rice, barley
(which takes the place of oats as food for horses), durra (a coarse,
maize-like grain), sesame, cotton and tobacco; of fruits, the date, orange,
lemon, fig, banana and pomegranate. The country is naturally treeless,
except for the tamarisk, which grows by the swamps and along the
river-beds. Here and there one sees a solitary _sifsaf_ tree, or a small
plantation of poplars or white mulberries, which trees, with the date-palm,
constitute the only timber of the country. The willows reported by some
travellers are in reality a narrow-leaved variety of poplar.

Besides the buffaloes and a few humped Indian oxen, there are no cattle in
the country. Of wild animals, the pig, hyena, jackal, antelope and hare are
extremely numerous; lions are still found, and wolves and foxes are not
uncommon. Snipe and various species of wild fowl are found in the marshes,
and pelicans and storks abound along the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris.
Fish are caught in great numbers in the rivers and marshes, chiefly barbel
and carp, and the latter attain so great a size that one is a sufficient
load for an ass. The principal exports of the province are coarse wool,
hides, dates and horses. At various points, especially at Hit, and from Hit
southward along the edge of the Arabian plateau occur bitumen, naphtha and
white petroleum springs, all of which remain undeveloped. The climate is
very hot in summer, with a mean temperature of 97deg F. From April to
November no rain falls; in November the rains commence, and during the
winter the thermometer falls to 46deg F.

Cholera is endemic in some parts of the vilayet, and before 1875 the same
was true of the bubonic plague. At that date this disease was stamped out
by energetic measures on the part of the government, but it has reappeared
again in recent years, introduced apparently from India or Persia by
pilgrims. There are four great centres of pilgrimage f