repairing dentures, receiving the same pay as a doctor, the problem of
teeth, which is always troublesome, would have been to a considerable
extent solved. I do not know why teeth decayed so rapidly. It may have
been due to incipient scurvy, or to the nature of the rations, or to the
general state of health, or it may have been caused by some septic
condition of the mouth, induced by the heat and dryness. Some young
fellows lost every tooth in their possession in a year. Hair suffered in
the same way, but to a lesser extent. Some exhaustion of the thyroid
gland may have been at the bottom of the trouble.

XI

EDEN REVISITED

Towards the end of October the weather became cooler, and in November
the nights were chilly. Sickness diminished rapidly. At this season
there is a kind of charm about Mesopotamia. Clouds begin to inhabit the
skies and the colour effects, especially those of dawn and sunset, are
lovely. It is a time intermediate between the season of heat and the
season of floods--a brief time, but one in which the country is at its
best. Mosquitoes and sand-flies vanish. A lovely bird, a deep blue and
russet, sings in the groves. The blue jay screams and darts through the
palm trees. It is possible to understand how in the Eastern poets the
beauty of women is constantly compared with the moon. It is the only
thing to compare it to. In a country like Mesopotamia, with its entire
lack of scenery, the moon in all her phases is by far the most beautiful
thing that one sees. After the heat of the day, when the sun has seemed
a destroyer rather than a fructifier, the slender crescent rising over
the plain is like a girl dressed in silver. This poverty in nature must
perplex the Mesopotamian artist. The only objects that the native
jewellers etch into their silver work are Ezra's tomb, the native boat,
the jackal, the palm tree and the camel. And that is about all the
material the country yields. It is this simplicity that leaves only two
courses open to the inhabitants. They must either fall back upon their
senses and become sensualists or seek a higher path and become mystics.

There is little love lost between the Indians and the Arabs. The Arabs
in Mesopotamia have long feared the incursion of India into their
country, for they knew that the Indian farmer under the British
engineers would make Mesopotamia blossom like a rose. The swiftness with
which seeds grow when properly watered is uncanny. We had a ga