'Central Asia. Part V. A contribution towards the better knowledge of the History, Ethnography, Topography, and resources of part of Asiatic Turkey and Caucasia' [‎56] (71/360)

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BAG
use is very great; and as women of the higher ranks seldom move without
a multitude of attendants similarly mounted, when such a visit is made at
the house of a neighbour, the braying concert becomes intolerable. These
asses are, I believe, of a particular breed, and fetch very high prices, from
forty to fifty pounds sterling, being no uncommon sum for one of great size,
good blood, and fine paces. They are magnificently caparisoned, and every
one of the poor animals has its nostrils slit, a practice prevalent also in
Persia, and which is said to make them longer-winded.
The rage for black slaves here is quite as universal as that for white
donkeys, and, judging from appearances, it seems that the uglier they are
the more they are valued. These dark beauties, male and female, come
chiefly from Madagascar and Zanzibar, and are supplied for the most part by
the Imam of Muscat, in whose hands nearly all of the trade rests. They
are all thick-lipped, have broad faces, high cheek-bones, exceedingly depressed
noses, small-peaked chins, staring white eyes, and atrociously black skins.
Here they are greatly preferred to all others as servants, both in the Harem
and for other offices. The streets swarm with them, and their glossy skins,
fat shining faces and gay apparel lead at once to the conclusion that they
fare well,—a fact sufficiently notorious from the well-known partiality of
Turks, in common with most Orientals, towards their slaves; and the impu
dent swagger, and not unfrequently insolent language of the dark rogues as
they pass you in the street, leaves no doubt of their being the spoiled
favourites of some over-indulgent master.
The climate of Baghdad, generally speaking, may be deemed a healthy
one. It is true that in periods of anarchy and mal-administration, when
the neglected dikes admit of the water inundating the country, epidemics
prevail during the season of the greatest heat, from May to October.
These, however, yield readily to the usual remedies, and those who are dis
creet, by taking medicine in time, may generally avoid attack alto
gether, and there is no denying but that neglect renders these epidemic
fevers malignant and fatal. The great heats are at times almost insupport
able, and yet experience has shown the least sickness prevails in the hotter
summers; while, on the other hand, sickness is rife when the heat from the
barren soil is tempered by the presence of inundations, which, indeed, give
rise to the infecting miasma. From October to May there is perhaps no
finer climate in the world : cold, yet mild and invigorating, it cannot be
excelled. This description of the climate does not extend to the lower
country beyond one hundred miles south of the city. The fevers prevailing
in the summers of that region are fatal in a high degree. The thermometer
usually stands in the winter about 60°, but in the mornings may be seen
as low as 20°, when the air is keen and much felt by natives of India, who,
as pilgrims here, are for the most part but lightly clothed. In the summer
it ranges from 90° to 117°, but this latter standard is rare; usually at the
hottest time of day it is about 107°. The barometer at this time averages
29° 56 , while in the winter, except when south winds prevail, it remains
at 30 10 . South winds are very oppressive and are usually accompanied
by much dust. They last generally three days, terminate in squalls and
rain, and are succeeded by fresh north-westers, with a brilliant sky and an
atmosphere as deliciously pure as it is exhilarating.