'DIARY OF A TOUR IN THE PERSIAN GULF AND IN TURKISH ARABIA, DECEMBER, 1906 (WITH MAP)' [‎15v] (30/106)

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yards in width, lies what remains of old
Bagdad. The main business part of the
modern city is situated nearly opposite
the bridge-of-boats, on the left bank. Be
yond the bridge are the barracks and
Government schools, whilst nearer the
Kesidency are found the houses of the
European merchants, the English Club, the
foreign consulates, and the habitation
of some of the wealthier Jews and Turks.
Dotted about are the domes and minarets
of the numerous mosques, mostly of
elaborate glazed tile-work, the prevailing
colour being blue. It is remarkable, how
ever, that hardly one of the many minarets
stands vertical, so insecure is the founda
tion offered by the alluvial silt on
which Bagdad stands. Beyond, as far
as the eye can see, stretches in all
directions the desert, brown, flat, and for
bidding, its monotony only broken here
and there by the occasional patches of
cultivation which show what irrigation
can do on this rich but untilled soil. Finally,
at our feet, lies at her moorings the Comet,
6 gunboat ’ in ordinary to the Resident,
and cause of much jealousy and heart
burning to the Turks and the representa
tives of other friendly powers.
On the afternoon of our arrival we ac
companied the Ramsays for a walk through
the bazars of Bagdad. They are quite
interesting, but there is little in the way
of local manufacture to attract one. It is
rather the quaint variety of types and the
picturesque corners in the narrow (and
very dirty) streets which appeal to the
eye of the stranger. In addition to a
large population of Arabs, who of course
predominate, and representatives of most
of the peoples at Asia, there are some
35,000 Jews, and a great number of queer
Christian sects, such as Armenians,
Nestorians, and Neo-Nestorians, Chal-
dseans, Sabaeans, Arians, Jacobites, and
Manichaeans. Most of them wear some
distinguishing garments and the varied
hues and shapes of these make a very
striking effect. Altogether the bazars
of Bagdad, when one has become ac
customed to their smell, are things to
see and remember, though not more in
teresting, perhaps, than those of Peshawar
at certain times. Trade is apparently
flourishing, but Mr. Parry, the representa
tive of Lynch and Co., informed me that
75 % of all the merchandise brought by
river to Bagdad goes on to Persia via
Khanikin. The area fed by the Gulf and
Tigris traffic extends well to the north of
Mosul in the Tigris direction, and quite hall
way to Aleppo up the Euphrates Valley.
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The mosques.
The bazars.