forcing my decrees with such a barbarous multitude of insurgents. I took upon me, therefore, the military department, as adjutant-general, and was obliged also to act the doctor; for one of the wounded men was brought in from the fray, his head terribly cut by a bludgeon, and his family surrounding him in dreadful agony, lest it might prove fatal. All my knowledge of the medical art consisted in the Sangrado system, but I looked around for some instrument of operation. "Knock him on the nose," said I; this done, it spared me the trouble of bleeding; and as to warm water, I ordered immediate potations within and fomentations without, which had the desired effect. My medical skill was then at a high premium, and they lauded me with their "Marshallah," &c. But I shall not initiate you into it; suffice it, that under my directions, assuming a little of the professional consequence, thus inspiring the utmost confidence in my patient, which is the best of physic, I turned him off his mat the next morning sound as ever. The Sunday was a quiet day, perfectly devoid of alarms from within or without. Therefore, for their good behaviour, their chief invited some of his Armenian subjects to dine with him. About sixty of them squatted down in the hall of the divan, the floor of which was composed of earth, except a narrow part near the balcony, where we established ourselves. Each brought his platter; the knives and spoons, need I say, are those of nature's furnishing; and they mouthed it away very respectably for Armenian breeding; and what pleased me most was their substitute for Non nobis, which they sung with all their power of lung, after dinner. I shall now conclude this long letter, which, with my books, has formed my only amusement lately. It is very uncertain how long we may be detained here, and we have no chance of escape to look to, but the arrival of the Russian troops. Yours. MY DEAR G. 297 LETTER V. Fortress of Maliz-Ghird, Our garrison has been again rather feverish; even the muleteers it is difficult to keep in order. They are weary of waiting here so long, and our new troops are getting tired of their duty. It is rather difficult at night to keep up the watches, and establish the necessary surveillance against the enemy. On Tuesday we had an accession of forces of two hundred Armenians from another village; they all find that there is no security out of the garrison. These Armenians are the most uncivilised of any I have seen. Their principal riches consist in their 0 3 cattle, of which they seem to make a sort of domestic companions, washing them very carefully all over, morning and evening, with their hands. They have but little taste for agriculture, though this country offers the greatest encouragement for it. Here and there beautiful rich patches may be seen, where the slightest cultivation has produced abundant results. I have scarcely noticed any tree or shrub throughout the whole of Koordistan. The view around here is wild and broken; on one side a high mountainous barrier, and on the other, a very wide branch of the Euphrates, over which is a fine old Armenian bridge, some parts of it scarcely passable. As I take my evening stand in our balcony, watching the setting sun, I trace its last rays merging in the crystal expanse, with a sort of melancholy feeling, whilst thinking of my friends in England, the immense distance which now divides me from them, and the probably long period that may elapse before I revisit Ferengistan. But truce with reflections; I am now busied with realities, and it is the part of wisdom to make the best of them. To mark to you the vigilance of one of our guards, on Tuesday evening he espied a suspicious-looking man outside the powder magazine; he fired at the man, and killed his dog. The man had a lantern with him, and he avowed afterwards that he meant to destroy us all, by blowing up the powder magazine. Having confessed this, he made his escape. On Wednesday, a Koordish spy made his appearance within our garrison, and I thought the Armenians would have torn him to pieces. He could give no good account of himself, and was consequently consigned to durance vile, to reflect on his temerity. But the fellow had the ingenuity to escape the next day. On Thursday, we received a message from our good friend the moolah, to say that we were to be attacked that night by one hundred and fifty musqueteers and fifty horsemen, and he cautioned us to be on the qui vive. I wondered how Hadji Osman Millah Hussein had sprung up again in our neighbourhood, since he departed with Mahomed and Osman Agha. Then I learned that the latter had returned to Mouch, from whence he came, being a creature of the pasha of that place; but the moolah, belonging to some of the |