go out before sun-rise, and having placed cloths under the oak,
larch, tamarisk, and several other kinds of shrubs, the manna
is shaken down in such quantities from the branches as to
give a supply for the market, after providing for the wants of
the different members of the family. The Kurds not only
eat manna in its natural state, as they do bread or dates, but
their women make it into a kind of paste; being in this state,
like honey, it is added to other ingredients used in preparing
sweetmeats, which, in some shape or other, are found in every
house throughout the East.
The manna, when partially cleaned, is carried to the market
at Mosul in goat-skins, and there sold in lumps, at the rate
of 4 f lbs. for about 2^d. But for family consumption, or to
send to a distance out of the country, it is first thoroughly
cleansed from the fragments of leaves and other foreign matter
by boiling. In the natural state it is described as being of a
delicate white colour. It is also still, as in the time of the
Israelites, like coriander seed,1 and of a moderate but agreeable
sweetness.2 -Indeed, Calmet, who says it is met with not only
in Arabia, but also in Poland, the mountains of Lebanon,
and other places, compares it to condensed honey.3 Burck-
hardt, however, says, it is of a dirty yellow colour, slio-htly
aromatic, of an agreeable taste, sweet as honey, and, when
eaten in any quantity, it is purgative ; he adds, that the time
of collecting it lasts six weeks, and that the Arabs esteem it
as their greatest dainty.4
In Kurdistan the camel is but little used, owing, no doubt,
to the mountainous nature of the country, for which he is
but ill suited, but his place is amply supplied by other
animals. The goats and sheep are met with in large flocks,
and the wool of the latter is particularly good, provided it is
carefully washed. The buffalo is not so common as in the
plains; but oxen and cows are abundant, and of full size;
they are used almost universally to carry light burthens,
chiefly of corn, which is balanced over the back of the animal
1 Numb, if! 7. 8 Mr. Rassam.
8 Calmet’s Dictionary.
4 Burckhardt’s Tour in the Peninsula of Mount Sinai.
in a stout double bag, made of thick woollen cloth. The
horses, which are very fine, are reserved exclusively for riding.
The people of this country call themselves Kermanj,1 the
European name being unknown.2 Almost every Kurd, or
Kerad (speech), is mounted, and armed generally with a gun
and sabre ; but higher up in the mountains he is to be seen protected
by stout leggings, clad in loose robes, with a showy vest
beneath ; on his head is a gay-striped turban, hanging loose
in a fanciful manner on one side, and he is mounted on a
spirited horse. Occasionally he is provided, as in ancient times,
either with javelins about three feet nine inches long, which
he hurls at his enemy with great dexterity, or else with a
bow made of horn, nearly six feet long, and slung at his side
ready for use, with a supply of arrows in a leather quiver at
his back. The bow resembles that of the Turcomans, and is
much more effective than that which is in use amongst the
Beels3 in India.
The arrow of the Kurd is, apparently, what it was when
Xenophon crossed the Centrites :—“ Sometimes, also, the
barbarians, after the Greeks had ascended, gave them great
disturbance in their descent, for they were very nimble ; and,
though they came near to our men, yet still they got off,
having no other incumbrance than their bows and slings.
They were very skilful archers ; their bows were nearly three
cubits in length, and their arrows above two. When they
discharged their arrows, they drew the string by pressing
upon the lower part of the bow with their left foot. These
arrows pierced through the shields and corslets of our men,
who, taking them up, made use of them instead of darts, by-
fixing thongs to them. This day they staid in the villages
situated above the plain that extends to the river Centrites.”4
In addition to the javelin and bow, the sling5 mentioned by
1 Aperçu, &c., Tome II I., p. 287.
8 Ainsworth’s Visit to the Chaldeans.—Vol. X I. Part I., p. 21, of the
Royal Geographical Journal.
8 The Beel is expert in the sudden use of his bow when close to an enemy;
but, at a short distance from the object, I found him a bad marksman.
4 Xenophon’s Expedition of Cyrus, book IV., p. 239.
5 We often saw slings in use amongst the Arabs. The long bow of horn