volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

The 4-Uar of Sargon II. 131
elsewhere for the four or five days which we had to
spend m Basrah. Mr. Buchanan again came to our
assistance, and found him a comfortable room with
adequate attendance. As soon as. this arrangement
was made I transferred myself and my baggage to
Mr. Robertson's house, and found that Mrs. Robertson
and her two children were there, having recently
arrived from England. During the very delightful days
I spent there I made two short excursions to the Old
Town, which lies about nine miles from Basrah Creek,
and traced the course of the ancient canal' which ran
round three sides of the city. On March 12th Mr.
Alfred Holland left Basrah for Shushtar, and before he
went he promised me to collect all the information he
could about the ruins of Susa, and about routes to
Mai al-Amiri and other places where Persian cuneiform
inscriptions were graven on the rocks. A fellow-guest
at that time in the Consulate was Captain Lindsay,
a great gunnery expert, then commanding H.M.S.
" Kingfisher," which was lying in the river. He invited
me to his ship and his officers showed me much civility.
On the following Friday (March 15th) I made
arrangements to transfer the altar of Sargon II from the
s.s. " Khalifah " to the mail steamer the " Arabia."
Just when we had got it on to a lighter the Turkish
governor sent over an officer from the barracks who
ordered me to replace it on the "Khalifah," as he
intended to send it back to Baghdad. I went and saw
the governor and explained how the altar had come
into my possession, and that the Delegate had agreed
to my taking it, and the Wall Pasha of Baghdad had
permitted me to take it with me. In proof of my
statement I showed him the rafUyah,^ but he waved
this aside politely, and said that the exportation of
^ The chief town of Great Lur in Khuzistan ; its ancient name was
Idhaj. Here stood the great stone bridge over the Duj II which was
held to be one of the wonders of the world. See Guy le Strange,
Lands^ p. 245.
' iltij the Customs' permit to export merchandise,
k 2