volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

Mdsul. 225
we pjissed the village of Abu Marj ah, and when the fog
lifted we found ourselves in a region with an appearance
different from any which we had hitherto passed. At
8.30 we reached 'Ain al-Beda, where there were several
springs, and the mounds in the neighbourhood suggested
that that district had at one time been well populated.
An hour later we came to Wadi Dabunah, where there
was much water, and lying about in all directions were
large blocks of stone ; it seemed as if they must have been
brought there from some quarry for building purposes.
About eleven o'clock one of the camels stumbled and fell,
and whilst he was resting we lighted a fire and boiled
some of our crushed barley into soup which we flavoured
with salt. When we moved on again at noon the camel
limped and the other beasts showed many signs of fatigue
and exhaustion, and our progress was slow. In the early
afternoon rain fell, and though it wetted us to the skin
it put new life into us, and we moved on a little faster.
At 4.30 we sighted the minaret of the great mosque of
Mosul, and saw the smoke of the limekUns rising in
thick clouds behind the other buildings. Soon after
this the ground became a stiff clay which the rain had
made very slippery, and the legs of our weary beasts
began to sUther about in all directions, and we found
walking very difficult.
When the night fell we were several miles from
Mosul, but we had to go on, for water was an urgent
necessity. How Muhammad managed to find his way
I never made out, and at the fourth hour of the night
(ten o'clock) we found ourselves outside the western
gate of the town trying to gain admittance. We beat
on the doors with stones and made a great noise, but
the guards were fast asleep, and for a long time we
heard no sound. Some men who also wanted to get
into the town sprang up out of the darkness and began
to hammer on the doors, and at length we heard a
movement and a voice from the other side of them
heaped curses and insults upon us and bade us begone.
Finally someone in authority appeared, and after many
questions allowed one of my two muleteers to enter in