hi iiii i

II i iiiiii

III!
 Cf* *"'''''

r.T-t T'y I. STfi^la-sn

Jrmny 'I J.lnjr^-^rrfJrh'j'-

Goiili "V. ijncclu-.-P pMi'

 DR. GRANT
AND THE

MOUNTAIN NESTORUffS

REV. THOMAS LAURIE,

CRVIVING ASSOCIATE IN THAT MISSION.

" What mean ye to weep and to break my heart ; for I am ready not to be bound only,
but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Acts 21 : 13.

PORTRAIT, MAP OF THE COUNTRY, ILLUSTRATIONS, ETC.

BOSTON:
OOULD AND LINCOLN
59 WASHINGTON STREET.
1853.
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
GOULD & LINCOLN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts,

. *

stereotyped ti
y
HOBART k BOBBINS,
BOSTON.
PRmTKP BY GEO. C. RAND, CORNHILI*.
 MISSIONARIES OF CHRIST
IN WESTERN ASIA

ARE AFFECTIONATELT DEDICATED,

BY ONE EVER GRATEFUL FOR THE YEARS HE SPENT AMONG THEM, AND

REJOICING THUS TO LABOR WITH THEM STILL IN A CAUSE

HE CAN NEVER CEASE TO LOVE.

- 1-^ r-x.' iKi, \J '-_?

 NOTE.
In the Oriental names that occur in the following pages,
i has generally the sound of ee, as in Ashitha and Serspidbo.
u has uniformly the sound of oo.

aa represents the Arabic Ay in, as in Baad ; and

kh stands for the rough, guttural h of the Shemitish languages.
oo sometimes occurs instead of u, partly through inadvertence, but mostly in deference
to others who have estabUshed the orthography of such names as Yoosuf, Oroomiah, &c_
The pronunciation of the last is Urmy, both in Mosul and Tyary.
It any complain of the various modes in which different writers spell the same names,
they are referred to Mr. Layard, who justly observes, in a note page 370, of his "Babylon
and Nineveh," "The difficulty of getting a correct name, either of a person or place, in
Kurdistm, is very great. The same name is pronounced in a variety of ways, and is sub-
ject to all manner of additions and contractions, so that travellers can scarcely avoid falling

into frequent errors."

 PREFACE

Every one familiar with the history of the American Board of

Commissioners for Foreign Missions must have noticed how few
memoirs we have of its missionaries. Out of more than one thou-
sand laborers whom it has sent into the field during a period of

more than forty years, many of whom have passed away to their final

reward, there are, setting aside some excellent biographies of mis-

sionary women, extended notices of but six, namely, Levi Parsons,

Pliny Fisk, Gordon Hall, David Abeel, Samuel Munson and Henry
Lyman, while of its many excellent missionary-physicians we
have not a single biography.

That this want has been felt, at least in the case of Dr. Grant,

appears from the small memoir published in 1847. Of this work

very excellent so far as it went the writer would say, in the lan-

guage of Dr. Perkins, " The imperfect memoir which appeared a few
years ago only made me more anxious that a more full and suitable

record of his eminent worth, devoted life, and arduous labors, should

be given to the world." But, desirous as he was that this should be

done, he would never have thought of doing it himself, but for a

request from Mr. S. H. Grant to prepare a brief memorial of his

father. The vain effort to compress the subject into the few pages

allowed him at that time led him to arrange the facts with which he

was familiar, that so much valuable material might not be lost ; and
Vl PREFACE.

the result of a year's labor, during the intervals of more pressing

duties, now lies before the reader.

It has been pleasant to the writer to live over again the happy
hours once spent with those now, as we trust, before the throne, and

trace out the results of their afflictions, not only in their own ineet-

ness for heaven, but also in the blessings still descending on the

scene of their sufferings.

In the preparation of the work, many letters have been quoted

only in part, and the journals of Dr. Grant have been much abbre-

viated ; but, as he expressed a regret that his writings were so verbose,

and intended, in case he published again, to subject every sentence

to the most rigid condensation, it was felt to be a sacred duty to

carry out his wishes iu the manner which would have been most
agreeable to him were he still alive.

The map has been prepared mostly from original materials col-

lected by Dr. Grant and his associates. That by Mr. Layard has

also been consulted. Great pains have been taken, and no expense

spu-ired, to render it an important addition to our geographical

knowledge of that region.

In conclusion, the writer would express his obligations to the

former associates of Dr. Grant in Oroomiah, for the letters they have

kindly furnished him ; to his eldest son, and also to the widow and
brother of Dr. A. Smith, for similar favors ; to Dr. Anderson, for

the free access lie has granted to the library of the Board and

importiint manuscripts ; and gladly would he make more specific

mention of those friends to whose judicious suggestions the work is

indebted for valuable corrections and improvements.

West Roxbury, May, 1853.

 ITi^t cf |Uttstrati0its.

I. PORTRAIT or DR. GRANT, (Frontispiece).

The portrait is copied from a very correct daguerreotype likeness,

taken in 1841 ; and the autograpfi' was penned during his last sick-
ness, at the close of the last letter he ever wrote. (See p. 394.)

II. MAP OF THE NESTORIAN COUNTRY AND REGION ADJACENT.

III. VIEW OF TREBIZONI), 40

This is a walled city, though the wall does not appear in the view.
'
The residences of the Missionaries are on the rising ground, just above
the consulates, which may be distinguished by the flags. The road to
Erzrum lies up the valley to the right. High mountains rise all
around behind the hill represented in the engraving, appearing to the
traveller, as he approaches from the sea, like a lofty wall, enclosing
the paradise below. Their snowy summits are, for the most part,
wrapped in clouds.

IV. VIEW OF ERZRUir,

'

l,j

In the foreground appears a Bazaar, with tradei's seated here and

there in the Dikkans. The columns at the end of the street are the
minarets of an ancient mosque, and conti-ast favorably with the
clumsier modern structures of the same kind round about. The pyr-
amid behind the wall to the right is a mausoleum, in the style of the
tomb of Caius Cestius, at Rome, such as is often seen in the ancient
cities of Asia Minor.

V. YEZIDEES, 120

This is the dress generally worn in their villages near Mosul.

VI. THE ZAB AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. 142

This is a view of the river between Bedyalatha and the Berzawa, as

described on p. 143.

VII. BRIDGE IN TYARY, 252

The weight of the centre-piece, in one instance, as measured by Dr.

Smith, about ninety feet from pier to pier, is balanced by stones, piled
VIH LIST or ILLUSTRATIONS.

on the opposite ends i)f the pieces nearest the shore, as seen on the left.
The passage of such structures is diflficult, at the best and we need ;

not wonder that Dr. Grant was obliged to cross one in the manner
described on p. 264, when it was old and out of repair.

267
VIII. SPECIMENS OF SYRIAC WRITING,
The cipher above the two lines is used at the beginning of every let-

ter or document, and consists of the name of God, as it occurs in Ps.

68 : 4, with a symbol of the Trinity over it.

267
IX. THE SEAL OF MAR SHIMON (actual size),

This is impressed in ink, just as here represented. The curious in

such matters may find in it no less than thirteen crosses.

290
X. ANCIENT SEAL FROM NINEVEH,
This was purchased.by M. Botta from an Arab, who found it on the
surface of an ancient mound, after a rain.

302
XL NESTORIANS FROM JELU,
This is the general dress of the mountaineers, though in Tyary they
wear a conical hat, and another coat without sleeves is often worn
over the dress "here represented. As to the ability of the women to

carry burdens, see p. 147.

^lo
Xn. HOrSE IN TYARY,
The men in the foreground wear the hat referred to p. 336. The
house is one of the better class. In winter the lower story is used,

and in summer the upper one is not too open for comfort. The walls
are adorned with the horns of the mountain goat.

3^2
Xin. MOSUL, AS SEEN FROM NINEVEH,
The mound and village of Nebbi Tuniis are directly in front. The
low mounds extending thence to the right are the remains of a part
of the wall of Nineveh. The extreme south-east corner of Koyunjik
is just visible in the edge of the plate.
On the left of the village, the Serai (or palace, it comprises the
barracks also) rises on the bank of the Tigris, below the city. The
bridge is hidden by the mosque of Nebbi Yunus, and directly ovev
the latter rises the highest minaret in Mosul. It is built of brick, and
belongs to a mosque, which was once a Christian church. It leaus
a little to one side, and is the most conspicuous object in
the city.

The house occupied by Dr. Grant, and afterwards by Mr. Layard,

stands on the high ground seen leyond Nebbi Yiiniis to the right. In
the foreground, cattle are loaded, as described on p. 234,
 Cantentia.

CHAPTER I.

PABENTAGE EABLY LIFE HOME TRAINING EDUCATION MARRIAGE

BRAINTRIM CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY BEREAVEMENT UTICA USE-
FULNESS THERE, 13

CHAPTER II.

DECISION TO BE A MISSIONARY LETTERS MISSIONARY TRAINING OP

MBS. J. S. G. SECOND MARRIAGE EMBARKATION, 24

CHAPTER III.

SMYRNA CONSTANTINOPLE VOYAGE TO TREBIZOND

JOURNEY TO PER-
SIA MEETING WITH MR. PERKINS PASS OF DAHAR FORTIFIED CAMP
TABRIZ, 36

CHAPTER IV.

THE NESTORIANS
ORIGIN OF THEIR CHURCH EABLY HISTORY AND
MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE LATER HISTORY DR. GRANT'S THEORY OP
THEIR JEWISH ORIGIN, 47

CHAPTER V.

ABBIVAL AT OBOOMIAH MISSIONARY PHYSICIANS CHOLERA LABORS

AND LETTERS OF DB. GBANT LOOTEE LABOBS OF MBS. QBANT, 59

CHAPTER VI.

INTEREST IN THE MOUNTAINS CORRESPONDENCE WITH COL. S'HEIL AND

DB. BIACH SCHULTZ FAILURE OF HEALTH
DEATH OF MRS. GBANT
POLITICS OF KUBDISTAN, 87
 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

JOUHNEY to MESOPOTAMIA AND ASSYRIA S ALMAS

DISAPPOINTMENT
CONSTANTINOPLE ERZRUM DIARBEKR AND ANARCHY MARDIN
SICKNESS MOBS, AND NARROW ESCAPE MOSUL JITTERS YEZIDEES
MAR 14ATTAI AKRA GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES, 106

CHAPTER VIII.

FIRST JOURNEY IN THE MOUNTAINS DUREE VIEW FROM SUMMIT OF

PASS RECEPTION LEZAN SABBATH SACRAMENT ASHITHA
PRIEST ABRAHAM CHUMBA MALEK NESTORIAN WOMEN NAZEE
MOUNTAIN-ROADS MAR SHIMON'S RESIDENCE JULAMERK BASH
KALA, AND SICKNESS OF THE EMIR, 129

CHAPTER IX.

MR. AINSWORTH BEREAVEMENT LETTERS SECOND JOURNEY THROUGH

THE MOUNTAINS HERTUSH KURDS ERZRUM CONSTANTINOPLE
VISIT TO AMERICA CHILDREN " THE LOST TRIBES " RETURN TO
THE EAST, '.

151

CHAPTER X.
THIRD VISIT TO THE MOUNTAINS REMINISCENCE DERVISHES SUMMA-
RY JUSTICE FAMINE TRAVELLING IN THE EAST FALSE ALARM
ENCOUNTER WITH KURDISH ROBBERS VAN TREACHERY OF KURDISH
GUIDES PATRIARCH AND DR. GRANT CROSS THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN
IN KURDISTAN JELU
BASS^ TEHOMA SCRIPTURAL ASSOCIATIONS
NARROW ESCAPE DISCOVERY OF ANTIQUITIES WINE-DRINKING
LABORS IN ASHITHA NEWS OF DEATH OF MR. AND MRS. MITCHELL
TREACHERY OF NESTORIAN GUIDES THRILLING ADVENTURE IN NIGHT
JOURNEY ARABS ARRIVAL AT MOSUL, 170

CHAPTER XI.

JOURNEY OP MESSRS. HINSDALE AND MITCHELL DIARBEKR LETTER OP

MR. MITCHELL HIS SICKNESS AND DEATH SICKNESS OP MRS. MITCH-
ELL ARAB INHUMANITY HER DEATH SICKNESS OF MR. AND MRS.
HINSDALE HEAT OF MOSUL JACOBITES MISSIONARY PROVIDENCE
JEWS MOHAMMED PASHA TURKISH OPPRESSION LETTERS OF
M. BOTTA TOUR AMONG MOUNTAINS NEAR MOSUL
MICHA ATHA-
NASIUS, BISHOP OF MALABAR, 195
 CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER XII.

JOURNEY TO OROOMIAH YEZIDEES AND MELEK TAUS ERBIL

CHURL-
ISHNESS OF KURDS CHIEF OF RAVANDOOZ SCENERY THE TOWN OP
RAVANDOOZ PILLARS AT SIDEK AND KELI SHIN USHNEI DIFFI-
CULTIES AND DELAYS, 217

CHAPTER XIII.

FOURTH JOURNEY THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS ADVENTURE AMONG THE

NOMAD KURDS KANDI KILEESEH MINERAL SPRINGS KURDISH IN-
HOSPITALITY AND MURDERS TRAVELS WITH THE EMIR NESTORIANS
OF TALL CAMP IN TEHOJMA JOURNEY TO JELU A NIGHT ON THE
MOUNTAINS NESTORIAN TELEGRAPH BASS BLOOD FEUD AND RE-
CONCILIATION KURDISH LIFE IN CA3IP TEHOMA AVALANCHES
NESTOBIAN COOKING THOUGHTS ON PEACE MEDICAL PRACTICE A
NARROW WAY HEART OF THE MOUNTAINS HEIYO THE OUTLAW
MOUNTAIN ROADS AND BRIDGES LIFE IN ZOZAN RETURN TO ASHITHA
POLITICS HERTUSH CHIEF MISSION-HOUSE EMIR'S PERMISSION
TO BUILD FAILURE OF EXPEDITION AGAINST AMADIA SYRIAC DEED
OF REAL ESTATE, 234

CHAPTER XIV.

VISIT OF MR. HINSDALE TO THE MOUNTAINS CONFERENCE OF PAPISTS

WITH MAR SHIMON RETURN OF MAR YOOSUF TO OROOMIAH VISIT OF
DR. GRANT TO JULAJVIERK A SUNLESS WINTER INTERVIEW WITH THE
EMIR KURDISH LADIES BANDITTI THEIR WAYS AND MEANS
RETURN TO MOSUL DEATH OF MR. HINSDALE PLAN TO ASSASSINATE
DR. GRANT HIGH-CHURCH OPPONENT HIS OWN STATEMENTS HOW
REGARDED BY OTHER EPISCOPALIANS HIS POLITICAL INFLUENCE, 268
.

CHAPTER XV.
PIFTH VISIT TO THE MOUNTAINS MUD VILLAGE KIIORSABAD AND M.
BOTTA AIN SIFNEH ANd" YEZIDEES HEROINE OF BASTAWA WOMAN
IN MOSUL NATURAL HISTORY AMADIA WHAT POVERTY AND MIS-
ERY MEAN PASS OVER MATINKH SNOW VALE OF BERWER ZAR-
NE MULE-RIDING IN THE MOUNTAINS PATRIARCHAL MANSION
DR. grant's castle AS IT WAS NESTORIAN FEAST A NIGHT VISIT
FROM KURDISH SPIES A NESTORIAN STRIKE HOW TO SUPPRESS IT
ANOTHER NIGHT- ALARM SYMPATHY WITH THE EGYPTIANS FEROCITY
OF THE NESTORIANS APPROACH OF THE STORM, .... . . . 288
XII CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVI.
VISIT TO BAUIR KHAN BEY FIERCENESS OF MOUNTAINEERS KESTA
AJTIQUITIES KALA KUMRI THE
HABOR A KURDISH " CUISINE "
DR. grant'sCOMMISSARIAT A SABBATH IN ZACHO RULE OF BA-
DIR KHAN BET JEZIRA FORTS IN MOUNTAIN PASS DERGULEII
THE ASSEMBLED CHIEFS ORIGIN OF THE WAR BADIR KHAN BEY'S
PROMISE TO DR. GRANT HIS TIHARACTER SUMMER QUARTERS A
GEORGIAN HOW A KURDISH CHIEF SPENDS THE DAY TRADITION OF
THE ARK SHAKH RETURN TO ASHITHA, 323

CHAPTER XVII.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE STORM VISIT TO MALEK BERKHO SLAUGHTER

IN DISS RETURN OF DR. GRANT TO MOSUL ^ MASSACRE AT CHUMBA,
AT MAR SAWA AND SEESPIDHO DESTITUTION AFTER THE SLAUGHTER
MAR SHIMON FLEES TO MOSUL MISERY OF THE CAPTIVES SUFFER-
INGS OF THE REMNANT INSURRECTION IN ASHITHA BRINGS DESTRUC-
TION ON THE WHOLE VALLEY BUTCHERY AT LEZAN LAYARD'S AC-
COUNT ATROCITIES OF ZEINER BEY FALL OF TEHOMA STATISTICS, 344

CHAPTER XVIII.

COURTESY BETWEEN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES LETTERS OF DR. GRANT HIS

PROPOSITION LABORS AMONG THE .JACOBITES MICHA MR. BADGER
DR. GRANT EXONERATES HIM FR03I A FALSE CHARGE 3LA.R SHIMON
EVIL OVERRULED FOR GOOD BIBLE CLASS ANOTHER BEREAVEMENT
REBUKE FOR SYMPATHY DEATH OF PASHA HOSPITALITY TO REF-
UGEES DEATHS AMONG THEM DIFFICULTY ABOUT BURIAL DR. A.
SMITH HIS JOURNEY CHARACTERISTICS HIS LETTER ON "ORGAN-
IZATION," 366

CHAPTER XIX.
PLAN TO RETURN TO AMERICA LETTERS SICKNESS AND DEATH FUNE-
RAL TROUBLE ABOUT TOMB-STONE POSTHUMOUS USEFULNESS LETTERS
FROM MR. PERKINS AND DR. AVRIGHT ADDRESS OF NESTORIAN PUPIL
TESTIMONY- OF ME. BADGER LETTERS FROM HON. BIR. LAYARD AND REV.
D. W. MARSH NOTICE OF MISSION AFTER DEATH OF DR. GRANT
DEATH OF CHILD OF MRS, HINSDALE LETTERS OF MICHA SUCCESSORS
OF DR. GRANT AT MOSUL, AND IN THE MOUNTAINS FATE OF OPPOSERS
CONCLUSION, 390
A
 CHAPTER I.

PARENTAGE EARLY LIFE HOME TRAINING EDUCATION JLA-RRIAGE

BRAINTRIM CHKISTIAN ACTIVITY BEREAVEMENT UTICA USEFUL-
NESS THERE.-

In the town of Marshall, N. Y., near the top of an eminence

still known as " Grant's Hill," an old yellow house, two stories
high, looks out on dark-green woods, sunny slopes and fruitful
farms. Here, on the 17th of Aug-ust, 1807, Dr. Asahel Grant
was born. The place is changed since then. Strangers occupy
the old homestead, and few of the neighbors remember the
subject of this narrative.
He was the second son of William and Rachel Grant in ;

whom God had not only provided pious parents for the fiiture
missionary, but such as, converted in early life, had grown up
with tastes and habits sanctified by a spiritual faith. They were
chosen, too, from one of the most favored nurseries of New
England piety, Litchfield county. Conn., a region noted
for pure revivals, and for the sterling, intelligent type of its

piety. There Bellamy lived and labored. There was the mis-
sion school, in Cornwall. From that county went out Samuel J.
Mills and others, to bless the world. It furnished, also, one of

the two missionaries who were afterwards permitted to share

the labors of Dr. Grant in Kurdistan.
His parents were eminently given to prayer ; and that, not

merely for themselves or neighbors, but for the world. Th^

kingdom of Christ held a prominent place in their supplications.

2
 CHAPTEH I.

PARENTAGE EARLY LIFE HOME TRAINING EDUCATION MARRIAGE

BRAINTRIM CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY BEREAVEJIENT UTICA USEFUL-
NESS THERE.-

In the town of Marshall, N. Y., near the top of an eminence

still known as " Grant's Hill," an old yellow house, two stories
high, looks out on dark-green woods, sunny slopes and fruitful
farms. Here, on the 17th of August, 1807, Dr. Asahel Grant
was born. The place is changed since then. Strangers occupy
the old homestead, and few of the neighbors remember the
subject of this narrative.
He was the second son of William and Rachel Grant in ;

whom God had not only provided pious parents for the future
missionary, but such as, converted in early life, had grown up
with tastes and habits sanctified by a spiritual faith. They were
chosen, too, from one of the most favored nurseries of New
England piety, Litchfield county, Conn., a region noted
for pure revivals, and for the sterling, intelligent type of its

piety. There Bellamy lived and labored. There was the mis-
sion school, in Cornwall. From that county went out Samuel J.
Mills and others, to bless the world. It famished, also, one of

the two missionaries who were afterwards permitted to share

the labors of Dr. Grant in Kurdistan.
His parents were eminently given to prayer ; and that, not

merely for themselves or neighbors, but for the world. Th^

kingdom of Christ held a prominent place in their supplications.

2
It is said that his father never failed to remember his children

at the family altar, and his mother often took them with her to

her closet, to plead with them and for them before God.
It reveals something of the character of these prayers, and
the lives of those who offered them, that before the father died

all, save one, of his children were hopefully converted, while the
mother was permitted to live to rejoice in hope for them all.

Such were the parents of Dr. Grant ; and we should fail to

detect the more important influences that gave direction to his

character, if we do not look in on those seasons of family devo-

tion in the household of that pious farmer, and hear the mother
speaking to her children of Eliot and Brainerd, and the Saviour
who commanded them to preach his gospel to them that sit in

darkness.
It deserves notice that the Rev. S. Kirkland, who had been
a missionary to the Indians for forty years, died in the very
town where Dr. Grant was born, while he was yet an infant in
his cradle. What effect the memory of that good man, as dwelt
on by his mother in his boyish years, may have had in deciding

his future course, can never be known till we see the connec-

tions that bind together the kingdom of Christ in all ages in the

light of heaven. Be that as it may, no one can read his letters

to his mother, revealing ardent affection and esteem, unchanged

to the very last, and not feel that it was no common impression
in childhood that continued through all his changing career so
fresh and clear to the end. Just before his death, he stated that
the early religious impressions made by his godly mother had
followed him in all his wanderings through life. Courage, then,
Christian mother ! you deem your sphere of action humble and
obscure, but you may be moulding a character tha^ shall be felt

around the globe and down through distant ages.

Mere piety, however, and prayerfulness, are not the only
requisites of a good parent. A judicious method of discipline,

"firmly carried through, is essential in the training of children

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 15

who are to, be useful in after life; and, therefore, we are not sur-
prised to learn that the parents of Dr. Grant were found faith-
ful in this, also. Wlien he was about two years old, his mother
had a severe struggle to secure his obedience ; but, severe though
it was, she did not stop till he was subdued, and a word, or
even a look, from her afterwards, was enough.
His disposition was naturally very pleasant. He was remark-
ably obliging, even in childhood ; and none that knew the man
will forget the loveliness of this trait, that seemed to have been
ripening from his earliest years.
He early manifested a preference for the medical profession.
The money given him was carefully saved till he was about
seven years of age ; and before any of the family were aware, he
had a drawer neatly fitted up as a miniature apothecary's shop.
In this may be seen the bud of that decision and self-reliance
that afterwards carried through greater enterprises alone and
unaided.
His school life began in the district school-house, a mile from
his father's house ; and, at ten years of age, he might be seen
poring over his books, while others played. Nor were these
mere story-books, but history and science were already his

chosen themes. While engaged on the farm, he read many a

volume fastened to the plough ; and at the " nooning," when
others slept, he was reading. Still, it would seem that his
father did not do much to encourage this ardent thirst for knowl-
edge, for he needed his help on the farm, and, perhaps, feared
lest he might lose it. But his mother did all in her power to
foster his love of books, for to her mind it was full of promise
fur the future.

Such good training at home was not thwarted by bad influ-

ences from without. He was far removed from the distracting

sights and demoralizing habits of the city. His home was in the

midst of an intelligent people, who loved the gospel, and there-,

fore promoted education. The spirit of the devoted missionary
16 DR.GRANTANDTHE
who had laid his bones among them seemed to remain in the
community ; and their aeademy had, doubtless, other and
deeper connections with Kirkland than his name. There were
libraries, to whose stores of information Dr. Grant had early
access ; and, no doubt, young men like-minded with himself,

whose intercourse was mutually beneficial.

His temper was naturally quick, but at the age of twelve he

had already attained that mastery of himself which many who
begin later struggle for in vain. Impatience and fretfulness do
not mar the pleasant recollections treasured up in the memories
of his friends.
About this time occurs a noticeable link in the chain of
providences fitting him for the future. His services were so
valuable on the farm, that probably his father would never have
consented to his leaving it, had not a severe wound from an axe
in one of his feet so unfitted him for agricultural labor that
he was allowed to gratify his oft-repeated desire to study
medicine.
It must have been before this accident that he was in the
habit of jumping on his father's colts, and riding about the pas-
ture without saddle or bridle, despite all their efforts to throw
him off ; an early development of his characteristic fearlessness
and tact. With a constitution invigorated by out-door exercise,
and the simple habits of his early home, he now spent two or
three terms at an academy, and one term at Hamilton College,
in the study of chemistry.
When only sixteen, he taught a school with marked success,
and with the dignity of riper years ; and then continued his

academical studies, till he commenced the study of medicine with

Dr. Hastings, of Clinton. That this last relation was a pleasant
one, we may infer from his giving the name of his instructor to

his eldest son. He also attended the usual lectures at Fairfield,

and at Pittsfield, Massachusetts ; and near the close of his

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 17

studies spent a year with Dr. Douglass, theu a noted surgeou in

Utica.
Thus, while Dr. Grant was well trained as a physician, he did
not enjoy the advantages of a liberal education. This he always
felt be a disadvantage, though his early habits of reading
to

were never intermitted, when books were within his reach and ;

he himself would have warned impatient youth that, though it

may seem a waste of time, yet a regular, thorough education is

a real saving, in the better qualification it gives for doing good.

However amiable and moral, Dr. Grant was not yet a Chris-
tian. Like others at his age, he was gay, and fond of worldly
amusements. But the prayers that for more than nineteen
years had been ascending for him were now to be answered.
It is to be regretted that we have no full record of his religious
feelings at the time of his conversion. We want to know more
of the beginning of a religious life whose subsequent develop-
ment was so marked ; but so much as we know makes it mani-
fest that, not as some, desiring only happiness from Christ, and,
therefore, never finding it, but as a sinner deserving destruction,
who could neither save himself nor urge any claim on Christ for
salvation, he cast himself on His mercy, and found peace through

faith. With the foundation of missionary character thus laid in

a personal union to the Saviour, he increased in fitness for the
work, by his diligent labors for the salvation of his late associ-
ates, joined to a great delight in the closet and in the word of
God, two tilings that at the very ends of the earth more than
make up the loss of all earthly friends.
He joined the Presbyterian church in Clinton, and it need
scarce be added that henceforth he took a deep interest in the
missionary work ; for how can it be otherwise with one who loves
the Saviour of the world, and lives for his glory ?

One of his companions, who most deeply sympathized with his

new feelings, and was the more immediate means of the change,
was Miss Electa S. Loomis, of Torrington, Connecticut. Beau-
2*
18 D II . RANT AN D T II E

tiful in person, of an amiabh tcmiter, having well improved her

advantages for an education, she was every way worthy of his
ardent attachment. Her piety must have been deep and decided,

and she herself possessed of no little weight of character, to exert

the influence she did on the gay young physician. But he was
just the man to appreciate her excellence, and they were mar-
ried when he was yet in his twentieth year. A union formed
in such circumstances was likely to be happy, for their affec-
tion, being largely imbued with love to Christ, was fitted to be
permanent. A year afterwards he received his diploma, and
settled one hundred and thirty miles from Utiea, in the rural

village of Braintrim, just over the line of Pennsylvania, on the

banks of the beautiful Susquehanna. He evidently carried his

religion with him, for he was chosen Euling Elder in the little

church.
During most of their residence here the church was without
a pastor ; and it speaks well for the position Dr. Grant occupied
as a Christian, that while there he read more sermons to the

congregation on the Sabbath than he had the privilege of hear-

ing preached. He neither belonged to those physicians whose
business is so pressing during the hours devoted to public wor-

ship that they cannot attend, nor to those church-members

whose presence in the sanctuary depends mainly on the degree

of attraction in the pulpit, and who go to the prayer-meeting

only when not likely to be called on to take a part. His piety
was not of that spongy character that is dry and hard save as
it absorbs moisture from without, and then refuses to impart it

except under pressure. It vras like the fountain, ever filled

from the fulness there is in Christ, and ever imparting what it

had to others.

God seems to have had another object in placing him there.

His duties as physician often led him to ford the river when the

current almost carried away his horse ; and when that had to he
left behind md he could crops the swollen stream only in a
 MOUNTAIN NESTO lANS. 11 11)

canoe, then ho was compelled to walk long distances over the

hills, as though He who had called him to toil among the rug-

ged defiles of Kurdistan took this method to prepare him for

iiis work.
His moral courage was so conspicuous, in surmounting the
difficulties of his position here, as to lead a friend to write after-

wards to the American Board, " If you have a field requiring

great physical activity and moral courage, lie is the man. If
called to it, no fear but he will endure hardness as a good sol-

dier of Jesus Christ." We need no records of their stay in

Braintrim to assure us that two such congenial spirits were
happy in the prosecution of every good work. But that happi-

ness was short. The missionary needed to be prepared for

future scenes by suffering as well as hardships ; and his beloved

Electa was taken from him, after four short years of delightful
cooperation in efforts to do good. Hers seems to have been a
missionary spirit ; and, though not permitted to enter the field,

who knows how much she did to prepare ber husband for his
future toils, so that, though dead, she still speaks In Mosul and
Tyary, as well as in that quiet village on the Susquehanna !

We have a glimpse, and but a glimpse, of her gentle spirit, when

on her death-bed, speaking of the children she was so soon to
leave, she says to her weeping husband, " The Lord will take
care of them." Words repeated by him also, when he spoke of
those same children, on his own death-bed, in a distant land.
She left two sons, the oldest now the popular librarian of the
New York Mercantile Library Association and the other, ;

then five months old,
a graduate of Kenyon College, in Ohio ;

both adorning a profession of devotion to the God of their

fathers.

Four days after the beginning of her last sickness, her hus-

band was prostrated with bilious fever, and his life trembled In

the balance when she was carried to the grave. His mother, as
soon as she heard of it, hastened to his bedside. Her daughter-
20 DK . (i K A N T AN D T II E

in-law hud been dead some days when she arrived, and, after

staying through some weeks of her son's convalescence, she

kindly took his motherless babe to her own home. Thanks to

God for a mother's love ! Her child may leave her and set uj)
another and a distant home, and yet, at the first news of afflic-

tion, the same hand that helped us in infancy, and the same
voice that soothed our childish grief, hastens to comfort us, as

kind and tender, and, if possible, more gentle than before.

As soon as he was able. Dr. Grant settled up his affairs, and,

with his oldest son, exchanged the scene of so much sorrow for

the friendly shelter of his father's roof. He suffered, but he did

not complain. He felt that the dearest objects of earthly affec-

tion are lent but for a moment. . And, as he found the greatest
comfort in reviewing their mutual efforts to serve God, he
devoted himself as never before to self-denying labor for Christ.
He was led to look in on another world but, instead of impatient ;

desire to enter into rest, he consecrated himself afresh to the

work of bringing others, through grace, to that glorious inher-

itance.

The preparatory discipline God designed for him in Brain-

trim was now completed, and in a few weeks he was led to
settle in Utica, the last remove previous to entering on the

great work before him. He here entered into partnership with

an experienced physician, whose removal, some eighteen months
after, left him a large and lucrative practice. Here, again, he

took at once a decided stand as a Christian. He was ever in

his place on the Sabbath, and took an active part in prayer-

meetings during the week. He was the prime mover in a phiu

to supply the poor with useful reading, and, in the words of a

livhuT witness, "as an active Christian layman, he had no supe-
rior hi the city." He exerted himself in the most self-denying
forms of Christian effort, such as labors among the poor and the

boatmen on the canal. So identified was he with these efforts,

that he was known to many as " the friend of the poor," a title
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 21

he shared in common with the late Dr. William Gordon, in our

father-land. In his practice he did not seek wealth, but useful-
ness, according to the command, whether, therefore, ye eat or

drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

In kind, assiduous attention to his patients, he was excelled
by none. The poor preferred him. During the prevalence of
the cholera in 1832, he was "in labors more abundant." Says
his pastor. Dr. S. C. Aikin, " Never was a man more active than
he in that time of suifering, till he himself was prostrated by the
disease. I well remember the hour. It was in a house where
all were sick, the father and a lovely daughter in the agonies
of death. Passing from room to room, I found him sitting by
the kitchen fire, his head resting on his hands. I saw at once
the disease was on him, and yet could scarce persuade him to

retire and take Care of himself. His compassion, no less than

his fortitude and wonderful power of endurance, sometimes
carried him too far. But he felt he was called to minister to

the poor, and that no personal sacrifice must be spared."

Unlike those who are never ready to act till others are, he
was always ready to go forward in doing good. He was active

when others were stupid and lifeless ; such an one as a pastoi

could safely lean on ; and yet, with all his zeal, he showed great
prudence and sound judgment. He had, withal, an uncommon
facility at living peaceably with all men ; and it is no slight

evidence of this, that he secured the confidence and esteem of

his brother physicians, a holy skill he never lost in any scene
of future labor. He showed great tact in approaching men, so
as to disarm prejudice, and make a stranger feel at once that
he was a friend ; an impression subsequent intercourse never
counteracted. He was one of the select few who can do gooc\
and deal faithfully, yet without giving offence. Though an
uncompromising foe to Popery, he had the confidence of the
Papists, beyond, perhaps, any other Protestant in Utica. Even
their priests recommended him as the best and most honest
22 DR.GRANTANDTUE
physician in the place, teaching us that love to those in error
is compatible with the most steadfast attachment to the truth,
and will do good when bitterness and bigotry only bar the road
to usefulness.

It was some evidence of the estimation in which he was held

by good men, that after only one year's residence in the place,

he was chosen elder in the First Presbyterian Church, though he

was then only in his twenty-fourth year, and none of his asso-
ciates had numbered less than forty. " Owing to his sense of
unfitness and comparative youth," says his pastor, already
quoted, " he was hardly persuaded to accept the ofiice to which
he was unanimously chosen ; but the choice was judicious, and
most fortunate for the church. He was both popular and use-
ful ; though young, he was wise in council ; and so consistent
was his life, so devoted in visiting from house to house, so aficc-

tionate and yet faithful in instruction and admonition, that he

soon secured the confidence, not only of the church, but of the
impenitent also. However they found fault with some, all

readily admitted that Dr. Grant was a true believer. The

church was loth to part with him, for seldom is a church
blessed with such an ofl&cer. Too many elders count their duty
done, if now and then they attend a meeting of session ; but
he regarded the ofiice as involving the duty of being an exam-
ple to the church, and cooperating with the pastor in active
labor ; in short, an investiture demanding the entire consecra-
tion of time and talents to Christ."
He had such a winning way of conversing on religious sub-
jects, and his life added such force to his words, that in revivals

he was eminently useful. The secret of his usefulness was felt

to be Christ dwelling in him. His pastor loved to see him in a

meeting for inquirers, he was so still and solemn, so happy in

n\eeting objections and removing difficulties.

As a teacher in the Sabbath-school, he was very faithful, and

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 128

seldom absent ; beloved by his class, as such a teacher might

expect to be.
By rigorous system, he contrived to visit his patients without
neglecting either the sanctuary or the Sabbath-school. His
duties for the day were all arranged in the morning, and each
fell naturally into its proper place, so that he did not need,
like some, to neglect one duty, in order to perform another.
With all this, he was not appreciated by many as he would
have been but for his retiring and unassuming manners.
Such was Dr. Grant in Utica, according to the testimony of

those who knew him most intimately. In the next chapter we

will view him in the more immediate preparation for his work.
 CHAPTER II.

DECISION TO BE A MISSIONARY LETTERS MISSIONARY TRAINING OF

aiRS, J. S. G. SECOND JIARRIAGE EMBARKATION.

One intimate with him at this time (Rev. J. B. Shaw) writes,

*' The Christianity of Dr. Grant is a determination to honor
Christ in making the world better. With him, to serve Christ

is to do good to the utmost extent and for the longest period.

At one time he thought of going, disconnected with any society,
to Singapore or China, there to employ his medical skill to the

best advantage for Christ. With this enlarged benevolence was

joined another quality that eminently fitted him for the post

before him. By nature he was courageous, and piety trans-

formed this iijto a Christian intrepidity that never knew fear in
maintaining the right or doing good. His self-possession in-

creased, as difficulties grew more appalling. His nerve was

firmer, as danger grew more imminent." As we have seen, in
the midst of a dreaded epidemic, he counted not his life dear
to him, if only he might do good. Such characteristics led a
friend to say that " one design of Providence in assembling the
Board at Utica, in 1834, seemed to be to enlist Dr. Grant in the

work ; the part of the report relating to Persia touched a chord

in his heart that never after ceased to vibrate."

But we will hear his own account of the matter, as given in

his " Appeal to Pious Physicians," written after his arrival in
Persia :

" A young physician, who had an extensive and increasing

practice in one of our flourishing cities, had thought much of
 DR. GRANT AND THE NESTORIANS. LJ.)

engaging in the work ; but, as often as he considered the matter

he dismissed it, under the plea that, much as laborers might be

needed, yet there were so many obstacles in his way that he, at

all events, could not go. Others were better qualified, and with
far less to detain them at home, and they might go. But they
did not, the call was urgent, and what was to be done ? He
prayed over the subject, and resolved on a more thorough exam-
ination of personal duty. He took up his former excuses, one

by one. He asked, '

Can I do more at home or abroad for the

conversion of the world. In this view, where am I most needed ?

Here I may relieve much suffering, and perhaps prolong some

valuable lives. But, should I go, others could do it just as

well, and I should not be missed. Abroad I may relieve one

hundred-fold more of misery, perhaps save the lives of mis-

sionaries of inestimable value to the cause, and that, too, when

no one else will do it.

" '
Here I have many opportunities of acting for Christ ; but
what are they, in comparison with those abroad, where I may be
the only spiritual guide to thousands who would never be
reached by another ?

" '
Here, if business continues to prosper, I can give liberally,
and labor for the heathen by proxy ; but money alone will not
do the work, and laborers, especially physicians, are not to be
found.
" '
Here, as an officer in an influential church, and various
other benevolent societies, I may do much ; and many think I
ought not to change a certainty for an uncertainty. But do I

not know that those churches that do most for the heathen and
send forth the most laborers are most blessed of God ? Can I
not, then, do most for Christ at home by going in person to
those who sit in darkness ?

" '
But there are other ties, entwined with the tenderest feel-

ings of nature ; and how shall they be severed ? How shall I

leave my parents, in their declining years ? How say farewell

3
26 DR . G RANT AND T II E

to my sister and brothers? More than all, how can I leaye twc
darling children alone in this selfish world ?

" '
In these questions, so far as mere feeling is concerned,
though the heart thrill with agony, it should not turn the
Christian from duty. My parents are not dependent on me.
3Iy going may be the greatest blessing to my brothers and sis-

ter ; and what can I do for my children that would not be done
for them if I am gone ? The great thing to be done for a child
is to fit him for usefulness here and the enjoyment of God in
heaven. For this agencies can be provided, and superadded
will be a parent's example, turning their attention to the great
work he prays they may be qualified to pursue. If God calls

me to leave them for his sake, he will take care of them. It

may be the duty of others to go but would ; I let my neighbor
die of hunger, because his rich brother ought to feed him rather
than I ? No more can I let millions perish forever, because
others do not give them the bread of life. I cannot, I dare not
go up to judgment, till I have done the utmost God enables me
to do to difiuse his glory through the earth.' "
This touching delineation of his inward struggles seems to
include the whole up to his final determination to go, which was
not till after the meeting of the Board, in September, 1834.
No one can read it and not feel that he was an honest man
that, when he consecrated himself to God, he meant w^hat he
promised, and was resolved to fulfil it at whatever cost. With
all his fearlessness and energy, he was naturally aftectionate.
His heart had a peculiar aptitude for the endearments of home,
and nothing short of the voice of God could tear that yearning
heart from the children it loved so well. But Providence had
prepared the way for him to go. On the other side of the globe
he had prepared a work for him to do, and the time drew near
to bring them together.
On the 28th of October he off"ered himself to the Board, in
the following letter to Dr. Anderson :
 M UNTA I N NE S T 11 1 AN S . 27

" Dear Brotuer : Since our short interview I have been

seriously examining whether duty to my Saviour calls me to

hibor in a foreign field. When I think of the magnitude of the

v^oik and the importance of thorough preparation, and then of

my own i^nfitness for a post of so great responsibility, my heart

almost faints within me. But then, as I ponder the worth of

the soul, and see millions going to the awful retributions of eter-
nity, my heart grieves that so few heed their cries, and I am
ready to exclaim, ' Here am I, send me !
' At Jesus' call, and
sustained by the blessed assurance, '
/ am idth you alway,' I

stand ready to go^ in the face of danger and death, to any part
of the world under the dominion of the prince of darkness.
What though I tear away from children and all the endear-
ments of home, wear out life amid toil and suffering, and find a

grave among strangers ? Only me be the means of salvation to

let

some lost sinner who shall meet me in heaven, and I shall bless
God for it through eternity. Some of my friends doubt whether

I ought to go from my children ; but, though the question has

perplexed me much, when I think with what confidence they

would trust their dearest interests to my care while engaged in
my service, shall I not confide them to my heavenly Father,
while engaged in his ? I often think with what sweet compo-
sure their dying mother said, while her countenance beamed
with a heavenly smile, '
The Lord will take care of them.'' And
while I think of his faithfulness as the hearer of prayer, I
fondly look forward to the day when they too shall preach

Christ to the perishing.

" My only wish, in regard to a location, is to go where I am
most needed. True, before conversing with you, my mind had
turned towards some extensive field. Since then, I have
thought of the Nestorians; have read 'Smith and Dwight,'
and, with a view to a better knowledge of the country, have
reviewed Morier, Shoberl and Maltebrun, and so much of thei
Life of Ilonry Marty n as relates to Persia. Should that sta-
28 Dll. GRANT AND THE

tion remain vacant, and the Board see fit to employ me, I trust
their anxiety to send a laborer there will not induce them to

send me to a post for which I am unqualified. But to their

judgment I cheerfully submit the whole matter."

We have here a glimp.<e into the habits of reading begun in

his school-boy days; and Dr. Anderson would seem to have sug-
gested the Nestorians as the probable field of his future labor.
On the 8th of November a little more than a week after-

wards he discloses his feelings to his mother; for her

training of the child had taught the man where to look for sym-
pathy on such a subject. that the church had more such
mothers ! Then would there be no luck of men to take up his

fallen mantle, and fill his vacant place. But to the letter :

" My Dear Mother # # # ^- If to glorify the Redeemer in sav-

:

ing souls for whom he died be the all-important business of life,

ought we not to make all else subservient to it, and, regardless
of our own feelings, lay aside everything that would hinder its

faithful prosecution ? Is any sacrifice too great to make for

Him who sacrificed his life for us ? I know too well that keen
will be the trial of our separation ; but how soon shall we meet
"
again ! and if theji Christ approves, shall we regret the tnal ?

He then presents the case somewhat as already given, and adds,

" How shall I wish I had decided when I stand at the bar of

God? Shall I not wish I had labored for the heathen who shall

meet me there ? What though here I might heap up riches,

would they compare with the durable riches laid up for those
who through much tribulation have washed their robes white
in the blood of the Lamb ? ^ ^X: ^ ^
" Dear mother, I would not act from a misguided zeal. I
know that I need counsel from on high, and I hope you will
ask it for me. God can give us wisdom, but let us see to it

that we decide in view of eternity. I have solemnly conse-

crated myself and all I have to God and ; I dare not go from his
 MOUNTAIN NESTO III AN S. 29

altar and stand convicted before the universe of having loved

the world more than God and the souls of m}^ dying fellow-

men."

We omit the remainder, to make room for a few extracts from

a letter written on the same day to his sister.

"My Dear Sister Mary . : ^ =^ =^ Perhaps you say it is

my duty to take care of the children Grod has committed to my

charge. It is clear that, unless they can have every reasonable
prospect of being trained up for usefulness, I ought not to leave
them. But, should God enableme to provide for them a home
and a religious education, may he not have other work for me ?
Missionaries send their children home, and in so doing cannot
make provision so Avell as I can in person. But, as this is an
important question, let us look at it in its probable bearing on
the Christian character of the child.As he thinks of his father,
will he not think of God also ? With his thoughts so often
turned to the heathen, for whom his father labors, will not their
wants affect him ? Will he not feel the claims of God more
and, especially, will there not be more fervent prayer offered
for him, both by his friends and the church of Christ ? Then,
conscious too of going at his call, may I not leave them with
entire confidence in my Saviour's care ? ^^ ^ # ^
" Wliat though I never more sluiU meet the warm embrace of
beloved friends on earth, will our meeting be less happy
above ? Will we not bless God for the privilege of suffering for

his sake ? Pray for me, that the Holy Spirit may teach me
"
what to do I

On the 15th of ^December he thus acknowledges the recei]>t

of his appointment as m.issionary :

Kev. E. Anderson, &c. &e,

"Bear Sir: Your letter was recei\ed uu Saturday, and
brought with it a sense of responsibility that, but for the throne
30 DR. GRANT AND T II K

of grace, had been insupportable. I am more than ever .sensi-

ble that my strength and wisdom must come from God. 0, for
the guidance of his spirit! May its holy, life-giving influence fit
me for his service ! It is my earnest prayer that the Lord

would make me wholly his, that I may have no wish but to do

his will. May that be my meat and drink, and I be enabled in

all things to glorify his holy name !

I have much to do before I shall be ready to leave. But I

have no doubt but the Lord will provide all that I want. Some
pecuniary loss may attend so speedy a settlement of my affairs

[he had been requested to be ready to sail at an early date] ; but

I trust not so serious as to delay my departure, for which I
shall prepare as soon as possible."

Not the least important part of his preparation was still to be

made, in the selection of a companion to aid and cheer him in
his missionary toil. If the experience of modern missions ]ias
settled anything, it has settled the principle that a good wife is

essential to the usefulness, and even the continued life, of the

missionary. Tlie heathen themselves have noticed that he who
is alone is easily discouraged, and led to abandon his post. It

has been well said, " No inan ought to go as a missionary w^heie

woman cannot," so necessary is her presence, not only to his
cheerful endurance, but also to his success. For, however a
man may exhibit the fruits of piety in the individual, without a
companion he can never furnish the heathen with what they
need more than all, the sight of a Christian ianiily exempli-
fying the application of religion in all its relations. This is

needed, both to convince enemies of the excellence of Christi-

anity, and to guide the young convert in the regulation of his
own life at home. In many countries woman alone has access
to her own sex, and without her the}^ are not only unblest them-
selves, but active opponents to all efforts for the benefit of the men.

Some missionaries have found, to their cost, that if the influence

 3I0UNTAIN NESTORIANS. 31

of woman in Christian lands is powerful for good, that same

influence 1 )ses none of its power when it is employed in the
service of the prince of darkness. It is impossible to regenerate

connnunitj while woman is left in the degradation of heathen-

ism. Her influence at home is often more than a match for the
missionary in his chapel. But, elevated by the efforts of her
own sex, she becomes one of the most efficient co-laborers in the

missionary work.
True, self-denial, and, in some cases, exposure to danger, is
required of the woman who would engage in the work. But is
it not also required of the man and has not the kingdom of
;

Christ in every age been built up by the sufferings of his follow-

Qrs of either sex ? Are there no women among the noble army
of martyrs ? None among those who toil and suffer at home,
waiting for their recompense till the day of the Lord ?

It deserves to be noticed, too, that the average length of the

missionary life of woman, even in this incipient period of mis-
sions, when so much of the hardships of the pioneer have been
encountered, has been longer than that of the stronger sex ; and
will not the comparison be much more favorable hereafter, in
what some would call her more appropriate work of improving
the little openings in the forest made by those who have gone
before ? Even in Mosul, where, as we shall see, so many died,
the facts, instead of discouraging woman from engaging in the
work, encourage her to go forward ; for, while out of five men
one only survives, only two women died out of three, and that
third is still in the field, while the survivor of the stronger sex

is unable to resume his labors.

It is written, " Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and
obtaineth favor of the Lord." This was so eminently true in
the case of Dr. Grant, as to justify a somev,diat di^tailed account
of the partner cf his missionary life.

Miss Judith S. Campbell, the daughter of Erastus Lathrop

and Judith Crofts, was born in Puitland, New York, on the 12th
32 DR . r, 11 ANT AND THE

of Januaiy, 1S14, and was thus about seven years ^^ouugcr than
lier future husband. AVhen only three days old her mother
died, and at the age of twelve months she was adopted by her
mother's sister, Sabrina, wife of William Campbell, M.D,, of
Cherry Valley, in the same state. She was just the hxdy an}''

one would have selected to train up a missionary. Like the

parents of Dr. Grant and his tirst wife, she too was from Con-
necticut. She was a woman of strong mind, well informed, and
when converted entered with her whole heart into the work of
doing good. The better to fit herself for this, she read medical
])ooks, and became such an adept in the care of the sick that
some of the most resi^ectable physicians often consulted her
when they found her at the bedside of their patients. Her
services to the poor in this way Vv'cre unremitting. " Perhaps
no woman of the age," says one who knev/ her, " visited the sick
more than she did." She was also deeply interested in the
missionary v\'ork, and prayed much that her daughter might have
grace to engage in it. Nor did she pray onlj^, but also edu-
cated her diligently for that end. Indefatigable herself in the
pursuit of knowledge, and equally so in using it for the good of
others, she infused her own spirit into her charge. She early
trained her to habits of self-denial for the cause of Christ.
"When Judith was but seven years of age, a box was prepared
by the ladies of Cherry Yalley for Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, then
leaving an adjoining town for the Sandwich Islands. This was
done mostly at the house of Mrs. Campbell, and, to interest her
daughter in the cause, she desired her to contribute a favorite

pair of mittens. It cost a struggle, but she gave them, and

from that hour felt a deep interest in the work. Thenceforth
each number of the Missionary Herald was perused vvith jo}^ and
even then she looked forward with groat delight to the time

when she might engage personallj' in the work. Long after, in

Persia, she traced all her attachment to the cause back to this
little incident, and the hallowed influence of her mother. Such
 MOUNTAIN NE S T 11 1 AN S .
^ 33

things show how aiissioiiaries are made. They do not grow up

by chance, they arc the result of the prayers and Christian
training of pious parents, and especially spiritually-minded
mothers. On her death-bed Mrs. Grant testified to this parental
faithfulness, when she said, " What might I have been but for a
pious mother ! Under God, I owe everything to my mother.'*
That temple of the Holy Ghost which is built of materials pre-

pared beforehand by godly parents is the temple most advan-

tageously set over against the temple of idols.
The intellect of Miss Campbell, naturally strong, was well
cultivated, and that with express reference to her future work.
It was symmetrically developed, and very early showed a matu-
rity that fitted her to adorn any sphere ^f woman's activity.
Her father gave her the most thorough education our schools
then afforded. She early applied herself to mathematics, and
so well had she studied the Latin and Greek, that in Persia she

was able to study the Syriac by the aid of Latin lexicons and
grammars, and turn to her Greek Testament for the elucidation
of more difficult passages. In respect to disposition, she is com-
mended, by who knew her,
all as frank and artless, yet discreet,
with a kindness that knew no limits ; social, gentle, and full of
sympathy for others in affliction, while remarkably patient
.under her own. Nor need we be surprised by such a rare com-
bination of excellences, when we learn that each was heightened
by, as well as rooted in, an affectionate devotion to Christ.
She connected herself with the church April 5th, 1831, a day
recorded in her journal as one of the most delightful she ever
knew. Her piety was of that rare type at once deep and unosten-
tatious; uniform, yet uniformly active and practical. She was
already accepted by the Board when Dr. Grant became acquainted
with her. He first makes mention of her in the following letter
to Dr. Anderson, dated February 25, 1835 :

u^ # # # ^Ye .^YQ most anxious to pursue the course that will

best subserv<' the cause so near our hearts. I say we, for you
34 DR. G R ANT AND T 11 E

will rejoice to learn that a kind Providence has united with mine
the heart of a joung lady of most precious spirit, whose ardent
piety, good health and highly cultivated intellect, fit her for ex-
tensive usefulness. She reads Latin and Greek, and speaks
French ; and, though but twenty-one years of age, has long been
an active servant of her Ixedecmer. Ilcr vrarin heart has for
yc^rs 3^carned over the millions who have none to tell them of
his love."

She thus writes to her brother, March 10 :

u -^ #
^ You know, dear brother, how much I have thought of
^;<

being a missionary, and how I have prayed to know my duty in

the matter. Hitherto the way has seemed hedged up but a door ;

is now opened, and I am about to enter it. Yes, my dear, dear

brother, I expect soon to leave these loved familiar scenes for
Persia. The interesting ceremony that unites me with Dr. Grrant
takes place on Monday, April G. ^ ^ ^ ^ Papa feels very much
about my going ; still he does not oppose. AYhen I look at the
importance of the enterprise, and its bearing on the cause of
Christ, I am dismayed at my own insufficienc3\ But I trust my
hope is in God. In Jehovah alone is everlasting strength.
In him all fulness dwells. I wish you could become acquainted
with ])r. Grant, for I am sure you would like him. He has
been an elder in Mr. Aikin's church three or four years, and
bears the character of ^tz eminent and devoted CJiristiayi.^''

These letters show that love to Christ in each was the founda-
tion of their attachment to one another, and we need not won-
der if such an affection was fruitful in happiness. The " inter-

esting ceremony " took place on the appointed day, and they
immediately set about preparations for departure.
This was attended with peculiar trials. Other missionaries
leave home and friends, but they leave before they have formed
attachments in an attractive sphere of usefulness. A large
circle of friends did all in their power to induce Dr. Grant to
 .MOUNTAIN NE S 'I' O It TANS. 35

remain. His own feelings were strongly altaclicd to tlicm.

But the foreign field needs no man who will not be missed
at home. xVnd he who has not such ardent devotion to the
work as will tear him away from everything else need not look
for happiness in it, especially in such a field as lay before Dr.

Grant.
The leaving his two little sons v/as a far severer trial, as is

evident from letters written both at this time and afterwards.

But Providence had provided for them an excellent home, with
M^'. Smith, of Utica, a kind friend and godly man, who promised
to make up, so ftir as another can, for the absence of their own
aflectionate parent.

They left Utica on the 27th of April, where Dr. Grant had
been staying for some time in the family of Pvev. Mr. Crane.
And now a son of Mr. Crane, who helped to pack their boxes
and accompanied them to the packet-boat, there was no rail-

road then, is gone, with his excellent companion, to labor in

the very field opened by the toil and peril of Dr. Grant. Thus,
as the Master calls one servant home, he sends forth others to
carry on his work.
The feelings of Dr. Grant, ait this time, may be gathered from
a note written to his father the next day at Albany.

" ^ ^ # >X:
Trying as it has been to part from our dear, dear
friends, we have been sustained, by the unfailing grace of God.
I ti-ust the trial will be sanctified to us all, and that we shall not
be forgotten at the throne of grace. Our hope is in God. May
near him, and be guided by his spirit
!

we live

They sailed from Boston in the brig Angola, May 11th, with

Miss Williams, from East Hartford, Connecticut, who was on

her way to join the Syrian mission, at Beirut.
 CHAPTER III.

SMYRNA CONSTANTINOPLE VOYAGE TO TREBIZOND JOURNEY TO PER

SIA MEETING WITIP MR. PERKINS PASS OF DAKAR FORTIFIED CAMP
TABRIZ.

Dr. Grant first set foot iii Asia June 28, 1835, after a
pleasant passage of fort j-eight days. They landed at Smyrna,
and spent four or five days with the apostolic Mr. Temple, who,
in the absence of numbers to share it with him, seemed to have
inherited an unusual portion of the spirit of the beloved dis-
ciple who once labored there, a better title to the epithet
" apostolic " than was ever conferred by mitred heads. He,
too, has joined his guests in that blessed world, on whoso
borders he used to live while here. None was ever welcomed
under his hospitable roof in whose memory precious thoughts
of Christ and heaven are not recalled by the very mention of
his name. Dr. Grant's state of mind while here may be
learned from a single paragraph of his first letter to Dr. An-
derson from abroad, dated at Smyrna, July 1st
" Since leaving Boston we have constantly experienced the
rich mercies of our covenant God, For this we desire that
gratitude which is evinced by a cheerful obedience to his whole
will, and an unwavering trust in all his promises."

They left for Constantinople July 2, in the Maria Doro-

thea, one of 'the Austrian steamers, then just introduced into

the Mediterranean. Her commander was Captain Ford, an

intelligent Englishman, of whose kindness more than one mis-
sionary can speak with grateful recollection. They reached
 DR. G II A N T AND THE NESTC H I AN S . 37

Constantinople on the morning of the 4th, and were soon at

home with the couilterpart of their host at Smyrna, the Rev.

Mr. Goodell. Tlieir time passed pleasantly while waiting for

a vessel to Trebizond ; and, in their own words, they " became
ardently attached to the beloved missionaries residing there."
Here, too, they found the Rev. Mr. Merrick, who had spent
some six months in the study of Turkish, preparatory to labor

among the Mohammedans of Persia, and was now ready to

accompany them to Tabriz. Besides the luxury of Christian

fellowship, Dr. Grant here enjoyed what was to him a still

greater luxury, the privilege of doing good. He was called

to prescribe for several of the Armenian bankers, among
others, Janik Agha, a leader among them^, with whom the mis-

sionaries had in vain sought an acquaintance, till thus introduced

by Dr. Grant. He was now in his element ; and, as his eye took

in the vastness and the destitution of the field, he writes : " If

I ever had any misgivings for leaving a prosperous business, very

dear friends, and, more than all, for breaking away from two
idolized sons, now that I see the work to be done, I can no longer
doubt where duty calls." The unanimous testimony of both mis-
sionariesand native converts of the great good that might be
done by a physician, in preparing the v\^ay for the preacher, was
so corroborated by what he saw, that he adds, " I have not one
regret for all I have left. To wear out life in this glorious

work is far,/ar dearer than to enjoy the society of friends,

however beloved ; and it is only while obeying God that I can

look up for his blessing on my children, and sweetly commend

them to his care." This last utterance of his strong faith tells

the secret of his "perfect peace" in subsequent afflictions and

distresses.

That he could take in at a glance the true relations of things,

will appear from his description of the qualifications of a

missionary-physician for such a place as Constantinople. " He
must," says he, " be skilful ; for his popularity will depend on
4
 38 L 11 . RAN T AND T II E

his success in cases that have baffled those already on 1ho

ground. He must. have in-actical experience; for both disease
and its treatment are so aflected by diiferencc of climate that he
cannot depend altogether upon books. He must not only be
able to rel}' on himself, but to stand alone amid the opposition
of other physicians jealous of his success; and last, not least,
he must have tried piety, to stand firm amid the many tempt-
ations round about him."
He had many urgent invitations, from leading Armenians, to
remain in Constantinople; and it was no narrow field of useful-
ness to which they called him. But his heart was already too
warmly attached to the Nestorians to let go its hold. In his
first letter to Mr. Perkins, then in Tabriz, written July 22, he
says :
" I have thought of you with so much interest that I
cannot refrain from introducing myself and Mrs. Grant by the
Ta'tar (post-rider) who leaves to-morrow. I regret we cannot
go with him in person ; but hope, ere long, to exchange the
cordial embrace. 0, how anxiously have we looked to the hour
when we may unite in your labor of love, and you not feel quite
alone ! " Even now, he cherished plans respecting the hitherto
inaccessible mountaineers that thrilled his soul with manly
enthusiasm; for thus Providence sows, long beforehand, the
seed of a future harvest, and makes robust, by long and steady
growth, the zeal that is to be called to perilous undertakings.

It would be pleasant to dwell on the wonders of Constanti-

nople, to go with Mrs. Grant into xirmenian houses, the very
climax of neatness, observe their strange customs, and par-
take of their oriental hospitality ; or accompany them in a
caique along the peerless Bosphorus, or up the Golden Horn,
, by the Arsenal, the old palaceof Constantine. and the lovely
groves and minarets of Eiyoob, to the Valley of Sweet Waters ;

or ramble with them over the hills of Bebe t, or among the

dark cypresses of Scutari, that shade the dust of millions. It

would be pleasant, too, to go with them to Agia Sophia, or the

 ,!'
I

-i'l m ";
Ji;'i';'k

''ifn'lliil

J^^\\>\
 31 UNTA I X NE S T 11 TANS. 41

villa of our representative at St. Stefaiio. But, like them, -vvc,

too, must advance still east from that oriental metropolis. The
little schooner, that first left their own land on an unholy errand
to Africa, and more recently carried Mr. and Mrs. Perkins to

Trebizond, is now tugging at her anchors, as if impatient by

another errand of mercy to atone for former crimes ; and on
the 19th of August they are on the way again to their still

distant home. One of the passengers Colonel Burgess, of

Tabriz came on board hardly able to walk ; and thus Dr.
Grant had an opportunity to do good to one who rendered
them essential aid on their journey, and ever after showed no
little kindness to the mission. For eleven days they enjoyed
the fine accommodations of the " Shah," and the attentions of
an excellent captain, and landed at Trebizond on the oOth.
Here they formed an acquaintance with the European consuls,
of much -service to them afterwards. They were also favored
with an introduction to the Right Honorable Sir Henry Ellis,

English ambassador to Persia, who also did all in his power to

aid them. He even requested them to apply to him for any

assistance he might be able to render them, afterwards, at
Oroomiah ; so that the three pleasant weeks they were detained,
for wairt of horses, in the family of the Rev. Mr. Johnson, then
stationed there, may be classed among those things to observe
which is to know the loving kindness of the Lord.
Trebizond, situated directly on the sea, its houses half hid
den in fruit-trees, and the rugged mountains rising high in the
background, was thought by Mrs. Grant to be the most beau-
tiful place she had seen in the East. The accompanying sketch
of the town, as viewed from the sea may serve to justify her
taste.

There was so much prejudice, at that time, against the mis-

sionaries residing here, that they had scarcely any intercourse
with the people. As he saw how easily a pious physician
might remove it, Dr. Grant could hardly refrain from tears
42 Dll. Gil ANT AND THE

while he thought of the multitudes at home struggling for

places, who might here accomplish so much for Christ.

On the 17th of September they commenced their journey,

overland, to Tahriz, having, after so long delay, succeeded

in securing a sufficient number of horses for the journey.

Besides Mr. Merrick, they had with them an interpreter, and

three Nestorians, sent on to meet them by Mr. Perkins. The
first night they pitched their tent in a retired valley, nine
iiiles from the city, on the banks of the river of Trebizond.
They had nov>^ left behind them the comforts of civilization, and
were just stepping into the privations and perils so long antici-

pated. Woman's timid apprehensions were soothed by man's

more fearless self-reliance; yet, as neither know the things
that shall befall them, together they cast their burdens on the
Lord. Ere they retire to rest they commend themselves, dear

friends at home, and the cause of one dearer than all, to his

own grace and care. It was a place not soon to be forgotten ;

and when, six years after, the bereaved husband passed it alone,

on a yet more perilous journey, is it any wonder that the

strong heart bowed under the thronging memories of the past ?
Next day their road, or, rather, path, for it was barely
wide enough for the passage of a single animal, led along
the edge of dizzy precipices on the steep sides of the mountains.
Some of their horses fell in the narrowest places, and one was
only saved by a tree from plunging headlong into the torrent
far below. Mrs. Grant rode safely in a sort of arm-chair, the
Nestorians walking by her side, to steady it where there was
any danger.
As the Sabbath was too cold and wet for them to pitch their
tent, they spent the day in a khan, without floor or window.
The top of the rough walls of stone and mud was level, on three
sides, with the ground. They had neither chair nor table but ;

they spread their mattresses on two piles of leaves, in the cor-

nn-s nearest the lire, and sat, surrounded by their baggage,
 MOUNTAIN NE S T 11 I A N S . 43

piles of fire-wood, and smoking visitors. It was their first

introduction to rural life in the East; and, rough as it was. Dr.

Grant writes, " Dear J not only bears her privations
with fortitude, but seems really happier than ever before."
And, further on, where they slept in the same room with the

cows and horses, she writes herself that she " never slept more
comfortably in her life."

At Balahor, on the 22d, they were agreeably surprised by

the arrival of Mr. Perkins, who had come from Tabriz in order
to spare them, if possible, the repetition of some of the troubles
that made his journey so distressing. He says of this meeting,
in his sermon at the funeral of Mrs. Grant :
" My first acquaint-
ance with her was made in a stable, amid the snowy mount-
ains of Asia Minor. The promptitude wdth which she came
to our help, after hearing of the sufferings of Mrs. Perkins on

the way, had already endeared her to our hearts. Her cheer-
ful and intelligent countenance, her kind and artless manners,
made a very pleasing impression on my mind, one which
more than three years' acquaintance, in the same yard, and
almost in the same dwelling, has only confirmed."
At Erzroom, where they arrived on the 26th, four years
before a missionary station was established there, they
were entertained by Messrs. Abbot and Zohrab, English mer-
chants in that place, who showed them every attention in
their power till they left again,on the 29th. They crossed tlic

Aras next day, on a stone bridge of seven arches ; and, on the

Jst of October, started, at ten o'clock at night, and travelled
thirteen hours, so as to keep under the protection of the cara-
van of Col. Burgess, in that dangerous part of the road. Dr.
Grant was so exhausted by vomiting and pain, during the night,
that he lay down to rest a few moments, about three o'clock,
and was surprised, on waking, to find he had slept till

daybreak, and was entirely alone. Providentially, he had

retained hold of the bridle, and, by dint of hard riding, he
4-*
 ;

44 DK. Gil ANT AND: THE

overtook the caravan just as they -were detaching a party to

search for him. lie then rode till one o'clock, and was soon
quite restored by food and rest. This was on the mountain-
pass of Dahar, of which v/e shall hear again. They generally
rose about two o'clock ; and at that early hour the cold, bracing

air, and the soft beauty of an oriental sky, combined to render

the ride delightful. On this part of the journey, the boxes and
bales were regularly arranged, at night, in a hollow square,
guards were stationed, and the tents pitched in the middle of
this extemporaneous fort ; and, in the day-time, an armed train,

with six hundred horses and some scores of donkeys, besides a

mounted guard of soldiers, seemed secure from the attacks of
any ordinary banditti. Though the Kurds had, just before,

been very troublesome, they passed hundreds of their black

tents unmolested.
They had a fine view of Ararat and its perpetual snows as
they passed it, some distance to the south; but were distressed
to find New England rum well known where New England
piety had not been heard of. Eighteen barrels preceded them
into Persia, no very fitting "avant-courier" for missionaries,
however loudly it called for their coming. Having travelled
six hundred miles in twenty-eight days, four of which they
rested, they arrived at Tabriz on the morning of October
15th, much shorter
a time than the journey had eVer been
performed by a lady before. At Coustantinople and Trebizoud
they had found the plague. Here the cholera was now raging
but the same hand that preserved them from the one had
kept Mrs. Perkins from the other, and soon all were quietly
and pleasantly quartered in the city. They enjoyed delight-
ful Christian intercourse with Dr. Riach, physician to the
English embassy, who was ever after a warm friend of Dr.
Grant and the mission. Sir Henry Ellis, among other favors,
p-oposed that Mr. Perkins and Dr. Grant should apply for
 M UNTA I N NE S T 11 1 AN S . 45

]>iitish protection; and, accordingly, furnished them with pass-

port!-!, in both English and Persian.
But they were not yet at home, Oroomiah was still more
than one hm.dred miles distant. Mr. Perkins, as yet unac-
(juainted with the language, had deemed it imprudent to remove
there alone ; and now, as it was thought a physician would meet
with a more favorable reception than a clergyman, and Dr.
Grant, already called to prescribe for the Governor of Tabriz,
had received from him a letter of introduction to the Governor
of Oroomiah, he was sent to secure a house, and make arrange-
ments for the commencement of the mission.

He left, accordingly, on the 22d, just a week after his arrival.

On the way he enjoyed the society of IMr. Hoernle and another

(German missionarj^, going to ascertain the feasibility of a mis-

sion among the Kurds. They reached Gavalan, the residence

of Mar Yohanna, on. the 26th, and next day he accompanied
them to Oroomiah.
On their arrival, the governor provided them lodgings, and
expressed a wish to see them next morning. They accordingly
waited on him, and sat down on their heels, with the rest of the
company, in true Persian style. The governor expressed great
satisfaction at the arrival of a physician, and some ten of the
nobility present did the same. The doctor, willing to put this

satisfaction to the test, requested his aid in finding a suitable res-

idence ; and at once he sent his principal attendant to show him

several, so that in less than a week he had secured a very pleas-

ant house, on the borders of the Moslem and Nestorian quarters

of the city. The location is' high, and, for that city, healthy. It

is near a gate, that opens into pleasant gardens ; and from Per-
sian gardens we get our word Paradise, as well as many of the
beauties that make up the idea. The house itself had a garden
attached, and a court, shaded with trees, where ladies could enjoy
the air, vfithout the annoying publicity of walking through an
oriental city. The whole is protected by a high mud wall ;
and,
46 DR. GRANT AND THE NESTOR I ANS.

with such additions as the accommodation of more families

required, continues to this day the mission premises, thus
evincing the wisdom of the first selection.

The governor sent carpets to furnish the temporary abode

of the missionaries, and frequent supplies of fruit, and even

admitted them to the honor of a private interview. The
Nestorians were not behindliand in their demonstrations of
interest; and their numerous applications for medicine, while

they gave our friend a foretaste of what was to come, greatly

increased the iitterest he already felt in doing them good. When
things seemed in a fair way to be ready for the arrival of the
mission families. Dr. Grant returned to Tabriz, where he arrived
again on November 6.

But, before going back with them to their future home, let us
take a brief view of the field before them.
 CHAPTER IV.

TIIK NESTORIANS ORIGIN OF THEIR CHURCH

EARLY HISTORY AKD
MISSIONARY ENTERrBISB LATER HISTORY DR. GRANT'S THEORY OF
THEIR JEWI&H ORIGIN.

Christianity seems to have been introduced into Persia soon

after the beginning of the Christian era. Whether the Magi were
from thence may be disputed (the Nestorian tablet of Singan Fu,
in China, calls them Persians), but none can deny that Parthians,
Medes and Elamites, witnessed the wonders of Pentecost; and we
can hardly suppose that on their return they would not speak of
what they had seen and heard, or that none of those who heard
them were converted to the faith. The Roman martyrology
tells of Marius, a Persian noble, and his wife Martha, suffering
martyrdom under Claudius, in 53 a. d. If, then, emigrants
from thence were Christians, may not some who remained at
home have been the same ? But scarce any record of Persian
piety in those days has come down to us.

The churches in the East generally claim Thomas as tlicii

apostle ; and might not the same facilities of communication

that brought to Jerusalem proselytes from Parthia and Media
carry back an apostle to those countries, or even beyond them ?

The activity of apostles was not less than that of others. The
love of Christ constrained them to go further and do more
than other men. The fact, too, that we hear so little of Thomas
in the region of the labors of Peter and Paul, seems to favor
the tradition ; for we cannot suppose that, while they v/ere so
abundant in labors, he was idle in the work assigned to him as
48 D 11 . K A N T ANP T II E

well as to thcrn. That devotion which was ready to go to Judea

to die with Christ, that affectionate faith which cried " My
Lord and my God," doubtless produced appropriate fruit. In
the absence of proof to the contrary, mn^ we not credit the
universal testimony of the Eastern church ? Thomas, then, and
possibly Bartholomew, from among the apostles, and Adeus from
among the seventy, were the earliest missionaries to the east of
Palestine. Those present at Pentecost must have wonderfully
prepared the way, if they did not furnish active coadjutors.
Thus often does the Lord of missions make all ready to the
hand of his servants beforehand, as well as grant them his
immediate presence.
Mares, a Jew and a disciple of Adeus, founded the bishopric
of Seleucia. He died in 82 a. d., and Abres, said to belong to
the family of Joseph, the reputed father of our Saviour, suc-
ceeded to the office. The eighth in succession, Achadabues, son
of the seventh, according to Mares, and also said to be of the
family of Joseph, shows that in those days, at least, marriage
was still " honorable in all." The next in order, Schiachlupha,

instead of being ordained at Jerusalem or Antioch, and sent

thence to Seleucia, was ordained on the spot, about 160 a. d.

Several of his successors suffered martyrdom under Sapor,

King of Persia, with multitudes of other ecclesiastics and
private Christians. Assemani quotes Mares as saying that
more than one hundred and sixty thousand suffered martyrdom
in Beth Grarmge alone, soon after the year 300. But those
times of martyrdom were also times of fearless missionary
enterprise. In 256 a bishop was sent to Busra. The first

incumbent of Susa was slain where Nehemiah basked in royal

favor ;
yet, undeterred by his fate, the line of succession con-
tinued unl)roken till 1281. Even so far off' as Toos, in Khorassan,
where no missionary now is heard of, a bishop was settled in
334 ; and in the neighboring city of Merw a metropolitan existed
as early as 420. There must have been a large Christian pop-
 MOUNTAIN N i: S T 11 1 AN S . 49

Illation and many bishops round about, to have jiistilied tlie

erection of a metroiDolitau see in that remote region. , Nine

years before that a similar see was established at Herat, in
Affghanistan though some date it in 503, and others as late
as 714.
'
The incumbents of Seleucia, at first called bishops, were after-

wards called archbishops. Simeon, the eleventh of the series

who suffered martyrdom in 330, Sozomen says, was the first
known by that title, though the old Syrian and Greek writers
speak of bishops only till after the thirteenth, who was slain by
Sapor, 356. The catalogue of the Chaldean patriarchs calls

the twenty-third, who died 496, Catholicos ; and a Syriac \vriter

gives the same title to his successor, BabjKus, elected by the

followers of Nestorius, now for the first time the majority in
the Eastern church. Owing to this difference, the see now
renounced all dependence on Antioch, and set up for itself,
claiming for its incumbent the title of Patriarch of the East,
the present title of Mar Shimon ; so that the Nestorian church

is really the ancient church of Seleucia, an original branch of

the church of Antioch.

Just before this, Barsumas, the famous bishop and teacher of
Nisibis, had diligently disseminated the tenets of Nestorius.
The personal character of both him and Babseus it is diffi-

cult to make out from the opposing testimony of different

writers. All agree that he abolished the celibacy of the clergy,

that with other corruptions had already been engrafted on
Christianity. Like a later reformer, himself set the example
of marrying a nun. Babaeus extended this reformation to the
office of patriarch, much to the grief of the papal historian,
who records this return to apostolic practice with the lamenta-
tion that no less than five patriarchs confirmed " this impure
law" by word and deed, and notes the fact that Silas, the
successor of Babaeus, gave his daughter in marriage to Elisha,
the next incumlent of the patriarchal throne. It needs a more
50 1) K . GRA NT AND T II E

Ihoroiiglv and impartial recension of the original documents than

has yet been made to determine the nature and extent of the
change at this period, and whether or no it were really a reform-
ation. Perhaps some graduate of the seminary at Mt. Seir
will do this service to the church, and forever put to rest the

foul aspersions of the papists, whose interest it is to misrepre-

sent and traduce any deviation from their own corruptions. If,

as we would fain hope, that was an honest effort at reformation,

doubtless the patriarchal mansion was a purer and happier home

than it has been since its occupants again sought to improve the
arrangements of God, and learned by sad experience whose was
the better plan.
Had that reformation been carried out in other
matters, the great Reformation had had an earlier date, and,

instead of Grermany, had occupied a centre not far from the

original paradise of the race.
The change of name and external relations, however, brought
no change to the missionary activity of the church. Cosmos
Indicopleustes, who travelled about 535 a. d., says that then
there were many Nestorian bishops around Aden, in Arabia,
and on the island of Socotra, in the Indian Sea. Gibbon says,

III. 272, according to this traveller, in the sixth century, Chris-

tianity had been successively preached to the Bactrians, Huns,
Persians, Indians, Persarmenians, Medes and Elamites. The
barbaric churches, from the Gulf of Persia to the Caspian Sea,
were almost infinite; and their recent faith was conspicuous in

the number and sanctity of their monks and martyrs. The pep-
per coast of Malabar, Socotra and Ceylon, were peopled with
an increasing number of Christians. Abulfida, who wrote about
1300, tells us that Socotra was then inhabited by Nestorians,
and we know that one of its bishops was present at the' ordina-
tion of the Patriarch Jeballaha, in 1281.

Damascus had a Nestorian bishop in 628, and a metropolitan

in 800, with subordinate bishops at Aleppo, Jerusalem, Membij
(Hierapolis of the Greeks, and Bambyce of the ancient Syrians,
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 51

not far west from the Euphrates), Mopsuestia, Tarsus and Mala-
tia. He bore rule over the Nestorians iu Egypt, Palestine,
Syria and Cilicia.
John was present at the council of Nice, in 325, as Bishop of

Persia and India ; and the latter country had a metropolitan

from 852 to 1720. In 1504 the Nestorians had fifty cities in

Malabar, besides the city of Meliapore. Gibbon says the Nes-

torians in India had one thousand four hundred churches, con-
taining two hundred and eighty thousand souls.
In China a recent writer (S. W. Williams, of Canton) thinks
the Nestorians were found as early as 505 a. d. Olopun was
Bishop of Nankin in 636, and there was a metropolitan in Pekin
in 714. In earlier times there were two metropolitan sees in
China ; one called Chambaluch, or Chanbalek (Pekin), and the
other Tanchet, or Tanghut. But these were united in 1268.
In 1625 a Chinese inscription was discovered at Singan Fu, in
one of the western provinces, which had been erected by
Nestorians in 781 (some say 782), giving an account of the
Christian religion, and a list of ecclesiastics who had labored in

China. The missionary eiForts of the Nestorians in China

seem to have ceased about the time of the expulsion of the
Moguls, in 1369 ; and after that time they gradually declined.
It has generally been supposed that all traces of their labors

have been obliterated in China ; but a missionary in Ningpo,

which is on the coast, a little south of east from Singan Fu,
writes that " a respectable stranger from one of the western
provinces came to our chapel, and listened with much attention.
After service, he said that he and his ancestors worshipped only
one God, the Creator. He knew of Closes and Jesus and Mary;
said he was not a Romanist nor a Mohammedan, neither had he
seen our books, but that the doctrine was handed down from
his ancestors for many generations. He said that in his native

place thirty families are of the same religion, who had books,

but did not circulate them." Is not this one of the descendants

5
52 DK . GRANT AND THE

of the Nestorians ? a living witness to their missionary labors i

Who knows but some evangelist from a regenerated church in

Persia and Kurdistan shall, in the province of that stranger,

revisit and build up on a still more permanent foundation the

waste places of many generations ?

Timotheus, patriarch from 778 to 820, sent Subchaljesus, a

monk of Beth Abe, who knew Turkish, Arabic and Persian, to

the countries beyond the Caspian, lie baptized, built churches

and ordained priests ; then leaving them to instruct the new

converts in psalmody, he penetrated Eastern Tartary, and on
his return to the patriarch was slain by the barbarians. Noth-
ing daunted, Timotheus at once ordained two others from the
same convent, and sent them to fill the vacant post. They took
fifteen of their companions with them, and it may illustrate the

Christianity of the time to relate that, when some of these fifteen

were needed as bishops, the patriarch directed that, as three

bishops were needed to ordain one to the same office, and they
were only-tw^o, they should place a copy of the gospels on a
chair at their right hand for the third, and thus, having ordained
the first of their companions, by his aid they might ordain the
others as usual.
It may seem strange that, while even a scoifer admits that
" their zeal overleaped the limits which had confined the ambi-

tion and curiosity of the Greeks and Romans, pursued without

fear the footsteps of the roving Tartar, and insinuated them-

selves into the camps of the valleys of Imaus and the banks
of the Seiinga," there should be so few permanent results of
their zeal. But our wonder will cease w^hen we read of another
missionary asking the patriarch how to observe the forty days'
fast from animal food, since the Tartars subsisted entirely on
flesh and the products of the dairy, and had neither bread nor
vegetables ; and the grave reply that they need abstain only
from meat, and that, whereas they had heretofore used their
milk sour, they should now drink it sweet, as a token of their
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 5o

conversion. Khorassan, too, is said to have become Christian,

because the idolaters, finding they could neither break nor burn
the shrine (arcam) of Mar Elias, concluded to worship before it.

Abulfaraj tells of a king of the Tartars about 1000 a. d.

(Unkhkhan, or the celebrated Prester John), who becan-o a

Christian because, when lost in a snow-storm, a saint appeared
to him in a vision and led him safely home, on his promise to
do so. The same author gives a curious description of the con-
verts, when he says that in 104G they broke through Mount
Imaus, between Thibet and Khotan, under seven leaders, each
with seventy thousand horsemen, most excellent archers, simple
and abstemious in diet, but swarthy as Indians, unwashed, their
hair uncut and stiffened with grease till it served them for a
helmet, and their horses feeding on flesh ; a very difl'erent pic-
ture from either converted Hottentots in Caffraria, or Chris-
tianized cannibals in New Zealand.
Whether the evanescent nature of such conversions argues
that the work which our missionaries build upon Jesus Christ,
'the true foundation, will not abide, the reader may decide for
himself. Neander does not speak very highly of these converts.
He thinks the missionaries were as easily contented with an
external performance of certain ceremonies as the Tartars were
ready to perform them ; and speaks of a Khan Mangu, who, on
festivals, used to have Nestorian priests in their robes offer up
prayers for him, and pronounce a blessing over his cups ; then
had Mohammedan priests, and, last of all, Pagans, do the same.
But his authorities are papal missionaries, and their testimony

must be received as that of rivals. May we not hope for some

testimony yet to be advanced from Nestorian records ?

While this activity, whatever it was, prevailed abroad, the

church experienced many vicissitudes at home. At Seleucia,

it was sometimes in favor, but as often persecuted by the Persian

emperors ; and when they were overthrown in 762, the patriarch

removed to Bagdad, the new capital of their Arab conquerors.

54 DR.GRANTANDTIIE

There they enjoyed unusual prosperity they were much in favor

;

at the court of the Caliphs, and employed by some of them to

make translations of Aristotle, and other celebrated Greek

writers, into the. Arabic. This favorable state of things lasted
till 1258, when the city was sacked by the Tartars ; and it is

worthy of notice that this period that is, from 762 to 1258
was that of the greatest missionary activity of the Nestorian
church. The Tartars at first favored them, but v.'hen they
embraced Mohammedanism became their bitter persecutors, and,

towards the close of the fourteenth century, the Nestorians were

almost exterminated, in many regions, by the merciless Tamer-
lane (Timur). It will give some idea of his ferocity to state that

in 1380 he built up two thousand men alive with mortar, in the

form of a tower, who thus miserably perished. Seven years later,

he piled up seventy thousand human heads in the public squares

of Ispahan, and in 1401 ninety thousand in the city of Bagdad.
Three years previous, he massacred one hundred thousand pris-

oners in his invasion of India ; and in 1400 he buried alive four

thousand Armenian horsemen, whom he had taken prisoners at

Sivas. Such was the man whose fury seems to have put an
end to the missionary activity of the Nestorians, while from
many countries it blotted out their very name.

After 1258, the patriarchate was removed hither and thither,

till in 1560 it became fixed again in Mosul, and was at the
celebrated convent of Rabban Hormuz when Assemani wrote,
in 1725.

In 1551, at the death of the patriarch, as only one metropol-

itan remained out of the twenty-five who had ruled from China
to Egypt, and from Northern Tartary to the island of Socotra,
and three at least were needed to perform the ceremony of con-
secration, the new patriarch was sent to be ordained at Kome.
That the relations this involved were not very intimate, is evi-

dent from his successor, Elias, being refused communion with

Rome in 1586, and the Elias who filled the patriarchal chair
 MOUNTAIN NESTORI A NS. 55

1629 59, in turn, refusing communion with her. Shimon,

Archbishop of Jelu, Sert, and Sahiias, refused obedience to Elias
in 1575, and was elected patriarch of the Nestor ians of Kur-
distan ; and his successors ever since have borne the same name,
while those who inherited the name of Elias with his office
retained authority over Mesopotamia. Thus there were two
branches of tlie Nestorian church, one in faith, though under
distinct patriarchs, and still another was consecrated patriarch
of the Chaldeans (Nestorians who have seceded toRome) by
the Pope in 1681, under the title of Mar Yoosuf, who resided
at Diarbekir till about 1780, when the submission of Mar Elias
to Rome obviated the necessity of this separate organization.
This secession was secured partly by bribes and partly by vio-
lence, and was followed by still severer oppression of the pros-
elyted patriarch. At his death, in 1841, his office, instead of

descending to his nephew, according to previous custom, was

conferred on a Chaldean from Salmas, and the very name of
Mar Elias exchanged for that of Mar Nicolas, by a decree from
the Pope. Nor is this interference with the patriarchate the
only wrong Rome has inflicted on a sister church. She has
altered her ancient liturgy, introduced her own idolatrous wor-
ship of images, suppressed the second commandment, and, as a
matter of course, forbids the circulation of the Scriptures, that
would expose the mutilation. The people are restive under her
yoke, and the day of retribution may be near at hand. The
nephew of the patriarch thus superseded has changed from the

Chaldeans to the Nestorians, and vice versa, hoping to recover

the patriarchate ; but, instead of that, he now lives in obscure
poverty in the very village where the intrigues and violence of
Rome have placed another in his rightful inheritance.
It is difficult to give an accurate statement of the doctrines
of the Nestorians. For, as a church, they have no regular con-
fession of faith, and their treatises on Christian doctrine ex-
press the viewf:- of individuals, rather than the belief of the
5*
56 r>ll. GRANT AND THE

whole body. Ndf is a missionary biography the place for such

a dissertation The subject is discussed at length by Dr. Per-
kins, in the Ancient Christianity Exemplified of Rev. L. Cole-

man, pp. 564 580 and still more extensively in the second
;

volume of The Nestorians and their Rituals, by Rev. G. P.

Badger, where the original authorities are translated and ar-
ranged according to the thirty-nine articles of the Church of

England. That " expose " shows much chaff as well as wheat,
and exhibits a strong tendency in the Nestorian fathers to the
exaltation of the priesthood and external forms, at the expense
of spiritual truth.
But the " mystery of iniquity " was at work even while the
apostles lived, and the gospel had lost much of its purity before

the Nestorian church came into existence. Yet she was an early
and efficient patron of education. The school at Edessa was
founded by Mar Ephraim, about the middle of the fourth cen-
tury. That at Dorkena, in 385. The school at Nisibis, founded

490, had a three years' course of biblical and theological studies,

besides mathematics, medicine, grammar, belles-lettres, music,

astronomy, &c. &c.
Neander says, "The Nestorian seminaries for the clergy, at

the beginning, were particularly distinguished." So much so,

that even in Northern Africa, Bishop Junilius, about the middle

of the sixth century, describes the school at Nisibis as one
''where the Scriptures were expounded by teachers publicly
appointed, in the same manner as grammar and rhetoric among
the Romans." Afterwards schools were established at Bagdad,
Mahuza, Beth Abe, Tirhana, Maragha, and other places, besides
one as far off as Khorassan.
Such a course of education was fitted to give great promi-
nence to Scripture doctrines; and Mosheim tells us that the
Nestorian commentators of the sixth century were the best
of the age, as they alone sought for the true meaming of the
inspired words. Compared with the other churches of the East,
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 57

she is well worthy of having her sons called "the Protestants

of the East ;" but truth compels us to admit that it is only com-
paratively. Their prompt reference of all points in debate to
the Scriptures, and readiness to abide by their decision, renders
the Nestorian church an exceedingly interesting field of mis-
sionary labor.
It has been well said by another that " her missionary activ-

ity is both the cause and effect of her comparative purity." The
peculiar doctrines of Nestorius himself have been so often stated
in works on the Nestorians, that we will here omit the repetition,
especially as there will be no occasion to refer to them, in the
course of the narrative."^
Dr. Grant pored with eager interest over the history of this

ancient church. The story of her martyrs under Sapor, and

the more ferocious Tamerlane, drew his heart closer to the rem-

nant that remained. The memory of her schools led him to

form bright hopes of the future of a church so distinguished in

the past. But, most of all, the missionary heroism of those who
went out from these schools through the length and breadth of
Asia thrilled a heart so sympathetic with their own. He loved
the Nestorians. He toiled for the revival of apostolic piety in

that primitive church ; not merely for its own salvation, but as

the regenerator of the millions round about it. He gave him-

self to his work, with his eye ever fixed on the time when thoso

for whom he labored would go forth in the footsteps of their

fathers, to rekindle the fire on the ancient altars, and restore

the former desolations on a more permanent foundation. It

was pressing toward this goal that he endured hardness like a

o'ood soldier, and boldly advanced, even in the fiice of death

itself.

* For a detailed account of the controversy between him and Cyril,

see Neander's Church History, ii. 446495, which giyes a very favor-
able view of the piety and orthodoxy of Nestorius, and a picture of
his

opponent by no means tp his credit.

58 D 11 . G 11 AN T AND THE NE S T R I AN S .

In a memoir of ])r. Grant, it will be expected that some

notice be taken of his belief that in the Nestorians he had

found the lost tribes of Israel. This to him was a settled truth.

His confidence in it never wavered till the last. He had col-

lected what he deemed strong confirmations of the positions

taken in his work on " The Lost Tribes," and, had he lived,
would have one day given them to the world. Part of these
consisted in written documents from the Jews in Kurdistan,

showing that their language was identical in origin with that of

the Nestorians. He had also collated historical evidence to

show that Assyria and Babylon were not only distinct, but so

at enmity with each other, till after the return of the two
tribes from the latter kingdom, that that event could not influ-

ence tlie ten tribes, so much longer settled in the other.

Though others may not share his zeal in this matter, none
can deny that it imparted a tone of uncommon energy to his

missionary life. He felt that his labors were connected with the

fulfilment of some of the most precious promises of God to his

church. That glorious future was to him a present reality;
so that, where others saw only discouragement, his eye glanced
forward to the brightness beyond. It seemed a special pro-
vision of Providence to sustain him in his many trials, leading

him to look less to man and more to God. It made even heavy
afflictions to work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory, while he looked not at the things that are seen, but
on the unseen and eternal. His exposition of the two witnesses,
p. 322 4 of "Lost Tribes," was often referred to, both in letters

and conversation, as affording him strong support under the

distressino- calamities of the Mountain Nestorians.

 CHAPTER V

ARB IVAL IN OROOMIAH MISSIONARY PHYSICIANS

CHOLERA LABORS
AND LETTERS OF DR. GRANT LOOTEE LABORS OF MRS. GRANT.

The province of Orooiiiiali lies in the north-western part of

Persia. The lofty mountains of Kurdistan look down on it from

the west. On the east the beautiful lake of the same name
extends, about eighty miles in length and thirty in width. It is

four thousand one hundred feet above the level of the sea, and
so salt that fish cannot live in its waters, though numerous
water-fowl among which the beautiful flamingo is most con-
spicuous enliven its shores. A highly fertile plain gently
slopes from the mountains to the lake, comprising an area of
about five hundred square miles, and dotted with not less

than three hundred villages. These vary in population i'rom

one hundred to one thousand inhabitants. The whole region,

from Khoy on the north as far south as Sulduz, is a perfect

garden.
o Several rivers from the mountains are almost drained
to irrigate the fields on either side. The roads in every direc-

tion are shaded by trees, often extending the most delicious

fruit within reach of the traveller. The landscape is one of the

loveliest in the east, willow, poplar and sycamore trees line
the water-courses. Peach, apricot, pear, plum, cherry, quince
and apple trees, impart to some portions the appearance of a
forest, while the vineyards, and luxuriant fields and gardens of
the plain, form a striking contrast to the naked aspect of the
mountains. On these not a solitary tree is to be seen. Among
them, however, are two hundred villages belonging to the prov-
60 DK . G RANT AND T II E

ince, half hidden in lovely valleys, or perched high on steep hill-

sides. One of these last is now the summer residence of the

mission, at an elevation of fourteen hundred feet above the

lake, while the mountains of Kurdistan rise behind to the height

of twelve thousand feet, some of them crowned with snow

throughout the year.
Near the centre of the plain, and about four hundred feet
above the lake, stands the city of Oroomiah. It dates from a
distant antiquity, and claims to be the birth-place of Zoroaster.
Not far to the east of the city, an artificial mound, about seventy
feet high, marks the site of the temple where he fed the safcred
lires. It is a walled city, of nearly four miles in circumference,
and contains about twenty thousand inhabitants. Of these,

six hundred are Nestorians, two thousand Jews, and the rest
Mohammedans. The flat-roofed houses are mostly built of
mud or sun-burnt bricks, and are enclosed w^ith high walls of
the same material. Often the house itself forms one side of the
enclosure. The more wealthy have beautiful gardens attached
to their dwellings, where the family can enjoy themselves, secure
from all intrusion.

Here, and in the villages of the plain, twenty thousand Nes-

torians furnish a most inviting field of missionary labor. The
same causes that led their ancestors to favor Persia, rather than

Rome, now render them peculiarly jealous of the Pope. Just as

the tragic story of Hassan and Ilossein feeds the hatred of the
Persian Shiite against the Soonees of Turkey, so have the
wrongs of the banished patriarch of Constantinople, and his

death among the sands of Libya, fed the hatred of the Nesto-
rians against both the eastern and western church. This has

tended to keep them comparatively uncontaminated by the cor-

ruptions of While that church forbids the circulation
Rome.
of the Scriptures among the people, they appeal to them as the
standard of faith, and desire their diffusion among all classes in

a language they can understand. Their forms are simple, and

 MOUNTAIN N E S T R J AN S . 61

more scriptural than those of other Eastern churches. They abhor

image-worship, auricuhir confession, and the doctrine of Purga-
tory. And yet, as a church, they had sunk into the grossest
ignorance. None but their clergy could read or write. Female
education was unknown, and the observance of fasts and feasts
usurped the place of holiness in heart and life. Still, some, con-
scious of their degradation, seemed to seek for better things ; and
all hailed the arrival of men who brought with them the Bible,
and promised to revive the glory of their ancient schools.

With such encouragements in the people themselves, their

location was no less promising. Out of the usual routes of com-
merce, it was also out of the way of those European vices that
contaminate even the heathen. For the wickedness of some,
away from the restraints of Christian lands, as far excels the
wickedness around them, as their intelligence and energy
exceeds that of the degraded people among whom they dwell.
Where such men occupy positions of influence, they over-
shadow the missionary, and counteract his labors. His piety
does not relieve Christianity of a tithe of the reproach cast
upon it by their vices.

But in Oroomiah, as the missionary was first on the ground,

men got their idea of Christianity from his character ; and this

influence for good was as unchecked as it was extensive, for nei-

ther vicious example nor direct opposition was there to interfere.
The whole weight of European superiority in art and science
was thrown into the scale of morality and religion, and made
subservient to the glory of Christ.
Such was the field Dr. Grant now entered, and his esteemed
predecessor still lives to reap the harvest they sowed together.
That they were happy may be inferred from a letter
in each other

of the latter to Dr Anderson, November 4, 1835, in which he

says, " Permit me to say that, from my short acquaintance with
Dr. Grant, I have great confidence that your choice has been
remarkably successful." And agan\, October 27, 1836, he says to
62 DR . G RANT A ND T UE

a missionary friend, " Having lived in the same yard with Dr.
and Mrs. Grant now for nearly a year, I venture to affirm that

four hearts were never more happily united in missionary plans,

cares and labors, than ours." While Dr. Grant writes to Dr.
Anderson, November 10, 1835, " Permit me to express my
gratitude to God and to the Board, for placing me with such an
invaluable associate as I trust I have found in Mr. Perkins."
Dr. Grant left Tabriz again on the very date of this letter, to

get the houses in readiness for the mission families. But so

very slow were the movements of the carpenters, that Mr. Per-
kins and the ladies, who left six days later, found things quite
unprepared for their reception. The date of their arrival in

their new home was one long to be remembered. After riding

all day in a driving storm of rain, they were introduced into an
open room, and sat down with the carpenters among the shav-
ings. It was late in November, and very cold. Then, as Dr.
Grant had not expected them in the storm, and their loads were
left behind, they had neither bedding, provisions, nor a change of
clothing. A large fire, however, was soon blazing; bread and
kebabs (small morsels of meat roasted on skewers) were pro-
cured from the market. A long ride had sharpened their appe-
tite, and after a vigorous attack on the huge loaves, or rather

leaves ( they were more than two and a half feet long, by one
in breadth), with their savory contents, they slept sweetly on
the piles of shavings, covered with the cloaks they had dried by
the fire. Still, even thus, there was no place like home ; and,

with grateful hearts, they long observed the 20th of November

as their Pilgrim's day. They were obliged to occupy their
houses at once, just as they found them ; and while the grains
of barley sprouted in the mud-plaster of Mr. Perkins' chamber,
partially heated by a stove in an adjoining room, the frost stif-

fened the bed-clothes of Dr. Grant, whose room was not thus
warmed. Such exposure doubtless prepared the way for the
sickness that followed. But, as the rainy season had set in, to
 !

M UNTA I N NE S T R I AN S . 03

have delayed longer might have been to fare worse and to have ;

spent the winter at Tabriz might have hazarded the prosperity,

if not the very existence, of the mission.

Mrs. Grant thus describes her arrival, in a letter to Mr. Mer-

rick, dated December 3 :

u ^ # :.X= # # I am now quite well, and very, very hajjpy. I

feel that I have at length reached my home, and that my wan-

derings, for a time at least, are over. 0, 't is so sweet to sit

by one's own fireside, with those we love about us ; but sweeter

still to surround our own domestic altar, and unite in prayer
and praise to our heavenly Benefactor
" I have wished a hundred times, dear brother, that you were
a sharer in our joys. I cannot describe my emotions when first

saluted by our Nestorian friends. The bishop came galloping

out to meet us, his whole countenance glowing with delight.
'
How do you do ? I 'm very glad to see you,' were his first

words. To be addressed, on my entrance to my missionary

field, in my own language, was indeed afiecting. AVe were met

by many of the villagers, with the fiither of the bishop at their

head, and received from them a most cordial welcome. His

mother and family also greeted us very aff"ectionately, so that

we felt as if we were among near friends, if not relations.

" I was much afi"ected to hear the brother of the bishop, a boy

of fourteen, read in the English Testament as well as most boys

of hisown age at home. I could only sit and weep, inwardly
thanking God for all that mine eyes saw and ears heard." ^ =^ ^

They were hardly settled before the governor sent to

welcome them, and as soon as possible came in person. The

Nestorians sent in many presents, and in every way testified

delight at their coming. Mar Yohanna gave his younger

brother to Dr. Grant, to study English and medicine, even be-
fore he reached the city; and himself was an inmate of his

family, till the pressure of 1837 compelled the mission to dis-

()4 D II . G RA N T AND T 11 E

miss liiiii iTom their service. Dr. Grant was at once go thronged
with patients that he could scarcely find time to attend to
anything else. As soon as possible, he opened a regular dis-
pensary. The nobility and clergy, as well as those too sick to

come, were visited at their houses. The rest thronged the

dispensary in crowds at the stated hours. It was interesting to

see Moslems and Nestorians coming together to receive kind-

ness from the stranger, who ministered to all for Jesus' sake.

The aged were helped forv/ard by their children. Little ones

were brought by their anxious mothers. Some, hardly able to
w^alk, were supported by their friends ; and others, led by the
hand, utterly blind, from ophthalmia. The languid face of the

sick turned sadly on the physician, while each word and look
Avas made a basis for hope, or a confirmation of their anxious
fears.

Says Dr. Grant, in a letter to Dr. Anderson :

" As I have

witnessed the relief of hitherto hopeless suffering, and seen

their grateful attempts to kiss my feet, and my very shoes at

the door, both of which they would literally bathe with tears,
especially as the haughty Moollah has stooped to kiss the

border of the garment of the despised Christian, some thanking

God that I would not refuse medicine to a Moslem, and others
saying that in every prayer they thanked God for my coming,
I have hoped that, even before I could teach our religion, I was
domg something to recommend it, and wished that more of my
professional brethren might share this luxury of doing good."
But, with all this, there was much to try the patience.

Children, with fevers, or summer-complaints, came eating

unripe fruit, and their parents would often go away with-

out medicine, rather than take it from them. Others, after

listening to the most specific directions, still asked a thou-

sand questions. Must the milk allowed for diet be that of a
goat, sheep, buffalo, ass or cow ; and, if the latter, what must be
her color ? for, according to them, that of a white cow is cold,
 .

MOUNTAIN NE S T R I AN S 65

and of a red one hot. For a similar reason, they inquire what
must be the sex of the chicken used to make the broth pre-
scribed ;
one article is dry, and another moist; this makes
blood, and that bile; one vein in the arm takes blood from
the head, another from the liver, and so on. And, if too ignor-

ant to ask all these learned questions, the patient not unfre-
quently asks whether he is to swallow paper and medicine too,

if this is not done at once, without inquiry. Then the

directions must be repeated over and over, the sick man

must know the name of his disease ; men of rank must have

the pulse felt in both wrists, and then be told every ache
and pain they have, without further questioning. Or, if free
from both, they must be told what medicine to take to remain
so. These are a few of the annoyances, occurring perhaps
fifty times a day. And, after all his labor, the efforts of the

physician are often rendered vain, by the patient's going ex-

actly contrary to a plain direction as to medicine or food.

Even in the most alarming diseases, the physician cannot

prevail on them to touch a spoonful of chicken-broth during a
fast. If he remonstrates, they reply that they will sooner die
than yield. Dr. Grant's practice among the Irish of Utica
must have been a good introduction to what lay before him in

Persia and Kiirdistan.

But sometimes he got more credit than he deserved. He once
applied a blister behind the ear of a Persian noble, for a local
pain, caused by exposure in coming out of a bath in winter. It

drew finely and cured the patient, and the doctor had the
credit of perceiving that all that water had run into his ear in

the bath and frozen there, and then such a wonderfully jiot
medicine as he had to thaw it out ! While such incidents pro-
cured him a great name among the people, the real benefits he

conferred procured more of real reputation. Especially did

the sight restored to many by the removal of cataract give him

an immense influence to employ for Christ. Patients came as
66 D R . G R A N T A N D T II E

many as five days' journey ; Nestorians from the mountains,

Kurdish chiefs even from Amadia beyond, and some from
the distant borders of Georgia. Among the thousands who
thronged him were many of the highest rank and influence,
the governor of the province, two princes of the royal family,
and many of the Persian nobility.

And yet all was done so prudently that, though his services
were entirely gratuitous, he gave no offence to the native phy-

sicians. There was no show to attract customers, and he was

ready to aid the native practitioners with both medicine and
instruction.

He felt that a missionary -physician should seek to win their

friendship, and prepare them for usefulness. It is vain to

hope to supply the heathen with enlightened physicians. But

he thought that, in a spirit of love, much might be done towards
relieving the great mass of suffering he could not possibly
attend to in person, by elevating those they had ; and on this

principle he always acted. A petty professional jealousy formed

no part of the character of Dr. Grant.
He declined attendance on their wealthy patients, unless for
gome special reason ; and in Mosul, at least, if there was no
gpecial intimacy, he consented to visit them only as a consulting
physician. There, too, he required all who came to bring a
teskereh (certificate) from the Priest, Moollah, or Rabbi, as
their sect might be, testifying that they were proper objects of
charity, before he would prescribe. This relieved him from
the annoyance of many trivial ailments, and at the same time
enabled the clergy to show kindness to the poor at little cost.

AVhile he thus shared with them the credit of the cure, he

also effectually prevented their persecuting such of their people

as vrere inquiring for the truth.

A Jacobite bishop once anathematized all who came to the

xVmericans for medical aid ; but he soon found he was reckoning

without his host. The people would not be kept away, and the
 ;

MOUNTAIN NE S T K I AN S . 67

clergy who came thenisclves could not reFasc ieslccrcls to those

who really needed thciu.

These things show the importance of a pious physician in the

earlier stages of a mission. Our Saviour knew v^hat would give

his ministers access to men ; and while he himself went about
healing all manner of disease, he gave power to his disciples to do
the same, and sent them to heal the sick as well as preach the

gospel. We know how Paul employed this gift of healing to

open a way for the truth ; and the cure of a lame man in the

temple, by Peter and John, laid the foundation for a sermon

second in its results only to that delivered on Pentecost. Those
miraculous gifts have passed away, but the human heart will

never cease to be susceptible to such kindness. A heathen may

be deaf to the most moving discourses of Christ and heaven
but, let the missionary relieve his bodily suffering, and then tell

him he does it for Jesus' sake, and speak of what led him to

love that Saviour, and what Christ is able to do for all, and he
secures a hearing few others could obtain. It is diihcult for a

missionary, as such, to gain access to a people. The Moslem

still hates Christianity. Heathen are suspicious of a stranger.
The nominal Christians of the East are full of prejudice, and
emissaries are not wanting to excite that prejudice, or even

create it where it is wanting. Fi^om such causes the mere mis-

sionary may- remain for years isolated and shunned, if not de-
spised, and all opportunity of doing the good he yearns to do be
utterly denied him. But the missionary physician is sought by
all. The hovel and the [>alace open alike at his approach.
Even the harem, where a brother may not intrude, is not too
sacred for "the infidel," when he enters as an angel of mercy to

the sick and dying. Thns he reaches the heart when most sus-

ceptible to the truth, and, introducing his brethren, enlarges

their sphere of ut-efulness as well as his own.

We have seen the usefulness of Dr. Grant in Constantinople,

but it was not confined to the capital. At Trebizond lie found

6*
68 r n . n i; a n t and the

prejudice against Franks so strong that even tlic propei ty of the

English consul had been destroyed, and one of the niis^^ionaries

could scarcely obtain a house to live in; and yet, could he have
remained, he would have been welcomed everywhere. So evi-

dent was tills, that the missionary would have detained him, had
he not been needed so much at Oroomiah. When Dr. A. Smith
attended an Italian padre at Mosul, one of the people was
verheard saying to another, "The Catholics were very angry

)ecause the Americans came here to do good among us, but

now the padre himself is glad of their services, and the Ameri-
can physician does him all the good he can."
The iniiuence of a pious physician is much more important
at the outset of a mission than afterwards. When the missionary

comes to be better known, this aid is less necessary, though

even then it is not useless. A missionary in Oroomiah, writing

in 1838, after saying that "much has been done, as in former
years, in medical practice, and with the like happy eifect of con-
ciliating the confidence of all classes," immediately adds, " while
our brethren of many other missions have encountered storms
of opposition, nothing of the kind has ever yet been organized
against us."
Other things, it is true, are to be taken into account in both
cases ; and yet it is not to be overlooked that Oroomiah and
Aintab, the only two stations in western Asia where a physician
laid the foundation, furnish the most marked examples of suc-
cess. In these two places the work advanced more rapidly,

spread more exteiisively, and met with fewer obstacles, than any-

where else in the region round about. Saj^s Dr. Lobdell, of the

work at Aintab, as late as April, 1852, " If the missionary

should refuse to prescri1)e for the sick, while the people have so
nmch more confidence in him than in the native physicians (and

that missionary was not a regular physician), I do not think it

would be lono- before there would be a decline of interest in the

p;reat matter of salvation." T^: fact that an Armenian, not a
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 69

Protestmt, offered Dr. L. one thousand piastres if he would stay

and lab:r there, instead of passing on to Mosul, shows how the
matter is viewed by men who have no interest in the truth.

No one, acquainted with the tedious years of hope deferred,

at Smyrna and Constantinople, Broosa and Erzroom, but must
be struck with the contrast between them and the two sta-

tions referred to. Still, in Syria there are physicians, and not
the same progress ;
perhaps because they were not there at first,

to give character to the mission, and, though afterwards useful,

they could not regain the ground that had been lost.

Mosul, as we shall see, had to contend with other difficulties ;

but the advantage of having Dr. Grant there at the outset, even
after so long an interval, is still felt by his successors.

We have seen the physician who prescribed for the Governor

of Tabriz selected as likely to meet a more flivorable reception at
Oroomiah than a clergyman. The event proved the wisdom of the
selection. Whatever advantage that mission has derived from its

excellent location and the general favor of all classes, from the
very first, is to be attributed, in no small degree, to the medical
services of Dr. Grant. The sympathy of the Nestorians with
us, as common opponents of papal errors, needed much tender
nursing before it could ripen into sympathy with us as the ad-

vocates of a spiritual religion. Ignorance and jealousy, selfish-

ness and the intrigues of those eager to sow the seeds of sus-
picion, might have clouded the fair dawn of the enterprise, had

not the good will secured by such a physician preserved their

confidence till it was confirmed by a spiritual appreciation of

better things. That the good will of the Moslems was secured
at first m.ainly by Dr. Grant, is testified, with generous candor,

by his excellent colleague, when he says, of the remark of a

Persian noble, on their first arrival, " Your coming here is like
the rising of the sun upon the world," " The khan, doubtless,
alluded to the prospect of temporal benefit from Dr. Grant's
practice in medicine, and my giving secular instruction." An-
70 DR . G R A N T A X D T II E

other of the missionaries says that, on account of. his medical

practice, Dr. Grant had had more than twenty times as much
intercourse with the Mohammedans as the missionary sent out

expressly for them. Not that the physician deserves more

credit than the ordained missionary, or that we ought to fix the

amount of credit due to different individuals ; but these things

are mentioned that the usefulness of missionary physicians may
be appreciated, and that we may see the trials of Dr. Grant, in

leaving his children, were not endured for naught.

But the missionary physician is also useftil in prolonging the

lives of his associates ; and, if ever there was a station where a

physician was needed for that purpose, that station is Oroomiah.

Situated far in the interior, out of the reach of other educated
physicians, it is also peculiarly unhealthy. The great heat
of summer, joined to the abundant irrigation of the plain, and
the decaying vegetable matter that must abound in a region of
so great fcrtilit}', produces a malaria exceedingly fruitful in
disease ; and, therefore, no small part of the usefulness of Dr.
Grant consisted in ministering to his associates in their frequent

sickness. That these views of his usefulness as a physician

are not exaggerated, may be seen from the following extract of
a letter from the mission, 19th January, 1839, applying for
another physician to take his place. Having given an account
of the failure of his health, they proceed to say :
" We are now
reluctantly constrained, by the exigency of the case, to request

you to secure another physician for this mission, to take the

place of Dr. Grant. We are aware that it is difficult to obtain

men with all the important qualifications for such a work jet ;

we are fully persuaded that the usefulness of a missionary-

physician in this field will make it an object with the Board to
procure one, at the expense of almost any effort. Whether we
regard the impression made on the Moslems by Dr. Grant's
medical practice, or the almost constant sickness in our ov.'n

families, we find the strongest reasons to sustain this opinion.

 :

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 71

The good-will, not only of the Nestorians, but of all classes, has

evidently been conciliated by his gratuitous practice, and that

without exciting the jealousy even of the native physicians. The
prospect of a war between Persia and England, so far from
exciting hostility against us, has led to the expression of the
most friendly feelings toward all of us, and Dr. Grant in par-
ticular ; and numbers have expressed a strong desire that we
would not leave the country with the officers of the English
embassy. We have reason to believe that this feeling is, under
Grod, to be attributed, in a great measure, to the medical prac-

tice of Dr. Grant. ^Ye need not remind you that the continu-
ance of such feelings is important to the permanent existence of
our mission.
" As respects the importance of a physician to our own fam-
ilies, we do not speak unadvisedly when Ave say that, on an aver-
age, half our number have been sick for one-half of the time; and,

with the exception of Mr. Ilolladay, all have been seriously sick
during that period ; and, though some of us have, from time to
time, been raised almost from the brink of the grave, yet our
health is being gradually undermined by such frequent sickness
We have reason to believe that much depends, in these attacks,

on the unmediate attention of a physician, and a judicious use

first symptoms of disease.
of medicine on the
"In we cannot forbear to suggest that it may be
conclusion,
missionary economy to provide for the health of your mission-
aries ; for, if they sink under the influence of the climate just as
they are prepared to be useful [one such had just died], this
involves a heiivy expense to recruit our ranks, and our lalors,
at the same time, must be less effective."

The following extracts from a letter of Dr. Perkins to the

writer, dated June 15, 1852, need no comment. Speaking of
the early history of the mission, he says
" No European had resided in this remote Persian town, and
the rude and bloody character of its Mussulman inhabitants, of
72 D 11 . GRAN T AND T HE

the formidable Afishar tribe, at that time was so notorious that

our English friends at Tabriz deemed our enterprise extremely
hazardous. Dr. Grant was the man for the place and the
period. His personal intrepidity, and his commanding form and
mien, things which so strongly impress orientals, especially

in connection with his skilful practice as a physician, soon won

the respect and confidence of all classes, and contributed very
materially to our security during the first years of our residence
here, and to the permanent success of our mission, more,
doubtless, than any other earthly means or influence. It was
not only as bestowed on the natives that his medical services
were very important to our mission. During the first years of
our residence here, we ourselves experienced a great amount
of sickness, partly from the common process of acclimation, and
partly from confinement in a hot city during the entire summer.
Under God, he restored me from the very brink of the grave,
when carried thither by a violent and distressing fever, sixteen
years ago. For several days I was entirely unconscious, so that,

for a time, he despaired of my recovery; but our heavenly

Father smiled upon his ceaseless efforts, and raised me up again
to life. The little I have been enabled to accomplish during
these sixteen years, indeed, that I have been an inhabitant of
3arth, I owe, instrumentally, to the skill and assiduity of Dr.
Grant. Nor am I the only one of our circle deeply indebted
to him as a physician."
It may not be too much to say, then, that, but for the services

of Dr. Grant, the history of the mission to the Nestorians might

have been easily written, ending in the sad record of the death
of the pioneers, far from the reach of all medical assistance.
Though Dr. Grant left America in excellent health, with a

good constitution, and inured to hardship and fatigue, yet in

July he was prostrated with intermittent fever ; and, before he

fairly recovered, the labor and care of attendance on other

members of the mission, dangerously ill, with other causes,
 :

MOUNTAIN NK S T RIAN S . ^6

induced a severe attack of the cliolera, that bronglit him to the

very gates of death. lie had all the appalling symptoms of a

state of collapse in that fatal disease ; and, though he was able

to direct to the use of remedies blessed to his restoration, his

system never fully recovered from the blow. Ever after, his

stomach rejected, more or less frequently, every variety of food.

Severe neuralgic pains and cramps, the recurrence of intermit-
tent fever, and other effects of the miasma of the plain, were the
occasion of almost constant suffering. His own account of their
situation that summer, is contained in the following extract of a
letter to his mother, dated October 11, 1836

" My Dearest Mother : # # # # The Lord has been visit-

ing us with sickness for some months past.' I have had two or
three attacks of fever, and my eyes have been so inflamed as to
require me to bleed and blister freely. Mrs. Perkins and the
dear children have also suffered from ophthalmia. Mr. Perkins
and the ladies have each had tv/o or three returns of fever. He
was so low as to be insensible for several days. At the same
time, his little son was so sick with croup that, several times, we
thought he was breathing his last. Providentially, I was able,

with much effort, to attend on them; but, on the 16th ult., I

was brought to the borders of eternity by a violent attack of
cholera. ^ ^ ^ =5^
The Lord, in great mercy, has raised us all

up again. Let us sing of his loving kindness all the days of our
life ! Do not think these trials made me doubt whether I was in
the path of duty. No, dear mother. While expecting each hour
to be my last, I could have testified to the world the excellence
of the missionary work. May my dear sons be prepared to more
than their father's place,
fill and may we all have grace to labor
"
faithfully while we may !

To his brother he adds, at a later date :

" In such circum-

stances, for how much of this world do you think I would have
74 D 11 . G RAN T AND TH E

exchanged my hope in Christ ? 0, how all its wealth and hon-

ors sink into insignificance ! But the riches of grace, through

the blood of the Lamb, how rich ! how free ! All I had ever
done or suffered for Christ vanished into nothing, as I thought of
what he had done to purchase such peace of mind as I then
enjoyed, though racked with excruciating pain."
This sickness brought out in prominent relief the excellent
qualities of his character. Mr. Perkins had just gone to
Tabriz. The whole care of the mission devolved on him ; and
only women and children were about him, needing his services,
rather than able to assist. Yet, though spasms pervaded his
whole system, though his features were sunken, his breath
cadaverous, his extremities quite cold and shrivelled, and his
voice so hollow as with difficulty to be understood, he calmly
observed every symptom, and prescribed accordingly, at the
same time continuing his superintendence of the affairs of the

mission ; and though, while recovering from this, fever and ague
set in, yet, four days after the attack, he was able to entertain
one of the royal princes of Persia, MalekKassim Merza,
not only at his table, but with an examination of the school that,
as it was vacation time, he had summoned together for the pur-

pose. The prince was highly delighted, and expressed his

unqualified commendation of the school, urging the scholars to
learn the language and literature of the English, as well as their
own. That this was no trifling honor will appear from the fact
that a Persian prince never condescends to enter the house of
one of his own subjects, whatever his rank ; and even the Gov-
ernor of Oroomiah was not allowed to sit down in the presence

of this one. It showed, too, some energy of will, as well as

strength of constitution, that, in such circumstances. Dr. Grant

was able to attend to this and the other duties devolving on
him, in the absence of his associate.
These " other duties," in ordinary times, were by no means
few or small. Besides his professional labors, so abundant
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 75

that, in one year from his arrival, he had prescribed for about
ten thousand patients, and operated for cataract more than fifty

times, he taught a class in English, instructed his medical

student, had the partial supervision of the boys' boarding-school,

received and returned the visits of the Mohammedans, had the

care of the secular and pecuniary affairs of the mission, and

superintended the three village schools, a work requiring, at
that time, a much more vigilant superintendence than now, when
the teachers are better educated and more trustworthy. The
jealousy of the Moslems, at so much attention being shown to the

Nestorians, obliged him, also, to devote a smali part of each day

to teaching a school for them. The boar*^ing-school was opened
Jan. 18, 1836, with seven scholar?. The very next day the
number increased to seventeen, and as early as May it amounted
to forty.

To Dr. Grant, his most interesting labor was the care of a

Sabbath-school, that commenced on the 24th of Jan., 1836, with
some tiventV'five scholars, and in July had increased to fifty.
In this he had the aid of six teachers, Mar Yohanna, four
and a deacon. They met in a large room, forty feet
pi-iests

5y twenty, without any floor but the earth ; the walls built of

the same material, and the flat roof covered with the same prim-
itive protection from the weather. The scholars sat on coarse

mats, on the floor, as attentive as any Sabbath-school children

in America, and recited their lessons, committed to memory from
the gospel. These were then explained by their teachers, as
they had been instructed by the missionaries. After that, Dr.
Grant made practical remarks, as our superintendents do at

home, and the whole was closed by singing a psalm in the

ancient Syriac. No wonder that he writes, in a postscript to

one of his letters, " I regi*et that all my communications bear

the marks of so much haste. But what shall I do ? If I write

at all, I must do it in a hurry, or neglect other important duties.

The preparation of medicine, the care of the sick, of my pupils,

7
 ;

76 DR.GRANTANDTIIE

and the secular affairs of the mission, leave me little more than
the night for study. Of that I use as much as I dare, and still

I have not enough."

All this i^ressure of labor, the time necessarily devoted to the
acquisition of both Turkish and Syriac, and his frequent illness,

did not prevent his laboring for Christ in gther ways. In

March, 1837, he wrote his " Appeal to Pious Physicians," so
extensively circulated as a missionary tract ; and his letters to

friends in America show that he could find time to plead with

the unconverted, comfort the bereaved, and try to train up his
children to be holy and useful.
Writing to an imponitent brother, Feb., '36, he says :
" I feel
the more anxiety for you because of the critical period of life to
which you have arrived, and ibe many temptations around you.
If a man settles in life unconverted, tho chances are very much
against his ever becoming a Christian. '
The cares of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, an<3 it becometh
unfruitful.' The heart set upon the world thinks little of more
durable riches. It is so taken up with its earthly habitation,

that it thinks little of the ' house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens.' You have the little Bible which I gave you -,

and, while I hope it sometimes reminds you of an absent brother,

his ardent prayer is that its precious truths may make you wise
unto salvation. -^ ^ ^ ^ Did you know my anxiety, dear
brother, on your account, you would not blame me for saying

so much."
Writing to his mother and sister, on hearing of the death of
his father, May 11, he says: "We had fondly hoped to have
welcomed, ere this, a letter from the hand of our dear father
but, instead of that, our first intelligence concerning him is that
he is no more. Fain would we have been present to minister
at his bed-side, and then mingle our tears with yours ; but, as

nearly seven months passed away before the news of your be-
reavement reached our distant home, we had not the privilege
 ";

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 77

of sympathizing with you, even in spirit. This is one of the

sore trials of the missionary. But we rejoice that you have oim
Friend, who sticketh closer than a brother, and who graciously
styles himself the God of the widow and fatherless."

Again, writing to his sister on the same subject, June 15, he

says \
^'-^ ^ ^ ^ Dear sister, is it not consoling to think, as

one after another of our loved ones are taken away, that they
have joined the company that may, ere long, welcome us also to
their blest abode ? 0, Mary, what a time will that be, when,
clothed in a Redeemer's righteousness, we shall sit down with
him in his kingdom, to go no more out forever ! If we are
indeed his, it will be but a few short days ere we shall see him
as he is ; and we, now so far separated, shall meet those who
have gone before us, and mingle our praises with the redeemed

from every nation under heaven. Pray, dear sister, that multi-

tudes here may be gathered in through our unworthy instrument-

ality. 0, how much we need the influence of the Spirit of God !

So intimately in his mind was united " the rest that remain-
eth " with his earthly toil, he could not think of them apart.
His affectionate heart did not soon cease to feel so severe a loss
and, therefore, we are not surprised to hear him, on the anni-
versary of that bereavement, Oct. 11, thus addressing his

mother : " ^ =^ ^ ^ How many we loved on earth have gone

before us to the mansions prepared by our Redeemer ! And if

we, through his rich mercy, are permitted to behold their glory,
what a company of those with whom we took sweet counsel in
this vale of tears will welcome us to their eternal embrace, and

tread with us those golden streets, while, with all the redeemed,

we ascribe '
Blessing and honor and glory and power unto him
that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever.' There
will be no more sighs and tears ; and there I trust you, my dear

mother, will not regret our short separation in this transitory

world."
The yearning heart of the father reveals itself in the touch-
78 DR.GRANTANDTHE ^

ing simplicity of the two following letters to his absent children,

and gives us a glimpse of what it cost him to be separated from
them.
" Tabriz, Persia, May 18, 1838.
" My Dear Hastings : I was told long ago that you had
learned to write, and I have wished very much to see a letter

from you. Why have you not written to your dear father ? I
hope you will write very often, and tell me where you are,

what you are doing, whether you have good friends, good
books, good schools, good preaching, and whether you and
your little brother are good boys. When I get no letters from
you, I sometimes fear that you and Edwin will forget your dear
father, or that you do not love him and your dear mother as we
love you. We think of you and your dear brother, and talk
about you, aiid pray for you, every day ; and 2ve lace you very
much. We feel very anxious that you should both be very good
boys, and learn well, and love those who take care of you and
instruct you ; that you should love your dear father and
mother, and your Henry Martyn but especially
little brother, ;

that you should love Jesus who gives you these friends
Christ,

and every good thing you have, and who gave his precious life
to save you from sin. When we hear that you are good boys, we
feel very happy ; but if we hear that you have been bad boys,

and done wickedly, our hearts are very heavy we feel sad
and unhappy.
" You, my dear Hastings, are so much older than your little

brother Edwin that you should try to teach him to be a good

boy, and do what will please God and your dear parents and
friends. You must teach him by your example, as well as by
your words. For, if he should see you do wrong, he will not mind
when you tell him that he must be a good boy. If he sees you
neglect what your good teachers and friends tell you, or sees
you play on the Sabbath, or take things without liberty, he will
very likely do wickedly too. If he hears you use bad Ian-
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 79

guage, or tell lies, I fear he will do so also. But, if jou always

do rio-ht, you will teach 3^our little brother to do right too ; and
thus you will do good, please God and your friends. I have

written to your Uncle Ira and Mr. Shaw to provide good

friends and a good home for you, so that you may learn well,

and be prepared to do good to others. But you must always

look to God, your heavenly Father, to take care of you. He says
in his word, '
They that seek the Lord shall not want any good
thing.' '
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things shall be added unto you.' Do you re-

member that Lord asked Solomon what he should give

when the
him, Solomon asked the Lord for an understanding heart ; and
God Avas pleased, and gave him wisdom, riches and honor ?
Now you, my dear son, should pray for an understanding heart,
that you may be wise and good, and then you will be happy."
In the same letter he says :
" I hope that the followers of Him
who had not where to lay his head will think less of accumulat-

ing wealth, and more of using it for the spread of the gospel.

When will Christians, bought with a Saviour's blood, learn to

lay up their treasures in heaven ? 0, to see as much anxiety

for investing funds in the conversion of the world to God as in
railroads and bank-stock If Christians felt the blessedness of
!

living wholly for God, what a different state of things should we

see in the church ! I feel nwre and more that, ere the world is

converted, Christians must come up to a higher and holier stand-

ard of consecration to God. They must feel that the great busi-
ness of life is to be co-workers with Jesus Christ, in saving this

lost world. Instead of taxing every energy of soul and body to

heap together a Rttlo shining dust, their daily inquiry should be.
What can 1 do to honor my Saviour, and save my dying fellow-
men from sin ? These are motives worthy of the powers of
Gabriel, and they should be first in our minds when we lie down
and when we rise up. We should carry them to our daily toil

7#
80 DR . GRA N T AND T II E

we should feel that our time, our property, our influence, our

children, all belong to God. We are mt our own.

" I hope thatyou and Edwin may come out here as mis-
sionaries, if you are good boys. It would be a most happy

meeting for us all, if I could see you devoted to the service of

God in this distant land. We
may be the case,
pray that this

that you will seek, first of all, God and his

the kingdom of

righteousness, and live to his glory. Pray much for your dear
father and mother, and little Henry, that the Lord may spare

our lives, and make us very useful in his service. Give our
love to all our friends who inquire respecting us.
" From your ever affectionate father,
" AsAHEL Grant."

" My Dear Edwin : Do you remember your dear father ? It

is a long time since you have seen me. You were then a
very little boy. I think you are now much larger, and know
much more than when I left you. I am happy to hear that you

can read. I hope you love to read good books ; they will make
you wise and good. Do you love to read the word of God ?

That is the best of all books. I wish very much to see you,

and I wish you could see your dear mother, and your little
brother, Henry Marty n. He is very small yet. He runs about
the house and the door-yard, and talks a little, but not very
plain. He was sick a long time, and we feared he would die.

But God was very good to him, and he is now very well. Your
dear mother thinks he looks like you. She has fourteen little

girls to teach. When we came to Persia none of the little

girls knew how to read ; but now some of them are learning. I

hope that all the little boys and girls will learn to read, and
learn to love God. I hope you love Jesus Christ, and pray to
him very often. Will you not pray every day for your dear

father, mother and brothers ? You must love your teachers,

and the dear friends who take care of you. Remember that
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 81

Christ IS your best friend. That you may love him, do every-
thing to please him, and be very happy, is the daily prayer of
" Your ever affectionate father,
" AsAiiEL Grant."

The ' little brother " referred to in the last was born on the
3d of June, 1836, and suffered much in his infancy from the
climate, that proved fatal to so many of his playmates on the
mission premises.
The following extract from a letter to his brother Ira, Oct.

26, 1837, reveals something of his trials with reference to his

children :

u # # ^ My great desire for my dear sons is that they may

be entirely the Lord's. You say that Mr. Shaw, after
much effort to obtain for them a home, found none willing to

assume so responsible a charge (Mr. Smith, with whom he left

them, had died). AVere all, then, willing to assume the responsi-

bility of leaving those little orphans without a home ? Would

Christians, who might train them up for God, be free from guilt,

if, through their neglect, they grew up in sin? Or would they

be blameless, with regard to the perishing here^ if, for the same
reason, it became my duty to return to take charge of them ?
What if, when a fellow-missionary lay dangerously sick, I should
refuse the responsibility of prescribing for him ? Would I not

be held to answer for his death ? And yet, how often are Chris-

tians unwilling to assume the responsibility of doing a thing

they know ought to be done, without thinking of the greater
responsibility of leaving it undone ! A Christian cannot free

himself from responsibility in any question of duty that

comes before him. For his decision in each he is accountable

to God. If the path of duty is not clear, we must obtain light,

then decide. I know the responsibility was great in my decid-

ing to come to Persia; but would it have been less, had I de-
cided not to come ? That was a burden I dared not assume.
82 UR . GKANT AND THE

Where duty is plain, a man cannot hope that he is a Christian,

if he refuses to do^it. If our hearts were wholly given to (xod,

we should feel that all we could do for the kingdom of Christ

was our dearest privilege^ and that word would take the place

of duty in our religious vocabulary."

In the beginning of 1837 Dr. Grant suffered again, through
over-exertion while still weak from previous illness. Mr. Per-
kins was yet unable to labor, and, as he could not bear to see
their efforts suspended, he staggered on under too great a bur-
den till was able to resume his duties. Then over-
his associate

wrought nature gave way, and for five weeks he was scarce able
to leave the house. But soon he says, with his accustomed cheer-
fulness, " Through the mercy of God we are all able to engage

again in our increasingly interesting work."

Still his health needed to be confirmed, and to this end he
devoted more time to labors in the surrounding villages. In
one of these excursions, June 24, 1837, he visited the
ruins of Gugerchine castle, four hours north-east of Gavalan.
They are on an insulated cliff", that rises abruptly from the lake
about eight hundred feet, and can be reached only by a winding
path cut out of the rock, that passes over two drawbridges at a
giddy elevation. The low neck of land which joins it to the shore
is fortified by a wall and fosse, and on the summit deep caverns

are found among the ruins. A spring gushing from the side of
the cliff furnished an abundant supply of water for this strong-
hold of former days.
On the 12th of July he visited, for the second time, the Kurd-
ish chief, of Burdasoor, at his castle, nearly six hours west of
Oroomiah. This is perched on a projecting rock, several hun-
dred feet above the river that foams below. Its thick stone

walls, am.ple reservoir, magazine, subterranean passage, and the

wild mountain scenery around, must have prepared him for his
future waiiderings in Kurdistan. The chief received him very
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 83

kindly, and urged him to bring his family to reside for a time in

the castle.
That these excursions were not always without danger will
appear from the fallowing adventure at Ada, November 11,
1836. Mr. Perkins and Dr. Grant, with their wives and
Priest Abraham, were walking quietly through the village,
they had just left the house of Mar Yoosuf, whose guests they

y^^ere, when three ruffians, of a class called Lootee, placed a
horse across their path to provoke an affray. The thick hedge
prevented their going round it, and Priest Abraham stepped
forward, mildly requesting them to remove it. Their only

answer was an attempt to stab him. Seeing the inoffensive

priest in such danger, Mr. Perkins instinctively sprang forward,

and the assassin at once turned on him. Nothing but the provi-

dential fall of Mr. Perkins at the moment saved him from in-

stant death. As it was, the dagger cut through his clothes and
punctured his side, without, however, inflicting serious injury.
Seeing his associate thus hard beset, Dr. Grant, who was behind,
flew to the rescue, and, unarmed as he was, drew his riding-whip

with such good effect across the villain's eyes as to turn his fury

in another direction. In the subsequent confusion, the whole

party escaped into a house ; and, besides Mr. Perkins, the

priest was the only other person injured. The timely interference
of Dr. Grant doubtless saved the valuable life of Mr. Perkins.
He writes to his sons afterwards, from Mosul, " Have you got

the riding-whip, with a deep cut in it near the handle, which I

sent you in the box ? That cut was probably the means of pre-
serving the life of Mr. Perkins. The fact of my running to his

rescue was entered on the mission records, under his direction ;

so please keep the whip as a memento of the occurrence."

The whole affair was overruled, by the God they served, to

their greater security in that land of violence ; for, through the

efforts of the British ambassador, the Lootee received such a
84 . DR . G 11 ANT A ND T II E

chastisement from the Persian authorities as made people care-

ful how tl cj injured any member of the mission.

If Dr. Grant was abundant in labors, so was his companion.
She was able commence her missionary work, as soon as she
to

arrived, with the ecclesiastics who had learned English with ISIr.
Perkins at Tabriz and now appeared the good fruits of her
;

thorough education. The bishops in her family Mar Yohanna

and Mar Yoosuf wondered to see a woman learning Syriac

through the Latin ; and got new ideas of female worth when,
reading together in the New Testament, she turned to the
Greek for the meaning of some difficult passage. It may be
questioned whether the impressions they received, as they sat
at her table and marked the Christ-like spirit that governed

allher conduct, did not prepare the way for the unheard-of ex-
periment of a girls' school, as much as her untiring efforts did
for its establishment. For, finding it impossible to begin such

a school at once, owing to the prejudices of the people, she

first taught her own domestics to read, and then sought to

interest her own sex in the education of their daughters. She

succeeded so well in this, that at length the desire of her heart
was gratified in the establishment of a female seminary. Of
this she was the first teacher, and with such ardor did she
engage in the work, that, when unable to leave her chamber, she

had the scholars assemble there ; for hers was a zeal that even

sickness could not abate. The female seminary, since so blessed

under the superintendence of Misses Fisk and Rice, opened on
the 12th of March, 1838, with four pupils. In the course of
two weeks, was the impression she made, that the
so favorable

number doubled, and before the 19th of June she had four
times as many as at first.

As early as January, 1836, she had written to a friend :

" I do not know how the Nestorians would regard efi'orts for

the instruction of girls, as they are valued only in propor-

tion to the aoney they earn; but Mrs. Perkins and I intend to
 MOUNTAIN NESTOllIANS. 85

make the experiment. If we can be but the means of educat-

ing one or two, who can calculate the vast amount of good we
might accomplish ? Great watchfulness and circumspection are
necessary to this object, as example is a much better teacher

than precept. There is no danger of our setting too bright an

example of Christianity."
She had readily learned to speak the Turkish, and in a short

time was able to read the ancient Syriac. The modern Syriac,
irregular as it is, she not only read, but wrote also. When
Parley's Geography w^as translated by Mr. Perkins, she pre-

pared the maps for it ; and taught a class in Woodbridge's

Geography, in which Priest Abraham, John and a promising
deacon, were added to the bishops, and her Mohammedan pupil,

Meerza Asaad Ullah.

In one of her letters she gives us a glimpse of the interior
life of the mission, telling us of the Bible-class on Monday and
Saturday evenings, when the missionaries and their native help-
ers studied together the word of life. On Tuesday evenings,
the former met together for mutual consultation. And then
there were their reunions twice a week, begun Nov. 6, 1837,
when the natives presented their English sentences for criticism
to the missionaries, and then criticized, in turn, the Syriate of

their teachers. Thursday evening was devoted to a prayer-

meeting ; and on Sabbath, after two religious services in Syriac
and one in English, they met together with the Nestorians to
sing the Lord's songs in that strange, land, which yet to them
was not strange, for it was their chosen home, a land they
loved. Mrs. Grant, though suffering, like her husband, from the
climate, yet writes to her friends, June 1, 1837, " I think
I can say, sincerely, the two past years have been the happiest
of my life, and nothing but imperious necessity could ever
induce me to leave Oroomiah." Dec. 26, 1838, in a letter she
did not live to finish, after telling that not long before the
doctor prescribed for ten of their number in one day, and that
86 DR. GRANT AND THE NESTORIANS.

her left eye was destroyed by a severe attack of ophthalmia, slie

adds, " But, through the great goodness of God, one eye still
continues strong. for a heart to praise Him !
" While her
husband kept up his old habits of reading, as time permitted, she
honored her mother's training in reading with him " Maculloch
on Malaria," as well as more pleasant, if not more interesting
volumes.
But her labors were not mere literary efforts. The medical
practice of her husband I had almost said herown intro-
duced her among all classes ; and, welcomed by her own sex alike
in the palace and the beggar's hut, she went about doing good.
If it is interesting to see Nestorian bishops instructed by her out
of the Scriptures, as was ApoUos once by the good Priscilla, it

were no less so to follow her into the homes of her degraded sex
in Persia, and see her work of faith and labor of love. No trait

in her character was more conspicuous than her skill in the sick

chamber. Which of her suffering associates could not join the

pioneer of the mission, and say, " Like Mercy's angel, we be-

held her hastening from room to room, when several of us were

sick at once. Like her Master, she went about doing good."
Still, amid such a variety of cares, her household affairs were
not neglected ; everything moved on in quiet regularity, and, as

others looked on her attentions to her little son and twin-daugh-

ters, and also to the three native children of whom she had the

care, they wondered how, with her weak health, she ever found
time for anything else. But, with all these labors, her only

hope for success was in God. Writing to Mr. Merrick, March

7, 1836, she says, " I every day more and more convinced
am
that this is a most dreadfully wicked country ; 'nothing but the
almighty power of God can produce a change for the better.
 CHAPTER VI.

INTEEEST IN THE MOUNTAINS

CORRESPONDENCE WITH COL. SHEIL AND
DE. RIACH SCHULTZ FAILURE OF HEALTH DEATH OF MRS. GRANT
POLITICS OF KURDISTAN.

Dr. Grant was deeply interested in the Nestorians of the

mountains, even before he left America. The importance of
that field, and its difficulty, were just the things to recommend

it to his enterprising spirit. In a communication to D2'. Ander-

son, dated Nov. 15, 1837, he says : " When I first looked on
tiiis as my field of labor, the brightest beams of hope seemed to
radiate from the mountains. I felt it of the utmost importance
to enter them as soon as possible ; and the hope that my knowl-
edge of medicine would enable me to meet danger with more
impunity than others, was one of the strongest motives to my
coming. From that day to this, I have kept the subject con-
tinually before me, and its importance has by no means dimin-
ished in my mind, as a means of reviving the Nestorian church,
and evangelizing the whole region around." No mountaineer
visited the city but knew these feelings, and loved him for

them ; and no Kurd ever came for medicine who was not made
to contribute some information for future use in the enterprise.

For three years Dr. Grant laid siege to the mountains, encamped
at their base, watching for the first available point of access
to their unknown interior. Like John Williams, on the other
side of the globe, he felt that he could not be confined within the

limits of a single reef while the wide ocean lay before him.
Perhaps it was well that some in the mission were as prudent
8
88 DR . GRANT AND T HE

as he was ardent ; for He who wisely composes the church at

home of men of diflerent ages and temperaments does not leave

missions to one-sided influences, but sets one thing over against
another, that, by a proper balance, he may secure the highest

good. Perhaps, by himself. Dr. Grant would have entered too

soon, as others might have deferred too long. But God used
discouragements to render his purpose firmer ; and, when it had
grown strong enough to bear the hunger and weariness, the pain
and the peril, before it, then he led him into the theatre for
which he had been training him from the first.

And here let us hear the testimony of his earliest associate in

the field. Says Mr. Perkins, in the letter to the writer already

quoted, " If Dr. Grant's holy enthusiasm, either in the antici-

pation or prosecution of that difiicult and perilous enterprise,
sometimes got the better of his judgment in too zealously press-
ing forward the work, or too fondly embracing his chei-ished
theory, it was owing to his quenchless ardor in the cause of
Christ, of which, in most missionaries even, we see far too little.

If that enthusiasm ever amounted to a fault, we can easily

excuse it, so strongly did it lean to virtue's side. It was the
outburst of a great heart yearning and throbbing agonizingly
over the mournful desolations of those he verily believed to be
heirs of salvation according to the promise."
As early as Dec, 1835, an aged priest, from near Julamerk,
and an uncle of Mar Shimon, dined with the mission in Oroo-
miah. In the following February Dr. Grant enjoyed his first

interview with a brother of Mar Shimon ; and, in April of the

same year, he had a visit from Selim, Kurdish Pasha of Araa-
dieh, the brother of Ismael, of whom we shall hear again. On
the 26th of March Mr. Perkins had written a friendly letter to
Mar Shimon, and just two months later he received an answer,
equally friendly, begging a watch, and requesting to know at

what time he would visit him, that he might send a guard to

protect him from the Kurds.
 MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. 89

July 1, Dr. Grant wrote to the Prudential Committee, urging

the importance of entering the mountains as soon as practicable,
because they formed a part of the field assigned to the mission,
and the main body of the people was there. The variations in

the spoken language rendered an acquaintance, with all its

dialects desirable before translating the Scriptures, or even pub-

lishing tracts in it for the people. The work should progress
in all parts of the field at once, that a common sympathy might
pervade the whole, and one part not advance alone in intelli-

gence, so as to become an object of suspicion to the other. The

Patriarch, too, resided in the mountains ; and it w^as important

that he should not be left behind in the movement of the clergy

and people on the plain. There was no telling what mischief
might arise, should enemies get in before us, and fill his ear

with slander before he had become acquainted for himself with

our principles and plans ; and it was not to be supposed that
Papists, who strained every nerve to oppose us on the plain, and
were already posted on the other side of the mountains, would
delay to operate against us there.
These arguments left no doubt of the desirableness of the
undertaking. Each subsequent page of the history of the mis-
sion commends the far-seeing wisdom that perceived them at

that early day. It does not become us to find fault with events

as Providence has arranged them ; and yet, had Mar Shimon

been brought earlier under the influence of the evangelical
movement in Oroomiah, his situation might have been a more
happy one to-day. Or had Rome got possession of a position
not only commanding, but looking down into ours on the plain,
it is easy to see at what a disadvantage we must ever after have

fought the good fight of faith. When Dr. Grant sav/ how Prov-
idence had mercifully preserved the mountaineers from the
enemy till he had brought us, as it were, on purpose for their
deliverance, his soul was grieved at every day's delay : he
longed to fly to their help at once.
90 DR. GRANT AND THE

But, though the desirableness of the enterprise was estab-

lished, the great question remained, Is it practicable ? Messrs.

Smith and Dwight were deterred, by representations of its

impracticability, from entering the mountains in 1830. Mr.
Perkins was instructed by the Board, in September, 1833, to
" visit the Patriarch as soon as may be, lest perverse men should

prejudice his mind against you ;

" and, accordingly. Dr. Grant

set himself to work to ascertain, as accurately as might be, the

perils of the enterprise, and see whether or no they were really

an insurmountable objection. He longed to enter ; but, accord-

ing to an old adage, he would look before he leaped.

He had already written to Mr. Dwight, and received an

answer, dated Sept.* 6, 1836, in which he says :

''
I consider the

object a very important one ; and, were I in your situation,

would certainly try hard to secure it. And yet, I would not
run great risk for the sake of going immediately. Your being
u physician would, doubtless, be of great advantage in the
undertaking."
As the ground had never been gone over by any European,
it was, of course, impossible to gain information from such.
The only way was to make inquiries of such mountaineers as he

met with, the Persian authorities conversant with that region,

and such European travellers as had gone nearest the route in
question. While he made unceasing inquiries of the two former
classes, one of the latter was fortunately within reach ; and to

him brother of the celebrated member of Parlia-

Col. Shell,
ment he addressed a inquiring whether he considered
letter,

it unsafe to visit Tyary, and stating that Mar Shimon had

invited him to visit him, and promised him a guard through the
country of the Kurds ; had ascertained he could go the
that he
usual route, through the Hakkary country, in three days, and
sleep each night in a Christian village ; or a more southern one,

through Burdasoor, where the chief was his friend, and would
protect him to Mar Beeshoo, a Nestorian village, only fevirteen
 ;

MOUNTAIN NE S T II I AN S . 91

hours from the Patriarch. He asks whetlicr he would advise

him to accept the invitation of Mar Shimon, and confide in his

promise of a guard. Col. Shell replied, June 22 :

" For myself, I should not hesitate a moment to visit Tyary

with a guard from Mar Shimon, and would feel perfectly safe
in doing so. But, in your case, much would depend on the

feelings of the priesthood toward your labors [Col. S. was

an Irish Catholic]. With the protection of the chiefs you men-
tion, I should say there was no danger whatever in the under-

taking. The journey is practicable, beyond a doubt, and the

danger not very great, much less, I presume, than you
anticipate."
Such was the encouraging reply of the fearless colonel, whose
kindness to Dr. Grant neither begun nor ended here. But, so
much had been said of the madness of the .undertaking, that, in

October, he wrote to his good friend Dr. Riach for his opinion
of the matter. The reply of the " canny Scot "was much more
cautious than that of the Irish soldier. He begins by saying
that no European can travel there without danger ;
yet there

is little prospect of its being removed for a long time to come.

But and it is amusing to see how carefully he considers the

matter if, just before entering, the Hakkary country is quiet

if Yahya Khan, of Salmas, offers a guard, and pledges your

safety if the Kurds were as well disposed to Persia as they
;

now are, and the Persian authorities gave letters to Yahya

Khan calling on him to protect you; if, besides the guard
from him, you have one also from Mar Shimon; and if
your baggage is so scanty as not to excite the cupidity of
the Kurds ; if all or most of these circumstances were
combined, I should think there was considerable prospect
of safet^f to a judicious person. He closes with the remark,
" I feel much more strongly than ever that your mission must
be broun;ht into contact with the Mountain Nestorians." With
all its caution, it will be seen that his letter is eminently
8#
 ;

92 D 11 . GRANT AN D T HE

judicious. The good man

who, in July, had gone two hun-

dred miles out of his way to visit the missionaries, and cheer

them in their work evidently felt an aifectionate solicitude

for the safety of his professional brother, and, at the same time,
was anxious that the journey should be performed.

Immediately on the receipt of this, Nov. 15, Dr. Grant

wrote to the committee; and, after reviewing w^hat has just
been made known to the reader, he says " The letter of Dr. :

Riach is characterized by candor and caution. I fully agree

with him that we cannot soon hope for a change that will render
the undertaking entirely safe. For centuries the Kurds have
been the same wild marauders. Last year Reschid Pasha sub-
dued a part of Kurdistan ; but none in modern times have pen-
etrated to the Hakkary country, nor is there any speedy
prospect that it will be done. Numerous as are the doctor's
conditions, they might almost all be met at once. As for guards,

I would like one or two guides from Yahya Khan but I would
;

sooner trust to the coarse garb of the mountaineers, and that

frankness and kind feeling that commend themselves even to the

savage, than to a regiment of soldiers. When the attempt will

be made depends on the majority of the mission and your

instructions. In my last I expressed the opinion that, as
repeated illness had prevented that progress in the language
that was desirable, the attempt should be deferred till another
year.
"Whoever goes should spend several months in familiar inter-
course with the people by the wayside, and in their smoky huts.
He should win their confidence by unwearied kindness, and
study their character and institutions under the varied circum-
stances of their wild mountain-life. As to the number that
should go : On the one hand, he might feel lonely, and in need

of counsel, he would also feel the want of help in sickness

but, on the other, one would attract less notice, and, in case of

violent death, the loss to the mission would be less serious.

 ;

M UNTA I N N E 3 T R I AN S . 93

Much has been said of the fiito of Schultz ; but we may make
too much of a single case, without a careful consideration of the

circumstances. I have taken pains to learn the facts in the

case, and both Turks and Persians agree that he made an inju-
dicious show of wealth. He v/as the agent of a European
monarch, carried various astronomical instruments, had a great
deal of baggage, and made splendid gifts to the Kurdish chiefs.
They naturally thought his boxes were full of money, and sus-

pected that he was surveying their country for his king ; there-

fore the wonder is not that he fell at last, but that he escaped so

long. Again, this is the only attempt to enter the mountains

and had Mr. Samuel, who was robbed between here and Tabriz,
been the only European who had visited Oroomiah, the road,
doubtless, would be considered very perilous, especially when
taken in connection with the eighty murders committed in the
province within eight months.
" In conclusion, I would repeat my sense of the great import-

ance of the undertaking ; and, unless prevented by unexpected

providences, I stand ready for all the perils of the enterprise.
I have felt it duty to lay the subject thus fully before you,

with the reasons for my views, that, if the attempt be not made,
the responsibility may not be mine. I would not defeat the
object by undue haste ; but, with the evidence before you, would
it be an unwarranted exposure of life to make the attempt at

an early day, should nothing extraordinary prevent ? Admit-

ting that there is danger, does our commission guarantee
exemption from it ? Does the experience of Paul warrant us
to expect it ? I look on this journey as the first step to more
extended usefulness, and a wider diffusion of the gospel."

The reader will pardon this minuteness of detail ; but, wheft,

on the one hand, Dr. Grant is charged with " courting death at
every step," and, on the other, his journey into the mountains
is sneered at as an every -day affair, justice to the memory of a
good man requires that things be stated just as they occurred.
94 DK. GRANT AND THE

He did not take a single step till he had carei'ully reconnoitred

the whole ground. The event showed the wisdom of his plan,
and justified the zeal that pursued it so long and so steadily.

But the time for the attempt was not yet. A reinforcement

must first arrive to strengthen the mission, and a larger experi-

ence must fit him for the work. It may seem strange, but is

nevertheless true, that the loss of his health, so as, at one time,
to excite serious apprehensions for his life, was one of the means
employed by Providence to open for him this new sphere of
usefulness. The diseased action of his stomach, already referred
to, continued steadily to increase. He did not retain food long

enough to impart nourishment to the system, and his strength

was so prostrated that he once fainted when rising in a social

meeting to engage in prayer. He managed to live only

as he left the city, and rode to the purer air of the distant

villages. Uniformly, while absent from Oroomiah, his health

improved, and as often as he returned it grew worse. He went
to Tabriz in February, 1838; and, though worse than usual
before he left, did not vomit once during an absence of three
weeks. He spent his time there w^ith his dear friend Dr. Riach,
who was horror-struck at the change wrought in the hale, robust
man he had welcomed there not three years before ;
yet he had
the satisfaction of seeing that his color returned, and that he
gained in flesh, and improved in every respect, while with him.
He returned to Oroomiah, and again relapsed. Immediately on
hearing of this. Dr. Kiach wrote to the mission that they must
apply for another physician ; and suggested that his labors for

the Nestorians need not terminate, as the mountains ought to be

explored, and all knew that he was just the man for that work.
.In the spring Dr. Grant superintended the village schools,
which had now increased to twelve, in as many difi"erent villages,

and in doing so had ridden a])0ut five hundred miles since his

return from Tabriz, still vomiting, more or less, every day.

On April 14 he wrote to the committee, giving an account of
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 95

his health ; expressing the fear that, unless the measures he was
then pursuing should prove successful, his constitution would
not hold out longer than another year in the miasma of Oroo-
miah. He adds : " I often wonder that I am able to sustain so
much fatigue, and am thankful that it is so, as mj hopes of
prolonged life and usefulness depend upon it. The question
becomes a very serious one. What shall be done ? I am most
deeply interested in the Nestorians, and know of no other peo-
ple on earth with whom I would prefer to spend the remainder
of my days. Indeed, it would be like parting with life to give

up the hope of performing some humble part in fitting them to

spread the gospel over these regions of darkness and death.
Nothing but the clearest convictions of duty will ever induce me
to leave my post. But, if my usefulness here must end either
by death or a removal from this station, whether, in that case,
I must see all my fond hopes of usefulness among this people
blasted, I must submit, under God,,to the Prudential Committee."'
At this period the pressure of 1837 was just beginning to be
felt in Oroomiah. It crippled every department of missionary
effort; and, amid the disbanding of schools and dismission of
native helpers, the invalid hardly dared to incur expense for the
restoration of his failing health. But business requiring that
some one should go to Tabriz, he went, and again experienced
relief. His religious feelings at this time are sweetly described
in a letter to Mr. Stocking, dated May 23, at Tabriz :

" Truly we have great occasion for gratitude in the rich

mercies of our heavenly Father. Let us evince it by untiring
efforts to do his will in all things. We need the spirit of obe-
dient children, striving at all times to please a kind Parent, and
more afraid of his displeasure than of anything else. How kind
God is, when his children go astray, to bring them back by the
rod of correction ! Surely he has designs of mercy in afflicting

our mission so much with sickness. He intends, first, to make

us partakers of his holiness; and, when he has thus prepared us
96 DR. G 11 ANT AN I) THE

for his service, I trust he will pour us out a blessing. He will

first bkss our own souls, and then make us blessings to ethers.

0, that we may all be blessings to each other, and, by our holy

conversation and godliness, incite each other to fidelity in our
Master's work ! We need the unction of the Holy Spirit; and
we may have it, and thus do more in a few months or years
than in a long life without it. How much more anxious should
we be for His presence than for health or long life ! Let us
feel that Christ is our life, and our great concern will be to have
him dwelling in us, the hope of glory."
He returned to Oroomiah, only to relapse again, with every
symptom more obstinate, and threatening permanent organic
disease. Writing on the subject to his mother, he says, Oct. 9,

1838, " It is doubtless the effect of a hostile climate, and occa-

sions much suffering; but I do not mind that, while I have
strength to labor, as I have most of the time. What the result
will be is known only to our heavenly Father, and I rejoice
that He will order all things well. I do not feel anxious for the
future, or whether my work be long continued, provided it is

well done. I trust I feel willing to do or to suff'er the will of

God; and, blessed be his name, there remaineth a rest to his
people where shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying ;

neither shall there be any more pain." Alluding to the excel-

lent history of the missions of the Nestorians, in the Herald for

August, he expresses his joy that those once so active in spread-

ing the gospel through the world were now receiving such in-
struction as. by the blessing of Grod, might prepare them again
to send forth heralds of salvation,.and adds, "Let me but have
some humble part in this glorious work, and I shall not have
come here in vain, thougji my stay here be hut short. You may
ask whether now I regret entering on the work. No, never.
I often feel keenly my absence from dear ones at home, yes,
home ; the thought revives a thousand hallowed recollections of
maternal love. But we hope to meet in happier mansions, even
 ;

MOUNTAIN NE S T R I AN S . 97

those which Jesus has gone to prepare." On the 20th of August

the mission passed a resolution concurring in the opinion of Dr.
Riach, that as a continued residence in Oroomiah was so danger-
ous for Dr. Grant, it was expedient that, as soon as possible,
he seek a more favorable climate ; and on the 19th of January,
1839, they made formal application for another physician to take
his place.

Just before this was done, Dr. Grant was called to suffer a
greater loss than he had yet endured ; for the loss of a loved
companion at home is not to be compared with the same loss in a
foreign land. Mrs. Grant was taken sick of a violent fever
on the 3d ; and, notwithstanding all that skill or affection
could devise, she died on the 14th of January, 1839, aged
twenty -five years and two days. It is hardly necessary to say
that on her death-bed there were no regrets for having become a
missionary ; and that she rejoiced to lay her body, far from those
of her friends, among the people for whom she had loved to
live. On the evening of the 6th she spoke with much feeling to
her associates on being wholly the Lord's, and having their
conversation in heaven ; for, from the first, she did not expect to
recover. Enfeebled by disease, and doubtless no less worn out
by sympathy with the sufferings of her husband, she felt that she
could not survive. At one time she said, " To think of dying
and being free from sin and suffering, in the presence of God, is

most delightful. It is rapturous !

" But said she, again, " It
is all through grace, grace, grace. I renounce myself entirely.
It is through the riches of God's mercy in Christ Jesus that I
shall enter heaven." Her life, especially after her conversion,
seemed and odious, she could not bear to look on it
so black

but when her husband spoke of the righteousness of Christ as

all-sujQicient, "Yes," she replied, " ife is my all mj all !
"

Speaking to him of their approaching separation, she said, " It

will be but for a little while. What a happy meeting that will
be ! all tears wiped from every eye, and no more death."
98 DR.GRANTANDTHE
The prospect of meeting Christ gave her more joy than all else.
" I used to think much of meeting my dear mother and Chris-

tian friends, and still it is precious to know they will be there.

But it seems to me the presence and glory of Christ will so

absorb me, I shall wish to think of nothing else." She felt

unworthy to suffer for Christ, and longed to be more worthy of

such a privilege.
From the first, her only anxiety about the result was that
God might be glorified. In taking leave of the bishops and
others connected with the mission, she told them she was about
to leave them and go to heaven, and earnestly desired them to
meet her there, adding, " If I have one desire to live, it is for

the sake of you and your people. For myself, I am ready

to depart ; not on account of any good w^orks of mine, but only
through faith in Christ and his righteousness. He is all my
hope, and must be yours also, if you would meet me in heaven."

It was a scene never to be forgotten. All were in tears ; and

some wept aloud, entirely overcome with grief. Most had been
her pupils, and witnessed her untiring efforts for their salva-
tion. They knew that for this she had left all dear to her at
home ; and now, as they witnessed, for the first time, the power
of the gospel in a dying hour, a subdued and tender spirit of
inquiry was awakened, and the missionaries found it easier to

preach Christ and salvation through his blood than ever

before.

From the day of this interview, she was delirious till her
death ; sometimes fancying herself again with the playmates
of her youth, sometimes in her family, and again absorbed in
anticipation of heaven, till she entered there.
During her sickness, all classes manifested the utmost desire

for her recovery. A venerable bishop, residing some miles dis-

tant, was so anxious for her that he stayed on the mission
premises several days and nights. " In the church," one of

them said, " after our usual prayers, we all kneeled down and
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 99

prayed from our liearts that she might be spared." The Mo-
hammedan Meerza, who had lived in her family, to use his own
words, " could not sleep at night," and wept like a child, in ap-
prehension of the event. Afterwards he said, " I know why she
did not fear to die ; she had faith in Jesus. She has gone to

Paradise." Was not this kind interest of the people for whose
sake she had left home and friends something of the hundred-

fold promised to such even in the present lif\3 ?

The morning after her death, several of the bishops said to

Dr. Grant, " We will bury her in the church, where none but
holy men are buried. She has done so much for us, we want the

privilege of doing something for her, and will dig her grave
with our own hands." More than all else she had desired that
her death might be the means of salvation to the Nestorians ; and
eternity alone will show how much connection it had with the
subsequent revivals in that interesting field.

Two days after her death. Dr. Grant thus wrote to the mis-

sionary with whom they had travelled together from Constanti-

nople to Tabriz :

" '
The chamber where the good man meets his fate

Is privileged beyond the common walks

Of virtuous life, quite on the verge of heaven.'

" Such, dear brother, is the room you so recently occupied in

our happy home. Our much-loved Judith is released from

toil and suffering on earth, to join the glorious company before
the throne, where ' shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor
crying; neither shall there be any more pain.' There she lies,

lovely even in death, that familiar smile upon her features,

the last impress of Heaven's seal. The voice, silent here,

wakes in louder, sweeter strains amid the anthems of the skies.

Dear brother, I know you will weep as I have wept, but not for

her. She was ready for her summons. She had committed her
precious babes, and all she held dear on earth, to her Saviour,

with the sweetf^st assurance that he would do all things well.

9
 !

100 DR. GRANT AND THE

" The bridegroom found her with her lamp trimmed and burn-

ing,and waiting for her Lord. Death had no terrors to her.

She looked on him as a messenger sent to call her home. With

inexpressible delight she exclaimed, ' the presence of Christ I

It is everything I It is heave?i to the Christian, and the Lamb

>s the light thereof! '
For more than a week before her death,
he began, with the utmost composure, to set her house in
order ; she charged me to tell her friends she never regretted
coming to Persia as a missionary ; and asked the prayers of the
mission, that God would glorify himself in the event. The glory
of Grod was her great desire through her whole sickness, and she
felt she could die most cheerfully for such a result. She spoke
very feelingly of her friends, and more than once of yourself
0, let as live, dear brother, entirely for the glory of God, and
then our sojourn here will indeed appear short, very short; and,
when released from earthly toil, like the lonely wanderer, we shall

feel inexpressible happiness in the view of home an eternal

home ! What a blessed truth, there remaineth, therefore, a rest

for the people of God ! Think of your departed sister as now
enjoying that rest in the presence of the Saviour so dear to her,
who is waiting to welcome us to the same glorious abode.
" She suffered much in her sickness last summer. But God
does not cast his children into the furnace for nothing. He was
thus preparing her for his own immediate presence ; and, how-

ever severe our trials, they are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which will be revealed in us, if we are indeed the sons
of God. To be like Christ what a thought
" Mrs. Stocking, at their mother's request, has taken our
dear children, and perhaps I shall board witli them for the

present. Can you not come and occupy my house with me ?

I need not say you will be vrelcomed more cordially than

ever by thosa of us who remain ; but you will miss the cor-
dial pressure of one warm hand. Is it too much to v-ay that the

flower of our circle has been taken ? Such, at least, is the feel-
 "

MOUNTAIN N.EST0RSAN3. lOX

ing of the Nestorians. God knew which of us to take, in order

to affect them most deeply. I never knew such deep solemnity
among them before. May it result in a glorious effusion of the
Holy Spirit
!

Her children, Henry Martyn, now two years and seven

months old, and the twin daughters, five months old, were kindly
taken care of by other families of the mission ; and her husband,
with his illness aggravated by this sore bereavement, again
found refuge in Tabriz, where his recovery was much slower
than on previous visits. While there he secured Russian pro-
tection for the mission, as the English ambassador expected soon
to leave, and procured a firman for an out-station at Gavalan.
Through the kindness of Malek Kassim Meerza, he had also
procured the following rdkam (edict) from the Emir En Nizam,
Governor-general of Aderbijan :

" TO HIS HIGHNESS YAHYA KHAN, GOVERNOR OF SALMAS, A ROYAL

FAVORITE AND GREATLY ESTEEMED:
" His honor, the learned Dr. Grant, proposes to travel in the

country of the Hakarees and that vicinity. To the royal favor-

ite it is written, that in manner which may be necessary he
the
bestow on Dr. Grant the attention of warm friendship, and send
two or three persons to be with him during his travels, and with
the greatest diligence take care of him, so that in no manner of
way any harm approach him, that in the greatest security and
safety he may return, and that he may take with him of his fel-
low-citizens whomsoever he pleases, it being obligatory that you
command his attendants not to hinder his having associates, and
that they be strictly attentive that no vexation nor trouble hap
pen to either Dr. Grant or his associates.
" Given in Zoo el Hhadeth el Haram, 1254 a. h."

He was now utterly at a loss what to do. On the one hand,

his children at home needed his presence. The guardian with

102 .
i>rv. GMIAN'T AND THE

whom he left them had died, as we have seen, in 1836. Hi6

own father, on whom the care of them then devolved, had died

the year before. A younger brother, on whom he next de-

pended, also died in 1837 ; and now his only surviving broth-

er and Rev. Mr. Shaw had the temporary care of them. His
children at Oroomiah, too, needed attention. The mission fam-
ilies were feeble, and pressed with the care of their own. And
yet, on the other hand, how could he tear himself away from the
work at this critical period, when the goal so long sought was

almost in sight? He again proposed to the committee to go into

the mountains and collect all the information possible, before

returning with his children ; then stay about a year in America,

recover his health, provide places for them, and again go back to
the mountains. But, before he had finished the letter, word
came from Mr. Homes, at Constantinople, that the committee
had appointed them to go into Mesopotamia and Kurdistan, and
fix on a station whither Dr. Grant should remove with his family,

and Mr. Homes stay till a reinforcement should arrive.

It was by this time past the middle of February, and the be-
reaved husband, now sadly free for the enterprise to which
God had called him, hurried back to Oroomiah, to prepare
for the undertaking.
But, ere we set out on the journey, let us take a view of the
field before him. At what time the Nestorians entered the
Mountains of Kurdistan it seems now impossible to determine.
The merciless Tamerlane, in the middle of the fourteenth
century, doubtless drove multitudes for shelter to these fast-
nesses. But other facts would indicate that a part of them
had previously settled there. Indeed, how would they have
dared to flee thither, had not some of theirown people been
there to receive them ? Kurdish fanaticism in that age could
have been scarcely more tolerable than that of Timoor himself.
The Kurds appear to have been there from a very early
period. Xenophon and his Greeks, b. c. 400, had reason
 MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. 103

to remember them. Some say that the Kir mentioned in

^1 Kings 16 9, Isa. 22 6, and Amos 1 5, refers to the Kiirds,
: : :

and that thej are identical with the Parthians, who slew Crassus
and twenty thousand of his soldiers, 53 b. c. But, though these
positions are doubtful, yet it is well known that the celebrated
Saladin was a Kurd, and others besides him* have risen to

distinction. Dwelling in secluded valleys, separated from

one another by rugged mountains, whose snowy sunmiits pour
down streams on every side to refresh the vegetation below,
their character partakes at once of the force and exclusiveness
peculiar to mountaineers. Divided into numerous tribes,

whose interests often interfere, they are ferocious, rather than

brave. Accustomed to stratagem and surprise, they are noted

for suspicion and treachery, and quite as celebrated for their

robberies as for either. In the language of Mr. Dwight, " They

have the character of sly rogues, full of hospitality and full of
deceit. This witness is true." Mr. Rich, who gives a very
good character to the tribes further south, says, " Those of

Khoshnav and Rowandiz are, to the last degree, savage and

stupid ; they have no sort of scruple about murder, but would
not miss a prayer for the world. Years ago, two districts

quarrelled about a dog, and seventy men fell on the spot, thirty
of them in a mosque, where they had just united in prayer ; and
the quarrel is kept up to this day." ^
But the Hakkary tribe is perhaps one of the most faithless and
ferocious among them. Mr. Rich's tatar^ who travelled from
Bagdad to Van, through Amadia and Julamerk, said, " They
were wilder than any Kurds or Arabs he had ever seen." In
this goodly class, however, he seems to have included the Moun-
tain Nestorians as well as the Kurds. The same causes that

have closed the Hakkary country to travellers from without

have given full scope to the development of Kurdish character
within.
* Kurdistan and Nineveh, i. 150.
9=*
104 UR . aRA N T AN D TnE

But, as their character will sufficiently appear in what followh,

a word on the political condition of Kurdistan previovts to the
visits of Dr. Grant may here suffice. Nominally subject now to
Turkey and now to Persia, but never really to either, it en-

joyed a wild liberty of its own, listening to the overtures of

both sides, as seemed most favorable at the moment for plun-

der or immunity. The tribes were governed by hereditary

chiefs ; though the inheritance was not always allowed to pass
quietly in the natural course. The predecessor of the emir was
the father of his nephew, Suleiman Bey, to whom, of course, the

government rightfully belonged. Superior abilities, however,

prevailed over hereditary right ; and to the lawful heir was

assigned an inferior post, his rival keeping a strict look-out for

anything like an effort to recover his own. He had not dared to
kill him, for the son of their old emir had many powerful adher-
ents in the clan, and, according to Kui'dish law, the murder
of Suleiman Bey would have been the signal for his own, and
the commencement of a blood-feud in the tribes, whose end none
could foresee ; for their lex talionis requires the descendants of

the murdered, however remote, to retaliate on the relations of the

murderer, till the equilibrium is restored to the satisfaction of all

concerned.
The hostility between the Nestorians and the Hakkary Kiu'ds
seems to date back as far as the establishment of Christianity
and Mohammedanism side by side in the mountains. This had
been aggravated recently by the present Patriarch grasping
after a degree of power said to have been unknown to his pre-

decessors ; and, as he possessed no little diplomatic tact and

energy, the jealousy of the Kurds towards the Nestorians was
full as great as it ever had been. The late emir had been his
personal friend, and that friendship was now transferred to his
son. This, of course, did not promote any kind feelings between
him and the usurper, Suleiman Bey naturally sided with Mar
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 105

Shimon ; and this, again, increased the jealousy of the emir

against both.
This unhappy state of things occasioned the burning of the
Patriarch's house, at Kochannes, before ever Dr. Grant entered
the mountains, and continued afterwards to produce results yet
more disastrous ; for the emir, with all this difficulty at home,
sought to strengthen himself by alliance abroad, at one time
with Tarkey, at another with Persia, but most of all with Badir
Khan Bey, chief of Buhtan, generally known under the title of
the Bey, as Suleiman Bey was by that of the Mudebbir.
Meanwhile, the Turks, who included Kurdistan within the
limits of their empire, w^ere annoyed by the existence of Nes-
torians and Kurds, ecpally independent, within its boundaries,
and they were determined to subdue them.
Mohammed Pasha, of Mosul, having subdued his own rebel-
lious district, and also the Kurds of Bahdinan and Berwer, now
looked with longing eyes across the boundary of independent
Kurdistan, and sought to add that also to his extensive pashalic.
Badir Khan Bey, a friend of the emir, was a chigsf in the
prime of life, of commanding influence among the tribes, and

full of ambitious schemes, aiming at nothing less than entire

independence of the Sultan, the subjugation of the Mountain
Nestorians, and the union of all Kurdistan under his single sway.
Such was the troubled sea, vexed by opposing storms, on
which Dr. Grant was about to launch, in the name of Christ and
his kingdom.
 CHAPTER VII.

JOURNEY TO MESOPOTAMIA AND ASSYRIA

SALMAS DISAPPOIVlMENT ^
CONSTANTINOPLE ERZRUM DIARBEKR AND ANARCHY MARDIN
MOBS, AND NARROW ESCAPE MOSUL Ui;rTERS YEZIDEE3
SICKNESS
MAR MATTAI AKRA GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES.

Dr. Grant left Oroomiah 'April 1, 1839, proposing to join

Mr. Homes at Erzrura but, on reaching Salmas, he learned

;

that the mission at Constantinople had prevented his coming,

supposing the death of Mrs. Grant would break up the enter-
prise. Looking on this as one of many indications of Prov-
idence in favor of entering from Persia, he wrote to Oroo-
miah, urging the unsettled state of Mesopotamia in favor

of that course, an argument that must have been often in his

mind oil that sick bed, at Mardiu, and afterwards. He sent,

also, a letter from Yahya Khan, assuring them he would do

everything to insure the success he did not doubt would crown

the attempt. But the majority did not favor the plan ;
and Dr.
Grant pressed on to Constantinople, though an unusually late

fall of snow made the journey not a little perilous. For more
than two hundred miles it was from two to four feet deep. On
the plain, near Ararat, he encountered a terrible storm, and
almost perished in the mountains beyond. There for twenty
miles he did not find a single human habitation. He himself

had to take the place of his guide, who was blinded by the snow,
and, where the path was not swept bare, trust to the recollec-
tions of his journey four years before. In descending the
mountain, he could only determine when he was out of the path
by the depth to which he sank in the snow.
 DR. GRANT AND THE NESTOR lANS. 107

Near the sources of the Euphrates two of the party became

blind from the glare of the snow ; and they found shelter in a

stable, at MooUah Suleiman, such as Xenophon described, two

thousand years before, built mostly underground, and, at a

distance, resembling flattened charcoal-pits. The next stage led

over the pass of Dahar, where Messrs. Smith and Dwight suffered
so much, and himself, also, on his previous passage. Three men
had perished there shortly before his arrival. But rain had
set in, and he must cross before the snow became soft ; for then

horses would sink to their bodies at every step. He did so ; but,

on the mountain, the rain clianged to snow : the wind soon blew

a gale, and the snow was so deep the horses could not advance.
To crown all, the guide lost the path, and declared it impossible

to go on. Turning back was equally out of the question, as

their tracks were obliterated by the wind, that would then be in
their faces. In such a situation, benumbed and weak as he was,
the courage of Dr. Grant did not fail. He could not tell how
they would be delivered, but he had a sweet assurance that
deliverance would come ; and, like Paul in the ship, he encour-
aged his companions to new effort. God did not put to shame
the confidence of his servant ; for, just then, as unlooked-for as
angels from heaven, four mountaineers came tramping over the
snow before them ; and, one of them consenting to turn back,
they passed in safety on foot, the men breaking down the

drifts for the horses that followed after, and exploring the path
by thrusting their long staves deep into the snow.

The next day, fording some tributaries of the Aras must have
recalled his Braintrim experience, as his horse was carried away
in one of them, and with difficulty regained the shore. He
reached Erzrum April 17. and rested a day with his kind friend
Dr. Riach, then in that place. It was well for him that he

hastened as he did, since the road continued impassable for

weeks. His health improved amid all these hardships. He
vomited but little west of Salmas, and was troubled with fever
108 DR. GRANT AND THE

only for two or three daj'S after leaving that place. On thv

ISth he left Erzrum for Constantinople, "vrithout any attendant

except the surijee (hostler) from the post-house. Next day he
found the bridge over the west branch of the Euphrates had
fallen in the night, and he got across only after the villagers of

Ashkala had wrought for an hour in the cold water, up to the

waist. He rode twenty hours that day, and his horse fell with

him twice, the day after, in the snow and mud. Arriving at
Trebizond the 22d, he sailed, three days after, in the steamer,

for Constantinople. Here new difficulties awaited him. Owing

to the persecution then raging, and the absence of Mi;;. Dwight
in America, 3Ir. Homes could not then be spared; and, as it

was altogether uncertain when he could leave, Dr. Grant pro-

posed to go on alone to Diarbekr, and wait there a reasonable
time and then, if Mr. Homes did not appear, to do what he
could without him. To this they all agreed ; and he returned
immediately to Erzrum. Here he waited nine days for his

Srman from Constantinople, spending the time pleasantly and

profitably with Dr. Riach, Col. Shell and consul Brant. The
last two, having travelled extensively in Kurdistan, gave him
much valuable information ; and he had free access to their

libraries, which were well supplied with whatever related to

the history of that region. While here he wrote to Mr. Merrick,

May 18 :

" I expect to leave here on the 20th, or soon after, for Diar-

bekr ; but whether m}' health will allow me to stay there long,

or whether political disturbances may affect my movements, I

know not. From this distance the horizon looks dark and low-
erino-. Hafiz Pasha is recruiting his army, and it is said the

Pasha of Bagdad has been ordered to join him.

" I trust you are now quietly seated down in shall I say

my own quiet home ? 0, no I Once and again have I had a

peaceful, happy ho7ne, with all that could render it delightful.

Have I, then, a home no more ? Yes; where the dearest objects

 '.. ';.'
' ^>
> ' ' ' ' J > ' 5

:^#b^

.'i

\ M
"4

''^^'

"III
I
 MOUNTAIN NE S T II I AN S . Ill

of my aiFections are, there is my home. With Him who is the

theme of their joyful anthems, with Him who said I go to prepare

a place for you in my Father's house, there is my home.

"What matter, then, if for a time I wander a lonely pilgrim in a
strange land, when, at best, I must be absent from my home
while in this vale of tears ? Let me lay up treasures in my
home on high. Let me but find some precious gem to grace my
Sovereign's crown, and gladly will I toil on amid trials to the end."

On the way to Diarbekr he crossed some of the mountain-

torrents on solid bridges of snow, and was ferried over the
Euphrates, at Paloo, on a raft supported by inflated goat-skins.
Arriving at Diarbekr on the 30th, nine days from Erzrum, he
found the city awaiting in suspense news from the battle of
Nizib. The defeat of the Turks was soon manifest in the arrival

of hundreds of fugitives, completely stripped by the Kurds.

From that moment anarchy reigned. Robbery and murder
were the order of the day. None dared leave the city without
a guard, and even in the streets the arm of the strongest was the
only law. Though the pasha hung up five heads, and four times
as many ears, of malefactors, in the bazaars, yet, two days after,

these very bxizaars witnessed the most daring robberies. The

people ascribed their defeat to Frapk innovations in military
tactics; and when Mr. Homes arrived, on July 3, he and
Dr. Grant not only heard themselves cursed in the streets, but
the peopje openly declared their purpose of killing every Euro-
pean in the place.

Finding Diarbekr becoming so unsafe, both from anarchy and

the unhealthy climate, the thermometer being already 98 in

the shade, they left for Mardin on the 10th of July, with an
escort of thirty horsemen, part sent by the pasha, and part
returning to that place. They had intended to prosecute in-
quiries among the Syrian Christians of that vicinity; but not
even here did they find rest for the soles of their feet. Their
lives were openly threatened only a few days after their arrival,
112 DR. GRANT AND THE

SO that the governor oflFered them a guard. This they declined,
not thinking it best to manifest any alarm ; and soon all excite-

ment died away, and they visited the pasha and others of the
nobility in quiet.
Aiid now fresh trouble came, in the form of a severe attack
of inflammation of the bowels. This caused much suflering, and
for a while held him suspended over the grave. In the near
prospect of death, next to his concern for his absent children, his
greatest grief was that he had come so far to do so little, instead

of entering the mountains at once, from Persia. The prospect

before him was far from encourao;ino;. There were no Nesto-
rians remaining in Mosul, all had gone over to the Pope;
and it was doubtful, if he went there, whether he could remain
in safety, or proceed either east or south. Bagdad was in com-
motion ; so was Sulimanieh ; and Turkish authority was very
weak in the whole region. At one time it seemed as if Provi-
dence, hedging up their way in every other direction, would lead
them to Aleppo, to wait for a more favorable time ; and, ever
ready to follow the leadings of Providence, however they opposed
his own plans, he concluded to go there, " unless other indica-

tions should arise." Carefully to observe the intimations of the

divine will, and implicitly to follow them, were principles that
governed the whole conduct of Dr. Grant. His child-like reli-

ance on Providence is beautifully illustrated by an incident that

occurred during this journey. " Suppose that, when you reach
," said a friend, " you find you cannot stay there, what
vv'ill you do ? " "I will go to ." " And suppose that
then your way is hedged up ? " I will do so and so, was the
reply. At length, thinking he had certainly brought him
to a stand, his friend asked, "And what then?" "I do
not now know," said Dr. Grant " but, when God brings me ;

there, he will point out the way in time enough for me to walk

in it." This spirit of reliance on God furnishes a key to much

in his subsequent course that were otherwise inexplicable ; for,
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 113

being assured that the mountains formed a part of "all the

world " into which the disciples were to go and preach the gos-
pel,and that the existing exigences of the mission rendered it
exceedingly desirable that it should be done immediately, he
took it for granted that God would take care of the man who
should endeavor to do it, and afford him all necessary guidance,
just so fast and so far as it was required. He did not need to

wait long, on the present occasion. That God who had proved
the faith of his servant so often, subjects it to only one trial

more before he gives him the desire of his heart.

On the 6th of September, while Dr. Grant was riding out with
Mr. Homes, the mob killed the governor, in his palace, in open
day ; and, after putting several leading men to death, sought
the lodging of the missionaries, with their bloody weapons. But
God had led them out when they returned, made the gates
; and,
to shut out those whom man thus meant to shut in for slaughter.
They retired to Deir Zafran, the convent of the Jacobite
Patriarch, about four miles distant, where they were kindly
sheltered till the storm subsided. Some of the ringleaders,
finding they were not in the city, pursued them to the village

they had been visiting, and would have followed them to the
convent, had not a division among themselves compelled them to

turn back from their bloody errand.

Dr. Grant and Mr. Homes had now spent two months in
Mardin. They had found that no Nestorians remained west of
the Kurdish mountains; and, finding so little hope of usefulness,
with so much peril, Mr. Homes, in accordance with the ad-
vice of brethren at Constantinople and Smyrna, resolved to

return. Dr. Grant, with a full view of the trials before him in

his solitary journey, could not withhold his consent. In review

ing those days of trial, he says :
" They had been days of
mingled anxiety and pleasure, not to be forgotten while memory
remains. I had just risen from a sick bed, on which the tide
of life seemed fast ebbing to a close, when the insurrection
10
114 DR. GRANT AND THE

occurred; and the divine interposition cf that day tended not a

little to strengthen my foith, and arm me for whatever perils

might still await me.

" Within the ruined walls of an ancient church, which stands
in a lonely ravine, overlooked by the town, I exchanged the part-
ino- embrace with my brother and companion in tribulation. On
account of the anarchy around us, we had travelled together
barely two days but, on a bed of sickness and surrounded by
;

men of blood, I had learned to prize the company of a Christian

friend, and it was not without a struggle each tore himself away
from the other. But while Providence called him back to Con-
"
me it seemed to cry Onward to the mountains
!
'
stantinople, to '

Dr. Grant may be deemed an enthusiast. But, with less in-

terest for the salvation of men, he had turned back from the
snows of Armenia, or fled before the surges of anarchy as they
broke over Mount Masius, or grown timid in the languor of dis-

ease, or shrunk from the possible repetition of his recent perils

when friendless But he looked at the deliverance
and alone.
rather than at the danger. In his own words, " That diviiie
interposition armed him for future perils." The great object
before him justified his pressing forward for well he knew that,
;

while none dared advise him to proceed, lest he should fall, yet

every friend of the mission was most anxious that he should

enter the mountains. Moreover, it was just as dangerous to go
backward as forward; and he resolved to go to Mosul, intending,

in case he could not enter from thence, to return by a more

southern route to Persia.

Disguised in an oriental dress, he returned to Mardin, to pre-
pare for the journey and so changed was his appearance
;

that he remained two days unrecognized and undisturbed.

While there, the cannon of the citadel proclaimed the subjection

of the town to the strong arm of the Pasha of Mosul. This

rendered his journey thither safe, and, as though providence

would further approve of his purpose, he was favored with

 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. 115

the agreeable society of Captain Conolly, who, through many

dangers, had come thus far on his way to India with despatches.
It was his sad fate, on the banks of the Oxus, that afterwards
occasioned the journey of the eccentric Dr. Wolff to Bokhara.
These two men were kindred spirits, and must have enjoyed
the society of each other in their journey through the home
of the ancient patriarchs. They encountered some Kurds, who
had intended to rob them, but slunk away from the fearless

travellers, backed by a few Arabs from their last night's encamp-

ment. Dr. Grant says of this part of his journey, "The
sketches of Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel, as portrayed by Moses,
were reproduced in the shepherdess watering her father's
flocks at the wells, or at the close of day carrying her pitcher to

the distant fountains. We seemed to be carried back four

thousand years, to commune with Abraham, living in just such

tents, and moving from place to place like the present Arabs
of Mesopotamia." A journey of nearly two hundred miles
brought them in safety to Mosul, on the 20th of Sept., 1839.
This is a walled city, with eight gates, situated on an emi-
nence on the western bank of the Tigris. As this was one of
the rivers that watered Paradise, it deserves a passing notice.
It has two sources, in southern Anti Taurus. One about twenty
miles west of Arghana Maaden, and ten south of Goljik lake
the other in Ali Dagh (Mount Niphates), near Paloo, where
Dr. Grant crossed the Euphrates, and twenty-five miles north
of Myafarekin. About two hundred and seventy-five miles from

its western source it receives the Bitlis Soo (second Nicephorius

of Xenophon), one hundred miles in length, and some fifty yards

wide, just above its mouth. The Tigris there is three times as

wide, and more than twice as deep. Soon after this, it receives

the Buhtan Chai (Centrites of Xenophon), and flows on without

further addition, till the united waters of the Hazil and Habor
empty into it below Jezira. This is the last it receives north of

Mosul, where, at the bridge, the narrowest part, it is three hun-

116 DR. GRANT AND THE

dred and five feet broad, and '

juhl: below it fi% feet deep.

Other places are wider and shallower. The average breadth

between Mosul and Bagdad is two hundred yards. The whole
length of the river, to its junction with the Euphrates, is one

thousand one hundred and forty-six miles. Its mean velocity at

Bagdad is 7.33 feet per second, while that of the Euphrates at

Hit is only 4.46, and the Nile, at Cairo, 1.11. The Tigris

varies greatly in size at different seasons. It is lowest in Octo-

ber and the beginning of November, after the long drought of

summer. After the middle of November it rises a little, then
decreases and swells irregularly, till its tributaries are frozen up
in the mountains of Kurdistan. The great rise begins about the

middle of March, and increases with the melting of the distant

enows, till it attains its height, between the middle and the end
of May ; and then again decreases gradually till October. It is

navigated, as in the days of Herodotus, with rafte supported

by inflated goat-skins. Small ones, about eighteen feet by six-
teen, and supported by some thirty-two skins, come down from

Diarbekr to Mosul, a distance of two hundred and ninety-six

miles. From Mosul to Bagdad larger ones are used, sometimes

supported by as many as three hundred skins. This voyage

occupies three or four days in high water, and sometimes as

many as fifteen, when it is low. The rafts are taken to pieces at

Bagdad, the timber sold, and the skins carried back again, to be

used in the construction of new rafts. "^

Dr. Grant found all quiet in Mosul, under the efficient rule

of Mohammed Pasha. Little did he think that the house in

which he then lodged was but a few feet distant from his grave.

But so it proved ; for it was next door to the church of Mar

Tooma, where his body now lies awaiting the morn of the resur-

rection. AVhile here he wrote a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Perkins,

* See Col. Chesney's Euphrates and Tigris, where, vol. i. 39, he

gives 7.33 feet per second as the highest, and again, page 62, as the
mean velocity of the current of the Tigris.
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 117

sympathizing with them in the loss of their favorite Justin.

" You and I," says he, " are called to drink often of the cup of
affliction. Would that I could have been with you ; but, though

you had no earthly physician, there was one present to whom he

was dearer than even to you. Well may you say, with David,
'
I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.' Yes, soon
shall we meet the loved ones who sleep in Jesus, never, never

more to part. If our home is above, let us rejoice that a part

of our little family has gone to our ' Father's house '
before us.

But, though we would not murmur, yet agony sometimes so over-

whelms, for the moment, that y^e feel as if it must not be so. But
God is your comforter, and to Him I commend you.
" Since I left you, I have more than once feared I should
never rejoin your peaceful circle, and even now the prospect
looks uncertain. But I love to think the Lord is your keeper,
and in Him only would 1 trust ; to Him alone would I look for
guidance, neither shrinking from trial or rushing into danger
uncalled. To preserve his life for his great work is the most

solemn duty of the missionary. But I also believe that a readi-

ness to face danger, and even death, is implied in the command

to take up the cross, and fear not them who can kill the body.

Paul counted not his life dear unto himself. Christ sent forth
his disciples as sheep among wolves, and told them that the
time would come when whosoever killed them would think he
did God service ; as the Moslems at Mardin, when they had
killed a Christian in his bed, a few days before we fled, boasted
that it was a work of merit, for which God would reward them.
Perhaps by our perils there, God would teach us that he who
seeketh to save his life shall lose it ; for it was to avoid what
were deemed greater perils that that route was recommended.
I hope to leave for Amadia in a ?QVf days, and what course I

shall pursue then will depend on the indications of Providence

at the time."

The day before he left Mosul he wrote to Mr. Merrick.

10=^
118 I) R . GRANT A ^ D THE

After describing his perplexities in view of tlie difficulties before

him, and the advice of some to abandon the enterprise, he
proceeds :

" Why, then, ami still prosecuting further plans and labors in

this region, while my path cannot be free from danger, and so

many of my brethren have advised me to leave the field ? I
look upon the objects I hope, by the blessing of God, to accom-
plish, as of very great importance, not only to all missionary
labors in these parts, but to our own mission, to the whole body
of the Nestorians, and also to my own fiiirest hopes of future
usefulness. I cannot leave the field till I have reasons which
I can plead at the judgment-seat, where I expect soon to stand.
" Whether I shall penetrate further into the mountains I cannot
decide now, but shall be guided by future indications. I feel
reluctant to enter upon so important an undertaking entirely
unsupported by the Board or my missionary brethren, and I
am aware that many will accuse me of madness for doing it.

But it is a small thing to be judged of man's judgment. My

-motives, my feelings, my desires, my hopes, are all open to the
eye of God. To Him I commit my case, myself, my all. By
His judgment I stand or fall. If I am successful, to Hi?)i be all

the glory. If I fail, I fail in a good cause, and, through the

grace which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, it may be set to my
account that it ivas in my heart to succeed, that God might be
glorified. In myself lam weak, I am nothing; but I. feel

strong in the Lord, in whom is everlasting strength; not a hair

of my head will be touched without his permission. So long as
he requires my poor services here, he will take care of me. For
him would I live, and for him would I die. Then I can say,
for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."'

On the morning of Oct. 7 Dr. Grant left Mosul for the unex-
plored regions of Kurdistan, accompanied by two Nestorians
from Persia, a Kiirdish muleteer and a kavass (police-officer),

IVora ^he Pasha. Leaving the gate, he passed at once on to the

Y KZIDEES.
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. liil

bridge of twenty-one boats that here spans the Tigris, crowded

with men and animals in picturesque confusion. This passed,

he stood amid the ruins of Nineveh, novr waste and desolate.

Black Arab tents occupied the place of her palaces, and some
of their women were weaving sackcloth, as if for the mourning
attire of her " whose merchants were multiplied above the stars
of heaven." On one of the ancient mounds stands the modern
village of Nebby Yunas (the Prophet Jonah), and under the
mosque they pretend to show his tomb.

Four hours' ride brings him to Baasheka, a large village of

the Yezidees. Extensive olive-groves impart a cheerful aspect to
the scene, and several tombs of their Sheikhs attract his attention

as he approaches. These are cubical structures, surmounted by

fluted cones, tliat rise to the height of about twenty feet. They
are built of stone and lime, plastered on the outside, and present
a neat appearance among the rough, flat-roofed houses of the

village. His welcome into one of the latter was not the most
cordial ; but the cavass at once understood the trouble, and re-
moved it. Dr. Grant had been mistaken for a Moslem, and as
soon as the host was enlightened on that matter he welcomed
him with alacrity ; for Yezidees like Christians much better than
they do their Mohammedan neighbors.

They believe in one God, and teach that Satan substituted a

Jew for our Saviour on the cross, so that Christ ascended into
heaven without having died, and will appear again from thence
to subdue all men to himself. They baptize both by immersion
and sprinkling, use the sign of the cross, and, putting off their

shoes, kiss the threshold of a Christian church before they

enter, but never visit a mosque. Moreover, they practise cir-

cumcision ; but, along with all this, they have also a leaven of
Sabianism. They adore the rising sun, and kiss the object first

touched by his early rays. They will not blow out a candle, or
spit in the fire, lest they defile that sacred element. They will

not speak disrespectfully of Satan, alleging that, though now

122 DR. GK A N T AND T HE

fallen, he will one day be restored to lavor, wnen it might be

inconvenient to be found among his enemies. Instead of pro-
nouncing his name, they call him Lord of the Evening, or Sheikh

Maazem (exalted chief) ; nor will they tolerate the mention of

the word Shat, the usual name of the Tigris, because of its re-

semblance to Sheitan (Satan) ; even the word naal (a horse-shoe)

is also proscribed, because it is only a transposition of laan (to

curse), as though Satan were either accursed or cursing. It

is said they used to make offerings to him by throwing
money
and jewels into a deep pit in the mountains of Sinjar, which the

Turks plundered of the offerings of centuries when that district

was conquered. Here the Yezidees call themselves Daseni,

from the ancient name of t\ie province, Dasen. It was a Nes-

torian bishopric in early times. Their great temple at Sheikh
Adi, where they come together to their annual festivals, is said

to have been once a Christian convent. Mr. Rich calls them

brave, hospitable and good-humored, and says that under the
British government much might be made of them. Dr. Grant
asks, " Can nothing be made of them under the gospel ? " and
adds, " That will be a joyful day when prayer and praise to
God shall ascend from hearts now devoted to the prince of
darkness."
Two hours' ride to the north-east brought him in sight of

the ruined convent of Mar Mattai (St. Matthew), founded 334

A. D., in the days of Sapor, and containing the tomb of the cele-
brated Abulfaraj, whom even Gibbon styles " eminent, both in his
life and death. In his life, as an elegant writer of both Syriac and
Arabic, a poet, physician and historian, a subtle philosopher and
a moderate divine ; in his death, as his funeral was attended by
his rival, the Nestorian Patriarch, with a train of Greeks and
Armenians, who forgot their disputes, and mingled their tears
over the grave of an enemy." It stands high up on the south-

western acclivity of Jebel Maklub. For some time before

reachiny; the foot of the mountain, one wonders how he is to
 MOUNTAIN NESTOR lANS. 123

climb the rock before him. It rises with so steep and uniform
a slope as seems, at least, to forbid all approach on horseback
The hollows in the side of the mountain look as if a huge knife
had been inserted at the top and drawn downwards, the incision
deepening and spreading as it went. The convent is perched
upon a narrov^ ridge, between two of these, about half way up,
and at a distance seems inaccessible; but, once under it, all

is explained, a zig-zag path, partly cut in the rock, partly

built against the sloping sides, leads up to the very door. The
steepness of the ascent may appear from the fact that lumps of
stone and mortar, from the ruined walls, have rolled to the
bottom of the hill, though a horse descending rapidly needs
some twenty minutes to follow down the road. The buildings
are large and irregular, comprising two churches and several
edifices, with courts, besides many cells cut in the living rock.
When Dr. Grant was there they were deserted, owing to the
ravages of the Ravendooz Kurds, who plundered the convent
and killed several of the monks, seven years before. They have
since been repaired, and occupied by a bishop and monks ; but
how changed from the populous structure of former days, that
justified the boastful inscription on its walls of " Dairo Ale-
phoyo " ! (monastery of thousands).
In the hollow beyond the convent is a cave at the very apex
of the valley. A semicircular wall of rock, rising high above it

and sweeping far round on either side, leaves hardly room for
the path that leads up to it; but, once there, you are abun-
dantly rewarded for all your toil. Behind you is an inner cham-
ber, in which the Avater falls, drop by drop, into a crystalline
pool below, and passes noiselessly into a basin at your side, so
clear that the rays of the sun do not reveal a single mote in its

pellucid depths. Lying there in the cool shade of the rock, and
looking out under the large trees directly before the cave, your
eye overlooks the lower ridge, between you and Baasheka, and
ranges over the vast plain of Assyria, across the Tigris, and far
124 DR. OR ANT AND THE

into Mesopotamia. You gaze on a scene at once classical

and There Nimrod, Sardanapalus, and Sennacherib,

sacred.

lived and reigned. Xenophon and his ten thousand men once
crossed that plain and so did Alexander. Romans and Sara-
;

cens in turn have marched their armies there. Over the Tigris,

at Mosul, Tamerlane built a bridge, across which his hordes

passed continuously for seven days. And yet this place, so

lovely in itself, and so suggestive of great thoughts, is the sum-

mer resort of the Jacobites of Mosul, to drink and carouse.

Their bottles of arrack lie in the crystal pool, and these rocky
walls reecho their bacchanalian revelry.
While Dr. Grant visited these places his attendants had gone
on, and he overtook them, just at dusk, in the Yezidee village
of Mohammed Eavshan. Here his accommodations were so
wretched that, to avoid the vermin in the houses, he spread his
carpet out of doors ; and, after a social chat over some yogboort
(sour milk) and herbs boiled together, all that the village

could afford, he lay down to sleep in the open air. Fortu-

nately a shower of rain disturbed him in time to recover his

horse just as robbers were leading him away.

Next morning he mounted at dawn, and entered a broad, level

plain, watered by the Hazir and its tributaries. This is the

Bumadus, on whose banks was fought the famous battle between

Alexander and Darius. ^
He found the Nestorians reduced to a few villages in the
northern part of this district, and the fertile plain desolated by
war four times within six years, twice by the Kiirds, and then
by the Turkish Pashas of Mosul and Bagdad, till the miser-

able inhabitants had scarce a morsel to eat or a house to shelter

* The names of the Hazir and Gomel are accidentally transposed on Dr.
Grant's former map; and the name of Beth Garmte (house of bones) which ,

he applies to this region, belongs to a district further south, about Kerkuk

Kifri and Suleimanieh, below the lower Zab. Assemani (iv. 747) says it

is south of Adiabene and Erbil, and north of Sittacene and Apolloniatis.

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 125

them. Instead of furnishing Dr. Grant with food, they begged

it from him, as, four years after, ihej did from the writer of
these pages.
In the afternoon, as he approached Akra, the scene was
changed. For a mile the road was shaded by a continuous can-
opy of foliage. The golden pomegranate blended with the rich
green of the olive ; the luscious fig alternated with the peach and
the apricot. The plum and cherry tree, too, w^ere there ; and,
under all, the modest blackberry held out its fruit within his

reach on the saddle. It was the first time he had seen it since

leaving home, and he welcomed it as a friend of his early days.

The luxuriant fertility of the plain is in striking contrast with

the bare crags of the mountains, that rise abruptly behind the
town. A castle, perched on the nearest cliff", had just been

demolished by the Turks, and its chief carried prisoner to Bag-

dad. Another of the same family had been set over the province
of Amadia ; and it was to secure his protection through the
district that Dr. Grant had taken this route, longer, by two
days, than that through Elkosh.
He welcomed the lonely missionary with Persian politeness,
rose from his carpet as he entered his tent among the gardens,
and seated him at his side, saying he regarded his visit as a
favor from God. This was all explained, as, hardly waiting for
a reply, he held out his hand for the doctor to feel his pulse.
After prescribing for him, they conversed freely in both Turk-
ish and Persian, his guest adroitly turning the conversation to

the charms of the surrounding scenery whenever it verged

toward local politics, a topic he did not care to meddle with.
A son of the chief, about eight years old, ran in with a pome-
granate he had pierced with a rifle-ball, and received a present
for such proficiency in Kurdish education. This consists mostly
in learning to handle weapons skilfully, and ride fearlessly over
the roughest of their mountain-roads. Some knowledge of
letters is acquired, indeed, by men of rank, and there are even
 ;

126 DR. GRANT AND THE

females who can read the Koran; yet, with all this want of
education, Dr. Grant found the Kurds manifest a desire for
information truly encouraging. Before he left the tent the
chief gave the kavass a receipt for his safe delivery, as though
he had been a bale of goods ; and assigned him a guard of his

own, since he was now responsible for his safety, to the Nestorian
border.
Dr. Grant spent the second evening with the mutsellim (local

governor), who was verging on delirium tremens, from drinking

so much brandy, to counteract, as he said, the bad water of the
place. Like Saul, he had summoned a skilful musician to expel
the evil spirit by the soothing strains of a harp, that had origin-
ally seventy -two strings ; and, though eight of them were broken,
the music was still quite harmonious. Tlie doctor, along with

other remedies, prescribed total abstinence, and we shall hear

from his patient aga'in.

Akra boasted of a Nestorian school in its earlier days but ;

now only twenty villages of that sect remained in the district.

Those in the town some thirty houses had become Papists
and they and the Jacobites each had a church excavated in the

solid rock of the mountain. The whole population might amount

to two thousand souls.

Dr. Grant, having sold his horse, set off at sunrise, Oct. 10,

on a mule. At first his road lay along the base of the moun-
tains to the west ; then, entering a pass to the north, he came to

the Hazir. He had now left the route of former travellers, and
fairly entered on an unexplored region. The first day he passed
three or four Nestorian villages, one of which contained nearly
a thousand souls, and at night lodged in a Kurdish hamlet, at
deadly strife with another just in sight. Three men had been
killed from that, and only two from this ; and now the former
were watching to settle the quarrel by the deliberate murder of
another of their neighbors. On the third day from Akra he
entered Amadia, the first European that had stood within its
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 127

waLs. This town is situated on the top of a rocky truncated

cone, about a thousand feet high, separated from the Matineh
range by a narrow dell, and overlooks the large and irregular
valley of the Sapna, which lies between that range and the Gara
on the south. The wheat of the valley is good and abundant,
and the grapes the finest Dr. Grant had seen. The raisins made
here are celebrated even in Persia. But the climate is very
unhealthy, and war had made sad h;ivoc among the people. Dr.
Grant climbed up a long and weary foot-path, and passed the
Turkish sentinels at the gate, at two p. m., Oct. 12. The chief
he had visited at Akra was not allowed to enter this fortified
post ; and, with his castle there in ruins, and a strong garrison
here, the province was deemed secure against revolt. Out of a
thousand houses in the tov/n, three-quarters were now in ruins,

and the sickly looks of the remaining inhabitants heightened the

general aspect of desolation. Both the civil and military gov-

ernor were sick, so that the visit of a physician was to them
most welcome. Dr. Grant spent a quiet Sabbath here ; and, so
completely did their language and general appearance resemble
their own, that his Nestorian attendants rebuked some of the
Jews (there were about a hundred families there) for working on
the Lord's day. He found that more than half the Nestorians
of tl'C province had fallen away to the Pope, though the adher-
ents of Mar Shimon were much more numerous in Berwer, the
next district to the north.

Dr. Grant ascertained that the Habor, or Khabor, rises near

Julamerk, and flows within ten hours of this place, to the west,

and is not the same with tlie Bitlis Soo, as McDonald Kinneir
had asserted ; while the Zab, visible from the walls some ten
miles to the east, was identical with the Hakkary river of the
maps. And though a certain English writer, who ought to
have known better, "^ says that the Ravandooz tributary had
bee a mistaken for the Great Zab up to the visit of Mr. Ains-

* Chesney's Euphrates and Tigi-is, vol. i. p. 24.

11
128 DR. GRANT AND THE NESTORIANS.

wm-th in 1841, ^ yet Dr. Grant, in 1839, discovered that it was

only a branch, and tbat the so-called Haksary river was the
real Zab, and published his discovery, both in England and
America, before Mr. Ainsworth. That the author of the Eu-
phrates Expedition was not ignorant of Dr. Grant's book,
appears from his reference to it on the 113th page of the same
volume ; so that such a statement is the more difficult to explain.

On Monday, besides attending to the sick of the town. Dr.

Grant prescribed for more than forty of the garrison, and
received the warmest thanks of the governor, who said God had
sent him to them, when they had neither medicine nor physician,

to alleviate their sufferings.

Kasha Mendo, the Nestorian priest, bewailed the low state of

his church, and feared that his people, in their ignorance, would
fall before the wiles and violence of the Papists. His own
father had been bastinadoed into papacy. " But, with God and
truth on our side," says Dr. Grant, " we have nothing to fear, if

we only do our duty." The Nestorians have nobly stood their

ground, and are still on the watch-tower. As I approached

their rocky fastnesses, their first inquiry was whether I were a

'
Catoleek,' declaring such wolves in sheep's clothing could never
enter there."

* This mistake is still continued, even in such a work as Black's Gene

ral Atlas, Edinburgh, 1851.
 ;

CHAPTER VIII.

FIRST JOURNEY IN THE MOUNTAINS

DUREE VIEW FROM SUMMIT OP
PASS RECEPTION LEZAN SABBATH SACRAMENT ASHITHA
PRIEST ABRAHAM CHUMBA
MALEK NESTORIAN WOMEN NAZEE
MOUNTAIN-ROADS MAR SHIMON 'S RESIDENCE JULAMERK BASH
KALAH, AND SICKNESS OF THE EMIR.

At an early hour on the 15th of October he was on his way

to the goal so long desired, and now in view. The nearest vil-

lages of Tyary are twelve hours distant from Ashitha ; but one
of their bishops resides at Duree, five hours nearer, and he
engaged mules to that place. These could not be brought into
the town, lest they should be pressed into the service of the
government; and he therefore descended on foot, with the brother
who went to introduce him to the bishop. His
of the priest,
kavass from Akra was loth to go any nearer the dreaded
Tyaree, who were regarded as almost invincible, and said to be
able to vanquish their enemies by some magic in their looks.
They once drove the flocks of Ainadia from under its very
walls and when the celebrated chief of Ravandooz threatened
;

to add their country to his other conquests, they hung up the

heads of seven of his men over a narrow bridge, as a sample of

what would befall those who dared to cross it. The chief, after
one or two similar warnings, wisely turned away. " To the
borders of their country," said the brave Pasha of Mosul to Dr.
Grant, " jny head for yours. Carry gold on it, and fear not
but I warn you that I can protect you not a step beyond. These
infidels know neither pasha nor sultan, but from time immemo-
rial every man has been his own master." At the summit of
130 DR. CxRANT AND THE

the rocky defile that led over Toora Matineh the eyes of Dr.
Grant rested, for the first time, on the mountains of the Nesto-
rians, across the intervening vale of Berwer; and, as he ap-
proached Duree, after a weary ride of seven hours over the
rough passes, he was hailed by the questions, Who are you ?
what do you want ? where are you going ? The demand was
echoed from every side, and seemed to issue from the rocks
above him. The deep Syriac gutturals of their stentorian voices
ATOuld have startled a less fearless heart. Their fierceness of
expression, joined to the inquiry they made of the guide whether
the company were Papists, or bad men whom they might rob,
bereft the poor kavass of all the courage he had left, and he was
glad when Dr. Grrant consented to his return.
Finding that he spoke their language, the people gathered
round the missionary as though he had been one of themselves.
They were bold and outspoken, without the fawning sycophancy
of the Rayahs of Persia or Turkey, and in their own rough way
welcomed him to their mountain-home.
Next day they came for^ medicine from all directions. One
was alarmed by the operation of an emetic, but soon felt so
relieved he wanted more; and others called loudly for the
same. The bishop a venerable old man, with a long white
beard was very cordial, and took him into their ancient
church. It was a cave, high up on the mountain-side, enlarged
by an addition of heavy masonry in front, and within as dark as
midnight. Says Dr. Grant :
" He guided my hand to a plain

stone cross on the altar, supposing that if I was a Christian I

should press it to my lips ; and I confess there is something I
alFecting in this simple act of theirs, disconnected as it is with
image-worship, or the corrupt observances of the Papists. May
it not be that their abuse of such symbols has carried us to the
opposite extreme ?
" The bishop slept in his lonely church, so
as to attend pray rs before daylight in the morning, and was
much pleased with the gift of a box of matches to light hif>
 :

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 131

lamp. A number of bee-hives belonged to the church, and their

fine clear honey was held peculiarly sacred. Red squii-rels, the

first he had seen in the East, were skipping about in the shady
walnut-trees ; and iron mines, not far off, were wrought by the
Nestorians for the chief of Berwer, for Duree is subject to the

Turks, and immediately responsible to him.

The high range he had seen from the crest of Toora Matineh
separated Dr. Grant from Tyary.
still He had been warned at
Mosul not to enter till he had an escort from Mar Shimon but ;

ten days* delay, at that season, was to be avoided, if possible.

His generous spirit suggested that going in at once would man-
ifest a confidence that might gain their good-will. Still he would
net venture on his own responsibility ; but, as the bishop also

favored the idea, he resolved to go. He exchanged his Turk-

ish boots for the bishop's sandals, made of hair, for he must
pass places where he would slide on the smooth narrow ledges
of the mountain-side, if he attempted to walk with ordinary
shoes, and, thus equipped, set off early on the 18th. A toil-

some ascent of an hour and a half brought him to the summit.

And here we must let him speak for himself:

" From this point the Nestorian country opened up before
me like an amphitheatre of mountains, broken with dark, deep
defiles and narrow glens, in a few of which I got a glimpse of

smiling villages, that for ages had been the secure abodes of this
branch of the church. Here was the home of thousands of
Christians, around whom Omnipotence had reared ramparts

whose summits blended with the sky. In this munition of '

rocks has God preserved us, for some great purpose, a remnant
'

of his ancient church, safe from the beast and the false prophet,
from the flames of persecution and the clangor of war. As
I gazed, I could not but exclaim

'
On the mountain-top appearing,
Lo, the sacred herald stands !

Welcon'^ news to Zion bearing,

11*
132 DR. GRANT AND THE

Zion, long in hostile lands :

Mourning captive,
'
God himself shall loose thy bands !
'

" I retired to a sequestered nook, where I could feast my

eyes with tha prospect, and thank Ilim who had brought me
through many perils to behold the land whence issued such
bright beams of hope for the future of the East. My thoughts
went back to the days when their missionaries traversed all
Asia, and, for more than a thousand years, preached the gospel
in Tartary, Mongolia, and China itself; to the time when, not
from Nestorius, but from Bartholomew and Thaddeus, if not
from Thomas himself, these lands first received the knowledge
of a Saviour. I looked at them, sunk into semi-barbarism, the
flame of vital piety almost quenched on their altars, and my
heart bled for their condition. But Faith pointed to the time
when these glens shall reecho the glad praises of our Grod, and,
like the morning-star, this church shall usher in a glorious day.
But, ere that bright period, there is a battle to be fought and
won. Let us arm this brave band for the contest ! On, then,
to the work !
" And on he sped, down the steep descent, cau-
tiously climbing over the cliffs, creeping carefully along the
slippery ledges; now resting under a wild pear-tree, and anon
riding down the zigzag path to the banks of the noisy Zab.
Here Lezan, one of their large villages extended for more than
a mile amid fertile gardens.
It seemed as if God had guided his servant to one of the mo^t
inspiring prospects that even that country of natural grandeur
could present, to nerve him with fresh zeal for the trials yet
before him. Had he entered by Ashitha, he would have passed
up a dreary glen piled with rocks, between which scarce a
particle of soil was to be seen, and then his view from the
summit had been bounded by the narrow valley of that villaoe
and the snowy peak beyond. Had he crossed nearer the Zab,
his lower position had cut off the distant view. But au unseen
 MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. loo

iiand led him to the very spot where, of all others, his heroic

spirit revelled in the grandeur of the scene. Nor was this the
only smile vouchsafed to the fearless pioneer. As he drew near
the village, he asked himself, " What reception shall I meet from

these wn"ld sons of the mountain, who never saw a foreigner be-

fore ? How will they treat the stranger thrown helpless on their
mercy ? " One breath of suspicion might blast his fondest hopes.
But prayer had been offered for him, and God answered it

better than he could have devised for himself. The only man
he had ever seen from this remote region had come to him
nearly a year before, hardly hoping that his sight could be re-
stored. For six weeks he had groped his way from village to

village, till Dr. Grant removed a cataract from his eyes in

Oroomiah and now, scarcely had he entered Lezan, when

;

this young man came, bringing a present of honey, and intro

duced him at once to the confidence and love of the people,

an incident that unites to the poetry of fiction the solidity of
Iruth and the sweetness of a reward of faith. He was soon en-
gaged in dispensing medicine to others ; and no wonder that
then, and long after his death, the mountaineers said that this,

his first journey, was like the journeys of Him who went about
doing good.
He was invited to the house of the Reis (head of the village),
built, like the rest, of stone laid in mud, with a flat roof, two
stories high (as they generally are, on one side at least, when
built against the side of the mountain), and with two or three
rooms in each. Seated on the floor of a large upper room,
entirely open on one side, food was brought in a huge vrooden
bowl, and placed on the skin of a wild goat, that, with the hair
side down, served at once for table and cloth. Coarse millet
bread was laid round the edges, and each v/ith a wooden spoon
dipped from the bowl. Whenever the goat-skin was used, he
noticed in it ^ne fragments of previous meals, left in order to
retain the blessing once pronounced over them by the priest, for
134 DR. GRANT AND THE

the common people cannot use the ancient Syriac, in which their
prayers are written.
The women seemed neat, frugal and industrious. Their spin-
ning illustrates Proverbs 31 : 19 ; for, as they use no wheel,

holding the distaff in one hand, they twirl their long wooden
spindles with the other, stopping to wind the thread on them as

fast as it is made. They clothe their households in a scarlet or

striped stuff, like Scotch tartan in texture and material. And,

as in the Highlands, so here also, a man's clan is known by the

color of the stripe and the pattern of the ornament with which
the knitting-needle has adorned his socks. In the evening two
of the women in the house sat with their husbands in the rows
that lined the walls of the apartment, a fact which none accus-
tomed to the seclusion of the sex in the East would fail to notice.

Each of them gave him a brass bracelet to show to the ladies

of his own land, and wondered how they could negotiate their

matrimonial engagements, or their fathers give them away with-

out a dowry in return.
The houses in Lezan are scattered here and there over the
terraces that rise irregularly from the river, and present a beau-
tiful appearance as they peep out of the fields and shrubbery.
Grrapes, figs and pomegranates, are found here, as in other vil-

lages on the Zab. Rice is also cultivated, to the great injury

of health. Apples grow in the higher villages, but not very

good. "Wheat, quite a luxury among them, is brought from Am-
adia, in exchange for honey and butter ; for they cannot spare

the ground needed for its growth. 3Iil]et called by them

praga is the great staple, and is cultivated evi^rj'where.
October 20th was Dr. Grant's first Sabbath in the mountains.
A board struck with a mallet summoned the village to the church

at sunrise."^ Each one, as he entered, put off his shoes (Ex,

* Query. Does not this practice explain that sentence in the Nestu
rian inscription, discovered in China, which, speaking of Christians, says,
''
They beat the wood, sounding out the voice of benevolence and mercy '\'
See Williams' Mi'ldle Kingdom, ii. 292.
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 135

3 : 5), an J, after kissing the thresliold, passed on, hat in hand, to

kiss the gospels on the altar, and the hand of the priest. The
church was solidly built of stone and lime, with an arched roof,

and might stand for ages. Some, according to their books,

have already stood more than fourteen centuries.

They quoted Matt. 7 : 14, to explain the low, narrow door,

that requires one to stoop almost double before he can enter.
The prayers and chanting of the psalms were in the ancient
Syriac, now an unknown tongue to all, save a very few of the
priests. One of these translated the gospel for the day into the
spoken language, and this was the preaching. Sometimes this

is accompanied with legends, of which there is no lack. It was

a sacramental occasion, and the elements consecrated in the
" holy place " were brought out by a priest and deacon. Each,
in turn, received a morsel of bread from the priest, who held a
napkin under the chin while he put it into their mouths ; and they
then drank of the wine, which the deacon held with similar care.
In the whole service there was no idolatrous adoration, not
even kneeling to receive the elements ; but, on the contrary, an

almost scriptural simplicity.

The priest first partook himself, and then offered the elements
to Dr. Grant. Up to this timehe had not communed with them ;

but he felt that to decline now would do as much injustice to his

own feelings as to theirs. For many months he had not enjoyed
the privilege. God had led him safe, through many perils, to a
people who had received the gospel from the apostles, and pre-
served its doctrines comparatively pure ; and, though the want

of spiritual life was sadly manifest, he hoped some sparks of piety

were yet burning on these altars. Though languishing, he could
not reo-ard tb"? church as altogether dead. His heart was drawn
out to them in tender love, so that, to use his own words, " seldom

had he commemorated the love of Christ under circumstances

. more full of interest." The congregation, which had behaved
with nuich propriety during the service, retired quietly at its
 ;;

136 DR. GRANT AND THE

close, and, in passing out, each received a morsel of meat rolled

up in a thin leaf of bread. This was a remnant of the Agapae
(love-feasts) of the earlj church. Throughout the day there was
no noisy merriment, and no attention to business, but a quiet
stillness pervaded the village, such as he had seldom seen in
more favored lands. Formerly, they are said to have put per-
sons to death for travelling on the Sabbath. In the evening
they assembled again at the church for prayer, as they do morn-
ing and evening through the week. Yet, unlike other places in
the East, many repeat their prayers during the week at home.
Before commencing they kiss a small wooden cross, simply as
an expression of faith in Christ, for they never regard it as an

object of worship.
He was so thronged with the sick from all the region, that he
had to forbid more than three or four coming forward at once.

It was ten o'clock, in the forenoon of October 21, before he

could leave to pursue his journey up the valley of the Izani.
For four miles his path lay through an almost continuous vil-

lage, Minyanish commencing where Lezau ends. In Zawitha,

across the stream, on the southern side of the valley, they
boasted that no less than forty out of a thousand could read
but few of these, probably, could do more than pronounce the
words of the ancient Syriac, without understanding them. Be-
fore night he arrived at Ashitha (avalanche), so called because

they are frequent there, where he was the guest of Kasha

Auraham (Priest xlbraham), an archdeacon, and reputed the
most learned of the Nestorians. For twenty 3^ears he had been
transcribing their ancient books in his beautiful handwj'iting
but even he had not an entire Bible. The Patriarch alone is

so highly favored, and his is in half a dozen volumes. Thus

divided, one has the gospels, another the epistles, a third the
psalms, and so on. The book of Revelation, the epistle of
Jude, second and third of John, and second of Peter, they did
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 137

not possess, but readily received them from us, on the testimony
of other Christian churches, and their internal evidence.
When Dr. Grant told Priest Abraham of the wonders of the

press, his keen eye brightened, and he was impatient to see it at

work immediately. He begged him to write down his name for

a copy, " and mine, too !

" " and mine, too !
" at once echoed
all around the room. He was also very desirous for schools,
and said that multitudes would attend, if one could be opened
in Asshitha. Dr. Grant estimated the population of this village,
at first, as high as five thousand souls ; but afterwards put it

down at three hundred houses, or three thousand souls. Half

of the people spend the summer with their flocks on the moun-
tains, and these only are in danger from the Kurds. The rest

cultivate the fields, and labor in other ways at home, and all

spend the winter in the village in perfect safety. Just before,

five thousand sheep had been stolen near the Habor, by the
Kurds on the other side. But the Nestorians cut off their

return to their villages; and thus shut in, they were re-

leased only by the intercession of the Emir of Hakkary, who

induced the Patriarch to call back his people. He did so,

hinting to them, however, that they might bide their time.

And, before Dr. Grant reached Oroomiah, they had driven
away from the Kiirds four thousand sheep, besides mules, and
enough else to make up their loss, with interest.

Eight hours, east-north-east, over the mountains, brought him,

on the 22d of October, to Chumba, on the Zab. He rode over
the first range, but had a long, steep climb, on foot, over the
second. Here he passed one of their summer pastures, in a

bracing air, among streams cool as the snow around them, the
higher summits already glistening in their fresh winter apparel.
Each village has its own summer camp (zozan), and few spend
the warm season in the low villages on th^ Zab, on account of
the heat and fevers. Those who do sleep on high platforms
(arzaleh), to be out of the reach of mosquitos and sandflies. But,
188 DR. GR ANT A XD TII E

pleasant as are these pastoral scenes, Dr. Grant felt it would

need no little love to Christ and this people to reconcile mis-
sionaries to the thousand privations of a nomadic life ; and still

it was just such a life that nourished the piety of David, tend-
ing his father's flocks in the hill-country of Judea, and Moses
in the land of Midian.

At the foot of the first range, he passed one of the many

lead mines, where they were busy smelting the ore. From the
base of the second, though his knees trembled from fatigue, he
continued on foot, along a narrow path, cut out of the face
of the cliff, down to the stream, which he crossed on a long,
bare pole. His mule fell into the torrent, but, fortunately,

without injuring his medicines. The whole landscape was wild

enough, but became truly sublime when the lightning flashed
from the dark canopy above, and the thunder reverberated
through the glen. But he was safely lodged in the guest-cham-

ber of the Malek (ruler), in Chumba, before the rain began to

pour. The storm continued for more than thirty hours. His host,
as his name imports, was the head of one division of the large
tribe of Tyary, his authority being that of influence rather than

executive power. The Patriarch, at this time, like the high

priest of old, was sujDreme, both civilly and ecclesiastically.

Excommunication is the severest penalty he can inflict; and, as
it outlaws the ofiender from society, as well as the church, is

greatly dreaded by the people.

Accustomed to see the agricultural population of Persia and
Turkey dwelling together, in compact villages, as the only secu-
rity from plunder, Dr. Grant was surprised to see the houses
of the Nestorians scattered far apart from one another in their
narrow valleys. This comparative security he attributed to the
high sense of honor among them, vrhich, as in more enlightened
countries, sometimes produces results not quite so honorable.

Some years before, a young man in the family of his host began
to cut down a valuable tree. His cousin forbade him, but in
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 139

vain, and then brought out his gun, and deliberately shot him on
the spot. The parents of both were absent at the time ; but as,

accordino- to their custom, the bereaved father could accept of

nothing but the blood of his brother's child, they were both
buried in one grave before the setting of the sun.
Again, at a social gathering, a man, in a moment of passion,

plunged his dagger into the heart of his neighbor, and the
brother of the slain instantly laid the murderer dead at his
feet. Such summary justice tends to render crime infrequent
for men feel that, should they commit it, they have little chance

to escape. But, as we shall see, even such certainty of retribu-

tion does not always restrain their unbridled passions.

The Malek, secluded as he was, had heard enough of other
countries to ask about steamboats and balloons, and also
whether the English had ships that could sail under water. Dr.

Grant was delighted with his desire for information, and longed
to respond to the constant call for the Bible, and schools to

teach them to read it. The village priest visited him, and was
much interested in his plans for their improvement. He ate no

flesh of any kind, not even milk or vegetable oils, by way of

attaining to eminent holiness. Such instances, however, are

uncommon ; but, as celibacy is a part of the vow, it has super-

seded the few convents that once existed. Similar vows among
the females are very rare, and nunneries are unknown.
The next day was spent among the sick, and in social and re-

ligious intercourse with the people, just such work as he loved.

Though the village was small, yet from that and the hamlets
round about multitudes flocked to see the stranger, whose
benevolence surpassed all they had ever known before.
The former wife of his host was a sister of Mar Shimon, and
the only female among them, in her day, who could read. Her
memory is precious, and the people loved to speak in her
praise. The heart of the lonely missionary was cheered by this

respect paid to an educated female, and he dwells with delight

12
140 DR . GRA N T A ND T H K

Oil a younger sister who followed her example, and was, then
the only woman m the moiuitams who could read her Bible.
While indulging in anticipations of what would be when these
mothers and daughters were not only educated, but converted
to God, little did he think that one then present would real-

ize his hopes, it may be in answer to his prayers that day for
their salvation.

Not quite twelve years after, Mr. Coan was welcomed to this

very village by a solitary believer in Jesus. Nazee for that

was her name had escaped to Oroomiah from the massacre of

1843, and there, in the female seminary, became, as she hoped,
a follower of the Lamb. After leaving the seminary, she re-
turned to her native village, where she proves the truth of the
words of her Saviour :
" In the world ye shall have tribula-

tion." Her lovely example reproves the wickedness of her un-

godly neighbors, and therefore excites their hate. Her own
mother joins them in their persecutions. A dress sent to Nazee
from America they tore in pieces before her eyes ; and this is

but one of the daily insults heaped upon her, for Jesus'

sake. Alone and helpless, her very innocence inflaming the

anger of savage mountaineers, we need not mention what suffer-

ings she endures. The servants of Mar Shimon, when they come
to the village, treat her with wanton cruelty. No wonder that
she hailed the visit of the missionary with delight. Foremost to
welcome him, she followed him everywhere, eager to treasure
up all that he said. She would hear from her dear teachers
and schoolmates, but, more than all, of Christ. Long after

others retired, she remained, till midnight reminded her that,

though refreshed by the interview, yet the weary traveller
needed rest. Before day, she was again listening, with tears,

to his words of comfort. When he rose to go, she followed him

to the river-side, thinking of the fresh insults that visit would
occasion, after he was gone, and praying that nothing might
separate her from the love of Christ. On leaving, he gave her
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS 143

a small copy of the gospels, and pointed to the verse, " Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give

you rest." She began to read, but her voice failed her, and she
burst into tears. Kneeling down by the roaring torrent, the
missionary commended her to God, and thus left the lamb

among the wolves, sad, and yet confident that the Lord would
keep her. Yes, afflicted one, God will keep thee ! You are

blessed when men revile and persecute you for Jesus' sake. He
will not lead you through any flood of sorrow where he is not wil-

ling to walk by your side, and hold you up with his right hand.
And if, as we hope to hear, he gives you the souls of those who
thus despitefully use you, in answer to your prayers, you will
yet bless him for these distresses on earth, and then glory in
them forever above. In the words of Dr. Grant, " However
self-denying your situation now, yet in its results you will en-

joy a purer happiness than earth can give."

He left the hospitable mansion of Malek Ismael about ten
o'clock, October 24 ; and, finding that his mules could not cross
the Zab, as two bare poles supplied the place of the usual bridge,
he determined to proceed on foot. With two Nestorians to carry

his baggage, and the young deacon from Duree, he crossed the
slippery structure, though it vibrated most fearfully over the
rushing torrent. Turning to the north, the river dashed along
by his side ; its roar echoed and reechoed from the perpendicu-
lar cliifs on either side. These shot up among the clouds, reveal-
ing, now and then, snowy pinnacles, still higher, glittering in

the sun. When tlie pass widened a little, a few trees here and
there peeped through the sloping pile of stones that reached from

the water's edge far up the rocky walls; and wherever the
mountains receded to allow of it, two or three houses looked
out of their leafy orchards, propped up by terraces that barely
allowed room for their foundations. In other places the moun-
tains shade the traveller from the noon-day sun, and he invol-
untarily lays hold of the rock to prevent his falling into the

I
 ;

144 DR.GRANTANDTHE
river below. Rain, at intervals, soaked his hair-sandals through
and through, but he " travelled all day, with a buoyant heart."

Two of his associates, who afterwards travelled this road with

mules, found them no great addition to their comfort; for, after

being compelled to trudge three-quarters of the way on foot,

sometimes, on the remainder, the feet of the mule slipped down

between the stones, up to the body. One of them, after turning
two complete somersets, from the narrow path along the base of
the cliff' above, landed in the river, with all their baggage ; and
another, in sliding down a steep place, caught his foot between

two converging rocks, and sent his rider, head-foremost, into a

\horn-bush (Astragalus Tragacantha), from whence he issued

"VN ith his shalwar, (Turkish trousers) torn into strips.

Dr. Grant spent the night at Bemeriga, where he was grati-

fied to find the villagers furnish him with a new pair of sandals,

for medicine, after they had refused them for money.

Next evening he reached Erek, exhausted by a walk of ten

long hours, and was refreshed with a welcome from an old ac-
quaintance, who had come to Oroomiah more than two years
before, with an almost hopeless disease, and received, not medi-
cine only, but needful clothing for his journey back. From that

time his benefactor had forgotten him, amid a crowd of oth-

ers. But, to use his own words, " the promise of God is sure
after many days, I found not only the bread I had cast upon the
waters, but everything to gladden me in my weary wanderings.
I enjoyed his hospitality, most of all, as coming from Him who
crowneth me with loving-kindness and strews my path with
mercies."
He started for the residence of Mar Shimon at eight o'clock
next morning, and forded the river on a horse, the first he had
seen in the mountains, the river four feet deep and about fifty
yards in width.- The road now began to improve: A gallery was
cut in the face of the clift", and regular steps chiselled in the worst

places. It was the regular caravan road from Salmas to Jula-

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 145

merk. In some places, indeed, it was supported from below by

masonry that seemed ready to give way under the weight of

loaded mules, but, as a whole, was so superior to what he had

passed, that he wondered how Yahya Khan should say it was so

frightful that a fat horse would there suifer enough in one day,
from terror, to make him as thin as a knife-blade ! Fatal acci-
dents sometimes occur, however, when horses meet in its nar-

rowest parts. Mar Shimon sent some of his men to escort

Dr. Grant to his dwelling, high up on the mountain ; and

they led him in a north-east direction, till they recrossed the
river in sight of it, at the mouth of a tributary from Diss. The
bridge iscommanded by the summer residence of Suleiman Bey,
and the residence of Mar Shimon is half a mile beyond. Some
Kurds here scrutinized him very closely, but did not molest him,
while Mar Shimon also was examining with a spy-glass his

strange visitor from the New World. According^ to Nestorian

geography, the earth that is, the Old World is a vast plain,

surrounded by the ocean, in which Leviathan moves around, to

keep the water in motion ; and, as he is so long that his head

follows hard on his tail in the operation, they could not imagine
how their guest had climbed over his back to get to them.
At half past twelve the Patriarch welcomed him most cordially
to his house, but without any of the extravagant and heartless
compliment so common in Persia. In the words of Dr. Grant,
" He had been looking for a visit from us till he had begun to
think we would never come. And, now that I had taken such
a tedious journey to see him, he could not doubt that I would
have come earlier, but for the dangers that had prevented my
direct entrance from Oroomiah. '
And now,' he added, 'you are
doubly ^v'elconie, m}- heart is glad. Yon will make my
house your home, and me your elder brothei-. It is a happy day
"
for us both. May your journey be blessed.'

The Patriarch was then tall, but robust, and well propor-
tioned; his countenance at once pleasant, expressive and Intel-
12* .
146 DR- RANT AND THE

ligent. His ample forohead bore the mipre.ss of serious thought,

while his hirge, flowing robes, his Kurdish turbau, long, gray
beard and dignified demeanor, pointed him out at once as the
Pj'triarch of the East. AVere it not for the youthful fire in his

eye, Dr. Grant would have thought him nearer fifty than thirty-
eight. He was born in 1801 ; but his difficult position was
enough make the frost of care settle prematurely on his locks.
to

To preserve harmony among his own fierce tribes, and with the
Kurds around, might tax the wisdom and patience of more cel-
ebrated statesmen. It was evident his thoughts were on tem-
poral full as much as spiritual things ; for his first inquiries were
about their political prospects, the movements in Turkey, and
the designs of the European powers. " Why," said he, " do

they not come anddeliver my people from the Moslem oppres-

sion that confines us in these mountain fastnesses ? " Dr. Grant
adds, " He carries his rifle for the brown bear or wolf, rather

than for war. His income is moderate, and he lives in a plain,

simple style. Two brothers and a younger sister, with five or

six servants of both sexes, compose his household. His domes-

tic affairs managed by liis sister, who shows herself well
are
qualified for the task." The Kiirds had lately annoyed the dis-
tricts of Jelii and Tehoma and, while the doctor was with him, he
;

was called to decide the fate of two captive Kurds, from a tribe
which had killed two Nestorians. Blood for blood is the law,

and a tribe is held accountable for each of its members. The

Patriarch inclined to mercy, but his people must have justice ;

and he decided that, as the captives had in a manner become

their guests, they might be spared if they would pay the price
of blood; and so the matter was settled.
During the five weeks Dr. (Jrant was here, he formed ao
quaiutance with Nestorians from all parts of the mountains, and

visited in person the principal villages in the vicinity, endeavor-

ing in every possible way to collect reliable information.

Amono- others, he v 'sited Kala *d SerinD:a, a ruined castle, that

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 147

had been a stronghold in their early contests with the Moslems.

It is perched on the top of an insulated rock, several hundred

feet high, and so precipitous it could be reached only by iron

pins, driven into the face of the cliff ; but, as most of these had
given place to wooden ones, he did not risk the ascent. It

stands in an opening near the foot of Mount Derrek (mast),

which separates Diss from Jelu. It is the highest in the region

(not far from fourteen thousand feet), and was then impassable
from the snow. Among many patients here, he had one
from Jelu, who would have 'perished on this mountain had not
his wife carried him over on her shoulders. The women here
perform the labor of men while their husbands are absent, and
thus acquire their strength. For, so utterly barren are both Jelii
and Bass, that many of the men labor in Turkey during the

winter as muleteers or otherwise, returning in the spring to their

mountain homes.
Their form of church government is hierarchical; and yet,

there being no word in Syriac for bishop, they had to borrow

episcopos, as well as patriarch, catholicos, &c., from the Greek.
This is more worthy of note, as their language was spoken in
Palestine in the time of our Saviour, and their Scriptures trans-
lated in the beginning of the second century everywhere render
episcopos (translated bishop in English) by the word presbyter,
or priest.
Havino- heard nothino- from the Prudential Committee since
leaving Oroomiah, Dr. Grant resolved to return there by way
of Julamerk. This required him to visit the murderer of
Schultz ; but he hoped, by securing his confidence, to open a
safe communication between Oroomiah and the mountains; and

when anything promised good to the mission he never shrank

from it merely because it involved personal danger. He had
previously procured letters to the emir from both the Turkish
and Per,bian authorities, and the Patriarch offered to send his
broth >r to introduce him. He also took special care to awaken
148 DK- GRA^'T AND THE

neither Kurdish jealousy nor suspicion. He carried little else

than medicine, and that he hoped to retain, at all events. To

provide against the loss of his purse, he had secured some gold
in a roll of blister-salve. Besides, he visited no mines, and col-

lected scarce a single mineral or plant, lest they should take him
for a spy. He noted down nothing in public, and even took the
bearings of his compass unobserved.
With such precautions he proceeded on his way, about the Ist

of December. On leaving, the Patriarch presented him with a

pair of scarlet shalicar, trimmed with silk, and a New Testament
in the old Estranghelo characters, written seven hundred and
forty years before. His sister, Helena, furnished him provi-
sions for a week, and a pair of warm mittens, wrought by her
own hands. Ardent wishes were expressed for his return to

labor, with associates, as he had done in the plain, and a thou-

sand blessings were invoked upon his head. The emir had gone
from Julamerk to Bash Kala (head castle), two days distant,
and thither he bent his steps. Its massive walls were visible in

its lofty position, long before he reached the town below. Nu-
rulah Bey had taken a violent cold, attended with fever and
inflammation, and the doctor was called to prescribe for him im-
mediately on his arrival. He did so, and returned to his lodg-

ings, at the foot of the Castle Hill. In the evening a messenger

again summoned him in haste to his jjatient. He sent back word
to wait till the medicine had taken effect. Midnight brought a
second message, that the emir was still very ill, and must see
him immediately. Dr. Grant arose at once, and foUoAved him
up the winding path, to the castle gate. The sentinels were
sounding the Kurdish watch-cry. The guard admitted him to
the outer court, through doors cased in iron. From this a sec-

ond iron door led through a long, dark passage, to the room
where he lay. He was evidently impatient, as well as suspi-
cious. Swords, pistols, guns and daggers, hung on the walls ; and
the missionary could not but think of the solitary traveller, who
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 149

had fallen by the orders of this very chief. -The power of life

and death was in his hands, and he was entirely at his mercy.
" But," says he, " I felt that I was under the protection of One
who had the heart of kings in his keeping ; and, breathing a
prayer for his blessing, I told the chief the medicine was doing
well, though he needed a more powerful dose, that, for a time,
would make him worse instead of better ; and, if he confided in
my judgment, he had better take the severer course. He con-
sented, and I gave him an emetic, which he swallowed, after the

precaution of making some of his attendants taste it, to see if it

were poison. I remained with him that night, and next morn-
ing he was much relieved. He rapidly recovered, and I became
a great favorite ; I must either remain, or else return soon, to
take up my abode in the country, where I should have every-
thing as I pleased."
We, at this distance, can hardly appreciate the peril of Dr.
Grant on that eventful night, among those men of blood. But
his calm and fearless bearing, the good will that needed not
words to declare it even to them, made an impression that never
was effaced. Had the chief not been sick as he was, subsequent
events show that he would have suspected Dr. Grant as an
emissary sent to avenge the death of Dr. Schultz, and so at once
put him out of the way. But God's eye was on his faithful

servant, and He knew how to order each event for his safety.

The emir is a man of noble mien. His figure is command-

ing, and his countenance manly, when not darkened by suspicion
and jealousy. Though at first quite suspicious of Dr. Grant, yet

afterwards he was very affable, and, on his leaving, made hira

a present of a horse, in token of his gratitude.
He now joined a caravan to Salmas, and proceeded thence to
Oroomiah, where he arrived on December 7th, after an absence
of eight months. For half a year he had not seen a chair, and
had long dispensed with knives and forks, conforming himself In

these respects to the customs of the country. So changed was

j T/O 1) R . G R A NT AND T II E NE S T R I AN t> .

his appearance, in his oriental costume, that he was not at first

recognized by his native acquaintance. But it was delightful

to mingle once more with Christian friends ; and his native lan-

guage never sounded so sweet as when, after a long sojourn

among strangers, he heard it from the lips of those who loved
the Saviour and his precious cause. Nor was this his only cause

for gratitude ; along the cold highlands of Armenia, over the

sultry plains of Mesopotamia, and through the wild mountains
of Assyria, he had been brought safely through many dangers.

Bright prospects of usefulness opened before him ; and, instead

of being laid aside from the work he loved, he had been introduced
to a new field, rich in its promise of a future harvest. True, it

also promised to call him to endure hardness ; but he rejoiced in

any personal affliction that promised to work out for the church
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
 :

CHAPTER IX.
AINSWORTir BEREAVEMENT LETTERS SECOND JOURNEY THROUGH THE
MOUNTAINS HERTUSH KURDS ERZRUM CONSTANTINOPLE VISIT TO
AMERICA CHILDREN THE LOST TRIBES RETURN TO THE EAST.

During the winter two brothers of the Patriarch visited Oroo-

miah, and urged the extension of our labors through their country;
and Mar Shimon wrote, renewing his invitation for Dr. Grant to
return in the spring. The following is an extract from his letter
" From the patriarchal mansion, with prayer and blessing,
my heart went with you, Hekim [doctor], the day you went
from me ; but after I heard of your safe arrival I greatly re-
joiced. If you inquire of my affairs, and what I have to say, it

is that word which we spoke [that is, his desire that Dr. Grant
should return, with associates, and labor in the mountains, as
they had done on the plain]. What I said to you before is what
I have to say now. You and I are one, and there is no change
in the things you heard from me and again may you be a bless-
;

ing, and blessed with the blessings of God and the words of sal-

vation and may he give you joyful seasons and length of years,
;

and remove and keep from you troubles and disquietudes."

This is quoted by Mr. Ainsworth ^ an English traveller,

who entered the mountains in 1840. after Dr. Grant had passed
through them the second time, on his return to America to

illustrate the inaptitude of tlie Patriarch for epistolary corre-

* Travels in Asia Minor, &c., vol. ii. 252.

152 DR. GRANT AND THE

spondence. It is to be regretted that Mr. Ainsworth felt it

necessary to assume an attitude of opposition to the mission of

Dr. Grant. But the following extracts from the same volume
may throw some light on the spirit of his enterprise. Speaking
about the American missionaries, he says, p. 248 :

" We informed the Patriarch that there were among us many

zealous Christians who seemed to have read the Bible rather to

invent new doctrines, and rebel against the church, than to give

them increase of wisdom and holiness ; and have preferred fol-

lowing such doctrines, rather than that of the bishops who are
appointed to teach the nations."
And again, p. 251 :

" Mr. Bassam [associate of Mr. A.] informed them that if one
of these ministers [Congregationalists] joined the Church of
England he must be ordained [again], as the church considered

them as people who had no apostolic ordination."

There is another account of his interview with Mar Shimon,

that may throw "some light on the matter. Native eye-witnesses
report that he and Mr. Bassam were at first taken for the friends

of Dr. Grrant, till his hostility to the mission opened the eyes of
the Nestorians on that point. Both he and his companion are
said to have misrepresented the missionaries after the manner
of the Papists (the above extracts from his own pen may indicate
the tenor of his remarks), alid urged the Patriarch to drive
them out of the country, till he began to suspect they were
Papists in disguise. Then they changed their tone, and said
they were like the Americans in many respects. They offered

to open schools, and desired a letter from the Patriarch to the

bishops in England. This Mar Shimon refused, on the ground

that he had already made an engagement with Dr. Grant. They
then asked for his seal, and that also was refused. On this lat-

ter point Mr. Ainsworth says, p. 251 :

" We spoke to him about
writing a letter, which he promised to do, and send it the next
day ; but he failed in this, and, on being reminded, said to Mr,
 MOJNTAIN NESTORIANS. 153

Rassam, '
I do not know exactly what to say. You know my
feelings. I am grateful and anxious for the friendship of your
bishops, and wish that you would write for me what you consider

proper and decent.' This, however, I thought proper to advise

Mr. Rassam not to do ; and the Patriarch ultimately promised

to send the letter to Mosul." Whether he ever did so or not

Mr. Ainsworth does not inform us. No wonder, then, that the
extract seemed a poor specimen of letter-writing, especially as
the following description of his reception among the people
affords such a contrast to that of Dr. Grant. After stating that
quarters were assigned them in an Armenian church, near Ju-
lamerk, he says, p. 246 :

" The people, for two days, had the extreme satisfaction of
worrying us till we had nearly lost all patience. We were never
for one moment, night nor day, without a number around us,
whose only amusement was to examine all our things, to pass

jests, and fling epithets of scorn, upon their visitors."

Nor isstrange that, after such an errand into the moun-

it

tains, Mr. Ainsworth should pass through

Oroomiah without
even calling on the missionaries, because, among other things,
as the neces-
he had " only provided himself with such clothing
and he " had imbibed quite
sities of the journey would require,"
the hot plains, from
a horror of the confinement of a house on
so

air of the mountains." Vol. ii. p. 304.

long breathing the pure
His remark, pago ^-34, that " It is very remarkable that no
among the mountaineers after our
mission was spoken of
till

arrival at Constantinople," has been sufficiently

answered in the

foreo-oing pages. Such a charge, even had it been true, comes

with a very bad grace from one sent into a field already ex-

plored and occupied by a missionary society, to oppose its quiet

labors in preaching the gospel. But, when Messrs. Smith and

Dwight were instructed, in 1830, to "direct their attention to

" their
the Nestorian and Chaldean Christians of Kurdistan (see
Travels, vol. ii. p. 175), and wore only prevented visiting Mar
13
154 BR. GRANT AND THK

Shimon by the united representation of English residents at

Tabriz that the region was " entirely mqccessible,'' and when Mr.
Perkins was instructed, in Sept., 1833, " to go to Julamerk as
soon as may be, lest interested and perverse men should pi'ejudice

the mind of Mar Shimon against him,'' one wonders how Mr.
Ainsworth can think it so remarkable that no mission was spoken
of among the mountaineers till 1839. On the other hand,

we may be permitted to think it very remarkable that, when Mr.

Perkins was sent, in 1833, not to the Nestorians of the plain,
but to the Nestorian Church as a whole, and told that his resi-

dence "/or the present " only was to be at Oroomiah, Mr. Ains-
"
worth should be sent by ''
The Christian Knowledge Society
on such an errand, in 1840. It may be well to add, in this

connection, that, when the mountain mission was established

separate from that on the plain, it was declared publicly, in the

instructions given to Mr. L. in 1842, to be " distinct for reasons

purely geographical ; " and when it was broken up, two years
afterwards, the design was not to abandon the mountain field, but
only " to enter from the eastward, instead of from the west,'' as
stated in the letter of Dr. Anderson authorizing the missionaries
to withdraw from Mosul,
But to return to Dr. Grant. As the influence of the malaria
of the plain on the system through the summer continues to de-
velop itself during the succeeding winter, his absence throughout
the warm season rendered his residence Eit Oroomiah this winter
comparatively pleasant. Still his health was aot recovered, and
the homeless condition of his children required his return, for a
time at least, to his native land. December 20 he thus wrote to
his eldest son :

" Nothing gives me such pleasure as to hear good news

from my dear children. I hope I shall hear again from you
soon ; and, what is more, I hope to see you both before the end
of another year. Yes, my dearest son ;
you will again meet
your affectionate father, so long Jibsent from you in this distant
 :

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 155

land. What a happy meeting it will be ! Would that I could

Bee you to-night, and press you to my heart ! How much I

shall have to say to you, and you to me ! And you will see

your brother, Henry M., and your two little sisters, Judith and
Mary. What a company of us there will be ! Let us see :

Seth Hastings, Edwin Hodges, H. Martyn, Judith Sabrina and

Mary Electa, and your dear flither. You will have a great deal
to tell about your studies, yourself, your brother, and all you
have seen and experienced. I, also, will have much to tell you
about these countries and this people ; and perhaps you will

wish to come and live here, and do them good. I should love

to write many things about my journeyings in these Bible

countries, so that you might love the Bible more which tells

about them. But I hope to see you soon, when we will talk of

them all."

That loving parent was soon to be called to new trials, in the

loss of those little daughters. Mary E. died Jan. 13, of influ-

enza ; and, two days after, the afflicted father thus wrote to Mr.
Merrick :

" A year ago yesterday my dear companion entered into rest

and yesterday one of her little twin-daughters, our sweet Mary

was laid in the cold grave by, her side. Her spirit departed the

evening before, and, I cannot doubt, has gone to the same blest
mansions her dear mother so recently entered; for, without dar-
ing to decide on the final state of all who die in infancy, neither

of us will doubt the validity of the gracious covenant to believ-

ing parents. What a precious consolation that we have such a

covenant to plead in behalf of our children ! Were it not for

the consolations of the Bible, what should we do ? 0, what a

world of trial But hush, my soul ! it is the Lord's doing.

!

I feel sure that our kind heavenly Father does all things well
yes, for the very best concerning us. But the heart will

bleed when so often torn. My father, brother, wife, child, all

laid in the grave since I have been here ; and as many more
156 DR. GRANT AND THE

had gone before. Vain, fleeting world ! 't is not our home ; but
thanks, eternal thanks to God! we Jaiqw that if this earthly

house oi" tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a

house net made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We know,

too, that the Lord afflicteth not willingly, but for our good, that

we may he partakers of his holiness. for grace thus to im-

prove these atHictions ! Little Mary was a delicate flower,

a breath passed over her, and she is gone ! I often think of

your kind care of her dear sister, when so low at Tabriz. The
Lord reward you ! She is now quite well, and exceedingly

cheerful."
So he wrote then ; but, twelve days after, Judith Sabrina
followed her twin-sister to the grave.
It was a great comfort to him ta be with them during their

sickness ; and Providence kindly ordered that it should not

occur during his absence in the mountains. Is not missionary

experience full of such mercies ? The remark was often made,

in that missionary circle, that " no one could bear these trials

more like a Christian than he." How he bore them may be

further seen in the following letter to his mother, Jan, SO, 1840 :

" My Deak Mother How often are we called to realize that

:

we are strangers here But we are pilgrims to the city of our

!

God and, though the way seem dreary, as one after another of
;

our com])anioDS are taken away, bright glimpses of heaven cheer

us on, and we feel that we are nearer home, sweet home. But
for the prospect of repose in our Father's house, how could we
bear our trials in this vale of tears? It seems as if my short
life had been a continued scene of trial and bereavement. The
loss of my dear father, three sisters and two brothers, was a cup
of which you, dearest mother, drank the bitterest dregs; and
now that I call to mind your trials, I might feel reproved for
naming my own, did it not serve to convince you that your
absent son knows how to share your sorrows. Though I cannot


MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 157

know all a widow's solitude, the removal, once and again, of the
best of wives, has taught me something of the emptiness of
earth; and noio I know a father's, if not a mother's sorrow, in

parting with beloved children.

" The mortal remains of ray twin-daughters now sleep by the
side of their dear mother. Sweet babes ! lovely in life, and in

death not divided. What a precious group ! the mother and

her infant daughters awaiting together the morn of the resurrec-

tion ! Far from home and friends, they have found a grave on
one of Persia's loveliest plains, now dearer to me than ever ; but
their immortal spirits are with Jesus in our Father's house,

gone home a little before us.

"0, mother ! does not your wounded heart yearn for the
sweet repose of that blissful abode where Grod our Father, Christ
our Saviour, your sainted parents, the partner of your earthly
life, your children and grand-children, will all welcome you
home ? you have entered on that rest. If
Perhaps, ere this,

not, we shall both go soon. Are we ready ? Surely we have

had enough to wean us from this vain world We have had !

admonitions, too. I only wonder we are spared so long. Soon

shall we depart,- nor would we stay when Grod shall call us

hence. Still, we should not be tired of this world while Grod

has work to employ us here.
" I am looking forward to the day when I may once more see

the face and hear the voice of my dearest nfbther ; but I can

hardly realize that we shall meet this side the grave. Should I
not live to see you, accept my warmest thanks for all your kind-
P^ess your unwearied, motherly kindness to me and ray
"
orphan sons. May God reward you !

To his children he writes, February 12 :

" My Dearest Children I wrote to Henry not long since,

:

and told him I hoped you would soon have the pleasure of seeing
your two sweet little sisters. I anticipated the joy it would
13#
158 I> K . ^K A N T AND T II E

give you to meet them for the first time, but they are gone.

Your brother Henry I hope you may see he often ;

talks about

going to America to see you. Do you wish very much to see him ?

AYould you like to teach him to read? He has no school, as you

have. If you would be useful or happy, improve your oppor-

tunities for learning. Study to be wise, and learn to be good.
Nothing will make me so happy as to see you trying to do good.

If yaii would be happy, you must try to make others so. It is

this thatmakes missionaries so happy. They find it very painful

to be separated from friends, and especially from dear children,

as your father is from you. But we are happy in doing good to

others."
Circumstances connected with the welfare of the mission de-
tained Dr. Grant in Oroomiah till the beginning of May. Then,
anxious to increase his acquaintance Vv^ith Mar Shimon, to ob-

tain additional information about the mountains, and especially

to remove any remaining doubts about the practicability of trav-
elling there, instead of taking the usual road to Erzrum, he

resolved to pass through central Kurdistan, on his way home.

He left Oroomiah, May 7th, with his little son, then four

years old, accompanied by Mar Yohanna a\id Mar Yoosuf. At

Salmas he failed to find the weekly caravan for Julamerk, as

the government had forbidden the exportation o? the wheat it

usually carried ; and, although on that account he felt that the

time was not a fav-able one, yet, lest any should take occasion,
from his not going, to defer doing anything for the mountains,
he determined to proceed, with a single unarmed footman from
Yahya Khan. Two brother,^ of Mar Shimon, with some Nes-
torians, were thus emboldened to venture back from their win-
ter's sojourn on the plain, and all set out together. The emir
was absent at Yan, but Dr. Grant shrewdly argued that while
the Kurd was in the power of the Turks he himself was all the
safer among his people, who would naturally fear that any evil

dope to him would be revenged on their chief.

 '
'

MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. 159

In a letter to Mr. Stocking, dated Khosrova, May lOtli, he

says :
" Do not fear on my account. The Lord will take care of

me, and of his own work among this people. With my auticipa=

tions of a glorious display of grace among the dear Nestorians, 1

am not anxious to be dismissed from toil. I would live to see

His chariot-wheels rolling over the highway which shall he from

Assyria, though I shall rejoice in it none the less if I behold it

from a higher eminence. To Grod I can safely commit my life,

and all most dear to me on earth. I never saw Henry more

happy than nov/. He enjoys his rides and his visits very much,
and endures the journey with quite as little suffering as his

father. Though weak in body, I feel '

strong in the Lord ;

'Jehovah is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid ?

Report says Ibrahim Pasha is marching against Georgia, and

Russia is preparing to meet him on the Aras. Wars and ru-

mors of wars; but be not troubled, God reigns. The Lord

watch over you and the dear missionary circle, who will not for-

get a lonely pilgrim in his wanderings."

His way to the mountains was so obstructed by snow, that he
had to sleep near their summit, under the open sky, with the
thermometer below zero. Providentially, the Patriarch's brothers
had some carpets, which made them comfortable till three

o'clock A. M, when they resumed their journey by the light of

the moon.
On descending to the sources of the Zab, he found the upland
valleys dotted with the black tents of nomad Kurds, Vfho are

more to be dreaded than the other tribes, but passed through the
midst of them unmolested, to Bash Kala. Prom thence he
reached Julamerk, on the evening of the second day, though the
road along the Zab vfas still obstructed by the remains of ava-
lanches. Into one of these his horse fell, and threw him and
his little son into the snow, but providentially without injury.
Once or twice afterwards they had similar falls, though he dis-

mounted whenever danger was apparent.

ICO DR. GTvANT AND THE

The ascent from the river to Julamerk is truly grand. The

road climbs in a zig-zag line uji the face of the mountain, till

the traveller looks down almost perjDendicularly one thousand

feet. The roar of the waters rises from below, reechoed by the
snow-capped mountains round about ; while the castle, from its

lower eminence, looks sternly down the ravine, reminding the

wayfarer how much the violence of man adds to the natural
difficulties of his rugged path.
The bridge to the residence of the Patriarch was swept away
a few hours before his arrival, so that he could not visit the
tribes on that side of the river, as he had intended. But he
spent ten days with Mar Shimon, then the guest of Suleiman
Bey, in the castle of Julamerk. His impression of the import-
ance of the mission to the Mountain Nestorians gathered new
strength in this visit, and the mudebbir joined the Patriarch
in urging his speedy return. He regretted that he could not at
once begin his labors among them; but he felt encouraged by the
fact that while the year before, on his entrance from the west,
Providence had rendered that route safe by the subjection of
Amadia, now also the emir was on his way back from Erz-
rum, pasha of the region he had hitherto governed as an in-

dependent chief. " But," says he, in a letter to Dr. Anderson,

" we must not expect the great work to be achieved without vig-
orous eilbrt, and, j^erhaps, severe trials of our faith," He also
recommended the occupation of Mosnl, in case of the interrup-

tion of communication with Oroomiah; for "these lands may

soon be the theatre of fearful commotions, so that what we do
for them should be done at once, and with all our might."
After he was all ready to leave for Mosul, a pain in his chest
delayed his departure, till he did not dare to take that route,
lest he and his little son should fall victims to the hot desert
winds of Mesopotamia. He had again visited Julamerk, and re-
sided safely with Suleiman Bey, who headed the party that
murdered Schultz, and now seemed, by special kindness to him,
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. l*^)!

endeavoring to blot out the memory of that deed of blood.

This proved the practicability of travelling in these regions, full

as much as another journey through the safer district of Tyary

would have done ; and, as he had a desire to see what facilities
Van afforded as a point of access to the mountains, he resolved
to go that way to Constantinople.
It was late in the afternoon of the 25th before he left, for

Suleiman Bey, even after he was ready to mount, constrained him

to stay to partake of a repast, while his mother prepared
some bread and honey for the road. She gave her fiivorite,

Henry, a bag of nuts and raisins, with a small loaf of sugar.

The Patriarch's sister also sent a large supply of hohca (honey,
flour and butter, simmered together), rolled up in bread ; and
his mother sent bread, cheese and eggs, kindnesses to appre-

ciate which one needs to travel in those mountains, and that,

too, at a time when, as now, the scarcity almost amounted to a
famine. The chief had already given Henry a small sum of
money, and his mother hung a gold coin round his neck, as
a parting gift. " Such," says his father, " were some of the

kindnesses the Lord put into the hearts of this people to show
to the pilgrim missionary in this land of violence. May
He reward them by the gift of His word and spirit, and make
"
me th.e means of leading them to the Grreat Physician !

In descending to the river the road looked more dangerous

than before, and he was glad to walk, rather than trust to the
mule, that, by one false step, might dash them in pieces on the
rocks Ijelow. At sunset they encamped among the rocks, with

the roar of the river for their lullaby. The stars shone
bright in the clear night. The noise of the rushing waters was
more sonorous in the still air. Three Kurds stretched their
brawny limbs by the blazing fire. But, though the houi' and
place were suited to deeds of darkness, that parent found it

sweet to feel that God was present and know that his angel

encamped round about them.

162 DR . GRANT AND T HE

Next morning they rose with the sun, from refreshing

frleep, and, after following the river some miles further, as-

C3nded a tributary, on the right, to its source, among the

mountains.
Near the summit of the first range, they rested in a grove of
willows and wild-pear trees, just opening into blossom. An hour
further, they breakfasted in the church porch of a Ncstorian
hamlet, one of the half-score villages of Berwer Shawina, all

of which contain scarce two hundred houses, and are miserably

poor. Their subjection to the Kurds explains their poverty-.
Last year, six men of this small hamlet fell in the defence of

their flocks from the nomad tribes. At noon they reached

the village of Tuhr Agha, chief of the Pinianshi Kurds, a tribe
numbering some thousand families, and nominally subject to the

emir. Part of them live near Tehoma, and are a bloody and
lawless clan. Here they spent the night, and were nowhere
entertained more hospitably. They were treated with coifee and
sherbet ; and, besides a dinner of excellent pilav, were furnished,
after breakfast, with a basket of roasted eQ-gs for the road. Per-
haps the doctor's prescriptions for the chief and two of his harem
may explain such generous hospitality.
In one of the Kurdish villages which they passed, a woman
gave him some of their native socks in return for medicine. An
hour before sunset they reached a large camp of the Hertush
Kurds, the most noted robbers in the region. Their chief came
out and gazed at the strange sight of a Frank dress ; but suffered
them to pass unmolested to the next camp, where the doctor was
not unwelcome, as the chief was ill of a fever, and many suf-
fering from oi^hthalmia. A tent was assigned, him, forty feet
by eighteen, with one side open, and a web of reeds set up on
edge round the other three; the black hair-cloth above was sup-
ported by a number of poles, and secured by cords fastened to
pins driven deep in the ground. One quarter of the tent was
fenced off for the lambs, which are not let out to the flock till
 MOUNTAIN NEST0RTAN3. 163

the Kurds have secured most of the milk for themselves and, as ;

with them this is valued more than the wool or flesh, they won-

der that we should never milk our sheep.

Three hours' ride, by a new road, brought them again to Bash
Kala, on the 29th. In the valley of a small creek they stopped
a few moments, at the spot where Schultz fell. The sons of an
Armenian in Bash Kala buried him where he lay, and a small
cairn marks the grave. One of his servants was killed in the

town, lest he should betray the murder of his master. But the
news soon reached Persia ; and when redress was demanded, the
agent who did the deed was slain by the very chief who had
ordered him to do it. But in this, too, appeared the good hand
of God ; for, had that man been living, he would have suspected
Dr. Grant to be the avenger of blood, and in all likelihood have

killed him also, to avoid the justice that he feared.

Schultz had carried away specimens of the yellow mineral from
their orpiment mines, and they suspected he had found it to
contain gold, and so would induce his king to take possession of
their country. Major Rawlinson attributes his death to his tak-

ing an Afshar guard from Oroomiah, instead of a Kurdish one,

offered him at Ushnei. He was thus regarded as a government
emissary, discovering the bevSt route for the approach of the
Persian guns.
Dr. Grant spent a r|uiet Sabbath in Bash Kala, though, from
the great scarcity, he could hardly get enough of coarse barley
bread to satisfy his hunger. This quiet Sabhath in Bash Kala
is commended to the notice of those who find so many excuses
for travelling on that day in our peaceful land.

He left late in the afternoon, June 1st, and two hours after,

the party was alarmed by armed horsemen on the mountain

above, vanishing as suddenly as they appeared. Some got their

weapons ready for defence ; but his Nestorians concluded, with

I)r. Grant, that it was better to be robbed, as they expected to
be, than to kill. As flight was impossible, they kept on, pre-
1 04 DR . G RA N T AND T II K

pared for tlie worst, and longing Ibr the protection of the three

servants of the emir the mutsellim had promised to the doctor.

The supposed robbers proved to be these very protectors.
They crossed a snowy ridge to the castle of Mahmudiyeh, and
thence journeyed to the walled town of Van, overlooked by its

uncieitt castle. The extensive gardens around form the summer

residence of many of the people ; and the lake abounds in fish,

though its water is so alkaline the people use it to make soap.

Its surface is about four hundred and seventy feet higher than
the Lake of Oroomiah.
He remained ten days here, and had repeated interviews with
the emir, then on his way home. He found him still friendly;
though, he cautiousl}^ adds, " how valuable his friendship will
prove, remains to be seen." The subjugation of the Nestorians
was the main object of his visit to Erzrum, and this alliance

with the Turks.

In writing from this place to his friend Mr. Stocking, he says :

" Henry is as fond of his horse as ever, and; I trust, may ])e

benefited by his long journey, though I sometimes feel anxious,

when I think how liable we both are to sickness and accident.
But I try to trust all in the hands of God. From here to Erz-
rum the whole country is suffering from the famine, and the
Kurds may be impelled to robbery, if they cannot subsist on the
products of the dairy. I shall take what bread I can from here,
and must trust to Providence when that is gone."
On his way to Erzrmn he met with a pleasant illustration of
the value of English protection. A horse was stolen from the
party, one night, in the tent of a Kurdish chief; but, on his
threatening to complain to the Eu zl:^'* consul, it was at once
restored.
His only suit of clothes were ragged enough, after the hard
usage of his journey, to satisfy any advocate of missionary
economy ; but this did not prevent a hearty welcome from his

friends at Erzrmn, both English and American. Among the

 MOUNTAIN N i: S TO R I AN S . 1 tK)

former were Dr. Riacli, consul Brant and Col. Shell; and here
he met, for the first time, Dr. AVright, who still lives to fill his

place in Oroomiah. He had much of counsel and advice to give

to his successor, who has not forgotten, to this day, the impres-

sion he then received of the doctor's energy and devotion to his

work. They called together on the gentlemen of the Persian

embassy, then in Erzriim, and one of them, observing Dr. Grant's
erect and commanding person, remarked, " A good soldier w^as
spoiled when that man became a missionary." He should have
said, " A good soldier was promoted to higher service."

He left Erzrum June 26, favored with letters of introduction

to Lord Ponsonby, from his friend Col. Shell, her Majesty's
charge d'affaires to Persia ; and, at Trebizond, was right glad to

exchange the saddle for a quiet seat in the cabin of the steamer
to Constantinople, grateful for that more than paternal care
that had brought him and his little son safe through the perils
of their arduous journey.
In Constantinople he received from Lord Ponsonby the

warmest assurances of his readiness to protect our labors in the

mountains, as well as of his lively interest in the Nestorians.

From Commodore Porter he, both then and previously, received
many favors. Even now he had fears that the new relations of
the emir to Turkey would prove unfavorable to the Nestorians,

and to missionary labor among them. But, while feeling that

storms were needed to clear the political atmosphere, he also
felt that " He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that
regardeth the clouds shall not reap."
From Constantinople he proceeded, by steamer, to Smyrna,
where he embarked on board the brig Franklin for America,
and wrote the following to Dr. Wright, while sailing down the
Gulf of Smyrna, July 26:
"Though, in one sense, you are more solitary than you will
always find agreeable [the good doctor has since married], I
trust you may, as did once a godly minister, make Christ's cause
14
IGi) DR. GKANT AND TU *:

your chosen bride. Your work is most interesting, and I trust

you will do it far better than I have done, and, especially, be a
uuich better physician of souls. lu all respects let your aims
he high ; and do not copy after me. Most unfit am I to be even

a hewer of wood and drawer of water for the great temple. If

I can get more skilful workmen into the field, I shall feel that I

have not lived in vain. Your ichole field must he brought under

irdmediate culture. If there are obstacle^-, we must have more

faith, more zeal, and more love."
He landed in Boston Oct. 3, 18-10, after a passage of seventy

days, only to labor for his beloved Nestorians in other ways.

While in this country he spent as much time as possible with his
children, who were much in need of his presence and care. It

is one of the sorest trials attendant on the separation of the mis-

sionary from his children, that, while his heart yearns after them,
they learn to regard him as a stranger, and transfer to others
the affection that, of right, is his. Thoughtless persons, too,
letus not think they do it intentionally, suggest to the chil-

dren that their parent ought to be with them, and that, if he

cared for them as he should, he would not leave them. Thus,

too often, the loving heart, hastening to embrace those whose

absence has been its daily grief, "is overwhelmed to find indifier-

ence where it looked for an answering affection.

He found a pleasant home in Utica for the little stranger

from Persia, secured what he hoped were permanent homes for

his elder sons in Christian families in New York and Clinton,

and made provision, from his own scanty funds, for their liberal

education, hoping that one day God would bring them to share

his missionary labors.Frequent addresses to the churches,

which will never be forgotten by those who heard them, and
would have been more numerous had he not str lined every nerve
to get back to his work as soon as possible, important confer-
ences with the Prudential Committee, and the publication of his
work on "The Lost Tribes," occupied every moment of his time,
 MOUNTAIN NE8T0RIANS. 167

and gave him little oiDportunity to recover the health he so much

needed.
In his book, besides giving an account of the Nestorians, and
his journeys in Kurdistan, he sought to identify them with the
ten tribes of Israel. Of this work he says himself, in a letter to
a missionary friend :
" I regret that I could not devote more
time to its preparation ; but I did not feel at liberty to let it
interfere with more direct missionary labors. The last part, iu
particular, is too much hurried but it may lead to inquiry and
;

more thorough elucidation by those more competent, and if so,

it is well." Yet the book was very popular, both in this coun-
try and in England, and elicited much discussion. It yielded
him also a small income, at a time when, but for the aid thus
afforded him, he might have been compelled to return and
provide otherwise for the support of his children.
While here, his ardent appeals awakened a deep interest in
the people so dear to him; and he had the pleasure of seeing
two missionaries, with their wives, Eev. Messrs. Hinsdale and
Mitchell, embark, January 18th, 1841, for Smyrna, on their
way to the Mountain Nestorians.
Writing to Mr. Stocking, March 14, 1841, he says :
" There is

an increasing interest felt in our mission. Prayer will be offered,

and it will be heard. Doubtless we shall Kave a hard strujrgle
with the powers of darkness ; but the work is the Lord's, and
will go forward. He may suffer our faith to be tried ; but let
us be steadfast, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the
Lord. I might awaken an increased interest in our mission, if I
remained a few months longer. I have full and attentive houses
wherever I go, and have engaged to speak in two churches in
New York city to-morrow afternoon and evening. I have also
urgent calls from important places in this and other states, but
must decline them, and make my voice heard from my field of
labor."

After a brief sojourn of six months, every hour of which, not

J .8 I) K. G R A N T A N 1' T II K

spent on a bed of sickness, was fully occupied, indeed, he had

not time to vi^it many of his relatives and personal friends, he
hastened to return ; and the same Hand that shielded him from
men of blood in Kurdistan held him back when all his planr,

were laid to sail in the ill-fated President. He left by the

Cunard steamer of April 1st ; secured the copyright of his book
in England, which was published on the same day in London and
New York ; and, hastening through France, embarked at Mar-
seilles, and arrived at Constantinople on the 14th of May. Then,
having procured firmans, and made other necessary preparation,
though scarcely recovered from a severe cold, he left, about the
end of May, for Trebizond. He had intended to go to Aleppo,
and accompany the reinforcement to Mosul ; but late advices from
Syria rendered it probable that they would be detained there
till the autumn by disturbances in the interior ; and, with the

approbation of his brethren of the Armenian mission, he re-

solved to go at once to the mountains, and make preparations
to introduce his associates to their future field of labor.

Before leaving Constantinople, he thus wrote, concerning his

health, to Rev. W. Jones, May 27th :

" I am anxious to get into the mountains as soon as practi-

cable, but I am providentially detained here by ill health. I

was to have left last week, but the brethren advised me to delay.

I am now better, on the whole, but the physicians join with the

missionaries in urging me to delay another week, and I have re-

luctantly consented. I trust then to be able to proceed ; but I
cannot conceal from myself that my hurried visit to America has
not so invigorated my constitution but that I ought to be ready

for my last change ; and I would recommend your station to

take into serious consideration the question of sending one of its

members with me into the mountains the present summer, that,

whatever a,dvantages my acquaintance with the people has given
me may be, as far as possible, transferred to you, and thus no
advantage be lost to the cause in case of my removal. Do not
 .

MOUNTAIN NE S T R I ANS 169

think, from these remarks, that I am dangerously ill ; but life

is always uncertain, and nothing should be risked on the life of

one man, and he the tenant of a .shattered tenement."
Thus, he did not count his life dear unto him, in comparison
with the success of his work. The reader will bear in mind
this account of his health, as he follows him through the toil and
hardship yet to come.
14#
 CHAPTER X.

THIRD VISIT rO THE 3I0UKTA1XS RMUMSCENCE DERVISHES SUMMA-

RY JUSTld FAMINE
i; TRAVELLING IX THE EAST FALSE ALARM
ENCOUNTEP- WITH KURDISH ROBBERS VAN TREACHERY OF KURDISH
fiUIDES
PATRIARCH AND DR. GRANT CROSS THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN
IN KURDISTAN JELU BASS TEHOMA SCRIPTURAL ASSOCIATION*
NARROW ESCAPE DISCOVERY OF ANTIQUITIES WINE-DRINKING
LABORS IN ASHITHA NEWS OF DEATH OF MR. AND MRS. MITCHELL
THRILLING ADVENTURE IN NIGHT JOURNEY TREACHERY OF NES-
TORIAN GUIDES ARABS ARRIVAL AT MOSUL.

At Trebizond lie makes this entry in his journal, June 8th :

" I had thus far been borne so rapidly from one exciting
&cene to another, that I had little time to dwell on the trial of a
second separation from my native land ; but,now that I was
alone, on a rugged pathway, that led me far away from civilized
life, I felt once more a pilgrim in a strange land." In such a
state of mind, many a tender recollection was awakened by the
sight of the spot where, six years before, he pitched his tent,
for the first time, with the iqved one now in heaven. She had
listened with him to that murmuring stream, had shared his

delight in the wdld mountain scenery, and together they had

bowed there before the mercy-seat. Now, she w^as not; his chil-
dren were far away, and he alone ; and yet not alone, for Christ

was with him, and in his heart he rejoiced in the privilege of

ruffering for His sake. The same castle of the Deribeys (chiefs
of the valley) looked down from its lofty crag, and the fields in
the vale w^aved in ihe rich verdure of early summer, reminding
him of one who used just such a scene to strong-then the faith of
his disciples, Matthew 6 : 28 31.
But these thoughts were dispelled by a storm that had long
 ;

DR. GRANT AND THE NESTUKIANS. 171

been gathering on the momitains, and now burst, with loud thun-
der, over the valley. As evening drew on, he found shelter in the

post-house at Jevizlik. A coarse mat was spread for him, and

coffee served, without sugar or cream, in cups not so large a^

an egg-shell. A dry bed was not to be had ; and, after sharing

his supper of coarse, black bread, yoghoort (thick, sour milk)

and eggs, with two hungry dervishes, he lay down, wrapped in

his wet cloak and the quilt he carried on his saddle. These
men, under a coarse exterior, possessed considerable intelli-

gence, obtained in their extensive wanderings. As they

" dipped with him in the dish," they complained of the Sultan
as an apostate, and bewailed the religion of Islam as passing

avfay with his temporal power. So Allah had decreed, and they
must submit. He asked them when it would pass away ; and
they replied about the end of a. n. 1260, which corresponds
with a. d. 1844-5.
Next morning, his ascent of the mountain was through rain
and mud, as on his previous passage ; and, at a khan where he

stopped to rest, he declined the honey they offered, as expe-

rience had taught him that its narcotic quality, mentioned by

Xenophon, was not altogether fabulous.

He reached Erzrum on the 12th, and, as travelling alone was
unsafe, he waited there ten days for a caravan. June 14th, he

wrote thus to his brother Ira :

" Goodness and mercy have
followed me all ray w^y. My health, which was not good at
Constantinople, is better now. In a few days I hope to leave

for Van and Julamerk, and, after visiting the mountain tribes,

to introduce my missionary companions to their new home. The

Lord will take care of me while he has work for me on earth.
May I then be prepared to enter into rest. It seems as if the

rest of heaven would be peculiarly sweet, after the cares asid

toils The work never seemed more arduous,

of a missionary life.

nor the grace more wonderful that employs one so unworthy in

a lause so glorious. My journey is not entirely free from peril
 ;!

172 DR . GR ANT AND T H E

but I .shall use caution, and trust that He who has so often pre-
served me will still be a very present help in trouble. May His
preseno'3 be with all my dear, dear friends and children, in my
"
native Und !

And again, Tuesday, 15th : " I have just returned from the

palace of the Pasha. He is trying to intimidate evil-doers

and, near one of the city gates, I was horrified to see an ill-

fated Kurd still on the gallows, the third day after his execution.
He had been guilty of robbery and murder. Others had been
bastinadoed till they were nearly dead. One is. to receive a
thousand blows on the soles of his bare feet, at the rate of two
hundred a day, for five days. The lawless state of the country,
doubtless, calls for severity, but the heart bleeds at the sight of
it. for the blessings of an enlightened Christian government
Would that Christians in America knew how much they owe to
the gospel, for surely they would then do more to diffuse it

through the world."

He left for Van on the 22d, with about forty Kurds, Turks
and Armenians, and no attendant but his muleteer,rwhom he
hired, with his two horses, for about nine dollars. One of these
he rode ; the other carried his medicines, books for distribu-
tion and provisions for the way ; for, owing to the famine that
still prevailed, no bread was to be had on the road. Many of
the people, the year before, told him they had not seen bread
for two months ; they then lived chiefly on vegetables boiled
with yoghoort^ and looked pale and diseased, and now it was
much worse. Many had perished of hunger, and thousands
more had fled from the region. The growing crop promised
well, but, for want of seed, little grain had been sown. Famine
is usually followed by the plague, and it had already broken out
in some of the villages along the road. On this account he did
not enter a house, save once, when he was driven in by a violent
storm of rain ; and then he learned that a dead body had been
carried out of o-e room shortly before he entered the other.
 MOUNTAIN N J-: S T R I AN B . 17 o

Multitudes pet ished through the whole region from Erzrura to

Mesopotamia. War, too, further on the road, would have
arrested his steps, had he been later ; but God kept him from the

pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that

wasteth at noonda}^
We will now sit down bj him, in the road, on the third day
from Erzrum, and glean a sentence here and there from a letter
to the late Rev. W. Gridley, then the guardian of his second

son. " I write you, seated upon the ground, among the moun-
tains of Kurdistan. My umbrella, resting on some of the baggage
of the caravan, affords a partial shade from the noonday sun ;

but, partial as it is, it is all within reach, for neither tree nor

house is visible in any direction. The horses are grazing around

me, each with an enormous pack-saddle on his back, that is

never removed, except v/hen they are curried. Slung over
these, in two equal parcels, they carry a load of from three
to four hundred pounds. You would be surprised to see them
carry such burdens, for hundreds of miles, over very steep
mountains, on roads worse than any you ever saw ; for in all

this region they have neither wheeled-carriages nor carriage-

roads. The caravan horses often wear bells so that Holiness ;

'

to the Lord,' written on the bells of the horses, would seem to

denote the consecration to God of the merchandise they carry.

The khans, where they stop for the night, when they can find

them, are mere stables, with one end usually a little higher

than the rest, and railed off, to separate the men from
the horses. The traveller is fortunate who can procure a little

of the plainest food ; but a bed is not to be thought of, except as

he carries it with him. In winter, if the b.reath of the horses

does not sufiice, you are ^n -^ by a smoky fire of dried ma-

nure ; and in summer the ^n.. _u is absolutely intolerable, from

the myriads of fleas. Tkis morning we mounted at four o'clock,

but*nothing could induce the hash katurjee (head muleteer) to

leave a green meadow, which we had reached at half-past seven ;
174 DR. GRA NT AN I) TH K

and here we must wait in the hot sun till three o'clock, when we
shall go a little further, and encamp for the night. It is trying

to proceed so slowly, but there are no post-horses on this route,

and it is too perilous to travel alone.
'^^
June 25. Last evening we forded the Aras (Araxes), and
encamped upon its banks ; the water was midway up the sides
of the horses, but we raised the loads by means of bags of
chopped straw piled under them, on the pack-saddles, and so

got over safe. During the night some of our horses strayed or
were stolen by the Kurds, and the muleteers remained to seek

them, but the rest of us set oif soon after sunrise, though our
danger was increased by the separation ; for, with most of us,
it was a choice between danger and starvation. After a
ride of thirty miles, I am getting ready to sleep, as usual, upon
the ground. I have a rug and quilt, to which I add my cloak,
and, thus" protected, sleep very comfortably, though the dew is

so heavy, my covering looks in the morning as though it had

been exposed to a shower. But the sun is setting, and I must
bid you good-night, and see if I can get some rice boiled for my
supper. It were cruel to wish you here to see us ; and yet I
wish you could look on this novel scene and motley group, with-
out the hardship and exposure of the journey. Still, the pres-
ence of the Saviour sweetens every care, and I trust 3'ou will
not cease to pray that it may abide with your pilgrim brother."
That night, while encamped near some salt springs, he was
roused by a loud scream, and found all in the greatest conster-
nation. His first thought was that they were attacked by the
Kurds, who had been hovering about for two days ; but, instead
of Kurds, only a horse had quietly whisked his tail in the face
of an Armenian priest, who woke up screaming, and the rest,
not knowing why or wherefore, followed his example. As Dr.
Grrant was satisfied they would now set a watch, according to
his previous advice, he lay down again and slept quietly.
The next night he slept under the Roman walls of Malas-
 MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. 175

gird, not far from the famous battle-field where Alp Ari>lan,
with forty thousand Turks, defeated the Greek emperor, Ro-
mauus Diogenes, at the head of one hundred thousand soldiers,
and took him prisoner, a. d. 1071. The town is small, and now
almost depopulated. Thence, to Asnawak, his road lay mostly
over a desolate waste, covered with igneous rocks from the ex-
tinct volcano of Supan, which has a distinctly formed crater on its

summit. On the day following he passed over the most danger-

ous part of the road, and the fears of his companions were in-
creased by the reports of recent robberies, on the road before
them, by a party of twenty-five mounted Kurds, For several
hours they kept near the shore of Lake Van, and saw no dan-
ger till they crossed some hills to the plain of Ardish. Here a
score of Kiirds suddenly appeared, half a mile ofi", between them
and the lake. They sat still upon their horses, while one gal-
loped forward to reconnoitre the travellers. To hide their
want of arms, one of these levelled his gun to shoot the Kurd,
as soon as he came within reach. Dr. Grant advised him rather
to fire over his head, and this brought him to a stand. They then
menaced him by signs, and, at their request, the doctor raised
his umbrella, to make an impression of their consequence. The
Kurd, on this, rode back to his comrades, who moved forward to
hear his report. This roused the fears of the doctor's party to
the highest pitch. Each crowded to get into the middle. Many
cried They are coming,
some one thing and some another,
and allwould have fled, had not he strenuously opposed it, as sure
to provoke pursuit. An eminence on the left, however, was too
inviting, and a disorderly movement begun in that direction.
Seeing their need of a leader. Dr. Grant, whose quick eye had
caught another eminence, further on the road, pointed to that
and bade them follow ; and the next moment they were on the
way again, in tolerable order. This proved the salvation of the
party ; for the enemy, seeing this apparently bold move, and not
relishing the warm reception of their spy, moved off in another
 ;

17(5 tli. GRANT AND THE

direction. The thought that this was only a ruse, in order to

attack the party to better advantage while fording the river,

hurried them on, and in less than an hour they w^ere safe across.
On the last day of June it rained in the night; but, with his
umbrella over his head, and his saddle-bags for a pillow. Dr.
Grant slept comfortably, and was on his way again before davris.
He met Kurds again that day; but, being few, they did not
venture an attack. Three years before, seventeen Armenians
were killed on this road, and, though diligent searcb was made,

no trace could be found of them or their murderers. This, and

the famine, that rendered the Kurds desperate, lent additional

terror to each appearance of danger. They encamped at the

Armenian village of Meirik, where is an ancient stone church,

like that at tJtch Kileeseh, and said to be, like it, fifteen

hundred years old. The Gatholicos' of Aghtamar has juris-

diction over the Armenians of Kurdistan beyond Yan and Bitlis.

His convent is on a little island in the lake, pleasant and fertile,

but difficult of access, for want of boats. No female is allowed

to enter that, or any of the convents on the other islands.

A ride of nine hours brought him to Van the first day of
July ; and the pasha the fourth who had occupied post that

within a year assigned him the guest of the Armenian

as

bishop, who occupies a pleasant suite of rooms connected with

the principal church. He remained there till the morning of

the 5th, treated more kindly than he was last year by his pre-

decessor. The bishop seemed to desire the improvement of his

people ; and the hum of forty boys, learning to read, in another

part of the premises, told that education was not entirely
neglected. But this w-is the only school for ten thousand Ar-

menians in the city, and forty thousand more in the province.

Dr. Grant improved the opportunity to press home his obliga-

tions, and gave the priest and vartabed some Armenian
tracts

as a parting gift. This led to inquiries about our missionaries

and he was happy, by the aid of the books themselves, to coi>
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 177

tradict the slanders that, even here, represented them as infidels,

without prayers, religion, or a belief in the Bible itself.

As a place of residence, Van is excelled by few places in the

interior. More healthy than Oroomiah, it has much of its beauty

and fertility. On one side fruitful gardens, stretching for miles
over the plain, and on the other the lake, surrounded by the
glistening summits of the mountains, form a landscape of rare
oeauty. Provisions usually are abundant and cheap; and,
3wing to its height, it is not subject to the oppressive heat of

aiany places in the East.

Several small villages, within three or four hours' ride, con-
aining together about one thousand Nestor ians, form a small
ommunity by themselves, and can be reached only from Van.
Col. Chesney states that Schultz copied forty-two inscriptions

'lear the city, one of them in the cuneiform character, and

deciphered Shemiram (Semiramis) in several.
Dr. Grant spent the fourth of July with the bishop, at the
monastery of the seven churches, four miles on his way to Jula-
merk. One of its seven chapels was destroyed by an earthquake
more than two hundred years before. The rest have stood, it

is said, for eight hundred years ; and some cuneiform inscrip-

tions indicate that it may have been built on former ruins. It

commands a fine view of the city and lake, and is embowered in

fertile gardens and vineyards, watered by mountain rills ; but

the climate is too cold to bring grapes to perfection.
Dr. Grant left the convent July 5, as the bell was ringing for

matins, and passed over a range of hills to the valley of the Ho-
shab. This he forded once, and then recrossed it on a bridge at
the castle of Mahmudiyeh, vrhere he stopped during the last
shower of rain he saw till the 13th of October, in Mosul. Kandi
Kileeseh was said to be two hours to the east. Three hours to the

south-east brought him to the Nestorian village of Seel, or Seer,

about a mile from the road. They had sufiered so much from
Moslem depredation that, at first, they treated him with much
15
i < >S DR . G RAN T AN D T H E

reserve ; but his salutation in their own language won then

confidence, to find himself once more
and he wa& delighted
among who knew him by rejDutation, though they had
friends,

never seen him. They told him the story of their oppression,
that had reduced a numerous population to a mere handful ; and
he ]"ejoiced in the opportunity to point them to the Friend of the
poor and suffering, and then prayed with these few sheep among
the wolves. Next morning, about an hour from the village, he
passed over some deep banks of snow on the summit of the
mountain; then, descending a ravine, he turned from the road,
over some irregular hills, to the plain of Albagh, whence Bash
Kala was visible two miles to the north. As he was a day too
late for the weekl}'^ caravan to Julamerk, he hired two Kurds to
conduct him to the residence of Mar Shimon. The first day all

went on well, as an uncle of the emir was in the company, and

the doctor slept in his tent at night ; but, next day (July 8),

while alone with his Kurdish attendants in the most solitary

part of the road, the muleteer stopped, and demanded additional
pay, and the guide, who had been sent to protect him, joined in
the demand. They both refused to go further unless he gave
them money on the spot. What was to be done ? He had
noticed them, .just before, turn considerably out of the road to
repeat their prayers, and he knew, from experience, that at sucli
times they were most to be dreaded ; for when they thus, as
they think, wipe oft' old scores, they are bolder to begin anew.
To accede to their demand would have been to invite them to

plunder, and then kill him to conceal the crime. To resist was
impossible, as they were armed, and he defenceless. But, by
using a discreet firmness, which none could do better than he,
while, at the same time, he avoided anything that might give
them a pretext for murder, he succeeded in inducing them to

proceed, and, before night, was cordially welcomed by old friends

in Kerme, two of whom went with him, next morning, to the

residence of the Patriarch.

 ;;

MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. 179

This deliverance justified the confidence expressed in a letter,

written just befiare leaving Van, in which he says, " The most
toilsome and dangerous part of my journey is yet before me
hut, with my acquaintance with the people, I trust I shall pass
through in safety, relying always on the strong arm of God, my
defence. I cannot doubt that prayer is offered in my behalf,
and Ifeel a sweet confidence that, whatever becomes of the weak

and unworthy instrument, the cause of God among the dear

Nestorians will go forward. Whether we ever meet again in
this world, is more than I can say. Bearing each other in the
arms of faith to a throne of grace, let us be faithful unto death,
when we shall wear a crown of life."

The Patriarch was absent when he arrived, but was sent for
immediately ; and, to use his own words, "his welcome and
unremitted attentions were all that I could ask." He had pre-
viously sent word to Tyary to have his people look out for him,
and escort him safely on his way, as he had expected him to
arrive from that direction. He now got ready to go with him
to Jelu in person, proposing to send his brother Zadok to intro-

duce him to such parts of the country as he had not yet visited.
The day after his arrival at the Patriarchate July 10 he
writes to Mr. Stocking, of Oroomiah :
" You will have heard
that I am at length brought again to the field of my future
labors and trials, for trials here I have ever expected, and
they may be very formidable. But, with my unshaken confi-
dence that the Lord has mercy in store for this people, and,

through them, for the surrounding nations, I will not be dis-

couraged. It is the Lord's cause, and in him will I trust for its
success. The Patriarch never seemed more cordial than now
but there is an unsettled aspect to the whole region, which seems
to denote changes in prospect. Some of them, for a time, may
seem adverse to our plans; but I feel a strong conviction that,
in the end, they will be overruled for good."

These glimpses of his heart, in familiar intercourse with

180 DR. GRANT AND THE

i^i lends, show that, though his journal is not loaded with the dis-
pl ay of his religious feelings, yet he lived as one who felt he
might not be far from the entrance of another world, dwelling
in the secret place of Him in whose presence he hoped soon to

find fulness of joy forevermore.

On the same day they went about ten miles up the mountain
to a summer camp, stopping for evening prayers at a church a
mile below it. On either hand the summits were craggy and
broken. Isolated cones rose up around, like so many sentinels

in the evening twilight. On the highest of these stood a ruined

castle, and, just below it, a chapel hewed out in the rock, where
a hermit feeds the unextinguished lamp upon its altar. The
mother of Suleiman Bey was there, under the care of Mar Shi-

mon, during the absence of her son in Gawar, and showed him
the same kind attention as before. Her inquiry, how he could
leave his little son, and come alone to that distant land, opened
afresh the fountain of tears. But little did she know of the

comfort vouchsafed by the Saviour, for whose, sake he had left

home and children. It was the Sabbath, and he tells us that

on those mountain-tops he enjoyed, in communion with Christ,

the hundred-fold that He had promised.

Early on the 12th they began to climb the steep winding
path to the summit, making many a halt for breath in the long
ascent. On the first summit they found shepherds pasturing
their flocks, amid the verdure and flowers of early spring.

Seated by a rill, fresh from the snows above, he prescribed for

a few chronic complaints and diseases of the eye, for acute

sickness seldom visits so healthful an abode. Their huts were

built of loose stones, and covered with bushes, that screened
from the sun, but could afford no shelter from the storm. The
people were overjoyed to see them, and freely opened, their
stores of sour curd and liquid butter, laid up in goat-skins for

winter use. After a pleasant hour at this place, they continued

theii ascent to the glacier beyond. For some miles the mules
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 181

made but a faint footprint on its frozen surface, and near the
highest summit of the pass stood a chapel amid the everlasting
snow. This lofty region could accommodate the shepherds
scarce a month in the year ; but the little church might shelter
the traveller when the shepherds were far away, and direct his
thoughts to God. The summit had long receded as Alps on Alps
arose, and now the rocky peak rose some hundred feet above
the pass. This is the loftiest point in Kiirdistan, and is about
fourteen thousand feet above the sea, though some report it an
high as fifteen thousand. The plain of Mesopotamia is said to
be visible in a clear day. But, as the peak then wore its cap
of clouds, Dr. Grant contented himself with the view from where
he stood ; and that extended over the mountain-tops in every
direction, with no apparent limit but the power of vision. A
little cloud, broken off from the mass above the peak, had floated
far away in the clear sky; and, as it lay in calm repose, lighted
up by the rays of the noonday s m, it seemed like a messenger
from heaven serenely watching over the region assigned him by
the Lord of angels. But Dr. Grant had no time to admire the
grandeur of the scene ; nor, situated as he was, could he make
observations with the compass ; and, with the rest, he prepared
for the descent. He had often found this more perilous than
the ascent, and especially so now, as, divested of his cloak, staff
in hand, and hair sandals on his feet, he secured a foot-hold, at
first, only in the slight impressions left by the feet of the mules
in the frozen snow. This passed, his progress was safer, but no
less laborious, so that, at length, utterly exhausted, he was glad
to ride long before any one else dared to do so; and, even then,
Mar Shimon insisted on his retaining the saddle, as he was^
accustomed to such journeys, while Dr. Grant's limbs we
trembling from fatigue.
Leaving two villages on their right, the}^ reached Zerany, the
largest in the district, and spent the night in the outer court of
the church, in which the Patriarch led the villagers in their
15*
 ;

]8l2 DR. GRANT AND THE

evening prayers. Their supper of millet, boiled in milk, was

'
in a
eaten friDm a large wooden bowl, each dipping his spoonful
dish of melted butter imbedded in the middle of it. Barley

bread was laid round the edge of the goat-skin beneath. At

other times, during his stay in the mountains, wheat, barley, rice,

maize or rye, took the place of millet, or were used for bread
and sometimes they were made into a kind of soup. Milk is
seldom used till sour, contrary to the advice of the Patriarch

Timotheus to the Tartars of Prester John, and butter always

in a liquid state.

Though the snow is here very deep, and the winters long, yet
an inferior gi-ape grows abundantly. Apples, pears, &c., are

more rare and less delicious than in New England.

Next day, at noon, when most were asleep. Dr. Grant ven-
tured to make some entries in his journal. The villagers won-
dered to see him writing backwards,
that is, from left to right,
and with a ciuill instead of a reed. " Are you writing down
all Jelu, to send to the New World ? " asked Priest Zadok, as
he woke from his siesta, and looked on the same operation. The
doctor took the hint, and made briefer memoranda, more pri-

vately. The village priest, and several bright lads, were all

animation at his mention of a school ; and the Patriarch woke

up when the sun shone round in his face, and, as elsewhere,

expressed publicly his approval of our missionary work.

In the evening they rode to the village of Mar Ezeiya, where

is one of the oldest and most venerated 'of their churches;

it is also, perhaps, the largest. Tradition says it was built by
Balak, a Christian prince of Bagdad, who used to spend his
summers here fourteen centuries before. A large bell was sus-
pended from a beam outside, and it was peculiarly affecting to
the lonely missionary to hear the church-going bell echoing
through those distant glens, and inviting their inhabitants to
prayer. It was the hour of vespers when they came in sight of

it, and the Patriarch at once dismounted, turned his face toward
 MOUNTAIN NESTOR lANS. 183

ths church, it lay towards the east, and went through his
devotions.
There are fifteen villages in Jelu, and five more in Bass.
Dr. Grant found them exceedingly desirous of a missionary.
They ofi'ered to give him a house, if he would come and live
among them. The habits of the men, in spending their winters
abroad, render them more intelligent than the other tribes, and,
therefore, more promising subjects of missionary efl"ort. His
eye, too, was quick to discern that their acquaintance with the
character and languages of surrounding countries would be an
admirable means of difiusing truth in the places they visited,
when once they themselves were filled with its spirit.

Dr. Grant here took leave of the Patriarch, who had treated
him with the kindness of a brother, and now committed him to

Priest Zadok, till he should leave the mountains or return to

him. In the latter case, they intended to go to Oroomiah to-

gether, and then both spend the winter at Ashitha or Lezan.

A ride of four hours brought them, on the 15th, to one of the

principal villages of Bass. These lie in a valley which unites

with another from Jelu, and then, winding to the south-east,
passes near Ravandooz, and unites with the Zab below the coun-
try of the Nestorians. The emir had been in the habit of re-
ceiving presents from the weaker tribes, and had, just before,
sent a servant to Bass to collect something in this way. Dis-
pleased with the manner of his application, they refused ; and,
when he resorted to force, they killed both him and his attend-
ants. But now the villagers, who were just leaving the church,

went in procession to meet their guests, and two lame children

were brought to the Patriarch's brother, with their feet tied
together, that they might be cured by his cutting the strings.

The day after, Dr. Grant had some interesting intercourse

with the chief men, and, after prescribing for the sick, departed
for Tehoma. On the summit of the mountain, to the south-west
of the village, he found some women tending their flocks. They
18-4 DR. G RANT AND T HE

brought him food, and one of them caught a sheep, from which
she presented him with a fine bowl of milk. As the Jews in the

days of Moses, so the Nestorians now prefer the butter of kine

and the milk of sheep. " With what interest," thought the good
man, " would these people read the Bible, tending their flock<,
like the sweet psalmist and patriarchs of old, amid the ver}-
scenery and customs it describes !
" From the summit he de-
scended a ravine, two hours to the south-west ; and spent the
night in a hut belonging to a summer encampment, so small

that he and the priest could hardly find room to lie down in it.

Next morning, while a dozen women started for their village,

each bending under the burden of a goat-skin filled with butter
or sour curd, he left in the opposite direction, winding down a
narrow glen, that expanded here and there, so as to admit of
culture. In one of these he found a Kurdish hamlet. Four
hours' walk brought him to Giinduktha, a large village of
Tehoma, where he lodged in an upper room of the church.
In the evening he climbed to the church of Rabban Fitter, hop-
ing to spend there a quiet Sabbath, in a purer atmosj^here.
Like two or three churches in Tyarj^ it has a glebe which pays
one-third of its produce to the church. On Sabbath the lovely
valley below was hushed in c{uiet ; and, while the early dawn
was hailed by the birds in the trees above him, many of the
villagers assembled with them for v.'orsliip. lie conversed with

all who called during the day, founding his remarks on such
portions of Scripture as the priests, at his request, translated
spoken language. Here he became acquainted with
into their

Kasha Gruwergis (George), next to Kasha Auraham the most

learned of their ecclesiastics.
On Monday, he went a mile further, to Tehoma Gawain,
where he translated and expounded the Bible, as before, to a

much larger congregation. At first they interrupted him by

their conversation, but became deeply interested as he proceed-
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 185

ed, expressing surprise that their priests had never told them
these things before.
Dr. Grant estimated the population of the six villages of Teho-
ma at ten thousand. But Dr. Smith set it down afterwai*ds, from
more reliable data, at five thousand, which is probably not far
from the truth. The district is more pleasant and fertile than the
rest, but the extensive cultivation of rice renders it subject to
fevers, and it is more exposed to the Kurds than either Tyary
or Jelu. In the evening, another mile brought him to Birijai,
where an arzaleh, some twelve feet high, was assigned to him and
his companion. Climbing up by a rickety ladder, they found it

without railing, and just large enough for both to lie down. As
it was his first trial of these long-legged bedsteads, the priest

was very anxious for his safety, and roused him from sleep in

tying his feet to the post to prevent him from falling on the rocks
below. At the doctor's earnest remonstrance, he set him free
but the idea of dangling from such a bedstead by the feet was
so ridiculous, that it was long ere he again composed himself to

sleep. As he lay there, he says :

" I looked round on the
sleeping villagers, some at a similar elevation, and others on
the pebbles of the torrent below. I thought of home, and the
friends of other days. But, pilgrim as I was, and not knowing
the things that would befall me, I felt a sweet assurance that I
was not alone ; and, committing my all to the Shepherd of Israel,
I was soon lulled to rest by the music of the dashing waters."
Four hours of weary walking along the ledges of the moun-
tain side brought him to the nearest village in Tyary, on the
20th. An open war, long carried on, between Tehoma and that
tribe, was brought to an end by the threatened irruption of the
Bey of Ravandooz ; but, though war had ceased, the old grudge
still remained. He was now in the narrow but fruitful glen of

Salaberka, and was hospitably entertained by Malek Berkhu.

Unknown to him at the time, he now had another narrow
escape. A party of Kurds tried to intercept him on the way,
18G DR. GRANT AND THE

but, finding he had passed, all turned back, save one, who had
the hardihood to go and beg medicine from the very man he
had intended to destroy, nor did he beg in vain.
The only priest in the district who could read intelligently

showed him a piece of an earthen vase that had been dug up

near the house, and contained a substance like cinereous bones.
But a more interesting discovery was made while they were
talking about this ; it was the copper bust of a female, with a
wreath around her brow. The features were well proportioned,

but, though protected from the weather in a cleft of the rock,

were thickly oxidized. They at once pronounced it an idol,

and each sought the privilege of stamping it under foot. The

irift of a cotton handkerchief saved it from destruction but he ;

had to assure them he wanted it only for a curiosity, and not to

worship. He said he would send it to the New World, as one of

the idols of their ancestors. " No, no," was the reply ;
" we are

Beni Israel; therefore, our ancestors were not idolaters." Did the

Ninevitish sepulchres extend so far beyond Malthaiyah and Ba-

vian ? In the afternoon he continued down the valley, through
a succession of houses and fertile gardens ; the vine hung over
the wall ; the fig and pomegranate grew on the terraces but ;

" the time of figs was not yet," and a few plums and white mul-
berries w^ere the only fruit he saw. Apples, too, were given

him, but they were too green for use.

On his right, a path led up to Bae Bawola. On his left,

across the stream, a steep mountain ridge separated the Nesto-

rians from the Kurds. Priest Zadok was now so excessively

fatigued that he often sat down, and at length declared he would

go no further. He said he was sick. Others Avhispered he had
drunk too much wine with the Malek. Says Dr. Grant :
" This

was the first wine I had seen in the mountains, but it did not

prove the last. I was pained to find that, thougK not so plenty
as on the plain, yet the clergy made too free with it, and when
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 187

I expostulated justified themselves on the ground that they did

no injury, but were only more pleasant, under its influence."

At sunset they stopped near a cluster of houses, where the

people were very kind. They slept on hurdles laid on the
smooth stones of the stream, and the best of them were given up
to their guests. These slept all the sounder for their fatigue,
and rose with the sun to a yet more painful walk, by which
Dr. Grant was quite exhausted before night. At a mountain
hamlet, where they stopped to rest, the village jDriest kindly
sat down and rubbed his limbs, remarking that he was not
learned in climbing their rocks. Priest Zadok complained bit-

terly, and said nothing would induce him to endure the heat and
fatigue, but regard to the doctor and the cause in which he la-

bored. Dr. Grant adds :

" It v/as the cause of Christ, and I felt

Immbled by my unworthiness to suffer for his sake." Before

night they reached Lezan, the first village he entered in the
mountains two years before, and he at once found himself among
old friends ; but, owing to his Frank dress, he was scarcely
recognized.
It was late next morning before the sun looked over the moun-
tains on his bed by the Zab, and he set out at once to Ashitha,

in search of a purer atmosphere. But he was so beset on all

sides for medicine that it was afternoon ere he finally left the
village. The Malek, absent on his former visit, insisted now on
his stopping under his roof; and even made him an offer of a
house to live in, if he would remain. Passing through Minya-
nish, the residence of the young man whose restoration to sight
had secured his favorable reception at the first, he was cheered
to meet him again, with another present of honey for his
benefactor. Says Dr. Grant :
" Such cases encourage the mis-
sionary to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
But I cannot speak of trials, while an open door is given me to

speak to the people with all fidelity."

He was-welcomed to the house of Kasha Auraham, in Ashi-

188 DR . G R ANT AND Tn E

tlia, about noon on the 23d, whom he found at his usual em-
ployment. Here he remained for nearly a month, spending the
days in intercourse with the people, and the nights on the roof,
where he also dined, and had his evening meetings. On the
Sabbath, forty or fifty assembled, to listen to such expositions of
scripture as seemed adapted to their case ; " for," says he, very

modestly, " it was the only kind of instruction for which I felt

qualified. Never was I more impressed with their perishing

condition. With few exceptions, even the clergy are exceed-

ingly ignorant and how can they enlighten others ? All need to
;

be taught the first principles of the oracles of God. But, if their

ignorance is affecting, their docility is exceedingly encouraging.
Even the priests frankly confessed that they were blind leaders
of the blind. Their consciences responded when their sins were set
before them, especially when I urged that their departure from
God was the occasion of their troubles from the Kurds, which they
feared would soon be greater. I showed that God had chastised
them through their enemies, thus far, gently ; but I feared that
he would do it more severely, even to the loss of their inde-
pendence, unless they repented. They confessed it was even
so, for men from the village had already fallen,
a score of oth-
ers were in captivity. More than seven thousand of their sheep
had been driven away, and now the locusts had come up in
swarms to snatch their bread from their very mouths.
"Some regarded me as a spy of the Turks, and others as in the
employ of the emir. But I endeavored, by well-doing, to secure
their confidence, since, under God, it was our only protection in

the prospect of political commotion. And, as the sick recovered

under my hands, confidence was restored. Their returning

health testified to the benevolence of my mission, and the
report was wafted on every breeze." In one day he removed
cataracts from the eyes of no less than seven persons, most of
whom were benefited by the operation. Some were from a dis-

tance, and thus he had an opportunity to speak to all of Christ

 "

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 189

and his salvation. Two young men were brought to him dan-
gerously wounded, and senseless, one by falling down a
precipice, the other by the stroke of a stone, started by his

!&heep above him on the mountain side, but both recovered, to

the surprise of their delighted friends.
Ashitha is the largest and one of the most healthy of their
villages. But it is not central. The winters arc severe, and
fuel is scarce. The summer, however, is delightful, and snow
remains, through the whole of it, within half an hour's walk.
The gardens and poplars, interspersed with walnut and other
trees, give a pleasing aspect to the valley. The grape is culti-

vated, but few fruits come to perfection. Insects are not so

annoying as elsewhere. The people are active, but rougher and
more rude than in other places. Yet all desired Dr. Grant
to reside among them, though he observed, with pain, that tem-
poral benefits w'ere a more prominent reason for it, in their
minds, than spiritual.
Priest Zadok and others often broke their weekly fast, but
all observed the great fast before Fiaster w^ith much strictness.

The brother of the Patriarch defended Dr. Grant's non-observ-

ance of such things, on the ground that he was not bound by
the councils that had imposed the burden on them.
The last Sabbath he spent in Ashitha, the village met to con-
sult on an invasion of Berwer, where two Nestorians had
recently been murdered. Some of the more aged advised for-

bearance. But Zadok and Priest Abraham cried, " To arms!"

at once. The former said, they were not men, but women, if
they submitted to such insults. The latter offered to lead them
at once to battle. " What !
" said Dr. Grant, " on the Sabbath ?

" We will fight," said the other, " in the night, after the Sab-
bath, but must set out now, ere the people disperse." Dr. Grant
replied that he could not interfere in a question of war or
peace, but asked them whether they could hope for the blessing
of God on the desecration of his holy day, and whether they
16
1 UO DR . G R A N T AN D T II E

had not better spend it in prayer for his guidance. They sepa
rated, after a spirited discussion, in which he took no further
part, and the invasion was postponed ;
though, after he left

the mountains, several villages united together to attack the

Kiirds, and drove off some thousands of sheep, in retaliation for

their previous losses.

Dr. Grant had sent a messenger to Mosul to learn whether

liis associates had arrived ; and, after waiting a week beyond
the time set for his return, v/ent to Minyanish on the 16th of
August. Next morning brought the sad news of the death of
Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, and the sickness of the survivors. He
started at once for Lezan, intending to fly to their relief via
A madia ; but the chief of Berwer, afraid of his influence at Mosul
in behalf of the Nestorians, had given orders not to suffer him to
pass. He spent the 18th in getting ready to leave, and giving
At this juncture the Patriarch
parting counsels to the people.
summoned the Nestorians to arms against a combined force of
Kurds and Turks from the north, and his brother was now
anxious to detain him as a counsellor ; but this only strength-
ened his purpose to depart.

On the 19th he thus wrote to Dr. Wright :

" In the removal
of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell we are admonished that the Lord
would try, as by fire, those who may enter this jDart of the field.
Truly, most trying must be the situation of dear Mr. and Mrs.
Hinsdale, so bereaved, and both upon a sick bed. I shall spare
no effort to reach them as soon as possible. Although the way
is not free from danger, yet their situation calls me to meet
whatever perils may exist. Were it not for their need of me, I
should be tempted to come to Oroomiah : for to remain with the

Patriarch might be to enlist as a military surgeon, an honor to

which I do not aspire.
" The situation of the Nestorians is likely to become a trying
cue, if the Turks, as is probable, unite with the Kurds against
them. They should not be forgotten in our prayers. I feel the
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 191

most consoling confidence that the Lord will overrule all for

good, and his kingdom speedily be built up. How delightful it

will be to hear the songs of praise, the offerings of pure hearts,

echoing through these vales, till

' The mountain-tops shall catch the fiov/ing joy,

And one glad song each heart and tongue employ '
!

" I do not think any temporary disturbance here ought to

deter others from joining us. By the time they acquire the
language, they will, I doubt not, find enough to do. There is a
wide and interesting field for preaching now; and the trials

through which this people are likely to pass may incline them
more readily to turn to the Lord. I tell them it is their sins
that provoke these chastisements, and they are ready to confess
that it is even so. I hope I may have been the means of call-

ing some attention to this point, and the leaven may spread after
I am gone. The Lord in mercy watch over this dear people,
"
and bless us all !

It may give some idea of the difficulty of communication in

the mountains to state that this letter, written in Lezan, August
19, 1811, was not received in Oroomiah till April 10, 1842. At
the same time he sent a note, written in pencil, to Mr. Stocking,
in which he says, " I have nothing to add further than to com-
mend you ail, and myself, once more to our covenant Grod. Our
bereavement may seriously aifect our plans ; but the cause is

God's, and he will take care of it. In him is my hope, and I

feel sure my confidence is not misplaced. You will not forget
us in your prayers."
That very day. Priest Zadok procured ten men to escort him,

by night, across the district of Berwer. He writes :

" The sun
was sinking behind the mountains as I bade the people flirewell,
and I rode on silent and sad, till roused by my companions
saying, as they pointed to the valley behind us, '
Is it not beau-
tiful ? '
It was tinged with the sombre hues of twilight, and
1132 DR. GRANT AND THE

was in such harmony with my feelings that I could scarce refrain

from tears. My thoughts were full of the past, present and

future, of this beloved people. As we climbed the mountain,

the stars shone out as they shine only in the East, and we seemed
toilinty to reach their shininor orbs. The ascent became more
difficult, till I was obliged to walk, and then draw myself up by

taking hold of the projections of the rocks. My guard, now,

after whispering together, refused to go on unless I doubled

their reward. I told them I was entirely in their power, they

were ten, and I alone, and, if they thought fit to rob and kill

me, I should make no resistance ; but I would not accede to

their demands. If they went on as they had agreed, their pres-
ent, at the end of the journey, would be proportioned to their

good behavior; but, if that did not suit them, they might

return to their village."

Who does not admire this far-seeing conduct of the lonely
missionary, boldly facing personal danger rather than afford a
precedent for similar extortion in the future ? He knew the

character of the people, whom he loved for Jesus' sake ; and,

though he might yield somewhat to Kurds at a distance, yet he

would not purchase his own safety by exposing his associates to

the like treatment, in time to come, from the Nestorians them-

selves. Awed by his calm firmness, his escort declared them-
selves ready to serve him at the peril of their lives ; and refused
to receive the customary present, at the end of the journey,
unless he should give it of his own free-will. Before reaching
the summit, one gave out, exhausted, and they left him with
gome shepherds on the mountain; soon another followed his
example, leaving only eight for the rest of the way.
The most toilsome part of the road was now past ; next came
the dangerous. He dared not pass through the Nestorian vil-

lages of Berwer, lest the chief should punish them for letting him
pass. They now moved in single file, with the utmost silence,
halting occasionally, a-id reconnoitring, to see that they were
 MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. 193

not observed. The fires of the shepherds enabled them (o avoid

their camps ; but two Kurdish villages lay directly in the road,
and they had to pass them with great caution. Taking a circuit

round, they passed the first in safety. At tlic next a castle

overlooked the road, and the v/atch-cry of the sentinels was
audible long before they reached it. But his guide^.^ knew every
pass ; and, in breathless silence, they led him through a ravine,
where he heard the watch-cry close on the right, and soon after
behind him. The prospect now brightened, though the danger
was not yet past. To cross the creek by the usual bridge was
not deemed prudent, and, with difficulty, they forded it below.
On emerging from the thickets on the other side, some of the
party were missing. They neither dared to call aloud nor sep-
arate in search of them ; but soon all met again, and moved on,
slowly and cautiously, as before. They often felt the want of
moonlight, and yet rejoiced there was none ; for in darkness was
their safety. Dr. Grant felt the hands of his watch : it was one
o'clock. " Time enough, but none to spare," whispered the
guides; and on they wandered, through thorns and over rocks.
Having regained the path, they ate a morsel of bread, drank at
a running stream, and hastened forward. Sunrise found them
on the mountain-summit, some three miles from Amadia. The
Nestorians dared not go further, but kissed his hand at parting,
and of theirown accord offered to remain where they were, and
allow no Kurds to approach from that quarter till he was safe
in town. They then passed the day concealed among the rocks,
and retraced their steps in safety on the following niglit.

With his baggage on the back of the Kurd who had brought
the letter from Mosul, Dr. Grant descended towards the town.
Half-way down, two armed Kurds started from behind a rock,
and attempted to secure thebaggage. Both Dr. Grant and his
attendant were unarmed and a long dispute in Kurdish ensued,
;

of which Dr. Grant could only understand the sign to deliver up

his eftectb. At length, on pointing toward the place where the
13*
 ;

101 DR. GRANT AND THE NESTORIANS.

Nestorlaiis were concealed (they were hidden by the inequality

or the ground), he was suffered to proceed, and soon entered the
gate of the fortress with a grateful heart. The governor re-

membered his former visit, and treated him with much kindness
but he left the same afternoon, and next day reached the Jewish
village of Gunduk, where he spent the Sabbath.
On the 24th he breakfasted in the large Yezidee village of
Hattara, ravaged by the Ravandooz chief seven years before.
He found it now in great fear from the Arabs, who had overrun
the region, and were now approaching the place. Terrified for
themselves, the villagers could spare no guard for him. But he
would not turn back so near Mosul ; and, finding three soldiers on
their way there, he went on in their company. By making a de-

tour they avoided the Arabs, who had taken the villages on the
direct road. At one time a cloud of dust led them to fear they

had fallen into their hands ; but it proved only some fellahin
(peasants) fleeing with their flocks ; and he rode into Mosul on a
horse lent him by the head man of a village, in return for his
prescriptions. Arrived there, he writes : "It seems as if the

good hand of the Lord had been with me all the way ; for, had
I been later, or pursued a difi"erent route, I had not been able to

enter the mountains this year. He gave me favor with the

Patriarch and people, then led me out of the mountains just as
they became the theatre of war, and now brings me to the rescue

of my surviving associate, when, owing to a dangerous relapse,

he seemed about to follow his companion to the grave."
 CHAPTER XI.

JOURNEY OF MESSES. HINSDALE AND MITCHELL DIARBEKR LETTER OF

MR. MITCHELL HIS SICKNESS AND DEATH SICKNESS OF MRS. MITCH-
ELL ARAB INHUJ\LVNITY HER DEATH SICKNESS OF MR. AND MRS.
HINSDALE HEAT OF MOSUL JACOBITES MISSIONARY PROVIDENCE
jE^YS MOHAMMED PASHA TURKISH OPPRESSION
LETTERS OF MONS.
BOTTA TOUR AMONG MOUNTAINS NEAR MOSUL MICHA ATHANASIUS,
BISHOP OF MALABAR.

In order to preserve the narrative of Dr. Grant unbroken,

nothing has yet been said of the journey of Messrs. Hinsdale and
Mitchell. Let us now turn our attention for a moment to them.
We have already seen them sail from Boston, January 18th.
A rouo-h passage of forty-one days brought them to Smyrna,
where they embarked immediately in an Austrian steamer, for
Beirut, reaching that port on tfee 12th of March. Here they
were detained, from various causes, till April 24th, when, with
the Bev. Mr. Beadle and wife, they sailed in an Austrian mer-
chantman for Iseanderun. Though the voyage is often per-

formed in a day, contrary winds protracted theirs till the 30th.

On the 4th of May, they left Iseanderun, by way of Antioch,

for Aleppo, and arrived there on the 8th. Here Mr. Beadle
remained to commence a new station, leaving them to go on, to
Mosul alone.
A caravan had just left for that place before their arrival, and

no other would start for some time to come. Another inter-

preter too was to be obtained, in place of Mr. Beadle, who, had

hitherto acted in that capacity ; and, after a long search, they

secured the company of Mr. Kotschy, a German naturalist, who,

 ;

196 DK . G 11 AN AND THE

to a good knowledge of medicine, added the cxj^erience of seven

years' journeying in xifrica and v*'estern Asia. After all else
was ready, Mr. Mitchell was seized with intermittent fever, and
this detained them a week longer, so that they did not leave till

the 28th. This was perilously late in the season for such a
journey. Still, had they pressed on with the usual speed, all

might have been well. But, unhappily, green grass was abun-
dant, and the muleteers loitered along as suited their own conve-
nience ; and, once on the road, the company were entirely at their
mercy. Still, the journey was both pleasant and prosperous, as
far as Diarbekr, which they reached on the 12tli of June.
On the 14th, Mr. Mitchell wrote to Mr. Beadle, making
grateful mention of the goodness of God up to that time, and
giving a pleasant description of their encampment, in a grove
of willows, by two streams of pure water, an hour north-w^est of
the city. He mentions ice as so plenty in the bazaar that two
cents procured as much as a man could carry ; and describes the
company as not only in better health than when they left Aleppo,
but also refreshed by rest for the fatigues yet before them.
Speaking of these as though with a presentiment of what was
before him, he says : "What the result will be remains to be
told. It 'is pleasant to reflect that God will order all things con-

cerning us in infinite wisdom and benevolence; and I trust we

shall all be willing to abide by the allotments of his Providence.
I?L our difficulties and dangers, I loce to see God on the throne,
doing all things after the counsel of his own will ; and, whatever
he the result respecting us. He loill not allow the interests of his
gloi'ious kingdom to suffer hij our trials.
""

Could his feelings have been more appropriate to his situa-

tio]i, had he known all that was before him ? He knows not
but God, who orders the steps of the good man, is preparing him
for what iJe sees awaiting him. Is there one of the redeemed,
who looks back on what we call his sudden departure, who does
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTOR lANS. 197"

not find everything made ready for it by his covenant God as

he could never have prepared it himself? "
Biarbekr was the birth-place of the mother of Mar Ephraim.
Its lava walls, built by the Emperor Constantius, have seventy-
two towers ; and its large church, now a mosque, was founded
at first by order of Heraclius, 629 a. d., and then, after being
burned, rebuilt again in 848. In 869, in the short space of
three months, the city is said to have lost thirty-five thousand
inhabitants by the plague. Its population now is said to amount
to eight thousand houses, fifteen hundred Armenian and sixty-
three hundred Mohammedans. It is the ancient Amida, and,
according to Pococke, the Dorbeta of Pliny, though others
affirm it is the Tigranocerta of Lucullus. The Turks call it

Kara Amid.
The missionaries left on the 14th, and reached Mardin in five

days. While Mr. Hinsdale and Mr. Kotschy went up to the town
to make some provision for the rest of the journey, Mr. Mitchell
kept on with the caravan to the village of Golek, on the plain
below. Here aviolent rain-storm came up and, in his efforts ;

to keep the tent from being blown down, he was thoroughly wet

and chilled. On the next day (Sabbath) the ague returned, and
again on Monday, though with less violence than before. This
was the last attack of that disease, and after it he felt well and
ate heartily.
On Monday, the 23d, they rode seven hours to Haznaur, and
Mr. Mitchell, though he spoke of feeling unwell, seemed cheer-
ful, and had a refreshing sleep in the afternoon. Next day,
starting at a quarter before three a. m.. they rode the same dis-
tance, to Chulagha. He complained of the oppressive heat, and
seemed quite fatigued during the latter part of the ride, but not
much more than the rest. They had designed going by Sinjar
but, as one stage on that route would keep them in the saddle
nearly twen^'y hours, they resolved to go round by Jezira.
On Wednesday they rested till evening. Mr. Mitchcl! wont
198 DIl. GRANT AND THE

out during a sirocco, in the afternoon, and came back com-

plaining that he could not see distinctly. An emetic relieved
him somewhat, and in the evening he was so anxious to go
on, that they started at seven p. m., and rode six hours.

He seemed much refreshed by the ride, and retired with the

rest. But, ill the morning, Mr. Hinsdale found him ready
dressed for the journey, and evidently deranged. Finding the
water they had stojDped at in the dark a mere pool, and unfit for
use, they were compelled to remove an hour farther on, to the

village of Mushtafia, a man walking on each side of Mr. Mitch-

ell to support him in the saddle. A servant, sent on before, had
secured the best room in the village ; and in that he was laid,

but evidently ftist sinking. Mr. Kotschy bled him, but partial
success was secured only by rubbing and washing the arm.
Other remedies proved equally vain. His feet were cold, and
a clammy sweat covered his whole body. He seemed much
troubled at some great obstacle defeating all his efforts to do

good at the very moment of success ; and thus he sank, like a

flower withering in the sun, till, near two o'clock on Sabbath

morning, June 27th, he ceased to breathe. No struggle indi-
cated the moment he exchanged that Arab hut for a mansion
above. The stricken survivors could hardly believe that he was
gone. The stroke was so sudden, it seemed a dream. But it

was too true ; and, in the stillness of that Sabbath morning, they
felt as if standing on the borders of another world, amid the
silent movements of invisible spirits, ministering to the heirs of

salvation. They were recalled to the sadness of their situation

by the Kurdish villagers refusing to allow the Christian to be
buried in their grave-yard ; and they resolved to carry the
remains seven or eight miles, to a Jacobite village.

The villagers would not touch the body, lest they should be
polluted. The survivors were too exhausted to carry it them-
selves. So, fastening it on a horse as best they might, the sad
procession noved to Telabel, about five hours from Jezira.
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 199

Here a grcave was dug in the village cemetery. Green branches

were strewed on the bottom, flat stones were set on their edges
round about, and the body was laid between them for coffin there ;

was not in all the region. Other flat stones were laid above it.
Straw was thrown in to fill up the crevices, and the earth was
replaced over all. Mr. Hinsdale commended the bereaved one
to the widow's God, praying that He who appointed the trial
would strengthen her to bear it, and Himself be to her the God
of all consolation. Two rude stones were set up to mark the
spot, and the sorrowing band returned to their desolate room at
Mushtafia.
- Mrs. Mitchell seemed wonderfully sustained in that hour oP
trial; but next morning, when other hands assisted her on
horse-back, grief could no longer be restrained. Who can
fathom its anguish, far from the friends that would have loved
to comfort, and with none to look forward to in that unknown
home, among strangers ? None but He of whom it is written
" In all their affliction He is afliicted ;
" and He was with her.
Eight and a half hours brought them in sight of the Tigris, at
Beshabor. The next day was spent in crossing on rafts sup-
ported by inflated goat-skins; and on the 30th they rode six
and a half hours, to Amelka, a Yezidee village. Next morning
Mrs. Mitchell was so ill, they had to stop, after only one hour's
ride, at Bowerea. There, for four days, she lay in one of its

mud-hovels^among Arabs so rude they could not be kept out

of the sick-room ; and in it laid hands on whatever they fan-
cied, before the very eyes of those who conld not resist them.
Even the women cut oif the hooks-and-eyes from the dress of
Mrs. Hinsdale, while busy with her suiFering companion. As
anything seemed preferable to such quarters, they left on the
evening of the 4th, Mr. Hinsdale having had to send to a dis-
tant village, ere he could find men willing, for any price, to carry
th.-', litter he had prepared for Mrs. Mitchell ; and often after,
&h(j had to be laid in the road, while he rode far and near to
 ;

1:00 DR. GRAN T A N D T U E

tiiid four men willing to perform what they deemed the degrad-
ing service of carrying a woman. It was now so hot they were
obliged to travel by night ; and as, during the day, Mrs. Hins-
dale was much occupied with her sick associate, she was often
so drowsy on horseback that her husband had to walk by her
side, to prevent her falling. Three yeai's afterwards, she pointed
out to the writer a place in the road where, wrapped in her
cloak, on the ground, she snatched half an hour's sleep, at mid-
night, amid Arabs clamoring for money, and yet unv\'illing to

earn it by carrying Mrs. Mitchell.

Soon after sunrise, on the Tth, they came in sight of Mosul
and never did wanderer so hail the sight of home as they did
that city of strangers. They were cordially welcomed by Mr.
and Mrs. Rassam, one of whose ^servants, sent to meet them, had
rendered them essential service the last two days of their

journey.
For a day or two Mrs. Mitchell seemed to improve, and at
the same time have unusual enjoyment in Christ ; but soon her
disease assumed a new form, and from that time till her death,
on the 12th, reason was dethroned. For two days before her
death Mr. and Mrs. Hinsdale were unable to see her. Nor
were they able to perform the last offices for her after death.
Strangers prepared her body for the grave, and followed it to

its last resting-place. But He who came, and, as we trust,

received her spirit to himself, was no stranger to the redeemed

one he ushered into bliss. Let us not say that severed family
was reunited, but rather that they entered into the presence of
Him they loved more than one another ; that each was received
into that one family above, of which earthly ones are but the
shadow.
Mr. Hinsdale, who had watched with Mrs. Mitchell till he
fainted in attempting to walk from one room to another, was
taken violently ill before her death, and was not able to leave
his bed till August. Mrs. Hinsdale, at the same time, was too
 ?,IOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 201

ill to render him any assistance. And, as we have seen, Dr.

Grant arrived just in time to save him from the probably fatal
consequence of a relapse.
In view of these afflictions, Mr. Hinsdale remarks : " And
now what shall we say ? Only that '
It is the Lord. Let him do
what seemeth him good.' We know that the cause is far dearer
to Him than it can be to us. I have feared lest the churches
should be so discouragedby these apparent frowns of Providence
as not to send more laborers into this field. But what are these
sacrifices made by the church to that the Son of God made for

the salvation of the world? May they only call forth more
"
earnest prayer for our success !

That these fatal results were not owing to any peculiar hazard
in the journey itself, but only to the lateness of the season when
it was performed, is, perhaps, sufficiently evident from what has
been said. But it will be yet more manifest when we see Dr.
Smith passing over the same ground in March, 1844, not only
without injury, but with his health actually improved by the
journey.
The climate of Mosul is very hot, as will appear from the
following abstract of the temperature for a single year.

Average.
 i ;

2(j2 dr. grant and the

est 114, range 83. This was in 1843-4 ; but recent intelli-

gence from thence (1852) speaks of the mercury as high as 117.

This may seem an excessive heat for latitude north 38.19 but ;

it may be relied on as correct. Three thermometers were htmg

up in different places, for several days, to determine the most
eligible position ; and,when removed into the sun at noon, the

mercury rose at once to 144 or 148. On account of this

excessive heat, all who are able have serdaubs (cellars) fitted

up under the court of the house, for sitting-rooms in summer

and the nights are spent on the roofs by all classes, from May
till September, dew or rain, during the warm season, being

alike unknown. Siroccos sometimes occur in the summer ; and

then the air is so filled with fine sand, that, however one shuts
himself up, it is deposited all around him, and sifts into every
drawer, desk and trunk. The stifling heat in the innermost
apartment produces the same lassitude as without ; and the very
air seems lurid and dark, as if almost impervious to light. Id

July, every dry object communicates the sensation of heat.

Beds seem just scorched with a warming-pan, and even the stone
floor is hot to the touch. A change of linen, instead of impart-
ing the cool up; sensation that it does in other climes, feels as if

fresh from the mouth of a furnace ; for perspiration keeps the

body cooler than the dry substances around it. Such extreme
heat deals most unmercifully with furniture. Solid mahogany
desks are split; articles fastened with glue fall to pieces;
miniatures painted on ivory curl like a shaving, and the ivory
handles of knives and forks crack from end to end. An unfor-
tunate piano, that had wandered from England to one of the
consulates, was continually wrenched out of tune, and rendered
useless. Such was the climate in which Mrs. Mitchell suffered
her last sickness ; and Mr. and Mrs. Hinsdale recovered as this

excessive heat began to moderate.

Dr. Grant and his associates now found themselves in pecu-
liar circumstances. They were sent to the Mountain Nestorians ;
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 203

but the way, to them, was now hedged up. The Kurds were
attacking their more exposed pasture-grounds. Turkey was
assuming a hostile attitude. The emir had invoked its aid, and
the danger was that both together would overwhelm them. The
Nestorians themselves, split up into hostile parties, were inca-
pable of any concerted movement. Suleiman Bey had sided with
many of his tribe who were opposed to alliance with Turkey,
and seized the reins of government in the absence of his cousin
and, as the main object of the Osmanlies was to subjugate the
Nestorians, as well as the Kurds, the Patriarch naturally, but
unhappily, as it proved, sided with his friend. In such a state
of things it was vain to attempt any missionary labor.
But, though shut out from that field, they found themselves
in another. Without any plan of* theirs, God had placed them
in a city of thirty thousand inhabitants, of whom nearly one-
third were nominal Christians. From the Black Sea to the
Indian Ocean, and from Aleppo to the plains of Aderbijan, there
was not one evangelical missionary, of any denomination wlHit-
soever. The whole region seemed abandoned to Papal super-
stition and Moslem fanaticism. In such circumstances, their
hearts could not but be stirred within them. But the wide
extent of the field formed by no means its greatest claim.
Another branch of the venerable church of Antioch, that had long
wirthstood the assaults of Rome, was now attacked from a new
point. By her usual arts Home had seduced a portion of the
people ; and, true to her persecuting character, she now invoked
the aid of the Turks to take away the churches from those who
still remained true to their ancient faith. " On the side of their
oppressors there was power," and soon rough partition-walls
divided the sanctuaries of their fathers. On one side the faith-
ful remnant chanted their ancient hymns ; on the other rose the
voices of the Papists, amid wax images imported from Rome.
In such circumstances, it was natural that the Jacobites, for
that is the c'lurch referred to, as soon as they learned the
 :

204 BK . GRANT AND THE

adherence of the missionaries to the Bible, and their opposition

to Papal innovations, should regard them as friends. Painfully
sensible of the need of knowledge in order to resist error, they
had already, in their poverty, established schools; and now they
welcomed the missionaries as valuable assistants in the work.

Still, as they had once been duped by the plausible pretences of

the Papists, they were cautious in their advances toward strang-
ers. But Providence had provided for this also. When Dr.
Grant arrived in Mosul, he found Joseph Matthew, a Jacobite
priest, from Malabar, a graduate of the English college at
Cottayam, and very evangelical in his views, on his way to

the Patriarch at Mardin, to be ordained metropolitan of the

Jacobites in India. He spoke English with much propriety,
and manifested a deep interest in the spiritual welfare of his

church. He at once gave the missionaries the right hand of

fellowship, and did all in his power to recommend them to the

people. But then, though with the former he could converse in

English, he had no medium of intercourse with the latter. And

this opens another page of missionary providence.
A young Jacobite millwright had grown up to manhood with-
out knowing a letter. Such a thing as an adult learning to

read was, to him at least, unheard of, and by the people about
him deemed impossible; so that, when he made the attempt, he
was laughed at for his pains. Undismayed by ridicule, he
induced the son of a priest to teach him the Syriac alphabet
and, after he came home from his day's work among the rude
horse-raills of the city, by the light of his lamp, in the solitude

of his own room, he spelled his way into a tolerable knowledge

of the ancient Syriac. Not content with merely repeating the
sounds of the words as others did, he sought for their meaning ;

and, mark the result! The priest from India spoke this lan-

guage freely, and, with Micha for his interpreter, he preached

Christ and him crucified to the Jacobites of Mosul. What a
chain of providences ! Just when that church, hard pressed
 '.MOUNTAIN N KST R I AN S . 205

by its enemies, was looking round for help, the missionaries

were sent ; and while they were held back fi-om entering the

field they came from America to occupy, a priest, from India,

prepared to appreciate their object, was sent to introduce them
into another ; and, from among that other people, in an
unusual way, Grod provided an interpreter for his servant from
the East. Such things reveal the deep interest of the Redeemer
in the missionary work, and the manifold agencies he can make
to cooperate in its prosecution. August and September were
filled with the labors of this new coadjutor; and by these, and
other labors of the mission, especially the circulation of the
Scriptures, a spirit of inquiry was awakened, that never wholly
subsided, and even now promises abundant fruit.

A Chaldean priest, who was awakened to many of the errors

of his church, also tendered his services, and was employed for
some months as teacher in Syriac.

The efforts of England to ameliorate the condition of the Jews

in Turkey had led the two hundred families of that people in

Mosul to feel that Christians were their friends ; and many of

their leading men called on the missionaries, and conversed
freely respecting the Messiahship of Christ.

Both Dr. Grant and Mr. Hinsdale were invited to their syn-
agogue at the Feast of Tabernacles, and were ushered into the
tabernacle erected in the court. Besides the chief Rabbi of
Mosul, another from Jerusalem, and a learned Jew from Ker-
kook, were present. Deut. 28 : 9 and 15, suspended on cards in
a conspicuous place, furnished admirable themes for practical
remarks. It seemed as if they had placed before them the
righteous cause of their distresses, and ihe way of deliverance.
They could not deny tlie former ; but they excused themselves
from following the latter, on the ground that, even if they should,
others would not, and, therefore, the curse would still remain.
It was interesting to recognize, in the Bible they used, one
given by Dr. Grant to a Jew in Oroomiah several years before.
17#
206 L 11 . u 11 A N T AN i) T 11 i:

He now furnished them with a good supply and many ; read the
New Testament both in Hebrew and Arabic.
At the end of September Priest Matthew and his interpreter

>eft for Mardin, where we will leave them, for the present, in
the patriarchal convent Deir Zafran, a place to which the reader
has been already introduced.
In the beginning of October, Dr. Grant, with Mr. Rassam, ths
English vice-consul, visited the pasha at Hammam Ali, twelve

miles below Mosul, and not far from Nimrud, on the opposite
side of the river. The hot sulphur springs here are much re-

sorted to in summer; and there are also springs of petroleum.

The pasha told him that an army of Turks and Kurds, from Van,
Jezira and Hakkary, had subdued the Nestorians, and burned
the house of the Patriarch. The last was true ; but the other
proved to be only the invasion of a single tribe.

As we shall have more to do with this man, let us glance

briefly at his character and conduct. Mohammed Pasha
known also by the sobriquet Iiijeh Bairakdar ( The Little
Ensign) rose, by the force of his own character, from even a
lower station than that if report speaks true to the rank he
then held ; for it is said he commenced life as a groom. Be
that as it may, his decision and energy were so well known, that
when, for some time, each pasha sent from the Porte had been
assassinated by the Mosulians, he was selected as the only man
adequate to the post. He found the whole city distracted by
sedition, trade at an end, and every house a fortification, from
which the followers of each petty noble shot at the partisans of
all the rest. Instead of taking up his quarters, like his prede-
cessors,, at the palace within the city, he took possession of an old
country-seat on the plain to the south. Strongly posted there, he
defied every attempt at assassination, while, one by one, the
leaders fell by his secret agents. This done, he disarmed the
city, punishing severely all who refused to surrender their
weapons. At the same time he put hundreds of the leading
 -

MOUNTAIN' N E S T K I AN S . 207

men to death, and confiscated their propcitj. This energy and

rapacity ran side bj side through his whole course. We have
seen the rebellion at Mardin, in 1839, quelled by him at once,
after the Pasha of Diarbekr had attempted it in vain. Again,
the Kurds near Mosul rebelled under his extortions, and that
insurrection was put down, mercilessly but effectually. Some
of his miserable prisoners were imjmled alive, close by the bridge
where their fellow-clansmen daily entered the city, giving
them significant warning what to expect, should they again incur

his vengeance.

The Arabs who invaded the pashalic during his absence else-

where, and put Dr. Grant in such peril on his return from the
mountains, were also chastised ; and the Yezidees of tli<3 Sinjar,

accustomed to robbery from time immemorial, were signally

punished. Their villages were laid waste, their flocks driven
away, many of their men slain, and more made prisoners.
Throughout the province all was quiet. The Arab dared not
venture within reach of so active a foe ; the Kurd and the
Yezidee no longer plundered. But, though secure from all else,

men soon learned to dread their deliverer more than the robbers
from whom lie saved tbem. Each village and hamlet was taxed
to the uttermost, till many were rendered as desolate by the
tax-gatherer as they ever had been by banditti. Whole villages
fled from an oppression they could not endure. But even flight
was punished so severely, that the miserable victims learned to

flee singly, and at night, as their only chance of escape. Ever}'

where, in the plains round Mosul, in the valleys of Kurdistan,
or among the hills of Mesopotamia, were roofless houses and
diserted fields ; deserted because it was easier to begin anew
elsewhere than to sow and reap for the pasha.
At Mosul he built large barracks, and established a cannon
foundery, where brass pieces, of various sizes, were cast, and
mounted ready for use. Some were intended to be carried on
the backs of camels ; and some field-pieces were not only pro
 ;

208 DK . 11 ANT A N D T H E

vided with very good carriages, but hanies.s was manufactured,

and horses trained to the service. Tents, and all kinds of mili-

tary equipage, even hard bread enough for a long campaign,

were all ready for the field at a moment's notice. A well-

appointed military band, with European instruments ajid music,

played martial airs every evening in front of the palace.

But the place where Dr. Grant now found him affords an

illustration of the manner in which he met this expenditure.

To make his powder for he had converted a large mosque by

the river side into a powder-mill he wrought a sulphur-mine
near this very spot. As it produced much more than he could
use, he exported it to Bagdad but that market was soon over-
;

stocked. He next apportioned the amount on hand among the

various sects in Mosul; and, whether they needed it or no,

willing or unwilling, each man had to buy so much sulphur at

double the market price.

Whenever any was drained of money,
district no uncommon
occurrence,
the taxes were received in kind, and whatever was

not needed for the soldiery was disposed of in the same manner
as the sulphur. On his return from his Sinjar campaign, the

flocks of the conquered Yezidees were disposed of by the same

method and where the animal, over-driven in the heat, had per-
;

ished on the road, or, mayhap, been eaten by the soldiers, its
ears, cut off and brought to the city, had to be paid for, just as

if it had been delivered alive and sound.

Another mode of replenishing his exchequer was to forbid all

pursuing a given trade, except those to whom he sold a monopoly

at an exorbitant price. A respectable Moslem, who had the

monopoly of coffee, came one day to visit Dr. Grant. The doc-

tor inquired how much he paid for it. So and so, he replied

and, " take my whole sales, I do not receive the same sum in
return." " How, then, do you live? " " 0, last year I had

the monopoly of making rafts, and prospered ; the pasha heard

that I did, and this is the result." It may interest some to know
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 2C9

the amount of his exactions for this year (1841), It was no less

than three million one hundred and ninety-five thousand five

hundred piastres, which, at twenty -three piastres to the dollar, is

about one hundred and thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and

thirty-five dollars. Some of the items are as follows : Tax 0:1

loads entering the gates, three hundred thousand piastres; monop-

oly of soap, three hundred and fifty thousand; building raft^s

lifty thousand; tobacco, twenty-four thousand five hundred ; cofiec,

twenty-seven thousand ; duty on grain, one hundred thousand ;

on meat, one hundred and twenty thousand ; stam.p on goods, two

hundred and seventy-five thousand ; dying with indigo, two hun-
dred and twenty-four thousand ; corporation-tax, one million and
fifty thousand ; exactions from Moslems at the New Year, sixty
thousand. Besides these, for the Kharaj (tribute demanded b)^

Moslem governments from Christians and Jews), fixed by the

Sultan at one hundred and ten thousand piastres, he levies two
hundred thousand.
After such statements, no one need be surprised to know that
while, in 1835, the imports of European goods amounted to nine

hundred and sixty-six bales, in 1841 they amounted only to

ninety-four, or, including the red caps {fez), imported from

France and Genoa, they decreased from one thousand and sixteen
to one hundred and twenty -four.^
As such facts may seem strange to American readers, the
following extracts from letters of M. Botta, son of the Italian
author of the History of our own Revolution, and late French
consul at Mosul, may show that, however strange or distressing,

at least they are not exaggerated. They are all of a later

date ; but, as they refer to the subject in hand, they are inserted

here. Writing, December 8th, 1844, when the successor of

Mohammed Pasha governed the province, he says : " Our
* Those wishing further statistics on this point will find them in Col.

Chesney's large work, vol. 11., appendix E, from which the above data aio
condensed.
210 DR. GRAM AND THE

pasha is as bad as when you left, and the poor Christians

suffer just the same. They say that soon he will be removed,

but I am much afraid of getting a worse one. There is no hope

for these countries but in a radical change, and God only knows
when it will take place. Patience is the thing now but mine is
;

worn out, and I long for the moment when I shall leave this

miserable place.
" You have no idea how Khorsabad looks just now. It blows

a hurricane, and the windows of heaven are opened on us. My

'
castle '
is demolished, and I live in a small room, in a dirty
house, the only one remaining in the village. I cannot thrust

my nose out of the door. No work can be done, and I re-

main alone the whole day, musing upon the vanities of this
world. Add to that my usual debility and slow fever, and you
will understand, perhaps, my situation. It is a comfort to me
to think that you are just now almost in a civilized country,

looking on the face of my old friend, the sea. How much I

love it ! It makes me pensive, but never sad, and speaks a

thousand unutterable things. Look at it, my dear sir, and think
of me ; let us hope that we shall meet again, meanwhile, be
happy, and believe me, &c." This description of his situation

at Khorsabad will be interesting to those familiar with his exca-

vations there, which led the way in the wonderful discoveries of

Assyrian antiquities since so successfully carried on by Mr.
Layard.
March 23, 1845, he thus describes another pasha for Shereef, ;

Mohammed, proved utterly inadequate to the

the successor of
situation :

" You are very happy, my dear sir, in having left Mosul
before the arrival of our new pasha. He is, I believe, the most

hideous man I ever saw ; four feet high, lame, crooked, with only

one eye, one ear, and half a nose.=^ His face, too, most hor-

* Probably marks of punishment, inflicted for crime, according to the

Moslem code.
 .MOUNTAIN nestoria:;s. 211

ribly scarred with small-pox. His soul is the fit inoabitant of

such a body. He is a perfect compound of every bad propen-
sity, cruelty, craftiness, greediness and lust. He cuts off
heads, strangles people, throws others into the river, generally
for the sake of their property, but sometimes, as it would seem,
merely for fun. I myself saw him j&ring bombs among the
people, just to enjoy their fright. Besides, this horrid monster,
when he hears of girls to his liking, in any family, sends his

kavasses to take them to his harem. The place would be de-

serted, but that he has walled up some of the gates, and posted
soldiers at the others, to prevent the people escaping from his
clutches. My heart is sick, and I long for the moment when I
shall leave this place, where I can only pity, but cannot help the

misfortunes of my fellow-men, God grant it may be soon !

-The French government wish tvv^o of the largest winged-bulls

transported v.hole. They weigh at least twenty-five or thirty

tons each, and you may fancy it is no joke to move such blocks
in such a country ; but I hope I shall succeed." And he did
succeed ; the same carriage that he constructed with so much
labor afterwards transporting to the river those exhumed by
Mr. Layard, at Nimrud.
June 29th, he writes :
" Our new pasha is more quiet now ;

he has left off strangling people, and now thinks of nothing but

how to extort their last farthing. All his former severity was
merely intended to frighten them, so as to prevent resistance
to his rapacity. The Arabs come to the very gates and plunder
at their leisure ; but he does not care, he wants money, that

is all." The reader will be relieved to learn that this monster

Mohammed Kereetly (the Cretan),^ as he was named, to
distinguish him from the other Mohammed was recalled by
the Sultan, and now lives in disgrace in the vicinity of Smyrna.

* Compare Titus 1 : 12 and 18. This man is a striking ilhisi ration of

the " evil beasts" of verse 12.

 !

21 2 I' " . G K A NT \^D T II E

But, to rclurii to Dr. Grant. Shortly ul'ter he came back to

the city, theJews were threatened with plunder and imprison-

ment, merely for seeking the benefit of the firman obtained by
the British ambassador for their toleration, and were compelled
to renounce it. This jealousy of foreign interference was
constantly manifested by the pasha, as will appear more clearly
hereafter. Another case, that occurred about this time, is

v>'orthy of notice. A Christian, released from prison at the

instance of the English consul, was remanded back as soon as

the latter left the city on a journey, and obtained his liberty

only on his paying the sum originally demanded. It was well

he was not in prison when the firman arrived that reserved to

the Sultan the right of inflicting capital punishment. For then

the pasha collected all the leading men to hear it read, and

when he was sure that all understood it, he thus addressed

them : " If the Sultan, or any one else, thinks I can govern

Mosul without this power, he knows nothing about the matter."

Making a sign to an attendant, the heads of those then in prison

vrere thrown down before the assembly; and, after gazing a

while at the ghastly spectacle, they were permitted to depart,
glad to find that their own were yet safe on their shoulders.
It will be remembered that this took place in a region where
newspapers were unknown ; and no one who had family or for-

tune, within reach of the pasha, dared breathe a whisper to his

disadvantage. Communication with the capital, too, was so dif-

ficult, that a letter dated at Constantinople, June 20th, reached

Mr. Hinsdale on the 25th of August
Besides oppression, Mosul suifered terribly, in 1829, from the
lolague. Hundreds were carried out every day and thrown into

a large pit, just inside the northern wall, where bones and
skulls are yet visible to those who look down the narrow open-

ing. Three years of famine had preceded it, and two years of
the dreaded cholera followed ; and then, as though all this had
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 213

not inflicted enough of misery, came the seditions aheady re-

ferred to, as preceding the coming of Mohammed Pasha.
During the plague the father of Micha died, and a leading
Jacobite, who fled with his family from the city, lost a child in
the village whither he had gone for safety. Though the dis-

ease had not been there before, yet the woman who nursed the
child, her husband and children, followed each other to the grave.
He then escaped to the convent of Mar Mattai, a place deemed
so sacred that plague could not enter there. But here he
lost another child, and his brother saved his life only by cutting
ofi" the swellings as fast as they appeared. His next resort was
to a solitary cave in the mountain ; and there his wife, too, died,
and he was left alone. No wonder that not more than two-
thirds of the area within the walls is occupied with buildings,
and that that constantly diminishes, as houses are torn down,
and the stones burned into lime, to repair the remainder. The
bazaars, especially, are ruinous. Whole streets of shops are lit-

erally turned into dung-hills; and in one covered bazaar the

writer found only two dikkans (shops) occupied, out of twenty-
four. Still, a small part of them, near the bridge and palace-
gates, are very much crowded. Citizens and soldiers, villagers
and muleteers, horses, camels, &c., literally choke the narrow
streets.

November 4, Dr. Grant thus alludes to the trials of the

mission, in a letter to Dr. Wright :
" Our losses and the
commotions in the mountains may retard our operations, but
we are not in the least discouraged. Your remark is quite
just, that, '
though to us wars and tumults seem untoward, great
and glorious results may follow them.' In the overturning
among the nations, we must expect wars and rumors of wars.
But It is I, be not afraid,' is the language God addresses
'

to us. Should commotions continue, as they may do, till the

Nestorians are finally subdued, we may find it necessary to work

by occasional tours; but, at all events, we ought to stand ready
18
lil4 DR. GRANT AND THE

to enter and labor, for a longer or shorter time, as the Lord of

the vineyard may direct,"
As soon as Mr. Hinsdale was able to travel, Dr. Grant Jeft

Mosul with him, November 19th, on a tour among the Nestorians

between that city and Amadia. They had much intercourse
with the Nestorians, Chaldeans, Jews and Yezidees ; visited the
sacred place of the latter at Sheikh Adi, and, after collecting
much valuable information, and preaching the truth as they had
opportunity, they returned to Mosul, December 4th.^
Dr. Grant now felt that the independence of the Nestorians was
virtually gone, and that the Patriarch would do well to make terms
with the Turks; and expressed these feelings freely to the Board
at home, though, for good reasons, he said nothing to the Nes-
torians themselves. Daring this winter they made an attack on
the district of Berwer, destroying a number of villages, and car-
rying oft" many of their flocks. This, he felt, showed more bold-
ness than discretion, to say nothing of its injustice ; and he
rejoiced that he was not in the mountains, to be embroiled in such
proceedings. " Still," he writes, " there is no room for discour-
agement, none for delay ; but much for hope, much for haste
;"

and hoped to be able to enter in the spring, before the army of

the pasha should render the road unsafe.
In the beginning of 1842 the two schools of the Jacobites were
put under the care of the mission, the first January 12th, and
the other a month later. In the spring Priest Matthew returned
from Mardin as Mutran Athanasius, his zeal in the good work no
whit abated by the transformation ; and Micha returned also, a

more intelligent and valuable assistant, though not then, as he

thinks, a converted man. Besides his more perfect knowledge
of the Syriac, he had studied the Arabic also, though he has
never made such proficiency in it as in the other. His knowl-

* For a full account of the tour, see Missionary Herald, 1842, pp.
310320.
 ;

51 UNTA I N NE S T 11 1 A N S . 215

edge of it, however, was sufficient to secure his appointment as

Mr. Hinsdale's Arabic teacher, April 11th, the day before the
mission opened a school at Bertulla, and five days before they
began another at Baashekha. Besides teaching Mr. Hinsdale,
Micha now set himself so diligently to the acquisition of the
English, that he was soon of much assistance to the missionaries

in their intercourse with the people.

Dr. Grant had written to Mr. Stocking, January 13th, " It is

probable that the Pasha of Erzrum will unite his forces with
those of Mosul and the Kurds, so as to strike an effectual blow
at once at the liberties and lives of the poor Nestorians ; and
they must fall, unless supported, as hitherto, by an Almighty arm.
This calls loudly on us to be fervent in prayer on their behalf.
Perhaps I may pass in, and do what I can, before the army
enters, to prepare them for their approaching trials. But, before
it is time to act, the path of duty will be made plain."
As spring advanced, he again looked toward the mountains
and Mr. Hinsdale would fain have gone in with him, to aid in

the selection of a permanent station. But Mrs. Hinsdale was

unable to do so ; and, as the English consul had left on a visit to
Baghdad, so that, if he went, she must remain alone, his going
was out of the question. Still, though in February, Mr. Hinsdale
had a severe attack, resembling the cholera, from which it seemed
nothing but the unremitting attentions of Dr. Grant could have
recovered him ; and though Mrs. Hinsdale also had been much
benefited by his prescriptions, yet they would not for a moment
detain him from the field. Trying as it was, in such circum-
stances, to be left alone, they even advised his going, trusting
that He who had been with them in six troubles in seven would
not forsake them. Mr. Plinsdale had already written home an
appeal for more laborers ; and in that, after asking, " Are there
no sons of the prophets, whose hearts burn with holy zeal, to
'
come over and help us ? ' " and expressing his confidence that
such would be found, he adds, "But if not, if alone we must
1! 1 6 DR . G RANT AND T 1] XE S T <1 K I AN S .

hear the heat and burden of the day, still we will rejoice to

toil as God shall give us strength, and bless Him for the

privilege till He shall give us rest."

It was a source of much consolation to Dr. Grant that Bishop

Athanasius had consented to remain during the summer, when
was so much needed, both by Mr. Hinsdale, and
his presence the

people among whom he still labored, as before, with Micha for

his interpreter.

Ismael Pasha, the Kurdish chief of Amadia, had escaped from

the Turks, and, rousing his tribe to rebellion, had plundered
the convent of Rabban Hormuz and retaken Amadia, through
the treachery of its Mutsellim. The Pasha of Mosul was now
besieging the place, in turn ; and access to the mountains was so
unsafe in that direction, that Dr. Grant determined to attempt
it from the Persian frontier.
 . CHAPTER XII.
JOURNEY TO OROOMIAH
ISHNESS Of KURDS
YEZIDEES AND MELEK TAOOS ERBIL CHURL-
CHIEF OF RAVANDOOZ SCENERY THE TOWN
OF RAVANDOOZ PILLARS AT SIDEK AND KELI SHIN USHNEl DIF-
FICULTIES AND DELAYS.

Dii. Grant set out for Oroomlah June 6th, attended by a

young Syrian, who, besides his acquaintance with Kurdish

and Arabic, was qualij&ed, by uncommon courage, for the expe-
dition. He was tall and athletic, and to his two names, Babo and
Abdulheiyat, added a third, Abderrahman, especially for the
journey. A quilt bound upon his mvn saddle, and a rug and
hoorj (saddle-bags), containing a few books, medicines, &c.. on
the mule of his servant, made up his whole outfit. Mr. Hins-
dale and Bishop Athanasius went with them, the first day, on
their way, to visit some of the schools ; and the pasha's phy-
sician and banker accompanied all a few miles from the city.
As they rode over the plain of Assyria, each band of reapers
presented the customary offering of a small sheaf of grain, one
of the many oriental modes of begging a present. The barley
harvest was past, and the last of the wheat was fast falling be
fore their aAvkward sickles. The fair sex if fair they might
be called, bronzed as they were by an Eastern sun lent their
customary aid ; and the long ears of the donkeys were just vis-
ible under the loads of sheaves they carried to the threshing-
floors. On these oxen dragged round a sharp threshing instru-
ment, having teeth, Isa. 41 : 15, which cut the straw very
fine. This, with barley, constitutes almost the only food of
18=^
218 DR. GRANT AND T II P:

their horses and beasts of burden ; a custom as old as the days

of Solomon, 1 Kings, 4 '

28, if not much ohler. Hay is

not used, except in the mountains, where grain is scarce.

The road was the same he travelled on his first journey, as

far as Baazani, four hours from xMosul. Here they spent the
night on the roof, the only refuge fi-om the hungry swarms that
rendered sleep impossible below it. This is generally safe ; but
the cool night wind, after his hot ride through the day, brought
on a cold, that for a day or two threatened to put a stop to his
journey. In the morning there was quite a stir among the

Yezidees, to see the brazen image of a cock, which they revere,

if not worship. It is carried from place to place on special

occasions, or whenever a Yezidee pays enough to have his

mansion blest by its presence. As the Moslems hate images,

they deny its existence before them ; but there is no doubt that
they have it, though what it represents is not so clear, unless the

name Mehk Taoos (King Peacock), also used for Satan, may
furnish a clue. They profess to have a book in a language of
their own, and that only one family is allowed to read it. They
observe the three days' fast of Jonah, as the Christians around
them do, and say prayers privately. Polygamy, though allowed,
is practised by very few ; and they observe a feast corresponding

to that of Easter or the Passover, and another at the time of the

feast of tabernacles, or the feast of the cross in the Eastern

churches. After breakfast they rode to Baashekha, where the

Yezidees paid all due respect to the bishop, though they would
not send their children to the same school with the Syrians, but
asked for one of their own. From thence the company went on
to Bertulla, where the mission had a flourishing school, which
was afterwards supported by the people themselves, a fact that

deserves to be noticed, in view of the oppression that discourages

every attempt at improvement.
They found a cool retreat in the church, though the mercury
rose to 140 in the sun. The people crowded around them, and
 MOUNTAIN NESTOllIANS. 219

gave them a jilea^arit opportunity to try to do them good. After

some refreshment, the bishop led in prayer'(iii English) for a

blessing upon each of them and on that dark land, and tluis they
parted. With the bishop Dr. Grant never met again, though
there now lies before the writer a letter from him, dated Cochin,
February 15th, 1845, addressed to Dr. Grant, nearly a year
after his death. In it he says, " After my arrival here, there
was a great deal of quarrelling among us ; but, by the blessing
of God, there is rest now. I have been visiting all the churches
in the interior of Malabar. The people receive me with great
joy, and hear the word of God gladly. I trust that God, in his
good time, will remember and have pity on us, and exalt us from
our fallen estate."
Dr. Grant was now alone, with a single native attendant, and
a perilous enterprise before him. But, feeling that " the path of
duty is the only path of safety," he rode cheerfully along. Four
hours' ride, over a rich, undulating plain, watered by the Hazir,
brought him to the Zab, probably the Zerbis of Pliny (Chcs-
ney), where he spent the night in the open air.
Next morning he rose early, and floated across on a raft,
supported b}'' inflated vskins, at a village named Kellek (raft),

while his mules swam over, guided by a man supported by a

single skin, exactly as represented in the Assyrian sculptures of

Nimrud.
Eight hours brought him to Erbil (Arbela), which gave name to
the great battle that made Alexander master of Persia, a fact
utterly unknown to the seven or eight thousand motley tenants of
this once famous city of the Arsacidse. The Moslem Sahibs of Er-
bil, whose power extended far into Persia till subverted by the
Turks, have left a minaret, one hundred and twenty-one feet high,
now far out of the town, as a monument of its greater extent under
their administration.^^ The artificial mound on which the castle

*
See Penny Cyclopedia, and Rich's Kurdistan, ii. 14.
220 DR. C; RAN T A N D THE

ytaacls presents a beautiful appearance, with the distant Kurd-

ish mountains in the back-ground. Rich calls it about one
hundred and fifty feet high, and three or four hundred yards in
diameter. In the time of the Nicene Council this was made the
Christian metropolis of Adiabene, by Papa, Primate of Seleucia.
There are about two hundred Jewish families in the town. Some
of them sell the Parthian and Sassanian coins they find here in

Mosul and Bagdad; the rest of the inhabitants are Mohammed-

ans. Dr. Grant stopped at the Chaldean village of Ainkowa,
three-quarters of a mile from the town, and found the people
with all the openness of the Nestorians, but forbidden to read
any volume that had not the imprimatur of the Pope, thus,

in fact, forbidding them to read the Scriptures altogether.

Though, at first, they gladly received the gospels printed by the

British and Foreign Bible Society, they had afterwards been
compelled to destroy them. Thus far his course was south of
east. He now turned nearly due north, on the most westerly of
two roads to Ravandooz ; and then, bearing north by east over

a low range of hills, reached a Kurdish castle at Deir (convent).

An ancient church is said to have stood here once, and he sus-

pected the castle occupied its place. There must have been a
multitude of churches here in early times ; and where are they
now ? There are numerous ruins between Mosul and the Hazir,
but, thence to Oroomiah, they are yet to be discovered. A few
villages one, an hour be}- ond Ravandooz, and some others he
heard of, a little ofi" the road have gone over to the Pope.
These had been told the usual story of the whole world having
become Papal ; and the change required appeared so slight, they

yielded to the profi"ered temporal advantages. And thus all the

Nestorians, from Amadia, the mountain tribes and Oroomiah, as

far. south and east as Sennah, have passed away, or are changed
only in name, and a wider remove from gos2)el influence.
The day following, after a hard bed on the ground before the
castle-gate, and a breakfast of hard-boiled eggs and half-baked


MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 221

barley bread, he proceeded, with a footman for guide. A horse-

man had been promised, to go as far as Ravandooz, but did not

appear ; and he was glad to get off with no worse treatment.

The region is noted for its hatred of Christianity, especially of

Franks, who are regarded as its strongest bulwark ; and every
step furnished proof that it is not belied. The late chief had
been noted for his strict adherence to Mohammedan law,

cutting off one hand for the first theft, the other for the next,
the head for the third, &c. ; and Dr. Grant found evidence of his

strictness in three successive guides, each blind of an eye. The

chief himself had only one eye, and may have taken special pleas-
ure in reducing others to the same condition. He was usually
called Koor Bey (blind chief); but his name Mohammed was
equally appropriate. His footsteps were marked with the blood
of Christians, and all unbelievers ; and his coffers were filled

with the plunder of villages and churches, from Aderbijan to

Mesopotamia, and as far north as Amadia and Jezira. The
Yezidees, especially, were mercilessly slain, in many cases,

doubtless, a just retribution. Many Christians still pine in the

slavery to which he consigned them. When Dr. Grant first

came to Oroomiah, he stripped Mergawer of everything, and put

to the sword all who resisted ; and it was only on the approach
of an army, headed by Col. Shell, that he retreated, with his
booty, to his own dominions. The next summer the Governor
of Aderbijan was sent against him ;and he escaped only by sur-
rendering to Reschid Pasha, who attacked him at the same time
from the Turkish side. A pledge was given, under oath, that
his life would be spared, and he was carried prisoner to Constan-
tinople. After a year or two he was permitted to return ; but

a kavass overtook him near Siwas, and a cup of coffee, prepared

according to order, relieved the government from all further

apprehension.
With all his cruelty, he was much beloved by his people, v/ho
Btill boast of the security that prevailed under his sway ; fjr Vv'oe
 ;

222 DR. GRANT AND THE

betide the man ayIio picked up an article on the road, however

valuable, or however long it had lain there, unless he was its

owner. He monopolized the gall-nuts of his province, receiving

two-thirds of the crop as his share ; and ordered two men, who
had gathered theirs without paying him his quota, each to lose
an arm. Even a moollah, with whom some twenty-five nuts
were found, was fined sixty dollars. One of his own servants
had eaten a bowl of stolen yoghoort, and yet denied the theft
the sword of the terrible chief at once laid bare the stolen prop-
erty, and inflicted a terrible punishment on the offender. One
of the last things he did, before his surrender, was to put out the
eyes of a faithful friend, who came to warn him of his danger.

But, besides being the bearer of evil tidings, which, in the

East, is a heinous oiFence, he had left his post without orders,
and, therefore, he found no mercy. His master is dead ; but
this chief still lives, a monument of the terrible reign of Moham-
med Koor Bey, of Bavandooz.
After a refreshing sleep under a tree, not flir from a village,
in the hills of Herir, that looked more like a den of thieves than
the abode of honest men. Dr. Grrant rose before the sun, and had
a delightful ride of three hours to the romantic town of Bavan-
dooz. The Zab, which had been in sight most of yesterday, now
broke through an abrupt chasm on the right, perpendicular cliffs

of limestone rising high on either side. It here receives the

Bavandooz river, enlarged by two tributaries from opposite
directions. The scene was peculiarly grand as he looked down
on it, -nearly fifteen hundred feet below. The ascent, though
steep, had been so winding, that he rode to the summit, over
a road sometimes cut into the very face of the cliff. The
description of the same place, by the graphic pen of the Bev.
D. W. Marsh, eight years after, presents the scene so vividly,
that no one will regret its insertion. He says :

" Although familiar with the grand scenery of the Catskill and
the Green Mountains, never before have I seen so sublime a
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 22fj

pass. The vast height of the pinnacles, the roar of the torrent
and resounding cliiFs, and the solemnity of star-light, com-
bined to awe and rejoice the soul. Huge fallen crags lay con-
fiised along the steeps. Imagination was busy. Wherever space
allowed, trees threw their giant arms, as if to hold the traveller
from whirlpools below, like a mother's fond yet vain embrace,
when the avalanche comes thundering down. Just where the
footing grew scanty, the road was crowded on to a rude bridge
over the boiling waters. Scarcely discerning anything earthly,
we seemed like spirits wandering in wonder. Were those appar-
ent crags and precipices realities ? Are these, indeed, luxuriant

trees, clinging to the mountain-side in the very path of the ava-

lanche ? Mino-led with the midnio;ht roar of the cascade, is this

the tinkle of caravan bells ? And now, was that shout the lan-
guage of friends, or the Arabic of a Moslem ? Is not this all a

dream ? How strange the reality ! Alone with those not one
of whom knew a word of my native language, climbing, by star-
light, the mountain-passes of Kurdistan I

" As the moon rose we were still climbing, rising to the ma-
jestic mountain-tops ; now at the edge of a cliff where a fall
would have been death, our horses and mules panting as they
struggled up ; again, a horse falling, fortunately into the path-

way, and not over the precipice ; and anon gazing down without
giddiness at a distant cascade, tumbling into an abyss so pro-
found that no sound struggled up to us even in the stillness of
night. In four hours we must* have ascended twenty-eight hun-
dred feet, to the grandeur of the home of eagles and the storm."
" Just here," says Dr. Grant, " I met our messenger from
Mosul, returning with letters from Oroomiah, an unlooked-for
feast in such a place. I gave him a note to the dear friends I
had left, which he carried in safety ; but the next I heard of him
he was killed, by the Kurds, on the very road I then passed over
unharmed. After one more look at the plains of Mesopotamia
and Assyria, from the top of Sar Hasan Bey, I arrived,, by a
224 DR. G 11 ANT A N D TH E

gradual descent, at the town." This occupies a strong position,

with the river flowing round the north and west, between
steep, rocky banks. A ravine and embankment protects the

remaining sides, and the whole is defended by ramparts and

towers, sufficiently strong to resist any attack of the neighboring
Kurds. As one looks up, however, from the river, the flat-

roofed houses, rising tier above tier, like seats in an amphi-

theatre, exf>ose the whole town to the eye, and the cannon of
more civilized invaders. The population may be nearly a thou-

sand houses, of which about fifty are Jews', with whom Dr.
Grant conversed freely in the Nestorian language. The chief
a brother of the famous Koor Bey did not deign to notice

the doctor's firman, or even treat him with common civility.

After sitting two or three hours outside the room where he was,
he says, " I was glad to get away, rejoicing that, unworthy as I
was to suffer for Christ, all this scorn was poured upon me for

his sake." A caravan was just leaving for Persia, and he was
only too happy to join it at once, and leave the place. They
encamped some four miles out, in the open air ; and, as the
horses were huddled together for fear of thieves, he was in
danger of being trampled on by them in his sleep.
He reached Sidek June 11, which Mr. Ainsworth thinks was
a fortified post, on the royal road from Nineveh to Ecbatana.
Several Jewish families have lived here from time immemorial.
They are simple and open-hearted, and received both the Old and
New Testaments joyfully. The 'latter they had never seen be-
fore, but promised to read it carefully. He had a long conver-
sation with them in the Nestorian dialect; and when he left

they followed him some distance on the road, and gave him their
parting blessing.
Next morning his Kurdish host sent two men to escort him
safe into Persia, a favor all the more welcome, as murders had
just been committed on the road, and Persia and Turkey seemed
on the eve of war. About half an hour from the village he
 MOUNTAIN NEST R I AN S . 225

came to a stone pillar, with cuneiform inscriptions, which had not

before, to his knowledge, been visited by Europeans. Mr. Ains-
worth missed it bj looking for it at the village below. It had
apparently been broken off at the top, and was inscribed only on
the side facing E.S.E. Next morning he reached the large
pillar at the top of the mountain. His guide would hardly
. suffer him to dismount, and the caravan called out to him not to

stop ; but he examined it, nevertheless, till the guide would wait
no longer. As Major Hawlinson was hurried off in the same
manner, and it was not even shown to Mr. Ainsworth, Dr. Grant
conjectured that the people fear lest Europeans discover in the
inscription a claim to the country, as they say it is written in
the language of the Franks. The character, so far as he could
judge, was the same which he had seen at Van, and similar to that
he saw afterwards at Khorsabad. But, as the difference is not
readily apparent to an inexperienced observer, he does not speak
decidedly. Major Rawlinson says the pillar he saw faced to the
east, and was inscribed only on one face ; but this faced south-
east, or even more south than east, and was plainly inscribed on
both sides, having a line or two less on one side than the other.
The stone was of a light blue or greenish color, hence the
name Keli Shin (Green Pillar),
very hard and compact; and,
though exposed to the storms of more than two thousand years,
the inscriptions are so well preserved that, under favorable cir-
cmnstances, they might be copied, by an experienced hand, with
scarce the loss of a letter.
He spent the night previous under the shelter of some rocks,
at an elevation, by* boiling point thermometer, of eight thousand
five hundred feet ; and, judging the ascent thence to the sum-
mit to be fifteen hundred more, he estimated the pass to be, in

round numbers, ten thousand feet high. There was much more
snow, however, on the Jelu mountain, a month later, the year
before. Still, even here he crossed a torrent on a bridge of
snow, far below last night's encampment ; and in the morning
19


22t) DR. GRANT AND THE

he found the little rills frozen, and the glaciers so extensive and
slippery, it was really hazardous to cross them. He describes

the view from the summit as surpassingly sublime. " To the

south and west a vast sea of mountains was spread before me,
wave rolling on wave, and here and there bursting in foam,

for such appeared the snowy summits glistening in the morning

light. The vast plain of Mesopotamia stretched in the distance
further than the eye could reach ; and in the opposite direction

the Lake of Oroomiah sparkled in the sun, apparently just below

me. I had been familiar with its beautiful outline for so many
years, that, all at once, in these wilds, 1 seemed to have met the
face of a friend. The sight was as exhilarating as the sight of

home ; and, but for the longer journey before me, my toilsome
pilgrimage would have seemed almost over.
" Hastening down the mountain, I was glad to pass safely the

last camp of the nomad Kurds, who rob the traveller here with
entire impunity. They are too numerous to be subdued, except
by a large army ; and the approach of that allow^s them time to

flee to fastnesses that defy pursuit. They commit the most dar-

ing robberies just before changing their quarters in spring and

autumn, as at those times they can best make good their escape."
Once out of danger, he hurried on before the caravan, forded
the Ghedar, and, crossing a rich alluvial plain, entered Ushnei,
and was hospitably entertained by one of its fourteen Nestorian
families. These form the remnant of a large Christian popula-
tion in ancient times. It was formerly a metropolitan see; and
one of its incumbents aided in the ordination of the Patriarch
Jabailaha, in 1282. There are thirty families of Jews here,
speaking, as usual, the language of the Nestorians. To both
sects Dr. Grant gave portions of the Bible ; and the Jews, after

some hesitation, promised to read the New Testament, as well as

the Old. "Wherever he went, he found more readers among
them than among the Nestorians; and attributed it to their

habits of trade, compelling them to be able to keep accounts.

 TrIOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 227

In the morning, an unusual number of the sick, lame and

blind, crowded around, as soon as they heard that the old Hekim
Sahib, of Oroomiah, was there. Even the harem of the governor
honored him with a visit in the evening, and in the morning sent
him a plentiful breakfast, from their own table, that tasted all
the better for the hard fare of the journey.
It was late in the afternoon before he could get away, as the
governor detained him to escort an instalment of tribute to
his superior at Oroomiah. Two or three foot-soldiers were left
behind, as soon as they were out of reach of the Kurds ; and
at midnight, as it was too dark to cross the Barandooz, he slept
in an adjoining village till morning; then, quickening his pace,'
over a plain that seemed more beautiful than ever, passing
now by fields almost ready for the reaper, and now by vineyards
and gardens, meeting with familiar faces under the trees by the
roadside, he was soon among his loved associates in the mission-
house. It was pleasant to meet so many dear Nestorian friends,
after more than two years' absence but more delightful
; to enjoy
Christian fellowship with missionary brethren, after so long a
sojourn in the tents of Kedar.
Next day the mission assembled, and resolved unanimously to
send one of their number with him into the mountains. Mr.
Stocking, who had been much interested in the enterprise from
the was chosen, and two of the best native helpers ap-
first,

pointed to accompany them. They hoped thus to do much by

way of preaching, and so lay a broad foundation for future
labors. Dr. Grant desired too to make the most of access to
the mountains while it lasted. He writes, " The cordial inter-
est with which all my plans will ever
the brethren entered into
be one of the most pleasant memories of my missionary life."
Dr. Wright says of him, at this time, " Amid his active prepara-
tions for his mountain campaign, with the heavy cares of that
enterprise upon him, and with the most perplexing questions of
228 DR- GRANT AND THE

duty often arising, his spirits were buoyant, his stejD was elastic,

his energy untiring."

As soon as he could make his arrangements they set out for

Salmas, taking letters from the governor and some of the

nobles of Oroomiah to Yahya Khan and the emir. Providen-

tially they found them both at the favorite castle of Charreh,

which is perched on the summit of an isolated rock, near the
river of the same name. The green banks of the stream were
now dotted with the tents of more than a dozen chiefs, assem-
bled to meet the emir. He had come in state, with two hundred

attendants, at the. instance of the Persian government, w^hich

sought his aid in the expected war, and swore, on the Koran,
perpetual allegiance to the Shah, who, in turn, promised support
against the Sultan. Thus ended his alliance with the Porte,

formed two years before, in hope of immediate aid to subdue the

Nestorians. He was now about to assist Ismael Pasha in the
recovery of Amadia from the Turks.
In such circumstances. Dr. Grant was cheered to find the emir
still regard him as his physician and friend, and urge him

to accompany him to Julamerk, whence he promised to send

him in a few days to Tyary. Suleiman Bey earnestly sec-

onded the request, and proposed to go there with him in person.

Dr. Grant's plans and objects were now fully explained to

the emir, in the presence of the Khan, who confirmed each
statement from his own observation of missionary labors at
Oroomiah ; and in his presence Nilrullah Bey promised to pro-
tect Dr. Grant and his associates, and permit them to erect
buildings for themselves and their schools, as they should be
needed.
The warlike aspect of the mountains looked forbidding. But
at a time when war w^as threatened at every point, those secluded
valleys seemed to promise as safe an asylum as any other part
of the country, and the friendly disposition of the emir encour-
aged them to proceed.
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 229

Just at this crisis, the alarming illness of a child of Mr. Hol-

laday recalled Dr. Grant to Oroomiah ; and hoping thus to con-
sult with the mission, and return in time to go in with the emir,
he immediately set out. By riding all night, he reached his
patient, sixty miles distant, in twelve hours ; though he was sick
when he mounted, and continued to grow worse on the road.
Care and anxiety, joined to his old enemy, the malaria of the
plain, doubtless occasioned his illness, and showed that though
his indomitable energy kept him from a sick bed, yet he was by
no means well. Medicine and the kind nursing of friends soon
afforded him relief; and, though for a time the life of the child
hung in suspense, he too was soon so far out of danger that Dr.
Grant was about to resume the enterprise, when Mr. Stocking
was taken ill, though not so sick that he might not profit by the
journey.
On the 14th of July the two missionaries rode twelve miles
to the river Nazloo, one of the four large streams that water the
plain, and were hospitably entertained in the house of Priest
Yohanan, who, from being a drunkard, had risen to be a most
valuable native assistant. Their little chamber over the gate,

the only upper room in the village, might have been of the size

of Elisha's ; but, small as it was, it afforded the retirement a

traveller in the East knows how to prize. Next day they halted
two or three times in the course of twenty miles, and were ex-
ceedingly refreshed by bathing in the lake. They found it

impossible to sink lower than the shoulders in an upright posi-

tion, and a saline incrustation was left on the skin from the
excessive saltness of the water. As they passed along, the
people Avere just gathering their harvest, a work finished at

Mosul nearly six weeks before ; while on the high lands round
Julamerk wheat was still green, on the 26th of August, 1844.
They spent a quiet Sabbath at the house of Mar Yohanan, then
absent in the United States. And here Dr. Grant was again
"threatened with fever ; but a timely use of medicine, and two
19*
 ;

230 DR. GRANT AND THE

days' repose effectually relieved him. Mr. Stocking preached

twice, on the Sabbath, to a congregation assembled
under the

spreading branches of a walnut-tree. The aged father of the

" What a change,"
bishop was one of his most attentive hearers.
in an
says Dr. Grant, " will there be, when, instead of prayers
unknown tongue, this whole region shall be supplied with a pious
and well-educated native ministry This is our aim ; and, by the
!

blessing of God, we hope to attain it."

After a hot bath at the sulphur springs of Isty Su (warm

water), temperature 106, they reach Oolah on the 18th, where
the mission had a school, under the care of an aged priest. Un-
happily, they had to tell one of his sons, who acted as his assist-

ant, that neither they nor their patrons in America could employ
one given to wine. He appeared humbled, and Dr. Grant hoped
that he might reform, as others more confirmed in the habit had
already done. The school, in other respects, was doing well,

and was much needed in a district containing more Chaldeans

than all the rest of Persia. They number two hundred houses,

mostly in Khosrova ; and in their catechisms, printed at Rome,

the second commandment, as usual, is omitted. The Armenians
of the district, numbering about one thousand houses, earnestly
desired schools and books.
At Khosrova, where they went next day. Dr. Grant had often

fomid a pleasant home with a cousin of Mar Shimon, wife of

Waly Khan, the last heir to the throne of Georgia. Before their
marriage, they not only had not seen one another, but each was
entirely ignorant of the other's language. In former visits he
had found them comfortably supported by a pension from the
Persian government. But now she was trying to sell the few things

she yet possessed, to procure the means of returning to her moun-

tain home. Her husband had died at Teheran, and the first

n^vs she had of his decease was the withdrawal of his pension,

thus plunging her at once in widowhood and want.

Her brother had married the younger sister of Mar Yohanan
 MOUNTAIN NESTOR lANS. 231

and, though he too never saw his bride till she became such, he
certainly had no reason to complain ; for the bishop, stimulated
by the example of the missionary ladies, had taught her to read,
and Dr. Grant describes her as a most interesting and amiable
young lady. He says that he seldom was more delighted than
when, seated in a chair in her house, he listened
^ to her readingr
the publications of the mission press.
These twoladies, and those mentioned in page 139, are all he

ever met with who could read, except those taught in our
schools ; and, as such, he always took a special interest in their
welfare. Others hereafter may excel them m acquirements, but
the two sisters of Mar Shimon, and his cousin at Khosrova,
like David's worthies, will always be the first three.^
As Mr. Stocking grew worse, instead of better, it was now
Thought best for him to return ; a circumstance the more trying
to Dr. Grant, as both the native assistants had become so alarmed
at the dangers before them, that they also declined to go further.
It was now a trying question to him whether he also should turn

back with the rest. The Kurds on cither side of the frontier
were already conmiitting robberies, in anticipation of the war,
and the future looked dark enough. But, after weighing all the
circumstances, he felt that the valuable opportunities which
might otherwise be lost justified him in going forward. True,
there was risk ; but it seemed better to risk a little more than
incur the danger of losing the ground already gained.
all The
tenfpest seems to have been made to beat upon him on pui-pose
to illustrate the safety of the man who trusts in the Most High.
At the very last moment, he succeeded in getting the courageous
Mar Yoosuf for a companion. It was a good arrangement.
whether we consider the dangers to be met, or his ofl&cial intlu-
ence in favor of the truth.
Just a^i this time, Dr. Wright and Mr. Breath providen-

* 2 Samuel 25.


232 IMi .
<^.
11 ANT AND T U L

tially appeared to aid their counsels ; and at an early huiir, Jiil;y

21, in an iinier apartment, the missionaries aifectionately com-

mended each other to Him who had promised to be with them
alw^ays, then mounted and rode off in opposite directions,

they to their quiet home and peaceful labors, and Dr. Grant
and the bishop to the wild mountains of the yet wilder Kurdr-.
He now shaped his course for the castle of Charreh, with the
fortified city of Dilman in the rear, and the Sheher (city), as

old Salmas is usually called, on the right.^ The remains of

two minarets are visible outside the town.
He now left the plain, covered wdth villages embowered in
gardens among fruitful fields, and descended a steep ledge of
igneous rock to the vale of the Charreh. Ascending this, he
had a wall of columnar basalt on his right, rising abruptly about

two hundred feet. Some of the columns lay in fragments in his

path. There were numerous grottoes, and he had heard of

inscriptions but those pointed out were mere linear irregulari-
;

ties in the rock. At a sudden turn in the road the castle came
in sight, forming a very picturesque object in the quiet landscape.

This is the ancestral estate of Yahya Khan, who, besides being

Governor of Salmas, is chief of a branch of the Hakkary tribe.
He married a sister of the emir, and gave him one of his ow^n in
return. Another is in the harem of the Shah. And this
double alliance, together with his reputation for integrity, gives
him great influence with both Persians and Kiirds. Hence his

success in negotiation, as in the instance already described.

The emir had gone ; but the Khan, who had been expecting
Dr. Grant, was ready at once to speed him on his v^ay. At a

private interview, his guest asked whether he had any fears for his
safety with the emir, or whether the latter would allow him to go

to Mar Shimon, as he had promised. In reply, the Khan assured

* Mr. Ainswortli strangely confounds the two, notwithstanding Dilman

is modern, and old Salmas, though now a mere village, still retains the
name of its better days.
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 233

him there was no doubt of the chief's personal friendship; and

oflfered to write to him, either to allow him to carry on his mis-
sionary labors, or send him back in safety if he was opposed to
them. A certain anxiety manifested by the Khan in reference

to his journey prompted Dr. Grant to make this inquiry. But

he explai led it by telling him that the Persian nomads had plun-
dered th*} Turkish frontier, for which retaliation was threatened,
and that m this account he felt uneasy.


CHAPTER XIII.

FO 7RTH JOURNEY THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS ADVENTURE AMONG THE

.'OMAD KURDS KANDI KILEESEH MINERAL SPRINGS KURDISH IN-
HOSPITALITY AND MURDERS TRAVELS WITH THE EMIR NESTORIANS
OF TALL CAMP IN TEHOMA JOURNEY TO JELU A NIGHT ON THE
MOUNTAINS NESTORIAN TELEGRAPH BASS BLOOD FEUD AND RE-
CONCILIATION KURDISH LIFE IN CAMP TEHOMA AVALANCHES NES-
TOKIAN COOKING TEIOUGIITS ON PEACE MEDICAL PIJACTICE A
NARROW AVAY HEART OF THE MOUNTAINS HEIYO THE OUTLAW
MOUNTAIN ROADS AND BRIDGES LIFE IN ZOZAN RETURN TO ASHITHA
POLITICS HBRTUSH CHIEF MISSION-HOUSE EMIR'S PERMISSION TO
BUILD FAILURE OF EXPEDITION AGAINST AMADIA SYRIAC DEED OF
REAL ESTATE.

Dr. Grant was on his way by early dawn on the 22d, with
two rough-looking Kurds from the sources of the Zab, and soon
comprehended the cause of the Khan's uneasiness. The caravan
was again interrupted, as on his former entrance, but for
another reason. The Kurds near Van, with the Turkish soldiers

there, were actually on their march to inflict the threatened

retribution ; and this news, brought in by their scouts, had sot

all the guilty tribes in motion on the mountains before him. It

was one of those scenes not to be forgotten by the observer,

though no language can describe it to another. The road was
literally thronged with the frightened fugitives, men, women
and children, crowded on each other, terror visible in every
feature. The little ones, packed on the loaded animals or slung
in large sacks fastened together across the backs of the cattle,

were crying as they went. Women, on foot, urged, with cries

and blows, the slow-footed beasts loaded with their baggage,

leaving husbands and brother- to drive the flocks. Some, whose

loads had fallen in the road, ^ere jogged and jostled by the
 DR. G U A N T AN D T H E NE S T il I AN S . 235

vidrA, iioue caring to stop long enough to help them. Then the

ilocks came in from every side, compelling the little party to

wade among them as through a flood. But it was worth deten-
tion to witness the scene. A moving mass spread far and wide
over the hills, presenting the appearance of an animated land-
scape. At the first camps the tents were still standing; further
on, ail was bustle, striking and loading them on bullocks, don-
keys and mules ; and still further, all hurried forward together,
like a vast army in its flight.

As they met clan after clan, poor 13aho, bold as he was,

begged to return. But his master pressed steadily on, soothing

his fears, the while, by suggesting expedients they might resort

to, even should they meet the army. After stemming the thickest
of the crowd, they quickened their pace, and beyond Khaneh Sar
had the road almost entirely to themselves. Till then his
Kurdish guides had been very civil. But now they could not
resist the temptation of a stray colt that followed them, and
made it their prize. But Dr. Grant rode forward to the last

party they met, and told them how the matter stood ; and, though
his guides stoutly maintained that the colt belonged to them, thej^

were compelled to give it up, and vented their anger on the

doctor for his interference.
It showed something of the courage of faith, to maintain his
integrity at such a time, and incur the wrath of lawless men in
their own strongholds, rather than, by becoming party to a
theft, incur the wrath of God.
This pass, at an elevation of only eight thousand feet, is com-
paratively easy ; but, like all the rest, is dangerous from the
roving freebooters who frequent the extensive pastures in the
vicinity. The waters flow from this range, the Sar Albakh, to
lakes Van and Oroomiah, the Caspian Sea and the Persian
Gulf. As the party descended towards the Zab, the father's heart
was moved by the sight of the spot where, two years before, his
little son had slept in his bosom amid the snow. At Kandi Ki-
J3() BR. G RA X T AND T H E

leeseh he was the guest of a petty chief, in a castle that over-

looks the Zub. He visited the Armenian church, which gives
name to the place and found it built of stone, deeply furrowed
;

by the mountain storms. It is one hundred feet by sixty, and

is surmounted by two domes and a bell. Unlike other buildings
in the region, it has a sloping roof, with regular gable-ends, and

covered with stone instead of tiles. The vartabeds assured him

it was seventeen hundred years old (they told Mr. Ainsworth six-

teen hundred) ; and, professing to derive their authority from the

ancient Armenian inscriptions, they point out the tomb of the
apostle Bartholomew, who is said to have preached or suffered

martyrdom on this very spot. The church is surrounded with a

wall and bastions, and'has an outer and inner court, with rooms
round about them. Its lands support the clergy, and pay a tax
to the Bey ; but there are few Armenians in the vicinity.

N^xt day his road followed down the Zab, here called

Albakh, from the name of the district. This is a large, irregu-

lar opening among the mountains, and, from its ruined villages,
castles and churches, seems once to have been densely peopled ;

now it is mostly given up to the nomad tribes. Bash Kala, the

only village of note that it contains, three hours after leaving

Kandi Kileeseh, stood a few miles to the right, his course being

at first west-south-west and south-west, then south and south-

east, and south-west again. Two hours further he passed a

number of springs ; some as high as eighty and ninety degrees,

Fahrenheit ; others cold and effervescing like a soda-fountain, or
hissing down among the crevices of the rocks. In one place
they had deposited a ridge of calcareous tufa, about two hundred

yards long and twenty feet high. The springs occasionally

change their place, and he sought in vain for six that he had
seen in a row on his former visit. He was even more interested,

however, in the little companions of his childhood, " the humble-

bees;' that here, for the first time in the East, he saw gathering
honey from the red clover-blossoms by the roadside. These,
 MOUNTAIN N E S T K I A N 9 . 287

almost as rare in that country as the industrious in^jects that

rifled their sweets, grew wild amid a variety of beautiful flowers.

Passing the Nestorian hamlet of Atis, where he ate some
black bread and yoghoort, he arrived, seven p. m., at the Kurd-
ish village of Zarany ; and there he had to sleep before the door,

after begging in vain for a shelter from the cold. He could

scarce get anything eatable for man or beast ; but was thankful
to leave, next morning, with an empty stomach, l-ather than fare
worse.
Two hours further on, they were told that a Persian caravan,
from the orpiment mines, had been plundered, and several of the
men killed, just before them. Soon one of the -dead bodies was
carried past, and Baho again begged him not to rush into the
fire where others had been burned ; but he knew there was a
fire behind as well as before, and that, ere this, retreat v/as cut
off by the invading army. He judged, too, and it shows the
accuracy of his observation, that, as the deed occurred in the
night, the robbers had ere this fled elsewhere with their plunder.
So, trusting in God, he rode on, and before night was safe with
old friends in Kochannes. This former abode of Mar Shimon is

beautifully situated, in a level upland valley ; and, except the

opening by which he entered, is surrounded by a wilderness of
mountains, -whose melting snows pour down a plentiful supply of
the purest water. Finding it too much exposed to his enemies,
the Patriarch, years ago, left this pleasant home of his predeces-
sors and removed to Diss, w^here he could be better defended by
his warlike clans. This increased the jealousy of the emir, and
resulted in the invasion of the year before, when the house of
the Patriarch was burned, with the loss of everything he could
not carry away in a hasty flight by night.
From this place, more than six thousand feet high, he gradu-
ally ascended another thousand, if not more, to Berchulla, the
summer residence of the emir, where he was kindly received, and
quartered in one of the huts, built of loose stone, and covered
20
2o8 l> 11 . i K AN T A N D THE

with buLighs. It Avas the same place where Dr. Smith and Mr.
Laurie visited liiiii, iu August, 18-i4.
Isinael Pasha was here, about to leave with Suleiman Bey,
to enlist the Patriarch against the Turks, and they proposed his

going with them ; but he gladly seized on the illness of the erair
as a pretext to avoid it, lest he should become entangled in their
political movements, especially as the latter promised to send

him on to Tyary as soon as he himself should reach Tehoma.

At the emir's suggestion, he now exchanged his Frank dres.'j

for their own costume, and soon was seated, " a la Kurd," dip-
ping his hand with him in the dish, to good purpose, if not with
all the finished grace of an oriental. At the chief's table he had
no occasion to complain of hard fare, though the Kurds, in gen-
eral, are simple in their diet, and far more temperate than either
the Persians or Turks in the matter of intoxicating liquors.
They were surprised and pleased to find that in this last the

doctor agreed with them ; for, though none are before them in

zeal for Islam, and they do not scruple to call the Sultan himself

a Giaour, for his European innovations, yet they appreciate

consistency of this kind, and express great abhorrence of Infi-
delity and Atheism.
The emir set out for Julamerk July 28, on his way to Ama-
dia. After the crowd had left, Dr. Grant enjoyed himself very
pleasantly with a few friends that remained, among them the
mother of Suleiman Bey, who, from first to last, showed her-
self truly friendly. She had not forgotten little Henry ; and
cautioned his father against the treachery of her people, and
especially the jealousy of the emir, a trait he had had occasion
to notice more than once. He had not forgotten how he looked
when he found his cousin writing a letter for the doctor to
Yahya Khan, till, on reading it himself, he saw how baseless were
his suspicions. As they rode slowly down, he enjoyed the wild
mountain landscape, the rough peaks rising sharp above the
banks of snow that glittered on every side. A descent of two
 MOUNTAIN NEST OKI A NS. 239

thousand feet brought him, in two hours, to the castle of Jula-

merk, which Mr. Ainsworth makes five thousand four hundred
feet above the sea. Here the soldiers on guard went through a
sham-fight before thej admitted the emir and suite. It was near
dusk, and the repeated volleys fired by either party, reverberat-
ing among the crags, followed by a closer contention with
sword and shield, presented a graphic picture of Kurdish w^ar-
fare, much more agreeable than the reality.
On Friday Niirullah Bey would not proceed, as it was his
Sabbath ; which gave Dr. Grant an opportunity to ask to be
excused from travelling on his, to which he at once assented.
At noon he went to the mosque in state, preceded by an Arabian
derwish, fantastically but richly dressed. Friday is unlucky
there, as well as here. But next day, at noon, all set foot in
stirrup the moment the stars were propitious, except Dr. Grant,
who, thinking more of comfort than of the stars, went on before,
and waited for the cavalcade by a fountain some distance down
the ravine. From thence to the river even the emir was com-
pelled to walk, so steep and dangerous is the road, though built
up against and cut into the precipice, at great expense. Across
the Zab the road was so difiicult that even the mountain mules
could hardly get on without their riders ; and the reflected heat
of the narrow chasm valley there was none was so intense
that the emir nearly fainted. A little peppermint soon revived
him ; but this, and the efi"ect of a cup of tea, on a similar occa-
sion, led him to throw out such hints, that the doctor began to
fear he was enlisted for the campaign, till he lost some of his credit
by bandaging the arm of the chief, after bleeding, so that a drop
of blood, oozing out, spoiled the virtue of his evening prayers.
It was quite dark before he reached the largest and highest
of the six Nestorian villages in Tall. As this district is small, it

pays tribute to the emir ; and, sad as is the tale, yet it is true,
that its inhabitants are, on this account, despised, and even
plundered, by the other tribes who are safer from attack. The
 ;

240 DR. GRANT AND THE

only level place not cultivated, that Dr. Grant could find for his
mules, was the roof of a dwelling, which formed the door-yard
of the house next above. The people were miserably poor, but

readily shared with hiri. what they had. His mules fared the
worst, however ; for grain is so scarce in all the mountains they
deem it a sin to feed it to beasts. This tribe has the name of
being more rude than others; but their country is so sterile it is

not to be wondered at, and will, therefore, be hard to remedy.

They occupy the deep, narrow glen of a tributary of the Zab. A
church, high up on one side, is the only object worthy of notice

and that was so difficult to reach, the doctor did not visit it.

The emir, according to promise, let him rest here on the Sabbath,
though to the former it was a day of feasting and hilarity,
while Dr. Grant improved this only opportunity to do good to
the sick, and the bishop afforded much aid in directing their

unwilling minds to the Great Physician.

At an early hour on Monday, August 1, they commenced to

ascend the mountain toward Tehoma. It seemed like an impas-

sable wall, mocking their approach. The repeated salutes of

two hundred men of Tehoma, who claim the summit as their

border, echoed and reechoed through the glen. It would have
been easy for them to have overwhelmed ten times their number;
but the emir had shrewdly selected one-half of his attendants
from their chief families, and in this and other ways secured an
influence which he knew how to wield against the more powerful
tribe of Tyary. Their waste of powder they for continued

firing till the emir reached them would have surprised any

one who did not know that each man makes his own, just as he

makes his own shoes and hat, and produces his own food and
tobacco, so that there is not a market or bazaar in all their

country. Descending to a spacious upland valley, far from any

village, the emir encamped there, and made it the rendezvous

for the army against Amadia.

Having no taste fl r such a life, Dr. Grant hurried off on a
 MOUNTAIN NESTOR AX S. I 241

visit to Jelu and Bass. AVith a guide from Niirnllah B.ey, he

turned to the north-east, passing two or three sunnner camps of
the Nestorians. From the hist of these some of the vilhxges of
Jelii were visible. It seemed as if a rapid descent would bring
him to the nearest before sunf<ct. So, without stopping to eat

the simple fare offered him, though really hungry, he pressed on.
But he found his guide knew little about the way. The ravine
was so filled with immense banks of snoAv, cut perpendicularly

by the torrent, and the sides w^ere so steep on either hand, that

the passage of mules was hopeless ; he therefore made a long

detour to another, and sunset found the party walking down a
declivity so steep that the mules could hardly follow, and when
they did it seemed as if they would precipitate all before them.
They had never seen such goats' paths before, and turned back
their heads in silent expostulation, as the party tried to drive
where they dared not lead. At length they found a little green
sward amid the snow ; and, as it was impossible to go further,
they stopped there for the night, and turned out the mules to
graze. " Our position," says Dr. Grant, " was one of the wildest
possible, awakening emotions of awe such as are inspired by a
storm at sea. Yet there was nothing to fear. The place was
too desolate and unfrequented even for robbers; but Grod seemed
present in his matchless works. The very silence seemed full

of God. It was a delightful thought that He was our guardian :

in his presence was fulness of joy. A morsel of bitter barley

bread, seasoned with the sorrel that grew around us, allayed our
hunger. I lay down, and gazed silently on the dark mountains
towering over us, and the starry sky that seemed to rest on their
summits ; and when sleep stole over me, it was sweet and
refreshing as on a bed of down."
Dawn found them on their way again, and two hours' climbing
along the mountain brought them to Alson, a place containing
about one hundred houses, the first of the fifteen villages of Jelii.
After breakfast they preached to the assembled villagers, and
20*
242 DR. U ANT AND T II E

then hastened over the intervening ridges to the hirger village

of Z3rany, where they spent the heat of the day in the same
manr.er. They stopped for the night at Mar Ezeieh, and on the
way had an illustration of mountain-life quite characteristic.
Long ere they were near enough for the villagers to distinguish
friends from foes, their watch-cry echoed from cliff to cliff", till,

in a few moments, the most distant shepherds caught the sound,

and came running, rexdy armed for the fight. One band hur-
ried to cut off their retreat, another waited to dispute their

approach. But, as soon as Dr. Grant was recognized, the

counter-watchword flew as fast, and all was quiet as before. It

explained the way in which they sometimes estimate dist-ance,

saying one place is so many guns from another, that is, the

distance at which the report of a gun is distinctly audible, as the

alarm is three discharges in rapid succession, answered by the

same number, to assure the first he is heard, and spread the

alarm to the next. This custom Dr. Grant had occasion to

observe afterwards in circumstances much more exciting. The

present state of excitement was occasioned by the violence of
the emir, who had seized one of their caravans on its way from
Aleppo, confiscated the mules, and held the men as hostages for

the payment of a tribute he dared not otherwise collect. It

seems the men were prisoners in the castle of Julamerk while

Dr. Grant was there, and allowed barely enough of bread and
water to sustain life. He now longed to deliver them ; and,

finding a way of making his wishes known to the emir, without

compromising his political neutrality, he happily effected their

release. The matter, however, occasioned a state of feeling un-

favorable to the object of his present visit; and the absence of

many of the mei>, who had gone to convoy a caravan, with grain,
from Gawar, still further interfered with his plans. Yet, the
bishop of this tribe having died since his visit last year, he had
the pleasure 9 f inducing his intended successor, still in his teens,
 .

MOUNTAIN NE S T R I AN S 243

to go to the seminary at Orooniiah. He also distributed some

books, and made additional arrangements for schools.

His route through Bass was the same as last year ; but a blood
^ud prevented any of the men of Jelu going with him. All
connnunication between the two districts was cut off. The
bridge had been demolished, several killed on both sides, and
some of the villages of Bass destroyed. He labored to restore
peace, and not in vain ; for negotiations immediately commenced,
and in less than two months the whole matter was amicably set-

tled. His stay in Bass was short, but his reception cordial.

The sight of many blackened ruins, burned in the recent quarrel,

furnished a fitting text for his earnest exhortations to peace and

harmony.
He rested for a while at the summit. of a mountain-pass, gaz-
ing Qn one of those apparently boundless views, that present new
beauties the longer you look. The women in a zozan near by
ofiered him sour milk from their goat-skins ; but, on learning

that he had the singular taste to prefer sweet milk to the acrid

mess, they milked a sheep for his special accommodation. Not

far from here he crossed a glacier, and, after sleeping on some

dry fennel in the cleft of a rock, in another zozan, returned to

the emir, after an absence of only four days.
A canopy of boughs, inferior only to the emir's, was provided
for him and the bishop ; but so small there was barely room to
lie down, and so low they could stand upright only in the mid-
dle; and yet it was better than hundreds of Nestorian families
occupy for half the year.
.Every evening all the chiefs dined with the emir, and Dr.

Grant found no occasion to desire a higher seat ; for, as usual,

he sat next to his host. The attendants stepped freely upon the
table-cloth, in bringing in and removing the several courses.

Martial music accompanied the repast, though not the most

enchanting ; and often a mock combat, between two soldiers,

armed with sword and shield, varied the entertainment; for,

244 I> K . GRANT AND THE

wliile Persians love games of chance, the Kiirds are more fond
of manly sports. Hunting and feats of horsemanship are

favorite amusements, when they can find room for them in their

rugged mountains. ^
The monotony of the camp was relieved by the occasional
arrival of recruits, who were sent on immediately to Amadia ;

and it is painful to record that some Nestorians from Tehoma

were rewarded with cheap articles of dress for several ears of

Turks they brought to the emir.

Finding he was likely to remain here for some time. Dr. Grant
obtained leave to go to Tyary. Not, however, till the emir had

urged him to give up his plan of building there, and come and
live nearer to himself. AVhen he pleaded that this would involve
much inconvenience to his associates, and derangement of plans,
he then requested him to defer building till he should see him
again, to which the doctor readily assented. A sufficient reply,

by the way, to the " hypothesis " that " under the guise of
friendship for Dr. Glraut he sanctioned the building of a mission-
house, which he hoped eventually to turn into a castle."^ On
the same page of the same work, the casual remark of a Nes-
torian about digging a well in the mission-house is made to

bear the burden of the sweeping conclusion that " the Nestorians
generally looked on this building with suspicion." Such a huge
structure erected on so slender a basis, and a hypothesis without
any basis, show how little presented itself, on which to found
insinuations against Dr. Grant.
Leaving a supply of medicine with the emir, and directions
how to use it. Dr. Grant proceeded, xVugust, 9th, to Giinduktha,
three hours distant. The people there had not yet dispersed from
evening prayer ; and, with the aid of the bishop, he endeavored
to explain and enforce the scripture they had just read. Sup-
per was provided in the house of the steward of the church, and

^ See Nestorians and their Rilua]i=;, vol. i. 186.

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 245

a fire was kept smoking all night to defend them from the swarms

of mosquitos produced by their rice-grounds. The smoke was

stifling ; but, of the two evils, it certainly was the least. Priest
Guwergis, who had imbibed some papal notions, on a visit to

Elkosh, was now very unpopular; and after the invasion he

went over to the papists.

Dr. Grant spent the next day preaching in the villages and
making arrangements for future labors, feeling all the while

that the people cared more for his medicine than for the truth

they heard, and yet rejoicing in the privilege of proclaiming it

to those who might never hear it again. In the end, they were
very eager for schools and books ; and again urged him to fix

the station there, promising, if he did so, to bring all his fuel

gratis, no small ofi'er, considering the distance they would

have to bring it on their backs, for, though there are many oak-
trees near the village, the young shoots are cut ofi" every year,
and preserved for the use of their cattle in winter ; and, besides,

Mar Shimon had anathematized whoever should cut one of them

down, because they hold the snow around them, and keep it from
sliding down on the village. Every year some are killed by
avalanches, and men are often dug out of them, alive, perhaps,
but maimed for life.
At six o'clock next morning, he began to climb the mountain
in a direction west by north, for Tyary. Passing some shep-
herds, he saw one carrying home a sheep sadly torn by wild
beasts, which he intended to kill, and preserve the meat in the

usual manner. This is generally done later in the season, when

they cook enough for the whole year, and, pulling out the bones,
pack the meat away in jars, filled and covered with the melted
fat, so as thoroughly to exclude the air. He saw another with
its leg broken by a stone that rolled down the mountain from
above ; a danger to which the shepherd is exposed, as well as
his flock.

The view from the summit was interesting, from the number
 ;

246 D K . GRA NT AND T II E

of familiar localities in sight. Among them, Lezan lay west by

south, showing that Tehoma was east, rather than south, from
Tyary.
Further to the south he saw a smoke that filled the air for
leagues around. It proceeded from the Turkish camp, some of
whose outposts had been set on fire at the approach of the Kurds.
As the flat roofs of the country are thickly covered with earth,

they always produce a great volume of smoke when burning.

Dr. Grant thus expresses his feelings at the sight :
" It made
me long more than ever for the reign of the Prince of Peace.
The very spot where I stood had witnessed many a bloody
strife between two Christian tribes, that ought to have been one
in love. May their fate warn nations who, with clearer light,
yet run in the same road to ruin ! Even churches might learn to
cease contending with each other, and unite their strength against
the common foe. Surely there is enough to engage the whole
force of the church, without one bickering word, from this time
forth. We 7ieed union in action for the conversion of the worlds

rather than mere union in name or organizationy

A short descent brought him to Bealaita (upper house), whose
forty houses seemed to adhere, one above another, to the sides

of a ravine, so narrow as to leave barely room for the torrent

below. Though this was his first visit to this village, yet he was
recognized by many former patients, who showed him ever}^
attention in their power. The use of the acrid contents of their
dirty goat-skins compelled him to resort to aqua ammonia for
relief; and, ere he could speak, the village priest had taken the
skin from his mouth with an undiluted dose. It did not, how-
ever, stop his loquacity, for he rattled on as garrulous as before.

Then one wanted medicine, and a dozen repeated the request

another must be bled, and ten arms were at once laid bare to
the lancet. That was so bright, it was silver, of course. '
The
brass on his umbrella was as certainly gold, and the rattans
were feathers. This incessant curiosity and it prevailed
 M U NTA I N N E S T 11 1 A NS . 247

everywhere was at times fatiguing ; but it was evidence of

mind, however rude. He looked on them as unpolished diamonds,
and felt that, by God's blessing, something would yet be made
of them. Many thought they conferred a favor in receiving his
medicine, as thus an addition was made to his stock of merit
and a passport to Paradise secured to him or his father. Their
general plea, when asking for it, was, " Erwana 'd Ganokh," or
" Erwana 'd Babokh " (charity for yourself or your father), and
gratitude was expressed by " Allaha Katuleh erwanokh " (may
God write your charity). For all this, the doctor was obliged to
them, if for no other reason, because it furnished such an
excellent text for the preaching of the doctrines they most
needed to know, holding up Christ and his atonement as their
only hope, and striking at their great error of putting forms and
fasts and works of merit in his place.

Some of the villagers told him his mules could not possibly
get over the road before him ; but he had not forgotten his boy-
hood's motto, " try,'' and, taking additional help from the
village, he kept horizontally along the mountain side, for the

ravine was utterly impracticable, and, with the exception of

some places where the avalanches had obliterated the path, leav-
ing a smooth and steep slope to the very edge of the precipice,
he did not find much trouble. At these places the villagers did
admirable service ; as some taking the mules by the head, and
others by the tail, kept them from falling, till they reached a place
where they could take care of themselves. Fatigued beyond
endurance, the doctor rode, even where he knew it was danger-
ous, on the principle that additional exhaustion was the greater
danger. He had a narrow escape, however, for his foot hit the
rock and threw the mule off his critical balance ; and, had he not
instinctively leaped off on the up-hill side, and grasped a bush
that enabled him to hold on to the mule, now trembling in
every limb, both had rolled together to the bottom. It was not
far from here that Dr. Smith, in 1844, had a still more nar-
248 DR. GRANT AND THE

row escape. He was carefully planting his steps in the single

row of foot-prints made in the clayey soil when it was soft in
the spring, till, his attention drawn for a moment to some-

thing else, he slid on the smooth track of the avalanche,

to the very verge of the precipice below. There he succeeded
in grasping a shrub, and maiutaijiing his hold till our attend-
ants extricated him from his perilous situation. The writer will

not soon forget the sight, or his feelings as he saw him arrested
by the little bush, that God seemed to have placed there on pur-
pose for his deliverance. Had he gone a few feet further, he
would have been dashed to pieces on the rocks far below.

A night's rest, in a neighboring village, enabled Dr. Grant to

go on next day with renewed vigor. His host was a former

patient, who deliglied in this opportunity to show his gratitude.
His whole demeanor, too, pointed him out as one of the few who
rose above the low level of general intelligence, and w'as pre-

pared to appreciate better things. He manifested much inter-

est in the plans of Dr. Grant for the good of his people. The
latter was now in a most inaccessible part of the mountains, but,
as the last road seemed always the worst, so the scenery just
passed had always some prominent featrti-e to distinguish it from
previous views. The names of the villages here Kasructa
(fort), Matha 'd Kasra (village of the castle), and Lagippa (cave)
illustrate the adaptation of the region for defence. In one
place, to-day, Dr. Grant crossed a land-slide that filled the

ravine, for some furlongs, to the depth of several fathoms.

The people, shut in from all the world, know no language but
their own ; and, unlike the men of Jelu and other places, few
ever look beyond the rocky ramparts that narrow the horizon of
their native village.

Crossing another mountain, next day, he came to the Zab, and

stopped at a hamlet, where the people brought him very good
figs and grapes, the first he had seen that season. Continuing
up the river, now at the water's edge, now clambering over the
 .

M l; m' a 1 :,"
n e s to r i an s 249

high cliffs that j at out into the stream, he reached the celebrated
cliurch of Mar 8awa. Stopping at a bridge just below it, he
sent word of his arrival to Ileiyo, the chief of the district and
pronounced by Dr. Grant to be " by far the worst man he had
known among the Nestorians." It was he who tried to rob Mr.
Ainsworth and his party ; and it was to avoid him tbat the doc-
tor was sent round by Ashitha, on his first entrance, in 1839. As
he was under the anathema of Mar Shimon, and regarded as an
outlaw by all the people, he had hitherto avoided him ; but
now both necessity and policy led him to throve himself on his
hospitality ; for, if mission families were to reside at Ashitha, it

would hardly be safe to have such an enemy so near and un-

propitiated. He was shown into an arbor by the side of a pool,
fed from a mill above, to await his coming. While here he tried

to make the acquaintance of the women and children, and two

or three of the roughest-looking men he had seen, who stood by,
apparently ready for any deed of villany. At length the outlaw
himself appeared, a spare, sinister-looking man, of about fifty
y(3ars of age, with a face marked by intemperance, and still more
with misanthropy. Says Dr. Grant :
" I introduced myself as
physician to the emir, with whom he has sided since the anath-
ema. But, when he found I was on my way to Mar Shimon, he
drew down his shaggy brows with a peculiar frown, and asked if

I was not connected with the Franks who passed there two years
before (Mr. Ainsworth and his party). Happily the emir
had informed me of a chronic complaint which troubled him, and
it was not difiicult to satisfy him that I was really what I pro-
fessed to be. This seemed to make a favorable impression. But,
as I insisted on total abstinence as the only condition on which
I would attempt his cure, another difficulty arose ; and, without
any result more satisfactory than my own personal safety, I
left, promising to see him again."
Having introduced this character to the reader, let us briefly
relate his subsequent history. Dr. Grant redeemed his promise
21
250 DR. GRANT AND THE

by several subsequent visits. On the first of them he spent the

night with him, and says of it At first he received me in a
:
''

very surly manner, and even liinted how easily he could rob and
then despatch me with his dagger, at the same time drawing it

from its sheath and passing his fingers along the edge. Some
of his attendants also boasted of the numbers they had mur-
dered, and their looks certainly did not belie their words. But
I felt persuaded that, however they might waylay me in the

mountains, I was in no danger here. So I replied that, as I was

his guest, he could do with me as he pleased. But I felt

deeply concerned for him and his people, w^ho were drawing
down the wrath of Grod upon them by their sins and animosities,
and it would not be strange if they were all delivered to their

foes. He pointed, with a sneer, to the rocky ramparts around,

and asked how they could scale them. But I had touched a
chord in his heart that responded to the touch ; and though at

first he declared he would sooner turn Moslem than obey the

Patriarch, he gradually relented, and in the end was restored to
the church. The anathema that had rested on him for years

was removed, at the feast of the cross, in September, and Heiyo

himself walked some miles to meet the Patriarch, and make
peace with the Malek, with whom he had long been at war.
Mar Shimon came in person and re-consecrated the church,
which, from its central position and hoary antiquity, was held
in great veneration. Many thousands, from all parts of the

tribe, joined in the festivities, and I was welcomed by Heiyo

with the cry of '

Hoba ! hoba !
'
(love), about which I had spoken
to him so much and so earnestly." Poor man ! he has since
iione to his account, with hundreds of those most joyous on that

festal day. Whether his reconciliation with Mar Shimon had

anything to do with it may be difficult to say. But he was
amon2 the first to fall, in the fatal invasion of 1843.
Dr. Grant never interfered with politics ;
but he beheved
Christ when he said "Blessed are the penve- ina leers ''
The
 m.'

lifif
 M UN T A I N NE S T R I A N S . 253

Kurds Rouglit to divide and weaken the Nestorians, and were

even angry with him for thwarting their endeavors to do so ;

yet these words of his Saviour controlled his conduct, and him-
self has left it on record, that on no acts of his life did he look
back with more satisfaction than on his efforts to inculcate
among them that love that would have made their rugged vales
a paradise. But, to return to the narrative :

The little party, though refused a guide, on account of the feud

referred to between Heiyo and the Malek, continued on alone,
over debris from the crags above, that extended into the very
river. Scarce a particle of earth was mingled with it, and the
feet of the mule often slipped down so far between the stones
that the rider had to step off not dismount to let him rise.

A house stood here and there on a narrow terrace, redeemed,

with great labor, from the general desolation, and watered by
well-built aqueducts, that, compared with the little plot to be
irrigated, often seemed disproportionately long. The terraces,

RiniiU as they were, needed continual care to defend them from

the falling rocks, that, else, would soon obliterate them alto-
gether. Not more than one part out of two hundred and fifty

is arable, through the whole of the mountains.

The bridge at Chumba, which they crossed, one hundred

and fifty feet long and three wide, and about twenty feet above
the water, was a good specimen of their structures of that kind
and may be better understood from the accompanying engraving
than from any description. The curvilinear piece in the middle,

as well as that at each end, is formed by the trunks of poplar

trees, laid side by side, and covered with a web of wicker-work,
instead of boards. The ends of the trees, where they overlap
each other, are fastened together with withes. To a stranger,

the vibration of the narrow central part is truly startling. But

Dr. Grant was most concerned for the poor mules, which had to
be forced to the frightful passage, and then broke through the
wicker-work several times, and had to be lifted up by the united
254 I> H . Cx RAN T AND THE

cfforta of several Nestorians. When Dr. Smith and Mr. L.

passe up this same valley, the only way they could get a mule
across a bridge, higher up the river, after he had broken through
twice, was to lay before him the rugs on which they slept, re-

moving one as he stepped upon the other, and laying it down

again before him, till he landed safe on the other side. The
Nestorians often cflmpel ^them to swim across, secured by long
ropes, that keep them from being carried away by the rapid
current.
It was night before they were fairly over the river ; and,
after supper, with his old friend, the Malek, Dr. Grant mounted
an arzaleh over the very centre of a torrent, the white foam of
the water-fall breaking close to his head as he slept. He woke
in the morning to find that he had kicked olf his quilt into the
stream, where it hung, fastened to the platform by one corner,
undergoing a process for which it was all the better when dried.

While the Malek replaced the shoes torn from the feet of the

mules by the stones the day before, the doctor carried a sup-
ply for such emergencies, his kind-hearted hostess had a fine

dish of rice and buttermilk boiling over the fire. This was
something quite bej'ond their ordinary fare, and they watched
its bubbling with bright anticipations; but, alas for the vanity
of human hopes ! the earthen pot iron ones are unknown, and
copper is too dear for the mountaineers broke, and emptied
all its contents into the fire. The good woman, however, was
not discouraged ; and some pottage of lentils, such as Jacob
sold to Esau at so dear a rate, prepared in a newer vessel,

them a welcome repast.

afi'orded

Though late in the forenoon, the sun was just peeping over
the mountain as they set out for the zozan of the Malek, whither
most of le village had already gone. Two-and-a-half hours
above Chamba they turned into a ravine at right-angles with the
Zab; and, after three hours' journey over a path no better
than yesterday's, they reached the place. "The camp," says
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 255

Dr. Grant, " was one of the best, and yet miserably poor ; for

I never had romance enough about me to gild the rude hut of

branches which forms the family .mansion, the coarse felt which
serves for bed and chairs, or the greasy goat-skin table, and
dirty wooden bowl, which represents the whole china-closet of

better homes ; especially when the last is filled with acid but-
termilk-soup, and that eaten with millet bread, beside which rye
is a luxury and maize most excellent."
The only tent on the ground was occupied by Mar Shimon,
and served at once for council-room, chapel, parlor and bed-room,
indeed, everything but retirement. The doctor was gratified

by the kind reception given by the Patriarch to the New Testa-

ment, Psalms, and other books from the mission press. The
reading of them formed almost the only religious exercise on the
Sabbath ; for, though they did not work on that day, the care
of their flocks went on as usual. Some letters from Mar Yo-
hanan, then in this country, w^ere read aloud by'the Patriarch,
gi\ang a very good account of its religious character, and gen-
eral superiority to his own. As for Dr. Grant, he was too ill to

attend to anything but his own aches ; for his damp dormitory
at Chumba had brought on a swelled face, which was reli^wed
only by a desperate plunge of his lancet into the very roots of
his teeth.

Next morning he set out, with Mar Shimon, for Ashitha, who
w^as going to meet Suleiman Bey and Israael Pasha, fully deter-
mined not to join them against the Turks. He regarded it as a

strife between them and the supremacy over the Nes-

latter for

torians and, of the two, he preferred the success of the Turks

;

as the more responsible. Probably, also, he had the secret hopo

that, in that case, Christian powers would do more for their pro-
tection. Had he done otherwise, he might have made peace with
the emir, and thus had but one enemy to combat ; but, having

received friendly letters from the Pasha of Mosul, he thought

gratitude for present neutrality would make them firm friends
21#
 ;

256 Dll. GRANT AND THE

in the futute. To this the doctor could only listen in silence.

He says of it :
" The pacific nature of his plan was at least com-

mendable and, on the principle of following peace with all men,

I afterwards recommended him to be reconciled with the emir,
and thus, if possible, avert disaster. I also tried to persuade

the emir to peace with him ; but, further than this, I could not

interfere, and had nothing to do with their political relations.

Once before this I queried whether I ought not to advise sub-
mission to the Turks, to avoid a bloody subjugation ; but that
would involve taxation, and, most likely, oppression ; and then
I might be blamed, as having aided in bringing about such
results. I therefore determined to '
know nothing among them
"but Jesus Christ and him crucified.' leaving all else to him who '

is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.' This purpose

I made known to them repeatedly and distinctly, telling them,
in the very face of their cherished hopes, that I had neither
political ends to serve, nor power to promote them if I had
and, though it produced a temporary disappointment, in the end
it always secured their confidence and respect."
He was loth to leave the bracing air and grand scenery of
the camp, then nearly eight thousand feet above the sea. "When
Ainsworth was there it was lower down. Malota which he
makes six thousand two hundred feet is also far below it, and
is a Nestorian, not a Kurdish village, as he reports it. The
people, as he passed, Avere busy collecting the Alpine plants
they use instead of hay. These they pile in stacks, on the sum-
mit nearest the village, and slide them down in winter, on sledges
shaped like a trough, with more than railroad speed. In de-
scending the mountahi, Dr. Grant had to ride, as usual, at the
risk of being thrown over the head of his mule, when the Patri-
arch and the rest travelled on foot.

At the foot of the range he stopped at Gralitha, subject to the

Malek of Chumba, though inhabited mostly by Kurds, and spent
he afternoon in pleasant intercourse with Mar Shimon and the
 MOUNTAIN NEST0RIAN8. 257

villagers. After evening prayers, which the Nestorians always

finish before sunset, came supper ; and, that over, Dr. Grant
spread his rug on a high rock in the middle of the stream, and
slept soundly on his flinty couch.

They crossed with ease, in the middle of August, the stream

Mr. Ainsv,'orth found so difficult in June, so great are the
changes in these mountain torrents. This also accounts for his
mistake in making the Berdizawi as large as the Zab. Dr
Grant has found it almost as large, and again, later in the sea
son, not one-quarter the size. The journeys of subsequent tra\

ellers prove that the Berdizawi ought to be struck out of Mr.

Ainsworth's map, and both that and the Habor laid down as hi
the map of Dr. Grant. After passing over several deep banks
of snow, they were four long hours in reaching the summit,
behind Ashitha. Most of the party had to climb the greater

part of the distance on foot ; but, once at the top, they rested
lalf an hour, enjoying one of the most extensive views he had
3ver seen. Here he took the following bearings with his pocket

compass : Ashitha, at his feet, south-west by south ; Amadia, due

south, the road over the pass distinctly traceable ; Zacho, west-
south-west (this v/as afterwards verified by counter-observations);
course of the Gara range, south-east; Sinjar, straight over
Ashitha; great bend of the Zab, east-south-east; Julamerk and
Sillee, north-east; Liehun, north-north-east, in a valley running
south to the Zab; Hertush, north-west; Chumba, north-east by
east; zozan of the Malek, north by east; Tehoma, south-east by
east, and east-south-east ; Jclii, east by north ; and Zawitha,
south-south-east. These bearings, taken with a very delicate
compass, will be found generally to agree with the original map
of Dr. Grant ; but some of them as, for example, Zacho, west
south-west, instead of north-west by V7est not at all with Mr.
Ainsworth. The latter, though full, is not accurate. His dis-

tance of Ashitha from Amadia is too little by half, while from

Van it is altogether too great. Thus much Dr. Grant. The

258 DR. GRAXT AND THE

writer would add, that, in company with Dr. Smith, in 1844, he

was and three-quarter hours from Mosul to Ashitha,
thirty-lour
exclusive of stops, and yet, according to Mr. Ainsworth,
they only made thirty -five m.inutes of latitude. Again, we were
seven hours from a point in the road, north of Madinki, and east
of Kumri Kala, to Ashitha, and yet his map would show that

we spent all that time in travelling three or four miles. At

Julamerk we were told that a man could go over the mountains
to Van in three days, and to Mosul, via Jezira, in five ; though
any one, from Ainsworth's map, would rather think of going tc>

Jezira via Mosul, so inaccurately are the places laid down.

From Ashitha Dr. Grant learned it was three and a-half days'
walk to Shakh, a large village in the country of the Hertush
Kiirds (he afterwards travelled it in three), and thence two and
a-half to Van, and three to Julamerk.
At the bottom of the steepest ascent the party were met by a
priest with a burning censer, v/hich he swung before the Patri-
arch till they reached the village. As they approached, the
crowd that came to salute him continually increased, till their

progress became so impeded they were glad to turn into one of

the first houses they reached ; and there Dr. Grant remained for

nearly a week. Its situation was romantic. A stream from the

snow in plain sight in the ravine above turned a small mill,
the mill-stone, as usual, revolving on the same shaft to which
the water-wheel was attached, below. Released from service
there, it dashed rapidly by the door, near a bower erected under
the shade of a walnut-tree, for the accommodation of their guests.
Here the doctor spent his time in quiet, a mile distant from the
centre of the village, thatnow presented the appearance of a
camp. Four hundred Kurds had assembled there. The head
men of T3^ary had met in council, and many of them favored the
proposal of the emir. Mar Shimon, however, firm to his pur-
pose, managed to induce those opposed to his views to append

such conditions to their cooperation as the Kurds would not

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 259

accept, and tl'iis all continued neutral, except a few, who went
on their own responsibility. All this while, the Patriarch and
Malek secretly corresponded with the pasha ; and had they then
induced their people to side with him, would have secured the
most favorable terms. But, failing in this, they lost the favor of
both parties. Of the pasha, because afterwards their help was
much needed, as their subjugation was for his interest.
not so
And the emir, now exceedingly jealous of Turkish influence,
hated Mar Shimon more than ever, for his correspondence with
the pasha.
After the danger was over, the latter, instead of thanking,
them for their neutrality, censured the few enlistments from
Tyary, and the more general one from Tehoma, as a breach of
faith. But to return to Ashitha. The Nestorians on v/hom the
Kurds were quartered, finding they still remained after the decis-
ion, wished to drive them away by force, and some even sounded
the war-cry ; so that, for a v>^hile, all was confusion, till Mar
Shimon interfered, and quiet was restored. In the confusion,
however, four or five mules of Ismael Pasha were secured, by the
orders of the Patriarch and Malek, and never restored till, with
all else, they were lost in the invasion.
Up to the time of the departure of Ismael Pasha, Dr. Grant
had not gone near the assembled chiefs. But Suleiman Bey
and Tatar Khan, a Ilertush chief, remained some days longer,
and, at their repeated solicitation, he paid them a visit. The
former received him a -
an old friend. To the other this was his
first introduction, and 3 Avas glad of the opportunity of forming
the acquaintance of his nearest, and therefore most dreaded
Kurdish neighbor. His castle is distant only one day's journey,

on the banks of the Ilabor. He hinsself was exceedingly rough,

even for a Kurd, short, thick-set, with a large neck, and a face
anything but prepossessing. His manners corresponded with his
looks. He wanted to be bled, but, as usual, must first see the
operation performed on another. Ancl when, for the firfct time
260 DR. G KAN T A N D T II E

in hi& life, le saw it done, with a significant shrug, he cried,

" Kanj neena, kanj neena !
" (not good, not good). The
merciless robber, who had shed the life-blood of many a man,
shrunk like a coward from losing a droj) of his own.
The character of his tribe is in keeping with his own. They
are a terror to the weaker clans about them ; and woe betide the
traveller who falls into their hands ! But for his relation to the

emir, Dr. Grant had not passed through their territory so easily
in 1840. And, therefore, though the chief invited him to visit

them now, as there was no missionar}^ work to be done there, and

it would have been quite in character for them to rob him on
his way back from enjoying their hospitality, he wisely declined.
On the 22d of August, he removed to the room usually occu-
pied by the Patriarch, near the church ; and, though political
discussion crowded out all other topics, he labored faithfully to
impress them with a sense of dependence on God, and the need
of turning to Him in order to escape impending judgments. In
the room there was as much freedom of speech among the people
as any republican could desire. Though each, on entering,
kissed the hand of the Patriarch, on bended knee, he often found
it difficult to maintain his authority, or even command respect-
ful treatment; and yet his power of anathema, outlawing the
offender from society, and depriving him of Christian burial,
keeps all in perfect submission. Many, however, deny his right
to use this jDower, except for ecclesiastical offences.
It is remarkable, that while small villages have often two
churches, and Minianish no less than four, this, the largest of
all, has onl7 one. That one, however, has no less than thirteen
priests anf" thirty deacons ; and formerly the number was much
larger. Vrith the sanction of Mar Shimon, Dr. Grant opened
a school with thirty pupils, and one of the priests taught it

up to the time of the invasion.

The size and salubrity of this village had first led him to

select it for the mission station ; and, on mature reflection, he

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. Zb 1

now resoh^eJ to comply with the Patriarch's advice, and make it

such, at least for the summer. It is easy of access from

Mosul, but fuel has to be brought a day's journey on the backs
of men or mules. Mar Shimon was desirous that Dr. Grant

should begin at once, while he was on the ground to aid him,

and offered to make each house furnish one of their tallest

poplar-trees gratis, for the roofs. But he at once objected to all

compulsory measures, and preferred deferring the whole matter

till he had got the written consent of the emir ; not that he had
a right to interfere, but, as a matter of policy, to avoid all cause
of complaint. Moreover, he had promised to do nothing till he
had seen him again. Tliesc things show how entirely erroneous

is Mr. Badger's assertion, that "Dr. Grant informed him, before

his death, that, on asking leave of Mar Shimon to commence the
undertaking, the Patriarch referred him to the emir, pleading,
at the same time, that he had not the power of granting his

request." ^ The emir was then in Chull, a small Kilrdish dis-

trict, south-east of Tyary, and thither Dr. Grant resolved to go
and see him.

On Friday, August 26, he took leave of the Patriarch, and.

with the bishop and Baho, followed down the Izany toward the
Zab. This stream rises in two large springs, on either side the
valley ; and each turns several mills before they unite below the
village. With the exception of another in Jelu, Dr. Grant says
he never saw fountains so large. The upper of these springs

issues from under the base of the mountain, on the southern side
of the valley, nearly opposite the site of the mission-house, and
discharges a volume of watisr suiScient to supply the Croton
aqueducts at New York twice over. Two hours brought them
to Zawitha,in a hollow on the south-west side of the valley ; and
one hour further to Minyanish, with its four churches, one of
which, at a little distance from the rest, Mr. Ainsworth calls the

* Nestoridiis and their Rituals, i. 185.

262 n II . G ii A X T A X D 'i' II i:

village of Umra (cliurcli), as though the word were a proper

name. Lezan, the next village, i.s ^o low and warm, that two
crops in the year, of either barley, rice or millet, are very com-
mon. With Kasha liiiel, of Miuyanish, he found a copy of the
history of the Nicene Council, by Theodorus of Mopsuestia, now
in the mission library, at Beirut. The other works of that
wi.'ter he looked for in vain. This priest, next to Kasha Aura-
ham the most learned in Tyary, was, by the efforts of Dr.
Grant, so far reformed from intemperance as to be intrusted
with the care of the school established in his village, till the war

came, and cut off both teacher and pupils. At Lezan he spent
the night with Kasha Kena, who accompanied him to Ashitha
on his first visit, and ever after proved an efficient helper, teach-

ing and preaching with more than common fidelity.

Next morning, in company with his host, he kept down the

west bank of the Zab, over the mountain, toward the camp of
the emir ;
passing the village of Zarne, with its forts strongly

built with stone and lime. Turning thence to the Zab, he came
to another fort, near the point where the Bey of Ravandooz was
driven back, in 1834. Thence he turned up the river, to a ford,

where he crossed with difficulty, though the water was then

shallow ; and, scrambling up the opposite mountain, reached the
camp of the emir after dark. Part of the way was so difficult

that his mules sometimes slid ten or twelve yards at a time on

the smooth face of the rock, and once or twice were in danger
of sliding into the river. He was assigned a hut just vacated by
Ismael Pasha, who had gone to Amadia. As the emir was ill with
the ague, he was not an unwelcome guest; though his patient was
more than usually cautious in taking medicine, as if he feared the
doctor was in league with the Patriarch to take him off by poison.
Even on ordinary occasions, both here and with the Patriarch,
in serving coffee, the attendant first pours a little into tlie chiefs

cup, and then out of that into all the rest, a<id drinks it hlm.^elf,

jjefore he pours for any one else.

 M I NT A I N NE S T R I AN S . 2Q'6

On the Sabbath, besides many calls from Kurds and Jews, he

assembled the Nestorians, for religious instruction, under a large
walnut-tree, the bishop assisting him as usual. Next day, the

men of Tehoma returned, half famished, from the war. For sev-

eral days, so poor was the emir's commissariat, they had subsisted
entirely on fruits and roots. The Kurds soon followed, and
thus the whole expedition failed. The doctor, meantime, had
secured the written permission of the emir to proceed with his
building, and was all ready to return. The camp was in a most
healthy location, near the summit of the mountain, with the
best of water boiling up from a spring in its centre. Yet, on
account of the famine, he was glad to get away, especially as
the emir was so chagrined at his failure he could think of noth-
ing else. First, he accused the leaders of cowardice ; then laid
all the blame on the chief of ChuU, who was fined and deposed.
Forty days afterwards he went to Tyary and, though the year
;

before he had been active in burning the Patriarch's house,

leagued himself with Mar Shimon against the emir. He was
very friendly to Dr. Grant, and invited him to his castle.

On his way to the Zab, Dr. Grant passed two considerabxe

villages, and the descent occupied an hour and a half. In the
first village of Tyary he was mistaken for a Kiird, but, on being

recognized, was treated with much kindness. The village priest,

like many others of his profession, was absent with the army.
They plead the necessity of giving the slain a Christian burial,
but carry guns, and use them also, like the rest. They often

wear the large dagger in their girdle, even at church ; and this

one Dr. Grant had seen before, not only with sword and dag-
ger, but with a shaven chin, like the laity, much more ol an
offence against clerical manners in these regions, where a man
is not counted a religious teacher without a beard. Neither Dr.
Grant, nor any of his associates in Mosul, ever touched a razor
while there, on the principle of a harmless conformity to the
prejudices of the people.
22
2(34 BR. GRANT AND THE

The Pat/iarcli sometimes leads liis army in person, as he did,

the season before, against Berwer and Amadia.

At Lezan they had to drive their mules into the river, and
cross the narrow, crazy bridge themselves in their stockings, and
almost on all-fours. Mr. Ainsworth was quite excusable in mis-
taking the structure for a bridge of ropes, the long, bending

poplar trees looking very like cables to one standing at a dis-

tance. Col. Chesney, who follows Ainsworth, and ignores the

book of Dr. Grant, makes this mistake the basis of a general
assertion that " the intercourse from side to side of tlie Zab is by
'^
means of rope bridges."
Finding he could not build a house in Ashitlui before winter.
Dr. Grant hired one in Lezan, and spent some days in fitting it
up, and providing forage and fuel, wood he bought by the
back-load, and straw by the basket-full.
On his way to spend the Sab'oath at Zaw^itha he w^as saluted
by a discharge of guns, nearly two thousand feet above him. He
replied by raising his umbrella, which called forth a shout of
welcome. He employed the day as usual, and was strongly
urged by the villagers to locate the station there ; but it was not
a suitable place, and he returned next day to Ashitha.
One of several ridges that there sweep down from the moun-
tain, on the northern side of the valley, continues on, with a
gentle slope, till its rounded extremity overhangs the Izany, not
far from the fountain in which it rises.

On this ridge, just below the village foot-path that leads to the

upper end of the valley, and overlooked by the terraces above,

is one of the most beautiful locations the place affords. It is

not far from the centre of the cluster of hamlets that form the
village, though few of the houses are in sight, as most are con-
cealed by irregular eminences on either side. The roar of the
torrent is audible all day long, and through the night its deep
bass, reechoed from the mountain beyond, is as loud as it is

Expedition to Euuln-ate.s, kc, i. 122.

 M U N TA I N N E S T K I AN S . 265

solemn and unceasing. The situation is salubrious, and com-

mands, perhaps, the most pleasant prospect in that Alpine val-
ley, hemmed in, as it is, on all sides, by overhanging mountains.
The beauty of the location had induced some village notable

of former days to erect his castle there, a structure, probably,

quite as much of a mansion as a fort. But the building, what-
ever it was, has long since disappeared. A stranger would not
have suspected that the few shapeless stones that marked the
site were anything diiferent from similar stones covering the
surface in all directions. Perhaps some unneighborly attack
convinced the ancient lord of the manor that his position was not
so defensible as it was beautiful, and constrained him to leave it

for a safer location. But he had lived there long enough to

give to the place the name of " the Castle," in the traditions of
the village. Yet, in a region where every hamlet has its strong-
hold, and most villages have several, it never entered the mind
of Dr. Grrant that the name could be an occasion of alarm. In-
deed, it would be difficult, in a country so ancient, to find any
eligible location that had not been occupied in former years.
Dr. Grant, therefore, showed much good taste in selecting this
site for the mission-house. Economy, also, was another motive,
as we shall see by comparing the price of this with the sum paid
for a much smaller lot innnediately adjoining; for, while the
latter was under cultivation, the grounds of the old castle were
so hopelessly unproductive that they were left untilled, in a
region where every available foot of land is cultivated with the
greatest care. The title-deed for this, bearing the seals of Mar
Shimon and Priest Abraham, may be rendered as follows from
the Syriac :

''
From the Patriarchal mansion receive ye prayer and bless-

ing :

" Know ye who meet with this which we have written, that, in

the year 2153 of the Greeks (era of the Seleucidap); Hekim

266 DR. GRANT AND THE

Grant, the Englishman, from the country of America, came to

the village of Ashitha, in Tj^ary, and bought the castle which
is in the middle of Ashitha from Deacon Shlimon, of the house
of liaban, and from Newiya, of the house of Dadeh, for the
sum of thirty piastres [probably the same as the cherky, about
ien cents] ; also, he bought from Daniel, and the son of his
}>rother, for the sum of thirty piastres ; moreover, he bought from
Yogannis, of the house of Bajeh, the piece of land which lies at

the west of the castle, for thesum of twenty piastres in the ;

presence of Kasha Auraham, and Kasha Zeiya, and Kasha Mat-

tai, and Kasha Gyiiergis, and Kasha Ishak, and in the presence

of all the priests, deacons and believers, of the whole of Ashitha.

The lot of the munition of the castle is confirvied to Hekini
Grant, and to his associates the English of America, in the
presence of Mar Yoosuf, Bishop of Adurbaijan, that is,

Aurniy (pronounced Urmy).

" Moreover, the doctor and his associates, the English, shall

dwell in Ashitha even until the resurrection, with the permission

of the Emir, and the Mudebbir, and Mar Shimon Katolika,
Patriarch of the East.
" Written by the hands of the unworthy Archdeacon Aui-aham,
on Friday, of the sixth month of summer, in the year 2153 of
the Greeks, in the upper room of the kalleita, of the church of
Mar Gyuergis, in Ashitha. Amen."

That the Nestorians, even a year afterwards, thought no more

of the old castle than Dr. Grant did, appears from the deed of
an adjoining terrace, bought at that time for a garden, in which
the building of Dr. Grant is called a house. The instrument,
written on the same sheet with the other, is as follows :

" Know ye, &c., that, in the year 2154 of the Greeks, Hekim
Grant, with his English associates, bought a small field in front
of his house^ and joining it on the east, from Sepher, son of Aziz,
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 267

for the sum of fifty piastres, in the presence of IMar Shimon,

Patriarcha, and Mar Aurmj, and Kasha
Yoosuf, Episkopa, of
Auraham, and Kasha Mattai, and Kasha Denha, of Jeramon,
and Sephoris, and Abdeeshua, and Auraham, and Yoosuf, and
all the sons of the village of Ashitha, Moreover, no man shall
have power over Hekim Grant and his associates to take from
them this field for ever and ever. Amen. The length of the
field is eighty-two dhraa [cubits], and its breadth eight dhraa."

The opening sentence of the first deed, as it stands in the

original, and the seal of Mar Shimon, are here subjoined.

When these arrangements were completed, as

Amadia had now submitted, and the whole coun-
try was so quiet, he sent Baho to bring in Mr.
Hinsdale as far as Amadia, whence he proposed
to escort him into Ashitha ; but the messenger
had seen so much of hard fiire in the mountains
he could not be persuaded to return.
22^
 CHAPTER XIV.
VISIT OF MB, 3INSDALE TO THE MOUNTAINS
CONFERENCE OF PAPISTS
WITH MAR i alMON RETURN OF MAR YOOSUF TO OROOMIAH A'ISIT OF

ETR. GRANT TO JULAMERK A SUNLESS WINTER INTERTIEAV WITH THE

EMIR KURDISH LADIES BANDITTI THEIR WATS AND MEANS RE-
TURN TO MOSUL DEATH OF MR. HINSDALE -r- PLAN TO ASSASSINATE
DR. GRANT HIGH-CHURCH OPPONENT HIS OWN STATE31ENTS HOW
REGARDED BY OTHER EPISCOPALIANS HIS POLITICAL INFLUENCE.

On the last day of September Mr. Hinsdale started for Ash-

itha, and, passing through Amadia, arrived there in safety, Oct.
7th. Dr. Grant met him about fifteen miles from the village.

The joy of that meeting I will not attempt to describe. For the
first time in four years the one enjoyed the society of a Chris-
tian friend, in this scene of hardship and danger. The other at
length beheld the long-desired field of future toil, and hope
whispered of many happy years of " fellowship in the sufi'erings

of Christ." Mr. Hinsdale was very favorably impressed with

the appearance of the place and the prospects of the mission ;

and all, from the Patriarch to the common people, received him
with the utmost cordiality. " For this," says he, " I was in-

debted, under God, to the very favorable impression made by

Dr. Grant, who seems to possess the unbounded confidence of all
classes. Several told him that they had received him as one of
themselves ; now that I had come, they should receive me
and,

as himself" The good missionary expressed the wish "to live

and die amonj iiem," and the response was, " that is what we
also desire." Writing home u fortnight after his arrival,

he says, " I have carefully examined whether Dr. Grant might

 DR . G II A >f T AND T HE NE S T R I AN S . 269

not have given too nnicli prominence to this fieUl, or represented

it in too encouraging a light. But I am constrained to say that,
if he has erred at all, it has been in not pressing its claims with
sufficient earnestness." They spent the month of October in

mutual prayers and labors, till the papal Bishop of Elkosh and a
priest from Rome, who had tried, but in vain, to precede Dr.
Grant, by entering from the Turkish frontier, arrived at Ashi-
tha on the 27th. They brought a present to Mar Shimon, and
wished to remain till a larger one should arrive, then, as they
said, at Diarbckr, on its way. He had an interview with them,
in the presence of a large assembly; Mar Yoosuf, who had come
with Dr. Grant from Oroomiah, being present with the rest.

The arguments of the papists were met with mucli force and
scriptural simplicity. Mar Shimon claimed equality with the
Pope. One of the priests said, that if mere succession to the

chair of Peter gave power to the Pope, then the Sultan, who sat

in the seat of Constantine, was entitled to the spiritual preroga-

tives exercised by the latter over the churches in the East. The
Patriarch openly commended Dr. Grant and his associates, as
the best Christians in the world ; because, unlike the papists,
who follow the word of the Pope, they took the word of God as
their only standard of faith and practice.
The baffled papists had their presents returned, and were for-

bidden to visit any other part of the mountains. For a time

they delayed, under various pretexts ; but, though they spared
no pains in assailing both the character of the missionaries and
their objects, they were compelled to return, chagrined and dis-
appointed. The people, meanwhile, showed a deep interest in

the arrangements of Dr. Grant ; though, as he says, the interest

was not unmingled with marked and even violent selfishness.

Men of all ranks quarrelled with each other for employment in

the severest drudgery. If he hired those who brought timber
gratis, all were read}'^ to carry heavy beams for nothing one day,
for the sake of ten cents daily wages the rest of the week ; and
270 DR. GRANT AND THE

at one time so serious was the uproar, he had to disiniss the

whole, retire to Lezaii, and refuse to come back again till they

were quiet. Mar Shimon then divided the village into sections,
which were to furnish laborers in rotation. But this did not

succeed in preserving order. Dr. Grant then took one from

each house in a section ; but even then he had to let them know
that he must be allowed to Inbor in quiet, or he would ceat^c
altogether. Few men, beside Dr. Grant, would have dared to
take such a stand, or, having taken, been able to maintain it.

But he succeeded to his entire satisfaction, though all he says

about it is that " It was encouraging to witness how ready an

untamed and lawless people were to submit. Though they knew
we did not fear them, yet the protection of our persons and
property must be ascribed, primarily, to the good hand of God,
for fatal assaults on each other are by no means rare."
The bishop had novv^ become heartily tired of the mountains,
and longed for his peaceful home on the plain. Though he had
been fearless and tolerably patient, he had formed no attach-
ment to the people. Nor is this surprising, since, for the first

time in a life of fifty years, he had been taken severely ill, far

from home and friends. Yet, in communicating religious instruc-

tion he was faithful to the end ; and it was not without regret
Dr. Grant suffered him to depart, just in time to reach Oroomiah
before the roads were blocked up by the snow. His servant fled
from hardships he could no longer endure. The hardy bishop
followed in his footsteps. Yet the missionary, feeble in body
bat strong in spirit, remained at his post. In a letter sent by
the bishop to Mr. Stocking he says, " We find an open door and
a hearirg ear, but hard hearts, and a difiit3ult though interesting
licld.'" In a previous one he had said, " There is no predicting
the future here, and I know no better course than to go on with
our work, without regarding the wind or the clouds; and tlvin,

when a storm does arise, take shelter in the Lord, or wherever

He directs."
 ;

MOUNTAIN NKSTOllIANS. 271

The Patriarch now returned to Churaba, and the departure of

his much-loved associate to Mosul, just as Dr. Grant was recov-
ering from an attack of ague, left him more solitary than ever
and winter had already mantled the mountains in white when he
retired to his lonely house at Lezan. But scarcely was he set-

tled there, ere he was summoned to the Patriarch. The emir

had just returned from Badir Khan Bey, and report said had
concerted measures with him for the complete subjugation of the
Nestorians. The men of Jelu had seized mules from the Kiinl.^,

to make good their loss. Mar Shimon had retaliated some other
injury in a similar manner, and a report was spreading among the
Kurds that Dr. Grant was building a castle to defend the Nes-
torians. On every side the lowering clouds portended a storm.
The doctor set out for Chumba, and on the way met a mes-
sage from the emir, requiring his immediate professional
attendance. The letter was short, but friendly ;
yet, the pro-

verbial treachery of his race, and his own increasing hostility to

Mar Shimon, led the latter, with the Malek, strenuously to op-
pose his going. But " Are they disinterested ? Are they not
still looking for political help, if not from me, yet in connection
with me ? " were the questions that arose in the mind of Dr.
Grant. Still he felt there was real danger. Reports might
have misrepresented him, and roused the jealousy of the chief.

On the other hand, to refuse would incur certain enmity, and he

feared for the effect on the prospects of the mission. This last
decided him. It was now Saturday ; and, after spending the
Sabbath in seeking wisdom from above, he preferred personal
exposure rather than endanger the future prosperity of the
mission. So, after trying to argue the case with Mar Shimon,
and Avriting letters to Mosul on Monday, he set out for Jula-
merk on Tuesday, Nov. 29th, amid mingled blessing and forebod-
ing. His road was the same as in 1839 ; it is so bad that the
people here carry their loads bn their own backs rather than on
mules one man taking about a hundred and fifty pound?.
272 D 11 . GKANT AND T II E

Our boxes of books from Oroomiah had to be carried two or

three days' journey in the same manner.
A Jacobite from Mosul was with him, instead of Baho ; and
hired mules supplied the place of his own, that had returned
with Mr. Hinsdale. No degree of familiarity could divest the
scenery of its grandeur. The stupendous cliffs excited new
wonder, and the roar of the rushing river was by turns stunning
and inspiriting, as before. At the mouth of the Berzawa (Ber-
dizawi of Ainsworth) the mountains were particularly grand.
Towering up thousands of feet, they seemed like giant castles,
now crowned with purest white, now mantled in the sunlit clouds.

The place is thus described by his associate in 1844: "All

around the walls of rock inclined at irregular angles ; but directly
opposite an isolated precipice towered up to a giddy height.
Its form was rounded. Horizontal strata, piled up tier above
tier, gradually lessened in size as they rose, till the eye grew
weary in following them. It was one of nature's wonders, mock-
ing the puny works of man. But, to appreciate it, you must
stand on that low wall, amid the dashing spray, in a gorge so
deep that the sun scarce reaches it at noonday ; and, the view
shut in on every side, you must see for yourself this castle of the
mountains towering up before you in all its Titan regularity and
grandeur."
Deep in the rocky glen of the Berzawa stood human dwellings
that never see the sun during their long and dreary winter. It
was curious to trace the limit of sunshine distinctly marked
on the mountain above them, by the line that divided the bare
earth from the snow below. All above it basked in the warm
rays of a noon-day sun ; all below was frozen hard, and so con-
tinues till spring revisits the wintry abode. And yet, even with
such deep, narrow chasms, they can hardly be called valleys,
Dr. Grant never met with a case of goitre, or similar diseases,
so prevalent among the Alps.
He stopped for the night at the small village of Derawa 'd
 MOUNTAIN NE3T0RIANS. 273

Walto, where an old friend assigned him a room, Avith hardly

space to spread his rug, amid goat-skins filled with winter stores.
He was making the best of his narrow quarters, when the head
man of the village transferred him to a spacious upper room,
whose open sides were partially closed with wicker-work and
straw. A blazing fire in the middle of the floor was quite wel-
come, and a good supper still more so ; for there is nothing like

the air of these mountains and the exercise of their roads to dis-

pose a man to eat whatever is set before him, even though its

quality be none of the best.

He had heard that the Nestorians and Kurds were collecting
for a skirmish on the road before him ; but, as the only alterna-
tive was to pass through the country of the Sillee Kurds, who
might not be very friendly, if the emir was hostile, he kept
on his way, and next day, as the bridge was gone, crossed
the Zab on some frail poles, resting on rocks about twenty feet
above the water. After he had prescribed for the most needy
of a crowd of patients, in the Kurdish village of Dizza, hia
attendants led him out of the usual road, along a solitary foot-
path, to the very summit of the mountain. This was a device
of theirs to avoid any ambush that might have been laid for
him, and was carefully concealed, even from himself, till it was
too late to turn back. The ascent was slow and toilsome ; but,
once on the top, the grand view of snowy mountains on every
side amply repaid him. He kept along just under the rocky
crest of the range, higher or lower, as he could best obtain a
footing ; and, at the extremity, found himself in sight of the
castle of Julamerk, and another, then in ruins, on one of the.

peaks of the same mountain on which he stood. It is appro-

priately termed Kala El Hawa (castle of the winds) ; and, like
many others in similar situations, has been deserted for anothei
more accessible. Whether because the fiery spirit of their
fathers burns less fiercely in the hearts of the present generation,
or because their modes of warfare have changed, does not appear
274 DR. GRANT AND THE

He entered the castle of Julainerk just at dusk, and was led

through iron-bound doors, and long, winding passages, to a

vaulted room, assigned him by the chief. Exhausted and faint, he

threw himself ujDon a rug in one corner, querying whether it were
not his prison. He thought of the dissuasions of the Patriarch.
" Why was I brought to this remote part of the castle, this

strange apartment I had never seen before ? " But then it was
neat and comfortable. Lights were soon brought ; and, ere long,

the hearty welcome of many a familiar voice proclaimed " All 's

well !
" In an hour he was summoned to the presence of the
chief. He found him in a spacious apartment of the harem,
spread with rich Persian carpets, and ornamented with a pro-
fusion of arms and porcelain intermingled. The emir sat on a

yellow satin- divan, bolstered up with pillows of the same mate-

rial. Ten or twelve of his chief officers, an uncle, and his
cousin, Suleiman Bey, sat on the opposite side of the room. He
never seemed more glad to see the doctor, and expressed much

gratitude for the trouble he had taken to come and see him. He
said he had been quite sick ; but, Al humdoo lillah (thanks to
God), he hoped he was better, at the same time holding out his
hand for the doctor to feel his pulse. That done, conversation
took a wider range.
Emir. Well, what have you been doing since we parted?
Doctor. A part of the time have been I building, with the

emir's permission.
Emir. But I hear you are building a castle, how is that ?

How many rooms have you ?

Doctor. Four, built of loose stone laid up in mud, no higher

than a man can reach. A fine castle, truly, that a man can
pull down with his hands ! And what is to defend it ? Did you
ever see me armed ?
Emir. (Turning to his council.) There, did I not tell you
he was a true man ?
The doctor learned, next morning, that when the report came
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 275

the emir said, " I do not believe it ; but I will send for him.
If he comes, he is an honest man ; if not, it may be true, and
we must look into the matter." Then, turning to the doctor :

" Well, I did not believe the story. But what are those large
holes in the sides of your house ? (The Nestorians have no win-
dows in their dwellings.) They say they are dikkans (stalls or
slops). Are you building a bazaar?" He laughed heartily
as the doctor drew a picture of a structure at once a fort without

a gun, and a bazaar without anything for sale, and then re-

sumed :
" But why go away there ? Conje here, and I will

build you a better house. You want to instruct the Christians.

Very well here are Christians, and more will come if you do."
;

The doctor reminded him that his associates must be in the

midst of the people. But the emir evidently wished him to be
within reach, and that any benefit arising from his residence in
the mountains might accrue to Julamerk. Supper was now
brought in, and never was their fine pilav more inviting. Cofi'ee

followed, and the doctor had the honor of the company of the
ladies for the rest of the evening. This he never had in Persia
or Turkey ; though he had once been privileged, as Hekim, to eat
with a Persian princess and her husband, who was uncle to the
Shah. But that was in the seclusion of the harem, and this in a

promiscuous circle. Kurdish women enjoy much of the respect

accorded to their sex by the ancient Persians, especially moth-
ers, who are honored according to the number of their children.

In this case, the younger wife, though evidently a favorite, stood

at a respectful distance, while the mother of the young chief

had her place by his side. He too was there, and inquired
after his little playmate Hemy Martyn. Altogether, to the

doctor it seemed much like home. Yet he could not but think
how it would seem, when the emir isabsent for months, at Bash
Kala, with the mother of his eldest son and prospective suc-
cessor ; or to her then two years absent from her husband, if the
names husband, wife and home, may be thus desecrated.

23
276 DR. GRANT AND THE

The ladies were adorned with a profusion *.f ornaments, of

massive silver, from the top of the kiirs ^ to the tinkling orna-

ments on their feet. Their wrists were so loaded with bracelets

the doctor found it difficult to feel their pulse. Their silk

tunics were quilted so thick they might have stood alone. Tiiey

wore no veils ; and nothing but a little artificial coloring con-

cealed their faces from the circle he met there day after day.
The chief was ever devising some new amusement. At one
time the doctor must read English, and, at another, teach him to
do the same. His green-turbaned moollah, too, wanted him to

show them how we prayed, and the doctor gave him a specimen

of our preaching instead ; explaining the spiritual nature of

prayer, and the solemn manner in which it became us to draw

near to God ; and asking how he, a religious teacher, could so

make light of sacred things. All listened with attention ; and

the chief approved, and added to this rebuke of his own clerical

companion. Thus was Dr. Grant ever on the watch to do good,

and so wisely could he speak a word in season.

During his stay the emir pronounced sentence of death on
one of the highest local governors. He was then a prisoner in
a distant castle, and thither half a score of his reckless robbers
were immediately despatched. The doctor met them returning
from the bloody deed, and could not but shudder at the educa-
tion of these young men. They boasted to him of the number
of murders and robberies they had committed. One of them
had just plundered a caravan, between Mosul and Amadia.
They go out in parties, and learn the intended movements of
travellers, and then waylay them. The villagers dare not warn
their intended victims, lest they suffer in their stead ; and hence
the frequent choice of an unfrequented route, or a movement so

rapid as to anticipate theirs.

Ismael Pasha, at this time, was in the castle, arranging to

* A round disc of silver, sometimes of gold, worn on the top of tlie

head. See Lane's Modern Egyptians, i. 359.

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 277

annoy the Pasha of Mosul through the banditti of Zeiner

Bey, an ex -chief of Berwer, who ravaged the borders of the
pashalic, for many months, with impunity.
Dr. Grant now heard no more of the alliance with Persia.
Overtures from the Turks, through the Pasha of Van, and the
original plan of subduing the Nestorians, were again on the tapis.
He ventured to speak of peace ; but the emir would hear of
nothing but unconditional submission. So he disclaimed all

interference. The chief evidently expected help, or he would

have assumed a milder tone. It was said he had already ma-
tured his arrangements with Badir Khan Bey, and he was now
in correspondence with the Pasha of Erzrum.
Dr. Grant made a hurried visit to the Patriarch's family in
Diss, and saw the ruins of the house where first he met him.
Now, how changed ! The family he found in a neighboring
vilhige, living in comparative poverty. The chief had then just
inflicted some injuries, which they repaid next spring, with
interest. This was more bold than prudent, when their very
existence was in danger. He arrived in the evening, and
returned to Julamerk next morning, when his ague returned
with such violence that he was bewildered, and almost senseless.
Medicine, aided by the motherly care of his old friend, soon
relieved him. She again warned him against the wiles of the
emir, saying, often, " Kermanj baebucht " (Kurds are treacher-
ous, or graceless).

On the 7th of December he left the castle, with a guide from

the emir, and spent the night among the Sillee Kurds, one of
the smallest of the fifteen clans of the Hakkary tribe. Next
morning he rose early, and ate a late breakflist with his Nesto-
rian friends at the Zab. As the poles had broken, or been car-
ried away, he had to ford the river below ; but, once across, he
felt a relief at being again among friends, and away from the
treacherous Kurds. He was now, in his turn, the protector of
a messenger from the emir, on his way to Mosul ; and he was
278 DR. GRANT AND THE

also glad to be able to secure the release of the Kurdish mules

the day of his arrival at Chumba, which he reached on the
morning of the 9th, much to the joy of the Patriarch and
friends. The night after he spent with Hciyo, who was now
much attached to him.

On the 11th he returned to A^hitha, worn down by illness

and fatigue. Providentially the snow was later than usual, or

his way would have been cut off. He now only waited the
arrival of his messenger from Mosul, to return and carry on his
work in quiet at Lezan.
He had already w^ritten to Mr. L., Nov. 8 :
" I would fain
come at once to meet you, did not other duties detain me here.
Meantime, I send a living epistle in the person of our brother,
who will tell you all that concerns our prospects, and how de-
sirous I am to see you here, if possible, before winter. I will
not dwell on my lonely situation as a plea for your society,
though I have learned that, in these mountains especially, '
it is

not good for man to be alone.' There are other considerations.

I hope that, however trying this may be to Mrs. L.,
on her first arrival in this strange land, she will cheerfully fore-
go all personal considerations, for the cause of her Redeemer.
I need not say how cordially I would welcome her at our moun-
tain-cottage did not the lateness of the season, and our want of
accommodation for ladies, constrain me to forego that pleasure

till spring. Please present to her, and accept for yourself, the
warmest assurances of the hearty welcome I now tender to you
both in anticipation."
How this plan was frustrated will appear from the following
letter to Mr. Stocking :
" Mr. and Mrs. L. reached Mosul on

the 12th of Xovember, (ne day before the return of Mr. Hins-
dale, who had refreshed me by a delightful visit of a month.
He writes me, they '
are both suffering much from illness. Mr.
L. has had a severe chill every day since his arrival, and the
fever following it has lasted for several hours. Mrs. L., too,
 MOUNTAIN NESTOR lANS. 279

since last night, has been in much distress, though for the
last
two hours she has been more quiet, and has now fallen asleep.
Mr. Badger is here, and has commenced operations by assailing
us. I have not yet seen him. He has brought letters from the
Jacobite Patriarch to have the schools suspended, and that the
people here take no books, either from us or from him. I have
been told, confidentially, by the three leading deacons, that they
have received a private from their bishop, telling them two
letter

sects were coming Mosul, and charging them to beware, most

to

of all, of Mr. Badger. They said, also, that the Patriarch's

object was to prevent the appearance of favoring either party
till the bishop should come and manage his own affairs. We
have as warm friends here as ever, and the leading men are
evidently much prejudiced against Mr. Badger, by the course he
has taken against "
us.'

But this was not the worst. Another messenger brought word
December 13 that Mr. Hinsdale was dangerously sick.
Constant and unwearied attendance on his sick companions,
while yet sufi'ering from a cold contracted in the mountains, had
induced fever of a complicated and alarming type. His disease
had already run two weeks. making what arrangements he
So,
could for the schools, next morning found Dr. Grant on his way
to Mosul. His route through Dawudia led him through the
most populous part of Berwer, and he spent the night at the
Nestorian village of Miisekin. The chief of that part of the
district was there, and treated him with much kindness a fact ;
the more worthy of notice, as the Pasha of Mosul had reported
at Constantinople a letter from this chief, complaining of his
operations in Ashitha. The letter was afterwards ascertained
to have been written, in the name of the chief, at the dicta-
tion of the pasha himself. Next morning he crossed Tura
Matineh, and breakfasted at Dawudia, with the Turkish com-
mander of the garrison. That evening he spent at Baadry, and
next morning struck across to Elkosh, famous for the tomb of
23*
 ;

OR- A ^ ^ '^^^^
280 f' 1^ i^' '^ ^"

the prophet Nahum, and the convent of Rabban Hormuz. The

latter was then just as it had been left by Ismael Pasha, who
destroyed the library, and carried off the monks prisoners to
Amadia, where several were killed by torture before they were

ransomed. The torture was inflicted to make them reveal a

treasur3, said to be hidden in the convent. The village was
sacked at the same time ; and the whole charged to the influence

of a young Chaldean, in the employ of Ismael Pasha, who was a

near relative of Mar Elias. On the ground of this charge, the
whole family were imprisoned at Mosul, and made to work with
the convicts in the powder-mill, till, in the utter want of evi-

dence against them, they were at length released.

Dr. Grant was treated kindly at Elkosh as a physician, if not
as a missionary and, hastening on, he reached Mosul early on
;

the morning of the 17th, only three days from Ashitha. But
it was too late to save his lamented associate. His fever had
assumed a typhoid character, and was complicated with organic
disease, which, with the internal hemorrhage that supervened,

closed his valuable life on the morning of the 26th, in the thirty-
fifth year of his age. He had not been two years in the field

and yet, in this short period, he had shown rare qualifications

for his work. After his death some of the leading Jacobites
said to us, " If any of the saints are in heaven, Mr. Hinsdale
is there." His end was peace. Throughout his sickness he

evinced the most entire resignation. Even during his delirium,

when Mrs. H., thinking he wanted some food, asked him, " la
there anything you would like ? " he answered, " I should like to
have the will of my heavenly Father done. 0, yes ! I should

like that !
" It was his ruling passion strong in death. To do
the will of God, and have it done by others, was his great object
here, and still is in that better world whither he is gone. In all

things he evinced a spirit that made us feel he was just the man
we -would have selected for our associate. Dr. Grant was
allowed to be with him only ten days before he died, and deeply
 MOUNTAIN NESTOR lANS. 281

felt his loss. " 0, what a loss !

" writes he to a friend. " How
and when it will be repaired, God only knows. A dear brother
and faithful missionary has gone, and that at the very moment
when his servicts seemed needed the most. I feel sometimes
almost like breaking down under the weight of care and respons-
ibility."

Mr. Hinsdale was buried in the court of the Jacobite church

of Mar Toma; and his bereaved associates were grieved and
astonished to learn, a few days after, from the people themselves,
that Mr. Badger had translated for them what he called portions
of the prayer offered at the grave, representing them as heathen ;

stating, at the same time, that we held them up to the contempt

of Christendom in the pages of the Missionary Herald.
But, though unable to save Mr. Hinsdale from death, Dr.
Grant arrived just in time to save his own life from the assassin.
The pasha had written to the chief of Nirwa to despatch him
privately; but a watchful Providence kept back the letter from
its destination till the intended victim was out of reach. His
sudden arrival, therefore, was as surprising to the pasha as it

was gratifying to his friends. But he received him with as

much external kindness as though nothing had occurred ; and the
doctor was called on to attend him as physician, as before. It
was part of an effort of the pasha to get rid of all European
reporters of his evil deeds, and illustrates what has been already
said of the difficulty the natives found in making known the
oppression they suffered at his hands.
Mutran Athanasius left Mosul for India a few days before
Dr. Grant arrived from the mountains, but not till he had
sharply rebuked Mr. Badger for telling the Jacobites that the
Syriac Bibles of the British and Foreign Bible Society were
deficient, because they did not contain the Apocrypha ; or, as
Mr. Badger himself says, in his book, " expressing regret that

the Apocrypha was not published with thorn." ^

* Nestorians and their Rituals i. 71.

282 DR. G II ANT AN D T HE

It will be difficult to write the biography of Dr. Grant, from

this date, without giving some account of Mr. Badger, who came
toMosul with the avowed purpose of opposing his mission. He
was a young man of much energy and perseverance the son of ;

a pious widow in Malta, where Mr. Temple introduced him into our
printing-office, then on that island. From thence he removed to
Beirut, and labored some time in connection with the press of
that station. But, becoming imbued with the high-church notions,

or, as it might be termed, the ecclesiolatry, so prevalent in

some quarters, he was sent out by the Bishops of London and
Canterbury to testify the good-will of the Church of England to

the Nestorian clergy, and render such assistance to them in the

work of Christian education as they might approve. Besides
this, he was to distribute the Bible and the English Liturgy, and
collect ancient manuscripts, both in Syriac and Arabic, especially
the scriptures, rituals and liturgies.
Mr. Badger might have done all this without pursuing the
course he did. He need not have gone further than certain
bishops in this country, who wrote to the Jacobites, informing

them " that the church in the United States had no ecclesiastical
connection with the followers of Luther and Calvin, and took no
part in their plans or operations to diffuse the principles of their
sects." But this was not enough for his ardent mind. He tells

us in his own book,^ that " the unwarrantable sectarian pro-

ceedings of American missionaries among the Armenians con-
firmed him in the opinion that he ought to hold no intercourse

with them, and decided him not to return the visits which one or
two of them obligingly paid him." One of these was Mr. Tem-

ple, already referred to. " In this act," he adds, " I did vio-

lence to my own natural feelings ; but I had a duty to perform

for the church." He justifies his course t by the charge that,

" notwithstanding the wide difference between us, they (the mis-

I. 9. t I. 6.
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 28.3

sionarles), designedly or otherwise, give it to be understood

that they hold the same faith that we do, and differ only on the
most trivial points ;
" adding, " this opinion has been so deeply
impressed on the great mass of native Christians, a?id has
been so strengthened by the manner in ivhich jnany of our oivn

missionaries have fraternized vjith thcrn, that I have found it i\

most difficult task to persuade them to the contrary." It need

hardly be said that either he or " many of his own 7nissiona-

rles " were mistaken. And if they were right, then as certainly he
Avas wrong. If, out of the " 7nany of his own missionaries," and
" the great mass of the native Christians," he alone rightly dis-

cerned the truth, he might have pardoned those w'ho fell into so

general an error.
He then goes on to say, on the same page, that " the right
which the committee of the American Dissenting Board " I
give the title as I iSnd it
"arrogate to labor among the
Eastern Christians is as ludicrous as it is presumptuous ;
" and

quotes the remark of Dr. Anderson, as an illustration, who says,

speaking of Mr. Ainsworth's visit :
" Some consequences have
resulted from this partial interference that, of course, were not
anticipated, but which show the importance of carefully avoiding
whatever would tend to awaken the thought among the Nesto-
rian ecclesiastics that there are rival Protestant sects and inter-

ests, upon which they may practise for the private gratification

of avaricious desires ;
" and then publishes a letter to the bishops
who sent him, in which he says, * that as the Patriarch had
written, saying that he had opened two schools, and wanted
money, he informed " his Holiness " that, " though he preferred
the priests who taught should be paid by him, yet he was not at
;
liberty to place such large sums at his disposal " and adds,
" I have moreo* 3r requested his Holiness to inform Kasha Mendu
(the messenger) where he has already opened the two schools

* I. 249.
284 DR. GRANT AND THE

mentioned in his letter, and have directed the Kasha to visit

them before he returns, as I have some fear that he may mean

those under the direction of the American missionaries^ at Ash-
itha and Lezan. I may be mistaken, but I have my doubts on
the subject."
On his arrival at Mosul, both he and Mrs. Badger were
attacked with fever, and he " records with gratitude the kind
professional services of Dr. Grant, which he spontaneously
offered them during their sickness." But he does not tell that
he commenced the vrar even before he was able to leave the
house, seeking to undermine his influence, and destroy all that
he had accomplished through years of lonely privation and
constant danger.
Dr. Grant knew his errand, and yet visited and prescribed for
him as he did for his own associates ; and often did he express
his delight in the opportunity to show them kindness.
We have seen Dr. Grant leave the mountains, where he had
designed to spend the winter, and hasten to the bedside of his
dying brother. He intended to return, but various causes con-
spired to detain him till ..April. The snow seldom disappears
from the village of Ashitha till the month of May. But Mr.
Badger hurried off in the middle of February; advanced on
foot when his mules could press no further ; slid down from the
top of the mountain before Ashitha on the surface of the
frozen snow, and had an interview with Mar Shimon in the vil-

lage. Of the character and object of that interview we are not

left to mere conjecture. He himself tells us, ^ " The proceed-
ings of the American dissenters necessarily formed a leading
topic of our discourse. I did not fail to acquaint the Patriarch
how far we are removed from them in doctrine and discipline.

/ showed hiin^ moreover, that it would be injudicious, and by no

fneaTts satisfy us, to have schools among his people by the side of

* Nestorians and their Rituals, i. 248.

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 285

theirs, and p. essed upon him to decide what plan he would pur-
sue under existing circumstances." Lest any should think that his
church sympathized with him in such a course, perhaps it ought
liere to be stated that one of her bishops, whose praise is in all the
churches, has actually proposed sending another of their clergy to
the Patriarch, to undo the mischief he occasioned ; and an Amer-
ican missionary-bishop Ilev. H. Southgate felt so ashamed
of his proceedings, that, in a letter dated Constantinople, Dec.
6, 1843, he writes :
" Mr. Badger assumed a position of
violent hostility towards the American missionaries, and showed
it in all his proceedings. I opposed this with my whole strength;
and to it he owes all the trouble which has befallen him. The
Society under which he acts never instructed him to pursue such
a course."^
His political influence during this visit was not much more
favorable. While he was in Ashitha two messengers came from
the emir, desiring Mar Shimon to appoint a place where they
might meet and confer on their differences. The Patriarch
refused, and the Pvurds, both in Jezira and Julamerk, attributed
the refusal to the advice of Mr. Badger. Dr. Grant wrote
concerning this, just before his last sickness, as follows :
" It

was an unfortunate incident that the Patriarch's brother should

say to the messengers, pointing to Mr. Badger, '
It is just as
these men say, the country is theirs, not ours.' It could
hardly fail to awaken jealousy of foreigners, as I have good
reason to believe it did. Mr. Badger's influence, if he exerted any,
should have been in favor of peace. But so it was not under-
stood to be by the Kurds." One of those very messengers said to
Dr. Smith and Mr. L., at Berchulla, near Julamerk, in 1844 :

"I see you are very different from other Englishmen ; for you
wish to maintain peace with all men. But when I delivered

* SeeJVew York Observer, 1844, p. 27. See, also, on this topic, Lay-
ard's " Babylon and Nine\eh," pp. 424 5.
 '

286 DR . G It ANT AND T U E

my message to Mar Shimon, in Ashitha, in the presence of Mr.

Badger, as soon as it was translated to him, he recommended tlie

Ftttriarch not to seek the friendship of the Kurds, but to apply

for aid, if he needed it, to England, which, he said, was able and
wiliing to grant him the fullest protection, and so the emir could
not get the ear of the Patriarch." The Kaimakam (lieutenant

governor) of Mosul, too, after his return from a conference with

Badir Khan Bey, told Dr. Grant that the visit of ^Mr. Badger
had been injurious, for that very reason. Still, even this could
not justify the report, circulated at the time, that Mr. Badger
was the cause of the war ; for the roots of that extended back
much further ; and no one can say that, even had he, like Dr.

Grant, persuaded to peace, the result could have been averted.

About this time, also, the Patriarch, in his anxiety to propi-

tiate the Turks, sent a force from Ashitha against Zeiner Bey,
another false move, that irritated the Kurds, and roused
Zeiner Bey himself to a terrible revenge.
During this winter, Dr. Grant was busy, as usual, in doing
good to all classes; and Mr. L., after his recovery, devoted him-
self to the acquisition of the Syriac.

March 24th, Dr. Grant wrote to his brother Ira, as follows :

" In England a party has arisen, in the Episcopal church,

who are striving to effect universal union, by going back to the

traditions of the fathers. They have sent out one of their emis-

saries to counteract our eiforts, and prevent our sowing discord

'

by undermining the outward forms of these Eastern churches. In

their estimation, the essence of all union is in a regular apostol-

ical succession of the clergy, that is, in episcopacy, and, want-

ing this, we poor dissenters are out of the way of salvation,
while the Papists, with all their abominations, are acknowledged

as brethren !

" I have been more particularly indisposed of late, and

have written this upon my bed. But I am a little better, and
hope to be able to set out for the mountains in a very few days.
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 287

In March Dr. Grunt received a letter from Mar Shimon,

filled with oriental protestations of undiminished attachment, and
a most urgent invitation to return to the mountains.
At the same time, the emir revealed his true character in
sending a complaint to Erzrum that Dr. Grant was building a
strong fort in the mountains ; and that the people were so op-

posed to it, they rose on him en masse, and would have killed
him, had not he (the emir) interfered for his deliverance, adding
that he himself would have expelled him, but that, as the moun-
tains were under the jurisdiction of Erzrum, he preferred to

await the orders of his superior. This glaring falsehood, fabri-

cated after his repeated invitations to Dr. Grant to settle any-
where in the mountains, and his written permission to build in

Ashitha, was repeated again the following summer.

By such a show of zeal for the government he hoped to
secure its zealous cooperation with him in the overthrow of the
Nestorians ; an object to attain which he hesitated at no sacri-

fice of honor or of principle. He may have hoped, also, to

attach Dr. Grant more firmly to his interests, by making him more
entirely dependent on his protection. However that might be,
Dr. Grant saw in all this no cause for discourage. nent, and
went on with preparations for his fifth annual tour.

24
 CHAPTER XV.
FIFTH VISIT TO MUD VILLAGE
THE MOUNTAINS KIIORSABAD A^V M.
BOTl'A AIN SIFNEHAND YEZIDEES HEROINE OF BASTAWA AVOMAN
IN MOSUL NATURAL HISTORY AMADIA WHAT POVERTY AND MIS-
ERY MEAN
PASS OVER MATINKH SNOW VALE OF BERWER ZAR-
NE MULE-RIDING IN THE MOUNTAINS PATRIARCHAL MANSION
DR. grant's CASTLE AS IT AVAS NESTORIAN A NIGHT VISITFEAST
FROM KURDISH SPIES A NESTORIAN STRIKE TO SUPPRESS IT HOW
ANOTHER NIGHT-ALARM SYMPATHY WITH THE EGYPTIANS FEROCITY
OF THE NESTORIANS APPROACH OF THE STORM.

In the beginning of April, Dr. Grant, having now traversed

the mountains alone for four successive summers, went in again,

taking with him his new associate. The pasha had provided a
kawass to counteract the effects of his late message to Nirwa ;

but he refused to accompany us farther than the banks of the

Tigris, most probably according to orders, as he had no horse,
or anything that looked like preparations for a journey. Dr.

Grant thought it a good riddance, and we were soon on board

the rude boat that ferried us over to Assyria. The side was four
feet high, and our mules were half lifted, half forced into the

mass of horses, men and donkeys, that already filled the boat.

The river, when highest, is sometimes here a mile in breadth ;

but, though so high that the bridge of boats lay useless along
the western bank, it w is not now very vvide, and we w^ere soon

landei in the mud on the opposite shore.

Once fairly beyond the ancient mounds round Khoyunjuk,
we proceeded, in a northerly direction, to the right of the Kho-
sar, across the plain of Assyria. Fields of grain waved on
 DR. CHANT AND THE NE S T 11 I A N S . 289

all sides. Flowers blossomed in the middle of the road, and

gazelles bounded lightly away on our approach. These are
hunted only when the ground is so wet that their hoofs sink
deeper than the feet of the greyhounds that are kept in every
village for the purpose. At half-past six p. m. we stopped at
Baibugh, a mud village, without a tree in sight in any direction.

Noisy storks held possession of the roofs ; and flocks and herds,
just home from the pasture, filled the court-yards. Our room
was made of mud throughout, with the exception of the beams
which supported the earthen roof, and a door that, by way
of economizing lumber, was only half as wide above as below.
The very candlestick that served dimly to reveal our suj^per
was of the same material.
On our arrival, the villagers had insisted that, though they
had plenty of eggs, yet they had no hens ; but, through the per-
severance of Dawud, one made its appearance with the eggs
and pilav. The latter was hot, but our host obligingly fanned
it with his capacious shirt-sleeve, as we sat together round the
dish.

Next day, April 5, an hour's ride brought us to Khorsabad,

where we spent two pleasant hours in visiting the excavations of

M. Botta, now so well known that they need not be de-

scribed. The mud-houses of the village contrasted oddly with
the royal splendor laid open below them ; and an Arab churn
a goat-skin, half full of milk, kept extended by a stick, and the
whole suspended, from a pole that leaned against one of the
huts was jerked back and forth by a particularly sunburned
dairy-maid, in the very face of heroes and demigods of olden time.
We visited Khorsabad several times afterwards, and M.
Botta presented an ancient Assyrian seal to one of the mission-
aries. The device, which is here inserted, represents a priest
standing before the sacred tree ; the winged symbol of the deity
over him, and a dagger behind him. The stone is chalcedony,
290 DR. GRANT AND THE

and a hole is drilled through the upper part for the insertion of
a string, as seen in the side

view.
The excavations of M. Botta
may be too well known to need
description; but his amiable
character and unaffected kind-

ness towards those of another faith may not be so familiar. That

was not unappreciated by those who received a very different

treatment from an English missionary, and will never be forgotten
while memory lives. The writer cannot forbear transcribing a
note that now lies before him, as it shows how a French consul,
thouo-h a papist, knew how to unite good-will to others with the
performance of his own duties. He had lent his large copy of
Freytag's Arabic lexicon to one of the missionaries, and this is

his reply to a note of thanks when it was returned :

" My Dear Sir : I cannot say that I thank you for the

return of the lexicon, because I am sorry that you do not want

it any more, and I lose an occasion of being useful to you. As

for asking me how you can return the favor, permit me to say

tliat such an idea ought never to have occurred to you. I have

been happy in being able to help you, and the pleasure I had
in doing so is more than I want for my remuneration."

How could intercourse with such a man be otherwise than

pleasant?
Leaving Khorsabad, we passed on toward Seidkhan, where a
fountain that bubbles up at the foot of a low range of hills turns
four mills within the space of half a mile. At one time we had
no less than twelve ancient mounds in sight at once. These
are generally close by a spring or water-course; and where neither
exist, those who live near them sometimes ask the passing Frank
to point ou" the well they believe them to conceal.
 MOUNTAIN N ]'] S T II I AN S . 291

Mak-
Crossing the low range that runs north-west from Jebel
lub, we continued over a high undulating surface, that com-
manded a delightful view. On our right rose the summit ju.st
mentioned. More to the east, the snowy peaks, above Ravan-
dooz, glittered in the distance. Directly in front lay the plain
of Yezid Khan, with here and there a village nestling at the foot
of an ancient mound. On its opposite margin rose the fluted
cones of Ain Sifneh, our resting-place for the night. Just be-
yond, the dark rocky slope of the outer barrier of Kurdistan
swept round from Akra on the east to Elkosh on the west.
Here and there the pinnacles of the Gara peeped over that, tell-

ing of more rugged scenes beyond. Descending from this

eminence, we crossed the plain in the midst of a thunder-shower,

nOar the water-shed, between the Tigris and the Zab, and were
,oon safely quartered for the night.

Ain Sifneh (Fountain of the Ship) is so called, they say,

because here Noah built his ark. If so, trees must have been
more numerous in those days ; for now, besides a few fruit-trees

in the village, none were to be seen in any direction. It con-

tains nearly one hundred houses, mostly Yezidees, with a few

Kurds, and four or five families of Jews. Some poor people
from Jelu had spent the winter here. But everything betok-
ened poverty. The marks of oppression and insecurity were
visible on all sides. Yet a kid, sporting amid the withered
grass on one of the roofs, reminded us that while the wicked arc
like the grass upon the house-top, that withereth afore it grow-
eth up, yet, after they shall have passed away, cometh the
kingdom of Christ that shall never end.
Dr. Grant, who was too hoarse at night to speak, found the
cutaneous irritation of swarms of nocturnal visitors as effectual
as a regular prescription. But his companion, who had been
kept awake by them the night before, and flired no better now,
did not find the treatment so beneficial.
As we rode ofi" at sunrise, we saw some of the Yezidees kissing
24*
292 DR. f; KANT AND THE

the walls of one of their temples, as they caught the earliest rays
of the sun. We had a fine view of the plain of Navkur, on our
right, directly between us and the sun ; but soon entered a narrow
defile, that shut out all other sights. High in the rocky wall, on
our left, was the old cave of a hermit, whence you might trace
the stream up and down the ravine, by the oleanders in full

bloom upon its banks. The willow, the hawthorn, and other
flowering shrubs, added variety to the view. There, on the west,
is the glen of Sheikh Adi, the holy place of the Yezidees. The
fluted cones of the temple shoot up among the trees, like the top

of a New England spire. The sides of the glen seem to close

together above it, dotted with the buildings occupied by that

singular people when they come here to their annual feasts. At
this place the missionaries spent a week, during the hottest of
the summer of 1844.^
Keeping up the main ravine, we passed over into the valley
of the Gomel, and continued up the stream for several miles,
west of north. Here we passed field after field, and village
after village, totally desolate. The soil was fertile, the cli-

mate delightful, but war and oppression had emptied the land
of its inhabitants. Then bearing more to the east, we came to

Bastawa, the village of the chief of Mezury, equally desolate.

His wife was here, with a few attendants, securing their rice.

Her appearance at once commanded attention. The tassels of a

silk shawl hung gracefully round the lower part of her turban.
A green silk jacket, lined with fur, but now much the worse for

wear, covered a dre.ss of coarse blue cotton, suggesting a sad

contrast between former wealth and present poverty. Her
features, once beautiful, now revealed a spirit roused, rather
than broken, by misfortune. When Dr. Grant asked lodgings

* For a further description of it we must refer the reader to the excel-

lent work of Mr. Layard, vol. i. 225 ; and his more recent *' Babylon and
Nineveh," 8194; Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, p. 148, and Missionary

Herald, 1863, p. 110.

 ;

MOUNTAIN NE S T III A N S . 293

for the night, she raised her form to its full height, threw back
her braided hair, and, pointing to the roofless houses and ruined
castle, to her own rags, and those of her attendants, " See

there I
" said she. " You have stripped us of all ! You have
driven us forth beggars in the land ; and now, do you ask for

hospitality ? We have nothing for you. Go to them with whom

you have still left something, and may Grod be judge between
us !
" This is but an outline of an impassioned address in her
native Kurdish, imperfectly translated by our servant. Gesture,
position, look and tone, could not have been improved by the
schools; and yet there was no extravagance. Her proud spirit

scorned to yield to the violence of passion. All was said with

a dignity of sorrow that affected us even more than her words
and we were heartily ashamed of our Turkish costume, that had
led her to mistake us for her oppressors. When she learned
who we were, she at once offered to share with us what she had ;

but there was nothing for our horses, and we were compelled to

go on, two hours further, to the Nestorian village of Bebozy.

As we passed along the steep side of the narrow glen, we could
speak of nothing but the heroine of Bastawa. When will this

energy of character in these mountains be consecrated to Christ,

and employed in doing good ?

We could not but notice the contrast between her and ladios
of her rank in Mosul. Some of them occupied palaces, the
marble pavement of whose courts was diversified by parterres of
flowers or fragrant orange-trees. In the lofty rooms, the gilded
stucco of the roof looked down on Persian carpets, and divans
of brilliant-colored satin. Numberless mirrors, plain, or made
up of small pieces disposed in a variety of shapes, multiplied

many times the exquisite arabesque that covered the walls

Large lines of Arabic, with its graceful curves and intricate

combinations, painted on the plaster in vivid colors, extended

round the apartments. But, when one of the missionaries called,
he was always left outside the door till the house was cleared.
 ;

294 DR. GRANT xV N D THE

Then, in sueli a room, coffee was served in cups with silver

holders, and 30stly sherbets and perfumes welcomed the visitor.

But, with the exception of the host and his attendants, not a
f,oul was to be seen ; and it would have been deemed gross
impoliteness had the guest made the slightest allusion to the

fiimily. Thus secluded in the house, in the street the woman

must follow her husband at a respectful distance ; and, should a

Frank lady publicly take the arm of her husband, she would do it

at the peril of being mobbed. On the road the fellah is sure to

be riding his donkey, and smoking at his leisure, while his poor
wife trudges on foot, if not bending under a burden besides.
Dr. Grant and his associate were one day busily writing for
the post, when the wife of a respectable Mohammedan merchant
brought in her only child for medicine. They lived close by
and, as she came frequently, she ventured in unattended. Her
appearance was unusually prepossessing. She could not have
been over thirty years of age, and her little boy was not far

from ten. Dr. Grant was so busy he did not, at first, attend to

her ; and, leading forward the invalid, she began to plead for
him with tears, saying, among other things, " He is all I have

in the world." " What !

" said the doctor, " have you forgot
your husband ? " " Husband !
" she repeated. " Can a hus-

band love ? He is a stranger to me, and I to him. Ah ! the

relio-ion of Jesus is better than Islam; it docs not tolerate

such things as ours." The truth was, he had married others

since her, and she was cast aside ; while the attention let us

not call it love once lavished on her was now transferred to

her younger rivals ; and these did all they could to embitter an
existence already almost insupportable. She was retained only
for the sake of her son ; and on him now centred all her love.

But even he had been trained to despise her ; and, all the while

she was pleading in his behalf, with a mother's earnestness, he

was mocking, insulting, and, with a domineering air, ordering

her to be silent.
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 295

After the doctor had attended to him, she began to tell her
own ailments; but he could only reply to her account of them,
" I have no medicine for a broken heart."

Christian mother ! how many such hearts, as tender and sen-

sitive as yours, are breaking ! How many doomed to drag out
life in misery like this, and then die without a knowledge of the
Saviour ! How much would you take in exchange for your
knowledge of Christ ? And what are you doing to make him
known to such as these ?

Leaving the Kurdish vilhige of Kalanowa we

in the valley,
climbed on foot to Bebozy, where, for the first we saw oaks
time,
and evergreens on the eminences around. An Armenian friend
of Dr. Grant made us his guests; and an excellent supper of
bread, olives, honey, dibs (grape molasses), and the flesh of a
wild boar, followed by a dessert of pomegranates, was very
acceptable. The village abounds in fruit. Grapes, cherries,
pears, peaches, plums, figs and almonds, grow here, besides
olives and pomegranates. Citrons and limes thrive in some of
the warmer valleys. Most of the fruit used in Mosul is carried
from these mountains; and the gall-nut of commerce is one of
the staple exports of the province. The wild boar is very
troublesome, rooting up the fields and destroying the crops
The bear and wolf are less common. An animal like the leopard
but smaller, is sometimes found. Foxes are plenty. The martin
is more rare ; and the otter is caught, occasionally, along the

waters of the Zab.

The Nestorians of this and a neighboring village had turned
papists within a fortnight of our visit. The Bishop of Elkosh
had told them all the world had turned, and threatened to curse
them if they did not turn too. They had no priest, no teacher
and, said they, "We were sheep without a shepherd; what
could we do?" On the walls of the church were some paltry
prints, of whish they seemed ashamed, but did not dare to take
them down. The churo i was well supplied with MSS. ; but
 ;

296 DTv. GRANT AND THE

they seemed rather a memento of the former prosperity of the

village than appropriate to its reduced population of thirty

houses.
Next day we passed over the mountains to Hordepni, a small

Nestor ian village, where is a chamber hollowed out of an iso-

lated rock, called the Tomb of Nooskee ; but who he was we

could not ascertain. Beyond this our road was the same that

Dr. Grant passed over in 1839, into the Sapnah. Tura Gara,
still covered with snow, stretched away on our right,
south-east

by east, to the Zab. To the west it is more broken, and, under

various names, forms the southern boundary of the valley, as
Tura Matineh is the northern.

The valley is about two miles wide at this point, and twice
that width at Dawudia. There is no marked elevation between
the streams that run into the Habor and the Zab. They break
down abruptly through the coarse sandstone at the very outset,

and intersect the whole valley with deep ravines, for the most

part impassable.
We spent the night at the Kurdish village of Baderesky,
whose fields, fenced with thorn-bushes, presented a formidable
barrier both to man and beast. Contrary to the usual custom,
our host was not only very obliging on our arrival, but continued
so, even after we had given him his bachshish in the
morning.

A ride of four hours April brought 8 us to Amadia,

thi'ough the ruins of the Turkish camp. The town rose almost
directly above our heads. Stopping every few moments to
breathe, we had leisure, during the ascent, to note the precipice,
from twenty to forty feet high, that crowned the slope. A
stair-like road led from the fountain outside the gate to the
platform above. Here and there were marks of cannon-balls,
and mines exploded by the Turks. The town is so strongly
situated by nature, that, during a five months' siege, some thou-
sands of balls, fired by the besiegers, killed only eleven men
and famine, rather than force, compelled a surrender. They
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 297

tried, but in vain, to poison the wells, eight of which are exca-
vated in the rock, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty

feet in depth. The town looked ruined and wretched. Fifteen

years ago it numbered two thousand houses ; now there are little

more than two hundred. First the plague swept away eighteen
hundred of the citizens ; three years after, the noted Kur Bey
sacked the place ; two years later, Reschid Pasha recovered pos-
session, inflicting new injuries. Then Ismael Pasha, four years
after, revolted, and was taken prisoner at Akra, in 1839. In
1842 he regained possession of the place, to be again driven out

by the siege just mentioned. At this time there were about

forty houses of Jews, twenty of Christians, and one hundred and
sixty of Kiirds. Only two Armenian families remained, out of
thirty. One of this people^ though an employe of the govern-
ment, showed us the wounds made by the fetters he wore in prison,
till three thousand piastres were extorted from him. A boy had
lately been compelled to turn Moslem by the daily torture of the
lash. Several Nestorians were driven off, in our presence, to

work for the soldiers, amid blows and abuse. The priest, and
even the women, are, in the same manner, driven to the most
menial services, and made to carry wood like beasts of burden.
One man applied for medicine for his eye, blinded by a blow
from a soldier.

Making our way through a crowd of insolent soldiers, who

seemed to long to treat us like the rest, we found the floor
of the best room in the castle coated with mud ; the divan was
old, coarse and ragged, and, with a dozen guns, swords and
pistols, composed the only furniture of the apartment. Passing
through ruined halls, once adorned with stucco, we found the
governor in a rough kiosk, built of boards. But the beautiful

view from the window relieved for a moment our sad impressions.
The whole valley of the Sapnah lay spread out before us as
far as the Zab. Beyond its silver thread, the peaks of Ravan-
dooz towered high, in their robes of glittering white. The gov-
298 DR. GRANT AND THE

ernor had profited by the temperance lecture in Akra, in 1839

but has little encouragement to do good, as he is liable to be
displaced whenever he fails to extort enough from the ruins to
satisfy his superior at Mosul. His seven hundred soldiers force
the inhabitants to labor for them for days, without giving even

a morsel to support them the while.

We remained here from Saturday till Tuesday, as Monday
was so rainy we could not leave. But it did not detain us, in

the end ; for the rain opened the roads, till now impassable
from the snow. On Sabbath one asked how he should know
which was right. Here were the Nestorians, the Chaldeans, and

the English, all following the same Bible, and all different.

Dr. Grant : " We want to teach you to read the Bible, and
judge for yourselves." " But," says he, " the readers disagree,

as well as we." Dr. Grant :

" However they may differ about
some things, others are very plain ; as, ' Except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish ; Without holiness no man shall see
'
'

the Lord,' and the like." The .man then turned to a Chaldean
priest who was present, and demanded why he had never told
them this. " Is it so written in the Bible ? " " Yes," was the
reply. " Then why do you speak against these men, who do not
slander you, and teach us what is in the Bible ? " Such topics

as confession, and the relative importance of fasting and repent-

ance, were then discussed at length, with much interest. It

cheered us to find many scriptural sentiments advanced in a

place so dark, and we could not but rejoice in the good fruit

that would yet abound here also to the glory of God.

The town has one mosque, whose tall minaret is the most

beautiful and prominent object in the view, an Armenian

church, and two synagogues. The Nestorians worship in a room
in the house of Kasha Mendo.
On Monday a Babbi took us to visit the synagogues. In the
outer court of one a few flowers occupied the only place reached
by the sun. Here we found some masses of leaves, wet, and
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 299

covered with mould, we could not call them books. They were
volumes of the Talmud, laid out to dry. Inside the synao-oo-ue
the rough posts that sustained the roof were rotten. The rain
dripped freely from above into deep holes worn in the soft clay
floor. We could scarce find a place fit to stand on, and the
damp, close air was perfectly intolerable. We hardly dared stay
long enough to look round ; and still here was a place of worship
for many of this miserable people More than forty rolls of most
!

beautiful Hebrew manuscripts were here going to decay yet ;

money could not induce them to sell one of them. The same
description may answer for both synagogues, even to the number
of manuscripts sent from the villages around for safe-keeping.
When will they cleave as closely to Christ as to these copies of

the Law and the Prophets, that speak concerning him ?

Dr. Grant next went to the house of a patient ; and, on leaving

the ruinous abode, we were surprised to learn it was the house
of one of the magnates of the place. If the homes of the rich
are so comfortless, what, thought we, must be the dwellings of
the poor ? We were not long in suspense, for we entered some
of them. But how can we describe them ? Without windows
and without doors, unless a hole in the wall, half choked with
rubbish, be called such. From this you descend into the inte-
rior, as into a dungeon. In the darkness you can scarce discern
their utter emptiness. A cradle and an earthen pot comprised the
whole furniture of one ; two earthen pots and a pile of rags that
of another. The dresses of the inmates hardly served the pur-
poses of common decency and how they were protected from
;

the cold we could not imagine. In some places night brings

relief to the miserable. But in many of these houses there was
not a rag to keep them from the damp earth, or cover them
from the cold. Who would not deny himself, that such suffer-

ers might know of the grace that is in Jesus Christ ? We were

not surprised to hear that many had died of hunger, and others
a thing very uncommon in western Asia had put an end to
25
300 DR. U RA N f A N D T II E

their existence with their own hands. One of the Jews had first

killed his wife and then himself, to get rid of the misery he
could endure no longer.
The priest's brother, by whom we were entertained, Kasha
Mendo was from home, was so poor that we had to buy our
candles and provisions, such as w^e could get, in the wretched
bazaar.
The tradition that this place was founded by a woman seems
to point to Semiramis ; and its strong position favors Major
Rawlinson's idea, that it is the Ecbatana, or treasure city, of the
Assyrian kings.
As the road was unsafe, the Mutsellim sent five armed Kurds
to escort us through Berwer, and we took three or four Nesto-

rians to carry our loads over the snow. Descending from the
eastern gate, we crossed the valley, and entered the pass of
Geli Mazukah. Dr. Grant, in former journeys, had tried

another, a little to the east, the bolder of the two, as this was the
more beautiful. Ancient terraces, moss-grown and covered with
ivy, ran along the rock above us. The torrent leaped from
ledge to ledge, in white sheets of foam ; now wetting with spray
the vines that covered its banks ; anon plunging, with hoarse
reverberation, into some hidden pool, deep down among the

rocks. High over our heads the road crossed the stream by a
stone bridge, of one arch ; and on a conspicuous point of the op-
posite cliff the ruins of a mill made the scene yet more pictur-

esque. Above this the glen enlarged into a little terraced

interval; then contracted again, so rough and wild we had to

unload the mules ; and, after crossing and recrossing, scrambling

and climbing, we were glad to rest at the top amid the snow.
This extended far down the descent before us. The range, this

side of Tyary, presented an unbroken surface of white, and the

road to Ashitha was not open for some weeks later. In the
descent we fared tolerably well, with our broad-soled Turkish
boots ; but the mules floundered through with difl&culty, even
NESTORIA^\S FK03I JELO.
 ;

M U NTA I N N E S T R T AN S . 303

without their loads, to an upland valley, covered with the beau-

tiful crocus, which was the zozan of Amadia.
Below this, we sunk, boots and all, through the soft snow
and the mules had to be helped by the Nestorians through drifts
up to their saddles. But these troubles were soon forgotten, in
a lovely vale, about a mile in diameter, with a river murmuring
pleasantly through fields of grain, and tall poplar-trees standing
like guardians around the whole.
The village of Terwanish, ^ix hours from Amadia, perhaps
the place Dr. Grrant had to pass so silently at midnight, the

year before, occupied the summit of an eminence beyond, and

presented a solid stone wall on the only side that was accessible.
As we approached we could see men on the roofs scrutinizing our

little company, and prepared to welcome or repel us, as circum-

stances might require. Here we procured some refreshment,
which we ate in the road, as they would not trust us inside the

village barricade ; and, sending back our Nestorians, commenced

the ascent of the mountain before us. Two hours brought us
to Deshtany, a wretched village of half-naked and half-fam-
ished women and children, where no one would take us in. But
their filth and vermin reconciled us to our fate ; and we gladly
followed some Nestorians to Zarne, where we spent the night.
On the mountain we met many of the Nestorians going to pas-
ture their flocks on its southern slopes. The women carried
their full share of baggage strapped to their backs (see plate).
The men were well armed, and kept a sharp look-out for ene-
mies. Zarne lay out of our way, but we were well paid for our
visit. The people listened eagerly to religious instruction, and
vvere diligent in improving this second visit of a physician to
their secluded home. The castles of this border-village are
strongly built of stone and lime. They are full of loop-holes,

instead of windows ; and the door, high up in the wall, is

reached by a ladder, that is drawn up after the villagers are

safe within. Altogether, they looked so threatening that, in

304 DR. GRANT AND THE

case of a skirmish, we would much prefer to be inside, rather

than among the assailants.

The aged priest of the village, with his silvery beard, though
quite vain of his learning, seemed bent on increasing his stock
of information, with Yankee pertinacity.
Next day, we passed over the extremity of the range, by a
road so rocky and steep that it would have been as impossible
for us to stay on our mules as for them to carry us. Dr. Grant,
as usual, was worn out with the walk ; and was glad to remount
some miles below Lezan, where the river squeezes through be-

tween mountains that barely open wide enough to admit its

passage. Where not too steep for any vegetation, they are cov-
ered with forests of the Quercus Valonia, that produces the gall-
nut of commerce. Impressions of fern were frequent and varied
on the schistose rocks ; and the black-walnut tree, whose fruit is

valued both for food and for the oil they press from it, was quite
common near the river. The oil is burned chiefly in the

churches, where animal fat is not allowed. As we drew near

Lezan, beautiful green terraces were snugly fitted into the bot-
toms of the ravines, and houses surrounded by poplar and pear-
trees dotted both banks of the river. Every available nook and
corner was cultivated, and presented a striking contrast to the
desolation above. It was Industry sitting amid trophies already
won, and meditating new triumphs. Soon Lezan appeared, in

an uneven valley on the left, about half a mile in width, and

extending back a much greater distance. Terrace rose above
terrace from the water's edge, as long as water could be brought
to them, by any means, from the mountains above. The village

contains probably about two hundred houses. We were kindly

received by Kasha Kena, whose hearty welcome made us
quickly feel at he me. Man-^ of the villagers flocked to meet us,
and we were soon quietly settled in Dr. Grant's winter quarters.

An American stove and a mattress stuffed with wool were lux-

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 305

uries especially grateful. Indeed, everything presented a pleas-

ant contrast to the sad recollections of Amadia and Deshtany.
As Mar Shimon was anxious to we went next
see us soon,
morning to Ashitha. The torrent was too deep to ford ; and,
even had we crossed it, the usual road was impassable from the
snow. We were therefore obliged to climb the steep face of the
mountains by a by-path, pronounced impracticable for mules,
though Dr. Grant, who was too weak to walk, retained his from
necessity. His companion would trust his neck to no feet but
his own. So, with shalwar tied up about his knees, and hair
sandals on his feet, he trudged on one weary mile after another,
to the end. Sometimes, as he sat down to rest, he was recon-
ciled to fatigue, when, looking back, he saw the hind feet of the
doctor's mule sprawling below the path, and kicking the loose
stones down into the valley ; one Nestorian holding on by the
bridle, and another aiding the rider to dismount, till all fairly

in the path again, the doctor remounted till the same process had
to be repeated. This was bad, but a week's illness with the
ague, which paid the pedestrian for his over-exertion, was cer-
tainly no better.

The first house we entered was the Kalleita, near the church,
which Dr. Grant had formerly made his home. We stopped
outside we were announced, and were much at
till a loss to
know what to make of a stack of straw just inside the door. As
it did not hinder the free entrance and exit of others, we ven-
tured in also, in our turn, and found a small passage by one side
of it into the apartment. It had been erected to break the
force of the wintry winds, and, when warm weather returned,
was taken away. This passed, as near as we could discern,
through the smoke, a row of men, seated on the earthen floor,

extended more than half round the room. Mar Shimon occu-
pied a silk cushion in one corner, with his bed and sundry
articles piled up behind him. We approached and saluted him,
and were soon seated on a felt by his side, where we could sur-
25^
306 DR. GRANT AND THE

vey the assembly, as our eyes became accustomed to the smoke

and darkness. Each one had his pipe, and seemed quite at
home, going out, coming in, and chatting as familiarly as he
chose. Mar Shimon welcomed Dr. Grant as usual, and his com-
panion had no occasion to complain of any want of attention.
Still, it was evident that the Patriarch was quite willing to reap

what advantage he could from two rival missions. The reports

of the doctor's castle-building had given place to others yet
more extravagant. Before our arrival, it was currently report-
ed that the Pasha of Mosul had imprisoned him and cut off his

hands; and, again, that the same pasha had employed him to
do all he had done in Tyary. This last led a Kurdish chief to
make the neighborly request that the Nestorians should kill him
as soon as he arrived. It was on account.of such reports that
the Patriarch had ordered a large company of Nestorians to

meet us beyond their frontiers ; but our unexpected arrival pre-

vented the intended kindness.
But, to return to the Patriarch's apartment. A confused
pile of wood, kettles and earthen pots, dimly appeared behind the
stack of straw at the door. A fire burned in the middle of the
floor, and the smoke, instead of going out of doors, was busy
adding to the polish of the roof, that already shone like jet
from the smoke of years.
If our own quarters, to which we removed in a day or two,

were inferior, it should be borne in mind we did not aspire to

patriarchal splendor ; and, for the edification of the curious, we
will here describe them. We occupied one room in common,
whose walls were built of stone, laid up in mud. This last was
left squeezing out between them, like plaster on the inside of
laths. The earthen floor was almost as smooth as a muddy road
after a hard frost. In the middle of this was a heap of earth,
shaped like a tray, where we built our fire. Here all the cook-
ing was done, within some five feet of our beds. These, which
served also for seats by day, consisted, first, of a layer of millet-
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 807

straw, to mitigate the roughness of the floor, extending a little

beyond our mattresses, so as to keep us out of the dirt. These

last were home-made, and stuffed with mountain wool. A quilt
apiece and our Turkish cloaks made all cosey at night, and our
saddle-bags answered very well for pillows. We wrote with our
portfolios on our knees, our ink-bottles in our hands, and various
little articles deposited, for want of shelves, on the projecting
stones of the wall behind us. Our wood was piled up in one cor-
ner, where it was thrown down by the men who brought it

nearly a day's journey on their backs. Our bags of meal,

earthen pots, and a goat-skin of honey the doctor had laid in for
the winter, occupied another. Though there was no chimney, we
found no inconvenience from the smoke ; for, let the wind blow
from what quarter it would, there was a place for the one to enter,
and a second for the other to go out. When it blew from the
door, just opposite our beds, bundles of straw were inserted both
above and below it, to serve the same purpose as the stack at
the Patriarch's. On the same side was our window, also

stuffed full of straw, which a visitor beo;sed for his cow one
day, alleging that it was a sin to waste good provender for
such a purpose. The north-west side was intended to be entirely
open in summer ; but, as the snow round the house was ther
in places, two feet deep, it was filled with a partition of wicker
work, that excluded neither cold nor snow. As this was the cold
quarter, and storms were not infre(^uent, we leaned some loose
boards against it, as an additional defence ; but these were often
blown down, and made sad havoc among our earthen pots,

though we did not feel so keenly their loss in this way as when
they faithlessly emptied our dinner in the fire. This was a poor
place for an ague-fit, but it was the best we had ; and the
record of the weather reads : "April 27, rain and hail, nearly all

day, covering everything with ice. 28, rain, turning to snow.

May 1st, rain and hail ; 2d, rain and very cold wind ; 3d and
4th, rain, hail and snow, each day." Though this, we were
308 DR. GRANT AND THE

assured, was luiusually inild for the season, as the feast of Mar
Gjuergis (St. George), that occurs about the 1st of May, is

generally celebrated on the surface of the unmelted snow.

This was tlie only room then finished, though the plan em-
braced ti building for the residence of three mission families,
sixty feet square, besides a chapel, school-room, stables, &c. As
our mode of building would not warrant the erection of a second
story, it necessarily occupied a large surface ; but, with a roof

within the reach of every boy, and windows almost level with the
ground outside, it was hardly a castle in any sense of the

term. Yet Dr. Grant has been charged with building on an

isolated hill, commanding the whole valley and surprise has ;

been expressed that one so well acquainted with the character

of the people should have been so indiscreet in the choice of the
location, and the size of the edifice. As to the last, perhaps no
more need be said. Considering the number of families to be
accommodated, one can scarcely tell what.was to be spared ; and
no one acquainted with the character of the mountaineers would
recommend mission families to be far from one another, in case

of the absence of any of the missionaries. As to the location,

though I am sorry to difi'er from the distinguished traveller who

refers to it, yet justice to the memory of a departed friend
requires me to say, what he himself will remember, on reflection,

that the hill is not isolated, as, writing perhaps from memory, he
has inadvertently called it ; though it may appear so to one
approaching it from below, where the higher part of the same
ridge is concealed from view. He will recollect, also, that the

valley is so irregular, and the village so scattered among smaller

valleys, running in various directions, that it is absolutely im-

possible one position should command the whole. The diiferent

and widely-separated hamlets that compose the village can be seen

at one view only from the mountains which enclose the valley.
As to a lower position, the fevers prevalent in the narrow valleys,
CO say nothing of other annoyances, led Dr. Grant wisely to avoid
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. ~
311

them. We shall soon see the alterations that had to be made in

the unpretending mission-house, in order to transfer it into a castle.

The accompanying plate gives a very good idea of the gener-

ality of native houses in the mountains. For a further descrip-
tion of the house, see p. 133, and the Arzaleh, p. 185.
The feast of Easter (according to the Nestoiian?;) occurred
on the 23d of April, and for fifty days previous they had been
keeping their great annual fast. During this, both old and
3^oung rigidly abstained from food till after evening prayers.

Even decrepit old women might be seen, seated on the gi-ave-stones

before the church, groaning from sheer exhaustion, as the day

advanced. It was touching to see them conscientiously abstain
from the scanty morsel at their side, because, as they thought,
God had forbidden it. No Christian could have seen such self-
denial and not been ashamed to excuse himself from any service
required by his Redeemer.
On Saturday evening (the 22d), all was active preparation
for the moiTOW. Clothes were washed ; the best garments were
got ready ; barbers were busy shaving the head, a custom as

strange to us as our shaving of the chin would appear to them,

and busy housewives were ransacking their stores for the sub-

stantial materials of the feast. They formerly offered sacrifices

on such occasions, and still do in some villages ; but the custom

was lately discontinued here, because, as they said, Jesus Christ

was offered once for all, and " our guilty souls require no sacri-

fice beside." A pleasing proof that their minds, though dark,

are not altogether dormant.
The people began to assemble in the church as early as eight
p. M., for the services commence at midnight, and are not fin-

ished till late in the morning. They are thus lengthy, because
every one in the village must now partake of the sacrament.
The very children do so as soon as they can go alone, baptism

being regarded as a sufiicient preparation. Confirmation, apart

from baptism, is unknown among them.
312 D R . G RAN T AND T II E

In the morning the sun shone brightly. The very day seemed
to sympathize with the general joy. The snow had melted unu-
sually early, and almost the whole of the lower part of the val-
ley was bare. At an early hour the narrow paths were thronged.
These are narrow indeed, every inch of arable land is so pre-

cious, and barely allow man pass between terraces above

a to

and below. Indeed, some parts of the village are utterly inac-
cessible on horseback. As the day advanced, the scene became
more animated. From all directions they converged towards
the church ; most carrying some contribution to the common
stock. Occasionally huge wooden bowls of millet boiled in
buttermilk the great staple of the feast were borne on poles,
by two stout men, after the manner of the grapes of Eschol.
The conical felt hats of the men, some black, some white,
the new dresses of the women, and the gaudy handkerchiefs that
formed their head-dress, presented a pleasing contrast to the tat-

tered garments of the poor. Some of these had been patched so

often it was hard to tell the color or texture of the original ma-
terial, or by what attraction the apparently loose fragments
were held together.
At noon we left our quiet reading, and joined the crowds
pressing towards the church. The poplar-trees were just bud-
ding, green grass was pursuing the retreating snow, and vio-
lets peeped out here and there from among the stones. The
steep sides of the surrounding mountains seemed to hedge in our
thoughts from wandering over the earth, and direct them upwards
to heaven and to God. But our attention was soon eno-rossed
by the multitude before us. It seemed scarcely possible that the
village had contained so many. The little field in front of the
church was full. The flat roof of the kalleita was covered ; each
stone in the grave-yard was crowded ; and many sat on the damp
earth, as on an accustomed seat. The sound of their voices rose
literally above the i\oise of many waters. Each voice had been
trained to be heard from hill to hill, above the roaring torrent,
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 318

and no gentle influence had taught it to modulate its tones.

The very multitude, too, roused those accustomed to the solitudes

of the mountains, and the prospect of war was not fitted to allay
excitement. Yet all was harmony. Old men, whose white
beards rested on their staves, looked with pensive kindness on
the little children, perhaps thinking of their own childhood,
perhaps of the dark future, near, but unnoticed in their thought-
less glee. The young men were full of the threatening prospect,
and vainly sought, in the opinions of eacli other, a relief from
their own forebodings, though some seemed to have no thought
beyond the hilarity of the moment.
A merry group of girls, under a walnut-tree at some distance,
were all absorbed in the dance. They were not over twelve
years of age. There was no finery in their dress, and as little

of art in their movements ; but the regular stamp of their feet

on the green turf, their gleeful voices and happy looks, recalled
the dances of the daughters of Shiloh, in other days. They joined
hands in a circle ; then each hand moved ^simultaneously, and
every foot was lifted and set down as by one impulse. This was
repeated thrice, and then the whole circle fiev/ round three steps.

Again they beat time to their own wild music, and then ad-
vanced as before. Joy supplied the place of art, and left no
regret for the substitution. But now the feast was ready, and
the multitude were seated in rows on the ground, reminding
us of the fifties on the grass on another occasion, and at reg-

ular intervals the huge bowls of millet were set between them.
These were three feet in diameter ; and in the centre of each a

small bowl of melted butter was imbedded in the mass. Each

attacked the segment nearest him, and dipped his spoonful in the
smaller bowl. There was no second course; and we did our
utmost to enjoy the first, though, probably, with less success than
those " who dipped with us in the dish."
When the men were satisfied, the women and children who
till now had busily replenished the butter-bowls sat down in
314 BR. G 11 A N T AX U T 11 E

their turn, and, after them, the poor ate what they could, and
then carried home the remainder.
We were glad to return to our quiet quarters, and spend the
rest of the day more in accordance with our views of Sabbath
enjoyment.
The feast was continued at their houses for two days more,

and, soon after, was followed by the feast of Mar Gyuergis, the
patron saint of the village church. The people regard these
fasts and feasts as commandments of the gospel, and essential to

salvation ; hence a burden of ceremonies is substituted for the

moral law, and a righteousness of their own for the grace that
is in Christ ; the very errors from which the apostles labored

to defend some of the early churches.

Dr. Grant had an interview with Mar Shimon before he went

to meet the emir at Chumba. The Patriarch renewed his assur-

ances of unabated confidence, and his determination to cooperate

with him for the improvement of his people. He spoke of the
self-denial of Dr. Grant, in leaving the comforts of home to

labor, amid much privation, for their good ; and did not conceal
his apprehension of danger, as well as privation ;
hinting that,

even among his own people, there might be those who, for money,
would do the bidding of the Kurds. When he asked what
course he himself should pursue with the emir, the doctor told
him to " Follow peace with all men ;
" and, when afterwards sent

for to Chumba, refused to go, on the ground that he wanted him

only for political business. The emir had written a verj^ cordial

reply to a letter we sent him soon after our arrival.

Early one Sabbath morning we opened our eyes on the start-

ling sight of five armed Kurds seated in front of our beds.

They brought a letter from Badir Khan Bey, desiring a profes-

sional visit from the doctor. Though well aware of his bigoted

hatred of Christianity, he deemed it prudent to try to win his

confidence; and, as his complaint would admit of delay, he
promised to visit him in tlio eo;ir;^o of a month, when he should
 ;

MOUNTAIN N E S T 11 I AN S . 315

be mpre at liberty. With this reply we dismissed them, not

altogether satisfied about the real object of their errand. Hardly
had they gone when Kasha Auraham came in, with many anxious
inquiries about them. The chief men of the village soon followed
and, after a spirited discussion, pronounced them spies. Some
wished to pursue and kill them ; but then they were our guests,
and that would not do. Some said one thing, and some another,
till Dr. Grant put the gospels into the hands of Kasha Auraham,
to translate several chapters, making practical comments as he
proceeded. The translations made at Oroomiah were under-
stood but imperfectly here, though they afforded much aid in

communicating truth ; and a little alteration perhaps vari-

ations of dialect, noted in the margin Dr. Grant thought might
adapt one translation of the Bible to all parts of the country.

We sent many copies of the Scriptures, in ancient Syriac, to the

more remote districts, generally at the request of the priests,
who were able to read them.
The people could not resume the building of the mission-house
till after Easter, and then they demanded higher wages,

assembling, to the number of fifty or more, and making rather

tumultuous demonstrations. Dr. Grant sat quietly in the house,
regardless alike of the threats outside and the advice of some
professed friends within, who urged him to pacify them by
acceding to the demand. But he simply wrote down the names
of the leaders of the mob ; and it was wonderful to see the effect

on those fierce mountaineers. The}'- soon became quite manage-

able ; and, instead of demanding higher wages, they quarrelled
with each other for employment at the former rates. The only
trouble now was the old one of limiting the number of workmen.
Those who did work w^rought with a will. Some carried large

stones on their backs ; others brought water, in goat-skins, from

the stream close by, and poured it on the loose earth, which
their bare-legged companions, with pick and spade, were work-
ing into mortar. The masons, with their rude hammers, reared
26
316 DR . GR ANT AND THE

the rough walls as men used to do before plummets w^-e in-

vented. Eight men on a side seized the cross-bars, to which a

poplar beam was lashed, sometimes twenty-five feet long, and
nearly a foot in diameter, and moved oif with the burden on
their shoulders, up hill and down, across terraces and over
walls, relieved at intervals by another set of bearers, till they
deposited it safely in its place. Split sticks and branches were
laid across these ; next stones and bushes ; and, above all, a
layer of wet earth, duly stamped and rolled, completed the roof.
The frequent storms hindered the work out of doors, and made
us none too comfortable within. New earthen roofs are not
always storm-proof, as we found out when the m^uddy water
filtered through, one rainy night, upon our beds. The stone

roller is the remedy in such cases ; and Dawiid was soon at

work repairing damages. Ail at once his thunder ceased. What

was the matter ? We waited, and waited : it was not resumed
Perhaps he had fallen from the roof in the dark. Torch in hand,
the doctor sallied out, but nothing was to be found ; till, after

long suspense, the servant returned, bringing the Nestorian who

had taken the care of the roof by the job. The leak was soon
stopped, and all asleep again. But the scene of that stormy

night still remains in the picture memory paints of our mountain-

home, memorable as the only instance in which the writer knew
Dr. Grant to manifest anything like fear; an illustration of

the strange inconsistency of our nature, that makes a bold man

timid when there is least occasion for timidity.
Each succeeding day brought with it the same rude outline of
rouo-h walls and earthen floor, smoky fire and crowded room;

for, after Mar Shimon left, it was the common lounging-place

of the village. Our school was in another room, under the care
of Priest Ezeieh, who led his forty pupils out on the house-top
whenever they could enjoy the warmth of the sun. In our room
the sick, the lame and the blind, congregated, with their tat-
tered garments nnd tales of distress. Some came for books, and
 .'I U N T A I N X !: S T i; I A N >i . 317

some for bargains ; and those Avho had no other object came to
gossip. One old priest was paid for five trees, and then insisted
they were but four. At another time he sold a dozen wooden
spoons, and then carried off money, spoons and all. An old
man, with a beard that would have been white had it not been
embrowned with smoke, used to seat himself by the fire, day
after day, with his pipe resting on the ground between his knees,
and retail the village chronicle of seventy years. There was no
being alone, even in our own house. Sometimes a visitor would
take his siesta quite at his ease ; and not unfrequently they per-
formed a work of self-examination, confined, however, to the
outer man, which, though it relieved them, was quite too near
our beds to be either agreeable or safe. We learned, by sad
experience, to sympathize with the Egyptians in their third
plague, if nothing more ; for, however laboriously we rid our
clothes of our tormentors at night, fresh recruits were always
ready for the vacant places. And yet it would not do to enforce
sanitary rules ; and it was poor consolation to know that the
jittenipt to keep even one corner of home sacred from such intru-
sion would secure its demolition, as the depository of a treasure
we were trying to conceal.

Fatal assaults on each other, also, are by no means rare.

One man had killed his cousin in a quarrel, in 1842, and com-
promised the matter by agreeing to pay the usual price of blood,
from twenty-five to fifty dollars. Twenty dollars still remained
unpaid ; but, though his life was in jeopardy, he would not sell

an article below its full value to secure his safety. Another

was brought to Dr. Grant, at this time, horribly mangled.
Single-handed he had attacked a whole Kurdish village, to
revenge some trespass on his pasture-grounds ; and, after
wounding several, one of them mortally, he was overpow-
ered, and, as they thought, despatched with their daggers. His
friends found him, however, still conscious, and carried him a
day's journey over the mountain. Under Dr. Grant's skilful
 :

318 DR. GRANT AND THE

treatment, he recovered, much to their surprise. The men of

Ashitha had a reputation for robbery that made them the terror
of surrounding districts. This ungoverned temper, and the pas-
sion for plunder, led to the drawing of daggers, in plain sight
IVom our door, over so trifling a matter as a few stalks of fennel,
and only the interference of Dr. Grant prevented actual blood-
shed ; for, unlike the Arabs, they seldom carry on a war of
words alone.
These traits of the Nestorians themselves the known hatred
;

Df the Kurds against Franks, especially when seeking to elevate

the Nestorians, their hereditary foes ; the suspicion with which
the Turks legarded our movements in what they called a rebel-
lious part of the empire; and the almost audible approach of
war, filled us wdth dark apprehensions for the future.
About this time, Dr. Grant wrote to Mrs. Jones, at Oroomiah,
as follows
"Would that I could hear of the influences of the Holy Spirit

among you, or witness them in this more difficult and trying

field ! Shall I say I have some sad hours, in view of the want
of this blessing ? Nothing else can either prepare our way, or
give success. In relation to this branch of the mission I hardly
know what to say. Clouds and darkness are round about, and
we can see light only by looking up. Perhaps my ill health
adds gloominess to the view. But I am not disheartened. God
will over-rule all the wrath of his enemies, foi the good of his

own glorious cause. I rejoice that Mr. L. is at length in the

mountains. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss, and Dr. Smith, are expected
in June. I am anxious to see the mission fairly established
before they lose any assistance that I can render. But all cur
prospects are uncertain. Oar short-sighted plans may soon be
made to give way to purposes infinitely wise.
" I fear lest the ill health of my brother Ira, and the pressing
wants o: my children, should call me to America ; but, so long

as 1 am .ble to labor here, I have no wish to return, strong' n'.i

 MOUNTAIN NE S T R I AN S . 319

are the ties that bind me to those dear to my heart. I regret,

therefore, to add that my health has not been so good, of late.

The tax upon my strength, in these difficult mountains, is more

than my system can bear, to say nothing of the responsibility
and care that burden me. Every day brings some new anx-
iety, and all is increased, rather than relieved, by the prospect
of others sharing these trials and privations."
On the llth of May, Mr. L. returned to Mosul to bring in
the mission families, and the question of what was expedient in

the matter occasioned us no little anxiety. On the one hand,

were these grounds for apprehension. On the other, to vacillate

now was to forfeit all the confidence won with such hazard and
difficulty by Dr. Grant. The sight of our families in the

mountains, while it assured the Nestorians of our friendship,

might also disarm the suspicion of the Kurds. The confidence
thus placed in them might satisfy even their jealous hearts of
the innocence of our intentions. But we were not long in sus-

pense. The clouds gathered new blackness ; not only breaking

up our labors, but even threatening to exterminate the people
whom we sought to benefit.
When Mr. L. reached Mosul, he found the Porte had refused
firmans to Dr. Smith and Mr. Bliss, on the ground that it could
not at present tolerate Franks in the mountains. Determined to

subjugate Kurdistan, it wished to do so without the embarrass-

ment occasioned by their presence.

Mar Shimon, failing to make peace with the

In the mountains.
emir, summoned his Vv^arriors to the field. But they refused tQ
obey the call. Even the much-dreaded anathema, pronounced
against each house which did not furnish one man, fell unheeded,
because it fell on nearly all alike. The Patriarch, with the fe
who rallied to his standard, could only irritate the Kurds, with
out inflicting material injury. The burning of the bridge at Ju
lamerk, and a foray, headed by his brothers, from Diss, especially
provoked their vengeance. .

2m
320 DR. r. K A N T AND T H K

The promised aid of Budir Khan Bey ^Yas not wanting. A thou-
sand of his soldiers were already on their march. They were
first heard of on the Habor, opposite Ashitha, and all that vil-
lage was in instant commotion. Abont forty were at work on
the house when the news arrived ; and Dr. Grant, who observed
the workings of their minds, says that, though evidently afraid
for their flocks, they were nothing daunted for themselves.
Labor was at once suspended. Each ran for his gun ; eighty
of the more active started off to reconnoitre. Others hastened
to bring in the more distant flocks. All were ready to meet
the foe ; but the scouts returned without having been able to find
them. The next night alarm-guns were again fired by the shepherds
on the mountains, and answered instantly from all parts of the
village. The night was dark, and the sudden flash of the guns,
followed long after by the report, was a stirring sight. None
knew how great or how near was the danger but each at once ;

prepared for the worst. Some hid their more valuable effects in
a secret cave. Others buried them in pits nearer home. As
Dr. Grant knew that none but a large army could penetrate into
the valley, however smaller parties might rob the pasture-
grounds, he determined to remain to the last, ready to go at a
moment's notice. Before midnight, the welcome signal pro-
claimed " All 's well !
" and next day all were quietly at work as
before, though angry with their neighbors of Halmon and Jera-
min for what they deemed a false alarm. These villages, unpro-
tected themselves, are the sentinels of Tyary to the west, and had
already suffered much from both Kurds and Turks. That very
spring, a detachment of lawless mercenaries had fallen on Hal-
mon, and killed twelve men and seven women, before the vil-
lagers could either flee or submit. The last of their flocks were
carried off*; and, as nothing remained to plunder, the pasha sold
the villages back again to the Patriarch.
The inju^>tice of blaming these villages was acknowledged at
once, when they found that the force had actually passed, but,
 MOUNTAIN NEST0RIAN3. 321

instead of attacking the zozan of Ashitha, where they feared too

warm a reception, had gone against that of the Malek, near Ma-
lota, where Dr. Grant had left all so happy, less than a year be-
fore. It Avas a real Kurdish chappow. Several men, women and
children, were slain, and four or five thousand sheep driven away,

before a force could be gathered to the rescue. The loss fell

chiefly on the Malek, doubtless in revenge for his constant sup-

port of Mar Shimon against the emir. Redress was out of the
cpiestion, for who could punish the Bey of Bulitan ? The Malek
could only deplore his loss, and anticipate yet greater evils. But,
though all expected these, through a strange want of union, no
measures were taken to avert them. Mar Shimon dismissed his
few remaining followers, and returned nearly alone to Ashitha,
full of wrath against the emir, as the true cause of the disaster.
He was also provoked with his own people, for their refusal to
assist him. He now turned to the Turks, and applied to the
Pasha of Mosul for the aid he had been led to expect. But
such conditions of submission were insisted on as led to the
reply, " We are not foxes, that we should fear, but lions, and
can fight !
" This was not what was wanted, and the pasha
referred the Patriarch to the Mutsellim of Dawudia, as their
medium of communication. The answers of the latter, however,
were forwarded in Syriac from Mosul, and, without being able to
read them, he afiixed his seal, and forwarded them to the

Patriarch as his own. Vague hopes were held out, and submis-
sion was still insisted on. At one time the Patriarch was told
that Badir Khan Bey would not be allowed to go against him ;

and again he wrote, " If he sends an armj^ on that side, I will

send another on this ;" an enigmatical sentence, doubtless in-

tended to be understood very diiferently from the way in which

it was afterwards fulfilled.

The detention of Messrs. Smith and Bliss, though at first very

trying to us, proved, in the end, a merciful providence, as it
322 DR. G RA XT A XD T II E NE S T R I A N S .

Avas now evident that tliosc in Mosul should not enter the moun-
iains, though Dr. Grant did not, as yet, see it duty to retire.

The time had now arrived for his promised visit to Badir
Khan Bey ; and, hoping to receive new light on the course to

be pursued in the present crisis, he determined to go. Mar

Shimon objected, lest it should look like suing for peace ; and
Dr. Grant confessed, " In my secret heart I often wished the
promise had not been made ; but made it had been, and good
might gro-w" out of it. At least, I should prove we w^ere men of
truth, and, if suspicions existed, they might be removed. At any
rate, I felt that I must go ;
" and the Patriarch, finding him
resolved, at length approved of the measure."
Dr. Grant thus writes to Mr. Stocking, June 4th :
" As to

our situation now, our reinforcement is detained. Mr. L. urges

me to join him in Mosul, and not stay here, where the present
attitude of the Porte will embolden both the pasha and the
Kurds to seek my life. God only knows what may grow out of
all this, or what may be my future course. Hitherto my Turk-
ish protection has been a great check upon men of blood. May
the Lord guide me in the right way, and may His great name be
"
glo-ified !
 ;

CHAPTER XVI.

VISIT TO BADIR KHA!! BEY FIERCENESS OF MOUNTAINEERS KESTA

ANTIQUITIES KAI.A KUMRI THE HABOR A KURDISH " CUISINE "
DR. grant's COMMISSARIAT A SABBATH IN ZACHO RULE OF BA--
DIR KHAN BEY JEZIRA FORTS IN MOUNTAIN PASS DERGULEH
THE ASSEMBLED CHIEFS ORIGIN OF THE WAR BADIR KHAN BEY'S
PROMISE TO DR. GRANT HIS CHARACTER SUMMER QUARTERS A
GEORGIAN HOW A KURDISH CHIEF SPENDS THE DAY TRADITION OF
THE ARK
SHAKII RETURN TO ASHITIIA.

On Thursday, June 6th, he left Ashitha, at six a. m. Many

had collected to express their kind wishes for his safety, and all
seemed hope that good would result from his visit;
to for,
though he had repeatedly told them he could not interfere witli
politics, yet they knew his labors could prosper only in a time
of peace. Even the shepherds, as he passed along, left their
flocks to invoke blessings on his journey, and bespeak his
mediation.
He could not but pity these last, poorly sheltered from the
storm, with barely enough to sustain life, and in constant alarm
lest they should either be slain or robbed of their flocks, which
were their sole dependence. Only a few of them had fallen as
yet; but they had an undefined dread of heavier calamities to
come. For, while the Patriarch and a few of his friends looked
to the Turks for help, others trusted in the promises of the
Kurds, and most, without any common plan of action, sat still,

in trembling apprehension. It was their harvest season, if

the cutting of a crop Df mountain fennel can be called such.
This is often a time of fierce contention, involving, occasionally,
whole villages in war for the quantity is small, at the best
324 DR. GRANT AND THE

the limits of both clans and individuals are indistinctly marked:

and the dagger is ever in the girdle, ready to do the bidding of
the excited temper. But now each toiled within his own limits

in peace, or aided his neighbor to collect the grass, fennel and

thistles, into little stacks among the stones. Two hours down
the valley, in the district of Berwer, he passed a grove of
poplars, the usual mark of a village ; but he found only houses
burned and plundered by the very people who now trembled lest

the same fate should befall their own. Two years before, they had
burned several villages, in this district, both Kurdish and Nesto-
rian, excusing the plunder of their brethren by the plea, that, if

they had spared them, the Kurds would have counted it a reli-
gious war, and not only destroyed these villages, but inflicted a
ten-fold revenge. Hitherto he had followed the road by which
Mr. L. returned to Mosul. Now he turned up the valley to the

right, and crossed the mountain by a gentle ascent. The founda-

tions of an old castle, built of immense blocks of stone, show that
the pass was once deemed worthy of defence. It is called the pass
of Kesta, and is the most practicable road from Zacho to the
highlands of Assyria, and thence to Media Atropatene. The
scenery here was delightful. Flowering plants lined the path,
and birds carolled sweetly under the shade of ancient oaks, on
whose branches grew the mistletoe. The sight was refreshing,
and reminded the weary pilgrim of a distant home. On the
western face of the mountain he passed a Kurdish hamlet,
watered by a stream that flowed into the Habor. Further on was
the large village of Aden (Eden), and well worthy of the name,
amid its groves and gardens. The stream here dashed through a
narrow gorge. On the left, the ruins of an aqueduct, cut partly
in the face of the cliflf, and partly built up, with great labor,

from below, probably dated from the same period as the ruins
in the pass above.

After crossing and recrossing the stream, now on break-neck

bridges, and now dashing through the water, he emerged into a
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 325

more open country, studded with villages, each overlooked by

the castle of its chief. These last are relatives of the chief of
Berwer, who belongs to an ancient family, called by the Nesto-
rians the family of Melka Aziz (the beloved king).

Dr. Grant soon came in sight of his castle (Kala Kumri),

perched on an isolated peak, to the right, much higher and
smaller than that of Amadia.
The Habor breaks through the rugged chain on the north,
and flows, almost directly under the castle. Its course is here

south-west, till it passes the end of the Matineh range, whence it

flows nearly west to the Tigris, forty miles below. Across the
river, and some distance above, is another castle of the Hertush
Kurds, then occupied by the noted robber Zeiner Bey. To
avoid him. Dr. Grant left the direct road, which here crosses the
river near a large Jewish village, and, bearing more to the
south, crossed an intervening valley. At five p. m., he stood on
the summit of the Matineh range, Ashitha bearing north, fifty
degrees east, and the snowy peak of Avrora north, thirty
degrees east. At a quarter before seven he found a cordial
welcome at the small Nestorian village of Dey. All night long,
however, he was kept awake by the howling of the dogs. Vil-
lages not far ofi" had recently been robbed ; and no one, when he
lay down, knew whether he would rise again, or rise a beggar ;

and it seemed as if even the dogs shared in the general

apprehension.
Next morning he left at five o'clock ; course west and west-
by -north, three hours, to the Habor ; then, keeping along the

south side of the river, till half-past one p. m., he stopped at an

encampment of Kurds, who had left their village, if not their

vermin, to breathe the pure air by the river's bank. Booths of

reeds and bushes, from six to twelve feet square, sheltered each
one its family ; and the shade of a large walnut-tree was the
place of assembly. Dr. Grant spread his rug on a coarse mat
of reeds, and tried to make up for the losses of the night before.
82(3 DK. GRAN T A N h T H K

But, ere he was fairly asleep, lie was summoned to partake of

some half-baked barley-bread and sour milk, poured into a dirty
wooden bowl, from a goat-skin that certainly was no cleaner.

This was followed by another dish of the same, which had long
ago passed into the acetous fermentation. It waa by no means
a feast to be desired ; but it was all the place afforded. He was
anxious to go on ; and the people told him there vras plenty of

villages on the road, all better than their own. Happily, a young
man from Zaeho told him, in Turkish, that there was not a hu-
man dwelling in the whole six hours' ride. So he invited him-
self to stay, as much against his own will as theirs ; and, find-

ing him determined, they left him in quiet possession of all out-

doors. In the evening the chief of the village returned from

Zacho, and all hastened to hear the news. Such and such vil-

lages have been robbed by Zeiner Bey. Badir Khan Bey is

raising a large army against Tyary, and says he will break

these infidels, or they him. The pasha is collecting an army at

Dawudia, and has ordered the neighboring Kurds to be ready to

march at a moment's notice. Such was some of the news eagerly
devoured by all the village, and by none more eagerly than by
their stranger guests. As it grew late, the crowd dispersed, and
Dr. Grant, having carefully secured his mule close by his side,

soon sunk to rest.

Next morning, he rose with the dawn, bound on his girdle, and,
without more ado, was ready for his journey. The sore eyes of
the villagers kept him busy, while some bread was half smoked,
half baked, for his attendants. Cold water was his chief pre-
scription, an important prophylactic to the half-naked urchins
that gambolled around, and not at all injurious to their sunburnt
mammas. The road from hence to Zacho was a mere foot-path,

winding through deep ravines and over sandstone hills, clad

in dwarf oaks and shrubs. Several villages nestled at the foot

of the mountain on the left, and the Habor flowed on the right,

swollen by the melting snows of mountains, whose shhiing

 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 327

summits peeped from behind the darker surface of an intervening

range to the north-east.
After five hours' ride, he stopped at a spring, near a hamlet,
visited bj the villagers in the day-time, to secure their crops,
but forsaken at night, for the greater security of the villages at
the foot of the mountain. A band of nomad Kurds passed
while he was there ; but, as their families were with them, he
apprehended no danger. It was not, however, a place to linger,
and, moistening some gingerbread and crackers, given him by
the good ladies of Oroomiah more than a year before, he hur-

ried on. A mile or two above Zacho, the river runs close to
the southern range of mountains, while an extended plain, of
great fertility, stretches away, on the north, nearly to Jezira,
separated only by the Tigris from the great plain of Mesopo-
tamia. The Habor here flows in a deep narrow channel,
through a bed of conglomerate, and is spanned by a substantial
stone bridge, very high in the middle, and supported by five

arches of unequal size. Another bridge connects the island of

Zacho to the southern shore. Crossing this, Dr. Grant entered
the place at one p. m., through a gate guarded by soldiers, after a

ride of seven hours, exclusive of delay. He repaired immediately

to the castle, whose garrison was utterly unable to protect the vil-

lages of the district from Kurdish depredation. Two of them

had been robbed the night before but the robbers escaped with
;

their prey before the deed was known, and what could be done ?

As long as Ismael Pasha hired Zeiner Bey to annoy the Pasha

of Mosul, and Badir Khan Bey connived at it, no one was
safe. Small parties of soldiers were sent out, but accom-
plished nothing ; and the Mutsellim, like a good Moslem, sent
word to his superior, and then sat down to smoke and await the
result.

Hearing the doctor was from Tyary, the Mutsellim inquired

in Ashitha, and
whether he was a servant of the Balyos (consul)
would hardly believe that the humble individual before him was
27
328 I>R. GRANT AND THE

that distinguished personage himself. He told him that Badir

Khan Bey had threatened to drive him from the mountains, and
had actually sent spies to see what he was about in Ashitha ; but

that he need fear nothing in his visit.

As no quiet could be had in the castle on the Sabbath, the

doctor was billeted on the head man of the Jews. This was

sad news to his Nestorians, as they esteemed the food of a Jew

unclean. It was Saturday, too, and nothing could be cooked

till after sunset ; but the Jews offered arrack, of which, as usual,
they had partaken rather freely themselves. They number
about one thousand souls, but were formerly much more numer-
ous. As usual, Dr. Grant was at no loss in conversing with
them. They showed him their synagogue, the largest building

in the place, except the castle. But, though so friendly, they

were very bigoted. The doctor never had a Hebrew New Tes-
tament returned to him before and some young men who
;

desired copies were dissuaded from receiving them. Dr. Grant

observed here, for the first time, what he afterwards learnt was
common, that the Kurds employ Jews to circumcise their
children in the Hebrew mode, rather than perform it themselves
at a later periodj like the rest of the Moslems. He had more
patients than he could attend to, and did not form a favorable
opinion of the climate. The heat was very oppressive to one
fresh from the cool air of the mountains.
Monday morning he had to ford the northern branch of the
river, a hundred yards in width, and the water reaching nearly
to the backs of the mules. His baggage was carried over on
men's Tieads; and a very tall horse, sent by the Mutsellim,
landed him safe and dry on the shore. Starting at seven o'clock,
he followed down the river, and at half-past eight forded the
Hazil, near their junction. The course of the latter stream,

froni the pass where it breaks through the rocky chain of Mount
Judi, is due south-west. It is about one-half as large as th *.
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 329

Habor, and rises near Shakh, a village two and a half days from
Van.
The doctor was now in the territory of Badir Khan Bey
and, after stopping an hour and a half at one Syrian village, to
prescribe for the sick, at the urgent request of the priest he
spent the night at another, called Dakea. Just before this he
passed a village of Nestorians and Jews. The former are few
in number on the plain, but more numerous in the neighboring
mountains, and are much oppressed by both Turks and Kurds.
])r. Grrant had seen in Ashitha a priest from Chellek, a village
of sixty houses, north-west of the Habor, who fled from an
oppression he could no longer endure ;
not, however, till his
own brother had been tortured to death, in the eifort to exact
more money than he was ableto pay. The mules of his host in
Dakea had been fancied by Badir Khun Bey and, as no one ;

dares to withhold anything so honored, they had disappeared.

The bey had a special fancy for all the good animals of " unbe-
lievers." Of late, too, he had left no alternative to the Yezi-
dees but the Koran or the sword, alleging that tribute was
only the privilege of those who received the law or the gospel,
and they had neither. Happily, many had warning of what was
before them, and fled ; but many more were left to turn Moslems,
or die martyrs for Satan.
It was not till the year before that the bey got entire posses-
sion of this plain. A large village on the road was pointed out
as the scene of the last battle. It was one of the night-attackis

for which the Buhtan Kiirds are so famous. The onset was
fierce. The defence, by the famous Seiad Bey, was no less

determined, till his fill decided the contest. Some of the

assailants afterwards described the scene to Dr. Grant, and
boasted of their deeds of blood.
The threatened invasion of Tyary was the next topic ; and so

fully did it seem to be settled, the doctor almost repented of his

journey. He was quite interested in the family of his host.
 ;

330 DR. GRANT AND T 11 i:

His wife was the ?tep-niother of children nearly as old as her-

self; but all seemed fond of her. And yet she did not know
their language ; and, while their guest conversed with them in
Syriac, her husband now and then translated for her into Kurd-
ish. The doctor was pleased with these and other tokens of
mutual attachment, and makes special mention of the refinement
of a dormitory separated by a curtain from the rest of the fam-
ily, a thing so very uncommon in the region, it could not well
pass unobserved.
Next morning, June 13, he left at half-past two a. m., to
avoid the extreme heat, and reached Jezira in five and a half
hours. This, as is denoted by its name, is an island, in the
Tigris. It is the Bezabde of Syriac writers, called also Kardu,
Bakerdeh, Zozarta, Zabelita, and, by the Chaldeans, Xurta.
It is probably the Tigre of Ptolemy, and was an important fort-

ress in the Pvoman district of Zabdicene, which was subdued

under Dioclesian and Galerian. Sapor retook it, a. d. 360,
restored its fortifications, and garrisoned it with a colony of
veterans. At that time it was a bishopric of the Eastern church
for Ammianus Marcellinus tells us that " the Christian Bishop
of Bezabde went to Sapor to entreat him to check the waste of
human blood." Heliodorus, its bishop, two priests, and two
hundred and fifty others, are said to have sufi"ered martyrdom
under Sapor. The place formerly contained five convents.
The Nestorian Patriarchate was here for a time, and it was the
seat of one of their metropolitans in 1616. The Jacobite Bishop
of Azuk six hours above and two and a half from the Tigris
still retains the title of Bishop of Bezabde ; and a Nestorian
bishop Mar Yohannah resides still nearer in the moun-
tains north-east of the town.
A Saracenic palace, now in ruins, faces the Tigris, and its

alternate rows of black and white stone present an imposing

appearance from the opposite shore. They are ascribed to an
 MOUNTAIN NE S T 11 1 AN S . 3Sl

early period of the Hejira, but may have risen on the founda-

tions of a more ancient structure.

It had long been the capital of the chiefs of Buhtan, who, at

this time, resided in mountain fistnesses, more secure from the
Turks. Macdonald Kinneir was imprisoned here, and compelled
to pay a large ransom and a papal missionary was killed, be-
;

cause the patients he had prescribed for did not recover. A

]Moslem of the place told Dr. Grant that one of their nobility,
returning from an unsuccessful hunt, met with two Christians,
and deliberately shot one of them down, saying, as he fell,

" That is my game !

" " What could induce him to do so ?
"

asked the doctor. " Nothing,"' replied the other, " only, you
know, we regard it a great sowab (merit) to kill a Christian."
Such has been the character of the place, and such are still the
sentiments of its inhabitants. Judgments have overtaken them.
Their independence is gone ; but their hatred of Christians is

still the same. In 1836 Col. Shell found the town almost in
ruins, and only, after long search, could obtain a wretched hovel
to spend the day in. No inhabitants were to be seen : it abso-
lutely contained none but a few hundred sickly, miserable sol-

diers. Plague, cholera and war, had ruined the place. Neither
barley nor straw, not even grass, could be got for his horses.
No bread, no firewood ; nothing whatever, either from the gov-
ernor or the bazaar. About that time a nominal Turkish
authority was established by Reschid Pasha, and the town was
partially re-peopled.

Dr. Grant crossed the river on a raft, as the water was too
high to use the bridge of boats. A good stone bridge was built
here by Nurreddin, but has long since gone to ruin, leaving
scarce a wreck behind. The Mutsellim quartered his visitor on
his treasurer, an old acquaintance, to whom, as physician, he

was no unweloome guest. The best of everything was set before

him ; and even his worn-out boots were replaced by new ones,
for which his host would receive nothing in return. After a late
27*
332 DR. GRANT A N D T 11 E

breakfast, the doctor wished to set out for Derguleh, the castle
of the Bey ; but no guide could be found, till a Fellah, who had
come in to buy a sickle, was seized, and ordered to escort him.

He begged so hard, however, that, much to Dr. Grant's relief, as

well as his own, he was released. Happily a Kurd was found
at the river going in the same direction, and to his care he was
at once consigned.

The road led up a narrow glen, in which a stream flowed

south-west to the Tigris. From the entrance of the defile, the
range it was the famous Mount Judi
stretched away east-
south-east to the north of Zacho, where it is broken through by
the Hazil and Habor. On the left it shut down so abruptly on

the Tigris as apparently to bar all progress in that direction,

though that pass is practicable in the summer. Xenophon had
good reason to remember it, for it must have been here that he
resolved to march over the mountains that jutted out into the
river, when his prisoners told him he could thus either cross the

head of the Tigris, in Armenia, or go round it. The road to

Derguleh is the regular road to Sert and the upper Tigris.

The appearance of the place was like that described by Xeno-
phon, where the Carduchi disputed every step, and rolled down
great stones on the advancing Greeks. The pass is now defended
by strong forts, two on the right declivity, and three, one above
another, on the left. Some of these had been built, and others
repaired, that same year, if not to maintain greater independ-
ence of the Porte, for what other reason, and against what foe ?

Nestorian masons were allured from Bass, by liberal offers, to

labor on them. But the Rayahs of Buhtan were forced to toil

without reward; and, when they complained, were tantalizingly

told to become Moslems, and they would be released. Still

there were not enough of laborers, and the Mohammedan peas-

antry were called on to help. This did not suit the Moollahs,
and a dangerous fissure in one of the walls Avas pointed out, as
a mark of divine anger at the employmeni oi' " iru.o bulicverb.^'
 MOUNTAIN NESTOllIANS. 333

After the forts were finished, the poor Christians were further
compelled to build a stone bridge across the stream. Not far

below this monument of Kurdish intolerance a tunnel^ had been

cut through the rock in early times. It was broken in several
places, and seemed just large enough for a man to crawl through.

At the sunmiit of the pass an uneven upland lay before the

traveller, and scon two castles and the village of Derguleh
appeared, crowning a high bluff, whose base is washed by the
torrent. This was the stronghold of Badir Khan Bey, eighteen
miles from Jeziru. The castles were square, turreted build-
ings, whose clean white walls contrasted pleasantly with the
rough crags around. On the north needle-shaped rocks shot up
above the rest, and on one of the least accessible stood the
treasure-house of the Bey.
In a grassy dell, on the banks of a limpid stream, near the
foot of the castle-hill, stood the green tents of Ismael Pasha and
the Emir. The latter met his physician at the castle-gate with

an inquiring air, and expressed surprise at his presence there.

When he was told that it was merely a professional call, he bade
him welcome, but added, with significant emphasis, " Do not
interfere with our plans." He seemed to fear the doctor had
come to make terms for the Nestorians, and so prevent the utter
overthrow he so much- desired.
Satisfied on this point, he went to announce him to the Bey,
and soon returned, and introduced him as his old friend and
physician.
The master of ceremonies required that, on approaching the
Bey, he should kiss his hand, according to custom ; but the doc-
tor replied, promptly, that he should do no such thing. So ho

* Is not this the tunnel where Mr. Layard found the^ bas-reliefs de-
scribed on p. 55 of his " Babylon and Nineveh" His description of the
?

march of Xencphon, at p. 62 of the same volume, is probably more cor-

rect than that f Dr. Grant, as he went over so much more of the route of
the Ten Thousand.
334 DK . G 11 AN T A In \> T II E

was left to pursue his own course, and had no cause to complain
of his reception then, or treatment afterwards. The Bey
offered him a room in the castle, adding that the Emir also

wished him to occupy one of his tents, and he might take his

choice. The doctor compromised the matter, by making the

castle his home, and spent a part of each day with the Emir, oc-

casionally sharing his repasts, as in former days. Ismael Pasha

was here, and had just obtained the release of his wives, who had
been detained sixteen months as hostages in Mosul, by engaging
to stop the robberies of Zeiner Bey. The conduct of Badir
Khan Bey, in harboring this rebel against the government under
which he held his own office, and his building forts with one
hand while he paid tribute with the other, may serve to indicate
the character and position of the man. The truth was, his pro-

fessed allegiance gave him great influence throughout northern

Kurdistan ; hence he was willing to pay for it. It was an ob-
ject, too, to be at peace with a neighbor against whom he could
not contend. When summoned before the Pasha of 3Iosul, his
special military appointment was his excuse for remaining with
his army ; and as long as he paid the customary tribute, and
sent other presents to the capital, the Porte did not care about
waging an expensive and perhaps protracted war. He stood

ready, moreover, to fight the battles of the Sultan ; and now his

powerful arm was needed in a long-desired but difficult

enterprise.

The existence of an independent Christian people in the very

centre of Islam was a reproach no longer to be endm-ed. But
neither the regular Nizam, the cavalry of the Janizaries, nor the
heavy artillery, could cope with them in their mountain strong-
holds. Men of similar habits, accustomed to their mode of war-
fare, must do. the work. For this the conquests of Reschid Pasha
had prepared the way ; and, though the Kurds were not loyal

to the Porte, they were zealous for their faith, and eager tc
wipe off many a long score of blood.
 MOUNTAIN NE S T il I A N 3 . 335

If the Turkish government was at all desirous of the con-

quest of the Nestorians, we need not wonder, after what we have
seen of the existing relations between them and the Hakkary
tribes, to find these last most zealous in effecting it. Indeed, the
Emir was the prime mover in the whole affair. As to the con-
nection of the Turks with the invasion, Dr. Grant was told that
the Pasha of Erzrnm, to whom the Nestorian country nominally
belonged, was in correspondence with the assembled chiefs, and
(hat the war had received his sanction. He ventured, one day,
to suggest to the Bey that he had heard the Pasha of Mosul
would aid the Nestorians. With a smile of derision, the Kurd
gave a most decided negative, as one who knew perfectly well
whereof he affirmed. The refusal of firmans to Messrs. Smith
and Bliss was now explained. Khan Mahmud, a Kurdish chief,
subject to Van, was also at Derguleh, at the request, as was
said, of Badir Khan Bey.
The complete subjugation of the Nestorians was the all-absorb-
ing topic, and the chiefs spoke about it before Dr. Grant with-

out the least reserve. Both the Bey and Emir assured him of
their protection, if he remained in Ashitha ; and engaged that
not only his property and person should be unharmed, but, also,
all who might take refuge in his house. They promised, more-
over, that the whole valley of Ashitha, as far as Lezan, should
be spared for his sake, if the inhabitants would only submit and
pay tribute. He thanked them for their kindness, and told them
he would depend on their redeeming their pledge about the
mission-house, whether he remained or not. As for the people,
he promised to tell them of the offer, but could neither advise
them to accept or reject it. They thought this over-scrupulous.
" But," said the doctor, ''
suppose evil should grow out of it,

would they not say I occasioned it ? " " What !

" replied the Bey,
" do you doubt our pledge?" and he repeated it again. Dr.
Grant, in retui-n, explained at length our settled policy of non-
intervention ii. pollticul matters, further than related to our own
 !

336 DR. GRANT AND THE

protection. He then showed him his firmans, &c. ; but the Be^
neither rose, as is usual, nor heard them read. He merely
handed them over to a Moollah, saying, " They are not needed
here ; you are our guest, and it is all one whether you have
firmans or no. Our word is security enough in Buhtan."
The Emir's hatred of Mar Shimon could not be concealed, in
some of these interviews. He was evidently impatient of every
day's delay, and was much annoyed to hear that Hciyo had
been restored to favor. Though, in the matter of the invasion,
he was the leading spirit, his position among the chiefs was
quite inferior to that of the Bey. Both he and Ismael Pasha
might have claimed precedence, as descendants of the Abbaside
Caliphs. But the personal influence of Badir Khan Bey raised
him far above them, though he could claim only a respectable
Arabian ancestry. In devotion to Islam he was hardly second to
the Dervishes and Moollahs, with whom he was proud to be
classed. They were his privy counsellors, and much of the
severity of the war must be laid to their charge. They inveighed
with great vehemence against the Nestorians. It was such a work
of " charity " to destroy those " infidels " as would meet with
rich reward in Paradise. " Kill all the men," they cried, " who
will not receive the . Koran. Take their women and children.
Raise up a race of believers from the former, and train up the
others in the faith of the Prophet, on whom be blessing and
peace " !
To increase hatred against them, they were called
Franks, and even said to wear hats. The conical felt hat, worn
inTyary from time immemorial, was said to have been intro-
duced by Dr. Grant, and was quoted, even at the capital, in
extenuation of the war
The health of the Bey seemed almost forgotten, in these more
stirring topics. It had improved already, under the exciting
hope of a conquest, reserved for him, according to his flatterers,-
as " the favored of Allah." Still the Hekirn must feel his pulse,

and give the name and nature of his disease. Aware of his
 M UNTA I N NE S T 11 IAN S . 337

voluptuous habits, he was able, after gravely counting his pulse,

to tell him his feelings, with such precision and minuteness as
induced a very high opinion of his skill. Satisfied, too, that the

coarse fare of the Zozan and its bracing air, away from his well-
filled harem, it contained more than thirty, would do more
good than any prescription, he confined his advice to such general

directions as, iffolloioed, would have been very beneficial. But

a score of the inmates of the castle must be attended to, and the
Bey must see all that was done. A favorite servant was bled,
and no water was at hand to wash the arm. Knowing he
could not engage in their prayers unless it were washed, the
doctor asked whether he would have it bound up as it was, and
the Bey at once replied, " We keep nobody here who does not
pray." The answer was characteristic of the man.
Dr. Grrant was seized, on the 14th, with such violent and
peculiar pain in his bowels, he could hardly resist the impression
that he was poisoned. He spent most of the day l3^ing in the tent

of the Emir, thinking of the attentions of the kind friends that

make sickness almost a luxury at home. His poor Nestorians,
too, so far from their native valleys, and hearing so much of war
and slaughter, could hardly eat or sleep. They also were ill, and
longed to leave, if, better than their fears, they might escape
with life.

The doctor asked leave to return, but the Bey would not hear
of his going. His principal officer was sick at a Zozan, higher
up the mountain, and nothing would do but the doctor must go
and see him also. There was no refusing ; so he assented, with
the best grace he could. The Bey was to leave next morning
for his own Zozan, and it was arranged that Dr. Grant should
start at- the same time for the other, and return to him in two or
three days.
That evening, the horses and mules of Badir Khan Bey were
shut up in the castle-court, to the number of two hundred.
Tents, provisions, carpets and the like, were all got ready ; and,
838 A NT A N D

at dawn, were on the iiiovc, with hi.s harem and a score or two of
attendants. Two small cannons were also brought out, but finally
left, as too heavy for transportation over the mountains.
The Bey and his personal attendants remained behind a few
hours, that all might l)e made ready for his arrival at the camp.
Dr. Grant took his leave in a grove of fruit-trees, between the
castles, where the chief held his levees. He noticed, in passing
through the town, that, though it contained six hundred houses,
as many as Jezira, yet they were neither old nor ruinous,
as there. The whole had grown up under the administration of
the Bey. The morning was delightful, and a gradual ascent of
four hours brought liiui to his patient. In his guide he recog-
nized a young Armenian who had entered Mardin with him four
3"ears before. He vras now a Moslem, and, though ignorant, was
full of the bigotry so characteristic of those who leave a purer for
a more corrupt religion.
His new patient was a Georgian, baptized in the name of
Christ, but sold in childhood to a Turk, who gave him his free-
dom on his becoming a Mussulman. His fine form and features
bore witness to his lineage, and his education befitted a better
lot. Though not yet forty years of age, he had served no less

than eighteen Pashas, and now he lay among Kurds, in a

little hut of oak-bushes ; all, he said, because it was written in

his forehead, and who can alter the decree of Allah ? Poor
man ! The doctor pitied him, and did what he could for his
relief. But his disease was deep-seated, and he was too much
the slave of appetite and prejudice to improve the little chance
that was left him.
On the 18th, Dr. Grant returned to the camp of the Bey,
distant three hours north-by-west. At the top of the first range
a beautiful prospect of mountain and valley opened before him.
The Derguleh creek came down from the north-east, in a valley
partly wooded and partly under cultivation, and then dashed
through a rocky gap in the mountain to the left. The opposite
 MOUNTAIN NESTOllIANS. 339

side of the valley seemed the highest, but both retained more or
less of snow. In front of a cliff, on the left declivity, was a
green lawn, dotted with the black tents of the Bey. His own
was noways distinguished from the rest, except in size, being
about thirty yards by ten.
If there was a change in his dwelling, there was no less in his
personal appearance. The robe of Damascus silk had given
place to the goat's-hair coat and striped shalwar of the Kurds.
His richly-embroidered turban was exchanged for another of a

dark cotton fabric, spotted with red. But the ivory handle of
the same heavy dagger protruded from his girdle, and the same
line of kohl still stained his eyelids. At early dawn he sallied

forth, with one set of attendants to drive together the game, and
another to supply him with loaded guns, while for an hour or
more he thinned the ranks of the mountain pheasants. Coffee

was served on his return ; then came company. Breakfast fol-

lowed, and business filled up the forenoon, till he retired to his

harem at noon. Another levee in the afternoon, and dinner
closed the regular routine of the day. This was but little inter-

rupted by the occasional removal of the camp higher up the

mountain, for better pasture and cooler air. It need not be
added that the hours of prayer were scrupulously observed by
all his people, as soon as the sonorous voice of the Moollah
repeated the adan (call to prayer). A class of twelve bright-

looking boys also took regular lessons in reading from one of

their religious teachers.

But the preparations for invasion were becoming daily more

mature. An army was soon to march against Diss, and Dr. Grant
was anxious to get away, especially as he could do so little where
he was of direct missionary work. The Bey recommended him to

return by a nearer road, whi,h he pointed out. As it would

have enabled him to explore the country, he felt inclined to take
it ; but, as it lay through the country of the Hertush Kurds,
his Nestorians remonstrated against passing near that dreaded
28
 ;

340 DR. G 11 ANT AN i) T UE

tribe ; and, as it might be easy to murder hi Ui in that distant

district, and then charge the crime to its irresponsible inhabit-

ants, he concluded to return by the way lie came.

He accordingly retraced his steps to the abode of his Georgian
patient, whence he had a view over half the horizon, such as few
positions can command. The plain of Mesopotamia extended as
far as the eye could reach, without a tree to break the uniformity.

Just before him, south five degrees east, was the bare summit
of Mount Judi, the reputed resting-place of the Ark. Arabs,

Turks, Kurds, Christians, and even Jews, agree with Josephus

and other ancient writers in making this the place. The Pesh-
ito, instead of " Ararat," reads, " the mountains of Cordu." So
also do the targums of Onkelos and Jonathan. Assemani says
that a convent here bore the name of " the Ark," as early as the
third century, but it is now supplanted by a Ziyaret of the Mos-
lems. The Ararat of Armenia rests chiefly on Armenian tradi-
tion ; and Consul Brant, of Erzrum, thinks its inaccessible char-

acter is against its claims. Besides, the region is too cold for

the olive ; and Mohammedan writers state Judi to be the true

location. The prospect also took in one of the rivers of Eden
thus, if the preceding view be correct, bringing the two cradles
of the race into close proximity. Tv/o or three days' journey

beyond the Tigris the mountains of Sinjar are seen rising out of
the plain. They bear south from twenty degrees to forty degrees

west ; and directly in a line with its eastern extremity, on the

same range with Mount Judi, stood a castle, guarding the pass
by which he was about to return. Just below him was another
Kurdish Zozan, where, in the evening, they assembled in a circle,

and repeated simultaneously, " La Illaha il Ullah " (there is no

God but God) ; at first slowly, but gradually increasing in force

and rapidity, till they were in a perfect frenzy by the hour

together.
On Friday, the 23d, he set out on his return. A guile was

sent by the Bey and a purse of gold ; the first he accepted, the
 31 UNTA I N N E S T O 11 I A N i', . 341

last he declined, giving his reasons in a subsequent note of

thanks for his attentions, and expressing reliance on his promise
of future good-will.
In the uneven valley at the foot of the mountain he passed a
mound with a black mineral protruding from its sides, and scat-
tered in fragments in the path. His guide said it would burn,
but an unpleasant odor prevented its use. Some specimens of
this, with many others, both geological and botanical, were lost

in the subsequent invasion. Leaving Derguleh an hour on the

right, he struck directly for the pass and castle mentioned above.
A road, winding among deep ravines and over partially-wooded
hills, led to the summit, where he made a meal of the last of two
or three sea-biscuit, brought by Mr. Homes to Mardin, four
years before. The castle stood on a rock, two hundred feet or
more above the pass, and, like the rest, had recently been
repaired. It would contain many more soldiers than were
needed to guard the zigzag path to the plain below. This was
so steep that he was obliged to walk till he could hardly
stand. But, once at the bottom, his way led through a lovely
valley, watered by a stream flowing between trees that overhung
its waters.
In this valley the village of Shakh lay environed by gardens
and vineyards, and a ruined castle gave a yet more peaceful air

to the scene. It was a refreshing contrast to the warlike camps

he had just left ; though even here were servants of the Bey
sent, as usual, to secure his half of the harvest the villagers were
now threshing in the fields. The sun had just set as he arrived,
and a white-turbaned Moollah, in the absence of a minaret, was
repeating the call to prayer from one of the house-tops (Luke
12 : 3). But all else was soon forgotten in a circle of Nesto-
rians, who welcomed him to their quarter, and gathered around
him on the roof, where he spent the night. He was a day too
late to see their bishop, Mar Yoosuf, who had gone that morning
to visit ten of his villages to the eastward. They are so few
342 DR. GRANT AND THE

and so scattered among lawless Kurds, that, though greatly

in need of the gospel, they are rather an unpromising field of
labor. Dr. Grant left an assortment of our Syriac publications
for the bishop, and spent a good part of the night in exhorting
those around him to search the Scriptures and stand fast in the

truth.

Next morning, starting at four o'clock, he rode for an hour

and a half by the side of the dashing torrent (the Hazil), before

he reached the plain. At eleven o'clock he stopped at a Chal-

dean village, where they furnished him a breakfast of rice
and milk, fresh from the buffaloes just driven in from pasture.
The priest accepted the last copy of the Epistles he had with
him, and a Jew took the first copy of the Hebrew New Testa-
ment he had ever seen. Large fields of cotton showed that the
soil was fertile, though most of it lay waste, the winter pasture
of nomad Kurds. Three hours further brought him to Zacho,

where he spent the Sabbath among the papal Syrians. Their

spacious church is nearly empty. The town has shrunk for

within the ruined rampart of former days. Even the island is

but half covered with houses; so it was ruin, ruin, everywhere.

From this place the pass of Shakh bore due north-west.

Monday morning he started at four o'clock, and, pursuing
a more southern route than before, passed through Baderusky,
nine hours and three-quarters from Zacho. He had intended to

return by Dawudia ; but a blood-feud between his attendants and

a village on that route compelled him to alter his course for
Dey. That lay two hours and a half to the north-east, and there
was just time to reach it ; but an accident detained him, and so,

picking his way in the dark, over the pathless crags, at the im-

minent hazard of his neck, he arrived once more among kind

friends, late and weary.
Another ride of twelve hours brought him to Ashitha, June
27th, where he was welcomed more cordially than ever ; first by
scores of the shepherds, who came to meet him, and then hy the
 n UNTA I N NE S T R I A >' S . o43

Patriarch himself, who had been waiting for his return. To the
repeated inquiry whether there was danger, his two attendants
uniformly replied, " Even unto death." And their own fear,

justly excited by what they had witnessed, soon communicated

itself to all around them.
28^
 CHAPTER XYII.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE STOBM VISIT TO MALEK BERKHO SLAUGHTER
IN DISS RETURN OF DR. GRANT TO MOSUL MASSACRE AT CHUMBA,
AT MAR SAWA AND SERSPIDHO DESTITUTION AFTER THE SLAUGHTER
MAR SHIMON FLEES TO MOSUL MISERY OF THE CAPTIVES SUFFER-
INGS OF THE REMNANT INSURRECTION IN ASHITHA BRINGS DBSTRUC-
TION ON THE WHOLE VALLEY BUTCHERY AT LEZAN LA YARD 'S AC-
COUNT ATROCITIES OF ZEINER BEY FALL OF TEHOMA STATISTICS.

Up to this moment the Nestorians had done nothing to pre-

pare for the impending crisis. Accustomed to regard their
rugged mountains as a sure defence, many still indulged vain
dreams of safety. There were heart-burnings, too, ill befitting

their situation. The emir had offered peace to the Nestorians

on condition that Mar Shimon should lay aside all civil author-
ity, and settle down at Kochannes as head of the church, leav-
ing politics to the Maleks and himself This many of the Nes-
torians desired should be done, and accused Mar Shimon of
being the cause of all the calamities impending over them, be-
cause he would not make peace on this condition. They were
angry, too, because he widened the breach by corresponding
with the Pasha of Mosul. The Patriarch, in turn, upbraided
them, because they had not aided him to compel the emir to
terms. This, and the unconciliatory course he pursued towards
his own people, particularly in Tyary, so far alienated them that
his authority was, in a great measure, lost. They had already
defied his anathema, pronounced against every family that did
not send a man against the emir in the spring; and now, such
was the state of feeling that any general plan of defence was
 DR. GRANT AND THE N E S T 11 1 AN S . 345

utterly impossible. Each village looked after its own interests,

and left the others to their fate.

Moreover, reports were so various and contradictory, no one

knew when or where to expect an attack. Even the reports
about Dr. Gcant did not agree. One made him a prisoner of
Badir Khan Bey ; another said he was making terms for them ;

and a third, that, failing in that, he had gone to Mosul to com-

plain to the pasha. Hence their eager interest to hear from him
what and how great the danger was. That it was imminent was
now evident to all. From the open manner in which the chiefs
had talked with him, Dr. Grant felt at liberty to tell the Nesto-
rians what they had said, and make the overtures already men-
tioned. His duty to them would not allow him to do less ; and,
as a missionary, he could do no more. He urged them to union
in council and concert in action ; but did not advise what that
council or action should be. That he left entirely to themselves.
The question was not left long in suspense. The Kurdish
army was already on its way to Diss. The Patriarch tried to

warn his family of their danger. He also sought to raise troops

to 0 to their relief; but in vain. As none knew where the blow

would fall, each refused to leave his own village exposed, in order
to help a distant tribe.

At this juncture Suleiman Bey summoned the Nestorians to

surrender, threatening invasion if they refused. But little con-

fidence was put in the offers of any of the chiefs. Even the

Patriarch did not believe Badir Khan Bey would spare the val-
ley of Ashitha, as he had promised. He regarded the offer

rather as a plan to divide them. The whole country seemed

given up to destruction, and waited in dread suspense for the
fatal blow. At length, after long discussion, it was agreed to

meet in council at Mar Sawa, and decide there what course to

pursue.
Dr. Grant now felt strongly inclined to retire to Mosul till

the storm had passed ; but the poor people were so disheartened
 :

346 L 11. a II ANT AND T II ii

by the proposal, he resolved to remain as long as his presence

could be of any service. Hitherto, he had based his resolution to

remain chiefly on the ground that, if the course pursued by the

Turkish government was sufficient to drive him out of the moun-
tains, it was sufficient to keep him out, and, consequently, the

mission was at an end ; for, if he could not go on quietly with

his work, there was little hope that, after leaving, he \TOuld be
allowed to resume it. He wrote to Mr. L., July 3d :

" Your favor, received this morning, makes me half inclined

to go to Mosul. Tell Mrs. L. that sometimes I should .ike some

of her good nursing. I am often reminded of it when I feel ill,

and realize that I am alone. But I have a sort of premonition

that I shall be an invalid as soon as I leave this exciti ig scene

of toil ; if, indeed, I am not before." He then expresses an un-
willingness to leave a field where, even in weakness and danger,
he might do some missionary work, for Mosul, where fie Board
had forbidden us to labor ; but adds, " I shall retire as soon as
I think Christian prudence requires, and not expose myself to

danger uncalled." In a letter to Dr. Anderson, he say i

" There is no calculating what a day may bring forth. I fear

that these unhappy lands are doomed to yet greater miseries.

War and commotion is the order of the day ; but God reigns I

A glorious day is at hand. The deepest darkness precedes the

dawn. Our faith may be sorely tried ; but we will not despair.

Even in these trying events God has purposes of mer3y. We

may know them now, but
not the veil will be removed. But,
should our work be arrested, '
what,' it will be asked, '
avails
the toil and suffering, the precious lives that have been sacri-
ficed ? ' I answer : Let them but awaken the pi-ayers of God's
children for this dear people, and they are not lost. Nor would
the price be too great for the persevering and agonizing prayers
of the church, should other lives be laid on the same altar.
Christians have yet to feel that it is not by might or by power,
but b the spirit of God, that the world is to be converi^ed ; and
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 347

of missionaries, even by their death, only awaken more prayer

for the Holy Spirit, they will not have toiled in vain." Do not
these -^fords, in view of events shortly to be related, seem like
the utterances of an ancient prophet ?

Just at this time, Malek Berkho, of Salaberka, was taken

sick, und sent for him. He was friendly to the emir, and hostile
to the Patriarch. Mar Shimon strongly dissuaded him from
going, urging the motive the Malek would have to purchase his
own safety by patting him to death.
Though Dr. Grant had a very low opinion of Berkho, yet, as
he hoped to be able to reconcile him to the Patriarch, he con-
cluded to go. He had trusted himself in the hands of the emir,

Heiyo, and Badir Khan Bey ; and now, small as the prospect
was of doing good, he did not shrink from a similar danger.

On Friday, July 7, just ten days after his return to Ashitha,

he left it for the last time. He never again saw the home where
he had hoped to live and die, and make his grave among the
Nestorians. At Lezan, two additional messengers from the

Malek hastened his journey, and some leading men in that vil-

lage, who hoped he would induce Berkho to attend the council,

also urged him to proceed. One of them Shemasha Yonan
accompanied him to the bridge, helped to drive the mules
into the water, and, when all were safe over, parted from
him to meet no more ; for, on Dr. Grant's return, he had gone
to the council, where few ever assembled, and in the second
invasion he was slain.
A toilsome ride of six hours brought Dr. Grant to the house
of the Malek. Both of his mules were lamed, and their shoes
torn off among the rocks of the road. As no iron was to be had
to replace the shoes, the Malek sent for a priest the only per-

son in the region adequate to the task to transform his own

ploughshare into the articles required. This matter settled, the
doctor went to work on his patient, lanced an ulcer on his neck,
and in other ways so far relieved him, that he pressed his physi-
348 I) R . (1 K A NT ANT) T U E

cian to accept the only resioectable garment he possessed, and

was grieved because he would not receive it. On Sabbath the
doctor tried in vain to find either rest or retirement. He was
scarcely risen when the sick began to assemble. To send them
away would not have been doing like his Master ; so he endeav-
ored to minister at once to the body and the soul. To many,
among the successive groups that met him that day in the upper
chamber of the Malek, it was the last opportunity of hearing the
truth as it is in Jesus. Other tidings already engrossed their
thoughts; and their hearts failed them for fear, and for looking
after those things that were coming upon them. A son of the
emir was posted, with a party of soldiers, only one day distant,
on the spot where his father had encamped the year before,
seemingly to prevent cooperation between the tribes, and over-
awe the weaker till the stronger were subdued. Peace, too, was
oflfered to the smaller tribes who would pay tribute.

Though this ofi'er was not extended

to Tyary, the Malek

declared that he couldmake terms for that tribe also, if Mar

Shimon would only come and urged the doctor so strongly to
;

send for him, that he began to fear all was not right. He
learned, too, that the Malek had been told by the Kurds that
injury to his guest was a favor to them ; and it was his interest

to conciliate the lawless clans close by. In view of these things,

Dr. Grant could not but think of the warnings of Mar Shimon.
But all else was soon forgotten in the sad intelligence that the

war had actually begun. The news at first was disbelieved, but
too truly confirmed, as messenger after messenger arriv^ed from
the scene of action. The tribe of Diss, the home of the Patri-
archal family, was laid waste. The blood of nearly eight tiun-
dred, of both sexes, had stained her vallej^s, and mingled with
her mountain torrents. The leading men had been assassinated
at a council to which they were invited to settle terms of peace,
and then the whole tribe was overwhelmed. Neither sex nor
pge was spared. The survivors were hurried into slavery,
 JI U N T A IN N E S T K I AN S . 349

except a small band, that still defended a mountain fastness

against the united hordes of Hakkary and Buhtan. Says Dr.
Grant :
" The aged mother of Mar Shimon, whose kind care for

the pilgrim missionary comes up before me as a vision of yester-

day, was slain, and her mangled body dragged to the river, her
murderers exclaiming, as they threw it in, '
Gro, carry the news
'
to your accursed son !

" His brother Zadok, too, who was so long the companion of
my weary travels, he, too, is slain ; and, with him, his bright
little boy, the expected successor of the Patriarch. He was a
child of uncommon promise and I can only think of his ruddy
;

face as clothed in smiles. But his fair features touched no chord

of pity in those savage hearts." Their mangled bodies were left

unburied on the mountain side, with hundreds of others, that

rendered the fatal spot too offensive to be approached by the
survivors. The valuable library of the Patriarch, greatly dimin-

ished by previous invasions, was now destroyed. His three

brothers and only sister were hurried into captivity. Weeping
over the slain, yet unburied, weighed down with sad fore-
boding, they traversed the mountains in weariness and want.
Of the household of the Malek of Diss, numbering about forty
souls, but one escaped to tell the tale. And yet this was but
the opening scene in the tragedy. The storm that had burst
with such fury on one place soon darkened the whole heavens.
Dr. Grant, that night, tried in vain to sleep ; and morning
brought a report of yet nearer dangers. Badir Khan Bey was
on his way to attack Tyary on the north-west, and the victorious
troops hastened from Diss to meet him. On the south-east and

south were hostile Kurds ; and, to complete the circle, a Turkish

army approached from the south-west. Thus were the Nesto-

rians hopelessly hemmed in on every side and the ; missionary,

who had remained at his post till the very last moment, feeble

in body, but strong in faith, unmoved by danger while he could

benefit the people whom he loved, now reluctantly turned
 ;

350 DR. GRANT AND TUE

away. Had he known that this was his hist visit to the moun-
tains, he could not have stayed longer, or left more reluctantly.
Of his many afflictions, perhaps this was the sorest. His check-
ered life could furnish no days so dark as these. Long after,

walking in the twilight on our roof at Mosul, with our premises

full of the homeless fugitives, he remarked that when he turned
to leave the mountains his heart was crushed. All that he
heard and suffered afterward was nothing to the agony he then
endured. Broken-hearted as he was, for he suffered as though
he witnessed the destruction of his own family, there was not
a moment to lose, and he set out at once for Lezan. On the way
he met a messenger from Mr. L., urging his immediate return
telling him that all his friends in Mosul, natives as well as others,
were anxious for his safety. At Lezan the sad tidings were
well known, but, according to oriental usage, carefully con-
cealed from the Patriarch. He was still at Ashitha, vainly
striving to send succor to those forever beyond its reach. Want
of time forbade Dr. Grant to go to meet him. He learned both
his own bereavement and the departure of his friend from the
messenger of the latter, and was utterly overwhelmed; the
more so, as he regarded that departure as the harbinger of yet

greater evils.
Dr. Grrant
left by the same road by which he first entered the

mountains. The others were already occupied by the enemy ;

and, under God, it was only his intimate knowledge of the coun-
try that enabled him to escape. He spent the night with the
aged Bishop of Duree. He was the first to welcome him in
1839, and, strange as it may seem, from that day to this they
had never met, till now he was the last to bid him farewell.
The old man welcomed him to his house. The same shady wal-
nut and pistachia terebinthus grew before the door. The same
rill leaped down from the rocks above. It was the hour of
evening prayer ; and, while one repaired to the church under
the cliff, bending over his crooked staff, and carrying the accus-
 111 \lS:
Sli*;'r

T I
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 353

tomed censer, the other retired among the rocks, that, alone, after
the tumults of the day, he might commend a suffering people to
his God.
A mountain-ridge was all that separated Am. from the army
of the pasha. He remembered too well the orders once given
by that pasha for his head to linger near those ruffian mercena-

ries till the morning. So at midnight he departed ; and, pass-

ing through Beita Noora (house of fire), roused some Jews from
their sleep to aid his flight. The only other village on the road

was deserted. He met only a few Nestorians, who preferred

perilling their lives, to secure their scanty crops, rather than
perish of starvation, till he came in sight of Amadia, whence
he reached Mosul on Saturday, July 15.
The plate represents the city as it appeared to him approach-
ing from the ruins of ancient Nineveh.
Meanwhile the Kurds, having destroyed Diss, and sent the
captives into Buhtan, united with the army under Badir Khan
Bey and Khan Mahmud. They then pushed on, by an unex-
pected joute, to Chumba. Here most of the chief men fell in

battle, if battle it may be called, where a handful of men fought

against such overwhelming odds. The Malek, on whom Mar
Shimon chiefly relied, was among the first to fall. His death is

thus described by Layard, i. 187 :

" After performing prodigies of valor, and heading his people

in their defence of the pass which led into the upper districts,

Malek Ismael, his thigh broken by a musket-ball, was carried by

a few followers to a cavern in a secluded ravine ; where he might
have escaped the search of his enemies, had not a woman, to

save her life, betrayed his retreat. He was dragged down the
mountain with savage exultation, and brought before Badir
Khan Bey. Here he fell upon the ground. Wherefore does '

the Infidel sit before me ? ' exclaimed the ferocious chief, who
had seen his broken limb ;
'
and what dog is this that has dared
to shed the blood of true believers ? '
' 0, Mir,' replied Malek
29
854 I^ K . U 11 ANT AND T H E

Ismael, still undaunted, and partly raising himself, ' this arm
has taken the lives of nearly twenty Kurds; and, had God
spared me, as many more would have fallen by it
!

' Badir
Khan Bey rose, and walked to the Zal making a sign to his

attendants that they should bring the Malek to him. By his

directions they held the Christian chief over the river, and,

severing his head from his body with a dagger, cast them into
the stream."
His wife was taken captive, with many others, while a few^

escaped across the Zab, and destroyed the bridge to prevent

pursuit.
The Kurdish host now followed down the western bank of the
Zab, and crossed it at the venerable church of Mar Sawa. This
they tried to demolish, burning what they could, and even
destroying some of the massive masonry by gunpowder ; but this
was so difficult they soon desisted. It had two arched apart-
ments, each ten feet by fifty. Only the northern of these was
injured at its ends, and might readily be repaired, as it doubt-

less has been. This beautiful place now formed the head-quar-

ters of Badir Khan Bey, as it had been the favorite resort of the
Nestorians. Troops were sent out thence in every direction, to

destroy the surrounding villages. The war was little more now
than a succession of massacres. The Kurds passed from place
to place, slaying the people and burning the houses at their

leisure, generally without even the shadow of resistance. The

panic-struck Nestorians seemed alike incapable of flight or

defence, and awaited in agonizing suspense their turn to suffer.

One detachment pushed on to Serspidho ; most of the men fled

at their approach, leaving their wives and children to a horrid

butchery. But forty brave men, in a small castle to the south

of the village, like the band of Leonidas, stemmed tbo tide of

destruction, till only four of the forty remained alive. The vil-

lage was then levelled with the ground, and one hun Ired and
 MOUNTAIN NEST R I AN S . 355

sixty persons slain. Twenty deacons were reduced to five ; and

out of three priests only one survived.
I cannot forbear quoting here the description of our welcome
to this village, in 1844, from the pen of Dr. Smith, it throws
so much light on those traits in this people that interested the

heart of Dr. Grant. He says :

" Our host welcomed us to the
flat roof of his house, and soon twenty men and as many women
and children collected round, to wish us peace. I shall never
forget, nor can I ever express, the feelings of that hour. Accus-
tomed, ever since my arrival in the East, to be viewed with
suspicion wherever I went, it was delightful, on the long-
looked-for scene of my future labors, to find the people so
kindly disposed toward strangers from a strange land, about
whom they had only heard, through Dr. Grant, that they wished
io devote themselves to their instruction. I felt that no light
reason would induce me to leave so interesting a field ; and I did
not wonder Dr. Grant had been so zealous in urging the Board
to maintain their ground."
But, to return to the war. Other parties perpetrated similar
atrocities in other directions ; and when Badir Khan Bey left

the hitherto delightful valley of Mar Sawa, he left it scathed and

desolate. Horses were stabled in this favorite church.^ The
shady bower near it was wantonly destroyed. The noble trees
around it were girdled or cut down. The houses and mills in
the vicinity were demolished, and such of their inmates as could
not escape were slain.
An acre of arable land, a few sheep and goats, and rarely a
cow, was a fair inventory of the resources of a mountaineer before
the w^ar. With these they could barely live ; and many were
forced even then to resort to more favored regions, to eke out

* Named after one of twenty-eight monks, who came with Mar Ogin
(Eugenius) from Egypt in the fourth century, and introduced into
the East the asceticism which was then flourishing, in all its glory, in the
Libyan desert, under the celebrated St. Anthony.
356 DK. GRANT AND THE

the living they could not obtain at home. Now their flocks

were taken away, their personal property plundered, their houses

and crops destroyed, and even the trees, that might have helped
to construct new dwellings, were cut down and chopped
into

that, in
lengths that rendered them useless for the purpose ; so

such an inhospitable country, one was at a loss whether to

moui-n more for the living or the dead for, stripped as they were,
;

how could they remain in the mountains, and survive the winter ?

While the rest of Tyary was thus desolate, the valley of Ash-
itha was untouched, according to the promise made to Dr. Grant.
The Nestorians had thought that valley would be the first point

of attack. But, contrary to all expectation, the rest of the dis-

trict was laid waste, and that was spared, as if on purpose to

disprove the calunmy that the mission-house had been the occa-
sion of the invasion. Even the Patriarch was constrained to
acknowledge that Badir Khan Bey had kept his word. He did

more ; he even restored to Dr. Grant some articles of personal

property that fell in his way ; and Mar Shimon attributed the
safety of the whole valley to the Christian missionary, whose
virtues had compelled the admiration and respect of the Kurds
themselves. Yet, even in the valley of Ashitha, the Nesto-
rians were partially disarmed. Many had fled, and a heavy
ti'ibute was assessed on those that remained.

But it is time to return to Mar Shimon, whom we left be-

moaning his losses in Ashitha. Badir Khan Bey sent his brother

Benjamin from Chumba, to summon him to surrender imme-

diately, under the penalty of being slain wherever found. Instead

of that, with this brother. Kasha Auraham, and others, find-

ing it impossible to escape into Persia, he fled at once to Mosul,

where he arrived a fortnight after Dr. Grant. As soon as the
latter heard of his approach, he hastened to meet him, beyond the

ruins of Nineveh. But how changed from the mountain chief

he had left a ^ew days before ! It seemed as if years had passed,

instead of days, and left on his features the traces of protracted

 MOUNTAIN NEST R I AN S , 357

suffering. Says Dr. Grant :

" He said he had no definite plans,

and at once accepted my invitation to make our house his home,

at least till he should see the pasha. But presently we met
Messrs. Rassam and Badger ; and the former told me, '
It was
arranged between him and the pasha that the Patriarch should
be his guest. Moreover, he had instructions from the English
government concerning him, and it was important he should be
under the protection of the British flag.' " Dr. Grant was sorry
not to be able to show the same kindness to him, in his distress,
that he had so often received from him in the mountains. But,
it the same time, he did not wish to stand in the way of any po-
litical help the vice-consul might afford him. Nor did he wish to
incur the blame of the failure of their plans. He rejoiced, too,
in this opportunity of corroborating his oft-repeated declaration,

that he had no political influence. Their plan of making Mar

Shimon, the civil head of the Mountain Nestorians, re.sponsible

directly to the Porte, he foresaw would not be easily carried

out. The Porte would not be likely to adopt it ; and, if it did,

theKurds would not accede to it, without such coercion as he

knew would not be employed.
The account Mar Shimon gave of the distress in the mountains
was truly affecting ; and the Patriarch and the missionary often
mingled their tears over the fate of their dearest friends. The cap-
tives consisting mostly of women and children were many
of them doomed to the alternative of the Koran or the sword.

Women neither young nor handsome were butchered on the spot.

Those too young to travel were killed, to save their captors trouble.

Infants were taken from their mothers' arms and dashed against
the rocks, when carrying them prevented their keeping up with
the rest. In 1844, we found the skeleton of a child, bleaching
by the side of a spring on the mountain behind Ashitha, slain

there, or left to perish, because its weary limbs could go no fur-

ther. A party of these captives, crossing the Zab, threw them-

fc^elves from the middle of the bridge, and perished, rather than
29^
358 Bli- flllArT AND THE

endure the fate before them. Others leaped into the Tigris at
Jezira, preferring death to such a bondage. Both the French
and English consuls sought to But the
procure their release.
pasha pretended that Badir Khan Bej had acted under orders

from Erzrum, and so evaded the matter, though his own army,
on the southern border of Tyary, cooperated with Badir Khan
Bey, from whom he had received some two thousand sheep, as
his share of the spoils, and he himself had forcibly taken from
the Nestorians all the lands they possessed in Berwer.
If the captives were to be pitied, those who remained in the

mountains fared but little better. After the slaughter, the re-

maining tribes sent in their submission, and were spared, for the

sake of the revenue they might afford the conquerors. They

were subject to unmeasured oppression. The half of their

crops, next season, was claimed by the Kurds; and their lives

were in constant danger from those who deemed it an act of

charity to kill a Christian dog. The day before Dr. Smith and
Mr. L. reached Ashitha, in August, 1844, one man was killed in
Lezan, by Kurds from Berwer. A few days after, another was
killed, and a third wounded. Fifty sheep were taken from
Matha 'd Kasra, by Kurds from Chull ; and, two days before

we left the mountains, three hundred men were sent by the emir
to take a hundred and fifty sheep from Berawola, the only
flock of any size remaining "in Tyary. This involved more than
the mere loss of property. When we descended to the village,
women were wailing for the dead, and men were beating their
breasts. The troop had attacked them in the night, killed
the shepherd, and were driving off the whole flock, when the
villagers rushed to the rescue. Two more of their number were
slain in the melee, and three of the invaders were left stark and
stiff on the hill-side. The rest fled, leaving their booty and
bearing bleeding comrades.
off their Never can we forget the
impressionmade by those three bodies lying naked and unburied
whtre they fell. One was an old man, his gray beard clotted
 MOUNTAIN NESTOR lANS. 359

witi. gore, his glaring eye-balls vainly turned to heaven, and his
bod/ covered with ghastly wounds. Another was a beardless
youth, and a large gunshot wound in his breast showed too
plainly how he fell. The third had been shot, and then de-
spatched by repeated stabs of their daggers. The sight gave us
a more vivid impression of the horrors of war than the descrip-
tions of all the battles we had ever read.
It was near sunset. The wind swept moaning by, as we rode
along the bleak ridge of the mountain. The neighboring vil-

lages were deserted. In one house the cradle was left, and a
dog, the only living thing remaining, howled at us as we passed.
In the valley below, they had killed a priest, as he lay on a sick
bed, unable to escape with the rest. Parties met us at every
turn fleeing, and yet not knowing where to flee for safety.
After nine o'clock, we passed through the midst of families
sleeping in the road on the bare rocks. From the bottom of the
glen, in the cloudy moonlight, we could see crowds creeping
along the ledges high above us, and so it continued till we
stopped at midnight. This was a sad picture of the perils of
the sufi"ering remnant ; but was only too true a representaiion
of their condition ever since the v/ar. It seemed as if, without
leaders, v/ithout union, and without arms, they were doomed to
utter extermination.
But, amid all their sufferings, it was interesting to see their
strong attachment to their churches and Sacred books. One,
who had lost a greater amount than most possessed, gi'ieved more
for the destruction of the village church than for the utter deso-

lation round about it. Some of their books were concealed, and
more would have been, but that they feared to bury them, lest
dampness should prove as injurious as the Kurds.
Though Badir Khan Bey scrupulously kept his promise to
Dr. Grant, yet Zeiner Bey, whom he left Governor of Tyary,
with four hundred soldiers to support him, took possession of the
mission-house. But the unpretending structure wns altogether
360 DR. GRANT AN i) THE

unsuited to his piiri^ose. The Kurdish robber dared not trust

himself in such a dwelling as had been built for men of peace.
The large windows were built up, and in their stead loop-holes
threatened death to the assailant. Lime was substituted for
mud. The walls were raised an additional story, and round
towers of still more substantial structure were erected at the
corners. Everything savored as much of war and force, as

before of peace and love.

The ferocious Zeiner Bey, irritated by the attack of Mar Shi-
mon in the spring, Avith troops from this village, was not
very gentle in his government. The Nestorians bore this very
patiently, till, in October, they made an ill-judged attack on the

castle. If their leaders had been worthy of the courage of the

troops, the garrison had been utterly destro3'ed. But they
were led by Shemasha (deacon) Hinno, of Lezan, who had gone
over to Badir Khan Bey before the invasion, and Kasha Jindo,
of Salaberka, who had sided with the emir. The Nestorians from
all quarters joined the besiegers ; and, as Zeiner Bey was en-
tirely unprepared for a siege, his men were soon without food or
water. In this strait, he called Shemasha Hinno to the door,
and told him he could hold out no longer ; but, as there was much
property in the castle, and it was a pity it should be dispersed
among the rabble, he proposed to deliver it all to him, on
condition that his men were allowed to depart unmolested. The
credulous deacon swallowed the bait, and was soon hoisted up to
the flat roof to receive the booty. But, no sooner had he reached
it than Zeiner Bey demanded food and v>'ater or his life, and the
greedy coward at once acceded to the demand. His men blindly
obeyed his orders, and the Krirds had a plentiful supply of all

they wanted. The conflict vras now renewed with greater fury.
But a detachment sent by Badir Khan Bey to the relief of the

garrison soon arrived ; and the xSTestorians, attacked on both

^ides, were routed with great slaughter. No quarter was given.
 : ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 361

Shemaslia Hinno was impaled within the castle, and Kasha

Jindo was put to death by the emir in Julamerk.
When t le Nestorians fled, they set fire to our chapel, which
was outsid3 the castle, vainly hoping to involve their enemies in
the conflagration ; and, to avoid a similar occurrence, Zeiner
Bey destroyed all the outbuildings, leaving the castle entirely

alone. A large reservoir was also excavated within its walls,

and well stocked with snow and water. The soldiers now swept
through the valley as far as the Zab, sparing neither age nor
sex. Out of three hundred houses in Ashitha, only four were
left unburned. Learning from the fugitives the fate that awaited
them, the inhabitants of Minyanish and Lezan fled to a cave
high up in the mountain, to the north of the valley. Women
and children, as well as men, climbed to a place almost inacces-
sible ; "and the Kurds, unable to follow, cut off all supplies. In
three days their water and provisions failed. The weather was
hot, and they offered to capitulate. Zeiner Bey swore on the

Koran to spare their lives, on condition they surrendered their

arms. But, no sooner was this done, than the Kurds com-
menced an indiscriminate slaughter, till, tired of butchering, and
knee-deep in blood and mangled carcasses, they forced the rest,
at the point of the dagger, to leap down the precipice on the

rocks below. Out of, according to some, fourteen hundred

souls, but at least as many as a thousand, not one or, follow-

ing another report, only one escaped. Mr. Layard visited

the spot in 1846, and it is thus described by his gi'aphic pen

" Emerging from the gardens, we found ourselves at the foot

of an almost perp ndicular detritus of loose stones, terminated,

about one thousand feet above us, by a wall of lofty rocks. Up
this ascent we toiled for above an hour ; sometimes clinging to
small shrubs, whose roots scarcely reached the scanty soil below
at others, crawling on our hands and knees ; crossing the gul-
leys to secure a footing, or carried down by the stones which we
put in motion as we advanced. We soon saw evidences of the
o62 1) K . GRANT AND THE

slaughter. At first, a solitary skull rolling down with the rub-

bish ; then heaps of blanched bones ; further up, fragments of
rotting garments. As we advanced, these remains became more
frequent, skeletons, almost entire, still hung to the dwarf
shrubs. I was soon comjDelled to renounce an attempt to count
them. As we approached the wall of rock, the declivity became
covered with bones, mingled with the long platted tresses of the
women, shreds of discolored linen, and well-worn shoes. There
were skulls of all ages, from the child unborn to the toothless

old man. We could not avoid treading on the bones as we ad-

vanced, and rolling them with the loose stones into the valley
below. * This is nothing,' exclaimed my guide, who observed
me gazing with wonder on these miserable heaps ;
'
they are but
the remains of those who were thrown from above, or sought to
escape the sword by jumping from the rock. Follow me !
' He
sprang upon a ledge running along the precipice that rose before
us, and clambered along the face of the mountain overhanging
the Zab, now scarcely visible at our feet. I followed him as
well as I was able to some distance; but, when the ledge became
scarcely broader than my hand, and frequently disappeared for
three or four feet altogether, I could no longer advance. I was
still suffering severely from the kick received in my leg four
days before, and was compelled to return, after catching a
glimpse of an open recess or platform covered with human
remains."
This done, Zeiner Bey had now free opportunity for revenge ;

and he inflicted it without mercy. The story of his cruelties will

never perish from the legends of the Nestorians. He stripped

the people of everything, torturing, and even slaying, those who
resisted. His men ransacked the mountains for buried provi-
sions, and many a family lost the last handful of millet they had
secreted in pits and caves.
In 1814 we saw those who had lost the use of their arms by
the inhuman twistinor of the cords that bound them behind their
 MOUNTAIN NE S TO R 1 AN S . 368

backs. Some lost the use of their legs by similar cruelties.

Others had their breasts burned with red-hot irons, or were
suspended by hooks thrust into the muscles of their arms and
legs, till they revealed every hoard they knew of, and even after
there was no more to reveal.
Other modes of torture might be mentioned, but they are too
horrid for recital. These may suffice to show that the sufferings
of the Nestorians were by no means so light as some seem to sup-
pose. Could Tamerlane have done worse, when he drove their an-
cestors to these very strongholds, now stained with the blood of
their children ? These atrocities called forth such a protest from
the European political agents, that Zeiner Bey was recalled, and
his brother sent in his room, but without any change for the
better. Indeed, he proved himself every way vrorthy of such a
brother.
Many of the" Nestorians fled to Berwer, only to be betrayed
to the invaders, or slain in revenge for previous injuries. This
was the last great slaughter during the life of Dr. Grant, though
murders and robberies on a smaller scale still continued. Za-
withah, through the prudent management of its principal men,
escaped the fate that overtook all the rest of the valley ; so that,
in 1844, we found it comparatively uninjured, and the only
place in the vicinity that could furnish supplies to the starving
garrison of x\shitha. Dr. Smith was moved by the situation of
these Kurds. He writes thus in his journal :
" Poor men !

with nothing to do but to watch over the ruins of a once pros-

perous village, that they themselves have destroyed. Meeting
no one without their own gloomy circle but those whose hearts
are full of vengeance, their lot is pitiable indeed. Night after
night they pace the battlements of their castle, and utter their
watch-cry to the surrounding hills. But no comforts of life
none from society, none from home, none from their own con-
sciences cheer their lonely hours. Poor men ! I pitied them
so much I could not hate them, though I knew that, less than a
 ;

364 DR. G KA NT AND T H K

year ago, they made one another sport by throwing up Nesto-

rian infants, and receiving them as they fell on the points of
their daggers." They had only enough sent them to supply
them with barley-soup for two days in the week ; the rest they
were expected to plunder from the Nestorians. The eggs they
cooked for us in the morning were brought from Berwer
and in the afternoon the remainder was warmed over again, as
they had absolutely nothing else to set before us, so miserable
were the plunderers, as well as the i^lundered.
In the autumn of 1S46, Telioma shared the fate it had helped
to inflict on Tyar}'. Badir Khan Bey was the instrument of
this terrible retribution. The women were brought before him,
and murdered where they stood, that there might be no more
redeeming of captives. Three hundred of them, fleeing to Bass,

were cut off in the pass leading to that district. The villages
were destro3^ed, and the church pulled down. One-half of the
population is said to have perished. One of the Maleks and
Kasha Bodaca were among the slain. As soon as the fugitives
returned, they were attacked by the emii-. Many died under
the tortures he inflicted to compel them to disclose the
treasures he fancied they had concealed ; and others fled into

Persia.
It is difficult to determine with accuracy the whole num-
ber that perished, in the different massacres. Many Kurds
were killed, as well as Nestorians. But Dr. Smith, who
was very careful and accurate in his down the
estimates, set
population of the mountains, before the war, at fifty thousand.
Dr. Grant at first called it one hundred thousand, but afterwards
made a lower estimate. At the time we passed through the
mountains (September, 1844), there were not one hundred hab-
itable houses in all Tyary ; and, leaving out Ashitha, which was
almost wholly destroyed, the ruins were to the houses as six to
one. In Diss things were much worse than even that. The
houses we found had mostly been rebuilt since the war ; and
 MOUNTAIN NE S T il I A N S . 365

as, owing to their scarcity, one contained three or four times

as many inhabitants as formerly, he estimated the entire
loss of population by the war, up to that time, at not less
than ten thousand, or one-fifth of the whole. This was more
than a year after the first massacre, and ten months after the
second, when many of the fugitives had returned to their
former homes. Dr. Perkins estimates the number of the slain
in Tehoma, in 1846, at seven hundred; but Mr. Layard says
that from four villages alone seven hundred and seventy had
perished.
This district is called by the Kurds Tehoby, and the Syriac
name would be, perhaps, more accurately represented by " Tek-
homa" than by the more easily pronounced Tehoma.
30
 CHAPTER XYIII.
COURTESY BETWEEN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES LETTERS OF DR. GRANT II /S
PROPOSITION LABORS AMONG THE JACOBITES MICHA MR. BADGER
DR. GRANT EXONERATES HIM FROM A FALSE CHARGE MAR SHIMON
EVIL OVERRULED FOR GOOD BIBLE CLASS ANOTHER BEREAVEMENT
REBUKE FOR SYMPATHY DEATH OF PASHA HOSPITALITY TO REF-
UGEES DEATHS AMONG THEM DIFFICULTY ABOUT BURIAL DR. A.
SMITH
HIS JOURNEY CHARACTERISTICS HIS LETTER ON "ORGAN-
IZATION."

Having dwelt so long on the war, so as not to be compelled to

recur again to the painful topic, let us now return to Dr. Grant
in Mosul. From the first he had urged the permanent occupation
of this station, and each of his associates, as thej arrived, had
seconded his plea. But the committee at home, true to their prin-
ciple of non-interference with other missionary societies, reso-
lutely refused. In their instructions to Mr. L. in 1842, they had
said, " Our station in Mosul is merely an outpost, and we hope
the necessity for it may be but temporary. We have no inten-
tion of sending a mission to the Jacobite Syrians, since we ac-
knowledge the claim of our Episcopal brethren to the exclu-

sive possession of that field. The relations of Mosul, in a mis-

sionary point of viev/, to both these branches of the Syrian
church, are similar ; and, like Calcutta, Singapore and other great
centres, it may be regarded as common ground ;
" and to these

principles they adhered to the very last. If any other society

interferes with the fields occupied by the American Board, one
thing is certain, it is not in retaliation for a similar ofi'ence.

Under the apprehension that, owing to the disasters in the moun-

tains, and this restriction laid on missionary labor in Mosul,
 DR. GRANT AND THE NESTORIANS. 367

the mission might be broken up, Dr. Grant writes to a friend,

October 24: " I am not anxious about it. I am ready to go any-

where, or do anything. God is my witness, that I have not spared

myself, nor shrunk from any trials, in seeking to promote his

cause. To Him J leave the entire disposal of my future course."
Well might he enjoy this testimony of a conscience void of
offence. Few men in like circumstances ever had a better claim
to it, or could appeal more honestly to the Searcher of hearts.
That this readiness to go anywhere or do anything was not
mere words will appear from the following letter to Dr. Ander-
son, written a month previous :
" In the present state of things,

what shall we do ? The Nestorians can no longer protect us.

Under God, the missionary must throw himself on the mercy
of the Kurds, counting not his life dear unto himself. At the
risk, perhaps, of being deemed insane, I have already suggested
seeking the protection of the emir, as the only feasible means of
safety in further labors in the mountains, though that is not alto-
gether safe. Since that time he has v/ritten to me, and invites
me to return to the mountains, promising to provide me a resi-
dence wherever I desire it. I have trusted him, and perhaps
may still trust him. But, when I remember how he has plotted
against me, while professing to be my friend, I feel it is better
to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. This
trust has never failed me in the darkest hour. And, after so

many and so signal interpositions of God for my deliverance, I

sometimes feel an almost invincible confidence in the greatest
perils. But I may not hope the hand of violence will always be
restrained. And, should my blood stain the dagger of the assas-
sin, what would then be the verdict of those who sent me forth?
That I have fallen as their messenger, for Christ's sake, in the

faithful discharge of the trust committed to me, - or the victim

of my own unwarrantable rashness? Will they sustain me in

returning thus to the mountains ? If so, I am ready to go, and

superintend native helpers from Oroomiah, distribute books.
368 DR. GRANT AND THE

establish scliools, and labor as God shall give me opportunity.

But, when I have already incurred the charge of courting death '

at every step,' it is proper I should hear the voice of the church

before incurring new and greater dangers. I look to you, as

their organ, for an answer." Still later, he wrote as follows :

" My jirivations in the mountains, many of them, were pecu-

liar to a pioneer in such a field, and could not be detailed with-

out an appearance of boasting that ill becomes a follower of Him
who laid down his life for the sheep. To return there is in no
ways inviting to flesh and blood. All the romance of that field

if there ever were any isnow sober reality. There is no

poetry in winding your weary way over rocks and cliffs, drifted
snows or dashing torrents. Neither is there any in appeasing
hunger from their dirty wooden bowls or still fouler goat-skins,

while tormented with smoke, insects, vermin, and a thousand

nameless trials, among an impoverished and lawless people.
" Families cannot live in the existing insecurity. The vrork,

if resumed, must be '

in journeyings oft, in perils of waters, in

perils of robbers, in perils in the wilderness, in jjerils by fiik-e

brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in hunger and thirst, in

fastings often, in cold and nakedness.' There is no coloring in
this. These must be met, or the field abandoned. No half-way
measure will meet the case. I have no hope that the Porte will
ever be able to shield the missionary, even if so disposed. He
must cast himself, under God, Oii the Kurdish chiefs themselves,

and by his services make them feel that his life is more profit-

able to them than his death. Still, a physician would not

always be able to save life ; and the fate of the papal missionary

in Jezira shows what he may expect, in that case. But must we

shun danger when in the path of duty ? Did Christ intend we
should, wher he sent forth his disciples, as sheep, amid wolves,
and charged them not to fear them who can kill the body ?

" But you will tell me that, should we fall, the mission will suf-
fer in public istimation. I knov/ it may, and our namen loo he
 M U N T A I N ^ E S T 11 I A N S . 369

cast out as evil. I have sometimes been ready to shrink from

danger, feeling that the churches would condemn me for exposing
life. Not that I would expose it rashly God forbid ! Life is

a solemn trust, given to be used for the glory of Christ on earth,

and for that patiently employed, till God see fit to take our
armor off and bid us rest. But is the church so truly conse-
crated to Christ as to make its voice a safe index of duty where
peril is involved ?

" I frankly confess that, when in peril, the thought that,

should I foil, many will only say, '

I told you so,' and hand
down my dishonored memory as the only heritage of my chil-

dren, and an injury to the cause of Christ, has caused me much

distress. But be it so. I had rather go to judgment with the
approval of God, and the frown of the world, than, for the sake
of a good name among men, meet that Judge, conscious of hav-
ing betrayed my trust. There is meaning in those words of
Christ, '
Whosoever shall save his life shall lose it.' There is

such a thing as falling into danger when fleeing from it in the

path of duty."
In a letter, dated November 20th, he pleaded that the mission
might be made " a mission to Assyria and Mesopotamia, and
not to any particular sect ;
" the very thing that has since been

done, with so much success.

Though the mission was not at liberty to undertake any regu-
lar system of operations among the Jacobites, yet they could
not refuse to give instruction when asked ; for a higher author-
ity bade them "do good as they had opportunity to all men."
The pleasant impression left by Mr. Hinsdale, joined to the
labors of Bishop Athanasius and the medical practice of Dr.
Grant, brought us many visitors ; and not a few came inquiring
for the truth. This led Mr. L. to the study of the Arabic, and,
for a time, he conversed with them through Micha, as best
he could. Never can he forget the first time he spoke with this
man of the great love wherewith Christ hath loved us. It was
30*
370 DR. GRANT AND THE

on the Sabbath. They wei-e seated alone in an upper room ; and,

as the missionary spoke of the fulness and freeness of redeeming
love, his hearer eagerly devoured every word, drawing nearer as
his interest increased, till, grasping him by the hand, he exclaimed,
" Do come with me into the houses of the people and repeat
these good words, and I will interpret them to all ; for they
never heard such things before." It was pleasant to witness the

good will to man, so characteristic of the young convert at home ;

and from that time Micha took great delight in explaining the
truth to all that came.
Finding the influence he was thus exerting, Mr. Badger
sought to deprive us of his services ; and, to this end, represented
us to him as out of the church, without a ministry, or any requi-
site of discipleship. He plied him with ecclesiastical history

viewed from the higli-church stand-point, and affectionately

warned him of the mischief that he, the member of an apostoli-
cal church, was doing, in introducing heresy and schism v\ithin

its pale. Micha had not read much church history, but he had
read the Bible, and read it to purpose ; and nothing could shake
his confidence in those who had pointed him to its blessed truths.

Flattery was tried, but with no better success. Threats were

next resorted to, and he was actually denounced to the bishop,
then in Constantinople. The latter wrote, advising him to leave
us; but, in reply, received such a fliithfid epistle, backed by
such a formidable array of proof-texts, that he was glad to let

him alone. At the same time, he was pointed out to the lead-
ing Jacobites in Mosul as a youth of promise, who was led
astray by heretics, and likely to do much harm to the church.
But this only gave him an opportunity for faithful personal con-

versation with them ; and here too Mr. Badger was baffled. He
next tried a method few in that region could have resisted. He
offered him double wages. But Micha spurned the bribe, tell-

ing him he was with the Americans, not for their money, but
because he loved the truth they taught. Justice requires me to
 :

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 871

add, that this last mode of attack was never mentioned bj him,
though the others were, and we only heard of it months after
the occurrence, through another party. When, owing to his
increased i^roficiency in English, we raised his wages from one
hundred piastres (four dollars and thirty-three cents) a month
to one hundred and fifty, even then he was with difficulty in-

duced to accept it; asking, vrith tears, whether we doubted his

attachment to the truth as it is in Jesus.

As regards the whole course of Mr. Badger, our instructions

from the Prudential Committee had told us, " If the Episcopal
churches of England or America choose to open a friendly cor-
respondence with the Nestorians, you will not interfere in any
way. Mere diplomatic missions to the oriental churches will be
of short continuance. Let it be your aim to abstain from all

ecclesiastical or missionary diplomacy, and quietly pursue your

grand spiritual object, the revival of the knowledge and
power of the gospel among the people."
One of the excellent Secretaries of the Board the Rev. D.
Greene wrote to us as follows: "As to 'the troubles your
neighbor occasions you, in your patience ye must possess
your souls. Pity him pi";^y for him ; and by your example
show him a more excellent way. As these things must, some
time or other, be knovfn and judged of, at the judgment-day,
at latest, we beg of you to avoid everything reproachful, or
that, to any candid person, would seem dishonorable to the spirit

of Christ. Do not lose your good-nature or quietness of spirit.

Expect little, and then you will not be disappointed if you get
little. Determine that you will yourselves honestly sei've God
in the gospel, and let others serve their idol of a church, if they
will. But do not let their errors, or trickery, or bad spirit, pre-

vent your cherishing the meekness of Christ."

I cannot better describe the feelings or conduct of Dr. Grant,
in the case, than by turning the imperative of these quotations
into the historic past
372 D It . <j KAN T AN 1) T II E

His letter of October 16 to the New York Observer, (ii the

causes of the war, though it, perhaps, makes the emir too subor-
dinate, and ascribes the invasion too exckisively to the Turks,

yet presents such a truthful picture of his whole conduct 'n the
matter now before us, that it is here inserted nearly in full. It

was written to defend Mr. Badger from the unjust charges of

members of his own church, when the man thus defendei had
not only repelled with scorn every effort of Dr. Grant to live
in peace, but had not even entered the house for months.
It was penned,. too, as soon as M. Botta pointed oui, the

article in a French paper, and when he had to get another to

translate it. Nor will the reader forget that this defence of his

opposer was made when there was not the least necessity for
self-defence, as the article in question expressly stated that " the

American missionaries were exempt from blame."

" The late war in Kurdistan, which has resulted in the subju-
gation of the Mountain Nestorians, appears to be very imper-

fectly understood.
" In the Journal des Debats of September 8, we find a letter

from the Constantinople correspondent of the London Globe,

charging the whole affair to '
the religious quarrels of the inde-
pendent Americans, the English Puseyites, and the French
Catholics.' This is too grave a charge to pass unnoticed; and
I feel less reluctant to state the facts in the case, since the \i^riter

has frankly avowed that 'justice requires it to be stated that,

in this affair, the American missionaries are exempt from blame.'
Perhaps I cannot better do justice to the whole subject than by
presenting a brief account of the origin and progress of the late
calamities of the unfortunate Nestorians. From the watch- word
of Islam '
The Koran, tribute, or the sword ' it may well
be inferred that the existence of a body of nominal Christians,
who have for centuries resisted each of these demands, has been
a reproach which 'the faithfiil ' wf-e eager to wipe away. But
 :

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 373

this was difficult to effect, as their victims were defended by the

double rampart of almost impassable mountains and unsubdued
tribes of Kurds, these last too much divided among themselves
to attempt the conquest of their neighbors. At length, Reschid
Pasha so far subdued the Kurds that the Turks hoped to make
them efficient agents in the work; and, on my first visit to this

city, in 1 839, 1 found the pasha eager to go against the Nestorians,

having extended his sway to the very borders of their country.
And on my return to Julamerk, in 1840, Nurullah Bey had gone
to form an alliance with the Pasha of Erzriim, his principal

object being the subjugation of the independent Nestorians,

living, as they did, within the nominal bounds of that pashaiic.
" On my v/ay to Constantinople, I met this chief at Van, with
a new pasha of that place, who had been sent with immediate
reference to this end, of which, indeed, he made no secret.
" At the same time, the Pasha of Mosul had marched to Ama-
dia, with ultimate reference to the Nestorians. Mr. Ainsworth,
writing from that place, on the very day that I left Van, says
'
This day he pitched his tents within a mile of the town ; and
greatly did the officers rejoice at what they deemed certain, the

immediate subjugation of the Nestorian mountaineers.' Ains-

worth, vol. II. p. 203.
" Thus the matter stood when I went to America ; and hence
it was not without reason that I said, ' The Nestorians were,
perhaps, never in more danger than now of being subdued by the
Turks, who have pushed their conquests to the very borders of

their mountain-home ; and into that, I have good reason to

believe, they intend to penetrate.' Nestorians, ^c, p. 324.
" On my return to the East, in 1841, 1 found that these plans
had been delayed by the removal of Hafiz Pasha from Erzrum,
the death of the Waly of Van, and the sudden recall of the
Pasha of Mosul, to drive back the Persians from Sulimanieh.
Yet th3 plan was not abandoned; and the Hakkary chief had
already gone to obtain assistance from Badir Khan Bey, who
 ;

874 DR . GRAN T AND THE

proved the most efficient agent in the late invasion. The united
forces of these chiefs made a descent upon Diss, burned the
Patriarch's house, and retired without molesting the more pow-
erful tribes. The blow, however, was one from which the Nes-

torians never recovered, and, by weakening their courage and

dividing their counsels, did much to prepare the way for their

final downfall. Indeed, from that time, the Hakkary chief

claimed their whole country as his own.

" Late in the autumn of 1841, the Pasha of Mosul seat an
army against them, which returned, however, without effecting
anything, owing to the severity of the weather. The Nesturians
then took their revenge, by ravaging the neighboring villages of
the pasha, while the latter consoled himself with forming more
efficient plans for the ensuing spring. These again were frus-
trated by a revolt of the Kurds, and the temporary loss of .ima-
dia. The Pasha of Erzrum was, at the same time, engaged in

the threatened war with Persia ; so that no progress was made

last year towards the desired result. During this per'.od I

reentered the mountains from Persia, and obtained the official

permission of the emir to build houses in Ashitha, where, in

September last, I commenced the erection of a house, in the
judgment of myself and associates barely sufficient to accommo-
date the mission families and a school. It was built by native
workmen, in the style of their own dwellings, with rough stones,
picked up from the surface of the ground, and laid in mud and;

the walls were neither higher nor thicker than many of the native
dwellings.
" In October a missionary associate arrived in the mountains

and, shortly after, a Roman Catholic missionary visited the

Patriarch, with whom we were then staying; but he sooii re-

turned, without an unpleasant word passing between us. Since

that time he has been more than once under my professional
care in this city, as well as some of his associates, and I may
safely say that all our intercourse has been in strict accordance
 MOUNTAIN NESTOKIANS. 375

with the apostolic injunction, ' Be courteous,' however widely we

differ in religious opinion ; while the worthy consul of France,
AFhose protection they enjoy, we are happy to number among our
best personal friends. If such has not been, in all respects, the
character of our relations with ' the English Puseyites,' it is a
solitary exception to the most friendly relations which we have
sustained with all other English gentlemen whose acquaintance
we have had the pleasure of making in the East ; and the fault

must rest where the correspondent of the Globe has laid it. I
have attended upon them in sickness ; and both I and my asso-

ciate have sought, by every proper means, to cultivate a friendly

relation conscientiously avoiding to speak against them, under

any provocation. If we have failed, the responsibility must rest

with Mr. Badger for any evil arising from his opposition to us.

But, certainly the late disasters of the Nestorians had no con-

nection with such a cause.
" These facts clearly show that no act of either English,
French or Americans, could have been the occasion of the late

invasion. The origin of that lies in other events, of a much

earlier date. The testimony of Mr. Ainsworth dates more than
two years prior to the entrance of either the English or French,
or the commencement of our building in the mountains. The
burning of the Patriarch's house, in 1841, was a year previous
to these events ; and the representatives of the British govern-
ment at Constantinople, Erzrum, Mosul, Bagdad and the court
of Persia, can furnish evidence of the danger to which the Nes-
torians have been exposed, from that day to the present.
" It is well known that, in these countries, it is never difl&cult

to get up a report, however incredible, and support it with the

most barefaced effrontery. A case is at hand precisely parallel
to the rumor of our own castle-building. M. Botta built a

small house, of sun-dried brick, to shelter himself while prose-

cuting his researches at Khorsabad, and our pasha has complained
that he has built a large castle, making representations as
876 DR. GRANT AND THE

extravagant and unfounded as in our own case. In both

instances there was written permission to build ; and the docu-
ment giving permission, in our own case, may be seen in the U. S.
Legation, Constantinople, bearing the official seal of the Hakkary
chief, and endorsed and sealed by Mar Shimon. Besides this, I
have lately received a j)rivate letter from the same chief, invit-

ing me to return and reside in the mountains, pledging me his

aid and protection, with assurances of unaltered confidence.

Similar professions were made by Badir Khan Bey, on my visit

to him at Derguleh. And the Pasha of Mosul, after sending

his complaints to the capital, so far from opposing, gave us his
official protection on our return to the mountains for the present
year. These are not the acts of men who believe their own evil

reports, the true object of which this is not the time nor place to

investigate."

Well might the editor write, in forwarding the above :

" The
letter itself is a noble one ; but, when you contemplate a man
pausing in the midst of pressing duties to defend the enemies of
his mission against attacks made on them thousands of miles off,

I think you will see a trait of character as rare as it is beautiful

and Christ-like.
" I have always regarded Dr. Grant as an extraordinary

man ; and, in a long editorial life, in which it has been my con-

stant duty to observe the progress of error and truth in the
world, I have never met with an instance that equals this, in true
Christian principle and magnanimity. I therefore shall feel a
peculiar pleasure in seeing it recorded, making true the words
of the poet,
' Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust.' "

Mar Shimon now expected to realize at once the bright visions

of political help held up before him by his new friends. But
weeks and months passed away, and his impatience deepened
 M UNTA I N N E S T K I A N S . 377

into a settled melancholy. Accustomed to the bracing air of the

mountains, he pined away in one of the hottest cities of Mesopo-
tamia, distressed by the past, and despairing for the future.
But all this time Dr. Grant never alluded to the failure of the
plans already mentioned. No't a word did he utter to the detri-
ment of his opposer ; he rather encouraged the drooping spirits
of the Patriarch, and bade him still hope on. Above all, he
sought to. have him look up to God, who permitted these trials
for the good of His people, and wait for his deliverance. Often,
as they talked together, his voice Avould falter, and tears mingle
with his eonsolationy.
The getting the Patriarch away from Dr. Grant, as already
related, relieved the mission of a considerable expenditure it

would otherwise have been difficult to avoid, as he remained in

Mosul till after the defeat and capture of Badir Khan Bey and
the emir by the Turks ; and, besides convincing Mar Shimon
himself of the truth of Dr. Grant's repeated assertions, that he
had neither political aims nor influence, it satisfied the Turkish
authorities of our neutrality in politics, and so impressed even
the Moslems vi^ith the strictly religious nature of our mission,
that, in the following summer, when a mob tore down the papal
church, then in process of erection, and wounded one of the
padres, we were the only Franks that could walk the streets
without insult, and were treated with more than usual attention,
even though Dr. Smith was then in attendance on the wounded
priest.

Dr. Grant now devoted his time to doing good in Mosul, as

well as to efforts for the benefit of the suffering Nestorians.
These last were not confined to strictly missionary operations.

As soon as he heard that the only sister of Mar Shimon, and one
of his brothers, were captives at Julamerk, he sent his servant
to negotiate their ransom. Fortunately, they had just made
their escape before the messenger arrived; and the emir was
31
 ;

378 DR . GRAN T A N D T HE

profuse in declarations of what he would have done fcr his friend

when it was out of his power to do it.

Meanwhile, owing to the extreme heat, and other interrup-

tions, the progress of Mr. L. in Arabic was but slow ;
yet, no
sooner was he known to be thus engaged, than numbers of the
Jacobites came, earnestly desiring religious instruction. What
could he do ? He was not at liberty to do anything that involved
expenditure. But it required no outlay to instruct a few young
men in the Bible ; and they were therefore requested to meet
him at a given hour on the Sabbath. Thus commenced a Bible-
class, which was maintained, with few interruptions, till the

mission was broken up. The work was very difficult at first, as

he had only given some three months to the study of the lan-
guage ; but, believing that scripture is its own best interpreter,

the text in hand was explained by a copious quotation of par-

allel passages, and questions were answered by referring the
inquirer to some verse that expressed the thing he sought.
Thus, by the aid of Micha, and their own interest in the matter,
he succeeded far beyond his hopes. The attendance gradually
increased, though it never rose much above twenty. More
questions were asked. The exercise became more interesting

and, from the necessity of the case, the Bible was the standard
of appeal, and the decision of each question was in the language
of the Holy Ghost.
Presented even in this imperfect way, the tearful eye often
witnessed to the power of the truth; and nothing moved the
hearts of that little company more than the views of Christ
presented in the gospel. They had been taught to look on him
as a being enthroned at an infinite distance, and accessible only
through other intercessors ; and therefore, when they heard him
say " Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in

heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother," they

seemed to enter into a new world. Words cannot express the
delight of unfolding truth like this to such hearers, and eternity
 MOUNTAIN NE S T KIAN S . 379

alone will disclose the results. The plainest practical remarks

seemed to fall on their ears as if fresh from heaven. One youno-
man, who gave twenty piastres for a Syriac Bible, before our
coming, when he found that he was too late one Sabbath for
the Bible-class, declared he had rather spend the night in the
house than lose it again; and next Sabbath saw him there
an hour or two before the time. Another, who was reading the
Bible to one of the females of his family, was frightened, and
desisted, as she burst into tears, saying, " If that be true, our

w^ays are crooked ways. What shall we do ? " It was a result

of the truth he had not looked for. The sister of one of the
young men learned to read, and used to read the gospel to her
neighbors when they called. She also longed to be able to teach

a school for girls.

.Thus much the writer may be allowed to say. that no portion
of his life ever yielded such happiness as the hours spent with
that little Bible-class on the banks of the Tigris ; and nowhere
does memory revert with such unalloyed delight as to that loved
scene of labor for his Kedeemer.
There were other things not so pleasant, opposition amount-
ing sometimes even to persecution, accusations before the kadi,
and spies set to watch, and report those who attended. There
was one deacon, too, more learned than most, who loved nothing
so much as to dispute. He was hot and hasty withal, and gen-
erally was no sooner seated than he plunged into some " questio
vexata " of his church. The effort to lead to more practical
views of truth was soon abandoned, in despair. A torrent of
Arabic terms in theology, utterly unintelligible to the mission-

ary, swept away every endeavor to reply, and left no other

resource but silence, or a confession of ignorance as to his
meaning, that was set down as ignorance of the point in

debate.
In December the mission was again afflicted, in the death of
Mrs. L. She was a pupil of Miss Grant and Miss Lyon, at Ips-
380 D 11 . GRANT AND THE

wich; and, after leaving the seminary, her love of doing good
would not allow her to be inactive, and she taught a private
school of young ladies, loving and beloved by all v/ho knew her.

Her class in Sabbath-school had no reason to complain of her

absence, or of want of interest in the lesson a,s explained by
their teacher. She delighted in the Scriptures, and never was
happier than when, alone in her rcom, for hours she oommuned
with God through the pages of his word. And yet, so deeply

did she feel for those who had not yet learned the truth as it

is in Jesus, that she once expressed to a friend her fears lest

such enjoyment vras selfish while ;-o much was to be done for
others. And when, in May, she was asked whether she was
willing to return with Mr. L. to the mountains, the prospect
of gathering a few of her own sex, and teaching them the way
of salvation through Christ, seemed to cover up all the privation

and peril of the attempt. A home, even in a border-village of

the mountains, where she might engage in active missionary
work, had for her greater attractions than the comparative com-
fort and safety of Mosul, where we were so shut out from labor.
In September she expressed a sense of unusual enjoyment in
spiritual things. Little did we think it was the Master prepar-
ing her to depart. Even she herself may not have understood
the meaning of those clear viev/s of the loveliness of Christ, and
that child-like faith in the riches of his grace. But does the

Good Shepherd ever call a believer home whom he does not

prepare for the change ?

During October and November she gradually grew weak,

under a distressing disorder, with symptoms, writes Dr. Grant,
strongly resembling " quick consumption," till, at last, after fifty

hours of agony such as her physician pronounced the most pain-

ful and protracted he had witnessed in a practice of fifteen years,

she sweetly fell asleep in Jesus. During all that sore distress
we could only look on and adore the grace of God. In her
severest sufi'erings she manifested the utmost patience. She
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIAiNS. 381

spoke withdifficulty, every sentence cut short by pain yet she ;

never addressed one of us without using the terms " dear,"

"kind," " sweet," or similar expressions. ^During her greatest
distress one of us sat constantly at the bed-side, holding her
hand
in ours. The day before she died she repeated frequently, and
with evident delight, the words, " He knows the end from the
beginning." She said that, much as she had admired the faith
of the woman who touched the border of Christ's garment before,
now it seemed more lovely than ever. Several times she
remarked, looking gratefully at Dr. Grant, " How good it is to
have a physician that confides in God, and looks to him for
success !
" Once, when she said, " I am so unworth}' !
" it was
remarked, " But unworthiness glorifies griice." " Yes, yes !
"

she eagerly replied ; "0, what a blessed thought !

" At her
request, several passages of scripture were quoted, and she
repeated over again, with evident joy, " Yes, '
Call upon me in
the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify
me.' 'I go to prepare a place for you ; and if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am there ye may be also.' " This last was one of
many passages in her well-worn Bible that were marked, as
having previously afforded her much enjoyment. Once, when
in great distress, she exclaimed, twice over, " 0, how much more
mercy than I deserve " As the night advanced, she lay
! in quiet
unconsciousness, her eyes fixed, her face and hands cold and
clammy. We had despaired of any further recognition. Yet,
once more, in answer to the inquiry, " Are you able to rest on
Christ ? " she answered " Yes." But the " I am " that followed

was rendered indistinct by the rattling in her throat; and, at a

quarter before one o'clock, on the morning of December 16, she

entered into rest. She was buried the same day, in the court

of the Jacobite church. Mar Shimon read select portions of

scripture, and pronounced the benediction at the grave. Jac-
obite and Nestorian priests stood side by side, mingling with
31*
382 , DR. GRANT AND THE

tears for the dead, kind words of sympathy for the living. Her
remains lie beside those of Mr. Hinsdale, awaiting the resurrec-
tion of the just.

In communicating this fresh bereavement to the ccmmittee at

home. Dr. Grant says :
" Hers was a life that needed no death-
bed testimony ; though this was not wanting. Fler vfork was
done. A noble testimony of Christian devotedness had been
given in her consecration to one of the most difficult and trying
fields in modern missions, and she needs not our poor eulogy to
embalm her memory."
Two days after her death, he wrote to Mrs. Jones, at Oroomiah :

" You will s}Tiipathize with us in the loss of dear Sister L., who
left us in the full enjoyment of the Christian hope. We all feel
her loss very deeply. It seems to each of us a personal bereave-
ment. We were all one family, and all one in heart. May
the Lord, in mercy, sanctify to us this affliction ! How frequent
our admonitions to live v^holly for Christ ! A lively sense of the
nearness of eternity would increase our fidelity to the perishing,
and impart tenderness to all our intercourse with those who may
soon perform the last sad offices to our lifeless remains, or we to
theirs, with those in whose society we hope to spend eter-
nity, where the sin and suffering that annoy us here shall be
known no more."
Several Jacobite priests came to sympathize with us, the Sab-
bath after the funeral ; and, as it was near the regular horn- for
the Bible-class, they remained to attend it. But, for this they
were sharply rebuked, by one whose name need not be repeated.
About a month after the death of Mrs. L., occurred another,
of a difi"erent character. Mohammed Pasha, who had imbibed a
love of strong drink with his other European tastes, was seized,
on the 13th of January, with inflammation of the heart, and
died, after an illness of only five days. His intemperate habits
rendered recovery almost hopeless, from the first ; and when the
news of his death spread through the city, it was the signal for
 :

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 383

general rejoicing among the Mosl:ms, for his exactions had

been more impartial than they had found agreeable. Men kissed
each other in the streets ; and so marked was the popular indif>--

nation that for a long time not even a stone was set up to mark
his grave. The Christians also felt a momentary relief, yet
rejoiced with trembling, le:4 his successor should increase, rather
than diminish, their burdens. Dr. Grant was summoned to him
as he lay on the divan of his reception room, surrounded by the
mercenaries of the palace, instead of his family, though they
were under the same roof. But, with his usual prudence, he
gave no medicine, and only advised with the Armenian phj^si-
cian, lest he should be charged with bringing about the result

he saw was inevitable.

A day cr two after, Dr. Grant wrote to Mrs. Jones, at
Oroomiah
" Two weeks ago, I received a letter from my eldest son, beg-
ging me to return, 'for the sake of his younger irothers.' I do
hope yet to be allowed to stay till I see a work of grace among
the dear Nestorians. When will i\\G work of the Lord be re-
vived at your station ? When will obstacles be removed out of
our way ? I see not vdiat can be done to relieve the distracted
state of the mountains. Our horizon looks darker and darker.
In one direction alone is light. It is upwards ! towards the
eternal throne ! There all is light and all is love. 0, precious
truth !
' The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice,' Our plans
may fail, but God's never I All the commotions that try our
faith are carrying out his plans. Greater judgments m.ay yet
be poured upon these guilty lands ; but they prepare the way of
the Lord. The day. of mercy is at hand, when
Israel shall bud
and blossom, and fill the face of the world with fruit.' I am no
prophet; but, if I have not been a dull scholar, both of prophecy
and providence, we shall, within a fev,^ years, see yet greater
changes in these lands, and all concentring in God's infinite

plans of mercy to a dying world."

384 i> K . U KA N T AND T UE

One cannot read any of hia letters written about this time,
and not be struck with the pensive yet heavenly spirit breathed
through them all. We neem to catch the notes of a plaintive
but deep-toned music, from the borders of another world; to
stand in the presence of a great heart, and see God cut oif, one
by one, the strong ties that bound it to earth, and flisten them
on himself.
So it was with his attachment to his children ; so it was with
his affection for his friends ; and so also with his love to the

people for. whose sake he had left them all. Every earthly bond
of interest in that people seemed to fade away, and give place to
others, exclusively associated with God and heaven.
But, to return again to the Nestorians. Their independence
was gene, beyond recovery. Nothing remained to any of the
tribes but the most abject submission to their oppressors. Those
who were not slain were ground to the very dust. Yet some
were too proud to confess this ; and especially a few who had
fled to Oroomiah, aware of our anxiety to labor in the moun-
tains, and hoping, by our means, yet to liumble the Kurds,
hinted that our operations there had occasioned their disasters,
by way of enforcing a claim on us to return and undo the evil.

But to the refugees in Turkey their utter overthrow was too

palpable to be denied. Winter drew near, and thousands,
houseless and destitute, left the snows of Tyary for the villages
near Mosul. They were without money or food, and almost with-
out clothing. The widow was still weeping for her slaughtered
husband, and the orphan comprehended his loss too clearly in
that sore distress. In such extremity they fell into the hands
of the Chaldeans ; and forty thousand piastres of French gold
were said to have aided the arguments emplo^'cd to convince

them of the identity of that church with their own. Poor

people ! they had never been taught the truth ; and, hungry and
broken-hearted, what could their ignorance ojvpose to the craft

of their wily benefactors ? To counteract th::;- iiiHucnce, Mr.

 M UN TA 1 N N E S T K I AN S . 385

Badger took a number of them into a house he happened to have

unoccupied at the time. Dr. Grant hesitated to spend mission-
ary funds in relieving mere temporal distress, when, to do any-
thing adequate to the emergency, required so large an outlay.
But, one morning, fifty of his old acquaintances, headed by one
of the priests of Ashitha, entered the court-3Mrd and threw them-
selves on his hospitality. His plans were formed at once. He
hired a house, selected the orphans and widows with children,
besides some of the more helpless and infirm, fed them, clothed
them, and formed the children into a school. Not content
with this, he sought every opportunity to point them to a
better Friend, who gave his life for their salvation, to a heav-

enly Father, vrho, with his own Son, was ready to give all other

things. On Sabbath he regularly met with them, and, in his

kind and familiar way, unfolded the consolations of the word of
God, and sought to lead them to the Saviour. Thus the winter
was gliding away, when a low typhus fever broke out among the
hapless fugitives. It attacked them in the villages ; it found
them out in Mosul ; it raged among the Turkish soldiers m
the barracks; and so fatal were its attacks, that out of the ninety

Nestorians under the care of Dr. Grant, as many as twelve

followed each other rapidly to the grave.
The Chaldeans now refused them burial in the cemeteries that

had but lately belonged to Nestorian churches. Mr. Badger

made a vigorous attempt to induce the pasha to compel them to

this act of humanity. For, to do him justice, he spared no

effort for their political good ; and if Mar Shimon is not now
the civil head of the Nestorians, and the dust of his followers
reposing quietly in their ancestral grave-yards at Mosul, it is

through no lack of labor on his part. But his efforts were in

vain ; and the Jacobites kindly opened their church-yards to

their theologica- opponents. Hitherto, a few had been allowed

to reside in courts of the Chaldean churches, as is the custom of

beggars who subsist on (lie alms of (hose going in to worship

38G DR. GRANT AND THE

(Acts 3 : 2). But now the disease extended to them also; and
whoever fell sick was forthwith driven out, lest the question
of burial should come up in a new form. One poor man, thus
cast out, dragged himself to Dr. Grant, and, after receiving med-
icine, could only throw himself down among those already under
his care. These were so crowded, in a small house it was im-
possible to ventilate, that their recovery was very slow. But
they had just begun to improve, when another victim of papiil
mercy was thrown down among them in the agonies of death,
without a word said to Dr. Grant. The poor wretch was be-
yond relief, and the presence of another corpse would only
endanger the survivors. So he ordered the man who brought
him to carry him back. Instead of that, he laid him down in
a Mohammedan grave-yard, where he miserably perished.
Mr. Badger had a larger number of the Nestorians under his
care than Dr. Grant; but, as soon as the disease appeared among
them, he saved himself any further trouble by dismissing them all

at once.
On the 29th of 3Iarch, we were cheered by the arrival of Dr.
Smith. He had obtained the firman refused before the war,
with only Julamerk left out of the list of places he was
authorized to visit. He arrived not only in safety, but with his
health actually improved by the journey; thus showing that
the sad results of the journey of Messrs. Hinsdale and Mitchell,
over the same route, were entirely owijig to the lateness of the
season. He left Beirut in a British schooner, for Iscanderun,
February 24; commenced the land journey to Aleppo on the
29th, and arrived there March 4. Setting out again on the
9th, with a new muleteer, he passed through Bir on the 11th,

Orfah on the loth, and on the 19th reached Diarbekr. Thence

he went by postrhorses, one day, to Mardin ; and, starting from
that place on Monday the 25th, he arrived at Mosul on Friday
morning.
In a lettcf to the writer, dated October loth, lSb'2, Dr. Lay-
 MOUNTAIN N E S T R I AN S , o87

ard sa3^s :
" As you are writing of Dr. Grant, 1 trust you will

not forget the mention of another man, early removed from his
career of usefulness, but who has done as much as any man to
promote the great work going on in the East, and who was con-
nected with several of your missions. I mean the late Dr.

Smith, with whom I enjoyed friendly intercourse on several

occasions."^ It would be pjeasant to accede to this request, and
speak of that good man more at length ; but this volume has
already exceeded its limits, and I can cnly say that the first

impression he made deepened to the very last.

With characteristic precision, he had vrritten from Mardin, to

say when we might expect him ; and, as Dr. Grant was indis-
posed, Mr. L. rode out to conduct him into the city. It was
a beautiful morning i spring, the air was exhilarating, and
his errand no less ,so. Anticipating the delight of welcoming
another brother to the little band, so often bereaved, he rode
rapidly along ; and when he descried him in the distance, could

not resist the impulse to give the reins to his horse, and rush
to meet him. But his eager welcome was met in such a sober,

matter-of-fact way, as, for a moment, disconcerted him ; but only

for a moment. They were soon as familiar as children of the
same mother ; and the stranger, intent on only one object,
how he could do the greatest possible amount of good, was at

once a brother beloved. Such as he was then, so was he

always. Never excited, never depressed, doing nothing in a
hurry, and never allowing a moment to pass unimproved. He
pursued the chief end of man with a steadiness that rebuked the
inconstancy of others, and an energy that was best understood
by those who stood between him and that end. Ease or diffi-

culty, obstacle or aid, seemed alike to that unwavering Yv'ill.

* Compare " Babylon and Nineveh," p. 406, where Mr. Layard not only
speaks of "the late excellent and enterprising Dr. Smith, and the esti-

mable Dr. Grant," but also makes honorable mention of other missionaries
of the Arnevican Board in western Asia.
 ;

388 DR. GRANT AND THE

And yet there was nothing har^^h, nothing repulsive. li'he ever
appeared so, it was only to those who did not know him.
I see him now, conversing with a visitor. He has turned the
conversation into a religious channel, and lays aside his specta-
cles as he listens patiently to some long objection. Then, with
a " Pek ae-ee. Umma banna baq " ("very good, but listen to
me," literally, " look at me "), he annihilates the objection as
quietly as though he only spoke about the weather ; or clears up
the difficulty so tlioi-oughly that the inquirer is ashamed that he
called it such.
If he liad not all of Dr. Grant's enthusiasm, he vras equally
fearless in doing vrhatever u'ould promote the glory of God.
And if not possessed of the ready tact that made a good impres-
sion at the first, in the end it was not less favorable or
abiding. Dr. Grant won you before you dreamed of being won
Dr. Smith quietly took your weapons out of your hand, as j^ou

raised them in self-defence, telling you there was no occasion for

them ; and in neither case did you ever regret that you were
taken captive.
In another thing Dr. Smith differed from the subject of this
memoir ; and that v/as, in the prudent provision he made for
his own wants. While Dr. Grant traversed the mountains
with very little provision for his own necessities. Dr. Smith,
when first met by his associate, was wrapped in an India-
rubber cloak, that had sheltered him from the showers on
the way. His legs were cased in felt, that answered the
same purpose and a pair of holsters on
; his saddle, well filled

with bread, served alike for provender and protection. Still,

we must not forget that Dr. Grant was a pioneer in an unknown

and dangerous region, and care about such things might have
interfered with his success.
The work at Aintab owes no little of its unusual success to
the labors of Dr. Smith. As an evidence of this, I will make a
tingle extract from a letter dated Aintah, Oct. 8, 1850 :
 MOUNTAIN N E S T 11 I A N S . 389

" Yesterday our first property-tax, as a distinct people, was

paid. It amounted to three thousand five hundred and sixty-
seven piastres ; and the registry upon which it was made reports
two hundred and eighty-six males in our Protestant community.
The governor and council agreed that three hundred piastres of
this might be paid per week and that sum w^as paid accordingly fov
;

eight weeks, when the pasha came with soldiers, and demanded
of all sects their tax at once. The Protestants, thei-efore, paid
their remaining dues ; and, while all other sects are imprisoned
by scores, not one of them is troubled. All this was 'done with-
out one para (tenth of a cent) of aid from us; though, in all the
details of business, levying the tax and securing its collection,

I '
go ahead,' and tell them what to do and how to do it.

" By the way, excuse my suggesting may you not it, be

personally deficient in leading forward your people in this par-
ticular? oTganiziyig them into missionary societies, appointing

collectors, talking You know

with them of their duties, &c. &c.
we are to organize^ as well as lead on the hosts of God's elect.
Not one-tenth of what we do would have been done, if I had not
put my shoulder to the work of organization; and I suggest the
thought, hoping that you will appreciate the spirit in which it is

made."
If every minister would carry out this " suggestion " of our
departed brother, the cause of Christ need nevfo.- be straitened.
Is this thing thought of as it should be ?

32
 CHAPTEPx XIX.
PLAN TO RETURN TO AMERICA LETTERS
SICKNESS AND I EATH FUNE-
RAL TROUBLE- ABOUT TOMB-STONE POSTHUMOUS USEFULNESS LETTERS
FROM MR. PERKINS AND DR. WRIGHT ADDRESS OF NESTORIAN PUPIL
TESTIMONY OF MR. BADGER LETTERS FROM HON. MU. LAYARD AND REV.
D. W. MARSH NOTICE OF MISSION AFTER DEATH OF DR. GRANT
DEATH OF CHILD OF MRS. HINSDALE LETTF.RS OF MICHA SUCCESSORS
OF DR. GRANT AT MOSUL, AND IN THE MOUNTAINS FATE OF OPPOSERS
CONCLUSION.

While Dr. Grrant mourned over the disasters of the Nesto-

rians, he was yet further afflicted with news from home. His
children again needed a father's care. Some of their guardians
had died ; and he thus writes, March 1, to his eklest son :

" My Very Dear Son : When I received your favor of Sep-

tember 9, I wrote to Dr. Anderson, then at Constantinople, who
says, in rep}}^ '
I think you had better go home and look after

your children, after you shall have had the necessary con-
ferences with Mr. L. and Dr. Smith, at Mosul.' On reading this
my heart was full, and I passed almost a sleepless night, though
the opinion was not unlooked for. The prospect, though distant,

of seeing you and my other dear sons once more, affected me

more deeply than I can express. I had long been weighed down
with anxiety, particularly for your brothers, from whose guard-
ians I had received accounts awakening all the anxious feelings
of a father's heart ; while, on the other hand, the untold wants
and woes of thousands ready to perish appealed to those tender
chords that should ever vibrate in the Christian's heart. AYhat
should I do ? An answer to this oft-repeated question had now
come. Strong as were the claims of the perishing, of widows
 DR. GRANT AND THE NESTORIANS. 391

and orphans around me, there are others who have a stronger
claim on their father's care. The claim of mj children has not
been forgotten, nor can it ever be
" It would be pleasant to look forward to a quiet home in
America, with my children about me ; but, though the thought
that I have none detracts from the pleasure of the prospect, it

does not from my desire to return."

March 22, 1844, lie wrote to the Rev. Mr. Gridley, then the
guardian of his son Edwin, but who has since gone to his reward :

" You will doubtless have learned from Dr. Anderson that he
has advised me to return to look after my children. '
It is quite
evident,' he says, 'that they all need their father's presence for
a time.' You will not wonder at his advice, as I know it is also
3'our own opinion. The thought of leaving here is more trying
than I had anticipated; for, even now, I have attentive assem-
blies, on the Sabbath, of from fifty to one hundred, and many
opportunities for doing good during the week. But, perhaps I
can be better spared now than at any other time ; at least, 1
must go for a season."

The day after, he wrote to his mother as follows :

" My Precious Mother : I write, not knowing where a letter

may find you ; but, wherever you are, to assure you of the warm
affection with which you are ever regarded by 3'our absent son,

and the pleasure I feel in the thought of again beholding the

face of my mother. Yes, ray dear mother, yqur son will soon
return, if the Lord will, to cheer you in the decline of life. How
long I may remain, should I live to see my dear native land,
Providence must decide. But, if I can in any way comfort my
dearest mother, it will go far to make amends for the pain of
our long separation. May He who styles himself the widow's

God watch over and bless you ! My heart is too full, when I
think of my lone mother, to allow me to say much of myself.
392 DR. GRANT AND THE

But jcu will not be uninterested to know that, while my health is

not at any time good^ and while I feel the need of a respite from
care, I am now in comparative comfort, and free from any great
bodily pain. I feel at times the weight of past trials, and the
deep afflictions of my dear Nestorians. You have heard of their
dreadful suifcrings, and prayed, perhaps wept, over them. Poor,
afflicted people ! it pains me to think of leaving them. But my
own children must receive a father's care, and be made to
feel a father's love. Nor is this altogether unespected. When
I consented to return so soon to these lands, it was with the
express understanding that my children would perhaps render
a subsequent visit necessary. Should I, therefore, be per-
mitted, in the discharge of my paramount duty to them, to see

you again before we pass oyer the Jordan of death, this will bo
a privilege I have rather longed for than hoped to enjoy. But
the prospect now is that I may once more enjoy it, in the course
of the coming autunni. Till then, my dear mother, flu'ewell."

Little did he think that the meeting he so ardently desired

would be a meeting before the throne of God and the Lamb.
Mrs. Hinsdale, with her little boy, born Feb. 6, 1843, needed
to return to America ; and, after Dr. Smith had arrived, and we
had consulted together about future operations, his plan was to
return with her to his native land,
With these prospects before liim, he was watching over the
sick, and preaching the gospel to all, little dreaming that he
was doing his last work. for the people he loved as missionary
has seldom loved the strangers for whom he labored. Many
of them confessed that he cared for them more than they did for
one another. Few sorrowed over their own bereavements more
tlian he dir". who had conferred on
over the miseries of a people
him but one favor
the opportunity of doing them good.
The same disease that had proved so fatal among them now
seized upon him, and his* constitution was too much enfeebled to
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 393

resist its power. The malady from which he sufiered so much

af Oroomiah had never wholly left him ; and his hardships in

the mountains, joined to his strong sympathy with the distresses

of the Nestorians, had so aggravated the disease that scarce a

^yeek passed without its day of sickness. If it did, the attack

was only more severe in proportion to the delay. At such

times, after his stomach had rejected all food, he could only lie

down and rest till exhausted nature gathered strength enough

to carry him through another interval of comparative healtli.
And so com.menced his last sickness, four or five days after the
arrival of Dr. Smith, whom God seemed to have sent on purpose
to minister to his dying servant. He who had been so often
alone in the mountains Vv^as brought among friends, and provided
with the kind nursing of Mrs. Hinsdale, and the excellent pro-
fessional services of Dr. Smith, in his hour of need. On Friday,
April 5, he complained of being unwell, and went to the bath
but without finding relief Sick as he was, he v/rote that day to
his son Edwin, as follows :

" My Ever Dear Son : I am happy to hear that so many

feel a lively interest in your welfare. But, while truly grateful
for this, I cannot forget the stronger ties that bind us together.
Nor could you, my son, doubt for a moment the warm love I
"^eel, did you know the yearnings of my heart towards you, and
now greatly I long to see you. That strong desire I now hoj)e

will be gratified; and I trust the gratification will not 1)e so

transient as in my former visit. We then- saw each other eo
little, that it was tantalizing rather than satisfactory, I was
such a stranger that you hardly knew me ; and then my visit

was so hurried that you must have felt, when we parted, that I
was still almost a stranger.
" I am glad to hear that both you and Hastings are making
such proficiency in your studies ; but I feel most solicitous tha*

you should both learn the one important lesson of love to God.
32^
 ;

394: DR. GRANT AND THE

"The wars that hcivc laid waste the homes of the poor Ne-
torians are still scarcely hushed. Even in the inclemency of
their mountain-winter a village has been sacked and burned.
About twenty were killed, and many were taken jDrisoners. But,
in the midst of all these commotions, we are safe under the
protecting power of God.
His arm has been our shield through
every danger, and we trust Him still and ever."
*'

These are the last words he wrote ; and the letter, in some
places, gives evidence, in its disjointed style and frequent
omissions, of the eifort it cost to write it.

Sabbath morning he sat at the table with us for the last time
and on Monday resorted to active measures to break up the fever
that had already commenced. This he found impossible ; and,
three days after, resigned himself entirely to the medical care
of Dr. Smith. On the 11th, the post brought additional letters
from the guardians of his children ; and, perhaps owing to the
excitement of this, next day he became worse ; and so continued,
growing weaker, till, Saturday night, diarrhoea set in, and re-
duced him still more. The following Sabbath he seemed to have
a deep sense of our need of strong confidence in God in this time
of trial, and, calling Dr. Smith to his bed-side, requested him to
pray in behalf of the mission and the poor Nestorians. He then
offered prayer himself, as he lay ;
nothing uncommon in the
blessings sougixt, nothing strange in expression, but uttered with
such a holy fervor as gave new force to the most familiar words.
He began, saying, " Lord, we are not worthy to ask anything
from thee ; but thou hast invited us to come," and closed with
" All these things we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Dr. Smith said, afterwards, " It seemed as though I had never

known the depth of meaning contained in these expressions
before."

Surely that fervent, effectual prayer of the dying missionary

was not unheard ; a id blessings may yet descend in answer to
 .

MOUNTAIN NE S T R- 1 AN S 395

it, as dcubtless tliej have clesceii^-ed already, upon those father-

less children and that ancient church. As yet, no one appre-
hended danger ; but Monday came, and reason had fled. He
knew not that he was leaving earthly friends till he found him-
self, as we trust, among the redee.med above. He was kindly
spared the knowledge of danger and death till they were all

passed, and passed forever. Disconnected sentences, half-

uttered thoughts, shut out his associates from intercourse with
their dying brother. True, a smile greeted their entrance i^ito

the room ; but strange thoughts broke in upon his words of

welcome. The hand was stretched out, but, ere it was grasped
in theirs, the mind had lost all recollection of the act. And yet
there was no wi]{iness or excitement, but a quiet and kindly
incoherence. A smile was ever on the face ; and, if your ques-
tion was unanswered, you had instead the utterance of the happy
thought that moment in his mind. At times he was studying
the comfort of his widowed companion, on her long journey to

the coast; and once, mistaking the languor of disease for the
weariness of a day's travel, he asked how long he might remain
and rest. "Just as long as you wish," replied his attendant,
for one, if not both tif us, was generally at his side. " No," said

he; "I wish just as the Lord pleases, no more. Ah ! these

days ! I don't know don't kiioAV ! days
these !
"

His children were often in his thoughts. " My dear children !

God will take care of them. God will take care of them, and
the cause in which their father is embarked !
" Then he would
call them b}^ name, and, as if his call was answered, invite us

near, and embrace us, rejoicing in a reunion not to be realized

on earth. Next to the cause of Christ they were uppermost in
his thoughts. The last letter he ever wrote was to them. And
one whose grave he now shares used to say that, during his fre-

quent illnesses, she could never comfort him so much as when

she expressed an interest in them, and let the kind father speak

of thoso he loved.
3l)6 UR. GRANT AND THE

Sometimes he was pleading the cause of his Master beff re the

churches at home. But oftener he was again in the mountaint:,

telling the Nestorians of a compassionate Saviour and heavenly

comforter. Or, addressing the desolate few in Mo:^ul, daily
thinned by death, and longing for the mountain home many
were never to see again ;
" free grace," " a Father's hand," and
" mansions prepared for those that love him," told of the themes

he had been accustomed to present before them.

When he thought himself alone in the closet, " Jesus, my
Saviour, my only Saviour! Yes, there is my Saviour! I hope,
ill infinite mercy, through Christ, my only Saviour," were the
words that revealed the basis of his hope. Not deaths oft Ijraved

for Jesus' sake, no v\"orthiaess of his own, but a precious atone-

ment, revealing infinite mercy for the lost, was his favorite theme.

And so he lay seventeen long days, the same smile on hif. wast-
ing features, the same utter absence of complaint. He, who
had loved to do good to all, knew not how all classes sympathized
with him. And, when he died, though we looked anxiou--ly for
a moment of reason, none came ; and we knew not whether that
last smile was still unmeaning, or told of the entrance into the
joy of his Lord.
Thus he died, on Wednesday, April 24th. Death had often
lifted his hand to strike, and as often had he pressed on calmly,
" enduring as seeing Him who is invisible." Grod honored the con-
fidence of his servant ; and now from a quiet resting-place be took
him to Himself in a tmie of peace. He was not cut ofi in the

momitaius, lest any should think that God forsakes the soul that
trusts in his protection, or some future missionary be r.fraid,

when called, like him, to fear not them that kill the body.
We may be comforted, also, that he did not die at home. For
the grief of his aged mother and his children could not have jon -e
such a testimony to the power of a holy life as did the tears of
the Turkish governor, and the multitude, who could restrain
n ther their sobs nor their commendations round his grave Not
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 397

devout men alone made great lamentation over him. Some of the
people rebuked us, because, they said, while all Mosul was in

tears, we alone did not weep. All ranks and religions watched
the progress of his disease with aifectionate anxictj. The French
consul visited him daily ; the Kaimakam, then acting governor

of the city, came On hearing

also in person to inquire for him.

Mar Shimon said, " My country and my people are

of his death,
gone Now my friend is gone also, and nothing remains to me
!

but God!"
Let us thank God that his body lies in the field of his labors,
to remind the people of his life, and the blessed Saviour, who
was the source of all that made it lovely! Let no one repine
because he was not allowed to give us his views of the mission-
ary work, as he viewed it from, the gate of heaven. Let us rather
thank God that, as he said of another, his life did not leave us
dependent on the comfort of a death-bed testimony.
And yet he did leave a testimony more than usually precious.
We expect the dying believer will speak of Jesus, and of

heaven. But when reason is dethroned, and spiritual desires

still shine out upon us from the departing spirit ; when the wan-

dering thoughts wander to the cross; whei^ the inquiry, " What
do you want ? " brings back the reply, " Pardon, through Christ.
Thou, Saviour, art my only hope ;
" what greater comfort can
we ask ? Such words come unstudied. The soul did not mean
to utter them ; but its deep emotions move the lips by their own
intensity, and we listen to words not designed to make an im-
pression, but revealing the true character of the unconscious
spirit. We may grieve that we were not recognized ; but we
rejoice that the pang of separation was unknown, and love to

think of the heaven that broke suddenly on the- ransomed spirit,-

opening its eyes on the glory round about the throne, and

wondering how ii entered that abode of bliss.

One fact in his protracted delirium deserves to be recorded.

Though speaking almost constantly on many topics, in three dif-

398 1) K . GRANT AND T HK

ferent languages, that is, English, Turkish and Syriac, he

did not utter a single word he would have been ashamed of after-
wards. His associates listened to those disclosures of his secret

heart, and wondered that nothing appeared they would have

wished to conceal.
The day after his death, his funeral was attended by all the
Franks in the city. The Jacobite priests and bishops, and the
Nestorian Patriarch, with his priests, read portions of sciipture
at the church, and his bereaved associates offered prayer ;it the
house and at the grave. The mountaineers mourned as for their

dearest earthly friend. Some of the people wept aloud, as the

procession passed along the streets ; and at the grave a large
concourse assembled, to pay him their last tribute of respect.
Ther6, it might have been said, as truly as at tlie grave jf the
Scottish Reformer :
" Here lies one who never feared the face
of man." His body was laid in the same tomb with that of Rev.
Mr. Hinsdale and Mrs. L. The place is marked by a tomb-
by him to the memory of Mr. Hinsdale, partly by
stone, erected
the labor of his own hands. Those afterwards prepared for
him and Mrs. L. were not allowed to be set up. The veason
assigned was apprehension lest their erection should give the
Americans some right of possession in the church but the real ;

reason was probably very different.

I shall not attempt a formal delineation of the character of
Dr. Grrant, as a man or a missionary. That is best learned from
the preceding record of his life. Thus much I will say, he did
not live in vain. His hand is withdrawn, but the iiiipr.lse it

imparted still remains. Not one of his sufferings was endured

for naught, and no danger braved for Jesus' sake but still glori-

fies his Saviour.

The Kurds will never forget the man who kept his word, and
vf ent about doing good to friend and foe ; and when future mis-
sion iries seek to lead them also to Jesus, his memory wil pre-
par ) the way before them, and lend force to each exposition of
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 399

the glorious gospel of the blessed God. His kind feelings towards
them were thus expressed, in a Dr. Anderson, a few
letter to

weeks before his death :

" For the poor benighted Kurds, whom
God has employed as his chastening rod, let our prayers arise,
' for they know not what they do.' lake persecuting Saul, they
think, in their delusion, that they are doing Grod service."

The Nestorians will never forget him. For his sake they have
welcomed other missionaries, notwithstanding the rage of their
own His name will not soon perish from their tradi-
Patriarch.
tions. The story of what Dr. Grant dared and endured in their
mountain home shall nerve Nestorian missionaries, in future
ages, to be fliithful unto death. The sands and snows of Tar-
tary did not intimidate their ancestors. From China to Abys-
sinia, and from Siberia to Malabar, they were in labors abun-
dant. They roved with wandering tribes, and settled down in
the cities. All Asia witnessed their zeal ; all classes enjoyed
the benefits of their labors. Dr. Grant, in this generation,
stands like a beacon on their own mountains, to point them to
these worthy deeds of other days, and remind them that they too
may emulate their ancestors, in more fiivorable circumstances,
and with more permanent success.
From his advanced position, also, he beckoned to Christians at
home to look at the broad fields to be won, and the means pro-
vided, in the providence of God, for winning them to Christ. The
eye of the church still follows his direction ; and the longer she
looks, the more she sees to rouse her to efibrt. Things invisible to
him on earth slowly evolve from the mists of the future ; and,
ever as the horizon enlarges, it is more full of hope. Beyond the
battles to be fought, victories and triumphs beckon us onward.
That these are not mere empty words, will appear from the
testimony of other missionaries and also of men disconnected with
the missionary work. Says Mr. Perkins, in a letter already
quoted more than once :
" Multitudes here, to this day, repeat

his name, with gratitude and veneration, from impressions

400 1) U . C4 RANT AND THE

received almost twenty years ago. His deep piety and earnest
zeal for their salvation also made a strong impression on hun-
dreds of the Nestorians ; though he was not permitted to see
them savingly affected, as many have been during the revivals
enjoyed since his death.
"In the prosecution of the arduous and perilous mountain en-
terprise, the strong traits of his character were most strikingly
developed. Among the ferocious Kurds, and the hardly less wild
Nestorians, his great personal courage, his calmness amid thick-
ening dangers, his unyielding perseverance in the face of diffi-

culties, his distinguished skill in the healing art, and his remark-
able tact in winning confidence and respect, had ample scope,
and commanded universal admiration.
"No less interesting, if less conspicuous, were his lively faith

under discouragements, and his untiring efforts to make known

the way of salvation, by word and deed, at all times and in all

situations, till laid upon the bed of death. But I did not intend

to dwell on his heroic labors in the mountains. I would only

record the sincere satisfaction which I have felt on hearing his
name repeated with affectionate veneration long after his death,

as I stood over his grave at Mosul, wandered among the ruins

of Nineveh, and threaded the deep gorges or scaled the snowy
heights of Kurdistan, as well as on the plains of Persia A
precious harvest is yet to rise from his grave. His body mould-
ers on the banks of the Tigris, but his memory is fi-agrant

in all these regions. Many, both in time and eternity, will

rise up and call him blessed. The hard mountain field, which
drew so largely on his ardent sympathies, his bodily energies,

and his fervent prayers, will, we believe, in due time, bud and
blossom as the rose, and not a tear he shed over it, nor an
effort he there put forth, will be lost or forgotten.

' That life is long which answers life's great end.'

" I often wonder why I, who enterprl ihe field before him, am still
 :

M U N 'J' A I N NE S T R I AN S . 401

spared, unprofitable servant as I am ; unless it be that I have so

much more tardily and imperfectly fulfilled my stewardship."
His successor in Oroomiah Dr. Wright says, "He was
held in very high estimation by all classes. In Persia, I have
heard the prince and peasant speak his praise; and in Kurdis-
tan the Kurd and Nestorian alike dwell upon his excellence. In
the castle of the emir, in the mansion of Mar Shimon, and in the
hovel of the poor Tyarian, I have noticed their veneration for his
character. His memory is very precious to us here. I occupy
his house ; much of my furniture was his here his sainted wife ;

closed her earthly career, and the room in which I now write was
his. I am constantly reminded of him, and I love to cherish his
memory,"
That this feeling was not confined to the missionaries is touch-
ingly evinced in the following extract of an address delivered by
Sanum, one of the pupils of the Female Seminary at Oroomiah,
at its anniversary, in 1852. She is the daughter of a mountain-
eer, and is now a valuable helper of Mrs. Coan in the mission
station at Gawar. After some beautiful remarks on parting, she
thus proceeds
" And now, before we give the right-hand of separation for
this year, it is good that we renew the wings of our loving
thoughts, send them to the years' that are past, and see where
rests the dust of some of the dear teachers of this school. Listen !

there comes a voice :

'
They are not to be found among the liv-

ing.' Yes, the place of one is empty here, and of another there.

Then, where are they ? Ah ! thou, country, art a witness that

they have pressed thy soil. Ye blessed winds, I hear you answer,
They have parted ! And ye, green leaves of time, are true wit-

uesses that they are to be found among the numbered dead.

But where shall we find them ? A wide distance is put between
them. We must visit one ^ that first put her hand upon the

* Mrs. Grant,

33
402 D li . G U A N T AND V II E

head of some of us to bless us ; and though we remember hei-not,

she many times embraced us in the arms of love, and carried us

before a throne of grace. Yes ; she was one oi' the Jirst that left

all her friends behind, and ploughed the mighty waves of ocean,

that she might come to Oroomiah's dark border. Though the

fierce tempests and heavy waves raised themselves above the ship,

her prayers, mingled with love for the Nestorians, ascended higher
still, and overcame all. At the foot of Mount Ararat she doubt-

less remembered the bow of promise ; and the consolations of her

heart were renewed, when she thought of it as a prophecy, that a

company of the fallen daughters of Chaldea should rise up and

become heirs of glory. She so labored that the Lord is reward-
ing her, even to the third and fourth generation.
" But, though with such holy zeal she engaged in her work,

her journey was short. Some of us had not seen our eighth
summer when those lips, on which was written wisdom, were
still,and that tongue, on which dwelt the law of kindness, was
silent in death. Now she rests in this church-yard. She sleeps
with our dead, and her dust is mingled with the dust of our With-
ers, till that day when she shall rise to glory, and a company of
ransomed Nestorians with her.
" But where is that other dear friend of our school,"^ who was
the beautiful staff of her support ? Yes, he encouraged her to labor
for us, while many of us w^ere as yet unborn. His heart was
large enough to love e'v'ery son and daughter of our people. He
sowed with many tears, and gave himself for the Nestorians.

Shallwe not believe that the fruits of his labors have sprung up
among us ? Then let us search, where is he ? Let us go
f ilently, silently, and stand above that ancient city, Nineveh, and
ask it. Where is he ? It will direct us Lo, he rests on the banks
:
'

of the noble Tigris.' Would that our whisper might reach the
ear of the wild Arab and cruel Turk, that they walk gently by
that stranger grave, and tread not on its dust ! Then shall we
* Dr. Grant.
 ;

MOUNTAIN NE S T 11 1 A N S .
403

think no more of it ? No ! with a firm hope, we expect that

those mountains on which his beautiful feet rested shall answer
nis name, in echoes, one to the other ; and the persons who saw
his faithful example there shall mingle in the flock of his Saviour.
" No, ye are not lost, ye spirits made holy ; but, as it was
necessary that some should come here to labor from a distant
land, so ye were necessary in heaven, to do a greater work.
We believe that ye are doing more than ye could have done
here. Yes, that ye are a part of that great company of witnesses
that encompass us to-day. Then, loved ones, we would not call
you thence ;
cling closely, and more closely, to the bosom of
your Saviour,- till we too, through free grace, shall share in your
glory !
"

Mar Yohanna had written, in June, 1844: "When we

heard of the death of Dr. Grant we felt very sorry, not for
his death, for he built his house upon the rock ; it will not flill

it will not move. But, alas! he left his work unfinishing."

On hearing of the death of Dr. Grant, Dr. Anderson wrote :

" The mournful event awakens much feeling in the churches, and
well it may. Let us pray that it may work for good to the
cause so near the heart of our departed brother "
!

But there is one testimony to the piety of Dr. Grant that must
not be passed over in silence. Just before Mr. Badger left Mosul,
he gave a beautiful copy of Bagster's Sabbath-school Treasury
to Dr. Smith, who had attended on his dying mother ; and in a

note accompanying it wrote as follows :

" I had left it out for Dr.
Grant ; but the Lord whom he served has seen fit to call him to
Himself, where none of the least of his good works will remain
unrequited."
The Hon. Mr. Layard, whose connection with Assyria is too
well known to need to be repeated, thus writes, Oct. 13, 1852 :

*'
I am glad to hear that you are preparing a memoir of Dr. Grant,
whose memory, as a sincere and devoted Christian, a zealous and
enterprising missionary, and a most amiable man, ought, by all
404 DR. GRANT AND THE

means, to be perpetuated among his countrymen. It would be

difficult for me, at this distance of time, to note the actual
expressions used, with reference to him, by those who knew him
in the East. I have heard Mussulmans bear witness to his

charitable and trul}^ liberal character, which led him to extend

the benefit of his skill to all, willioiit reference to sect, or pros-
pect of reward; and I have frequently heard him designated,
both byKurds of the wild districts of the mountains, and by
Mohammedans of Mosul, as ' the good doctor.' You know, far
better than I do, his unremitting attentions to the poor Nesto-
rians during their misfortunes. It v/ould be truly extraordinary
if, notwithstanding the general absence of gratitude in the East,
they were ungrateful to him. I have always heard him spoken
of by the Christians of Tyary, as well as by those of Mosul, in
the most affectionate terms. But, perhaps the best evidence
that could be adduced of his high and amiable qualities is the
general respect with which he was regarded by Europeans of
all classes and religious opinions, during a time when, as you
are well aware, there was, unfortunately, no very Christian or
charitable feeling abroad. M. Botta, with whom I was all that
time in constant correspondence, continually wrote of Dr. Grant
as of a man who, by his liberal and truly Christian conduct,
was an honor to the Redeemer. Even those gentlemen who
were most opposed to his mission, and did their utmost to thwart
his success, using, it must be confessed, not very scrupulous
means, were glad to avail themselves of his aid and experi-
ence, and have borne a high testimony to his character."

The Rev. B. ^Y. Marsh, of Mosul, writes as follows, October

7, 1852 :

" Mr. Rassam, the English vice-consul, told me that he v/as

often asked by Moslems, who knew Br. Grrant, When will an-
other be sent to take his place ? Indeed, I hardly ever saw Mr.
R., during my first year in Mosul, without his making some
allusion to his great usefulness, the high estimation in which he
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 405

was held by all classes, and the great importance of a physician

to take his place. It was owing to my representations on this
point, together with those of Dr. Bacon, that Dr. Lobdell was
sent to join Mr. Williams and myself at Mosul.
" Mrs. Rassam, ^ho is widely known to all who have visited
the ruins of Nineveh as a lady of remarkable energy and influ-
ence, and possessing an unusual familiarity with public business,
has often expressed her high sense of the noble character and
great usefulness of Dr. Grant.
" Persons in places as widely separated as Telkeif, Jczira

and Mardin, have spoken to me in extravagant terms of Dr.

Grrant ; and, after making all due allowance for oriental hyper-
bole, enough remains to show that a man who excites such
rapturous praise so long after his death must have had a

character fitted to make a deep impression.

"When a captive, with Dr. Bacon and his son, among the

Kurds, we found chiefs who had heard of his reputation ; and

one remembered him as the only Frank he had ever seen.
" Mrs. Schneider has told me that a wealthy Armenian, of
Broosa, whose life was once saved by Dr. Grant's professional
skill, to this very day loves all Americans for his sake.
" I have never seen Dr. Grant myself; and, were I to give

impressions received from missionaries who loved him, it might

seem a biased eulogy; but I have an impression derived frciii

the living words and tones of native Christians, Moslems and

Kurds, high and low, an impression vivid and well defined,
that he was a most remarkable man. The image thus formeil,

to a commanding figure, and great nobleness of manner, adds .-o

frank and manly a life, a policy at once so courteous, open, and

yet firm, that men conceived for him at once an enthusiastic
regard. Fearless, even to an extreme; full of faith, even to

enthusiasm ; shrinkhig from no hardship ; at home in the Kurd-

ish castle, the Nestorian hut, or the palace of the pasha ;

everywhere a Christian and a Christian teacher. Whether with
33^
406 DR. GRANT AND TUE

the PatriarcK or his servant, inculcating the same universally-

adapted truth. A man in advance of the slow pace of the
church, with a faith to attempt all things, whose bones will be
wept over, and his memorial set up, when the great army comes
to the spot where he fell."

I will not weary the reader with the detail of occurrences

after his death ; and yet one scene may not be left unnoticed.

Mrs. Hinsdale, owing to the death of Dr. Grant, had not returned
to America as she expected, and the delay proved the occasion
of a fresh affliction. Her little boy, who bore his father's name,
pined away for mouths under the pitiless heat of summer. He
had centred in himself all the aifection that else had been
bestowed on both ; but neither affection nor unremitted attention
could avail to save him. I shall not soon forget the nio-ht he
died. It was in the middle of July, when the thermometer, every
day, was above one hundred, Falir., and at night not far below it.

Dr. Smith and the writer slept on a roof, on one side of the court;
and, separated by the wall that surrounded it, Mrs. Hinsdale,
her Arab maid, and little Abel, occupied another. It was, as it

always is there in summer, a clear, cloudless night. The stars

looked down on us as we slept. At midnight we heard the girl
shriek, and, conjecturing the reason,
for we had long expected

it, though not much had been said, Dr. Smith hurried over.
He felt for his pulse, but there was none. He put his hand on
his little heart, and, when it ceased to beat, he told the mother.
She heard, and, replying " The Lord can take better care of him
than I can," turned to her companion, and quieted the wild out-
burst of oriental grief The little stranger, who had numbered
only seventeen brief months in a world of sorrow, was laid by
the side of his sister, not far from the grave of his father and
the rest ; and his mother kept on the even tenor of her way, as
if her child had not died, but only been taken out of her arms
into the bosom of the heavenly Shepherd.
 ;

MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 407

After his death, ->re all went to Sheikh Adi, and .spent a i'ew

days among its pleasant groves and fountains. Then, between

the latter part of August and the middle of September, Dr. Smith
and Mr. L. made a tour through the mountains as far as Ber-
chulla ; and, after that, as there was no prospect of being able
soon to resume labors in that field, and the missionaries at
Oroomiah would be ready to enter as soon as. the door was likely
to be opened, they reluctantly turned away from what had been
indeed a scene of trial, but endeared by the most sacred associ-
ations. Eight missionaries had gone there, and, of that number,
only three lived to return. The mission had met with many
reverses ; probably few, in so short a time, ever experienced
so many. Its beginning was full of promise ; and yet, in little
more than three years, it was suspended : but not long. God
did not lead his servants there to toil and die in vain. The
leaven still continued to leaven the lump, after those who had
cast it in had been called away. '
Micha, especially, though left

alone, continued faithful. His light shone brigl^tly in his own

city ; and his letters to young men of his acquaintance, full of
Christian instruction and consolation, found their way even to
Aleppo and Beirut. He maintained, also, a correspondence with
one of the missionaries ; and, as some may like to know the
spirit of the converts in Mosul, a few extracts from his letters
are here submitted to the reader.
In his first letter he says : " I try to throw off all fear
and I think I know something of that sweet saying of the
beloved John, '
There is no fear in love ; ' and I know that
nothing can separate me from His love. Though some
persecute me, it is enough if I only have grace to do His will.
I would be ready even to die for Him who died for me. It i

Christ alone I ought to please ; and he who builds his house on

that rock is secure against all storms and floods. I try to urge
all to repent, without any fear of man. Some confess that I
speak the truth ; but, alas ! they produce no fruit. But I have
408 DR. GRANT AND THE

hope that the grain of wheat, if it fall into the ground and die,

will not remain alone."

The writer can almost see him as, after one of our bereave-
ments, in Mosul, he stole gently into the room, and, in his quiet
waj, half afraid to renew grief, and yet longing to comfort,

repeated that same thought, intimating that, just as the seed

must die in order to produce the increase, so the body just laid in

the grave would not only rise again, but rise with others, brought
to the enjoyment of eternal life through its death. He adds:
" Pray for me, that God would keep me from sloth [he is feeble,

and suffers exceedingly from the heat of summer] ; remove

fi'om me entirely the love of the world ; and enable me, in my
loneliness, to be perfect in his service ; for I am all alone. I

long to impart to others that which God has given me, and that
is, the revelation of his dear Son, sent down from heaven, cruci-
fied in my stead, that he might save me from the wrath to come.
How shall I describe the greatness of my obligation to praise
him for this grace ? One thing I know, and that is, that every-
thing is from God, even faith also. Salvation is from the mercy
of God in Christ. All is from him, and by him, to whom be
glory and blessing forever !

" Dear brother, the work is great, and we have no power to

turn a single soul to God. The sorrow and grief of my heart

does not cease while I see so many souls without the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus, and every day some of them dying without
turning to Christ. -
What Christian can see or hear of such a
sight, and not weep ? Pray for me, that 1 may have grace to
instruct, and that they may believe " !

1 1 a letter dated Sept. 30, 18-19, he gives the following

account of himself :

" I was born in the year 1816. My parents were poor; and,
with the neglect of spiritual things so universal here, they taught
me nothing except the way in which I was to earn my bread.
 ]\r UNTA I N NE S T 11 1 AN S . 400

In 1828 the plague raged in Mosul, and swept away near forty
thousand souls, my father among the rest ; and I, too, was seized
by the same disease. But the mo^t High God, blessed be his
name! saved me from death; for he had designs of mercy
toward me, even to give me salvation, through his Son Jesus
Christ, in his own chosen time.
" Whenwas fourteen years of age I felt that I was a sinner,
I
and would soon die, and go to hell, just as Christian felt, ' '

in the beginning of the book of Bunyan, and I knew not what

to do ; for I had no one to tell me of salvation in Jesus Christ.
When I sought for justification through good works and religious
3bservances, my conscience found no rest. I was directed to
confess to the priest, and, like the rest, I did so ; but it profited
me nothing.
"Two years after, I sought to learn to read; and the people
'aughed at me, and mocked me, repeating the proverb

' Baad ma sar shab, yereed yitaalim el Ketab '

(After he has become a young man he would learn to read) ; for

my people think that if a man does not begin to learn when he
is five years old, he never can succeed. And when they saw that
I did learn, they were gi-eatly astonished.
" Then I became exceedingly zealous, like Saul of Tarsus, for
my sect; thinking that we only were sure of salvation, and all

else were in error. And I disputed Vv^armly about things I had

no knowledge of. I had heard, indeed, of the Bible ; but never
could obtain one, when God willed it, the missionaries came
till,

to Mosul, and brought it with them. Then I, and many others,

read it ; and as, in the light of God's word, I saw my guilt, I
told you very often how I feared on account of my sins, and you
comforted my heart ; telling me, ' Christ has died in your stead,
and what more is wanting after that ? ' Then I cast myself

wholly on Him ; and my heart rested ; and I desired that every-

body should come to Him. And now I have no sadness, only at
 ;

410 DR. GRANT AND THE

the sight of sinners who will not come to Him, that they may be
saved.
" At that time you said many things to me I could not very
well understand ; but, after you had gone, and I continued to

study the Bible, praying that God, for Christ's sake, would
explain to me the things that were difficult, thanks to his great
name. He heard my request ; and the gospel caused me to recol-
lect and understand the things you used to say to me. Then,
3^our letters were a great help, and the Arabic and English
books I have. Yet all would have availed nothing, but for the

grace which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nor am I now any-

thing ; but, in his mercy, he visited me, and prepared me for
the gift of faith in his dear Son ; me, the sinner, unworthy to
receive anything at his hand. Indeed, I think in myself that,
though I should bring the whole world to obey him, yet that,

too, would be the work of His power and mercy, and not mine,
that I should deserve anything on account of it. Of Him and
to Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

It would be pleasant to make other extracts, did space permit

but these are enough to show the spirit in which he held fast the
beginning of his confidence, far from all Christian sympathy,
and a stranger among his own people because of his attachment
to the truth. He supported himself by his old trade till the gift
of a set of watch-maker's tools, from a benevolent lady in Bos-
ton, enabled him to set up that business; at which, I believe,
he still continues, though in failing health. In one of his last
letters, he writes : " I do not expect to live long ; but, I trust,
I have a sure hope in Christ, and that I shall go where I shall
rest from sin and suffering. I shall sec the Lamb, slain for me,
and meet those with whom is the testimony of Jesus ; and them,
also, who loved me, and prayed for me in this world, where I

could not see them."

This young man formed the connecting-link between the
 MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 411

mission to the mountain Nestorians and the present mih^ion to

Assyria. The report of his piety and Uibors led Messrs. Perkins
and Stocking to visit Mosul in May, 1849. The Rev. J. E.
Ford, of Aleppo, was sent there in November of the same year,
and remained laboring, amid much encouragement, till April 10,
1850. Before leaving, he purchased a house for a Protestant
place of worship; and in this, and the preliminary steps for the
formation of a Pi-otestant comnumity, he enjoyed the counsels
of Rev. D. W. who had just arrived in this scene of his
jMarsh,
future labors. Long may he be spared to prosecute them, and
see his bright hopes of the coming harvest even more than real-
ized ! He has since been joined by Rev. W. F. Williams, and
Rev. H. Lobdell, M.D., v/ith their families, the former in

May, 1851, and the latter a year afterward;;. The seed sown
in tears is now being reaped in joy. A little church was
formed Nov. 3, 1851 ; and, if the spirits of the departed are
allowed to look down on the scene of former toils, they that
sowed rejoice together with them that reap, and often fall down
before the Lamb to praise Him, not only for grace all-sufficient
on earth, but for each new evidence that not the smallest effort

put forth in the service of Christ has been in vain.

While these cheering events occur around the grave of Dr.
Grant, others, no less encouraging, transpire in the mountains.
Repeatedly have they been traversed by his former associjvtes.

Those valleys, that echoed the shrieks of the slaughtered Nesto-

rians, have again listened to the announcement of salvation
through the blood of the Lamb. The feet of them that bring
good tidings are again beautiful on those mountains. Being
dead. Dr. Griint yet speaketh, and shall speak, through all those
scenes of his lonely toil.

In August, 1851, a station was established in Gawar, not far

from the place where he first met Mar Shimon ; and the little boy
who assisted in carrying his baggage to the canal-boat, in Utica,

in 1835, now preaches the gospel there to the Nestorians. '

 ;

412 DR. GRANT AND THE NKSTORIANS.

While God is thus showing that the kibors of his servant arc
had in remembrance before the throne, those who opposed them
have been dealt with in a manner no less worthy of our notice.
Nurullah Bey, instead of enjoying his bloody conquest, fled
from castle to castle, after leaving his stronghold at Julamerk in

the hands of the Turks, till he was taken captive by the very
power whom he aided to destroy the Nestorians ; and now pines
in hopeless captivity, far from the scenes of his former power.
Badir Khan Bey, after failing in one of his favorite night-
attacks on the Turkish army sent against him, was taken pris-
oner in his own castle of Derguleh, and now despairs of
deliverance from his island prison in the Grecian Archipelago.
Suleiman Bey, who professed friendship for Dr. Grant only
to prevent his strengthening the emir, after cruelly persecuting
some Nestorian evangelists, was driven off to a like captivitj'

but died on the road, with his latest breath calling on one of his
followers to sing a favorite melody of his native hills.

It only remains to be said that, of the three who left Mosul,

Oct. 22, 1844, Dr. Smith has since entered into rest from amid
the wonderful displays of grace at Aintab ; Mrs. Hinsdale is

still in the missionary field, at Constantinople; and the writer,

unworthy of that privilege, here ends his sad yet joyful remin-

iscences of beloved ones now before the throne of God.

May the Master whom they served accept this contribution to
the blessed cause in which they died !
 INDEX

Agapse, 136. ing and Sabbath-keeping, 189. Churcijet

Aikin, Dr. S. C, 21, 22. and priests, 260. Patriarch and fitness for
Ain Sifneh, 293. missionary station, 261. Desolated by
Ainsworth, Mr. William. His intercourse Zeiner Bey, 361.
with Mar Shimon, 151-153. His map and Assassinate, plot to, Dr. Grant, 281.
river Berdizawi, 257, 258. Rope bridges, Athanasius, Bishop, 204, 214, 217, 219, 281.

264. Auraham, Kasha, 136, 315,

Aiutab, 68, 388. Avalanches, 245, 247.
Akra, 125, 126.
Alarm in Ashitha, 320. Baasheka, 121.
Albakh, 235, 236. Badger, G. P., Rev. His " hypothesis,"
Amadia, 127, 296-300. 244. Erroneous assertion, 261. Apocry-
America, visit to, 166, 169. pha, 281. His own account of his course,
Anderson, R., D.D., 403. Letters to. Dr. 282-285. How regarded by his own
Grant offers himself to the Board, 27, 33. church, 2S5. Labors with Micha, 370. Dr.
His medical practice, 64. His proposal to Grant's cpurse toward him, 284, 371-375.

enter the mountains, 92. His faith in dis- Mode of his opposition, 281, 286, 370, 382.

couragement, 346. His proposition to labor Testimony concerning Dr. Grant, 403.
in mountains after the massacre, 367-369. Badii- Khan Bey, 105. Sends spies to Ash-
Animals in Kurdistan, 295. itha, 314, 328. Dr. Grant goes to visit

Antique bust, 186. him, 322. His oppression of Christians,

Arabs, 194, 199. 329. Dr. Grant spends ten days with him
Arbela, 219. '
on Mount Jtidi, 333-340. His massacre of
Ark, place of, 340. the Nestorians, 353-356. His own fate, 412.

Arzaleh, 137, 185, 254. Baho, 217, 235, 237, 267.

Ashitha. Population, &c., 137. Peace-mak- Bash Kala, 148, 159, 163.

34
414 I NDEX.
Castawa, 292. Climate of mounUins, 229, 307.
Beadle, Rev. E. R., 195, 196. Commissariat of Dr. Grant, 327, 341.

Bebozy, 295. Conolly, Capt., 115.

Bell, church, in Jelu, 182. Constantinople, usefuhiess in, 37, 33.
BerchuUa, 2o7. Conversion of Dr. Grant, 17.
Berkho Malek, 347, 348. Cooking, Nestorian, 245, 254.
Bei-wer Shawina, 162. " Kflrdish, 326.
Beth Garmse, 124. Courtesy between missionary societies 366.
Biblp-class in Mosul, 378, 379. Crane, Rev. E. H., 35, 411,
Birth-place of Dr. Grant, 1. Crops in Tyary, 134.
Botta, Mons. P. E. Testimony' concerning Curiosity of Nestorians, 240.
Turkish oppression, 209-211. His amia-
bility and kindness, 290. Persecuted by Dahar, pass of, 44, 107.

the pasha, 375. Daughters of Dr. Grant, death of, 155, 156-

Braintrim, 18-20. Decision to be a missionary, 24-26.

Bridge at Mosul, 119. Deed of real estate, Sj'Tiac, 265-267.

" mountain, 253, 264. Deir Zefran, 113, 206.

Building in Tyary, 316. Dergfileh, 333, 338.

Burdasoor Castle, 82. Derrek, Mount, 147.

Captives, treatment of, 357. Dervishes, 171.

Caravan fort, 44. Deshtany, 301.

Causes which led to the massacre, 104, 105, Dey, 325.

372-376. Diarbekr, 111, 197.

Celibacy among Nestorians, 139. Diet of mountaineers, 182.

Charreh, 228, 232. Diss, slaughter in, 348, 349.

Chesney, Colonel, 127, 209, 264. Doctrines of Nestorians, 55, 56.

Childhood of Dr. Grant, 15, 16. Dress of Nestorians, 134.

Children of Dr. Grant, letters to, 78-80, " " Badir Khan Bey, 339.

154, 157, 390, 393. Duree, Bishop of, 130, 350.

Children, missionary, 166.

China, Nestorians in, 51. Easter in Ashitha, 311-314.

Cholera, 73, 74. Education of Dr. Grant, 14-17.
Christian character of Dr. Grant, 24, 95. Eldership of Dr. Grant, 18, 22.
Chumba, Malek of. First visit of Dr. Embarkation of Dr. Grant, 35.

Grant to, 138, 139. Second visit, 254. Emir of Hakkary. Position, 104. First in-

Losses in 1842, 321. Slain by Badir KLan terview with Dr. Grant, 148. AUiance
Bey, 351. with Tm-key, 164, 373. Alliance with
Circumcision, Kfirdish, 328. Persia, 228. Expedition against Amadia,
" of Yezidees, 121. 238, 240. Life in camp, 243, 244. Jeal-
Climate of Mosul, 201, 202. ousy of, 2;3, 262. Expedition fails, 263.
 INDEX 415
In BAbtan with Badir Khan Bey, 333-336. At Mardin, 112. At Constantinople, in
His agency in the massacre, 104, 105, 228, 1841, 168. In mountains, 271,
277, 319, 337,
335, 336, 372, 373. His fate, 411.
346. In Mosul, 286.
Entrance into Tyary, 131, 132.
Heat of Mosul, 201, 202.
Erbll, 219.
Heiyo, 249, 250.
Erzruni, 108.
Heroine of Bastawa, 292.
Evening' meetings in Oroomiah, 85.
Herlush Kurds, 162, 2-59, 260.
Exactions in Mosul, 209.
Hierarchy, Nestorian, 147.

Famine, 172. Hinsdale, Rev. A. K. Embarkation, 167.

Fasts, 189.
Trials on journey to Mosul, 195-200.
Tour among villages, 214. Situation
Fearlessness of Dr. Grant, 16, 93, in
118, 178,
Mosul, 215. Visit to Ashitha, 268*.
192, 249, 271, 368. Sick-
ness and death, 279-281.
Feast in Ashitha, 311-314.
Hinsdale, Mrs. S. C, 392.
Female readers among Nestorians, 139, 231.
" " death of her son, 406.
" seminary at Oroomiah, 84, 140, 401.
" missionaries, 30, 31.
Homes, Rev. H. A. Appointed to go with
Dr. Grant to Mesopotamia, 102.
Fierceness of Nestorians, 139, 317,
318, 324
Detained
at Constantinople, 108.
Fu-mans refused, 319, 335. Arrives at Diar-

Ford, Rev. J. E., 411. bekr, 111. Perils at Mardin, 113. Return
to Constantinople, 114.
Fountains in Ashitha, 261.
Fruits in Jelii, 182. House in Oroomiah, 45.

" " Kurdistan, 295. " " Ashitha, 264-267, 306-303, 360.

Funeral of Dr. Grant, 398. Houses in Tyary, 1.33, 311.

Furniture of Nestorians, 133. of rich in Mosul, 293.

Gawar, 411.
Geli Mazukah, 300. Interview with the emir, Dec. 1842, 274.

Geography, Nestorian, 145. Intolerance, Moslem, 331, 332, 336.

" "
of mountains, 127, 257. papal, 385, 386.

Georgifln among the Kflrds, 338. Invasion, second, 360-362.

Grant, Mrs. E. L., 17-19. Ira Grant, letters to, 81, 171, 286.

" " J. S., education, 32, 33. Ismael Pasha, 216, 276, 334, 336.

" " labors in Oroomiah, 84-86.

" " " death Jacobites, 203-205.
of, 97-101.
Greene, Rev. D., 371. Jealousy of Nestorians, 182, 188, 262.
" "
Gridley, Rev. W., letters to,
emir, 238, 262.
173, 174, 179
391. Jelu, mountains of, 180, 181,

Gugerchine Kala, 82. Jews, 205, 212, 298-300, 328.

GAndfiktha, 244. Jezira, 330, 331.

Jones, Rev. W., letters to, 168.

Health of Dr. Grant. In Oroomiah, 94, 96. Mrs., letters to, 318, 383
li(3 INDEX
A Mi, Mou It, 332,340. Manners, clerical among Nestorians, 263.

Julamerk, 160, 273-277. Mardin, sickness in, 112.

" sedition in, 113.

Kala el Hawa, 273.

" Kiiinry, 325. Mar Mattai, 122-124.

" " Sawa, 354, 355.

'd Seringa, 146.

KaufU Kileeseh, 236.

Mar Shimon. Fkst interview with Dr

Kasha Mendo, 128, 283.

Grant, 145, 146. His lodgings at Ashitha,

" Auraham,
305, 306. Jealousies between him and his
136, 315.
people, 344. Testimony to the benefits
Keli Shin, 225.

Kesta, 324.
derived from the influence of Dr. Grant

Khan, 42.
with Badir Khan Bey, 356. Flight to Mosul,

" Mahmud, 335.

356. Residence there, 376, 377. Attends

funeral of Mrs. L., 381, and of Dr. Gnuil,

Khorsabad, 210, 289.
Khosrova, 230. 398.

Klndnes.s in Kurdistan, 161, 162. Mar Yoosuf, 231, 240, 244, 263, 270.

Kochannes, 237. Mar Yohanna, 63, 255, 403.

Knrds, 103. Marsh, Rev. D. W. Description of scenery

" encounter with, 175. in Kurdistan, 222. Letter concerning Dr.

Kdrdish repast, 243. Grant, 404-406. In Mosul, 411.

Massacre at Diss, 348-349.
Labors in Oroomiah, 75.
" " Chumba, 351, 352.
Laurie, Mrs. M. F., 379-382.
" " Serspidho, 354, 355.
Layard, Hon. A. II. His route of Xeno-
" " Ashitha and Lezan, 361, 362.
phon, .333. Description of the death of
" " Tehoma,364.
the IMalek of Chumba, 351. Description
Medical practice, 64-66, 148, 188, 339.
of scene of slaughter at Lezan, 361. Com-
Melek Taus, 218.
mendation of Dr. Smith, 387. Letter con-
Merrick, Rev. J. L., S7.
cerning Dr. Grant, 403, 404.
" " " letters to, 63, 99, 100, 118.
Leaky roofs, 316.

Leaving mountains, 350, 351.

Micha el Nakkai-. Early life of, 204. Is

connected with the mission, 214, 215. Re-

Letter to New York Observer, 372-376.
ligious history, 369, 409, 410. Put to the
Leviathan, 145.
test by Mr. Badger, 370. Letters of, 407-410.
Lezan, 136, 187, 304.
Mill in Tyary, 258.
Lobdell, Rev. H., 68, 411.
Mineral springs, 236.
Lord's Supper among Nestorians, 135.
Missionaries, how made, 32.
Lost Tribes, 58, 167.
Missions, Nestorian, 48-53.
Maklilb Mount, 122-124, 291..
Mitchell, Rev. C. C, embarkation of, 167.
Malasgird, 174.
Sickness and death, 195-193.
Malik Kassim Mh-za, 74, 101.
Mitchell, Mrs., sickness and death of, 199-
Manners of Nestorians, 260.
200.
 INDEX 417

Jlob, Nestorijin, 315. Plague at Mosul, 212, 213.

Monopolies in Mosul, 208, 209. Politics of Kurdistan, 104.
Mosul, 201, 202, 206-213. " " Nestorians, 255, 258.
Mother of Dr. Grant, 14, 15, 10. Lt iters to, Polygamy, 275, 294.
28, 73, 76, 15G, 391. Population of mountains, 364.

Mountains, reasons for mission in, 89. Poverty, 297, 299.

Mountaineers, character of, 129. " of Nestorians, 355.

Mud houses, 289. E*i-ecautions in travelling, 148.

Murder, Kurdish, 237. Proposition of Dr. Grant, 367.

Providence, missionary, 204, 377.

Nazee, l-iO.

Nestorians, origin of church, 47. Rakam, 101.

" I'eligious character of, 56, 60, 61. Ravandflz, 221, 224.

Night j4 uuey in Berwer, 193. " Bey of, 221, 222.

Night among the mountains, 241. Reading, habits of, 15.

Nineveh, 119. Reception in mountains, 133.

Nomad Eirds, 226, 234. Refugees, Nestorian, 384-386.

Reminiscence, 170.

Oppression, 207-211. Responsibility, 81.

" in mountains, 35S. Riach, Dr., 44, 107, 165.

Oniaments of women, 276.

" " letter of, 91, 92.

Oroomiah. Scenery of, 59, 60. Magi in, 60. Rich, C. J., Esq., 103.

As missionary station, 61. Arrival at, 62, Roads, 42.

" mountain, 144, 145, 248.
63. Visit to, 227-229. Lake of, 229.

Papists in Ashitha, 269. Rubbers, Kurdish, 276.

Pasha, jMohammed, of Mosul. Desire to Routine, daily of Kurdish chief, 339.

subdue the Nestorians, 105. Yigor of his Rum, New England, 44.

administration, 114, 116, 206, 207. Early

history, 206. His rapacity, 208-209. His Sabbath in Tyary, 136.

severity, 212. Plots the assassination of Saladiu, 103.

Dr. Grant, 281. His intrigues with the Salmas, 149, 158.
Nestorians, 321, 358. His death, 382. Sanum, address of, 401-403.

His successors, 209-211. Sapnah, 296.

Patriarchate, Nestorian, 49, 54, 55. Scho 'Is, Nestorian, aticient, 56.

Patriarch, relations to Kurds, 104, 105. Scenery along the Zab, 143, 272.

Peace-making, 189, 243. Schultz, 93, 163.

Perkins, J., D.D. Letter from, 72, 399, 400. Serspidho, 354, 355.

Letters to, 38, 117. Shakh, 341.

Physicians, missionary, 67-73. Shaw, Rev. J. B., 24, 102.

Pillar nea' Sidek, 225. Sheep, milk of, 184.

34*=
418 INDEX.
Sheikh, Adi, 292. Travelling in. mountains, 239, 248, 253, 262,

Shell, Col., 90, 91, 105. 305.

" " his account of Jezira,3ol. Travelling hi the East, 173.

Sickness, last, of Dr. Grant, 392-397. Treachery of guides, 178, 192.

Sidek, 22i. Trebizoud, 41.

Sister, letters to, 29, 76, 77.

Smith, Kev. A. His narrow escape, 247. Usefulness, posthumous, of Dr. Grant, 398,

His impressions of the mountains, 355. 399.

Statistics of Nestorians, 364, 365. Journey Ushnei, 226.

to Mosul, 386. Character, 387. Conipar Utica, life in, 20-23.

ison between him and Dr. Grant, 388

Usefulness in Aintab, 68, 389. Van, town and lake, 164, 176, 177.
Social life in the mountains, 317, 330.

Sons, letters to, 78-80, 154, 157, 390, 393. Wages in Tyary, 269, 270.

Spies, Kiirdish, 314. Waly Khan, 230.

Stocking, Rev. W. II., 227. Letters to, 95. Weather in Ashitha, 307.

159, 164, 179, 215, 278. Williams, Rev. W. F., 411.

Suleiman Bey, 104, 160, 161. AVine in tJie mountains, 186.

" " his death, 411. Winter without sun, 272.
Sunday-school, Dr. Grant in, 22, 75. Woman as a missionary, 30, 31.

Sunless winter, 272. Women in Tyary, 134. Able to read, 139,

Superstition of Nestorians, 183. 231. Kurdish, 275. In Mosul, 294.

Synagogues of Amadia, 299. Wright, Dr. A. H., 1-65. Letter from, 227,

401. Letters to, 165, 190, 213,

Tall, district of, 2.39, 240.

Tamerlane, 54, 102. Xenophon, 102, 107, 332.

Tartars, 52, 53.

Tehoma, 185, 364, 365. Yahya Khan, 91, 101, 106, 228, 232.
Telegraph, mountain, 242. Yezidees, 119, 120.
Temperance among Kurds, 238.

Temple, Rev. D., 36. Zab, or Zawa, 127, 128.

Tent, Kurdish, 102. " Scenery of, 143, 272.
Tcrwanish, 301. Zacho, 327.
Theodore of Mopsuestia, 262. Zarny, 262, 301.
Tigris, the, 115, 116, 288. Zeiner Bey, 277, 325. In Ashitha, 360, 362.
Tortures of Nestorians, 362, 363. Zozan, 137, 243, 255.
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