Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/106

70 Takiân is situated in the valley of Zakho, through which the Khaboor flows, and is bounded on the north by the lofty mountains of Joodi and on the south by a lower range called Jebe Bekher, which separates the valley of the Khaboor from the plains of Mosul. There are five Chaldean villages in the vicinity of Takiân, all of which have submitted to Rome within the last few years. Nahrwân is the only Nestorian village left in the plain between Zakho and Jezeerah. From the people here I learned that many Nestorians still inhabited the mountain province of Buhtân.

Nov. 6th.—Seven hours' ride brought us to Zakho, a small provincial town built upon an island formed by the divided stream of the Khaboor, and reckoned within the pashalic of Mosul. We found here a few Chaldeans, twenty Papal Syrian families, with a church and priest, and seventy houses of Jews: the rest of the inhabitants, amounting to about 2,000 souls, are chiefly Coords. In the evening we had a visit from the Mutsellim, who managed to drink four large bowls of tea before he took his departure.

Nov. 7th.—Three hours' ride through a rugged pass in the Bekher range brought us once more to the plains of the Tigris, over which we travelled till 7, when we put up at the Yezeedee village of Semiel. After a journey of eleven hours, the day following we reached the large Chaldean village of Telkèf, where we were received in the house of Mutran Basileos by my brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Rassam, whom I had not seen for several years, and by a goodly number of native friends who had come thus far to congratulate us on our safe arrival.

Nov. 9th.—Three hours' ride from Telkèf brought us opposite the mounds of ancient Nineveh, where those interesting relics of remote antiquity which have since been dug up then lay buried and undisturbed in the grave of many centuries. We crossed the Tigris for the fifth time over a bridge of boats, and soon reached the British Vice-Consulate, where in the embraces of a devoted mother, who in her old age had accompanied my sister to these far distant parts, I forgot the toil and fatigue of a long and wearisome journey.

During the day we received friendly visits from well nigh