Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/253

Rh Daoodia, and in its course through the plain receives many additional rivulets flowing from the Gara and Tcah Meteenah ranges. To the east of Amedia it is joined by the Robara, which in winter and spring so swells the Ava Supua as to render it impassable for days together. From Ainsworth's description one would conclude that this river runs close under Amedia, which is a mistake, and Dr. Grant falls into a still greater error when he calls it the "Khazir."

The Tcah Meteenah eastward of Amedia makes a curve to the south, which renders the valley thereabouts much narrower than it is to the west of that town, where its average width is from six to eight miles. The valley itself is very uneven, but is fertile in vineyards and valonîa oak producing the gall-nut of commerce. The grapes of this district are very large, and when dried make excellent raisins. Very little wheat or barley is raised here; but rice is grown in abundance about Amedia, and in the valleys of Berwari beyond.

We were three hours in reaching, situated at the foot of Amedia. This village, which until very lately was inhabited by Nestorians, is now in ruins, but the church is still in good repair. The town of is built upon an isolated rock close under the Tcah Meteenah range, from which it is divided by a deep ravine. The ascent from all sides is steep and rugged, and it took us more than half an hour to reach the summit, A perpendicular scarp, varying from thirty to forty feet high, rises above the sloping sides of the hill, and forms a natural rampart round the whole circumference of the platform upon which the town is built. The town itself, which occupies the northern extremity of the area, is little better than a heap of ruins, and the rest is chiefly occupied by graves (no "sacred groves," as Ainsworth writes), and a square castle built by the Coordish Pasha of Rawandooz, when he took possession of the place in 1832. This fortress is now garrisoned by 300 irregular troops.

On reaching the town, we were conducted by Kasha Mendu to his house, almost the only respectable private dwelling in the place, where we were welcomed by three of his brothers, one of whom had lately seceded to Rome, because Mutran Yoosef, the Chaldean Bishop, had given him permission to take a wife