CONTENTS

I.The Fiery Furnace[1]
II.The Venice of the East[15]
III.Sinbad the Soldier[27]
IV.The Wise Men from the West[37]
V.By the Waters of Babylon[49]
VI.Arabian Nights in 1919[67]
VII.In Old Baghdad[89]
VIII.Paradise Lost[97]
IX.The Desert of the Flaming Sword[109]
X.The Kings of the East[119]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATES IN COLOUR AND MONOCHROME

The Golden Towers of Khadamain[Frontispiece]
Abadan, Persia, the Oil Quays[4]
H.M.S. MANTIS, one of the Monitors on the Tigris[12]
Hospital Hulks at Basra[18]
"The Solemn Palms were ranged above, unwoo'd of summer wind"[22]
The House of Sinbad the Sailor, Basra[24]
A Bend in "the Narrows" of the Tigris[30]
A Marsh Arabs' Reed Village[34]
Mud Houses on the Tigris[40]
A Mahaila of the Inland Water Transport[42]
Ezra's Tomb[44]
On the Euphrates, Early Morning[52]
Babylon, the Excavations at El-Kasr[56]
An Old World Craft: a type of boat
unchanged since the days of Sinbad[60]
Bellams under Sail[62]
Babylon the Great is Fallen, is Fallen[64]
A Street in Khadamain[70]
Moonlight, Baghdad[72]
A Nocturne of Baghdad[74]
Mahaila and Marsh Arab's Bellam[80]
A Moonlight Fantasy: Kut, from the ruins of the Licquorice Factory[94]
Dawn at Amara[100]
A Backwater in Eden[102]
Puffing Billy on the Tigris[106]
Sunset on the Tigris[112]
Sheik Saad and the Persian Mountains[114]
Hit, known to the Arabs as the Mouth of Hell[116]
A British Cruiser in the Persian Gulf[122]

LIST OF LINE SKETCHES

Abadan[2]
"Serried ranks of tall iron funnels"[6]
Ship loading with Oil[7]
"A Mysterious-looking furnace tower"[9]
"Crude steam engines evolved by Titans when the world was young"[11]
In Ashar Creek[16]
Sunset, Old Basra[21]
Dhows, Basra[26]
Monitor "Moth" at Basra[28]
The Sirens of the Narrows[33]
Noah's Ark, 1919[36]
Upward Bound on the Tigris[38]
Hillah[47]
Ctesiphon[50]
Ancient Irrigation Channel near Hillah[55]
Tower of Babel. Fig. 1[57]
The Tower of Babel[59]
Tower of Babel. Fig. 2[60]
Tower of Babel. Fig. 3[61]
Goufas on the Tigris[68]
"A magic vignette of palms, Eastern buildings, and a
large South-Western Railway engine"[77]
"Suddenly we came upon a scene of strange beauty and
dramatic effect"[79]
"By garden porches on the brim, The costly doors flung open wide"[82]
"All round the fragrant marge, From fluted vase and brazen
urn, In order, Eastern flowers large."[83]
"By Baghdad's shrines of fretted gold, High-walled gardens,
green and old."[85]
Showing the Simplicity of Mesopotamian Domestic
Architecture. Tigris[88]
Baghdad[90]
"Puffing Billy" in Baghdad[91]
A Bit of Old Baghdad[93]
"Blossoms and fruit at once of golden hue Appeared, with gay
enamelled colours mixed."[98]
"High, eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit Of vegetable gold."[105]
The Walls of Hit[110]
Hit[120]
Samara[121]