The “debt which they owed to the English,” by the way, was principally the service rendered to their nation by Stratford Canning in 1847; when he insisted on the restoration of the children stolen as slaves by the Kurds under Bedr Khan Beg, the Mira of Bohtan, who perpetrated a fearful massacre of these mountaineers in that year. The return of those who had been given up as dead (and who were brought back in some cases from Aleppo and Smyrna) made a deep impression on the people, and has never been forgotten since.[{273}]
A MOUNTAIN BRIDGE.
A characteristic example near the village of Alot on the Lesser Zab.
No. 12
On another occasion, a worthy old qasha, or priest, Qasha Tuma by name, better known for his straight shooting than for his learning, turned up to interview Mr. Browne; assured him of his attachment to the English, and asked if there was nothing he could do to serve him.