We remained a night in Tkhoma to see the Meleks who came to us from Tkhoma Gowaia. Leaving the valley, we crossed the high mountain inclosing Tkhoma to the south, and passed through Pinianish into Chaal, a district inhabited by Mussulmans, and which had consequently not suffered from the ravages of the Kurdish chiefs. It presented, with its still flourishing villages surrounded by gardens and vineyards, a vivid contrast to the unfortunate Christian valley we had just left. A rapid descent through a rocky gorge brought us to the Zab, over which there were still the remains of a bridge, consisting of two poles fastened together by osier bands placed across the stone piers. It almost required the steady foot and practised head of a mountaineer to cross the roaring stream by this perilous structure. The horses and mules were with much trouble and delay driven into the river, and after buffeting with the whirlpools and eddies reached, almost exhausted, the opposite bank. We now entered the valley of Berwari, and, crossing the pass of Amadiyah, took the road to Mosul, through a country I had already more than once visited. Leaving the caravan and our jaded horses, I hastened onwards with Hormuzd, and travelling through a night reached Mosul in the afternoon of the 30th of August, after an absence of seven weeks. CHAPTER XX. DISCOVERIES AT KOUYUNJIK DURING THE SUMMER.--DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES.--CAPTURE OF CITIES ON A GREAT RIVER.--POMP OF ASSYRIAN KING.--ALABASTER PAVEMENT.--CONQUEST OF TRIBES INHABITING A MARSH.--THEIR WEALTH.--CHAMBERS WITH SCULPTURES BELONGING TO A NEW KING.--DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES.--CONQUEST OF THE PEOPLE OF SUSIANA.--PORTRAIT OF THE KING.--HIS GUARDS AND ATTENDANTS.--THE CITY OF SHUSHAN.--CAPTIVE PRINCE.--MUSICIANS.--CAPTIVES PUT TO THE TORTURE.--ARTISTIC CHARACTER OF THE SCULPTURES.--AN INCLINED PASSAGE.--TWO SMALL CHAMBERS.--COLOSSAL FIGURES.--MORE SCULPTURES. Whilst I had been absent in the mountains the excavations had been continued at Kouyunjik, notwithstanding the summer heats. Nearly all the Arabs employed in the spring at Nimroud had been removed to these ruins, and considerable progress had consequently been made in clearing the earth from them. Several chambers, discovered before I left Mosul, had been emptied, and new rooms with interesting sculptures had been explored. It has been seen that the narrow passage leading out of the south-west corner of the great hall containing the bas-reliefs representing the moving of the winged bulls turned to the left, and by another gallery connected this part of the edifice with a second hall of even larger proportions than that first discovered.