As the summer advanced, the health of Mrs. Williams declined, and it became obvious that she could no longer endure the excessive heat. She was desirous of removing to a cooler climate, and Dr. Lobdell went with her and her family to the mountains. When they were near the Zab river, they met Dr. Wright from Persia, who had come with the hope of conducting them to Oroomiah. The rest is told in the words of Dr. Lobdell. "We could go no farther, and on the 29th of June, at sunset, were on our way towards Mosul; our sick friend being anxious to go there to die, but most of the time unconscious of the incidents and fatigues. On the last day of June we reached Akra; a litter was made, twelve Christians bore it, and the next morning at six o'clock, while moving on the road, that litter became a bier! An hour farther, and a rough box way made ready for her we had loved. The children knew not what had happened. At evening, the box was bound upon a mule, and we rode silently for fourteen hours, and crossed to the ruins of Nineveh shortly after sunrise. The flag of the English Consul was thrown over the body as we crossed the Tigris. A narrow house had already been prepared for it outside the walls (not even the dead body of a Moslem could have been carried within the gates); Mr. Marsh had a short service; and there we laid the wife, the mother, down to her last sleep."[1] [1] Memoir of Dr. Lobdell, p. 330. The Crimean war inflamed Mohammedan fanaticism all over Western Asia. Such was its influence in Persia, that the missionaries requested Dr. Lobdell, in view of his recent visit, to go to Bagdad, and represent their critical situation with reference to the Persian government to Mr. Murray, English Ambassador to Persia; who was to be there in January, 1855, on his way to his post. He accordingly commenced his voyage down the river on the 10th of January, upon the customary raft of skins, and on the fourth day reached Bagdad. The ambassador arriving on the 8th of the following month, Dr. Lobdell had a satisfactory interview with him, which probably led to the subsequent visit of Mr. Murray to Oroomiah. His return was by post-horses in fifty-eight hours. The road made a long curve to the east to avoid the Arabs of the desert. The nearest route would have been on the west side of the Tigris.