[52] A notable instance of this peculiarity of Abdul Hamid’s policy was Ibrahim Pasha, the Kurdish rebel of Harran, whose history is set forth in Mr Fraser’s _Short Cut to India_. [53] I regret that I cannot state the amount, which was variously put at five, six, seven, ten, twenty, and thirty thousand tomans (Persian money). It would appear from most reliable evidence that the amount was about ten thousand, or roughly, two thousand pounds. [54] This custom has been adopted from the Arabs of Mosul. [55] Kurdish, “It is a fault, little father.” [56] It should be remembered that the population of Sulaimania town, though they have adopted the language and part of the dress of the Kurds, do not entirely belong to that race, as has been shown in the descriptive note upon these people’s origin. [57] Practically every Kurd and Persian wears a silver ring with a torquoise, which is a recognised part of dress. CHAPTER X SHAHR-I-ZUR After four days’ stay in Sulaimania I rose early one morning, in answer to the summons of a muleteer, and, having packed my belongings and laid in a small stock of bread, mounted my steed, bade farewell to old Mustafa Beg, and set out in the dusk before sunrise upon my journey to Halabja, the place I had come all the way from Constantinople to see. The road from Sulaimania to Halabja was one of three safe routes out of that town, being away from the Hamavand country, but even here the presence of robbers belonging to the shaikhs rendered it impossible for any but a large caravan to travel. We were therefore to join a main caravan outside the town. This Halabja caravan is a weekly affair, and goes very regularly, being conducted by natives of that place. It was impossible when traversing the town not to notice how much Persian architecture has influenced the buildings of Sulaimania. All the older and better houses are built upon the Persian model, the upper rooms with glass doors giving the place the appearance of a town of Persian Kurdistan. Everything is very ruinous now, and the perennial insecurity effectually prevents any attempts at improvement. Leaving behind us these decaying streets and houses we came out under the graveyard on the hill, where it had been arranged that the caravan should collect. However, we found no caravan, but only three women squatting on the ground clasping bundles; and a half-dozen Jaf horsemen, bound about with three or four cartridge belts each, and carrying rifle, knife, and revolver, sat among the young wheat their horses were cropping. One by one the travellers turned up--men on foot, on donkeys, on mules, women perched high upon platforms of bedding hiding everything save the heads and legs of their steeds. [Sidenote: LEAVE FOR HALABJA]