Hama had gone to Halabja soon after I had come to Sulaimania, to receive a large consignment of “run” which I had contracted to buy. The transaction had been one common enough in these parts. Under the guarantee of Mansur the Christian I had advanced to one Makha, a Jew (with the fiercest red head I ever saw on any one), a sum to go out into the highways and byways of Kurdistan and purchase gradually of the Kurds, who had been storing up the precious oil as they prepared it, waiting the advent of such a buyer. So having arrived at Sulaimania I had to send Hama back, for the time was near when the Jew should return, and my man must be there to receive the merchandise and arrange transport. Hama, however, had not liked the idea of going to Halabja empty-handed; like all Kurds who have come in contact with trade and business, he was keen to experiment. So after a consultation with Matti and Habib Badria, the former of whom did not quite like the idea, it was arranged that he should take with him a load of shoes and a few odd things, for sale to the shopkeepers of Halabja. Accordingly, before he left we went to the shoemakers’ bazaar. Here is a long street with wide and deep booths on either side, occupied entirely in the manufacture of shoes. These are of three designs: a red leather shoe turned up to a blunt point, a black one of the same shape, and a female shoe, a slipper with only a toe-cap ornamented with steel beads, and a long high heel--which is added only after the shoe is bought, and which is put on by a man whose trade it is to perform only this part of the shoemaking business. Here in one of the shops we took seats and waited while the shopman collected from his neighbours’ and his own stock a sufficient number of shoes. In order that dispute might be lessened to a certain extent, a Christian was called in who, being not of our religion, might be assumed to be free from prejudice against, or favour for, any one of us. He tested the shoes and examined them, and through him we conducted all the negotiations. As each pair of shoes had to be bargained for, the process took some time. Custom, too, demanded that a certain formality should be observed. The owner would first mention a fancy price, and to save time the other holders would, instead of arguing, solidly ejaculate the phrase, “Warra la khwaru!” (“Come down!”), repeating it till almost the right price was reached, when the arbitrator would step in, and after a short argument would settle a price about midway between the buyer’s and seller’s figure, and which both were bound to accept. In this way, in the space of five hours, we purchased some fifty pairs of shoes, and having paid the money, Hama carried away all the footgear in a sack. These, with a sample of cigarette papers and a dozen rosaries, made his stock, and he left next morning.