In the morning I had my effects brought up and disposed in an empty room, and proceeded to the coffee-house for a cup of tea. Here I met Salim, and joined him in a cup of hot sweetened milk, which it is the custom to take early in the morning in these parts. I returned with him to his office, a little room, where he--more advanced than his co-religionists in Sulaimania--sat upon a chair behind a table. I did not care for the looks of the man. He was a tiny fellow, rather fat and pale, and with a very sharp and shifty look. However, he was polite enough and welcomed me to Kirkuk, asking my nationality. I told him I was English, and he made no remark, except to ask if I had met his neighbours in the caravanserai. As I had not, he took me round to half a dozen rooms like his own, each of which harboured a pair of Mosul merchants. Unlike the Mosuliots of Sulaimania, who were an exceptionally pleasing set of men, the looks of none of these were reassuring, nor was my further experience of them conducive to a better opinion. One of them in particular, a youth who wore European clothes, collar and cuffs complete, was unusually unpleasant in appearance. His eyes were those of the habitual drunkard, and his sloppy mouth and greasy face were quite repellent. This was the son of a very rich merchant of Mosul. [Sidenote: CHRISTIANS OF KIRKUK] Salim’s lack of curiosity was no feature of the behaviour of these men. They pestered me with questions, and were loth to believe me English, taking me for a Persian; for I had to speak to Salim in Kurdish, and as I had not the appearance of a Kurd (I was now wearing a short coat, European trousers, and a fez), they opined I must be a Persian. However, on being told that they might please themselves as to what they believed, they put me a question or two from the New Testament, and receiving satisfactory replies, became convinced that at any rate I was a Christian, and dubbed me “Saun Effendi.” They pressed me to stay, and Salim told me that he would not permit me to make any arrangements for dinner while I was there, that I must share with the rest of them, and fend for myself during the day. He promised meanwhile to try and find me mules in the Bagdad caravan, which would leave a few days hence. So, having nothing to do, I bethought me of that resort of the idle, the bazaar, and took a stroll there, refreshing my memories of the place, where I had stayed sixteen days four months before. It was extremely hot here. The end of August in Kirkuk is probably as hot as in any town of Mesopotamia, and, fresh from the hills of Kurdistan, great drowsiness overtook me, and hardly was I back in my room than I lay and slept--till sunset, being awakened by Salim, who, thinking I must be ill, came in to see what was the matter.