Page 182 - Neglected Arabia Vol 2

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NEGLECTED ARABIA 7

ing our way almost as carefully as would a donkey. As we went, our guide
told many hair raising tales of spearing wild boars that inhabit this region.
Everybody seemed happy and with the exception of being a bit thirsty all
was well. Presently we turned sharply from a ravine we had been follow­
ing, into another that ran into it at right angles. Here \ye found rest and
shelter from the sun’s rays in an inn, reputed to be 900 years old, where
many a pilgrim spent the night in days gone by. For in those days people
were not even allowed to sleep within the temple grounds. Hut the group
wus restless and the rest wus short for ull were anxious to reach the drink­
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ing pluec of which the guide had assured us. Ten minutes more and we i
came to a small stone bridge that spans the stream that flows from the
strong spring of Sheikh 'Adi. This is the boundary line of the Holy

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BRIDGE AT MOSUL : |
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Ground and we were assured that the water was perfectly safe to drink, A
for no water may be polluted within these bounds. We satisfied our thirst, «*. j:
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but later on decided not to drink on our way back for the'writer noticed • i
some natives washing the entrails of friend "billy-goat” in the stream only i
a few feet from the shrine. .
Now if we had .been worshippers of Melek Taus our reverence for the
place would have compelled us to remove our shoes, for no Yezidi dares i *
tread this ground save with bare feet.' It is also a region within which
ao wild animal may be killed, or trees cut. So while many of the surround­
ing hills are bare and bleak, Sheikh ’Adi itself has a delightful environment. {
The shrine is built of stone and "juss” with two conical spires, and is i
almost hidden from view by overhanging mulberry trees. : I
The first thing that attracts the traveler, upon actually arriving on the i
spot, is the large spring of refreshing water that seems to gush forth from
ihe rocks. In the small entrance court are found two large baths or
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| watering-tanks. One is for the use of women and donkeys, the other for ?! ; t
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