Page 217 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

f
i

A Page from the Milton Stewart Log

Mrs. Dirk Dykstra

A LTHOUGH the time was late May and the heat well advanced
it was decided to make a trip to a place called Urn Ain. This
name may mean "the mother of an eye” or "the mother of a
spring,” perhaps the latter being the more likely, and in
U. S. A. parlance would probably be called Springfield. This town is
situated on a branch of the Tigris called the Tabr, rather a respectable
. small river in high water season, which is the time the Milton Stewart
;
must make its visits along the banks. . . . When the trip was
planned the prospect of the steamy marshes was not too rosy but
cloudy weather came as a blessed boon for the three days out. Only
after experience in this hut, dusty land with its glare and Hies can the
blessings of such weather be appreciated. An unusually cool breeze
accompanied this cloudy weather.
*,
Going down, the current of some four to five miles an hour was with
us both on the Tigris and on the Tabr so that we reached our destina­
tion in less than three hours. Along the Tabr to Um Ain in some
twenty miles there are about twenty settlements as seen from the river.
The Harness of the country and the low huts of the people make it
impossible to see very accurately farther inland. Um Ain is a poor
town, with poorly built houses and in poor repair. In common with all
j districts in Iraq in these days, money is scarce and trade is poor. It
i> next door to the marshes and there is much fever. Humanly speak­
ing, two young boys owe their recovery from fever to this visit of the
Milton Stewart and there are two very grateful parents as a result.
A total of nearly 200 eye cases were treated. Three days is but as a
drop in the bucket in the face of this great eye-need but every little
helps them physically and counts lor confidence in the foreigners who
visit them and bring the Gospel message.
The object of the visit, from Amara. had been to call on a sheikh
far down on the Tabr who had repeatedly invited us. The launch can
luvd only to Um Ain and from that point on native canoes arc needed.
As usual with the Arab, all descriptions of distance were indefinite
but no one had denied that the imended trip could be made in a day
until actual plans were made to secure a "mashhoof.” Then, with one
securd, it was stated that the trip would take two days. A “mashhoof*
u a low, fiat-bottomed, high-prowed canoe, and these three points .tie
Uic must important when the marshes are entered. Considering the
beat in crossing the marshes and also the still very active flea season.
And the fact that the sheikh in question was not at home, being a
member of Iraq’s Assembly then in session, it was decided to postpun.*
(|u> particular visit until cold weather louring, and to call on another
Kiilement nearer by which could be done in a day. The only mashhoofs
m good repair and, seemingly, the only men good for the trip were
ibo>e belonging to a sheikh near Um Ain who does not enjoy an
cmiable reputation. He is at enmity with sheikhs below him or
lather they have a grievance against him because the present powers