We called on the Consul, the Vice-Consul, and our old friend, Consul
Burton of Trieste, Haj Abdullah. He has just returned from a journey
through the ancient land of Midian, undertaken at the special request
of the Viceroy. He describes the expedition as having been most
successful; the climate is almost perfect from September to May; the
land is well watered by little streams flowing through fertile
valleys, and full of fragrant flowers and luscious fruits. The corn
reaches above the camel-men's heads, which means a height of fourteen
or fifteen feet. But the mineral wealth of the country is its most
extraordinary feature. He found traces of gold in the sand of the
river-beds, in spots pointed out to him by his fellow-pilgrims on the
way to Mecca twenty years ago, to say nothing of tin, iron, &c.
Perhaps the most interesting part of his discovery was the remains of
eight ruined cities with traces in the dry river-beds of
stone-crushing and gold-seeking apparatus, which must have been used
centuries ago. He is writing a book on the subject, which you may
perhaps see before you read this.
The Consul kindly sent a janissary with us to show us the Sultan's
palace. It is large and bare of furniture; and the general style of
decoration is like that of the palaces at Cherniga and Dolma Batscher.
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