were alike unable to touch us, as the
river was unusually high and swift. I do not remember having enjoyed
four successive days so much. The scenery is grand, equaling that of
the far-famed Hudson. It might not wear as well, but it is unique
and wonderful." Mr. and Mrs. Williams were there to welcome them.

Mr. Marsh was absent on a visit to his native land, from whence he
returned with his wife in May, 1853. He was accompanied as far as
Aintab by Rev. Augustus Walker and wife, and from thence to
Diarbekir, by Messrs. Schneider and Walker. Mr. Dunmore's
congregation had then risen to nearly two hundred hearers.

Mr. Marsh was especially struck, on returning to Mosul, with the
greatly improved singing of the congregation, which he thought was
now better there than at Diarbekir, Aintab, Constantinople, or
Beirut. This was due to the unwearied pains taken by Mr. Williams,
though the people seemed to have a better ear for music than
elsewhere in Western Asia.

Dr. Lobdell found his medical profession a great assistance to him
as a preacher of the Gospel. Jacobites, Papists, and Moslems came in
considerable numbers, and he preached the Gospel alike to all. He
was overworked, and it was perhaps a favor to him that the judge was
stirred up by Popish priests, as the Moslems affirmed, to forbid the
Mohammedans coming to his preaching. The judge was willing that they
should call upon him for medical aid, if he would not preach the
Gospel to them; but the doctor declined administering to the body,
unless he could, at the same time, explain to them "the words of
Jesus" (which all Moslems professed to receive) for the benefit of
their souls.

Salome Carabet returned to Syria, very much in the manner of Rebecca
of old, to become the wife of the young pastor at Hasbeiya; and the
female school was thus deprived of its teacher.

A visit by Dr. Lobdell to the Yezidees in October, 1852, developed
interesting and valuable information. Their doctrines he regarded as
a strange fusion of Mohammedanism and Christianity with the
philosophy of the older Persians.[1]

[1] See _Memoir of Dr. Lobdell_, pp. 213-227; also _Missionary
Herald_ for 1853, pp. 109-111.

In June, 1853, Dr. Lobdell travelled through Koordistan to Oroomiah.
One of his objects was the improvement of his health; but he greatly
desired, also, to confer with the brethren of the Nestorian Mission,
and to preach the Gospel in the regions between. He took with him a
nativ