s from that period
to the present."

The field about to be occupied was of limited extent. The Nestorians
numbered not more than one hundred and fifty thousand souls. Their
territory extended from Lake Oroomiah three hundred miles westward
to the Tigris, and two hundred miles from north to south, embracing
some most rugged mountain ranges, and several very beautiful and
fertile plains, the largest of which formed the district of
Oroomiah. Education was then at the lowest ebb among the people,
hardly a score of men being intelligent readers, while only one
woman, the sister of Mar. Shimon, was able to read at all. They had
no printed books, and but very few manuscripts of even portions of
the Bible, and these were in the ancient Syriac, which was an
unknown tongue to almost all of them. Their spoken language was an
unwritten dialect of the Syriac. Still deeper was their moral
degradation, almost every command of the decalogue being
transgressed without compunction, or even shame when detected. Yet
they were entirely accessible to the Protestant missionary, and were
more Scriptural in their doctrines and ritual, with far less of
bigotry, than any other Oriental sect; so much so, indeed, that the
Nestorians were sometimes called the "Protestants of Asia."

Mr. Perkins wisely determined upon acquiring a knowledge of the
Syriac before going to reside among them. To obtain a teacher, he
visited Oroomiah in October, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Haas, of
the Basle Missionary Society, then residing at Tabriz. The manner in
which he was everywhere received by the Nestorians was exceedingly
encouraging, and he obtained the services of Mar Yohannan, one of
their most intelligent bishops, as a teacher, who brought with him a
young priest, scarcely less promising than the bishop himself.

Asahel Grant, M. D., and wife, left Trebizond for Persia September
17, 1835, accompanied by Rev. James L. Merrick, who was to commence
a mission to the Mohammedans of Persia. Mr. Perkins met them at
Erzroom, to assist on their journey through the inhospitable region
of the Koords.

The province called Oroomiah is situated in the northwestern part of
modern Persia. It is the northwestern part of ancient Media. A
beautiful lake, eighty miles long and thirty broad, and four
thousand feet above the level of the sea, is its boundary on the
east, and a chain of snow-covered mountains bounds it on the west.
The water of the lake is so salt and bitum