ABSTRACT
The motorist who passes Kirkuk by night, driving south across the trackless desert to Baghdad or north along the road to Erbil, sees over the oil-field the flames which form Kirkuk' s landmark. They are a captivating sight at night but are less interesting by day, when they are seen to be the flares of waste gas escaping from the tops of metal pipes. One result of the national wealth of oil is the virtual non-existence of taxes. I have heard young couples planning their entire future on the husband's expected income, all his savings having of course gone into the marriage portion and been prodigally spent in equipping the future home and adorning the bride. The idea of laying something up for unforeseen circumstances, including such things as taxes, was never thought 0£ I was so overwhelmed by this social security that I forgot all about snakes, scorpions, Asiatic diseases, and such-like trifles .
