ABSTRACT
The political situation in the country was rapidly deteriorating. Caravans were attacked and plundered a few hours' ride from Mosul, and one of Layard's own rafts was attacked on its way down-river. ‘The men I had hired to accompany it defended themselves well, and after killing 25 of the assailants & wounding a considerable number compelled the remainder to retreat’, he wrote to Canning; this was war — a battle with twenty-five dead! 187
