AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR MANNERS, CUSTOMS, TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF TRAVEL IN ANCIENT ASSYRIA, ARMENIA, AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE PROPHECY. BY ASAHEL GRANT, M.D. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1841. PREFACE. THE following pages are submitted to the public with great deference. They were written partly amid the incessant toils of a missionary life, and partly during my homeward voyage. The constant pressure of other cares, and imperative duties, during my transient stay in my native land, has left no opportunity for rewriting the manuscript, and for correcting inaccuracies of style incident to an inexperienced writer, under circumstances so obviously unfavourable to careful composition. But while, with this explanation, I would solicit the reader's indulgence in regard to the style and form of this essay, I am aware that whatever real value it may be found to possess, will depend essentially upon the facts it embodies. In this respect no effort has been spared to ensure accuracy. Constant attention to my duties as a missionary physician has brought me in contact with almost every class of the people among whom I have travelled or sojourned, and has greatly multiplied my opportunities for observation. My professional character has procured me ready access to the retirement of the harem, and the social and domestic circles of all classes of the people. Every important particular has been carefully noted down on the spot, |