and others, shall have been given to the public, and Mr. Ainsworth and his colleagues shall have completed the expedition they have undertaken under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society, the secrets of some of the most interesting districts in Upper Mesopotamia and Kurdistan, especially those of Sinjar, Hatteras, and Mount Jewar, will, it is expected, be laid fully open to the European world. In the mean time, as every source of information, both private and public, has been made use of in combination with the author's personal knowledge of the country, it is hoped that the geographical account which has been given will be found at once entirely accurate, and as particular, too, as the limits of such a work will permit. In this description may be included the characteristic details of manners and customs of the Arab and Kurdish tribes, which, derived chiefly from actual observation, have been confirmed by various persons, whose opinions, from their opportunities of judging, are entitled to the highest credit.
The sketch of the natural history of these provinces has likewise been drawn up with an anxious desire to afford a summary of whatever valuable information has been collected upon the subject.
Of the decorations of this volume, the author has only to observe, that they are all engraved from drawings made by himself upon the spot, and that he can vouch at least for their accuracy, nothing having been added to the original sketch except the particular effect which was deemed appropriate to the subject.
The utmost care has been bestowed on the construction of the map, which will be found to contain all the additions made by recent travellers to our geographical knowledge of the interesting country which occupies the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates.