26o
 

Excavations at DI:r.

As soon as possible after my arrival I talked over
the facts which Hasan had reported to me with Clarke,
who knew more about the ways of Turkish officials
in Baghdad even than old Ya'akub Thaddeus. He said
that he knew that diggings had been carried out at
Der secretly for months, and that there was a very large
number of fine tablets in BaghdM waiting for me to
buy, and he advised me to get possession of all I wanted
of them without delay. He did not know the details
of the trickery that had been practised, but he could
easily find out, and he sent out that night to fetch
two natives, who came in a very short time, and con¬
firmed all that Hasan had told me on the raft. On
the following morning, December 19th, I went to the
Residency and had an interview with Colonel Tweedie,
who had returned from his holiday in good health and
spirits, and reported to him what I had heard about
Der. He was astonished at what I told him, and said
that the matter must be gone into without delay. He
sent a kawwas to the Sarayah to ask for an interview
with the WMi Pasha, and when the messenger returned
saying that His Excellency was waiting to receive us,
we embarked in the Residency boat and were rowed
up to the chief office of the Baghdad Government.
The Wall received us very kindly, and when he and
Colonel Tweedie over the coffee had paid each other
many elaborate compliments, and the latter had quoted
Persian verses in praise of Baghdad, we came to the
question of Der. He listened attentively to Colonel
Tweedie's translation of my statements, and then said
that the Ministry of Instruction in Stambul had tele¬
graphed to him several times and asked questions
about Der, and that he, knowing the site quite well,
had  always  replied  that  there  was  nothing  at  Der