Note 181 — Chapter XVIII · DEAD SEA FRUIT

It was proposed to raise some companies of Yezidis for the levy also, and they would serve British officers most loyally. However, up to the time of writing this has not been done, though they offer good military material, and their home in Jebel Sinjar lies conveniently on the flank of the one line of advance possible to the one enemy. The only difficulty (given separate companies of Yezidis, as of Assyrians) seems to lie in the British words of command used throughout the “Mosul levy,” and which Orientals who know no English pick up with marvellous quickness. For any sound resembling “Sheitan” is blasphemy to the ears of a Yezidi. How then is it possible to address to them the mystic adjuration “‘Shun”?