desire to dispel any uneasiness about our relations with the Yezidi
government. The late distinguished under-secretary for foreign affairs,
as every one knows, not regarding as _infra dig._ certain great, winged,
human-headed bulls,[2] that would have astonished Mr. Edgeworth, not
less than they puzzle all Smithfield, and the rest of the learned "whose
speech is of oxen," has imported those extraordinary grand-junction
specimens, which, with their countryfolk, the Yezidis, Dr. Layard has
particularly described in his book on Nineveh. When speaking of the
Yezidis, he has observed, "The name of the evil spirit is, however,
never mentioned; and any allusion to it by others so vexes and irritates
them, that it is said they have put to death persons who have wantonly
outraged their feelings by its use. So far is their dread of offending
the evil principle carried, that they carefully avoid every expression
which may resemble in sound the name of Satan, or the Arabic word for
'accursed.' Thus, in speaking of a river, they will not say _Shat_,
because it is too nearly connected with the first syllable in _Sheitan_,
the devil; but substitute _Nahr_. Nor, for the same reason, will they
utter the word _Keitan_, thread or fringe. _Naal_, a horse-shoe, and
_naal-band_, a farrier, are forbidden words; because they approach to
_laan_, a curse, and _m[=a]loun_, accursed."--_Layard_, vol. i. p. 297.

[Footnote 2: A sister countryman,--a bull is excusable when discoursing
of bulls,--on seeing the monster at the Museum, exclaimed, "Faith! the
great Dan himself couldn't repale _that_ union, at all, at all,
_after_ 'twas once put together." Some suppose this bull to be
typical of a foreign John Bull, the head representing the Crown, the
fine feathers the Lords, and the rest the Commons.]

Notwithstanding all this, the author has the pleasant satisfaction of
most respectfully assuring his readers, on the authority of the last