Topsy-Turvy Land

Land, by Samuel M. Zwemer

Project Gutenberg's Topsy-Turvy Land, by Samuel M. Zwemer Amy E. Zwemer
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Title: Topsy-Turvy Land Arabia Pictured for Children
Author: Samuel M. Zwemer Amy E. Zwemer
Release Date: April 19, 2005 [EBook #15658]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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TOPSY-TURVY LAND
ARABIA PICTURED FOR CHILDREN
[Illustration: ARAB BOYS.]
TOPSY-TURVY LAND
ARABIA PICTURED FOR CHILDREN
BY SAMUEL M. ZWEMER AND AMY E. ZWEMER
[Illustration]
Fleming H. Revell Company NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO
Copyright, 1902 by Fleming H. Revell Company (July)

[Transcriber's Note to the text version: in the original images, the word Hadramaut has a breve above the u.]

DEDICATED TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS WHO ARE HELPING TO TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

PREFACE
This is a book of pictures and stories for big children and small grown-up folks; for all who love Sinbad the sailor and his strange country. It is a topsy-turvy book; there is no order about the chapters; and you can begin to read it anywhere. It is intended to give a bird's-eye view to those who cannot take birds' wings. The stories are not as good as those of the Arabian Nights but the morals are better--and so are the pictures. Moreover the stories are true. You must not skip any of the chapters or the pictures but you may the preface, if you like.
{S.M.Z. {A.E.Z.
Bahrein, Arabia.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. WHY IS ARABIA TOPSY-TURVY LAND? 15 II. A LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY 21 III. THE SQUARE-HOUSE WITH THE BLACK OVERCOAT 27 IV. SABBACH-KUM BIL KHEIR! 31 V. AT THE CORNER GROCERY 37 VI. BLIND FATIMAH 43 VII. DATES AND SUGAR-CANE 47 VIII. THE SHEPHERD OF THE SEWING-MACHINE 54 IX. THE CHILDREN OF THE DESERT 58 X. NOORAH'S PRAYER 64 XI. PICTURES WITH WORDS ONLY 69 XII. THE QUEER PENNIES OF OMAN AND HASSA 73 XIII. ARAB BABIES AND THEIR MOTHERS 79 XIV. BOAT-BUILDERS AND CARPENTERS 85 XV. ARABIC PROVERBS AND ARABIC HUMOUR 92 XVI. GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH 97 XVII. SLAVES AND SLAVE TRADERS 101 XVIII. ABOUT SOME LITTLE MISSIONARIES 108 XIX. TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN 113 XX. TURNING THE WORLD DOWNSIDE UP 118

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
ARAB BOYS Facing Title. MODES OF TRAVEL 16 EUROPEAN VISITORS ON DONKEYS 18 MAP OF ARABIA 23 READY FOR A CAMEL RIDE 24 THE SQUARE HOUSE WITH THE BLACK OVERCOAT 29 SABBACH-KUM BIL KHEIR! 33 ARAB GROCER 38 ARAB BOY IN A CROCKERY SHOP 41 HOW A MOSLEM BOY PRAYS 45 WOMEN SELLING SUGAR-CANE 48 DATES GROWING ON A DATE PALM 50 FIRE WOOD MARKET, BUSRAH 52 ARAB RIDERS WITH LANCES 60 PEARL MERCHANTS 62 ARABIAN WATER-BOTTLE 63 [From the Sunday School Times, by permission.] DESIGNS MADE OUT OF ARABIC WRITING 70 ARABIC LETTER FROM A POOR CRIPPLE 72 OMAN COIN 73 HASSA COINS 76 DATE-STICK CRADLE 80 WOMEN GRINDING AT THE MILL 82 BEDOUIN WOMEN EATING THEIR BREAKFAST 84 CARGO BOATS, BAHREIN 86 RIVER BOAT BUSRAH 87 SAWING A BEAM 89 AN ARAB CARPENTER'S TOOLS 90 PUZZLE OF THE THIRTY MEN 96 BRANCH OF THE INCENSE TREE 98 SLAVE GIRL IN ARABIA 102 LIBERATED SLAVES AT BAHREIN 104 MISSION HOUSE AT BUSRAH 110 THE SULTAN'S SOLDIERS 114 MUSCAT HARBOUR 122 AN OLD FRIEND IN A NEW DRESS 124

I
WHY IS ARABIA TOPSY-TURVY LAND?
On this big round earth there are all sorts of countries and peoples. Men walk on it on every side just like flies crawling over a watermelon and they do not fall off either. On the next page you can see how they travel all around the world; some in steamships, some in carriages or on horses, some in jinrickshaws and some in the railway coaches. In Topsy-turvy Land they have no railroads and not even waggon-roads or waggons. A horse or a camel or a donkey is used for passengers and the camel caravan is a freight train.
Or if you wish, the camel is a topsy-turvy ship which sails in the sand instead of in the water. It is called the ship of the desert. The masts point down instead of up; there are four masts instead of three; and although there are ropes the desert-ship has no sails and no rudder--unless the rudder be the tail. When the ship lies at anchor to be loaded it feeds on grass and the four masts are all snugly tucked away under the hull. In Arabia you generally see these ships of the desert in a long line like a naval procession, each battleship towing its mate by a piece of rope fastened from halter to tail! But not only is