In addition to these descriptions, several manuscripts have come to light of recent years which give a great deal of information about the beliefs and customs of the Yezidis
Two of these manuscripts are in the Bibliotheque Nationale, in Paris • (Fond Syriaque, Nos. 306 and 325). A translation of the Arabic (Carshuni) texts in these manuscripts relative to the Yezidis was published by Professor E. H. Browne in an appendix to O. H. Parry, Six Months in a Syrian Monastery, 1895. Professor Browne at that time proposed to edit the Arabic text (see J.-B. Chabot, Journal Asiatique, 1896, ix® serie, T. 7, p. 100); but so far as I can ascertain this intention has not been carried out.
The manuscript translated by Browne, which according to Parry {loc. cit., p. 357) was written by a native of Mosul, seems to be closely related to that translated below. There are, however, some differences in contents and arrangement: my copy is divided into the Book of Revelation, the Black Book, and an Appendix; while Browne's embraces the Book of Revelation which corresponds to that in my manuscript), and two other "Accounts," the greater part of which is contained in the Black Book of my text, and the rest in the Appendix. Further, in my manuscript Al-Jilwah immediately follows the Introduction; while in Browne's the discussion of the sacerdotal system, the petition to the Ottoman government, and some other matters, are inserted between the Introduction and Al-Jilwah. In Browne's, moreover, the
