Promenade 13 - Pedro Writes to his Son Hermann

Kifri, March 4, 1915 - Letter from Pedro Blumenau to his son Hermann. My dear Hermann! I now have time to write because we let our horses rest today. They have been working hard the last few days, since we have been riding for about 8 hours a day. Kifri is north of Baghdad, not very far from the Persian border. From here I will ride via Kerkuk and Altünköprü to Mosul, which lies on the Tigris. See if you can find the places in the atlas. The other day I visited an asphalt spring. Think, the same asphalt, as it is used in Berlin in the streets, springs out there from the rock and is neatly run on. Of course, the asphalt soon stares, but you can still see quite clearly how it flowed over pebbles. I'll bring back a few pieces of it for you to see, which I'm sure you'll enjoy. Tomorrow I will visit a petroleum well; I will write to you about it later. I ride a large gray horse on our trip, my two German companions a gray horse and a chestnut, the two servants have browns. We also have 5 mules and 3 donkeys to carry our luggage. The luggage is quite a lot, because we have 2 tents with us, in which we have already slept several times, furthermore cots to put together, cooking and eating utensils. You see, we are a whole caravan, it looks neat and tidy when we are on the march. That's enough for today; I will finish the letter in Mosul.

Mosul, March 12. I have been here since yesterday evening. Now I want to write to you quickly about the petroleum sources and then start a letter to your mother. Well, the petroleum comes directly out of the rocks in the earth. The people have made deep holes in which it collects and is then scooped out. The way it comes out, it's all thick and black and it stinks a lot, so it has to be cleaned before you can use it for burning. When I get back home, I'll tell you more about it. Now take it easy, my dear boy. Give my best regards to mommy, Werner, Emma and Grete, and be warmly greeted yourself by your Daddy.

Speaker: Zack Hart Image: Letter from Pedro Hermann Blumenau, license: private archive Jutta Blumenau-Niesel Acknowledgment: freesound.org (user: 468249_conkoni)