THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
HALF ROUND THE OLD 
 WORLD. 
 
 BEING 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF A TOUR IN RUSSIA, THE 
 CAUCASUS, PERSIA, AND TURKEY, 1865—66. 
 
 BY 
 
 VISCOUNT POLLINGTON, M.A., F.R.G.S. 
 
 <2^' ^ />;^^w<.*.^^ 
 
 Hontion: 
 
 EDWARD MOXON & CO., DOVER STREET, W. 
 
 1867. ■r' 
 
 /2D/^ 
 
LONDON : 
 J. SWirr, REGENT PRESS, 55, KING STREET, W. 
 
 / 
 

 PREFACE 
 
 The following pages are an almost exact transcrip- 
 tion of a diary, kept during the interval between 
 August and April 1865-66. Thus the present 
 and past tenses have been used indifferently, as 
 we thought the one or the other served the sense 
 best. We have added no after-thoughts; no 
 descriptions of the origin of peoples, or of the 
 former state of places, have been laboriously culled 
 from the pages of encyclopaedias. Under these 
 circumstances, profoundly scientific disquisitions 
 must not be expected. We preferred leaving the 
 statements as they were written down day by day, 
 only occasionally slightly arranging their order. 
 
 The names of places and persons are in almost 
 every instance spelt phonetically. 
 
 The Author, 
 
 London, January, 1 867. 
 
 M30a'?37 
 
HALF ROUND THE OLD 
 WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 On the 14th of July in the year of grace 1865 
 we (editorial We !) started from London by the 
 L. C. and D. Railway. This may appear a some- 
 what unimportant fact, but we had for our fellow- 
 traveller an old lady who insisted to her com- 
 panion that all hotels throughout the inhabited 
 globe called " The Chatham " belonged to this 
 company ! Having booked our luggage through, 
 we hardly expected to have to pay any duty on 
 our saddle, but a certain sum was charged for the 
 privilege of having that useful article conveyed 
 through Prussia. Besides our saddle, we had also, 
 previously to starting, invested in a most useful 
 travelling dressing-case, calculated to hold nothing 
 in the smallest possible space. Some one made the 
 
2 BERLIN. 
 
 observation that in Prussia the difference between 
 the several classes of carriages on the railway 
 apparently is, that the first-class only hold six 
 upon velvet and the second-class eight upon leather ; 
 the third-class as many as it will hold, upon wood, 
 and the fourth, as many as can stand upon their 
 feet. Stopping in Hanover just enough time to 
 admire the splendid Linden-Allee we had often 
 toddled in before, we proceeded to Berlin, that 
 enlightened capital, and of course walked into the 
 " Thiergarten," so called because there are no 
 animals there except horses, " lionnes," and an 
 occasional muzzled dog. As the heat was intense, 
 we found the Seltzer-water emporiums very useful, 
 and entered every one we could find to quench 
 our thirst (they are distributed at perhaps every 
 fifty yards in Berlin). Wandering about the 
 museum, we overheard a pimply-faced cicerone 
 in the picture gallery talking in extremely bad 
 French to an imbecile French family; the re- 
 mark we were most struck by, was his observing, 
 of the famous Correggio — almost the gem of 
 the gallery — lo and Jupiter, that it was " de 
 
DANTZICK. 3 
 
 I'ecole du Titien ! " Again we went, as the great 
 King of Prussia might say, into " Mon musee pour 
 m'amuser!" Leaving for Dantzick, in company 
 with two Russian ladies and one ditto gentleman, 
 we were asked by one of them, on crossing the 
 frontier into Prussian Poland, whether the partition 
 of Poland dated from the "Guerre d'ltalie !" — 
 got into a charmingly old-fashioned hotel, the 
 " Englisches Haus," immensely deep and very 
 narrow, with no carpets in the rooms : such ruinous 
 old houses with pointed gables. Booksellers appear 
 to flourish here. This being considered in England 
 a seaport town, we were not surprised to hear that 
 the sea is four miles off; went into the largest 
 church in the place, and should be considerably 
 puzzled to say whether it was Protestant or 
 Catholic. The grotesque wood carvings, belonging 
 to a period when art was in swaddling clothes, 
 deserve notice, and some pictures painted before 
 the Flood, also. The changes that one's name goes 
 through in hotel books are perfectly appalling ; we 
 have had the felicity of seeing ourselves printed 
 and published in various gazettes as Minston, 
 
 B 2 
 
4 ST. PETERSBURG. 
 
 Miryton, and once as Miss John. The town 
 swarms with soldiers; there are many fine Alices 
 outside affording a grateful shade in hot weather. 
 The Bourse is well worth a visit, but we leave the 
 descriptive portions to our Murray. The Jews walk 
 about in their long gabardines, vide Mr. C. Kean 
 when on the Rialto. At a village, rejoicing in the 
 melodious name of Wierzoboloff, we reached the 
 Russian frontier, where a revolver we had with us 
 was confiscated. However, we got it back at 
 St. Petersburg. Our passports were examined three 
 times, the Russian authorities probably taking us 
 for a " dirty conspirator." Reached St. Peters- 
 burg in due course, and got into a drosky, 
 remarked that the people all were impressed with 
 the idea that everyone must speak Russian fluently, 
 not at all our case. After an ineffectual search for 
 Miss Benson's establishment, we were obliged to 
 put up at an hotel where they very considerately 
 only charged us about ^^ ioj*. for one night's 
 lodging. In the morning we transported ourselves 
 and effects to the English Quay, Miss Benson's, a 
 wonderful view on the Neva. Truly we found 
 
HERMITAGE. 5 
 
 St. Petersburg, a " city of magnificent distances." 
 Every house appears to choose what style of pave- 
 ment it will have before its door, and lays it 
 (the pavement) down accordingly, thus causing a 
 variety which, as is well known, is always charm- 
 ing — wood, iron, M'Adam, stone, every kind 
 appears to be represented, even india-rubber, and 
 the " tout ensemble " is horrible ! Admired the 
 statue of Peter the Great on horseback and the 
 Admiralty place — the horse is rearing and trampling 
 on a snake ! — why ? Orthodox passers-by of Isaac's 
 Cathedral cross themselves no end of times, on the 
 head, breast, two shoulders, and stomach. Went 
 with the Charge d'Afi^aires to the "Hermitage:" 
 magnificent dark marble caryatid negroes in front ; 
 we went first upstairs, but words would fail 
 to express the magnificence of the rooms; we 
 then went on into the first floor, and saw some 
 Roman antiquities, including a shepherd with a 
 very senile expression, and a stupendous greenish 
 marble vase in Siberian jasper, some twelve feet 
 long by five broad, on a fine pedestal of the same 
 material. The Kertsch room contains some beauti- 
 
PETER THE GREAT's STATUE. 
 
 ful gold ornaments. My future travelling com- 
 panion, Captain W , arrived from Stockholm. 
 
 The block of granite on which stands the statue 
 of Peter I. suggested thoughts of how pleasant 
 it must be to have an unlimited quantity of serfs 
 who must work and of subjects who must pay for 
 you. It is the largest block in Europe, we believe. 
 At the Hermitage the floors are of marble, ex- 
 cepting where parquet is used. There is an immense 
 collection of drawings, the greater portion care- 
 fully sealed up in cupboards, to allow of easier 
 inspection presumably. An order is required before 
 gaining admittance. One printed on a Russian rouble 
 note and handed to the porter is as good as any. 
 Vases of fabulous size, in green jasper, malachite, 
 and lapis lazuli, stand about in reckless profusion. 
 Those of the delicate rose and deep purple Siberian 
 marble struck our fancy most. Peter the Great's 
 collection of bric-a-brac is interesting. We entered 
 the private theatre, which has a very deep 
 stage ; the auditorium consists of red velvet stalls 
 arranged in a semicircle, so that all the spectators 
 can see every part of the stage. For the Tsar 
 
THE WALPOLE PICTURES. 7 
 
 there is a most uncomfortable straight-backed 
 chair — penalty of greatness as much as being 
 occasionally shot at. One hundred and eighty- 
 eight of the best pictures in the gallery came from 
 the Walpole collection at Houghton Hall, in- 
 cluding four delightful Murillos. A " St. George" 
 by Raphael once belonged to Charles I. of Eng- 
 land, art-patron and martyr. The largest picture 
 Sir J. Reynolds ever painted, " Infant Hercules 
 strangling serpents," is also here, rather washy, 
 however ; G. Kneller and Thos. Jones are also 
 represented. The collection of Intaglios is remark- 
 ably complete. After this we indulged in some 
 " quass," bought in the street, a liquid of a yellow 
 colour, somewhat like very sour lemonade. 
 
 On the 30th we entered Isaac's Cathedral to wit- 
 ness a Greek service, where all the congregation 
 stand, and perpetually keep bowing like the Chinese 
 porcelain figures. The singing of the concealed choir 
 is, however, very impressive. Of course we went, 
 by rail, to old PeterhofF palace, where we observed 
 copies of the two Athletae of the Vatican, by 
 Canova, gorgeously gilt, spouting water at each 
 
8 AN IRISH COMMISSIONER. 
 
 Other — rather a " come down " in the world. The 
 Russian wodki, their brandy, we thought extremely 
 nasty, but the black bread, like pumpernickel, 
 excellent. 
 
 Next day we chartered a wild Irishman, who 
 could hardly talk English, owing in a great 
 measure to frequent imbibitions of wodki, but who 
 called himself a commissioner, and visited the small 
 house that Peter I. built himself, for himself, and very 
 well too. An outer roofing is now over it, to preserve 
 the priceless relic ; a quantity of things manufactured 
 by his own august hands lie about. The dining-room 
 is converted into a chapel, having a lot of mould 
 candles stored here for use in it. We remarked to 
 
 W that these were some of the candles Peter 
 
 moulded, whereupon our friend the Irishman 
 turned round and explained that they were not. 
 We also visited the Museum of Natural History, 
 and observed some pickled babies, on the ground 
 floor ; on the second, the Mammoth found in the 
 ice of Siberia is the most interesting object. 
 There are also many stuffed animals, and minerals 
 not stuffed), with a good many fleas of preter- 
 
BALLS AND BALL-ROOMS. 9 
 
 natural size, which are not contented to remain, 
 but cling to one on going home. Saw a man being 
 carried ofF to prison by a member of the police ; 
 his (the man's) hands were tied behind his back. 
 We naturally went to see the largest ball-room in 
 the world, that in the Torrida Palace, but it is 
 mean, whitewashed, and with tawdry silver paper 
 decorations. At a dinner, at a restaurant in Rus- 
 sian fashion, with Zakuska (Caviar and bitters) be- 
 fore, heard a story of C C . When minister 
 
 of America here, he gave a grand ball, to which 
 archdukes came without their duchesses. When 
 
 supper was announced, C C clapped one 
 
 grand duke on the back, and said, " Come and 
 have some lunch in American fashion." Consterna- 
 tion of duke ! 
 
 On the 1st of August we dined with one of 
 the attaches on an island in the Neva, and after- 
 wards drove out in a barouche appertaining 
 to the Spanish embassy, to see the illumina- 
 tions in honour of the new Tsarewitch, who had 
 taken the oath of allegiance to the Emperor 
 to-day. The whole island was studded with 
 
lO RUSSIAN ILLUMINATIONS. 
 
 places of amusement, and the concourse of mujicks 
 and others was enormous ; we had to join a string 
 of carriages miles in length, and were continually 
 at a standstill. The Summer theatre there was 
 remarkably prettily illuminated with lamps, form- 
 ing green, red, and white wreaths round the 
 pilasters outside. There were fireworks going on, 
 of which we only caught an occasional glimpse, 
 through the trees, or when rockets shot up into 
 the clear summer air. The various branches of 
 the Neva wander about the island in an 
 eccentric manner, and we were continually 
 coming upon boat houses belonging to various 
 clubs, and all well illuminated, especially the 
 Russian national one, which had raised a very 
 tall mast in front, supported by four ropes, along 
 which all manner of coloured lamps were sus- 
 pended ; spasmodic Bengal fires kept illuminating 
 distant vistas, and a long row of trees by the water- 
 side was hung with lamps for more than a mile. 
 The cold wind was the only drawback. 
 
 Next night we drove to Petrovskoe, another island, 
 to an establishment called the " mineral waters," on 
 
MUSCOVITE CREMORNE. II 
 
 account of there being none naturally there, but 
 supplies from the different springs of Europe are 
 kept in stock — none, however, from Bath ! There 
 are gardens and a theatre, on w^hich Sv^iss singers, 
 English niggers, German ventriloquists, and 
 French actors perform — anything but " native 
 talent." There are lengthy intervals allowed for 
 promenading in the garden, when the company 
 bears a close resemblance to that to be observed at 
 Cremorne. The last entertainment was termed 
 " L'Africaine, a burlesque," possibly because not 
 a particle of the music of the opera was in- 
 troduced into it. We visited the palace of 
 Tsarkoe Seloe by rail : a large, straggling build- 
 ing, in which, amongst other things we admired, 
 or wondered at, a room pannelled with amber. 
 Wandering about the fine gardens we came to 
 some sham ruins, where 'was also a model mast for 
 the little archdukes to play at sailors upon, and a 
 netting underneath to catch them when falling off. 
 Missing our way we dittoed (?) the train and thus 
 being in for the penny we thought we would " go 
 in for the pound," so took a train going to 
 
12 HOW TO LOOK HANDSOME! 
 
 Paulowsky, a summer garden with a concert- 
 room, built as a speculation by the railway 
 company, where for the small charge of nothing 
 (excepting the railway ticket), you hear Strauss, 
 John Strauss of Vienna ; a military band played 
 in the intervals of S.'s music, but remarkably 
 badly — perhaps to act as a foil to his band. 
 Coming back, W told us of an old house- 
 keeper of his, who, upon his observing that he had 
 seen a great many pretty faces lately, said " Ah ! 
 sir, it is very easy for them as has no work to do 
 to be pretty !" Receipt for good looks : — Do 
 nothing. Some of us ought to be very handsome ! 
 With a written order we entered the Winter 
 Palace. Pictures of the battles of the Russian 
 army are very numerous. Balaklava figures in a 
 dark room, but full justice is done to the gal- 
 lantry of the charge. The first Duke of Welling- 
 ton's portrait is included in a collection of portraits 
 of generals. The Crown jewels are kept in an upper 
 room, v^ith two old soldiers as their guardians. 
 
 On the 7th we started for Moscow, which we 
 reached in twenty hours. At one of the stations, 
 
MOSCOW. 1 3 
 
 bells with agreeable voices are made. Plenty of 
 stoppages for the purpose of eating. 
 
 One of our first visits was to the Kremlin. We 
 took off our hats in passing beneath the sacred 
 doorway and image, and then stood on the terrace, 
 almost overpowered by the sight that met our 
 eyes. A panorama is always difficult to describe, 
 more especially such an one : more churches than 
 in Rome, and most of them in the quaint Byzan- 
 tine style. The river Moskau flowing in front ; 
 on the right the new Church of St. Saviour — an 
 addition to the 380 (?) already existing, as if those 
 were not enough. On the left and in front, 
 innumerable silver, and gold, and green cupolas, 
 and the green roofs of the houses ; further, a dim 
 range of mountains ; nearer, the quaint Pegu, 
 Ravenna, Chinese, Indian pagoda-like, picturesque, 
 grotesque St. Basil Church, with others in the same, 
 but not quite so barbarous style, quite bewilder 
 the spectator. The great bell of Moscow lies on 
 the terrace in front of the Ivan Tower, which 
 we ascended, to be only more bewildered by the 
 extent and marvellous character of the view. 
 
14 W. S RAILWAY ADVENTURE. 
 
 Mr. Billo, our host, is a most obliging man. 
 We found that no luggage is transported free 
 on the Petersburg-Moscow line ; but this is obviated 
 by taking as much as possible into the car- 
 riages, which are tolerably comfortable — now, we 
 believe, very good indeed. Writing of railways 
 
 reminds us of a story of W 's, which we 
 
 insert here, though having nothing to do with 
 our journey, but for want of a better place: — 
 
 Once, on getting to Calais, W wanted to enter 
 
 a first-class carriage, in which there were only 
 two occupants, lying curled up, apparently fast 
 asleep ; the opposite seats covered with small 
 bags, &c. He addressed each sleeping form in 
 English and French, to know whether those seats 
 were occupied, and getting no answer, he turned 
 round to a friend at the door, observing, " It's no 
 use, the old beggars won't answer." Sudden up- 
 rising of one of the bundles, crying out in great 
 ire, " Beggars ! sir, who do you call beggars ? No 
 more a beggar than you are. I'm a reel 
 gentleman, sir, and that's more than you are." 
 Having had almost all our hair cut off, it now 
 
OMNIBUSES. 15 
 
 Stands on our heads like the quills upon the fretful 
 porcupine — Shakespeare. After breakfast at the 
 fork we walked again to the Kremlin, which we 
 discovered to be a portion of the town entirely 
 consecrated to palaces and churches, and sur- 
 rounded by a high wall. We entered the palace, 
 which we should describe — but are not all these 
 things written in Murray? — and afterwards saw 
 the robes of the " Papas," the superintending priest 
 keeping us waiting until he had got himself up 
 in his best suit of silk, and accepting afterwards 
 a small remuneration with thanks; we likewise 
 saw the original cruse full of Jerusalem oil, which 
 hath not failed yet. 
 
 Next day drove out to the Simonoff Monastery 
 by a desperate road, passing countless churches, 
 many of them having on their cupolas gilt crosses 
 with crescents at the bottom of them, a curious 
 mixture of Oriental and Occidental religious 
 symbols ; of course', the crescent is said to refer 
 to the Virgin. The omnibuses appear uncomfort- 
 able; they are covered, and the seat at right 
 angles to the driver, drawn by four horses abreast. 
 
1 6 WATER-TOWER. 
 
 The monastery is on a low hill out of the town, 
 and the bell-tower affords a fine view of Moscow. 
 We had some difficulty in getting up, but at last 
 seized on a monk who was walking about in a 
 thick serge dress, with ditto round hat-cap, this 
 about six inches high. He unlocked the door for 
 us ; presently the bellringer came up and received 
 our offering, it being " infra dig." for the monk to 
 do so, though we have little doubt he would not 
 have refused a contribution. We entered an " old 
 curiosity shop," where there were several " soi-di- 
 sant" Italian and French pictures, but almost all 
 without exception repainted, if ever painted before ! 
 After dinner we walked out to see the water- 
 tower built by Peter the Great to resemble a ship. 
 It requires to be told this previously, in order to 
 find a resemblance between this building and any- 
 thing that ever floated. It consists of a fine tall 
 spire, rising from the midst of an oblong Gothic 
 and Renaissance sort of building, which forms an 
 archway. We had an interview with the friend 
 of a prospective servant for our tour, but the 
 friend seemed too great a swell, and required all 
 
DRUNKENNESS. 1 7 
 
 his expenses calculated on a princely scale. We 
 observed that the natives do not stare at one 
 much. We v^ent to the treasury in the Kremlin, 
 where many magnificent things are to be seen. 
 Here the " Constitution " of Poland lies buried in 
 a small black box, not unlike a coffin : Resurgat ! 
 Downstairs some splendid carriages, one a gift of 
 Queen Elizabeth, which shows English workman- 
 ship in a very good light. The ironwork is like 
 the Venetian. Out to the Romanoff house. The 
 rooms about six feet high, doors four feet, 
 beds very small, windows in proportion; alto- 
 gether like a large wax-doll house. We visited 
 the common market for fruit and bread, crowded 
 with filthy people very picturesque. Why 
 does cleanliness seem incompatible with the 
 picturesque ? Drunkenness seems very preva- 
 lent in the town ; we saw one man per- 
 fectly drunk going through the ceremony of 
 crossing himself in the most imperturbable manner, 
 only swaying violently to and fro ; another was 
 walking behind a water-barrel, singing and turn- 
 ing the imaginary handle of this supposititious 
 
 c 
 
1 8 TROITZA MONASTERY. 
 
 barrel-organ. On the 1 1 th we set out for the 
 Troitza monastery, founded by Saint Sergius ; we 
 had a card to a monk who formerly was a colonel 
 and a count, though that did not stand in the 
 way of his accepting a trifling present. We 
 visited the bakehouse ; all the bread is blessed, and 
 fashioned into round little loaves of the shape of 
 a " devil on two sticks " with a thick waist. We 
 drank some holy water, coming out of a fountain 
 in the shape of a cross, in the yard, surrounded by 
 lay and clerical tombs, and it was as nasty as any 
 impure water would be. In the chapel of the 
 Assumption some of the pictures of the Virgin 
 are literally incrusted with emeralds as large as 
 bantams' eggs. Returning, we went next day 
 to the museum, a fine Doric sort of building, 
 with cobwebs spun all over the door : no admit- 
 tance except on business, and no one had any 
 business there. Four of us then determined on 
 a regular Russian dinner in a regular Russian 
 restaurant. The waiters all wore white night- 
 shirt overalls ; we began with orange bitters, black 
 bread, salt smoked fish, and caviare. Then six 
 
RUSSIAN DINNERS. 1 9 
 
 cups were placed on the table, each containing 
 a different drink : four soups, two cold — one rejoicing 
 in a name like Backvineyard, the other in 
 Ochrowska, apparently milk with cucumber in 
 small slices — and two hot, Onka and Solianca, a 
 Polish preparation, both containing the famous 
 Sterlet of the Volga. This fish tastes somewhat like 
 well-fed eel ; isinglass patties with the latter ; ex- 
 cellent chicken cutlets with buckwheat, Crimean 
 sherry, champagne, and claret, the latter nasty, 
 the second bad gooseberry, but the brown sherry 
 very palateable. After many other dishes, some 
 very strong yellow tea, without milk and in dimi- 
 nutive cups, finished up the whole. This, of 
 course, was some " caravan tea," and tasted to us 
 very like good cowslip ditto. On the 13th we 
 went to what our companion, the author of 
 Murray's handbook, uneuphoniously called the 
 Louse Market, where (dirty) merchants most do 
 congregate on a Sunday morning. The articles 
 exposed for sale are all second-hand here. We 
 then went to the Church of the Christening, on 
 
 the Kremlin, where we heard one of the bulls 
 
 c 2 
 
20 DIRTY PRIESTS. 
 
 of Basan roaring the service ; and afterwards 
 watched a procession outside. This being a reh- 
 gious one all the populace took off their hats while 
 it was passing, an excellent opportunity, as it was 
 very raw weather, for catching cold, of which 
 we both availed ourselves. We are sorry to say 
 that we seldom have seen a more disreputable lot 
 than the priests who took part in the ceremony. 
 They never cut their hair or shave, and all these 
 looked as if from time immemorial no water had 
 ever profaned the dirt upon their faces. The pro- 
 cession descended to the river Morskau, when our 
 friend the Bull blessed the water — we hope to the 
 increase of its cleanliness. Small temples on rafts 
 were prepared for him at intervals on the water. 
 It is said that the town covers as much ground as 
 Paris did, we suppose before the octroi was removed 
 further out. Since the Ukase of the ist of July 
 smoking is permitted in the streets of St. Petersburg 
 and Moscow. Walking out in a pouring shower 
 of rain, in order to prove our waterproof for our 
 tour, we entered the inner Boulevards of Moscow, 
 and presently came upon a large pool of the most 
 
THE burglar's FRIEND. 21 
 
 fetid water we ever had the pleasure of smelUng. 
 Yet there are some boats upon it, just as if it 
 would not act like the Stymphalian lake on every- 
 body's olfactory nerves. When in the stilly night 
 we have fallen into sweet slumber we are generally 
 awakened by a watchman making a hideous noise 
 with a sort of rattle, that sounds like two of 
 Christy's Minstrels' most infatuated " Bones " 
 playing against time and each other. Probably 
 the reason of making this noise is to afford any 
 possible burglar timely notice of the watchman's 
 approach — a purpose for which the now exploded 
 shiny hats of our policemen were originally in- 
 vented. The company at our hotel dinner is com- 
 posed of several nationalities — as, two Swiss, one 
 Frenchman, one American, three Germans, four 
 Italians, one Irishman, and three Englishmen dined 
 here. Our host says he will not have any more 
 Russians in his house since a Russian colonel stole 
 his watch ! 
 
 On the 15 th we remarked a primitive " Punch 
 and Judy" in the streets, no scenery, no cover 
 to the box, and the principal performer's legs 
 
22 TRAVELLING ORDERS. 
 
 were very apparent underneath. Our friend lost 
 his way, and forgetting the name of his hotel, 
 was unable to ask for further information until he 
 remembered it had something to do with a ghost, 
 Gostinska being the vernacular (here) for an hotel. 
 We had now, through the kindness of our Charge 
 d' Affaires at St. Petersburg, obtained letters of in- 
 troduction, and our Padarojna, or posting order 
 for six horses, for our route from Petrovskoi, on the 
 Caspian, to the Persian frontier, together with a 
 Russian passport (useful), in German, French, and 
 Russian, and a Persian visa (useless). The Pada- 
 rojna is a piece of paper for which a somewhat 
 high charge is made, which goes, however, we 
 believe, to the keeping up of the post-houses ; it 
 is necessary, having to be shown at every station 
 in order to establish a right to horses. There are 
 three degrees of them: we obtained the second. 
 The first is only given to government couriers, and 
 the third everyone must have to travel at all by 
 post. Each class takes precedence of the other; 
 so that a government courier coming up to a post- 
 house, while a person having the second class 
 
TRAVELLERS WIT. 23 
 
 Padarojna was having his horses harnessed, would 
 have them taken away for his benefit as the bearer 
 of the first class order, and the other in return could 
 take the horses destined for a third class order. We 
 eventually found that three horses were quite 
 enough for our use. And now, before plunging 
 into wilder districts, we must premise that we 
 do not hold ourselves responsible for the ortho- 
 graphy of any places or things mentioned herein- 
 after, that being entirely phonetic, nor for the 
 opinions expressed by any of our correspondents ! 
 
 Just as we were getting into our droskies to go 
 off to the station, an Italian arrived, who spoke 
 Russian, and offered his services as a courier. 
 Thinking that perhaps we should not have such a 
 chance again, we engaged him to come and catch 
 us up at Nijni. We travelled in a saloon- 
 carriage, with an unlighted stove in the middle : 
 although in August, the night was very cold. 
 During the night, as we had just closed our eyes, 
 one of our fellow-travellers, thinking us asleep, 
 pointed at us and remarked to a companion, in 
 German, " There, that is the way descriptions of 
 
24 NIJNI NOVGOROD. 
 
 travel are written ; the English go abroad, see the 
 country in this way" (he must have met with 
 Brown, Jones, and Robinson, in Belgium !) " and 
 then write about a country being so poor ; and their 
 countrymen read and believe !" We regret, for his 
 sake, that we have not much to say about land 
 traversed in a railway, though this appeared to us 
 well-wooded and with much corn at intervals. 
 After twelve hours we arrived at Nijni Novgo- 
 rod, where we bade good-bye to railways, but 
 not to steam, for a good distance. We drove off 
 to the Nikita EgorofF Hotel in two droskies, and 
 must, we suppose, attempt to describe what we 
 saw, though the task is a difficult one. For about 
 a mile we drove along a row of one-storied wooden 
 houses, excepting a few stuccoed, on the banks of 
 the Oka. Every one of these houses had its 
 whole front taken up by a shop. Then crossing 
 a wooden bridge, crowded with mujicks of the 
 lowest class, we passed a singular church of Italian 
 Byzantine nondescript architecture, above which 
 rose a steep hill on which is the permanent town. 
 The banks of the Oka were literally covered with 
 
PANORAMA. 25 
 
 bales of merchandise lying about, and the traffic 
 along there was very great. We then ascended 
 a deep ravine, crowned on the one side by the 
 Kremlin, and on the other by miscellaneous houses. 
 Our hotel we discovered to be right at the top of 
 the ravine, opposite the Kremlin. Owing to the 
 continuance of the fair we had telegraphed for 
 rooms, which we accordingly found prepared for 
 us. The hotel resembled a dirty South Italian 
 one in domestic economy. After breakfast we 
 walked to the steamboat office to secure our places. 
 We found it situated on the highest brow of the 
 hill, with a most lovely, nearly natural terrace in 
 front. At the foot of the hill ran the broad 
 Volga, here some 1600 miles from the Caspian 
 Sea, covered with small steamboats and merchant 
 ships of every description. The opposite bank 
 seemed perfectly flat as far as the eye could see, 
 the view only broken by an occasional church 
 with log-huts around it. A little to the right 
 again the scene is totally changed ; the busy fair 
 is before us, with the town on both banks of the 
 Oka and Volga. The horizon on the left is 
 
26 THE GREAT FAIR. 
 
 bounded by the same chain, on a mountain link 
 of which we are at present standing. We found 
 our inn rather far from the fair, (a two-mile walk,) 
 to which of course we next turned our steps. 
 Seven wooden bridges cross the river during fair 
 time, and the banks are used as quays for disem- 
 barkation of merchandise at every available point. 
 Crossing one of these bridges, we wandered about 
 an inextricable labyrinth of one-storied wooden 
 shops. However, on nearer acquaintance we 
 found that they were all arranged according to 
 a specific plan, with the governor's house in the 
 centre. The commerce appears to be mostly 
 wholesale. Under the governor's house are the 
 precious marble, and nicknack shops, which of 
 course have the greatest amount of attraction for 
 the small purchaser. Here Siberian jasper, mala- 
 chite, rock crystal, &c., may be purchased to any 
 extent, as well as the delightful Circassian belts 
 and daggers. A band of twelve tuneless violins 
 played under the centre arcade, two of which inter- 
 sect each other here. Perhaps altogether the effect 
 produced upon us by the fair was not so great as 
 
COMPANY TO BE SEEN. 27 
 
 we could have anticipated, since the mixture of 
 different nations was not very striking ; two or 
 three Chinese being the only natives not be seen 
 any day in St. Petersburg. Tartars there were 
 in abundance, but the war with Bokhara had pre- 
 vented any of that nation arriving this season. 
 However, the sight is well worth coming from 
 St. Petersburg to see. 
 
( ^8 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 On the 1 8th of August we started in a Russian 
 built steamer down the river for Astrachan. Graz- 
 zini, our new servant, arrived just in time. We 
 found the vibration of the engines something con- 
 siderable. The deck is given up to the third-class 
 passengers, who have the privilege of roaming all 
 over it. The first-class is at the bows instead of 
 near the steerage as in most boats : perhaps an 
 advantage, as the smoke coming out of the funnel 
 discharges countless blacks, the fuel being wood. 
 
 We quote verbatim from our diary: 3 p.m. There 
 are two passenger steamers in front of us which we 
 shall overtake directly. The banks are not more 
 than twenty feet high, pretty well wooded, but the 
 trees are small, and especially willows ; the river 
 light dirty chocolate colour ; the day very rainy ; 
 the banks are sandy. We have adopted the fashion 
 of wearing a thick cotton band round the waist, a 
 
STEAMING DOWN THE VOLGA. 29 
 
 practice that we adhered to during our travels, 
 except when staying in any place. The boat we 
 are in belongs to an English company, that of the 
 " Volga." The feeding is according to bill of 
 fare, at every hour. There are several Circassians 
 on board, no doubt glad to return to their native 
 mountains. Our fellow passengers consist in five 
 ladies and three gentlemen, all Greeks. Whilst 
 quietly reading in our cabin, which, of three 
 berths, we have all to ourselves, we heard a 
 crashing scooping noise, as if the bottom of the 
 ship was coming off. Although we only drew two 
 feet four inches of water we had stuck on a 
 sandbank. We, however, by the help of an 
 anchor let drop further down the river, soon got 
 off. The channel is buoyed, but we had steered 
 too far left. It must be confessed that at first the 
 effect of pulling at this anchor was not to move 
 the boat but rather the anchor itself. However, 
 after re-dropping the anchor higher up, we got 
 off. During our stoppage several small tugs, with 
 their heavy ships after them, passed us scornfully. 
 We were then about an hour from Nijni, of which 
 
30 ACCOMMODATION ON BOARD. 
 
 we can still see the bold headland, as the range 
 on which the town stands forms a projection there, 
 and then slopes away from the river. Some 
 wretched hens, in a large wooden coop on deck, 
 are being continually fed on rye-bread soaked in 
 water. Now the banks are varied by occasional 
 old red sandstone rocks, and brushwood up the 
 slopes ; sometimes a verdant field or a village 
 appears on the top, as the right bank is now 
 
 some I GO feet high. The "Bints," W 's 
 
 favourite depreciatory term for ladies, being we 
 believe Arabic for women, have taken up the 
 whole of the deck cabin, so to smoke we are 
 obliged to face the driving rain. Two stout 
 mujicks are steering on the captain's quarterdeck 
 (we believe that to be the correct nautical term). 
 Our captain is a young man, a Russian. Herds 
 of pigs are clambering about the banks, which 
 are now really sometimes picturesque. On trying 
 to go to bed the steward was astonished at a 
 demand for water and towels, and utterly flabber- 
 gasted on being asked for sheets and bed-gear. 
 He said such a thing had never occurred in the 
 
A POLYGLOT CAPTAIN. 3 1 
 
 memory of the oldest passenger. So we were 
 reduced to sleep on a narrow sofa, with a great- 
 coat for bedding and coverlet. We grounded 
 twice during the night, and arrived at Kasan six 
 hours and a half late, on the 19th. Here the 
 Kasanka flows into the Volga. It is a flourishing 
 commercial town, as almost all the trade with 
 China passes through it. Soundings were con- 
 tinually taken with a long pole during our passage 
 down. Here we changed into another larger and 
 English built boat. We rather objected to the 
 arrangement of the cabin deck, being strewn with 
 the filthy bedding of the third class, but were 
 told that they (the third class) were the chief 
 source of profit to the company. The water 
 melons are already very good here, but imported 
 from the south. Our captain is a most gentle- 
 manly Dalmatian, speaking five languages, besides 
 his own, fluently and well. He told us that whilst 
 running a cargo from Kertch, during the Crimean 
 war, his ship was captured and burnt by the 
 Allies, and he himself placed on the nearest shore. 
 After wandering about for some time he took to 
 
32 PASSENGERS. 
 
 his present occupation. The river is frozen up 
 from about the middle of October to April, during 
 a portion of which time a large trade is carried on 
 on the ice by means of sledges. The left bank 
 for almost the whole length of our sail was as flat 
 as a pancake. The boat we are in was sailed 
 into the Volga, all the way from England, by 
 water, through the canals that connect the Neva 
 with this river. The reason given for the bad 
 accommodation on board as regards bedding was 
 that the Russian passengers would all klepto- 
 maniarize (?) it ; and therefore the company confine 
 themselves as much as possible to fixtures. The 
 deck is crowded with mujicks in their greasy sheep- 
 skin cloaks, lined at the border with black Astra- 
 chan wool. We also have a dwarf on board, and 
 a man with two large pots of leeches, which keep 
 us in bodily fear. Though a river steamer the 
 cabins here have the stereotyped nasty sea-boat 
 smell about them. And now, whilst the banks are 
 flat and uninteresting on both sides, and we are 
 steaming some 1200 miles due south, we turn for 
 a moment to the letters of Lord Royston, written 
 
MAD FISH. ;^^ 
 
 at the beginning of this century, to see what he 
 thought of %iij||j|-iver then. He went down in a 
 small boat early in. the season, with an interpreter 
 and a companion, all well armed, and remarks : — 
 " In general I have been much gratified both with 
 the opportunities of inspecting the inhabitants, and 
 also with the beauty of the scenery ; the right 
 bank being in general very mountainous and well 
 wooded. * * * The number of fish of all 
 species which inhabit the Volga is amazing, but 
 the superstitious prejudices of the Russian peasants 
 prevent their making use of several sorts. I offered 
 ' some fish resembling chad ' to our boat's crew ; 
 they refused them, alleging as a reason that all 
 those fish were insane and swam round and round, 
 and that if they eat them they would become 
 insane too ! " At the present day upwards of 
 10,000 boats are employed in fishing. The 
 stations at which we stop are, almost all of them, 
 simply a collection of log-huts. We are going 
 at the rate of sixteen miles an hour. The captain 
 is very amusing, and tells us long stories ; he in- 
 formed us that lately he had a Persian as third- 
 
34 PERSIAN GRANDILOQUENCE. 
 
 class passenger on board, and happening to get 
 into conversation with him, the Persian had told 
 him that at the time when the three (?) Italian 
 gentlemen were travelling in Bokhara he also was 
 there on business. The Italians were seized and 
 thrown into prison. One day the Emir of Bok- 
 hara, his particular friend, sent for him, and asked 
 his advice about these foreigners — where Italy was, 
 and whether it was governed by a great emperor ? 
 According to his own account the Persian answered 
 that the Emperor of Italy was a most powerful 
 potentate, and that his (the Emir's) captives were 
 chiefs of the greatest importance in their own 
 country. He then asked him what he should do 
 with them, as their execution had been decided 
 upon. Our Persian advised him to let them go, 
 or he would get into trouble ; whereupon, the 
 Emir, in a great rage, told him he had not asked 
 him his opinion to receive such an answer as that. 
 Then our Persian, " Well, if you kill them I 
 shall kill myself, and that will get you into trouble 
 with the Shah, the Emperor, and the Tsar all at 
 the same time." The proof of the truth of the 
 
SAMARA FAIR. ^^ 
 
 foregoing is that the Italians were discharged plus 
 
 their heads ! 
 
 On the third day we pass the picturesque portion 
 
 of the Volga, such as it is ! The hills are high 
 
 and rocky on the right bank and very well 
 
 wooded ; on the left at some distance a well 
 
 forested ridge of mountains may be seen. At 
 
 Samara we stopped to take in wood, which lies 
 
 ready piled on the pier, and was brought on 
 
 board in baskets on women's heads. We walked 
 
 on shore to look about us, and found a small 
 
 fair going on in the immediate vicinity of the 
 
 river. There were a quantity of shabby log-booths 
 
 in rows, one row being consecrated to eating and 
 
 drinking. The crowd of dirty people was so dense 
 
 that we had to force our way, elbowing coats 
 
 well stocked with every species of vermin. The 
 
 noise created by the crowd, and they themselves, 
 
 constituted a small pandemonium ; the echo here is 
 
 remarkable, and the boat's whistle was prolonged 
 
 on shore indefinitely with a most musical effect. 
 
 The town lay on the slope of a hill, with streets 
 
 intersecting at right angles, and at the top of each 
 
 D 2 
 
36 A LOYAL COMPANY. 
 
 Street you can see down into the plain where a 
 sluggish river " drags its slow length along," 
 therein resembling the celebrated wounded snake. 
 The dust was intense, but the greater part of the 
 pavement is better than that of St. Petersburg, 
 the trottoirs all of wooden planks ; shops seemed 
 scarce, all the trade going on in the log-huts 
 below. The greater part of the houses appear 
 unfurnished or burnt out, and the rest of stucco. 
 In the winter it is said to be the residence of 
 many converted Calmucks. We passed many 
 large barges, called schkootes, laden with cotton 
 from Bokhara and Persia, and being tugged up 
 the river. Our ship is called the Tsarewna or 
 Princess, and this is a most loyal company, for 
 their others, three large passenger ships, are re- 
 spectively christened Tsar (which we passed). 
 Tsarina, and Tsarewitch. The captain informed 
 us that a nice Englishman had been a passenger 
 on this boat two years ago ! This boat is con- 
 sidered (by her captain) the best on the river; 
 there is a rival company, but this one considers 
 that a bad one. Reading a book referring to 
 
TASTE FOR PALM TREES. 37 
 
 the tour in Persia, we are about to make, we 
 came upon a passage where mention is made of 
 some " mountains which had receded about ten 
 miles from the sea^ We read on, anxiously 
 expecting to hear of some " rivers taking up 
 their beds and walking^^ but did not find the 
 page. Apropos of literature for the British public, 
 an oificer in India drew a sketch, which he for- 
 warded to an illustrated London paper. Some time 
 after he was surprised to see his sketch in the 
 paper, but with the addition of a whole forest 
 of palm trees. On remonstrating with the pro- 
 prietors, he was told that palm trees were neces- 
 sary to make the aforesaid public realise the idea 
 of India, and that they would not stand it 
 without them ! 
 
 Late on the third day we passed a village, (on 
 the top of a sort of broad cliff,) composed entirely 
 of little log-huts, even the Church being of wood, 
 with two windmills crowning the whole, as we 
 found to be usually the case. The village, ex- 
 tending almost half-a-mile, had a very striking 
 appearance. On the fourth day we came to a 
 
38 SARATOFF. 
 
 pier, consisting of a boat moored in the midst of 
 the stream, the current being too shallow to admit 
 of an approach to the bank. Numerous sandbanks 
 now make their appearance in the river : on most 
 of them a quantity of pelicans. Enormous swal- 
 lows are flying about. We have some of the 
 Persian insect powder with us. It is made from a 
 herb that grows about Erivan, and no biting in- 
 sects (are supposed to) come near it, probably on 
 account of its smell, which their nerves can feel, 
 but ours cannot. Took in wood again at SaratofF. 
 Our three days' sail consumes as much wood as 
 would suffice to warm three rooms during an 
 entire Russian winter — statistical ! The first thing 
 we remarked at SaratofF was the inscription on an 
 alehouse, Voksal, (the Russians, like the present 
 writer, spell all foreign names phonetically). The 
 town lies on the slope of a hill and is said to 
 contain 80,000 inhabitants. We saw at least 
 fifteen churches. The streets are broad and boast 
 of some tolerable shops. The dust lies about three 
 inches deep, and indeed on approaching the town 
 the whole view was obscured by clouds of it. 
 
SHAM CIRCASSIAN. 39 
 
 There are several fine stuccoed houses, but the 
 town is very straggling. The river in summer is 
 here more than two miles wide. Amongst our 
 passengers were a Swede and a Norwegian; the 
 latter we saw again at Tiflis, where he entered 
 upon a business. We found the words of command, 
 as " stop," " back her," &c., obtaining as much on 
 this Russian boat as on those of all other nation- 
 alities. Fifth day — the south wind is the coldest 
 we have ever experienced from that quarter. One 
 of the men, dressed as a Circassian, who is on 
 board, turns out to be a pure Russian ; but it 
 having been the habit of the Russian colonists in 
 the Caucasus to adopt that dress for greater safety 
 during the war of independence, he had retained it 
 ever since. We passed many large rafts floating 
 lazily down the river ; their proprietors though, to 
 all outward appearance, sunk in the lowest depths 
 of poverty, are often possessed of a thousand 
 pounds sterling a year. It is their custom to leave 
 their homes in spring, directly the ice breaks up, to 
 build a large raft which is loaded with as much 
 wood as it will carry, and to start off from high up 
 
40 MUSICAL RAFT PROPRIETORS. 
 
 the Stream. The master takes four or five men 
 with him, three of whom he keeps solely for the 
 purpose of singing to him. When the raft arrives 
 at any village he moors it to the shore, gets~out 
 surrounded by these men, who wear red bands 
 round their hats, and walks into the village to 
 make the best bargain he can for his wood. If the 
 terms do not suit him he returns to his raft and 
 floats on to another more lavish village, until all is 
 sold, when he returns to his home by land to begin 
 again another spring. From Tsaritzin a railway 
 runs to the Don, but passenger trains only start 
 twice a week. Our Greek fellow-travellers, of 
 whom two couples were newly married, and 
 between whom a continual hugging and kissing in 
 the face of all mankind had been going on, got out 
 here to go to Taganrog, where they had extensive 
 possessions. As they would not catch the Don 
 steamer for about a week, we must hope they liked 
 their enforced residence at some dirty little village. 
 Some of their party were standing on shore as we 
 came back from a walk into the uninteresting little 
 town, and one of them observed, either thinking 
 
BEYOND TSARITZIN. 4 1 
 
 we did not understand French, or, more probably 
 as we had neglected their acquaintance, throwing a 
 Parthian shot at us, "lis ont decha (sic) vu la ville!" 
 alluding, we presume, to the reported celerity with 
 which the British tourist views objects of interest. 
 Half our passengers got out here. Many of the 
 barges going up carried large quantities of water- 
 melons on deck. We observed that our sailors 
 viewed these edibles and their proprietors with 
 most savage glances, and found out that, as it was 
 their custom to take a supply back from Astra- 
 chan, where they grew in profusion, to do a little 
 private trade, they justly considered these large 
 quantities as calculated to flood and ruin the 
 market. Below Tsaritzin the banks are studded 
 by neat little villages built by German colonists. 
 Now both banks are low and scantily covered 
 with willows. The wide Steppes are before us. 
 
 On the sixth and last day we got to YenitaiefF, 
 a town built on a rather higher sandbank than 
 usual. We entered a branch of the Volga not 
 broader than the Thames above London. We 
 should strongly advise all future travellers to 
 
42 A KALMUCK ENCAMPMENT. 
 
 buy their quilts and other bedding at Nijni 
 Novgorod before going on board, as, if they 
 intend travelling further south, they must get 
 them anyhow at Astrachan. We found that a 
 great deal of land up the river seems wasted, 
 and might be turned to better account than lying 
 fallow, especially on the right bank; though it 
 must be admitted that the spring floods, which 
 sometimes extend seven miles either way, would 
 seriously impede agricultural pursuits, except on 
 the raised lands. The German colony of Sarepta 
 is composed of Moravian brethren, and is one of 
 the neatest towns on the Volga. The colonists 
 originally came from Saxony. About mid-day 
 we passed a Kalmuck encampment, and here we 
 saw the first string of camels winding its way 
 along. Numerous herds about. The conical 
 roofed huts have a quaint appearance. We 
 afterwards visited an encampment from Astra- 
 chan, where we can add more. They acknow- 
 ledge a native prince, who lives near the principal 
 temple, about eighty miles north of Astrachan. 
 We have just passed this on the bank of the 
 
prince's abode. 43 
 
 river. It is of stucco, and like a Chinese pagoda, 
 with a sort of Grecian colonnade running from each 
 wing and ending in two other smaller pagodas. 
 The centre one has five semi-circular roofed 
 verandah terraces ; the other two, three each. The 
 palace is a moderate sized wooden house in excel- 
 lent repair, with two verandahs one above the 
 other, and another smaller one in the centre 
 higher up. During the summer the princess lives 
 in two or three tents like those of her subjects, 
 but of stouter material. The roofs of the cottages 
 are covered with camel's hair felt. The round 
 body of tent is wattled with cane, and also covered 
 with felt. They possess vast numbers of horses, 
 being all excellent horsemen. Each hut pays a 
 capitation tax of a half imperial per annum (about 
 16^.) to the prince, who thereby obtains a revenue 
 of about 50,000 roubles a year, say ^2,500. We 
 took in one passenger, a woman, who was dressed 
 much as ordinary European women — perhaps not 
 the last Mdme. Elise fashion, but civilised. The 
 more valuable animals during the night-time are 
 penned into an enclosure of willow branches 
 
44 SEARCH FOR HOTELS. 
 
 Stuffed up with mud, which stood before many of 
 the huts. The left bank of the Volga is inhabited 
 by the Kalmucks, the right by the Cossacks of the 
 Volga. In the Russian army these Cossacks wear 
 yellow facings; those of the Don red, and those 
 of the Ural blue. During the spring the stench 
 coming from the remains of the fish that are 
 boiled down into oil here renders the passage in 
 a steamer almost impossible. We did not come 
 in for any of it. On arriving at Astrachan, our 
 courteous captain accompanied us on shore, thus 
 exempting us from the formality of exhibiting 
 our passports, which were demanded of the other 
 passengers. The first hotel was called " Table 
 d'Hote," the proprietor evidently fancying that 
 an important French city, where nothing accept- 
 able in the shape of lodging being forthcoming, 
 we went on to the " Paris," called the " Russia 
 Hotel" in Murray, which we found too filthy, 
 and trudged on back to an hotel (save the mark !) 
 called " Odessa," where we were fortunate enough 
 to find two rooms to suit us. They were dirty, 
 and swarmed with black beetles, but whereas there 
 
ASTRACHAN. 45 
 
 were no beds in the other two pothouses, here 
 we found two bedsteads without sheets ; we how- 
 ever managed to get one a-piece after a time. 
 The appearance of the town from the river is 
 very uninviting. It is built on one of the thirty 
 or forty branches into which the Volga divides 
 itself at its mouth, but is some thirty miles from 
 the Caspian. With the exception of the Kremlin 
 it lies quite flat, all the country around being on 
 the same dead level, and very sandy. Grapes and 
 water-melons grow very luxuriantly all around. 
 Quantities of boats lay outside in the river, their 
 owners fishing with handlines ; and the throng 
 of small cargo-boats heavily laden with water- 
 melons, converts almost the whole watersurface 
 into one moving market. These melons, of great 
 size and excellent quality, are sold for a penny a- 
 piece and under. Indigo barges are preparing to 
 start for Nijni. Our inn is on the quay, with 
 the fruit market close by, and just opposite a 
 colony of smithies, the whole rendering the place 
 anything but quiet. The town is, with the ex- 
 ception of the Government houses, entirely built 
 
46 . MILITARY DRILL. 
 
 of wood ; the streets are thronged, and intensely 
 dusty and ill-kept ; the trottoir, such as it is, of 
 wood. The bazaar is tolerably built, the outside 
 arcade of the square is devoted to linen and cotton 
 goods, and only extends on two sides, the other 
 two having regular shops out on the street. The 
 interior courtyard is filled up with booths, prin- 
 cipally of Astrachan fur cap manufacturers and 
 leather-stall keepers. We walked into the Krem- 
 lin, and found the Russian army in white undress, 
 being exercised ; the goose-step was the strategic 
 movement under consideration, and one soldier 
 after the other would advance gravely from his 
 squad to march about fifty paces forwards, keeping 
 himself as bolt upright as possible, and taking 
 rather longer steps then nature intended, thus im- 
 parting a " hoppy " motion to his body. As each 
 soldier approached the squad that had just under- 
 gone the same operation, he burst out laughing, 
 his comrades beginning to chaff him ; indeed the 
 discipline seemed . rather relaxed, an uncommon 
 fault in the Russian army, where the slightest in- 
 attention on the part of a soldier is generally 
 
THE CHIEF CHURCH. 47 
 
 punished by a kicking and pummelling on 
 the spot from the commanding-officer. We 
 entered the chief church, and thought the 
 Ikonastas very magnificent. It reached quite up 
 to the roof — some 150 feet, and was entirely gorge- 
 ously gilt, excepting where the delicately painted 
 pictures came in. The door of the sanctuary was 
 of worked silver, and the side pillars carved to 
 resemble vine-trees with golden grapes. The 
 massive pillars in the church were, however, 
 rather spoilt, by a kind of well executed scagliola. 
 
 Having presented our letter of introduction to 
 the governor, he kindly invited us to dinner. 
 We found him a most enlightened Russian ; a 
 disciple of free trade — when not pressed to ex- 
 tremes, and a Liberal-Conservative of the best 
 school : rather inclining towards true Conser- 
 vatism. The revenues of the town are small, 
 though the inhabitants number 50,000, and 
 double that number in summer, when the sur- 
 rounding populations flock in to join in the 
 fisheries. After dinner at 4 p.m., our host 
 called out the firemen of the town, to prove 
 
48 FIRE BRIGADE. 
 
 to US their discipline and readiness. Their or- 
 ganization is certainly admirable, for in less than 
 half an hour from the time of despatching one 
 foot messenger (a soldier) to the four watch- 
 towers to raise the red flag in each quarter of 
 the town, the whole brigade was galloping past 
 before the window. In this case, as all four divi- 
 sions came together, they assembled before tower 
 No. I , until all were got together. The chief of 
 the police, their direct superintendent, rode first. 
 Then an outrider to clear the way, and an engine 
 with a red flag with one black ball on it, — the 
 number of black balls marking the division. Two 
 water barrels on carriages, and thick felt coverings, 
 to be thrown over buildings near a fire, attended 
 each engine. After again assembling in the square 
 in front of the government house (a square, by 
 the way, really deserving that distinctive London 
 appellation, as there was an enclosure in the centre 
 of it fenced off^ by iron railings and containing a 
 few trees), they galloped past in service trim. The 
 thin Tartar horses were forced off at full speed, 
 and the drivers shouted with all their might. 
 
SERFS IN RUSSIA. 49 
 
 the little boys also adding to the general excite- 
 ment. The Governor told us, amongst other 
 things, that on the promulgation of the Ukase 
 abolishing serfdom throughout Russia, the 3000 
 serfs on his estate, when informed that for the 
 future they would have a certain quantity of 
 land for their own and pay rent for it, wished, as 
 formerly, to till his land for him, and be kept by him, 
 rather than have a property of their own. They 
 were quite satisfied with their condition, and could 
 not be brought to see the benefits accruing to them 
 from paying rent and keeping themselves — very 
 much the case with the slaves of the South 
 American States. He gave us some excellent 
 sparkling Moselle, which is called the Emperor 
 Alexander's Champagne, as that monarch first 
 introduced it into Moscow. The district under the 
 government of Astrachan is about the size of 
 France, and the position hardly an enviable one in 
 a pecuniary point of view, the salary being ^^looo 
 per annum, besides a sum of 20 per cent, on any 
 great profit accruing to the Government from 
 improvements — no great thing in a country where 
 
 E 
 
50 FISHING ON THE VOLGA. 
 
 all improvements progress so slov\rly. There is no 
 society, and the advent of tw^o "distinguished 
 foreigners" like ourselves v^as quite an event. 
 The residency is a large incongruous building, but 
 the reception rooms are very well parqueted, and 
 there is a good view from the — well, cockloft 
 above. The sturgeon fishery forms part of the 
 state revenue, but much poaching is carried on. 
 The revenue from all sources flowing into the pro- 
 vincial exchequer from i860 to 1865 was only 
 60,000 roubles in those five years — ^8000. We 
 almost fancy there must be some error in the 
 calculation, but so we were informed. On depart- 
 ing, our host presented us each with his photograph 
 and a lithographed view of the cathedral. We 
 have to stop here a week as the Caspian boats only 
 start twice a month. We went out fishing one 
 day, down the river, turning off^ into a small branch 
 of it ; and fish of all sizes were rising in the most 
 tempting manner, but we found them too un- 
 civilised to comprehend the advantages of English 
 flies ; so having caught one roach, we cut him up, 
 and found that his kind voraciously seized on his 
 
JOINT-TENANTS OF OUR ROOM. 5 1 
 
 mangled remains — much as the human species. 
 On rowing home we were attacked by perfect 
 swarms of musquitos. The native hooks and Hnes 
 are of the coarsest nature. We found our com- 
 panion in a great state of mind, as we had taken 
 the key of our rooms with us by mistake. The 
 thermometer was at 82*" Fah. in the shade, and 
 anything you please in the sun. The boats navi- 
 gating the Caspian are heavy Dutch-looking 
 galiots. We made a perfect hecatomb of cock- 
 roaches the first night, and then had our room 
 thoroughly washed out ; but we find that it still 
 boasts of a small but interesting collection of 
 spiders and earwigs — indeed, most of the insect 
 kingdom are well represented in it, excepting those 
 that black beetles devour. It is papered white and 
 blue, and the window curtains are green and red to 
 match. The streets are lighted with petroleum 
 or naphtha, which is imported from Bakoo,* down 
 south, where are the natural springs of that useful 
 
 * Bakoo is situated on the western shore of the Caspian, in 
 Persian territory. The naphtha is collected by sinking deep 
 pits into which it flows. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES OF THE POPULATION. 
 
 but explosive material. On getting up this 
 morning (26th), we found that a large colony of 
 small red ants had discovered it to be more 
 convenient and economical to inhabit my sponge 
 than to build a residence of their own: we 
 immediately served them with a notice of eject- 
 ment — into water. The resources of the place, as 
 regards amusement, are limited, and we went on 
 board to smoke cigarettes with our Volga captain, 
 who rejoiced in the classic name of Soupuk. We 
 of course endeavoured to obtain some Astrachan 
 lamb-skins, but found that no easy matter. No 
 one has the least idea as to how long it takes to 
 get to Petrovskoi, our next destination. It is said 
 that " once upon a time " the Caspian covered the 
 soil on which now stands Astrachan. This being 
 simply sand, cultivation of anything requiring a 
 richer soil is utterly out of the question. The way 
 in which every person at the hotel bows to us 
 since our dinner with the Governor is remarkable : 
 he and the chief of the police, with perhaps two 
 rich merchants, are the only inhabitants that are at 
 all respected here ; nine-tenths of the population 
 
RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. S3 
 
 have never heard of a Tsar, and the other tenth do 
 not know his name. The new regime of censor- 
 ship in newspapers admits of abuse of any local 
 administration, but all praise of an individual 
 Governor is strictly prohibited, as all good must (?) 
 flow from the Tsar himself; thus the incentive of 
 public approbation is taken from the Governor at 
 any distance from the capital, and in winter it 
 takes twenty-four days to communicate with St. 
 Petersburg, only very important messages being 
 transmitted by the telegraph, which is now com- 
 pleted for the entire distance. The principle of , 
 religious toleration is carried out to its fullest 
 extent in this town — as indeed it is throughout 
 the Russian empire; no proselytism is, however, 
 allowed. The Catholic Church is represented in 
 all its many branches, a Greek, Armenian, 
 Lutheran, and Roman Church existing. The 
 Jews have their synagogue, the Persians their 
 mosque, and the Kalmucks their temple, as well as 
 the Russian schismatics. The secret police acts 
 independently of the Governor, under direct orders 
 from the capital. We forgot to mention, that after 
 
54 SHOOTING ON THE VOLGA. 
 
 dinner, when our host arose he crossed himself in 
 front of one of the eternal holy pictures that was 
 hanging on the wall, and then shook hands with 
 us, thanking us for having dined with him. Now 
 we thought we were summarily dismissed, until he 
 asked us out on the balcony to smoke. We had 
 some white wine grown in the neighbourhood — a 
 little sweet, but capable of great improvement. 
 Much good but wild snipe shooting may be got 
 around the town, and indeed further down the river. 
 All sorts of wild-fowl abound in the reed jungle. 
 
 We found about 5 p.m. the best time to enter 
 the Bazaar, especially on Saturdays, when the place 
 is crowded with buyers and sellers. The curly 
 lambskins, of which the best come from unborn 
 lambs, are mostly brought from Bokhara. All the 
 shops are shut on Sunday, and the women walk 
 about attired in every gaudy colour imaginable, 
 with a white veil over head and shoulders. The 
 bakers carry about their whole stock-in-trade on 
 their heads and boards six feet long by two broad. 
 We took a walk down the river; the Admiralty 
 buildings soon caused us to make a circuit to get 
 
ASTRACHAN DOGS. 55 
 
 back to it : we found a green on which the greater 
 proportion of the juvenile population were flying 
 elementary kites ; beyond this was the last resting- 
 place for decayed ships, which were being broken 
 up for fuel; most of them had their stern gro- 
 tesquely carved in arabesque foliage, and a lion and 
 two eyes generally painted on them. Then followed 
 a row of huts some three miles in length. Rain set 
 in and did not appear inclined to set out again. 
 We observed that all the dogs, of which there are 
 large numbers about, seem afflicted with the 
 mange — not wonderful, as they wander about all 
 day and all night, unfed and uncared for: almost 
 all have wounds upon their ears — scars gained in 
 honourable (or the reverse) combat with their 
 species, of which amusement they seem very fond. 
 Sunflower seeds are sold as a delicacy in all fruit 
 shops. After returning, we were constantly 
 attracted to the window by loud shouts, and then 
 we would see two drunken men, one running after 
 the other and hitting out with rounded arms^ 
 tumbling down occasionally in missing aim ; a ring 
 of people would gradually gather around them, 
 
56 INUNDATIONS. 
 
 and then the combatants would take off their coats 
 and hit out more wildly than before, but without 
 any very fatal results. The " Don Champagne " 
 is not so very bad — sweet, and tasting a little of 
 perry; and some of the white wine tastes like 
 raspberries. During our dinner at the hotel, two 
 violin players of Paganinistic propensities, but not 
 execution, struck up variations upon Scotch reels, 
 in our honour. On the S.W. wall of the Kremlin 
 there is a sheet of marble, marking the altitude to 
 which the Volga rose in 1857; ^^ "^^'^ ^^ ^^ 
 could make out, it is fully thirty feet above the 
 present level of the river, and must have sub- 
 merged all the houses in the neighbourhood. The 
 Volga is navigable for some 1800 miles from Tver 
 to this place. The roads here get into a beastly 
 state after any rains. 
 
 The Governor has a scheme for the increase of 
 the carrying trade of Russia, which certainly has 
 the merit of novelty, if not of easy feasibility, and 
 that would attract the attention of English specu- 
 lators : — It is, that all English goods destined for 
 the Persian market should be securely packed and 
 
governor's political economy. 57 
 
 sealed up at the English custom-houses, and then 
 proceed by sea to St. Petersburg, thence to go by 
 railway (or indeed canal) and steamer or sailing 
 vessel down the Volga to this place ; they (the 
 goods) should be admitted into Russia free from all 
 dues, the increased traffic enabling her to recoup 
 herself; then, here the seals should be examined 
 and if found intact, the goods be sent on to Persia 
 in Russian ships, to be landed at Resht on the 
 Persian shore of the Caspian. It is a scheme 
 which, if approved of by the Russian Government, 
 would certainly have many chances of success, the 
 carriage being so much less expensive all the way 
 by water, and the time occupied much shorter than 
 by Turkey, or to Busheer, the general plan. 
 
 28 th. Strolling out into the town we found a 
 small river, about two miles on the S.E., crossed 
 by several rope ferry-boats, and a little higher up 
 by a wooden bridge. A quantity of log huts, and 
 then orchards as far as we could see, each 
 surrounded by a wooden paling and with a plat- 
 form raised about twenty-four feet from the 
 ground in the centre; on each of these stood a 
 
58 VISIT TO KALMUCK ENCAMPMENT. 
 
 boy, placed there to scare away any birds that 
 might damage the fruit ; some of them had slings, 
 out of which they periodically darted stones at 
 the offending bipeds, whilst others sprung a 
 very huge rattle, which answered the same purpose 
 with perhaps less muscular exertion. The Governor 
 having kindly placed a small steamer at our disposal, 
 we started one morning in company with a Rus- 
 sian staff-officer, who spoke French and explained 
 what was going on, and a Kalmuck interpreter, to 
 see the huts and temple of the Kalmucks, about 
 five miles up the river on the right bank. The 
 steamer got to within twelve feet of the shore, so 
 we stepped into a small boat just pushed out to us, 
 and emerging stood in the midst of the settlement. 
 We entered one of the round huts, and found 
 it rather smoky, but extraordinarily clean and 
 comfortable : there is a round opening at the top 
 to allow of the escape of smoke, and a piece of felt 
 to draw over it in case of any heavy storm coming 
 on. The physiognomies are certainly not traced in 
 the direct lines of beauty — at least according to 
 English tastes : they are of a dark copper colour. 
 
THEIR RITUAL. 59 
 
 with no nose to speak of^ but plenty of mouth to 
 speak 'With, We then went into the temple. In 
 an ante-room containing a bed, most probably that 
 of the guardian, through the open doors of 
 which we could see into the inner temple, we 
 found six priests sitting cross-legged — three on 
 each side of a small carpet ; they had taken off 
 their yellow morocco shoes, and laid their hats 
 beside them ; these were flat, octagonal and of a 
 thick woollen material, red or yellow. Before each 
 group of three lay a spittoon ; before one of them a 
 conch shell, another had a pair of cymbals, another 
 a bell, and a fourth a sort of drum on a stand ; 
 they were dressed in yellow, with scarlet shawls over 
 their shoulders, and were reciting their prayers in a 
 continuous and monotonous tone, looking exceed- 
 ingly sleepy. One of them was turning a circular 
 praying machine, the prayer being written on it, 
 and every turn, like roasting coffee, constituting a 
 prayer — yellow prayers on a red ground. The 
 recitative sounded somewhat like "ding-dong, 
 jolly gong," repeated very fast; then a bell was 
 rung, then another recitative, " Day Oh, Amen !" 
 
6o TEMPLE. 
 
 repeated over and over again: lastly, an intoned 
 prayer. 
 
 The priests sometimes folded their hands in the 
 attitude of Christian adoration; sometimes the 
 prayer was accompanied by all the instruments 
 going at one time, but still keeping a sort of 
 barbarous rhythm. We believe the religion varies 
 very little from that of Thibet, Llamas, &c. After 
 the conclusion of prayer v^e were allowed to enter 
 the inner temple, which was small and not above 
 nine feet in height ; long brocaded scarves were sus- 
 pended from the ceiling, and bundles of prayers lay 
 on a platform in one corner, a circular table in the 
 centre, with lamps burning in little tin vessels ; in 
 other cups, oil, water, salt, — the principal gifts of the 
 Deity to mankind, — lay in succession all round, and 
 flowers of tin representing nature's gifts ; in centre 
 of north wall, an idol holding a box with eight com- 
 partments, in each a cross-legged brass deity, and 
 several others near; on the wall were hanging 
 chintz prints of idols in Chinese style; one was 
 curious, representing in the centre the Grand 
 Llama, and on either side, below, a sort of heaven 
 
SACRED MUSIC. 6 1 
 
 and the other place, with, above, various man- 
 sions of the blessed. The priests then gave us 
 their greater service, blowing an enormous horn 
 that sounded like a herd of enraged bulls, beating 
 some most sonorous hollow cymbals, blowing in a 
 conch shell, and playing on the shrillest sort of 
 flute we had ever heard : all this at once. The din 
 began softly, and then went on crescendo, until it 
 again diminished, each prayer lasting only two 
 minutes, probably from the exhaustion of the 
 officiating priests. The ritual was beautifully 
 written in white and gold letters on a black 
 ground. We forgot to say that the salt was 
 done up into white paper cones, and on some 
 of the wheat lay a pastile of incense. Five 
 hundred thousand persons profess this religion 
 in the province of Astrachan. As in some other 
 religious denominations, the common people 
 cannot understand the services, as they are all in 
 Thibetian language. The priests seemed very 
 devout and impressed with what they were about, 
 perhaps owing to their somnolent condition. On 
 rising they bowed down thrice before the inner 
 
62 PRIESTS. 
 
 temple with their foreheads against the door, and 
 each before entering rapped his forehead against 
 the lintel. The worshippers who attended bowed 
 down to the ground outside the temple, crossing 
 their arms upon their breasts, and laying a small 
 offering, of the value of a farthing, on the threshold. 
 The temple itself is square, facing the cardinal 
 points of the compass. On the table lay besides, 
 a small silver teapot-looking thing, in which, we 
 were told, water and oil were sometimes mixed and 
 partaken of as a sacrament by good believers ; on 
 it stood some peacocks' feathers ; around the table 
 were stands supporting what looked like huge 
 Chinese shoes of tinsel, and beside them a round, 
 high, tapering cap, what for we know not, unless 
 to keep flies off sacred things : a few copecks (the 
 small Russian copper coin) lay before the principal 
 idol, inviting others to join them. The priests 
 came down to see us off, and looked very grand in 
 their bright coloured dresses, long tunics even 
 covering their feet.* The Governor paid us a visit 
 
 * Our Volga captain's idea of their religion was, the idola- 
 trous worship of the ashes of their deceased rulers and priests 
 turned into statuettes ! 
 
DEPARTURE FROM ASTRACHAN. 63 
 
 in full uniform and stars, and we parted with regret 
 from a charming conversationalist. The common 
 people feed their horses on melons during the 
 season, — not entirely, of course ! 
 
 On the 30th we went on board a barge, built 
 for the purpose of passenger conveyance, and 
 towed by a small tug, as, owing to the shallowness 
 of the mouth of the Volga, the sea steamers cannot 
 come up to Astrachan. These boats only start once 
 a fortnight, and there are only four of them 
 altogether on the Caspian. Almost all the pas- 
 sengers are wearing the conical Astrachan wool 
 caps, the old fashion for Persians, and they all set- 
 to playing cards on deck for copper stakes. The 
 banks are perfectly flat, occasionally covered with 
 reeds. The steerage on deck is partially reserved 
 for 1st and 2nd class passengers. A gang of dirty 
 cadets usurped part of it, but most of them were 
 turned out. The absence of noise from engines, or 
 smell from ditto on board the barge is very charm- 
 ing. As we near the mouth the jungle gets 
 thicker and thicker on both banks, excepting 
 where a space is cleared, to allow of huge 
 sturgeon nets being dried there. It is a perfect 
 
64 MISERY ! 
 
 paradise for the sportsman ; swarming with herons 
 and water-fowl of every species. The river at 
 its estuary can hardly be seen across, so broad 
 is it. About thirty miles out we changed into 
 the sea steamer ; luckily, it was a perfect calm. 
 We pass some war screw steamers, which had 
 been transported hither from the Black Sea, after 
 the Crimean war. 
 
 We find that now there is one day missing in 
 our diary. Alas ! the calm was only a deception ; 
 in the morning we were rudely awakened by 
 water dashing into our face ; this was the rolling 
 sea coming in through our open window; the 
 wind had risen during the night, and we were in for 
 a bad passage. Happily, the steward spoke French 
 and Italian, so we were able to explain our- 
 selves to him tolerably. We remained in our berth 
 all day. At last on the ist, we sighted Petrovskoi 
 about I o A.M., eighteen hours late ; we then tossed 
 about at anchor for two hours before a boat put 
 out to us. The sea was going down, but the sailors 
 on shore were such cowards that they durst not 
 come out, though not more than 300 yards 
 
LANDING AT PETROVSKOI. 65 
 
 separated us from the shore. At length, after 
 a struggle, we got in and luckily all our luggage was 
 also tossed on board. We were several times nearly- 
 swamped from the overcrowding of the boat, but 
 soon found ourselves on the shoulders of some 
 men, to be carried to the beach. We found the 
 proprietor of a sort of inn waiting for customers, 
 on shore : we closed with him, and got two 
 very dirty rooms and a decent breakfast. 
 
 The town seems well to do enough; substan- 
 tial wood houses, with some in brick. A bluff 
 hill rises behind it. A rough semicircular jetty 
 is in course of construction; the stones being 
 quarried from the rocks near the sea, loaded on 
 cars, and allowed to run down an iron tramway 
 to the extremity of the pier, which as yet, 
 though extending some 150 yards into the sea, 
 affords very little protection to ships even as 
 small as our steamer. A dozen small fishing 
 boats rested under its lee, but it protects only 
 from south and, partially, west winds. The 
 rocks around are of puddingstone, a shingly 
 beach, the water is very little salt, cockles the 
 
66 TELEGAS. 
 
 chief shells. We called on the Governor, whom 
 we found a jolly, fat man, talking French. 
 He generally lives at Temichanshura, whither 
 we are going, but came here as to a watering 
 place for his children. He is a Georgian, in 
 the Russian army. He kindly wrote a letter 
 to his secretary at Temichanshura for us, and 
 sketched out our route through the Caucasus. 
 We found his house to be on the brow of the 
 hill above the town. Above rose the fort, which 
 seems of considerable extent. 
 
 We had a great hunt after the post-house, 
 and got on to the highest ledge of the hill, 
 whence we could see the mountains in the inte- 
 rior, looking stern and rugged, and frowning 
 on the plain of no great extent which lay betwixt 
 us: many villages scattered about. The post- 
 man we found, with an order on his coat, 
 looking very dirty but tolerably amiable, espe- 
 cially after being soothed by the gift of a cigar. 
 In the yard stood three " Telegas," the instru- 
 ments of torture in which we were to proceed 
 on the morrow. They are on four wheels, entirely 
 
START FOR CAUCASUS. 67 
 
 of wood, and looking like a flat-bottomed boat 
 cut down at both ends and square at the bows 
 and stern, resting on two shafts over the wheels, 
 without the slightest vestige of a spring. 
 
 In the early morning before starting we 
 bathed in the green waters of the Caspian. My 
 companion found the fish so tame that he caught 
 a large one in his hand, and bore it home in 
 triumph to his breakfast. We did not discover 
 his fishing grounds. Of course, as we are no 
 longer upon it, the sea has returned to a state 
 of tranquillity. Our telegas (we were yet new 
 to our work, and therefore had taken two 
 with six horses) came to the door for us, and 
 after loading our baggage and our servant into 
 one of them, we started off in the other. We 
 first proceeded along a low spur of the Cau- 
 casus, ourselves on the plain whence the Caspian 
 had evidently retired ages ago. The dark rough 
 stone of the mountains, occasionally wooded with 
 stunted brushwood, was very picturesque. On 
 the roadside we observed several little animals 
 resembling the Norwegian Leming. All about 
 
 F 2 
 
68 MOHAMMEDAN TOMBS. 
 
 grew plentifully yellow flowers, of the nature 
 of our hollyhocks, and many-coloured butterflies 
 fluttered gaily in the brilliant sunlight; on our 
 right, behind us, lay the Caspian, perfectly calm, 
 as if in our derision. Many Troikas (another 
 name for our vehicle, from their being drawn 
 by three horses abreast) passed us ; the " rule 
 of the road " being the same as in England. 
 Most of these contained Russian officials. An 
 occasional horseman, dressed in full Circassian 
 costume, with the six cartridge cases, looking 
 like Panpipes on each breast, his ornamental 
 sword at his belt, and a rifle slung behind 
 him, would also ride past us, every now and then. 
 In two hours we reached Kunperkaliefi;, 
 where we changed horses, first producing our 
 padarojna to the postmaster. Just before reach- 
 ing this, we passed a high hill composed of 
 yellow sand, which stood out in bold relief 
 against the intense blue sky; and the cemetery. 
 The inhabitants being Mohammedans, the tombs 
 were the perpendicular flat stones, some six 
 feet high, crowned with a high round knob. 
 
KUNPERKALIEFF. 69 
 
 supposed to represent the turban, or here, per- 
 haps, the Circassian helmet. One of these was 
 brilliantly painted in white, red, and blue, and 
 all had some verses of the Koran sculptured in 
 high relief upon them. Three stones, probably 
 the memorials of chieftains, stood apart from 
 the vulgar crowd, and many were scattered 
 along the road. 
 
 The village is built on a perfectly flat moun- 
 tain overhanging a ravine, where flows a small 
 stream which we afterwards continually forded 
 and re-forded. The houses were all of one 
 story, bricks composed solely of clayey mud 
 being used, and then more mud plastered on. 
 The roofs, flat of course, as usual. The banks 
 of the stream were well cultivated, the chief 
 crops being Indian corn and melons. We wit- 
 i;iessed some of the process of thrashing out the 
 corn in Eastern fashion : two unmuzzled oxen 
 drawing heavy logs of wood, perfectly flat 
 beneath, upon which the driver was seated to 
 add weight, over the corn ; indeed, a perfect 
 wheat-sledge. Then it was winnowed by throwing 
 
yO GEOGRAPHY OF THE ANCIENTS ! 
 
 the corn and chafF into the air in wooden 
 shovels, when the wind blows away the chafF, 
 leaving only the grains ; however, this process 
 is always imperfect. 
 
 We were now in the government circle of 
 Daghestan,* the Thubal of the Jews, and Sar- 
 matia Asiatica of the Ancients, " Land of 
 Mountains." After skirting our little stream on 
 both sides for some time we came to a plateau 
 surrounded by most picturesque and wild-looking 
 hills. 
 
 We passed a village, Kumuk, where the 
 chief house was built on an isolated rock in 
 the centre. The appearance of the village, all 
 of mud, with a sort of open colonnade in 
 front of each house, the interior wall being 
 painted, in general, red, reminded us, we know 
 not why, of Medina Sidonia, in Andalusia. 
 Thence, over a horrible road, evidently made 
 solely by being driven upon, we reached an eleva- 
 tion from which we saw Temichanshura stretched 
 
 * It is said to contain 180,000 inhabitants, and 9,196 square 
 miles. 
 
TEMICHANSHURA. 7 1 
 
 out before us. The large church, painted red 
 and green, standing out from all the houses, 
 and the only one visible, gave the town some- 
 what the appearance of a Swiss village. A 
 mud wall surrounds the whole town. In the 
 plain a few canvas tents were scattered about. 
 
 On entering the town by one of the gates, 
 our first care was to look out for lodgings, 
 when just as we were on the point of con- 
 cluding a bargain, a fine-looking Circassian 
 soldier came up and told us that rooms had 
 been prepared for us in a government house, 
 our arrival having been already announced. We 
 accordingly left our lodging-house keeper dis- 
 consolate, and were presently installed in some 
 rooms which had been left in exactly the same 
 condition as when the last occupant left them: 
 coats on the wall, books on the table, and 
 even a box of " capsules " lying about. We had 
 the run of four apartments, including a mode- 
 rate-sized ball-room. The politeness of all was 
 extreme. Monsieur SergiefF, the locum tenens^ 
 being unfortunately laid up, another Circassian 
 
72 bird's eye view. 
 
 officer called upon us, to know if we had 
 everything we wanted. We obtained our food 
 from the, so-called, "club," an establishment of 
 the officers in garrison here. 
 
 The day after our arrival we walked out of 
 the town to the top of a hill on the S.W., 
 whence we obtained a splendid view of the 
 surrounding country. On our way we walked 
 through a cemetery, not over-well kept. Dwarf 
 oak constituted the principal vegetation. On the 
 S. rose the higher range of the Caucasus ; on 
 the plain before us lay the town, forming an 
 all but perfect parallelogram, the deficiency being 
 at the north-eastern extremity, where it is built 
 into a triangle. Though to all appearance per- 
 fectly level from our point of view, this is 
 raised considerably above the stream that we 
 had followed for five hours from our horse- 
 changing place. The church stands in the centre, 
 and there is a large square with arcaded shops 
 in front of it. The roofs present a most 
 variegated appearance. All the government 
 houses are painted green, and the others either 
 
COMPLIMEISTARY VISIT. 73 
 
 brown or red. On the S. a few huts are 
 built outside the wall of circumvallation, one 
 side of which consists entirely of low barracks. 
 Many trees and poplars planted along some of 
 the streets give the town a cheerful aspect. 
 We found that our pedometer, which is quite 
 insensible to the progress of an ordinary civi- 
 lized carriage, advanced seven miles during 
 yesterday's jolting. 
 
 On the Sunday we found the open-air market 
 at the S.E. of the town thickly attended, the 
 staple commodity being gossip. A perfect hurri- 
 cane blowing. In the afternoon we paid a ' 
 visit to the adjutant, who is the other occu- 
 pant of the large house we are in. As he 
 spoke no known language, we conversed by 
 means of Grazzini our servant, who engrossed 
 almost all the talk to himself, and was com- 
 pelled to sit down and partake of tea, the 
 obligatory accompaniment of every visit to a 
 Russian. 
 
 On the 5th of September, after a good deal 
 of preparation in the way of fastening our 
 
74 LESGHIAN ESCORT. 
 
 luggage to our horses' backs, we started for 
 Kutishi, at half-past nine, A.M. Our cavalcade 
 consisted of ourselves and fourteen Lesghians, 
 given to us as an escort, not on account of 
 any danger, as the country is thoroughly trodden 
 down and pacified, but as a guard of honour. 
 They were dressed in white caftans (a bastard 
 species of frock coat), tall white Astrachan 
 hats, somewhat resembling, excepting in colour, 
 the familiar bearskin of the British grenadier, 
 and red capotes hung down over their shoulders. 
 Their little wiry horses were very ill kept, but 
 capital goers. The set would have driven an 
 English officer into desperation, such was their 
 slovenliness ; but, notwithstanding, their appear- 
 ance smacked strongly of wild romantic guerilla 
 warfare. We marched through the town with 
 an advanced guard of three " guerrilleros " 
 abreast. Next the commanding officer, the 
 same who had apprized us of our prepared 
 lodgings, then our two selves. The rest of the 
 escort, our servant, and the baggage, bringing 
 up the rear. Immediately upon starting our 
 
THEIR TASTE FOR MUSIC. 75 
 
 escort set up a wild sort of war song, which 
 had the effect of bringing out most of the 
 population, who gazed with wonder at our cos- 
 tumes, not being accustomed to any others but 
 national dress or Russian uniforms. We are 
 bound to state that our "get-up" might have 
 created an equal sensation in St. James's-street ! 
 These songs continued at intervals during the 
 march. One much resembled free variations on 
 " Buffalo Gals," and in another, rather melodious 
 one, the name of Schamyl was constantly repeated. 
 We are now in his country, and were told 
 that the events attending his last defence and 
 capture were being sung by these fellows, who, 
 on the whole, were rather inclined (as " de droit ") 
 to sympathise with their gallant countryman. 
 Our baggage caused us numerous detentions, 
 having a propensity to slip off the Cossack saddles 
 of the post horses. The first portion of the 
 journey lay over some monotonous black hills. 
 The women we saw, wore those garments that a 
 hen-pecked husband is said to make over to his 
 wife. Some of the younger ones were pretty. 
 
76 CAUCASIAN PANORAMA. 
 
 with dark black eyes and hair guiltless of the 
 disfiguring " auricomous fluid." 
 
 In about four hours we reached Zengutai, 
 where a mosque is the principal place of worship. 
 We found that the commanding officer, who 
 seemed in a disconsolate state, (as well he might 
 be, having only himself to command,) spoke 
 French, and with the characteristic openhanded- 
 ness of the soldier had prepared a sumptuous 
 dinner for us. Leaving our host we passed 
 through Zengutai the lesser, and soon plunged 
 into the most romantic solitudes. Leaving the 
 road, (a bridle path, as we did not follow the cir- 
 cuitous carriage-way,) we gained a grassy peak, 
 whence we obtained a magnificent panoramic 
 view. We saw all the country we had tra- 
 versed, on the one hand ; the cultivated fields 
 on the plain spreading out before us in well- 
 marked lines, like so many vari-coloured ribbons. 
 On the left the Caspian Sea formed the boundary 
 in the far distance. Before us lay a dim blue 
 line of mountains, and behind us some pic- 
 turesquely escarped mountains hemmed-in our view. 
 
URMAH. 77 
 
 Shortly after descending and regaining our 
 bridle path, we came upon a man with a species 
 of flageolet, whereupon our escort dismounted, 
 and two of them began to dance to a very shrill 
 tune, much resembling portions of a hornpipe. 
 The duo suggested reminiscences of the negro 
 " break down " and the gipsies' dance. The non- 
 dancers clapped their hands to the tune. Their 
 cheers were the regular " Hurrah " so well known 
 in the United Kingdom. After crossing an alter- 
 nation of hills and plains we reached Urmah, 
 when our baggage-horses were, after a consider- 
 able delay, changed. The houses here were all built 
 of limestone, that material being here more easily 
 obtainable than mud. The roofs all flat, and as 
 Urmah is built on the steep slope of a hill, one 
 house directly above the other, persons walking 
 in the upper streets appeared to be parading the 
 roofs of the houses below them. In this favoured 
 spot the fuel consists almost entirely of dried 
 cow-dung. We hence continued on by the light 
 of the full moon, which permitted a delightfully 
 hazy and indistinct view of the scenery. The 
 
yS KUTISHI. 
 
 lofty but not yet snow-capped hills had not a 
 vestige of brushwood upon them. We now 
 passed several places where our narrow path led 
 along the sides of steep ravines, where " one false 
 step would have been destruction." This phrase, 
 or its equivalents, is used by every traveller in 
 every mountainous district, so we may as well 
 employ it also, though not to the purpose ! We 
 did not reach Kutishi till nigh 10*30 p.m., but 
 we found here also our arrival foreseen, and the 
 Commandant waiting for us. He could not 
 speak any language of ours, but the doctor of 
 the military post spoke a little German. In the 
 kindest manner, he insisted on placing his bed 
 and sitting-room at our disposal. 
 
 We had thus ridden forty-eight miles, at a jog- 
 trot, on our first day, and were very glad of the 
 English saddles we had conveyed with us. Here we 
 met an artist-officer, who was commissioned by the 
 Grand-Duke Michael (the governor-general of the 
 Caucasus) to execute for him drawings of all the 
 principal spots rendered famous by SchamyPs 
 heroic defence. We were fortunate enough to see 
 
COLD. 
 
 79 
 
 those already finished. During the latter portion 
 of our ride we had to put on our greatcoats ; the 
 evening and the elevation combining to render the 
 temperature rather cool. The sitting-room was 
 hung all over with beautifully-worked fowling- 
 pieces. Our escort, or one or two of them, 
 were continually dashing out of their ranks at full 
 gallop, in front of us, to show off their horseman- 
 ship by executing the renowned " tour de force " 
 of picking up a small object from the ground 
 without dismounting, whilst at full gallop: un- 
 fortunately, the failures quite counterbalanced the 
 successes achieved. Our servant has a very vague 
 nation of geography. He is continually asking 
 us why such and such a thing is done in 
 " Persia," as if we were already there. Along 
 our road we observed many little square towers 
 of observation, now no longer of any use. Innu- 
 merable dogs who, silent during the day, render 
 night hideous by their incessant barking, greeted 
 us on our arrival. The last office of our 
 pedometer was to mark the jolting of the telega, 
 for we lost it during a gallop on the grass. 
 
8o HADJEL MACHI. 
 
 All the officers in these parts appear to be 
 princes. 
 
 Early next morning we started again ; we saw 
 many eagles floating in the air high above our 
 heads. The rocks about appeared to be of some 
 alluvial deposit, with quantities of fossils cropping 
 out ; and further on many stone boulders lay 
 around, as circular as if just hewn for the cannon 
 of a Byzantine emperor. Shortly before reaching 
 Hadjel Machi, we passed an orchard of apple and 
 cherry trees. Some twenty file of soldiers pre- 
 sented arms to us as we marched in. The car- 
 riage road was very good ; two excellent stone 
 bridges. Here we noticed that the women wore 
 morocco slippers turned up at the toes, and a head 
 frontal embroidered in gold, the device resembling 
 Arabic letters. An ornamental drinking fountain, 
 with the crescent on the top, stood in the village. 
 A redoubt on a height commanding it. We now 
 rode through the wildest scenery imaginable, lofty 
 mountains, rising sheer above us, or descending 
 straight below us, according as our route led at 
 the foot, or higher up them, our road led us zig- 
 
GOUNIB. 8 1 
 
 zagging up and down, till we got on to the side 
 of a deep ravine, which could not have been more 
 than a hundred yards across. On the side opposite 
 to us we saw some rocks resembling pillars, as 
 though the entrance to some great half-ruined 
 Egyptian Temple. We halted for luncheon about 
 2 P.M., just past some blasting operations that were 
 being carried on in order to widen the road. 
 The Tartar bread, baked in flat loaves about one 
 and a-half foot round and one inch thick, was very 
 nasty. The red wine here somewhat resembled 
 sour Valdepenas, the flavour of the skins in which 
 both are preserved being very perceptible in each. 
 Soon after emerging from the narrow portion of 
 the pass, we descried " Gounib " towering above us 
 in front. This mountain, isolated on all sides, and 
 only accessible (to the ordinary being) on one, was 
 the scene of Schamyl's supreme defence and of his 
 capture. We began to ascend it just as it was 
 getting dark, by a winding road, and in one hour, 
 at 7*30 P.M., reached our halting place — the adju- 
 tant's house. We passed through the military vil- 
 lage, on a email plain upon the mountain itself. 
 
 G 
 
82 SCHAMYL, 
 
 A battalion is always quartered here. We found 
 everything ready for us, and after our night's rest 
 we made an excursion on horseback round the 
 place. Riding up a ravine for about an hour, we 
 reached SchamyPs village and last dwelling-place in 
 Daghestan. Here he, with a band of 600 devoted 
 followers, held the whole force of the Russian 
 empire at bay for three months ! Our guide, a 
 Lesghian in the Russian service, who had assisted 
 at the capture of the place — on which side he did 
 not inform us, though probably on the Russian — 
 was of opinion that if he ever should appear again 
 in this country a revolt would immediately break 
 out, notwithstanding the numbers of the Russian 
 army, which, practically, would render any such an 
 attempt abortive. The heroic struggle of Right 
 against Might must always command the respect 
 and admiration of all those who have nothing 
 to lose by espousing such a cause. The name 
 of Schamyl will go down to posterity as that 
 of a brave patriot. It is quite apart from the 
 question to argue that the country has benefited 
 by Russian rule : that is easily admitted, but 
 
HIS SURRENDER. 83 
 
 the right and justice of a people defending their 
 
 ancient faith, their freedom, and their chief is 
 
 indefeasible. The village is in ruins, and the 
 
 rank weeds grow on the stone houses. An English 
 
 farm-labourer would turn up his nose at Schamyl's 
 
 house, which differed in no respect, excepting 
 
 its comparatively larger size, from the others. On 
 
 one side of an inner court-yard are the apartments 
 
 of his three wives ; his own occupy two storys. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile lower down the hill 
 
 is shown the spot where Prince Bariatinsky sat 
 
 on a flat stone to await the arrival of Schamyl, 
 
 after his surrender in his own house. Some birch 
 
 of stunted growth are planted around, and near, 
 
 a few willows, the greater number weeping for 
 
 their lord's ill fate. The Lesghian chief is now 
 
 located in the interior of Russia, and, in all other 
 
 respects but the loss of his freedom — an irreparable 
 
 one to such a spirit as his — is much better off than 
 
 when a chief in his own country. We saw these 
 
 spots on the sixth anniversary of his capture. 
 
 Continuing our ride for another hour, we 
 
 arrived at the spot where the Russian soldiers 
 
 G 2 
 
84 SUMMIT OF GOUNIB. 
 
 climbed up the, to all appearance, perpendicular 
 rock, thus taking the unsuspecting Schamyl in the 
 rear. The feat performed here seems barely 
 possible, but one soldier having gained the summit 
 let down a rope to his comrades, and thus they 
 contrived to clamber up. Hence the view ex- 
 tended as far as the eye could see, in an endless 
 succession of mountain ranges of the greatest 
 variety of form. Turning off to the West we 
 ascended the highest part of " Gounib." On the 
 very summit some " Forget-me-nots " were grow- 
 ing, forming an appropriate memorial for preserva- 
 tion. White misty clouds obscured our view from 
 hence, so after halting for a short time, allowing 
 our horses to crop the luxuriant grass around, we 
 commenced our descent, skirting round the edge of 
 the mountain for some eight miles, until we got 
 into our old path again. The flora is very pretty, 
 though there is hardly any flower here that does 
 not grow in English fields. On the plateau, upon 
 which stands the military village, we saw some 
 soldiers drilling. Many of them are encamped in 
 tents. The native population is very small, almost 
 
THE GARRISON. 85 
 
 all their houses having been pulled down by the 
 conquerors for greater security. On returning, we 
 were informed that, the general being absent and 
 the colonel ill, the officer in command was waiting 
 to receive us at dinner ; so we went down to the 
 barracks and introduced ourselves to him and his 
 wife. She spoke French, and indulged us with 
 " Ah ! che la morte " on a piano which had not 
 been tuned for two years, and, considering the 
 circumstances, was very good, not more than half 
 the notes being utterly ruined. We talked and 
 looked at each other, (the lady much admiring W.'s 
 knickerbockers,) and smoked, our hostess joining us, 
 for two hours and a-half, when we had supper, 
 which is generally taken " heavy " at about i o p.m. 
 This included toadstools in vinegar, and Barclay 
 and Percins {sic) brown stout. 
 
 Much mineral wealth lies, in all probability, con- 
 cealed amongst the mountains, as lead, copper, and 
 sulphur are continually found in this neighbourhood, 
 though the veins are not worked as yet. A care- 
 ful mineralogical survey would, no doubt, reveal 
 the hidden capabilities of the country ; and, unless 
 
86 NEW ESCORT. 
 
 a hopeless but fierce revolt of the inhabitants 
 should break forth, will, it is to be hoped, soon 
 be carried out. The dwellers in one village can 
 frequently not understand the language spoken by 
 those living in the neighbouring hamlet. The 
 variety of languages is something bewildering; 
 Baron Haxthausen is, perhaps, the best authority 
 on a point about which we know nothing. 
 
 Next morning we started at 7, with a new escort 
 of irregular cavalry, this time arrayed in black 
 dresses with yellow capotes and black skin caps ; 
 most of them wear their cartridge-cases with beau- 
 tiful Niello work to the tops of each. This is the 
 peculiar work of Daghestan, from whence it has 
 entered Russia. Their pistols were carried in 
 richly embroidered holsters. Skirting the road for 
 some time, we turned to the N. W. passing many 
 herds of goats; most of these animals had long 
 horns that twisted around themselves in a quaint 
 fashion. We passed a small encampment, where 
 a coal mine is indolently worked, and a shaft had 
 been sunk for sulphur, which is procured in plenty 
 — the coal is very indifferent. After halting for 
 
KHUNSAKH. 87 
 
 luncheon we rode through a chasm cleft by nature 
 and a small stream, in the rock, which appeared to 
 tower at least 1500 feet above us ; the sides were 
 so near together that sometimes we could not see 
 the sky. Of course the echo was great, and our 
 escort made the most of it during the 300 yards' 
 passage. Coming upon a small river, we skirted it 
 for some time, until we crossed it by a rough wooden 
 bridge, with an arch ingeniously contrived to make 
 every passenger get off his horse before crossing ; 
 thence we ascended a wild and peculiarly stefp 
 rock, and after reaching the summit, found our- 
 selves on a plateau in a sort of valley extending to 
 Khunsakh, our resting-place for the night. The 
 rock was of a friable nature here, and the road, 
 therefore, tolerably well made, except when con- 
 sisting of loose round pebbles very trying to our 
 horses' feet and our own balance. 
 
 We saw our destination long before we reached 
 a mud wall, in front of which we dismounted, the 
 whole population (not large) assembling to view 
 the unaccustomed strangers. We then entered (by 
 a large wooden gate) a court-yard surrounded 
 
88 TLOCK. 
 
 by low mud buildings, the Russian official habita- 
 tions, and were shown into a room at the farthest 
 side of the court, where the only furniture con- 
 sisted of a table, two chairs, and one bedstead in a 
 rickety condition. The floor very damp. After 
 some time, an old tin bread-basket was brought in 
 (to serve as a bason,) and a camp-bedstead. Gounib 
 towers away on the south-east, here not seeming 
 so isolated as in reality, from our looking over the 
 hills in front of it. To-day we passed some of the 
 smallest cattle we have ever seen. 
 
 Riding out again next morning we followed a 
 very level road, on a mountain ledge, for some 
 time, till we came to an abrupt descent, where we 
 had to dismount and have our horses led. Ascend- 
 ing again, we skirted a valley, ourselves high up, 
 till we came to a hill of white marble, on whose 
 flat and long apex we rode, being able to see into 
 two valleys at once, one on each side. Coming to 
 the end we descended by a path still steeper than 
 before, and soon arrived at Tlock. We were con- 
 ducted through twisting lanes between stone walls, 
 to a rather grander house than the others, that, pro- 
 
A LESGHIAN INTERIOR. 89 
 
 bably, of the principal, if not the oldest, inhabitant. 
 This gave us an excellent opportunity of studying 
 the interior economy of a Lesghian house ; with 
 which intention we immediately proceeded to poke 
 our noses into all sorts of uncomfortable places. 
 Through the outer door we had entered a court-yard 
 about 20 feet by 30, around which were built the 
 kitchen stables, and other warehousing rooms; a 
 colonnade of wood in front ; the walls themselves 
 of the rough unhewn stones that lie about the 
 mountains. On one side, above the kitchen, rose 
 the second story, with an open-air colonnade in 
 front; under this were our rooms. This second 
 story is exceptional, as the majority of houses have 
 only one, and all have flat roofs. Hay and peaches 
 cut in halves, lay on this one to dry in the sun, 
 when ready the hay is stored under the colonnade, 
 or perhaps verandah, in front of our rooms. The 
 court-yard is uncovered. We had not been installed 
 ten minutes when we were informed that another 
 place had been prepared for us, so out we marched 
 bag and baggage, but no trumpets blowing as none 
 were handy. We were led again through the vil- 
 
90 GRAZZINl'S TASTE. 
 
 lage, out of it, and into a magnificent forest of 
 walnut trees, looking old and majestic enough to 
 have descended from nuts left by the flood, when 
 retiring from Ararat and the neighbourhood ! 
 Indeed we found this a perfect oasis amongst the 
 mountains. We next came to a splendid orchard 
 of every kind of fruit tree ; Indian corn growing 
 amidst all. Presently we came to a low mud hut, 
 without any window, where we found a carpet and 
 bed spread for us, and a leg of mutton judiciously 
 hung up in a corner. However, on objecting that 
 we preferred our former halting-place, we were 
 marched back again. We then found the inhabi- 
 tants of the neighbouring houses congregated on 
 their roofs to look at us, as we sat in the verandah 
 eating excellent peaches. 
 
 The leg of mutton was cut into kabobs * for 
 dinner, cooked in their own fat, and vinegar, exactly 
 resembling the way of roasting pork in the south 
 of Spain. Grazzini here informed us that had he 
 known the voyage we were going to undertake he 
 never would have come with us — would even 
 
 * Small pieces of meat, roasted as described. 
 
HAIR DYE, 91 
 
 rather have remained with his wife ! We find 
 him an excellent and ready servant, and honesty 
 itself. The doors here are four feet high, and the 
 windows in proportion. Our host is a rough- 
 looking Lesghian, with a grizzly beard, which he 
 has tinged a bright red colour, the custom of many 
 of his countrymen, — and others ! 
 
 Many of the tombs that we passed are square 
 upright stones with a cavity at the bottom, in which 
 is the inscription. Several have long poles stuck 
 by their sides, — a succedaneum for the spear of the 
 chief whose tomb it is. 
 
( 9^ ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 On the 9th of September we started and rode along 
 a black-looking stream for the greater portion of 
 our way. Swallow-tailed butterflies are the pre- 
 vailing variety, and yellow ones with black tips to 
 their wings. The end of our journey took us near 
 some slight hills; the dark blue sky above us showed 
 off the rugged rocks around us to great advantage. 
 In the middle of the day we arrived at Botlick, the 
 chosen home of fever, though njohy — it would be 
 difficult to conjecture. It lies in an exactly similar 
 situation to our morning's starting point, which is 
 entirely exempt from this disease, between rocky 
 hills at the bottom of a valley, and has as many or 
 more walnut and other fruit trees growing around 
 it. The vines are most beautiful, festooning tall 
 apple trees up to their very tops. 
 
 We had started early intending to pass this 
 place without stopping, but we were told that 
 the time of fever was just over by a week, so 
 
FEVER QUARTERS. 93 
 
 finding agreeable quarters in the officer's house, 
 we remained ; the sun was certainly very hot in 
 the middle of the day. Our Lesghian officer, 
 who has accompanied us from Temichanshura 
 as our guide and interpreter, (the natives under- 
 standing no Russian,) here quitted us, as we 
 enter another circle of government. At a small 
 village, on our way hither, the inhabitants turned 
 out, offering us fruit, cold roast chickens, and strong 
 water of some description. The time of fever here 
 is June, July, and half August ; it attacks, to a 
 certainty, every person who remains three days here. 
 The fort is in a lovely spot, on a low hill in the 
 centre of a valley, surrounded on every side by 
 bold, lofty rocks. The Commandant, like almost 
 all the others in Daghestan, is very wisely absent, 
 having given himself leave. In the cool of the 
 evening we wandered with our three military hosts 
 into an orchard, where we eat peaches, grapes, and 
 plums to our hearts' content. As none of the 
 officers could talk anything but Russian, we passed 
 the evening smoking cigarettes, and carrying on an 
 animated conversation in detached words, occa- 
 
94 A LONG RIDE. 
 
 sionally summoning Grazzini, when a more knotty 
 point than usual arose. Next morning we started 
 early, having a long day before us ; we immediately 
 began to ascend a very steep hill, forming the 
 boundary between two circles of goverment. This 
 occupied us three and a half hours in the ascent. 
 From its summit we saw the higher Caucasus, clad 
 in eternal snows, to the south. Riding on over 
 comparatively level ground, we came to a charming 
 little lake with intensely blue transparent water. 
 We judged it to be about five miles round. The 
 treeless nature of its banks somewhat detracts 
 from its beauty. Our horses went in some distance 
 to drink. Unfortunately our noble steed took it into 
 its head to lie down here, a proceeding which, 
 though no doubt affording intense gratification to 
 itself, was by no means so pleasant to its rider. 
 
 After some time we began to descend through a 
 valley enclosed by lofty granite rocks, upon which 
 the most luxuriant herbage was growing and being 
 cut down in every practicable spot, our road 
 became narrower and narrower, and altogether exe- 
 crable, consisting chiefly in the precipitous bed of 
 
VIDENE. 95 
 
 a mountain torrent, running down the gorge we 
 were now in. Soon brushwood began to clothe 
 the sides of the ravine; and small birch trees, 
 together with huge ferns hung on the damp rocks. 
 The vegetation became grander and grander, until 
 at length we could fancy ourselves in an English 
 park. Our path led us through so many windings 
 that we could never see a hundred yards in front, 
 and thus every change in the vegetation burst upon 
 us by degrees. Having ridden over a treeless waste 
 in the morning, we now, towards evening, were 
 threading a forest glade. The torrent increased in 
 volume as we proceeded, and we were continually 
 fording it. Night set in at a quarter to eight, 
 while we were yet on our march, and our very 
 ragged escort, who did not know the way very 
 well, got off their horses to perform evening 
 prayer ; mounting again, we rode on in such dark- 
 ness that we could hardly see, the tails of the 
 horses in front of us serving as a guide. How- 
 ever, at 9 P.M., we reached Videne, our destination 
 and a Russian encampment, surrounded by a 
 wooden palisade, of which the gates were shut at 
 
96 GRAZZINI AGAIN ! 
 
 night, so we had to knock at one of them for a 
 considerable time, and only got in with some 
 difficulty, the guard evidently taking us for a 
 party of Tchetchens come to a night attack. 
 
 On getting in we rode to the commandant, 
 Colonel GolachekofPs (we apologize if it is 
 misspelt,) house, where we met with the cus- 
 tomary cordial reception, here doubly grateful to 
 us after our long ride. Unfortunate Grazzini had 
 to sleep out all night, as the escort of our luggage 
 refused to proceed. On arriving next morning, he 
 remarked that if ever he returned alive to Moscow 
 " sara un miracolo ! " Videne lies in an extensive 
 plain, surrounded on all sides but one by well- 
 wooded mountains. 
 
 After our night's rest we walked out in com- 
 pany with a Polish officer, who spoke French, and 
 said that he had had no other opportunity of 
 speaking it for five years, the time he had been 
 quartered here. We walked along the plain until 
 we came to the fossees dug by Schamyl to defend 
 his aoul or village against the Russians, before his 
 final retreat across the mountains to Gounib. After 
 
A BALL AT VIDENE. 97 
 
 the third comes the spot on which stood his own 
 house ; here the Princess Chavchadazy and two 
 other Russian ladies were imprisoned; but no 
 traces are to be seen either of this or of the village 
 around, the rank vegetation having completely- 
 covered them and their ruins. Buffalo were lazily 
 cropping the grass, perhaps in Schamyl's dining- 
 room ; wild hops were growing about. Dinner at 
 2 P.M., and then the fashion is to rest for two 
 hours. Our colonel's amiable weakness is " sweets ;" 
 at least a dozen boxes of bon-bons and dried fruits 
 lie about his bedroom which he kindly turned 
 out of to accommodate us. 
 
 It being the Emperor Alexander's name-day, a 
 ball was given in the officers' clubhouse, to which 
 we drove in a huge sort of brougham, with a 
 strong flavour of the dust of ages about it. Ar- 
 riving at 8 P.M. we found a moderate sized ballroom, 
 decorated with fir branches and festoons of wild 
 hops hanging from the tin chandeliers; a billiard 
 and cardroom, and a library, are also here. The 
 portrait of the reigning sovereign occupied the 
 place of honour on the wall. Our Polish exile 
 
 H 
 
98 THE COMPANY. 
 
 received and conducted us to the room, where we 
 found some eighty officers already congregated, 
 each with more or less decorations on their breasts. 
 The ladies, mostly officers' wives, mustered some 
 thirty strong. The force quartered here amounts 
 to 4,000 men, and thus all their officers were 
 present. The wife of the regimental doctor, a 
 Georgian, was perhaps the only pretty person in 
 the room — dark complexion. We made the ac- 
 quaintance of an officer commanding natives, 
 whose father was a Frenchman, and who informed 
 us that he had not talked his paternal language for 
 fourteen years ! A waltz was played by the mili- 
 tary band soon after we arrived. We were lucky 
 enough to be introduced to a lady who did not 
 dance what are in London called " round dances," 
 and, then, to another just as the music ceased ; 
 neither of them spoke any language, so it was 
 just as well that we could not dance with 
 them. Quadrilles and Lancers were the other 
 dances; in these chairs were brought out for the 
 dancers to sit on when their turn was over, the 
 ladies gracefully folding their arms, or munching 
 
OFF AGAIN ! 99 
 
 peaches whilst standing up in the figure. The 
 whist played here was of an astonishing nature; 
 no trumps allowed ; the dealer always threw his 
 hand on the table, as in dummy whist, and the 
 highest card of the suit led, invariably took the 
 trick ; more than fifty points could be made in one 
 hand, their value six a penny. Supper was served 
 in a large tent, open to the air, which now became 
 rather chilly. The garden around decorated with 
 coloured lamps. The Emperor's health was drunk 
 much past midnight. 
 
 We set off in the morning in an old rattletrap 
 with four horses, that the colonel kindly lent us. 
 Passed many plantations of sunflowers, and elder 
 shrubs six feet high and more, lining all the road. 
 We soon emerged from the brushwood-covered 
 low hills on to the plain ; here our ofF-horse ma- 
 naged to tumble under the carriage which was 
 stopped, and we got out, whereupon the other 
 three horses bolted, running the heavy carriage 
 over the stomach of their unfortunate comrade, 
 who, however, rather seemed to like it, as he then 
 got up and trotted after the others, which were 
 
 H 2 
 
lOO GROSNA. 
 
 luckily stopped in due course opposite a small fort. 
 Here we halted for some time to rest the horses 
 after their escapade. An additional fort of stone 
 was in process of construction. We found the 
 thistle now flourishing along our road, only occa- 
 sionally relieved by a field of maize. The houses 
 in the plain have thatched, slanting roofs. We 
 crossed the Argoon on a long wooden bridge, and 
 saw several battalions of soldiers exercising beyond. 
 At sunset we drove into Grosna, a large village, 
 but with much unutilized space enclosed within 
 the boundary ditch. After driving over a stream, 
 the Sunjan, we drove back again to find the 
 commandant's house ; here a lady, who was stand- 
 ing on the doorstep, and purported to be that 
 commander's wife, informed us there was no room, 
 and advised a trial of the clubhouse. Following 
 her advice, we drove thither, but finding prepara- 
 tions for a grand ball going on, we had to make a 
 third effbrt for house-room, which we at last 
 obtained by going to a shop opposite; we found 
 that the proprietor had travelled down the Volga 
 in the same steamer as ourselves, and Grazzini imme- 
 
TCHETCHENS' DRESS. lOI 
 
 diately claimed a cordial acquaintance with him, 
 which so far affected his tender bosom, that he 
 procured us two dirty rooms at the back for some 
 exorbitant sum. 
 
 Having again got into " postal districts," we sent 
 Grazzini off to engage a telega for us for next 
 morning, when we again took to that jolting 
 vehicle, this time in only one, with all our bag- 
 gage in it ; our trunks were our seats for the next 
 thousand odd miles. Passing many bullock-carts 
 along our flat road, we changed horses twice, and 
 our carriage once, as one of the wheels came ofi^, 
 leaving itself and ourselves in the road before 
 arriving at Slipsowsky, where we found a fair 
 going on ; so leaving our cart at the posthouse we 
 walked thither, and found a thriving trade going 
 on in leather and drink. 
 
 The Tchetchens have a pretty dress ; the usual 
 cartridge-cases on the breast, with red tips ; then 
 red shirts edged with silver, and displaying a white 
 under-shirt; red morocco boots, and the tunic 
 black or white, with a black or white Astrachan 
 cap tipped with red to correspond. Getting in 
 
I02 VLADIKAVKAS. 
 
 again, we drove over low hillocks to Nazrah, 
 passing numerous round tumuli, and a cavalry en- 
 campment, at least 2,000 horses strong, with no 
 shelter for the quadrupeds and wretched tents for 
 the bipeds. The thick mud dashed plentifully 
 into our faces as we spun along. At Nazrah we 
 slept (more or less) in a private house, but the 
 dismal bowlings of many dogs sadly disturbed us. 
 At first we could get nothing but eggs, and they 
 were all bad, but after great struggles a fowl was 
 discovered and cooked by Grazzini. Rough 
 wooden look-out towers are attached to each 
 village. 
 
 Next day, proceeding again through a rain- 
 storm, we changed horses once at a fortified station 
 containing the dirtiest room we ever saw. Then 
 fording a small stream, we observed that villages 
 on the plain present the appearance of a large 
 collection of haystacks, as the thatched roofs looked 
 like so many of them. We reached Vladikavkas 
 in three hours. It is surrounded by a low stone 
 wall, pierced for muskets, with martello towers at 
 intervals. The post-house here is dignified by the 
 
OUR HOTEL. 103 
 
 name of hotel, where sheets and towels are extras 
 to be charged for per diem. The town covers a 
 vast extent of country, but principally m the shape 
 of gardens within the walls. We are surrounded 
 by hills, except on the East. Walking out, we 
 came upon the bazaar here — a long straggling 
 street of shops, with nothing remarkable for sale. 
 The motto appears certainly to be " Nothing like 
 Leather," if one may judge from the quantity of 
 it exposed for sale. The Terek river flows through 
 the town, a noisy stream. A small public garden 
 descends from the main street to its bank. The 
 trees are planted so thickly as to afford a delightful 
 shade in hot weather. There is a wooden pavilion 
 in the centre, where concerts are given. On the 
 right of our hotel a badly-kept allee runs along 
 the bank of the shallow river, which is crossed a 
 little further on by an excellent iron and stone 
 bridge. Standing upon this and looking down the 
 stream, here rapidly flowing, the red tiled roofs of 
 the houses intermingling with the many gardens 
 and tall trees present a very pretty appearance. 
 Some of the houses are very well built. Of the 
 
IC4 MISTS. 
 
 number is not our hotel. It is a great straggling 
 building of brick stuccoed over, two storys high, 
 with a wooden verandah running along the interior 
 side towards the post stables. The eating, however, 
 is very tolerable, and the wine good. The roads 
 (streets) are shocking, and appear to be always the 
 last things thought of throughout the Russian 
 empire. Thick mists cover the surrounding hills, 
 except when dispelled by a cursory burst of sun- 
 shine, which discloses a vista of snow-clad moun- 
 tains rising above the lower ones near us. The 
 Governor Boris MelikofF returned from a short 
 absence to-day. We saw him in an open caleche 
 galloping along, with a large escort of native 
 cavalry, his baggage, to all appearance, consisting 
 in half a portmanteau following in a telega ! 
 Some of the natives wear most astounding reddish 
 felt hats conical in form, with broad turned-up 
 brims. The noise of the stream is distinctly heard 
 from our rooms here. We find the quails excel- 
 lent, and generally dine upon some of them. 
 
 On the 15th we strolled out on a nasty Scotch- 
 misty day, ^through inch deep mud, in a south- 
 
deliberation! 105 
 
 easterly direction. We passed a small Christian ceme- 
 tery, badly kept, and Mohammedan tomb near it — 
 a square stone enclosure surrounded by a ditch, 
 with two short wooden columns surmounted 
 by enormous turbans also carved in wood, and 
 overshadowed by a poplar, a walnut tree, and a 
 weeping willow. Then we came to a narrow 
 country road which took us through a perfect 
 jungle of nettles, dwarf elders, and thistles, to 
 where brick kilns appeared to flourish. Some 
 distance further we ascended the nearest hill to 
 look panoramically at Vladikavkas, which we found 
 very irregularly built, and with the usual diversity 
 of opinion with regard to the best colour for a roof. 
 We on returning engaged in serious deliberation 
 as to the expediency of visiting Piatigorsk, the 
 Baden-Baden of the Caucasus. We duly weighed 
 the pros and cons ; the former being ; that we 
 ought to see the fashionable mineral-water baths 
 of South Russia, and that the highest mountain in 
 Europe, Mount Elbrouz, is to be seen from it. The 
 "cons" being; its distance out of our road, 130 miles, 
 having to return the same way, the expense, and 
 
Io6 A CASUAL ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 that the season was already over. On a division, 
 the numbers were- — for going, 2 ; against o ; so we 
 accordingly set off in our usual vehicle, this time 
 with very little baggage. 
 
 Before crossing the Ardon, at a village of the 
 same name, we traversed several rapid streams, but 
 always on bridges. This village, one of the largest 
 and best built we had lately seen, seemed to be 
 entirely inhabited by soldiers. Whilst we were 
 waiting for fresh horses, a lumbering old (evidently 
 European) travelling carriage with four horses 
 abreast, came up, and out stepped a Circassian with 
 a little boy ; our astonishment was great when 
 presently, hearing us talk English, the apparent 
 Caucasian came up and addressed us fluently in 
 our own language. He turned out to be a well- 
 informed Russian who had travelled much, especi- 
 ally in America and England, and now was living 
 in Circassia in Government employ. Amongst 
 other things he told us that he was about visiting 
 a curious temple high up in the mountains, that he 
 had heard was raised ages ago by the natives, to the 
 Spirits of the neighbouring range! We hoped he 
 
CIRCASSIA. 107 
 
 would not be disappointed, and then drove on, 
 passing several tumuli ; the road quite level, indeed 
 sometimes we drove simply through the grass, 
 getting grievously jolted. We observed the usual 
 Caucasian Simon Stylites, on the top of his wooden 
 watch-pillar in front of each village. 
 
 After five hours' drive we came to a gap in the 
 low mountains, and, emerging again, were on 
 another large plain. Here a singular tube-like 
 building, used as a watch-tower, was standing, 
 looking very like an ornamented English manu- 
 facturing-district chimney. The sides of the 
 mountains forming the gap were perfectly covered 
 as with a dense matting of wild hops and vines — 
 a charming scene. As if to contrast with it, the 
 half-eaten skeletons of some horses and oxen lay 
 about along the road. On the north the Kiare 
 river wound along, but not through our mountain 
 passage. In a short time we arrived at the Melka, 
 which forms the boundary between the Tchetchen 
 and Circassian districts. Here our scanty allowance 
 of baggage was examined carefully by a soldier, in 
 search of tobacco. We halted at dusk at Proslai- 
 
Io8 HOOPOOIDS. 
 
 naia, and slept in the common room of the post, 
 as a small house used as an hotel close by 
 was crowded beyond the limits of even Russian 
 endurance. 
 
 At the changing station, we had bought two phea- 
 sants for as many shillings ; of course these stood us 
 in good stead by way of dinner. From that station 
 we drove upon one of the best roads we have seen 
 in Russia, Macadamised and equal to a French 
 Chaussee. As if to tantalise us, it only lasted for 
 about an hour, and then our road was worse than 
 usual. We have apparently entered the climate of 
 pumpkins, as they are sold about in great quanti- 
 ties. We are following the line of telegraph from 
 Odessa to Tiflis. It is, to all appearance, newly 
 erected, as the date is carefully carved on each post. 
 The wires serve as a grateful resting-place for 
 countless birds, including small Hoopooids (?) and 
 pretty jays with blue breasts and green feathers, 
 besides quantities of the hawk tribe. We saw a 
 pack of doves in most dangerous proximity to 
 these their arch enemies. The road we had found 
 good, is kept up by a toll, exacted on leaving 
 
PIATIGORSK. 109 
 
 Vladi ; the ticket we then received, on payment of 
 something more than double the proper charge, 
 was taken from us on crossing the bridge over 
 the Melka, at a toll-gate just resembling a German 
 one. 
 
 On continuing next day, we passed many white- 
 painted landmarks, resembling exactly an enlarged 
 edition of our pillar posts. These are evidently 
 intended to point out the road in winter, v^hen 
 snow is on the ground. However, the telegraph 
 posts, which conscientiously follow every winding 
 of the road, must have entirely superseded them. 
 At length, after jolting about in the most heart- 
 rending manner, we reached Piatigorsk, " the 
 Baden of the East," at 5 p.m. On approaching, 
 we came suddenly to a valley sunk in the plain and 
 formed by the action of some almost antediluvian 
 river now reduced to a small stream. The town, 
 which we could not see as yet, is situated on the 
 north slope of this sunken valley. Before reaching 
 it four or five isolated mountains appear, the last 
 spurs of the Caucasus detached from the paternal 
 range. From hence there is, we believe, almost a 
 
IIO "the BADEN OF THE EAST ! " 
 
 dead level all the way to the Baltic. The town is 
 so situated that none of it is seen until within 
 twenty yards of the first house, as it nestles on 
 the southern flank of a mountain rising some 2,000 
 feet above it, and sheltering it from the North and 
 East. On entering, we passed the usual amount 
 of shabby wooden huts, and then came on the 
 decent houses. We are in an hotel kept by an 
 Italian Jew of the name of Carotto — Hebrew prices. 
 It is a roughly-cemented stone house of two 
 storys, with pretty good rooms and civilised ap- 
 pliances, but no sheets. Opposite this, on a little 
 slope, stands a house built in modern-English- 
 watering-place style — Bastard Tudor, answering to 
 the " desirable villa residences " stuck up in a 
 house-agent's shop. We discovered afterwards 
 that it belonged to a Mr. Upton, the Sebastopol 
 Englishman ! More information we cannot give. 
 The best Caucasian wines are pressed at Kahetie, 
 near Tiflis, where there are most extensive vineyards. 
 The morning of the i8th turning out rainy, dis- 
 appointed our hopes of seeing Elbrouz on that day. 
 We however sallied out. The mud being something 
 
ITS CURIOSITIES. Ill 
 
 too awful, we went along the boulevard in front 
 of our hotel. It is tolerably well kept, but the 
 trees are young, — as in everything else, that is a 
 fault that soon rectifies itself. Entering some 
 jewellers' shops here, we inspected the lovely 
 Caucasian belts, and niello silver work, only re- 
 gretting that we had not the fortunes of several 
 nabobs to buy up the whole of the shops with. 
 Walking up the gully, we passed the library and 
 reading-rooms, near which an iron plate with a ditto 
 inscription commemorates the only ascent of Mount 
 Elbrouz, some years ago; then into the garden 
 leading up to the pump-room on the elevation. 
 In this garden are some very curious old monu- 
 ments : one like a semi-Egyptian human figure, 
 with its hands folded over the breast, a sort of 
 drinking-horn in the right, and below on the 
 pedestal the sports of the chase rudely carved. 
 The pump-room we found an oblong stuccoed 
 building, with its open colonnade in front, and two 
 rooms — one at each wing, the right-hand one con- 
 taining the spring. We entered the deserted halls, 
 and woke up a solitary soldier, who gave us some of 
 
112 ITS SPRINGS. 
 
 the water to taste. We found it like Seltzer, with 
 a decided dash of rotten egg, the basis being partly 
 sulphuretted hydrogen ; but we are not analytical 
 chemists. Then walking out along the colonnade, 
 which opens on to the slope down to the town, 
 we sat down in the opposite room on leather divans, 
 wooden benches in the centre. The springs are said 
 to be very efficacious in curing rheumatism and 
 affections of that description. The principal bath- 
 rooms are on one side. The situation is very 
 charming ; green trees and little bowers all around, 
 and a good view. The inhabitants are Kabardians 
 here. They are building a church very much on the 
 model of St. Saviour's at Moscow, in white stone 
 which is obtained in large quantities in the neigh- 
 bourhood. The Russians appear to delight in magni- 
 ficent superfluous churches, whilst utterly neglecting 
 the roads. The cemetery lies on the south side of the 
 town, a low stone wall around, and a small church 
 in the midst of the tombs. A solitary mountain, 
 rising some 40 #o feet to the west, is very picturesque, 
 forming a sharp cone, with two lesser satellites of 
 the same shape half-way up it at each side. 
 
KISLOVODSK. 113 
 
 The next morning being tolerably fine, we took 
 advantage of the last trip of the omnibus to go to 
 Kislovodsk, another bath some twenty-seven miles 
 distant. We drove along a plain that rose gradu- 
 ally the whole way, till it finally merged into low 
 mountains, between which we found our watering 
 place situated. An allee of poplars, some quarter 
 of a mile long, leads to the pump-room, the first, or 
 last house in the town. A gentleman of the 
 Hebrew persuasion, the only other passenger besides 
 ourselves and a decayed subaltern, observed during 
 our drive that there was nothing in the rest of the 
 world to equal this. However, he had probably 
 never been out of Piatigorsk before. The room in 
 which the springs bubble up with great vigour at 
 one end, is a long covered walk, wall at one side, 
 colonnade on the other. A few well-dressed ladies 
 and some officers were walking about here. These 
 stared considerably at us being, probably, the only 
 Englishmen who had ever drank the waters here. 
 The ferruginous springs bubble up in a large well 
 some twenty feet round. Procuring a glass tied to 
 
 a string, we let it down, and found them to taste 
 
 I 
 
114 THE GARDENS. 
 
 again like strong Seltzer, but of less decayed egg than 
 at Piatigorsk. They are said to be very efficacious 
 to debilitated constitutions. There is yet a third 
 watering-place near, yclept Isslavodsk. To one 
 of these three all Russian officers quartered in the 
 Caucasus during the summer and off duty take 
 their wives, if they have any, and themselves if 
 not. Leaving the room, we got into a very 
 nicely laid-out garden. Following the course of a 
 clear mountain rill up a valley for about a mile, 
 the shade delightful, we mounted an eminence 
 whence the whole could be surveyed ; and we 
 found the native town situated on another slope of 
 the hills, well separated from the swell part. Re- 
 turning and sitting down, to await the return journey 
 of our omnibus, we observed a Russian officer sit 
 down on a bench opposite, then gradually draw- 
 ing closer to us taking all the seats on his way, and 
 at length locating himself on our bench. He was 
 evidently intent on addressing us, so we looked un- 
 conscious, until he presently uttered the cabalistic 
 words, " How are you ? " Thinking that he had, 
 perhaps, taken us for interesting patients undergo- 
 
inquisitorial! 115 
 
 ing a course of Kislovodsk water, and had kindly- 
 enquired after our healths, we answered, " Pretty 
 well, thank you. How are you?" However, 
 this did not seem to be the satisfactory answer, as 
 presently came the other question "Whom are 
 you ?" Now this was a thorough " argumentum 
 ad hominem," so we ventured the evasive response 
 that we came from Vladicavkas, which contented 
 our inquisitive friend for the time being. How- 
 ever, after we had got into our omnibus, in which 
 he was also going, and which was now quite full, 
 he once again inquired " What business is it ?" We 
 entirely satisfied him by saying " House breaking ! '' 
 In the morning we had passed the freshly skinned 
 carcase of a horse ; at 5 p.m. we again passed its 
 skeleton on the same spot, magpies and dogs having 
 done the rest. 
 
 20th. At length, after the sky had been over- 
 clouded for five consecutive days, the sun shone 
 out brilliantly at dawn, and we saw magnificent 
 Elbrouz rising into a sharp snowclad cone from 
 our point of view, far above the other, also snow- 
 topped mountains. It is more than fifty miles off. 
 
 I 2 
 
I 1 6 AGREEABLE DRIVES. 
 
 The clouds assembled again before we started on 
 our return journey, our only adventures being, 
 bolted with on two stages, and having drunken 
 isvodskys (Russian, we believe, for drivers) twice, 
 of course for the longest stages. We discovered this 
 day to be a church festival, which caused this exu- 
 berance of spirits on the part of our drivers but 
 not on ours. A third driver, more sober than the 
 rest, insisted on standing up, waving his cap, and 
 shouting at his horses to make them gallop. We 
 passed a station called Soldatsky because it was 
 the only one on the whole road where we did not 
 see a single soldier near, and stopped the night at 
 the station, Preschiskaya, where the pheasants were 
 to be got. The only room was a large one, with 
 a division, effected by a thin hanging ; so we gave 
 up one part to Grazzini, and took the other our- 
 selves. The window was imperfect, indeed, only 
 consisting of one shutter, the other having decayed 
 long since. To remedy this, the oldest piece of felt we 
 ever saw was brought in on a pole, (nobody daring 
 to touch it,) and leant against the open window. 
 After we had just fallen to sleep, a cat thought she 
 
ROADS again! 117 
 
 would like to examine the strangers, or perhaps 
 what they had had for dinner. Moving just then, 
 we caused such a panic in the feline breast that 
 she hurriedly bolted through the window, carrying 
 this piece of felt along with her and smashing the 
 other shutter ; so the window was open for the 
 rest of the night, to let in a vast amount of rain 
 which fell most furiously. In the morning no 
 better, so we put on our waterproofs, and in a 
 short time our telega and ourselves resembled a 
 huge mass of mud. We rather regretted that we 
 could not make a sensation by driving thus round 
 Hyde Park Corner. We passed a lot of soldiers 
 smoking round a large fire kindled in the centre of 
 some waggons containing cartridges ! We are in 
 a position to aver that the road between one of the 
 principal towns and the principal watering-place of 
 the Caucasus is, like most roads in Russia, a dis- 
 grace to a semi-barbarous nation. We except the 
 the three miles after the Melka, which are a credit 
 to the same. This was constructed by soldiers. 
 
( ii8 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 On the 27th we got off at 10*30 after some 
 trouble, and drove up the mountain gorge leading 
 towards Tiflis, which gets gradually narrower and 
 narrower. A dense bank of clouds hanging over the 
 mountains. The post-houses are excellently built 
 now. After the first station we passed a fortress 
 commanding a bifurcation of our defile. We kept 
 the north bend. The Astrachan caps are worn 
 very low now — indeed, sometimes the head-gear 
 only consists of a circular piece of skin with long 
 hair hanging down all round the head, imparting 
 the appearance of having very unkempt locks to 
 the wearer; felt pork-pie hats also obtain. The 
 natives all look very cold and frost-bitten. Some 
 of the physiognomies are not so sharp-looking as 
 in Daghestan. At the second station four horses 
 were attached to our telega, which we now have 
 to change at every one — a great nuisance, as the 
 
GEORGIA. I 1 9 
 
 loading and tying the baggage always takes some 
 time. Shortly after, we passed a fort built in 
 mediaeval style, with Saracenic buttresses, but 
 quite modern. Here was a toll-gate, where we 
 delivered our ticket taken at Vladi, and we now 
 entered the province of Georgia.* The clouds 
 now lifted occasionally, giving us glimpses of 
 glorious snow mountains above us. However, 
 much of the snow had evidently only just fallen. 
 We now entered the defile of Dariel ; the road 
 good, and soldiers mending any ruined portions. 
 We were following the Terek stream, here only a 
 mountain torrent ; one or two very small patches 
 the only visible cultivation. 
 
 At 5 P.M. we reached Cazbek. Here we were 
 surprised to find the best hotel since leaving Mos- 
 cow. The Government has built this and some 
 other stations for the accommodation of travellers, 
 and the prices, extremely moderate, were according 
 to tariff. The eating was good, and we enjoyed 
 the luxuries of iron bedsteads and spring mattresses. 
 
 * Iberia of Romans, Gog of the Hebrews, and the Colchidis 
 of Democritus and Eratosthenes. 
 
1 20 CAZBEK. 
 
 The cold IS sensibly felt, but not so much as to call 
 for a fire, though there are iron stoves' in each room. 
 A very neat little red sandstone Armenian church 
 graces this small village. In front is a Gothic mo- 
 numental cross, two horse-shoe arches, supported on 
 three pillars on each sid€ ; behind, a belfry in the 
 same style. On the summit of a mountain just 
 under the lee of Cazbek, which rises, covered with 
 eternal snow, in front of our post-hotel, stands 
 a small, probably Armenian, church with another 
 belfry. The height of Casbek is given at about 
 17,380 feet, but there seems to be considerable 
 doubt as to the relative heights of mountains in 
 this part of the world. 
 
 Next morning the clouds had disappeared, en- 
 abling us to see the snow-clad summits on all sides 
 of us — we could not, however, discover any glaciers. 
 The incline up which we were driving is so gentle, 
 up to the very last five miles after the first station, 
 that one hardly realises the immense height of the 
 pass, 7000 German feet. Small patches of snow lay 
 about but not on our road. When the culminating 
 point of the Pylae Caucasia is reached, then, 
 
ENGLISH PRODUCTS. 121 
 
 indeed, the descent on the other side into Asia is 
 rapid. The Kill on the left of the pass is called by 
 some German geographers the Kreuzberg, as here 
 was erected a small cross, marking the confines of 
 Europe and Asia. The road down the steep in- 
 cline is excellently well engineered. Some way down, 
 the hills appear generally composed of bad slate. 
 The telegraph, which is adapted even into some 
 of the post-houses, lined the whole road we have 
 come. The snowy peaks now disappeared gradually, 
 none being visible near us after the first station 
 down the South water shed. At one of the stations 
 there were some wretched little shops, in which, 
 curiously enough, the chief commodity on sale was 
 " Frend's double stout," and German matches, made 
 at Vienna for the English market, with the re- 
 markable lines, " If you want a light, I'll shine so 
 bright," printed on the etiquette. In the humblest 
 post-houses we generally found English crockery- 
 ware, the willow pattern largely predominating. 
 
 The scenery now lost in wild grandeur but gained 
 in peaceful charm, cultivation assumed the upper 
 hand, and elsewhere brushwood coppices began to 
 
122 ARMENIAN RUINS. 
 
 encroach on forest trees. Turning off to the right 
 we followed the vale of some river, all down hill 
 to Ananoor, where we stop the night ; the post- 
 house not so good or so large as that at Cazbek, 
 but still a glimpse of Paradise to the stations on other 
 routes. A gay-coloured (probably Armenian) church 
 was in course of building at the station before this ; 
 the cross on the top golden, the cupola dark blue, 
 the pedestal of this a cream colour, the under part 
 light blue, and the octagonal roof with conical points 
 also cream colour. The beasts of draught 
 appear generally to be two Bulgarian bullocks 
 (buffalo) in the shafts and two oxen in front. The 
 horses we got were not by any means invariably 
 excellent. Above our halting-place rises a picturesque 
 old Armenian convent or monastery. The weather- 
 beaten walls, as much intended to keep out the 
 attacker as to keep in the monks or nuns, run 
 slantingly down the side of the hill on which the 
 convent is built, and the church rises at the highest 
 point of the enclosure. A few ruined castles, 
 scattered along the road at points easily defensible, 
 give a look of romance to the scene which even 
 enhances its natural beauty. 
 
GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE. 1 23 
 
 Shortly after Ananoor, we left the torrent we had 
 skirted, and turned up a branch gorge rather 
 westerly, then mounting a few miles until we came 
 to a point whence we could see an endless suc- 
 cession of undulating valleys, their soil fertility 
 itself; near the next station we passed, at some 
 distance, a most flourishing village, all the land 
 around being arable. Still descending gradually we 
 crossed the broad stream of the Kur, the ancient 
 Cyrus, at the last station before Tiflis, on a well- 
 built stone bridge. Here there were two churches 
 with the greatest pretension to simple architectural 
 beauty that we have seen in Russia. They were of 
 stone, half stuccoed over, as seems to be the in- 
 variable plan for spoiling fine buildings in this 
 empire. The windows were of Norman character, 
 and the double roof Gothic. This may sound in- 
 congruous to the contributors of the Building News^ 
 but the effect was charming in the extreme. Here 
 also we observed, some miles away from us a de- 
 serted Armenian monastery, built on the summit 
 of a tall broad hill. In one of the Gothic churches 
 the tombs of almost all the Georgian kings are 
 preserved. We had not time to see them, and indeed 
 
1 24 TIFLIS. 
 
 did not know of this till we reached Tiflis. For 
 the last two stations the road was not artificially 
 made, but left to chance and traffic. As we ap- 
 proached the capital of Georgia the increasing 
 number of vehicles and travellers on foot clearly 
 demonstrated our approach to a large town. At 
 last, when some ten miles off, we reached a turn 
 whence we surveyed Tiflis. We, however, reserve 
 our impressions till we have entered it. Before the 
 last stage we passed some Bactrian camels quietly 
 browsing among the brushwood by the road side, 
 their immense loads of cotton piled into a heap 
 awaiting replacement. We now were on an in- 
 clined plain between mountains, at the apparent 
 end of which lay our present destination. A large 
 encampment of soldiers was situated on the op- 
 posite side of the Kur. The various styles of 
 architecture in vogue at Tiflis rather puzzled us at 
 first. We on entering came upon the common 
 wooden thatch house, gradually merging into Swiss 
 chalets sort of affairs. Then one-storied stuccoed 
 buildings, then two-storied, and last a Boulevard, 
 where we felt considerably ashamed of ourselves in 
 
ITALIAN OPERA. I 25 
 
 our disreputable vehicle and dirty waterproofs (for it 
 had rained slightly) exposed to the gaze of the 
 "Row" of Tiflis. We "descended" (authority for 
 the term, Morning Post) at the Hotel de T Europe, 
 kept by an Italian and a Frenchman in partner- 
 ship, and really a miracle of cleanliness for this 
 country : the eating good, though everything was 
 preposterously dear. 
 
 At 7*30 o'clock we went to the opera — nay ! 
 start not ! — a real Italian opera in Georgia — to see 
 the company and the " Ballo in Maschera." The 
 performance reflected infinite credit on the manage- 
 ment and the actors. The baritone especially, who 
 rejoiced in the music-breathing name of Kolliwo, 
 would not have disgraced many an European stage. 
 The same can be said of the tenor and the prima 
 donna Mdlle. Dsenoni, as she chose to spell her 
 name. She was evidently a great favourite with 
 the audience, who, however, were not professed 
 critics. The scenery and appointments were both 
 well done, and the orchestra, of whom the greater 
 proportion were Germans, was excellent. The 
 little house was well illuminated with oil lamps, 
 
126 THE THEATRE. 
 
 the decorations in white and gold in Moorish 
 style ; the stage boxes lined with blue silk, and the 
 upper boxes decorated a PAlhambra. The Geor- 
 gian ladies in the boxes were hardly to be called 
 even good looking ; indeed it requires great beauty 
 to carry off the effect of the head-dress worn by 
 them — a sort of flat pork-pie hat looking object of 
 coloured silk, yellow the fashionable colour, studded 
 with silver stars, which presents a tinselly appear- 
 ance. Sometimes it is prettily embroidered instead ; 
 a white lace veil is attached all around this, excepting 
 on the forehead, and falls over the shoulders. The 
 ladies then present all seemed to have black hair in 
 ringlets of the " Follow me, lads." description, and 
 plaited behind. The Imperial box was empty, as 
 the Grand Duke Michael, the Governor of the 
 Caucasus, was not then in Tiflis. The stalls, and 
 indeed most of the house, were crowded with Rus- 
 sian and Georgian officers, every one with at least 
 three decorations on his breast, including the 
 inevitable one of two crossed swords, given in com- 
 memoration of the final submission of the Caucasus 
 to any officer or soldier who happened to be near 
 
IN difficulties! 127 
 
 this Russian dependency at the time. Many of 
 the native officers wore gold-tipped cartridge cases. 
 Evening dress was adopted by those individuals who 
 happened to have the misfortune — in Russia — of 
 being civilians. Between the third and fourth acts 
 an Italian dancer executed a solo very creditably, 
 being encored by an enthusiastic public, which, 
 during the other pauses had always left the theatre 
 in a body to smoke cigarettes. In the upper boxes 
 we observed two Englishwomen with their hus- 
 bands, engineers engaged on the line of railway 
 now in course of construction from Poti on the 
 Black Sea to this place, and then on to the Caspian. 
 There is a performance three times a week during 
 the season. 
 
 This morning we had a long hunt after some 
 one who would replenish our almost exhausted 
 purse on the faith of an English letter of credit. 
 The representative of the (Asiatically) wide-spread 
 house of Ralli scornfully refused to have anything 
 to do with it. At length a nice old German chymist 
 said he would think about it. The town is built on 
 both sides of the river, and slopes down to it accord- 
 
128 THE BAZAAR. 
 
 ing to the incline of the mountains on which it is 
 built. We wandered down the intricate streets to 
 the bazaar, where we found the lanes crowded 
 with shops on both sides, and crammed with 
 people of all nations — Italians and Germans are 
 most numerous; indeed the latter have a regular 
 colony on the left bank of the river. 
 
 The Persians and Armenians have their regular 
 quarter apiece. The noise was deafening, the shops 
 one mass of litter and confusion. To have anything 
 made you have to enter four or five shops to buy 
 its constituent parts. Nothing ready made except- 
 ing in the civilised " emporiums " out of the 
 bazaar. Lace work, silk, tobacco, jewellery, wine, 
 wine skin, linen, boot blacking, fruit, and omnium 
 shops, each had their separate quarter in each sepa- 
 rate national bazaar, excepting, perhaps, those for 
 tobacco, which seemed impartially distributed, 
 averaging every third shop ; one street is covered 
 over at a considerable height from the ground, 
 resembling somewhat Lowther Arcade reduced to 
 the dirtiest possible level ; another street leads to the 
 Tartar bazaar, with little intricate passages lined 
 
TIFLIS BOULEVARD. I 29 
 
 with shops, principally linen ; before each of these 
 wooden benches were placed, where the customers 
 sat down in front of the shopman to make their 
 little bargains, which always seemed to require 
 some time before a mutual agreement was effected. 
 The scene reminded one more of the Arabian 
 Nights, plus the dirt and minus the romance, than 
 of anything else. The bustle, the hurry, the 
 jostling of Europeans and gorgeous or filthy 
 Asiatics, presented a scene of confusion strangely 
 at variance with preconceived notions of Oriental 
 laziness, and utterly bewildering to the unaccus- 
 tomed spectator. However, as we never have 
 any preconceived notions, we were not so disturbed 
 as we might have been. Getting up to the Boule- 
 vard, we found this lined with more civilized 
 shops ; out of it on the right hand side the public 
 gardens slope down steeply to the river ; they are 
 not of any great extent, hardly one acre, but 
 prettily laid out. At their foot, a bridge crosses the 
 Kur, which here divides into two branches, leaving 
 a small, stony, uninhabited — because probably 
 
 inundated in spring — island between. This bridge 
 
 K 
 
130 .A WALK. 
 
 is almost a quarter of a mile in length, with shops 
 on each side of it where it passes over this island; 
 these are, however, bad and shabbily Oriental. The 
 main stream, here already as large as most English 
 rivers, flows rapidly underneath. On the left hand, 
 leaving the bridge, five or six houses, some fifty 
 feet above the level of the river, are built in the 
 style, and from their position, evidently in imitation 
 of some of the palaces on the Canal Grande at 
 Venice, The very narrow roadway between them 
 and the river is the only drawback to the illusion. 
 The native women walk about with a long white 
 linen sort of sheet over them. All letters from 
 England, and even from Italy, pass through Mos- 
 cow on their way hither, thus going some 4000 
 miles out of the road to their destination. 
 
 27th. Walking out in a south-westerly direction, 
 we found that the houses are built up a steep rocky 
 hill, so close to each other as hardly to leave room 
 to pass through the lanes. They are here all low 
 flat-roofed mudbrick houses of one story ; Eastern 
 dirt apparent everywhere. Above these, on the 
 summit of the mountain, rises an old and ruined 
 
THE OLD FORT. I3I 
 
 fortalice, whose outer walls are, we should say, 
 certainly not less than three hundred yards in 
 circumference. We entered through the original 
 passage under one of the towers of the southern 
 extremity, and found that though built with 
 almost Roman solidity, the interior buildings had 
 fallen to the ground, owing in a great measure 
 to the bad quality of the cement, which crumbles 
 at a touch. The ground plan of the fortress can, 
 however, be traced with very tolerable distinctness, 
 some underground cellular apartments evidently 
 having formed dungeons in days long past. The 
 only arch remaining, part of the roof of one of the 
 chambers, was in the old style with an angular 
 apex instead of the improved semicircular one. The 
 north wall is built over a sheer precipice, which 
 must have been very convenient for the Georgian 
 kings to throw their superfluous wives down, when 
 they got tired of them ! Underneath are the new bo- 
 tanical gardens, which seem pretty; and on the other 
 side of the ravine rises the high flat mountain 
 which bounds the plain of Tiflis on the west. 
 
 From the ruins the view over the town beneath is 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE KUR. 
 
 very interesting. Flat and angular roofs are used 
 very impartially all about the tow^n, excepting in 
 the extreme west — the European quarter — v^here 
 slant roofs obtain. Armenian churches, v^ith 
 extinguisher steeples painted black or green, ac- 
 cording to the taste of the architect or founder, 
 abound ; we could only discover one mosque, v^ith 
 its minaret crowned by an egg-shaped apex of 
 glazed green and yellow tiles ; there are, however, 
 some more in the town. The river winds like 
 a serpent through Tiflis. Almost all the better 
 houses have the open verandah before them on 
 each story. 
 
 The banks of the Kur are rocky, and at the 
 south portion rise abruptly from the stream. Some 
 fortified barracks, with a church in the centre, 
 stand at the south bend. A little higher up there 
 is a low muddy island, given up principally to 
 cattle and temporary wooden huts ; here the river 
 is spanned by a wooden bridge. Lower down the 
 left bank is flat, then it rises again covered with 
 houses, mostly flat roofed ; at the extreme north 
 are the public gardens, still surrounded by houses. 
 
A PRETTY TOMB. 1 33 
 
 Then walking along the pathway under the walls 
 of our fort, we find the houses on the slope almost 
 perpendicularly below us. The portion of hill on 
 which they are built now merges at an obtuse 
 angle Into the higher flat one, and our path leads 
 downwards into the town, here built between the 
 two projecting flanks of the west mountain. The 
 first building reached on getting to the town 
 is a small church with four or five pretty tombs 
 near, in a small churchyard. We were particularly 
 struck by one in white marble, erected, as the 
 inscription in Russian tells, by a sorrowing hus- 
 band to his dear wife ; underneath in French, 
 " Tout mon bonheur. Toute ma jole. Tout mon 
 orgueiL" The design, a square raised pediment, 
 angels' heads at each corner, and above a cross 
 covered by a winding-sheet, surmounted by a 
 carved wreath of roses and convolvuli. This was 
 an extremely windy day, but still warm. The 
 principal portion of the town, and almost all the 
 grand houses and government buildings — the 
 palace of the Governor-General is on the Boule- 
 vard — are built on the right bank of the Kur. 
 
134 " BAKERS. 
 
 Cigarettes are smoked as extensively as in other parts 
 of Russia here. The bakers' shops are level with 
 the pavement, and have a counter in front, behind 
 which stands the officiating German^ and again 
 behind him the furnace is let into the wall, vSO that 
 he has only to turn round to fetch the loaf out of 
 it, and present it to the purchaser. The loaves 
 are baked in a round shape, very brittle and brown, 
 their appearance generally unsavoury. We found 
 throughout the whole of Russia that fancy bread 
 bakers almost always belonged to the " Vaterland." 
 Many of the shops are situate in cellars as in 
 Hambro' and other towns. 
 
 The Armenians wear a long flowing garment, 
 generally black or dark violet, tight at the waist, 
 with an opening in front, under which is a sort of 
 waistcoat, with a coloured border, buttoned or 
 hook-and-eyed up. Large full-grown ox-hides are 
 used as the wineskins, and water is conveyed about 
 the town on horses' backs in skins, apparently those 
 of the thigh of the buffalo, the skin of the leg still 
 attached as a pipe to empty them by. On a clear 
 day, the high range of Caucasus we had passed 
 
jewellers' bazaar. 135 
 
 ean be seen clearly ; Cazbek stands well out, above 
 the lower mountains, resembling from here, rather, a 
 doge's cap in shape. We went again to the Opera to 
 see " Ernani " for the first time. We thought that 
 almost a sublime and especially grand idea when 
 the hero in the last act exclaims, " In the mean- 
 while, and to fill up time, I'll kill myself ! " 
 and suiting the action to the word, stabs himself 
 for no other apparent reason. This part was 
 taken by a Signor Biondini, who acquitted him- 
 self very creditably of it. 
 
 The 28 th was a day devoted by us to shopping. 
 Having seen a pretty pipe, for which the shopman 
 asked three roubles, we managed, after a deal of 
 bargaining, to get it down to two and a-half ; 
 thereupon we tendered a three rouble note in 
 payment. The proprietor, with true Oriental 
 laziness, preferred giving us one rouble back to 
 sending out for change. In the jewellers' row the 
 working is continually going on at the shops, 
 which have no front, but a glass case with the 
 small stock-in-trade exposed in the centre. Hardly 
 anything is kept on hand, but all is made to order. 
 
136 romance! 
 
 However, by careful inspection some fantastically- 
 shaped plate may be picked up. The little cabinets 
 in which instruments and odds and ends are kept 
 are sometimes artistically inlaid in ivory, &c. The 
 tobacco of Imeritia is very cheap, and smokeable 
 when made into cigars. We discovered a tolerable 
 restaurant, kept by a Frenchman, on the Boulevard. 
 A countryman of his has established a brewery 
 some miles from the town, where beer not unlike 
 German Weissbier is made at fourpence a stone jug. 
 At Tianelee, a village some thirty miles north of 
 Tiflis, we are told the inhabitants, as yet uncon- 
 taminated by the rude hand of civilization, ply 
 their ordinary every-day life avocations dressed in 
 complete suits of armour, such as the Crusaders 
 wore, the round low helmet ending in a point, and 
 chain armour. Very romantic ! An enthusiastic 
 German traveller we met at our hotel wanted us 
 to verify this, but we thought it would encroach too 
 much upon our valuable (?) time. We have 
 engaged a new servant, Joseph SefFer by name, 
 vice Grazzini, as he would be of no use to us in 
 Persia. We parted with regret from an honest. 
 
THE PUBLIC GARDENS. I 37 
 
 faithful, and ready, though perhaps somewhat 
 grasping, servant. 
 
 30th. Walked out to the public gardens some 
 two miles off to the north. On the way to them is a 
 private garden called " Mon Plaisir," where a 
 military band plays almost every night during 
 warm weather. The walks in the gardens are 
 laid out nicely, but they sadly needed gravel when 
 we were there, and the carriage road was full of 
 ruts. An enterprising Frenchman has established 
 a restaurant in the gardens, with a music pavilion 
 and a dancing platform, attached to another refresh- 
 ment platform he has built regularly out over the 
 bed of the Kur, on a level with the gardens, which 
 are here some fifty feet above the stream. Excepting 
 when the river is much swollen, the water does 
 not reach this bank, but leaves a wide shingly 
 margin between. Good-sized rafts are built above 
 this, and floated down for firewood to Tiflis. 
 The trees seemed young and lately planted, 
 with the exception of some most venerable willows 
 by the principal road. Some of the walks are 
 charmingly arranged, with vines over them on 
 
138 RIOTS. 
 
 trellises across. Hardly a grape is to be seen. 
 This, however, cannot be wondered at, considering 
 the publicity, and that the large soldiers' encamp- 
 ment we had seen coming from Ananoor is at the 
 further extremity of these gardens. This was 
 formed to accommodate the soldiers from other 
 cantonments who were sent here to assist in quelling 
 the riots that took place in^ this town last July, 
 originating on a question of taxation. The Arme- 
 nians were the chief instigators of this disturbance, 
 which assumed rather formidable proportions ; 
 indeed, they regularly gutted the house of the 
 mayor;' (who was particularly obnoxious to them,) 
 which stands in the centre of their portion of 
 the town. The ruins were still unrepaired in 
 September. The streets here are principally lighted 
 by the moon — when it shines ! The season is 
 far enough advanced for every third day to be 
 rainy. This, the ist of October, is one of the third 
 days ! We clomb (?) up a portion of the pathless 
 mountain to the west of the town. The streets 
 leading up to it are simply the beds of torrents 
 flowing between two rows of houses. On the hill 
 
LEAVING TIFLIS. 1 39 
 
 hardly any vegetation, but a friable sandstone soil. 
 A good view of the town from here, but much re- 
 sembling that from the ruins. We saw two 
 soldiers, heavily manacled round the ankles and 
 wrists, escorted through the town by others with 
 loaded muskets. They were probably deserters. 
 
 The fish caught lower down the river are excel- 
 lent and of large size. Not having been able to 
 procure horses easily, it was 5 p.m. before we 
 started from Tiflis on the 2nd, and jolted right 
 through the bazaar, on our way out of the town, 
 which extends for a considerable distance in the 
 direction we were taking ; we were following the 
 downward course of the river Kur on its right 
 bank. Huge lightly made waterwheels supplied 
 the irrigation of the plantations along the river in 
 the most rude manner, the water adhering to 
 the large paddles being brushed into a trough 
 by loose brushwood, and then conducted down to 
 the grounds through a wooden channel. We 
 reached Suganloo at a quarter to seven, having 
 driven some time by a brilliant moonlight, and 
 passed several droves of sheep and camels. 
 
140 A narrative! 
 
 Getting ofF tolerably early next morning, we 
 drove along a bleak undulating plain, bordered by 
 mountains on both sides, high at first on our left 
 and low on the other hand, then high on both 
 sides. During our second stage, the driver beguiled 
 his time by telling Joseph stories, which he im- 
 mediately translated for our benefit. One of them 
 was of such a highly probable nature, that we think 
 it worth recording; be it observed, that to all 
 appearance the story-teller implicitly believed 
 what he was stating, and expected us to do the 
 same : — 
 
 " One night as our driver was passing some 
 lonely Tartar tombs after dark in his Telega, he 
 espied something white moving about amongst 
 them ; with considerable strength of mind, he got 
 off and walked towards the object, which he pre- 
 sently discovered to be a very pretty little white 
 dog. This immediately began jumping upon and 
 caressing him, playing about in a dog-like fashion. 
 Pleased with his find, he took it home in his cart 
 to the posthouse, where it was much admired, fed, 
 and petted, and at last put into a room for the 
 
NATIVE HUTS. I4I 
 
 night. Strange to relate (indeed exceedingly so !) 
 on opening the door in the morning, the little 
 white dog had disappeared, and a dead body lay in 
 its place." 
 
 The same gentleman had once again wandered 
 about these tombs at night (one would have 
 thought he had had enough of them), and heard a 
 voice crying out of one of them : " Help me ! 
 Protect ! Save me ! " Whether he rendered the 
 required assistance, deponent sayeth not. 
 
 At the third station there was a large Tartar 
 cemetery, perhaps the home of the white dog. 
 Joseph looked about carefully for one. Upright 
 stone slabs, rounded off at the top, some of large 
 size. The habitations of the natives are hardly 
 distinguishable from the surface of the plain, as 
 they are excavated in it, and then the ground is 
 heaped up on the roof, so as to present exactly the 
 appearance of a low oblong tumulus. When some 
 distance off, on the slope of a hill, they look like 
 fit homes for Troglodytes, nothing but the open 
 doors being apparent. We met several curious 
 waggons covered with tenting, on two wheels. 
 
142 SALAHLEE, 
 
 each wheel at least seven feet high, and much 
 larger in proportion than the body of the cart itself 
 Reaching Salahlee in a storm of rain, we de- 
 termined at 4 P.M. to halt here, more especially as 
 we were told that there was no accommodation at 
 the next station — though for that matter the 
 accommodation here was what Irishmen call "no 
 great shakes," as at first we could get no food, and 
 candles were not to be found. An old candlestick 
 and the samovar — the " hot water urn " (we carry 
 our own tea and sugar) were procured with some 
 difficulty, and bread and new laid eggs from the 
 usual little shop near. Unfortunately perhaps, 
 for our palates the black bread was musty. The 
 stone floor of our room afibrded, by its uneven- 
 ness, a model on a small scale of the Swiss Alps ! 
 Near this place we saw a land tortoise of some 
 size, its shell a foot in diameter lengthwise. 
 
 In the morning we drove along a road as broad 
 as you like over the plain, the telegraph to Persia 
 alongside. On a mountain to our right a ruined 
 house, we were told, was once a robber's lair. We 
 continually met long strings of camels, each laden 
 
ISTIBULLEH. 1 43 
 
 with two bags of cotton as large as themselves. 
 The soil evidently only wants irrigation to turn it 
 into a land flowing with all sorts of good things, 
 for wherever a stream ran through it there the 
 vegetation was of a most luxuriant character ; hops, 
 walnut-trees, elms, vines, and apple-trees, vied 
 with each other in beauty and fertility. We 
 remarked an enormous spider, its body quite an 
 inch long, creeping along the ground. We soon 
 reached a low ridge of sandy-looking hills which 
 we crossed, and then entered upon another plain 
 for about twelve miles, when we got into the defile 
 of Dillijan. The river of the same name flowing 
 through it caused fertility around, and the moun- 
 tains became well wooded. At 4 p.m. we reached 
 Istibulleh. Here the postmaster refused to allow 
 us to proceed (which by not giving us horses he 
 could, effectually), alleging as his reason that there 
 were some brigands on the mountains we had to 
 cross. The band, he said, were fifteen strong, and 
 had plundered some caravans lately, so that no 
 travellers were allowed to proceed without an es- 
 cort, which was not to be got that night. Having 
 
144 BRIGANDS t 
 
 lately killed a colonel who objected to being 
 robbed, a body of three hundred soldiers had been 
 sent against them, so that the danger could not be 
 very overwhelming. It will be observed that kill- 
 ing a colonel has the same effect on the Russian 
 army as including a bishop in a railway accident 
 is hypothetically estimated to produce on a railway 
 company in England — causing the powers that be 
 to show some energy. 
 
 The postmaster informed us that a "billet" was 
 required in order to procure an escort, but that if 
 we would stop one night he would give us one in 
 the morning without this formality. We accord- 
 ingly stayed with as good a grace as possible. We 
 observed oxen used as beasts of burden on the road 
 to-day, the load conveyed in immense saddle-bags. 
 Up to this place in the pass, the carriage-way is 
 quite unartificial, and the boulders cause awful 
 jolting. The fat-tailed sheep look most ludicrous 
 when their caudal appendages waddle about in their 
 walk. The women wear the white sheet over their 
 mouths and foreheads, only exposing the eyes. The 
 process of covering up the nose, we thought, must 
 
A PROVERB. 145 
 
 have its great inconvenience w^hen a severe cold is 
 caught ! They all ride astraddle, side-saddles not 
 being know^n here. We are now in Armenia, and 
 the first natives v^e saw had a decidedly cunning 
 look about them, though not to such an extent as 
 to justify the proverbial expression about them 
 which is current in Turkey. This is, that it takes 
 five Christians to get over a Turk, and five Turks 
 to cheat a Greek, five of these latter are required 
 to swindle a Jew, but it requires five Jews to " do " 
 one Armenian ! However, as our dealings with 
 them have been limited, we are not entitled to 
 speak from experience. W. is studying Shake- 
 speare hard, and has lately come on a passage in 
 " Richard II." he wishes embalmed herein : 
 
 *' Oh ! who can hold a fire in his hand, 
 By thinking on the frosty Caucasus ! " 
 
 At 7.30 A.M. next morning we looked around 
 for our escort, one miserable horseman with the 
 usual rusty matchlock. He would certainly have 
 bolted had he seen "the fifteen" descending from the 
 mountains, as indeed should we under similar 
 circumstances. However, there was not the slightest 
 
 L 
 
1 46 DILLIJAN. 
 
 appearance of danger on our road, indeed we met 
 several solitary pedestrians and horsemen, so, after 
 the first stage we declined the services of another 
 escort. We passed many caravans of camels kneel- 
 ing in a circle round their loads of cotton by the 
 roadside. The scenery is fine and wild, well 
 wooded hills on each side, some of it where the 
 mountains approach so close together as only to 
 leave space for the road, and the Dillijan much 
 resembles portions of Norwegian scenery just north 
 of Christiana, but the general scenery is very dif- 
 ferent, lacking the magnificent firs, the " Nor- 
 wegian pines " of Milton, and the waterfalls. At 
 our second station, Dillijan, we were informed 
 that we could not have horses, as all were out 
 and the rest had to be kept in readiness for 
 the post, which was expected to arrive im- 
 mediately. Nothing for it but to wait till it 
 turned up. The common black soldier's bread 
 is along our route as dear as meat is cheap in 
 Tiflis. A nasty drizzling day. After two hours' 
 waiting, the post arrived in the bodily presence 
 of one horseman, so we got off, taking the bag 
 
THE OLD PLAUSTRA, 
 
 47 
 
 along with us. The road was up-hill almost all 
 the way, and more fitted for a " gemsbok " than 
 for a heavily laden cart like ours. 
 
 The influence of early autumn was just begin- 
 ning to show itself on the foliage of the trees 
 clothing the mountain sides, and imparted the most 
 varied tints to the leaves. At times the groups of 
 timber were so symmetrically arranged by nature 
 that we could fancy ourselves in the well kept 
 grounds of an English park. The west wind 
 blew very cold, and as we neared the top of the 
 pass, a dense mist surrounded us, luckily clearing 
 away at the very summit, allowing us to see snow 
 on some of the surrounding peaks. Here the road 
 was comparatively level for about ten miles. The 
 aspect of nature had completely changed from that 
 at the northern side of the pass. On our way up 
 we passed several carts on two wheels, these being 
 made simply out of two slices of good-sized tree, 
 the body flat, in fact as near as possible the plaus- 
 trum of the ancients in which Thespis is said to 
 have transported his theatrical paraphernalia.* 
 
 * " Dicitur et plaustris vexisse poemata Thespis." — Hor. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 LAKE SIEVAN. 
 
 The landscape being totally devoid of trees, we 
 here saw the lake Gooitcha, of considerable extent, 
 not unlike a Swiss one ; we descended slightly to 
 get to its edge, and came to a halt at 6. 1 5 p.m., on 
 the western bank at Shibookli, a very small 
 station. Here eggs were the only eatables to be got. 
 It froze hard during the night, and was bitterly 
 cold even in-doors. We managed to get off at 
 8.15, and drove for about ten miles along the west 
 bank of the lake, generally about two hundred 
 feet above its level. The panorama of the hills on 
 the further side was very fine. There is a small 
 island at the northern extremity of the lake on 
 which stand two old Armenian churches called 
 Sievan Killeasea — the latter word meaning church 
 (ecclesia) in that language (Armenian). The lake 
 cannot be much less than forty miles long, and at 
 least half as broad for the greater part of it. Many 
 fish are caught in it, especially excellent trout, of 
 these we saw some dried specimens at Jellanook, the 
 next station still on the shore. Some small boats 
 were returning from fishing with enormous nets ; 
 there are also plenty of wild duck. The land side 
 
DARAHLEGLASS. 1 49 
 
 is cultivated in cornfields, the soil when ploughed 
 up looking as black as coal. Jellanook is a very 
 squalid village, but the houses are above ground, 
 owing, no doubt, to the proximity of the lake on 
 whose level they are. We passed the Zengi river 
 just where it leaves the lake to flow hereafter 
 through the streets of Erivan. Then leaving the 
 lake on our left hand we turned into a stony un- 
 dulating road, round and over small mountains, 
 until we suddenly saw the snow-capped peak of 
 Ararat in front of us. On the left some recent 
 snow covered the higher mountains, and on the 
 other hand rose a four peaked mountain eternally 
 snow capped, called Darahleglass. We now gra- 
 dually descended until we were in full view of 
 Ararat, which standing like a solitary giant looks 
 down with proud contempt on the lesser pigmy 
 mountains around it. W.'s waterproof unluckily 
 fell out of the carriage somewhere here, so he and 
 Joseph went back to look for it, but were not suc- 
 cessful, and we managed to get to the nearest 
 station, some eight miles off, before W. caught us 
 up in the carriage. Here, having sent Joseph back 
 
Ij-O ARARAT. 
 
 to look for the coats, we stay for the night, ar- 
 riving at 5 P.M. The dimate here is again 
 tolerably warm, unlike up in the pass. 
 
 Our servant is a Chaldean Catholic of that branch 
 which acknowledges the sovereignty of the Pope, 
 about whom he knows just as much as a non- 
 elector does about the " man in the moon." How- 
 ever, we have again been lucky in getting a good, 
 though extremely dirty servant at short notice, and 
 he speaks French very well. We strolled out upon 
 a small hill just opposite our post station, and got a 
 capital view of the country, the only drawback to 
 the perfect beauty of the scene being the total 
 absence of all vegetation — nothing green to be 
 seen excepting a little stunted brushwood on the 
 distant mountains ; even the corn was all cut, thus 
 adding to the general desolation. Mighty Ararat 
 appears a mountain of easy ascent compared 
 to many Swiss peaks, at least from this point 
 of view, as the west side ascends with a very 
 •gradual slope to the summit, looking very nice to 
 climb up — from a distance ! Perhaps actual inspec- 
 tion might tell a very different tale ; at all events, 
 
ORIGINAL ploughing! I5I 
 
 we shall not make the attempt. The snow only 
 covers the apex then, as aforesaid, a slope and then 
 a flat surface of small extent, another slope, and a 
 precipitous south and west side, a few thousand feet 
 downwards. On our right, Darahleglass, looking 
 very black where not very white owing to snow, 
 and other lower mountains completed the panorama. 
 The dusty road we had come wound up to the north 
 in tremendous zigzags, — troops of camels grazing 
 unrestrained on the broad surface of the plain. 
 Only scanty herbage theirs here ; though on the 
 other side of Dillijan they would, or had, found 
 plenty of young trees, the tops of which to devour. 
 The ploughing is carried on laboriously in the 
 parched soil. Two yoke of oxen harnessed to a 
 pointed forked tree branch, the lower limb being 
 cut off sharp and sharpened so as to form the 
 ploughshare, and the other branch the handle. One 
 man leans on this contrivance with all his might, 
 whilst another sits on the bar connecting the heads 
 of the two leading oxen to guide them ! a peculiar 
 position, which it must require considerable practice 
 to keep for half a second. Joseph returned next 
 
152 ERIVAN. 
 
 day at noon without the coats, and we set off from 
 Yogunarshie, or the " long stream," so called from 
 a miserable rivulet that runs behind it and is care- 
 fully hoarded up for purposes of irrigation. In 
 about two hours, down an incline all the way, and 
 after passing a village on the road surrounded by 
 willows, walnuts, and poplars (proving thus that it 
 is only for want of planting that trees do not grow 
 in other spots near which there is water), we reached 
 Erivan. We found it lying in a valley, in which 
 the trees were so numerous that the town looked 
 like many houses buried in a forest. They (the 
 houses, not the trees) are all of mud, and have flat 
 roofs. We drove through most of the town, and 
 stopped in front of a building calling itself the 
 "Ararat Hotel," where two nasty little rooms 
 without furniture were offered us in exchange for 
 some exorbitant sum. So we drove on to the 
 post-house, where we got a tolerable room at a 
 cheaper rate, — nothing per diem ! In the bazaar 
 we found nothing very much calculated to tempt 
 the European purchaser, though the fruit is mag- 
 nificent. There is a large mosque in the midst of 
 
BREAD. 153 
 
 It, with the usual bakehouse dome and glazed tile 
 minaret. Here we for the first time heard that six 
 persons had died of cholera while we were at Tiflis. 
 However, happily that disease did not extend its 
 ravages. The bread is of a pancaky nature, 
 baked in pieces about three feet long and half 
 as broad. Not bad. Ararat is at thirty miles 
 distance, though from its immense height it is 
 utterly impossible to judge by the eye. It might 
 be any distance off, from five to fifty miles. 
 
( 154 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 On the 8 th we procured horses and carriage to 
 take us to Etchmiadzin, not without some trouble, 
 as the name of this monastery was not written down 
 in our padarojna, which only indicates the straight 
 route towards Persia, and this is eleven miles to the 
 west of Erivan. We passed the bazaar, and then 
 the fort opposite our rooms built apparently of mud, 
 but still (to the unmilitary eye) on most scientific 
 principles. It has lately been renovated, as the 
 original fort is coeval with this town, the capital of 
 old Persian Armenia. Descending to cross the 
 Zengi, the road again mounted on the opposite 
 bank ; the fort now opposite on the precipitous left 
 bank, some huge poplars on our right. The road 
 for the first four miles is rather stony, and then 
 very good on the elevated plain. 
 
 After about a two hours' intensely dusty drive, 
 we reached the first of the Ooch Killeasea or three 
 churches, another name for Etchmiadzin, which is 
 
ETCHMIADZIN. 1 55 
 
 SO called after the manner of nomenclature obtain- 
 ing in England also, because there are here four 
 churches within half a mile of each other. However 
 one of them is more modern than the others. We 
 met numerous pilgrims on the road, this being 
 Sunday and St. George's day. Each church has 
 its own grounds, surrounded by a high stone wall, 
 those of the principal one being much the largest. 
 Etchmiadzin is said to have been founded by 
 " Gregory the illuminator," in the ninth century. 
 When we visited the monastery, the seat of the 
 patriarch of orthodox Armenians, who is also called 
 the Catholicos, that post was vacant, the last 
 occupant having died a month since ; and the new 
 one, who is elected in a peculiar manner by the 
 votes of all male Armenians whether Turks, 
 Persians, or Russians, was not yet chosen. We 
 made the half circuit of the strong walls to get to 
 the west door, where we found three priests and an 
 Armenian, a native of Tiflis, who spoke French, 
 ready to receive us, though we had given no notice 
 of our arrival. The priests are dressed in a long flow- 
 ing robe of dark blue cloth with a "moire antique," 
 
156 PILGRIMS. 
 
 silk " capuchon " over the head, replaced indoors by 
 the little red Turkish fez. 
 
 We now entered a court-yard surrounded on all 
 sides by dwellings for pilgrims and visitors, and 
 quite full of every variety of the human race, pre- 
 senting a gay picture of Eastern life. In one 
 corner we saw several women seated round their 
 dinner, each of them holding up with one hand a 
 large shawl over themselves to hide their features 
 whilst eating. Most of the women have only half 
 the face covered, but some wear the whole face 
 under a thick veil, (punctured with holes to see and 
 breathe through,) a precaution which, considering 
 the extreme ugliness of all the women we have yet 
 seen (the features of those who wear the open veil 
 are easily discovered), it were only common charity 
 to extend to all. Passing thence through a passage 
 under one side of this court, we entered the large 
 square in which stands the church. The portico, of 
 old red sandstone, is evidently a later addition 
 as the other walls are well weather-beaten. 
 This is curiously carved in Armenian style, the 
 design of it being Gothic. Two frightful daubs of 
 
THE CHURCH. 1 57 
 
 saints, of most modern date, disfigure the inner 
 pillars of the principal entrance. Just outside are 
 the tombs of two patriarchs, one of whom built the 
 immense tank, which is beyond the outer gate of the 
 monastery and oblong in form, of solid stone. By 
 the side of the patriarchs lies an Englishman in 
 fraternal and tolerant juxtaposition. This is Sir 
 J. Macdonald, and his neat tomb is of white 
 marble, with an inscription setting forth in Greek, 
 Arabic, and English, that it was raised by the 
 East India Company to Sir J. Macdonald, K.C.B., 
 who died at Tabreez in 1830, when proceeding as 
 their envoy extraordinary to the court of Persia. 
 The other tombs are alabaster. The service 
 having already been performed, the church was 
 closed, but we entered by a side door, and were 
 received by a most venerable priest, with a long, 
 majestically flowing white beard. The interior is 
 very imposing, though the style in which the walls 
 and cupolas are painted, more resembling the 
 pattern on a Persian carpet than anything else, 
 is perhaps a little gaudy. The tawdry gilding of a 
 Greek church is, however, absent. In the centre of 
 
158 THE patriarch's CHAIR. 
 
 the church, on the spot where our Lord is said to 
 have appeared to St. Gregory, rises an altar, on 
 which is a picture of Madonna and Child, in 
 Greek style, wearing a sort of breast-plate of carved 
 silver. The light streaming through the windows 
 on to the high altar shed a wonderful rose-colour 
 over it. The railings are of alabaster, painted over, 
 principally with figures of the twelve Apostles, in 
 the style of the Vivarinis. The patriarch's chair 
 was covered over with a cloth not to be removed 
 till the late Catholicos' successor should be appointed. 
 It was, however, raised to allow us to see the ex- 
 quisite carvings of the back. It is of some Indian 
 wood, and the species of pavilion overhead is of 
 tortoise-shell, inlaid with mother of pearl. 
 
 We then walked round the exterior. The church 
 is built in two intersecting oblongs in Byzantine 
 style, with little Gothic towers on each of the 
 eight corners. 
 
 We now went into the third court around which 
 are the patriarchs and priests' rooms ; we ascended 
 a very narrow staircase to the library. It con- 
 tains 2040 volumes, all in manuscript, principally 
 
AN ARMENIAN THEATRE. 1 59 
 
 relating to sacred subjects in Armenian. A copy 
 of the Evangelists is kept in a wooden box, and 
 shown as a chef-d'oeuvre. Its binding in curiously 
 Byzantine carving is certainly remarkable, and the 
 writing is beautifully executed ; the monks say that 
 it is 800 years old. All the books required for the 
 use of the monastery, or the various churches, are 
 printed at a press on this spot. At the present 
 moment the work being performed consisted in 
 " setting up " theatrical playbills ! and posters. Our 
 French-speaking Armenian and two friends were 
 going to open a native theatre in Erivan ; the 
 performances to commence in a week with an 
 original drama and a translation. Ladies' parts, to 
 be performed by one of the three men. From the 
 library we went into the patriarch's rooms; they 
 were plainly furnished, portraits of Armenian kings 
 hanging on the walls. A few of the rooms were 
 painted in the Persian carpet style aforesaid, inter- 
 spersed with agreeable martyrdoms. A small 
 " Madonna della Seggiola " in Gobelins, a bad 
 Riberesque Crucifixion of small size, complete the 
 patriarch's boudoir. We now again entered the 
 
i6o pilgrim's amusements. 
 
 first court, and went up through the wooden 
 verandah that completely surrounds it, to the room 
 of one of the priests, where we sat for some hours 
 talking, drinking black coffee, and smoking cigar- 
 ettes, the worthy priests joining vigorously in all 
 these pursuits. Some dozen persons came and sat 
 with us at intervals. 
 
 The modest furniture consisted of a bed, table, 
 four broken-down chairs, a trunk, and a Persian 
 carpet. The noises in the court below were of the 
 most varied and continuous description. Now an 
 enthusiastic pilgrim would fire off a pistol, then 
 another would begin practising on a large drum, 
 and now a quarrel arose, not without some fighting. 
 Presently a musician with a sort of bagpipe would 
 set up unmusical sounds, to quell strife by melody ! 
 Then an amateur indulged in a piccolo flute. The 
 women all wore ornaments on their heads or necks, 
 sometimes only glass beads, but more generally gold 
 coins strung together. We were not accosted by a 
 single beggar whilst walking in the monastery. 
 
 An Armenian from Constantinople, who spoke 
 French, and rejoiced in the archangelic name of 
 
A KING OF ARMENIA. 10 1 
 
 Raphael, was very mysterious on the subject of his 
 visit ; and from his conversation we judged him to 
 be an emissary of the Turkish Armenians, sent to 
 enquire into the state of feeling among the Russian 
 Armenians, — whether they were ripe for revolt or 
 no. He was speculating on an insurrection in 
 Turkey at no distant date. It appears there is a 
 " King of Armenia," who habitually resides in 
 Italy, the Turks having an unconquerable but 
 natural objection to his domiciling himself amongst 
 them. His name is Leo, a lineal descendant of the 
 old kings of Cyprus, the Lusignan family. After 
 our two hours' converse, we bethought us of sending 
 for horses to take us back to Erivan, as our telega 
 driver had refused to stop for us at the post. Mean- 
 time we went to see the westernmost church. 
 It is not ornamented outside, and the interior is 
 quite plain, even the whitewash having peeled oiF, 
 Outside are some fine alabaster slabs covering 
 the tombs of patriarchs and princes. The ordinary 
 tombs are of red sandstone, and in shape exactly 
 like a gigantic common round-topped envelope 
 box on a pedestal, with the inscription on the top. 
 
 M 
 
1 62 ECCLESIOLOGY. 
 
 A few relics are preserved on the high altar, but 
 we wondered much at not seeing a piece of the 
 true Ark! We asked the priest in attendance 
 whether no piece was preserved in the monastery, 
 when my friend bursting out laughing spoilt the 
 idea completely. A low arch in the west wall 
 under the high altar leads into a passage only three 
 feet high and ten feet long, which descending with 
 a taper we were in a cellar, in a recess of which 
 lies buried Gaiamee, a female missionary, who 
 laboured amongst the first Armenian Christians. 
 We returned to the monastery to find that there 
 were no horses to be got at the post, so we de- 
 termined upon walking back, though most hospit- 
 ably pressed to stay, but we could not, as we had 
 brought nothing with us. 
 
 On our way we took the easternmost church, 
 about half a mile off. Its very weather-beaten 
 walls of Saracenic order contain nothing remark- 
 able excepting the tomb of Repsimah. We were 
 told that this lady had been a beautiful Armenian, 
 educated in Greece, where she imbibed the prin- 
 ciples of Christianity and returned to attempt the 
 
REPSIMAH. 1 6^ 
 
 conversion of an Armenian king. This gentleman 
 not being anxious for conversion, but wanting a 
 mistress, asked Repsimah to act in that capacity. 
 Upon her refusal he began to persecute her in 
 various ways ; so she wisely fled to the spot where 
 she now lies. Her death so affected our Armenian 
 king that he became a Christian. The tomb is 
 down another short dark passage, which we had to 
 creep through to get to a small and dimly lighted 
 cellar, where a woman who was howling vigorously 
 was getting herself healed (!) of whatever disease 
 she had by lying down at full length upon the 
 grave ! 
 
 After a slight shower we saw a rainbow in 
 heaven, perhaps at the same spot where the first 
 messenger of Divine clemency appeared unto 
 Noah ! Just as we were leaving to start off on 
 our pedestrian excursion to Erivan, two men from 
 the monastery came up and informed us that a 
 Troika was being got ready, so we walked back, 
 and were met by our priest and first Armenian 
 friend on horseback, the priest in full canonicals! 
 Of course when we got back no carriage was 
 
 M 2 
 
164 RETURN JOURNEY. 
 
 visible, so we entered the room we had before sat 
 in, again and waited somewhat impatiently for 
 more thau an hour. It was getting late — already 
 five — when we were told the Troika was ready ; 
 so after a glass of tea we again left the monastery, 
 and had to wait outside for twenty minutes longer, 
 when at length the horses belonging to the monks 
 arrived. We bad adieu to our courteous hosts, and 
 lying down on the hay in the telega, were soon 
 jolting back on the same road we had traversed in 
 the morning. Two armed horsemen escorted us 
 the whole distance, being changed once on the 
 road. In the evening a drunken man created a 
 disturbance in our posthouse by beating a woman 
 with a baby in her arms. However, we consoled 
 ourselves by the reflection that if she did not de- 
 serve the blows then^ she probably had, and would 
 again. At last a very small soldier, looking 
 frightened, came in and quelled the riot by seizing 
 hold of the wrong man. We left Erivan on the 
 ninth of October, and for the first station we 
 drove, perfectly south, through numbers of poplar 
 trees enclosed in mud walls, the rare intervals being 
 
THE TWO ARARATS. 1 65 
 
 filled up by castor oil and dwarf cotton plants. 
 The greater and lesser Ararats were on our right 
 hand during the whole of the day; the greater 
 slopes down to the south to half its height, and 
 then rises again into the lesser, which had a very 
 little of this year's snow on its summit. As seen 
 from the north it much resembles Vesuvius, and 
 the greater, W. tells us, might, with the assistance 
 of a little imagination, represent Etna. Thus 
 the two seem like a baby by the side of its 
 nurse ! Our road was impossibly dusty. The 
 second station was in a larger village than usual, 
 with a small open bazaar of principally English 
 cotton goods, of which the women and even the 
 men are very fond. After this the cultivation was 
 nil, and the road perfectly flat. We now met 
 several darkly bronzed Kurds driving unloaded 
 cattle along the road. Near the fourth station we 
 passed a tomb raised to one of their chiefs ; it was 
 about thirty feet round and fifteen high, painted 
 white, with a round dome, something like Dante's 
 tomb at Ravenna. We reached Sadarack at 5.45, 
 and stayed the night in the clean post-house. 
 
1 66 A simoon! 
 
 Here a woman came in to dust the table — an 
 unheard of thing. W. complained of midges at 
 sunset, but they do not interfere with us. Next 
 morning we found the first two stages unusually 
 long, twenty-two and a quarter versts a-piece, or 
 about fifteen miles. The plain partially cultivated. 
 We now skirted the low mountains on its east, 
 and saw in a drove a camel almost perfectly white. 
 It appears that it is the arrangement of the pack- 
 saddle which gives the camels we had yet seen the 
 appearance of having two humps on the back ; for 
 in those animals that we saw without one hardly a 
 single hump was visible. After the second station, 
 where we were detained for two hours, whilst a 
 runaway horse was being caught, we crossed the 
 Arpahchi, whose stony bed is at least half a mile 
 broad. At this season it divides into at least ten 
 small streams, each of which we easily forded. 
 Just as we neared the third station, a north-west 
 wind began to rise, and without much warning 
 it came on, rolling clouds upon clouds of dust 
 before it — a perfect simoom — before which nothing 
 could have stood. Fortunately we were going 
 
search! 167 
 
 with It, but as it was, the road was utterly in- 
 visible, even the horses' tails not being discernible. 
 We luckily stumbled upon the posthouse, and 
 there waited for half an hour, when a heavy 
 shower allayed the dust, and after an additional 
 thunderstorm we were able to proceed. On our 
 left hand Ilandagh, or the serpent's mountain, 
 stood out well from the surrounding hills, in shape 
 like a sugarloaf for all its height, with a cleft at 
 the top. At about 6 we came in sight of 
 Naxshivan, built on the slope of a hill — a very in- 
 significant place now. There was only one room 
 at the posthouse, and nothing but bare walls to 
 that ; so we drove on to what our Yamshick pleased 
 to call an hotel, a mud hovel with glass windows, 
 but not a soul near. Our servant Joseph had, 
 however, heard of one kept by a German, so he 
 and the coachman, who wished to patronise his 
 absent friend, had a wrangle, only put a stop to by 
 threats of personal chastisement if we were not 
 driven to look for our German. At length we 
 found the house, but " Vaterland " had left, not 
 finding it a paying concern. Some very civil 
 
1 68 "hotel billar." 
 
 Russians had succeeded to the goodwill of the 
 house, and the remains of German civilisation 
 were still hanging fondly about In the shape of 
 one sheet apiece for our beds, and a clean table- 
 cloth ! 
 
 The wine of Erivan we had found not bad, 
 and resembling Kahetle, but here It was atrocious 
 with a bitter taste. The Inhabitants are more or 
 less afflicted with ophthalmia; those fortunate 
 enough to escape this scourge of the East had 
 fever. For the Information of future travellers 
 we would say that our hotel (?) here was called 
 " Billar," from the fact of there being a billiard 
 table In the house ! In the front room some 
 European trumpery was exposed for sale. In the 
 morning we sallied out and made our usual 
 inspective tour of the bazaar, which Is extensive 
 but with nothing worth buying, as everything 
 was either brought from TIflls where we had been, 
 or Tabreez whither we were going. The streets 
 are very narrow, bounded by mud walls. 
 
 This town, a flourishing one under the Per- 
 sians, is now half utterly destroyed, most of its 
 
NAXSHIVAN. 169 
 
 poorer inhabitants having migrated into Persia. 
 We got upon the ruins of a quarter of the town, 
 and thence enjoyed a magnificent view on to the 
 mountains on either hand. We were forcibly- 
 reminded of the panorama to be seen from opposite 
 Turin, when looking on the Piedmontese Alps in 
 mid winter. On the east the greater portion of 
 the mountains, though looking low, owing to our 
 own elevation, were covered with snow, much of 
 it of recent date. This range extended on either 
 hand north and south, as far as we could see in 
 an almost unbroken mass of snow. Ilandagh rose 
 darkly against the snowy background. Ararat, 
 on the north stood clearly out against the clear 
 blue sky — a contrast to yesterday, when we could 
 hardly see it for clouds. The lesser Ararat, 
 though between us, could hardly be made out 
 against the dark side of its mother. On the west 
 the mountains were not yet all snowed up. We 
 saw below us a large Eastern-looking building, and 
 being told that it was a Tartar Khan's palace, 
 we determined to pay him a visit if he would re- 
 ceive us. A much dilapidated octagonal tower 
 
lyo A TARTAR KHAN. 
 
 Stood outside the brick wall near ; the sides of 
 this were exquisitely ornamented in bricks arranged 
 In all manner of Arabesque figures, each panel of 
 the octagon having a different design, and light 
 blue glazed tiles being let in to form the reliefs. 
 The old brick archway was flanked by two round 
 towers of some elevation, and on the arch were 
 Arabic letters, also in the blue glazed tiles, most 
 probably setting forth the usual welcome to the 
 coming guest. We entered through this into a 
 garden in the front courtyard, the bricks in the 
 walls still arranged in exquisite figures, and the 
 garden itself planted with flowers and fruit trees, 
 though in no great order, as a tasteful arrangement 
 of a garden is not a Persian accomplishment. More 
 is left to nature than to art. We now sent in to 
 ask permission to visit the interior, which the 
 prince (the Russians had made him a prince to 
 keep him true) graciously accorded. 
 
 We entered a low, whitewashed room where he 
 was giving an audience, and found him attired in 
 a gorgeous blue silk close-fitting coat with gold 
 trimmings and collar. On a Persian carpet in 
 
OUR FIRST PERSIANS. I7I 
 
 front of him three Persians were seated on their 
 crossed knees, one writing in what one would 
 consider an uncomfortable way in England — that 
 is, holding the paper on the flat of his left hand, 
 taking the ink from his portable writing-case or 
 kalamdaun, which every Persian of at all a literary 
 turn of mind always wears about him ! The 
 pens are always reeds. Sometimes the paper is 
 held on the knees. We were then conducted into 
 another room, where the floor was being covered 
 with common blue thick paper pasted on in 
 squares. This was to be glazed, and then the 
 carpet to be laid over all ! Here the chimney- 
 piece was some seven feet high, all painted in the 
 Persian style, somewhat resembling lacquer work, 
 rather tawdry. We then went out into the inner 
 court, also a garden, and through this into another 
 portion of the house which was undergoing com- 
 plete repair. 
 
 In one of the upper chambers — properly devoted 
 to the wife or wives, who were absent then — there 
 was a lovely Persian carpet with trees and birds of 
 many colours wrought into it 5 divans with 
 
172 THE ARAXES. 
 
 embroidered cushions all round. Outside was a 
 roofed wooden balcony, carved in Arabesque trellis 
 work, little pieces of coloured glass being let in, 
 forming the pattern. "We sat down, and the Khan 
 produced a pair of opera-glasses by Chevalier. In 
 front of us, about ten miles out, flowed the Araxes, 
 the opposite bank being in the dominions of the 
 Shah. This was thus our first view of Persia. 
 Some eight miles on the other bank rose the 
 range of black mountains we had seen yesterday. 
 The Russian side is cultivated ; on the Persian 
 side only the two miles next the river. In the 
 winter the vines, of which there are large planta- 
 tions near this place, have to be covered over 
 deeply with earth to preserve them from the 
 Intense cold. We observed that the Russian 
 princes' coronet on our host's property had the 
 crescent instead of the cross on its top, and the 
 initials K. X. underneath; rather an alarming 
 name he must have had ! 
 
 The common water jars here are very prettily 
 shaped, as the ancient amphoras. At a little after 
 noon we started on our last telega journey. A 
 
THE PERSIAN FRONTIER. 1 73 
 
 portion of the last piece of road was rather bad, 
 as it led us through the bed of a torrent amongst 
 very rugged red sandstone boulders. We see 
 Ararat for the last time, after being in full view of 
 it for six days. The tints of the mountains 
 around us now presented the most exquisite 
 possible colouring, from light grey blue to deep 
 red. On our arrival at Joolfa, the frontier station 
 on the Araxes, the sun was setting, and all the hills 
 in the East were covered with an intensely purple 
 haze. As we gazed, the shadow projected from 
 the Western mountains gradually rose as the sun 
 went down, at length leaving the hills in their former 
 cold colours. We found the post-station a very 
 good one, and thought that this might be owing 
 to a wish on the part of the Russians to present a 
 more vivid contrast to those on the Persian side. 
 Our first care was to order horses for our onward 
 journey. This had to be effected by screaming 
 across the river, which luckily is not much over 
 fifty yards in width at this point. Our servant 
 Joseph having wisely told the Custom-house man 
 here that he (Joseph) had a quantity of silver 
 
174 A BAD PRACTICE. 
 
 money to carry over for a friend (!), the Custom- 
 house man very naturally objected, as the exporta- 
 tion of coin is strictly forbidden by the Russian 
 authorities — an evil practice, by the v^ay, as it 
 encourages white lies. 
 
( 175 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Entering a new country affords an opportunity 
 for a new chapter, of which we avail our- 
 selves. A judicious bribe secured an unquestioned 
 exit for our baggage next morning, when we 
 crossed in a rough wooden boat with two pointed 
 ends. Bakshish demanded and tendered, we found 
 horses brought down to the river for us; and 
 getting our baggage tied on to the pack-saddles 
 with ropes of horsehair and flax mixed, we rode to 
 the post station, custom-house, and passport office 
 all in one, some hundred yards off — a mud house. 
 We went up-stairs and bowed to two Persian 
 swells sitting cross-legged on a carpet in the ve- 
 randah. Our Feringhee names were then neatly 
 inscribed upon two Persian passports, which were 
 handed to us by way of an excuse for getting 
 money. They were roughly lithographed with a 
 huge lion at the top, and a female face looking 
 out of half a suri, just over the lion's back. 
 
176 PERSIA AT last! 
 
 Kaleouns were brought in, but never having 
 smoked one we dedined, fearing to muddle the 
 process, which at first is rather difficult, though 
 extremely pleasant when acquired. The smoke is 
 vigorously inhaled through a wooden stem, and 
 inflates the lungs, whereupon it emerges through 
 the nose. The wooden stem communicates with 
 a bowl, nearly full of water, out of which proceeds 
 another stem supporting the tobacco holder ; they 
 are sometimes gorgeously decorated. The tobacco 
 is called Tumbak, and the best grows near Shiraz. 
 We got off at 10 o'clock, with an escort of three 
 men, who followed us for two or three hours, and 
 then remarked that the danger (!) was over. We 
 were making straight for a gap in the range of 
 hills in front of us, then up and down hill with 
 an upward tendency, through an arid country with 
 considerable cultivation however, wherever flat. 
 We passed a ruined caravanserai of great extent, 
 the foundation walls being of old red sandstone 
 blocks, and the rest brick ; the gateway almost 
 perfect and beautifully ornamented in coloured 
 glazed tiles. In five hours we reached the first 
 
PERSIAN POSTHOUSE. 1 77 
 
 post Station where we changed our baggage horses, 
 and then proceeded onwards to Merand. We wit- 
 nessed another glorious sunset, and had to march 
 after for four hours by the sole light of the stars, 
 our horses sometimes fancying that going down on 
 their knees would be an improvement, " Stumblings 
 by ' Starlight^ " indeed ! We forded plenty of 
 small streams near the stations, but the inter- 
 mediate ground seemed very arid. 
 
 At length, at lo p.m., we entered Merand, and 
 marched up what appeared to us a stream skirted 
 by trees and walls on both sides, constituting the 
 high street of the place. After knocking for some 
 time at the posthouse, the htige door was opened, 
 and we rode in. The post houses are always of 
 mud bricks, in square form, presenting a dead wall 
 on all sides, with one large entrance in the centre 
 of one wall, and one room built above this, which 
 is the grand strangers' room. We entered this 
 here, and found that it boasted of three windows, 
 the outer one extending the whole size of that side, 
 and none of them having, or being ever intended 
 to have, glass in them. A broad lattice of wood- 
 
 N 
 
lyS SOOFIANEH. 
 
 work is the only protection from the air outside, 
 and this is generally wanting. Thus these rooms 
 are more adapted for summer than for winter 
 travellers. In winter we found one of the two 
 rooms under the archway always the warmest. 
 The square courtyard of these posthouses is formed 
 by low stables on three sides. On the door side 
 generally are the attendants' rooms. Cribs are let 
 into the walls in which the horses feed whilst 
 waiting to cool down. On going into our upper 
 chamber we found its entire furniture (!) to consist 
 of two carpets. Little niches in the walls had to 
 serve as receptacles for our moveables. We found 
 considerable difficulty at first in writing at full 
 length on the floor. A huge lantern of wood and 
 linen was presently brought in, and after tea we 
 slept soundly on the floor. 
 
 At 3.30 P.M. next day we reached Soofianeh, 
 first passing on the road a most venerable Persian 
 dressed in a most magnificent blue silk flowing 
 garment. We find now a piece of sentiment in 
 our journal ! " We passed the carcases of two 
 camels, their toil over for ever !" The gardens 
 
TABREEZ. 1 79 
 
 around the various villages are the only objects 
 breaking the dreary monotony of the parched scenery. 
 Next morning we left after the usual squabble 
 about money ; the Persian appears to be not easily 
 satisfied. We rode over a plain here ploughed 
 up on all sides, streams of brackish water very 
 plentiful, but "not a drop to drink." This we 
 found rather a hardship as the sun shone burningly 
 hot overhead. On our left the rocks were of a 
 deep gory red, on our right we saw the mirage of an 
 extensive lake. After about five miles we caught 
 sight of Tabreez, lying at the end of our plain, 
 surrounded by mountains on three sides. We 
 rode on and on without seeming to get much 
 nearer, until after five hours the mud walls of the 
 first gardens became distinctly visible, when we 
 halted to allow our baggage to come up, and then 
 we began a march through high twelve feet mud 
 walls, surrounding flourishing gardens with every 
 sort of fruit tree. After a time the streets got 
 narrower, and then we threaded our way through 
 the most intricate windings. We presently halted 
 in front of a large house, that of the English 
 
 N 2 
 
l8o HOSPITABLE RECEPTION. 
 
 Consul-General Mr. Abbott, upon whom we made 
 a most sudden descent. Though totally unex- 
 pecting English visitors, he and his wife immedi- 
 ately, in the kindest manner, placed two rooms at 
 our disposal. The house was entirely Persian in 
 shape — of one story, with a charming garden in 
 the front courtyard, and an open gallery supported 
 on stuccoed pillars at one end. Under this were 
 our rooms. This town stands at an elevation of 
 4200 feet above the level of the sea. It is liable 
 to earthquakes, but there had been none for some 
 time. A strong easterly wind blows almost con- 
 stantly in summer, but by a merciful provision of 
 nature ceases in winter, or the climate would be 
 insupportable. All potable water is brought 
 down from the mountains by a succession of wells 
 dug at stated intervals, and having a subterraneous 
 conduit connecting them. These are sometimes 
 called Canauts. This is the most commercial town 
 in Persia, and almost the most flourishing. It is 
 said to contain 120,000 inhabitants, but the truth 
 in that respect is very difficult to arrive at. Having 
 a letter of introduction to a Mirza Abdul Nahib 
 
PRESENTS. I 8 I 
 
 Khan, a species of lord mayor with a seat in the 
 Cabinet, we sent it him ; whereupon he returned 
 us a tray with four sugar loaves, two pounds of 
 tea, and some sugar candy, as a complimentary 
 present, no doubt very useful, but to travellers 
 rather cumbersome. The servant who brings these 
 presents expects a sum or sums of money, which 
 constitute his pay ! The sandgrouse are very good 
 eating, and water-melons flourish, some of them 
 charming baby ones as large as an orange. We 
 walked on the top of the house, and had a good 
 bird's-eye view of the town. The object which 
 strikes the eye most, and which indeed we had 
 seen as soon as we were at all able to discern 
 Tabreez, is a mass of brickwork towering over the 
 town, the wall of an ancient mosque. There 
 are only two consulates, English and Russian, here; 
 a French one was in course of institution. On 
 riding through the town we observed that many 
 of the doors of private houses were solid blocks of 
 stone some six feet high, with pivots cut in them 
 at the top and bottom to act as hinges. The 
 wooden doors are studded with immensely larpe 
 
I 82 THE BAZAAR. 
 
 copper or iron-headed nails, much resembling 
 those to be seen on some doors at Toledo, in Spain. 
 The custom here is to take cofFee early in the 
 morning, then breakfast later, between lo and 12, 
 and to fast more or less till dinner, say 6 p.m. This 
 being Sunday, the old flag of Great Britain floats 
 over the entrance porch, where are stationed four 
 Persian (so-called) artillerymen, as the guard to the 
 consul ; two of them are habited in something like 
 cast-off English shell-jackets and trousers, the 
 other two are got up anyhow, though always with 
 the tall Astrachan cap with a dent at the top. This 
 they never remove on entering a room : shoes off ! 
 hats on ! The climate is said to be drier here than 
 in the hottest parts of India, but not so high in 
 temperature. Thus trunks that have stood Indian 
 heat warp upon being brought hither. 
 
 1 6th. The bazaars are very extensive : miles of 
 arched ways. The European caravanserai well 
 built ; a court-yard in the midst of the bazaar with 
 a fountain in the centre ; red brick buildings all 
 round containing rooms in which the traveller 
 can unroll his carpet and sleep, besides the regular 
 
THE TRADE. 1 83 
 
 offices of the merchants who trade with Europe ; 
 our banker's establishment we found in the centre 
 of one of the sides of the court-yard where it 
 forms a graceful curve, with the bazaar running 
 underneath at the depth of each of the four curves. 
 We got our first Persian money here. It is very 
 roughly coined and consists of Tomauns in gold, 
 about eight shillings, and Kerauns in silver, about 
 tenpence. 
 
 It is said that the exports and imports of this 
 place amount to something like three millions 
 sterling per annum. This is no doubt a flattering 
 estimate but still a very large trade is carried on, as 
 it lies on the high road from all north and central 
 Persia to Turkey and Europe. 
 
 On the top of the surrounding hills which look 
 so black and poor, many flowers grow, including 
 " gentinilla," "wild tulips," and "Pride of Peru." 
 
 A Dr. Cormick, whose father was physician to 
 Abbas Mirza when governor of Shiraz, and 
 who himself holds the corresponding office now, 
 called here. He has passed the greater part of his 
 life in Persia, and tells us, as indeed we imagined, 
 
184 THE MEEANEE BUG. 
 
 that the stories about the deadly effects of the bite 
 of the Meeanee bug are absurd fictions. It is a 
 small red-coloured insect whose bite is supposed to 
 take effect upon strangers sleeping in Meeanee 
 (which we have to pass), by causing them to waste 
 away and at length die, the natives not being sus- 
 ceptible of the bite, and a lighted candle keeping 
 off its attacks. Now Dr. Cormick stayed there, 
 and his cook was bitten by a red bug on the chest. 
 Nothing but quiet was prescribed, and no evil 
 effects ever followed ; but owing to the low rice 
 plantations about Meeanee the place is most feverish, 
 so much so indeed, that out of a party of twenty- 
 two Europeans who lately slept there, twenty 
 were taken ill, and all declared they had been bitten 
 by the insect, though they had slept in tents outside 
 the town. This latter circumstance affords a clue 
 to the mystery, as they all had low fever. The 
 fable no doubt arose from some persons catching a 
 malignant fever in the place and dying from exhaus- 
 tion, this being attributed to the little insect which 
 certainly infests Meeanee, but whose bite is little 
 worse than that of the ordinary domestic " cimex." 
 
AN OLD family! 1 85 
 
 This morning the Alvizoreh came to pay us a 
 visit, attended by twenty-four ferashes to clear the 
 way for him. He seemed a portly, good-natured, 
 olive-complexioned man, talking no European 
 language, so Mr. Abbott kindly undertook the 
 office of interpreter, though our conversation was 
 not marked by any particular brilliancy, beginning 
 with the usual compliments and merging into the 
 weather and the comparative antiquity of English 
 and Persian families ! Our friend stated that one 
 family whose title of nobility extended back three 
 thousand years, was just extinguished through 
 failure of heirs ! Something like our Welsh pedi- 
 grees : " About this time the Flood occurred ! " 
 
 The wall of circumvallation is in ruins here as 
 in most Persian towns. Mr. Abbott has attempted 
 mending a few of the roads in the immediate vici- 
 nity of his house, but bad are the best. Being 
 invited to dine with some Greek merchants, we 
 walked out in the evening, preceded by men car- 
 rying huge linen lanterns. These are proportioned 
 to the dignity of the individual before whom they 
 are carried ; no one is allowed out after dusk 
 
1 86 VISITS. 
 
 without them, and indeed it would be rather diffi- 
 cult to avoid perpetually tumbling about were it not 
 for them. We find considerable difficulty in get- 
 ting a muleteer to take us on, but hope to achieve 
 one to-morrow, 1 9th. The quinine, jujube, and rose 
 trees grow well here. We returned the Nahib Al- 
 vizoreh or lieutenant of the ministry's visit to-day. 
 (It will be observed that we get more learned in the 
 titles of this individual the longer we stay at Ta- 
 breez.) We went on horseback, as walking on such 
 an occasion is " infra dig." and found the broken 
 state of the roads to interfere considerably with 
 our comfort whilst riding. 
 
 A large proportion of the regular (?) Persian 
 army was loitering about the prefect's court- 
 yard, as he, like most Orientals, keeps up a great 
 and useless state with regard to his retinue. We sat 
 on the civilized appliances called chairs and smoked 
 Kaleouns, though as an exception our host did 
 not indulge in them. Two tiny cups of coffee and 
 two ditto of tea were handed round to each of us at 
 intervals, and after half an hour's not lively twaddle 
 we departed as we came. Mussulman cemeteries 
 
CARAVAN journeys! I 87 
 
 are all over the town. The tombs are generally 
 the common flat oblong stones, with a low one at 
 the head. The government of this town and dis- 
 trict being the most important in Persia, is 
 always given to the heir-apparent. At present 
 (1865) he is a boy of fourteen. 
 
 On the 1 9th of October we parted from our 
 kind hostess. Mr. Abbott rode out a considerable 
 way with us, showing us the blue mosque on our 
 way, a ruined place of worship still beautifully over- 
 laid with the tiles from which it derives its name. 
 We are now travelling " en caravane," that is with- 
 out one ! for the main body of heavily-laden horses 
 and mules always travels by night, whilst we have 
 hired five horses for ourselves and baggage to go 
 by day. We were soon overtaken by a European, 
 escorted by a Cossack, who turned out to be a 
 Russian secretary to the consulate. The first 
 question he put to us was what our names were. 
 We made with him a detour through a nice poplar 
 wood, in whose centre we found an octagonal 
 pavilion of three storys in a bad state of repair, but 
 still retaining traces of Alhambresque decorations. 
 
1 88 progress! 
 
 This he Informed us was called Khelaut Shah (?) as 
 here the khelaut, or robe of honour, which the shah 
 sends every year to his son and chief officers of 
 government, is put on by them. This is a sign 
 that the king's good graces are still continued to 
 them, and they come out these nine miles to meet it. 
 We passed through a well-cultivated country and 
 over two fresh-water streams before reaching our 
 first halting-place. Cay (?). An extremely dirty 
 caravanserai received us about three farsacks or 
 twelve miles out. Next morning we set off again, 
 having been kept awake most of the night by the 
 noises produced by our caravan, which started at 
 midnight. Shortly after leaving we began to 
 mount. Seeing one of the old massively-built 
 caravanserais on the way, we entered it, and found 
 strong arches of brick, the level being below sur- 
 rounding ground. Thus the basement was dug 
 out, and the whole interior very dark, in arched 
 galleries. We passed a small piece of water, on 
 which were a large number of ducks. We tried to 
 get a shot at them, but failed to get within range, 
 so fired our- Colt's revolver, loaded with ball, at a 
 
MODES OF TRAVELLING. 1 89 
 
 lark flying. Oddly enough we missed. At 
 Hadjala we put up in (and with !) a mud room, 
 without going to a caravanserai. Another plain 
 and ridge of hills to cross before getting to Danadgar, 
 where there are only three houses. We put up at 
 the posthouse, as our friend the Alvizoreh had given 
 us a road order ; though, for the matter of that, no 
 doubt bakshish was the one thing needful. We 
 passed several horses in caravans laden with huge 
 clothes' basket affairs, having a semicircular hood 
 over them. In these, one on each side of the 
 horse, sit travellers who prefer this mode of con- 
 veyance to riding; it is the only alternative in 
 Persia, excepting a thing like a double sedan chair 
 carried by two mules in shafts — one before, one 
 behind. In this one can lie at full length, but in 
 the clothes' basket the only postures are sitting 
 cramped or curled up, or with legs dangling over. 
 
 This day (21st) a succession of hills and vales, 
 each valley getting higher up as we advanced ; 
 our village is in a low valley, and is called 
 Chodjakias. Same sort of road next day and 
 latterly following the broad bed of a stream for 
 
I go meeanee! 
 
 three miles to Meeanee, the chosen home of the 
 cimex. Here, as usual, we were shown into a mud 
 room by some inhabitant. In a few minutes a 
 man, who turned out to be the proprietor, rushed 
 into the courtyard, objecting to our installing our- 
 selves. He was cuffed on the head and then 
 quietly retired. The town lies in a low district 
 by the stream we had followed, and beautifully 
 green beds of unhealthy rice grow close around. 
 Having to keep our candles lit for fear of the 
 insect, we passed a good deal of our time in read- 
 ing, and now follows a Persian story, in con- 
 sequence : — 
 
 " Once upon a time, long, long ago, there 
 flourished in some part of Persia an academy called 
 that of Silence, whose tenets inculcated a vast 
 amount of thought, a very little writing, and no 
 talking at all. The number of academicians was 
 strictly limited to one hundred ; and as may well 
 be supposed no ladies belonged to it. It so hap- 
 pened that in due course one of the members died ; 
 it also occurred that at that very time there was 
 living at the other extremity of Persia a most 
 
allegories! 191 
 
 learned man, Zeeb by name. He had written 
 many treatises, as ' On the art of Hving for ever,' 
 and others too numerous to mention. No sooner 
 had he heard of the vacancy in the Academy of 
 Silence, than seized v^ith a laudable desire of filling 
 it, he posted up, as fast as horses could carry him 
 (the Indo-European telegraph was not in existence 
 then, and would most likely not have worked had 
 it been !). Meanwhile a court favourite, renowned 
 for his talking propensities, had been installed in 
 the vacant place. The consternation of the fellows 
 may therefore be imagined, when the learned Zeeb 
 sent in his name as craving admittance. The Pre- 
 sident determined to give him an audience in full 
 council to show their regret. Zeeb, therefore, 
 was ushered in, and the president taking a glass, 
 filled it as full of water as it could possibly hold, 
 so that another drop would cause it to overflow. 
 Zeeb, like a wise man, understood the allegory, but 
 seeing a roseleaf lying on the floor, he picked it up 
 and placed it gently on the water, which did not 
 run over ! The fellows were so charmed at this, 
 that clapping their hands, they instantly admitted 
 
192 OOROOMEAH. 
 
 him a member regardless of all rules to the con- 
 trary. The book was brought to him to sign his name 
 in, which he did, adding the numerals 1 00, and then 
 prefixing a nought, thus, 0100, showing that the 
 number and worth of the academy were not in- 
 creased by his admittance. However, the president 
 charmed with so much modesty in so learned a 
 man, scratched out the nought, and added a one in 
 its place, 1 100 ; thus implying that the academical 
 worth was increased tenfold by his presence !" 
 
 Near the lake Ooroomeah, west of this place, 
 on the borders of Turkey, there are chalybeate and 
 sulphur springs of great medicinal effect. The 
 lake is seventy miles in length, and on its west 
 bank is the town of Ooroomeah, where some 
 Presbyterian American missionaries have established 
 a station and schools, which are said to do much 
 good, especially amongst the Nestorean Christians. 
 Our candles effectually kept off the insect, and 
 most of our sleep. 
 
 Eggs are seven for one penny here, but the price 
 of fowls fluctuates considerably in the different 
 villages, from the moderate sum of two-pence to 
 
SPASMODIC pavement! 1 93 
 
 the enormous charge of fourpence ready cooked ! 
 In the morning we crossed the stream of yesterday 
 by a long flat bridge, and began ascending a steep 
 mountain. We passed a bush covered w^ith rags, 
 as every Mussulman passing by tears a strip off 
 his already scanty raiment, to hang it upon this 
 solitary bush, making a prayer at the same time, or 
 a v^ish for something v^hich is to be fulfilled as long 
 as the rag remains fluttering upon the branch. Out- 
 side Meeanee and other villages we saw two or three 
 families of lepers, living cast out in tumbledown 
 mud huts. We found the upper portion of the 
 road over this mountain to be paved spasmodi- 
 cally in bits about a quarter of a mile long, with 
 rough intervals, but totally regardless of inclines, 
 so that no human being riding on any animal 
 would venture on the pavement, consisting of 
 various sized stones hid in the ground with their 
 flattest side uppermost, and this was generally a 
 jagged point ! Descending we crossed a river with 
 a strong current, on a high bridge, and then as- 
 cending again, we came to a vast high table land, 
 intersected by shallow ravines. Our road was 
 
194 SHARSHAN. 
 
 very wild and solitary ; in our seven hours' ride we 
 hardly met as many people ; no cultivation visible. 
 We observed on the road some curious animals 
 with the tails of lizards and the bodies of toads, 
 also some rat-like animals with bushy tails, burrow- 
 ing in the sand and called Sichan by the natives. 
 The latter part of our road was a descent to a 
 stream and the village of Sharshan. 
 
 On the 25th we marched for seven and a half 
 hours along a level road, following the course of the 
 stream all the way. Along the flat banks corn and 
 rice were growing, and we saw several Kurdish 
 or Eeliaut encampments, a congregation of tents 
 made of dark felt, of goat's hair, woven by the 
 inmates. Neekbash our halting place. One gets 
 used to the smell of a stable at night. Here it 
 was rather nearer to us than pleasant. The inhabi- 
 tants seem gladly to put their mud room at 
 European travellers' disposal, no doubt on account 
 of the expected donation. We apparently halloaed 
 before we were out of the wood, for at Sharshan, we 
 were bitten by some insect, assuredly the bug, that 
 left a round and perfectly deep crimson mark, 
 
ZENGAN. 195 
 
 about the size of a silver penny, with a black spot 
 in the centre. On our servant's right arm these 
 bites caused a very considerable swelling ; grape 
 treacle was recommended him as a cure, and was 
 very efficacious. 
 
 On the 26 th we followed the valley of a river we 
 find spelt Naclowzum in our journal : it abounded 
 in poplars and willows. In seven hours we reached 
 Zengan, the largest town between Tabreez and 
 Teheran ; a blue glazed tile mosque with a round 
 cupola, rising far above the other buildings, we 
 saw a great distance off. We installed ourselves in a 
 very dirty caravanserai, but luckily in an upper 
 room. Of course in these places we always have 
 to send our servant out to see whether there is any- 
 thing to eat, and then to light a fire and cook 
 whatever there may be. The first morning after 
 our arrival here we departed from this plan, in so 
 far as that our servant went out to buy eatables, 
 and came back with some beastliness resembling a 
 sausage with the skin off, tasting more of garlic 
 than of anything else. We stopped here this 
 
 day, as we had a serious disagreement with our 
 
 o 2 
 
196 SEARCH FOR A MULETEER. 
 
 muleteer, who wanted us to stop two days ; we 
 even got half our money returned to us, as this 
 place Is supposed to be half way between Tabreez 
 and Teheran, though really nearer the latter, but 
 as the sequel showeth, we were obliged to give in ! 
 We went out alternately to-day, one of us 
 staying to look after our things. We went out 
 first in search of a new muleteer, but they were all 
 engaged or going the wrong way. During our 
 voyage of discovery we strolled through the ba- 
 zaar, which is a solid new brick gallery, and shows 
 considerable commercial enterprize to exist here. 
 The nights are already rather chilly, though in the 
 daytime the temperature is good. We find that, 
 in American phraseology, we " caved in " on the 
 28 th, and stop here to-day to proceed with our 
 former muleteer to-morrow. However, he apolo- 
 gized, and as we could not find another we take 
 him on again. Just outside our windows there is 
 a large open space only partially occupied by under- 
 ground baths, whose round mud roofs project a 
 few feet from the surface. Here there are con- 
 stantly playing a quantity of youths, age from 
 
MOURNERS I 197 
 
 seven to thirteen, whose garments are of the most 
 elementary description, just consisting of sleeves 
 and a portion of back. A large cemetery is just 
 beyond and there are female mourners constantly 
 passing to and fro. A dark blue sort of serge 
 appears to be the fashionable mourning dress. The 
 women not engaged in mourning we find to be 
 generally dressed in a black and white chequed 
 cloak. The coppersmiths, whose bazaar is close at 
 hand, seem to drive a " roaring trade," as the noise 
 of their hammering continues ceaselessly from early 
 morn till dewy eve. The mutton is excellent, and 
 the best quality is sold at three halfpence a pound ; 
 then they have had no cattle-plague ! 
 
 Starting on the 29th we rode over a perfect flat, 
 until we imagined ourselves at the end of the 
 world. The plain on which we were riding was 
 bordered by two chains of mountains which seemed 
 to end about twenty miles further on and then — 
 nothing. Our thoughts were however recalled 
 from these reflections on attempting a gallop, when 
 our horse fell on its nose and pitched us very neatly 
 over its head. After about seven hours' riding we 
 
198 SULTANIEH. 
 
 reached Sultanieh. About a mile outside this village 
 stands the most picturesque edifice we had yet 
 seen in Persia. On a small hill, made higher by art 
 and rising abruptly from the plain, we saw the for- 
 tress palace of the Shah, to which he often comes 
 during the summer heats to review his army, 
 which encamps below him. It is a square on two 
 platforms of brick rising one above the other, with 
 arched glass windows. There are about fourteen 
 sentinels' boxes excavated in the hill and looking 
 like gigantic rabbit-holes. Mohammed Khoda- 
 bundeh, the son of Ghazan, one of the successors 
 of Zingis Khan, that " scourge of the Lord," 
 founded Sultanieh as a great town ; now it consists 
 of a few wretched mud huts, though the traces of 
 former grandeur are still distinctly recognisable, as 
 we passed through ruins for some few hundred 
 yards before entering the present village. These 
 are however now almost level with the soil, and 
 indeed sometimes ploughed over ! We saw the 
 remains of a mosque and two circular-roofed 
 buildings on the west side. This city did not es- 
 cape the ravages of Tamerlane, who spared it from 
 
A DERIVATION ! 1 99 
 
 Utter destruction on payment of an enormous ran- 
 som, which perhaps contributed to its ruin, though 
 no doubt, as in other parts of Persia, misrule is the 
 principal cause of its decay. 
 
 We Christians were conducted into a very clean 
 room with carpets belonging to a Mussulman 
 priest. Tolerance ! (perhaps pecuniary). The son 
 of the priest was of a gossipping turn of mind, and 
 fell to talking with Joseph. He informed him of 
 the derivation of the founder's name ! " When 
 he (Khodabundeh) had founded this city, he took 
 up his abode in it. Most probably feeling hungry 
 one day, he sent to a neighbouring village to 
 demand two fowls as a tax. The villagers did not 
 send the animals, but instead a complaint of the 
 exorbitant nature of the impost, which amounted 
 to two shis (one penny, the common copper 
 coin of the realm !) Now two shis, it appears, in 
 the Tartar language are called Khodabundeh. 
 From henceforth Mohammed was called nothing 
 else ! just as Dean Swift explains the deri- 
 vation of Alexander the Great ! He was buried 
 here, surrounded by his own creations, and his 
 
200 khodabundeh's tomb. 
 
 tomb stands close to our room. We went to in- 
 spect it before starting in the morning. It is an 
 octagonal building of fine brick, encrusted with 
 blue tiles. At the top of the octagon a gallery runs 
 round the building outside, with three horseshoe 
 openings at each side. The roof of this gallery is 
 fretted and apparently inlaid with red tiles, which 
 of old time were evidently gilt. The entrance and 
 portions of wall have tumbled down, so we entered 
 through a breach, and found ourselves in a space 
 quite as large as the body of the Pantheon at Rome 
 and resembling it in shape, excepting that where the 
 high altar stands in the Christo-Pagan temple here 
 an open arch leads into a square high room. The 
 height cf the roof from the ground appeared to us 
 to be almost double that of the Pantheon. It is a 
 perfect concavity, exceedingly well built in brick ; 
 these being laid in circles, each circle getting 
 gradually smaller till there is only the one at the 
 apex. These bricks were then covered over with 
 some sort of mud plaster into which the lacquered 
 tiles were fixed. Those parts of the edifice which 
 strike the eye most are very carefully worked, each 
 
CAZVEEN. 20 1 
 
 tile being baked in the form required by the design. 
 The prevailing colour is light turquoise blue. The 
 roof has several large cracks, and is evidently has- 
 tening to decay. No trace of the actual tomb is to 
 be discovered, nor did any inhabitant know of its 
 existence ; but hov^ can we expect a people whose 
 annals preserve no record of such monarchs as Xerxes 
 and Darius to exhibit any interest in later kings ? 
 Khodabundeh was the first Persian ruler who 
 embraced the Sheah heresy, now the dominant 
 religion. Accounts of this are no doubt to be 
 found in many encyclopaedias. We rode eight 
 hours over the plain, discerning the remains of 
 many villages and watercourses, and stop at 
 Koorumderah, a large and well planted village. 
 
 Leaving the plain next morning, we ascended 
 the hills on the east, which we crossed, and in six 
 and a half hours arrived at Meskeen : a cold north 
 wind blowing. Next day, it took us just as long to 
 arrive at Cazveen. Shortly after starting, we met 
 a Persian bound for Stamboul, who talked French, 
 and asked us where we were going to and why ! 
 His wives and other baggage came after him. A 
 
202 WATER. 
 
 short distance amongst hills, and then into a plain, 
 which to judge from the comparative multitude of 
 towns and villages seemed very populous and 
 flourishing. Six miles outside Cazveen we began 
 marching through vineyards, which extended to 
 the very walls in unbroken succession ; grapes were 
 also ludicrously cheap, as we bought a pennyworth, 
 and received rather more than six pounds weight 
 of them for that sum. Until within a mile of the 
 town, we seemed to be approaching a forest of 
 poplars, as no buildings were visible ; then a finely 
 decorated mosque and some blue minarets made 
 their appearance, and we gradually got into the 
 village. We put up at a caravanserai in the 
 bazaar, which is long and dirty, with nothing 
 remarkable for sale. The dwelling houses are ' all 
 beneath the level of the street, which runs between 
 the garden walls of each one. This is no doubt 
 owing to the fact that the bricks of each house 
 were dug up out of the mud on the spot, thus 
 sinking the soil. The drinking water is conveyed 
 through the town in a subterraneous brickwork 
 channel, the access to which is gained by an in- 
 
EXTRAORDINi\RY NAMES I 203 
 
 dined plane, or long sloping staircase, arched over. 
 At the entrance to this stands a pretty porch-like 
 open edifice, gaily decorated in tilework. Then a 
 regular tube and cock communicates with the 
 aqueduct below. This arrangement, however, 
 sometimes as at this place, allows the drainage of the 
 town to filter into the water, thereby not im- 
 proving its taste. After a prolonged search after 
 our muleteer, who deserted us here, but was 
 brought back and slightly cuff^ed, we started 
 next morning at 10^ a.m., and reached Hassar- 
 koobad in four and a half hours, when we 
 got into a room whence the inmates bundled out 
 leaving all their portable property about. Our 
 road lay over the yesterday's plain. We observed 
 that the ants of this country, contrary to the 
 practice obtaining amongst their civilised congeners, 
 burrow^ under ground instead of erecting ant hills ! 
 Next day we rode for seven hours, passing some 
 Eeliaut tents and a large flock of cranes. We now 
 see the snow-capped mountains of the Elburz range 
 towering over the lower range on our right, stop 
 at Aptarasseen, and next day at Sophiabad pur- 
 
204 BAD QUARTERS. 
 
 porting to be thirty-two miles ofF, where we got 
 the worst rooms we had yet been in, the place 
 swarming with children, and all the inhabitants 
 looking diseased. 
 
'( 205 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 On the 5th of November we started early for 
 our last day's journey before reaching the capital 
 of Persia, Teheran. We cross a good-sized stream 
 on a good-sized bridge, we ride on for six hours 
 without discovering any traces of a large town, 
 though Demavend towers loftily above and before 
 us. At last we see Teheran before us, in a sort of 
 embrasure of hills (though in reality rather far 
 from any, and on the plain). The impression con- 
 veyed by a first sight, as to the size, is that it is 
 smaller than Tabreez, which is indeed the case. 
 Nothing striking about it, as trees as usual conceal 
 all the public buildings. We met hundreds of 
 unloaded camels going out of the gates ; then 
 passing through some very crowded streets and 
 dark crooked bazaars we reached a narrow well 
 paved street where the pavement was frightfully 
 slippery, and halted before the British legation. The 
 first objects that struck us were fireworks placed in 
 
2o6 REMEMBER ! REMEMBER ! 
 
 readiness for letting off before the door. This was 
 appropriate — Guy Fawkes' day ! Mr. AUson, 
 our envoy, in the kindest manner offered us apart- 
 ments at the embassy, and the same evening he 
 gave a grand entertainment to the Turkish minister, 
 where we saw all the Europeans then staying at 
 Teheran. The Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs 
 and the Shah's Aide-de-camp also dined, and the 
 two Persian ambassadors respectively to London and 
 Paris, who much prefer Teheran to going about 
 their business ! 
 
 The first news we heard was that of the death of 
 poor Lord Palmerston. This had come by tele- 
 graph, which traverses this town, coming from 
 Bagdad and also from Tiflis. We found here a 
 billiard table, brought all the way from England 
 with great difficulty. The Persians played at it 
 with more or less (rather less than more) success. 
 Two Persian bands played alternately in the large 
 garden in front during and after dinner : one was led 
 by a Frenchman, the other by an Italian : this latter 
 much the best. The fireworks were creditable, 
 but the art of colouring the fire did not seem to 
 
TEHERAN. 207 
 
 have been brought to any great perfection, and the 
 smoke was much too great. 
 
 On the yth we went into the bazaars, accom- 
 panied by Mirza Jan, the second moonshee or 
 interpreter to the mission. These were positively 
 interminable, and filled with every sort of com- 
 modity. Old arms are seemingly a great article of 
 trade, and the jewellers^ who are always Christians 
 or Jews, are also very numerous. These enamel 
 very beautifully on gold, though when the subjects 
 chosen are human beings the drawing is anything 
 but perfect, and the perspective always ludicrous. 
 The bazaars are very solidly built of burnt bricks, 
 and the various caravanserais are commodious. At 
 one end we came out upon the Shah's palace. This 
 is surrounded by a moat long since dried up. Then 
 an arched gateway leads into a street well paved, 
 and with little shops on both sides ; these are the 
 outer precincts. Then a large garden courtyard 
 with a large tank brimful of water in the cg^itre. 
 This was added by the present monarch, Nusreddin 
 Shah. In this (the courtyard, not the tank) quan- 
 tities of soldiers were lounging about, and in one 
 
2o8 PERSIAN EXECUTIONERS. 
 
 corner we saw about twenty rough-looking fellows 
 with nothing distinguishing about their dress ex- 
 cepting dirt, who, we were told, were the execu- 
 tioners — as handy with the baston or the bowstring 
 as with the sword. The whipping-post is only a 
 stout pole with a loop of cord in the centre, into 
 which the whippee's feet are placed, and thus held 
 up to be bastinadoed. Taking off a man's toe nails 
 neatly with the stick is one of the executioners' 
 greatest accomplishments. On the right of this 
 court stands the royal palace, flanked by two tall 
 broad towers. Before getting in here we passed 
 some corridors decorated with designs worked in 
 white plaster. Here is the English telegraph office 
 and a staff of English operators. Some of the 
 walls of these corridors are painted in barbarous 
 style, but withal picturesquely. 
 
 In the evening we dined with a solitary French 
 attache, who filled the post of charge d'affaires, first, 
 second and third secretary all in one at this 
 moment, and for some time before. We went on 
 horseback with attendants on foot bearing the 
 lanterns, as the road is very treacherous, full of 
 
THE RACES. 
 
 209 
 
 holes and desperately slippery. Returning on 
 foot, we were vigorously attacked by the watch- 
 dogs in the bazaars ; they were however repulsed 
 without much slaughter. A few dim oil-lamps 
 were stuck up here and there in niches in the 
 walls. The Russian mission having determined 
 to build a house in grand style, they got the 
 plans drawn out, and the building was commenced 
 by laying the foundations and cellars in solid 
 stone. Then no more money being forthcoming, 
 the rest was built of mud. The Russian Govern- 
 ment has now (1865) about 650 cases calling 
 for redress of wrongs done to Russian subjects by 
 Persians, for which they have received no satisfac- 
 tion, and thus it is only waiting its opportunity or 
 the withdrawal of British countenance to seize 
 upon the provinces of Ghilan and the port (!) 
 of Astrabad, in the Caspian, as a compensation for 
 those cases. 
 
 On the 7th the races, a national institution, 
 came off. As we were riding into the town we 
 saw at a distance a building open in front, which 
 looked something like a grand stand, and it turned 
 
 P 
 
2IO THE COURSE. 
 
 out to be SO. The course is about two miles out, 
 and purports to be two miles round. The foreign 
 embassies are always invited, but it appears have 
 never gone, owing to a point of etiquette, the 
 minister for foreign affairs always allotting them a 
 position not by any means suited to the dignity of 
 representatives of European sovereigns, — a room 
 on the ground instead of near the Shah. On this 
 occasion a message was however sent round to the 
 various envoys to say that this had been rectified 
 and that the room generally appropriated to the 
 queen mother had been allotted to them. We 
 therefore set out with Mr. Alison in the morning, 
 forming a cavalcade of nine Europeans, preceded 
 by the Gholaums (the mounted attendants and 
 foreign-office postmen to the envoy), and the 
 Kaleoun, as that pipe is always carried about on 
 state occasions. We had hardly got out of the 
 town when a messenger rode up bringing word 
 that the arrangement of rooms had again under- 
 gone alteration, and that the missions were to sit 
 in a room below the Shah. This, of course, was 
 an indignity not to be overlooked, so we turned 
 
THE FUN. 2 I I 
 
 our horses' heads away from the course, and pre- 
 pared to return. 
 
 However, we thought that as we were mere 
 travellers not diplomatically connected, we might 
 have a look at the fun incognito ; so we rode a 
 little way up the course, which is enclosed by two 
 low mud walls, and quite as uneven as the rest of 
 the plain, and then turning, accompanied by two 
 Gholaums, we got to the stand, where we dis- 
 mounted and stood in the passage of one of the 
 outer wings of this building. 
 
 Early in the morning, when the Shah prepared 
 to go out of his palace, one gun was fired, then a 
 salvo when he mounted his horse. This we heard 
 when some distance off, so we cantered on through 
 a multitude of people who lined the course for a 
 great distance. The sight put one much in mind 
 of a racecourse in any other country. The 
 Shah's eldest son soon drove up in a carriage on 
 springs most gorgeously got up. Then after an 
 interval came a troop of camel artillery, each car- 
 rying a gun of the smallest calibre in front of its 
 
 rider. Before these came a drum and fife band 
 
 P 2 
 
212 THE SHAH. 
 
 also on camels. These soldiers were dressed in 
 perfectly respectable red coats. Then some 
 mounted horsemen rode up clearing the way, and 
 after these some fifty fellows got up in the most 
 curious of helmets, apparently high cones of black 
 cloth, flat at the sides and with bits of silver paper 
 pasted on in bits ; upon this a pasteboard erection, 
 like a painted bunch of flowers, red coats and gold 
 (or brass ?) buttons. These were the Shah's "run- 
 ning footmen." Then the state coach, richly 
 mounted in gold with a glass front; the harness 
 of the eight horses also to all appearance of gold. 
 After this, and preceded by all the dignitaries of 
 the realm on foot, came the Shah himself riding 
 alone, on a splendidly caparisoned steed and holding 
 a red silk umbrella majestically open over his head. 
 His complexion was olive, with dark moustaches, 
 no beard or whiskers ; his epaulettes one blaze of 
 diamonds. After him came an immense and mis- 
 cellaneous escort of horsemen wildly galloping 
 about. Immediately on the king's entering the 
 grand stand, which was in two storys and built of 
 brick, the races began. Nine venerable-looking 
 
THE RUNNING. 213 
 
 men got up in red robes like so many Venetian 
 senators, took out bits of paper, and began writing, 
 standing in the centre of the course, in front of 
 the king ; these were the king's scribes, " chiels 
 taking notes." For the first race eight horses 
 started, six times round the course — twelve miles ! 
 The jockeys were all boys, four of them dressed in 
 red silk shirts and violet breeches, two in white and 
 two others in green shirts. They each wore a hand- 
 kerchief, of colour corresponding to the shirt, on 
 their head. The start took place at an immense 
 pace ; no false starts here : should one jockey be 
 behind the others, tant pis pour lu'i. Anybody is 
 allowed to enter a horse, and should one not be- 
 longing to the king win, the jockey and owner are 
 bastinadoed. Whilst the race was being run a band 
 of drums and shrill clarionets struck up in front of 
 the stand, the musicians sat cross-legged on the 
 ground, and to this accompaniment the Shah's sing- 
 ing dervishes struck up a song in a quavering treble. 
 Very luckily the sound hardly reached us, as the 
 performers were on the other side of the course. 
 All this time the sun was shining very hotly upon 
 
214 THE PRIZES. 
 
 US all. The horses at each successive round seemed 
 to be taking it easy, though, judging from the sup- 
 posed length of the course, this could not be the 
 case, as they finished the first two rounds in ten 
 minutes (four miles), and the whole twelve miles 
 in twenty-eight minutes ! At the last round, the 
 spectators who were on horseback rushed on the 
 course and licked the respective horses they had 
 any interest in with sticks to make them go faster. 
 One of the red shirts won. There were five 
 prizes ; this is the number for each race we believe, 
 irrespective of entries, so that if only five enter, 
 each has a good chance of gaining one ! The 
 prizes, sums of ready money, were wrapped up in 
 a sort of white linen handkerchief, and were laid 
 on the ground in front of the king, before the 
 start. Each winner receives one of these, 
 which he puts on his head, and then walks in 
 front of the king, to whom he makes an obeisance, 
 as he did before the start. After this race we left, 
 as all the others are the same, excepting that the 
 distance for each gets shorter. 
 
 On the Indo-European telegraph being opened 
 
MOSLEM TOLERATION. 215 
 
 in Persia the king went in person to the office and 
 telegraphed to all the governors of the various 
 provinces on the telegraphic line. The message 
 sent v^as to this effect : — " What present have you 
 brought the king on this auspicious occasion." 
 Satisfactory answers were received, each governor 
 giving a present according to his ability or the 
 tax-paying powers of his province ; and when the 
 king retired, the respective governors at the various 
 stations also left. They had, however, not pro- 
 ceeded far away when they were summoned back 
 again, and received messages from the Prime 
 Minister : — " How much have you brought for 
 me ?" The present minister of finance, a devout 
 Moslem, who frequents the society of Mullahs and 
 Dervishes more than any other Persian, lately ac- 
 quired possession of a village in the neighbourhood, 
 an Armenian colony, by name Van-eck. Upon 
 hearing that his tenants were in want of a place of 
 religious worship, he immediately gave orders that 
 a church should be built for them ; and not only 
 that, but with his own hands presented them with 
 a large crucifix to place in it ; a rare instance of 
 
2l6 SHAH ABDULAZEEN. 
 
 Moslem toleration ! A favourite present to make 
 to a Christian here is that of a pig ! which animal 
 is supposed to be very useful in the stable. We 
 had heard great things of the dangers of travel 
 between Tabreez and Teheran, but at any rate "we 
 found it perfectly safe. Our muleteer was con- 
 stantly complaining about our liability to be at- 
 tacked ; but as we continually saw solitary horsemen 
 on our road, it did not seem so very unsafe after all. 
 On the 8th we went out hawking towards Shah 
 Abdulazeen, a village about three miles from town, 
 where there is the tomb of a very holy Imaum of 
 the same name. The cupola of the mosque in 
 which he is interred is gilt all over, and shines 
 accordingly. We soon found some partridges, but 
 on very bad ground intersected by narrow and deep 
 ravines ; so they got away, and we turned to the 
 right, away from the ruins of Rhe, the supposed site 
 of ancient Rhagge. These are to all appearance of 
 mud. A few bricks lie strewn about, and rude 
 sculptures have been found by careful explorations. 
 The city (then called Rei) was destroyed by the 
 Tartars in the 1 2 th century. After a long search the 
 
HAWKING. 
 
 217 
 
 dogs (of a thin greyhound breed), found a hare, which 
 not having sufficient start, was run down by them 
 before the hawk got a chance at it. Finding another, 
 after ineffectually beating a castor oil plantation, we 
 got a short run over a corn country, when it was soon 
 pulled down by the hawk. Then we had tea and 
 a kaleoun under a chinar or Oriental plane-tree, and 
 returned over a bad country full of small ravines. 
 The corn is already growing, about six inches high. 
 It is covered with snow in the winter, and then 
 shoots up to its proper height in the spring ! We 
 saw the top of Demavend peering out of the clouds. 
 It is variously estimated to be from 19,000 to 22,000 
 feet high ! 
 
 We on the loth came suddenly upon a lion, led 
 by a string in the bazaar, and nearly fell into its 
 mouth. It rained heavily, falling as snow on the 
 surrounding mountains. On the 12th, Sunday, 
 we went to the Teheran Zoological Gardens, thus 
 keeping to the fashion even here. We got to the 
 animals, which were the king's private property, 
 through a large garden, also belonging to the Shah. 
 This has a summer palace at one end, and the 
 
2 1 8 THE " ZOO " AT TEHERAN. 
 
 walks are well planted and laid out. Thence 
 we entered a smaller garden where the beasts are 
 kept in small brick huts ; some six tigers, two 
 panthers, and one lioness, completed the collection 
 of wild animals. The keeper walked amongst 
 them very unconcernedly. They are much better 
 treated than in many public " Zoos " in Europe, 
 petted, never beaten, and always well fed. The 
 birdhouse is a large building with wire for win- 
 dows, where every sort of bird runs about indis- 
 criminately. In a large yard were some gazelles 
 and wild asses ; one of the latter was very tame, 
 and came up to us to be patted. We dined with 
 the Russian minister. 
 
 On the 1 8th we visited Goolaheck, the residence 
 of the English mission during the summer heats ; 
 we went on horseback in front of a sort of four- 
 horsed landau, in which came Mr. Alison and one 
 of his secretaries. We passed one of the Shah's 
 palaces on the way — a lofty square stuccoed 
 building, with a platform and trees on the top, 
 and a nice garden in front. Some distance from 
 thi$ there rose a Persian cotton-spinning factory 
 
GOOLAHECK. 
 
 219 
 
 built in European style, and bringing reminiscences 
 of the neighbourhood of Manchester into one's . 
 mind. It does not succeed as a speculation. The 
 road is remarkably good, perfectly level for five 
 miles with a trench on either side. At about seven 
 miles from Teheran v^e turned off on to a less 
 perfect side road, to Goolaheck, v^hich stands on 
 rising ground. The house has nothing remarkable 
 about it, but a good garden and many trees in 
 front. These latter throw a grateful shade on it 
 during the summer, but hinder all view, excepting 
 from the roof. A tent is raised in front where 
 the mission eat their meals whilst residing here. 
 The supply of water here is on rather odd 
 terms. A stream runs right through the grounds, 
 but the water may be only stopped for pur- 
 poses of irrigation for twenty-four hours every 
 week; on other days only enough for ablutions 
 may be taken from it. These rules obtain for 
 all the grounds through which the stream runs, 
 though according to the various leases the time 
 you may stop the water is shortened, or the same, 
 but never longer than the twenty-four hours. 
 
220 BLUE TILES. 
 
 The passage walls of the house are Persianly 
 ingenious, a sort of open lattice work of blue 
 glazed tiles, which admits all air whilst excluding 
 most heat ! 
 
221 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 We now determined to visit the Shah's town 
 palace, so having obtained permission, we were 
 escorted into it by one of the servants. We entered 
 the court which has a long narrow sheet of water 
 in the centre, with trees planted on both sides of 
 it, and saw at its head a large room open 
 in front, but now covered in by a huge sort of 
 bamboo or reed mat. There the king sits in state 
 during great public festivals, such as the Norooz, 
 or New Year's Day. Then the Shah takes up his 
 position on a richly gilded alabaster throne ; this 
 is simply a raised moveable platform, on which is 
 spread a carpet, and a step at the further end of 
 the platform is the post of honour, where he sits 
 cross-legged on another carpet, until he varies his 
 posture by sitting on a chair most brilliantly inlaid 
 with precious stones, to be gazed at by his faithful 
 subjects. The lower portion of the walls of the 
 room in which stands the throne is coated with 
 
2 22 THE shah's TOWN PALACE. 
 
 alabaster with raised gilt or painted mouldings ; the 
 upper is of the small mirror pattern with plaster 
 ornamentations in Moorish taste. The actual roof 
 is flat, and covered by pieces of looking-glass, two 
 feet square laid side by side, and of European ma- 
 nufacture ; the portion nearest the opening towards 
 the court is supported by two pillars said to have 
 come from Persepolis ; they are of some white 
 hard marble, with circular decorated flutings. We 
 then entered the actual precincts of the palace 
 by a side gate. The first court is inhabited by 
 servants or officials and is proportionally dirty and 
 ill paved. Passing a sentry, we entered a large 
 garden, with ponds and trees and running streams; 
 on our left was the Harem, in another court 
 which we did not approach. The first room 
 entered was on our right in this first court, the 
 front again open to the garden ; in it a throne 
 of enamelled gold set with precious stones ; by its 
 side, leaning against it, a tawdry French daub 
 not even hung up. In point of fact, magnificence 
 and disorder, riches and squalor elbowed each 
 other throughout what portion of the palace we 
 
THE ROOMS. 223 
 
 saw. Here the chandeliers were of rich, perhaps 
 too rich, Bohemian glass, decorations of room all 
 in the looking-glass style. We entered then 
 another room across the garden. This portion 
 of the palace being built by Futteh Ali Shah, 
 his portrait and name were stuck all about. Here 
 there was a throne of more European conforma- 
 tion and one perfect blaze of jewels, as was also 
 a chair of state in the same room. Then into a 
 room hung all round with bad French chromo- 
 lithographs in gilt frames, and English engravings 
 out of the Illustrated London News. In the 
 corners some newly arrived French carpets lay 
 still rolled up. 
 
 Passing under this room we entered another 
 garden court, surrounded by buildings still in 
 course of construction, a tank of very clear 
 water filled with fish occupied its upper end. 
 Here, another room was inspected with the usual 
 throne, now of carved wood ; the interior walls 
 very artistically painted. The new palace was 
 built in two story s and flanked by two broad 
 towers of the same elevation, with peaked roofs 
 
224 THE GARDENS. 
 
 and rooms open in front supported by pillars on 
 each story, thus presenting an utterly novel and 
 singular appearance. The rooms in this palace 
 were being tastefully decorated in foliage and 
 arabesque patterns on looking-glass ground. We 
 we were now conducted, as a finale, into an orange 
 and citron-tree house in this court. A stream 
 flowed right through it, and the channel being 
 paved in light blue tiles gave a most cheerful 
 aspect to the water as it ran rapidly along. After 
 a cup of tea (and bakshish !) we departed. The 
 Shah had gone into the country for a day, or we 
 could not have gained admittance to his palace on 
 the point of etiquette, unless to be presented to 
 him. We did not see the crown jewels on this 
 occasion, as their late guardian had been 
 disgraced, and the office being in abeyance the 
 Shah had sealed them up himself. 
 
 After a great deal of squabbling, the diplomatic 
 difficulty about seats at the races has been amicably 
 arranged. The king wrote an autograph letter to 
 Mr. Alison, as the " doyen " of the ministers, to 
 say that he regretted what had past, that it should 
 
AN EXPENSIVE MESSAGE. 225 
 
 not occur again ; and hoping that the matter 
 might rest here — as it does. The king's aide-de- 
 camp who brought back a favourable answer from 
 the ministers to the Shah, was presented by him 
 with a diamond-hilted dagger, worth some hun- 
 dreds of pounds, as a token of his majesty's grati- 
 fication. The other day H. M. tried his 'prentice 
 hand at telegraphing. The sole answer he could 
 get was " repeat, repeat !" until he gave it up. The 
 governor of Shiraz, to whom he sent some mes- 
 sage, telegraphed back that one hundred Tomauns, 
 say ;^40, would be his present for the honour 
 done him (the Governor). 
 
 The 1 6th was a cloudy day. We can see the 
 snow getting lower down the mountain's sides. 
 Owing to the quantity of fruit, &c., diarrhoea is very 
 prevalent here. We had some enormous shrimps 
 caught in the Persian Gulf and dried in the sun^ 
 exceedingly beastly. On the 1 9th we, for almost the 
 first time since last May, saw the rain coming down 
 in a continuous pour. Last night we dined with 
 the Sepah Salar, or commander-in-chief, who is 
 also Prime Minister,* having attained that office in 
 
 * Removed 1866, we believe. 
 
 Q 
 
226 A PERSIAN INVITATION. 
 
 '64 owing to some victories he achieved over re- 
 belHous Turcomans east of Mazunderan. Our 
 invitation was worded as follows ; be it remembered 
 that he had never set eyes on us ! — The heading 
 " O high in place companion of greatness and 
 dignity, kind and bountiful friend." — "With re- 
 ference to the pleasure we experience by meeting 
 with kind friends, I beg that on the evening pre- 
 ceding Sunday, the 29th of Jemidee, one hour 
 after sunset, you will take the trouble of making 
 your friend happy by meeting with him and par- 
 taking of dinner. There is no further trouble. 
 Wednesday, 25 th of Jemidee." We rode out 
 through the ark, as the king's palace is called, to 
 the Sepah Salar's house out of town, and dis- 
 mounting, walked through several garden court- 
 yards to the reception-room, where we found our 
 host seated on a sofa at the top of the room, and 
 the various diplomatic or official magnates in order 
 around him. Kaleouns were brought in and carried 
 out twice before dinner was announced, each 
 servant presenting the pipe to his own master. 
 Frequently there are great contests about prece- 
 
PERSIAN DINNER. 227 
 
 dence outside as to the order they are to march in. 
 We observed that all the Persians present had adopted 
 the civilised custom of wearing shoes ; excepting a 
 major and lieutenant-colonel who had to stand in 
 the doorway, and behind the Sepah Salar at dinner, 
 who were in their stockings ! The dinner was a 
 perfect medley of European and Persian dishes, and 
 the wines tolerable. We received what we were 
 told was sherry at first, but upon swallowing the 
 wineglassful, discovered it to be brandy neat. 
 Bordeaux was also handed round, and then the 
 half-emptied glass re-filled with Malaga. We 
 dined with our hats on. Ours was a wide-awake, 
 not a graceful full-dress portion of costume ! The 
 adjutant-general and confidential adviser of the 
 Sepah Salar is an Armenian Christian. At the 
 conclusion, a plate containing clay in which jes- 
 samine and geranium blossoms were fixed was 
 placed before each guest, standing thus in lieu of 
 the old English rose water, as we were supposed to 
 take the flowers away to smell at ! We now passed 
 through courts crowded with servants jostling each 
 other and ourselves to two smaller rooms, open in 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 AW A BAB A. 
 
 front, with a colonnade extending into a large 
 garden, where we witnessed a display of fireworks 
 and the sending up of two fire balloons. The 
 grand finale consisted of a man running about and 
 twisting round, covered all over with squibs and 
 crackers of every description, a sort of Persian 
 fire king. On returning, a soldier of the regular 
 army had to accompany our large cavalcade in 
 order to procure us admittance into the ark. This 
 was only obtained on pronouncing the password for 
 the night; and during our progress through the 
 palace we were continually challenged by sentinels. 
 2oth. We have now got a Persian servant called 
 Awa Baba, which name, slightly modified, recalls 
 unpleasant recollections of the forty thieves ! His 
 son also accompanies us. Awa at present talks 
 about twenty words of English (which is our only 
 means of communication with him) indistinctly; 
 however we found him to improve as we got on. 
 By very special permission we were allowed to see 
 the crown jewels to-day. We started at noon, 
 and waded through a sea of mud, only partially 
 alleviated by the covered way in the bazaar, 
 
THE CROWN JEWELS. 229 
 
 slipping in our goloshes at every step. Of five 
 Europeans we were the only one who possessed 
 the luxury of an umbrella, and as it rained hard it 
 came in usefully. We went through the first 
 court of the palace, and were ushered up a very 
 narrow and extremely steep staircase, into a small 
 room, where we found the king's aide-de-camp 
 awaiting us. The designs on the walls here were 
 very well drawn, and the decoration more tasteful 
 than of ordinary. The chairs were of pure 
 chased gold, as also was a sort of huge dumbwaiter 
 that stood in one corner. Of the chairs the 
 Shah possesses forty, of the dumbwaiters nine ! 
 (Of course underneath the gold there are wooden 
 supports, unseen.) 
 
 After some tea, the jewels were brought in for 
 our inspection in detail. It would be endless and 
 impossible to attempt to describe a tithe of them 
 or even the impression they produced on our eyes. 
 Their value, putting a moderate estimate on them, 
 could not, in our own judgment and that of the 
 four gentlemen who saw them with us, by any 
 possibility be under forty or fifty millions of 
 
230 ORIENTAL PEARLS. 
 
 money ! that is if they were to be sold singly. 
 Of course, in the aggregate no fortune would 
 suffice to pay for them, and therefore their value 
 would be depreciated. We must attempt to 
 describe a few in the order they were shown to us. 
 An evidently French jewel case was brought in 
 first and placed on a table, round which we eagerly 
 gathered awaiting its opening. In this there were 
 some forty gold rings, each with a single diamond, 
 of which the largest (diamond, not ring) was some 
 one and a half inch round, and the smallest 
 a quarter of an inch. One with a large yellow 
 diamond. Two diamonds were placed as pendants 
 at the end of a necklace of pearls, and most grace- 
 fully, looking like two drops of dew. Two pearl 
 necklaces, each pearl perfectly round and white and 
 about the size of a large pea. In two little drawers 
 two or three more necklaces, the pearls this time 
 much larger ; and in the bottom drawer another, 
 of the largest pearls we had yet seen, arranged — 
 an oblong one and a perfectly round one alter- 
 nately, each, without the smallest exaggeration, 
 being the size of a sour cherry. 
 
THE BELTS. 23 1 
 
 This casket always follows the Shah wherever 
 he goes ; next came a collection of a dozen belts, 
 each surpassing the other in costliness and taste. 
 One of these had the fastening buckle, about eight 
 inches long and three broad, studded with perfect 
 rubies, each about half an inch round, set in gold. 
 Another diamonds only ; a third, the whole band 
 set in emeralds and diamonds and so on. We 
 then were shown four sabres ; all had the flat side 
 of the scabbard richly enamelled on gold ; one 
 was one blaze of diamonds on the hilt and scab- 
 bard ; another was studded with pearls like large 
 peas; a third was set with diamonds and other 
 stones to represent flowers. Two other necklaces 
 we were shown were about two and a half feet 
 long each, and formed of large emeralds, each 
 about an inch and a quarter long, alternating with 
 bunches of pearls. An aigrette presented by some 
 emperor of Austria was exquisitely worked as a 
 bouquet of flowers, in diamonds, with one large 
 amethyst set a jour. The last tray of jewels was 
 the " bonne bouche." On this we saw a belt of 
 pliant gold work, the buckle consisting of the cele- 
 
232 THE " DERIEHNOOR." 
 
 brated " Deriehnoor," or " sea of light ;" a diamond 
 perfectly flat except at the edges, and almost two 
 inches long by one and a quarter in breadth (?) ; it was 
 set round with other smaller diamonds ; with this 
 there were some bracelets of uncut rubies and 
 emeralds, quite as large as pigeons' eggs for the 
 most part. The largest turquoise we saw was 
 perfectly flat and about one inch by a half. 
 Two beautiful amethysts in silver settings. We 
 saw one of the royal crowns ; the other is kept in 
 the inner treasury in the Harem, which is only 
 opened once a year; on the top of this is the 
 famous ruby that belonged at one time to Aurung- 
 zebe, a good deal larger than a pigeon's egg and 
 uncut. The aigrette in front, something in the 
 style of the Prince of Wales' Feathers, is of dia- 
 monds (the largest is set as a pendant, alone) ; 
 between this and the red velvet cap of the crown 
 there is a plume of spun glass such as may be 
 bought for the sum of one penny at the Poly- 
 technic. A black velvet robe with diamond 
 buttons and frogs looked lugubrious but priceless ; 
 others, with the collar and sleeves completely 
 
THE TELEGRAPHIC CONVENTION. 233 
 
 covered with large pearls, were amongst some of 
 the various things we saw. We returned delighted. 
 
 After very prolonged negociations, the telegra- 
 phic convention between England and Persia is at 
 last concluded. The existing English staff to have 
 entire control over one wire for five years, when, 
 should the Persians have acquired the art of tele- 
 graphy, the whole to revert to them — always re- 
 serving the right of transmitting any messages 
 through it. At present the value of a message 
 from London to Kurrachee (the first Indian station), 
 is exactly £^, On the morning of our departure 
 Mr. Alison received a letter from an anonymous 
 Persian lady, stating that she wished to marry a 
 Frank ; she had no objection to change her 
 religion, and was young and handsome, but some- 
 what expensive in her tastes. Mr. Alison told us 
 it was not the first application of the kind he had 
 received. As we were just departing, here was a 
 chance for one of us gone ! 
 
 23 rd. For the last three days we were detained 
 in Teheran by the rainy weather; we hardly went 
 out of the house, excepting to Major Smith's, next 
 
234 FURTHER TRAVEL. 
 
 door — he is the superintendent of telegraphs in 
 Persia, a very agreeable and well-informed person 
 — or to take a tour in the garden. It is the drav^- 
 back (amongst many others) of a Persian town that 
 when the bazaars and any other sights there may 
 be to see are exhausted, you cannot go out for a 
 walk with any pleasure ; for just outside the walls 
 there is a bleak sandy desert, and even to reach 
 this you have to walk through endless uncomfort- 
 able and narrow streets, unless you have a horse or 
 a carriage, and these latter are so few in number 
 that they hardly come into consideration. After 
 bidding farewell to our hospitable entertainer and 
 the other members of the mission, we started at 
 12.30, as this was to be a short stage. Now we 
 are travelling in great luxury, having bought 
 wooden bedsteads, and we have also positively two 
 sheets, besides an embryo " batterie de cuisine." 
 The mountains that looked black and bare when 
 we entered Teheran, seventeen days ago, now form 
 a magnificent snow-capped range. We passed the 
 gilded shrine of old Abdulazeen on our left, and 
 steered (!) due south ; road bad from mud. We 
 
HOUSSEINABAD. 235 
 
 passed the deserted shrine of one Ibrahim, and some 
 of the immense irregularly circular tumuli which seem 
 peculiar to the plain of Teheran. None have been 
 opened within the memory of man we are told, as 
 permission is never given to what is here considered 
 an act of desecration. We saw also many small 
 ruined villages ; if we may form a theory as to the 
 cause of their desolation, we should say that the 
 vicinity of the seat of power and government 
 rendered extortion too easy here ! 
 
 Having sent on our baggage, and taken only 
 Awa Baba with us, we managed to lose our way, 
 as he had not the smallest notion in which direc- 
 tion our destination lay, although the village was 
 only twelve miles out of Teheran, where he lived, 
 and he had twice done this journey before ! How- 
 ever, after wandering over some ploughed fields we 
 were shown our village, at least the one where we 
 had intended to stop ; but we found our baggage 
 had proceeded another farsakh (or four miles) to 
 Housseinabad. The road between these two 
 points was so covered with salt, brought to the sur- 
 face probably by the heavy rain, that we seemed 
 
236 THE MALEK EL MOST. 
 
 to be traversing ground after a most heavy hoar 
 frost. 
 
 We found our baggage domiciled in a large 
 caravanserai, and our beds set up in two very 
 small rooms. Next to ours, in another room, par- 
 titioned off by loose bricks in the doorway, was a 
 quantity of cocks and hens. We distinctly over- 
 heard one of them snoring during the course of the 
 night, and at 4 a.m. the male portion of the com- 
 munity set up a simultaneous and long-continued 
 crow. Starting in the morning, we rode up a hill 
 and down again on through the Malek el Most or 
 " valley of the angel of death," a succession of very 
 barren ravines and small plains; the road very good. 
 A caravanserai is in course of construction at the 
 further end of the ravines, presumably to take the 
 sting from the angel aforesaid, but the name is an 
 exaggeration. Before entering the vale we passed an 
 ice-house just like a gigantic beehive, built of the 
 customary mud, in a cone in successive circular 
 steps ; also a fresh-water crab ; and, whilst in the 
 valley, Demavend at sunset glowed some time after 
 all else was shrouded in darkness. Night fell just as 
 
" POOLE DULLAK." 237 
 
 we were getting out of the valley, which certainly 
 is then very lonely, and after riding eleven hours 
 altogether we reached Houz-i-Sultaun, an immense 
 caravanserai, or manzil, as any place of customary 
 halt is called, where we stopped the night. Riding 
 on over the outskirts of the great salt desert, Deria 
 Caveer, we stayed at the posthouse of Poole 
 Dullak, or the "barber's bridge," a barber of 
 Teheran having repaired the bridge here at his 
 own expense. The small stream that flows beneath it 
 is brackish and bitter to the taste, like the salt that 
 lies about and of course impregnates the water. 
 Nevertheless, fish of the dace kind are found in it. 
 We passed a low range of hills before arriving. 
 Our room here is twelve feet square and has three 
 doors and as many windows to it; none of the 
 latter shut, and the former let in all winds that 
 blow. 
 
 A Persian officer whom we met here on his way 
 to Teheran was most urbane, and gave us some 
 cups of tea on our arrival, sending us a bottle of 
 Hamadan wine later. We returned the compli- 
 ment by sending him some brandy, of which he 
 
238 KOOM. 
 
 took a very little, and with rare courtesy said he 
 would not deprive us of it, as he was going where 
 there was plenty of it to be got, whereas we were 
 not. 
 
 We rode on in the morning, a sharp wind blow- 
 ing, across black undulating gravel hills, to Koom. 
 We saw the great gilt dome of the sepulchre of 
 Fatima " the immaculate " long before we arrived. 
 This mosque contains also the sepulchre of Futteh 
 Ali Shah, the " father of his people," at any rate 
 of five hundred of them, thus rivalling Mr. Car- 
 lyle's favourite Augustus the Strong of Poland ! 
 We walked into the bazaar, where we observed 
 nothing particular excepting that more than half 
 the people we met proclaimed themselves Mullahs 
 (priests) or Saids (descendants of the prophet), by 
 the colour of their turbans. Koom ranks as one 
 of the three holy cities of Persia, having deserved 
 the appellation of the " Abode of the pious." We 
 regret that the Persian of this is so badly written 
 in our diary as to preclude deciphering. Those 
 who have read Mr. Morier's amusing " Hadji 
 Baba " will recollect that it is here the self-styled 
 
THE MOSQUE OF FATIMA. 239 
 
 Hadji fled from Teheran to take " Bust," or sanc- 
 tuary ! We visited the exterior of the mosque, 
 which is of the usual shape ; the tiles on the dome 
 are not well joined together, but highly gilt. No 
 fire was to be lit in our room on account of the 
 smoke, which all obstinately persisted in mistaking 
 the way out by the chimney ; but we had to re- 
 main here all next day, as it poured drearily. 
 Whilst in Teheran we applied for an order to see 
 the tombs here, several Europeans having told us 
 that they had seen that of Futteh Ali; but we 
 were told that no order could be given, as it would 
 only cause a collision between civil and ecclesiastical 
 authorities. Perhaps, however, we might get per- 
 mission on the spot, by making interest with the 
 guardian. This however we were unable to do, 
 and we strongly doubt the desecration of the 
 mosque, by the profane tread of a Christian foot, 
 ever to have been allowed ! 
 
 We got off on the 28 th, riding first right 
 through the town, which is rather dilapidated, even 
 to three little mosques with extinguisher tops. On 
 one of these were perched at least seven generations 
 
240 CASHAN. 
 
 of Storks' nests. There are great quantities of these 
 birds about. We arrived at Pasangoor by a flat 
 road, it having taken us six hours to do sixteen 
 miles, owing to the mud. Next morning we rode 
 up an inclined plane, with Demavend behind us 
 all the while, and passed one oasis in the sur- 
 rounding barrenness, where one man was ploughing. 
 Here there were the remains of a gigantic castle, 
 whose mud walls were yet standing some thirty 
 feet high. The oasis in front enclosed by earthen 
 walls. The watch-tower at the gate still pre- 
 served slight traces of its former shape — tobacco 
 growing here. We then rode downwards to Sein 
 Sein, our halting-place. Next morning we left our 
 baggage to come on after us, and rode on to 
 Cashan, having a picturesque jagged range of low 
 mountains on our right, and behind these a snowy 
 range ; road good. On arrival we immediately 
 rushed into the bazaar, which we found very long and 
 with little in it. The copper ware is famous here, 
 cheap and well executed. The neighbourhood of 
 this large village is well cultivated, and there are 
 many smaller villages near the mountains. They 
 
GREAT DAM. 24 1 
 
 are built in this situation owing to the old fear of the 
 Turcomans, who used to make raids across the salt 
 desert : the mountains presented a refuge for the 
 inhabitants on these occasions. Some of the streets 
 are quite as well paved as any in the capital — no 
 very high meed of praise ! Some six miles west of 
 this place, on the slope of the hills, and surrounded 
 by trees, stands Theem, one of the many royal 
 palaces scattered over Persia. 
 
 On the 1st of December we started, buying 
 some things on our route through the bazaar, 
 and rode gradually up a stony plain, following 
 a little stream up into the mountains, where it 
 became a torrent, which we crossed and recrossed 
 several times, getting higher and higher until snow 
 began to lie under our horses' feet, and it became 
 bitterly cold. We came upon a huge dam of 
 masonry work, some twenty-five feet broad and 
 fifty to sixty high, across the ravine we were 
 threading, built up to bar the water of the tor- 
 rent from devastating its banks below during the 
 spring. Thus only a small portion of water was 
 allowed to descend at a time, the rest being kept 
 
242 KOHROOD. 
 
 in by the dam. At this time there was little 
 there, but we could distinctly see the water-mark 
 on the rocks, where the pent-up stream occasionally 
 forms a formidable and deep lake. At sunset, 
 the rosy rays struggling for a time on the snow 
 with the brilliant beams of a full moon were very 
 pretty, until the latter gained the upper hand, and 
 crowned the snowy tops with a silvery light. Up 
 and up, till we came to a valley richly cultivated 
 in terraces, and then rode through stone walls like 
 those in Daghestan, enclosing fruit trees of every 
 description ; through a rich orchard country, past 
 a small isolated mosque, finding our lonely path 
 by the light of the moon, as we had dismounted 
 to keep our blood in circulation. At length past 
 a large cemetery on the side of a hill, we gladly 
 entered Kohrood, and found the first house to be 
 the post, where we ensconce ourselves in a lower 
 room, making as large a fire as possible : fortunately 
 wood is not scarce. This village has all the 
 characteristics of a Caucasian one, the houses, 
 solidly built of mud and stones, stand one 
 above the other on the slope of the hill. 
 
PERSIA IN MINIATURE. 243 
 
 Starting again next morning, we rode up a 
 gradual incline through the mountains, all snow, 
 until our path appeared barred by a diagonal 
 mountain across the ravine. On approaching, we 
 saw a steep path which we went up and then 
 " topped " the pass, for after this we rode down a 
 valley which sometimes widened, sometimes nar- 
 rowed. Here the difference between a north and 
 south aspect was very distinctly visible, all the 
 snow having melted off the southerly mountains 
 whilst it remained on their northern slopes. We 
 went a short distance up hill again, and then 
 came on to a table-land, presenting on a small 
 scale all the features of that larger table-land 
 Persia — a small gravelly desert, then intersecting 
 ravines and higher hills on each side. At 4 we 
 reached a village, Zoog, where there is no post 
 station, so proceeded onwards by a by-path to 
 Beedush, of which the valley is cultivated. We 
 find here a diatribe against P**l's waterproof 
 boots. Certainly ours were heavy, clumsy, 
 and badly fitting, though made to order ; un- 
 bearably hot in sunshine, and deadly cold on 
 
 R 2 
 
244 UNEXPECTED RENCONTRE. 
 
 a cold day. However, no doubt we were 
 unfortunate. 
 
 On the 3rd we rode for four hours down a 
 shelving plain, nothing but camelthorn and some 
 other small plant growing on the wild waste 
 around. We then espied five horsemen galloping 
 towards us, who on approaching turned out to be 
 Mr. Walton, the then superintendent of telegraphs 
 at Ispahan, and Doctor Baker, the medical travel- 
 ling adviser to the telegraphic staff, with three 
 servants, each carrying an English fowling-piece. 
 They insisted on making us mount two of their 
 horses, after which we continued our course to 
 Moorchacoor, but on the plain off the road in 
 hopes of putting up a hare ; with the assistance of 
 two greyhounds and a retriever we accomplished 
 this, and had a short run, after which we entered 
 the village in triumph. Here we feasted on some 
 ducks Mr. Walton had shot in the morning. 
 
 4th. There is a considerable improvement in the 
 temperature here : it is almost mild, and poor Mr. 
 Walton is accordingly seized with recurring fever, 
 preventing his riding to the next station with us. 
 
AN ANTELOPE HUNT ! 245 
 
 He had kindly come some thirty miles out of Ispahan 
 to meet us. We started with the Doctor, and rode 
 to a rumed caravanserai, deserted on account of 
 robbers, where we breakfasted. Across a plain, 
 where cultivation had evidently been attempted 
 some years before, as the furrows testified, we 
 started a fox, which after giving us a run, got 
 away through a very dilapidated building. Still on 
 the plain, we got a run at full speed for at least 
 five miles over excellent ground, after some ante- 
 lopes. They however easily outran our horses, as 
 it is quite impossible to run them down in the 
 open. They made for some small hills on which 
 wild sheep are said to exist. We then rode twenty 
 miles to Gezd, where an English engineer cor- 
 poral on the telegraph staffs came in to visit us; 
 he was engaged in surveying the line and happened 
 to be halting in the same caravanserai as ourselves. 
 Watercourses and ruined manzils abound by the 
 roadside. The south wind was cold here. Next 
 morning our companions of yesterday came up, 
 and we rode on towards Ispahan. The high 
 pigeon-houses, like elevated Martello towers with a 
 
246 THE CHAR BAGH. 
 
 smaller one erected on the flat roof, are the princi- 
 pal objects that strike the eye besides ruins. We 
 soon beheld the outskirts of the ancient capital of 
 Persia, and some very tall slender pillars, in reality 
 minarets. We got into a lane between mud walls 
 along a canal or watercourse, here and there 
 riding through a small bit of bazaar; this lasted 
 for an hour's walk ; then through an archway 
 supporting rooms above, which had once been 
 gaily decorated in coloured tiles now mostly fallen 
 off. We entered the famous Char Bagh or " four 
 gardens," probably so called because it consists of one 
 magnificent alley of chinar trees. There are, how- 
 ever, four gardens on the other side of the wall on 
 each side. We rode along this for more than a 
 mile. The alley is composed of a narrow, ill- 
 paved stone road in the centre, then plots of ground 
 sown with grass, and scantily planted, about twenty 
 yards across ; then the superb oriental planes 
 and another paved road on each side, bounded 
 by a wall. There are occasional reservoirs and a 
 canal flowing across almost flush with the pave- 
 ment. At the alley's end we came to a fine massive 
 
JOOLFA. 247 
 
 brick bridge, whose surface certainly afforded the 
 best bit of road we had seen in Persia ; perfectly 
 level, consisting of stones with gravel laid upon 
 them. The bridge is about twenty yards broad; 
 on each side a covered way allows foot passengers 
 to walk under it ; horseshoe openings at every two 
 yards afford light to them. The river itself had 
 sunk into a very small channel when we crossed 
 it, and on the banks the trades of dyeing and 
 bleaching were being actively prosecuted. 
 
 After crossing we were in Joolfa, a colony of 
 Armenian Christians, whose ancestors were trans- 
 ported to this place from the village of the same 
 name on the borders of the Araxes. Here we 
 are installed in a house rented by the Indian 
 government for the use of one of the telegraph 
 officials who is now in Teheran, luckily for us. 
 There are many churches here, all of mud bricks, 
 with a semicircular dome ending in a point upon 
 which a small iron cross is fixed. 
 
 After resting one night, we rode out in the 
 morning over the long bridge. On each side of 
 the Char Bagh there are at intervals houses, origin- 
 
248 ISPAHAN. 
 
 ally inhabited by officials of the court, in the time 
 of Ispahan's greatest splendour. The Medressa, or 
 college, is situated about halfway down the avenue. 
 To-day we turned out of this, just below the col- 
 lege, and rode through gardens that must be per- 
 fectly lovely in the spring and summer, though of 
 course in December there was no foliage visible ; 
 indeed, in the daytime, we see frost lying on the 
 ground in shady spots, whilst in the sun it is quite 
 warm. Each of these gardens was attached to 
 some palace, of which more anon. We rode into a 
 large square, where we dismounted, and walked on to 
 see the bazaar. The first short arcade was devoted to 
 the workers in copper, and out of this we emerged 
 into an immense oblong space, the Maidan, that we 
 should guess at about six hundred yards by two 
 hundred. It has, however, been measured. One 
 side is taken up by low buildings, soldiers' quarters. 
 At the upper extremity rises the great mosque, an 
 imposing structure covered with the light blue 
 glazed tiles. The life and bustle at the sides of this 
 space were greater and more varied than anywhere 
 else in Persia that we had visited, and all sorts of 
 
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS. 249 
 
 trumpery were exposed for sale under small tents. 
 We then turned into the great bazaar. Mr. 
 Agenor, the British agent, an Armenian gentleman 
 educated in Bombay and speaking English fluently, 
 had procured us a guide from the governor, with- 
 out whose assistance we should infallibly have lost 
 our way. We marched about for some hours, 
 purchasing amongst other things a tiger-skin for 
 five shillings. The jewellers exhibit considerable 
 taste. The old armour of Ispahan is famous, but 
 much is now made in imitation of it. The Persian 
 painting on wood is chiefly carried on in this town. 
 The drawing of figures is always out of all perspec- 
 tive and proportion, but flowers and fruit are 
 rendered remarkably well. The calamdauns, or 
 inkstands, show the greatest variety in this respect ; 
 they are oblong narrow boxes, with a slide drawer, 
 in which is fixed a small Inkstand, and into which 
 the reed pens, knife, &c., are placed. 
 
 On the 7th we walked out with " Hakim " 
 Baker to visit the cathedral in this part of Joolfa. 
 We entered a court in front of the church, where 
 stands the belfry, a structure on four pillars in two 
 
250 ARMENIAN CATHEDRAL. 
 
 storys, like those at Etchmiadzeen. Under this 
 an Englishman lies buried, a Mr. Rich, who died 
 at Shiraz, whilst visiting Persepolis, being at 
 the time " Resident " at Bagdad. A priest monk, 
 dressed in a black apron as at Etchmiadzeen, 
 showed us into the cathedral. We were greatly 
 astonished at finding so much splendour at such a 
 distance from any other Christian community. 
 The whole of the walls are covered with oil paint- 
 ings, representing, some the life of our Saviour, 
 some scenes from the Old Testament, and others 
 martyrdoms. The largest of all is a Day of Judg- 
 ment of somewhat grotesque character. The style 
 of art is not high, as they were probably painted 
 by local Armenian artists 310 years ago, but some 
 of the pictures are evidently intended to imitate the 
 North Italian styles at their best periods. The 
 floor is carpeted, and the priest took off his slippers 
 before entering ; most exquisite tilework extends for 
 the height of five feet along the wall, then there is 
 a row of small paintings, about two-and-a-half feet 
 high and, above, the same height of gold ground, 
 painted with arabesque flowers and angels very 
 
NEW REFECTORY. 25 I 
 
 tolerably executed. The circular dome is coloured 
 blue and white, the high altar is painted with 
 miniatures of saints and cherubims ; above it is a 
 large picture of our Saviour, one of the best in the 
 church; only two missals on the altar, the treasury 
 being here naturally poor. The church is not large, 
 but no doubt sufficient for its congregation, more 
 especially as there are ten others in Joolfa. The 
 Doctor knew the monk — who seemed a lively 
 fellow — well, and he conducted us to see a new 
 refectory, building on one side of the monastery. 
 There are rooms with open arched passages on each 
 side for the summer air to pass through, and on 
 the roof there are two rooms, open on every side, 
 to serve as residences in the hot weather ; we got 
 on to the top of one of these, by means of a ladder, 
 and had a tolerable view of Joolfa, though Ispa- 
 han could not be distinguished owing to the 
 immense quantity of trees in it, and the excessive 
 flatness of the ground. We paid the (arch ?) 
 bishop, who is appointed by the Catholicos, a visit, 
 and found him sitting on a kind of sofa in a 
 small, well carpeted room. A most venerable and 
 
252 " BUST ! " 
 
 affable somewhat portly old man, with a magnifi- 
 cent beard, who welcomed us to Joolfa. The 
 conversation, however, between him and ourselves 
 languished considerably, as he only talked Arme- 
 nian. One of the monks translated his remarks 
 into Persian for the Doctor, who then made 
 English of it, and vice versa. The worthy 
 father gave us kaleouns and cigarettes, and the 
 entertainment wound up with fruit, sweetmeats, 
 and English ale ! 
 
 We were besieged in our rooms this morning by 
 curiosity dealers, all unmistakably of the Hebrew 
 persuasion. There really is considerable difficulty 
 in selecting from the quantity of pretty things they 
 bring. There is now a temporary governor of Ispa- 
 han, as the king's eldest son (but not heir apparent) 
 is in Teheran. About a week ago a baker in the 
 bazaar insulted one of the telegraph clerks, and 
 then took " Bust " in the house of the chief 
 Mullah ; another man, however, who had insulted 
 Doctor Baker, having been given up by the Mullah 
 himself, the baker got frightened, and leaving 
 while the police were not on the look out, posi- 
 
ENGLISH GATHERING. 2^;^ 
 
 tively sought sanctuary in Mr. Walton's stables 
 here! The stables are considered inviolable in 
 Persia. However the " Feringhee " do not admit 
 this, and the servants told the baker so ; thus he 
 escaped again, Mr. Walton being too ill in bed to 
 go out and chastise him. The " Ferashes " are 
 again after him, and he v^ill, no doubt, be caught 
 and soundly bastinadoed in the bazaar, pour en- 
 courager les autres. We are now seven English- 
 men who sit down to dinner together, a greater 
 number than Joolfa has ever, perhaps, before 
 contained within its walls. Lieutenant St. John, 
 the superintendent of telegraphs at Shiraz, has 
 arrived here on his way to Teheran, to take tem- 
 porary charge of the whole line ; whilst Colonel 
 Goldsmith and Major Smith have reached this 
 place from Teheran. These two gentlemen are 
 bound on a journey to Yezd (the great fire-wor- 
 shippers' city, to the east of this) and Kerman 
 (the carpet emporium, to its south), there sepa- 
 rating to discover a practicable route for a new 
 overland telegraph to India. We might have 
 joined them, but, alas ! non omnia possumus omnes^ 
 
254 PERSIAN SWEETMEATS. 
 
 we should not see Persepolis, if we went that way, 
 and so preferred our intended route. The expe- 
 dition was completely successful, and an additional 
 line of telegraph is most probably now in course of 
 construction. 
 
 We had roast porcupine for dinner one day, 
 the idea is unpleasant, but the flesh is like 
 that of very tasteless pork. Hulver, a sweet- 
 meat, looking like very thick, dirty, yellow putty, 
 consisting principally of sugar, honey, and treacle, 
 is not bad, and " gez " is delicious, made of what 
 is called manna, with almonds and cream, and 
 eaten when hard in round bits. 
 
( 2SS ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 On the loth we paid a visit to the telegraph 
 office which is exactly opposite the bridge over 
 the Sengarood, and a commodious well adapted 
 building. Having gazed with astonishment at the 
 working of the apparatus we walked across the 
 bridge, through the Char Bagh to the first palace, 
 about half way down. This was in a considerable 
 state of disrepair^ but a portrait of " the beautiful 
 Strachey," as one of the Englishmen attached to 
 Sir J. Malcolm's mission is still called in Persia, is 
 well preserved on the wall facing the side entrance; 
 and portraits of Futteh Ali Shah at diverse 
 pursuits, such as hunting, feasting, standing up, 
 sitting in state, and sitting in ordinary, are plen- 
 tiful. We previously entered the Medressa, or 
 college — a square surrounded by buildings once 
 appertaining to the students studying there, but 
 now untenanted excepting by stray cats with bushy 
 
256 THE CHEHEL SITTOON. 
 
 tails. On the right rises an enormous circular 
 roofed building, superbly decorated in coloured tile 
 work. Having once been a mosque one may 
 only enter it on taking off one's shoes. We 
 proceeded on to the Chehel Sittoon palace, or 
 that of the forty pillars. It has a portico supported' 
 on twenty pillars in front of it ; the other twenty 
 are to be imagined reflected in the water of the 
 tank before it. The only objection to this is that 
 there is no water in the tank. However, no doubt 
 there was, in the palmy days of Ispahan, In this 
 instance the appellation oi forty is thus far correct, 
 but that number, as is well known, is used to 
 denote an indefinite number in the East ! 
 
 The Shah allows 50,000 tomauns yearly 
 (about £20,000 in round numbers) towards keeping 
 up the royal buildings in this town, and not one 
 penny of it finds its way to them, being all absorbed 
 by the officials connected therewith. Thus these 
 noble structures are gradually decaying. This one 
 has stood some 250 years, with hardly any atten- 
 tion paid to it. Each of the pillars that support 
 the portico, is coated with the usual small mirrors, 
 
PERSIAN PAINTINGS. 257 
 
 and the roof is gaily painted — it seems to be at least 
 a hundred feet from the ground. The whole 
 has still a marvellous effect, and when new must 
 have been positively dazzling. The bases of the 
 pillars are of some coarse marble like fine granite 
 sculptured roughly into the forms of four lions 
 looking each way, and painted over. The walls of 
 the palace slant inwards, forming a room opening 
 out to the portico, and raised on two steps. This 
 is decorated with frescoes and mirrors. Then, 
 entering by one of the two low doors at the further 
 end of the room, we stand in the great hall, whose 
 walls are entirely covered with various large paint- 
 ings, representing scenes in the reign of Shah 
 Abbas, who is engaged in the same sort of pursuits as 
 Futteh Ali Shah in the other palace. The drawing 
 is of the most grotesque nature. One of the pictures 
 has been partly painted over with a portrait of the 
 present Shah in a rudimentary style of art. We 
 went up to the roof, and saw the solid construc- 
 tion of the palace ; some of the rafters were whole 
 chinar trees quite seven feet round and unhewn. 
 From thence we proceeded to the actual palace, where 
 
258 THE PALACE. 
 
 the king used to live when this was a royal city. 
 Here we saw a room entirely paved and pannelled 
 with marble, with an enormous sash window of 
 coloured glass admitting very little light, a 
 bath in the middle and in the centre of this a 
 marble throne, forming a cool retiring-place in 
 the heats of summer ; the roof was supported by 
 columns, whose pedestals of marble were carved in 
 four female draped forms, each holding a hideous 
 tragic mask in the left hand. Fountains used once 
 to play out of their mouths. Behind the bath we 
 entered a room with beautiful windows — a sort of 
 filigree of plaster of Paris, with designs and Persian 
 characters executed in small pieces of coloured 
 glass. Thence into a large court, on one side of 
 which we entered a large room, open in front, whose 
 walls were decorated by scenes out of Persian history. 
 Hence up a very high square tower, built over an 
 archway leading into the Maidan. From its sum- 
 mit we had an excellent view of the town and 
 surrounding country. Ispahan appeared to extend 
 for at least two miles around us, the only very 
 conspicuous building was the grand mosque, which 
 
"the sticks !" 259 
 
 was undergoing repairs, (and had been for the last 
 thirty-five years ! ) and the citadel right in front of 
 us, not greatly elevated above the town, mud walls 
 as usual ; below us lay the great square, with the 
 execution pole in the centre. The criminal con- 
 demned to death used to be hauled up to the top 
 of this by means of ropes, and then let fall sud- 
 denly on the hard pavement, — it appeared to be 
 about 80 feet high. When an individual is bastina- 
 doed in Persia the punishment is called " giving 
 him the sticks," and the number of strokes is not 
 counted, but the number of sticks broken on the 
 beatee^s feet by the violence. Thus, 50 sticks 
 being a mild punishment, the number of strokes 
 may amount to some 700 in that case. When the 
 sticks used are of pomegranate wood 500 of them 
 are sometimes broken over the criminal, but when 
 they are of palm-tree the punishment is so much 
 severer that the number of sticks is considerably 
 reduced. The panorama of mountains girding the 
 whole plain, and encircling it as it were with a 
 barrier only passable at certain points, is very 
 
 beautiful. One mountain, called by Franks " Hadji 
 
 S 2 
 
26 O THE DESERTED BAZAAR. 
 
 Baba's," has a regular top-knot on its summit, look- 
 ing like the cupola of a mosque. Descending, we 
 strolled through the Maidan; five pieces of ordnance 
 stood here in front of a guardhouse on the right. 
 One of these was presented to Persia by Sir J. 
 Malcolm, and has the East India Company's mark 
 upon it; the others were either taken from the Turks 
 or cast at Tabreez. We walked back through a 
 ruined portion of the town, emerging on the Char 
 Bagh through a deserted bazaar leading at right 
 angles into it. Here, some fifty years ago, an 
 insurrection, headed by the Imaum Juma (the chief 
 spiritual authority), was quelled, as the governor of 
 the town got some Armenian artillerymen to plant 
 cannon at the entrance of this straight bazaar, and 
 fired down it on the dense mass, killing all who 
 were there. Ever since this is "the deserted 
 bazaar." N.B. The object of the insurrection, to 
 get the governor turned out, was accomplished ! 
 We dined with the British agent in the evening ; 
 the (Arch ?) bishop was there and afterwards played 
 at the English game of "horse-racing." Some 
 Ispahan wine tasted as sweet as Malaga, but was 
 strongly brandied. 
 
SHAKING minarets! 26 1 
 
 On the 1 2th, we all rode out to see the " Shak- 
 ing Minarets," probably distant relations of the 
 "Minarets" that "waved o'er the plains of 
 Stamboul," of Bon Gaultier. We crossed the 
 river by a bridge about a mile higher up than the 
 long one, and wound along mud walls and a canal 
 sunk some 1 5 feet deep, into a small village, where 
 stands the mosque over which these phenomena 
 are built. We entered a court, where are a few 
 tombs, and on one side, the mosque. On each side 
 of a recess, some 15 feet deep, rise the minarets on 
 solid brick foundations; they have lately been put 
 into repair. There is a stone tomb about 7 feet 
 high in the recess, and various offerings, like old 
 clothes and spinning shuttles, hang above it. From 
 the ground to the top of the minarets the elevation 
 may be about 130 feet, but the minarets proper 
 only rise some 30 feet above the main building, on 
 each side facing the court. They are, perhaps, ten 
 feet round and the ascent is by a very steep spiral 
 staircase, then four windows. A man went up and 
 putting one foot on a window-sill as a fulcrum, 
 then clasping one of the brickwork window-frames, 
 began to rock himself to and fro. They (the 
 
262 ARTESH GOOR. 
 
 minarets) really sway about in a wonderful manner, 
 so that a tremulous motion is observable even at the 
 base of the whole building down in the court. We 
 went up one of them and felt exceedingly uncom- 
 fortable while rocking ourselves about. In front of 
 us rose the " Artesh Goor," or fire-mountain, a rocky 
 isolated conical hill, of no great elevation, with a 
 ruined building on the top, said to have been a 
 great fire-worshipping temple in days gone by. 
 We are informed that Ispahan lies some 3500 feet 
 above sea level, and Shiraz 1000 feet higher. 
 We are endeavouring to get our old muleteers to 
 take us to Shiraz, as they themselves offered 
 some time ago, giving them a little more than the 
 merchants would ; still we had great difficulty in 
 getting them to come, till Mr. Agenor got the 
 deputy governor to send a policeman after them 
 and make them go, nolens volens^ for a fair remune- 
 ration of course, part of which, no doubt, the 
 " Ferash " pocketed. Thus affairs are carried on in 
 this favoured land ! 
 
 Yesterday a foot messenger was despatched to 
 Teheran with letters. He is expected to do the two 
 
HASHT BEHESHT. 263 
 
 hundred and eighty miles in, at most, seven days. 
 We once more started on our travels on the 1 4th, 
 bidding farewell to the large company assembled 
 and especially to Colonel Goldsmith, a man uniting 
 rare kindliness of manner to benevolence of heart. 
 Having sent on our baggage, as we had to do 
 thirty-six miles, we rode out of Joolfa, finding 
 the outskirts in ruins, and walked steadily up a 
 sloping hill, thus obtaining a perfect view of the 
 town, which lay stretched out before us as far as 
 we could see east and west, a confused mass of 
 mud buildings relieved by tall leafless trees and an 
 occasional lacquered tiled mosque. The Char Bagh, 
 we found,, extended for another mile on the right 
 bank of the Sengarood, and the " Hasht Behesht," 
 or eight paradises, the gardens on either side of the 
 wall of the Char Bagh, also extend to this side. 
 On our right rose some rocky hills ; a little way 
 up one of these there was a picturesque summer- 
 house with a rock parapet. We soon came to an 
 almost perpendicular path, steps being occasionally 
 hewn out of the rough shiny slate-coloured rock. 
 This lasted for about sixty yards, and so precipitous 
 
264 MAYAR. 
 
 was the ascent, that our saddle quietly slipped off 
 our horse with ourselves upon it and deposited 
 us on the ground ! The rocks around appeared of 
 primitive formation, and well battered and water- 
 worn. On the barren plain before us, we saw large 
 herds of antelopes, and far to the east very many 
 towers, probably for pigeons. Just out of Ispahan 
 we passed an immense graveyard on the slope 
 of a hill, the stones dark and massive. As it 
 was getting dusk we reached Mayar, and taking 
 the wrong side of the wall, we wandered along 
 it to find an entrance through ruins, one being 
 that of a post-house, but we could not stay there ^ 
 so we rode on to a khan of most magnificent 
 appearance ; two lofty galleries with rooms leading 
 to the entrance of the khan proper — an immense 
 quadrangle, with a broken reservoir in the centre. 
 This being also deserted, excepting by two or three 
 mule drivers, we, after enquiries retraced our steps, 
 and at last found our Chappar Khanee at the other 
 side of the wall. 
 
 Next morning, on continuing our ride along the 
 level Valley, we saw that a steep rock rose just 
 
KOMISHAH. 265 
 
 above the village. A house in front of us, that 
 appeared quite close at hand at our start, turned 
 out fully twelve miles distant, so clear was the air 
 hereabouts. After passing this we left on our 
 left-hand a village principally tenanted by pigeons, 
 at least to judge by the quantity of towers therein, 
 and rode on through a narrow valley to Komishah, 
 which we reached at four p.m., immediately 
 rushing out to wander through the small bazaar, 
 where nought but heavy white slippers and sweet- 
 meats of a dirty description, attracted our notice. A 
 mile outside we passed a mosque, with magnificent 
 brickwork outbuildings and a large caravan- 
 serai attached to it. Quantities of little pointed 
 stones at the head of each grave here marked the 
 situation of an extensive cemetery ; many almond 
 trees and liquorice shrubs grew about. 
 
 Next morning we rode through luxuriant rice 
 plantations and richly cultivated fields for some 
 sixteen miles. Many streams of drinkable water 
 intersected the soil and produced this unwonted 
 fertility, little villages dotted the valley in all direc- 
 tions, After this, however, we got on a wild 
 
266 ABADA. 
 
 and barren flat plain, over which we rode for 
 twenty-two miles to the caravanserai of Ameenabad. 
 Here we only found two individuals crouching round 
 a brushwood fire in one of the rooms. The interior 
 court was octagonal ; we selected the cleanest room 
 on the west side, this was full of dung, which we 
 had to clear out before installing ourselves. 
 
 Early on the 17th we started again to ride over 
 some barren plains at the end of which we per- 
 ceived what appeared to be a rise in the ground. On 
 approaching, however, we found a broad ravine 
 between it and ourselves, which we had to cross ; 
 then ascending to a dreary higher plain, very cold, 
 imtil we reached the post-house at Shoolgestaun ; 
 we had thus come 120 miles in four days, very fast 
 caravan journeying. 
 
 Next day we rode for five and a half hours over 
 the same dead level and halted at Abada. We found 
 the gates shut in our faces, but being foreigners 
 were admitted after much knocking and precau- 
 tionary measures. A curious state of things reigned 
 here. The English engineer attached to the inter- 
 mediate telegraph station at this small village told 
 
A LOCAL REVOLUTION. 267 
 
 US that the governor of Shiraz had lately 
 appointed a new governor of Abada, whilst the 
 old one was still in office, he having rendered him- 
 self in some way obnoxious. Strange to say, the 
 inhabitants took the part of the old governor and 
 determined to resist the new man, so that the gates 
 were closed and the inhabitants on the alert day 
 and night. The telegraph station only afforded 
 one room fourteen feet by six in which the super- 
 intendent slept ; so we had to proceed to a caravan- 
 serai just outside the gates. Now, the " Kat Koder " 
 of this village may have been a very estimable gentle- 
 man, and no doubt was, as the inhabitants backed 
 him up ; but this caravanserai was the worst we had 
 yet seen ; a decrepit mud building with a dead wall 
 on one side, and stables on the others ; one of 
 the stables was cleaned out for us, and as there 
 was no fire-place, we lighted a fire in the centre of 
 the room. This smoked so abominably that we 
 had to give even that up, and there we were in a 
 little dirty room with a huge opening as a door, 
 no fire, and freezing hard outside. We observed 
 some little boys gambling for halfpence with" nux" 
 
268 SOORMUCK. 
 
 at the door of a mosque. The wooden spoons of 
 Abada are celebrated for the delicacy of their 
 carving. 
 
 Numerous villages, v^e observed next morning, 
 studded the plain. About twelve miles out we 
 came upon some two hundred men (most of them 
 armed with matchlocks, or sticks with iron knobs), 
 in detached groups surrounding a walled village ; 
 we were told that these were Abadians, who had 
 come out thus far to arrest the new obnoxious 
 governor, who was ensconced therein, and held an 
 involuntary prisoner. The matter was referred to 
 the telegraph, as the new man swore that the Shah 
 gave him the appointment in consideration of a 
 douceur of 12,000 Tomauns (just ;^5ooo). No 
 doubt the sum was exaggerated, but there might be 
 truth at the bottom of the statement. We, early, 
 reached Soormuck, and for some time searched in 
 vain for a hole to lay our heads in, as all the 
 caravanserais were crammed. At last we got a small 
 room in the post-house, where we warmed our- 
 selves as best we could with burning charcoal. Just 
 outside we passed a most massive mud-brick build- 
 
DEHBEED. 269 
 
 ing (the corners so jagged by the hand of time that 
 we doubted whether it was sexagonal or square), 
 apparently an old Persian fort. On the 20th 
 we rode up a gradual incline, the valley getting 
 narrower. It snowed during the night, and as we 
 progressed upwards, we came upon a patch or two 
 of snow, then it began to lie an inch thick, and 
 around Khana Khora, our post-house, it lay at 
 least two inches in depth. A bitter north wind 
 blowing all the time. Next morning we soon got 
 into a foot's depth of snow, then into deeper drifts ; 
 we followed the tracks of an immense caravan and 
 overtook it, passing with some difficulty. Then 
 only two horsemen had gone on before us, so we 
 followed their tracks, and at last, after a deal of 
 floundering about, we reached Dehbeed. The road 
 rose most of the way. 
 
 At this place the caravan road from Yezd to 
 Shiraz joins ours, so that the traffic is increased, 
 and we found next morning that the snow had 
 been tolerably trodden down on the path. 
 
 We followed a slightly ascending, but tolerably flat 
 path for five hours, until we reached a lonely caravan- 
 
270 A LONG MARCH. 
 
 serai, where our muleteers had wished us to stop. 
 We thought, however, that this was too close to our 
 starting point, and determined to push on, so we 
 ascended a steep mountain, coming at its summit 
 to a flat of small extent, and then up another steep. 
 The sun was just setting, and the path became so 
 slippery that our horse fell down with us at 
 intervals. At last we reached a level winding 
 road which we followed for some hours (hills on 
 each side of us), where we were far from any 
 human habitation. We were walking by ourselves 
 to keep the blood in circulation, and rather in front 
 of W. and Awa Baba, when we suddenly heard the 
 voices as of many men and women laughing, and 
 the barking of dogs, breaking in upon the stilly 
 night. The owners could not have been within miles 
 of us, but the snow acted as a conductor of sound. 
 We had been told that Moorgaub was only twelve 
 miles from the lonely caravanserai, so after marching 
 for six hours longer, we began to think that it ought 
 to be in sight, but no signs; the brushwood on the 
 hills gradually increased from little stumps to the 
 size of tolerable trees looking like whitethorn. 
 
MOORGAUB. 271 
 
 At length, at nine p.m., we reached some houses, 
 and here we learned, to our disgust, that we had 
 passed Moorgaub six miles back, although we had 
 not observed any habitation before. We got off our 
 horses and crouched for a short time before a fire 
 kindled by some muleteers, reflecting whether it 
 were better to stay here or go back. At last, rather 
 reluctantly, we went back, obtaining a guide to 
 show us the way. At eleven p.m. we reached 
 the post-house, off^ the high road, and there found no 
 traces of our baggage. We lighted a fire and waited, 
 but the night passed without anything to eat being 
 obtainable, and a Persian coat was our sole bed. In 
 the morning, till 3 p.m., we amused ourselves 
 by squatting in front of the fire ; then our baggage 
 arrived. Our servant and the muleteers had slept 
 out on the mountains all night, as they said that 
 the mules were unable to proceed. 
 
 Early in the morning of Christmas Eve we 
 heard some shepherds, who " were watching their 
 flocks by night," playing on their rough curved 
 cowhorns very melodiously, much more so than 
 any Persian musicians we had heard before, their 
 
272 RUINS. 
 
 melodies being generally very unmelodious ; these 
 shepherds, however, performed tunes rather like 
 the " Ranz des Vaches." 
 
 We left at 9 with scant regret, and rode 
 for an hour before coming on the broad path 
 again. We soon reached the village we had 
 already visited two nights before, and in half an 
 hour came upon the first ruins really deserving 
 that name that we had seen in Persia. These 
 were two blocks of stone at least nine feet square, 
 hollow inside, and placed as if to support an arch. 
 There being a mound close behind them we 
 thought this might have been the entrance to 
 some large temple, though the mound is only 
 composed of shapeless stones. On one of these 
 pedestals (?) lay a smaller stone, and by the side of 
 the other a large block cut into steps, as if to allow 
 of reaching the summit of the pedestal. It now began 
 to snow to add to the forlornness of the scene. 
 Some five hundred yards beyond, to the left, we 
 observed some columns, so rode up to them, and 
 discovered four pillars partially standing, square 
 and hollowed out; between these stood another, some 
 
THE TOMB OF CYRUS. 273 
 
 forty-five feet high, perfectly round and smooth, 
 composed of three pieces, each piece standing on 
 the other by its own weight and all of them sup- 
 ported on a round dark-coloured stone only a 
 foot in thickness and about half a foot broader than 
 the column. This evidently marked the site of a 
 forum, or other public space in a flourishing city. 
 The plain is supposed to contain the ruins of 
 Pasagarda, and it is evident that a large town was 
 once located here. We saw flocks of wild pigeons, 
 ducks, storks, starlings, and crows about. 
 
 Riding on we came to the miserable village of 
 Madre-e-Suleiman, where stands the reputed tomb 
 of Cyrus. Some of the huts are built on older 
 foundations, and in their midst is a square space 
 surrounded by upright cut stones. A mud wall 
 built between the intervals of smooth stone columns, 
 which yet stand some eighteen feet high, sur- 
 rounds the tomb, which is raised on six square 
 layers of stones, each layer being smaller than the 
 other, so as to form high stairs to the little stone 
 parallelogram on the summit. Snow was lying 
 
 on these, making the ascent rather difficult as each 
 
 T 
 
^74 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 Step was four feet high and very slippery. We man- 
 aged to crawl up, and entered a little smoke- 
 coloured room, of which the walls appeared to be 
 each in one piece, though outside there are divisions, 
 perhaps only chiselled. However, the place has been 
 described frequently. The interior walls have par- 
 tially crumbled in; round the lower portion an inscrip- 
 tion runs forming a frieze ; nothing inside, excepting 
 some of the shuttle-like tin offerings. At the right- 
 hand of the door is an inscription in Arabic (?) Some 
 modern grave-stones are scattered about outside. 
 
 Mounting again, we soon rode into a wild and 
 picturesque defile. The romance of the scene, how- 
 ever, was sadly weakened by the snow which fell 
 faster than we ever remember seeing it fall before. 
 We followed a rushing stream which had watered 
 the plain of Pasagarda. At one place the path 
 was chiselled out of the solid rock, when the defile 
 got too narrow to allow of a path by the stream. 
 This we thought very probably coeval with the 
 remains we had left behind us, as modern Persians 
 would never have been at so much trouble, but 
 would have waded through the torrent. We rode 
 
KUMEENABAD. 275 
 
 on and on till night fell, then our beasts all had a 
 tumble in succession, our carpet bags fell into some 
 water, and we lost our way. After some wander- 
 ing about, we luckily descried the walls surround- 
 ing the gardens near Kumeenabad, and soon after 
 those of the village. We found the gate closed, but 
 by dint of knocking we obtained admittance. 
 It had taken us ten hours to perform twenty-four 
 miles, but we kept our baggage safely in view all 
 day, mindful of our last day's experience. On 
 entering the village we found that, whilst on 
 horseback, we could see over the roofs of all the 
 houses in it, so low were they. After much search, 
 a room was found above the gateway. One 
 part of the wall was broken down, and the door 
 would not close, but it was better than nothing, so 
 we lighted a fire in the middle of the room, and 
 killed a kid, of which we eat a portion within half 
 an hour of its slaughter. We bought a duck 
 yesterday and are carefully preserving it for 
 Christmas day. W., to-day, by a stroke of 
 genius invented a plan for keeping ourselves 
 warm in our beds which had got rather wet 
 
 T 2 
 
276 A MERRY Christmas! 
 
 during our travel — we put lighted charcoal under 
 them ! 
 
 Christmas Day. — W. caught rather a severe cold 
 yesterday (no wonder), so we determine to rest 
 here to-day. Perhaps a description of the room 
 in which we passed this day of rejoicing, 1865, 
 may not be inappropriate. At any rate it affords 
 us some useful occupation, of which there is no 
 over abundance. Well, — our room is twenty feet 
 long by eight broad : the door in the centre of 
 one of the long walls, and our beds in opposite 
 corners, with their heads to the short walls. 
 Above W. there is a small cross-shaped opening and 
 above that two square ones about a foot large, the 
 only windows in the place. Our system is that 
 on alternate days we choose which corner we 
 prefer ; this was our choice, and therefore farthest 
 from the windows. The walls are brick plastered 
 over with mud, and with recesses about a foot 
 deep and four square along them. The wall 
 opposite the door has bulged in, and part has 
 fallen into the room, the floor of which is com- 
 posed of broken bricks and mud. The roof is 
 
SUMPTUOUS ABODE ! 277 
 
 supported by rafters, upon which coarse matting is 
 laid, and above that again, mud. The walls, how- 
 ever, do not reach the roof at all points, but have 
 crumbled away. Cobwebs abound. There is no 
 fire-place, so we light our fire in the centre of the 
 room opposite the door ; somehow it does not 
 smoke much. We are sitting on a small box 
 against the wall by the door and the fire, some- 
 times reading Murray's Handbook for Syria and 
 Palestine (a useful book here !) carefully through. 
 Outside there is another and larger room, but 
 with only three walls ; however it seems to keep 
 out the wind more or less ; outside this again is a 
 mud platform, and a rotten staircase descending 
 into one of the streets of the village. Our left 
 wall is also that of the town. It is thawing to- 
 day, so to add to our comfort the melting snow 
 begins to drip through the roof in most eccentric 
 style, now sensibly falling on the floor where it 
 can do no harm, now inundating our carpet bags, 
 then seeking to find a watery bed in our own, and 
 anon attempting to extinguish our fire ! The 
 landscape without is essentially wintry ; the village 
 
278 OUR PLUM PUDDING. 
 
 half snowed up, and all the hills close around as 
 white as a winding-sheet. Kumeenabad is only 
 some hundred yards square and wretchedly poor ; 
 the inhabitants are said to have been much op- 
 pressed by the Governor of Shiraz. Some of the 
 bread baked here is very good, very white and 
 crisp, as thin as a wafer and baked in round pieces 
 about two feet in diameter. We set some nooses, 
 out of our horses' tails, for sparrows, but most 
 ineffectually ! We determined to get up a plum 
 pudding at any cost, so with the help of nine eggs, 
 a little mutton fat, flour and raisins, and a dirty 
 silk pocket-handkerchief, we turned out something 
 that, with a little lighted brandy, gave us the idea 
 of one. We wished ourselves a merry Christmas 
 and a happy New Year, the former rather half- 
 heartedly, the latter in hope of realisation. 
 
 Next morning we rode on again, and in about 
 an hour entered a most romantic gorge. The aspect 
 of the sky was very lowering, until at a turn in the 
 defile the sun shone out. Five hours' riding 
 through this, and down a shelving plain, brought 
 us to a good-sized village, when we struck off at 
 
TACHT I TAOUS. 279 
 
 right angles, turning from east to south down 
 a valley. The road wound about much in order to 
 avoid a little stream. On coming to an abrupt 
 turn to our left, we were upon Tacht i Taous, or 
 " the peacock's throne," and saw some large hewn 
 stones, just off the road, which apparently consti- 
 tuted the remains of some small temple ; then to 
 the right behind a little hillock some more hewn 
 stones, with a small fluted column in two pieces 
 with a shapeless capital, standing amongst them. 
 Riding on to another abrupt left-hand turn, we 
 suddenly emerged on an immense circular plain, 
 that of Merdusht, and the ruins of Persepolis 
 burst upon our view. They were now some three 
 half miles off on our left, and the high rock 
 exactly behind took off somewhat from their 
 grandeur, so that we are bound to confess to a 
 feeling of disappointment at first sight. Two miles 
 farther we came to Kinara, our halting-place. We 
 again waited in vain for our baggage, and passed 
 an uncomfortable night on the floor, huddling 
 over the fire. Rather unrefreshed, we got on horse- 
 back again in the morning, and accompanied by a 
 
28o TACHT I RUSTAM. 
 
 guide — some inhabitant who boasted of a " yaboo " 
 or pony — we set off to visit Tacht i Rustam and 
 Tacht i Jumsheed, or the " thrones " of the in- 
 dividuals named ; the latter the modern Persian for 
 Persepolis. We discovered that we had passed 
 Rustam's throne yesterday, leaving it some five 
 miles on our right ; but we had hardly observed 
 it as it was so far off. Now we cut across a 
 country abundantly supplied with running streams. 
 We crossed the stream we followed yesterday, 
 wading it at a ford, and soon came to a village where 
 our guide procured men with ropes for the scaling 
 of the Tacht. The streams swarmed with snipe 
 and plover, and had we had a gun, we might have 
 bagged them at the rate of six dozen an hour. 
 A mile from the village we alighted from our 
 horses, in front of the four memorials of departed 
 greatness. A curious square stone building stands 
 in front of them ; three of the memorials are on 
 one surface of a rock, and one on a projecting 
 side of the same. Each of them is hewn deeply 
 into the rock at a considerable elevation from the 
 ground, so as to present a flat surface, which is all 
 
THE TOMBS OF KINGS. 28 1 
 
 sculptured into figures and cuneiform inscriptions. 
 There is a door in the centre of each lower compart- 
 ment, — but luckily they have been very often 
 described, especially by Sir R. K. Porter, who also 
 describes Persepolis at great length. 
 
 Now one man contrived to climb up the per- 
 pendicular wall, probably " hanging on by his 
 eyelids," till he got to a projecting shelf below 
 the centre Tacht. Then he pulled another man 
 up, and both of them dragged us up by a horse- 
 hair rope fastened round our waist. We were 
 told to take off our boots previously, so as to be 
 able to stick our toes into crevices in the rock, 
 but this was of little use, as we were dragged up 
 bodily! There was a very long cuneiform in- 
 scription on the outside surface, and on entering 
 by the low door we found ourselves in a large 
 room, all excavated in the solid rock ; four deep 
 compartments were cut further into the interior 
 wall ; in each of these, three excavations like baths 
 with slabs to cover them — these were all broken. 
 They are supposed to be the tombs of kings. 
 
 We then rode across to Persepolis. The hill 
 
282 PERSEPOLIS. 
 
 before which stand the ruins forms a fine natural 
 quarry of itself; the formation (in blocks) being 
 like that near Torquay in the bay. One block 
 that the builders had cut out and left on their 
 way to the buildings is still to be seen where it 
 was originally quarried. On approaching, the 
 grandeur of the ruins developed itself. There is 
 a huge platform formed entirely of hewn stones ; 
 a magnificent double flight of steps up to this, each 
 step not more than four inches high. On this 
 artificial platform are the remains, to which it would 
 be impossible to do justice under ten pages. The 
 cuneiform inscriptions are numerous, and we also 
 observed more in the snow, these latter the impress 
 of pigeons' feet ! Fronting the staircase stand two 
 immense winged bulls about twenty-four feet apart, 
 forming the entrance to the area behind. Below 
 these, on their pedestals, are cut the names of most 
 of the travellers who have visited these ruins — the 
 vast majority were English. C. Niebuhr, 1765, 
 and Franklin, 1787, close together; a Mr. Becher, 
 1704, was the oldest in date, and the most 
 prominent a M, Emile Bernay de Paris — 
 
THE SCULPTURES. 283 
 
 as if Mr. Snooks were to add of London to his 
 aristocratic cognomen ! 
 
 In the rock above are excavated two more such 
 monuments as at Tacht i Rustam. The sculptures 
 remaining are all in excellent drawing, and some 
 of them exquisitely finished. Eleven columns of 
 the great hall are still standing, and two others 
 front the staircase behind the winged bulls, thus 
 thirteen in all, the same number that were stand- 
 ing forty years ago. The actual living rooms 
 of the palace were apparently to the right ; the 
 side of the double flighted staircase leading up 
 to these is exquisitely carved in basreliefs repre- 
 senting a long procession. The chief incident 
 sculptured in all directions appeared to be that of 
 a man catching hold of a lion by a forelock and 
 sticking a sword into his (the lion's) stomach ; with 
 another representing a king with a well-trimmed 
 flowing beard, having an umbrella held over 
 him by a satrap, another attendant in front. 
 The stone out of which these figures are carved 
 admits of a very high degree of polish : probably 
 the whole was formerly polished ; now it is only 
 
284 BUND AMEER. 
 
 SO in a few places, and these are darker than 
 the rest. 
 
 As we stood here upon the spot, — in the very 
 dwellings of the proudest monarchs of ancient 
 times, — whence orders had issued planning the 
 greatest expeditions ever known, our thoughts turned 
 involuntarily upon the degeneracy, the decay of 
 modern Persia. Alas, how fallen ! The stream 
 we crossed going to Tacht i Rustam is called the 
 Kour Ab, or water of Cyrus, thus perpetuating the 
 memory of the founder of Persian greatness — the 
 only memorial, by the way. This falls into the poet's 
 stream, the princess river ^ Bund Ameer, which we 
 crossed on a bridge whose ascent was as nearly as 
 possible at right angles to the road and the top 
 flat. The stream though lacking (at least here) 
 the well-known " Bower of roses," was far the 
 largest we had yet seen in Persia. At this point its 
 banks were desolate ; it rushes rapidly through the 
 three arches of the bridge, just where we left the 
 plain of Persepolis, or Merdusht. A ridge of rock on 
 the right. The mountains surrounding the plain 
 are most picturesque. The best view is perhaps 
 
SHIRAZ. 285 
 
 that from the platform of Persepolis. Three hills 
 on the right were most curiously shaped, rising into 
 rocky tablelands with perpendicular cliffs, snow on 
 all of them. We soon reached Zirgoon, where we 
 halted that night; just above the village, on the left 
 were some high steep rocks, along which goats were 
 climbing seeking their very scanty pasturage. 
 
 Leaving again next morning at nine, we began 
 to ascend after an hour's ride. In three hours 
 more we reached an isolated caravanserai, Barjgar, 
 and soon after came to a winding descent, which 
 became rather abrupt, till at a turn we saw a 
 large heap of stones in the centre of the path 
 a little above us, and on reaching this our gaze 
 fell suddenly on Shiraz. The heap had been 
 raised by wayfarers like ourselves, who coming 
 here in sight of their wished-for goal, had cast 
 a stone upon it as a memorial. Indeed the 
 sight was lovely : we were looking down a 
 gully on to the plain, where the town lay 
 stretched out before us. At the foot of the hill we 
 were standing on, rose two groves of tall, dark, full- 
 foliated cypress trees surrounded by walls, between 
 
286 THE PLAIN OF SHIRAZ. 
 
 which ran the broad and perfectly straight road, 
 ending in the town, the colossal blue dome of 
 the chief mosque the most striking object. The 
 plain was dotted all over with buildings, surrounded 
 by picturesque though gloomy cypresses. The 
 hills on the opposite side of the plain stood 
 out fine and massive, all covered with deep 
 snow. We passed a clean new house, with open 
 rooms approached by a broad flight of steps, on 
 our left, and on descending found orange trees 
 growing plentifully in the gardens. A large grove 
 of cypresses on the left formed four straight inter- 
 secting alleys ; another grove a little further on. 
 In the morning we had sent our servant JafFer on 
 with a letter to Mr. Babington, the temporary 
 superintendent of telegraphs here, and one to the 
 Persian " mirza " attached to the same institution ; so 
 a horseman met us some way out of the town and 
 conducted us to Mr. St. John's house. On entering 
 the town over a bridge, we found the houses in a 
 most ruinous condition, Shiraz being very sub- 
 ject to earthquakes — having been almost totally 
 destroyed several times ; the streets were filthy. 
 
ORANGE TREES. 287 
 
 We rode through a portion of the bazaar, and 
 turning out of it came to the house, orange trees 
 growing in the court, their fruit hanging golden 
 upon them. However, the oranges are very sour 
 as a general rule, and the wonder is how the trees 
 manage to survive the winters. There is no 
 actual snow on the ground here, but the moun- 
 tains surrounding the plain on all sides are covered 
 with it, and the temperature is very low. Mr. 
 Babington's house was close by, and he entertained 
 us most kindly during our stay. 
 
( 288 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 We entered the town on the 30th of December, 
 and next morning of course paid our first visit to 
 the bazaar. The principal one is a high well-built 
 straight arcade, the bazaar " al Vakeel," but the stock 
 is not very varied, hardly anything being kept 
 on hand. The wine of Shiraz is famed through- 
 out Persia ; it has much body. We were told 
 that about three weeks ago there had taken place 
 some serious bread riots, owing to the high price 
 of the staff of life — the large proprietors, to whom 
 belonged all the corn-growing country around, 
 having the bad Bishop Hatto-like habit of keeping 
 back the crop, and only selling at an exorbitant 
 rate. Some arrangement was, however, come to, 
 and the riot quelled. The "mirza" Hassan Ali Khan 
 "Nawab" informed the prince governor of our arrival, 
 and he sent us a present of sweetmeats in the 
 morning — a rather disagreeable offering, as it 
 
A CEREMONIAL INTERVIEW. 289 
 
 entails a fee to the servant bringing it of about 
 double the value. One hour before sunset, the 
 Mirza insisted on taking us to see the Governor. 
 We entered the old garden of the old palace, in 
 v^hose outer wall is situated the telegraph office, 
 and were shown into a small decorated room, with 
 three chairs in it. We monopolised two of these, 
 keeping our boots on and hats off in Feringhee 
 style. Presently the prince, an elderly man with 
 rather an European look about him, came in and 
 seated himself gravely upon the chair at the other 
 extremity of the room, upon which the conversa- 
 tion began, — after our bows, — as usual spasmodically. 
 In the course of it we made out that the recalcitrant 
 governor of Abada had fled. We had met, occasion- 
 ally, on our road small detachments of troops 
 going to rout him out, but the trouble, it seems, 
 was spared them. The prince desired to know 
 the number of the inhabitants of China — a rather 
 difficult question to answer, but putting a bold 
 face on it, we said 300,000,000, not having the 
 remotest idea on the subject. 
 
 The population of this town is said to be 40,000. 
 
 u 
 
290 SAADI^S TOMB. 
 
 The telegraphic line, which had been broken 
 between this and Ispahan, was restored to-day, 
 keeping our host at work till long past midnight ; 
 we had ungraciously to dine without him. On 
 New Year's Eve we rode out accompanied by the 
 Mirza to see Saadi's tomb. We soon got out of 
 town and rode for three half miles over cultivated 
 land — the chief produce, lettuce — to a garden, Del 
 Cason — with orange trees in rows and a ruinous 
 house in the centre — which we entered, to see what 
 an orange garden in this part of the world was 
 like. Behind this we came to a small village — on 
 the left hand a high wall, with a small door in it. 
 We entered through this, and were in a dirty garden 
 court with five cypresses, at the farther end a 
 dilapidated building, with three arched rooms. In 
 the one on the right — a small hole about twenty feet 
 square — lay the tomb of the second poet of Persia, 
 a slab of common hard stone, some seven and a 
 half feet by two, with the surface chiselled out in 
 letters forming stanzas written by him who lay 
 underneath ; the whitewashed walls had more 
 poetry painted on them in fading letters of gold. 
 
HAFIZ* GRAVE. 2gi 
 
 Riding out next along the hills, we came to the 
 large cypress grove in four alleys ; this belongs to 
 the king, nearer the town stood a walled 
 cemetery, and in the centre the lowly tomb of 
 Hafiz, some two feet longer and two inches 
 broader than that of Saadi. Whether this be to 
 show their comparative merits we know not. An 
 alabaster slab about an inch thick lay on the top, 
 very delicately carved into poetry ; and almost 
 all the graves, strewn thickly around, bore some 
 poetical inscription upon them, probably owing 
 to the presiding ^^ genius /ori." Then crossing the 
 road we entered the Bagh-i-no, or new garden, by a 
 very small door in the wall. This also belongs to the 
 king, and is . planted with orange-tree rows — an 
 open roomed house in the centre full of portraits 
 of Futteh Ali Shah. Leaving this, we rode west 
 for about half a mile to the Bagh i Tacht, or 
 garden of the throne, once a royal summer resi- 
 dence, and still inhabited by the Governor of 
 Shiraz in the hot weather. It is built on the 
 summit of an isolated rock some thirty feet high, 
 
 itself standing on elevated ground, and a series of 
 
 u 2 
 
292 THE BAGH I TACHT. 
 
 terraces descend gradually to the garden, where 
 there is an immense tank. The view from the 
 dwelling-rooms at the summit is delightful. We 
 have the tank, certainly not less than one hundred 
 yards square, just below us, with four stone lions 
 spouting water in the centre ; then the garden 
 spreading out before us, and a straight avenue of 
 cypresses, leading down some half mile towards the 
 town, of which we obtain a glorious bird's-eye 
 view, on all sides gracefully shaped mountains 
 surround the plain. We then descended by 
 steps down the terraces ; on the third from the 
 bottom there were a quantity of concealed foun- 
 tains, so contrived as to spring up suddenly and 
 drench the unwary traveller — a right royal joke. 
 Down the centre of the terraces a cascade is 
 contrived but it is only supplied with water once a 
 week. On looking up we saw the sun shining 
 full on the terraces, which were partially tiled in 
 blue. These and all the buildings were reflected 
 in the mirror of the (somewhat dirty) tank, pre- 
 senting a really fine sight. W. called it the 
 Versailles of Persia, and we fully concurred.- The 
 
TELEGRAPHIC SPEED ! 293 
 
 sun now began to set, and the temperature became 
 very cold, so we galloped home. Here, as at 
 Teheran, a band of musicians with long horns 
 and drums performs a hideous charivari above 
 the principal gate of the palace at sunset. 
 
 1st January, 1866. — We wandered about the 
 bazaars, which are very straggling in this town. 
 We entered a court resembling that of the Me- 
 dressa at Ispahan, but the tiling was not of so fine 
 a quality as it is there. The telegraphic wire has 
 been broken for a fortnight now, so that messages 
 for which ;£^ have been paid in London, may 
 perhaps reach Kurrachee a few days after a letter 
 written at the same time ! Many of the telegrams 
 are most amusingly unintelligible, couched in lan- 
 guage of which the key is only known to the 
 correspondents, though, we apprehend, not difficult 
 to decipher with a little care. As, for instance, 
 " cotton, Paris ; rapeseed, Avignon ;" and so on. 
 There is a Swede, a Dr. Fagergrim here, as doctor 
 to the troops ; we did not see him, however ; but 
 on the 3rd, a " pere Clement," who had travelled 
 from Ispahan to Busheer with two Frenchmen, 
 
294 A NUMISMATIST. 
 
 and now returned, called upon us. As far as we 
 could make out he was an Armenian Catholic 
 educated at the Metacharisten Kloster at Vienna. 
 He was an ardent numismatist, having, indeed, as he 
 told us, studied that science for twenty years. 
 Coins are continually brought to us, but most of 
 them are counterfeits. It is rather strange, that the 
 art of fabricating antique coins appears to be one 
 of the few brought to any perfection in Persia. 
 The padre showed us his collection of coins, bought 
 on his last trip ; a few, he said, were not known 
 in Europe, and of course of great value, though 
 picked up at small cost. He told us that 
 once he had travelled in Asia Minor for six 
 months on six pounds sterling, and had yet contrived 
 to buy enough antiques to realise £^o afterwards ! 
 He also informed us that the pictures in the church 
 at Ispahan were really by Venetian hands ! There 
 are only three Armenian families, with one priest 
 and a small chapel, at Shiraz. The coins are exceed- 
 ingly well made, and an inexperienced eye like 
 ours cannot in the least distinguish between the 
 true and false money. 
 
CURE FOR A scorpion's BITE ! 295 
 
 We were told, and the fact was vouched for, that 
 the cure for the bite of a scorpion (as for that of a 
 mad dog !) is found in the animal itself. Imme- 
 diately on being bitten catch your scorpion, cut 
 his head off and rub the neck on the wound ; then 
 a drop of something that exists there will soothe 
 all pain, and prevent any evil consequences ! So 
 much cotton was being sent down on mule and 
 camel-back to Busheer for Bombay that we had 
 great difficulty in finding any beasts to carry us ; and 
 for our shortest stage we found the hire to amount to 
 more than for our longest (from Tabreez to Teheran), 
 though still very cheap. 
 
 On the 4th we bade farewell to Mr. Babington 
 and the padre (who accompanied us some distance 
 on horseback), and left Shiraz for ever by a ruined 
 gate — that of Kauzaroon. We left the Bagh i 
 Tacht on our right hand, and rode straight west 
 through rich gardens to the end of the plain of 
 Shiraz, the sun shining warmly down upon us, 
 until we reached the well-built stone and stucco 
 caravanserai of Chenarada, where we found the 
 usual opendoored stone-paved room, in \Yhich we 
 
296 UP ! 
 
 passed the night. Next morning we started over 
 a bridge just in front of the Khan, and began 
 mounting small hills one after the other. After 
 a rather steeper bit than usual we descended 
 again to a pellucid stream with tall brushwood 
 jungle and willows on its bank. Following this 
 we reached Khauna Zenyoon. The first caravan- 
 serai is bad, but two hundred yards further on there 
 is a good new one, built by a lieutenant-governor of 
 Shiraz. Outside this there was an arrangement 
 as if for a fives court, we could not make out what 
 it really was. There are no post-houses or horses 
 beyond Shiraz, so all posts go by foot messenger. 
 
 Starting early, we rode along an uneven plain 
 with hills at intervals, till we came to a regular climb, 
 up which we scrambled, and then rode along this 
 spur of a lower range of mountains, the snow 
 coming down fast upon us. Descending into a plain 
 we reached a most miserable tumbledown-looking 
 village, and determined to proceed in a drizzling 
 rain which wetted all our things and did not make 
 itself generally agreeable. The rocks on our right 
 had a perfectly wonderful echo. In about two 
 
down! 297 
 
 hours we began to mount again, first gradually- 
 then by abrupt windings up a rocky well-wooded 
 mountainside. Our horses' hind legs here gave 
 way, and allowed us to slide gracefully off, and on 
 to the snow, so we walked up with difficulty by a 
 sort of natural staircase, made by the constant wear 
 and tear of the mules' hoofs; without this we should 
 have slipped at every step. At last we reached the 
 summit, and then began the descent, showing not 
 every "descensus" to be "facilis." This one was mud- 
 dily slippery, loosely rocky, rainily sleety, and dark- 
 ness set in about half anhour before we reached Mian 
 Cothul, where we were very glad to find any room 
 at all. The name of this caravanserai answers to 
 our " half-way house," meaning " half the mountain." 
 It is one of the best built "travellers' rests" in Persia, 
 as we discovered in the morning, and the scenery 
 around is wonderfully beautiful. There were many 
 swallows' nests under the eaves, but the birds had 
 sought warmer climes. The building stands on a 
 flat piece of ground just above the road. The 
 high grey mountain, down half of which we had 
 come, almost overhangs it on the north, wild 
 
298 THE PERSIAN LADDER! 
 
 ridges of rock to the east, and a boundless vista of 
 rocks to the south, about two miles below a narrow 
 plain, then a tall range of mountains. Then 
 another plain much lower down, and on the further 
 side of it another chain of mountains. Thus we 
 appeared to be looking down some gigantic ladder 
 (as indeed we were), which led up by steps 
 that the seven-league boots could hardly stride, to 
 the tablelands of Persia. 
 
 Though it had rained torrents all night, in the 
 morning on proceeding, we found that the sun, in 
 about an hour, had dried the road. No snow now, 
 as we were descending to a warmer clime ; some 
 of the trees around looked like gigantic broom 
 some twenty-five feet in height. On reaching the 
 bottom we rode along a plain through thickly- 
 planted trees, which almost formed a forest. They 
 appeared to us to be a kind of beech. We had been 
 told numerous stories of terrific lions haunting them ; 
 but as we saw cattle quietly grazing amongst the 
 trees, we thought there could be no imminent 
 danger of an attack. On coming to the end of 
 the valley-plain, the mountains on our right (south), 
 
COTHUL I DOCHTER! 299 
 
 which had gradually decreased in height, afforded 
 a gap, through which our road passed almost level. 
 We, however, soon came to the next descent; 
 then the road became difficult ; another turn, and 
 we were descending the most celebrated path in 
 Persia, the Cothul i Dochter ; that which we had 
 descended before was called the Cothul Pierazan, we 
 were informed that the latter means the old woman's 
 hill, and the former the daughter's ditto. Of 
 course this suggested an old Eton quotation : " Oh 
 matre pulchra filia pulchrior," though we were 
 much inclined, regardless of metre, to read " hor- 
 rida" and "horridior" instead. Certainly the first was 
 a tolerably stiff descent, but nothing when com- 
 pared to this — a road composed of stones laid 
 together unevenly and without order, some ten feet 
 broad, a slight rampart of mud two feet high 
 towards the precipice, the incline of about seventy- 
 five degrees, with sharp turns. However, this is 
 since the road has been, what in Persia is called, 
 made. Formerly, mules and men had to scramble 
 down as best they could. Half way down two 
 men with guns demanded a backshish, which they 
 
300 A DESCENT ! 
 
 did not get. We were then walking down by our- 
 selves, and we pointed blandly up the hill as if the 
 backshish was following behind. However, that 
 was enough, as the natives are very chary of inter- 
 fering with Feringhees ; luckily so too, for we often 
 thought when walking about unarmed, what a 
 chance robbers would have if they only knew ! The 
 descent cannot be less than two thousand feet, and 
 when we looked up, after fairly descending, it 
 appeared to us an inaccessible precipice, the only 
 wonder being how it was ever scaled at first. 
 
 Three villanous-looking men armed with pistols 
 and guns were lying in wait for any solitary native, 
 at the foot of the Cothul. Perhaps, however, we 
 are wronging them, for they certainly did not in- 
 terfere with us, but stories of robberies are rife 
 about here. We met several caravans toiling up 
 the steep, principally laden with English copper. 
 
 The temperature was now quite different and 
 much warmer than that up above. For some time 
 after the chief scramble the road was bad and still 
 on an incline ; a little lake lay to the south. At a 
 turn to the right we came upon Tacht i Timour, 
 
TACHT I TIMOUR. 30I 
 
 a sort of attempt at an imitation of the Tacht i 
 Rustam, executed by a living artist (?). A tablet cut 
 in the rock represents Timour seated on a throne- 
 chair, under which is the irrepressible Kaleoun. 
 A waiting-woman presents a goblet to him ; 
 on the left a hawk sits on its perch ; a vizier 
 is standing behind the chair; the excavated sides 
 bear also the figure of a man sculptured on each of 
 them ; a little broken down stone building encloses 
 the tablet. We observed some Eeliauts encamped 
 under a projecting ledge close by, and rode on 
 over a rough causeway built upon a piece of 
 marshy ground, with fine cane brakes all round 
 and a running stream in the centre. The 
 various kinds of thorn trees had their leaves still 
 on them and the grass was fresh and green as 
 if it were already spring ; the plain was richly cul- 
 tivated, and sometimes we saw hedges of cut 
 branches. 
 
 Some miles off to the left we saw a village sur- 
 rounded by palm trees, and in three hours from 
 Tacht i Timour we reached Kauzaroon. We had 
 to wait outside as Awa Baba had not yet come up 
 
302 KAUZAROON. 
 
 with US, and there were so many roads intersecting 
 each other that we were at a loss which to take. 
 The wind blew cold at sunset. The town 
 seemed in a very ruinous condition but prettily 
 situated between palm and orange trees. Eventually 
 we found a refuge in the Bagh Nazaar, outside the 
 town, the telegraph station. There was no Euro- 
 pean clerk there at that time, as he had gone to 
 Shiraz for his Christmas holidays ! The garden in 
 front of the house was perhaps three hundred 
 yards long by fifty, and just in front rose a grove of 
 some fifty magnificent palms planted regularly in 
 rows; the rest of the garden was planted with 
 orange trees; so high were these that we could 
 ride under their branches without much difficulty ; 
 a little stone fountain in the centre. 
 
 On the 8th we started late (half-past 1 1 o'clock) 
 for Shapoor, off^ the high-track to the north. A 
 dense Scoto-Persian mist covered the landscape, but 
 luckily lifted at midday. In about an hour we 
 passed a grove of palm trees ; in another hour we 
 got into a stone-built village. Here we asked the 
 way, and were told to follow two men. In half an 
 
SADOWA ! 303 
 
 hour more a horseman informed us that we were 
 going wrong, and compelled one of the men to take 
 us to a village called Sadowa (not in Bohemia !). 
 The ground was covered with little bulbous plants 
 like snowdrops, the flowers not yet out. We found 
 Sadowa, where we halted, a ruined fort ; the walls 
 looked in good repair, but when we got inside we 
 discovered utter desolation, only one round tower still 
 standing. In this we ensconced ourselves. It was 
 built on a vslight eminence, and nomads' tents clustered 
 around it. We determined to start immediately for 
 the ruins of Shapoor, so we procured a guide, who 
 set off at a pretty good pace on foot in an easterly 
 direction across the valley, along a sedgy path where 
 quantities of reeds had been cut to make the tents 
 around the fort. We passed some large box-trees, and 
 a little pond swarmingwith wild duck. In about an 
 hour we rode amongst what appeared to be heaps of 
 rough stones ; presently signs of human handi- 
 work became apparent, and we saw that we were in a 
 ruined city* The massive foundations of walls could 
 be distinctly traced, and close to a thick clump of 
 box we noticed some cut stones, portions of an edifice 
 
304 SHAPOOR. 
 
 of some kind ; here we started a jackall, which ran 
 into an old well ; we rode amongst these heaps of 
 stones for about a quarter of an hour and arrived at 
 the foot of a low mountain (rather detached from 
 the neighbouring chain), which had also been built 
 over in olden times, portions of walls of unhewn 
 stones cemented together still standing, and occa- 
 sional arches not tumbled in. On the other side the 
 hill appeared to have been once converted into a fort 
 and escarped. Turning the corner of this hill, we 
 entered a defile some 500 yards across (eye 
 measurement) ; in the centre flowed a tolerable 
 sized stream that we had already seen on our 
 way. About 100 yards from the entrance 
 to the defile, we came upon the first sculptured 
 tablet. This represented a Roman figure kneeling 
 before a monarch on horseback, another horseman 
 stands behind the kneeling figure. This is supposed 
 to represent the great Julian before Sapor 
 (Shapoor) ; it is much defaced. Many oleanders 
 grew about. Further on we came to the largest 
 hewn tablet, in good preservation; it is divided 
 into seven compartments. The centre one is the 
 
TACHT I FERAOUN. 305 
 
 largest, and represents Shapoor with a round, high 
 cap or crown on his head ; a man offers him some- 
 thing that we did not make out. The other com- 
 partments are formed by a low framework of rock, 
 and represent various standing figures ; the whole 
 cannot be less than thirty feet long by twelve 
 high. We now crossed the stream, about 
 twenty feet wide, not very deep, and rode up 
 to the first of the four tablets cut into the 
 rock on the other side of our defile. This one is 
 not flat, but forms an angle as the rock turns, and 
 is sculptured in two sets of small figures — some 
 procession or other ; the second, going up the defile, 
 is more than halt hid by a raised path of stones, 
 so that only the heads of life-sized figures are to 
 be seen. The third represents two persons on 
 horseback with the round emblem of royalty on 
 their heads ; and the fourth another procession of 
 small figures. These tablets are called Tacht i 
 Feraoun in the district, though the country people 
 point it out also as Naksh i Rustam, everything 
 out of the common being attributed by the vulgar 
 to their popular hero Rustam. 
 
3o6 TACHT I SHAHI. 
 
 We now asked for the Tacht i Shahi, or king's 
 throne, a cave in which there is supposed to be a 
 statue of Shapoor cut out of the rock. We were 
 shown a hole high up in the rock, some distance 
 down the defile, and determined to ride there, 
 although it was four o'clock. We skirted the 
 north side of the valley finding the path no- 
 thing to boast of, and passed the traces of nomads 
 who had only just shifted their abode, as the hedge 
 of prickly branches, laid in order all round the 
 encampment, was still there. 
 
 We put up a fox, and after riding some five 
 miles, came to where it was necessary to get off our 
 horses ; high up in the rock above us we saw three 
 caverns, situated like the eyes and mouth of some 
 gigantic "jin." Our guide told us to enter the 
 cavern representing the mouth — the lower and 
 centre one. We began, therefore, to ascend, and 
 we never had a steeper climb. To use a familiar 
 illustration, Vesuvius was a front staircase to it. 
 Sometimes we had to scramble over rocks forming as 
 it were steps four feet high and more ; at other times 
 to climb up a mass of loose crumbling small stones. 
 
BAFFLED I 307 
 
 when each step seemed only to let us down further 
 instead of takhig us up. After a twenty minutes' 
 burst, which appeared to us much longer, we were 
 within ten yards of the cave. Here the rocks became 
 almost perpendicular, necessitating some caution to 
 get up. We found the cave very shallow, and 
 of course the abode of various birds. Lighting 
 a candle, we looked about us ; at the further end 
 there was a narrow passage into the rock, but 
 nought there ; and on one side a hole leading up 
 to the cave forming the right eye. We managed 
 somehow or other to scramble up to it, although 
 we do not understand how we did it, for the rocks 
 over which we had to make the short ascent almost 
 overhung each other, and afforded scarcely a foot- 
 hold. On emerging we stood on a ledge of rock 
 — the platform of the upper cave ; this also was 
 of no extent, and nought there. Descending again 
 to the lower cave we tried hard, for our own credit 
 as " intelligent travellers," to make out a semblance 
 of a human figure in the rocks strewn about beneath 
 our feet, but in vain ; we were obliged to confess 
 
 to ourselves that here was only nature's handiwork, 
 
 X 2 
 
3o8 THE ROUND TOWE^. 
 
 SO we recommend further travellers not to toil up 
 to this cave at any rate. We saw two others some 
 distance off to the east, at about the same height, 
 in one of which the statue may be, perhaps ; but 
 we were certainly told that it was in the one we 
 had explored. It had become dark by this time, 
 so our descent was characterised by more slips and 
 tumbles than would, perhaps, otherwise have been 
 the case. Our horses were awaiting us and we 
 commenced our short ride home, following close 
 upon our guide, who found his way on the little 
 country path with hardly a mistake. Reaching 
 our round tower at 9.30 p.m., we found therein just 
 room for our beds and two feet to spare ; it was 
 an octagon without a fire-place or door. The fort, 
 which was about one hundred yards square, ap- 
 peared to have been deserted years ago, and was now 
 being used as a stabling ground by the villagers. A 
 centre square tower was still partially standing. 
 Our antiquarian researches kept us up till the 
 utterly dissipated hour of 11.30 p.m., some four 
 hours later than usual ! 
 
 On the 9th we reached a little defile in about 
 
COTHUL I GAMAREJ. 309 
 
 an hour, whence emerging we rode across a short 
 plain, and into another pass where we had to 
 ascend over slippery rocks for a short time. There 
 was a ruined caravanserai here, and we passed a 
 little village, Gamarej, leaving it on our right. 
 Suddenly we came to the top of another descent 
 to which even the Cothul i Dochter was a perfect 
 farce. This was called the Cothul i Gamarej ; 
 precipitous rocks down which wound a path worn 
 into them by the many feet of many animals, and 
 this frequently blocked by fallen donkeys, which 
 were going down laden with bales of cotton larger 
 than themselves. The rocks on the opposite side of 
 the defile which we were descending were upheaved 
 as if by some tremendous convulsion of nature. 
 The usually horizontal strata were perfectly perpen- 
 dicular and the tops jagged. The worst parts came 
 after crossing a little rivulet half way down. Here, 
 by looking over at any point, we could see the 
 whole path almost vertically below us. Where the 
 precipice was very abrupt indeed, a low ledge of 
 stones cemented together was built up, but other- 
 wise the road was left entirely to nature and the 
 
3IO KONAR TACHTA. 
 
 traffic. We were detained for half an hour by an 
 unfortunate camel which had slipped down whilst 
 ascending. Its groans were very tiresome ; at last it 
 managed, unloaded, to scramble up to where we 
 could pass it, and we reached the bottom safely. 
 Here we came upon swarms of locusts in a dying 
 state. On between lias rocks, which teemed with 
 ordinary fossils, till we came to a rapid river 
 whose banks we followed without crossing for 
 about half an hour, when we turned off and 
 ascended slightly, till again descending we came to 
 the valley of Konar Tachta, whose caravanserai 
 we reached in nine and a half hours from Sadowa, 
 though the distance purports to be only twenty- 
 two miles. 
 
 It rained so heavily all next day that we 
 stopped in our mildewy room, whose roof was 
 about to collapse at no distant date. The court 
 of the caravanserai was turned into a swamp 
 consisting of every kind of abomination; in the 
 centre there stood a ruinous heap of stones, 
 probably a cistern once upon a time. Our room 
 faced the west; the eastern portion had tumbled 
 
THE VILLAGE. 
 
 311 
 
 down ; every available hole was crammed. Bales 
 of cotton lay in the wet on the ground. The 
 amusement of the muleteers, besides swearing at 
 each other — which was a " constant quantity" — 
 was, firing at the sparrows which swarmed here. The 
 village, principally a colony of nomads, looked 
 picturesque, sheltered by palm trees. The dates 
 are dried and made into a sort of half paste, half 
 solid, some stones are extracted, others left in. The 
 cultivation in the valley seemed to prosper, and 
 grass grew well around. The aspect of the 
 country was dreary enough when we saw it, but 
 on a fine day it must be lovely. We were 
 surrounded on all sides, at about five miles' distance, 
 by lofty mountains, the range on the south being 
 that which we had to pass before finally emerging 
 on the plain extending to the Persian Gulf. 
 
( 312 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Leaving on the nth, we soon got into the 
 mountains and the descent began abruptly. The 
 soil around was alluvial, with strata of hard con- 
 glomerate and limestone in sloping shelves, over 
 which our track lay. The pass was called the 
 Cothul i Mulloo, answering somewhat in name to 
 the Via Mala, though there is no comparison 
 between a " Diligence " road and one down which a 
 single mule can only get with difficulty. The 
 path was most slippery and treacherous owing to 
 the mud. " Thus we remember in our youthful 
 days, when the time was winter, to have attempted 
 many a venturous slide, not without a tumble ! " 
 Even at the bottom the road was almost impassable 
 owing to the accumulated mud. After riding on for 
 some time, we saw a river far beneath us down to 
 which the road gradually led. A herd of some dozen 
 gazelles passed us within easy pistol range, but, of 
 
A FORD ! 313 
 
 course, we had not got our revolver with us. We 
 followed the river for an hour, passing a broken 
 bridge, and arrived at the ford. Here we found 
 that the rains of the last few days had so swollen 
 the waters, that the caravans which had reached 
 either side before us, were encainped there, waiting 
 for the flood to subside. An island here divided 
 the river into two streams. After waiting some 
 time, W. determined to ford them. He got across 
 the first branch easily enough, but at the second was 
 very nearly swept away, provmg it to be out of the 
 question to attempt to lead a heavily laden mule 
 over. Some men, who were on our side of the river, 
 agreed at length, after a great deal of squabbling, 
 to take us over a little higher up ; so we retraced 
 our steps for about a mile. Then six men stripped 
 and led our mules over three at a time — the water 
 came above our knees. The river was about thirty 
 yards across, and the force of the current carried 
 us at least fifty yards further down on the opposite 
 side. Then we had to find a path up the hills on 
 that side, for there was no road between them and 
 the river. We scrambled up, although the leading 
 
314 DALACHY. 
 
 horse fell down frequently, and had to be un- 
 loaded each time. We thus reached a level path 
 (which had not been used for a long while) at the 
 top of the hills ; this probably was deserted when 
 the bridge we had passed broke down. Soon we 
 again descended to where the road abutted on the 
 ford ; then we skirted the river, sometimes ascending 
 a little, and after riding some time, we turned up into 
 the mountains. Darkness now came on, as we 
 rode down a sloping shelf of rock, but not before 
 we had seen that a flat surface lay extended before 
 us; at last the road sloped very gradually down 
 along the mountain to the plain, when we 
 reached Dalachy, having taken the moderate time 
 of ten hours to do sixteen miles. We find that the 
 keep of a horse or a mule costs more than that of 
 a man, for the food of the four-footed beast comes 
 to about IJ-. id»2i day, whereas we lodge and board 
 ourselves luxuriously. (?) for about i od. 
 
 1 2 th. Like the little ratcatcher's daughter, who, 
 it may be remembered, did not quite live in West- 
 minster, because her dwelling was on the opposite 
 §ide of the Thames^ we find that we are not quite on 
 
LOCUSTS. 315 
 
 the plain, because we are still in the mountains. Our 
 course was a gradual descent with a few ups and 
 downs. About half an hour after starting, we 
 passed a large hot sulphurous spring, and further on, 
 two more. We rode through a swarm of locusts, 
 which flew high in the air, as numerous as the flakes 
 of a heavy snowstorm. They were also on the 
 ground eating up everything, which fact had 
 occasioned the scarcity of fodder and its conse- 
 quent high price. On our right stood an immense 
 forest of palms, looking not unlike the pine forest 
 of Ravenna ; a spur of the high mountains extended 
 into the plain on our left. We reached Barasgoon 
 in five hours and a quarter. There was no cara- 
 vanserai, but we found a long narrow room in a 
 deserted house to sleep in. In the morning we 
 rode through a grove of palm trees, and then got 
 upon alternate sand and mud. We were indeed on 
 the plain ; nothing relieved the monotony of the 
 dead flat except the occasional palm-groves and 
 villages. A great deal of corn seemed to be grown 
 here. We stopped at Achmedi, in the only mud 
 hovel in the village, all other habitations being 
 
3l6 THE PERSIAN GULF. 
 
 tents of matting. The only clean (?) place we 
 could find was in a passage between the outer door 
 and the court; large folding doors, with plenty 
 of crevices, shut out the outer world, and the other 
 entrance (not opposite the doors) had none. We laid 
 our beds on a raised shelf of dry mud. The roof 
 was of palm-stems cut in two, and matting laid over. 
 The 14th day of January saw our last caravan 
 ride in Persia. We started early and rode over a 
 muddy path, till we came to a place where 
 water stood about two inches deep ; through this 
 and deep mud underneath we floundered for an 
 hour and a half. At a distance we descried the 
 masts of two ships at anchor in the Persian Gulf, 
 which we could not yet see. We had to make a 
 circuit of some miles in order to get upon the 
 promontory on which stands Busheer, as the sea 
 runs up and forms an extremely shallow bay here. 
 At last we got to the neck of the promontory, and 
 then were on rather better ground, so we galloped 
 on into Busheer through a gate in the mud wall, 
 which appeared to be here in rather better preserva- 
 tion than in other Persian towns. Guided by a 
 
BITSHEER. 3 1 7 
 
 small British ensign floating from a tall mast-head, 
 we rode up to the Residency, where we found a 
 few sepoys on guard. 
 
 The political resident was away, but the vice- 
 resident, uncovenanted civil service servant Mr. 
 James Edwards, received us in the office. In 
 Colonel Felly's absence, Mr. Edwards showed us 
 the strangers' rooms where we installed ourselves. 
 
 The mail steamer had arrived the day before 
 from Bombay and was just starting for Bassora, 
 so we were in good time for its return. The 
 bazaar we found bad and narrower than usual, 
 though there were many European goods ex- 
 posed for sale, owing to the facility of importa- 
 tion ; indeed some ships trade direct from Eng- 
 land to Busheer. The building we were in was 
 an immense rambling construction, some thirty 
 yards from the sea, and about ten above its level. 
 Beach there was hardly any. 
 
 On the 1 8 th a violent wind blew and heavy 
 rain came down all day. The roofs of our rooms 
 were leaky — everything was damp ; the very soap 
 in one's room dissolved as if in water. The sea, 
 
3l8 W.'S DEPARTURE. 
 
 we were told, is gradually encroaching on the con- 
 glomerate rocks on which the town stands. 
 
 The 19th was a fine day but windy. The mail 
 steamer returned from Bassora : the harbour is so 
 bad that she had to lie some five miles out at sea. 
 
 On the 20th, our companion, W., started 
 for Bombay at 3 p.m. We could not bring our- 
 selves to face the seven days' sea ; thus we were 
 alone at some distance from England. We walked 
 down to the place of embarkation on the land side 
 of the promontory, where W. got into a little 
 rough boat, rowed, or rather propelled, by six 
 men. Even this little boat could not get within five 
 yards of the rough quay, so W. was conveyed 
 into it on the shoulders of two men. It was calm 
 but raining when the boat started ; soon afterwards 
 the wind arose, thus diminishing any small regret 
 we might have felt at not going to India. We 
 were now fixed here for certainly four weeks. 
 
 The alternations of climate were perfectly mar- 
 vellous in their regularity — one day warm and 
 sunshiny, the next windy, cold, and rainy. In 
 the summer punkahs are used here. About twenty- 
 
THE PEARL FISHERY. 319 
 
 five miles out to sea there are two small islands ; 
 the larger of these, Karg, vulgarly called Karrick, 
 was the station of the fleet during our desultory 
 war with Persia. Here are some old reservoirs 
 built by the Portuguese, and other ruins are said to 
 be still visible. Near the island of Bahren, in the 
 " Sea of Oman," off the Arabian coast and about two 
 days' steaming down the gulf, the best sort of 
 pearls are found. The fishermen who dive for 
 them are so poor that they hardly can keep body 
 and soul together ; whilst the merchants who farm 
 the fisheries and their services amass immense 
 fortunes thereby. These merchants are all " Ba- 
 nians," or Indians, and this month many of them 
 have sought refuge here, on account of some 
 disturbances on the islands. There are many 
 Indian merchants here, all of them British sub- 
 jects ; and all persons living in Busheer, not Persian 
 subjects, are under English protection. The 
 " Banians " wear a red turban twisted into a point. 
 One of our chief amusements here was to go over 
 to the gulf cable office and talk with the superin- 
 tendenti The inland Persian telegraph and the cable 
 
320 REESHEER. 
 
 office, are a mile apart, so that messages are always 
 delayed here, a rather unwise proceeding, we should 
 have thought, when combining the offices would 
 both save time and expense. The charge for a message 
 from Busheer to Kurrachee is £2 1 4/., and to Eng- 
 land ;^2 I OS, Such is the difference in costliness 
 between sea and land telegraphy ! 
 
 On the 28th a party of Englishmen, ourselves 
 included, rode out to visit Reesheer. We rode 
 along the coast about a mile from the sea, 
 through partially cultivated country, by a very 
 narrow and stony path ; hardly any trees except 
 a solitary palm here and there. About eighteen 
 miles out we arrived at the Resident's country house, 
 whither he retires in the summer, when his heavy 
 duties do not compel his attendance in Busheer, 
 or elsewhere. It was a small mud-built villa, with 
 an open court on one side and verandahs all round. 
 We breakfasted here. During summer the roof forms 
 the sleeping apartment, and dinner is eaten in the 
 open air after sunset, under a punkah. We then 
 walked to a little mound about a mile off, and found 
 the whole country strewn with immense quantities of 
 
A GALLANT DEFENCE. 32 1 
 
 large and small cornelians. We picked up some frag- 
 ments of bricks with cuneiform inscriptions, on the 
 mound, thus proving it to be formed out of some 
 very ancient ruins. Permission to excavate it has 
 been repeatedly asked and always refused, for 
 the Persian government will neither excavate 
 themselves nor let others do it for them, as they 
 are under the impression, it is said, that inside 
 might be found documents handing Busheer over 
 to the English ! After partaking of " tiffin," 
 as English people will call luncheon in India and 
 parts around, we walked down to the shore to inspect 
 the fort of Reesheer ; large slightly-cut stones 
 lay all about, marking the ruins of some larger 
 settlement. The fort is memorable for its gallant 
 defence against the English in the late war. The 
 commander of the small force to whom its defence 
 was at that time entrusted, seems to have been a 
 braver man than most Persians, if his remark be 
 authentic : — " I will go : I know I cannot withstand 
 the English, but as I am ordered to do so, I will 
 sell my life as dearly as possible." He kept his 
 word and was slain after inflicting much loss on 
 
32 2 THE FORT. 
 
 our troops. The fort was only attacked in order 
 to make an example of its defenders, and induce 
 the capitulation of Busheer. The plan succeeded ; 
 for after the British landed to the east of Reesheer, 
 and stormed the fort, the garrison of the larger 
 town ran away, a few Persian soldiers only being 
 killed by shells thrown from the fleet. The fort 
 looked very insignificant from a distance — a square 
 mound of earth — but on approaching we found 
 that a trench some twenty yards across, sur- 
 rounded it, and the earthworks rose some fifty feet 
 on the other side, apparently raised on a natural 
 elevation of rock. We entered through a breach, and 
 found it to be about a quarter of a mile square. 
 Nothing in the way of shelter for troops inside, 
 but scattered stones on the ground testified to 
 former buildings. The side towards the sea had 
 broken down, but was still about one hundred feet 
 in elevation and very steep; an old reservoir in 
 the centre, near which an underground passage 
 led to the shore, affording a means of escape to 
 the garrison if attacked (and overcome) from the 
 land side. 
 
RESTRICTIONS ON PROPERTY. 323 
 
 We got down to the beach ; it was a beautiful 
 day, and the waters of the gulf lay like a large 
 lake tranquilly before us. We trode the sands in 
 search of shells, but found none. A native doctor 
 rode out with us on a magnificent donkey, the 
 size of an ordinary pony. He (the doctor) had 
 adopted European costume. We returned before 
 the gates were closed, as they are at sunset, our ride 
 being enlivened by the freaks of the servant ot 
 one of our party, who had got frightfully drunk, 
 and rolled off his saddle every five minutes, getting 
 on again regularly as if nothing had happened. 
 At last his horse ran away from him into the 
 town, and he walked home. Even at midsummer 
 the days are only fourteen hours long. 
 
 No foreigners are allowed to possess house pro- 
 perty in Persia, and the government generally 
 waits till the house has been purchased, to put 
 the money into its subjects' pockets, then it steps 
 in and pulls the house down, granting no redress. 
 In Teheran it is exceptionally permitted. The back- 
 ground of mountains to the plain was very pictur- 
 esque, though we were glad we had crossed them. 
 
 Y 2 
 
3H 
 
 A PIRATE. 
 
 The inhabitants of the town are hardly true 
 Persians; we scarcely ever saw the conical hat — 
 this is supplanted by the Arab Kefyeh — a blue and 
 red cloth wound round the skull cap being the 
 fashionable head-dress. 
 
 1st February. — The rain fell so heavily, accom- 
 panied by a gale of wind, that our room was 
 perfectly wet through, from the drippings of the 
 ceiling, entailing wet feet and a sore throat without 
 our stirring out — " Fever made easy." When a 
 shopkeeper in the bazaar leaves his stock in trade 
 to go to dinner, or for any other purpose, he just 
 throws a broad-meshed netting over the front of 
 his stall. Thus anything might be stolen from it, 
 were it not for the neighbouring tradespeople. 
 One day we made an excursion along the narrow 
 strip of beach extending outside the broken down 
 sea-wall around the town. We observed several 
 flamingoes lazily floating on the waves. Coming 
 to the head of the promontory, we saw some 
 decayed ships, one a largish pirate, captured by 
 Colonel Felly's ship the " Berenice,"* in the Sea of 
 
 * Burnt 1866. 
 
THE BEACH. 325 
 
 Oman ; the style of build between a Chinese junk 
 and mediaeval galley. Then we soon came to the 
 entrance to the bazaar, and went into a Jew anti- 
 quarian's shop, where we sat looking at various coins, 
 most probably imitations, till after " dusk. This 
 necessitated our marching home, preceded by the 
 Jew, carrying a tallow candle fixed in a bottle ! 
 Another day we walked out to the east, and 
 found a good sandy beach, after passing half a 
 mile of rocks. This extended for about a mile — 
 only common shells on it, and a few sharks' heads ; 
 then on to rocks level with the sea and much 
 worn by the perpetual action of the waves. We 
 came to a village, in front of which a few boats 
 lay on the beach, and, seeing that the sun would 
 soon set, returned. One of the Persian servants 
 of a lady here lost one of her earrings lately. 
 On discovering the loss, instead of trying to find 
 the jewel, she began to beat her bosom, tear her 
 hair, and get generally into a most excited state, 
 including hysterics ; at length sitting down in the 
 court and throwing sand upon herself, until a 
 fellow-servant, hearing of it, came to her and 
 
326 PISTOL PRACTICE. 
 
 showed her the earring, which she had picked 
 up. All Persians, more or less, go into similar 
 paroxysms of grief on the most trifling occasions. 
 
 On the 9th some of us English went down 
 to the beach and shot at glass bottles with pistols 
 but not unvarying success, as out of 50 shots we 
 made o hits between us. Most of the population 
 of Busheer gathered around us in about ten 
 minutes. Next day we played quoits. The Vice- 
 resident told us that Mr. Palgrave came here on 
 his return, after travelling through Arabia as a 
 Mohammedan physician, and left in his disguise. 
 Colonel Felly has been to the Wahabee country in 
 the disguise of a British officer. 
 
 The steamer " Euphrates " arrived here from 
 Bombay on St. Valentine's Day, two days late. 
 N.W. winds are those prevalent in this portion of 
 the* gulf, especially blowing into the roadstead, and 
 rendering the anchorage, except far out at sea, 
 exceedingly precarious. 
 
( 3^7 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Exactly a month after arriving at Busheer, on 
 the 1 5th of February, we set out again for Bassora. 
 We played quoits till the last moment, 6 p.m., and 
 walked down to the " Bund," or port, with a young 
 Armenian of the name of Melcombe, then bidding 
 good-bye to all English friends, we got off at half 
 past 6 P.M. There were four oars to our boat, 
 each about fifteen feet long, by six inches round 
 in the thickest part, the blade oblong, two feet long 
 by three-quarters broad. The rowers sat on the 
 sides of the boat, and rowed pulling the oars 
 towards the sides. We grounded when about half 
 a mile out, so shallow was the water, and it 
 took half an hour to raise the mast and hoist a 
 felucca-like sail ; then, with the assistance of a 
 little rowing, we reached the steamer in three 
 hours, having to make a circuit to avoid shallows. 
 It was too Ute to 3tart^ so we were at anchor 
 
328 THE SHAT EL ARAB. 
 
 till 3 P.M. next day; luckily the sea was 
 perfectly calm. The only passenger on board was 
 an old Egyptianized Italian, who was proceeding to 
 Bagdad to buy horses for the Viceroy of Egypt. 
 Precisely at the appointed hour the ship's screw 
 began to revolve. The tonnage of the "Euphrates " 
 was 750 ; she was very long and narrow ; we had 
 the ladies' cabin. At 6 p.m. we sighted Karrick, 
 a small round, elevated island. 
 
 On the morning of the 1 8th we were told that we 
 were in the river Shat el Arab, although land 
 was nowhere visible, until looking hard we ob- 
 served some dim mountains on the north. The 
 water was much discoloured already. The crew 
 of the ship were all Hindoos, the officers and 
 steward English. In the daytime we took a 
 book out of the select library on board, and ascended 
 to the upper deck, where we sat in an Indian 
 blackwood smoking-chair, with our heels on a level 
 with our head ; the arms of these chairs extend 
 to allow of the feet being placed upon them. 
 At 10 A.M. we were fairly in the Shat el Arab. 
 The banks were very low and covered with palm 
 
FAO. 329 
 
 trees, here and there a canal emptied itself 
 into the river. We passed a creek, up which lay 
 Mohammud, the scene of some fighting during 
 the Persian war ; as the left bank is Persian ground 
 and the right Turkish. At Fao we saw the 
 crescent flag floating on its own territory for the 
 first time. Fao is the terminal (!) station of the 
 gulf cable, and two houses of palm- wood are re- 
 spectively the English and Turkish telegraph 
 stations. On the land line there are now two 
 wires, and between Bassora and Bagdad the poles 
 are chiefly of iron (as they are near Busheer), 
 on account of the swamp. The English workmen 
 and telegraphers have all been dismissed by the 
 Turkish government, who have taken the whole 
 management into their own hands. The employes 
 are of all nations (rarely English) and their uniform 
 is very neat. The forms are printed in French. 
 Here a quarantine officer came on board, but no 
 other formalities were observed. We now passed 
 between very low banks, covered with palm 
 trees, which belong partly to the government, 
 partly to the Montifick Arabs, and partly to private 
 
330 BASSORA. 
 
 individuals who rent the land on which the trees 
 stand. They are planted from shoots, not date- 
 stones, as these latter rarely come to anything. 
 
 At 4 P.M. we sighted Bassora, the famed El 
 Basreh of the Arabian Nights ; a few ships in the 
 river, and some mud walls amongst the palms, 
 were all the signs of human handiwork we could 
 see. A Turkish war-ship, resembling the landing- 
 pier of penny boats on the Thames, had all its 
 flags trimmed, and fired a loud salute — not, how- 
 ever, in our honour, but on account of the close 
 of the fast of Ramadan, which takes place as the 
 new moon rises. It had been seen the day before 
 at Bagdad, and the day before that at Constan- 
 tinople, much to the disgust of the impatient 
 Mohammedans of Bassora ! Another quarantine 
 officer came on board and allowed none of us to 
 leave the ship until a clean bill of health had been 
 reported to the proper authorities. Captain Carter 
 of the " City of London " — the steamer that was to 
 take us up to Bagdad — came on board, and after 
 a short time we got our luggage stowed on board 
 one of the numerous boats that crowded around 
 
MARGIL. 
 
 33^ 
 
 our steamer. We went straight off to the river 
 steamer which lay close at hand, not without 
 some demur on the part of the Customs' officer, 
 who wanted us to go first to the custom-house ; 
 a little bakshish, however, smoothed over all 
 difficulties. 
 
 At lo P.M. we weighed anchor and steamed 
 up half an hour to Margil, where is situated the 
 British Consulate. The captain of the " Comet," 
 the British Resident at Bagdad's ship, was acting 
 as consul during the proper oflScial's absence, and 
 we found a brother of the (late) sultan of Muscat 
 with him ; he had visited Bagdad and was going 
 back to Bombay on his way to Zanzibar, — a 
 young and rough fellow, who, though an Arab, 
 had an unconquerable aversion to a vskittish horse. 
 Our steamer lay about twenty yards out in the 
 Tigris, and we went on shore in a small boat. The 
 landing place was of palm trees arranged in steps, 
 and uncommonly slippery. The English Consulate 
 was close to the bank. We entered under an arch, 
 into a large court-yard with walls all round ; on the 
 right-hand a door led through another smaller court 
 
^^2 PALM GARDENS. 
 
 to a colonnade and the living-rooms. These were 
 lofty and well furnished, with a real English 
 fire-place and chimney piece, blackwood furniture 
 in the drawing-room. There was a nice garden 
 attached, with all sorts of flower-trees in it. 
 
 After breakfast, on the i oth, the acting Consul 
 lent us a horse to ride into Bassora. We went 
 through a forest of palms, interspersed with the palm 
 huts of stationary Arabs, and got on a sandy and 
 marshy plain, where our horse ran away with us, 
 doing about two miles in five minutes. We 
 pulled him up close to Bassora, and rode in, to the 
 steamer's office. The mud walls round the town 
 appeared easier to get over even than in Persia, but 
 the gate was still guarded by Irregulars. At first 
 we rode through palm gardens, surrounded by 
 mud walls, and much below the level of the road, 
 which was elevated by the earth thrown out of these 
 very excavated gardens. This was done to get the 
 gardens on a level with the Tigris for irrigation. 
 Outside the walls we passed some heaps like old ruins. 
 When we got amongst the houses, we found them 
 very ruinous. The court of the consular oflSce is 
 
TOMB OF EZRA. T,^^ 
 
 covered in, and the rooms are in two galleries 
 around. We tried the bazaar, but found that, on 
 account of the great holiday, all the shops were 
 shut ; and as it was Saturday, even those of the 
 Jews. It seemed well built, but short. The glory 
 has departed from El Basreh. The first object 
 seen on approaching the town is the French flag 
 floating from a tall masthead. This is under the 
 keeping of a merchant, who is called the " gardien 
 du Pavilion." The relations of France with Bas- 
 sora are — that once a year a ship belonging to some 
 Swiss merchants, calls here under the French flag ! 
 We went to the telegraph office ; the operator, 
 a Turk, spoke French. In Turkey the women 
 do not seem to care so much about hiding their faces 
 as in Persia. We must do them the justice to say 
 that there is nothing to see. At midnight, after 
 dining on shore, we went on board the " City of 
 London," and started in an hour. We passed the 
 " Garden of Eden," a few palms and Arab huts, 
 in the early morning, and soon after sighted the 
 tomb of Ezra, a square mud-brick enclosure with 
 high walls, the windows at least 70 feet from 
 
334 'THE devil's elbow. 
 
 the ground. A cupola of glazed tiles rises above 
 the sanctuary, v^here lies the tomb held in high 
 honour by all neighbouring Jev^s, v^ho make 
 annual pilgrimages to the shrine. We v^ere told 
 that one of the Barons Rothschild had given a large 
 sum towards the establishment of schools here. The 
 low banks were hardly four feet above the river ; 
 many Arab encampments on them; no trees; 
 numerous flocks. The villagers generally turned 
 out to see us pass, children in the costume once 
 fashionable a little lower down the river, in the 
 Garden of Eden, women w^ith their faces un- 
 veiled. Occasional heaps testified to the ruins of 
 ancient times. Numerous pillars of smoke arose at 
 intervals about the plain, each seeming some "jin" 
 released from a casket that had been sealed with 
 Solomon's seal, but in reality the less romantic 
 consequence of reeds burning near some nomad 
 encampment. The river w^inds in the most eccen- 
 tric fashion, so that the tomb of Ezra seemed to 
 be now on our right, then on our left ; nov^ before 
 us, now behind. We reached a sharp turn, nick- 
 named the Devil's Elbow, about noon. Per- 
 
ON THE TIGRIS. 335 
 
 mission to cut a straight course for the river 
 through this, has been repeatedly refused by the 
 Turks to the company whose steamer we were in. 
 Indeed, the navigation from Bassora to Bagdad 
 might easily be shortened by about one-half, simply by 
 cutting through corners, but the Turkish Govern- 
 ment, of course, does nothing, and will not allow 
 others to do more. There are three English and 
 two Turkish steamers on the river. The navigation 
 is very treacherous when the river is low, and not 
 without hazard even at this time of the year, when 
 it is pretty full. Our ship drew four feet of water, 
 and the deck was only three feet above the water. 
 The cabins were built upon this deck, and the 
 steerage passengers slept above them. The saloon 
 contained about thirty square feet, and to get from 
 one side of the table to the other at dinner, the ser- 
 vants had to go out at one door and in at the other. 
 Some Arabs were continually racing the steamer 
 on shore, bronzed fellows, very lightly dressed, with 
 florid kefyehs. The breadth of the river varies con- 
 siderably, and is generally deepest near one of its 
 banks. ^ We were now on the Tigris, the river below 
 
336 Alexander's bridge. 
 
 the junction of the Euphrates, and this being called 
 the Shat el Arab. At 7 o'clock we reached Ordy, 
 a large Turkish camp. A Turkish steamer which 
 started thirty hours before us from Bassora, was 
 now only eighteen hours ahead, so we were gaining 
 rapidly on her. A large fire burnt luridly on 
 the horizon ; the glare was great and the light far 
 spread. 
 
 At 7 A.M. on the 19th we passed the cele- 
 brated bridge of Alexander. The remains of one 
 buttress are still visible on the (proper) right bank. 
 It is of bricks, firmly cemented together. Higher 
 up a few trees. The road to the bridge may 
 still be traced on either side, in the shape of 
 two parallel mounds. At 5 p.m. we passed the 
 little Turkish steamer. The river was very dis- 
 coloured. The bridge is called Fley Fley by the 
 Arabs, from a sort of Hero and Leander story. 
 A lady of that romantic name (Fley Fley) was 
 enamoured of a young gentleman whose fame has 
 not sufficed to preserve his name, but who, at all 
 events, used to swim the river every night to get to 
 his " ladye love." She, therefore, out of kind con- 
 
THE TARK KESRA. 337 
 
 sideration for his health, and that he might not 
 catch cold, built him this bridge ! 
 
 At 7 P.M., we reached Kutellamara, about half 
 way. At 3 P.M. on the 20th, we met the Dijillah, 
 the other English steamer, belonging to Messrs. 
 Lynch. Sh^ was much larger than the " City," 
 and named after the Arab for this river, meaning 
 " The Arrow," probably so called because it is one 
 of the most crooked rivers going — or rather flowing. 
 
 At 8 A.M. on the 21st we drew up opposite the 
 Tark Kesra, or Arch of Chosroes. Here the river 
 makes an immense sweep, so that we could walk 
 across the bend in half an hour, whereas it took 
 the steamer two hours and a half to go round. 
 Here Captain Carter and ourselves landed, and 
 walked across to the Tark. On our right we 
 saw the remains of a gigantic wall of brick. We 
 crossed a broad canal. Here the city of Ctesi- 
 phon was situated in ancient times. The Tark 
 is a most magnificent arch, standing out in bold 
 relief against the sky ; it must be some two hun- 
 dred feet high by eighty broad. Part of the 
 arched roof has fallen in, but the solidity of the 
 
338 IRRIGATION. 
 
 remainder is imposing. It is built of large burnt 
 bricks, cemented most solidly together. On either 
 side of the arch are two wings of masonry as 
 high as itself, with columnar decorations, the outer 
 walls of a palace, of which the other sides have 
 fallen in. On the west side of the arch there is a 
 practicable way up owing to the decay of the bricks, 
 which leaves a sort of narrow staircase going up, 
 sideways. The greatest difficulty is to get up the 
 first ten feet, as there the upper bricks project, and 
 there is no foothold. After this we easily ascended 
 to the arched portion, where the interstices between 
 the bricks afford an easy climb to the summit. 
 The plain near is covered with heaps of ruins, 
 which look like ordinary hillocks. Getting down 
 again we made for the river, through brushwood 
 where we put up a few partridges. The banks 
 were here very muddy. The water for irrigation 
 is drawn up over a cross-bar by means of a large 
 bucket let down into the river by a rope, to the 
 other end of which a horse is harnessed, and then 
 driven down an excavated hole, so as to afford 
 leverage for the purpose. The ruins extend to the 
 other side of the riven 
 
BAGDAD. 335 
 
 At length about 2 p.m. we reached the first 
 palm gardens around Bagdad, and in about three- 
 quarters of an hour more we steamed into the city 
 of the Caliphs. At a bend in the river we now 
 saw the masthead on which ought to have floated 
 the British ensign, but it was not hoisted till we 
 fairly arrived. A bastion of the wall of circum- 
 vallation, which is of well preserved burnt brick, 
 jutted out into the river. The gates are shut at 
 sunset. Colonel Kemball, the resident and consul- 
 general, received us most graciously. We found a 
 real bed in our room, a thing we had not seen 
 since Tabreez. Next morning we made our cus- 
 tomary inspection of the bazaar, which is the best 
 stocked one we had yet seen in the East; the 
 arcades are wide and the building solid. 
 
 On the 24th we rode over the bridge of boats to 
 Cosmein, the great Persian sanctuary, with two 
 gilt cupolas and four good minarets in excellent 
 preservation. The town on the right bank of the 
 Tigris has very narrow streets which are con- 
 tinually thronged. On the Residency side, (the 
 
 fashionable quarter,) latticed windows overhang 
 
 z 2 
 
340 ZOBEIDE^S TOMB. 
 
 the streets. The right bank outside the town is 
 planted with pahns, then an open plain, and Cos- 
 mein lies amongst more palms. 
 
 On the 26th we started on an excursion to 
 Hilleh, the ruins of ancient Babylon. We hired 
 three horses, and crossing the river by the bridge 
 we turned south, after paying a small toll. After 
 threading the streets for some time, we emerged out 
 of the town to the west. On our right now rose the 
 tomb of the celebrated wife of Haroun al Raschid, 
 Zobeide ; a burnt brick edifice in the shape of a 
 sugar-loaf on an octagonal base, rising in steps. 
 We soon came to a narrow canal that spread out 
 further to the north, and found ourselves on 
 the banks of the Tigris. We now rode through 
 a succession of mounds and dry canals, past 
 two khans, as the caravanserais are here called, 
 and the bifurcation of the road to Kerbelah, a 
 place of pilgrimage for Persians, whither immense 
 cargoes of corpses are conveyed for burial in the 
 holy ground around the shrine where lies interred 
 the body of Houssein. We slept at Khan al Hassan, 
 (thirty-two miles,) under a projection in the inside 
 
THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 34 1 
 
 caravanserai passage — lots of donkeys close to us. 
 We had a new dodge for a portable bed, simply 
 a large canvas bag, to be filled with chopped 
 straw at night. It made a remarkably good couch. 
 On the 27th, continuing our ride, we passed 
 many more dry canals, and two with deep streams 
 in them. The bridges over these were in good 
 repair. At 1.30 p.m., having started at 8.30 A.M., 
 we saw a large mound, so we cut across to get 
 at it, but were stopped by a deep canal, up which 
 we had to ride to find a bridge. After this we rode 
 straight to the enormous hill-like mass, which we 
 discovered to be the Majellibe of Rich. It was 
 oblong, at least one hundred feet high, and 
 from a distance appeared to be composed of dry 
 mud, but on approaching and dismounting, we 
 found a portion of it to be solid brick wall of 
 stupendous thickness, and in other parts the ma- 
 terial of which the mound was composed was 
 perfectly friable, so that on pulling out one brick, 
 a whole mass would tumble down. Here there 
 were several large clay vases, cinerary urns ; 
 we pulled one out and thus discovered another 
 
342 THE KASR. 
 
 just behind it. There was nothing but dry mould 
 and bits of bone inside. We walked round the 
 mass and got on to the top, where we saw many- 
 traces of excavations, as the Arabs freely pull out 
 the bricks to build houses with. 
 
 We now sent on our guide with a letter to Kalif 
 Aga, the governor of Hilleh, and rode across 
 country, over dry canals — the plain full of mounds ; 
 — on the right a palm forest, which, from the top 
 of the Majellibe we discovered, grew on the banks 
 of the Euphrates. It was a lovely afternoon, and 
 the river stole lazily along amongst the palms and 
 long grass. We soon came to another enormous 
 mound, the Kasr of Rich, on to which we rode, 
 and found the remains of a stout brick building, 
 apparently of rather more recent date than the 
 Majellibe. Descending, we came to an Arab 
 village. One of the inhabitants rushed out and 
 asked whether we had seen a stone bull amongst 
 the ruins. We had not, and so rode back to the 
 Kasr, where, in an excavation, stood a black basalt 
 hewn figure, more resembling a lion than a bull, 
 and not unlike m enlarged edition of the lion? 
 
HILLEH. 343 
 
 frequently seen in Persian churchyards. The face 
 was mutilated and the legs broken off; the sculp- 
 ture very rude. It had been discovered a long 
 time, we believe, though it is strange that more 
 have not been found. We rode on, and soon got 
 between mud walls enclosing palms, which ex- 
 tended for some two miles. When we reached 
 the outskirts of Hilleh, a servant on horseback met 
 us, saying that he had been commissioned by the 
 European doctor of one of the regiments quartered 
 here to offer us a room. We therefore rode 
 through a mangy bazaar, (principally for corn,) to 
 the doctor's house. He spoke French, and we 
 discovered that our muleteer, who knew of his 
 being in the town, had gone to him, and told him 
 that we had seen the room appointed for us by 
 the aga, but finding it not sufficiently good, had 
 expressed our intention of going to the doctor. 
 Of course we explained. Every article of furni- 
 ture, as well as the house itself, was of palm-wood, 
 even to the matting of shreds of palm. 
 
 On the 28th, at 11 a.m., we rode out to Birs 
 Nimroud, the supposed tower of Babel (or Belus), 
 
344 ^I^S NIMROUD. 
 
 We crossed the Euphrates on a bridge of boats, 
 which then presented an animated scene, as a long 
 string of camels was crossing, attended by its Arab 
 conductors, a swarthy set, tall, and with bright red 
 and yellow silk kefyehs, kept on their heads by 
 long skeins of camel's hair. A small toll is pay- 
 able for crossing. Then we passed through a 
 tolerable bazaar, and out of the town, when we 
 immediately descried the Birs Nimroud at a 
 distance, about seven miles out. We had to make 
 several circuits, in order to avoid canals and to 
 find bridges, before getting to the Birs. 
 
 We rode on to an enormous pile of earth and 
 ruins, some fifty feet high and a quarter of a mile 
 long by 300 yards broad ; immense quantities of 
 broken and valueless pottery scattered about ; close 
 beyond rose the tower, a gigantic mass of brick- 
 work almost round in form, but broken up, and 
 covered with debris at the bases. A, yet standing, 
 massive piece of wall like a very thick column, and 
 constructed of the most solid brick, rises about fifty 
 feet above the main body of the edifice, forming 
 a distinct landmark. We climbed up to this, 
 
TURKISH MUSIC. 345 
 
 and viewed the flat landscape. The river made a 
 bend to within a mile of our standing point and 
 was very wide, as if the inundations were be- 
 ginning. On the south side of this mass huge 
 pieces of brickwork have fallen down, as it were 
 vitrified into slag by intense heat, perhaps that 
 of lightning. 
 
 On returning we paid a visit to the vice-governor. 
 He received us in a shabby room, where we had the 
 usual Arab coffee without milk or sugar but with * 
 plenty of sediment. After dinner, the doctor Deme- 
 triades, a Greek, took us to the barracks ; a square 
 building in two storeys, with rooms round a large 
 court, and a gallery round the upper storey. We 
 went into the bandmaster's room, who presently came 
 in as drunk as possible. He insisted on exchanging 
 our wideawake for his " fez," which was miles too 
 big for us. Luckily he soon fell asleep, and 
 tumbled off his divan, upsetting his narghile 
 (Turkish for kaleoun). At 7 p.m., the hour of the 
 " retraite," the band struck up in the court, and 
 played polkas, and English and French song tunes 
 very tolerably. When it was over, we slipped out. 
 
346 KHAN AT BIR NOOS. 
 
 and recrossed the bridge beneath which the river 
 flowed silently in the moonlight night. The coffees 
 which were crammed at six were empty now. 
 Their divans of palm branches with backs and sides 
 seemed very rude and hard to lie upon. 
 
 On the I st of March we started on our journey 
 back to Bagdad. The vice-governor insisted upon 
 sending two very irregular cavalry Bedouins as an 
 escort, but we soon managed to get rid of them ; 
 just at sundown we reached the Khan of Bir Noos, 
 where we halted for the night. A wild Arab in- 
 sisted that our room (!) was engaged for some soldiers 
 who had not yet arrived ; but we observed in the 
 vernacular, " first come, first served," and the sight 
 of our whip effected the rest. Next day we 
 reached Bagdad at 3 p.m., having to lead our horses 
 through one small canal, whose waters had swollen 
 since we crossed it, going. 
 
 On the 3rd we saw the Pasha riding in the 
 bazaar. He paid a visit to the resident, bringing 
 our firman for the road with him. 
 
 An export duty of four per cent, was charged 
 upon many things in a box which we sent to 
 
MISSIONARY SUCCESS ! 347 
 
 England via Bombay (which by the way had not 
 arrived eleven months afterwards !) Five years ago 
 the duty was nine per cent., but the Turkish 
 Government were induced to agree on lowering it to 
 one per cent., by taking off one per cent, every 
 year for eight years. Messrs. Bruhl and Epps- 
 tein, two missionaries from England to the Jews, 
 with their English wives, were about to leave for 
 England, having, during nine years' ministration, 
 succeeded in converting two Jews, one of whom, 
 we believe, soon relapsed. However, the schools 
 that they instituted did much good. 
 
 4th. — We start to-morrow, and have already 
 paid our horse hire for the first four stages. The 
 letting of post-horses is in this country farmed 
 out to different proprietors, who supply so many 
 stations with horses. The man who farms the 
 first distance supplies four stations, so these are 
 prepaid. 
 
348 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 On the 5th, the EngUsh dromedary post from 
 Damascus came in, and we started on our long ride 
 after breakfast. We rode two stages, and found a 
 Mr. Weber, a merchant at Mosul, just going to start 
 at the changing-station. Near Bagdad the road 
 was rather bad, intersected by small watercourses 
 with a very narrow bridge over each. We reached 
 Yengiyeh early, doing ^ thirty-nine miles in six 
 hours, including the half-hour for stoppages ; we 
 travelled with only three horses — one for ourselves, 
 one for Awa Baba, and one for the postilion. 
 Our bed was strapped behind ourselves, our lug- 
 gage (!) behind our servant, and saddle-bags carried 
 our cooking utensils, &c., on the third horse. 
 
 The first station was on the left bank of the 
 Tigris, then over a bad marsh. The post-house is a 
 large square with stables all round, not more than 
 ten feet high (we slept in a kind of guardroom) ; 
 
ROBBING THE POST. 349 
 
 It is only accessible by one door, so as to be easily 
 defensible against any wandering Arabs, who 
 sometimes are troublesome along the road ; they 
 are said to have been quiet lately, only having 
 robbed the last Turkish post to Constantinople of 
 many thousand pounds' worth of treasure and 
 jewels — this notwithstanding a strong escort, which 
 most likely connived at the robbery, although two 
 of the number were killed and as many wounded, 
 not being in the secret. The robbers of course in- 
 stantly made for the Persian frontier. Palm trees 
 still grow around the villages by the Tigris. The 
 telegraph again adjoins our track as in Persia. 
 This is the best season for travelling down here — 
 neither too hot nor too cold. The air is delight- 
 ful, and early spring flowers are beginning to 
 blossom. 
 
 On the 6th the road led to a meandering river, 
 at present just level with the plain ; many kinds 
 of shrubs grew about, and the banks were 
 often occupied by the settlements of Eeliauts, here 
 Kurds, we believe. After changing horses, we 
 crossed a long and low ridge of the Hamaram 
 
^SO TOOZ KHURMATI. 
 
 hills. A few stones set up in the road marked 
 the spot where the post was attacked. We reached 
 Kara Teppah — fifty-four miles — in nine hours. 
 The accommodation was of the vilest. The surreje, 
 or postilion, generally rides a mare ; the other two 
 are horses; the charge is 2^d, per horse per mile — 
 very little. The number of storks on their nests 
 is almost ludicrous ; every house has two or three 
 of them upon it. 
 
 Starting early, we crossed a spur of the snow- 
 covered mountains on the east, and were delayed 
 three-quarters of an hour at the station, as there 
 were no horses. After all only two were obtain- 
 able, so we took on one that we had come with. 
 We rode along a low range of hills to Tooz 
 Khurmati, - where we were accommodated in a 
 decent mud room. In this post-house there was a 
 very pretty girl with large black eyes, — almost the 
 only pretty face we had yet seen. Oranges were 
 to be bought at all these stations, and good honey. 
 Fifty-one miles in nine hours and three-quarters. 
 We observed several crows with white backs and 
 breasts, and crossed a broad but shallow river just 
 
KIRKOOK. 351 
 
 before this station. During the night a bitumen 
 Hght was burnt in our room, and by its gHmmer 
 we saw a man stealthily creeping about, groping 
 for anything he could find. He found nothing, 
 however, and a slight movement on our part 
 induced him to crouch in a corner for half an hour, 
 occasionally imitating the purr of a cat; then he 
 crept away. 
 
 On the 8 th we crossed another river, and reached 
 Taough, the changing station, in three and a-half 
 hours. A mounted horseman generally wished to 
 ride with us as an escort, whose services we as 
 generally declined ; for if we were to be robbed one 
 horseman would do no good, but rather make any 
 stray marauders think that there was something 
 worth getting in our possession. We reached Kir- 
 kook at 4 P.M. Eight and a-half hours, forty-eight 
 miles. It is a prosperous town, with a large Turk- 
 ish garrison. The barracks are the best house in it. 
 The town is apparently divided into three quarters, 
 one across a little rivulet with a wide channel, 
 another on an elevated and isolated plateau, and 
 the third around it, where the post-house was 
 
;^^2 ARBIL. 
 
 situated. The pomegranates were remarkably fine, 
 as indeed we found them to be ever since Busheer. 
 The proprietor of the post-horses here, who farmed 
 a distance of i8o miles, was particularly anxious 
 to impress upon us the advantages to be derived 
 from paying him for the distance from Zab to 
 Mosul. As his farm only extended to Zab, he 
 wished to send his horses on thence with us, and 
 to do the post-horse owner there, besides calling 
 the distance three miles further than it really 
 was. 
 
 On the 1 1 th, as we were bound on one of our 
 longest rides, it began to rain early, and continued 
 without ceasing all day, making the roads bad; we 
 found no horses at the next station, and had to take 
 our old ones on, after baiting for an hour and a 
 half; we reached Arbil at half-past nine, the last two 
 hours and a half ride, in the dark — sixty-three 
 miles, thirteen hours and a quarter. We passed two 
 isolated mounds with flat tops, on which were the 
 ruins of some houses, probably built there for 
 security. Now, however, the road here is perfectly 
 safe, and the district well cultivated, as the system 
 
NEBBI JUNAS. ^^^ 
 
 of government has been changed. The Pashas 
 receive a fixed salary, instead of paying so much 
 for their office, and then grinding so much more out 
 of their subjects. Arbil is built on a flat moun- 
 tain, accessible only on one side ; walls all round 
 besides. The post-house is below amongst some 
 other houses. Next day our surreje, a young boy, 
 lost his way, and we rode over ploughed fields for 
 some time, so that we reached the greater Zab late. 
 We crossed in a rough ferry-boat, and then had 
 to ford a smaller arm of the same river, which 
 was rather deeper than we expected. We changed 
 horses quickly, as we had to reach Mosul before 
 sunset, and waded through certainly 200 yards of 
 water up a stream by a ford. 
 
 The mountains of Kurdistan rose far to our right 
 — the country was high and very undulating ; at 
 last we arrived in sight of Mosul, and rode through 
 the ruins of Nineveh, which are nothing now but 
 large mounds, not distinguishable from the natural 
 hillocks. We passed a portion of suburbs on a low 
 hill, with several mosques and minarets on it, the 
 
 largest of them is called Nebbi Junas ; the prophet 
 
 2 A 
 
354 MOSUL. 
 
 Jonas is reputed to be buried underneath. The 
 room which contains his sepulchre is about six- 
 teen feet square, the passage to it narrow, the 
 walls of green glazed tiles. The sepulchre is 
 raised from the ground and about eight feet long by 
 half as broad ; it may be of wood, but rich 
 coverings and costly Persian rugs completely hide it. 
 There is a bason in one corner of the room, and 
 the attendant Mullah informed Mr. Rassam, that 
 every Friday Jonah rises from his tomb to perform 
 his ablutions, after which he quietly returns to his 
 coffin ! We think most people would hardly return 
 having once got out. We reached the bridge of 
 boats at half-past six o'clock ; a stone bridge 
 is built nearly half way across the river bed, but 
 water only flows underneath it in spring ; then the 
 bridge of boats spans the main stream of the Tigris, 
 here considerably shrunk from its dimensions at 
 Bagdad. This bridge, as at Bagdad, is removed 
 when the river rises. 
 
 Paying a small toll, we entered the gate, and 
 passing through several squalid and filthy streets, 
 we reached Mr. Rassam's, the vice-consul's house. 
 
THE BAZAAR. 355 
 
 Mr. Weber, who had outstripped us, had informed 
 him of our arrival, and we were shown into an 
 excellent room. The house was entirely built 
 of marble from the neighbouring mountains, of a 
 sort of blue grey colour, streaked with white. Mr. 
 Rassam and his wife were about starting for 
 England in September, then he was going to 
 return to Mosul to arrange his affairs, and give 
 up his post. 
 
 He was actively engaged in translating portions 
 of the Old Testament, especially the Prophet Isaiah, 
 from the original into English, giving each word in 
 Syriac, with his authorities for his interpretation 
 in colloquial Arabic phrases. 
 
 On the 1 2 th we went into the bazaars, and 
 found them most intricate and badly constructed, 
 but the stock in trade good. The jewellers con- 
 gregated in a street without an arched roof, 
 some portions of the bazaars were only arched in 
 with branches. All fuel comes from the mountains 
 on donkey-back. The ruins of Nemroud are 
 about twenty miles down the river and those 
 
 of Khorsabad fifteen miles on the opposite side. 
 
 2 A 2 
 
^^6 AN ECCLESIASTICAL WAG. 
 
 Nothing is, however, to be seen at any of them. 
 The excavations made by Mr. Layard are all 
 covered up again. 
 
 1 3th. During the course of the day two Roman 
 Catholic bishops, who had been educated at the 
 Propaganda of Rome called, and stayed to tea, 
 previously a Chaldean Catholic bishop looked in. 
 They all three wore the common Turkish fez, 
 with rolls of thick black cloth, about four inches 
 broad, wrapped round it. The bishops had on 
 black gabardines with red tunics and close-fitting 
 sleeves. The Chaldean appeared to be a funny 
 fellow, full of anecdotes, and with always a simile 
 ready on all occasions. One of his anecdotes we 
 remember : — " Some Arabs plundered a mosque 
 dedicated to some great Mohammedan saint. On 
 being remonstrated with by the dwellers around — 
 who were too weak to attempt other measures — on 
 the impiety of their proceedings, they said, ' Oh, 
 never mind, we will make it all right with the 
 saint,' so going into the mosque they had rifled, 
 they ejaculated the following :— ' Oh ! saint, if 
 thou art indeed a believer, then what we have 
 
A NESTORIAN BISHOP. 357 
 
 obtained from thy shrine is thy bounty unto 
 us ; but if thou art an unbehever then we despoil 
 thee rightly, and burn thy father !' " 
 
 14th. An Ullema, or doctor of the law, came in 
 and smoked a chibouk. Soon after him came a 
 Nestorian bishop with one attendant. The bishop 
 wore a conical felt cap, with a long black calico 
 handkerchief wrapped round it in disorderly folds. 
 His beard was black, and his long uncombed 
 flowing hair brown, altogether a shaggy-looking 
 personage ! Later the Pasha, a benevolent-looking 
 old Greek, paid Mr. Rassam a visit, attended by his 
 narghile. The bowl of this is almost always of 
 Bohemian glass, the receptacle for tobacco is about 
 five inches above it — the Pasha's was of silver, 
 shaped like a bunch of flowers. The whole is 
 placed on the ground, and the smoke is inhaled 
 through a leathern snake. We went on to the roof 
 and surveyed the town. Nothing remarkable : mud- 
 brick houses so close together that no streets were 
 perceptible; flat roofs and parapets around them. 
 There are sulphur springs near, which are said to 
 be very healthsome. It was now just eight months 
 
358 UNDERGROUND APARTMENTS. 
 
 since we left England. A Syrian Catholic bishop 
 called in the evening. We had seen church digni- 
 taries of every description here. This one v^as a 
 Mosulee, educated at the Propaganda and a mon- 
 signore, as he wore a long black cloth garment 
 doubled with purple ; his tight sleeves and tunic 
 were also purple. A handkerchief of black silk with 
 a gold Maltese cross embroidered in front was on 
 his head. At Mosul the last palm tree grows ; it 
 is carefully wrapped up with matting in the winter. 
 Cucumbers grow to the length of six feet and two 
 feet round ! As the Pasha was collecting objects to 
 be sent hence to the Paris Exhibition of 1867, we 
 suggested that one of these cucumbers might be as 
 wonderful as anything else ! The underground 
 portion of Mr. Rassam's house, whither he retires in 
 summer, was very grand, resembling the crypt of 
 some large church. Most of the good houses here 
 are interiorly built of marble. The north part of 
 the town rises gradually in hillocks. About two 
 hundred yards down the . river, we saw a square 
 building with a high whitewashed wall pierced 
 everywhere with windows, probably the barracks, 
 or a sort of fort. 
 
zAKoo. 359 
 
 On the 15th we started again, the horsekeeper 
 at first objected to the weight of our load, but soon 
 gave in, not having a " locus standi." We recrossed 
 the bridge, turning north ; a small stream, here 
 flowing into the Tigris, had its banks covered 
 for some distance with — washerwomen ! we rode 
 over a very undulating country till sunset, crossing 
 three little streams, and soon reached Ismael, a 
 wretched little village with a still more wretched 
 little post-house. We slept on the ground in a 
 barn, whence we previously turned out two 
 donkeys to make room for ourselves. 
 
 Next day, we rode over rough road to Zakoo, 
 where an old castle on rising ground above the 
 village contained the post-house ; then we forded a 
 large stream, and two others at intervals. At 
 sunset we got amongst hills, when the surreje 
 told us to ride on rapidly, as the road was in bad 
 repute. Sure enough, we saw, down a ravine 
 close to us, a lurid light, waving about in a 
 cavern ; however, the inmates, whoever they were, 
 did not perceive us, and we reached the Tigris. 
 Here we had to halloo across the stream for a 
 kelek or raft. After a time one came over. It 
 
360 A HORRID ROAD. 
 
 was about twelve feet square, of rough boards on 
 inflated sheepskins. We left the horses to return 
 without us, and were rowed across by two 
 men. On the opposite side we found four horses 
 and a man with a lantern awaiting us. In half 
 an hour's walk we reached the post-house ; it 
 rained more or less all day, and the lighted fire there 
 was grateful to us. The village was called Jezireh. 
 Leaving early, we mounted a little, and then 
 came to an immense plain ; the road was of the most 
 appalling description, rendering any pace faster 
 than a slow walk a moral and physical impossi- 
 bility. It consisted of mud two feet or more in 
 depth, with boulders scattered about so thickly, 
 that there was only just room between them for the 
 horses' hoofs to sink into the mire. This lasted, 
 more or less, for thirty-six miles, a piercing north- 
 easter blowing all the time. We passed the 
 Turkish post, only two days late from Stamboul. 
 Jezireh is under the government of a mudir — 
 an officer inferior in rank to a Pasha and a 
 Kaimacan — it is a telegraph station. The Indian 
 traffic, for which a large sum was paid to the 
 
NISIBEEN. 361 
 
 Sultan's government, is sadly impeded by the 
 trivial messages sent from one pasha or mudir 
 to another. These are generally twenty words 
 of compliments, then ten words of real business, 
 and another twenty words of more compliments. 
 We changed horses and rode along the same plain, 
 but on a better road. The district appeared to us 
 very populous, as there were a number of small 
 isolated hills like large tumuli, scattered about at 
 intervals of about three miles in every direction, 
 and on the southern slope of each of them a 
 Kurdish village was erected. However we were 
 told that many of these were deserted, and formerly 
 the whole region was devastated by Arab ghazus 
 or forays, which still compel the post to make an 
 immense circuit, as the whole road up to Zakoo is 
 directly out of the straight direction to Diarbekir. 
 We rode on another thirty-six miles after the 
 change, till we crossed several branches of a stream 
 on a causeway bridge without a parapet, and 
 entered Nisibeen, where we slept. 
 
 20th. Still on the plain. We came to a ruined 
 castle, which the surreje informed us was of early 
 
362 DARA. 
 
 Christian architecture, in reality dating from the 
 Roman empire, having probably formed one of 
 the frontier forts. We then turned off into a 
 small by-path, to visit the great Roman fortress 
 of Dara. It was built at the foot of a low rocky 
 range of mountains, the first outskirts of the 
 Antitaurus (?). The first impression conveyed to 
 our minds was that we were approaching an 
 immense ruined mass of hewn stones. We crossed 
 a small stream just above a massive broken 
 stone bridge, of thorough Roman solidity. Fifty 
 yards higher up stood the remains of, probably, a 
 dam, a wall some 100 feet high and 10 thick, of 
 solid hewn stone facing, and rubble between ; at the 
 bottom were three arched openings, about eight feet 
 across, probably sluices, as the holes for the hinges 
 of the locks were still visible. Then the stream had 
 broken through the wall, and in the portion on 
 the left bank a miller had installed himself. Two 
 hewn stone walls once formed a conduit on the bank 
 to admit the water into the massive edifice, but 
 now it enters by another aperture. This kind 
 of mill is very common ; for almost all the little 
 
RUINS. 363 
 
 Streams are utilised in this way, — a portion of 
 the water is carried along the bank in a conduit, 
 till it is of sufficient height to allow of its pouring 
 through the mill with sufficient force to turn the 
 wheel Fifty yards above the dam, another bridge 
 of three arches spanned the stream, whose banks 
 had been apparently confined by walls of hewn 
 stones. From this bridge a magnificent road 
 once wound up the eminence ; now only a 
 few traces remain to indicate its existence — a few 
 steps here and there. Some columns were lying 
 about, one standing some fifteen feet high and four 
 round. Upon the low hill to which the road led, 
 was a mass of buildings, something like a forum 
 in shape. Some Corinthian capitals lay about. 
 
 Kurds have installed themselves in one part of 
 the ruins, where a building with many fine broken 
 arches is standing on the left bank of the stream. 
 Some of the inhabitants now gathered around and 
 offered to show us the principal remains. We 
 acquiesced and followed one of them into an open- 
 ing under the forum-shaped mass. This was a 
 passage with sides of hewn stone. At the further 
 
364 ~ THE GRANARIES. 
 
 end we turned to the right into a very dark passage 
 where our conductor lighted a tallow candle. We 
 soon came to some steps which led down along a 
 hewn stone wall, a slight parapet was raised on the 
 other side to prevent falling into a tremendous ex- 
 cavation that in Roman times was probably used as a 
 granary. This formed a magnificent hall, supported 
 by immense square pillars of hewn stone. The roof 
 was arched, and a little light from the outer world 
 just allowed the magnitude of the work to be seen. 
 The hall appeared to be some 150 feet high, by 
 120 broad. At the sides little chambers were 
 excavated, and walled with blocks of stone. 
 
 On emerging again, we purchased a quantity of 
 copper coins, most of them of Justinian and Con- 
 stantine. We now rode along the hills ; where the 
 quarries and catacombs in the rocks were distinctly 
 visible. Sometimes one excavation had two little 
 pillars and an arch cut in the rock for a doorway. 
 In the quarries the stone was sometimes hewn in 
 steps, presenting a very picturesque appearance. 
 
 Riding on, we gradually approached a high 
 mountain, on which traces of houses were dimly 
 
MARDEEN. 365 
 
 discernible ; as we drew nearer these became more 
 distinct and we found them to constitute Mardeen, 
 whither we were bound. The situation of this 
 town was perhaps the most extraordinary we had 
 ever seen. It was built more than half-way up a 
 precipitous hill, along whose southern flank it 
 extended for some mile or so, and up for half a 
 mile — below the wall, a bleak rock to the plain. 
 The houses rose one above the other, as it were in 
 storeys, so that each possessed a view over the plain 
 as far as the eye could stretch. The access to it was 
 very difficult : we first went round a mountain 
 below that on which stood the town, up a difficult 
 path, until we came to a neck of land connecting 
 the two hills, which we rode over, and entered the 
 gate just an hour before sunset. The streets were 
 ill-paved, and sometimes led over the roofs of the 
 houses below. 
 
 Above the town the rocks rose quite per- 
 pendicularly, and a ruined fort was perched on the 
 table-land at the top. We passed some fine Saracenic 
 archways of friable stone, and after some trouble 
 discovered Mr. Williams' house. This gentle- 
 
^66 PROTESTANT CONGREGATIONS. 
 
 man was a missionary of the American Pres- 
 byterian Church, whose head-quarters are in 
 Boston, U.S. The society does a great deal of 
 good amongst the Christian populations of Asia 
 Minor. The Armenians are those who afford the 
 greatest number of converts, the Jacobites and 
 Nestorians also contributing. There is a congrega- 
 tion of these Protestants at Mosul, but that station 
 is, with justice, deemed so unhealthy to Americans, 
 that it is only occasionally visited, native preachers 
 keeping the congregation together. Our host had 
 to deplore the loss of three wives, each sacrificed to 
 the climate in a very short time. His house con- 
 tained an excellent classical and theological library; 
 it was situated in the lower portion of the town. 
 Having partaken of his hospitality for one night, 
 we started again. The inhabitants, a turbulent set, 
 amongst whom robbery and even murder is rife, 
 boast that even the invincible Tamerlane had to 
 turn from Mardeen without entering it. Now its 
 walls are fast crumbling into ruins; indeed one need 
 not go to a gate at all to get out ; some of the 
 mosques are very fine and solidly constructed. We 
 
THE TIGRIS AGAIN. 367 
 
 rode along a bad rocky path, sometimes up, some- 
 times down, to Khanakee, twenty-four miles; no 
 post-horses; so we baited our old ones for three hours. 
 We had hardly proceeded half a dozen miles when 
 darkness came upon us. We persevered for some 
 time longer, and then, as the gates of Diarbekir are 
 closed at sunset, and there is no admittance after- 
 wards even on business, we put up in a wretched 
 little village. Khan Achbar, in an outhouse 
 boasting of a roof but not of very much more. 
 
 Next morning we rode gradually downwards 
 over a road varying in badness, till we saw the 
 Tigris again and rode along its right bank. 
 Immediately above us, on our left, rose a high 
 range. The snowclad Taurus loomed around 
 us on the north-east and west. At length 
 we came to where the road winds up to the 
 gates of Diarbekir which stands on a flat hill 
 overlooking the river. We passed by a good 
 stone bridge, just before beginning to ascend; 
 then the ruggedly paved road led us through 
 gardens, in some of which stood Turkish villas, 
 and in one the English Consulate. 
 
368 PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONS. 
 
 Mr. Taylor has a somewhat extended field of 
 usefulness as consul at Erzeroum and this place, 
 and does not possess the gift of ubiquity ; so being 
 at Erzeroum he was not at Diarbekir ! The road 
 became very good for the last hundred yards, and 
 passing a large graveyard on our left we entered 
 the gate. The Tigris makes an immense bend 
 just below the town ; the portion of country in- 
 cluded in the bend is most richly cultivated. 
 We were most kindly received by Mr. Walker 
 (to whom Mr. Williams had given us a letter) 
 and introduced to his wife and a Miss West, 
 a lady missionary, who had chosen this portion 
 of Asia Minor as the field of her disin- 
 terested, and by no means thankless labours. 
 The congregation, under Mr. Walker's charge 
 numbered six hundred souls, and a third chapel 
 was in course of construction, the two already in 
 existence being too small to contain their increasing 
 numbers. The members of the congregation, 
 although generally very poor persons, supported 
 their teachers and chapels to the utmost of their 
 means ; those who were too poor to contribute in 
 
THE CHAPELS. 369 
 
 money, worked at the construction of the new 
 chapel. 
 
 We visited the chapels after breakfast on the 
 20th. One of them was in the shape of a cross, 
 although not originally built for a place of wor- 
 ship. The larger was in the old Consulate and sadly 
 in need of repairs. There was a separate room for 
 the various books sent out by the English Bible 
 Society, and those printed in New York in 
 Armenian and Kurdish; the Bible was the first book 
 ever printed in the Kurd tongue, which has properly 
 no written language, the letters used for the purpose 
 were Armenian. The principal languages em- 
 ployed were Caramanian, Turkish and Arabic, and 
 many books, besides those of prayer, were translated 
 into them. Amongst the rest, Bunyan's " Pilgrim's 
 Progress" held the chief place. Whately's 
 " Evidences," and other useful and instructive 
 books came in for their share of popularity. A 
 quantity of little children were at school near 
 both the chapels. They were bright-looking little 
 lads, worthy of Armenian parents, some of them 
 
 were Jacobites. We entered the Jacobite church ; it 
 
 2 B 
 
370 THE WALLS. 
 
 was a fast-day, and many women were worship- 
 ping — that is, going up to a money-box, putting a 
 small coin inside, and having a large silver cylinder 
 containing the hand of some saint rubbed over 
 their heads and bodies. After this they went and 
 knelt down in front of the centre shrine — a tawdry 
 affair — whereupon the gates in front of it were 
 closed by the attendant acolyte, and the women 
 offered up prayers that they might be opened to 
 them again, which after a short space they were ! 
 The church is a very old one. The patriarch's 
 house is good, with hewn stone porticoes. 
 
 We then walked to the old walls, of massive 
 hewn stone and immense solidity, containing within 
 their thickness the rooms for the garrison and their 
 stores in case of siege. They are said to date 
 from the time of Constantius, and they have only 
 four gates, one for each point of the compass. 
 The stone of which they are built is dark ; there 
 are towers at stated intervals ; crenelated parapets 
 and a moat hewn in the rock all round ; covered 
 ways inside. We afterwards entered the courts of 
 two mosques, both of stone. The first had a 
 
A FINE MOSQUE. 37 1 
 
 splendid portico in front of it, and on two sides of 
 the court of the other, were columnar walls of great 
 age and beautifully executed. This is said to have 
 been an old Christian church in days when there 
 were caliphs in Bagdad ; the mosque was on one side. 
 The appearance of the whole is equal to that of 
 the best preserved Roman ruins. The pillars in the 
 walls support arches, and over these there is another set 
 of arches and pillars. Probably these two remain- 
 ing walls formed those of some covered space — 
 perhaps of a basilica — there are almost one hundred 
 yards between the two. On the left some lower 
 columns support the third wall. One of the 
 mosques we passed reminded us, by its hexagonal 
 form and alternate layers of black and white 
 marble, of some churches in Milan. The minarets 
 looked as like a gigantic candle with an ex- 
 tinguisher on the top as possible. The lower 
 part was square, of stone, then a large tube-like 
 concern was painted white, and the angular roof was 
 of tin or iron. The superintendent of telegraphs 
 here was an Englishman, married to an Italian 
 
 wife. We visited them, and met there an Italian 
 
 2 B 2 
 
372 CIRCASSIANS AGAIN ! 
 
 doctor M. Arrlvabene, and the French consul, M. 
 Pons. The sultan has ordered a road practicable 
 for carriages to be made from Samsoun on the 
 Black Sea (whither we are bound) to this place, 
 each pashalick is to bear its share of the expenses 
 and to construct its portion of the road. This 
 order has had the effect of causing about two miles 
 of road to be made outside Diarbekir — then it 
 stops. One of the streets, leading to the northern 
 gate, is broad and fairly paved. The houses being 
 all built of stone, look much more decent than in 
 any other town we had yet seen. Some of them 
 have overhanging lattice windows. The bazaar 
 is very intricate ; the principal portion is of 
 gridiron shape — several galleries parallel, and cross 
 arcades — the stock pretty good. We saw two 
 Circassians ; they have come here in large numbers, 
 flying from Russia, and are immediately sent down 
 to colonise a ruined city on the border of the 
 mountain land, where they will serve as a barrier 
 against the Arabs. In this town telegraphic mes- 
 sages are received for transmission, in French, 
 Italian, German, and English. The local Turkish 
 
HOW TO PRESERVE ICE ! 373 
 
 and through-Indian lines were in separate rooms in 
 the same building. A third wire had lately been 
 put up to Constantinople ; but as for the greater 
 portion of the way it lacked insulators, of course 
 it did not work ! When we were there the com- 
 munication with India was very perfect; a message 
 only took twelve hours to Akyab, on the east coast 
 of India, 
 
 On the 23rd we took a walk outside the Stam- 
 boul gate, and on our return, sat down on a low stool 
 just* outside — where an itinerant coffee and narghile 
 vendor had established himself — to indulge in a 
 portion of his stock. Close at hand rose a wonder- 
 ful contrivance for preserving ice during the whole 
 of the intense summer heats : a hole is dug, not 
 very deeply into the ground ; in this ice in blocks 
 is symmetrically arranged, rising some feet above 
 the ground, then it is covered over with about five 
 feet depth of chopped straw, and the thing is done; 
 to get at it, the proprietor has only to poke a hole 
 in the straw and take out as much ice as he requires. 
 
 An American story ; a very fat man was hurry- 
 ing to get into the gates of some city, which were 
 
374 ARGANAH. 
 
 closed at a certain hour. Fearful that he should 
 be late, he asked of a passer-by whether he should 
 be able to get into the gates in time ? " Wall," 
 quoth the addressed, " I guess you might ; a load 
 of hay passed through this morning !" 
 
 One of the missionaries that we met during our 
 journey suggested that the best means of saving 
 life in America would be to hang a few prominent 
 Southerners ! 
 
 On the 23rd, we started out of the Stamboul 
 gate past an extensive cemetery, on a good road 
 for two miles (the two made by way of going to 
 Samsoun !) We rode over an elevated plateau for 
 some thirty miles, and got amongst some low hills, 
 when we soon saw Arganah, our changing-station, 
 perched up on a projecting hill. Above rose 
 another higher one, upon which a sort of large 
 guardhouse was built some 2,000 feet over our 
 heads. We found the post, by no means one of the 
 lowest houses in the village. Having changed horses 
 we had to get down the hill again only to mount 
 another one, and yet another, till on reaching a 
 crest of hills, a panorama of great wildness lay 
 
MAADAN. ^y^ 
 
 Stretched out before us ; a series of conical mountains, 
 some seemingly below us, some as high, and all of 
 the most varied colours, red and brown, black and 
 yellow, in endless succession. After sunset we 
 passed a smelting-furnace for copper. There were 
 several mines of this metal near Maadan, a village 
 of some extent, where we stopped in a tolerably 
 clean post-house. 
 
 On the 24th we started at half-past 6 a.m., and 
 rode up a very steep mountain, with much snow 
 about; then a steeper descent. Indeed, now the 
 road seemed to go up high mountains for the sole 
 purpose of coming down again. Unfortunately 
 there is no other road ; the scenery was startlingly 
 wild, the colouring magnificent. After some time 
 we came to a lake some twenty-five miles in cir- 
 cumference, with very blue water reflecting the 
 snow-covered mountains. We rode along the 
 northern shore and up a hill. On arriving at 
 the summit we looked down into a mountain- 
 locked plain, much below the level of the lake, 
 with several villages scattered over its surface. 
 We descended, and rode across it, through three 
 
376 KHARPOOT. 
 
 villages. Here civilisation first stared us in the 
 face in the shape of a common cart, like the 
 plaustra of Persia. We had seen nothing on 
 wheels since leaving Teheran. "We passed some 
 decent whitewashed barracks, surrounded by a 
 wall pierced with windows, and were in Mazrah. 
 About six miles off to the right, we saw Kharpoot, 
 situated somewhat like Mardeen on a hill. It 
 is a great American missionary station, and we 
 passed it with some qualms of conscience, as it was 
 the only place in Asia which, containing civilised 
 beings (one cannot call them Europeans !) we had 
 not visited. There is a large seminary, where 
 converts are educated to be native preachers and 
 teachers. The streets of Mazrah betokened 
 awakening civilisation, probably owing to the 
 proximity of this station. Some of the houses had 
 wooden arched doorways with windows on each 
 side, evidently new, and resembling some streets in 
 German villages. Indeed, over one shop we 
 observed " Pharmacie " written up in French ! 
 We were constrained to stop here, as they would 
 not give us horses, these being wanted for the 
 
MAZRAH. 
 
 377 
 
 post, which was expected to pass hourly. We slept 
 in a stable some fifty yards long by twenty broad, 
 the roof supported by stems of trees in two rows ; 
 some fifteen horses were tied to the wall on either 
 side ; a little raised platform of mud constituted our 
 bedstead. During the night sleep was rather out 
 of the question ; we had long ceased to care 
 about fleas, but the horses kept us awake by the 
 noise they made. Five men also slept about the 
 stables ; they appeared to be up, more or less, all 
 night, wrangling and fighting at intervals. In the 
 morning we had a great squabble about the 
 number of horses to be taken. The postman 
 said four; we said three — our usual number. 
 Eventually three were agreed upon, and we got 
 off at half-past six, riding over picturesque 
 mountainous country. We suddenly came upon 
 another portion of the projected carriage-road, 
 skirting a mountain above a brawling torrent. It 
 was really very well Macadamized, and blasted 
 through portions of rock, but ended abruptly; thus, 
 of course, being of no possible use, except to 
 accelerate the speed of horses over some four miles of 
 
378 MAADAN GUNISH. 
 
 ground ; then a very bad bit of road, where a sort 
 of pavement had been attempted, led us into 
 Maadan Gunish, v^here there was a silver mine, 
 whose produce certainly did not seem to flow 
 into the pockets of the inhabitants, as there were 
 many deserted and half ruined houses in the village. 
 There was a good mosque, however, with a portico in 
 front, and a dome covered with iron plates. The 
 minaret was of hewn stone, and the balustrade from 
 which the muezzins call the faithful to prayers, 
 was adorned with carved pomegranates. The 
 silver mine was not being worked when we passed ; 
 perhaps it was exhausted. Leaving this, after 
 changing horses, we crossed the Euphrates in a 
 rough ferry-boat. The river here made a bend, 
 and the stream formed two backwaters, one at 
 each bank, thus facilitating its crossing im- 
 mensely. On again till sunset, when the surreje 
 informed us that he had lost the way. We tried back, 
 and then made for the first village that we could 
 discover, where we got a guide to our station, 
 Argooan Dagh, which, fortunately, was nigh at 
 hand. Fifteen hours and sixty miles. 
 
DELEKLI DASH. 379 
 
 Next day we rode over the usual picturesque 
 country, and on a good road. After changing our 
 horses, and mounting some small ponies, we got 
 into snowy districts ; patches of snow lay on the 
 ground, and the mountains covered with it gathered 
 close around us. We reached Allaje Khan one 
 hour after sunset, a baiting-station, where we 
 stopped, as the road was very bad; fifty-seven 
 miles, twelve hours and three quarters. Just 
 before arriving we met another Turkish post, re- 
 duced to the commonest of walks by the badness 
 of the road. It had no escort. 
 
 On the 27th, starting early, we rode over high 
 ground with a good deal of snow here and there. 
 After eighteen miles, we came to some that lay 
 extended for the next nine miles, a narrow path 
 serpentined through it, so that if the horse stepped 
 off, he immediately sank into about three feet of 
 snow. The glare of the sun was trying to the 
 eyes. Reaching Delekli Dash, a wretchedly cold- 
 looking village, we changed our ponies for capital 
 horses, and soon got out of the snow by a 
 rapid descent. Then we rode rapidly on over a 
 
380 SEEVAS. . 
 
 good road, till half an hour before sunset, just 
 after our horse had tumbled with us into the 
 mud, we sighted Seevas, lying in a plain by 
 the river Kizzil Irmak or Halys ; we were on 
 a high point, whence we could see it well. 
 Thence descending, we crossed a long bridge, then 
 two smaller ones, and got into the town as night 
 fell. The river had much overflowed its banks, 
 so that the road into the town was covered with 
 water. After some search, we found Mr. West, 
 the missionary physician's house. He himself had 
 gone to Kaisaryeh to the S.W., but a Mr. Bryant 
 and his wife were in the house, and Mrs. West 
 most kindly put us up. This is also an American 
 Presbyterian station, and three families live here. 
 
 In the morning we walked through the town 
 with Mr. Bryant. We went to an old mosque, 
 in front of which stood two magnificent Alham- 
 bresque gateways, richly carved in Saracenic 
 ornamentation. Opposite these another sculptured 
 gateway led into a court surrounded by massive 
 hewn stone arched buildings. Under one of 
 these there were some tombs. This town is sup- 
 
OLD REMAINS. 38 I 
 
 posed to be the Sebaste of Mithridates. An old 
 citadel stands on an eminence above the town ; 
 the old town walls still partially stand ; they were 
 evidently built upon still older foundations, as 
 bits of sculptured stone are promiscuously stuck 
 into them. In the midst of the town stands a 
 very strong stone gateway, with two iron folding 
 doors at each end ; in the space between there 
 are some dark underground dungeons with loop- 
 holes for windows looking out into the street. 
 We next walked into the bazaar. The principal 
 products of Seevas are woollen stockings, carpets, 
 and extremely pretty plaited straw-work, only 
 used to ornament pipe-stems. Some of the shops 
 were quite civilised ; that is, had their stock ex- 
 posed at windows, and were on each side of an 
 uncovered street. Portions of the bazaar reminded 
 us of the fair at Nijni Novgorod. Wooden por- 
 ticoes ran in front of wooden shops. The arabas, 
 or rough carts, in the streets, contribute to give 
 the town the appearance of factitious civilisa- 
 tion. Seevas is 3700 feet above the level of the 
 Black Sea. The population is considered to 
 
382 TOKAT. 
 
 amount to 75,000, though returned at 50,000 
 for this reason — the number of inhabitants is 
 always returned as low as possible, as the taxes 
 vary according to the population. We called on 
 the Italian superintendent of telegraphs, and he 
 very kindly gave us a letter for the Russian 
 Consul at Samsoun, where there is no English 
 functionary. 
 
 "We started again on the 20th, and rode up the 
 hills on the N,W. The road took us over high 
 ground and was rather bad ; we stopped at Kakheen 
 in a decent room, though the village seemed poor. 
 Next day over a stony mountain ; we met the weekly 
 post to Seevas ; this is sent on from post to post, 
 without any special Tatar to accompany it, the 
 sole escort being the surreje and one policeman. 
 The latter came back with us, and left the post 
 to its fate and the postilion. We saw the ruts 
 made by many carts plainly on the road now, 
 and rode on to Tokat by an abrupt descent. All 
 the houses there, like most of those at Seevas, 
 were covered with tiles, giving the village quite a 
 Swiss appearance when seen from a dijit^nce. It 
 
TOORKAL. 383 
 
 is encircled by mountains excepting on the north 
 side. As we descended, we emerged from winter 
 into spring ; the fruit-trees were in blossom and 
 the grass growing; a rapid river ran by the 
 town and then into a broad valley along which lay 
 our road, where we met many Circassians going 
 into the interior. We had to wait an hour for 
 horses, as their proprietor had very properly gone 
 to church, and very improperly left no one in 
 charge of them. We passed two Saracenic portals 
 and several ancient cut stone buildings in the 
 village; the bridge over the river was of the 
 same material and also very old. After about 
 four hours' riding, we came to another portion of 
 the carriage road, here on comparatively level 
 ground ; it only consisted of the mud dug out 
 of two deep trenches about twenty-one yards 
 apart, and flung in between them; an excellent 
 khan with glass windows, and of two storeys, 
 was built by its side. We could not stop there, 
 however, as it was not the post-house ; but continu- 
 ing our ride we soon turned off abruptly, and reached 
 Toorkal by a cross road, the regular track being 
 
384 PICTURESQUE SCENERY. 
 
 inundated ; we had to ford a considerable stream just 
 before coming to the village, and found even the 
 post-house yard covered with water ; twelve hours 
 and a quarter; fifty-one miles. 
 
 Starting at half-past five o'clock next morning, 
 we made for the north, coming again upon the car- 
 riage road for about 100 yards. This portion of 
 road may be some five miles long altogether. We 
 now galloped up branching valleys ; the mountain 
 sides began to be covered with dwarf oak, birch, 
 and a species of fir ; up an abrupt ascent, and down 
 more gradually into a widening valley. Here 
 there were plenty of orchards, with each a villa 
 possessing a tiled roof but otherwise in fearful 
 ^/V-repair, as they were built of a wooden frame- 
 work with unburnt mud bricks laid in between ; 
 these had generally crumbled away, leaving large 
 gaps, and sometimes only the woodwork. The 
 road now turned to the right up a valley ; on both 
 sides the mountains rose abruptly. We rode along 
 another piece of good carriage road, with orchards 
 between us and the hill on our right-hand and a rapid 
 river on our left j orchards again on the other side 
 
AMASIYEH. 385 
 
 of the river, reminded us forcibly of some roads 
 in the mountainous parts of Germany. The 
 variegated blossoms on the fruit trees and the spring 
 flow^ers all around, vy^ith the tiled houses peeping 
 out, gave the place an extra look of Europe. At 
 length, bending round a corner, we entered 
 Amasiyeh, w^here wq observed several carved 
 remains of antiquity, especially Saracenic gateways, 
 and one massive square building w^ith round 
 towers at each corner. The first houses were in a 
 sad state of decay. There is a flourishing German 
 colony here, and we observed a cart with spoked 
 wheels. Further on the houses were very good. 
 The town is situated somewhat like Tiflis, with a 
 rapid river running in the midst of it, but the hills 
 are closer together, and higher on the west, where 
 there are artificial caves sculptured in the rock, singu- 
 larly carved in imitation of the front of a house 
 and an old castle of stone on the summit. Here we 
 had an adventure. We changed horses and started 
 again, but had not got far when the postman came 
 running after us, to say that we had got one 
 
 wrong horse, and he must take it back ; we, rather 
 
 2 c 
 
386 A CONFLICT. 
 
 feebly, acquiesced. After waiting in the street for 
 about twenty minutes, the man returned, bringing 
 the very same horse back again, whereupon Awa 
 attacked him with a heavy riding-whip and beat 
 him severely, much to our dismay, as a crowd 
 immediately gathered around us, and the head- 
 postman, a tall powerful individual of about six 
 feet three, coming up, endeavoured to pull Awa off 
 his horse. In this he did not succeed, but a police- 
 man who came up insisted that we should go before 
 the Pasha; so we were ignominiously led across 
 a wooden bridge to a large house consisting of 
 three storeys, where we passed through a large hall 
 crowded with Turks, up a double flight of stairs 
 into an antechamber. After waiting here for about 
 half an hour, we were ushered into the presence. 
 The Pasha sat on a divan in a small room, with 
 several other men. We handed him our bulti, or 
 road-order and general certificate of respectability 
 that the Pasha of Bagdad had given us, and, after 
 hearing the aggrieved man and our servant, he 
 said, very justly, that he thought the best plan 
 would be to make the man a small present. This 
 
ELADICK. 387 
 
 we accordingly did, whereupon the postman kissed 
 Awa with effusion, and we rode on, having been 
 detained one hour and a half. The good road 
 wound through delicious orchards for about four 
 miles, when we began to ascend a lofty hill. At 
 the summit a thick mist, resembling the palmiest 
 of London November fogs, gathered round us, and 
 night came on. The road also became execrable 
 as we sank in deep mud at every step. However, 
 everything comes to an end, and we reached Eladick 
 where we got a good room with glass windows. 
 In the morning we observed a fine mosque in the 
 village. 
 
 On the I St of April we started for our last day's 
 ride in Asia Minor. We rode along a mountainous 
 country, through woods, where the ground was car- 
 peted with primroses, anemones, violets, and every 
 sort of wild flower. The road was perhaps the worst 
 of our whole journey; it took us seven hours to 
 accomplish the first twenty-four miles, and it rained 
 torrents during four of them, thus rendering our last 
 also one of our hardest days. At length we rode 
 
 down into a little valley, through which flowed a 
 
 2 c 2 
 
388 SAMSOUN. 
 
 Stream that we could see emptied itself into the Black 
 Sea ; then ascending to the top of the opposite hill, 
 we beheld long-looked-for Samsoun, and the Black 
 Sea stretched calmly in front of the town. A 
 steamer was at anchor in the roadstead.* Samsoun 
 is delightfully situated on the slope of the green hill 
 down which we were riding, but is terribly given to 
 fevers in summer. There are many decent houses 
 in it. We first attempted to discover some inn to 
 put up at, but ineffectually, so we rode out to the 
 Russian vice-consulate. This stands to the East 
 of the town, outside, and near the other consulates. 
 Although we neither belonged to his own nation 
 nor to that for which he acted. Chevalier J. Cacaci 
 received us most cordially. He was a Greek by 
 birth, and his brother served as dragoman in the 
 English army before Sebastopol. 
 
 In the morning we were intensely surprised by 
 seeing, coming up the stairs, no other than Mr. 
 Walton, our host of Ispahan. He was going 
 home on sick leave, so we of course immediately 
 
 '■^' For list of stations and distances from Bagdad to Samsoun 
 see page 394. 
 
THE BLACK SEA. 389 
 
 booked a passage on board the " Neva," of the 
 " Messageries Imperiales," the ship in which he 
 had come from Trebizond. We found that as far 
 as ships went we were in luck, for she was a large 
 vessel built for the Mediterranean passenger trade, 
 and had first-class accommodation for about one 
 hundred passengers; but, on the other hand, she 
 had been ordered by telegraph to go back to Tireboli, 
 a short distance from Trebizond, to take on board 
 the passengers of a smaller ship, the " Orient," 
 which had met with a misadventure. She would 
 not call here on her way back, so we were con- 
 strained to make the extra trip with her, and 
 to perform twenty-seven hours' longer sea journey 
 than necessary. After all, she called at Samsoun 
 to take up four passengers. 
 
 We coaled at Sinope, a magnificent harbour ; a 
 promontory juts out into the sea, forming a land- 
 locked bay, protected from all but N.E. winds, 
 which never blow hard. The town itself, sur- 
 rounded by an old wall, is built on the neck of the 
 promontory, so that after lying for some while in 
 the bay, and then steaming out of it, on rounding 
 
390 TRAFFIC IN LABOUR. 
 
 the point we again saw the town on the other side. 
 We called at Ineboli just in time to find that a 
 Russian steamer had embarked sixty-five deck pas- 
 sengers destined for us. The fare on board was 
 excellent and the prices a lesson to the English 
 steamers in the East. Most of the deck passengers 
 were taken on board by contract. Some man collects 
 a quantity of poor labourers at the different ports, 
 and then brings them on board, paying their pas- 
 sages, and accompanying them on the ship. These 
 people generally have not even money to buy 
 their scanty food, which is supplied by the con- 
 tractor. On arriving at Stamboul, they are taken 
 on shore and securely locked up. Then when 
 any labour-owner wants workmen, he comes 
 and chooses out of their number as many as he 
 may require, paying the man who brought them 
 over their passages and all other expenses, which 
 he afterwards deducts from their pay by instal- 
 ments — a sort of organized traffic in labour ! 
 
 Our passage of three days and nights was 
 perfectly calm; indeed the Black Sea is always 
 more or less so from the months of April to 
 
THE BOSPHORUS. 39 I 
 
 October, making up for it, however, in the 
 winter. 
 
 At length we entered the far-famed Bosphorus. 
 The weather was cold, and the sun did not shine 
 brightly, but nothing is able entirely to efface from 
 the mind the impression of extreme beauty left 
 upon it by the scene, which fortunately has been 
 oft described. We obtained our certificate of health 
 at the quarantine office, near the entrance, and 
 steamed through the twenty-three miles of green 
 hills with villas dotted along them on both shores. 
 We passed twenty magnificent palaces belonging 
 to the Sultan. It is said that whenever he gets 
 any spare cash into his hands, he immediately sets 
 about building a new one, possibly thinking that 
 the money thus laid out does him as an individual, 
 more good than it would if diffiised over a 
 larger field, in improving his government. 
 
 After casting anchor in the magnificent harbour 
 between Pera and Stamboul, we were rowed in 
 a small boat to the custom-house, where every- 
 thing was searched and nothing found. We, of 
 course, made for Misseri's Hotel in the Grande 
 
39^ STAMBOUL. 
 
 Rue de Pera, where we were soon comfortably in- 
 stalled. We observed that riding was the fashion- 
 able mode of transport ; the streets were so badly 
 paved that the few carriages we saw, resembling 
 Lord Mayor's coaches as they might have been 
 constructed two hundred years ago, had a hard time 
 of it. Sedan chairs have found their last refuge in 
 Pera ! The view from the Galata tower is one of the 
 most magnificent sights in the world. The Grande 
 Rue was lighted with gas, and the adjoining str-eets 
 were allowed the same lights to the length of one 
 hundred yards, when utter darkness was only 
 relieved by an occasional dim oil lamp. We crossed 
 over to Stamboul on one of the two bridges of 
 boats, and explored the bazaars. The number of 
 windings in the arcades almost rendered Ariadne's 
 twine necessary as a guide to find our way back. 
 Some gauzes, embroidered with silk, were perfectly 
 lovely; and every kind of embroidery was, of 
 course, seen to great perfection there. 
 
 A very creditable Italian Opera company sang 
 in one of the theatres at Pera whilst we were 
 there. We occupied ourselves during ten days 
 
THE END. 393 
 
 very pleasantly. The weather on the 12th ot 
 April was quite warm, with a southerly wind. 
 However, having brought our reader again into 
 Europe, we take leave of him, as our further 
 journey, by Kustendje and the Danube to Vienna 
 and London, presented nothing calling for special 
 notice, and we stopped nowhere on our road, being 
 glad to get back again to old England ! Vale ! 
 
( 394 ) 
 
 List referred to in page 388. 
 
 List of Stations and Distances from Bagdad to 
 Samsoun, with occasional remarks for the use of any 
 future travellers. Three miles are reckoned to the 
 hour : — 
 
 NO. 
 
 STATIONS. 
 
 HOURS. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 
 Bagdad : 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 Jedida . . . . 
 
 7 
 
 
 2 
 
 Yengiyeh . 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 3 
 
 Delli Abbas 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 4 
 
 Kara Teppa 
 
 
 9 
 
 Crossing Hamaram ravines 
 
 5 
 
 Kifri . . . 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 6 
 
 Tooz Khurmat 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 7 
 
 Taough . . 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 8 
 
 Kirkook . . 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 9 
 
 Altoon Kupri 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 lO 
 
 Arbil . . . 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 II 
 
 Zab . . . 
 
 
 7 
 
 Boat ferry 
 
 12 
 
 Mosul . . 
 
 
 9 
 
 loi hours 
 
 13 
 
 Ismael . . 
 
 
 12 
 
 H 
 
 Zakoo . . 
 
 
 9 
 
 Two hours for pass 
 
 15 
 
 Jezireh . . 
 
 
 12 
 
 Tigris, raft ferry 
 
 16 
 
 Deroomah . 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 17 
 
 Nisibeen . . 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 18 
 
 Mardeen 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 19 
 
 Khanakee . 
 
 
 8 
 
 Baiting station 
 
 20 
 
 Diarbekir . 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 87 hours 
 
 
 
 
 
( 395 ) 
 
 List of Stations and Distances {continued). 
 
 NO. 
 
 stations. 
 
 HOURS. 
 
 remarks. 
 
 21 
 
 Arganah. . . . 
 
 12 
 
 
 22 
 
 Maadan . . . 
 
 4 
 
 Copper mines 
 
 23 
 
 Kharpoot . . . 
 
 12 
 
 In reality Mazrah 
 
 24 
 
 Maadan Gunish . 
 
 lO 
 
 Euphrates, boat ferry, 
 copper and silver mines 
 
 25 
 
 Argooan Dagh 
 
 lO 
 
 
 26 
 
 Hassan Killekee . 
 
 12 
 
 
 27 
 
 Delekli Dash . . 
 
 i6 
 
 Bad road 
 
 28 
 
 Seevas . . . . 
 
 lO 
 
 
 29 
 
 Kakheen . . . 
 
 9 
 
 
 30 
 
 Tokat .... 
 
 9 
 
 o 
 
 
 31 
 
 Toorkal .... 
 
 8 
 
 
 32 
 
 Amasiyeh . . . 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 Road branches to Scutari 
 (Stamboul) 
 
 33 
 
 Eladick .... 
 
 6 
 
 
 34 
 
 Kawak .... 
 
 8 
 
 
 35 
 
 Samsoun . . . 
 
 
 146 hours 
 
 
 Total hours, 334 ; miles, 1002. Steamers three times a 
 week to Stamboul. Samsoun is the ancient Amisus, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abada, p. 267 
 
 Accommodation at Khunsakh, 88 
 
 Achmedi, 315 
 
 Acquaintance, a casual, 106 
 
 Adventure, W.'s railway, 14 
 
 Agent, British, at Ispahan, 249 
 
 Allaje Khan, 379 
 
 Alexander's Bridge, 336 
 
 Alison, Mr., 206 
 
 Amasiyeh, 385 
 
 Ameenabad, 266 
 
 Amusements of Armenian pilgrims, 
 
 ' 160 
 
 Ananoor, 122 
 
 Anecdote, an, 356 
 
 Antelope, 245 
 
 Aptarasseen, 208 
 
 Ararat, first glimpse of, 149-50; 
 
 last, 173 
 Araxes river, 172 
 Arbil, 352 
 
 Arch of Chosroes, 337 
 Architecture, Saracenic, 119 ; at 
 
 Tiflis, 124 ; Alhambresque, 126 
 Ardon river, 106 
 Arganah, 374 
 Argooan Dagh, 378 
 Ark, the Shah's palace, 226 
 Armenia, King of, 161 
 Armenian character, 122 ; costume, 
 
 134; cunning, 145; pilgrims, 
 
 160 ; priest's dress, 156 
 Armenians, revolt of, 161 ; 
 Armour, Ispahan, 249 
 Arpachi river, 166 
 Artesh Goor, the, 262 
 Artillery, camel, 211 
 Ascent, an, 306 
 Asia Minor, 368; last day's ride 
 
 in, 367 ; wonderful journey in, 
 
 294 
 
 Astrachan, 44 — 63 
 Awa Baba, our Persian servant, 
 135 
 
 Babylon, ruins of, 341 — 5 
 
 Baggage, trouble with, 75 
 
 Bagdad, 339 
 
 Bagh i No, 291 ; i Tacht, 292 ; 
 Nazaar, 302 
 
 Bahren, Island of, 319 
 
 Bakers, German, in Tiflis, 134 
 
 Bakoo, naphtha springs, 51 
 
 Bakshish, 175 
 
 Ballroom, largest in Europe, 9 
 
 Banians, 319 
 
 Banks of Volga, 30 
 
 Barasgoon, 315 
 
 Bariatinsky, Prince, 83 
 
 Bar j gar, 285 
 
 Barge, passenger on Volga, 63 
 
 Barracks, Turkish, 345 
 
 Bassora, 230—3 
 
 Bastinado, the, 259 
 
 Bazaar at Astrachan, 54 
 
 Beach at Petrovskoi, 66 
 
 Beedush, 243 
 
 " Bints," W.'s term for women, 80 
 
 Bir Noos, 346 
 
 Birs Nimroud, 344 
 
 Black Sea, 388—91 
 
 Bokhara lambskins, 54 
 
 Bosphorus, the, 391 
 
 Botlick, fever's home, 92 — 4 
 
 Boulevard, Tiflis, 129 
 
 Bread, Tartar, 81 
 
 Brewery, French, at Tiflis, 136 
 
 Bridge, Alexander's, 336 ; at Is- 
 pahan, 247 ; in Daghestan, 87 ; 
 over Kur, 130 
 
 Brigands near Istibulleh, 143 
 
 Bug Meeanee, 184 
 
398 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bund Ameer, 284 
 Busheer, 316—27 
 " Bust," taking, 239, 252 
 
 Caliphs, City of the, 339 
 Camelthorn, the, 244 
 Canauts in Persia, 180 
 Caravanserai, a ruined, 176 
 Cashan, copper bazaar, 240 
 Caspian Sea, distance from Nijni, 
 
 25 ; on the, 64 ; tame fish in 
 
 the, 67 
 Cat at Preschiskaya, 116 
 Catholicos of Armenians, 155, 251 
 Caucasus, languages of, 86 ; mine- 
 ral capabilities of, 85 ; first day's 
 
 travelling in, 67 ; view in, 76 
 Cay, 186 
 
 Cazbek, 119 ; height of, 120 
 Cazveen, 201 
 Chaldean Catholic, bishop, 356 ; 
 
 our servant, 150 
 Chappar lOianee, a, 264 
 Char Bagh, the, 246 
 Chatham Hotel, 1 
 Chehel Sittoon, Ispahan, 256 
 Chenarada, 295 
 Chodjakias, 189 
 Chosroes, Arch of, 337 
 Christmas Day, 1865, 275 ; Eve, 
 
 271 
 Church at Astrachan, 47 ; Etch- 
 
 miadzeen. 157 ; Ispahan, 250 
 Churchyard at Tiflis, 133 
 Circassians on the Volga, 29 
 Coins, old, 294 
 Constantinople, 392 
 Constitution, the Polish, 17 
 Convention, telegraphic, 233 
 Corn thrashing in the Caucasus, 
 
 69 
 Cosmein, 339 
 Cossacks, various, in Russian 
 
 army, 44 
 Cothul i Dochter, 299 ; i Gamarej, 
 
 309 ; i MuUoo, 312 ; i Pierazan, 
 
 297 
 Cotton trade, 295 
 Crown of Persia, 232 
 Ctesiphon, 337 
 Cuneiform inscriptions, 282 
 Cunning of Armenians, 145 
 Curiosity dealers at Ispahan, 252 
 
 Custom-house in Persia, 176 ; 
 
 Russia, 174 
 Cyrus, tomb of, 273 
 
 Daghestan, 70 ; ancient name of, 
 70 ; governor of, 66 ; Niello 
 work, 86 ; scenery in, 80 
 
 Dalachy, 314 
 
 Dam in Persia, 241 
 
 Danadgar, 189 
 
 Dantzick, 3, 4 
 
 Dara, ruins of, 362 — 4 
 
 Darahleglass, 149 
 
 Dariel, defile of, 119 
 
 Decorations of Shah's palace, 
 Teheran, 223 
 
 Defence, a gallant, 321 
 
 Dehbeed, 269 
 
 Del Cason, an orange garden, 290 
 
 Delekli Dash, 379 
 
 Demavend, 205 ; height of, 217 
 
 Deria Caveer, great salt desert, 237 
 
 Deriehnoor, the Shah's diamond, 
 232 
 
 Derivation, a, 198 
 
 Descent, an abrupt, 299 
 
 Devil's Elbow, the, 334 
 
 Diarbekir, 367—73 
 
 Dijillah, the, 237 
 
 Dillijan, 143 ; detention at, 146 
 
 Dinner, a Russian, 19 ; at Teheran, 
 206, 226 
 
 Diplomatic difficulty, a, 210, 224 
 
 Don, champagne of the, 56 
 
 Drawback of Persian towns, 234 
 
 Drill at Astrachan, 46 
 
 Drunkenness, 17 
 
 Eagles in Caucasus, 80 
 
 Echo in chasm, 87 
 
 Ecclesiastical dignitaries, 35G 
 
 Eden, Garden of, 333 
 
 Eeliaut encampment, 194 
 
 Eladick, 387 
 
 Elbrouz, Mount, 105 — 111 ; view 
 of, 115 
 
 Elburz Mountains, 203 
 
 End, the, 393 
 
 English, company of Volga, 29 ; 
 gathering at Ispahan, 253 ; pro- 
 ducts in Georgia, 121 
 
 Erivan, 152 ; leave, 164 
 
INDEX. 
 
 399 
 
 Escort in the Caucasus, 74 ; in 
 Georgia, 145 ; a singing, 75 ; 
 new, 86 
 
 Etchmiadzeen, 154 — 163 
 
 Euphrates, the, 378 
 
 Export duty in Turkey, 347 
 
 Ezra, tomb of, 333 
 
 Fair at Nijni, 26 
 
 Fao, 329 
 
 Fatima the Immaculate, 238 
 
 Fire brigade, Astrachan, 48 
 
 Fireworks at Teheran, 206 
 
 Fish in Volga, 33 
 
 Fley Fley, romantic story of, 
 
 336 
 Ford, a, 313 
 Fort, old Georgian, 131 
 Fuel at Urmah, 77 
 Futteh Ali Shah, portraits of, 255 ; 
 
 tomb, 238 
 
 Gaiamee, a female missionary, 162 
 Galata tower, 392 
 Gardens, public, at Tiflis, 137 
 Georgia, entrance into, 119 
 German colony at Amasiyeh, 385 ; 
 
 at Tiflis, 128 
 German Bakers, 134 
 Gez, 254 
 Gezd, 245 
 
 Gooitcha lake, or bievan, 148 
 Goolaheck, 218 
 Governor, the, of Astrachan, 49 ; 
 
 his salary, 49 ; of Daghestan, 66 
 Gounib, 81 ; ascent of, 81 ; flora 
 
 of, 84 ; Schamyl's defence of, 82 ; 
 
 spot of surrender, 83 ; summit, 
 
 84 
 Grapes at Cazveen, 202 
 Grazzini, our servant, 28 ; his 
 
 lament, 90, 96 ; his notion of 
 
 geography, 79 
 Grosna, 100 
 
 Hadjala, 189 
 
 Hadjelmachi, 80 ; women's dress 
 
 at, 80 
 Hafiz, tomb of, 191 
 Halys, the, 380 
 Hamadan wine, 237 
 Hamaram ravines, 349 
 Hare hunting, 244 
 
 Haroun al Rashid's wife's tomb, 
 340 
 
 Hasht Behesht, the, 263 
 
 Hassarkoobad, 203 
 
 Hats, Kalmuck, 58 
 
 Hens, ill-treatment of, 30 
 
 Hermitage at St. Petersburg, 5 
 
 Hilleh, 343 
 
 Hoopooids, 108 
 
 Hotel at Astrachan, 44 ; at Dant- 
 zick, 3 ; at Erivan, 152 ; at 
 Moscow, 27 ; at Naxshivan, 168 ; 
 at Nijni, 24 ; at St. Petersburg, 
 4 ; de I'Europe at Tiflis, 125 ; 
 Misseri's, 391 
 
 Houses in Caucasian villages, 69, 70 
 
 Houssein, tomb of, 340 
 
 Housseinabad, 235 
 
 Houz i Sultaun, 237 
 
 Hulver, 254 
 
 Ibrahim, shrine of, 235 
 
 Ice at Diarbekir, 373 
 
 Ilandagh, 167 
 
 Illuminations at St. Petersburg, 10 
 
 Ineboli, 390 
 
 Insects in our room at Astrachan, 
 51 
 
 Interview, a ceremonial, 289 
 
 Invitation, a Persian, 226 
 
 Ismael, 359 
 
 Ispahan, 246 — 63 
 
 Issavodsk springs, 114 
 
 IstibuUeh, 143 ; brigands, 143 
 
 Isvodskys, Russian drivers, drunk- 
 en, 116 
 
 Itahan opera in Tiflis, 125 
 
 Jacobite church, 370 
 Jellanook, dried fish, 148 
 Jetty at Petrovskoi, 65 
 Jewels, the crown, of Persia, 229 
 
 —33 
 Jewellers at Tiflis, 135 
 Jews in Dantzick, 4 
 Jezireh, 360 
 Joolfa in Persia 247; in Russia, 
 
 173 
 
 Kabardians, 112 
 Kabobs, mutton, 90 
 Kahetie wine, 168 
 Kaisaryeh, 380 
 
400 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Kakheen, 382 
 
 Kalamdaun, Persian writing-case, 
 
 171 
 Kaleoun, water pipe, 176 
 Kalmucks, encampment of, 43 ; 
 
 visit to, 58 — 63 
 Kara Teppa, 350 
 Karg or Karrick, 319 
 Kasan, 31 
 Kasr, the, 342 
 Kat Koder, a, 267 
 Kauzaroon, 302 
 Kefyeh, Arab headdress, 324 
 Kerbelah, 340 
 Kerman, 253 
 
 Kerstch, room in Hermitage, 6 
 Khanakee, 367 
 Khana Khora, 269 
 Ivlian al Hassan, 340 
 Kharpoot, 376 
 Khauna Zenyoon, 296 
 Khelaut Shah, 188 
 Khodabundeh, Mohammed Shah, 
 
 198—201 
 Khorsabad, ruins of, 355 
 lOiunsakh, 87 ; lodgings at, 88 
 Kiare river, 107 
 Kinara, 279 
 Kirkook, 351 
 
 Kislovodsk, 113 ; springs, 114 
 Kizzil Irmak, the, 380 
 Kohrood, 242 
 Komishah, 265 
 
 Koom,the "abode of the pious," 238 
 Koorumderah, 201 
 Konar Tachta, 310 
 Kour Ab river, 284 
 Kremlin at Astrachan, 56 ; Moscow, 
 
 13 ; Nijni, 25 
 Kreuzberg, the, in Georgia, 121 
 Kumeenabad, 275 
 Kumuk, 70 
 Kunperkalieff, 68 
 Kur, the river, 123, 132 
 Kurdish encampment, 194 
 Kutellamara, 337 
 Kutishi, 78 
 
 Ladder, the great, of Persia, 298 
 Lake, small, in Caucasus, 94 
 Laziness, Oriental, 135 
 Lepers, 193 
 Lesghians, 83 ; their houses, 89 
 
 Library at Etchmiadzeen, 159 
 List of stations between Bagdad 
 
 and Samsoun, 394 
 Locomotion, means of, in Persia, 189 
 London, leaving, 1 
 Louse market at Moscow, 19 
 
 Maadan, 375 
 
 Maadan Gunish, 378 
 
 Macdonald's, Sir J., tomb, 157 
 
 Madre e Suleiman, 273 
 
 Maidan at Ispahan, 248 
 
 Majellibe, 341 
 
 Malek el Most, 236 
 
 Marble, white, in Daghestan, 88 
 
 Mardeen, 365 
 
 Margil, 331 
 
 Mayar, 264 
 
 Mazrah, 376 
 
 Medressa at Ispahan, 248, 255 
 
 Meeanee, bug, 184 ; arrival at, 190 
 
 Melka, river, 107 ; tollgate, 109 
 
 Merand, first sleeping station in 
 
 Persia, 177 
 Merdusht, plain of, 279 
 Meskeen, 201 
 Mian Cothul, 297 
 Minarets, shaking, 267 
 " JSIineral Waters " at Petrovskoe, 
 
 10 
 Mirza, a Persian title, 288 
 Missionaries, Presbyterian,366 — 8 ; 
 
 success at Bagdad, 347 
 Mohammedan tombs, 68 ; mosque 
 
 at Tiflis, 132 
 Mohammud, 329 
 Monastery, Troitza, 18 
 Money, Persian, 183 
 INIontefick Arabs, 329 
 IMoorchacoor, 244 
 ]\Ioorgaub, search for, 271 
 Moscow, 13 — 19 
 Mosque at Diarbekir, 371 
 Mosul, 353 
 
 Mountains near Piatigorsk, 112 
 Mujicks, 24, 30 
 JMuseum, Berlin, 2 
 
 Naclowzum, river, 195 
 Naksh i Bustam, 305 
 Names cut at Persepolis, 282 
 Nationalities, mixed, at Moscow, 
 21 ; at Nijni, 27 
 
Natives near Vladikavkas, 118 
 
 Naxshivan, 167—70 
 
 Nazrah, 102 
 
 Nebbi Junas, 353 ^ 
 
 Neekbash, 194 
 
 Nestorian bishop, a, 357 
 
 New Year's Day, 293 ; Eve, 290 
 
 Niello work, 86 
 
 Nijni Novgorod, 24 ; the fair, 26 
 
 Nimroud, ruins of, 355 
 
 Nineveh, ruins of, 353 
 
 Nisibeen, 367 
 
 Norooz, Persian New Year's Day, 
 
 227 
 Numismatist, a, 294 
 " Nux " in Persia, 267 
 
 Oka, river, 24 
 
 Oman, sea of, 319 
 
 Ooch Killeasea, another name for 
 
 Etchmiadzeen,154 ; West church, 
 
 161 ; East church, 162 
 Ooroomeah, 192 
 Orange trees, 287 
 Orchards at Astrachan, 58 
 Ordy, 336 
 
 Padarojna, our, 22 
 
 Palace at Ispahan, 257 
 
 Palm trees, demanded by British 
 pubUc, 37 ; at Fao, 330 
 
 Pasagarda, ruins of, 272 — 3 
 
 Pasangoor, 240 
 
 Pasha of Amasiyeh, the, 386 
 
 Pavement, a spasmodic, 193 
 
 Pearls, 230, 319 
 
 Pedometer, 73 ; its last functions, 
 79 
 
 P**rs waterproof boots, 243 
 
 Pera, 392 
 
 Persepolis, pillars from, at Te- 
 heran, 222 ; first view of, 279 ; 
 the platform, 282—4 
 
 Persia, first view of, 172 ; first 
 sleeping station in, 177 ; fare- 
 well to, 327 
 
 Persian decorations, 171 ; excita- 
 bility 325 ; executioners, 208 ; 
 frontier, 173 ; insect powder, 38 ; 
 painting on wood, 249 ; pas- 
 senger on the Yolga steamer, 
 33 ; scribes, 171 
 
 :x. 401 
 
 Peter the Great's statue, 6 ; his 
 
 house, 8 
 Peterhoff palace, 7 ; fountains, 8 
 Petrovskoi, 64 ; landing at, 65 ; 
 
 posthouse, 66 ; town, 65 
 Piatigorsk, 105; "Baden of Ihe 
 
 East," 109—13 
 Picturesqueness, why incompatible 
 
 with cleanliness ? 17 
 Pigs on Volga, 30 
 Pilgrims, Armenian, 156 
 Piratical junk, a, 324 
 Ploughing in Armenia, 151 
 Plumpudding in Persia, 278 
 Policeman, a, 21 
 Polish constitution, 17 
 Poole DuUak, the barber's bridge, 
 
 237 
 Porcupine, taste of, 254 
 Post from England to Tiflis, 130 ; 
 
 horses in Persia, 175 
 Prayers, Kalmuck, 60 — 1 
 Presbyterian missionaries, 366 — 8 
 Preschiskaya pheasants, 116 
 Priests, Kalmuck, 59 ; Russian, 
 
 20 ; procession of, 20 
 Printing press at Etchmiadzeen, 
 
 159 
 Prussian railways, 2 
 " Pylse Caucasise," the, 120 
 
 Races in Teheran, 209 — 14 
 Railways in Russia, 14, 23 ; in 
 
 Caucasus, 127 
 Ramadan, the, 330 
 Reesheer, 320 
 Religion of Kalmucks, 60 
 Religious toleration in Russia, 53 
 Repairs for palaces at Ispahan, 
 
 256 
 Repsimah, a female missionary, 
 
 162 
 Residency at Busheer, the, 317 
 Revolution at Abada, 267 
 Rhe, ruins of, 216 
 Riding, of Lesghians, 79 
 Riots in Tiflis, 138 
 Roads in Russia, 104—8 
 Romanoff House, 17 
 Room, our, on Christmas day 1865, 
 
 276 
 Royston, letters of Lord, 32 
 
 2 D 
 
402 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ruins of Babylon, 341 — 5 ; Dara, 
 362 ; Pasagarda, 272—3 ; Slia- 
 poor, 303 
 
 Russian, Mission at Teheran, 209, 
 querist, a, 114 
 
 Saadi, tomb of, 290 
 
 Sidarack, 165 
 
 Sadowa, 303 ^ 
 
 ll'alahlee, 142 . 
 
 Samara, 35 
 
 Samovar, Russian tea urn, 142 
 
 Samsoun, 388 
 
 Saracenic architecture, 119, 380 
 
 SaratofP, 38 
 
 Sarepta, German colony of, 42 
 
 Scenery in Daghestan, 80 
 
 Schamyl, songs in honour of, 75 ; 
 
 a patriot, 81 ; prison of, 83 ; at 
 
 Videne, 96 
 Schkootes, barges on the Volga, 36 
 Scorpion's bite, 295 
 Sculpture at Persepolis, 283 ; at 
 
 Shapoor, 304 
 Seovas, ancient Sebaste, 380-2 
 Sein-Sein, 240 
 Sengarood river, 255 
 Sepah Salar, the commander in 
 
 chief, 225 
 Serfs belonging to the Governor 
 
 of Astrachan, 49 
 Servant, our Italian, 28 ; Joseph 
 
 Seffer, 136 
 Shah, palace of, 207, 221—4 ; Nus- 
 
 reddin, 212; Abdulazeen, 216; 
 
 Abbas, 257 
 Shapoor, 303 
 Sharshan, 194 
 Shat el Arab river, 328 • 
 Sheah heresy, the, 207 
 Shlbookli, a station on lake, 148 
 Ships, decayed at Astrachan, 55 
 Shiraz, first view of, 285 ; height 
 
 of, 262 ; tobacco, 176 
 Shoolgestaun, 266 
 Shrimps four inches long, 225 
 Sichan, animals, 194 
 Sievan Killeasoa, on Lake Goo- 
 
 itcha, 148 
 Simonoff monastery, 15 
 Simon Stylites, a Caucasian, 107 
 Sinope, 389 
 Slipsowsky, 101 
 
 Smoking in Moscow, 20 
 
 Snoring fowl, a, 236 
 
 Soldatsky, why called so, 116 
 
 Songs of escort in the Caucasus, 75 
 
 Sooiianeh, 178 
 
 Soormuck, 268 
 
 Sophiabad, 203 
 
 Springs, at Fiatigorsk, 112 ; sul- 
 phurous in Persia, 315 
 
 Stables used as " Bust," 253 . 
 
 Stamboul, 392 
 
 Steamers, war screw, 64 
 
 Stories related to us, 140 
 
 St. Petersburg, Miss Benson's, 4 ; 
 people of, 4 ; St. Isaac's, 7 ; 
 winter palace at, 12 ; 
 
 Strachey "- the beautiful," 255 
 
 Strauss, concert at Paulo wsky, 12 
 
 Suganloo, 139 
 
 Sultan's palaces, 391 
 
 Sunday at Astrachan, 54 
 
 Sunset in Persia, 242 
 
 Sweetmeats, Persian, 254 
 
 Tabreez, 179—87 
 
 Tachti Feraoun, 305 ; i Jumsheed, 
 280; iRustam,280— 1; i Shahi, 
 300 ; i Taous, 279 ; i Timour, 
 301 
 
 Taough, 351 
 
 Tark Kesra, 337 
 
 Tartar, tombs, 140 ; khan, 170 
 
 Tchetchen dress, 101 
 
 Teheran, 205—34 
 
 Telega, a Russian cart, 66 
 
 Telegraph at Busheer, 320 ; at 
 Fao, 369 ; at Shiraz, 286 ; in 
 Russia, 127 ; in Teheran, 215 ; 
 new line in Persia, 253 
 
 Telegraphic convention, 233 
 
 Telegraphy, expensive, 225 
 
 Temichanshura, 66, 71 — 3 
 
 Temperature near Kutishi, 79 
 
 Temple, Kalmuck, 60 
 
 Terek river, 103, 119 
 
 Theem, a royal palace, 241 
 
 Thiergarten, BerUn, 2 
 
 Tiflis, 124—39 
 
 Tigris, the, 335 
 
 Tireboli, 389 
 
 Tlock, our house there, 89 
 
 Tobacco plant, the, 240 
 
 Tokat, 382 
 
INDEX. 
 
 403 
 
 Toleration, religious, 53 ; in Persia, 
 
 215 
 Tombs of Mohammedans, 69 ; of 
 
 Mohammed Khodabundeh, 200 ; 
 
 of Mr. Rich, 250 
 Toorkal, 383 
 Tooz Khurmati, 850 
 Torrida palace, 9 
 Trade, carrying, of Russia, 57 
 Translations of Scripture, 369 
 Travelling in the Caucasus, 67 
 Troglodytes, fit houses for, 141 
 Troikas, Russian carts, 68 
 Troitza, monastery of , 18 
 Tsaritzin, 40 
 Tsarkoe Seloe, palace of, 11, 
 
 Urmah, 77 
 
 Vegetation in Persia, 292 
 
 Venetian ironwork, 17 
 
 Versailles of Persia, 292 
 
 Videne, ball at, 97 ; reception at, 
 96 ; romantic gorge, 95 
 
 Visit in Persia, a, 186 
 
 Vladikavkas, 102—5 
 
 Volga, the, 26 ; length of navigable 
 portion of, 56 ; villages on the 
 banks of, 38 ; when frozen, 32 
 
 Walnut trees at Tlock, 90 
 Walpole collection of pictures, 7 
 Watch towers in Daghestan, 79 
 Water — melons, 41 ; supply, tenure 
 of, in Persia, 219 ; tower, Mos- 
 cow, 16 
 W., departure of, 318 
 Whist at Videne, 90 
 Wierzoboloif, Russian frontier, 4 
 Wine — at Astrachan, 54 ; in Da- 
 ghestan, 81 ; at Shiraz, 288 ; 
 skins in Tiflis, 134 
 Wodki, Russian brandy, 8 
 Women, Armenian, 144 ; pilgrims, 
 156 ; riding of, 145 
 
 Yengiyeh, 348 
 YenitaiefF, 41 
 Yezd, 253, 269 
 Yogunarshie, 152 
 
 Zakoo, 359 
 
 Zakuska before-dinner, 9 
 
 Zengan, 195 
 
 Zengi, river, 149 
 
 Zengutai, 76 
 
 Zirgoon, 285 
 
 Zobeide, tomb of, 340 
 
 Zoog, 243 
 
 Zoological gardens at Teheran, 217 
 
 THE END. 
 
 J. SWIFT, REGENT PRESS, KING STREET, W. 
 
CA^ 
 
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