IN THE ND OF THE LION AND SUN OB MODERN PERSIA ;EING EXPERIENCES OF LIFE IN PERSIA DURING A RESIDENCE OF FIFTEEN YEARS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THAT COUNTRY FROM 1866 TO 1881 - BY C. J. WILLS M.D. LATE ONE OF THE MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HER MAJESTY'S TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT IN PERSIA UNIVERSITY MACMILLAN AND 00 1883 Tltf r it/lit af Translation if referred. LONDON : FEINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. TO MAJOR-GENERAL SIR F. J. GOLDSMID, C.B., K.C.S.I., FORMERLY DIRECTOR IN CHIEF OF THE iND&^UIi&PEAN GOVERNMENT TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT, SPECIAL COMMISSIONER FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PERSIAN FRONTIER, WITH AFFECTIONATE ESTEEM, IN GRATITUDE FOR MANY KINDNESSES, BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT, THE AUTHOR 211045 PREFACE. MY reason for calling my book * The Land of the Lion and Sun ' is that the Lion and Sun are the national emblems of Persia, while the second title alone, * Modern Persia,' would have suggested an exhaustive and elaborate array of matter which is beyond the scope of this work. In a personal narrative, it is necessary to use a good many I's ; and to avoid being obscure, I fear I have been at times over minute, but I have preferred this to the risk of giving a false impression. I have striven to describe life in Persia as I saw it, not exaggerating or softening anything, but speaking of Persia as it is. The whole narrative may be considered as a record of life in an out-of-the-way corner of the world ; and the reader being left to make his own reflections, is not troubled with mine. Usually no names are given, save of those of the dead, or public men. The important subject of our fast-dying commerce with Persia, and the means of really opening the country, I have relegated to an Appendix.* As to the spelling and transliteration of Persian words used, it is not classical, it does not pretend to be ; but it will convey to the ordinary reader the local pronunciation of the colloquial ; and the reader not knowing anything of Oriental languages is troubled very seldom with accents and (apparently) unpro- nounceable words. Thus Munshi is spelt Moonshee, as that gives the exact sound : u is often used to avoid the barbarous * Sec Appendix D, yage U7. vi PREFACE. appearance of oo. Of course there is no C in Persian ; still as I from habit, we write Calcutta and not Kalkutta, so some words, like Cah, that use has rendered common, are inserted under | C and K. I think that all that is required is, that the ordi- nary English reader shall pronounce the words not too incorrectly ; and it is only when a work is philological that ] accuracy in transliteration is of any real importance. With this end in view, I have tried so to spell Persian words that ty following ordinary rules, the general reader may not be very wide of the mark. To avoid continual explanation I have added a Glossary, with a correct transliteration. I have to gratefully acknowledge the valuable help of Mr. Guy le Strange in correcting this Glossary ; and kindly favouring me with the transliteration according to the system adopted by Johnson, in several cases in which that author has not noted words, &c. BENSHAM LODGE, West Croydon. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. I GO TO PEBSIA. PAGE Wanted a doctor The Director-in-chief Doubt and distrust Simple advice Am referred to " Hadji Baba " My kit Saddle for riding post Vienna Rustchuk Quarantine Galatz Kustendji Con- stantinople Turkish ladies Stamboul I have my hair cut " Ka* rageus" Turkish coffee A philo-Turk Shooting party The theatres The Opera Armenian theatre Gambling house 1 A Bashi-bazouk We leave, via the Black Sea The Russian captain Unarmed vessels White Crimean wine Foreign wines in Russia Deck passengers Sinope Batoum Poti The post-house Diffi- culty in getting food Travelling en troika Kutais A tarantass Apply for horses An itching palm We start Tin 1 is Lecoq's beer A happy reprieve The joys of travel Chief of the Telegraph in Tiflis Uniforms Persian Consulate Coffee and pipes Smoking, an art Effects on the tyro Tea The Consul His age Dyeing the hair The Opera, varied costumes at The Tiflis ballet Leave Tiflis Erivan The Pass We lighten our load Hotel Washing Nakchewan Julfa, the frontier of Persia .... 1 CHAPTER II. POST JOUKNEY TO THE CAPITAL. Preparations for the start Costume Chaff bed First fall Extra lug- gage The whip Stages and their length Appearance of the country, and climate First stage Turk guides Welcome rest Weighing firewood Meana bug Turcomanchai Distances New friends Palace of Kerrij 20 CHAPTER III. TEHERAN. Teheran The Director's house Persian visits Etiquette Pipes, details of Tumbaku Ceremony Anecdote The voice of the slug- gard Persian medicine explained My prospects as a medico Zoological Gardens ........ 28 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. TEHERAN. The Gulhaek Road Visit to a virtuoso His story Persian New Year Persian ladies Titles The harem Its inhabitants A eunuch Lovely visions The Dervish The great festival Miscellaneous uniform At the Court of Persia The Shah The ceremony Bak- sheesh Rejoicings . . . .".'.. . . . .36 CHAPTER V. HAMADAN. Start for Hamadan Bedding Luggage makes the man Stages Meet Pierson Istikhbals Badraghah Pierson's house Hamadan wine Mode of storing it My horses Abu Saif Mirza His stratagem Disinterested services Persian logic Pierson's horse's death Horses put through their paces I buy salts and senna The prince's opinion Money table Edict ....... 54 CHAPTER VI. HAMADAN. Morning rides Engage servants Dispensary A bear-garden Odd complaints My servants get rich Modakel The distinction between picking and stealing Servants Their pay Vails Hakim Bashi Delleh Quinine Discipline I commence the cornet The result of rivalry Syud Houssein Armenians Cavalry officer Claim to sanctity of the Armenians Their position in the country Je\vs ........... 64 CHAPTER VIJ. HAMADAN. Tomb of Esther and Mordecai Spurious coins Treasure-finding In- terest A gunge- Oppression A cautious finder Yail Khan We become treasure-seekers We find Our cook Toffee Pole-buying Modakel I am nearly caught A mad dog Rioters punished Murder of the innocents . . . . . ... 75 CHAPTER VIII. HAMADAN. Antelope Hunting and hawking Shooting from the saddle Thief- catching The prince offers his services as head-servant Our hunting party The prince takes the honours Kabobs A pro- CONTENTS. incial grandee His stud Quail-shooting A relative of the king -Persian dinner Musicians and singers Parlour magic The iderun Cucumber-jam Persian home-life Grateful Armenians -Lizards Talking lark Pigeon-flying Fantails Pigeons' orna- icnts Immorality of pigeon-flying Card-playing Chess Games -Wrestling Pehliwans Gymnastics ..... 84 CHAPTERIX. KERMANSHAH. Leave for Kermanshah, marching Detail of arrangements Horse- feeding Peculiar way of bedding horses Barley Grape-feeding On grass Nowalla Colt, anecdote of Horses, various breeds of Turkomans Carabagh Ispahan cobs Gulf Arabs Arabs Rise in price of horses Road cooking Kangawar temple Double snipe Tents Kara-Su River Susmanis Sana Besitun Sir H. Rawlin- son Agha Hassan Istikhbal Kermanshah As we turn in another turns out Armenians Their reasons for apostatising Presents of sweetmeats 100 CHAPTER X. KERMANSHAH. Kermanshah Imad-u-dowlet We visit him Signs of his wealth Man nailed to a post Injuring the wire--Serrum-u-dowlet Visits We dine with the son of the Governor His decorations and nightin- gales Dancing girls Various dances The belly dance Heavy dinner Turf Wild geese The swamp A ducking through ob- stinacy Imadieh Wealth of the Imad-u-dowlet The Shah loots him Squeezing Rock sculptures Astrologers Astrolabes For- tune-telling Rammals Detection of thieves Honesty of servants Thefts through pique My lost pipe-head Tragedy of two women. . . . 112 CHAPTER XL I GO TO ISPAHAN. Deficiency of furniture Novel screws Pseudo-masonry Fate of the Imad-u-dowlet's son House-building Kerind New horse Mule- buying Start for Ispahan Kanaats Curious accident Fish in kanaats Loss of a dog Pigeons Pigeon-towers Alarm of robbers Put up in a mosque Armei ian village Armenian villagers Tra- vellers' law Taxman at Dehbeed Ispahan The bridge Julfa . 123 x CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. JULFA. Illness and death of horse Groom takes sanctuary Sharpness of Arme- nians Julfa houses Kursis Priests Arachnoort Monastery Nunnery Call to prayer Girls' school Ancient language of the Scriptures Ignorance of priests Liquor traffic Sunday market Loafers Turkeys Church Missionary schoolArmenian schools . CHAPTER XIII. ISPAHAN. Prince's physician Visit the Prince- Governor Justice The bastinado Its effects The doctor's difficulties Carpets Aniline dyes How to choose Varieties Nummad Felt coats Bad water Baabis A tragedy The prince's view 145 CHAPTER XIV. JULFA AND ISPAHAN. Julfa cathedral The campanile The monk Gez Kishmish wine The bishop The church Its decorations The day of judgment The cemetery Establishment of the Armenian captives in Julfa Lost arts Armenian artificers Graves Story of Rodolphe Coffee- house Tombstone bridges Nunnery Schools Medical missionary Church Missionary establishment The Lazarist Fathers . CHAPTER XV. ISPAHAN AND ITS ENVIRONS. Tame gazelle Croquet-lawn under difficulties Wild asparagus First- fruits Common fruits Mode of preparing dried fruits Ordinary vegetables of Persia Wild rhubarb Potatoes a comparative novelty Ispahan quinces: their fragrance Bamiah Grapes, Numerous varieties of At times used as horse-feed Grape-sugar Pickles Fruits an ordinary food Curdled milk Mode of obtaining cream Buttermilk Economy of the middle or trading classes Tale of the phantom cheese Common flowers Painting the lily Lilium can- didum Wild flowers The crops Poppies Collecting opium Manuring Barley Wheat Minor crops Mode of extracting grain Cut straw : its uses Irrigation , . CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER XVf. ISPAHAN AND IT8 ENVIRONS. PAQK Pig-sticking expedition Ducks not tame, but wild Ruined mosque with tile inscription Ancient watch-towers The hunting-ground Beaters We sight the pig Our first victims The bold Gholam Our success Pig's flesh A present of pork How Persians can be managed Opium Adulteration Collection and preparation Packing Manoeuvres of the native maker Opium-eating Mode- rate use by aged Persians My dispensary over the prison I shift my quarters Practice in the bazaar An ungrateful baker Sealing in lieu of signing Seals Wisdom of a village judge . . . 176 CHAPTER XVII. ISPAHAN. Cost of living Servants Our expenses Price of provisions Bargains Crying off Trade credits Merchants Civil suits Bribery Shopkeepers Handicrafts Damascening Shoemakers Other trades Bankers An Ispahani's estimate of the honesty of his fel- low-townsmen ......... 186 CHAPTER XVIII. ISPAHAN. Daily round The river Calico-rinsers Worn-out mules and horses Mode of treating the printed calico Imitations of marks on T-cloths Rise of the waters of the Zend-a-Rud Pul-i-Koju Char Bagh Plane-trees The college Silver doors Tiled halls and mosque Pulpit Boorio Hassir Sleepers in the mosque Cells of the students Ispahan priests Telegraph-office Tanks Causeways Gate of royal garden Governor's garden Courtiers and hangers-on Prisoners Priests The Imam-i-Juma My dispensary Ruined bazaar A day in the town Bazaar breakfasts Calico-printing Painters The maker of antiquities Jade tea-pot Visit to the Baabis Hakim-bashi Horse-market The " Dar "Executions Ordinary Blowing from guns A girl trampled to death Dying twice Blowing from a mortar Wholesale walling up alive A narrow escape from, and horrible miscarriage in carrying it out Burning alive Crucifixions Severity : its results . . . 193 CHAPTER XIX. MY JOURNEY HOME AND MARCH TO 8HIRAZ. Julfa quarters Buy a freehold house I ornament, and make it com- fortable Become ill Apply for sick leave Start marching Tele- gram Begin to post Reach Teheran Obtain leave Difficulty at xii CONTENTS. Kasvin Punishment of the postmaster Catch and pass the courier Horses knock up Wild beasts Light a fire Grateful rest Arrive at Besht Swamp to Peri-Bazaar Boat Steamer Moscow Opera Ballet Arrive in England Start again for Persia Journey via Constantinople Trebizonde Courier Snow Swollen eyes Detail of Journey from Erzeroum to Teheran The races Ispahan Leave for Shiraz Persian companions Road-beetles Mole crickets Lizards Animals and birds The road to Shiraz Ussher's description Meana bug legend again .... CHAPTER XX. SHIEAZ. Entry into Shiraz Gaiety of Shirazis of both sexes Public promenade Different from the rest of Persians Shiraz wine Early lamb Weights : their variety Steelyards Local custom of weighing Wetting grass Game Wild animals Buildings Ornamental brickwork Orange-trees Fruits in bazaar 'Type of ancient Persian Ladies' dress Fondness for music Picnics Warmth of climate Diseases The traveller Stanley His magazine rifle and my land- lord's chimney Cholera Great mortality We march out and camp Mysterious occurrence Life in a garden The " Shitoor-gooloo " Bear and dog fight The bear is killed ..... CHAPTER XXI. SHIRAZ WINE-MAKING. Buy grapes for wine-making Difficulty in getting them to the house Wine-jars Their preparation Grapes rescued and brought in Treading the grapes Fermentation Plunger-sticks Varieties of Shiraz wine and their production Stirring the liquor Clearing the wine My share, and its cost Improvement by bottling Wasps Carboys Covering them Native manner of packing Difficulties at custom-house The Governor's photographic apparatus Too many for me A luti-puti . . . . CHAPTER XXII. SHIEAZ AND FUSS A. Cheapness of ice Variety of ices Their size Mode of procuring ice Water of Shiraz : its impurity Camel-fight Mode of obtaining the combatants Mode of securing camels Visit to Fussa Mean- looking nag His powers See the patient State of the sick-room Dinner sent away A second one arrives A would-be room-fellow I provide him with a bedroom Progress of the case Fertility of Fussa Salt lake End of the patient Boat-building Dog-cart Want of roads Tarantulas Suicide of scorpions Varieties Ex- periment Stings of scorpions The Nishan CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER XXIII. SHIRAZ. THE FAMINE. PACK Approach of famine Closing of shops Rise in mule-hire Laying in of stores Seizures of grain Sale of goods by poor Immigrations of villagers to the towns Desertions of children Increase of crime Arrival of money from England Orphanage Labour question Koomishah Village ruffian His punishment Prince's accident The kalaat Mode of bringing it Invitation to the ceremony Pro- cession Gala dress of the prince The arrival of the firman Assemblage of grandees The kalaat The Kawam's kalaat Return to town Sacrifice of an ox . . . . . . 251 CHAPTER XXIV. I FALL INTO THE HANDS OF BKIGANDS. A call to a patient Start on post-horses No horses I carry a lantern The Bakhtiaris Fall among thieves They strip me And march me off Mode of disguise of thieves Attacked by footmen Divi- sion of spoils Fate of a priest Valuing my kit Ignorance of my captors A welcome sight My escape I get a horse Reach Yez- dikhast Old women get thorns out of my feet Want of hospitality of head-man of Yezdikhast Arrive at Kumishah Kindness of a postmaster More robbers Avoid them Am repaid for my lost kit Fate of my robbers 259 CHAPTER XXV. SHIEAZ. The Muschir His policy and wealth His struggle with the king's uncle He is bastinadoed His banishment to Kerbela The Kawam Mirza Nairn Siege of Zinjan Cruelties to Mirza Nairn Reply to an author's statement Cashmere shawls Anecdote Garden of Dilgoosha Warm spring*' Sau-Sau-Rac "The Well of Death Execution Wife-killing Tomb of Rich Tomb of Hafiz Tomb of Saadi A moral tale Omens Incident at tomb of Hafiz . . 270 CHAPTER XXVI. SHIEAZ PERSIAN CUSTOMS. The Tazzia Persian pulpit Prince's flirtations Month of mourning Details of performance Breast-beaters Hymn in honour of the king The performers Processions Detail of the tragedy Inter- ludes Roseh-khaneh The Ramazan The fast Hospitalities Zalabi Religious affectation Reading poetry A paraphrase A quotation Books and their covers Calamdans Writing a letter Sealing Specimen of an ordinary letter Apparent piety The evil eye Talismans I procure one ...... 279 xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVI I. SHIBAZ. PAGl Bagh-i-Takht Jews' burial-ground Christians' cemetery Its desecra- tion Sergeant Collins's murder Capture and execution of the robbers How it was brought home to them Memorial to Collins Health of the staff Persians as servants Persian cuisine Kabobs, varieties of English dinners Confectionery Fruits Vegetables Pickles, etc. Cook-shops Trotters Mode of selling meat Game Eggs Wild vegetables Potatoes Disinclination to use new seeds, and its cause Narcissus General use of flower decoration Tame birds Wild birds White ants Damaging the line Hamilton poles ........... CHAPTER XXVIII. BEASTS, BIRDS, FRUITS, AND FLOWERS. Tamed pigs " Marjahn ' Mongoose Persian cats Their value Van cats A fierce cat How to obtain a Persian cat Greyhounds Toolahs Watch-dogs Monkeys Tame lions Tame and cage birds Superstition concerning house-snakes I kill a clockwinder Wild ass Fighting rams Tame partridges Gardening Ordinary flowers The broom-plant Vine-culture Quinces and pomegra- natesOrchards Garden parties ...... CHAPTER XXIX. PERSIAN CHARACTER, COSTUMES, AND MANNERS. Character of the Persians Exaggeration Mercifulness Anecdote Costumes of men Hair Beards Arms Costumes of women Jewellery Glass bangles Nose-rings Painting of the face Tat- tooing Hair Out-door costume Dress of children Their manners Strange custom Love of mothers The uncle Cousins Slaves ServantsSlavery ........ CHAPTER XXX. TRAVELLING ART WORK FOODS. Travelling Difficulties of posting Saddles and bits Cruel joke Old stories Pastimes Enamels Persian pictures Curio buyer Car- vings Metal-work Caligraphy Kahtam Incised work on iron Embroideries Silver-work Washing of linen Ironing Needle- work The bath Washing the hair with clay Bread and baking Unleavened bread Other kinds Travellers' food Inordinate appe- tites Food of the poor . . CONTENTS. xv CHAPTER XXXI. EDUCATION LEAVE, AND RETURN VIA INDIA. PACK Education Schools Punishments Love of poetry Colleges Educa- tion of women Religion March to Bushire Extremes of cold and heat Good luck Go home to England Leave via India The " Boys " Lisbon Algiers Port Said and Suez Jeddah Donkeys Coral reef Sea-slugs Aden Madagascar oranges " Grimes " Kurrachee Drives Visit to the alligators at Muggerpir Disgusting scene A legatee Black-wood furniture A lost bargain Persian Gulf Bushire Leave for Shiraz . .337 CHAPTER XXXII. FROM THE PERSIAN GULF TO ISPAHAN. Our start for Shiraz Camp out Borasjun Spring at Dallike Kotuls Kazerun Buy a horse A tough climb Place of Collins's murder Arrive in Shiraz Hire a house Settle down Breaking horses Night marching Difficulties of start Moorghab Find our muleteer and loads Abadeh Yezdikhast Koomishah Mayar Marg Arrive in Julfa . . . . . . . . 347 CHAPTER XXXIII. JULFA. Hire a house Coolness of streets Idleness of men Industry of women Stone mortars Arrack Hire a vineyard A wily Armenian Treasure-trove The "Shaking Minarets "A hereditary func- tionary A permanent miracle Its probable explanation Vaccina- tion Julfa priests Arrack as an anassthetic Road-making Crops of firewood Fire temple Huge trees The racecourse Disappear- ance of ancient brick buildings Donkeys Healthiness of Julfa Zil-es-Sultan His armoury Prospects of the succession to the throne Bull-terriers Mastiffs Politeness and rudeness of the prince ...... 359 CHAPTER XXXIV. JOURNEY TO AND FROM TEHERAN. Proceed to Teheran Takhtrowan Duties Gulhaek Lawn-tennis Guebre gardener A good road The Shah Custom of the Kuruk M. Gersteiger Cossack regiments Austrian officers New coinage Count Monteforte New police Boulevard des Ambassadeurs English Embassy Tile gates Summer palaces Bazaars Russian Is Demavend Drive to Ispahan Difficulties of the journey xvi CONTENTS. Accidents Danger of sunstroke Turkeys Keeping peacocks Armenian tribute of poultry Burmese and Japanese embassies Entertainment and fireworks Cruel treatment of Jews Oil paint- ings Khosro and Shireen Practice makes perfect Pharaoh, and the Red Sea Pharaoh and the magicians . . . . . 363 CHAPTER XXXV. WE RETURN VIA THE CASPIAN. New Year's presents Shiraz custom Our cook's weaknesses He takes the pledge And becomes an opium-eater Decide to go home Dispose of kit Start for Europe Our own arrangements Diary of our journey home Arrival ....... 379 APPENDIX A. Table of Post Stages and Ordinary Marches from Bushire, Persian Griilf, to Teheran 410 APPENDIX B. Duration of our Journey from Ispahan to London .... 412 APPENDIX C. Travelling in Persia . . . . . . . . . 413 APPENDIX D. RUSSIAN GOODS VERSUS ENGLISH. The Rerun River route The best means of reaching the Commercial Centres of Persia Opinions of experts Wishes of Merchants . 417 GLOSSARY OF PERSIAN WORDS ....... 420 INDEX 429 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN CHAPTEE I. I GO TO PERSIA. Wanted, a doctor The Director-in-chief Doubt and distrust Simple ad vin ERRATA. Page 58, line 19, for " baggailis " read " baghallis " 97 3 "curshid"reod"kurshid" " 102 10 and 27,/br " cab " read " kah " (and p. 103, 1. 12) 113 6, after " tbis " insert " youthful look " 131 3, delete " covered " I THINK that there is no more painful position than that of the young medical man. I had "passed," and had got my qualifications. An assistant I did not wish to be, and I there- fore consulted the. advertisement columns of the Lancet, and was prepared to go anywhere, if I might see the world, and have what Americans call a good time. At my first attempt I came on an advertisement of three appointments, under the Indian Government, in Persia ; the address was the Adelphi. Off I started for the Adelphi, which I had always looked on as a neighbourhood full of mystery, and whose inhabitants were to be mistrusted. Timeo Danaos. A first-floor this looked well. I knocked, was told to enter. Two gentlemen, kneeling on the floor, looked at me in a B xvi CONTENTS. PAGE Accidents Danger of sunstroke Turkeys Keeping peacocks Armenian tribute of poultry Burmese and Japanese embassies Entertainment and fireworks Cruel treatment of Jews Oil paint- ings Khosro and Shireen Practice makes perfect Pharaoh and the Eed Sea Pharaoh and the magicians . . . . . 363 CHAPTER XXXV. WE RETURN VIA THE CASPIAN. New Year's presents Shiraz custom Our cook's weaknesses He takes the pledge And becomes an opium-eater Decide to go home Dispose of kit Start for Europe Our own arrangements Diary of our journey home Arrival ....... 379 APPENDIX A. Table of Post Stages and Ordinary Marches from Bushire, Persian Gulf, 4-1H GLOSSARY OF PERSIAN WORDS ....... 420 INDEX . - 429 OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN CHAPTER I. I GO TO PERSIA. r anted, a doctor The Director-in-chief Doubt and distrust Simple advice Am referred to * Hadji Baba ' My kit Saddle for riding post Vienna Kustchuk Quarantine Galatz Kustendji Constantinople Turkish ladies Stamboul I have my hair cut " Karagews " Turkish coffee A philo-Turk Shooting party The theatres The Opera Armenian theatre Gambling house A Bashi-bazouk We leave, via the Black Sea The Russian captain Unarmed vessels White Crimean wine Foreign wines in Russia Deck passengers Sinope Batoum Poti. The post-house Difficulty in getting food Travelling en troika Kutais A tarantass Apply for horses An itching palm We start Tiflis Lecoq's beer -A happy reprieve The joys of travel Chief of the Telegraph in Tiflis Uniforms Persian Consulate Coffee and pipes Smoking an art Effects on the tyro Tea The Consul His age Dyeing the hair The Opera, varied costumes at The Tiflis ballet Leave Tiflis Erivan The Pass We lighten our load Hotel Washing Nakchewan Julfa, the frontier of Persia. I THINK that there is no more painful position than that of the young medical man. I had "passed," and had got my qualifications. An assistant I did not wish to be, and I there- fore consulted the advertisement columns of the Lancet, and jwas prepared to go anywhere, if I might see the world, and ihave what Americans call a good time. At my first attempt I came on an advertisement of three appointments, under the Indian Government, in Persia ; the address was the Adelphi. Off I started for the Adelphi, which I had always looked on as a neighbourhood full of mystery, t and whose inhabitants were to be mistrusted. Timeo Danaos. A first-floor this looked well. I knocked, was told to enter. Two gentlemen, kneeling on the floor, looked at me in a B 2 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. disturbed manner. The whole room is strewn with sheets of written foolscap, and it appears that I have arrived inoppor- tunely, as official documents are being sorted. I am asked to take a seat, having stated to the elder of the two that I am come to see the director on business. Now I couldn't at that time fancy a director who knelt in fact, my only idea of one was the typical director of the novel, a stout, bechained man and my astonishment was great at being quietly informed by one of the gentlemen that he was Colonel G- , and should be glad to hear anything I had to communicate. I stated my wish to obtain such an appoint- ment as was advertised ; the duties, pay, &c., were pointed out, and I came to the conclusion that it would suit me as a " pastime " till the happy day when I should have a brass plate of my own. But if my ideas of a director were lofty, my ideas of a colonel were loftier ; and I said to myself, one who combines these two functions arid can be polite to a humble doctor must be an impostor. I was asked for my credentials. I gave them, and was told to call in the morning, but distrust had taken hold of me ; I got an ' Army List,' and, not finding my chief-that-was-to-be's name in it, I, forgetting that we had then an Indian as well as an English army, came to the conclusion that he must be an impostor, and that I should be asked for a deposit in the morning, which was, I believed, the general way of obtaining money from the unwary. With, I fear, a certain amount of truculent defiance, I pre- sented myself at the appointed hour, and was told that my references were satisfactory, that a contract would be drawn up that I should have to sign, and that I should be ready to start in a fortnight ; but, rather to my astonishment, no men- tion was made of a deposit. " I think there is nothing more," said Colonel G . This, I concluded, indicated the termination of the interview ; and, after considerable humming and hawing, I came to the point, and blurted out that, after searching the ' Army List,' I couldn't find any Colonel G , and that no one had ever heard of the Telegraph Department in Persia. Instead of being annoyed, the Colonel merely asked if I knew any one at the War Office. As it happened I did. " Well, go to him, and he will tell you all about it." I.] ADVICE KIT. 3 Off I went to the War Office, found my friend, and, to his horror, told him that I wanted to know if the Persian Telegraph Department existed or not, and if the director was or was not a myth ? He easily satisfied me, and I felt that I had been stupidly suspicious. I then announced to my friends and relatives my probably immediate departure for Persia. Strange to say, they declined to see it in any other light than a peculiarly elaborate and stupid joke. Instead of congratulations, I was treated as an unamiable and tiring lunatic, and from none of my friends was I able to get any information as to Persia. One man had a son in Baghdad I but it was no good his writing him, as it took six months to get an answer. After a day or two I again presented myself at the office, and I had the country described to me, and various recom- mendations as to outfit given me, and I also was introduced to Major C , the assistant-director. His advice was delight- fully simple. " You'll be able to wear out all your old clothes ; don't buy any new ones ; have a * Dayrell ' bridle ; get nothing but flannel shirts." Colonel G certainly took great trouble to explain to me all about the country, and, taking me out to lunch with him, bought me Morier's ' Hadji Baba,' saying, " When you read this you will know more of Persia and the Persians than you will if you had lived there with your eyes open for twenty years." This is going a long way ; it is seventeen years since I went to Persia, and I read ' Hadji Baba ' now, and still learn something new from it. As Persia was in Morier's time so it is now ; and, though one sees plenty of decay, there is very little change. Two other candidates came forward, to whom I was deputed to explain matters. They accepted the conditions, and, the deeds being prepared, we all three went to the India Office and signed a contract for three years. On going to the Adelphi I was told that a sum of one hundred pounds had been handed to each of my two colleagues to take them to Persia. But I was glad to seize the oppor- tunity kindly given me by Colonel G of travelling with him, and he told me to meet him in Vienna on a certain day. I had now no time to lose, and proceeded to buy my kit ; what that kit was it is as well the reader should know. I got enough ordinary clothing for three years, such as we B 2 4 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. use in England for morning or country wear, also two pairs of riding-boots ; these fitted me, and were consequently useless, for I soon found that in riding long distances boots much too big are the thing, as then the foot is neither cold in winter or crippled in summer ; a knife, fork, and spoon, to shut up ; a revolver ; a small bradawl, with the point buried in a cork, for boring holes in straps ; a military saddle (hussar officer's), with wallet-holsters and a high cantle (this cantle keeps one's rugs off one's back when riding post, which is the only way of quick travelling in the country) ; a double-barrelled fowling- piece (nearly useless). My kit was packed in a couple of bullock-trunks, and my saddle sewn up in my rugs, which were thick and good. I also had a blanket-lined waterproof sheet. I gave myself a week in Paris previous to my nominal start, and thence I proceeded to Vienna, to be ready to leave with Colonel G as soon as he arrived there. I went to the " Golden Lamb," a very comfortable hotel which the Colonel had chosen, and beguiled my time plea- santly enough in going nightly to the theatre to hear Offen- bach's operas done in German. I saw ' Bluebeard/ * La Belle Helene,' &c. I was a fortnight in Vienna, and I began to pick up a smattering, for, of course, the German learnt at school is useless ; my Offenbach system I found more effectual than the usual one of " the gardener's wife has brought the hat of the merchant's little boy," &c. A week after the Colonel's arrival our stay in Vienna ended. We left for Basiatch (by rail twenty-seven hours) ; slept there, and started early in the morning for Eustchuk by steamer. There we found that passengers from up the river were in quarantine ; and the letters were taken with a pair of tongs, with immense precautions, for fumigation; we were advised not to land, as we should certainly have to go to the lazaretto ; and we were told that if we quietly went on to Galatz, and said nothing, we could return the next day as from a healthy port. We were lucky in taking the advice, as a passenger did venture on to the lighter, and was, willy-nilly, marched off to what we learnt afterwards was a six-weeks' quarantine. We went on to Galatz, which we reached the next day. Galatz is like a rural Wapping, but muddier. We went to [j JOUPvXEY TO CONSTANTINOPLE. f> l)od, to find ourselves tinder weigh in the morning. We soon ot to Tchernavoda, which seemed a mere village. There we aixled, and thence, by a very slow train indeed, to Kustendji. A.t this place we heard the ravages of the cholera had been ery great. We slept there that night, and started at noon next lay for Constantinople by steamer. It blew hard, and we were very glad indeed to find ourselves n the Bosphorus. There the scenery became splendid; no lescription of mine can do justice to the castles and palaces langing on the water's edge ; the crowded picturesque villages hat were reflected in the clear blue water ; the shoals of porpoises that accompanied the ship at full speed, ploughing ,he water with a loud noise, and then, in their course, leaping, itill continuing the race, from the water ; and then entering t again amid a shower of spray. This wonderful scene con- inued for eighteen miles. At 5 P.M. we anchored in the Golden Horn. The scene was indescribable ; all I had ever seen or read of paled before it. We were too late to land, as me cannot do so after sunset. Next morning we went ashoro in a caique, rowed by very icturesque boatmen in white kilts, passed the Custom House, md went straight to Misseri's, preceded by our baggage, borne by three porters. These " hammals " bear gigantic burdens, and as in most Eastern towns there are no carriage-roads, they are of great use, and generally form a distinct corporation. At Misseri's the Colonel was well known, having stayed there several times before. In Constantinople, happily for me, instead of going on at once, my chief was delayed by orders from home for nearly two months ; and I was enabled to see a good deal of the town. Great was my delight to watch the Turkish ladies, their muslin yashmaks lending a fictitious delicacy to their com- plexions, going about in handsome carriages. Innumerable were the mysterious stories I heard after table d'hote of these veiled beauties. Many a time have I gone on long expeditions into Stamboul with Mr. Ayrton, a brother of " Board of Works Ayrton," who, with a thorough knowledge of Turkey and the Turk, took me under his wing in his daily pilgrimages to the most unsavoury but interesting nooks of the Mahommedan portion of the city. We went to coffee-houses, and listened to story-tollers; wo dined on savoury kabobs; and, alas! I well I 6 IN TITE LAND OF THE LTON AND SUN. [CHAP. remember my philo-Turk friend persuaded me to have my hair cut by a Turkish barber. It was only too well done ; when the satisfied shaver handed me the glass I was as a sheep before the shearer, dumb, but with horror ; my head was pink, so closely was it cropped, and my only consolation was the remark of my introducer to oriental life that " in the East they generally did things thoroughly." I saw too the Turkish Punch (" Karagews >T ), a most immoral puppet ; and the mildest and most favourable description of him was that "his manners were none, his customs disgusting," but then my mentor said he was "very oriental" perhaps the terms mean much the same thing. As the coffee seemed particularly delicious in the native cafes, I, after some trouble, ascertained the real receipt for coffee a la Turca (not a la Turque), as they call it. Here it is ; for each tiny cup (about a small wineglassful), a tea- spoonful of coffee fresh roasted, and ground at once while hot to a fine powder in a brass hand-mill, or at times pounded in a mortar, is thrown into a small and heated saucepan ; add the required quantity of boiling water. Place on the embers ; ' when it threatens to boil over, remove ; replace, and remove a second and a third time ; serve. All the dregs go to the bottom. No sugar or milk used NEVER clean the saucepan ! At these cafes long chibouques with yellow clay heads are smoked, the heads being rested on a brass tray. A ball of live charcoal is placed on the long-cut Samsoon tobacco (or if the customer be liberal, Macedonian), the stem is jasmine or cherry wood, and the grander the pipe the longer the stem ; rich customers bring their own mouth-pieces, which have a long inner conical tube that fits any stem. These mouth- pieces are of amber, and are frequently ornamented with a hoop of brilliants. The pieces of amber are two in number, and if of large size and of good colour cost two pounds, upwards to even five-and-twenty : the ordinary fashion is to separate these two pieces by a thin circle of lapis-lazuli or other stone. The narghile is also much used. It will be fully described as the " kalian " further on. In it is smoked the tumbaku of Persia. A few pence is charged for the whole entertainment of coffee, smoke, shelter, and music, such as it is, generally a guitar or flute-player, who is glad to play to order for a cup of coffee. The customers sit on little low stools like the French L] COFFEE PIPES COCK-SHOOTING. 7 church chairs without their backs. In some of the grander cafes divans, and even chairs, are provided. Mr. Ayrton had spent many years in Egypt. He wore a coat made by a Turkish tailor, a shawl waistcoat and a fez, and with his cropped grey hairs (it was his barber who operated on me) and his big chibouque with the amber mouth-piece (he had a large collection of them) with the ring of diamonds, he looked a thorough Turk, and I fancy posed and was treated as such. I remember myself thinking that the get-up was as- sumed for the purpose of getting a deeper insight into Turkish life. From what I know now, I merely suppose that, from his wearing the fez, he was, or had been in Turkish employ ; all government servants in Turkey have to wear it. Dr. Millengen, in whose arms Byron died, and who was an old government employe (physician to three Sultans), wore it ; so did his son, who was in the Turkish Government Telegraph ; and another son of his, I afterwards met in the Turkish Quarantine Service at Teheran, told me he wore it always while in Turkey. I was introduced to a M. IP, Fontaine, a most enthusiastic sportsman, and his many nephews, and by him I was given a day's cock-shooting, and there was plenty of it. As for me, I was an utter muff and cockney, or rather town-reared ; but had I not a new pin-fire breechloader, and was it not my first day's real shooting ? And as I really did shoot two brace, I returned a delighted but tired youth. That night will be ever memo- rable. I ate my first pillaw, with fowls boiled to rags in it, and followed by curds with thick cream on the top called " yaourt." How we all ate ! We had come from Pera, crossing in a steamer, and had to ride some twenty miles on rough little ponies to the sleeping place, and horror of horrors ! on Turkish saddles. Now to the timid rider a Turkish saddle is at first a delight, for to leave it without great effort is impossible, and there is a pommel which is so high that it appears the height of folly not to cling to it ; but when one's knees are in one's mouth, when one's saddle is hard as iron and cuts like a knife, when one has new and heavy shooting-boots on, and one's unmentionables have a tendency to ruck, besides having the glory of carrying a forty-guinea gun slung (oh, demon cockney gun-maker !) by a sling that slips along the barrel, and was highly recommended, with the addition of one hundred loaded cartridges distributed 8 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. over the many pockets of a very new shooting-coat, in the sun with a fur cap on it is to be wondered at that the sufferings of the tortured Indian at the stake were child's-play to what I endured without a groan, and repeating constantly assurances of my delight and enjoyment and remember, reader, we went at a brisk canter all the time. How glad I was to lie down ! How grieved I was, at 4.30 A.M. the next day, to be called, and, after a hurried wash, to start in the half dawn in my tight and heavy boots ! But the firing began ; I forgot the tightness of my boots, the stiffness of my back. Do you remember how stiff you felt after your first riding lesson, my friend ? and you hadn't one hundred loaded cartridges about you, and an intermittent garotte with your knees in your mouth ; and I thanked Heaven I need not sit down, for weighty reasons. Of course I fired wildly ; of course I missed continually, but it was my first day, and I never enjoyed anything so much in my life. I hobbled bravely on till there was no more daylight, but I did feel thoroughly done on getting in, and I did not enjoy my ride back the next day. I used to try and learn Persian in my idle hours, and I soon mastered the printed character and could read fluently, but without the slightest idea of meaning. Kind Colonel G gave me many a lesson, but I fear that loafing in Stamboul by day and going to the French or Italian theatre in the evening had greater attractions. I was always passionately fond of the stage, and, as we were always going in a day or two, I used, on the principle that I might never be able to go to the play again, to go every evening. Of course there was only a third-rate French company, but how very good they were ! The term " stick," so justly applied to many of our actors, could not be attached to any player in the little band. All were good, and all were good all round, and though the leading man might be everything in the drama, yet he didn't object to play the lover in the little vau- deville, and played it well. An Englishman, in the event of anything so dreadful happening to him, would soon let his audience see that he was only doing it under protest. At the Opera the prima donna was ridiculously fat, and to a man unmusical this somewhat destroys the illusion but then L] THEATRES GAMBLING TYPES. 9 ihefauteuils (Torchestre only cost ten francs. I also went to an Armenian theatre, but it had the national characteristics, squalor and misery, and I did not repeat the visit. I failed even to see an Armenian piece (if such a thing exists), but sat out a fearful edition of * The Chiffonier of Paris ; ' and I was told that all the pieces played in Constantinople (Pera) in Armenian were mere translations. Even the delights of gaming were permitted in Pera. A few doors from Messeri's was the Cafe " Flam," as it was affection- ately called by the Pera youth. " Cafe Flamand," was, I fancy, its real title. Here were played " pharaon " and roulette. I was recommended the former game, for economical reasons it took longer to lose a napoleon. Nobody seemed to win at either game, but pharaon certainly " took longer." I was not tempted to make frequent visits, as I had played for some small sums at Baden-Baden a year or two before. There one was at least cheated fairly ; here the robbery was open. A few days after the New Year the Colonel told me that we should really leave for Persia by the very first opportunity. I bid farewell to all the kind friends I had made, had my photo taken in breeches, boots, and revolver at Abdullah's a weak- ness every Englishman who reaches Constantinople is guilty of. It does not do to be too oriental. At Abdullah's I pur- chased a fearful-looking type, marked a Bashi-bazouk, and found it out afterwards to be the portrait of a man whose ac- quaintance I made in Persia, the Dutch Consul in Bushire ; but he made a very good type, being a big man ; and he literally bristled with weapons, and seemed capable of any atrocities. One fine afternoon, on January 5th, 1867, we were rowed on board the Kussian steamer Oleg. We had an English-speaking captain, who was genial and communicative. My chief was confined to his cabin ; and, as there was nothing to read and nothing to do, I saw a good deal of the Russian. He told me that all the commanders of their mail-boats were naval officers, and that all the mail-boats could be turned into war-steamers at a few hours' notice, merely requiring the guns to be put into them : " so that, as you English don't let us have war-vessels on the Black Sea, we run a superior class of mail-boat " (built, however, on the Clyde). And a very superior boat she was. I was told by the captain to avoid the high-priced wines, and stick to white Crimean. This was a particularly delicious 10 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. light wine, like a good Sauterne ; and I find, from after expe- rience at Kussian railway buffets, which far exceed anything of the sort we have in grandeur, that, as a rule, the liquor is simply fair red and white country wine, the only difference being in price and label. In some of these labels the Muscovite imagination fairly runs riot. You see " Chateau d'Yquem," " Schloss Johannis- berg," &c., but nobody ever seems to drink them, and they are mere table ornaments. The rich drink nothing but cham- pagne of known and expensive brands, and bottled stout; while the middle classes stick to " pivo " (Russian beer) and vodki. Tea, in tumblers, was continually being served, with a big slice of lemon in it. The deck passengers, among whom were many rough Circassians, all armed to the teeth, cuddled down into the nooks of the cargo, and managed to keep themselves warm as best they could. They too always were drinking tea, but they adopted a plan to economise sugar that I have noticed constantly among the Eussian poor : a bit of sugar is placed in the cheek, and then the tea is swallowed in gulps ; the poor fellows thus keeping up a sort of delusion that they are swallowing sweet and hot tea, though the mouth only, and not the tea, is really sweetened. There was none of the exclusive- ness of the Englishman. A made tea, and regaled B, C, and D ; then B treated the rest, and so on ; when not asleep, eating, or tea- drinking, the deck people were card-playing and smoking. The short pipe was a good deal used, and passed from hand to hand, while the trader class smoked the cigarette. All the men, and most of the women, wore a sort of rough butcher-boot ; and, from the state of the roads at Poti, any other foot clothing for pedestrians would have been impossible. We lay to off Sinope on the 7th (here the Russians, our little captain took care to remind me, destroyed the Turkish fleet), but could not land passengers, a gale blowing. We changed steamers at Batoum on the 10th. The scenery at Batoum is very fine ; the sea, without a wave, of a deep blue ; well-wooded hills and the Elburz range of the Caucasus covered with snows forming the horizon. So warm was it here that we lay on the beach throwing stones into the tranquil sea. At last we arrived at Poti, being the fifth day from Con- I.] TEA-DRINKINGTELEGA. 11 stantinople. We were put on a lighter with our baggage, and taken direct to the Custom House ; thence we got on a little steamer that was to take us up the Eiom river, and of this we had some twelve hours, the great part of the time being occupied in getting aground, and getting off again. From Poti to Merand we went in a telega, en troika, some sixty versts, over what was rather a track than a road, in thirteen hours. A telega, or road-waggon, is easily described as an oblong box on wheels, and of the severest simplicity. The box is about five feet by three feet six inches at the top, and five feet by three feet at the bottom, with a plank in the front for the driver. There are no attempts at springs ; strength and lightness are all that is aimed at ; these are attained also the maximum of discomfort. To this machine are harnessed three horses ; one trots in the shafts with a yoke four feet high, the other two, in traces at either side, gallop. The harness is rope, the driver often drunk. Travelling thus is monotonous, and after a time very painful. To the Kussian officer, with his big pillow, little or no luggage, and plenty of hay, a troika is comparatively comfortable, for he can lie stretched out, and be tolerably free from bruises, but, doing as we did, we suffered grinding torments. One telega was full of our luggage, and in the other we sat on a portman- teau of the Colonel's ; at each jolt we were obliged to clutch the edge of the machine to prevent knocking one against the other, and there was no support of any kind. To people accustomed to ride on springs our sufferings would only be apparent if they had once tried what it was to travel in this way for many hours over the roughest roads, day and night and at full speed, and without springs of any kind. When our hands got painfully bruised we changed sides, and bruised the other ones, for we were forced to hold on. When we were lucky enough to get a broadish telega we got some hay, and sat on it, thus resting our knees. On our way we only saw one woman and, say, a hundred men. The country seemed to me very thinly populated after teeming England. On our arrival at the post-house at Merand we were shown a room with two plank bedsteads and a fireplace. I little thought that in Persia the post-houses hadn't even the plank bedsteads. Neither of us could speak one word of the language ; we 12 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. tried French, German, Italian, Turkish, Persian all of no avail and we had no food. At last we obtained fire and a samovar, or Kussian tea urn; the first by pantomime, the second by looking fierce and repeating the word. We pointed to our mouths, heads were shaken (perhaps they thought we wanted a dentist) ; at last I had a happy thought, and, by drawing a hen and egg, and hopping about the room clucking, the postmaster's wife at last produced the required eggs ; they then brought bread and sausage, the latter much decomposed. Colonel G- was taken ill in the night, and I feared we could not proceed. But by 8 A.M. (of the 12th) we were again on the road, and did the thirty-four versts on a good military road by noon. The 12th is with Kussians New Year's Bay, and we found the town of Kutais for the most part drunk and letting off its firearms. Here our landlord informed us that there was an opportunity to buy a tarantass, which we could dispose of when we reached the Persian frontier or at Tiflis. I was greatly delighted when the Colonel decided on pur- chasing this very primitive carriage. Fancy an old-fashioned open carriage to hold two, with cushions stuffed in pre-historic ages with hay, a tarpaulin apron, a huge hood provided with a leather curtain which, when dropped, plunged the traveller into black darkness, but kept the wind and rain out ; a gigantic box and boot, the whole slung on a perch from four posts by thick straps, and having very small fore and very large hind wheels, a plumb-line dropped from the top of the latter being quite a foot beyond the bottom. But it kept us warm and dry, would hold all the luggage, and would in theory enable us to travel with three horses instead of six. We found out afterwards that we had to take five, when we were lucky enough to get them. I fancy the whole machine cost one hundred and fifty roubles, or, at the then exchange, fifteen pounds. Then came a wheel- wright, and he took some seven hours at the wheels. At length, about five, all was pronounced ready, and we sent our " padoroschna," or permit to take post-horses, to the post- master for horses. Keply : " None just at present ; would send them over as soon as they came in." To lose no time, we carefully filled the boot with our luggage, and my bullock- trunks were firmly roped on behind. I.] TARANTASS POSTING. 13 We took tea preparatory to our start, and laid in provisions of bread, beer, &c., with a couple of fowls ; for we were told we should find nothing but black bread and hot water on the road. Still no horses. We went to the post-house, where we found nine beasts, but were told that these were all reserved for special service. The Colonel then smelt a rat ; but what were we to do ? the postmaster (a major) was dining out, and no one knew where he was. The waiter told us at length that what was wanted was a bribe ; but then we could hardly believe him, for had we not conversed with the postmaster a uniformed and decorated individual, who spoke French and smoked cigarettes with an air? However, there was nothing else for it ; the postmaster was, much against the grain, asked to breakfast ; a fifteen-rouble note was put under his plate, and an hour afterwards horses were actually being put to. In we got, having a portmanteau, a hat-box, a cocked-hat case, a sword-case, umbrellas, rugs, pillows (these last a very needful thing in Kussia ; travellers even by rail carry them, and they are almost a necessity) in the carriage with us ; the apron was buttoned down, the curtain triced up, and, with a wrench and a creak, off we went at a hard gallop. It is not a comfortable mode of travelling, far less a luxurious one ; but one does get over the ground ; one is dry ; and certainly, as compared with the telega, one's sufferings are less intense. We occasionally left the tarantass to take tea at a post- house, where, ever for lack of fresh horses, we had to feed and rest our old ones. Our Kutais informant was right ; nothing to be got but the samovar (or Kussian urn) full of boiling water; no furniture, save two wooden bedsteads, with a slanting board at the head ; the tariff for horses, and the " icon " (or religious picture) in the corner. Still, there was freedom from noise and movement, which was a great thing. The horses seemed to be fed on nothing in particular ; they were turned out in the mud to graze, and were given branches of trees, which they gnawed as a bonne louche, but I saw no grain given ; but these horses went, and they were lashed and howled at ; in fact, the driving seemed very hard work indeed. We travel day and night, and never halt but to 14 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. change horses. After seventy-two hours, we at length reached Tiflis. I didn't see much of the road ; in most places it was mud, and in many it seemed dangerous. Often our tarantass was repaired with nails and ropes, but we arrived unbroken at the Hotel du Kaukase of M. Arsene Barberon. This man kept a really comfortable house, and, as it was suggested to us that this was the last civilised place, we were only too glad to make the most of it. We were given sheets to our beds as a favour and as a luxury; and we got a good dinner, with some "Lecoq" English stout, very good and strong. One never hears the name in England, and whether really English or not I don't know, but it is very double, and much esteemed by the Eussians. Our bedrooms unfortunately abutted on the billiard-room ; and as the Eussian officers, by whom the hotel was frequented, seemed to be very loth to stop play, it was difficult to sleep till, about 4 A.M., even these festive gentlemen retired. When I came down, I found that the Colonel, an old! traveller, had preceded me, and was engaged upon a pile of official letters and telegrams. " I shall be unfortunately detained here some days." I was overcome by a deep sense of gratitude that words cannot express; for I really was so tired and bruised that I felt as if I had been pummelled all over ; in fact, that I should have been glad to be taken to pieces and put away for a time. Now this will perhaps be looked on as affectation, but it is not so ; as one gets used to the various modes of travelling, one ceases to have any grievance, and to feel fatigue, looking on the whole matter as in the day's work ; but the first time, it's all very well, but we none of us like it in our hearts. Of course we called it glorious, and so it was, in the sense that it was a change. But who would care to travel from, say, London to York in an old-fashioned bathing-machine, with a companion of greater age and social position than your own, pride pre- venting one's grumbling, and going at a hard gallop over the worst of roads, and a good deal of loose and angular luggage with you, day and night ? My chief next day was waited on by a young man of pre- L] KUSSIAN HOTEL PERSIAN CONSUL. 15 possessing appearance, in a stylish uniform, the embroidered shoulder-straps of which were decorated by lightning-flashes. I was somewhat surprised to hear that this was a signalling- clerk of the Russian department. In Eussia every officer, however small, has his uniform, which is cheap, and stylish wear. I, being very young, perhaps felt a little jealous ; but the Colonel assured me that, as uniform was always typical, mine would probably have silver leeches running up the red stripe of my trousers, and a gilt mustard- plaister in miniature on the collar. This contented me, and reconciled me to my position as " a plain-clothes officer." The chief of the telegraph, too, called, and we called on him ; many cigarettes were smoked, and much very hot tea in tumblers drunk. We went also to see the Persian consul, who was very civil, and apparently a very intelligent man; he gave us coffee in the Persian manner. Small silver filagree cup- holders, the size of egg-cups, were handed round on a tray ; and placed in each was a smaller vessel of china, holding about a liqueur-glassful of strong sweet black coffee, flavoured with cloves. It was not bad. When the cups were emptied two servants advanced, one bearing the tray, the other taking with both hands the empty coffee-cups and holders, and placing them upon the tray. Then came the water-pipe or kalian ; three of these were brought in. My first inhalation provided me with a mouthful of peculiarly filthy-tasting water (I learnt afterwards that the water from the kalian is commonly used in Persia as an emetic) ; having, with some difficulty, got rid of this, I com- menced to smoke, and to do as I had seen our host do, eject huge clouds from my nostrils. But I perceived that the other kalians were gone; I asked the Colonel if there were any etiquette as to sending the pipe away. He said " Oh, no ; our host is an old friend. Smoke as long as it gives you pleasure." The consul asked me how I liked the Persian pipe. I eagerly replied that I had never smoked anything so mild and so delicious. He was delighted, but seemed surprised at my calling it mild. The old gentleman spoke French, and said, " Du tout tres-fort." 16 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. And so I found it, for I began to feel giddy. It appears that the tobacco used was particularly choice and strong, and that, as a rule, of such tobacco only a few whiffs are ever taken. I could smoke no more, and collapsed, for the next five minutes having the awful sensations of the youth who smokes his first " real foreigner." But this feeling passed away as quickly as it came, and I was soon myself. Another pipe was brought, and then tea, a la Eusse, with lemon. Tea a la Persane consists of a very small cup, holding some two ounces ; in this lump-sugar is placed, in big lumps, and if much honour is wished to be shown to the guest, when the cup is full the sugar should project from the centre of the liquid in an island ! The tea used is generally scented Pekoe among the rich, and made very weak. It is also always washed before it is allowed to draw. Persians do not like strong tea. In after years, in Persia, I was somewhat intrigued to make out why my sweeper objected to sweep his carpets with tea- leaves, and it was only on pressure that I extracted the fact that " the servants always dried my strong black tea-leaves and sold them as tea in the bazaar." After some chat in Persian, which Colonel G - spoke in a masterly manner, the Colonel asked for " the pipe of de- parture," which, it appears, is the best way of going, as it is considered polite to ask permission to depart, and not to get up and go. Our host was a largely-built, well set-up man, dressed in ai pair of uniform trousers, stockings (he had removed his shoes on entering the room), and a thick black frock-coat, such as the Turks wear, lined with fur ; he did not show any linen. His hair and beard were jetty black, as was his heavy moustache. He wore a black Astrachan hat, which he did not remove, and a sword. He insisted on coming to the door with us, .and shook hands in the most cordial manner. As we were on the road home the Colonel asked me if I could give a guess as to our friend's age. I said, confidently, " From forty to forty-five." "He is probably eighty certainly over seventy. The black hair which you see is the result of dye. The whole of the upper classes, and all townsmen, military or government employes, dye their hair ; it is done usually once or twice a DYED HAIR TIFLIS OPERA. 17 reek, and the substances used are, first henna, then indigo, 'hey are allowed to remain on many hours ; the result is the ne black dye you see. The villagers, as a rule, use only the lenna, which gives a deep purply-black to black hair, and a i^ht red to white." I was also told that when in deep mourning a Persian ceases o dye at all (and, alas ! at first he also ceases to wash) ; the esult is comical in the extreme, for one sees men with beards f some foot or more in length half red or rusty black, and the est quite white. When ill, too, he does not dye. Afterwards I could always by this means make a pretty tirewd guess, even before asking the question, as to how long patient had been on the sick-list, by the length of the ndyed part of his beard. The next evening we went to the opera, and saw ' Don Gio- anni ;' the acting and singing was fairly good, but the audito- ium, though it was not by any means a gala night, was brilliant n the extreme. Circassian officers, in their long coats of white, ale blue, black, &c., their breasts covered with the ornamental ttle silver boxes of niello-work that contain, or are supposed o contain, the charges for their picturesque weapons ; their ong straight swords, silver or silver-gilt ; and the belts, that ld delight South Kensington people, covered with bosses f this same niello-work ; their boots, reaching in some cases o the knee, fitting like gloves at the foot, and so wrinkly own the shin as to certainly drive a West End coachman nad with jealousy. Then the hats cylinders of shaggy deepskins white, gray, black, surmounted by a bit of inner ap of blue, red, scarlet, or white, elaborately embroidered in old. And good-looking men, too ; no little fellows all big trapping men, who looked as if they could ride and fight, as fell as come to the Tiflis Opera. Nearly all were decorated ; ome had many medals and orders. This decoration is over- one in the Kussian Army. With the ladies I was disappointed the Georgians and mmeritians were in the large majority. They were heavy- owled females, who seemed to wear a profusion of rich clothes ; ley had a sort of crown of velvet and gold lace, over which ung down at the back an embroidered kerchief and hideous jwelry. They never smiled still the brilliant officers hung ver their chairs ; and perhaps they may have been very o 18 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. charming. They all had big eyes and a quantity of coarse hair. One or two blonde Russian ladies were present, and they were much dressed. The little theatre was peculiarly decorated in a semi-oriental style, and the coup d'oeil was really very striking. The portion of the opera which seemed to give the greatest satis- faction was the introduced ballet, which I understand was composed of Tiflis girls; they did not dance well, but were remarkably handsome, and much applauded. This theatre has been since burnt down, and a larger one erected. As Colonel G was compelled to remain here eight days I was able to go again to the Opera, and I saw * Masaniello ' very fairly done. I went all over the town looking out for a souvenir, but there was nothing but silver work, which was dear, and beyond my means at that time. We had here our first taste of the celebrated Kakheiti wine. There are two sorts, white and red the latter is the best ; it is a strong, coarse, rough wine, and has a very leathery taste. As it is kept in skins, and not casks, this is not to be wondered at. It contains a great deal of tannin, and our landlord told me if kept in casks it turned black, probably from this excess of tannin (or perhaps bad casks). It cost at the hotel a rouble a bottle. One thing that strikes one in Eussia is the peculiarly good bread. I have now been in Eussia five times, and I never ha\e tasted anywhere bread so white or so delicious. Often have I made a breakfast of it, and sent my cutlet untasted away. We laid in a good supply ; and, with some Kakheiti wine, some stout, cold fowls, and tea, we left Tiflis, knowing we should get nothing till we got to Tabriz. The tarantass had been thoroughly overhauled ; and, in a heavy drizzle, off we went, well provisioned by Arsene Barberon. After four days' severe travelling we reached Erivan. Snow had fallen heavily, and rendered some of the defiles of the Caucasus almost impassable, in particular one called Delijan at the head of Lake Jeukjar. There we were obliged to have seven horses to the tarantass to pull and some men to push in which we assisted. We had a precipice going sheer dowi on one side and snow twelve feet deep on the other. Ou L] ERIVAN SAVAGE KUSSIA. 19 difficulties were increased by meeting three hundred camels laden with huge unpressed bags of Erivan (or Persian ?) cotton, in a place where there was hardly room to pass, and it was im- possible for either party to turn back. Our Cossacks, however we had two of these gentry by whipping the drivers, made them go on the outer or dangerous side, while we remained sta- tionary until the camels had passed ; then, amid much shouting and swearing, we did the Pass. At four stages from Tiflis we had our luggage put on camels to be brought on to Erivan, and went on ourselves in the tarantass, with never less than five horses. The most slashing races take place on the road, as he who succeeds in presenting his padoroschna (or permit to take post-horses) first, takes as many horses as he needs ; and if the roads are bad often takes all, as he wishes to be well ahead of rival travellers. In Erivan we are in savage Kussia the people are the ugliest and dirtiest we have yet come across. At the so-called hotel they gave us two wooden bunks with mattresses a great luxury after the post-houses without. Our servant, a ferocious Persian lent us by the consul at Tiflis, named Mahommed Ali, having ordered water for washing, the waiter, if the greasy ruffian could be dignified with that title, asked if it would not do in the morning. On being sworn at in Turkish and Eussian by Mahommed Ali, and afterwards beaten in the passage, water in one brass jug and one basin was brought, and the Eussian stood by to pour it over our hands this is the cleanly mode of perform- ing one's ablutions here. The fellow then brought a dirty towel, on which Mahommed Ali again remonstrated with him in the passage in a forcible manner; in this sort of thing Mahommed Ali is very useful. On leaving Erivan, which was covered with snow, we reached in a day and night Nakchewan ; round this place I saw cotton bushes of course they were bare. Here we rested a night. Going on next morning, we came to Julfa, the frontier village of a few hovels. Crossing the river Araxes, a shallow stream, we put up in the windowless telegraph office. As we saw nothing but snow since we left Tiflis, there has been little to describe in the way of scenery ; as may be fancied, the cold was intense. We are now in Persia. c 2 CHAPTEE II. POST JOURNEY TO THE CAPITAL. Preparations for the start Costume Chaff bed First fall Extra luggage The whip Stages and their length Appearance of the country, and climate First stage Turk guides Welcome rest Weighing firewood Meana bug Turcomanchai Distances New friends Palace of Kerrij. AT Julfa, on the Araxes a muddy stream, when we were there easily fordable is the Persian frontier, and here our horse-journey was to begin. The tarantass was sold a bargain to the postmaster. A change of clothes and boots and a few flannel shirts were stuffed in the " koorjins," or saddle-bags, made of rough carpet ; boots were greased and put on, so were spurs; and I, in my innocence, at the instigation of the saddler, who I suppose wished to get rid of them, had provided myself with a pair of huge long brass ones, such as were worn by the barons of melodrama, and palmed off on me as real Mexican persuaders adapted for long journeys these awful things the Colonel suggested I should do without, but I did not like to be shorn of any of my splendour, and I wore them. At first I spurred myself considerably when walking, but I got over this, and no doubt they added to the picturesqueness of my get-up. Fur-cap, " horsey " box-cloth pilot-jacket, with huge horn buttons, cords and boots, also a huge courier's whip and fur gloves, made, to my youthful mind, a striking picture, and I greatly appreciated myself. At Tiflis we had provided ourselves with bags, some seven feet long and four feet wide these bags were to be filled with chaff, of which there is an abundance, at each station. It is called " cah," and is the ordinary horse-feed, some of it being always in the manger ; at this the Persian horse persistently munches ; when he has had a bellyful of it he gets his morn- CHAP. II.] PERSIAN POSTING FIRST FALL. 21 ing or evening leed never before. This rather primitive mattress is soft, cool in summer, warm in winter, free from insects, and there is no bed to carry. We each carried a small washing-basin of brass ; we had also a teapot and two tin plates. I had a wonderful expanding cup which I used to fill with wine, but; before I had time to drink, it generally collapsed, so I soon flung it away. We carried a few packets of candles ; and, having our chaff-bags filled, we retired early, to begin on the morrow our first day's posting. To my companion, an old traveller, this was nothing, but I looked forward to it with mixed feelings of delight and awe. Apparently in the dead of night really at dawn I saw the Colonel dressed and busy ; I hurried on my clothes, bundled my few odds and ends into my saddle-bags, rolled up my rugs into a cylinder, with the waterproof one outside, swallowed as many cups of hot tea as I could hold (it was terribly cold), reluctantly put my long brass spurs away the Colonel told me I should only find them in my way and dragged my various impedimenta into the yard. The fact was that, with our heavy baggage, which quite loaded one of the horses, which was to be led, we were unable to take more than one servant. To be without one when posting in Persia is extremely inconvenient. Of course, if speed is a great object, a man gets along much faster without a servant, but then he has to do everything for himself, and to know how to do it. After some three-quarters of an hour we managed to get the baggage-horse loaded with two portmanteaux, and our own beasts saddled ; the koorjins, or saddle-bags, put on across the loins of the horses, and firmly secured by a strap passing from the bottom of each bag to the girths. This is most important to prevent the shaking up together of everything the saddle- bags may contain. My " Dayrell " bridle was fitted with a common watering bit, and as the horses of Persia are accustomed to a very severe native machine, my melancholy animal, as soon as he had been lashed into a canter, bolted, and was only brought to a stop by his coming down on his nose, which he did after some quarter of a mile. Of course, with such a bit, it was quite impossible to pull him up. As usual, though we fell with a crash, no one 22 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. was hurt. I struggled to my feet, but the pony lay quite still, as if injured, till the " shargird chupper," or horse-boy, on his arrival, by a few vigorous kicks caused him to get up and shake himself. The Colonel now advised me to take the native bridle used by the shargird, and with this, of course, I could easily command my pony. Several times we had to stop to arrange the load of the pack- horse, and also to alter the contents of our saddle-bags. These should be so packed as to be of nearly exactly equal weight, as when they are not so they gradually slip round, and one's horse stops; when one finds one bag under his belly, the other on his crupper. The ordinary chuppering kit of saddle, rugs, and bags is well suited for this kind of travelling, but we had besides a led horse, a tin cocked-hat case, a leather hat-box, and a sword and umbrella of the Colonel's. Our shargird, after many attempts to manage differently, fixed the tin cocked-hat case to his saddle, en croupe, tied the leather hat-box on as a knapsack behind his shoulders, and carried the sword under the surcingle of his saddle. We kept on at a smart canter, only stopping to fix or shift the loads of the various animals. As soon as we were a mile or two from the station the shargird ceased to lead the baggage- horse ; he had been compelled to do so till then, as he would have turned back. The cantering through the cold air was exhilarating; and now I had time to look at the country Persia at last ! which I was to inhabit for three years certain. I found that the road, if such it could be called, simply consisted of a number of tracks across country, which ran along irregularly side by side, formed by the wear of strings of mules and camels ; there was no road in our sense of the term ; in fact, the judicious thing seemed to be to go as straight ahead as one could, avoiding bad bits by a curve, and keeping to the most worn portion of the track, unless it was deep in mud or water. The ponies did not require much urging, and I found it expedient to keep my big chupper whip quiet, till I had learnt how to use it with ease and effect. This whip is provided with a short stick of hard and heavy wood, covered with leather, and having a big loop of the same, that it may hang at the wrist when not in use. THE WHIP LENGTH OF STAGES. 23 The lash is a round one of four thongs of Hamadan leather plaited, and is from four to seven feet long ; when the latter, it is reduced in actual length to about three and a-half feet by plaiting the lash from the stick downwards for about two feet ; it ends in a knot, and beyond this are two flat pieces of leather some six inches long, which the expert keeps flicking under the horse's nose ; thus, without hurting him or tiring them- selves, letting him be aware of the punishment in store for the lazy being at hand. The stages are from three to eight farsakhs in length, a farsakh being in the rough three and a-half miles ; they vary in different parts of the country, and are speciaily long between Teheran and Hamadan, some of the seven-farsakh stages being, in the opinion of those who have been often over them, thirty miles and more. The average stage is, however, five farsakhs, and from one large city to another, as Tabriz to Teheran, Teheran to Ispahan, or Ispahan to Shiraz, this reckoning holds good. As a rule, a very short stage h&s a very bad road, a very long one a good one ; but this is not invariable. The first and last stage of a long journey, too, is as a rule a very short one, as Persians like, in marching, to have the first stage a short one, that omissions may be replaced before definitely starting, and the caravan got together well outside the town. The last stage being a short one enables friends to receive them, makes it easier to put on good clothes and to brush up after the journey in fact, to arrive in a presentable condition. All around us were earth-hills, with quantities of loose stones on them ; here and there patches of snow ; in the distance, in every direction, we were surrounded by snow- covered mountains ; but the sky was blue and cloudless, the air was pure and dry. As it got warmer and warmer we felt a sense of freedom, and that a change for the better had been made from the noisy and stifling tarantass. Our guide now began to shout " Yawash ! " (gently), and " Nuffus ! nuffus ! " (breath), and the Colonel intimated to me that we must walk our animals to give them their second wind. This we did, and we jogged along easily till within some six miles of the post-house. Then the guide rushed to the front, the ponies did their best, and it appeared the correct thing to get them along as fast as possible. The fact was that 24 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. we had very good horses, so that as we cantered up to the post-house, having done our stage of six farsakhs (twenty-one miles) in three hours, we felt that the Colonel, being burdened ; with a greenhorn and a lot of extra luggage, had not done badly. And now I thought that I had fairly earned a rest and something to eat. I was hungry and rather tired, for, being determined to get no cropper, unless my beast came down as well, I had used my knees too much. Your experienced chupper merely rides by balance, to avoid tiring himself. What, then, was my disgust at seeing the Colonel order out more horses at once, and to see him set to to help with the saddling. I groaned in the spirit, and did the same ; though it was with some doubt that I agreed to the proposition that " it was very lucky we got horses, and could get on at once." The Colonel explained to me that, in travelling " chupper " (or post), it was incumbent on the traveller never to stop during the day, at least when he could get horses. This is doubtless a safe rule, but a corollary should be added that, unless the country is very safe indeed, it is as well, unless very urgent, not to go on after sunset. To a neglect of this latter rule I must put down my falling into the hands of robbers during the famine. I now found out what it was to get a really rough and bad horse ; this beast's only pace was a hard trot, and the amount of shaking was tremendous. The road was much as before, and the going was fairly good. On reaching the next stage I was heartily glad to find there were no horses, which gave us time to get some tea, and a breakfast of hard eggs and harder biscuits. It was two ere we could make a start, and I did not forget to change my steed, and profited considerably ; but the shaking had been severe, and I felt very stiff and tired. I was, however, ashamed to say so, and I chimed in with my companion in his praises of the delights of posting, and the glorious freedom of travel in the East. Though the Colonel was a good Persian scholar, he could not make much of the guides and post-house keepers, who are all Turks ; and very few of them speak Persian, Turkish being the language of the country. It is not till some four stages past Tabriz that Persian is the dialect of the peasant. The reigning family, too, affect to think and speak in Turkish with their relatives and families ; but it is not the II.] WELCOME HALT ROUGHING IT. 25 Turkish of Constantinople, but the rougher speech of Tabriz, the cause being probably that at some period of their early life they have resided at Tabriz, where nothing else but Turkish is spoken ; of course, it is also their ancestral tongue. We got safely to our third post-house, at half-past three, got fresh horses, and started. The warmth of the last two stages had ceased, and patches of snow were getting more frequent ; but I felt, though sorely against the grain, that as long as the Colonel would go on I ought not to object, under penalty of being thought a muff. Our steeds were bad ; we couldn't get more than a walk out of them, and we were six hours doing the stage, which we reached chilled to the bone. I was indeed delighted to hear from the Colonel that " it was hardly worth while pushing on ! ' ' and as I scrambled into the bare and blackened room which the postmaster allotted to us, and busied myself in getting a light, I was grateful that even the Colonel's ideas of duty were satisfied. Of course, after- wards, such a day's posting came to be looked on as a joke ; but sixty-eight miles, over bad roads, to a man not accustomed to the saddle is a serious matter. Our first care was to get the postmaster, a poor ragged fellow, to light a fire of brushwood ; a fierce blaze that thoroughly warmed the room, and at the same time filled the place with smoke, was the result. Then he bethought him that the chimney was stopped up with a brick ; the brick was removed, and more brushwood put on. Then he gave us a carpet on loan, brought some firewood and the scales to weigh it ; the weights were big stones, the scales two baskets slung on a stick. There were recesses some yard from the ground all round the room, which was some eight feet by twelve. The floor was earth, the walls mud, the roof big poles with branches of trees laid across them. In the recesses we stuck three candles. The walls and roof were polished black from the smoke of many fires. In the part of the room near the door were flung our saddles and luggage. No furniture of any kind ; we got the bullock-trunk forward to use as a table. The shargird chupper brought our chaff-bags filled, and laid one on either side of the fireplace as a mattress ; we laid our rugs, and put our saddle-bags for pillows. We made a big fire, borrowed a kettle, got some strong tea under weigh, 26 IN THE LAND OF THE LIO^ AND SUN. [CHAP. enjoyed a dinner of cold fowl and biscuit ; barricaded our door, which seemed merely three planks nailed together, and lay down to sleep like tops. The naib, or postmaster, replaced the brick, and the ashes of our fire were alight in the morning. I never enjoyed a night's rest so much. But at 5 A.M. there was the Colonel with the tea under weigh, and adjuring me to rise. Up I got, gobbled down some hot tea, and we started in the snow at six, for it had come down heavily in the night. Ah, it was cold ! and hardly light, the horses trying to turn back as we followed at a snail's pace the shargird, who seemed not to know much of the road. In a few minutes I was sitting on alternate hands in a vain attempt to keep them warm. We had fortunately taken the precaution to put on big Turkish wool socks over our boots, and this kept our feet from freezing, for the cold stirrup-iron soon, in such weather, extracts any warmth from the feet. At last the light came, and we could see the village and post-house, some half-mile off, after an hour's wandering ; but we were on the road, which was something. And now that we could see to go, and the shargird was sure of the way, off we went at the usual pace, a smart gallop. Nine o'clock brought us to the next stage five farsakhs. We reached Meana, at which there is a fine new post-house, at about five, but we had arranged that, unless we were compelled to sleep at this place, we would . avoid it, as the celebrated so-called lug of Meana is found here. During the whole time I have resided in Persia I never could find any one who had suffered any ill effects from the bite of the " Meana bug " at all in proportion to the horrors narrated ; and I must look on the description given by travellers as apocryphal : Eastwick dilates on it. The kenneh, or camel- tic, certainly causes a particularly irritating wound, which will be found fully described further on. But the "Meana bug," I am inclined to think, is nothing more than an ordinary camel- or perhaps sheep-tic, and by no means dangerous to life (pace Eastwick). But we both at that time were inclined to believe that there was something in the terrible accounts given of the insect, and so we avoided Meana. As it was we made a very great mistake; Meana, having at that time a brand new post-house, was quite safe ; but as we pushed on ML] "MEANA BUG" TEHERAN. 27 arkness caught us, and we did not arrive till nearly ten at ight at Turkomanchai. Here was an old caravanserai only put up in ; the post-house was in ruins. And on the Colonel ing the postmaster if he had many insects he shrugged his oulders in a significant manner. We found a French merchant, with a big box of valuables, the blackened cell of the doorway appropriated to posting vellers. He was marching, but had taken the room as the ly water- and wind- tight one, and he welcomed us to a share it and his big fire. It was very cold outside, and we were lad to get to the grateful warmth and partake of a cup of tea. ut we had not been in the place half an hour when we und that it was literally alive. We couldn't go on, and there no other place to go to. I throw a veil over our sufferings. How we regretted the lean new post-house at Meana, and how glad we were to leave urcomanchai * at the earliest break of dawn ! The insects, owever, were merely fleas, B flats, and those nameless to ears lite. There was little or no snow on the road as we started, but it sufficiently cold; the roads were hard, good, but full of .oose stones. Such was the journey each day a repetition of that before t, varied only in weather. February 12, after going 480 miles chupper, we were met bout twenty miles from Teheran by Major S , the director f the Persian telegraph department, Mr. B , my medical hief, and Messrs. T - and M , secretaries of the English egation, all friends of Colonel Gr 's. They escorted us to a place called Kerrij, a palace of the hah's, gave us a sumptuous dinner, and we lay down to sleep n huge rooms gay with paint, gilding, and coloured glass. A ighty brew of egg-flip prevented a wakeful night; and the ext morning we rode over a muddy plain to Colonel S 's ouse in Teheran, which was to be my home till I started for down country." * Turcomanchai was the place where the treaty between Persia and Russia was signed, February 22, 1828. Erivan and Nakchewan were ceded to Russia, and two millions agreed to be paid to her. CHAPTER III. TEHEEAN. Teheran The Director's house Persian visits Etiquette Pipes, detai of Tumbaku Ceremony Anecdote The voice of the sluggard Persia medicine explained My prospects as a medico Zoological Gardens. TEHEEAN struck me as a poor place, particularly from thl outside of the town ; the streets were narrow, and the hous seemed mostly of plastered mud, or of mud alone. And whe we reached Colonel S 's house, on the outside the prospec was not inviting, but no sooner were we inside than every thin was comfortable : good doors, good windows, carpets of gres; beauty, chairs only try to do without these for a few day; and then, and then only, does one appreciate their comfort- big settees and divans, and a host of smart and attentiv servants. Tea and pipes at once ; a warm bath, much neede( in prospect, and, above all, the freedom from the morning call to boot-and-saddle at an unearthly hour. No sooner was breakfast over than messages were for eve arriving for my chief as to what time he would receive thi grandee or that friend ; and shortly the ceremonious visit commenced. I was, of course, only too glad to see what Persian visit was like. To be a successful entertainer in Persia it is imperative t be a master in the art of compliment, as the conversatio: itself is generally trivial ; but the exact amount of complimen must be meted out with a careful hand, according to th visitor's rank. By no means should the thing be overdone, a an excess of good treatment, over and above what the caller i entitled to, merely lowers the recipient of the visit in th guest's estimation. Of course I did not at once appreciate the differences of th JAP. III.] ETIQUETTE WATER-PIPES. 29 tonation in the " Bismillah ! " or invitation to be seated, but saw that great differences were made in the position of the lest, in the duration of his visit, and whether he were pressed stop or not, and in the rising and advancing to receive him, the refraining from so doing. 'I soon found out that in addressing a great man, or at mes an equal, the third person plural was frequently used ; lile the expression " bander " (literally, the slave), really your servant/* in lieu of the first person singular, touched on riptural form. "Shuma" (you), the second person plural, as, of course, frequent, but in the case of a grandee some refix was used, as " sircar-i-shuma " (your excellency), &c. ; tese prefixes it was necessary to use correctly, giving each an his due, or, if you wished to please him, a little more than s due. To give a man a good deal more than Ms due was nderstood to be sarcasm. The second person singular is only used to inferiors, ser- ants or children, or in anger. As a rule the lower-class ersian always uses to the European the second person sin- ular, if he thinks he can do it with impunity ; and it has to e resented, and the transgressor put in his place at once, or 1 respect is gone. Of course the offender feigns ignorance. Each visitor was regaled with some three little cups of tea and le same number of water-pipes ; some of the more advanced mong the guests affected cigarettes, as did Colonel S nd most Europeans. A few whiffs would be taken from the ater-pipes, and they would be removed or passed on, at the ill of their masters, for I noticed that, as a rule, the greater ersonages brought their own pipes.* * The form of these was very various, though, the principle of action was ways the same : the smoke was conducted to the bottom of a pint or more water and then sucked up in bubbles through it, a gurgling noise being reduced. Some used the long " snake " or nehpeech, a spiral of copper wire rvered with coloured leather, and forming a flexible air-tight tube some four ards long ; this was the more old-fashioned way, and required good lungs. servant held the pipe itself at the side of the master's chair. Others affected le wooden stern with the pipe ; this as a rule is held by the smoker himself, ad no great effort is required in smoking, as the tube is only eighteen inches >ng and air-tight, which the " nehpeech " or " snake " seldom is, save when uite new. The portion between the pipe-head and the water-holder is as a rule always le same : a wooden tube some fourteen inches or more long, with numerous 30 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CnAi The tobacco smoked in the kalian is called " tumbaku," ii distinction to " tootoon," or that smoked in pipes or cigarettes it is sold in the leaf, which is packed dry in layers, and i preserved in bags sewn up in raw hide ; it improves by ag< and is quite unsmokable the first year. The best comes fror Jarum, south of Shiraz. When a visitor is offered a pipe, and there is not a secon one to hand, it is at once taken to him by the host's servan' He then deprecatingly suggests that his host should smok first ; this is declined by a sweeping gesture. He now offei indentations, turned in a lathe, and coming to a point, so that any pipe-hea will fit it ; from the end of this an inner tube goes to within an inch of t\ bottom of the water. Sometimes this tube is made of ebony, at other tim< covered with silver, and rarely with gold. In its side at the bottom is tl hole for the snake-like tube, or the stick. The water-reservoir is usually of glass, either plain crystal, or cut Bohemian the shape of these glasses is that of a wide-mouthed, long-necked decanter, an the neck serves as the place by which the whole contrivance is held. I summer a porous clay bottle is generally used as cooler by all classes, rich < poor. Another kind of reservoir called a narghil (narghil, a cocoa-nut) is mad having its shape like a cocoa-nut, with a spike or small knob at the shai end ; this rests on the ground, and is meant for travelling. It is made < brass, silver, or gold, and often in the two latter cases enamelled ; tl " meana," or middle tube, to this kind of pipe is often two and a-half fe< long, and the stem two. Yet another form of kalian exists for travelling, and that is a copy of tl glass reservoir, of a rather squat shape, in buffalo or rhinoceros hide ; this often, indeed usually, covered with enamelled plates of gold and silver, ofte encrusted with gems, and is only in use among the very rich. As the great personages of Persia are constantly travelling, these moi elaborate forms of pipe are frequent ; and, as a man's pipe often gives an id* of his social position, money is very freely lavished on them. The moutl piece is simply either wooden, or else the end is shod with silver. The hea consists of, among the poor, a clay reservoir for the tobacco. These cost farthing. But most Persians, though only of the lower middle class, mana<; to have a silver pipe-head ; this consists of three pieces, the handle or chc (wood), a carved and turned piece of wood pierced with a conical hole whic fits the meana (or stem) this may be represented by the lower two- thin of an old-fashioned wine-glass, with a small foot ; the fire-holder, which is gold, silver, or stone, is fitted to this, and represents the upper third of tl wine-glass ; and on this all the ingenuity of the Persians is lavished in tl matter of ornament. From its under edge hang four or six little silver or go] chains four inches long, terminated by flattened balls. Lastly, the wind-guard, which prevents the fire from falling or being blow up into an excessive state of incandescence, is usually made of silver, and is a III.] TOBACCO COMPLIMENT. 31 it to the other guests, if any, and, on receiving a negative gesture, commences to inhale. Should, however, the host be much superior in position, the visitor will either refuse to smoke first, or, if he has the bad taste to do so, the host does not smoke at all, but sends the pipe away. When there are many visitors and only one pipe, the greatest one smokes first, then the rest smoke in order of rank, previously paying the compliment of suggesting that some one else should precede them. These little punctilios are endless. Priests or holy men do not, as a rule, like to smoke the pipe of the European, or to smoke even out of the same pipe. Of inverted cone of the same size as the fire-holder, fitted to it with accuracy, and provided with two holes to give the requisite amount of draught ; at the side two pairs of chains depend from the upper edge of this, and are made to reach as far as do the lower set. The fire-holder is lined with a mixture of clay and plaster of Paris, on which is placed the tobacco, freshly moistened and rubbed into coarse frag- ments (though connoisseurs prefer a more elaborate preparation) about three- quarters of an ounce is required ; it is flattened and smoothed, the surplus water being squeezed away. Upon it are placed morsels of live charcoal, which are blown into a fierce flame, and the excess of water in the reservoir or bottle being driven out by blowing from the bottle, which is always nearly filled. A few draws are taken by the pipe-boy to see that all goes well, and to get rid of the taste of fresh charcoal, and get the tobacco well alight, and it is then handed to the smoker as under weigh. On the fire-holder, however perhaps because it is opposite the eye and so most conspicuous are seen the highest efforts of Persian art. It is, whenever it can be afforded, of purest gold, though often thin; some rare exceptions are unornamented ; more ordinarily it is chased or covered with high repousse work, or elaborately engraved. Or it may be so encrusted with turquoises till little, if any, of the original metal shows ; or it may be ornamented with elaborate enamels of birds and flowers, or of fruit ; and a favourite pattern is vine-leaves of transparent enamel let into the deeply-cut metal, and the bunches of grapes of varied colours. More often three or four ovals, some two inches long, are filled by portraits of a girl or boy of course fancy ones and the spaces between them filled with flowers and birds. These enamels are very beautiful, very costly, and very brittle ; ten pounds being a common price paid to an enameller to decorate a gold head, while as much as one hundred tomans, or forty pounds, are given by great and rich amateurs. Of the kalians, the heads and reservoirs of which are thickly encrusted with gems, I do not speak at present ; I had few opportunities at that time of seeing such, and, as a rule, they are only possessed by the Shah, his sons and uncles. I trust the reader will bear with this long but needful detail as to pipes. 32 IN THE LAND OF THE LI01^ AND SUN. [CHAP. course the only plan to be then adopted is to feign a disincli- nation to smoke at all. As a rule, Persians (the Frenchmen of the East) are usually so polite as to prevent any sign of this disinclination to be apparent, and will bring their own pipes, or smoke those of friends, and so get over any hitch. But at times bigoted men will try to be offensive. I well remember a case in point. A priest of Hamadan, high in office, had occasion to call on our superintendent, Captain Pierson, R.E. Pierson, with whom I lived at the time, sought to provide against any possible unpleasantness by purchasing a pipe with a clay bottle and head (it was summer time, and such pipes are liked then), and told his servant that if the priest didn't provide his own smoke, this particular pipe was to be brought to him, with a hint in a whisper to the guest that it was an entirely new one. As he had expected, so it turned out ; the holy man came without his pipe, and on the usual procession of pipebearers entering, he roughly informed Pierson that he did not smoke after Europeans. Pierson drew his attention to the fact that a new pipe had been specially provided. He took it, smoked it, and then had the gross impertinence to hand it to Pierson; the latter politely declined, but the priest was not content, and drew from Pierson the following : " Just as it would be painful to you to smoke after a Euro- pean, so it would pain me to do so after a Mussulman. I provided against your having to do without your pipe, and respected your prejudices ; as you are my guest, politeness prevents my expressing what I think of your conduct. You can break that pipe to pieces and burn the stick " this to his servant " I do not care to smoke it." The priest turned pale, sat silent for a minute, and then said in apology " Yes, yes, you say truly, I have eaten dirt." Strange to say, we were very friendly with him afterwards. The pipe affected by the lower classes is the short chi- bouque, this nearly every North Persian of the lower class carries at his back in his girdle or in his pocket ; there is a small clay, brass or iron head, and a straight stem of cherry- wood, six inches to a foot long, with a bore some half-inch in diameter through it ; there is no mouth-piece, and it is held to the lips, and not in the teeth. The tobacco smoked is usually [II.] CHIBOUQUES EARLY WAKING. Ill} -Nimsoon, a common kind of coarse Turkish; or Koordi, a mild tobacco, nearly white in colour, but with a pungent flavour; there are many other varieties. This Koordi looks like coarse pawdust, and is quite dry, and is simply the leaf-stalk and stem >f the plant coarsely pounded ; to look at it, no one would suppose on a first inspection that it was tobacco at all : the >est comes from Kermanshah. A third kind of pipe is used by the Arabs of the Gulf and nany South Persians ; it consists simply of a tube of clay, an nch in diameter, bent at a right or acute angle, and con- tricted at the middle ; from end to end it measures four to ven inches ; one side is crammed with tobacco, " Tootoon i Koordi ; " a coal is placed on it, and it is passed from hand to and till the contents are burnt out. It is a very primitive pipe. Enough of pipes. By five all the visitors had gone; we ined at seven, and I retired to sleep in a comfortable bed. At about five * next morning I am roused by " Chai, sahib " (tea, sir) ; and a lordly individual, with huge nustachios, a black lambskin cap, a brown cloth inner coat, a lue cloth outer coat, a broad belt, and a long " kummer " (or traight broad-bladed sword), dark-blue "shulwar" (what an American calls pants, and an outfitter pyjamas), and his stock- nged feet his shoes were outside my door places a cup of ea, some twice-baked sweet biscuit, of delicious crispness, and ome marmalade, at my side, and departs. He soon returns dth a second cup of tea and a kalian. As I am a griffin, he draws my attention to the latter being " Welly good thing, kalian." He then goes through a pantomime suggesting sleep, talk- ng all the time to me in Persian. I take his advice. At eight he wakes me, and I find he has a warm tub ready or me. I dress once again in the clothes of ordinary life, nd go down, to find no one about, for Major S has gone o the office, and taken the Colonel with him. However, my especial chief, Mr. B , soon appears, accom- >anied by his big black dog " Topsy," who comes into all the ooms and sits on all the settees : there is a fine sense of liberty n this. Mr. B warns me that I must not hope to make liny thing by practice that he never did, and I never shall; put that there is a fine field for gratuitous work. * As a rule, in Persia every one is up by six A.M. 1) 34 IN THE LAND OF THE LION* AND SUN. [CHAP. He then explains to me the Persian system of medicine. It has its advantages in its delightful simplicity. All diseases are cold or hot. All remedies are hot or cold. A hot disease requires a cold remedy, and vice-versa. Now, if the Persian doctor is called in, and has any doubt as to the nature of the disorder, he prescribes a hot remedy, let us say ; if the patient gets better, he was right ; if worse, then he prescribes a cold remedy, and sticks to it. He thus gets over all need for diagnosis, all physiological treatment, and he cannot, according to his own lights, be wrong. His prescriptions contain a multitude of mostly obsolete and inert drugs, ten being a small number of ingredients, twenty an ordinary one. Before he is summoned, an omen is taken by the patient and his friends as to who shall be called in ; when he has seen his patient, another is taken as to whether his advice shall be followed or not. His fee is a few pence, or more generally he undertakes the case on speculation; so much of which he is lucky if he gets half if the patient gets well ; nothing if he doesn't. Most of the relatives, friends, and neighbours prescribe various homely, or at times, powerful remedies, which are all as a rule tried. Quiet by the sick-bed is unknown ; in fact, the patient useci to fuss and noise would be depressed by it. And remedies and contrivances of a barbarous nature, such as putting a patient in fresh horse-dung, sewing him up in a raw hide, are the rule rather than the exception. Usually the European doctor is distrusted, only called in when the patient is breathing his last, or by the very rich or very poor. Mr. B - gave me one very good piece of advice. " You will go to Hamadan with the Persians novelty is everything. Strike while the iron is hot, and before the novelty is worn off, and you well, you will get lots of experience." I was astonished and incredulous it was all true.* We visited the telegraph-office, and looked round the Colonel's garden, returning to breakfast at eleven, and we sat down to a substantial dejeuner a la fourchette, with country wines, and tea for those who preferred it. It was followed by the inevitable kalian and coffee. * Those who feel curious on the subject of modern Persian medicine, I must refer to my article on the subject in the British Medical Journal. III.] PERSIAN MEDICINE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 35 I wanted much to see the Zoological Gardens, but we were told that the Shah had turned the beasts loose. We, however, decided to go, and we found it so they were all loose. The leopanther, a cross between the lion and panther, a lovely animal like an immense cat, very tame, allowing one to pat him ; two lions, a bear, two tigers (young ones), walking about with the antelopes and wild sheep. I must say the presence of the tigers was not quite pleasant. There is a pretty building a sort of summer pavilion here, belonging to the king, well worth seeing. A curious incident occurred as Major S , Mr. M , Mr. B , and I were walking home from these Zoological Gardens ; we were crossing a bit of desert plain behind the gardens towards the Major's house. On a sudden we saw come from under the corner of the garden wall at a shambling trot a big tawny animal ; to discover that it was a lioness was instantaneous, and it was coming our way. B , with whom discretion was the better part of valour, did not hesitate ; like the last of the Horatii, he " vowed revenge, and to pursue it fled." We kept on, but fear was in all our hearts I know it was in mine, possibly the Major was exempt but we walked very fast, looking ever and anon at the advancing lioness. There was apparently no mistaking the shambling pace of the wild beast ; as it got nearer it turned out to be a big dog. Of course when we arrived at the house we all laughed The Major's dignity and profession forbade his running, Mr. M , as a diplomat, never of course did anything in a hurry, so couldn't run, and as they were present I didn't like to run, though I itched to do it. Of course, B said he knew it was a dog, and ran to frighten us ; if so, his simulation of terror was almost lifelike. In the evening we dined at the English Mission,* where there is a billiard table my last game for some time, I fancy. * The English Legation or Embassy is always called " The Mission " in Persia, by the members of it, and the English in the country. D '2 CHAPTER IV. TEHERAN. The Gulhaek Eoad Visit to a virtuoso His story Persian New Year Persian ladies Titles The harem Its inhabitants A eunuch Lovely visions The Dervish The great festival Miscellaneous uniform At the Court of Persia The Shah The ceremony Baksheesh Rejoicings. I PASSED a fortnight in Colonel S 's house, and gradually got some sort of smattering of colloquial Persian ; but I could not see much of the place, for I had no servant of my own, and, though a horse was always at my disposal, not knowing the language, I was unable to go out alone, and was forced to content myself with rides on the "Gulhaek Eoad" with my chief, Mr. B . This " Gulhaek Eoad " was the usual ride, simply because it' was at that time the only attempt at a road on our side or, in: fact, any side of Teheran. It led past the Kasr-i-Kajar, one of the royal palaces, to Gulhaek, where the English Legation Burnrnered, and also to the other numerous villages at the foot 1 of the mountains, at each of which a foreign legation during the summer hung out its ensign ; as Zergendeh, where the Eussians lived ; Tejreesh, the French, &c. One visit we paid, to a gentleman who had been many years in the Persian service, was rather amusing. Our host was an old Frenchman who held an appointment as instructor in French and translator to the Shah, and was a Mahommedan. I do not know whether the account I heard of his mode of life was true or not. It was that he proceeded to Hamadan , every year, and invested in two wives ; as the spring came round he divorced them, and made his annual excursion, returning with two more. He was a very cheery old man, and evidently derived great comfort from a barrel-organ that stood in his room. Of his other comforts I know nothing, but I did see CHAP. IV.] A VIRTUOSO. 37 two remarkably clean pairs of ankles and two remarkably fine pairs of eyes. This was all one could make out of two closely- veiled females, who, with many giggles, constantly bustled in and out of the room on divers pretexts. The Frenchman had a large collection of valuable antiquities, which he showed us, and they were all genuine. That was seventeen years ago ; now, in a hundred specimens from Persia, be they what they will, ninety are shams. Amongst other treasures he had a fine balass ruby as big as a florin, on which was cut an intaglio of a Sassanian king, which was, I believe, afterwards purchased by Mr. Alison (then Her Majesty's Minister) for a large sum. At that time the craze for objects of oriental art had not set in, and the big tiles we saw (or bricks) of reflet metallique, with raised inscriptions, were such as one seldom sees nowa- days, save in national collections. Our host's history had doubtless been a checkered one, and I was told on good authority that he had a faithful page who waited on him, and gaily dressed as a boy-pipebearer, a favourite attendant with the wealthy of the capital attended his master wherever he went. The page was a lady in disguise, and a Mussulman ; but, alas ! this romantic episode could not be allowed to continue. Some busybody betrayed him to the priests, he and the lady were arrested, and he had the usual choice of Islam or death. Under the circumstances he chose the former, and retained, under an outward conformance to the tenets of Mussulmanism, a practical power of jollity and " keeping it up " which few of the most advanced viveurs could rival. I was afterwards led to understand that the French Minister of the day at the Court of Persia had the power, but not the will, to protect the poor fellow against the very unpleasant choice given him. Years sober us all, and I saw the gentleman long afterwards, a most grave and reverend seigneur. The Persian New Year was about to commence, and, as there is always a jubilee reception of all the foreign ambassadors by the Shah, it was decided that Colonel G - should be pre- sented at it by the minister, and I too was to have the pleasure of seeing the splendours of the Persian Court ; after which Major S , who was going to Baghdad on duty, kindly promised to allow me to accompany him as far as Hamadan, where I should enter on my active duties. 38 IN THE LAND OF THE LION^AND SUN. [CHAP. One morning my medical chief asked me if I should like to visit the anderun, or ladies' quarter, of a great Persian nobleman ? " As you are going down country you probably won't have the chance again ; and I have seen such things too often for it to be any pleasure to me." Of course I was delighted. I hurriedly put on a long-tailed coat, which is de rigueur in visiting a Persian house, our short ones being considered by them as extremely indecent. I had goloshes on over my boots, and rode off with one of B 's servants to the house of the Eyn-ul-Molk (eye of the state) ; such titles, not being hereditary ones, are usual among the statesmen and great officials of Persia. The Sword of the State," " The Pillar of the Kingdom," " The Shadow of the King," are all titles in actual use ; they are sufficiently high-sounding and poetical even to satisfy a Persian's sense of dignity. No sooner is a prince born, than the king proceeds to give him a title, which as he grows in dignity and years is often changed for a higher one ; thus, when I came to Persia, Sultan Massud Mirza, the eldest son of the king, was known as Yemeen-u-dowlet, or Sword of the State ; this some ten years afterwards, when the young man became a real power in the kingdom, was changed to Zil-es-Sultan, or Shadow of the King. On reaching the house of Eyn-ul-Molk, I was at once con- ducted to his presence, given a chair, and treated with great consideration. I removed my goloshes at the door of his apartment. An interpreter, who spoke pigeon French, in- formed me that one of the ladies was ill, and that I had better see her and prescribe. The Eyn-ul-Molk was a blear-eyed, venerable man of evidently high position, very rich and very anxious ; as the interpreter put it, the patient was trop jolie pour mourir, and my expecta- tions were considerably aroused. I was handed over to a white eunuch, who seemed to be troubled with all the ills that flesh is heir to, and who grunted and grumbled a good deal as he led me towards the part of the house set apart for the habitation of the ladies. After passing through several yards and passages, we came to a low door with a curtain. My guide entered, and raised IV.] TITLES WHITE EUNUCH THE HAREM. 39 the curtain, previously shouting " Bero ! bero ! " (be off, be off). A crowd of children and negresses scuttled off into the various rooms which surrounded a well-kept garden, with beds of flowers and playing fountains, some thirty yards by fifteen. Those who did not go out of sight drew down the big sheets of printed calico that covered their heads, turning themselves into faceless bundles, terminated in bare legs visible to the knee, with feet either bare or thrust into tiny slippers ; even the very little girls had veils, though they did not cover their faces, and were mostly pretty little round-faced things, with large eyes, and fringes of black hair cut across their foreheads. I had been told not to appear to notice anything, as that would be interpreted as a desire to look at the inhabitants of the anderun, which would be considered the height of bad breeding. So I kept my eyes discreetly fixed on the ground, feeling certain that I should find plenty of time for thorough investigation. The old eunuch took me into a room, beautifully carpeted, and bare of all furniture save one chair, on which I was directed to sit. He left me, and I noticed that the room was decorated with small mirrors let into elaborately cut plaster-of-Paris work; the walls were so covered with small facets of mirror that one could hardly see anything of the white plaster, which was arched at the ceiling, arch within arch, in the manner so fami- liar to us in the decoration of the Alhambra ; but a peculiarly chaste effect was produced, for neither colour nor gilding was used only pure white plaster and mirror. In many places there were panels, where plaster-work, cut (not moulded) in high relief, showed patterns whose effectiveness could not be denied. In fact, the result was one of chastened splendour quite new to me. The doors, which were of polished walnut- wood, were covered by curtains of bright colours of Yezd silk, some six feet by four, simply suspended in front of them. The window, which occupied one entire end of the room, was com- posed of small pieces of glass of all the colours of the rainbow, set in a wooden frame of a geometrical pattern of a very elabo- rate nature ; as the window was some fourteen feet by ten, and no piece of glass was more than two inches square in size, some idea may be formed of the enormous amount of work in such 40 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. a piece of carpentry. The wood employed in such work is plane, and it does not warp. This window was made in three compartments; each one was made to draw up when required, thus giving a full view of the garden ; all were, however, at present down, and the coloured light which entered produced a very rich effect a relief, too, from the strong sunlight outside. Bound three sides of the room were nummuds, or felt carpets, some two inches thick ; as one walked on them, it was like going over the softest turf; they were light-ochre in colour, with a pale-blue pattern inlaid. In the centre was a carpet some twenty feet by nine. I had never seen such a carpet ; it was very beautiful, but of very subdued colours, and of a rather large pattern. In each of the three walls there were three recesses or takhjahs, a yard from the ground, and in each of these was placed a glass vase of narcissus blooms ; as every vase con- tained some hundred stems, the perfume was somewhat over- powering. The eunuch now returned, seated himself on the ground at rny side, and a black woman, of hideous aspect, brought me a water-pipe. While I was smoking it, the curtain at one of the doors was lifted, and two young ladies entered, aged from sixteen to eigh- teen, though they seemed some three or four-and-twenty to me. I must acknowledge that I was unprepared for such a free display of loveliness, and it was the first time I ever saw Persian ladies in their very becoming, if slightly indelicate, home-dress. Their feet and legs were bare; their skirts were bouffes- by a number of under-skirts such as is usually seen in the ballet on our operatic stage ; but instead of these under-gar- ments being white and gauzy, they were of silk, and of all' colours. The outer skirt was of silk also in the one case pale pink, in the other pale blue with gold patterns on them, and these voluminous skirts barely reached their knees. Each lady wore a small zouave jacket of bright-coloured gold-embroidered velvet, with tight-fitting sieves, which buttoned from the elbow with a multitude of small silver buttons, but these buttons were not fastened. A gold-embroidered gauze shirt was worn under this jacket that left, I am sorry to say, nothing to the imagination ; the sleeves of it were wide and open. IV.] PERSIAN BEAUTIES OF HANK. 41 lady had tied a gold-embroidered silk kerchief, called a " chargat," over her head, fastened by a brooch at the chin ; c;ich had a fringe of hair over her forehead, and each had a big love-lock, which caine from under her kerchief, at the middle of her cheek. Long tresses of black hair came below their waists. Both were good-looking plump girls, in robust health. Both giggled, and both were full of fun. The one who was supposed to be ill had not coloured a very rosy pair of cheeks ; the other was heavily rouged. Their eye- lashes were darkened with antimony, but their eyebrows were unpainted. The Persian woman's eye is usually very dark and large, and the painting the edges of the lids produces a very languishing effect. After talking to the eunuch for some minutes, in which the old fellow evidently was calling these very gushing ladies to order, they suddenly plumped dow r n on their knees in front of me, and compelled me to feel both their pulses, look at loth their tongues, examine their throats, and a second time to feel their pulses at the other wrist As I understood very little Persian, and neither they nor the eunuch anything but that language, it was very difficult to make out what was the matter. One thing was very certain they looked upon the whole matter as a very good joke ; and seemed inclined to torment the eunuch and make great fun of me. At last one lady showed me a flea-bite on a very round and shapely arm, which literally jangled with glass bangles and gold bracelets. As this was the most serious symptom I had yet seen, I began to think I had better retire, when tea was brought in by a young negress. The ladies, the eunuch, and myself, all partook, but the two ladies did so with shrieks of laughter, in which the negress joined. Suddenly a cry of " Aga ! aga ! " (the master, the master) was raised, and I saw the Eyii-ul-Molk coming up the garden. The two indiscreet ones became at once staid matrons of the severest type. They sprang to the other side of the room, they drew their kerchiefs, or rather the corners of them, over their faces, leaving the eyes alone visible ; and the young negress who had brought the tea became a statue of propriety 42 IN THE LAND OF THE LION\ND SUN. [CHAP. in ebony, pulling her big print veil over her mouth till she looked like a living bolster. The old nobleman came in, and I was made to feel again the pulses of my patient, and again look at her tongue. But nothing but her eyes and tongue were now visible, and both ladies pretended to look on the infidel doctor with horror. They answered their husband's questions only in a whisper, and in a few minutes I followed the Eyn-ul-Molk to the " beruni," or general apartments. I noticed that these were furnished with much less luxury than the women's side. I now managed to find out that the fair sufferer had that morning very early had a slight attack of intermittent fever, and, with the help of the interpreter, I said that I would prescribe on getting home. The farewell pipe was brought, and I retired, I trust, grace- fully. Thus ended my first visit to a Persian patient. I suppose that my remedies were successful, for, though I was not asked to attend again, I received a plate of oranges and two dried salmon as a fee, with a polite message of thanks in a day or two. As this visit had occupied some four hours in all, I came to the conclusion that I should not add much to my income by private practice, the result of an attendance on the wife of a great noble being so small in a money point of view ; and though interesting at the time from novelty, yet I felt that that would soon pass off. I had been regularly robbed of my rest, after the first few dreamless nights that one has at the end of a long journey, by a sort of hooting sound, followed by cries of " ya hue, h-u-u-u-c." These noises were repeated at irregular intervals all through the night, and I found also that they occurred in the day-time whenever Major S entered or left the house. They proceeded from the Major's dervish and they grew louder and more frequent day by day. The dervishes, or wandering mendicants, are persons who, from laziness or inclination, take a vow of poverty either for a time or permanently. They form various colleges or sects, and have recognised heads (" mursheds ") to whom they show great deference. It is extremely difficult to find out what their precise tenets are, for the more learned among them have a great disinclination to discussing religious matters with the THE DERVISHES " ALI OH ! " 43 infidel, while the more ignorant seem, when sane, to have really .o religion, save that of doing no ivork. In many ways they esemble the monks of old amongst ourselves, though, as in |Persia at least they seldom live in communities, " wandering Viars " would be a safer comparison. Persians as a rule islike and despise them, but they fear to offend the masses y showing it, and cede to them a great show of deference. The more respectable simply wander about, obtaining free food ,nd lodging in any town they may pass through. Others mbine the profession of travelling mountebank and dealer ^n charms with that of religious mendicancy. Many are clothed all in white, having taken a vow to that ffect ; and most of them refrain from shaving or from cutting he hair. All, or nearly all, wear a tall cap of felt or cloth, d like a sugar-loaf, and ornamented by inscriptions of :exts from the Koran. Most of them carry a carved alms- .older, which is generally composed of a huge nut elaborately ;arved, and suspended by brass or silver chains from the band. A steel axe is often carried, and a panther or deer- ikin worn. All affect a striking and eccentric appearance, ,nd all have a lean and travel-worn air, save some few, who (merely affect the costume, and are dervishes only in dress. One man who used to haunt the Gulhaek Eoad was entirely iaked, and was a most importunate and offensive beggar. A [European got into some trouble on this man's account, for on his accosting him with great importunity, and then proceeding to curse him because his demands were ungratified, the de- ipisecl infidel administered several lashes with the long thong of his hunting-crop. Another celebrated dervish, who is a man of some property, draws a good pension from the Shah, and is sent yearly to some shrine to pray for the king, his expenses being defrayed from the royal purse. He perpetually rotates his head after the manner of the harlequin of the old school, and incessantly vociferates in a loud voice, AH Oh I Ali Oh ! As he is always bareheaded, and an old man rather inclined to corpulence, the result is not edifying; but his perquisites must be very large, as he is w r ell known to possess the royal favour. Provincial governors and local magnates treat royally "him whom the king is delighted to honour." I have seen this man roll his head continuously and vociferate his cry, merely pausing for 44 IN THE LAND OF THE LION* AND SUN. [CHAP. breath, for three hours at a stretch : the power of doing this continuously can only have been attained by long practice. His journeys over all Persia are so frequent, and he is so well known, that in every large town great crowds turn out to gaze on and follow " Ali Oh ! " by which name the man is always known. A striking appearance is attained at all hazards; often the clothing being merely a pair of short drawers, an antelope, panther, or tiger-skin being slung across the shoulder, and an axe or huge club, often armed with spikes, being almost invariably carried. When a dervish meets a horseman or any one of condition he offers him in the politest manner a flower, or even a leaf or blade of grass ; as a rule it is accepted and a trifle given. At other times the dervish will simply stretch out his hand or his almsholder, and favour the passer-by with a steady stare, the word " hue " (my right) being suddenly ejaculated. Dervishes are often professional story-tellers, the costume being merely donned for effect ; or, as in the case of a highly gifted story-teller of my acquaintance, one Aga JSTussemlla of Shiraz, a man who earned a good living by his erudite and interesting tales, the cap only was worn, and that merely when engaged in his public recitals ; he also carried the big iron axe, with which he gesticulated in a manner really graceful and artistic. I often, as I grew more acquainted with Persian, had this man in to beguile the tedium of the long evenings, and he would sit by the hour under the orange-trees, rattling off an endless story freely interspersed with poetical recitations, which were always apposite and well given in fact, they were intoned. He never allowed the interest of his tales to flag, and never left off save at a point so interesting as to ensure a request for his attendance the succeeding evening, adopting the principle of the lady of the * Arabian Nights.' I frequently, on passing through the Maidan, or public square, of Shiraz, saw Aga Nusserulla surrounded by a gaping crowd of peasants, porters, and muleteers squatting in a circle, he striding up and down and waving his axe as he told his story of love or fairyland; then he recognised my presence by merely the slightest drop of his eyelid, for his harvest of coppers would have been blighted had he betrayed to his gaping listeners IV.] STORY-TELLER DERVISHES' ORGIES. 45 his intimacy with a " Feringhi " (" Frank " the term used in Persia for all Europeans to their face; that of "Kaffir," or " unbeliever," being carefully kept for speaking of them in their absence). The tales told in the bazaar to the villagers were mostly bristling with indecency ; but the dervish never transgressed in this respect on getting a hint from me that that sort of thing was unpleasing, and his stories were always of great interest, intensely pathetic at times, and at others very comic. His power of imitation was great ; the voices of his old men and women were unmistakable, while the sex of the lovers was equally distinct, and his laugh was infectious and sympathetic. Another dervish I knew was a man six-feet-six in height, who was possessed of the sounding title of " King Panther " (Shah Paleng). This man's only title to respect was his great height and startling appearance, for he was but a stupid and pertinacious beggar, after all. I had the misfortune to make his acquaintance, having selected him as a good photographic type; I got my type, but cculd not get rid of my model, always finding the fellow seated in my courtyard, engaged apparently in religious meditation. It was only by the strongest remonstrance with my servants that I could get him kept out of the house, and even then he used to haunt my door. Dervishes, as a rule, have many vices. They have very often vague ideas of meum and tuum, and debauch and rob the wives of the villagers by tricks ; in fact, their holiness is more believed in by the women than the men throughout Persia. Many are drunkards, others take opium; this is often the cause of their haggard appearance. Others indulge in the smoking or drinking of bhang, or Indian hemp, and when under the intoxicating influence of this drug, a state which is induced prior to the coming-on of the stupefying effect, they have been guilty of great and dreadful crimes. In Shiraz they were credited with nightly orgies and the celebration of unknown rites, the mysteries and horrors of which were probably much exaggerated, being possibly merely debauches of smoking and drinking. So common is the condition of the dervish in Persia, that in each of the big towns there is a shop appropriated to the 46 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. sale of their paraphernalia of tiger-skins, axes, embroidered hats, &c. The vows seem simply to consist of those of poverty and< obedience to a chief, with a payment of a portion of the alms extracted from the charitable to him. There is no vow of continence; and, on the whole, a dervish may be generally said to imply an idle " vagrom " man, who lives by imposing on the good-nature of others. We were approaching the Aid-i-No-Kuz, or festival of the New Year, when it is the custom of the dervishes to erect a sort of tent at the street-door of any personage, and to remain in it till dismissed with a present. Major S , as an undoubted personage, had a dervish sent to his house. He had suffered from the infliction before, and had bought himself off on that occasion by a gift of fifty kerans (two pounds), but this time he was determined to grin and bear it, thinking that by making a stand he would escape a similar infliction in the future. The chief of the dervishes indicates to his subordinates the houses that they are to besiege, and they are allotted to the various members of the fraternity according to seniority the king, the prime minister, the chancellor, and so on, downwards. When I say that every man of standing had his dervish, it will be seen that there were many of the brotherhood at that time in Teheran. Every foreign minister had one at his door, and I am sure that any Persian of consideration would have been very loth to be without this very visible sign of greatness. The Major's dervish was to be found in the street day and night, in or beside his so-called tent ; this consisted of some two yards of thin canVas, pegged into the wall at the side of the outer gate, and held down by three pieces of string. The dervish sat by day on an antelope-skin, and by night (if he ever did sleep) slept on it in his clothes. As any one, visitor or host, entered or left the house, a shrill blast was blown on a buffalo-horn, and the man emitted his monotonous " Hue yah hue " and extended his palm. He had a small pot of live charcoal before him; and smoking, and his so-called garden (a sort of playing at gardening, six twigs of box-tree being planted in a little heap of dust, and an IV.] "ASHES ON HIS HEAD." 47 orange being placed between each), occupied a good deal of his time. The annoying part of it was that he was always there, and that we could never forget, or fail to notice this fact, from the persistent salutations of " Salaam, sahib ! " smilingly given, or the eternal cries and blasts of the buffalo-horn, by which he made night hideous and the day unbearable. As time wore on and the New Year approached, the blasts and cries became more prolonged and more frequent, and the whole household became more and more depressed. We all knew that the servants were providing the man with two square meals a day and unlimited tobacco, of course quite contrary to orders. But I think the greatest sufferers were myself and a friend, whose bedroom- window was above the so-called tent of this demon in human form. Patience has its limits, and one morning w r e determined to, as we hoped, induce our bugbear to shift his quarters. We emptied our two tubs into one, and carefully choosing our moment, suddenly emptied the contents on the tent. Down it came on the head of the dervish, putting out his fire-pot, and producing a very free succession of invocations to saints. But, alas ! when we went out in the morning, hoping to find him gone, we were received with " Salaam, sahib ! " and a solo on the horn that for volume, Harper, of trumpet fame, might have vainly attempted to emulate. We slunk off, but vowed further vengeance. The next day we determined on a baptism of fire, and we carefully stoked our " ma"ngal," or brazier, till it gave off a fine red heat, and was quite full of live charcoal. At that time, when there were few fire-places in the rooms of Persian houses, it was usual to employ these braziers to warm the rooms. We did not impart our design to the Major, who would doubtless have disapproved, but as soon as the coast was clear, and we were sure that the dervish was in his tent, we prepared for action. We had got the brazier into position, when the wretch com." menced one of his frantic solos ; down came the contents, some twenty pounds of live charcoal and wood-ashes. The dervish laughed at such things, and blew a defiant blast < but in a moment the charcoal, having burnt through the tent. 48 IN THE LAND OF THE LION* AND SUN. [CHAP. roof, descended on his flowing locks, and, amidst deriding shouts of " Khock ber ser um ! " (ashes on my head), a favourite form of imprecation with Persians, from my com- panion, the dervish emerged considerably the worse. We were delighted, and felt that we had been at last too many for him. Though our minds were not quite free from visions of a severe wigging from the Major, we felt we had triumphed, and hurried down to tell our tale. We then found that the dervish had exhausted even the Major's patience, and had received his present and gone. We maintained a discreet silence. Whether the Major heard of our two attacks I never knew, but the man was gone tent, garden, fire-pot, oranges, and all. Perhaps the treatment he got was considered too bad; anyhow, lie was gone, and we ceased to hear nightly " the voice which cried, Sleep no more." A few days after the above little drama came the Aid-i- No-Kuz, or New Year's Day : the excitement was great. It appeared that uniform of some sort was de rigueur, and Colonel G kindly lent me a blue frock-coat with many frogs, and a gold-laced cap ; a pair of uniform inexpressibles with a broad red stripe, were got from someone else ; a cavalry sabre and a pair of buckskin gloves completed the semi-mili- tary appearance which is possessed by officers of the English army on the stage ; there they always live in uniform, off it never ; a pair of goloshes were also donned ! I was only too grateful to complete my nondescript rig-out, for, determined as I was to see the sight, and uniform of some sort being a sine qua non, Mr. Alison, Her Majesty's Minister, had kindly placed at my disposal the full-dress costume of a Highland chief, in which all my friends were dying to see me, and in which I should no doubt have presented a striking appearance ; and rather than not go, I was determined to don even so appalling a costume as that worn by the traditional Highlander. I had girded on my sword, when my medical chief entered in a frock coat similar to mine, but with fewer frogs, and a cap with much narrower lace. We were doubtless filled with mutual admiration, but my chief's eye soon fell on my wealth of frogs, for was not I dis- guised as a lieutenant-colonel, while he was merely a travesty of a captain ? IV.] UNIFORM AT LAST THE COURT. 40 " This will never do, Wills. Why, I shall appear to bo your subordinate ! " There was no doubt of the justice of the remark. My 'liimago was decidedly the handsomer. I consented to a hango to the less be-frogged and humbler coat; but my chief .ad long arms, and what was short in the sleeve for me was nly half-way down his fore-arm, and he showed all his cuff and good deal of shirt-sleeve. He looked now undoubtedly my enior, but also as if he had grown considerably since that coat vas made. We had to stick to our caps, as my head was too ig to get into his. We alf collected, and we two doctors caused some amuse- nent by our very martial array ; in fact, our get-up was a onsiderable likeness to that of " the bold gendarmes." Off we went, all on horseback, to the English Mission (or jegation), and we joined the procession of his Excellency, Mr. lison, who was doubtless disappointed not to have in his rain a spurious Highland chief. The streets were crowded ; every one, to the poorest, in new lothes, for the Persian on this auspicious day always puts on new suit. Many of the streets and bazaars were lined by oldiers of rather unmartial appearance, and most of them were repairing plumes of white cocks' feathers, which they got eady with a knife, a bit of stick, and some string. The din was tremendous. Gradually we n eared the palace, ,nd, getting down at one of the side doors of it, we entered in he order of our rank, the ambassador and Colonel G , n full uniform, with cocked hats, leading the procession ; hen came the secretaries, then the mission doctor, the major, hen my chief, while I came last and least, the junior of all. Passing through many courtyards crowded with grandees nd their servants, we came into a handsome apartment well rovided with chairs ; there we found the other ambassadors nd their suites, viz., the French, Kussian, and Turkish, who lad preceded our party ; they were in full dress, and wore all heir orders. Pipes were handed round, and then trays of sherbet (iced totter flavoured with syrups) and coffee; also a profusion of weetmeats. After some half-hour, the master of the ceremonies who was ,rrayed in the tall turban of Cashmere shawls, the long robe E 50 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP of the same, trimmed with fur, and the red stockings, tha constitute the Court dress of Persia ; decorated with nurneroui orders and the portrait of his sovereign set in diamonds pre ceded Mr. Alison, who, as the " doyen " of the ambassadors took precedence of the other nationalities ; and ushered us in. We entered a garden, up the path of which were laic carpets, and in the midst was a fountain ; various little forma beds, filled with narcissus and planted with shrubs, occupiec the rest of the space, while a long " hauz," or enclosed basin raised some six inches from the ground, ran down the centre the Water in this, which was quite still, was ornamented witi an elaborate pattern formed on its surface by sprinkling handfuls of rose-leaves, and the effect was pretty in th< extreme. All round the edge of the hauz were placed ; continuous row of oranges. A few of the royal body-guard, or "gholams," with thei guns in red cloth cases, slung over their shoulders, stood abou in motionless groups ; also some of the king's ministers and more favoured servants chatted in whispers ; while at an ope: window sat the Shah-in-Shah, or King of kings and Asylur of the Universe. When we had all entered we made a military salute, to whic the Shah vouchsafed no reply ; after a few more paces, we halte again and made a second ; and then we were ushered into thl room itself in which his Majesty deigned to receive us. Hei we all formed in single file in order of rank behind our respec tive ambassadors, thus forming four files. The Shah was on our entrance no longer sitting, but lounge against a table ; on it lay his jewelled sword, which, covere as it was with diamonds, literally glittered in the strong sui beams, these also illuminated the jewels with which the kin really blazed ; the royal plume, or "jika," of white feathe and diamonds trembled on the black hat of finest Astracha lambskin, shimmering with rays of many-coloured light. I learnt afterwards that as the Shah, if lie sits himself, obliged to give seats to the ambassadors, he avoided it by n< sitting down, but lounged in the manner described. There wt nothing particularly striking in the room ; it was much ove decorated, and in the most barbarous taste ; the carpets, ever, were valuable. The ambassadors now all gave the king a military salut IV.] THE SHAH DRESSES OF HONOUR. 51 and so did the suites and hangers-on. To this his Majesty returned a not over-gracious nod. The king now addressed ;hern in turn, and each ambassador replied through his Irairoman or Oriental secretary, replying to the questions as to lis sovereign's health, and congratulating the Shah on his estival. Mr. Alison presented a new secretary, and introduced Uolonel G , who was favourably received, and in fluent and graceful Persian he replied to the Shah's queries, and made omewhat of a speech on telegraph matters, which was also graciously received, the Shah assenting frequently. The king low unceremoniously left the room, and every one saluted. We all hurried off to see the great ceremony of the public salaam. We were ushered pell-mell into a room that com- nanded on one side the court of audience, on the other the mblic square of Teheran. In the former were drawn up in ows, according to their degree, all the officers of state, all the governors of provinces, all the generals and servants of the 2rown, the secretaries of various departments, and the foreign employes, among whom I saw Mr. D and one of the ignallers, of the Telegraph Department. We were told that in a few moments the Shah would ighten their countenances by appearing in an open balcony ibove our heads. The royal " farrashes," or carpet spreaders, armed with long svands of unpeeled boughs, who surrounded the courtyard, >egan to beat the few unauthorized onlookers at the far corners, md on a sudden the whole crowd bowed nearly to the ground i ceremony in which the unfortunate Mr. D had to join lolens volens. This told us that the king had shown himself. The prostration was repeated a second and a third time. Then the Prime Minister, having his rod of office, with many x>ws, mumbled a speech to his Majesty ; to which the king eplied in a few words in a loud voice. A priest in a green turban (being a Syud or descendant of ;he prophet) now recited what was apparently a long prayer : i dress of honour on a tray was immediately, by the king's arder, produced, and placed on his shoulders ; and this was no impty compliment, for I was told by an experienced onlooker that the cloak was worth one hundred pounds or more. Then a poet recited an ode, and got also a dress of honour ; md then, at the royal command, men bearing trays of gold 52 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. coin, distributed handfuls to the officials, the number and size of the handful being in proportion to rank ; the bigger people, who stood in the front ranks, getting the larger and more numerous handfuls. Even Mr. D , who was in a back row, got some seventy kerans (three pounds). The coins were gold, and very thin, and are instituted for this special occasion ; they are called "shahis," which is, literally, "king's money," anc were worth some one shilling and eightpence each. During the excitement and scramble that the distribution occasioned the king retired, and the orderly ranks of Governmen servants became at once a seething crowd. We lookers-on now crossed the room and stood at a balcony which commanded the public square. This was kept clear by a double line of soldiers all in new clothes for the occasion. The space was occupied by dancers, buffoons, jugglers, wrestlers, sword and buckler men, and owners of fighting sheep and bulls with their animals ; while in front of the big pond or hauz, immediately below our balcony, stooc twenty wretched Jews in rags and tatters, prepared to be thrust head over heels into the water for the royal delectation, The king's farrashes kept up showers of good-humoure( blows on an equally good-humoured crowd at all the entrances, Not less than fourteen to sixteen thousand people were present,; all were on the tiptoe of expectation. Suddenly a cannon from among a battery in the square was discharged, and the king appeared. The entire crowd bowe( to the ground three times ; then the people shouted anc cheered, the dancers went through their antics, the buffoons began their jokes, some forty pairs of wrestlers struggled foi mastery, among whom was the king's giant, seven feet eigh inches high ; gymnasts threw up and caught huge clubs, anc showed feats of strength and skill ; the swordsmen engaged w cut and thrust, hacking each other's bucklers ; the jugglers showed their sleight of hand ; the fighting bulls and sheef rushed at each other ; the royal bands and the regimental ones struck up different tunes ; the zambureks (or camel artillery] discharged their little cannon ; the Jews were cast into the tank, and on coming out were again thrown in by the farrashes and executioners ; while the rest of the cannon fired away merrily in every direction; the bulls got among the crowd, the women shrieked and the men shouted. j SCENE IN THE GREAT SQUARE. 53 Handful s of gold coin were thrown to the various per- rmers, for which they violently scrambled ; and amidst the aoke and cries the king retired. The royal salaam was over, and we struggled through the owd within the palace to our horses at the gate, and rode ome through a happy mob, having assisted at a great Persian fltival. I dined at the Eussian, English, and French embassies jveral times at Teheran. As the entertainments were European lere is nothing to be described. CHAPTER V. HAMADAN. Start for Hamadan Bedding Luggage makes the man Stages Mee Pierson Istikhbal s Badraghah Pierson's house Hamadan wine Modi of storing it My horses Abu Saif Mirza His stratagem Disinterested services Persian logic Pierson's horse's death Horses put through then paces I buy Salts and Senna The prince's opinion Money table Edict A FEW days after the great festival Major S , who was going down country, kindly allowed me to accompany hinc as far as Hamadan. We started one afternoon, doing the two first stages by sunset, and stopping at the post-house a Karneabad. The weather was fine, the roads and horses good. I had bj this time learnt to ride by balance only, and acquired the an of remaining in an upright position on my steed whenever h< suddenly dropped as if shot, instead of going over his head bj the force of momentum. The Major had a few tinned provi sions, which it had been impossible to get in a place like Tiflis, and with a roast fowl or two our commissariat was wel provided. The intense cold was over, and I was glad to use my goggles to protect my eyes during the middle of the day We also never started before the light was good, which mad< an immense difference in our comfort. I had invested in a native bridle, the severe bit of which enabled me thoroughly to control my horses, and, being the one they were used to, did not keep them in the perpetual state of fret that the European bit did. My saddle-bags, too, were well packed and exactly the same weight, so that I never had to get down to put them level, and they never annoyed the horse. I. had my rugs, four in number, and the same size, sewn together down one side and at the bottom, so that whichever AP. V.] MORE POSTING ANECDOTE. 55 I might have to the draught, and of this there is always plenty, I could have one blanket under me, three over me, and the sewn edge to the wind, while, as the bottom was sewn up, the blankets could never shift, and the open side could be always kept to the wall. This arrangement, an original one, I have never altered, for in hot weather, by lying on say three blankets, one only was over me. There is, however, one thing that I soon found out in travel- ling. To thoroughly rest oneself it is needful to, firstly, undress and wear a night-jacket and pyjamas ; and, secondly, to sleep in a sheet. The addition to one's comfort is immense, particularly in warm weather, while the extra weight of a sheet is not worth considering. An air pillow, too, is a great luxury. 1 have been in the habit of no longer using a waterproof sheet to keep my blankets dry, but of rolling them tightly up, and then strapping them and cramming them into an india- rubber soldier's hold-all, which ensures a dry bed, and straps handily to the saddle. This hold-all was the cause of a rather amusing adventure. On coming home once on leave, in a great hurry, I had left Persia with only my hold-all, having given my saddle-bags and road kit to my servant. I had come direct from Tzaritzin on the Volga to Boulogne without stopping, but had to wait some hours on the tidal boat before she started. I stepped on board and asked one of the men where the steward was. " Oh, he ain't aboard yet, mate." " Can you get me a wash ? " " Come along a' me, mate." The man took me down to what seemed the fo'cassel, and placed a bucket of water before me. I said, "Come, is this the accommodation you give your first-class passengers ? " The man roared with laughter. " No yer doant, mate, no yer doant. I never seed no first- class passengers with luggage like that," pointing to my hold- all ; and it was only on producing my coupon book, that the man could be persuaded I was not a deck passenger, and to take me to the saloon aft. As I was covered with coal-dust, and generally grimy the opportunities for washing being then not what they are now in Kussia and Germany the hold-all had made the man sure that I was an impostor. 56 IN THE LAND OF THE LION ^AND SUN. [CHAP. We came in the afternoon of the third day into Hamadan, having done the stages in fair time. The journey was without incident, save that a string of antelopes crossed the road in broad daylight some ten yards ahead of us. As they appeared so suddenly, we neither of us thought of using our revolvers. Hamadan looked pretty as we entered it, and was surrounded by apparently interminable gardens. On turning a corner we came upon Captain Pierson, under whom I was to serve, and of whose division I was in medical charge. He had ridden out to meet us. In the early days of the Persian Telegraph it was usual to ride out with the departing, and to do the same to meet the coming guest. This is the Persian custom of the "istikhbal," or cere- monious riding out to meet the new arrival; being a very important ceremony, regulated by hard-and-fast rules : such as that the greater the personage, the further must the welcomer travel ; while the lesser the welcomer, the further must he go. Thus, in the case of a new governor of Shiraz, the king's son, the big men rode out three stages, the ex-governor one, while some actually went as far as Abadeh, or seven days' journey ; but these were mostly merchants or small people. Great fuss ai*d parade is made, the condition of the incomer being denoted by the grandeur of this " istikhbal," or pro- cession of welcome. In the case of official personages, soldiers, both horse and foot, go out ; led-horses also are sent simply for show, splendidly caparisoned with Cashmere shawls or em- broidered housings on the saddles. And it is found necessary, in the case of the arrival of ambassadors or envoys, such as that of Sir F. Goldsmid (when on the duty of the definition of the Seistan boundary), to stipulate that a proper istikhbal shall be sent out prior to the commissioners entering a large town. There is another ceremony, that of the " badraghah," or riding out with the departing guest. This, however, is not so formal, and is less an act of ceremony than one of friendship ; however, it is a compliment that in both cases is much appre- ciated, especially when shown by a European to a native. Latterly the Europeans have almost given up this riding out, which practically is a great nuisance to those riding at an unusual or uncomfortable time, perhaps in the sun, and when V.] 1STIKHBAL REACH HAMADAN. 57 the arrival of the guest is very uncertain ; it is, too, very annoying, when tired with a rapid chupper, and having ridden many hours on end, to be put on a very lively horse, ready to jump out of his skin with condition, and to pull one's arms off. As we had got in sooner than was expected, and were only some mile from Pierson's house, we did not change our horses for the fresh ones provided by him, and after many turns and twists between high mud walls, we came to the house, and here my travels ended for the time. The courtyard was some twenty yards by thirty wide. A hauz or tank ran the entire length, filled by a constant stream of running water, and on either side of it was a long bed sunk in the stone pavement, about the same depth below it as the hauz was elevated above. On a level with the ground in the basement were the cellars and servants' quarters, and above this a platform ten feet from the ground, some four yards broad, which extended the whole width of the courtyard. This was covered by an enormous structure, consisting of a roof some six feet thick, being painted wood mudded over a yard deep ; and then under it a hollow air-chamber, supported on three huge wooden octagonal columns, likewise painted in red, blue, and yellow. Behind and beneath this talar, or verandah, which was some thirty feet from floor to ceiling, was a central room (orussee), elaborately painted and gilt in the vilest taste, ,with a huge window (which could be kept wide open in hot weather) of coloured glass, in small panes four inches by seven. This was the dining and reception room. On either side of this orussee, and having the talar still in front of them, was a smaller apartment. One was Pierson's bedroom, the other mine. Thus in front of the three rooms was a covered platform, four yards by twenty. On this during the summer, save when the sun was on it, we lived, and when the sun was high the rooms were kept cool by the talar. We soon sat down to a sumptuous dinner, and I tasted, for the first time, Hamadan wine, of which I had heard many and different opinions. It was a delicious pale, scented, straw- coloured wine, like a light hock ; rather too sweet, but appa- rently of no great strength. I soon found, however, that in the latter idea I was much in error, for it was a wine that went straight to the head, and remained there. 58 IN THE LAND OF THE LION \ND SUN. [CHAP. Delicious as it is, the fact of its newness and it often will not keep, a second summer generally turning it sour if in bottle makes it objectionable, for though it is light and delightful, especially when iced, a headache surely follows even a third glass. The natives, we found out in after years, are able to keep it in bulk, and then the tendency to give an after headache goes away, but so does the delicious flavour. In winter so cold is Hamadan, that the wine, which is kept in huge jars holding two hundred maunds (or eight hundred bottles), or even more, sunk half their depth in the ground, has to be kept from freezing by making a hotbed of fermenting horse-dung around the upper part of these jars, and often these means fail; for I have myself been present when blocks of frozen wine have been chopped out of the jars for drinking ; these plans of storing wine only refer to Hamadan : in other Persian towns the wine, as soon as it is cleared, is placed in carboys, holding from six to twenty-four bottles. It is sold in Hamadan in baggallis, or native bottles, holding about a pint and a half. They are of the very thinnest glass, and very fragile when empty. One of these bottlefuls costs about fourpence at least it did when I was in Hamadan in 1869. In a couple of days Major S left on his way to Baghdad, and Pierson insisted on my remaining his guest, which I was only too glad to do, till I could get servants etc., of my own. The first thing, however, was to buy a horse, as I could not draw my horse allowance from Government till I had really a horse of my own, and the three pounds a month was, consider- ing the smallness of my pay, a consideration. Of course at that time I knew nothing about horses, and was fortunate in having the advice of Pierson. As soon as it was given out that I wanted horses there was a permanent levee at our quarters of all the owners of the lame, the halt and the blind, and their animals. These men, however, were all sent to the right about by Pierson, and at last a dealer came with four likely young horses ; these were examined and pronounced sound. On their price being asked one hundred tomans each was demanded. I was disappointed, for this was exactly the sum (forty pounds) that I was prepared to give for two horses. But I was reassured by Pierson, who made me understand that VJ FROZEN WINE BARGAINING FOR HORSES. 59 that was always the price asked for any beast worth having, and merely meant that the seller did not mean to take less than one half the amount. I was told, too, that if one wanted to buy a horse anywhere near its value some weeks must be taken in the negotiation. The matter ended in Pierson's offering the dealer fifty tomans for two of the animals, and the man leaving our courtyard in simulated indignation, declining even to notice a bid so ridiculous. However, as Pierson said we had not seen the last of him, I did not despair. Next morning, on coming out to breakfast, I saw our horse- dealer seated with the servants, and as Pierson put it, " They are settling the amount of commission they are each to get, and this commission they will have ; ten per cent, is legitimate, more is robbery. So all we have to do is to be very deter- mined ; if you can get any two of the four animals for your limit you will do well, if not you must let them go." Pierson now sent for his head-man and told him that " I was to have two serviceable horses for forty pounds, and that I should not pay a penny more ; so, as he knew the amount of modakel (profit) he and the rest of the servants could make, he had better do the best he could for me, and that he (Pierson) would see that I was not done as to quality." The man cast up his eyes and retired. While we were at breakfast a poor prince, Abu Saif Mirza, came, and was invited to partake. Pierson told me that he was a very good fellow indeed, and a grandson of Futteh-AH Shah,* a former Shah of Persia, but from the irregularity with which his very small pension was paid, he had to live almost by his gun, and chance meals, such as the present. Of course I could not understand what he said, but he fully entered into the difficulty as to finding me a horse. And as in Persia nothing can be done without stratagem, he suggested on the spot a means for bringing the dealer to his senses ; it was deep, " deep as the deep blue sea." It was simply this : he would exhibit his horse to Pierson and promise to send it for trial to-morrow, naming a price just about its value, and " then you will see all will be well." No sooner was breakfast over than the prince's horse was brought into the courtyard, stripped and examined, and the * Futteli-Ali Shall had over seventy sons and d&ughfart, and a prince's son in Persia is a prince. 60 IN THE LAND OF THE LION iND SUN. [CHAP. suggested arrangement made. As it happened I afterwards bought this very horse for Pierson to make a wedding present of, but he would haye been more than I could manage at the time, being a spirited beast and a puller. The Shahzadeh (prince) took his departure, promising loudly to send his horse round in the morning. No sooner was he gone than the nazir, " or head-servant, presented himself and delivered to Pierson an oration some- what of this sort. "May I represent to the service of the sahib, that it would be very unwise to purchase the horse of the prince ? he is not young " (he was five years old), " he is gone in the wind " (he was quite sound), " and his temper is awful ; besides this I have reason to know that he is worthless in every respect " (he was one of the best horses I ever saw, and I knew him for ten years). " Of course to me it would make a great difference, for the prince has indeed offered me a hand- some commission " (quite untrue), " while from this poor dealer not a farthing can be wrung by the servants. No ! he would rather die than pay one farthing. So though the other servants are loath to let a sale take place to my sahib's friend yet I, as an old servant, and looking for a reward from my sahib for conduct so disinterested, have after infinite trouble got the dealer to consent to a hundred and fifty tomans for any two of his four horses." " Be off," was the laconic reply of Pierson. " When we ride to-day, if the dealer will sell for my price, let the horses be ready and I will see them and ride them ; if not he can go" The man sighed, and replied : " Ah, I see, sahib, the prince has laughed at your beard, and persuaded you to buy his worthless brute. I can't offer such terms to a respectable man like the dealer, but I will give the message." I now saw the horse-dealer leave the courtyard with the air of an injured man, and I feared I was as far off a purchase as ever. But Pierson reassured me. I had plagued him to sell me one of his own large stud which he wished to reduce, but he declined with a smile, saying he never sold a horse to a friend unless he was a thorough judge, and that as I knew nothing about horses he must decline, as I might repent when too late ; and though I pressed him a good deal, he would not relent. Few men would have lost an opportunity to get rid V.] A CLEVER LIAR TRIAL OF HORSES. 61 of beasts they did not require, but Pierson was a man in a thousand. At that time he had eight horses in his stable, all good and all sound. He had named them after heathen gods, Jupiter, Pluto, Saturn, Cupid, Hercules, etc. But his pet nag, Apollo a grey he had given one hundred and twenty tornans, or fifty pounds, for, an enormous price in those days in Persia had a few weeks before caught his foot in a hole while galloping over turf ; horse and man came down with a crash ; Pierson was in- sensible ; and when he came to himself he found, some four yards off, his favourite lying dead with his neck broken. He rode away on his groom's horse, the man carrying his saddle and bridle. On getting to the house he sent a gang to bury the poor beast, but too late, for the villagers had taken off the skin and tail. Pierson on telling me the story did it so pathetically that he left off with wet eyes, and I felt inclined to sob myself. As we got ready for the afternoon ride, the horse-dealer and his four horses appeared, and with a sigh he informed Pierson that he accepted the terms, or nearly so. On getting out of the town the horses were put through their paces. They were a big grey, with enormous mane and tail, of not much breed, but in dealer's condition, and a well-shaped and strong-looking beast ; an iron-grey, who plunged and shied and was generally vicious, but really the most valuable of the four ; a fourteen- hand pure-bred Arab, with a huge scar of a spear-wound a foot long on his shoulder, otherwise perfect, of angelic temper, but small by the side of the Persian horses, as all Arabs are ; his muzzle almost touched his chest as he arched his neck, and his action was very high, yet easy ; he seemed an aristocrat com- pared to the rest ; his thin and fine mane and tail were like silk he, too, was five. A big, coarse, raking chestnut, that took all the boy who rode him could do to hold him, rising four, completed the list. Pierson kindly rode them all, and with considerable fear I did the same, save the lively grey, which I wisely acknowledged too much for me. The big chestnut bolted with me, but I stuck on. The other chestnut was all I could wish, fast, paces good, no tricks, willing but, then, the scar. I did not wish to buy him on that account, but Pierson over-ruled me, and I took his advice ; he told me that in Persia a scar was nothing, that 62 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. I could ride the horse in comfort and safety, as he had no vices, and that whenever I wished to sell I should lose very little. The raking chestnut, as a young horse, Pierson told me was a speculation ; he might turn out well, he might not. And the grey well, all I could get out of Pierson was, that " he had a fine mane and tail," which he certainly had, and that "he was value, or nearly." He was not a well-bred animal, and I liked him, I fear, on account of the mane and tail ; but he pulled. All were entire horses. Pierson wouldn't let me buy the iron-grey, had I wanted to, as he said he was dangerous, even to a good rider. So the matter ended in my taking the chestnut for five hundred and fifty kerans and the grey for six hundred and fifty. Pierson said the prices ought to have been reversed. He was right. I had that chestnut Arab ten years ; he never was sick or sorry, and I never had to strike or spur him ; a pressure of the knee and a shake of the rein would make him do his utmost. And he was a fast horse ; small as he was he carried my twelve stone comfortably, and as a ladies' horse he was perfect, having a beautiful mouth, while he followed like a dog, and nothing startled him or made him shy. In the stable he was quiet, save to a new-comer, on whom he always left his mark by a bite on the neck, and then, having asserted his position, which was afterwards never disputed, he was always friendly to stable companions. He never kicked. I gave him away at last, when I left Persia on leave. The history of the grey will be found afterwards. Next morning the " poor prince " called and looked over my purchases ; he approved the chestnut, but shook his head at the grey, saying he had " ableh," or leprosy, and that in time he would break down, pine, and die. The only sign he had was a pink patch the size of a fourpenny-piece on his black muzzle. " Give him back," said the Prince. " I can't see anything wrong," said Pierson. His mane and tail decided me. I stuck to him, christening him " Salts "- the chestnut I called " Senna." The custom in Persia is that, until a horse has been three nights fed in the stable of a new master (unless specially stipulated to the contrary before witnesses of respectability, or in writing) he may be returned without giving any reason whatever, simply on the purchaser repenting his bargain ; this V.] I PURCHASE MONEY-TABLE EDICT. 63 is often taken advantage of by the buyer to return the animal in order to lower his price. ; the manoeuvre seldom succeeds, as the seller is prepared for it. The European, if awake to his own interest, generally spends the three days in giving the beast a good " bucketting " over ploughed land, when, if there be any hidden defect, it comes out, and the animal can be returned. We did this, but no fault showing itself, I paid my one hundred and twenty tomans * (forty-eight pounds) and concluded the purchase. * As some confusion may be experienced in the matter of money terms, I may append the following tahle of coins : s. d. (Copper) 2 pills = 1 shahi (or shaio) .. .. or English 0^ 10 shahis = Ibanabat or half keran (silver) 05 20 shahis = 1 keran (silver) 010 10 kerans = 1 toman (tomaun), gold .. 76 Were the keran really tenpence, of course the tomaun would be 8s. 4c?., but its value is really only ninepence at present exchange (1883). Of these coins the pills and shahis are copper, the kerans and half-kerans or banabats silver, and the tomauns gold ; though for the past fifteen years, until just recently, the tomauns (in gold) had nearly disappeared, and were merely nominal, or old coins hoarded for the sake of the purity of their gold. Prices are given indiscriminately in tomauns or kerans ; the price in kerans as five hundred kerans being mostly spoken of and always written as kerans and not fifty tomauns. Till lately the tomaun has been only a name. The merchant- class, too, use the dinar, an imaginary coin (not now minted at least), as a convenient fraction for calculation. I on arrival took my servants' accounts in tomauns and kerans, afterwards in kerans and shaies, and at last in kerans and puls; while an English merchant friend actually wrote his house accounts in dinars, and said it awed his servants! one thousand dinars make a keran, so one dinar is the 10 1 o0 of 9<2. There are no bank-notes : and in The Times telegraphic news, under the head of Persia, Friday, February 24th, 1883, is a summary of a truly Persian edict. By it the Shah informs his subjects that, " they are foolish to take dirty pieces of paper for gold and silver, and that in future all Russian Rouble notes will be confiscated I " Then follows a really useful prohibition forbidding aniline dyes, and ordering such, when imported and discovered, to be destroyed ; these dyes, which are not fast, have been lately much used by ignorant carpet- weavers in Persia. CHAPTEK VI. HAM A DAN. Morning rides Engage servants Dispensary A bear-garden Odd com- plaints My servants get rich Modakel The distinction between picking and stealing Servants Their pay Vails Hakim Bashi Delleh Quinine Discipline I commence the cornet The result of rivalry Syud lloussein Armenians Cavalry officer Claim to sanctity of the Armenians Their position in the country Jews. As the weather got warmer we began morning rides ; we used to start regularly at six A.M. Pierson kindly gave me a hint occasionally, and we had some very enjoyable canters about Hamadan, the environs of which are very pretty and full of foliage; in this other Persian towns are generally rather deficient. We usually managed to get in before the sun got too high, had a second tub, and dressed for breakfast. I engaged three servants, Abdul-Mahomed, personal or head-servant ; Abdullah, a groom-boy ; and Eamazan, as sweeper and dispensary attendant. As the staff under my official charge was very small, and they were unmarried healthy men, my Government work was very trifling ; but a constant crowd at the door, desirous of seeing the new Hakim,* made me anxious to take the advice given me while in Teheran, and make the most of my oppor- tunities ere the novelty had worn off. I gave out, then, that I was prepared to see patients from eleven A.M., and a court- yard that we did not use in any way, (it was originally the women's quarter of our house,) was kindly placed at my disposal by Pierson, who also gave me the advantage of his knowledge of Persian as an interpreter. I saw my servant was very busy indeed, and that all the * Hakim, a doctor or physician. VI.] MY SERVANTS MY DISPENSARY. 65 morning a file of people were flocking into the courtyard, in which I had installed my dispensary. Precisely at eleven I >roceeded to seat myself; what was my astonishment to find >ome two hundred people sitting in groups, my two servants rainly endeavouring to keep some sort of order ; the noise s great, and practical joking and laughter were in the iscendant. Pierson's presence, however, awed the rioters, and silence ,vas after a time obtained, some few of the more noisy among he males being ejected. I soon found that many of the so-called patients had merely ;ome from curiosity, while others had old injuries to complain )f, and did not expect medicines, but miracles. The replies to the question, " What is the matter ? " were ometimes highly ridiculous, one man informing me that he lad a serpent in his inside, while another complained of being switched. Among the ladies, Pierson, who bravely stuck to his self- mposed duty of interpreter, informed me that the principal equest was for aphrodisiacs, drugs to increase embonpoint, and cosmetics ; while many women of apparently great age were irgent for physic for improving their appearance. Many ;ases of eye-disease presented themselves, and not a few of iurgical injury, which had been treated only in the most >rimitive manner. It was only by four in the afternoon that succeeded in getting rid of the rabble-rout that had come to ny dispensary. Kome was not built in a day. As the novelty wore off ,nd the sightseers ceased to come, the sick, who generally mounted to from two hundred to two hundred and fifty a-day, lore or less, became more tractable, and my servants better ,ble to manage them. I made stringent rules as to seeing all in the order of their oining, and separating the men from the women. Although saw many thousands of patients in Hamadan, yet I found hat I made no appreciable addition to my income ; those who ould pay, didn't ; and the only grist that came to the mill ay two men absorbed. These now bloomed out in silken ainient, and my head-man, whose pay was twelve pounds t-year, and clothe and feed himself, actually kept a servant of F 66 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. his own, and adopted a slow and dignified pace, which, as he day by day increased in wealth, became more and more apparent. I, after some weeks, on some provocation or other, deter- mined to discharge Kamazan, who immediately told me, with many protestations, that on account of the great love he bore me he could not leave me, and was desirous to stay at half- wages. On my remaining obdurate he wished to stop on nothing a month and " find himself." He begged so hard tha I couldn't turn him out, and forgave him. The fact was, tha his pickings from the daily crowd of patients was some ten times as much as his pay. Often have I been asked by Persian acquaintances, " What is your pay ? " " Little enough," I reply. " Ah, but what is your modakel ? " i.e., pickings and stealings. This system of modakel it is useless to fight against. Th( Persians, from the king downwards, speak of " my modakel.' The governor of a province buys his appointment : this is th king's modakel ; he farms the taxes for one hundred thousanc tomans, and sells them for half as much again: this is hi modakel; the buyer exacts two hundred thousand, the difference is his modakel. I buy a horse, a carpet, or a pound of sugar, ten per cent, i added by my servant to my bill. I sell a horse, and ten pe. cent, is taken on the price by my servant. I pay a muleteer and ten per cent, is deducted from the hire. These thing are the so-called legitimate " modakel " of my servant, and cannot avoid it. If pressed, or the thing is brought home t him, he will not even hesitate to acknowledge it. "It is the custom, sahib. Could you have bought th thing cheaper than I, or sold it so well, even with th modakel? No, you could not; then why object? Wha stimulates me to do the best I can for you ? My modakel you cannot fight against it." And he is right ; the ten pe cent, is extracted from all, Europeans or Persians ; and it i no use to kick against the pricks. But more than this is cor sidered robbery (if detected).* * This system accounts partly for the apparently very low wages paid 1 the Persian servant which are (I give those paid latterly 1881 by myseli VI.] MODAKEL SERVANT'S WAGES. 67 In the last five years of my life in Persia I kept all these servants mentioned in the note, with the exception of a nazir, who is, as a rule, a purely useless man, and only an increaser of his master's expenses for the sake of the addition to his own profits. Thus my cook, through whose hands the whole expenses, eight hundred kerans a month, or at times a thousand, used to pass, made, say, ninety kerans as his per- centage; out of the sums paid for shoeing and repairs and sale of manure (a valuable perquisite), the grooms made theirs ; while for every penny expended by my servant a per- centage was taken in money or goods. Even the laundress would take (not steal) a tenth or more of the soap given her. But then it was no use fighting against it, for it was not etiquette for the better-class European to be seen in the bazaar, save for special things, as curios, and such a proceeding would entail a great loss of consideration, and cause him to be classed as a " mean white." Again, one's head- servant, though he took this percentage, made it a point of honour to do his best for you after that had been deducted, and no one else but himself was permitted to rob on a large scale. in the case of head-servants it is sometimes, but very seldom, more, as the pay is of course nothing to the modakel) : A month. 8. d. A nazir or steward 50 kerans, or 200 A good cook 50 200 A good peishkhidmut (personal servant, waits at table, and ^ ^ 5Q k Qr ^ to 2 Q valets one, and is expected 25 kerans, or 100 25 100 to dress well) A farrash, i.e., sweeper or mes- sage runner A sherbet-dar, plate - cleaner, maker of coffee, ices, etc. . . A second farrash 20 -. 16 A third farrash 15 12 A cook's disciple, or scullery-).^ 076 man J A washerman, or woman who) - i A A ,, >35 1 o can wash and iron thoroughly) A woman-servant or nurse .. 25 100 Ahead-groom 30 .. .. ..150 An under-groom 20 16 F 2 08 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. I have struggled against the system repeatedly. I have even caused muleteers to be paid in my presence, and have given them a present for civility, and have then ordered the man off the premises, not allowing my servants to leave the house ; or I have paid by cheque on a native banker ; but I am sure the servants got their commission, and shared it in certain proportions arranged among themselves. Another source of revenue to servants is the system of vails. This is, I am glad to say, being lessened. At one time tho. Europeans encouraged it. I remember, after I had been about a year in the country, going to stay with Pierson in Teheran, on a visit of five weeks : I gave his head-servant to distribute amongst the rest two hundred and fifty kerans, or ten pounds. The man's face did not express a lively satisfaction, though that was merely policy ; and as I was riding out of the gate, the " dog-boy," a youth retained to feed the five or six dogs my friend kept, seized my bridle, and asked me roughly, " Where was his present ? " This was more than mortal man could stand ; I thonged the fellow, going back afterwards to explain and apologise to his master, who turned him out then and there. Thus a servant, though he nominally feeds and clothes himself, has his wages, his profits, his presents which each servant gets from his master at the New Year generally a month's pay his vails, and his master's old clothes; as these fetch a high price in the bazaar, they are an important item in the servant's budget. In addition to this, he gets a small allowance when travelling, and on the road his master feeds him. So that, taken altogether, his position is not a bad one, the emoluments of my head-man, for instance, being more than that of a native country doctor in fair practice. I felt considerable satisfaction at this time at the visits to my dispensary of the " hakim bashi " (chief doctor), or rather one of those who had that title in Hamadan. He expressed himself as eager to learn, and knew a few words of French. I was, of course, delighted to give him any information I could, and he seemed very grateful for instruction ; he, how- ever, turned out afterwards to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, and was very nearly the cause of my stay in Persia being brought to an abrupt termination, a matter which will be duly detailed. VI.J HAKIM BASHI DELLEH. 69 One day one of the servants brought a "delleh "* for sale, a sort of weasel, and of similar size ; he was of an olive-green colour, with a bushy tail, having patches of yellowish-white on the body : a boy dragged him in by a string. He was so fierce no one would go near him, and was evidently carnivorous. He was kept on our platform tied to a ring, till one day he gnawed his thong and bolted into a hole. In this hole he remained, just showing his nose in the daytime, but coming out at night, when he was generally pursued by our dogs, who roamed about the place loose. I had been in the habit of feeding the beast on raw meat, of which he was immoderately fond, and after some little trouble I taught him to come to call. The animal got very tame, though extremely pugnacious when teased, bristling his long, soft fur out, like the mongoose, biting savagely, and emitting a short sharp cry of rage. He used to beg for his food, sit in our hands, allow himself to be stroked, and became a great pet with both of us ; but, as he showed a great disinclination to be tied up, we allowed him to live in his hole in the wall. As he grew fat from good living, he discontinued his nocturnal excursions, presenting himself at meals with great regularity ; his intelligence was great, and the servants, who hated him, and looked on him as " nejis," or unclean, kept carefully out of his way ; as did the dogs, most of whom had been bitten severely, and the suddenness of his movements and the sharpness of his cries terrified them. The beast, too, had another mode of defending himself, which I am glad to say he only resorted to once when hard pressed. Two of the dogs had got him in a corner, when suddenly they both bolted, and the delleh made for his hole in a dignified manner. He had employed the mode of defence used by the skunk, and the particular corner of the courtyard, and the two dogs and the delleh were unapproachable for a fortnight. However, the animal had no stronger odour than any other carnivorous beast, save on this occasion, and it probably was his only means of safety. After he had inhabited his hole some months, while he was gambolling on our platform, I saw the * ? Mn stela Sarmatica. 70 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CIIAP. head of a second delleh cautiously protruded and rapidly with- drawn. He had been joined by a female, and after a week or two, she too became quite tame. Like the ferret and mon- goose, these animals waged war against whatever had life, hunting fowls, etc., with the peculiarly stealthy gait so well known. I noticed now that a considerable number of my patients, and Persian acquaintances, and all the servants, were continu- ally pestering me for quinine. The reason was that the high price of this drug, pure as I had it, was a temptation, and as each impostor got a small quantity, my store sensibly diminished. I was loath to stop distributing the drug altogether, as I had been particularly instructed that the giving away of quinine to the sick was beneficial, indirectly, to the good feeling which we desired to produce towards the English in Persia. However, I made a rule only to give away the drug in solu- tion, or, in the case of servants of our own, in the dry state in the mouth. This had the desired effect, and as a rule one dose of the bitter drug caused the most grasping of the domestics to hesitate before applying for a second. This system I adopted during the whole time I was in the country, only giving the crystals to the European staff, and the quinine being distri- buted each year in ounces, where before it had been pounds. In fact, I did away with one of the sources of legitimate (?) modakel of the servants, who had traded on my innocence and simulated fever (intermittent) to obtain what was such very " portable property." One morning, while we were at breakfast under the " talar," we saw a European enter the compound, and a little scene ensued that was sufficiently amusing. I must premise that in those early days of the Persian Telegraph Department, when communication was infrequent, owing to the continual destruc- tion of the line, orders could only be conveyed by letters, which often never reached their destination. The unknown sahib, without announcing himself, or asking if the superintendent were visible, stalked up on to the plat- form and thrust a paper into Pierson's hand. On it was an order to Mr. P to proceed to Hamadan and take charge of the office there. And he (Mr. P ) had that moment VI.] QUININEDISCIPLINE THE CORNET. 71 alighted from his horse, having marched some twelve stages from Ispahan. Pierson took the paper, read it, and said, " Well ? " The stranger replied, " I'm P ." " Have you nothing else to say ? " said Pierson. " No ; I've come to take charge of the office here." Pierson now called for ink, and wrote "Mr. P will proceed at once to Shiraz, and take charge of the office there," and signed it. " You need not discharge your mules, and will start to- morrow. Good morning to you." Mr. P was equal to the occasion ; he walked out of the place without a word, and he did start the next day (on his march of sixteen stages). So much for discipline. Pierson, who played the concertina, cornet, and piano, suggested to me as a pastime that he should teach me the cornet. To this I assented ; and the first thing was to learn to blow. This is not so easy as it seems, and as the noises I produced were not pleasant, Pierson only allowed my practising in the house when he was not at home. The flat roof at sunset was my place to practise, and here I blew to my heart's con- tent. I only blew one note of various loudness, and to my astonishment found I had a rival, whose lungs were stronger than mine ; he, too, blew one note in rapid succession. I blew he blew but his were decidedly the stronger sounds, and he blew longer. I kept up my blowing, but soon came down, feeling my inferiority. The next night I was alone, my rival absent. I blew my one note in rapid succession till I could blow no more. Sud- denly I heard cries, and sounds of beating, and shouts of men and women a row evidently. I blew on. Next morning the British Agent, Syud Houssein (these native agents are appointed by the English Legation in lieu of consuls throughout Persia at the great cities ; they are really news-writers, but act as consuls, and look after English interests), came to Pierson, with a long face, saying that a complaint had been made to him by the Governor, of the conduct of the sahibs in his (Pierson's) house. It appears that when the bath is full of men, and the time allotted to them expires, the bath is cleared, and the 72 IN THE LAND OF THE LIO AND SUN. [CIIAP. bath-man, on its being empty, blows on a buffalo horn for a few minutes a succession of notes. This is the signal to the expectant women, and so on, when the time for the ladies expires, for the men. The lath-man ivas my unknown rival. The day before, the bath being full of women, I proceeded to our roof to indulge in cornet practice. My efforts, alas! were so like the solos of the bath-man, that the Hamadan men of our quarter rushed to, and into the sacred precincts of, the bath. The women who were inside were furious at the unexpected intrusion, and called on their male relatives for protection. A fight ensued, which only ceased on both parties uniting to give the innocent bath-man a sound thrashing; which having thoroughly accomplished to their satisfaction, and broken his buffalo horn, they retired, Tiinc illse laclirymse. The matter was soon explained, and a small present consoled the beaten bath-man, and I gave up the cornet. Syud Houssein was a dignified little man, with the dark complexion and scanty black beard that is supposed to charac- terise the true descendants of the prophet. I fancy myself that while his duties consisted merely in looking after the few Persians who were British subjects in Hamadan, and writing a monthly news-letter to the Legation at Teheran, he was quite happy ; but that the actual presence of the unbeliever in the city itself was not very palatable to him. However, we ever found him kind and courteous, though he avoided breaking bread with us, save in secret and when there was no escape. There are a great many Armenians in Hamadan, and there are villages in the immediate neighbourhood of the place inhabited only by them. They have mostly adopted the Persian dress and language, Armenian being in disuse as a language among those living in Hamadan, and there being no distinctive mark by which one can tell them in either indoor or outdoor dress ; unlike the Armenian of Teheran, who adopts the dress of those of his nation who are Russian subjects, or the Julfa (Ispahan) Armenians, who affect the fez to simulate the Turkish subject, or at times pretend an ignorance of Persian, and disguise themselves as sahibs. A ludicrous instance of this occurred once when I was coming into Shiraz chupparee. In the distance I saw under some trees, by a running brook, where generally travellers from Shiraz bid VI.] BEATEN BATH-MANARMENIANS. 73 their friends farewell, what appeared to me an officer in the full-dress uniform of the English (?) army. I was intrigued, and as the trees were off the road I cantered up to the group. I found one of our Armenian signallers in a full-dress engineer officer's scarlet mess-jacket, jack-boots, a full-dress uniform cap, lambswool drawers (sewn up in front) to simulate buckskins, a huge cavalry sabre, and three revolvers. The fact was that he had assumed what he supposed to be the correct get-up of an English officer of rank, in order that if any highway robbers met him (the country was very disturbed at the time) on his seven days' inarch to Abadeh, they might refrain from attacking him. He arrived safely. Unfortu- nately these assumptions of the appearance of the European by Armenians does not add to the respect which the real sahib receives. Some of the tales these people tell to increase their own importance in the eyes of their oppressors, the Persians, are ingenious and amusing. When I was living in Julfa, an Armenian village close to Ispahan, which had been for divers reasons made the headquarters of the Persian Telegraph Department in that place, I was called upon by a great per- sonage, the farmer of the taxes, a Persian, one Eahim Khan. After the usual compliments, he remarked, in conversation, that " I must be very glad to live in so holy a place as Julfa. Full, too, of churches." I demurred. " But amidst your co-religionists, men whom you so much revere." This was too much. I told him that " we could not respect the Armenians, but that we pitied them for the many years of oppression they had undergone, which probably had brought out the bad points in their characters." He would not be denied. " But you revere them ? " he persisted, " Quite the contrary." He burst into a laugh. " Ah ! dogs, and sons of dogs as they are," he replied ; " only the other day one of them told me, on my congratulating him on the presence of their protectors, the English for you know, sahib, before the Feringhis came, they were as are now the Jews that they were not complimented, but rather the Europeans ; for, said the dog, ' we are to them 74 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AftD SUN. [CHAP. VI. what your Syuds (descendants of the prophet) are to you, noble sir ' in fact, holy men." This anecdote is characteristic of the Armenian. The Hamadan Armenian is brighter and more civilised than his Ispahan confrere, his frequent journey ings to Kussia having sharpened him, while there being only two priests in the place he is not bigoted. He has adopted the manners and dress of the Persian, also his language, and is so far less exposed to annoyance by the reigning people; in fact, in Hamadan he is not looked on or treated as an outcast ; while in Julfa the national dress, specially apparent in the female attire, the national language, and their ignorance and lack of politeness, make them a people apart. The gist of the matter is, that in Hamadan and its environs, the Armenian is simply a Persian, not a Mahommedan ; while in Julfa he is an Armenian of the Armenians ; " and the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." As to the Jews, their position is terrible. Probably in no country in the world are they treated worse than in Persia. Beaten, despised, and oppressed, cursed even by slaves and children, they yet manage to exist, earning their living as musicians, dancers, singers, jewellers, silver- and gold- smiths, midwives, makers and sellers of wine and spirits. When anything very filthy is to be done a Jew is sent for. CHAPTEE VII. HAMADAN. Tomb of Esther and Mordecai Spurious coins Treasure finding Interest A gunge Oppression A cautious finder Yari Khan We become trea- sure seekers We find Our cook Toffee Pole buying Modakel I am nearly caught A mad dog Rioters punished Murder of the innocents. HAMADAN has no show place save the shrines of Esther and Mordecai. A poor-looking, blue-tiled dome or "gombeza," some fifty feet in height, surmounts the shrine, and covers the tombs themselves ; the rest of the building is in red brick, in many places mudded over. It presents the appearance of an ordinary minor shrine. In the outer chamber is nothing remarkable. A low door leads to another apartment by a passage ; on crawling through this inner passage, which can only be done with considerable discomfort, almost on hands and knees, one enters a vaulted chamber, floored with common blue tiles. There is no splendour here, and nothing to attract the cupidity of the Persians. In one corner lay a heap of common " cherragh," or oil lamps of burnt clay, covered with blue glaze, such as are used by the poor. They are on the same principle as the classic lamp, a reservoir for the oil or fat, with a projection in which lies the wick of twisted cotton or rag ; these lamps will give a dull, smoky light for some hours without trimming. Our guides, two evil-looking and squalid Jews, informed us that twice a year the place was illuminated. In the centre of the apart- ment stood two wooden arks, almost devoid of ornament, but of considerable age ; these were thickly sprinkled with small pieces of paper, on which were inscriptions in the Hebrew cha- racter, the paper being stuck on as is a label. Our guides could only tell us that pious Jewish pilgrims were in the habit of affixing these to the arks. We could not even ascertain 76 IN THE LAND OF THE LION* AND SUN. [CHAP. which was the tomb of Esther and which that of Mordecai. The arks were shaped like dog-kennels, and had a slightly orna- mented pinnacle of wood at either extremity of their roofs. The guides declined to allow Pierson to make a drawing of them ; but I fancy this was merely done to extract a further gratuity. Nothing else was in the place save a poor and much-thumbed copy of the Jewish Scriptures, quite modern and in the book form. When we left the tomb, after having gratified the two Jews, one produced from his pocket a large bag of what appeared to be ancient coins, both copper and silver. We examined these, and I was anxious to make a purchase ; but Pierson assured me that they were spurious. And the Jew, after many pro- testations, acknowledged that they were so, with the excep- tion of a few coins of Alexander the Great, with the head in high relief ; and Sassanian coins of various monarchs, on the reverse of which were always represented figures and an altar (of a fire temple). These two sorts of coin are so common in Persia as to be absolutely worth merely their weight in silver, and the coins of the Sassanian monarchs are constantly being found in crocks. Treasure-finding in Persia is a frequent thing, and is easily to be accounted for in a country where the bankers are simply money-changers, and there is a danger of being a mark for the oppressor in being thought a rich man. The only way to invest money is in land or houses ; either of these methods are subject to the same objection, the owner is known to be a man of property ; and unless he can buy protection is subject to exactions and extortions innumerable. Burying or secreting remains ; for a good Mussulman will not lend his money at interest, though many who are not strict do so, the current rate of interest among merchants being twelve per cent, per annum, paid monthly ; while, where there is risk at all, or the loan is given without full security, twenty-five to forty per cent, is often exacted. Kuins of all sorts abound in every part of Persia, and these ruins are constantly being either levelled for cultivation, the earth being valued as a fertiliser (they are many of them of mud), or taken down and removed in donkey-loads for the sake of the old 'burnt bricks, which it is found practically cheaper to obtain in this manner than to make and burn ; for VII.] JEWS TttEASURE-TROVE. 77 an old brick is more valuable to the builder, being always a good brick, to the new one, which is often small and worthless, except for ornamental facings of decorative brickwork an art in which the Persians, particularly in Shiraz, have attained a great proficiency, but which, from the poverty of the country, and the less substantial mode of building practised on that account in the present day, is rapidly dying out. In these various operations the discovery of a " gunge," or treasure, is not infrequent, although such a find is not always a very profitable transaction for the finder. I have known three such instances. One occurred at a place called Bonaat, in the province of Fars, some five stages from Shiraz. The finder was a man of learning, who had a house and a few acres of land at this place. He had mostly lived at Baghdad, where he had been well educated, but, on his marriage, bought the little estate at Bonaat. He found one day in the mud wall of his house, a very old one which he was rebuilding, five jars full of coin. He sent away the workmen, but not before some of them were aware of the discovery, and at once proceeded to bury the treasure (of the truth of this story there is no doubt). Two or three days after this, a messenger from the owner of the greater part of the country in the neighbourhood arrived, and he proceeded to demand the whole of the treasure-trove ; he gave no good reason, simply saying that his master meant to have it. The finder tried to make terms with the man, but, -unfortunately, he had no means of bribing him but with the actual coins found, which the messenger was anxious but afraid to accept. Taking possession of all the contents of one jar, which my acquaintance with many protests placed at his disposal, the great man's retainer produced a written order for the man to accompany him to Shiraz, and, putting two men in charge of the house and the rest of the treasure, the poor fellow's wife, child, and servant being sent off to a neighbour's without ceremony, they started at once for the residence of the man in power at that place. The end of the matter was, that the contents of all five jars went to this grandee, while nothing remained to the unhappy finder but the suspicion of his having secreted a still greater treasure, and he went about in fear of his life, frequent demands being made for the supposed 78 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. balance still hidden. In disgust he sold his house and land for a trifle, and went to Bushire, where, under the shadow of the British Kesidency, he was safe from further troubles. I never got other details than this, but I am in a position to vouch for their truth. Another case was that of a villager who found a treasure of coin in the ruins of a mud village close to Ispahan. He, luckily for himself, was alone, and managed to transport the whole amount, little by little, to a place of safety. Shortly after this he set out, as a poor man, to walk the pilgrimage to Mecca. This was sufficient and valid excuse for a disappear- ance for two years. This time he wisely employed in the safe investment of the amount. He went in rags, he returned in comparative affluence ; and though often accused of the crime of having discovered a treasure, he wisely denied it ; and having secured by a handsome payment the protection of a local magnate, whom he had, doubtless, to heavily subsidise each year, he remained a wealthy man, and will probably be allowed to die in his bed. The last case was that of a peasant of the neighbourhood of Zinjan, and occurred within the last five years. It was reported to the local governor that a peasant named Yari was in the habit of selling ingots of gold to the Jews of Zinjan at a rate considerably below the market price ; the governor seized the man, searched his house, finding a considerable quantity of gold in ingots therein, and, as the matter had now become public, reported the whole affair to Teheran, with a statement that the fellow had discovered a gold-mine, or found "the treasure of King Darius," or the way to make gold! This " treasure of King Darius " is a legendary myth that is constantly occurring to the minds of the inflammable Persians. An order came to take the man at once to the capital, but he simply denied either the treasure or the mine, stating that he had found a few ingots, and sold them gradually. But the evidence pointed another way, for the appliances for fusing the metal, of a rough description, were found in his house, and what could an obscure villager know of fusing gold ? The man remained a long time in prison in Teheran, and it is stated on the best authority that means were employed to cause him to speak, which are common in the East, but are VII.] JEWISH COIN FABRICATOR. 79 happily no longer in use in Europe (save, it is said, in Turkey). At last he confided to his jailors that he had discovered a gold-mine in the hills ; the excitement was intense, he received at once a dress of honour and the title of Khan, equivalent to our knighthood i.e., it converts a nobody into a somebody. And Yari Khan, carefully guarded and treated with considera- tion, was taken to Zinjan that he might point out the site of the mine, for his descriptions, though very graphic, had not enabled the searchers to find it. On his arrival he endeavoured by an opportune illness to put off the evil day, but as finding the mine was of more importance to the authorities than the health of a villager, he was soon conveyed to the mountains where he had carefully indicated its situation. But he could not or would not find it. Free recourse was had to the bastinado, but no mine. The man was cast into prison, and doubtless, unless ere this he is dead, or has confessed the source of his wealth, or found means to administer a bribe ; he is still in prison on the lowest diet and a frequent administration of stick, even if other and nameless horrors be not resorted to. Pierson told me that one of the occupations of the Hamadan Jews is the manufacture of the so-called ancient coins ; these are sent in large quantities to Baghdad, Teheran, Ispahan, and Constantinople, and sold there to the unsuspicious or ignorant European. He told me, too, that Hamadan has a great reputation for the finding of real antiquities, and that many of the Jews actually paid a small sum for the privilege of searching the ground in certain spots, taking the chance of a find or a blank day. A Jew readily acceded to the proposal that he and two labourers should be paid for their time, and a few kerans should be given by us for permission to dig, and the intrinsic value of any object in the precious metals handed over to him, the objects themselves being ours. A few days after, the Jew came to show us the place, some mile from the town where the search was taking place. Two labourers dug some foot of the surface earth away in clods and piled it in heaps. The Jew watched the labourers, and we watched the Jew. After they had uncovered the whole of the ten yards square, which it was agreed that we should dig, the labourers set to to sift it through a coarse sieve, but nothing 80 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. was found ; a second sifting, however, which we noticed that the Jew watched with much more curiosity than the first, produced four small cubes of gold ; they were about one-third of an inch cube, and were composed of tiny beads of pure gold soldered together, a hole being left in two of the opposite sides for stringing ; they were hollow, and about two pounds in value (the four). We found only these, and they were too few to form an ornament, though doubtless real relics of ancient Ecbatana. So we rewarded our Jew, and dug no more for hidden treasure, or rather antiquities. I frequently laugh at our housekeeping experiences in those early days. We paid our cook ten kerans a day each for our messing, but every little extra was debited to us with stern accuracy ; as one day we made a pound of toffee, and at the month's end were charged, " For making the Feringhi sweet- meat, fifteen shillings ! " These items and the pay of my servants and my horse-keep made me fear that I should not be able to live on my pay ; but I soon found that the cook was simply charging us four times the cost of our living. As Pierson was now leaving for Teheran, I was able to manage with a humbler cook on a less extravagant scale, and live better. An amusing instance of the inveterate habit of making modakel now occurred prior to Pierson's departure. In the early days of the Telegraph Department in Persia the line was supported by wooden poles, generally poplar, and much trouble was found in buying these. It would have been im- possible for a European to buy them at all, and as the natives had to be employed, it taxed all Pierson's ingenuity to prevent wholesale robbery taking place. The poles had to be paid for, and the buyer and seller generally managed to put their heads together to make the " Dowlet Ingleez" (English Government) pay a very fancy price. Some poles were suddenly very urgently required, and the Sarhang or Colonel, the chief of the officials of the Persian office of the telegraph in Hamadan, the moonshee * or interpreter, a member of our staff, a native of Baghdad, and Pierson's head-servant or nazir, were sent together to buy poles to the tune of kerans two thousand four hundred, in the * More correctly munshi. VII.] TOFFEE rOLE-BUYING. 81 villages in the neighbourhood, on the principle that each would act as a check on the other. These gentry divided their money into two portions, half to be profit and half to buy poles. The poles were purchased ; but when they returned, the moonshee desired an interview with Pierson. After pointing out his own integrity and high sense of honour (this man's English was peculiar ; it had been acquired of the sailors in Baghdad, and was freely interlarded with oaths ; but, worst of all, he had never learnt the use of the words very, more, and most, substituting the more homely expression which is used by Anglo-Saxons for sanguinary, as a word moaning all three ; his conversation was thus less choice than forcible), he communicated to Pierson that half of the sum said to be expended had been set aside as plunder, but that he was no party to such arrangement. When I heard of the matter I set it down to disinterested virtue, but Pierson, whose experience of the Oriental was larger than mine, determined to sift the matter. Hardly had the moonshee retired than the nazir requested private interview, and stated that he too felt impelled by I virtuous indignation to discover to his master the wicked con- piracy of the Colonel and the moonshee, who had agreed to ivide the hundred and twenty tomans illicitly gained into liree shares, making forty for each; but that the Colonel iuggested to him that it would be better to give the moonshee .othing, which would leave them, the sarhang and himself, ixty each. " Of course, I report the affair to the sahib, and he will use is discretion," he said. The next morning Pierson sent for he Colonel, who denied the whole matter, produced receipts .uly sealed for the payment of the whole two thousand four lUndred kerans, and indignantly protested his honesty : ;< Comme officier Persan decore par sa Majeste ! " (he spoke 'rench fluently.) On an inquiry being instituted, it came iut that the original idea was, as the moonshee said, to divide he plunder into three shares. Then, as the nazir said, into :wo hence the honesty of the moonshee ; and at last the Colonel resolved to keep the whole himself, which accounted or the virtue of the nazir. The money was disgorged, and ho chief of the Persian Telegraph in Teheran fined his 82 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. subordinate in Hamadan forty pounds, or one hundred tomans. So there is not always, in Persia at least, "Honour among thieves." Pierson left for Teheran, and I was alone in Hamadan with no one to speak to but the two corporals of engineers, who were the office staff, and the two others, who were inspectors of the line. I was then very ardent, and pushed my dispensary work, having many and interesting cases, and finding my patients, especially among the poor, increasing in number. Eamazan was gayer in his attire than ever, and my knowledge of the colloquial increased rapidly. I had, however, to freely have recourse to pantomime, as my only interpreter, the moonshee, now Pierson was away, seldom came near me. But I had, without knowing it, raised up enemies among the native doctors. I found that, if I could not get money from my better-class patients, I could get experience ; and I had commenced a system of seeing every one gratuitously. Of course I had no lack of patients, but the effect was, that the consulting-rooms of the native doctors were emptied, as the Persians would always prefer gratuitous physic with the additional " tamasha " (show) of a European doctor, to paying those who practised medicine strictly as taught by Aflatoon (Plato), Abu Senna (Avicenna), Gralenus (Galen), and Pocrat (Hippocrates). This state of things was naturally intolerable to the profession in Hamadan, and my pseudo-friend, the Hakim- bashi, with the rest of his brethren, took steps to frighten me, in order to make me cease my obnoxious system. I had been sitting quietly in the courtyard when my servant ran in to say that there was a mob at the door. I went on the roof and found it was so ; some two hundred ragamuffins were assembled ; they hooted me, and said a good deal evidently of an uncomplimentary nature. After a while stones began to come. I returned with a gun, which I valiantly discharged over their heads, shouting " Bero ! " ("Be off!") for I felt that, if I did not get rid of the small mob, a big one would soon form, at whose hands I should fare badly. How- ever, the gun effectually frightened the fellows off, and the space outside my door was cleared. I got on my horse to go to the telegraph-office and seek advice. Off I started, accom- panied by my servants (three) and all Pierson's dogs. I noticed on the road that one of these dogs behaved in an VII.] AM MOBBED MAD DOGS. 83 eccentric manner, attacking several people ; but I was too occupied and excited by niy own affairs to take much notice. On getting to the office, I at once sent a message to the director in Teheran, and his promptitude prevented any further un- pleasantness to me. Orders came by wire to the Governor of Harnadan to punish the rioters the next morning; and ere I left the office a guard of soldiers (at the instance of our British Agent in Hamadan, who had heard of the affair) was sent to escort me to my house, four sentries being placed to relieve guard at my door. . I felt now that all was safe, and the only result was that my friend the Hakim-bashi, who got up the row, was severely bastinadoed by the Governor. On my return to the house I noticed the very extraordinary behaviour of " Jill," a black setter, one of a pair (" Jack " and " Jill ") belonging to Pierson ; she snapped and bit, emitting a peculiar cry, and showed signs of rabies. I shut her up and made inquiries ; it appeared that she, an unusually quiet and playful dog generally, had bitten every dog in the house. Those were a very fine Arab greyhound arid two young bull- terriers of Pierson's, a Persian greyhound of my own, and a little while dog owned by the cook for Persians will often own and pet a small, long-haired dog. Undoubtedly all had been bitten. There was nothing for it but (Jill being now certainly rabid, for I had watched her, and she was eating earth and uttering the special cry which, once heard, can never be forgotten) to destroy them all ; this I had done, and the cook wept bitterly, but assented to the measure. It is sad, in such a place as Persia, to lose all one's four-footed friends at one fell swoop ; but so it was, and thus ended an exciting day. I have never seen, except on this occasion, a rabid dog in Persia ; and as it is a country where water is very scarce, it shows that want of water can have little to do with causing rabies. I never either saw or heard of a case of hydrophobia in Persia. o 2 CHAPTEE VIII. HAMADAN. Antelope Hunting and hawking Shooting from the saddle Thief-catching The prince offers his services as head-servant Our hunting party The prince takes the honours Kabobs A provincial grandee His stud Quail- shooting A relative of the king Persian dinner Musicians and singers Parlour magic The auderun Cucumber-jam Persian home-life Grate- ful Armenians Lizards Talking lark Pigeon-flying Fantails Pigeons' ornaments Immorality of pigeon-flying Card-playing Chess Games Wrestlin g Pehli wans Gy inn asti cs. THE "poor prince," Abu Self Mirza, called one day and suggested our going the next morning to hunt antelope, promising to show us sport. When posting from Teheran we had seen several herds of antelope, generally five or six animals together ; and on one occasion, as I have noted, a string had suddenly crossed the road within ten yards of us a thing very unusual, and which never occurred to me since. The hunting of the antelope is a favourite pastime among the grandees of Persia, and is also practised by the villagers, who will fre- quently get a pot-shot from behind a stone when the animals visit their drinking-places. They are either pursued with relays of dogs, shot from the saddle, or, rarely, hawked with a specially large kind of falcon, who always succeeds in stopping them till the dogs pull them down. Our plan was the second one. After drinking tea, we started one afternoon and marched out some seven farsakhs into a sandy wilderness ; the shah- zadeh (or prince), who was a well-known shikari, shooting several small birds from the saddle while at full gallop, to show his skill. Abu Seif Mirza, after holding small offices at the courts of the different Governors of Hamadan, such as mirshikar (or chief huntsman), ser-cashikji-bashi (or chief of the guard), etc., had given up the life of a courtier, and tried to support CHAP. VIII.] THIEF-CATCHING. 85 himself by agriculture ; this did not answer, for the prince, though a sober man, was a spendthrift. He told us an anecdote, which we found on inquiry to be quite correct. On one occasion the Governor of Hamadan sent for him, and offered him a present of forty pounds and a dress of honour if he would rid the environs of the town of a certain highway-robber. The grandson of a king did not hesitate, and set about the matter in a business-like way. " My great object," said he, " was to obtain the reward intact, and so the only thing was to do the job myself, as going out in a party in search of the robber would have been ex- pensive, and he would have got wind of it and kept out of the way. I consequently put on the dress of a substantial villager, disguised myself as a man of the pen by a big turban and huge slippers down at heel, mounted a donkey provided with a big pair of full saddle-bags, and started for the neigh- bourhood where the robber carried on his trade. At the first stage I purposely started after all other travellers had left, so as to make myself a conspicuous mark for attack, and as I apparently carried no weapons, I seemed, doubtless, an easy prey. " On getting some half-way to the village to which I was proceeding, I was suddenly pounced upon by two men armed to the teeth, who rushed out from behind a ruined wall and covered me with their guns. I placed my donkey whom I was driving between us, and immediately simulated abject fear. * Aman, aman ! ' (' Mercy, mercy ! ') ' Oh, masters ! ' I cried out ; ' I am a poor priest.' " The men, seeing me apparently unarmed, lowered their guns and demanded my money; with many protestations I thrust each hand into the long pockets of my outer garments, and whipping out a brace of pistols before they had time to raise their weapons, I had shot one through the heart, and now rushed on the other, ordering him to drop his gun or I would fire ; he was too astonished to resist. I bound him firmly, and informing him that on the first attempt to escape I should either hamstring or shoot him, I proceeded to reload my dis- charged pistol. I now searched them both, but only found a few kerans on them. I laid the dead man across my donkey he it was on whom the price had been set ; I shook the priming out of their guns and removed the flints, and we got -.5 86 IN THE LAND OF THE LION 4TD SUN. [CHAP. safely back to the caravanserai from which I had started. The next morning I brought my prisoner and the dead man into Hamadan. Of course the fellow was duly executed, but the dog of a Governor never gave me anything but a colt worth some fifty kerans a bad business, sahib ; and though the catching the thieves did not cost me much, on other occasions I didn't get off so cheaply." Here he showed us several scars of sword-wounds. The prince now changed the subject to that of servants. Addressing Pierson, he asked him what wages he gave his head-man (nazir). Pierson told him he gave two pounds a month. " And he robs you, I suppose ? " Of course." " Why not engage an intelligent and honest man ? " " You know, Prince, I can't find such a man in Persia." " Don't call me ' Prince,' " he said. " A man so poor as I am should do as I have done and drop the title ; I only call myself ' Khan ' ' and here the tears were in his eyes " till till I can find myself in bread and my horse in food. Let me see ; five tomans a month, the usual modakel say ten tomans, my commission say twenty tomans ; thirty-five tomans a noble position ! try me" Pierson was amused, and treated the matter as a joke. " No," said the prince, " it is real earnest. I will come to you the day after to-morrow." Pierson pointed out that it was impossible. " I can't see it," said the prince ; " in Persia the servants of the king may attain the highest offices of the State ; there is no degradation in being a servant. What is the chief vizier but the king's head-servant ? " The matter passed over, and Pierson did not engage a King of Persia's grandson as his domestic. We put up for the night in a village, and were sufficiently comfortable. At two A.M. we rose, and started at three. Abu Seif Khan (as I may now call him, for so he desired to be addressed) directed us to load with slugs, which he declared much more favourable than a bullet, and gave us his directions, which Pierson explained to me. They were, first, that it is no use to follow an antelope unless he is hit ; second, to be sure not to firo until near enough ; third, to keep our eyes open, VIII.] ROYAL APPLICANT HUNTING. 87 and note the animals ere they could see us. The antelope, the prince told us, always make straight for their lairs, avoiding the mountains, and the only way to get a shot is to attempt to cross their track, and to fire at the point where the animal is actually nearest. He particularly warned us as to the futility of following the animal, unless wounded, and definitely instructed us always to fire on the slightest chance, and to keep the horse at his greatest speed when doing so, " as unless he is really going venire a terre it is impossible to attain accuracy. If you do make a hit follow the beast as long as you can see him, then follow his track if you can find it." It was now nearly dawn, and we were going straight for a range of low hills, and as yet had seen nothing. Our Mmrod now stopped, and directed our two grooms to continue slowly straight towards the hills, now three miles off, in order to disturb the animals, while we turned our horses' heads to a direction nearly parallel with the range, but tending towards it, going at an amble. Every now and then we saw groups of antelope in the distance, on the plain on our right, but nothing between us and the hills. Abu Seif Khan explained that to follow these would be hopeless, and that our chance was that the servants, with whom were the dogs, would put something up, and that we should attempt to head them, in which we should certainly fail, but that we should have a chance for a shot. All the dogs had been sent with the servants except the Persian's, which, though of strange appearance, could both, so the prince said, hunt by sight and scent, and would find an antelope if we had the luck to wound one. The ground was good going, a plain of sand and gravel, a few loose stones lying about, and a rock or two protruding occasionally ; the whole having a greenish tinge from the tufts of young spring grass growing here and there, and as yet undried by the fierce sun : patches of thorn-bushes (bhuta) were frequent, but there was no cover of any kind. The sun now rose, and the few antelope we had seen, which before had appeared black, now became white, but they were all on the open plain and quite out of our reach, of which they seemed well aware, as they continued grazing. Our leader adjured us to keep a sharp look-out, and kept 88 IX THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. himself carefully watching the space between the hills and us, more especially in our rear. At last we saw four rapidly moving spots : to dash for the hills was the work of a moment. The spots on our left became galloping antelope. How we thirsted for their blood, and we raced apparently with them as to who should attain first a point half-way between us and the hills. On they came, and on we went ; our horses needed no stimulus, our guns were on full cock. Pierson, who had borne too much to the left, came near them first, or rather, they came near him, for they seemed to fly. He did not raise his gun. Now was my turn. I was, I fancy, some hundred or perhaps ninety yards from the animals, and I should have fired as they crossed me, bearing to my left, and thus had them broad- side on, but I forgot the Persian's caution ; my horse was going well, and I thought I must get nearer. I bore to my right and followed ; but, alas ! I found my " Senna " seemed, having made a supreme effort, to die away-; the antelope were doubtless well out of range when I fired my two barrels, without effect of course. I did not attempt to reload, but watched the prince, who with loud cries, had kept well to the right, fire first one barrel and then the other ; at the second discharge the third antelope swerved, but kept on his course, and the animals were soon out of sight, Abu Seif Khan tearing after them in hot pursuit, loading as he went. Pierson now galloped up, and we cantered after the prince, although we were doubtful if his eager pur- suit was aught but mere bounce. But, no ; after a smart canter of about two miles, we saw the Persian stop behind a low sandhill, dismount, look carefully to his gun, ramming down his charge again for precaution's sake, and flinging off his huge, loose riding-boots and his heavy coat, he com- menced climbing the mound, crouching as he went. He had previously by a gesture warned us to remain where we were. As soon as he reached the top of the mound he fired and disappeared on the other side We cantered up, and found him cutting the throat of a fine buck ahu (antelope). He now set to in a sportsman-like manner to disembowel the aninia], and it was soon slung en croupe on his horse. It appeared that his first shot was unsuccessful, but the second had injured the fore-leg of one of the herd. As he } VIII.] RESULT OF CHASE A STUD. 89 instantly followed, he noticed that one lagged a little behind, and that four passed behind the sandhill but only three re- appeared. The sequel we had seen. The sun was now high, and it was close on eight ; we marched slowly back to the village and breakfasted on antelope kabobs ; that is to say, small lumps of meat of the size of a half walnut skewered in the usual manner of a piece of meat, a shred of onion, a piece of liver, a shred of onion, a piece of kidney, and so on ; they were impaled on a long skewer and turned rapidly over a fierce fire of wood-ashes until cooked ; and very tender they were. The Persians always cook an animal before it is yet cold, and thus ensure tenderness, otherwise antelope-meat must hang ten days to be eatable, for we do not boil venison as they do in Persia. We started from the village at midnight, and marched till nine A.M., arriving at a large village by a river, called Mahrand, thirty miles from Hamadan, the owner of which, Mahommed Houssein Khan, Mahrandi, had invited us to visit him for a few days ; we were to hunt the antelope and have some quail- shooting. Our host, a great friend of Pierson's, was an enor- mous man of great wealth, whose life was a harmless one, passed generally in his own village, and he was liked by his acquaintances, and adored by his ryots (villagers). Simple- minded in the extreme, he had, save a fondness for the bottle a fault common with the wealthy in Persia no vices such as are usual in the Persians of towns. We stayed with him four days ; the first morning some fifty horses were paraded for our inspection, for our host bred very fine animals, and among other taxes had to find yearly three fine beasts fit for the royaJ stables. As we sat at a window just raised from the ground, the entire string were led or ridden past us ; but as the clothing was on, one could not see much of them. This clothing consists of a perhan (shirt) of fine woollen blanketing, which envelops the whole body of the animal, being crossed over the chest, but all above the withers is bare. Over this is the jul, or day clothing ; this the horse wears summer and winter, save during the midday time in summer, when he is either naked or has only the perhan on. The jul is of the same shape as the perhan, but is of coarser 90 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AtfD SUN. [CHAP. texture and lined with felt. Over the jul is the nammad,* or outer felt. This is a sheet of felt half or three-quarters of an inch thick, and so long that it can be drawn over the horse's head and neck while the quarters are still well covered, thus completely enveloping the animal in a warm and waterproof covering, and enabling him to stand the cold of winter in the draughty stables of the caravanserai, or even, as is frequently required, to camp out. (During all the summer months in Persia the horses sleep outside.) This nammad is held in its place by a long strip of broad cotton webbing, which is used as a surcingle, and usually, except at night, the part of the nammad used to cover the neck is doubled down over the animal's body. As the procession went by we gave free vent to our admira- tion ; as Pierson acknowledged, he had never seen such a collec- tion of horses. I, too, was surprised. Some dozen of the finer animals were stripped, and as we admired each, the usual empty compliment of " Peishkesh-i-shuma " ("A present to you ") was paid us. The quail-shooting was good fun ; we marched through the green wheat in a row of some ten, horses and servants follow- ing, and the birds got up in every direction, a very large bag being made, though probably as many more were lost in the high wheat. The peculiar cry of the bird resounded in every direction. Several princes were among the guests of Mahommed Houssein Khan, and he and his sons showed us and them the greatest kindness and attention. In the afternoon suddenly arrived Suleiman Mirza (literally Prince Solomon), a near relative of the king, who was return- ing from a pilgrimage to the burial-place of the saints at Kerbela, near Baghdad. This man was quite a Daniel Lambert, moving with difficulty, very old, but of a very merry disposition ; a good deal of joking took place after his arrival. After an apparently interminable Persian dinner, which consisted of some hundred plats, among which may be favour- ably mentioned the pillaws of mutton or fowls, boiled and * Or nu m mud. till.] PRINCE SOLOMON A BANQUET. 91 /smothered in rice, in rice and orange-peel, in rice and lentils, in rice and haricots, in rice and " schewed," a herb somewhat resembling fennel ; the fizinjans of fowls and boiled meats ; also partridges boiled and served with the concentrated juice of the pomegranate and pounded walnuts ; kabobs of lamb and antelope ; a lamb roasted whole, stuffed with dates, pis- tachios, chestnuts, and raisins ; salt fish from the Caspian ; extract of soup with marrow floating in it ; dolmas, or dump- lings, made of minced meat and rice, highly flavoured and wrapped in vine leaves and fried ; rissoles ; wild asparagus boiled ; new potatoes, handed round cold, and eaten with salt ; while roast quails, partridges, and doves were served with lettuces, drenched with honey and vinegar. Each guest was supplied with a loaf of flat bread as a plate, and another for eating. We all sat on the ground, some twenty in all, round a huge tablecloth of red leather, if I may use that expression for a large sheet of leather laid on the ground. Suleiman Mirza, as the king's relative, occupied the place of honour. On the other hand of our host sat Pierson, and I next him, while Abu Seif Mirza, as a prince, took his position by right on the other side of the great man, and was by him punctiliously addressed as prince, and generally treated as one. Huge china bowls of sherbet were placed down the centre of the sufrah (tablecloth), and in each bowl was an elaborately-carved wooden spoon, which were used indiscriminately ; these spoons held a gill, and were drunk from, no glasses being used. During the time the dinner was progressing little conversa- tion took place, everybody being engaged in eating as much of as many dishes as possible. But a band of villagers played the santur, a sort of harmonicon ; the tumbak, or small drum, played on with the tips of the fingers there were two tumbak players ; the neh or flute, or, more properly speaking, reed ; and the deyeereh, literally circle, a kind of large tambourine, played, like the tumbak, with the tips of the fingers. As soon as every one had (literally) eaten his fill, Suleiman Mirza, the king's relative, rose, and we all got up. In lieu of grace each man said, " Alhamdillilah ! " (" Thank God ! ") and from politeness most of the guests eructated, showing that they were thoroughly satisfied. This ceremony is common through the East, and it is 92 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AftD SUN. [On/ considered the height of rudeness to the host to abstain from it. Coffee was now handed round, and pipes were brought. A singer, too, commenced a ditty, which he shouted as do coster- mongers when crying their wares in England ; he put his hand to the side of his mouth to increase the sound, his face became crimson with his efforts, the muscles and veins stood out in relief on his neck, and his eyes nearly started from their sockets. He frequently paused to take breath, and ceased amid loud applause. The singing and music were kept up till a late hour. Politeness prevented our retiring, but we longed for rest ; and on Pierson's being tormented into a long disquisition on magic, he seized the opportunity to get away by stratagem. Telling the fat prince that, as he insisted on seeing the magic of the West, he would gratify him, he placed the old gentleman on a mattress, and putting four princes (he insisted on royal blood), standing each on one leg at the four corners, with a lighted lamp in each hand, he gravely assured them that we should retire and perform an incantation, while, if no one laughed or spoke, on our return the lights would burn blue. We got to bed, barricaded ourselves in our room, and tried to sleep. After some few minutes, loud shouts announced the discovery of the ruse, and a party arrived to bring us back, but too late, for we had retired. Next morning I was asked to see some of the ladies of the family. So little does this village khan observe the Mahom- medan rule of veiling the women, that I was allowed to pass my whole morning in his auderun. My host's wife, a huge woman of five-and-forty in appearance, but in reality about thirty-five, was intent on household cares ; she was making cucumber-jam. The cucumber having been cut into long slices the thickness of an inch, and the peel and seeds re- moved, had been soaked in lime-water some month; this was kept frequently changed, and the pieces of cucumber were now quite transparent. They were carefully put in a simmering stew- pan of strong syrup, which was placed over a wood fire, and, after cooking for a quarter of an hour, the pieces of cucumber were carefully laid in an earthen jar, and the syrup poured over them, spices being added. I fancy that about a hundredweight of this preserve was made that morning. When cold the cucumber was quite crisp ; VIII.] MAGIC - ANDERUN LIZARDS. 93 tlie result satisfied our hostess, and she presented me with a seven-pound jar. Our host's young son, a youth of seventeen, caused con- siderable commotion among the two or three negresses by his efforts to get his fingers into the cooling jam-pots ; while his two sisters, nice-looking girls of fifteen and sixteen, tried to restrain his fancy for preserves in vain. We all laughed a great deal, and mother and daughters were full of fun, while the grinning negresses thoroughly enjoyed the noise and laughing. Not having seen a woman's face for three months, these girls seemed to me perhaps better looking than they really were, but I confess returning to the outer regions of the beruni with regret ; and Pierson envied my good fortune in having, as a medico, had a glimpse of Persian home-life which he could never hope for. Keally the patient was, as it often is, a mere excuse for entertaining so strange a being as a Feringhi, and getting thus a good look at him. We went out twice after antelope, which we hunted with relays of dogs ; but as we were not successful, there is little to tell. We returned to Hamadan, regretting the end of a very pleasant visit. On our arrival a grateful patient among the Armenians sent me eighty kerans (three pounds ten) in a little embroidered bag. As the woman could ill afford it, I told her that I would accept the bag as a keepsake, and returned the money. So unheard of a proceeding astonished the Armenian com- munity, and the priest, a wealthy old sinner, saw his way, as he thought, to a stroke of business. I had treated him, too, and he brought me a similar sum in a similar bag.. Great was his disgust when I thanked him for the money and politely returned the bag, and he confided to my servant that, had he thought this would have been the result, he would never have paid a farthing. One day a villager brought us two large lizards, some three feet from snout to the tip of the tail, and we secured them for a couple of kerans. They ran about the place for a week or two, interfering with no one, but did not get tame. The dogs chased them when they were not on the face or top of a wall, and they at first used to bolt; but after a time they stood still, allowed the dog to get within range, and then 94 IN THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. thwack the tail was brought down with tremendous force, and the dog retired howling. After a day or two no dog would go near the lizards. They were uninteresting as pets, and as Pierson once got a severe blow on the shin from one he stumbled over in the dark, we sent them away. They were huge beasts, of a yellow-ochre colour, and lived on flies and chopped meat ; they were never seen to drink. I purchased about this time a talking lark : he seemed the ordinary lark such as we see in England; "torgah" is the Persian name. The bird never sang, but said very plainly, " Bebe, Bebe Tutee," which is equivalent to " Pretty Polly " being really " Lady, lady parrot ; " he varied occasionally by " Bebe jahn " (" Dear lady "). The articulation was extremely clear. There are many talking larks in Persia. The bazaar or shopkeeper class are fond of keeping larks, goldfinches, and parrots, in cages over their shops. Sitting, too, on our roof, we could see the pigeon-flying or kafteh-bazi. A pigeon-fancier in Persia is looked upon as a luti (blackguard), as his amusement takes him on the roofs of others, and is supposed to lead to impropriety ; it being considered the height of indecency to look into another's courtyard. The pigeons kept are the carrier, which are very rare ; the tumbler, or mallagh (mallagh, a summersault), and the fantail, or ba-ba-koo. The name exactly represents the call of the fan- tail. It was this bird which was supposed to bring the revela- tions to the prophet Mahommed, and consequently keeping a fantail or two is not looked on as discreditable. They are never killed. These fantails do not fly with the rest, keeping in the owner's, yard and on the roof. The yahoo is the other ordinary variety, and is only valued for its flesh, being bred, as we breed fowls, by the villagers. It has a feathered leg, and will not fly far from home. The pigeons are flown twice a day, in the early morning and evening, and it is a very pretty thing to watch. The owner opens a door and out fly all the pigeons, perhaps thirty, commencing a circular flight, whose circles become larger and larger. The fancier watches them eagerly from his roof, and when he has given them a sufficient flight and there are none of his rival's .birds in view, he calls and agitates a rag affixed to a long pole. This is the signal for feeding, and VIII.] TALKING LARK PIGEON-FLYING. 95 the weaker birds generally return at once to their cupboard, the stronger continue their flight, but lessen the diameter of the circle, and one by one return, the best birds coming back last. As they come over the house they commence to " tumble " in the well-known manner, falling head over heels as if shot ; some birds merely make one turn over, while others make twenty. It is a very curious and a very pretty sight. The birds are extremely tame, and settle on the person of the fancier. Hitherto there has been nothing more than a flight of pigeons, but in the afternoon, about an hour or two hours before sunset, the real excitement commences. Up goes a flight of some twenty pigeons, they commence to make circles ; no sooner does their course extend over the house of a rival fancier than he starts his birds in a cloud, in the hope of inveigling an outlying bird or two into his own flock ; then both owners call, whistle, and scream wildly, agitating their poles and flags. The rival flocks separate, but one bird has accompanied the more successful fancier's flight. As it again passes over the house of the victimised one, he liberates two of his best birds ; these are mixed with the rest, but ere they have completed half a circle they, with the lost one, rejoin their own flight. Their delighted owner now calls down his birds, and in a few moments envelops a pair of his rival's in a crowd of his own. Then again commence the cries, the whistlings, the agitating flags, and the liberation of single or pairs or flights of birds. As one of Mr. A.'s birds is being convoyed towards B.'s roof with a pair of his, Mr. C. envelops the three in a cloud of pigeons, and the whole flock alight C.'s flight in his own dovecot, and A.'s bird and B.'s pair, as timid strangers, on a neighbouring wall ; A. and B. vainly screaming while their two flocks keep circling high in air. C., B., and A. simul- taneously run over roofs and walls to get near the birds. But B. and A. have a long way to travel, while happy C. is close by ; he crouches double, and carrying in one hand a kind of landing-net, makes for the birds ; in his bosom is a fantail pigeon, in his left hand some grain. Artful B. throws a stone and his two birds rise and fly home, and with a fancier's delight he watches C. ; but A. is too far off for this manosuvre, and hurries over roof after roof. Too late ! C. has tossed his fantail down near A.'s bird, the fantail struts about calling 96 IX THE LAND OF THE LION AND SUN. [CHAP. " Ba-ba-koo, ba-ba-koo ! " The prize has his attention taken and stoops to peck the seed that C. has tossed over a low wall. As he does so C.'s landing-net is on him, the fantail flies lazily home, and C., shouting and brandishing his capture, makes the best of his way to the roof of his own premises. Then the flights begin again, rival fanciers from distant roofs liberate their flocks, flags are waved, and the drama, with endless variations, is repeated. Once a fancier always a fancier, they say. A. repairs to C.'s house to buy back his bird at six or more times its intrinsic value, for to leave a bird in the hands of a rival fancier might cost the man his whole flock on a subsequent occasion, the captured birds, of course, acting as the best of decoys. The favourite birds are ornamented with little rings or bracelets of silver, brass, or ivory, which are borne like bangles on the legs (the mallagh, or tumbler, has no feathers on the leg) and rattle when the bird walks ; these bangles are not ransomed, but remain lawful prize. As the colours of the birds are very different, one soon recognises the individual birds of one's neighbours' collections, and the interest one feels in their successes and defeats is great. Our high roof, towering over most others, made us often sit and watch the pigeon-flying ; and the circling birds as they whirred past us, flight after flight, against the blue, cloudless sky near sunset, was a sight worth seeing. The fanciers were many of them old men, and some actually lived on the ransom exacted from the owners of their captives. These pigeon-fanciers had a slang of their own, and each coloured bird had a distinctive name. So amused were we that I ordered my groom to buy a flight of pigeons and commence operations ; but Syud Houssein, the British Agent, pointed out that it would be infra dig. to engage in a practice that was considered incorrect. It is strange that sporting, or what is called sporting, generally leads, even in the East, to blackguardism. Card-playing, too, is only indulged in by the less reputable of the community ; there is only one game, called Ahs an Ahs ; it is played with twenty cards four kings, four soldiers (or knaves), four queens (or ladies), four latifeh (or courte- sans) and four ahs (or aces). This latter is shown generally VIII.] GAMES, VARIETIES OF. 97 by the arms of Persia, " the Lion and Sun." The lion is repre- sented couchant regardant, bearing a scimitar, while the sun ("curshid," or head of glory) is portrayed as a female face having rays of light around it ; this is shown as rising over the lion's quarters. There is only this one game of cards played with the gungifeh (or cards) ; they can hardly be called cards, as they are made of papier mache an eighth of an inch thick, and elaborately painted. As much as ten tomans can be