http://ping.fm/L3gNz laintive songs of their own--quite melodious and in good tune with the accompaniment of dingling bells hanging from the c

http://ping.fm/CJHiu ese night marches in the desert--when one could dissociate one's self from the discomforts. The camel men had some sad, p

http://ping.fm/427c1 tly being blown away, no matter how well one tucked one's self in them.

There was a certain picturesque weirdness in th

http://ping.fm/DLAqL the sides. A howling, cutting wind blew and made it impossible to cover one's self up with blankets, as they were constan

http://ping.fm/du3tb e more owing to the fever, as I hung resting my head on the padded pommel of the saddle and my legs and arms dangling at

http://ping.fm/Jho2k ractice one could, for general purposes, see almost as well as by day.

The night was terribly cold, which I felt all th

http://ping.fm/7A4oa The nights, even when there was no moonlight, were so clear, and the stars and planets so brilliant, that with a little p

http://ping.fm/Pg2Oj iment of surface salt being in some places so thick and white as to resemble snow. Here and there some hillocks of sand r

http://ping.fm/LjuxF elieved the monotony of the dreary journey, otherwise flat sand and surface salt extended as far as the eye could see.

http://ping.fm/qYI34 by a flattish and low pass, and then travelling due north entered the actual Dasht-i-lut--the sandy Salt Desert, the sed

http://ping.fm/6Tzfd 11th at ten o'clock p.m. we gladly left poisonous Lawah and spent the night (November 12th) traversing a mountain region

http://ping.fm/3dFs0 cats--Nature's ways and men's ways--A hot climb--A brilliantly coloured range--Sea shells and huge fossils.

On November

http://ping.fm/cX9c9 els--A large salt deposit--No water and no fuel--A device to protect oneself against great heat--Amazing intelligence of

http://ping.fm/hoUOC sediments as white as snow--Brilliant stars--Plaintive songs of the camel men--An improvisatore--Unpleasant odour of cam

http://ping.fm/AhjOe fully outstretched claws, merely for defensive emergencies, but otherwise quite peacefully inclined.

CHAPTER V

Salt

http://ping.fm/aSySw en box and only three cats, they eventually settled down, one in each, watching the new comer with wide expanded eyes and

http://ping.fm/uAwL7 home for the night there was evident objection and some exchange of spitting. But as there were four corners in the wood

http://ping.fm/jnXEK to Master Kerman and Miss Zeris, there were reciprocal growls and arched backs, and when asked to share their travelling

http://ping.fm/96wIp t to me, he covered us all over with scratches. He was three months old, and had quite a will of his own. When introduced

http://ping.fm/930SV here a third and most beautiful cat--a weird animal, and so wild that when let out of the bag in which it had been brough

http://ping.fm/LvFUS not very bright, but we made everything ready, and at ten o'clock in the evening we were to make a start.

I purchased

http://ping.fm/uk92b e ground and refused to eat. The prospects of crossing the most difficult part of the desert with such a sorry party were

http://ping.fm/IWMeu ho sneezed and trembled the whole day. Some of the camels, too, were unwell and lay with their long necks resting upon th

http://ping.fm/RgMqf faced, that one and all of my party had contracted fever of the desert in more or less violent form, even the kittens, w

http://ping.fm/lCHOb -light they cautiously peeped out to see that the danger had passed.

With the coming day the gruesome reality had to be

http://ping.fm/hioXU nd people being all round--but the kittens did not stir from their hiding place until the next morning, when in broad day

http://ping.fm/YkQib a dash for the white cat; hence the commotion.

The wolves bolted when I got up--I could not fire owing to the camels a

http://ping.fm/OxAIR me wolves visiting our camp. One--a most impudent rascal--was standing on one of my boxes, and another had evidently made

http://ping.fm/zOfuR g a fearful racket, and also by some other animals sniffing my face. I jumped up, rifle in hand, for indeed there were so

http://ping.fm/dqU4U f dew.

Suddenly I woke up, startled by the kittens dashing under my blankets and sticking their claws into me and makin

http://ping.fm/bPdew camp broke the silence of the night. I eventually fell asleep with my hat over my face screening it from the heavy fall o

http://ping.fm/z1265 about near my bed. My men were all sound asleep and only the occasional hoarse roar of the squatted camels all round our

http://ping.fm/i9EyI pped myself up in my blankets, shivering with the fever that had seized me quite violently, and the kittens were playing

http://ping.fm/XC7uZ e of Lawah is 4,420 ft. and therefore the nights are terribly cold in contrast to the stifling heat of the day. I had wra

http://ping.fm/kVlmi ces a fearful exhaustion, with pains in the ribs, arms and spinal column.

[Illustration: Wolves in Camp.]

The altitud

http://ping.fm/uvqcH st it. It seems to seize one violently from the very beginning and sends up one's temperature extremely high, which produ

http://ping.fm/GzkYi t, they say, and sunrise are the times when fever is contracted,--but we were out in the open and had no protection again

http://ping.fm/VKzIu I could feel that I was fast inhaling the miasma of fever. The natives shut themselves up inside their houses--for sunse

http://ping.fm/x55Va , and the revulsion from intense dryness to the sudden moisture of the dew, a peculiar feeling took possession of me, and

http://ping.fm/zVluJ n night came, everybody being ill, we were unable to make a start.

At sunset, with the sudden change in the temperature

http://ping.fm/nh0YG or little kittens, who had stuffed themselves to their hearts' content with milk and the insides of chickens; so that whe

http://ping.fm/WOxHZ nd water melons--of which we partook more copiously than wisely, all the men got attacks of indigestion, and so did my po

http://ping.fm/U6IDI tiful. Owing to the abundant dinner we got here, with lavish supplies of meat, fruit--most delicious figs, pomegranates a

http://ping.fm/ROZ1q ur camels of the combined caravans had been taken ill with fever and had to be left behind. Their cries from pain were pi

http://ping.fm/tw8k9 g my diary. They came to beg pardon for the trouble they had given, and embraced my feet, professing great humility.

Fo

http://ping.fm/Fa70q ones, but I casually put a few cartridges in the magazine of my rifle and sat down again on my carpets to continue writin

http://ping.fm/su6UR g to turn on me; they were very excited and seized whatever they could lay their hands upon in the shape of sticks and st

http://ping.fm/cIDQD sh to his assistance and with the butt of my rifle scattered the lot about. For a moment they seemed as if they were goin

http://ping.fm/FnkKw n the head, but as they were eight to one and closed in upon him and were about to give him a good hammering, I had to ru

http://ping.fm/YYC3t plucky and quick--they were heavy but clumsy--so that Sadek succeeded with a heavy mallet in giving them several cracks o

http://ping.fm/QmqWQ s of the Kerman women are attributed to the Afghan invasion, when the women became the concubines of soldiers and lost all r

http://ping.fm/sVDnh men was commanded, and no less than 20,000 women and children were made into slaves. To this day the proverbially easy moral

http://ping.fm/2PjaD them himself with the point of a dagger. But this punishment he believed to be still too lenient. A general massacre of the

http://ping.fm/jeB0U uld not find Luft-Ali, he ordered 70,000 eyes of the inhabitants to be brought to him on trays, and is said to have counted

http://ping.fm/D97I0 istan.

Agha Muhammed demanded the surrender of Luft-Ali-Khan; the city was searched to find him, and when it was learned t

http://ping.fm/izt9N r way through the Kajar post and escape to Bam-Narmanshir, the most eastern part of the Kerman province, on the borders of S

http://ping.fm/BMt9T Afghans. According to chronicles, he defiantly ran the gauntlet with only three followers, and they were able to force thei

http://ping.fm/wOagk g that all hope of victory had vanished, and forsaken by most of his men, Luft-Ali-Khan rode full gallop in the midst of the

http://ping.fm/b7xyd treachery. Luft-Ali-Khan and a handful of his faithful men fought like lions in the streets of the city, but at last, seein

http://ping.fm/EOrN3 their oppressors, made a half-hearted resistance and eventually, in the thick of the fighting, the city gates were opened by

http://ping.fm/FqJGs ded by Luft-Ali-Khan. The inhabitants, who had suffered at the hands of their saviours as much if not more than at those of

http://ping.fm/v0elP ouse at Farmitan.]

In his second invasion of Persia Agha Muhammed again reached Kerman in 1795 and besieged the city defen

http://ping.fm/W33X1 e seen, especially in the neighbourhood of the city.

[Illustration: Ruined Houses of Farmitan.]

[Illustration: Plan of H

http://ping.fm/fpzhD vious to this the Zoroastrians must have been very numerous in Kerman can be judged by the remains of many fire-temples to b

http://ping.fm/erMAV again. One fact only is known, that very few of those living in Kerman at the time succeeded in escaping massacre. That pre

http://ping.fm/2phKf in hopes of obtaining some relief to their misery, but history does not relate what became of them. They were never heard of

http://ping.fm/rEyk5 ands of Luft-Ali-Khan than under the Afghan rule, were persuaded to join Agha Muhammed against their Perso-Arab oppressors,

http://ping.fm/tFZvH other army in Afghanistan, proceeded a second time to the conquest of Persia. The Zoroastrians, who had fared worse at the h

http://ping.fm/92UMy strians. One of the reasons that these cities are now deserted may be found in the fact that Agha Muhammed, having raised an

http://ping.fm/P66Ua ttlement, now deserted, Mahala-Giabr (a corruption of Guebre), of which there is little doubt that it was inhabited by Zoroa

http://ping.fm/OctKf natives corresponds roughly with the epoch of the Afghan invasion.

To the north of Kerman city we have another similar se

http://ping.fm/toqaP --Farmidan--also would point to the conclusion that it had been inhabited by Fars, and the age attributed to the city by the

http://ping.fm/oQIDk families to go much further en masse in a country where food and even water are not easily obtainable. The name of the town

http://ping.fm/Ic43g nature of the country all round. With no animals, no means of subsistence, it would have been impossible for them with their

http://ping.fm/ZqmZ6 vading Afghan and Persian armies, settled a few miles from the city, unable to proceed further afield owing to the desolate

http://ping.fm/xpP6T for the statement--that at that time the Zoroastrians, who were still numerous in Kerman, driven from their homes by the in

http://ping.fm/BDMGG massacred wholesale or compelled to adopt the Mahommedan religion.

It is not unlikely--although I assume no responsibility

http://ping.fm/baAGK n from the entry of the Afghans, fared no better at the hands of the Persians. The Zoroastrians of Kerman particularly were

http://ping.fm/SCzk4 feated the Afghan invader, who was compelled to retreat to Kandahar; but Kerman city, which had undergone terrible oppressio

http://ping.fm/DpC9I lly treated by the oppressors. Luft-Ali-Khan hastened from the coast to the relief of the city, and fiercely attacked and de

http://ping.fm/k9GZa a large army that the inhabitants made no resistance and readily bowed to the sovereignty of Agha Muhammed. They were bruta

http://ping.fm/Rnixq ty and wealth, and its forts were well manned and considered impregnable. So unexpected, however, was the appearance of such

http://ping.fm/LLA8y ually occupied Kerman.

Kerman was in those days a most flourishing commercial centre, with bazaars renowned for their beau

http://ping.fm/jl8KY ert from Sistan, losing thousands of men, horses and camels on the way, and with a large army still under his command, event

http://ping.fm/3tHvV the Afghan determined to regain his throne or die, he came over the Persian frontier from Kandahar. He crossed the Salt Des

http://ping.fm/mvTi1 f refuge of the Zoroastrians who had survived the terrible slaughter by Agha Muhammed Khan.

It may be remembered that when

http://ping.fm/ByLO1 he strength and safety of the forts above, but more probable seems the theory that Farmidan was a mere settlement, a place o

http://ping.fm/ACrGa a wall round it like most other cities one sees in Persia. It is possible that the inhabitants relied on taking refuge in t

http://ping.fm/xVTOe mpracticable to use the larger wells and tanks constructed at the foot of the hills within the fortification walls.


Ther

http://ping.fm/uJHso nd tortuous streets leading out of the principal thoroughfare. Curiously enough, however, this city appeared not to have had

http://ping.fm/PJ04N e was a broad main road at the foot of the mountains along the southern side of which the city had been built, with narrow a

http://ping.fm/8tECs of escape from death, but positive suicide. The well was undoubtedly made to supply the fort with water whenever it became i

http://ping.fm/12hF8 cular for hundreds and hundreds of feet and its sides perfectly smooth, so that an attempt to go down it would be not a way

http://ping.fm/Wx1Xa hould have been made so small in diameter as hardly to allow the passage of a man, its shaft being bored absolutely perpendi

http://ping.fm/D1jLJ east of Kerman, I never heard this theory expounded in Kerman itself, but in any case, it is rather strange that the well s

http://ping.fm/cBC4k have been a way of escape from this fortress to as distant a place as Khabis, some forty-five miles as the crow flies to the

http://ping.fm/r5PJ7 , bored in the rock, the fort standing some five hundred feet above the plain; but although this is said by some writers to

http://ping.fm/ie4tN eadful state of decay. The courts and spaces between the walls are now filled up with sand. There is a well of immense depth

http://ping.fm/Q7n3E to form a solid mass, appears in fair preservation from a distance, when one examines the interior it is found to be in a dr

http://ping.fm/25lYg
Although the exterior of the castle, resting on the solid rock and built of sun-dried bricks so welded together by age as

http://ping.fm/AgPTz e 3rd of February, 1902, by the late Mr. Kaikosroo Firendaz Irani, the then agent of the Bombay Society. In this work he had

http://ping.fm/XYmbn helpless Parsees against Moslem wantonness, and to improve their condition generally.

The Association was established on th

http://ping.fm/mBKpu social rights of the Zoroastrians as a race, to settle disputes arising between the individuals of the community, to defend

http://ping.fm/Gz9Ed of twenty-eight members, all honorary, the most venerable and intelligent of the community, and its aims are to advocate the

http://ping.fm/t1vlT deshir Meheban Irani, much of the valuable information here given about the Yezd Parsees. The Association has an elected body

http://ping.fm/PshM6 mbly called the Anguman-i-Nasseri.

I was entertained by this interesting body of men, and received from their president, Ar

http://ping.fm/j0vI1 apital of Persia, to look after the interests of helpless Zoroastrians, and the Parsees of Yezd have moreover a national asse

http://ping.fm/rl1Cf t extent contributed to their present eminence.

The Bombay Society nominates and sends an agent to reside in Teheran, the c

http://ping.fm/vXymx to raise the Zoroastrians of Persia to their present comparatively advanced state, but trade and commerce also have to a grea

http://ping.fm/kQFI2 aritable Parsees of Bombay and some of the leading members of the Parsee community in Yezd. The Bombay Society has done much

http://ping.fm/xkEXE school, several other institutions have been established in Yezd and its suburbs by the Bombay Society, supported by a few ch

http://ping.fm/sAn0c especially the sons of Meheban Rustam, have been the pioneers of trade between Yezd and India. Besides the excellent Parsee

http://ping.fm/JEU5e with all this, are remarkable for their courteousness and refined manner.

The most prominent members of the Yezd community,

http://ping.fm/MsQ8n arsees are a most progressive race if properly protected. They are only too anxious to lead the way in all reformation, and,

http://ping.fm/Q4IlS other citizens, which they indeed fully deserve. Many steps have been made in that direction within the last few years. The P

http://ping.fm/lyS0m eir fairness and consideration towards these fine people. May-be that soon they will be permitted to enjoy all the rights of

http://ping.fm/BsnYD paratively well. The "jazia" has been abolished, and the present Shah and the local Government have to be congratulated on th

http://ping.fm/5uyhc rs.

Mainly by the efforts of the Bombay Amelioration Society of the Parsees, the Guebres of Yezd and Kerman fare to-day com

http://ping.fm/bp9cz turned and enjoyed a certain amount of nominal safety--the majority of the population consists of agriculturists and scavenge

http://ping.fm/C5jF4 vel with Mahommedans. With the exception of a few merchants--who, by migrating to India and obtaining British nationality, re

http://ping.fm/KC2So nt of the tax.

The Parsees were, until quite lately, debarred from undertaking any occupation that might place them on a le

http://ping.fm/CQT5U ousand tomans, or about £400 at the present rate of exchange. Much severity and even cruelty were enforced to obtain payme

http://ping.fm/pi3IR red to pay the tax yearly, which with commissions and "squeezes" of Governors and officials was made to amount to some two th

http://ping.fm/wa1Iv uebres--as well as upon Armenians and Jews of Persia--was the "jazia" tax. Some thousand or so male Guebres of Yezd were orde

http://ping.fm/v92Et reed; and in the matter of recovering debts from Mussulmans the law of Persia is certainly very far indeed from helping a Gue

http://ping.fm/13P4T on who had adopted the religion of Moslem, instead of by the man's own children and wife who had remained faithful to their c

http://ping.fm/REB4N stion in the case of differences with Mussulmans. At death a man's property would be lawfully inherited by any distant relati

http://ping.fm/NwBee Yezd.

Parsees do not enjoy the civil rights of other citizens in Persia, and justice was until quite lately out of the que

http://ping.fm/z79gU ing out. The women are garbed in highly-coloured striped garments, a short jacket and a small turban, leaving the face uncove

http://ping.fm/yfIZ1 omen are still compelled to wear special clothes so as to be detected at once in the streets, but this custom is gradually dy

http://ping.fm/z5REZ y vicissitudes in their time, but now the Parsees and their places of worship are left in comparative peace. Parsee men and w

http://ping.fm/NJUt7 aken away to India.

There were also several smaller temples in the neighbourhood of Yezd, which had gone through a good man

http://ping.fm/e8Thd they had them could not show them). They said that all the ancient books had been destroyed by the Mahommedans or had been t

http://ping.fm/mjFnQ Parsees are generally accused.

In Yezd the Guebres told me that they possessed very few sacred books in their temple (or if

http://ping.fm/cPN02 orify them into "good thoughts, true words, noble actions." This is indeed very different from fire-worshipping of which the

http://ping.fm/X7vQW al place in their temples, so, in similarity to it, they aim in life to purify their own thoughts, words, and actions, and gl

http://ping.fm/GapyG process that the Parsees revere more than the fire itself, and as the ninth fire alone is considered worthy to occupy a speci

http://ping.fm/xj2s6 cessor, and the result of the ninth conflagration being pronounced absolutely pure.

It is really the idea of the purifying

http://ping.fm/0iu5p ed in a similar manner, and nine times this operation is repeated, each successive fire being considered purer than its prede

http://ping.fm/IEX3B the mere action of the heat, but must not actually come in contact with the flame below. From this fire a third one is light

http://ping.fm/jnN71 of these fires is placed a flat perforated tray of metal on which small pieces of very dry sandal-wood are made to ignite by

http://ping.fm/Q0e7g this: Several fires, if possible originally lighted by some natural cause, such as lightning, are brought in vases. Over one

http://ping.fm/I5PaT the fire itself, as fire, that Parsees nurse in their temples, but a fire specially purified for the purpose. The process is

http://ping.fm/x61lk g, for they have lighted candles and lights constantly burning in front of images inside their churches.

Besides, it is not

http://ping.fm/3m4Mw herwise they are no more fire-worshippers than the Roman Catholics, for instance, who might easily come under the same headin

http://ping.fm/jaoNy also because fire is to human beings one of the most necessary things in creation, if not indeed the most necessary thing; ot

http://ping.fm/pEldK The Parsees are God-worshippers, but revere, not worship, fire and the sun as symbols of glory, heat, splendour, and purity;

http://ping.fm/gmheo el was ever perpetrated on the Parsees than when they were put down as "fire-worshippers," or "worshippers of the elements."

http://ping.fm/JfIf7 r people's notions, and are ever ready to recognise that other religions have their own good points.

Perhaps no greater lib

http://ping.fm/vn3M2 how they can go wrong. They worship God and only one God, and do not admit idolatry. They are most open-minded regarding othe

http://ping.fm/TG6gj Deposits of sand and gravel--Bambis--The people--Mosquitoes--A Persian house--W

http://ping.fm/UDdz9 Robbers--Fezahbad--The dangers of a telegraph wire--An accident--Six villages--

http://ping.fm/WmjBg ht marching--Kudeshk--The Fishark and Sara ranges--Lhas--The pass--Whirlwinds--

http://ping.fm/vPsZM , and eventually die.

CHAPTER XXXVI

Khupah--Sunken well--Caravanserai--Nig

http://ping.fm/iekeH animals caught here during the rains cannot proceed in the sinking soft ground

http://ping.fm/jIUdc s very scarce upon this track, and many animals have to die of starvation. Also

http://ping.fm/btIXh and modern, to the south-east warn us of the approach of a small town, and on t

http://ping.fm/rOFRt he road plenty of skeletons of camels, donkeys, and mules may be seen. Fodder i

http://ping.fm/H09XM hich appears quite close by, is many miles off.

Long rows of kanats, ancient

http://ping.fm/mBUAH f mirage in the shape of a magnificent lake with a village and cluster of trees

http://ping.fm/vyRLv apparently suspended in the air. My caravan man assures me that the village, w

http://ping.fm/BfF1t ually rise to 5,550 feet and again we have before us another beautiful effect o

http://ping.fm/aHEjN t by means of a channel from the small village of Vartan north of it.

We grad

http://ping.fm/UIbRO sunk deep into the ground and roofed over with a vault. The water is sent to i

http://ping.fm/RZOFA a reservoir made for caravans along this track. It is a tank 25 feet by 10 feet

http://ping.fm/UyD5W ality there is no lake at all.

Water is not at all plentiful here. One finds

http://ping.fm/VhPoI lain--as complete an optical deception as it is possible to conceive, for in re

http://ping.fm/5bq4h age all round us. To the W. spreads a beautiful lake in the depression of the p

http://ping.fm/gQOK7 g the highest of the series. This is a grand place for wonderful effects of mir

http://ping.fm/f0c2c flat-topped and vary from 20 to 40 feet in height, the central row of all bein

http://ping.fm/UEVDz these gaps when the whole of this plain was the sea-bottom. These mud heaps are

http://ping.fm/jGCXb re there is a gap in the mountain range to the north of it, and each has the ap

http://ping.fm/sMCqH pearance of having been gradually deposited there by a current passing through

http://ping.fm/VBVk4 s or dunes stretching from north to south. Each of these heaps is precisely whe

http://ping.fm/Xa90e i and north of the track we come across five curious parallel lines of mud-heap

http://ping.fm/uIUDJ re of the sun (altitude of Saigsi 5,100 feet).

About four miles east of Saigs

http://ping.fm/t7tRB may be caused by the constant brilliant refraction of the white soil in the gla

http://ping.fm/IAUhI y-expanded nostrils, the eyes wide apart, and the brow overhanging. The latter

http://ping.fm/DTVFo ind an absolutely different type of head, with abnormally large mouth and widel

http://ping.fm/SDVNe ristics of their own. At Saigsi, for instance, only 32 miles from Isfahan, we f

http://ping.fm/6TGOl rsia. The individuals of nearly each town, each village, have peculiar characte

http://ping.fm/QqgK2 e common.

There are few countries where the facial types vary more than in Pe

http://ping.fm/Nuzwm and, above all, honesty, which one seldom finds where European visitors are mor

http://ping.fm/vQfAa cted at once here. One met with the greatest civility and simplicity of manner

http://ping.fm/03E9e he natives upon roads on which Europeans do not frequently travel could be dete

http://ping.fm/V059u s and ten down below around the courtyard. The difference in the behaviour of t

http://ping.fm/qluSO nder a scorching sun we reached Saigsi (8 farsakhs from Isfahan) at six o'clock

http://ping.fm/SEcia in the afternoon, and put up in the large caravanserai with two rooms up stair

http://ping.fm/sfpic ufts of grass of an anÊmic green cover the ground (altitude 5,250 feet).

U

http://ping.fm/sPWoS ad is impassable during the rainy weather. As one nears the hills to the N.E. t

http://ping.fm/weoD4 scape, in sharp contrast with the terrific heat prevailing at the time. This ro

http://ping.fm/DvpAk il is covered with a deposit of salt, giving the appearance of a snow-clad land

http://ping.fm/dUO1R lahbad (Gulnabad)--a village in ruins. From this point for some distance the so

http://ping.fm/eUKCk line of kanats.

Following the drunken row of telegraph poles we arrive at Gul

http://ping.fm/VT1AS highest points being at 80∞ (almost N.E.E.). To the north we have a long

http://ping.fm/xkVPa ely low hills encircling us from N.N.W. to S.S.E. and N.E. of the observer, the

http://ping.fm/Mv3tN no hills are visible to the naked eye, but there is a long range of comparativ

http://ping.fm/JFBig gradually descend into the plain. For an angle of 40∞ from east to S.S.E.

http://ping.fm/Tj6hu and the more distant and most fantastically shaped range to the south, my mules

http://ping.fm/116Oi Leaving behind the hills nearer to us to the north-west, west, and south-west,

http://ping.fm/e5Wdy iver nor a city nor village at all. We have flaming examples of this in o

http://ping.fm/5Lz9s ver quite navigable, notwithstanding that in reality there may not be a r

http://ping.fm/b29NO roads for invading armies, such small trifles as hundreds of miles of des

http://ping.fm/yjbiz s important to the student, or the excess of ink upon one river course ra

http://ping.fm/nJAOd ther than another, according to the cartographer's humour, making that ri

http://ping.fm/T2nZE r smaller type in the nomenclature making cities and villages more or les

http://ping.fm/PxdWF ver quite navigable, notwithstanding that in reality there may not be a r

http://ping.fm/IzhpD nsidered! These are only small trifles that do not signify--as they are n

http://ping.fm/SByI9 ert, impassable mountain ranges, lack of water, and no fuel, are never co

http://ping.fm/qwHAj nsidered! These are only small trifles that do not signify--as they are n

http://ping.fm/L2GZA nsidered! These are only small trifles that do not signify--as they are n

http://ping.fm/KgnNL ot marked on the maps--the special fancy of the cartographer for larger o

http://ping.fm/dk8QV ot marked on the maps--the special fancy of the cartographer for larger o

http://ping.fm/mi7rg ert, impassable mountain ranges, lack of water, and no fuel, are never co

http://ping.fm/jX2a7 ot marked on the maps--the special fancy of the cartographer for larger o

http://ping.fm/MtA3W depth, currents, winds, shelter, and climatic conditions. In the case of

http://ping.fm/ZIRzE roads for invading armies, such small trifles as hundreds of miles of des

http://ping.fm/hkEOE ert, impassable mountain ranges, lack of water, and no fuel, are never co

http://ping.fm/x5MuZ ut roads upon which foreign armies can invade India, trade routes which o

http://ping.fm/tfGEo ace of cobalt blue paint in order to select strategical harbours, point o

http://ping.fm/SlkqM ught to be adopted in preference to others, and so on, regardless of sea-

http://ping.fm/BRsE9 ught to be adopted in preference to others, and so on, regardless of sea-

http://ping.fm/64pIq ace of cobalt blue paint in order to select strategical harbours, point o

http://ping.fm/MxYMs ace of cobalt blue paint in order to select strategical harbours, point o

http://ping.fm/QtBUV depth, currents, winds, shelter, and climatic conditions. In the case of

http://ping.fm/gNeb3 ught to be adopted in preference to others, and so on, regardless of sea-

http://ping.fm/HtiIE ut roads upon which foreign armies can invade India, trade routes which o

http://ping.fm/Zddve ace of cobalt blue paint in order to select strategical harbours, point o

http://ping.fm/7rhgd e, who base their arguments on such unsteady foundation. It is quite suff

http://ping.fm/vABXX y newspaper penny-a-liners, and by home royal geographo-parasites at larg

http://ping.fm/8vga2 icient for some people to open an atlas and place their fingers on a surf

http://ping.fm/M0IQ9 y newspaper penny-a-liners, and by home royal geographo-parasites at larg

http://ping.fm/jHoFb ss of nonsensical rubbish can be supplied to the public by politicians, b

http://ping.fm/ljdoW e, who base their arguments on such unsteady foundation. It is quite suff

http://ping.fm/8Zmf3 o those who have travelled it is quite extraordinary what an appalling ma

http://ping.fm/lypJz eople unfamiliar with the real topography and resources of a country.

T

http://ping.fm/G5u7F maps such as are generally manufactured in England are in the hands of p

http://ping.fm/bLkN8 r commercial matters. Worse still is the case when astoundingly incorrect

http://ping.fm/NAMVE angerous to base arguments on maps alone in discussing either political o

http://ping.fm/wqeUR tand the question properly, but it should be remembered that it is ever d

http://ping.fm/WAwk7 near Isfahan.]

A reliable map ought to be consulted in order to unders

http://ping.fm/sQWIM moment and dealt with specially.

[Illustration: The Quivering Minarets

http://ping.fm/EjtHM red from the West by the great Salt Desert, and must be set apart for the

http://ping.fm/gZefW an.

Khorassan and Sistan stand on quite a different footing, being seve

http://ping.fm/zJbyx e two countries and the eventual preponderance in the whole of Western Ir

http://ping.fm/BJVB7 ce in Isfahan will settle the balance in favour of one or the other of th

http://ping.fm/lqScY re, of Persia, and the future preponderance of Russian or British influen

http://ping.fm/0CRY7 e to all parts of the Shah's Empire. It is the commercial heart, as it we

http://ping.fm/foCoD ially, in Western Persia. It is the central point from which roads radiat

http://ping.fm/JGUsV
Isfahan is for England the most important city, politically and commerc

http://ping.fm/tH06U country long ago, and the modern ones have neither sufficient artistic merit nor intrinsic value to be wor

http://ping.fm/HzTch s being lower than the modern ones.

To any one well acquainted with other Eastern countries there is abso

http://ping.fm/tGIJE lutely nothing in a Persian bazaar that is worth buying. The old and beautiful objects of art have left the

http://ping.fm/aaBv3 om the rain and snow in winter. The height of the arcade is from thirty to sixty feet, the more ancient one

http://ping.fm/SrJxS Teheran and Isfahan, roofed over in long arcades to protect the shops and buyers from the sun in summer, fr

http://ping.fm/gSQrV the muddy ground constantly sprinkled with water to keep the streets cool.

There are miles of bazaar, in

http://ping.fm/j7FiU g brilliant patches of light now on brightly-coloured turbans, now on the black chudder of a woman, now on

http://ping.fm/Xq9Mv us of sun columns, piercing through the circular openings in the domed arcade of the bazaar, and projectin

http://ping.fm/TSseO ept in the cheapest goods.

We shoved our way along through the very narrow streets with a long row before

http://ping.fm/EYz3I lly given by merchants to people known to them. There is comparatively little ready money business done exc

http://ping.fm/vwuzI to pay endless visits to his customer's house before he can obtain payment for them. Long credit is genera

http://ping.fm/z0ibF s the essential kalian-smoking. Two or three or more visits are paid to the stall by Persian buyers before

http://ping.fm/GwYov they can come to an agreement with the merchant, and when the goods are delivered it is the merchant's turn

http://ping.fm/mSLk0 anything at all in the bazaar involves great loss of time--and patience,--excessive consumption of tea plu

http://ping.fm/adaFg h man the maximum of profit, whereas from a poor fellow a few shais benefit are deemed sufficient.

To buy

http://ping.fm/k3mWa merchant's estimate of his customer's wealth. It is looked upon as a right and a duty to extort from a ric

http://ping.fm/AAgQQ xist in the Persian bazaar, and prices are generally on the ascending or descending scale, according to the

http://ping.fm/Nr0AI can get a similar article better and cheaper. Such a convenience as fixed prices, alike for all, does not e

http://ping.fm/EIv8F an does not go to a shop to buy anything without going to every other shop in the bazaar to ask whether he

http://ping.fm/FyqAK s are also kept up to the mark by the salutary competition close at hand thus rendered unavoidable. A Persi

http://ping.fm/UmIa6 entirely to the same article, so that the buyer may conveniently make comparisons, and the various merchant

http://ping.fm/jVMWn all bazaars of the principal cities of Persia a very good custom prevails. One or more streets are devoted

http://ping.fm/CpaQ8 xcited crowd, and the cries of the ghulams ordering the people to make room for the cavalcade.

In nearly

http://ping.fm/fXvMh s some few seconds before one could distinguish anything, although one could hear the buzzing noise of an e

http://ping.fm/5DjM6 the brilliant light of the sun to the pitch darkness of the vaulted bazaar, affected one's sight, and it wa

http://ping.fm/FCmtt ss bazaar, the most crowded and diabolically noisy place in the Shah's dominions.

The sudden change from

http://ping.fm/h09wI ot been ridden for some time and was slightly fresh. The place to which we directed our animals was the bra

http://ping.fm/p3jh9 ng me, while I myself rode a magnificent stallion presented by Zil-es-Sultan to our Consul. The horse had n

http://ping.fm/2rBIL mendation, was advised to ride in state, with gold-braided, mounted Consulate ghulams preceding and followi

http://ping.fm/CZ3Yc sed to insult.

I once took a walk through the various bazaars, but the second time, at our Consul's recom

http://ping.fm/QzaXg o be seen with uncovered faces in the bazaar. In fact, walking anywhere in the town they are generally expo

http://ping.fm/blEhP s in life.

[Illustration: The Square, Isfahan.]

As for European ladies it is considered most improper t

http://ping.fm/mdP5x its empty outward show and pomp and absolute lack of more modest aims which, after all, make real happines

http://ping.fm/4zn8U ssesses a simple and practical mind, one gets rather tired of Persian town life, with its exaggerated ties,

http://ping.fm/pCn6P o many things one must not do for fear of destroying the prestige of one's country, that, really, if one po

http://ping.fm/sonHT aveller--and who, at all events, remain to suffer for the untactful deeds of some of them,--and there are s

http://ping.fm/EbkzV ials, or the susceptibilities of foreign residents, who seem to feel responsible for the doings of every tr

http://ping.fm/edGjd complicated and tiresome formalities to be adhered to in order to avoid offending the natives, or the offic

http://ping.fm/T5hzA ene and the centre of attention, and therefore a most disturbing element in the crowd.

There are so many

http://ping.fm/T8Fip the buyers, for instead of being an unobserved spectator, one is at all times the principal actor in the sc

http://ping.fm/ZJltB circumstances, to stop any length of time at any particular spot to study the shops, the shop-people, and

http://ping.fm/Z14Lh he strings of mules and the horsemen to make room for the passing sahib.

It is very difficult, under such

http://ping.fm/foNAi ys, laden with wood or panniers of fruit, into the shops--much to the horror of the shopman,--and disband t

http://ping.fm/VgPMK d be indecorous to go anywhere--shove the people on one side or the other without ceremony, drive the donke

http://ping.fm/ngu4G ars, one forces one's way into the crowded bazaar, while the ghulams of the Consulate--without whom it woul

http://ping.fm/WMpRn of a sahib always excites great curiosity in Persia. Followed by a crowd of loafers and most insistent begg

http://ping.fm/rgH1Z en leg, and further, an old man with lupus in its most ghastly form. Disreputably-clothed soldiers lie abou

http://ping.fm/APEFc t in the crowd, and a woman or two with their faces duly screened in white cloths may be seen.

The sight

http://ping.fm/CDkGk brother, to the orphan boy, starving, and in rags covered with mud. There is a little cripple with a shrunk

http://ping.fm/hb3sf tions of health, from the neatly attired son of the wealthy merchant, who disports himself with his eldest

http://ping.fm/LDd1z that a description of each would be unimportant and most tedious, so that I will only limit myself to describ

http://ping.fm/4YkqP roof of the mosque. But the villages were so very much alike and uninteresting in colour and in architecture,

http://ping.fm/KIQFd villages got more numerous; Aliabad and the Yaze (mosque) and Nushabad to my left (east), with its blue tiled

http://ping.fm/HUjgK wn with a long drink of clear water. Riding at the rate I did, the whole day and the greater part of the night

http://ping.fm/nAxlE , in the hot sun and the cold winds at night, gave one a healthy appetite.

As we got nearer Kashan city, the

http://ping.fm/DR8u4 -four boiled eggs, a cold roast chicken, Persian bread, some cake, and half a water-melon, the whole washed do

http://ping.fm/rlbyZ y Sadek with his teeth and hands, while I took this opportunity to sit on the roadside to partake of my lunch-

http://ping.fm/q9bAC the luggage scattered upon the road was replaced high on the saddles, the fastening ropes were pulled tight b

http://ping.fm/bBZQJ ing to detain us here but the collision between one of my pack-horses and a mule of a passing caravan, with di

http://ping.fm/YZbWZ nd its massive walls. Except the nice avenue of trees along a refreshing brook of limpid water, there was noth

http://ping.fm/3KQ9p with domed roofs and a couple of minarets. On the road is a large caravanserai, with the usual alcoves all rou

http://ping.fm/r6HnG e. Kasimabad has but two buildings, both caravanserais; but Nassirabad, further on, is quite a large village,

http://ping.fm/YHaI0 like qualities of still water.

Although in Central Persia one sees many of these effects every day, they are

http://ping.fm/BQOAi hich, seen from above and at a distance, is of a bluish white tint with exactly the appearance and the mirror-

http://ping.fm/d2hUm ical deception, caused by the action of the heated soil on the expanding air immediately in contact with it, w

http://ping.fm/PNwmL lusters of trees and islands and rocks duly reflected upside down in their steady waters, but it is all an opt

http://ping.fm/48hdV fects of deceitful mirage, extremely common all over Persia. One sees beautiful lakes of silvery water, with c

http://ping.fm/LUsXD to their excellence. I took a load of them away for the journey.

From here we began to see the wonderful ef

http://ping.fm/0EE0N h we leave behind low hills.

Sin Sin itself is renowned for its water-melons, and I, too, can humbly certify

http://ping.fm/lHG6v d higher mountains to the south. To the south-east also a low ridge with another higher behind it. To the nort

http://ping.fm/x8Lns in Sin we go due south along a flat trail of salt and mud. We have a barrier of mountains to the south-west an

http://ping.fm/yzwv8 he various stations, and if one does not have to keep it up for a long period of time as I had to do.

From S

http://ping.fm/mZy3Z ver much greater distances than these in one day, if one is fortunate enough to get good and fresh horses at t

http://ping.fm/gAh1Y was able to cover long distances, and kept up an average of from 80 to 120 miles daily. One can, of course, co

http://ping.fm/8kgw5 s about every 20 to 28 miles, and being on the saddle from fourteen to twenty hours out of the twenty-four, I

http://ping.fm/xDNvC ions no food whatever could be procured for them, when, of course, they had to go without it.

Changing horse

http://ping.fm/7oXrI of Persia.

It is important to see the horses fed before starting from all the post-houses, but on many occas

http://ping.fm/gulfL it was necessary for me to get on, as I intended to proceed in the greatest haste over the better known parts

http://ping.fm/Z5jic hat they occasionally collapse on the road. I invariably used all the kindness I could to these wretches, but

http://ping.fm/3E9jx nveying the post-bags, an extra sorry time is in store for the traveller. The poor animals are then so tired t

http://ping.fm/oPcdE he rate of six or seven miles an hour.

If the horses at the various post-stations have just returned from co

http://ping.fm/WxKXA to ride them at all. Yet the poor devils canter along, when they do not amble, and occasionally gallop clumsil

http://ping.fm/4HzEc y on their unsteady, skeleton-like legs. So that, notwithstanding everything, one generally manages to go at t

http://ping.fm/tVhOE of never-removed, clumsy, heavy pads under the saddles. It requires a pretty strong stomach, I can tell you,

http://ping.fm/yd3bC d endowed with stinking digestive organs and other nauseous odours of uncared-for sores heated by the friction

http://ping.fm/5MeyN ks, chests and legs, with a bleeding tongue almost cut in two and pitifully swollen by cruelly-shaped bits, an

http://ping.fm/hNQKd he Persian postal roads. The poor brutes--one can hardly call them horses--are bony and starved, with sore bac

http://ping.fm/xXkrx d, if there ever was a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, it should have begun its work along t

http://ping.fm/vUiZB these poor, half-starved animals, which could not in all honesty be considered to afford perfect riding. Indee

http://ping.fm/Owdpt eled conveyance on the badly-kept road, it seemed heavenly to be ambling along at a fairly good pace, even on

http://ping.fm/yxedd start that same evening for Sin Sin. After the wretched bumping and thumping and being thrown about in the whe

http://ping.fm/lo8gH r people's taste, not even in Persia.

At last, from this point, the positive torture of driving in carriages

http://ping.fm/NWgqo was over, and Chappar horses were to be obtained. The saddles were got ready, and with five horses we made a

http://ping.fm/j3WNY from it when stirred was sickening. Yet the natives drank it and found it all right! There is no accounting fo

http://ping.fm/sJBNE had a nasty green look about it, and patches of putrid matter decomposing visibly on its surface. The stench

http://ping.fm/Zt1Rm re walled and domed over to prevent too rapid an evaporation by the sun's rays. The water was pestilential. It

http://ping.fm/wCvas terest in the fight.

The water at Passangun was extremely bad. There were two tanks of rain water drained fr

http://ping.fm/V1fhT om the hillside along a dirty channel filled with animal refuse. The wells were below the ground level, and we

http://ping.fm/yJHuD a high point of vantage on which they had hastily climbed, and from that place of security displayed a keen in

http://ping.fm/lKCwY puppy-dog and five or six small goats. Only one of these at a time fought the dog, while the others occupied

http://ping.fm/Y8JjD ious to bring about the alliance, or is the reluctance a mere feminine expedient to make it understood from the

http://ping.fm/PrAmv y the last, and twice the girl has already not answered. It is a terrible moment. Evidently she is not over anx

http://ping.fm/Jb48v expectant bridegroom undergoes the worst quarter of an hour of his life.

The third time of asking is generall

http://ping.fm/8D93C g noise of the excited women-folk behind the curtain has subsided, the priest returns to his charge, while the

http://ping.fm/DwVHY back, and caress her face, but she sulks and is shy and plays with her dress, but says nothing. When the buzzin

http://ping.fm/Ujgmo e.

Again no reply. The women collect round the bride and try to induce her to answer. They stroke her on her

http://ping.fm/jEgtt o reply. Trepidation on the bridegroom's part.)

The priest repeats his question in a yet more stentorian voic

http://ping.fm/7yZof "This young man, son of so-and-so, etc., etc., wants to be your slave. Will you accept him as your slave?"

(N

http://ping.fm/TLV5V s take places in the vacant portion of the room.

The priest in a stentorian voice calls out to the girl:--

http://ping.fm/rSnqU (or other lady) occupy seats directly behind the curtain, while the priest with the bridegroom and his relation

http://ping.fm/V1x0E the bride, the room being partitioned off with a curtain behind which the women sit. The bride and her mother

http://ping.fm/w9jhm of guests invited.

The high priest eventually adjourns to the harem, where all the women have collected with

http://ping.fm/yMUPP , where on the appointed day bands, dancing, singing, and sweets in profusion are provided for the great number

http://ping.fm/fpAki ctive backshish they are to receive for their services.

The wedding ceremony takes place in the bride's house

http://ping.fm/QzMnr priest is sent for, who brings with him a great many other Mullahs, the number in due proportion to the prospe

http://ping.fm/JAhGH e nor the convenient registry office--Persia is not yet civilised enough for the latter--but a Mujtehed or high

http://ping.fm/wGAvf time when the nuptial union is to be finally effected.

When the day comes the parties do not go to the mosqu

http://ping.fm/1uaHi ual wedding. There is no special period of time specified, and the parties can well please themselves as to the

http://ping.fm/elPFD ome time elapses between this first stage of a young man's doom and the ceremony for the legal contract and act

http://ping.fm/25Zz6 vided for the entertainment of guests, on a large or small scale, according to the position of the parents.

S

http://ping.fm/ZTUB1 e young man is publicly proclaimed suitable for the girl. Music and dancing (by professionals) are lavishly pro

http://ping.fm/HyD5i d a mirror. Also some large trays of candied sugar.

After a great consumption of tea, sherbet, and sweets, th

http://ping.fm/yAKLs according to their means and positions in life, with a number of expensive shawls, five, six, seven or more, an

http://ping.fm/tVroN e in the handsome courts and gardens. The bridegroom's relations have brought with them presents of jewellery,

http://ping.fm/DKMsk uaintances of the two families are invited, and the women are entertained in the harem while the men sit outsid

http://ping.fm/jLiN3 sent is given. A day is arranged for the Nomzad--the official betrothal day. All the relations, friends and acq

http://ping.fm/ALLxA ir daughter's hand.

If the young man is considered well off, well-to-do, sober and eligible in every way, con

http://ping.fm/IVR1Z ed, his relations proceed on a visit to the girl's father and mother, and ask them to favour their son with the

http://ping.fm/eTjjj is done several times until the boy is quite satisfied that he likes her.

The primary difficulty being settl

http://ping.fm/uawwA convenient apertures have been made for him, unperceived, to have a good look at the proposed young lady. This

http://ping.fm/2BbMQ erally wishes to see the girl before saying yes or no. This is arranged by a subterfuge.

The women of the hou

http://ping.fm/n388n how, when the young man has been sufficiently allured into matrimonial ideas, if he has any common sense he gen

http://ping.fm/sI3KS . There are also women who are professional match-makers--quite a remunerative line of business, I am told. Any

http://ping.fm/L8War he has no mother and sisters, then a complaisant old lady friend of the family undertakes to act as middlewoman

http://ping.fm/y0wMf falls upon the mother or sisters of the would-be bridegroom to pick a suitable girl for him, as a rule, among f

http://ping.fm/Z86G2 and uncles--but not by her cousins, for weddings between cousins are very frequently arranged in Persia.

It

http://ping.fm/d15as n only be seen by her nearest relations, who by law cannot marry her, such as her father, grandfather, brothers

http://ping.fm/vRAcw arrangement of matrimony is rather a complicated matter. Everybody knows that in Mussulman countries a girl ca

http://ping.fm/IjsnP eing merely concubines, whether temporary or permanent. The Shah himself has no more than one first wife, with

http://ping.fm/Fycag n in their case the real wives are never numerous--never above the number permitted by the Koran,--the others b

http://ping.fm/C7owV find a satisfaction in numbers to make up for quality, and who are the real polygamists of the country. But eve

http://ping.fm/rTXdP y marrying below their own level.

An exception should be made with the lower and wealthy middle classes, who

http://ping.fm/yxLr7 amy become at once very small indeed in young men of the better classes, who do not wish to ruin their career b

http://ping.fm/vMHJs Persian woman of a good family will ever marry a man who is already married. So that the chances of legal polyg

http://ping.fm/thhOL Persians, therefore, only have one wife.

Another important matter to be taken into consideration is, that no

http://ping.fm/dTMqG e conditions make it well-nigh impossible for any man of sound judgment to embark in polygamy. Most well-to-do

http://ping.fm/Ihw7t pon them equally, showing no special favour to any of them which may be the cause of jealousy or envy. All thes

http://ping.fm/A9ajE in comfort, in separate houses, with separate attendants, separate personal jewellery, and that he will look u

http://ping.fm/jYS2S doctrine no man can have more than four wives, and this on the specified condition that he is able to keep them

http://ping.fm/Oc5xB ion, but differs considerably from real facts.

First of all, it may be well to repeat that by the Mahommedan

http://ping.fm/cYQF7 lly.

Little or no importance should be attached to the opinion of the Russian Press in their attacks upon En

http://ping.fm/ZkYYb ell to support it only in places where it is not likely to be disastrous to our own trade and interests genera

http://ping.fm/80oJ6 ay, is a serious one, because, although one cannot but admire German enterprise in that quarter, it would be w

http://ping.fm/kRCy3 question whether or no we have a secret agreement with Germany, in connection with the Euphrates Valley Railw

http://ping.fm/YfsLy commercial advantages that may be got--and that is the policy England is following at the present moment. The

http://ping.fm/hoPkW aded because she is a "friendly enemy." It is no use to try and keep out Russia merely to let Germany reap any

http://ping.fm/9JROH e in the region of the Persian Gulf. Germany--not Russia--is England's bitterest enemy--all the more to be dre

http://ping.fm/oShIm e only too anxious to acquiesce in this--provide a protection against German commercial invasion and enterpris

http://ping.fm/VBcAO to go in the latter's favour.

The understanding with Russia should also--and I firmly believe Russia would b

http://ping.fm/By8mt necessary that we should support Persia on our side, as much as Russia does on hers, or the balance is bound

http://ping.fm/CWjbh ld remain an independent buffer state between Russia and India. But to bring about this result it is more than

http://ping.fm/kYQg5 hould clearly define the respective spheres of influence, will save the integrity of Persia. That country shou

http://ping.fm/o2XIY vantage to Russia in Northern Persia. Nothing but a friendly understanding between England and Russia, which s

http://ping.fm/XmBC9 truct these themselves--to be recognised, and it seems quite sensible and fair to let Persia give a similar ad

http://ping.fm/ECUwY rity of right to construct roads and railways in Southern Persia--in the event of the Persians failing to cons

http://ping.fm/Pc4fN cities like Kermanshah, Yezd, Shiraz and Birjand devoid of British Consuls. Undoubtedly we should wish a prio

http://ping.fm/dGsgb gions.

The matter of establishing Consulates, too, is of the greatest importance. We find even large trading

http://ping.fm/0H64B ast when foreign Governments are adopting modern methods in order to achieve the commercial conquest of new re

http://ping.fm/lmsKP something like half a million sterling). It is indeed idle, as Mr. Walton said, to adhere to methods of the p

http://ping.fm/2yfxq e roads, the Piri Bazaar--Kasvin Road, is said to have cost, including purchase of the Kasvin Teheran section,

http://ping.fm/MSl9x to facilitate Russian commerce, and it would be advisable if we were to do the same from the south. (One of th

http://ping.fm/Zgyk6 lfare of Persia. Russia has gone to great expense to construct two excellent roads from the north into Persia

http://ping.fm/Z1jmn , should take its share in upholding British interests--being directly concerned in affairs that regard the we

http://ping.fm/EFCjA abnormal conditions of competition. It would therefore be wise for the British Government to reconsider its po

http://ping.fm/gdtZ0 licy in order to maintain, at least, our commercial interests in Southern Persia. The Government of India, too

http://ping.fm/rJ9pl t before the House of Commons on January 22nd, 1902, in the case of Russia we have at present to contend with

http://ping.fm/DrVBT p and change our tactics, or we shall go to the wall altogether.

As Mr. Joseph Walton, M.P., very ably put i

http://ping.fm/zkVBC Northern Persia, and Russian influence is fast advancing in Southern Persia. This is surely the time to pull u

http://ping.fm/EBfZb present.

In Persia we are playing a rapidly losing game. Commercially, as I have already said, we have lost

http://ping.fm/7dJlD Russia, by which her commercial interests and ours would mutually benefit instead of suffering as they do at

http://ping.fm/qF04f ng ahead towards the future of Asia, it might possibly not be unwise to come to some sensible arrangement with

http://ping.fm/VFWhp ose to help Germany to ruin Russia's markets as well as our own, then we must suffer in consequence, but looki

http://ping.fm/PCnt2 y, swamp her market with cheap goods. The tariff is chiefly a protection against Germany. Of course, if we cho

http://ping.fm/sS2YH d on some sensible basis, but she certainly is not quite so unwise as we are in letting Germany, her real enem

http://ping.fm/Wbr5M Russia, I am told by people who ought to know, would be only too glad to come to an understanding with Englan

http://ping.fm/IWdSk transit for Persia, and we are told that this is another blow directed at English trade. Such is not the case.

http://ping.fm/TMbrg n ignorance and blindness.

We also hear much about the infamy of Russia in placing a tariff on all goods in

http://ping.fm/HcNuE h, or north-west, or west. The danger, if there is any, may be found probably very much nearer home, in our ow

http://ping.fm/AAYBs hands--which is not probable--believe me, it will never be by a Russian army marching into India from the nort

http://ping.fm/ZwrIL ndia at present--he does not even dream of advancing on India--but should India eventually fall into Russia's

http://ping.fm/LYU0o y showing our fear? It is neither manly nor has it any sense in it. The Russian has no designs whatever upon I

http://ping.fm/uSbTN Are we not as good as they are? Why should we ever encourage the so far unconcerned Russian to come to India b

http://ping.fm/efESi s over into India!

But, besides, have we not got soldiers to defend India? Why should we fear the Russians?

http://ping.fm/yjXsy f the fact that, with a mountainous natural frontier like the Himahlyas, a Maxim gun or two above each of the

http://ping.fm/gHRb2 few passable passes would bring to reason any army--allowing that it could get thus far--that intended to cros

http://ping.fm/JMC7e st European army into a very humble one at the end of a journey across it.

Then people seem to be ignorant o

http://ping.fm/NSg1q the terrific climate, great altitudes, lack of fuel, and a few other such trifles would reduce even the large

http://ping.fm/a8Te1 here (although suggested by the wise newspaper Englishman at home as a sanatorium for British troops in India)

http://ping.fm/Y4HQx march hundreds of miles across deserts without water for men and animals, or over a high plateau like Tibet, w

http://ping.fm/gcA8u mention the fact that it is more difficult than it sounds for armies--even for the sturdy Russian soldier--to

http://ping.fm/E0IIE en accepted with great pleasure.

The old gold coins in circulation in Persia--very few and far apart--were th

http://ping.fm/HDwTn culation of these nickel coins--which were struck at the Brussels Mint and which are quite pretty--they have be

http://ping.fm/qBnKq anything to do with them as they were absolutely unknown. But wherever it has been possible to commence the cir

http://ping.fm/utLBN ther cities I did not see any, nor would the natives accept mine in payment, and in villages no one would have

http://ping.fm/Nvu9E w found very handy by the natives and circulate freely, principally in Resht, Kasvin, Teheran and Isfahan. In o

http://ping.fm/96bty the public with nickel coins, one-shai and two-shai pieces, which, although looked at askance at first, are no

http://ping.fm/Ypfcd the larger towns has been considerably diminished.

Lately the Government has adopted the measure of supplying

http://ping.fm/tBD5L uch of the depreciated coin is still in circulation, particularly in out-of-the-way places, its circulation in

http://ping.fm/v8v4u w some 720,000 tomans' worth of copper coins at 25 to 30 shais per kran. This had a good effect, and although m

http://ping.fm/uEm7O fulness, endeavoured to put a stop to this cause of misery in his people, and ordered the Government to withdra

http://ping.fm/XWv8Y copper currency forms their entire fortune. On coming to the throne the present Shah, with praiseworthy thought

http://ping.fm/wm866 the exchange differed very considerably.

This state of maladministration affects the poorer classes, for the

http://ping.fm/cENDp ost every province I received a different exchange of shais for my krans. In Birjand and Sistan, particularly,

http://ping.fm/oNSdx 80 shais per kran. I myself, on travelling through Persia, never knew exactly what a kran was worth, as in alm

http://ping.fm/wnoUe per issued at the nominal value of 20 shais per kran was current at 30, 40, 50, and even, in Eastern Persia, at

http://ping.fm/hOKQQ ty for most frequent and flagrant abuses in the excessive over-issue of copper coin, so that in many cities cop

http://ping.fm/6oNX7 goes to.

The precarious system of farming, accompanied by the corruption of officials, has given an opportuni

http://ping.fm/aCF6v or token coinage with a value fluctuating according to local dearth or other causes at almost every place one

http://ping.fm/JqC2s irregular lumps of silver, are occasionally to be seen. Copper is really the currency and is a mere subsidiary

http://ping.fm/3Eisn the principal cities; in the villages, and in out-of-the-way towns, notes are out of the question, and even sil

http://ping.fm/5UX3t ver coins are very scarce. A two-kran piece of the newer type is seldom found, and only one-kran pieces, little

http://ping.fm/ZuXSY 9,000 tomans, and became very nearly double in the following twelve months.

This only applies to Teheran and

http://ping.fm/Niugm 1,058,000 in 1900.[1] It is rather curious to note that in the previous year, 1899, the note circulation was 58

http://ping.fm/gLIy0 0 tomans; in 1895 it had gradually increased to 254,000 tomans, and by leaps and bounds had reached the sum of

http://ping.fm/fQM2L ve assumed a considerable place in the circulation. In September 1890 the circulation of them amounted to 29,00

http://ping.fm/NPnv5 ality of Mr. Rabino, the manager, have done much towards dispelling the suspicions, and since 1890 the notes ha

http://ping.fm/m5e15 be produced in full on demand is rather a slow one; but the credit of the Imperial Bank and the popular person

http://ping.fm/01szs ives that a piece of printed paper is equivalent to so many silver krans, and that the silver krans will surely

http://ping.fm/93PUr he methods adopted by Persians, and the insecurity which prevails everywhere, the process of convincing the nat

http://ping.fm/1IH5o the Bank's agencies and in the bazaar by some of the larger merchants at a small discount.

Naturally, with t

http://ping.fm/NbGTn ted. In other cities of Persia which I visited, however, the notes did not circulate, and were only accepted at

http://ping.fm/cV7Z6 results, in Teheran particularly, where the Bank is held in high esteem and the notes have been highly apprecia

http://ping.fm/FcMiQ o find that the monopoly granted to the Imperial Bank of Persia for the issue of paper money has had excellent

http://ping.fm/BjY5L sia does not issue bank-notes, which would be regarded with suspicion among the people, but it is interesting t

http://ping.fm/hVBbk tead of openly, but it finds its way there in large quantities just the same as before.

The Government of Per

http://ping.fm/Ziitk mposed on silver crossing the frontier. All this has resulted in silver entering the provinces by smuggling ins

http://ping.fm/g7CPJ entering the country after the 13th of May (1st of May of our calendar), and a duty of about 20 per cent. was i

http://ping.fm/X97sb difference when compared with the Persian coin amounts to no less than 21.92 per cent. in favour of the Persi

http://ping.fm/U6OzN author of a paper read before the Statistical Society for the following details.

Gold is not produced in Pe

http://ping.fm/vpHY5 of foreign coins, although some gold and silver bullion is imported for manufacturing purposes.

Silver, too

http://ping.fm/BRnuN each individual fully believing himself the greatest man that ever lived and absolute perfection. Moreover th

http://ping.fm/1i0Tg to do it; such is the Persian of to-day. Whether the vicissitudes of his country, the fearful wars, the famin

http://ping.fm/8jOOv your life no sadder and no happier. Why then hurry?

Amid such philosophic views, business in European fashi

http://ping.fm/3eJ7x you will live those years in the way that He has destined for you. Each day will be no longer and no shorter,

http://ping.fm/oF9Yz which he intends to deal is incidentally approached in conversation, and then more hours and days and weeks,

http://ping.fm/thSUF hurried. A three months' limit of credit--or even six months--seems outrageously short in the eyes of Persian

http://ping.fm/5YKkO of the Spaniards sinks into perfect insignificance when compared with the habits of the land of Iran. Punctua

http://ping.fm/qKMye work and steady, solidly-built enterprise--runs to the fantastic, and he ever expects immense returns for doi

http://ping.fm/W2kh7 that the principal offenders are the Mullahs themselves, who reap large profits from such illegal financial o

http://ping.fm/jHWID is no commercial enterprise, where labour is interfered with, where capital cannot have a free outlet or inve