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diff --git a/38827-h/38827-h.htm b/38827-h/38827-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c683cfd --- /dev/null +++ b/38827-h/38827-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15491 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, by Mrs. Bishop (Isabella L. 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Bird + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume I (of 2) + Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit + to the Nestorian Rayahs + +Author: Isabella L. Bird + +Release Date: February 11, 2012 [EBook #38827] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNEYS IN PERSIA, KURDISTAN, VOL I *** + + + + +Produced by Julia Miller, Melissa McDaniel and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="tnbox"> +<p class="center"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b></p> +<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. +Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original +document have been preserved.</p> + +<p>This text includes vowels with macrons ("long" mark): +ā, ē, ī, ō, and ū which require a +Unicode (UTF-8) file encoding. +If any of these characters do not display properly, +you may have an incompatible browser or unavailable fonts. +First, make sure that the browser's "character set" or +"file encoding" is set to Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need +to change your browser's default font.</p> +</div> + +<h1 class="p6">JOURNEYS<br /> +IN<br /> +PERSIA AND KURDISTAN<br /> +</h1> + +<div class="figcenter p6"><a name="fp" id="fp"></a> +<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="470" height="651" alt="MRS. BISHOP (ISABELLA L. BIRD)" title="" /> +<p class="caption">MRS. BISHOP (ISABELLA L. BIRD).</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p6"> +<span class="b20">JOURNEYS</span><br /><br /> +IN<br /><br /> +<span class="b20">PERSIA AND KURDISTAN</span></p> + +<p class="center p2">INCLUDING A SUMMER IN THE UPPER KARUN<br /> +REGION AND A VISIT TO THE<br /> +NESTORIAN RAYAHS</p> + +<p class="center p4"><span class="b13"><span class="smcap">By</span> MRS. BISHOP</span><br /> +(ISABELLA L. BIRD)</p> +<p class="center s07">HONORARY FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY<br /> +AUTHOR OF 'SIX MONTHS IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS'<br /> +'UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN,' ETC.</p> + +<p class="center p4">IN TWO VOLUMES—VOL. I.</p> + +<p class="center p4 s07">WITH PORTRAIT, MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<p class="center p4">LONDON<br /> +JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET<br /> +1891</p> + +<p class="center p6"> +TO<br /> +The Untravelled Many,<br /> +THESE VOLUMES<br /> +ARE CORDIALLY DEDICATED</p> + +<p class="center p6">WORKS BY MRS. BISHOP.</p> +<hr /> + +<p class="s09"> +"Miss Bird's fascinating and instructive work on Japan fully maintains +her well-earned reputation as a traveller of the first order, and a graphic +and picturesque writer. Miss Bird is a born traveller, fearless, enthusiastic, +patient, instructed, knowing as well what as how to describe. No peril +daunts her, no prospect of fatigue or discomfort disheartens or repels +her."—<i>Quarterly Review.</i></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center">I. UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN, Including Visits to the<br /> +Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrines of Nikko and Isé.<br /> + +With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.<br /></p> + +<p class="center">II. A LADY'S LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.<br /> + +With Illustrations. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="center">III. THE HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO: Six Months Among<br /> +the Palm Groves, Coral Reefs, and Volcanoes of the Sandwich Islands.<br /> + +With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="center">IV. THE GOLDEN CHERSONESE AND THE WAY THITHER.<br /> + +With Map and Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 14s.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center">JOHN MURRAY, Albemarle Street.</p> + +<p class="center b15 p6">PREFACE</p> + +<p class="p2">The letters of which these volumes are composed embrace +the second half of journeys in the East extending over +a period of two years.<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> They attempt to be a faithful +record of facts and impressions, but were necessarily +written in haste at the conclusion of fatiguing marches, +and often in circumstances of great discomfort and difficulty, +and I relied for their correction in the event of +publication on notes made with much care. Unfortunately +I was robbed of nearly the whole of these, partly +on my last journey in Persia and partly on the Turkish +frontier,—a serious loss, which must be my apology to the +reader for errors which, without this misfortune, would +not have occurred.</p> + +<p>The bibliography of Persia is a very extensive one, +and it may well be that I have little that is new to +communicate, except on a part of Luristan previously +untraversed by Europeans; but each traveller receives +a different impression from those made upon his predecessors, +and I hope that my book may be accepted as +an honest attempt to make a popular contribution to the +sum of knowledge of a country and people with which +we are likely to be brought into closer relations. + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">viii</a></span></p> + +<p>As these volumes are simply travels in Persia and +Eastern Asia Minor, and are <i>not a book on either country</i>, +the references to such subjects as were not within the +sphere of my observation are brief and incidental. The +administration of government, the religious and legal +systems, the tenure of land, and the mode of taxation +are dismissed in a few lines, and social customs are only +described when I came in contact with them. The +Ilyats, or nomadic tribes, form a very remarkable element +of the population of Persia, but I have only noticed two +of their divisions—the Bakhtiari and Feili Lurs. The +antiquities of Persia are also passed over with hardly a +remark, as well as many other subjects, which have been +"threshed out" by previous writers with more or less of +accuracy.</p> + +<p>I make these omissions with all the more satisfaction, +because most that is "knowable" concerning Persia will +be accessible on the publication of a work now in the +Press, <i>Persia and the Persian Question</i>, by the Hon. George +N. Curzon, M.P., who has not only travelled extensively +in the country, but has bestowed such enormous labour +and research upon it, and has had such exceptional +opportunities of acquiring the latest and best official +information, that his volumes may fairly be described as +"exhaustive."</p> + +<p>It is always a pleasant duty to acknowledge kindness, +and I am deeply grateful to several friends for the help +which they have given me in many ways, and for the +trouble which some of them have taken to recover facts +which were lost with my notes, as well as for the careful +revision of a portion of my letters in MS. I am indebted +to the Indian authorities for the materials for a sketch +map, for photographs from which many of the illustrations +are taken, and for the use of a valuable geographical +report, and to Mr. Thistleton Dyer, Director of the Royal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">ix</a></span> +Botanic Gardens at Kew, for the identification of a few +of my botanical specimens.</p> + +<p>In justice to the many kind friends who received me +into their homes, I am anxious to disclaim having either +echoed or divulged their views on Persian or Turkish +subjects, and to claim and accept the fullest responsibility +for the opinions expressed in these pages, which, whether +right or wrong, are wholly my own. It is from those +who know Persia and Kurdistan the best that I am sure +of receiving the most kindly allowance wherever, in spite +of an honest desire to be accurate, I have fallen into +mistakes.</p> + +<p>The retention, not only of the form, but of the reality +of diary letters, is not altogether satisfactory either to +author or reader, for the author sacrifices the literary +and artistic arrangement of his materials, and however +ruthlessly omissions are made, the reader is apt to find +himself involved in a multiplicity of minor details, treated +in a fashion which he is inclined to term "slipshod," and +to resent the egotism which persistently clings to familiar +correspondence. Still, even with all the disadvantages of +this form of narrative, I think that letters are the best +mode of placing the reader in the position of the traveller, +and of enabling him to share, not only first impressions +in their original vividness, and the interests and enjoyments +of travelling, but the hardships, difficulties, and +tedium which are their frequent accompaniments!</p> + +<p>For the lack of vivacity which, to my thinking, pervades +the following letters, I ask the reader's indulgence. +They were originally written, and have since been edited, +under the heavy and abiding shadow, not only of the loss +of the beloved and only sister who was the inspiration +of my former books of travel, and to whose completely +sympathetic interest they owed whatever of brightness +they possessed, but of my beloved husband, whose able +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">x</a></span> +and careful revision accompanied my last volume through +the Press.</p> + +<p>Believing that these letters faithfully reflect what I +saw of the regions of which they treat, I venture to +ask for them the same kindly and lenient criticism with +which my travels in the Far East and elsewhere were +received in bygone years, and to express the hope that +they may help to lead towards that goal to which all +increase of knowledge of races and beliefs tends—a truer +and kindlier recognition of the brotherhood of man, as +seen in the light of the Fatherhood of God.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +ISABELLA L. BISHOP.<br /> +<i>November 12, 1891.</i></p> + +<p class="center b15 p6">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</p> +<p class="center b12">IN VOLUME I.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">xi</a></span></p> + +<table class="p2" summary="Table of Contents"> +<col width="300" /> +<col width="150" /> +<tr> +<td>Mrs. Bishop (Isabella L. Bird)</td> +<td class="tdr"><i><a href="#fp">Frontispiece</a></i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>A Gopher</td> +<td class="tdr"><i>Page</i> <a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>A Turkish Frontier Fort</td> +<td class="tdr"><i>To face page</i> <a href="#i078">78</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Lodgings for Travellers</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i082">82</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Persian Bread-making</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i159">159</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The Shrine of Fatima</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i167">167</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>A Dervish</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i237">237</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Castle of Ardal</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i318">318</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Imam Kuli Khan</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i326">326</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The Karun at Dupulan</td> +<td class="tdr"><i>To face page</i> <a href="#i351">351</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Ali Jan</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i362">362</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Armenian Women of Libasgun</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i366">366</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Wall and Gate of Libasgun</td> +<td class="tdr"><i>To face page</i> <a href="#i368">368</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>A Perso-Bakhtiari Cradle</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i372">372</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>A Dastgird Tent</td> +<td class="tdr"><i>To face page</i> <a href="#i378">378</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="center p6 b15">GLOSSARY</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">xiii</a></span></p> + +<div class="glossary"> +<p class="p2"><i>Abambar</i>, a covered reservoir.</p> +<p><i>Agha</i>, a master.</p> +<p><i>Andarun</i>, women's quarters, a <i>haram</i>.</p> +<p><i>Arak</i>, a coarse spirit.</p> +<p><i>Badgīr</i>, wind-tower.</p> +<p><i>Badragah</i>, a parting escort.</p> +<p><i>Balakhana</i>, an upper room.</p> +<p><i>Bringals</i>, egg plants.</p> +<p><i>Chapar</i>, post.</p> +<p><i>Chapar Khana</i>, post-house.</p> +<p><i>Chapi</i>, the Bakhtiari national dance.</p> +<p><i>Charvadar</i>, a muleteer.</p> +<p><i>Farāsh</i>, <i>lit.</i> a carpet-spreader.</p> +<p><i>Farsakh</i>, from three and a half to +four miles.</p> +<p><i>Gardan</i>, a pass.</p> +<p><i>Gaz</i>, a sweetmeat made from manna.</p> +<p><i>Gelims</i>, thin carpets, drugget.</p> +<p><i>Gheva</i>, a summer shoe.</p> +<p><i>Gholam</i>, an official messenger or +attendant.</p> +<p><i>Hākim</i>, a governor.</p> +<p><i>Hakīm</i>, a physician.</p> +<p><i>Hammam</i>, a Turkish or hot bath.</p> +<p><i>Ilyats</i>, the nomadic tribes of Persia.</p> +<p><i>Imam</i>, a saint, a religious teacher.</p> +<p><i>Imamzada</i>, a saint's shrine.</p> +<p><i>Istikbal</i>, a procession of welcome.</p> +<p><i>Jul</i>, a horse's outer blanket.</p> +<p><i>Kabob</i>, pieces of skewered meat +seasoned and toasted.</p> +<p><i>Kafir</i>, an infidel, a Christian.</p> +<p><i>Kah</i>, chopped straw.</p> +<p><i>Kajawehs</i>, horse-panniers.</p> +<p><i>Kalian</i>, a "hubble-bubble" or water-pipe +for tobacco.</p> +<p><i>Kamarband</i>, a girdle.</p> +<p><i>Kanaat</i>, an underground water-channel.</p> +<p><i>Kanat</i>, the upright side of a tent.</p> +<p><i>Karsi</i>, a wooden frame for covering a +fire-hole.</p> +<p><i>Katirgi</i> (Turkish), a muleteer.</p> +<p><i>Ketchuda</i>, a headman of a village.</p> +<p><i>Khan</i>, lord or prince; a designation +as common as esquire.</p> +<p><i>Khan</i> (Turkish), an inn.</p> +<p><i>Khanjar</i>, a curved dagger.</p> +<p><i>Khanji</i> (Turkish), the keeper of a +<i>khan</i>.</p> +<p><i>Khanum</i>, a lady of rank.</p> +<p><i>Khurjins</i>, saddle bags.</p> +<p><i>Kizik</i>, a slab of animal fuel.</p> +<p><i>Kotal</i>, <i>lit.</i> a ladder, a pass.</p> +<p><i>Kourbana</i> (Syriac), the Holy Communion.</p> +<p><i>Kran</i>, eightpence.</p> +<p><i>Kuh</i>, mountain.</p> +<p><i>Lira</i> (Turkish), about £1.</p> +<p><i>Malek</i> (Syriac, <i>lit.</i> king), a chief or +headman.</p> +<p><i>Mamachi</i>, midwife. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">xiv</a></span></p> +<p><i>Mangel</i>, a brazier.</p> +<p><i>Mast</i>, curdled milk.</p> +<p><i>Medresseh</i>, a college.</p> +<p><i>Mirza</i>, a scribe, secretary, or gentleman. +An educated man.</p> +<p><i>Modakel</i>, illicit percentage.</p> +<p><i>Mollah</i>, a religious teacher.</p> +<p><i>Munshi</i>, a clerk, a teacher of languages.</p> +<p><i>Namad</i>, felt.</p> +<p><i>Nasr</i>, steward.</p> +<p><i>Odah</i> (Turkish), a room occupied by +human beings and animals.</p> +<p><i>Piastre</i>, a Turkish coin worth two-pence-halfpenny.</p> +<p><i>Pirahan</i>, a chemise or shirt.</p> +<p><i>Pish-kash</i>, a nominal present.</p> +<p><i>Qasha</i> (Syriac), a priest.</p> +<p><i>Rayahs</i>, subject Syrians.</p> +<p><i>Roghan</i>, clarified butter.</p> +<p><i>Samovar</i>, a Russian tea-urn.</p> +<p><i>Sartip</i>, a general.</p> +<p><i>Seraidar</i>, the keeper of a caravanserai.</p> +<p><i>Sharbat</i>, a fruit syrup.</p> +<p><i>Shroff</i>, a money-changer.</p> +<p><i>Shuldari</i> (<i>Shooldarry</i>), a small tent +with two poles and a ridge pole, +but without <i>kanats</i>.</p> +<p><i>Shulwars</i>, wide trousers.</p> +<p><i>Sowar</i>, a horseman, a horse soldier.</p> +<p><i>Takchāh</i>, a recess in a wall.</p> +<p><i>Taktrawan</i>, a mule litter.</p> +<p><i>Tandūr</i>, an oven in a floor.</p> +<p><i>Tang</i>, a rift or defile.</p> +<p><i>Tufangchi</i>, a foot soldier, an armed +footman.</p> +<p><i>Tuman</i>, seven shillings and sixpence.</p> +<p><i>Vakil</i>, an authorised representative.</p> +<p><i>Vakil-u-Dowleh</i>, agent of Government.</p> +<p><i>Yabu</i>, a pony or inferior horse.</p> +<p><i>Yailaks</i>, summer quarters.</p> +<p><i>Yekdan</i>, a mule or camel trunk, made +of leather.</p> +<p><i>Yohoort</i> (Turkish), curdled milk.</p> +<p><i>Zaptieh</i> (Turkish), a <i>gendarme</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p class="letter">LETTER I</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Basrah, Asiatic Turkey</span>, <i>Jan. 1, 1890</i>.</p> + +<p>A <i>shamal</i> or N.W. wind following on the sirocco which +had accompanied us up "the Gulf" was lashing the shallow +waters of the roadstead into reddish yeast as we let go +the anchor opposite the sea front of Bushire, the most +important seaport in Persia. <i>The</i> Persian man-of-war +<i>Persepolis</i>, officered by Germans, H.M. ship <i>Sphinx</i>, two big +steamers owned in London, a British-built three-masted +clipper, owned and navigated by Arabs, and a few Arab +native vessels tugged at their anchors between two and +three miles from the shore. Native <i>buggalows</i> clustered +and bumped round the trading vessels, hanging on with +difficulty, or thumped and smashed through the short +waves, close on the wind, easily handled and sailing +magnificently, while the Residency steam-launch, puffing +and toiling, was scarcely holding her own against a heavy +head sea.</p> + +<p>Bushire, though it has a number of two-storied +houses and a population of 15,000, has a most insignificant +appearance, and lies so low that from the <i>Assyria's</i> +deck it gave the impression of being below the sea-level. +The <i>shamal</i> was raising a sand storm in the desert beyond; +the sand was drifting over it in yellow clouds, the mountains +which at a greater or less distance give a wild +sublimity to the eastern shores of the Gulf were blotted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> +out, and a blurred and windy shore harmonised with a +blurred and windy sea.</p> + +<p>The steam-launch, which after several baffled attempts +succeeded in reaching the steamer's side, brought letters +of welcome from Colonel Ross, who for eighteen years has +filled the office of British Resident in the Persian Gulf +with so much ability, judgment, and tact as to have earned +the respect and cordial esteem of Persians, Arabs, the +mixed races, and Europeans alike. Of his kindness and +hospitality there is no occasion to write, for every stranger +who visits the Gulf has large experience of both.</p> + +<p>The little launch, though going shorewards with the +wind, was tossed about like a cork, shipping deluges of +spray, and it was so cold and generally tumultuous, that +it was a relief to exchange the shallow, wind-lashed +waters of the roadstead for the shelter of a projecting +sea-wall below the governor's house. A curricle, with +two fiery little Arab horses, took us over the low windy +stretch of road which lies behind Bushire, through a part +of the town and round again to the sea-shore, on which +long yellow surges were breaking thunderously in drifts +of creamy foam. The Residency, a large Persian house, +with that sort of semi-fortified look which the larger +Eastern houses are apt to have, is built round courtyards, +and has a fine entrance, which was lined with well-set-up +men of a Bombay marine battalion. As is usual +in Persia and Turkey, the reception rooms, living rooms, +and guest rooms are upstairs, opening on balconies, the +lower part being occupied by the servants and as domestic +offices. Good fires were a welcome adjunct to the genial +hospitality of Colonel Ross and his family, for the mercury, +which for the previous week had ranged from 84° +to 93°, since the sunrise of that day had dropped to 45°, +and the cold, damp wind suggested an English February. +Even the Residency, thick as its walls are, was invaded +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> +by sea sand, and penetrated by the howlings and shriekings +of the <i>shamal</i> and the low hiss at intervals of wind-blown +spray.</p> + +<p>This miserable roadstead does a large trade,<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> though +every bale and chest destined for the cities of the interior +must be packed on mules' backs for carriage over the +horrible and perilous <i>kotals</i> or rock ladders of the intervening +mountain ranges. The chief caravan route in +Persia starts from Bushire <i>viâ</i> Shiraz, Isfahan, Kashan, +and Kûm, to Tihran. A loaded mule takes from thirty +to thirty-five days to Isfahan, and from Isfahan to +Tihran from twelve to sixteen days, according to the +state of the roads.</p> + +<p>Bushire does not differ in appearance from an ordinary +eastern town. Irregular and uncleanly alleys, dead +mud walls, with here and there a low doorway, bazars +in which the requirements of caravans are largely considered, +and in which most of the manufactured goods +are English, a great variety in male attire, some small +mosques, a marked predominance of the Arab physiognomy +and costume, and ceaseless strings of asses bringing skins +of water from wells a mile from the town, are my impressions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +of the first Persian city that I have ever seen. The +Persian element, however, except in officialism and the +style of building, is not strong, the population being +chiefly composed of "Gulf Arabs." There are nearly +fifty European residents, including the telegraph staff +and the representatives of firms doing a very large business +with England, the Persian Gulf Trading Company, +Messrs. Hotz and Company, Messrs. Gray, Paul, and +Company, and the British India Steam Navigation Company, +which has enormously developed the trade of the +Gulf.</p> + +<p>Bushire is the great starting-point of travellers from +India who desire "to go home through Persia" by Shiraz +and Persepolis. <i>Charvadars</i> (muleteers) and the necessary +outfit are obtainable, but even the kindness of the +Resident fails to overcome the standing difficulty of +obtaining a Persian servant who is both capable and +trustworthy. Having been forewarned by him not to +trust to Bushire for this indispensable article, I had +brought from India a Persian of good antecedents and +character, who, desiring to return to his own country, was +willing to act as my interpreter, courier, and sole attendant. +Grave doubts of his ability to act in the two +latter capacities occurred to me before I left Karachi, +grew graver on the voyage, and were quite confirmed as +we tossed about in the Residency launch, where the +"young Persian gentleman," as he styled himself, sat +bolt upright with a despairing countenance, dressed in a +tall hat, a beautifully made European suit, faultless tan +boots, and snowy collar and cuffs, a man of truly refined +feeling and manners, but hopelessly out of place. I +pictured him helpless among the <i>déshabillé</i> and roughnesses +of a camp, and anticipated my insurmountable reluctance +to ask of him menial service, and was glad to find that +the same doubts had occurred to himself. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span></p> + +<p>I lost no time in interviewing Hadji,—a Gulf Arab, +who has served various travellers, has been ten times to +Mecca, went to Windsor with the horses presented to the +Queen by the Sultan of Muscat, speaks more or less of +six languages, knows English fairly, has some recommendations, +and professes that he is "up to" all the +requirements of camp life. The next morning I engaged +him as "man of all work," and though a big, wild-looking +Arab in a rough <i>abba</i> and a big turban, with a long +knife and a revolver in his girdle, scarcely looks like a +lady's servant, I hope he may suit me, though with these +antecedents he is more likely to be a scamp than a +treasure.</p> + +<p>The continuance of the <i>shamal</i> prevented the steamer +from unloading in the exposed roadstead, and knocked +the launch about as we rejoined her. We called at +the telegraph station at Fao, and brought off Dr. Bruce, +the head of the Church Missionary Society's Mission at +Julfa, whose long and intimate acquaintance with the +country and people will make him a great acquisition on +the Tigris.</p> + +<p>"About sixty miles above the bar outside the Shat-el-Arab" +(the united Tigris and Euphrates), "forty miles +above the entrance to that estuary at Fao, and twenty +miles below the Turkish port of Basrah, the present +main exit of the Karun river flows into the Shat-el-Arab +from the north-east by an artificial channel, whose +etymology testifies to its origin, the Haffar" (dug-out) +"canal. When this canal was cut, no one knows.... +Where it flows into the Shat-el-Arab it is about a +quarter of a mile in width, with a depth of from twenty +to thirty feet.</p> + +<p>"The town of Mohammerah is situated a little more +than a mile up the canal on its right bank, and is a +filthy place, with about 2000 inhabitants, and consists +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +mainly of mud huts and hovels, backed by a superb +fringe of date palms."<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> In the rose flush of a winter +morning we steamed slowly past this diplomatically +famous confluence of the Haffar and Shat-el-Arab, at +the angle of which the Persians have lately built a +quay, a governor's house, and a large warehouse, in +expectation of a trade which shows few signs of development.</p> + +<p>A winter morning it was indeed, splendid and invigorating +after the ferocious heat of the Gulf. To-day +there has been frost!</p> + +<p>The Shat-el-Arab is a noble river or estuary. From +both its Persian and Turkish shores, however, mountains +have disappeared, and dark forests of date palms intersected +by canals fringe its margin heavily, and extend +to some distance inland. The tide is strong, and such +native boats as <i>belems</i>, <i>buggalows</i>, and dug-outs, loaded +with natives and goods, add a cheerful element of busy +life.</p> + +<p>We anchored near Basrah, below the foreign settlement, +and had the ignominy of being placed for twenty-four +hours in quarantine, flying the degrading yellow +flag. Basrah has just been grievously ravaged by the +cholera, which has not only carried off three hundred of +the native population daily for some time, but the British +Vice-Consul and his children. Cholera still exists in +Turkey while it is extinct in Bombay, and the imposition +of quarantine on a ship with a "clean bill of health" +seems devised for no other purpose than to extract fees, +to annoy, and to produce a harassing impression of +Turkish officialism.</p> + +<p>After this detention we steamed up to the anchorage, +which is in front of a few large bungalows which lie +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +between the belt of palms and the river, and form the +European settlement of Margil. A fever-haunted swamp, +with no outlet but the river; canals exposing at low +water deep, impassable, and malodorous slime separating +the bungalows; a climate which is damp, hot, malarious, +and prostrating except for a few weeks in winter, and a +total absence of all the resources and amenities of civilisation, +make Basrah one of the least desirable places to +which Europeans are exiled by the exigencies of commerce. +It is scarcely necessary to say that the few +residents exercise unbounded hospitality, which is the +most grateful memory which the stranger retains of the +brief halt by the "River of Arabia."</p> + +<p>This is the dead season in the "city of dates." An +unused river steamer, a large English trader, two Turkish +ships-of-war painted white, the <i>Mejidieh</i>, one of two +English-owned steamers which are allowed to ply on the +Tigris, and the <i>Assyria</i> of the B.I.S.N. Co., constitute the +fleet at anchor. As at Bushire, all cargo must be loaded and +unloaded by boats, and crowds of native craft hanging +on to the trading vessels give a little but not much +vivacity.</p> + +<p>October, after the ingathering of the date harvest, is +the busiest month here. The magnitude of the date +industry may be gathered from the fact that in 1890, +60,000 tons of dates were exported from Basrah, 20,000 +in boxes, and the remainder in palm-leaf mats, one +vessel taking 1800 tons. The quantity of wood imported +for the boxes was 7000 tons in cut lengths, with iron +hooping, nails, and oiled paper for inside wrapping, +brought chiefly from England.</p> + +<p>A hundred trees can be grown on an acre of ground. +The mature tree gives a profit of 4s., making the profit +on an acre £20 annually. The Governor of Mohammerah +has lately planted 30,000 trees, and date palms to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +the number of 60,000 have been recently planted on +Persian soil.</p> + +<p>It is said that there are 160 varieties of dates, but +only a few are known to commerce. These great sombre +date forests or "date gardens," which no sunshine can +enliven, are of course artificial, and depend upon +irrigation. The palms are propagated by means of +suckers taken from the female date. The young trees +begin to bear when they are about five years old, reach +maturity at nine, and may be prolific for two centuries. +Mohammed said wisely, "Honour the palm, it is your +paternal aunt." One soon learns here that it not only +provides the people with nutritious food, but with building +materials, as well as with fuel, carpets, ropes, and +mats. But it is the least beautiful of the palms, and +the dark monotonous masses along the river contrast +with my memories of the graceful coco palm fringing the +coral islands of the Pacific.</p> + +<p>I left the <i>Assyria</i> with regret. The captain and +officers had done all that intelligence and kindness could +do to make the voyage an agreeable one, and were +altogether successful. On shore a hospitable reception, +a good fire, and New Year's Day come together appropriately. +The sky is clear and cloudless, and the air +keen. The bungalows belonging to the European firms +are dwelling-houses above and offices below, and are +surrounded by packing-yards and sheds for goods. In +line with them are the Consulates.</p> + +<p>The ancient commercial glories of Basrah are too well +known to need recapitulation. Circumstances are doing +much to give it something of renewed importance. The +modern Basrah, a town which has risen from a state of +decay till it has an estimated population of 25,000, is +on the right bank of the river, at some distance up a +picturesque palm-fringed canal. Founded by Omar soon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> +after the death of Mohammed, and tossed like a shuttlecock +between Turk and Persian, it is now definitely Turkish, +and the great southern outlet of Chaldæa and Mesopotamia, +as well as the port at which the goods passing to +and from Baghdad "break bulk." A population more +thoroughly polyglot could scarcely be found, Turks, Arabs, +Sabeans, Syrians, Greeks, Hindus, Armenians, Frenchmen, +Wahabees, Britons, Jews, Persians, Italians, and Africans, +and there are even more creeds than races.</p> + +<p><i>S.S. Mejidieh, River Tigris, Jan. 4.</i>—Leaving Basrah +at 4 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> on Tuesday we have been stemming the strong +flood of the Tigris for three bright winter days, in which +to sit by a red-hot stove and sleep under a pile of +blankets have been real luxuries after the torrid heat of +the "Gulf." The party on board consists of Dr. Bruce, +Mr. Hammond, who has been for some months pushing +British trade at Shuster, the Assistant Quartermaster-General +for India, a French-speaking Jewish merchant, +the Hon. G. Curzon, M.P., and Mr. Swabadi, a Hungarian +gentleman in the employment of the Tigris and Euphrates +Steam Navigation Company, a very scholarly man, who in +the course of a long residence in Southern Turkey has +acquainted himself intimately with the country and its +peoples, and is ever ready to place his own stores of +information at our disposal. Mr. Curzon has been +"prospecting" the Karun river, and came on board from +the <i>Shushan</i>, a small stern-wheel steamer with a carrying +capacity of 30 tons, a draught when empty of 18 inches, +and when laden of from 24 to 36. She belongs to the +Messrs. Lynch Brothers, of the Tigris and Euphrates +S.N. Co. They run her once a fortnight at a considerable +loss between Mohammerah and Ahwaz. Her isolated +position and diminutive size are a curious commentary +on the flourish of trumpets and <i>blether</i> of exultation with +which the English newspapers announced the very poor +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +concession of leave to run steamers on the Karun between +the Shat-el-Arab and Ahwaz.</p> + +<p>[Since this letter was written, things have taken rather +a singular turn, and the development of trade on the +Karun has partly fallen into the hands of a trading corporation +of Persians, the <i>Nasiri</i> Company. By them, and +under their representative partner, Haja Mahomad, a man +of great energy, the formidable rapids at Ahwaz are being +circumvented by the construction of a tramway 2400 +yards long, which is proceeding steadily. A merchants' +caravanserai has already been built on the river bank +at the lower landing-place and commencement of the +tramway, and a bakery, butchery, and carpentry, along +with a <i>café</i> and a grocery and general goods stores, have +already been opened by men brought to Ahwaz by +H. Mahomad.</p> + +<p>A river face wall, where native craft are to lie, is +being constructed of hewn stone blocks and sections of +circular pillars, remains of the ancient city.</p> + +<p>The <i>Nasiri</i> Company has a small steamer, the <i>Nasiri</i>, +plying on the lower Karun, chiefly as a tug, taking up +two Arab boats of twenty-seven tons each, lashed +alongside of her. On her transference at the spring +floods of this year to the river above Ahwaz, the <i>Karun</i>, +a steam launch of about sixty tons, belonging to the +Governor of Mohammerah, takes her place below, and +a second steamer belonging to the same company is +now running on the lower stream. Poles from +Zanzibar have been distributed for a telegraph line +from Mohammerah to Ahwaz. The Messrs. Lynch +have placed a fine river steamer of 300 tons on the +route; but this enterprising firm, and English capitalists +generally, are being partially "cut out" by the singular +"go" of this Persian company, which not only appears to +have strong support from Government quarters, but has +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> +gained the co-operation of the well-known and wealthy +Sheikh Mizal, whose personal influence in Arabistan is +very great, and who has hitherto been an obstacle to the +opening of trade on the Karun.</p> + +<p>A great change for the better has taken place in the +circumstances of the population, and villages, attracted by +trade, are springing up, which the <i>Nasiri</i> Company is +doing its best to encourage. The land-tax is very light, +and the cultivators are receiving every encouragement. +Much wheat was exported last year, and there is a brisk +demand for river lands on leases of sixty years for the +cultivation of cotton, cereals, sugar-cane, and date palms.</p> + +<p>Persian soldiers all have their donkeys, and at Ahwaz +a brisk and amusing competition is going on between the +soldiers of a fine regiment stationed there and the Arabs +for the transport of goods past the rapids, and for the +conveyance of tramway and building materials. This +competition is enabling goods to pass the rapids cheaply +and expeditiously.</p> + +<p>One interesting feature connected with these works is +the rapidly increased well-being of the Arabs. In less +than a year labour at 1 <i>kran</i> (8d.) a day has put quite a +number of them in possession of a pair of donkeys and +a plough, and seed-corn wherewith to cultivate Government +lands on their own account, besides leaving a small +balance in hand on which to live without having to +borrow on the coming crop at frightfully usurious rates.</p> + +<p>Until now the sheikhs have been able to command +labour for little more than the poorest food; and now +many of the very poor who depended on them have started +as small farmers, and things are rapidly changing.</p> + +<p>The careful observer, from whose report on Persia to +the Foreign Office, No. 207, I have transferred the foregoing +facts, wrote in January 1891: "It was a sight to +see the whole Arab population on the river banks hard +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> +at work taking advantage of the copious rain which +had just fallen; every available animal fit for draught +was yoked to the plough—horses, mules, bullocks, and +donkeys, and even mares, with their foals following them +up the furrows."</p> + +<p>This, which is practically a Persian opening of the +trade of the Karun, is not what was expected, however +much it was to be desired. After a journey of nine +months through Persia, I am strongly of opinion that if +the Empire is to have a solid and permanent resurrection, +it must be through the enterprise of Persians, aided it +may be by foreign skill and capital, though the less of +the latter that is employed the more hopefully I should +regard the Persian future. The <i>Nasiri</i> Company and the +Messrs. Lynch may possibly unite, and the New Road +Company may join with them in making a regular transport +service by river and road to Tihran, by which +England may pour her manufactured goods even into +Northern Persia, as this route would compete successfully +both with the Baghdad and Trebizond routes.</p> + +<p>Already, owing to the improved circumstances of the +people, the import of English and Indian cotton goods +and of sugar has increased; the latter, which is French, +from its low price, only 2½d. a pound in the Gulf, pushing +its way as far north as Sultanabad. Unfortunately the +shadow of Russia hangs over the future of Persia.]</p> + +<p>At present two English and four Turkish boats run +on the Tigris. They are necessarily of light draught, as +the river is shallow at certain seasons and is full of +shifting sand-banks. The <i>Mejidieh</i> is a comfortable boat, +with a superabundance of excellent food. Her saloon, +state-rooms, and engines are on the main deck, which is +open fore and aft, and has above it a fine hurricane deck, +on the fore part of which the deck passengers, a motley +crowd, encamp. She is fully loaded with British goods. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span></p> + +<p>The first object of passing interest was Kornah, +reputed among the Arabs to be the site of the Garden of +Eden, a tongue of land at the junction of the Tigris and +Euphrates. The "Garden of Eden" contains a village, +and bright fires burned in front of the mat-and-mud +houses. Women in red and white, and turbaned men in +brown, flitted across the firelight; there was a mass of +vegetation, chiefly palms with a number of native vessels +moored to their stems, and a leaning minaret. A frosty +moonlight glorified the broad, turbid waters, Kornah and +the Euphrates were left in shadow, and we turned up the +glittering waterway of the Tigris. The night was too +keenly frosty for any dreams of Paradise, even in this +classic Chaldæa, and under a sky blazing down to the +level horizon with the countless stars which were not to +outnumber the children of "Faithful Abraham."</p> + +<p>Four hours after leaving Kornah we passed the +reputed tomb of Ezra the prophet. At a distance and +in the moonlight it looked handsome. There is a buttressed +river wall, and above it some long flat-roofed +buildings, the centre one surmounted by a tiled dome. +The Tigris is so fierce and rapid, and swallows its alluvial +banks so greedily, that it is probable that some of the +buildings described by the Hebrew traveller Benjamin of +Tudela as existing in the twelfth century were long since +carried away. The tomb is held in great veneration not +only by Jews and Moslems but also by Oriental Christians. +It is a great place of Jewish pilgrimage, and is so +venerated by the Arabs that it needs no guard.<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span></p> + +<p>Hadji brought my breakfast, or as he called it, "the +grub," the next morning, and I contemplated the Son of +Abraham with some astonishment. He had discarded +his turban and <i>abba</i>, and looked a regular uncivilised +desert Ishmaelite, with knives and rosaries in his belt, +and his head muffled in a <i>kiffiyeh</i>, a yellow silk shawl +striped with red, with one point and tassels half a yard +long hanging down his back, and fastened round his head +by three coils of camel's-hair rope. A loose coat with a +gay girdle, "breeks" of some kind, loose boots turned up +at the toes and reaching to the knees, and a striped under-garment +showing here and there, completed his costume.</p> + +<p>The view from the hurricane deck, though there are +no striking varieties, is too novel to be monotonous. The +level plains of Chaldæa, only a few feet higher than the +Tigris, stretch away to the distant horizon, unbroken +until to-day, when low hills, white with the first snows +of winter, are softly painted on a pure blue sky, very far +away. The plains are buff and brown, with an occasional +splash, near villages as buff and brown as the soil out of +which they rise, of the dark-green of date gardens, or the +vivid green of winter wheat. With the exception of these +gardens, which are rarely seen, the vast expanse is unbroken +by a tree. A few miserable shrubs there are, +the <i>mimosa agrestis</i> or St. John's bread, and a scrubby +tamarisk, while liquorice, wormwood, capers, and some +alkaline plants which camels love, are recognisable even +in their withered condition.</p> + +<p>There are a few villages of low mud hovels enclosed +by square mud walls, and hamlets of mat huts, the mats +being made of woven sedges and flags, strengthened by +palm fronds, but oftener by the tall, tough stems of +growing reeds bent into arches, and woven together by +the long leaves of aquatic plants, chiefly rushes. The +hovels, so ingeniously constructed, are shared indiscriminately +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +by the Arabs and their animals, and crowds +of women and children emerged from them as we passed. +Each village has its arrangement for raising water from +the river.</p> + +<p>Boats under sail, usually a fleet at a time, hurry downstream, +owing more to the strong current than to the +breeze, or are hauled up laboriously against both by their +Arab crews.</p> + +<p>The more distant plain is sparsely sprinkled with +clusters of brown tents, long and low, and is dotted over +with flocks of large brown sheep, shepherded by Arabs in +<i>kiffiyehs</i>, each shepherd armed with a long gun slung over +his shoulder. Herds of cattle and strings of camels move +slowly over the brown plain, and companies of men on +horseback, with long guns and lances, gallop up to the +river bank, throw their fiery horses on their haunches, +and after a moment of gratified curiosity wheel round +and gallop back to the desert from which they came. +Occasionally a stretch of arable land is being ploughed +up by small buffaloes with most primitive ploughs, but +the plains are pastoral chiefly, tents and flocks are their +chief features—features which have changed little since +the great Sheikh Abraham, whose descendants now people +them, left his "kindred" in the not distant Ur of the +Chaldees, and started on the long march to Canaan.</p> + +<p>Reedy marshes, alive with water-fowl, arable lands, +bare buff plains, brown tents, brown flocks, mat huts, +mud and brick villages, groups of women and children, +flights of armed horsemen, alternate rapidly,—the +unchanging features are the posts and wires of the +telegraph.</p> + +<p>The Tigris in parts is wonderfully tortuous, and at +one great bend, "The Devil's Elbow," a man on foot can +walk the distance in less than an hour which takes the +steamer four hours to accomplish. The current is very +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +strong, and the slow progress is rendered slower at this +season of low water by the frequent occurrence of sand-banks, +of which one is usually made aware by a jolt, a +grinding sound, a cessation of motion, some turns astern, +and then full speed ahead, which often overcomes the +obstacle. Some hours' delay and the floats of one paddle-wheel +injured were the most serious disasters brought +about; and in spite of the shallows at this season, the +Tigris is a noble river, and the voyage is truly fascinating. +Not that there are many remarkable objects, but the +desert atmosphere and the desert freedom are in themselves +delightful, the dust and <i>débris</i> are the dust and +<i>débris</i> of mighty empires, and there are countless +associations with the earliest past of which we have any +records.</p> + +<p>Aimarah, a rising Turkish town of about 7000 people, +built at a point where the river turns at a sharp angle +to the left, is interesting as showing what commerce can +create even here, in less than twenty years. A caravan +route into Persia was opened and Aimarah does a somewhat +busy trade. Flat-faced brick buildings, with projecting +lattice windows, run a good way along the left +bank of the river, which is so steep and irregular that +the crowd which thronged it when the steamer made +fast was shown to great advantage—Osmanlis, Greeks, +Persians, Sabeans, Jews of great height and superb +<i>physique</i>, known by much-tasselled turbans, and a predominating +Arab element.</p> + +<p>We walked down the long, broad, covered bazar, +with a broken water channel in the middle, where there +were crowds, solely of men, meat, game, bread, fruit, +grain, lentils, horse-shoes, pack saddles, Manchester +cottons, money-changers, silversmiths, and scribes, and +heard the roar of business, and the thin shouts of boys +unaccustomed to the sight of European women. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> +crowds pressed and followed, picking at my clothes, and +singing snatches of songs which were not complimentary. +It had not occurred to me that I was violating rigid +custom in appearing in a hat and gauze veil rather than +in a <i>chadar</i> and face cloth, but the mistake was made +unpleasantly apparent. In Moslem towns women go +about in companies and never walk with men.</p> + +<p>We visited an enclosed square, where there are +barracks for <i>zaptiehs</i> (gendarmes), the Kadi's court, and +the prison, which consists of an open grating like that +of a menagerie, a covered space behind, and dark cells +or dens opening upon it, all better than the hovels of +the peasantry. There were a number of prisoners well +clothed, and apparently well fed, to whom we were an +obvious diversion, but the guards gesticulated, shouted, +and brandished their side-arms, making us at last +understand that our presence in front of the grating was +forbidden. After seeing a large barrack yard, and +walking, still pursued by a crowd, round the forlorn outskirts +of Aimarah, which include a Sabean village, we +visited the gold and silversmiths' shops where the Sabeans +were working at their craft, of which in this region they +have nearly a monopoly, not only settling temporarily +in the towns, but visiting the Arab encampments on the +plains, where they are always welcome as the makers and +repairers of the ornaments with which the women are +loaded. These craftsmen and others of the race whom +I have seen differ greatly from the Arabs in appearance, +being white rather than brown, very white, <i>i.e.</i> very pale, +with jet-black hair; large, gentle, intelligent eyes; small, +straight noses, and small, well-formed mouths. The +handsome faces of these "Christians of St. John" are +very pleasing in their expression, and there was a +dainty cleanliness about their persons and white clothing +significant of those frequent ablutions of both which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> +are so remarkable a part of their religion. The children +at Aimarah, and generally in the riparian villages, wear +very handsome chased, convex silver links, each as large +as the top of a breakfast cup, to fasten their girdles.</p> + +<p>The reedy marshes, the haunts of pelicans and pigs, +are left behind at Aimarah, and tamarisk scrub and +liquorice appear on the banks. At Kut-al-Aimarah, a +small military post and an Arab town of sun-dried +bricks on the verge of a high bank above the Tigris, +we landed again, and ragamuffin boys pressed very +much upon us, and ragamuffin <i>zaptiehs</i>,<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> grotesquely +dressed in clothes of different European nationalities, +pelted them with stones. To take up stones and throw +them at unwelcome visitors is a frequent way of getting +rid of them in the less civilised parts of the East.</p> + +<p>A <i>zaptieh</i> station, barracks, with a large and badly-kept +parade ground, a covered bazar well supplied, houses +with blank walls, large <i>cafés</i> with broad matted benches, +asafœtida, crowds of men of superb <i>physique</i>, picturesque +Arabs on high-bred horses, and a total invisibility of +women, were the salient features of Kut-al-Aimarah. +Big-masted, high-stemmed boats, the broad, turbid +Tigris with a great expanse of yellowish sand on its +farther shore, reeds "shaken with the wind," and a windy +sky, heavily overcast, made up the view from the bank. +There were seen for the first time by the new-comers +the most venerable boats in the world, for they were old +even when Herodotus mentions them—<i>kufas</i> or <i>gophers</i>, +very deep round baskets covered with bitumen, with +incurved tops, and worked by one man with a paddle. +These remarkable tubs are used for the conveyance of +passengers, goods, and even animals.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i019" id="i019"></a> +<img src="images/illus-019.jpg" width="326" height="332" alt="A GOPHER" title="" /> +<p class="caption">A GOPHER.</p> +</div> + +<p>Before leaving we visited the Arab Khan or Sheikh +in his house. He received us in an upper room of +difficult access, carpeted with very handsome rugs, and +with a divan similarly covered, but the walls of brown +mud were not even plastered. His manner was dignified +and courteous, and his expression remarkably shrewd. +A number of men sitting on the floor represented by +their haughty aspect and magnificent <i>physique</i> the +royalty of the Ishmaelite descent from Abraham. This +Khan said that his tribe could put 3000 fighting men +into the field, but it was obvious that its independence +is broken, and that these tribal warriors are reckoned +as Osmanli irregulars or Bashi Bazouks. The Khan +remarked that "the English do not make good friends, +for," he added, "they back out when difficulties arise."</p> + +<p>On board the steamer the condition of the Arabs is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +much discussed, and the old residents describe it as +steadily growing worse under the oppression and corruption +of the Osmanli officials, who appear to be doing +their best to efface these fine riparian tribes by merciless +exactions coming upon the top of taxation so heavy +as to render agriculture unprofitable, the impositions +actually driving thousands of them to seek a living in +the cities and to the Persian shores of the Gulf, where +they exchange a life of hereditary freedom for a precarious +and often scanty subsistence among unpropitious +surroundings. Still, the Arab of the desert is not conquered +by the Turks. +</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER I (<i>Continued</i>)</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Baghdad</span>, <i>Jan. 5</i>.</p> + +<p>The last day on the Tigris passed as pleasantly as its +predecessors. There was rain in the early morning, +then frost which froze the rain on deck, and at 7 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> +the mercury in my cabin stood at 28°.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon the country became more populous, +that is, there were <i>kraals</i> of mat huts at frequent +intervals, and groups of tents to which an external wall +of mats gave a certain aspect of permanence. Increased +cultivation accompanied the increased population. In +some places the ground was being scratched with a +primitive plough of unshod wood, or a branch of a tree +slightly trimmed, leaving a scar about two inches deep. +These scars, which pass for furrows, are about ten inches +apart, and camel thorn, tamarisk, and other shrubs +inimical to crops stand between them. The seed is now +being sown. After it comes up it grows apace, and +in spite of shallow scratches, camel thorn, and tamarisk +the tilth is so luxuriant that the husbandmen actually +turn cattle and sheep into it for two or three weeks, and +then leave it to throw up the ear! They say that there +are from eighteen to thirty-five stalks from each seed in +consequence of this process! The harvest is reaped in +April, after which water covers the land.</p> + +<p>Another style of cultivation is adopted for land, of +which we saw a good deal, very low lying, and annually +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> +overflowed, usually surrounding a nucleus of permanent +marsh. This land, after the water dries up, is destitute +of vegetation, and presents a smooth, moist surface full +of cracks, which scales off later. No scratching is +needed for this soil. The seed is sown broadcast over +it, and such of it as is not devoured by birds falls into +the cracks, and produces an abundant crop. All this rich +alluvial soil is stoneless, but is strewn from Seleucia +to Babylon with fragments of glass, bricks, and pottery. +Artificial mounds also abound, and remains of canals, all +denoting that these fertile plains in ancient days supported +a large stationary population. Of all that once +was, this swirling river alone remains, singing in every +eddy and ripple—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p>"For men may come and men may go,</p> +<p class="i2">But I go on for ever."</p> +</div> + +<p>As we were writing in the evening we were nearly +thrown off our chairs by running aground with a thump, +which injured one paddle wheel and obliged us to lie up +part of the night for repairs near the ruins of the ancient +palace of Ctesiphon. Seleucia, on the right bank of the +river, is little more now than a historic name, but the +palace of Tak-i-Kasr, with its superb archway 100 +feet in height, has been even in recent times magnificent +enough in its ruin to recall the glories of the +Parthian kings, and the days when, according to Gibbon, +"Khosroes Nushirwan gave audience to the ambassadors +of the world" within its stately walls. Its gaunt and +shattered remains have even still a mournful grandeur +about them, but they have suffered so severely from the +barbarous removal of the stones and the fall of much of +the front as to be altogether disappointing.</p> + +<p>Soon after leaving Ctesiphon there is increased cultivation, +and within a few miles of Baghdad the banks +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +of the river, which is its great high road, become +populous. "Palatial residences," in which the women's +apartments are indicated by the blankness of their walls, +are mixed up with mud hovels and goat's-hair tents; +there are large farmhouses with enclosures for cattle and +horses; date gardens and orange groves fringe the +stream, and arrangements for drawing water are let into +its banks at frequent intervals. Strings of asses laden +with country produce, companies of horsemen and innumerable +foot passengers, all moved citywards.</p> + +<p>The frosty sun rose out of an orange sky as a disc +of blood and flame, but the morning became misty and +overcast, so that the City of the Arabian Nights did not +burst upon the view in any halo of splendour. A few +tiled minarets, the blue domes of certain mosques, +handsome houses,—some of them European Consulates, +half hidden by orange groves laden with their golden +fruitage,—a picturesque bridge of boats, a dense growth +of palms on the right bank, beyond which gleam the +golden domes of Kazimain and the top of Zobeide's tomb, +the superannuated British gun-boat <i>Comet</i>, two steamers, +a crowd of native craft, including <i>kufas</i> or <i>gophers</i>, a +prominent Custom-house, and decayed alleys opening on +the water, make up the Baghdad of the present as seen +from the <i>Mejidieh's</i> deck.</p> + +<p>As soon as we anchored swarms of <i>kufas</i> clustered +round us, and swarms of officials and <i>hamals</i> (porters) +invaded the deck. Some of the passengers had landed +two hours before, others had proceeded to their destinations +at once, and as my friends had not come off I was +alone for some time in the middle of a tremendous +Babel, in which every man shouted at the top of his +voice and all together, Hadji assuming a deportment of +childish helplessness. Certain officials under cover of +bribes lavished on my behalf by a man who spoke +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +English professed to let my baggage pass unopened, +then a higher official with a sword knocked Hadji +down, then a man said that everything would be all +right if I would bestow another gold <i>lira</i>, about £1, +on the officers, and I was truly glad when kind Captain +Dougherty with Dr. Sutton came alongside in the +<i>Comet's</i> boat, and brought me ashore. The baggage was +put into another of her boats, but as soon as we were out +of sight it was removed, and was taken to the Custom-house, +where they insisted that some small tent poles in +a cover were guns, and smashed a box of dates in the +idea that it was tobacco!</p> + +<p>The Church Mission House, in which I am receiving +hospitality, is a "native" house, though built and +decorated by Persians, as also are several of the Consulates. +It is in a narrow roadway with blank walls, a +part of the European quarter; a door of much strength +admits into a small courtyard, round which are some of +the servants' quarters and reception rooms for Moslem +visitors, and within this again is a spacious and handsome +courtyard, round which are kitchens, domestic +offices, and the <i>serdabs</i>, which play an important part in +Eastern life.</p> + +<p>These <i>serdabs</i> are semi-subterranean rooms, usually +with arched fronts, filled in above-ground with latticework. +They are lofty, and their vaulted roofs are +supported in rich men's houses on pillars. The well of +the household is often found within. The general effect +of this one is that of a crypt, and it was most appropriate +for the Divine Service in English which greeted my +arrival. The cold of it was, however, frightful. It was +only when the Holy Communion was over that I found +that I was wearing Hadji's revolver and cartridge belt +under my cloak, which he had begged me to put on to +save them from confiscation! In these vaulted chambers +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +both Europeans and natives spend the hot season, sleeping +at night on the roofs.</p> + +<p>Above this lower floor are the winter apartments, +which open upon a fine stone balcony running round +three sides of the court. On the river side of the house +there is an orange garden, which just now might be the +garden of the Hesperides, and a terrace, below which is +the noble, swirling Tigris, and beyond, a dark belt of +palms. These rooms on the river front have large +projecting windows, six in a row, with screens which +slide up and down, and those which look to the courtyard +are secluded by very beautiful fretwork. The +drawing-room, used as a dormitory, is a superb room, +in which exquisitely beautiful ceiling and wall decorations +in shades of fawn enriched with gold, and fretwork +windows, suggest Oriental feeling at every turn. The +plaster-work of this room is said to be distinctively +Persian and is very charming. The house, though large, +is inconveniently crowded, with the medical and clerical +mission families, two lady missionaries, and two guests. +Each apartment has two rows of vaulted recesses in its walls, +and very fine cornices above. It is impossible to warm +the rooms, but the winter is very short and brilliant, +and after ulsters, greatcoats, and fur cloaks have been +worn for breakfast, the sun mitigates the temperature.</p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER II</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Baghdad</span>, <i>Jan. 9</i>.</p> + +<p>Baghdad is too well known from the careful descriptions +given of it by Eastern travellers to justify me in +lingering upon it in detail, and I will only record a few +impressions, which are decidedly <i>couleur de rose</i>, for the +weather is splendid, making locomotion a pleasure, and +the rough, irregular roadways which at other seasons are +deep in foul and choking dust, or in mud and pestilential +slime, are now firm and not remarkably dirty.</p> + +<p>A little earlier than this the richer inhabitants, who +have <i>warstled</i> through the summer in their dim and +latticed <i>serdabs</i>, emerge and pitch their tents in the +plains of Ctesiphon, where the men find a stimulating +amusement in hunting the boar, but it is now the "season" +in the city, the liveliest and busiest time of the year. +The cholera, which is believed to have claimed 6000 +victims, has departed, and the wailing of the women, +which scarcely ceased day or night for a month, is silent. +The Jewish troubles, which apparently rose out of the +indignation of the Moslems at the burial within the gates, +contrary to a strict edict on the subject, of a Rabbi who +died of cholera, have subsided, and the motley populations +and their yet more motley creeds are for the time +at peace.</p> + +<p>In the daytime there is a roar or hum of business, +mingled with braying of asses, squeals of belligerent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +horses, yells of camel-drivers and muleteers, beating of +drums, shouts of beggars, hoarse-toned ejaculations of +fakirs, ear-splitting snatches of discordant music, and +in short a chorus of sounds unfamiliar to Western ears, +but the nights are so still that the swirl of the Tigris +as it hurries past is distinctly heard. Only the long +melancholy call to prayer, or the wail of women over the +dead, or the barking of dogs, breaks the silence which at +sunset falls as a pall over Baghdad.</p> + +<p>Under the blue sunny sky the river view is very fine. +The river itself is imposing from its breadth and volume, +and in the gorgeous sunsets, with a sky of crimson +flame, and the fronds of the dark date palms mirrored in +its reddened waters, it looks really beautiful. The city +is stately enough as far as the general <i>coup-d'œil</i> of the +river front goes, and its river <i>façade</i> agreeably surprises +me. The Tigris, besides being what may be called the +main street, divides Baghdad into two unequal parts, and +though the city on the left bank has almost a monopoly +of picturesque and somewhat stately irregularity in the +houses of fair height, whose lattices and oriel windows +overhang the stream from an environment of orange +gardens, the dark date groves dignify the meaner +buildings of the right bank. The rush of a great river is +in itself attractive, and from the roof of this house the +view is fascinating, with the ceaseless movements of +hundreds of boats and <i>kufas</i>, the constant traffic of men, +horses, asses, and caravans across the great bridge of +boats, and the long lines of buildings which with more or +less picturesqueness line the great waterway.</p> + +<p>Without the wearisomeness of sight-seeing there is +much to be seen in Baghdad, and though much that +would be novel to a new-comer from the West is familiar +to me after two years of Eastern travel, there is a great +deal that is really interesting. The <i>kufas</i> accumulating +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +at their landing, freighted with the products of the Upper +Tigris, the transpontine city, in which country produce +takes the foremost place; the tramway to Kazimain constructed +during the brief valiship of Midhat Pasha, on +which the last journey of the day is always performed at +a gallop, <i>coûte que coûte</i>; the caravans of asses, each one +with a huge fish, the "Fish of Tobias," hanging across its +back; the strings of the same humble animal, carrying +skins of water from the river throughout the city; the +tombs, the mosques, the churches, the great caravans of +mules and camels, almost monopolising the narrow roadways, +Arabs and Osmanlis on showy horses, Persians, +Turks, Arabs, Jews, Armenians, Chaldæans, in all the +variety of their picturesque national costumes, to which +the niggardly clothing of a chance European acts as an +ungraceful foil; Persian dead, usually swaddled, making +their last journey on mule or horseback to the holy +ground at Kerbela, and the occasional march of horse or +foot through the thronged bazars, are among the hourly +sights of a city on which European influence is scarcely +if at all perceptible.</p> + +<p>Turkish statistics must be received with caution, and +the population of Baghdad may not reach 120,000 souls, +but it has obviously recovered wonderfully from the +effects of war, plague, inundation, and famine, and looks +busy and fairly prosperous, so much so indeed that the +account given of its misery and decay in Mr. Baillie +Fraser's charming <i>Travels in Kurdistan</i> reads like a story +of the last century. If nothing remains of the glories of +the city of the Caliphs, it is certainly for Turkey a busy, +growing, and passably wealthy nineteenth-century capital. +It is said to have a hundred mosques, twenty-six minarets, +and fifteen domes, but I have not counted them!</p> + +<p>Its bazars, which many people regard as the finest in +the East outside of Stamboul, are of enormous extent and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +very great variety. Many are of brick, with well-built +domed roofs, and sides arcaded both above and below, +and are wide and airy. Some are of wood, all are +covered, and admit light scantily, only from the roof. +Those which supply the poorer classes are apt to be +ruinous and squalid—"<i>ramshackle</i>," to say the truth, +with an air of decay about them, and their roofs are +merely rough timber, roughly thatched with reeds or +date tree fronds. Of splendour there is none anywhere, +and of cleanliness there are few traces. The old, narrow, +and filthy bazars in which the gold and silversmiths ply +their trade are of all the most interesting. The trades +have their separate localities, and the buyer who is in +search of cotton goods, silk stuffs, carpets, cotton yarn, +gold and silver thread, ready-made clothing, weapons, +saddlery, rope, fruit, meat, grain, fish, jewellery, muslins, +copper pots, etc., has a whole alley of contiguous shops +devoted to the sale of the same article to choose from.</p> + +<p>At any hour of daylight at this season progress +through the bazars is slow. They are crowded, and +almost entirely with men. It is only the poorer women +who market for themselves, and in twos and threes, at +certain hours of the day. In a whole afternoon, among +thousands of men, I saw only five women, tall, shapeless, +badly-made-up bundles, carried mysteriously along, +rather by high, loose, canary-yellow leather boots than +by feet. The face is covered with a thick black gauze +mask, or cloth, and the head and remainder of the form +with a dark blue or black sheet, which is clutched by +the hand below the nose. The walk is one of tottering +decrepitude. All the business transacted in the bazars is +a matter of bargaining, and as Arabs shout at the top of +their voices, and buyers and sellers are equally keen, the +roar is tremendous.</p> + +<p>Great <i>cafés</i>, as in Cairo, occur frequently. In the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> +larger ones from a hundred to two hundred men are seen +lounging at one time on the broad matted seats, shouting, +chaffering, drinking coffee or <i>sharbat</i> and smoking <i>chibouks</i> +or <i>kalians</i>. Negro attendants supply their wants. These +<i>cafés</i> are the clubs of Baghdad. Whatever of public +opinion exists in a country where the recognised use of +words is to "conceal thought," is formed in them. They +are centres of business likewise, and much of the noise is +due to bargaining, and they are also manufactories of +rumours, scandals, and fanaticism. The great caravanserais, +such as the magnificent Khan Othman, are also +resorts of merchants for the display and sale of their +goods.</p> + +<p>Europeans never make purchases in the bazars. +They either have the goods from which they wish to +make a choice brought to their houses, or their servants +bargain for them, getting a commission both from buyer +and seller.</p> + +<p>The splendour of the East, if it exists at all, is not +to be seen in the bazars. The jewelled daggers, the cloth +of silver and gold, the diaphanous silk tissues, the brocaded +silks, the rich embroideries, the damascened sword blades, +the finer carpets, the inlaid armour, the cunning work in +brass and inlaid bronze, and all the articles of <i>vertu</i> and +<i>bric-à-brac</i> of real or spurious value, are carefully concealed +by their owners, and are carried for display, with +much secrecy and mystery, to the houses of their ordinary +customers, and to such European strangers as are reported +to be willing to be victimised.</p> + +<p>Trade in Baghdad is regarded by Europeans and +large capitalists as growing annually more depressed +and unsatisfactory, but this is not the view of the +small traders, chiefly Jews and Christians, who start +with a capital of £5 or upwards, and by buying some +cheap lot in Bombay,—gay handkerchiefs, perfumery, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> +shoes, socks, buttons, tin boxes with mirror lids, scissors, +pocket-knives, toys, and the like,—bid fair to make +small fortunes. The amount of perfumery and rubbish +piled in these ramshackle shops is wonderful. The +trader who picks up a desert Arab for a customer and +sells him a knife, or a mirror box, or a packet of +candles is likely to attract to himself a large trade, +for when once the unmastered pastoral hordes of Al +Jazīra, Trak, and Stramīya see such objects, the desire +of possession is aroused, and the refuse of Manchester and +Birmingham will find its way into every tent in the +desert.</p> + +<p>The best bazars are the least crowded, though once +in them it is difficult to move, and the strings of asses +laden with skins of water are a great nuisance. The +foot-passenger is also liable at any moment to be ridden +down by horsemen, or squeezed into a jelly by the +passage of caravans.</p> + +<p>It is in the meat, vegetable, cotton, oil, grain, fruit, +and fish bazars that the throngs are busiest and noisiest, +and though cucumbers, the great joy of the Turkish palate, +are over, vegetables "of sorts" are abundant, and the +slant, broken sunbeams fall on pyramids of fruit, and +glorify the warm colouring of melons, apples, and pomegranates.</p> + +<p>A melon of 10 lbs. weight can be got for a penny, +a sheep for five or six shillings, and fish for something +like a farthing per pound, that is the "Fish of Tobias," +the monster of the Tigris waters, which is largely eaten +by the poor. Poultry and game are also very cheap, and +the absolute necessaries of life, such as broken wheat for +porridge, oil, flour, and cheese, cost little.</p> + +<p>Cook-shops abound, but their viands are not tempting, +and the bazars are pervaded by a pungent odour of hot +sesamum oil and rancid fat, frying being a usual mode +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> +of cooking in these restaurants. An impassive Turk, +silently smoking, sits cross-legged on a platform at each +Turkish shop door. He shows his goods as if he had no +interest in them, and whether he sells or not seems a +matter of indifference, so that he can return to his pipe. +It is not to him that the overpowering din is owing, but +to the agitated eagerness of the other nationalities.</p> + +<p>The charm of the bazars lies in the variety of race +and costume and in the splendid <i>physique</i> of the greater +number of the men. The European looks "nowhere." +The natural look of a Moslem is one of <i>hauteur</i>, but no +words can describe the scorn and lofty Pharisaism which +sit on the faces of the Seyyids, the descendants of Mohammed, +whose hands and even garments are kissed reverently +as they pass through the crowd; or the wrathful +melancholy mixed with pride which gives a fierceness to +the dignified bearing of the magnificent beings who glide +through the streets, their white turbans or shawl head-gear, +their gracefully flowing robes, their richly embroidered +under-vests, their Kashmir girdles, their inlaid +pistols, their silver-hilted dirks, and the predominance +of red throughout their clothing aiding the general effect. +Yet most of these grand creatures, with their lofty looks +and regal stride, would be accessible to a bribe, and +would not despise even a perquisite. These are the +<i>mollahs</i>, the scribes, the traders, and the merchants of the +city.</p> + +<p>The Bedouin and the city Arabs dress differently, and +are among the marked features of the streets. The under-dress +is a very coarse shirt of unbleached homespun +cotton, rarely clean, over which the Sheikhs and richer +men wear a robe of striped silk or cotton with a Kashmir +girdle of a shawl pattern in red on a white ground. The +poor wear shirts of coarse hair or cotton, without a robe. +The invariable feature of Arab dress is the <i>abba</i>—a long +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +cloak, sleeveless, but with holes through which to pass +the arms, and capable of many adaptations. It conceals +all superabundance and deficiency of attire, and while it +has the dignity of the <i>toga</i> by day it has the utility of a +blanket by night. The better-class <i>abba</i> is very hard, +being made of closely-woven worsted, in broad brown and +white or black and white perpendicular stripes. The +poorest <i>abba</i> is of coarse brown worsted, and even of goat's-hair. +I saw many men who were destitute of any clothing +but tattered <i>abbas</i> tied round their waists by frayed +hair ropes. The <i>abba</i> is the distinctive national costume +of the Arabs. The head-gear is not the turban but a +shawl of very thick silk woven in irregular stripes of +yellow and red, with long cords and tassels depending, +made of the twisted woof. This handsome square is +doubled triangularly, the double end hangs down the +back, and the others over the shoulders. A loosely-twisted +rope of camel's-hair is wound several times round +the crown of the head. When the weather is cold, being +like all Orientals very sensitive in their heads, they bring +one side of the shawl over the whole of the face but the +eyes, and tuck it in, in great cold only exposing one eye, +and in great heat also. Most Moslems shave the head, +but the Arabs let their hair grow very long, and wear it +in a number of long plaits, and these elf-locks mixed up +with the long coloured tassels of the <i>kiffiyeh</i>, and the dark +glittering eyes looking out from under the yellow silk, +give them an appearance of extreme wildness, aided by +the long guns which they carry and their long desert +stride.</p> + +<p>The Arab moves as if he were the ruler of the country, +though the grip of the Osmanli may be closing on him. +His eyes are deeply set under shaggy eyebrows, his nose +is high and sharp, he is long and thin, his profile suggests +a bird of prey, and his demeanour a fierce independence. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span></p> + +<p>The Arab women go about the streets unveiled, and +with the <i>abba</i> covering their very poor clothing, but it is +not clutched closely enough to conceal the extraordinary +tattooing which the Bedouin women everywhere regard +as ornamental. There are artists in Baghdad who make +their living by this mode of decorating the person, and +vie with each other in the elaboration of their patterns. +I saw several women tattooed with two wreaths of blue +flowers on their bosoms linked by a blue chain, palm +fronds on the throat, stars on the brow and chin, and +bands round the wrists and ankles. These disfigurements, +and large gold or silver filigree buttons placed outside one +nostril by means of a wire passed through it, worn by +married women, are much admired. When these women +sell country produce in the markets, they cover their +heads with the ordinary <i>chadar</i>.</p> + +<p>The streets are narrow, and the walls, which are +built of fire-burned bricks, are high. Windows to +the streets are common, and the oriel windows, with +their warm brown lattices projecting over the roadways +at irregular heights, are strikingly picturesque. Not less +so are latticework galleries, which are often thrown +across the street to connect the two houses of wealthy +residents, and the sitting-rooms with oriel windows, +which likewise bridge the roadways. Solid doorways +with iron-clasped and iron-studded doors give an impression +of security, and suggest comfort and to some +extent home life, and sprays of orange trees, hanging +over walls, and fronds of date palms give an aspect of +pleasantness to the courtyards.</p> + +<p>The best parts of the city, where the great bazars, +large dwelling-houses, and most of the mosques are, is +surrounded by a labyrinth of alleys, fringing off into +streets growing meaner till they cease altogether among +open spaces, given up to holes, heaps, rubbish, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +slaughter of animals, and in some favoured spots to the +production of vegetables. Then come the walls, which +are of kiln-burned bricks, and have towers intended for +guns at intervals. The wastes within the walls have +every element of decay and meanness, the wastes without, +where the desert sands sweep up to the very foot of the +fortifications, have many elements of grandeur.</p> + +<p>Baghdad is altogether built of chrome-yellow kiln-dried +bricks. There are about twenty-five kilns, chiefly in the +hands of Jews and Christians in the wastes outside the +city, but the demand exceeds the supply, not for building +only, but for the perpetual patchings which houses, paths, +and walls are always requiring, owing to the absorption +of moisture in the winter.</p> + +<p>Bricks at the kilns sell for 36s. per thousand twelve +inches square, and 18s. per thousand seven inches square. +They are carried from the kilns on donkeys, small beasts, +each taking ten large or twenty-five small bricks.</p> + +<p>Unskilled labour is abundant. Men can be engaged +at 9d. a day, and boys for 5d.</p> + +<p>This afternoon, in the glory of a sunset which +reddened the yellow waste up to the distant horizon, +a caravan of mules, mostly in single file, approached the +city. Each carried two or four white bales slung on +his sides, or two or more long boxes, consisting of planks +roped rather than nailed together. This is the fashion +in which thousands of Persian Moslems (Shiahs or +"Sectaries") have been conveyed for ages for final +burial at Kerbela, the holiest place of the Shiahs, an +easy journey from Baghdad, where rest the ashes of Ali, +regarded as scarcely second to Mohammed, and of Houssein +and Hassan his sons, whose "martyrdom" is annually +commemorated by a Passion Play which is acted in +every town and village in Persia. To make a pilgrimage +to Kerbela, or to rest finally in its holy dust, or both, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> +constitutes the ambition of every Shiah. The Sunnis, or +"Orthodox," who hate the Shiahs, are so far kept in check +that these doleful caravans are not exposed to any worse +molestation than the shouts and ridicule of street Arabs.</p> + +<p>The mode of carrying the dead is not reverent. The +<i>katirgis</i>, who contract for the removal, hurry the bodies +along as goods, and pile them in the yards of the +caravanserais at night, and the mournful journey is +performed, oftener than not, without the presence of +relations, each body being ticketed with the name once +borne by its owner. Some have been exhumed and are +merely skeletons, others are in various stages of decomposition, +and some are of the newly dead.<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>Outside the walls predatory Arabs render the roads +unsafe for solitary travellers, and at times for feeble caravans; +but things in this respect are better than they were.</p> + +<p>Visits to the Armenian and Chaldæan Churches, to +the Mosque of Abdel Kader, with its courts thronged by +Afghan pilgrims, and to the Jewish quarter, have been +very interesting. There are said to be 30,000 Jews +here, and while a large proportion of them are in +poverty, on the whole they are an influential nationality, +and some of them are very rich.</p> + +<p>Through the liberality of Sir Albert Sassoon a Jewish +High School has been opened, where an admirable education +is given. I was extremely pleased with it, and with the +director, who speaks French fluently, and with the proficiency +in French of the elder students. He describes +their earnestness and energetic application as being most +remarkable.</p> + +<p>The French Carmelite monks have a large, solid +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> +"Mission Church" or Cathedral with a fine peal of bells, +and a very prosperous school attached, in which are boys +belonging to all the many creeds professed in Baghdad. +The sisters of St. Joseph have a school for girls, which +Turkish children are not slow to avail themselves of. +The sisters find a remarkable unhandiness among the +women. Few, if any, among them have any idea of +cutting out or repairing, and rich and poor are equally +incapable of employing their fingers usefully.</p> + +<p>The people here are so used to the sight of Europeans +that it is quite easy for foreign ladies to walk in this +quarter only attended by a servant, and I have accompanied +Mrs. Sutton on visits to several Armenian houses. +The Armenians are in many cases wealthy, as their +admirably-designed and well-built houses testify. The +Christian population is estimated at 5000, and its wealth +and energy give it greater importance than its numbers +warrant. One of the houses which we visited was truly +beautiful and in very good taste, the solidity of the stone +and brickwork, the finish of the wood, and the beauty of +the designs and their execution in hammered iron being +quite remarkable. The lofty roofs and cornices are +elaborately worked in plaster, and this is completely +concealed by hundreds or thousands of mirrors set so as +to resemble facets, so that roof and cornices flash like +diamonds. This is a Persian style of decoration, and is +extremely effective in large handsome rooms. Superb +carpets and divans and tea tables inlaid with mother-of-pearl +furnish the reception and smoking rooms, and the +bedrooms and nurseries over which we were taken were +simply arranged with French bedsteads and curtains of +Nottingham mosquito net. As in other Eastern houses, +there were no traces of occupation, no morning room or +den sacred to litter; neither was there anything to look +at—the opposite extreme from our overloaded drawing-rooms—or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> +any library. Cigarettes and black coffee in +minute porcelain cups, in gold filigree receptacles, were +presented on each occasion, and the kind and courteous +intention was very pleasing.</p> + +<p>The visits which I paid with Dr. Sutton were very +different. He has worked as a medical missionary here +for some years, and his unaffected benevolence and quiet +attention to all suffering persons, without distinction of +race or creed, and his recent extraordinary labours by +night and day among the cholera-smitten people, have +won for him general esteem and confidence, and he is +even allowed to enter Moslem houses and prescribe for +the women in some cases.</p> + +<p>The dispensary, in which there is not half enough +accommodation, is very largely attended by people of all +creeds, and even Moslem women, though exclusively of +the poorer classes, avail themselves of it. Yesterday, +when I was there, the comfortable seats of the cheerful +matted waiting-room were all occupied by Armenian +and Chaldæan women, unveiled and speaking quite +freely to Dr. Sutton; while a few Moslem women, +masked rather than veiled, and enveloped in black +sheets, cowered on the floor and scarcely let their voices +be heard even in a tremulous whisper.</p> + +<p>I am always sorry to see any encroachment made by +Christian teachers on national customs where they are +not contrary to morality, and willingly leave to Eastern +women the <i>pardah</i> and the veil, but still there is a +wholesomeness about the unveiled, rosy, comely, frank +faces of these Christian women. But—and it is a decided +but—though the women were comely, and though some +of the Armenian girls are beautiful, every one has one or +more flattish depressions on her face—scars in fact—the +size of a large date stone. Nearly the whole population +is thus disfigured. So universal is it among the fair-skinned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +Armenian girls, that so far from being regarded as +a blemish, it is viewed as a token of good health, and it is +said that a young man would hesitate to ask for the +hand of a girl in marriage if she had not a "date mark" +on her face.</p> + +<p>These "date boils," or "Baghdad boils," as they are +sometimes called, are not slow in attacking European +strangers, and few, if any, escape during their residence +here. As no cause can reasonably be assigned for them, +so no cure has been found. Various remedies, including +cauterisation, have been tried, but without success, and +it is now thought wisest to do nothing more than keep +them dry and clean, and let them run their natural course, +which lasts about a year. Happily they are not so painful +as ordinary boils. The malady appears at first as a +white point, not larger than a pin's head, and remains +thus for about three months. Then the flesh swells, +becomes red and hard and suppurates, and underneath +a rough crust which is formed is corroded and eaten +away as by vitriol. On some strangers the fatal point +appears within a few days of their arrival.</p> + +<p>In two years in the East I have not seen any +European welcomed so cordially as Dr. Sutton into +Moslem homes. The <i>Hakīm</i>, exhibiting in "quiet continuance +in well-doing" the legible and easily-recognised +higher fruits of Christianity, while refraining from harsh +and irreverent onslaughts on the creeds of those whose +sufferings he mitigates, is everywhere blessed.<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>To my thinking, no one follows in the Master's footprints +so closely as the medical missionary, and on +no agency for alleviating human suffering can one look +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> +with more unqualified satisfaction. The medical mission +is the outcome of the living teachings of our faith. +I have now visited such missions in many parts of +the world, and never saw one which was not healing, +helping, blessing; softening prejudice, diminishing suffering, +making an end of many of the cruelties which +proceed from ignorance, restoring sight to the blind, +limbs to the crippled, health to the sick, telling, in every +work of love and of consecrated skill, of the infinite compassion +of Him who came "not to destroy men's lives, +but to save them."</p> + +<p>In one house Dr. Sutton was welcome because he had +saved a woman's life, in another because a blind youth +had received his sight, and so on. Among our visits +was one to a poor Moslem family in a very poor quarter. +No matter how poor the people are, their rooms stand +back from the street, and open on yards more or less +mean. It is a misnomer to call this dwelling a house, or +to write that it <i>opens</i>, for it is merely an arched recess +which can never be shut!</p> + +<p>In a hole in the middle of an uneven earthen floor +there was a fire of tamarisk root and animal fuel, giving +off a stinging smoke. On this the broken wheat porridge +for supper was being cooked in a copper pot, supported +on three rusty cannon-balls. An earthenware basin, a +wooden spoon, a long knife, a goat-skin of water, a +mallet, a long hen-coop, which had served as the bed for +the wife when she was ill, some ugly hens, a clay jar full +of grain, two heaps of brick rubbish, and some wadded +quilts, which had taken on the prevailing gray-brown +colour, were the plenishings of the arch.</p> + +<p>Poverty brings one blessing in Turkey—the poor +man is of necessity a monogamist. Wretched though the +place was, it had the air of home, and the smoky hole +in the floor was a fireside. The wife was unveiled and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +joined in the conversation, the husband was helping her +to cook the supper, and the children were sitting round +or scrambling over their parents' knees. All looked as +happy as people in their class anywhere. It is good to +have ocular demonstration that such homes exist in +Turkey. God be thanked for them! The man, a fine +frank-looking Turk, welcomed Dr. Sutton jovially. He had +saved the wife's life and was received as their best friend. +Who indeed but the medical missionary would care for +such as them and give them of his skill "without money +and without price"? The hearty laugh of this Turk was +good to hear, his wife smiled cordially, and the boys +laughed like their father. The eldest, a nice, bright +fellow of nine, taught in the mosque school, was proud to +show how well he could read Arabic, and read part of a +chapter from St. John's Gospel, his parents looking on +with wonder and admiration.</p> + +<p>Among the Christian families we called on were those +of the dispenser and catechist—people with very small +salaries but comfortable homes. These families were +living in a house furnished like those of the rich Armenians, +but on a very simple scale, the floor and daïs +covered with Persian carpets, the divan with Turkish +woollen stuff, and there were in addition a chair or two, +and silk cushions on the floor. In one room there were +an intelligent elderly woman, a beautiful girl of seventeen, +married a few days ago, and wearing her bridal +ornaments, with her husband; another man and his wife, +and two bright, ruddy-cheeked boys who spoke six +languages. All had "date marks" on their faces. After +a year among Moslems and Hindus, it was startling to +find men and women sitting together, the women unveiled, +and taking their share in the conversation merrily +and happily. Even the young bride took the initiative +in talking to Dr. Sutton. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span></p> + +<p>Of course the Christian women cover their faces in +the streets, but the covering is of different material and +arrangement, and is really magnificent, being of very rich, +stiff, corded silk—self-coloured usually—black, heliotrope, +or dark blue, with a contrasting colour woven in deep +vandykes upon a white ground as a border. The silk is +superb, really capable of standing on end with richness. +Such a sheet costs about £5. The ambition of every +woman is to possess one, and to gratify it she even denies +herself in the necessaries of life.</p> + +<p>The upper classes of both Moslem and Christian women +are rarely seen on foot in the streets except on certain +days, as when they visit the churches and the mosques +and burial-grounds. Nevertheless they go about a great +deal to visit each other, riding on white asses, which are +also used by <i>mollahs</i> and rich elderly merchants. All +asses have their nostrils slit to improve their wind. A +good white ass of long pedigree, over thirteen hands high, +costs as much as £50. As they are groomed till they +look as white as snow, and are caparisoned with red +leather trappings embroidered with gold thread and silks, +and as a rider on a white ass is usually preceded by +runners who shout and brandish sticks to clear the +way, this animal always suggests position, or at least +wealth.</p> + +<p>Women of the upper classes mounted on these asses +usually go to pay afternoon visits in companies, with +mounted eunuchs and attendants, and men to clear the +way. They ride astride with short stirrups, but the rider +is represented only by a shapeless blue bundle, out of which +protrude two yellow boots. Blacks of the purest negro +type frequently attend on women, and indeed consequence +is shown by the possession of a number of them.</p> + +<p>Of the Georgian and Circassian <i>belles</i> of the harams, +a single lustrous eye with its brilliancy enhanced by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> +use of <i>kohl</i> is all that one sees. At the bottom of the +scale are the Arab women and the unsecluded women of +the lower orders generally, who are of necessity drudges, +and are old hags before they are twenty, except in the +few cases in which they do not become mothers, when +the good looks which many of them possess in extreme +youth last a little longer. If one's memories of Baghdad +women were only of those to be seen in the streets, they +would be of leathery, wrinkled faces, prematurely old, +figures which have lost all shape, and henna-stained +hands crinkled and deformed by toil.</p> + +<p>Baghdad is busy and noisy with traffic. Great quantities +of British goods pass through it to Persia, avoiding +by doing so the horrible rock ladders between Bushire +and Isfahan. The water transit from England and +India, only involving the inconvenience of transhipment +at Basrah, makes Baghdad practically into a seaport, with +something of the bustle and vivacity of a seaport, and +caravans numbering from 20,000 to 26,000 laden mules +are employed in the carriage of goods to and from the +Persian cities. A duty of one per cent is levied on +goods in transit to Persia.<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>The trade of Baghdad is not to be despised. The +principal articles which were imported from Europe +amounted in 1889 to a value of £621,140, and from +India to £239,940, while the exports from Baghdad to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> +Europe and America were valued in the same year at +£469,200, and to India by British India Company +steamers only at £35,150. In looking through the +Consular list of exports, it is interesting to notice that +13,400 cwts. of gum of the value of £70,000 were +exported in 1889. Neither the Indian postage stamps +nor ours should suffer from the partial failure of the +Soudan supply.</p> + +<p>Liquorice roots to the value of £7800 were exported +in 1888, almost solely to America, to be used in the +preparation of quid tobacco and "fancy drinks"!</p> + +<p>The gall nuts which grow in profusion on the dwarf +oaks which cover many hillsides, were exported last year +to the value of £35,000, to be used chiefly in the production +of ink, so closely is commerce binding countries +one to the other.</p> + +<p>Two English firms have concessions for pressing wool +and making it into bales suitable for shipment. There +are five principal English firms here, three French, and +six Turkish, not including the small fry. There are five +foreign Consulates.</p> + +<p>The carriage of goods is one of the most important of +Persian and Turkish industries, and the breeding of mules +and the manufacture of caravan equipments give extensive +employment; but one shudders to think of the amount +of suffering involved in sore backs and wounds, and of +exhausted and over-weighted animals lying down forlornly +to die, having their eyes picked out before death.</p> + +<p>The mercury was at 37° at breakfast-time this morning. +Fuel is scarce and dear, some of the rooms are +without fireplaces, and these good people study, write, +and work cheerfully in this temperature in open rooms, +untouched by the early sun.</p> + +<p>The preparations for to-morrow's journey are nearly +complete. Three mules have been engaged for the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +baggage—one for Hadji, and a saddle mule for myself; +stores, a revolver, and a <i>mangel</i> or brazier have been +bought; a permit to travel has been obtained, and my +hosts, with the most thoughtful kindness, have facilitated +all the arrangements. I have bought two mule +<i>yekdans</i>, which are tall, narrow leather trunks on strong +iron frames, with stout straps to buckle over the top of +the pack saddle. On the whole I find that it is best +to adopt as far as possible the travelling equipments of +the country in which one travels. The muleteers and +servants understand them better, and if any thing goes +wrong, or wears out, it can be repaired or replaced. I +have given away <i>en route</i> nearly all the things I brought +from England, and have reduced my camp furniture to +a folding bed and a chair. I shall start with three +novelties—a fellow-traveller,<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> a saddle mule, and an untried +saddle.</p> + +<p>It is expected that the journey will be a very severe +one, owing to the exceptionally heavy snowfall reported +from the Zagros mountains and the Persian plateau. +The Persian post has arrived several days late. I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER III<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor_h">[10]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"><span class="smcap">Yakobiyeh, Asiatic Turkey</span>, <i>Jan. 11</i>.</p> + +<p>Whether for "well or ill" the journey to Tihran is +begun. I am ashamed to say that I had grown so +nervous about its untried elements, and about the +possibilities of the next two months, that a very small +thing would have made me give it up at the last +moment; but now that I am fairly embarked upon it in +splendid weather, the spirit of travel has returned.</p> + +<p>Much remained for the last morning,—debts to be paid +in complicated money, for Indian, Turkish, and Persian +coins are all current here; English circular notes to be +turned into difficult coin, and the usual "row" with +the muleteers to be endured. This disagreeable farce +attends nearly all departures in the East, and I never +feel the comfortable assurance that it means nothing.</p> + +<p>The men weighed my baggage, which was considerably +under weight, the day before, but yesterday three or four +of them came into the courtyard, shouting in Arabic at +the top of their loud harsh voices that they would not +carry the loads. Hadji roared at them, loading his +revolver all the time, calling them "sons of burnt fathers," +and other choice names. Dr. Bruce and Dr. Sutton +reasoned with them from the balcony, when, in the very +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +height of the row, they suddenly shouldered the loads +and went off with them.</p> + +<p>Two hours later the delightful hospitalities of Dr. and +Mrs. Sutton were left behind, and the farewell to the +group in the courtyard of the mission house is a long +farewell to civilisation. Rumours of difficulties have +been rife, and among the various dismal prophecies the +one oftenest repeated is that we shall be entangled in +the snows of the Zagros mountains; but the journey +began propitiously among oranges and palms, bright sunshine +and warm good wishes. My mule turns out a fine, +spirited, fast-walking animal, and the untried saddle +suits me. My marching equipment consists of two large +holsters, with a revolver and tea-making apparatus in +one, and a bottle of milk, and dates in the other. An +Afghan sheepskin coat is strapped to the front of +the saddle, and a blanket and stout mackintosh behind. +I wear a cork sun-helmet, a gray mask instead of a veil, +an American mountain dress with a warm jacket over it, +and tan boots, scarcely the worse for a year of Himalayan +travel. Hadji is dressed like a wild Ishmaelite.</p> + +<p>Captain Dougherty of H.M.S. <i>Comet</i> and his chief +engineer piloted us through the narrow alleys and +thronged bazars,—a <i>zaptieh</i>, or gendarme, with a rifle +across his saddle-bow, and a sheathed sabre in his hand, +shouting at the donkey boys, and clearing the crowd to +right and left. Through the twilight of the bazars, +where chance rays of sunshine fell on warm colouring, +gay merchandise, and picturesque crowds; along narrow +alleys, overhung by brown lattice windows; out under the +glorious blue of heaven among ruins and graves, through +the northern gateway, and then there was an abrupt exchange +of the roar and limitations of the City of the Caliphs for +the silence of the desert and the brown sweep of a limitless +horizon. A walled Eastern city has no suburbs. It +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +is a literal step from a crowded town to absolute solitude. +The contrast is specially emphasised at Baghdad, where +the transition is made from a great commercial city with +a crowded waterway, to an uninhabited plain in the +nudity of mid-winter.</p> + +<p>A last look at gleaming domes, coloured minarets, and +massive mausoleums, rising out of an environment of +palms and orange groves, at the brick walls and towers +of the city, at the great gate to which lines of caravans +were converging from every quarter, a farewell to the +kindly pilots, and the journey began in earnest.</p> + +<p>The "Desert" sweeps up to the walls of Baghdad, but +it is a misnomer to call the vast level of rich, stoneless, +alluvial soil a desert. It is a dead flat of uninhabited +earth; orange colocynth balls, a little wormwood, and +some alkaline plants which camels eat, being its chief +products. After the inundations reedy grass grows in the +hollows. It is a waste rather than a desert, and was +once a populous plain, and the rich soil only needs +irrigation to make it "blossom as the rose." Traces of the +splendid irrigation system under which it was once a +garden abound along the route.</p> + +<p>The mid-day and afternoon were as glorious as an unclouded +sky, a warm sun, and a fresh, keen air could make +them. The desert freedom was all around, and the +nameless charm of a nomadic life. The naked plain, +which stretched to the horizon, was broken only by the +brown tents of Arabs, mixed up with brown patches of +migrating flocks, strings of brown camels, straggling +caravans, and companies of Arab horsemen heavily +armed. An expanse of dried mud, the mirage continually +seen, a cloudless sky, and a brilliant sun—this was all. +I felt better at once in the pure, exhilarating desert air, +and nervousness about the journey was left behind. I +even indulged in a gallop, and except for her impetuosity, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +which carried me into the middle of a caravan, and +turning round a few times, the mule behaved so +irreproachably that I forgot the potential possibilities of +evil. Still, I do not think that there can ever be that +perfect correspondence of will between a mule and his +rider that there is between a horse and his rider.</p> + +<p>The mirage was almost continual and grossly +deceptive. Fair blue lakes appeared with palms and +towers mirrored on their glassy surfaces, giving place to +snowy ranges with bright waters at their feet, fringed +by tall trees, changing into stately processions, all so +absolutely real that the real often seemed the delusion. +These deceptions, continued for several hours, were +humiliating and exasperating.</p> + +<p>Towards evening the shams disappeared, the waste +purpled as the sun sank, and after riding fifteen miles +we halted near the mud village of Orta Khan, a place with +brackish water and no supplies but a little brackish +sheep's milk. The caravanserai was abominable, and we +rode on to a fine gravelly camping-ground, but the headman +and some of the villagers came out, and would not +hear of our pitching the tents where we should be the +prey of predatory hordes, strong enough, they said, to +overpower an officer, two <i>zaptiehs</i>, and three orderlies! +Being unwilling to get them into trouble, we accepted a +horrible camping-ground, a mud-walled "garden," trenched +for dates, and lately irrigated, as damp and clayey as it +could be. My <i>dhurrie</i> will not be dry again this winter. +The mules could not get in, the baggage was unloaded at +some distance, and was all mixed up, and Hadji showed +himself incapable; my tent fell twice, remained precarious, +and the <i>kanats</i> were never pegged down at all.</p> + +<p>The <i>dhurrie</i> was trampled into the mud by clayey +feet. Baggage had to be disentangled and unpacked +after dark, and the confusion apt to prevail on the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +first night of a march was something terrible. It opened +my eyes to the thorough inefficiency of Hadji, who was +so dazed with opium this morning that he stood about +in a dream, ejaculating "<i>Ya Allah!</i>" when it was suggested +that he should bestir himself, leaving me to do +all the packing, groaning as he took up the tent pegs, +and putting on the mule's bridle with the bit hanging +under her chin!</p> + +<p>The night was very damp, not quite frosty, and in +the dim morning the tent and its contents were wet. +Tea at seven, with Baghdad rusks, with a distinctly "native +taste," two hours spent in standing about on the damp, +clayey ground till my feet were numb, while the men, +most of whom were complaining of rheumatism, stumbled +through their new work; and then five hours of wastes, +enlivened by caravans of camels, mules, horses, or asses, +and sometimes of all mixed, with their wild, armed +drivers. The leader of each caravan carries a cylinder-shaped +bell under his throat, suspended from a red +leather band stitched with cowries, another at his chest, +and very large ones, often twenty-four inches long by ten +in diameter, hanging from each pack. Every other animal +of the caravan has smaller bells, and the tones, which +are often most musical, reach from the deep note of a +church bell up to the frivolous jingle of sleigh bells; +jingle often becomes jangle when several caravans are +together. The <i>katirgis</i> (muleteers) spend large sums on +the bells and other decorations. Among the loads we +met or overtook were paraffin, oranges, pomegranates, +carpets, cotton goods, melons, grain, and chopped straw. +The waste is covered with tracks, and a guide is absolutely +necessary.</p> + +<p>The day has been still and very gloomy, with flakes of +snow falling at times. The passing over rich soil, once +cultivated and populous, now abandoned to the antelope +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +and partridge, is most melancholy. The remains of +canals and water-courses, which in former days brought +the waters of the Tigris and the Diyalah into the fields +of the great grain-growing population of these vast levels +of Chaldæa and Mesopotamia, are everywhere, and at +times create difficulties on the road. By road is simply +meant a track of greater or less width, trodden on the +soil by the passage of caravans for ages. On these two +marches not a stone has been seen which could strike a +ploughshare.</p> + +<p>Great ancient canals, with their banks in ruins and +their deep beds choked up and useless, have been a +mournful feature of rather a dismal day's journey. We +crossed the bed of the once magnificent Nahrwan canal, +the finest of the ancient irrigation works to the east of +the Tigris, still in many places from twenty-five to forty +feet deep and from 150 to 200 feet in breadth.</p> + +<p>For many miles the only permanent village is a +collection of miserable mud hovels round a forlorn caravanserai, +in which travellers may find a wretched refuge +from the vicissitudes of weather. There is a remarkable +lack of shelter and provender, considering that this is +not only one of the busiest of caravan routes, but is +enormously frequented by Shiah pilgrims on their way +from Persia to the shrines of Kerbela.</p> + +<p>After crossing the Nahrwan canal the road keeps +near the right bank of the Diyalah, a fine stream, which +for a considerable distance runs parallel with the Tigris +at a distance of from ten to thirty miles from it, and falls +into it below Baghdad; and <i>imamzadas</i> and villages with +groves of palms break the line of the horizon, while on +the left bank for fully two miles are contiguous groves +of dates and pomegranates. These groves are walled, +and among them this semi-decayed and ruinous town is +situated, miserably shrunk from its former proportions. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> +We entered Yakobiyeh after crossing the Diyalah by a +pontoon bridge of twelve boats, and found one good +house with projecting lattice windows, and a large +entrance over which the head and ears of a hare were +nailed; narrow, filthy lanes, a covered bazar, very dark +and ruinous, but fairly well supplied, an archway, and +within it this caravanserai in which the baggage must +be waited for for two hours.</p> + +<p>This first experience of a Turkish inn is striking. +There is a large square yard, heaped with dirt and +rubbish, round which are stables and some dark, ruinous +rooms. A broken stair leads to a flat mud roof, on +which are some narrow "stalls,"—<i>rooms</i> they cannot be +called,—with rude doors fastening only from the outside, +for windows small round holes mostly stuffed with straw +near the roof, for floors sodden earth, for fireplaces holes in +the same, the walls slimy and unplastered, the corners full +of ages of dusty cobwebs, both the walls and the rafters +of the roof black with ages of smoke, and beetles and +other abominations hurry into crannies, when the doors +are opened, to emerge as soon as they are shut. A small +hole in the wall outside each stall serves for cooking. +The habits of the people are repulsive, foul odours are +only hybernating, and so, mercifully, are the vermin.</p> + +<p>While waiting for the "furniture" which is to make +my "unfurnished apartment" habitable, I write sitting +on my camp stool with its back against the wall, +wrapped up in a horse-blanket, a heap of saddles, swords, +holsters, and gear keeping the wind from my feet. The +Afghan orderly smokes at the top of the stair. Plumes +of palms and faintly-seen ridges of snowy hills appear +over the battlements of the roof. A snow wind blows +keenly. My fingers are nearly numb, and I am generally +stiff and aching, but so much better that discomforts +are only an amusement. Snow is said to be impending. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> +I have lunched frugally on sheep's milk and dates, +and feel everything but my present surroundings to be +very far off, and as if I had lived the desert life, and +had heard the chimes of the great caravans, and had +seen the wild desert riders, and the sun sinking below +the level line of the desert horizon, for two months +instead of two days.</p> + +<p>Yakobiyeh is said to have 800 houses. It has some +small mosques and several caravanserais, of which this is +the best! It was once a flourishing place, but repeated +ravages of the plague and chronic official extortions +have reduced it to decay. Nevertheless, it grows grain +enough for its own needs on poorly irrigated soil, and +in its immense gardens apples, pears, apricots, walnuts, +and mulberries flourish alongside of the orange and palm.</p> + +<p><i>Kizil Robat, Jan. 14.</i>—It was not very cold at +Yakobiyeh. At home few people would be able to sit +in a fireless den, with the door open, on a January +night, but fireless though it was, my slender camp +equipage gave it a look of comfort, and though rats or +mice ate a bag of rusks during the night, and ran over +my bed, there were no other annoyances. Hadji grows +more dazed and possibly more unwilling every day, as +he sees his vista of perquisites growing more limited, and +to get off, even at nine, I have to do the heavy as well +as the light packing myself.</p> + +<p>There was a great "row," arising out of an alleged +delinquency of the <i>katirgis</i> concerning payment, when +we left Yakobiyeh the following morning. The owners +of the caravanserai wanted to detain us, and the archway +was so packed with a shouting, gesticulating, +scowling, and not kindly crowd, mostly armed, that it was +not easy for me to mount. The hire of mules always +includes their fodder and the keep of the men, but in +the first day or two the latter usually attempt to break +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +their bargain, and compel their employer to provide for +them. So long as Arabic is spoken Hadji acts as sole +interpreter, and though soldiers and <i>zaptiehs</i> were left with +him he was scared at being left behind with the baggage. +The people stormed and threatened at the top of their +voices, but doubtless it was not so bad as it sounded, for +we got through the bazars without molestation, and then +into a perplexing system of ancient water-courses whose +high broken banks and deep waterless beds intersect each +other and the road. In contrast to this magnificent irrigation +system there are modern water-channels about a foot +wide, taken from the river Diyalah, which, small as they +are, turn the rich deep soil into a "fruitful field."</p> + +<p>After these glimpses of a prosperity which once was +and might be again (for these vast alluvial plains, which +extend from the Zagros mountains to the Euphrates and +up to the Syrian desert, are capable with irrigation +and cultivation of becoming the granary of Western +Asia), the road emerges on a level and somewhat gravelly +waste, on which after a long ride we were overtaken by +a <i>zaptieh</i> sent by the Persian agent in Yakobiyeh, to say +that the baggage and servants were being forcibly detained, +but shortly afterwards with a good glass the +caravan was seen emerging from the town.</p> + +<p>The country was nearly as featureless as on the preceding +day, and on the whole quite barren; among the +few caravans on the road there were two of immense +value, the loads being the best description of Persian +carpets. There were a few families on asses, migrating +with all their possessions, and a few parties of Arab +horsemen picturesquely and very fully armed, but no +dwellings, till in the bright afternoon sunshine, on the +dreariest stretch of an apparently verdureless waste, we +came on the caravanserai of Wiyjahea, a gateway with a +room above it, a square court with high walls and arched +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +recesses all round for goods and travellers, and large +stables. A row of reed huts, another of Arab tents, and +a hovel opposite the gateway, where a man with two guns +within reach sells food, tobacco, and hair ropes, make up +this place of horror. For, indeed, the only water is a +brackish reedy pool, with its slime well stirred by the feet +of animals, and every man's hand is against his brother.</p> + +<p>We proposed to pitch my tent in a ruined enclosure, +but the headman was unwilling, and when it was suggested +that it should be placed between the shop and the +caravanserai, he said that before sunset all the predatory +Arabs for ten miles round would hear that "rich +foreigners were travelling," and would fall upon and +plunder us, so we must pitch, if at all, in the filthy and +crowded court of the caravanserai. The <i>balakhana</i>, or +upper room, was too insecure for me, and had no privacy, +as the fodder was kept in it, and there was no method of +closing the doors, which let in the bitterly cold wind.</p> + +<p>We arrived at 3 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and long before sunset a number +of caravans came in, and the courtyard was full of horses, +mules, and asses. When they halted the loads were +taken off and stacked in the arched recesses; next, the +great padded pack-saddles, which cover nearly the whole +back, were removed, revealing in most cases deep sores +and ulcers. Then the animals were groomed with box +curry-combs, with "clatters" like the noise of a bird-scarer +inside them. Fifty curry-combs going at once is like +the din of the cicada. Then the beasts were driven in +batches to the reedy pool, and came flying back helter-skelter +through the archway, some fighting, others playing, +many rolling. One of them nearly pulled my tent over +by rolling among the tent ropes. It had been pitched +on damp and filthy ground in a corner of the yard, among +mules, horses, asses, dogs, and the roughest of rough men, +but even there the damp inside looked like home. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span></p> + +<p>After this brief hilarity, the pack-saddles, which serve +as blankets, were put on, the camels were made to lie +down in rows, most of the mules and horses were tethered +in the great stable, where they neighed, stamped, and +jangled their bells all night, and others were picketed in +the yard among the goats and donkeys and the big +dogs, which wandered about yelping. Later, the small +remaining space was filled up with sheep. It was just +possible to move, but no more, and sheep and goats were +even packed under the <i>flys</i> of my tent. The muleteers +and travellers spread their bedding in the recesses, lighted +their fires of animal fuel, and cooked their food.</p> + +<p>At sunset the view from the roof was almost beautiful. +Far away, in all directions, stretched the level desert +purpling in the purple light. Very faintly, on the far +horizon to the north-east, mountain ranges were painted +in amethyst on an orange sky. Horsemen in companies +galloped to tents which were not in sight, strings of +camels cast their long shadows on the purple sand, and +flocks of big brown sheep, led by armed shepherds, converged +on the reedy pool in long brown lines. The +evening air was keen, nearly frosty.</p> + +<p>The prospects for the night were not encouraging, and +on descending the filthy stair on which goats had taken +up their quarters, I found the malodorous, crowded +courtyard so blocked, that shepherds, with much pushing, +shouting, and barking of big dogs, with difficulty made a +way for me to pass through the packed mass of sheep +and goats into the cold, damp tent, which was pitched on +damp manure, two or three feet deep, into which heavy +feet had trampled the carpet. The uproar of <i>katirgis</i> and +travellers went on for another two hours, and was exchanged +later for sounds of jangling bells, yelping and +quarrelling dogs, braying asses, bleating sheep, and coarsely-snoring +men. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span></p> + +<p>At 9 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> the heavy gates, clamped with iron, were +closed and barred, and some belated travellers, eager to +get in from the perils of the outside, thundered at them +long and persistently, but "the door was shut," and they +encountered a hoarse refusal. The <i>seraidar</i> said that +400 horses and mules, besides camels and asses, 2000 +sheep, and over 70 men were lodged in the caravanserai +that night.</p> + +<p>The servants were in a recess near, and Hadji professed +that he watched all night, and said that he fired at +a man who tried to rob my tent after the light went out, +but I slept too soundly to be disturbed, till the caravans +and flocks left at daybreak, after a preliminary uproar of +two hours. It was bitterly cold, and my tent and its +contents were soaked with the heavy dew, nearly doubling +their weight.</p> + +<p>I started at 9 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, before the hoar-frost had melted, +and rode with the <i>zaptieh</i> over flat, stoneless, alluvial +soil, with some irrigation and the remains of some fine +canals. There are villages to be seen in the distance, +but though the soil is rich enough to support a very +large population, there are no habitations near the road +except a few temporary reed huts, beside two large +caravanserais. There was little of an interesting kind +except the perpetual contrast between things as they are +and things as they were and might be. Some large +graveyards, with brick graves, a crumbling <i>imamzada</i>, a +pointed arch of brick over the Nahrud canal, a few ass +caravans, with a live fowl tied by one leg on the back of +each ass, and struggling painfully to keep its uneasy +seat, some cultivation and much waste, and then we +reached the walled village of Sheraban, once a town, but +now only possessing 300 houses.</p> + +<p>Passing as usual among ruinous dwellings and between +black walls with doors here and there, by alleys foul +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> +with heaps of refuse, and dangerous from slimy pitfalls, +in the very foulest part we turned into the caravanserai, +its great courtyard reeking with filth and puddles, among +which are the contaminated wells from which we are +supposed to drink. The experience of the night before +was not repeated. There were fairly good rooms, mine +looking into a palm garden, through a wooden grating, +cold truly, but pleasant. I fear we may never have such +"luxury" again. I remarked to my fellow-traveller that +our early arrival had fortunately given us the "choice of +rooms," and he replied, "choice of pig-styes,—choice of +dens!" but my experience at Wiyjahea has deprived me +of the last remnants of fastidiousness!</p> + +<p>I walked through the ruinous, wretched town, and its +poor bazar, where the very fine <i>physique</i> of the men was +in marked contrast with their wretched surroundings, and +gives one the impression that under honest officials they +might be a fine people. They are not genial to strangers, +however. There was some bad language used in the +bazar, and on the roads they pass one in silence at the +best, so unlike the Tibetans with their friendly <i>Tzu</i>. At +Sheraban one of the muleteers forced his way into my +room, and roughly turned over my saddle and baggage, +accusing me of having taken his blanket! Hadji is useless +under such circumstances. He blusters and fingers +his revolver, but carries no weight. Indeed his defects +are more apparent every day. I often have to speak to +him two or three times before I can rouse him from his +opium dream, and there is a growing inclination to shirk +his very light work when he can shift it upon somebody +else. I hope that he is well-meaning, as that would cover +a multitude of faults, but he is very rough and ignorant, +and is either unable or unwilling to learn anything, even +how to put up my trestle bed!</p> + +<p>Open rooms have sundry disadvantages. In the night a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> +cat fell from the roof upon my bed, and was soon joined by +more, and they knocked over the lamp and milk bottle, +and in the darkness had a noisy quarrel over the milk.</p> + +<p>The march of eighteen miles here was made in six hours, +at a good caravan pace. The baggage animals were sent +off in advance, and the <i>zaptieh</i> led a mule loaded with +chairs, blankets, and occupations. I ride with the <i>zaptieh</i> +in front of me till I get near the halting-place, when +M—— and his orderly overtake me, as it might be +disagreeable for a European woman to enter a town alone.</p> + +<p>The route lies over treeless levels of the same brown +alluvial soil, till it is lifted on a gentle gravelly slope to a +series of low crumbling mounds of red and gray sandstone, +mixed up with soft conglomerate rocks of jasper and +porphyry pebbles. These ranges of mounds, known as +the Hamrin Hills, run parallel to the great Kurdistan +ranges, from a point considerably below Baghdad, nearly +to Mosul and the river Zab. They mark the termination +in this direction of the vast alluvial plains of the Tigris +and Euphrates, and are the first step to the uplifted +Iranian plateau.</p> + +<p>Arid and intricate ravines, dignified by the name of +passes, furrow these hills, and bear an evil reputation, as +Arab robbers lie in wait, "making it very unsafe for +small caravans." A wild, desolate, ill-omened-looking +region it is. When we were fairly within the pass, the +<i>zaptieh</i> stopped, and with much gesticulation and many +repetitions of the word <i>effendi</i>, made me understand that +it was unsafe to proceed without a larger party. We +were unmolested, but it is a discredit to the administration +of the province that an organised system of pillage +should be allowed to exist year after year on one of the +most frequented caravan routes in Turkey. There were +several companies of armed horsemen among the ranges, +and some camels browsing, but we met no caravans. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span></p> + +<p>From the top of the descent there was a striking view +over a great brown alluvial plain, watered by the Beladruz +and the Diyalah, with serrated hills of no great height, but +snow-covered; on its east side a silent, strange, weird view, +without interest or beauty as seen under a sullen sky. +There are no villages on this march, but ancient canals +run in all directions, and fragments of buildings, as well +as of brick and pottery, scattered over the unploughed +surface, are supposed by many to mark the situation of +Dastagird, the residence of Khosroe Parviz in the seventh +century. I have no books of reference with me, and +can seldom write except of such things as I see and +hear.</p> + +<p>Farther on a multitude of irrigation ditches have +turned a plain of dry friable soil into a plain of mud, +through which it was difficult to struggle. Then came a +grove of palms, and then the town or village of Kizil +Robat (Red Shrine), with its <i>imamzada</i>, whose reputation +for sanctity is indicated by the immense number of +graves which surround it. The walls of this decayed and +wretched town are of thick layers of hardened but now +crumbling earth, and on the east side there is an old +gateway of burned brick. There are said to be 400 +houses, which at the lowest computation would mean a +population of 2000, but inhabited houses and ruins are +so jumbled up together that one cannot form any estimate.</p> + +<p>So woe-begone and miserable a place I never saw, +and the dirt is appalling even in this dry weather. In +spring the alleys of the town are impassable, and people +whose business calls them out cross from roof to roof on +boards. Pools of filthy water, loathsome ditches with +broad margins of trodden slime full of abominations, ruins +of houses, yards foul with refuse, half-clothed and wholly +unwashed children, men of low aspect standing in melancholy +groups, a well-built brick bazar, in which Manchester +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> +cottons are prominent, more mud and dirt, some +ruinous caravanserais, and near the extremity of the town +or village is the horrible one in which I now am, said to be +the best, with a yard a foot deep in manure and slush, in +the midst of which is the well, and around which are +stables and recesses for travellers.</p> + +<p>At first it seemed likely that I should fall so low as +to occupy one of these, but careful investigation revealed +a ruinous stair leading to the roof, up which were two +rooms, or shall I say three?—an arched recess such as +coals are kept in, a small room within it, and a low wood +hole. The open arch, with a <i>mangel</i> or iron pan of +charcoal, serves as the "parlour" this January night, +M—— occupies the wood hole, and I the one room, into +which Hadji, with many groans and ejaculations of "<i>Ya +Allah!</i>" has brought up the essential parts of my baggage. +The evening is gray and threatening, and low, snow-covered +hills look grimly over the bare brown plain which lies +outside this mournful place.</p> + +<p><i>Khannikin, Jan. 15.</i>—This has been a hard, rough +march, but there will be many worse ahead. Rain fell +heavily all night, converting the yard into a lake of +trampled mud, and seemed so likely to continue that it +was difficult to decide whether to march or halt. Miserable +it was to see mules standing to be loaded, up to +their knees in mud, bales of tents and bedding lying in +the quagmire, and the shivering Indian servants up to +their knees in the swamp. In rain steadily falling the +twelve animals were loaded, and after the usual scrimmage +at starting, in which the <i>bakhsheesh</i> is often thrown back at +us, we rode out into a sea of deep mud, through which the +mules, struggling and floundering, got on about a mile an +hour.</p> + +<p>After a time we came to gravel, then relapsed into +deep alluvial soil, which now means deep mire, then a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> +low range of gravelly hills on which a few sheep and +camels were browsing on artemisia and other aromatic +herbs gave a temporary respite, then again we floundered +through miles of mud, succeeded by miles of gravel and +stones. The rain fell in torrents, and there was a cold +strong wind to fight against. There was that amount of +general unpropitiousness which is highly stimulating and +inspiriting.</p> + +<p>When noon came, there was not a rock or bush for +shelter, and turning our backs to the storm we ate our +lunch in our saddles. There was nothing to look at but +brown gravel, or brown mud, brooded over by a gray mist. +So we tramped on, hour after hour, in single file, the +<i>zaptieh</i> leading, everything but his gun muffled in his +brown <i>abba</i>, splashing through mud and water, the water +pouring from my hat and cloak, the six woollen thicknesses +of my mask dripping, seeing neither villages nor caravans, +for caravans of goods do not travel in such rain as this. +Then over a slope we went down into a lake of mud, +where the <i>aide-de-camp</i> of the Governor of Khannikin, in +a fez and military frock-coat and trousers, with a number +of Bashi Bazouks or irregulars, met M—— with courtesies +and an invitation.</p> + +<p>From the top of the next slope there was a view of +Khannikin, a considerable-looking town among groves of +palms and other trees. Then came a worse sea of mud, +and a rudely cobbled causeway, so horrible that it diverted +us back into the mud, which was so bottomless that it +drove us back to the causeway, and the causeway back to +the mud, the rain all the time coming down in sheets. +This causeway, without improvement, is carried through +Khannikin, a town with narrow blind alleys, upon which +foul courtyards open, often so foul as to render the recent +ravages of cholera (if science speaks truly) a matter of +necessity. The mud and water in these alleys was up to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> +the knees of the mules. Not a creature was in the +streets. No amount of curiosity, even regarding the rare +sight of a Frank woman, could make people face the +storm in flimsy cotton clothes.</p> + +<p>Where the road turns to the bridge a line of irregular +infantry was drawn up, poorly dressed, soaked creatures, +standing in chilly mud up to their ankles, in soaked boots +reaching to their knees. These joined and headed the +cavalcade, and I fell humbly in the rear. Poor fellows! +To keep step was impossible when it was hard work to +drag their feet out of the mire, and they carried their +rifles anyhow. It was a grotesque procession. A trim officer, +forlorn infantry, wild-looking Bashi Bazouks, Europeans +in stout mackintoshes splashed with mud from head to +foot, mules rolling under their bespattered loads, and a +<i>posse</i> of servants and orderlies crouching on the top of +baggage, muffled up to the eyes, the asses which carry +the <i>katirgis</i> and their equipments far behind, staggering +and nearly done up, for the march of seventeen miles had +taken eight and a half hours.</p> + +<p>An abrupt turn in the causeway leads to the Holwan, +a tributary of the Diyalah, a broad, rapid stream, over +which the enterprise of a Persian has thrown a really +fine brick bridge of thirteen heavily-buttressed arches, +which connects the two parts of the town and gives some +dignity and picturesqueness to what would otherwise be +mean. On the left bank of the Holwan are the barracks, +the governor's house, some large caravanserais, the Custom-house, +and a quarantine station, quarantine having just +been imposed on all arrivals from Persia, giving travel +and commerce a decided check.</p> + +<p>After half a mile of slush on the river bank we +entered by a handsome gateway a nearly flooded courtyard, +and the Governor's house hospitably engorged the +whole party. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span></p> + +<p>The fully-laden mules stuck in the mud a few miles +off, and did not come in for two hours, and in spite +of covers everything not done up in waterproof was +very wet. The servants looked most miserable, and +complained of chills and rheumatism, and one of the +orderlies is really ill. We cannot move till the storm +is over.</p> + +<p>The rain falls heavily still, the river is rising, the +alleys are two feet deep in slush, travel is absolutely +suspended, and it is not possible without necessity to go +out. It was well indeed that we decided to leave the +shelterless shelter of Kizil Robat. Nothing can exceed +the wretchedness of Khannikin or any Turkish town in +such rain as this. Would that one could think that it +would be washed, but as there are no channels to carry +off the water it simply lodges and stagnates in every depression, +and all the accumulations of summer refuse +slide into these abominable pools, and the foul dust, a +foot deep, becomes mud far deeper; buried things are +half uncovered; torrents, not to be avoided, pour from +every roof, the courtyards are knee-deep in mud, the +cows stand disconsolately in mud; not a woman is to be +seen, the few men driven forth by the merciless exigences +of business show nothing but one eye, and with +"loins girded" and big staffs move wearily, stumbling +and plunging in the mire.</p> + +<p>After some hours the flat mud roofs begin to leak, +water finds out every weak place in the walls, the bazars, +only half open for a short time in the day, are deserted +by buyers, and the patient sellers crouch over <i>mangels</i>, +muffled up in sheepskins, the caravanserais are crammed +and quarrelsome; the price of fodder and fuel rises, and +every one is drowned in rain and wretchedness. Even +here, owing to the scarcity of fuel, nothing can be dried; +the servants in their damp clothes come in steaming; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +Hadji in his misshapen "jack-boots," which he asserts +he cannot take off, spreads fresh mud over the carpets +whenever he enters; I shift from place to place to +avoid the drip from the roof—and still the rain comes +down with unabated vigour! +</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER III (<i>Continued</i>)</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span></p> + +<p class="p2">The house consists of two courtyards, with buildings +round them. The larger and handsomer is the <i>haram</i> +or women's house, which is strictly enclosed, has no exterior +windows, and its one door into the men's house is +guarded by a very ancient eunuch. The courtyard of +this house is surrounded partly by arched <i>serdabs</i>, with +green lattice fronts, and partly by a kitchen, bakery, +wood-house, <i>hammam</i> or hot bath, and the servants' +quarters. The <i>haram</i> has a similar arrangement on the +lower floor. A broad balcony, reached by a steep and +narrow stair, runs round three sides of the upper part +of this house. There are very few rooms, and some of +them are used for storing fruit. The wet baggage is +mostly up here, and under the deep roof the servants +and orderlies camp, looking miserable. The <i>haram</i> has a +balcony all round it, on which a number of reception and +living rooms open, and though not grand or elaborately +decorated, is convenient and comfortable.</p> + +<p>The Turkish host evidently did not know what to do +with such an embarrassing guest as a European woman, +and solved the difficulty by giving me the guest-chamber +in the men's house, a most fortunate decision, as I have +had quiet and privacy for three days. Besides, this room +has a projecting window, with panes of glass held in by +nails, and there is not only a view of the alley with its +slush, but into the house of some poor folk, and over that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> +to the Holwan, sometimes in spate, sometimes falling, and +through all the hours of daylight frequented by grooms +for the purpose of washing their horses. Some shingle +banks, now overflowed, sustain a few scraggy willows, and +on the farther side is some low-lying land. There may be +much besides, but the heavy rain-clouds blot out all else.</p> + +<p>My room is whitewashed, and is furnished with Persian +rugs, Austrian bent-wood chairs, and a divan in the +window, on which I sleep. Lamps, <i>samovars</i>, and glasses +are kept in recesses, and a black slave is often in and out +for them. Otherwise no one enters but Hadji. I get +my food somewhat precariously. It is carved and sent +from table at the beginning of meals, chiefly pillau, curry, +<i>kabobs</i>, and roast chicken, but apparently it is not +etiquette for me to get it till after the men have dined, +and it is none the better for being cold.</p> + +<p>The male part of the household consists of the +Governor and his brother-in-law, a Moslem judge, and +the quarantine doctor, a Cretan, takes his meals in the +house. The Governor and doctor speak French. My +fellow-traveller lives with them.</p> + +<p>The night we arrived, the Governor in some agitation +asked me to go and see his wife, who is very ill. +The cholera has only just disappeared, and the lady had +had a baby, which died of it in three days, and "being a +boy her heart was broken," and "something had come +under her arm." So I went with him into the <i>haram</i>, +which seemed crowded with women of various races and +colours, peeping from behind curtains and through chinks +of doors, tittering and whispering. The wife's room is +richly carpeted and thoroughly comfortable, with a huge +charcoal brazier in the centre, and cushions all over the +floor, except at one end, where there is a raised alcove +with a bed in it.</p> + +<p>On this the lady sat—a rather handsome Kurdish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> +woman, about thirty-five, dressed in a silk quilted jacket, +and with a black gauze handkerchief round her head, +and a wadded quilt over her crossed legs. She was supported +by a pile of pillows. Since then I have been +sent for to see her several times every day, and found her +always in the same position. There is surely something +weird about it. She says she sits there all night, and +has not lain down for two months. A black slave +was fanning her, and two women, shrouded in veils of +tinselled gauze, sat on the bed combing her luxuriant +hair. She is not really beautiful at all, but her husband +assures me constantly that she is "<i>une femme savante</i>." +She has property and the consideration which attaches +to it. She was burning with fever and very weak.</p> + +<p>I had scarcely returned to my room when my host +sent again, begging that I would go back and see the +doctor. I found that it was expected that I should persuade +the lady to consent to have the abscess, or whatever +it is, reopened. The room was full of women and eunuchs, +and the chief eunuch, an elderly Arab, sat on the bed +and supported her while the doctor dressed the wound, +and even helped him with it. Her screams were fearful, +and five people held her with difficulty. Her husband +left the room, unable to bear her cries.</p> + +<p>Quite late I was sent for again, and that time by the +lady, to know if I thought she would die. It appears +that her brother, the judge, remains here to see that she +is not the victim of foul play, but I don't like to ask to +whom the suspicion points, or whether our host, although +the civil governor, keeps him here that he may not be +suspected in case his rich wife dies.</p> + +<p>Except for the repeated summonses to the sick-room, +a walk on the slime of the roof when the rain ceases for +a time, and on the balcony of the <i>haram</i> when it does +not, and a study of the habits of my neighbours over the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> +way, it is very dull. I have patched and mended everything +that gave any excuse for either operation, have +written letters which it is not safe to post, and have +studied my one book on Persia till I know it throughout, +and still the rain falls nearly without cessation and the +quagmires outside deepen.</p> + +<p>So bad is it that, dearly as Orientals love bazars and +<i>hammams</i>, Hadji refuses leave to go to either. I remarked +to him that he must be glad of such a rest, and +he replied in his usual sententious fashion: "They who +have to work must work. God knows all." I fear he +is very lazy, and he has no idea of making one comfortable +or of keeping anything clean. He stamps the mud +of the courtyard into the carpets, and wipes my plates +without washing them, with his shirt. He considers that +our host has attained the height of human felicity. +"What is there left to wish for?" he says. "He has +numbers of slaves, and he's always buying more, and he's +got numbers of women and eunuchs, and everything, and +when he wants money he just sends round the villages. +God is great! <i>Ya Allah!</i>"</p> + +<p>Khannikin, being the nearest town to the Persian +frontier, should be a place of some importance. It is +well situated at an altitude of 1700 feet among groves of +palms, on both banks of the Holwan, and having plenty +of water, the rich alluvium between it and Yakobiyeh +is able to support its own population, though it has to +import for caravans. Most of the Persian trade with +Baghdad and thousands of Shiah pilgrims annually pass +through it. It is a customs station, and has a regiment +of soldiers. Nevertheless, it is very ruinous, and its +population has diminished of late years from 5000 to +about 1800 (exclusive of the troops), and of this number +a fifth have been carried off by cholera within the last +few weeks. It has no schools, and no special industries. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> +The stamp of decay rests upon it. Exactions, crushing +hope out of the people, the general insecurity of property, +and the misrule which has blighted these fine +Asiatic provinces everywhere, sufficiently explain its +decadence.</p> + +<p>The imposition of quarantine on arrivals from Persia +has all but stopped the supply of charcoal, and knowing +the scarcity in the house, I am going without a fire, as +most of the inhabitants are doing. A large caravanserai +outside the walls is used as a quarantine station, and +three others are taken as lazarettos. Out of these +arrangements the officials make a great deal of money in +fees, but anything more horrible than the sanitary state +of these places cannot be conceived. The water appears +to be the essence of typhoid fever and cholera, and the unfortunate +<i>détenus</i> are crowded into holes unfit for beasts, +breathing pestiferous exhalations, and surrounded by such +ancient and modern accumulations of horrors that typhus +fever, cholera, and even the plague might well be expected +to break out.</p> + +<p>Yesterday, for a brief interval, hills covered with snow +appeared through rolling black clouds, and a change +seemed probable, but rain fell in torrents all night; there +is a spate in the river, and though we were ready to start +at eight this morning, the <i>katirgis</i> declined to move, saying +that the road could not be travelled because of the +depth of the fords and the mud.</p> + +<p>The roof, though a good one, is now so leaky that I +am obliged to sleep under my waterproof cloak, and the +un-puttied window-frames let in the rain. Early this +morning a gale from the south-west came on, and the +howling and roaring have been frightful, the rain falling +in sheets most of the time. Sensations are not wanting. +One of the orderlies is seriously ill, and has to be left +behind under medical care till he can be sent to India,—the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> +second man who has broken down. A runner came in +with the news that all caravans are stopped in the Zagros +mountains by snow, which has been falling for five days, +and that the road is not expected to be open for a fortnight. +Later, the Persian agent called to say that on the +next march the road, which is carried on a precipice above +the river, has slid down bodily, and that there are fifteen +feet of water where there should be only two. Of course +this prolonged storm is "exceptional." The temperature +is falling, and it is so cold without a fire that though +my bed is only a blanket-covered dais of brick and +lime, dripped upon continually, in a window with forty +draughts, I am glad to muffle myself up in its blankets +and write among wraps.</p> + +<p>The Governor, recognising the craze of Europeans for +exercise, sent word that M—— might walk in the +balcony of the <i>haram</i> if I went to chaperon him, and this +great concession was gladly accepted, for it was the only +possible way of getting warm. The apparition of a +strange man, and a European, within the precincts of the +<i>haram</i> was a great event, and every window, curtain, and +doorway was taken advantage of by bright dark eyes +sparkling among folds of cotton and gauze. The enjoyment +was surreptitious, but possibly all the more keen, +and sounds of whispering and giggling surged out of +every crevice. There are over thirty women, some of +them negresses. Some are Kurds and very handsome, +but the faces of the two handsomest, though quite young, +have something fiendish in their expression. I have seldom +seen a <i>haram</i> without its tragedies of jealousy and hate, +and every fresh experience makes me believe that the +system is as humiliating to men as it is to women.</p> + +<p>The <i>haram</i> reception-rooms here are large and bright, +with roofs and cornices worked daintily in very white +plaster, and there are superb carpets on the floors, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> +divans covered with Damascus embroidery in gold silk on +cream muslin.</p> + +<p>Each day the demands for my presence in the sick-room +are more frequent, and though I say that I can +scarcely aspire to be a nurse, they persist in thinking +that I am a <i>Hakīm</i>, and possibly a useful spy on the +doctor. I have become aware that unscrupulous jealousy +of the principal wife exists, and, as is usual in +the East, everybody distrusts everybody else, and prefers +to trust strangers. The husband frequently asks +me to remove what seems a cancerous tumour, and the +doctor says that an operation is necessary to save the +lady's life, but when I urge him to perform it, and offer +a nurse's help, he replies that if she were to die he +would be at once accused of murder, and would run a +serious risk.</p> + +<p>The Governor to-day was so anxious that I should +persuade the lady to undergo an operation that he even +brought Hadji into the room to interpret what I said in +Arabic. His ceaseless question is, "Will she die?" and +she asks me the same many times every day. She +insists that I shall be present each day when the wound +is dressed, and give help, lest the doctor without her +leave should plunge a knife into the swelling. These +are most distressing occasions, for an hour of struggle and +suffering usually ends in delirium.</p> + +<p>This afternoon, however, she was much freer from +pain, and sent for me to amuse her. She wore some fine +jewels, and some folds of tinselled gauze round her head, +and looked really handsome and intelligent. Her husband +wished that we could converse without his imperfect +interpreting, and repeated many times, "She is a learned +woman, and can write and read several languages." The +room was as usual full of women, who had removed their +veils at their lord's command. I showed the lady some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +Tibetan sketches, but when I came to one of a man the +women replaced their veils!</p> + +<p>When I showed some embroidery, the Governor said he +had heard that the Queen of England employed herself +with her needle in leisure hours, but that it is not <i>comme +il faut</i> here for ladies to work. It seems that the making +of sweetmeats is the only occupation which can be +pursued without loss of dignity. Is it wonderful that +intolerable <i>ennui</i> should be productive of the miserable +jealousies, rivalries, intrigues, and hatreds which accompany +the system of polygamy?</p> + +<p>The host, although civil governor of a large district, +also suffers from <i>ennui</i>. The necessary official duties are +very light, and the accounts and reports are prepared by +others. If money is wanted he makes "an exaction" on +a village, and subordinates screw it out of the people. +Justice, or the marketable commodity which passes for +such, is administered by a <i>kadi</i>. He clatters about the +balconies with slippered feet, is domestic, that is, he +spends most of the day in the <i>haram</i>, smokes, eats two +meals of six or seven courses each, and towards evening +takes a good deal of wine, according to a habit which is +becoming increasingly common among the higher classes +of Moslems. He is hospitable, and is certainly anything +but tyrannical in his household.</p> + +<p>The customs and ways of the first Turkish house I +have visited in would be as interesting to you as they +were to myself, but it would be a poor return for +hospitality to dwell upon anything, unless, like the +difficulties regarding the illness of the principal wife, +it were a matter of common notoriety.</p> + +<p>It is a punishable act in Persia, and possibly here also, +to look into a neighbour's house, but I cannot help it +unless I were to avoid the window altogether. Wealth +and poverty are within a few feet of each other, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> +as Moslems are charitable to a degree and in a manner +which puts us to shame, the juxtaposition is advantageous.</p> + +<p>My neighbour's premises consist of a very small and +mean yard, now a foot deep in black mire, a cow-shed, +and a room without door or windows, with a black uneven +floor, and black slimy rafters—neither worse nor +better than many hovels in the Western Isles of Scotland. +A man in middle life, a woman of dubious age, two girls +from eight to ten years old, and a boy a little older are +the occupants. The furniture consists of some wadded +quilts, a copper pot, an iron girdle, a clay ewer or two, a +long knife, a wooden spoon, a clay receptacle for grain, +two or three earthenware basins, glazed green, and a +wicker tray. The cow-shed contains—besides the cow, +which is fed on dried thistles—a spade, an open basket, +and a baggage pad. A few fowls live in the house, and +are disconcerted to find that they cannot get out of it +without swimming.</p> + +<p>The weather is cold and raw, fuel is enormously +dear, work is at a standstill, and cold and <i>ennui</i> keep +my neighbours in bed till the day is well advanced. +"Bed" consists of a wadded quilt laid on the floor, with +another for a covering. The man and boy sleep at +one end of the room, the woman and girls at the other, +with covered heads. None make any change in their +dress at night, except that the man takes off the <i>pagri</i> +of his turban, retaining only a skull cap.</p> + +<p>The woman gets up first, lights a fire of tamarisk +twigs and thistles in a hole in the middle of the floor, +makes porridge of some coarse brownish flour and water, +and sets it on to warm—to <i>boil</i> it, with the means at her +disposal, is impossible. She wades across the yard, gives +the cow a bunch of thistles, milks it into a basin, adds a +little leaven to the milk, which she shakes in a goat skin +till it is thick, carries the skin and basket to the house, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> +feeds the fowls from the basket, and then rouses her lord. +He rises, stretches himself, yawns, and places himself +cross-legged by the fire, after putting on his <i>pagri</i>. The +room is dense with pungent wood smoke, which escapes +through the doorway, and only a few embers remain. +The wife hands him an earthen bowl, pours some porridge +into it, adds some "thick milk" from the goat skin, and +stands before him with her arms crossed while he eats, +then receives the bowl from his hands and kisses it, as is +usual with the slaves in a household.</p> + +<p>Then she lights his pipe, and while he enjoys it +she serves her boy with breakfast in the same fashion, +omitting the concluding ceremony, after which she and +the girls retire to a respectful distance with the big pot, +and finish its contents simultaneously. The pipe over, +she pours water on her lord's hands, letting it run on the +already damp floor, and wipes them with her <i>chadar</i>. +No other ablution is customary in the house.</p> + +<p>Poor as this man is, he is a Hadji, and having brought +from Mecca a "prayer stone," with the Prophet's hand +upon it, he takes it from his girdle, puts it on the floor, +bows his forehead on it, turning Mecca-ward, and says his +prayers, repeating his devotions towards evening. The +first day or two he went out, but the roads now being +almost impassable, he confines himself to the repairing of +a small dyke, which keeps the water from running into +the room, which is lower than the yard, and performs its +duty very imperfectly, the soak from the yard and the +drip from the roof increasing the sliminess hourly. These +repairs, an occasional pipe, and much sleep are the record +of this man's day till an hour before sunset, when the +meal of the morning is repeated with the addition of +some cheese.</p> + +<p>The children keep chiefly in bed. Meanwhile the +woman, the busy bee of the family, contrives to patter +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +about nearly all day in wet clothing, carrying out +rubbish in single handfuls, breaking twigs, cleaning the +pot, and feeding the cow. The roof, which in fine weather +is the scene of most domestic occupations, is reached +by a steep ladder, and she climbs this seven times in +succession, each time carrying up a fowl, to pick for +imaginary worms in the slimy mud. Dyed yarn is also +carried up to steep in the rain, and in an interval of +dryness some wool was taken up and carded. An hour +before sunset she lights the fire, puts on the porridge, +and again performs seven journeys with seven fowls, +feeds them in the house, attends respectfully to her lord, +feeds her family, including the cow, paddles through +mire to draw water from the river, and unrolls and +spreads the wadded quilts. By the time it is dark they +are once more in bed, where I trust this harmless, +industrious woman enjoys a well-earned sleep.</p> + +<p>The clouds are breaking, and in spite of adverse +rumours it is decided <i>coûte que coûte</i> to start to-morrow. +For my own part I prefer the freedom even with the +"swinishness" of a caravanserai to receiving hospitality +for which no fitting return can be made.</p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER IV</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Saripul-i-Zohab</span>, <i>Jan. 21</i>.</p> + +<p>The rain at last ceased, and after the <i>katirgis</i> had +squabbled for an hour over the baggage, we got off at +ten, two days ago, very grateful for shelter and hospitality +under such untoward circumstances. Six Bashi +Bazouks and two <i>zaptiehs</i> on foot in ragged and incongruous +uniforms escorted us to the Turkish frontier.</p> + +<p>The streets were in a terrible condition, and horse and +footmen, after an attempt to march in pairs, fell perforce +into a floundering and disorderly single file, the footmen +occasionally pulling themselves out of mud holes by the +tails of the horses. Outside the town there was an +expanse of mud and flooded water-channels which broke +up the last attempt at a procession, and led to a general +<i>sauve qui peut</i>. The mire was tenacious and up to the +horses' knees, half the mules were down with their loads, +Hadji rolled into the mud, my capable animal snorted +and struggled, some went on banks and some took +to streams, the asses had to be relieved of their loads, +and the air was full of shouts and objurgations, till after +much delay the forlorn rabble all struggled to the <i>terra +firma</i> of a gravelly slope, splashed from head to foot.</p> + +<p>The road crosses low, rolling, gravelly hills, with an +occasional outcrop of red sandstone, and ascends on the +whole. The sun was bright, but the wind was strong +and very cold. The Bashi Bazouk escort was altogether +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> +harum-scarum and inconsequent, careering in circles, and +firing at birds (which they never hit) from the saddle, +and when we reached some low hills bearing a bad +reputation, the officer, in order to represent danger and +his vigilant care, threw them out in all directions scouting +for robbers, till we came to a steepish hill crowned +by a round tower with a mushroom top, a few +ruinous mud buildings, and a tattered tent. Here the +escort formed into one line, and the ragged garrison into +another, with an officer facing them, and were photographed +as they shivered in the biting wind. This tower +is a Turkish frontier fort.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards the Persian frontier is crossed, +the hills increase considerably in size, and mud was +exchanged for firm, rough gravel. A feature of the +otherwise featureless landscape is the frequent occurrence +of towers like martello towers, on hill-tops, placed there +for the shelter of the guards who formerly kept a look-out +for robbers. In the uninteresting gravel lie pebbles +of jasper and agate, emerald green, red, yellow, and +purple. The first object of the slightest interest in this +new country was a village of Ilyats, built of reed screens, +with roofs of goat's-hair cloth, and with small yards with +reed walls in front. The women, who wore full trousers +and short jackets, were tall, somewhat striking-looking, +and unveiled. Their hair hung down in long plaits, and +they wore red handkerchiefs knotted at the back of the +head.</p> + +<p>There an escort of four Persian <i>sowars</i> joined us. The +type of face was that with which we are familiar on Sasanian +coins and sculptured stones, the brow and chin receding +considerably, and the nose thin and projecting, the profile +suggesting a beak rather than a human face, and the skin +having the appearance of being drawn so tightly over the +bones as to force the eyes into singular prominence.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i078" id="i078"></a> +<img src="images/illus-078-f.jpg" width="645" height="401" alt="A TURKISH FRONTIER FORT" title="" /> +<p class="caption">A TURKISH FRONTIER FORT.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span></p> + +<p>A six hours' march ended at the wildly-situated village +of Kasr-i-Shirin, high on the right bank of the Holwan, +with a plantation of dates on the left bank and considerable +cultivation in the valley. It has only eighty houses +of the most wretched construction, rivalled in height +and size by middens, the drainage of which wastes itself +on the wretched roadway. A caravanserai of the most +miserable description, a square fort with a small garrison, +and some large graveyards with domed tombs and +curious obelisks, are the salient features of this village. +Its wretched aspect is accounted for by its insecurity. +It has been destroyed by robber tribes as often as there +was anything worth destroying, and it has been so tossed +to and fro between Turkey and Persia as not to have +any of the special characteristics of either empire.</p> + +<p>We stopped short of the village, at a great pile of +building on a height, in massiveness and irregularity +resembling a German medieval castle, in which a letter +had secured accommodation. It has been unoccupied +since its owner, Jan Mir, a sheikh of a robber tribe, and +the terror of the surrounding neighbourhood, was made +away with by the Persian Government.</p> + +<p>The accommodation consisted of great, dark, arched, +vaulted rooms, with stone-flagged floors, noble in size, but +needing fifty candles and huge log fires to light up and +warm their dark recesses, and gruesome and damp with +one candle and a crackle of twigs. They were clean, +however, and their massive walls kept out the cold. +The village is at an elevation of 2300 feet, and the +temperature has greatly changed.</p> + +<p>The interest of Kasr-i-Shirin is that it lies among +masses of ancient rubble, and that the slopes which +surround it are completely covered with hewn and +unhewn stones of all sizes, the relics of a great city, at +the western extremity of which the present wretched +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> +hamlet stands.<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The walls, which are easily traced, +enclose an irregular square, the shortest front of which is +said to be three miles long. They are built of roughly-hewn +blocks of gray and red sandstone, and very hard +mortar or concrete. The blocks are so huge in many +places as to deserve the often misused epithet Cyclopean.</p> + +<p>Within this enclosure are remains of houses built of +water-worn round stones, which lie in monstrous heaps, +and of a large fort on an eminence. In another direction +are the ruins of an immense palace of quadrangular form, +with only one entrance, and large underground rooms +now nearly choked up. There are remains of what must +have been very fine archways, but as the outer coating of +hewn stone and all the decorations have fallen off, leaving +only the inner case of rough rubble and concrete, the +architectural forms are very badly defined, and the aspect +of what must once have been magnificent is now forbidding +and desolate. The remains of an aqueduct cut +in the rock, and of troughs and stone pipes by which +water was brought into the palace and city, from a distance +of fifteen miles, are still traceable among the desolations, +but of the beautiful gardens which they watered, and +with which Khosroe surrounded the beautiful Shirin, not +a trace remains. There was a pale sunset, flushing with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +pale pink distant leagues of sodden snow, and right across +a lurid opening in a heavy mass of black clouds the great +ruined pile of the palace of Khosroe the Magnificent stood +out, a dismal commentary on splendour and fame.</p> + +<p>The promise of the evening was fulfilled the next day +in windy rain, which began gently, but afterwards fell in +persistent torrents, varied by pungent swirls of sleet and +snow. Leaving the gash through cliffs with curious +stratification in white and red, formed by the Holwan, +the day was spent in skirting or crossing low hills. +The mud was very deep and tenacious, and the rate of +progress barely two miles an hour. There were no +caravans, travellers, or population, and no birds or beasts. +The rain clouds hung low and heavy, mists boiled up +from among the folds of the hills, the temperature fell +perceptibly. It was really inspiriting for people protected +by good mackintoshes.</p> + +<p>After riding for six hours the rain changed into sleet +and wet snow, blotting out the hills and creating an +unnatural twilight, in which we floundered in mud up to +the mules' knees into the filthiest village I have ever +seen, a compound of foul, green ditches, piles of dissolving +manure, mud hovels looking as if they were dissolving too, +reed huts, and an Ilyat village, grouped round the vilest +of caravanserais, the entrance to which was knee-deep in +mire. To lodge in it was voted impossible, and the +escort led us in the darkening mist and pelting sleet to +an adjacent mud hamlet as hopeless-looking on the other +side of the bridge, where, standing up to the knees of the +mules in liquid manure, we sought but vainly for shelter, +forded the Holwan, and returned to the caravanserai +through almost impassable slush.</p> + +<p>It was simply loathsome, with its stench, its foulness, +and its mire, and was already crowded and noisy with +men and beasts. There was a great courtyard with arched +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +recesses all round, too abominable to be occupied, too +exposed and ruinous, even had they been cleaned, to give +shelter from the driving sleet. The last resource was to pass +through an archway into the great, lofty mule stable, on +both sides of which are similar recesses or mangers, about +ten feet by seven and about eight feet high. The stable +was of great size and height with a domed roof. Probably +it runs half-way round the quadrangle at the back of the +uninhabitable recesses. There were at least four hundred +mules in this place, jangling their great bells, and crowds +of <i>katirgis</i>, travellers, and <i>zaptiehs</i>, all wet and splashed +over their heads with mud, some unloading, others making +fires and feeding their mules, all shouting when they +had anything to say, the Babel aggravated by the clatter +of the rattles of a hundred curry-combs and the squeals +of fighting horses.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i082" id="i082"></a> +<img src="images/illus-082.jpg" width="400" height="194" alt="LODGINGS FOR TRAVELLERS" title="" /> +<p class="caption">LODGINGS FOR TRAVELLERS.</p> +</div> + +<p>The floor was deep with the manure of ages and piled +with bales and boxes. In the side recesses, which are +about the height of a mule's back, the muleteers camped +with their fires and their goods, and laid the provender +for their beasts in the front. These places are the +mangers of the eastern caravanserai, or <i>khan</i>, or inn. +Such must have been the inn at Bethlehem, and surely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> +the first step to the humiliation of "the death of the +cross" must have been the birth in the manger, amidst +the crowd and horrors of such a stable.</p> + +<p>The odour was overpowering and the noise stunning, +and when our wet, mud-covered baggage animals came +in, adding to the din, there was hardly room to move, far +less for the roll in which all mules indulge when the +loads are taken off; and the crush resulted in a fight, and +one mule got his fore-feet upon my "manger," and +threatened to share it with me. It was an awful place +to come to after a six hours' march in rain and snow, but +I slid off my mule into the recess, had it carpeted, +put down my chair, hung a blanket up in front, and +prepared to brave it, when the inhabitants of this room, +the one place which has any pretensions to being a room +in the village, were bribed by an offer of six <i>krans</i> (about +four shillings) to vacate it for me. Its "pretensions" +consist in being over a gateway, and in having a door, +and a square hole looking on the street; a crumbling +stair slippery with mud leads up to it. The roof leaks +in every direction, and the slimy floor is full of pools, +but it is luxury after the caravanserai stable, and with +one waterproof sheet over my bed and another over +myself I have fared well, though the door cannot be shut, +and the rest of the party are in the stable at an +impassable distance.</p> + +<p>Our language happily has no words in which the +state of this village can be described. In front of this +room is a broken ditch full of slimy greenish water, +which Hadji took for my tea! There has been a slight +snowfall during the night, and snow is impending. We +have now reached a considerable altitude, and may expect +anything. Hadji has just climbed the stair with groans +of "<i>Ya Allah</i>," and has almost wailed out, "Colonel says +we go—God help us." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Kirrind, Jan. 23.</i>—From Saripul-i-Zohab we are +taking the most southerly of the three routes to Kirmanshah +traversed by Sir H. Rawlinson in 1836.<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> A sea of +mud varied by patches of sodden snow, walls of rock +with narrow passes, great snow-covered mountains, seen +spectrally for a minute at a time through swirling snow-clouds, +black tents of nomads, half-drowned villages, and +a long, cold, steep ascent, among scrub oaks and dwarf +ash, to snow which was not melting, and the hospitalities +of a Kurdish village, comprise the interests of the march +from Saripul to Myan Tak, so far as they lie on the +surface, but in various ways this part of Kurdistan has +many interests, not to be absolutely ignored even in a +familiar letter.</p> + +<p>Here the Ilyats, who are supposed to constitute a fifth +of the rural population of Persia, are met with in large +numbers, and their brown flocks and herds are still +picking up a scanty subsistence. The great chief of this, +the Gurān tribe, holds the region on an annual payment +to the Persian Government, gives grain to his tribesmen, +and receives from them, of corn one-half, and of rice two-thirds +of the crop. These people sow their grain in early +spring, and then move up with their flocks to the +mountain pastures, leaving behind only a few men to +harvest the crops. They use no manure, this being +required for fuel, and in the case of rice they allow a +fallow of at least seven years. There are very few +cultivators resident upon these lands, but Ilyat camps +occur frequently.</p> + +<p>The region is steeped in history. The wretched +village of Saripul is the Calah of Asshur and the Halah +of the Israelitish captivity,<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> and gave to the surrounding +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> +country the name of Chalonitis, which we have on our +old maps. A metropolitan See in the fifth century <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, +soon after the institution of the Nestorian hierarchy, it +was called Calah, Halah, and Holwan. If the Diyalah be +the ancient Gyndes, noteworthy for the singular delay of +Cyrus on his march to Babylon, and Saripul the ancient +Holwan, and if in addition to the numerous Chaldæan +and Sasanian remains there are relics of Semiramis and +of the fire-temples of the Magi, the crowd of historic +associations is almost too much for one day, and I will +return to the insignificant details of the journey.</p> + +<p>We left at nine, crossed the Holwan by a four-arched +brick bridge, and in falling snow and deep mud rode +over fairly level ground till we came to an abrupt range +of limestone rock, with a natural rift, across which the +foundations of a wall still remain. The clouds were +rolling low, and the snow was driving wildly, so as +to make it impossible to see the sculptured tablet +described by Rawlinson and Layard, on which a high-priest +of the Magi is represented, with one hand raised +in benediction, and the other grasping a scroll, the dress +being the pontifical robe worn by the Zoroastrian priests, +with a square cap, pointed in front, and lappets covering +the mouth. Above this is a tomb with an ornamented +entrance.</p> + +<p>We were now among a very strange and mysterious +people, of whose ancestry and actual beliefs very little is +known. They are Ali-Ilahis, but Europeans often speak +of them as "Davidites," from their special veneration for +King David. This tomb in the rift is called Dukkani-Daoud, +or David's shop, and the people believe that he +still dwells there, and come on pilgrimages and to offer +animals in sacrifice from all parts of Kurdistan. He is +believed to work as a smith, and the <i>katirgis</i> say that he +makes suits of fine armour. A part of the tomb which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> +is divided from the rest by a low partition is believed to +be a reservoir containing the water which he uses to +temper his metal. A great mound with some building +in the centre, on the right of the road near this gorge, +though properly it bears another name, is called by the +people "David's Fort." Jewish traditions abound, specially +concerning David, who is regarded by the tribes as their +great tutelar prophet.</p> + +<p>The Gurāns and Kalhurs, who are the nomadic +inhabitants of this district, are of a very marked type of +physiognomy, so Israelitish indeed that, taken along with +certain traditions of their origin, their Jewish names, and +their veneration for David, they have been put forward +as claimants to the dignity of being the "lost tribes." +The great Hebrew traveller of the twelfth century, to +whom I have referred before, believed that the whole of +the Ali-Ilahis were Jews, and writes of 100 synagogues +in the Zagros mountains, and of 50,000 Jewish families +in the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>As we shall be for some days among these people, I +will abbreviate Sir H. Rawlinson's sketch of their tenets. +He considers that Ali-Ilahism bears evident marks of +Judaism, mixed up with Moslem, Christian, and Sabæan +legends. The Ali-Ilahis believe in 1001 incarnations of +the Godhead in a series; among them Benjamin, Moses, +Elias, David, Jesus Christ, Ali and Salman his tutor, the +Imam Houssein and the Haftān (or seven bodies), the +chief spiritual guides in the early ages of Islam, "and +each, worshipped as a Deity, is an object of adoration +in some locality of Kurdistan." The tomb of one of +these, Bābā Yadgār, is their holy place, and this was +regarded as the dwelling of Elijah at the time when the +Arabs invaded Persia. All these incarnations are regarded +as of one and the same person. All that changes is the +bodily form of the Divine manifestation. There are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +degrees in the perfection of the development, and the +most perfect forms are Benjamin, David, and Ali.</p> + +<p>Practically, however, the metaphysical speculations +involved in this creed of successive incarnations are unknown, +and the Imam Ali, the cousin of Mohammed, is +the great object of worship. Though professing Mohammedanism +the Ali-Ilahis are held in great horror by "believers," +and those of this region lie under the stigma of +practising unholy rites as a part of their religion, and have +received the name of "Chiragh Sonderan," the putters-out +of lights.<a name="FNanchor_14" id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> This accusation, Sir A. H. Layard observes, +may be only a calumny invented, like many another, to +justify persecution.</p> + +<p>Passing through the rift in the Dukkani-Daoud range +which has led to this digression, we entered an ascending +valley between the range through which we had +passed and some wild mountains covered with snow, +which were then actively engaged in brewing a storm. +Farther on there was irrigation and cultivation, and then +the wretched village of Pai Tak, and the ruins of a bridge. +There, the people told us, we must halt, as the caravanserai +at the next place was already full, and we plunged +about in the snow and mud looking for a hovel in which to +take shelter, but decided to risk going on, and shortly began +the ascent of the remarkable pass known as "The Gates +of Zagros," on the ancient highway between Babylonia +and Media, by which, in a few hours, the mountain +barrier of Zagros is crossed, and the plain of Kirrind, a +part of the great Iranian plateau, is reached.</p> + +<p>This great road, which zigzags steeply up the pass, is +partly composed of smoothed boulders and partly of +natural rock, somewhat dressed, and much worn by the +continual passage of shod animals. It is said to be much +like a torrent bed, but the snow was lying heavily upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +it, filling up its inequalities. Dwarf oaks, hawthorn, ash, +and other scrub find root-hold in every crevice. All +that may be ugly was draped in pure white, and looking +back from the surrounding glitter, the view of low ranges +lying in indigo gloom was very striking. On the ascent +there is a remarkable arch of great blocks of white +marble, with a vaulted recess, called the "Tak-i-Girreh," +"the arch holding the road," which gives the popular +name of Gardan-i-Tak-i-Girreh (the pass of Tak-i-Girreh) +to the ascent, though the geographers call it Akabah-i-Holwan +(the defile of Holwan).</p> + +<p>After the deep mud of the earlier part of the march it +was a pleasure to ride through pure, deep, powdery snow, +and to find the dirt of the village of Myan Tak, a Kurdish +hamlet situated on a mountain torrent among steep +hills and small trees, covered with this radiant mantle. +The elevation of the pass is 4630 feet, but Myan Tak is +at a lower altitude an hour farther on.</p> + +<p>The small and ruinous caravanserai was really full of +caravans detained by the snowstorm, and we lodged in +a Kurdish house, typical of the style of architecture +common among the settled tribes. Within a wide doorway +without a door, high enough for a loaded mule to +enter, is a very large room, with a low, flat mud roof, +supported on three rows of misshapen trunks of trees, +with their branches cut off about a foot from the stem, +all black and shiny with smoke. Mud and rubble +platforms, two feet high, run along one side and one +end, and on the end one there is a clay, beehive-shaped +fireplace, but no chimney. Under this platform +the many fowls are shut in at night by a stone at the +hole by which they enter. Within this room is a perfectly +dark stable of great size. Certainly forty mules, +besides asses and oxen, were lodged in it, and the overflow +shared the living-room with a number of Kurds, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +<i>katirgis</i>, servants, dogs, soldiers, and Europeans. The +furniture consisted of guns and swords hanging on the +walls.</p> + +<p>The owner is an old Kurd with some handsome sons +with ruddy complexions and auburn hair. The big house +is the patriarchal roof, where the patriarch, his sons, +their wives and children, and their animals, dwell +together. The women, however, had all been got rid of +somehow. The old Kurd made a great fire on the dais, +wood being plentiful, and crouched over it. My bed +was pitched near it, and enclosed by some reed screens. +With chairs and a table, with routes, maps, writing +materials, and a good lantern upon it, an excellent +dinner of soup and a leg of mutton, cooked at a bonfire +in the middle of the floor, and the sight of all the +servants and <i>katirgis</i> lying round it, warm and comfortable, +and the knowledge that we were above the mud, +the clouds of blinding smoke which were the only drawback +scarcely affected the cheerfulness and comfort of +the blazing, unstinted fire. The doorway gave not only +ample ventilation but a brilliant view of snow, and of +myriads of frosty stars.</p> + +<p>It was infinitely picturesque, with the fitful firelight +falling on the uncouth avenues of blackened tree-stumps, +on big dogs, on mild-eyed ox faces and long ass ears, on +turbaned Indian heads, and on a confused crowd of Turks, +Kurds, and Persians, some cooking, some sleeping, some +smoking, while from the black depth beyond a startling +bray of an ass or the abortive shriek of a mule occasionally +proceeded, or a stray mule created a commotion by +rushing in from the snow outside.</p> + +<p>I slept comfortably, till I was awakened early by +various country sounds—the braying of an ass into my +ear (for I was within a few inches of the stable), the +crowing of cocks, and some hens picking up crumbs upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> +my bed. The mules were loaded in the living-room. +The mercury was only 26° at 9 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, and under cloudless +sunshine the powdery snow glittered and crackled. +There were difficulties ahead, we heard. The road +heavily blocked with snow was only just open, and the +Persian post, which should have passed forty-eight hours +before, had not been heard of, showing that the snow is +very deep farther on.</p> + +<p>It was beautiful, that uplifted, silent world of snow +and mountains, on whose skirts for some miles grew small +apple and pear trees, oak, ash, and hawthorn, each twig a +coral spray. In the deepest depression, among great +rocks, now masses of snow, tumbles a now partially +arrested stream, gleaming with icicles, one of the head-waters +of the Holwan. After getting through this +picturesque forest of scrub, the road emerges on the +plateau of the Kirrind valley, the greatest altitude of +which is about 5800 feet. It is said to be irrigated and +fertile. It is now, as I describe it, a wide valley, without +a tree or bush, a rolling plain of snow from two to +three feet deep, marked only by lines made by birds' feet +and the beating of the tips of birds' wings, the track across +it a corrugated trench, wide enough for one mule, the sun +brilliant, the sky blue, the surface of the snow flashing +light from millions of crystals with a glitter not to be +borne, all dazzling, "glistering," silent,—a white world +and a blue heaven, with a sun "shining in his strength,"—light +without heat.</p> + +<p>It has been a tremendous day's march, only fourteen +miles in seven and a half hours of severe toil! The +<i>katirgis</i> asked us to keep together in case of difficulties +with caravans. Difficulties indeed! A mild term! I +was nearly smashed. I little knew what meeting a +caravan in these circumstances meant till we met the +first sixty animals, each laden with two heavy packing-cases. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> +The question arises who is to give way, and who +is to drive his heavily-laden beasts off the track, to +struggle, flounder, and fall in three feet of snow, not to +get up again without being unloaded, and even then +with difficulty.</p> + +<p>The rub came on a bank near a stream where there +was a deep drift. I decided to give way, but nothing +would induce my mule to face the snow. An orderly +was in front and Hadji behind. Down the track came +sixty animals, loaded with their great packing-cases. +They could not and would not give way, and the two +caravans came into collision. There were mules +struggling and falling, loads overturned, muleteers yelling +and roaring, Hadji groaning "God help us!" my mule, +a new one, a big strong animal, unused to a bit, plunging +and kicking, in the middle of a "free fight." I was +struck hard on my ankle by a packing-case and nearly +knocked off. Still, down they came, in apparently +endless hordes; my mule plunged her bridle off, and +kicked most violently; there were yells all round. My +snow spectacles were knocked off and lost, then came +another smash, in which I thought a bone was broken. +Fearing that I should be laid up with a broken limb for +weeks in some horrible caravanserai, and really desperate +with the danger and confusion, I called over and over +again to Hadji to get off and pull my mule into the snow +or I should be killed! He did not stir, but sat dazed on +his pack moaning "God help us!" till he, the mule, and +the load were rolled over in the drift. The orderly contrived +to get the bridle on my mule, and to back his +own in front of me, and as each irrepressible animal +rolled down the bank he gave its load a push, which, nicely +balanced as these loads are, made it swerve, and saved +me from further damage. Hadji had rolled off four times +previously, and the last I saw of him at that time and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> +of the caravan was a man, five mules, and their loads +buried in the snow. The personal results to me of what +is euphemistically called a "difficulty," are my blue +glasses gone, a number of bruises, a badly-torn riding-skirt, +and a bad cut, which bled profusely, and then the +blood froze.</p> + +<p>A number of caravans snowed up for several days +were <i>en route</i>, and there were many similar encounters, +and donkeys and mules falling with their loads and +rolling into the deep snow, and <i>katirgis</i> coming to blows +over the right-of-way. If a donkey is forced off the +track it goes down at once. I unfortunately caught my +foot in the pack of one and rolled it over, and as it disappeared +in the snow its pack and saddle fell over its +head and displayed the naked vertebræ of its poor back.</p> + +<p>This Kirrind valley must be fully twenty miles long by +from two to five broad, but there was only one village +inhabited and two in ruins. As we floundered along in +the snow with our jaded animals, two well-armed men on +fine horses met and joined us, sent by the <i>Agha</i> Abdul +Rahim, son of the British agent at Kirmanshah, whose +guests we are to be. Following them was a <i>taktrawan</i> +or litter for me, a wooden box with two side doors, four +feet high, six feet long, and three feet wide. At each end +are long shafts, and between each pair of shafts a superb +mule, and each mule has a man to lead him. I could +never use such a thing except in case of a broken limb, +but I am very grateful to Abdul Rahim for sending it +fifty-six miles.</p> + +<p>The temperature fell with the sun; the snowy hills +took on every shade of rose and pink, and in a universal +blush of tender colouring we reached Kirrind. All of a +sudden the colour died out, the rose-flushed sky changed +to blue-gray, and pallid wastes of unbroken snow +stretching into the gray distance made a glorious winter +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> +landscape. We are now fairly in for the rigours of a +Persian winter.</p> + +<p>Kirrind, the capital of the Kirrind Kurds, is either +grotesquely or picturesquely situated in and around a +narrow gap in a range of lofty hills, through which the +Ab-i-Kirrind rushes, after rising in a spring immediately +behind. The gap suggests the word jaws, and in these +open jaws rise one above another flat-roofed houses +straggling down upon the plain among vineyards, poplars, +willows, fruit-trees, and immense walnuts and gardens. +There are said to be 900 houses, but many of them are +ruinous. The stream which bursts from the hills is +divided into innumerable streamlets, which must clothe +these gardens with beauty.</p> + +<p>A <i>farāsh</i> riding on ahead had engaged a house, so +we avoided the horrors of the immense caravanserai, +crammed to-night with storm-bound caravans. The +house is rough, but has three adjoining rooms, and the +servants are comfortable. A fire, with its usual accompaniment +of stinging smoke, fails to raise the temperature +of my room to the freezing-point, yet it is quite possible +to be comfortable and employ oneself.</p> + +<p><i>Mahidasht, Jan. 24.</i>—My room at Kirrind was very +cold. The ink froze. The mercury fell to 2° below +zero in it, and outside in the sun was only 14° at 8.30. +There was a great Babel at starting. Some men had sold +four chickens for the high price of 2s. each, the current +price being 6d., and had robbed the servants of two, and +they took one of the mules, which was sent after us by +an official. Slipping, floundering, and falling in the deep +snow, and getting entangled among caravans, we rode +all day over rolling levels. The distance seemed interminable +over the glittering plains, and the pain and +stiffness produced by the intense cold were hard to bear, +and it was not possible to change the cramped position by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +walking. The mercury fell to 4°, as with tired animals +we toiled up the slope on which Harunabad stands.</p> + +<p>A very large caravanserai and a village of sixty houses +occupy the site of a town built by Harun-al-Raschid on +the upper waters of the Kerkhah. It has the reputation +of being one of the coldest places in Persia, so cold that +its Ilyat inhabitants desert it in winter, leaving two or +three men who make a business of supplying caravans. +Usually people come out of the villages in numbers as +we arrive, but we passed group after group of ruinous +hovels without seeing a creature. We obtained awfully +cold rooms at a great height above a bazar, now deserted. +I write "awfully" advisedly, for the mercury in them at +sunset was 2° below zero, the floors were plaster, slippery +with frozen moisture, the walls were partly wood, with +great apertures between the planks; where they were mud +the blistered plaster was fringed with icicles. Later the +mercury sank to 12°, and before morning to 16° below +zero, and the hot water froze in my basin before I could +use it!</p> + +<p>We were to have started at eight, as there was no +possible way of dividing the nine hours' march, but when +the time came the <i>katirgis</i> said it was too cold to rope +the loads, a little later that we could only get half-way, +and later that there was no accommodation for mules +half-way and that we must go the whole way! At nine +the mercury was at 4° below zero, and the slipperiness +was fearful. The poor animals could scarcely keep on +their feet. We have crossed two high passes, Nal +Shikan (the Horse-Shoe breaking pass) and the Charzabar +Pass, in tremendous snow, riding nine hours, only dismounting +to walk down one hill. At the half-way +hamlet I decided to go on, having still a lingering prejudice +against sharing a den with a quantity of human +beings, mules, asses, poultry, and dogs. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span></p> + +<p>On one long ascent we encountered a "blizzard," +when the mercury was only 3° above zero. It was awful. +The men covered their heads with their <i>abbas</i> and turned +their backs to the wind. I got my heavy mackintosh +over everything, but in taking off three pairs of gloves +for one minute to button it the pain of my hand was +literally excruciating. At the summit the snow was four +feet deep, and a number of mules were down, but after +getting over the crest of the Nal Shikan Pass and into +the Zobeideh valley it became better. But after every +descent there was another ascent to face till we reached +the pass above the Cheshmeh-i-Charzabar torrent, in a +picturesque glen, with a village and some primitive flour +mills.</p> + +<p>Below this height lies the vast and fertile plain of +Mahidasht, one expanse of snow, broken by mud villages +looking like brown islands, and the truncated cone of +Goree, a seat of the ancient fire-worship. In the centre +of the plain is an immense caravanserai with some houses +about it. When this came into sight it was only five +miles off, but we were nearly three hours in reaching it! +The view was wonderful. Every speck on the vast plain +was seen distinctly; then came a heavy snow blink, +above which hovered ghosts of snow mountains rising +into a pale green sky, a dead and lonely wilderness, +looking as if all things which lived and moved had long +ago vanished from it. Those hours after first sighting +the village were very severe. It seemed to grow no +nearer. I was half-dead with the journey of twenty-two +miles at a slow foot's pace, and was aching and cramped +from the intense cold, for as twilight fell the mercury +sank to 3° below zero. The Indian servants, I believe, +suffered more than I did, and some of the <i>katirgis</i> even +more than they.</p> + +<p>At last by a pointed brick bridge we crossed the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +little river of Mahidasht, and rode into the house of +the headman, who is a sort of steward of Abdul +Rahim, our future host, the owner of many villages on +this plain. The house is of the better class of +Kurdish houses, with a broad passage, and a room on +each side, at the end a great, low, dark room, half living-room, +half stable, which accommodates to-night some of the +mules, the muleteers, the servants, and the men of the +family. Beyond this again is a large stable, and below-ground, +reached by a sloping tunnel, is the sheep-fold. +One room has neither door nor window, mine has an +outer and inner door, and a fire of live embers in a hole +in the floor.</p> + +<p>The family in vacating the room have left their goods +behind,—two plank beds at one end heaped with carpets +and felts, a sacking cradle hanging from the roof, two +clay jars five feet high for storing grain, and in the +<i>takchahs</i>, or recesses of the walls, <i>samovars</i> or tea-urns, +pots, metal vases, cartridge belts, and odds and ends. +Two old guns, an old sword, and a coarse coloured print +of the Russian Imperial family are on the wall.</p> + +<p>I was lifted from the mule to my bed, covered +with all available wraps, a pot of hot embers put by +the bed, my hands and feet rubbed, hot syrup coloured +with tea produced in Russian glasses, and in two +hours I was able to move. The caravan, which we +thought could not get through the snow, came in three +hours later, men and mules thoroughly knocked up, and +not till nine could we get a scanty dinner. It has been +a hard day all round. The <i>farāshes</i> in the kitchen are +cursing the English sahibs, who will travel in the winter, +wishing our fathers may be burned, etc., two of the +muleteers have been howling with pain for the last two +hours, and I went into the kitchen to see the poor +fellows. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span></p> + +<p>In a corner of the big room, among the rough trunks +of trees which support the sooty roof, the muleteers were +lying in a heap in their big-sleeved felt coats round a +big fire, about another the servants were cooking their +food, the <i>farāshes</i> were lying round another, and some of +the house people about a fourth, and through smoke and +flame a background of mules and wolf-like dogs was dimly +seen, a gleam now and then falling into the dark stable +beyond, where the jaded baggage animals were lying in +heaps.</p> + +<p>Mahidasht is said to be one of the finest and most fertile +plains in Persia, seventy-two miles long by fifteen broad, +and is irrigated throughout by a small stream swarming +with turtles. Its population, scattered over it in small +villages, is estimated—over-estimated probably—at +4000. At a height of 5050 feet the winters are severe. +The snow is nearly three feet deep already, and more is +impending.</p> + +<p>The mercury in my room fell to 5° below zero before +midnight, but rose for a gray cloudy day. The men and +animals were so done up that we could not start till +nearly eleven. The march, though not more than sixteen +miles, was severe, owing to the deep snow and cold wind. +Five miles over the snowy billows of the Mahidasht +plain, a long ascent, on which the strong north wind was +scarcely bearable, a succession of steep and tiresome +ridges, many "difficulties" in passing caravans, and then +a gradual descent down a long wide valley, opened upon +the high plateau, on which Kirmanshah, one of the most +important cities in Persia, is situated.</p> + +<p>Trees, bare and gaunt, chiefly poplars, rising out of +unsullied snow, for two hours before we reached it, +denoted the whereabouts of the city, which after many +disappointments bursts upon one suddenly. The view +from the hill above the town was the most glorious snow +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +view I ever saw. All around, rolled to a great height, +smooth as the icing of a cake, hills, billowy like the +swell of the Pacific after a storm—an ocean of snow; +below them a plateau equally unsullied, on the east side of +which rises the magnificently precipitous Besitun range, +sublime in its wintry grandeur, while on the distant side +of the plateau pink peaks raised by an atmospheric +illusion to a colossal height hovered above the snow +blink, and walled in the picture. Snow was in the air, +snow clouds were darkening over the Besitun range; +except for those pink peaks there were no atmospheric +effects; the white was very pallid, and the gray was very +black; no illusions were possible, the aspect was grim, +desolate, and ominous, and even before we reached the +foot of the descent the huge peaks and rock masses of +Besitun were blotted out by swirls of snow.</p> + +<p>Kirmanshah, approached from the south-west, added no +elements of picturesqueness to the effect. A ruinous wall +much too large for the shrunken city it encloses, parts of +it lying in the moat, some ruinous loopholed towers, lines +of small domes denoting bazars below, a few good-looking +houses rising above the insignificant mass, gardens, +orchards, vineyards, and poplars stretching up the southerly +hollow behind, and gardens, now under frozen water, to +the north, made up a not very interesting contrast with the +magnificence of nature.</p> + +<p>We circled much of the ruinous wall on thin ice, +turned in between high walls and up an alley cumbered +with snow, dismounted at a low door, were received by a +number of servants, and were conducted through a frozen +courtyard into a handsomely-carpeted room with divans +beside a blazing fire, a table in the centre covered with +apples, oranges, and sweetmeats, and the large Jubilee +photograph of Queen Victoria hanging over the fireplace.</p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER V</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Kirmanshah</span>, <i>Jan. 31</i>.</p> + +<p>This hospitable house is the residence of the British +Agent or <i>Vakil</i> for Kirmanshah, in whose absence at +Tihran, his son, Abdul Rahim, performs the duties of +hospitality in a most charming manner, as if though a +very busy man he had nothing else to do but carry out +the wishes of his guests. His hospitality is most unobtrusive +also, and considerate. If such a wish is expressed +as to visit the sculptures of the Takt-i-Bostan, or anything +else, everything is quietly and beautifully arranged; a +landau-and-four with outriders, superb led saddle-horses, +and arrangements for coffee are ready outside the walls, +with the host as <i>cicerone</i>, ready to drive or ride at the +pleasure of his guests. The rooms in which he receives +Europeans are on the opposite side of the courtyard from +the house, and have been arranged according to European +ideas.</p> + +<p>The family history, as usually told, is an interesting +one. They are Arabs, and the grandfather of our host, +Hadji Khalil, was a trusted <i>katirgi</i> in the employment of +Sir Henry Rawlinson, and saved his life when he fell +from a scaffolding while copying the Besitun inscriptions. +His good qualities, and an honesty of character and +purpose rare among Orientals, eventually placed him in the +important position of British <i>Vakil</i> here, and he became a +British subject, and was succeeded in his position by his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +son, Agha Hassan, who is now by virtue of singular +business capacities the wealthiest man in this province +and possibly in Persia, and bears the very highest character +for trustworthiness and honour.<a name="FNanchor_15" id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>Abdul Rahim is a very fine-looking man, with noticeable +eyes, very large and prominent. He has a strong sense +of humour, which flits over his face in an amused smile. +He and his father are very large landowners, and are +always adding land to land, and are now the owners of +the magnificent sculptures and pleasure-grounds of the +Takt-i-Bostan. They are bankers likewise, and money-lenders, +merchants on a large scale, and have built a very +fine caravanserai, with great brick warehouses for the use +of traders. Agha Hassan travels <i>en prince</i>, driving to +Tihran and back in an English landau with four horses +and a number of outriders and attendants, and his son +entertains visitors in the same way, mounting even the +outriders and pipe-bearers on well-bred Arabs. When +he walks in the city it is like a royal progress. Everybody +bows low, nearly to the ground, and his purse-bearer +follows, distributing alms among the poor.</p> + +<p>I mention all this because it is a marvel in Persia, +where a reputation for wealth is the last thing a rich +man desires. To elevate a gateway or to give any +external sign of affluence is to make himself a mark for +the official rapacity which spares none. The policy is to +let a man grow quietly rich, to "let the sheep's wool +grow," but as soon as he shows any enjoyment of wealth +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +to deprive him of his gains, according to a common +Persian expression, "He is ripe, he must be squeezed." +The <i>Vakil</i> and his son are the only men here who are +not afraid to show their wealth, and for the simple +reason that it cannot be touched, because they are +British subjects. They can neither be robbed, squeezed, +nor mulcted beyond the legitimate taxation by Persian +officials, and are able to protect the property of others +when it is entrusted to their keeping. British protection +has been in fact the making of these men.</p> + +<p>The <i>ménage</i> is simple. The dining-room is across the +frozen courtyard. The meals are served in European +fashion, the <i>major-domo</i> being an ancient man, "born in +the house," who occasionally inserts a remark into the +conversation or helps his master's memory. The interpreter +sits on the floor during meals. I breakfast in my +room, but lunch and dine with our host, who spends +the evening in the <i>salon</i>; sherbet is provided instead of +wine. Abdul Rahim places me at the head of the +table, and I am served first! The interpreting is from +Persian into Hindustani, and <i>vice versâ</i>. Our host +expresses almost daily regret that he cannot talk with me +on politics!</p> + +<p>Kirmanshah, which is said to be a favourable specimen +of a Persian town, is absolutely hideous and uninteresting. +It is really half in ruins. It has suffered +terribly from "plague, pestilence, and famine," and from +the awful rapacity of governors. It once had 12,000 +houses, but the highest estimate of its present population +is 25,000. So severely have the town and province been +oppressed that some years ago three-quarters of the +inhabitants migrated, the peasants into Turkey, and the +townspeople into the northern province of Azerbijan. +If a governor pays 30,000 <i>tumans</i> (£10,000) to the +Shah for an appointment, of which he may be deprived +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +any day, it can scarcely be expected of Oriental, or +indeed of any human nature, that he will not make a +good thing of it while he has it, and squeeze all he can +out of the people.</p> + +<p>The streets are very narrow, and look narrower just +now, because the snow is heaped almost to the top of the +mud walls, which are not broken up as in Turkish towns +by projecting lattice windows, but are absolutely blank, +with the exception of low-arched entrances to the courtyards +within, closed by heavy, unpainted wooden doors, +studded with wooden nails. The causeways, on which, +but for the heaps of slippery snow two men might walk +abreast, have a ditch two or three feet wide between +them, which is the roadway for animals. There are +some open spaces, abounding in ruinous heaps, others +where goods are unloaded, surrounded with warehouses, +immense brick bazars with domed roofs, a citadel or <i>ark</i>, +where the Governor lives, a large parade ground and +barracks for 2000 men, mosques of no pretensions, +public baths, caravanserais, brick warehouses behind the +bazars, public gardens, with fountains and avenues of +poplars, a prison, and some good houses like this one, +hidden behind high mud walls. Although the snow +kindly veils a good deal of deformity, the city impresses +one as ruinous and decayed; yet it has a large trade, and +is regarded as one of the most prosperous places in the +Empire.<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>The bazars are spacious and well stocked with +European goods, especially with Manchester cottons of +colours and patterns suited to Oriental taste, which +loves carnation red. There are many Jews, otherwise +the people are Shiah Moslems, with an increasing +admixture of the secret sect of the <i>Bābis</i>. In some + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> +respects the Shiahs are more fanatical than the Sunnis, +as, for instance, it is quite possible to visit a mosque in +Turkey, but here a Christian is not allowed to cross the +threshold of the outer gate. Certain customs are also +more rigidly observed. A Persian woman would be in +danger of death from the mob if she appeared unveiled +in the streets. When I walked through the town, +though attended by a number of men, the <i>major-domo</i> +begged me to exchange my gauze veil for a mask, and +even when I showed this deference to custom the +passing through the bazars was very unpleasant, the men +being decidedly rude, and inclined to hoot and use bad +language. Even the touch of a Christian is regarded as +polluting, and I nearly got into trouble by handling a +"flap-jack," mistaking it for a piece of felt. The bazars +are not magnificent. No rich carpets or other goods are +exposed to view for fear of exactions. A buyer wanting +such things must send word privately, and have them +brought to his house.</p> + +<p>Justice seems to be here, much as in Turkey, a +marketable commodity, which the working classes are +too poor to buy. A man may be kept in prison because +he is too poor to get out, but justice is usually summary, +and men are not imprisoned for long terms. If prisoners +have friends, the friends feed them, if not they depend +on charity, and charity is a Moslem virtue. There is no +prison here for women. They are punished by having +their heads shaved, and by being taken through the +town on asses. Various forms of torture are practised, +such as burning with hot irons, the bastinado, and +squeezing the fingers in a vice. The bastinado is also +most extensively used as a punishment.</p> + +<p>Yesterday by appointment we were received by the +Governor of the Province. Riding through the slippery +snow-heaped alleys is not what Europeans would think +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +of, and our host with his usual courtesy humoured the +caprice by walking with us himself, preceded by six +<i>farāshes</i> (lit. carpet-spreaders) and followed by his purse-bearer +casting money to the poor, and a train of servants. +The Citadel, or Governor's residence, like all else, is +forlorn, dirty, and ruinous in its approaches, which are +long vaulted corridors capable of much adornment. +Crowds of soldiers, <i>mollahs</i>, dervishes, and others were +there to see the visit, which was one of ceremony. The +Palace and Government offices are many-windowed, well-built +brick-and-tile buildings, arranged round a large +<i>place</i> with trees and fountains.</p> + +<p>Two little fellows in scarlet uniform were at the +entrance, and the lobby upstairs was crowded with +Persian and Negro servants, all in high, black lambskin +caps, tight black trousers, and tight coats with full +skirts. The Governor received us in a very large, lofty, +vacant-looking room, and shook hands. I never saw a +human being more nearly like an ape in appearance, and +a loud giggle added to the resemblance. This giggle and +a fatuous manner are possibly assumed, for he has the +widespread reputation of being a very able man, shrewd +in business and officially rapacious, as was his father +before him. The grotesque figure, not more than five +feet high, was dressed in a black Astrakan cap, a coat of +fine buff Russian kerseymere with full skirts, and tight +trousers of the same, and an under-coat of rich, Kerman +silk brocade, edged with costly fur. He made a few +curt remarks to his foreign guests, and then turned to +Abdul Rahim, and discussed local affairs for the +remainder of a very long visit.</p> + +<p>A table covered with exquisite-looking sweetmeats +was produced, and we were regaled with tea <i>à la +Russe</i> in Russian glasses, ice-cream, and <i>gaz</i>. Then +young, diminutive, raw-looking soldiers in scarlet coats +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> +and scarlet trousers with blue stripes marched into the +courtyard, and stood disconsolately in the snow, and two +bands brayed and shrieked for an hour. Then <i>kalians</i> +were smoked, and coffee was handed round, the cups +being in gold filigree holders incrusted with turquoises. +This was the welcome signal for the termination of a +very tedious visit. The reception-room is a dismal +combination of Persian and European taste, invariably a +failure. The carpets are magnificent, but the curtains +are common serge bordered with white cotton lace, and +the tea-table with its costly equipments was covered +with a tawdry cretonne cover, edged with some inferior +black cotton lace. The lofty walls of plain plaster of +Paris have their simplicity destroyed by some French +girandoles with wax grapes hanging from them.</p> + +<p>The Governor returned the visit to-day, arriving on +horseback with fully forty mounted attendants, and was +received in a glass room on the roof, furnished with +divans, tables covered with beautiful confectionery, and +tea and coffee equipages. The conversation was as local +as yesterday, in spite of our host's courteous efforts to +include the strangers in it. The Governor asked if I +were going to Tihran to be <i>Hakīm</i> to the Shah's <i>haram</i>, +which our host says is the rumour in Kirmanshah! +During such visits there are crowds of attendants in the +room all the time pouring out tea, filling <i>kalians</i>, and +washing cups on the floor, and as any guest may be a +spy and an enemy, the conversation is restricted to +exaggerated compliments and superficial remarks.</p> + +<p>Everything is regulated by an elaborate code of +etiquette, even the compliments are meted out by rule, +and to give a man more than he is entitled to is understood +to be intended as sarcasm. The number of bows +made by the entertainer, the distance he advances to +meet his guest, and the position in which he seats him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +are matters of careful calculation, and the slightest mistake +in any particular is liable to be greatly resented by +a superior.</p> + +<p>The Persian is a most ceremonious being. Like the +Japanese he is trained from infancy to the etiquette of +his class, and besides the etiquette of class there is here +the etiquette of religion, which is far more strict than +in Turkey, and yields only when there is daily contact, as +in the capital, between Moslems and Christians. Thus, +a Moslem will not accept refreshments from a Christian, +and he will not smoke a pipe after a Christian even if +he is his guest, and of equal or higher rank.</p> + +<p>The custom is for a visitor, as in the case of the +Governor, to announce his visit previously, and he and +his train are met, when he is the superior, by a mounted +servant of the recipient of the honour, who precedes him +to the door, where the servants are arranged according to +their rank, and the host waits to take his hand and lead +him to a seat. On entering the room a well-bred +Persian knows at once what place he ought to take, and +it is rare for such a <i>fiasco</i> as that referred to in Luke +xiv. 9 to occur. Refreshments and pipes are served at +regulated intervals, and the introduction of a third cup +of tea or coffee and a third <i>kalian</i> is the signal for the +guest to retire. But it is necessary to ask and receive +permission to do so, and elaborate forms of speech +regulated by the rank of the visitor are used on the +occasion. If he is of equal or superior rank, the host, +bowing profoundly, replies that he can have no other wish +than that of his guest, that the house has been purified by +his presence, that the announcement of the visit brought +good luck to the house, that his headache or toothache +has been cured by his arrival, and these flowery compliments +escort the ordinary guest to the door, but if +he be of superior rank the host walks in advance to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> +the foot of the stairs, and repeats the compliments +there.</p> + +<p>The etiquette concerning pipes is most elaborate.<a name="FNanchor_17" id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> +<i>Kalians</i> are invariably used among the rich. The great +man brings his own, and his own pipe-bearer. The +<i>kalian</i> is a water pipe, and whatever its form the +principle is the same, the smoke being conducted to +the bottom of a liberal supply of water, to be sucked up +in bubbles through it with a gurgling noise, as in the +Indian "hubble-bubble." This water-holder is decanter-shaped, +of plain or cut glass, with a wide mouth; the +fire-holder, as in the case of the Governor's pipe, is often +a work of high art, in thin gold, chased, engraved, +decorated with <i>repoussé</i> work, or incrusted with turquoises, +or ornamented with rich enamel, very costly, +£40 or even £50 being paid by rich men for the decoration +of a single pipe-head. Between this and the water-holder +is a wooden tube about fourteen inches long, from +one end of which an inner tube passes to the bottom of +the water. A hole in the side of the tube admits the +flexible smoking tube, more used in Turkey than in +Persia, or the wooden stem, about eighteen inches long. +The fire-holder is lined with clay and plaster of Paris. +Besides these there is the wind-guard, to prevent the +fire from falling or becoming too hot, usually of silver, +with dependent silver chains, and four or six silver or +gold chains terminating in flat balls hang from the fire-holder.</p> + +<p>The <i>kalian</i> is one of the greatest institutions of +Persia. No man stirs without it, and as its decoration +gives an idea of a man's social position, immense sums +are lavished upon it, and the pipe-bearer is a most +important person. The lighting is troublesome, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +after all there seems "much ado about nothing," for a +few whiffs exhaust its capacities.</p> + +<p>The tobacco, called <i>tumbaku</i>, which is smoked in +<i>kalians</i> is exceptionally poisonous. It cannot be used +the first year, and improves with age, being preserved +in bags sewn up in raw hide. Unless it is moistened it +produces alarming vertigo. When the <i>kalian</i> is required, +about three-quarters of an ounce is moistened, squeezed +like a sponge, and packed in the fire-holder, and morsels +of live charcoal, if possible made from the root of the +vine, are laid upon it and blown into a strong flame. +The pipe-bearer takes two or three draws, and with an +obeisance hands it with much solemnity to his master. +Abdul Rahim smokes three or four pipes every evening, +and coffee served with the last is the signal for his +departure.</p> + +<p>A guest, if he does not bring his own pipe and pipe-bearer +has a <i>kalian</i> offered to him, but if the host be +of higher rank any one but an ignoramus refuses it till +he has smoked first. If under such circumstances a +guest incautiously accepts it, he is invariably mortified by +seeing it sent into the ante-room to be cleaned and refilled +before his superior will smoke. If it be proper for him to +take it, he offers it in order of rank to all present, but +takes good care that none accept it till he has enjoyed +it, after which the attendant passes it round according to +rank. In cases of only one <i>kalian</i> and several guests, +they smoke in order of position, but each one must pay +the compliment of suggesting that some one else should +smoke before himself. The etiquette of smoking is most +rigid. I heard of a case here in which a <i>mollah</i>, who +objected to smoke after a European, offered it to one +after he had smoked it himself—so gross a piece of +impertinence that the other called the pipe-bearer, +saying, "You can break that pipe to pieces, and burn +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +the stick, I do not care to smoke it," upon which the +<i>mollah</i>, knowing that his violation of etiquette merited +this sharp rebuke, turned pale and replied, "You say +truly, I have eaten dirt."</p> + +<p>The lower classes smoke a coarse Turkish tobacco, or +a Persian mild sort looking like whitish sawdust, which is +merely the pounded leaf, stalk, and stem. The pipe they +use and carry in their girdles has a small iron, brass, or +clay head, and a straight cherry-wood stick, with a very +wide bore and no mouthpiece, and it is not placed in +the teeth but is merely held between the lips. Smoking +seems a necessity rather than a luxury in Persia, and is +one of the great features of social life.</p> + +<p>Kirmanshah is famous for its "rugs," as carpets are +called in this country. There are from twenty-five to +thirty kinds with their specific names. Aniline dyes +have gone far to ruin this manufacture, but their import +is now prohibited. A Persian would not look at the +carpets loosely woven and with long pile, which are +made for the European market, and are bought just now +from the weavers at 13s. the square yard. A carpet, +according to Persian notions, must be of fast colours, +fine pile, scarcely longer than Utrecht velvet, and ready +to last at least a century. A rug can scarcely be +said to have reached its prime or artistic mellowness of +tint till it has been "down" for ten years. The permanence +of the dyes is tested by rubbing the rug with a +wet cloth, when the worthless colours at once come off.</p> + +<p>Among the real, good old Persian carpets there are +very few patterns, though colouring and borders vary +considerably. A good carpet, if new, is always stiff; +the ends when doubled should meet evenly. There must +be no creases, or any signs on the wrong side of darning +or "fine-drawing" having been resorted to for taking +out creases, and there must be no blue in the white +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> +cotton finish at the ends. Carpets with much white are +prized, as the white becomes primrose, a colour which +wears well. Our host has given me a rug of the oldest +Persian pattern, on a white ground, very thin and fine. +Large patterns and thick wool are comparatively cheap. +It is nearly impossible to say what carpets sell at, for if +one has been made by a family and poverty presses, it +may be sold much under value, or if it is a good one and +they can hold on they may force a carpet fancier to give +a very high price. From what Abdul Rahim says, the price +varies from 13s. to 50s. a square yard, the larger carpets, +about fourteen feet by eight feet, selling for £40.<a name="FNanchor_18" id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p>Abdul Rahim took me to see carpet-weaving, a process +carried on in houses, hovels, and tents by women +and children. The "machinery" is portable and marvellously +simple, merely two upright beams fixed in the +floor, with a cross-beam near the top and bottom, round +which the stout cotton or woollen threads which are the +basis of the carpet are stretched. The wools are cut in +short lengths and are knotted round two threads, according +to the pattern, which, however elaborate, the weaver +usually carries in her head. After a few inches have been +woven in this simple way the right side is combed and the +superfluous length cut off with rough scissors. Nothing +can be more simple than the process or more beautiful +than the result. The vegetable dyes used are soft and +artistic, specially a madder red and the various shades of +indigo. A soft turquoise blue is much used, and an +"olive green," supposed to be saffron and indigo. The +dull, rich tints, even when new, are quite beautiful. +The women pursue this work chiefly in odds and ends of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +time, and in some cases make it much of a pastime. +Men being present they were very closely veiled, and +found great difficulty in holding on the <i>chadars</i> and +knotting the wool at the same time.</p> + +<p>After taking tea in the pleasant upper room of the +carpet-weaver's house, we visited the large barracks and +parade ground. The appearance of the soldiers could +not possibly impress a stranger favourably. They looked +nothing better than "dirty, slouching ragamuffins," slipshod, +in tattered and cast-off clothes of all sorts, on the +verge of actual mendicancy, bits of rusty uniform appearing +here and there amongst their cotton rags. The quarters are +not bad. The rank and file get one and a half pounds of +bread daily and five rupees a month nominally, but their pay +is in arrears, and they eke it out by working at different +trades. These men had not been drilled for two months, +and were slovenly and unsoldierly to a degree, as men +must be who have no proper pay, rations, instruction, +clothing, or equipments.</p> + +<p>The courtesy of the host leaves nothing unthought of. +In returning from a long stroll round the city a wet place +had to be crossed, and when we reached it there were +saddle-horses ready. On arriving at dusk in the bazar +several servants met us with lanterns. The lantern is an +important matter, as its size is supposed to indicate the +position of the wearer. The Persian lantern has a tin or +iron top and bottom, between which is a collapsible +wired cylinder of waxed muslin. The light from the +candle burning inside is diffused and soft. Three feet +long and two feet wide is not an uncommon size. They +are carried close to the ground, illustrating "Thy Word +is a lamp unto my path," and none but the poor stir +out after dark without a lantern-bearer in front. Our +lanterns, as befits the <i>Vakil's</i> position, are very large.</p> + +<p>There is something Biblical in the progress of Abdul +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +Rahim through the streets, always reminding me of +"greetings in the market-place," and "doing alms to be +seen of men,"—not that I think our kind host sins in either +direction. "Peace be with you," say the people, bending +low. "To you be peace," replies the Agha.</p> + +<p>A wish having been expressed to visit the rock-sculptures +of the Takt-i-Bostan, a winter picnic was quietly +arranged for the purpose. There was a great snowstorm on +the night we arrived, succeeded by intense frost and clear +blue skies,—glorious Canadian winter weather. Outside +the wall an English landau, brought in pieces from Baghdad, +awaited us, with four Arab horses, two of them +ridden. There were eleven outriders and some led +horses, and a Turki pipe-bearer rode alongside the +carriage with two cylinders of leather containing <i>kalians</i> +in place of holsters, on one side, behind a leather water-bottle, +and on the other a brazier of lighted charcoal +hanging by chains much below the horse's body. Another +pipe-bearer lighted the <i>kalian</i> at intervals and handed it +into the carriage to his master. Some of the horsemen +carried rifles and wore cartridge-belts.</p> + +<p>Reaching the Karasu river we got out into deep mud, +were ferried over in a muddy box hauling on a rope, and +drove to the Takt-i-Bostan, where several tanks of +clear water, a house built into the rock, a number of +Kurds on fine horses, the arched recesses in the rock +which contain the sculptures, and the magnificent range +of the Jabali-Besitun formed a very striking scene.</p> + +<p>Sir H. Rawlinson considers these sculptures the finest +in Persia, and regards them as the work of Greek artists. +The lower of the two bas-reliefs at the back of the main +recess is a colossal figure of a king on horseback, "the staff +of whose spear is as a weaver's beam." On the sides of the +recess, and, like the equestrian figure, in very high relief +and very much undercut, are scenes from the chase of a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> +most spirited description, representing a king and court +mounted on elephants, horses, and camels, hunting boars, +stags, and other animals, their enthusiasm in the pursuit +being successfully conveyed by the art of the sculptor. +In the spandrels of the archway of the main recess are +carved, winged female figures. In the smaller arch, also +containing a bas-relief, is a Pehlevi inscription.<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>There is a broad stone platform in front of the arch, +below which flows direct from the mountain a great +volume of water, which replenishes the tanks. The house, +which also contains a tank fed by the same living water, +the mountain and its treasures, the tanks, and some miles +of avenues of willows, have been bought by the <i>Vakil</i>, +and his son laughingly says that he hopes to live to see a +time when Cook will give "tourist excursion tickets" by +rail to the Takt-i-Bostan!</p> + +<p>Coffee and <i>kalians</i> were served to the Kurds in the +arch, and mounting the horses we rode to a country house +belonging to our host in the midst of large rose gardens, +and with a wonderful view of the magnificent Besitun +range, of the rolling snowy hills on which Kirmanshah +and its plantations lay like a black splotch, and of this +noble plain, six miles long from north to south, and thirty +from east to west, its absolutely unbroken snow gleaming +like satin, and shadows lying upon it in pure blue. +Many servants and a large fire awaited us in that pleasant +bungalow, as well as coffee and sweetmeats, and we stayed +there till the sinking sun flushed all the surrounding hills +with pink, and the gray twilight came on.</p> + +<p>I rode a splendid Arab, with a neck "clothed with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> +thunder," a horse to make one feel young again, with +his elastic stride and pride of bearing, but indeed I +"snatched a fearful joy," for the snow was extremely +slippery, and thirteen Arab horses in high condition +restrained to a foot's pace had belligerent views of their +own, tending to disconcert an unwary rider. We crossed +the Karasu by a deep and devious ford up to the girths, +and had an exhilarating six miles' ride by moonlight in +keen frost, the powdery snow crackling under the horses' +feet. It was too slippery to enter the town on horseback, +but servants with lanterns awaited us at the gates +and roaring fires and dinner were ready here, after a +delightful expedition.</p> + +<p>I dined alone with our host, Hadji, who understands and +speaks English fairly well, acting as interpreter. Abdul +Rahim at once plunged into politics, and asked very many +intelligent questions about English politics and parties, +the condition and housing of our working classes, and +then about my own family and occupations. He is a +zealous Moslem, and the pious phrases which sit so oddly +on Hadji come very naturally from his lips. In reply to +a sketch of character which I gave him he said: "What +God does is good. He knows, we submit. He of whom +you speak laid up great treasure for another life. Whoso +loves and befriends the poor is acceptable to God. One +day we shall know all. God is good." He said he had +been too busy to learn English, but that he understands +a great deal, and added, with a roguish gleam lighting up +his whole face, and a very funny laugh, "And I hear +what M—— says." He has seen but very few English +ladies, and it shows great quickness of apprehension that +he should never fail in the respectfulness and quiet +courteous attentions which would be shown to a lady by +an English host.</p> + +<p>Even after India, the quantity of servants employed in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +such a household as this is very impressive. Besides +a number who are with the <i>Vakil</i> in Tihran, there are +the <i>nazr</i> or steward, who under the master is supreme, +cooks and their assistants, table servants, <i>farāshes</i>, who +are sweepers and message-runners, in any number, pipe-bearers, +coffee and ice-makers, plate-cleaners, washermen, +lamp-cleaners, who are also lantern-bearers, a head groom, +with a groom for each horse under him, and a number +more, over forty in all, receiving, if paid at the usual +rate of wages in Kirmanshah, which is a cheap place, +from sixty <i>krans</i> a month down to twenty, the <i>kran</i> being +now about 8d. These wages do not represent the actual +gains of a servant, for he is entitled to perquisites, which +are chiefly in the form of commissions on things bought +and sold by his master, and which are regarded as legitimate +if they do not exceed 10 per cent. It is of no use +to fight again this "<i>modakel</i>," or to vex one's soul in any +way about it. Persians have to submit to it as well +as Europeans. Hadji has endeavoured to extract from +50 to 80 per cent on purchases made by him for me, +but this is thought an outrage.</p> + +<p>This <i>modakel</i> applies to all bargains. If a <i>charvadar</i> +(no longer a <i>katirgi</i>) is hired, he has to pay one's servant +10 per cent on the contract price. If I sell a horse, my +servant holds out for a good price, and takes his 10 per +cent, and the same thing applies to a pair of shoes, or +a pound of tea, or a chicken, or a bottle of milk. The +system comes down from the highest quarters. The +price paid by the governor of a province to the Shah is +but the Shah's <i>modakel</i>, and when a governor farms the +taxes for 60,000 <i>tumans</i> and sells them for 80,000, the +difference is his <i>modakel</i>, and so it goes on through all +official transactions and appointments, and is a fruitful +source of grinding oppression, and of inefficiency in the +army and other departments. The servant, poor fellow, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +may stop at 10 per cent, but the Shah's servant may +think himself generous if he hesitates at 50 per cent. +I have heard it said that when the late Shah was dying +he said to the present sovereign: "If you would sit long +upon the throne, see that there is only one spoon among +ten men," and that the system represented by this speech +is faithfully carried out.</p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER VI</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"><span class="smcap">Kirmanshah</span>, <i>Feb. 2</i>.</p> + +<p>On January 28 there was a tremendous snowfall, and +even before that the road to Hamadan, which was our +possible route, had been blocked for some days. The +temperature has now risen to 31°, with a bitter wind, +and much snow in the sky. The journey does not +promise well. Two of the servants have been ill. I am +not at all well, and the reports of the difficulties farther +on are rather serious. These things are certain,—that the +marches are very long, and without any possibility of +resting <i>en route</i> owing to mud or snow, and that the food +and accommodation will be horrible.</p> + +<p>Hadji is turning out very badly. He has fever now, +poor fellow, and is even more useless than usual. Abdul +Rahim does not like him to interpret, and calls him "the +savage." He does no work, and is both dirty and dishonest. +The constant use of pious phrases is not a good +sign either of Moslem or Christian. I told him this +morning that I could not eat from so dirty a plate. +"God is great," he quietly answered. He broke my +trestle bed by not attending to directions, and when I +pointed out what he had done, he answered, "God knows +all, God ordains all things." It is really exasperating.</p> + +<p>It is necessary to procure an additional outfit for +the journey—a slow process—masks lined with flannel, +sheepskin bags for the feet, the thick felt coats of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +country for all the servants, additional blankets, <i>kajawehs</i> +for me, and saddle-horses. The marches will frequently +be from twenty to thirty miles in length, and the fatigue +of riding them at a foot's pace when one cannot exchange +riding for walking will be so great that I have had a pair +of <i>kajawehs</i> made in which to travel when I am tired of +the mule. These panniers are oblong wooden boxes, +eighteen inches high, with hoops over them for curtains. +One hangs on each side of the mule on a level with his +back, and they are mounted, <i>i.e.</i> they are scrambled into +from the front by a ladder, which is carried between +them. Most women and some men travel in them. +They are filled up with quilts and cushions. The mule +which is to carry them is a big and powerful animal, and +double price is charged for him.</p> + +<p>Horses are very good and cheap here. A pure Arab +can be bought for £14, and a cross between an Arab and +a Kurdish horse—a breed noted for endurance—for even +less. But to our thinking they are small, never exceeding +fifteen hands. The horses of the Kirmanshah +province are esteemed everywhere, and there is a steady +drain upon them for the Indian market. The stud of +three horses requires a groom, and Abdul Rahim is +sending a <i>sowar</i>, who looks a character, to attend us to +Tihran. A muleteer, remarkable in appearance and +beauty, and twelve fine mules have been engaged. The +<i>sowar</i> and several other men have applied to me for +medicine, having fearful coughs, etc., but I have not been +fortunate enough to cure them, as their maladies chiefly +require good feeding, warm bedding, and poultices, which +are unattainable. It is pitiable to see the poor shivering +in their thin cotton clothes in such weather. The men +make shift with the seamless felt coats—more cloaks than +coats, with long bag-like sleeves tapering to the size of a +glove but with a slit midway, through which the hands +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> +can be protruded when need arises. The women have +no outer garment but the thin cotton <i>chadar</i>.</p> + +<p>I have tried to get a bed made, but there is no wood +strong enough for the purpose, and the bazars cannot +produce any canvas.</p> + +<p><i>Sannah, Feb. 5.</i>—Yesterday we were to have started at +nine, but the usual quarrelling about loads detained us till +10.30, so that it was nearly dark when we reached the +end of the first stage of a three weeks' journey. From +the house roof the prospect was most dismal. It was +partly thawing, and through the whiteness of the plain ran +a brown trail with sodden edges, indicating mud. The +great mass of the Jabali-Besitun, or Behistun, or Behishtan, +though on the other side of the plain, seemed actually impending +over the city, with its great black rock masses, too +steep to hold the snow, and the Besitun mountain itself, +said to be twenty-four miles away, looming darkly through +gray snow clouds, looked hardly ten. Our host had sent +men on to see if the landau could take me part of the way +at least; but their verdict was that the road was impassable.</p> + +<p>After much noise the caravan got under way, but it +was soon evident that the fine mules we had engaged +had been changed for a poor, sore-backed set, and that +the fine saddle-mule I was to have had was metamorphosed +into a poor weak creature, which began to drop +his leg from the shoulder almost as soon as we were outside +the walls, and on a steep bridge came down on his +nose with a violent fall, giving me a sharp strain, and fell +several times afterwards; indeed, the poor animal could +scarcely keep on his legs during the eight hours' march.</p> + +<p>Hadji rode in a <i>kajaweh</i>, balanced by some luggage, +and was to keep close to me, but when I wanted to +change my broken-down beast for a pannier he was not +to be seen, then or afterwards, and came in late. The +big mule had fallen, he was bruised, the <i>kajawehs</i> were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +smashed to pieces, and were broken up for firewood, and +I am now without any means of getting any rest from +riding! "It's the pace that kills." In snow and mud +gallops are impossible, and three miles an hour is good +going.</p> + +<p>An hour from Kirmanshah the road crosses the Karasu +by a good brick bridge, and proceeds over the plain for +many miles, keeping the Besitun range about two miles +on the left, and then passes over undulating ground to the +Besitun village. Two or three large villages occur at a +distance from the road, now shut in, and about eight miles +from Besitun there are marble columns lying on the +ground among some remains of marble walls, now only +hummocks in the snow.</p> + +<p>The road was churned into deep mud by the passage +of animals, and the snow was too deep to ride in. My +mule lost no opportunity of tumbling down, and I felt +myself a barbarian for urging him on. Hills and mountains +glistened in all directions. The only exception to +the general whiteness was Piru, the great rock mass of +Besitun, which ever loomed blackly overhead through +clouds and darkness, and never seemed any nearer. It +was very solitary. I met only a caravan of carpets, and +a few men struggling along with laden asses.</p> + +<p>It was the most artistic day of the whole journey, +much cloud flying about, mountains in indigo gloom, or in +gray, with storm clouds round their heads, or pure white, +with shadows touched in with cobalt, while peaks and +ridges, sun-kissed, gleamed here and there above indigo +and gray. Not a tree or even bush, on them or on the +plain, broke the monotony after a summer palace of the +Shah, surrounded by poplars, was passed. There is +plenty of water everywhere.</p> + +<p>As the sun was stormily tinging with pink the +rolling snow-clouds here and there, I halted on the brow +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +of a slope under the imposing rock front of Besitun to +wait for orders. It was wildly magnificent: the huge +precipice of Piru, rising 1700 feet from the level, the +mountains on both sides of the valley approaching each +other, and behind Piru a craggy ravine, glorified here +and there by touches of amber and pink upon the clouds +which boiled furiously out of its depths. In the foreground +were a huge caravanserai with a noble portal, a +solitary thing upon the snow, not a dwelling, but offering +its frigid hospitality to all comers; a river with many +windings, and the ruinous hovels of Besitun huddled +in the mud behind. An appalling view in the wild twilight +of a winter evening; and as the pink died out, a +desolate ghastliness fell upon it. As I waited, all but +worn out by the long march, the tumbling mule, and the +icy wind, I thought I should like never to hear the deep +chimes of a Persian caravan, or see the huge portal of +a Persian caravanserai any more. These are cowardly +emotions which are dispelled by warmth and food, but at +that moment there was not much prospect of either.</p> + +<p>Through seas of mud and by mounds of filth we +entered Besitun, a most wretched village of eighteen +hovels, chiefly ruinous, where we dismounted in the +mixed snow and mud of a yard at a hovel of three +rooms vacated by a family. It was a better shelter than +could have been hoped for, though after a fire was made, +which filled the room with smoke, I had to move from +place to place to avoid the drip from the roof.</p> + +<p>Hadji said he was ill of fever, and seemed like an +idiot; but the orderly said that the illness was shammed +and the stupidity assumed in order not to work. I told +him to put the mattress on the bed; "Pour water on the +mattress," he replied. I repeated, "Put—the—mattress—on—the—bed," +to which he replied, "Put the mattress +into water!" I said if he felt too ill for his work he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +might go to bed. "God knows," he answered. "Yes, +knows that you are a lazy, good-for-nothing, humbugging +brute"—a well-timed objurgation from M——, +which elicited a prolonged "<i>Ya Allah!</i>" but produced no +effect, as the tea and <i>chapatties</i> were not relatively but +absolutely cold the next morning.</p> + +<p>The next day dawned miserably, and the daylight +when it came was only a few removes from darkness, +yet it was enough to bring out the horrors of that +wretched place, and the dirt and poverty of the people, +who were a prey to skin diseases. Many readers will +remember that Sir H. Rawlinson considers that there are +good geographical and etymological reasons for identifying +Besitun with the Baghistan, or Place of Gardens of +the Greeks, and with the famous pleasure-grounds which +tradition ascribes to Semiramis. But of these gardens +not a trace remains. A precipitous rock, smoothed at its +lower part, a vigorous spring gushing out at the foot of +the precipice, two tablets, one of which, at a height of +over 300 feet, visible from the road but inaccessible, is +an Achæmenian sculpture portraying the majesty of +Darius, with about a thousand lines of cuneiform writing, +are all that survive of the ancient splendours of Besitun, +with the exception of some buttresses opposite the rock, +belonging to a vanished Sasanian bridge over the Gamasiab, +and some fragments of other buildings of the Sasanian +epoch. These deeply interesting antiquities have been +described and illustrated by Sir H. Rawlinson, Flandin +and Coste, and others.</p> + +<p>It has been a severe day. It was so unpromising that +a start was only decided on after many pros and cons. +Through dark air small flakes of snow fell sparsely at +intervals from a sky from which all light had died out. +Gusts of icy wind swept down every gorge. Huge ragged +masses of cloud drifted wildly round the frowning mass +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +of Piru. Now and then the gusts ceased, and there was +an inauspicious calm.</p> + +<p>I rode a big mule not used to the bit, very troublesome +and mulish at first, but broken in an hour. A +clear blink revealed the tablets, but from their great altitude +the tallest of the figures only looked two feet high. +There is little to see on this march even under favourable +circumstances. A few villages, the ruined fort of +Hassan Khan, now used as a caravanserai, on a height, +the windings of the Gamasiab, and a few canals crossed +by brick bridges, represent its chief features. Impressions +of a country received in a storm are likely to be +incorrect, but they were pleasurable. Everything seemed +on a grand scale: here desolate plateaus pure white, there +high mountains and tremendous gorges, from which white +mists were boiling up—everything was shrouded in +mystery—plain prose ceased to be for some hours.</p> + +<p>The others had to make several halts, so I left the +"light division" and rode on alone. It became dark and +wild, and presently the surface of the snow began to +move and to drift furiously for about a foot above the +ground. The wind rose to a gale. I held my hat on +with one half-frozen hand. My mackintosh cape blew +inside out, and struck me such a heavy blow on the eyes +that for some time I could not see and had to trust to +the mule. The wind rose higher; it was furious, and the +drift, not only from the valley but from the mountain +sides, was higher than my head, stinging and hissing as +it raced by. It was a "blizzard," a brutal snow-laden +north-easter, carrying fine, sharp, hard-frozen snow +crystals, which beat on my eyes and blinded them.</p> + +<p>After a short experience of it my mule "turned tail" +and needed spurring to make him face it. I fought on +for an hour, crossed what appeared to be a bridge, where +there were a few mud hovels, and pressed on down a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +narrower valley. The blizzard became frightful; from +every ravine gusts of storm came down, sweeping the +powdery snow from the hillsides into the valley; the +mountains were blotted out, the depression in the snow +which erewhile had marked the path was gone, I could +not even see the mule's neck, and he was floundering in +deep snow up to the girths; the hiss of the drift had increased +to a roar, the violence of the storm produced +breathlessness and the intense cold numbness. It was +dangerous for a solitary traveller, and thinking that +M—— would be bothered by missing one of the party +under such circumstances, I turned and waited under the +lee of a ruinous mud hovel for a long, long time till the +others came up—two of the men having been unhorsed in +a drift.</p> + +<p>In those hovels there were neither accommodation nor +supplies, and we decided to push on. It was never so +bad again. The wind moderated, wet snow fell heavily, +but cleared off, and there was a brilliant blue heaven +with heavy sunlit cloud-wreaths, among which colossal +mountain forms displayed themselves, two peaks in +glorious sunlight, high, high above a whirling snow-cloud, +which was itself far above a great mountain range below. +There were rifts, valleys, gorges, naked, nearly perpendicular +rocks, the faces of mountains, half of which had +fallen down in the opposite direction, a snow-filled valley, +a winding river with brief blue stretches, a ruined fort +on an eminence, a sharp turn, a sudden twilight, and +then another blizzard far colder than the last, raging +down a lateral ravine, up which, even through the blinding +drift, were to be seen, to all seeming higher than +mountains of this earth, the twin peaks of Shamran lighted +by the sun. I faced the blizzard for some time, and then +knowing that Hadji and the cook, who were behind me, +would turn off to a distant village, all trace of a track +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +having disappeared, I rode fully a mile back and waited +half an hour for them. They were half-frozen, and had +hardly been able to urge their mules, which were lightly +laden, through the snow, and Hadji was groaning "<i>Ya +Allah!</i>"</p> + +<p>The blizzard was over and the sky almost cloudless, +but the mercury had fallen to 18°, and a keen wind was +still blowing the powdery snow to the height of a foot. +I sent the two men on in front, and by dint of calling to +them constantly, kept them from getting into drifts of +unknown depth. We rode up a rising plateau for two +hours—a plateau of deep, glittering, blinding, trackless +snow, giving back the sunshine in millions of diamond +flashings. Through all this region thistles grow to a +height of four feet, and the only way of finding the track +was to look out for a space on which no withered thistle-blooms +appeared above the snow.</p> + +<p>This village of Sannah lies at an altitude of about 5500 +feet, among poplar plantations and beautiful gardens, in +which fine walnut trees are conspicuous. Though partly +ruinous it is a flourishing little place, its lands being +abundantly watered by streams which run into the +Gamasiab. It is buried now in snow, and the only mode +of reaching it is up the bed of a broad sparkling stream +among the gardens. The <i>sowar</i> met us here, the navigation +being difficult, and the "light division" having +come up, we were taken to the best house in the village, +where the family have vacated two rooms, below the +level of a yard full of snow. The plateau and its adjacent +mountains were flushed with rose as we entered +Sannah, and as soon as the change to the pallor of death +came on the mercury raced down to zero outside, and it +is only 6° in the room in which I am writing.</p> + +<p>There is a large caravanserai at the entrance to Sannah, +and I suspect that the <i>sowar</i> in choosing private quarters +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> +bullies the <i>ketchuda</i> (headman) and throws the village +into confusion, turning the women and children out of +the rooms, the owners, though they get a handsome sum +for the accommodation, having to give him an equally +handsome <i>modakel</i>.</p> + +<p>After nearly nine hours of a crawling pace and exposure +to violent weather, I suffered from intense pain +in my joints, and was dragged and lifted in and put into +a chair. I write "put," for I was nearly helpless, and had +to take a teaspoonful of whisky in warm milk. While the +fire was being made two women, with a gentle kindliness +which won my heart, chafed my trembling, nearly frozen +hands with their own, with kindly, womanly looks, +which supplied the place of speech.</p> + +<p>I lay down under a heap of good blankets, sorry to +see them in thin cotton clothes, and when I was less +frozen observed my room and its grotesquely miserable +aspect, "the Savage" never taking any trouble to arrange +it. There are no windows, and the divided door does +not shut by three inches. A low hole leads into +the granary, which is also the fowl-house, but the fowls +have no idea of keeping to their own apartment. Two +sheep with injured legs lie in a corner with some fodder +beside them. A heap of faggots, the bed placed diagonally +to avoid the firehole in the floor, a splashed tarpaulin +on which Hadji threw down the saddle and bridle plastered +with mud, and all my travelling gear, a puddle of frozen +water, a plough, and some ox yokes, an occasional gust of +ashes covering everything, and clouds of smoke from +wood which refuses to do anything but smoke, are +the luxuries of the halt. The house is full of people, +and the women come in and out without scruple, and I +am really glad to see them, though it is difficult to rouse +Hadji from his opium pipe and coffee, and his comfortable +lounge by a good fire, to interpret for them. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span></p> + +<p>The day's experiences remind me of the lines—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Bare all he could endure,</p> +<p>And bare not always well."</p> +</div> + +<p>But tired and benumbed as I am I much prefer a march +with excitements and difficulties to the monotony of +splashing through mud in warm rain.</p> + +<p><i>Hamilabad, Feb. 7.</i>—The next morning opened cloudless, +with the mercury at 18°, which was hardly an excuse +for tea and <i>chapatties</i> being quite cold. I was ready much +too early, and the servants having given out that I am +a <i>Hakīm</i>, my room was crowded with women and children, +all suffering from eye diseases and scrofula, five +women not nearly in middle life with cataract advanced +in both eyes, and many with incurved eyelids, the +result of wood smoke. It was most painful to see their +disappointment when I told them that it would need +time to cure some of them, and that for others I could +do nothing. Could I not stay? they pleaded. I could +have that room and milk and eggs—the best they had. +"And they lifted up their voices and wept." I felt like +a brute for leaving them. The people there showed much +interest in our movements, crowding on the roofs to see +our gear, and the start.</p> + +<p>The order of march now is—light division, three +mules with an orderly, Hadji, and the cook upon them, +the two last carrying what is absolutely necessary for the +night in case the heavy division cannot get on. M—— +and an orderly, the <i>sowar</i>, Abbas Khan, another who is +changed daily, the light division and I, sometimes start +together; but as the others are detained by work on the +road, I usually ride on ahead with the two servants.</p> + +<p>To write that we all survived the march of that day +is strange, when the same pitiless blast or "demon wind," +blowing from "the roof of the world"—the Pamir desert, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> +made corpses of five men who started with a caravan +ahead of us that morning. We had to climb a long +ascending plateau for 1500 feet, to surmount a pass. +The snow was at times three feet deep, and the tracks +even of a heavy caravan which crossed before us were +effaced by the drift in a few minutes.</p> + +<p>A sun without heat glared and scintillated like an +electric light, white and unsympathetic, out of a pitiless +sky without a cloud. As soon as we emerged from Sannah +the "demon wind" seized on us—a steady, blighting, +searching, merciless blast, no rise or fall, no lull, no hope. +Steadily and strongly it swept, at a temperature of 9°, +across the glittering ascent—swept mountain-sides bare; +enveloped us at times in glittering swirls of powdery snow, +which after biting and stinging careered over the slopes +in twisted columns; screeched down gorges and whistled +like the demon it was, as it drifted the light frozen snow +in layers, in ripples, in waves, a cruel, benumbing, blinding, +withering invisibility!</p> + +<p>The six woollen layers of my mask, my three pairs of +gloves, my sheepskin coat, fur cloak, and mackintosh piled +on over a swaddling mass of woollen clothing, were as +nothing before that awful blast. It was not a question +of comfort or discomfort, or of suffering more or less +severe, but of life or death, as the corpses a few miles +ahead of us show. I am certain that if it had lasted +another half-hour I too should have perished. The torture +of my limbs down to my feet, of my temples and cheekbones, +the anguish and uselessness of my hands, from +which the reins had dropped, were of small consequence +compared with a chill which crept round my heart, +threatening a cessation of work.</p> + +<p>There were groans behind me; the cook and Hadji had +rolled off into the snow, where Hadji was calling on Him +"who is not far from every one of us." M—— was on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +foot. His mask was frozen hard. He was using a +scientific instrument, and told his orderly, an Afghan, a +smart little "<i>duffadar</i>" of a crack Indian <i>corps</i>, to fasten +a strap. The man replied sadly, "I can't, Sahib." His +arms and hands were useless. My mask was frozen to +my lips. The tears extorted from my eyes were frozen. +I was so helpless, and in such torture, that I would gladly +have lain down to die in the snow. The mercury fell +to 4°.</p> + +<p>After fighting the elements for three hours and a half, +we crossed the crest of the pass at an altitude of 7000 +feet, to look down upon a snow world stretched out everywhere, +pure, glistering, awful; mountains rolling in snowy +ranges, valleys without a trace of man, a world of horror, +glittering under a mocking sun.</p> + +<p>Hadji, with many pious ejaculations, gasped out that +he was dying (in fact, for some time all speech had +been reduced to a gasp); but when we got over the crest +there was no more wind, and all the benumbed limbs +resumed sensation, through an experience of anguish.</p> + +<p>The road to Kangawar lies through a broad valley, +which has many streams. Among the mountains which +encompass it are the Kuh-i-Hassan, Boka, the Kuh-i-Paran, +and the Kuh-i-Bozah. I rode on with the two servants, +indulging in no higher thoughts than of the comfort I +should have in lying down, when just in front of me +Hadji turned a somersault, my alpenstock flying in one +direction and the medicine chest in another, while he lay +motionless, flat on his back with all his limbs stretched +out, just as soldiers who have been shot lie in pictures. +In getting to him my mule went down in a snow-drift, +out of which I extricated him with difficulty. I induced +Hadji, who said his back was broken, and was groaning +and calling on Allah, to get up, and went on to secure his +mule, which had the great pack-saddle under its body, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +and was kicking with all its might at my bed and "hold-all," +which were between its hind legs, and succeeded in +catching and holding it till Hadji came up. I told him +to unfasten the surcingle, for the animal was wild with +the things among its legs, and he wrung his hands and +beat his breast, exclaiming, "God is great! God knows I +shall never see Bushire again!" and was quite helpless. +Seeing a caravan of asses approaching, I rode on as fast +as I could to the well-situated little town of Kangawar, +expecting him to follow shortly. At present the entrance +into Kangawar is up the bed of a stream.</p> + +<p>We had been promised good accommodation there, +and the town could evidently afford it, but Abbas Khan +had chosen something very wretched, though it was upstairs, +and had an extensive snow view. Crumbling, +difficult stairs at each end of a crumbling mud house led +to rooms which barely afforded a shelter, with a ruinous +barn between, where the servants, regardless of consequences, +kept up a bonfire. A man shovelled most of +the snow out of my room, and tried to make a fire but +failed, as neither he nor I could stand the smoke produced +by the attempt. This imperfect shelter had a window-frame, +with three out of its four wooden panes gone, and +a cracked door, which could only ensure partial privacy +by being laid against the posts from the outer landing, +which was a flat roof. The wall was full of cracks big +enough for a finger, through which the night wind rioted +in a temperature 5° below zero.</p> + +<p>There was nothing to sit upon, and I walked up and +down for two hours, half-frozen, watching the straggling +line of the caravan as it crawled along the valley, till the +sunset flush changed into the chill blue-gray of twilight. +Hadji arrived with it, having broken his girth after I left +him. There was not much comfort after the severe +march, owing to the draughts and the smoke, but one is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +always hungry and sleepy, and the hybernation of the +insects makes up for any minor discomforts. It was +so cold that some water in a cup froze before I could +drink it, and the blanket over my face was hard frozen.</p> + +<p>Kangawar was full of mourning. The bodies of two +men and a boy, who had perished on the plain while we +were struggling up the pass, had been brought in. This +boy of twelve was "the only son of his mother and she +was a widow." He had started from Kangawar in the +morning with five asses laden with chopped straw to sell +for her, and had miserably perished. The two men were +married, and had left families.</p> + +<p>Kangawar is a town of a thousand people built below +a high hill, on some natural and artificial mounds. Some +traditions regarding Semiramis are localised there, and it +is supposed to be on the site of Pancobar, where she +erected a temple to Anaitis or Artemis. Ruins of a +fortress, now snow-buried, occupy the crest of a hill above +the town, and there are other ruins, regarded by +antiquaries as Grecian, representing a temple or palace, +"a vast building constructed of enormous blocks of +dressed stone." Of these remains I saw nothing but +some columns and a pilaster, which are built into the +miserable mud walls of a house near the bazar.</p> + +<p>At night the muleteers were beseeching on their +knees. They said that they could not go on, that the +caravan which had attempted to leave Kangawar in the +morning had put back with three corpses, and that they +and their mules would perish. In the morning it was +for some time doubtful whether they could be induced or +bribed to proceed. The day was fine and still, but they +said that the snow was not broken. At last they agreed +to start if we would promise to return at the first breath +of wind!</p> + +<p>Every resource against cold was brought out and put +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> +on. One eye was all that was visible of the servants' +faces. The <i>charvadars</i> relied on their felt coats and raw +sheepskins, with the fur inside, roped round their legs. +There is danger of frost-bite even with all precautions. +In addition to double woollen underclothing I put on a +pair of thick Chitral socks over two pairs of woollen +stockings, and over these a pair of long, loose Afghan +boots, made of sheepskin with the fur inside. Over my +riding dress, which is of flannel lined with heavy homespun, +I had a long homespun jacket, an Afghan sheepskin coat, a +heavy fur cloak over my knees, and a stout "regulation" +waterproof to keep out the wind. Add to this a cork +helmet, a fisherman's hood, a "six-ply" mask, two pairs of +woollen gloves with mittens and double gauntlets, and +the difficulty of mounting and dismounting for a person +thus <i>swaddled</i> may be imagined! The Persians are all in +cotton clothes.</p> + +<p>However, though they have no "firesides," and no +cheerful crackle and blaze of wood, they have an arrangement +by which they can keep themselves warm +for hours by the expenditure of a few handfuls of animal +fuel. The fire hole or <i>tāndūr</i> in the middle of the +floor is an institution. It is circular, narrows somewhat +at the top and bottom, has a flue leading to the +bottom from the outside, and is about three feet deep +and two in diameter. It is smoothly lined with clay +inside.</p> + +<p>Over this is the <i>karsi</i> or platform, a skeleton wooden +frame like an inverted table, from two to five feet square, +covered with blankets or a thickly-wadded cotton quilt, +which extends four or five feet beyond it. Cushions are +placed under this, and the women huddle under it all +day, and the whole family at night, and in this weather +all day—the firepot in the hole giving them comfortable +warmth both for sleeping and waking. They very rarely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +wash, and the <i>karsi</i> is so favourable for the development +of vermin that I always hurry it out of the room +when I enter. So excellent and economical is the +contrivance, that a <i>tāndūr</i> in which the fire has not +been replenished for eighteen hours has still a genial +heat.</p> + +<p>It was a serious start, so terribly slippery in the +heaped-up alleys and uncovered bazars of Kangawar +that several of the mules and men fell. Outside the +town was a level expanse of deep, wrinkled, drifted, +wavy, scintillating snow, unbroken except for a rut about +a foot wide, a deep long "mule ladder," produced by +heavily-laden mules and asses each stepping in its +predecessor's footsteps, forming short, deep corrugations, +in which it is painful and tedious for horses or lightly-laden +animals to walk. For nine hours we marched +through this corrugated rut.</p> + +<p>Leaving on the left the summer route to Tihran +<i>viâ</i> Hamadan, which is said to have been blocked +for twenty days, we embarked upon a glittering plain +covered with pure snow, varying in depth from two feet +on the level to ten and fifteen in the drifts, crossed by +a narrow and only slightly beaten track.</p> + +<p>Ere long we came on solemn traces of the struggle and +defeat of the day before: every now and then a load of +chopped straw thrown away, then the deep snow much +trampled, then the snow dug away and piled round a +small space, in which the <i>charvadars</i> had tried to shelter +themselves from the wind as the shadows of death fell, +then more straw, and a grave under a high mound of +snow; farther on some men busy burying one of the +bodies. The air was still, and the sun shone as it had +shone the day before on baffled struggles, exhaustion, and +death. The trampling of the snow near the track +marked the place where the caravan had turned, taking +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +three out of the five bodies back to Kangawar. The +fury with which the wind had swept over the plain was +shown by the absolute level to which it had reduced the +snow, the deep watercourses being filled up with the +drifts.</p> + +<p>After crossing a brick bridge, and passing the nearly +buried village of Husseinabad, we rode hour after hour +along a rolling track among featureless hills, till in the +last twilight we reached the village of Pharipah, a low-lying +place ("low-lying" must never be understood to +mean anything lower than 5000 feet) among some +frozen irrigated lands and watered gardens. I arrived +nearly dead from cold, fatigue, and the severe pains in +the joints which are produced by riding nine hours at a +foot's pace in a temperature of 20°. My mule could only +be urged on by spurring, and all the men and animals +were in a state of great fatigue. My room was very +cold, as much of one side was open to the air, and a fire +was an impossibility.</p> + +<p>Except for the crossing of a pass with an altitude of +7500 feet, the next day's route was monotonous, across +plains, among mountains, all pure white, the only incidents +being that my chair was broken by the fall of a +mule, and that my mule and I went over our heads in a +snow-drift. The track was very little broken, and I was +four hours in doing ten miles.</p> + +<p>Hamilabad is a village of about sixty mud hovels, and +in common with all these mountain hamlets has sloping +covered ways leading to pens under the house, where +cattle, sheep, and goats spend much of the winter in +darkness and warmth.</p> + +<p>I have a house, <i>i.e.</i> a mud room, to myself. These +two days I have had rather a severe chill, after getting +in, including a shivering lasting about two hours, +perhaps owing to the severe fatigue; and I was lying +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +down with the blankets over my face and was just +getting warm when I heard much buzzing about me, +and looking up saw the room thronged with men, women, +and children, just such a crowd as constantly besieged +our blessed Lord when the toilsome day full of "the +contradiction of sinners against Himself" was done, +most of them ill of "divers diseases and torments," +smallpox, rheumatism, ulcers on the cornea, abortive and +shortened limbs, decay of the bones of the nose, palate, +and cheek, tumours, cancers, skin maladies, ophthalmia, +opaque films over the eyes, wounds, and many ailments +too obscure for my elementary knowledge. Nothing is +more painful than to be obliged to say that one cannot +do anything for them.</p> + +<p>I had to get up, and for nearly two hours was hearing +their tales of suffering, interpreted by Hadji with +brutal frankness; and they crowded my room again this +morning. All I could do was to make various ointments, +taking tallow as the basis, drop lotion into some eyes, +give a few simple medicines, and send the majority sadly +away. The <i>sowar</i>, Abbas Khan, is responsible for spreading +my fame as a <i>Hakīm</i>. He is being cured of a severe +cough, and comes to my room for medicine (in which I +have no faith) every evening, a lean man with a lean +face, lighted with a rapacious astuteness, with a <i>kaftan</i> +streaming from his brow, except where it is roped +round his shaven skull, a zouave jacket, a skirt something +like a kilt, but which stands out like a ballet dancer's +dress, all sorts of wrappings round his legs, a coarse +striped red shirt, a double cartridge-belt, and a perfect +armoury in his girdle of pistols and knives. He is a wit +and a rogue. Dogs, deprived of their usual shelter, shook +my loose door at intervals all night. This morning is +gray, and looks like change.</p> + +<p><i>Nanej, Feb. 9.</i>—It was thawing, and the march here +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +was very soft and splashy. The people are barbarous in +their looks, speech, manners, and ways of living, and have +a total disregard of cleanliness of person, clothing, and +dwellings. Whether they are actually too poor to have +anything warmer than cotton clothing, or whether they +have buried hoards I do not know; but even in this +severe weather the women of this region have nothing on +their feet, and their short blue cotton trousers, short, loose, +open jackets, short open chemises, and the thin blue sheet +or <i>chadar</i> over their heads, are a mere apology for clothing.</p> + +<p>The journey yesterday was through rolling hills, enclosing +level plains much cultivated, with villages upon +them mostly at a considerable distance from the road. I +passed through two, one larger and less decayed than +usual, but fearfully filthy, and bisected by a foul stream, +from which people were drinking and drawing water. +Near this is a lofty mound, a truncated cone, with some +"Cyclopean" masonry on its summit, the relics of a fire +temple of the Magi. Another poorer and yet filthier +village was passed through, where a man was being +buried; and as I left Hamilabad in the morning, a long +procession was escorting a corpse to its icy grave, laid on +its bedding on a bier, both these deaths being from smallpox, +which, though very prevalent, is not usually fatal, +and seldom attacks adults. Indeed, it is regarded as a +childish malady, and is cured by a diet of melons and by +profuse perspirations.</p> + +<p>A higher temperature had turned the path to slush, +and made the crossing of the last plain very tedious. +This is an abominable village, and the thaw is revealing +a state of matters which the snow would have concealed; +but it has been a severe week's journey, and I am glad +of Sunday's rest even here. It is a disheartening place. +I dismounted in one yard, in slush up to my knees, +and from this splashed into another, round which are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +stables, cowsheds, and rooms which were vacated by the +<i>ketchuda</i> and his family, but only partially, as the women +not only left all their "things" in my room, but had a +<i>godown</i> or storehouse through it, to which they resorted +continually. I felt ill yesterday, and put on a blister, +which rendered complete rest desirable; but it is not to +be got. The room filled with women as soon as I settled +myself in it.</p> + +<p>They told me at once that I could not have a fire +unless I had it under the <i>karsi</i>, that the smoke would +be unbearable. When I asked them to leave me to rest, +they said, "There's no shame in having women in the +house." M—— came an hour later and cleared the room, +but as soon as he went away it filled again, and with +men as well as women, and others unscrupulously tore +out the paper panes from the windows. This afternoon +I stayed in bed feeling rather ill, and about three o'clock +a number of women in blue sheets, with a very definite +leader, came in, arranged the <i>karsi</i>, filling the room with +smoke, as a preliminary, gathered themselves under the +quilt, and sat there talking loudly to each other. I felt +myself the object of a focused stare, and covered my +head with a blanket in despair. Then more women +came in with tea-trays, and they all took tea and sat for +another hour or two talking and tittering, Hadji assuring +me that they were doing it out of kindness, because +I was not well, and they thought it dull for me alone! +The room was again cleared, and I got up at dark, and +hearing a great deal of whispering and giggling, saw that +they had opened the door windows, and that a crowd +was outside. When I woke this morning a man was +examining my clothes, which were hanging up. They +feel and pull my hair, finger all my things, and have +broken all the fine teeth out of my comb. They have +the curiosity without the gracefulness of the Japanese. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span></p> + +<p>This is a house of the better sort, though the walls +are not plastered. A carpet loom is fixed into the floor +with a half-woven carpet upon it. Some handsome rugs +are laid down. There are two much-decorated marriage +chests, some guns and swords, a quantity of glass teacups +and ornaments in the recesses, and coloured woodcuts +of the Russian Imperial family, here, as in almost +every house, are on the walls.</p> + +<p>There is great rejoicing to-night "for joy that a man +is born into the world," the first-born of the <i>ketchuda's</i> +eldest son. In their extreme felicity they took me to see +the mother and babe. The room was very hot, and +crowded with relations and friends. The young mother +was sitting up on her bed on the floor and the infant lay +beside her dressed in swaddling clothes. She looked +very happy and the young father very proud. I added +a small offering to the many which were brought in for +luck, and it was not rejected.</p> + +<p>A sword was brought from my room, and with it the +<i>mamaché</i> traced a line upon the four walls, repeating a +formula which I understood to be, "I am making this +tower for Miriam and her child."<a name="FNanchor_20" id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> I was warned by +Hadji not to look on the child or to admire him without +saying "Mashallah," lest I should bring on him the woe +of the evil eye. So greatly is it feared, that precautions +are invariably taken against it from the hour of birth, +by bestowing amulets and charms upon the child. A +paragraph of the Koran, placed in a silk bag, had already +been tied round the infant's neck. Later, he will wear +another bag round his arm, and turquoise or blue beads +will be sewn upon his cap.</p> + +<p>If a visitor admires a child without uttering the word +<i>Mashallah</i>, and the child afterwards falls sick, the visitor +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +at once is regarded as answerable for the calamity, and +the relations take a shred of his garment, and burn it in +a brazier with cress seed, walking round and round the +child as it burns.</p> + +<p>Persian mothers are regarded as convalescent on the +third day, when they go to the <i>hammam</i> to perform the +ceremonies required by Moslem law. A boy is weaned +at the end of twenty-six months and a girl at the end +of twenty-four. If possible, on the weaning day the child +is carried to the mosque, and certain devotions are +performed. The weaning feast is an important function, +and the relations and friends assemble, bringing presents, +and the child in spite of his reluctance is forced to +partake of the food.</p> + +<p>At the earliest possible period the <i>mamaché</i> pronounces +in the infant's ear the Shiah profession of faith: "God is +God, there is but one God, and Mohammed is the Prophet +of God, and Ali is the Lieutenant of God." A child +becomes a Moslem as soon as this <i>Kelemah Islam</i> has +been spoken into his ear; but a ceremony attends the +bestowal of his name, which resembles that in use +among the Buddhists of Tibet on similar occasions.</p> + +<p>Unless the father be very poor indeed, he makes a +feast for his friends on an auspicious day, and invites the +village <i>mollahs</i>. Sweetmeats are solemnly eaten after the +guests have assembled. Then the infant, stiffened and +mummied in its swaddling clothes, is brought in, and is +laid on the floor by one of the <i>mollahs</i>. Five names are +written on five slips of paper, which are placed between +the leaves of the Koran, or under the edge of the carpet. +The first chapter of the Koran is then read. One of the +slips is then drawn at random, and a <i>mollah</i> takes up the +child, and pronounces in its ear the name found upon it, +after which he places the paper on its clothes.</p> + +<p>The relations and friends give it presents according to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +their means, answering to our christening gifts, and +thereafter it is called by the name it has received. +Among men's names there is a preponderance of those +taken from the Old Testament, among which Ibrahim, +Ismail, Suleiman, Yusuf, and Moussa are prominent. +Abdullah, Mahmoud, Hassan, Raouf, Baba Houssein, Imam +are also common, and many names have the suffix of Ali +among the Shiahs. Fatmeh is a woman's name, but girl-children +usually receive the name of some flower or bird, +or fascinating quality of disposition or person.</p> + +<p>The journey is beginning to tell on men and animals. +One of the Arab horses has had a violent attack of pain +from the cold, and several of the men are ailing and depressed.</p> + +<p><i>Dizabad, Feb. 11.</i>—Nanej is the last village laid down +on any map on the route we are taking for over a hundred +miles, <i>i.e.</i> until we reach Kûm, though it is a caravan +route, and it does not appear that any Europeans have published +any account of it. Just now it is a buried country, +for the snow is lying from one to four feet deep. It is +not even possible to pronounce any verdict on the roads, +for they are simply deep ruts in the snow, with "mule +ladders." The people say that the plains are irrigated +and productive, and that the hills pasture their sheep and +cattle; and they all complain of the exactions of local +officials. There is no variety in costume, and very little +in dwellings, except as to size, for they are all built of +mud or sun-dried bricks, within cattle yards, and have +subterranean pens for cattle and goats. The people abound +in diseases, specially of the eyes and bones.</p> + +<p>The salient features of the hills, if they have any, are +rounded off by snow, and though many of them rise to +a great height, none are really impressive but Mount +Elwand, close to Hamadan. The route is altogether +hilly, but the track pursues valleys and low passes as +much as possible, and is never really steep. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span></p> + +<p>Yesterday we marched twenty-four miles in eight +hours without any incident, and the "heavy division" +took thirteen hours, and did not come in till ten at night! +There are round hills, agglomerated into ranges, with easy +passes, the highest 7026 feet in altitude, higher summits +here and there in view, the hills encircling level plains, +sprinkled sparsely with villages at a distance from the +road, denoted by scrubby poplars and willows; sometimes +there is a <i>kanaat</i> or underground irrigation channel with a +line of pits or shafts, but whatever there was, or was not, it +was always lonely, grim, and desolate. The strong winds +have blown some of the hillsides bare, and they appear +in all their deformity of shapeless mounds of black gravel, +or black mud, with relics of last year's thistles and +euphorbias upon them. So great is the destitution of +fuel that even now people are out cutting the stalks of +thistles which appear above the snow.</p> + +<p>As the hours went by, I did rather wish for the +smashed <i>kajawehs</i>, especially when we met the ladies of +a governor's <i>haram</i>, to the number of thirty, reclining +snugly in pairs, among blankets and cushions, in panniers +with tilts, and curtains of a thick material, dyed Turkey +red. The cold became very severe towards evening.</p> + +<p>The geographical interest of the day was that we +crossed the watershed of the region, and have left behind +the streams which eventually reach the sea, all future +rivers, however great their volume, or impetuous their +flow, disappearing at last in what the Americans call +"sinks," but which are known in Persia as <i>kavirs</i>, usually +salt swamps. Near sunset we crossed a bridge of seven +pointed arches with abutments against a rapid stream, +and passing a great gaunt caravanserai on an eminence, +and a valley to the east of the bridge with a few villages +giving an impression of fertility, hemmed in by some +shapely mountains, we embarked on a level plain, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +bounded on all sides by hills so snowy that not a brown +patch or outbreak of rock spotted their whiteness, and +with villages and caravanserais scattered thinly over +it. On the left, there are the extensive ruins of old +Dizabad, and a great tract of forlorn graves clustering +round a crumbling <i>imamzada</i>.</p> + +<p>As the sun sank the distant hills became rose-flushed, +and then one by one the flush died off into the paleness +of death, and in the gathering blue-grayness, in desolation +without sublimity, in ghastliness, impressive but only +by force of ghastliness, and in benumbing cold, we rode +into this village, and into a yard encumbered with mighty +piles of snow, on one side of which I have a wretched +room, though the best, with two doors, which do not shut, but +when they are closed make it quite dark—a deep, damp, cobwebby, +dusty, musty lair like a miserable eastern cowshed.</p> + +<p>I was really half-frozen and quite benumbed, and +though I had plenty of blankets and furs, had a long and +severe chill, and another to-day. M—— also has had +bad chills, and the Afghan orderly is ill, and moaning +with pain in the next room. Hadji has fallen into a state +of chronic invalidism, and is shaking with chills, his teeth +chattering, and he is calling on Allah whenever I am +within hearing.</p> + +<p>The chilly dampness and the rise in temperature +again may have something to do with the ailments, but +I think that we Europeans are suffering from the want of +nourishing food. Meat has not been attainable for some +days, the fowls are dry and skinny, and milk is very +scarce and poor. I cannot eat the sour wafers which +pass for bread, and as Hadji cannot boil rice or make +flour porridge, I often start in the morning having only +had a cup of tea. I lunch in the saddle on dates, the +milk in the holsters having been frozen lately; then is the +time for finding the value of a double peppermint lozenge! +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span></p> + +<p>Snow fell heavily last night, and as the track has +not been broken, and the <i>charvadars</i> dared not face it, +we are detained in this miserable place, four other +caravans sharing our fate. The pros and cons about +starting were many, and Abbas Khan was sent on horseback +to reconnoitre, but he came back like Noah's dove, +reporting that it was a trackless waste of snow outside. +It is a day of rest, but as the door has to be open on +the snow to let in light, my hands are benumbed with +the damp cold. Still, a bowl of Edwards' desiccated soup—the +best of all travelling soups—has been very reviving, +and though I have had a severe chill again, I do not mean +to succumb. I do not dwell on the hardships, but they +are awful. The soldiers and servants all have bad +coughs, and dwindle daily. The little orderly is so ill +to-day that we could not have gone on even had the track +been broken.</p> + +<p><i>Saruk, Feb. 12.</i>—Unladen asses, followed by unladen +mules, were driven along to break the track this morning, +and as two caravans started before us, it was tolerable, +though very deep. The solitude and desolation were +awful. At first the snow was somewhat thawed, but +soon it became immensely deep, and we had to plunge +through hollows from which the beasts extricated themselves +with great difficulty and occasionally had to be +unloaded and reloaded.</p> + +<p>As I mentioned in writing of an earlier march, it is +difficult and even dangerous to pass caravans when the +only road is a deep rut a foot wide, and we had most +tedious experience of it to-day, when some of our men, +weakened by illness, were not so patient as usual. +Abbas Khan and the orderly could hardly sit on their +horses, and Hadji rolled off his mule at intervals. As +the <i>charvadars</i> who give way have their beasts floundering +in the deep snow and losing their loads, both +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +attempt to keep the road, the result of which is a violent +collision. The two animals which "collide" usually go +down, and some of the others come on the top of them, +and to-day at one time there were eight, struggling heels +uppermost in the deep snow, all to be reloaded.</p> + +<p>This led to a serious <i>mêlée</i>. The rival <i>charvadar</i>, +aggravated by Hadji, struck him on the head, and down he +went into the snow, with his mule apparently on the top +of him, and his load at some distance. The same <i>charvadar</i> +seized the halters of several of our mules, and drove +them into the snow, where they all came to grief. Our +<i>charvadar</i>, whose blue eyes, auburn hair and beard, +and exceeding beauty, always bring to mind a sacred +picture, became furious at this, and there was a +fierce fight among the men (M—— being ahead) and +much bad language, such epithets as "son of a dog" and +"sons of burnt fathers" being freely bandied about. +The fray at last died out, leaving as its result only the +loss of an hour, some broken surcingles, and some bleeding +faces. Even Hadji rose from his "gory bed" not +much worse, though he had been hit hard.</p> + +<p>There was no more quarrelling though we passed several +caravans, but even when the men were reasonable and +good nature prevailed some of the mules on both sides +fell in the snow and had to be reloaded. When the +matter is not settled as this was by violence, a good +deal of shouting and roaring culminates in an understanding +that one caravan shall draw off into a place +where the snow is shallowest, and stand still till the +other has gone past; but to-day scarcely a shallow place +could be found. I always give place to asses, rather +to avoid a painful spectacle than from humanity. One +step off the track and down they go, and they never get +up without being unloaded.</p> + +<p>When we left Dizabad the mist was thick, and as it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +cleared it froze in crystallised buttons, which covered +the surface of the snow, but lifting only partially it +revealed snowy summits, sun-lit above heavy white +clouds; then when we reached a broad plateau, the +highest plain of the journey, 7800 feet in altitude, gray +mists drifted very near us, and opening in rifts divulged +blackness, darkness, and tempest, and ragged peaks +exposed to the fury of a snowstorm. Snow fell in +showers on the plain, and it was an anxious time, for +had the storm which seemed impending burst on that +wild, awful, shelterless expanse, with tired animals, and +every landmark obliterated, some of us must have +perished. I have done a great deal of snow travelling, +and know how soon every trace of even the widest and +deepest path is effaced by drift, much more the narrow +rut by which we were crossing this most exposed +plateau. There was not a village in sight the whole +march, no birds, no animals. There was not a sound +but the venomous hiss of snow-laden squalls. It was +"the dead of winter."</p> + +<p>My admirable mule was ill of cold from having my +small saddle on him instead of his great stuffed pack-saddle, +the <i>charvadar</i> said, and he gave me instead a +horse that I could not ride. Such a gait I never felt; +less than half a mile was unbearable. I felt as if my +eyes would be shaken out of their sockets! The bit +was changed, but in vain. I was obliged to get off, and +M—— kindly put my saddle on a powerful Kirmanshah +Arab. I soon found that my intense fatigue on this +journey had been caused by riding mules, which have +no elasticity of movement. I rode twenty miles to-day +with ease, and could have ridden twenty more, and had +several canters on the few places where the snow was +well trodden.</p> + +<p>I was off the track trying to get past a caravan +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +and overtake the others, when down came the horse and +I in a drift fully ten feet deep. Somehow I was not +quite detached from the saddle, and in the scrimmage +got into it again, and a few desperate plunges brought us +out, with the horse's breastplate broken.</p> + +<p>When we reached the great plateau above this village, +a great blank sheet of snow, surrounded by mountains, +now buried in white mists, now revealed, with snow +flurries drifting wildly round their ghastly heads, I found +that the Arab, the same horse which was so ill at Nanej, +was "dead beat," and as it only looked a mile to the +village I got off, and walked in the deep snow along the +rungs of the "mule ladders," which are so fatiguing for +horses. But the distance was fully three miles, with a +stream to wade through, half a mile of deep wet soil to +plunge through, and the thawed mud of a large village to +splash through; and as I dared not mount again for fear +of catching cold, I trailed forlornly into Saruk, following +the men who were riding.</p> + +<p>Can it be said that they rode? They sat feebly on +animals, swaddled in felts and furs, the <i>pagri</i> concealing +each face with the exception of one eye in a blue +goggle; rolling from side to side, clutching at ropes and +halters, moaning "<i>Ya Allah!</i>"—a deplorable cavalcade.</p> + +<p>Saruk has some poplars, and is surrounded by a +ruinous mud wall. It is a village of 150 houses, and is +famous for very fine velvety carpets, of small patterns, +in vivid vegetable dyes. At an altitude of 7500 feet, it +has a severe climate, and only grows wheat and barley, +sown in April and reaped in September. All this +mountainous region that we are toiling through is blank +on the maps, and may be a dead level so far as anything +there is represented, though even its passes are in several +cases over 7000 feet high.</p> + +<p><i>Saruk, Feb. 13.</i>—The circumstances generally are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +unfavourable, and we are again detained. The Afghan +orderly, who is also interpreter, is very ill, and though +he is very plucky it is impossible for him to move; the +cook seems "all to pieces," and is overcome by cough +and lassitude; Abbas Khan is ill, and his face has lost +its comicality; and in the same room Hadji lies, groaning +and moaning that he will not live through the night. +Even M—-'s herculean strength is not what it was. +I have chills, but in spite of them and the fatigue +am really much better than when I left Baghdad, +so that though I exercise the privilege of grumbling at +the hardships, I ought not to complain of them, though +they are enough to break down the strongest men. I +really like the journey, except when I am completely +knocked up, or the smoke is exceptionally blinding.</p> + +<p>The snow in this yard is lying in masses twelve feet +high, rising out of slush I do not know how many feet +deep. It looks as if we had seen the last of the winter. +The mercury is at 32° now. It is very damp and cold +sitting in a room with one side open to the snow, and +the mud floor all slush from the drip from the roof. +The fuel is wet, and though a man has attempted four +times to light a fire, he has only succeeded in making +an overpowering smoke, which prefers hanging heavily +over the floor and me to making its exit through the +hole in the roof provided for it. The door must be kept +open to let in light, and it also lets in fowls and many +cats. My <i>dhurrie</i> has been trampled into the slush, and +a deadly cold strikes up through it. Last night a man +(for Hadji was <i>hors de combat</i>) brought in some live +embers, and heaped some gum tragacanth thorns and +animal fuel upon them; there was no chimney, and the +hole in the roof was stopped by a clod. The result was +unbearable. I covered my head with blankets, but it +was still blinding and stifling, and I had to extinguish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> +the fire with water and bear the cold, which then was +about 20°. Later, there was a tempest of snow and +rain, with a sudden thaw, and water dripped with an +irksome sound on my well-protected bed, no light would +burn, and I had the mortification of knowing that the +same drip was spoiling writing paper and stores which +had been left open to dry! But a traveller rarely lies +awake, and to-day by keeping my feet on a box, and +living in a mackintosh, I am out of both drip and mud. +Such a room as I am now in is the ordinary room of a +Persian homestead. It is a cell of mud, not brick, either +sun or kiln dried. Its sides are cracked and let in air. +Its roof is mud, under which is some brushwood lying +over the rafters. It has no light holes, but as the door +has shrunk considerably from the door posts, it is not +absolutely dark. It may be about twelve feet square. +Every part of it is blackened by years of smoke. +The best of it is that it is raised two feet from the +ground to admit of a fowl-house below, and opens on a +rough platform which runs in front of all the dwelling-rooms. +With the misfitting door and cracked sides it is +much like a sieve.</p> + +<p>I have waited to describe a Persian peasant's house +till I had seen more of them. The yard is an almost +unvarying feature, whether a small enclosure with a low +wall and a gateway closed at night by a screen of reeds, +or a great farmyard like this, with an arched entrance +and dwelling-rooms for two or three generations along +one or more of the sides.</p> + +<p>The house walls are built of mud, not sun-dried brick, +and are only one story high. The soil near villages is +mostly mud, and by leading water to a given spot, a pit of +mortar for building material is at once made. This being +dug up, and worked to a proper consistency by the feet +of men, is then made into a wall, piece after piece being +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> +laid on by hand, till it reaches a height of four feet and +a thickness of three—the imperative tradition of the +Persian builder. This is allowed a few days for hardening, +when another layer of similar height but somewhat +narrower is laid upon it, <i>takchahs</i> or recesses a foot deep +or more being worked into the thickness of the wall, and +the process is repeated till the desired height is attained. +When the wall is thoroughly dry it is plastered inside +and outside with a mixture of mud and chopped straw, +and if this plastering is repeated at intervals, the style of +construction is very durable.</p> + +<p>The oven or <i>tāndūr</i> is placed in the floor of one room, +at least, and answers for cooking and heating. A peasant's +house has no windows, and the roof does not project +beyond the wall.</p> + +<p>All roofs are flat. Rude rafters of poplar are laid +across the walls about two feet apart. In a <i>ketchuda's</i> +or a wealthier peasant's house, above these are laid in rows +peeled poplar rods, two inches apart, then a rush mat, and +then the resinous thorns of the tragacanth bush, which +are not liable to decay; but in the poorer houses the owner +contents himself with a coarse reed mat or a layer of +brushwood above the rafters. On this is spread a well-trodden-down +layer of mud, then eight or ten inches of +dry earth, and the whole is thickly plastered with mixed +straw and mud. A slight slope at the back with a long +wooden spout carries off the water. Such a roof is impervious +to rain except in very severe storms if kept in +order, that is, if it be plastered once a year, and well +rolled after rain. Few people are so poor as not to have +a neatly-made stone roller on their roofs. If this is +lacking, the roof must be well tramped after rain by bare +feet, and in all cases the snow must be shovelled off.</p> + +<p>These roofs, among the peasantry, have no parapets. +They are the paradise of dogs, and in hot weather the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +people take up their beds and sleep there, partly for +coolness and partly because the night breeze gives +freedom from mosquitos. In simple country life, though +the premises of the peasants for the sake of security are +contiguous, there are seldom even balustrades to the roofs, +though in summer most domestic operations are carried +on there. Fifty years ago Persian law sanctioned the +stoning without trial or mercy of any one caught in the +act of gazing into the premises of another, unless the gazer +were the king.</p> + +<p>Upon the courtyard stables, barns, and store-rooms +open, but so far I notice that the granary is in the house, +and that the six-feet-high clay receptacles for grain are in +the living-room.</p> + +<p>Looking from above upon a plain, the poplars which +surround villages where there is a sufficiency of water +attract the eye. At this season they are nothing but a +brown patch on the snow. The villages themselves are +of light brown mud, and are surrounded usually by square +walls with towers at the corners, and all have a great +gate. Within the houses or hovels the families are +huddled irregularly, with all their appurtenances, and in +winter the flocks and herds are in subterranean pens +beneath. In summer the animals go forth at sunrise and +return at sunset. The walls, which give most of the +villages a fortified aspect, used to afford the villagers a +degree of protection against the predatory Turkomans, +and now give security to the flocks against Lur and +other robbers.</p> + +<p>Every village has its <i>ketchuda</i> or headman, who is +answerable for the taxes, the safety of travellers, and other +matters.</p> + +<p><i>Siashan, Feb. 16.</i>—The men being a little better, we +left Saruk at nine on the 14th, I on a bright little +Baghdadi horse, in such good case that he frequently +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> +threw up his heels in happy playfulness. The temperature +had fallen considerably, there had been a fresh snowfall, +and the day was very bright. The Arab horses are +suffering badly in their eyes from the glare of the snow.</p> + +<p>If I had not had such a lively little horse I should +have found the march a tedious one, for we were six +hours in doing eleven and a half miles on a level! The +head <i>charvadar</i> had gone on early to make some arrangements, +and the others loaded the animals so badly that +Hadji and the cook rolled off their mules into the deep +semi-frozen slush from the packs turning just outside +the gates. We had three mules with us with worn-out +tackle, and the loads rolled over many times, the riders, +who were too weak to help themselves, getting bad falls. +As each load, owing to the broken tackle, took fifteen +minutes to put on again, and the men could do little, +a great deal of hard, exasperating work fell on M——. +After one bad fall in a snowdrift myself, I rode on alone +with one mule with a valuable burden. This, turning +for the fourth time, was soon under his body, and he +began to kick violently, quite dismaying me by the bang +of his hoofs against cases containing scientific instruments. +It was a droll comedy in the snow. I wanted to get +hold of his halter, but every time I went near him he +whisked round and flung up his heels, till I managed to +cut the ragged surcingle and set him free, when I caught +him in deep snow, in which my horse was very unwilling +to risk himself.</p> + +<p>Soon after leaving Saruk, which, as I mentioned before, +is famous for very fine carpets, we descended gently upon +the great plain of Feraghan, perhaps the largest carpet-producing +district of Persia. These carpets are very fine +and their patterns are unique, bringing a very high price. +This plain has an altitude of about 7000 feet, is 45 miles +in length by from 8 to 15 in breadth, is officially stated +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +to have 650 villages upon it, all agricultural and carpet +producing, and is considerably irrigated by streams, which +eventually lose themselves in a salt lake at its eastern +extremity. It is surrounded by hills, with mountain +ranges behind them, and must be, both as to productiveness +and population, one of the most flourishing districts +in Persia.</p> + +<p>We were to have marched to Kashgird, but on reaching +the hamlet of Ahang Garang I found that Abbas +Khan had taken quarters there, saying that Kashgird was +in ruins.</p> + +<p>Hadji, who had allowed himself to roll off several +times, was moaning and weeping on the floor of my +room, groaning out, with many cries of <i>Ya Allah</i>, "Let +me stay here till I'm better; I don't want any wages; I +shall be killed, oh, killed! Oh, my family! I shall +never see Bushire any more!" Though there was much +reason to think he was shamming, I did the little that he +calls his "work," and left him to smoke his opium pipe +and sleep by the fire in peace.</p> + +<p>I was threatened with snow-blindness in one eye; in +fact I saw nothing with it, and had to keep it covered +up. One of the <i>charvadars</i> lay moaning outside my +room, poor fellow, taking chlorodyne every half-hour, and +another had got a bad foot from frost-bite. They have +been terribly exposed, and the soft snow at a higher +temperature has been worse for them than the dry +powdery snow at a low temperature, as it soaks their +socks, shoes, and leggings, and then freezes. Making +Liebig's beef tea warms one, and they like it even from +a Christian hand. The Afghan orderly bore up bravely, +but was very weak. Indeed the prospect of getting +these men to Tihran is darkening daily.</p> + +<p>My room, though open to the snow at one end, was +comfortable. The oven had been lighted twelve hours +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +before, and it was delightful to hang one's feet into the +warm hole. There were holes for light in the roof, and +cold though it was, so long as daylight lasted these were +never free from veiled faces looking down.</p> + +<p>In order to become thoroughly warm it was necessary +to walk long and briskly on the roof, and this brought +all the villagers below it to stare the stare of vacuity +rather than of curiosity. A snow scene is always beautiful +at sunset, and this was exceptionally so, as the long +indigo shadows on the plain threw into greater definiteness +the gleaming, glittering hills, at one time dazzling in +the sunshine, at another flushed in the sunset. The +plain of Feraghan as seen from the roof was one smooth +expanse of pure deep snow, broken only by brown +splashes, where mud villages were emphasised by brown +poplars, the unbroken, unsullied snow, two feet deep on +the level and any number in the drifts, looking like a +picture of the Arctic Ocean, magnificent in its solitude, +one difficult track, a foot wide, the solitary link with the +larger world which then seemed so very far away.</p> + +<p>Things went better yesterday on the whole, though +the mercury fell to zero in the night, and I was awakened +several times by the cold of my open room, and when a +number of people came at daylight for medicines my +fingers were so benumbed that I could scarcely measure +them. What a splendid field for a medical missionary +loving his profession this plain with its 650 villages +would be, where there are curable diseases by the +hundred! Many of the suffering people have told me +that they would give lodging and the best of their +food to any English doctor who would travel among +them.</p> + +<p>The loads were well balanced yesterday, and Hadji +only pulled his over once and only rolled off once, +when Abbas Khan exclaimed, "He's not a man; why did +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +Allah make such a creature?" We got off at nine, the +roofs being crowded to see us start. Fuel is very scarce +at Ahang Garang. For the cooking and "parlour" fire, +the charge was forty-five <i>krans</i>, or about twenty-eight +shillings! Probably this included a large <i>modakel</i>. For +a room from two to four <i>krans</i> is expected.</p> + +<p>Through M——'s kindness I now have a good horse +to ride, and the difference in fatigue is incredible. We +embarked again on the vast plain of snow. It was a +grim day, and most ghastly and desolate this end of the +plain looked, where the waters having done their fertilising +work are lost in a salt lake, the absolutely white +hills round the plain being emphasised by the blue +neutral tint of the sky. For the first ten miles there +was little more than a breeze, for the last ten a pitiless, +ruthless, riotous north-easterly gale, blowing up the snow +in hissing drifts, as it swept across the plain with a +desolate screech.</p> + +<p>The coverings with which we were swaddled were +soon penetrated. The cold seemed to enter the bones, and +to strike the head and face like a red-hot hammer, stunning +as it struck, the tears wrung from the eyes were +frozen, at times even the eyelids were frozen together. +The frozen snow hit one hard. Hands and feet were +by turns benumbed and in anguish, terrific blasts loaded +with hard lumps of snow came down from the hills, +snow was drifting from all the white ranges above us; on +the more exposed part of the track the gusts burst with +such violence as to force some of the mules off it to +flounder in the deep snow; my Arab was struck so +mercilessly on his sore swollen eyes that at times I +could scarcely, with my own useless hands, induce him to +face the swirls of frozen snow. Swifter and more resistless +were the ice-laden squalls, more and more obliterated +became the track, till after a fight of over three hours, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +and the ceaseless crossing of rolling hills and deep +hollows, we reached the top of a wind-bared slope 7700 +feet in altitude and saw this village, looking from that +distance quite imposing, on a hill on the other side of a +stream crossed by a brick bridge, with a ruined fort on +a height above it. It promised shelter—that was all. +Below the village there was an expanse of snow, sloping +up to pure white hills outlined against an indigo depth of +ominous-looking clouds.</p> + +<p>While M—— went up a hill for some scientific work, +I followed the orderly, who could scarcely sit on his +horse from pain and weakness, into the most wretchedly +ruinous, deserted-looking village I have yet seen, epitomising +the disenchantment which a near view of an Eastern +city brings, and up a steep alley to a ruinous yard heaped +with snow-covered ruins, on one side of which were some +ruinous rooms, their backs opening on a precipice above +the river, and on the north-east wind. I tumbled off my +horse, Abbas Khan, the least sick of the men, with benumbed +hands breaking my fall. The severe cold had +stiffened all my joints. We could scarcely speak; the +bones of my face were in intense pain, and I felt as if +the cold were congealing my heart.</p> + +<p>With Abbas Khan's help I chose the rooms, the worst +we have ever had. The one I took for myself has an +open-work door facing the wind, and it is impossible to +have a fire, for the draught blows sticks, ashes, and +embers over the room. The others are worse. It is an +awful night, blowing and snowing; all the men but two +are <i>hors de combat</i>. The poor orderly, using an Afghan +phrase, said, "The wind has played the demon with me." +He has a fearful cough, and hæmorrhage from the lungs +or throat. The cook is threatened with pleurisy. It may +truly be called "Hospital Sunday." The day has been +chiefly spent in making mustard poultices, which M—— +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> +is constantly crossing the yard in three feet of snow to +put on, and protectors for the chests and backs, preparing +beef tea, making up medicines, etc.</p> + +<p>Surely things must have reached their worst. Out of +seven men only one servant, and he an Indian lad with +a fearful squint and eyes so badly inflamed that he can +hardly see where he puts things down, is able to do anything. +Two of the <i>charvadars</i> are lying ill in the stable. +Mustard plasters, Dover's powders, salicylate of soda, +emetics, poultices, clinical thermometers, chlorodyne, and +beef tea have been in requisition all day. The cook, +the Afghan orderly, and Hadji seem really ill. At +eight this morning groans at my door took me out, and +one of the muleteers was lying there in severe pain, with +the hard fine snow beating on him. Later I heard fresh +moaning on my threshold, and found Hadji fallen there +with my breakfast. I got him in and he fell again, upsetting +the tea, and while I attended to him the big dogs +ate up the <i>chapatties</i>! He had a good deal of fever, and +severe rheumatism, and on looking at his eyes I saw +that he was nearly blind. He lost his blue glasses some +days ago. I sent him to bed in the "kitchen" for the +whole day, where he lay groaning in comfort by the +fire with his opium pipe and his tea. He thinks he will +not survive the night, and has just given me his dying +directions!</p> + +<p>Afterwards M—— came for the thermometer and +chlorodyne, and remarked that my room was "unfit for a +beast." The truth is I share it with several very big +dogs. It did look grotesquely miserable last night—black, +fireless, wet, dirty, with all my things lying on +the dirty floor, having been tumbled about by these +dogs in their search for my last box of Brand's meat +lozenges, which they got out of a strong, tightly-tied-up +bag, which they tore into strips. On going for my fur +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +cloak to-day, these three dogs, who, I believe, would take +on civilisation more quickly than their masters, were all +found rolled up under it, and lying on my bed.</p> + +<p>The mercury in the "parlour" with a large fire +cannot be raised above 36°. In my room to-night the +wet floor is frozen hard and the mercury is 20°. This +is nothing after 12° and 16° below zero, but the furious +east wind and a singular dampness in the air make it +very severe. Yesterday, before the sky clouded over, +there was a most remarkable ring or halo of prismatic +colours round the sun, ominous of the storm which has +followed.</p> + +<p>This place standing high without shelter is fearfully +exposed; there is no milk and no comfort of any kind +for the sick men. We have decided to wrap them up +and move them to Kûm, where there is a Persian doctor +with a European education; but it is a great risk, though +the lesser of two. I have just finished four protectors +for the back and chest, three-quarters of a yard long by +sixteen inches wide, buttoning on the shoulders, of a very +soft felt <i>namad</i> nearly half an inch thick—a precaution +much to be commended.</p> + +<p>I think that Hadji, though in great pain, poor fellow, +is partly shamming. He professed this evening to have +violent fever, and the thermometer shows that he has +none. Even the few things which I thought he had done +for me, such as making <i>chapatties</i>, I find have been done +by others. It is a pity for himself as well as for me +that he should be so incorrigibly lazy.</p> + +<p><i>Taj Khatan, Feb. 18.</i>—Yesterday we had a severe +march, and owing first to the depth of the snow, and +then to the depth of the mud, we were seven hours in +doing twenty-one miles. The wind was still intensely +cold—bitter indeed. There are few remarks to be made +about a country buried in snow. The early miles were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +across the fag end of the dazzling plain of Feraghan, +which instead of being covered with villages is an +uninhabited desert with a salt lake. Then the road +winds among mountains of an altitude of 8000 and 9000 +feet and more, its highest point being 8350 feet, where +we began a descent which will land us at Tihran at a +level under 4000 feet. Snowy mountains and snowy +plains were behind—bare brown earth was to come all +too soon.</p> + +<p>Winding wearily round low hills, meeting caravans of +camels to which we had to give way, and of asses +floundering in the snow, we came in the evening to a +broad slope with villages, poplars, walnuts, and irrigated +lands, then to the large and picturesquely situated village +of Givr on a steep bank above a rapid stream, and just +at dusk to the important village of Jairud, also on high +ground above the same river, and surrounded by gardens +and an extraordinary number of fruit trees. The altitude +is 6900 feet.<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> I had a <i>balakhana</i>, very cold, and was +fairly benumbed for some time after the long cold march.</p> + +<p>A great many people applied for medicine, and some +of the maladies, specially when they affect children, make +one sick at heart. Hadji is affecting to be stone deaf, so +he no longer interprets for sick people, which creates an +additional difficulty. We left this morning at ten, +descended 2000 feet, and suddenly left the snow behind. +Vast, gray, and grim the snow-covered mountains looked +as they receded into indigo gloom, with snow clouds +drifting round their ghastly heads and across the dazzling +snow plains in which we had been floundering for thirty +days. It is strange to see mother earth once more—rocky, +or rather stony hills, mud hills, mud plains, mud +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> +slopes, a brown world, with a snow world above. Two +pink hills rise above the brown plain, and some toothed +peaks, but the rest of the view is simply hills and slopes +of mud and gravel, bearing thorns, and the relics of last +year's thistles and wormwood. The atmospheric colouring +is, however, very fine.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i159" id="i159"></a> +<img src="images/illus-159.jpg" width="383" height="270" alt="PERSIAN BREAD-MAKING" title="" /> +<p class="caption">PERSIAN BREAD-MAKING.</p> +</div> + +<p>This is a large village with beehive roofs in, and +of, mud. A quagmire surrounds it and is in the centre +of it, and the crumbling houses are thrown promiscuously +down upon it. It is nearly the roughest place I +have seen, and the worst accommodation, though Abbas +Khan says it is the best house in the village. +My room has an oven in the floor, neatly lined with +clay, and as I write the women are making bread by a +very simple process. The oven is well heated by the +live embers of animal fuel. They work the flour and +water dough, to which a piece of leaven from the last +baking has been added, into a flat round cake, about +eighteen inches in diameter and half an inch thick, place +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +it quickly on a very dirty cushion, and clap it against +the concave interior of the oven, withdrawing the cushion. +In one minute it is baked and removed.</p> + +<p>A sloping hole in the floor leads to the fowl-house. +The skin of a newly-killed sheep hangs up. A pack +saddle and gear take up one corner, my bed another, and +the owner's miscellaneous property fills up the rest of the +blackened, cracked mud hovel, thick with the sooty +cobwebs and dust of generations. The door, which can +only be shut by means of a wooden bolt outside, is six +inches from the ground, so that fowls and cats run in +and out with impunity. Behind my bed there is a doorless +entrance to a dark den, full of goat's hair, bones, and +other stores. In front there is a round hole for letting +in light, which I persistently fill up with a blanket which +is as persistently withdrawn. There is no privacy, for +though the people are glad to let their rooms, they only +partially vacate them, and are in and out all the time. +Outside there is mud a foot deep, then a steep slope, and +a disgusting green pool, and the drinking water is +nauseous and brackish. The village people here and +everywhere seem of a very harmless sort.</p> + +<p><i>Kûm, Ash Wednesday, 1890.</i>—It was really very +difficult to get away from Taj Khatan. The <i>charvadar</i> +came on here, leaving only two men to load twelve +mules. M—— practically had to load them himself, +and to reload them when the tackle broke and the loads +turned. Hadji and the cook were quite incapable, the +Afghan orderly, who seemed like a dying man, was left +behind; in fact there were no servants and no interpreters, +and the groom was so ill he could hardly sit on a horse.</p> + +<p>The march of twenty-five miles took fully eight hours, +but on the Arab horse, and with an occasional gallop, I +got through quite comfortably, and have nothing to +complain of. The road lies through a country of mud +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> +hills, brown usually, drab sometimes, streaked with deep +madder red, and occasionally pale green clay—stones, +thistles, and thorns their only crop. [I passed over much +of this country in the spring, and though there were a +few flowers, chiefly bulbs, and the thorns were clothed +with a scanty leafage, and the thistles and artemisia were +green-gray instead of buff, the general aspect of the +region was the same.] There was not a village on the +route, only two or three heaps of deserted ruins and two +or three ruinous mud <i>imamzadas</i>, no cultivation, streams, +or springs, the scanty pools brackish, here and there the +glittering whiteness of saline efflorescence, not a tree or +even bush, nothing living except a few goats, picking up, +who knows how, a scanty living,—a blighted, blasted +region, a land without a <i>raison d'être</i>.</p> + +<p>Then came low mud ranges, somewhat glorified by +atmosphere, higher hills on the left, ghastly with snow +which was even then falling, glimpses far away to the +northward of snowy mountains among heavy masses of +sunlit clouds, an ascent, a gap in the mud hills, some low +peaks of white, green, and red clay, a great plain partly +green with springing wheat, and in the centre, in the +glow of sunset, the golden dome and graceful minarets of +the shrine of Fatima, the sister of Reza, groups of trees, +and the mud houses, mud walls, and many domes and +minarets of the sacred city of Kûm.</p> + +<p>Descending, we trotted for some miles through irrigated +wheat, passed a walled garden or two, rode along the +bank of the Abi Khonsar or Abi Kûm, which we had +followed down from Givr, admired the gleaming domes +and tiled minarets of the religious buildings on its bank, +and the nine-arched brick bridge which spans it, and +reached a sort of hotel outside the gates, a superior +caravanserai with good, though terribly draughty guest-rooms +upstairs, furnished with beds, chairs, and tables, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> +suited for the upper class of pilgrims who resort to this +famous shrine.</p> + +<p>To have arrived here in good health, and well able +for the remaining journey of nearly a hundred miles, is +nothing else than a triumph of race, of good feeding +through successive generations, of fog-born <i>physique</i>, +nurtured on damp east winds!</p> + +<p>There is an air of civilisation about this place. The +rooms have windows with glass panes and doors which +shut, a fountain in front, beyond that a garden, and then +the river, and the golden shrine of Fatima and its exquisite +minarets. My door opens on a stone-flagged roof +with a fine view of the city and hills—an excellent +place for taking exercise. So strong is Mohammedan +fanaticism here that much as I should like to see the city, +it would be a very great risk to walk through it except in +disguise.</p> + +<p>M—— borrowed a <i>taktrawan</i> from the telegraph +clerk and sent it back with two horses to Taj Khatan for +the orderly, who was left there very ill yesterday morning, +under Abbas Khan's charge, the Khan feeling so ill that he +lay down inside it instead of riding. Hadji gave up work +altogether, so I unpacked and pitched my bed, glad to +be warmed by exercise. Near 8 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> Abbas Khan burst +into the "parlour" saying that the <i>taktrawan</i> horses +were stuck in the mud. He evidently desired to +avoid the march back, but two mules have been sent to +replace the horses, and two more are to go to-morrow. +The orderly was so ill that I expect his corpse rather +than himself.</p> + +<p>This morning Hadji, looking fearful, told me that he +should die to-day, and he and the cook are now in bed in +opposite corners of a room below, with a good fire, feverish +and moaning. It is really a singular disaster, and shows +what the severity of the journey has been. The Persian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> +doctor, with a European medical education, on whom our +hopes were built, when asked to come and see these poor +men, readily promised to do so; but the Princess, the +Shah's daughter, whose physician he is, absolutely refuses +permission, on the ground that we have come through a +region in which there is supposed to be cholera!</p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER VII</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Kûm</span>, <i>Feb. 21</i>.</p> + +<p>At five yesterday afternoon Abbas Khan rode in saying +that the <i>taktrawan</i>, with the orderly much better, was +only three miles off. This was good news; a mattress +was put down for him next the fire and all preparations +for his comfort were made. Snow showers had been +falling much of the day, there was a pitiless east wind, +and as darkness came on snow fell persistently. Two +hours passed, but no <i>taktrawan</i> arrived. At 7.30 Abbas +Khan was ordered to go in search of it with a good +lantern; 8, 9, 10 o'clock came without any news. At +10.30, the man whose corpse I had feared to see +came in much exhausted, having crawled for two miles +through the mire and snow. The <i>sowar</i>, who pretended +to start with the lantern, never went farther than the +coffee-room at the gate, where he had spent an unconscientious +but cheery evening!</p> + +<p>In the pitch darkness the <i>taktrawan</i> and mules had +fallen off the road into a gap, the <i>taktrawan</i> was smashed, +and a good white mule, one of the "light division," was +killed, her back being broken. This was not the only +disaster. Hadji had lain down on the borrowed mattress +and it had taken fire from the live ashes of his pipe and +was burned, and he was a little scorched.</p> + +<p>The telegraphist was to have started for Isfahan the +next morning with his wife and child in the litter, in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +order to vacate the house for the new official and his +family, and their baggage had actually started, but now +they are detained till this <i>taktrawan</i> can be repaired. In +the meantime another official has arrived with his goods +and a large family, a most uncomfortable situation for +both parties, but they bear it with the utmost cheerfulness +and good nature.</p> + +<p>Last night I made Hadji drink a mug of hot milk +with two tablespoonfuls of brandy in it, and it worked +wonders. This morning, instead of a nearly blind man +groping his way about with difficulty, I beheld a man +with nothing the matter but a small speck on one eye. +It must have been snow-blindness. He looks quite +"spry." It is not only the alcohol which has cured him, +but that we are parting by mutual consent; and feeling +sorry for the man, I have given him more than his wages, +and his full demand for his journey back to Bushire, with +additional warm clothing. M—— has also given him a +handsome present.</p> + +<p>I fear he has deceived me, and that the stone deafness, +feebleness, idiocy, and the shaking, palsied gait of +a man of ninety—all but the snow-blindness—have been +assumed in order to get his return journey paid, when +he found that the opportunities for making money were +not what he expected. It is better to be deceived +twenty times than to be hard on these poor fellows +once, but he has been exasperating, and I feel somewhat +aggrieved at having worked so hard to help a man who +was "malingering." The last seen of him was an active, +erect man walking at a good pace by the side of his +mule, at least forty years thrown off. [He did not +then leave Kûm, but being seized with pleurisy was +treated with great kindness by Mr. Lyne the electrician, +and afterwards by the Amin-es-Sultan (the Prime +Minister), who was visiting Kûm, and who, thinking to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> +oblige me, brought him up to Tihran in his train!] +Those who had known him for years gave a very bad +account of him, but said that if he liked he could be a +good servant. It is the first time that I have been +unfortunate in my travelling servant.</p> + +<p>The English telegraph line, and a post-office, open +once a week, are the tokens of civilisation in Kûm. +A telegraphic invitation from the British Minister in +Tihran, congratulatory telegrams on our safety from +Tihran, Bushire, and India, and an opportunity for +posting letters, make one feel once more in the world. +The weather is grim, bitterly cold, with a strong north-east +wind, raw and damp, but while snow is whitening +the hills only rain and sleet fall here. The sun has +not shone since we came, but the strong cold air is +invigorating like our own climate.</p> + +<p>Taking advantage of it being Friday, the Mohammedan +day of rest, when most of the shops are closed and the +bazars are deserted, we rode through a portion of them +preceded by the wild figure of Abbas Khan, and took +tea at the telegraph office, where they were most kind +and pleasant regarding the accident which had put them +to so much inconvenience.</p> + +<p>Kûm is on the beaten track, and has a made road +to Tihran. Almost every book of travels in Persia has +something to say upon it, but except that it is the +second city in Persia in point of sanctity, and that it +thrives as much by the bodies of the dead which are +brought in thousands for burial as by the tens of +thousands of pilgrims who annually visit the shrine of +Fatima, and that it is renowned for fanaticism, there is +not much to say about it.</p> + +<p>Situated in a great plain, the gleam of its golden +dome and its slender minarets is seen from afar, and +the deep green of its orchards, and the bright green of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +the irrigated and cultivated lands which surround it, +are a splash of welcome fertility on the great brown +waste. Singular toothy peaks of striated marl of brilliant +colouring—red, blue, green, orange, and salt peaks +very white—give a curious brilliancy to its environment, +but this salt, which might be a source of wealth +to the city, is not worked, only an ass-load or two at +a time being brought in to supply the necessities of the +market.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i167" id="i167"></a> +<img src="images/illus-167.jpg" width="319" height="221" alt="THE SHRINE OF FATIMA" title="" /> +<p class="caption">THE SHRINE OF FATIMA.</p> +</div> + +<p>The shrine of Fatima, the sister of Reza the eighth +Imam, who sleeps at Meshed, is better to Kûm than +salt mines or aught else. Moslems, though they regard +women with unspeakable contempt, agree to reverence +Fatima as a very holy and almost worshipful person, +and her dust renders Kûm a holy place, attracting tens +of thousands of pilgrims every year, although, unlike +pilgrimages to Meshed and Kerbela, Kûm confers no +lifelong designation on those by whom it exists. Its +estimated population is 10,000 souls, and at times this +number is nearly doubled. Pilgrimage consists in a +visit to the tomb of Fatima, paying a fee, and in some +cases adding a votive offering. Vows of abstinence +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +from some special sin are frequently made at the shrine +and are carefully registered.</p> + +<p>The dead, however, who are annually brought in +thousands to be buried in the sacred soil which surrounds +the shrine, are the great source of the wealth of +Kûm. These corpses travel, as to Kerbela, on mules, +four being lashed on one animal occasionally, some fresh, +some decomposing, others only bags of exhumed bones. +The graves occupy an enormous area, of which the +shrine is the centre. The kings of the Kajar dynasty, +members of royal families, and 450 saints are actually +buried within the precincts of the shrine. The price of +interments varies with the proximity to the dust of +Fatima from six <i>krans</i> to one hundred <i>tumans</i>. The +population may be said to be a population of undertakers. +Death meets one everywhere. The Ab-i-Khonsar, which +supplies the drinking water, percolates through "dead +men's bones and all uncleanness." Vestments for the +dead are found in the bazars. Biers full and empty +traverse the streets in numbers. Stone-cutting for gravestones +is a most lucrative business. The <i>charvadars</i> of +Kûm prosper on caravans of the dead. There is a +legion of gravediggers. Kûm is a gruesome city, a +vast charnel-house, yet its golden dome and minarets +brighten the place of death.</p> + +<p>The dome of Fatima is covered with sheets of copper +plated with gold an eighth of an inch in thickness, and +the ornament at the top of the dome, which is of pure +gold, is said to weigh 140 lbs. The slender minarets +which front this <i>imamzada</i> are covered with a mosaic of +highly-glazed tiles of exquisite tints, in which an azure blue, +a canary yellow, and an iridescent green predominate, and +over all there is a sheen of a golden hue. The shrine is +inaccessible to Christians. I asked a Persian doctor if I +might look in for one moment at the threshold of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +outer court, and he replied in French, "Are you then +weary of life?"<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>My Indian servant, an educated man on whose faithful +though meagre descriptions I can rely, visited the shrine +and describes the dome as enriched with arabesques in +mosaic and as hung with <i>ex votos</i>, consisting chiefly of +strips of silk and cotton. The tomb itself, he says, is +covered with a wooden ark, with certain sacred sentences +cut upon it, and this is covered by a large brown shawl. +Round this ark, which is under the dome, Kerman, +Kashmir, and Indian shawls are laid down as carpets. +This open space is surrounded with steel railings inlaid +with gold after the fashion of the <i>niello</i> work of Japan, +and the whole is enclosed with a solid silver fence, the +rails of which are "as thick as two thumbs, and as high +as a tall man's head." This <i>imamzada</i> itself is regarded +as of great antiquity.</p> + +<p>Two Persian kings, who reigned in the latter part of +the seventeenth century, are buried near the beautiful +minarets, which are supposed to be of the same date. +There are many mosques and minarets in Kûm, besides a +quantity of conical <i>imamzadas</i>, the cones of which have +formerly been covered with glazed blue tiles of a turquoise +tint, some of which still remain. It was taken by the +Afghans in 1772, and though partially rebuilt is very +ruinous. It has a mud wall, disintegrating from neglect, +surrounded occasionally by a ditch, and at other times +by foul and stagnant ponds. The ruinousness of Kûm +can scarcely be exaggerated.</p> + +<p>The bazars are large and very busy, and are considerably +more picturesque than those of Kirmanshah. +The town lives by pilgrims and corpses, and the wares +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +displayed to attract the former are more attractive than +usual. There are nearly 450 shops, of which forty-three +sell Manchester goods almost exclusively. Coarse china, +and pottery often of graceful shapes with a sky-blue +glaze, and water-coolers are among the industries of this +city, which also makes shoes, and tans leather with +pomegranate bark.</p> + +<p>The Ab-i-Khonsar is now full and rapid, but is a +mere thread in summer. The nine-arched bridge, with +its infamously paved roadway eighteen feet wide, is an +interesting object from all points of view, for while its +central arch has a span of forty-five feet, the others have +only spans of twenty. The gateway beyond the bridge +is tawdrily ornamented with blue and green glazed tiles. +After seeing several of the cities of Persia, I am quite +inclined to give Kûm the palm for interest and beauty of +aspect, when seen from any distant point of view.</p> + +<p>That it is a "holy" city, and that a pilgrimage to its +shrine is supposed to atone for sin, are its great interests. +Its population is composed in large proportion of <i>mollahs</i> +and <i>Seyyids</i>, or descendants of Mohammed, and as a whole +is devoted to the reigning Shiah creed. It has a theological +college of much repute, established by Fath' Ali +Shah, which now has 100 students. The women are +said to be very devout, and crowd the mosques on Friday +evenings, when their devotions are led by an <i>imam</i>. The +men are fanatically religious, though the fanaticism is +somewhat modified. No wine may be sold in Kûm, and +no Jew or Armenian is allowed to keep a shop.</p> + +<p>Kûm, being a trading city, manufactures a certain +amount of public opinion in its business circles, which +differs not very considerably from that which prevails at +Kirmanshah. The traders accept it as a foregone conclusion +that Russia will occupy Persia as far as Isfahan +on the death of the present Shah, and regard such a destiny +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> +as "fate." If only their religion is not interfered with, +it matters little, they say, whether they pay their taxes to +the Shah or the Czar. To judge from their speech, Islam +is everything to them, and their country very little, and +the strong bond of the faith which rules life and thought +from the Pillars of Hercules to the Chinese frontier far +outweighs the paltry considerations of patriotism. But +my impression is that all Orientals prefer the tyrannies +and exactions, and the swiftness of injustice or justice of +men of their own creed and race to good government on +the part of unintelligible aliens, and that though Persians +seem pretty comfortable in the prospect of a double +occupation of Persia, its actual accomplishment might +strike out a flash of patriotism.</p> + +<p>Probably this ruinous, thinly-peopled country, with +little water and less fuel, and only two roads which deserve +the name, has possibilities of resurrection under greatly +changed circumstances. Of the two occupations which +are regarded as certain, I think that most men, at least +in Central and Southern Persia, would prefer an English +occupation, but every one says, "England talks and does +not act," and that "Russia will pour 100,000 troops into +Persia while England is talking in London."</p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER VIII</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Caravanserai of Aliabad</span>, <i>Feb. 23</i>.</p> + +<p>Twelve hours and a half of hard riding have brought us +here in two days. No doctor could be obtained in Kûm, +and it was necessary to bring the sick men on as quickly +as possible for medical treatment. It was bitterly cold +on the last day, though the altitude is only 3400 feet, +and it was a tiresome day, for I had not only to look +over and repack, but to clean the cooking utensils and +other things, which had not been touched apparently since +we left Baghdad!</p> + +<p>This is a tedious part of the journey, a "beaten track" +with few features of interest, the great highway from +Isfahan to Tihran, a road of dreary width; where it is +a made road running usually perfectly straight, with +a bank and a ditch on each side. The thaw is now +complete, and travelling consists of an attempt to get on +by the road till it becomes an abyss which threatens to +prove bottomless, then there is a plunge and a struggle +to the top of the bank, or over the bank to the trodden +waste, but any move can be only temporary, the all-powerful +mire regulates the march. The snow is nothing +to the mud. Frequently carcasses of camels, mules, and +asses, which have lain down to die under their loads, were +passed, then caravans with most of the beasts entangled in +the miry clay, unable to rise till they were unloaded +by men up to their knees in the quagmire, and, worst of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +all, mules loaded with the dead, so loosely tied up in +planks that in some cases when the mule flounders and +falls, the miserable relics of humanity tumble out upon +the swamp; and these scenes of falling, struggling, and +even perishing animals are repeated continually along +the level parts of this scarcely passable highroad.</p> + +<p>Our loads, owing to bad tackle, were always coming +off, the groom's mule fell badly, the packs came off another, +and half an hour was spent in catching the animal, then +I was thrown from my horse into soft mud.</p> + +<p>Cultivation ceases a short distance from Kûm, giving +place to a brown waste, with patches of saline efflorescence +upon it, on which high hills covered partially with snow +send down low spurs of brown mud. The water nearly +everywhere is brackish, and only just drinkable. After +crossing a rapid muddy river, nearly dry in summer, by +a much decayed bridge of seven or eight low arches, +we reached <i>terra firma</i>, and a long gradual ascent and +a series of gallops brought us to the large caravanserai of +Shashgird, an immense place with imposing pretensions +which are fully realised within. In the outer court +camels were lying in rows. A fine tiled archway leads +to an immense quadrangle, with a fine stone <i>abambar</i> +or covered receptacle for water in the middle. All round +the quadrangle are arched recesses or mangers, each with +a room at the back, to the number of eighty. At two of +the corners there are enclosed courtyards with fountains, +several superior rooms with beds (much to be avoided), +chairs, mirrors, and tables fairly clean—somewhat dreary +luxury, but fortunately at this season free from vermin. +That caravanserai can accommodate 1000 men in rooms, +and 1500 mules.</p> + +<p>To-day's long march, which, however, has had more +road suitable for galloping, has been over wild, weird, +desolate, God-forsaken country, interesting from its desolation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> +and its great wastes, forming part of the Kavir or +Great Salt Desert of Persia, absolutely solitary, with scarcely +a hamlet—miles of the great highway of Persia without +a living creature, no house, no bush, nothing. Later, there +were some vultures feasting on a dead camel, and a mule-load +of two bodies down in the mud.</p> + +<p>Some miles from Shashgird, far from the road, there is +a large salt lake over which some stationary mists were +brooding. Beyond this an ascent among snow clouds +along some trenched land where a few vines and saplings +have been planted leads to a caravanserai built for the +accommodation of state officials on their journeys, where +in falling snow we vindicated our origin in the triumphant +West by taking lunch on a windy verandah outside rather +than in the forlorn dampness of the inside, and brought a +look of surprise even over the impassive face of the +<i>seraidar</i>.</p> + +<p>When we left the snow was falling in large wet flakes, +and the snow clouds were drifting wildly among the peaks +of a range which we skirted for a few miles and then +crossed at a considerable height among wonderful volcanic +formations, mounds of scoriæ, and outcrops of volcanic +rock, hills of all shapes fantastically tumbled about, +chiefly black, looking as if their fires had only just died +out, streaked and splotched with brilliant ash—orange, +carmine, and green—a remarkable volcanic scene, backed +by higher hills looking ghastly in the snow.</p> + +<p>After passing over an absolutely solitary region of +camel-brown plains and slopes at a gallop, M—— a little +in front always, and Abbas Khan, the wildest figure +imaginable, always half a length behind, the <i>thud</i> of the +thundering hoofs mingling with the screech of the cutting +north wind which, coming over the snowy Elburz range, +benumbed every joint, on the slope of a black volcanic hill +we came upon the lofty towers and gaudy tiled front of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +this great caravanserai, imposing at a distance in the +solitude and snow clouds, but shabby on a nearer view, +and tending to disintegrate from the presence of saltpetre +in the bricks and mortar.</p> + +<p>There are successions of terraces and tanks of water +with ducks and geese upon them, and buildings round +the topmost terrace intended to be imposing. The <i>seraidar</i> +is expecting the Amin-es-Sultan (the Prime Minister) and +his train, who will occupy rather a fine though tawdry +"suite of apartments"; but though they were at our +service, I prefer the comparative cosiness of a small, dark, +damp room, though with a very smoky chimney, as I +find to my cost.</p> + +<p><i>British Legation, Tihran, Feb. 26.</i>—The night was +very cold, and the reveille specially unwelcome in the +morning. The people were more than usually vague +about the length of the march, some giving the distance +at twenty-five miles, and others making it as high as +thirty-eight. As we did a good deal of galloping and yet +took more than seven hours, I suppose it may be about +twenty-eight. Fortunately we could desert the caravan, +as the caravanserais are furnished and supply tea and +bread. The baggage mules took ten hours for the march.</p> + +<p>The day was dry and sunny, and the scenery, if such +a tract of hideousness can be called scenery, was at its +best. Its one charm lies in the solitude and freedom of +a vast unpeopled waste.</p> + +<p>The "made road" degenerates for the most part into +a track "made" truly, but rather by the passage of +thousands of animals during a long course of ages than +by men's hands. This track winds among low ranges of +sand and mud hills, through the "Pass of the Angel of +Death," crosses salt and muddy streams, gravelly stretches, +and quagmires of mud and tenacious clay, passing through +a country on the whole inconceivably hideous, unfinished, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +frothy, and saturated with salt—the great brown desert +which extends from Tihran to Quetta in Beloochistan, +a distance of 2000 miles.</p> + +<p>On a sunny slope we met the Prime Minister with a +considerable train of horsemen. He stopped and spoke +with extreme courtesy, through an interpreter, for, unlike +most Persians of the higher class, he does not speak +French. He said we had been for some time expected at +Tihran, and that great fears were entertained for our +safety, which we had heard at Kûm. He is a pleasant-looking +man with a rather European expression, not more +than thirty-two or thirty-three, and in spite of intrigues +and detractors has managed to keep his hazardous position +for some years. His mother was lately buried at Kûm, +and he was going thither on pilgrimage. After the usual +compliments he bowed his farewells, and the gay procession +with its brilliant trappings and prancing horses +flashed by. The social standing of a Persian is evidenced +by the size of his retinue, and the first of the Shah's +subjects must have been attended by fully forty well-mounted +men, besides a number of servants who were +riding with his baggage animals.</p> + +<p>Shortly after passing him a turn among the hills +brought the revelation through snow clouds of the magnificent +snow-covered chain of the Elburz mountains, with +the huge cone of Demavend, their monarch, 18,600 feet<a name="FNanchor_23" id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> in +height, towering high above them, gleaming sunlit above the +lower cloud-masses. Swampy water-courses, a fordable +river crossed by a broad bridge of five arches, more low +hills, more rolling desert, then a plain of mud irrigated +for cultivation, difficult ground for the horses, the ruins +of a deserted village important enough to have possessed +two <i>imamzadas</i>, and then we reached the Husseinabad, +which has very good guest-rooms, with mirrors on the walls.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span></p> + +<p>This caravanserai is only one march from Tihran, and +it seemed as if all difficulties were over. Abbas Khan +and the sick orderly were sent on early, with a baggage +mule loaded with evening dress and other necessities +of civilisation; the caravan was to follow at leisure, and +M—— and I started at ten, without attendants, expecting +to reach Tihran early in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>It is six days since that terrible ride of ten hours +and a half, and my bones ache as I recall it. I never +wish to mount a horse again. It had been a very cold +night, and for some time after we started it was doubtful +whether snow or rain would gain the day, but after an +hour of wet snow it decided on rain, and there was a +steady downpour all day. The Elburz range, which the +day before had looked so magnificent when fifty miles +off, was blotted out. This was a great disappointment.</p> + +<p>An ascent of low, blackish volcanic hills is made by +a broad road of gray gravel, which a torrent has at some +time frequented. Thorns and thistles grow there, and +skeletons of animals abound. Everything is grim and +gray. From these hills we descended into the Kavir, a +rolling expanse of friable soil, stoneless, strongly impregnated +with salt, but only needing sufficient water to wash +the salt out of it and to irrigate it to become as prolific as +it is now barren.</p> + +<p>It is now a sea of mud crossed by a broad road indicated +by dykes, that never-to-be-forgotten mud growing +deeper as the day wore on. Hour after hour we plunged +through it, sometimes trying the road, and on finding +it impassable scrambling through the ditches and over +the dykes to the plain, which after offering firmer foothold +for a time became such a "slough of despond" that +we had to scramble back to the road, and so on, hour after +hour, meeting nothing but one ghastly caravan of corpses, +and wretched asses falling in the mud. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span></p> + +<p>At mid-day, scrambling up a gravel hill with a little +wormwood upon it, and turning my back to the heavy +rain, I ate a lunch of dates and ginger, insufficient sustenance +for such fatigue. On again!—the rain pouring, +the mud deepening, my spine in severe pain. We turned +off to a caravanserai, mostly a heap of ruins, the roofs +having given way under the weight of the snow, and there +I sought some relief from pain by lying down for the short +thirty minutes which could be spared in the <i>seraidar's</i> +damp room. It was then growing late in the afternoon, +all landmarks had disappeared in a brooding mist, there +were no habitations, and no human beings of whom to +ask the way.</p> + +<p>The pain returned severely as soon as I mounted, and +increased till it became hardly bearable. Ceaseless mud, +ceaseless heavy rain, a plain of mud, no refuge from mud +and water, attempts to gallop were made with the risk of +the horses falling into holes and even <i>kanaats</i>. M—— rode +in front. Not a word was spoken. A gleaming +dome, with minarets and wood, appeared below the Shimran +hills. Unluckily, where two roads met one looked +impassable and we took the other, which, though it +eventually took us to Tihran, was a <i>détour</i> of some +miles.</p> + +<p>In the evening, when I was hoping that Tihran was +at hand, we reached the town of Shah Abdul Azim, built +among the ruins of an ancient city, either Rhages or Rhei. +The gilded dome is the shrine of Abdul Azim, and is a +great place of pilgrimage of the picnic order from Tihran. +The one railroad of Persia runs from the capital to this +town. As we floundered in darkness along wide roads +planted with trees, there was the incongruity of a railway +whistle, and with deep breathing and much glare an +engine with some carriages passed near the road, taking +away with its harsh Western noises that glorious freedom +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +of the desert which outweighs all the hardship even of a +winter journey.</p> + +<p>It was several miles from thence to the gate of Tihran. +It was nearly pitch dark when we got out of Abdul Azim +and the rain still fell heavily. In that thick rainy darkness +no houses were visible, even if they exist, there +were no passengers on foot or on horseback, it was a +"darkness which might be felt."</p> + +<p>There was a causeway which gave foothold below the +mud, but it was full of holes and broken culverts, deep +in slime, and seemed to have water on each side not +particular in keeping within bounds. It was necessary to +get on, lest the city gates should be shut, and by lifting +and spurring the jaded horses they were induced to trot +and canter along that road of pitfalls. I have had many +a severe ride in travelling, but never anything equal to +that last two hours. The severe pain and want of food +made me so faint that I was obliged to hold on to +the saddle. I kept my tired horse up, but each flounder +I thought would be his last. There was no guidance +but an occasional flash from the hoofs of the horse in +front, and the word "spur" ringing through the darkness.</p> + +<p>After an hour of riding in this desperate fashion +we got into water, and among such dangerous holes +that from that point we were obliged to walk our +horses, who though they were half dead still feebly responded +to bit and spur. We reached the dimly-lighted +city gate just as half of it was shut, and found Abbas +Khan waiting there. The caravan with the other sick +men never reached Tihran till late the next morning.</p> + +<p>At the gate we learned that it was two miles farther +to the British Legation, and that there was no way for +me to get there but on horseback. One lives through a +good deal, but I all but succumbed to the pain and faintness. +Inside the gate there was an open sea of liquid mud, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> +across which, for a time, certain lights shed their broken +reflections. There was a railway shriek, and then the +appearance of a station with shunting operations vaguely +seen in a vague glare.</p> + +<p>Then a tramway track buried under several inches of +slush came down a slope, and crowded tramway cars with +great single lamps came down the narrow road on +horses too tired to be frightened, and almost too tired to +get out of the way. Then came a street of mean houses +and meaner shops lighted with kerosene lamps, a region +like the slums of a new American city, with <i>cafés</i> and +saloons, barbers' shops, and European enormities such as +gazogenes and effervescing waters in several windows. +Later, there were frequent foot passengers preceded by +servants carrying huge waxed cambric lanterns of a +Chinese shape, then a square with barracks and artillery, +a causewayed road dimly lit, then darkness and heavier +rain and worse mud, through which the strange spectacle +of a carriage and pair incongruously flashed.</p> + +<p>By that time even the courage and stamina of an +Arab horse could hardly keep mine on his legs, and with +a swimming head and dazed brain I could hardly guide +him, as I had done from the gate chiefly by the wan +gleam of Abbas Khan's pale horse; and expecting to fall +off every minute, I responded more and more feebly and +dubiously to the question frequently repeated out of the +darkness, "Are you surviving?"</p> + +<p>Just as endurance was on the point of giving way, we +turned from the road through a large gateway into the +extensive grounds which surround the British Legation, +a large building forming three sides of a quadrangle, +with a fine stone staircase leading up to the central door. +Every window was lighted, light streamed from the open +door, splashed carriages were dashing up and setting +down people in evening dress, there were crowds of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> +servants about, and it flashed on my dazed senses that +it must be after eight, and that there was a dinner party!</p> + +<p>Arriving from the mud of the Kavir and the slush of +the streets, after riding ten hours in ceaseless rain on +a worn-out horse; caked with mud from head to foot, +dripping, exhausted, nearly blind from fatigue, fresh from +mud hovels and the congenial barbarism of the desert, +and with the rags and travel-stains of a winter journey +of forty-six days upon me, light and festivity were overwhelming.</p> + +<p>Alighting at a side door, scarcely able to stand, I sat +down in a long corridor, and heard from an English steward +that "dinner is waiting." His voice sounded very far off, +and the once familiar announcement came like a memory +out of the remote past. Presently a gentleman appeared +in evening dress, wearing a star, which conveyed to my fast-failing +senses that it was Sir H. Drummond Wolff. It +was true that there was a large dinner party, and among the +guests the Minister with thoughtful kindness had invited +all to whom I had letters of introduction. But it was +no longer possible to make any effort, and I was taken up +to a room in which the comforts of English civilisation +at first made no impression upon me, and removing only +the mackintosh cloak, weighted with mud, which had +served me so well, I lay down on the hearthrug before a +great coal fire till four o'clock the next morning. And "so +the tale ended," and the winter journey with its tremendous +hardships and unbounded mercies was safely accomplished.<a name="FNanchor_24" id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">NOTES ON TIHRAN<a name="FNanchor_25" id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor_h">[25]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span></p> + +<p>It is a matter of individual taste, but few cities in the +East interest me in which national characteristics in +architecture, costume, customs, and ways generally are +either being obliterated or are undergoing a partial +remodelling on Western lines. An Eastern city pure and +simple, such as Canton, Niigata, or Baghdad, even with +certain drawbacks, forms a harmonious whole gratifying +to the eye and to a certain sense of fitness; while Cairo, +Tokio, Lahore, and I will now add Tihran, produce the +effect of a series of concussions.</p> + +<p>Tihran—set down on a plain, a scorched desert, the +sublimity of which is interfered with by <i>kanaats</i> or underground +watercourses with their gravel mounds and ruinous +shafts—has few elements of beauty or grandeur +in its situation, even though "the triumphant barbarism +of the desert" sweeps up to its gates, and the scored and +channelled Shimran range, backed by the magnificent +peak, or rather cone, of Demavend, runs to the north-east +of the city within only ten miles of its walls.</p> + +<p>The winter with its snow and slush disappeared +abruptly two days after I reached Tihran, and as abruptly +came the spring—a too transient enjoyment—and in a few +days to brownness and barrenness succeeded a tender +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> +mist of green over the trees in the watered gardens, +rapidly thickening into dark leafage in which the <i>bulbul</i> +sang, and nature helped by art spread a carpet of violets +and irises over the brown earth. But all of verdure and +greenery that there is lies within the city walls. Outside +is the unconquerable desert, rolling in endless shades +of buff and brown up to the Elburz range, and elsewhere +to the far horizon.</p> + +<p>Situated in the most depressed part of an uninteresting +waste in Lat. 35° 40′ N. and Long. 51° 25′ E., +and at an altitude of 3800 feet, the climate is one +of extremes, the summer extreme being the most severe. +For some weeks the heat is nearly insupportable, and the +Legations, and all of the four hundred Europeans who are +not bound to the city by a fate which they execrate, +betake themselves to "yailaks," or summer quarters on +the slopes of the adjacent mountains.</p> + +<p>Entering Tihran in the darkness, it was not till I saw +it coming back from Gulahek, the "yailak" of the British +Legation, when the mud was drying up and the willows +were in their first young green, that I formed any definite +idea of its aspect, which is undeniably mean, and presents +no evidences of antiquity; indeed, it has no right to present +any, for as a capital it only came into existence a century +ago, with the first king of the present Kajar dynasty. +The walls are said to be eleven miles in circuit, and give +the impression of being much too large, so many are the +vacant spaces within them. They consist chiefly of a +broad ditch, and a high sloping rampart without guns. +Twelve well-built domed gateways give access to the city. +These are decorated with glazed tiles of bright colours +and somewhat gaudy patterns and designs, representing +genii, lions, and combats of mythical heroes.</p> + +<p>Above the wall are seen tree-tops, some tile-covered +minarets, the domes of two mosques, and the iron ribs of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> +a roofless theatre in the Shah's garden, in which under a +temporary awning the <i>Tazieh</i> or Passion Play (elsewhere +referred to) is acted once a year in presence of the Shah +and several thousand spectators.</p> + +<p>Entering by a gateway over which is depicted a scene +in the life of Rustem, the Achilles of Persia, or by the +Sheikh Abdul Azim gate, where the custom-house is +established and through which all caravans of goods +must reach Tihran, the magnitude of the untidy vacant +spaces, and the shabby mud hovels which fringe them, +create an unfavourable impression. Then there are the +inevitable ruinousness, the alleys with broken gutters in +the centre, the pools of slime or the heaps of dust according +to the weather, and the general shabbiness of blank +walls of sun-dried bricks which give one the impression, +I believe an unjust one, of decay and retrogression. I +never went through those mean outskirts of Tihran +which are within the city walls without being reminded +of a man in shabby clothes preposterously too big for him.</p> + +<p>The population is variously estimated at from 60,000 +to 160,000 souls. It varies considerably with the +presence or absence of the Court. The streets and +bazars are usually well filled with people, and I did not +see many beggars or evidences of extreme poverty, even +in the Jewish quarter. On the whole it impressed me +as a bustling place, but the bustle is not picturesque. It +is framed in mean surroundings, and there is little variety +in costume, and much sober if not sad colouring.</p> + +<p>In "old" Tihran the alleys are crooked, dirty, and +narrow, and the bazars chiefly frequented by the poor are +very mean and untidy; but the better bazars, whether +built as some are, round small domed open spaces, or in +alleys roofed with low brick domes, are decidedly handsome, +and are light, wide, clean, and in every way adapted for +the purposes of buying and selling. European women, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +even though unattended, can walk through them quite +freely without being mobbed or stared at.</p> + +<p>The best bazars are piled with foreign merchandise, to +the <i>apparent</i> exclusion of native goods, which, if they are +of the better quality, must be searched for in out-of-the-way +corners. Indeed, if people want fine carpets, <i>curios</i>, rich +embroideries, inlaid arms, and Kerman stuffs, they must +resort to the itinerant dealers, who gauge the tastes and +purchasing powers of every European resident and visitor, +and who may be seen at all hours gliding in a sort of +surreptitious fashion round the Legation compounds, +conveying their beautiful temptations on donkeys' backs.</p> + +<p>It is chiefly in the fine lofty saddlery bazar and some +small bazars that native manufactures are <i>en évidence</i>. +All travelling is on horseback, and the Persian, though +sober in the colours of his costly clothing, loves crimson +and gold in leather and cloth, embroidered housings and +headstalls, and gorgeous saddle-covers for his horse. The +usual saddle is of plain wood, very high before and behind, +and without stuffing. A thick soft <i>namad</i> or piece of +felt covers the horse's back, and over this are placed two +or more saddle-cloths covered with a very showy and +often highly ornamental cover, with tasselled ends, +embroidered in gold and silks and occasionally with real +gems. The saddle itself is smoothly covered with a soft +ornamental cover made to fit it, and the crupper, breastplate, +and headstall are frequently of crimson leather +embroidered in gold, or stitched ingeniously with turquoise +beads.</p> + +<p>The mule, whether the pacing saddle-mule worth +from £60 to £80, much affected by rich Persians in +Tihran, or the humbler beast of burden, is not forgotten by +the traders in the great saddlery bazar. Rich <i>charvadars</i> +take great pride in the "outfit" of their mules, and do +not grudge twenty <i>tumans</i> upon it. Hence are to be seen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> +elaborate headstalls, breastplates, and straps for bells, of +showy embroidery, and leather stitched completely over +with turquoise beads and cowries—the latter a favourite +adornment—while cowried headstalls are also ornamented +with rows of woollen tassels dyed with beautiful vegetable +dyes. In this bazar too are found <i>khurjins</i>—the great +leather or carpet saddle-bags without which it is inconvenient +to travel—small leather portmanteaus for strapping +behind the saddles of those who travel <i>chapar</i>, <i>i.e.</i> post,—cylindrical +cases over two feet long which are attached +in front of the saddle—decorated holsters, the multifarious +gear required for the travelling pipe-bearers, the deep leather +belts which are worn by <i>chapar</i> riders, the leathern water-bottles +which are slung on the saddles, the courier bags, +and a number of other articles of necessity or luxury +which are regarded as essential by the Persian traveller.</p> + +<p>In most of the bazars the shops are packed to the +ceiling with foreign goods. It looks as if there were +cottons and woollen cloth for the clothing of all Persia. +I saw scarcely any rough woollen goods or shoddy. The +Persian wears superfine, smooth, costly cloth, chiefly black +and fawn, stiff in texture, and with a dull shine upon +it. The best comes exclusively from Austria, a slightly +inferior quality from Germany, and such cloth fabrics +as are worn by Europeans from England and Russia.</p> + +<p>The European cottons, which are slowly but surely +displacing the heavy durable native goods, either undyed, +or dyed at Isfahan with madder, saffron, and indigo, are +of colours and patterns suited to native taste, white and +canary yellow designs on a red ground predominating, and +are both of Russian and English make, and the rivalry +which extends from the Indian frontier, through Central +Asia, is at fever-heat in the cotton bazars of Tihran. It +does not appear that at present either side can claim the +advantage. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span></p> + +<p>In a search for writing paper, thread, tapes, and what +are known as "small wares," I never saw anything that +was not Russian. The cheap things, such as oil lamps, +<i>samovars</i>, coarse coloured prints of the Russian Imperial +family in tawdry frames, lacquered tin boxes, fitted work-boxes, +glass teacups, china tea-pots, tawdry lacquered +trays, glass brooches, bead necklaces, looking-glasses, and +a number of other things which are coming into use at +least in the south-west and the western portions of the +Empire, are almost exclusively Russian, as is natural, for +the low price at which they are sold would leave no margin +of profit on such imports from a more distant country.</p> + +<p>A stroll through the Tihran bazars shows the observer +something of the extent and rapidity with which Europe +is ruining the artistic taste of Asia. Masses of rubbish, +atrocious in colouring and hideous in form, the principle +of shoddy carried into all articles along with the quintessence +of vulgarity which is pretence, goods of nominal +utility which will not stand a week's wear, the refuse of +European markets—in art Philistinism, in most else +"Brummagem," without a quality of beauty or solidity to +recommend them—are training the tastes and changing +the habits of the people.</p> + +<p>One squarish bazar, much resorted to for glass and +hardware and what the Americans call "assorted notions," +is crammed with Austrian glass, kerosene lamps of all +sizes in hundreds, chandeliers, etc. The amount of glass +exhibited there for sale is extraordinary, and not less +remarkable is the glut of cheap hardware and worthless +<i>bijouterie</i>. It is the Lowther Arcade put down in Tihran.</p> + +<p>Kerosene and candles may be called a Russian monopoly, +and Russia has completely driven French sugar from +the markets. In the foreign town, as it may be called, +there are two or three French shops, an American shop +for "notions," and a German chemist. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span></p> + +<p>The European quarter is in the northern part of Tihran, +and is close to vacant and airy spaces. There are +the Turkish Embassy, and the Legations of England, +France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Belgium, Austria, and +America, and a Dutch Consulate-General, each with its +Persian <i>gholams</i> who perform escort duty. Their large +and shady compounds, brightened by their national flags, +and the stir and circumstance which surround them, are +among the features of the city. The finest of all the +Legation enclosures is that of England, which is beautifully +wooded and watered. The reception-rooms and hall of the +Minister's residence are very handsome, and a Byzantine +clock tower gives the building a striking air of distinction. +The grounds contain several detached houses, occupied by +the secretaries and others.</p> + +<p>A very distinct part of the foreign quarter is that +occupied by the large and handsome buildings of the +American Presbyterian Mission, which consist of a church +occupied at stated hours by a congregation of the Reformed +Armenian Church, and in which in the afternoons of +Sundays Dr. Potter, the senior missionary, reads the +English Liturgy and preaches an English sermon for the +benefit of the English-speaking residents, very fine boarding-schools +for Armenian girls and boys, and the houses of +the missionaries—three clerical, one medical, and several +ladies, one of whom is an M.D.</p> + +<p>Outside this fine enclosure is a Medical Missionary +Dispensary, and last year, in a good situation at a considerable +distance, a very fine medical missionary hospital +was completed. The boys' and girls' schools are of a very +high class. To my thinking the pupils are too much +Europeanised in dress and habits; but I understand that +this is at the desire of the Armenian parents. The +missionaries are not allowed to receive Moslem pupils; +but besides Armenians they educate Jewish youths, some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +of whom have become Christians, and a few Guebres or +Zoroastrians.</p> + +<p>I do not think that the capital is a hopeful place for +missionary work. The presence of Europeans of various +creeds and nationalities complicates matters, and the fine, +perhaps too fine, mission buildings in proximity to the +houses of wealthy foreigners are at so great a distance +from the Moslem and Jewish quarters, that persons who +might desire to make inquiries concerning the Christian +faith must be deterred both by the space to be traversed +and the conspicuousness of visiting a mission compound +in such a position. The members of the mission church +last year were altogether Armenians. The education and +training given in the schools are admirable.</p> + +<p>Indications of the changes which we consider improvements +abound in Tihran. There are many roads accessible +to wheeled vehicles. There are hackney carriages. A +tramway carrying thousands of passengers weekly has +been laid down from the <i>Maidan</i> or central square to one +of the southern gates. There are real streets paved with +cobble stones, and bordered with definite sidewalks, young +trees, and shops. There is a railroad about four miles +long, from the city to the village of Sheikh Abdul Azim. +There are lamp-posts and fittings, though the light is +somewhat of a failure. There is an organised city police, +in smart black uniforms with violet facings, under the +command of Count Monteforte, an Italian. Soldiers +in Europeanised uniforms abound, some of them, the +"Persian Cossacks," in full Russian uniforms; and military +bands instructed by a French bandmaster play European +airs, not always easily recognisable, for the pleasure of +the polyglot public.</p> + +<p>All ordinary business can be transacted at the +Imperial Bank, which, having acquired the branches and +business of the New Oriental Bank, bids fair to reign +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> +supreme in the commercial world of Persia, the Shah, +who has hitherto kept his hoards under his own eye, +having set an example of confidence by becoming a +depositor.</p> + +<p>European tailors, dressmakers, and milliners render a +resort to Europe unnecessary. There are at least two +hotels where a European may exist. About five hundred +European carriages, many of them Russian, with showy +Russian horses harnessed <i>à la Russe</i>, dash about the +streets with little regard to pedestrians, though an +accident, if a European were the offender, might lead to a +riot. The carriages of the many Legations are recognisable +by their outriders, handsomely-dressed <i>gholams</i>.</p> + +<p>But even the European quarter and its newish road, +on which are many of the Legations, some of the foreign +shops, and the fine compound and handsome buildings of +the Imperial Bank, has a Persian admixture. Some of +the stately houses of official and rich Persians are there, +easily recognisable by their low closed gateways and +general air of seclusion. Many of these possess exquisite +gardens, with fountains and tanks, and all the arrangements +for the out-of-doors life which Persians love. In +the early spring afternoons the great sight of the road +outside the British Legation is the crowd of equestrians, +or rather of the horses they ride. However much the +style of street, furniture, tastes, art, and costume have +been influenced by Europe, fortunately for picturesque +effect the Persian, even in the capital, retains the Persian +saddle and equipments.</p> + +<p>From later observation I am inclined to think very +highly of the hardiness and stamina of the Persian horse, +though at the time of my visit to Tihran I doubted both. +Such showy, magnificent-looking animals, broken to a +carriage which shows them to the best advantage, fine-legged, +though not at the expense of strength, small-eared, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +small-mouthed, with flowing wavy manes, "necks clothed +with thunder," dilated nostrils showing the carmine +interior, and a look of scorn and high breeding, I never +saw elsewhere. The tail, which in obedience to fashion +we mutilate and abridge, is allowed in Persia its full +development, and except in the case of the Shah's white +horses, when it is dyed magenta, is perfectly beautiful, +held far from the body like a flag. The arched neck, +haughty bearing, and easy handling which Easterns love +are given by very sharp bits; and a crowd of these +beautiful animals pawing the ground, prancing, caracoling, +walking with a gait as though the earth were too vulgar +for their touch, or flashing past at a gallop, all groomed to +perfection and superbly caparisoned, ridden by men who +know how to ride, and who are in sympathy with their +animals, is one of the fascinations of Tihran.</p> + +<p>Creeping along by the side-walk is often seen a +handsome pacing saddle-mule, or large white ass, nearly +always led, carrying a Persian lady attended by servants—a +shapeless black bundle, with what one supposes to be +the outline of a hand clutching the enshrouding black +silk sheet tightly over her latticed white mask: so +completely enveloped that only a yellow shoe without a +heel, and a glimpse of a violet trouser can be seen above +the short stirrups.</p> + +<p>Another piece of Orientalism unaffected by Western +influence is the music performed daily at sunset in the +upper stories of some of the highly-decorated tiled gateways +which lead into and out of the principal squares. +This is evoked from drums, fifes, cymbals, and huge +horns, and as the latter overpower all the former, the +effect is much like that of the braying of the colossal +silver horns from the roofs of the Tibetan <i>lamaserais</i>. +Many people suppose that this daily homage to the +setting sun is a relic of the ancient fire or sun worship. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span></p> + +<p>Two great squares, one of them with a tank in the +middle with a big gun at each corner, artillery barracks +on three sides, and a number of smooth-bore twenty-four-pounder +guns on the fourth, are among the features of +Tihran. In this great <i>Maidan</i> there are always soldiers +in multifarious uniforms lounging, people waiting for the +tram-cars, and Royal footmen, whose grotesque costumes +border on the ridiculous. They are indeed a fitting +accompaniment to the Royal horses with their magenta tails +and spots, for they wear red coats with ballet-dancer +skirts and green facings, green knee-breeches, white +stockings, and tall stiff erections resembling a fool's cap +on the head, topped by crests suggestive of nothing but +a cock's comb.</p> + +<p>A gateway much ornamented leads from the artillery +square, or <i>Maidan Topkhaneh</i>, by a short road shaded +with trees to the Citadel or Ark, which is an immense +enclosure, rather mangy and unprepossessing in its +exterior, which contains the palace of the Shah, the +arsenal, certain public offices, the royal colleges, etc. +Over the gateway floats rather grandly the Royal +standard, bearing the Lion and the Sun in yellow on a +green ground.</p> + +<p>The Shah's palace is very magnificent, and the shady +gardens, beautifully kept, with their fountains and tanks +of pale blue tiles, through which clear water constantly +moves, are worthy of a Royal residence. From the outside +above the high wall the chief feature is a very +lofty pavilion, brilliantly and elaborately painted, with +walls inclining inwards, and culminating in two high +towers. This striking structure contains the <i>andarun</i> or +<i>haram</i> of the sovereign and his private apartments.</p> + +<p>This hasty sketch exhausts those features of Tihran +which naturally arrest the stranger's attention. There is +no splendour about it externally, but there is splendour +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +within it, and possibly few European residences can +exceed in taste and magnificence the palaces of the +Minister of Justice (the <i>Muschir-u-Dowleh</i>), the <i>Naib-es-Sultan</i>, +the <i>Zil-es-Sultan</i>, and a few others, though I +regret that much of the furniture has been imported +from Europe, as it vexes the eye more or less with +its incongruity of form and colouring. The current of +European influence, which is affecting externals in Tihran, +is not likely now to be stemmed. Eastern civilisation is +doomed, and the transition period is not beautiful, whatever +the outcome may be.</p> + +<p>So much for what is within the walls. That which +is outside deserves a passing notice as the environment of +the capital. The sole grandeur of the situation lies in +the near neighbourhood of the Shimran mountains—a +huge wall, white or brown according to the season, with +some irrigated planting near its base, which is spotted +with villages and the <i>yailaks</i> not only of the numerous +Legations but of rich Europeans and Persians. Otherwise +the tameless barbarism of a desert, which man has +slashed, tunnelled, delved, and heaped, lies outside the +city walls, deformed by the long lines of <i>kanaats</i>—some +choked, others still serviceable—by which the city is +supplied with water from the mountains, their shafts +illustrating the Scriptural expression "ruinous heaps." +In the glare of the summer sun, with the mercury +ranging from 95° to 110° in the shade, and with the +heated atmosphere quivering over the burning earth, +these wastes are abandoned to carcasses and the vultures +which fatten on them, and travelling is done at night, +when a breeze from the Shimran range sends the +thermometer down from 10° to 15°.</p> + +<p>Curving to the south-west of Tihran, the mountains +end in a bare ridge, around the base of which, according +to many archæologists, lie vestiges of the ancient city of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +Rhages, known in later days as Rhei. A tomb of +brick with angular surfaces, sacred to the memory +of an ancient and romantic attachment, remains of fortifications, +and the Parsee cemetery on a ledge overlooking +these remains, break the monotony of the waste in +that direction.</p> + +<p>This cemetery, or "Tower of Silence," a white splash +on the brown hillside, is visible from afar. The +truncated cones which in many places mark seats of the +ancient Zoroastrian worship have been mentioned here +and there, but it is only in Tihran and Yezd that the +descendants of the ancient fire-worshippers are found in +such numbers as to be able to give prominence to their +ancient rites of sepulture. Probably throughout Persia +their number does not exceed 8000. Their head resides +in Tihran. They bear a good character for uprightness, +and except in Yezd, where they weave rich stuffs, they +are chiefly agriculturists. They worship firelight and the +sun on the principles symbolised by both, they never use +tobacco, and it is impolite to smoke in their presence +because of the sacredness of fire.</p> + +<p>Their belief has been, and is, that to bury the dead in +the earth is to pollute it; and one among the reasons of +the persecution of the early Christians by the Zoroastrians +was their abhorrence of the desecration of the ground +produced by the modes of Christian burial.</p> + +<p>This "Tower of Silence" near Tihran is a large round +edifice of whitewashed mud and stone. On the top of it, +a few feet below the circular parapet, the dead are laid +to be devoured by birds and consumed by exposure to +the elements. The destiny of the spirit is supposed to +be indicated by the eye which is first devoured by the +fowls of the air, the right eye signifying bliss.</p> + +<p>In a northern direction, to which the eye always +turns to be refreshed by the purity of the icy cone of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> +Demavend, or to watch the rosy light deepening into +purple on the heights of Shimran, are palaces and country +seats in numbers, with a mass of irrigated plantations +extending for twenty miles, from Vanēk on the east to +Kamaraniēh on the west. These are reached by passing +through the Shimran gate, the most beautiful of the outer +gates, tiled all over with yellow, black, blue, and green +tiles in conventional designs, and with an immense +coloured mosaic over the gateway representing Rustēm, +Persia's great mythical hero, conquering some of his +enemies.</p> + +<p>On the slopes of the hills are palaces and hunting +seats of the Shah, beginning with the imposing +mass of the Kasr-i-Kajār, on a low height, surrounded by +majestic groves, in which are enormous tanks. Palaces +and hunting seats of ministers and wealthy men succeed +each other rapidly, a perfect seclusion having been +obtained for each by the rapid growth of poplars and +planes, each dwelling carrying out in its very marked +individuality a deference to Persian custom, and each if +possible using running water as a means of decoration. +Many of these palaces are princely, and realise some of +the descriptions in the <i>Arabian Nights</i>, with the beauty +of their decorated architecture, the deep shade of their +large demesnes, the cool plash of falling water, the songs +of nightingales, and the scent of roses—sensuous Paradises +in which the Persian finds the summer all too short.</p> + +<p>Beyond this enchanting region, and much higher up +on the mountain slopes, are the hunting grounds of the +Shah and his sons, well stocked with game and rigidly +preserved; for the Shah is a keen sportsman, and is said +to prefer a free life under canvas and the pleasures of +the chase to the splendid conventionalities of the Court +of Tihran.</p> + +<p>The two roads and the many tracks which centre in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +capital after scoring the desert for many miles around it, +are a feature of the landscape not to be overlooked, the +Meshed, Resht, Bushire, and Tabriz roads being the most +important, except the route from Baghdad by Kirmanshah +and Hamadan, which in summer can be travelled by +caravans in twenty-eight days, and by which many bulky +articles of value, such as pianos, carriages, and valuable +furniture, find their way to Tihran.<a name="FNanchor_26" id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>These are some of the features of the environments +of Tihran. A traveller writing ten years hence may +probably have to tell that the city has extended to its +walls, that Western influence is nearly dominant in +externals, and possibly that the <i>concessionaires</i> who for +years have been hanging about the Palace in alternations +of hope and despondency have made something of their +concessions, and that goods reach the capital in another +way than on the backs of animals.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER IX</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"><span class="smcap">British Legation, Tihran,</span> <i>March 18</i>.</p> + +<p>Three weeks have passed quickly by since that terrible +ride from Husseinabad. The snow is vanishing from the +Shimran hills, the spring has come, and I am about to +leave the unbounded kindness and hospitality of this +house on a long and difficult journey. It is very +pleasant to go away carrying no memories but those +of kindness, received not only from Europeans and +Americans, but from Persians, including the Amin-es-Sultan +and the Muschir-u-Dowleh.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to bear away other than pleasant +impressions of Tihran society. Kindness received personally +always sways one's impressions of the people +among whom one is thrown, and even if I had any unfavourable +criticisms to make I should not make them.</p> + +<p>Society, or rather I should say the European population, +is divided into classes and knots. There are the +eleven American missionaries, whose duties and interests +lie apart from those of the rest of the community, the +diplomatic body, which has a monopoly of political +interests, the large staff of the Indo-European telegraph, +married and single, with Colonel Wells at its head, and +the mercantile class, in which the manager and <i>employés</i> +of the Imperial Bank may be included. Outside of these +recognised classes there is a shifting body of passing +travellers, civil and military, and would-be <i>concessionaires</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +and adventurers, besides a few Europeans in Persian +employment.</p> + +<p>From four to five hundred Europeans is a large foreign +settlement, and it is a motley one, very various in its +elements, "and in their idiosyncrasies, combinations, +rivalries, and projects is to be found an inexhaustible +fund of local gossip," writes Mr. Curzon in one of his +recent brilliant letters to the <i>Times</i>, "as well as almost +the sole source of non-political interest."</p> + +<p>Outside of the diplomatic circle the relations of +England and Russia with each other and with the Shah +afford a topic of ceaseless interest. England is just now +considered to be in the ascendant, so far as her diplomacy +is concerned, but few people doubt that Russian policy +will eventually triumph, and that North Persia at least +will be "absorbed."</p> + +<p>One or two specially pleasant things I must mention. +Sir H. Drummond Wolff kindly wrote asking permission +from the Shah for me to see his Museum, <i>i.e.</i> his treasure-house, +and we, that is the Minister, the whole party from +the Legation, and Dr. Odling of the telegraph staff and +Mrs. Odling, went there yesterday. There was a great +crowd outside the Palace gates, where we were received +by many men in scarlet. The private gardens are +immense, and beautifully laid out, in a more formal style +than I have hitherto seen, with straight, hard gravel walks, +and straight avenues of trees. The effect of the clear +running water in the immense tanks lined with blue tiles +is most agreeable and cool. Continuous rows of orange +trees in tubs, and beds of narcissus, irises, and tulips, with +a wealth of trellised roses just coming into leaf, are full of +the promise of beauty. These great pleasure gardens +are admirably kept, I doubt whether a fallen leaf +would not be discovered and removed in five minutes.</p> + +<p>The great irregular mass of the Palace buildings on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +the garden front is very fine, the mangy and forlorn +aspect being confined to the side seen by the public. The +walls are much decorated, chiefly with glazed and coloured +tiles geometrically arranged, and the general effect is +striking.</p> + +<p>The "Museum," properly the audience chamber, and +certainly one among the finest halls in the world, +is approached by a broad staircase of cream-coloured +alabaster. We were received by the Grand Vizier's two +brothers, and were afterwards joined by himself and +another high official.</p> + +<p>The decorations of this magnificent hall are in blue +and white stucco of the hard fine kind, hardly distinguishable +from marble, known as <i>gatch</i>, and much glass is +introduced in the ceiling. The proportions of the room +are perfect. The floor is of fine tiles of exquisite +colouring arranged as mosaic. A table is overlaid +with beaten gold, and chairs in rows are treated in +the same fashion. Glass cases round the room and +on costly tables contain the fabulous treasures of the +Shah and many of the Crown jewels. Possibly the +accumulated splendours of pearls, diamonds, rubies, +emeralds, sapphires, basins and vessels of solid gold, +ancient armour flashing with precious stones, shields +studded with diamonds and rubies, scabbards and sword +hilts incrusted with costly gems, helmets red with rubies, +golden trays and vessels thick with diamonds, crowns +of jewels, chains, ornaments (masculine solely) of every +description, jewelled coats of mail dating back to the +reign of Shah Ismaël, exquisite enamels of great antiquity, +all in a profusion not to be described, have no +counterpart on earth. They are a dream of splendour +not to be forgotten.</p> + +<p>One large case contains the different orders bestowed +on the Shah, all blazing with diamonds, a splendid display, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +owing to the European cutting of the stones, which +brings out their full beauty. There are many glass cases +from two to three feet high and twelve inches or more +broad, nearly full of pearls, rubies, diamonds, sapphires, +emeralds, flashing forth their many-coloured light—treasures +not arranged, but piled like tea or rice. Among the +extraordinarily lavish uses of gold and gems is a golden +globe twenty inches in diameter, turning on a frame of solid +gold. The stand and meridian are of solid gold set with +rubies. The equator and elliptic are of large diamonds. +The countries are chiefly outlined in rubies, but Persia +is in diamonds. The ocean is represented by emeralds. +As if all this were not enough, huge gold coins, each +worth thirty-three sovereigns, are heaped round its base.</p> + +<p>At the upper end of the hall is the Persian throne. +Many pages would be needed for a mere catalogue of +some of the innumerable treasures which give gorgeousness +to this hall. Here indeed is "Oriental splendour," +but only a part of the possessions of the Shah; for many +gems, including the Dar-i-nur or Sea of Light, the second +most famous diamond in the world, are kept elsewhere in +double-locked iron chests, and hoards of bullion saved +from the revenues are locked up in vaults below the +Palace.</p> + +<p>If such a blaze of splendour exists in this shrunken, +shrivelled, "depopulated" empire, what must have been +the magnificence of the courts of Darius and Xerxes, into +which were brought the treasures of almost "all the +kingdoms of the world and the glory of them"? Since +seeing this treasure-house I think that many of the early +descriptions of wealth, which I have regarded as Oriental +hyperbole, were literal, and that there was a time in +Persia, as in Judea, when "silver was not accounted of." +And to come down from the far off-glories of Darius, +Xerxes, and Khosroe and the Parthian kings, there have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> +been within almost modern times Persian sovereigns celebrated +among other things for their successful "looting" +of foreign kingdoms—Shah Abbas the great, and Nadir +Shah, who scarcely two hundred years ago returned from +the sack of Delhi with gems valued at twenty millions of +our money.</p> + +<p>After we had seen most of what was to be seen +the Vizier left us, and we went to the room in which +stands the celebrated Peacock Throne, brought by Nadir +Shah from Delhi, and which has been valued at +£2,500,000. This throne is a large stage, with parapets +and a high fan back, and is reached by several steps. +It is entirely of gold enamel, and the back is incrusted +with rubies and diamonds. Its priceless carpet has a +broad border, the white arabesque pattern of which is +formed of pearls closely stitched. You will think that I +am lapsing into Oriental exaggeration!</p> + +<p>While we were admiring the beautiful view of the +gardens from the windows of this room, Hassan Ali Khan, +better known as "the Nawab," suggested that we should +retire, as the Shah is in the habit of visiting and enjoying +his treasures at a later hour. However, at the foot of +the stairs on the threshold of the vestibule stood the +Shah, the "King of Kings," the "Asylum of the Universe," +and that his presence there was not an accident was +shown by the fact that the Grand Vizier was with him.</p> + +<p>Sir Henry advanced, attended by "the Nawab," and +presented me, lifting his hat to the king, who neither +then nor when he left us made the slightest inclination +of his head. Hassan Ali Khan, in answer to a question, +mentioned some of my travels, and said that with His +Majesty's permission I wished to visit the Bakhtiari +country.<a name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> The king pushed up his big horn spectacles +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +and focused his eyes, about which there is something +very peculiar, upon me, with a stare which would have +been disconcerting to a younger person, asked if I were +going to travel alone in his dominions, and if fitting +arrangements had been made; if I had been in Pekin, +and had visited Borneo and the Celebes; said a few +other things, and then without a bow turned round +abruptly and walked down the garden with the Amin-es-Sultan.</p> + +<p>This accidental and informal presentation was a very +pleasant incident. The Shah is not what I expected +from his various portraits. His manner (though he was +said to be very affable on this occasion) has neither +Eastern nor Western polish. He is a somewhat rough-looking +man, well on in middle life, rather dark in +complexion, and wearing a thick dark moustache, probably +dyed, as is the custom. The long twisted moustache +conceals the expression of his mouth, and the spectacles +with thick horn rims that of his eyes. He was very +simply dressed. The diamond aigrette and sword with +jewelled hilt with which pictures and descriptions have +familiarised us were absent, and this splendid monarch, +the heir of splendour, and the possessor of fabulous +treasures, wore the ordinary Persian high cap of Astrakan +lambskin without any ornament, close-fitting dark +trousers with a line of gold braid, a full-skirted coat of +dull-coloured Kerman silk brocade, loose and open, under +which were huddled one or more coats. A watch-chain +composed of large diamonds completed his costume. He +did not wear gloves, and I noticed that his hands, though +carefully attended to, were those of a man used to muscular +exercise, strong and wiry.</p> + +<p>As the sovereign and his prime minister walked away, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +it was impossible not to speculate upon coming events: what +will happen, for instance, when Nasr-ed-Din, possibly the +ablest man in the country which he rules, and probably +the best and most patriotic ruler among Oriental despots, +goes "the way of all the earth"? and again, whether Ali +Askar Khan, who has held his post for five years, and +who at thirty-two is the foremost man in Persia after +the king, will weather the storm of intrigue which rages +round his head, and resist the undermining influence of +Russia?</p> + +<p>I have had two interesting conversations with him, +and he was good enough to propose success to my journey +at a dinner at the Legation; and though, as he does +not speak French, the services of an interpreter were +necessary, he impressed me very favourably as a man +of thought, intelligence, and patriotism.</p> + +<p>He made one remark which had a certain degree of +pathos in it. After speaking of the severe strictures and +harsh criticisms of certain recent writers, which he said +were very painful to Persians, he added, "I hope if you +write you will write kindly, and not crush the aspirations +of my struggling country as some have done."</p> + +<p>This Amin-es-Sultan, the faithful or trusted one of the +sovereign, the Grand Vizier or Prime Minister, the second +person in the empire, who unites in his person at this +time the ministries of the Treasury, the Interior, the +Court, and Customs, is of humble antecedents, being the +son of a man who was originally an inferior attendant on +the Shah in his hunting expeditions, and is the grandson +of an Armenian captive. Certain persons of importance +are bent upon his overthrow, and it can only be by the +continued favour and confidence of the Shah that he can +sustain himself against their intrigues, combined with +those of Russia.</p> + +<p>My visit to the Palace terminated with the sight of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +another throne-room opening upon the garden in which a +few days hence, with surroundings of great magnificence, +the Shah will receive the congratulations of the diplomatic +corps, and afterwards give a general audience to the +people.</p> + +<p>This is an annual ceremony at the festival of No Ruz +when the Persian New Year begins, at the time of the +spring solstice, and is probably a relic of the Zoroastrian +worship, though the modern Persians, as Mohammedans, +allege that it is observed to celebrate the birthday of the +Prophet's mother.<a name="FNanchor_28" id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>Some hours after the close of a splendid ceremony in +the audience chamber, chiefly religious, at which the Shah +burns incense on a small brazier, he descends to the +garden, and walking alone along an avenue of Royal +Guards, with the crown of the Kajārs, blazing with +jewels, carried in front of him, he seats himself on an +alabaster throne, the foreign ministers having been received +previously. This throne is a large platform, with +a very high back and parapets of bold stone fretwork, +supported on marble lions and other figures, and is +ascended by three or four steps.</p> + +<p>The populace, which to the number of many thousands +are admitted into the garden, see him seated on his throne, +their absolute master, the lord of life and death. A voice +asks if they are content, and they say they are. A hymn +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> +of congratulation is sung, a chief of the Kajār tribe offers +the congratulations of the people of Persia, the Hakim of +the people hands the king a jewelled <i>kalian</i>, which he +smokes, and showers of gold fall among the populace.</p> + +<p>The British Minister is understood to be at this time +the most powerful foreigner in Persia; and as we drove +through the crowd which had assembled at the Palace +gates, he was received with all Oriental marks of respect.</p> + +<p>All my intercourse with Persians here has been +pleasant, and if I mention one person particularly, it is +owing to a certain interest which attaches to himself and +his possible future, and because some hours spent at +his splendid palace were among the pleasantest of the +many pleasant and interesting ones which I shall hereafter +recall.</p> + +<p>Yahia Khan, Minister of Justice and Commerce, +whose official title is Muschir-u-Dowleh, was formerly +Minister of Foreign Affairs, but forfeited the confidence +of the British Government in supposed connection with the +escape of Ayoub Khan, and being suspected of Russian +proclivities, which he denies, lost his position. He speaks +French perfectly, is credited with very great abilities, +and not only has courteous and charming manners, but +thoroughly understands the customs of Europe.</p> + +<p>As the possessor of one of the most magnificent +palaces in Persia, married to the Shah's sister, his son, a +youth of eighteen, married to a daughter of the Vali-'ahd, +the heir-apparent, and as the brother of Mirza Hussein +Khan—for long Grand Vizier and <i>Sipah Salar</i>, or Commander-in-Chief, +whose gorgeous mosque, scarcely finished, +the finest mosque built in late years by any but a royal +personage, adjoins his house, Yahia Khan is in every way +an important personage.</p> + +<p>He is the fourth husband of the Shah's sister, who +has had a tragic life and is a very accomplished woman. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> +Her first husband, Mirza Taghi, when Prime Minister, +attempted reforms which would have tended to diminish +the hideous corruption which is the bane of Persian +officialism, and consequently made many enemies, who +induced the Shah, then a young man, to depose him. +Worse than deposition was apprehended, and as it was +not etiquette to murder a husband of a royal princess +in her presence, his wife, who loved him, watched him +night and day with ceaseless vigilance for some weeks. +But the fatal day at last came, and a good and powerful +man, whose loss is said to have been an irreparable one +to Persia, was strangled by the Shah's messengers, it is +said, in the bath.</p> + +<p>Her son, who has married the Shah's grand-daughter, +is courteous like his father, but is apparently without his +force.</p> + +<p>The Muschir-u-Dowleh invited me to breakfast, along +with General Gordon and Hassan Ali Khan. The +<i>dejeûner</i> was altogether in European style, except that +in the centre of the table, among lilies and irises, a concealed +fountain sent up jets of rose-water spray. Sèvres +and Dresden porcelain, the finest damask, and antique +and exquisitely beautiful silver adorned the table. The +cooking was French. The wines and liqueurs, an +innovation on Moslem tables now common, but of recent +date, were both French and Persian. The service was +perfection. The host conversed both thoughtfully and +agreeably, and expressed himself remarkably well in +French.</p> + +<p>Afterwards we were invited to go over the palace and +its grounds, which are remarkably beautiful, and then +over the magnificent mosque. Shiah mosques are +absolutely tabooed to Christians; but as this has not +yet been used for worship, our entrance was not +supposed to desecrate it. When quite finished it will +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +be one of the most magnificent buildings dedicated to +religious use in the world, and its four tile-covered +minarets, its vast dome, and arches and façades in tiled +arabesques and conventional patterns and exquisite +colouring, show that the Persian artist when adequately +encouraged has not lost his old feeling for beauty.</p> + +<p>Besides the mosque there is a fine building, the low +roof of which is supported by innumerable columns, all +of plain brick, resembling a crypt, which will be used +for winter worship. In addition, a lavish endowment +has provided on the grounds a theological college and +a hospital, with most, if not all, of the funds needed for +their maintenance; and on every part of the vast pile +of buildings the architect has lavished all the resources +of his art.</p> + +<p>No houses are to my thinking more beautiful and +appropriate to the climate and mode of living than those +of the upper classes of Persians, and the same suitability +and good taste run down through the trading classes +till one reaches the mud hovel, coarse and un-ideal, of +the workman and peasant.</p> + +<p>My memory does not serve me for the details of the +Muschir-u-Dowleh's palace, which, though some of the +rooms are furnished with European lounges, tables, and +chairs in <i>marqueterie</i> and brocade, is throughout distinctively +Persian; but the impression produced by the +general <i>coup d'œil</i>, and by the size, height, and perfect +proportion of the rooms, galleries, staircases, and halls, +is quite vivid. The rooms have dados of primrose-coloured +Yezd alabaster in slabs four feet high by three +broad, clouded and veined most delicately by nature. +The banqueting hall is of immense size, and the floor +is covered with a dark fawn <i>namad</i> three-quarters of +an inch thick, made, I understood, in one piece eighty +feet long by fifty broad. The carpets are the most +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +beautiful which can be turned out by Persian looms, and +that is saying a great deal.</p> + +<p>The roofs, friezes, and even the walls of this house, +like those of others of its class, have a peculiarity of +beauty essentially Persian. This is the form of <i>gatch</i> +or fine stucco-work known as <i>ainah karee</i>. I saw it +first at Baghdad, and now at Tihran wonder that such +beautiful and costly decoration does not commend itself +to some of our millionaires. Arches filled with honeycomb +decoration, either pure white or tastefully coloured +and gilded, are among the architectural adornments which +the Alhambra borrowed from Persia. My impression is +that this exquisite design was taken from snow on the +hillsides, which is often fashioned by a strong wind into +the honeycomb pattern.</p> + +<p>But the glory of this form of decoration reaches its +height when, after the <i>gatch</i> ceiling and cornice or deep +frieze have been daringly moulded by the workman into +distinct surfaces or facets, he lays on mirrors while the +plaster is yet soft, which adhere, and even at their edges +have scarcely the semblance of a joining. Sometimes, +as in the new summer palace of the Shah's third son, +the Naib-es-Sultaneh, the whole wall is decorated in +this way; but I prefer the reception-rooms of Yahia +Khan, in which it is only brought down a few feet. +Immense skill and labour are required in this process +of adornment, but it yields in splendour to none, flashing +in bewildering light, and realising the fabled glories of the +palaces of the <i>Arabian Nights</i>. One of the <i>salons</i>, about +sixty feet by fifty, treated in this way is about the +most beautiful room I ever saw.</p> + +<p>The Persian architect also shows great art in his windows. +He masses them together, and by this means gives +something of grandeur even to an insignificant room. +The beauty of the designs, whether in fretwork of wood +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> +or stone, is remarkable, and the effect is enhanced by the +filling in of the interstices with coloured glass, usually +amber and pale blue. So far as I have seen, the Persian +house is never over-decorated, and however gorgeous the +mirror-work, or involved the arrangement of arches, or +daring the dreams in <i>gatch</i> ceilings and pillars, the fancy +of the designer is always so far under control as to give +the eye periods of rest.</p> + +<p>Under the palace of the Muschir-u-Dowleh, as under +many others, is a sort of glorified <i>serdab</i>, used in hot +weather, partly under ground, open at each end, and +finished throughout with marble, the roof being supported +on a cluster of slender pillars with capitals picked out in +gold, and the air being cooled by a fountain in a large +marble basin. But this <i>serdab</i> is far eclipsed by a summer +hall in the palace of the Shah's third son, which, as to +walls and ceiling, is entirely composed of mirror-work, +the floor of marble being arranged with marble settees +round fountains whose cool plash even now is delicious. +The large pleasure gardens which surround rich men's +houses in the city are laid out somewhat in the old +French style of formality, and are tended with scrupulous +care.</p> + +<p>I did not see the <i>andarun</i> of this or any house here, +owing to the difficulty about an interpreter, but it is not +likely that the ladies are less magnificently lodged than +their lords. The <i>andarun</i> has its own court, no one is +allowed to open a window looking upon it, it is as +secluded as a convent. No man but the master of the +house may enter, and when he retires thither no man +may disturb him. To all inquirers it is a sufficient +answer to say that he is in the <i>andarun</i>. To the Shah, +however, belongs the privilege of looking upon the unveiled +face of every woman in Persia. The domestic life +of a Moslem is always shrouded in mystery, and even in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> +the case of the Shah "the fierce light that beats upon a +throne" fails to reveal to the outer world the number of +wives and women in his <i>andarun</i>, which is variously stated +at from sixty to one hundred and ninety.</p> + +<p>It is not easy in any Eastern city to get exactly what +one wants for a journey, especially as a European cannot +buy in the bazars; and the servant difficulty has been a +great hindrance, particularly as I have a strong objection to +the regular interpreter-servant who has been accustomed +to travel with Europeans.</p> + +<p>I have now got a Persian cook with sleepy eyes, a +portion of a nose, and a grotesquely "hang-dog" look. +For an interpreter and personal attendant I have an +educated young Brahmin, for some years in British post-office +service in the Gulf, and lately a teacher in the +American school here. He speaks educated English, and +is said to speak good Persian. He has never done any +"menial" work, but is willing to do anything in order to +get to England. He has a frank, independent manner and +"no nonsense about him." Taking him is an experiment.<a name="FNanchor_29" id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER X</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"><span class="smcap">Kûm</span>, <i>March 23</i>.</p> + +<p>This so far is a delightful journey. All the circumstances +are favourable. A friend who was sending his servants, +horses, and baggage to Isfahan has lent me a thoroughbred, +and with a trustworthy young soldier as my escort +I do not trouble myself about the caravan at all, and get +over much of the ground at a gallop. The roads have +nearly dried up, the country looks cheerful, travellers are +numerous, living and dead, the sun is bright but the air +is cool and bracing, and the insects are still hybernating, +Mirza Yusuf is getting into my "ways," and is very +pleasant. I did not think that I could have liked +Persian travelling so well. A good horse and a good +pace make an immense difference. It is not the custom +for European ladies to travel unattended by European +gentlemen in Persia, but no objection to my doing so +was made in the highest quarters, either English or +Persian, and so far there have been no difficulties or +annoyances.</p> + +<p>I left the British Legation at noon four days ago. +The handsome Arab, with a sheepskin coat rolled on the +front of the saddle, holsters, and Persian housings, looked +like a life-guardsman's horse. I nearly came to grief as +soon as I got out of the Legation gate; for he would not +stand my English snaffle, and reared and threw himself +about, and my spur touching him as he did so made him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> +quite wild, and I endured much apprehension all through +Tihran, expecting to find myself on the rough pavement; +but I took off the offending spur, and rode him on the +sharp bit he is used to, and when we were outside the +gate he quietened down, and I had a long gallop.</p> + +<p>How different it all looks! No more floundering +through mud! The trees of Abdul Azim are green. +Caravans are moving fast and cheerily. Even the dead +on their last journey look almost cheerful under the +sunny skies. We did not reach Husseinabad till long +after dark. It was so unspeakably dark that my horse +and I fell off the road into deep water, and we passed +the caravanserai without knowing that we were near it.</p> + +<p>The usual disorder of a first night was somewhat +worse than usual. The loads were mixed up, and the +servants and <i>charvadars</i> were quarrelling, and I did not +get my dinner till ten; but things are all right now, and +have been since the following morning, when I assumed +the reins of government and saw the mules loaded myself, +an efficient interpreter making my necessary self-assertion +intelligible.</p> + +<p>Though the spring has set in, most of the country +between this and Tihran looks a complete desert. In +February it was a muddy waste—it is now a dusty +waste, on which sheep, goats, and camels pick up a gray +herbage, which without search is not obvious to the +human eye, and consists mostly of wormwood and other +bitter and aromatic plants. Off the road a few tulips +and dwarf irises coming up out of the dry ground show +the change of season.</p> + +<p>I came for some distance on one day by a road +which caravans avoid because of robbers. It crosses a +reddish desert with a few salt streams and much saline +efflorescence, a blasted region without a dwelling or +patch of cultivation. Yet a four-mile gallop across one +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> +part of it was most inspiriting. As the two Arabs, +excited by the pace, covering great spaces of ground with +each powerful stride, dashed over the level gravel I +thought, "They'll have fleet steeds that follow"; but no +steed or rider or bird or beast was visible through all +that hungry land. We passed also close to a salt lake on +the Kavir, seen in the distance on the former journey, +near which are now pitched a quantity of Ilyat tents, all +black. The wealth of these nomads is in camels, sheep, +and goats. Though the camps, five in number, were +small, they had over 200 camels among them.</p> + +<p>Where four weeks ago there was deep mud there is +now the glittering semblance of unsullied snow, and the +likeness of frost crystals fills the holes. <i>Miles</i> of camels +loaded with cotton march with stately stride in single +file, the noble mountain camel, with heavy black fur on +neck, shoulder, fore-arm, and haunch, and kindly gentle +eyes, looking, as he is, the king of baggage animals, not +degraded by servitude, though he may carry 800 lbs.</p> + +<p>Some of the sights of the road were painful. For +instance, just as I passed a caravan of the dead bound +for Kûm a mule collided with another and fell, and the +loosely-put-together boxes on its back gave way and +corpses fell out in an advanced stage of decomposition. +A camel just dead lay in a gully. On a ledge of rock +above it seven gorged vultures (not the bald-headed) sat +in a row. They had already feasted on him to repletion. +I passed several dead camels, and one with a pleading +pathetic face giving up the ghost on the road.</p> + +<p>Yesterday I rode in here from the magnificent caravanserai +of Shashgird, sixteen miles in three hours before +lunch, and straight through the crowded bazars to the +telegraph office unmolested, an Afghan camel-driver's +coat, with the wool outside, having proved so good a +disguise that the <i>gholam</i> who was sent to meet me returned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +to his master saying that he had not seen a lady, but that +a foreign soldier and <i>sahib</i> had come into Kûm.</p> + +<p>When my visit was over and I had received from Mr. +Lyne the route to Isfahan, and such full information +about rooms, water, and supplies as will enable me to +give my own orders, and escape from the tyranny of the +<i>charvadars</i>, having sent the horses to the caravanserai I +disguised myself as a Persian woman of the middle class +in the dress which Mrs. Lyne wears in the city, a thick +white <i>crêpe</i> veil with open stitch in front of the eyes, a +black sheet covering me from head to foot, the ends +hanging from the neck by long loops, and held with the +left hand just below the eyes, and so, though I failed to +imitate the totter and shuffle of a Persian lady's walk, I +passed unnoticed through the long and crowded streets +of this fanatical city, attended only by a <i>gholam</i>, and at +the door of my own room was prevented from entering +by the servants till my voice revealed my identity.</p> + +<p>Twice to-day I have passed safely through the city in +the same disguise, and have even lingered in front of +shops without being detected. Mr. and Mrs. Lyne have +made the two days here very pleasant, by introducing me +to Persians in whose houses I have seen various phases of +Persian life. On reaching one house, where Mrs. Lyne +arrived an hour later, I was a little surprised to be received +by the host in uniform, speaking excellent French, +but without a lady with him.</p> + +<p>He had been very kind to Hadji, who, he says, is rich +and has three wives. The poor fellow's lungs have been +affected for two years, and the affection was for the time +aggravated by the terrible journey. He talked a good +deal about Persian social customs, especially polygamy.</p> + +<p>He explained that he has only one wife, but that this +is because he has been fortunate. He said that he regards +polygamy as the most fruitful source of domestic unhappiness, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> +but that so long as marriages are made for men by +their mothers and sisters, a large sum being paid to the +bride's father, a marriage is really buying "a pig in a +poke," and constantly when the bride comes home she is +ugly or bad-tempered or unpleasing and cannot manage +the house. "This," he said, "makes men polygamists +who would not otherwise be so.</p> + +<p>"Then a man takes another wife, and perhaps this is +repeated, and then he tries again, and so on, and the house +becomes full of turmoil. There are always quarrels in a +polygamous household," he said, "and the children dispute +about the property after the father's death." Had he not +been fortunate, and had not his wife been capable of +managing the house, he said that he must have taken +another wife, "for," he added, "no man can bear a badly-managed +house."</p> + +<p>I thought of the number of men in England who have +to bear it without the Moslem resource.</p> + +<p>A lady of "position" must never go out except on +Fridays to the mosque, or with her husband's permission +and scrupulously veiled and guarded, to visit her female +friends. Girl-children begin to wear the <i>chadar</i> between +two and three years old, and are as secluded as their +mothers, nor must any man but father or brother see +their faces. Some marry at twelve years old.</p> + +<p>"La vie des femmes dans la Perse est très triste," he +said. The absence of anything like education for girls, +except in Tihran, and the want of any reading-book but +the Koran for boys and girls, he regards as a calamity. +He may be a pessimist by nature: he certainly has no +hope for the future of Persia, and contemplates a Russian +occupation as a certainty in the next twenty years.</p> + +<p>After a long conversation I asked for the pleasure, not +of seeing his wife, but the "mother of his children," and +was rewarded by the sight of a gentle and lovely woman +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +of twenty-one or twenty-two, graceful in every movement +but her walk, exquisitely refined-looking, with a most +becoming timidity of expression, mingled with gentle +courtesy to a stranger. She was followed by three very +pretty little girls. The husband and wife are of very good +family, and the lady has an unmistakably well-bred look.</p> + +<p>Though I knew what to expect in the costume of a +woman of the upper classes, I was astonished, and should +have been scandalised even had women only been present. +The costume of ladies has undergone a great change in +the last ninety years, and the extreme of the fashion is +as lacking in delicacy as it is in comfort. However, much +travelling compels one to realise that the modesty of the +women of one country must not be judged of by the +rules of another, and a lady costumed as I shall attempt +to describe would avert her eyes in horror by no means +feigned from an English lady in a Court or evening-dress +of to-day.</p> + +<p>The under garment, very much <i>en évidence</i>, is a short +chemise of tinselled silk gauze, or gold-embroidered +muslin so transparent as to leave nothing to the imagination. +This lady wore a skirt of flowered silver brocade, +enormously full, ten or twelve yards wide, made to stand +nearly straight out by some frills or skirts of very stiffly +starched cotton underneath, the whole, not even on a +waistband round the waist, but drawn by strings, and +suspended over the hips, the skirts coming down to within +a few inches of the knee, leaving the white rounded +limbs uncovered. The effect of this exaggerated +<i>bouffante</i> skirt is most singular. White socks are worn. +Over the transparent <i>pirahān</i>, or chemise, she wore a +short velvet jacket beautifully embroidered in gold, +with its fronts about ten inches apart, so as to show +the flowered chemise. Her eyebrows were artificially +curved and lengthened till they appeared to meet above +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> +her nose, her eyelashes were marked round with <i>kohl</i>, and +a band of blue-black paint curving downwards above the +nose crossed her forehead, but was all but concealed by +a small white square of silk <i>crêpe</i>, on the head and brow +and fastened under the chin by a brooch.</p> + +<p>Had she been in another house she would have worn +a large square of gold-embroidered silk, with the points +in front and behind, and fastened under the chin. Under +the <i>crêpe</i> square there was a small skull-cap of gold-embroidered +velvet, matching her little zouave jacket, +with an aigrette of gems at the side. Her arms were +covered with bracelets, and a number of valuable necklaces +set off the beauty of her dazzlingly white neck.</p> + +<p>Persian ladies paint, or rather smear, but her young +pure complexion needed no such aids. Her front hair, +cut to the level of her mouth, hung down rather straight, +and the remainder, which was long, was plaited into many +small glossy plaits. Contrary to custom, it was undyed, +and retained its jet-black colour. Most Persian ladies +turn it blue-black with indigo, or auburn with <i>henna</i>, and +with the latter the finger-nails and palms of the hands +are always stained.</p> + +<p>Her jewellery was all of solid gold; hollow gold and +silver ornaments being only worn by the poor. She wore +a chain with four scent caskets attached to it exhaling +attar of roses and other choice perfumes.</p> + +<p>She was a graceful and attractive creature in spite of +her costume. She waited on her husband and on me, +that is, she poured out the tea and moved about the +room for hot water and <i>bonbons</i> with the feeble, tottering +gait of a woman quite unaccustomed to exercise, and to +whom the windy wastes outside the city walls and a +breezy gallop are quite unknown. The little girls were +dressed in the style of adults, and wore tinselled gauze +<i>chadārs</i> or <i>chargats</i>. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span></p> + +<p>After seeing a good deal of home life during some +months in Persia, I have come to the conclusion +that there is no child life. Swaddled till they can +walk, and then dressed as little men and women, with +the adult tyrannies of etiquette binding upon them, +and in the case of girls condemned from infancy to the +seclusion of the <i>andarun</i>, there is not a trace of the +spontaneity and nonsense which we reckon as among +the joys of childhood, or of such a complete and beautiful +child life as children enjoy in Japan. There does not +appear to be any child talk. The Persian child from +infancy is altogether interested in the topics of adults; +and as the conversation of both sexes is said by those +who know them best to be without reticence or modesty, +the purity which is one of the greatest charms of childhood +is absolutely unknown. Parental love is very +strong in Persia, and in later days the devotion of the +mother to the boy is amply returned by the grown-up +son, who regards her comfort as his charge, and her +wishes as law, even into old age.</p> + +<p>When tea was over the host retired with the remark +that the ladies would prefer to amuse themselves alone, +and then a Princess and another lady arrived attended +by several servants. This Princess came in the black +silk sheet with a suggestion of gold about its border which +is the street disguise of women of the richer classes, +and she wore huge bag-like violet trousers, into which +her voluminous skirts were tucked.</p> + +<p>She emerged from these wrappings a "harmony" in +rose colour—a comely but over-painted young woman in +rose and silver brocade skirts, a rose velvet jacket embroidered +in silver, a transparent white muslin <i>pirahān</i> +with silver stars upon it, and a <i>chargat</i> of white muslin +embroidered in rose silk.</p> + +<p>She and the hostess sat on a rug in front of a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +fire, and servants now and then handed them <i>kalians</i>. +The three little girls and the guest's little girl were in +the background. The doors were then fastened and a +number of servants came in and entertained their +mistresses. Two sang and accompanied themselves on +a sort of tambourine. Tea was handed round at intervals. +There was dancing, and finally two or three women acted +some little scenes from a popular Persian play. By +these amusements, I am told, the women of the upper +classes get rid of time when they visit each other; and +they spend much of their lives in afternoon visiting, +taking care to be back before sunset. After a long time +the gentle hostess, reading in my face that I was not +enjoying the performances, on which indeed unaccustomed +English eyes could not look, brought them to a close, +and showed me some of her beautiful dresses and embroidered +fabrics.</p> + +<p>Putting on my disguise and attended by a servant I +walked a third time unrecognised and unmolested through +the crowded bazars, through the gate and across the +bridge, when a boy looked quite into my shroud, which +I was not perhaps clutching so tightly as in the crowd, +and exclaiming several times <i>Kafir</i>, ran back into the +city. I did not run, but got back to the "hotel" as +fast as possible.</p> + +<p>It is very noisy, and my room being on the ground +floor, and having three doors, there is little peace +either by day or night. Thirteen days from the <i>No +Ruz</i> or New Year, which was March 21, are kept as a +feast before the severe fast of the Ramazan, and this +city of pilgrims is crowded, and all people put on new +clothes, the boys being chiefly dressed in green.</p> + +<p>To-morrow I begin my journey over new ground.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER XI</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Kashan</span>, <i>March 26</i>.</p> + +<p>I have seen the last of Kûm and hotels and made roads +for many months. So much the better! I had to ride +the whole length of the bazars and the city, a mile and +a half, but the camel-driver's coat served again as a +disguise, and I heard no remarks except from two boys. +Indeed I am delighted to find that the "foreign soldier" +who rides in front of me attracts so much curiosity that +I pass in his wake unnoticed.</p> + +<p>The ruinous condition of Kûm is fearful. Once +outside the houses and bazars which surround the +shrine of Fatima, the town is mostly rubbish and litter, +with forlorn, miserable houses created out of the +rubbish, grouped near festering pools; broken causeways +infamously paved, full of holes, heaps of potsherds, +bones obtruding themselves, nothing to please +and everything to disgust the eye and sadden the +spirit, religious intolerance, a diminished population, and +desolation.</p> + +<p>The pottery bazar, abounding in blue glazed ware of +graceful shapes, and a number of shrines of saints, are +the only objects of interest. The domes of the latter +were once covered with blue tiles, but these have nearly +all peeled off, leaving the universal mud—a mud so +self-asserting everywhere that Persia may be called the +"Great Mud Land." The cherry and apricot trees are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> +in full bloom, but as yet there is little greenery round +Kûm, and the area of cultivation is very limited.</p> + +<p>I am now on the road which, with the exception of +that from Tihran to Resht, is best known to travellers,<a name="FNanchor_30" id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> +but I cannot help sketching it briefly, though the interests +are few considering the distance travelled, 280 miles +from Tihran to Isfahan. I now see Persia for the first +time; for traversing a country buried in snow is not +seeing it. It would be premature to express the opinion +that the less one sees of it the more one is likely to +admire it.</p> + +<p>I have been <i>en route</i> for a week under the best +possible circumstances—the nights always cool, the days +never too warm, the accommodation tolerable, the caravan +in excellent working order, no annoyances, and no grievances. +The soldier who attends me arranges everything +for my comfort, and is always bright and kind. I have +no ambition to "beat the record," but long gallops on a +fine Arab horse turn marches of from twenty-two to +thirty miles into delightful morning rides of from three +and a half to four and a half hours, with long pleasant +afternoons following them, and sound sleep at night. These +are my halcyon days of Persian travelling; and yet I +cannot write that Persia is beautiful.</p> + +<p>It is early spring, and tulips and irises rise not out of a +carpet of green but, to use the descriptive phrase of Isaiah, +"as a root out of a dry ground," the wormwood is dressed +in its gray-green, the buds of the wild dwarf-almond +show their tender pink, the starry blossom of the narcissus +gleams in moist places, the sky is exquisitely blue, +and shining cloud-masses fleck the brown hillsides with +violet shadows. Where there is irrigation carpets of +young wheat cover the ground; but these, like the villages, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +occur only at long intervals, for the road passes mainly +through a country destitute of water, or rather of arrangements +for storing it.</p> + +<p>As to natural trees there are none, and even the bushes +are few and unlovely, chiefly camel thorn and a rigid and +thorny tamarisk. Beyond Kûm there is no made road. +A track worn by the caravans of ages exists,—sometimes +parallel ruts for a width of half a mile, sometimes not +two yards wide, and now and then lapsing into illegibility. +There are large and small caravanserais of an +inferior class along the route, and <i>chapar khanas</i> at intervals. +Water is often bad and sometimes brackish. It +is usually supplied from small brick <i>abambars</i>, or covered +reservoirs. Milk is hard to obtain, often impossible; at +some places fowls can be bought for eightpence each, and +"flap jacks" everywhere.</p> + +<p>Except the snowy cone of Demavend, with purple +ranges curtaining his feet, no special object of admiration +exists; the plains are reddish, yellowish, barren, +gravelly, or splotched with salt; the ranges of hills, +which are never far off (for Persia is a land of mountains), +are either shapeless and gravelly, or rocky, rugged, +and splintered, their hue reddish and purplish, their sides +scored by the spring rush of wasted torrents, their aspect +one of complete desolation, yet not without a certain +beauty at this season—rose-flushed in the early morning, +passing through shades of cobalt and indigo through the +day, and dying away at sunset in translucent amethyst +against a sky of ruddy gold.</p> + +<p>But, take away the atmospheric colouring—which the +advancing heat will abolish—and the plain English of the +route is this, that in every direction, far as the eye can +reach, the country is a salt waste or a gravelly waste, +with a few limited oases of cultivation on the plains and +in the folds of the hills, always treeless, except round +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +a few of the villages, where there are small groves of +poplars and willows. The villages are clusters of mud +hovels, scarcely distinguishable from the wastes, and many +of them are ruined and deserted, oppressive exactions or +a failure of water being common reasons for a migration. +These dismal ruins are shapeless heaps of mud, +the square towers of the square walls alone retaining any +semblance of form.</p> + +<p>Long lines of choked <i>kanaats</i>, denoted by their crumbling +shafts, attest the industrious irrigation of a former +day. Tracks wind wearily among shrunken villages, or +cross ridges of mud or gravel to take their unlovely way +over arid stony plains. Unwatered tracts of land, once +cultivated, as the <i>kanaats</i> show, but now deserts of sand +and stones, send up gyrating clouds of gritty dust.</p> + +<p>Such is Persia between its two capitals; and yet I +repeat that in cool weather, and on a good horse, the +journey is a very pleasant one. Most European men +ride <i>chapar</i>, that is, post; but from what I see of the +<i>chapar</i> horses, I would not do it for the sake of doubling +the distance travelled in the day, and therefore cannot +describe either its pleasures or tortures from experience.</p> + +<p>On certain roads, as from Tihran to Shiraz, there are +post stations (<i>chapar khana</i>) with horses and men at +distances of from twenty to twenty-five miles, with a +charge of one <i>kran</i> (eightpence) per <i>farsakh</i> (four miles) +for each horse engaged, an order having been previously +obtained from a government official. Besides your own +horse you have to take one for the <i>shasgird chapar</i>, or +post-boy, who has to take the horses back, and one for the +servant. The two latter carry the very limited kit, +which includes a long cotton bag, which, being filled +with chopped straw at night, forms the traveller's bed. +The custom is to ride through all the hours of daylight +whenever horses are to be got, doing from sixty to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> +ninety miles a day, always inspired by the hope of +"cutting the record," even by half an hour, and winning +undying fame.</p> + +<p>The horses, which are kept going at a canter so long +as they can be thrashed into one, are small and active, +and do wonders; but from the strain put upon them, bad +feeding, sore backs, and general dilapidation and exhaustion, +are constantly tumbling down. Several times I +have seen wretched animals brought into the yards, +apparently "dead beat," and after getting some chopped +straw and a little barley thrashed into a canter again +for twenty-five miles more, because the traveller could +not get a remount. They often fall down dead under +their riders, urged by the heavy <i>chapar</i> whip to the last.</p> + +<p>Riding <i>chapar</i>, journeying in a <i>taktrawan</i> or litter, or in +a <i>kajaweh</i>, or riding caravan pace, by which only about +thirty miles a day can be covered, are the only modes +of travelling in Persia, though I think that with capable +assistance a carriage might make the journey from Tihran +as far as Kashan.</p> + +<p>I lodge in the <i>chapar khanas</i> whenever I can. They +consist of mud walls fourteen feet high, enclosing yards +deep in manure, with stabling for the <i>chapar</i> horses on +two sides, and recesses in their inner walls for mangers. +The entrance is an arched gateway. There are usually +two dark rooms at the sides, which the servants occupy +and cook in, and over the gateway is the <i>balakhana</i>, an +abortive tower, attained by a steep and crumbling stair, +in which I encamp. The one room has usually two +doors, half-fitting and non-shutting, and perhaps a +window space or two, and the ashes of the last traveller's +fire.</p> + +<p>Such a breezy rest just suits me, and when my camp +furniture has been arranged and I am enjoying my +"afternoon tea," I feel "monarch of all I survey," even +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> +of the boundless desert, over which the cloud shadows +chase each other till it purples in the light of the sinking +sun. If there is the desert desolation there is also +the desert freedom.</p> + +<p>The first halt was delicious after the crowds and +fanaticism of Kûm. A broad plain with irrigated +patches and a ruinous village was passed; then came +the desert, an expanse of camel-brown gravel thickly +strewn with stones, with a range of low serrated +brown hills, with curious stratification, on the east. A +few caravans of camels, and the <i>haram</i> of the Governor +of Yezd in closely-covered <i>kajawehs</i>, alone broke the +monotony. Before I thought we were half-way we +reached the <i>abambars</i>, the small brown caravanserai, and +the <i>chapar khana</i> of Passanghām, having ridden in three +hours a distance on which I have often expended eight.</p> + +<p>Cool and breezy it was in my room, and cooler and +breezier on the flat mud roof; and the lifting of some +clouds in the far distance to the north, beyond the great +sweep of the brown desert, revealed the mighty Elburz +range, white with new-fallen snow. At Sinsin the next +evening it was gloriously cold. There had been another +heavy snowfall, and in the evening the Elburz range, +over a hundred miles away, rose in unsullied whiteness +like a glittering wall, and above it the colossal cone of +Demavend, rose-flushed.</p> + +<p>The routine of the day is simple and easy. I get the +caravan off at eight, lie on the floor for an hour, gallop and +walk for about half the march, rest for an hour in some +place, where Mahboud, the soldier, always contrives to +bring me a glass of tea, and then gallop and walk to the +halting-place, where I rest for another hour till the +caravan comes in. I now know exactly what to pay, +and by giving small presents get on very easily.</p> + +<p>There were many uncomfortable prophecies about the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +annoyances and rudenesses which a lady travelling alone +would meet with, but so far not one has been fulfilled. +How completely under such circumstances one has to +trust one's fellow-creatures! There are no fastenings on +the doors of these breezy rooms, and last night there +was only the longitudinal half of a door, but I fell asleep, +fearing nothing worse than a predatory cat.</p> + +<p>The last two days' marches have been chiefly over +stony wastes, or among low hills of red earth, gray gravel, +and brown mud, with low serrated ranges beyond, and +farther yet high hills covered with snow, after which the +road leaves the hills and descends upon a pink plain, +much of the centre of which is snow-white from saline +efflorescence. The villages Kasseinabad, Nasrabad, and +Aliabad are passed on the plain, with small fruit trees +and barley surrounding them, and great mud caravanserais +at intervals, only remarkable for the number of +camels lying outside of them in rows facing each other. +In the fresh keen air of evening the cone of Demavend +was painted in white on the faint blue sky, reddening +into beauty as the purple-madder shadows deepened over +the yellow desert.</p> + +<p>Tea made with saltish water, and salt sheep's milk, +have been the only drawbacks of the six days' march.</p> + +<p>Not far from Kashan we entered on a great +alluvial plain formed of fine brown earth without a +single stone—a prolific soil if it had water, as the fruit +trees and abundant crops of young wheat round the +villages show. So level, and on the whole so smooth, is +this plain that it possesses the prodigy of a public conveyance, +an omnibus with four horses abreast, which +makes its laborious way with the aid of several attendants, +who lift the wheels out of holes, prevent it from capsizing, +and temporarily fill up the small irrigation ditches which +it has to cross. Its progress is less "by leaps and bounds" +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +than by jolts and rolls, and as my Arab horse bounded +past I wondered that six men could be found to exchange +the freedom of the saddle for such a jerky, stuffy box.</p> + +<p>Five hundred yards from the gate of Kashan there is +a telegraph station of the Indo-European line, where +M. du Vignau and his wife expected me, and have +received me with great kindness and hospitality. The +electricians at these stations are allowed to receive guests +in what is known as the "Inspectors' Room," and they +exercise this liberty most kindly and generously. Many +a weary traveller looks back upon the "Inspectors' Room" +as upon an oasis in the desert of dirt; and though I +cannot class myself just now with "weary travellers," I +cordially appreciate the kindness which makes one "at +home," and the opportunity of exchanging civilised ideas +for a few hours.</p> + +<p>I must not go beyond Kashan without giving a few +words to the Persian section of the Indo-European +telegraph line, one of the greatest marvels of telegraph +construction, considering the nature of the country which +the line traverses. Tihran is the centre of telegraphic +control, and the residence of Colonel Wells, R.E., the +Director, with a staff of twenty telegraphists, who work +in relays day and night, and a Medical Officer. Julfa is +another place of importance on the line, and at Shiraz +there is another Medical Officer.</p> + +<p>The prompt repair of the wires in cases of interruption +is carefully arranged for. At suitable places, such as +Kûm, Soh, Kashan, and other towns or villages from fifty +to eighty miles apart, there are control or testing stations, +each being in charge of a European telegraphist, who has +under him two Persian horsemen, who have been well +trained as linesmen. At stated hours the clerks place +their instruments in circuit, and ascertain if all is right.</p> + +<p>If this testing reveals any fault, it can be localised at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +once, and horsemen are despatched from the control +stations on either side of it, with orders to ride rapidly +along the line until they meet at the fault and repair it. +As the telegraph crosses passes such as Kuhrūd, at an +altitude of over 8000 feet, the duties of both inspectors +and linesmen are most severe, full not only of hardship +but of danger in terrible winter storms and great depths +of snow, yet on their ceaseless watchfulness and fidelity +the safety of our Indian Empire may some day depend.</p> + +<p>The skill brought to bear upon the manipulation of +this Government line from the Gulf, and throughout the +whole system of which it is a part, is wonderful. +Messages from any part of the United Kingdom now +reach any part of India in less than an hour and a half, +and in only about one word in two hundred does even +the most trifling mistake occur in transmission, a result +all the more surprising when it is remembered that the +telegrams are almost entirely either in code or cypher, +and that over 1000 are transmitted in the course of a +day.</p> + +<p>Among these are the long despatches continually +passing between the Viceroy of India and the India +Office on vitally important subjects, and press telegrams +of every noteworthy event. The "exhaustive summary" +of Indian news which appears weekly in the <i>Times</i>, +accompanied by a commentary on events, is an altogether +un-padded telegram, and is transmitted with punctuation +complete, and even with inverted commas for +quotations.<a name="FNanchor_31" id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> + +<p>The English staff, numbering from fifty to sixty men, +is scattered along a line of 1900 miles. Some of them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +are married, and most occupy isolated positions, so far +as other Europeans are concerned. It is the universal +testimony of Englishmen and Persians that the relations +between them have been for many years of the most +friendly character, full of good-will and mutual friendly +offices, and that the continual contact brought about by +the nature of the duties of the electricians has been productive +not of aversion and distrust, but of cordial appreciation +on both sides.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER XI (<i>Continued</i>)</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span></p> + +<p class="p2">Kashan is one of the hottest places on the great Persian +plateau, but has the rare luxury of a good water supply +brought from a reservoir some distance off in the Kuhrūd +mountains. It has a much-diminished population, said +now to number 30,000 souls. Much of it is in ruins, +and much more is ruinous. It has a thriving colony of +Jews. It is noted for its silks and velvets; but the +modern productions are regarded by judges as degenerate. +It is still famous for its work in copper and for its +great copper bazar.</p> + +<p>Silk produced at Resht is brought here to be spun +and dyed. Then it is sent to Sultanabad to be woven +into carpets, and is brought back again to have the +pile cut by the sharp instruments used for cutting +velvet pile, and the finished carpets are sent to Tihran +for sale. They are only made in small sizes, and +are more suitable for <i>portières</i> than for laying on the +floor. The colouring is exquisite, and the metallic sheen +and lustre are unique. Silk carpets are costly luxuries. +The price of even a fairly good one of very small size is +£50, the silk alone costing £20.</p> + +<p>Kashan is a great place for <i>curio</i> buyers, who enlist +the Jews in their service. There are some valuable +antiques in this house—embroideries, carpet squares in +silk, glass whose greenish colour and grace of form +remind me of Venetian glass, enamels on porcelain, tiles, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +metal inlaying and damascening, pierced brasswork, and +many other articles of <i>vertu</i>, the art of making which is +either lost or has greatly degenerated.</p> + +<p>It is unaccountable, but it is certain that the secret +of producing the higher types of beauty in various arts, +especially the Keramic, died out more than one hundred +and fifty years ago, and that there are no circumstances +of that date to account for its decease, except that it is +recorded that when the Afghan conqueror Mahmoud +destroyed Isfahan he massacred the designers of <i>reflêt</i> +tiles and other Keramic beauties, because they had +created works which gave great umbrage to the Sunni +sect to which he belonged.</p> + +<p>These <i>reflêts</i>, for which collectors give fabulous sums, +are intrinsically beautiful, both in the elegant conceptions +of their designs and the fantastic richness of their +colouring. There are designs in shades of brown +on a lapis-lazuli ground, or in blue and green on a +purple or umber ground, some of them star-shaped, with +a pure white border composing the rest of the square, on +which are inscribed phrases from the Koran. Looked +at from above or frontwise, one exclaims, "What a beautiful +tile!" but it is on turning it to the light that +one's stereotyped phrases of admiration are exchanged for +silence in presence of a singular iridescence which transfigures +the tile, making it seem to gleam from within +with golden purples and rosy gold.</p> + +<p>The mosaic tiles are also beautiful, especially where +the mosaic is on a lapis-lazuli or canary-yellow ground, +neither of them reproducible at this day; and this also +refers to other shades of blue, and to various reds and +browns of exceeding richness, the art of making which +has been lost for a century. But enough of art!</p> + +<p>Possibly there may be a resurrection for Persian art; +but in the meantime aniline dyes, tawdry European +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +importations, and Western models without either grace +or originality are doing their best to deprave it here, as +elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Roads from Tihran, Gulpaigan, Yezd, and Isfahan +meet here, and it is something of what the Americans +call "a distributing point," but it is a most uninviting place, +in situation and general aspect, and its unsightly mud +ruins, as in other Persian cities, are eloquent of nothing +but paralysis and retrogression.</p> + +<p><i>Murcheh Khurt, Palm Sunday, March 30.</i>—Three very +pleasant marches, equal to seventy-six miles, have brought +me here, and now Isfahan is only two days off, and it +will end my palmy days of Persian travelling.</p> + +<p>The first day's march from Kashan was only seven +<i>farsakhs</i> (the <i>parasang</i> of Xenophon), twenty-eight miles, +but it is equivalent to thirty-five, owing to the roughness +of the road and the long ascent. There was scarcely any +ground for galloping, the way was lost once, and the +march took over eight hours.</p> + +<p>The track, for only in places did it attain to the +dignity of a bridle-road, lay for hours over a stony +desert, and then entered the mountains, where I halted for +an hour at the once magnificent caravanserai of Gaberabad, +in a romantic situation, but falling fast into ruins, and +deserted for no reason, so far as I could make out, but +that people used to be robbed and have their throats cut +there.</p> + +<p>Beyond it the scenery became very wild, and the rocks +and mountains highly coloured and snow-patched, and +after ascending along the side of a stream and up a +causewayed sort of stair past the reservoir which supplies +Kashan with water, we entered the rising valley of +Kuhrūd, where the snow came nearly down to the road, +and every slope was terraced and every level cultivated, +and young wheat was springing and fruit orchards +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> +flourished, with green sward under the branches, and great +poplars in picturesque groups towered above the lower +woods.</p> + +<p>We lost the way in the snow, and then took to the +pebbly river as the safest track, and had an hour of +fumbling in water and snow under apple and pear trees +for the halting-place. The twilight of a frosty evening +was coming on when we reached the village of Kuhrūd—500 +houses in terraces on a mountain side, and clustering +round a fort on a projecting spur.</p> + +<p>It is surrounded and interpenetrated by groves of +walnut, apricot, cherry, peach, plum, apple, pear, poplar, +and vine, with roses climbing over everything and planted +in rows like vines, and through it passes a fair, bright +stream of living water, a stream "whose waters fail not," +turning the mountain valley into an oasis. But at that +altitude of something like 7000 feet, the buds are only +just swelling, and the crimson catkins of the hazels were +the only reminder of spring. It is the one place that I +should care to revisit.</p> + +<p>The snow was piled in great heaps in the village and +against the wall of the very wretched, ruinous <i>chapar +khana</i> in which I sought rest and shelter. Mahboud +went up to the loft over the gateway, and came down +looking dejected, mustering English enough to say, "No, +no, mem Sahib!" I actually had to occupy one of the +two gateway rooms, an inferior stable, without the smallest +window hole, and no door except two unconnected boards +with which one could cover a part of the doorway. Even +when these were not put up a candle was necessary. It +was freezing hard, but one could not have a fire because +there was no smoke-hole. The walls were slimily and +inkily black from the smoke of the fires of people who +were less particular than I am. The dust and rubbish +of the floor were swept into one corner. If one wanted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +a place to store boxes in, and looked into that room, one +would exclaim dubiously, "Well, it <i>might</i> do for glass and +china!"</p> + +<p>Mahboud put a rug on the floor and brought a bowl +of delicious milk, and with an inverted saddle for a pillow +I rested quite comfortably, being too tired to be impatient, +till Mirza Yusuf arrived with my luxuries, and the news +that the caravan could not get in for another hour, for +that several of the mules had fallen and the loads were +slipping round constantly. Indeed it was ten before I +had dinner. It is very fortunate to have an attendant +always cheerful, never fussy, caring nothing for personal +comfort, and always ready to interpret.</p> + +<p>The <i>ketchuda</i> called with the usual proffer of service, +"I am your sacrifice," etc., and induced me to buy some +of the specialties of Kuhrūd, rose-water in bottles without +corks, and a paste made of rose-water, pounded walnuts, +and sugar. The rose-water is not very clear, but it has +much of the overpowering, lingering odour of attar of roses.</p> + +<p>Kuhrūd seems prosperous. Besides exporting large +quantities of rose-water and walnut paste formed into +blocks and done up in white skins, it sends wheat and +fruit in abundance to Kashan.</p> + +<p>Freedom, good sleep, and satisfactory travelling make +up for all annoyances but vermin, and these are still +hybernating. In that precarious privacy I slept soundly, +and got the caravan off at eight the next morning—a +glorious winter morning, the icy roads and the snow-covered +valley glittering with frost crystals. We lost +the way again among the pretty orchards, then got into +a valley between high mud mountains, whose shapelessness +is now judiciously concealed by snow from one to +three feet deep, through which a track has been broken +a foot wide. It is six miles from Kuhrūd to the summit +of the Kuhrūd Pass, which is over 8000 feet, and it grew +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> +very cold and gray, and ragged masses of cloud swept +angrily round the mountain-tops.</p> + +<p>On the steepest part of the ascent it was extremely +slippery, and the horses not being roughed slipped badly, +and I was just fearing an accident to my borrowed horse +and planning some method of dismounting when down he +came on his nose and then on the side of his head, and +fell several times again in his struggles to get up, his feet +slipping from under him. When he did succeed in +getting on his legs I was convinced that he had cut his +knees, and slipped off him somehow to examine them; but +my fears were groundless, and I had great difficulty in +getting out of the drift into which I had descended, which +was nearly up to my shoulders. His nose was bleeding +a little, but that was all.</p> + +<p>There was no way of remounting on a path a foot +wide between walls of snow, and besides I was afraid +of another accident, so I slipped the snaffle rein over +his head and led him. It was horribly slippery, and +having nails in my boots I fell several times just under +his feet, but the sweet creature always stopped when +I fell.</p> + +<p>From the top there was a truly fearful view of +"blackness, darkness, and tempest," inky mists, white +mountain-tops showing momentarily through them to +be lost again, and great sheets of very deep snow. Soon +the gathering storm burst, a "blizzard" in which the +snow was quite blinding, snow drifting and hissing as it +went by, the wind tempestuous, mountains, valleys, path +obliterated, even the soldier in front of me constantly +lost to sight. An hour of this and I could walk no +more, and somehow scrambled into the saddle.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the descent the sky cleared, the sun +shone, and we picked up the caravan, which had had +rather a hard time. The succeeding route was through +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> +an absolutely uninhabited and uninhabitable country, +clay and mud hills, purple, red, gray, pink, brown, an +utter desolation, till we came in sight of the good-sized +and at a distance imposing-looking village of Soh in a +keen wind with frequent snow showers. Soh is a +telegraph testing station.</p> + +<p>The electrician was absent, but had kindly left +directions that I was to be received, and I found a most +comfortable guest-room quite ready. A little later an +Englishman riding <i>chapar</i> to Isfahan threw a packet of +English letters in at my door—a delightful surprise, +which made havoc of the rest of the evening.</p> + +<p>The desolation of this part of the route may be +judged of from the fact that except the village of Kuhrūd +there is not an inhabited house for forty-six miles. The +country traversed reminds me much of the least interesting +part of the route from Lesser Tibet into Kulu.</p> + +<p>Yesterday morning there was ice, and the roads were +very slippery on the gradual descent from the plain +which opens out after passing Bideshk, the <i>chapar</i> station, +an hour from Soh. The twenty-four miles' ride over +this gravelly waste, quite uninhabited, was very pleasant, +as it was possible to gallop much of the way, and besides +the beauty of the atmospheric colouring the mirage +occurring in most remarkable forms rendered monotony +impossible.</p> + +<p>There were no caravans on the road, but I met +several dervishes, and there is one here to whom I have +given what he demanded—a night's lodging. He carries +a large carved almsholder; and the panther skin on his +shoulders, the knotted club, and his lean, hungry, fanatical +face give him a dangerous look. All I have seen on +this march have worn long matted bushy hair, often +covering their shoulders, an axe in the girdle, and +peculiar turbans decorated with phrases from the Koran. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> +They are the "mendicant friars" of Persia, and are under +vows of poverty. Some are said to be learned; but they +object to discussing religious matters with infidels, and +almost nothing is known as +to their beliefs. They hold +universally the sanctity of +idleness, and the duty of +being supported by the +community. The lower +classes hold them in reverence, +and the upper, though +they are apt to loathe them, +treat them with great respect, +for fear of laying +themselves open to the +charge of laxity in religious +matters.</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="i237" id="i237"></a> +<img src="images/illus-237.jpg" width="215" height="418" alt="A DERVISH" title="" /> +<p class="caption">A DERVISH.</p> +</div> + +<p>Many of them deal in +charms, and are consulted +as astrologers. Some are +professed tellers of stories, +to which I am told no +European could degrade +himself by listening, but +which are most palatable +to a village audience; +and at this moment this unwelcome guest of mine has +a crowd listening to a narrative partly told and partly +acted.</p> + +<p>They are credited with many vices, among the least +of which are hazy ideas as to mine and thine, opium and +bhang smoking to excess, and drunkenness.</p> + +<p>They have recognised heads or chiefs, to whom they +show great deference. One of their vows is that of +obedience; and besides paying to the chief a part of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +alms they receive, he gives them orders as to the houses +they are to infest, and though the nuisance is not so +common as formerly, a dervish at the door is still a sign +of being great or rich, or both. Their cries, and their +rude blasts on the buffalo horn, which is a usual part +of their equipment, are most obnoxious. In the larger +towns, such as Kûm and Kirmanshah, there are shops for +the sale of their outfit—the tiger and panther skins, the +axes, the knotted clubs, the almsbowls, etc.</p> + +<p>Some are respectable, and enjoy much consideration, +and I hope that many even of those whom a careful +writer has called "disgusting vagabonds" are not humbugs; +but the presumption is so much the other way +that I am always glad when the ground admits of +galloping past them, otherwise the dervish comes forward, +with his knotted club much <i>en évidence</i>, with many +compliments and good wishes, or else silently extends his +almsholder, ejaculating <i>Huk</i> ("my right"). I usually +have the means of appeasing, if not of satisfying him, +but on the rare occasions when I have had no money +the yells and maledictions have been awful.</p> + +<p>The light and profane use of the Divine name is +universal. The dervishes curse, but every one uses the +name <i>Allah</i> wherever they can bring it in. The <i>Ya +Allah</i>, as an expression of fatigue, or discontent, or +interest, or nothing, is heard all day, and the boy who +drives a cow, or a team, or a mule in a caravan, cries <i>Ya +Allah</i> incessantly as an equivalent of "go along," and the +gardener pushing his spade into the ground, the chopper +with every blow of the axe, the labourer throwing up +bricks, ejaculates the same. <i>Mashallah</i>, <i>Inshallah</i>, interlard +all conversation. When men are building, the +perpetual sing-song of phrases such as these is heard, +"Brother, in God's name toss me a brick," the other +replying, "Brother, in God's name here is a brick." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span></p> + +<p>The vocabulary of abuse is also very large, and often +involves serious reflections on the female relatives of the +person abused. I hear such harmless phrases as "son +of a burnt father," "son of a dog," "offspring of a pig," +etc., on all occasions.</p> + +<p>Murcheh Khurt is a large village with a good deal +of cultivation about it, a mosque or more, a <i>hammam</i>, +a <i>chapar khana</i>, and a caravanserai. Here again I +found that the smart foreign soldier attracted all the +notice, and that before the people ceased to wonder at +him I had passed them. The <i>chapar khana</i> was full +of men, so I have had to sink to the level of a recessed +den with a manger in front in a ruinous caravanserai +crowded with Persian travellers, muleteers, mules, horses, +and asses, and the courtyard half-choked with ruins. I +had not seen the inside of one of these dens before. +Travellers have exhausted the vocabulary of abuse upon +them; possibly they deserve it in the "vermin season"; +but there is nothing worse than a square and perfectly +dark room, with unplastered walls blackened by the smoke +and cobwebs of ages, and a door which will not fasten.</p> + +<p>The air is cool and the sky blue, and sitting at the +open door is very pleasant. Mahboud and two of the +servants caught cold at Kuhrūd and are ill, and my Arab +has a chill too. He is a very stupid horse. His gentle +eyes never change their expression, and his small ears +rarely move. He has little sense or affection, but when +he is patted his proud neck takes on a loftier arch. +Gentle as he is to people he is a brute to other horses. +He would like to fight every one of them, to stand on his +hind-legs and grapple them round the shoulders with his +fore-feet and bite their necks, roaring and squealing all the +time. He and Mahboud's horse are inveterate enemies, +and one of the few difficulties of the journey is the keeping +them from a regular stand-up fight. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span></p> + +<p>This village is an oasis in the desert. I have been +through its gates, barely wide enough to admit an ass +loaded with brushwood, with the <i>seraidar</i> and Mirza, +walked through its narrow alleys, and inadvertently +stumbled into a mosque where a great crowd of women +were listening to a story of one of the twelve Imams +told by a <i>mollah</i>, looked down upon it and over the +adjacent country from a house roof, visited several houses, +in which some of the inmates were ill and desired "Feringhi +medicine," had a long conversation with the <i>ketchuda</i>, who +came to see me to ask for eye lotion, and with the <i>seraidar</i>, +and altogether have had quite a pleasant day.</p> + +<p><i>Chapar Khana, Gez.</i>—I am sitting in one of the three +doorless doorways of my loft, grieving that the journey +is just over, and that this is the last night of the exhilarating +freedom of the desert. I rode twenty-four miles +before one o'clock to-day, over a level uncultivated plain, +bordered as usual by ranges of mountains. In fact, while +I write of levels and plains it must be understood that +Persia is chiefly a land of hills rising from a table-land +from 3400 feet to 6000 feet in altitude, and that the +traveller is rarely, if ever, more than fourteen or fifteen +miles from mountains from 2000 to 6000 feet above +the plain from which they rise, crowned by Demavend, +whose imposing summit is 18,600 feet above the sea. The +hills beyond Isfahan have assumed lofty proportions, and +some of the snowy mountains of Luristan are to be seen +in the far distance.</p> + +<p>It is nearly an unmitigated waste between Murcheh +Khurt and Gez, destitute even of tufts of wormwood; but +the latter part of the march is through a stoneless alluvial +desert of dry friable soil, soft springy galloping ground +which water would turn into a paradise of fertility; and +water there has once been, for not far from the road are +the remains of some <i>kanaats</i>. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span></p> + +<p>The questions naturally arise in a traveller's mind, first, +what becomes of the enormous amount of snow which +falls on the mountains; and next, how in a country so arid +as the plateaus of Central Asia water for irrigation, and +for the basins and fountains which abound in rich men's +houses, is obtained.</p> + +<p>Wells, unless the artesian borings shortly to be begun +in the Tihran desert should be successful, are all but +unknown, except for supplying drinking water, and there +are scarcely any reservoirs, but ingenuity has devised a +plan of subterranean water-channels, which besides their +other advantages prevent loss by evaporation. Tihran +has thirty-five of them, and the water which they distribute +is naturally expensive, as the cost of making them +is great.</p> + +<p>It is on the slope of a hill that the spring is found +which is the original source of supply; this is tapped at +some depth, and its waters are led along a tunnel about +four feet high by two feet wide lined with baked pottery +where the ground is soft, and having a slight fall to +the next spring or well, which may be from twenty-five +to even sixty yards off.</p> + +<p>As the labourers dig they draw up the earth and +arrange it in a circle round the shaft, and as they come +to water they draw up the mud and pour it on the top +of the earth, where it dries and hardens, and below, the +water is conducted as a running underground stream +across great plains, its progress marked by mounds which +have been compared to ant-hills and craters, but to my +thinking are more like the shafts of disused mines.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of these <i>kanaats</i> are seen, ruined and dry, +and are the resort of porcupines and jackals. To construct +a <i>kanaat</i> may call a village or series of villages +into being. The letting it fall to ruin is one cause of +deserted villages. Those which are not lined require +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +annual repairs, which are now going on, but frequently +the complete fall of the roof destroys the fall of the +water, and the tunnel becomes irreparable.</p> + +<p>The peasants are obliged to buy the water, for they +cannot steal it, and the making of a <i>kanaat</i> is often a +lucrative speculation. Pigeons live in them, and many +of them are full of fish, which foreigners amuse themselves +by poisoning by throwing a mixture of <i>cocculus indicus</i> +with dough down the wells, when the poisoned but +wholesome fish rise to the surface. They usually recover +when they are left in the water. Dr. Wills describes them +as having a muddy taste. The <i>kanaats</i> are a feature of +Persia.</p> + +<p>Ever since leaving Kûm all the dry and hard parts of +the road have been covered with the industrious "road +beetle," which works, like the ant, in concert, and carries +on its activities at all seasons, removing from the road to +its nest all the excreta of animals, except in regions +where even animal fuel is so exceptionally scarce that +boys with asses and ponies follow caravans for the same +purpose. These beetles hover over the road on the wing, +and on alighting proceed to roll the ball towards the nest, +four or five of them standing on their hind-legs and +working it forwards, or else rolling it with their heads +close to the ground. Their instinct is wonderful, and +they attract the attention of all travellers. They are +about the size of a small walnut. Otherwise there is +little of animated life to be seen on this route.</p> + +<p>No day has had fewer noticeable objects. Two or +three <i>abambars</i>, several caravanserais in absolute ruins, +and a magnificent one in partial ruins are its record.</p> + +<p>Gez consists of this post-house and a decaying +caravanserai. From the roof as I write I watch the +grooming of a whole row of <i>chapar</i> horses. As each pad +is removed there is a horrid revelation of wounds, deep +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> +ulcers, sores often a foot long, and in some cases the +white vertebræ of the spine are exposed. These are the +wretched animals which often carry men from +fourteen to seventeen stone who ride fifty miles in a day. It is +hard enough even with extreme carefulness to keep the +back of a horse all right on a continuous journey, but I +never before saw animals ridden in such a state. They +wince pitifully when their pads are put on again.</p> + +<p>The desert is all around, purpling in the sunset, sweeping +up to low broken ridges, and to some higher hills in +the north-west covered with new-fallen snow. That the +waste only requires water to make it prolific is apparent, +for below these walls wheat is growing luxuriantly in +some deep pits, irrigated from a dirty ditch out of which +the drinking water comes. Nothing can be got, except +by sending to a village a mile away.</p> + +<p>Four of the men are ill, one with inflammation of the +eyes, another with an abscess, and a third, a very strong +man, with something like bilious fever, and a <i>charvadar</i> +with malarial fever. The strong man's moans often +become howls. He insists that he shall die to-night. +These two afternoons have been much taken up with +making poultices and medicines, and I shall be glad for +the poor fellows to reach Isfahan and the care of a +competent doctor.</p> + +<p><i>Julfa, April 2.</i>—I daresay this journey seems longer +to you than it did to me. It was very pleasant, and its +goal is pleasant, and a most kind welcome and the +refinement of cultured English people go far to compensate +for the loss of the desert freedom and the easy +stride of the Arab horse.</p> + +<p>I started the caravan at nine yesterday, with two +men with bandaged eyes, and other two hardly able to +sit on their mules; Mahboud, who is really more seriously +ill than any of them, keeping up his pluck and capableness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> +to the last. The man who threatened to die at +Gez was very much better the next morning.</p> + +<p>Soon after leaving Gez the country changes its aspect, +the road becomes very bad, and passes through nine miles +of rich cultivation—wheat, barley, opium, and vegetables +growing abundantly; orchards are numerous, villages with +trees and gardens succeed each other rapidly, water +abounds, and before the gate of Isfahan is reached, +domes and minarets rising among cypresses, planes, and +poplars indicate the remains of the former capital of +Persia.</p> + +<p>Inside the shabby gateway the road to Julfa lies +among rows of mean mud houses, heaps of ruins, and +shabby provision bazars; and that mile or more of Isfahan +was the one disagreeable part of the journey.</p> + +<p>It was about the last day of the holidays, and the +bazars, alleys, and open spaces were full of men in gay +attire, and companies of shrouded women were moving +along the quieter roads. It was too warm for the sheepskin +coat which had served me so well at Kûm, and I +had dressed with some regard to European sensibilities. +The boys began to shout "A Feringhi woman! a Nazarene +woman!" and then to call bad names; then men began +to make up fiendish laughs,<a name="FNanchor_32" id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> and the howls and outcries +gathered strength as I went on at the inevitable foot's +pace, spitting being quite common, poor Mahboud constantly +turning to me a perturbed wretched face, full +of annoyance at the insults of his co-religionists, which +it would have been dangerous to resent. It was a bad +half-hour. + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span></p> + +<p>Before passing the residence of the Amir-i-Panj (the +commander of 5000) near the Julfa gate the uproar +died away, and once through the gate and in the +<i>Chahar Bagh</i> (four gardens) there was peace. A bad +road of cobble stones, with a double avenue of once +magnificent planes, some once ornamental tanks, very +high walls, pierced by storied gates, ornamented with +wild designs on plaster in flaring colours, above which +a blue dome is a conspicuous object, leads to a handsome +bridge of thirty-three arches, with a broad level roadway, +and corridors for foot passengers on either side, over +the Zainderud, then came fields with springing wheat, a +few houses, a narrow alley, and two or three miles from +Isfahan the gate of its Armenian suburb, Julfa.</p> + +<p>At once on crossing the bridge there was a change. +Ruddy, cheery-looking unveiled women in red gowns, +and pure white <i>chadars</i> completely enveloping their +persons, moved freely about, and the men wore neither +the becoming turban nor the ominous scowl of Islam. +In the quaint narrow streets were churches with +open vestibules, through which pictures of the thorn-crowned +Christ and of sweet-faced Madonnas were visible; +priests in black robes and women in white glided +along the narrow roads. There was the fresher, purer +air of Christianity, however debased and corrupted. In +the low-browed churches divine honours are paid to a +crowned and risen Christ, and the white-robed women +have been baptized into His name. Never again will +the Julfa alleys be so peaceful and lovable as yesterday, +when they offered a haven from the howling bigots of +Isfahan.</p> + +<p>Dr. Bruce has not returned from Baghdad, but Mrs. +and Miss Bruce welcomed me very kindly, and I am +already forgetting my unpleasant reception. I. L. B. +</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER XII</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Julfa</span>, <i>April 17</i>.</p> + +<p>Mr. George Curzon wrote of Julfa: "The younger Julfa +is a place wholly destitute of superficial attractions, consisting +as it does of a labyrinth of narrow alleys closed +by doors and plentifully perforated with open sewers. +Life there is 'cabined, cribbed, confined' to an intolerable +degree, and it is a relief to escape from its squalid +precincts."</p> + +<p>I dare not write thus if I would! It is now the +early spring. The "sewers" are clear rapid streams, +margined by grass and dandelions, and shaded by ash +trees and pollard willows in their first flush of green. +The "narrow alleys" are scrupulously clean, and there is +neither mud nor dust. If I go up on the roof I see a +cultivated oasis, gardens prolonged indefinitely concealing +the desert which lies between them and the bold mountain +ranges which surround this lofty and breezy plain. +Every breeze is laden with the delicious odour of the +bean blossom. A rapid river spanned by noble bridges +hurries through the oasis it has helped to create, and on +its other side the domes and minarets of Isfahan rise out +of masses of fine trees, and bridges and mosques, minarets +and mountains, are all seen through a most exquisite pink +mist, for hundreds of standard peach trees are in full +bloom, and look where one may everything is <i>couleur de +rose</i>. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span></p> + +<p>I quite admit that Julfa consists of a "labyrinth of +alleys." I can never find my way about it. One alley +with its shady central stream (or "sewer"), its roughly +paved paths on either side, its mud walls pierced by low +doors, is very much like another, and however lucky one +may be in "happening on" the right road, it is always a +weary time before one escapes from between mud walls +into the gardens and wheatfields, to the blossoming beans, +and the exquisite wild-flowers among the wheat.</p> + +<p>As to the "cabined, cribbed, confined" life, I can +give no testimony from personal knowledge. All life in +European settlements in the East appears to me "cabined, +cribbed, confined," and greatly devoid of external interests. +Perhaps Julfa is deficient in the latter in an eminent degree, +and in a very small foreign community people are interested +chiefly in each other's affairs, sayings, and doings. +Lawn tennis, picnics, and dinner parties are prevalent, +the ordinary etiquette of European society prevails, and +in all cases of need the residents are kind to each other +both in life and death.</p> + +<p>The European society is divided into three circles—the +missionaries, the mercantile community, and the +telegraph staff. The British agent, Mr. Aganoor, is an +Armenian.<a name="FNanchor_33" id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> No Christians, Armenian or European, live +in Isfahan, and it is practically <i>défendu</i> to European +women. This transpontine restriction undoubtedly +narrows the life and interests of Julfa. It is aggravating +and tantalising to be for ever looking at a city of +60,000 or 70,000 people, the fallen capital of the Sufari +dynasty, and never be able to enter it.</p> + +<p>This Christian town of Julfa has a certain accessible +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> +historic interest. Shah Abbas, justly surnamed the Great, +conceived the sagacious project of introducing among his +Persian subjects at Isfahan—then, in the latter part of +the sixteenth century, a magnificent capital—the Christian +habits of trading, sagacity, and thrift, for then as now +the Armenians had commercial dealings with China, India, +and Europe, and had imported several arts into Persia.</p> + +<p>This project he carried out in truly despotic fashion +by moving almost the whole population of Julfa on the +Araxes, on the modern Russo-Persian frontier, to the +banks of the Zainderud, making over to it the best lands +in the neighbourhood of Isfahan. Many years later the +new Julfa was a place with twenty-four churches, great +prosperity, and an estimated population of 40,000. Its +agriculturists were prosperous market-gardeners for the +huge city of Isfahan, and it had likewise a great trading +community, and was renowned for the making of jewellery +and watches.</p> + +<p>It has now a dwindling population of about 3000, +chiefly elderly men, women, and girls, the young men, +after receiving a good education in the Church Mission +and other schools, flying from its stagnation to India, +Java, and even Europe. The twenty-four churches are +reduced to twelve, and these with the vast cemetery in +the desert at the base of Kuh Sufi are its chief objects of +interest, apart from those which are human and living.</p> + +<p><i>April 22.</i>—The peach blossoms have long since fallen, +but perhaps I still see Julfa <i>couleur de rose</i>, even after +three weeks, so very great is the kindness under this roof, +and so fully is my time occupied with various interests, +and the preparations for a difficult journey.</p> + +<p>This, as you know, is the Church Mission House. +Dr. Bruce has been here for twenty years, and until lately, +when the Archbishop of Canterbury's mission to the +Assyrian Christians began its work at Urmi, near the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +Turkish frontier in the north-west, this was the only +English mission in the Empire. It was contemplated as +a mission to the Mohammedans, but in this respect +has been an apparent failure. It is true that much prejudice +has been disarmed, and, as I have heard from +some leading Mohammedans, Dr. Bruce's zeal and good +works have won their respect. A large part of the Bible +has been translated into Persian and very widely +circulated through the adjacent country by means of +colporteurs of the British and Foreign Bible Society. His +preaching of Christianity is listened to respectfully, and +even with interest, wherever he itinerates, and Moslems +daily call on him, and show much friendliness, but the +results, as results are usually estimated, are <i>nil</i>—that is, +no Mohammedans openly profess Christianity.</p> + +<p>There is actual though not legal toleration, but +Moslem children may not attend a mission school, and +a Moslem who becomes a Christian loses his means of +living, and probably his life is sacrificed to fanaticism.</p> + +<p>In consequence of these difficulties, and certain +encouragements in another direction, the <i>ostensible</i> work +of the mission is among Armenians. Dr. Bruce has not +been afraid of incurring the stigma of being a proselytiser, +and has a large congregation of Armenians worshipping +after the English form, ninety-four being communicants +of the Church of England. On Easter Eve there was an +evening Communion, and the great row of women kneeling +at the rail in the pure white robes which cover them +from head to foot, and then moving back to their places +in the dim light, was very picturesque and beautiful.</p> + +<p>Good works have been added one after another, till +the mission is now a very large establishment. The +C.M.S. has been liberal to this, its only Persian agency, +and Dr. Bruce, having private means, has generously +expended them largely on missionary work in Julfa. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span></p> + +<p>The chief features of the compounds are the church, +which is both simple and ecclesiastical in its exterior and +interior, and the library adjoining it, where Dr. Bruce works +at the translation of the Old Testament into Persian and +the revision of the New, aided by a <i>munshi</i>, and where +through much of the day he is receiving Moslems, some +of whom come to inquire into Christianity, others for +religious disputations, and a third and numerous class out +of mere friendliness. The latter are generally invited +into the Mission House, and are regaled with coffee and +<i>kalians</i>, in orthodox Persian fashion. Among the latter +visitors has been the Amir-i-Panj, who came to ask me +to call on his wife, accompanied by a general of cavalry, +whose name I cannot spell, and who speaks French remarkably +well.</p> + +<p>Among the other buildings are those of the Medical +Mission, which include a roomy courtyard, where the +animals which carry the patients are tethered, rooms for +the doctor, a well-arranged dispensary and consulting-room, +with waiting-rooms for both sexes, and rooms above +in which serious surgical cases are received for treatment, +and where at present there are eleven patients, although +just now there is no European doctor, and they are being +treated by the native assistants, most kindly helped by +Dr. Scully of the telegraph staff. This hospital and +dispensary are largely taken advantage of by Moslems, +who highly appreciate this form of Christian benevolence.</p> + +<p>The boys' school, with 205 pupils, has been a great +benefit to Julfa. The head-master, Mr. Johannes, was +educated in England and was formerly a master of the +Nassik School in India. This school provides the +education of one of our best middle-class schools, and the +teaching is thorough. <i>Smattering</i> would be infinitely +despised by teachers and pupils. In this thorough fashion +Latin, French, the first four books of Euclid, and algebra +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> +are taught to the young men of the upper form. The +boys have a large playground, with a great tank for +bathing, and some of the equipments of a gymnasium, a +vaulting pole, parallel bars, etc.</p> + +<p>The girls' schools, containing 100 girls, have their own +courtyard, and they need enlarging, though the process +has been more than once repeated. Mrs. Aidin, an English +teacher, is at their head, and exercises that strong +influence which love and firmness give. The girls are a +mass of red, a cool red, without yellow, and when they +disperse they enliven the Julfa alleys with their carnation +dresses and pure white <i>chadars</i>. The education is +solid and suitable, and special attention is given to needlework.</p> + +<p>Besides these there is an orphanage, begun for the +benefit of those whose parents died in the famine, in +which are twenty boys. Outside are many other works, +a Bible House, from which colporteurs at intervals proceed +on journeys, a Young Men's Christian Association, or +something like it, etc. etc.</p> + +<p>Now as to the Mission House itself, which has to +accommodate Dr., Mrs., and Miss Bruce, Mr. Carless, a +clerical missionary, and two English lady missionaries. +So much has been written lately about the "style of +living" of missionaries, their large houses, and somewhat +unnecessary comfort in general, that I am everywhere +specially interested in investigating the subject, having +formed no definite opinion on the question whether living +as natives or living as Europeans is the more likely mode +of producing a salutary impression.</p> + +<p>The Mission House here is a native building, its +walls and ceilings simply decorated with pale brown +arabesques on a white ground. There are a bedroom and +parlour, with an ante-room between giving access to both +from the courtyard, a storeroom, and a kitchen. Across +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +the court are servants' quarters and a guest-room for +natives. Above these, reached by an outside stair, are a +good room, occupied by Mr. Carless as study and bedroom, +and one small guest-room. Another stair leads to two +rooms above some of the girls' school premises, having +enclosed alcoves used as sleeping and dressing rooms. +These are occupied by two ladies. One room serves as +eating-room for the whole mission party, at present six +in number, and as drawing-room and workroom. Books, +a harmonium, Persian rugs on the floor, and just enough +furniture for use constitute its "luxury."</p> + +<p>There are two servants, both of course men, and all +the ladies do some housework. At present the only +horse is the dispensary horse, a beast of such rough and +uneven paces that it is a penance to ride him. The +food is abundant, well cooked, and very simple.</p> + +<p>The life, all round, is a very busy one. Visitors are +never refused at any hour. The long flat mud roofs from +which one can see the gardens and the hills are used for +exercise, otherwise some of the party would never have +anything better than mud walls for their horizon, and +life in courtyards is rather depressing for Europeans. I +have told facts, and make no comments, and it must be +remembered that both Dr. Bruce and Miss V——, a lady +of rare devotion who has lately arrived,<a name="FNanchor_34" id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> are to a certain +extent "honorary" missionaries, and have the means, if +they had the desire, of surrounding themselves with +comforts.</p> + +<p>This is about the twenty-third mission circle with +which I have become acquainted during the last eight +months, and I see in nearly all the same difficulties, +many of them of a nature which we can hardly realise at +home. + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span></p> + +<p>Women coming to the East as missionaries are by far +the greatest sufferers, especially if they are young, for +Eastern custom, which in their position cannot be defied +with advantage, limits free action and abridges all the +comforts of independence. Thus a woman cannot take +a walk or a ride or go to a house without a trusty +man-servant in attendance on her, and this is often +inconvenient, so she does not go out at all, contenting +herself with a walk on the roof or in the courtyard.</p> + +<p>The wave of enthusiasm on which a lady leaves her +own country soon spends its force. The interest which +has centred round her for weeks or even months is left +behind. The enthusiastic addresses and farewell meetings, +the journey "up the country" with its excitement and +novelties, and the cordial welcome from the mission circle +to which she is introduced, soon become things of the +past. The circle, however kind, has its own interests and +work, and having provided her with a <i>munshi</i>, necessarily +goes on its own way more or less, and she is left to face +the fearful difficulties of languages with which ours has +no affinity, in a loneliness which is all the more severely +felt because she is usually, for a time at least, one +nominally of a family circle.</p> + +<p>Unless she is a doctor or nurse she can do nothing +till she has learned the language, and the difficulty of +learning is increased by the loss of the flexible mind and +retentive memory which are the heritage of extreme youth. +The temptation is to "go at it" violently. Then come the +aching head, the loss of sleep, the general lassitude and +nervousness, and the self-questionings as to whether she +was right in leaving her fruitful work in England.</p> + +<p>Then, instead of realising the truth of the phrases used +at home—"multitudes flocking as the doves to their windows"—"fields +white unto the harvest," etc.—she finds +that the work instead of seeking her has to be made by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +her most laboriously, and oftentimes the glowing hope +of telling of the Redeemer's love and death to throngs of +eager and receptive listeners is fulfilled in the drudgery +of teaching sewing and the rudiments of English during +the first year.</p> + +<p>It is just this first year under which many women +succumb. Then how many of the failings and weaknesses +of the larger world must be epitomised in a +mission group exposed, as Mr. Heyde of Kyelang feelingly +said, "to the lowering influence of daily contact +with a courteous and non-repulsive Heathenism and +Mohammedanism"! Missionaries are not likely to possess, +as they certainly are the last to claim, superior sanctity, +and the new-comer, dreaming of a circle in all respects +consecrated, finds herself among frictions, strong differences +as to methods of working, not always gently expressed, +and possible jealousies and criticisms, and an +exaggeration of the importance of trifles, natural where +large events are rare. A venerable American missionary in +Turkey said, "Believe me, the greatest trial of missionaries +is missionaries."</p> + +<p>The small group is frequently destitute of social resources +outside itself, it is cut off from friendly visits, +services, lectures, music, new books, news, and the many recreative +influences which all men regard as innocent. The +life-work seems at times thrown away, the heat, the flies, +and the mosquitos are depressing and exhausting, and in +the case of young women, especially till they can use the +language colloquially, there is little if any outside movement. +Is it wonderful that supposed slights, tiffs, criticisms +which would be utterly brushed away if a good +walk in the open or a good gallop were possible, should +be brooded over till they attain a magnitude which +embitters and depresses life?</p> + +<p>A man constantly finds the first year or two very +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> +trying till he has his tools—the language—at command, +and even men at times rub each other the wrong way, but +a man can take a good walk or a solitary gallop, or better +still, a week of itinerating among the villages. People +speak of the dangers and privations of missionary life. I +think that these are singularly over-estimated. But the +trials which I have alluded to, and which, with the hot +climates and insufficient exercise, undermine the health +of very many female missionaries, cannot be exaggerated, +and demand our deep sympathy.</p> + +<p>I do not think that the ordinary pious woman, the +successful and patient worker in district visiting, Bible +classes, mothers' meetings, etc., is necessarily suited to be +a foreign missionary, but that a heart which is a well-spring +of human love, and a natural "enthusiasm of +humanity" are required, as well as love to the Master, +the last permeating and sanctifying the others, and giving +them a perennial freshness. Fancy G. G—— grumbling +and discontented and magnifying unpropitious trifles, when +her heart goes out to every Chinawoman she sees in a +perfect passion of love!<a name="FNanchor_35" id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> + +<p>With the <i>medical</i> missionary, whether man or woman, +the case is different. The work seeks the worker even +before he is ready for it, claims him, pursues him, absorbs +him, and he is powerful to heal even where he is impotent +to convert. + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span></p> + +<p>I have been to the hospital to see a woman from the +Kuhrūd mountains, who was brought here to undergo an +operation. She had spent all her living on native +physicians without result, and her husband has actually +sold his house to get money to give his wife a last chance +of recovery. Fifteen years ago this man nearly took Dr. +Bruce's life. Now, he says, "The fruits of Christianity +are good."</p> + +<p>Daily the "labyrinth of alleys" becomes denser with +leafage, and the sun is hot enough to make the shade +very pleasant, while occasional showers keep the greenery +fresh. Indeed it is warm enough in my room to make +the cool draught from the <i>bādgīr</i> very pleasant. These +wind-towers are a feature of all Persian cities, breaking +the monotony of the flat roofs.</p> + +<p>Letters can be sent once a week from Isfahan, and +there is another opportunity very safe and much taken +advantage of, the "Telegraph <i>chapar</i>," a British official +messenger, who rides up and down between Bushire and +Tihran at stated intervals. The Persian post is a +wretched institution, partaking of the general corruption +of Persian officialism, and nowhere, unless <i>registered</i>, are +letters less safe than in Tihran.<a name="FNanchor_36" id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> I shall send this, +scrappy as it is, as I may not be here for another week's +mail.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER XIII</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"><span class="smcap">Julfa</span>, <i>April 29</i>.</p> + +<p>Each day has been completely filled up since I wrote, +and this is probably the last here. My dear old Cabul +tent, a <i>shuldari</i>, also Indian, and a servants' tent made +here on a plan of my own, are pitched in one of the +compounds to exercise the servants in the art, and it +really looks like going after many delays.</p> + +<p>A few festivities have broken the pleasant monotony +of life in this kindly and hospitable house—dinner parties, +European and Armenian; a picnic on the Kuh Sufi, from +which there is a very fine panoramic view of the vast +plain and its surrounding mountains, and of the immense +ruins of Isfahan and Julfa, with the shrunken remains of +both; and a "church picnic."</p> + +<p>From Kuh Sufi is seen how completely, and with a +sharp line of definition, the arid desert bounds the green +oasis of cultivated and irrigated gardens which surround +the city, and which are famous for the size and lusciousness +of their fruit. From a confusion of ruinous or ragged +walls of mud, of ruined and modern houses standing complacently +among heaps of rubbish, and from amidst a +greenery which redeems the scene, the blue tiled dome +of the Masjid-i-Shah, a few minarets, and the great dome +of the Medresseh, denuded of half its tiles, rise conspicuously. +Long lines of mud streets and caravanserais, +gaunt in their ruin, stretch into the desert, and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> +city once boasting of 650,000 inhabitants and a splendid +court survives with a population of less than 80,000 at +the highest estimate.</p> + +<p>The "church picnic" was held in a scene of decay, but +260 people, with all the women but three in red, enlivened +it. It was in the grounds of the old palace of Haft +Dast, in which Fatteh Ali Shah died, close to one of the +three remarkable bridges of Isfahan, the Pul-i-Kajū. +These bridges are magnificent. Their construction is +most peculiar, and their roadways being flat they are +almost unique in Persia.</p> + +<p>The Pul-i-Kajū, though of brick, has stone piers of immense +size, which are arched over so as to form a level +causeway. On this massive structure the upper bridge is +built, comprising a double series of rooms at each pier +with doorways overlooking the river, and there are staircases +and rooms also in the upper piers.</p> + +<p>The Chahar Bagh bridge is also quaint and magnificent, +with its thirty-three arches, some of them very large, its +corridors for foot passengers, and chambers above each +pier, each chamber having three openings to the river. +These bridges have a many-storied look, from their +innumerable windows at irregular altitudes, and form a +grand approach to the city.</p> + +<p>As at first, so now at last the most impressive thing to +me about the Zainderud next to its bridges is the extent +to which rinsing, one of the processes of dyeing, is carried +on upon its shingle flats. Isfahan dyed fabrics are famous +and beautiful, heavy cottons of village make and unbleached +cottons of Manchester make being brought here +to be dyed and printed.</p> + +<p>There is quite a population of dyers, and now that +the river is fairly low, many of them have camped for +the season in little shelters of brushwood erected on the +gravel banks. For fully half-a-mile these banks are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +covered with the rinsers of dyed and printed calicoes, +and with mighty heaps of their cottons. Hundreds of +pieces after the rinsing are laid closely together to dry, +indigo and turquoise blue, brown and purple madder, +Turkey red and saffron predominating, a vile aniline +colour showing itself here and there. Some of the +smaller dyers have their colour vats by the river, but +most of the cotton is brought from Isfahan, ready dyed, +on donkeys' backs, with the rinsers in attendance.</p> + +<p>Along the channels among the shingle banks are rows +of old millstones, and during much of the day a rinser +stands in front of each up to his knees in water. His +methods are rough, and the cotton must be good which +stands his treatment. Taking in his hands a piece of +soaked half-wrung cotton, from fifteen to twenty yards long, +he folds it into five feet and bangs it on the millstone +with all his might, roaring a tuneless song all the time, +till he fails from fatigue. The noise is tremendous, and +there will be more yet, for the river is not nearly at its +lowest point. When the piece has had the water beaten +out of it a boy spreads it out on the gravel, and keeps it wet +by dashing water over it, and then the process of beating +is repeated. The coloured spray rising from each millstone +in the bright sunshine is very pretty. Each rinser +has his watchdog to guard the cottons on the bank, and +between the banging, splashing, and singing, the barking +of the dogs and the shouts of the boys, it is a noisy +and cheery scene.</p> + +<p>I have heard that certain unscrupulous English +makers were in the habit of sending "loaded" cottons +here, but that the calico printers have been a match for +them, for the calico printer weighs his cloth before he +buys it, washes and dries it, and then weighs it again. +A man must "get up very early" if he means to cheat a +Persian. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span></p> + +<p>The patterns and colours are beautiful. Quilts, "table-cloths" +(for use on the floor), and <i>chadars</i> are often things +of exquisite beauty. Indeed I have yielded to temptation, +and to gratify my own tastes have bought some beautiful +"table-cloths" for Bakhtiari women, printed chiefly in +indigo and brown madder on a white ground.</p> + +<p>The temptations are great. I really need many +things both for my own outfit and for presents to the +Bakhtiaris, and pedlars come every day and unpack their +tempting bundles in the small verandah. No Europeans +and no women of the upper classes can enjoy the delights +of shopping in Persia, consequently the pedlar is a +necessary institution.</p> + +<p>Here they are of the humbler sort. They have +learned that it is useless to display rich Turkestan and +Feraghan carpets, gold and silver jewellery, inlaid arms, +stuffs worked with gold thread, or any of the things +which tempt the travelling Feringhi, so they bring all +sorts of common fabrics, printed cambrics, worthless +woollen stuffs, and the stout piece cottons and exquisitely-printed +cotton squares of Isfahan.</p> + +<p>At almost any hour of the day a salaaming creature +squatting at the door is seen, caressing a big bundle, +which on seeing you he pats in a deprecating manner, +looks up appealingly, declares that he is your "sacrifice," +and that with great trouble and loss he has got just +the thing the <i>khanum</i> wants. If you hesitate for one +moment the bundle is opened, and on his first visit he +invariably shows flaring Manchester cottons first; but if +you look and profess disgust, he produces cottons printed +here, strokes them lovingly, and asks double their value +for them. You offer something about half. He recedes +and you advance till a compromise is arrived at representing +the fair price.</p> + +<p>But occasionally, as about a table-cloth, if they see +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> +that you admire it very much but will not give the price +asked, they swear by Allah that they will not abate a +fraction, pack up their bundle, and move off in well-simulated +indignation, probably to return the next day +to offer the article on your own terms. Mrs. Bruce has +done the bargaining, and I have been only an amused +looker-on. I should prefer doing without things to the +worry and tedium of the process of buying them.</p> + +<p>The higher class of pedlars, such as those who visit +the <i>andaruns</i> of the rich, go in couples, with a donkey or +servant to carry their bundles.</p> + +<p>I mentioned that the Amir-i-Panj had called and had +asked me to visit his wife. I sent a message to say that +my entrance into Isfahan had been so disagreeable that +I should be afraid to pass through its gates again, to +which he replied that he would take care that I met +with no incivility. So an afternoon visit was arranged, +and he sent a splendid charger for me, one of the finest +horses I have seen in Persia, a horse for Mirza Yusuf, +and an escort of six cavalry soldiers, which was increased +to twelve at the city gate. The horse I rode answered +the description—"a neck clothed with thunder,"—he +was perfectly gentle, but his gait was that of a creature +too proud to touch the earth. It was exhilarating to be +upon such an animal.</p> + +<p>The cavalry men rode dashing animals, and wore +white Astrakan high caps, and the <i>cortège</i> quite filled +up the narrow alley where it waited, and as it passed +through the Chahar Bagh and the city gate, with much +prancing and clatter, no "tongue wagged" either of +dervish or urchin.</p> + +<p>At the entrance to the Amir's house I was received +by an <i>aide-de-camp</i> and a number of soldier-servants, and +was "conducted" into a long room opening by many +windows upon a beautiful garden full of peach blossom, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> +violets, and irises; the table was covered with very pretty +confectionery, including piles of <i>gaz</i>, a favourite sweetmeat, +made of manna which is chiefly collected within +eighty miles of Isfahan. Coffee was served in little cups +in filigree gold receptacles, and then the Amir-i-Panj +appeared in a white uniform, with a white lambskin cap, +and asked "permission to have the honour of accompanying +me to the <i>andarun</i>."</p> + +<p>Persian politeness is great, and the Amir, though I +think he is a Turk and not a Persian, is not deficient in it. +Such phrases as "My house is purified by your presence, +I live a thousand years in this visit," etc., were freely used.</p> + +<p>This man, who receives from all a very high character, +and whom Moslems speak of as a "saint," is the +most interesting Moslem I have met. In one sense a +thoroughly religious man, he practises all the virtues +which he knows, almsgiving to the extent of self-denial, +without distinction of creed, charity in word and deed, +truth, purity, and justice.</p> + +<p>I had been much prepossessed in his favour not only +from Dr. Bruce's high opinion of him but by the unbounded +love and reverence which my interpreter has for +him. Mirza Yusuf marched on foot from Bushire to +Isfahan, without credentials, an alien, and penniless, and +this good man hearing of him took him into his house, +and treated him as a welcome guest till a friend of his, a +Moslem, a general in the Persian army, also good and +generous, took him to Tihran, where he remained as his +guest for some months, and was introduced into the best +Persian society. From him I learned how beautiful and +pure a life may be even in a corrupt nation. When he +bowed to kiss the Amir's hand, with grateful affection in +his face, his "benefactor," as he always calls him, turned +to me and said, "He is to me as a dear son, God will be +with him." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span></p> + +<p>The garden is well laid out, and will soon be full of +flowers. The Amir seemed to love them passionately. +He said that they gave rest and joy, and are "the fringes +of the garment of God." He could not cut them, he said, +"Their beauty is in their completeness from root to +petals, and cutting destroys it."</p> + +<p>A curtained doorway in the high garden wall, where +the curtains were held aside by servants, leads into the +court of the <i>andarun</i>, where flowers again were in the +ascendant, and vines concealed the walls. The son, a +small boy, met us and kissed my hand. Mirza had told +me that he had never passed through this wall, and +had never seen the ladies, but when I proposed to leave +him outside, the Amir said he would be welcome, that he +wished for much conversation, and for his wife to hear +about the position and education of women in England.</p> + +<p>The beautiful reception-room looked something like +home. The pure white walls and honeycombed ceiling +are touched and decorated with a pale shade of blue, and +the ground of the patterns of the rich carpets on the floor +is in the same delicate colour, which is repeated in the +brocaded stuffs with which the divans are covered. A +half-length portrait of the Amir in a sky-blue uniform, +with his breast covered with orders, harmonises with the +general "scheme" of colour. The <i>takchahs</i> in the walls +are utilised for vases and other objects in alabaster, jade, +and bronze. A tea-table covered with sweetmeats, a +tea equipage on the floor, and some chairs completed +the furnishing.</p> + +<p>The Amir stood till his wife came in, and then asked +permission to sit down, placing Mirza, who discreetly +lowered his eyes when the lady entered, and never raised +them again, on the floor.</p> + +<p>She is young, tall, and somewhat stout. She was +much rouged, and her eyes, to which the arts of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> +toilet could add no additional beauty, were treated +with <i>kohl</i>, and the eyebrows artificially extended. She +wore fine gray socks, white skin-fitting tights, a black +satin skirt, or rather flounce, embroidered in gold, so +<i>bouffante</i> with flounces of starched crinoline under it that +when she sat down it stood out straight, not even touching +the chair. A chemise of spangled gauze, and a pale +blue gold-embroidered zouave jacket completed a costume +which is dress, not clothing. The somewhat startling +effect was toned down by a beautiful Constantinople silk +gauze veil, sprigged in pale pink and gold, absolutely +transparent, which draped her from head to foot.</p> + +<p>I did not get away in less than two hours. The +Amir and Mirza, used to each other's modes of expression, +found no difficulties, and Mirza being a man of education +as well as intelligence, thought was conveyed as easily as +fact. The lady kept her fine eyes lowered except when +her husband spoke to her.</p> + +<p>The chief topics were the education and position of +women in England, religion, politics, and the future of +Persia, and on all the Amir expressed himself with a +breadth and boldness which were astonishing. How far +the Amir has gone in the knowledge of the Christian +faith I cannot say, nor do I feel at liberty to repeat his +most interesting thoughts. A Sunni, a liberal, desiring +complete religious liberty, absolutely tolerant to the <i>Bābis</i>, +grateful for the kindness shown to some of them by the +British Legation, and for the protection still given to them +at the C.M.S. house, admiring Dr. Bruce's persevering +work, and above all the Medical Mission, which he regards +as "the crown of beneficence" and "the true imitation of +the life of the Great Prophet, Jesus," all he said showed +a strongly religious nature, and a philosophical mind +much given to religious thought. "All true religions aim +at one thing," he said, "to make the heart and life pure." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span></p> + +<p>He asked a good deal about my travels, and special +objects of interest in travelling, and was surprised when +I told him that I nearly always travel alone; but after a +moment's pause he said, "I do not understand that you +were for a moment alone, for you had everywhere the +love, companionship, and protection of God."</p> + +<p>He regards as the needs of Persia education, religious +liberty (the law which punishes a Moslem with death for +embracing Christianity is still on the statute-book), roads, +and railroads, and asked me if I had formed any opinion +on the subject. I said that it appeared to me that security +for the earnings of labour, and equal laws for rich and +poor, administered by incorruptible judges, should accompany +education. I much fear that he thinks incorruptible +judges a vision of a dim future!</p> + +<p>The subject of the position of women in England +and the height to which female education is now carried +interested him extremely. He wished his wife to understand +everything I told him. The success of women in +examinations in art, literature, music, and other things, +and the political wisdom and absolutely constitutional rule +of Queen Victoria, all interested him greatly. He asked +if the women who took these positions were equally good +as wives and mothers? I could only refer again to +Queen Victoria. An Oriental cannot understand the +position of unmarried women with us, or dissociate it +from religious vows, and the Amir heard with surprise that +a very large part of the philanthropic work which is done +in England is done by women who either from accident +or design have neither the happiness nor the duties of +married life. He hopes to see women in Persia educated +and emancipated from the trammels of certain customs, +"but," he added, "all reform in this direction must come +slowly, and grow naturally out of a wider education, if +it is to be good and not hurtful." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span></p> + +<p>He asked me what I should like to see in Isfahan, +but when I mentioned the prison he said he should be +ashamed to show it, and that except for political offences +imprisonment is not much resorted to, that Persian +justice is swift and severe—the bastinado, etc., not +incarceration.</p> + +<p>Afterwards I paid a similar visit to the house of +Mirza Yusuf's other "benefactor," also a good and charitable +man, who, as he speaks French well, acted as interpreter +in the <i>andarun</i>.</p> + +<p>A few days later the Amir-i-Panj, accompanied by +General Faisarallah Khan, called on Dr. Bruce and on +me, and showed how very agreeable a morning visit might +be made, and the following day the Amir sent the same +charger and escort for me, and meeting him and Dr. +Bruce in the Chahar Bagh, we visited the <i>Medresseh</i>, a +combined mosque and college, and the armoury, where we +were joined by two generals and were afterwards entertained +at tea in the Standard Room, while a military +band played outside. The Amir had ordered some +artificers skilled in the brass-work for which Isfahan is +famous to exhibit their wares in one of the rooms at +the armoury, and in every way tried to make the visit +more agreeable than an inspection of the jail! He +advises me not to wear a veil in the Bakhtiari country, +and to be "as European as possible."</p> + +<p>The armoury, of which he has had the organising, does +not fall within my province. There are many large +rooms with all the appliances of war in apparently +perfect order for the equipment of 5000 men.</p> + +<p>With equal brevity I pass over the <i>Medresseh</i>, whose +silver gates and exquisite tiles have been constantly +described. Decay will leave little of this beautiful +building in a few years. The tiles of the dome, which +can be seen for miles, are falling off, and even in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +halls of instruction and in the grand mosque under the +dome, which are completely lined and roofed by tiles, the +making of some of which is a lost art, one may augur +the approach of ruin from the loss or breakage here and +there. In the rooms or cells occupied by the students, +who study either theology or law, there are some very +fine windows executed in the beautiful tracery common +to Persia and Kashmir, but the effect of beauty passing +into preventible decay is very mournful.</p> + +<p>Isfahan too I barely notice, for the best of all reasons, +that I have not seen it! Though a fourth part of it is +in ruins, and its population is not an eighth of what it +was in the days of Shah Abbas, it is a fairly thriving +commercial emporium with an increasing British trade. +Indeed here Russian commercial influence may be said +to cease, and that of England to become paramount. +It is the paradise of Manchester and Glasgow cottons: +woollen goods come from Austria and Germany, glass +from Austria, crockery from England, candles and kerosene +represent Russia. Our commercial supremacy in Isfahan +cannot be disputed. I am almost tired of hearing of it. +Opium, tobacco, carpets from the different provinces, +and cotton and rice for native consumption, are the chief +exports. Opium is increasingly grown round the city, +and up the course of the Zainderud. Of the 4500 cases +exported, worth £90 a case, three-fourths go to China. +Its cultivation is so profitable and has increased so +rapidly to the neglect of food crops that the Prince +Governor has issued an order that one part of cereals +shall be sown for every four of the opium poppy.</p> + +<p>The cotton in the bazars, through which one can walk +under cover for between two and three miles, is of the +best quality, owing to the successful measures taken by +the calico printers to defeat the roguery of the cheating +manufacturers. All the European necessaries and many +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +of the luxuries of life are obtainable, and the Isfahan +bazars are the busiest in Persia except those of Tabriz.</p> + +<p>It is only fair to this southern capital to say that if one +can walk over two miles under the roofs of its fine +bazars, one can ride for many miles among its ruins, +which have desolation without stateliness, and are chiefly +known for the production of the excellent wild asparagus +which is used lavishly on European tables at this season.</p> + +<p>The "Persian Versailles," the Palace of Forty Pillars, +each pillar formed of shafts enriched with colour and +intricate work, and resting on a marble lion, the shaking +Minarets, the Masjid-i-Shah with its fine dome of peacock-blue +tiles, all falling into premature decay, remain +to attest its former greatness; the other noble palaces, +mosques, caravanserais, and <i>Medressehs</i> are ruinous, the +superb pleasure gardens are overgrown with weeds or +are used for vetches and barley, the tanks are foul or +filled up, the splendid plane trees have been cut down +for fuel, or are dragging out a hollow existence—every +one, as elsewhere in Persia, destroys, no one restores. +The armoury is the one exception to the general law of +decay.</p> + +<p>Yet Isfahan covered an area of twenty-four miles in +circumference, and with its population of 650,000 souls +was until the seventeenth century one of the most magnificent +cities of the East. Its destruction last century by +an Afghan conqueror, who perpetrated a fifteen days' +massacre, and the removal of the court to Tihran, have +reduced it to a mere commercial centre, a "distributing +point," and as such, its remains may take a new lease of +life. It has a newspaper called the <i>Farhang</i>, which +prints little bits of news, chiefly personal. Its editor +moves on European lines so far as to have "interviewed" +me!</p> + +<p>There are manufactures in Isfahan other than the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +successful printing and dyeing of cottons; viz., earthenware, +china, brass-work, velvet, satin, tents, coarse cottons, +glass, swords, guns, pistols, jewellery, writing paper and +envelopes, silk brocades, satins, gunpowder, bookbinding, +gold thread, etc.</p> + +<p>The plateau on which Isfahan stands, about seventy +miles from east to west and twenty from north to south, +and enclosed by high mountains with a striking outline, +lies 5400 feet above the sea. The city has a most salubrious +climate, and is free from great extremes both of +heat and cold. The Zainderud, on whose left bank it is +situated, endows much of the plain with fertility on its +way to its undeserved doom in a partially-explored swamp.</p> + +<p>This Christian town, called a suburb, though it is +really two and a half miles from Isfahan, is a well-built +and well-peopled nucleus. It is not mixed up with +ruins as Isfahan is. They have a region to themselves +chiefly in the direction of the Kuh Sufi. My impression +of it after a month is that it is clean and comfortable-looking, +Mr. Curzon's is that it is "squalid." I prefer +mine!</p> + +<p>It is a "city of waters." Streams taken from a +higher level of the Zainderud glide down nearly all its +lanes, shaded by pollard mulberries, ash, elm, and the +"sparrow-tongue" willow, which makes the best firewood, +and being "planted by the rivers of water," grows so fast +that it bears lopping annually, and besides affording fuel +supplies the twigs which are used for roofing such rooms +as are not arched.</p> + +<p>The houses, some of which are more than three +centuries old, are built of mud bricks, the roofs are +usually arched, and the walls are from three to five feet +thick. All possess planted courtyards and vineyards, and +gardens into which channels are led from the streams in +the streets. These streams serve other purposes: continually +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +a group of Armenian women may be seen washing +their clothes in them, while others are drinking or drawing +water just below. The lanes are about twenty feet +wide and have narrow rough causeways on both sides +of the water-channel. It is difficult on horseback to +pass a foot passenger without touching him in some of +them.</p> + +<p>Great picturesqueness is given to these leafy lanes by +the companies of Armenian women in bright red dresses +and pure white robes, slowly walking through them at +all hours of daylight, visions of bright eyes and rosy +cheeks. I have never yet seen a soiled white robe! +Long blank mud walls, low gateways, an occasional row +of mean shops, open porches of churches, dim and cool, +and an occasional European on foot or horseback, and +groups of male Armenians, whose dress so closely +approaches the European as to be without interest, and +black-robed priests gliding to the churches are all that is +usually to be seen. It sounds dull, perhaps.</p> + +<p>Many of the houses of the rich Armenians, some of +which are now let to Europeans, are extremely beautiful +inside, and even those occupied by the poorer classes, in +which a single lofty room can be rented for twopence a +week, are very pretty and appropriate. But no evidence of +wealth is permitted to be seen from the outside. It is +only a few years since the Armenians were subject to +many disabilities, and they have even now need to walk +warily lest they give offence. As, for instance, an +Armenian was compelled to ride an ass instead of a +horse, and when that restriction was relaxed, he had to +show his inferiority by dismounting from his horse before +entering the gates of Isfahan.</p> + +<p>They were not allowed to have bells on their churches, +(at Easter I wished they had none still), but now the +<i>Egglesiah Wang</i> (the great church) has a fine campanile +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +over 100 feet high in its inner court. The ancient mode +of announcing the hours of worship is still affectionately +adhered to, however. It consists of drumming with a +mallet on a board hanging from two posts, and successfully +breaks the sleep of the neighbourhood for the daily +service which begins before daylight.</p> + +<p>The Armenians, like the rich Persians, prudently keep +to the low gateways, which, with the absence of windows +and all exterior ornament, give the lanes so mean an +aspect, and tend to make one regard the beauty and even +magnificence within with considerable surprise.</p> + +<p>In England a rich man, partly for his own delectation, +and partly, if he be "the architect of his own fortune," +to impose his position ocularly on his poorer neighbours, +displays his wealth in all ways and on most occasions. +In Persia his chief pleasure must be to hoard it and contemplate +it, for any unusual display of it in equipages or +furnishings is certain to bring down upon him a "squeeze," +at Tihran in the shape of a visit from the Shah with its +inevitable consequences, and in the Provinces in that of +a requisition from the governor.</p> + +<p>For a man to "enlarge his gates" is to court destruction. +Poor men have low gates, which involve stooping, +to prevent rich men's servants from entering their houses +on horseback on disagreeable errands. Christian churches +have remarkably low doors elsewhere than in Julfa, to +prevent the Moslems from stabling their cattle in them. +Rich men affect mean entrances in order not to excite the +rapacity of officialism, according to the ancient proverb, +"He that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction" (Proverbs +xvii. 19). Only Royal gates and the gates of officials who +represent Royalty are high.</p> + +<p>The Armenian merchants have, like the Europeans, +their offices in Isfahan. The rest of the people get +their living by the making and selling of wine, keeping +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +small shops, making watches and jewellery, carpentering, +in which they are very skilful, and market-gardening; +they are thrifty and industrious, and there is very little +real poverty.</p> + +<p>The selling of wine does not conduce to the peace of +Julfa. A mixture of sour wine and <i>arak</i>, a coarse spirit, +is very intoxicating, and Persians, when they do drink, +drink till they are drunk, and the abominable concealed +traffic in liquor with the Moslems of the town is apt +to produce disgraceful brawls.</p> + +<p>Wine can be bought for fourpence a quart, but the +upper classes make their own, and it costs less than this. +Wines are both red and white, and one red wine is said +to be like good Chianti. The Armenians tipple and also +get drunk, priests included. It is said that some of the +jars used in fermenting are between 200 and 300 years +old.</p> + +<p>The excellent education given in the C.M.S. schools +has had the effect of stimulating the Armenian schools, +and of producing among the young men a large +emigration to India, Batavia, Constantinople, and even +England. Only the dullards as a rule remain in Julfa. +Some rise high in Persian and even in Turkish employment.</p> + +<p>The Armenian women are capital housewives and +very industrious. In these warm evenings the poorer +women sit outside their houses in groups knitting. +The knitting of socks is a great industry, and a woman +can earn 4s. a month by it, which is enough to live upon.</p> + +<p>In Julfa, and it may be partly owing to the presence +of a European community, the Christians have nothing to +complain of, and, so far as I can see, they are on terms of +equality with the Persians.</p> + +<p>However, Isfahan is full of religious intolerance which +can easily be excited to frenzy, and the arrogance of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +<i>mollahs</i> has increased since the fall from almost regal +state of the Zil-i-Sultan, the Shah's eldest son, into the +position of a provincial governor, for he curbed them somewhat, +and now the restraint is removed. However, it is +against the Jews and the <i>Bābis</i>, rather than the Christians, +that their hostility is directed.</p> + +<p>A few weeks ago some <i>Bābis</i> were peaceably returning +to a neighbouring village, when they were attacked, +and seven of their number were massacred under atrocious +circumstances, the remainder taking refuge for a time in +the British Telegraph office. Several of both sexes who +escaped are in concealment here in a room in the Hospital +compound, one of them with a broken jaw.</p> + +<p>The hiding of these <i>Bābis</i> has given great umbrage to +the bigots of Isfahan, though the Amir-i-Panj justified +it on all grounds, and about the time I arrived it was +said that a thousand city fanatics purposed to attack the +mission premises. But at one of the mosques there is a +<i>mollah</i>, who with Gamaliel-like wisdom urged upon them +"that if 300 Moslems were killed nothing would happen, +but if a single European were killed, what then?"<a name="FNanchor_37" id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>I cannot close this letter without a few words on the +Armenian churches, some of which I visited with Mr. +and Dr. Aganoor, and others with Dr. Bruce. The ceremony +representing the washing of the disciples' feet on +the Armenian Holy Thursday was a most magnificent one +as regards the antique splendour and extreme beauty of +the vestments and jewels of the officiating bishop, but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +the feet, which are washed in rose-water and anointed, +are not, as in Rome, those of beggars, but of neophytes +costumed in pure white. Incense, embroideries, crowds +of white-robed women, and other accessories made the +function an imposing one.</p> + +<p>The Cathedral, a part of the Monastery, has a narrow +winding approach and a thick door, for ecclesiastics were +not always as safe as they are now. In the outer court is +the campanile before mentioned. The floor is paved with +monumental slabs, and among the graves are those of +several Europeans. Piles of logs look as if the Julfa +carpenters seasoned their wood in this court!</p> + +<p>The church is divided by a rail into two compartments. +The dome is rich with beaten gold, and the dado is of +very fine tiles, which produce a striking effect. The +embroideries and the carpets, some of which are worth +fabulous sums, are between two and three centuries old. +The vestments and ornaments of the priests are very +fine, and suggest the attire of the Aaronic priesthood.</p> + +<p>It is a striking building, and the amount of gold and +colour, toned into a certain harmony by time, produces a +gorgeous effect. The outer compartment has a singular +interest, for 230 years ago its walls were decorated +with religious paintings, on a large scale, of events in +Bible history, from the creation downwards. Some are +copies, others original, and they are attributed to Italian +artists. They are well worth careful study as representing +the conceptions which found favour among the +Armenian Christians of that day. They are terribly +realistic, but are certainly instructive, especially the +illustrations of the miracles and parables.</p> + +<p>In one of the latter a man with a huge beam sticking +out of one eye is represented as looking superciliously +with the other at a man with an insignificant spike projecting. +The death of Dives is a horrible representation. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +His soul, in the likeness of a very small nude figure, is +represented as escaping from the top of his head, and is +being escorted to the entrance of the lower regions by +a flight of small black devils. The idea of the soul +emerging from the top of the head is evidently borrowed +from the Moslems.</p> + +<p>Our Lord is, I think, everywhere depicted as short, +dark, and dark-haired, with eyebrows much curved, +and a very long upper lip, without beauty or dignity, an +ordinary Oriental workman.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> picture of the Cathedral is an enormous canvas, +representing the day when "before Him shall be gathered +all nations." The three persons of the Trinity are there, +and saints and angels are portrayed as worshipping, or +as enjoying somewhat earthly but perfectly innocent +delights.</p> + +<p>In this the conception is analogous to those celebrated +circular pictures in which the Buddhistic future is unrolled, +and which I last saw in the monasteries of +Lesser Tibet. The upper or heavenly part is insignificant +and very small, while the torments of the lost in +the lower part are on a very large scale, and both the +devils and the nude human sufferers in every phase of +anguish have the appearance of life size. The ingenuity +of torment, however, is not nearly so great, nor are the +scenes so revolting as those which Oriental imagination +has depicted in the Buddhist hells. A huge mythical +monster represents the mouth of hell, and into his flaming +and smoking jaws the impenitent are falling. Does any +modern Armenian believe that any of those whose bones +lie under the huge blocks of stone in the cemetery in the +red desert at the foot of Kuh Sufi have passed into "this +place of torment"?</p> + +<p>The other church which claims one's interest, though +not used for worship, is that of St. George, the hero of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +fraudulent contract in bacon, as well as of the dragon +fight, to whom the Armenians as well as ourselves render +singular honour.</p> + +<p>This church is a great place for "miracles" of healing, +and cells for the sick who come from a distance are +freely provided. In a covered court are some large stones +in a group, one of them evidently the capital of a column. +Two of them have cavities at the top, and the sick kneel +before them, and as the voluble women who were there +told us, "they first pray to God and then to the stones," +and finally pour water into these cavities and drink it. +The cure is either instantaneous or occurs at any time +within fifteen days, and in every case the patient hears +the voice of St. George telling him to go home when it +is complete.</p> + +<p>These stones, according to the legend told by the +women and popularly believed by the uneducated, took +it into their heads to come from Etchmiadzin in +Armenia, the residence of the <i>Catholicos</i>, in one night, +and deposited themselves where the church now stands. +Seven times they were taken into Faraidan, eighty miles +from Julfa, and as often returned, and their manifest predilection +was at last rewarded by a rest of centuries. +There were a number of sick people waiting for healing, +for which of course fees are bestowed.</p> + +<p>The Armenians, especially the women, pay great +attention to the externals of their religion. Some of its +claims are very severe, such as the daily service before +daylight, winter and summer, and the long fasts, which +they keep with surprising loyalty, <i>i.e.</i> among the poor in +towns and in the villages. For at least one-sixth of the +year they are debarred from the use of meat or even +eggs, and are permitted only vegetable oils, fruits, vegetables, +and grain. Spirits and wine, however, are not +prohibited. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span></p> + +<p>I really believe that their passionate attachment to +their venerable church, the oldest of all national churches, +is fostered by those among them who have ceased to +believe its doctrines, as a necessity of national existence. +I doubt very much whether the "Reformed" congregations, +which have been gathered out here and elsewhere, +would survive the withdrawal of foreign aid. Rather, I +think, they would revert to the original type.</p> + +<p>Superstitions without number are mixed up with their +beliefs, and are countenanced by the priests. The <i>meron</i> +or holy oil used in baptism and for other purposes has +the stamp of charlatanism upon it. It is made in +Etchmiadzin.</p> + +<p>Rose leaves are collected in an immense vat, which is +filled with water, and at a set time the monks and nuns +form a circle round it, and repeat prayers till "fermentation" +begins. They claim that the so-called fermentation +is a miracle due to the prayers offered. Oil, probably +attar of roses, rises to the surface, and this precious +<i>meron</i> is sent to the Armenian churches throughout the +world about once in four or five years. In Persia those +who bear it are received with an <i>istikbal</i> or procession of +welcome.</p> + +<p>It is used not only in baptism and other rites but at +the annual ceremony of washing the Cross at Christmas, +when some of it is poured into the water and is drunk +by the worshippers. In the villages they make a paste +by mixing this water and oil with earth, which is made +into balls and kept in the houses for "luck." If a +dog licks a bowl or other vessel, and thus renders it +unclean, rubbing it round with one of these balls restores +it to purity.</p> + +<p>At a village in Faraidan there is an ancient New +Testament, reputed to be of the sixth century. To this +MS. people come on pilgrimage from all quarters, even +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +from Fars, Tihran, and Armenia, to be healed of their +diseases, and they make offerings to it, and practically +render it worship.</p> + +<p>To go and pray on a newly-made grave is a remedy +for childlessness much resorted to by childless wives. +When two boys fight, and one of them is hurt, or when +any one is injured by a dog or by a tree falling, they +wash the damaged person in water, and then throw the +water over the boy, dog, or tree which has been the cause +of the injury, believing that in this way the mischief +is transferred.</p> + +<p>When any one is ill of fright and the cause is not +known, the nuns come to the house, and pour wax into +a basin of boiling water, noting the form it takes, such +as a snake, a dog, or a frog. In a case lately they +went out and killed a snake, for the thing whose form +the wax takes ought to be killed; but as this might often +be difficult or unsuitable, they compromise the matter +by throwing the water (not boiling, I hope) over the +nearest dog or toad, or anything else which is supposed +to be the culprit.</p> + +<p>On the first Monday in Lent the women wash their +knitting needles for luck in a stream which runs through +Julfa. The children educated in the Mission schools +laugh at these and many other superstitions.</p> + +<p>The dress of the Armenian women is very showy, but +too much of a <i>huddle</i>. Red is the dominant colour, a +carnation red with white patterns sprawling over it, +They wear coloured trousers concealed by a long skirt. +The visible under-garment is a long, "shaped" dress of +Turkey red. Over this is worn a somewhat scanty gown +of red and white cotton, open in front, and very short-waisted, +and over this a plain red pelisse or outer garment, +often quilted, open in front, gashed up the sides, +and falling below the knees. Of course this costume is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +liable to many modifications in the way of material, and +embroidered jackets, heavily trimmed with jewellery and +the like. As fashion is unchanging the acquisition and +hoarding of garments are carried to a great extent.</p> + +<p>There are two marked features of Armenian dress, one, +the massive silver girdle made of heavy chased-silver links +four inches long by two deep, often antique and always +of antique design, which falls much below the waist in +front, and is used to confine the ends of the white sheet +which envelops an Armenian woman out of doors, so that +it may hang evenly all round. The other is a skull-cap +of embroidered silk or cloth, placed well back on the head +above the many hanging plaits in which the hair is worn, +with a black velvet coronet in front, from which among +the richer women rows of coins depend. This, which is +very becoming to the brilliant complexion and comely +face below it, is in its turn covered by a half handkerchief, +and over this is gracefully worn, when not gracelessly +clutched, a <i>chadar</i> or drapery of printed cambric or +muslin. A white band bound across the chin up to the +lips suggests a broken jaw, and the <i>tout ensemble</i> of the +various wrappings of the head a perennial toothache.</p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER XIV</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"> +<span class="smcap">Julfa</span>, <i>April 30</i>.</p> + +<p>You will be tired of Julfa though I am not. I fully +expected to have left it a fortnight ago, but unavoidable +delays have occurred. My caravan and servants started +this morning, and I leave myself in a few hours.</p> + +<p>Upon my horse I have bestowed the suggestive +name of <i>Screw</i>. He is fairly well-bred, big-headed, +big-eared, small-bodied, bright bay, fine-coated, slightly +flat-footed, and with his fore hoofs split in several places +from the coronet nearly to the shoe. He is an undoubted +<i>yabu</i>, and has carried loads for many a day. +He has a long stride, shies badly, walks very fast, canters +easily, and at present shows no tendency to tumble +down.<a name="FNanchor_38" id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> + +<p>I have had pleasant rides alone, crossing the definite +dividing line between the desert and the oasis of +cultivation and irrigation, watching the daily development +of the various crops and the brief life of the wild +flowers, creeping through the green fields on the narrow +margins of irrigating ditches, down to the Pul-i-Kajū, +and returning to the green lanes of Julfa by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +bright waters of the Zainderud crimsoning in the setting +sun.</p> + +<p>For in the late cool and breezy weather, not altogether +free from clouds and showers, there have been some +gorgeous sunsets, and magnificent colouring of the depth +and richness which people call tropical, has blazed extravagantly; +and from the violet desert to the indigo +storm-clouds on the still snow-patched Kuhrūd mountains, +from the vivid green of the oasis to the purple +crags in dark relief against a sky of flame, all things have +been new.</p> + +<p>Two Sundays witnessed two incidents, one the baptism +of a young Moslem in a semi-private fashion, who +shortly afterwards renounced Christianity, and the other +that of a respectable Mohammedan merchant in Isfahan, +who has long pleaded for baptism, presenting himself at +the altar rails at the Holy Communion, resolved that if +he were not permitted to confess Christ as Divine in one +way he would in another. He was passed over, to my +great regret, if he be sincere, but I suppose the Rubric +leaves no choice.<a name="FNanchor_39" id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>I have written little about my prospective journey +because there has been a prolonged uncertainty about it, +and even now I cannot give any definite account of the +project, except that the route lies through an altogether +mountainous region, in that part of the province of +Luristan known in Persia colloquially as the "Bakhtiari +country," from being inhabited by the Bakhtiari Lurs, +chiefly nomads. The pros and cons as to my going have +been innumerable, and the two people in Persia who +know the earlier part of the route say that the character +of the people makes it impossible for a lady to travel +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +among them. On the other hand, I have the consent +and help of the highest authorities, Persian and English, +and shall not go too far, but shall return to Isfahan in +case things should turn out as is feared. The exploration +of a previously unexplored region will be in itself interesting, +but whether there will be sufficient of the human +interests, which I chiefly care for, I doubt; in that case +the journey will be dull.</p> + +<p>At all events I shall probably have to return here in +two months,<a name="FNanchor_40" id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> but such a journey for myself and two servants +in such a region requires extensive preparations, +and I have brought all my own travelling "dodges" into +requisition, with a selection of those of other people.</p> + +<p>It is considered desirable to carry stores from Isfahan +for forty days, except flour and rice, which can be obtained +a week's march from here. At the British Legation +I was kindly supplied with many tins of preserved meat, +and milk, and jam, and besides these I am only taking +a quantity of Edwards' Desiccated Soup, portable and +excellent, twelve pounds of tea, and ten pounds of candles. +The great thing in planning is to think of what one can +do without. Two small bottles of saccharin supply the +place of forty pounds of sugar.</p> + +<p>Two <i>yekdans</i> contain my stores, cooking and table utensils +and personal luggage, a waterproof bag my bedding, +and a divided packing-case, now empty, goes for the flour +and rice. Everything in the <i>yekdans</i> is put up in bags +made of the coarse cotton of the country. The tents and +tent-poles, which have been socketed for easier transport +on crooked mountain paths, and a camp-bed made from +a Kashmiri pattern in Tihran, are all packed in covers +made from the gunny bags in which sugar is imported, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +and so are double sets of large and small iron tent-pegs.</p> + +<p>Presents for the "savages" are also essential, and I +have succeeded in getting 100 thimbles, many gross +of small china buttons which, it is said, they like to sew +on children's caps, 1000 needles, a quantity of Russian +thread, a number of boxes with mirror tops, two dozen +double-bladed knives, and the same number of strong +scissors, Kashmir <i>kamarbands</i>, gay handkerchiefs for +women's heads, Isfahan printed "table-cloths," dozens of +bead bracelets and necklaces, leather purses and tobacco +pouches, and many other things.</p> + +<p>I take three tents, including a <i>shuldari</i>, five feet +square, and only weighing ten pounds. My kit is reduced +to very simple elements, a kettle, two copper pots which +fit into each other, a frying pan, cooking knife and spoon, +a tray instead of a table, a chair, two plates, a teacup and +saucer, a soup plate, mug, and teapot, all of course in +enamelled iron, a knife, fork, and two spoons. This is +ample for one person for any length of time in camp.</p> + +<p>For this amount of baggage and for the sacks of flour +and rice, weighing 160 lbs., which will hereafter be +carried, I have four mules, none heavily laden, and two +with such light loads that they can be ridden by my +servants. These mules, two <i>charvadars</i>, and a horse are +engaged for the journey at two <i>krans</i> (16d.) a day each, +the owner stipulating for a <i>bakhsheesh</i> of fifty <i>krans</i>, if at +the end I am satisfied. This sum is to cover food and +all risks.</p> + +<p>The animals are hired from a well-known <i>charvadar</i>, +who has made a large fortune and is regarded as very +trustworthy; Dr. Bruce calls him the "prince of +<i>charvadars</i>." He and his son are going on the "trip." +He has a quiet, superior manner, and when he came to +judge of the weight of my loads, he said they were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> +"very good—very right," a more agreeable verdict than +muleteers are wont to pass upon baggage.<a name="FNanchor_41" id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> + +<p>The making of the contract with Hadji involved two +important processes, the writing of it by a scribe and +the sealing of it. The scribe is one of the most +important persons in Persia. Every great man has one +or more, and every little man has occasion for a scribe's +services in the course of a year. He is the trusted +depositary of an infinity of secrets. He moves with +dignity and deliberation, his "writer's inkhorn" pendent +from his girdle, and his physiognomy has been trained +to that reticent, semi-mysterious expression common to +successful solicitors in England.</p> + +<p>Writing is a fine art in Persia. The characters are +in themselves graceful, and lend themselves readily to +decoration. The old illuminated MSS. are things of +beauty; even my contract is ornamental. The scribe +holds the paper in his left hand, and uses a reed +pen with the nib cut obliquely, writing from right to +left. The ink is thick, and is carried with the pens in +a <i>papier-maché</i> inkhorn.</p> + +<p>Hadji tells me with much pride that his son, Abbas +Ali, can write "and will be very useful."</p> + +<p>Sealing is instead of signing. As in Japan, every +adult male has his seal, of agate or cornelian among the +rich, and of brass or silver among the poor. The name +is carefully engraved on the seal at a cost of from a half-penny +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> +to 18s. a letter. Tihran is celebrated for its seal-cutters. +No document is authentic without a seal as its +signature.</p> + +<p>Hadji took the contract and applied it to his forehead +in token of respect, touched the paper with his +tongue to make it moist and receptive, waved it in the +air to rid it of superfluous moisture, wetted his fingers on +a spongy ball of silk full of Indian ink in the scribe's +inkstand, rubbed the ink on the seal, breathed on it, and +pressed it firmly down on the paper, which he held over +the forefinger of his left hand. The smallest acts in +Persia are regulated by rigid custom.</p> + +<p>The remaining portion of my outfit, but not the least +important, consists of a beautiful medicine chest of the +most compact and portable make, most kindly given to +me by Messrs. Burroughes and Wellcome, containing fifty +small bottles of their invaluable "tabloids," a hypodermic +syringe, and surgical instruments for simple cases. To +these I have added a quantity of quinine, and Dr. +Odling at Tihran gave me some valuable remedies. A +quantity of bandages, lint, absorbent cotton, etc., completes +this essential equipment. Among the many uncertainties +of the future this appears certain, that the Bakhtiaris will +be clamorous for European medicine.</p> + +<p>I have written of my servants. Mirza Yusuf pleases +me very much, Hassan the cook seems quiet, but not +active, and I picture to myself the confusion of to-night +in camp, with two men who know nothing about camp +life and its makeshifts!</p> + +<p>Whatever the summer brings, this is probably my last +letter written from under a roof till next winter. I am +sorry to leave Julfa and these kind friends, but the +prospect of the unknown has its charms.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">NOTES ON THE "BAKHTIARI COUNTRY" OR +LURI-BUZURG</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span></p> + +<p class="p2">In introducing the following journal of a summer spent +in Luri-Buzurg or Greater Luristan by a few explanatory +notes, I desire to acknowledge the labours of those +travellers who have preceded me over some of the +earlier portions of the route, and my obligations to those +careful explorers of half a century ago, who turned the +light of modern research upon the antiquities of Lower +Elam and the condition of its modern inhabitants, and +whose earnestness and accuracy the traveller in Upper +Elam and the Bakhtiari country may well desire to +emulate.<a name="FNanchor_42" id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>For the correction of those portions of my letters +which attempt to describe a part of mountainous +Luristan previously unexplored, I am deeply indebted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +to a recent unpublished Geographical Report, to which +any geographical interest which they may possess is +altogether due. For the customs and beliefs of the +Bakhtiaris I have had to depend entirely on my own +investigations, made through an intelligent and faithful +interpreter, whose desire for accuracy was scarcely +exceeded by my own.</p> + +<p>The accompanying sketch map represents an area of +15,000 square miles, lying, roughly speaking, between +Lat. 31° and 34° N., and between Long. 48° and 51° +E., and covering a distance of 300 miles from the Khana +Mirza to Khuramabad.</p> + +<p>The itinerary covers a distance of about 700 miles, a +journey of three and a half months, chiefly in the region +of the Upper Karun and its affluents, among which +must be included the head-waters of the Ab-i-Diz.</p> + +<p>During this time the Karun was traced, wherever +the nature of its bed admitted of it, from the gorge of +Dupulan, below which several travellers have investigated +and reported its extraordinary windings, up to the Sar-Cheshmeh-i-Kurang, +its reputed source, a vigorous +fountain spring with an altitude of 8000 feet in the +steep limestone face of the north-eastern side of the +Zard Kuh range, and upwards to its real source in the +Kuh-i-Rang or "variegated mountain."</p> + +<p>The Ab-i-Diz was found to carry off the water of a +larger area than had been supposed; the north-west +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +branches, the Ab-i-Burujird and the Kamandab, which +drain the well-watered plain of Silakhor, almost yielding +in importance to the Guwa and Gokun, which, uniting +to form what, for convenience' sake, was termed the +Ab-i-Basnoi, receive the drainage of the upper part of +Faraidan, an important district of Persia proper.</p> + +<p>A lake of marvellously coloured water, two and a half +miles long by one mile wide, very deep, and with a +persistent level, was found to occupy a hollow at the +inner foot of the grand mountain Shuturun, and this, +having no native name, was marked on the map as Lake +Irene.</p> + +<p>The Bakhtiari mountains are chains of precipitous +parallel ranges, generally running north-west and south-east, +the valleys which divide them and carry off their +waters taking the same directions as far as the Kuh-i-Rang, +where a remarkable change takes place, noticed in Letter +XVII. This great mountain region, lying between the +lofty plateau of Central Persia and the plains of Khuzistan, +has continuous ranges of singular steepness, but +rarely broken up into prominent peaks, the Kuh-i-Rang, +the Kuh-i-Shahan, the Shuturun Kuh, and Dalonak being +detached mountains.</p> + +<p>The great ranges of the Kuh-i-Sukhta, the Kuh-i-Gerra, +the Sabz Kuh, the Kala Kuh, and the Zard Kuh +were crossed and recrossed by passes from 8000 to +11,000 feet in altitude; many of the summits were +ascended, and the deep valleys between them, with their +full-watered, peacock-green streams, were followed up +wherever it was possible to do so. The magnificent +mountain Kuh-i-Rang was ascertained to be not only a +notable water-parting, but to indicate in a very marked +manner two distinct mountain systems with remarkable +peculiarities of drainage, as well as to form a colossal +barrier between two regions which, for the sake of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +intelligible description, were called "Upper Elam" and +the "Bakhtiari country."</p> + +<p>The same authority, for the same purpose, designated +the two main and highest chains of mountains +by the terms "Outer" and "Inner" ranges, the former +being the one nearest the great Persian plateau, the latter +the chain nearest to the Khuzistan plains. The conjectural +altitudes of the peaks in this hitherto unexplored +region have been brought down by some thousands of +feet, and the "eternal snow" with which rumour had +crested them has turned out a myth, the altitude of the +highest summit being estimated at only a trifle over +13,000 feet.</p> + +<p>The nearly continuous ranges south-east of the Kuh-i-Rang +are pierced for the passage of water by a few +remarkable rifts or <i>tangs</i>—the Outer range by the Tang-i-Ghezi, +the outlet of the Zainderud towards Isfahan, and +the Tang-i-Darkash Warkash, by which the drainage of +the important districts of the Chahar Mahals passes to +the Karun, the Inner range being pierced at the Tang-i-Dupulan +by the Karun itself. North-west of the Kuh-i-Rang +the rivers which carry the drainage of certain +districts of south-west Persia to the sea pierce the main +mountain ranges at right angles, passing through magnificent +gorges and chasms from 3000 to 5000 feet in +depth.</p> + +<p>Among the mountains, but especially in the formation +south-east of the Kuh-i-Rang, there are many alpine +valleys at altitudes of from 7000 to 8500 feet, rich +summer pastures, such as Gurab, Chigakhor, Shorab, and +Cheshmeh Zarin.</p> + +<p>Some of the valleys are of considerable width, many +only afford room for narrow tracks above the streams +by which they are usually watered, while others are +mere rifts for torrents and are inaccessible. Among the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> +limestone ranges fountain springs are of frequent occurrence, +gushing out of the mountain sides with great +volume and impetuosity—the perennial sources of perennial +streams.</p> + +<p>Much of the country is absolutely without wood, producing +nothing fit even for fuel but the <i>Astragalus verus</i> +and the <i>Astragalus tragacantha</i>. This is especially the case +on the outer slopes of the Outer range, which are formed +of rocky ribs with a covering of gravel, and are "barren, +treeless, waterless, and grassless." From the same crest +to the outer slopes of the Inner range, which descend on +Khuzistan, there are splendid pasturage, abundant water, +and extensive forests in the deep valleys and on the hill +slopes.<a name="FNanchor_43" id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<p>The trees, however, can rarely be defined as "forest +trees." They are small in girth and are usually stunted +and wizened in aspect, as if the conditions of their existence +were not kindly.</p> + +<p>Flowers are innumerable in the months of May and +June, beginning with the tulip, the iris, the narcissus, and +a small purple gladiolus, and a little later many of the +hillsides above an altitude of 7000 feet are aflame with +a crimson and terra-cotta <i>Fritillaria imperialis</i>, and a +carnation-red anemone, while the margins of the snow-fields +are gay with pink patches of an exquisite alpine +primula. Chicory, the dark blue centaurea, a large orange +and yellow snapdragon, and the scarlet poppy attend +upon grain crops there as elsewhere, and the slopes above +the upper Karun are brilliant with pink, mauve, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span> +white hollyhocks. But it must be admitted that the chief +interest of many of the flowers is botanical only. They +are leathery, woolly, thorny, and sticky, adapted rather +for arid circumstances than to rejoice the eye.</p> + +<p>Among the economic plants observed were the <i>Centaurea +alata</i>, which grows in singular abundance at a +height of from 5500 to 7000 feet, and is cut and stacked +for fodder; a species of celery of very strong flavour, +which is an important article of food for man and beast, +and the flower-stalks of which, six feet high, are woven into +booths by some of the tribes; the blue linum, red madder, +the <i>Eryngium cæruleum</i>, which is cut and stacked for +fodder; a purple garlic, the bulbs of which are eaten; +liquorice, and the <i>Ferula asafetida</i> in small quantities.</p> + +<p>It is a surprise to the traveller to find that a large +area is under cultivation, and that the crops of wheat and +barley are clean, and up to the Persian average, and that +the removal of stones and a laborious irrigation system +are the work of nomads who only occupy their <i>yailaks</i> +for five months of the year. It may be said that nearly +every valley and hill-slope where water is procurable is +turned to account for grain crops.</p> + +<p>No part of the world in this latitude is fuller of +streams and torrents, but three only attain to any geographical +dignity—the Zainderud, or river of Isfahan, +which after a course full of promise loses itself ignominiously +in a partially-explored swamp; the Karun, with its +Bakhtiari tributaries of the Ab-i-Bazuft, the Darkash +Warkash, the Ab-i-Sabzu, and the Dinarud; and the Ab-i-Diz, +which has an important course of its own before its +junction with the Karun at Bandakir. None of these +rivers are navigable during their course through the +Bakhtiari mountains. They are occasionally spanned by +bridges of stone or wickerwork, or of yet simpler construction. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span></p> + +<p>With the exception of the small area of the Outer +range, which contains the head-waters of the Zainderud, +the Bakhtiari country proper consists of the valleys of +the upper Karun and its tributaries.</p> + +<p>The tracks naturally follow the valleys, and are fairly +easy in their gradients to the south-east of the Kuh-i-Rang. +To the north-west, however, being compelled to cross +rivers which pierce the ranges at right angles to their +directions, ascents and descents of several thousand feet +are involved at short intervals, formed of rock ladders, +which may be regarded as "impassable for laden animals."</p> + +<p>The so-called roads are nothing better than tracks +worn in the course of centuries by the annual passage of +the nomads and their flocks to and from their summer +pastures. In addition to the tracks which follow the lie +of the valleys, footpaths cross the main ranges where +foothold can be obtained.</p> + +<p>There are but two bridle tracks which deserve mention +as being possible for caravan traffic between Isfahan and +Shuster, one crossing the God-i-Murda at a height of +7050 feet and the Karun at Dupulan, the other, which +considerably diminishes the distance between the two +commercial points, crossing the Zard Kuh by the Cherri +Pass at an altitude of 9550 feet and dropping down +a steep descent of over 4000 feet to the Bazuft river. +These, the Gurab, and the Gil-i-Shah, and Pambakal +Passes, which cross the Zard Kuh range at elevations of +over 11,000 feet, are reported as closed by snow for +several months in winter. In view of the cart-road from +Ahwaz to Tihran, which will pass through the gap of +Khuramabad, the possible importance of any one of these +routes fades completely away.</p> + +<p>The climate, though one of extremes, is healthy. +Maladies of locality are unknown, the water is usually +pure, and malarious swamps do not exist. Salt springs +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +produce a sufficiency of salt for wholesome use, and +medicinal plants abound. The heat begins in early June +and is steady till the end of August, the mercury rising +to 102° in the shade at altitudes of 7000 feet, but it is +rarely oppressive; the nights are cool, and greenery and +abounding waters are a delightful contrast to the arid +hills and burning plains of Persia. The rainfall is +scarcely measurable, the snowfall is reported as heavy, +and the winter temperatures are presumably low.</p> + +<p>There are few traces of a past history, and the legends +connected with the few are too hazy to be of any value, +but there are remains of bridges of dressed stone, and of +at least one ancient road, which must have been trodden +by the soldiers of Alexander the Great and Valerian, and +it is not impossible that the rude forts here and there +which the tribesmen attribute to mythical heroes of their +own race may have been built to guard Greek or Roman +communications.</p> + +<p>The geology, entomology, and zoology of the Bakhtiari +country have yet to be investigated. In a journey of +three months and a half the only animals seen were a +bear and cubs, a boar, some small ibex, a blue hare, and +some jackals. Francolin are common, and storks were +seen, but scarcely any other birds, and bees and butterflies +are rare. It is the noxious forms of animated life which +are abundant. There are snakes, some of them venomous, +a venomous spider, and a stinging beetle, and legions of +black flies, mosquitos, and sand-flies infest many localities.</p> + +<p>This area of lofty ranges, valleys, gorges, and alpine +pasturages is inhabited by the Bakhtiari Lurs, classed +with the savage or semi-savage races, who, though they +descend to the warmer plains in the winter, invariably +speak of these mountains as "their country." On this +journey nearly all the tribes were visited in their own +encampments, and their arrangements, modes of living, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> +customs, and beliefs were subjects of daily investigation, +the results of which are given in the letters which +follow.</p> + +<p>Their own very hazy traditions, which are swift to +lose themselves in the fabulous, represent that they came +from Syria, under one chief, and took possession of the +country which they now inhabit. A later tradition states +that a descendant of this chief had two wives equally +beloved, one of whom had four sons, and the other +seven; and that after their father's death the young men +quarrelled, separated, and bequeathed their quarrel to +posterity, the seven brothers forming the Haft Lang +division of the Bakhtiaris, and the four the Chahar Lang.<a name="FNanchor_44" id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> + +<p>The Haft Lang, though originally far superior in +numbers, weakened their power by their unending +internal conflicts, and in 1840, when Sir A. H. Layard +visited a part of Luristan not embraced in this route, and +sojourned at Kala-i-Tul, the power and headship of +Mehemet Taki Khan, the great chief of their rivals the +Chahar Lang, were recognised throughout the region.</p> + +<p>The misfortunes which came upon him overthrew the +supremacy of his clan, and now (as for some years past) +the Haft Lang supply the ruling dynasty, the Chahar +Lang being, however, still strong enough to decide any +battles for the chieftainship which may be fought among +their rivals. Time, and a stronger assertion of the +sovereignty of Persia, have toned the feud down into a +general enmity and aversion, but the tribes of the two +septs rarely intermarry, and seldom encamp near each +other without bloodshed.</p> + +<p>The great divisions of the Bakhtiaris, the Haft Lang, +the Chahar Lang, and the Dinarunis, with the dependencies +of the Janiki Garmsir, the Janiki Sardsir, and the +Afshar tribe of Gunduzlu, remain as they were half a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> +century ago, when they were the subject of careful investigation +by Sir A. H. Layard and Sir H. Rawlinson.</p> + +<p>The tribes (as enumerated by several of the Khans +without any divergence in their statements) number +29,100 families, an increase in the last half-century. +Taking eight to a household, which I believe to be a +fair estimate, a population of 232,800 would be the +result.<a name="FNanchor_45" id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<p>A few small villages of mud hovels at low altitudes +are tenanted by a part of their inhabitants throughout +the winter, the other part migrating with the bulk of the +flocks; and 3000 families of the two great Janiki +divisions are <i>deh-nishins</i> or "dwellers in cities," <i>i.e.</i> they +do not migrate at all; but the rest are nomads, that is, +they have winter camping-grounds in the warm plains of +Khuzistan and elsewhere, and summer pastures in the +region of the Upper Karun and its affluents, making two +annual migrations between their <i>garmsirs</i> and <i>sardsirs</i> +(hot and cold quarters).</p> + +<p>Though a pastoral people, they have (as has been +referred to previously) of late years irrigated, stoned, and +cultivated a number of their valleys, sowing in the early +autumn, leaving the crops for the winter and early +spring, and on their return weeding them very carefully +till harvest-time in July.</p> + +<p>They live on the produce of their flocks and herds, on +leavened cakes made of wheat and barley flour, and on a +paste made of acorn flour.</p> + +<p>In religion they are fanatical Moslems of the Shiah +sect, but combine relics of nature worship with the tenets +of Islam.</p> + +<p>The tribes, which were to a great extent united under +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> +the judicious and ambitious policy of Mehemet Taki +Khan and Hussein Kuli Khan, nominally acknowledge +one feudal head, the Ilkhani, who is associated in power +with another chief called the Ilbegi. The Ilkhani, who +is appointed by the Shah for a given period, capable of +indefinite extension, is responsible for the tribute, which +amounts to about two <i>tumans</i> a household, and for the +good order of Luri-Buzurg.</p> + +<p>The Bakhtiaris are good horsemen and marksmen. +Possibly in inter-tribal war from 10,000 to 12,000 men +might take the field, but it is doubtful whether more +than from 6000 to 8000 could be relied on in an +external quarrel.</p> + +<p>The Khan of each tribe is practically its despotic +ruler, and every tribesman is bound to hold himself at +his disposal.</p> + +<p>As concerns tribute, they are under the government of +Isfahan, with the exception of three tribes and a half, +which are under the government of Burujird.</p> + +<p>They are a warlike people, and though more peaceable +than formerly, they cherish blood-feuds and are always +fighting among themselves. Their habits are predatory +by inclination and tradition, but they have certain +notions of honour and of regard to pledges when +voluntarily given.<a name="FNanchor_46" id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>They deny Persian origin, but speak a dialect of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span> +Persian. Conquered by Nadir Shah, who took many +of them into his service, they became independent after +his death, until the reign of Mohammed Shah. Though +tributary, they still possess a sort of <i>quasi</i> independence, +though Persia of late years has tightened her grip upon +them, and the Shah keeps many of their influential +families in Tihran and its neighbourhood as hostages for +the good behaviour of their clans.</p> + +<p>Of the Feili Lurs, the nomads of Luri-Kushak or the +Lesser Luristan, the region lying between the Ab-i-Diz +and the Assyrian plains, with the province of Kirmanshah +to the north and Susiana to the south, little was seen. +These tribes are numerically superior to the Bakhtiaris. +Fifty years ago, according to Sir H. Rawlinson, they +numbered 56,000 families.</p> + +<p>They have no single feudal chieftain like their +neighbours, nor are their subdivisions ruled, as among +them, by powerful Khans. They are governed by +<i>Tushmals</i> (lit. "master of a house") and four or five of +these are associated in the rule of every tribal subdivision. +On such occasions as involve tribal well-being or the +reverse, these <i>Tushmals</i> consult as equals.</p> + +<p>Sir H. Rawlinson considered that the Feili Lur form of +government is very rare among the clan nations of Asia, +and that it approaches tolerably near to the spirit of a +confederated republic. Their language, according to the +same authority, differs little from that of the Kurds of +Kirmanshah. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span></p> + +<p>Unlike the Bakhtiaris, they neglect agriculture, but +they breed and export mules, and trade in carpets, +charcoal, horse-furniture, and sheep.</p> + +<p>In faith they are Ali Ilahis, but are grossly ignorant +and religiously indifferent; they show scarcely any respect +to Mohammed and the Koran, and combine a number of +ancient superstitions and curious sacrificial rites with a +deep reverence for Sultan Ibrahim, who under the name +of <i>Bābā Buzurg</i> (the great father) is worshipped throughout +Luri-Kushak.</p> + +<p>For the tribute payable to Persia no single individual +is responsible. The sum to be levied is distributed +among the tribes by a general council, after which each +subdivision apportions the amount to be paid by the +different camps, and the <i>Rish-Sefid</i> (lit. gray-beard) or +head of each encampment collects from the different +families according to their means.</p> + +<p>The task of the Persian tax-collector is a difficult +one, for the tribes are in a state of chronic turbulence, +and fail even in obedience to their own general council, +and the collection frequently ends in an incursion of +Persian soldiers and a Government raid on the flocks and +herds. Many of these people are miserably poor, and +they are annually growing poorer under Persian maladministration.</p> + +<p>The Feili Lurs are important to England commercially, +because the cart-road from Ahwaz to Tihran, to be +completed within two years, passes partly through their +country,<a name="FNanchor_47" id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> and its success as the future trade route from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span> +the Gulf depends upon their good-will, or rather upon their +successful coercion by the Persian Government.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER XIV</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"><span class="smcap">Kahva Rukh, Chahar Mahals,</span> <i>May 4.</i></p> + +<p>I left Julfa on the afternoon of April 30, with Miss +Bruce as my guest and Mr. Douglas as our escort for the +first three or four days. The caravan was sent forward +early, that my inexperienced servants might have time to +pitch the tents before our arrival.</p> + +<p>Green and pleasant looked the narrow streets and +walled gardens of Julfa under a blue sky, on which black +clouds were heavily massed here and there; but greenery +was soon exchanged for long lines of mud ruins, and the +great gravelly slopes in which the mountains descend +upon the vast expanse of plain which surrounds Isfahan, +on which the villages of low mud houses are marked by +dark belts of poplars, willows, fruit-trees, and great +patches of irrigated and cultivated land, shortly to take +on the yellow hue of the surrounding waste, but now +beautifully green.</p> + +<p>Passing through Pul-i-Wargun, a large and much +wooded village on the Zainderud, there a very powerful +stream, affording abundant water power, scarcely used, we +crossed a bridge 450 feet long by twelve feet broad, of +eighteen brick arches resting on stone piers, and found the +camps pitched on some ploughed land by a stream, and +afternoon tea ready for the friends who had come to +give us what Persians call "a throw on the road." I +examined my equipments, found that nothing essential +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span> +was lacking, initiated my servants into their evening +duties, especially that of tightening tent ropes and driving +tent pegs well in, and enjoyed a social evening in the +adjacent camp.</p> + +<p>The next day's journey, made under an unclouded sky, +was mainly along the Zainderud, from which all the +channels and rills which nourish the vegetation far and +near are taken. A fine, strong, full river it is there and +at Isfahan in spring, so prolific in good works that one +regrets that it should be lost sixty miles east of Isfahan +in the Gas-Khana, an unwholesome marsh, the whole of +its waters disappearing in the <i>Kavir</i>. Many large villages +with imposing pigeon-towers lie along this part of its +course, surrounded with apricot and walnut orchards, +wheat and poppy fields, every village an oasis, and every +oasis a paradise, as seen in the first flush of spring. On +a slope of gravel is the Bagh-i-Washi, with the remains of +an immense enclosure, where the renowned Shah Abbas +is said to have had a menagerie. Were it not for the +beautiful fringe of fertility on both margins of the +Zainderud the country would be a complete waste. The +opium poppy is in bloom now. The use of opium in +Persia and its exportation are always increasing, and as +it is a very profitable crop, both to the cultivators and +to the Government, it is to some extent superseding +wheat.</p> + +<p>Leaving the greenery we turned into a desert of gravel, +crossed some low hills, and in the late afternoon came +down upon the irrigated lands which surround the large +and prosperous village of Riz, the handsome and lofty +pigeon-towers of which give it quite a fine appearance +from a distance.</p> + +<p>These pigeon-towers are numerous, both near Isfahan +and in the villages along the Zainderud, and are everywhere +far more imposing than the houses of the people. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span> +Since the great famine, which made a complete end of +pigeon-keeping for the time, the industry has never +assumed its former proportions, and near Julfa many of +the towers are falling into ruin.</p> + +<p>The Riz towers, however, are in good repair. They are +all built in the same way, varying only in size and height, +from twenty to fifty feet in diameter, and from twenty-five +to eighty feet from base to summit. They are +"round towers," narrowing towards the top. They are +built of sun-dried bricks of local origin, costing about two +<i>krans</i> or 16d. a thousand, and are decorated with rings +of yellowish plaster, with coarse arabesques in red ochre +upon them. For a door there is an opening half-way up, +plastered over like the rest of the wall.</p> + +<p>Two walls, cutting each other across at right angles, +divide the interior. I am describing from a ruined tower +which was easy of ingress. The sides of these walls, and +the whole of the inner surface of the tower, are occupied +by pigeon cells, the open ends of which are about twelve +inches square. According to its size a pigeon-tower +may contain from 2000 to 7000, or even 8000, pairs +of pigeons. These birds are gray-blue in colour.</p> + +<p>A pigeon-tower is a nuisance to the neighbourhood, +for its occupants, being totally unprovided for by their +proprietor, live upon their neighbours' fields. In former +days it must have been a grand sight when they +returned to their tower after the day's depredations. +"Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to +their windows?" probably referred to a similar arrangement +in Palestine.</p> + +<p>The object of the towers is the preservation and +collection of "pigeon guano," which is highly prized for +the raising of early melons. The door is opened once a +year for the collection of this valuable manure. A large +pigeon-tower used to bring its owner from £60 to £75 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +per annum, but a cessation of the great demand for early +melons in the neighbourhood of Isfahan has prevented +the re-stocking of the towers since the famine.</p> + +<p>Our experiences of Riz were not pleasant. One of the +party during a short absence from his tent was robbed of +a very valuable scientific instrument. After that there +was the shuffling sound of a multitude outside the tent +in which Miss Bruce and I were resting, and women +concealed from head to foot in blue and white checked +sheets, revealing but one eye, kept lifting the tent +curtain, and when that was laced, applying the one eye +to the spaces between the lace-holes, whispering and +tittering all the time. Hot though it was, their persevering +curiosity prevented any ventilation, and the steady +gaze of single eyes here, there, and everywhere was most +exasperating. It was impossible to use the dressing tent, +for crowds of boys assembled, and rows of open mouths +and staring eyes appeared between the <i>fly</i> and the +ground. Vainly Miss Bruce, who speaks Persian well +and courteously, told the women that this intrusion on +our privacy when we were very tired was both rude and +unkind. "We're only women," they said, "<i>we</i> shouldn't +mind it, we've never seen so many Europeans before." +Sunset ended the nuisance, for then the whole crowd, +having fasted since sunrise, hurried home for food.</p> + +<p>The great fast of the month of Ramazan began before +we left Julfa. Moslems are not at their best while it +lasts. They are apt to be crabbed and irritable; and +everything that can be postponed is put off "till after +Ramazan."</p> + +<p>Much ostentation comes out in the keeping of it; very +pious people begin to fast before the month sets in. A +really ascetic Moslem does not even swallow his saliva +during the fast, and none but very old or sick people, +children, and travellers, are exempt from the obligation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span> +to taste neither food nor water, and not even to smoke +during daylight, for a whole month. The penance is a +fearful one, and as the night is the only time for feasting, +the Persians get through as much of the day as possible +in sleep.</p> + +<p>Welcome indeed is the sunset. With joy men fill +their pipes and drink tea as a prelude to the meal eaten +an hour afterwards. Hateful is the dawn and the cry +an hour before it, "Water! oh, water and opium!"—the +warning to the faithful to drink largely and swallow an +opium pill before sunrise. The thirst even in weather +like this, and the abstention from smoking, are severer +trials than the fasting from food. The Persian either +lives to smoke, or smokes to live.</p> + +<p>Although travellers are nominally exempt from the +fast from water at least, pious Moslems do not avail +themselves of the liberty. Hadji Hussein, for instance, is +keeping it as rigidly as any one, and, like some others, +marches with the end of his <i>pagri</i> tucked over his +mouth and nose, a religious affectation, supposed to +prevent the breaking of the fast by swallowing the +animalculæ which are believed to infest the air!</p> + +<p>Beyond Riz, everywhere there are arid yellow mountains +and yellow gravelly plains, except along the Zainderud, +where fruit-trees, wheat, and the opium poppy relieve the +eyes from the glare. We took leave of the Zainderud +at Pul-i-Kala, where it is crossed by a dilapidated but +passable and very picturesque stone bridge of eight arches, +and the view from the high right bank of wood, bridge, +and the vigorous green river is very pretty.</p> + +<p>Little enough of trees or greenery have we seen since. +This country, like much of the great Iranian plateau, consists +of high mountains with broad valleys or large or +small plateaux between them, absolutely treeless, and even +now nearly verdureless, with scattered oases wherever a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span> +possibility of procuring water by means of laboriously-constructed +irrigation canals renders cultivation possible.</p> + +<p>Water is scarce and precious; its value may be +gathered from the allusions made by the Persian poets +to fountains, cascades, shady pools, running streams, and +bubbling springs. Such expressions as those in Scripture, +"rivers of waters," "a spring of water whose waters fail +not," convey a fulness of meaning to Persian ears of which +we are quite ignorant. The first inquiry of a Persian about +any part of his own country is, "Is there water?" the +second, "Is the water good?" and if he wishes to extol +any particular region he says "the water is abundant all +the year, and is sweet, there is no such water anywhere."</p> + +<p>The position of a village is always determined by the +water supply, for the people have not only to think of +water for domestic purposes, but for irrigating their crops, +and this accounts for the packing of hamlets on steep +mountain sides where land for cultivation can only be +obtained by laborious terracing, but where some perennial +stream can be relied on for filling the small canals. +The fight for water is one of the hardest necessities of the +Persian peasant. A water famine of greater or less degree +is a constant peril.</p> + +<p>Land in Persia is of three grades, the wholly irrigated, +the partially irrigated, and the "rain-lands," usually uplands, +chiefly suited for pasturage. The wholly irrigated +land is the most productive. The assessments for taxes +appear to leave altogether out of account the relative +fertility of the land, and to be calculated solely on the +supply of water. A winter like the last, of heavy snow, +means a plenteous harvest, <i>i.e.</i> "twelve or fourteen grains +for one," as the peasants put it; a scanty snowfall means +famine, for the little rain which falls is practically of +scarcely any use.</p> + +<p>The plan for the distribution of water seems to be far +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> +less provocative of quarrels than that of some other +regions dependent on irrigation, such as Ladak and Nubra. +Where it is at all abundant, as it is in this Zainderud +valley, it is only in the great heats of summer that it is +necessary to apportion it with any rigidity. It is then +placed in the hands of a <i>mirab</i> or water officer, who allows +it to each village in turn for so many days, during which +time the villages above get none, or the <i>ketchudas</i> manage +it among themselves without the aid of a <i>mirab</i>, for the sad +truth, which is applicable to all Persian officialism, applies +in the <i>mirab's</i> case, that if a village be rich enough to +bribe him it can get water out of its turn.</p> + +<p>The blessedness of the Zainderud valley is exceptional, +and the general rule in the majority of districts is that +the water must be carefully divided and be measured by +"<i>tashts</i>," each <i>tasht</i> being equivalent to the use of the +water supply for eleven minutes.</p> + +<p>"This space of time is estimated in a very ancient +fashion by floating a copper bowl with a needle hole +in the bottom in a large vessel of water. The <i>tasht</i> +comes to an end as the bowl sinks. The distribution +is regulated by the number of <i>tashts</i> that each man +has a right to. If he has a right to twenty he will +receive water for three and three-quarter hours of the +day or night every tenth day." Land without water in +Persia is about as valuable as the "south lands" were +which were given to Caleb's daughter.</p> + +<p>So far as I can learn, the Persian peasant enjoys a +tolerable security of tenure so long as he pays his rent. +A common rate of rent is two-thirds of the produce, but +on lands where the snow lies for many months, even +when they are "wet lands," it is only one-third; but this +system is subject to many modifications specially arising +out of the finding or non-finding of the seed by the owner, +and there is no uniformity in the manner of holding land +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +or in assessing the taxes or in anything else, though the +system established 1400 years ago is still the basis of the +whole.<a name="FNanchor_48" id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> + +<p>The line between the oasis and the desert is always +strongly marked and definite. There is no shading away +between the deep green of the growing wheat and the +yellow or red gravel beyond. The general impression is +one of complete nakedness. The flowers which in this +month bloom on the slopes are mostly stiff, leathery, and +thorny. The mountains themselves viewed from below +are without any indication of green. The usual colouring +is grayish-yellow or a feeble red, intensifying at sunset, +but rarely glorified owing to the absence of "atmosphere."</p> + +<p>It is a very solitary route from Pul-i-Kala, without +villages, and we met neither caravans nor foot passengers. +The others rode on, and I followed with two of the +Bakhtiari escort, who with Rustem Khan, a minor chief, +had accompanied us from Julfa. These men were most +inconsequent in their proceedings, wheeling round me at +a gallop, singing, or rather howling, firing their long guns, +throwing themselves into one stirrup and nearly off their +horses, and one who rides without a bridle came up +behind me with his horse bolting and nearly knocked +me out of the saddle with the long barrel of his gun. +When the village of Charmi came in sight I signed to +them to go on, and we all rode at a gallop, the horsemen +uttering wild cries and going through the pantomime of +firing over the left shoulders and right flanks of their +horses.</p> + +<p>The camps were pitched on what might be called the +village green. Charmi, like many Persian villages, is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> +walled, the wall, which is much jagged by rain and frost, +having round towers at intervals, and a large gateway. +Such walls are no real protection, but serve to keep the +flocks and herds from nocturnal depredators. Within the +gate is a house called the Fort, with a very fine room +fully thirty feet long by fifteen high, decorated with a +mingled splendour and simplicity surprising in a rural +district. The wall next the courtyard is entirely of +very beautiful fretwork, filled in with amber and pale +blue glass. The six doors are the same, and the walls and +the elaborate roof and cornices are pure white, the projections +being "picked out" in a pale shade of brown, +hardly darker than amber.</p> + +<p>The following morning Miss Bruce left on her return +home, and Mr. Douglas and I rode fourteen miles to the +large village of Kahva Rukh, where we parted company. +It is an uninteresting march over formless gravelly hills and +small plains thinly grassed, until the Gardan-i-Rukh, one +of the high passes on the Isfahan and Shuster route, is +reached, with its extensive view of brown mountains and +yellow wastes. This pass, 7960 feet in altitude, crossing +the unshapely Kuh-i-Rukh, is the watershed of the +country, all the streams on its southern side falling into +the Karun. It is also the entrance to the Chahar Mahals +or four districts, Lar, Khya, Mizak, and Gandaman, which +consist chiefly of great plains surrounded by mountains, +and somewhat broken up by their gravelly spurs.</p> + +<p>Beyond, and usually in sight, is the snow-slashed Kuh-i-Sukhta +range, which runs south-east, and throws out a +spur to Chigakhor, the summer resort of the Bakhtiari +chiefs. The Chahar Mahals, for Persia, are populous, +and in some parts large villages, many of which are +Armenian and Georgian, occur at frequent intervals, most +of them treeless, but all surrounded by cultivated lands. +The Armenian villages possess so-called relics and ancient +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +copies of the Gospels, which are credited with the power +of working miracles.<a name="FNanchor_49" id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> + +<p>The Chahar Mahals have been farmed to the Ilkhani +of the Bakhtiaris for about 20,000 <i>tumans</i> (£6000) a +year, and his brother, Reza Kuli Khan, has been appointed +their governor. Thus on crossing the Kahva Rukh pass +we entered upon the sway of the feudal head of the +great Bakhtiari tribes.</p> + +<p>We camped outside the village, my tents being pitched +in a ruinous enclosure. The servants are in the habit +of calling me the <i>Hakīm</i>, and the report of a Frank <i>Hakīm</i> +having arrived soon brought a crowd of sick people, who +were introduced and their ailments described by a blue +horseman, one of the escort.</p> + +<p>His own child was so dangerously ill of pneumonia +that I went with him to his house, put on a mustard +poultice, and administered some Dover's powder. The +house was crammed and the little suffering creature had +hardly air to breathe. The courtyard was also crowded, +so that one could scarcely move, all the people being quite +pleasant and friendly. I saw several sick people, and +was surprised to find the village houses so roomy and +comfortable, and so full of "plenishings." It was in vain +that I explained to them that I am not a doctor, scarcely +even a nurse. The fame of Burroughes and Wellcome's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span> +medicine chest has spread far and wide, and they think +its possessor <i>must</i> be a <i>Hakīm</i>. The horseman said that +medicine out of that chest would certainly cure his +child.<a name="FNanchor_50" id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> I was unable to go back to the tea which had +been prepared in the horseman's house, on which he +expressed great dismay, and said I must be "enraged +with him."</p> + +<p>Persians always use round numbers, and the <i>ketchuda</i> +says that the village has 300 Persian houses, and 100 +more, inhabited during the winter by Ilyats. It has +mud walls with towers at intervals, two mosques, a +clear stream of water in the principal street, some very +good houses with <i>balakhanas</i>, and narrow alleys between +high mud walls, in which are entrances into courtyards +occupied by animals, and surrounded by living-rooms. +The only trees are a few spindly willows, but wheat +comes up to the walls, and at sunset great herds of cattle +and myriads of brown sheep converge to what seems +quite a prosperous village.</p> + +<p><i>May 5.</i>—Yesterday, Sunday, was intended to be a +day of rest, but turned out very far from it. After the +last relay of "patients" left on Saturday evening, and +the last medicines had been "dispensed," my tent was +neatly arranged with one <i>yekdan</i> for a table, and the other +for a washstand and medicine stand. The latter trunk contained +some English gold in a case along with some valuable +letters, and some bags, in which were 1000 <i>krans</i>, for +four months' travelling. This <i>yekdan</i> was padlocked. It +was a full moon, the other camps were quite near, all +looked very safe, and I slept until awakened by the sharpness +of the morning air.</p> + +<p>Then I saw but one <i>yekdan</i> where there had been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span> +two! Opening the tent curtain I found my washing +apparatus and medicine bottles neatly arranged on the +ground outside, and the trunk without its padlock among +some ruins a short distance off. The money bags were +all gone, leaving me literally penniless. Most of my +store of tea was taken, but nothing else. Two men +must have entered my tent and have carried the trunk +out. Of what use are any precautions when one sleeps +so disgracefully soundly? When the robbery was made +known horsemen were sent off to the Ilkhani, whose +guest I have been since I entered his territory, and +at night a Khan arrived with a message that "the +money would be repaid, and that the village would be +levelled with the ground!" Kahva Rukh will, I hope, +stand for many years to come, but the stolen sum will be +levied upon it, according to custom.</p> + +<p>The people are extremely vexed at this occurrence, +and I would rather have lost half the sum than that it +should have happened to a guest. In addition to an +escort of a Khan and four men, the Ilkhani has given +orders that we are not to be allowed to pay for anything +while in the country. This order, after several battles, +I successfully disobey. This morning, before any steps +were taken to find the thief, and after all the loads +were ready, officials came to the camps, and, by our wish, +every man's baggage was unrolled and searched. Our +servants and <i>charvadars</i> are all Moslems, and each of +them took an oath on the Koran, administered by a +<i>mollah</i>, that he was innocent of the theft.</p> + +<p><i>Ardal, May 9.</i>—I left rather late, and with the +blue horseman, to whom suspicion generally pointed, +rode to Shamsabad, partly over gravelly wastes, passing +two mixed Moslem and Armenian villages on a plain, +on which ninety ploughs were at work on a stiff whitish +soil. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span></p> + +<p>Shamsabad is a most wretched mud village without +supplies, standing bare on a gravelly slope, above a clear +quiet stream, an affluent of the Karun. This country +has not reached that stage of civilisation in which a +river bears the same name from mouth to source, and as +these streams usually take as many names as there are +villages on their course, I do not burden my memory +with them. There is a charming camping-ground of +level velvety green sward on the right bank of the river, +with the towering mass of Jehanbin (sight of the world), +12,000 feet high, not far off. This lawn is 6735 feet +above the sea, and the air keen and pleasant. The +near mountain views are grand, and that evening the rare +glory of a fine sunset lingered till it was merged in the +beauty of a perfect moonlight.</p> + +<p>After leaving Shamsabad the road passes through +a rather fine defile, crosses the Shamsabad stream by a +ten-arched bridge between the Kuh-i-Zangun and the +Kuh-i-Jehanbin, and proceeds down a narrow valley now +full of wild flowers and young wheat to Khariji, a village +of fifty houses, famous for the excellent quality of its +opium. From Khariji we proceeded through low grassy +hills, much like the South Downs, and over the low but +very rough Pasbandi Pass into an irrigated valley in +which is the village of Shalamzar. I rode through it +alone quite unmolested, but two days later the Sahib, +passing through it with his servants, was insulted and +pelted, and the people said, "Here's another of the dog +party." These villagers are afflicted with "divers +diseases and torments," and the crowd round my tent +was unusually large and importunate. In this village of +less than fifty houses nearly all the people had one or +both eyes more or less affected, and fourteen had only +one eye.</p> + +<p>Between Shalamzar and Ardal lies the lofty Gardan-i-Zirreh, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span> +by which the Kuh-i-Sukhta is crossed at a height +of 8300 feet. The ascent begins soon after leaving the +village, and is long and steep—a nasty climb. The upper +part at this date is encumbered with snow, below which +primulas are blooming in great profusion, and lower down +leathery flowers devoid of beauty cover without adorning +the hillside. Two peasants went up with me, and from +time to time kindly handed me clusters of small raisins +taken from the breasts of dirty felt clothing. On reaching +the snow I found Rustem Khan's horse half-buried +in a drift, so I made the rest of the ascent on foot. The +snow was three feet deep, but for the most part presented +no difficulties, even to the baggage animals.</p> + +<p>At the summit there were no green things except +some plants of <i>artemisia</i>, not even a blade of grass, but +among the crevices appeared small fragile snow-white +tulips with yellow centres, mixed with scarlet and mauve +blossoms of a more vigorous make. At that great height +the air was keen and bracing, and to eyes for months accustomed +to regions buried in dazzling snow and to glaring +gravelly wastes, there was something perfectly entrancing +about the view on the Bakhtiari side. Though treeless, it +looked like Paradise. Lying at the foot of the pass is the +deep valley of Seligun, 8000 feet high, with the range +of the Kuh-i-Nassar to the south, and of the Kuh-Shah-Purnar +to the north—green, full of springs and streams, +with two lakes bringing down the blue of heaven to earth, +with slopes aflame with the crimson and terra-cotta <i>Fritillaria +imperialis</i>, and levels one golden glory with a yellow +ranunculus. Rich and dark was the green of the grass, +tall and deep on the plain, but when creeping up the +ravines to meet the snows, short green sward enamelled +with tulips. Great masses of naked rock, snow-slashed, +and ranges of snow-topped masses behind and above, +walled in that picture of cool serenity, its loneliness only +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span> +broken by three black tents of Ilyats far away. So I saw +Seligun, but those who see it a month hence will find +only a brown and dusty plain!</p> + +<p>The range we crossed divides the Chahar Mahals from +the true Bakhtiari country, a land of mountains which +rumour crests with eternal snow, of unexplored valleys +and streams, of feudal chiefs, of blood feuds, and of +nomad tribes moving with vast flocks and herds.</p> + +<p>Mehemet Ali, a new and undesirable acquisition, was +loaded with my <i>shuldari</i>, and we clambered down the +hillside, leading our horses amidst tamarisk scrub and a +glory of tulips, till we reached the level, when a gallop +brought us to the camps, pitched near a vigorous spring +in the green flower-enamelled grass.</p> + +<p>That halt was luxury for man and beast. Later the +air was cool and moist. The sun-lit white fleeces which +had been rolling among the higher hills darkened and +thickened into rain-clouds, drifting stormily, and only +revealing here and there through their rifts glimpses of +blue. A few flocks of sheep on the mountains, and the +mules and horses revelling knee-deep in the juicy grass, +were the sole representatives of animated life. It was +a real refreshment to be away from the dust of mud +villages, and to escape from the pressure of noisy and +curious crowds, and the sight of sore eyes.</p> + +<p>Towards evening, a gallop on the Arabs with the +Bakhtiari escort took us to the camp of the lately-arrived +Ilyats. Orientals spend much of their time in the quiet +contemplation of cooking pots, and these nomads were +not an exception, for they were all sitting round a brushwood +fire, on which the evening meal of meat broth with +herbs was being prepared. The women were unveiled. +Both men and women are of quite a different type from +the Persians. They are completely clothed and in +appearance are certainly only semi-savages. These tents +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span> +consisted of stones rudely laid to a height of two feet at +the back, over which there is a canopy with an open +front and sides, of woven goat's-hair supported on poles. +Such tents are barely a shelter from wind and rain, but in +them generations of Ilyats are born and die, despising +those of their race who settle in villages.</p> + +<p>There were great neutral-tint masses of rolling clouds, +great banks of glistering white clouds, a cold roystering +wind, a lurid glow, and then a cloudy twilight. <i>Hakīm</i> +threw up his heels and galloped over the moist grass, the +Bakhtiaris, two on one horse, laughed and yelled—there +was the desert freedom without the desert. It was the +most inspiriting evening I have spent in Persia. Truth +compels me to add that there were legions of black flies.</p> + +<p>In the early morning, after riding round the south-east +end of the valley, we passed by the lake Seligun or +Albolaki, banked up by a revetment of rude masonry. +The wind was strong, and drove the foam-flecked water +in a long line of foam on the shore. Red-legged storks +were standing in a row fishing. Cool scuds of rain made +the morning homelike. Then there was a hill ascent, +from which the view of snowy mountains, gashed by +deep ravines and backed by neutral-tint clouds, was +magnificent, and then a steep and rocky defile, which +involved walking, its sides gaudy with the <i>Fritillaria +imperialis</i>, which here attains a size and a depth of colouring +of which we have no conception.</p> + +<p>In this pass we met a large number of Ilyat families +going up to their summer quarters, with their brown +flocks of sheep and their black flocks of goats. Their +tents with all their other goods were packed in convenient +parcels on small cows, and the women with +babies and big wooden cradles were on asses. The +women without babies, the elder children, and the men +walked. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span></p> + +<p>Whatever beauty these women possessed was in the +Meg Merrilees style, with a certain weirdness about it. +They had large, dark, long eyes, with well-marked eyebrows, +artificially prolonged, straight prominent noses, +wide mouths with thin lips, long straight chins, and +masses of black hair falling on each side of the face. +Their dress consisted of enormously full dark blue cotton +trousers, drawn in at the ankles, and suspended over the +hips, not from the waist (the invariable custom in +Persia), and loose sleeved vests, open in front. The +adult women all wear a piece of cotton pinned on the +head, and falling over the back and shoulders. The men +had their hair in many long plaits, hanging from under +felt skull-caps, and wore wide blue cotton trousers, white +or printed cotton shirts over these, and girdles in which +they carried knives, pipes, and other indispensables. +All wore shoes or sandals of some kind. These men +were very swarthy, but the younger women had rich +brunette complexions, and were unveiled.</p> + +<p>Some bad horse-fights worried the remainder of the +march, which included the ascent of an anemone-covered +hill, 7700 feet high, from which we got the first view of +the Ardal valley, much cultivated, till it narrows and is +lost among mountains, now partly covered with snow. +In the centre is a large building with a tower, the spring +residence of the Ilkhani, whose goodwill it is necessary +to secure. Through a magnificent gorge in the mountains +passes the now famous Karun. A clatter of rain and a +strong wind greeted our entrance into the valley, where +we were met by some horsemen from the Ilkhani.</p> + +<p>The great Ardal plateau is itself treeless, though the +lower spurs of the Kuh-i-Sabz on the south side are well +wooded with the <i>belut</i>, a species of oak. There is much +cultivation, and at this season the uncultivated ground +is covered with the great green leaves of a fodder plant, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span> +the <i>Centaurea alata</i>, which a little later are cut, dried, +and stacked. The rivers of the plateau are the Karun +and Sabzu on the south side, and the river of Shamsabad, +which brings to the Karun the drainage of the Chahar +Mahals, and enters the valley through a magnificent <i>tang</i> +or chasm on its north side, called Darkash Warkash. +The village of Ardal is eighty-five miles from Isfahan, +on the Shuster caravan route, and is about 200 from +Shuster. Its altitude is 5970 feet, its Long. 50° 50′ E. +and its Lat. 32° N.</p> + +<p>On arriving here the grandeur of the Ilkhani's house +faded away. Except for the fortified tower it looks like +a second-rate caravanserai. The village, such as there is +of it, is crowded on a steep slope outside the "Palace." +It is a miserable hamlet of low windowless mud hovels, +with uneven mud floors, one or two feet lower than the +ground outside, built in yards with ruinous walls, and +full of heaps and holes. It is an <i>olla podrida</i> of dark, +poor, smoky mud huts; narrow dirt-heaped alleys, with +bones and offal lying about; gaunt yelping dogs; bottle-green +slimy pools, and ruins. The people are as dirty +as the houses, but they are fine in physique and face, as +if only the fittest survive. There is an <i>imamzada</i>, much +visited on Fridays, on an adjacent slope. The snow lies +here five feet deep in winter, it is said.</p> + +<p>When we arrived the roofs and balconies of the +Ilkhani's house were crowded with people looking out +for us. The Agha called at once, and I sent my letter +of introduction from the Amin-es-Sultan. Presents +arrived, formal visits were paid, the Ilkhani's principal +wife appointed an hour at which to receive me, and a +number of dismounted horsemen came and escorted me +to the palace. The chief feature of the house is a large +audience-chamber over the entrance, in which the chief +holds a daily <i>durbar</i>, the deep balcony outside being +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span> +usually thronged by crowds of tribesmen, all having free +access to him. The coming and going are incessant.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i318" id="i318"></a> +<img src="images/illus-318.jpg" width="406" height="275" alt="CASTLE OF ARDAL" title="" /> +<p class="caption">CASTLE OF ARDAL.</p> +</div> + +<p>The palace or castle is like a two-storied caravanserai, +enclosing a large untidy courtyard, round which are +stables and cow-houses, and dens for soldiers and +servants. In the outer front of the building are deep +recessed arches, with rooms opening upon them, in which +the Isfahan traders, who come here for a month, expose +their wares. Passing under the Ilkhani's audience-chamber +by a broad arched passage with deep recesses +on both sides, and through the forlorn uneven courtyard, +a long, dark arched passage leads into a second courtyard, +where there is an attempt at ornament by means +of tanks and willows. Round this are a number of +living-rooms for the Ilkhani's sons and their families, and +here is the <i>andarun</i>, or house of the women. On the far +side is the Fort, a tall square tower with loopholes and +embrasures.</p> + +<p>A Cerberus guards the entrance to the <i>andarun</i>, but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +he allowed Mirza to accompany me. A few steps lead +up from the courtyard into a lofty oblong room, with a +deep cushioned recess containing a fireplace. The roof +rests on wooden pillars. The front of the room facing +the courtyard is entirely of fretwork filled in with pale +blue and amber glass. The recess and part of the floor +were covered with very beautiful blue and white grounded +carpets, made by the women. The principal wife, a +comely wide-mouthed woman of forty, advanced to meet +me, kissed my hand, raised it to her brow, and sat down +on a large carpet squab, while the other wives led me +into the recess, and seated me on a pile of cushions, +taking their places in a row on the floor opposite, but +scarcely raising their eyes, and never speaking one word. +The rest of the room was full of women and children +standing, and many more blocked up the doorways, all +crowding forward in spite of objurgations and smart slaps +frequently administered by the principal wife.</p> + +<p>The three young wives are Bakhtiaris, and their style +of beauty is novel to me—straight noses, wide mouths, +thin lips, and long chins. Each has three stars tattooed +on her chin, one in the centre of the forehead, and +several on the back of the hands. The eyebrows are +not only elongated with indigo, but are made to meet +across the nose. The finger-nails, and inside of the +hands, are stained with henna. The hair hangs round +their wild, handsome faces, down to their collar-bones, in +loose, heavy, but not uncleanly masses.</p> + +<p>Among the "well-to-do" Bakhtiari women, as among +the Persians, the hair receives very great attention, +although it is seldom exhibited. It is naturally jet +black, and very abundant. It is washed at least once a +week with a thin paste of a yellowish clay found among +the Zard-Kuh mountains, which has a very cleansing effect.</p> + +<p>But the women are not content with their hair as it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span> +is, and alter its tinge by elaborate arts. They make a +thick paste of henna, leave it on for two hours, and then +wash it off. The result is a rich auburn tint. A similar +paste, made of powdered indigo leaves, is then plastered +over the hair for two hours. On its removal the locks +are dark green, but in twenty-four hours more they +become a rich blue-black. The process needs repeating +about every twenty days, but it helps to fill up the +infinite leisure of life. It is performed by the bath +attendants.</p> + +<p>In justice to my sex I must add that the men dye +their hair to an equal extent with the women, from the +shining blue-black of the Shah's moustache to the brilliant +orange of the beard of Hadji Hussein, by which he +forfeits, though not in Persian estimation, the respect +due to age.</p> + +<p>Some of the Ilkhani's children and grand-children +have the hair dyed with henna alone to a rich auburn +tint, which is very becoming to the auburn eyes and +delicate paleness of some of them.</p> + +<p>The wives wore enormously full black silk trousers, +drawn tight at the ankles, with an interregnum between +them and short black vests, loose and open in front; and +black silk sheets attached to a band fixed on the head +enveloped their persons. They have, as is usual among +these people, small and beautiful hands, with taper +fingers and nails carefully kept. The chief wife, who +rules the others, rumour says, was also dressed in black. +She has a certain degree of comely dignity about her, +and having seen something of the outer world in a +pilgrimage to Mecca viâ Baghdad, returning by Egypt and +Persia, and having also lived in Tihran, her intelligence +has been somewhat awakened. The Bakhtiari women +generally are neither veiled nor secluded, but the higher +chiefs who have been at the capital think it <i>chic</i> to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> +adopt the Persian customs regarding women, and the +inferior chiefs, when they have houses, follow their +example.</p> + +<p>My conversation with the "queen" consisted chiefly +of question and answer, varied by an occasional divergence +on her part into an animated talk with Mirza +Yusuf. Among the many questions asked were these: +at what age our women marry? how many wives the +Agha has? how long our women are allowed to keep +their boys with them? why I do not dye my hair? if I +know of anything to take away wrinkles? to whiten +teeth? etc., if our men divorce their wives when they +are forty? why Mr. —— had refused a Bakhtiari wife? +if I am travelling to collect herbs? if I am looking for +the plant which if found would turn the base metals +into gold? etc.</p> + +<p>She said they had very dull lives, and knew nothing +of any customs but their own; that they would like to see +the Agha, who, they heard, was a head taller than their +tallest men; that they hoped I should be at Chigakhor +when they were there, as it would be less dull, and she +apologised for not offering tea or sweetmeats, as it is the +fast of the Ramazan, which they observe very strictly. I +told them that the Agha wished to take their photographs, +and the Hadji Ilkhani along with them. They were +quite delighted, but it occurred to them that they must +first get the Ilkhani's consent. This was refused, and +one of his sons, whose wife is very handsome, said, "We +cannot allow pictures to be made of our women. It is +not our custom. We cannot allow pictures of our women +to be in strange hands. No good women have their +pictures taken. Among the tribes you may find women +base enough to be photographed." The chief wife offered +to make me a present of her grandson, to whom I am +giving a tonic, if I can make him strong and cure his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> +deafness. He is a pale precocious child of ten, with +hazel eyes and hair made artificially auburn.</p> + +<p>When the remarkably frivolous conversation flagged, +they brought children afflicted with such maladies as +ophthalmia, scabies, and sore eyes to be cured, but rejected +my dictum that a copious use of soap and water must +precede all remedies. Among the adults headaches, loss +of appetite, and dyspepsia seem the prevailing ailments. +Love potions were asked for, and charms to bring back +lost love, with special earnestness, and the woful looks +assumed when I told the applicants that I could do +nothing for them were sadly suggestive. There could +not have been fewer than sixty women and children in +the room, many, indeed most of them, fearfully dirty in +dress and person. Among them were several negro and +mulatto slaves. When I came away the balconies and +arches of the Ilkhani's house were full of men, anxious +to have a good view of the Feringhi woman, but there +was no rudeness there, or in the village, which I walked +through afterwards with a courtesy escort of several dismounted +horsemen.</p> + +<p>After this the Ilkhani asked me to go to see a man +who is very ill, and sent two of his retainers with me. +It must be understood that Mirza Yusuf goes with me +everywhere as attendant and interpreter. The house was +a dark room, with a shed outside, in a filthy yard, in +which children, goats, and dogs were rolling over each +other in a foot of powdered mud. Crowds of men were +standing in and about the shed. I made my way through +them, moving them to right and left with my hands, with +the recognised supremacy of a <i>Hakīm</i>! There were some +wadded quilts on the ground, and another covered a +form of which nothing was visible but two feet, deadly +cold. The only account that the bystanders could give +of the illness was, that four days ago the man fainted, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span> +and that since he had not been able to eat, speak, or +move. The face was covered with several folds of a very +dirty <i>chadar</i>. On removing it I was startled by seeing, +not a sick man, but the open mouth, gasping respiration, +and glassy eyes of a dying man. His nostrils had been +stuffed with moist mud and a chopped aromatic herb. +The feet were uncovered, and the limbs were quite cold. +There was no cruelty in this. The men about him were +most kind, but <i>absolutely ignorant</i>.</p> + +<p>I told them that he could hardly survive the night, +and that all I could do was to help him to die comfortably. +They said with one clamorous voice that they +would do whatever I told them, and in the remaining +hours they kept their word. I bade them cleanse the +mud from his nostrils, wrap the feet and legs in warm +cloths, give him air, and not crowd round him. Under +less solemn circumstances I should have been amused +with the absolute docility with which these big savage-looking +men obeyed me. I cut up a blanket, and when +they had heated some water in their poor fashion, +showed them how to prepare fomentations, put on the +first myself, and bathed his face and hands.</p> + +<p>He was clothed in rags of felt and cotton, evidently +never changed since the day they were put on, though he +was what they call "rich,"—a great owner of mares, flocks, +and herds,—and the skin was scaly with decades of dirt. +I ventured to pour a little sal-volatile and water down his +throat, and the glassy eyeballs moved a little. I asked +the bystanders if, as Moslems, they would object to his +taking some spirits medicinally? They were willing, but +said there was no <i>arak</i> in the Bakhtiari country, a happy +exemption! The Agha's kindness supplied some whisky, +of which from that time the dying man took a teaspoonful, +much diluted, every two hours, tossed down his throat +with a spoon, Allah being always invoked. There was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span> +no woman's gentleness to soothe his last hours. A wife +in the dark den inside was weaving, and once came out +and looked carelessly at him, but men did for him all +that he required with a tenderness and kindness which +were very pleasing. Before I left they asked for directions +over again, and one of the Ilkhani's retainers wrote them +down.</p> + +<p>At night the Ilkhani sent to say that the man was +much better and he hoped I would go and see him. +The scene was yet more weird than in the daytime. +A crowd of men were sitting and standing round a fire +outside the shed, and four were watching the dying man. +The whisky had revived him, his pulse was better, the +fomentation had relieved the pain, and when it was reapplied +he had uttered the word "good." I tried to make +them understand it was only a last flicker of life, but +they thought he would recover, and the Ilkhani sent to +know what food he should have.</p> + +<p>At dawn "death music," wild and sweet, rang out on +the still air; he died painlessly at midnight, and was +carried to the grave twelve hours later.</p> + +<p>When people are very ill their friends give them +food and medicine (if a <i>Hakīm</i> be attainable), till, in +their judgment, the case is hopeless. Then they send +for a <i>mollah</i>; who reads the Koran in a very loud sing-song +tone till death ensues, the last thirst being alleviated +meantime by <i>sharbat</i> dropped into the mouth. Camphor +and other sweet spices are burned at the grave. If they +burn well and all is pure afterwards, they say that the +deceased person has gone to heaven; if they burn feebly +and smokily, and there is any unpleasantness from the +grave, they say that the spirit is in perdition. A +Bakhtiari grave is a very shallow trench.</p> + +<p>The watchers were kind, and carried out my directions +faithfully. I give these minute details to show how much +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span> +even simple nursing can do to mitigate suffering among +a people so extremely ignorant as the Bakhtiaris are not +only of the way to tend the sick, but of the virtues of +the medicinal plants which grow in abundance around +them. A medical man itinerating among their camps +with a light hospital tent and some simple instruments +and medicines could do a great deal of healing, and +much also to break down the strong prejudice which +exists against Christianity. Here, as elsewhere, the +<i>Hakīm</i> is respected. Going in that capacity I found +the people docile, respectful, and even grateful. Had I +gone among them in any other, a Christian Feringhi +woman would certainly have encountered rudeness and +worse.</p> + +<p>The Ilkhani, who has not been in a hurry to call, +made a formal visit to-day with his brother, Reza Kuli +Khan, his eldest son Lutf, another son, Ghulam, with bad +eyes, and a crowd of retainers. The Hadji Ilkhani,—Imam +Kuli Khan, the great feudal chief of the Bakhtiari +tribes, is a quiet-looking middle-aged man with a short +black beard, a parchment-coloured complexion, and a face +somewhat lined, with a slightly sinister expression at +times. He wore a white felt cap, a blue full-skirted +coat lined with green, another of fine buff kerseymere +under it, with a girdle, and very wide black silk trousers.</p> + +<p>He is a man of some dignity of deportment, and his +usual expression is somewhat kindly and courteous. He +is a devout Moslem, and has a finely-illuminated copy of +the Koran, which he spends much time in reading. He +is not generally regarded as a very capable or powerful +man, and is at variance with the Ilbegi, who, though +nominally second chief, practically shares his power. In +fact, at this time serious intrigues are going on, and some +say that the adherents of the two chiefs would not be +unwilling to come to open war. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i326" id="i326"></a> +<img src="images/illus-326.jpg" width="336" height="326" alt="IMAM KULI KHAN" title="" /> +<p class="caption">IMAM KULI KHAN.</p> +</div> + +<p>The greatest men who in this century have filled the +office of Ilkhani both perished miserably. The fate of +Sir H. Layard's friend, Mehemet Taki Khan, is well known +to all readers of the <i>Early Recollections</i>, but it was +possibly less unexpected than that of Hussein Kuli Khan, +brother of the present Ilkhani, and father of the Ilbegi +Isfandyar Khan. This man was evidently an enlightened +and able ruler; he suppressed brigandage with a firm hand, +and desired to see the Mohammerah-Shuster-Isfahan +route fairly opened to trade. He went so far as to +promise Mr. Mackenzie, of one of the leading Persian +Gulf firms, in writing, that he would hold himself +personally responsible for the safety of caravans in their +passage through his territory, and would repay any losses +by robbery. He agreed to take a third share of the +cost of the necessary steamers on the Karun, and to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> +furnish 100 mules for land transport between Shuster +and Isfahan.<a name="FNanchor_51" id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> + +<p>It appears that Persian jealousy was excited by +his enterprising spirit; he fell under the displeasure +of the Zil-es-Sultan, and in 1882 was put to death +by poison while on his annual visit of homage. The +present Ilkhani, who succeeded him, warned possibly by +his brother's fate, is said to show little, if any, interest +in commercial enterprise, and to have made the somewhat +shrewd remark that the English "under the dress +of the merchant often conceal the uniform of the soldier."</p> + +<p>In 1888 the Shah relented towards Hussein Kuli +Khan's sons, the eldest of whom, Isfandyar Khan, had +been in prison for seven years, and they with their uncle, +Reza Kuli Khan, descended with their followers and a +small Persian army upon the plain of Chigakhor, where +they surprised and defeated the Hadji Ilkhani. His +brother, Reza, was thereupon recognised by the Shah as +Ilkhani, and Isfandyar as Ilbegi, with the substance of +power. Another turn of the wheel of fortune, and the +brothers became respectively Ilkhani and Governor of the +Chahar Mahals, and their nephew is reinstated as Ilbegi.<a name="FNanchor_52" id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>The Ilkhani's word is law, within broad limits, among +the numerous tribes of Bakhtiari Lurs who have consented +to recognise him as their feudal head, and it has +been estimated that in a popular quarrel he could bring +from 8000 to 10,000 armed horsemen into the field. He +is judge as well as ruler, but in certain cases there is a +possible appeal to Tihran from his decisions. He is +appointed by the Shah, with a salary of 1000 <i>tumans</i> +a year, but a strong man in his position could be +practically independent. + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span></p> + +<p>It can scarcely be supposed that the present Ilkhani +will long retain his uneasy seat against the intrigues at +the Persian court, and with a powerful and popular +rival close at hand. It is manifestly the interest of the +Shah's government to weaken the tribal power, and +extinguish the authority and independence of the +principal chiefs, and the Oriental method of attaining +this end is by plots and intrigues at the capital, by +creating and fomenting local quarrels, and by oppressive +taxation. It is not wonderful, therefore, that many of +the principal Khans, whose immemorial freedom has been +encroached upon in many recent years by the Tihran +Government, should look forward to a day when one of +the Western powers will occupy south-west Persia, and +give them security.</p> + +<p>The <i>Hadji</i> Ilkhani, for the people always prefix the +religious title, discussed the proposed journey, promised +me an escort of a horseman and a <i>tufangchi</i>, or foot-soldier, +begged us to consider ourselves here and everywhere +as his guests, and to ask for all we want, here and +elsewhere. His brother, Reza Kuli Khan, who has played +an important part in tribal affairs, resembles him, but +the sinister look is more persistent on his face. He +was much depressed by the fear that he was going blind, +but on trying my glasses he found he could see. The +surprise of the old-sighted people when they find that +spectacles renew their youth is most interesting.</p> + +<p>Another visitor has been the Ilbegi, Isfandyar Khan. +Though not tall, he is very good-looking, and has +beautiful hands and feet. He is able, powerful, and +ambitious, inspires his adherents with great personal +devotion, and is regarded by many as the "coming man." +He was in Tihran when I was in Julfa, and hearing +from one of the Ministers that I was about to visit the +Bakhtiari country, he wrote to a general of cavalry in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> +Isfahan, asking him to provide me with an escort if I +needed it. I was glad to thank him for his courtesy in +this matter, and for more substantial help. Before his +visit, his retainer, Mansur, brought me the money of +which I had been robbed in Kahva Rukh! This man +absolutely refused a present, saying that his liege lord +would nearly kill him if he took one. Isfandyar Khan +welcomed me kindly, regretting much that my first night +under Bakhtiari rule should have been marked by a +robbery. He said that before his day the tribesmen not +only robbed, but killed, and that he had reduced them to +such order that he was surprised as well as shocked at +this occurrence. I replied that it occurred in a Persian +village, and that in many countries one might be robbed, +but in none that I knew of would such quick restitution +be made.</p> + +<p>In cases of robbery, the Ilkhani sends round to the +<i>ketchudas</i> or headmen of the camps or villages of the +offending district, to replace the money, as in my case, or +the value of the thing taken, after which the thief must +be caught if possible. When caught, the headmen +consult as to his punishment, which may be the cutting +off of a hand or nose, or to be severely branded. In any +case he must be for the future a marked man. I gather +that the most severe penalties are rarely inflicted. I +hope the fine of 800 <i>krans</i> levied on Kahva Rukh may +stimulate the people to surrender the thief. I agreed to +forego 200 <i>krans</i>, as Isfandyar Khan says that his men +raised all they could, and the remaining sum would have +to be paid by himself.</p> + +<p>After a good deal of earnest conversation he became +frivolous! He asked the Agha his age, and guessed it at +thirty-five. On being enlightened he asked if he dyed +his hair, and if his teeth were his own. Then he said +that he dyed his own hair, and wore artificial teeth. He +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> +also asked my age. He and Lutf and Ghulam, the +Ilkhani's sons, who accompanied him, possess superb +watches, with two dials, and an arrangement for showing +the phases of the moon.</p> + +<p>Having accepted an invitation from the Ilbegi to visit +him at Naghun, a village ten miles from Ardal, accompanied +by Lutf and Ghulam, we were ready at seven, +the hour appointed, as the day promised to be very hot. +Eight o'clock came, nine o'clock, half-past nine, and on +sending to see if the young Khans were coming, the +servants replied that they had "no orders to wake them." +So we Europeans broiled three hours in the sun at the +pleasure of "barbarians"!</p> + +<p>During the Ramazan these people revel from sunset +to sunrise, with feasting, music, singing, and merriment, +and then they lie in bed till noon or later, to abridge the +long hours of the fast. "Is it such a fast that I have +chosen?" may well be asked.</p> + +<p>The noise during the night in the Ilkhani's palace is +tremendous. The festivities begin soon after sunset and +go on till an hour before dawn. Odours agreeable to +Bakhtiari noses are wafted down to my tent, but I do +not find them appetising. An eatable called <i>zalabi</i> is in +great request during the Ramazan. It is made by mixing +sugar and starch with oil of sesamum, and is poured on +ready heated copper trays, and frizzled into fritters. +Masses of eggs mixed with rice, clarified butter, and jams, +concealing balls of highly-spiced mincemeat, <i>kabobs</i>, and +mutton stewed with preserved lemon juice and onions are +favourite dishes at the Ilkhani's.</p> + +<p>Besides the music and singing, the "Court" entertains +itself nightly with performing monkeys and dancing men, +besides story-tellers, and reciters of the poetry of Hafiz. +It is satisfactory to know that the uproarious merriment +which drifts down to my tent along with odours of perpetual +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span> +frying, owes none of its inspiration to alcohol, +coffee and <i>sharbat</i> being the drinks consumed.</p> + +<p>We rode without a guide down the Ardal valley, took +the worst road through some deep and blazing gulches, +found the sun fierce, and the treelessness irksome, saw +much ploughing, made a long ascent, and stopped short +of the village of Naghun at a large walled garden on the +arid hillside, which irrigation has turned into a shady +paradise of pear, apricot, and walnut trees, with a +luxurious undergrowth of roses and pomegranates. The +young Khans galloped up just as we did, laughing heartily +at having slept so late. All the village men were +gathered to see the Feringhis, and the Ilbegi and his +brothers received us at the garden gate, all shaking hands. +Certainly this Khan has much power in his face, and his +dignified and easy manner is that of a leader of men. +His dress was becoming, a handsome dark blue cloak +lined with scarlet, and with a deep fur collar, over his +ordinary costume.</p> + +<p>So much has been said and written about the Bakhtiaris +being "savages" or "semi-savages," that the entertainment +which followed was quite a surprise to me. +Two fine canopy tents were pitched in the shade, and +handsome carpets were laid in them, and under a spreading +walnut tree a <i>karsi</i>, or fire cover, covered with a rug, +served as a table, and cigarettes, a bowl of ice, a glass jug +of <i>sharbat</i>, and some tumblers were neatly arranged upon +it. Iron chairs were provided for the European guests, +and the Ilbegi, his brothers, the Ilkhani's sons, and others +sat round the border of the carpet on which they were +placed. There were fully fifty attendants. Into the +midst of this masculine crowd, a male nurse brought the +Ilbegi's youngest child, a dark, quiet, pale, wistful little +girl of four years old, a daintily-dressed little creature, +with a crimson velvet cap, and a green and crimson velvet +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> +frock. She was gentle and confiding, and liked to remain +with me.</p> + +<p>After a long conversation on subjects more or less +worth speaking upon, our hosts retired, to sleep under the +trees, leaving us to eat, and a number of servants brought +in a large <i>karsi</i> covered with food. Several yards of +blanket bread, or "flapjacks," served as a table-cloth, and +another for the dish-cover of a huge <i>pillau</i> in the centre. +Cruets, plates, knives and forks, iced water, Russian +lemonade, and tumblers were all provided. The dinner +consisted of <i>pillau</i>, lamb cutlets, a curried fowl, celery +with sour sauce, clotted cream, and sour milk. The +food was well cooked and clean, and the servants, rough +as they looked, were dexterous and attentive.</p> + +<p>After dinner, by the Ilbegi's wish, I paid a visit to +the ladies of his <i>haram</i>. Naghun rivals the other +villages of the tribes in containing the meanest and +worst permanent habitations I have ever seen. Isfandyar +Khan's house is a mud building surrounding a courtyard, +through which the visitor passes into another, round +which are the women's apartments. Both yards were +forlorn, uneven, and malodorous, from the heaps of offal +and rubbish lying under the hot sun. I was received by +fifteen ladies in a pleasant, clean, whitewashed apartment, +with bright rugs and silk-covered pillows on the floor, +and glass bottles and other ornaments in the <i>takchahs</i>.</p> + +<p>At the top of the room I was welcomed, not by the +principal wife, but by a portly middle-aged woman, the +Khan's sister, and evidently the duenna of the <i>haram</i>, as +not one of the other women ventured to speak, or to offer +any courtesies. A chair was provided for me with a +<i>karsi</i> in front of it, covered with trays of <i>gaz</i> and other +sweetmeats. Mirza and a male attendant stood in the +doorway, and outside shoals of women and children on +tip-toe were struggling for a glance into the room. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> +Several slaves were present, coal-black, woolly-headed, +huge-mouthed negresses. The fifteen ladies held their +gay <i>chadars</i> to their faces so as to show only one eye, so +I sent Mirza behind a curtain and asked for the pleasure +of seeing their faces, when they all unveiled with shrieks +of laughter.</p> + +<p>The result was disappointing. The women were all +young, or youngish, but only one was really handsome. +The wives are brunettes with long chins. They wore +gay <i>chadars</i> of muslin, short gold-embroidered jackets, +gauze chemises, and bright-coloured balloon trousers. +Three of the others wore black satin balloon trousers, +black silk jackets, yellow gauze vests, and black <i>chadars</i> +spotted with white. These three were literally moon-faced, +like the representations of the moon on old clocks, +a type I have not yet seen. All wear the hair brought +to the front, where it hangs in wavy masses on each side +of the face. They wore black silk gold-embroidered +skull-caps, set back on their heads, and long chains of +gold coins from the back to the ear, with two, three, or +four long necklaces of the same in which the coins were +very large and handsome. One wife, a young creature, +was poorly dressed, very dejected-looking, and destitute +of ornaments. Her mother has since pleaded for something +"to bring back her husband's love." The eyebrows +were painted with indigo and were made to meet in a +point on the bridge of the nose. Each had one stained +or tattooed star on her forehead, three on her chin, and a +galaxy on the back of each hand.</p> + +<p>Before Mirza reappeared they huddled themselves up +in their <i>chadars</i> and sat motionless against the wall as +before. After tea I had quite a lively conversation with +the Khan's sister, who has been to Basrah, Baghdad, and +Mecca.</p> + +<p>Besides the usual questions as to my age, dyeing my +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> +hair, painting my face, etc., with suggestions on the +improvement which their methods would make on my +eyes and eyebrows, she asked a little about my journeys, +about the marriage customs of England, about divorce, the +position of women with us, their freedom, horsemanship, +and amusements. She said, "We don't ride, we sit on +horses." Dancing for amusement she could not understand. +"Our servants dance for us," she said. The +dancing of men and women together, and the evening +dress of Englishwomen, she thought contrary to the +elementary principles of morality. I wanted them to have +their photographs taken, but they said, "It is not the +custom of our country; no good women have their pictures +taken, we should have many things said against us if +we were made into pictures."</p> + +<p>They wanted to give me presents, but I made my +usual excuse, that I have made a rule not to receive +presents in travelling; then they said that they would +go and see me in my tent at Chigakhor, their summer +quarters, and that I could not refuse what they took in +their own hands. They greatly desired to see the Agha, +of whose imposing <i>physique</i> they had heard, but they said +that the Khan would not like them to go to the garden, +and that their wish must remain ungratified. "We lead +such dull lives," the Khan's sister exclaimed; "we never +see any one or go anywhere." It seems that the slightest +development of intellect awakens them to the consciousness +of this deplorable dulness, of which, fortunately, +the unawakened intelligence is unaware. As a fact, two +of the ladies have not been out of the Ardal valley, and +are looking forward to the migration to the Chigakhor +valley as to a great gaiety.</p> + +<p>They asked me if I could read, and if I made carpets? +They invariably ask if I have a husband and children, +and when I tell them that I am a widow and childless, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span> +they simulate weeping for one or two minutes, a hypocrisy +which, though it proceeds from a kindly feeling, has a +very painful effect. Their occupation in the winter is a +little carpet-weaving, which takes the place of our "fancy-work." +They also make a species of <i>nougat</i>, from the +manna found on the oaks on some of their mountains, +mixed with chopped almonds and rose-water. When I +concluded my visit they sent a servant with me with a +tray of this and other sweetmeats of their own making.</p> + +<p>The party in the garden was a very merry one. The +Bakhtiaris love fun, and shrieked with laughter at many +things. This jollity, however, did not exclude topics of +interesting talk. During this time <i>Karun</i>, a handsome +chestnut Arab, and my horse <i>Screw</i> had a fierce fight, and +Karim, a Beloochi, in separating them had his arm severely +crunched and torn, the large muscles being exposed and +lacerated. He was brought in faint and bleeding and in +great pain, and will not be of any use for some time. +The Agha asked the Ilbegi for two lads to go with him +to help his servants. The answer was, "We are a wandering +people, Bakhtiaris cannot be servants, but some of +our young men will go with you,"—and three brothers +joined us there, absolute savages in their ways. A cow +was offered for the march, and on the Agha jocularly +saying that he should have all the milk, the Ilbegi said +that I should have one to myself, and sent two. He +complained that I did not ask for anything, and said +that I was their guest so long as I was in their country, +and must treat them as brothers and ask for all I need. +"Don't feel as if you were in a foreign land" he said; "we +love the English."</p> + +<p class="sig">I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="letter">LETTER XV</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span></p> + +<p class="letterhead"><span class="smcap">Ardal</span>, <i>May 14</i>.</p> + +<p>The week spent here has passed rapidly. There is much +coming and going. My camp is by the side of a +frequented pathway, close to a delicious spring, much +resorted to by Ilyat women, who draw water in <i>mussocks</i> +and copper pots, and gossip there. The Ilyats are on +the march to their summer quarters, and the steady tramp +of their flocks and herds and the bleating of their sheep +is heard at intervals throughout the nights. Sometimes +one of their horses or cows stumbles over the tent ropes +and nearly brings the tent down. Servants of the Ilkhani +with messages and presents of curds, celery pickled in +sour cream, and apricots, go to and fro. Sick people +come at intervals all day long, and the medicine chest is +in hourly requisition.</p> + +<p>The sick are not always satisfied with occasional +visits to the <i>Hakīm's</i> tent: a man, who has a little +daughter ill of jaundice, after coming twice for medicine, +has brought a tent, and has established himself in it with +his child close to me, and a woman with bad eyes has +also pitched a tent near mine; at present thirteen people +come twice daily to have zinc lotion dropped into their +eyes. The fame of the "tabloids" has been widely +spread, and if I take common powders out of papers, or +liquids out of bottles, the people shake their heads and +say they do not want those, but "the fine medicines out of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> +the leather box." To such an extent is this preference +carried that they reject decoctions of a species of <i>artemisia</i>, +a powerful tonic, unless I put tabloids of permanganate of +potash (Condy's fluid) into the bottle before their eyes.</p> + +<p>They have no idea of the difference between curable +and incurable maladies. Many people, stone blind, have +come long distances for eye-lotion, and to-night a man +nearly blind came in, leading a man totally blind for +eight years, asking me to restore his sight. The blind +had led the blind from a camp twenty-four miles off! +Octogenarians believe that I can give them back their +hearing, and men with crippled or paralysed limbs think +that if I would give them some "Feringhi ointment," of +which they have heard, they would be restored. Some +come to stare at a Feringhi lady, others to see my tent, +which they occasionally say is "fit for Allah," and the +general result is that I have very little time to myself.</p> + +<p>The Ardal plateau is really pretty at this season, and +I have had many pleasant evening gallops over soft green +grass and soft red earth. The view from the tent is +pleasant: on the one side the green slopes which fall +down to the precipices which overhang the Karun, with +the snowy mountains, deeply cleft, of the region which is +still a geographical mystery beyond them; on the other, +mountains of naked rock with grass running up into +their ravines, and between them and me billows of grass +and wild flowers. A barley slope comes down to my +tent. The stalks are only six inches long, and the ears, +though ripe, contain almost nothing. Every evening a +servant of the Ilkhani brings three little wild boars to +feed on the grain. Farther down the path are the +servants' and muleteers' camps, surrounded by packing-cases, +<i>yekdans</i>, mule-bags, nose-bags, gear of all kinds, +and the usual litter of an encampment.</p> + +<p>The men, whether Indian, Persian, Beloochi, or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span> +Bakhtiari, are all quiet and well-behaved. The motto of +the camps is "Silence is golden." Hadji Hussein is +quiet in manner and speech, and though he has seven +muleteers, yells and shouts are unknown.</p> + +<p>There is something exciting in the prospect of travelling +through a region much of which is unknown and +unmapped, and overlooked hitherto by both geographical +and commercial enterprise; and in the prospective good +fortune of learning the manners and customs of tribes +untouched by European influence, and about whose reception +of a Feringhi woman doleful prophecies have +been made.</p> + +<p><i>Tur, May 18.</i>—The last day at Ardal was a busy +one. Several of the Khans called to take leave. I made +a farewell visit to the Ilkhani's <i>haram</i>; people came for +medicines at intervals from 5 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> till 9 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>; numberless +eye-lotions had to be prepared; stores, straps, ropes, and +equipments had to be looked to; presents to be given +to the Ilkhani's servants; native shoes, with webbing +tops and rag soles, to be hunted for to replace boots +which could not be mended, and it was late before the +preparations were completed. During the night some of +my tent ropes were snapped by a stampede of mules, +and a heavy thunderstorm coming on with wind and +rain, the tent flapped about my ears till dawn.</p> + +<p>It was very hot when we left the next morning. The +promised escort was not forthcoming. The details of +each day's march have been much alike. I start early, +taking Mirza with me with the <i>shuldari</i>, halt usually +half-way, and have a frugal lunch of milk and biscuits, +read till the caravan has passed, rest in my tent +for an hour, and ride on till I reach the spot chosen +for the camp. Occasionally on arriving it is found +that the place selected on local evidence is unsuitable, +or the water is scanty or bad, and we march farther. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +The greatest luxury is to find the tent pitched, the camp +bed put up, and the kettle boiling for afternoon tea. +I rest, write, and work till near sunset, when I dine +on mutton and rice, and go to bed soon after dark, as I +breakfast at four. An hour or two is taken up daily +with giving medicines to sick people.</p> + +<p>There are no villages, but camps occur frequently. +The three young savages brought from Naghun are very +amusing from the savage freedom of their ways, but they +exasperate the servants by quizzing and mimicking them. +The cows are useless. Between them they give at most +a teacupful of milk, and generally none. Either the +calves or the boys take it, or the marches are too much +for them. In the Ilyat camps there is plenty, but as it +is customary to mix the milk of sheep, goats, and cows, +and to milk the animals with dirty hands into dirty +copper pots, and almost at once to turn the milk into a +sour mass, like whipped cream in appearance, by shaking +it with some "leaven" in a dirty goat-skin, a European +cannot always drink it. Indeed, it goes through every +variety of bad taste.</p> + +<p>The camps halt on Sundays, and the men highly +appreciate the rest. They sleep, smoke, wash and mend +their clothes, and are in good humour and excellent trim +on Monday morning, and the mules show their unconscious +appreciation of a holiday by coming into camp +kicking and frolicking.</p> + +<p>The baggage animals are fine, powerful mules and +horses, with not a sore back among them. The pack +saddles and tackle are all in good order. The caravan +is led by a horse caparisoned with many bells and tassels, +a splendid little gray fellow, full of pluck and fire, called +Cock o' the Walk. He comes in at the end of a long +march, arching his neck, shaking his magnificent mane, +and occasionally kicking off his load. Sometimes he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span> +knocks down two or three men, dashes off with his load at +a gallop, and even when hobbled manages to hop up to the +two Arabs and challenge them to a fight. These handsome +horses have some of the qualities for which their breed is +famous, and are as surefooted as goats, but they are very +noisy, and they hate each other and disturb the peace of +the camp by their constant attempts to fight. My horse, +<i>Screw</i>, can go wherever a mule can find foothold. He +is ugly, morose, a great fighter, and most uninteresting. +The donkeys and a fat retriever are destitute of "salient +points."</p> + +<p>Hadji Hussein, the <i>charvadar</i>, has elevated his profession +into an art. On reaching camp, after unloading, +each muleteer takes away the five animals for which he +is responsible, and liberates them, with the saddles on, to +graze. After a time they drive them into camp, remove the +saddles, and groom them thoroughly, while the saddler goes +over the equipments, and does any repairs that are needed. +After the grooming each muleteer, having examined the +feet of his animals, reports upon them, and Hadji replaces +all lost shoes and nails. The saddles and the <i>juls</i> or +blankets are then put on, the mules are watered in +batches of five, and are turned loose for the night to feed, +with two muleteers to watch them by turns. Hadji, whose +soft voice and courteous manners make all dealings with +him agreeable, receives his orders for the morrow, and he +with his young son, Abbas Ali, and the rest of the muleteers, +camp near my tent, cook their supper of blanket +bread with <i>mast</i> or curds, roll their heads and persons in +blankets, put their feet to the fire, and are soon asleep, +but Hadji gets up two or three times in the night to look +after his valuable property.</p> + +<p>At 4 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> or earlier, the mules are driven into camp, +and are made fast to ropes, which are arranged the previous +night by pegging them down in an oblong forty feet by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span> +twenty. Nose-bags with grain are put on; and as the +loads are got ready the mules are loaded, with Hadji's help +and supervision. No noise is allowed during this operation.</p> + +<p>After an hour or more the caravan moves, led by Cock +o' the Walk, usually with two men at his head to moderate +his impetuosity for a time, with a guide; and Hadji +on his fine-looking saddle mule looks after the safety of +everything. He is punctual, drives fast and steadily, and +always reaches the camping-ground in good time. When +he gets near it he dismounts, and putting on the air of +"your most obedient servant," leads in Cock o' the Walk. +He is really a very gentlemanly man for his position, but +is unfortunately avaricious, and though he has amassed +what is, for Persia, a very large fortune, he wears very +poor clothes, and eats sparingly of the poorest food. He +is a big man of fifty, wears blue cotton clothing and a +red turban, is very florid, and having a white or very gray +beard, has dyed it an orange red with henna.</p> + +<p>My servants have fallen fairly well into their work, +but are frightfully slow. All pitch the tents, and Hassan +cooks, washes, packs the cooking and table equipments, +and saddles my horse. Mirza Yusuf interprets, waits on +me, packs the tent furnishings, rides with me, and is +always within hearing of my whistle. He is good, +truthful, and intelligent, sketches with some talent, is +always cheerful, never grumbles, is quite indifferent to +personal comfort, gets on well with the people, is obliging +to every one, is always ready to interpret, and though +well educated has the good sense not to regard any work +as "menial." Mehemet Ali, the "superfluity," is a scamp, +and, I fear, dishonest. The servants feed themselves on +a <i>kran</i> (8d.) a day, allowed as "road money." Sheep +are driven with us, and are turned into mutton as required. +Really, they follow us, attaching themselves to +the gray horses, and feeding almost among their feet. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span> +My food consists of roast mutton, rice, <i>chapatties</i>, tea, +and milk, without luxuries or variety. Life is very +simple and very free from purposeless bothers. The days +are becoming very hot, but the nights are cool. The +black flies and the sand-flies are the chief tormentors.</p> + +<p>On leaving Ardal we passed very shortly into a region +little traversed by Europeans, embracing remarkable +gorges and singularly abrupt turns in ravines, through +which the Karun, here a deep and powerful stream, finds +its way. A deep descent over grassy hills to a rude +village in a valley and a steep ascent took us to the four +booths, which are the summer quarters of our former +escort, Rustem Khan, who received us with courteous +hospitality, and regaled us with fresh cow's milk in a +copper basin. He introduced me to twelve women and +a number of children, nearly all with sore eyes. There +is not a shadow of privacy in these tents, with open +fronts and sides. The carpets, which are made by the +women, serve as chairs, tables, and beds, and the low +wall of roughly-heaped stones at the back for trunks and +wardrobe, for on it they keep their "things" in immense +saddle-bags made of handsome rugs. The visible furniture +consists of a big copper bowl for food, a small one +for milk, a huge copper pot for clarifying butter, and a +goat-skin suspended from three poles, which is jerked by +two women seated on the ground, and is used for churning +butter and making curds.</p> + +<p>A steep ascent gives a superb view of a confused sea +of mountains, and of a precipitous and tremendous gorge, +the Tang-i-Ardal, through which the Karun passes, making +a singularly abrupt turn after leaving a narrow and +apparently inaccessible cañon or rift on the south side of +the Ardal valley. A steep zigzag descent of 600 feet +in less than three-quarters of a mile brings the path +down to the Karun, a deep bottle-green river, now +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span> +swirling in drifts of foam, now resting momentarily in +quiet depths, but always giving an impression of volume +and power. Large and small land turtles abound in +that fiercely hot gorge of from 1000 to 2000 feet deep. +The narrow road crosses the river on a bridge of two +arches, and proceeds for some distance at a considerable +height on its right bank. There I saw natural wood for +the first time since crossing the Zagros mountains in +January, and though the oak, ash, and maple are poor and +stunted, their slender shade was delicious. Roses, irises, +St. John's wort, and other flowers were abundant.</p> + +<p>The path ascends past a clear spring, up steep zigzags +to a graveyard in which are several stone lions, rudely +carved, of natural size, facing Mecca-wards, with pistols, +swords, and daggers carved in relief on their sides, marking +the graves of fighting men. On this magnificent point +above the Karun a few hovels, deserted in summer, surrounded +by apricot trees form the village of Duashda +Imams, which has a superb view of the extraordinary and +sinuous chasm through which the Karun passes for many +miles, thundering on its jagged and fretted course between +gigantic and nearly perpendicular cliffs of limestone and +conglomerate. Near this village the pistachio is abundant, +and planes, willows, and a large-leaved clematis vary the +foliage.</p> + +<p>Leaving the river at this point, a somewhat illegible +path leads through "park-like" scenery, fair slopes of +grass and flowers sprinkled with oaks singly or in clumps, +glades among trees in their first fresh green, and evermore +as a background gray mountains slashed with snow.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these pretty uplands is the Ilyat +encampment of Martaza, with its black tents, donkeys, +sheep, goats, and big fierce dogs, which vociferously rushed +upon <i>Downie</i>, the retriever, and were themselves rushed +upon and gripped by a number of women. The people, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span> +having been informed of our intended arrival by Reza Kuli +Khan, had arranged a large tent with carpets and cushions, +but we pitched the camps eventually on an oak-covered +slope, out of the way of the noise, curiosity, and evil odours +of Martaza. Water is very scarce there, three wells or +pools, fouled by the feet of animals, being the only +supply.</p> + +<p>I rested on my <i>dhurrie</i> under an oak till the caravan +came up. It was a sweet place, but was soon invaded, +and for the rest of the day quiet and privacy were out +of the question, for presently appeared a fine, florid, +buxom dame, loud of speech, followed by a number of +women and children, all as dirty as it is possible to be, +and all crowded round me and sat down on my carpet. +This <i>Khanum Shirin</i> is married to the chief or headman, +but being an heiress she "bosses" the tribe. She brought +up bolsters and quilts, and begged us to consider themselves, +the whole region, and all they had as <i>pishkash</i> (a present +from an inferior to a superior), but when she was asked if +it included herself, she blushed and covered her face. +After two hours of somewhat flagging conversation she +led her train back again, but after my tent was pitched +she reappeared with a much larger number of women, +including two betrothed girls of sixteen and seventeen +years old, who are really beautiful.</p> + +<p>These maidens were dressed in clean cotton costumes, +and white veils of figured silk gauze enveloped them +from head to foot. They unveiled in my tent, and +looked more like <i>houris</i> than any women I have seen in +the East; and their beauty was enhanced by the sweetness +and maidenly modesty of their expression. I wished +them to be photographed, and they were quite willing, +but when I took them outside some men joined the +crowd and said it should not be, and that when their +betrothed husbands came home they would tell them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span> +how bold and bad they had been, and would have them +beaten. Although these beauties had been most modest +and maidenly in their behaviour, they were sent back +with blows, and were told not to come near us again. +The Agha entertained the <i>Khanum Shirin</i> for a long time, +and the conversation was very animated, but when he set +a very fine musical box going for their amusement the +lady and the rest of the crowd became quite listless and +apathetic, and said they much preferred to talk. When +their prolonged visit came to an end the <i>Khanum</i> led +her train away, with a bow which really had something +of graceful dignity in it.</p> + +<p>The next morning her husband, the <i>Mollah-i-Martaza</i>, +and his son, mounted on one horse, came with us as +guides, and when we halted at their camp the <i>Khanum</i> +took the whip out of my hand and whipped the women +all round with it, except the offending beauties, who +were not to be seen. The <i>mollah</i> is a grave, quiet, and +most respectable-looking man, more like a thriving +merchant than a nomad chief, though he does carry +arms. He is a devout Moslem, and is learned, <i>i.e.</i> he +can read the Koran.</p> + +<p>In a short time the woodland beauty is exchanged +for weedy hills and slopes strewn with boulders. Getting +other guides at an Ilyat camp, we ascended Sanginak, a +mountain 8200 feet high, from the top of which a +good idea of the local topography is gained. The most +striking features are the absence of definite peaks and +the tremendous gorges and abrupt turns of the Karun, +which swallows in its passage all minor streams. +Precipitous ranges of great altitude hemmed in by +ranges yet loftier, snow-covered or snow-patched, with +deep valleys between them, well grassed and often well +wooded, great clefts, through which at some seasons +streams reach the Karun; mountain meadows spotted with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span> +the black tents of Ilyats, and deserted hovels far below, +with patches of wheat and barley, make up the landscape.</p> + +<p>These hills are covered with celery of immense size. +The leaves are dried and stacked for fodder, and the +underground stalks, which are very white, are a great +article of food, both fresh and steeped for a length of +time in sour milk. After resting in some Ilyat tents, +where the people were friendly and dirty, we had a +most tiresome march over treeless hills covered with +herbs, and down a steep descent into the Gurab plain, +on which a great wall of rocky mountains of definite +and impressive shapes descends in broken spurs. My +guide, who had never been certain about the way, led +me wrong. No tents were visible, the nomads I met +had seen neither tents nor caravan. Two hours went by +in toiling round the bases of green hills, and then there +was the joyful surprise of coming upon my tent pitched, +the kettle boiling, the mules knee-deep in food, close by +the Chesmeh-i-Gurab, a copious spring of good water, of +which one could safely drink.</p> + +<p>This Gurab plain, one of very many lying high up +among these Luristan mountains, is green and pretty now—a +sea of bulbs and grass, but is brown and dusty from +early in June onwards. It is about four miles long by +nine or ten broad, and is watered by a clear and wonderfully +winding stream, which dwindles to a thread later +on. The nomads are already coming up.</p> + +<p>The rest was much broken by the critical state of +Karim's arm, which was swelled, throbbing, and inflamed +all round the wound inflicted by <i>Karun</i> on May 13, +and he had high fever. It was a helpless predicament, +the symptoms were so like those of gangrene. I thought +he would most likely die of the hot marches. It was +a very anxious night, as all our methods of healing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span> +were exhausted, and the singular improvement which +set in and has continued must have been the work of +the Great Physician, to whom an appeal for help was +earnestly made. The wound is daily syringed with +Condy's fluid, the only antiseptic available, and has a +drainage tube. To-day I have begun to use eucalyptus +oil, with which the man is delighted, possibly because he +has heard that it is very expensive, and that I have +hardly any left!</p> + +<p>Yesterday I had the amusement of shifting the camps +to another place, and Hadji was somewhat doubtful of my +leadership. On arriving at the beautiful crystal spring +which the guide had indicated as the halting-place for +Sunday, I found that it issued from under a mound of +grass-grown graves, was in the full sun blaze, and at +the lowest part of the plain. The guide asserted that it +was the only spring, but having seen a dark stain of +vegetation high among the hills, I halted the caravan +and rode off alone in search of the water I hoped it +indicated, disregarding the suppressed but unmistakably +sneering laughter of the guide and <i>charvadars</i>. In less +than a mile I came upon the dry bed of a rivulet, a little +higher up on a scanty, intermittent trickle, higher still on +a gurgling streamlet fringed by masses of blue scilla, and +still higher on a small circular spring of very cold water, +with two flowery plateaux below it just large enough for +the camps, in a green quiet corrie, with the mountains +close behind. Hadji laughed, and the guide insisted that +the spring was not always there. A delightful place it +is in which to spend Sunday quietly, with its musical +ripple of water, its sky-blue carpet of scilla, its beds of +white and purple irises, its slopes ablaze with the +<i>Fritillaria imperialis</i>, and its sweet, calm view of the green +Gurab plain and the silver windings of the Dinarud.</p> + +<p>Above the spring is the precipitous hill of Tur, with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">348</a></span> +the remains of a rude fort on its shattered rocky summit. +Two similar ruins are visible from Tur, one on a +rocky ledge of an offshoot of the Kuh-i-Gerra, on the +other side of the Dinarud valley, the other on the crest +of a noble headland of the Sanganaki range, which is +visible throughout the whole region. The local legend concerning +them is that long before the days of the Parthian +kings, and when bows and arrows were the only weapons +known, iron being undiscovered, there was in the neighbourhood +of Gurab a king called Faruk Padishah, who +had three sons, Salmon, Tur, and Iraj. It does not +appear to be usual among the Bakhtiaris for sons to "get +on" together after their father's death, and the three +youths quarrelled and built these three impregnable +forts—Killa Tur, the one I examined, Killa Iraj, and +Killa Salmon.</p> + +<p>The beautiful valley was evidently too narrow for +their ambition, and leaving their uncomfortable fastnesses +they went northwards, and founded three empires, Salmon +to the Golden Horn, where he founded Stamboul, +Tur to Turkistan, and Iraj became the founder of the +Iranian Empire.</p> + +<p>Killa Tur is a stone building mostly below the surface +of the hill-top, of rough hewn stone cemented with lime +mortar of the hardness of concrete. The inner space of +the fort is not more than eighty square yards. The walls +are from three to six feet thick.</p> + +<p><i>Chigakhor, May 31.</i>—The last twelve days have been +spent in marching through a country which has not been +traversed by Europeans, only crossed along the main +track. On leaving the pleasant camp of Tur we descended +to the Gurab plain, purple in patches with a +showy species of garlic, skirted the base of the Tur spur, +and rode for some miles along the left bank of the +Dinarud, which, after watering the plain of Gurab, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">349</a></span> +sparkles and rushes down a grassy valley bright with +roses and lilies, and well wooded with oak, elm, and hawthorn. +This river, gaining continually in volume, makes +a turbulent descent to the Karun a few miles from the +point where we left it. This was the finest day's march +of the journey. The mountain forms were grander and +more definite, the vegetation richer, the scenery more +varied, and a kindlier atmosphere pervaded it. In the +midst of a wood of fine walnut trees, ash, and hawthorn, +laced together by the tendrils of vines, a copious stream +tumbles over rocks fringed with maiden-hair, and sparkles +through grass purple with orchises. This is the only +time that I have seen the one or the other in Persia, and +it was like an unexpected meeting with dear friends.</p> + +<p>Crossing the Dinarud on a twig bridge, fording a turbulent +affluent, which bursts full fledged from the mountain +side, and ascending for some hours through grassy glades +wooded with oak and elm, we camped for two days on the +alpine meadow of Arjul, scantily watered but now very +green. Oak woods come down upon it, the vines are magnificent, +and there is some cultivation of wheat, which is sown +by the nomads before their departure in the late autumn, +and is reaped during their summer sojourn. There are +no tents there at present, yet from camps near and far, +on horseback and on foot, people came for eye-lotions, and +remained at night to have them dropped into their eyes.</p> + +<p>The next morning I was awakened at dawn by Mirza's +voice calling to me, "Madam, Hadji wants you to come +down and sew up a mule that's been gored by a wild +boar." Awfully gored it was. A piece of skin about +ten inches square was hanging down between its forelegs, +and a broad wound the depth of my hand and fully a +foot long extended right into its chest, with a great piece +taken out. I did what I could, but the animal had to +be left behind to be cured by the Mollah-i-Martaza, who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">350</a></span> +left us there. Another misfortune to Hadji was the loss +of the fiery leader of the caravan, Cock o' the Walk, but +late at night he was brought into camp at Dupulan quite +crestfallen, having gone back to the rich pastures which +surround the Chesmeh-i-Gurab. The muleteer who went +in search of him was attacked by some Lurs and stripped +of his clothing, but on some men coming up who said +his master was under the protection of the Ilkhani, his +clothes and horse were returned to him.</p> + +<p>The parallel ranges with deep valleys between them, +which are such a feature of this country, are seen in perfection +near Arjul. Some of the torrents of this mountain +region are already dry, but their broad stony beds, +full of monstrous boulders, arrest the fury with which at +times they seek the Karun. One of these, the Imamzada, +passes through the most precipitous and narrow gorge +which it is possible to travel, even with unloaded mules. +The narrow path is chiefly rude rock ladders, threading a +gorge or chasm on a gigantic scale, with a compressed +body of water thundering below, concealed mainly by +gnarled and contorted trees, which find root-hold in every +rift. Where the chasm widens for a space before +narrowing to a throat we forded it, and through glades +and wooded uplands reached Arjul, descending and +crossing the torrent by the same ford on the march to +Dupulan the next day.</p> + +<p>Owing to the loss of two baggage animals and the +necessary re-adjustment of the loads, I was late in starting +from Arjul, and the heat as we descended to the +lower levels was very great, the atmosphere being misty +as well as sultry. Passing upwards, through glades +wooded with oaks, the path emerges on high gravelly +uplands above the tremendous gorge of the Karun, the +manifold windings of which it follows at a great height. +From the first sight of this river in the Ardal valley to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">351</a></span> +its emergence at Dupulan, just below these heights, it +has come down with abrupt elbow-like turns and singular +sinuosities—a full, rapid, powerful glass-green volume of +water, through a ravine or gorge or chasm from 1000 to +2000 feet in depth, now narrowing, now widening, but +always <i>the</i> feature of the landscape. It would be natural +to use the usual phrase, and write of the Karun having +"carved" this passage for itself, but I am more and more +convinced that this is not the case, but that its waters +found their way into channels already riven by some of +those mighty operations of nature which have made of +this country a region of walls and clefts.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i351" id="i351"></a> +<img src="images/illus-351-f.jpg" width="450" height="603" alt="THE KARUN AT DUPULAN" title="" /> +<p class="caption">THE KARUN AT DUPULAN.</p> +</div> + +<p>A long, very steep gravelly descent leads from these +high lands down to the Karun, and to one of the routes—little +used, however—from Isfahan to Shuster. It is +reported as being closed by snow four months of the year. +The scenery changed its aspect here, and for walls and +parapets of splintered rock there are rounded gravelly +hills and stretching uplands.</p> + +<p>The three groups of most wretched mud hovels which +form the village of Dupulan ("Two Bridge Place") are +on an eminence on the left bank of the Karun, which +emerges from its long imprisonment in a gorge in the +mountains by a narrow passage between two lofty walls +of rock so smooth and regular in their slope and so perfect +a gateway as to suggest art rather than nature. This +river, the volume of which is rapidly augmenting on its +downward course, is here compressed into a width of +about twenty yards.</p> + +<p>At this point a stone bridge, built by Hussein Kuli +Khan, of one large pointed arch with a smaller one for +the flood, and a rough roadway corresponding to the arch +in the steepness of its pitch, spans the stream, which +passes onwards gently and smoothly, its waters a deep +cool green. Below Dupulan the Karun, which in that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span> +direction has been explored by several travellers, turns to +the south-west, and after a considerable bend enters the +levels above Shuster by a north-westerly course. Near +the bridge the Karun is joined by the Sabzu, a very +vigorous torrent from the Ardal plain, which is crossed +by a twig bridge, safer than it looks.</p> + +<p>The camps were pitched in apricot orchards in the +Sabzu ravine, near some <i>elægnus</i> trees, which are now +bearing their sweet gray and yellow blossoms, which will +be succeeded by auburn tresses of a woolly but very +pleasant fruit. Dupulan has an altitude of only 4950 +feet, and in its course from the Kuh-i-Rang to this point +the Karun has descended about 4000 feet. Though +there was a breeze, and both ends of my tent and the +<i>kanats</i> were open, the mercury was at 86° inside, and at +5 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> at 72° outside (on May 21). There were no supplies, +and even milk was unattainable.</p> + +<p>The road we followed ascends the Dupulan Pass, +which it crosses at a height of 6380 feet. The path is +very bad, hardly to be called a path. The valley which +it ascends is packed with large and small boulders, with +round water-worn stones among them, and such track as +there is makes sharp zigzags over and among these rocks. +<i>Screw</i> was very unwilling to face the difficulties, which +took two hours to surmount. The ascent was hampered +by coming upon a tribe of Ilyats on the move, who +at times blocked up the pass with their innumerable +sheep and goats and their herds of cattle. Once entangled +in this migration, it was only possible to move +on a few feet at a time. It straggled along for more than +a mile,—loaded cows and bullocks, innumerable sheep, +goats, lambs, and kids; big dogs; asses loaded with black +tents and short tent-poles on the loads; weakly sheep tied +on donkeys' backs, and weakly lambs carried in shepherds' +bosoms; handsome mares, each with her foal, running +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span> +loose or ridden by women with babies seated on the tops +of loaded saddle-bags made of gay rugs; tribesmen on foot +with long guns slung behind their shoulders, and big two-edged +knives in their girdles; sheep bleating, dogs barking, +mares neighing, men shouting and occasionally firing off +their guns, the whole ravine choked up with the ascending +tribal movement.</p> + +<p>Half-way up the ascent there is a most striking view +of mountain ranges cleft by the great chasm of the Karun. +The descent is into the eastern part of the Ardal valley, +over arid treeless hillsides partially ploughed, to the +village of Dehnau, not yet deserted for the summer. +Fattiallah Khan expected us, and rooms were prepared +for me in the women's house, which I excused myself +from occupying by saying that I cannot sleep under a +roof. I managed also to escape partaking of a huge +garlicky dinner which was being cooked for me.</p> + +<p>The Khan's house or fort, built like all else of mud, +has a somewhat imposing gateway, over which are the +men's apartments. The roof is decorated with a number of +ibex horns. Within is a rude courtyard with an uneven +surface, on which servants and negro slaves were skinning +sheep, winnowing wheat, clarifying butter, carding wool, +cooking, and making cheese. The women's apartments +are round the courtyard, and include the usual feature +of these houses, an <i>atrium</i>, or room without a front, and a +darkish room within. The floor of the <i>atrium</i> was covered +with brown felts, and there was a mattress for me to sit +upon. The ruling spirit of the <i>haram</i> is the Khan's +mother, a comely matron of enormous size, who occasionally +slapped her son's four young and comely wives when they +were too "forward." She wore a short jacket, balloon-like +trousers of violet silk, and a black coronet, to which was +attached a black <i>chadar</i> which completely enveloped her.</p> + +<p>The wives wore figured white <i>chadars</i>, print trousers, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">354</a></span> +and strings of coins. Children much afflicted with +cutaneous maladies crawled on the floor. Heaps of +servants, negro slaves, old hags, and young girls crowded +behind and around, all talking at once and at the top of +their voices, and at the open front the village people +constantly assembled, to be driven away at intervals +by a man with a stick. A bowl of cow's milk and +some barley bread were given to me, and though a +remarkably dirty negress kept the flies away by flapping +the milk bowl with a dirty sleeve, I was very grateful +for the meal, for I was really suffering from the heat and +fatigue.</p> + +<p>A visit to a <i>haram</i> is not productive of mutual +elevation. The women seem exceedingly frivolous, and +are almost exclusively interested in the adornment of +their persons, the dress and ailments of their children, +and in the frightful jealousies and intrigues inseparable +from the system of polygamy, and which are fostered by +the servants and discarded wives. The servile deference +paid by the other women to the reigning favourite before +her face, and the merciless persistency of the attempts +made behind her back to oust her from her position, +and the requests made on the one hand for charms or +potions to win or bring back the love of a husband, and +on the other for something which shall make the favourite +hateful to him, are evidences of the misery of heart +which underlies the outward frivolity.</p> + +<p>The tone of Fattiallah Khan's <i>haram</i> was not higher +than usual. The ladies took off my hat, untwisted my +hair, felt my hands, and shrieked when they found that +my gloves came off; laughed immoderately at my Bakhtiari +shoes, which, it seems, are only worn by men; put +their rings on my fingers, put my hat on their own +heads, asked if I could give them better hair dyes than +their own, and cosmetics to make their skins fair; paid +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span> +the usual compliments, told me to regard everything as +<i>pishkash</i>, asked for medicines and charms, and regretted +that I would not sleep in their house, because, as they +said, they "never went anywhere or saw anything."</p> + +<p>They have no occupation, except occasionally a little +embroidery. They amuse themselves, they said, by +watching the servants at work, and by having girls to +dance before them. They find the winter, though spent +in a warm climate, very long and wearisome, and after +dark employ female professional story-tellers to entertain +them with love stories. At night the elder lady +sent three times for a charm which should give her +daughter the love of her husband. She is married to +another Khan, and I recalled her as the forlorn-looking +girl without any jewels who excited my sympathies in +his house.</p> + +<p>Marriages are early among these people. They are +arranged by the parents of both bride and bridegroom. +The betrothal feast is a great formality. The "settlements" +having been made by the bridegroom's father +and mother, they distribute sweetmeats among the +members of the bride's family, and some respectable +men who are present tie a handkerchief round the head +of the bride, and kiss the hands of her parents as a sign +of the betrothal. The engagement must be fulfilled by +the bride's parents under pain of severe penalties, from +which the bridegroom's parents are usually exempt. +But, should he prove faithless, he is a marked man. +It appears that "breach of promise of marriage" is very +rare. The betrothal may take place at the tenderest age, +but the marriage is usually delayed till the bride is +twelve years old, or even older, and the bridegroom is +from fifteen to eighteen.</p> + +<p>The "settlements" made at the betrothal are paid at +the time of marriage, and consist of a sum of money or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">356</a></span> +cattle, mares, or sheep, according to the circumstances +of the bridegroom's parents. It is essential among all +classes that a number of costumes be presented to the +bride. After the marriage is over her parents bestow a +suit of clothes on her husband, but these are usually of +an inferior, or, as my interpreter calls them, of a "trivial" +description.</p> + +<p>A Bakhtiari marriage is a very noisy performance. +For three days or more, in fact as long as the festivities +can be afforded, the relations and friends of both parties +are assembled at the tents of the bride's parents, feasting +and dancing (men and women on this occasion dancing +together), performing feats of horsemanship, and shooting +at a mark. The noise at this time is ceaseless. Drums, +tom-toms, reeds, whistles, and a sort of bagpipe are all +in requisition, and songs of love and war are chanted. +At this time also is danced the national dance, the +<i>chapi</i>, of which on no other occasion (except a burial) +can a stranger procure a sight for love or money. It is +said to resemble the <i>arnaoutika</i> of the modern Greeks; +any number of men can join in it. The dancers form +in a close row, holding each other by their <i>kamarbands</i>, +and swinging along sidewise. They mark the time by +alternately stamping the heel of the right and left foot. +The dancers are led by a man who dances apart, waving +a handkerchief rhythmically above his head, and either +singing a war song or playing on a reed pipe. After +the marriage feast the bride follows her husband to his +father's tent, where she becomes subject to her mother-in-law.</p> + +<p>The messenger, after looking round to see that there +were no bystanders, very mysteriously produced from his +girdle a black, flattish oval stone of very close texture, +weighing about a pound, almost polished by long handling. +He told me that it was believed that this stone, if +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span> +kept in one family for fifty years and steadily worn by +father and son, would then not only turn to gold, but +have the power of transmuting any metal laid beside it +for five years, and he wanted to know what the wisdom +of the Feringhis knew about it.</p> + +<p>I went up to my camp above the village and tried to +rest there, but the buzz of a crowd outside and the ceaseless +lifting of curtains and <i>kanats</i> made this quite impossible. +When I opened the tent I found the crowd +seated in a semicircle five rows deep, waiting for medicines, +chiefly eye-lotion, quinine, and cough mixtures. These +daily assemblages of "patients" are most fatiguing. The +satisfaction is that some "lame dogs" are "helped over +stiles," and that some prejudice against Christians is +removed.</p> + +<p>After this Fattiallah Khan, with a number of retainers, +paid a formal visit to the Agha, who kindly sent for me, +as I do not receive any but lady visitors in my tent. +The Khan is a very good-looking and well-dressed man +of twenty-eight, very amusing, and ready to be amused. +He was very anxious to be doctored, but looked the +opposite of a sick man. He and Isfandyar Khan were +in arms against the Ilkhani two years ago, and a few +men were shot. He looked as if he were very sorry not +to have killed him.</p> + +<p>The Bakhtiaris have an enormous conceit of themselves +and their country. It comes out in all ways and +on all occasions, and their war stories and songs abound +in legends of singular prowess, one Bakhtiari killing +twenty Persians, and the like. They represent the power +of the Shah over them as merely nominal, a convenient +fiction for the time being, although it is apparent that +Persia, which for years has been aiming at the extinction +of the authority of the principal chiefs, has had at least +a partial success. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span></p> + +<p>At such interviews a private conversation is impossible. +The manners are those of a feudal <i>régime</i>. Heaps of +retainers crowd round, and even join in the conversation. +A servant brought the Khan a handsome <i>kalian</i> to +smoke three times. He also took tea. A great quantity +of opium for exportation is grown about Dehnau, +and the Khan said that the cultivation of it is always +increasing.</p> + +<p>From Dehnau the path I took leads over gravelly +treeless hills, through many treeless gulches, to the top of +a great gorge, through which the Sabzu passes as an +impetuous torrent. The descent to a very primitive +bridge is long and difficult, a succession of rocky zigzags. +Picturesqueness is not a usual attribute of mud villages, +but the view from every point of Chiraz, the village on +the lofty cliffs on the other side of the stream, is strikingly +so. They are irregularly covered with houses, partly built +on them and partly excavated out of them, and behind +is a cool mass of greenery, apricot orchards, magnificent +walnut and mulberry trees, great standard hawthorns +loaded with masses of blossom, wheat coming into ear, +and clumps and banks of canary-yellow roses measuring +three inches across their petals. Groups of women, in +whose attire Turkey red predominated, were on the house +roofs. Wild flowers abounded, and the sides of the +craggy path by which I descended were crowded with +leguminous and umbelliferous plants, with the white and +pink dianthus, and with the thorny <i>tussocks</i> of the gum +tragacanth, largely used for kindling, now in full bloom.</p> + +<p>As I dragged my unwilling horse down the steep +descent, his bridle was taken out of my hands, and I was +welcomed by the brother of Fattiallah Khan, who, with +a number of village men escorted me over the twig bridge, +and up to an exquisite halting-place under a large mulberry +tree, where the next two hours were spent in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">359</a></span> +receiving visitors. It is evident that these fine orchards +must have been the pleasure-ground of some powerful +ruler, and the immense yellow roses are such as grow in +one or two places in Kashmir, where they are attributed +to Jehangir.</p> + +<p>The track from Chiraz for many miles follows up +the right bank of the Sabzu at a great height, descends +occasionally into deep gulches, crosses the spurs of +mountains whose rifts give root-hold to contorted "pencil +cedars," and winds among small ash trees and hawthorns, +or among rich grass and young wheat, which is grown to +a considerable extent on the irrigated slopes above the +river. It is a great surprise to find so much land under +cultivation, and so much labour spent on irrigation +channels. Some of these canals are several miles +in length, and the water always runs in them swiftly, +and the right way, although the "savages" who make +them have no levels or any tools but spades.</p> + +<p>Mountains, much scored and cañoned by streams, +very grand in form, and with much snow still upon +them, rise to a great height above the ranges which form +the Sabzu valley. From Chaharta, an uninteresting +camping-ground by the river, I proceeded by an elevated +and rather illegible track in a easterly direction to the +meeting of two streams, forded the Sabzu, and camped +for two days on the green slope of Sabz Kuh, at a +height of 8100 feet, close to a vigorous spring whose +waters form many streamlets, fringed by an abundance +of pink primulas, purple and white orchises, white tulips, +and small fragrant blue irises.</p> + +<p>Lahdaraz is in the very heart of mountain ranges, and +as the Ilyats have not yet come up so high, there were +no crowds round my tent for medicine, but one sick +woman was carried thither eleven miles on the back of +her husband, who seemed tenderly solicitous about her. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">360</a></span></p> + +<p>On Monday I spent most of the day 1000 feet +higher, in most magnificent scenery on an imposing +scale of grandeur. The guide took us from the camp +through herbage, snow, and alpine flowers, up a valley +with fine mountains on either side, terminating on the +brink of a gigantic precipice, a cloven ledge between +the Kuh-i-Kaller and a stupendous cliff or headland, +Sultan Ibrahim, over 12,000 feet, which descends +in shelving masses to an abyss of tremendous +depth, where water thunders in a narrow rift. The +Sabz Kuh, or "green mountain" range, famous for the +pasturage of its higher slopes, terminates in Sultan +Ibrahim, and unites at its eastern end with the Kuh-i-Kaller, +a range somewhat higher. On the east side +of this huge chasm rises another range of peaks, with +green shelves, dark rifts, and red precipices, behind +which rise another, and yet another, whose blue, snow-patched +summits blended with the pure cool blue of the +sky. In the far distance, in a blue veil, lies the green-tinted +plain of Khana Mirza, set as an emerald in this +savage scenery, with two ranges beyond, and above them +the great mountain mass of the Riji, whose snowy peaks +were painted faintly on a faint blue heaven.</p> + +<p>That misty valley, irrigated and cultivated, with 100 +villages of the Janiki tribe upon it, is the only fair +spot in the savage landscape. Elsewhere only a few +wild flowers and a gnarled juniper here and there relieve +the fierce, blazing verdurelessness of these stupendous +precipices. Never, not even among the Himalayas, have +I seen anything so superlatively grand, though I have +always imagined that such scenes must exist somewhere +on the earth. A pair of wild sheep on a ledge, a serpent +or two, and an eagle soaring sunwards represented animate +nature, otherwise the tremendous heights above, the +awful depths below, the snowy mountains, and the valley +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">361</a></span> +with its smile, were given over to solitude and silence, +except for the dull roar of the torrent hurrying down +to vivify the Khana Mirza plain.</p> + +<p>After leaving Lahdaraz the path followed the course of +the Sabzu through grass and barley for a few miles. Then +there is an abrupt and disagreeable change to yellow +mud slopes and high mud mountains deeply fissured, +the scanty herbage already eaten down by Ilyat flocks—a +desolate land, without springs, streams, or even Ilyat +tents. Then comes a precipice at an altitude of 7500 +feet, through a cleft in which, the Tang-i-Wastagun, the +road passes, and descends to the plain of Gandaman as +something little better than a sheep track on a steep hillside +above a stream. The heat was fierce. A pair of +stout gardening gloves does not preserve the hands from +blistering. Spectacles with wire gauze sides have to be +abandoned as they threaten to roast the eyes. In this +latitude, 32°, the heat of the sun at noon is tremendous. +At the precipice top I crept into a hole at the base of a +rock, for "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land," +till the caravan staggered up. It was difficult to brave +the sun's direct rays. He looked like a ball of magnesium +light, white and scintillating, in the unclouded sky.</p> + +<p>On crossing the Tang-i-Wastagun we left behind +the Bakhtiari country proper for a time, and re-entered +the Chahar Mahals, with their mixed village population +of Persians and Armenians. The descent from the +Tang-i-Wastagun is upon a ruined Armenian village with a +large graveyard. The tombstones are of great size, ten feet +long by three feet broad and three feet high, sarcophagus-shaped, +and on each stone are an Armenian epitaph and a +finely-engraved cross. The plain of Gandaman or Wastagun +is a very large one, over 7000 feet in altitude, and is surrounded +mainly by high mountains still snow-patched, +but to the north by low rocky hills. Much of it is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">362</a></span> +irrigated and under cultivation, and grows heavy crops of +wheat and barley. The pasturage is fine and abundant, +and the people breed cattle and horses. The uncultivated +slopes are now covered with red tulips and a purple +<i>allium</i>, and even the +dry gravel added largely +to the daily increasing +botanical collection.</p> + +<div class="figleft"><a name="i362" id="i362"></a> +<img src="images/illus-362.jpg" width="244" height="506" alt="ALI JAN" /> +<p class="caption">ALI JAN.</p> +</div> + +<p>The camps were +pitched on green turf +near three springs, a +quiet place, but there +was little rest. We +were hardly settled +before there was a +severe fight among the +horses, my sour-tempered +<i>Screw</i> being the +aggressor. This was +hardly quieted when +there was a sharp +"scrimmage" between +the <i>charvadars</i> and the +Agha's three young +savages, in which one +of them, Ali Jan, was +badly beaten, and came +to me to have a bleeding +face and head +dressed. After that the +people began to come +in from the villages +for eye-washes and medicines. They have no bottles, nor +have I, and the better-off bring great copper jugs and +basins for an ounce or two of lotion! A very poor old +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">363</a></span> +woman much afflicted with ophthalmia said she had +three sisters all blind, that she had nothing for lotion, +nothing in the world but a copper cooking pot, and she +cried piteously. I had nothing to give her, and eventually +she returned with an egg-shell, with the top neatly +chipped off. It is the custom to raise the hands to +heaven and invoke blessings on the <i>Hakīm's</i> head, but I +never received so many as from this poor creature.</p> + +<p>The ride to the village of Gandaman, where we halted +for two days, was an agreeable one. After being shut up +among mountains and precipices, space and level ground +to gallop over are an agreeable change, and in the early +morning the heat was not excessive. The great plain +was a truly pastoral scene. Wild-looking shepherds with +long guns led great brown flocks to the hills; innumerable +yokes of black oxen, ploughing with the usual iron-shod, +pointed wooden share, turned over the rich black soil, +making straight furrows, and crossing them diagonally; +mares in herds fed with their foals; and shepherds +busily separated the sheep from the goats.</p> + +<p>Close to the filthy walled Armenian village of Kunak +there is a conical hill with a large fort, in ruinous +condition, upon it, and not far off are the remains of an +Armenian village, enclosed by a square wall with a round +tower at each corner. This must have been until +recently a place of some local importance, as it is +approached by a paved causeway, and had an aqueduct, +now ruinous, carried over the river on three arches. Not +only the plain but the hill-slopes up to a great height +are cultivated, and though the latter have the precariousness +of rain-lands, the crops already in ear promise +well.</p> + +<p>Crossing a spur which descends upon the north side +of the plain, we reached Gandaman, a good-looking +walled Moslem village of 196 houses, much planted, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">364</a></span> +chiefly with willows, and rejoicing in eight springs, close +together, the overflow of which makes quite a piece of +water. It has an <i>imamzada</i> on an eminence and is +fairly prosperous, for besides pastoral wealth it weaves +and exports carpets, and dyes cotton and woollen yarn +with madder and other vegetable dyes. The mountain +view to the south-west is very fine.</p> + +<p>I was in my tent early, but there was little rest, for +crowds of people with bad eyes and woful maladies +besieged it until the evening. At noon a gay procession +crossed the green camping-ground, four mares +caparisoned in red trappings, each carrying two women +in bright dresses, but shrouded in pure white sheets bound +round their heads with silver chains. The <i>ketchuda</i> of +the Armenian village of Libasgun, two miles off, accompanied +them, and said that they came to invite me to their +village, for they are Christians. Then they all made the +sign of the Cross, which is welcome in this land as a bond +of brotherhood.</p> + +<p>Cleanly, comely, large-eyed, bright-cheeked, and +wholesome they looked, in their pure white <i>chadars</i>, gay +red dresses, and embroidered under-vests. They had +massive silver girdles, weighing several pounds, worn +there only by married women, red coronets, heavy tiaras of +silver, huge necklaces of coins, and large filigree silver +drops attached down the edges of their too open vests. +Their heavy hair was plaited, but not fastened up. Each +wore a stiff diamond-shaped piece of white cotton over +her mouth and the tip of her nose. They said it was +their custom to wear it, and they would not remove it +even to eat English biscuits! They managed to drink tea +by veiling their faces with their <i>chadars</i> and passing the +cup underneath, but they turned their faces quite away +as they did it. They had come for the day, and had +brought large hanks of wool to wind, but the headman +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span> +had the tact to take them away after arranging for me to +return the visit in the evening.</p> + +<p>He seemed an intelligent man. Libasgun, with its 120 +houses, is, according to his account, a prosperous village, +paying its tax of 300 <i>tumans</i> (£100) a year to the Amin-ud-Daulat, +and making a present only to the Ilkhani. It +has 2000 sheep and goats, besides mares and cattle. It +has an oil mill, and exports oil to Isfahan. The women +weave carpets, and embroider beautifully on coarse cotton +woven by themselves, and dyed indigo blue and madder +red by their Gandaman neighbours. This man is proud +of being a Christian. Among the Armenians Christianity +is as much a national characteristic as pride of race and +strict monogamy. He remarked that there are no sore +eyes in Libasgun, and attributed it to the greater cleanliness +of the people and to the cross signed in holy oil +upon their brows in baptism!</p> + +<p>I rode to this village in the late afternoon, and was +received with much distinction in the <i>balakhana</i> of the +<i>ketchuda's</i> house, where I was handed to the seat of +honour, a bolster at the head of the handsomely-carpeted +room. It soon filled with buxom women in red, with +jackets displaying their figures, or want of figures, down +to their waists. From the red velvet coronets on their +heads hung two graduated rows of silver coins, and their +muslin <i>chadars</i> were attached to their hair with large +silver pins and chains. Magnificent necklaces of gold coins +were also worn.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i366" id="i366"></a> +<img src="images/illus-366.jpg" width="332" height="422" alt="ARMENIAN WOMEN OF LIBASGUN" /> +<p class="caption">ARMENIAN WOMEN OF LIBASGUN.</p> +</div> + +<p>Forty women sat on the floor in rows against the +wall. Each had rosy cheeks, big black eyes, and a +diamond-shaped white cloth over her mouth. The uniformity +was shocking. They stared, not at me, but at +nothing. They looked listless and soulless, only fit to +be what they are—the servants of their husbands. +When they had asked me my age, and why I do not dye +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">366</a></span> +my hair, the conversation flagged, for I could not get any +information from them even on the simplest topics. +Hotter and hotter grew the room, more stolid the vacancy +of the eyes, more grotesque the rows of white diamonds +over the mouths, when the happy thought occurred to +me to ask to see the embroidered aprons, which every +girl receives from her mother on her marriage. Two +mountains of flesh obligingly rolled out of the room, and +rolled in again bringing some beautiful specimens of +needlework. This is really what is known as "Russian +embroidery," cross stitch in artistic colours on coarse red +or blue cotton. The stomachers are most beautifully +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">367</a></span> +worked. The aprons cover the whole of the front and +the sides of the dress. The mothers begin to embroider +them when their daughters are ten. The diamond-shaped +cloth is put on by girls at eight or nine. The women +would not remove it for a moment even to oblige a guest. +The perpetual wearing of it is one of their religious +customs, only prevailing, however, in some localities. +They say that when our Lord was born His mother in +token of reverence took a cloth and covered her mouth, +hence their habit.</p> + +<p>When the <i>ketchuda</i> arrived he found the heat of the +room unbearable and proposed an adjournment to the +lower roof, which was speedily swept, watered, and +carpeted.</p> + +<p>An elaborate banquet had been prepared in the hope +that the Agha would pay them a visit, and they were +much mortified at his non-appearance. The great copper +basins containing the food were heaped together in the +middle of the carpets, and the guests, fifty in number, sat +down, the men on one side, and the women on the other, +the wives of the <i>ketchuda</i> and his brothers serving. +There were several <i>samovars</i> with tea, but only three +cups. A long bolster was the place of honour, and I +occupied it alone till the village priests arrived,—reverend +men with long beards, high black head-dresses, and full +black cassocks with flowing sleeves. All the guests rose, +and remained standing till they had been ceremoniously +conducted to seats. I found them very agreeable and +cultured men, acquainted with the varying "streams of +tendency" in the Church of England, and very anxious to +claim our Church as a sister of their own. This banquet +was rather a gay scene, and on a higher roof fully one +hundred women and children dressed in bright red stood +watching the proceedings below.</p> + +<p>I proposed to see the church, and with the priests, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">368</a></span> +most of the guests, and a considerable following of the +onlookers, walked to it through filthy alleys. This +ancient building, in a dirty and malodorous yard, differs +externally from the mud houses which surround it only +in having two bells on a beam. The interior consists +of four domed vaults, and requires artificial light. A +vault with a raised floor contains the altar and a badly-painted +altar-piece representing the B. V.; a rail separates +the men, who stand in front, from the women, who stand +behind. A Liturgy and an illuminated medieval copy +of the Gospels, of which they are very proud, are their +only treasures. They have no needlework, and the altar +cloth is only a piece of printed cotton. Nothing could +well look poorer than this small, dark, vacant building, +with a few tallow candles without candlesticks giving a +smoky light.</p> + +<p>They have two daily services lasting from one to two +hours each, and Mass on Sunday is protracted to seven +hours! The priests said that all the men, except two +who watch the flocks, and nearly all the women are at +both services on Sunday, and that many of the men and +most of the women are at both daily services, one of +which, as is usual, begins before daylight. There is no +school. The fathers teach their boys to read and write, +and the mothers instruct their girls in needlework.</p> + +<p>After visits to the priests' houses, a number of +villagers on horseback escorted me back to Gandaman. +The heat of those two days was very great for May, the +mercury marking 83° in the shade at 10 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> One +hundred and thirteen people came for medicines, and in +their eagerness they swarmed round both ends of the +tent, blocking out all air. The ailments were much +more varied and serious than among the Bakhtiaris.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i368" id="i368"></a> +<img src="images/illus-368-f.jpg" width="635" height="479" alt="WALL AND GATE OF LIBASGUN" /> +<p class="caption">WALL AND GATE OF LIBASGUN.</p> +</div> + +<p>The last march was a hot and tedious one of eighteen +miles, along an uninteresting open valley, much ploughed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">369</a></span> +bounded by sloping herbage-covered hills, surmounted by +parapets of perpendicular rock. After passing the large +Moslem village of Baldiji, we re-entered the Bakhtiari +country, ascended to the Bakhtiari village of Dastgird, +descended to the plain of Chigakhor, skirted its southern +margin, and on its western side, on two spurs of the +great Kuh-i-Kaller range, with a ravine between them, +the camps were pitched. In two days most of the tents +were blown down, and were moved into two ravines +with a hill between them, on which the Sahib on his +arrival pitched his camp.</p> + +<p>My ravine has a spring, with exactly space for my +tent beside it, and a platform higher up with just room +enough for the servants. A strong stream, rudely brawling, +issuing from the spring, disturbs sleep. There is +no possibility of changing one's position by even a six-feet +stroll, so rough and steep is the ground. Mirza +bringing my meals from the cooking tent has a stick to +steady himself. At first there was nothing to see but +scorched mountains opposite, and the green plain on +which the ravine opens, but the <i>Hakīm's</i> tent was soon +discovered, and I have had 278 "patients"! Before I +am up in the morning they are sitting in rows one +behind another on the steep ground, their horses and +asses grazing near them, and all day they come. One of +the chiefs of the Janiki tribe came with several saddle +and baggage horses and even a tent, to ask me to go +with him to the great plain of Khana Mirza, three days' +march from here, to cure his wife's eyes, and was +grieved to the heart when I told him they were beyond +my skill. He stayed while a great number of sick +people got eye-lotions and medicines, and then asked me +why I gave these medicines and took so much trouble. +I replied that our Master and Lord not only commanded +us to do good to all men as we have opportunity, but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">370</a></span> +Himself healed the sick. "You call Him Master and +Lord," he said; "He was a great Prophet. <i>Send a Hakīm +to us in His likeness.</i>"</p> + +<p>I have heard so much of Chigakhor that I am disappointed +with the reality. There are no trees, most of +the snow has melted, the mountains are not very bold in +their features, the plain has a sort of lowland look about +it, and though its altitude is 7500 feet, the days and +even nights are very hot. The interest of it lies in +it being the summer resort of the Ilkhani and Ilbegi, +a fact which makes it the great centre of Bakhtiari +life. As many as 400 tents are pitched here in the +height of the season, and the coming and going of +Khans and headmen with tribute and on other business +is ceaseless.</p> + +<p>The plain, which is about seven miles long by three +broad, is quite level. Near the south-east end is a +shallow reedy mere, fringed by a fertile swampiness, which +produces extraordinary crops of grass far out into the +middle of the level.</p> + +<p>Near the same end is a rocky eminence or island, on +which is the fortress castle of the Ilkhani. The "season" +begins in early June, when the tribes come up from the +warm pastures of Dizful and Shuster, to which they +return with their pastoral wealth in the autumn, after +which the plain is flooded and frozen for the winter. At +the north end are the villages of Dastgird and Aurugun +and a great deal of irrigated land producing wheat. +Except at that end the plain is surrounded by mountains; +on its southern side, where a part of the Sukhta range +rises into the lofty peak of Challeh Kuh, with its snow-slashes +and snow-fields, they attain an altitude of 12,000 +or 13,000 feet.</p> + +<p>It is not easy, perhaps not possible, to pass through +the part of the Bakhtiari country for which we are bound, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">371</a></span> +without some sort of assistance from its feudal lords, a +responsible man, for instance, who can obtain supplies +from the people. Therefore we have been detained here +for many days waiting for the expected arrival of the +Ilkhani. A few days ago a rumour arrived, since unhappily +continued, that things were in confusion below, +owing to the discovery of a plot on the part of the +Ilkhani to murder the Ilbegi. Stories are current of the +number of persons "put out of the way" before he attained +his present rank for the second time, and it is not +"Bakhtiari custom" to be over-scrupulous about human +life. No doubt his nephew, the Ilbegi, is a very dangerous +rival, and that his retainers are bent on seeing him in a +yet higher position than he now occupies.</p> + +<p>A truce has been patched up, however, and yesterday +the Ilkhani and Isfandyar Khan arrived together, with +their great trains of armed horsemen, their <i>harams</i>, their +splendid studs, their crowds of unmounted retainers, their +strings of baggage mules and asses laden with firewood, +and all the "rag, tag, and bobtail" in attendance on +Oriental rulers. Following them in endless nocturnal +procession come up the tribes, and day breaks on an ever-increasing +number of brown flocks and herds, of mares, +asses, dogs, black tents, and household goods. When we +arrived there were only three tents, now the green bases +of the mountains and all the platforms and ravines where +there are springs are spotted with them, in rows or semicircles, +and at night the camp fires of the multitude look +like the lights of a city. Each clan has a prescriptive +right to its camping-ground and pasture (though both are +a fruitful source of quarrels), and arrives with its <i>ketchuda</i> +and complete social organisation, taking up its position +like a division of an army.</p> + +<p>When in the early morning or afternoon the tribe +reaches the camping-ground, everything is done in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">372</a></span> +most orderly way. The infants are put into their cradles, +the men clear the ground if necessary, drive the pegs and +put up the poles, and if there be wood—of which there is +not a stick here—they make a fence of loose branches to +contain the camp, but the women do the really hard work. +Their lords, easily satisfied with their modicum of labour, +soon retire to enjoy their pipes and the endless gossip of +Bakhtiari life.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i372" id="i372"></a> +<img src="images/illus-372.jpg" width="374" height="317" alt="A PERSO-BAKHTIARI CRADLE" /> +<p class="caption">A PERSO-BAKHTIARI CRADLE.</p> +</div> + +<p>After the ground has been arranged the tents occupy +invariably the same relative position, whether the camp +is in a row, a semicircle, a circle, or streets, so that the +cattle and flocks may easily find their owners' abodes +without being driven. The tents, which are of black goats' +hair cloth, are laid out and beaten, and the women spread +them over the poles and arrange the rest, after which the +inside is brushed to remove the soot. In a good tent, reed +screens are put up to divide the space into two or more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">373</a></span> +portions, and some of the tribes fence round the whole +camp with these screens, leaving one opening, and use the +interior for a sheepfold. The small bushes are grubbed +up for fuel. The women also draw the water, and the +boys attend to the flocks. Many of the camps, however, +have neither fences nor environing screens, and their inmates +dwell without any attempt at privacy, and rely for +the safety of their flocks on big and trustworthy dogs, +of which every camp has a number.</p> + +<p>When they move the bulk of the labour again falls +on the women. They first make the baggage into neat +small packages suited for the backs of oxen; then they +take up the tent pegs, throw down the tents, and roll +them up in the reed screens, all that the men undertake +being to help in loading the oxen. It is only when a +division halts for at least some days that this process is +gone through. In fine weather, if a tribe is marching +daily to its summer or winter camping-grounds, the +families frequently sleep in the open.</p> + +<p>The chief's tent is always recognisable by its size, and +is occasionally white. I have seen a tent of a wealthy +Khan fully sixty feet long. A row of poles not more than +ten feet high supported the roof, which was of brown +haircloth, the widths united by a coarse open stitch. +On the windward side the roof was pinned down nearly +to the top of a loosely-laid wall of stones about three feet +high. The leeward side was quite open, and the roof, +which could be lowered if necessary, was elevated and extended +by poles six feet high. If the tent was sixty feet +long, it was made by this arrangement twenty feet broad. +At the lower end was a great fire-hole in the earth, and +the floor of the upper end was covered with rugs, quilts, +and pillows, the household stuff being arranged chiefly on +and against the rude stone wall.</p> + +<p>The process of encamping for a camp of seventy tents +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">374</a></span> +takes about two hours, and many interruptions occur, +especially the clamorous demands of unweaned infants of +mature years. De-camping the same number of tents +takes about an hour. A free, wild life these nomads lead, +full of frays and plots, but probably happier than the +average lot.</p> + +<p>Below the castle is the great encampment of the +chiefs, brown tents and white bell tents, among which +the tall white pavilion of the Ilkhani towers conspicuously. +The Ilkhani and Ilbegi called on me, and as they sat +outside my tent it was odd to look back two years to +the time when they were fighting each other, and barely +two weeks to the discovery of the plot of the dark-browed +Ilkhani to murder his nephew. The Ilkhani's +face had a very uncomfortable expression. Intrigues +against him at Tihran and nearer home, the rumoured +enmity of the Prime Minister, the turbulence of some of +the tribes, the growing power of the adherents of Isfandyar +Khan, and his own baffled plot to destroy him must +make things unpleasant. Several of the small Khans +who have been to see me expect fighting here before the +end of the summer. The Ilkhani had previously availed +himself of the resources of my medicine chest, and with +so much benefit that I was obliged to grant a request +which deprived me of a whole bottle of "tabloids."</p> + +<p>In the evening I visited the ladies who are in the castle +leading the usual dull life of the <i>haram</i>, high above the +bustle which centres round the Ilkhani's pavilion, with its +crowds of tribesmen, mares and foals feeding, tethered +saddle horses neighing, cows being milked, horsemen +galloping here and there, firing at a mark, asses bearing +wood and flour from Ardal being unloaded—a bustle +masculine solely.</p> + +<p>Isfandyar Khan, with whose look of capacity I am +more and more impressed, and Lutf received us and led +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">375</a></span> +us to the great pavilion, which is decorated very handsomely +throughout with red and blue <i>appliqué</i> arabesques, +and much resembles an Indian <i>durbar</i> tent. A brown +felt carpet occupied the centre. The Ilkhani, who rose +and shook hands, sat on one side and the Ilbegi on the +other, and sons, Khans, and attendants to the number +of 200, I daresay, stood around. We made some fine +speeches, rendered finer, doubtless, by Mirza; repeated +an offer to send a doctor to itinerate in the country +for some months in 1891, took the inevitable tea, and +while the escorts were being arranged for I went to the +fort.</p> + +<p>It is the fortress of the Haft Lang, one great +division of the Bakhtiari Lurs, which supplies the ruling +dynasty. The building is a parallelogram, flanked by four +round towers, with large casemates and a keep on its +southern side. It has two courtyards, surrounded by +stables and barracks, but there is no water within the +gates, and earthquakes and neglect have reduced much +of it to a semi-ruinous condition. Over the gateway and +along the front is a handsome suite of well-arranged +balconied rooms, richly decorated in Persian style, +the front and doors of the large reception-room being +of fretwork filled in with amber and pale blue glass, +and the roof and walls are covered with small mirrors +set so as to resemble facets, with medallion pictures of +beauties and of the chase let in at intervals. The effect +of the mirrors is striking, and even beautiful. There +were very handsome rugs on the floor, and divans +covered with Kashan velvet; but rugs, divans, and squabs +were heaped to the depth of some inches with rose petals +which were being prepared for rose-water, and the principal +wife rose out of a perfect bed of them.</p> + +<p>These ladies have no conversation, and relapse into +apathy after asking a few personal questions. Again +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span> +they said they wished to see the Agha, of whose height +and prowess many rumours had reached them, but when +I suggested that they might see him from the roof or +balcony they said they were afraid. Again they said +they had such dull lives, and regretted my departure, as +they thought they might come and see my tent. I felt +sorry for them, sorrier than I can say, as I realised more +fully the unspeakable degradation and dulness of their +lives. A perfect rabble of dirty women and children +filled the passages and staircase.</p> + +<p>On one of my last evenings I rode, attended only by +Mirza, to the village of Dastgird to see two women whose +husband desired medicines for them. This village is +piled upon the hillside at the north end of the valley +and a traveller can be seen afar off. I had never visited +any of the camps so slenderly escorted, and when I saw +the roofs covered with men and numbers more running +to the stream with long guns slung behind their backs +and big knives in their girdles, I was much afraid that +they might be rude in the absence of a European man, +and that I should get into trouble. At the stream the +<i>ketchuda</i>, whose wives were ill, and several of the +principal inhabitants met me. They salaamed, touched +their hearts and brows, two held my stirrups, others +walked alongside, and an ever-increasing escort took me +up the steep rude alley of the village to the low arch by +which the headman's courtyard—all rocks, holes, and +heaps—is entered.</p> + +<p>Dismounting was a difficulty. Several men got hold +of <i>Screw</i>, one made a step of his back, another of his +knee, one grasped my foot, two got hold of my arms, all +shouting and disputing as to how to proceed, but somehow +I was hauled off, and lifted by strong arms up into +the <i>atrium</i>, the floor of which was covered with their woven +rugs, across which they led me to an improvised place of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">377</a></span> +honour, a <i>karsi</i> covered with a red blanket. A brass +<i>samovar</i> was steaming hospitably on the floor, surrounded +by tea-glasses, trays, and sugar. The chief paid me the +usual Persian compliment, "Your presence purifies the +house;" men crowded in, shrouded women peeped through +doorways; they served me on bended knees with tea +<i>à la Russe</i>, and though they shouted very loud, and often +all together, they made me very cordially welcome. +They send their flocks with some of their people to +warmer regions for the winter, but the chief and many +families remain, though the snow is from seven to nine +feet deep, according to their marks on a post.</p> + +<p>I rode to the camp where the wives were, with the +Khan and a number of men on foot and on horseback, +a messenger having been sent in advance. In the village +the great sheep-dogs, as usual, showed extreme hostility, +and one, madder than the rest, a powerful savage, attacked +me, fixing his teeth in my stirrup guard, and hanging on. +The Khan drew a revolver and shot him through the +back, killing him at once, and threatened to beat the +owner. <i>Screw</i> was quite undisturbed by the incident.</p> + +<p>The power of the <i>ketchuda</i> or headman of a group of +families is not absolute even in this small area. His +duties are to arrange the annual migrations, punish small +crimes summarily, to report larger crimes to the Khan, to +collect the tribute, conjointly with the Khan, and to carry +out his orders among the families of his group. Private +oppression appears to be much practised among the +<i>ketchudas</i>, and under the feeble rule of Imam Kuli +Khan to be seldom exposed. The <i>ketchuda's</i> office, +originally elective, has a great tendency to become hereditary, +but at any moment the Ilkhani may declare it elective +in a special case.</p> + +<p>Though the offices of Ilkhani and Ilbegi are held only +annually at the pleasure of the Shah, and the <i>ketchudas</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">378</a></span> +are properly elective, the office of Khan or chief is strictly +hereditary, though it does not necessarily fall to the eldest +son. This element of permanence gives the Khan almost +supreme authority in his tribe, and when the Ilkhani is +a weak man and a Khan is a strong one, he is practically +independent, except in the matter of the tribute to the +Shah.</p> + +<p>It was in curbing the power of these Khans by steering +a shrewd and even course among their feuds and conflicts, +by justice and consideration in the collection of +the revenues, and by rendering it a matter of self-interest +for them to seek his protection and acknowledge his +headship, that Sir A. H. Layard's friend, Mohammed +Taki Khan, succeeded in reducing these wild tribes to +something like order, and Hussein Kuli Khan, "the last +real ruler of the Bakhtiaris," pursued the same methods +with nearly equal success.</p> + +<p>But things have changed, and a fresh era of broils +and rivalries has set in, and in addition to tribal feuds +and jealousies, the universally-erected line of partisanship +between the adherents of the Ilkhani and Ilbegi produces +anything but a pacific prospect. These broils, and the +prospects of fighting, are the subjects discussed at my tent +door in the evenings.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="i378" id="i378"></a> +<img src="images/illus-378-f.jpg" width="711" height="371" alt="A DASTGIRD TENT" /> +<p class="caption">A DASTGIRD TENT.</p> +</div> + +<p>The Dastgird encampment that evening was the +romance of camp life. On the velvety green grass there +were four high black canopies, open at the front and sides, +looking across the green flowery plain, on which the +Ilkhani's castle stood out, a violet mass against the sunset +gold, between the snow-streaked mountains. There +were handsome carpets, mattresses, and bolsters; <i>samovars</i> +steaming on big brass trays, an abundance of curds, milk, +and whey, and at one end of the largest tent there were +two very fine mares, untethered, with young foals, and +children rolling about among their feet. I was placed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">379</a></span> +as usual, on a bolster, and the tent filled with people, all +shouting, and clamouring together, bringing rheumatism +("wind in the bones"), sore eyes, headaches ("wind in the +head"), and old age to be cured. The Khan's wife, a +handsome, pathetic-looking girl, had become an epileptic +a fortnight ago. This malady is sadly common. Of the +278 people who have come for medicines here thirteen +per cent have had epileptic fits. They call them "faintings," +and have no horror of them. Eye diseases, including +such severe forms as cataract and glaucoma, rheumatism, +headaches, and dyspepsia are their most severe +ailments. No people have been seen with chest complaints, +bone diseases, or cancer.</p> + +<p>In the largest tent there was a young mother with an +infant less than twenty-four hours old, and already its +eyebrows, or at all events the place where eyebrows will +be, were deeply stained and curved. At seven or eight +years old girls are tattooed on hands, arms, neck, and +chest, and the face is decorated with stars on the forehead +and chin.</p> + +<p>Though children of both sexes are dearly loved +among these people, it is only at the birth of a son that +there is anything like festivity, and most of the people +are too poor to do more even then than distribute sweetmeats +among their friends and relations. The "wealthier" +families celebrate the birth of a firstborn son with music, +feasting, and dancing.</p> + +<p>At the age of five or six days the child is named, by +whispering the Divine name in its ear, along with that +chosen by the parents.</p> + +<p>After a long visit the people all kissed my hand, +raising it to their foreheads afterwards, and the Khan +made a mounting block of his back, and rode with me to +the main path. It was all savage, but the intention was +throughout courteous, according to their notions. It +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">380</a></span> +became pitch dark, and I lost my way, and should have +pulled <i>Screw</i> over a precipice but for his sagacious self-will. +One of the finest sights I have seen was my own +camp in a thunderstorm, with its white tents revealed +by a flash of lightning, which lighted for a second the +black darkness of the ravine.</p> + +<p>The next morning the Khan of Dastgird's servants +brought fifteen bottles and pipkins for eye-lotions and +medicines. In spite of the directions in Persian which +Mirza put upon the bottles, I doubt not that some of +the eye-lotions will be swallowed, and that some of the +medicines will be put into the eyes!</p> + +<p><i>June 8.</i>—The last evening has come after a busy day. +The difficulties in the way of getting ready for the start +to-morrow have been great. The iron socket of my tent-pole +broke, there was no smith in the valley, and when +one arrived with the Ilkhani, the Ilkhani's direct order +had to be obtained before he would finish the work he +had undertaken. I supplied the iron, but then there +was no charcoal. I have been tentless for the whole +day. Provisions for forty days have to be taken from +Chigakhor, and two cwts. of rice and flour have been +promised over and over again, but have only partially +arrived to-night. Hassan has bought a horse and a cow, +and they have both strayed, and he has gone in search of +them, and Mirza in search of him, and both have been +away for hours.</p> + +<p>Of the escorts promised by the Ilkhani not one man +has arrived, though it was considered that the letter to +him given me by the Amin-es-Sultan would have obviated +any difficulty on this score. An armed sentry was to +have slept in front of my tent, and a <i>tufangchi</i> was to +have been my constant attendant, and I have nobody. +Of the escort promised to the Agha not one man has +appeared. In this case we are left to do what General +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">381</a></span> +Schindler and others in Tihran and Isfahan declared to +be impossible, viz. to get through the country without an +escort and without the moral support of a retainer high +in the Ilkhani's service. Whether there have been +crooked dealings; or whether the Ilkhani, in spite of his +promises, regards the presence of travellers in his country +with disfavour; or whether, apprehending a collision, both +the Ilkhani and Ilbegi are unwilling to part with any of +their horsemen, it is impossible to decide.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +I. L. B.</p> + +<p class="p6 center">END OF VOL. I</p> + +<p class="center p6 s07"><i>Printed by</i> <span class="smcap">R. & R. Clark</span>, <i>Edinburgh.</i></p> + +<div class="footnotes p6"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> I left England with a definite object in view, to which others were +subservient, but it is not necessary to obtrude it on the reader.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> According to the returns for 1889, the British tonnage entering the +Bushire roadstead was 111,745 out of 118,570 tons, and the imports from +British territory amounted to a value of £744,018 out of £790,832. The +exports from Bushire in the same year amounted to £535,076, that of +opium being largely on the increase. Among other things exported are +pistachio nuts, gum, almonds, madder, wool, and cotton. Regarding gum, +the wars in the Soudan have affected the supply of it, and Persia is reaping +the benefit, large quantities now being collected from certain shrubs, especially +from the wild almond, which abounds at high altitudes. The drawback +is that firewood and charcoal are becoming consequently dearer and +scarcer. The gum exported in 1889 was 7472 cwts., as against 14,918 in +1888, but the value was more than the same.</p> + +<p class="footnote">The imports into Bushire, as comparing 1889 with 1888, have +increased by £244,186, and the exports by £147,862. The value of the +export of opium, chiefly to China, was £231,521, as against £148,523 in +1888.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> "The Karun River," Hon. G. Curzon, M.P., <i>Proceedings of R.G.S.</i>, +September 1890.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Sir A. H. Layard describes the interior of the domed building as +consisting of two chambers, the outer one empty, and the inner one +containing the Prophet's tomb, built of bricks covered with white stucco, +and enclosed in a wooden case or ark, over which is thrown a large blue +cloth, fringed with yellow tassels, the name of the donor being inscribed +in Hebrew characters upon it.—Layard's <i>Early Adventures</i>, vol. i. +p. 214.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> A year later in Kurdistan, the <i>zaptiehs</i>, all time-expired soldiers and well +set up soldierly men, wore neat, serviceable, dark blue braided uniforms, +and high riding-boots.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> I heard that the Shah had prohibited this "Dead March" to Kerbela, +on account of the many risks to the public health involved in it, but +nearly a year later, in Persian Kurdistan, I met, besides thousands of +living pilgrims, a large caravan of the dead.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Six months later a Bakhtiari chief, a bigoted Moslem, said to me at +the conclusion of an earnest plea for European medical advice, "Yes, +Jesus was a great prophet; <i>send us a Hakīm in His likeness</i>," and doubtless +the nearer that likeness is the greater is the success.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The entire trade of Baghdad is estimated at about £2,500,000, of +which the Persian transit trade is nearly a quarter. The Persian imports +and exports through Baghdad are classified thus: Manufactured goods, +including Manchester piece goods, and continental woollens and cottons, +7000 to 8000 loads. Indian manufactures, 1000 loads. Loaf sugar, +chiefly from Marseilles, 6000 loads. Drugs, pepper, coffee, tea, other +sugars, indigo, cochineal, copper, and spelter, 7000 loads. The Persian +exports for despatch by sea include wool, opium, cotton, carpets, gum, +and dried fruits, and for local consumption, among others, tobacco, <i>roghan</i> +(clarified butter), and dried and fresh fruits, with a probable bulk of from +12,000 to 15,000 loads.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> I had given up the idea of travelling in Persia, and was preparing to +leave India for England, when an officer, with whom I was then unacquainted, +and who was about to proceed to Tihran on business, kindly +offered me his escort. The journey turned out one of extreme hardship +and difficulty, and had it not been for his kindness and efficient help I do +not think that I should have accomplished it.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> I present my diary letters much as they were written, believing +that the details of travel, however wearisome to the experienced +traveller, will be interesting to the "Untravelled Many," to whom these +volumes are dedicated.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Another interest, however, is its connection with many of the romantic +legends still told of Khosroe Parviz and his beautiful queen, complicated +with love stories concerning the sculptor Farhad, to whom the Persians +attribute some of their most famous rock sculptures. One of the most +romantic of these legends is that Farhad loved Shirin, and that Khosroe +was aware of it, and promised to give her to him if he could execute the +impossible task of bringing to the city the abundant waters of the mountains. +Farhad set himself to the Herculean labour, and to the horror of +the king nearly accomplished it, when Khosroe, dreading the advancing +necessity of losing Shirin or being dishonoured, sent to inform him of her +death. Being at the time on the top of a precipice, urging on the work of +the aqueduct, the news filled him with such ungovernable despair that +he threw himself down and was killed.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The Pashalik of Zohab, now Persian territory, is fully described by +Major Rawlinson in a most interesting paper in <i>The Journal of the Royal +Geographical Society</i>, vol. ix. part 1, p. 26.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Gen. x. 11; 2 Kings xviii. 11; 1 Chron. v. 26.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> See Sir A. H. Layard's <i>Early Adventures</i>, vol. i. p. 217.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> I had the pleasure of seeing Agha Hassan at the British Legation at +Tihran. He is charming, both in appearance and manner, a specimen of +the highest type of Arab good breeding, with a courteous kindliness and +grace of manner, and is said to have made a very favourable impression +when he went to England lately to be made a C.M.G. Both father and +son wear the Arab dress, in plain colours but rich materials, with very +large white turbans of Damascus embroidery in gold silk, and speak only +Arabic and Persian.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> A journey of nine months in Persia, chiefly in the west and north-west, +convinced me that this aspect of ruin and decay is universal.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The reader curious as to this and other customs of modern Persia +should read Dr. Wills's book, <i>The Land of the Lion and the Sun</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> A rug only eight feet by five feet was given me by a Persian in Tihran, +which was valued for duty at Erzerum at £3 the square yard, with the +option of selling it to the Custom-house at that price, which implies that +its value is from 70s. to 80s. per yard. It has a very close pile, nearly as +short and fine as velvet.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> For the Sasanian inscriptions, vide <i>Early Sasanian Inscriptions</i>, by E. +Thomas. The great work published by the French Government, <i>Voyage +en Perse</i>, Paris, 1851, by Messieurs Flandin et Coste, contains elaborate +and finely-executed representations of these rock sculptures, which are +mostly of the time of the later Sasanian monarchs.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> This custom, supposed to be an allusion to our Lord and His mother, +is described by Morier in his <i>Second Journey in Persia</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Jairud exports fruit to Kûm and even to Tihran, and in the autumn +I was interested to find that the best pears and peaches in the Hamadan +market came from its luxuriant orchards.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> I spent two days at Kûm five weeks later, and saw the whole of it in +disguise, and in order to attain some continuity of description I put my +two letters together.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> The altitude of Demavend is variously stated.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> I remained for three weeks as Sir H. Drummond Wolff's guest at the +British Legation, receiving from him that courtesy and considerate kindness +which all who have been under his roof delight to recall. I saw +much of what is worth seeing in Tihran, including the Shah and several +of the Persian statesmen, and left the Legation with every help that +could be given for a long and difficult journey into the mountains of +Luristan.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> A volume of travels in Persia would scarcely be complete without some +slight notice of the northern capital; but for detailed modern accounts of +it the reader should consult various other books, especially Dr. Wills' and +Mr. Benjamin's, if he has not already done so.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> There are <i>only</i> two roads, properly so called, in Persia, though in the +summer wheeled carriages with some assistance can get from place to place +over several of the tracks. These two are the road from Kûm to the +capital, formerly described, and one from Kasvin to the capital, both under +100 miles in length. Goods are everywhere carried on the backs of animals.</p> + +<table class="footnote i10" summary="freight"> +<col width="75" /> +<col width="140" /> +<col width="60" /> +<col width="13" /> +<col width="18" /> +<tr> +<td colspan="5">The distance between Bushire and Tihran is 698 miles.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The summer</td> +<td> freight per ton is</td> +<td class="tdr">£14</td> +<td>1</td> +<td>8</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The winter</td> +<td class="tdc">do.</td> +<td class="tdr">20</td> +<td> 2</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="5">The distance between Tihran and Resht on the Caspian is 211 miles.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The summer</td> +<td>freight per ton is</td> +<td class="tdr"> £4</td> +<td> 0</td> +<td> 5⅘</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The winter</td> +<td class="tdc">do.</td> +<td class="tdr"> 8</td> +<td> 0</td> +<td> 11⅗</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="5">From the Caspian to the Persian Gulf</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>the summer</td> +<td>freight per ton is</td> +<td class="tdr"> £18</td> +<td> 2</td> +<td> 3</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The winter</td> +<td class="tdc">do.</td> +<td class="tdr">28</td> +<td>3</td> +<td> 4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="5">inclusive of some insignificant charges.</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="footnote">The time taken for the transit of goods between Bushire and Tihran is +forty-two days, and between Resht and Tihran twelve days.</p> + +<p class="footnote">The cost per ton by rail, if taken at Indian rates, between the Gulf and +the Caspian, would be £3:11:10.</p> + +<p class="footnote">On these figures the promoters of railway enterprise in Persia build +their hopes.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Some of the Bakhtiari khans or princes, with their families, are kept +by the Shah as hostages in and round Tihran for the loyalty of their +tribes, the conquest of these powerful nomads not being so complete as +it might and possibly will be.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_28" id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> On the eve of the day, the last of a festival of ten days, the common +people kindle rows of bonfires and leap over them; and, though not on +the same day, but on the night of the 25th of February, sacred in the +Armenian Church as the day of the presentation of our Lord in the temple, +large bonfires are lighted on the mud roofs of the Armenians of the +Persian and Turkish cities, and the younger members of the households +dance and sing and leap through the flames. Meanwhile the Moslems +close their windows, so that the sins which the Christians are supposed to +be burning may not enter. Whether these "Beltane fires" are a relic of +the ancient fire worship or of still older rites may be a question. Among +the Christians the custom is showing signs of passing away.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_29" id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> An experiment I never regretted. Mirza Yusuf was with me for nine +months, and I found him faithful, truthful, and trustworthy, very hard-working, +minimising hardships and difficulties, always cheerful, and with +an unruffled temper, his failings being those of a desk-bred man transplanted +into a life of rough out-doorishness.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_30" id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> It is new to me, however, and may be new to a large proportion of the +"untravelled many" for whom I write.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_31" id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Major-General Sir R. Murdoch Smith, K.C.M.G., late Director of the +Persian section of the Indo-European telegraph, read a very interesting +paper upon it before the Royal Scottish Geographical Society on December +13, 1888,—a <i>Sketch of the History of Telegraphic Communication between +the United Kingdom and India</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_32" id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> I can imagine now what a hellish laugh that was with which "they +laughed Him to scorn."</p> + +<p class="footnote">I was a month in Julfa, but never saw anything more of Isfahan, which +is such a fanatical city that I believe even so lately as last year none of +the ladies of the European community had visited it, except one or two +disguised as Persian women.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_33" id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Since my visit Mr. Preece, then, and for many previous years, the +superintending electrician of this section of the Indo-European telegraph, +has been appointed Consul, the increasing dimensions of English interests +and the increasing number of resident British subjects rendering the +creation of a Consulate at Isfahan a very desirable step.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_34" id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> A few weeks later she died, her life sacrificed, I think, to over-study +of a difficult language, and the neglect of fresh air and exercise.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_35" id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> These sentences were written nearly a year ago, but many subsequent +visits to missions have only confirmed my strong view of the very trying +nature of at least the early period of a lady missionary's life in the East, +and of the constant failure of health which it produces; of the great +necessity there is for mission boards to lay down some general rules of +hygiene, which shall include the duty of riding on horseback, for more +rigorous requirements of vigorous <i>physique</i> in those sent out, and above +all, that the <i>natural characteristics</i> of those who are chosen to be "epistles +of Christ" in the East shall be such as will not only naturally and specially +commend the Gospel, but will stand the wear and strain of difficult +circumstances.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_36" id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Nearly all my non-registered letters to England failed to reach their +destination.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_37" id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> I have written nothing about this fast-increasing sect of the <i>Bābis</i>, +partly because being a secret sect, I doubt whether the doctrines which +are suffered to leak out form really any part of its esoteric teaching, and +partly because those Europeans who have studied the <i>Bābis</i> most candidly +are diametrically opposed in their views of their tenets and practice, some +holding that their aspirations are after a purer life, while others, and I +think a majority, believe that their teachings are subversive of morality +and of the purity of domestic life.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_38" id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>Screw</i> never became a friend or companion, scarcely a comrade, but +showed plenty of pluck and endurance, climbed and descended horrible +rock ladders over which a horse with a rider had never passed before, was +steady in fords, and at the end of three and a half months of severe +travelling and occasional scarcity of food was in better condition than +when he left Julfa.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_39" id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> He has since been baptized, but for safety had to relinquish his +business and go to India, where he is supporting himself, and his conduct +is satisfactory.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_40" id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> I never returned, and only at the end of three and a half months +emerged from the "Bakhtiari country" at Burujird after a journey of +700 miles.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_41" id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Hadji Hussein deserves a passing recommendation. I fear that he +is still increasing his fortune and has not retired. The journey was a +very severe one, full of peril to his mules from robbers and dangerous +roads, and not without risk to himself. With the exception of a few +Orientalisms, which are hardly worth recalling, he was faithful and upright, +made no attempt to overreach, kept to his bargain, was punctual +and careful, and at Burujird we parted good friends. He was always most +respectful to me, and I owe him gratitude for many kindnesses which increased +my comfort. It is right to acknowledge that a part of the success +of the journey was owing to the efficiency of the transport.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_42" id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> The writers who have dealt with some of the earlier portions of +my route are as follows: Henry Blosse Lynch, Esq., <i>Across Luristan to +Ispahan—Proceedings of the R.G.S.</i>, September 1890. Colonel M. S. +Bell, V.C., <i>A Visit to the Karun River and Kûm—Blackwood's Magazine</i>, +April 1889. Colonel J. A. Bateman Champain, R.E., <i>On the Various +Means of Communication between Central Persia and the Sea—Proceedings +of the R.G.S.</i>, March 1883. Colonel H. L. Wells, R.E., <i>Surveying +Tours in South-Western Persia—Proceedings of R.G.S.</i>, March 1883. +Mr. Stack, <i>Six Months in Persia</i>, London, 1884. Mr. Mackenzie, <i>Speech—Proceedings +of R.G.S.</i>, March 1883. The following among other writers +have dealt with the condition of the Bakhtiari and Feili Lurs, and with the +geography of the region to the west and south-west of the continuation of +the great Zagros chain, termed in these notes the "Outer" and "Inner" +ranges of the Bakhtiari mountains, their routes touching those of the +present writer at Khuramabad: Sir H. Rawlinson, <i>Notes of a March from +Zohab to Khuzistan in 1836—Journal of the R.G.S.</i>, vol. ix., 1839. Sir +A. H. Layard, <i>Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia, including +a residence among the Bakhtiari and other wild tribes</i>, 2 vols., London, +1887. Baron C. A. de Bode, <i>Travels in Luristan and Arabistan</i>, 2 vols., +London, 1845. W. F. Ainsworth (Surgeon and Geologist to the Euphrates +Expedition), <i>The River Karun</i>, London, 1890. General Schindler +travelled over and described the Isfahan and Shuster route, and published +a map of the country in 1884.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_43" id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Among the trees and shrubs to be met with are an oak (<i>Quercus +ballota</i>), which supplies the people with acorn flour, the <i>Platanus</i> and +<i>Tamariscus orientalis</i>, the jujube tree, two species of elm, a dwarf tamarisk, +poplar, four species of willow, the apple, pear, cherry, plum, walnut, +gooseberry, almond, dogwood, hawthorn, ash, lilac, alder, <i>Paliurus aculeatus</i>, +rose, bramble, honeysuckle, hop vine, grape vine, <i>Clematis orientalis</i>, +<i>Juniperus excelsa</i>, and hornbeam.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_44" id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> In Persian <i>haft</i> is seven, and <i>chakar</i> four.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_45" id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> This computation is subject to correction. Various considerations +dispose the Ilkhani and the other Khans to minimise or magnify the +population. It has been stated at from 107,000 to 275,000 souls, and by +a "high authority" to different persons as 107,000 and 211,000 souls!</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_46" id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Sir. H. Rawlinson sums up Bakhtiari character in these very severe +words: "I believe them to be individually brave, but of a cruel and +savage character; they pursue their blood-feuds with the most inveterate +and exterminating spirit, and they consider no oath or obligation in any +way binding when it interferes with their thirst for revenge; indeed, the +dreadful stories of domestic tragedy that are related, in which whole +families have fallen by each other's hands (a son, for instance, having slain +his father to obtain the chiefship—another brother having avenged the +murder, and so on, till only one individual was left), are enough to freeze +the blood with horror.</p> + +<p class="footnote">"It is proverbial in Persia that the Bakhtiaris have been obliged to +forego altogether the reading of the <i>Fāhtihah</i> or prayer for the dead, for +otherwise they would have no other occupation. They are also most +dexterous and notorious thieves. Altogether they may be considered the +most wild and barbarous of all the inhabitants of Persia."—"Notes on +a March from Zohab to Khuzistan," <i>Journal of the R.G.S.</i>, vol. ix. +Probably there is an improvement since this verdict was pronounced. At +all events I am inclined to take a much more favourable view of the +Bakhtiaris than has been given in the very interesting paper from which +this quotation is made.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_47" id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> A report to the Foreign Office (No. 207) made by an officer who +travelled from Khuramabad to Dizful in December 1890, contains the +following remarks on this route.</p> + +<p class="footnote">"As to the danger to caravans in passing through these hills, I am +inclined to believe that the Lurs are now content to abandon robbery with +violence in favour of payments and contributions from timid traders and +travellers. They hang upon the rear of a caravan; an accident, a fallen or +strayed pack animal, or stragglers in difficulty bring them to the spot, and, +on the pretence of assistance given, a demand is made for money, in lieu +of which, on fear or hesitation being shown, they obtain such articles as +they take a fancy to.</p> + +<p class="footnote">"The tribes through whose limits the road runs have annual allowances +for protecting it, but it is a question whether these are regularly paid. It +can hardly be expected that the same system of deferred and reduced payments, +which unfortunately prevails in the Persian public service, should +be accepted patiently by a starving people, who have long been given to +predatory habits, and this may account for occasional disturbance. They +probably find it difficult to understand why payment of taxes should be +mercilessly exacted upon them, while their allowances remain unpaid. It +is generally believed that they would take readily to work if fairly treated +and honestly paid, and I was told that for the construction of the proposed +cart-road there would be no difficulty in getting labourers from the +neighbouring Lur tribes."</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_48" id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> The readers interested in such matters will find much carefully-acquired +information on water distribution, assessments, and tenure of +land in the second volume of the late Mr. Stack's <i>Six Months in Persia</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_49" id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Some of the legends connected with these objects are grossly superstitious. +At Shurishghan there is a "Holy Testament," regarding which +the story runs that it was once stolen by the Lurs, who buried it under a +tree by the bank of a stream. Long afterwards a man began to cut down +the tree, but when the axe was laid to its root blood gushed forth. On +searching for the cause of this miracle the Gospels were found uninjured +beneath. It is believed that if any one were to take the Testament away it +would return of its own accord. It has the reputation of working miracles +of healing, and many resort to it either for themselves or for their sick +friends, from Northern Persia and even from Shiraz, as well as from the +vicinity, and vows are made before it. The gifts presented to it become +the property of its owners.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_50" id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> And so it did, though it was then so ill that it seemed unlikely that +it would live through the night, and I told them so before I gave the +medicine, lest they should think that I had killed it.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_51" id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <i>Proceedings of R.G.S.</i>, vol. v. No. 3, New Series.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_52" id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> I am indebted for the information given above to a valuable paper +by Mr. H. Blosse Lynch, given in the <i>Proceedings of the R.G.S.</i> for +September 1890.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, +Volume I (of 2), by Isabella L. 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