Chapter M: JOUANNIN and his companion indeed, by all the accounts which I (1)

received in following the line of their route, had no greater reason to be satisfied with their accommodations on the road, than with the mode of their leaving _Teheran_. We were told at _Sultaniéh_, that no one there would furnish them with mules to transport their baggage, and they were obliged to be content with asses.

The night was so cold at _Armaghanéh_ that we had a fire, and our people wore their sheep-skins. _Armaghanéh_ indeed, and our next stage, _Auk-kend_, are very high.

17th. We quitted _Armaghanéh_ at four o’clock (an hour before sun-rise, and enjoyed the freshness, not to say cold) of the twilight, and the beauty of the breaking morning. We were seven hours on the road to _Auk-kend_, which I shall reckon a distance of twenty-eight miles, on a general bearing of N. 15 W. Our road was over a succession of hills, the vallies of which were mostly cultivated. The whole surface indeed was generally green, and displayed an appearance of more prosperity than any part which we had seen on the other side of _Teheran_. The soil, though in many places broken by rocks and slate, was fine, and watered by many small streams. At about twelve miles from _Armaghanéh_ on the left of the road, is the village of _Dasht-Bolagh_, situated nearly between two conical hills; on the tops of which are collections of rocks, appearing at a distance like the ruins of towers.

After this we reached an eminence, from which an immense range of high mountains covered with snow, extended itself before us. The highest peaks bore on a general line of North; and, from all that I could learn, are not far distant from _Resht_. The general chain approaches the shores of the _Caspian_; but on all geographical subjects it is difficult to trust the class of persons, from whom alone on the spot the information can be obtained. They very generally exaggerate, and are at any rate very ignorant.

The whole region (between these mountains and those to the S. and W. indeed on every side) is undulatory, without a single clump of trees to enliven the sameness of the prospect; if therefore I had seen this part of the country in winter, I might perhaps have felt it still more inhospitable than any that we had crossed in the South. But now cultivation was seen in patches; here the corn was green, there lands were just under the ploughman’s hands.

As we were eating our breakfast we were overtaken by a man from _Teheran_, who was carrying to the Prince of _Tabriz_ the intelligence that (after a siege of twelve successive years) the King’s troops had taken the strong place of _Tourchiz_, on the confines of _Khorassan_ and _Usbec Tartary_, together with MUSTAPHA ALI KHAN ARAB, the Governor, his troops, and the treasures that it contained. It is six days journey, as far as I could learn, South from _Mesched_, and is a fortress on the summit of a mountain, rendered strong by its natural situation. It gives its name to a very warlike tribe in _Khorassan_, of which the Governor, MUSTAPHA ALI KHAN ARAB, was the chief. A great part of the treasures of NADIR SHAH is said to have been preserved unbroken in _Toorchiz_, which would thus further swell the King’s collection of jewels and gold. I asked a Persian what the King would do with the Governor? he said, “Kill him to be sure;” and when I suggested, that it might be better to retain in his own service a man so bold and determined, he answered, “No: such sort of things may be very well with you; but the Persians are not so; the better you treat them, the worse they will treat you. The King, if he were not to kill him, would never be sure of him, for he would certainly rebel against him.”

On approaching _Auk-kend_, one of our attendants, who had dismounted for the purpose of letting his horse walk easily up the hill, by some chance suffered him to escape: all attempts to catch him were vain, until a _chatter_ or walking footman, belonging to MIRZA ABUL HASSAN, seized him by the bridle, when the horse retired some steps, and then open-mouthed made a bound at the _chatter_, caught him by the neck, and placing one of his fore-knees upon him, kept him thus with his head on the ground, until he was beat off. He was then seized by his master, to whom he meditated the same fate, and whom in fact he threw down most violently with his fore feet, though the final and furious gripe was prevented.

_Auk-kend_ is now the frontier place in _Aderbigian_; the original boundary was the river _Kizzil Ozan_, but it has been thus extended through the King’s favour to his son ABBAS MIRZA, the Governor of the province. _Auk-kend_ indeed is in the district of _Khalcal_, which, though certainly under the jurisdiction of the Prince, is immediately administered by two Khans, and contains two hundred villages, extending between _Resht_ and _Ardebil_. Formerly it was a very flourishing region; but the war with Russia, in which it has been obliged to supply troops, and at its own expence pay, feed, and clothe them, has much impoverished it, and, as the Persians say, “_Kharrab Shoud_, it is ruined.”

18th. We proceeded from _Auk-kend_, at twenty minutes before five, and arrived at _Miaunéh_ at one o’clock. We stopped on the road to feed our horses, which detained us one hour and an half, so that we had six hours and forty minutes riding, which, at three miles and a quarter in the hour, gives a total of twenty-two miles: I reckon thus little to the hour, because the whole of our march was over mountainous country. Our road was much to the Westward. The mountain _Coflan Kou_, which rose above us, bore S. 80 W. but, as we went somewhat more to the W. I shall place the general bearing at W.

The whole country here (and particularly that to the W. and N.) seems to have been just formed by a great convulsion of nature; there are lands of every soil, of every colour, and of every form. At the distance of six miles from _Auk-kend_ we came to a small village called _Kultepé_; we should have stopped here to have fed our horses, but there was nothing but wheat-corn growing around the place; from this our suite always abstained most religiously, though they never scrupled to enter any barley field that might border on the road, and turning their cattle into the very middle without their bridles suffered them to eat their fill unlimited, nor was there any one that dared oppose such an inroad, which is indeed the privilege of every officer of government. I was quite vexed one day (when a poor man came and intreated the Persians to take their horses out of his field, for that its produce was his sole subsistence) to see the inhumanity with which they treated him; and, after having administered a few blows to his shoulders, compelled him to hold their horses as they were eating his own property before his face.

_Drawn by James Morier Esq^r._
_Published by Mess^{rs}. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown,
Paternoster Row, May 1, 1811._]

At about half past nine o’clock, and about fifteen miles from _Auk-kend_, we came to the banks of the _Kizzil Ozan_. The stream runs from West to East, in a bed of about two hundred yards in breadth, which was then in a great measure dry. It rises in the mountains of _Gerustan_, about five days journey from _Miaunéh_, and flows into the _Caspian_ near _Resht_. We crossed it on a bridge, which appeared a very ancient structure, and is now falling fast to decay.

It has three principal arches, the one to the W. is modern compared with the other part of the structure, having been restored by AGA MAHOMED KHAN; as a small inscription on the new buttress intimates. The original bridge is attributed to SHAH ABBAS; but, from its structure, which does not resemble that of the _Seffis_, and from an inscription in the _Cufick_ character (which is worked in brick all around the principal arch) and another in a square on one of the old buttresses, I should suspect that it is much more ancient, and must be referred indeed to the earliest ages of Mahomedanism. When on the borders of the stream I was too distant to see the characters distinctly enough to copy them.

We commenced the ascent of the _Coflan Kou_ immediately on quitting the river, and were just one hour in gaining its greatest height, and half an hour in descending into the plain on the opposite side. The chain of mountains, of which this forms a part, is the proper boundary of _Aderbigian_. Near the bridge on the right, in ascending the mountain, there is a singular rock which has been fortified with walls and turrets, probably coeval with the bridge. This also, however, appears to have been restored in some parts by a modern hand, as in front there is a structure of fresh brick, which does not correspond with the turrets of the main building. All is now in ruins: indeed it could have been of value as a military hold, only in times when artillery was not used, as it is commanded by every hill around. I took a sketch of it from the ascent of the mountains. The old bridge below adds a very picturesque object to the surrounding heights and the scenery of the stream. On the ascent of the mountain, (over that part which in winter must be of more difficult passage,) there are the remains of a causeway, attributed in like manner, to a SHAH ABBAS, and extending for several miles.

In descending to the plain on the Western side of the _Coflan Kou_, we saw another river called _Rood Khonéh Miaunéh_, which also flows from West to East, having combined before we crossed it, three several streams (the _Ceransou_, the _Sheher Cheyee_, and the _Aye Dogmoush_,) and about one _fursung_ to the Eastward, carrying their united waters into the _Kizzil Ozan_. The sources, according to my informer, an old mountaineer at _Miaunéh_, were about two day’s journey from his town; in a direction, by the pointing of his hand, of N. 70 W. among the mountains of _Sahat Dun_. We passed the river over a bridge of twenty-one arches, in appearance indeed as old as that just described, but in style of structure resembling so much the bridge of _Aliverdy Khan_ at _Ispahan_, a work of the age of the _Seffis_, that it may be ascribed to a Prince of the same race with much less improbability, than that over the _Kizzil Ozan_ can be attributed to SHAH ABBAS. If there are not immediate repairs, the whole in a few years will fall into the water.

It was extremely hot in the recess of the mountains, with a light haze from the Westward. The sun set N. 73 W. _Miaunéh_, where we passed the night, was once a large town, and its broken walls and gates are still to be seen. It is now, indeed, a poor miserable village, yet is the chief place of a tribe called _Chedaughee_, who are reputed to be very ferocious. The master of the house, where we lodged, was gone to _Tabriz_; and his son, a boy of fourteen, officiated in his place with a propriety and dexterity which were quite amusing. He asked the _Mehmandar_ for his _firman_, very gravely sat down and read it, then with a fine flow of compliments said, that every thing that he had was freely at our command; and that we must make his kitchen ours, and that, in short, he was our slave. In these countries the manners and faculties ripen long before those of Northern climates. An English boy in the same predicament would have run and hid himself in the stable.

We were, however, rather annoyed by a great big fellow, a _Ferosh_ of Prince ABBAS MIRZA, who pretended to much power in the place. In the _firman_ which the _Mehmandar_ carried from the King, one of the articles with which the village was required to provide him was the sum of three _tomauns_. These he was wont to receive as his own perquisite; and this is one of the various modes by which the King pays his servants without the necessity of applying to his own treasures. But to this, in this instance, the _Ferosh_ objected, swearing that there was no money in _Miaunéh_, and that none could be raised. The _Mehmandar_, on his side, talked of nothing but the King’s Royal command, which must be obeyed before all things: to this again the _Ferosh_ objected, and said that he would abide by nothing but an order from his own immediate superior, the _Ferosh Bashee_ of Prince ABBAS MIRZA. The _Mirza_ was at length obliged to interfere: the _Ferosh_, in fact, had been paid by the peasantry to guard them from the extortion of strangers, and like a faithful servant he was endeavouring to do all that he could in their favour. To complete the business however, the _Mehmandar_, on our arrival at the close of the day’s journey, missed a pair of new green slippers, which loss he naturally charged to the dishonesty of his antagonist the _Ferosh_.

Since there have been such great interests pending in the North of Persia with the Russians, the Government has established _Chopper Khonéh_, or post-houses, from _Tabriz_ to _Teheran_, to facilitate the transmission of news, so that a courier may traverse the distance easily in three days. A _Ferosh_ has been placed by the Prince Governor of _Aderbigian_, in each of the villages within his territory, (in which these establishments are formed) to see that every department be carried on with dispatch and regularity. Twenty to twenty-five horses (purchased by the Prince, and kept at his own expence) are always ready at each of these houses, and the whole institution is supported from his own purse. But beyond the bounds of his province, this public service is defrayed by the _Rayat_ on the line of road.

19th. We were six hours and a half on the road, a distance of twenty-one miles, from _Miaunéh_ to _Turkomen Cheyee_. The road is one succession of high hills, generally with a small stream in the vallies below, flowing from the mountains of _Bisgoush_, which extend almost to _Tabriz_ on the N. W. and to near _Resht_ in the territory of _Khalcal_, on the N. E. and the snows of which seemed then to be rapidly melting, and (by the discolouration of the water) to have formed these streams. On setting out from _Miaunéh_, we rode by the banks, and frequently crossed one of these streams, which was up to the bellies of the horses and very rapid. I frequently set the bearing of our road from the top of the hills, which was N. 70 W. and (though varying now to the W. then to the E.) may be fixed generally at that point. The whole is very easy of access, nor indeed did I see any part on this side of _Teheran_, where an army would meet with impediment, except on the _Coflan Kou_, and there only in a few passes: and from the present appearance of the country, magazines might be formed every where.

The weather during the last two days was extremely sultry, and we suffered greatly from the heat. The tract indeed, over which we were passing, is called by the Persians _Germesir_, or the hot, from the notoriety of its temperature. The corn at _Miaunéh_ was accordingly much more advanced than in any previous part of the country.

There is a small village to the S. of _Turkomen Cheyee_, called _Carayeh_, situated on the back of the hill. The valley of _Turkomen Cheyee_ is one carpet of green, richly cultivated in every part. About noon the clouds gathered; and as we were feeding our horses, a shower of rain, with thunder, surprised and refreshed us after our hot ride.

On the 20th, we went to _Tekmé-dash_, twenty-one miles, on a bearing of N. 40 W. over the same sort of country as that which we had crossed on the preceding day; but the ground was much saturated by the late rain, and, as the soil was soft, our road was rendered very disagreeable. At about six miles from _Turkomen Cheyee_ we came to a valley richly cultivated; and about two miles on the right, was the village of _Uzumchee_. We saw some other villages, situated at a distance from the road, on the heights of the mountain. We passed two ruined _caravanserais_. The last was about three miles from _Tekmé-dash_; and, by an inscription on the gate, was built by a servant of SHAH ABBAS. Not a tree appears over all the country, but there is generally much cultivation. A little after sun-rise we saw some high mountains bearing about N. W. Soon after our arrival a smiling lad came in with a paper in his hand, and presented it to the _Mirza_. It was a petition from himself and his school fellows, to beg a holiday for them from their master; an address which they never fail to make to any man of consequence, who may happen to pass through their village. The children here are taught Persian in the schools; the Turkish being the native tongue of the country. There was a very strong wind from the West, which, as the people told us, had blown for five or six days; and, though it fell as the sun went down, the cold during the night was very severe.

21st. The six hours and a half which we spent on the road to _Saidabad_ to-day, were very pleasant, as we had covered weather with a fine fresh breeze from the W. We went twenty-five miles in the direction of N. 40 W. on a good road, which had been hardened by the late wind. At about five miles from _Tekmé-dash_, on the left, is the village of _Bini Kieu_; and a little further, (on a rising ground through which the road passes,) are a collection of large stones, apparently the remains of a building, with a few large oblong blocks curiously carved, which certainly belonged to it. They resembled, indeed, rather the tomb-stones which I had remarked before; but they had no characters upon them. At about five miles before we came to _Saidabad_ we entered a pass in the mountain, on the right of which, as we left the plain, we noticed a piece of water with much wild fowl upon it. After having ascended and again descended the pass, (from the summit of which we had a view of the mountain of _Tabriz_), we came to a _caravanserai_ situated amid very picturesque scenery just at the bottom. The right wing, and many other parts of this edifice, were falling into ruin. It contains a square area of two hundred and sixty paces of an admirable and solid construction; the work of the _Seffis_, strongly contrasted with the comparatively miserable buildings of the present day in Persia. The fine arches of the domes attest the excellence of art in the age of its erection. The interior arrangements are very good: on each side of the square are rooms, each with a fire-place, and in the centre of the whole is a large square compartment, divided into a variety of chambers of all descriptions, with recesses for horses. All this is built of a fine brick, with a strong foundation, and occasional reliefs of stone. At the foot of the whole building, at close intervals, are stones cut for the convenience of tying up cattle. At this spot we were overtaken by a storm of thunder and hail, and driven to seek refuge in the _caravanserai_; where the gloom of the old building, enlivened by the grotesque figures of our party, reminded me of those scenes of romance which modern writers have so frequently laboured to describe.

We turned off from the high road to the left, and at about two miles and a half from the _caravanserai_ reached _Saidabad_. We found in it a mud fort, and houses with roofs arched but extremely low. Our servants were introduced into a chamber, a part of which was already occupied by a family of young asses; the rest was all their own. In all parts of the village were small pyramids of cow-dung, the different collections of the poor inhabitants for their winter fuel. The walls of their houses were likewise covered with great cakes of the same materials, which were then drying as additions to their stock. The common children collect this; and I have frequently seen two little creatures contending for it with the highest anxiety and animation.

There is so great a scarcity of wood over the whole country through which we have passed, that the poor are necessarily reduced to these extremities for the supply of their wants. In general they are miserably clad; the children have scarcely any thing to cover them but a shirt of coarse linen, which hardly reaches their middle; and the women wear nothing but a shirt, a pair of drawers, a jacket, and a veil, which covers their head and serves them on all occasions. Even in these poor villages the females are inconceivably shy. I happened to be standing near the place where the people were loading our baggage, when a poor woman seemed anxious to come forth from the neighbouring house, but durst not whilst a man was near. She kept peeping at intervals through the door for nearly half an hour, and drew in her head precipitately, although muffled, whenever a man’s face was turned towards her. When I have told the Persians that in Europe a husband has but one wife, and that in company we pay more civility to any female than to the greatest man, they have remained astonished, wondering that creatures (as women in their eyes appear), born only for their pleasure and convenience, should at all partake of any of those attentions which they deem to be due to Themselves exclusively.

As we were seated in our miserable dwelling, the village music attended us, composed of a singer, and players on the _tambourine_ and on two _kamounchas_. To the great mortification of these poor people we dispensed with their noise, which, if it had begun, would not readily have ended.

22d. From _Saidabad_ to _Tabriz_ is a distance of about fourteen miles, on a direction of N. 50 W. There are said to be two volcanoes in the neighbourhood. Having travelled ten miles, we stopped to breakfast at a charming spot, near a beautiful stream of water, crossing us from S. W. to N. E. and surrounded by more wood than altogether we had seen all over the latter part of our journey. They are principally poplar (almost the only tree indeed which we had remarked in our route) and many are felled for building. Within two miles of _Tabriz_ there is a village on a hillock, called _Condorood_; and immediately on the skirts of this spot is another, called _Basmidge_: on leaving which we saw great numbers of those square and oblong stones, so often mentioned in my Journal. As among them there are modern tombs, the original intent of the more ancient stones is certainly the same.

CHAP. XV.

TABRIZ.

APPROACH TO TABRIZ--ENTRANCE--HEALTHINESS OF THE SITUATION--GARDENS--MARBLE OF TABRIZ--DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY--CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE--ANECDOTES--PERSIAN HORSEMANSHIP--MILITARY QUALITIES--FORCE OF THE PROVINCE--THE FIRST MINISTER--GOVERNMENT AND SUCCESS OF THE PRINCE--PROJECTS OF IMPROVEMENT--SHIPS--REVENUE OF THE PROVINCE--POPULATION OF TABRIZ--ENTERTAINMENT--PERSIAN CONVERSATION--MANNERS--ACCOUNT OF MAZANDERAN--FAUCES HYRCANIÆ?--VESSELS OF THE CASPIAN--GHILAN--THE GOUDARS--TURCOMANS; INROADS; CONDUCT TO THEIR PRISONERS--KAMCHAUKS.

The road across the plain towards _Tabriz_ is very fine; and on each side of it we saw numerous ploughs. Four oxen were employed to each; for the soil is here hard, and turned with more difficulty. The implement itself, however, appeared more ponderous than any that we had seen before. About three miles from _Tabriz_ the road is intersected by hills of a sandy and stony soil. Here we were met by an officer deputed from the Prince to greet our arrival. He was accompanied by ten or fifteen men, and preceded by a led horse. As soon as our party perceived their approach, it was ridiculous enough to see how every one put on any the smallest piece of finery that he possessed, in order to strike the others with respect. The _Mirza_ alighted from his mule and mounted a horse; and when we met, all the flattery and compliments were repeated with the same sincerity as before on our road to _Teheran_. They talked of themselves and their government with singular complacency, and of the Russians with the utmost contempt. The officer who came to meet us said, “they fear us like dogs; we have every thing better than they have; they will never dare to shew their faces again.”

_Tabriz_ first appears between the angle of the bases of two hills, and then opens to the view by degrees. In the season in which we saw it, it formed a pretty object; as the constant monotony of the mud-walls and mud-brick houses was hid by the rich foliage of the trees, which are interspersed throughout the city. Close to the walls, near the _Teheran_ gate, is the complete ruin of a mosque, but still sufficiently preserved to shew how fine a structure it must once have been. It was built about six hundred years ago, by SHAH SHEM GHUZAN, (the successor of SHAH MAHOMED KHODABENDEH, whose tomb has been described at _Sultaniéh_,) but it has been destroyed by an earthquake within thirty years. The inhabitants extol the fruitfulness of the territory, and the salubrity of the air of _Tabriz_. Its very name, according to the Persian etymology, indicates the excellence of its situation, for it is composed of _Tab_ a fever, and _riz_ fled.[40] They complain, however, (though as of their only inconvenience) of frequent and violent earthquakes, which they attribute to the volcanoes in the district, which throw out smoke but no flame. The smoke is so mephitical, that it kills immediately a dog or fowl placed over it. The volcanoes are particularly to the East, in mountains of a red and copper-like appearance, announcing much mineral matter. The climate of _Tabriz_ is subject also to much thunder, lightning, and rain.

_Tabriz_ is no more the magnificent city described by CHARDIN: all its large buildings have been destroyed by earthquakes. I rode round the walls, and estimated the circumference at three miles. Three of the gates are ornamented with pillars, inlaid with green-lacquered bricks, and look very respectable; the other five are very small and mean. The walls are very weak, and here and there renewed with mud-bricks baked in the sun. The whole town is surrounded by gardens, which the Persians call _Meewa-khonéh_, or fruit-houses. One of these, to the West, belonging to HAJEE KHAN MAHOMED, is very extensive, and planted entirely with fruit-trees, excepting one row of poplars; the only other wood indeed which I saw at _Tabriz_, and that of which all the timber-work of their houses is constructed. There are thousands therefore planted on the borders of every stream about the city. The abundance of fruit in the season was already evident, by the state of the gardens, and particularly of the apricot trees. In the spaces between the lines, were mounds of earths in rows, on which vines were extended on an angle of about 60°, and irrigated by water introduced through channels formed by the bases of the mounds.

To the N. W. of the city is a very extensive burial place; over the whole of which are strewed black blocks of stone or granite, carved in the manner which I have frequently described, and mostly without an inscription, though some bore the Arabic character. To the S. W. of the town are some more of these ancient tombs, one of which is of the red stone, evidently cut from the adjacent mountains; the others are of a black marble, which takes a fine polish, but which is now no longer used, nor could I learn even the situation of the quarries. One of the stones measured eight feet and a half in length, and two feet and a half in breadth; and covered probably some very distinguished hero: near it is a small mosque.

The transparent or rather diaphanous substance, with beautiful veins, (which is called the marble of _Tabriz_, and which I have described in some of the public buildings at _Shiraz_ and _Ispahan_) is not procured near the city or taken from a quarry, but is said to be rather a petrifaction found in large quantities, and in immense blocks, on the borders of the lake _Shahee_, near the town of _Meraughéh_. It takes the finest polish, and is employed in baths, in the wainscoting of rooms, in tomb-stones, and in every other purpose where ornamental marble is necessary.

There are twelve public baths, some of which are handsome; and there is a _bazar_, which extends the length of the city, but it is mean and dirty. _Tabriz_ has no mosques of any particular merit: on entering indeed there is the large ruin already mentioned; and to the S. W. of the city (enclosed in the _Ark_ or fort of _Ali Shah_, which contains the barracks and magazines) are the remains of another, now converted into a look-out house. This is a conspicuous, but very unseemly object, and to me seemed of little use, and from its height to be the most exposed either to the shock of an earthquake, or to an attack from a battery. The danger of earthquakes has taught the inhabitants of _Tabriz_ to build their houses generally as low as possible; and to employ more wood than brick and plaster, in their construction. For the same reason the _bazars_ have only wooden roofs, and are not arched as those in the better cities of Persia. Yet I am told that in earthquakes, the domed buildings (particularly the _Hummum Khan_, the largest in _Tabriz_) have invariably stood; where others, the strongest walls, have been rent asunder.

_Tabriz_ had declined to an insignificant place, when about four years ago the present Prince, ABBAS MIRZA, the Heir Apparent of the crown, was appointed to the government of _Aderbigian_, and made it his capital. When we visited his city, he had resided there four years, and had guarded the frontiers of Persia against the Russians. During that time he had repaired and beautified the walls, had made a new _Maidan_, and erected some new buildings. Indeed, before, there was no place fit for his habitation; and all the great men attached to his court have since been obliged to build houses for their own accommodation.

The Prince is said by the Persians to possess every quality, that can grace a mortal; and (as there are many circumstances in his character, which his countrymen would never think of inventing) I am inclined to believe them. They were related to me by the _Hakim_ or Governor of the city, at whose house I lodged during my residence at _Tabriz_. Some time ago, three of the Prince’s children died; his _Vizir_ appeared before him with a mournful face; the Prince observed him, and inquired the reason: the _Vizir_ hesitated, “Speak,” said the Prince, “is there any public disaster? have the Russians been successful? have they taken any more country from us?” “No,” answered the Minister, “it is not that; your children are sick:” “What of that?” asked the Prince; “But very sick indeed,” continued the _Vizir_: “Perhaps then they are dead,” interrupted the Father. His Minister confessed the truth. “Dead!” said the Prince, “why should I grieve? the state has lost nothing by them; had I lost three of my good servants, had three useful officers died, then indeed I should have grieved: but my children were babes, and God knows whether, if they had grown up to man’s estate, they would have proved good servants to their country.”

The Prince is remarkable also for the plainness of his dress; he never wears any thing more than a coat of common _Kerbas_ (a strong cotton cloth) and a plain shawl round his waist. Whenever he sees any officers of his court in fine laced or brocade clothes, he asks them, “What is the use of all this finery. Instead of this gold and tinsel, why not buy yourself a good horse, a good sword, a good gun; this frippery belongs to women, not to one, who calls himself a man and a soldier.” He inspects himself all the detail of his troops, their arms, horses, and accoutrements, adopting those that appear to him fit for use, and rejecting those that are below his standard. The Governor of the city, who related these traits to me, had in his house at the time two hundred muskets, which the Prince refused out of two thousand, that had been sent to him from _Teheran_, having himself examined every single gun, and tried every lock. He is said also to be extremely liberal to his troops, and to give all his money among them.

When I asked the Governor, if Messrs. JOUANNIN and NERCIAT, of the French Embassy, (who had arrived a few days before us, and whom I overtook at _Tabriz_) had as yet departed, he replied that they were gone. When he came back to me in the evening, he told me that they were not. He added, that on appearing before the Prince in the morning, he had related my question and his own answer; on which the Prince exclaimed, “You told him that they were gone! How could you tell him such a falsehood; I will not allow any of my servants to speak an untruth--Go and tell him that they are not gone.” It appeared that the Governor had been really mistaken in his first report.

The Governor talked also of his Prince’s horsemanship, and skill in the chase, which were unequalled. He told me that at full gallop the Prince could shoot a deer with a single ball, or with the arrow from his bow, hit a bird on the wing. He combines indeed the three great qualities of the ancient Persians, which XENOPHON enumerates, riding, shooting with the bow, and speaking truth. His countrymen however are, in general, less severe in their estimate of the requisites of a great character, and are content to omit the last trait of excellence; but they never praise any one without placing in the foremost of his virtues his horsemanship; in which alone perhaps they possess any national pride. I once in fact was in some danger of a serious dispute, by hazarding a doubt, that the Turks rode better than the Persians. It is quite ridiculous to hear them boast of their own feats on horseback, and despise the cavalry of every other nation. They always said, “Perhaps your infantry may surpass ours; but our horsemen are the first in the world; nothing can stand before their activity and impetuosity.” In fact, they have courage--one of the first qualities of a horseman; they ride without the least apprehension over any country, climb the most dangerous steeps over rock and shrub; and keep their way in defiance of every obstacle of ground. They have also a firm seat, and that on a saddle which, among an hundred different sorts, would be called the least commodious. But that is all; they understand nothing of a fine hand, nor indeed with their bridles can they learn; for they use only a strong snaffle, fastened to the rein by an immense ring on each side, which they place indifferently in the strongest or weakest mouths: nor do they know how to spare their horses and save them unnecessary fatigue; for their pace is either a gallop on the full stretch, or a walk. As a nation, as fit stuff for soldiers, I know of no better materials. The Persian possesses the true qualities of the soldier; active, inured to labour, careless of life, admiring bravery, and indeed (as the chief object of their ambition) aspiring to the appellation of _resheed_ or courageous.

The greater part of the Prince’s horse were sent out at this season into different districts, where grass is the most plentiful; and there were said to be only three thousand men in garrison at _Tabriz_. The amount of the general force under the government of the Prince, according to the information of his Prime Minister, is as follows:--

Cavalry 22,000
Infantry 12,000
Infantry disciplined in the European manner 6,000
------
40,000

The troops under these descriptions are composed principally of men furnished in different quotas in lieu of rent by the villages, but paid, clothed, and fed by the Prince. But besides this number actually enrolled, each man has also a substitute, who is similarly instructed in the use of arms, ready to supply his place if he should be cut off in battle, or prevented by any other accident.

MIRZA BOZURK, first Minister to the Prince, appeared to me by far the most superior man whom I saw in Persia. I brought a present to him from the Envoy, which, however, he advised me to offer to the Prince in my own name, as it was not the custom in their country to pay a visit empty-handed to a person of rank. I resisted this, because, in the first place, I saw no necessity for the visit at any rate, as I was merely a passenger through the province, and had no business at the court. I mention this trait of liberality, because it is so singular in his nation. He talked much of the state of improvement in which the Prince’s administration had brought the province of _Aderbigian_; never speaking of his own counsels or co-operation, to which so much is due, but always referring the whole merit to the talents of his Prince. He said, that within one year they had brought their artillery to a state of perfection which might rival that of their enemies the Russians; that their infantry had now learned the perfect use of arms; and that, by the acknowledgment of the Russians themselves, the Persian soldiers were now a match for them. He added, that no pains had been spared to acquire a knowledge of military tactics, and the theory of fortification, which they had gleaned from French and Russian books, translated by the Prince’s order into Persian. The Minister said, that the Prince was the only person in Persia who had a complete set of charts, besides drawings of every instrument and weapon used by Europeans in war. He told me that they had discovered in _Aderbigian_ mines of iron and brass, which, entirely by their own ingenuity, they made productive; but that they still laboured under the greatest inconvenience from the want of proper artists and miners, and could not therefore derive the full profit which they might otherwise expect, or as yet reduce the price of their produce. According to the Minister, better guns are now cast at _Tabriz_ than at _Ispahan_; and they had invented also a small kind of artillery, which was sufficiently light to be carried by mules keeping pace with the march of their cavalry over mountains and difficult passes.

When I offered to procure from England any books and other necessaries to facilitate their operations and give new light to those subjects upon which they were imperfectly informed; the Minister replied, that nothing in the world could afford greater satisfaction to the Prince and himself; but he added, “there is only one thing which England will keep from our knowledge, as she has done from every other nation, the art of building ships.” I assured him that England would furnish Persia not with instructions only, but with masters, as she had done for Turkey and Russia. He answered, “all this may be very true; but there is still an art which she possesses in matters of navigation which she will never disclose to any nation. If it be not so, how is it possible,” he continued, “that her ships should be so superior to all others, and that none have ever yet been able to defeat her in any combat at sea.” I answered, that her superiority consisted not in the ships, but, by the blessing of God, in the men that were in them; that, in fact, in building ships we were equalled, if not exceeded, by the French; and that the superiority could not rest in the vessels, since a considerable proportion of our navy consisted of prizes taken in battle. The Minister, however, was unconvinced, and continued to believe that there was some secret in our naval architecture on which our success depended. At our parting visit the Minister added, that the Prince was anxious to have some insight into the history of England, and desired me to bring with me on my return some book on the subject. He wished me also to procure for him histories of France and Russia, in order to compare them with those which he had already got; for, said he, “the English being known ever to tell the truth, and the French and Russians to be less scrupulous, the Prince will not be satisfied with what he has learnt, until He hears it confirmed by an English pen.”

During our residence at his capital, the Prince received intelligence of the discovery of a lead mine in the territory of _Khalcal_, fourteen _fursungs_ from _Tabriz_, in the direction in which they had found mines of saltpetre and copper. As a specimen, a large piece of ore, almost pure and free from earth, was produced. At _Bakouba_ there is a mine of sulphur. The district of _Khalcal_ alone furnishes to the revenue of _Aderbigian_ fifty thousand _tomauns_; the whole of that revenue was stated to me at seven hundred thousand; but whatever may be the correctness of this account which I received from a Persian, the province is certainly the choicest part of Persia that we saw.

The population of _Tabriz_ is to all appearance much exaggerated; I was told indeed that it contained fifty thousand houses, and two hundred and fifty thousand persons. There are about two hundred Armenian families, who live in a _Mahalé_ or parish by themselves. _Tabriz_ manufactures a great number of silk stuffs, which are much used.

During our stay at _Tabriz_ the Prince spent a day in the garden of HAJEE KHAN MAHOMED. Whenever he wishes to shew any mark of attention, he sends to let the person know that he will be his guest on such a day. This sort of visit, however, generally costs the entertainer a large sum (in this instance two thousand _tomauns_) as the Prince is followed by his whole household. When he alights from his horse, shawls and gold stuffs are strewed on the ground, over which he walks: a part of the ceremony which is called the _Pai-endaz_.

28th. I dined with MIRZA HASSAN, son of the first Minister, MIRZA BOZURK. There were a number of young and pleasant men, who would have enlivened any company; but they seemed to vie with each other in the marvellous. As a specimen; a _Derveish_ had told one, that he was in his room when a shock of an earthquake threw him on the floor, where he lay for a long time in a trance; and on recovering, found himself, to his great surprise, extended in the court-yard, close under his apartment: a second shock having projected him senseless out of the window. Of slight-of-hand they recounted the most wonderful feats; and to all this, they swear by each other’s heads, eyes, sons, and fathers. The surest prognostic, indeed, of a falsehood is the number of emphatic oaths by which it is preceded. The Persians are called, with sufficient propriety, the Frenchmen of the East; they are indeed a talkative, complimentary, and insincere people, yet in manners agreeable and enlivening.

A description of the etiquettes of the court, or even of private life, in Persia, would be a work of endless and trifling minutiæ. They are such however, and so well recognised, and so easily observed and imitated by every class from their youth, and indeed (in the government under which they live) so strongly mark the gradations of rank, that no person, even of the meanest condition, is ignorant of his proper situation, and of the several etiquettes attached to it. In the education of a young man of family, the principal feature is the course of instruction which he receives in the forms and phrases of society. For that purpose, from the earliest age of the pupil, masters attend who teach the modes of salutation, and the appropriate compliments to superiors and inferiors. They also instruct him, where to sit on entering a _Mujlis_ (or assembly); of whom he has the right of precedence, &c. and greater importance is assigned to this knowledge than almost to any thing else. Nothing marks this more strongly than the forms which gradually ascend in a regular scale from the peasant to the King. The first Minister appears under the same discipline of humiliation before his Majesty, as the _Rayat_, before the _Ket Khoda_ of his village; and it is somewhat ridiculous to see that man, who sat in state in his _Dewan_, surrounded by a numerous circle of obsequious attendants, performing the next moment, in his turn, all the offices of one of those attendants before the King. In Persia, and I believe generally over the East, a son never sits down in the presence of his father. Thus the King’s sons always stand before him, and are regarded only as the first of his servants. Prince ABBAS MIRZA, who is Governor of _Aderbigian_, and Heir Apparent of the crown, when he repairs to the court of his father, appears there like any one of the other sons, with the single advantage of taking the precedence of the rest.

The King is never approached by his subjects without frequent inclinations of the body; and when the person introduced to his presence has reached a certain distance, he waits until the King orders him to proceed; upon which he leaves his shoes, and walks forwards with a respectful step to a second spot, until His Majesty again directs him to advance. No one ever sits before the King except relations of Kings, Poets, learned and Holy Men, and Embassadors: His Ministers and Officers of State are never admitted to the privilege. The place of honour is on the left. When an inferior visits a superior, he sits at a distance, and not on the same _musnud_. He places himself on the _Nummud_ (the long carpet that skirts the room); nor even there, till he is desired: and, in approaching his superior, he is very careful to cover himself with his outer-coat, and to sit down directly on his heels, so that his feet are completely hidden. When a servant comes before his master, he makes an inclination of his body; and, when he goes away, he walks backwards until he reaches the door, where he makes another inclination.

There is as much etiquette in smoking as in sitting. No inferior calls for his _kaleoon_, until the superior has given the lead. No one can smoke before the King; and only particular persons before the Princes.

I had some conversation with a native of _Mazanderan_, who extolled the virtues of his countrymen, and complained of the ill-conduct of their rulers, in equal proportion. He himself had been despoiled of his property, and reduced almost to beggary; but, as he added, many from his province had gone to India, and by their abilities on a more favourable ground, had realized fortunes.

He told me that there were two entrances into _Mazanderan_; one, by the _Pile Rud-bar_, the road through which leads off the bridge over which we crossed the _Kizzil Ozan_; and the other, by the way of _Resht_ on the borders of the sea. The _Jungle_, or wild woodland, is so impenetrable, that, according to his illustration, an arrow discharged from a bow cannot force it, but strikes on the exterior reeds. The _Pile Rud-bar_ is perhaps the ancient _Fauces Hyrcaniæ_; and the accounts of OLEARIUS, and other modern travellers, as well as the intelligence that I received, confirm the original tremendous descriptions. I had been told at _Teheran_, that men are stationed at different intervals to give notice to travellers of the approach of others in an opposite direction; for in the narrowest part two mules cannot pass, nor can they turn back. I was further told at _Tabriz_, that the great causeway built by SHAH ABBAS, is falling into total decay; and in some places is so much ruined, that though mules and horses may still travel upon it, camels can no longer be used. The avenues therefore to _Mazanderan_ might be successfully guarded by twenty expert fusileers, against any force that could be brought. The people indeed had frequently petitioned their government to repair the causeway; but it has been the policy of the court to leave it in its present state, that in case of any necessity the King might retire there in safety, and defend himself in the inaccessible fastnesses which the condition of the province thus opposes to an enemy.

The vessels which navigate the _Caspian_, are (according to the same authority) very rude and ill-built, being planks put together without any caulking to their seams; the people are therefore obliged incessantly to bail the water off in buckets; for they have not learnt the use of pumps, a knowledge indeed to which alone he attributed the superiority of the Russian vessels.

He told me that the people of _Ghilan_ have a language of their own, distinct from both the Persian and the Turkish, and bearing indeed no affinity to either; although, on questioning him further on the subject, I found that they had no books written in that language, and that it was merely a _Patois_, or corrupted Persian, which the common people spoke.

In continuing our conversation, he mentioned that near the town of _Ashreff_, on the West of _Asterabad_, is a tribe of people called _Goudar_, in number about one hundred houses, or five hundred souls, who inhabit the wild country in the neighbourhood. If my _Mazanderan_ informer may be credited, they are of no religion; and in the intercourse of the sexes, appears to descend low into savage life. A man feeling an inclination for a woman, asks her mother’s leave to carry her out into the woods, where he passes two or three days with her; and then either lives with her himself, or returns her to her mother. Their principal food is the flesh of the wild hog, of which there are vast numbers in the district. These hogs are killed by the children of the tribe, who are exercised almost from the time that they can walk, in the bow and the matchlock, and are described, in consequence, as never erring shots.