Chapter III: Introduction (2)

On the following morning, MAHOMED KHAN, the _Nasakchee Bashee_, whose mission had produced these changes, entered _Bushire_, and assumed the administration of the government. The town was so far tranquillized, indeed, that the _Bazars_ were re-opened. The proclamations which the _Khan_ had issued, pledging security and peace to the inhabitants, had recalled them to their houses; and the example of severe punishment, which he inflicted on one of his own men for stealing the turban of a Jew, operated still more powerfully than his assurances. In the course of the morning we rode to the gates of the town: there was here a large assembly of armed men, for little other purpose indeed than to hear the news and the lies of the day: for a picture, however, the mob was excellent; nothing can be marked more strongly in character, than the hard and parched-up features of the inhabitants of this part of Persia. Though the first consternation had thus subsided, the people had not resumed their daily occupations. In the course of our ride we did not meet a single woman carrying water, or a single ass carrying wood; for the circumstances which had now happened were unparalleled in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, and excited the strongest emotion throughout the country.

In appearance, indeed, the place was already tranquil; but the regulations which the _Khan_ enforced, were too little accommodated to the previous habits of the people to reconcile them to his administration. Some of the most respectable merchants prepared to emigrate, and all beheld with terror the officers of police displaying in the _Bazars_ the preparations for the bastinado, (the justice of Persia), with which they contrasted very favourably the lenient rule of their Arab Chief. In the progress of his government, the _Khan_ still continued to exasperate the principal inhabitants by extorting donations of their goods. When, indeed, MAHOMED JAFFER, the brother of the expected Governor, received in his turn such a demand, he not only returned a direct denial, but wrote to the townsmen to arm in revenge, and defend themselves against such requisitions.

In a few days the same MAHOMED JAFFER, in obedience to new orders was proclaimed by the _Khan_, Governor pro tempore till the arrival of his brother; and was invested in this dignity by the girding of a sword on his thigh, an honour which he accepted with a reluctance perhaps not wholly feigned. When he was complimented on the occasion, he replied, “You see to what I am come at last; all would not do: I was obliged to put on this sword.” But the moment that he assumed the government, he followed in his turn all the rigours of his predecessor, and bastinadoed his new subjects without commiseration.

His reign, however, was short: on the 7th of November he was seized by the _Khan_, (the _Nasakchee Bashee_), thrown into prison, and fastened to the wall by a chain, said to have been sent expressly from _Shiraz_ for his neck, but in reality intended for that of HAJEE SULIMAN, the late _Vizir_ of _Bushire_. The cause of his disgrace was his supposed instigation of the flight of the _Vizir_, who had contrived to escape by sea; and this punishment was to be enforced unless he delivered up the fugitive, or paid twenty thousand _tomauns_. As the Vice-Governor was unable or unwilling to conform to either requisition, he remained in prison. At length, however, he resolved on attempting the re-capture of the _Vizir_; and would have undertaken the voyage, if the security, which he offered for his own return, had been deemed sufficient by the _Nasakchee Bashee_.

In the mean time his release was prepared on easier and surer terms. MAHOMED NEBEE KHAN, the appointed Governor of _Bushire_, though little friendly to his brother, was yet jealous of the honour of his family, and felt in his own person the indignity which the late punishment of the chain had inflicted on JAFFER. He swore, therefore, that he would not rest till the head of his brother’s enemy was cut off; and as the first act of his influence procured the immediate restoration of his brother to his former offices. JAFFER was accordingly released from the prison where he was chained by the neck, and again seated in the administration.

I must not omit as a specimen of Persian character, the mode of communication which notified this change at _Bushire_. The Prince’s Messenger that brought the intelligence from _Shiraz_ of the disgrace of the _Nasakchee Bashee_, came into the presence of MAHOMED JAFFER, and told him, “Come, now is the time to open your purse-strings; you are now no longer a merchant or in prison; you are now no longer to sell _dungaree_, (a species of coarse linen); you are a governor; come, you must be liberal, I bring you good intelligence: if I had been ordered to cut off your head, I would have done it with the greatest pleasure; but now, as I bring you good news, I must have some money.” The man that said this was a servant, and the man that bore it was the new Governor of _Bushire_.

In a few days MAHOMED JAFFER paid us a visit, in appearance perfectly unconscious of the indignities which he had suffered. But the habitual despotism which the people are born to witness, familiarises them so much to every act of violence which may be inflicted on themselves or on others, that they view all events with equal indifference, and go in and out of prison, are bastinadoed, fined, and exposed to every ignominy, with an apathy which nothing but custom and fatalism could produce.

On the 4th of Dec. the restored Vice-Governor was invested with a _kalaat_, or dress of honour, from the Prince at _Shiraz_; and his dignities were announced by the discharge of cannon. The form of his investiture was as follows:--Attended by all the great men, and by all his guards (the greater part of whom were the shopkeepers of the _Bazar_ armed for the occasion), the new Governor issued from the town to meet his vest. As soon as he met it he alighted from his horse, and making a certain obeisance was presented with it by the person deputed by the Prince to convey it. The whole party then rode to the spot appointed for the investiture; thither the _kalaat_ was brought in state on a tray, surrounded by other trays decked with sweetmeats. The Governor was here assisted to throw off his old clothes, and to put on his new and distinguishing apparel. The whole present consisted of a ponderous brocade coat with a sash, and another vest trimmed with furs, and valued altogether at one hundred and fifty piastres, though the receiver would pay for the honour (in presents to the bearer and to the Prince in return) the sum, perhaps, of a thousand _tomauns_. When he was invested, his late clothes were carried away as the perquisite of the servants. After this, the _firman_ was read, declaring the motives which had induced the Prince to confer so marked an honour on AGA MAHOMED JAFFER, and then every one present complimented him on the occasion, with a “_Moobarek bashed_, Good fortune attend you.” After this the company smoked, drank coffee, and eat sweet cakes; and then mounting their horses escorted the Governor into his town. The Governor, in his glittering but uneasy garb, re-entered _Bushire_, amid the noise of cannon and the bustle of a gaping multitude; and the ceremony closed.

These honours were conferred on AGA MAHOMED JAFFER, as a compensation for his late indignities, probably through the influence of his brother; but his brother had a less questionable merit, than that of thus revenging the wrongs of his own family: for to his influence his deposed predecessor owed his life. When the unhappy _Sheik_ of _Bushire_ was dragged to _Shiraz_, and hurried into the presence of the Prince, all his crimes real or fictitious were immediately accumulated in his face. Of every vice in the catalogue of enormity he was pronounced guilty, till the passions of the Prince were so exasperated, that he ordered his victim to be decapitated on the spot. MAHOMED NEBEE KHAN then threw himself at the Prince’s feet, and entreated that the life of the wretch might be spared. The Prince was sufficiently appeased to grant the supplication, but ordered the _Sheik_ to be blinded. Again, a second time, his intercessor threw himself at the Prince’s feet, and saved the prisoner’s eyes. The Prince contented himself with ordering the _Sheik_ into confinement.

The particular interest which these changes might have excited in the people, is swallowed up by the consideration, that their new masters in every change are Persians, and that the rule of Arabs is over. A feeling which naturally did not conciliate the Arab community to any successor of their _Sheik_. The general impression was not ill-expressed by an old Arab, whom we found fishing along the shore. “What is our Governor? A few days ago he was a merchant in the _Bazar_; then he was our Governor: yesterday he was chained by the neck in prison; to-day he is our Governor again; what respect can we pay him? The Governor that is to be, was a few years ago a poor scribe; and what is worse he is a Persian. It is clear that we Arabs shall now go to the wall, and the Persians will flourish.”

CHAP. III.

RESIDENCE OF THE MISSION AT BUSHIRE.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE PERSIAN GOVERNMENT: INTRODUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN DISCIPLINE AT SHIRAZ--MILITARY PREPARATIONS--PERSIAN LETTER--(DERVEISHES)--CONDUCT OF THE NASAKCHEE BASHEE--PRESENT TO THE ENVOY FROM THE COURT--MEHMANDAR--ARRIVAL OF AN OFFICER FROM SHIRAZ--DESCRIPTION OF HIS PARTY--HIS VISIT RETURNED--CEREMONIES OF A VISIT--FEAST OF THE BAIRAM--ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE AND RECAPTURE OF THE SYLPH--DEATH OF MR. COARE.

The negociation was begun at _Bushire_. On the day after our landing the Envoy despatched his letters to JAFFER ALI KHAN, the acting English agent at _Shiraz_; and through him to the Prince HOSSEIN ALI MIRZA, Governor of _Farsistan_; to the Prince’s Minister, NASR OALAH KHAN; and to the Prime Minister at _Teheran_, MIRZA SHEFFEEA. These letters all contained the simple statement, that the writer had arrived as Envoy Extraordinary from the King of Great Britain to the King of Persia, in order to confirm and augment the amity which had so long existed between the two countries.

On the 19th of Oct. we received despatches from JAFFER ALI KHAN at _Shiraz_; which, among the more immediate topics of the correspondence, contained naturally full accounts of the progress of the campaign with the Russians, (the most important object in the existing politics of Persia), and the general sensations which it had excited at _Teheran_. These details retain of course little interest; it is enough to add, rather as a sketch of national character, that the King, in consequence of his reverses, had distributed alms to the poor, had ordered prayers to be said in the mosques, and the denunciations of vengeance on all unbelievers to be read from the Koran. The military preparations also were hastened at _Shiraz_ (in some measure for a different object); and the Russian prisoners there were ordered to drill the Persian troops, who had been raised and equipped after a Russian manner. The account of this new corps was continued in other letters (which, on the 23d, we received in two days and a half from _Shiraz_). The Prince was instructed to form a body of able young men, to shave them if they had already beards, and to dress them in the Russian uniform. There was at this time at _Shiraz_, another body also of seven hundred hardy and active men, (of the _Bolouk_ or _Perganah_ of _Noor_ in _Mazanderan_), who were in the same manner to be subjected to the discipline of the Russian drill, to lose their beards, to substitute the firelock for the matchlock gun, (which they had been accustomed to use), and to assume the whole dress of the Russian soldiery. MAHOMED ZEKY KHAN and SHEIK ROOTA KHAN were appointed their commanders. The _Jezaerchi_ also, the men who use blunderbusses, were to wear the new Russian dress. The French at this time were very anxious to proceed to _Shiraz_, to drill the new-raised corps; but as the King prevented them in a former instance from sending a Resident to _Bushire_ lest they should have found that the English factory was still in Persia, he now equally prevented their advancing to _Shiraz_, lest the English in their turn should discover the arrival of their competitors. New gun-carriages after the Russian form were ordered (though those before made after the same pattern broke to pieces at the first fire), and five thousand new firelocks; but as the Prince found great difficulty in procuring the execution of a former order of two thousand only, he had in this instance sent into _Laristan_ for three thousand matchlock guns, and into other provinces for the remainder, to convert them at _Shiraz_ into firelocks, by affixing to the original barrel the new lock. Provisions also, of all sorts, were collecting into magazines at _Shiraz_. These preparations were hastened by the Prince himself from personal motives. His dexterity in hitting a mark with a gun at full gallop, and in cutting asunder an ass with one blow of his sword had been so much exaggerated, that the King became desirous of witnessing these exploits, and would have sent for his son to court, if the apprehensions at this time of General MALCOLM’S return from India with an army had not furnished a seasonable necessity for the Prince’s presence in his own provinces; and he prepared himself therefore, with great zeal, to march to _Bender-Abassy_, to await there the arrival of the English in the Persian Gulph.

As a specimen of Persian wit, as well as in the relation of a Persian’s proficiency in English, I extract literally, from JAFFER ALI’S letter, the following account of the Prince of _Shiraz_:--“As he is a great quiz and flatterer, he flattered me much, and I made an equal return to him. Owing to the immense dust that blown all the while upon the road, my face and beard covered with dust, and appearing myself to be white, the Prince therefore sayed to me, that my black beard became with grey hairs in his service; I returned that whoever serves _Khadmute Boozurk Whan_ (His Highness) becomes white-faced for eternity, as the common proverb among the Persians, that when a man serves his master with zeal, he says to his servant ’_roo sefeed_, white face,’ and on the contrary they say ‘_roo seeah_, black face:’” two very common expressions in the country, denoting severally honour and disgrace.[20]

It is not an unfair criterion of the new impulse which the Court of Persia had received, to add, that by second orders from _Teheran_, as they were reported to us, the Princes of the districts were required to adopt in their own persons the Russian uniform. The Prince of _Tabriz_, _Abbas Mirza_, had already conformed to the costume; and the Prince at _Shiraz_, with a hundred of his immediate attendants, was preparing to assume the same garb; and as we learned on the 10th, by other dispatches, already appeared in it. The proposed adoption by Sultan SELIM, of the dress of the _Nizam Gedid_ troops, was the signal of revolt to his Janizaries, and the direct cause of his dethronement. The national levity of the Persians counteracts the original rigour of their religious principles, and disposes them, from the mere love of change, to admit the encroachments of European manners, which would rouse to despair and revenge the less volatile character of the Turks, and animate them in defence of their least usage with all the first enthusiasm of their faith.[21]

Though the conduct of the negociations with Persia had no connexion with the mere change of masters in _Bushire_, which was effected during our residence on the spot, and there was, therefore, little direct political intercourse between the Envoy and the _Nasakchee Bashee_, (the Chief Executioner), who superintended those changes: yet as that officer was the ostensible representative of the Government of _Shiraz_, some communications naturally took place. Before the assumption of the administration of _Bushire_, (while the _Khan’s_ object was yet unattained), there was in this intercourse little unsatisfactory; but in his later conduct to the mission, there was something of the insolence of newly acquired power; he sent word more than once that he was coming to pay a visit to the Envoy, and as frequently neglected his engagement. At length he arrived, puffing in great haste; and as soon as he had seated himself, he pulled off his black sheep-skin cap, and begun to read a paper which he took from his pocket. The Envoy asked him, if he were reading a _firman_ from the court, which ordered him to sit bald-headed. The reproof startled him, and the Envoy continued; that, representing as he did his Sovereign, he could not permit the _Khan_ to do in his presence an act of disrespect which he would not do before his equals, and much less before his superiors. The _Khan_ immediately put on his cap, and in his shame waved his hand for his attendants to withdraw. Sir HARFORD also ordered his own Persians to retire, and as the suite were in succession leaving the room the _Khan_ had some leisure to digest the well-timed rebuke.

The notice which the Envoy had been thus obliged to take of an apparent disrespect in the _Khan’s_ conduct was the more necessary, as He had that morning received a letter from the Prince at _Shiraz_, the form and terms of which required some explanation; and on which, therefore, the Envoy felt himself compelled to remark, that the correspondence during the negociation must be absolutely and in every view independent; and He desired the _Khan_ accordingly to intimate this determination to the Prince’s Minister. The representation was immediately successful; and to the line of conduct thus enforced, both parties adhered throughout their future communications.

When this matter was adjusted, much friendly conversation followed, and the affair of the cap and bald-head was laughed over. The Envoy expressed indeed his wish to render the _Khan_ in his visit as comfortable as possible; but repeated also his resolution to suffer no act of inattention before servants and strangers. The _Khan_ accordingly (though as it was the _Ramazan_ he would not smoke) left us seemingly well pleased.

But in another instance the same want of respect was visible, though the effect probably of ignorance only. On the 30th Oct. he sent a present of some fruit and two horses, one for the Envoy and one for the East India Company’s Assistant Resident. SIR HARFORD immediately returned that destined for himself, to remind the _Khan_ of the distinction.

On the 8th of Nov. arrived, carried on fourteen mules, the _balconah_, the customary present to an Embassador. It consisted of the following articles:--

50 Lumps of loaf sugar,
35 Small boxes of different kinds of sweetmeats,
1 Mule load of lime-juice, consisting of ninety-six bottles,
23 Bottles of orange and other kinds of sherbet,
22 Bottles of different kinds of preserves, pickles, &c.
4 Mule loads of musk-melons,
1 Ditto of _Ispahan_ quinces,
Half ditto of apples,
1 Ditto of pomegranates,
1 Ditto of wine, thirty-nine bottles.

The whole was accompanied by a letter from NASR OALAH KHAN, the Minister at _Shiraz_, replete with compliment and inquiries about health, and entrusted to the care of AGA MAHOMED ALI, one of the Prince’s servants, who received for himself from the Envoy a present of five hundred piastres. The great men profit by these opportunities of enriching by such returns any servant to whom in their own persons they may owe an obligation, and to whom they thus, cheaply to themselves, repay it. But the charge of a present is frequently made the matter of a bargain among the adherents of the donor, and perhaps is sometimes purchased directly from the great man himself.

On the 13th of Nov. we were informed, that a _Mehmandar_ had been appointed by the court to escort the Envoy to _Teheran_. The title of _Mehmandar_ has been familiarized to an English reader by His Majesty’s appointment of Sir GORE OUSELEY to fill the station during the residence in England of MIRZA ABUL HASSAN, late Envoy Extraordinary from the King of Persia to the Court of London. But the duties which, in England, the most active _Mehmandar_ could comprize within his office are comparatively very limited to those which are indispensably attached to a similar station in Persia. The _Mehmandar_ is the Superintendant and Purveyor assigned to the dignity and ease of foreign Embassadors; the relative facility, therefore, with which he can discharge these functions must vary of course with the state of society in different countries. In England money procures every accommodation; but money alone can procure it now: purveyance, however, in its feudal sense, unfortunately for the people, still exists in its full force in Persia; and the _Mehmandar_, under the commission of his Sovereign, is entitled to demand from the provinces through which he passes every article in every quantity which he may deem expedient for his mission. And as there is no public accommodation on the road where, at every hour as in England, these supplies may be procured, they are extorted from the private stores of the villagers. Besides every requisite of provision and conveyance, the _firman_ of the _Mehmandar_ sometimes includes even specie among the articles thus necessary in the passage. It is not, therefore, wonderful, that the officer entrusted with this power, though generally a man of high rank, is generally also understood to purchase the nomination at very large prices. The proportion of the purchase is the proportion of course of the demands on the country: the villager groans under the oppression, but in vain shrinks from it; every argument of his poverty is answered, if by nothing else, at least by the bastinado.

The information of the appointment was premature: MAHOMED HASSAN KHAN, an officer of rank, had indeed been dispatched from _Shiraz_, but he was entrusted with a more private commission to the Envoy. On the 19th his immediate approach to _Bushire_ was announced. As, independently of the confidence which by this mission the Government appeared to repose in him, he possessed high personal rank, (as one of the Chiefs of the _Karaguzlou_ tribe, one of the most numerous, warlike, and respectable of all under the jurisdiction of Persia,) the first Minister at _Shiraz_ wrote to the Envoy to desire that He would send the person next in rank to himself to receive him. The Envoy accordingly ordered me to proceed on the occasion. I went, accompanied by Mr. BRUCE and Dr. JUKES, and escorted by Cornet WILLOCK with ten troopers, and five _Chattars_. The _Chattars_ are those running footmen who, in fantastical dresses, generally surround the horse of a great man; but the name is applied not only to these attendants of shew, but to those messengers also who perform their journies on foot, and perform them with a dispatch almost incredible. When we had proceeded about a mile we met the stranger. He was thinly attended, having travelled in haste. When we approached, our little squadron drew up in a line as he passed; and we advanced, and made our respective compliments. We then all turned back together, and brought him into the presence of the Envoy, who received him sitting on one corner of the sopha, but rose just as he approached it. We were all dressed with more or less ornament in honour of our guest; and during his visit we kept on our hats. The _Nasakchee Bashee_ had already fallen into his train, when we first met him; and during the short stay which he now made, the Vice-governor of _Bushire_, AGA MAHOMED JAFFER, came to pay his respects also. He advanced immediately to the _Khan_, seized his hand, which he kissed, whilst the _Khan_ applied his beard and mouth to the other’s face, and kissed his cheek. The manners of our guest himself were pleasant and modest, and spoke the simplicity of a man bred in camps. When the Envoy had inquired after his health, the health of the Prince, of the minister, and successively of other great men, the stranger, after the interchange of a few compliments, departed to take up his abode with the Vice-governor. As he entered _Bushire_, the guns at the gate were fired, but one of them could not bear the shock, and flew out of the carriage. For fear therefore of the gates and tower, they did not venture to discharge the sixty-eight pounder, which was mounted in the town; an apprehension not purely imaginary.

The party appeared particularly gloomy: their clothes were of a dark hue, and their caps and their beards were of the deepest black. Every one had a musket, a sword, a brace of pistols, and a great variety of little conveniences, as powder-flasks, cartouche-boxes, hammers, drivers, &c. so that the aggregate equipment displayed every man a figure made up for fighting. The _Khan_ was dressed exactly like his followers, and was alone distinguished by carrying fewer arms. He had, indeed, one _Yeduk_ or led horse before him. The trappings of their horses are very simple, compared to those of the Turks. The head-stall of the bridle has little bits of gold and silver, or brass fixed to it, without the tassels, chains, half-moons, or beads of a Turkish bridle. Nor have they the splendid breast-plate, or the bright and massy stirrup of the Turkish cavalry. Their saddle itself is much more scanty in the seat, nor is it so much elevated behind. The only finery of a Persian saddle is a raised pummel either gilt or silvered; and a saddle-cloth, or rather an elegant kind of carpetting, trimmed with a deep fringe.

On the next day, the Envoy directed me to return, in his name, the visit of MAHOMED HASSAN KHAN. He was lodged in the house which then belonged to the Vice-governor, but which had been the property of the late HAJEE KHELIL KHAN, (the Embassador of Persia, who was unfortunately killed at _Bombay_.) The room into which we were introduced was very pleasant, and by far more agreeable than any thing that I had expected at _Bushire_. Two pillars, neatly inlaid with looking-glasses, supported it on one side, and thus separated it from a small court, which was crowded with servants. An orange tree stood in the centre of the court. The walls of the room were of a beautiful white stucco, resembling plaster of Paris; and large curtains were suspended around them, to screen in every position the company from the sun. The _Khan_ was seated in a corner, and having taken off our shoes at the door, we paid our respects severally, and then settled ourselves according to our rank. When we were arranged, he went about separately to each, and with an inclination of his head, told us we were welcome, (“_Khosh Amedeed_.”) The Vice-governor next appeared, and sat respectfully at a little distance. He was followed by the Governor of the small neighbouring district of _Dasti_, a rough looking man, who exchanged a kiss with the Khan. We had _kaleoons_, (the water pipe), then sweet sherbet, then again the _kaleoons_. Few words passed, and we did little except look at each other. Two or three Arabs came in, and were welcomed by the Khan with the “_khosh amedeed_” as they seated themselves at the further end of the room. The measurement of their distances in a visit seems a study of most general application in Persia; and the knowledge of compliments is the only knowledge displayed in their meetings; if, indeed, the visits of ceremony, which alone we witnessed, could be considered a fair specimen of national manners or the state of society.

When visited by a superior, the Persian rises hastily and meets his guest nearly at the door of the apartment: on the entrance of an equal, he just raises himself from his seat, and stands nearly erect; but to an inferior he makes the motion only of rising. When a great man is speaking, the style of respect in Persia is not quite so servile as that in India. In listening the Indians join their hands together, (as in England little children are taught to do in prayer,) place them on their breast, and making inclinations of the body sit mute. A visit is much less luxurious in Persia than in Turkey. Instead of the sophas and the easy pillows of Turkey, the visitor in Persia is seated on a carpet or mat without any soft support on either side, or any thing except his hands, or the accidental assistance of a wall, to relieve the galling posture of his legs. The misery of that posture in its politest form can scarcely be understood by description: you are required to sit upon your heels, as they are tucked up under your hams after the fashion of a camel. To us, this refinement was impossible; and we thought that we had attained much merit in sitting cross-legged as tailors. In the presence of his superiors a Persian sits upon his heels, but only cross-legged before his equals, and in any manner whatever before his inferiors. To an English frame and inexperience, the length of time during which the Persian will thus sit untired on his heels, is most extraordinary; sometimes for half a day, frequently even sleeping. They never think of changing their positions, and like other Orientals consider our locomotion to be as extraordinary as we can regard their quiescence. When they see us walking to and fro, sitting down, getting up, and moving in every direction, often have they fancied that Europeans are tormented by some evil spirit, or that such is our mode of saying our prayers.

Before the close of our visit, it was settled that the Khan should send in the course of that evening the letters with which he had been charged to the Envoy, and that on the morrow he should come to a personal conference, and open his verbal communications.

The _Ramazan_ was now over: the new moon, which marks the termination, was seen on the preceding evening just at sun-set, when the ships at anchor fired their guns on the occasion; and on the morning of our visit, the _Bairam_ was announced by the discharge of cannon. A large concourse of people, headed by the _Peish Namaz_, went down to the seaside to pray, and when they had finished their prayers, more cannon were discharged. Just before we passed through the gates of the town in returning from our visit, we rode through a crowd of men, women, and children, all in their best clothes, who, by merry-making of every kind were celebrating the feast. Among their sports, I discovered something like the round-about of an English fair, except that it appeared of a much ruder construction. It consisted of two rope-seats suspended, in the form of a pair of scales, from a large stake fixed in the ground. In these were crowded full-grown men who, like boys, enjoyed the continual twirl, in which the conductor of the sport, a poor Arab, was labouring with all his strength to keep the machine.

The feast itself of the _Bairam_ begins of course successively in every season of the natural year, for in the formation of their civil year the Persians, like other Mahomedans, adopt lunar months. When it occurs in summer, the _Ramazan_, or month of fasting which precedes it, becomes extremely severe; every man of every kind of business, the labourer in the midst of the hardest work, is forbidden to take any kind of nourishment from sun-rise to sun-set, during the longest days of the year. Their full day is calculated from sun-set to sun-set, but their sub-division of time varies like that of the Hindoos and Mussulmans of India, according to the difference of the length of the natural day. In their calculation of the close of the fast, and the commencement of the _Bairam_, they are seldom assisted by almanacks: it frequently happens, therefore, that the same feast is celebrated two days earlier, or delayed two days later in different parts of the country, according to the state of the atmosphere: as the new moon may be obscured by clouds in one city or displayed in another by the clearness of the sky.

On the 21st of November MAHOMED HASSAN KHAN KARAGUZLOU paid the appointed visit to the Envoy. A part of the body guard was sent out to meet him, and we received him as before in uniforms and hats. After the usual ceremonies were over, the Envoy and his guest retired to an inner apartment; and after a conference, which lasted four hours, the _Khan_ departed to _Bushire_ with the same escort, to whom on parting he gave a present of fifty Venetian sequins. The conference had been satisfactory, as at dinner the Envoy announced to us that we might now complete all our preparations for a journey to _Teheran_. Still with a volatility not unusual in the diplomacy of the East, the _Khan_ two days afterwards refused to sign, in the name of the Persian Government, the note of the terms on which they had agreed at their meeting: and at ten o’clock at night the Vice-Governor, and the two _Moonshees_, came to us. After a long debate they departed; and, to the satisfaction of all parties the business was finally settled the next morning, when, previous to his return to _Shiraz_, the _Khan_ paid his farewell visit to the Envoy.

He returned to _Shiraz_; and, as we learned by our next dispatches from JAFFER ALI, immediately appeared before the Prince, where he talked for “seven hours without stopping once,” on the Envoy and his merits. JAFFER ALI added, that he himself had dined with the Prince’s Prime Minister, and that they also had talked till two o’clock in the morning on the same alluring subject. After having both agreed that, by the progress of the negociation, they had already rendered themselves immortal, they retired to rest, and the next morning, the Minister, on the appointment of a _Mehmandar_ to the mission, asked JAFFER ALI for the _Moodjdéhlook_, or customary present, for which accordingly he received a Cashmirian shawl. In general politics the dispatches stated, that the Russians had renewed hostilities, though General GARDANNE, the French Embassador in Persia, had sent four of his officers to the Russian Commander to entreat that he would desist from any further operations; but the Russian answered, that his master had ordered him to fight on. The failure of this attempt had greatly contributed to disgrace the cause of the French; and the Court retrenched in consequence their daily allowances.

The _Mehmandar_, who was announced in these dispatches, was MAHOMED ZEKY KHAN, (the chief of the _Noory_ tribe, one of the new modeled corps) a great favourite at the Court of _Teheran_, and with the Prince of _Shiraz_, and advanced lately by the King to the dignity of _Khan_. It was added also, that his appointments were more magnificent than any which had ever before been annexed to the _Mehmandar_ of an English Envoy; and, as a further proof of the estimation in which His Majesty’s mission was held, JAFFER ALI stated, that the Prince had prepared for him, as our acting Agent at _Shiraz_, a rich dress of honour, which, however, he had found means to decline from a fear of the jealousy which it might have excited against him. But the Prince, resolved on bestowing upon him some distinguishing mark of his favour, had given him a shawl, which belonged to one of his own head-dresses, and a young and promising Arab horse, which had been sent as a present to himself by the Governor of _Chabi_. So well indeed had JAFFER ALI deserved the confidence of both the negociating parties, that Sir HARFORD JONES, now at the close of these preliminary arrangements, sent him a patent constituting him the Agent for the British affairs at the Court of _Shiraz_.

It will be recollected that the _Nereide_, the _Sapphire_, and the _Sylph_, sailed with the mission from _Bombay_ on the 12th of September. The _Nereide_ arrived first; the _Sapphire_ also reached _Bushire_ about sun-set on the 18th October. The Arab ships too, that we passed off Cape _Verdistan_, had come in about noon on the same day, and had continued firing their guns at distant intervals till the evening: but the _Sylph_, on board which were the Persian Secretary and some of the presents, was yet missing; nor indeed had we seen her, since the second day after that on which we had left together the harbour of _Bombay_. On the 29th Oct. arrived the _Nautilus_, H. C. cruizer, which had sailed from the same port on the 22d Sept. Though she had neither seen or heard directly any thing of the _Sylph_, yet the circumstances of her own passage prepared us to anticipate the worst. The _Nautilus_ had been attacked off the large _Tomb_, in the Gulph of Persia, by the _Joasmee_ pirates; three only were at first in sight, but on the signal of a gun, a fourth appeared, and together they bore down, two on the quarters and two on the bows of the _Nautilus_; they were full of men, perhaps six hundred in the four vessels, all armed with swords and spears, and, as they shouted their religious invocations, they shook their weapons at the ship. When the engagement became closer, they maintained a fire of twenty-five minutes, and one of their shot killed the boatswain of the _Nautilus_. Of these pirates an interesting account was published in India by Mr. LOANE, who was taken prisoner by them. It is unnecessary, therefore, to add more on the subject than that their chief resort is at _Roselkeim_, on the Arabian coast of the Gulph of Persia: another, but tributary, chief of the same people resides twenty-five miles from _Roselkeim_ at _Egmaun_, S. S. W. of Cape _Musseldom_, where they possess an extensive and lucrative pearl fishery. This, with the market which their plunder finds there, is the principal source of the traffic of the place. Though it may not be necessary to enter into a detail, which may be better found in original authorities, it must be very obvious, that the honour of our flag, as well as the interest of our commerce in the East, will require the destruction of a fleet of pirates, which, assembling to the amount of fifty sail in the harbour of _Roselkeim_, issue thence to capture every English as well as native ship, and to spread terror through the Gulph of Persia.[22]

On the arrival of the _Nautilus_, under these circumstances, the Envoy dispatched a letter to Captain DAVIS of the _Sapphire_, requesting him to proceed to the entrance of the Gulph, to secure the _Sylph_, if possible. On the 6th Nov. a boat arrived from _Roselkeim_, at the date of the departure of which no such capture had been made; but in three days, another boat came in, which brought an account that four vessels had been taken, one of which contained a _Nawab_. We immediately recognized by this description the unfortunate Persian Secretary, the splendour of whose dress had imposed him as a Nabob on the pirates. The next day a still more circumstantial account of the capture reached us, which convinced us that the vessel taken was the _Sylph_; but the report added, that a large vessel from _Bushire_ (which we instantly identified with the _Nereide_) came in sight during the action, and having sunk one of the pirates, (of whose crew of three hundred scarcely any escaped), retook their prize. In the action too, the pirates lost one of their first chiefs, SAL BEN SAL. The loss of one individual, the most insignificant, of their tribe is sufficient cause for a declaration of war; but the destruction of so large a portion of their whole numbers would dispirit rather than so animate the remainder; and the tribe would probably agree never again to approach an English ship. The pirates had, in fact, been so disheartened by their disaster, that when, a few days afterwards, a single Arab ship (commanded indeed by an Englishman) fell among them, and, finding herself unable either to fight or to escape, bore down upon them to try a shew of resistance, they all fled. At length on the 26th Nov. the _Minerva_, H. C. cruizer, Captain HOPGOOD, arrived, and brought the Persian Secretary, who had been captured in the _Sylph_. The Secretary was much connected at _Bushire_, and his detention had of course excited great uneasiness among his relations, who had been putting up prayers in the mosques for his safety. His account of their fate was not uninteresting.

At the time when the pirates were standing the same course with herself, the _Sylph_ discovered the _Nereide_ bearing down upon her. When the _Nereide_ came close, she hove-to; but as the commander of the _Sylph_ did not send a boat on board of her, she filled her sails and stood on. When the _Nereide_ had already passed at some distance, the two _dows_ stood towards the _Sylph_. The Persian Secretary advised the officer of the ship not to permit the _dows_ to approach; but he would not listen to the suggestion, as he declared they would not touch him. The _dows_, however, did approach so close, that the _Sylph_ had only time to fire one gun, and to discharge her musquetry at them, before they were alongside, and poured on board her in great and overwhelming numbers. It is unnecessary to state all the circumstances. The Persian Secretary from the concealment to which he had fled, was still able to ascertain that, as the first act of possession, the Arabs threw water on the ship to purify it; that they then proceeded to the deliberate murder of the men, who were on deck or discoverable; that they brought them one by one to the gangway, and in the spirit of barbarous fanaticism cut their throats as sacrifices; crying out before the slaughter of each victim, “_Ackbar_” and when the deed was done, “_Allah il Allah._” In the space of an hour they had thus put to death twenty-two persons; and were proceeding with lights to look for more, when they were astonished by a shot through the _Sylph_ from the _Nereide_. On perceiving the disaster of the _Sylph_, Captain CORBETT had immediately hauled-up; and though far to the windward his shot still reached. The Arabs immediately took to their _dows_; and, elated by the havock of their success, made for the _Nereide_. As soon as Captain CORBETT perceived that they were bearing down upon him, he ceased firing altogether. The Persian Secretary told us, that he saw the _dows_ approach so close to the frigate, that the Arabs were enabled to commence the attack in their usual manner by throwing stones. Still the _Nereide_ did not fire; till at length when both _dows_ were fairly alongside, she opened two tremendous broadsides. The Secretary said he saw one _dow_ disappear totally, and immediately; and the other almost as instantaneously: they went down with the crews crying, “_Allah, Allah, Allah_.” Nine men only escaped, who had previously made off in a boat. The _Sylph_ was taken to _Muscat_, where the Persian Secretary was put on board the _Minerva_.[23]

We had thus recovered the Persian Secretary; but the mission soon suffered the less reparable loss of one of its own members. On the 19th November, the _Benares_ H. C. cruizer (which brought our tents, some of the body guards, presents, &c. from _Bussora_) landed at _Bushire_ Mr. COARE, the Persian and Latin Translator. He had carried with him from _Bussora_ a fever, which was gradually wasting him away; and after lingering out his few remaining days apparently without pain, he died on the last day of the month. He was a young man of whom all spoke well; his talents were promising; and his prospects in the world were fine. He was laid in the Armenian burying-ground, without a coffin; because plank is so dear and scarce at _Bushire_, that his remains would have been disturbed for the sake of the wood which had enclosed them. His corpse was escorted to the grave by the body guard and the seapoy guard, and followed by the Envoy and the gentlemen of the mission. I read the funeral service over him, amid a crowd of Persians and Arabs, who were collected to see the ceremony; and who seemed to partake the interest of the scene. Nothing excites a better impression of our character than an appearance of devotion and religious observance. If, therefore, there were no higher obligation on every christian, religious observances are indispensable in producing a national influence. We never omitted to perform divine service on Sundays; suffered no one to intrude upon us during our devotions; and used every means in our power to impress the natives with a proper idea of the sanctity of our Sabbath.

CHAP. IV.

RESIDENCE OF THE MISSION AT BUSHIRE.