580 Sir R. Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, &c. 
his house, consists in) the number. of 
apartments, and. extent of the courts; 
of the rose-trees and little fountains in 
the one, and the fine carpets and num- 
muds in the other. . But vessels of gold 
or silver are never seen, ~The dinner- 
trays are of painted wood ; and those on 
which the sweetmeats and fruits appear, 
are of copper, thickly tinned over, look- 
ing like dirty plate. Neither gluttony 
Nor epicurism is a vice of this nation. 
The Jower classes also live principally 
upon bread, fruits, and water. The re- 
pasts of the higher consist of the sim- 
plest fare ; their cookery being devoid of 
any ingredient to stimulate the appetite. 
Sherbets, of different kinds, are their 
usual beverage; and tea and coffee the 
luxuries of ceremonious meetings. In 
this general abstinence from what is 
usually styled the pleasures of the table, 
we find a nearer resemblance to the 
manly frugality of ancient Persis, or 
Tran, (which the admirable institutions 
of the first Cyrus extended from that 
people to the less temperate Medes,) 
than to the manners which prevailed 
eyen in so short a time as a century 
after, under the reign of Artaxerxes 
Mnemon, 
From the earliest times, the breeding 
of fine horses lias been a passion in the 
East; and in no country more than 
Persia, where, indecd, a man and his 
horse are seen in such constant compa- 
nionship, that custom has in a manner 
identified them with each otber, and 
hence the most beautiful steeds are 
never brought in proof of any extraordi- 
nary ricbes; a Persian being well 
mounted, though the clothes on his back 
may not be worthhalfatomaun. Their 
mules, too, are a stately, usefulrace.. I 
have already noticed, that horse-racing 
is not pursued here as with us, to pro- 
duce a certain prodigious swiftness ina 
short given time; but to exercise the 
limbs of. the travelling or courier-horse, 
to. go ‘over, a ‘considerable. number of 
miles in one day, or more, at an unusual 
rate, without slackening his) pace, or 
suffering by the exertion. | The fleetness 
of a Persian horse in the chase, is equal 
to that of any country; but his exquisite 
mabagemcent in the military sports of the 
girid, &c. cannot be equalled, on any 
other field, | In these exercises, we see 
something of the latent fire of the chival- 
ric Shah Sevund, breaking forth in their 
descendants, and lambently playing on 
ihe point of their Jances. ‘The dexterity 
of the evolutions, the grace of their mo- 
tions, and the knighthood-gallantry | of 
their address, unite in giving an incex- 
pressible charm to thesescenes.. But it 
does not end, there... This g@adieté decceur, 
and courtesy, of manner; pervading every 
class, renders the society; of ‘thesbigher 
ranks. particularly amiable j,:and)icom- 
munication with the lowery free ofsany 
rudeness... Nay, indeed, the) bhumblest 
peasant; from the old min; to) the hoy, 
expresses himself with ja degree! of...¢i- 
vility only, to be, expected from education 
and. refinement.,)- Quick; in) Seeing; or 
apprehending. oceasions of;setvice, jhigh 
and low seem to bend themselves grace- 
fully to whatever task ;theit) superiors 
may assign; besides talentseems.10 con- 
tend with inclination, im accomplishing 
its fulfilment. In short, this pliant, 
polished steel of charaeter,-so different 
from. the sturdy: nature and stubborn 
uses of the iron sons of the north,:fit the 
Persians to be,atjonceja great, a happy, 
and a peaceable people, under a.legiti- 
mate and well-ordered monarchy. 
THE GUEBRES, 9/1) 
The modern Persian, Guebres; as' well 
as their brethrentin India, hold'a mixed 
creed, apparently; borrowed: from: both 
states of the Mitheatic worships It 
comprises a belief in one supreme !Gou, 
who directs ali things! by his power, and 
preserves all things by’ hisumercy sand 
that he makes his will knownmte mau by 
seven divine intelligencés, or agents, 
each of whom has his especial oflice in 
the economy of the universes: Manis 
the peculiar care of the first.im dignity ; 
the second presides over the animals'of 
the earth ; the third over the carthilself, 
the fourth over fire ; the fifth over the wa- 
ters ; the sixth has every kind) of plant 
and vegetation in charge; and the. se- 
venth preserves all nature from whatever 
might defile it... Subordinate. to, these 
super-eminent deities, are an infinity of 
minor gods who attend mankind, ‘admi- 
nistering to their necessities, or govern- 
ing their passions. \‘Phe Gaebre faith 
also, admits, a malign spirit: with his 
demons, wlio busy themselves in thwart- 
ing the benevolent purposes of the seven 
protectors; but, likewise believing! that 
the power of goodnessis always stronger 
than that-of evil, prayers, anda firmde- 
pendance on Ormuzd and his heavenly 
agents, are deemed fully. sufficient talis- 
mans against all the powers of darkness, 
To this\end, the pious bave particular 
days in eyery month, dedicated to. the 
adoration of the Supreme» Deity, on 
whom they cal] in the presence of his 
sacred emblem, their secretly cherished 
fire ; which, they continue :to si 
the 
