524 Colonel Harriot on ike Oriental Origin of Ike Gypsies. 



word signifying ' black ' or ' swarthy/ from kara, ' black,' with the par- 

 ticipial termination chi as an affix. The Lull are found in the greatest 

 number in Kurdistan ; although they migrate from one end of Persia to 

 another, moving towards what is called Garmasir, or the warmer provinces, 

 in the winter months, and returning northward during the spring and 

 summer. 



Mr. Cormick, an English surgeon, attached to the Prince Royal Abas 

 Mirza at Tabriz, and to whom I am much indebted for the information his 

 long residence in Persia enabled him to afford me, describes the Karachi 

 or Kauli of Azerbijan and Kurdistan as being found mostly in the vicinity 

 of towns, villages, and inhabited places. They live like the wandering 

 tribes called II or Jl)/at, without having any connection with them. They 

 are a perfectly distinct race of people from the latter ; move about in tents, 

 have no fixed place of residence, and lead the same unsettled mode of 

 life which they are observed to do in European countries. The men, 

 for the most part, employ themselves in tending their flocks, fabricating 

 mats, wicker-work, namad or felt-cloths, and carpets, and still more in 

 making sieves, riddles, and such like articles. They also pass their time in 

 begging, fortune-telling, and chiromancy ; dancing, singing, and tumbling 

 are also practised by them, and appear to be the chief means by which they 

 first engage the attention of those who pass within their reach. In autumn 

 they quit the Sardisar, or cold mountainous region of Azerbijan. 



Throughout Irak Ajami, at Ispahan, Shiraz, and every intermediate 

 place, to which my personal inquiries extended, the same account was given 

 me of this singular people. In the former province, Kauli is the name by 

 which they are best known. In Fars they are goldsmiths and smiths. In 

 Kurdistan their families are numerous ; and the young women of this tribe, 

 with their dark eyes, black hair, and their well-formed swarthy figures, their 

 musical art, and other blandishments, often put the traveller's heart in 

 danger. They deal in palmistry ; and, as in England, 



" the village maid 

 <' Seeks the dark Gypsey's fearful aid." 



The celebrated Fateh Ali-Khan, of Tehran, whose acquaintance with 

 the history, customs, and manners of Persia is perhaps unequalled, told 

 me that, according to the best information he could procure, four thousand 

 of the Luli of Persia were brought into that country some fourteen hundred 

 years ago, by Bahram Gor, the reigning monarch, who wanted musicians. 



