2 
1828.] 
is the son of a Khorasan chief, whose whole 
family and tribe had been cut off by the 
sudden and devastating irruption of a horde 
of Toorkomans. Ismael, a mere child, was 
the sole survivor; and being carried to the 
felt tents of the Toorkomans, and given to 
young Selim, the son of the chief, as a slave, 
was brought up among them with great 
kindness and indulgence, and taught, like 
them, the use of the bow and the spear. 
Growing up, bold, and brave, and active, he 
accompanied the tribe in their plundering 
excursions, and once saved the life of Selim, 
and became, moreover, not only the general 
fayourite of all, but the particular one of a 
beautiful girl—one of the chief’s daughters. 
This intercourse with the soft and gentle 
Shireen finally exceeded the limits of pru- 
dence, and the consequences were likely to 
prove perilous, if not fatal, to both the 
youthful and thoughtless offenders. 
When the crisis seemed just at hand, a 
dervish, who had interpreted a dream of 
Ismael’s mother before his birth, and fore- 
told the general colour of his fortunes, and 
seemed, indeed, to exercise a sort of myste- 
rious sway over his destinies, presents him- 
self, and reading him a pretty sharp lecture 
on his imprudence, at length assures him of 
a speedy deliverance from the impending 
danger. Discovery follows forthwith ; and 
Selim, though feeling deeply and painfully 
for the honour of his family, is prevailed 
upon, by the implorings of his sister, and 
his own affection for Ismael, to screen him 
from the indignation of the chief of the 
tribe, and assist him in his escape, by fur- 
nishing him with a horse and weapons, and 
directions for his course. Crossing, now, 
the sandy desert on the south, towards 
Khorasan, he and his horse are nearly 
buried in the whelming sands stirred up by 
a furious storm of wind, and he is only 
rescued from absolute destruction by the 
sudden appearance of the dervish, who 
shelters him in a neighbouring cave. Re- 
freshed by a day’s rest, the youth starts 
forward again for the south, and is finally 
met by a lone traveller, who proves to be 
Ibrahim, the brother of Nadir, then in a 
state of all but open rebellion against the 
Schah. Between two solitary individuals in 
a wide and desolate wilderness, intimacy 
soon grows, and a mutual communication 
of circumstances follows of course. Ibrahim 
knew Ismael’s father, and was delighted 
with the bold bearing and general appear- 
ance of the youth, and promises to introduce 
him to Nadir, who was at this time en- 
camped somewhere on the frontiers of Kho- 
rasan. In their way to join him, they were 
surprised by a band of Koords, and escaped 
only by the most desperate efforts of valour 
and resolution, and the lucky arrival of some 
of Nadir’s cayalry, from whom Ibrahim had 
been, by circumstances, recently separated. 
Reaching Nadir’s camp, Ibrahim forthwith 
introduces his young friend to the grim 
chief; and being required on the spot to 
Domestic and Foreign. 
85 
give a touch of his quality, he exhibits his 
skill in horsemanship and the bow so 
much to the satisfaction of Nadir, that he 
is immediately enrolled in his highness’s 
guard. 
Preparations were at this time actively 
making for fighting the rebels before Mu- 
shed, and in the decisive engagement 
which quickly ensued, Ismael’s prowess was 
conspicuous, and was brilliantly acknow- 
ledged. The holy city Mushed fell before 
Nadir’s triumphs, and for a while the 
labours of the soldier ceased, and Ismael 
was left with little to do but to prosecute his 
own enjoyments. Idleness is the mother of 
mischief, and Ismael rapidly degenerates— 
he frequents gaming-houses, and contracts 
sundry profligate habits. Among other 
sources of amusement, he ascends the top of 
a minaret daily, and busies himself in pry- 
ing down upon the harem of an old volup- 
tuous priest. The fancy seizes him to get a 
nearer glance—he scrambles up an old 
adjoining ruin, and succeeds to his heart’s 
content. For a time he is cautious, and 
satisfied with merely gazing on the scenes 
before him; but, growing careless or confi- 
dent by impunity, he is at length observed, 
and has some difficulty in escaping. The 
difficulty had indeed been insuperable, but 
for the connivance of the queen of the 
harem, who had long before detected his 
gazings, and marked his admiration, and 
returned it with ardour. Orientally, matters 
are soon arranged; the lady now loses not a 
moment ; she despatches a slave to conduct 
Ismacl to her boudoir, where, left to them- 
selves, she at once avows her admiration of 
his spirit and person. Ismael is too gallant 
a soldier not to make a suitable return of 
protestations ; but, though struck, and even 
awed, by the splendour of her majestic 
beauty, he is perfectly fascinated by one of 
her attendant nymphs, and very quickly he 
has two intrigues upon his hands—the 
mistress and the maid—of very different 
characters, as he soon finds—the one 
haughty, and domineering, and rapacious— 
the other as gentle, and confiding, and dis- 
interested. 
During the prosecution of these delights, 
he has the good fortune, one evening, to 
rescue a person from an attack of assassins, 
and accompanying him to his house, is 
treated by him with great distinction, and 
dismissed with liberal presents. This person 
proves to be a young merchant, of high 
intellectual cultivation, and prodigiously 
wealthy—who had visited foreign countries, 
and had a great deal to tell. His adven- 
tures are accordingly detailed at a somewhat 
wearisome length; but an opportunity is 
thus given of describing the manners of 
different oriental regions, and particularly 
the capture of Ispahan by the Affghan 
invader, and his subsequent cruelties. An 
intimacy quickly ripens between the young 
men; and Aboo Talib, the merchant, 
knowing that a soldier’s purse is generally 
