PURCHASE OF CAMELS FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 225 



and your families, if you do not ivish the infidel to make you the sub- 

 missive luitness of his triumphs." This system of landivers would be 

 applied only to the infantry, as the cavalry has always been irregu- 

 lar, with the exception of a regiment disciplined by General Dourville 

 in 1821, and another instructed by Colonel Jarrant in 1837, neither 

 of which is now in existence. The zembouretchis and the artillery 

 are the only permanent corps, as also a few battalions of guards for 

 the protection of the king, and the security of the large towns. 

 However imperfect such a system may at first appear, I think its 

 entire applicability to Persia will be apparent when the nature of its 

 resources is understood. 



What confirmed the idea the vizier had conceived of reorganizing 

 the artillery of the dromedaries, was the remembrance of the ex- 

 pedition of Abbas-Mirza into Kerman and Khorassan, in which 

 the marches were delayed by the park of artillery, which, drawn by 

 horses, was obliged to make considerable detours to find a practicable 

 road. The unheard of sufierings endured by the troops proved suffi- 

 ciently that these deserts would become vast cemeteries for regular 

 troops, when their only means of transportation consisted of horses 

 and mules. " The horse," says Hadji, " is the companion of the Per- 

 sian ; the dromedary is his slave, his faithful servant, which, de- 

 prived of every enjoyment, wears himself out in the service of his 

 master." 



The grand vizier first endeavored to use the dromedary in drawing 

 the field-pieces. The attempt did not result as he had anticipated. 

 Attempting to perform evolutions in the plains of Teheran with eight- 

 pounders, drawn by dromedaries, he found that in the forward move- 

 ments they went well enough, but that in wheeling about to come 

 into battery their motions were slow and disordered. Accustomed to 

 to turn upon the ground on which they stood, the pole of the limber 

 struck them on the legs.* 



The grand vizier requested from the India Company a model of the 

 pieces carried by dromedaries, which the English used in their second 

 expedition against Cabul, under the orders of General Nott. These 

 pieces differed from the zemboreks only in calibre, and in the use of a 

 carriage, which required two animals for the transportation of each 

 piece with its ammunition. 



Hadji-Mirza-Agassi retained the old system established in Persia, 

 bringing to it improvements only in the fabrication of the zemboureks. 



In reorganizing the corps, he began by choosing the best zem- 

 bouretchis, (cannoneers,) rejecting the vicious and the aged. The 

 new recruits were selected from among the most robust camel drivers 

 of the tribes inhabiting Irak-Adjemi. He quartered them in new 

 barracks, forming a large square, within which was room enough 

 for the exercise of the troop. Around the square were the quarters of 

 the zembouretchis. The service dromedaries were lodged in a plain 

 adjoining the barracks ; the others were placed in villages at short 

 distances from the town. 



The number of men is fixed at two hundred, including the sergeants 



* In 1846, there was sent from Teheran, for the last expedition into Kliorat<an, artillery 

 drawn by dromedaries ; but they were only used for the road, in order not to fatigue the 

 horses, which were reserved for service on coming into the presence of the enemy. 



Ex. Doc. 62 15 



