158 By Mountain , Lake, and Plain 



myself, these Eastern customs some of them at 

 least have their redeeming points ! 



Notwithstanding anything that has been said 

 to the contrary, all prospects in Persia are not 

 unpleasing, neither are all men vile. Among my 

 pleasantest recollections are those of the capital 

 of Kain. The Governor was one of those indi- 

 viduals, nowadays not uncommon in the East, 

 whose contact with Europeans has led to their 

 acquiring certain Western qualities to which men 

 of their own race are usually strangers, while not 

 " jettisoning " the best of their own national 

 traits. The " Glory of Dominion " was a first- 

 class sportsman in the best sense of the word. 

 Being a governor in Persia a delicate and 

 hazardous office, he could never go far from 

 his capital and a telegraph office, so his sports 

 were limited to gazelle shooting on the plains 

 near Birjand, falconry in the season, 1 while rifle- 

 shooting and tennis were his daily relaxations in 

 his own gardens. The inclusion of tennis in the 

 sports of a Persian governor will surprise those 

 who know their Persia, for running about on 

 one's own feet cannot be indulged in by a native 

 of that ceremonious country without serious loss 



1 Persia is a country eminently adapted for falconry. It is a 

 thousand pities this sport has almost died out amongst the upper 



