Book I. 



AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 



141 



fruits. Apples, pears, cherries, walnuts, melons, besides the 

 fruits already mentioned, are everywhere to be procured 

 at very low prices ; the quinces of Ispahan are the 

 finest in the East; and no grape is more delicious than 

 that of Shiraz. In the provinces bordering on the Caspian 

 sea, and mount Caucasus, the air is perfumed with roses 

 and other sweet-scented flowers. Among the vegetable 

 productions we may enumerate cabbages, cucumbers, tur- 

 nips, carrots, pease, and beans; and the potatoe, which has l 

 been lately introduced, thrives remarkably well. Poppies, {/ 

 from which an excellent opium is extracted, senna, rhubarb, j 

 saffron, and assafcetida are produced in many parts of the 

 kingdom. The vine grows here luxuriantly, and further to 

 the south cotton and sugar are articles of common cultivation. 

 Poplars, large and beautiful, and the weeping- willow, border 

 the course of the streams, and the marshy tracts abound with 

 the kind of rush that serves for the Persian matting. 

 Ornamental shrubs or herbaceous plants are little known ; 

 but the jasmine, the blue and scarlet anemone in the thickets, and the tulip and ranunculus 

 in the pastures, are abundant and beautiful, and give an air of elegance to the country. 



857. The saline deserts of Persia are for the most part destitute of trees, and sup- 

 port hardly any plants except those that are also found on the sea-shore. On the 

 high mountains they are much the same as those observed on the alps of Switzer- 

 land and Italy. The plants on the hills and plains adjoining the Caspian are better 

 known. 



858. The live stock of Persia are the same as in European countries with some 

 additions. According to Chardin, the Persian horses are tlie most beautiful in the 

 East; but they yield in speed, and, as some say, in beauty also, to the Arabian; 

 however, they are larger, more powerful, and all things considered, better calculated for 

 cavalry than those of Arabia. There are several breeds of horses, but the most valu- 

 able is that called the Turkoram, which are so hardy that they have been known to 

 travel nine hundred miles in eleven successive days. The Arabian blood has also been 

 introduced into this country. Their usual food is chopped straw and barley ; their bed 

 is made of dung, dried and pulverised, and every morning regularly exposed to the sun. 

 They are clothed with the greatest attention, according to the climate and season of the 

 year ; and during the warm weather kept in the stable during the day, and taken out at 

 night. 



859. Mules are also here in considerable request ; and the ass resembles the European ; 

 but a breed of this animal has been brought from Arabia, of an excellent kind, the hair 

 being smooth, the head high, and the motion spirited and agile. Although the mules 

 are small, they are fairly proportioned, carry a great weight, and those that are intended 

 for the saddle are taught a fine amble, which carries the rider at the rate of five or six 

 miles an hour. The camel (Jig. 124.) is also common; and the animals which are ex- 

 ported from Persia 

 to Turkey, have, as 

 Chardin says, only 

 one hunch, while 

 those of India and 

 Arabia have two. 

 Tlie Persian cattle 

 in general resem- 

 ble the European. 

 Swine are scarce, 

 except in the north- 

 west provinces. 

 The flocks of sheep, 



among which are those with large tails, are most numerous in the northern provinces of 

 Erivan, or the Persian part of Armenia, and Balk. The few forests abound with deer 

 and antelopes ; and the mountains supply wild-goats, and probably the ibex, or rock goat. 

 Hares are common. The ferocious animals are chiefly concealed in the forests, such as 

 the bear and boar, the lion in the western parts, the leopard, and, as some say, the small 

 or common tiger. Seals occur on the rocks of the Caspian. The hyaena and jackal 

 belong to the southern provinces. The seas abound with fish of various descriptions; the 

 Caspian affords sturgeon, and delicious carp. The most common river fish is the barbel. 

 The same sorts of wild and tame fowl are common in Persia and in Europe, with the 

 exception of the turkey, whose nature does not seem to be congenial to this climate. Pi- 



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