108 BAGHDAD TO KERMANSHAH. 



for hoping so, for my men here are certainly the equal 

 of ten Europeans " ! Without seeing the said men you 

 could not enjoy the full force of the remark. The noble 

 bearer of the Garter to his Majesty the Shah, who was 

 saluted with a broken table-leg on joassing one of the 

 State sentries on guard, would appreciate it. Another 

 historian has handed it down that the Persians of his 

 day were taught to ride, to shoot, and to speak the 

 truth. Not all these characteristics have withstood 

 the test of time. I came to an agreement with a 

 Persian muleteer to supply me with transport, and 

 personally to conduct me as far as Teheran. The day 

 fixed for departure came and with it the mule-man, 

 who begged me to proceed a short day's journey with- 

 out him as he had business in the town ; and with an 

 assurance that he would overtake us on the morrow, he 

 bade us God - speed. That was the last I ever saw 

 of my Persian friend, which is an example of what I 

 mean. 



But, for the most part, as far as travelling in Per- 

 sia goes, it might still be the days of the historian 

 of Halicarnassus. You are in the East unredeemed 

 and unregenerate. There are not many parts of the 

 country, for instance, in which you can expect to make 

 a journey corresponding to that, say, from Edinburgh to 

 London in much less than a month, and then only at 

 an expenditure of much labour and forethought. On 

 the post-roads you may travel fast — fast, that is, for 

 Persia, and may cover as much as from 90 to 100 

 miles in a day if you reduce your baggage to a minimum, 

 and can coax your jaded spirit and weary limbs to 

 resign themselves to the tender mercies of the Persian 

 post-horse for so long. But the number of post-roads 

 is limited, and where there is no post-road, or in the 

 event of your having more worldly goods than can 



