132 TEHERAN. 



CHAPTEK XL 



TEHERAN. 



Eecent improvements at Teheran — The city gates — Days of mourning — 

 Interview with the Shah and with the Prime Minister — A visit to the 

 palace — A motley collection ! — The picture-gallery — An extraordinary 

 ceremony — Religious plays — Nature of the country round the capital. 



Teheran has been so often and so conscientiously 

 described that to give any detailed account of it to-day 

 would be a quite superfluous waste of time. With the 

 exception of the erection of a large barracks for the 

 Persian Cossacks, which extend the length of one 

 side of a spacious parade-ground, and a considerable 

 increase of buildings in the European quarter of the 

 town, it would seem that little change has taken place 

 since the late Shah, Nasr-ed-Din, bethinking him 

 suddenly that " the ' Point of Adoration of the Uni- 

 verse ' was framed in a somewhat inadequate setting," 

 bade his capital to " burst its bonds and enlarge its 

 quarters." ^ There is no immediate fear of the city 

 outgrowing the walls which were then erected, and on 

 the eastern side of the town I noticed quite a large 

 area in the vicinity of the Meshed gate under cultiva- 

 tion ! The city gates, of which tliere are a consider- 

 able number at intervals in the walls, are one of the 

 features of the town, being ornamented with designs in 



^ Persia. Curzon. 



