136 TEHERAN. 



and forbidding, leading one to suppose that the author 

 of the Baluchi proverb, " When God created the world, 

 Baluchistan was made from the refuse," had not travelled 

 as far as the present site of the Persian capital. The 

 insignificant tumuli which are all that remain of the 

 once glorious city of Bhages, while being doubtless of 

 vast interest to the expert, have too little to show to 

 attract the casual traveller ; and though the Persian 

 wild goat is to be found in the mountains at no great 

 distance in sufficient numbers to afford excellent sport 

 to the stalker, it is undoubtedly as the headquarters 

 of the incalculable intrigue which passes in Persia for 

 diplomacy, rather than as a city possessed of any 

 material attraction, that Teheran appeals to the visitor. 

 It may be well, therefore, if, before leaving the country, 

 I devote a few words to reviewing the events which 

 formed the chief topics of interest and discussion in the 

 political world at the time of my visit. 



