SHIEAZ TO BUSHIRE. 21 



ning waters are the talk of the whole universe, the 

 Prince's own summer-house, should by rights have 

 been placed at our entire disposal : the peishkeah, 1 

 which should have covered the floors of three double- 

 poled tents, consisted of four miserly trays of fruit, 

 and of as many loaves of sugar." As it happened, 

 a loaf of the identical sugar was in the centre of a 

 bowl sweetening some sherbet and snow which we 

 were drinking from time to time. Unfortunately for 

 us, his wrathful eye fell upon it. " See," said he, as 

 he pushed his thumb with one fell thrust through 

 snow, sherbet, and dissolving sugar, " even this sugar 

 is the cheap sugar of Mozanderan, not the snow- 

 mountain of the Feringees, which costs a gold tor/mm 

 the loaf." He was proceeding to enumerate several 

 other indignities to which we had been wantonly 

 subjected, and which were of as little moment to us 

 as they were of grave import to him, when he was 

 interrupted by the arrival of two horsemen at the 

 gate. These, as it turned out, were the two gholaums 

 who had been deputed to accompany us to Bushire. 

 They had come to take any orders we might have to 

 give preparatory to our march, and to make the 

 acquaintance of our people, their compagnons de 

 voyage to be. One of them assumed a superiority 

 of rank to the other, so he it was that was ordered 

 into the presence. As the man pulled off his long 



1 Offering usually presented to strangers on their arrival at 

 a place. 



