46 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



the day, as \ve had experienced during our stay at 

 Shiraz. In the evening a man rode up to the serai, 

 and Avas very anxious to persuade us to allow him to 

 be our guide to the ruins of Shahpoor. The stranger 

 was a square-built powerful man, and from his dress 

 we supposed he belonged to some Eliaut tribe. His 

 beard was dyed a bright red, and this, added to a 

 treacherous thievish eye, did not altogether give him 

 the appearance of a man whose services one would 

 be anxious to enlist as a guide in a lone desert place, 

 as the ruins of Shahpoor were described to be. The 

 ruins were still three marches distant, so we gave 

 " Red Beard " to understand that there was plenty 

 of time to consider the matter, and that at Kauzeroon 

 we should determine whether we would visit the 

 ruins or not, this being still an open question, as 

 they lay some distance off our direct road. Red 

 Beard and the gholaum then had an argument as to 

 the distance of the ruins from our road. The gholaum 

 was as anxious that we should not go as Red Beard 

 that we should. One said the distance was only a 

 " meidanee asp" a few minutes' gallop; the other 

 vowed it was at least two days' march. In the heat 

 of the argument they called each other some horrible 

 names, and Red Beard fingered his dagger in a manner 

 truly ominous. However, he finally withdrew ; and 

 when he was safe out of hearing, the gholaum waxed 

 bold as a lion, and informed us that the stranger be- 

 longed to a tribe of plundering Eliauts who had lately 



