678 Journal of a Tour through [Nov. 



buildings are here most enormous. The appearance of the sepulchre is 

 that of an elevated mound composed of the usual debris — bricks, lime, 

 stones, and tiles. It is encircled by several arches, and other vestiges 

 of departed grandeur. 



The court of Abbas Mirza, Prince Royal of Persia, is held at Tabriz. 

 Of the fifty-five sons* of Fatteh Ali Sha'h, be is the only one who ever 

 made an attempt to raise a regular army, which continued in an effi- 

 cient state, until the conclusion of the peace with Russia. At present, 

 the Government cannot see the utility of entertaining men who are not 

 absolutely required, and have in consequence disbanded nearly the whole 

 army, retaining only a few Russian deserters. The serviceable part of the 

 establishment however, consists of three British officers, (Capt. Shee, 

 and Lieutenants Burgess and Christian,) and eight sergeants, all of 

 whom are under the immediate command of Major Isaac Hart, of His 

 Majesty's 65th regiment of foot, an officer of the highest military 

 talent, and determined bravery, who deserves far greater praise than I 

 am capable of bestowing. Notwithstanding the insuperable difficulties 

 this indefatigable officer has encountered, he has single-handed, orga- 

 nized, and held together all the prince's troops, and for the last sixteen 

 years, the name of Hart has been the admiration of every soldier 

 in the Russian army on the frontier. The artillery have always been 

 the most efficient part of Abba's Mirza's army, and the infantry scatter- 

 ed throughout the districts. The amount of the general disciplined 

 force under the command of Major Hart, which might be collected, is 

 ahout 10,000. Previous to the late war, fifteen battalions, each 1000 

 strong, were regularly clothed and fed by His Royal Highness, toge- 

 ther with nearly 10,000 irregulars, or Tuffangchis : these are foot 

 soldiers, armed with matchlocks, who were only nominally ready at a call, 

 being dispersed among their own villages. As these men received little 

 or no pay, it cannot create surprise, their never evincing great readi- 

 ness for field service, or much firmness in action ; especially when their 

 wives and children were left during their absence totally unprovided 

 with even the common necessaries of life. 



The introduction of English discipline in Persia, would long since 

 have been superceded by Russian, had it not been for the unceasing 

 exertions of Major Hart ; and when we remember the avaricious ha- 

 bits, and the horrid depravity, into which Abbas Mirza has lately 



* The family of His Majesty of Persia consists at present of fifty-five sons, and 

 one hundred and twenty-five daughters. Many of his sons have fifteen and twenty 

 children, and some of these are of an age to possess wives and husbands : so that 

 when the number of the king's issue is reckoned at a thousand, it will not appear 

 incredible. 



