1833.] Fruit—Tea—Ice—Shops. 299 
My reader will have now become familiar with the appearance of the 
inhabitants of Bokhara. From morn to night, the crowd which assem- 
bles raises a humming noise, and one is stunned at the moving mass of 
human beings. In the middle of the area, the fruits of the season are 
sold under the shade of a square piece of mat, supported by a single pole. 
One wonders at the never-ending employment of the fruiterers in dealing 
out their grapes, melons, apricots, apples, peaches, pears, and plums ; 
for the continued succession of purchasers proves that the tide of men 
still flows. With difficulty a passage can be forced through the 
streets, and it is only done at the momentary risk of being run over by 
some one on the back of a horse or anass.. These latter animals are 
exceedingly common and very fine, they amble along at a quick pace with 
their riders and burthens. Carts of a light construction are also driving 
up and down, since the nature of the country, and the streets which are 
not too narrow, admit of wheeled carriages in all parts of the bazar. 
Everywhere are seen people making tea, which is done in large European 
urns instead of tea-pots, and kept hot by a metal tube. The pen- 
chant of the Bokharis for tea is, I believe, without parallel ; for they 
drink it at all times and places, and in half a dozen ways, with and 
without sugar, with and without milk, with grease, with salt, &c. 
Next to the venders of this hot beverage, one may purchase “‘ rahet-i 
jan,” or the delight of life, grape jelly or syrup mixed up with chopped 
ice. The abundance of ice is one of the greatest luxuries in Bokhara, 
and it may be had till the cold weather makes it unnecessary. It is pitted 
in winter, and sold so cheap that it is within the reach of the poorest 
people. No one ever thinks of drinking water without icing it, and a 
beggar may be seen purchasing it as he proclaimshis poverty and entreats 
the bounty of the passenger. It is a nice and refreshing sight to see 
the huge masses of it with the thermometer at 90°, coloured, scraped, 
and piled into heaps like snow to tickle the Uzbeks’ palate. It would 
be endless to describe the whole body of traders : suffice it to say, that 
almost every thing may be purchased in the Régistan ; the jewellery 
and cutlery of Europe (coarse enough however), the tea of China, the 
sugar of India, the spices of Manilla, &c. &c. One may also add to 
his stores of learning, both Turki and Persian, at the book-stalls, 
where the learned or would-be-so pore over tattered pages at a 
hawker’s board, As one withdraws in the evening from this bustling 
crowd to the more retired parts of the city, he treads his way through 
arched bazars, now empty, and passes mosques surmounted by hand- 
some cupolas, and adorned by all the simple ornaments which are ad- 
mitted by Muhammedans. After the bazar hours, these are crowded 
