Chap. VIII. of Monfieur Tavernier, 163 



with fix other Moidlatis round about him. The Mouttah made a Difcourfe upon the 

 Death of Hiijfein and Hocen of about half ari hour long j which being ended, the 

 King caus'd aCd.tat or Habit of Honour to be giv'n him, as alfo to the others, though 

 not lb rich. When they had all put on the Habit , the fame Moidlah return'd to 

 his Chair, and made a Prayer for the health of the King , and the profperity of his 

 Kingdom. 



All thefe Ceremonies lafted from feven in the Morning 'till Noon , at what time the 

 King retir'd into his Haratn. As for the People, they carry their Biers up and down 

 the City, and where-ever two Companies meet , whether it be for the upper hand, 

 or. to get formoft , they prefently fall together by the Ears , and knock one another 

 down: for they are not permitted to carry € any other Arms than good big Clubs, 

 almoft as big as Levers. 



Some time after the Feaft of Hujfein and Hocen, the Perfians celebrate another Fefti- 

 val , which they call the Feaft of the Camel , in remembrance of Abraham's Sacrifice. 

 They have a great reverence for this Feftival , laying that it was a Camel and not a 

 Ram which God lent to reprieve Ijlrmacl ( affirming that Ifrmael was to have been 

 facrinVd , and not Jfaac.) They choofe out for this Ceremony one* of the faireft 

 Camels they can meet withal , and adorn and drefs him up with feveral Plates of 

 counterfeit Gold and Silver, and then lead him without the City to a place which is 

 before a Mofcjnce on the other fide of the River of Ifpahan, upon Zulpha fide ; the 

 Deroga or Provoft accompanying the people. The King was formerly wont to be at 

 this Feaft , accompany'd with his Nobility, and I have leen him there j but of late 

 years he 1 never goes , the Deroga Supplying his place. 



When the King went thither, leveral Moiillahs pray'd for half an hour, after which 

 the King took akind of a Jav'lin and darted it againft the Camel: but now in the ablcnce 

 of the King, the Dcroga gives the firft ftroak. At the lame time they fling the Camel to 

 the ground,with Ropes ty'd to his lcgs,and cutting oflfhis head and neck together,they 

 divide the reft of the Body into eleven parts more , to the end all the twelve Com- 

 panies may have every one their (hare. Every Company carries their fhare to the 

 Maftcr of the Companies Houfc, who is generally the ancienteft among them. Which 

 part is kept and ialtcd up 'till the next Feaft, and the piece the year before, fo 'till 

 thenprelcrv'd,is then boyl'd with Rice, and is the foundation of the Feaft for the chief 

 of the Company, who take it for an honour to eat of it: For the reft , they boyl 

 Rice with Mutton and Hens, and befides that,diftribute large Alms to the Poor. 



CHAP. VIII. 



Of the Religion of the Gaurs y the %elicks of the ancient Perfians, 

 adorers of Fire. 



T 



Here arc no men in the world fo fcrupulous of difcovcring the Myfteries 

 of their Religion , as the Gaurs ; fo that I w r as fore'd to frequent their 

 company very much in moft of my Travels , to pick out what 1 have here 

 to deliver. 



Of the prefect Condition of the Gaurs. 



AFtcr the Perfians began to perfecute the Gams, great numbers of them retir'd 

 to Sarat, and others into the Province of Guz.erat. Now the King of Terfta 

 lets them live in quiet *, and there are now above ibooo in Kerman, w r here I ftaid 

 three Months in the year 1654. All that live in India are Tradefmen , and for the 

 moft part Turners in Ivory •, thpic in Kerman deal in Wool, four days journey from 

 whence ftands their principal Temple, where their Chief Pficft refides *, whither they 

 are once in their lives oblig'd to go in Pilgrimage. There are fome of thefe Gaurs live 

 near Jjpahan. * 



X :: Of 



