2:? 



Notes on Persia, 



[July 



II. — Notes on Persia, Tartary and Afghanistan. — By Lieut.-Colonel 

 Monteith, k. L. s. of the Madras Engineers, 



The following notes were written some time since, at the request of 

 a friend in Madras, for whom they were solely designed, and were 

 never intended by me to come before the public. In some measure 

 they may be found to differ from the reports of later, and more able, 

 travellers ; but they contain information I collected on the spot, and, 

 in many instances, from sources to which the writers I allude to could 

 not have had access. They are neither intended as a comment on, or 

 contradiction of, any other statements, and are selected from a great 

 number of papers, now rapidly decaying from white ants, insects, &c. 

 as I never had any intention of publishing them. My long residence 

 in Persia made me personally acquainted with many of the chiefs of 

 tribes, to whom I am indebted for the statement of their numbers, and 

 for some of the most agreeable moments I passed during my stay of 18 

 years. I was also in frequent communication with Tartars, and some of 

 the Russian Mission to Bokhara; the published account of that 

 Mission, however, furnished every information that could possibly be 

 desired, and with less reserve than is usual in that empire. 



The Caspian provinces, subject to Persia, consist of Talish, Ghilon, 

 Mozanderan and Astrabad. The nature of the country, character of 

 the people, their language and general appearance, and even the cattle 

 of the country, form a strong contrast to the other parts of the empire, 

 much more resembling those of India. 



The mountains which divide them partake of this difference. The 

 sides looking towards the Caspian are wooded nearly to the summit, 

 and the others are bare, rugged and parched, the leading features of 

 Persian scenery. The elevation of the range being about 7,000 feet, 

 every degree of temperature is experienced. The low country near the 

 Caspian bears, as is before mentioned, a strong resemblance to India ; 

 the charge of unhealthiness only applies to the swamps in the vicinity 

 of the sea. After a slight ascent the climate is particularly fine, and 

 from its dampness much resembles England, producing perpetual ver- 

 dure. The strength of the country, through which a stranger cannot 

 find his way, has generally saved it from foreign invasion. Its inhabi- 

 tants felt few of the calamities which afflicted Persia, from the Afghan 

 invasion to the establishment of the Kadgar dynasty, by whom 

 Mozanderan and Astrabad have been particularly favoured, being con- 

 sidered their immediate patrimony, and the cradle of the Shea sect. 



The people, in consequence, are generally richer and better lodged. 

 A traveller passing through the country, would form a very false idea 

 of the population and real extent of cultivation ; the people, enjoying 



