96 
Travels into theLi^^-AK T. Part II; 
The Pcrfians 
ear too much 
i I'll it. 
Pcrjian Bread. 
Butter. 
Torfchi 
The Pcrfians 
way of di ink- 
iiiii Wine. 
Bowl of 
Punch. 
Ice-houfes in 
Pcrfia. 
Man is a very ufual thing; and neverthelefs, the Maii of IJpaha?i is no lefs 
than twelve pound Weight, as I have faid already. And indeed, many of 
them die through their cxcefTive eating of fruit. 
Their bread is commonly fprinkled over with Poppy-feed, and for the 
reft is very good : They make it into large Cakes half a finger thick ; fome 
they make alfo fo thin that it looks like fine Paper, and they^ are obliged to 
lav twelve or fifteen of them together, which they fold into two or four 
pleats, and fome of that fafhion is very good : But in feme places it is but half 
baked, very brown, and all full of bits of Straw, (b that it looks more like 
brown Paper than bread ; if a Stranger were not told it, he might be mif- 
raken : And fome French when firft thefe Cakes were brought before them, 
took them for courfe Napkins. 
They make great ufe of Earthen ware, which is very pretty, efpecially 
becaule of the lovely Varnifh they give it; it is made in Kermajt^ and I was 
afTured that the Dutch had the invention from thence of making that falfe 
p»celane, which we call Hollands purcelane. 
Tn Terfia generally they make not ufe of Butter of Cow's Milk alone, be- 
caufe it isnotgood ; but they mingle it with the Butter of Ewes Milk, which 
is much better. 
The Yogourt is an ordinary Ragoe in that Countrey : I remember that I 
have defcribed it already ; and (hall onely now add how they feafon it in the 
Spring ; they cut Fennel into fmall bits, and with Turpentine-feed (which in 
that leafon is ftill green, and begins onely to look a little reddifii,) they put 
it into the I'ogourt to qualify the coldnefs of it. They alfo make Torjchi ©r 
a preferve of that feed in Vinegar, into which they put the Berries to be 
pickled whole. 
The Terjiansj by their Law, are prohibited to drink Wine, as well as the 
Turks, but they are not fo fcrupulous as to that point : When they drink 
Wine, they do it without mixture, after the Le'vantines manner, who ne- 
ver drink water with it ; but when they drink VVine,they have pots of water 
by them, whereof now and then they take large draughts. 
The Francks ufe a Beverage there, which they call a Boivl of Punch, and 
is cooling: They take a large Earthen Bowl, that holds four or five quarts, 
and fill it half full of water ; then they put in as much Wine, with 
the Juice of Limons, Sugar, Cinamon and Nutmeg, which they drink in 
full draughts in the Summer-time. 
The Perjiaus make great ufe of Ice even in Winter, but never of Snow ; 
they make not their Ice-houfes as in France, and this is their way. They rails 
a wall towards the South three or four fathom high : Along that wall 
on the North-fide they digg a Ditch about three fathom deep, andasmuch 
broad, and Northwards from the Ditch they make feveral beds fix or feven 
fathom long, and one fathom broad, which are feparated one from another 
by little Dykes of Earth, like Salt-pits; fome are two or three foot deep, 
and others one foot. When it is very cold they bring the River-water into 
thefe beds, which freezes very quickly, and when it is thick and hard, 
they break the Ice of the holloweft beds into great pieces, which they carry 
into the Ditch, where they lay it in very good order : Then they break the 
Ice of the fhaliower beds, and having put it into the Ditch upon that which 
they had laid there before, they beat it into very fmaîl morcels with a 
■fpade or (hovel, and fill up all the chinks that are betwixt the large pie- 
ces with them : At night they throw a great deal of water overall ; which 
they do w th theskms of gourds cut in two pieces, and faftened to the 
end of long poles ; this water freezes in the Night-time and joyns all the 
Ice into one piece. In the mean time they bring in more water into the 
beds that it may freeze there ; after which they remove the Ice into the 
Ditch, where they place it above the former in the fame manner, until] it 
be a fathom and a half high ; then they cover all with Straw and Reeds two 
or three foot thick ; and when rhey would take out any for ufe, they open 
the Ditch but in one place. This is an eafie invention at at Ifpah-an where 
the Air is very dry, and where there is but little moifl: Weather. It would 
feem that fome few of thefe Ice-houfes might be fufficient for a whole 
great 
