cofnpleat Dejcription 
Ufagetsnly Ifioves theffi^ for ^hey are naturally fo obfti- 
nate, it is in vain to beat them if they tire. 
When they are to take up their Burthen^ the Driver 
touches their Kneesij whereupon they lie down on their 
Bellies till they are loaded, groaning however, and giv- 
ing Signs of Uneafinefs, under a Senfe of the Fatigue 
they are about to undergo •, they let them graze by the 
Boad-fide, with their Burthens on their Backs, on Weeds 
and Thiftles, and fometimes they feed them with Balls 
made up of Barley Meal and Chaff, into a Pafte, with 
which they often mix the Cotton-Seed >, but the Camel 
is the leaft Feeder of any Beaft, confidering his Bulk. 
It is very happy alfo that they can live without Water 
two or three Days together, there being fcarce any to 
be met with in thofe Deferts the Caravans are forced 
to crofs. They fhed all their Hair every Spring, and 
are perfeilly naked. Of the Camels Hair, abundance 
of fine Stuffs are made, as we fhall fhew in Speaking of 
Manufaflures 5 thefe Creatures are very tame and trac- 
table, except when the luftful Fit is upon them, which 
lafts thirty or forty Days, and then they are very unruly, 
which makes their Drivers increafe their Burthens at 
that Time, to keep them under. When once the Male 
has cover’d the Female, he grows fiuggifh, and does 
not care for ftirring out of the Stable : They go with 
young eleven Months, and fome fay twelve. 
Oxen, Buffaloes, Affes and Mules, are alfo ufed In- 
differently for carrying of Faffengers, or Burthens, and 
their Land being plowed by Buffaloes and Oxen, thefe 
Beafts are very feldom killed for Food, though fome 
Perjian Governors, in the South of Perjta^ have extorted 
confiderable Sums out of th& Indian Banians^ who re- 
fide thereabouts, under Pretence they would order them 
to be butchered, if the Banians did not redeem their 
Lives by a confiderable Prefent. The Affes of Perfia^ 
are much larger and fwifter than ours, and will perform 
a Journey very v/ell. 
But the fineft Beafts are their Horfes, thefe are beau- 
tiful Creatures, and no where better manag’d than in 
Perfta. They have fine Forehands, and are exadly 
well proportion’d, light and fprightly, but only fit for 
the Saddle, or or at leaft, not ufed for any other 
Purpofe j they are never gelt, and wear their Tails at 
their full Length ; but though they are lovely Creatures 
to look on, they are neither fo Iwifc as the Arabian^ 
nor fo hardy as the Partar Horfes, and the Shah there- 
fore has always a Stable of ihQ Arahian^xttd. Horfes 
are very dear in Perfia, fome of them being fold for 
two or three hundred Pounds, and feldom any that are 
good for lefs than Fifty. It is not fo much the Scar- 
aty of them, as the Selling fuch Numbers to India and 
Slurkey, which enhances the Price. 
They have Mules alfo that carry very well, and are 
valued, fome of them at thirty or forty Pounds a-piece, 
and fome Affes at not much lefs, alter they have been 
taught to pace. The ordinary Food for Horfes is Bar- 
ley °nd chopt Straw ; they have no Mangers in their' 
Stables, but give their Horfes their Corn in Bags. In 
the Spring they cut green Grafs for their Horfes, but 
never make any into Hay to be eaten dry j fometimes 
they feed their Horfes with Balls made of Barley-Meal, 
as in India ■, inflead of Litter their own Dung is dried, 
and beaten to Powder, and laid a Foot deep for _ them 
to lie on ; and if any of it be wetted, it is dried in the 
Sun the next Day. Their Horfes Hoofs are much 
founder and harder than ours, and they are fhod with 
thin Plates, as the Oxen are, on Account of their tra- 
velling over the ftony IMoun tains. They daub their 
Horfes Legs in Winter with a yellow Herb, called 
Hannah^ and fometimes anoint their Bodies with it as 
high as their Breaft, to keep out the Cold as it is faid j 
but it feems to be rather by Way ot Ornament, for in 
fome Places it is done all the Year round. 
The Shah has large Stables of Horfes, difperfed 
throughout the Kingdom, almoft in every City, for the 
Publick Service. A Horfe is feldom denied to any Man 
that demands one, if he will keep him, but then fuch 
Perfons are accountable to the Government for them, 
when they fhall be called out into the Field ; but they 
have the Liberty of riding them in the mean Timeo 
Thefe Troopers Florfes are fometimes quartered upon 
People, who would gladly be excufed from the Trou- 
ble and Charge of keeping them, and if any Hoffe 
dies in their Hands, Oath mutt be made, that it did 
not die for Want of Corn, or looking after. Their 
Horfes are fubjeft to many Diftempers, Ibrnetimes their 
Legs fwell, and a Humour rifes on the Breaft, which 
proceeds from eating too much Barley •, and in this 
Cafe, they clap a hot Iron to the Swelling, or lance it, 
and keep the Sore open, by running a Willow Twig 
through it, but a hot Iron applied to the Part is 
the moft general Remedy for lame or diftemper’d 
Horfes. 
Of Sheep and Goats there are great Plenty in Perfia\ 
the Natives feldom eat any other Meat, their Sheep are 
large, and remarkable for their fat Tails, which weigh 
eight or ten Pound, and fome it is faid are above twenty 
Pounds in Weight ; they are remarkable alfo in fome 
Part§ of Perfta for having more Horns than ours. Some 
have fix or feven Horns ftanding ftrait out of their 
Forehead, fo that when their Rams engage, there is 
ufually a great deal of Blood fpilled in the Battle. The 
Perfian Goats are not only valuable for their Flefh, but 
the fine Wool they yield, of which great Quantities 
are annually exported, more efpecially from Carmania. 
Hogs there are fcarce to be met with, for as the Ma^ 
hometans^ who are the governing Part of the Country, 
abhor this Animal, their Chriftian Subjects do 
not endeavour to encreafe the Breed, iinlefs to- 
wards Georgia and Armenia, where the Chriftians are 
numerous. 
Wild Beafts there are not many, either in the Mid- 
dle, or the Southern Part of Perfta. Deer they have 
fome, and Antelopes, .which are much of the fame 
Nature, except that they are fpotted, and have finer 
Limbs. In Gilan and Ciirdidan, the woody Parts of the 
Country, wild Beafts abound, fuch as Lions, Tygers, 
Leopards, wild Hogs, Jackals, Cfc. And in Media and 
Armenia, there are Abundance of Deers, wild Goats, 
Hares and Rabbits, and there are fome found on the 
Mountains almoft all over the Country, but not many, 
Infedts they are not much troubled with in the 
Heart of Perfta, which is very dry, unlefs it be with 
Swarms of Locufts, which vifit them fometimes in 
fuch Numbers, that they look like a Cloud, and perfectly 
obfcure the Sun, and wherever they light deftroy the 
Fruits of the Earth ; but there are certain Birds which 
generally vifit the Country about the fame Time, and 
eat up the Locufts, and fo prevent the Ruin of the 
Hufbandmen. That Part of the Country which lies 
upon the Cafpian or Hyrcanian Sea, is full of Serpents, 
Toads, Scorpions, and other venemous Infedfs, which 
in Summer-time die, many of them for want of Wa- 
ter, and infedl the Air, rendring that Part of the 
Country very unhealthy at that Seafon. 
Scorpions particularly there are of an immoderate 
Size, and their Sting is mortal, if proper Remedies be 
not immediately applied, and at beft a Perfon ftung 
by one of them, is in fuch Torture, that he becomes 
raving mad for fome Time. Musketoes or Gnats 
are very troublefome in the flat Country, near the Caf- 
pian Sea ; and there is a white Fly no bigger than a Flea, 
in Perfta, which makes no Noife, but its Sting is like 
the Prick of a Pin. Here is alfo the Millepedes, almoft: 
like a Caterpillar, and whole Bite is as pernicious as 
the Sting of a Scorpion, the Perftans call them Hezar- 
pai, or a thoufand Feet. 
10. There are the fame Sorts of tame and wild Fowl 
in Perfta as in Europe ; as Geefe, Hens, Ducks, Par- 
tridges, Snipes, Cfc. ; but more of them in the North 
than in the South Part of the Country. Turkeys have 
been carried to Ifpahan, but they do not thrive. The 
Breed of Pidgeons they take all imaginable Care to in- 
creafe and propagate, on Account of their Dung, with 
which they raife their Melons. Their Dove-houfes are five 
Times as large as ours, of a round Figure, and hand- 
fomely built of Brick ; of thefe, it is faid, there are not 
lefs than three thoufand in the City of Ifpahan only. 
The Dung is always fold for four Pence the Bifty, or 
twelve Pounds Weight, and the Government, it feems. 
