PREFACE. 
FINDING, on my arrival in England, that curiosity was quite alive 
to every thing connected with Persia, I was induced to publish the 
Memoranda which I had already made on that country; more imme¬ 
diately as I found that I had been fortunate enough to ascertain some 
facts, which had escaped the research of other travellers. In this, I 
allude more particularly to the sculptures and ruins of Shapour; for 
although my account of them is on a very reduced scale, yet I hope 
that I have said enough to direct the attention of abler persons than 
myself to the investigation of a new and curious subject. 
Imperfect as my journal may be, it will, I hope, be found suffi¬ 
ciently comprehensive to serve as a link in the chain of information on 
Persia, until something more satisfactory shall be produced; and it 
claims no other merit than that of having been written on the very spots, 
and under the immediate circumstances, which I have attempted to 
describe. Having confined myself, with very few exceptions, to the 
relation of what I saw and heard, it will be found unadulterated by 
partiality to any particular system, and unbiassed by the writings and 
dissertations of other men. Written in the midst of a thousand cares, 
it claims every species of indulgence. 
