100 
SHIRAZ. 
that none crowded upon us in our march, and they only played about 
as usual and animated the plain by their noise and games. 
At about two miles from the city we were met by some of the chief 
men of the place. It was a long contested negociation, whether they 
also were to pay the Envoy the compliment of dismounting, nor 
would they have submitted to this part of the ceremony, if Kerim 
Khan, the bearer of the King’s letter, had not rode forwards and re¬ 
presented to them, that as he was sent from His Majesty to see that 
every respect was properly shewn to the representative of the British 
King, he must report their present conduct at Teheran. This hint had 
the desired effect; and, as their party approached, the chiefs dis¬ 
mounted, and I, with some other gentlemen of the Mission, dismounted 
also, and went forward to meet them: the Envoy formally expressed 
his determination to alight to nobody but the Minister. Those who 
had yielded the honour thus reluctantly, were BairamAli Khan 
Cad jar, the Ish Agassi, or Master of the Ceremonies of the Prince’s 
Household, and Hassan Khan Cadjar, both of the King’s own 
family; Ahmed Beg, one of the sons of Nasr O allah Khan, the 
Prince’s Prime Minister; and Mirza Zain La bade en, the Chief 
Secretary. We proceeded slowly across the plain; the crowd and con¬ 
fusion increased almost impenetrably, as we approached the city, and 
nothing but the strength of our Mehmandar could have forced the 
passage. Mounted on his powerful large horse he was in all parts, dis¬ 
persing one crowd, pushing forwards another, and dealing out the most 
unsparing blows to those who were disinclined to obey his call. At the 
gate, however, notwithstanding all his exertions, the closing numbers 
detained our progress for above a quarter of an hour ;■ and vollies of 
blows were necessary to clear the entrance. 
At length it was effected : the Envoy led the column, surrounded by 
the Persian grandees, and followed by the gentlemen of the mission in 
their rank, and the troop of the body guard. We passed through many 
streets to the Bazar-a-Vakeel, a long and spacious building, the shops of 
which were all laid out with their choicest merchandize to display on 
