ISPAHAN. 
161 
the Governor would yield to that letter, the distinction he would pay to 
his own Sovereign. 
It will be well indeed to remark, that from the commencement of 
our march, Sir Harford Jones took similar precautions to ensure 
every honour to his Majesty's letter. It was always placed in a 
takht-e-ravail or litter, which was escorted by ten Indian troopers and an 
officer, and was never taken out or replaced without the trumpet of the 
guard sounding a blast. Whenever we stopped, it was deposited in 
the tent of ceremony under a cloth of gold; a sentry with a drawn 
sword was placed over it, and no one was permitted to sit with his 
back to it. The correspondence of Princes is a general object of rever¬ 
ence in the East; and the dignity which by these observances we at¬ 
tached to the letter of our Sovereign, raised among the people a corres¬ 
ponding respect towards his representative. 
At about four miles from Ispahan , we were met by an advanced part 
of the inhabitants. As we approached the city, the crowd increased to 
numbers which baffled our calculation or guess. Although the stick 
was administered with an unsparing hand, it was impossible to keep 
the road free for our passage. People of all descriptions were collected 
on mules, on horses, on asses; besides an immense number on foot. 
First came the merchants of the city, in number about three hundred, 
all in their separate classes. Then followed a deputation from the 
Armenian clergy, composed of the Bishop and chief dignitaries in their 
sacerdotal robes. They carried silken banners, on which was painted 
the Passion of our Saviour. The Bishop, a reverend old man with a 
white beard, presented the Evangelists bound in crimson velvet to the 
Envoy, and then proceeded on, with his attendant priests, chaunting 
their church service. 
When we came into the plain, the city of Ispahan rose upon the 
view, and its extent was so great East and West, that my sight could 
not reach its bounds. The crowd now was intensely great, and at 
intervals quite impeded our progress. Slowly however we were ap¬ 
proaching near towards the city, and yet the Governor had not appeared. 
Y 
