TEHERAN. 
211 
camels were made to kneel down. Collectively they make a fine mili¬ 
tary appearance. This species of armament is common to many 
Asiatic states, yet the effect at best is very trifling. The Persians, how¬ 
ever, place great confidence in their execution; and Mirza Shef- 
fee a, in speaking of them to the Envoy, said, “ These are what the 
“ Russians dread/' 
No exhibition could be more miserable than the races, the immediate 
object of our excursion. They are intended to try rather the bottom 
than the speed of the horses. The prize is what the King may be 
pleased to give to the first jockies. On this occasion there were two 
sets, that came severally from a distance of twelve and twenty-one 
miles; each consisted of about twelve ill-looking horses, mounted by 
boys of ten or twelve years old, who were wretchedly dressed in a shirt 
and pair of breeches, boots and cap. In each race the King's horses 
won, of course. Horses are trained in this manner for a reason suffi¬ 
ciently obvious, in a country where the fortunes of the state and of 
every individual are exposed to such sudden changes. Every one likes 
to be prepared with some mode of escape, in case of pursuit; now 
horses thus inured to running will continue on the gallop for a day to¬ 
gether, whilst a high conditioned and well-fed animal would drop at 
the end of ten miles. For this reason the King always keeps himself 
well supplied with a stud of this description, as a resource in the event 
of an accident. When, on the death of his uncle, Aga Mahomed 
Khan, He was summoned (by Hajee Ibrahim, the Minister of the 
late King) to assume as the heir the sovereignty, he thus travelled from 
Shiraz to Teheran , a distance of five hundred miles in six days. 
In the interval of the race, the King sent the Master of the Cere¬ 
monies to desire the Envoy and his suite to come before him. We dis¬ 
mounted from our horses, and proceeded with the Prime Minister and 
the Ameen-ed-Doulah , before the King's presence, making low bows as 
we advanced. When we were about twenty steps from his Majesty we 
stopped and made our final low bow. The King was seated on a high 
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