TEHERAN. 
225 
and they are certainly better than those that we had then seen in any of 
the fortified places of Persia. To the N. W. are separate towers. We 
saw two pieces of artillery, one apparently a mortar, the other a long 
gun. The ditch in some parts had fallen in, and was there supported 
by brick work. 
The town itself is about the size of Shiraz; but it has not so many 
public edifices : and, as it is built of bricks baked in the sun, the whole 
has a mud-like appearance. Of the mosques, the principal is the 
Mesjid Shah, a structure not yet finished. There are six others, small 
and insignificant; and three or four medresses or colleges. There are 
said to be one hundred and fifty caravanserais, and one hundred and 
fifty hummums or baths. There are two maidans; one in the town, the 
other within the ark, a square fortified palace, which contains all the 
establishments of the King, is surrounded by a wall and ditch, and is 
entered by two gates. 
The Harem is most numerous, and contains a female establishment 
as extensive as the public household. All the officers of the King's 
court are there represented by females. There are women ferashes, and 
there is a woman ferosh bashee; women chatters, and a woman chatter 
bashee; there is a woman arz beggee, and a woman ish agassi; in short, 
there is a female duplicate for every male officer; and the King’s ser¬ 
vice in the interior of the harem is carried on with the same etiquette 
and regularity, as the exterior economy of his state. The women of 
the harem, who are educated to administer to the pleasures of the 
King by singing and dancing, are instructed by the best masters that 
the country can supply. An Armenian at Shiraz was unfortunately 
renowned for performing excellently on the kamouncha. The fame of 
his skill reached the King’s ears, and he was immediately ordered up 
to court on the charge of being the best kamouncha player in his 
Majesty’s dominions. The poor man, who had a wife and family and 
commercial concerns at Shiraz, was during our stay detained at Tehe¬ 
ran expressly to teach the King’s women the art of playing on the 
kamouncha. 
G G 
