TEHERAN TO TABRIZ. 
273 
stock. The common children collect this; and I have frequently 
seen two little creatures contending for it with the highest anxiety and 
animation. 
There is so great a scarcity of wood over the whole country 
through which we have passed, that the poor are necessarily re¬ 
duced to these extremities for the supply of their wants. In general 
they are miserably clad; the children have scarcely any thing to 
cover them but a shirt of coarse linen, which hardly reaches their 
middle; and the women wear nothing but a shirt, a pair of drawers, a 
jacket, and a veil, which covers their head and serves them on all occa¬ 
sions. Even in these poor villages the females are inconceivably shy. 
I happened to be standing near the place where the people were loading 
our baggage, when a poor woman seemed anxious to come forth from 
the neighbouring house, but durst not whilst a man was near. She 
kept peeping at intervals through the door for nearly half an hour, and 
drew in her head precipitately, although muffled, whenever a man's face 
was turned towards her. When I have told the Persians that in Europe 
a husband has but one wife, and that in company we pay more civility 
to any female than to the greatest man, they have remained astonished, 
wondering that creatures (as women in their eyes appear), born only 
for their pleasure and convenience, should at all partake of any of 
those attentions which they deem to be due to Themselves exclusively. 
As we were seated in our miserable dwelling, the village music at¬ 
tended us, composed of a singer, and players on the tambourine and on 
two kamounchas. To the great mortification of these poor people we 
dispensed with their noise, which, if it had begun, would not readily 
have ended. 
22d, From Saidabad to Tabriz is a distance of about fourteen 
miles, on a direction of N. 50 W. There are said to be two vol¬ 
canoes in the neighbourhood. Having travelled ten miles, we stop¬ 
ped to breakfast at a charming spot, near a beautiful stream of 
water, crossing us from S. W. to N. E. and surrounded by more wood 
than altogether we had seen all over the latter part of our journey. 
1ST 1ST 
