HOT BATHS. 
59 
his grief was very natural. He indulged it to a violent degree, beating 
his breast 5 and among his other exclamations frequently made use of 
one, very illustrative of that ancient act of grief, heaping ashes on the 
head. He said, AM, cheli Jiak be §er-e-mun amed What earth has 
come on my head !” repeating this with a constant intermixture of Ah 
xmM, which he would continue to repeat for above fifty times, in a 
whining, piteous voice, lowering its tone until it became scarcely au¬ 
dible, and then continuing it soto voce, until he broke out again into 
a new exclamation. 
The first thing the Persians do after a journey, is to go to the hot 
bath I and to such travellers who never change their linen, nor even 
take off their clothes but at the termination of their journey, it must 
be a real enjoyment, and accounts for the sort of craving with which 
they seek it, I have always remarked, that whenever any of our Per¬ 
sian servants had absented themselves without leave, their excuse al¬ 
ways w'as that they had been at the bath. 
Having heard of the excellence of the baths of Shiraz, we made 
a party to go to one, and accordingly ordered the Hummum-e-Vekeel, 
the finest in the town, to be made ready for our reception. As we 
were celebrated for paying well, the Shirazees were happy to receive 
us, although in stricter towns tliey have refused to admit us, from a 
religious prejudice that infidels to their faith, whom they look upon as 
nejes, or unclean, would pollute the water. Our party consisted of 
almost all the gentlemen of the embassy, most of whom were quite 
unused to Asiatic customs, and had never frequented Oriental public 
baths. It was easy to remark the horror with which the natives re¬ 
garded the great carelessness with which some stripped for bathing, a 
circumstance the more remarkable, as it may be supposed that the 
frequency of bathing among them would lead to indifference in matters 
of decency. They hold total nakedness in great horror ; and although 
we were told of some of the detestable scenes that are practised in 
these baths, yet in the many that I have visited, both in Persia and 
Turkey, I have ever been struck with the great propriety and de- 
Vide 1 Samuel, iv. 12. 2 Sam. xiii. 19, &c. 
I 2 
