130 
PERSIAN BREAKFAST. 
places, either after conquest, or in honour of some prince or distin¬ 
guished person. 
The avenues in question are, indeed, works of pure vanity, and seem 
to have been made for no other purpose, than to give a specious ap¬ 
pearance to the numerous ruins that are every where to be seen bn the 
approaches to this once immense city. They are planted in straight 
lines, roads passing on the sides and in the centre, whilst rose trees, 
basins and canals occupy the reniaining;part of the ground. As we 
passed, fountains played; and we were made to remark that the basins 
of water were decked with flowers in honour pf the Ambassador’s 
entry. Such sort of petits soin§, '&,s far as I can judge, are decisive 
marks of the Persian character. i 
At length the procession, still accompanied by the crowd, reached 
Saadatabad,^^the place assigned for the residence of the Embassy. This 
was one of the palaces, of Shah Thamas, and we alighted from our 
horses at an immense open hall, the roof of which was supported by 
twelve wooden pillars, inlaid with looking-glasses, and its interior su¬ 
perbly ornamented with paintings and gilding. Here was spread on the 
ground a collation of fruit and sweetmeats, piled up in China bowls, and 
ornamented after the Persian manner with cotton and gold leaf. When 
every person was seated, and the usual ceremony of smoking and coffee 
had been performed, a breakfast of Persian dishes succeeded, and the 
whole of this scene was performed in the presence of the rabble who 
had accompanied us from the beginning. There were neither sentries 
nor pallisadoes to keep them off, and it was only when they became a 
little too intrusive, that a rush was made at them by five or six 
stout fellows with sticks, who laid about them indiscriminately right 
and left, and drove the crowd back to some distance. It was indeed 
a novel scene, and must have been very amusing to them to observe 
our agony at being seated in tight pantaloons on the ground, and our 
awkwardness in eating with our fingers. When the party broke up to 
depart, a general scramble ensued for the remains of the eatables, and 
in spite of the blows which were dealt about, every thing was gallantly 
borne off by the mob. 
