PRESENTS TO THE KING. 
of all other, is the rarest amongst Orientals. He told us the distinc¬ 
tions between North and South America with great accuracy, and 
entered into the details of the history of Mexico in a manner that 
greatly astonished us. The only fact upon which we attempted to set 
him right, was upon the original conquerors of Mexico. He insisted 
that they were the Portuguese and not the Spaniards; and no assurances 
that we could give him would make him believe the contrary. 
Throughout the conversation of this Prince we remarked a great de¬ 
cision and energy of character, which is in contrast with the character 
of his brother and rival Abbas Mirza, and which, when the occasion 
offers, will perhaps give him a decided superiority. 
About the 10th of May, Mahomed Khan, the head of the King’s 
camel artillery, who had been sent to Bushire to superintend the 
transmission of the military stores and presents, which we had brought 
with us from England and India, arrived at Teheran. He had made levies 
of men throughout the country, for the purpose of carrying the baggage, 
which consisted of several carriages, looking-glasses, a grand piano 
forte, a large mahogany dining table, and many other heavy pieces of 
furniture. As the Persians have no wheeled conveyances, and as the 
greater part of these articles were too bulky to be loaded on camels, 
they were carried on the backs of men from Bushire to Teheran, a dis¬ 
tance of about 620 miles. It would be impossible to describe the 
mutilated state in which every thing reached us. One of the modes 
adopted for lessening the labour of descending the steep mountains 
between Bushire and Shiraz, was that of fastening some of the cases 
upon a gun-carriage, and permitting it to run at random down the de¬ 
clivities ; by which contrivance most of the carriages were disabled, and 
of course the thing attached to them totally demolished. Of seventy 
mirrors which the Ambassador brought into Persia, he received about 
one third safe, the rest were entirely demolished. 
The carriages which were brought as presents to the King, were not 
put together until they reached us at Teheran. One that had been 
built in England on purpose for the King, which was the least damaged, 
