386 
PROCESSION TO TEHERAN. 
as ajguide through the streets and bazars. The activity and vivacity of 
this old man, are as amiable as they are extraordinary at his advanced 
age. We went in our smartest uniforms and on our most lively 
horses j the body-guard in their handsome Indian dresses created 
a great clang; and together with the numerous servants and attend¬ 
ants attached to the mission, we added greatly to the general bustle. 
The old Vizier at our head, apparently all the time in great tre¬ 
pidation lest he should be too late, put out his horse at the full trot, 
and at this rate we dashed through the great crowd of horse and foot 
passengers who had already thronged the road. When we had travelled 
about two miles from the town, we were placed at our post by some 
of the officers of Hossein Ali Mirza, one of the Princes, Governor 
of Teheran, when we dismounted, smoked, and seated ourselves 
on the ground until his Majesty should appear. In the mean time 
the track of his route was distinguishable over the mountains and 
along the plain, by a long line of dust, created by his procession. His 
baggage and- equipages were continually passing, until we heard the 
Zamburek or camel artillery that at intervals fired vollies in advance. 
As they approached, the order of procession became more distinct. His 
more immediate arrival was marked by the drums and trumpets of his 
Nokara, the performers of which were mounted on gaudy dressed 
camels; then a long row of Shatirs, then the King, totally insulated, a 
speck in the plain; behind him the Princes his sons, with their suites, 
then the courtiers and the officers of Defter Khoneh, (as we might say, 
the chief of the public offices,) and the whole was filled up by an im¬ 
mense tip, or body of cavalry. As the King drew near, Mirza Sheffea 
marshalled us about 100 yards from the road side, and when his 
Majesty beckoned to us, v/e went forwards in hasty strides, which 
the old Vizier was anxious we should increase into a trot, it bein^ 
the etiquette on these occasions, as we afterwards learnt, to run : our 
conductor himself, was running as fast as he could. The King, having 
given us his Khosh Amedee, ordered us to mount our horses, and then 
requested me to ride near him; whilst Mirza Sheffea dropped in the 
rear of the King about twenty paces, where was also Hossein Khan 
