SIR ROBERT SHIRLEY. 
17 
chants in his dominions. It is said that the two British knights 
eminently assisted their benefactor in military tactics, and par¬ 
ticularly taught him the use of artillery. In return for some of 
these services, he bestowed a lady of such reputed high rank on 
Sir Robert Shirley, that it is probable she was of the blood 
royal; it being no uncommon honour for the sovereigns of 
Persia to confer the hand of a daughter or a sister on a favourite 
minister. That the Shirleys were not of the national faith would 
hardly be an obstacle in the way of the universally tolerating 
Shah Abbas. These recollections of my brave countrymen could 
not fail to fill me with an additional sentiment of regret, when 
viewing the now abandoned spot, which once was so flourishing 
under their protection and influence. 
A stream, that must have been considerable in the days of 
the settlement’s prosperity, but now almost swallowed up in 
marshes, waters the valley; and on its firmer banks we saw the 
Eelaut encampments, stretching in shadowy darkness to a vast 
distance along the shore. At an early hour in the morning we 
received a visit in our tent from the Khan of the mountain. His 
wild dignity was amply supported by a train of rough attendants, 
whose habits, arms, and looks at once proclaimed the prompt¬ 
ness with which they could make a desert their home, and, 
when necessary, furnish it with means of life from the stores of 
all travellers who dared approach the gates of their wilderness. 
His mountain highness welcomed us in the style of compli¬ 
ment usually adopted by the chiefs of tribes who resort to the 
Shah’s capital ; but his general manners were more blunt and 
independent than his courtier brethren, though I did not find 
that he was a more strict adherer to the old-fashioned simplicity 
of truth. The common worldly system of keeping fair with all 
VOL. n. 
D 
