VISITOR FROM KERMANSHAH. 
181 
tents, as if lie were a Taujeck selling merchandise ; but if our 
prince were here, so great is the terror of his heroic name, they 
would already have been fled to the hills! Now, I ask you,” 
added he, with evident contempt of the milder character, “ which 
of these two is fittest to rule the Persian empire ?” He who put 
this question, was one of those, who at will lay hands alike on 
“ the spoil or the spoiler and, therefore, it may easily be com¬ 
prehended why he should prefer the licence of an expected 
conqueror, before the rule of a peaceably established sovereign ; 
and one whose present conduct threatens the same rigour against 
the plundering tribes, as marks the vigilant reign of his father. It 
is a common thing with the marauding chiefs, to exclaim, “ These 
kajurs will be our ruin !” 
The prince of Kermanshah is emulating his brother Abbas 
Mirza, in the organization of troops according to European 
tactics ; and within these few weeks he has taken into his service 
two French officers, who were formerly in the pay of the prince 
of Azerbijan. They have a couple of battalions under drill, in 
an encampment a few farsangs from hence. But the infantry 
that I have seen here, is still in a very inferior condition to that 
under European discipline at Tabreez. The artillery of Ker¬ 
manshah, which consists of four guns, mounted on clumsy 
carriages and perfectly immoveable, would not be worth men¬ 
tioning, were it not now a subject of deep consideration with 
the prince; who, with the assistance of the two French officers, 
and an Armenian artificer lately arrived from the cannon- 
foundry at Constantinople, is planning its augmentation and 
improvement. 
But, to return to my visitor: he was a very handsome, ani¬ 
mated old man. And, in order to give me a taste of the 
