ROYAL PALACES. 
335 
of burthen was preserved, and under every disadvantage the 
whole party strained alike over the course. My pity for the fine 
animals, which had apparently been so injudiciously managed, 
was proportioned to my disappointment; but on making some 
remarks on the subject, I found, that swiftness over a certain 
portion of ground in a given time, was not, as with us, the 
object of a Persian race. The aim here, is to possess a breed of 
horses, so trained as to be able to go a regular rapid pace, under 
privation, and carrying any sort of weight, for a great many hours 
together ; a sort of horse which is essential in this country, for 
the dispatch of business, the swift march of armies, and often, in 
cases of military reverse, to save the lives of its great men. As 
soon as the third division swept by, His Majesty rose, and 
mounting his steed, returned to the palace in the same state 
with which he left it. 
Having, for the most part, described the royal residence in the 
ark, attached to the city, I shall not say any thing more of its 
details, but proceed to the agremens of two much more delightful 
palaces, in the neighbourhood. One, called the Tackt-i-Kajer, 
is situated about three miles to the north-east of the town ; 
being intended as a summer retreat from the toils of state, 
whenever the King might find it expedient to pass the whole 
year at Teheran. But this rarely happens, Khorasan, or Sul- 
tania, or Oujan, being, in general, his abodes during the very 
warm months. Tackt-i-Kajer, however, is constantly inhabited 
by any number of his ladies of the harem, whom he may not 
choose should accompany him on his farther journeys. It stands 
on an eminently pleasant point of the adjoining mountains, being- 
built on a detached, and commanding hill, on the great slope of 
the Elborz. The edifice is lofty, and when seen from a distance, 
