898 
MOURCHA-KHORDE. 
A 
the relief make known the bounty, by teaching us to appreciate 
the blessing. 
From this spot, the immense caravansary of Aga Kamel Bela, 
which had long been a conspicuous object to us on our right, 
bore south 45° west. Continuing our route, we saw that of Aga 
Kamel- pa-ine also, bearing to the westward, a farsang from the 
other: they are both enormous establishments. Nine miles 
more of the plain, brought us to our welcome Menzil for the 
day ; and there the sand and dust gave place to soil and verdure ; 
our quarters being at Mourcha-Khorde, a large and fine village, 
well watered, and surrounded by fields of corn, then in full 
growth of the most vivid green : but we were lodged in the 
caravansary, another new and spacious edifice. 
During our advance to this place, we passed the baggage and 
household establishment of some khan, going to Teheran to join 
his Majesty’s encamping excursion for the summer. Besides a 
numerous suite of camels and mules, bearing camp-equipage, 
bedding, culinary apparatus, &c. &c., there were another set of the 
latter sort of animals, pacing along under the more honourable 
burthen of his women, and their female attendants. These last I 
had an opportun ity of seeing, from their conveyances being entirely 
open ; which were, a couple of panniers nicely poized on each 
side of a mule, with a damsel in each, seated on her heels in the 
doubled-up fashion of gipsey-children in a basket; and with as 
little shelter from the weather, for the poor Persian abigails sat 
exposed all the way to the intense rays of the sun, without any 
additional covering to that of their ordinary veils. The ladies 
were in the same style of vehicle, but sheltered; their panniers, 
or wooden kreels, being canopied with semicircular tops, and co¬ 
vered with blue or green cloth hanging all over it, and down the 
