71G 
P E R 
claims the arrival of noon ; but, as he waits till the fhadow 
has traverfed the whole length of the meridian, he is fre¬ 
quently an hour later than the real time. 
A Perfian, of what condition fcever, rifes as foon as it 
is light, and performs his morning devotions. Then 
comes the nachtah, or breakfaft, which confilts of grapes 
and other kinds of fruit that are in feafon, cheefe, and 
goat’s milk, and finifhes with a cup of very ftrong coffee. 
The artifan then goes to his mailer’s, and begins his 
work; the tradefman applies to bufinefs; the great man 
repairs to the apartment in which he receives company, 
and, while fmoking his hallioun, chats with his inferiors 
or vifitors; gives directions relative to his domeftic af¬ 
fairs; adjufts the quarrels, or liflens to the reports, of 
his dependents. At nine o’clock he vifits the prince or 
the governor. At noon he returns home, and takes his 
trhacht, or dinner, ufually confiding of bread, cheefe, 
butter, and different forts of fruit. After dinner he fays 
his noon-tide prayers, and retires to the inner apartments 
to enjoy the fociety of his women. At three o’clock he 
goes abroad to pay vifits, or receives vifitors at home. 
At four he recites the afternoon prayer. When night 
comes on, his carpet is fpread in the open air, and he 
prepares to fpend the evening in the company of his friends 
or dependents. They converfe upon the events of the 
day, or the news of the court; they relate extraordinary 
adventures, for the Orientals are admirable dory-tellers, 
or repeat paffages of the mod eminent poets. The hour 
for the fourth prayer arrives, but without caufing the 
flighted interruption in the converfation. Each rifes in 
turn, goes to a corner of the room, places himfelf on a 
fmall carpet with his face turned towards Mecca, and per¬ 
forms this religious duty -with much greater difpatch than 
devotion. Such indeed is their precipitation, that the 
duty of prayer feems to be quite as irkfome as it is indif- 
penfable. At ten o’clock a fervant announces that fup- 
per,Jhatnee, is ready : at the fame time he brings with 
him a ewer of water; each of the party wadies his hands; 
and they then feat themfelves round the tray on which 
the difhes are placed. Eleven o’clock ufually breaks up 
the company, and puts an end to the occupations of the 
day. 
The Perfians are too much addifted to etiquette and 
ceremony not to be fond of vifiting. The dependent 
would not on any account allow a day to pafs without 
paying his refpefts to his patron, the courtier without 
prefenting himfelf before tbe fovereign, and friends with¬ 
out mutually vifiting one another. 
The ceremonies and compliments differ with the rank 
of the vifitor. If an inferior is honoured with a vifit 
from his fuperior, he does not fit down till the latter is 
feated, nor rife till he has rifen. The mailer of the houfe 
commonly occupies the upper end of the cufhion or car¬ 
pet; but, if he vvifhes to do honour to the ftranger, he 
gives up his place to him, or makes him take a feat by his 
fide. 
A vifit between perfons of diftinftion and of equal rank 
confifls of three afts. In the fird the vifitor is furnifhed 
with a hallioun, or pipe, the fmoke of which is cooled by 
water, and a cup of very ftrong coffee without fugar. 
In the fecond another pipe is given with fweet coffee, fo 
called becaufe it is compofed of rofe-water and fugar. 
A freffi pipe, fweetmeats, and fherbet, make up the third 
aft. Thefe fweetmeats are generally brought on filver, 
plated, or japanned, trays, adorned with painted flowers 
or other ornaments. The Perfians are paflionately fond 
of fweetmeats, and excel in the art of making them. 
The manner in which the Perfians take their meals is 
totally different from ours: they are ftrangers to the ufe 
of tables, knives, and forks ; and fuch is tbe power of 
habit, that articles with which we cannot difpenfe are to 
them rnoft troublefome and inconvenient. Thus Abu 
Taleb, in the Narrative of his Travels in Europe, com¬ 
plains bitterly more than once of the neceflity of eating 
with a knife and fork. 
S I A, 
The method of proceeding at a Perfian entertainment 
will be bell explained by the defcriptions of fome recent 
travellers. 
At an entertainment given to Mr. Morier by Moham¬ 
med Nebbee Khan, the routine was as follows : “ We 
did not go till the khan had fent to the envoy to fay, 
that the entertainment was ready for his reception, a 
cuftom always obferved on fuch occafions. When w>e 
arrived at his tent, the fame ceremonies pafled as in the 
morning, except that we fat upon the ground, where the 
inflexibility of our knees rendered the pofition more dif¬ 
ficult than can be defcribed. The khan, who feemed to 
commiferate the tightnefs of our pantaloons, begged 
that we would extend our legs at their full length : fear¬ 
ing, however, to be rude, wechofe to be uncomfortable, 
and to imitate their fafhion as faithfully as poflible; and 
really, with refpeft to my own feelings, I thought com- 
plaifance was never carried further. The guefts befides 
ourfelves, were our mehmandar and the Perfian lecretary. 
After having fat fome time, Italliouns were brought in, 
then coffee, then halliouns, then fweet coffee (the compo- 
fition already noticed of fugar and rofe-water), and then, 
halliouns again. All this was rapidly performed, when 
the khan called for dinner. On the ground before us 
was placed the fo fra, a fine chintz cloth, which perfeftly 
entrenched our legs, and which is ufed fo long unchanged, 
that the accumulated fragments of former meals colleft 
into a mufty palte, and emit no very favory fmell ; but 
the Perfians are content, for they fay that changing the 
J'ofra brings ill-luck. A tray'was then placed before each 
gueft; on thefe trays were three fine china bowls, which 
were filled with fherbets; two made of fweet liquors, and 
one of a mod exquifite fpecies of lemonade. There were 
befides, fruits ready cut, plates with elegant little ar¬ 
rangements of fweetmeats and confeftionary, and finaller 
cups of fweet fherbet; the whole of which were placed 
mod fymmetrically, and w'ere quite inviting, even by their 
appearance. In the vafes of fherbet were Ipoons made of 
the pear tree, with very deep bowls, and worked fo deli¬ 
cately, that the long handle juft Sightly bent when it was 
carried to the mouth. The pillaus fucceeded, three of 
which were placed between each two guefts ; one of plain 
rice called the chillo, one made of mutton with raifins 
and almonds, the other of a fowl, with rich fpices and 
plums. To this were added various difhes with rich 
fauces, and over each a fmall tinfture of fweet fauce. 
Their cooking, indeed, is moftly compofed of fweets. 
The bufinefs of eating was a pieafure to the Perfians, butit 
was mifery to us. They comfortably advanced their chins 
clofe to the difiies, and commodioufly fcooped the rice or 
other viftuals into their mouths, with three fingers and 
the thumb of their right hand; but in vain did we at¬ 
tempt to approach the difli; our tight-kneed breeches, 
and all the ligaments and buttons of our drefs, forbade 
us; and we were forced to manage as well as we could, 
fragments of meat and rice falling through our fingers all 
around us. When we were all fatisfied, dinner was car¬ 
ried away with the fame flate in which it was brought ; 
the fervant who officiated, dropping himfelf gracefully 
on one knee, as he carried away the trays, and paifing 
them expertly over his head, with both his hands exten¬ 
ded, to the lacquey, who was ready behind to carry them 
off. We were treated with more halliouns after dinner, 
and then departed to our beds.” This was in 1809. 
We have the defcription of a banquet by Sir Robert Por¬ 
ter in 1819, in nearly the fame words. 
At a dinner given by the Ameen-ed-dowlah to fir Gore 
Oufeley, that gentleman and his fuite enjoyed better for¬ 
tune, but at the expenfe of the native guefts. An at¬ 
tempt was made to lay out the entertainment in the Eu¬ 
ropean manner. On a number of rude unpainted tables, 
fome high, fome low, arranged in the horfe-fhoe fafhion., 
were heaped all the various difiies which corhpofe a Per¬ 
fian feaft, not in fymmetrical order, for their number 
made that impoffible, but pofitively piled one upon ano¬ 
ther j 
