out the cities: and as a grave is never again opened, a vast tract of the country is occupied by the burying fields, among which one at the head of the harbour, supposed to contain the remains of Ayub, a companion of Mahomet, who fell in the first siege of Constantinople by the Arabs, and was esteemed a saint and martyr, is distinguished by a great number of elegant mausolea. Those on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus are preferred by many persons, because the holy cities of Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and Damascus, are situated in that quarter of the world.

"The epitaphs contain the name and quality of the deceased, the day of his death, and an exhortation to

66

the passenger to repeat the introductory chapter of the Koran, fatihha: they represent death as the term of human misery, congratulate the deceased on his happiness, and compare his soul to a nightingale of paradise. May the Eternal deign to envelope his soul in a cloud of mercy and gladness, and cover his tomb with the brightness of divine light." On the tombstones of their children, the parents bewail their affliction, and complain that death has plucked the rose from the garden of beauty, has torn the tender branch from the parent stock, and left a father and a mother to consume the remainder of their lives in grief and bitterness.

AMUSEMENTS

THE Persians very often com

day, preparations are made for con

but which I could only account for by applying the common remark, that the most indolent are usually the forwardest to repine at a deficiency of leisure. A man of rank in Persia generally rises before the sun, he says his prayers, and then enters his Deewan Khanu; his kuleean is brought him, perhaps some fruit and here it is that he expects his visitors and dependents. He is probably engaged with them till nine o'clock; listening to the reports of the morning, settling disputes, and arranging domestic concerts. It is now time for him to visit the prince or the governor; and if he is likely to be detained there beyond mid

his obeisance, and takes precaution to remain sufficiently long in the presence of the person he visits to attract his observation. His kuleean always accompanies him; and when he thinks he can retire unnoticed, he regales himself with smok ing. At noon the governor probably retires, which is a signal for all those who are in attendance to depart. When he returns home, the chast is brought, and eat with a good appetite. The mid-day prayers are to be said, after which he retires to sleep till three o'clock. He may again have to attend the Duri Khoona; if not, he pays visits; or, if he is too high a personage, he re

mains at home to receive them. He has to perform the Numazi usur, er afternoon prayers.

"When it becomes dark, the carpets are spread in the open air, and with either his friends or dependents he prepares to pass the night. The kuleean supplies the intervals of silence; and, ir be can afford it, a set of Georgian slaves exert themselves for his amusement. The evening prayer is now to be said; this does not interrupt the harmony of the evening, for as one performs it another gets up to supply his place. The business of saying prayers appears to be a necessary and irksome task, and they get rid of it with the utmost expedition. In Persia it seems to be an established custom for every person to perform his five daily prayers; this is an observance which is but little attended to in India. The numaz is a ready excuse for the absence or idleness of a servant. About ten the shoom (supper) is brought, and the hour of eleven usually closes the eventful day.

"This is, as far as I am able to judge, a true description of the way in which persons of rank pass their time. About five or six khans are not under the necessity of visiting the Duri Khoonu; they are independent of the governor, and therefore only pay him ceremonious visits. But the remainder pass their days nearly as I have represented. The sheikh of Bushire, and the governors of districts, or their representatives, are obliged to be in constant attendance at the Duri Khoonu, and must have enjoyed this even course of life. Agha Ruza, with whom I lived, and who was Darogha of the Bazars, constantly attended on either the prince or governor and, as he held his appointment from the king, he had

less occasion for their favour than the governors of districts, who are their immediate dependents.

"The merchants, instead of visiting the governor, visit the Caravansera, where they have usually shops. Here they expose their merchandise for sale, form their speculations, and transact all their concerns, By renting a room at a Caravansera, they not only avoid all kind of interruption when at home, but are also able to purchase goods to large amounts, by walking from one merchant's apartments to ano, ther's. If they are too poor to sleep, they remain until evening, and their day is always closed, like their su periors, with an enormous supper. Another prayer remains to be said about the middle of the night, which, except by a few, is, I be lieve, mostly forgotten.

"With what profound contempt does a Moosulman look upon the qualifications of being able to sing, play, or dance! He gravely twists his beard, and probably ejaculates a prayer of thanks that he was born a gentleman. This accounts for the serious and taciturn character of a Moosulman. Ignorance frequently limits his conversation within narrow bounds; and a habit of silence renders speaking a disagreeable and irksome task. A learned Moohammedan gentleman is a rare charac ter; indeed men of rank think it beneath them to know any thing but their own consequence.

"This is not, however, much the case with the Persians, who are generally affable and courteous men, possessing a variety of anecdote, and considerable information. It is the custom with them to converse upon literary subjects, and repeat a variety of verses before supper, which enabies them to acquire a stock of superficial knowledge with little or no trouble.

trouble. And perhaps it may be thought that their evenings are spent to more advantage, and more rationally, than if they had been taken up by a game of cards, which interests the passions without informing the mind. The extent of their memory is really astonishing; they will repeat almost any ode you may mention, and yet I believe they read less than any description of people. "Many of the great people keep sets of Georgian boys, who are in structed to sing, to play on various instruments, and perform feats of activity. The Persian songs are very sweet and pathetic; and the music which accompanied their voices I thought to be very good. Their songs are in praise of wine and beauty, mixed with frequent complaints of the cruelty of their mistresses. The following is a specimen of their songs:

"Hasten hither, O cup-bearer, ere I die ; "See that my shroud be made of the leafy vine.

"Wash me in rosy wine,

The dances in India are admirably calculated to set off an elegant figure to the highest advantage; and, notwithstanding the warm and animated descriptions which have been given of the indelicacy and voluptuousness of eastern dancers, I must confess that many of them appear to me wholly unobjectionable.

"The most beautiful women in Persia are devoted to the profession of dancing; the transparency of their shift, which is the only covering they use to conceal their persons, the exquisite symmetry of their forms, their apparent agitation, and the licentiousness of their verses, are so many incentives to a passion, which requires more philosophy than the Persians possess to restrain.

"After the dancers, come another description of people, if possible of more infamous morals. They are called Lootees, a kind of buffoon; and, as I learnt, have free access to the prince and governor, whom they amuse by a variety of indecent anecdotes and stories,

tavern.

"I am faithful, I am still constant; *Turn not away from me, for I am a suppliant."

"The Arabic songs are sung in parts, and much quicker than the Persian time. There are two men at Sheeraz who are considered to be very superior players on an instrument very like a violin; I heard them, and admired them much, but could form no judgment on their performance. These men, and the dancers, drink wine in enormous quantities, and that too publicly.

"Although the Persian music is so greatly superior to that of India, their dances are as much inferior, being nothing more than an exhibition of the most indecent and disgusting movements and gestures.

inhabitants of Sheeraz. Both the prince and governor keep a set of these wretches, who are allowed to take the greatest liberties with the most respectable characters; and who are obliged, in their own defence, to make them presents to ensure their forbearance, and to get rid of their importunity. They per form feats of activity and sleights of hand; but their principal means of subsistence is on the contributions they levy on strangers. They ap pear to be a privileged people; and, I believe, the reason why they are so often entertained in the houses of the great, arises from a dread lest they should exert the influence they are supposed to possess against them. Aga Ruza often had them; but why I could never discover.

"Another

"The game of back-gammon is common among the Persians, they know little of the game of chess. The priests hold persons who play, particularly if it is for money, in little estimation; and, I fancy, most conscientiously believe, that they will suffer in a future world for these acts of impiety. They have horse-races at Sheeraz, but I was not there at the proper season. From description I learnt, that the horses start at least at the distance of fifteen miles, and pursue a 'direct course to the post. No care is taken to level the ground; and, as it very often happens that more than twenty horses start together, there are frequent accidents. Purses of gold are given to the owners of the first, second, and third horses. They take great pains in training their horses, which they do for a much longer time than I believe is practised in Europe.

"The military men are constantly playing at juleed-bazce, which is throwing a dart three cubits long at a horseman when they are at full gallop. The person at whom it is thrown either catches it in his hand,

or throwing himself under the horse's belly, allows it to fly over him. This they perform very expertly; and which is by no means easy, when we recollect that the horse is going nearly at his speed. The jareed comes with sufficient force to break an arm. They also amuse themselves with riding full speed, turning round on their saddles, and firing a small carbine they carry; or in throwing the jurced on the -ground, and catching it as it rebounds. The Persians appear very bad horsemen to Europeans; one thing is evident, that they must ruin a horse's mouth in the course of a month.

"The dress of the Persians is admirably calculated either for a cold or hot climate. Their limbs are under no restraint, and their clothes may be put on or thrown off in tive minutes. The Persians are gene rally too poor to be fashionable, their dress, therefore, seldom varies, ex cept in the colour of the robes. The Qajjars, however, preside over fashion; and every thing which is supposed to be neat or elegant, is called Qujuree or à la Qajjar. Their clothes may be easily described The Zeer Jamus are very light trowsers made of silk, those wom in the hot weather sometimes of flax; the peerahun, or shirt, comes over the trowsers, and then the Urkhaliq, which is made of a Ma sulipatam chintz, or fine shawls The outside robe, or quba, is made of various kind of cloths, some of which are very magnificent and expensive; the kolah, or cap, is made of the skin of the sheep of Tartary, which is very fine, and beautifully black. The merchants are prohi bited wearing either scarlet or crimson cloths, and also using silver or gold buttons to their robes. This may not possibly amount to a pro

hibition

hibition, but as it is never done, it is attended with the same effect. The wearing of silks is interdicted by the Moosul:nan law, but they avoid this by mixing a very little cotton with them: a large quantity of this kind of cloth (Gurmasoot) is imported

into Persia from Guzerat.

"The Persians neither resemble those of old, nor their neighbours the Indians, in effeminacy of dress. The king, I believe, is the only person in the empire who wears any kind of jewels; and he only does so on state occasions. They greatly ridicule the fondness the Indians have for female ornaments; and they relate a story of one who was travelling in Persia, whom the Rahdars took for a woman, and would not be convinced to the contrary, until they had taken him to the Hakim. The pompous and high sounding titles of India are likewise a fund of amusement to them; for, excepting the dignity of Ihtimad ood doulu, which is given to their prime minister, and the hereditary honour of Khan, there are no other marks of distinction among them.

"It is the custom for the military men to press their caps down on one side; the mirza, or civil officers, twist a shawl about them; and the artificers, tradesmen, &c. wear their caps upright.

"Shah Ubas, who wished to make the merchants very frugal, issued an order that they were always to wear shawl turbans, and robes of broad cloth. This he thought would be the cheapest dress they could wear, as the shawl would last their lives, and descend to their children, and the cloths would last some years. Although the Persians bathe so often (which is rather a Inxurious enjoyment than an act of cleanliness), they are a very dirty people. They very rarely change

their garments, and seldom before it is dangerous to come near them. The Persian who accompanied me slept in his clothes until we reached Kazroon, although it was the hottest season of the year; and I believe then was only induced to change his dress at my recommendation. It is thought nothing in Persia to wear a shirt a month, or a pair of trowsers half a year.

"A Persian soldier, armed capa-pee, is of all figures the most ridiculous. It is really laughable to see how they encumber themselves with weapons of defence: their horses groan under the weight of their arms. These consist of a pair of pistols in their holsters, a single one slung in their waist, a carbine, or a long Turkish gun, a sword, a dagger, and an immense long spear; for all these fire arms they have separate ramrods tied about their persous, powder-horns for 'loading, others for priming, and a variety of cartouch-boxes, filled with different sized cartridges. If they are advancing towards you, they may be heard a long way off. I should really suppose that their saddle and" armis would weigh about eighty pounds, an enormous addition to the horse's burthen. Yet they consider themselves as light armed troops, ridiculing the Turkish cavalry, who, they say, can take care of little else then their big boots and cap. The arins of the Persians are very good, particularly their swords, which are highly prized by the Turks. They are full of jouhur, or what is called damask; which, however, does not express the meaning of the word, for the jouhur is inherent in the steel. Tavernier says that none but Golconda steel can be damasked; but in this he is mistaken, as the Khorasan swords are more valuable than any others, the blade often

alone