except that the temporal power and influence possessed by the European Christians make them objects of fear to the Mohammedans. The next visitor was a distinguished Persian, who had been busily engaged in a search for the "philosopher's stone;" and who fancied that the English travellers were engaged in a similar pursuit; since he heard that they had been exploring old ruins, and had by them certain acids and chemical tests with which they determined the geological character of fragments of rock which they from time to time collected. They soon undeceived him; and endeavoured to convince him of the utter worthlessness of the pursuit in which he was engaged. The last visitor we shall name was a money-lender, whom we shall introduce to show the estimation in which the English character is held in Persia for probity and honour in commercial dealings. One of the party wishing to draw a bill on Bagdad, and to get it cashed at Hamadan, sent to inquire how that might be done. A miserable-looking man soon appeared, who from beneath his tattered garments drew forth a bag containing the requisite quantity of gold coin. This he readily gave, and received in exchange nothing more than a piece of paper with an order (in English) for payment at Bagdad. The party wondered at such a proof of unlimited confidence, for the man could not read a word of the order; and were not a little gratified to hear him say in explanation :-"The Ingrees (English) have never been known to deceive." Sir John Malcolm had been some time resident in Persia, and had, by his high personal character, contributed greatly to this favourable impression concerning the honour of an Englishman. We may say in connexion with this subject, that British officers resident in Persia, recommend English travellers in that country to wear English costume, as it generally meets with respect.

From Hamadan a pleasant district conducts the traveller to Teheran, the usual residence of the court of the Shah of Persia. This city occupies a position once forming part of the ancient empire of the Medes, near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. Its political importance as the seat of government is more striking than the beauty of its situation; for the numerous spring torrents, which pour from the adjacent heights at the beginning of the warm season, saturate the low ground about the town, sink into its vaults, and send up such vapours and dampness as to render the spot very insalubrious during that season of the year.

Teheran is surrounded by a deep ditch, towers, and a mud wall, embracing a circuit of about eight thousand yards. There are four entrance gates, leading respectively to Ispahan, Tabriz, and two mountainous districts: they are plain in structure, with the exception of a few ornamental blue and green tiles. The streets of the city are extremely narrow, and full either of dust or mud, according to the season; the limited width, too, is rendered more inconvenient by the prevalent custom of the nobles to ride through them attended by thirty or forty servants on horse

back; and by the frequent passage of loaded camels, mules, asses, and sometimes the royal elephants. The imperial palace splendid as it is within, presents a similar want of external elegance to most other Persian dwellings; it is situated in the citadel, a distinct quarter of the city, occupying a square of twelve hundred yards, and surrounded by its own bulwarks, which adjoin the north wall of the town. At one particular part of the city is a large open space or square, full of wide and deep excavations, or rather pits, sunk in the ground. Within the shaft of these well-like places, and round its steep sides, are numerous apertures, leading to subterraneous apartments; some the sojourn of poor houseless human beings, and others, a temporary stabling for beasts of burden.

After illustrating the extremely narrow and confined arrangement of the streets, Sir Robert Ker Porter obscrves: "Where any place does present a little more room than ordinary, or under the covered ways attached to the shops, we generally find one of the national story-tellers, surrounded by groups of people, some well clad, others in rags, and not a few nearly naked, attending with the most lively interest to tales they must have heard a thousand times before. He recounts them with a change of gesticulation, and a varied tone of voice, according to his subject; whether it be the loves of Khosroo and Shireene, the exploits of Rustum their favourite hero,, or any number of historic couplets from Terdousi, the Homer of their land. From the humblest peasant, to the head that wears the diadem, all have the same passion for this kind of entertainment."

On leaving Teheran, the route conducts us along a considerable portion of the western shore of the Caspian Sea, through a district of a very mountainous character, and inhabited by rude mountaineers, who have cost Russia more trouble and campaigning than any other of her subjec s.

There is no particular town after leaving Teheran till we arrive at Casbin, about a hundred miles distant. This town is the residence of a Prince Governor, and was once the capital of the kingdom; it has undergone a great change of fortune, but is sufficiently populous to carry on a tolerably extensive trade. We have taken a few opportunities of illustrating the manners and customs of the Persians as we proceeded; and the following account of the visit of an English officer to the Prince of Casbin will illustrate the fondness of the Eastern courtiers for flattery and adulation. "I did not stipulate for my privilege, as an Englishman, to be seated in the prince's presence, fearing that, if I did, I should not obtain an interview; so I was obliged to stand before him. I was presented by his mehmandar, whose motions of reverence I imitated. His highness's manner was haughty, but it seemed habitual and not assumed. He asked me several questions, mostly respecting himself. To these I always tried to give a reasonable answer; but the mehmandar, pretending to attribute my plainness of language to ignorance of idiom, turned everything I said into extravagant compliment to the prince, and then asked me if

that was not what I intended to say. To dissent was impossible; so I let him have his own way, and thus all parties were pleased."

Proceeding onwards in the road from Teheran to Tabriz, we arrive at the ruins of Sultameh. This was once a considerable and beautiful city; but nothing now remains of it but ruinous vestiges, of which the chief is the palace of the Sultan Khodabundah, by whom the city was built 600 years ago. A little farther northward is Zinjaim, a large and populous town, forming the capital of the district of Khumseh, and governed by one of the king's sons. This town is provided with bazaars equal to those of almost any town in the Persian empire; one of them extends from the castern to the western gate, and is covered throughout the whole length; the shops and stalls being provided with all the usual articles of consumption. From this bazaar another branches out, and terminates at the other end in the maidan, or great square.

We now approach that mountainous region which separates the Caspian from the Black Sea. A few miles beyond Sultameh a brick bridge crosses the river Kizil Oozan, which separates the provinces of Irak Ajemi and Azerbijan. The scenery in the neighbourhood of this bridge is exceedingly wild and rugged; immediately below the bridge, the river passes by a narrow channel between lofty precipitous mountains, which rise almost perpendicularly in rude rugged masses. At a little distance below the bridge are the remains of an ancient fort, standing on a detached rock of an irregular form.

In this immediate neighbourhood is Mount Ararat, certainly the most celebrated mountain in the world, since it is that on which the Sacred Record informs us the Ark of Noah rested when the waters of the Deluge had partly subsided. In the present day, this mountain is remarkable as being a point where three of the most extensive empires in the world meet each other :-the Russian empire, which spreads to the frozen regions on the north;-the Persian empire, which extends almost to the frontiers of India; and the Turkish empire, which brings us to the central states of Europe; all meet at Mount Ararat, the only point where this confluence occurs. Mount Ararat is described as being most difficult of access. A Pacha of Biyazid, some years ago, tried to make the ascent to the highest summit. He departed from Bayazid with a large party of horsemen, at the most favourable season; and ascended the mountain on the Bayazid side, as high as he could on horseback. He caused three stations to be marked out on the ascent, where he built huts and collected provisions. He had no difficulty in crossing the region of snow near the upper part of the mountain; but when he came to the great cap of ice that covers the top of the cone, he could proceed no farther, because several of his men were there seized with violent oppressions of the chest, from the great rarefaction of the air. He had before offered large rewards to any one who should reach the top; but though many Koords who live at its base have attempted it, all have been equally unsuccessful. Besides the great rarefaction of the air, his men had to contend with dangers arising from falling ice, large pieces of which were constantly detaching themselves from the main body and rolling down. An immense chasm extends nearly half way down the mountain, in the deep recesses of which are vast masses of ice.

We have gone somewhat out of the route, for the sake of mentioning a spot so celebrated as Mount Ararat. We must now transport ourselves somewhat eastward, where the town of Tabriz lies in our line of route. Tabriz is about three miles and a half in circumference, and is surrounded by walls built of sun-burnt brick, with towers of kiln-burnt brick, placed at irregular distances along the walls. There are seven gates, at each of which guards are stationed; and they are closed an hour or two after sunset, and not opened again till the morning. Tabriz was formerly the second city of Persia, in size and importance; but it is now greatly diminished in wealth and population. The Ark Ali Shah (citadel of Ali Shah) is a structure, which was originally intended for a palace; but the prince afterwards converted it into a citadel. It contains within its limits, the remains of a mosque about eighty feet high, at the top of which are three small chambers, from whence a panoramic view of the surrounding country is obtained. When Mr. Morier was at Tabriz, a number of European workmen were fitting up the Ark Ali Shah as an arsenal. In the front yard was a range of guns and all the accompaniments of artillery. A numerous body of carpen

ters and wheelwrights were at work with European tools, superintended by an European mechanic. Farther on was a blacksmith's forge, worked with charcoal for want of coal. Then in another yard were piles of shot, with men filling cartridges, &c. Next succeeded a range of apartments, in which were saddlers, and workers of leather; and storerooms for articles of various kinds.

To understand the motives for such an establishment, we must bear in mind that we are now near the frontiers of Russia, between which country and Persia frequent hostilities have taken place within the last twenty or thirty years; insomuch, that the effeminate habits and proceedings witnessed in Southern Persia would be utterly unable to compete with such a vigorous nation as Russia.

As we shall soon take leave of Persia, we will give Mr. Morier's description of one or two features characteristic of most Persian towns :-" There are noises peculiar to every city and country; and none are more distinct and characteristic than those of Persia. First, at the dawn of day, the muezzins are heard in a great variety of tones, calling the people to prayers from the tops of the mosques; these are mixed with the sounds of cow-horns, blown by the keepers of the hummums, to inform the women, who bathe before the men, that the baths are heated, and ready for their reception. The cow-horns set all the dogs in the city howling in a frightful manner. The asses of the town, generally beginning to bray about the same time, are answered by all the asses in the neighbourhood; a thou sand cocks then intrude their shrill voices; which, with the other subsidiary noises of persons calling to each other, knocking at doors, cries of children, complete a din very unusual to the ears of an European. In the summer season, as the operations of domestic life are mostly performed in the open air, every noise is heard. At night, all sleep on the tops of their houses, their beds being spread upon their terraces, without any other covering over their heads than the vault of heaven. The poor seldom have a screen to keep them from the gaze of passengers; and as generally rode out on horseback at a very early hour, we perceived, on the tops of the houses, people either still in bed, or just getting up; and certainly no sight was ever stranger. The women appeared to be always up the first, while the men were frequently seen lounging in bed long after the sun had risen." We may remark that there are many passages in Scripture which seem to indicate that the custom of sleeping on the housetop prevailed in the Jewish nation, and in other parts of Western Asia.

we

When Captain Keppel was at Tabriz, he once dined at the house of the Russian Chargé d'Affaires; and mentions it as a singular instance of the way in which natives of different countries find their way into foreign lands, that although all the party were Christians, and did not exceed twenty, there were present natives of France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, Russia, England, Greece, Sclavonia, Armenia, Georgia, Arabia, and Persia; and among the servants in attendance were a Russian, a Persian, an Indian, a Turk, and a Kalmuk Tartar.

From Tabriz, different routes may be, and frequently are, taken to Europe; but that which we shall follow approaches pretty near to the Caspian Sea, and touches it at two points, Baku and Astrakhan.

The river Araxes forms the boundary between the Russian and Persian empires, at that part where Captain Keppel and his party crossed it. The river is here about a hundred yards in width; over which the party crossed in a boat made of the hollow trunk of a tree, the fibres of which formed a rope to secure it to the bank. In this frail bark the men and the baggage were transported over the river, while the horses were made to swim over. On crossing the river the party entered a tent, before which a number of women were busily engaged, some in manufacturing carpets, others in milking cattle, and others in making bread.

About half-way between Tabriz and Baku, is the town of Sheesha, containing about two thousand houses, of which three-fourths are inhabited by Tartars, and the remainder by Armenians. The present town was built about a century ago by a Tartar prince, but the remains of an older town are visible at the foot of an opposite hill. The lower parts of the houses are built of stone, and have shelving roofs of shingle. The town and fort are surrounded by a wall; but the natural advantages of the situation, on the top of an almost inaccessible rock, have left little occasion for artificial defence. The language spoken is a kind of Turk ish dialect; but the inhabitants read and write in Persian; the costume also bears a nearer resemblance to the Persian.

Baku is situated on a small promontory which juts out into the Caspian Sea. It is a neat, though small sea-port town, built entirely of stone; and surrounded by a deep ditch and double wall of stone. The roofs of the houses are flat, and covered with a thick coating of naphtha. The town contains one Armenian church, and twenty mosques, with only one Russian church. The bazaar is small, but neat, and is much more cleanly than the generality of Asiatic bazaars. The population is computed at about four thousand persons, of whom nearly all are Tartars. The principal articles of commerce are common silk and various small wares of Russian manufacture. On the site of this town once stood a city, celebrated in the time of the Persian fireworshippers for its sacred temples, on the altars of which blazed perpetual flames of fire, produced by ignited naphtha. Thousands of pilgrims used to pay an annual visit to this place, before the rapid spread of Mohammedanism had reduced to insignificance the religion of ancient Persia. Captain Keppel found at this spot the remains of a temple of this kind, attended by tribes who presented a singular mixture of Tartar and Indian habits. Enclosed within a pentagonal wall, and standing nearly in the centre of a court, was a fire temple, a small, square building, with three steps leading up to it from each face. Three bells of different sizes were suspended from the roof. At each corner was a hollow column, higher than the surrounding buildings, from the top of which issued a bright flame; and in the middle of the court was a large fire of ignited naphtha. The pentagon, which on the outside forms the wall, comprises in the interior nineteen small cells, each inhabited by a devotee. These devotees were Hindoos; but their language and manners had such a strong tinge of the Tartar race, that their Hindoo origin was almost concealed. A Brahmin was found engaged at his devotion in one of the cells; in another cell was an officiating priest of a particular sect of the Hindoos. These devotees were pilgrims who came from different parts of India, and who were accustomed to relieve each other every two or three years years in watching the sacred fire, as they deem it. We may remark that every part of the soil in the neighbourhood is strongly impregnated with naphtha.

The next town of any note is Kuba, once the residence of a Tartar khan, but now garrisoned by the Russians. It contains about five thousand inhabitants, one third of whom are said to be Jews. Still farther to the north is the town of Durbund, the capital of one of the Russian provinces. The walls, which are very ancient, divide the town into three portions, of which the higher comprises the citadel, the middle constitutes the town; and the lowest is principally occupied by gardens. Here is shown the foundation of a house built by Peter the Great, who visited the town soon after it had come into the hands of Russia. The walls of the city are built of a compact stone of a dark colour; and sixty bastions protrude at regular intervals. One of the gates has an inscription in Russian; another has an inscription in Persian; one among many proofs of the mixed character of the place. Durbund has been successively in the hands of Turks, Tartars, Arabs, Persians, and Russians, and manifests the heterogeneous effects resulting from this circumstance. Here one of our English travellers paid a visit to the Russian commandant and his lady; and says: "On my return to the room, the company, consisting of the officers of the regiment and the staff-officers of the garrison, were thronging in. I here saw, for the first time, the Russian salutation. Every officer, on entering, took the right hand of the hostess and pressed it to his lips; while she at the same moment kissed his cheek. Dinner was prefaced by a glass of brandy and a piece of salt fish. The ladies, of whom there were several, seated themselves together; the post of honour next our fair hostess was assigned to me as the stranger. The band played during dinner; after which the company (with the exception of myself, who took a siesta) sat down to cards."

Farther northward we come to Kizliar, standing on the banks of the river Terek, at about forty miles' distance from the Caspian. This town and the dependant villages contain about twenty thousand inhabitants; of whom the greater numbers are Tartars, and nearly all the remainder Armenians, (for we have now pretty well lost all traces of the Persian race.) This town is a kind of limit between two different districts, as respects the mode of travelling; for the routes just described have been performed almost wholly on horseback, whereas the journey northward from Kizliar to St. Petersburgh, by way of Astrakhan, is performed by carriage. These carriages-at least those em

ployed between Kizliar and Astrakhan,- -are four-wheeled open carriages, without springs, about five feet and a half long, three feet broad, and three deep; and drawn by three horses abreast, generally in as rude and inelegant a condition as the carriage itself.

The district from Kizliar to Astrakhan is, for the most part, dreary and sterile; over which the Tartar drivers conduct their vehicle in a fearless and vigilant manner. Arrived at Astrakhan, the English party whom we have hitherto accompanied, and whom we shall now leave, were ushered to the residence of a Scotch missionary, the Rev. Mr. Glen, whose picus and benevolent demeanour made a deep impression on Captain Keppel, who remarks:-"At no period of my life do I remember to have been impressed with so strong a feeling of devotion as on this evening. Few persons of the same general habits will understand my particular feelings. Few have ever been placed in the same situation under similar circumstances. Quitting countries once the most rich and populous, now the most desolate and lone, fulfilling in their calamities the decrees of Divine Providence; safe from the dangers of the desert, and from the barbarian tribes with whom every crime was common, I found myself in a religious sanctuary among my own countrymen, in whose countenances, whatever were the trivial errors of their belief, might be traced the purity of their lives, and that enthusiasm in the cause of religion. which has caused them to become voluntary exiles: whose kindness promised me every comfort, and whose voices were gratefully raised to Heaven in my behalf.". The city of Astrakhan is the most celebrated in the southern part of the Russian empire, being so situated as to command the commerce of the Caspian Sea. It is situated near the mouth of the great river Volga, at a distance of about eight hundred miles south-east of Moscow; and from it there is an uninterrupted water conveyance to St. Petersburgh, twelve hundred miles distant. It ranks as the eighth city in the Russian empire, having a population of forty thousand persons. The town is irregularly built, and the houses present a singular medley of European and Asiatic taste; they are constructed principally of wood, and are between four and five thousand in number. There are four Armenian churches, twenty-five Greek churches (the national church of Russia), nineteen Mohammedan mosques, besides places of worship for various sects, both European and Asiatic. There is an academy for marine cadets; a Greek seminary for ecclesiastics; a high school; a district grammar school; and four inferior schools. Kremlin, or citadel, is a large and beautiful building, containing the cathedral and the barracks; the former of which, like most ecclesiastical edifices in Russia, consists of a massive parallelogram with four small cupolas on the roof, and a large one in the centre, from which the building receives its light: the interior is splendidly decorated; and is prized among the Russians for containing a costly effigy of the Virgin,-six mitres inlaid with pearls and precious stones of large size,-a baptismal font of massive silver, ninety-eight pounds in weight,—and other costly articles. One of the most remarkable buildings is a mosque recently erected by a private wealthy Mohammedan, but shaped like the Christian churches of the East.

The

No city of Asia presents more striking features of Europe and Asia combined, than Astrakhan. The Russians form a considerable amount of the population, and are engaged in trade. The Tartars, belonging to three different classes or races, amount to about 10,000, and take up their abode in distinct suburbs of the city. The Armenians are among the most wealthy of the population, and have now nearly abandoned their peculiar national mode of dress, and have adopted the costume of Europe. The women, however, still walk abroad, covered from head to foot with an enormous white veil, which conceals the whole person, except a small part of the face. The Georgians of Astrakhan are mostly mechanics, or persons filling humble stations in life. The Hindoos and Chinese to be found at Astrakhan are only occasional visitors, with the exception of three or four hundred of the former, whose occupation is to lend out money at usurious interest; and as their accumulations are seconded by the utmost simplicity and parsimony in their mode of living, these Hindoos rise quickly into affluence. Although the regular population of Astrakhan is estimated at 40,000, yet it is supposed that at one particular season of the year, .e., the fishing season, there are no less than 30,000 additional visitors at Astrakhan, drawn thither principally on commercial pursuits. At this season the city presents a highly interesting scene of gaiety and bustle.

Having thus brought our fellow-travellers to Astrakhan, we may make a few remarks on the extraordinary district which separates it from the central parts of Persia. If we draw a straight line from Astrakhan to the south-west corner of the Caspian Sea, another straight line from this last point to the easternmost point of the Black Sea, and a third from the Black Sea to Astrakhan, we shall enclose a triangular district, whose longest side (along the Caspian) is about 700 miles, and the other two about 500 each. This district is, in a political sense, one of the most remarkable in Asia. It contains the boundary-lines between the extensive empires of Russia, Turkey, and Persia, and contains a population who care but little for the supreme authority of either of those countries. Georgians, Mingrelians, Circassians, Armenians, Tartars, Koords, all are to be met with in this district, forming a kind of boundary between the more effeminate Persians on the south, and the rude Cossacks and Tartars on the north. Their religion varies as much as their origin and habits; Mohammedans, Armenian Christians, Russian Christians, Fire Worshippers, Worshippers of the Great Lama of Thibet,-all are to be found here. These circumstances give a strangely mixed character to the towns situated in this district. Gradually they are losing their Persian or Turkish character, and are becoming every year more and more Russian, occasioned by the steady progress of this power in that direction. Still, however, the old institutions and habits are not done away with. A mosque may be found next to a Russian guard-house, or a flat-roofed Persian house may be near a Russian church; while both Russians and Persians are required to be constantly on the alert, to repel the bold mountaineers who repeatedly attack them, and who, deeming themselves the rightful owners of the country, look upon both the others as enemies. The persevering energy of the Russian government has, however, overcome so many difficulties and obstacles in this quarter, that the boundary between Russia and Persia does not differ widely from the line which we have supposed to be drawn from the east end of the Black Sea to the south-west extremity of the Caspian. Whether or not this boundary will be driven still farther southward, is a question which the future history of Central Asia can alone determine.

From Astrakhan to St Petersburgh is, as we have said, a distance of about twelve hundred miles. There are two reasons why it will not be necessary for us to follow our travellers along this road: 1st. We have made a point, in

our details hitherto, to avoid entering on subjects which have already been described in the Saturday Magazine: and in pursuance of this plan, we will refrain from entering at any length into Russian topography, since a considerable number of articles were devoted to that subject in our early volumes. 2nd. There is no country in Europe or Asia, presenting fewer points of interest than the flat country from Astrakhan to St. Petersburgh. No great city, except Moscow, is met with in this immense distance; and the inhabitants are so extremely scanty that nothing can be more dreary than many parts of this route. Nearly all English travellers who take this route try to get through it as rapidly as possible, knowing that there is little to interest them on the way. Colonel Conolly, a few years ago, in making the overland journey, hired a carriage for the Russian route, which he fitted up for day or night travelling; stored it with provisions; provided himself with furs and warm clothing, and lived, boarded, and slept in his carriage during the greater portion of a very rapid journey from St. Petersburgh to the Persian frontier. Inns are so few on the road, and provisions so bad, that some such plan as this is necessary to keep the demon of hunger away. Capt. Keppel, during a good portion of his journey, adopted a plan which he had many occasions to be thankful for: he fastened a tea-kettle to the saddle of his horse; and whenever he could not obtain warm beverage any other way, he would put a little tea and sugar into his kettle, obtain some milk if possible, add a requisite quantity of water, and manage to boil a cup of tea in a very few minutes: quite willing to dispense with the numerous conveniences of a tea-service. Overland travellers must, indeed, reckon on being deprived of many of the comforts found on ship-board; but the excitement attending scenes of travel frequently more than compensates for this deprivation.

We thus end our first overland route; which may be thus summed up. From Bombay across the Indian Ocean, to the Persian Gulf is about thirteen hundred miles:-from the south to the north of the Persian Gulf, six or seven hundred;-from the Persian Gulf to Mount Ararat, seven hundred;-from thence to Astrakhan, probably five hundred;from Astrakhan to Moscow, eight hundred; and from thence to St. Petersburgh, four hundred :-making about four thousand five hundred miles. These distances are estimated very roughly; and do not take in the turnings and windings of the roads necessarily taken; but they may serve to convey something like an idea of the real distance gone over.