"Ceci non!" A spacious apartment, its polished parquet strewn with white bearskins and the thickest and softest of Persian rugs; its panelled walls hung with Oriental tapestries, costly daggers, pistols, and shields of barbaric, but beautiful, workmanship, glistening with gold and silver. Every detail of the room denotes the artistic taste of the owner. Inlaid tables and Japanese cabinets are littered with priceless porcelain and cloisonné , old silver, and diamond-set miniatures; the low divans

I arrived in Baku on (the Russian) New Year's Eve, and found railway officials, porters, and droshki-drivers all more or less fuddled with drink in consequence. With some difficulty we persuaded one of the latter to drive us to the hotel, a clean and well-appointed house, a stone's throw from the quay. Our Isvostchik [A] was very drunk. His horses, luckily for us, were quiet; for he fell off his box on the way, and smilingly, but firmly, declined to remount. Gerôme then piloted the troika safely

Day broke gloomily enough the morning following the day of our arrival at Résht. The snow, still falling fast, lay over two feet deep in the garden beneath my window, while great white drifts barred the entrance-gates of the Consulate. About eight o'clock our host made his appearance, and, waking me from pleasant dreams of sunnier climes, tried to dissuade me from making a start under such unfavourable circumstances. An imperial courier had just arrived from Teherán, and his report was anything

A brilliant ball-room, pretty faces, smart gowns, good music, and an excellent supper;—thus surrounded, I pass my first evening in Teherán, a pleasant contrast indeed to the preceding night of dirt, cold, and hunger. But it was not without serious misgivings that I accepted the courteous invitation of the German Embassy. The crossing of the Kharzán had not improved the appearance of dress-clothes and shirts, to say nothing of my eyes being in the condition described by pugilists as "bunged up,"

We are already some farsakhs [A] from Teherán when day breaks on the 4th of February, 1889. The start is not a propitious one. Hardly have we cleared the Ispahán gate than down comes the Shagird's horse as if he were shot, breaking his girths and rider's thumb at the same moment. Luckily, we are provided with rope, and Persian saddles are not complicated. In ten minutes we are off again; but it is terribly hard going, and all one can do to keep the horses on their legs. Towards midday the sun sl

The seven telegraph-stations, in charge of Europeans, between Teherán and Bushire, may be called the oases of Persia to the weary traveller from Résht to the Persian Gulf. He is sure, at any of these, of a hearty welcome, a comfortable bedroom, and a well-cooked dinner from the good Samaritan in charge. The latter is generally the best of company, full of anecdote and information about the country, and, necessarily, well posted in the latest news from Europe, from the last Parliamentary debate t

  "The gardens of pleasure where reddens the rose,   And the scent of the cedar is faint on the air."   OWEN MEREDITH. Shiráz stands in a plain twenty-five miles long by twelve broad, surrounded by steep and bare limestone mountains. The latter alone recall the desert waste beyond; for the Plain of Shiráz is fertile, well cultivated, and dotted over with prosperous-looking villages and gardens. Scarcely a foot of ground is wasted by the industrious inhabitants of this happy valley, save round th

The coast-line of Baluchistán is six hundred miles long. On it there is one tree, a sickly, stunted-looking thing, near the telegraph station of Gwádar, which serves as a landmark to native craft and a standing joke to the English sailor. Planted some years since by a European, it has lived doggedly on, to the surprise of all, in this arid soil. The Tree of Baluchistán is as well known to the manner in the Persian Gulf as Regent Circus or the Marble Arch to the London cabman. With this solitary

Most European travellers through this desolate land have testified to the fact that the most commendable trait in the Baluch is his practice of hospitality, or "zang," as it is called. As among the Arabs, a guest is held sacred, save by some of the wilder tribes on the Afghan frontier, who, though they respect a stranger actually under their roof, will rob and murder him without scruple as soon as he has departed. The natives of Kanéro and Dhaïra (the two villages lying between Noundra and Gwarj

We encamped in the suburbs of the city, about a couple of miles from the northern or Mastung Gate, and near the telegraph office, a small brick bungalow in charge of an English-speaking native. There is a single wire laid to Quetta, a distance, roughly speaking, of ninety miles. A terrific hurricane, accompanied by thunder, vivid lightning, and dense clouds of black dust, sprang up about sunset the day of our arrival. Both tents were instantly blown down, and in a few moments reduced to shapeles

                                          English                                            Miles.   Résht —-   Koudoum—————- 20   Rustemabad———- 20   Menjil———————- 12   Patchinar—————- 8   Kharzán——————- 16   Kazvin———————- 24   Kavarek——————- 16   Kishlak——————- 16   Yengi-Imàm———- 16   Hessarek————— 16   Shahabad————— 16    Teherán ————— 16   Rabat Kerim———- 28   Pitché—————- 24   Kushku Baïra——— 16   Mahometabad——— 28    Koom ———————- 16   Pasingán——————- 16   Sin-sin———————- 28    Kashán

————————————————————————————————————- Halting-place. English Remarks. Miles. ————————————————————————————————————- Sonmiani…. | | Small sea-port town. Water abundant, but brackish. Fodder and supplies procurable. Shekh-Raj…. | 18 | Road fairly good. Water sweet and plentiful. Outhal…… | 14 | Road stony and undulating; crossed dry bed of river Purali. Well of brackish water. Shekron-ka-Got | 22 | Road sandy. Passed several salt marshes. No water. Beïla……. | 24 | Road good through rich            

———————————————————————————————————                                    Remarks Mid day ———————————————————————————————————                                                       Shade | Sun ———————————————————————————————————   March 16 Sonmiani. Fine, north west breeze 79° 83° 17 Sonmiani. Fine, no breeze 73° 88° 18 Sonmiani. Fine, no breeze 72° 105° 19 Sonmiani. Fine, strong north-east breeze 80° 98° 20 Shekh-Raj. Fine, light north-east breeze 91° 118° 21 Outhal. Fine, light north-west breeze 9

  Kambar Khan.   |   Sambar.   |   Mahammad Khan.   |   Abdulla Khan.   |  ————————————————————————   | | |   Mobat Khan, Eltarz Khan, Nazir Khan, originally   reigned some slain a hostage at Kandahár;   time at Kelát; accidentally superseded his brother,   superseded by by his brother, Mobat Khan, and   his brother, Nazir Khan. reigned forty years.   Nazir Khan, |   and died a |   hostage at |   Kandahár. |   | |   | ——————————————————   | | | |   Haji Khan, Mahmud Mohamed Mustapha Khan,   died