Life in the land of the Fire Worshipper. By Charles de H*********. Edited by Frederika Bremer

Preface

. The author feels that it is due to his valued friend Miss Beemek, that he should say a few words in explanation of the letter she has been so good as to address to him, and which is here given to the public. It was at the instigation of this distinguished lady that the following work was pre pared for publication in England, and she has expressed so much more beautifully than the author could have done, the noble objects which she believes may be advanced by all such truthful descriptions of Asiatic life, that he feels he can offer no better preface to his book than her charming letter in its original form. It will be seen at once that the English is her own, and the author feels sure that his readers will agree with him in thinking that its graceful language would have suffered even by the correction of the foreign idiom which occasionally ap pears in it.

He cannot doubt that those who have been delighted with her exquisite works in the translation, will thoroughly appreciate this fragment which comes from her pen unaltered and untouched. FIRE WORSHIPPERS. INTRODUCTORY

Chapter. I

have travelled much, and sojourned long in Persia, and I am going to relate the adventures of a Gueber of that country. But before I begin, it will be necessary to say a few words of the scene where the events I am going to describe took place, for the manners aad customs of the different nations of which the population of Per sia is composed, differ so much from those of our own country, that much of what I recount would appear most strange without this preface VOL. I. B population of Persia is composed of ten distinct nations, Persians, Affghans, Turcomans, Curds, Arabs, Guebers, Armenians, and Hindoos, speaking six different languages, professing five separate forms of religion, each wearing the dress of the caste to which he belongs, some being proud and arrogant, others submissive and humble.

What must not be the religious ani mosities, the political rivalries, the injustice, tyranny, and consequently the incessant agita tion, anarchy, and barbarism of a society com posed of such varied elements? The feelings one experiences living in the midst of this human vortex, would be difficult to define in Europe. I have often asked myself if the problem of the civilisation of the East, which has so long occupied the minds of our philanthropists, had any chance of being solved in these countries, but I confess that in only thinking of it I felt somewhat as Daniel must have done in the lions' den. It is only when brought into direct contact with a nation that one can judge of these questions, and in seeking to look into their future destiny, ask ourselves what they have b_en and what they may be come.

The administration of the kingdom of Persia is exclusively in the hands ofthe Persians; they gained this supremacy at the point of the sword, conquering the different races which form the nation, and have ever since treated them as slaves. Luxury, immorality, and tyrauny are the characteristics of the conquerors, the con quered submitting, some with sullen resignation, others in the midst of resistance, struggles, aud disorders, which violence alone can quell. Thus the Affghans and Curds, war-like races, who at different times have given kings to Persia, live in a state of almost permanent hos tility to the government. This hostility arises from the system of spoliation and rapine which the government has ever exercised towards them. These tribes, principally nomade, only submit to superior force, and the result is con tinual revolts and ruinous truces.

As to the Arabs, Guebers, and Armenians, B they are slaves, but not slaves as the negroes are in America; that is to say, considered as beasts of burden which the master buys, forces to labour, but, at the same time, feeds. Nor yet as the Russian serf is bought and sold with the land on which he is born ; but a slave like the wild bees of the forest, who toil incessantly to gather their store of honey until the lion or bear find it, and kills them to seize on the fruits of all their labour. These castes, quite separate in religion, in manners, customs, education, and even ideas, despise and hate each other in the highest de gree, and present on the one hand the singular spectacle of the most complete tolerance on the part of the conquerors towards the conquered whenever the latter can pay for this forbearance and on the other, the slaves bending their necks under the yoke with extraordinary submission, but still clinging with wonderful firmness to the faith bequeathed to them by their forefathers, although that faith is the sole cause of the persecutions with which they are overwhelmed.

No one can understand or appreciate this tolerance on the part of the Persians towards the different religious sects which abound in Asia, unless he has been a witness of the system of ex tortions invented to make it one of the most op pressive of taxes. I confess I have often felt the most profound pity for the poor victims, who submit to it with so much resignation. Might not a deep lesson be learned by European philanthropists from the contrast between these creeds, which have been surrounded with persecutions for centuries past, and that of Mahomet, which, since the day it appeared on earth, the sword in one hand and the Koran in the other, has reigned by violence and spread destruction and death. One asks oneself which of the two adversaries will civilize and improve the other, or whether both may not be destined to perisli by the very force of the evil spirit, which goads them on to their destruction.

The sovereign of this country, the Shah of Persia, who assumes the most pompous titles, such as Light of Heaven, King of Kings, most LIIE IN TnE LAND OF Powerful of the Powerful — cannot be compared to any other monarch in the world. Surrounded by his Sadrazans, his Khans, his Sardars, and a crowd of Mirgars of all ranks, he resembles a divinity on his Pagah, before whom everyone trembles, and whose slightest nod is sufficient to condemn to death the most eminent of his subjects without any other law than his will. Nevertheless, as all these dignitaries high and low have a direct and uncontrolled share in the exercise of this sovereignty, and in the distribu tion of justice however summary, this mode of government can only he compared to an oligarchy, ■which governs for its own benefit a dozen of millions of men, who have no other alternative but submission or death.

As to the habitations of the Persians, they are very magnificent in outward appearance. Even those of the highest personages of the empire are composed of a ground floor only, which is reached by three or four steps, and is divided into two dwellings, the one destined for the master, and the other for his harem, standing in a court surrounded by gardens, enclosed within high walls, so that in walking through a town nothing is to be seen but bare "walls, except where the bazaars or markets are situated, and where the shops are open to the street. The furniture of the prin cipal apartments, as well as of the harems, consists of little else than carpets more or less costly, on which the Persians seat themselves with their knees bent under them, their heels serving for a seat. The palace of the Shah himself differs but little from this description; finely sculptured pillars, and fountains ornamented with all the most fantastic fancy can imagine, whose waters, ever falling into marble basins, maintain a delicious coolness in summer, though somewhat less agree able in winter, these are the only ornaments which distinguish the dwelling of the king from those of his subjects.

The wealth of the Shahs of Persia, as indeed of all Persians, consists in jewels, arms, shawls, and dresses. The possessions of the Shah of Persia in such objects are unrivalled in Europe. The most exquisite pearls, diamonds equal to the celebrated Koh-i-noor, camel-hair carpets, of which the fineness and brilliancy of colouring surpasses all that can be imagined, Cashmere shawls of such a fine texture that they pass through the ring worn on the little finger, kaleons, saddles, bridles of solid gold, ornamented with precious stones; horses which have not their equal in the world. These are the riches of all Asiatics. Shiraz, the capital of Persia in the time of Cyrus, and Ispahan, capital of the Shahs of Persia until the beginning ofthe reign of Fatuh Ali Shah — are the only towns which denote that the architectural magnificence of which Euro pean capitals can boast was not unknown in former days in Persia.

But Shiraz is now a heap of ruins, probably destroyed by one of the earthquakes so frequent in that country ; and we can only form an idea of what must have been its former splendour by the traditions of the people, who still sing of the climate, which was an eternal spring, its gardens, which produced the most delicious fruits ever known, and of its groves and palaces, which were the pride of the East. There, they say, was situated the garden of Eden; there were created Adam and Eve; Noah, Zoroaster, Darius, Mithridates, and the poets Saadi and Hafiz were all born there. As to Ispahan, the capital of Persia, since the Mahommedan conquest, the political events of which it was the bloody theatre in later times, have left on it their indelible trace. The monuments built by Abbas the Great, the tower a hundred and fifty feet high raised by him, com posed of bones of animals of all kinds, killed by himself in one day's sport, — the ancient palace of the Shahs, the mosques, the thirteen caravan mails which served to lodge the merchants bringing from India and China all that those countries produce of the rare and beautiful — these are now all in ruins, and willsoon leave not a trace of that splendour which scarce a century ago excited the admiration of all who visited that city.

It was at the time that Fateh Ali Shah, ancestor of the dynasty now reigning in B Persia, usurped the throne of his uncle, and entered Ispahan at the head of all the Affghans and Curds he could gather round him ; there his first act of power was to massacre his uncle and all his children, wives, and favourites, in order, as he elegantly expressed it "to clean out that stable of asses;" but horrified, himself, at the torrents of blood shed, of which his savage troops never seemed to have enough, he quitted Ispahan, and established his residence at Teheran, which has ever since been the capital of Persia.

Chapter II

Such is Persia! And now we proceed to the history of my Gueber, who lived in the town of Ispahan, at that time the residence of a Sardar, one of the great men of Persia, whose title may be translated by that of governor of a province. At the period of which we are going to speak, the Sardar of Ispahan was called Amouchir Khan. This title of Khan which he appended to his name, intimated that he was a general, but it did not in the least follow that he had ever been in the military service The Shah of Persia, in his infinite wisdom, is sole judge of the capabilities of all his subjects, and confers on them any rank or employment he thinks fit, without its being considered in the least necessary for the said subject to have given any previous proofs of his capacity to fill the place. Besides, Amouchir Khan had long been one of the Mongas about court, and had gained for himself considerable reputation by his taste in dress, his jovial sayings, and above all by his talent, much prized in Persia, of interlarding his discourse with ribald jests, which are highly enjoyed by even the gravest and most serious of the Persian dignitaries.

Our most popular writers in Europe assure ns that the society of the fair sex has an immense influence on the civilisation and polish of na tions. Perhaps this is the reason of the extreme license allowed to the language of fashion in Persia, as Mahommed has condemned women in Asia to occupy a very different degree of consideration from ours. As to Amouchir Khan, he attached so little importance to the opinion of that injured sex on his person or deeds, that he never was more irritable, sour, or bearish than when he entered his harem ; not that he was by any means what might be called an esprit fort on the subject of his womankind; on the con trary, he Avas keenly alive to all those Asiatic susceptibilities which convert jealousy into a sort of religious code, and would have caused to be buried alive, without the smallest hesita tion, even the least considerable of his wives, had she been but suspected of having even raised her veil, and let any other man get a glimpse of her face.

The day on wbich our story commences, Amouchir Khan had just come out of his harem, and, having advanced to the window of his salemlique, or hall of reception, cast a passing look on the flower-beds which lay under neath, then seated himself in the Persian manner on a magnificent carpet, the sole furniture of this spacious saloon. Although still a young man, tall and well-made, there was something in his whole appearance strangely decrepid and dissolute. His handsome face, ornamented with a long jet-black beard, was of a livid paleness; his sunken eyes were painful to look on, it seemed as if the pupils, though strangely dilated, gazed without seeing. The strong contraction of his mouth could not stop the trembling of his upper lip; indeed, his general appearance would have led an European to conclude on speing him at this moment, that his mind had failed; but a Persian would not have been so deceived, he would have understood at once that Amouchir Khan had not yet taken the cordial which all Orientals, high and low, are in the habit of swallowing in the morning, and before which they are in a sort of lethargic state, which they call " Mahmourlouk," and from which opium alone can arouse them.

A few minutes after Amouchir Khan had seated himself at the window, a feruche entered, bearing in great state his kaleon of worked gold, terminating in a mouthpiece of amber; this he set down at his feet, then moving forward, presented the mouthpiece to the Khan, and stepping back again, passed his hands into the sash which confined his caftan round his waist, and stood upright in the most respectful posture, for he well knew that this was not the moment to ex cite the anger of the Sardar on any pretext whatever. Amouchir Khan raised the mouth-piece to his lips like a man who follows the instinct of long habit, his look settled for a moment on the glass jar of rose water, through which the smoke passes before it comes to soothe the throat luxu riously. But his eyes still had the same vacant look, his body did not move; several minutes passed thus, then his lips ceased to press the mouth-piece, his whole person seemed to sink down and his head to fall on his breast.

At last another feruche, whose special charge was the morning draught, raised the herds' (thick curtain) which hung before the door, and entering, presented to his master a cup filled with a yellow liquid, smoking hot, which the Khan seized with avidity and swallowed at a draught; then inhaling his kaleon with all the force of his lungs, he drew from it a long whiff of smoke, which curled out ofthe window like a rocket. "Allah! Ekbar!" exclaimed he, "that is nectar, Emin. I feel new life running like fire through all my limbs; what a heavenly thing is opium ! Bring me another cup, Emin, for I mean to be gay, and strong as a lion to-day." Whilst Emin rushed to the door to execute this order, the Sardar stretched out his arms, drew himself up to show the suppleness of his figure; arranged the two curls of his black hair in order to make them hang symetrically behind his ears, and set straight on his head his high cap of black Astracan fur terminating in a red cloth top, a colour which indicates that the wearer en joys a military rank.

This impromptu toilet finished, all the facul ties of life seemed to be renewed in his person. The lethargy that every Teriaki (opium eater) feels before having taken his accustomed dose disappeared as if by enchantment, his eyes lightened up with the spark half savage half cunning, which characterises the expression of a Persian. The gloominess of his countenance gave place to a loquacious gaiety, and to certain high and mighty airs, which all Persian noble men affect. The feruche who was standing before him, and who had until then maintained the most complete silence, seemed to think that the pro pitious moment had arrived, and announced to him that the Darogua of the town (head of the police) awaited his orders in the outer court. " Well, let him come in." The Darogua, who apparently had been watch ing for some time at the gate of the garden for a favorable moment to present himself, perceiving the sign the feruche made to him, advanced towards the salemlique, bowing profoundly.

A wide scarlet mantle, of which the sleeves, open from the wrist to the top of the arms, hung loosely on each side ; a cap of black astracan fur folded in a point towards the top; stockings of red cloth, a wide pantaloon of a chintz pattern stuff reaching to the ancles, slippers of light green morocco with high heels ; a robe of many colored silk fastened round the waist by a Cash mere shawl, in which were stuck a poignard and a painted and japanned inkstand — indicated one of those Mirzas, half military half civil, who govern Persia, and who are apt at one bound to climb to the highest post of either branch of ser vice, according to the degree of favour their per son may enjoy at court — where little or no count is taken of past services or future promises. This personage crossed the parterre in front of the window where sat the Sardar, advancing as slowly as possible, and bending his body from time to time, in token of the profound respect he felt for his superior.

Having reached the window where he was seated, the Darogua made a halt as if he would stop there ; but the Sardar having made him a sign with his hand he took off his green slippers, and, ascending the three steps, passed under the curtain which a feruche held raised, and found himself in the salemlique. There he prostrated himself again, crossed his caftan before him, and sunk down on his heels with an appearance of the greatest respect. A servant who followed presented to him his lighted kaleon, which he began to smoke with out uttering a word. After a pause of a few minutes, more or less long according to the degree of consideration in which the visitor is held, the Sardar addressed him. "You are welcome, Mirza Massoud; you are grave this morning as becomes a man of quality, overwhelmed with business.

As for me, I am as gay as the Dervish who invented opium — what an excellent thing it is! Mirza Massoud, there is nothing to be compared to it. How many cups do you indulge in?" " May Allah preserve your precious life, my lord !" replied the Darogua, " I am truly happy to see you in such a joyous mood this morning, for I am come to give an account to your highness of the events which took place in the town this night, and which are in truth very serious." "Serious! Mirza Massoud; and you look grave on that account. You do not know your business. Doctors must have sick people, and we governors are like the doctors. If the people never did anything wrong, and had neither vices, follies, nor quarrels, what should we poor Sardars live upon. But before we proceed, I have to in form you that to-morrow morning you must order the couron to be called before a woman whom I am going to send to Teheran.

She is a charming Circassian, whom I would have very willingly kept for myself, but I am obliged to send her as a present to our most glorious Shall for the feast of the Neu-ruz." " But, my lord," replied the Darogua, quite startled at the order the Sardar had just given him, " your highness knows well that the couron can only be called before the women belonging to the Shah. This one is not yet admitted into his harem, and should his anger — " " What nonsense you are talking there, Mirza Massoud; do you think I am such a novice? The Circassian slave I am going to send is an offering worthy of a god. No one knows better than I do the taste of our most powerful sove reign, and I warn you before hand that you may look upon her as a favorite. By my beard, you may judge yourself of the anger of the Shah, if one of these days she gives an heir to the throne, and it should be said that she traversed the whole town of Ispahan without having the couron called before her?

You might as well propose that she should arrive at Teheran unveiled, with out the scarlet mantle, and the usual suite of the ladies of the royal harem." But the Darogua, in spite of the profound re spect he professed to feel, did not seem inclined to be convinced by these words ofthe Sardar, and replied : -- My lord, this is a great responsibility you are laying on me; deign to remember that the couron is a very serious affair. My feruches are bound to kill on the spot any man who does not fly or hide himself, or who could be even suspected of having caught a glimpse of the lady's face; con sider, that the couron called in the streets of Ispahan would probably cause the death of more than one person. I dare not, my lord governor, order it, unless you agree to bear all responsibility of the consequences, with our glorious master the Shah."

" And who dares to say that the responsibility of every act in Ispahan, and in all my provinces, ever falls on any other than on me?" angrily responded the Sardar; "do you imagine that the Shah even knows of your existence, Darogua of Ispahan, chosen by me, and whom I can dis miss whenever it pleases me. Learn Mirza, if you do not already know it, that I permit no re marks on my orders — and will listen to none; when I command, you must obey, that is all." Duringthis discourse of the Sardar the Darogua dropped the mouth-piece of his kaleon, and looked like one who had received a violent blow on the head. His mind seemed absorbed in the con templation of the precipice under his feet, and he was evidently considering what was the safest course to decide on. The Sardar, who narrowly observed him, con tinued : " I shall set out myself to-morrow for Teheran, to lay my good wishes for the Neu-ruz at the feet of our most powerful monarch ; my dresses will be superb, my servants all newly equipped and well mounted.

I am sure the Shah will have much satisfaction in seeing me, and hearing all I have to tell him of my government of Ispahan. Now then, let us hear all that happened last night, which you were saying was so serious." The Darogua drew his ink horn from his sash, placed it on the ground before him, opened it, and taking out of it a rolled paper proceeded to read as follows : " The Gueber Virma is dead, and his body will be carried off this night to be exposed according to the customs of these miscreants; his son, Nourchid, does not possess a single rupee, his father not having been able to work for some time. Consequently I do not know where I shall get hold of the tax you have fixed to be paid by these dogs, for the permission to pay the last duties to their dead." " And what does it matter to me that this Nourchid does not possess a rupee," interrupted the Sardar angrily.

" Since when haveyou been such a novice in your duty, Mirza? Do you mean to insinuate that I am to put up with the loss of these ten tomauns, — is it with such affairs as this that I am to meet all the expenses I have just at present? A pretty figure I should make at the Shah's court; how the other Sardars would laugh at me. What a pleasant satisfaction for my enemies to be able to recount that I am a fool, who weeps with compassion over a Gueber. Come, come, Mirza Massoud, don't tell me such tales; you will please bring me these ten tomauns forthwith." " In that case," replied Mirza Massoud, -** I see no other way than to seize on the cow of one of these Guebers, and sell it to pay you." " That is your affair, Mirza Massoud, I have nothing to do with the ways and means. I being Khan and Sardar, of our great and powerful monarch, these vile miscreants should tremble at my anger.

Take one of their priests, and let his hair and beard be shaved if the community does not pay immediately. Moreover, I desire you to bring me this Nourchid as soon as his father has been burnt; they say he is very hand some, and I like handsome lads. Well, if he has not a roupie I will give him the charge of my falcons." " My lord," replied the Darogua, who was beginning to tremble before the rising wrath of the Sardar; "your orders are laws. To-morrow I will not fail to bring the ten tomauns for the old gueber, and to present his son before you." "Very good; proceed." " A troop of Curds, I am told belonging to the tents of the tribes encamped for some time past in this province, entered the town during the night, attacked the dwelling of the Armenian Stetick, and carried off his daughter."

" Bah !" exclaimed the Sardar — " the daugh- VOL. I, c LIFE IN THE LAiND OF ter of the Armenian Stetick ; he is a rich old man, is he not? Is his daughter handsome?" " Who can tell, my lord ; the daughters of these rich giaours are as well shut up as our own. I suppose the Curds expect to get a good ransom from the Armenian Stetick, who came to me to demand justice; and, in truth, my lord, this is a very serious affair, to enter the town of which I am the Darogua, and carry off a woman! It is a disgrace to me, and I come to request that you will order out some troops to act along with my feruches, that we may catch these brigands of Curds and punish them — we must put some check to their audacity." " Softly, softly, Mirza Massoud. This is serious indeed ; very serious. For some time past it is true these Curds have been becoming very insolent, they are dissatisfied, and threaten to quit this province to go to some other.

It would be a great loss to me, for I should lose all the dues they pay me for right of pasturage, and the tax on the horses, camels, and oxen they sell : it would be very serious to me — and this Stetick — this miscreant — this dog — why did he not take better care of his daughter? I am convinced it was his own fault if the Curds did carry her off. These Armenian women take the liberty now of wearing white caftans like Per sian ladies, instead of the striped blue and white caftans that belong to the lower classes and the Armenians : I am sure that is the cause of the anger of these Curds. It is all your fault, Mirza Massoud : why don't you keep a tighter hand over them, and see that these miscreants don't forget their own place, and a proper and becoming humility as the law orders. I must look strictly to the public tranquillity and order; you will impose a fine on this Stetick, and bring me to-morrow forty tomauns which you will make him pay: he is wealthy, and the rich must pay for their misdemeanours."

During this rambling argument, the Darogua continued to smoke his kaleon with the most unconcerned air, without saying a word, without even raising his eyes, for fear the Sardar should C LIFE IN THE LAND OF guess the most trivial of his thoughts. When the Sardar had finished speaking, he took out his reed pen, dipped it in the ink and began to write. This manœuvre having lasted some time, the Khan, waxing impatient exclaimed: "Eh! well, let us see; what more have you got to tell me ?' ' " I have caused to be taken up this morning," said Mirza Massoud, " the Caffegi Deli Achmet, because two Persians were found dead in his coffee-house. He declares he is innocent, but all criminals say the same. I have not been able to make him confess, though I threatened him; but he answered with the greatest insolence — ■ ' I am a true believer as well as yourself, Darogua, and I do not fear your threats.'" " Hola !