Through Persia by caravan

Preface

DuEiNG the summer of 1875, my wife and I left London, iiitendino; to travel thronoh Kussia and Persia. In the following chapters I have transcribed our notes, commencing at Warsaw. From Poland we passed to St. Petersburg, and from the Russian capital southward to Astrakhan. We traversed the Caspian Sea from extreme north to south, and, landing at Enzelli, rode through the whole length of Persia — a distance of more than a thousand miles. Leaving the Caspian Sea early in October, we arrived at the Persian Gulf in February. In March we were in Bombay; in April at Alexandria.

Had I chosen a Persian title for these notes of travel, I would have taken "Zil-ullah," w^hich is assumed by the two great sovereigns of the Mohammedan world. IsTazr-ed-deen, Kajar, Shah of Persia, and Abd-ul-Hamid, Sultan of Turkey, are styled, in the high official language of their own countries, ''Zil-ullah" (Shadow^s of God). In Christendom there is one sovereign, and only one, the Tsar, upon whom is imposed the awful burden of representing the ideal of wisdom, justice, mercy, and goodness.

6 PREFACE. ■

Civilization — the extension of civil rights — has taught the , Western world to look with some contempt upon this assumption of supernatural dignity. It is a pretension which is doomed to fade away, and to become extinct. It dies unlamented, because it lives by force — by withholding from mankind, or, at best, by holding in trust for mankind, 'their birthright of liberty and responsibility; never deigning to admit that the sources of its power are other

than divine.

A. A.

^ «eceiveo."*«

Chapter I

The Vistula.— Warsaw.— French Sympathies.— Partition of Poland.— Passport and Local Kegulations. — The Tliree Imperial Courts. — The Turkish Capitulations.— The Ideal Pole.— The Real Pole.— Religion in Poland.— Hotel d'Europe.— Statue of John Sobieski.— Lazienski Palace.— Russian Government. — Napoleon at Warsaw. — Grodno. — Wilna. — " Tronfolger's Namstag" Rage 17

Chapter II

Russian Railway Carriages. — Russian Ventilation. — Dunaburg. — White Sand.— Droschky Tickets.— St. Petersburg.— Exaggerated Praise.— Newski Prospekt.— The Hermitage.— Winter Palace.— St. Isaac's Church.— The Old Cathedral.— Tombs of the Romanoffs.- Down the Neva.— Cronstadt. — Droschky-driving. — The Gostinnoi Dvor. — The Kazan Church. — The Russian Language. — The Road to Moscow 29

CHAPTER IIL

Moscow. — The Native Capital of Russia. — The Kitai-Gorod. — Lubianka Street.— The Kremlin. — The Holy Gate. — The Redeemer of Smolensk. — Bell-tower of Ivan. — Church Bells.— Church of the Assumption. — Dean Stanley's Description.— The Coronation Platform.— The Virgin of Vladimir. — Corner Tombs. — The Young Demetrius. — John the Terrible. — The Tsar Kolokol.— The Foundling Hospital.— Nurses and Babies.— "Nes avant Terme." — Moral and Social Results. — Cathedral of St. Basil.— John the Idiot.— The Lobnoe Mesto.— Iverskaya Chasovnia.— How the Metropolitan is paid. — Virgin from Mount Athos. — Tsar and Patriarch. — Motto from Troitsa 3G

Chapter IV

The Road to Nijni.— Rivers Oka and Volga.— Nijni.— The Bridge of Boats.

— The Heights of Nijni. — Lopachef's Hotel. — A Famous Landscape. — Prisoners for Siberia.— Their Wives and Children. — The Great Fair. — The Last Bargains. — Caravan Tea. — Persian Merchants. — Buildings of the Fair. — GloA'es and Furs. — Russian Tea-dealers. — Mosque at Nijni, — Sliows and Theatres. — Russia vs. Free Trade. — Russian Hardware. — Articles de Paris.— Melons and Grapes. — The Governor's Palace. — Picturesque Nijni Page 50

CHAPTER Y.

Leaving Nijni. — The Isarevna Marie. — Tickets for Two Thousand Miles. — Our Fellow-passengers. — The Alexander II. — Kazan. — Mohammedans in Russia. — Our Lady of Kazan. — "No Sheets!" — Oriental Cleanliness. — Prussian Climate and Clothing. — Orientalism in Russia. — Persian Prayers. — A Shi'ah's Devotions. — Shallowness of the Volga. — The River Kama. — Hills about Simbirsk. — Samara. — Mare's-milk Cure. — Volsk. — Saratof. — Tartar Population. — Prisoners for the Caucasus Tsaritzin. — Sarepta. — Gingerbread and Mustard. — Chorney Yar. — A Peasant Mayor. — Tartar Fishermen. — Astrakhan. — Mouths of the Volga. — Raising Level of the Caspian 63

CHAPTER VL

Louis XIV. and the Tsar. — Russian Church and State. — Empress Anne's Buffoon. — Prayers for the Tsar. — The Russian Press. — Censorship. — Press Regulations. — The Moscow' Gazette. — Difficulties of Journalists. — The Wjedomosti. — The Russki Mir. — Russia not Russian. — Foreign Races. — New Military System. — The Emancipation of the Serfs. — The Communal System. — Bad Farming. — Ignorance of the Peasantry. — The Corn Trade. — Complaints from Odessa. — Resurrection of Sebastopol. — Corn from Russia and the United States. — The Artel of Odessa. — Demands of Odessa Merchants. — A Viceroy w^anted. — English Interests in Russian Corn. — The Soil of Russia. — The Conquests of Russia. — Contrast with Persia. — Borrowed Money. — Unprofitable Railways. — Revenue of Russia. — Produce of Poll-tax. — Privileged Citizens 80

CHAPTER VIL

The Delta of the Volga. — Persian Passengers. — The Constaniine. — Petrovsk. — Derbent. — "Le Feu l^ternel." — Persian Merchandise. — Persian Clothing. — A Colored Deck-load. — Russian Trio of Spirits. — "Un Knut Russe." — Baku, — "Dominique." — Dust of Baku. — The Khan of Baku. — The Maiden's Tower.— Russian Naval Station. — Petrolia in Asia. — Baku

Oil-carts. — The Petroleum Wells. — Kalafy Company. — Eire-worship. — Parsees and Persians. — The Indian Priest. — The Surakhani Temple. — Manufiicture of Petroleum Page 99

Chapter VI 1 1

Bathing in the Caspian.— The Way to Europe.— A Tarantas.— The Baku Club. — Mihailovski Gardens. — Leaving Baku. — Lenkoran. — Astara. — Petroleum on Deck. — Enzelli. — Persian Boatmen. — Mr. Consul Churchill, C.B. — Enzelli Custom-house. — Sadr Azem's Konak. — The Shah's Yacht, — Lake of Enzelli. — Peri-bazaar. — Province of Ghilan. — Eesht. — Bazaar and "Gieen." — Women of Persia. — Their Street Costume.— Shopping in Bazaar. — Riding in Persia. — Chapar and Caravan. ^Kerjavas. — A Takht-i-rawan. — Leaving Resht. — Charvodars and Gholams. — Lucky and Unlucky Days.— Whips of Iron.—" UUah."— The Bell Mule. — Houssein Mounted. — The First Station. — Our Camp Kitchen. — A Mud

Hovel ; iia

CHAPTER IX.

The Month Ramadan, — Mohammed's First Wife. — Ramadan in the Koran. — The Nocturnal Kalian. — Loading Up. — A Persian Landlord. — Persian Money : Tomans, Krans, and Shihees. — Counting Money. — Persian Mints. -^Rich Provinces. — Kudem. — Chapar-khanah. — Bala-khanah. — Constructed to Smoke. — Caravanserais. — Unfurnished Apartments. — Our Bell-mule, — A Traveled Khan, — The Safid-Rud. — Rustemabad. — Village of Rhudbar. — Parchenar. — Khan offers his Tree, — A Night in the Open. —Mistaken for aThief.— "The Bells !"— Camels in the Path 132

CHAPTER X.

How Hills are Made. — Kharzan. — Mazara, — A Persian Village. — John Milton and Casbeen. — The Plain of Kasveen. — The Mirage. — Gardens of Kasveen.— Dervishes. — Decay of Kasveen. — A Persian Town. — Women of Kasveen. — Persian Costumes.— "Allahu Akbar." — Mosque of Kasveen. — Telegram from Teheran. — Visit to the Khan. — His Love Affairs. — Lost in Kasveen, — Abdulabad,— An Alarm and an Arrival. — " Gosrozink," — Native Plows,— On to Karij,— Lodged in the Shah's Palace.— The Imperial Saloon. — An Imperial Bedroom. — Approach to Teheran. — Population of the Capital,— The Kasveen Gate,— Mud Houses and Walls, —The Imperial Theatre.— Entrance to the "Arg."— Neglect of Public

- Works. — British Legation, — Mirza Houssein Khan. — Teheran Bazaar. —

Caravanserai Ameer ...148

1*

CHAPTER Xr.

Teheran. — Street of the Foreign Envoys. — The British Minister. — Lanterns of Ceremony. — The EngUsh in Telieran. — The Shah's Palace. — Mirza Houssein Khan. — The Sipar Sahn-. — An Oriental Minister. — Persian Corruption. — Mirza Houssein Khan's Policy. — His Retinue. — Brigandage in Persia, — Saloon of Audience. — The Jeweled Globe. — The Shah's Throne. — The Old Hall. — Persians and the Alhambra. — The Shah receiving Homage. — Rustem and the White Devil. — Reports in Teheran. — The English Courier. — Character of Persian Government. — The Green Drawing-room. — The Shah's Album. — Persians and Patriots. — The Shah's Jewels.— The "Sea of Light" Page 168

CHAPTER XIL

The Shah. — The Kajar Dynasty. — Boxes of Justice. — Persian Soldiers. — Their Drill and Pay. — Military Supper in Ramadan. — Jehungur Khan. — The Shah's Presents. — Zoological Garden. — View from Teheran. — Demavend. — Persian Fever. — Persian Honesty. — Europeans and Persians. — Caps and Galoches. — A Paper War. — The Ottoman Embassy. — A British Complaint. — A Turkish Atrocity. — Persian Window Law. — English in Bazaars. — The Indo-European Telegraph Stations in Persia. — The English Clergyman in Persia 183

CHAPTER XIIL

Teheran. — Snow in November.— Our Servant, Kazem. — Getting a Takht-irawan. — Abdullah, the Carpenter. — Preparing for the Road. — A Charvodar's "Beard." — Black Monday. — Trying the Takht-i-rawan. — Loading the Caravan. — Servant's Merchandise. — ^^ Zood! Zood .'" — Leaving Teheran.— The Road to Ispahan. — Seeing the Khanoum. — Shah Abd-ul-Azim. — Moollahs on the Road. — On to Kinaragird. — The Great Salt Desert. — Pul-i-delak. — A Salt River. — A Negro Dervish. — Salt-water Soup. — A Windy Lodging 195

CHAPTER XIV.

Koom. — Approach to the Holy City. — The Golden Dome. — Koom Bazaar. — The Governor's Procession. — The Itizad-el-Dowleh. — Mirza Teki Khan. — Disgraced by the Shah. — Order for his Assassination. — The Shah's Contrition. — A Visit to the Governor. — A Coat of Honor. — Pipes of Ceremony. — Mesjid-i-Juma. — Tomb of Feth-Ali-Shah. — The Shrine of Fatima. — A Pretended Pilgrim. — Reception at the Mosque. —

Not allowed to Enter. — A Temperance City. — Takht-i-rawan in Bazaar. — The Koad to Sin-sin. — View from the Chapar-khanah Page 208

CHAPTER XV.

Kashan. — Visit to the Governor. — Kashan Bazaar. — The Governor's House. — The Governor on Railways. — Tea, Pipes, and Sherbet. — A Ride round Kashan. — A House pulled down. — Present fiom the Governor. — Presents from Servants. — Manna. — Leaving Kashan. — Gabrabad. — Up the Mountains. — A Robber Haunt. — Kuhrud. — In the Snow. — A Persian Interior. — A Welcome Visitor. — Kazem as a Cook. — The Takht-i-rawan Frozen. — Pass of Kuhrud. — Soh. — "The Blue Man.'' — Beauties of the Road. — Province of Ispahan. — Moot-i-Khoor. — Ispahan Melons. — Village of Gez 222

CHAPTER XVI.

Ispahan. — Approach by Road. — Suburbs of Ispahan. — A Ragged Bazaar. — Departed Greatness. — The Grand Avenue. — The Great Madrassee, — Eiver Zayinderud. — Pipes on the Bridge. — Djulfa-by-Ispahan. — Russia and the Armenians. — Gate of Djulfa. — The English Missionary. — Mr. Bruce's House. — Armenian Women. — The British Agent. — Church Missionary School. — Armenian Priests. — Enemies of the School. — Visit to the Governor. — The Prince's Carriage. — "The Forty Columns." — The Prince's Anderoon. — The Shah's Eldest Son. — His Estimate of the Army. — Zil-i-Sultan. — His Hope and Fears. — His Court at Ispahan. — His Carte-de-Visite. — The Princess's Costume 238

CHAPTER XVII.

The Zil-i-Sultan. — Order about the School. — Not Responsible for Murder. — Telegraph to Teheran. — Reports and Rumors. — Excitement in Djulfa. — Closing the British School. — Relapse of Fever. — Letter from the Prince. — Persian Compliments. — Prescriptions by Telegraphs. — A Persian Doctor. — Persian Medical Treatment. — Persian Leeches. — The Prince's Hakim. — His Letter of Introduction. — His Newspaper and Autobiography. —The Prince and the Province.— A Son of a Moollah.— "The Sticks." — How Punishment is Given. — A Snow Torture. — A Persian Dinner-party. — Before Dinner. — An Englishman's Legs. — A Great Klian. — The First Course. — Les Pieces de Resistance. — Going Home 256

CHAPTER XVIIL Ispahan. — Zil-i-Sultan and the British School. — Church Missionary Society.

— ^The "Crown of Islam." — A Ride tlirough Ispahan. — The Meidun.— Runaway Horses m Bazaar. — "Embassador Lilies." — New-year's-eve. — Severe Cold, — Sufferings of the Poor. — A Supper in Ispahan. — Kerbela and Nedjif. — Houssein and Ali, — Imam Juma's Court. — Confiscation of Christians' Property. — Bab and Babis. — Execution of Bab.— Attempted Assassination of the Shah. — Punishment of the Conspirators, — Revenge of the Koran. — Bab and Behar. — The Followers of Behar ..Page 271

CHAPTER XIX.

Getting out of Persia. — Northern and Southern Roads. — Advantage of Russia. — Russian Goods in Persia. — English Interests in Persia. — Mr, Mackenzie's Plan. — Navigation of the Karun River.^Erom Ispahan to Shuster, — A Subsidy required. — Price of Wheat. — East India Company's Surve3^ — Letter to Lord Derby. — Baron Reuter's Concession. — Traffic in Persia. — Mules and Railways. — Difficulties of Construction. — Intercourse between Towns. — Estimates of Population. — Traveling in Persia. — Mountain Scenery. — Plains covered Avith Snow. — Persia and "The Arabian Nights." — No Old Men. — The Lady and the House, — The Greatest Power in Persia 281

CHAPTER XX.

Leaving Ispahan. — "The Farewell" Hill. — Opium Manufacture. — The Telegraph Superintendent, — Punishing a Servant. — Khadji Josef's Tea-part}-. — Marg. — Kum-i-Shah, — The Baggage lost, — Neither Ispahan nor Shiraz. — Ahminabad. — English Doctor robbed, — Doubt and Danger, — Yezdikhast, — A Vaulted Chamber, — A Black Vault. — Telegram from Shiraz.— The Abadeh Istikbal. — A Traveling Pipe. — Display of Horsemanship. — Abadeh. — The Governor's Present. — Bread from Teheran. — Letter from Abadeh. — An 111 -looking Escort. — Khanikora. — Miserable Lodging, — Soldiers refuse to March. — Up the Mountains, — Houssein Khan. — Dehbid. — Shooting Foxes, — Khanikergan, — Meshed - i -Murghaub, — Robbers

- about. — Persian Justice. — Tofanghees 292

CHAPTER XXL

Classic Persia, — The Tomb of Cyrus. — Date of the Ruins, — Passargardas, — Columns of Cyrus's Tomb, — Color of Ruins, — Neglected by Persians, — Kawamabad, — Takht-i-rawan in Danger, — Houssein Khan and the Sheep, — Village of Sidoon, — Ruins of Istakr, — Situation of Persepolis. — Araxes or Bendemeer. — Staircase at Persepolis. — Darius and Xerxes, —

. Cuneiform Inscriptions. — Study of Cuneiform..— Cin-onology of Assyria. —

Great Hall of Xerxes. — The Persepolitan Lion. — Hall of a Hundred Columns. — Professor llawlinson on the Ruins. — Tomb of Darius. — "The Great God Ormazd." — The Bringer of Evil. — Dios and Devils. — Errors in Religion and Art. — Pedigree of Architecture. — Persians, Medes, and Greeks, — Origin of Ionic Architecture. — Leaving Persepolis. — Plain of Merodasht Page 3U

CHAPTER XXIL

Kinara. — A Family House. — A Troublesome Cat. — Houssein Khan and the Sheep. — Soldiers and their Debtors. — Zergaii. — Persian Scenery. — A Persian Funeral. — Zergan to Shiraz. — Pass of Allahu Akbar. — Snow-storm at Shiraz. — The English Doctor. — Gate of Shiraz. — AGood Persian House. — A Present from Firman Firma. — Letter from His Excellency. — A Dervish at the Gate. — Meidan of Shiraz. — Visit to Firman Firma. — Widow of Teki Khan.- — Firman Firma's Character. — Poverty of Persia.— Passion-play in Mohurrem. — Bazaar of Shiraz. — Tomb of Hafiz. — Odes inscrihed on Tomb. — Translation of Hafiz. — The New Garden. — Tea in an Ima-

^ CHAPTER XXIIL

Literature of Persia. — Hafiz and Sa'di. — Contemporary of Dante. — Mr. BicknelFs Translation of Hafiz. — Consulting Hafiz as an ()i-acle. — Nadir Shah and Hafiz. — Hafiz's Fragments.— " Tetrastichs " of Hafiz. — Sa'di's

. "Bustan."—Sa'di's "Gulistan." — Extracts from " Gulistan." — Sa'di's "Wit and Wisdom. — Gardens of Shiraz. — Slaves and Slave-brokers. — English Surgeons and Persian Patients. — Influence of Russia. — Mr. Thom- •son and Mr. Bruce. — Indo-Persian Telegraph. — Major Champain's Reports. — A View of the Neighbors. — Persian Homes. — Government of Shiraz. — Eeliats in Ears. — Attack on a Caravan. — A Vengeful Government. — Cruel Execution of Robbers. — Firman Firma superseded. — Taxation in Persia. — The Shah and Shiraz 35ii

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Road to Bushire. — Yahia Khan's Portrait. — To Cinerada. — Last View of Shiraz. — Difficult Traveling. — Khan-i-Zonoon. — A Caravan in Trouble. — A Cold Caravanserai. — Murder of Sergeant Collins. — Death of Sergeant M'Leod. — Advantage of an Escort. — Dashtiarjan. — " Eaten a Bullet." — Plain of Dashtiarjan. — Ghooloo-Kojeh Pass. — A Lion in the Path. — Mr. Blanford's "Interview." — Up a Tree. — Wounded Horse. — Kaleh-

- Mushir. — Mount Perizan. — Kotul Perizan. — View of Mian-kotuI 372

CHAPTER XXV.

Mian - kotul Caravanserai. — Tofangbees on Guard. — Feuds between Villagers. — Kotul Uocbter. — Traveling ontbe Kotul. — Tbe Musbir-el-Mulk. — Lake Eamoor, — Encampment of Eeliats. — Ruins of Ancient Persia. — ■ Plain of Kazeroon. — Songs of Persian Soldiers. — Kazeroon. — Anniversary of Houssein's Deatb. — "Ab, Houssein!" — Fanatical Exercises. — Orange Gardens. — Tbe Sbeik of Kazeroon. — Plain of Kazeroon. — Attack on Major Napier's Caravan. — Village of Kamaridj. — Plain of Kban-i-Takbte. — Hospitality in Persia. — Kotul Maloo. — A Difficult Patb. — Daliki River. — Arabs in Persia. — Palm-leaf Huts. — A Loop-boled Bedroom. — Petroleum at Daliki. — Barasjoon. — Rifle Practice, — Indian Officers in Persia. — Functions of Political Resident. — Sowars from Busbire. — Caravanserai at Ahmedy. — Arrival of Captain Eraser. — Tbe Masbillab. — A Wet Day's Ride.— Busbire Page 387

CHAPTER XXVI.

Busbire. — Tbe Residency. — Arab Towers and Wooden "Guns." — Government in Persian Gulf. — Tbe Arabian Sbore. — Arabs and Arabs. — Tbe Sultan's Power in Arabia. — Oman and tbe Ibadbis. — Pilgrims to Mecca. — Destiny of Rotten Steamsbips. — Pilgrims' Coffins. — Six Hundred Arabs Drowned. — Persian Land Revenue. — Collecting Customs Duties. — Trade and Population. — Commerce of Busbire. — Cultivation of Opium. — Opium and Cereals. — Export of Opium. — Britisb Expedition in 1857. — Occupation of Persia. — Persian Army in 1857. — Interests of England. — Tbe Indo-Persian Telegrapb. — Persia Ripe for Conquest. — Persia and India 406

CHAPTER XXVII.

Tbe Province of Ears. — Memorandum by Colonel Ross. — Boundaries of Ears. — Government of Ears. — Six First-class Governments. — Tbe Districts of Busbire. — Karagasb River.— Eeliats. — Xomad Tribes of Ears. — Numbers of tlie Tribes. — Eel-Kbanee and Eel-Begee. — Cbief Routes in Ears. — Taxation and Revenue. — A Revenue Survey 421

CHAPTER XXVI IL

Britisb India Steam Navigation Company. — Crew of tbe Euphrates. — Pilgrims in Difficulty. — Streets of Busbire. — German Arcbceological Expedition. — Sermons in Bricks. — Leaving Busbire. — Slaveiy in tbe Persian Gulf. — Fugitive- slave Circulars. — Tbe Parsee Engineer's Evidence. —

Ships searched for Slaves. — Pearl-fisheries of Bahrein. — Anglo -Turkish Ideas. — Lingah in Laristan. — Bunder-Abbas. — Landing at Cape Jahsk. ■ — "Pegs " and Pale Clerks. — A Master Mariner's Grievance. — The End of Persia. — Coast of Beloochistan. — Shooting Sleeping Turtles. — Harbor of Kurrachee. — Kurrachee Boat-wallahs. — The Orthodox Scinde Hat.— Faults of Indian Society. — English Ladies in India. — Intercourse Avith Natives. — Unmannerly Englishmen. — Exceptional Behavior Page 428

CHAPTER XXIX.

Bombay. — The Serapis in Harbor. — Suburbs of Bombay. — Parsee Dead.— Towers of Silence. — Hindoo Cremation -ground. — Cotton Manufacture in India. — Report of Indian Commission. — Neglect of Indian Government. — A Bombay Cotton Pactory. — Hours of Factory Labor. — Seven Weeks' Work. — Natives of India. — Expenditure of Indian Government. — The Great Absentee Landlord. — Grievance of Cultivators. — Their Enemies, the Money-lenders. — English and Native Equity. — The Suez Canal. — Landing at Ismailia. — English at the Pyramids. — Alexandria. — "Cleopatra's Needle." — Proposed Removal to England. — Condition of the Obelisk. — Recent Excavation. — Captain Methven's Plan. — Removal in an Iron Vessel. — Cost of Removal. — Egypt and the Khedive. — Preparing for Mr. Cave. — Sham Civilization.— The Horse- trampling Ceremony. — English en voyage. — Egypt and Persia. — Customs Officers at Alexandria. — Egypt and Turkey 443

CHAPTER XXX.

"From the Levant." — Sunnis and Shi'ahs. — Turkish Government and Turkish Debt.— Fuad and Midhat Pashas.— Not a "Sick Man."— "Best Police of the Bosphorus." — Religious Sanction for Decrees. — The Council of State. — " Qui est-ce qu'on trompe ?" — Murad and Hamid. — Error of the West. — Precepts of the Cheri.-r-Authority of the Sultan. — Non-Mussulman Population. — Abd-ul-Hamid's Ilatt. — A Foreign Garrison. — Hatt-yhoumayoun of 1856. — Failure of Pronuses. — Fetva of Sheik-ul-Islam. — Non-Mussulmans and the Army. — Firman of December, 1875. — Sir Henry Elliot and the Porte. — Conscription in Turkey 458

CHAPTER XXXI.

Islam in Persia. — Mohammedans of India. — Ali of the Shi'ahs. — Abu-Bekr Successor of Mohammed.— Imams of the Shi'ahs.— Reza and Mehdee.— Religion in the East. — Mohammed as a Soldier. — War with Infidels.— Christianity of the Middle Ages.— Stretching the Koran.— Mohammed's

Marriage Law. — Status of Mohammedan Women. — Women and Civilization. — Special Privilege of INIoliammed. — Mormonism and Mohammedan- ' ism. — Consequences of Polygamy. — Protection of Polygamy. — Mohammed and Ayesha.- — ^^Scandal silenced by the Koran. — Mohammed's Domestic Difficulty. — Law for Men and Women. — Women in Mohammed's Heaven. — The Mohammedan Paradise. — Mohammed and the Jews. — Birth of Christ in the Koran. — Miracles of Christ. — English Leaning to Islam. — Mohammedanism and Christianity. — Christians of the East. — Moslem Intemperance. — Wine and the Koran. — Superiority of Christianity Page 471 aABt

THROUGH PERSIA BY CARAYAN.

Chapter I

The Vistula. — Warsaw. — French Sympathies. — Partition of Poland. — Passport and Local Kegulations. — The Three Imperial Courts. — The Turkish Capitulations. — The Ideal Pole. — The Eeal Pole. — Religion in Poland. — Hotel d'Europe. — Statue of John Sobieski. — Lazienski Palace. — Russian Government. — Napoleon at "Warsaw. — Grodno. — Wilna. — " Tronfolger's Namstag."

By the waters of the. Vistula we sat down and talked of the historical wrongs of Poland. We were on the lower bank of the river, near where the bridge of latticed iron connects the suburb of Praga with the city of Warsaw. From this point of view the situation of the capital of Russian Poland is jDicturesque. It was a beautiful evening in September of last year, and the rays of the setting sun gilded the stately lines of the palace, once that of Poniatowski, which stands from fifty to a hundred feet above the level of the water. The queer old houses of one of the most ancient parts of Warsaw are scattered on the slope, and the background is filled with yet higher objects — the lofty roofs, towers, and spires of Polish churches, and the five golden cupolas of the Russian Cathedral.

Rafts of pine timber, cargoes of ruddy apples and dark-green melons, float before us; the river has nearly the width of the Thames at Putney, but nowhere the beauty of our

18 THKOUGH PEESIA BY CARAVAN.

metropolitan stream; it comes to where we sit, visible afar in its course through flat, sandy lands, a silvery streak ; and as we mount the rising ground into Warsaw, we can trace its flow, burnished by the dying sunlight, as it passes away through a country equally destitute of charms or of high cultivation.

Arrived at the top of the slope leading to the bridge, w^e are in the principal street of ^yarsaw, which, indeed, in its entire length is composed of two streets — the Krakowski Przedraiesci, or Faubourg de Cracovie, as the French-loving people of Warsaw call it, and the Nowy Swiat, or Rue de ISTouveau Monde, as the more fashionable shop-keepers at once inform any stranger. There must be thousands of people in Warsaw who would be glad to see the defeat of Sedan and the annexation of Metz avenged and reversed. There is an air as well as a natural gayety in the manner of the people w^hich makes one almost ready to forget that the broad expanse of the German Empire lies between this city and France, to which, of all foreign lands, the Polish sympathies are given. With the exception of the tram-way cars, which look like English second-class railway carriages, the vehicles have caught this gay and lively air. The queer-shaped omnibuses, like a landau and small omnibus pressed together, are as bright as red and yellow can make them. Occasionally one sees dashing through the crowd the equipage of some Russian official, the flat-capped and petticoated driver holding the reins d la Hiisse, one in each hand, steering his fasttrotting horses with marvelous skill and address, and with no need of whip.

There are some populations which it seems impossible to fancy as living in apparent happiness and gayety together with their conquerors. For my own part, I can imagine the Battle of Dorking a reality, and conceive the occupation of London by foreign soldiery ; but I can not picture to myself

WAESAW. 1 9

holiday-making Londoners in the Tower of London by permission of aUen sentries, nor merry parties on the hills of Hampstead and Sydenham and Muswell cracking nuts and jokes as they looked down upon London, the prey of a foreign foe. I can better frame for the mind's eye the debonair populace of Paris disporting in the Bois, under the guardianship of Germans, than Berliners happy in the Thiergarten, while the Unter den Linden was patrolled by French. The Italians would be lighter-hearted in such circumstances, and the Poles exhibit their affinity of race by all that the traveler sees in Warsaw.

The partition of Poland is now something more than an accomplished fact — it is part of the settled distribution of the Continent of Europe. Nearly a hundred years have passed away since " Freedom shrieked " at the fall of Kosciusko and of Warsaw. Generations have matured to which the independence of Poland is but a dim tradition — generations which have followed the road to comfort and prosperity, by subservience to the Russian power. Yet the rule of Russia has been harsh, and there has been no disposition, at least until the last few years, to conceal the character of the claim by right of which Russia rules in Warsaw. The insurrection of fourteen years ago is outw^ardly forgotten, yet in many a Polish heart there must be rankling memory of the cruel time when the ferocious tyranny of the Russian General Mouravieff evoked remonstrance from England. The older rebellions are commemorated in Warsaw. The insolence of conquest could not look more grim than in the blunt and stunted obelisk, supported on lions, which was erected in 1841 upon the Saski Place, in memory of the "loyal" Poles and of " their fidelity to their sovereign."

We have been visitors in Paris and in Rome during a state of siege ; but when the Germans were at St. Denis, and the army of Versailles at Neuilly — when Garibaldi was in arms at Mentana, and the newly invented Chassepot had ^\fait tnerveille " upon the bodies of men which were yet unbnried, it was easier to enter or quit either of those cities than it is to find acceptance in time of jjeace as a visitor in Warsaw. Tlie penalties are dreadful for those who receive a stranger without at once giving notice to the police of his country and Ins quality. Xo hotel exists without a i:)assport bureau ; and travelers are not " ushered," as reporters say, into their apartments, but are rather " interned " to await, on Polish food, the good jileasure of the Russian police as to their liberty within the city, and the time of their departure. If their joassports do not bear the vise of the Russian Legation in their country, they will be required to spend a good deal of time in a shuttlecock existence between the police-office and their hotel. They will be teased with formalities, which of course a welliuforraed conspirator would easily avoid.

lu fact, the inhabitants, temjDorary and resident, of Warsaw live in a fortress, under special license from the police and the governor -general. One notices in the streets that not only for convenience, but " by order," every shop-keeper must inscribe in Russian whatever name and business he chooses to set up in the native language. If on the right hand of his shop-window^ he writes, in the letters which are common to most of the languages of Europe, "Konicz, Tailleur, Chapeaux de Paris, la Derniere Mode, Style Elegante," he must on the left side, or elsewhere, communicate to all whom it may concern the same announcement in the semi-barbarous characters of the Russian language. One is everywhere reminded that Warsaw is Russian, not Polish ; that Russian soldiers form the garrison ; that Russian is the official language ; that the Russo-Greek Church imparts the official religion of this essentially Roman Catholic Poland. There Avould be little, perhaps, to recall to mind the fact that here is a suppressed nationality, were not the vital difference of