for his embassy; but if one of them was to conciliate the Persians, and to impress on their minds a just and accurate notion of the power and character of the British nation, no embassy could possibly be attended with more complete success. One embassy had already preceded this, but the principles on which it was conducted were so different, as to make the Persians doubt whether both could come from the same nation.

The success with which Major Malcolm's embassy is universally supposed to have terminated, may be in a great manner attributed to his transacting every thing himself; to his being capable of conversing alike with the peasant and the king; and to his rejecting the intervention of Persian or Indian agency. It requires, perhaps, firmness and resolution to withstand importunity, and to dispense with the services of a useful and able man; yet how satisfactory must be the reflection, that what credit is gained is enjoyed alone, not to be participated with an acknowledged agent. It is a dangerous attempt to employ a native in any other line than his duty; it excites hopes we do not mean to gratify; he is supposed to have an influence he possibly does not possess; and if he has an opportunity of being long useful, he gradually acquires an ascendancy we do not ourselves observe. At best it is a system full of hazard; and it must be admitted, that is a system which may blast the fairest character, and ruin the brightest hopes. Where conciliation is necessary, or where we wish to inspire confidence, the intervention of natives must necessarily defeat our views; it cuts off all kind of intercourse with the inferior classes of people; it is a constant source of suspicion and distrust to those who are entrusted with the affairs of government, and who, of course, will leave no means untried to induce the agent to disclose the secrets of his master.

It is to an observance of a contrary system, that I would attribute the wonderful impression which has been made on the Persians in

favour of the English character; an impression which bears honourable testimony to the merits of those into whose hands the embassy was committed, and which cannot fail of proving highly satisfactory to the British nation. The Persians were astonished at the information, courtesy, and generosity of the Europeans who had appeared amongst them, so different from what they had observed in their intercourse with the Russians on the borders of the Caspian Sea. But they were more particularly astonished at the knowledge every one appeared to possess of their manners and country; for the Persians are not very inquisitive, and seldom trouble themselves with the history of foreign states. I should not forget to remark, that another subject of surprise was, the embassy not being composed of merchants, who are recorded, in the Shah Ubas Namu, to be the only people who visited Persia.*

Nothing further can be said of this embassy than that its departure was viewed with regret, and that another is most anxiously wished for by every description of people. I do not think that time is likely to efface the impression it has made in Persia, or that any foreign power will supplant us in the esteem and regard of the Persian nation. The Persians have at length learnt, that although we are not Mooslims, we possess more information than themselves; and that though we are rich and powerful, we are not a nation of merchants.

* See Tavernier's account of the French embassy.

I beg this may not be misunderstood. The Persians have had little intercourse with Europeans; the little they have had has been with merchants, and they therefore concluded we were all so. However respectable they might be as men, they could give the Persians no notion. of our resources and power; they might give just accounts, but the Persians would doubt until their senses convinced them of the truth of what they had heard.

CHAPTER IV.

Departure for Sheeraz—Dih Hushm—bad Swamp-Revenue—Birasgoon-Stream impregnated with Naphta-Pits-bad Roadbeautiful Views-two Hill Forts-large Town of Dires in ruinscurious' Custom-Ice and Snow-Appearance of the MountainsFort belonging to the Jews-City of Kazroon.

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ON On the 7th of June I set off for Sheeraz, in company with a Qafilu, or caravan, consisting of twenty mules. We arrived at our MunzilGah (halting place) before day break, the distance being four Fursukh. I need hardly observe, that the Fursukh is the ancient Parasanga, and is, according to the Persians, twelve thousand paces, perhaps four miles and three quarters. Chughaduk, our Munzil-Gah, has obtained the rank of Hushm, from possessing a few sheep and fowls; as all villages which have neither cows, sheep, nor fowls, are denominated Dihs. I could not help observing the excellence of our mules, being far superior to any I had seen, and carrying a greater weight than I could have supposed it possible for the animal to carry; the regulated weight is 40 Muni Tubreez,† or 280lbs. and the marches in Persia are from twenty to fifty miles.

* Mr. Greaves makes it three miles, but almost every author uses his own standard.

In a short paper published at Calcutta, I ventured to suspect the correctness of Colonel Dow's translation of the word Mun (Maund), which he says is never less than thirty-seven pounds. I have now no doubt of the justice of this suspicion. Ferishtu, Colonel Dow's authority, derives his information from Arabian and Persian historians, where the Mun never could signify more than from one to seven pounds. Shurfood Deen Ulee, in his History of Timoor, uses the Arabic Mun, weighing from one to three pounds. The account which Colonel Dow gives of the riches found in India by Mahmood, particularly at Somnat, exceeds all kind of belief; my supposition on the contrary, brings it within the verge of possibility.

Our road was tolerably good for the first four miles, but afterwards we had to cross an arm of the sea, which was almost a quicksand. The slightest deviation from the accustomed track, at particular seasons, is inevitable destruction; we contrived to lose the road, but the mules, being left to themselves, soon found the direct path. The governor of Bushire has often intended to render this road safe and passable; he has, however, refrained, from a notion that it was an insurmountable barrier against an enemy; and that, although he were to overcome this difficulty, it would, at any rate, afford him sufficient time to run away. He has more than once proved the justness of his predictions. When Hoosun Qoolee Khan, the brother of the present king, rebelled, and came against Bushire, Sheikh Nasir was determined to signalise himself by a gallant defence of the town; a few pieces of cannon, dug out of the ruins at Reeshire, were filled nearly full of powder, and crammed up to the mouth with stones; these were fired, as often as safety would admit, for two days before the enemy could hear the report: this was to convince Hoosun Qoolee Khan that he was to expect a vigorous defence; the Sheikh's courage, however, left him on the approach of about fifty horsemen, and he precipitately fled on board a vessel which he had prepared for the purpose.

The method of collecting the revenue in this part of the country, and I believe wherever the land is not watered from wells, is of a very singular nature. A cultivator of land pays a rent for all the horses, asses, or oxen he may keep for ploughing; for the former twelve Qooroosh, about twenty shillings a year, and for the latter six Qooroosh or Piastres. The land in the Gurmseer is the property of the government, who may call upon the cultivator for any delicacy or rarity he may possess, in addition to this regulated land rent.* The Sheikh of Bushire farms these rents from government,

* Very different opinions are entertained of the nature of landed property in India. If two gentlemen, who resided many years in India, and whose industry was as conspicuous as their

and for which he pays four thousand Toomans, or as many guineas. This is supposed to be very low; but the presents, which he is obliged to make to the governor of Sheeraz, more than doubles that sum.

Near our Munzil-Gah were the ruins of two forts, one of them built by Sheikh Nasir, father to the Sheikh of Bushire. They never could have been of much strength; the one built by Sheikh Nusir was destroyed by the people of Tungisteer, shortly after he was defeated by Loot Ulee Khan. Our route was N. N. E. thermometer 98, 104.

8th. We left our ground about eight, and reached our MunzilGah by six the next morning, the distance being eight Fursukhs, The road was good, and on the left and right we saw a number of villages. Birasgoon is a very large village, surrounded by a wall, and carries on a considerable trade in cotton, wheat, barley, and tobacco with Bushire. To-day (9th) it was exceedingly warm, and the air from the hills excessively hot. Route N. by E. thermometer 102-4.

9th. We quitted our halting ground about eleven at night, and immediately began to ascend the hills over bad and rocky ground. We crossed a narrow stream so strongly saturated with naphtha, that at the distance of at least a mile we were sensible of a most offensive stench. Our Munzil-Gah was at Dalikee (four Fursukhs), abounding in gardens of date trees, which afford a slight degree of shelter from the scorching rays of the sun. To the southward of the town are several springs of warm water, and to the north-east a small stream, where I would advise all travellers to encamp, as the intense heat of the plain obliged us to strike our tents. This stream issues from a cleft at the bottom of a hill, and affords excellent

abilities were eminent, could not leave this subject beyond dispute, it surely is not likely to be determined by persons who labour under a variety of disadvantages. In Persia the matter is beyond dispute; land may be sold and purchased by every class of people.

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