CHAP. II. AUTHOR PERSISTS IN HIS ADVENTURE.

39

and incapable of reflection. In vain did men try to persuade me that the mask they bore alone prevented me from perceiving the real depravity of my new associates; in vain did they seek to deter me by the unfortunate fate of Conolly, Stoddart, and Moorcroft, with the more recent mishaps of Blôcqueville, who fell into the hands of the Turkomans, and who was only redeemed from slavery by the payment of 10,000 ducats their cases I only regarded as accidental, and they inspired me with little apprehension. I had only one misgiving, whether I had enough physical strength to endure the hardships arising from the elements, unaccustomed food, bad clothing, without the shelter of a roof, and without any change of attire by night; and how then should I, with my lameness, be able to journey on foot-I, who was liable to be tired so soon? and here for me was the chief hazard and risk of my adventure. Need I say which side in this mental struggle gained the victory?

The evening previous I bade adieu to my friends at the Turkish embassy; the secret of the journey was intrusted but to two; and whereas the European residents believed I was going to Meshed, I left Teheran to continue my course in the direction of Astrabad and the Caspian Sea.

CHAPTER III.

DEPARTURE FROM TEHERAN IN A NORTHEASTERLY DIRECTION.-THE COMPONENT MEMBERS OF THE CARAVAN DESCRIBED.-ILL FEELING OF SHIITES TOWARD THE SUNNITISH HADJIS.-MAZENDRAN.-ZIRAB.-HEFTEN.-TIGERS AND JACKALS.-SARI-KARATEPE.

"Beyond the Caspian's iron gates."-Moore.

On the morning of the 28th of March, 1863, at an early hour, I proceeded to our appointed rendezvous, the caravanserai. Those of my friends whose means permitted them to hire a mule or an ass as far as the Persian frontiers were ready booted and spurred for their journey; those who had to toil forward on foot had on already their jaruk (a covering for the feet appropriate for infantry), and seemed, with their datewood staves in their hands, to await with great impatience the signal for departure. To my great amazement, I saw that the wretched clothing which they wore at Teheran was really their city, that is, their best holiday costume. This they did not use on ordinary occasions; every one had now substituted his real traveling dress, consisting of a thousand rags fastened round the loins by a cord. Yesterday I regarded myself in my clothing as a beggar; today, in the midst of them, I was a king in his royal robes. At last Hadji Bilal raised his hand for the parting benediction; and hardly had every one seized

CHAP. III.

DEPARTURE FROM TEHERAN.

41

his beard to say "Amen," when the pedestrians rushed out of the gate, hastening with rapid strides to get the start of us who were mounted. Our march was directed toward the northeast from Teheran to Sari, which we were to reach in eight stations. We turned therefore toward Djadjerud and Firuzkuh, leaving Taushantepe, the little hunting-seat of the king, on our left, and were, in an hour, at the entrance of the mountainous pass where one loses sight of the plain and city of Teheran. By an irresistible impulse I turned round. The sun was already, to use an Oriental expression, a lance high, and its beams illuminated, not Teheran alone, but the distant gilded dome of Shah Abdul Azim. At this season of the year, Nature in Teheran already assumes all her green luxuriance; and I must confess that the city, which the year before had made so disagreeable an impression upon me, appeared to me now dazzlingly beautiful. This glance of mine was an adieu to the last outpost of European civilization. I had now to confront the extremes of savageness and barbarism. I felt deeply moved; and that my companions might not remark my emotion, I turned my horse aside into the mountainous defile.

In the mean time my companions were beginning to recite aloud passages from the Koran, and to chant telkins (hymns), as is seemly for genuine pilgrims to do. They excused me from taking part in these, as they knew that the Roumis (Osmanli) were not so strictly and religiously educated as the people in Turkestan; and they besides hoped that I should receive the necessary inspiration by contact with their

society. I followed them at a slow pace, and will now endeavor to give a description of them, for the double motive that we are to travel so long together, and that they are in reality the most honest people I shall ever meet with in those parts. There were, then,

1. Hadji Bilal, from Aksu (Chinese Tartary), and court imam of the Chinese Mussulman governor of the same province: with him were his adopted sons, 2. Hadji Isa, a lad in his sixteenth year, and

3. Hadji Abdul Kader, before mentioned, in the company, and, so to say, under the protection of Hadji Bilal. There were, besides,

4. Hadji Yusuf, a rich Chinese Tartar peasant, with his nephew,

5. Hadji Ali, a lad in his tenth year, with little, diminutive Kirghish eyes. The last two had eighty ducats for their traveling expenses, and therefore were styled rich; still this was kept a secret: they hired a horse for joint use, and when one was riding the other walked.

6. Hadji Amed, a poor mollah, who performed his pilgrimage leaning upon his beggar's staff. Similar in character and position was

7. Hadji Hasan, whose father had died on the journey, and who was returning home an orphan; 8. Hadji Yakoub, a mendicant from profession, a profession inherited by him from his father;

9. Hadji Kurban (senior), a peasant by birth, who, as a knife-grinder, had traversed the whole of Asia, had been as far as Constantinople and Mecca, had visited upon occasions Thibet and Calcutta, and

CHAP. III.

ACCOUNT OF THE PILGRIMS.

43

twice the Kirghish Steppes, to Orenburg and Taganrok;

10. Hadji Kurban, who also had lost his father and brother on the journey;

11. Hadji Said; and

12. Hadji Abdur Rahman, an infirm lad of the age of fourteen years, whose feet were badly frozen in the snow of Hamadan, and who suffered fearfully the whole way to Samarcand.

The above-named pilgrims were from Khokand, Yarkend, and Aksu, two adjacent districts; consequently they were Chinese Tartars, belonging to the suite of Hadji Bilal, who was, besides, upon friendly terms with

13. Hadji Sheikh Sultan Mahmoud, from Kashgar, a young, enthusiastic Tartar, belonging to the family of a renowned saint, Hazreti Afak, whose tomb is in Kashgar. The father of my friend Sheikh Sultan Mahmoud was a poet; Mecca was in imagination his child after the sufferings of long years he reached the holy city, where he died. His son had consequently a double object in his pilgrimage: he proceeded as pilgrim alike to the tombs of his prophet and his father. With him were

14. Hadji Husein, his relative, and

15. Hadji Ahmed, formerly a Chinese soldier, belonging to the regiment Shiva, that bears muskets and consists of Mussulmans.

From the Khanat Khokand were

16. Hadji Salih Khalifed, candidate for the ishan, which signifies the title of sheikh, consequently belonging to a semi-religious order; an excellent man,