of whom we shall have often occasion to speak. He was attended by his son,

17. Hadji Abdul Baki, and his brother

18. Hadji Abdul Kader the Medjzub, which means "impelled by the love of God," and who, whenever he has shouted two thousand times "Allah," foams at the mouth and falls into a state of ecstatic blessedness (Europeans name this state epilepsy).

19. Hadji Kari Messud (Kari has the same signification in Turkey as Hafiz, one who knows the whole Koran by heart). He was with his son,

20. Hadji Gayaseddin;

21. Hadji Mirza Ali, and

22. Hadji Ahrarkuli: the bags of the two lastnamed pilgrims still contained some of their traveling provision in money, and they had a beast hired between them.

23. Hadji Nur Mohammed, a merchant who had been twice to Mecca, but not on his own account, only as representing another.

We advanced up the slopes of the chain of the Elburs Mountains, which rose higher and higher. The depression of spirits in which I was was remarked by my friends, who did all in their power to comfort It was, however, particularly Hadji Salih who encouraged me with the assurance that "they would all feel for me the love of brothers, and the hope that, by the aid of God, we should soon be at liberty beyond the limits of the Shiite heretics, and be able to live comfortably in lands subject to the Sunnite Turkomans, who are followers of the same faith." A pleasant prospect certainly, thought I; and I rode

CHAP. III.

CHEERFULNESS OF THE PILGRIMS.

45

more quickly on in order to mix with the poor travelers who were preceding us on foot. Half an hour later I came up with them. I noticed how cheerfully they wended their way-men who had journeyed on foot from the remotest Turkestan to Mecca, and back again on foot. While many were singing merry songs which had great resemblance to those of Hungary, others were recounting the adventures they had gone through in the course of their wanderings -a conversation which occasioned me great pleasure, as it served to make me acquainted with the modes of thought of those distant tribes, so that at the very moment of my departure from Teheran I found myself, so to say, in the midst of Central Asiatic life.

During the daytime it was tolerably warm, but it froze hard in the early morning hours, particularly in the mountainous districts. I could not support the cold in my thin clothing on horseback, so I was forced to dismount to warm myself. I handed my horse over to one of the pedestrian pilgrims. He gave me his stick in exchange, and so I accompanied them a long way on foot, hearing the most animated descriptions of their homes; and when their enthusiasm had been sufficiently stimulated by reminiscences of the gardens of Mergolan, Namengan, and Khokand, they all began with one accord to sing a telkin (hymn), in which I myself took part by screaming out as loud as I was able, "Allah, ya Allah!"

Every such approximation to their sentiments and actions on my part was recounted by the young travelers to the older pilgrims, to the great delight

of the latter, who never ceased repeating "Hadji Reshid (my name among my companions) is a genuine dervish; one can make any thing out of him."

After a rather long day's march, on the fourth day we reached Firuzkuh, which lies rather high, and is approached by a very bad road. The city is at the foot of a mountain, which is crowned by an ancient fortification, now in ruins-a city of some importance, from the fact that there the province Arak Adjemi ends, and Mazendran begins. The next morning our way passed in quite a northerly direction, and we had scarcely proceeded three or four hours when we reached the mouth of the great defile, properly called Mazendran, which extends as far as the shores of the Caspian. Scarcely does the traveler move a few steps forward from the caravanserai on the top of the mountain, when the bare dry dis-. trict changes, as by enchantment, into a country of extraordinary richness and luxuriance. One forgets that one is in Persia on seeing around every where the splendor of those primæval forests and that magnificent green. But why linger over Mazendran and all its beauties, rendered so familiar to us by the masterly sketches of Frazer, Conolly, and Burnes?

On our passage Mazendran was in its gala attire of spring. Its witchery made the last spark of trouble disappear from my thoughts. I reflected no more on the perils of my undertaking, but allowed imagination to dwell only upon sweet dreams of the regions through which lay my onward path, visions of the various races of men, customs, and usages which I was now to see. I must expect to behold,

CHAP. III.

MAZENDRAN.-ZIRAB.

47

it is true, scenes a perfect contrast to these; I must anticipate immense and fearful deserts-plains whose limits are not distinguishable to the human eye, and where I should have for days long to suffer from want of water. The enjoyment of that spot was doubly agreeable, as I was so soon to bid adieu to all sylvan scenes.

Mazendran had its charms even for my companions. Their feelings found expression in regrets that this lovely djennet (paradise) should have become the possession of the heretical Shiites. "How singular," said Hadji Bilal, "that all the beautiful spots in nature should have fallen into the hands of the unbelievers! The Prophet had reason to say, 'This world is the prison of the believers, and the paradise of the unbelievers.'"* In proof, he cited Hindoo, stan, where the "Inghiliz" reign, the beauties of Russia which he had seen, and Frenghistan, that had been described to him as an earthly paradise. Hadji Sultan sought to console the company by a reference to the mountainous districts that lie between Oosh (boundaries of Khokand) and Kashgar. He represented that place to me as far more lovely than Mazendran, but I can hardly believe it.

At the station Zirab we came to the northern extremity of the mountainous pass of Mazendran. Here the immense woods begin which mark the limits of the shore of the Caspian Sea. We pass along a causeway made by Shah Abbas, but which is fast decaying. Our night quarters-we reached them betimes-was Heften, in the middle of a beautiful for

*“Ed dünya sidjn ül mumenin, ve djennet ül kafirin.”

est of boxwood. Our young people started off in quest of a good spring of water for our tea; but all at once we heard a fearful cry of distress. They came flying back, and recounted to us that they had seen animals at the source, which sprang away with long bounds when they approached them. At first I thought they must be lions, and I seized a rusty sword, and found, in the direction they had described, but at a good distance off, two splendid tigers, whose beautifully-striped forms made themselves visible occasionally from the thickets. In this forest the peasants told me that there were numbers of wild beasts, but they very rarely attacked human beings. At all events, we were not molested by the jackals, who even dread a stick, but which are here so numerous that we can not drive them away. There are jackals throughout all Persia; they are not uncommon even in Teheran, where their howling is heard in the evenings. But still, they did not there approach men, as they did here. They disturbed me the whole night long. I was obliged, in self-defense, to use both hands and feet to prevent their making off with bread-sack or a shoe.

The next day we had to reach Sari, the capital of Mazendran. Not far from the wayside lies Sheikh Tabersi, a place long defended by the Babis (religious enthusiasts who denied Mohammed and preached socialism). They made themselves the terror of the neighborhood. Here also are beautiful gardens, producing in exuberance crops of oranges and lemons. Their fruit, tinted with yellow and red, presented an enchanting contrast with the green of the trees. Sari