MR. FRASER'S TRAVELS IN PERSIA.

THE second volume of Mr. FRASER'S travels, as we intimated last week, contains a narrative of the author's sojourn at the Persian court, with sketches of king, ministers, and courtiers ; and an account of his diplomatic journey to meet the heir apparent, the present Shah, who with his minister is described at large. It also tells of his adventures in the war-wasted province of Kho- rassan, and on the rebellious Toorkoman frontiers ; whither he travelled in the hope of being able to penetrate the deserts of those freebooters. Baffled in this desire by the unsettled state of the country, he returned to Tehran; caught a fever ; and on his recovery journied to Tehrez, along the swampy shores of tile Caspian Sea ; at which city his present narrative closes. Each of these different topics forms a picture of Persia. In the characters, entertainments, and scandal of the court, the reader has presented to him an animated tableau of Oriental life, modified, on the one hand, by the polish and amiability which makes the Persians very pleasant fellows, and on the other, by the coarseness springing from the presence of many adventurers, and a general low tone, which have originated in the disordered state of the country. The Prince, who is now the Shah, was considered by his countrymen as a respectable fool ; and Mr. FRASER dismisses him briefly ; but fully describes the Kaymookam, his minister and master, whom the Persians admired for his ability and hated for his success. Of the condition of the country in general, and particularly of Khorassan, sad accounts are given. Tho peasantry and people, ground down by arbitrary ex- actions, and subjected at pleasure to military punishment, are unable to preserve even a stationary condition. The cities are depopulated and falling to ruin ; roads, bridges, and public works, are rapidly decaying, except, in better neighbourhoods, those em- ployed for the purposes of irrigation. The forcible demands of Government have everywhere caused the appearance, and in many places the reality, of abject poverty; destroying confidence to such a degree, that the offer of' money will not avail to procure neces- sary supplies, punishment alone extracting them when they exist. In districts which have been the seat of war—civil war—all these evils are aggravated. Without a commissariat or a military chest, the troops subsist and pay themselves ; destroying in wantonness the grain they cannot consume, pulling down houses to make fires of the timber, and murdering or selling for slaves the peasantry who attempt to defend their property or to punish the plunderers. In the wake of war come famine and disease ; and the miserable survivors of these afflictions drag out life in a state of misery that curdles the blood. The inhabitants of provinces adjoining the Toorkoman district, if less reduced, live in a state of wretched uncertainty, from the constant incursions of the robber tribes, who carry off every thing of value, alive or dead; so that the villagers go out in armed bodies to their rural occupations, one of the party holding the horses and keeping watch whilst the others work. On an alarm, they calculate numbers, and resist, or flee—to their village if possible, if not to the towers with which the plain is studded ; whilst their corn and cattle are harried before their eyes, and perhaps their friends or families carried into captivity. Every thing, in short—the number and factions of the princes, the discontent of the nobles, the rebellion of tributaries, the unrepressed insults and incursions of barbarians, and the general poverty and of the people—all predict a dissolution of the empire. Considering the favourable feeling expressed towards England, and the hatred entertained against Russia, this latter power will not alone be aggrandized on the dismember- ment of Persia, if common diplomatic skill be employed.

One striking point in the Persian character is their love of gaudy show, combined with remarkable simplicity of manners. Their houses are furnished with decorations and moveables, which, if not of a value proportioned to their appearance, have much of splendid seeming ; and their persons are adorned with jewels and

other things of great price. But their rooms are small and plain, often ruinous ; and men of the highest rank are totally without parade or reserve ; the despot who command; a Victim's head to be struck off, or his et es to he put out, giving his orders without as- sumption of personal t.lience. Here is a picture of the heir appa-

rent s prime minister.

.4 The lodging of the Minister was in a small oblong tent, which in Bengal they call a routee ; his large tent having been struck to be sent on in advance.

When I was announced, lie came to the door without ceremony, and pulled me

in by the hand. There was none there but a secretary or two, and two or three persona like gholatima, nho seemed to be waiting for orders. Nothing can be

more striking to these who have been accustomed to the imposing detail* of office in England or in India, particularly in the latter, than to witness the simplicity with which business is despatched in the office or the tent of a Per- sian minister. In India, a number of large-sized rooms are seen opening into each other, all filled with natives or Europeans, with their nosea at their desks, wtiring away, as if for dear life, among a most imposing mews of books, and

papers, and official forms. Here, you enter a court, at the further end of which

are several rooms, the large windows of which open on the area. Before one of these, the least in all probability, you may see stone ten or twelve servants in attendance, with a number of people who have come upon business. At the window above it an old man wrapped up in a shawl cloak, and his bead covered with a black lambskin cap; before him, seated on their heels, may be

two, or perhaps three secretaries, either writing, to the minister's dictation, on bits of paper held in one hand and supported on one knee, or holding in their hands bundles of papers neatly done up, which await his hearing and approval. Around the room, with their backs to the wall, and upon the numuds or felt carpets which border it, ale seated more Or fewer persons, arrived on visits of ceremony or business, each placed according to his rank. The minister ad- dresses these occasionally, and at other times listensto his secretaries, who read letters that have arrived, replies to which he dictates, or those replies which have been written in compliance with his orders. These, when approved, are confirmed by receiving his seal, which he tikes from a little bag, generally kept in a side-pocket under the arm, and tosses to the writer, who perthrins the ope- ration at once in his presence ; a far simpler business than the confirmation of

an official document at home." • an official document at home." •

" The simplicity and absence of show or form in these matters among the Persians, is the more singular, as it seems altogether opposed to their really on- candid and artificial character—perhaps it is not uuwot thy of imitation. But to return to the Kaymisikant. I was surprised to hear the variety of petty de- tails with which he suffered himself to be pestered. He had given out the order of the morning's march for the army, which, independent of the Prince's attendants and his own, consisted of a regiment of the Russian guards and six guns, together with a detachment of horse,—and his commands were as clear as if he had been Adjutant-General all his life,—when in came a boat of fel- lows, one telling him that his yahoo was lame, and that he could get no other ; a second, wanting to know where he was to get money for corn and straw ; a third, wanting camels to carry a tent ; a fourth, a saddle, &c. &e., to all .4 whom some reply was given after due consideration of the case; and then in carte his meerachor, or chief of the stable, to give an account of his Excel- lency's horses—which was lame, which was galled; which was in training, which was not ; which were fit for use, which would be so by and by, and there they went over the whole of his Excellency's stud. Next, came a whole host of complainants,—one had had his little crop cut for hot se-meat by the Prince's gholautus ; another his horse carried off and himself well beaten by some sonars; a third had his wife and family insulted, and his own ears threatened. I was astonished to observe the imperturbable attention, if not good humour, with which this beset minister listened to all these interminable details, and could not help expressing my surprise, that he, who had the business of the state upon his shoulders, should permit himself to be perplexed by the trifling and teaziog annoyances of others, and the petty affairs of the camp. Ay, ay,' was his only reply, with a rueful shake of the head, 'these little things are far more bitter than the big ones.' " " All this sort of work consumed a vast quantity of time ; and there was, besides, a world of lett.rs to write, and read, and despatch. It was curious to see him at the latter work ; for although from his shortsightedness lie was forced to hold the paper close to his nose, he moved it across the line of vision, gather- ing its contents as it went, with a rapidity quite astonishing ; just as a clever da'rprnaid would skim a dish of cream. At length, however, all was over, or he thought fit to terminate the scene, for he sent one person one way, and an- other another, till we two alone remained in the tent; when, rapidly turning to ate, he said, And now, Fraser Saheb, I have made a Mellott • for you : what have you got to say? I know you have a great deal to tell me • tell it at once.' This was to the purpose, at least ; and au, without any further ceremony, I complied; and we conversed for a long time.

" When we had concluded, he ordered dinner, which, however, did not come for a good while ; and in the mean time we bad a repetition of the saute work as before. As for the minister, he excused himself from eating, saying he was much out of sorts, and had a great deal to do. So, during the time we were satisfying our appetites—and mine was pretty sharp—his Excellency employed himself in writing, stretched out at his length upon the carpet, with his breast upon a pillow, and his eyes close to the paper and to the candle. At length he rose, evidently much exhausted ; and I also got up to retire, observing that I had trespassed too long on his time, and that he should go at once to sleep, see-

jug that he had a fatiguing march for the motrow. Sleep !' said he, with a languid smile; ' how am I to sleep? No, no; there is no rest me for this night.' It was twelve at night when I left him, they were to march at four in the morning, and I had to write to Tehran by a courier, who was to be de- spatched in advance; so I took my leave at once, and quitted the Kaymookam, satisfied that he was a man of no mean abilities, but with a suspicion that Ile lacks that most important talent which tnethutlizes business, separating generals from details; that grasp of mind which embraces the whole scope of a subject without embarrassing itself with particulars, and occupies itself with great re- sults, leaving minutiae to clerks and officials. And yet he seems to be the man, as I myself had proof, to cut short both ceremony and circumlocution when time presses, and come as directly to the point as any man of business I ever knew."

With this simplicity of manners exists great freedom of dis- course, and, considering the despotic nature of the government, an extraordinary boldness in expressing opinion. This is a conver- sation of courtiers-

" The narrative of these exploits naturally brought on a conversation on such matters, and I was led to remark how disappointed I had been at seeing so little of horsemanship and feats of arms practised in the country now, so different from heretofore—nojereed.buzee or neiza•buzee (jeered or spear exercise) to be been, nor any display of troops or horsemen. On this, old Nuzzur Allee Khan and Isfundiar Khan broke out, ' No! to be sure you do not; who is there now to think of such matters; who is there that has dil-o-dimagh, heart or spirits for such things?' Here am I,' said Isfundiar Khau, ' I used to keep a good horse, and could ride it too; but it is twelve or thirteen years since I have gone outside the city walls • what is there to tempt me out ? bow am I likely to ride now? and such is the case with all of us; all the good nowkers

• That is, made the room private. (servants. military in particular,) have grown old and useless.' But hot' is that?' said I ; this is the same Iran ; these are men of the same stock that, in the time of Nader, conquered half of Asia.' Ay,' replied the Khan, shaking his head in the peculiar Persian manner, ' you see whit harms cut do ; you see where Nader got to: twelve years did he enjoy the throne, and in these he went to India anti took Shahjebanabad; to Khivah, to Bockhara, to

Goorjistan.' At,' returned I, ' the Toorkomans did nut dare to make their chappows then ; there were no alanuius in those days.' • The Toorko- mans ! tuh-heiresh-ish ! I spit on their beards: what were they ? Ritotce me- keerdund, they were obedient vassals then. Yes,' continued he, after a pause, it is the same people; we are the same men now as then: but do you know what it is we want? it is leaders—officers." What ! ' said I, laughing, 'how can you say that there is a want of officers, when you have the Khan there be- side you ?' pointing to Nuzzur Allee Khan, who was writing some notes upon his knee. This opened the Khan's tnouth, with a long flourish about good services ill-rewarded; and made the conversation, which had hitherto been confined to ourselves, general ; for Nuzzur voice was none of the gentlest or lowest, especially when excited ; and lie repeated what had been said to the company at large, especially my observation, that there were now no good nowkers in Persia.

" This set the Aga and Mahomed Hoossein Khan agoing and the latter poured out a volley of words as rapid and unmanageable as the fire of his own dusteh, the purport of which was to point out the impossibility of making men good servants, or disposing them to the performance of great exploits, when their hearts are broken by disappointment and neglect, and their bodies are wasted by hunger and want. ' Here am I for one,' said he; I have a thousand men : who ever thinks of furnishing them with arms or clothes? Not one of them has bread, far less powder or ball ; and as to wages, they have forgot what they are; and yet they are expected to do service—to be good nowkers. Wallah ! I have been feeding and clothing therm at my own expense

till I can do so no longer. ! there are plenty of good soldiers to be had in barn if you will but pay them; but without pay or arms what can men do?' • Ay,' said another, there are plenty—a hundred—yes, three hun-

dred good 'makers, if you want them.' Three hundred ! ' repeated the Aga contemptuously ; • say two crores, if you need them.' • Ay,' replied another,

• and yet they let the Russians eat up our money, and take our land from us: there are seven crores taken from the King's treasury, all to be devoured by these Russians and Abbas Mmes.'

" Thus did the galled place show itself, and the general detestation of the Russians and dislike of Abbas ltleerza, whom the court of Tehran accuse (very unjustly) of having been friendly to the Russians, break out, as all strong feel- ings do in Persia, into open and undisguised expression. It was obvious, too, that the new regulations emanating from the Azerbijan government, and parti- cularly the institution of a regular army, were not at all to their taste; but if they disliked the nizam, or regular troops, their disgust at the innumerable host of royal descendants, who devour the produce of the country, was still more inveterate, and was expressed with at least equal strength and openness. How well we are off for kings in Iran,' observed one: ' we have enough of them at any rate.' Yes, a hundred thousand of them to spare,' replied an-

other. ' Barite-illah,' exclaimed a third ; ' and well they govern it; great

help at need are they ! Dust on their heads ! " Do you know what Yermoloff said about them?' said Nuzzur Allee Khan ; and then he told a long story, the amount of which was, that General Yermoloff one day, in the presence of

Abbas Meerza, having inquired what number of suns the king had, a person who stood by, intending to astonish the General by exaggeration, related a cir-

cumstance which was calculated to convey an idea that the multitude of them was immense. ' Are there so many?' replied Yermoloff, with an expression of great disgust ; 'then, my shame be upon them all ! Of what use are they, when they eat up all the country, yet cannot lend it any aid in the day of need.'"

Of Persian agriculture, Mr. FRASER'S mode of travelling was well calculated to enable him to form an opinion : and, except in the more Northern provinces, where the soil is so fertile that scratching the ground and throwing in the seed will produce a fiftyfold return, the arid nature of the country compels attention and care, especially in irrigation. Their system, however, at best is very wasteful of the powers of the soil ; as may be gathered from a few extracts.

" From hence we rode on pretty rapidly through a sheet of cultivations which extends, as I was informed, for twelve fursungs on each side of the city and certainly, in the direction we went, villages are very frequent ; scarcely in any part were we a mile distant from some one or other. It is a fertile and populous district ; but when the whole is said to be cultivated, it by no meaus is to be understood that all is under crop at one time. The custom here is to divide the arable lauds of a village into three parts, only one of which is ploughed dowu and sown each year. The other two lie fallow, and follow in rotation. The use of lime is unknown in these parts, nor is manure made use of, except close to the cities, where the sweepings of stables, ashes, the dung of sheep and other animals, all mingled together, Is used for melon and cucumber beds, and for the egg-plant, of which great quantities are used in Persia; but they seem to know little of the mode of composting manure. In the country, the only approach I have seen towards increasing the fertility of land by manure, is in the breaking down and spreading the earth of old walls, which, by having been long inhabited, appear to acquire some stimulating quality ; perhaps it is only the stimulus of a little new soil to that which is exhausted. Thus, al- though the ground may be rich and the soil deep, they cannot afford to take from it more than one crop running, under such management."

The political economist will see that the Metayer system is in full vogue in the better parts of Persia, though the returns are scanty.

" This morning, after taking a dish of excellent tea—a custom which I re. commend very earnestly to all travellers who do not prefer coffee—we mounted and followed the Khan over his estate, which extends full one fursuk and a half, or about six miles from the village, till met in fact by the lands of other vil- lages; for in these rich districts near the capital, such as Tehran, Khaur, Vuromeen, &c. there is not, as in most other places, a large proportion of sahrah or desert ; but every village has its own land as regularly meted out and as jealously preserved as those of any farm or estate in England. It was comfortable to see the whole of this land occupied and made use of, in a manner that marked the prosperity of the possessors. There is attached to this village of the Khan's& cannaut, larger than the one I noticed near Tehran, said, were it let, to be worth twelve to fifteen hundred tomauns a year ; but the water is entirely employed in the cultivation of the village, and all that is in the Khan's hands. He told us that he had sowed seven hundred tornauns' worth of seed this year. The returns should be ten for one; and of this he gives the ryots one-fourth for cultivating it, he paying all expenses of seed, tools, land, and water ; so that the ryots are just his hired servants, receiving as wages a clear fourth of all produce. In some cases, one-third is given to them ; in other., the proprietor finds land and water only, and the riots find seed, tools, and labour, for which they receive one-half the produce. For this village the Khan paid five thousand tomauns, and it may produce him about one thousand a year."

The cannaut mentioned in the preceding extract is a subterra- neous canal for irrigation.

'4 On our way, as we rode along, my attention was attracted by a stream which irrigates a large quantity of land. great part of which was now green with young corn. This stream is the produce of a cannaut, or artificial sub- terraneous canal, of great antiquity. It discharges a volume of water which, as it rolled over a brick sluice, we could see to be about three feet broad by five to six inches deep; and, to give you an idea of the value of water in these parte, it lets, for irrigation, at a rate which amounts to about one thousand tomauns a year, and is valued as saleable property at ten thousand tomauns—that is, ten years' purchase; as much, I should conjecture, as any property can well be worth in a country where law and government are so unsettled, and security consequently so imperfect."

MODE OF MEASURING WATER.

" I was amused to-day with seeing the way they have of measuring out the water of the little stream to its different owners. It is divided into wuzans, or measures, which are the property of individuals, and as such may be bought and sold. These are meted out by time; but having no clocks or watches, they use a brass vessel with a hole in the bottom, which, being placed floating on a pool in the stream, fills gradually in a certain time, and then sinks. The water is permitted to run to each man's field during the filling of this basin for a cer- tain number of times, corresponding with his property in it; and this measures the extent of his cultivation."

All this applies to the more settled districts, where only the oppression of the Government goes on. See the state of things in the capital of Khorassan. Mr. FRASER has gone out to revisit the scene of his earlier travels years ago, and finds the city crumbling into ruins- 4. To witness all this, as I did, in the compass of a morning's walk, was lamentable enough ; but it was nothing to the heartrending scene which a simi- lar stroll in the evening presented. On first entering the city, I had remarked, both in the avenues leading to the gates for the length of a fursuck outside, and in the streets and lanes through which I passed, a prodigious number of beg- gars; but I had no conception of the swarms that really existed here. Hun- dreds and thousands of the most miserably squalid objects beset every approach to the shrine, waylaying the pilgrims who flock to worship, principally in the evening. Old men and women in the most abject states of want, and wretched. ness, and sickness, pressed upon us at every step, beseeching for relief in the name of all the Imauos ; but what was that—what was all the misery of manhood, or even of age, to the sufferings of withering childhood and helpless infancy ! The way was actually strewed with creatures that could not, many of them, be more than from three to four years old ; not standing or sitting by the wayside, but grovelling in the dust and dirt, naked, like the vermin we were treading under foot. Living skeletons they were; more like the starved young of animals than human creatures; there they lay, strewed in the very paths, so that you could scarcely help trampling on them ; some crying and sending forth piteous petitions, with their little half.quenched voices, for help— for bread ! others silent, lying like dead things, or only giving symptoms of life by the sobs that would now and then issue from their little breasts, or the shudders of pain that shook their wasted frames. Some sat listless and motion- less, with half-closed eyes, and countenances on which death seemed already to have put his seal ; while the wolf-like glare from the sunken eyes of others, gave terrible evidence of the pangs of hunger which gnawed them. Many of these wretched little creatures could not, as I have said, be more than from three to four years old ; yet, though hardly able to speak, and left at that in- fantine age, alone in the world, to live or to die—deprived, by accident or famine, of all relatives, misery and want seemed to have sharpened their faculties to an astonishing degree of precocity, for you beard them squeaking out sounds which conveyed a petition for food. Has this miserable little creature no one to look after it?' asked I of some bystanders in one of these pathways, and pointing to a thing which lay, utterly naked, in the dust, more like a large frog, or a starved puppy, than one of the children of men. 4 Who should it have but God ? ' was the reply. 'Good Heavens !' said I, 'it is lying here to die then? Oh no, they don't die.' How ? what does it do? how does it live, then ?' said I. The passers-by give it a piece of copper

money, or a bit of bread,' said one of the men, ' and at night it creeps into a hole; there are hundreds, ay, thousands, that do the same: see what a number of them are about us now.' But how can that infant know the use of money ?' said I. ' Oh ! well enough,' replied he; ' give it a copper coin, and it will go and get bread.' I gave the creature a little piece of silver, and it clutched it with a grasp that sufficiently proved it to he accustomed to the use of money, and uttered some sound which it had probably been taught, as indicative of thanks; but it remained still lying where it was, I know not whether from weakness or waiting for similar donations from others; for by this time a perfect multitude of the most miserable and disgusting objects that imagination can conceive, had gathered round me,—tutteeing old women, whose rage scarce covered a fifth part of their frames ; men, both old and young, perfect walking skeletons ; blear-eyed boys and girls carrying things like starved cats in their arms, all rapialling out for bread or money. What I had, I gave, and then made away with all speed from the eight of wretchedness which I had no power to relieve or even to alleviate; for the numbers rendered all present aid unavailing, and the Orientals, though generally charitable, have no sort of system in their mode of bestowing alms. For half a mile was I pursued by this crowd of spectres, but though at last I made my escape from their sight, it was far less easy to escape from the sickness of heart which so extraordinary an exhibition of human misery had created. To witness the sufferings of men and women, is bad enough; but that of childhood, of helpless infancy, particularly when to relieve it is beyond one's power, is what I cannot endure. Never shall I forget this day in :Slushed."

Some of these were Toorkoman prisoners, or the children of prisoners carried off in war, and left, after massacre was satiated, to do as they might. But the natives were little better off. Here is a touching instance of resignation-

" In onepart of the garden I saw a man employed with an iron hook, in the almost hopeless task of cleating a little spot of earth from the gilgantic weeds that grew there. He told me he was the gardener ; that he was trying to make a clean spot for some vegetables, in order to give food to his family, for he could get nothing else to give them. He had been seven years in that garden, he said, but for the last four he had received no wages, and had no means of getting bread. The fruit had failed, and had there been any crop, there was no one to buy it: the scarcity had deprived men of the means to procure even the neces-

saries of life. Why,' said I, do you go on working without wages? why not

remove to some better place?' Where it it?' was the reply ; 'all places are

alike, or worse, to me ; and many of us rather stay here and die, then make an attempt to leave their old homes : we have neither the heart nor the strength to move.' While we were speaking, a pretty little girl, of about seven, came up crying ; and taking hold of her father's knees, said something to him which I did not understand. ' There,' said be, ' she is one of six ; she is asking for bread, and I have none to give her ; she is hungry, poor thing ; so are they all : they have had nothing today, and I have nothing for them ; every thing 1 had

I have sold, to buy food. I had carpets and numuds and clothes, but piece by piece all went ; then I sold our mattresses, and next the coverlids; we have nothing to cover us now ; see, I have no shoes--nothing on my feet ; and look at her !' In truth, the poor little thing was almost naked. ' At last,' continued he, I was forced to sell even the lock that was on my door, and then the door itself. I have nothing left now. God is great!' " Now this man was no beggar ; he never asked for money, never hinted at his poverty, till I entered into the story of his occupations, and drew him out. It was a place were no strangers were likely to come ; he could have expected no one ; therefore, it was no scene got up for show. When I gave the little girl some money, the man looked surprised, and bade her kiss my hand. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of persons in a similar condition—enough and to spare of such distress in Mushed. I have seen a good deal of Persia, but I never witnessed any thing like it before there or elsewhere."

The war that caused these miseries arose from the independent or rebellious spirit of the native Khans; some of whom appear to have been detestable persons. This is the account of one of them, whose fate had made him a state prisoner-

" Of Mahomed Khan Karawee I have been assured, on the best authority, that he is one of the most polite and best-bred gentlemen possible, gifted with the highest and most varied powers of conversation, particularly well versed in Persian literature, as well as in the Koran,—a knowledge which he fails not to tutu to account on all available occasions. Su persuasive and insinuating is he said to be in his address, that he rarely fails of attaining his ends by dint of eloquence and impressive appeals; yet this peculiar mildness and fascinating softness of manner serves but as a veil to the most unprincipled perfidy and treachery. He is said to be the most wantonly cruel and capricious villain alive. There is not the smallest dependence to be placed on his word ; and it was his well-known constant practice to invite guests, receive them with hos- pitality and kindness, dismiss them with favour, and yet to send forth a party to waylay and plunder them. Of this there are many instances, but I heard none particularly worth relating. Of his fiendish and wanton cruelty, the following two traits may suffice. There is a particular mode of hunting prac- tised in Persia, in which antelopes, or stags, being found, are driven towards a person who lies concealed, and who thus has an opportunity of getting a shot at them. alahomed Khan one day had gone forth to hunt in this manner, and had concealed himself behind a rock, towards which his horsemen were driving the deer, when a poor villager, who had gone out to the Sabra to gather fuel, and who had fallen asleep beside his load, aroused by the noise and outcry of the hunters, started up in amazement and frightened away the game. Irp sprang the Khan in a passion, and without more ado ordered the moan to be bound on his load, and the load to be set on fire, and there they held him till he was burned to death.

" On another occasion, when in the bath, his bathing attendant, or barber, took the opportunity to dilate to the Khan upon the straitened state of his cir- cumstances, and to complain sadly of his large family, for whom he was at the greatest loss to provide. 5 How many have you?' inquired the Khan. ' Nine or ten,' whined the barber. ' Well, bring them to me when I leave the bath; and I will see whether I cannot provide for some of them,' said the Khan. Away went the barber, overjoyed at what he doubted not was a grand stroke of good fortune; but it so happened that, with the view of exaggerating his dis- tress, and further moving the Khan's compassion, he had overstated the number of his progeny ; so, to make up the tale, he borrowed from his relatives a suffi- cient number, and carried them, as well as his own, to wait upon the Khan. Barikillah I' said the Khan, casting his eye upon the children, you have done well. Are these all ?'—' All, protector of the poor,' responded the shaver. Very well,' said the Khan, and beckoning to an agent of the Toorkomans, who was by, coolly sold the whole lot to him before the poor man's eyes. The real parents, as well as the barber himself, were too much thunderstruck at first to speak or move ; but when the Toorkoman merchant began to lead their little ones away, they awoke from their trance, and the truth came out. ' These are our children !' cried they : ' dust on our heads! they are ours; give us them back !" No, no!' said the Khan, 'that's nonsense ; they are the barber's, they are all the barber's—he is happy, no doubt, poor man, to be so well rid of them.' "

Besides the appearance of art, which we spoke of last week, we may add, that the second volume is often extended and flattened by twaddling reflections, by over-detailed descriptions, or by the introduction of personal thoughts and feelings, which have little interest for the reader. Still, with all these drawbacks, Mr. Flumes Winter's Journey forms one of the best and most cha- racteristic books of travels that have lately appeared.