assels; double-humped Bactrian camels with
gold collars on their shaggy necks; waggon-loads of rare woods and ivory,
woven goods of exquisite texture, casks of ingots and gold-dust, gold and
silver vessels, rare plants for the royal gardens, and foreign animals
for the preserves, the most remarkable of which were antelopes, zebras,
and rare monkeys and birds, these last being tethered to a tree in full
leaf and fluttering among the branches. Such were the offerings sent to
the great king of Persia.

They were the tribute of the conquered nations and, after having been
shown to the king, were weighed and tested by treasurers and secretaries,
either declared satisfactory, or found wanting and returned, in which
case the niggardly givers were condemned to bring a double tribute later.

[At the time of which we are writing, the kings of Persia taxed
their kingdom at whatever time and to whatever extent seemed good in
their own eyes. Cambyses' successor, Darius, was the first to
introduce a regular system of taxation, in consequence of which he
was nicknamed "the shopkeeper." Up to a much later period it still
remained the duty of certain districts to send natural products to
the court Herod. I. 192. Xenoph. Anab. IV. 5.]

The palace-gates were reached without hindrance, the way being kept clear
by lines of soldiers and whipbearers stationed on either side of the
street.

If the royal progress to the place of sacrifice, when five hundred
richly-caprisoned horses had been led behind the king's chariot, could be
called magnificent, and the march of the envoys a brilliant spectacle,
the great throne-room presented a vision of dazzling and magic beauty.

In the background, raised on six steps, each of which was guarded, as it
were, by two golden clogs, stood the throne of gold; above it, supported
by four golden pillars studded with precious stones, was a purple canopy,
on which appeared two winged discs, the king's Feruer.

[The Feruer or Ferwer is the spiritual part of every man-his soul
and reason. It was in existence before the man was horn, joins him
at his birth and departs at his death. The Ferwer keeps up a war
with the Diws or evil spirits, and is the element of man's
preservation in life. The moment he departs, the body returns to
its original elements. After death he becomes immortal if he has
done well, but if his deeds have been evil he is cast into hell. It
is righ