s laden with the spoil--ibex,
deer, wild sheep, and even a wild ass among the slain. The latter had
fallen to the governor's own rifle. There is plenty of sport to be
had in Persia, if you only take the trouble to look for it, and in
comparative comfort too, with tents, stores, cooking apparatus, etc.,
if time is no object. The country swarms with wild animals--tiger,
bear, and leopard in the forests by the Caspian Sea; wild asses,
jackals, and wolves in the desert regions; deer and wild goats in the
mountainous districts; and, as we afterwards had uncomfortable proof,
lions in the southern provinces. There is no permission needed. A
European may shoot over any country he pleases, with the exception of
the Shah's private preserves around Teheran. His Imperial Majesty is
very tetchy on this point.

We galloped nearly the whole of the short stage from Gez to Ispahan.
A couple of miles out of the city we overtook a donkey ridden by two
peasants, heavy men, who challenged us to a trial of speed. We only
just beat them by a couple of lengths at the gates, although our
horses were fresh and by no means slow. The Persian donkey is
unquestionably the best in the East, and is not only speedy, but as
strong as a horse. We frequently passed one of these useful beasts
carrying a whole family--monsieur, madame, and an unlimited number of
bebes--to say nothing of heavy baggage, in one of the queer-looking
arrangements (oblong boxes with a canvas covering stretched over a
wooden framework) depicted on the next page. An ordinary animal costs
from two to three pounds (English), but a white one, the favourite
mount of women and priests, will often fetch as much as ten or
fifteen.

To reach Djulfa, the Armenian and European quarter of Ispahan, the
latter city must be crossed, also the great stone bridge spanning the
"Zandarood," or "Living River," so called from the supposed excellence
of its water for drinking purposes, and its powers of prolonging life.
Nearing the bridge, we met a large funeral, evidently that of a person
of high position, from the costly shawls which covered the bier.

[Illustration: A FAMILY PARTY]

As in many Eastern countries, a man is never allowed to die in peace
in Persia. It is a ceremony like marriage or burial, and as soon as
the doctors have pronounced a case hopeless, the friends and relations
of the sick man crowd into his chamber and make themselves thoroughly
at home, drinking tea and sherbet, and