he people.

Railway travelling in Russia is now much cheaper than in any other
country; a through first-class ticket from the Caspian to St.
Petersburg, seventeen hundred miles, is but L4 10s., and the other
classes are low in proportion. The carriages are comfortable, and the
refreshment-rooms excellent.

With accurate information as to the sailings from Petrovsk to Baku and
Enzelli, one can now go from London to Tehran in fourteen days. This, of
course, means steady travelling, frequent changes, a saddle-seat for
about one hundred miles (which can now be reduced to seventy-five), and
some previous experience of rough life, so as to reconcile the
traveller to the poor accommodation afforded in a Persian post-house.
But the Russian road, now under construction, will soon change the rough
ride into a fairly comfortable carriage-drive, with well-provided
post-houses for food and rest.

CHAPTER VII.

THE SITUATION IN PERSIA (1896).

I.

--Shrine of Shah Abdul Azim
--Death of Nasr-ed-Din Shah
--Jemal-ed-Din in Tehran
--Shiahs and Sunnis
--Islam in Persia.

The famous shrine and sanctuary of Shah Abdul Azim, about five miles
from Tehran, is a very popular place of pilgrimage with the inhabitants
of the town, and its close neighbourhood to the crowded capital makes it
a great holiday, as well as religious, resort. This shrine has been
specially favoured by many sovereigns, and particularly by those of the
present dynasty. On the Mohammedan special weekly day of prayer and
mosque services, Friday, called Juma, or the day of the congregation,
Shah Abdul Azim is visited by great numbers of people.

On Friday, May 1, this sanctuary was the scene of one of the saddest
events which has ever happened in Persia--the murder within its sacred
precincts of Nasr-ed-Din Shah, a monarch who was about to celebrate the
jubilee of a reign which will always be remembered, not only for its
remarkable length, but also for its peaceful character and general
popularity. The proof of this popularity is that Nasr-ed-Din Shah was
able to leave his country on three occasions for visits to Europe, and
returned each time to receive a welcome from his subjects. This in
itself is unprecedented in Eastern history.

I little thought when I had the honour of conversing with him in October
last that it was possible that a King so admired and loved by his
people, and then looking forward with pride and pleasure to the
celebration of his