he proper attentions of hospitality were shown. The house of
a khan was taken from him and given to the ambassador, and whatever
furniture was wanting was demanded from the neighbours and placed
therein. A handsome garden was levied upon another, and added to the
house. The lord high treasurer was commanded to feed the strangers
at his own expense as long as they chose, and clothes and shawls were
collected from the courtiers and servants of the court, for the dresses
of honour which it is the custom to make on such occasions. The princes
and noblemen were enjoined to send the ambassador presents, and a
general command issued that he and his suite were the Shah's guests,
and that, on the pain of the royal anger, nothing but what was agreeable
should be said to them.

All these attentions, one might suppose, would be more than sufficient
to make infidels contented with their lot; but, on the contrary, when
the subject of etiquette came to be discussed, interminable difficulties
seemed to arise. The elchi was the most intractable of mortals. First,
on the subject of sitting. On the day of his audience of the Shah, he
would not sit on the ground, but insisted upon having a chair; then the
chair was to be placed so far, and no farther, from the throne. In the
second place, of shoes, he insisted upon keeping on his shoes, and not
walking barefooted upon the pavement; and he would not even put on our
red cloth stockings. Thirdly, with respect to hats: he announced his
intention of pulling his off to make his bow to the king, although we
assured him that it was an act of great indecorum to uncover the head.
And then, on the article of dress, a most violent dispute arose: at
first, it was intimated that proper dresses should be sent to him and
his suite, which would cover their persons (now too indecently exposed)
so effectually that they might be fit to be seen by the king; but this
proposal he rejected with derision. He said, that he would appear before
the Shah of Persia in the very same dress he wore when before his own
sovereign. Now, as there was not a Persian who had ever been at the
court of a Frank king, no body could say what that proper dress
was; and, for aught we knew, the elchi might put on his bed-gown and
night-cap on the occasion. This was a difficulty apparently not to be
overcome, when, turning the subject over in my own mind, I recollected
that among the paintings in the palace of Forty Pillars at Ispahan,
t