ber, though the palms of the low tract, and the oaks,
planes, chenars or sycamores, poplars, and willows of the mountain
regions sufficed for the wants of the natives. Not much fuel was
required, and stone was the general material used for building. Among
the fruits for which Persia was famous are especially noted the peach,
the walnut, and the citron. The walnut bore among the Romans the
appellation of "royal."

Persia, like Media, was a good nursery for horses. Fine grazing grounds
existed in many parts of the mountain region, and for horses of the Arab
breed even the Deshtistan was not unsuited. Camels were reared in some
places, and sheep and goats were numerous. Horned cattle were probably
not so abundant, as the character of the country is not favorable
for them. Game existed in large quantities, the lakes abounding with
water-fowl, such as ducks, teal, heron, snipe, etc.; and the wooded
portions of the mountain tract giving shelter to the stag, the wild
goat, the wild boar, the hare, the pheasant, and the heathcock, fish
were also plentiful. Whales visited the Persian Gulf, and were sometimes
stranded upon the shores, where their carcases furnished a mine of
wealth to the inhabitants. Dolphins abounded, as well as many smaller
kinds; and shell-fish, particularly oysters, could always be obtained
without difficulty. The rivers, too, were capable of furnishing
fresh-water fish in good quantity, though we cannot say if this source
of supply was utilized in antiquity.

The mineral treasures of Persia were fairly numerous. Good salt was
yielded by the lakes of the middle region, and was also obtainable upon
the plateau. Bitumen and naphtha were produced by sources in the low
country. The mountains contained most of the important metals and a
certain number of valuable gems. The pearls of the Gulf acquired early a
great reputation, and a regular fishery was established for them before
the time of Alexander.

But the most celebrated of all the products of Persia were its men. The
"scant and rugged country" gave birth, as Cyrus the Great is said to
have observed, to a race brave, hardy, and enduring, calculated not
only to hold its own against aggressors, but to extend its sway and
exercise dominion over the Western Asiatics generally. The Aryan
family is the one which, of all the races of mankind, is the most
self-asserting, and has the greatest strength, physical, moral, and
intellectual. The Iranian branch of it,