lt of cartridges. He was cruel to the horses and a
nuisance to the coachman. He interfered considerably with the progress of
the carriage and made himself unbearable in every possible way. When I
stopped at a khafe-khana for a glass of tea, he actually removed a wheel
of the carriage, which we had considerable difficulty in putting right
again, and he pounded the coachman on the head with the butt of his
revolver, in order, as far as I could understand, that he should be
induced to go half-shares with him in the backshish that the driver would
receive at the end of the stage.

All this provided some entertainment, until we reached the Teheran gate.
Only half a mile more and I should be at the hotel. But man proposes and
the Persian disposes. The carriage and fourgon were driven into a large
courtyard, the horses were unharnessed, all the luggage removed from the
fourgon and carriage, and deposited in the dust. A primitive scale was
produced and slung to a tripod, and each article weighed and weighed over
again so as to take up as much of one's time as possible. Various
expedients to impose upon me, having failed I was allowed to proceed, a
new fourgon and fresh horses being provided for the journey of half a
mile more, the obnoxious man jumping first on the box so as to prevent
being left behind.

At last the hotel was reached, and here another row arose with a
profusion of blows among a crowd of beggars who had at once collected and
disputed among themselves the right of unloading my luggage.

A strange figure appeared on the scene. A powerful, half-naked African,
as black as coal, and no less than six foot two in height. He sported a
huge wooden club in his hand, which he whirled round in a most dangerous
manner, occasionally landing it on people's skulls and backs in a
sonorous fashion. The crowd vanished, and he, now as gently as possible,
removed the luggage from the fourgon and conveyed it into the hotel.

The obnoxious man now hastily descended from his seat and demanded a
backshish.

"What for?"

"Oh, sir," intervened a Persian gentleman present, "this man says he has
annoyed you all the way, but he could not make you angry. He must have
backshish! He makes a living by annoying travellers!"

In contrast to this low, depraved parasite, the African black seemed
quite a striking figure,--a scamp, if you like, yet full of character. He
was a dervish, with drunken habits and a fierce nature when under the
inf