otable "Chevalier d'industrie"
whose thick skin was amazing.

Then one met Armenians--who one was told had come out of jail,--and
curio-dealers, mine prospectors, and foreign Generals of the Persian
army.

Occasionally there was extra excitement when an engagement or a wedding
took place, when the parties usually adjourned to the hotel, and then
there was unlimited consumption of beer, nominally (glycerine really,
for, let me explain, beer does not stand a hot climate unless a large
percentage of glycerine is added to it), and of highly-explosive
champagne and French wines, Chateau this and Chateau that--of Caspian
origin.

Being almost a teetotaller myself, this mixed crowd--but not the mixed
drink--was interesting to study, and what particularly struck me was the
_bonhomie_, the real good-heartedness, and manly but thoughtful, genial
friendliness of men towards one another, irrespective of class, position
or condition, except, of course, in the cases of people with whom it was
not possible to associate. The hard, mean, almost brutal jealousy, spite,
the petty rancour of the usual Anglo-Indian man, for instance, does not
exist at all in Persia among foreigners or English people. On the
contrary, it is impossible to find more hospitable, more gentlemanly,
polite, open-minded folks than the Britishers one meets in Persia.

Of course, it must be remembered, the type of Britisher one finds in
Persia is a specially talented, enterprising and well-to-do individual,
whose ideas have been greatly broadened by the study of several foreign
languages which, in many cases, have taken him on the Continent for
several years in his youth. Furthermore, lacking entirely the ruling
"look down upon the native" idea, so prevalent in India, he is thrown
much in contact with the Persians, adopting from them the courteous
manner and form of speech, which is certainly more pleasant than the
absurd rudeness of the "keep-aloof" notion which generally makes us hated
by most Orientals.

The Britisher in Persia, with few exceptions, is a charming person,
simple and unaffected, and ready to be of service if he can. He is not
aggressive, and, in fact, surprisingly suave.

This abnormal feature in the British character is partly due to the
climate, hot but very healthy, and to the exile to which the Briton has
to reconcile himself for years to come. Indeed, Persia is an exile, a
painful one for a bachelor, particularly. Woman's society, which