(Mr. Rabino's House, Teheran.)]

Of course every precaution is taken to foresee abnormal scarcity of
funds, by sending specie to the places threatened, in order to help
trade. During the summer months, for instance, most of the floating
capital is absorbed in the provinces by the opium crop in the Yezd and
Isfahan markets, when the silver krans find their way _en masse_ to the
villages, much to the inconvenience of the two cities. In the autumn a
similar occurrence hampers trade during the export season of dried fruit
and silk from Azerbaijan and Ghilan, the exchange falling very low owing
to scarcity of money.

A very important item in the Bank's transactions in Persia is the
constant demand for remittances of revenue to Teheran for Government
purposes, such as payments for the army, officials, etc., and these
remittances amount to very large sums.

The key to profitable banking in Persia is the arbitration of foreign
exchanges, which being so intimately connected with internal exchange
allows the latter to be worked at a profit, advantage being taken of
breaks in the level of prices; but of course, with the introduction of
telegraphs and in future of railways, these profits will become more
and more difficult to make. In Persia the lack of quick communication
still affords a fair chance of good remuneration without speculation for
the important services rendered by a bank to trade.

The exchange of Persia upon London is specially affected by two
influences. In the north by the value of the ruble, the more important
and constant factor, Tabriz, the Persian centre of the Russian exchange,
being the nearest approach in Persia to a regular market; and in the
south by the rupee exchange, which differs from the ruble in its being
dependent upon the price of silver.

In a country like Persia, where the exchange is not always obtainable and
money at times is not to be procured, it is easy to conceive the
difficulty of a bank. Forecasts of movements, based on general causes,
are of little or no value in Persia. To this must be added the
difficulties of examining and counting coins--weighing is not practicable
owing to the irregularity of each coin--of the transmission of funds to
distant places, and the general ignorance except in mercantile
circles--of banking methods as we understand them.

The Imperial Bank is established in Persia, not as is believed by some
persons to do business for England and English people, but