r any man of sound judgment to embark in polygamy. Most
well-to-do Persians, therefore, only have one wife.

Another important matter to be taken into consideration is, that no
Persian woman of a good family will ever marry a man who is already
married. So that the chances of legal polygamy become at once very small
indeed in young men of the better classes, who do not wish to ruin their
career by marrying below their own level.

An exception should be made with the lower and wealthy middle classes,
who find a satisfaction in numbers to make up for quality, and who are
the real polygamists of the country. But even in their case the real
wives are never numerous--never above the number permitted by the
Koran,--the others being merely concubines, whether temporary or
permanent. The Shah himself has no more than one first wife, with two or
three secondary ones.

In a country where women are kept in strict seclusion as they are in
Persia, the arrangement of matrimony is rather a complicated matter.
Everybody knows that in Mussulman countries a girl can only be seen by
her nearest relations, who by law cannot marry her, such as her father,
grandfather, brothers and uncles--but not by her cousins, for weddings
between cousins are very frequently arranged in Persia.

It falls upon the mother or sisters of the would-be bridegroom to pick a
suitable girl for him, as a rule, among folks of their own class, and
report to him in glowing terms of her charms, social and financial
advantages. If he has no mother and sisters, then a complaisant old lady
friend of the family undertakes to act as middlewoman. There are also
women who are professional match-makers--quite a remunerative line of
business, I am told. Anyhow, when the young man has been sufficiently
allured into matrimonial ideas, if he has any common sense he generally
wishes to see the girl before saying yes or no. This is arranged by a
subterfuge.

The women of the house invite the girl to their home, and the young
fellow is hidden behind a screen or a window or a wall, wherein
convenient apertures have been made for him, unperceived, to have a good
look at the proposed young lady. This is done several times until the boy
is quite satisfied that he likes her.

The primary difficulty being settled, his relations proceed on a visit to
the girl's father and mother, and ask them to favour their son with their
daughter's hand.

If the young man is considered well off, w