It was a funny sight.
When we got on board again after a couple of hours on shore the wind rose
and we tossed about considerably. Another sleepless night on the "living"
mattress in the bunk, and early in the morning we reached the Persian
port of Enzeli.

CHAPTER IV

The Port of Enzeli--Troublesome landing--Flat-bottomed boats--A
special permit--Civility of officials--Across the Murd-ap
lagoon--Piri-Bazaar--A self-imposed golden rule--Where our stock
came from--The drive to Resht--The bazaar--The native shops and
foreign goods--Ghilan's trade--The increase in trade--British and
Russian competitions--Sugar--Tobacco--Hotels--The British
Consulate--The Governor's palace--H.E. Salare Afkham--A Swiss
hotel--Banks.

One calls Enzeli a "port" _pour facon de parler_, for Persia has no
harbours at all on the Caspian sea. Enzeli, Meshed-i-Sher or Astrabad,
the three principal landing places on the Persian coast, have no shelter
for ships, which have to lie a good distance out at sea while passengers
and cargo are transhipped by the Company's steam launch or--in rough
weather--by rowing boats. In very rough weather it is impossible to
effect a landing at all, and--this is a most frequent occurrence on the
treacherous Caspian--after reaching one's journey's end one has to go all
the way back to the starting point and begin afresh. There are people who
have been compelled to take the journey four or five times before they
could land, until the violent storms which often rage along the Persian
coast had completely subsided and allowed the flimsy steam-launch at
Enzeli to come out to meet the steamers, lying about a mile outside.

We had passengers on board who had been unable to land on the previous
journey, and were now on their second attempt to set foot in Persia. We
were rolling a good deal when we cast anchor, and after waiting some
hours we were informed that it was too rough for the steam-launch to come
out. The captain feared that he must put to sea again, as the wind was
rising and he was afraid to remain so near the coast. Two rowing boats
eventually came out, and with some considerable exertion of the rowers
succeeded in getting near the steamer. I immediately chartered one, and
after a good deal of see-saw and banging and knocking and crackling of
wood alongside the steamer, my baggage and I were transhipped into the
flat-bottomed boat. Off we rowed towards the shore, g