d themselves by being so strongly made that it is
almost impossible to wear them out. They are generally small, being woven
inside their tents by the women.

In Northern Persia Turcoman carpets--the most adaptable of all for
European houses--are seldom to be found now, as they are generally bought
up for Russia. Dark red, warm and extremely soft is the striking note in
these carpets, and the design is quite sedate.

Carpets, except the cheaper ones, are seldom sold in the bazaars
nowadays. They are purchased on the looms. The best ones are only made
to order. There are, of course, a few rug shops, and occasionally an old
carpet finds its way to a second-hand shop in the bazaar.

Next in attraction to carpets come the jewellers' shops. The goldsmiths'
and silversmiths' shops are not very numerous in the bazaars, nor, when
we come to examine the work carefully, do they have anything really worth
buying. The work is on good gold or silver of pure quality, but, with few
exceptions, is generally clumsy in design and heavily executed. Figures
are attempted, with most inartistic results, on silver cases and boxes.
The frontage of a goldsmith's shop has no great variety of articles.
Bracelets, rings, necklaces, tea and coffee pots, stands for coffee cups,
and enamelled pipe heads; a silver kalian or two, an old cigar-box full
of turquoises, and another full of other precious stones--or, rather,
imitations of precious stones--a little tray with forgeries of ancient
coins; that is about all. Pearls and diamonds and really valuable stones
are usually concealed in neat paper parcels carried on the person by the
jeweller and produced on the demand of customers.

The swordmaker and gunsmith displays many daggers and blades of local
make and a great number of obsolete Belgian and Russian revolvers; also a
good many Martini and Snider rifles, which have found their way here from
India. Occasionally a good modern pistol or gun is to be seen. Good
rifles or revolvers find a prompt sale in Persia at enormous figures.
Nearly every man in the country carries a rifle. Had I chosen, I could
have sold my rifles and revolvers twenty times over when in Persia, the
sums offered me for them being two or three times what I had paid for
them myself. But my rifles had been very faithful companions to me; one,
a 256. Mannlicher, had been twice in Tibet; the other, a 30.30 take-down
Winchester, had accompanied me through the Chinese campaign, and I w