termixture of foreign
blood; the Parsees or Zoroastrians, who still retain their purity of race
and religious faith, and who are principally engaged in agriculture and
commerce; a very small community of European Christians, including a few
Armenian natives of Julfa (Isfahan). Then there are about one thousand
Jews, who live mostly in abject poverty.

The Mahommedan population of the town may be approximately estimated at
sixty thousand. Here, even more noticeably than in any other Persian
town, there is very little outward show in the buildings, which are of
earth and mud and appear contemptible, but the interiors of houses of the
rich are pleasant and well-cared for. The miserable look of the town,
however, is greatly redeemed by the beauty of the gardens which surround
it.

It is to be regretted that the roads in and around Yezd are in a wretched
condition, being absolutely neglected, for were there safer and more
practicable roads trade would be facilitated and encouraged to no mean
degree. As things stand now, indigenous trade is increasing slowly, but
foreign trade is making no headway. The silk and opium trades, which were
formerly the most profitable, have of late declined. Cottons and
woollens, silk, the _Kasb_ and _Aluhi_ of very finest quality, shawls,
cotton carpets and noted felts equal if not superior to the best of Kum,
are manufactured both for home use and for export.

The exports mainly consist of almonds and nuts, tobacco, opium (to
China), colouring matters, walnut-wood, silk, wool, cotton carpets,
felts, skins, assafoetida, shoes, copper pots, country loaf-sugar,
sweetmeats, for which Yezd is celebrated, etc. Henna is brought to Yezd
from Minab and Bandar Abbas to be ground and prepared for the Persian
market, being used with _rang_ as a dye for the hair.

The chief imports are spices, cotton goods, yarn, prints, copper
sheeting, tin slabs, Indian tea, broadcloth, jewellery, arms, cutlery,
watches, earthenware, glass and enamel wares, iron, loaf-sugar, powdered
sugar, etc.

The Government of Yezd, as of other cities of Persia, is purely despotic,
limited only by the power and influence of the Mahommedan priests, the
Mullahs, and by the dread of private vengeance or an occasional
insurrection. It is true that the actions of Hakims and Governors and
their deputies are liable to revision from the Teheran authorities, but
this does not prevent exactions and extortions being carried on quite
openly