ith tomatoes.
Kab[=a]b-i-ch[=u]ja = Broiled chicken.
Sh[=a]m[=i] = Meat sausages.
Dulmayi qalam = Meat wrapped in cabbage leaves with
onions and beans.
[=A]b-g[=u]sht = Soup with a lump of meat.
Halwa = A dish of honey, pistache, and camel's
milk.
K[=u]-k[=u] = Omelette of eggs and vegetables.
Mushta = Rissoles.
Mast = Curds.
Kharbuza = Melon.
Pan[=i]r = Cheese.
Turb = Radishes.
Pista = Pistachio nuts.
[=A]n[=a]r = Pomegranates.
Zab[=a]n-i-gaw = Green bombes.
Tursh[=i] = Pickles of all sorts.
Rishta = White and green vermicelli cakes.
Murabba bihi = Preserved gum.

To these must be added the numerous sweets of which one has to partake
freely before dinner. Through dinner only water is drunk, or nothing at
all, but before and after, tea--three-quarters sugar and one quarter tea,
with no milk,--is served, and also delicious coffee.

The capacity of Persians is enormous, and on trying to emulate it we all
suffered considerably. So pressing were our hosts to make us eat some of
this and some of that, and to taste some of the other, that by the time
we had finished we were all in a semi-conscious state. An attendant
passed round a brass bowl and poured upon our fingers, from a graceful
amphora, tepid water with rose-leaf scent. Then our host very
considerately had us led to the upper floor of the building to a
deliciously cool room, wherein were soft silk broad divans with velvet
pillows. Five minutes later, one in each corner of the room, we were all
fast asleep. It is the custom in Persia to have a siesta after one's
meals--one needs it badly when one is asked out to dinner. So for a
couple of hours we were left to ourselves, while our hosts retired to
their rooms. Then more tea was brought, more coffee, more sweets.

We paid an interesting visit to the village of Fatabad, the older portion
of which, formerly called Rustamabad, had from a distance the appearance
of a strongly fortified place. It had a high broad wall with four
circular towers at the corners, and quite an