ne of the few large cities in Persia which is
not surrounded by a wall.

The Amir, or Governor, does not live in Birjand itself but half a
farsakh, or two miles, across the plains to the S.S.E., where he has a
handsome residence in a pretty garden. Much to my regret I was too unwell
to go and pay my respects to him, although I carried an introduction to
him from H.R.H. Zil-es-Sultan, the Shah's brother. He very kindly sent to
inquire after my health several times during my stay, and the Karghazar
was deputed to come and convey these messages to me.

One cannot speak too highly of the extreme civility of Persian officials
if one travels in their country properly accredited and in the right
way. If one does not, naturally one only has to blame one's self for the
consequences.

One hears a good deal about the advantages of being a Britisher in any
country, and one could not help being amused at the natives of Birjand
who could not distinguish a European from the blackest Bengalese. They
were all _Inglis_ to them. Some natives came to announce that a caravan
of twenty of my own countrymen had just arrived--which gave me quite a
pleasant surprise, although I could hardly credit its truth. On rushing
out of my room to greet them, I found myself confronted with a crowd of
black-faced, impudent, untidy Indian pilgrims from Bengal, on their way
to the Sacred Shrine of Meshed. Most of them were fever-stricken; others,
they told me, had died on the way.

These caravans have caused a good deal of friction both with the Persian
and Russian authorities, for fear that they should bring plague into
Persia and Transcaspia. When one saw these fanatics--religious people can
be so dirty--one could not with any fairness blame the authorities for
making a fuss and taking stringent measures to protect their own
countries and people from probable infection. True, it should be
remembered that the journey of 600 miles across the hot Baluchistan
desert to Sistan, and the 500 more miles to Meshed, ought to have been a
sufficient disinfectant as far as the plague went, but their wretched
appearance was decidedly against them.

These pilgrims were a great nuisance; they traded on the fact that they
were under British protection; they lived in the most abject fashion,
continually haggling and quarrelling with the natives, and decidedly did
not add to our popularity in Eastern Persia, to say nothing of the
endless trouble and worry they gave to o