proportions than usual. A
quadrangular tower of considerable loftiness stood prominent above the
height of all the other buildings. For a Persian village Iskil had quite
a clean, fresh appearance, even from a short distance. On getting near we
entered the main road--one might more accurately call it a canal--walled
in on both sides and filled with water some eight or ten inches deep. Our
horses waded through, and having rounded another large pond of dirty
green water--such as is always found in the more prosperous villages of
Persia--we came to a high wall enclosing a garden and an Andarun near the
residence of the Kalantar of Sistan (Kalantar means the "bigger one"),
the title taken by the head of the tribe who in by-gone days were the
masters of the whole of Sistan.

The Kalantar is a large landowner, and has the contract for all the
grazing tax of East Sistan. Among the villages owned by him are Iskil,
Bunjar, and Kas-im-abad, the three richest in Sistan. The name of
Kalantar is taken by each of the family as he succeeds to the possession
of these villages, lands, and rights.

The Kalantar, previous to the one now in possession, was a man of most
commanding presence, very tall and very stout--the biggest man in
Sistan--and much respected by everybody. He was extremely friendly
towards the English. He had planted an entire garden of English flowers
and fruit at Iskil, and took the keenest interest in horticulture and
agriculture. Above all, however, he was renowned for a magnificent
collection of ancient seals, coins, jewellery, implements, beads, and
other curiosities, of which he had amassed chests and chests full that
had been dug up from the great city of Zaidan and neighbourhood. Some of
the cameos were very delicately cut in hard stone, and reminded one of
ancient Greek work. Symbolic representations in a circle, probably to
suggest eternity, were favourite subjects of these ornamentations, such
designs as a serpent biting its own tail, or three fishes biting one
another's tails and forming a circle, being of frequent occurrence. So
also were series of triangles and simple circles. The gold rings were
most beautifully delicate and simple in design, and so were all the other
ornaments, showing that the people of Zaidan had a most refined
civilisation which is not to be found in Persian art of to-day.
Personally, I have certainly never seen modern Persian work which in any
way approached in beauty of line and ex