At length, after considerable fatigue, they arrived at Ferhabad, a small port built by the Shah Abbas on the Caspian Sea. Here the governor of the city, when informed of his arrival, assigned him a house in the eastern quarter of the city, the rooms of which, says Pietro, were so low, that although by no means a tall man, he could touch the ceiling with his hand. If the house, however, reminded him of the huts erected by Romulus on the Capitoline, the garden, on the other hand, was delightful, being a large space of ground thickly planted with white mulberry-trees, and lying close upon the bank of the river. Here he passed the greater portion of his time with Actius Sincerus, or Marcus Aurelius, or Ferrari’s Geographical Epitome in his hand, now offering sacrifices to the Muses, and now running over with his eye the various countries and provinces which he was proud to have travelled over. One of his favourite occupations was the putting of his own adventures into verse, under a feigned name. This he did in that terza rima which Dante’s example had made respectable, but not popular, in Italy; and as he was not of the humour to hide his talent under a bushel, his brain was no sooner delivered of this conceit than he despatched it to Rome for the amusement of his friends.
Being now placed upon the margin of the Caspian, he very naturally desired to examine the appearance of its shores and waters; but embarking for this purpose in a fishing-boat with Maani, who, having passed her life in Mesopotamia, had never before seen the sea, her sickness and the fears produced in her mind by the tossing and rolling of the bark among the waves quickly put an end to the voyage. He ascertained, however, from the pilots of the coast, that the waters of this sea were not deep; immense banks of sand and mud, borne down into this vast basin by the numerous rivers which discharge themselves into it, being met with on all sides; though it is probable, that had they ventured far from shore they would have found the case different. Fish of many kinds were plentiful; but owing, perhaps, to the fat and slimy nature of the bottom, they were all large, gross, and insipid.
The shah was just then at Asshraff, a new city which he had caused to be erected, and was then enlarging, about six perasangs, or leagues, to the east of Ferhabad. Pietro, anxious to be introduced to the monarch, soon after his arrival wrote letters to the principal minister, which, together with others from the vicar-general of the Carmelite monks at Ispahan, he despatched by two of his domestics; and the ministers, according to his desire, informed the shah of his presence at Ferhabad. Abbas, who apparently had no desire that he should witness the state of things at Asshraff, not as yet comprehending either his character or his motives, observed, that the roads being extremely bad, the traveller had better remain at Ferhabad, whither he himself was about to proceed on horseback in a day or two. Pietro, whose vanity prevented his perceiving the shah’s motives, supposed in good earnest that Abbas was chary of his guest’s ease; and, to crown the absurdity, swallowed another monstrous fiction invented by the courtiers, who, as Hajjî Baba would say, were all the while laughing at his beard,—namely, that the monarch was so overjoyed at his arrival, that, had he not been annoyed by the number of soldiers who followed him against his will, he would next morning have ridden to Ferhabad to bid him welcome!
However, when he actually arrived in that city, he did not, as our worthy pilgrim expected, immediately admit him to an audience. In the mean while an agent from the Cossacks inhabiting the north-eastern shores of the Black Sea arrived, and Della Valle, who neglected no occasion of forwarding his own views, in the shaping of which he exhibited remarkable skill, at once connected himself with this stranger, whom he engaged to aid and assist by every means in his power, receiving from the barbarian the same assurances in return. The Cossack had come to tender the shah his nation’s services against the Turks; notwithstanding which, the business of his presentation had been negligently or purposely delayed, probably that he might understand, when his proposal should be afterward received, that, although the aid he promised was acceptable, it was by no means necessary, nor so considered.
At length the long-anticipated audience arrived, and Della Valle, when presented, was well received by the shah; who, not being accustomed, however, to the crusading spirit or the romance of chivalry, could not very readily believe that the real motives which urged him to join the Persian armies were precisely those which he professed. Nevertheless, his offers of service were accepted, and the provisions which he had already received rendered permanent. He was, moreover, sumptuously entertained at the royal table, and had frequently the honour of being consulted upon affairs of importance by the shah.
Abbas soon afterward removing with his court into Ghilan, without inviting Della Valle to accompany him, the latter departed for Casbin, there to await the marching of the army against the Turks, in which enterprise he was still mad enough to desire to engage. On reaching this city he found that Abbas had been more expeditious than he, and was already there, actively preparing for the war. All the military officers of the kingdom now received orders to repair with all possible despatch to Sultanieh, a city three days’ journey west of Casbin; and Pietro, who had voluntarily become a member of this martial class, hurried on among the foremost, in the hope of acquiring glory of a new kind.
The shah and his army had not been many days encamped in the plains of Sultanieh, when a courier from the general, who had already proceeded towards the frontiers, arrived with the news that the Turkish army was advancing, although slowly. This news allowed the troops, who had been fatigued with forced marches, a short repose; after which they pushed on vigorously towards Ardebil and Tabriz, Pietro and his heroic wife keeping pace with the foremost. In this critical juncture, Abbas, though in some respects a man of strong mind, did not consider it prudent to trust altogether to corporeal armies; but, having in his dominions certain individuals who pretended to have some influence over the infernal powers, sought to interest hell also in his favour; and for this purpose carried a renowned sorceress from Zunjan along with him to the wars, in the same spirit as Charles the First, and the Parliament shortly afterward, employed Lily to prophesy for them. Their route now lay through the ancient Media, over narrow plains or hills covered with verdure but bare of trees, sometimes traversing tremendous chasms, spanned by bridges of fearful height, at others winding along the acclivities of mountains, or upon the edge of precipices.
Notwithstanding his seeming ardour to engage with the Turks, Pietro, for some cause or another, did not join the fighting part of the army, but remained with the shah’s suite at Ardebil. This circumstance seems to have lowered him considerably in the estimation of the court. A battle, however, was fought, in which the Persians were victorious; but the Turkish sultan dying at this juncture, his successor commanded his general to negotiate for peace, which, after the usual intrigues and delays, was at length concluded. Abbas now returned to Casbin, where the victory and the peace was celebrated with great rejoicings; and here Della Valle, who seems to have begun to perceive that he was not likely to make any great figure in war, took his leave of the court in extremely bad health and low spirits, and returned to Ispahan.
Here repose, and the conversation of the friends he had made in this city, once more put him in good-humour with himself and with Persia; and being of an exceedingly hasty and inconsiderate disposition, he no sooner began to experience a little tranquillity, than he exerted the influence he had acquired over the parents of his wife to induce them, right or wrong, to leave Bagdad, where they lived contentedly and in comfort, and to settle at Ispahan, where they were in a great measure strangers, notwithstanding that one of their younger daughters was married to an Armenian of that city. The principal members of the family, no less imprudent than their adviser, accordingly quitted Mesopotamia with their treasures and effects, and established themselves in the capital of Persia.
This measure was productive of nothing but disappointment and vexation. One of Maani’s sisters, who had remained with her mother at Bagdad, while the father and brothers were at Ispahan, died suddenly; and the mother, inconsolable for her loss, entreated her husband to return to her with her other children. Then followed the pangs of parting, rendered doubly bitter by the reflection that it was for ever. Pietro became ill and melancholy, having now turned his thoughts, like the prodigal in the parable, towards his country and his father’s house, and determined shortly to commence his journey homeward. Obtaining without difficulty his dismission from the shah, and winding up his affairs, which were neither intricate nor embarrassed, at Ispahan, he set out on a visit to Shiraz, intending, when he should have examined Persepolis and its environs, to bid an eternal adieu to Persia.