Here Niebuhr, who had learned the English language at Bombay, found himself still in the company of one of our countrymen, from whom he obtained a plan of the city, together with much curious and valuable information respecting the country and its inhabitants. This Englishman, whose name was Jervis, spoke, read, and wrote the Persian with fluency, and amused himself with making a collection of manuscripts in that language; among which was the “Life of Nadir Shah,” by his own private secretary Mohammed Mahadi Khan. The authenticity of this work was so highly spoken of in Persia, that Niebuhr was at some pains to procure a copy of it for the King of Denmark’s library; and it was from this copy that Sir William Jones afterward compiled his “History of Nadir Shah,” once celebrated, but now sunk into oblivion. At Abusheher our traveller saw several of that species of cat numbers of which are now brought into Europe from Angola. They were procured from Kermân, and it was said that they would nowhere breed except in those countries in which the shawl goat was found—an opinion which has long been proved to have been erroneous.
Shortly after Niebuhr’s arrival at Abusheher, Mr. Jervis determined upon sending a quantity of merchandise to Shiraz; and his intention was no sooner made public, than a number of petty merchants, together with several families from the interior, who had been expelled from their homes by the troubles consequent upon the death of Nadir Shah, desired to unite themselves to his party; and thus a small kafilah was at once formed. So excellent an opportunity of visiting the most beautiful city of Persia, as well as the famous ruins of Persepolis, was not to be overlooked. Our traveller therefore joined the trading caravan, and on the 15th of February set out for the interior.
For this journey, however, he was but badly prepared. He was wholly ignorant of the Persian language, and therefore, had he not by great good fortune found some persons among the party who spoke Arabic, as well as an Armenian who was a tolerable master of the Italian, he must have been reduced to depend upon the universal but scanty language of signs. Strange to say, likewise, he had abandoned the oriental costume, though fully aware, by his own account, of the advantages to be derived from it by a traveller. In other respects he conducted himself judiciously; for, understanding that the English, notwithstanding the troubled state of Persia, had nowhere any thing to fear, he represented himself as an Englishman; and thus, without passport or formal permission, he travelled with perfect freedom and safety. He observed during this journey a curious superstition among the Armenians, of which he had nowhere else discovered any traces: having despatched his servant upon some business at a distance from the encampment, he was one day compelled to act as his own cook, and was about to cut off the head of a fowl. His face at that moment happening to be turned towards the west, an Armenian who was present informed him that a Christian should turn his face to the east when he killed a fowl, no less than when he prayed. Others (as the affair was a serious business) conjectured that he turned towards Mecca, either that his servant, who was a Mohammedan, might conscientiously partake of the food, or because that in reality was his kebleh. Seeing, however, that people endeavoured to decide respecting his religion by the mode in which he slaughtered a hen, he for the future relinquished to his servant the art and mystery of cookery.
Our traveller had an opportunity, near Firashbend, of visiting a Turkoman camp. He found them rich in camels, horses, asses, cows, and sheep. Their women, like those of the Bedouins, enjoyed the most perfect liberty, and wore no veils. These Turkoman women were said to be exceedingly laborious, and the small carpets so universal in Persia were of their workmanship. He likewise beheld a Kurdish family. Farther on, he had a very laughable adventure with a troop of Armenian women, which, as characteristic at once of the Armenians and of himself, merits some attention. Having travelled for some time through rain and hail, the kafilah at length halted, near the village of Romshun, in which Niebuhr hired a horse for a day, and purchased a quantity of wood, in the hope of enjoying a good fire until bedtime. Not desiring, however, to taste of these blessings alone, he invited several Armenians to share the advantage of his apartments, which they most readily accepted. Presently, however, a number of women and children presented themselves for admission, and appeared extremely well satisfied when he granted them permission to place themselves inside of the door. He had shortly afterward occasion to leave the house for a moment. Upon his return, he found the husbands of the women seated near the entrance of the house, while the whole harem had established itself round the fire! and conceiving that it might be imprudent to sit down by the fire among the women, or to drive them away from it, he allowed them, though certainly not from politeness, to dry themselves first. Here he was detained for twenty-four hours by bad weather. The apartments which he occupied were on the second story, and his horse, which had its quarters in the adjoining chamber, being somewhat restless in the night, broke through the floor, and fell down into the landlord’s apartment below!
The kafilah reached Shiraz on the 4th of March. Here he was hospitably received and entertained by the only European in the city, a young English merchant, whose name he should have been at the pains to learn, for assuredly it was not, as he imagined, Mr. Hercules. His stay at Shiraz was rendered agreeable by the politeness of the governor, who, at his first audience, informed him that he would decapitate the first person who should offer him any injury in his territories. The audience being over, one of the governor’s friends undertook to show them the palace. Several of the apartments were coated with beautiful Tabriz marble, and covered with magnificent carpets; and among the ornaments of the palace were numerous European mirrors, and pictures of Persian workmanship, among which was one representing a woman bathing, almost wholly naked. Niebuhr was greatly surprised to find pictures of this kind in the house of a Mohammedan; but, in fact, the Shiahs are far less rigid on this point than the Soonnees; and we learn from the Arabian Nights, that even so early as the time of Haroon al Rashid painting was encouraged in Persia and Mesopotamia, since that celebrated prince is said to have adorned his palace with the performances of the principal Persian artists.
From Shiraz he proceeded to the ruins of Persepolis, the site and nature of which I have already had occasion to describe in the lives of Chardin and Kæmpfer. His head-quarters during his stay was at the small village of Merdast. From thence, as well as from the other villages, the peasants frequently came to observe him during his examination of the ruins, in which he constantly employed the whole day, from eight o’clock in the morning until five in the afternoon. The majority of these visiters were women and young girls, who were curious to see a European; and the whole of the population were so entirely harmless, that the traveller felt himself as safe in their company as he could have been in any village in Europe. He here received a visit from an Arab sheïkh, a learned, polished, and agreeable man, who had passed thirty years in Persia, during which time he had amassed considerable wealth, and now lived in independence and ease.
From Persepolis he returned by the way of Shiraz to Abusheher, where he embarked in one of the country vessels for the island of Karak, where he was hospitably received and entertained by the Dutch merchants settled there; and after a short stay, proceeded to Bassorah. Here he embarked in a small vessel which was about to sail up the Euphrates to Hillah. His companion, during this voyage, was an officer of the janizary corps, who lay in a small chamber close to Niebuhr’s cabin, and appeared to be at the point of death. In other respects this little voyage, which occupied twenty-one days, was sufficiently agreeable. The passengers were remarkable for their good-humour and obliging disposition; and often, when our traveller set up his quadrant on the banks of the stream, they stood round him in a circle, while he was making his observations, to screen him from the wind with their long flowing dresses.
At Rumahia, a small village on the Euphrates, he lodged with two of his Mohammedan companions at the house of a Soonnee, who happened to be the moollah of a mosque. Soon after their arrival, our traveller entered into conversation with his host, and their discourse turning on the subject of marriage, he observed, among other things, that in Europe a man, when he gives his daughter to any one in wedlock, is generally accustomed to add a considerable sum of money. This custom greatly delighted the moollah. “Do you hear,” says he to his mother-in-law, who was sitting near him, while the daughter was preparing their pilau,—“do you hear what the stranger is saying? It was not thus that you acted towards me, my mother; I was compelled to pay you a sum of money before you would give me your daughter!” The mother-in-law, after patiently hearing him to the end, replied, “Ah! my son, upon what should I and my daughter have subsisted, had I given thee my field and my date-trees?” This slight interruption in the conversation having ceased, Niebuhr, resuming the thread of the discourse, remarked, that in Europe no man could possess more than one wife, under pain of death; that married persons enjoyed every thing in common; and that their property descended to their children. It was now the old lady’s turn to be eloquent. “Well, my son,” says she, “have you marked what the gentleman has just related? Ah! what justice prevails in those countries! Ah! had you no other wife than my daughter, and could I be sure you would never divorce her, how willingly would I relinquish to you my house, and all I possess!” The young woman, who had hitherto seemed to pay no attention to what was said, now likewise joined in the discussion. “Alas! my husband!” said she, “how can you desire that my mother should give you her house? You would soon bestow it upon your other wives. You love them better than me. I see you so seldom!”
The mother and daughter proceeded in this style for some time, and at length Niebuhr, turning to the moollah, demanded how many wives he had.—“Four,” replied the man. This was the highest number permitted by the law. He had, therefore, indulged his affections to the utmost; and as each of his spouses had a separate house and garden, he flitted at pleasure from wife to wife, and was everywhere received as a man returning home from a long journey. Our traveller inquired of this zealous polygamist whether his private happiness had been increased or diminished by his having availed himself of the privilege of a Mohammedan; but, because his reply was contrary to his own European views, as that of every other Mussulman, whom he had questioned on the subject, had been, he absurdly accused him of insincerity.
From this place he proceeded to Meshed Ali, where he was deterred from entering the mosque, by the fear that he might, as a punishment for his presumption, be compelled to profess Mohammedanism; but he admired the exterior of its gilded dome, which glittered like a globe of flame in the sun. The riches of this mosque, allowing much for the exaggeration of the Shiahs, must still be immense. The interior of the dome is no less superbly gilt than the exterior, and is adorned with Arabic inscriptions in rich enamel; other inscriptions, in letters of gold, glitter along the walls; while enormous candelabra, in silver and fine gold, set with jewels, support the tapers which afford light to the pious during the darkness of the night. This accumulation of gorgeous ornaments, though supplied from a commendable motive, affects the worshippers injuriously, and once occasioned a pious Arab to exclaim, “Verily, the treasures lavished upon this tomb have made me forget God!”