[155] Imprisonment in dry wells is very common in some parts of Tartary.
[156] Thirty-eight persons were put to death, of whom eleven were sons, brothers, and nephews.
Such of the women of his family as were not killed were given away to persons of inferior condition; a brutal and degrading usage practised in Persia, as well as Tartary, in cases where it is desired to disgrace as well as punish men of high rank.
[157] Mahomed Hoosein Khan of Merv has finished his earthly career since this was written.
CHAPTER XX.
Departure from Sooltâneah—Tebreez—Climate—Lake of Oormeah—Ahmed the Cobbler.
Though delighted to turn towards home, the joy at our departure from the royal camp was not unmingled with regret, at taking leave, probably for the last time, of many of our Persian friends. The king's attention to the Elchee had been most flattering, and we had all participated in the royal favour. Fatteh Ali Shâh had, indeed, with all due allowances for other motives, evinced on this occasion sentiments and feelings which did him honour as a man as well as a sovereign.
We went from Sooltâneah to Tebreez, which has for many years been the residence of the heir-apparent, Abbas Meerzâ. Tebreez is celebrated as one of the most healthy cities in Persia, and it is on this ground alone that we can account for its being so often rebuilt, after its repeated demolition by earthquakes. It is seldom free, even for a twelvemonth, from slight shocks; and it is little more than thirty years since it was levelled with the ground, by one of these terrible convulsions of nature.