Our march for several days was over a very rugged country, in which there was little cultivation. The pasture appeared excellent, and the valleys were watered by small but clear streams. The great want in Kûrdistan, as in many other parts of Persia, is wood. My Indian friend, Soobadar Syed Hoosein,[171] when riding with me, remarked the great difference in this particular between the provinces we had travelled through, and his native land. "These proud Persians," said he, "boast of their country; but they have neither shade to protect them from the heat of summer, nor fuel to save them from the cold of winter."
The day he made this observation, the good Soobadar had reason to complain of the want of the latter article; for, as winter was yet distant, it being only the 16th of August, none was furnished, and the cold proved excessive; the water in our tents was frozen, and Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 34° at six in the morning.
As we approached Sennah, the capital of the province of Ardelan, the soil improved, and, if cultivated, would, no doubt, produce abundance of grain; but its rude inhabitants prefer a pastoral life. They are, if we may judge from what we saw, an uncommonly robust race, and appear unchanged in their manners and customs by the twenty-three centuries which have elapsed since the days of Xenophon, who would have no difficulty, if permitted to return from the Elysian fields, to recognize the descendants of the enemies he encountered amidst these wilds. I made this observation to Baharâm Meerzâ, who had been sent by the Waly of Sennah to welcome the Elchee, and remarked, at the same time, the little care or knowledge they had about religion, though all professed that of Mahomed. "It is all very true," he said, "but two or three days will bring you to Sennah, and you will then see that though we are Kûrds, and have a pride in being so, we are not all barbarians."
The evening before we went to Sennah, I read the introductory pages of the history of the Kûrds. It is written by a native; and, according to this patriotic author, all the virtue and courage this world has ever known was nurtured amid the wilds and mountains of Kûrdistan. Its inhabitants, he affirms, attained great glory in former ages, and would have subjected the universe, but for the caution of the prophet Mahomed, who, struck by the fierce look and gigantic form of a Kûrd ambasssador, prayed to God that this formidable race might never be united. This prayer was heard, adds my author; and the warriors of Kûrdistan have ever since been at variance with each other.
Sennah is so surrounded by hills that the town is not seen till you are close to the suburbs. We were pleased with its appearance: the houses are well built; and the gardens and cultivation in its vicinity came in strong and pleasing contrast with the rugged lands through which we had travelled for the last eight days.
Two sons of Aman ollâh Khan, the Waly, or prince, came with three hundred horse to meet, and welcome us to the court of their father. I was delighted with the eldest of these boys. Though only ten years of age, he rode and managed a very spirited charger with great address. In his conversation he was free and unembarrassed, mixing the simplicity of the child with the information of the man. He had, he said, been in all parts of his father's territories, and appeared well acquainted with the various tribes by which they were inhabited, answering every question put to him by the Elchee on this subject with remarkable clearness and correctness.
The day after our arrival, we went to visit the Waly, who received us in a magnificent style. We found him attended by his principal officers; and the two boys, who had come to meet us, were standing close to their father. The Elchee wished them to be seated; but that, he was informed, was against the etiquette of this petty court. That etiquette however was disturbed. A man came into the room, and spoke to the Waly in the Kûrdish dialect. The prince laughed; and on the Elchee asking what was the matter—"Nothing," said he, "except that a spoilt child of mine, not four years of age, declares he will put himself to death, unless allowed to see you as well as his brothers." The Elchee entreated he might make his appearance, saying he was fond of children, and much flattered by the boy's anxiety to see him. Soon after, in marched this desperate little Kûrd, loaded with fine clothes. He was tolerably bold at first, but took alarm when pressed by the Elchee to sit near him; he appeared particularly startled by the cocked hat and high feather. The Elchee, observing this, took out the feather and gave it him to play with. This act of conciliation was completely successful. After amusing himself with the feather for some time, the little fellow ventured to take up the hat, examined it, and other parts of our dress, and in a few minutes began to chatter in a manner which delighted the father, who seemed much pleased with the attention paid to his favourite.
The Waly having returned the Elchee's visit, and invited us to dine with him, we went to his palace, a small but handsome building. The hall in which we were received was forty feet long, twenty-four broad, and thirty high. A facing of white marble covered the walls of this apartment to the height of eight feet, above that it was painted and richly gilt. The chequered gilding of the roof had an appearance like mosaic, which produced a good effect. Adjoining to this hall, and one step more elevated, was a room twenty-four feet by eighteen, connected with the interior of the palace by folding-doors, so admirably finished, and the gilding of which so exactly corresponded with the other ornaments of the apartment, that when shut it was difficult to discover them. The front of the hall was supported by four richly carved and gilt pillars, and opened on a terrace commanding a view of the town. On this terrace was a fountain, adapted to its size and that of the building.
Persia is famous for its carpets; but none I had ever seen surpassed in beauty that on which the Waly and his guests were seated in this hall of his fathers. He appeared to have great pride in introducing the Elchee to the persons by whom he was surrounded. None of them, he said, counted less than eight or nine generations in the service of his family, and some had been its firm and attached adherents during a period of four centuries.