There Is No Regular Post-Road Between Shiraz And Bushire, Or Rather
Sheif, The Landing-Place, Eight Miles From The Latter City.
The
journey is performed by mule-caravan, resting by night at the
caravanserais.
Under the guidance of Mr. F - - , I therefore set about
procuring animals and "chalvadars," or muleteers. The task was not an
easy one; for Captain T - - of the Indian Army was then in Shiraz,
buying on behalf of the Government; and everything in the shape of a
mule that could stand was first brought for his inspection. By good
luck, however, I managed to get together half a dozen sorry-looking
beasts; but they suited the purpose well enough. The price of these
animals varies very much in Persia. They can be bought for as little
as L4, while the best fetch as much as L60 to L80.
Those were pleasant days at Shiraz. One never tired of wandering about
the outskirts of the city and through the quiet, shady gardens and
"cities of the silent," as the Persians call their cemeteries;
for, when the solemn stillness of the latter threatened to become
depressing, there was always the green plain, alive from morning till
night with movement and colour, to go back to. Early one morning,
awoke by the sound of a cracked trumpet and drums, I braved the dust,
and followed a Persian regiment of the line to its drill-ground.
The Persian army numbers, on a peace footing, about 35,000 men, the
reserve bringing it up to perhaps twice that number.
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