Large caravans
also, of several hundred camels, passed us and took up the road in
such a way, that we were obliged to wait for half an hour to allow
them to pass.
Towards noon we entered a valley in which lay a town, which was
certainly large, but of such an unpretending appearance, that I did
not at once inquire what was its name. The nearer we approached the
more ruined it appeared. The walls were half fallen, the streets
and squares full of heaps of rubbish, and many of the houses were in
ruins; it seemed as if a pestilence or an enemy had destroyed it.
At last I asked its name, and could hardly believe that I had
understood it rightly when I was told that it was Tebris.
My guide conducted me to the house of Mr. Stevens, the English
consul, who, to my vexation, was not in the town, but ten miles away
in the country. A servant, however, told me that he would go
directly to a gentleman who could speak English. In a very short
time he came, and his first questions were: "How did you come here,
_alone_? Have you been robbed? Have you parted from your company
and only left them in the town?" But when I gave him my pass, and
explained everything to him, he appeared scarcely to believe me. He
thought it bordered upon the fabulous that a woman should have
succeeded, without any knowledge of the language, in penetrating
through such countries and such people. I also could not be too
thankful for the evident protection which Providence had afforded
me. I felt myself as happy and lively as if I had taken a new lease
of my life.
Doctor Cassolani showed me to some rooms in Mr. Stevens's house, and
said that he would immediately send a messenger to him, and I might
meanwhile make known my wants to him.
When I expressed to him my astonishment at the miserable appearance
and ugly entrance to this town, the second in the country, he told
me that the town could not be well seen from the side at which I
came in, and that the part which I saw was not considered the town,
but was chiefly old and, for the most part, deserted.
CHAPTER XXI. SOJOURN IN TEBRIS.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN - THE TOWN - PERIOD OF FASTING - BEHMEN MIRZA -
ANECDOTES OF THE PERSIAN GOVERNMENT - INTRODUCTION TO THE VICEROY AND
HIS WIFE - BEHMEN MIRZA'S WIVES - VISIT TO A PERSIAN LADY - PERSECUTION
OF THE LOWER CLASSES, OF THE CHRISTIANS, AND OF THE JEWS - DEPARTURE.
Tebris, or Tauris, is the capital of the province of Aderbeidschan,
and the residence of the successor to the throne of Persia, who
bears the title of Viceroy. It is situated in a treeless valley on
the rivers Piatscha and Atschi, and contains 160,000 inhabitants.
The town is handsomer than Teheran or Ispahan, possesses a number of
silk looms and leather manufactories, and is said to be one of the
principal seats of Asiatic commerce.
The streets are tolerably broad, and are also kept clean, there is
in each an underground water canal with openings at regular
intervals for the purpose of dipping out water.
There is no more to be seen of the houses than in any other Oriental
town. Lofty walls with low entrances, without windows, and with the
fronts always facing the court-yards, which are planted with flowers
and small trees, and generally adjoining a beautiful garden. The
reception rooms are large and lofty, with whole rows of windows,
forming a complete wall of glass. The decoration of the rooms is
not elegant, generally nothing beyond some few carpets; European
furniture and articles of luxury are rare.
There are no handsome mosques, palaces, or monuments, either ancient
or modern, with the exception of the partly ruined mosque of Ali-
Schach, which, however, will not bear comparison in any respect with
those in India.
The new bazaar is very handsome, its lofty, broad covered streets
and passages forcibly called to my remembrance the bazaar at
Constantinople; but it had a more pleasant appearance as it is
newer. The merchant's stalls also are larger, and the wares,
although not so magnificent and rich as some travellers represent,
are more tastefully displayed and can be more easily overlooked,
especially the carpets, fruits, and vegetables. The cookshops also
looked very inviting, and the various dishes seemed so palatable and
diffused such a savoury odour, that I could have sat down with
pleasure and partaken of them. The shoe department, on the
contrary, presented nothing attractive; there were only goods of the
plainest description exposed; while in Constantinople the most
costly shoes and slippers, richly embroidered with gold, and even
ornamented with pearls and precious stones, are to be seen under
glass cases.
I had arrived at Tebris at a rather unfavourable time - namely, the
fast month. From sunrise to sunset nothing is eaten, nobody leaves
the house, there are neither visits nor company - indeed, nothing but
praying. This ceremony is so strictly observed that invalids
frequently fall victims to it, as they will take neither medicine
nor food during the day; they believe that if they were to eat only
a mouthful, they would forfeit the salvation to be obtained by
fasting. Many of the more enlightened make an exception to this
custom in cases of illness; however, in such an instance the
physician must send a written declaration to the priest, in which he
explains the necessity of taking medicine and food. If the priest
puts his seal to this document, pardon is obtained. I am not aware
whether this granting of indulgences was taken by the Mahomedans
from the Christians, or the reverse. Girls are obliged to keep
these fasts after their tenth year, and boys after their fifteenth.
