I had never seen so much
cleanliness and taste in any Oriental house. I should have taken
the court-yard for the garden, if I had not afterwards seen the
latter from the windows. The gardens here are, indeed, inferior to
ours, but are magnificent when compared with those at Baghdad. They
have flowers, rows of vines and shrubs, and between the fruit-trees
pleasant basins of water and luxuriant grass-plots.
The reception-room was very large and lofty; the front and back (of
which the former looked out into the court-yard, the latter into the
garden), consisted of windows, the panes of which were in very small
six and eight-sided pieces, framed in gilded wood; on the door-posts
there was also some gilding. The floor was covered with carpeting;
and at the place where the mistress of the house sat, another piece
of rich carpet was laid over. In Persia, there are no divans, but
only thick round pillows for leaning upon.
Intimation had previously been given of my visit. I found a large
party of women and young girls assembled, who had probably been
attracted here by their curiosity to see a European woman. Their
dress was costly, like that of the princess, but there was a
difference in the jewellery.
