Under These Circumstances, It Is Scarcely To Be Wondered At
That The Shirazis Die Like Sheep During An Epidemic, And Indeed At All
Times.
Persian surgery is not much better.
In cases of amputation the
limb is hacked off by repeated blows of a heavy chopper. In the case
of fingers or toes a razor is used, the wound being dipped into
boiling oil or pitch immediately after the operation.
The office of the Indo-European Telegraph is in Shiraz, but the
private dwellings of the staff are some distance outside the city. A
high wall surrounds the grounds in which the latter are situated - half
a dozen comfortable brick buildings, bungalow style, each with its
fruit and flower garden. Looking out of my bedroom window the morning
following my arrival, on the shrubberies, well-kept lawns, bright
flower-beds, and lawn-tennis nets, I could scarcely realize that this
was Persia; that I was not at home again, in some secluded part of the
country in far-away England. Long residence in the East had evidently
not changed my host Mr. F - - 's ideas as to the necessity for European
comforts. The cheerful, sunlit, chintz-covered bedroom, with its white
furniture, blue-and-white wall-paper, and lattice windows almost
hidden by rose and jasmine bushes, was a pleasant _coup d'oeil_ after
the grimy, bug-infested post-houses; and the luxuries of a good
night's rest and subsequent shave, cold tub, and clean linen were that
morning appreciated as they only can be by one who has spent many
weary days in the saddle, uncombed, unshaven, and unwashed.
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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