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beautiful hill to survey the plain. Hundreds gathered around us, with joyful countenances; but their glee was suddenly dissipated, by the arrival of a Persian sheriff, accompanied by two soldiers, to collect taxes. The sheriff was a little intimidated by our presence, and was much milder in his measures to extort money from the poor Nestorians, than is usually the case.

We dined with the bishop, with whom we had an extremely friendly and interesting visit. I find no Nestorian, whose conversation savors so much of seriousness and apparent religious feeling, as that of Mar Elias; and he is reputed by his own people to be the most pious man -man of God, as the eastern phrase is— in the whole province. He always loves to talk of Christ and salvation, and I sometimes almost dare to hope that he has felt the power of salvation in his heart.

We reached home, a little before dark, and soon left again to attend a Mohammedan wedding, to which we were invited this morning. The bridegroom of this wedding is son of a khan high in rank, who resides quite near us. We called at the door by which we have been accustomed to enter the khan's dwelling, but we were informed that the house was filled with Persian ladies, who had assembled also to celebrate the wedding, and we were conducted to the house of the khan's brother, the next door, where the gentlemen were assembled. Ladies among the Persians are not allowed to be present with the gentlemen on any public or social occasions, The guest-chamber to which we were conducted is a splendid room, fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide, elegantly carpeted. Carpets and a fire-pan in winter are the only articles of furniture used by the nobility even, in Persia. Sitting upon the floor and eating with the fingers supersede the use of furniture. A row of Persian nobles sat shoulder to shoulder around this great room. At the head was Jenghair Khan, eldest son of the governor of the province. As we entered, he rose and beckoned us to come and take seats by himself, at the head of the party. Thus seated, we had at one elbow this son of the governor, a high mollah, a Kurdish pasha from the region of Mesopotamia, and khans and begs and so on. On the other side of us, sat a khan who commands the troops of this province, after him a younger son of the governor, and again, khans, begs, meerzas, and so on.

Our entertainment, prepared and served in Oriental style, was rich, but plain. The liquors could not have offended a temperance agent in America. The principal was sherbet, which is sweetened water flavored with an aromatic. The Mohammedans are the most temperate class in Persia. The Koran forbids the use of wine. At present, however, intemperance is making terrible inroads, even among the Mohammedans (and principally by foreign agency), as their reverence for religion is diminishing. Will Christendom present to Persians, as they abandon the system of their prophet, no better substitute than the most fearful of her vices?

But the fact of our, or any Christian, being admitted to the wedding of a Persian nobleman is so novel, that I may be permitted to enter a little more into detail respecting our entertainment. Soon after we were seated, a la Turk, goolaub, rose-water, was passed around, and poured into the hands of each guest, with which he washed and scented his beard. Soon after water and napkins were carried around, that each might wash his hands in preparation for a meal. The Persians, like the Jews, "except they wash their hands oft, eat not." Then came sherbet in cups, like tea, sprinkled over with a delicious mucilaginous seed. Next was brought the principal meal, the main article of which was pilav, boiled rice, served up with baked lamb and fowl. For plates we used the very thin, large bread cakes of the country, and for knives and forks our fingers. At the close of the meal water was passed around, and we again washed our hands. Conversation all the while had been lively but dignified.

The two high mollahs now retired, from a sense of propriety, as it afterwards appeared, just as clergymen in America are accustomed to retire before any recreations savoring of levity are introduced. We also rose to retire with the Mohammedan ecclesiastics; but the son of the governor, the ruler of the feast, importuned us to remain a little longer; and to gratify his wishes and amuse our curiosity we remained. Soon music and dancing were introduced. The musicians were three in number, two using tamborins, and one a rude violin. They played plaintive oriental airs, and accompanied their instruments with their voices. There was only a single dancer, but he a very nimble one, now whirling upon his heels, with the velocity of a top, and anon leaping all

over the room, and assuming the most ecncetric grimaces and attitudes. This dancer is a Lesghee by nation, from the southeastern corner of Mount Caucasus. Numbers of this nation have from time immemorial strolled in these countries in the capacity of minstrels. The music and dancing continued about half an hour, and we retired.

At this wedding, the main zest of an American wedding was wanting-viz: the presence of the married pair. Among the Persians the nuptials are performed in private, by the mollahs at the mosques, Our entertainment, however, was grand and imposing, and vividly reminded me of the parables of our Savior, which represent the kingdom of heaven under the figure of an eastern noble making "a marriage for his son." As christian missionaries, too, we rejoiced that the Lord gives us such favor in the eyes of these Mohammedans, as to be admitted to their highest circles, and to sit sociably with their highest mollahs. Our hope and prayer is, that these teachers of the false prophet's religion may ere long rejoice to receive from our lips the glad tidings of the true salvation.

The Khan's Summer Palace-Punishment by Bastinado.

12. To-day, Jenghair Khan, eldest son of the governor, sent for us to come and walk with him at his summer palace. We accompanied the messenger, and a walk of a quarter of a mile brought us within the walls of a superb specimen of oriental magnificence. I have often visited the residence of the prince royal, at Tabreez, and admired its grandeur, but it is quite inferior to this summer palace of the governor of Oormiah. The khan accompanied us into all the rooms, and to the top of the building, with the utmost familiarity. Many of the rooms have their interior entirely covered with gilded mirrors, and others with ancient portrait paintings. The paintings are extremely gaudy, but not elegant, according to our taste. In the spacious court in the midst of the buildings, are artificial fountains playing the whole time, forming a very fine specimen of a Persian paradise. From an overlooking tower we enjoyed a charming view of the vast plain and the surrounding moun

tains.

When we had surveyed the whole, the khan importuned us to go to a chamber on the premises, and drink tea with him. Tea is the customary entertainment in exchanging calls among the nobility of

Persia, sometimes both coffee and tea; and a more formal attention still is tea, coffee, and rose-water: but neither coffee, nor rose-water, nor both together can, in Persian etiquette, supersede the use of tea. Instead of tea from the tea-plant, however, hot cinnamon water is often brought forward, as a favorite treat; but it must be served in tea-cups, and pass under the denomination of tea. In the chamber to which our host conducted us were assembled a younger son of the governor and several other young nobles, with whom we had a very social visit. For our better accommodation two or three old travelling chairs had been collected.

This eldest son of the governor is an interesting young man, and will doubtless succeed his father in the government of this province. All ordinary affairs are now intrusted to him. While we sat drinking tea, we witnessed a specimen of his administration. A man was brought up before the window, and bastinadoed. Our host taxed himself to the utmost to render our entertainment agreeable, but unexpectedly witnessing this brutal species of punishment quite sickened our hearts, and made us deeply sensible that we dwell in a dark and barbarous land. Had the khan suspected that the circumstance would be disagreeable to us, he would by no means have suffered it to take place in our presence; but so accustomed are Persian nobles to such scenes, that they think no more of them, than of smoking their kalecoons.

The Persian method of bastinadoing is this. The ancles of the culprit are bound between two large poles, from fifteen to twenty feet in length, which are lashed together, from end to end. He is then thrown down upon his back on a pavement, and the poles are raised and supported by several men. The culprit thus lies entirely helpless, with his legs extended upward, and the bottoms of his bare feet presenting a fair surface, for the application of the rod. In this instance an officer brought a bundle of sticks, probably one hundred in number, from a store-house, in which the magistrate always keeps them ready. Two or three officers took each a rod, and applied themselves to the work. The khan gave orders to "whip hard;" and his orders were faithfully executed, amid the wailings of the culprit, and the reiterated injunction of the whole party of young nobles, “Kaim-voor, kaim-voor," whip him hard, whip him hard.

As soon as I had sufficiently recovered from my shock of horror at the scene, to speak composedly, I inquired the crime, and was told that the prisoner had been fighting. He doubtless deserved punishment, but this frightful method of administering it often makes me sigh for the land of my kindred-a land of wholesome laws, and of efficient, yet humane administration.

While we sat at tea in this beautiful chamber, said our host and the young nobles with him, "This would be an excellent room in which for us to take English lessons," thus indirectly inviting us to instruct them in our language. I could only reply, "Yes." The task of instructing these young Persian khans would indeed be delightful. But our multiplied labors forbid us to undertake it. May the Lord soon send us helpers. How important the object of having this young governor of the province, and his comrades, as pupils.

the bishop, had thought little of the bird; but, when presented on the shore, it proved to be, to us at least, a wonderful curiosity. The size of its body is a little less than that of a goose; the feathers of its body are white, while its wings are most splendidly decked with crimson plumes. But its most remarkable features are the prodigious length of its wings and neck. The legs, quite small in size, are nearly four feet long, and the neck, also very slender, is three and a half feet long. When it sits at rest, it coils its neck gracefully over back to the tail, and again forward, and lays its bill on its breast. The bill is five inches long, and projects over the mouth about two inches in the form of a spike, a convenient shape to probe the mud at the bottom of the lake, and extract its subsistence.

The bishop was most happy to present to us the splendid fowl he had taken. We have brought it home alive, and are all wishing it were in some museum in America. Removed from its native ele

Character of Mar Gabriel-Visit to Mar ment, the salt water, it will probably

Joseph.

14. Mar Gabriel is a noble, generous, but rather wild young man. He commenced studying English with us soon after our arrival at Ooriniah, but the confinement proved intolerable to his restless mind; and after a few weeks of very successful study; he felt obliged to relinquish the undertaking, and return to his favorite fowling, fishing, and hunting. We are on the most friendly terms with him; but I fear we shall not soon so far tame him, as to be able to give him a very thorough education, or make him a very sober man.

soon die. The Persians say it will eat nothing but salt and mud. They call its name boklan, and reckon its flesh very delicious. This wild bishop, Mar Gabriel, we still hope may become an important auxiliary in forwarding our missionary objects. The most unfavorable trait in his character is that he is "given to much wine." He seems disposed to be exceedingly friendly towards us. Were we to request him to aid us in establishing schools in his part of the province, he would not now, probably, himself enter very deeply into the object; but out of regard to our wishes, he might issue orders that his priests should all press the undertaking to their utmost. Devoted, as he now is to sporting, it needs but converting grace, to make him "a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

Ardishai is quite near the lake, and today Mar Gabriel entertained us with a most romantic feat in his favorite employment, sporting. He rode down to the lake, and as he approached it, a flock of 16. Rode to the village of Ada, sixvery large birds rose from the water and teen miles from the city, to visit Mar Joflew away. One bird remained in the seph, one of the bishops who at present lake; and the bishop seeing it, applied reside in our families. This bishop is the goad to his fleet horse, and galloped more than fifty years old; yet he has still into the water with such speed and all the vigor and buoyancy of youth. power as to open a deep channel, heave His vivacity, however, is very different up high walls of waves on either hand, from that of the "mighty hunter," Mar and agitate the lake to considerable dis- || Gabriel. While he is active and social, tance around him. By the time he ap- and exceedingly shrewd, he is at the proached the fowl, the water had become same time sufficiently dignified. Mar deep, nearly on a level with the horse's Joseph was now at home, keeping the back; but without the least embarrass- festival of easter. When we arrived he ment, he dismounted in a twinkling, was, as he informed us, on the point of caught the bird in his arms, sprang again calling his people together to hold a upon his horse, and brought his prey to feast in celebration of the birth of our the shore. The beholders, quite engross- son, intelligence of which had just ed with such an exhibition of agility in "reached him. In Persia the birth of a

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son is always an occasion of great joy to || Beautiful Natural Scenery-Mounds the circle concerned; while the birth of and Sacred Places- Burning of a Jew. a daughter fills the parents and relatives with shame and sorrow. So little is the worth and influence of woman appreciated in Mohammedan countries.

Mar Joseph was quite overjoyed by our arrival. He soon commenced preparing us a dinner, with his own hands. Having resided for a considerable time in our families, he was very desirous to have a meal more nearly resembling ours, than his servants could prepare. In his little chest he had carefully locked up a small quantity of sugar and tea and two new tea-cups and saucers, which he had purchased the week previous in anticipation of our visit. We wondered at this, inasmuch as we had never before been treated with tea among the Nestorians, and we ourselves use no tea nor coffee, and nothing stronger than the chrystal stream that rolls down from the mountains, in our families. Mar Joseph, it seemed, would have something very extraordinary on the occasion. It was quite amusing to see the bishop's preparation of the tea: He brought forward tea, sugar, and cold water, and would have poured them all into one vessel and boiled them together had we not instructed him otherwise on the subject. By a little assistance from us, however, he succeeded in making ready a very good cup of tea. A little of his sugar being left, the bishop proposed making also a custard. In this undertaking he commenced as awkwardly, yet as sanguinely, as in the preparation of the tea; and by our assistance he again succeeded, and at length brought us a most palateable dish. Thus so anxious was the bishop to have us comfortably entertained, and in our own style, that notwithstanding our ceaseless remonstances, he was on his feet, and in profuse perspiration two thirds of the day. Many Nestorians of the village called to see us, and our visit with them all was most gratifying. The prominent topic of conversation was the opening of a school in their village, which all seemed heartily to desire.

May 2. Forty-two scholars in our teachers' school. Several have come in to-day from some distance.

6. Mr. Merrick arrived from Tabreez, in company with Mr. Schneider, one of the German brethren. They are to spend a few days with us, and then, in company with Mr. Hoernle, another German brother, are to start on a missionary tour, to Ispahan.

9. Rode out with our missionary brethren to survey the plain. We happened to take a road we had never before traveled, and were soon agreeably surprised to find ourselves surrounded by the richest and most romantic scenery we had ever seen, even in Oormiah. After riding about a mile from the city, under an almost continued arbor of willows, two rows of which on each side of the road, with a stream of water running between them, gracefully interlock their branches over the traveler's head, we reached a lofty mound, at least seventy feet high, rising abruptly from the plain. We ascended this mound, and from its top had a perfect and most enchanting view of the whole province-of the vast plain with its two hundred villages, the beautiful lake, and the lofty surrounding mountains. It seemed that Providence had conducted our steps-for we knew not in what direction we should ride when we left the city-to the very spot from which we might enjoy the most complete survey of this most charming country. This high mound is evidently artificial. Its sides have of late been, to some extent, excavated, for the purpose of digging out large stones, which seem to be imbedded in old walls; and at its top are indications of an ancient fortress. The tradition of all classes here is that this mound occupies a site consecrated by the first fire worshippers; and that during the period it was held sacred, the mound was miraculously accumulated by the winds. That this mound was thus held sacred by the fire-worshippers, and that it may have been one of the first spots consecrated by Zoroaster himself, inasmuch as Oormiah seems to be well ascertained to have been his birth-place, is not improbable; but that the whole mound was accumulated by the winds, the interior huge stone walls, if nothing else, forbid us to believe.

There are many places in the vicinity of the city of Oormiah held sacred, some by Mohammedans and others by Nestorians. On another road, at about two miles distant from the city, is a mound similar to the above, which is revered by the Nestorians. The interior of this mound is also composed of a huge pile of stones. The Nestorians give the following account of it. On that spot, they say, Mar Gevergis, (St. George), was murdered by the fire-worshippers, and the Lord, as a punishment for the murder,

caused so profuse a shower of stones to fall from heaven, as completely to bury the village that stood there, and rear this lasting monument to the memory of their saint. A few miles west of the city, just at the foot of the mountains is a village, in which, the Nestorians say, the disciple Thomas lay sick several weeks, when he first came from Jerusalem, to preach the gospel in these regions. And a few miles east of the city, on the shore of the lake, is a village which, they say, St. Thomas made his particular residence, while he remained in this country. In this village is an ancient church, called St. Thomas. The Nestorians say, that the disciple Thomas had with him here two fellow-laborers, viz. Adai and Maree; and that after evangelizing this region, they traveled onward to the south, towards India.

Both Mohammedans and Nestorians cherish many superstitions respecting their hallowed places. They usually conceive the idea that these places possess power to work miraculous cures. Few, however, profess to have obtained cures in this way, and fewer still would|| not much sooner intrust themselves to the skill of Doct. Grant, than to the efficacy of all the hallowed relicts in the country.

10. With our missionary friends, we visited the governor. His excellency received us with the utmost cordiality, and amused us much by lisping a few English names and English phrases, which he had incidentally acquired.

11. We started at sunrise, and rode four miles, to Geog Tapa, to introduce our missionary brethren to the Nestorians of that village. We breakfasted and had a delightful visit with the bishop and other villagers, and reached home at ten o'clock, A. M.

13. Bid adieu to our friends, perhaps forever. The visits of missionary brethren, or of protestant Christians, even, are here "like angels' visits, few and far between."

20. Yesterday an unoffending Jew was publicly burned in this city. For two or three days the enraged Mohammedans had thronged the governor's palace by thousands, demanding that the whole Jewish population of the city, three thousand in number, should be put to death to a man. To appease the mob, the governor delivered up this one to be burned. He was arraigned under the accusation of having murdered a Mohammedan child. The Mohammedans cherish the idea that Jews possess an instinctive thirst for drinking Mohamme

dan blood, and for this purpose secretly carry off and murder young Mussulman children. In this instance a Mohammedan child was found dead at the door of the Jew. But there is scarcely a doubt that the child had died a natural death, and was exposed by its parents to rouse indignation against the Jews; and so strong is the hatred of Mohammedans toward the poor descendants of Israel, that the stratagem proved entirely successful. Thus literally is the fearful imprecation of the crucifiers of our Lord, "His blood be on us and on our children," fulfilled in their unbelieving posterity. The hostility cherished by Mohammedans towards the Jews is inconceivably more terrible than their hatred to Christians. The determined aversion which the Jews early showed to the religion of the false prophet is still remembered and fearfully resented by his followers.

22. Mar Elias, of Geog Tapa, spends the Sabbath with us. I have thus had three bishops at my elbow to-day, both during our English service in the morning, and our Nestorian meeting this afternoon. Mar Elias assisted me in conducting the Nestorian service, and with much propriety and solemnity.

Letter from the Patriarch-Oppressions endured by the People.

26. Received a letter from Mar Shimon, the patriarch, in answer to the one which I wrote him several weeks since. The following is a literal translation of the patriarch's letter.

"From the patriarchal convent, receive the prayers and blessings of Mar Shimon, Head of the church and Patriarch of the East.

"Your most welcome salutations have been communicated to us; ye faithful, ye blessed, ye true Christians, ye wise, ye exalted ones, ye orthodox, ye holy, ye just, Mr. Perkins and Mr. Grant, lady Charlotte and lady Judith. Ye children of Aaron, ye companions of the disciples, we love you as apostles of our Lord; and we pray the Lord that from his ocean of mercy he may give you peace, may remove from you sorrow, and may grant you happiness and boundless joy and prosperity, every week, every day, and every hour.

"May you be beloved and joyful, and the sons of the faithful forever. Amen and Amen.

"Your spiritual salutations we have received, and now we would inquire for your welfare, and would assure you that

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