Allahu Akbar Gate possess one or two points of interest that may be mentioned. One of these is a large hollow in the rock, partly natural and partly artificial, called from its shape the Cradle of the Demon' (Kahvarah-i Div), although its precise origin is not known; the other is a ruined structure situated somewhat east of it and known as ' Bandar's Fortress' (Kal'ah-i Bandar), which is supposed to be the remains of a Sasanian castle. Near this are two very deep wells, one of which is known as 'Ali's Well' (Chāh-i Murtazah Ali) and described as a pool at the bottom of a series of steps surmounted by a building which gives the place the character of a shrine. It is said to occupy the place of an old fire-temple, and the story goes that the well sprang up as a miracle to quench the flame of the old Zoroastrian faith when the true religion of Mohammed came into Persia.1 There are also some Achæmenian remains about four miles southeast of Shiraz and still farther beyond there are some sculptures of Sasanian kings who were Zoroastrians, but I did not inspect them.2

My allusion to Zoroastrianism leads me to speak of the socalled Gabars, or fire-worshippers, of Shiraz, as the city knew only their religion in Sasanian times, whereas scarcely fifty of their faith now live there. I took the earliest opportunity of sending to Rustam Shah Jahan, the leading merchant among them, the letter I carried from his brother in Isfahan. occupied a shop adjoining the main bazaar, and as I entered the room behind the outside booth, I found a number of persons

1 See Browne, A Year Amongst the Persians, p. 286; Curzon, Persia, 2. 108; Ker Porter, Travels, 1. 698.

2 The earliest notice that I have seen of these ancient monuments is in Masudi (A.D. 943), Les Prairies d'Or, ed. Barbier de Meynard, 4. 79. They have been described by various writers, among them Ker Porter, Travels, 1. 698-706, and Curzon, Persia, 2. 95, n. 2, and have been drawn by Flandin

He

and Coste, Voyage en Perse, Ancienne, 1. pl. 55, and photographed by Stolze, Persepolis, 2. pl. 96; cf. also Perrot and Chipiez, Histoire de l'Art, 5. 754.

8 The precise number at the time of my visit was 42, according to the statistics I subsequently obtained at Teheran from the Secretary of the Society for the Amelioration of the Persian Zoroastrians.

See pp. 274-275, above.

THE ZOROASTRIANS OF SHIRAZ

337

gathered there. Remembering my Isfahan experience and knowing that Shiraz was Islamitic to the extreme of fanaticism (so much so, that some of my friends later expressed surprise that my body-servant did not meet with persecution there, as he was a Christian convert from Mohammedanism), I began by making commonplace observations and inquiries in Oriental style, until I should be surer of my ground, and only indirectly indicating my interest in the religion. In this case, however, I found there was not the slightest occasion for reserve, as my host Rustam had been prepared by his brother's letter, and he told me that all the persons who were present were Zoroastrians, so that we could speak without hesitation on religious matters.

From the conversation I learned that the Zoroastrian community in Shiraz keep up their religious observances and beliefs, in a general sort of way, but not so strictly as at Yezd and Kerman. They have no regular dastūr, or High Priest, nor have they any fire-temple, whereas in antiquity there must have been at least one pyræum at Shiraz, as is shown by the remains of an ancient Atash Kadah which a Mohammedan pointed out to me on the hill overlooking the city. No dakhmah, moreover, is kept up by the Zoroastrians of Shiraz, although this could hardly be expected in so small a community and it is their practice to inter the body in the earth, placing stones around it and over it. They possess no manuscripts of the Avesta, so far as I could learn, but they encouraged me in my hope of finding copies at Yezd, the chief centre of the Persian Zoroastrians, and told me that I would there meet the Chief Priest of the Faith and be able to learn from him more about religious matters. Despite their lack of knowledge concerning their creed—and it would be unreasonable, perhaps, to expect merchants and traders to possess technical information on theological points- I was favorably impressed by these believers in Ormazd. They seemed honest and thrifty, and fairly prosperous, considering the fact that they

have had to live for over a thousand years under restriction and persecution, and they appeared also to cultivate the sterling virtues which their prophet of old enjoined. This fact made me more anxious than ever to visit Yezd, so I began my preparations for departure on the third day, bidding adieu to them and to my Christian hosts at the English mission, as well as to other friends.

It was toward mid-day on the sixth of May, and the sun was scorching hot, when I set out from Shiraz on my way to the city of Yezd to visit the Zoroastrians in that ancient stronghold of the faith. I was provided with a letter from the Persian governor of Shiraz, directing that certain privileges and attentions be extended to me on the journey, and was furnished with an authorization from the Director General of the Persian Customs and Post, enabling me to procure horses or other means of transport over portions of the route that had not yet been formally laid out. As I knew on my southward journey that I should have to travel for three days over the same route by which I had come from Pasargadæ to Shiraz I had taken the precaution to pave the way with silver. The investment was expensive, but it proved to have been worth making, for it quickened the pace of the post-horses and hastened the movements of the men at the halting-places, and haste is a rare thing in Persia. By this expenditure, by liberal use of whip and spur, and by reducing the time of sleep at night to three or four hours, with cat-naps stolen at odd moments during the day, I was able to shorten the ordinary time of ten days between Shiraz and Yezd to five days and a quarter.

Toward evening of the first day, as I retraced my route northward, I reached once more the ruins of Persepolis. The desolate terrace looked picturesque in the moonlight, but I did

not halt again to wander through its crumbled palaces and deserted halls. On the next day, however, I paid another visit to the sepulchres of the Achæmenian kings at Naksh-i Rustam and the Magian altars and rock-hewn tables on the cliff that overlooks them, and I reached Pasargadæ and the tomb of Cyrus that same afternoon, spending the night once more at Meshad-i Murghab. After a hard march of seven farsakhs in six hours over rough hills and stony ways. I rested for an hour at Deh-Bid, and then resumed the journey and arrived, about five o'clock, at Khan-i Khorah, where the night was to be passed and I could at last strike eastward on the trail to Yezd. From my previous experience I remembered Khan-i Khorah as a desolate place at which I was held up for two hours and a half because the post-horses had roamed miles away over the plain to graze. The interval till their return I had spent in a wretched hovel surrounded by natives in a dazed condition from opium-smoking, the unfortunate effects of which common vice are only too frequently seen in Persia. My present impression was more pleasant, as I was conducted to a fairly comfortable little house, not far from the caravansarai, where I could spend the night.

There was a small but pretty garden at the rear of this simple abode; the fruit trees were in full blossom, and everything looked cheerful in the light of the setting sun. I hardly had time to dispose of my pack and arrange my camp-bed for the night, before the head man of the village paid me a visit. He had come for medical aid, he said; his wife was suffering from toothache. I prescribed as best I could from my limited stock of drugs, but I soon became convinced that the real patient was my visitor himself and that he hoped he might have some arac and tobacco added to the prescription. yielded to his broad hints so far as the tobacco was concerned, for I had one or two cigarettes left in my case, but I omitted the spirituous part of the remedy, probably to my visitor's regret.

I