incarceration, and forbade them to associate either with each other or
with the local inhabitants. The text of the farman itself was read
publicly, soon after the arrival of the exiles, in the principal mosque of
the city as a warning to the population. The Persian Ambassador,
accredited to the Sublime Porte, had thus assured his government, in a
letter, written a little over a year after their banishment to Akka: "I
have issued telegraphic and written instructions, forbidding that He
(Baha'u'llah) associate with any one except His wives and children, or
leave under any circumstances, the house wherein He is imprisoned.
Abbas-Quli _Kh_an, the Consul-General in Damascus ... I have, three days
ago, sent back, instructing him to proceed direct to Akka ... confer with
its governor regarding all necessary measures for the strict maintenance
of their imprisonment ... and appoint, before his return to Damascus, a
representative on the spot to insure that the orders issued by the Sublime
Porte will, in no wise, be disobeyed. I have, likewise, instructed him
that once every three months he should proceed from Damascus to Akka, and
personally watch over them, and submit his report to the Legation." Such
was the isolation imposed upon them that the Baha'is of Persia, perturbed
by the rumors set afloat by the Azalis of Isfahan that Baha'u'llah had
been drowned, induced the British Telegraph office in Julfa to ascertain
on their behalf the truth of the matter.

Having, after a miserable voyage, disembarked at Akka, all the exiles,
men, women and children, were, under the eyes of a curious and callous
population that had assembled at the port to behold the "God of the
Persians," conducted to the army barracks, where they were locked in, and
sentinels detailed to guard them. "The first night," Baha'u'llah testifies
in the Lawh-i-Ra'is, "all were deprived of either food or drink... They
even begged for water, and were refused." So filthy and brackish was the
water in the pool of the courtyard that no one could drink it. Three
loaves of black and salty bread were assigned to each, which they were
later permitted to exchange, when escorted by guards to the market, for
two of better quality. Subsequently they were allowed a mere pittance as
substitute for the allotted dole of bread. All fell sick, except two,
shortly after their arrival. Malaria, dysentery, combined with the sultry
heat, added to their miseries. Three succumbed, among them