ur antagonists. A noisy scuffle, and then a heavy
fall ensued, but luckily we were both on the upper side. This unusual
disturbance now brought out the inmates of the adjoining _anderoon_. In a
moment there was a din of feminine screams, and a flutter of garments, and
then--a crashing of our pith helmets beneath the blows of pokers and
andirons. The villagers, thus aroused, came at last to our rescue, and at
once proceeded to patch up a compromise. This, in view of the Amazonian
reinforcements, who were standing by in readiness for a second onset, we
were more than pleased to accept. From this inglorious combat we came off
without serious injury; but with those gentle poker taps were knocked out
forever all the sweet delusions of the "Light of the Harem."

The great antiquity of this Teheran-Meshed road, which is undoubtedly a
section of that former commercial highway between two of the most ancient
capitals in history--Nineveh and Balk, is very graphically shown by the
caravan ruts at Lasgird. These have been worn in many places to a depth of
four feet in the solid rock. It was not far beyond this point that we
began to feel the force of that famous "Damghan wind," so called from the
city of that name. Of course this wind was against us. In fact, throughout
our Asiatic tour easterly winds prevailed; and should we ever attempt
another transcontinental spin we would have a care to travel in the
opposite direction.

[Illustration: CASTLE STRONGHOLD AT LASGIRD.]

Our peculiar mode of travel subjected us to great extremes in our mode of
living. Sometimes, indeed, it was a change almost from the sublime to the
ridiculous, and vice versa--from a stable or sheepfold, with a diet of figs
and bread, and an irrigating-ditch for a lavatory, to a palace itself, an
Oriental palace, with all the delicacies of the East, and a host of
servants to attend to our slightest wish. So it was at Bostam, the
residence of one of Persia's most influential _hakims_, or governors,
literally, "pillars of state," who was also a cousin to the Shah himself.
This potentate we visited in company with an English engineer whom we met
in transit at Sharoud. It was on the evening before, when at supper with
this gentleman in his tent, that a special messenger arrived from the
governor, requesting us, as the invitation ran, "to take our brightness
into his presence." As we entered, the governor rose from his seat on the
floor, a courtesy never shown us by