ed me to a brook a foot deep, skirted on
both sides by thick olive woods, he pointed uphill and vanished in the
darkness without saying a word. I mounted again and let the horse take
care of himself, and two hours later he stopped all right before the
station-house. It was pleasant to have reached my journey's end at last,
for I had been riding for fifteen hours, and the evening meal tasted
better than usual. Then I lay down full length on the floor, with the
saddle for a pillow and the rug over me. I made use of no other bed on
this journey.

A few days more on the great caravan road and we rode into the old
capital of Persia, Ispahan, with its many memorials of departed
greatness, its mosques with tall, graceful minarets, and its bazaars
full of the products of Persian handicrafts and industries--carpets,
silken materials, embroideries, shawls, lacquered work, water-pipes,
porcelain, and bronze vessels representing peacocks and elephants.

Farther south I came to Persepolis, so famous in ancient times, where
the great Persian kings, Xerxes and Darius, had their palaces. The
country round about is now inhabited only by some poor shepherds and
their flocks, but fine remains of the palaces still stand, in spite of
the 2400 years which have passed over them. Not far from Persepolis lies
one of the most noted towns of Persia, Shiraz, abounding in rose gardens
and country-houses, spring water and canals. The town is famous above
all, because here the immortal poets of Persia sang their most beautiful
songs.

When we came near the Persian Gulf the climate became hotter, and one
day the temperature was 102 deg. in the room where I was staying. People
therefore travel in the night. On the last stage the groom, who was an
old man, could not keep up with me, for I rode fast; so I went on all
night alone, keeping my revolver handy in case robbers showed
themselves. I was glad when the sun rose, lighting up the smooth mirror
of the Persian Gulf, and on May 22 I arrived at the town of Bushire, on
its eastern coast.

The Persian Gulf is an inlet of the Indian Ocean, and is enclosed
between Persia and Arabia. The island of Bahrein on the Arabian coast is
well known; it is under British protection, and here in summer and
autumn pearl fishing is carried on, the annual export of these beautiful
precious stones being now about L900,000. As many as a thousand boats,
with crews of thirty thousand men, are engaged in the industry. The