r. We explored the rest of the mansion, finding many things of
interest. I caused several objects to be carried aboard the _Zlotuhb_.
(These objects are now in the museum of the Imperial College, at Teheran.)

_14th May_

Hotter than yesterday.

In the afternoon we were rowed up the river and landed for a short
walk. It is unsafe to brave the sun.

The more I learn of these Mehrikans the less interesting they become.
Nofuhl is of much the same mind, judging from our conversation to-day,
as we walked along together.

It was in this wise:

_Khan-li_.
How alike the houses! How monotonous!

_Nofuhl_.
So, also, were the occupants. They thought alike, worked alike, ate,
dressed and conversed alike. They read the same books; they fashioned
their garments as directed, with no regard for the size or figure of
the individual, and copied to a stitch the fashions of Europeans.

_Khan-li_.
But the close-fitting apparel of the European must have been sadly
uncomfortable in the heat of a Mehrikan summer.

_Nofuhl_.
So probably it was. Stiff boxes of varying patterns adorned the heads
of men. Curious jackets with tight sleeves compressed the body. The
feet throbbed and burned in close-fitting casings of unyielding leather,
and linen made stiff by artificial means was drawn tightly about the neck.

_Khan-li_.
Allah! What idiots!

_Nofuhl_.
Even so are they considered.

_Khan-li_.
To what quality of their minds do you attribute such love of needless
suffering?

_Nofuhl_.
It was their desire to be like others. A natural feeling in a vulgar
people.

_15th May_

A fair wind from the West to-day. We weighed anchor and sailed up
the Eastern side of the city. I did this as Nofuhl finds the upper
portion of the town much richer in relics than the lower, which seems
to have been given up to commercial purposes. We sailed close under
one of the great monuments in the river, and are at a loss to divine
its meaning. Many iron rods still dangle from the tops of each of the
structures. As they are in a line, one with the other, we thought at
first they might have been once connected and served as a bridge, but
we soon saw they were too far apart.

Came to anchor about three miles from the old mooring. Up the river
and down, North, South, East, and West, the ruins stretch away
indefinitely, seemingly without end.

Am anxious about Lev-el-Hedyd. He went ashore and has not returned.
It is now after midn