luence of drink, but with many good points when sober. On one occasion
an Englishman was attacked by a crowd of Persians, and was in danger of
losing his life, when this man, with considerable bravery (not to speak
of his inseparable mallet which he used freely), went to the rescue of
the sahib and succeeded in saving him. For this act of courage he has
ever since been supported by the charity of foreigners in Teheran. He
unfortunately spends all his earnings in drink, and can be very coarse
indeed, in his songs and imitations, which he delights in giving when
under the influence of liquor. He hangs round the hotel, crying out
"_Yahu! yahu!_" when hungry--a cry quite pathetic and weird, especially
in the stillness of night.

There are two hotels in Teheran and several European and Armenian
restaurants. The English hotel is the best,--not a dream of cleanliness,
nor luxury, nor boasting of a cuisine which would remain impressed upon
one's mind, except for its elaborate monotony,--but quite a comfortable
place by comparison with the other European hotels of Persia. The beds
are clean, and the proprietress tries hard to make people comfortable.

More interesting than the hotel itself was the curious crowd of people
whom one saw at the dinner-table. I remember sitting down one evening to
dinner with nine other people, and we represented no less than ten
different nationalities! The tower of Babel sank almost into
insignificance compared with the variety of languages one heard spoken
all round, and one's polyglot abilities were tested to no mean extent in
trying to carry on a general conversation. One pleasant feature of these
dinners was the amount of talent and good-humour that prevailed in the
company, and the absolute lack of distinction of class or social
position. Side by side one saw a distinguished diplomat conversing with
the Shah's automobile driver, and a noteworthy English member of
Parliament on friendly terms with an Irish gentleman of the Indo-European
Telegraphs. A burly, jolly Dutchman stood drinks all round to members of
the Russian and English Banks alike, and a French _sage-femme_ just
arrived discussed her prospects with the hotel proprietress. The Shah's
A.D.C. and favourite music-composer and pianist came frequently to
enliven the evenings with some really magnificent playing, and by way of
diversion some wild Belgian employees of the derelict sugar-factory used
almost nightly to cover with insults a n