influence with Hosruff Khan, to procure from him some genuine Persian mumiai, for the wounded Russians. In Turkey and Arabia they highly praised the wonderful effects of this medicine, and I was therefore eager to convince myself of its efficacy. But as the cases I had to treat rather required the use of instruments, I postponed the trial.

Our return to Bagdad was viâ Urugurd and Kermansha. At Urugurd we were detained for several days by the Shazadah (the reigning prince), who requested us to attend to a few patients belonging to his household, the healing of whom brought us a tolerable little sum of money, and a few handsome presents. Here again we had an opportunity of witnessing the manners and customs of the Persians. It was then Muharem (time of mourning), and the tenor of the Shazadah's order ran thus, "during the time of the mourning, all merchants are summoned to appear in the Meidan (a square in front of his palace) at three in the afternoon, in order to shed their tears for the martyrs, Hassan and Hussain." On one occasion we saw the Faratshes (Shazadah's servants) dragging a tradesman by force out of his shop, which was at the caravansary where we lived, and driving him to the Meidan. The plea of necessity was urged, to make those people weep by blows, whose feelings did not afford them tears freely. But we witnessed other atrocities, on the last days of the Muharem. We saw fakirs and dervishes, with tiger-skins round their bodies, their long black hair hanging down and covering their faces and backs, beating themselves with iron-headed clubs, till the blood flowed down their bodies. They ran like savage beasts, or maniacs, through the streets and bazaars, howling, "Ya Ali!" One of our friends, a native of Bagdad, told us, that if any of the Sunits, to which sect he belonged, should venture that day to acknowledge his religion, he would run the risk of being immolated by the fanatical Persians; so inveterate is the hatred between these two sects, though they are both Mahomedan; and this is not the case in Persia alone, but in every place where Shias and Sunits are living together. Great animosity prevails between these two

sects in India, also on the day on which the Shias expose the Tabut (coffin) in procession. In Cashmere, on these occasions, the Mahomedans burn each others' houses and shawl manufactories. From Kermansha we went to Bagdad, with a caravan carrying several embalmed dead bodies of Persians to Kerbela, their sanctuary.

Persia is a high plain, diversified by ranges of hills and deserts. It was in the month of August that we were on our journey, and the air was so bitterly cold on the morning of our setting out, that our very teeth chattered; I recollected that at home they call these the dog-days. We arrived at Bagdad, where M. De Turk left me, as he was resolved to return to Paris by land via Tocat and Constantinople, in order to take with him some Arabian horses; a speculation, by the way, which proved by no means lucrative. A short time after his leaving me, I received some good news from Lahore, through a Persian who had been in the service of General Avitabile, which induced me again to attempt going there at the commencement of the favourable season, i. e. the early part of the winter (1829). I felt the more inclined to do so, as the plague was already raging at Mosul, and the inhabitants of Bagdad were fearful that it might extend as far as their own city, a thing which occurred soon after. In the year 1828, there had been at Mosul and its environs, a famine, in consequence of the crops failing, and numerous families went down the Tigris to settle at Bagdad, selling their children for a mere trifle, owing to the want of means to support them. I myself saw a beautiful Christian girl purchased for twenty grush (four shillings). Scarcely had I left Bagdad when the plague broke out, and this scourge was followed by an inundation. A war, previously noticed, also broke out, during which Dohud Pasha was conducted as a prisoner to Constantinople.

My only companion was a faithful servant, called Antun, a Christian, whom I brought with me from Bagdad, and with whom, after having passed through Bassora, and Moscat, I arrived at Bender-Karatshi in Sind. From Karatshi, we pursued our

journey to Hyderabad, with a camel caravan. At that town I stayed for a few days, and made the acquaintance of a Persian Emir, who gave me some letters of introduction to one of the most respectable houses at Heirpore, which I had to pass on my journey from Hyderabad to Moultan. At the former place I hired two camels. The road was always at a distance from the river, and we were therefore frequently obliged to drink stagnant and stinking water, and on account of the heat; at this time being the month of February, we travelled by night only, and rest during the day. In consequence of this, I was tormented with costiveness, an internal burning, and an excessive longing for acid drinks. I accordingly prepared some tamarind whey, but it operated on me like poison; for after much vomiting, I discharged a quantity of blood, and fainted away, falling down beneath a tree in the forest, in which state I was found by the people, who had been for a long time in search of me. They brought me to the camp, where the camels stood ready for our departure, as this happened only a short time before sun-set. My tongue was parched, and I felt an acute pain in my right side, which led me to believe that I had an inflammation of the liver; besides which, I had become very weak, in consequence of the loss of blood, so that I was unable to walk without assist

ance.

I desired my camel-driver to procure some leeches, but he could only console me with the hope of getting them on the following morning, at Heirpore. As I was quite exhausted, and unable to mount the camel without assistance, I ordered my servant to place himself behind me on the animal to prevent my falling off. But as he was soon asleep, and the slightest accident would have caused us both to fall, I ordered him to mount his own camel, and to bind me safely on mine, where I passed a sleepless night, being unable to articulate a word without having previously moistened my tongue with water, which I had always near me. At break of day, on our arrival at Heirpore, I was conducted to the house to which I had my letter of introduction already mentioned, and the first favor I

asked was, a quiet retreat, that I might have rest, and recover myself. The people, seeing the difficulty with which I dragged myself along, called in a Hakim (a Persian physician) who lived in their house, and he offered me his assistance. I thanked him very heartily, and requested some leeches. "We have not any," was his reply; upon which, as my only resource, I applied a blister; after which I became senseless, and remained in that state until the evening of the following day. On my revival, my tongue was still so parched, that I was unable even to ask for water to moisten it, and I only obtained it by making signs. My feet were excessively cold, and besides the above-mentioned internal pains, I also felt the effects of the blister, although it had risen but very slightly. I examined my pulse, but the pulsation was imperceptible, from which I concluded that my last moments were near at hand. My servant told me that, during my stupor, I had had some discharges of blood; I ordered him to fetch the Mirza (scribe) of the establishment, that he might make my will; and he came with his paper and kalemdan (writing stand), and placed himself at a respectable distance, the hakim having told him that my disease was dangerous and contagious. I felt so weak and debilitated, that I was scarcely able to sign my name. I told my servant that I had but little hopes of living over the night, and desired him, should it be the will of God that I must die on the banks of the Indus, to bury me and convey my effects to Lahore, and deliver them, with my papers, to the Generals, Court and Avitabile, to whom there was a letter of introduction, sent by Mr. Swoboda. For the services he himself had rendered me, I gave him a liberal remuneration, that I might secure his executing my wishes, upon which he wept and promised obedience. In this deplorable state, considering myself at death's door, like many other medical men, I began to think that, in spite of the numerous remedies, there was no chance of my recovering from the effects of the poison I had taken, and that the medical art was but a fallacious one. I began to recollect that I had always avoided bleeding in my own case, so as, a last resource, in spite of my previous loss of blood, I resolved upon trying the experiment, it being considered by

many that the first operation of that kind, in dangerous cases, is usually beneficial.

I summoned all my resolution, and was determined to use the lancet; and having no one to perform the operation, I ventured to do it myself. I ordered warm water, put my hands and afterwards my feet into it, and tried to bleed myself, but neither I nor my servant, Antun, could succeed, as no blood came. Nevertheless, my courage did not abandon me, for I thought that if I spared my body to-day, it might be put to-morrow into the grave. In a fit of desperation, I cut through the median vein of the left arm, upon which the blood began to trickle, but to the amount only of about two ounces. After my wounds had been dressed, I lay down exhausted, and recommending my soul to God, I soon fell asleep. I passed a tranquil night, and on awaking in the morning, I found my feet warm, my pulse beating, although but faintly, and the internal pain somewhat abated; but the external pain was more acute, as the erysipelatous inflammation had extended from the back to the navel, and from the arm to the hip, and owing to my excessive debility, I was afraid of mortification. Nevertheless, I had more hopes of my recovery, relying on the efficacy of the bleeding and blistering. To free myself from the troublesome dryness of my tongue, I sent for some quince kernels, which, enveloped in a small piece of linen, I put into some water, and with this little pad I frequently moistened my tongue, which produced a very good effect. In the course of the day I began also to chew some monaka (large raisins), which refreshed me. To arrest the farther extension of local inflammation, I sent my servant to the bazaar, to endeavour to procure some leeches, and in case he could not obtain them, he was to bring a barber or some other person to cup me. He came back, accompanied by a woman provided with a quantity of leeches, by which I ascertained that the Persian physician, who told me that no leeches were to be obtained, was a rogue. I caused twelve of them to be applied around the blistered part, and requested the woman to return in the evening, when I ordered her again to apply the same number of leeches to the place where, a few years before, I had been afflicted with