The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-08-20
PERSIAN WOMEN

|iOlp 1iOnO t4S1O Ssu0 sAS0 WI 5SsAt4-
Etiiy at fixed hours. All the WiYes
|ofsan establishment never live to-
'gether, for they would certainly
.fightsif they did SO. Sometimes,
but very rarely, two of them agree;
well enough keep company, but
it is generally found safer and
.qnieter to lodge them apart.
s The best Persian houses are lit
tie better than the stables atan inn.
The worst are more abominable
than the kennels Of a dog fancier.
They are a very dirty people. They
have no domestic conveniences;
no windows, no doors that will shuts
The houses are usually built Of q (
kind Of friable mud, and some
times . room or two of them js
washed away at q time by heavy
rain and the walls are liable to
be first split up and then shaken
down by earthquakes, which sare
very frequent all over Persia. The
furniture used BY the richest peo-s
pleis very mean. and scanty A
few cushions and carpets, a few
door curtains, a few ooEng, glasses
"a little crockery, make up the sum
of it. There are no tables, no
chairs, no bedsteads, no wardrobes,
no pictures or ornaments, though
sometimes the whitewasheds walls
are prettily painted: Every one,
from the Shah to the muleteer,
squats on his hams and. eats with
his fingers. They have no fixed
hours for lying down or rising up-s
They are awake at all hours and
asleep at all hours. During the
winters, which are very severe,
they may be generally found rolled
up like dormice, near 8 pan Of
charcoal, and in the summer they
never seem to have done with a
a water.pipe or melon. Every !,
house is as full as q rabbit warren
with servants and the servants Of
those servants. The master Of the
house calls them all indiscriminate
ly 'sbaia,' which signifies "chil4s
dren." Though there is no social
life, consisting Of balls aud dinner
parties, in the Persian capital,
there is a great deal Of ceremos
,nious visiting and Persian visits
are ipterminable, lasting three or,
four hours at q stretch. The este Z
nation in which a guest is held is !.
marked by the length Of time the |.
host retains him, aud he is cram s
med with sweetmeats and deluged
with tea before he is allowed to de- 5
part, if he be person Of any. conse. !
quence. First CONFESS a water-pipe,
with a gold and jeweled mouth
piece, which the guest nsually
brings with him, and which is pre-
sented by one of the FIVE or six
servants who accompany him on
his visit. A junior attache or an
Indian lieutenant of native infan-
try would hardly go abroad with
less than five attendants: After
the first keleon, or water-pipe, tea
is served, sometimes in very aele-s
cate porcelain cups; then sweet
meats made of gum and sugar, eol-
'ored with the juice of the melon
or the }. pomegranate. They are
very good. After them comes
more tea and more pipe. A visitor
of consequence is seldom let of till i.
he has drunk at least four cups Of
strong tea without milk, being q
rare commodity in Persia, and sell
dom taken in liquid form.
THE GARDENS AROUND TEHERAN
are truly delightful, and have quite
an Arabian Nights aspect about
them. The only pleasant wayto live
in Persia is frankly to adopt the pa
triarchial life and dwell under a.
tent in the open air. Then o man
with any spice of romance about
him will find suitable influence
which nearly resembles love OF the
country and people creeping over
him. Nothing can eqaa1 the wild
luxuriance of the vegetation which
springs up in Persian garden at
the first glorious outburst OF the
Asiatic Summer. Yesterday per-
haps the whole country from Jauris
to Bushire was in mourning. There
was snow and mud on the ground;
the sky was of pale lead color; +;
To-day the sun has risen in all
the gorgeous pomp of Eastern
splendor, and millions of flowers
have sprung up miraculously to
welcome him. Day after day, from
May to September, there will hard.
ly be a cloud in the heavens, and
one after the other come the reign
)of the roses. The Persians live
with +boeo rosns They s1een npon