The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-12-05
THO DARING yCYQERg TRIP
THROUGH THE PERKS OF PERSIA.
The Rough and Thorny Paths Travelled by
Americans Who Braved Danger and
Death in the Shahs DOminions. =

n you lock At tae northwest corner OF
map OF Persia. you may. or you may not
fird r spot marked Julfa. lying on Inc
Armenian eide OF the stream Araxes. That
II the place where, with two friends, l
common -ed q bicycle ride through the land
Of the Lion and tsrs Sun IL you are good
al tracing routes On maps. IL Will not DC
long before the eye drops on Iabriz ana
on the right vii be seen Kazv1n- Let your
fingers slide Ia line almost down the
man and you will find Teberan, kurn, is-
panan and shiraz. and then. with twist
To the left, Rusnire Will be discovered on
the coast II was at BUshire We finished
our cycling in the realm of the shah. cov-
ering distance of nearly 100 miles.
II was a curious experience. There are
no fine parks and asphaltee roads In Per
STA. No cycle sports have ever been held
there. This may De beca use there are np
cycles / am glad of this. for the eyes OF
the sons Of iran would be opened. and then
trey would declare the cyclists to be
frauds AT present they believe any dis
tanea can be covered In no time. Al Te-
heran told a man had come from julia,
only some go miles of. What sahib.
iodayg'' he asked, with the faintest aston
ishnent
Another man Was pesring cBriously at
my wheel The pneumatic tires were a
mystery. He pressed his saigw thumb on
the rubt.er ard then blandiy asked. "Sa-
hib, ls this like the heel OF a mans foot.
Does IL get harder the more il is used2"
! wished u did.
One day l was talking with the governor
of a village II was bsteriagly hot and
casually remarked IL WAS cold in America
at that time OF the year. But II is very
hot I'm Bombay isn't it, Eyes, but Bonn
bay isn't New York" I answered. Str
frise spread over his features, and then he.
questioned. But are not both Bombay and
New York In Frankistan?' Which shows
that knowledge of geography I'm the domin-
Ion of the king Of kings is hazy.
Our first day IN Persia was characters
tic We hal crossed the Araxes from Al
menia. and we started off all right over a
humpy. demonstrating mule track, and
went hart for a black gorge that gaped in
the center of high red cliffs. When we
reached the gorge the Path took a fancy 10
occasionally dabbie In a stream As the
stream was deep, b0ulders slippery and
our neoks precious. W. thought IL best TO
walk. Now and then we carried the bicy-
cies n mile or two. Each bicycle. with
baggage. weighed seventy pounds. Of
course We were wet mp 10 the thighs. But
wn soon got used TO that. Night closed in
and The moon was good enough TO oblge
Their had been fearful roll berry I'm tile
Durade.s pass a few weeks before: the
mail had been attacked. ard bars OF gold
and bags OF money for the Persian bank
had been purioined. We wondered whether
the robbers would deem It worth while at
lacking us And We had hardly escaped
from the dark hell, and were cautiously
and silently wheeling over a faint track.
when two horssmen sprarg from nowhere.
"Brignnas," we whispered. and noticing
the flesh of the foes pistols In the moon
tight We paTleyed at distance. They
ned frfs y .
We went searching for one village and
found another. II was not much Of
place, ~ far aS villages go But we were
t@tS cpid and very hungry, and very
trfQ. aud very wet. So We aroused the
i4ate. and made them iind us q room Aud
while We were being gazed at like Wild
beasts. We dauglea orr frczan legs over
q t~ig fire aud thawed them. One man
made US tea in dirty pan, and another
fried us sandy rice IN fat-swln,rnlus
dish. much dIrtier. Then W. had Ia htls-
tie the whole crowd out and lie down 20
sleep the sleep If the wandering cyelts,,
always ker9ng he six shooters Within
reach
Poets have much So answer Tor think
] gol my idea Ct Persia from "Lallah
Rookh." anticipated gorgeous iaud-
cne big garden. where shtre wcra perfume
laden orange gfoYes aud brilliant rose
@nwera, delicious ectteAss ard unlimited
Saereet where ore wauia see the fierce
Warriors Of the turquoise hills and sin
abe "red weepinxe - the Shraz vine"
where every woman was beautiful every
house palace. every brook j Ripping de-
light
And What lld Seee Persia I found 10
h. nearly II desert THE people were dirty
a0a foul. snt fag women mere rvpulsjva
than the men Everything was in decay
The haif ~ every town was in ruins The
famous gardens were hcdfaEsled and M.
kempt. the famous fountains sfunl< ahofn-
inshly. the ramons alahastcr baths were
Of siahs~and cracked slahs~ Of Yrzd stone
The idea 81 home Is that al that is
Oriental must be picturesque ana Quaint
romantic ana afe9mlly roctig And tray
eieYs try ~ deceive themselves il Is so
and take pride sn aecelvlng their friends
and making them Jealous by drawing
imaginative pictures Of the East
We created the widest excitement
There i no Persian equivalent fos. ''hiey-
Gle" anil So II - called ''Soot carriage, -
or an ''irun horse" and When people were