CHAPTER VI.
TEHERAN--ISPAHAN.
We are already some farsakhs [A] from Teheran when day breaks on the 4th of February, 1889.

The start is not a propitious one.

Hardly have we cleared the Ispahan gate than down comes the Shagird's horse as if he were shot, breaking his girths and rider's thumb at the same moment.

Luckily, we are provided with rope, and Persian saddles are not complicated.

In ten minutes we are off again; but it is terribly hard going, and all one can do to keep the horses on their legs.
Towards midday the sun slightly thaws the surface of the frozen snow, and makes matters still worse.