"They are nice companionable beasts." They may have been at the time.

The fact remains that, three months after my visit, the "affectionate one" half devoured a native child! The neighbourhood of Abadeh, Mr.G---- informed me, swarms with these animals.

Bears, wolves, and hyenas are also common, to say nothing of jackals, which, judging from the row they made that night, must have been patrolling the streets of the village in hundreds.
A traveller starting from Teheran for Bushire is expected at every European station on the telegraph-line.

"I thought you would have got here sooner," said Mr.G----.

"P---- (at Ispahan) told me you were coming through quick." The dining-room of my host at Abadeh adjoined the little instrument-chamber.