main roads in Persia there are chupper khanas, or post-houses, which are from 20 to 25 miles distant from each other, where the chupper changes horses. The only comfortable places where weary travellers can put up for rest are the chupper khanas, which usually contain two or three unfurnished rooms. There are also several caravanserais, or inns, where animals and travellers have to rest together.

THE ROAD BETWEEN ISPAHAN AND SHIRAZ.

The road between Ispahan and Shiraz is fairly good and level, except in two places, where two very high hills have to be surmounted; while that between Shiraz and Bushire is very bad, on account of four very steep mountains which travellers have to

descend. Some of the mountains, like Kotul Peri Zun, or the "Pass of the Old Woman," are 7,000 feet high, and have many precipices quite dangerous for travellers. No animal, except the mule, is used on this road for the transport of merchandise to and from Bushire. The distance between Ispahan and Shiraz is 78 farsakhs, or 312 miles, divided into 14 manzels, or stations, and takes 14 days to accomplish. The stages and distances between each are as follow-t

Our illustration of a "Chupper Khana" is from "The Land of the Lion and Sun, or Modern Persia," by the kind permission of the author, C. J. Wills, Esq., M.D., and of the publishers, Messrs. Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co.

+ F is for farsakh, which is equal to 4 in., i.e., English miles; H for hours; m. for minutes.

Many of the most interesting and famous places in the world are to be seen on this road.

THE THRONE AND THE TOMB OF CYRUS.

About four miles ride from Murghab the traveller reaches Deh Nove, or "new village," and about a quarter of an hour's ride from there is the Throne of Cyrus, called by the natives Takhte Madar Soleiman, or "The Throne of the Mother of Solomon." It was a delightful place in ancient times. It was built of large stones on the top of a hill, but it has lost its grandeur and beauty, and only the fallen stones and some of the walls are now to be seen.

About a quarter of a mile from the Throne are to be seen ten pillars of stone, most of which are fallen

down. One of the pillars is about sixteen yards high, with ancient inscriptions thereon.

Passing these pillars, we come to the village of Madare Soleiman, or "The Mother of Solomon. It is in this village that we see the tomb of Cyrus, King of Persia; but the natives call it the "Tomb of the Mother of Solomon." This tomb is a square building, about twelve yards in height. The sides of the tomb are eight yards in length, and it is built of beautiful marble stones. It has steps by which one can go up and inspect carefully the whole building. The Mohammedans have made it a sanctuary. Near the tomb is an ancient cemetery, and a good many stone gates with inscriptions on them. In the cemetery two large stones are placed near each other, which, the Mohammedans affirm, have a wonderful curative effect, rivalling the treatment of M. Pasteur, of Paris. The natives affirm that if any one is bitten by a mad dog, and is brought here, and goes five time round. these stones he will surely be cured. Persians who are bitten come from very distant places to go round these stones, but they mostly die before they return home. The plain which lies between Deh Nove and

Deh Madare Soleiman

was once a palace of

one of the most famous Kings of Persia.

PERSEPOLIS,

SHIRAZ

is the capital of Fars, the southern province of Persia. The town is nearly 175 miles from the Persian Gulf and 312 miles from Ispahan, and lies in a valley surrounded on four sides by high mountains. It has lovely gardens, orchards, and orange groves, both outside and inside the town; and the appearance is so beautiful that when the traveller looks upon it for the first time from the top of the hill, he thinks he is entering into a veritable palace of delight.

Until 1840 A.D., Shiraz was the seat of learning and literature in Persia, and the purest Persian used to be spoken there. Most of the famous Persian poets were born, brought up, and educated at Shiraz. It is said that nearly eighteen poets came out of Shiraz.

or Takht-i-Jemshid, i.e., the Throne of Jemshid, is half a farsakh from Chenar, from which its pillars can be seen. Persepolis was no doubt a magnificent palace, but now it is all in ruins, and covered with dust. European travellers have excavated the place, and have taken to Europe many antiquities which they found therein. After leaving Chenar, the traveller passes Zergun, where a Jewish colony of 300 persons reside, from which it takes nearly seven hours to go to Shiraz. The famous water of 'Rookhnabad," mentioned so often by the Poet Hafiz in his book, is to be seen on this road. After passing this brook, the town of Shiraz comes in sight.

Hafiz and Saadi, whose names are well known, were two of the Shirazi poets, and their tombs are places of resort for thousands of Persians, who love their names and poems.

Hafiz, whose real name was Shams-ElDin Mohammad, was born in Shiraz, where he spent almost the whole of his time. Once he travelled to Zazed, but, after a short stay, he returned home, where he died in the year A.D. 791. Saadi was also a Shirazi. At twelve years of age he commenced his studies,

they have finished their daily work, go in companies to the fields and gardens with their kalians or water pipes. Many of them also take intoxicating liquors with them.

The population of Shiraz consists of 55,000 Mohammedans, 5,000 Jews, and 30 Armenians. The Mohammedans are well-to-do merchants, trading with India, and Egypt. The products of Shiraz and the Province of Fars are opium, cotton, and wine. The last two articles are very largely exported to India, Hong-Kong, and Java. The cases and bales are sent to Bushire by caravan, and shipped from thence. The imports, vid Bushire, are chiefly articles from India and England, except sugar, which is brought from France. The British trade is flourishing in the south of Persia, and the British Government has a good influence. The Indo-European Government telegraph

lines commence at Bushire, and go to Shiraz, Ispahan, Kashan, Kum and Tehe

Dowle, the son of Prince Farhad Mirza, the uncle of the present Shah. I had an audience of H.R.H., who was extremely kind, receiving me in his garden. He is a just Prince, and desires justice to be done to all his subjects, the Jews included, but the Mollahs will not let him do this. As an example of justice done by the Prince, I may mention a case. On my arrival at Kazerun, I noticed that the Jews had been bastinadoed by the Governor, and fined, because the Mohammedans had falsely accused the Jews of going to the house of the chief Mohammedan priest, and taking out a Jewess who had become a pervert to the Mohammedan religion. This was utterly false, and I therefore narrated the case to the Prince, who at once ordered the Governor of Kazerun to pay back the money which he had received from the Jews. The order was carried out, and the money paid back. I told

the Prince that

I was a Missionary working amongst the Jews. He said it was a good profession, and that it would be better for the Jews to become Christians, and to learn science than to remain ignorant Jews.

The Prince is a powerful Governor of Fars, and has done his best to put down the highway robbers, but has not yet succeeded. He is a good Persian scholar, and knows a little French. He is kind to all the Europeans who pass through Shiraz, and his name is worthyto be praised.

and ruined garden, which has a palace of seven storeys, and was once very famous in Persia. It has plenty of fruit trees and orange groves.

3. Bagh-i-No.-"New Garden" built by Karim Khan. It is the place of resort for the inhabitants of Shiraz.

4. Hafiziah and Saadiah, where are the tombs of the poets Hafiz and Saadi.

Shiraz has no proper walls, like other Persian towns, but it has six gates. On the top of the Ispahan Gate the Mohammedans have placed a old Koran, written by Imam Hassan. Every Thursday night crowds of people come and pass under this sacred Koran.

The Governor of Shiraz is Prince Moatamed El

*Bagh means garden.

THE JEWS OF SHIRAZ.

Shiraz has the largest Jewish population in the south. Their number is 5,000, and they occupy 430 houses in their own quarter, called Mahale Yahoodian i.e., "the quarter of the Jews." They have ten large synagogues, two chief Rabbis, and five schools, where the children study Hebrew. No one knows the Talmud except the Rabbis. They read Hebrew in order to be able to say their prayers in the synagogue. Not one Jew in Shiraz can read the Persian language, or speak it properly. They speak a jargon Persian, quite different from the Jews of other parts of Persia.

All the Jews are very anxious to have a proper school in which to learn the Persian and European languages. By occupation they are goldsmiths and silversmiths, and have their shops in the back streets of the Mohammedan quarter. There are a good many petty merchants, who go to Fessa and Jahroom to

A MOLLAH.

buy opium, and return to Shiraz, where they sell it to the Mohammedans on credit. Most of the Jews are workmen working even in Moslem houses, because they are stronger and better than the Mohammedan workmen. Others are musicians or guitar-players, wine merchants, and publicans, who pay, under com

A MUSICIAN.

pulsion, a duty of 900 tomans for selling wine. Nowhere in Persia are the Jews so badly persecuted as in Shiraz. The chief Mollah has promulgated the following laws with regards to them :

1st. "They must not wear ordinary clothes like the Mohammedans." This law is carried to such an

extent that no Jew dare put on a black hat like the Moslems.

2rd. "The Jews must not ride on horse, mule, or donkey to the towns." (I did not see one Jew acting contrary to this law.)

3rd. "A pervert to the Mohammedan religion has a right to claim the whole property of his deceased relative." At the present time the perverts have not so much power as before, and dare not claim the whole of the property, but they trouble their relatives, and get about 500 kerans from them, and then leave them in peace.

4th. "If a Mohammedan is in debt to a Jew, the Jew must not force him to pay, but the Moslem may pay his debt at his own pleasure; but if a Jew owes to a Mohammedan he must pay him on the first notice."

5th "If a Mollah or priest beats a Jew in the street or abuses him, that Jew must not return the abuse, but must pass on quietly."

These laws are in some respects similar to those enacted by the Mollahs of Ispahan for the Jews of that town. (See Jewish Intelligence, November, 1889, page 166.) About six years ago, when Prince Zel-El Sultan was the Chief Governor of the whole of the South of Persia, he ordered the Chief Mollah of Shiraz to be brought to Ispahan, because he used to trouble the Jews. He obeyed the order, and come to Ispahan, where he was kept until June, 1888, when the Prince was deposed. He then returned to Shiraz' and commenced his enmity against the Jews.

(To be continued.)

JERUSALEM NOTES.

THE following journal from the Rev. J. E. Hanauer is very interesting, especially the latter part, descriptive of a visit to the colony of Artouf:

"In the Hospital wards I have frequent opportunities of speaking a word in season at the bed-side of sick Jews. Sometimes, when patients are well enough to argue, warm and interesting discussions take place; at other times, when the sick person seems

very weak and feeble, I make a simple statement of the only way of salvation through Christ, the Sinbearer as described in Isaiah liii. The placards prepared by Rev. A. H. Kelk, translated into Hebrew, printed and posted up in conspicuous places during

the recent feasts and fasts, were on this plan, and made a great impression. I frequently saw groups of Jews standing in front of and reading them, and had opportunities of speaking with them about the contents of the placards. One of these was on the subject of the festival sacrifices, and pointed out that this essential feature was wanting in the Jewish observances now-adays. One Jew to whom I spoke on this subject, one Saturday afternoon, said That the institution of sacrifice was not a Divine command but simply an invention of Moses;' and when referred to the Scriptural account of the Divine institution of sacrifice, denied the inspiration of the Divine record. When told that he could not be a Jew if such were his opinion, as it was contrary to the seventh of the thirteen articles of the Jewish creed, he replied that he was a Jew, but also a philosopher, and one of the Methnagdim or contradictors.

"Besides my usual visits to Jewish shops and colonies to speak to Jews, or distribute tracts, I spent four days at Rachel's Tomb with the Rev. J. Jamal, in order to work amongst the Jews who visit that shrine. Our visit had been anticipated by the Rabbis in Jerusalem, and, on reaching our destination, we found a policeman on guard at the door of the mausoleum with written orders not to allow us in, and that no Jews who came to our tents were to be allowed to enter, for the purpose of pray ing. In spite of this opposition, a good many Jews came to our tents

at night, and

some very pro

lantern some twenty paces off, and listened whilst they ate their supper. One of these latter, who made an improper remark, was scolded by the others for so doing. At the end of the meeting, a young man who had been for some time last year in the hospital, and later on attended the night-school, came up boldly and shook hands, and thanked me for what had been said.

"I have been asked to read in Hebrew at a sewing meeting for Persian Jewesses, as some of the women understand, though they cannot speak, the sacred tongue. I have also read to them from Henry Martyn's Persian New Testament, and am glad to find on questioning them (by means of one of them who speaks a little Arabic, and now acts as an interpreter) that they understand what is read to them.

"I continue my Saturday visits to the synagogues, and it often happens that later on in the day, or during the following week, I am able, when speaking to Jews, to make use of some passage from the Sabbath Lectionary, or refer to some incident

fitable conversations were held, and books and tracts given away. By their action the Rabbis overshot the mark, their prohibition only brought many Jews who otherwise would never have thought of coming near us. And not only did Mr. Jamal and I enter the tomb itself more than once next day, but in the porch of the tomb itself we were able to sit down and converse quietly with such as would listen to us.

"One evening Mr. Hensman, Mr. Altaresky, and the young men of the House of Industry, came out, and we had an open-air meeting under the star-lit sky. Prayer was offered up in the interval between the singing of Christian hymns, and addresses were given by Mr. Jamal, Mr. Altaresky, and myself. We stood on the other side of the road from that on which the monument is situated, and the Jews came out in crowds to hear what was going on, in spite of the desperate efforts of the policeman and Shamash to drive them in again. Some, in order to elude these officials, stretched themselves out in the shadow of the low rockterraces, and a large party of ten or twelve sat down round a

that occurred during the synagogue service. 64 It is certain that there are a good many Jews

who, to say the least, are favourably inclined to Christianity. One Saturday I noticed a poorlyclad Persian Jew listening attentively to Mr. Jamal's address at the 11 a.m. Saturday Hospital Meeting. When all was over and we had left the place, he followed us, and, as we turned up a little narrow lane where only one person could walk at a time, he came up to us,

and looking anxiously behind him to see that no Jews were near, he tried to speak to us in broken Arabic, but, failing to make us understand, he then told us in Hebrew that he loves Jesus of Nazareth and believes Him to be the Messiah, but is afraid of the Jews. We took him with us to my dwelling, and he told us that four years ago someone in Persia had given him a copy of St. Matthew's and St. Mark's Gospels, which he had read, with the result that he was convinced (though he had not had the courage to confess) his belief in Christ. After an interesting conversation he went away, bearing with him a small Hebrew New Testament and a Hebrew Book of Common Prayer. I understand from Mr. Jamal that he has since then seen and spoken to the man again.

"On the ninth anniversary of the Artouf settlement, the Revs. A. H. Kelk and J. Jamal, Mr. Hensman, and the writer took the train, which now leaves Jerusalem every morning at 7.15 (railway time) for Jaffa, as far as the half-way station at Deir Aban. The new route by railway passes through a district quite as interesting from its Biblical associations as that taken by the old