"The layer of salt thus deposited has gained in thickness and consistency year by year, till it has become, at a distance from its margin on either side, a solid mass of the purest salt, such as, in any other country than Persia, would constitute a natural treasure of great value, for here there is no occasion for mining expenses; the salt has only to be broken up by dynamite or other means and carted away. But so deficient are the simplest means of communication in this country, that here it must lie, absolutely useless, though distant only about one hundred miles from its capital, for want of any possibility of transporting it thither."

The journey across the Caspian Sea lands the traveler bound for Persia at the town of Enzeli. It is a difficult landing place, as there is no good harbor, and the surf is always high. From Enzeli he is taken by boat to the starting point of the caravan route by which he will cross Persia.

The preparation for a caravan journey requires much forethought. There are tents for camping and provisions for the journey to be purchased. A large number of mules or camels to transport the travelers and their baggage are to be hired. And, most troublesome of all, there are the men and the boys, who are to conduct the travelers, to be employed.

When at last everything is ready for the start, it is a picturesque sight as the caravan moves slowly out upon the road. Traveling by caravan is very tedious, and not many miles can be covered in a day. At nightfall a halt is made, if possible near a spring of

fresh water, the tents are soon pitched, and the fire for cooking the evening meal blazes near by. Early the next morning, before light, the camp is astir, breakfast is cooked, the baggage is loaded upon the animals, and the journey for the day is soon begun. In this manner, day after day, the traveler by cara

van crosses Persia. Here and there he comes upon the caravansaries and their post houses. The caravansary is to Persia what the dâk bungalow is to India. It is a very rude inn and affords little more than a shelter to the traveler. As a rule it is built of brick or stone, in the form of a parallelogram, around an open court. There may be a keeper to guard the place, but

he will do nothing for the traveler, who must depend as much upon his own men here as in his camp out upon the desert.

Wandering tribes, living in tents made of goat's hair, are to be seen in many parts of Persia. They move from place to place in search of pasturage for their flocks.

In these rude tents are woven many of the rare carpets and rugs for which Persia is famed. The work of weaving is done by the women, upon looms of the simplest and clumsiest description.

It is with a feeling of pleasure that the traveler finds himself approaching the end of the caravan journey from the Caspian Sea to Teheran. The road winds through rocky passes to the crest of a mountain ridge overlooking the well-watered plain on which stands the capital of Persia. Beyond the lower range of the Elburz Mountains, by which the northern side of the Teheran plain is bounded, rises the snow-white cone of the mighty Demavend,

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"Whose head in wintry grandeur towers,
And whitens with eternal sleet;

While summer, in a vale of flowers,

Is sleeping rosy at his feet."

This is the great mountain of Persia, and about its name are clustered many of the legends of this land. Rising nearly twenty thousand feet above sea level, it takes rank among the highest mountains on the globe. To the Persian the majestic Demavend is an object of love and veneration, as the sacred Fujiyama is to the Japanese.

Seen from a distance, the domes and minarets towering above most great Oriental cities lend to them a charm which the visitor never fails to admire. Not so with Teheran, which is so largely made up of low buildings that it is hardly to be seen, by the approaching traveler, above the trees of its gardens.

Chosen by the Persian rulers to be their capital in 1788, it has ever since been a city of some importance. Previous to the year 1870 Teheran was a small and shabby Oriental city. At this time the shah determined to make it a capital of real magnificence. The old walls and towers were pulled down. A new wall and moat, inclosing a large tract of the surrounding country, were built.

As we enter the city, through any one of the twelve splendid gateways by which the wall is pierced, we find only a bare and unoccupied country, till we reach, at some distance, the low mud houses with their blank walls and flat roofs. Once in the center of the city, the narrow, crooked lanes give place to broad avenues, on which the mosques and bazaars claim our attention. These do not surprise us, however, as do the European street lamps and the tram cars which are everywhere to be seen.

This strange mixture of the customs of the East with the modern inventions of the West gives a confused appearance to the streets of Teheran. Turbaned Orientals wearing gorgeous colored garments, howling dervishes, white-robed Arabs, soldiers dressed in bright-colored uniforms, and Europeans in their plain clothes, all crowd the streets and bazaars. Women

enveloped from head to foot in loose, black garments, a linen veil covering their faces, are sometimes to be seen.

Here and there are great public squares, shut off by walls and entered by gateways. One of these gateways is called the Drum Tower. From the top of this gateway, every day at sundown, a band, playing upon cornets, drums, fifes, and horns, gives forth the most unearthly music. This is a custom of every Persian city where any royal governor resides.

The place of especial interest in Teheran is the large square containing the Citadel. Mud walls surround the square and inclose a great number of gardens, courts, and buildings, together with the royal palace itself. Over the gateway of the palace floats the royal standard, bearing the Lion and the Sun in yellow upon a green ground. Surrounding the palace are beautiful. gardens, in which are wide-spreading trees. Here and there among the trees, and under their grateful shade, are many fountains adding a refreshing coolness to the

air.

Within the palace the most imposing room shown to visitors is the Audience Chamber, and it is considered one of the most gorgeous rooms in any palace in the world. Here the tables and chairs are overlaid with beaten gold. Here, too, are kept the crown jewels, and a most remarkable collection of rare gems they are. For, notwithstanding it is a poor country and sometimes calls for aid from other nations, Persia is compelled by the shah to support all this extravagant outlay for jeweled crowns, swords, scabbards incrusted with diamonds, and unset gems of immense value