PERSIA THE POOR MAN'S PARADISE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2044, 23 January 1889, Page 2

PERSIA THE POOR MAN'S PARADISE

"When we enter Persia we are lv the poor man's paradise — a country where existence Is possible upon 43 a day, where meat eoiti Id b pound and broad a quarter »a ranch In ordinary times ; where a fowl may be parch aaod for 63, a partridge or wild dock for 2d ; where a ret v'cable pony can b» had for a £5 note and a valuable thoroaf hbred for £20 ; where a servant can be bfr«d foe 8s a mmth and h's rations, and yea can feed a horse on 3d a day. In moit of the olM«s a large house c<ra be rented for from £10 to £30 a year, and all the necessaries of Ufa are to be had at the very cheapeat rate. The very mules upon which we are to maroh to the cipital, esoh of whfoh will curry a load of 270 pounds, are hired at the rate of 9d a day, and yet from this email anm the muleteer, if he be fortunate, will obtain a good profiti The beasia are fat, there l« plentiful herbage for the last five stages, and ft handful of barley and eight pounds of oat straw is sli that the males will get daring the other six day's joarney, and eaoh day the males will march their twenty to twenty-five miles, and go merrily along coder their 300 pound load, for the great pack-saddle oannot weigh leas than twenty to thirty pounds, while the load Itself is seldom less than 280, and they will steadily maintain their paoe at an average of four miles an hoar save In the ' case of mpuutiia pastes, storms, swamps, and the numerous contretemps incidental to Eastern travel. The paolc-saddle h a very Important part of the male's equipment. Save when he is ourr? -combed the ptck-iaddle never leaves him by day or night. It supports the load and sots h his o'otbing, for however severe the wea< tber may be, the hardy Persian male get* no other. Of ooarse the pack saddle is of the most solid construction ; Its high peak towers at least eighteen Inches above the withers of the animal, and the padding It. nowhere less than sis Inches thick, This ptddlog is oomposed of oat straw,, and tbe muleteer is accustomed, by meana of a packing needle thrast through the lining of the pad, to shift this stnffiog In •uoh a way as to remove the pressure from any part of the abimai'i back whloh ma* become tender. Of ooarse c male with ft b*d sore bsck Is useless, and has to be> tamed out to graei ; and 'strange to say, though there are many millions of male* and ponies used ai beasts of burden In Persia— for, be It remembered, there an no rivers, no oaoals, and only one road], that from Sirvln to the Capital (ezoept a few that have been made for the Shah'a person il convenience), still a mule with * sore baok Is a very anasual sight. Thl* says a great deal for the oare, intelligence, and skill of the Persian muleteer.— "Qood Wnrdi »