'A second journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, between the years 1810 and 1816. With a journal of the voyage by the Brazils and Bombay to the Persian Gulf. Together with an account of the proceedings of His Majesty's embassy under Sir Gore Ouseley, Bart. K.L.S. With two maps, and engravings from the designs of the author.' [‎318] (371/516)

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CHAPTER XXI.
E very step of the way from the day of our entrance upon the Serdar's
territory had been marked by his attentions, and on arriving at Erivan
he put forth the whole of his endeavours to welcome and honour his
guests. We set off very early on the 13th in order to escape if
possible the Istakball ; but we were not so fortunate, for the morn
ing had scarcely began to dawn before large parties of horsemen
appeared, headed by different chiefs, who made their obeisance to the
Ambassador. Among the most remarkable was a large body of Gourds,
whose extraordinary dress and appearance, so different from that of the
Persians, gave a novelty to the scene, that was extremely amusing.
Their habits, their arms, the accoutrements of their horses, and general
appearance resembled that of the Turks, but they have a wildness and
ferociousness of air, which is highly characteristic of their wandering
life. The Serdar has a large body of them in his pay. Their chief
Hossein Aga was a stately dignified man, riding upon a beautiful white
horse, and ^dressed in a large cloak of crimson cloth thrown loosely
about him in the finest folds.
The contrast between the Gourds and the Persians, taken separately
or in a body, was highly in favour of the former. The lively colours of
their dresses, composed of cloth, silks, and velvets, far surpass the
sombre hues of the Persian cotton and sheep skins. The Gourds amused
us with a representation of their mode of warfare, gallopping before us
in large masses, shaking their spears, firing their pistols, and making
loud shouts, which fully came up to our ideas of their barbarous en
counters.
On approaching the town, we perceived the Serdar making his way
towards us, surrounded by an immense host of attendants. He ad
vanced three hundred paces from a tent placed on the occasion, at