'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎253] (292/714)

FROM MESHED TO TEHERAN 253
when, aroused at four or five a.m. in the pitchy darkness and amid
biting cold, he must get up to the light of a flickering candle
dress and pack up all his effects, cook his breakfast, and finally see
the whole of his baggage safely mounted in the dark upon the
steeds in the yard below, that he is sometimes tempted to think
momentarily of proverbs about game and candles, and to reflect
that there are consolations in life at home.
A word more about the Persian post-horse, for a man does not ride
from sixty to seventy of these beasts in the space of a few weeks
The Per- Wltll0ut bein g driven to generalise somewhat upon the
sian e p ost - species. The traveller of course selects the best out of a
bad lot for himself, but an eye must be kept on the
rJiapar-shagird, or post-boy, who knows the < form ' of each animal
to a nicety, and who, if left alone, is apt to consult his own rather
than his employer's comfort. As you emerge from the post-house
and, after a short walk, try the paces of your new mount, there
is a moment of acute suspense. Within 300 yards you know
whether your next three or four hours are to be a toleration or an
anguish. The pace which, after a little experience, a European
usually adopts is a sharp canter alternating with a walk. The
1 ersians, when not cantering or galloping, seem to prefer a
rough jog-trot shamble, which on an English saddle is excruciating.
In the whole of my chapar rides I only twice encountered a horse
that could trot in English fashion. The post-boy carries, and each
rider must carry, a long whip made of twisted leather with a
leathern thong, and appalling are the whacks that are administered
by the former, often without exciting the faintest response from his
habituated steed. In this place it may be well to remark that, though
called a boy, the shagird is much more commonly a man. He
does not ride upon a saddle, but usually sits perched upon the top
of a vast pile of baggage with his legs sticking out on either side;
nor does he use reins, but only a single rope or halter attached to
one side of the bit. He is supposed to lead the way and to set the
pace, but I soon found that seventy miles in the dav could never
he accomplished in that fashion, and that it was better even in a
stiange country to lead the cavalcade oneself. As a rule it is
difficult, if there is light, to mistake the track; for though there
is no road and the route is simply a mule track which crosses
p ains, climbs mountains, and descends gorges, sometimes, so to
speak, a single rut, and sometimes a wide belt of parallel' paths.