"دليل بلاد فارس، المجلد I ويشمل محافظات أستراباد، شاهرود-بوستان، خراسان، وسيستان" [و‎‎٢‎٠‎٩] (٧٢٢/٤٢٤)

Oxen are sometimes used in Azarbaijan as beasts of burden.
The same sorts of wild and tame fowl are common in Persians in Europe,
with the exception of the turkey, whose nature would not seem to be con
genial to this climate. The people in the interior arc not much annoyed
by insects, which are more numerous in the damp and marshy provinces
which skirt the Caspian Sea, the banks of the Tigris, and the shores of the
Persian Gulf. Locusts not unfrequently make their appearance in the
southern parts, where snakes and scorpions are also common. The snakes
are not so venomous as most of those in India, nor the bite of the scor
pion so deadly as travellers have stated it to be.
The Persians frequently hunt the bustard, which they call the 1 ahubareh/
They catch it from its being unable to make long flights, and tiring it by
keeping constantly on the wing by riding after it.
A kind of black partridge, called by the Persians f siah sina/ is found all
over the country ; and its flesh is considered good-eating.
The Persians catch quail by placing two sticks on their girdle, and on them
an outer coat or pair of trousers, so that these at a distance look like the horns
of an animal. They then with a hand-net prowl about the fields : and the
quail, seeing a form more like a beast than a man, permits it to approach so
near as to allow the hunter to throw his net over it.*
Persia being almost destitute of trees, much of the fuel used in that
country is made from the dung of various animals, but especially the cow.
Salmon, sturgeon, carp, herring, and various other fish are found in
great abundance in the Caspian.
Among the insect life of Persia must not be forgotten the celebrated
‘ shabgaz ’ of Miana, Todervar, and other places. This insect, the scientific
name of which is Argas Persists, is fully described in Baron WalckensePs
AhMoire Naturelle des Insectes. Its bite is very poisonous, throwing the
victim into a fever, from the effects of which he does not generally recover
for several days.
Bees are kept for the sake of their honey all over the country, and pro
duce most excellent honey.
The following is a recapitulation of the animal produce in the various
provinces of Persia :—
Pars
Karra an
Yazd ^
Isfahan
Khamsah
Khurasan
Mazandaran
Gilan
Azarhaijan
Karruanshah
Khuzistan
... Horses, sheep, mules, asses.
... Sheep, asses, camels, wool, goats.
... Sheep, asses, camels.
... Horses, mules, asses.
... Sheep, horses.
... Camels, horses, sheep.
Cattle, sheep, ponies.
... Cattle, ponies, fish, silkworms.
... Horses, camels, sheepskins.
... Horses, sheep, mules, asses.
... Camels, sheep, horses.
Population. —The number of the population of Persia is difficult to esti
mate. A census has never been taken, and at best any attempt to calculate
the numbers must be made from the scattered reports of travellers. I
think it is best, therefore, at present not to attempt any estimate, but to
refer my readers for details of the population to the various articles in the
different cities and tribes of the country.
* This sounds like a traveller’s tale.