1 AN ENTERTAmifENT AT FBSHAWER. ^
2 placed before us on tngrt with wrapped up ia ynhke doth, oon.
3 oealed by brocade covers with gold fringes.
4 The dishes, according to the Persian fashion, were dyed of all
5 colours, and ornamented with a profusion of gold and silver leaf.
6 Thcv were served in Chuaa dishes, and consistetl of all kinds of
7 roasted, boiled, and baked meat, pilaws and ragouts, witfi many things
8 which it would be difHc ult to describe. We were attended by well
9 dressed servants, mostly i'erstans, who are reckonetl the best servantSf
10 and whom the Alghauns employ as . ( x ks. laaitres d'liotel, &c. as we
11 do Frenc [linen. In the midst of so much magnificence, and really so
12 miicli neatness and arrangement, it was curious to see the servants
13 snuffing the candles into a ttii cup with a. pair of scissars, and uiliers
14 jointing the meat with a large penknife, and then tearing it to pieces,
15 and laying it on our plates with their hands. It is however but just
16 to aay, that this was no^ done till they had washed, their hands^ and
17 twkfld their deem ap .J» their elbowv.- The ^dinner waa ooldf and
18 eoiiaeqaently not much raiiafaed ; amd.the unlibnn danring, and iodifi
19 ftraot fiie-worics, which huted without intenniadon till two 'in . the
20 momiiii^ daaBnrclnit little pwliei
21 The flntestaimnent on the whole waa rather aplendid tliaii i^ajree-
22 aUe^ {pnrticnlarly.aa aome honia of the time were apeut in a p^vaie
23 apartment* diaramwiig the oeranonial of our leoepdon lyf the jKing) }
24 hot onc^ which we soon after received at a garden, waa &t more to
25 our taate; and I shall add a deacription of it to shew the nature of
26 this sort of party among the great. It was given in the gai^den, whidi
27 ia called after Timour Shauh, who laid it out. It ^as a vecy exten-
28 nve aquare, enclosed by brick walls, and 4ivided -by two veiy broad
29 svenues of ahemate cypresses and planes, croitSig eadi other at right
30 angles in the middle of the square. The open space in the centre of
31 each avenue was filled with a very long and broad bed of poppies, on -
32 each side of which was a walk between borders of flowers. In the
33 four squares, into whit ii tlio avenues divided the garden, were in-
34 Munierablc fig, iieach, [)lunu apple, pear, pomegranate, quince, and
35 muibeny tse&h in iuii blossom : here and there was scattered a hi|^
36 Diglized by Google