THE SHAH'S DIARY IN ENGLAND.

Southland Times, Issue 2055, 20 January 1875, Page 3

THE SHAH'S DIARY IN ENGLAND.

An English paper of recent date published a letter from Teheran, dated 10th August, giving some account of the " Shah's Diary in England." It was published, the writer says, a short time ago, and contains 208 quarto pages of bad print. The style is throughout of the very poorest description ; to a Persian the book is on this account utterly unreadable. The Shah's descriptions of some of the wonders he saw are very amusing. When there is anything which he failed fully to comprehend, he says. "It was wonderful," or "We cannot write an explanation." Trivial occurrences he dilates upon with a quite remarkable eloquence, important events he finishes off with a few words. The book is full of absurdities and blunders which he might easily have avoided by calling to his assistance any one of his interpreters ; it is, however, perhaps better that he did not do so, for he might thus have spoiled for us a highly delightful treat. After taking farewell of the King of the Belgians, the Shah embarks with " Lorenson Sahib" (Sir Henry Rawlinson) on board the Vigilant, Captain MacClintock, " known through his several voyages to tVie Northpole Islands." He admires the Vigilant, more especially the good things to eat in the state cabin ; there were " peaches, white grapes, black grapes, small very sweet melons ; the grapea were from hothouses and very dear ; one bunch of them cost two francs." He arrives at Dover, where the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Arthur, and others came to meet him. The Duke of Edinburgh is a "very good-looking young man, with small beard and blue j eyes ;" in parenthesis he adds that he is very tall. " Princo Arthur is not so tall, has a thinner face, and is smaller made than his brother." On the road from Dover to London, noticing the fine fields of Kent, bis Majesty says, " It is not | necessary to write about England's agri- I culture, it is known all over the world." They pass " Sheslhurst" (this, like most other European names, in .Roman character), a wheel of a carriage catches fire, and "we were nearly j all burnt." The crowd at Charing Cross was " endless," and calls forth the following . — " London has some very handsome women ; on the countenances of both women and men are depicted nobility, greatness, dignity, and strength ; it is evident that England is a great nation ; the Almighty has to them especially given power and ability, sense, understanding, and education ; no wonder they have conquered a country like India, and possess considerable colonies in America and other parts of the world." Then he admires the English army, especially the cavalry, but deplores the small number of the latter. Next day he went to see Her Majesty at Windsor Castle ; he again sits on a chair, and " the Lord Chamberland having brought the order of the Jarretiere," it was given to him by Her Majesty's " own hands." He in return " gave the Persian order of the Lion and Sun, with his portrait mounted in diamonds." He sees Prince Leopold, " very young and good-looking," attired in Scotch costume ; this he explains as " a costume in which the knees are bare." " One daughter of the Queen, sixteen years of age, is always in the house, and not yet married." The Shah likes to eat well. Whenever the meals are good he never fails to say so ; here " we ate a good breakfast, thei'e were some fine fruits." In the Castle grounds he sees soldiers ; " although the English army is small, it is very well clothed, well drilled, and consists of young strong men," he remarks. After a description of the Castle, he adds — it looks very much like an afterthought — I " Her Majesty's age is fifty, but she looks only forty ; she has a genial and pleasant countenance." In the evening he goes to the city to the Guildhall enter- ! taioment. He notices the policemen, "there are 8,000." The next piece of information is somewhat startling, and ought to put the London police- defying street boys at their ease :— " The people of London think very much of their police ; anybody that shows any disrespect

to the police must be killed." The Lord Mayor lives in " Cuid hall." Wonderful to "relate the Shah on this occasion sat again on a chair, and we see that in every succeeding chapter he takes care to tell us£the same thing— that is, whenever he does happen to sit on a chair. Then the Lord Mayor, the Shah, everybody drank Tos (toasts). He goes to sleep again that night, and next morning goes to " Volvitch." On the road he sees " working men of London, their faces blackened by coal-smoke ; " at Woolwich, " '"'nglish guns, like the ancient ones ; they are loaded by way of muzzle, and not like Krupps, from the breech." In the evening he is at the opera— "There was. a great crowd. Patti.one of the celebrated European singers, had been expressly, brought from Paris ; she sang very well ; she is a very handsome woman ; she took a long price to come to London. There was Albani, a Canadian, of America, who sang very well and performed well." On the following day, en route to the Zoological Gardens, he is received with the usual " Hurrahs," he feels quite pleased, and says, " Really they cordially like me." The hippopotamus was "a wonderful thing." On the day of the naval review he had to wait a little at the railway station for the Prince of Wales and the Czarevitch. At Portsmouth he embarks on board the Victoria Albert, Captain " Prince Linoge " and sits down to breakfast. Then said his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, " Rise, let us go on deck to salute the ships ; we rose and went on deck." Two sons of the Prince of Wales were also there. Then the Shah went on board the " Azincourt, commanded by Fips Hurubi," then visited the " Sultan, commander Vansitart," and returned to the Victoria Albert. In the evening in the Albert-hall he admires the entrance-hall, the macaroni machine, and the exhibition of pictures painted by officers and men of the navy. Regarding the latter, he says, " Nowhere else have I seen such fine paintings." Tiie great concert, the many performers, and the great organ, astonished him much : " Such a crowd nobody has as yet seen from the beginning of the" world till now ; there were 12,000 persons present, from no single one came a sound, all listened and looked on ; it lasted more than an hour ; when it was finished we went home and slept." — Academy. A Healthy Fruit.— A lazy dy speptic w.'.s bewailing his own misfortunes, and speaking with his friend on the latter's hearty appearance. " What do you do to make you so strong and healthy ?" inquired the dyspeptic. " Live on fruit alone," answered the friend. " What kind of fruit ?" " The fruit of industry ; and I am never troubled with indigestion." _______