VISITING A SHRINE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue I, 7 January 1899, Page 31

VISITING A SHRINE.

The town of Kum, one of the walled cities of Persia, ranks second to Meshed in sanctity, on account of the famous shrine of Masuma Fatima, sister of the Imam Riza, a famous saint of the Mohammedans. While Lieutenant Rawlinson was on his way to Teheran he heard much of this sacred city and the glories of the shrine, which, it was said, no European had ever entered. Death, so rumour whispered, would be the portion of the audacious infidel who should be discovered within its precincts. To a young and ardent spirit a dangerous adventure is an irresistible attraction. Young Rawlinson determined to visit the shrine. Disguised as a Persian pilgrim, thousands of whom annually journey to the sacred city, lie joined the crowd of pilgrims. His knowledge of Persian and of the customs of the country enabled him to pass undetected through the temple gates, and to make his way to the tomb of the saint. The guardian gave him the customary form of words and he repeated them. But his curiosity almost caused his detection. Attracted by magnificent suits of steel armour which hung on the walls, he was gazing at them, when suddenly he found that he had turned his back, upon the sacred shrine wherein the saint was entombed. A thrill of alarm startled him; but. the discourtesy, impossible to a ‘true believer,' had not been noticed. If it had been there would probably have been no further career for the young lieutenant, who subsequently became the decipherer of Assyrian a'nd Babylonian inscriptions and texts, and died the renowned Orientalist, Sir Henry Rawlinson.