Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the EastHume-Griffith, M. E.
Philosophy
Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the East
Hume-Griffith, M. E.
Arabian Peninsula -- Social life and customs; Iran -- Social life and customs
Cats are exported on quite a large scale to India and other
places. They are taken to the coast by horse-dealers, who tether them
in much the same way as they do their horses.
One of the late Shahs is said to have been very devoted to cats,
and always took one with him when he travelled, a special baggage
animal being reserved for the cage of this favourite pet.
There are many ways of journeying in Persia, and the would-be
traveller can take his choice according to his own ideas of comfort
and convenience. To my mind the most pleasant way of all is to have
your own horses for riding, and thus be able to set your own pace and
not have to be bound down to the slow, wearying, never-changing rate
of the caravan.
For those who do not care for, or are not strong enough for riding,
there are many conveyances. Here, again, the traveller has quite a
large choice of good things. First of all there is the "kajavah." This
consists of two cage-like boxes, suspended one on each side of the
animal: the interior of these boxes sometimes boasts of a little
low seat, but as a rule is innocent of any such luxury. Two people
of about the same weight must sit on each side, or the result is
disastrous. I remember once being with a large caravan. In one of
these kajavahs was travelling a Government official and his wife. He
was very tiny, she was quite the reverse, the result being that the
little man was generally up in the air while the opposite side of the
kajavah was weighed down nearly to the ground. They tried all manner
of experiments in their endeavour to strike the balance, gathering
stones and depositing them in the lighter side, tying bags of fuel,
&c., to the outside of the kajavah, but all of no avail. At last,
in disgust and anger, the woman jumped out without giving her husband
any warning: the result to onlookers was ludicrous! The wife refused
all that day again to enter the kajavah, preferring to walk, till
one of the muleteers offered her a seat on the top of one of the
baggage mules. The little man was soon balanced with stones picked
up by the wayside, and travelled for the rest of that day in peace
and comfort. At the end of the stage, however, his wife would not
speak to him or cook his dinner for him! and the man (who was quite
the reverse of an ordinary Moslem man) came to one of my husband's
assistants, begging him to act as mediator. In this case the man and
woman seem to have exchanged places as regards character, the wife
being decidedly the master, and he, poor man, looked as if he hardly
dared call his soul his own. Even amongst Moslems there doubtless
are some strong-minded women.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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