The bill for messing myself, my wife, two children, and our English nurse, together with our horse-keep for five horses, our house rent being included, and the servants’ pay, was about thirty-five pounds a month. Of course our English nurse’s wages were not included in this, nor our bill for European wines and tinned provisions. These latter were, however, quite needless, save when travelling, when it is difficult to obtain supplies, or anything but the roughest food. I found the cost of living[16] pretty much the same in Ispahan, Teheran, and Shiraz. At Hamadan and Kermanshah prices used to be much less, but are now, I think, nearly the same. As I previously stated, no European goes himself to the bazaar. To conclude a bargain with any Persian shopkeeper great haggling and waste of time is required; and so high are their ideas of the wealth of the Europeans, that it would be hopeless to attempt to deal with them personally. Honesty cannot be expected in the Ispahani or Teherani, but the Shirazi may be pretty fairly relied upon. A peculiar custom is in force in Ispahan, which is possibly legal by the religious law. A man comes to a merchant and makes a bargain. In the morning he makes “Dubbeh,” _i. e._ repents of his bargain, calmly stating, “Makhmūn shūd um” (“I have been deceived”). And now the bargain is off! This is frequently done either to lower the price a little, or, when the article is a fluctuating one, such as opium, to take advantage of a rise or fall in the market. For this reason it is, that all contracts have to be in writing, and generally something is paid on account to bind the slippery Ispahani. The difference between wholesale and retail is very great, the retailer not taking generally a profit of less than twenty per cent. The usual rate of interest in the bazaar is twelve per cent. per annum, _i. e._ one per cent. per mensem, simple interest. Most, in fact nearly all, mercantile transactions are on credit, discount for cash or a cash price being the exception. In fact, so common is credit that the price of a thing is quoted _at so many months_. Thus, in the case of loaf-sugar, it may be, say a toman (seven and sixpence) a maund of fourteen pounds and four months’ credit, or, when very cheap, eighteen months’ credit. The price would be quoted as either four or eighteen, meaning the amount of credit allowed, the actual price being the same. Most of the wholesale trade is done through brokers, who act as commercial travellers, and solicit orders on commission, which they generally manage to extract from both buyer and seller. Among the brokers a few honest men may be found, but they are rare exceptions. The tager, or merchant class, are generally the most bigoted and penurious of the Persian race. Only on retiring from business do they dare to launch out into ostentation; for the mere suspicion of wealth in Persia exposes them to the exactions of those in power.