On another occasion a young slave who had shot his master’s son by accident was “_crucified_,”[17] lived fifty hours, and was then put out of his misery. There was no cross—the men are nailed to walls. I was passing one day the outer wall of the “ark” or citadel of Shiraz; I saw a small crowd, I rode up, the crowd made way, and I found a poor fellow, very pale, standing with his face to the wall; a horse-nail had been driven through each foot, also through each of his hands, which were extended on the wall, and three more nails had been driven through his chest into the wall; he groaned occasionally, and I was informed he had smoked and drunk water offered him by compassionate bystanders. He lived thirty hours, and the executioner took him down then, and put him out of his misery. His crime was that he had stolen a jewelled horse necklet of the Zil-es-Sultan’s; this in the eyes of Persians is high treason. The sentence, however, was not the prince’s, then a mere boy, but his minister’s. He is now averse to blood, although he is given to making severe examples to avoid _continual_ executions. With some Governors there are executions weekly, and this in such a sparsely populated country as Persia, is even more sad than the _occasional_ cruel examples made by Khosro Mirza, the late Hissam-u-Sultaneh, and the Zil-es-Sultan, to avoid _continual_ bloodshed, which I believe to be the true reason of their occasional great severity; and this policy is successful, for in their governments crimes of violence are unusual, their severity being deterrent; and the _total_ of their executions very much smaller than that of the so-called merciful Governors. In justice to these three Governors this must be allowed, that the cruelty is much more apparent than real. It is to be noticed that executions are not nearly so frequent now, as on my first experiences of Persia. CHAPTER XIX. MY JOURNEY HOME AND MARCH TO SHIRAZ. Julfa quarters—Buy a freehold house—I ornament, and make it comfortable—Become ill—Apply for sick leave—Start marching—Telegram—Begin to post—Reach Teheran—Obtain leave—Difficulty at Kasvin—Punishment of the postmaster—Catch and pass the courier—Horses knock up—Wild beasts—Light a fire—Grateful rest—Arrive at Resht—Swamp to Peri-Bazaar—Boat—Steamer—Moscow—Opera—Ballet—Arrive in England—Start again for Persia—Journey _viâ_ Constantinople—Trebizonde—Courier—Snow—Swollen eyes—Detail of journey from Erzeroum to Teheran—The races—Ispahan—Leave for Shiraz—Persian companions—Dung-beetles—Mole crickets—Lizards—Animals and birds—The road to Shiraz—Ussher’s description—Meana bug legend again.