I called on him and told him of the fellow’s misdeeds, and, much to his astonishment, the man in power gave the ruffian a liberal bastinado. Terrible stories are extant of what happened in certain places, and there is no doubt of the truth of many of these. That the people ate grass and the carrion, that they lived on the blood at the public slaughter-houses, that they, having sold all, also sold their children, is within my personal knowledge. Cannibalism, too, was proved. In fine, had it not been for the exertions of the Persian Relief Committee in London, the ravages of the famine would have only ended in the temporary depopulation of the south and centre of Persia. Each great personage in Ispahan and Shiraz did his best to preserve his own dependents from starvation; but there being no kind of organisation among the Persians, and transit-rates being prohibitive, and the roads unsafe, small local famines were frequent, and the ravages of typhoid and diphtheria—the latter previously unknown in the country—were very great. Just now an accident to the Prince Zil-es-Sultan took place. He was out shooting near Shiraz, and having charged one barrel of his gun twice, the weapon burst, tearing the palm of his hand and the ball of the thumb. I was called in to attend him, and was fortunate enough to preserve the hand. For this his Royal Highness was very grateful, and during the whole of my time in Persia showed me many kindnesses, besides giving me an extremely liberal fee, even for a king’s son: he _compelled_ his vizier also to give me one. He even insisted on decorating me with the star of the Lion and Sun; but as Englishmen in Government employ are not allowed to accept the decorations of foreign Governments without special permission, the honour, much coveted among the Persians, was not of much benefit to me. I got it in a very public and sudden manner, and as the occasion of giving it was sufficiently curious, I may as well describe it. It is the custom in Persia to send to all governors, royal personages, and ministers, a yearly present from the king, to show the royal satisfaction. These presents are all termed kalāats (or dresses of honour), even though the gift may be in jewellery, or even specie; a dress or robe of greater or less value, or a jewelled weapon, being the general kalāat. The withholding of the yearly robe of honour to a provincial governor is generally the sign of the royal disfavour, and the despatching of it often the token of the recipient’s confirmation in office, though at times it is what gilds the bitter pill of his recall. The kalāat is usually sent from the capital by the hands of some person of consequence, generally some favoured servant of the Shah, and this man is sent down that he may receive a present, generally large in amount, from the recipient, and may bring back the usual bribe to the Prime Minister for retention in power, or even the same thing to the king himself.