granted that so long as the Customs are farmed out on the present system the supply will be passed in to meet the demand. The favourite weapon is the Martini-Henry, and there are many thousands in the possession of the nomads and villagers. This rifle, as the Peabody-Martini, was first introduced into the country during the late Turko-Russian War, when, being the Turkish army weapon, it fell by thousands into the hands of Russian soldiers, who sold them to the Persian sutlers and pedlars allowed to accompany the troops. The Persians had shown their usual energy and enterprise abroad by becoming camp-traders with the Russian forces engaged on active service in Asia Minor, and they sent the captured arms, which they purchased in large numbers, over the border into Persia, where they fetched good prices. A profitable trade in cartridges followed the introduction of the new rifle, and judging by the well-filled belts and bandoliers which I saw on the North-western frontier (Kurdistan and Azerbaijan), the business appears to be a well established one. In the course of time and trade this rifle found its way South to the fighting Bakhtiaris, Lurs, and Arabs, and the general vote in its favour brought about a supply of 'trade' Martini-Henry arms imported by way of the Persian Gulf, so that now in Persia what is known as the 'Marteen' has become the popular arm in private possession. The 'Remington' has its possessors and admirers among the Karun Arab tribes, who get their arms from Baghdad and Turkish sources. There is a brisk trade in ammunition for the breechloader, and so keen is the desire to secure and supplement the supply that solid-drawn brass cartridge-cases, which admit of being used over and over again, with boxes of caps and sets of reloading apparatus, are now in brisk demand.