Three of these cards have black backgrounds on which is displayed a white and yellow animal of a species unidentified. The third card of the set shows a great dragon with a forked tail twisted around a lion. Three of the cards have green grounds, on which are seated figures, and one of them so closely resembles the Emperor, or Osiris, of the Tarots in position and design that it seems it must have been derived from that figure. Of the other two, one resembles the Atout called the Empress, and the other is a seated male figure, in the attitude of some of those in the Tarot pack. Four cards have black grounds sprinkled with dots of yellow. These four all show dragons or mythical animals, and are alike in every respect, which is not always the case with the other designs even when of kindred suits. As none of the Atouts have animals depicted on them except in a subordinate way, it would seem that some of the Persian cards are original, while others may have been copied. Another green suit has only two cards, although there might be more if the pack were complete. The ground is _semé_, like the last, with orange-coloured flecks, and displays a seated figure with an attendant, its peculiarity being that this King has his legs folded under him in Oriental fashion, while the figures on all the other cards are seated like the Egyptian gods. Two cards have gold grounds, and on them are two standing figures, one beating a drum, the other man holding what may be a magician's rod or, perhaps, a flute. There are three cards of a dull yellow hue flecked with brown dots. These closely resemble the Atouts, as one of the seated figures holds up a circle or the Money mark, like the Queen of Dinari; and against the knees of the other a child leans, recalling Isis with Osiris. The eighteenth card is the Joker, and shows a likeness of the late Shah of Persia. It was brought from that kingdom in 1904. These cards do not seem all to have belonged to the same pack, for five of them have been much more used than the others. The Persians are secretive about their games, probably because the religion of Mahomet, following that of the Jews, forbids any representation of the human form. Therefore, games bearing such an emblem must be used in private, and descriptions of them are not readily obtained by foreigners. The cards themselves offer an interesting problem, since they retain the emblematic figures without any pip cards, and they stand alone in this respect in Asia, where the pip or arrow cards are more generally to be found than the figure cards. But, then, the Persians use the cup or vase for divining purposes, as a rule, although in some parts the arrows or rods of divination are common. There are also "sticks" found among the common people that seem to be used in this way, but the natives are chary of describing their purpose, so no trustworthy account of them can be offered. CHAPTER XVII CHESS AND OTHER GAMES