The Semitic elements have commenced in south and east Persia, from Benderbushir until near to Kirmansah, and have especially left behind with the inhabitants of the towns perceptible traces, which strike the eye all the more when we compare the physiognomy and stature of a Sigistanian with those of an Isfahanian. This is best perceptible in the Ghebrs (fire worshippers), who sojourn among the West Iranians, and are very different from them. As one misses among them the predominating numbers of thin, slender forms, so also one seldom meets with the narrow chin or the thin, small nose. The Ghebr, in company with the Khafi, will certainly strike us less than in the midst of a group of Isfahanians; and since the Ghebrs, who are only sparingly scattered in the west of Persia, are to be considered as the remnants of the primitive Iranian people, having remained most pure from the mixture of foreign elements, one can assert with certainty that the distinction of physiognomy between East and West Iranian must always have existed. The Greek historians of the Alexandrian campaign, who came in contact with the Eastern as well as the Western nations of the then great Iranian kingdom, have disregarded in their descriptions the ethnographical side of the question, which is of the highest importance in our studies. In the same way we gather but little information from the sculptures which descend from the Sassanides. The figures on the bas reliefs of Nakshi Rustem, Nakshi Redgeb, and, near at hand, of Kazerun, may furnish faithful representations of the former Persian, but of the nationality of the same there is no accurate account; and however wide the opinion may extend with regard to stature and features, these appear rather to belong to the West Iranian than to the East Iranian, for the striking resemblance to the modern inhabitants of West Iran must be apparent to the eye of every one. Recent European travellers only cause us to observe the existing difference. So we find that Gareia Silva Figeroa,[49] who in 1627 visited Persia on a diplomatic mission, already calls our attention to the difference between the East and West Iranian, though without entering into any details of the physical characteristics. Chardin, who travelled through this country in 1664-1677, is more explicit, for he says that the Ghebrs, in whom he perceives the remnant of the ancient Persian, are of a disagreeable exterior, clumsy figure, coarse skin, and dark complexion, and form a strong contrast to the present inhabitants of West Iran, who have a mixture of the Chirkassian and Georgian blood in their veins. This opinion is also positively expressed by Peter Angelus (Labrosse), a contemporary of the former, in his "Gazophylacium linguæ Persarum," published in 1684, under the article, "Georgians."[50] [49] Khanikoff's "Memoire sur l'Ethnographie de la Perse." Paris, 1866, page 45. [50] Above cited work, page 47.