On the evening after this visit, my excellent friend, whom I have before mentioned as preferring a shot at a duck to a view of the ruins of Persepolis, said he would like to be king of Persia. Knowing that inordinate ambition had no place in his mind, I asked him what he would do if he attained that station: "Run away with my crown," was the prompt answer. We had a hearty laugh at the genuine simplicity of this expression. It is perhaps the first time sovereignty was ever desired for such a purpose; but, considering all that attends, in Persia, the wearing of the article he wished for, it would perhaps be the best mode of converting to real advantage so dangerous and precarious a possession. The condition of Fatteh Ali Shâh, at the time I first saw him, was deemed, by his Mahomedan subjects, as fortunate as could be attained by any human being in this world. He added to youth and personal endowments, four wives, more ladies than I will venture to name, and nearly one hundred children, the possession of a splendid throne, and the prospect of living long to enjoy it, for his cruel but able uncle, Aga Mahomed, had destroyed all who were likely to dispute his possession of the crown. "He had," to use his own words, "raised a royal palace, and cemented it with blood, that the boy Bâbâ Khan (the name he always gave his nephew) might sleep within its walls in peace." The king has elegant manners and many accomplishments. Among others, he is a poet, and has written a book of odes, of the merits of which the critics of Persia speak in perfect raptures. I only wish I had the same power that he possesses of disarming severity and propitiating favour. What a magnifying glass would then be applied to these pages, now doomed, I fear, to be viewed through a reversed telescope, which will make them appear so diminutive as hardly to be worth the trouble of perusing. But to return to his majesty of Persia. I made all the inquiries I could into his usual habits and mode of passing his time. He is very regular in the execution of his public duties; and being a king of Persia is no sinecure. He must have two courts every day; one public, and another private. He receives at the first the salutations of all his sons, nobles, ministers, and public officers; and at this public levee strangers are presented. At the second, in which his ministers and favourites only attend, business is transacted. The present king, like many of the same age and temperament, makes up, by the employment of his leisure moments, for the forms and restraints which usage imposes upon him when before the eye of the public. He pursues with great ardour the sports of the field, is an excellent horseman, and a good shot.