chief part of their business, with a little melting
furnace, which they blow with their mouths,
as there is not a pair of bellows in the land. At
last I stop before a jeweller's to buy a turquoise,
which I  think is a great bargain at two tomauns.
I find afterwards that I have bought a piece of
artfully-coloured wax.

The saddlers' shops are very pretty, and so are
the gun shops, with guns from Bokhara, inlaid
with ivory, and other curious arms. So are the
fruiterers', where golden oranges swim, bobbing
about, in tubs of water, and cool melons lie
temptingly reposing upon ice. So are the shoe
shops, with their red and blue shoes; and the
shops where they sell caskets looking like ruby
and gold. Then there is such a fondness for
tinsel, that even the lamb and mutton hung up
at butchers' shops is tinselled, to call attention to
its fatness.

There is a pretty part of the bazaar where
there are flowers in great plenty, and birds of
beautiful plumage in cages, and talking parrots,
to attest the fondness for birds and flowers which
is born with Orientals. Then there are cooks'
shops in merry little nooks and corners. Kabobs
are, of course, the chief dainty sold here. But
the kabobs are more artistically prepared in
Persia than in Turkey. What should you say,
O traveller! to a little lump of lean lamb-chop,
a little lump of fat, a little lump of kidney, a
little lump of liver, well powdered over with
finely-chopped garlic, discreetly salted and
peppered, and served, all frothing, upon a silver
skewer, with a nice little flap of hot bread to roll
it up in? Though kabobs are the chief and the
best things in these cooks' shops. Still, other
things may be had. There is caviar and dried
fish for a relish; wine, too, is sold openly—too
openly, indeed. Wine and eggs are sold higgledy-
piggledy together, for some inexplicable reason,
unless it should be that although wine is
forbidden by the law, egg-flip is not, so that it is
easy and profitable in the way of trade to suggest
a compromise; the immense pantomime wine-
bottles squashing the eggs upon which they lie.
Perhaps a very good street dinner might be got
in the bazaars for about sixpence, if one were
inclined to try.

There are some noble khans and caravanseries
here and there, with charming living pictures of
Asiatic life to be seen through their open
gateways. Turbaned moollahs, seeming to read
for decorum's sake, but with shrewd eyes keeping
sharp watch around them; travellers praying at
the fountain in the centre of the court-yard;
and rooms containing rich goods closed with
pretty shutters

Most of the European articles sold in the
bazaars of Tehran are very coarse and paltry,
and there is a fine opening for an enterprising
British merchant in the Persian capital. I saw
some gingerbread-looking mirrors of the worst
possible kind from Russia, some coarse English
cotton goods of gaudy colours, and some common
crockery. These trumpery foreign things,
however, are all displayed with childish exultation,
and are a source of deep pride to the
shopkeeper who owns them. Generally, what strikes
one most about the bazaars is the coolness and
utter indifference to business of the Oriental
trader, who seldom deigns to call attention, even
by a glance, to his wares. But it is the clatter
of some English tea-things that their owner is
pompously dusting which suddenly reminds me
of home, and recals to me the time when I was
a child, and took tea at a pleasant country-house
with a loved and leathery old nurse, some five-
and-twenty years ago. I wonder for a moment
whether it can be really the same "I," at which
the dogs are now barking in Paynimrie, and the
children point—a stranger in a strange land.

Those children, by the way, are quite naked,
which warns me that we have strayed into an
unfrequented quarter of the town, and had
better go homewards. Upon the whole, there is
nothing to tempt one to buy, and spend one's
money in the bazaars. Perhaps all that is really
valuable or curious is hidden by timid merchants
fearful of the rapacity of power.

Now ready, bound in cloth boards, price 5s. 6d.
THE EIGHTH VOLUME,
Containing from No. 177 to 200, both inclusive; and, in
addition, SOMEBODY'S LUGGAGE, being the
Extra Double Number for Christmas.

MR. CHARLES DICKENS'S READINGS.
HANOVER SQUARE ROOMS. On Tuesday Evening, April 21,
MR. CHARLES DICKENS will read his
DAVID COPPERFIELD,
AND
MR. BOB SAWYER'S PARTY FROM PICKWICK.
On Thursday Evening, April 23, his
NICHOLAS NICKLEBY AT MR. SQUEERS'S
SCHOOL,
AND
BOOTS AT THE HOLLY TREE INN.
And on Tuesday Evening, April 28, his
CHRISTMAS CAROL, AND THE TRIAL
FROM PICKWICK.
Stalls, 5s. Centre Seats, 2s. Back Seats 1s.
Tickets to be had at the Office of All the Year Round, 26, Wellington-
street, Strand;  of Mr. JOHN POTTLE, 14 and 15, Royal Exchange,
City; Messrs. CHAPMAN and HALL'S, Publishers, 193 Piccadilly; at
AUSTIN'S Ticket Office, St. James's Hall; and at PAYNE'S Ticket
Office, Hanover Square Rooms.

The Right of Translating articles from ALL THE YEAR ROUND is reserved by the Authors.