'A Tour to Sheeraz by the Route of Kazroon amd Feerozabad with various Remarks on the Manners, Customs, Laws, Language and Literature of the Persians to which is added A History of Persia from the Death of Kureem Khan to the Subversion of the Zund Dynasty' [‎56] (80/362)

[56]
they repeat the lines in an artificial voice, you are able to follow
them with ease.
The game of back-gammon is common among the Persians, they
know little of the game of chess. The priests hold persons who
play, particularly if it is for money, in little estimation; and, I
fancy, most conscientiously believe, that they will suffer in a future
world for these acts of impiety. They have horse-races at Sheeraz,
but I was not there at the proper season. From description I
learnt, that the horses start at least at the distance of fifteen miles,
and pursue a direct course to the post. No care is taken to level
the ground; and, as it very often happens that more than twenty
horses start together, there are frequent accidents. Purses of gold
are given to the owners of the first, second, and third horses. They
take great pains in training their horses, which they do for a much
longer time than I believe is practised in Europe.
The military men are constantly playing at jureed-bazee, which
is throwing a dart three cubits long at a horseman when they are
at full gallop. The person at whom it is thrown either catches it
in his hand, or throwing himself under the horse's belly, allows it to
fly over him. This they perform very expertly; and which is by
no means easy, when we recollect that the horse is going nearly at
his speed. The jureed comes with sufficient force to break an arm.
They also amuse themselves with riding full speed, turning round
on their saddles, and firing a small carbine they carry; or in throwing
the jureed on the ground, and catching it as it rebounds. The
Persians appear very bad horsemen to Europeans; one thing is
evident, that they must ruin a horses mouth in the course of a
month.