'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎602] (669/714)

602
PERSIA
of 9-centimetre, at Isfahan eight of 8-centimetre, two of 7-centi
metre, and 17 others at the various frontier posts; while at the
latter are also distributed 200 old smooth-bores of the antiquated
and valueless character already described. The superior guns are
seldom, if ever, taken out of the arsenal, and the men are conse
quently quite untrained in working them. Of regular field batteries
with full complement of horses there are none. I saw a large
number of steel shells in the arsenal, the material of which I was
informed had come from mines in Mazanderan.
The arms of the line are even inferior to those of the artillery.
The bulk of the infantry are armed with the old muzzle-loading
Arms and V^ssion-ca V musket known as Brown Bess, which was
iunmimi- in use m England before the Crimean war and in Prussia
till 18G3. In the frontier provinces, such as Seistan and
Khorasan, the militia still carry matchlocks of a paheozoic pattern,
which they fire from pronged rests, projecting like hayforks from the
underside of the barrel. Stored in the Teheran arsenal for great
occasions, and for occasional use on the Kurdish or Turkoman
frontiers, are 10,000 breech-loading Werndl rifles, for which, how
ever, there is said to be no reserve supply of ammunition, and which
have rusted and deteriorated from long disuse. There are also
20,000 chassepots and 30,000 tabatieres (transformed muzzle-
loaders), which had been captured by the Germans in the Franco-
German war of 1870, and were sold by them to the Shah during
his first visit to Europe for 16s. each. They and their ammunition
are equally contemptible. The bulk of the latter is manufactured
in eheran, near to which there is a powder factory An East India Company trading post. , while small
arms are fabricated in the arsenal opening on to the Meidan. 1
I paid a visit to the Arsenal, where I was courteously received
} two ustiian officers and conducted round the premises, con-
Arsenai sistm ^ 0 \ a series of workshops opening on to garden
. COU1 ^' r ^ ie khah was about to pay his annual visit of
inspection, and accordingly everything was in spick and span
order. Here are an iron foundry, the chief products of which
appeared to be copies of florid European statuettes for the decora-
i n of gaidt ns and public places; a percussion-cap factory An East India Company trading post. , bought
lance and conducted by an Austrian; and shops for the
t • • J' 16 ™ al 0f Teheran WaS Started ^ Ha j i Mirza Aghassi, the Dervish
inister of Mohammed Shah, who had all the love of the ancient Athenians for
sometmnff new.