Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎35r] (72/154)

DE MORGAN’S “MISSION SCIENTIFIQUE” TO PERSIA.
475
identical, for Mr. Harris, on leaving Suj-bulak, abandoned the caravan-
road for a straight cut across the mountains, so as to visit the Kurds in
their summer quarters; but they seem to have been on one and the
same track again at Sardasht, Bana (or Bahireh), and Sakiz. Inde
pendently of questions of hydrography, orography, and geology,
separately grouped, the chapter is rich in illustrative detail, and the
author has much to say on the character, language, and customs of the
people, which comes under the head of light as well as instructive
reading. This description of a marriage at Namashir, in the Balmik
district, may be thus rendered in English:
“ The bride lived with her parents in a neighbouring village; she had been
purchased for the modest sum of twenty tumdns (say £84 to £9£) by an inhabitant
of the village in which we were encamped. About five o’clock in the afternoon
when the religious part of the ceremony had been performed—she arrived on horse
back, escorted by her own country-folk, and bringing upon a beast of burden two
boxes, painted in red, containing her wearing apparel. As soon as the small
caravan came in sight, there was a general discharge of firearms ; and directly she
arrived and had alighted, the bride was conducted to the house of her lord, and the
female villagers crowded around her. Much and loud talk ensued among men and
women gathered together; then three large coal fires were lighted, and dancing
began. The men and women danced in separate groups, holding one another by
the waist, whirling round the fires, and adapting their steps to the time of the songs
sung by a man placed in the foremost rank of the males, and a woman occupying a
like position among the females. The song was slow, with a measured fall, in a
monotonous air, often broken in upon by the bursts of laughter of the whole
assembly.”
Our author endeavoured to obtain some specimens of the words, as
strung together for a vocal accompaniment to the dancing on these
festal occasions. But, although he was able to collect a certain number,
he could not find any that would bear translation. While allowing a
high importance to Mukri literature, he regrets that the equivocal
taste of its songs and stories is fatal to their publicity in Europe. To
the above extract in reference to a wedding, let us add another which
relates to a funeral—
“ During our stay at the village of Passawa, among the Mamishes, a native of
the place, through some unexplained visitation, ceased to show any signs of life.
Instantly the air was filled with the lamentations of the whole neighbourhood; the
men cried in moderation, but the women and children yelled and shrieked in
despair. Although the wretched man thus mourned for was not actually dead, it
was not long before he was found to be so in every respect.
“ Half an hour after the news of his supposed decease was spread abroad in the
village, the male inhabitants took the body to a stream, and, having stripped it of
clothes, were about to wash it, when the corpse revived and began to struggle.
‘ He is possessed with the devil!’ they exclaimed; and, struck by a vigorous blow at
the back of the head, the victim fell stiff, now no more to rise again. The
arrangements for his burial having been completed, the business of the hour was
resumed, and the body borne to the cemetery; the whole village followed, weeping
and vociferating, as if the practically murdered man had been an object of adoration