"عبر بلاد فارس على سرج ركوب جانبي" [‎١‎١‎٤] (٣٦٠/١٤٥)

uA
114
THROUGH PERSIA ON A SIDE-SADDLE
it was then proposed that these chieftains should try lemon-
cutting with a sword. Their indifferent success in this
sport somewhat depressed them; but they cheered up
considerably during a performance which they gave of
throwing the taghala. This is a stick heavily loaded at
one end, which the rider flourishes in the air, high over his
head, then breaks into full gallop, stands up in his stirrups,
and bowls the missile in such a way that it leaps several
times off the hard ground. Some Persians catch it during
these leaps, but it is not part of the game to do so. I
never saw much point in this performance, and it was a
dangerous one to boot, as many have had their eyes
gouged out by the flying missile, and on one occasion a
player, noticing that only one half of his stick lay on the
ground, and reining up to see what had become of the
other half, found it embedded in his horse's chest!
The amusement I enjoyed most at Kerman was to ride
out to some garden to tea. Sometimes we would go to a
mountain village, set in the midst of a stony desert, its
fertilising stream making it an oasis in the dreary desola
tion all around. Tea would be spread on a carpet, perhaps
in a garden of pomegranates, the scarlet blossoms glowing
like flames out of the gloom of the surrounding trees, and
the proprietor of the place would bring us a great tray of
mulberries, apricots, and the much-esteemed short, fat
cucumbers. The children peeping shyly at us, would be
offered pieces of cake or biscuits, and the pourboire given
as we rode off would usually draw down a shower of
blessings on our heads from its simple recipients. The
heat would be over as we rode home in the fresh air, and
a sunset, which I have no words to describe, would give
a beautiful finish to the day.