80 JOUKNEYS IN PERSIA LETTER xis

would arrange the marches and the camping-grounds with
reference solely to her well-being. She is washed from
her nose to the tip of her tail every evening, clothed, and
kept by the camp-fire. She is a dainty, heartless, frivolous
creature, very graceful and pretty, and in character much
like a selfish, spoilt woman.

Unfortunately, in one of the many attempted fights
among the horses, Screw kicked her on the chest and
fore-leg a few days ago, which has made a quarrel between
Hadji, Screw's owner, and Aziz. Now Aziz is making me
a slave to Ms animal. That night, after a tiring day, I was
sleeping soundly when I was awakened by Aziz saying
I must come to his mare or he would stay behind with
her the next day. This is his daily threat. So I had to
bring her inside my tent, and sleepily make a poultice and
bandage the hurt. I have very little vaseline, and after
putting it twice on the slight graze on her chest, which
it cured, I said, when he asked for it a third time, that I
must keep the rest for men. " Oh," he said, " she's of
more value than ten men." Lately he said, " I don't
like you at all, you give me many things, but you don't
give me money; and I don't like the Agha, he doesn't give
me half enough. I'm going back to-morrow, and then
you'll be robbed of all your things, and you'll wish you
had given them to me."

When I do anything, such as opening a whitlow,
which he thinks clever, he exclaims, " May God forgive
your sins !" This, and " May God forgive the sins of
your father and mother !" are ejaculations of gratitude or
surprise. One day when I had been attending to sick
people for four hours, I asked him which was the more
" meritorious" act, attending to the sick or going on
pilgrimage ? He replied, " For a Kafir no act is good,"
but soon added, " Of a truth God doesn't think as we do, I
don't know."