regular infantry. The cavalry is nearly all irregular, and is in general only called on for local service under the chiefs of the particular district where it is raised. The Shah's body-guard consists of two regiments of regular cavalry, of about 800 men each. One of these bodies of horsemen are called gholams, or slaves, of the Shah, and are considered to hold a very honourable station in society. There has been lately raised another small troop of body-guards known by their accoutrements of silver. The irregular cavalry are variously habited, according to the custom of the country whence they are drawn. One small troop in Kurdistan is clad in mail and complete armour. There are about 5,000 artillerymen in the Persian army, and this branch of the service is by no means badly organized. It is their artillery that gives to the Persians the advantage in their contests with the Turkoman tribes.
The Persian soldiers afford excellent material for an army, but the military system of the country is such as to neutralize the good qualities of the private sentinels. Persian soldiers are naturally and individually sufficiently brave. They are remarkably hardy, patient, and enduring. They require scarcely any baggage, and can march thirty miles a day for many successive days, while living on nothing but bread and onions. They patiently endure almost any treatment, however hard. Their pay is always kept in arrears, generally for two or three years. When it is issued the men do not receive it in full. The lieutenant-colonel of a regiment exacts a certain contribution from the captains, who in turn demand a sum for themselves from the soldiers, and so on. Enlistment is compulsory, each district and each tribe being obliged to furnish its
