It was night when I arrived at the post-house, and though anxious to go on, I had no option but to remain there till the horses should come back from the next stage.  On their return, after three hours’ rest and a feed of barley, six took my carriage and waggon to the next post-house, sixteen miles, where again I found an empty stable, the horses which had gone with the party ahead of me not having come back.  On inquiring judiciously from the post-house master if the horses which had brought me from the last stage were able to do another, I was told that with an hour’s rest and an extra feed they would be ready to go on.  And they travelled the second stage well, showing no signs of distress.  These horses had done sixteen miles in draught, and sixteen miles in cantering back to their stable during the evening and night; then thirty-two miles in draught with me in the morning, and after a short rest were to return the same distance to their own stable, all in double-quick time.

I had the privilege of again seeing what I consider one of the most interesting sights in Persia, the stables of his Majesty the Shah.  They contain the very best blood in Asia, and comprise the pick of the finest horses in Arabia, Persia, Kurdistan, Karadagh, Khorasan, and the Turkoman country, also the choicest home-breds from the horse-farms belonging to the late Shah and his sons, the present Shah and the Zil-es-Sultan, all of them great horse fanciers and breeders.  The late Shah had three breeding establishments:  one in the vicinity of Tehran, another near Hamadan, and the third at Maragha, in Azerbaijan, where the pasture is good.  In each of these there are said to be about one thousand mares and foals.  There is no part of the establishment of a monarch of Persia to which more attention is paid than his horses.  They are always placed under the care of an officer of high rank, who is styled Mir Akhor.

The Mir Akhor (Master of the Horse), Mohamed Hussein Mirza, a Prince of royal blood, shows by his intimate knowledge of the history of each horse, and the good condition of all and everything under his care, that he loves his charge well.  We were first shown the racing-stud, called mal-i-shart (race-horses), thirteen in number, all in hard condition (the Persian expression is, ’as hard as marble’), and showing good bone and much muscle.  They were Arabs, but not all imported from Arabia, some being bred from pure stock in the late Shah’s establishments.  The royal races are held at Doshan Tepe, six miles from Tehran, where there is a soft sand-soil course, said to be a two-mile one, but the correct measurement is one and a half miles.  The Persians breed and train for long-distance speed and endurance, and the races at Doshan Tepe are from three to nine miles.  The Prince pointed out the last winner of the nine-mile race, saying that he ran it in twenty-five minutes.  This horse was a well-shaped, warm gray Arab, with black points.  He, with a darker gray and a chestnut,