has hardly one river that can properly be termed navigable, though some of them are several hundred miles in length, and of great width and volume of water; among those of sufficient importance to deserve mention is the Karma which rises in the mountains to the s. of Ispahan, and falls into the Shat-el•Arab near Moham merah. The rivers which. flow to the southward receive, in the hitter part of their course. few tributaries, and fertilize only a narrow strip of land on each side of them, except when their waters are applied, by means of canals or other works, to the artificial irriga tion of the soil. This mode of increasing and extending the productive powers of the country was much employed in ancient times; but the constant change of masters, and the never-ending disturbances under which Persia has so long suffered, led to the neg lect of the practice, and most of these monuments of the architectural skill and laborious industry of the ancient Persians are now ruimzus.
as a natural consequence of the nature and situation of its surface, abounds with saline lakes, and there are nearly thirty of them having no visible outlets. The chief lake is lake (q.v.), iu Azerbijan. Lake Bakhtegan, in the e. of Fars, the receptacle for the drainage of the northern half of that province, is about GO English M. in length by 9 in breadth. Lake Shiraz (q.v.) is much smaller. Part cf lake Zirreh is now included in the frontier of Persia, but it may still be considered as chiefly belong ing to Afghanistan.
Climate and climate is necessarily very varied. What the younger Cyrus is reported to have said to Xenophon regarding the climate, "that people perish Stith cold at the one extremity, while they are suffocated with heat at the other," is literally true. Persia may be considered to posseAs three climates—that of the southern I)usptistau, of the elevated plateau, and of the Caspian provinces. In the Dushtistan, the autumnal heats are excessive, those of summer more tolerable, while in winter and spring the climate is delightful. On the plateau, the climate of Fars is temperate. About Ispahan, the winters and summers are equally mild, and the regularity of the seasons appears remarkable to a stranger. To the n. and n.w. of this, the winters are severe. The desert region of the center and c. and the country on its border, endure most oppressive heat during the summer, and piercing cold in winter. The Caspian provinces, from their general depression below the sea level, are exposed to a degree of heat in summer almost equal to that of the West Indies, and their winters arc mild. Rains, however, are frequent and heavy, and many tracts of low country are marshy and extremely unhealthy. Except in the Caspian provinces, the atmosphere of Persia is remarkable above that of all other countries for its dryness and purity.
The cultivated portions of Persia, whensupplied with moisture, are very fertile, pro ducing an immense variety of crops. Tile Chief cultivated products are wheat (the best in the world), barley, and other cereals, cotton (of which, according to the statement of the Persian ambassador at London in 1801, enough could be grown in the southern provinces to supply the manufactories of western Europe), sugar, rice, and tohacco. The vine flourishes in several provinces, and the wines of Shiraz are celebrated in eastern poetry. Mulberries are also largely cultivated, and silk is one of the most important products of the kingdom.
The forests of the Elburz abound with wild animals, as wolves, tigers. jackals, boars,
buffaloes, foxes, and the Caspian cat. Lions and leopards also abound in Mazanderan. Among domestic animals, the horse and-camel hold the first place. The horses have always been celebrated as the finest in the cast. They are larger and more handsome, but less fleet than the Arabian horses. The Caspian rivers abound with fish, especially sturgeon, great quantities of which are cured and exported to Russia. The mineral products of Persia are insignificant, with the sole exception of salt. Iron is abundant in Azerbijan, but is little worked; copper occurs in considerable quantity in the mountains of Mazanderan and Kerman; and lead, antimony, sulphur, and naphtha also abound. Dr. Fulze, of the imperial Austrian mining school, who had been sent to Persia by baron Reuter to explore the mineral wealth of the country, reported, in Jan., 1874, the dis covery of an important coal-field.
InitaZdants.—The settled population are chiefly Tajiks, the descendants of the ancient Persian nice, with an intermixture of foreign blood. To this class below, the tiaTieulturists, merchants, artisans. etc. The Tajiks or 31ohammedans of the Shiite sect, with the exception of the remaining Parsecs onGuebers (q.v.), numbering 703 in 1868,, who are found in Kerman and Pars, and still retain their purity of race and religions faith. The Tajiks have been spoken of as timid, cunning, aml servile, but in the cities of Turkistan recently conquered by Russia, they make excellent subjects, ready and apt to adopt and appreciate the knowledge and habits of Europe. In the work quoted below, Vambery speaks of their industry, and their capacity for and love of culture. lie says, that which the Japanese are in the e. the 'l'njiks may become in the w. of Asia; and it is a settled matter, that they will form the medium for the intro duction of the civilization of the west into the interior of Asia. The nomad or pastoral tribes, or eylats (cyl, a clan), often spelt illipts, arc of four distinct races—Tnrkomans, Kurds, Lfturs, anti. Arabs. Their organization is very similar to that which formerly subsisted among the Highland clans of Scotland, with the exception that the former are nomad, while the latter inhabited a fixed locality. Each tribe is ruled by its hereditary chief (ujak), and under him by the heads of the cadet branches of his family. Of the four nomad races, the Turkomau is the most numerous, and forms at the present day the ruling race in Persia. The Kurds are few in number, the greater part of their country and race being under the sway of Turkey. The Arabs are also few in number, And at the present day can hardly be distinguished from the Persians, having adopted both their manners and language. The Ulurs are of nearly pure Persian blood. The nomad races, especially the Turkomans, profess the Sunni creed; they are distinguished front Tajiks by their courage, manliness, and independence of character; but they are inveterate robbers, and since their entrance into the country in the 10th c., it has been continually distracted by civil wars and revolutions. There is a small population of native Christians—the Nestorians of Urinal] and Telmais. Including those who have joined the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, their whole number does not exceed 25,000. They are agriculturists, and suffer great wrong and oppression frem the chiefs who own the villages in which they live. "The Jews number :5,000.