Iron, lead, copper, antimony, rock-salt, alum, bitumen, and naphtha are mentioned amoug the mineral productions of Persia.
Inhabitants.—The population of Persia consists of a great number of nations, who speak different languages; but all of them belong to the Caucasian race. It is said that one-fourth of the population eousists of nomadic tribes. That portion of the population which has fixed abodes consists chiefly of Persians, Parsees, Armenians, Arabs. The Persians, who are distinguished for the politeness of their manners, coruitituto the bulk of the population, and are merchants, agrieul turiets, and manufacturers. The number of the Parseee is email; and they appear to be uumerous only in the oases of Yezd. Their language differs considerably from that of the Persians; they adhere to the religion of Zoroaster, as it is coutaiued in the Zen(' Avesta, and adore fire a the symbol of the divinity. They occupy themselves mostly with agriculture and the raising of fruits. The Armenians live in all the great towns, where they aro merchants : they also cultivate the ground, and are particularly numerous in the western districts of the table-land of Azerbijan, where they exclusively occupy whole villages. Arabians form the bulk of the population in Duehtistan or Gurmsir, where they gain their livelihood as fishermen, seamen, planters of date-treee, and merchants. In the western part of the country about Lake Urumiyeh and the valleys of the Zagros there are some Nestorian Christians, and also some Catholics.
The wandering tribes of Persia are comprehended nuder the general term Iliyata, and are found in every part of Persia; but many of them have become inhabitants of cities and villages. A consider able number of them live all the year round in tents, in the winter keeping to the plains, and in summer seeking the pasture of the mountains. As is the case with all nomads, their wealth consists in cattle. They breed camels and horses for sale, and their sheep yield milk, which is made into liquid batter, and sold throughout the country. in the summer they ascend to high mountains, where they find abundant pasture, and in the winter they keep to tracts which enjoy a warmer climate. They pay a tax to government., which is col lected by their own chiefs; and are obliged to furnish a certain number of soldiers to serve on foot and on horseback, for which service however the individuals are paid. Some of these tribes have the almost
exclusive possession of large tracts of country. The most numerous of the nomads of l'ersia are the Lure, who inhabit that portion of the mountains of Kurdistan which lies south of 34° N. let, and compre hends the province of Luristan, together with the mountainous part of Khuzistan. A small number of the Lure and Bakhtiysris have adopted a settled life, and their country contains towns and villages inhabited by persons who do not belong to these tribes. The language of the Lure differs slightly from that of the Kurds. The mountains and plains to the west and south of Lake Urumiyeh are in possession chiefly of Kurdish clans, among whom many have adopted a settled or rather a half agricultural half nomandic life. The Kurds are also in possession of a large tract of the mountain region of Khorasan, on the northern border of the table-land of Iran. The character and habits of there people resemble the Kurds of Turkey and Armenia. .A esteem.] To the south-east of the Kurds of Khorasan, between the towns of Muetuel and Herat, them is a tribe of Arabs, which was transported to this country from Nejd by Shah Ismael, for the same purpose as the Kurds, namely, for the protection of the frontier. These Arabs retain their pastoral habits, and are almost all dwellers in the field. They are of the Sunni sect, and partly preserve their language, though they have changed their national costume.
Besides these tribes, which almost exclusively occupy large tracts of country, there are others mostly of Turkoman origin, which are dis persed over other parts, but constitute only a small portion of the population. Among them are the Lek, or Lek, who are dispersed throughout the country, bnt their principal seats are about Corwin, and in the provinces of Fare and Mazanderan; the Kajar, to which the present sovereign family belong+ ; the Afghans (from which tribe the famous Nadir Shah sprung), dispersed through Irsk-Ajemi and Khora san ; the Shekagi and the Shah-seven, whose principal seats are in Azerbijan. The two but mentioned tribes live mostly in tents : the others mostly live In towns. The Lek are by some said to be Kurds.