absence, for we were lodged in his house, which is the only respectable abode in the place; and so pleasant was it after our mountain experiences, with its shady garden and freedom from a staring crowd, that we elected to stay there two days to rest. Sainkallà boasts of a little bazaar where we were able to obtain many things much needed; but it is at best a desolate spot, having been entirely ruined during the invasion of the Kourds a few years ago under the much-dreaded Sheikh Albi-Dowleh: during the invasion irreparable harm was done to the homes of the Afshahs, who retired to the mountains for safety, and on their return found their homes destroyed and their fields laid waste. From its position Sainkallà is important, commanding as it does the entrance into Eastern Kourdistan by way of the sources of the Checkatoo, and protecting the rich plain to the south of Lake Urumia from the hostile attacks of the Kourdish tribes.

A few miles after leaving Sainkallà we bade farewell to the men Haidar Khan had sent to protect us, and entered the territories of another potentate-" a most important man," our Khan continually impressed upon us; and, sure enough, as we turned a corner of the road we saw twenty men drawn up, ten on either side of our path. I must own that when I first saw them I got a shock, thinking that we had fallen into the hands of thieves, but our Khan instantly reassured us "they are the escort sent by Norooz Khan to conduct us safely through his territory."

We were now in the hands of an interesting little tribe, and under the protection of an interesting man, Norooz Khan, chief of the Chehar-Dowleh tribe. I always think those hard Eastern names look better translated, so we will proceed to speak of Count Newyear, chief of the "four-governments" tribe. He has quite a palace at his capital, Mahmoud Jute, about twelve miles from Sainkallà, and here he lives in almost regal state. Though small in number, the "fourgovernments" tribe has a great reputation for bravery; originally they came from South Persia, and were placed in the neighbourhood of the town of Kasvin by Fatt-i-Ali-Shah, the grandfather of the present sovereign. His son, when he came to the throne again, transplanted them to the banks of the Checkatoo, gave them tracts of fertile territory, and here they have flourished exceedingly.

Count Newyear and his tribe were the only people in this district who succeeded in keeping the invading Kourds at bay, consequently the castle and village of Mahmoud Jute is the only one we passed through which does not bear evidence of the ravages of war. Here he lives perpetually, and may be said to be almost an independent sovereign, for, though he wears the uniform of a Persian general, and

talks of his regiment in Mezanderan, he refuses to pay any taxes, will not go to Teheran when told to, and exercises regal authority over his small realm.

The Count is a thick-set, stout man, with thick lips, and hair with a tendency to curl, pointing to the Arabian origin of his tribe, and suggesting that, at no very remote period, he numbered a negro amongst his ancestors. His reception of us was most gracious; officials lined our path, and at the entrance-gate stood his majesty, stick in hand, and apologised for not coming to meet us lower down, stating that an attack of gout had much curtailed his locomotive powers. From his reception room, fitted with long carpets and divans, we enjoyed an extensive view over the valley of the Checkatoo, richly cultivated country, and the distant Kourdish mountains from which we had just come. Before giving us our repast, we were taken round his palace, which covers two acres or more with its buildings and gardens. Around the whole runs a thick mud wall with fourteen bastions, on the top of each of which storks had built their nests, as also they had done on every available point of vantage, so that the place seemed alive with these sacred birds-Hadgi laclacs, as the Persians call them, from their supposed migration to Mecca every winter--and their presence is a sure sign of peace and prosperity. Around the fortress is the village, with many prosperous houses, a little bazaar, and those horrid underground houses which swarm so with vermin.

Count Newyear told us much about his tribe; he owns, he said, 2,000 houses, and has about 5,000 male dependents; his territory stretches from Sainkallà to the town of Mianduwab ; his subjects are chiefly sedentary now, and are engaged in cultivating the fertile vale of the Checkatoo, though there are still among them certain families who adhere to the nomad life, dwelling in the village during the winter, and going up to the yaëla, or mountain pasturages, during the summer months. He told us, too, that there is a tradition in their tribe of having once conquered four other tribes, and hence they adopted the name of the "four governments." Be this as it may, there is no doubt of the Arabian origin of this people, from their general cast of countenance and physique.

Our repast was excellent, surpassing in quality and quantity that provided for us by the Afshah chief. A table was brought in for our benefit, and we were allowed to use our own knives and spoons. Our Khan, however, and Newyear sat below us on the floor and made us marvel at the dexterity with which they introduced into their mouths such difficult material as poached eggs and rice, with the assistance only of their fingers. My wife paid a visit to the ladies,

and was much struck with the elegant decorations of the harem rooms; and after a cordial farewell we set out on our way once more along the banks of the Checkatoo.

Henceforth all was cultivation-we had passed into a different sphere altogether; occasionally we went by an underground village which the nomads had now deserted for the upper levels, and occasionally, too, we sighted a train of wayfarers bound for the mountains, but to all intents and purposes we had left the nomads behind us, and with them the delicious free air of the Median mountains. At the next village we actually saw a wheeled vehicle, that is to say, a cart consisting of a triangular wooden plateau fifteen feet long, at the apex of which buffaloes were fastened, and the whole supported by an axle joining two wheels without spokes-plain round pieces of wood.

Buffaloes here are in constant use; they revel in the muddy waters of the Checkatoo, and seem blissfully happy when their backs are scratched by the naked urchins, who attend them to their bath. With the advent of carts and buffaloes we felt that we had seen the last of our nomad friends, and the Mountains of Media were in the mist behind us.

J. THEODORE BENT.

W

THE BARBER SURGEONS OF

LONDON.

HEN Mr. Roderick Random, of famous memory, came to London to seek his fortune as surgeon's mate on board one of the King's ships, he was obliged to present himself at the hall of the Barber Surgeons Company in order that his qualifications might be ascertained. Having with some difficulty raised a half-guinea to pay the fees, he attended with a quaking heart and found himself in a crowd of young fellows who had come on a similar errand. Presently his name was called by the beadle, in a voice that made him tremble as much as if it had been the sound of the last trumpet; he was conducted into a large room and confronted by about a dozen grim-faced men sitting at a long table, one of whom imperiously bade him come forward, asked him where he was born, how old he was, where he had been apprenticed, and for how long he had served; and on learning he had only been apprenticed three years, his examiner told him it was a great presumption on his part to pretend to sufficient skill after so short a service, and that his friends would have done better to have made him a weaver, or a shoemaker. This statement did not tend to encourage him, but a plump gentleman interposed, telling him not to be afraid, and, bidding him take time to recollect himself, asked him touching the operation of the trepan, which he described in a satisfactory manner. Then a facetious gentleman inquired what he would do in an action at sea if a man was brought to him with his head shot off? He replied that such a case had never come under his observation, nor did he remember to have seen any cure proposed for it in any of the systems of surgery he had perused, which caused the grim-faced gentlemen to smile. After one or two more questions of the like character, and a violent quarrel between two of the examiners in which all the others took sides, he was finally approved, and received his certificate on payment of five shillings. The beadles then exacted three shillings and sixpence, and an old woman who swept the hall one shilling, so that the precious half-guinea was almost exhausted,

In this incident in his hero's adventures Smollett has probably drawn upon his own experiences, and has thrown some light upon the examination of candidates for certificates in surgery in the days when George II. was king. Quite recently the "Annals of the Barber Surgeons of London" have been given to the world by Mr. Sidney Young, one of the Court of Assistants of that ancient and worshipful company. Acting upon the maxim "Spartam nactus es, hanc orna," Mr. Young has spent his leisure time for several years in examining, copying, and translating the records of his company, and has unearthed a vast amount of information bearing upon the manners and customs of our forefathers from the beginning of the fourteenth century. His book has been published by subscription ; and though it is, we believe, to be obtained from the printers, it is hardly likely to get into the circulating libraries, or to fall into the hands of the general reader. But it would be a great pity if the story Mr. Young has told were not more widely known, and we propose, therefore, to place before our readers some of the more important facts he has brought to the light of day.

Barbers have existed from very early times, and have obtained due honour in the works of Cervantes, Fielding, and other writers. It is not quite clear when they began to add the art of surgery to the trade of haircutting and shaving; but it seems probable that after the Council of Tours in 1163 forbade the clergy, who were the physicians of the Middle Ages, to practise as surgeons, the barbers undertook the duties relinquished by the clerks, and then established the connection between hair-cutting and surgery, which continued in this country down to the middle of the last century. We cannot trace the history of the earlier stages of the alliance, but we know that before the beginning of the fourteenth century there was a Guild of Barbers in London practising bleeding, tooth-drawing, and cauterisation. the year 1308 Richard the Barber was chosen by his brethren, and admitted by the mayor and aldermen, to control the trade. duly sworn to make a monthly scrutiny, and if he found any barber acting in an unseemly manner, or causing a scandal, he was empowered to distrain upon the offender, and to carry the distress into the chamber of the city. The barbers were not incorporated, but existed as a Guild, to the honour of God and all His saints, and to stir up the commons of the people to do well. There were similar guilds or fraternities at Lincoln and Norwich; the former in honour of our Lord, the Virgin, and St. John the Evangelist, and the latter in the worship of God and His Mother, and St. John the Baptist. All three made returns in 1388 to writs of Richard II.,

VOL. CCLXX. NO 1922.

He was

Ꮮ