_ 246 _ tions for the sick. They are great liars and cheats, and in general they do not have, nor employ any oath except that of Shah Tahmasp, that is to say: By the head of Shah Tahmasp. On this they swear many lies. They have few slaves and employ the natives. All the time that this journey lasted, from the moment that that wind, the Xamal, left us, until we arrived here in Kashan, we always had great heat by day, although a little milder than at the beginning, and great cold by night. This greatly amazed me, because this country is so like our own in every way, but in this so different. For this reason, I shall advise anyone who wishes to undertake this journey that he should not go by this route, because of the immense hardships which occur along it, the illnesses, and also the inclemency of the weather, also because of slowness, the ill nature of the camel drivers and the danger of the thieves with which the whole is peopled. It did not seem too much when we were told we could cover the hundred and twenty or hundred and thirty leagues in twenty to twenty-five days, but we took two and a half months. The caravans of camels never cover it in less. It is preferable to go through Basra, because from there one goes to Baghdad in boats up the River Tigris in thirty
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