Page:Kennedy, Robert John - A Journey in Khorassan (1890).djvu/81

 rather that writing, on long rolls, fresh copies of the sacred text, appeared the only representatives or survivers of the great legal and ecclesiastical class, once so famous for its religious learning, its fanaticism, and the political power it was believed to wield.'

We found the Hôtel de Varsovie, where we secured several rooms, tolerably clean and comfortable, and furnished with chairs, carpets, curtains, &c., all of which appeared wonderfully luxurious to travellers accustomed to Persian chapar khanehs. The proprietor was a fat, heavy Russian, with a buxom, good-natured wife, and amongst the servants we found a youth who spoke Persian, and who proved very useful to us as an interpreter. In the afternoon I called upon General Bibikoff, who commands the garrison in Samarcand, and to whom I had brought a letter of introduction. He received me very civilly in his small, one-storeyed house, and expressed regret that Madame Bibikoff, following the custom of all Russian ladies, would be unable to receive any visitors during the Holy Week, as she was busily engaged with her 'devotions.' In the course of conversation, General Bibikoff