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CHAPTER VII.

BAZAARS.

Uncle Oliver. I always used to think, that to know a people well, we should go to their markets, and observe the people who buy and sell, and the things that are bought and sold. This is true every where, even in England; and when I was younger, I used to like to go, on Saturday evenings, into the markets and streets where common shops abound, to observe the proceedings of the people in the disposal of their weekly earnings. But the knowledge we may gain in this way in England, is not comparable to that which we obtain in the bazaars of the East.

Henry. Bazaars?

U. O. Bazaars are the markets of the East, and form almost the only part of the town where there seems any thing like activity and life. After traversing streets,—such streets as I formerly described to you, in which there are so few people, that you may suppose the town

has been nearly forsaken by its inhabitants, you come to the bazaar, and find it swarming with people; for almost every person has occasion to go there at some time of the day or other, either to buy, to sell, to lounge about, to hear the news, to talk with the shop-keepers, or to see friends. I almost despair of giving you a good notion of a Persian bazaar, for there is nothing in England to which I can compare it.

H. Not to our markets?

U. O. No: for our markets only show part of that which is seen in the bazaars of Persia. We there see, all in one place, the doings and dealings which are only seen dispersedly in our own towns; and then all that we do see is managed and conducted in a way quite different from ours.

Frank. But are these bazaars built like our markets?

O. U. There is very little resemblance: when a person views a Persian town from a distance, he observes the tops of some low domes, stretching along in one or more lines, like so many mole-hills. If he is a stranger, he will be puzzled to know what to think of them; but if he knows the country, he will be aware that these

domes mark out the bazaar, and he can easily judge of its importance, by observing the extent to which the domes run.

H. Then these stalls are covered with domes?

U. O. Not only the stalls, but also the way that goes between the opposite rows of stalls. A bazaar, in fact, consists of a number of streets or lanes, with nothing but shops on each side; and these streets, as well as the shops, are vaulted all over. The only light in the bazaars is from holes in the top of each dome. These bazaars are sometimes well built, in the great cities, with rather wide passages, and a lofty roof, with domes of fine brick-work. But often the bazaars consist of narrow, uneven, and gloomy lanes, with low roofs, composed of domes of uneven materials and appearance, or perhaps without any domes, being covered only with branches of trees, to keep out the

sun.

F. Then they are always covered in some way or other?

U. O. Yes; in order to protect the goods and shop-keepers from the sun and rain, as the shops themselves are very much exposed, being