The Shah then made haste to return to Tehran, and on the way there occurred an incident which shows that he was not unworthy of the exalted post which he had been called on to fill. In the vast desert between Bastam and Shahrood, comprising a distance of nearly sixty miles, the different divisions of the royal army were obliged to march in small parties, on account of the scarcity of water. On arriving at his encampment of the day, the king found to his great distress that the ladies of his harem, who had preceded him, had lost their way. Tired as he was after his day's journey under the Persian sun, the monarch, taking with him five thousand horsemen, set out to search for them in the desert. But his search was unavailing, and the hot sun caused so much distress amongst his troops, that the soldiers were forced to assuage their thirst by drinking the last of the water which they had brought with them in their bottles. They continued their march, and their sufferings increased. One small piece of ice only remained, which was reserved to cool the lips of the Shah; but the sovereign showed himself on this occasion to be capable of heroic self-denial. Like the Macedonian conqueror, in the desert of Gedrosia, he declined to drink whilst his warriors were still parched with thirst. With his dagger he broke the little lump of ice into fragments, and with his own hand he placed them one by one in the mouth and on the temples of a youthful chief who had fainted, and who, by these means, was sufficiently revived to be able to continue the ride with his comrades towards the encampment; where they had the satisfaction of finding that the ladies of the harem had already arrived.
