THE title of this volume, "ARABISTAN," signifies in Persian, "The Country of the Arabs." Egypt, Arabia, and Persia, are the scene of the "Thousand and One Stories," in many of which Haroun-al-Raschid, the Caliph of Bagdad, is the hero.
My motive in visiting these countries was not merely the pursuit of pleasure, but a desire to gratify a long-cherished wish, I might almost say a passion, to see, at least once in my lifetime, the strange and curious nations of the Orient, which have always had for me a strange fascination.
The excuse of ordinary travelers who write books, was not mine. I was not ordered abroad "by the doctors," but started in perfect health, which I retained through all the vicissitudes of scene and climate, and I may add that I met with no serious mishap to mar the pleasure of the journey.
In attempting to describe the "Land of the Arabian Nights," as it appears to-day, I have confined myself, in a great measure, to what passed under my own observation, and have endeavored to give a faithful picture of such adventures as would naturally befall a traveler; making no attempt at fine writing or high-flown description.
As a book of scientific exploration this volume makes no pretentions. The works of Rawlinson, Layard, and more recently of George Smith, have opened a new page to the student of