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My first literary effort is the outcome of many years of travel and study, not only in Persia itself, where some eight years have been spent, but also in adjacent countries, India, Russia, and Turkey having alt been visited more than once.I can claim, without fear of contradiction, that in the present generation no Englishman, and indeed no European, has travelled more extensively in Ea-stern and Southern Persia than myself, while my official position has given me exceptional opportunities, such as are rarely if ever enjoyed by unofficial travellers, of meeting the better classes of natives, and thereby of obtaining accurate information.I have taken the deepest interest in the geography and history of this little known country, and have made a special study of the famous journeys of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo. Commercial questions, including the opening up of trade routes, have also been fully dealt with, from every point of view.
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