ABSTRACT
After his separation from Mitford Layard attempted to make his way into the mountains of Luristan and Khuzistan, but he had to give up because of renewed attacks of malaria and the hostility of the local people. So he went east to the city of Isfahan in order to present himself to the local governor, a Georgian eunuch who came to play a decisive role in Layard's life during the coming months. Characteristically travellers of this period fill their accounts with descriptions of the extreme cruelty and brutality which characterised the Persian regime, even compared to the rulers of Ottoman Turkey, who were not exactly delicate when it came to the exercise of power. This governor in Isfahan was notorious and feared for his unique talents. His latest feat just before Layard's arrival had been the construction of a tower of 300 prisoners who were laid on top of each other like bricks with mortar; the tower stood for weeks after the poor creatures had suffered horrible deaths. Another of his prisoners had first had his teeth drawn in order for them to be used as buckshot to shoot him with.
