160 THE GREAT DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD.
in affluence, and enjoy a repose to which men who can see are,
in this country, perfect strangers. If there is a deficiency of
revenue, or any real or alleged cause for which another governor would
be removed, beaten, or put to death, the king says, " Never mind ; it
is only poor blind Riza Kuli; let him alone." So you observe Elchi,
that I have no reason to complain, being in fact better defended from
misfortune by the loss of my two eyes than I could by the possession of
twenty of the clearest in Persia," and he laughed again at this second
joke."
