text: " But all the wonders of the pictorial art "which the Europeans have brought to unheard of perfection " fade before the amazement of the khan on being informed that it was possible for him to have a transcript of his countenance taken without the use of pencil or brush by the mere agency of the sun's rays; and even after having verified the truth of this apparently incredible statement by actual experiment in his own person he still seems to have entertained considerable misgivings as to the legitimacy of the process--"How it was effected was indeed incomprehensible! Here is an art which if it be not magic it is difficult to conceive what else it can be!" The spring was now advancing; "and one day " says the Khan "not being Sunday I was surprised to observe all the shops shut and the courts of justice as well as the merchants' and public offices all closed