CHAP. XIV.
TEHERAN TO TABRIZ.

The 7th of May 1809, which (as being the festival of Omar-Coushen, or the killing of Omar) was considered a very lucky day, was at length fixed for our departure. Mirza Abul Hassan (the Persian Envoy Extraordinary) and I sent on our baggage in the morning to Imaum Reza, about three miles from the city, and followed ourselves at five o’clock in the evening. I was accompanied by my best of friends, Sir Harford Jones and the rest of his suite, and we had our parting dinner in a tent which he had pitched there for the purpose.

The spot at which we stopped was the tomb of a son of Imaum Reza, frequented as a place of devotion. It is a square building, covered with a cupola, and enclosed in a square by a wall; beyond which, in a row on each side, are some young trees and shrubs and flowers. The country all around was in a high state of verdure. I went to the top of the gate of the tomb, from which I took the following bearings: Teheran N. 70 E.; Demawend N. 50 E.; extremity of the Albores (at the foot of which leads the road to Casvin) N. 70 W.; Rey S. 45 E.

8th. After having conversed with Sir Harford on matters of business, I slept till three in the morning, and then set off. Sir Harford accompanied us for some time, but quitted us at half an hour after sun-rise.

The plain of Teheran is covered with villages: I could count twenty to the right and to the left. The road followed, as far as Karatch, the bearing of N. 70 W. which I had taken on the preceding day. At about ten miles from the Imaum Reza, we came to a dike cut from the river at Karatch, from which our water-carriers were used to bring drinking-water for our party at Teheran. At about six miles from Imaum Reza is a village called Geldisi, distant three miles on the left: another at the foot of the Albores called Kend; further on the left is Ali-shah-abad, a larger place, with many trees around; then Sherar; then high on the hills to the right a pretty village called Boragoun. As we approached we saw the bed of the river called Aub Karatch, running about S. W. which I am told takes its source in the Albores, and runs towards Kinar-à-Gird. The bed is large, but it was then only partially filled. We crossed at the winding of the road over a brick bridge of two arches of different sizes: near it are some ruins of other brick buildings, apparently of the same age. In this spot is an inlet of the mountains, which seems to form a pretty plain, and in which I remarked some hamlets.

The tomb of the son of Imaum Hassan renders Karatch a pleasing object at a distance. The dome is shaded by the rich foliage of two fine ehenar trees, and a stream cut from the river runs near the walls. The Persian Envoy informed me that this village, and those on the plain, belong to his brother-in-law the Ameen-ed-Doulah, and were formerly the property of his uncle the late Prime Minister. The Mirza himself took up his lodgings in the tomb; my Mehmandar put us in the house of a peasant, which was clean though small; the people here burn cakes of cow-dung for their common fuel. In a little enclosure behind the house was a vine. The sun-set N. 70 W.

9th. We departed from Karatch at one o’clock in the morning, and, as well as I could ascertain our bearing by the stars, continued our route in the direction of the preceding day. Two fursungs from Karatch, in a plain of immense extent, is Kemelabad. We were told that the road to our stage through the plain was swampy; we therefore chose another to the right, which (after a ride of four hours and a half, and a distance perhaps of sixteen miles) brought us, about sun-rise, to a delightful village called Koran.

On the breaking of the morning we had discovered an immense plain, so thickly strewed with villages, that no one could repeat to me all their names. The whole, in number about one hundred, compose the bolouk or district of Souj-bolouk, and are mostly under the Ameen-ed-Doulah.

At Koran we saw the Hakim or Governor, as he was setting out on an expedition to collect the tribute from the peasantry. The village and the surrounding territory are delightfully watered by a river, which, issuing from between an Eastern and a Western chain of mountains, flows through a very steep channel, (in a N. and S. direction, after meandering some time from E. to W.) A great number of dikes, are cut from it, and extend the fertility beyond the course of the river, through the whole plain; which, particularly near the villages, is admirably cultivated.

From Koran we returned to the line, and met the road at a point where stood a caravanserai and a tomb, both in ruins, and a clump of trees. We were four hours in reaching Gauzir-seng, our Menzil, a total distance from Karatch of twenty-eight miles.

In the plain through which we passed, we saw at a distance about five tumuli. They are such as are seen on the plains of Troy, and here also are called Tapé. We may account for them by the battles between the Persians and Turks, who buried their dead under similar mounds. There are numbers all over the plain: the people of the country say, that borges or towers were built on these mounds; and our host at Gauzir-seng told us that a large tapé called Murad-tapé, or the Hill of Charity near the village, received its name from a man who had made it his residence. His story (if it be worth telling) continued however, that a stranger, who had asked charity in vain even on this hill, found at the door the master’s horse, and rode off with it, exclaiming, “this is your charity.”

At Gauzir-seng, we were lodged in one of the towers that flank the walls of the village. It was open on all sides by windows; we could thus enjoy the Westerly breeze, which allayed the great heat of the day. We were very well treated by the Ket Khoda of the village, who seemed to me a well-bred and well-meaning man. We had good moss, (curdled milk, the same as the yaourt, in Turkey) and a sort of drink made of moss and water, of which the common people all drink very plentifully at this season.

10th. We left Gauzir-seng at midnight, and came to Kish-lauk, bearing West of our last station, on a distance of about fifteen miles.

The Prince of Aderbigian has a pleasure-house here, which is extolled by Persians as a wonder and a paradise. I could discover the extent of the grounds, and the house, which is built on one of the artificial tapés or mounds.

A most beautiful morning opened the day to us; the twilight commenced at four o’clock, and the sun rose at five. The mountains, still bearing East and West, declined in their height to the Westward, terminating towards the plain by small hills. After passing Kish-lauk we came on a common, on which large herds of cattle were feeding. To the left of the road were many villages spread all over a plain, the extent of which was concealed by a haze: the whole district is divided into many bolouks, and is under the jurisdiction of Casvin. The principal villages on the left are Hossein-abad, Hassan-abad, Shahinerlou, Shahin-tape. Some on the right, are Angouri mahalé, and compose part of a bolouk called Kou-payéh, belonging to Mirza Reza Kouli, who was Embassador to France, and signed the treaty of Finkenstein.

At about seven miles from Casvin, we turned from the road at a small mud-walled village, to eat something ourselves, and to give our horses some grass. On entering a room, the master talked Turkish to me, and said that he had seen me before at Constantinople. In fact I recognised him as one of those whom I had seen at Constantinople, with the Persian Embassy to France. He talked to me with much pleasure of Frangistoon or Europe: and this man, who boasts of having sat in the same room, and of having been taken by the hand by Buonaparte himself, now lives in misery and solitude in an unknown village. It is not uninteresting to know the extreme attention which Buonaparte paid to his Persian guests. He lodged the Embassador and his suite in an house adjacent to his own at Finkenstein, and every day used to walk in amongst them, take them by the hand, and use every little art to conciliate their affections.

We reached Casvin at half past twelve. The day was hot and suffocating, and there was an appearance of storm in the Westward. For about two miles before we entered the gates, we passed by fields and gardens, mostly producing vines, which, as I am told, yield the best grape in Persia. This place labours under great inconvenience from the want of water; indeed, through the whole extent of the immense plain, that we traversed during the day, there was not one natural stream; but many kanauts were making, and wherever there is irrigation, there is fertility, and the cultivation is rich. Upon the whole therefore, our route from Teheran displayed a country of much more promising appearance, than (if we had trusted only to the experience of our own journey from Bushire to the capital) we might have expected in Persia. The brother of the Minister of Sheik Ali Khan, one of the King’s sons, and Governor of the city, came out to meet us as an istakball, and accompanied us to an house, which had been once a good one, but was then abandoned and in ruins. Our Mehmandar had great difficulty to procure the refreshment that was due to us; but when at length it arrived, there was a supply of cooks, pots, and provisions, which would have satisfied an army. Casvin is almost one mass of ruins. A Zibzileh (an earthquake), within no distant period, threw down the buildings which were in the Tottie, and made cracks in almost every wall. A large mosque, built by the Abbasses, has been rent in many places in its thick walls, and totally ruined.

11th. The storm of thunder and rain which we had foreboded, fell in the evening of the preceding day, and refreshed the air which had been sultry, and gave us a most delightful morning.

We left Casvin just as the morning broke at about four o’clock; and proceeded in a direction of S. 40 W. to Siah Dehan, a village in the plain of Casvin, a distance of twenty miles, called six fursungs, which we performed in five hours. The road over this part of the plain was the most beautiful and the most level of any that I had seen in Persia. It was fine hard gravel; and the plain on each side of it was in high verdure, one grass plat on which many thousands of cavalry might manœuvre admirably.

The villages continued as numerous as those that we had before remarked in our last day’s route. They were neatly entrenched in square walls with towers at each angle. The wind which blew from the Northward refreshed the air, and made it even cold: this, which is here the prevailing wind, is called the Baad Gagazgoon, as it blows from a little district of that name, composed of ten or fifteen small villages, situated on the N. hills. At four miles from Siah Dehan we stopped at a village on the side of the road called Keck. The inhabitants looked at us over the walls, and did not seem willing to come out to us; at last a little boy ventured forth: I questioned him about his own village and those around, but he seemed shy in giving answers; and when he saw me take out my pocket-book to write down the memoranda, he asked me with a very suspicious face, “What are you writing there?” and then ran off as fast as he could. In a little time after we heard his companions cry out, “they are Roos,” (or Russians), a report which, of course, he had spread abroad in his village, to the fear of all the inhabitants.

The name of the villages, according to his intelligence, were, Kenish, distant two fursungs, N. 10 W.; Akchegan, one fursung and a half, N. 60 W.; Ash-hasar, N. 40 W.; and Alangaya, two fursungs, N. 30 W. All this plain is under the jurisdiction of Casvin; I should think it about thirty miles in breadth, but a haze over the country might deceive me. The mountains to the right are here diminished to hills; and, joining the Southern mountains on a bearing of S. 40 W. terminate the plain of Casvin. On the plain we saw the houpe, partridges, and two deer, with many flocks of sheep. Siah Dehan has about five hundred houses. The inhabitants complain of a great scarcity of water; and, though their village is surrounded by gardens, they expect altogether but miserable crops. They told us, with much warmth, of the injustice with which another village had appropriated the water of Siah Dehan to their own use, by turning the course of the Kanauts. We were lodged in the best house that the place could afford, and had a barber to wait on us. This custom of making the barber the Homme d’Affaires is common to the villages around.

12th. We went from Siah Dehan to Nouri, a place situated at the end of the plain of Casvin, and the first in the Bolouk of Hamzé. The distance is called six fursungs, but from the time (seven hours) that we were on our horses, I should reckon it at twenty-five miles. As we set off at midnight I did not distinguish much on either side, till the break of day, when I discovered several very pretty villages, on the hills and near the side of the road to the left. The plain had here narrowed to a breadth of about three miles: the hills to the right were quite diminutive, and those to the left were decreasing in their height. The bearing of Nouri from Siah Dehan may be about W.; this is a guess, for at night I could only judge by the position of the stars, and in the day my compass would not traverse. We stopped at a village called Courvé, to feed our horses on the new barley which was in some places breast-high. A peasant told us that two neighbouring villages to the Eastward were called Ziabet and Parsin; they are situated on the banks of a small stream, which meanders through the plain from W. to E. There are many other villages, the names of which I did not learn, all surrounded by cultivation, and forming green and picturesque objects. The whole country, indeed, was one carpet of verdure; and on the breaking of the morning the freshness of the odour was beyond any thing grateful. We had several severe showers; the storm gathering over the Western hills, and falling down in great torrents. This rain, so providential for the poor Rayats, seemed to spread universal joy amongst them.

13th. We proceeded this morning just as the sun rose, and were four hours on the road, to Sihin Caléh, on a bearing of N. 45 W. and a distance called four fursungs, and by my calculation about fourteen miles. At about three miles on the left of the road, amid very picturesque scenery, is the small village of Sherafabad. From this at the distance of a mile, (in a situation equally picturesque, and surrounded for a considerable distance by trees and cultivation) is the large place of Abhar. About three miles further on, still on the same side of the road, lies Khorremderré, in the bosom of trees and gardens.

We stopped on its skirts to feed our cattle, and to breakfast. We seated ourselves under the shade of some cherry trees, and by the side of one of the running streams of fine pure water, which abound in the neighbourhood. We met a caravan on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Imaum Reza, at Mesched; the Chaoush or conductor of which, (a man on horseback carrying a green triangular flag) complained to us that the people at Khorremderré had stolen his cloak. We sent a man with him into the town, and after some difficulty, procured the recovery of the garb to its right owner.

The next village was Heeah, still on the left; and then Sihin Caléh, to which (at the distance of about a mile) we turned off from the road on a bearing of W. All these villages are in the Mahalé of Hamzé. Grass is extremely plentiful all over this country; and, from all that I can see, the passage of a large body of men would not be impeded by the want of provisions. On these plains the King’s horses graze annually: and here every summer his troops are collected. Magazines for their supplies are formed at Sultaniéh. A strong wind from the Westward blew from two hours before sun-rise to two hours before sun-set, and brought clouds with it; in the morning it was unpleasantly cold. On the rising ground to the Southward of Sihin Caléh, are some ancient tomb-stones, some of which are carved in a curious manner; among other things, there was a lion in stone—a certain sign of antiquity. The Arabic character also appeared to me very old.

14th. From Sihin Caléh we went to Sultaniéh, a distance called five fursungs; we were five hours on the road, and, as we walked a good pace, I should place the whole at sixteen miles. Of these twelve are on a bearing of N. 40 W. to a pass (called Teng Ali Acbar) through a small rising of the plain; and the remainder to Sultaniéh, N. 80 W. On the height of the pass are the ruins of buildings, which are said to be those of the gate. From this pass Sultaniéh is immediately seen; it lies near the Southern hills, and spreads itself N. and S. over the plain to a considerable extent, containing the present village among the ruins of the ancient city. I went to a tapé on the South, before we entered the place, and took a general view of the whole.

The principal object among the remains of the ancient town is an immense structure, which is called the tomb of Sultan Mohamed Khodabendeh, and is said to be six hundred years old. A cupola rests on an octagonal base, on each angle of which arose a minaret; one only of which is now entire. At each angle also was a staircase, and in each of the sides was a door; and, as there is one wing which projects from the base, the whole probably, in its original plan, was similarly surrounded by additional buildings. The principal gate fronted the East: it is now in part remaining, but in a short time will be entirely demolished; as during our visit there were many workmen employed in pulling it down, to use the materials in some of the King’s pleasure-houses. The whole structure is of a fine brick admirably put together. The cupola and minarets were covered with a green-lacquered tile, most of which is now pealed off. The great architrave was of Moresque work of a dark-blue-lacquered tile. The arches of the gates were all enriched with curious ornaments in plaster. The interior is still admirable, though it is now converted into a magazine of straw. Nothing however intersects the beautiful symmetry of the dome. The interior diameter is thirty-five paces, and on a rough calculation, the height of the dome must be about one hundred feet. In the centre of the floor among the straw is a pillar of white marble, probably belonging to the tomb of the King, which is said indeed to be immediately in that position below the surface. The people told me that there were many fine marbles under the straw; and I saw (without being able to find any descent to them) several arches under ground, which perhaps, support the whole floor. Over each gate is a gallery, which extends along the base of the dome, and leads into smaller galleries within, and into others also on the exterior of the building. These are beautifully adorned with the neatest work that I had ever seen; all the cornices of the doors, the segments of the arches and the various niches are covered with Arabic sentences; which in some places are surmounted in a smaller character by Cufic inscriptions, all either painted in fresco, or raised in plaster. The whole structure looks more like a mosque than a tomb, compared at least with those at Constantinople; but of any description, and in any place, I do not recollect a building which could have surpassed this in its original state. I ascended to the top of one of the shattered minarets, and took the following bearings; road to Hamadan S. 50 W.; Teng Ali Acbar, S. 70. E.

This monument appears to stand in the Ark or citadel of the ancient Sultaniéh. Its area is a square (a side of which, on a rough calculation, might be three hundred yards) and is marked out by a ditch still full of water. Part also of the ancient wall is yet standing, and bears N. 40 E. from the tomb; it is about fifty feet high: the exterior surface is fine, and the stones, which however are soft and crumbling, are well fitted together. At the angle of the ditch, there is the segment of a round tower still remaining; on one of the stones of which is an Arabic inscription, stating that it was built by Sultan Mahomed Khodabendeh; and there is likewise a small rude sculpture of a combat between two horsemen. At the summit of the wall also, there appears to be some representation of lions or sphinxes’ heads. Mirza Abul Hassan told me that he remembered, when twenty years ago the greater part of this wall was standing. The Persians, to illustrate the original splendour of the city, say, that when the army of Jenghiz Khan took and plundered Sultaniéh, they found in it six hundred thousand golden cradles.

Here are the remains of several mosques without the enclosure of the ditch, one of which seems to have been a fine edifice; they are all built of the same materials as the tomb. Few monuments in Persia can hope to survive many ages; for the Kings, who succeed the founders, are anxious only to be founders themselves, and instead of taking a pride to preserve the works of their predecessors, as records of the genius or greatness of their monarchy, they take pains only to destroy them, that they may build new structures with the materials, and attach their own names also to great buildings; never considering how short-lived, by their own example, will be their reputation after their decease. The principle extends to private life, and to a certain degree accounts for the numbers of ruined houses which swell the circumference of Persian cities. Every son is unwilling to repair and inhabit the house of his father, and is eager to impose his own name on some new work. The present King has undertaken to found at Sultaniéh a new city, which is to be called Sultanabad. The inhabitants are to be supplied from the neighbouring villages, and from the population of Aderbigian. The Ark or citadel is already built: it is situated close to the King’s pleasure-houses, N. 50 W. from the tomb. The King and all his troops encamp about June in the plains for many miles around.

There are an immense number of a peculiar species of rats in the plain, which dig themselves holes in the ground. Our people caught several: they have the squeaking of a musk rat, and sit on their hind legs; I caught one and took a drawing of it; it was big with young, and had four teats on each side; in colour it was an ugly dun, and in length measured fifteen inches from the head to the tail: it had five claws on both fore and hind feet, and long nails at the end. Its head was flat with a black nose, large black eyes, and an orifice for the ear without any skin to cover it; its tail was bushy, and spreading at the end.39

15th. On quitting Sultaniéh we stopped at the King’s pleasure-house, which is built on the tapé or hillock, about three quarters of a mile from the present village. It consists of four divisions, all enclosed within walls, and raised with materials from the demolished structures of the ancient city. The first contained a suit of apartments for women; the second was a polyangular building, as yet unfurnished (crowned at the top by a small dome) surrounded by a railing, and called like so many others, Koola-frangee. This, as we are told, was built after a drawing given to the King by one of the Gentlemen of the French Embassy. From this we went through a long arched and gloomy passage to the King’s Khalwet or private room. Here there is a picture of his Majesty killing a stag in the chase, and a portrait of each of his principal sons, painted in fresco on the walls. From this we went to the fourth, which is the Dewan Khonéh, and opens upon the whole of the plain. Here the King sits in state; and, on a terraced platform below stand his sons and nobles: the whole is on a small and trifling scale, and displays no great ingenuity in the builder or wealth in the possessor.

We proceeded to Zengan: the distance is called six fursungs, and we performed it in six hours; but from the quick pace at which our horses walked, I may reckon it at twenty-four miles. Till the last four miles our route bore N. 30 W.; we then turned to N. 80 W.

The mountains on the left diminished very much, and were green to their summits. They terminated at a bearing of W. and behind them commenced another chain, which, when the immense clouds on their summits occasionally rolled off, appeared very high.

The plain ground over which we had travelled from Casvin, now became hilly and broken; and in some places the soil, which before had been universally hard, was soft; and the road, from the rain which had fallen, was rendered swampy and muddy. In the course of the day indeed we had much rain, though only in showers; and in the morning there was a rainbow. All this part of the country is well watered by a variety of small streams, but by no one of any note. We saw the plough at work in many parts of the country on a fine rich soil. The plough here is a rude instrument indeed; it is a large piece of wood making an angle with another, which being sharpened at the end, and frequently tipt with iron, forms the plough-share. It is drawn by two oxen or sometimes by one, and sometimes only by an ass. About six miles before we reached Zengan, on the left of the road there is a well-built village with walls and towers all around, and a small Ark in the centre, called Dehsis. The vegetation all over the country is extremely rich, and certainly the most luxuriant which we had seen.

Zengan is a large town, and is the capital of the Mahalé of Hamzé, which contains one hundred villages. The whole district, by the gift of the King, is the property and government of Ferrajoula Khan, the Nasakchee Bashee. The Mahalé pays no revenue, but it furnishes the King five thousand horsemen complete, who are paid, fed, and clothed from its own produce. On entering the town there is an immense enclosed garden full of every species of trees.

16th. From Zengan we went to Armaghanéh, and were six hours on the road; on a general bearing of N. I call this also twenty-four miles, as we walked a good pace. On the left, in a valley, I saw several villages; the two principal of which are Koushek and Barri. Others are also situated on the declivity of the hills; the road all the way is full of ascents and descents; and at about five miles from Zengan we came to a valley, perhaps a bend and a continuation of that which we had already noticed. At the bottom flowed from E. to W. a stream of beautiful water, which came from the mountains to the N. E. of our route, and which was formed indeed principally by the melting of their snows and the rains. In its vicinity was much cultivated ground; and the peasants had raised its waters in many places to carry the fertility still further into the fields. At the interval of about six miles there is a similar valley and a similar stream, the waters of which equally assist the cultivation of the country, and redeem it from the waste of the intermediate tract. We saw many tents of Elauts of the tribe Choisevend, whose cattle were grazing in the line between the two streams. They were represented to me as very warlike and brave, on which account the King enrolled many of them in his Goolams and troops; and I was told, that they had been the principal heroes in the war with the Russians. Their tribe consists of six thousand families. Their chief is at Teheran, and is a Khan of much consequence. They live always in tents, changing their situation with the seasons, and are very rich in camels. After having crossed the second stream we rested, and fed our horses on the new barley, which was there about a knee high. As we proceeded we met a caravan of pilgrims, from Derbend on the Caspian, going to the Zeeauret of Mesched. Not one could speak a word of Persian; indeed Turkish, from this point and henceforward, is the vernacular language spoken by the people of the villages; and it is rather rare to find any one of the inhabitants who can talk Persian fluently. These pilgrims wore a white band about their sheep-skin caps as a mark of their holy destination; and preceded by a Chaoush bearing a green flag, joined all in loud cries as he excited them.

About four miles before we reached our stage we came to a third stream, which run with great velocity through different artificial channels, and the borders of which were richly cultivated with rice and barley. On the right, just before Armaghanéh, is a little village called Houlouléh.

The whole region from Zengan is intersected at almost regular distances by vallies; in one of which lies Armaghanéh, so concealed by its situation, that it is scarcely seen till it is entered. To the Westward appears a long range of mountains; but the hills which we had passed in the day’s march, though sometimes of rock and flint, were generally green to their very summits; and the soil was mostly rich earth, which, in some places, was spread with the hues of a thousand flowers. Throughout the whole tract, indeed, every thing was in life and spring. The animals felt the influence of the season; and our horses in passing the herds around were scarcely manageable. One threw his rider; and after having given him a bite on the shoulder, attacked his fellows, and fought with some fury. The singing of the larks in the morning, and the whole tribes that swept along the air, gave a zest to the freshness of the dawn that was beyond description. The whole creation seemed to give praise to its great Creator.

Armaghanéh also is included in the Bolouk of Hamzé. In the town there is a square fort. In the room, into which we were introduced, there were several European inscriptions, mostly in Russian, but one in Latin, written I suspect by a Frenchman’s pencil, and worthy therefore to be transcribed, as displaying the spirit and temper with which they left the country:

“VENIMUS, VIDIMUS, ET MALEDIXIMUS PERSIDI;
“REGIQUE, AULÆQ; MAGNATIBUSQ; POPULOQ;—
“SCRIBEBANT IDIBUS APRILIS, 1809 * * *.”

M. Jouannin and his companion indeed, by all the accounts which I received in following the line of their route, had no greater reason to be satisfied with their accommodations on the road, than with the mode of their leaving Teheran. We were told at Sultaniéh, that no one there would furnish them with mules to transport their baggage, and they were obliged to be content with asses.

The night was so cold at Armaghanéh that we had a fire, and our people wore their sheep-skins. Armaghanéh indeed, and our next stage, Auk-kend, are very high.

17th. We quitted Armaghanéh at four o’clock (an hour before sun-rise, and enjoyed the freshness, not to say cold) of the twilight, and the beauty of the breaking morning. We were seven hours on the road to Auk-kend, which I shall reckon a distance of twenty-eight miles, on a general bearing of N. 15 W. Our road was over a succession of hills, the vallies of which were mostly cultivated. The whole surface indeed was generally green, and displayed an appearance of more prosperity than any part which we had seen on the other side of Teheran. The soil, though in many places broken by rocks and slate, was fine, and watered by many small streams. At about twelve miles from Armaghanéh on the left of the road, is the village of Dasht-Bolagh, situated nearly between two conical hills; on the tops of which are collections of rocks, appearing at a distance like the ruins of towers.

After this we reached an eminence, from which an immense range of high mountains covered with snow, extended itself before us. The highest peaks bore on a general line of North; and, from all that I could learn, are not far distant from Resht. The general chain approaches the shores of the Caspian; but on all geographical subjects it is difficult to trust the class of persons, from whom alone on the spot the information can be obtained. They very generally exaggerate, and are at any rate very ignorant.

The whole region (between these mountains and those to the S. and W. indeed on every side) is undulatory, without a single clump of trees to enliven the sameness of the prospect; if therefore I had seen this part of the country in winter, I might perhaps have felt it still more inhospitable than any that we had crossed in the South. But now cultivation was seen in patches; here the corn was green, there lands were just under the ploughman’s hands.

As we were eating our breakfast we were overtaken by a man from Teheran, who was carrying to the Prince of Tabriz the intelligence that (after a siege of twelve successive years) the King’s troops had taken the strong place of Tourchiz, on the confines of Khorassan and Usbec Tartary, together with Mustapha Ali Khan Arab, the Governor, his troops, and the treasures that it contained. It is six days journey, as far as I could learn, South from Mesched, and is a fortress on the summit of a mountain, rendered strong by its natural situation. It gives its name to a very warlike tribe in Khorassan, of which the Governor, Mustapha Ali Khan Arab, was the chief. A great part of the treasures of Nadir Shah is said to have been preserved unbroken in Toorchiz, which would thus further swell the King’s collection of jewels and gold. I asked a Persian what the King would do with the Governor? he said, “Kill him to be sure;” and when I suggested, that it might be better to retain in his own service a man so bold and determined, he answered, “No: such sort of things may be very well with you; but the Persians are not so; the better you treat them, the worse they will treat you. The King, if he were not to kill him, would never be sure of him, for he would certainly rebel against him.”

On approaching Auk-kend, one of our attendants, who had dismounted for the purpose of letting his horse walk easily up the hill, by some chance suffered him to escape: all attempts to catch him were vain, until a chatter or walking footman, belonging to Mirza Abul Hassan, seized him by the bridle, when the horse retired some steps, and then open-mouthed made a bound at the chatter, caught him by the neck, and placing one of his fore-knees upon him, kept him thus with his head on the ground, until he was beat off. He was then seized by his master, to whom he meditated the same fate, and whom in fact he threw down most violently with his fore feet, though the final and furious gripe was prevented.

Auk-kend is now the frontier place in Aderbigian; the original boundary was the river Kizzil Ozan, but it has been thus extended through the King’s favour to his son Abbas Mirza, the Governor of the province. Auk-kend indeed is in the district of Khalcal, which, though certainly under the jurisdiction of the Prince, is immediately administered by two Khans, and contains two hundred villages, extending between Resht and Ardebil. Formerly it was a very flourishing region; but the war with Russia, in which it has been obliged to supply troops, and at its own expence pay, feed, and clothe them, has much impoverished it, and, as the Persians say, “Kharrab Shoud, it is ruined.”

18th. We proceeded from Auk-kend, at twenty minutes before five, and arrived at Miaunéh at one o’clock. We stopped on the road to feed our horses, which detained us one hour and an half, so that we had six hours and forty minutes riding, which, at three miles and a quarter in the hour, gives a total of twenty-two miles: I reckon thus little to the hour, because the whole of our march was over mountainous country. Our road was much to the Westward. The mountain Coflan Kou, which rose above us, bore S. 80 W. but, as we went somewhat more to the W. I shall place the general bearing at W.

The whole country here (and particularly that to the W. and N.) seems to have been just formed by a great convulsion of nature; there are lands of every soil, of every colour, and of every form. At the distance of six miles from Auk-kend we came to a small village called Kultepé; we should have stopped here to have fed our horses, but there was nothing but wheat-corn growing around the place; from this our suite always abstained most religiously, though they never scrupled to enter any barley field that might border on the road, and turning their cattle into the very middle without their bridles suffered them to eat their fill unlimited, nor was there any one that dared oppose such an inroad, which is indeed the privilege of every officer of government. I was quite vexed one day (when a poor man came and intreated the Persians to take their horses out of his field, for that its produce was his sole subsistence) to see the inhumanity with which they treated him; and, after having administered a few blows to his shoulders, compelled him to hold their horses as they were eating his own property before his face.

At about half past nine o’clock, and about fifteen miles from Auk-kend, we came to the banks of the Kizzil Ozan. The stream runs from West to East, in a bed of about two hundred yards in breadth, which was then in a great measure dry. It rises in the mountains of Gerustan, about five days journey from Miaunéh, and flows into the Caspian near Resht. We crossed it on a bridge, which appeared a very ancient structure, and is now falling fast to decay.

It has three principal arches, the one to the W. is modern compared with the other part of the structure, having been restored by Aga Mahomed Khan; as a small inscription on the new buttress intimates. The original bridge is attributed to Shah Abbas; but, from its structure, which does not resemble that of the Seffis, and from an inscription in the Cufick character (which is worked in brick all around the principal arch) and another in a square on one of the old buttresses, I should suspect that it is much more ancient, and must be referred indeed to the earliest ages of Mahomedanism. When on the borders of the stream I was too distant to see the characters distinctly enough to copy them.

We commenced the ascent of the Coflan Kou immediately on quitting the river, and were just one hour in gaining its greatest height, and half an hour in descending into the plain on the opposite side. The chain of mountains, of which this forms a part, is the proper boundary of Aderbigian. Near the bridge on the right, in ascending the mountain, there is a singular rock which has been fortified with walls and turrets, probably coeval with the bridge. This also, however, appears to have been restored in some parts by a modern hand, as in front there is a structure of fresh brick, which does not correspond with the turrets of the main building. All is now in ruins: indeed it could have been of value as a military hold, only in times when artillery was not used, as it is commanded by every hill around. I took a sketch of it from the ascent of the mountains. The old bridge below adds a very picturesque object to the surrounding heights and the scenery of the stream. On the ascent of the mountain, (over that part which in winter must be of more difficult passage,) there are the remains of a causeway, attributed in like manner, to a Shah Abbas, and extending for several miles.

In descending to the plain on the Western side of the Coflan Kou, we saw another river called Rood Khonéh Miaunéh, which also flows from West to East, having combined before we crossed it, three several streams (the Ceransou, the Sheher Cheyee, and the Aye Dogmoush,) and about one fursung to the Eastward, carrying their united waters into the Kizzil Ozan. The sources, according to my informer, an old mountaineer at Miaunéh, were about two day’s journey from his town; in a direction, by the pointing of his hand, of N. 70 W. among the mountains of Sahat Dun. We passed the river over a bridge of twenty-one arches, in appearance indeed as old as that just described, but in style of structure resembling so much the bridge of Aliverdy Khan at Ispahan, a work of the age of the Seffis, that it may be ascribed to a Prince of the same race with much less improbability, than that over the Kizzil Ozan can be attributed to Shah Abbas. If there are not immediate repairs, the whole in a few years will fall into the water.

It was extremely hot in the recess of the mountains, with a light haze from the Westward. The sun set N. 73 W. Miaunéh, where we passed the night, was once a large town, and its broken walls and gates are still to be seen. It is now, indeed, a poor miserable village, yet is the chief place of a tribe called Chedaughee, who are reputed to be very ferocious. The master of the house, where we lodged, was gone to Tabriz; and his son, a boy of fourteen, officiated in his place with a propriety and dexterity which were quite amusing. He asked the Mehmandar for his firman, very gravely sat down and read it, then with a fine flow of compliments said, that every thing that he had was freely at our command; and that we must make his kitchen ours, and that, in short, he was our slave. In these countries the manners and faculties ripen long before those of Northern climates. An English boy in the same predicament would have run and hid himself in the stable.

We were, however, rather annoyed by a great big fellow, a Ferosh of Prince Abbas Mirza, who pretended to much power in the place. In the firman which the Mehmandar carried from the King, one of the articles with which the village was required to provide him was the sum of three tomauns. These he was wont to receive as his own perquisite; and this is one of the various modes by which the King pays his servants without the necessity of applying to his own treasures. But to this, in this instance, the Ferosh objected, swearing that there was no money in Miaunéh, and that none could be raised. The Mehmandar, on his side, talked of nothing but the King’s Royal command, which must be obeyed before all things: to this again the Ferosh objected, and said that he would abide by nothing but an order from his own immediate superior, the Ferosh Bashee of Prince Abbas Mirza. The Mirza was at length obliged to interfere: the Ferosh, in fact, had been paid by the peasantry to guard them from the extortion of strangers, and like a faithful servant he was endeavouring to do all that he could in their favour. To complete the business however, the Mehmandar, on our arrival at the close of the day’s journey, missed a pair of new green slippers, which loss he naturally charged to the dishonesty of his antagonist the Ferosh.

Since there have been such great interests pending in the North of Persia with the Russians, the Government has established Chopper Khonéh, or post-houses, from Tabriz to Teheran, to facilitate the transmission of news, so that a courier may traverse the distance easily in three days. A Ferosh has been placed by the Prince Governor of Aderbigian, in each of the villages within his territory, (in which these establishments are formed) to see that every department be carried on with dispatch and regularity. Twenty to twenty-five horses (purchased by the Prince, and kept at his own expence) are always ready at each of these houses, and the whole institution is supported from his own purse. But beyond the bounds of his province, this public service is defrayed by the Rayat on the line of road.

19th. We were six hours and a half on the road, a distance of twenty-one miles, from Miaunéh to Turkomen Cheyee. The road is one succession of high hills, generally with a small stream in the vallies below, flowing from the mountains of Bisgoush, which extend almost to Tabriz on the N. W. and to near Resht in the territory of Khalcal, on the N. E. and the snows of which seemed then to be rapidly melting, and (by the discolouration of the water) to have formed these streams. On setting out from Miaunéh, we rode by the banks, and frequently crossed one of these streams, which was up to the bellies of the horses and very rapid. I frequently set the bearing of our road from the top of the hills, which was N. 70 W. and (though varying now to the W. then to the E.) may be fixed generally at that point. The whole is very easy of access, nor indeed did I see any part on this side of Teheran, where an army would meet with impediment, except on the Coflan Kou, and there only in a few passes: and from the present appearance of the country, magazines might be formed every where.

The weather during the last two days was extremely sultry, and we suffered greatly from the heat. The tract indeed, over which we were passing, is called by the Persians Germesir, or the hot, from the notoriety of its temperature. The corn at Miaunéh was accordingly much more advanced than in any previous part of the country.

There is a small village to the S. of Turkomen Cheyee, called Carayeh, situated on the back of the hill. The valley of Turkomen Cheyee is one carpet of green, richly cultivated in every part. About noon the clouds gathered; and as we were feeding our horses, a shower of rain, with thunder, surprised and refreshed us after our hot ride.

On the 20th, we went to Tekmé-dash, twenty-one miles, on a bearing of N. 40 W. over the same sort of country as that which we had crossed on the preceding day; but the ground was much saturated by the late rain, and, as the soil was soft, our road was rendered very disagreeable. At about six miles from Turkomen Cheyee we came to a valley richly cultivated; and about two miles on the right, was the village of Uzumchee. We saw some other villages, situated at a distance from the road, on the heights of the mountain. We passed two ruined caravanserais. The last was about three miles from Tekmé-dash; and, by an inscription on the gate, was built by a servant of Shah Abbas. Not a tree appears over all the country, but there is generally much cultivation. A little after sun-rise we saw some high mountains bearing about N. W. Soon after our arrival a smiling lad came in with a paper in his hand, and presented it to the Mirza. It was a petition from himself and his school fellows, to beg a holiday for them from their master; an address which they never fail to make to any man of consequence, who may happen to pass through their village. The children here are taught Persian in the schools; the Turkish being the native tongue of the country. There was a very strong wind from the West, which, as the people told us, had blown for five or six days; and, though it fell as the sun went down, the cold during the night was very severe.

21st. The six hours and a half which we spent on the road to Saidabad to-day, were very pleasant, as we had covered weather with a fine fresh breeze from the W. We went twenty-five miles in the direction of N. 40 W. on a good road, which had been hardened by the late wind. At about five miles from Tekmé-dash, on the left, is the village of Bini Kieu; and a little further, (on a rising ground through which the road passes,) are a collection of large stones, apparently the remains of a building, with a few large oblong blocks curiously carved, which certainly belonged to it. They resembled, indeed, rather the tomb-stones which I had remarked before; but they had no characters upon them. At about five miles before we came to Saidabad we entered a pass in the mountain, on the right of which, as we left the plain, we noticed a piece of water with much wild fowl upon it. After having ascended and again descended the pass, (from the summit of which we had a view of the mountain of Tabriz), we came to a caravanserai situated amid very picturesque scenery just at the bottom. The right wing, and many other parts of this edifice, were falling into ruin. It contains a square area of two hundred and sixty paces of an admirable and solid construction; the work of the Seffis, strongly contrasted with the comparatively miserable buildings of the present day in Persia. The fine arches of the domes attest the excellence of art in the age of its erection. The interior arrangements are very good: on each side of the square are rooms, each with a fire-place, and in the centre of the whole is a large square compartment, divided into a variety of chambers of all descriptions, with recesses for horses. All this is built of a fine brick, with a strong foundation, and occasional reliefs of stone. At the foot of the whole building, at close intervals, are stones cut for the convenience of tying up cattle. At this spot we were overtaken by a storm of thunder and hail, and driven to seek refuge in the caravanserai; where the gloom of the old building, enlivened by the grotesque figures of our party, reminded me of those scenes of romance which modern writers have so frequently laboured to describe.

We turned off from the high road to the left, and at about two miles and a half from the caravanserai reached Saidabad. We found in it a mud fort, and houses with roofs arched but extremely low. Our servants were introduced into a chamber, a part of which was already occupied by a family of young asses; the rest was all their own. In all parts of the village were small pyramids of cow-dung, the different collections of the poor inhabitants for their winter fuel. The walls of their houses were likewise covered with great cakes of the same materials, which were then drying as additions to their stock. The common children collect this; and I have frequently seen two little creatures contending for it with the highest anxiety and animation.

There is so great a scarcity of wood over the whole country through which we have passed, that the poor are necessarily reduced to these extremities for the supply of their wants. In general they are miserably clad; the children have scarcely any thing to cover them but a shirt of coarse linen, which hardly reaches their middle; and the women wear nothing but a shirt, a pair of drawers, a jacket, and a veil, which covers their head and serves them on all occasions. Even in these poor villages the females are inconceivably shy. I happened to be standing near the place where the people were loading our baggage, when a poor woman seemed anxious to come forth from the neighbouring house, but durst not whilst a man was near. She kept peeping at intervals through the door for nearly half an hour, and drew in her head precipitately, although muffled, whenever a man’s face was turned towards her. When I have told the Persians that in Europe a husband has but one wife, and that in company we pay more civility to any female than to the greatest man, they have remained astonished, wondering that creatures (as women in their eyes appear), born only for their pleasure and convenience, should at all partake of any of those attentions which they deem to be due to Themselves exclusively.

As we were seated in our miserable dwelling, the village music attended us, composed of a singer, and players on the tambourine and on two kamounchas. To the great mortification of these poor people we dispensed with their noise, which, if it had begun, would not readily have ended.

22d. From Saidabad to Tabriz is a distance of about fourteen miles, on a direction of N. 50 W. There are said to be two volcanoes in the neighbourhood. Having travelled ten miles, we stopped to breakfast at a charming spot, near a beautiful stream of water, crossing us from S. W. to N. E. and surrounded by more wood than altogether we had seen all over the latter part of our journey. They are principally poplar (almost the only tree indeed which we had remarked in our route) and many are felled for building. Within two miles of Tabriz there is a village on a hillock, called Condorood; and immediately on the skirts of this spot is another, called Basmidge: on leaving which we saw great numbers of those square and oblong stones, so often mentioned in my Journal. As among them there are modern tombs, the original intent of the more ancient stones is certainly the same.

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