had passed. All the mineral streams, which crossed our road, fall into
it, and renders its waters salt and brackish. The soil itself indeed,
at the roots of the mountains, is, in some places, saturated with a
nitrous acid, of which, in the neighbourhood of _Daulakee_, the people
make a pleasant beverage. In one of the recesses of the mountains,
however, there is a stream of pure and delicious water. In the evening
I walked to the spring, which is embosomed in date trees: it is
beautifully clear, and rather tepid. Its short course down into the
plain is marked by a wood, which more immediately flourishes under its
influence, and follows its progress. In the lower country there is an
extensive tract covered with date trees, and forming a mass of verdure
on which the eye delights to rest after the constant glare of an arid
desert. It is extraordinary how vegetation thrives in this country,
wherever there is the least water. It is, indeed, a general rule, that
wherever they can irrigate they can produce vegetation; and indeed
with no other moisture than the dews, and the few occasional showers
of the winter, the plain of _Bushire_ (which all observers have agreed
to call a barren land) produces one hundred for seven. The rude manner
of cultivation here is sufficient to display the intrinsic goodness of
the soil; for they just sprinkle with seed the spot marked out for the
plough, then make the superficial furrows, and obtain most abundant
crops.
We mounted this morning at eight o’clock, and arrived at our encampment
at ten minutes before one. It is called four _fursungs_, but we compute
it at sixteen miles. We soon entered the mountains, and followed the
road through them to the Eastward. We came to the river (which in its
lower course passes near _Daulakee_) at half past nine o’clock: we
crossed it a second time about a quarter of an hour after, and at ten
o’clock passed it for the third and last time, at a ruined bridge, of
a structure which had once been neat. After hard rains its bed is very
extensive, and its current most rapid: so that it entirely impedes the
passage of travellers and caravans. At the fords where we crossed, it
was a very fine stream up to the bellies of our horses. After that,
we paced its banks, for the distance perhaps of half a mile, in a
S. E. direction. We saw it for the last time winding on a southern
course, when we had ascended an elevated peak of the _Cotul_ range.
We gained this summit at half past eleven; the road then continued
through the mountains till twelve o’clock, when we came on the plain
of _Khisht_. At ten minutes before one we reached our encampment.
The extreme capriciousness of the windings of the road, rendered it
almost an impossible task to ascertain the ultimate and exact direction
of our bearing from _Daulakee_ to _Khisht_. However it was evident,
that we had made a great deal of Easting, with a little Northing. The
mountains rose around in most fantastical forms, their strata having
their highest elevation towards the South, forming a dip of perhaps
forty-five degrees. The soil is mostly of a soft crumbling stone, large
fragments of which seemed just balancing at the brink of the precipice
above, and appearing to require only a touch to impel them into the
great chasms below. The passage of the river by our numerous party, and
the winding of the horsemen and loaded mules in the mountain-passes,
animated the whole of the dreary scenery around into the most romantic
pictures. The only verdure which cheered the sameness of the glaring
yellow of the mountain, was that of a few wild almond trees.
Before we ascended to the plains of _Khisht_, a long string of
matchlock men and horsemen (the _Istakball_) who came out to meet the
Envoy, appeared on the brink of the precipice above us. As we ascended
they fired a volley, the sound of which returned in repeated echoes
through the mountains; and when we came into the midst of them, the
horsemen begun their gambols; moving around us in all directions,
stopping their horses, couching their long lances, throwing them, and
then again galloping forwards. The footmen with their matchlocks made a
charge into the plain, shouting as they advanced, as a representation
perhaps of the ardour of their attack in real combat. When we
approached our encampment, we were met by the Governor of _Khisht_
himself, ZAUL KHAN, a man of remarkable appearance, without eyes, and
with the fragment of a tongue, the rest of which he had forfeited
during the troubles of Persia. He came riding on a mule conducted by a
young Persian. But the most extraordinary part of his history is, that,
notwithstanding his tongue is cut, he still talks intelligibly. Before,
indeed, this operation was performed, he had such an impediment in his
speech, that he was scarcely able to make himself understood; but the
mutilation was fortunate, and his articulation has been improved. This
the Envoy, who had known him before the punishment, avers.
The plain of _Khisht_ seems to form a complete oval, and presented
stronger marks of cultivation than any part of the _Dashtistan_ which
we had seen. The _Konar_ bushes were thickly sprinkled by the roadside,
and apparently all over the plain, besides plantations of date trees.
At _Konar-a-Tackta_ (a village four miles and a half from _Khisht_,
and the place where we encamped,) there is a _Caravanserai_, which
has lately been erected by one of the wives of _Zaul Khan_, and is
really a neat and commodious building. An arched gateway introduces
the traveller into a square yard, around which are rooms, and behind
which are stables. There is also a small suite of rooms over the
gateway. In the centre of the court is an elevated platform, the roof
of a subterraneous chamber called a _zeera zemeon_, whither travellers
retire during the great heats of the summer, and which in those heats
is a very refreshing habitation. Behind the building is a tank or
reservoir for rain-water, which has newly been added, and is not indeed
yet finished. The whole forms an establishment most acceptable to
travellers, and worthy of the Persian governments of a better age.
On the 23d we rose before the sun, and though in a region so much
more elevated than the one in which we were on the preceding day, the
temperature of the atmosphere seemed the same. The sky was clouded
all over, and some predicted rain. One of our _moonshees_, who was
considered an astrologer, told me that, according to his observations,
“it would rain, _if God pleased_.” However, the day passed without
rain, and the opinion of the astrologer was, at any rate, equally
indisputable.
The trumpet, the signal for departure, sounded at twenty minutes
before eight, and we went off with the usual clatter and parade.
The course of the road bore N. E.: but when we had rode for about
four miles its direction was nearly due East. In an hour after our
departure we came to the banks of a river, which is the same that,
flowing by _Zeira_, falls into the _Daulakee_ river at _Deerooga_, and
which, according to my information, takes its rise in the mountains
near _Shapour_. Immediately on coming on its banks we began to wind
through the difficult passes of the mountains, which in various parts
are very dangerous. The Arab horses, who had been accustomed to the
equal surface of their own sandy plains, trode the rocky sides of the
mountains with fearful and uncertain steps, and one or two of the most
valuable of the Envoy’s stud suffered by severe falls: the Persian
horses, on the contrary, scramble over the threatening eminences, and
confidently walk by the sides of the precipices with an indifference,
which gives an equal consciousness of security to their riders. Our
_Mehmandar_, by way of bravado, urged his horse over a rocky heap,
which appeared almost as the feat of a madman.
There were some particular points of view in our progress, that were
picturesque and grand in the extreme. The path wound so fantastically
along the side of the mountain, that those who were yet at the bottom
saw the whole surface intersected by the ranges of our procession; and
the travellers at the upper point appeared so diminutive, that man and
brute could scarcely be distinguished from each other. Just before we
reached the very highest top of the mountain we came to a station of
_Rhadars_, and to the dwelling of a _derveish_, which was formed in the
crevice of a rock. In parts of our route we saw the _Rodo-dendron_, one
of the strongest symptoms of the change of our climate. We reached our
encampment at twenty minutes past eleven, and we found it pitched near
a _Caravanserai_. The village of _Khaumauridge_ is situated on a small
plain, and is distant about a mile N. 20 W. from the _Caravanserai_. On
an eminence over us was a small tower, where a rebel stood a long siege.
The mountains through which we passed were infested by a race of
robbers called the _Memméh Sunni_. They live in the deepest recesses
of their wild valleys, and commit their depredations on the unguarded
travellers with an impunity quite characteristic of the state of the
country. Although some attempts have occasionally been made to terrify
them into submission, by inflicting the severest tortures on the few
individuals who have chanced to be caught, yet the example has been
lost on the living, and the love of independence and plunder has
outweighed the terrors of barbarous punishment and ignominious death.
The abrupt formation of their mountain haunts (labyrinths to those who
have not long practised them,) favours this community so materially,
that instances have been known of their having snatched from the very
centre of a caravan, some traveller who promised less resistance than
his companions, or some well loaded mule, that seemed to announce
more booty than others. When Brigadier-General MALCOLM went through
their mountains on a former mission, the robbers bore off some of his
mules which carried part of the rich presents destined for the King of
Persia. So firmly are they now established in their fastnesses, that
the neighbouring _Khans_ and Governors of districts have chosen, since
the evil itself was inevitable, to take a part in its advantages, and,
it is said, maintain their own agents amongst the _Memméh Sunni_, with
whom they have stipulated agreements about the fruits of their plunder.
They happened to be less predatory at the time of our passage, and we
proceeded through the mountains without the least molestation.
The _Caravanserai_ close to our encampment was a solid, though
rather ancient structure, and the walls, scribbled over with names
or couplets, attested the passage of frequent travellers. We saw a
cock blackbird, and Sir HARFORD fired three times on a thrush, which,
notwithstanding, kept its ground, until it was taken up in the hand,
and indeed permitted itself to be taken up frequently without offering
to fly away.
A road is making at the sole expence of HAJEE MAHOMED HASSAN, a
merchant and inhabitant of _Bushire_, which will cut through the
mountains from _Kauzeroon_ to _Khaumauridge_, and shorten the distance
two _fursungs_. Its direction bore E. from us at _Khaumauridge_.
On the 24th our march commenced at eight, and we arrived at _Kauzeroon_
at half past two. We were about one hour pacing the plain of
_Khaumauridge_, and, allowing one mile for the other extremity, (which
we had passed on the preceding day) we may fairly calculate its whole
length at five miles. Its opening towards _Kauzeroon_ is through a
pass called the _Tengui Turkoun_, between two high branches of the
mountains. There is besides a road to the left, which leads over the
mountain, and which the Envoy and some of the party took, because the
pass is very famous for the attacks of the robbers. The road was,
however, guarded at different stations by matchlock men, who had been
placed there by the direction of the Prince, which was one of the
numerous instances of his great attention to the mission.
Having descended once again, we came into the plains of _Kauzeroon_.
From the eminence we perceived the river, which we had passed near
_Khisht_, winding in a N. and S. direction behind the western hills.
The city of _Shapour_ we just discovered at the foot of a mountain,
then bearing N. 50 E. Hills of very subordinate elevation run out from
the great range of mountains, and leave here and there little plains
which are all comprehended under the name of the plain of _Kauzeroon_.
We were met at _Derees_ by a great crowd, who gambolled and saluted
as usual. As we passed between the huts, the women of the village
were collected on the roofs, and greeted our approach by a loud
and tremendous species of song, which yet at a distance was not
disagreeable. Money was thrown amongst the crowd, which added much to
the confusion of the scene, and excited a most active and querulous
scramble.
About two miles from _Kauzeroon_ we were met by MAHOMED KOULI KHAN,
the Governor of that place, who was attended by a numerous company of
horsemen. Mr. BRUCE, Dr. JUKES, and myself dismounted to pay him the
usual compliment, and he then turned back with us to his own town.
About a mile further, almost the whole male population was collected
to meet us. A bottle, which contained sugar-candy, was broken under
the feet of the Envoy’s horse, a ceremony never practised in Persia
to any but to royal personages; and then about thirty wrestlers,
in party-coloured breeches, (their only covering) and armed with a
pair of clubs called _meals_, begun each to make the most curious
noise, move in the most extravagant postures, and display their
professional exploits all the way before our horses, until we reached
our encampment. It would be difficult to describe a crowd so wild and
confused. The extreme jolting, running, pushing, and scrambling almost
bewildered me: while the dust, which seemed to powder the beards of the
Persians, nearly suffocated us all. Probably ten thousand persons of
all descriptions were assembled. Officers were dispersed among them,
and with whips and sticks drove the crowd backwards or forwards, as the
occasion required. Nothing could exceed the tumult and cries. Here men
were tumbling one over the other in the inequalities of the ground;
there horses were galloping in every direction, while their riders were
performing feats with their long spears; behind was an impenetrable
crowd; before us were the wrestlers dancing about to the sound of three
copper drums, and twirling round their clubs. On every side was noise
and confusion. This ceremony is never practised but to princes of the
blood, and we considered, therefore, the honours of this day as a
further proof of the reviving influence of the English name.
On Christmas day Sir HARFORD JONES and I visited the ruins of
_Shapour_. We reckoned the distance at fifteen miles, in nearly a north
direction from _Kauzeroon_. About seven miles from our encampment, we
passed again through the village of _Derees_, which, from the extent
of the ruined houses, must once have been a large town. Every house
is covered with an arched roof, a mode of building which probably
originated in the scarcity of timber. It is indeed common in all the
places which we have seen; and the doors and porticoes are universally
formed by a Saracenic arch. A miserable population, thinly interspersed
among the ruins of _Derees_, came out to greet our passage. On the
northern extremity of the town there is a place of burial, and over one
of the tomb-stones there was the figure of a lion.
After having passed two tombs, one on the right side and one on the
left of the road, we came to the bed of a torrent, over which there
seems to have been built an aqueduct; for, on either side of its
banks, are the remains of masonry, and the trace of its conduit is
perceived on the southern bank. The extent of the ruins of _Shapour_
to the southward is marked by a beautiful stream of water. Over the
spring, from which it issues, the road is built, sustained by fragments
of architecture, which are a part of the entablature of some public
building, and by their dimensions must have appertained to a very
considerable edifice.
Immediately after having passed this spring we came upon the ruins
of _Shapour_.[29] When standing on an eminence we computed the whole
to be comprised, on a rough calculation, within a circumference of
six miles. This circumference enclosed a tract of plain, and a hill
on which the remains of the ancient citadel formed a conspicuous and
commanding object. Whether by a mere caprice of nature, or whether by
the labour of man, this hill or _Acropolis_ is distinctly separated
from the great range of mountains, forming the Eastern boundary of the
plain of _Kauzeroon_. Between this and another imposing mass of rock
runs the beautiful river of _Shapour_: we reckoned the space between
the two rocks at thirty yards, which formed a little plain of verdure
and shrubbery, intersected indeed by the stream of the river.[30]
The opening betwixt the two grand masses presented a landscape the
most varied, the most tranquil, the most picturesque, and, at the
same time, the most sublime that imagination can form. A black and
stupendous rock (the strata of which were thrown into strong and wild
positions, and formed an acute angle with the horizon) flanked the
right of the picture: whilst another still more extraordinary rock, as
richly illumined as the other was darkened, supported the left. Between
both a distant range of mountains, whose roots were terminated by a
plain, filled up the interstice, forming a fine aerial perspective;
whilst the river and its rich shrubbery completed a most enlivening
fore-ground. The hill, on which the remains of the citadel stand, is
covered with the ruins of walls and turrets. On its eastern aspect,
the nature of the fortification can be traced easily; for walls fill
the chasms from rock to rock, forming altogether a place of defence
admirably strong.
[Illustration: _Shapour._
_Drawn by James Morier Esq^r._
_Published by Mess^{rs}. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown,
Paternoster Row, May 1, 1811._]
The first object which arrested our attention, was a mutilated
sculpture of two colossal figures on horseback, carved on the
superfices of the rock. The figure on the right was the most injured;
the only part indeed, which we could ascertain with precision, was
one of the front and two of the hinder feet of a horse, standing over
the statue of a man, who was extended at his full length, his face
turning outwardly, and reposed upon his right hand, and his attire
bearing marks of a Roman costume. A figure in the same dress was placed
in an attitude of supplication at the horse’s knees, and a head in
alto-relievo just appeared between the hinder feet. The equestrian
figure on the left was not quite so much mutilated, the horse and parts
of the drapery on the thighs being still well preserved. The dimensions
of the figures are as follows: length of the foot of the figure under
the horse, fifteen inches; length of the whole figure sixteen feet one
inch; length of the arm five feet; chin to the summit of the head one
foot two inches; length of the horse’s leg from the lower part of the
shoulder to the hoof four feet four; the dress of the figures was a
short petticoat, from the waist downwards just below the knees.
The next piece of sculpture (which, like the former, was carved
upon the mountain of the citadel), is perfect in all its parts. It
consists of three grand compartments, the central and most interesting
represents a figure on horseback, whose dress announces a royal
personage. His head-dress is a crown, on which is placed a globe; his
hair flows in very large and massy curls over both shoulders, whilst a
slight mustachio just covers his upper lip, and gives much expression
to a countenance strongly indicative of pride and majesty. His body
is clothed with a robe which falls in many folds to his girdle, and
then extends itself over his thigh and legs as low as his ancle. A
quiver hangs by his side; in his right hand he holds the hand of a
figure behind him, which stands so as to cover the whole hind quarter
of his horse, and which is dressed in the Roman tunic and helmet. A
figure, habited also in the Roman costume, is on its knees before the
head of the horse, with its hands extended, and with a face betraying
entreaty. Under the feet of the horse is another figure extended, in
the same attire and character as that of the other two Roman figures.
To the right of the tablet stands a figure (behind that in a suppliant
attitude) with his hands also extended, but dressed in a different
manner, and, as far as we could judge, with features more Egyptian
than European. In the angle between the king’s head and the horse’s
is a Victory displaying the scroll of Fame. A figure (part of which
is concealed by the one on its knees) completes the whole of this
division. (Plate X.) The second grand compartment, which is on the
right, is divided again into six sub-compartments; in each of these are
carved three figures, the costumes and general physiognomies of which
are all different. They appear mostly in postures of supplication;
and, I should suspect, are representations of vanquished people. On
the left, in the third grand compartment, are two rows of horsemen
divided by one line into two smaller compartments. They all have the
same characteristic dress and features as the royal figure in the
centre, and certainly represent his forces. The whole of this most
interesting monument is sculptured on a very hard rock, which bears
the finest polish, and which we pronounced to be a coarse species of
jasper. The shortness of our stay did not afford me an opportunity
of delineating the detail of the many figures, which have been so
faithfully pourtrayed. The artist has preserved so much distinction
in the countenances and features of the different characters brought
together in this groupe, that, if their respective countries could
be ascertained, (and study and close investigation would probably
secure the discovery) some important point of ancient history would
be elucidated by an evidence as ingenious as it would be convincing.
The dimensions we took are as follows: figures on foot, height five
feet nine inches; figures on horseback from the rider’s cap to the
horse’s hoofs six feet five inches: the minor tablets are four feet ten
inches in length; the grand tablet eleven feet eleven inches.
[Illustration: _Rock at Shapour._
_Drawn by James Morier Esq.^r_
_Published by Mess.^{rs} Longman Hurst Rees Orme & Brown Paternoster
Row May 1., 1811._]
Having examined these, we next crossed the river to the sculptures
on the opposite rock. The first is a long tablet, containing a
multitude of figures. The principal person, (who is certainly the King
represented in the former tablet) is placed in the very centre of the
piece, alone in a small compartment, and is seated with a sword placed
betwixt his legs, on the pummel of which rests his left hand. It is
a most ridiculous object, with a head swelled by a singular wig to
an immense circumference. On his right, on the uppermost of two long
slips, are many men who seem to be a mixture of Persians and Romans;
the former are conducting the latter as prisoners. Under these in the
lower slip are others, who by their wigs appear to be Persians: their
leader bears a human head in both hands, and extends it towards the
central figure. On the left are four small compartments; the first
(nearest that figure, and the highest from the ground) incloses a crowd
of men whose arms are placed over one another’s shoulders. Below these
are five figures, one of whom leads a horse without any more furniture
than a bridle. The two other compartments are filled up with eight
figures each. We considered this to represent, in general, a king
seated in his room of audience surrounded by his own people, and by
nations tributary to him. The length is eleven yards four inches.
On the left of this were two colossal figures on horseback, carved in
an alto relievo. The one to the right had all the dress, character and
features of the King above described; the other, on the left, appeared
also a royal personage, but differing in dress, and in the furniture
of his horse. Both had their hands extended, and held a ring, which we
conceived to be emblematical of peace. The Envoy, who had seen both
these remains and _Nakshi Rustam_, prepared me to expect a similar
sculpture at the latter: and as I had not leisure to detail all the
subjects of _Shapour_, I preferred to delineate those, of which no
other specimen might exist, and therefore proceeded in our general
examination. I must not however omit to say, that the sculpture of
these two figures was exquisite; the proportions and anatomy of both
horses and men were accurately preserved, so that the very veins and
arteries in the horses’ legs and belly were most delicately delineated.