'ROUTES IN PERSIA, Section 1.' [‎118r] (240/416)

191
No. 37.
Isfahan to Shiraz, by Post Ttoad.
No. of
stage.
Distance, in
miles.
Names of stages.
Inter
mediate.
Total.
Rkmabks.
on the bank of the river on the right of the road, the inhabitants of which are said to he
thieves. Thence the nnain road crosses the stream at a small tower-like windmill, and the
road to Saidan, keeping at the foot ot the hills on the left of the valley, passes through the
village of haidan to the post-house. This is an unwalled village, inhabited by Lurs and
Shirazis, consisting of about 100 houses of mud brick, many of them two-storeyed, with
flat mud roofs. It is built close under the rocky mountains on the N. side of a cultivated
vadey, 1 | miles broad, in which there are several villages in sight, and large herds of cattle
and goats. The walled gardens of the village run along the foot of the hills for some
distance to the east.
13
Zarghttn
5,400'.
28 f 292
General direction S. VY. The road from the
post-house takes a short cut back towards the
main road across the valley, passing over several
. deep and muddy irrigation channels, roughly
bridged with poles and reeds, and just before joining the latter, crosses the river, which runs
sharply, more than knee-deep, over a pebbly bed ; water about 18 feet broad. It thence o- 0 es
through a graveyard with a few trees, and passing a large walled deserted village on the ?eft,
and the village of Haj.abad, under the hills, on the right, follows a flat irrigated valley with
the river on the left, and the hills on the right. At 8 miles the road again crosses the
river, which is here a small stream, muddy bottom, knee-deep, slow current, and banks high,
except at the ford; and after passing some sculptured rocks on the left, enters the Persepolis
plam or plain of Marvdasht. Takht-i-Jamshid (Persepolis) is about 2 miles off the road to
the left. Here the route given below as No. 37 B. rid Simarun to Isfahan branches off from
Puza post-house. At 11 miles the road passes the large village of Khusht, and there are
seveial other villages in sight with a good deal of cultivation. The whole of the Persepolis
plain is watered by tcanats, and both it and the road are heavy with mud after rain. At 20
miles the Bandamir river is crossed by a masonry bridge with 3 high arches. The river runs
though it is elsewhere slow and deep, about 45 feet broad, with mud
b r f ab< 7^ thC level . ? £ . the water - Eight miles further down stream, the river is
c ossed by a great dam on which stands a bridge of 13 arches, built about A.D. 970, from
which the river has been named Band-Amir (Curzon). It is generally unfoidable. and the
water fair y good The road from the river, after crossing a barren plain for 6 miles, enters
tall^ R Vat ft d 5 ract 0 f C 7 0Untry ’ an ^, pas8in - under some high hills on the left of the
v e\, reaches the town of Zargun. The latter is a long straggling place of 2,000 houses
mostly one-storeyed with flat roofs, built close up to a chain of barren, rocky mountains on
and fi ;thv n wTh g,n ° f P ^"i: ful1 ° f - ardeMS * nd culti ™tion. The main street is narrow
a " d f > ^ th a . number of shops scattered through it, forming a bazaar said to be well
mate sW fV 8 a r t - h ° U8e a J the end of the t0 ™> and twf mud enclosures in the
TZ t ” \ h6 P ul 'PU se of caravansarais. The best camping ground would be S. VV
of the town. The water-supply is from wells.
14
Shihaz (Tele
graph station).
5,200'.
20
312
General direction W. S. W., then S. W. by W.
The road to Shiraz crosses for a short distance the
swampy valley to the W. of the town by a low
thence over a , . v ^ aduct a ud a series of small culverts, and goes
Beyond [his it b ms es 7 ’ a 7 ™* water, at a karaicalkhana.
a^/easy^alid'^h^tracW^hvo^ 61 " / ai l^ eS ° f . ston y hills ’ through which the gradients
Bateah caravansira - tn m stony, and u 1 ' 08810 ^ a u uncultivated valley, reaches the
ning water p[Z B i h^ eS,amaSOm ' ybldldin ^ with a tank applied with good run-
bevond" which thTrn 18 a , sfce ^P’ 8ton y ascen t, difficult for wheels for half a mile,
Tang-i*A^llah^Altear° a< B n ? ^ a n d enters the pass known a. the
where the pass opens inte th[Valiev Tfs gr M dUaHj P*"* sl ° pi ^ hil19 - The latter ’
through which [here is a mnl a f ^ 8 miles, rise into high crags on each side of the road,
" efe 19 a ma g n ifieent view of the city and valley. The road keeps to the