Page:The Six Voyages of John Baptista Tavernier.djvu/57

Alley cover'd, which are only of Earth, the Men lying at one end, and the Horses at another.

The next day you travel over an uneven and desert Country, and in eight hours time you come to Miana, a little City situated in a Marsh, where you pay a Toll for Guarding the Highways. In this City is one of the fairest Inns in all Persia.

Two hours after you leave Miana, you must cross a River, over a fair Bridge which runs to decay; the Arches whereof are hollow within; it is built of Brick and Free-stone, being near as long as Pont neuf in Paris. This Bridge stands almost at the foot of a Mountain call'd Kaplenton. Sha-Abas caus'd all the way to be Pav'd, because the Land is so fat and sloughy, that when it thaws, or that the least Rain falls, it is impossible for the Caravan to pass. Besides, there are a sort of Camels in Persia, that when it comes to rain in a deep Soil, are not able to keep their Legs: nay through the weight of the Burthens which they carry, their very Quarters will rive from their Shoulders, and their Bellies will burst. So that before the way was pav'd, they were forc'd to spread Carpets in the most slippery ways where those Camels were to pass: which must be still done in some places, where the Pavement is worn away.

At the lower part of the descent toward Ispahan, upon the knap of a Hill which stands by it self, appears an old forsak'n Fortress: it is near the Highway, and a River, which falls into the Caspian Sea, after it has cross'd the Province of Guilan, where it is cut into several Channels. But generally the Corn and Fruits which grow in Persia by the help of Water forc'd into Channels, are of little esteem, and much cheaper than those that grow in the Provinces whose Fertility is not Artificial. Moreover, that sort of forc'd Grain will not keep above a Year; and if you keep it longer, it breeds a Vermin that eats it. 'Tis the same thing if the Corn be grownd; and more than that, there breeds a Worm in the Flowr, that makes it so bitter that tis impossible to eat it.

On this side the Mountain Kaplenton, appear at a distance two others very high, one toward the North call'd Saveland, another toward the South call'd Sehand: there is a third, which cannot be seen in Ispahan-Road, being too far out of the way, near the City of Hamadan. These three Mountains are full of Springs, from whence most of the Streams do fall that water Persia: And the Persians do say, that formerly there were many more of these Springs, but that about a hundred Years ago several of them have been dry'd up, or otherwise no body can tell what is become of them.

There are several Villages near the Mountain that pay nothing to the King, but are oblig'd to send him a certain quantity of Rice and Butter, for the use of the Mosquee at Ardeüil. They have also one great Priviledge, That if a Man commits a Murther, and flyes to any of these Villages, he cannot be apprehended, nor can the King himself punish him.

Leaving the River that runs at the foot of the Mountain Kaplenton, you come to a fair Inn call'd Tshamalava, built some years ago: and for thirteen hours after, travelling over a very barren Country, you meet with another Inn, which is call'd Sartcham, standing in a very desert place: which makes the Raders, that lye there to secure the Highways, very insolent, finding themselves so far from any Towns or Villages.

From Sartcham you come to a River, by the Banks whereof you travel a good while, till you come to an Inn, which is call'd Digbé, near a large Village. The Structure is very handsom, the lower part being of Free-stone undulated with red and white, and very hard.

The next day you travel a very uneven Country, till you fall into a deep Valley, at the end whereof you meet with Zangan, a great Town and ill built. However, it has a very fair Inn, which when I went last to Ispahan was so full, that I had like to have lain abroad in the Rain, but for the Courtesie of two Armenians. From Zangan you go to an Inn, where you must pay the Duties due to the Kan of Sultanie.

Sultanie is a very large City, which you leave half a Mile from the Road, near to a Mountain. Formerly it had in it very beautiful Mosquees, as may be easily conjectur'd by the Ruines that remain. Many Christian Churches also were con-verted