The New York herald., 1870-12-25
TRAVEL I'm PERSIA.
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Special Visit to Pasargad@ and
/. Persepolis.
ApOstrophe to Ispahan, Koomcshah, The Tomb
Of Shah Reza and Allah-hO Akbar.
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The Temple and Tomb Of Cyrus and the
College Of the Magl.
! QUARRIES OF PASARGADE.

euperatively beautiful, considering fts situation
and the doom to which 1t Is fast hurrying ala
Ispahan seem to me as, for the last uns, rear, 1
turned g view II frsm the gray grassy ridge which
scparates 1t from Its onsnoor, lspahanek, which is
ON the road as you proceed TO Shraz. shall always
remember It, FOR 1t has oeen daguerreotyped TOO well
on my mind. waking or dreaming, uppermost
Of all pleasant scenes dashed with certain melan-
-choliness win remain on my mind the memory OF
dspahan with the profound Of its SKY, its clear
air. It's dusky groves, It's gorgeous temples Of plea
sure Its lofty minars and egg-shaped domes, and
THE peaceful serenity and repose which seem to
dwell over the landscape.
Liye oh, Ispahan as thou art Let not one tree
grow Older, not one rose or gullnar bush wther nor
one flower die Let tiny palaces ever commemorate
the lofty.minded and great Shah Asbas. Let thy
golden Pantheons be forever golden, and thy
nedressehs and mesdjlds intact until the wood shall
dissolve Flow on, oh, happy. zaianderood, "River
OF Life" rightly Called and, II tnou canst flow
faster, now stronger. Thou Ispahan hast fulfilled
my Orient dream, though thou art but . shadow Of
thy former self. have looked at thee closely and
narrowly, and the more looked at thee the mere I
loved thee, despite thy ruins and thy degenerate
citizens. / sorrow at parting with thee, but my
kismet Is written and the law of 1t Is inexorabIe.
To thee, gorgeous fabric Of gold ana emerald incar-
nation Of airy phantasies. bow my farewell.
WIN the HERALD. wonder, judge the above
apOstrOphe rather tall, stilted norid, or any other
grabbed word which isasciDle and unimaQInatlve
critics generally indulge In BY right their feelings
should grayitate towards mine and connow with
mine towards one common centre, whence we could
see Persia with true eyes. have not been back
ward in blaming those who mislead people, who
have INDUCED In rhodomontades over the most
commonplace things, and. to be exact, must NOT
STINT praise when 1t Is well deserved. But every
man to his idiosyncracles; I to my task.
FROM IsPAHAN.
AS we leave the Ispahan plain a littery rroun
OF rock spnrers, OF humble height before the
grander altitude OF Takht-i-Rustam, assume an ex-
traordinary resemblance to gigantic bust of
Hercules. His ruined, shert crop OF hair always
like PROSTATE forest-fOr Hercules was no dandy
anu cared not for hairbrushes or Macassar un.
guent-the iullbumped Samsonian head, vast and
commodious; very precipce OF brow; a nose,
ut buttress for the mountain above 1t; cavernous
recesses for the eyes, and chn-ye gods such a
chin were 1t set wagging The bust Is perfect
But as we move on the Hercules becomes lion
couchant-the lion of judah, with his head between
two outstretched paws. In q moment 1t has
changed again-it has changed half dozen times
inc last view OF II, nom the angle of Lupi Hill,
anamorphizng it, suggests dragon. But I must
Pasargad@ and Persepolis, where we shall revel
among ruins and mediate O plenty In the halls OF
Xerxes and Darius II 1 only live to get there-the
Eeliants and Buctiaris are on the warpath, ana
Fenghee travellers are worthy objects Of punder.
We pass pleasant Magyar, hedged by its rug
ged wall OF mountain, at q vehement pace;
Koomeshah, amidst doleful plain, cir
cumscrbed within narrow limits by sun-brlck
coiored mountains; We arrive OF long before
night, almost isolated by heat OF thermometic
measure 12S degrees Fahrenheit. Not pleasant at
all say as plunge into the comfortable rooms Of
q telegraph khaneh, where determine to pass the
night There Is nobody in the telegraph oGice. so
constitute myself lord and master. With the pride
OF new proprietor / wander through the rooms,
gaze significantly into the vacant anderom and wink
satisfactorily at the garden though it has nothing
save few sickly looking red and white holcs I
went into the telegraph room and examined with
wonder the magic instruments with which could
communicate in an instant with the HERALD Office
In New York.
VIEWS OF THE TOWN.
Wnen evening came had my bed made on the
housetop, and while smoking my caan had a view
of tho town. OF q high mud wall surrounding the
town, of myriad OF pigeon towers, whose dung Is
more precious than guano; OF its acres OF tomb
stones and hon sphnxcs, scant grove or two, the
whole walled in by its lofty mountain framework
Near the town OF Koomeshah Is the tomb OF Shah
Reza-Imaum Reza-a most holy parsonage
which, as 1 found out afterwards, contains In Its
courtyard two tanks, in which are some sacred
fish. The tomb has stood nearly 800 years. deep
grove Of tall rees OF poplar and elm surround 1t.
"Allah-ho Akbar, Aah-ho, no, Akbarn chanted
by multitude Of voices, shrill antiphone OF boys
responsive to the deep bass OF men, is a cry hear
as drop to sleep, with the clear heaven for my
canopy.
EN- ROUTE AGAIN.
The next morning resume my rapid travel until
am halted at Yezdighast, only ten faisakles rom
Koomeshah until fresh relay comes from Maxu.
Deggy, the intervening station.
IRAN AND FARO.
Yczdighast MARKS the divisional line between
Iran and Faro-anclent Persa-the Persia OF Cam
byses and Darius Hystaspes. Iran was Media In
those days. Yezdighast Is a wonderful place. On
wall of the travellers room in the Chapper Khaneh
! found the following doggete, which | take the
liberty OF transcribing for your amusement. Its
merits are descriptive truth
Oh, Yezdighast! forever may thou rest
Thu; y Grim silence and m, mute plans:
Emmy rotten ~
Five long hours was i doomed 10 stay
But chiie my % servants and Bite my finger nails
And witness thy shameless hlthiuess.
This curse do bcstow on thee; with hearty spite
4 adjure all, let none withdraw it.
]" YEZDIGUAST.
Yezdighast is visible after crossing low ridge.
hnd as its houses begin to be seen you compare
them to cluster Of anthills. Approaching nearer
you see large graveyard containing many tombs,
four, i've and six hundred years old, sphinx or
two over some graves, cupolaed tomb covering
. saint. Passing the cemetery, Yezdighass
rIvh hnror m a Of
ness 1t stands table hill in the middle Of u
Dry river bed. The hill j. probably 1000 feet long
NV 200 feet greatest width, and fifty sixty feet
hph above the river bed The Sides OF the hill are
A light drawnrldge on the western
Eide is the only means or communication with It,
The Chspper Khaneh Is situated few yards from its
ieasten base. Tie Caravangerai. very fine build
dng is about eighty yards rom the Chapper khaneh,
On Inc southern side. All these buildings are hidden
drom the view OF the traveller on the plain by
tho lofty banks Of the river bed which are OF CAL
.carcous deposit and consequently much perforatea