The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-12-13
FOUNDED BY NoAus SON.
An Extraordinary Village, Located in the
Vicinity of Teheran, Persia.

vicinity OF Ieh0ranp IerSla'
London Daily News
Our special correspondent with the Afghan
Commission thus describes extraordinary
looking village, which he passed at the distance
of 100 miles from Teheran:
1--WE had not proceeded far way when
vestiges Of the former condition of things met
our eyes 1t was at place only 100 miles from
Ieheran that We first realized the dreadful state
of danger in which the people had lived. We
found most remarkable village, at which We
encamped. SuppOsiag no information could
have been procured. and an archnologst had
come upon it by accident, he would have had
profound puzzle to unravel ard explain. The
name of the village is Lasgird. The people
ascribe an immense antiquity to it, and say that
Las. or Last, son Of Noah drew on the ground
the grid, or circle, which is tho plan of the
structure. The nero of this legend is not very
familiar to biblical scholars in the West but he
not unknown in Afghanstan. The Coliseum
at Rome, although an oval, would convey some
idea of the general appearance of IIasClrd only
it must be conceived as built of mud, which is
almost the only building material Of this coun-
try. 1t should also be recollected that the one
belongs to a period of good architecture, of
which it is a celebrated monument, while the
other may be said to be entirely destitute of any
pretensions of this kind
The rude mud walls are thick and solid all
round at the base, and rise some thirty or forty
feet, where there is line Of doors, with here
and there a small window between them. By
means of projecting beams or branches of trees,
over Which smaller branches are laid, kind Of
gallery Is produced, bearing strong resem blance
to those simple forms of birds nests which are
formed of sticks placed on the upper branches Of
trees. The wonder is how the eggs do not roll
over, or that the chicks do not tumble down tt
destruction. So it is with the galleries of LasgirC
there is protection on the edge. Yet
women and children, sheep and goats upon
them-a more frail and dangerous looking ar
rangement it would be hard to conceive. There
are two tiers of houses all round, and in SOM
places there appeared to be three. All had thes'
galleries in front, either to communicate will
the next house, or, as some did not communicate
they were only of use to come out upon to sit, o.
work. or for the children to play upon to us thes'
places seemed the brink of destruction while t,
the women and children it all appeared us saf'
and comfortable as if they had been monkeys
CT course there was no getting up to these gal
leries from the outsider that would have suited
the Turkomens The means of going up was al
on the inside In some cases there rough
steps of mud, and in others there are inclined
planes, half ladder and half road, made in tn,
same way as the galleries. These lead up to til,
galleries communicating with the houses, which
were an exact repetition of those on the outside,
the only difference being that they were not Sc
high up, and there walls at places which
did duty as pararet, hence the certainty of fall
ing over did not seem quite so great from the in
side as on the outside While looking at this
strange structure from one of the upper CALLER
les, an old woman of at least seventy years OF
age passed me, with child stuck in some print
y
was one of these means of ascent formed OF
sticks with the remains Of mud hanging to it.
1t would have done for fowls to 90 up to theiI
roosts upon. She clambered up or
this to the gallery above. but that
was not her destination; her home was one uI
still higher in corner, and TO reach it she haC
to crawl up on the edge of a crumhling mud
wall. not above eighteen inches wide on her left
hand was a perpendicular descent, enough t
make any one dizzy, aud death at the bottom Of
it, if fall should occur; although the other side
there only few feet, if the Old creature
had slipped, the chances are that she would have
rolled down, and fallen over the gallery with the
baby on her back The old lady went up very
steadily, and reached her crows nest in perfect
safety. l could not help thinking thai a few
generations of this kind of thing would Undo all
our development, and that would go back
to our original Silnian condition.
THE dwellings of the people were all in the
upper part of the great circle, and the center
filled up with strange moss structures,
which falling to decay, there is nc
longer any danger from the Turkomans These
places were for containing the grain of the VII
layers when raid occurred One Of
number of wells was pointed ont to Ut
within circle and were told that they haG
three or four which were always kept in good
order in the days Of danger There Is Oniy one
entrance to this circle, and that is by a small
entrance scarcely four feet in height, to which
there Is a stone door, working with 2 pivot and
socket similar to the ancient stone doors found
in the 1auran and other parts of the Soudan.
This stone door of Lasghd is a very rude one
being eight inches thick in some parts, ami it
tells its tale of the existence of great danger
and the necessity for protection Sir Peter
Lunsden had long conversation with the khet
Kholah and some of the principal villagers and
it seemed that they not only ascribed the origin
of Lasgird to the son of Noah, 'Nu, as they
called him, but they likened their strange dwell
ing place to the ark Extreme theolosians, who
identify the church with the ark. say "a who
were the ark saved; all without were
destroyed. This was exactly the cass Nitl Las
grid. When Il ehupao took place al who got in
were secure; all who were left outside became
victims. A chronic state of war existed, and
this fortified village was the result. TIE s.vern-
ment either could not o. would not defend the
people. and they had to take means f.; their
own safety
A Notable Character.