Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-12-16

Z ~ ~, 49,.
~ 4. : $500 Dssss~A feusnesA
q As&sxusss.
j sooeol ee<spsoeadees a ne hoadca
nS3& 49, oAue Gescfte<e cn sxtseosos.
IalIs ee>)ae ylflaee Whsc9 - ~ I. - =
- 1(ol1ess = go hundred @bes 'F''n
= ~ "a ysvcesdsd tsr on eur way
= - v,ss3rrs q ~ former eonditioh Of
- "a NJ am eva. ltNns nj . pics on1y
~ Si,rs iroG fthsnn tat we 0nSt rtxl-
49, ~ 6Pvs6sssl sssst Il slnuecr 10 which
- 5000 IA lived. We found most
~Ss,rSckje vll(aeex - which NJ enca'npcd.
Snne~S11ne 10 usloFlha<lon could have been
~ r.red. eod ~ xrch<ologlst had conc
ScoH 4 b. accideui, be wou'd have
- prol0nud puzzle TO unrsvel
~ expsaIn. The nsme Of the VII
,1sre = Lassl9d. The peolae ascribc an
lSrocee enSiquitv n u. sud say that
a. 81 Sou Of kcNli, drew on the ground
9ke e3rd., or circle, which 4 the plan Of tho
S1rvcfrfe. The hero Of this legend is mol
rtrv ssa,IlIkr 70 Biblical scholars 10 the
Ve<k but he q not unknown Ia Afghan
klen. The colosseum At Rome. although
AZ cvsi. would convey some idea OF the
General appearance Of Lasgird. only u must
E. conceived as built OF mud. which Is al
pcst the only building material Of THIS
ceuutgy. II should also be fecollccted that
the one belongs 10 Q period Of good arcni 1
lecture, Of which Il IL celebrated inonu'
uent While The other may be said TO Dc en-.
!irely destitute Of any preseos'0ns OF 'o''
The rude mud walls are thick and solid
an round al the base. and rise some .nirsv
o. forty feeet. who're there y = line o. eoors'
with here ara there small window oe-
TWEEN them. BY means OF protecting
bssms. or branches Of trees. over wnicn
SualkF branches are laid, Kind OF gallery
b produced. ''caflag strong resemblance
10 those simple forms Of BIRDS nests when
ere formed Of sticks placed on the upper
branches OF trees. The wonder u BOW tae
eses 40 rot roll over. or that the chicks 40
not tumble down 70 Obstruction: 80 "
with the galleries OF Laseird-there Is no
protection on the edge. fetwe saw womfn
ana children. sheep. and goats upon tnem--
q more frail and dangerous LOOKING ar'
rapRemsrs Il would he hard to conceive:
There are tao tiers oil houses oil rcuno, anu
a. some pDsces there appeared 10 be three.
All hsd these galleries In front, either to
oommunicate with the next house. or, as
scmc GA not communicate, they were only
Of use 10 come out upon to cit, or work, or
for the children to play upon; to us these
Dlaces seemed the brink OF destruction,
white 70 the women and children 1t all APP
pesred ne safe and comfortable as II they
had been monkeys.- OF course there was no
getting up to these galleries from the out
side; tbst would have suited the Tnrko'
mans. The means OF going up was all on
the inside. In some cases there are rough
stems Of mud, and In others there are in-
cljned planes, half ladder and hail ROAD,
made In the same way as the galleries.
These lead up TO galleries communicating
with the houses, winch were an exact repe-
titjon OF those on the outside, the only DIR.
ference being that they were not so high
M. and there were walls nc places which
did duty rs parapet. hence the certainty
Of falling over did not seem quite so
great from the inside as on the outside.
While looking ut this strange structure
nom one OF these upper galleries. an
old woman. Of ut least seventy years OF age,
passed NE, with child stuck In some
priptiye way on her back. A few yards
from me was one Of these means OF ascent
formed OF sticks with the remains OF mud
hanging to II. 1t would have done for
fowls 70 90 up 10 their rcosts upon. she
c,ambered up on this to the gallery above
but that was not her destination. Her
house was one up still higher In a cor.
ner. and 10 reach IL she had to crawl
up on the edge OF crumbling mud
wall, not above eighteen inches wide.
On her left hand was perpendicular
descent, enough To make any one dizzy.
and death ut the bottom OF 1t. u fall should
occur. Although the other side there was
only few feet. II the old creature had
slipped the chances are that she would have
rolled down aud 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. could not
help thinking that few generations oil this
kind Of thing would undo all on develop
ment, and that we would 60 back again to
our original Simian condition.
"The dwellings OF the people were all in
the upper part Of the great circle. and the
centre was filled up with strange moss
structures, which are now falling to decay,
a. there Ii no longer any danger from the
Turkomaus. These places were Tor con-
tanning the grain Of the village and fo- re-
cciyiug the live stock OF the villages when
0 raid occurred. One Of number ofwells
was pointed out TO us within n circle, and
we were told that they had three or four
which were always Kept IN good order In the
days Of danger. There is only one entrance to
this circle and that is by small entrance,
scarcely four feet In height, 10 which there
& stone door working with pivot and
soeket similar TO the ancient stone doors
found In the lIaursn and other parts OF the
SoudaI. This stone door OF Lasgird Is q
very rude one, beng eight inches thick In
some parts, and II tells Its tale OF the exis-
tence Of great danger and the neces.
siiy for protection. Sir Peter Luns-
den had long conversation with
the Khet Kbodah and some OF the princi-
pal villagers, and II seemed that they not
only ascribed the origin Of Lssgird TO the
Son OF Noah. sNu,' as they called him. but
they likened their strange dwelling-placc
70 the Ark. Extreme theologisns. who
identity the Church with the Ark, say all
who were In the Ark were saved; oil with
: out were destroyed. This was exactly the
case with Lasgird. When n Chupao took
place all who got in were secure; all who
were left outside became victims. A
chronic state OF war existed. and this forti'
fed village was the result The Govern
ment either could or would not defend the
PEOPLE, and they had to take means fol
fhctp NUN safety