Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-10-16
A PERSIAN CARAVANSARY.
SCENES IN A GREAT REFUGE FOR
TRAVELLERS.
A Huge Stone Building With Room
for 1000 Mem = Receiving the
Ouests-A Queer Place.


for 1000 Mem = Receiving the
Quests-A Queer Place.
After march of some four and twenty
miles, we come upon the caravansary. To
European eyes it seems more like fort
ress than arefuge for travellers. At each
corner of the huge square stone building
is round tower loopholed at the top.
The crenellated wall is also loopholed at
regular intervals. At either side of the
huge gate are similar towers; above the
doorway is an incised inscription, beau
tifully cut, which states that ''Shah Alb
has the Great built this caravansary and
dedicated it to the use of travellers in the
name of God and the prophet Mahom-
med" There is plenty of accommoda-
ton in the caravansary, for on pinch it
cau house and shelter comfortably two
thousand men. Close to the caravansary
is the alb lumbar or covered reservoir. 1t
is supplied from kannat or underground
channel that has been excavated, at times
at depth of many feet, for some miles;
it is always full; the surplus water runs
off in tiny brooklet; the stone dome
that covers the reservoir keeps its cool.
Unfortunately these water cellars are a
favorite place for hiding the bodies Of
murdered travellers.
There is no other building of any kind
within circle of twenty-four miles of
our caravansary. No food for man can
be obtained there. Perhaps in quiet
times the doorkeeper may have barley
and chaff for the horses for sale and
little firewood or even charcoal. But
these things cannot be depended on.
We have sighted our hating place
some three miles off at turn of the road
that road that was never made or re-
paired, but that centuries of traffic have
marked out Our horses, directly they
see the place, prick up their ears and,
neighing, mend their pace. The tagging
mules no longer need the awful curses
of the charwarders (muleteers) nor the
frequent application of the cruel chain
whip. The leader of the caravan, always
a horse (not MULE, quickens his pace,
proudly janglirg his bells and tossing
his gayly bedizened head, which is decked
with woollen and leather ornaments and
scarlet headstall, on which are sewn
many rows of cowries. The muleteers
begin to sing and the servants to smile.
The cook urges his mule to a canter and,
amid much clanking of pots, hurries on
to prepare his masters dinner. He will
supply a good dinner of perhaps four
courses and sweet, his kitchen being
four bricks in the corner of the stable.
AS we enter the frownlng gateway
which is very similar to that of the stage
baronial castle, and at times the size of
the old Temple Bar-a dervish humbly
presents flower, an unripe plum or
blade of grass. Nearly naked, his
long hair hanging unkempt about his
shoulders, his eyes sparkling with hope
and the combined effects Of bhang and
religious meditation. panther skin over
his shoulders and brandishing a spiked
club, the mendicant looks sufficiently
formidable. "Ya huk!" ("Oh my rightpD
he cries, as he asks for aims. A few
coppers satisfy him. and he magnificently
deigns to indicate the cells chosen by our
| servants.
Around the square inclosed by the four
sides of the caravansary are forty eight
deep arches of heavy stonework. In each
archway are piled the impediments of its
tenants; their road-kits, their bales,
their pa1niers, their merchandise. Sep
arate piles of boxes and bales flung down
in the spacious courtyard have formed
the loads of several hundred mules, of
perhaps dozen different caravans: the
mules are away grazing around the cara
vansary Our servants have taken pos
session of three of the archways. No
man demands hire CT them, no man says
them nay. First come, first served, such
is caravansary rule. From one of
the archways come clouds of dust
the doorkeeper is preparing it for
our reception. At the back of
each recess is a doorway "a hole in the
walD some four feet by three. This
leads to windowless room of stone
work, which has fireplace and perhaps
chimney-nothing more. The walls are
immensely thick The place is cool in
summer, warm in winter; the walls and
domed roof are black with the smoke of
ages. Behind these rooms runs the
stabling-stabling for thousand ami
mails.
AS the mules enter the courtyard their
loads are hurriedly slipped off and piled
in heap; the servants drag out the
carpets, the portable beds, the bedding,
the table and the two chairs. The groom
takes our horses; the table servant hands
us the fragrant kalian Tor hubble-bub
ble); we sluat on the square raised stone
platform that Is in the center of the
courtyard, and enjoy the finest mode of
smoking in the world, The mules in a
long string, each bearing his 1angling
bell, canter off under the care of an as
sistant muleteer, to be watered at the rill
running from the water cellar. The place
gets quieter as the caravan settles down.
We see that many recesses are occupied
by various families; some are poor, even
beggars; some wealthy merchants; per-
haps there is C prince and hissuite. The
accommodation is exactly the same. First
come, first served. No man is elected.
If you arrive too late 10 find a vacant
room, you must sleep in the stable, on
the roof or on the platform-or buy some
poor man out.
Our special recess and room have been
swept and carpeted. Our chairs are set
up. We partake OF tea under our OWL
special archway. In the inner room
there is q remarkable Transformation; in
tba recaas cfand our li0hted oandlea. In