Plate XXIX.
Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, May 1st, 1811.
| No. 6. From Boli. | No. 1. From Shapour p. 87. Two Colossal figures on horseback: figures on the right. |
| No. 3. Sculptures at Nakshi Rustam p. 127. Greek Inscription on the rock under the Horses belly nearly obliterated: then the following | No. 2. From the first Sculpture to the N. at Nakshi Rustam p. 126. |
| No. 4. Inscription on the Windows of the Rock p. 128. | No. 5. Inscription at Mesjed Madré Suleiman, p. 144. |
From Geredéh to Boli is twelve hours. On quitting Geredéh we crossed one of the most beautiful regions that I had ever seen. It was a continual garden of vineyards and corn-fields, shaded by walnut and oak trees, growing here to a greater size than any that I had hitherto found in the country. At very frequent intervals, on each side of the road, were large collections of blocks of stone, of different shapes, squares, oblongs, and pillars of five or six feet high: several with Greek inscriptions upon them. That these spots were ancient places of burial is more certain, because there are now mixed among them many modern tomb-stones. There are two inscriptions near the durand or guard-house: one, on a column on the left of the road; and one, inserted in a wall on the right. I did not care for the chance of decyphering them to stop the rapid progress of our journey, (for we now went generally on a full gallop;) but on coming up to a very conspicuous pillar on the side of the road near a fountain, I could not neglect the opportunity of copying it, (see plate XXIX.) while our horses were drinking. It was terminated by a cross, which was an evidence that the monument had some connection with the primitive Christians. I wished much to have taken the other inscriptions; as, in general, they seemed legible; but I found that any notice of Greek was incompatible with the character of a Persian, and might have excited a suspicion of my disguise. As we approached Boli, the beauty of the country and the richness of cultivation increased. The plain, in which the town is situated, is quite a garden; and was then displaying all the lively green of the height of spring, except where the ripened corn broke in upon the general verdure. The quantity of rain, that had so lately fallen, had left this brilliant freshness on nature; but, even without this extraordinary supply, there is never any dearth of water. Boli, on the side by which we approached it, is not seen until we enter its very streets, as it is situated behind a hill. It is a large place surrounded by an open palisade, which indeed is its only defence. From the appearance of the streets and bazars the place is well peopled. As we galloped into the town in the true haste and style of couriers with our surujees (or conductors), making a kind of hideous noise to announce our approach, a company of Turkish soldiers, with colours flying (and preceded by a man beating a sort of little kettle drum tied to his middle) entered at a very slow and admirably-contrasted pace.
We departed from Boli in the evening; and, having quitted its delightful plain, begun to wind among mountains, and entered the large forest to which Boli gives its name. Through the whole there is a fine causeway made by some pious Mussulman[48], which is a sufficient guide to the traveller if he will only follow it through all its windings. The Tatars prefer the side to the road itself; though the path which they thus make for themselves may be full of water and mud. We chose the same, even when it was dark; for of the two evils, the fatigue of wading is less to the horses and mules, than that of scrambling and stumbling over the pavement.
Having rode six hours through the forest we reached a small wooden hut, the station of the guards of the mountains. Here we determined to wait till morning, as my Tatar told me that the forest grew so much thicker as we advanced, that in so dark a night it became dangerous to proceed. We unloaded therefore our baggage, and seated ourselves among a party of a dozen Turks, the chief of whom, a merry fellow, did the honours of his hut very agreeably. He was seated in the corner, and his men were strewed around him on the floor. Pistols, swords and muskets, and every implement of a soldier, were hung along the walls. Whilst the oldest of the party made some coffee for us, the youngest took down a rude guitar from a peg, and broke the stillness of the night by a song, to which he applied the whole force of his lungs, and which did not ill express the wild life of himself and his companions. I attempted to compose myself to sleep in a corner, but the heat of an immense wood-fire had given so much animation and impertinence to the fleas and vermin of the hut, that I was obliged to take refuge in an open shed on the outside, where I slept very soundly till the morning.
15th. As the morning broke, we proceeded on our journey, and penetrated the deeps of the forest. The road, in some of its windings through the rich woodland, presented some of the most fanciful and picturesque landscapes that the imagination of a painter could wish. I remarked some of the finest specimens of ash, elm, plane, poplar, larch and beech; with, now and then, some oaks larger than any that I had ever seen in Asia. This forest, which extends over a vast tract of country[49], supplies an unceasing source of timber to the arsenals of Constantinople. Their mode of felling the tree is susceptible of much improvement; for they first burn it towards the root, (by which they injure the finest part of the wood) and then apply the axe. In our progress we overtook immense spars which were dragged by buffaloes, and by slow journies are thus brought to Constantinople. Each end is supported on a light carriage of two wheels; but it requires all the prodigious strength of the buffaloe (and no other animal is equal to the attempt) to be able to cope with the difficulties which the extreme badness of the roads in the rainy season presents. We heard the howling of wolves all around us; and their great numbers are sometimes fatal to those travellers, who risk themselves at night through the wilds of the forest.
Khandak, our next stage, twelve miles from Boli, is famed for the ferocity and wild freedom of its inhabitants. It is a village situated in the very heart of the forest, and its first appearance presents all the beauty that an intermixture of wood, water, cultivation, and buildings can combine. The low houses, with their shelving roofs nicely tiled, at the foot of lofty trees, (with partial openings here and there, where murmured a stream of pure water); still more enlivened by the most picturesque looking men and women, really formed a landscape which a Claude, a Hobbima, or a Ruysdael would have envied. We soon discovered however the temper of the inhabitants: all the men and even boys of ten years old, wore a brace of pistols, and a large knife in their girdles; and displayed countenances more expressive of savage hardihood than I recollect to have ever seen. This horde of desperadoes is extremely obnoxious to the Porte; but, entrenched in their woods, they bid defiance to firmans or Capidgi Bashees. Within these few years (and the fresh appearance of the houses attests the fact) an officer from Constantinople was sent with a large body of men to surprise the inhabitants, and either to destroy them or take them prisoners; but they had notice of the design, and fled into the fastnesses of the woods, leaving their homes as the prey of the invaders, who immediately burnt them to the ground, destroying all the poor creatures that happened to fall into their way. No sooner however had the troops of the Porte quitted the territory than the natives returned, cleared away the smoking rubbish, and rebuilt their houses, as if nothing had happened.
16th. We were here obliged to pay five piastres a horse to proceed to Sabanja, distant twelve hours. As we departed from Khandak, the road begun gradually to open, and presented to us extensive tracts of cultivation. We came to a long causeway of wood, formed indeed only of trees thrown across and so completely out of repair, that we passed it in many places at the hazard of our lives. At its termination (several hours from Khandak) there is a wooden bridge of considerable extent, but a part of it had fallen; and we were obliged therefore to ford the river over which it is built, and which was broad but not deep or rapid, although much rain had lately fallen. We followed a cart dragged by buffaloes across the stream, and got in safety over it. After the passage of the river we reached the borders of the beautiful lake of Sabanja, surrounded on all sides by the most enchanting scenery; its distant mountains and waters dying away in the softest tints on the horizon. We traversed its shores for nearly three hours, passing lands the fine projections and woods of which reflected in the water below the most beautiful pictures.
Sabanja is a place situated in a very thick wood, and notorious equally for the impudence and the independance of its inhabitants. We were not long detained at the post-house; and departed for Ismid, hoping to reach it before the close of night, as the road was reported unsafe after a certain hour. Although it was too dark to analyse the beauties of the plain towards Ismid, yet the general outline of the country was sufficiently discernible to impress me with an idea of its beauty and magnificence: and something also I gained by the solemn and dubious light of evening, as it softened and harmonized the whole landscape.
It was, however, entirely dark when we crossed the long causeway that leads into Ismid. The plain was here and there illumined by the fires of the caravans that had encamped for the night. We put up at the coffee-house adjacent to the post, and early in the morning departed for Gevisa, distant nine hours. Ismid is a large town most delightfully situated on the declivity of the mountain bordering on the branch of the sea, that forms its deep and beautiful gulph. In my rapid progress I could just ascertain that the place contained some well-built houses, and some in situations that must have commanded fine and extensive views of all its scenery. The water is so girt around with high mountains that it appears a great lake; but the imagination is soon undeceived by remarking the large boats which navigate it, and which I soon recognized to be those of Constantinople and the Bosphorus. My anxiety to reach the end of my journey was now increased; and I stopped not to examine the antiquities of Ismid.[50]