rise in the form of an amphitheatre; the foremost bend towards the east, and almost touch Kaleh Sefid, being separated from it only by the defile, through which the river Shéker-ab, or Ab-Shúr, coming from Ardekán, forces its way, while the more distant and snow-covered hills pass behind Kal'ch Sefid, and afterwards unite with Pir-i-Zen. At the height of Munénahl they turn abruptly to the east, in the direction of Shiráz.

While descending into the valley, my sense of smell was agreeably affected by the perfume of the narcissus, spread like a white carpet over the field, for the space of many miles. All our party pushed into this rich parterre up to their horses' girths, to enjoy the fragrance as much as possible. For my own part, I felt at first some scruples at thus treading down these beautiful and delicate productions of nature; but I ended by doing as the others did, so easy is it to yield to a seductive example. This is not an exaggerated description of the charms of Sha'b-bevan, which is said by

234 TRAVELS IN LURISTAN AND ARABISTAN.

the Arabian and Persian poets to be one of the four terrestrial paradises.

This valley is interspersed with cultivated fields, which produce cotton, rice, barley, and wheat; but wherever the ground is left fallow, the narcissus resumes its empire, and seems to have fixed on Sha'b-beván, and on the plains of Behbehán, as its favourite places of abode.

We followed the valley in a N.N.W. direction, and at a quarter before four, p.m., reached Fahliyán, situated at the northern base of the connecting range of hills which we had crossed in coming from Núrabád. We made this day between seven and eight farsangs, in a northerly direction.

CHAPTER X.

Description of Fahliyán.-Cultivation of the soil.-Taxation.-Visit an Imam-Zadeh.-Description of the plain of Fahliyán.-Extract from M. Quatremère on Sha'bbeván.-Remarks thereon.-Enter the territory of the Rustemi Mamaseni.-Course of the river Ab-Shúr, or Sheker-ab.-The valley of Ser-ab-Siyah.-Rencontre with the Rustemi Chief.-Unlucky display of horseman-hip.-Pass the Ab-Shúr, and enter the Khogilú territory. Reception at Basht by Allah-Kerim-Khan, Chief of the Bovi tribe.--General character of the Iliyat Chiefs.-Resume my journey.-Travelling Iliyats.— Karavanserai of Daghun-Bezúm.-Pass the night under arm-.-Cross the rivers of Shem-si-Arab and Kheirabod. -Hindian.-Arrive at Behbehán.

FAHLIYAN is a little paltry town, of at most sixty or seventy houses. It is, nevertheless, enclosed by extensive walls, now in ruins, from which it is evident that it was formerly not quite so insignificant. In the time of the Sefeviyeh dynasty it had 5,000 inhabitants, a mosque, and four public baths; at least such was the

information I received from my officious host, who was very anxious that I should not judge of Fahliyán as it is in its present fallen state, but as it was in the days of its prosperity. The district of Fahliyán once extended from Munenah on the south to Basht on the north-west, and from Ardekán on the east and north-east to Khisht on the south-west. The Mamaseni have by degrees made themselves masters of almost all the arable land formerly possessed by the inhabitants of Fahliyán, who complain bitterly of the exactions to which they are continually subjected. The town is supplied with water by a canal running along the hills from the snow-capped chain beyond Kal'eh Sefid, for a distance, perhaps, of four farsangs (fourteen miles). The water of the Ab-Shúr being, as its name implies, brackish, it can only be used for irrigating the fields. The soil is here very fertile, and water abundant; but hands are wanting for the cultivation of the land. The fields, artificially irrigated (a process described by the Persian word, Feryab), yield

from twenty-five to forty for one in the winter crops the proportion is lower in the lands called deim, or bakhs, i.e., fields watered only by rain and dew, and not artificially irrigated. Rice, which is sown, yields less than that which is planted, the crop, in good years, being in proportion to the seed as 150 to one. Sesamum (kunjud) is also cultivated here, and returns 100 for one.

Fahliyán is surrounded by fine palm-trees, and has a fort, in ruins, on the summit of a small hill. As a lofty and precipitous mountain rises close behind it, the inhabitants of the town receive only the rays of the morning sun, and are the rest of the day in shade.*

By not paying due attention to the position of Fahliyán I was led into a mistaken notion that the heats there in summer must be intolerable, owing to the refraction of the sun's rays from the mountain which overhangs the

town.

See my notes on a journey through the Mamaseni Khogilú and Bakhtiyar countries, in vol. xiii. of the Royal Geographical Society of London," for the year 1×43, p. 80.