"دليل بلاد فارس، الجزء III، وهو يتضمن محافظة فارس، لورستان، عربستان، خوزستان، يزد، كرمانشاه، أردلان، كردستان" [ظ‎‎٢‎٨‎٠] (٦٨٦/٥٦٥)

SHI—SHI
Beyond the plain in which Shiraz is situated rise the dark bare
mountains, snow-crowned. Stack considers the most remarkable relics
of antiquity near Shiraz to be three wells on a rocky hill, 2 miles
north-east of the city. No one knows who made them.
Probably they are older than the Muhammadan conquest. The hill
is about 500 feet high, and very steep. It seems to be composed of
sandstone and limestone. Two of the wells are on the side facing
the city. These are the deepest. The mouth of the larger of the two
is about 7 feet by 5, and its depth nearly 500 feet. The shaft evi
dently sinks through the whole depth of the hill. It is hewn in
the solid limestone and very smoothly cut ; the sides are perfectly
plump. The third well at the back of the hill has seats, or ledges, cut
in the rock above it. Remains of old fortifications encompass the
summit of the hill. From the topmost peak the whole plain of Shiraz
can be seen, and the salt lake of Mahalu 20 miles to the east.
The plain is well watered, fertile, and green, and miles of orchards
cover its western end. Shiraz city is a compact area in the landscape,
overhung with smoke, and adorned by three blue domes. The articles
of manufacture and commerce in Shiraz are arms, cutlery, glassware,
ornamental pencases, silver and gold pipes, tobacco pipes, cotton cloths,
cotton and woollen stockings, and wine.
The wine of Shiraz is freely made and sold publicly by the Arme
nians. It is of two kinds, red and white. The former tastes like
rough and coarse sherry, and the latter like a moist thin chablis.
It is kept in large jars and sold in glass bottles of various sizes,
holding from a quart to two or three gallons. The manufacture of
these bottles gives employment to a large number of people.
An extensive branch of industry is the making of Kaliuns, some of
which are very beautifully worked in the precious metals.
The bowls are generally formed of a cocoanut, the more costly de
scription mounted with silver and gold. The prices vary from Is. to
£30. The Kaliun supersedes the pipe in Persia. The tobacco grown
in the neighbourhood of Prinj is of good quality.
The art of enamelling also is practised here to some extent, and
sham articles of jewellery, the execution of which is very delicate.
The metals used are silver and gold. Carpets used formerly to be
made at Shiraz, but of late years the manufacture has declined, and
now only those of a coarse texture are manufactured.
The yield of crops in the Shiraz plain for 1879-80 is estimated at
20,000 shah mans, equal to 1,300 cases. Ross, in his Report for
1879-80, gives a memorandum on the cultivation of a village in one of
the subdivisions of Shiraz.
Besides Karind, Shiraz is the chief locality where native cutlery can
be procured. Although Shiraz is a trade name given to fine tobacco,
it is not much grown there.
In regard to communication with the sea at Bushahr, although only
190 miles intervene, six severe passes have to be surmounted, and at
two spots the track rises to an altitude of 7,000 feet, and on this
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