'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎45] (76/360)

AS FAR AS KAS HAN
45
where water is so scantily distributed, and where one can
so fully understand the force of the Prophet's expression,
the "shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
Kashan itself seemed even more in want of repair than
Koom, and its ugly, bare mud buildings stood in a con
fused mass on the plain, the telegraph office outside the
town and one lofty minaret being the only structures
that caught the eye among the hundreds of low-domed,
squalid-looking houses. We took up our quarters at the
former, being hospitably received by the official in charge,
and spent three days in the unprepossessing ruined city.
As far as Kashan we saw Demavend, which rose up in
greater grandeur daily, the rest of the snowy Elburz Range
dwindling away, so that we could appreciate the true
proportions of the majestic volcano, and when we finally
lost sight of its beautiful outline, we felt as if some familiar
friend had left us for good.
Kashan was once famous for its brass-work, and the
Persian name for a tile, kashi, is derived from this town,
which still supplies these beautiful decorations for mosques
and palaces.
It is the centre of the Persian silk trade, and we spent
several enjoyable hours in selecting purchases from the
big bundles of textile treasures of all kinds that the
dellals brought for our inspection.
There were silk cloths and sashes striped with all the
colours of the rainbow, lovely scraps of old embroidery,
softly-shaded velvets, and white veils worked with gold
thread, these latter being formerly used by the ladies to
drape round their heads. Many of the modern productions
were staring combinations of emerald-green and magenta,
or vivid purple and yellow; their aniline dyes looking