'Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, and on the Site of Ancient Nineveh; with Journal of a Voyage down the Tigris to Bagdad and an Account of a Visit to Shirauz and Persepolis.' [‎211] (246/450)

LET. 11.]
KE1UM KHAN.
211
rather a ruinous condition. There is a fine terrace
before it, and then a lower garden, much in the
Italian style, but it is only two hundred yards
square. The mere pleasure-part of the Khosroo-
abad was eight hundred. Three or four walks are
planted with cypress-trees, but with the exception of
these and some others scattered about here and
there in some of the gardens, the cypresses for which
Shirauz was once so celebrated have almost entirely
disappeared. They have been unmercifully cut down
for common carpentry, for door and window frames,
&c. The other day the prince wanted some timber
to repair the roof of his kiosk in his garden, and cut
down some remarkably fine tchinar trees, which had
been much celebrated for their beauty in Kerim
Khan's time. I have ordered a neat box to be made
for you out of the Shirauz cypress wood, but the
trees, however renowned in oriental song, are not so
fine as those of Constantinople.
It is astonishing how much the memory of Kerim
Khan ,,is venerated, even by those in the service of
the present government. To judge by such of his
public works as have been allowed to remain,
Shirauz must have been a splendid city in his time.
The climate is very agreeable, and is reckoned
healthy. The thermometer is at 91° for an hour or
two, and this only in the hot season. The nights
are cool, but I find it most pleasant to sleep in the
open air, though many keep to their rooms. There
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