'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎90] (133/748)

90
PERSIA
the Pasargadse of Cyrus, in life and in death, was the city whose frag
mentary ruins I have described in the valley of the Polvar, I am
inclined strongly to believe ; and therefore it is that in face of the
recent attacks that have been made upon it by men of science, I have
ventured to refurbish the armoury of its defence. 1
Soon after leaving the Musjid-i-Mader-i-Suleiman, the walls
of which gleam like a white patch on the sombre landscape, we
Approach farewell to the plain of Murghab, and enter a lofty
to Perse- range of mountains by a fine gorge, along the base of
polls which rushes the river Polvar. When the water is low,
the bed of the stream, or its banks, provide a roadway; for seasons
when the channel is full, a path, called Sangbur, has been hewn
many centuries ago, for a distance of over fifty yards in the
side of the lofty limestone cliff. 2 Twice this dark ravine expands
into open valleys, and twice again contracts into narrow defiles,
admitting little beyond the track and the noisy river. So we
continue for several miles, until, at the far end of one of the
valley-windings, we espy the miserable post-house and imposing
caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). of Kawamabad. This place takes its name from
its founder, the Haji Kawam, who was minister at Shiraz fifty
years ago. Turning to the left, and pursuing the same ravine,
I came, after thirty-five minutes' sharp riding to the village and
Telegraph-station of Sivend. The village, which is said to be
inhabited by Lurs, is built in ascending tiers on the mountain
side, while the valley bottom is thickly planted with vines. From
here the track continues in a south-easterly direction, skirting
the river, and arrives at the Lur village of Saidan, to which point
there is also a shorter track from Murghab than that followed
by the postal and telegraph route, running over the hills via Kamin.
An abrupt turn to the right, or west, then brings us into a valley,
bordered on either side by mountains and cut up by water
courses and irrigation channels, which, in the darkness, the sun
1 Since writing the above lengthy—but not, I hope, gratuitous—argument, I
have seen the new volume of MM. Perrot and Chipiez' magnificent work, entitled
Histoire de VArt dans VAntiquite, tome v., Perse (1890) ; and I am delighted to-
find that, limiting his own discussion to the identity of the tomb, without em
barking upon the larger question of Pasargadse, M. Perrot has arrived by arguments
very similar to my own at precisely the same conclusion; although he has
hardly realised the full measure of M. Dieulafoy's peccadilloes, and has based
his identification upon structural, rather than topographical, resemblances.
2 Vide Stolze, vol. ii. pi. 127.