'Travels in Assyria, Media, and Persia, including a journey from Bagdad by Mount Zagros, to Hamadan, the ancient Ecbatana, researches in Ispahan and the ruins of Persepolis, and journey from thence by Shiraz and Shapoor to the sea-shore. Description of Bussorah, Bushire, Bahrein, Ormuz, and Muscat, narrative of an expedition against the pirates of the Persian Gulf, with illustrations of the voyage of Nearchus, and passage by the Arabian Sea to Bombay.' [‎129] (160/582)

OF TAUK-E-BOSTAN.
129
On the inside of the great cave, the largest and most promi
nent figures are on the end wall, immediately facing the spectator
on entering. This wall is divided into two equal compartments
by a broad sculptured frieze or cornice, jutting out from the level
of the ground on which the designs are executed, in about the
' same proportion as the figures ; so that its highest part is on a level
with the most projecting of the group, these last being all exe
cuted in very bold alto-relievo.
The lower compartment is entirely occupied by the colossal
equestrian figure of Rustam, the Hercules of the Persians, famed
for his feats of strength. His horse, though in some parts clumsy,
has nothing in its form that grossly offends the sight, on seeing it
at a proper distance. Its neck, breast, and shoulders, are covered
with an ample cloth, richly wrought, with tassels; but its haunches
are perfectly bare. The figure of the rider is on a scale of nine
or ten feet high, and intended perhaps to represent the size of
life in the hero himself, as the natural size seems to have been
made the standard of all the other large figures seen here. This
rider sits firmly on his horse, and is in the act of poising his spear;
while from his neck or collar, are seen flying out behind him the
ruffled plaits of a scarf, as if blown out by the wind. The face of
the hero is masked, and his body is covered with a coat of armour
formed of net-work, finely woven into a close cloth. The farther
hind-leg of the horse is destroyed, and a part of its head is defaced;
but the rest is well preserved, and its details are quite distinct.
The upper compartment contains three standing figures, about
the size of life; the two right-hand ones of which are male, and
the other a female. The traditions of the country say, that the
central one is Khosrou Parviz, with Shirine, his bride, on his
right, and Shapoor, his minister, on his left. I was struck with
nothing peculiar in these figures, except that the queen holds a
vase in her left hand, as if pouring water from it, which Beau-
champ had before asserted, and Rousseau had denied to exist.*
* Rousseau's Journey, in ' Les Mines de 1'Orient/ p. 95.