'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.' [‎305] (336/582)

TOMB OF SEID ALA-UL-DIN. 395
Bushire. I accordingly wrote such a letter, intending to go on
as far as Shapoor, about midway, and then meet the messenger,
who would bring his answer to Kauzeroon.
When this duty was performed, we went out to see such other
principal tombs in the town as we had not yet visited. The first
of these was that of Seid Ala-ul-Din, son of Imam Moosa. This
building is equally spacious and lofty with that of Shah Ameer
Hamza, is in much finer preservation, and the decorations are
infinitely superior. The tomb itself is nearly of the same kind,
enclosed within a large frame, like a sanctuary, with cage-work of
brass, finely wrought; it is covered with silver vessels as offerings,
and on it lies a copy of the Koran. Above is suspended a gaudy ca
nopy, and the pavement is covered by carpets of a blue ground, of
the manufacture of Yezd, in which Arabic inscriptions are wrought
around the border in characters of white, well formed and dis
tinct. The surbasement of the walls is formed of slabs of a dark
and clouded marble, sometimes of a reddish kind, speckled with
white, like porphyry : the columns and pilasters at the angles,
which are spirally fluted, with Arabic capitals, are in excellent
proportions, and all the stone-work is well wrought. The deco
rations of the roof of the dome, and the walls, in which Cufic
inscriptions are ingeniously introduced, into flowers, &c. are quite
equal in design and execution to any thing at Ispahan ; and the
coloured glass windows, though much broken and injured, are
surpassed in beauty by none that I remember, not even those of
the room in which I slept at the palace of Shah Abbas. The
building itself, and its decorations, are the finest in Shiraz. It is,
however, much neglected ; though it is held to be of such sanctity,
that poor pilgrims who cannot go to that of the Imam Hussein,
at Kerbela, are thought to have sufficiently performed their duty,
if they come here and go through the same ceremonies of their
pilgrimage. We met many devotees on the spot. In the outer
small porch of entrance we noticed an old tomb entirely of the
stone like porphyry ; and in front of the door a rude lion of the
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