'Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde; accompanied by a geographical and historical account of those countries, with a map.' [‎127] (169/476)

THUNDER STORM.
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conjecture was right: there was nothing whatever Mohummudan or
Hindoo in the style, and if we remove the erection of them from
those nations, it naturally rests with the Par sees* unless we choose
to attribute it to a still earlier period. They were evidently very
ancient, for notwithstanding the durable nature of the materials of
which they were composed, they were every one mouldering and in a
complete state of dilapidation. The most remarkable circumstance
regarding them, if true, was pointed out to me by Moorad Khan, who
informed me there was no stone of the same description (with that they
were erected with) to be found in any part of the country, and added
that it would be of no value, for the people of our days were incapable
of executing such workmanship. I am still dubious whether these
buildings were formerly sepulchres or plar.es of worship ; inside of
each there was a raised mound covered with stone, which had, beyond
a doubt, the appearance of a grave, but it is also possible that this was
the altar for the sacred fire of the Atush Kudu f : their numbers speak,
more than any other argument, to their having been cemeteries.
At midnight came on a violent thunder storm, which lasted for
two hours, but very fortunately it had rained slightly when we came
to our ground, and we had therefore taken up our quarters under the
bank of the river, where some former flood had undermined it: our
uncouth retreat sheltered us from the rain, and saved me from a wet
ting which I was ill fitted to bear at the time, but I could not com
pose myself to sleep, fearing that the river might overflow and sweep
us all off: it faired however before the water had risen to any height
* Parsee is the modern name for these people, it is distinct from Persians who are
Moosulmans.
f A fire temple. The Guebres worship that element as an emblem of God. There
are several Atush Kudus in India. At the city ofYezd in Persia, which is distinguished
by the appellation ot the Darul Lbadut, or Seat of Religion, the Guebres are permitted to
have an Atush Kudu (which they assert has had the sacred fire in it since the days of
Zoroaster) in their own compartment of the city, but for this indulgence they are indebted
to the avarice, not the tolerance of the Persian Government, which taxes them at twenty-
five rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. each man.