'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1863 to December 1864. (Edited by the Secretary.) Volume XVII.' [‎149] (318/524)

FROM BUSHIRE TO SHIRAUZ.
149
30. I went up the inner valley skirting the stream, which fresh,
rapid, and embowered in willows, is one of the most romantic I have
seen in Persia (this however is not saying much) ; you could not cross a
common valley in England without coming on as good or pretty a one—
Where lawns extend that scorn Arcadian pride,
And brighter streams than famed Hydaspes glide,
until I reached the base of the cliff, in which is the entrance to the
vast cavern, at whose mouth is the famous but fallen statue of
Shapour. This figure, which is of colossal size, and is traditioned to
have fallen from its pedestal during an earthquake, now lies here
buried close by the pedestal, the head gone, but the torso of bold and
artistic form. Some of our Orientalists had cut their names on the
shoulder. Immediately behind the statue, the cavern expands into a
vast and lofty natural dome ; then bifurcates, one fork coming to an
end after some 50 yards, the other and larger fork winding downward
and on, here and there ornamented with stalactites, until you reach an
ice-cold lake or pond. I am not aware that this cavern has ever been
explored to its inmost depths, and superstition as usual assigns to
this Hades those marvels and horrors which so readily define the
unknown.
31. While on this visit to Shapour, the chiefs of the villages through
which I passed insisted on turning out with some of their irregular
horse and foot and escorting me. I permitted the compliment, as
it afforded me a good opportunity of seeing the men work, and I
was certainly struck by the quick and skilful manner in which
they occupied ground, kept themselves covered, and observed the
neighbourhood. Their fire was good, and they were practised in
firing in every position, many even lying on their backs and firing with
some nicety backwards by an upward glance. Each village troop
seemed to keep apart, and to observe courtesy towards the others. On
the whole, these men seemed to me formidable as irregulars among
their own hills.
32. Leaving Kauzeroon and moving onward for Shirauz, you pass
Eastward along the Kauzeroon plain for above seven miles, when you
come on a shallow fresh vrater river running into a salt lake. The river
forms a sort of half marsh before entering the lake, and is crossed by
a long, rough stone causeway.