'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎261] (370/496)

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four miles ; an isolated peak* on this side of the Shirwan, 321|° ; brow
of Dalahu, 68 J° ; point of Ban-Zerdah, 63|° ; centre of the Band-i-Noah,
95|- 0 ; Shahri-zur hill, 118°.
August 2§th. — ^Left Haji-Kara, after a few hours’ sleep, at 1’45 a. m.,
attended by our escort. Two kafilahs, taking advantage of our strong
party, accompany us. With a brilliant moon we threaded our way, over
disordered heaps and ridges of sandstone and pebbles, in a general direc
tion between N. N. E. and E. N. E. The latter course was most pre
valent, and the road ascended considerably the whole way. At 4*45
passed an enclosure of rough stones, dignified with the name of Kaleh
Sabzi. It is now unoccupied, having been built to keep in check the
numerous marauding parties that frequent this locality. It has failed,
however, in its object, for it is difficult to procure a garrison to remain,
for a length of time, on so lonely a spot,—their own fears, coupled with
the threats of the tribes around, being sufficient excuse for its abandon
ment. A similar enclosure in ruins, named Kaleh Shamili, alike deserted,
borders the road twenty minutes farther on. At 6'30, the Hoi wan river
touches the road, and for a short time winds along it. Its waters, unlike
the Tigris, are dark and clear, and run with some rapidity over a hard
pebbly bottom. In the spring and winter it must discharge a consider
able body of water, but it is now comparatively shallow and about twenty
yards broad. At 7 a. m., reached the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). at Kasri-Shirin f
—a miserable halting-place, in whose blackened and smoke-begrimed
vaults we are, however, glad to shelter ourselves from the fierce heat,
although vermin and every other abomination surround us. We
were compelled, from the excessive heat, to remain in the Khan
during the day, which we devoted to the working out of our astronomi
cal observations and in taking others for the determining of the position
of this place. The thermometer was 98° in the coolest spot we could find,
but when exposed to the hot wind that blew all day, it rose to 115°. In
the evening we visited the ruins in the vicinity of the Khan, about a
quarter of a mile north of the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). . A quadrangular mound,
evidently of great antiquity, exposing at its sides large blocks of well-cut
masonry, first excited our attention. This mound is detached from the
* Hill of Dakkeb.
t Kasri Shirin stands in latitude 34° 30' 6'' 1ST. by double altitudes of the ©;
by meridian altitude 34° 30' 27" N. Its longitude East of Baghdad was made
1° 06' 15". Rich, however, places it eleven miles further to the East, but I
think the former may be relied on. Rich’s latitude of the same place is
34° 30' 39" North,—See his Kurdistan and Nineveh, Yol. II., page 267.