"دليل كرمانشاه." [ظ‎‎١‎٤‎٥] (٥٠٤/٢٩٥)

200
Water s apply.
required to afford a passage much needed at this Spot in Winter. \v hat
remains of the whole work gives one the impression of very good mason
ry and is undoubtedly Sassanian. If we admit that Aermanshab was for
merly quite near Ibk-i-Bo^an, this bridge was then on the road from the
town to Kasr-i-Shirim
There are many fine gradens to the south of the town near Sarah and a
few to the north, but at a certain distance. Ihere are
Gardens. p] en ty of fruit trees and poplars, but unfortunately such
a great quantity of wood is cut down every year that few trees are allowed
to grow to their full height.
Vekilieh is a villa on the Karasu at | farsakh from town. It belongs to
the Vekil-ed-Dowleh, who had the Jisr thrown over the
Vckilieh. riyer at t | i i s S pot. It is a favourite resort in spring for
the people of Kerroanshab.
There is an ample supply of water in Kermanshah,
but it is as a rule heavy and indigestible.
Drinking water is got from Sarab, a spring which waters the greater part
of the gardens to the south of the town, Chashmeh Ibrahim Zahir, Chash-
meh Sineh Guleh Zard.
Water for the tanks in the houses is got from Kanat Agaai, Ab Djaba
Khaneh, Ab Do evict Khaneh, Nahr Mehdi Khani.
Although the Karasu flows across the plain of Kerman shah, its water is
Karasu. no ^ use( ^ ^ or hrigafion. The levels are not very favour
able, and although irrigation works could easily be made,
water is so easily got from the mountains that nobody has yet been found
to attempt any irrigation works. A legend says that the river sank horror
stricken when Khosroe (some say Yezdijrd) threw the prophets letter into
its waters.
A small river named Ab-i-Ashuran formed by the various springs of
Sarab south of the town of Kerman shah flows through the town and joins
the Karasu near the village of Chega Gulan.
Its water is polluted the town sewers. During the summer its water
is turned off for cultivation.
The water-supply in Kermanshah is plentiful, but as the water runs from
Public health. one ^ 0l »se to that of the next, and as in
these tanks the cooking utensils and borne linen are
washed, the water generally used for diinking purposes is polluted and
contaminated. Ihe water of the Hammams or public baths is only changed
once or ttice a year.^ Notwithstanding this, and the total absence of
sev\ers, xeimanshah is, through the dryness of its climate, a healthy place.
e 1 ^ a mi 18 eav T an d indigestible, and diarrhoea and dvsentery are the
result. Ihe usual illnesses are fever, small-pox and diphtheria.
Kermanshah during the last century suffered many times and very
severely from cholera, plague and famine. In 1801 Sir J. Macdonald
nnejresima e le population at 60,000 souls, but the plague which
soulf ^ thG t0Wn m 1830 is Said t0 have reduced population to 12,000