CAS 



585 



with folding doors. The rooms arc ornamented in 

 *^, - * ' an Indian taste, and the ceilings formed into small 

 squares, rmbfeHitiwd with writings of moral senten- 

 ces in very legible characters. Most of the windows 

 are of thick-coloured glass, made transparent, and 

 pointed with such art, and in such proper shades, 

 that the glass seems cut into the several figures it i 

 designed to represent. Many of the floors are only 

 of hard tarth ; others of a composition of beaten 

 stone. The seeming defect in this instance is made 

 up by the constant use of carpets. 



The Ha ram is magnificent, consisting of a square 

 within its own wall of brick, about thirty feet high, 

 and two and a half thick. There are four distinct 

 apartments, in some of which are fountains, which 

 serve to moderate the heat of the summer, by giv- 

 ing the air a refreshing coolness. The rooms are 

 lined with stucco, painted in the Indian taste, with 

 birds and flowers of different magnitudes ; the co- 

 lours beautiful, and set off with gilt edgings. These 

 apartments have small chimney-pieces, in a mean 

 taste ; and some are ornamented with looking-glasses 

 in small squares, of many different dimensions, set 

 into the walls. There are some few rooms below 

 ground, admirably contrived for coolness. Near the 

 Haram is the eunuchs' apartment, remarkable only 

 for its having but one door, and that a very strong 

 one. The brick of which the whole of the modern 

 building is made, appears to be ill prepared for du- 

 ration. Here are also some old apartments built by 

 Shah Abas, yet standing, in which are some bad 

 pieces of European figures by European painters. 

 The Persians themselves are as ignorant of shades aa 

 the Chinese. The apartment where the Shah kept 

 his Casbin treasury, I was not permitted to see, 

 not even the place where it stood. They said he had 

 above twenty millions of crowns there, of which part 

 was in large ingots of gold, run into cavities of the 

 earth, the better to secure it from being plundered." 



Both at Casbin and at Herot, the blades of sa- 

 bres are fabricated from the steel of the country. 

 A kind of tapestry, of a most expensive kind, is 

 manufactured here from pieces of cloth of various 

 colours. Stuffs of silk and cotton are likewise ma- 

 nufactured in this place. All kinds of arms, but 

 particularly fire-arms, fine cloths, watches, and en- 

 graved stones* are among the principal objects of 

 commerce in this city. Rubies, granites, and tur- 

 quoise stones, find a ready market in Casbin. The 

 btter, which are called Fir use, are found in great 

 quantities near Nisabur and Firus-cah, of the size of 

 a pea ; and those which are as large as a small bean 

 are sold for 20 or 30 sols. 



Casbin is admirably situated for connecting the 

 commerce of Hyrcania, Iberia, and Media, with 

 the southern provinces of Persia. It is the great 

 mart for the silks of Guilan and Chyrvan ; and there 

 is brought to it a part of the rice of Guilan and Ma- 

 /anderan. 



The fields and gardens in the neighbourhood of 

 rasbin produce great quantities of vines, which yield 

 the finest grapes in Persia; and almonds, pistachios, 

 and melons, are raised with great success. " This 

 place," says M. Morier, " labours under great in- 

 convenience from the want of water : indeed,, through 



VOL. V. PART It. 



the whole extent of the immense pLm thai we 

 versed during the day, there was not out natural 

 stream, but many kanautt were making ; and who- 

 ever there is irrigation there is fertility, and the cul- 

 tivation is rich. Upon the whole, therefore, our 

 route from Teheran displayed a country of much 

 more promising appearance than we might have ex- 

 pected in Persia." 



Within the space of twenty leagues round Tebet 

 ran, the King alone goes in a litter ; and even his 

 children have not this privilege. General Gardannc 

 was obliged to quit his ; and his brother, who was 

 wounded by a blow from a horse, could with diffi- 

 culty obtain an exception from this rule. 



The river Kulma passes at some distance from this 

 city. In the time of Hanway, Casbin contained on- 

 ly 1100 houses. Olivier makes the population from 

 20,000 to 25,000 ; but, according to the author of the 

 Journal tTun Voyage, en 1807 and 1808, it ia now 

 inhabited by about 60,000 souls. East Long. 49* 

 33', North Lat. 36 13'. See Chardin's Travels 

 through Persia ; Hanway's Account of ike British 

 Trade over the Caspian Sea, with a Journal of Tra- 

 vels through Russia into Persia, vol. i. p. 153, &c. ; 

 Ohvier's Voyage dans Perse, Paris, 1807 ; Journal 

 d'uu Voyage, dans la Turquie, d'Asie, et la Per te, fait 

 en 1807 and 1808, p. 44 46, Paris, 1809; and 

 Morier's Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Aiia 

 Minor, to Constantinople, in the year* 1808 and 

 1809, p. 253, London, 1812. (*) 

 CASE. See GRAMMAR. 



CASEARIA, a genus of plants of the class De- 

 candria, and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p. 

 214. 



CASERTA, a city of Naples, in the country of 

 Lavora, situated at the bottom of a lofty range of 

 hills, and celebrated chiefly for the magnificent pa- 

 lace erected by Charles III. of Spain, from the de- 

 signs of Vanvitelli. 



The palace of Caserta, which is situated in a plain 

 near the site of the ancient Capua, is an oblong 

 square 787 feet in length, and 616 in width. The 

 two principal fronts contain five stories, with 37 

 windows each, while the other sides contain five 

 stories, with 27 windows in each. It is divided by- 

 intermediate ranges into four courts. In the centre 

 is an open vestibule, with a stair case 60 feet by 90, 

 which leads by double flights into an octagonal sa- 

 loon, 90 feet in diameter, which is divided by <-ight 

 marble columns into a circle, and surrounding gal- 

 lery. On one side is a long row of antichambers, 

 leading into halls of audience, presence chambers, and 

 state bed-rooms, with numbers of cabinets, ward- 

 robes, and waiting rooms. On another side is a 

 range of private apartments adapted to domestic 

 convenience, and on a third side is the splendid cha- 

 pel, incrusted with pannels of yellow marble, and 

 not inferior in size or decoration to that of Ver- 

 sailles. Antique columns of alabaster support the 

 roof of the theatre, and divide the house into. 4 

 boxes. The gardens, which correspond in magni- 

 ficence to the palace, are very extensive, and are 

 formed with wide alleys, and with crowded rovr. 

 of statues. 



The aqueduct, which ia 27 Italian miles and 211 

 4i 



