SHIRAZ TO BUSHIEE. 65 



"Praise be to God," We were over the worst of 

 it, and I breathed more freely, and tried to coax the 

 chestnut into a happier frame of mind than his dis- 

 tended nostrils and foaming sides then betokened. 

 We pushed on to the Khoonazaberni river, and were 

 soon gladdened by the sight of its clear waters flash- 

 ing merrily along over their rocky bed. It was a 

 fine stream, some thirty or forty yards wide, and the 

 road kept along the bank till we debouched into the 

 plain of Kisht. The sun's rays were hot ere we 

 reached the village of Koonartakta. Here we found 

 a good caravanserai, built some little distance from 

 the straggling village, which we heard was occupied 

 by a nomad tribe. From the platform on the top of 

 the serai we looked down upon a well - cultivated 

 plain, some eight or nine miles long, and dotted with 

 a few villages. Dark-green lines swept across the 

 plain in all directions ; these were the famous date- 

 bearing groves, of Kisht. The serai was a well-built 

 one, and the walls were of such a substantial thick- 

 ness that we did not feel the heat to-day as we had 

 done yesterday. We Avere, notwithstanding, at least 

 2000 feet nearer the sea-level. 



A little after noon, when most of the servants were 

 asleep, and I only happened by accident to be awake 

 for we generally managed an hour or two's sleep 

 during the great heat of the day I noticed my groom 

 Hassan at some fifty yards from the serai leading one 

 of my horses round and round a certain spot. The 



VOL. VI. E 



