] 42 TABREEZ. 



whicli rises above tlie level of the low one- storied houses, 

 is the massive tower of an old castle,, in shape not unlike 

 an Egyptian propylon. The horizon is mountainous on 

 all sides. A range of red sandstone rises above the town on 

 the north and east ; in the south are seen the snowy 

 summits of the Sultan-Dagh, which reach 13,000 feet; 

 and to the west the eye sweeps over the plain, often 

 beautified by mirage, extending to the shores of the Lake 

 of Urmia, the mountains beyond which, fronted by those 

 of the peninsula of Shahi, close the view in this 

 du-ection. Owing to the height of Tabreez (4,000 feet 

 above the sea-level), and the neighbourhood of snowy- 

 ranges, the heat of the sunshine is frequently tempered by 

 cool breezes, and during our stay the temperature was 

 delicious. 



The bazaars were our favourite haunt, and where we 

 spent the largest portion of our time. The principal ones, 

 where the most expensive goods are sold — the Bond Street 

 and Eegent Street of Tabreez — are brick arcades, the roof 

 composed of a series of small domes, through an aperture 

 in the crown of which a column of smilight falls on the 

 goods exposed for sale below. In the same stall you see 

 the fabrics of Lyons and Manchester, lying side by side 

 with those of Shiraz and Ispahan. Here you may buy a 

 gaudy French silk, or a cotton, in which the Eastern 

 colours and designs are more or less faithfully reproduced 

 by a Lancashire firm. We cast but a passing glance on 

 such fabrics, but a gorgeously-embroidered tablecloth 

 from Eescht, or a beautiful piece of Persian shawl from 

 Shiraz, often made us linger to chaffer with its owner — 

 generally, happily for our purses, without result, as the 

 Persians are shrewder men of business, and harder to 

 drive a bargain with, than even the merchants of Cairo or 

 Damascus. Out of these arcades open haUs or khans, 



