Part IL Tray els into the Lev ah r a i Z5 
thouah there be fome fair ones, having in the middle lovely Canals, botdered with 
Stone, through which a very clear Rivulet nins. There are a great many fair co- 
vered Bazars \ong and broad,- with great Shops on each fide, wellfurniflied with all 
forts both of Indian and Tptrk^p Commodities i and every Commodity hath its 
particular Bazar. It hath many large well built Kervanferays : as to the Palaces, 
they make no (hew on the outfide, no more than in the reft of the Levant^ but all 
their beauty is within : the Palace of the Chan himfeif looks but mean, and no- 
thing appears outwards but a body of Lodgings over the Gate, which is at the end 
of a great Square long Mddan^ with Arches all round it, filled up in the manner 
of Niches. There are fome lovely Mofques in it alfo î and a fair College with a A College it 
round Tower on each fide of the Gate faced with blew varniflied earth, but they arc 
half ruined, having thrice fuffered Fire, which as often feized a Neighbouring 
Bazar. In that College there are Profeffors who have Salaries for teaching 
Theology, Philofophy, and Medicine •■> and I was told that there were above five Publick ï^rû^ 
hundredStudentsinit. feffors. 
But the pleafanteft thing to be feen about SchiraSy are the Gardens, which are Lovely 
many : amongft the reft, the Kings Gardens are worth the feeing. They are fpact- Gardens u 
eus, and have long ftreight Walks fiiaded with flately large Cyprefs-Trees i (for -'^ 
fome of them are the higheft and bulhieft that ever I favv,} fo that into fome of 
thefc Allies the Sun does not Ihine a quarter of an hour in a day. Yqu have there 
alfo abundance of lovely great Maple-Trees, planted in rows, with many Fruit- 
TrecsJ Rivulets run there on all hands, and fill a vaft number of Bafons that are 
all faced with ftone ; however all this comes far £hort of the delightfulnefs of the 
levely Cafcades, and Water-works, with compartments of Beds Enamelled with 
Flowers, that are with us in E«ro/>e: they have indeed a kind of Beds and Borders, 
but nothing in them but Lillies planted at random on the fides. Nor do they know 
neither what it is to have Hedg-rows, nor Wall-Fruit, for their Fruit-Trees ftand 
all open to the wind without order, as well as many Rofe- Trees and Bidmisks ; 
and what is worft of all, they fuffer all to go to ruin. For the Perfians are curious 
enough in beautifying their Houfes, butin this they agree with the Turks, that they 
take no care to keep things in repair, and it happens many times that they will let a The Vir^m 
whole building run to ruin for want of a handful of Plafter. In thefe Gardens they repair na- 
have fome Lodgings, which confift in cool Halls, and it is enough for them to ^^^^H' 
come there new and then, and divert themfelves in the cool. In fhort, thefe 
Gardens might certainly be made pretty, for there is nothing wanting but order 
and contrivance. 
As to what is about Schtras, I faw no great matter the firft time that I fojourned 
there. One day we went out of the Town on the North fide, and having croffed 
the River upon a Bridge of five Arches, we faw on a Hill to the Right Hand, the 
ruins of a Caftle. Another day we went another way, but found nothing but fome 
old demoliflied Houfes with Battlements, and a Well of a great depth, into which A very deep 
(as I was told,) heretofore they threw Adulterous women -, it is fo deep that one may 
have time to fay a Pater no^er before a ftone that is caft into it can reach the bot- 
tom S it is dry and cut all out of the hard Rock, the Mouth of it is a fquare of two 
fathom in length, and one in breadth. A little beyond that we faw a lovely Mofque, 
where lies Interred that illuftrious Perfiatt Poet Scheih^ Sadi, whom they honour as The Sepul- 
a Saint. Near to that Mofque there is a round Well, the Mouth whereof is two ^^Idt^^'^^ 
or three fathom in Diamètre s they go down to it by a pair of Stairs, and in it you ^ lajge yj^w 
fee a fquare (hallow Bafon„through which runs a ftream of water fo full of Fi(h,that with a pair cjf 
they appear in heaps over one another, and-yet it is death to kill any of them j but Stairs, 
ïhe Derfi/^, who hath the care of it,makes no fcruple to fell fome to thofe that have a 
mind : /"and that they may be fafely taken, he goes up, to hinder any from looking 
down into the Well, which he can eafily do, by telling thofe who come, that 
there is a Kourouk^^ that is to fay, women below, and that will make them to re- 
turn prefently. 1 have been there fometiraes with Dutch men, who took a great 
many with Hooks and Nets, whilft the bigot Vervijh ftood Sentinel at the Mouth 
above. 
The people of Schiras are very witty, and the City hath given birth to moft of Poctâ at Scbh 
the beft Poets of Perfia. There is much Glafs made there, and feveral Glafs-Shops 
are in the Town, though they work not conftantly in their Glafs-Houfes, but let Glafs-Houfcs 
the Fire go out after they have employed a certain quantity of materials. They ^f^'w, 
make 
