428 
COUNTRY BETWEEN THE CASPIAN AND THE OXUS. 
" On the borders of Khorassan. and to the 
north of Astrabad.isthe province of Khauriztn, 
comprising the country between the Caspian 
and the Oxus; the wandering tribes breed 
sheep, camels, and horses ; the steppes that 
border on the Caspian abound in prodigious 
droves of cattle, and ‘ there is scarcely a man 
in Toorkaustaun so indigent as to walk on 
foot; even beggars travel on hoise-back, or 
at least on asses.*'* 
It is stated of those tribes, that ‘ next to 
their horses, the most valuable possession of 
the Toorkaumauns is the camels, of these are 
bred among them, and generally in Khoras- 
san, three different sorts.’i* Individuals are 
said to have as many as seven hundred camels. 
They are sold at from 120 to 200 Persian rupees 
each, and carry from 450 lbs. to IlOO lbs. 
English. 
I'owards the end of the last century, a Per- 
sian force of 60 or 80,000 men, under Aga 
Mahomed Khan, proceeded from Astrabad to 
Mushed. The following particulars of the 
country between those places are borrowed 
from an author already quoted, t and who 
visited Mushed in 1821*22. From Astrabad 
toward Mushed the road for eighty-two miles 
passes across a rich and verdant district, and 
ascends a mountain-pass at Goorgaun. A 
dreary desert, but with water, next extends 
over a rough country for ninety-two miles to 
Killa Khan. 'I'he road then passes through a 
fine cultivated country, presenting a highland 
scene, after which it descends into a valley by 
a road which carriages might have run. and 
reaches Sheerwan, a distance of seventy-six 
miles. Sheerwan is a populous town, the 
valley in which it is situated is so fertile that 
it gives credibility to the almost extravagant 
account of its produce. This valley begins 
considerably above Sheerwan, from whence 
the road continues to pass through it for thirty, 
two miles, and reaches Cochoon, having 
about 20,000 inhabitants. It is asserted that 
when the king was at Cochoon, with an army, 
and its followers of all sorts, amounting to no 
less than 300,000 souls, with nearly as many 
head of animals, baggage cattle, including 
corn and straw, were so plenty, that barley 
sold at the rate of 20 maunds, (or 140 lbs.) 
for a rupee, (2s. sterling) and that, in fact, 
revisions were so abundant in the camp, as 
ardly to be of any value”§. Passing Cochoon, 
and continuing 9l miles further in the same 
valley, the road reaches Mushed, the capital 
of Petsian Khorassan. The whole distance 
from Astrabad to this place by the above 
route is 373 miles. “ The valley of Mushed 
is of great length, it may be described as taking 
its rise ten or twelve miles to the north-west 
of Sheerwan, and extending almost uninter- 
ruptedly for fifty miles beyond Mushed — it 
has a low rocky pass of al out four miles, and 
probably extends greatest part of the way to 
Herat; it varies in breadth from twelve to 
thirty miles ; it contains in its limits several 
towns with their dependencies, and a great 
extent of cultivated land.lT Mushed is in the 
• Elphinstone. t Fraser- i Ibid. 
^Ibid. % Ibid. 
dominions of Persia, it is the residence of a 
prince of the blood, and has about 32,000 in- 
habitants. The tribes in the vicinity, although 
of little consequence in regular warfare, are 
addicted to plunder, and are excellent horse- 
men; they are armed with spears and swords, 
or bows and arrows. There is another route 
fiom the south of the Caspian to Mushed, 
through Nishapoor. which reduces the dis- 
tance to Mushed to less than 300 miles, and 
passes over a country much like that above 
described. It is said of this route, “ the 
plains and district of Nishapoor have at all 
times been celebrated for fertility ; when look- 
ing from the top of the old ark, (castle) at the 
numerous villages on either side, and enquir- 
ing whether they were all inhabited, I was 
answered in the affirmative.”* When within 
fifty miles of Mushed, “ we enioyed a very 
noble view of this fine country, running from 
south-east by east, to north-west by west, for 
full eighty miles in length, by fifty to sixty 
miles in width, and well studded with 
villages.” 
We are sorry that our space compels us to 
break off here: we shall, however, continue 
our account of this interesting subject in our 
next. 
Art. Ill — 'Narrative of a Residence in 
Koordistan, and on the site of Ancient 
Nineveh; with Journal of a Voyage 
down the Tigris to Bagdad, and an Ac- 
count of a Visit to Shirauz and Perse- 
polis. By the late Claudius James 
Rich, Esqj, the Hon. East India 
Company's Resident at Bagdad, Author 
of “ an Account of Ancient Babylon." 
2 VoU. Octavo. James Duncan, 
Paternoster-Row, London> 1836. 
The editor of the present work is a daugh- 
ter of that celebrated and lamented indivi- 
dual, Sir James Macintosh ; and to give our 
readers an immediate interest in the work, 
we shall proceed to give some account of 
that extraordinary man, Mr. Rich. He 
was of Bristol. At the age of fourteen, with 
little or no assistance, he made himself ac- 
quainted with many languages, but particu- 
larly with those of the east. Besides Latin, 
Greek, and many of the modern languages, 
he made himself master of the Hebrew, 
Chaldee, Persian, Arabic, and was capable of 
Fiaser. 
