ISPAHAN. 
169 
to see the games of the Maidan and the exercises of his troops. This 
also is sinking rapidly into decay, and retains nothing to attest the 
beauties which travellers describe, except the shafts of the wooden 
columns, some pieces of glass, and som e decayed paintings. From 
this we ascended by a winding stair-case, still further to the very 
summit. Here, as this is the highest building in the city, we enjoyed 
a most extensive view, and from this place we could form a tolerably 
just idea of its real extent. Houses, or ruins of houses, are spread 
all over the plain, and reach to the very roots of the surrounding 
mountains. From this point I took a panoramic view of the whole, 
which I completed undisturbed, as I had secured the door, and the 
porter at the bottom before I commenced.* There is no difference 
in the colours of the buildings ; they are universally of a light yellow, 
and, if it were not for an abundant intermixture of trees, which in 
spring and summer cheer and enliven the scene, the view would be 
monotonous. The trees are mostly the chenars; but, besides these, 
there are the Lombardy poplar, the willow, and an elm with very thick 
and rich foliage and a formal shape. The domes of the mosques 
are a field of green or sometimes blue-lacquered tiles, with ornaments 
in yellow, blue, and red: the inscriptions are in the same colours. 
They are crowned by golden balls and a crescent, with the horns 
bending outwardly. 
The mountains, which bound the plain to the Eastward, are the 
most distant; and those to the West are most strongly marked; 
all are dark without any verdure. The general appearance of the 
soil in the town is light, and nearly of the same colour as the 
houses. 
All the cannon, which in Chardin's day were enclosed in a 
balustrade before the palace, are removed, and there is not left a 
vestige even of the balustrade itself. The Maidan Shah, the great public 
* Of this view, a part is selected in plate XXIL 
Z 
