590 
SHAPOUR. 
conceive that an author could learn so much without knowing more ; 
and that at the interval of one thousand two hundred years he could 
have ascertained the most private history of an Eastern Prince, when 
he is ignorant of his public exploits; or that he could have given a 
genuine account of Sapor from his birth to his death, when he never 
once alludes to the Romans, or notices, however transiently, the most 
celebrated event in the life of his hero, and in the history of his 
country. 
SECOND VISIT TO SHAPOUR, 
APRIL, 1811. 
44 We proceeded over the plain to the Southward and Westward, 
44 to see what a peasant called the Kaleh or Castle, and the Mesjed 
44 or Mosque, which are large conspicuous buildings seen from 
44 almost all parts of the plain. These we found to be Moham- 
44 medan structures, excepting part of an ancient wall or buttress, 
44 and a column, with a square fallen capital, that are to be seen 
44 in the former, and of the same age as the edifices at Shapour. In 
44 the square of this ruined castle we found some little black tents 
44 of the wandering tribes; from the good folks of which we got 
44 some dong or butter-milk, of which they drink large quantities 
44 at this season. We surprised them by asking them if they had 
44 any Foul Kadeim or ancient money; to which they answered, 
44 very ingenuously, that they had neither new nor old. The fact 
44 is, that old coins are more frequently found amongst these sort 
44 of people than amongst any other; for if they find any, the 
44 favourite wife generally has them suspended with her other trinkets, 
44 in a necklace around her neck. When old coins or money out 
