SHAPOUR. 
49 
These circumstances rhay throw some additional light on part of the 
history of Judah and Tamar, in the 38th chapter of Genesis ; where, 
among other pledges, he gave her his signet*, which she promised 
would be restored to him, as soon as he had redeemed it by sending 
her a kid. His anxiety, as expressed in the 23d verse, Let her take it 
to her, lest we be ashamed, will be more fully explained, when we recol¬ 
lect the value of a man’s signet to him; a value which must have been 
the same then as it is now. Lest we be ashamed may therefore mean 
something beyond the mere discovery of the immoral action : “ Lest j 
by some undue advantage taken of my signet, I may be endangered.” 
We reached Kauzeroon on the 2d of April, having ascended the 
three difficult mountain-passes of Mulloo, Khisht, and Khaumaridge, 
without any accident. The passages over such mountains must ever be 
of high interest to the traveller, as they afford him great opportunities 
of observing portions of the earth which, except the beaten path over 
which he walks, must, from their nature, have been in their present 
state since the creation. Tn their recesses he may observe, from the 
extraordinary positions of their stratification, sometimes horizontal, at 
others angular, and sometimes again nearly perpendicular, what have 
been the operations of nature on the grandest scale. 
There is a river which winds its way through the vallies of these 
mountains, and having pierced into the plain of the Dashtistan, at length 
falls into the sea at Rohilla. It takes its source near the site of Sha- 
pour, and when it begins to flow is fresh. But when it reaches the 
mountains it passes through a salt soil, and then its waters lose their 
sweetness, and become brackish. A lesser stream of the same river 
branches off before it reaches the salt soil, and flows pure to the sea. 
What an image for the poet! 
We remained encamped two days at Kauzeroon, during which time 
we made an excursion to the ruins of Shapour, escorted by our Meh- 
mandar. In the way of antiquity, we saw little more at this visit than 
what I had seen at my first. We were assured previous to departure 
* This was a ring, which served also the purposes of sealing. 
H 
