74 
ARRIVAL AT PERSEPOLIS. 
the Persians. The river over which it is constructed runs in so deep a 
bed, that it is generally useless for the purposes of navigation | and the 
object of the Bend seems to be, to give the stream a fresh and stronger 
impetus, to throw it into a more extensive bed, and thus to distribute 
it by minor channels into the adjacent cultivation. The Bend has been 
built immediately upon the superior angle of what originally must have 
been a natural fall, and consists of a straight bridge of thirteen arches: 
to this bridge the river flows in a slow current; but immediately on 
passing through the arches it falls abruptly over the inclined wall. The 
principal art of the architect must have been exerted in the construc¬ 
tion of this wall; and although the whole work appears at present to 
be going to decay, yet considering the body of water which is con¬ 
stantly flowing against it, and the length of time it has existed, (not 
less than seven hundred years,) the principle of its construction 'must 
be a good one. 
The village of Bend Emir, called by the Persians two fursungs dis¬ 
tant from Zergoon, is about seven miles by my calculation. Its exact 
bearing from the ruins of Persepolis is S. 15° W. It forms part of the 
large bolook or district of Corbal, famous for its vineyards, and 
whence is expressed the greatest part of the wine known by the name 
of Shiraz. 
On arriving at the place of my residence near Persepolis, I found 
myself in possession of a building which once had been excellent, but 
was now in ruin. It consisted of two stories : the upper one, in which 
I lodged, once had windows, but no traces of them were now remain¬ 
ing ; and as the window frames in Persian houses generally fill up one 
whole side of the room, I was obliged to barricade the vacant space of 
mine with part of a tent, which I had brought with me. 
This building stands on the eastern side, and forms the entrance of 
a considerable enclosed orchard, called the Bagh Sheikh Ali Khan^ or 
the garden of Sheikh Ali Khan, which is intersected by straight rows of 
poplars, and planted with fruit trees. It is overgrown with weeds, and 
presents nothing agreeable to the sight except its verdure, which in 
these dreary regions is always a refreshing object. 
