84 
ILLUSTRATION OF SCRIPTURE. 
to pass the Polbar river, and then came to a bridge which once had 
been good, but which, if not repaired, will in two years more be im¬ 
passable. 
We came to a village, situated at the foot of the Koh Ramgerd, an 
insulated mountain, where we got a guide, who looked so old, that I 
supposed him unequal to the labour of climbing the steep Rock of 
Istakhar; but we were surprised to find him the most active of the 
party. The peasantry here are a strong and hardy race, and would not 
fail to prosper under a good government. This old man confirmed 
the lamentable tale of their want of bread, and of their being in part 
obliged to subsisjt upon grass. 
We ascended the rock on the N. W. side, winding around the foot 
of it, through more shrubs than are to be seen in any other part of the 
surrounding country, and making our way through narrow and intri¬ 
cate paths.—I remarked that our old guide every here and there placed 
a stone on a conspicuous bit of rock, or two stones one upon the other, 
at the same time uttering some words, which I learnt were a prayer for 
our safe return. This explained to me what 1 had frequently seen be¬ 
fore in the East, and particularly on a high road leading to a great town, 
whence the town is first seen, and where the eastern traveller sets up 
his stone accompanied by a devout exclamation, as it were, in token 
of his safe arrival. The action of our guide appears to illustrate 
the vow which Jacob made when he travelled to Padan-aram, in token 
of which he placed a stone and set it up for a pillar.^ In seeing a 
stone on the road placed in this position, or one stone upon another, it 
implies that some traveller has there made a vow, or a thanksgiving. 
Nothing is so natural in a journey over a dreary country as for a soli¬ 
tary traveller to set himself down fatigued, and to make the vow that 
Jacob did. “ If God will he with 7ne, and keep me in this way that I g-o, 
and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I reach my 
father s house in peacef &c. then will I give so much in charity — or 
again, that on first seeing the place which he has so long toiled to 
reach, the traveller should sit down and make a thanksgiving; in both 
cases setting up a stone as a memorial. 
Genesis, xxviii. 18 to 22 . 
