SEWUND. 
115 
near the front of the staircase which I had previously cleared away, and 
die thus brought to light some interesting fragments. Among others 
he found a stone upon which is a sculpture of a chariot drawn by two 
horses, driven by a man standing upright; and another of a caparisoned 
horse, both of which are so nicely preserved, that every detail of furni¬ 
ture may be most minutely traced. 
We next proceeded to Sewund. The road generally travelled in the 
summer is by Mayin ; but owing to its being destitute of population in 
many places, we were obliged, even at the present season of the year, 
to take the winter road. We encamped close to the banks of the 
Sewund river, which winds through the narrow vale into the plain of 
Merdasht, and flows into the Bend-Emir, somewhere above Fhatabad. 
The valley in which we stopped is surrounded by hills of rugged forms, 
and is covered by the liquorice plant, which the Persians call sus, and 
by the Khor Shuter the camel-thorn^ so called because camels browse 
upon it in preference to other herbs. The mastication of it produces a 
frothy salivation at the mouth, which appears to give great pleasure to 
the animal. The village itself was situated on an eminence at some 
distance from our encampment, but it was totally abandoned; for we 
found all its inhabitants living some in tents and some in temporary 
huts made of rude stakes, driven into the ground, covered over with 
branches of trees and furze. They do this to enjoy the nearer vicinity of 
their river, and a cooler exposure than that in which the village is 
situated. Sewund belongs to the bolook or district of Hafrek Bala^ which 
contains twenty-one villages, but is under the jurisdiction of Mirza 
Mahomed Ali, the same who governs Merdasht, although the territory 
of Merdasht only extends to Hajiabad. The son of this man came out 
to meet the Ambassador at Sewund, and made apologies for the 
absence of his father, who, he said, was reposing himself after the 
fatigue of a long journey. Indeed, on coming near the village, we saw 
him extended under a shed fast asleep on the ground, with a spear 
stuck at his bolster head, which now, as in the days of Saul, marks the 
spot where a man of consequence reposes. And behold Saul lay deeping 
Q 2 
