122 
SACRED SPRING. 
They fly in flocks, have a soft note when on the wing, inhabit the 
plains, and do not run afler they are once settled. They are always 
in pairs in the Spring. Their flesh is of two colours, black near the 
bone, and white on the exterior ; and is good eating. 
On the 19th we reached Ekleed, commonly called Keleel. The road, 
though leading through mountains, was very accessible. It was ter¬ 
minated by a pass called the Teng Asseri, which introduced us into a 
plain, at the extremity of which we saw Ekleed. The site of the town* 
was marked by a wood of large trees, which produced a much greater 
extent of verdure than we had yet remarked in Persia. We were as 
much surprised as delighted on entering this spot, to observe trees of 
great size spreading their branches into the most beautiful forms, and 
giving shade to delicious spots abundantly watered by clear rivulets 
that flowed in all directions. But perhaps, after the constant sterile 
appearance of the country through which we had travelled, we look¬ 
ed upon the beauties of Ekleed with more rapture than they merited. 
There was at any rate a greater appearance of prosperity here, than 
that which we had observed amongst the peasantry of the other villages. 
The trees that are the most to be admired in the landscape of Ekleed 
are the walnut, (of which we saw some of the most superb specimens,) 
the plane-tree with spreading branches, the willow, the poplar, the 
pinaster, and a great variety of fruit trees. From a thick wood of 
these arose, in very picturesque forms, the towers of four different forts, 
which were situated at short distances from each other, and contained 
the mass of the peasantry of this spot. The principal stream that 
waters this fertile place, takes its rise at about a mile to the S. W. of the 
inhabited parts of the wood, and issues in a considerable volume, at 
once from under a rock, which is overshadowed by trees. It is full of 
fish, and its existence is attributed to a miracle worked by their Pro¬ 
phet ; and although he never was at Ekleed nor even in Persia, our 
conductors persisted in showing a mark of his hand imprinted on the 
rock, and were angry if we smiled at their credulity. The whole spot, 
fishes and all, are regarded as sacred ; for without it, indeed, Ekleed 
would be a desert. 
