HEZZAR DERREH. 
r37 
thronged, and the women on that day are to be seen in parties, going 
to the cemeteries on the skirts of the city, to mourn over the graves of 
their relations. 
To the south of the city, is a desolate tract called the Hezzar Derreh, 
or the Thousand Vallies, mostly composed of a slaty soil, through 
which passes the road from Shiraz to Ispahan. This, according to the 
Persians, is the scene of Rustam’s battles with the dragon ; and they 
add, that it is owing to the poisonous exhalations of the monster, that 
the earth is here so barren. On an elevation, from whence there is an 
extensive view of the city, a small round tower covered with a cupola 
is to be seen, around which runs a Cuffick inscription, made with small 
bricks, and apparently of the same age as the buildings at Rey near 
Teheran. Chardin calls it the Mil Shatir, or the Pillar of the Running 
Footman ; and says, that those who aspired to enter into the service of 
the King in that capacity, were obliged to undergo a trial of their ac¬ 
tivity and strength, by going from the gate of the royal palace, and 
taking twelve arrows one after the other from this tower, between the 
rising and setting of the sun. It is about a league and a half, by his 
account, from the palace to the tower ; thus the distance to be travers¬ 
ed was thirty six fursungs, or one hundred and twenty miles, in about 
fourteen hours.^ The popular story that we heard related of this 
tower is, that in former days a King of Persia promised his daughter in 
marriage to any one who would run before his horse all the way from 
Shiraz to Ispahan. One of his Shatirs nearly accomplished the task, 
having reached to the eminence marked by the tower, when the King, 
fearful that he should be obliged to keep his promise, dropt his whip. 
The ligatures which encompassed the Shatir’s body were such, that in 
the state he then was, he knew for certain, that if he stooped to the 
ground to pick up the whip, his death would immediately follow ; 
therefore he contrived to take up the whip with his foot, carried it to his 
hand, and presented it to the King. This trick having failed, the King then 
* Chardin, Description of Ispahan, vol. viii. p. 224. 8vo. ed. 
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