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PIGEON HOUSES. 
bricks baked in the sun, but of a very large size, between which are 
layers of reeds alone, without any apparent cement. The Persians say 
that these buildings were the works of the Guebres. From the top 
of this hill we enjoyed an extended prospect of the richly cultivated 
country that borders the river Zainderood, whose windings could be 
traced by the verdure and vegetation which accompanied it in its 
course. 
In the environs of the city to the westward, near the Zainderood, 
are many pigeon-houses, erected at a distance from habitations, for the 
sole purpose of collecting pigeons’ dung for manure. They are large 
round towers, rather broader at the bottom than the top, and crowned 
by conical spiracles through which the pigeons descend. Their interior 
resembles a honeycomb, pierced with a thousand holes, each of which 
forms a snug retreat for a nest. More care appears to have been bestowed 
upon their outside, than upon that of the generality of the dwelling- 
houses, for they are painted and ornamented. The extraordinary flights 
of pigeons which I have seen alight upon one of these buildings, afford, 
