15g 
CHANGEABLENESS OF CLIMATE. 
are now to be seen, but in a neglected condition. The most conspi¬ 
cuous of them is that of Babarouk a famous dervish, a tomb much 
resorted to by the people of Ispahan on holidays, and particularly on 
the eve of Jumali (Friday) as a place of worship. This tomb was ce¬ 
lebrated in the time of Chardin, who says that the bridge, now called 
the Pul Hajou, was then called Babarouk after this saint. Not far 
from this, is another large mausoleum built by Shah Suleiman over the 
remains of a Mussulman doctor of the name of Mollah Hossein, who 
was a native of Consori, a large town of Irak Ajem, three days’ journey 
from Ispahan. Around these and such like monuments are in general 
to be seen collections of minor tombs, for it is a received opinion, that 
those who are buried in the vicinity of an holy personage*, will meet 
with his support at the day of resurrection. The Persians, however, 
do not take the same care of the dead as the Turks. Their tombs are 
trampled over ; paths frequently lead right over them, and epitaph, 
tombstone and all, are often carried away to be used as materials for 
building. The terrace which supports the gardens and buildings of the 
Bagh Jehan Nemah at Shiraz is almost entirely composed of tomb¬ 
stones ; and at Ispahan, inscriptions are frequently seen on the surface 
of a wall. 
Great sickness was prevalent in Ispahan, and more particularly through¬ 
out our camp, during the month of August, owing to the great change¬ 
ableness of the climate, f- The excellence of the air of Ispahan is a fa¬ 
vourite topic with every Persian, but to our cost we found it much the con¬ 
trary, for scarcely one of us escaped without a fever or ague, or at least 
without head-aches, and a strong tendency to bile. Our distress com¬ 
menced by the death of the coachman ; our treasurer an old Armenian 
was next attacked with a fever and brought to the brink of the grave. 
Almost all the palanquin bearers and many of the Indian body-guard 
fell ill. The English artillerymen were more or less laid up, and the 
natives themselves were not more exempt from disease than we. Our 
friend the late Persian Envoy also got an ague and fever, which very 
much alarmed him. We called upon him one morning, and found him 
* See 1 Kings, xiii. 31. 
f See Appendix C. 
