LAKE OF SHAHEE. 
287 
dor^ expressly to serve as a ciceronej and who assured us that he had 
crossed over to Oroumieh in a boat. He, moreover, asserted, that there 
existed a causewaj^ which was now covered by water, from the village of 
Chawan to Oroumieh, but so visible, particularly in the shallow parts 
as not to be doubted; adding, that it might be possible still to cross over 
the Jake without the aid of a boat. He could not speak of the anti¬ 
quity of this work, as it bad never been used by the inhabitants of the 
present day; nor do I recollect it to be mentioned by any of the old 
travellers : it may therefore date from remote times, none of the later 
kings of Persia, except the great Shah Abbas, being remarkable for 
works of public utility. 
The same fact which appears in the Caspian Sea, the Dead Sea, and 
many other lakes in the globe, is also to be remarked here : I mean the 
daily reception of a great quantity of water without any visible increase 
in the lake itself. No less than fourteen rivers of different sizes dis¬ 
charge themselves into the lake of Shahee ; and although from the ge¬ 
neral character of Persian rivers, I should not suppose any of them to be 
so large as the Jordan *, yet still collectively they cannot fail to make 
up a very large mass of water. Instead of increase, there are many 
visible signs of diminution of the water, from which we may conclude, 
that the evaporation is greater than the supplies from the rivers. Shahee, 
that was formerly surrounded by water, has for the two or three last years 
been attached to the main land by a swamp, which is an evident encroach¬ 
ment upon the lake. The plain of Chawan, and the district of Deenab, 
upon which are large and conspicuous tracts of salt, have also evidently 
been abandoned by the water, which, from local tradition, as well as the 
conformation of the surrounding mountains, probably washed the bases of 
the nearest highlands. That there has been great variation in the depth of 
this lake is certain, first from the causeway, which was built when the 
whole was doubtless one great swamp; and, secondly, from the visible di¬ 
minutions above mentioned, and this may be accounted for, by the uncer- 
* Shawj voL ii. p. 150. 
