R. Burn — The BaJchtiari Hills. 
177 
1897.] 
about 10' wide, composed of large stories 8" to 9" in diameter, put to¬ 
gether so as to form a kind of large stair, each step beiug about 12' to 
15' long and 6" to a foot high. In the course of time the stones have 
become rounded and very slippery, and an ordinary track is preferable, 
but the work is one that excites admiration. At the top we came on 
a perfectly open tree-less plain, the forest ending here. At the end of 
the plain was a steep descent of about 1,000'over the remains of the 
causeway, and a succession of zig-zags of loose gravel. The view over 
the plain of Mai Amir was very fine with the large lake Shat Band in 
the north-west corner. From the foot Mai Amir itself is 6 or 7 miles, 
but the road is perfectly level, and in spring the view must be lovely. 
Mai Amir is a Garmsir, and consists now of a few thatched reed huts 
on a mound, which appears to mark the site of an ancient city. To the 
south-west is the shell of a new fort in course of construction, for this 
is the winter dwelling of the Ilbegi. All spare huts were occupied by 
the followers of the latter, who were accompanying his mother on a pil¬ 
grimage to Karbala, and we had to sleep in a field with the shelter of 
one of the black tents used by the nomads. It consisted of eighteen 
stripes of a coarse cloth made from goat hair, each 20' by one foot, 
sewn together, supported by two 7' poles in the middle having a cross¬ 
piece between them about 4' 6" long. The front was held up by four 
short poles and the back was tied down to pegs within a few inches of 
the ground. Two of the lady’s grandchildren came to see us, one of 
whom knew a little French. Owing to illness and the short time at our 
disposal we were unable to explore the remains of the Shikaft-i-Sulaiman, 
which have been fully described by de Bode, 1 and Layard. 2 It is to 
be hoped that the French who have received a concession from the 
Persian Government for exploration of its antiquities will not neglect 
this mound. 
November 11th. There are two roads from Mai Amir to Shushtar, 
one by Qil‘a-i-Yul, the usual though longer, and that which we 
followed which is shorter but more difficult. We crossed the plain to 
the north-west corner skirting the lake, till we reached the village of 
Mai Mustafa, a Garmsir of reed huts with remains of some of stone. 
The road then turned south over slight elevations presenting no diffi¬ 
culties till we reached a stream on the banks of which were several 
villages, of which Mai Saiyyidi, our halting place, was distinguished 
by a white Imamzada and a ruined fort. The old Saiyyid or head man 
of the place gave us a new hut to stay in. It was only 7' high in the 
1 Travels II c XVII. 
2 Early adventures (1894 edition) CVIII. Layard has published the > 5 uneiform 
inscriptiou. 
