TRIBES OF THE MOUNTAINS. 
9 
At Iman Zada Ismael we had more than passed the threshold 
of the labyrinth of countless ravines, and formidable gorges, 
which intersect, in every direction, the vast chain of mountains 
extending from Ararat to the shore of the Persian Gulf. From 
the numerously diverging defiles near us, the widening valleys 
spread themselves over the whole surface of the country north¬ 
west, expanding, as they run, into vast and fertile plains, to the 
very confines of Courdistan. In the most inaccessible parts of 
this stupendous range, live the Bactiari, Feilly, and Mamazany 
tribes, or rather nations ; the exhaustless bed of whose population 
stretches from the mountains above Kazaroon, to the immense 
piles in the vicinity of the Kou-i-zerd, whence they pour their 
streams on errands of peace or war. 1 have already given a 
general account of the milder groupes of these mountain wan¬ 
derers, who descend from their heights in the summer months, 
and, under the name of Eelauts, take up a quiet residence for 
the season on the more fertile plains of the empire. (See Vol. I. 
page 474.) Conducting themselves blamelessly, and engaged in 
various manufactures, they live unmolested ; and when winter 
recalls them to their more appropriate homes, they carry back 
with them a considerable profit from the sale of their wares. 
But the greater multitude of these sons of the mountain show 
themselves true brethren of Ishmael, and leaguing together by 
families and tribes, exist wholly by plunder. The great roads 
between Bushire and Shiraz, and those leading from the latter 
city to the very gates of Ispahan, offer a succession of prizes, 
whether in caravans or small parties of travellers, too tempting 
to be left unsought by the strong arm and stronger rapacity of 
these hereditary spoilers. The village of Iman Zada Ismael, by 
its visible prosperity and reputed wealth, holds out this fatal 
VOL. II. 
c 
