VALE OF KAZAZ. 
79 
snow commonly falls about the middle of October, and seldom 
disappears much before the feast of the Nowrooze ; even at 
present, so near the commencement of its renewal, the remains 
of last winter’s snow may be discerned in the upland hollows of 
the highest mountains to the north of the vale. This command 
of climate, from the various situations and altitudes of the 
mountains, affords the luxury of ice all the year round, in 
almost every town and village of the kingdom. At Ispahan and 
Shiraz, it is sold in the bazars to the people at a very trifling 
price. The thermometer at mid-day, in Amerat, stood at 74° of 
Fahrenheit. 
September 8th.—We left our delightfully tranquil abode of 
yesterday, at four o’clock this morning, (having halted there the 
whole of the 7th for the sake of our invalids,) and took a course 
up the valley, under the slope of its eastern bank, and in a di¬ 
rection nearly north. We then traversed it obliquely, almost due 
west, leaving an immense stretch of vale on our right, running 
along between its sublime avenue of mountains, till its extremity 
was lost in their vast shadowy forms. On reaching the foot of 
the western chain, we found a passage through them, by entering 
a deep and narrow glen ; but which, instead of introducing us, 
as is usually the case, into a labyrinth of wild ravines, shortly 
opened into a noble vale still more extensive than the one we had 
left. Nature smiled here, as before, and we scarcely proceeded 
a mile, without passing some pretty inclosed village, surrounded 
by trees. At half past nine o’clock, A. M., we approached Kazaz, 
our halting-place; which, from its size and numerous population, 
ought rather to be called a town than a village. It is built on 
the slope of an insulated chalk-coloured hill, projecting into the 
valley, and the houses being erected of the same rock, their 
