STORY OF A PETRIFIED POPULATION. 
489 
sleeve of the under-vest. The shield, round and very small, is 
slung across the right shoulder, and when the warrior is 
mounted, hangs low behind the left leg. A wide pair of trowsers 
reaches the ankles; and the red leather boots common to both 
Persia and Courdistan, terminate the figure. The sword is dis¬ 
posed in a similar manner to that of the Turks and Arabs. 
All this accumulation of arms, and iron defences, certainly gives 
the warrior so accoutred a most formidable appearance; but I 
should much doubt the service of such a load in actual fight. 
Before we left our animated entertainers, I made some en¬ 
quiries respecting certain most extraordinary remains in their 
neighbourhood, which an old Bilbossi sheik, whom I met at 
Bagdad turned dervise, had mentioned. He described them as 
not far from a village called Karinj ; that they were the ruins 
of a vast city, amongst which were seen numberless figures in 
stone, the former inhabitants ; and so transformed in conse¬ 
quence of the wrath of Heaven against their obstinacy in refusing 
to embrace the true faith as revealed by Mahomed. This wild 
account had given me hopes of finding some interesting ruins at 
least; and my present quarters being not more than three far- 
sangs east of Karinj, I expected to learn something of the real 
facts on which this fabulous tale had been built. The youngest 
of the khan’s sons had passed several months hunting in the 
vicinity of the village the dervise had named; and he told 
me, no ruins of any kind were either to be seen or heard of, 
near the place; nor was there any tradition of former stone 
statues. But, he said, he had seen a spot, likely to have 
been that meant by the Bilbossi traveller ; a low hill, not far 
from Karinj, covered thickly with upright stones from four to 
five feet in height, and of irregular shapes : though, he affirmed, 
3 R 
VOL. II. 
