CAVES OF MARAGA. 
495 
for the same material at Shiraz ; and though that at Maraga is 
good, I must give the preference, both for solidity and clearness, 
to the manufacture of the former place. No ostensible governor 
appears at Maraga, this little district being held in reserve, it 
is supposed, for the eldest son of the prince royal; and hence, 
without the delays of court ceremonies, we retired to our quar¬ 
ters in peace. 
December 23d. — This morning at 9 o’clock, with a sky blue 
and brilliant as the brightest crystal from her furnaces, we left 
Maraga ; all around sparkled with snow, while the light air, 
arresting our breath in its ascent, garnished our beards and hairy 
caps with icicles, but the elasticity of the frame in such an at¬ 
mosphere was delightful. We crossed the river by one of the 
bridges, and after winding through the narrow intricate ways 
between the garden walls in that direction, arrived at the foot 
of the ridge called the Rassal Hills. They stand immediately 
behind the city. In passing over this ridge, the road bent 
N. 40° E., where I was shewn the mouths of several caverns in 
that face of the heights, and which I in vain attempted to reach, 
the depth and treacherous footing of the snow rendering all my 
efforts in that way useless. Our guide described them as vast 
subterraneous chambers, from which branch long passages lead¬ 
ing to other chambers in more distant hills ; and that in many of 
them, “ large tables might be seen, which had been the praying 
places of the unbelievers.” Altars no doubt; and the account 
agrees perfectly with that of Mr. Macdonald Kinnier, who de¬ 
scribes one of these very caves situated just under the brow of 
the hill that supported the observatory of Nasir-a-deen, as re¬ 
sembling some he had seen in India. It is hewn into the solid 
rock, 40 feet in length, and 16 in breadth, with a number of 
