594 
GOORCHIN KALA, 
there was not a solitary pass that did not possess communicating 
watch-towers, and bodies of Tuffanchies to guard them. The rock 
of Goorchin Kala is perpendicular on three sides; the fourth, 
which faces to the north-west, having rather a slope; but it is 
yet sufficiently steep to defy any sudden attempt. At the base 
of this least inaccessible point, a deep ditch has been hewn, as a 
defence towards the shore in the dry season ; and through it the 
salt waters of the lake make a circuit. The spot, altogether, 
reminded me of the impregnable castle of Koeningstein, in 
the vicinity of Dresden. Like that fortress, the Kala of Goor¬ 
chin has only one entrance, and it is cut through the solid rock; 
from which opening, to the summit, the way is exceedingly 
narrow and difficult. On arriving at the top, it presents a very 
singular appearance; a particular air of wild grandeur, from the 
union of man’s labour, and nature’s own rough bulwarks, in the 
construction of its battlements : here and there, pieces only of 
wall having been required, to fill a few chasms in the rocks, 
which had formed its high and perpendicular defence on all 
sides. Within, the remains of houses, built out of the stone 
of the general mass, were yet visible; and also large and deep 
square excavations, which our guide told me were intended for 
granaries and stores. Walking towards the eastern brow, we 
found the wide mouth of a well, apparently reaching to a great 
depth in the rock. It is now abundantly supplied with water; 
and shows its stone circumference, worn into long hollows by 
the ropes and chains of former ages raising the water. From 
that spot we turned to the north; and approaching the brink of 
the rock on that side, scrambled 200 feet down the face of the 
fortress, on a most shuddering ladder, found by instinct of hands 
and feet, for path there was none, till we arrived at the mouths 
