ITS FINE BRIDGE. 
611 
bulwarks yet defy the utmost fury of the current. Two others 
advance on the land, one on each side. The span of each arch 
may have embraced about ninety feet; and from the firm and 
noble structure of the whole, I should be inclined to say, that 
had not the contests of man’s ambition been engaged in its 
overthrow, “ the indignant waters” of this proud stream, with 
all its mountain-torrents, might have poured through it for ages, 
without starting one stone of its mighty fabric. At the pre¬ 
sent comparatively dry season, the water flowed through its 
northern arch only; so that this sometimes formidable river, is 
not now so wide here as at the ferry; and at a mile lower down, 
they tell me it is fordable. The first ruin of the bridge is 
attributed to Shah Abbas, who ordered its destruction when he 
transferred the inhabitants of the city to the great suburb of 
Ispahan, which afterwards adopted the Armenian name. About 
fifty yards above the bridge, the river rushes through a narrow 
and rocky valley, or rather vast chasm in the side of the moun¬ 
tain. On its northern acclivity, remains of houses, churches, 
walls, and other mouldering masses of considerable extent, 
mingle with the rugged cliffs. The town anciently touched the 
verge of the river, which formed its defence on that side ; while 
the high mountains, over whose slope the buildings extended, 
seemed an impregnable bulwark on the other. The two extre¬ 
mities then were all that needed protection from the art of man ; 
and we find the remains of strong walls, in the wide and massy 
places of entrance still standing. Beyond that to the eastward, 
a Very beautiful relic presents itself, of an ancient chapel and 
tomb. One side of the latter shows a finely wrought cross cut 
in stone, and embosomed in the most intricate fretwork, inter¬ 
mingled with mazy interlacings, bands, tendrils, and a variety 
4 i 2 
