DARAKI-DERBEND. 
715 
ever, seems the invariable companion of ignorance, has been an 
old remark of experience ; and while travelling through various 
countries I have had no reason to disprove it, yet in none did I 
ever witness any thing so bad as one of these coffee-rooms. 
My usual plan, which I recommend to all others going the same 
road, was to find some corner on the estrade barren of mattrass 
or matting ; or, if all were fully complemented in that way, to 
dislodge my selected birth of its generally too lively load, and 
after due sweeping, furnish the cleansed floor with my own 
carpet and nummud. By this means, I happily escaped any 
more intimate acquaintance with the animated part of the dust 
of its ground. 
November 20th. — At the dawning of morning I found our 
present menzil was on a vast plain, bounded on every side by 
mountains; and at eight o’clock we were in our saddles, taking 
a course across it N. 7.5° W. At the expiration of three hours, 
we passed the large village of Hadji, noted in this country for 
its manufactory of stirrups. As we continued to advance, the 
mountains gradually seemed to approach each other, till, on 
turning a few degrees more to the north, we found ourselves 
enclosed in a gigantic pass, called the Daraki-derbend. While 
penetrating this romantic defile, its details reminded me of the 
beautiful scenes in Derbyshire, particularly those of Dove-dale, 
but on a more magnified scale. We slowly descended into the 
bosom of this rock-immured vale, by a path so steep as to be 
hewn at many points into steps. The passage was darkened 
frequently by projecting cliffs, and sometimes more perilously 
by large masses of detached rock, only prevented falling on our 
heads by the trunks of strong trees placed as their supports. 
Some mischievous persons having attempted to cut through 
4 y 2 
