KESTNOOZ AND JAMADEEN. 
213 
arches, and was beautifully constructed of brick and stone. Our 
road lay across a plain which, for want of water, was only par¬ 
tially cultivated. Whenever the husbandmen of these districts 
can acquire, by any means, sufficient of this element, so neces¬ 
sary in agriculture, they do not spare putting it to use. Indeed, 
there cannot be, in any country, a greater contradiction than 
what lies between the habits of these people, when in the field, 
and those they wear within doors. In the one case, they are 
all activity and toil; and in the other, we see nothing but loath¬ 
some indolence. The general produce of their labours are, cot¬ 
ton, barley, and the castor plant. From the latter they extract 
an oil, part of which they consume themselves, and the rest 
they make an article of sale. 
As we travelled on, I observed a very curious rock, starting 
up from amidst the hills to the south-east, of six or seven hun¬ 
dred feet in height, and of a perfect sugar-loaf form. From its 
peculiar shape, and the position it holds amongst the hills, it 
continues a conspicuous object to a great distance. Two con¬ 
siderable villages lie near it. One is called Kestnooz ; and the 
other, which lies a little beyond the first, is called Jamadeen. 
Our route was in the direction of this rock, over a dull and arid 
soil. As we proceeded, the character of the plain gradually 
disappeared amongst hills ; and we soon saw ourselves in a nar¬ 
row valley, which, by degrees, contracted to a rocky gorge of 
very steep acclivities ; at the bottom we found the bed of a 
stream, whose waters, in the spring, or after the wet season, 
swell to an impassable height; but at present they were hardly 
more*' than a rill, and ran gurgling on amongst the rocks, while 
we journeyed by its side contemplating the excessive beauty of 
the red and green porphyry, which forms the high perpendicular 
