SOFIAN. 
219 
as desolate a condition as the one we had seen on the other side 
of that town. This second dilapidated structure stood at the 
entrance of a considerable dell, through which flowed the rapid 
Tourian, whose wide and rugged bed showed how tremendous a 
stream rushed over it during the months of April and May. 
On each side of the river’s banks, which were broken, rocky, and 
savage, the hills protruded their huge forms, naked of verdure ; 
and exposing their barren substance, under all the livid hues of 
ashy paleness, faded yellow, dusky red, and faint green. The 
shapes they took were so abrupt, jagged, yet regular, and 
spread so widely onward, that to me they wore the strange 
appearance, rather of some inland sea, whose tempestuous waves 
had been arrested into sudden petrifaction, than of undulating 
masses of earth and rock. Some of them, however, are more 
profitable than they seem ; for, being composed of salt, • the 
natives dig it, and supply the town of Tabreez, and its neigh¬ 
bourhood, with the produce. 
The really hideous glen of the Tourian opens into a magni¬ 
ficent valley, stretching on all sides to an immense extent. It 
has been called by some, the plain of Kaldiran ; and is remark¬ 
able for the defeat of Shah Ismael, by Sultan Selim; of which 
it was the field, A. D. 1514. Hej. 920. At its eastern extremity 
stands Tabreez, the capital of the province. But it was too far 
for us to reach that day ; and, our quarters for the night were 
at the village of Sofian. That little place, also, has its fame ; 
having been within the lines of a dreadful battle fought A. D. 
1585, between the Turks and Persians ; and which gave a signal 
overthrow to the former power, by the arms of Hamzeh Mirza, 
who commanded the Persians. 
F F 2 
