DISCOVERY OF A ROYAL CORSE. 
283 
of the highest rank. A gold diadem surrounded her head. It 
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was set with various precious stones, of considerable size, and all 
in their places, excepting one, which must have been either ori¬ 
ginally omitted, or afterwards lost, from a very large space just 
over the forehead. On her wrists, and ankles, were bracelets of 
pure gold; and on her breast, lay a number of very fine pearls, 
in the highest preservation, and of the most perfect colour. The 
whole of these valuables were brought to the King ; and the re¬ 
mains, of course, recommitted to the earth. I could not learn 
whether any vestiges of building had been found in the ground, 
which might have been formerly standing over th e sarcophagus, 
nor could I hear of any trac e of an inscription. Probably, this 
royal corse had slept in that spot, from the earliest times of Sul- 
tania; perhaps, ages before the foundations of the great sepul¬ 
chral mosque were laid; but in what particular era she lived, it is 
impossible, from the scantiness of the information preserved, to 
form any reasonable conjecture. 
The breadth of the valley, during the greatest part of our jour¬ 
ney between its noble hills, might be about three miles. Several 
extensive villages, entirely deserted, and in ruins, lay scattered 
over the plain, and on the lowest slopes of the hills. The bit¬ 
terest cold, for many hours, accompanied our ride ; blasts meet¬ 
ing us at the mouth of every narrow dell, which opened along 
the sides of the valley, as we passed. In short, beauty, with 
desolation, both in place and climate, pressed on every sense, 
till we reached the sheltered and inhabited village of Sian Kala. 
We did not halt there; but the prospect, from that point, was 
cheering: over the track we had now to go, the snow had visibly 
decreased, and the road itself was considerably improved. Like 
mariners on a stormy sea, at sight of a haven, we sped gaily 
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