438 
THE HILL OF SEFI. 
followed the arms of Mahmoud, dwelt; no doubt they re-seated 
themselves in a spot that had been inhabited by their ancestors, 
from the first peopling of the banks of the Zeinderood ; and 
they found it thus marked by the High Place of their worship. 
The view around this extensive metropolis, is bounded on all 
sides by mountains ; to which legends are attached, wild and im¬ 
probable, but equally interesting to the kalioun-smoking Persian, 
delightedly listening to the often-repeated narrations, as the 
most authentic traditions of their own country to our European 
scholars. One of the mountains nearest to the city, and which 
stands in an eminently bold position, rugged and sterile, is 
called the Hill of Sefi ; being sanctified by the remains of a 
hermitage, and other spots, once the dwelling of a saint and his 
devotees. 
The range to the south, and south-west, which appear rising- 
in successive heights to a great distance, crown, with their pale 
heads, the varied and promontoried cliffs, which seem to bul¬ 
wark the decaying towers of Ispahan. From the remote 
fastnesses of these mountains, the Bactiari robbers make their 
descents, whenever the spoil in the way may be worth the 
danger. Every farsang’s distance from Teheran seems, in the 
ideas of these barbarians, to shorten the arm of the royal law 
against them; and, in consequence, it behoves travellers to 
marshal their ranks, and prime their weapons, before they turn 
fheir horses’ heads into the rocky gorge of these ravines. 
The time drew near for the prosecution of my journey. But 
the same cause that detained me so long at the gates of my royal 
lodging on my arrival at the old capital, delayed me two or 
three days when I proposed leaving it; the ill-conduct of the 
mehmandar I had brought from Teheran; whose own pursuits 
