nd the hall of Chosroes, at Ctesiphon: they have
been visited by that vain and curious traveller Pietro della Valle,
(tom. i. p. 713-718, 731-735.) * Note: The best modern account is that
of Claudius Rich Esq. Two Memoirs of Babylon. London, 1818.--M.]

[Footnote 28: Consult the article of Coufah in the Bibliotheque of
D'Herbelot ( p. 277, 278,) and the second volume of Ockley's History,
particularly p. 40 and 153.]

[Footnote 29: See the article of Nehavend, in D'Herbelot, p. 667, 668;
and Voyages en Turquie et en Perse, par Otter, tom. i. 191. * Note:
Malcolm vol. i. p. 141.--M.]

The geography of Persia is darkly delineated by the Greeks and Latins;
but the most illustrious of her cities appear to be more ancient than
the invasion of the Arabs. By the reduction of Hamadan and Ispahan, of
Caswin, Tauris, and Rei, they gradually approached the shores of the
Caspian Sea: and the orators of Mecca might applaud the success and
spirit of the faithful, who had already lost sight of the northern
bear, and had almost transcended the bounds of the habitable world. [30]
Again, turning towards the West and the Roman empire, they repassed
the Tigris over the bridge of Mosul, and, in the captive provinces
of Armenia and Mesopotamia, embraced their victorious brethren of the
Syrian army. From the palace of Madayn their Eastern progress was not
less rapid or extensive. They advanced along the Tigris and the Gulf;
penetrated through the passes of the mountains into the valley of
Estachar or Persepolis, and profaned the last sanctuary of the Magian
empire. The grandson of Chosroes was nearly surprised among the falling
columns and mutilated figures; a sad emblem of the past and present
fortune of Persia: [31] he fled with accelerated haste over the desert
of Kirman, implored the aid of the warlike Segestans, and sought an
humble refuge on the verge of the Turkish and Chinese power. But a
victorious army is insensible of fatigue: the Arabs divided their forces
in the pursuit of a timorous enemy; and the caliph Othman promised the
government of Chorasan to the first general who should enter that
large and populous country, the kingdom of the ancient Bactrians. The
condition was accepted; the prize was deserved; the standard of Mahomet
was planted on the walls of Herat, Merou, and Balch; and the successful
leader neither halted nor reposed till his foaming cavalry had tasted
the waters of the Oxus. In the public anarchy, the independen