raditions in reference to gold
and silver mining among the mountains in the neighbourhood
of Takht-i-Suleiman; one of these is still called _Zerreh-
Shardn_, the mount of the _gold-washers_.

** The best known was the so-called Tauris marble quarried
from the hills in the neighbourhood of Lake Urumiyah.

*** The list of precious stones which Pliny tells us were
found in Media, contains several kinds which we are unable
to identify, _e.g_. the Zathene, the gassinades and
narcissitis. Pliny calls lapis-lazuli _sapphirus_, and
declares that the bright specks of pyrites it contained
rendered it unsuitable for engraving. In the Assyrian
inscriptions Mount Bikni, the modern Demavend, is described
as a mountain of Uknu, or lapis-lazuli.

**** A large part of the mountains and plains is now
treeless, but it is manifest, both from the evidence of the
inscriptions and from the observations of travellers, that
the whole of Media was formerly well wooded.

The intermediate valleys were veritable orchards, in which the
vegetation of the temperate zones mingled with tropical growths. The
ancients believed that the lemon tree came originally from Persia.*
To this day the peach, pear, apple, quince, cherry, apricot, almond,
filbert, chestnut, fig, pistachio-nut, and pomegranate still flourish
there: the olive is easily acclimatised, and the vine produces grapes
equally suitable for the table or the winepress.** The plateau presents
a poorer and less promising appearance--not that the soil is less
genial, but the rivers become lost further inland, and the barrenness
of the country increases as they come to an end one after another. Where
artificial irrigation has been introduced, the fertility of the country
is quite as great as in the neighbourhood of the mountains;*** outside
this irrigated region no trees are to be seen, except a few on the banks
of rivers or ponds, but wheat, barley, rye, oats, and an abundance of
excellent vegetables grow readily in places where water is present.

* The apple obtained from Media was known as the Modicum
malum, and was credited with the property of being a
powerful antidote to poison: it was supposed that it would
not grow anywhere outside Media.

** In some places, as, for instance, at Kirmanshahan, the
vine stocks have to be buried during the winter to protect
them from t