and and salt. The place was in most wonderful preservation
considering its age. There were four high towers to the north, the two
central towers which protected the city gate being close together and
more massive than the corner ones, which were circular and tapering
towards the summit. The wall of the city was castellated and stood some
30 feet high. The city gate, protected by an outer screen, was to the
east, and was two-storeyed. It led directly into the main street of the
city.

I cannot do better than enumerate the characteristics of the city in the
order in which I noticed them on my visit to it. A path, like a narrow
platform, was visible all round half-way up inside the wall, as well as
another on the top which gave access from one tower to another. There
were no steps to reach the summit of the towers, but merely inclined
planes.

On entering the city gate--the only one--one came at once upon Rustam's
palace--a three-tiered domed structure with a great many lower annexes on
its western and southern sides. A wall adjoining the city gate enclosed
Rustam's quarters, and had a large entrance cut into it leading to the
dwelling. The various floors were reached by a series of tunnelled
passages on inclined planes. Rustam's favourite room was said to have
been the top one, represented in the photograph facing page 266, where
the outside of the two top storeys of the building can be seen.

The domed room was well preserved, and had a sort of raised portion to
sit upon. The ceiling was nicely ornamented with a frieze and a design of
inverted angles. The room had four windows, and a number of slits in the
north wall for ventilating purposes. It was a regular look-out house,
commanding a fine view all round above the city wall of the great expanse
of desert with its ancient cities to the east, and distant blue mountains
to the west. There were a number of receptacles, some of which had been
used for burning lights, and five doors leading into other rooms. These
rooms, however, were not so well preserved--in fact, they had mostly
collapsed, their side walls alone remaining. No wood had been used in the
construction of the building and all the ceilings were vaulted.

Rustam's "compound," to use the handy word of the east, occupied about
one-quarter of the area of the town and filled the entire south-east
corner. Besides the higher building it contained a great many side
structures, with domes, unfortunately, only half-s