n of a vault, but the greater
portion of the building, which was evidently of great proportions, is now
buried in sand. The exact spot is pointed out where the manger stood, and
so is the point where the heel ropes of this famous horse were tied. This
circumstance misled one traveller into stating in 1872 that "two hills,
one mile apart to the south-west, denoted the places where the manger and
the spot where the head of this famous horse were tied." This error has
been copied faithfully by subsequent travellers, including very recent
ones (see _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, February, 1902,
page 142).

There seemed little doubt that the huge building, of which the wall
reproduced in the illustration made part, was a stable, and that it must
have been of special importance could be seen by the elaborate cross
pattern decorations on its outer face. The fragment of the wall stands
over 50 feet high, and to all appearance some twenty more feet of it are
underground, buried by the sand. It had strong supports at its base.

[Illustration]

The stable was most peculiarly shaped, ending in a sharp point at one
end.

Another dry canal was noticeable to the west of the ruins which went from
south to north, with a branch canal going due west. North-west and west
were to be seen other ruined cities, one of which, with two high
quadrangular towers, was approximately three miles distant. To the west
on two hills were fortresses, but between these and Rustam's city lay an
immense graveyard (about one mile from Sher-i-Rustam), with graves above
ground--mainly single ones, but also a few family ones in adjoining
compartments.

As we went along due west another ruined city was pointed out, Zorap, a
very ancient place, where Bahram is said to have impaled the body of
Firamurz, Rustam's son.

We crossed two more dry canals of some magnitude, running parallel, which
showed that in former days this now barren part of Sistan must have been
under flourishing cultivation. In fact, further on we came upon traces of
houses and of extensive irrigation, the soil having quite a different
appearance to the usual _lut_ where left untouched by human tools.

[Illustration: Plan of Sher-i-Rustam.]

We then came across what at first seemed a confused commotion of sand and
mud, but its formation was very curious, and looked as if it covered an
underlying city of great size. The surface sand seemed to reproduce to a
certain extent th