which was afterwards built by Ashreff, and which encloses the centre of the town, is still standing. The river Zenderood skirts the city on its southern side, and is traversed by three bridges. Its waters, after fertilizing several fine districts, flow eastwards, and are, after a comparatively short distance, lost in the ground. When viewed from a height, the scene presented by this great city, embosomed in umbrageous gardens and vineyards, is one of much beauty; the surface of the plain in its vicinity is also diversified by large and picturesque villages, and dotted with pigeon-towers. The population of the place has been estimated by an observant modern traveller,[1] as not exceeding a hundred thousand souls; its bazaars and parishes are of great extent, but a large portion of them being ruinous and uninhabited, gives one the impression that it is thinly populated. The seemingly interminable extent of its lofty, arched bazaars, gives an idea of the former grandeur of this once proud city. The surrounding country affords in abundance all the requisites of life; provisions, therefore, are cheap. The fruits are of the finest description; amongst them are to be found melons, peaches, pomegranates and pears, and grapes of no fewer than thirty-nine varieties: thirteen pounds of the last-mentioned fruit are procurable for the equivalent of fourpence sterling. The wine of Ispahan is considered to be the best in Persia.
The once flourishing Armenian colony of Julfa is now reduced to about three hundred and fifty families, the result of a long course of oppression and of the consequent decay of commerce.
It was to be expected that on the death of Aga
- ↑ Mr. Abbott, her Majesty's Consul-General at Tabreez.
