It is situated in a treeless valley on
the rivers Piatscha and Atschi, and contains 160,000 inhabitants.
The town is handsomer than Teheran or Ispahan, possesses a number of
silk looms and leather manufactories, and is said to be one of the
principal seats of Asiatic commerce.
The streets are tolerably broad, and are also kept clean, there is
in each an underground water canal with openings at regular
intervals for the purpose of dipping out water.
There is no more to be seen of the houses than in any other Oriental
town. Lofty walls with low entrances, without windows, and with the
fronts always facing the court-yards, which are planted with flowers
and small trees, and generally adjoining a beautiful garden. The
reception rooms are large and lofty, with whole rows of windows,
forming a complete wall of glass. The decoration of the rooms is
not elegant, generally nothing beyond some few carpets; European
furniture and articles of luxury are rare.
There are no handsome mosques, palaces, or monuments, either ancient
or modern, with the exception of the partly ruined mosque of Ali-
Schach, which, however, will not bear comparison in any respect with
those in India.
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