_ 108 _ that it was built by Greeks. It is inhabited by Persians of little account. The area is infertile, being close to some mountains where there is only game and deer, from the horns of which are made many very good bows in the Turkish style. There are many good craftsmen who make these; it is a weapon much used among these people. On the plains around the city there is a great quantity of a plant similar to hemp. These exude a resin, which is treated and loaded to be sent to many places. From here starts a desert fifteen to twenty days’ journey across, which stretches to the River Euphrates to the west of Baghdad. Here I saw the best vegetables I have ever seen, namely cabbages, radishes, chard, very tasty and large, as they are throughout Persia. On the next day, 23 October, we left here and arrived at a caravanserai in a plain near a good river called Daung. Here we paid half a damasin per load for the guards of those plains. On the next day we went to another caravanserai with another fountain near some hills called [Hesés]. Here the caravan bound for Kasvin parted company with us; Kasvin is two days’ journey from here to the east. Item: Kasvin is a noble city with [fine] buildings, fertile and cool; the walls and the houses are mainly mud like the
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