ams, till it ends finally in a
large swamp or marsh, in lat. 39 deg., long. 57 deg., nearly. The entire length
of the stream, including only main windings, is about 475 miles. In its
later course, however, it is often almost dry, the greater portion of
the water being consumed in irrigation in the neighborhood of Meshed.

The river of Nishapur is formed by numerous small streams, which descend
from the mountains that on three sides inclose that city. Its water
is at times wholly consumed in the cultivation of the plain; but the
natural course may be traced, running in a southerly and south-westerly
direction, until it debouches from the hills in the vicinity of
Tersheez. The Miyanabad stream is believed to be a tributary of the
Gurghan. It rises from several sources in the transverse range joining
the Alatagh to the Jaghetai, the streams from which all flow westward
in narrow valleys, uniting about long. 57 deg. 35'. The course of the river
from this point to Piperne has not been traced, but it is believed
to run in a general westerly direction along the southern base of the
Alatagh, and to form a junction with the Gurghan a little below the
ruins of the same name. Its length to this point is probably about 200
miles.

The elevation of the mountain chains is not great. No very remarkable
peaks occur in them; and it may be doubted whether they anywhere attain
a height of above 6000 feet. They are for the most part barren and
rugged, very scantily supplied with timber, and only in places capable
of furnishing a tolerable pasturage to flocks and herds. The valleys,
on the other hand, are rich and fertile in the extreme; that of Meshed,
which extends a distance of above a hundred miles from north-west
to south-east, and is from twenty to thirty miles broad, has almost
everywhere a good and deep soil, is abundantly supplied with water,
and yields a plentiful return even to the simplest and most primitive
cultivation. The plain about Nishapur, which is in length from eighty to
ninety miles, and in width from forty to sixty, boasts a still greater
fertility.

The flat country along the southern base of the mountains, which ancient
writers regard as Parthia, par excellence, is A strip of territory about
300 miles long, varying in width ac cording to the labor and the skill
applied by its inhabitants to the perfecting of a system of irrigation.
At present the _kanats_, or underground water-courses, are seldom
carried to a dis