DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5542#0199
188
REACH ILGHUN.
[Chap. xl[.
be under 100° Fahr., and the supply of water is very limited.
Crossing the plain towards Ilghun, we soon reached a small
stream called the Ilghun Su, flowing N.N.W. into the
lake. A bridge of two arches is used in winter, hut we
were now able to ford it; on the opposite side was the
burial-ground of Ilghun. We soon reached the low mud
wall of the town, here barely three feet high, called a
Kaleh by the suriji. At length we entered the gateway ;
it was a fair specimen of the misery of the place, apparent
in every shape and form, consisting of a huge wooden
frame and doorposts, the gates themselves being so shat-
tered and rotten that they could not be moved or closed :
from this formidable barrier a mud wall about eight feet
high extended for a short distance on either side.
Here I found a konak prepared in the Agha's own
rooms, and made myself comfortable on his sofas and
cushions; but we had scarcely been settled half an hour
when Dimitri appeared with a long face and very pale, in
spite of his sun-burnt skin, announcing himself as the
bearer of bad news. The plague was raging in Ilghun,
and there were eight or ten cases every day ; he added that
it had been much worse, and that three deaths had taken
place this very day; that the Agha's daughter had died
of it in the house we were in, only five days before, in con-
sequence of which the father had escaped into the country ;
that the village was a desert, and the inhabitants almost all
dead. This, then, was the cause of the desolation which I
had observed on entering the place, and could not account
for. Presently Dimitri again came to say that the man who
was assisting him in the kitchen, and was grinding the
coffee, had told him that his cousin had died in the morn-
ing, and that he had just been assisting at his interment.
This was not agreeable, and Dimitri wanted to be off imme-
diately ; but compromised as we were, I thought we might
as well remain here the day, avoiding as much- as possible
communication with the inhabitants.
In the evening I walked about to see the bazaar, khans,
REACH ILGHUN.
[Chap. xl[.
be under 100° Fahr., and the supply of water is very limited.
Crossing the plain towards Ilghun, we soon reached a small
stream called the Ilghun Su, flowing N.N.W. into the
lake. A bridge of two arches is used in winter, hut we
were now able to ford it; on the opposite side was the
burial-ground of Ilghun. We soon reached the low mud
wall of the town, here barely three feet high, called a
Kaleh by the suriji. At length we entered the gateway ;
it was a fair specimen of the misery of the place, apparent
in every shape and form, consisting of a huge wooden
frame and doorposts, the gates themselves being so shat-
tered and rotten that they could not be moved or closed :
from this formidable barrier a mud wall about eight feet
high extended for a short distance on either side.
Here I found a konak prepared in the Agha's own
rooms, and made myself comfortable on his sofas and
cushions; but we had scarcely been settled half an hour
when Dimitri appeared with a long face and very pale, in
spite of his sun-burnt skin, announcing himself as the
bearer of bad news. The plague was raging in Ilghun,
and there were eight or ten cases every day ; he added that
it had been much worse, and that three deaths had taken
place this very day; that the Agha's daughter had died
of it in the house we were in, only five days before, in con-
sequence of which the father had escaped into the country ;
that the village was a desert, and the inhabitants almost all
dead. This, then, was the cause of the desolation which I
had observed on entering the place, and could not account
for. Presently Dimitri again came to say that the man who
was assisting him in the kitchen, and was grinding the
coffee, had told him that his cousin had died in the morn-
ing, and that he had just been assisting at his interment.
This was not agreeable, and Dimitri wanted to be off imme-
diately ; but compromised as we were, I thought we might
as well remain here the day, avoiding as much- as possible
communication with the inhabitants.
In the evening I walked about to see the bazaar, khans,