208

JOURNEYS IN PERSIA

LETTER

There is a garrison, of 1000 men nominally, for the
town and district are somewhat turbulent, and a conflict
is always imminent between the Kurds and Turks, who
are Sunnis, and the small Persian population, which is

Shiah. The altitude of
Sujbulak is 4770 feet
Here I have come upon
the track of Ida Pfeiffer,
who travelled in the
Urmi region more than
forty years ago, when
travelling in Persia was
full of risks, and
much more difficult in
all respects than it is
now.

The Sanak, though clear
and bright, is fouled by
many abominations, and
by the ceaseless washing
of clothes above the town;
there are no pure wells,
and all people who care
about what they drink
keep asses constantly
bringing water from an
uncontaminated part of
the river, two miles off.
Even the Governor has to
depend on this supply.
Sujbulak looks very well from this camp, with the bright
river in the foreground, and above it, irregularly grouped
on a rising - bank, the fa9ade, terraces, and towers of
the Governor's palace, the fort-like Turkish consulate,
and numbers of good dwelling-houses, with lalakhanas

RUED OP SUJBULAK.