The Throne of Solomon
Captain Fortcscue must have passed through here on his way to
the pass above us. The Philosopher, as headman, had the onus
of gathering taxes: he was expected to pay so much to govern-
ment, and to collect it as he thought best. I have never seen any
dissatisfaction with this arrangement, and the leaving of the
matter entirely in the hands of a local Elder, who has his own
popularity among his people to think of, is probably much more
satisfactory than direct collection by a Persian government
official. The Parachan headman had the added advantage of
holiness to endear him to his folk; he did, indeed, seem a kind
and just man, and his voice in the darkness as he said the last
prayer of the day floated over the heads of his sleeping flock—
dim, shroudedforms on the flat roofs under the stars. Through
the night, Orion swung above the village street; and still in
starlit darkness, the young men of the village rose, gathered
their sickles, and started off to cut hay in the hills. We left
when daylight came and, with the headman beside us, climbed
to the so-called tower, known as Ahmad Raje, about an
hour's walk above us on a western spun
Nothing at all was left above ground except a few nonde-
script potsherds, and there can never have been anything here
but a small look-out or guard tower to dominate the way from
the pass. But a storm was sweeping across the Hazarchal;
Solomon's Throne towered among the clouds, and I was glad
to have almost encircled that Unattained One, and to see it in
magnificence from the south as well as from the other three
points of the compass. When rain and hail came pouring from
the ridge towards us, we descended hastily to Joistan by a shorter
way, down barren hillsides for sheep along the Shirbash stream,
which burrows down the valley through a canyon. There is a
track here to Ab-i-Garm, our hot springs of the Darijan valley,
which can be reached in a day; and a venerated Imamzadeh
shows high above it, white among the rocks of Mounts Sat and
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