produces one of the most peculiar and unique forms
of decoration I have ever seen.
To open out the approach to this fortress town
was a work of considerable time and labour ; it-will
easily be seen by the plan how intricate it is, protected
at every turn with traverses and ambuscades,
and there commences at the bottom, of the precipice
a flight of steps leading up the steep ascent. The
architects availed themselves of a narrow slit in
the granite boulder, up which the steps led, the passage
being exceedingly narrow ; then the path divided
into two, one path turning abruptly to the right, and
at the turning a pretty little bit of wall with the
stones placed pointways for about a yard relieved the
monotony and formed a sort of dentelle pattern ; then
it led along a narrow ledge over the precipice, and in
spite of the impossibility of attack at such a point it
was nevertheless protected by traverses even here. In
fact, the redundancy of fortification all over this
mountain, the useless repetition of walls over a précipice
itself inaccessible, the care with which every
hole in the boulders through which an arrow could
pass is closed, prove that the occupants were in constant
dread of attack, and lived like a garrison, in the
heart of an enemy’s country.
At the summit of the mountain are huge
boulders about fifty feet high. Immediately below
the highest is a curious little plateau which had been
decorated by the ancient occupiers ; it is approached
by narrow passages and steps on either side, and a
curious passage through the wall below, covered