Page:Kennedy, Robert John - A Journey in Khorassan (1890).djvu/55

 fall heavily, pitching its rider some yards over its head, but with the pluck and tenacity which distinguishes all Persians of Turkish or Turcoman blood, he was up and mounted in the twinkling of an eye. About two miles from the principal gate of the city we were met by General MacLean on horseback, accompanied by his escort of six Indian Sowars in full uniform, and six Turcoman gholams in their picturesque native dress; and with this escort we rode into the capital of the Khorassan. This city, like Tehran, is surrounded by a mud rampart, with a broad ditch about ten feet deep and thirty feet broad; it is about six miles in circumference, and is commercially of considerable importance, as it is the great centre of trade between India, Persia, and Bokhara. It is entered by six gates, all built on the same model; they are of wood studded with iron, and each one is flanked by two towers thirty feet high, loopholed and connected over the gate with a parapet. The defences of Meshed are, however, very weak, and the city, it is said, could be easily stormed by infantry without ladders. We rode along