about six o'clock
The speed was not excessive , although there were no rocks ahead , for the mountains marked on the map are of very moderate altitude . But as the ship approached the capital , she had to steer clear of Demavend , whose snowy peak rises some twenty-two thousand feet , and the chain of Elbruz , at whose foot is built Teheran . As soon as the day broke on the 2nd of July the peak of Demavend appeared above the sandstorm , and the `` Albatross '' was steered so as to pass over the town , which the wind had wrapped in a mantle of dust . However , about six o'clock her crew could see the large ditches that surround it , and the Shah 's palace , with its walls covered with porcelain tiles , and its ornamental lakes , which seemed like huge turquoises of beautiful blue . It was but a hasty glimpse . The `` Albatross '' now headed for the north , and a few hours afterwards she was over a little hill at the northern angle of the Persian frontier , on the shores of a vast extent of water which stretched away out of sight to the north and east . The town was Ashurada , the most southerly of the Russian stations .