'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎33] (64/714)

WAYS AND MEANS 33
their southern side, descending from Kazvin to Teheran. Between
Resht and Kazvin the stages are as follows : 1
Xame of station
Distance in Farsakhs
Approximate distance
in Miles
Kesht to Kuhdum ....
Kuhdum to Rustamabad .
Rustamabad to Menjil
Menjil to Paichenar ....
Paichenar to Mazreh
Mazreh to Kazvin ....
6
5
5
5
5
5
16
18!
171
^' 2
13
20
21
Total
31 2
106
After leaving Resht the road strikes inland through the first or
woodland belt, traversing a forest, which, while it reeks with
Resht to miasma, also abounds in game. Here are to be found
Kazvm no t 011 ly the humble fauna with which we are familiar in
England, such as hares, foxes, pheasants, and the like, but wolves,
hyenas, jackals, leopards, tigers, lynxes, and wild boar. Generally
1 The following modern writers have given descriptions of the journey from
Enzeli to Teheran : E. B. Eastwick (1860-61), Journal of a Diplomate, vol. i. pp.
293-end; vol. ii. pp. 1-14. Col. Yal. Baker (1873), Clouds in the East, pp. 812-317.
A. Arnold (1875) Through Persia by Caravan, \o\. i. caps, viii.-x. A. H. Schindler,
(1877), Zeit. d. Gesell. fur Erd. z. Berlin, vol. xiv. Sir C. MacGregor (1878),
Journey through Khorasan, vol. ii. pp. 176-180. E. 0'Donovan (1880), The Me/rv
Oasis, vol. i. pp. 307-337. E. Orsolle (1882), he Caucase et la Ferse, caps, xi.-xv.
2 The total of farsakhs if multiplied by four seldom corresponds to the actual
number of miles, for the reason that, the farsaith being the unit of measurement,
no fraction of a farsakh is taken into account. Thus 12^ miles will count as
4 farsahhs equally with 16 miles, and be paid for accordingly. Moreover, the
length of the farsalih differs in different parts of the country according to the
nature of the ground, the local interpretation of the term being the distance
which a laden mule will walk in the hour. Thus in mountainous country the
farsakh will be apt not greatly to exceed three miles; whilst on level ground four
miles may sometimes be an inadequate measurement. The name farsakh is, as
well known, the Arabicised form of the old Persian parasang (transcribed by the
Greeks as Trapaadyy^s), and is supposed to be derived from pieces of stone (sang)
placed on the roadside as marks at fixed distances apart. In one of the books
of the Zend Avesta there is the following not too precise definition of the term :
' A farsakh is the distance at which a long-sighted man can see a camel and dis
cern whether it be white or black.' In Luristan, on the other hand, the standard
is sound, not sight, a farsaith being the distance at which a drum beat can be
heard. As a matter of fact, the original parasang was an old Babylonian measure,
based on the Babylonian cubit, and was equal to 3"523 miles. But the modern
parasang varies in proportion as the modern cubit varies; its mean value being
3 - 9 15 miles, which corresponds with the Ro3 r al Babylonian cubit. Vide ' 1> otes
on the Length of the FarsakhJ by Gen. A. H. Schindler, in Proceedings of the
R- G. S. (new series), vol. x. pp. 584-588 (1888).
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