'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎57] (88/714)

WAYS AND MEANS
or brigandage. I used mine for no more sanguinary purpose than to fire
at running partridges, and to put out of its misery a broken-legged
and abandoned donkey.
Among minor articles which will be found serviceable, but upon
whose particular use I need not dilate, are wax matches, folding candle-
Minor sticks (candles are always procurable in the native bazaars),
suggestions i nsec t powder, vaseline (the skin is apt to get terribly chapped
by the sharp contrasts of climate), blue spectacles to resist the glare,
air cushions, a telescope, and last, but of supreme importance, the best
map that money can procure. I hope I shall not be thought impertinent
if I suggest that the gratification of the last-named want will involve
the purchase of this book.
As regards the best season of the year for visiting Persia, there are
two alternatives, the late autumn and the spring. The former is the
Seasons for period from October to January, the latter from March to
travelling May. Snow as a rule falls towards the end of December at
Teheran (in Azerbaijan much earlier), and blocks the loftier passes,
besides rendering travelling excessively cold. It begins to melt in
March. The advantages of the spring season are the richness of the
verdure, which the stranger sees at no other time, the songs of the
birds and the blooming of the flowers, which alone render the national
poetry intelligible, and, above all, tliQ length of the days, which facilitates
long marches. But these are purchased at the cost of considerable
heat in the middle of the day, and of persecution by vermin at night.
In the autumn and winter, on the other hand, the climate is in
vigorating and superb. I rode 1,000 miles without a drop of rain ;
and in a country famous for filth I did not fall a victim to a single
flea. On the other hand, there was no verdure or beauty in the
landscape ; and as the winter drew on the days closed in, and it was
piercingly cold at night. During the summer months outdoor movement
is impossible during the daytime. Travellers sleep or repose ; and all
marching is done by light of the moon and stars. 1
1 It has been reserved for an American traveller, after committing the initial
indiscretion of journeying through Persia in the hot season, and consequently
making his marches by night, to perpetrate the second of writing a book about
what he had not seen (Midnight Marches through Persia, by H. Ballantine).