'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎257] (296/714)

FROM MESHED TO TEHERAN 257
cr southern route, this, which is a more northerly line, cannot be
n ^ clM P ar "'Jers. It is, however, frequently adopted by
Aitemati™ caravans (other than camels), particularly in the summer-
as though the road is much worse, and in parts excessively'
steep, it runs over higher ground (10,720 feet), and thronj,
scenery of quite exceptional verdure and beauty. It is a positive
surprise to the traveller, within a few miles of the naked rocks
w'Sfl" ft a ' US °m ,3 ' t0 allght Up0n runnin g water and a
wealth of trees. Ihe stages are as follows ; 1
Xame of station
Distance in farsakhs A PP rox jmate distance
in miles
Meshed
J agherk
Dehrud
Nishapur .
Total
17
20
22
18
60
Colonel Stewart and other friends accompanied me on horse
back-after the prevailing Persian fashion, which for polite good-
Departure ® s 1 P m iglit be commended elsewhere—for some
SSLd chstauce outside the city gate. In deference to another
. , . ' r,sian Ilablt . he lent me a horse from his own
stables for the first stage ; while, in obedience to a third, I proposed
only to do one stage on the first afternoon, so as to allow servants
n aggage to ' shake down,'and to inure myself for harder work
e morrow. After I had been riding across the level plain
in\heF 0U t'l 0ne v! 11086 ," 0 ' 611 * WiudS arose ' wllich ^6 traveller
in the East knows by sad experience, and drove like a hurricane
C'OSS the land, whirling heaven and earth into one savage thunder-
oud of dust. Eyes, month, and ears were filled and choked with
wn* ? !i ' WaS bl0wing stra ^ ht in m y teeth . ^ yet
• - per ectly warm. About seven miles after leaving Meshed we
eXmftvofB 86 1°^^ f ,ountains ' 1,1 rea % Ate south-east
from tlJ fM- ® ma l!l ' whlch separates the plain of Meshed
from that of Nishapur. The Jagherk-Dehrud road boldly crosses
s lange, ut the postal route avoids so steep a climb by a diver
gence m a south-easterly direction, and mounts only the lower
spurs and slopes. ^
H W t B™ew 0 anrr r ,r d , d r rib f ^ Fraser 0«»X B. B. Eastwict (1862),
VOL I (1872) ' a " C, 00l0nel Val ' Baker (1873).
S