'Report on the Preliminary Survey of The Route for The Central Persia Telegraph Line from Quetta to Bam and Pahra' [‎65v] (135/162)

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6th wc reached Barn, and were very glad to have come to the end of our journey
westwards. Here we halted three days to rest our camels. Bam is not an imposing
looking town, but is the largest we met with in Persia during our travels; its road
ways are narrow and dirty, and the houses of very poor architecture; its bazaar
consists of small open shops in a few narrow streets with domed roofs; its popu
lation numbers, I should say, not more than 4 or 5 thousand people.; it is difficult
to get accurate information regarding the size of any place in Persia from local
inhabitants, as they exaggerate so obviously in all their descriptions given to a
stranger. The most interesting sight in Bam is the old fort. 1 his is about ^ of
a mile square, and is surrounded by high walls. In old days the town and bazaar
were situated inside it. The citadel in the north corner was very strongly forti
fied, and must have been impregnable before modern guns were invented ; it is
skillfully designed, and solidly constructed, and its architecture shows signs of
much more advanced civilization than exists in Bam at the present day. The
guns on view were 3 old pieces of brass cannon, but I was told there are a lot
more of improved pattern locked up in the arsenal. These, however, they did not
display any wish to show me. The army in Bam, at the time of my visit, consisted,
I think, of about two dozen men, and these were real caricatures for soldiers. They
were undrilled, and armed with antiquated muzzle-loading guns. They appeared-
to have only four suits of uniform between them, and these were handed over one to
the other by men on any special guard. The trousers was red in colour, very
much shrunk, and tight-fitting over other ordinary leg covering, and in some of
them there were no buttons up the front. The coat was dark blue with red
shoulder straps, and a variety of brass buttons. The hat was light dun . in
colour, cup shape in form, with a brass badge and a thin red band running
diagonally across the front. There were three men dressed in the above style
appointed to guard my camp, and they had four guns between them ; three of
these they piled in the orthodox fashion, and the fourth was then hung perpen
dicularly in the middle. Jemadar Rahim Khan, who was in command of my
Baluch escort, strongly resented the presence of these Persian soldiers.. He
ridiculed them, and their weapons, and was very anxious to get my per mission
to clear them all out, as he considered they w'ere a slight on his capabilities to
protect me. With a little flattery I pacified him, and he agreed to tolerate them,
but only by day. He said he could not be responsible fo.r the peace and safety
of the camp, if these foreigners were allowed to remain in it at night time, I
shared hH view in this matter, that it would be better if they withdrew in^the
evening. By feigning solicitude for their personal comfort, I succeeded in
getting rid of them from sunset till sunrise.
T exchanged visits with the Governor, and principal inhabitants of Bam,,
and was everywhere cordially received. It appears the custom in Persian polite'
society to offer visitors refreshments, invariably of the same kind ; first sherbet ;
then tea with plenty of sugar, but no milk ; and afterwards coffee, with a hooka
passed round at intervals, also cigarettes and various sweets. The ceremony dis
played in preparing and offering all this is amusing to a stranger, in spite of the
very serious demeanour on the part of the Persians. Amongst my camp luggage
was an old solid tyre bicycle, fitted with two cyclometers, one.on the front wheel,
and one on the back, and, when pushed along, these registered the distance
travelled. This machine was a great source of curiosity to many people ; some
surmised it was a gun, others said it was some sort of charm, but when they were
told its real use, and that it could carry a man for many miles, their astonishment
was great. By special request I had to ride it for the Governor of Bam when h&
came to my camp. Nearly the whole town had collected round as. spectators.
The ground was very rough, so, not being an expert on wheels, I maintained my
proper equilibrium when in motion with a good deal of wobbling. This probably
made the balancing trick appear all the more wonderful to the onlookers. The
Governor and those with him were much amused. One of his staff, Serteep
Shokatul Mamalik, Commander of Kerman troops, said he felt greatly relieved
when I got off, as, during my performance, he was very nervous for fear I might
get a bad fall. The whole tamasha was indeed a curious one, just as much for
me as for the Persians !
We left Bam on February 10th and reached Ladis on February 24th. Our
course for about the first 70 miles lay through the Narmasheer province. The ground