‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎206r] (418/722)

there are no such lofty mountains ; but the higher summits of the Kurd
range, between Isfahan and Kashan, exceed 11,000 feet; and the Khurasan
mountains probably attain an equal elevation.
Absence of prominent spurs is the main characteristic of all Persian
ranges, except the Alburz, and to a lesser extent the Khurasan hills. In
considerable rainfall has, of course, much to do with this ; but the primary
reason is to be sought in the geological formation. The extraordinary
gravel slopes extending for many miles from the foot of the interior hills
present a phenomenon fully treated of by Mr. Blanford in his account of
the geology, and I will not, therefore, enlarge upon it here.
It remains to notice the valleys and plains between and beyond the
ranges. The Khuzistan delta is the only plain of extent and importance
at the sea-level. The strip of land between the outer hills and the sea
is generally narrow and barren, but occasionally, as north of Bushahr and
north and east of Bandar Abbas, expands into respectable dimensions.
Part of the plain of Mogan, at the mouth of the Araxes, belongs to Persia;
and the delta of the Safid Rud has considerable extent and extraordinary fer
tility. Inland the long and narrow plains between the ridges rise gradually
from 1,000 feet to eight times that height in the valleys between the ridges
on the east side of the western water-parting, and 4,000, 5,000, and 6,000
feet further south and east. The plains of Isfahan, Shiraz, and Persepolis
are about 5,000 feet; that of Karman somewhat higher. The valleys of
Azarbaijan present alluvial slopes furrowed by torrents, and the only
extensive tableland in Persia,—that of Sultaniah.
As they recede from the east and north, the intervals between the
ridges are wider, and the rainfall smaller, till grassy valleys are replaced
by gravelly deserts, which culminate in wastes of shifting sand. The
valley between Abadih and Yazd, a prolongation of the Zaindarud valley,
contains the first of these sandy wastes, which, under the influence of the
strong south-easterly winds, occasionally invade the neighbouring cultivated
tracts. The original city of Rhages, south-east of Tihran, is said to have
been abandoned on this account.
The most remarkable feature, however, in the plains of Persia is the salt
swamp called Kavir or Kafeh.
The universal condition of the alluvial soil of the Persian plateau
appears to he that, wherever it is exposed to sufficient moisture, either by the
overflow of rivers, surface-drainage from the hills, or want of sufficient
slope to carry off desert rainfall, a saline efflorescence is produced, which,
forming a thin whitish crust on the surface, retains the moisture beneath
for a considerable time, and thus creates, in winter and spring, a treacherous
and impassable bog.
Where the supply of water is constant, but insufficient to form salt
lakes such as those of Urmia and Niriz, a bog of slimy mud is formed in
the lowest depression, covered with brine in winter, and in summer by a
thick crust of salt. These salt swamps are termed Kavir in the north, and
Kafeh in the south. The principal is that shown on our maps as the
Great Salt Desert, the Dasht-i-Kavfr, or Daria-i-Kabir.* This is the
eastern part of what is probably the most extensive plain in Persia—that
intercepted betweeen the Alburz and its parallel ridges and the heads of
the central plateau, which run south-east. Westward, it is divided into two
* I have never myself heard this last term used, nor have Persians from whom I have enquired;
but it has the authority of the author of Eajji Bala to back it. The meaning would be, not “ The
Great Sea/’ as usually supposed, but the “Lake of Salt Mud/ 5