‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎335v] (677/722)

624
is
months, raising 1 masses of dust mixed with particles of salt. During the
three cold months of winter the weather is very pleasant, and similar to
that of the north-west of Hindustan. Snow has been known to fall
in Sistan ; hut it is a rare and remarkable occurrence. In half the year a
strong, steady wind blows from the snowy mountains above Herat, and is
called the ‘ bad-i-sad-wa-bist-ruz ' wind of one-hundred-and-twenty days ’).
Its limits are confined to a breadth of 80 miles, being bounded on the west
by the Bandan hills, and extending no further east, it is said, than Khash.
The insects bred in the stagnant waters that abound in Sistan constitute
a serious nuisance. The flies are particularly obnoxious, and their bite is
believed to be frequently fatal to horses. They resemble the common fly, but
are twice as large. In the spring they are of a pale-brown, with dark spots :
as the year closes, the colour turns black, and soon after the insect dies.
Horses have to be kept during the hot weather in dark stables, or covered
entirely with cloth, particular care being taken to protect the belly, where a
bite is considered fatal. There is also a fatal disease, to which horses
in this district are subject, called f siirkh sargfn/or f red dung/ The
symptoms are, first, the hind-legs swell; the dung then changes to a
vermilion colour; the skin is frequently covered with pimples ; the urine
is bloody ; and, at last, paralysis seizes on all the limbs, and soon after
death ensues. The eye during the progress of the disease is of a pale, yellow
colour, only a few specks of white remaining; and it is said that the “ tail
dries up,” so that you can pull out the hairs by handfuls. The disease in
some cases kills in three days; but horses passing through Sistan durino- the
hot weather generally live for a few months,—dying, however, in about two
cases out of five within the year. No native remedies have been found of any
avail; and a horse, once attacked, is generally abandoned to its fate.* The
climate is unfavourable, but in a lesser degree, to camels. Both these animals
and sheep die in large numbers, from eating the leaves of a plant called
trootk. I he mule, ass, and cow, thrive well throughout the district.
The difficulty which formerly existed for the supply of fuel for
any large force in Sfstan is now much lessened by the rapid spread of the
tamarisk over the ground occupied by the old lake (the “ Hamun”).
Much of the country is covered with ‘ kirta/ a species of high, yellow
grass, which is said to form excellent food for cattle, but to have rather an
aperient eifect on horses. Immense flocks of waterfowl abound all over the
iiligated portion of the district; large herds of wild hogs find shelter amom>'
t ie iceds of Naizar ; and wild asses and deer frequent the desert between the
Helmand and the Bandan hills.
Water is procured in the interior by digging wells in the beds of one
or two small rivulets, which are dry, except after a fall of rain; and a tract
runs through the desert, called u Shand,” where water can always be found
within a few feet of the surface.
■'^ e f l S ^ n i S ^ re n0w g enera % of the Shiah form of faith, many of the
original Sunnis having changed their creed. They speak a debased Per
sian; but amongst themselves the several tribes speak their own mother-
tongue as the Afghans, Pushtu; the Baluchis, Baluch ; the Sarbandis and
Persians, lersian. The governor of Persian Sfstan in 1880 was Muham
mad Jafar Khan. Lovett gives a list of birds and serpents said to exist
m Sistan, for which the reader is referred to Golds mid’s narratives.
. 1S , C0 l ifined to SisHn. It is not known at Lash Juvain, or in Nihbandan • and
said by the Sistanis to have only appeared in their country of late years.