'Lord Curzon's Notes on Persia' [‎393r] (786/1386)

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on the Kuh I Tarum told me that, in winter, when the sun sets to the
south-west, the waters of the lake are seen glistening in the sunlight
for miles. Camel-drivers who have lost their camels are said to have
followed the river-course in search of them, and have found it to ter
minate in a salt lake whose further shore was invisible to the eye. This
lake is shown on some German maps.”
As regards the “Kal Mura” or “Abresham” just referred to, it is
worthy of remark that Captain Claude Clerk, in the Notes which he
contributed to this Society, in 1861, on his " Routes through Persia,’
when describing his march from Herat to Semnan, makes no mention
of this river by name, though it may well be identified with one of the
brackish streams crossed by him west of Turshiz. St. John considers
that it may be a feeder of the “ Great Kavir ” crossed by Dr. Biihse.
The salt lake of the German maps may well be a minor kavir retaining,
from its conformation, an unusual depth of water.
The distance from Doruna to destination was lengthened by the
necessity of making a detour to the south, to “avoid the impassable
kavir of Bajistan,” which intervened between the encampment he had
reached on the 1st July and that city. This brought him to Nagenau,
a flourishing town situated on an open plain, with good grazing ground,
and possessing about 600 inhabitants, mostly cultivators—the chief
crops being wheat and tobacco. A recently built caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). there,
however well constructed, afforded little comfort to the traveller, owing
to its many large and black scorpions. The fourth march from Nagenau
was into the town of Bajistan.
According to Lieut. Vaughan, the people here remembered well the
visit, in April 1872, of the Sistan Mission, which seems to have much
impressed them ; causing especial gratification by its distribution of
presents, each of which was minutely described for his edification.
Major Euan Smith’s published report on Bajistan—referring to that
particular occasion—gave the town a population of some 4000 souls, with
a ruined fort, two good caravanserais, four hammams, fifty mosques, and
seventy shops. Vaughan’s estimate of “ about 1000 houses ” may not
essentially differ from this statement; but, while admitting the ruined
fort, he makes mention of one dilapidated caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). only in his
enumeration of buildings. “ The Governor,” he writes, “ is a Naib,
subject to the Khan of Tabbas, whose son he is.” It is further recorded :
“ My tent having been torn to pieces in a storm, and the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
being unfit to live in, having no roof, I put up in a subterranean
excavation just outside the city. The Governor, when he came to call,
seemed much amused at my condition, the outcome, as I explained, of
the length of my journey, which had caused most of my kit to go to
pieces. There were large quantities of fruit and vegetables obtainable,
most welcome to us after eating nothing but dried and salted food for
days. A considerable manufacture of cloth and silk goods is carried on
at this place, and there is a moderate amount of wheat and barley grown.
Fish of from 1 lb. to 1 lb. abound in the kanats, or underground streams
by which water is brought to the city ; many of them are blind, and
the inhabitants, for some reason or other, never eat them. Elevation
4300 feet.”
While at Bajistan, Lieut. Vaughan made a little expedition to the
eastward, over a range of high hills and through a pass 4800 feet in
height, to Jumain, the chief town of a cluster of about 15 villages, con
stituting the township of Gunabad. “ The population of the plain,”
he writes, “is very large, the greater portion being nomad, who,
however, never remove beyond the neighbouring hills.”
In conclusion I will quote the traveller’s resume of his labours, which,
though more directly relating to the last section, has a very general
application to the whole exploration:—“ The journey, though interesting,
was rather a trying one, owing to the heat experienced, the scarcity of
water, which necessitated long marches, and the absence of fresh
provisions.
“ My own opinion regarding the Kavir is that it extends uninter
ruptedly from 52 0 45' to 57 0 E. longitude without any break whatever,
and that about 54° 15' its bed is slightly elevated, forming a drier