"كتيب الجيش الفارسي" [ظ‎‎١‎١] (١٥٠/٢٧)

12
Lateral Valleys.—T\iQ chief of these are:—
Nur, which runs for some 60 miles from west
to east to its junction with the Ha,raz. ihe
Nur valley is from 100 yards to £ mile m
width with strips of cultivation along tne
river and forms a fairly easy line of com
munication for pack mules. The mountains
on both sides are precipitous, rocky, ana
bare.
(2) Shahrud, which runs for some 100 miles from
east to west to its junction with the band
Rud at Manjil. The Shahrud valley is for
the most part a wide sloping basm through
the bottom of which the river has cut a
broad stony watercourse, but from below
Anbuh bridge to within a few miles of
Loshan it contracts into a gorge. It is con
sequently an indifferent line of communi
cation.
(3) Kizil Uzun, which runs from north-west to-
south-east to Manjil.
(4) Lar valley, which runs from west to east for
about 60 miles, curves round the foot of
Mount Damavand, and joins the Nur
Valley north-east of the mountain. The
river Lar, where it flows into the Caspian,
is known as the Haraz.
Vegetation—Yrom. East to West luxuriant vegeta
tion extends throughout the Caspian provinces, the
only variation being that the forest trees of
Mazanderan and Tunakhabun are bigger than those
in Gilan.
On the Elburz range vegetation is limited to the
slopes nearest the sea which catch and intercept the
fertilising moisture from the Caspian. The valleys
of the Nur, Lar and Kizil Uzun are utterly bare.
(&) North-West System. —Azarbaijan is a mass of
mountains. Of these, Mount Savalan, west of