"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد II" [و‎‎٧‎٦] (٧٠٦/١٥٦)

DARBAND-I-ZARD (ZUHAB)—
A valley with good grazing on the western side of the Baghawa mountain :
grazing grounds of the Guran tribe in spring.— (Soane, 1913.)
DARDASHT (?)—
A plain on the eastern side of Tehran.— (Nayier.)
DARGA HORCOT—
A village in Kurdistan between Raian and Rayat, perched on the
elopes of the Vardeh mountains, which rise to a height of about 11,000
feet.— (Gerard.)
DARGALA— Elev. 3,400'.
A picturesque village in Azarbaijan on the Turkish frontier, about 17
miles east of Ruvandiz, on the Mosul road. It is situated in a hollow on
the right bank of a small tributary of the Ruvandiz Chai, towered over
by an old castle, and shaded by primeval trees. The rocky walls of the
hollow are rent by defiles leading to the gigantic Zagros mountains.—
(Gerard, Thielmann.)
DARIA-I-NAMAK— Elev. 2,400'.
To the west of the Siah Kuh lies an immense sheet of salt water, ex
tending away beyond the horizon in that direction. No land appears
anywhere above its surface. It is said to have existed for many years,
old men remember seeing it when children. Natives say that the
new lake which appeared near Qum a few years ago (of which an ac
count appeared in the proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society for
1885) increased until it joined it, and that one continuous sheet of water
now exists.
The following rivers contribute to it:—
(1) The Kand river.
(2) The Karaj river,
(3) The Rud-i-shur,
(4) The Karasu.
(5) The Qum river.
(6) The Jajrud river.
The eastern boundary of this lake is formed by one continuous sheet of
the hardest rock salt, resembling in its evenness and appearance a sheet
of ice. It is exceedingly difficult to make any impression upon it even
with heavy iron hammers and wedges, and the small portion which was
extracted was found to be crystalized salt. Its thickness cannot be less
than 3 or 4 feet, and it may be 30 or 40 feet. No impression could be
made beyond a few inches.
The salt plain extends eastward, it is said, to a distance of 6 farsakhs
beyond the route. It evidently drains westwards, and does not join the
great kavlr of Jandak, as a low watershed intervenes. In winter it is said
to be covered by a sheet of salt water from 2 to 3 feet in depth, but such
is the hardness of the salt that it does not dissolve but remains and affords
a firm passage for qdfilehs in all weathers. The surface is covered with
a web of fine cracks, leaving octagonal slabs about 3 feet in diameter.