'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎221r] (446/706)

mazakdaran
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Holmes remarked that all the rivers on the Mazandaran coast have a long
sandbank at their mouths, projecting from their west banks and stretching
east, to which point they take a turn, flowing almost parallel to the shore
before entering the sea : this occurs even when the rivers approach the coast
in a north or north-west direction. From this fact it is evident that the
prevailing winds are from the west and north-west, and the waves run
ning one way and the streams another, gradually raised banks between
tnem. All the rivers of Mazandaran are well stocked with fish.
Climate. The climate of Mazandaran is universally condemned It is
extremely capricious and not naturally divided into wet and dry, or cold and
hot seasons : one year it pours for a month without cessation, and the same
month m the next year may be quite dry. Though not nearly so damn " S
Gilan, it must be termed a humid climate, for there is no day throughout
the year m which the people can rely on dry weather. The rainfall is five
times as great as it is in the south. From December to April are the
wettest, as also the coldest months. The summers are very hot and tie
weather then is subject to very great changes, of temperature which
occasion much sickness. It is the same in winter; the inhabitants are
sometimes forced to throw off their warm clothing and in summer they are
obliged to have recourse to their “positins”, or sheepskin cloaks, and
fuis Snow often falls heavily, and, though it does not remain so lone as
in the upper country to the south, it.is a mistake to think that it does
not he at all. The cold of summer is damp and unwholesome, causing
many diseases. Rheumatism and dropsies are commoh, and complaints
of the eyes still more so. Many cases of cataract ocQur, and frequently
a strange loss of sight, without much appearance of external disease
many of the inhabitants certainly have a sallow look, but others are re
markably stout and athletic.
Population^mng to the nature of the country and the customs of
retiring to 1 ailaqs or summer quarters in the summer, a large proportion
of the population is migratory; and with them is a fair sprinklinsr of
nomad tribes who have become village-settlers, but whom the summer heat
tempts to wander again.
Fraser who expected to find the Mazandaranis “ a wretched puny and
diseased-looking race, with frames enfeebled and little energy of either
body or mmd ’^says, this is far from being the case. The complexion
oi the Mazandaranis, who remain below the hills during the hot months
are no doubt rather more sallow than those of the men of Upper Persia •
but the people themselves are, in general, remarkably stout-limbed and
well formed, with more than ordinarily handsome countenances.
The intellect of the Mazandaranis has been described by the rest of
eir countrymen, as that of the Boeotian by the Greeks, as notorious for
stupidity and brutality, but I suspect on no sufficient grounds. They are
called Mazandaram yabus, a nickname which may have a double meaning the
province being m reality celebrated for a breed of yabus, or small horses
which are highly esteemed for their powers of endurance. The peasants
ane, to be sure, less acute than those of ’Iraq, who live in villages near
the great roads; but I saw no symptoms of extraordinary stupidity As
regards their own interest they were sharp enough, as we had cause to