‘M.T. Routes in Persia. Volume 1 – Main Routes. 1942’ [‎188v] (381/498)

Route X~Section A~contd.
Ram falls chiefly in late November and in April and May,
while occasional thunderstorms of great violence commonly usher
in the summer in early June.
Snow falls in December, January, February and early
March and the ABBASABAD pass was, till railway construction
imported labour in large quantities, frequently closed for 2 or 3
days at a time twice or thrice a year by snow drifts. * On the plain,
the winter is mild and the summer hot, very humid and malarious.
The worst months are July, August and September. Rain may
fall at anytime.
5. Exceptional Features—{i) The ABBASABAD pass, the
frequency of mist and rough weather on the top and the steepness
of the descent
(ii) The tactical difficulty presented by the long descent
(mile 11 to 60) in the steep sided and narrow TALAR valley.
6. Repair Facilities. Metal is available throughout. Timber
is abundant from mile 30 to 45 on the mountain sides and on the
roadside thereafter. No steam rollers were seen. Labour is
plentiful throughout and the construction of the Trans-Iranian
Railway (which runs parallel to the road and alongside from mile
11 to 67) should have taught the local inhabitants much in earth
stone and timber work.
7. Supply Facilities, (i) Camping grounds. —Suitable sites
are very rare owing in the earlier stages to the narrowness and
steepness of the valley down which the road runs from mile 11
to 60 and thereafter owing to the intense cultivation (much of it
Wa A r ;i 0 Q^ e Tr d rfr d c d jD le / d 'i nS AHI (mile671 . BABUL (mile 33)
and MESHED-I SAR (mile 93) are the only sites which can be
described as other than bivouac.
(ii) Water . Abundant throughout though the TALAR
river water will require settling tanks. The side streams are
except after heavy rain, clear and wholesome.
(iii) Supplies. —Plentiful at FIRUZKUH SMART
BABUL Fairly plentiful at MESHED -1-S A R w h i c 1U m ports food
(except fish) from B ABUL. Scarce elsewhere. Rice is the staole
diet on the coasta plain with the addition of fish for the area
within 5 miles of the sea. All wheat is imported from the plateau
olttreufenlr 1 ^ 5 inthe P0CketSin the " Mtl -nface
(iy) ^;-After mile XL abradant, in the form of br us h-
f^est theretfter' 10 for the nest 20 and
(v) Uniformly scarce and only in the shane nf
rice straw which often proves harmful to pleatea,, ■ i
unused to its consumption. reac ^ anim als