'Report on the Preliminary Survey of the Route for the Central Persia Telegraph Line' [‎100r] (204/300)

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General Summary.
Teleg^ptl^Sshoutl^rnlth' ° M Ve ™
digression, ,i,„ Regan, and 4e ’ouT reasons to 0ur I 10 " 1 '
which emanate from that point towards Ladis and the “° I1 | slderm S t . he routes
take the first of these I>to t.!i- - h ? east as "n.aitable. To
divided into four parts—S^mile^o^desert'^ ,^ las ^ ‘t® country may he
Band range; 22 miles of rouS and ^ hom Re S an to the Seah
Seah Band ; 45 ^les onain Z rT J ? ountains “'Wngh the
to Khasliand 5 mil^of V ro U „h and h v fl0 ° ded f ' oa ‘
Khash to Ladis, round the base of the great Taftan t co : ,ntl 'y from
Seah Band range which would have to be surmounted between Ah -' d r0ckj i
Jaun, and where we would rise from 3 486 feet at Ah i Ab - 1 - G “Jja>'ee and
on the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. , in a distance of IS mUes we ionte f "f 6 ‘'’.rfr’ 3 "? feet
expensive piece of construction. The path over this r,!L^ d “ dlffic 1 ult and
torrent bed which is quite unfit for wheels Ind o lv ^t ran \ fi lolloWS a
animals. Between Khash and Ladis round Hm ^ passable to pack
Taftan, the country is indLd tu "h an^ L a set? of"" ° f Ule rai S ht y
nullahs, taking the Taftan drainage? to build and maintaif a?™® 8 and f 6 '' 1 ’
would prove an arduous and expensive undertaking. °' er W llc 1
T.,,!' 1 ' 1 ' 0 ™, ? 6 df '® cri P tion of Uic track fdllowed between Re-an and Kh^u t
Ladis, and from the fact that Khash is thp onri i ® Khash to
with after leaving the Narrnasher Listric 4 a distmi v t’ 11 ,t 111 ! S P 0 ^ mct
gathered that we°have traver7ed an appahing ^ mileS ’, it "’I 11 be
hut or habitation, and where we did not see a human ?®?" n0t * S1 “" le
animal (with the exception of 2 wild asses) durino- our 0 d '' ■ = or , ln la, ' t
water for the first four marches is bra-kish whil ^-i 1 tl? 1 J i?' S f’ fir< ' h - Tlie
Jauri it is putrid, and is quite und^kabte at ah h e p£f
where it is almost sweet. Thus, from the ed^e of h,„ a? e xte pt Jauri,
we have a distance of 91-98 miles an? from Jafrito Zilre'^KU h S
miles without a drop of potable water. We had carried a s?ffloT ?’ °?
for 3 days, hoping the Samsoor spring would prove to be drii-ki ? ; SU PJ J -' r
found it so briny that we sent to Henjareh which t ou f, ? ka,) ‘ e ’ ,mt ««
mended), a distance of some 12 to 15 miles, fo" water r<>Ute reu ° m -
However, oven after getting over the water difficulty, which could onh-
he done at great expense, we should have a still more intricate i ••
the question of supplies. We carried provisions of everv description for ?
month and had forage for 15 days Luokv it w, c P 1 11
arrival at the few tents which constitute Khasli, the capital of Sariia?, Tt 21
on y with the greatest difficulty that we succeeded in procurin'-- a little fr ra- •
for our camels._ At Ladis, a similar disappointment aivaited us? and R was not
tdl our arrival in Siestan, one month subsequent to our departure from Ee?n
that we were able to replenish our exhausted commissariat. Thus arrau?’
ments would have to be made to victual the whole of the working party durm?
the construe ton of the line between Regan and Ladis and also fo’r the Z nrn
journey, a distance of 210-72 miles, or, say, a period of 2* months at least
We cannot omit the extra expenditure that would be incurred in the trans
port of the material from the coast to Khash and Ladis, and the steps that
would have to be taken to ensure its safe custody. *
Again, although there was nothing in the treatment accorded to us by the
oarhadis which could be taken exception to, it is a well known fact that* +hey
are a turbulent and semi-savage race, and are practically allowed to <- 0 H u .j r
own gait, and refuse fc> pay taxes, and boast in the name of Yaghees & or out
laws. The traveller in Sarhad cannot help getting the impression^ whether re d
or imaginary, that he is in an inhospitable country, liable at any time to rise
m revolt and beyond the power of the Persian Government.
B 7—46