'The Middle Eastern question or some political problems of Indian defence' [‎95r] (194/616)

THE CHARM OF PERSIAN TRAVEL
and lofty mountain, with its rare oases and hidden
valleys; the Persia of immense spaces and infinite
solitude broken only by "the footfall mute of the slow
camel, which strikes and makes no sound," or by the
tinkling bells of a more bustling caravan of pack-
mules ; the Persia of brilliant sun-bathed days and
of solemn starlit nights, and of those yet more precious
hours of morn and eve when by the Great Magician's
wand the whole earth and the heavens above are turned
to glory. At daybreak the camp is astir, and before
the sun has scaled the purple crest of the furthermost
mountains the tents are struck, the baggage animals
are being packed for the march, and one starts off on
his pony for the morning's ride, which should cover the
best part of the day's journey. Pretty well the whole
of Persia, after the first steep climb from the lowlands,
whether of the Caspian or of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , is a lofty
plateau varying between three and five thousand feet
above the level of the sea, broken by successive ranges
of mountains mostly ten to twelve thousand feet high,
and rising in parts to much greater altitudes. The
morning air, even in the early autumn, is always crisp,
sometimes frosty, but long before one has reached
the midday halting-ground, the sun pours down with
conquering force. In the course of the five or six
hours' ride, which makes a fair forenoon stage, de
licious canters across small and fairly level plateaus
have alternated with steep climbs up and down the
precipitous slopes of intervening hills, where your
pony casts many an appealing glance at you as,
leading him by the reins, you try to pull him down
some particularly bad drop until, uttering his sad
grunt, he at last makes up his mind to step down
on all four feet at once. By the time the sun has