'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎220v] (445/706)

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MAZANDARiN
water from the numerous streams and rivers that, decending from the
mountains, are prevented by these sand-hills from finding their way into
the sea. Wherever a river does force its way through them, there is a
continual battle between it and the surf, which latter throws up a bar that
shuts up the channel entirely, so that its waters will accumulate and
spread behind the sand-hills for mile?, sluggish and dead, and only finding
their way to the sea by filtration, or very small streams beneath the sand,
until a flood enables it to sweep bar and all before it. It is by these
stagnant waters, or ‘ murd-abs ’ (dead waters) as the natives call them,
that the lakes arid harbours of Salian, Enzali, Langarud, Mashad-i-Sar,
Astrabad and others, have been formed.
‘ ‘ The banks of these dead, or rather back waters, to speak more properly,
are overgrown with alders of enormous size, with plane-trees, elms, ashes,
poplars and other trees which love a moist soil; and in the rainy season the
country round is all flooded, so as to exhibit the singular spectacle of a bound
less forest in a swamp. Yet scattered amongst these swamps, behind these
‘ murd-abs’, and sometimes between them and the sand-hills, the traveller
may find numerous villages and clusters of houses inhabited by the culti
vators of the rice-fields around. But a stranger would pass a dozen of these,
and never suspect the existence of a human being, unless he chanced to see
the smoke curling upwards from some of their fires or to hear the bark of one
of their dogs ; and yet from each of these mahallehs there is always more than
one pathway, which leads to the seabeach, for the inhabitants have a con
siderable traffic which is carried on by sea, and at certain seasons the
peop 1 e live on fish, salmon, mullets, and other excellent kinds, which come
to the coast, particularly in autumn and winter.
Mountains. —The mountain system of Mazandaran consists entirely of the
northern spurs thrown out from the Elburz mountains towards the Caspian.
The length of these spurs varies from 30 to 50 miles, and they approach
to within from 1 to 30 miles of the sea. They are all of a very difficult and
impracticable nature, being covered with dense forest for a great portion
of their slopes.
Rivers .—The rivers of Mazandaran all rise in the northern slopes of the
Elburz and consequently none of them have any great length, and are
really no more than mountain torrents, most of them being very low in dry
weather, but subject to, very sudden and dangerous rises after rain and
during the melting of the snow. There are nearly fifty of them. Their
names in succession from w T est to east are as follows : Surkhani (which
separates this province from GUan) Turkrud, Safarud or Ab-i-Sikhtsar,
Barisheh, Nasiehrud, Chalkrud, Shirrud, Vachek, Shahr-i-Kalan (?),
Mazar, Tirpurdehsar, Zuvar Kileh, Izarud, Nashtarud, Pasandehruu, Asp-
i-Chin, Asgharabad, Tilrud, Palangrud, Kalarabad, Namakabrud, Nurud,
Rudpusht, Sardabrud, Chains, Kurkrud, Mashalak, Shamjaran (?), Khair-
rud, Mazigahrud, Duzdakehrud, Namakarbrud, Shaikhrud (?), Kackehrud,
Ahlamrud, Sulehdeh, Rustamrud. ’Izzatdeh, Narhaz, Babil, Talar,
Slahrud, Tajin, Burj-i-’All Naqi. Burj-i-Zardi, Burj-i-Nika, Burj-i-Gauhar
Baran. These last names are the names of towers at the mouths of four
branches of the Nika river. No other important rivers are crossed betwen
Nika and Ashraf.