'Collection of journals and reports received from Captain the Hon G C Napier, Bengal Staff Corps, on special duty in Persia, 1874. Includes revised index. London: HMSO, 1876' [‎13v] (30/409)

14
The Deli Chai.
Sowa Shee
stream.
Glen of Gur
Sufeed.
hills on both sides ; over a green plateau for a short distance and
thence down a wild rugged glen to the banks of the Deli Dhai,
a small stream flowing into the plain of Yerameen. 1 he Deli
Chai or “ mad stream,” flows through a picturesque valley enclosed
by lofty mountains of grand outline, throwing out bold rocky spurs
of slate and sandstone. The cliffs alternated with green slopes
covered with cypress and juniper. On the bank of the stream was
a camp of a party of villagers from Yerameen, spending the summer
in the mountains, with their flocks and herds and families, while
their crops were being cut and gathered in by hired hands. The
usual laborious process of churning kroot was going on ; the men of
the party seated and doing the women’s work of spinning. 1 rom
the Deli Chai a good path leads over a very rough tract of country
for 14 miles to the Nindrood, a large stream flowing into the Yera
meen plain. Across the Nindrood is the plateau of Firoz Koh,
o-reen and fertile, traversed by. the Sowa Shee, a small stream with
marshy banks. The village of Firoz Koh is situated on the south
side of the plateau at a point where this stream enters a rocky
gorge shut in by two opposing cliffs of limestone 300 to 400 feet
m height and surmounted with the ruins of an ancient fortress,
said to have been built by Alexander the Great. The village
has 500 houses, many of which were, however, emptied by the
famine. At Sowa Shee, a village six or eight miles higher up
the stream, are said to be some rock inscriptions. Through Firoz
Koh lies the main post road to Mazanderan. It is now much
used by caravans taking rice, timber, and charcoal to the capital,
but must shortly be superseded by the Shah’s new road further
west down the valley of the Haraz.
1th July. To Gur Sufeed, 18 miles .—From the east a small
stream, known as the Gur Sufeed, flows into the Firoz Koh
plateau and joins the Sowa Shee, the united streams then flowing
south. The route lies directly up this stream. The Firoz Koh
plateau thus plentifully watered, produces very large crops of
grain. The whole of the north-east portion of the plain known
as the Jnlgah-i-Katalan is under cultivation, and there is ample
room for extension. I heard the common complaint of scarcity
of hands to till the soil. The lower part of the glen of the Gur
Sufeed is a perfect gem, and it would be no easy task to find
its match in any country. Fine crops of wheat in lull ear ex
tended along its whole length reaching to the foot of the hills and
covering every available foot of ground. The fields are separated
only by low banks covered with blue corn flower, larkspur, and
tulips ; every spare strip a parterre, with a carpet of short close
green turf. The two villages in the glen, Shah Deh and Kamad,
are buried in groves of poplar, elm, and ash. The hill slopes
are barren, but their barrenness serves but to enhance the fresh
ness of the verdure they enclose. Opposite to the last-named
village the stream makes a sharp bend to the north, passing
through a narrow gorge shut in by high cliffs, on the ledges of
which are a few gnarled stumps of cypress. The gorge is not
more than 100 yards in length; the cliffs on either side, 300 feet
in height, are formed of a light coloured limestone different from