'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎32] (63/714)

PERSIA
32
one of these individuals, whose stoliddy is proof even agamst the
agreeable emotion of receiving a tip, and who never dev.ate, even
tv acddent, into an expression of gratitude As a Pers.au travelie
S rives them anything, I suppose they look w.th contempt
" u a European who is foolish enough to squander a gratmtous
Sug At the chapar -hUneh, where the traveller puts up for
the night, and where he is supplied with a few couveutences, such
a water aud firewood, possibly with milk and eggs, ,t ts usual to
tive the postmaster, upon leaving in the morning, a gratmty
varvin <r . according to the nature of the servme, from two to four
, * These arc the only disbursements required, except for
provisions bought in the villages m ; and to meet tins outla;
a supply of a few hundred h-am,which can either be procured in
one-ta or two-ta pieces at Baku, or can be sent down from
Teheran, is necessary. These are usually carried m bags in the
rider's holsters, and are a great encumbrance on a long journey.
But no other currency is in existence, and no other method of
navment is therefore possible.' With fhese prebmmary instructions
for his guidance, from which he will already have learnt that the
iournev lying before him, if not luxurious, is at any rate cheap,
the traveller will upon arriving at Kesht (or Ivulidum) make ns
way to the post-house, and after procuring his tezlcereh or postal
order, will arrange for starting upon his ride as soon as possible.
He will not, as did a friend of mine, ask for a porter to take up
his luggage to the hotel! There is an English as well as a Kussian
Consulate at Resht; and the former building, after being for some
time unoccupied, has lately received another official inmate, so that
in the last resort the help of a countryman and the majesty ot
officialdom can both be appealed to for assistance.
The stretch of country between Resht and Teheran may ^ be
roughly divided into three sections—(1) the forest belt extending
Character from Resht to the mountains, which is a portion oi the
of route immense wooded zone that covers the Hat coast -line from
Talish in the west to Astrabad in the east, a total distance of 400
miles ; (2) the spurs and the main range of the Elburz Mountains,
which' at the highest point of the pass attain an altitude of over
7,000 feet above the sea; (3) the elevated plateau or plain upon
1 The Imperial Bank has since issued bank-notes, but as they can only be
cashed, at present, in the towns where issued, I doubt whether they are accepted
at the post-houses.