'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎44] (75/714)

These then are the two principal north-western and northern
ati trips into Persia. There remain two subsidiary avenues of approach
w Me- also on the north and from the Caspian, with Teheran as
shed-i-Ser- 0 hj ec tive; which, however, are little used because ot
rr n the difficult country that requires to be traversed and the
aWnne of anv facilities for transport. The first ot these is the
route across the Elburz range from the landing-place of Meshed-i-
Ser on the south coast of the Caspian, between Resht and Astrabad,
via Barfurusb and Amol. to Teheran. Mesbed-i-Ser (i.e. Tomb of
the Head, from a tradition that Ibrahim, brother to the Imam Reza,
was beheaded here), the only port of Mazanderan, is not a port
anv more than are other Persian claimants to the title. A river
flows into the sea, forming, with the aid of the prevalent westerly
rales the familiar bar off its month ; and the ships of the Caucasus
and Mercury Co., which touch here after leaving Eesht, are com
pelled to lie out in the offing. As regards mileage, this route is
bv far the shortest from the Caspian to Teheran, the distances
being to Barfurush 15 miles, to Amol 38 miles, and rid Demavend
to Teheran 160 miles, or five days by caravan. 1 An ill-constructed
line of rail, of which I shall have occasion again to speak, has
recently been laid down as a private speculation by a wealthy
Persian from a neighbouring point on the coast to Amol, but lias
ended, as might be expected, in collapse. The landing-place,
however, of Meshed-i-Ser and the route therefrom are both used to
some extent by Russian merchandise for Mazanderan, and even
for Teheran itself, and the road from Amol has been reconstructed
by an Austrian engineer officer. General Gasteiger Khan, under
instructions from the reigning Shah. But, in spite of their decided
advantage in distance, they are scarcely qualified to compete with
the Resht-Teheran line.
The second of these subsidiary routes is from the landing-
place of Gez, in the extreme south-eastern recess of the Caspian,
whence a junction can be made with the above-named load at
more. For ground-plan, elevation, and restoration of the tomb of Khodabundeli,
vide plates liv.-lviii. in vol. i. of Ch. Texier's Description de I Armenie, &('■, al^o
P. Coste's Monuments Modernes de la Perse.
1 It is described by J. B. Fraser (1834), A Winter's Journey, vol. ii.. Letters
xv., xvi.; Capt. Hon. G. Napier (1874), Journal of the It.G.S., vol. xhi. pp- H'
129 ; Mme. C. Serena (1877), Ilommes et choses en Perse, caps, ii., iii., vui., ix.;
E. Stack (1881), Six Months in Persia, \o\. ii.caps. vii. viii. ; E. Orsolle (188_),
Cauease et la Perse, cap. xviii.