'Report on the Preliminary Survey of the Route for the Central Persia Telegraph Line' [‎67v] (139/300)

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At Khan-i-Kha*un, the Hanaka-Rayin route is rejoined, and we are pleased
to note that a distance of nearly 6 miles has been gained, our cyclometer regis
tering 5518 miles from Mahun to Khan Khatun, whereas the route book gives
the distance between the same villages as 61 miles.
We met tw> or three caravans b)tween Mahun and Neybeed, and tho
muleteers informed us that this route was a much better one than that via the
Jlanaka Puss, which, however, had more supplies and better accommodation,
hut that our road was invariably resorted to during the winter months. It is
certainly a subject on which Capt. Sykes is to be congratulated in having hit
on this r .ute, wnich dispels the many serious obstacles offered by the llanaka
route, which can be fitly compared to the Kohrud.
In addition to the advantages already named, we have succeeded in
avoiding the source, the many affluents and the main Tehrud river up to this
point. However, shortly after leaving Kban-i-Khatun, which is the largest of
seven small villages in the district known as “Tehrud,” the plain ends, and the
road enters the bed of the Tehrud at T75 miles, and follows its course till 3 40
miles, when we again emerge on to a small plain and take a south-easterly
direction, while the river flows to the south, or right.
At the time of our crossing it, the Tehrud was but a stream ten feet by
one. When in flood, it must practically occupy the whole ofthe defile or gorge,
extending from T75 to 3*40 miles, and is about a mile to 2,000 yards broad.
When the Tehrud is iu flood, apparently an annual contingency, it is impassable
at this p -hr, and travellers make a slight detour, skirting the Tehrud hills on
the left, or north-east bank, where there is a bridle path. The hills on this
side are of rock, but those on the left bank more resemble clay cliffs, and are
terribly intersected and cut up by water-courses. The line would therefore
follow the left hank and be kept well up the hill side. Several small torrent
beds, taking the drainage from the precipitous TeUrud hills into the Tehrud
river, would have to be spanned. The total distance of this bad part is under
2 miles, yet, in my opinion, it is the worst tract of country between Kashan
and Regan, and the greatest care and patience will have to be exercised in
selecting a safe alignment. At Avark or Abarek, we found a new mud caravan
serai, known as the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). sarteep, and about a mile and a half from the
village, where we had no difficulty in getting a few supplies.
At the stage referred to above, we were on the western edge of a very large
gravelly stony plain, 35 to 40 miles wide, bounded by the Jemal Bariz range
on the right and the Kuh Kaput on the left, with not a village or a hut in
tervening, while straight in front the lofty snow-capped Bazman looms in the
distance, probably 140 miles to the east-south-east.
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This ra irch is an unsatisfactory one, as the r >ai either crosses, follows or
skirts the many dry channels of the Tehrud, and is rough and stony, whilst the
glare is very trying to the eyes. At the 10th mile, we cross a branch of the dry
bed of the Tehrud, and at 13 miles the main bed is traversed, the whole of
this distance being in the flo >d limit. Owing to the absolutely level nature of
the surrounding country, the bed of this winter torrent is very badly defined.
It has no depth, and consequently no banks, and can only be traced by the
tamarisk bushes that grow in the flood limit. During flood, it is not con
fined to any particular channel, but spreads over the plain in many small
rivulets, covering a tract of country a mile wide. The road runs through these,
and even at its worst time the river is said to be always passable. To avoid this
obstacle with its numerous channels, the line should be deflected to the left or
north-east, nursing trie Kaput hills, and, instead of entering the village of
Deharzeen, should leave that village 4 or 5 miles to the right, or south-west,
and, skirting the small hamlet of B igh-i-Chemak, should run straight into Bam,
where the torrent bed would be easily spanned.
The march from D diarzeen to Bam was interesting in many ways. The
previous day’s rain hid made the weather delightfully cool, and had given the