'Seistan' [‎5r] (9/782)

1
A few feet from the summit our way was barred by an inaccessible cliff,
so that we were not able to witness the working of the volcano, as I bad
had done five years previously.
At Ladis, which is a district consisting of some five small villages, to our
amusement the Regi Chief, Muhammad Reza Khan, declined to visit us, on the
grounds that he was a servant of the British Government and that I was a
Russian “ Eelchi.” When matters had been explained, I found that the Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
was supplying men for some of the posts on the Quetta-Seistan route, and, con
sequently, felt bound to act in the manner described.
He told me that, in July last, two Russian explorers and naturalist had
travelled from Seistan to Bazman and had thence visited Bampur and Pahra.
From the capital of Baluchistan they had marched to Kwash and thence
to Ladis. This latter district was reached early in August, to judge by a
letter shewn me and the explorers, who formed a very small party, finally
returned to Sistan, where I hope to gain further information as to their move
ments. Ihese details appeared to me to be of interest, as rumours of the pre
sence of Russian Surveyors, both at Ladis and Bampur, had been reported
during the summer.
After spending Christmas day in this district, our party temporarily broke
up, Mr. TV ood travelling due west to try and discover a less difficult route
through the Sarhad Hills than the one we had followed while, as I was in
hopes of hearing from Captain Webb-Ware, the Political Officer in charge of the
trade route, I travelled north-north-east to Kacha Kuh, where I saw one of the
series of posts that have been constructed along the road.
Captain Webb-Ware wrote to inform me that, owing to the necessity of
carrying all supplies from India, he would be nearly twenty days later at the
frontier than he had expected, while he also informed me that an escort was on
its way to join me. Upon receiving this information, I determined to halt a
day at Kucha Kuh and sent on to Sistan for supplies, of which we stood
urgently in need, only eight days’ rations having been procured at Ladis and
that at famine rates.
Upon the arrival of the escort, which fortunately occurred upon the fol
lowing day, as my main object was to forestall the Russian Vice-Consul, the
march was immediately resumed to Kuh-i-Malik Siah in cold weather: 22° of
frost being registered one morning at 7 a.m.
On the 2nd January we reached the new “Robat*’ which has been
constructed on the confines of Persia and Afghanistan, and which much resem
bles a peel tower, while the frowning hills and rugged water-courses form a
suitable back ground.
The actual point where the three boundaries meet is a comparatively low
black hill, which was evidently selected as being the first elevated spot, that is
seen by a traveller from the north and is situated some 12 miles to the north
of Robat.
Mr. Wood rejoined me at Hurmak, one stage further north, where we
left the hills and entered the steppe of Seistan, the level character of which is
particularly noticeable after being among hills for a considerable period.
I have been much struck by the resemblance between the districts of
Sarhad and Palestine, while a similar likeness exists between Seistan and Egypt.
Just as, in the book of Genesis, the Nomad Shaikh Jacob is forced to seek
corn in Egypt, so, to-day the Sarhaddi Chiefs, who perhaps occupy a similar
position in the scale of civilization have seen their fountains and their wells dry
up one by one, while their flocks daily diminished in number until, to save
their familes from starvation, they have been forced to cross the desert stages
which lay between them and Seistan, where, as in Egypt, the land depends
upon a river and an annual inundation, which is rarely known to fail.
The sight of the great lake, which is of sufficient extent to suggest the sea,
in addition to the stretch of desert, tends to complete the parallel.
In conclusion, the action of His Majesty’s Government, both in British
and Persian Baluchistan during the past year, together with the news of the
810 F. D.