'Report on the Preliminary Survey of The Route for The Central Persia Telegraph Line from Quetta to Bam and Pahra' [‎68v] (141/162)

by mistake in tbe first instance, thinking that we were some of Jhind’s followers^
I don’t know who Jhind is, but, from local account, he appears to be a formidable
ruffian, and when he next traverses this region his journey will not be a peaceful
one. Our difficulty then in giving back the captured arms was to do so without
appearing to be influenced by fear, or threats, and also to know whether, if we
did return the arms, we could hope to get rid of our visitors without further
trouble. After long explanations on both sides, an honourable peace was.
arranged, Jhanoo Khan was to surrender himself unarmed into my presence,,
and ask for pardon for all the annoyance he had caused. 'Ihis he did, and,,
on receiving a verbal promise from the * ambassadors ’ that we would receive
no further trouble while in the country, the arms were handed back, and a
receipt obtained for them. Thus hostilities were avoided, and what at first
promised to be a noisy dispute blew away like smoke, and no- one w r as hurt.
1 have reported the above occurrence more fully in letter No. 39, dated 15th
April 1901, to the Director-General of Telegraphs.
We reached Pahra on March Sth, The Wazir Minister. of Kerman with a large establish
ment was camped here in tents. He gave me a very honourable reception. Two
Serteepswith about 30 mounted men rode out a few miles to escort me into the
village. The Wazir Minister. paid me a visit next morning. On my return visit to him, there
was a great show. About 30 soldiers formed a guard of honour, and a band of
about 23 musicians was in attendance. The uniform of these latter was rather
quaint. The front of the coat was red in colour, with gold braid ornamentations
thereon, and the back was yellow’, while the front of the trousers was of the same
yellow colour, and the back red. Their music was not quite first class, but much
better than I expected. For the first tune, they made a very laudable attempt to
play the British National Anthem. Thereupon, I asked permission to stand up,
and explained that English subjects invariably adopted this attitude of respect
when listening to that tune. The Wazir Minister. then ordered every body to stand until I
sat down. Other tunes, the names of which I did not know, followed in quick
succession. The Wazir’s reception tent was nicely arranged, and had a queer
little artificial lake of water, about 300 square feet, on one side. After partaking
freely of sherbet, tea and coffee, etc., inside, we adjourned on to the banks of the
lake, and drank more tea. Altogether the ceremony was amusing, and somewhat
farcical for me, but I and my party w r ent through it with befitting solemnity.
The Wazir Minister. had about 50 soldiers in his party. These could not be accused of
smartness, but they were much better turned out than the specimens of the
Persian Army I saw in Bam, and were armed with breech-loading rifles. The
Persians are I think supposed to be teetotalers, and they consider themselves
as such, but 1 found those, whose acquaintance I made, quite ready to receive,
and appreciate, if offered under some euphonious name such as “ syrup,” any
liquid which would pass for lemonade in Ballyhooly.
We left Pahra on March nth, and travelled, as hurriedly as our jaded
transport would allow, over the same route to Gwadur as that followed by
Mr. Wood on his Journey in March 1899. There is plenty of water, and camel
grazing at the various halting places along this, but the ground for about the
first half way, through mountains, is somewhat rough. The course along the
stony bed of the Serbaz river, in wffiich a large stream of fresh water flows,
is pretty in many places, where nice patches of cultivation and fruitful
datepalm groves flourish on its banks, but the swarms of flies and mosquitos,
which abound here during hot weather, act as a continual torment to both
man and beast. Animals are particularly to be pitied, for they already suffer
so much at the hands of their owners. The Persians appear to be abominably
cruel, and altogether devoid of humane instinct. Amongst the worst sufferers I
saw were donkeys ; these honest little beasts have a bad time in most countries,
but the torture and mutilation they endure in some parts of Persia from the saw r ing.
effects of the crupper rope, used to hold back their heavy loads, beats anything I
have seen even in Baluchistan, where the moke’s treatment is notoriously bad.
We arrived at Gwadur on March 21st, and found to our great disgust that we
were then stuck fast for 10 days before any steamer would arrive to carry us ta
Karachi. However, there was a comfortable political bungalow to live in, a
nice cool breeze generally blowing, and plenty of fresh fish to eat, all of which
were greatly appreciated after our recent desert experiences, so time passed