'Military Report on Persian Seistan' [‎20v] (45/188)

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repeatedly Buffered from both in India); and out of my entire party of 36 all
told there were but two mild cases of fever amongst the cavalry sowais, and
two amongst leve sowars. These I attribute more to sun exposure and
fatioTie fever than actual malaria. A small party of us, including m> se ,
horses, etc., suffered from the sharp and depressing effects of severe purging,
etc., being compelled to drink the saline and highly surcharged alkaline
waters in the southern waters of the Hamun when caught in a violent sand
storm on the Shelag desert, and when exploring the limestone range called
Palaug Koh, etc., on the west. ,. .
Man and beast suffered alike, and in no case could this be attributed to
climatic causes. The cause and effect were the results of an impure and
poisonous water-supply which, nolens volens, we were all forced to drink
We all felt the heat crossing the intervening deserts ot Baluchistan,
much more than while in Seistan, but this may possibly be due *0 long,
rapid marches, want of condition and sudden change from cold of Quetta
to great heat, and a paucity of water at all times bad.
The hot weather favoured our endeavours to be industrious, and we were
much in the open. The repeated tours, which alone kept the party fit in
such a country at this season of the year, enabled us to verify by personal
observation each detail which had also been otherwise compiled while
halting*
There are four seasons of the year, viz.
Seasons and winds.
Spring . . • •
Summer . . * .
Autumn . . • •
Winter . . . •
April to June (Hahar).
July to September (Lawar).
September to December (Tirmab).
December to March ^Zamistan).
There is a maximum of hot weather and a minimum of cold, neither of
which can be considered very vigorous. The transition of hot weather to
cold is short and sudden.
The winds might be said to be almost perpetual. The light gales of
wind, styled the Bad-i-Bahar, always commence in the middle of May; it
blows steadily all day, rising about 9 o’clock a.m., and falling, about
4 o’clock p.m. ; it is most refreshing, reducing the temperature considerably
by day, and rendering the nights cool, the early mornings being not
unfrequently chilly. From the middle of July, when the Bad-i-Bahar be
comes hotter, it is called the Bad-i-Lawar (poisonous hot wind); this con
tinues to blow with some violence, on occasions, into September, reaching
its maximum intensity of heat between 16th and 30th July. A howling
warm wind blows throughout the day ; during this period the landscape
is enveloped in dust and haze, obscuring all but near objects. Judging by
this experience, and the accounts of the Bad-i-Zamistan, it seems as if all
the winds of Northern Persia, Herat and Turkistan had arranged a meeting
and, arrow-like, direct their united forces on Seistan, determining to have a
leal good time over this flat, featureless and ruin-scattered country..
These inland hurricanes, starting without any warning, lasting so long,
and in the hot season, are to me unaccountable, more so as they are stronger
during the daytime up to 3 o’clock p.m. than during the night. This year
La war has set in earlier by U days than usual, having begun (on the 19 th
of the moon) in June.