'Persia 1888. From Rishir to Bunder Abbas.' [‎28r] (60/69)

\
— contd.
So
ROUTE No.
Distances.
Number and names of stages.
Inter
mediate.
Total.
Rivers and
streams.
Remarks.
M. F.
M. F.
the ground between these mounds is deeply coated with fine sand. Yellow, dried up grass,
sparsely scattered here and there, with occasional kahur, furze, and scrub, is the only vegeta
tion to be seen. Since leaving Latitun, the road has crossed about eight dry water-courses,
choked with sand, and not more than one foot deep. Of four of these, the breadth was about
15 yards, that of the rest insignificant. The slope of the ground, generally, is from S. E. to
N. W. At 6 miles 1 furlong the road crosses a very shallow water-course, choked with sand,
and about 60 yards broad. On its eastern banks we pass the ruins of a caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). , and a
well, which latter, by native report, contains drinkable water. Another 1J furlongs brings us
to an old and delapidated caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). , and at 6 miles 3J furlongs we pass the large cistern
of Gatchin. Altitude above sea, 3 feet.
To south of this cistern, distant 1 mile, is the scattered village of Gatchin, containing
about 100 houses, half of these, perhaps, being built neatly of mud and stone, and the rest of
date mats, &c. To north of the village are date groves : a short distance to east the low
rocky range called “ Gatchin,” with numerous kahur trees at its foot.
Inhabitants about 400.
Supplies
Water
Fuel
Cultivation
Grazing
Camping-ground ..
Proportional to number of inhabitants.
Good and plentiful, from large cistern.
Moderate, from kahur, and date trees, &c.
None observed.
Very scanty ; but camel fodder plentiful.
Good.
Note .—From a mound bearing from the la'ge cistern of Gatchin W. | S., distant about
160 yards, the pass called Tang Abad, through the range Gishu. bears N. by W. | W.; and
Tang Kalpurabi or otherwise Tang-i Khur, through Kuh Pal-i Khamir bears S. S. W.
Having passed the cistern of Gatchin, we approach diagonally the low range, of^the
same name, to east. At 6 miles 6 furlongs the ro' d crosses a dry gaily, or rather canons
banks pernendicular and 20 feet deep, width 2 feet, flow to south ; and one hundred, yard,,
further on a small water-course from N. N. E. to W. S. W. Ibis latter, at the point of
crossing, is joined by another water-course from the east ; banks of both perpendicular,
2 or 3 feet deep, cut in the fine limy clay soil; beds 25 to 3'» feet in breadth, strewn
with fine sand. A large, dry water-course, fb>w from E. by N. to S. W. by W., now
appears about 30 yards to south of the track ; north banks, perpendicular, of limy clay ; depth
of basin 8 feet, and breadth 40 yards. Since leaving the Gatchin cistern the ground, is
sparsely dotted with small brushwood, neither trees, large hush nor grass being met with.
At 7 miles we cross a small, dry water-course, 20 feet wide, flow to $., and 200 yards m
advance the larger one mentioned above, flow now from N. N. E. The road then
skirts, in a north-east direction, the foot of the low range Gatchin. At 8 miles 1 fuilong,
rounding these rocks, the direction changes to easterly, and we en-er the main pass., called
“ Tang i Chakabak,’* cutting through the range Gatchin. The entrance of the pass is about
2,300 yards broad. The hills to north and south, distant from the track 2,000 and 300
yards respectively, are perfectly bare and barren, and present either a perpendicular section
or a very steep slope. The ground, now hard and sandy, is periectly destitute ot vegetation
save for a few small bushes thinly scattered. At 9 miles .we cross a dry, shallow water
course, about 17 yards wide, flow to N. W. Half a mile in advance the ground is ot a veiy
light bluish clay, mixed with such a proportion of gravel as.to make the road gutty. On
the north, the pass is flanked by a nearly perpendicular section of the range : on the south,
the range Gatchin slopes up steeply, and from its foot low hills or hillocks crowd the ground,
gradually decreasing in height, till, at the road-side, they merge into pyramidal or conical
heaps of loose limy earth from 20 to 40 feet high. At 10 miles the ground becomes veiy
broken, and tbe road mounts, for the next 170 yards, by a short, but steep and.lugged
to a small, open, stony space, in which, at 10 miles 1 furlong, we find a cistern called
te Birkeb Mirzai, ” full of good water. Altitude above sea, 121 feet.
Tbe pass, which is, here, much broken, and blocked by a labyrinth of dried up, limy clay,
mud hillocks, pyramidal or conical in shape, is about 1,700 yards in breadth, the cistern