Settlement and Demarcation of the Frontier between Persia and Baluchistan [‎415r] (65/74)

~ ■ —
May 1871, and reached Bushire by steamer on the 28tb idem. Bv the kind aid
of Colonel Belly we were able to leave Bushire for Shiraz on the 30th May, having
purchased six riding horses and hired the requisite number of camels.
Our departure was at the setting in of the very hot season, and until we
reached ths plateau of Kunar Tukteh, the heat was intense. Even at Kunar
Tukteh, the fourth march from Bushire, and on the Kazerun plains, the hot
winds were prevalent, and the thermometer passed or verged closelv upon 100°
In our halting place .at Dallaki bridge, it had risen to 112°. After ascending
the pass called the “ Kotul Dokter” and reaching the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). , midway of the
“ Kothul Pir Zan, ” we were in a different climate, and the change was very grate
ful. The next stage c ' Khan-i-Zenian ” was the most agreeable of all.
Hearing bad reports of the scarcity and distress on the road between Bushire
and Shiraz, we had taken a mule-load of rice for distribution. I am much indebted
to the officers of my staff and especially to Quarter Master Sergeant D. Bovver, a. e.,
for the manner in which this intention was carried out. It was no easy matter
to administer to the worst cases, or prevent imposture, or at least the comparatively
underserving from sjjaring in the scanty and temporary relief afforded. The
following is the reported result of the arrangement effected :
Relieved at
Burazjun ... -
66
applicants.
Pul-i-Mushir
... 35
)>
))
Kunar Tukteh
... 178
))
))
Komarij ...
... 116
))
}}
Kazerun ...
... 304
„ (two days)
Mean Kotul
r ... 63
33
Kban-i-Zenian
81
))
3 )
Deli Sheikh
... 71
>)
914
No doubt that the same applicant frequently presented himself or herself
on a second or third day, for some actually followed us for the sake of the
meal from stage to stage, and we stayed two days at Kazerun. Still it was a
satisfaction to have supplied 914 meals, poor as they were to a healthy and
vigorous appetite: 60 lbs. of bread and two sheep Irom the Persian Muza of the
Mission, were added to the rice distribution.
It is hoped that the accounts given of the suffering and destitution occasioned
by the dearth have been exaggerated, but the season referred to has been a fearfully
fated one in Persia. At Kunar Tukteh, quite an insignificant village, the state
ment was made that from 7 to 800 persons had died since the commencement ol
the previous winter, including wanderers from outside. And certainly the famine-
stricken faces, the skeleton bodies, the languid and weary voice and gait,^ all these
sio-ns bore presumptive evidence of unusual misery and destitution, lour men
were found exhausted on our road from Kunar Tukteh to Komanj, a village which,
though held comparatively free from the worst features of famine, was not without
its objects of pity. We were told that the population of Kazerun, recently esti
mated at 10,000, had fallen during these days of visitation to one-fifth of that number.
It was explained that in round numbers some 4,000 had died since tie e^inoing
of the past winter, and a like number had tied the place. 1 10 m t e a an one s ^
of the locally celebrated gardens, and other outward aspects of animate and inanimate
objects, the story might well be true. Everywhere on tins road, «“pt.
at Bushire, it would seem that starvation and not disease had been the raainca
of the year’s mortality. Stories of children left m sudden orphanhood of unb d
or half devoured corpses, of human beings contending with brute beasts foi fl
sive food, all bore corroborative testimony to the sad truth that pmine had rt
mark in the land, and that the natural brotherhood of man ^d man yas mo
less ignored in this afflicted region. Sad narratives were moreover cum
similar distress at Kunie Shah and Ispahan, and it is to be feared that th
least as much of truth as of fable to be found in them when sifted by enqui y.