'Lord Curzon's Notes on Persia' [‎391r] (782/1386)

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with great difficulty, owing to the swampy nature [of its banks, we
resume our march over the kavir. The elevation is between 1400 and
2400 feet.”
I would pause one moment to point out the geographical importance
of these altitudes in the Great Salt Desert; as the circumstance that the
town of Tabbas was determined by Khanikoff at 1500 feet above the
sea level, has been cited to show that the kavir cannot be far above, how
ever likely to be below, that level. If the term be understood in its
general acceptation, then Lieutenant Vaughan’s diary shows that it
may be certified at an elevation much greater than that of Tabbas.
Our traveller continues:—“ Skirting a low spur of the Kuh I Gugird,
we proceed up a desolate valley, formed of soft and slippery uneven
kavir, studded with large rounded holes, rendering our progress slow
and laborious. We then cross once more the salt river, the banks of
w hich are here covered with a deposit of salt about six inches thick
extending for many yards on either bank. The surrounding scenery is
appallingly desolate. On the right rise the barren, waterless hills of
the Kuh I Gugird,* or sulphur range. These hills are formed of a
succession of sandy hillocks, rising tier above tier; in places they
consist of soft rock with fine parallel strata running in a horizontal
direction and resembling a section of a well-pressed hay stack. Here
and there narrow perpendicular strata of gypsum intervene. The
ravines in these hills have often perpendicular sides, rising to a height
of 200 or 300 feet, while their width does not exceed 20 or 30 feet. At
other places the ravines turn into large tunnels, which, twisting about
under ground for a hundred yards or more, emerge again on another
ravine higher up. Bushes grow here and there, but there is not a trace
of fresh water anywhere. Naphtha is said to be found in them, and
the inhabitants of Semnan occasionally mine them for copper and for
sulphur. While thus engaged, the drinking water used is obtained by
them from the salt streams, and condensed with a still. In this valley
we halt for the night.”
On the 21st April they crossed a low hill, on which stands a ruined
pillar, called the “ Mil Ispahani.” Its raison d’etre is thus explained:—
A wealthy camel-owner of Ispahan was here overtaken by heavy rains,
and could neither advance nor retire, because the kavir on both sides of
him had become a dangerous track. Compelled to await the hardening
of the ground to enable him to resume his journey, he was detained for
so long a period that no fewer than twenty-five of his camels died from
starvation or in vain attempts to cross the swamp. The pillar was intended
to serve as a warning to future travellers. Bones of camels, remains of
fires, and other signs of tarrying wayfarers, certainly lent credence to
the tale, though allowance should undoubtedly be made for local
colouring. At Biabanak, on the 22nd April, the inhabitants of the
village came crowding round the newly-arrived visitors, and expressed
astonishment at the boldness which had caused them to hazard a
passage of the desert from Anarak. The next day, riding over a sandy
plain, dotted with villages and brightened by patches of occasional
cultivation, they entered the town of Semnan, on the high road from
Tehran to Marb-bad. Lieutenant Vaughan estimates that it has 16,000
inhabitants. My own estimate was under 13,000. Our informants in
1872, when I passed the place on return from Sistan, made the number
to be that of 2500 families.
The journey from Yezd to Semnan, of which an outline has just
been presented, occupied twenty-four days. During these, Lieutenant
Vaughan provisioned only twice, the first time at Kalanta, the second at
Anarak. He carried eight massaks, or water skins, filled and refilled as
circumstances required or opportunity offered. His caravan consisted
of two horses, seven mules, and two donkeys; with which were two
muleteers, a personal servant, a groom, and a guide—not a large following
for an expedition through the Great Salt Desert of Khurasan.
* Also Kukurd, as ante.