Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎55r] (112/154)

FROM TEHERAN TOWARDS THE CASPIAN.
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the latter point. 1 he face of the mountain is again rock, and the road twists
round the contortions of the strata in a very ingenious way. About 3 miles from
Takht-i-Shah, Gasteiger Khan seems to have run out of patience, or, more likely,
of funds, for he makes a dash for the bottom of the gorge by zigzags such as no
laden beast but a mule could get over. Just at the end of these a beautifully clear
tributary joins the Chel-hauz on its right bank, and here we watered our tired
animals. Ihe river itself was disappointing; rushing and plunging as madly as
ever, its turbid waters gave no prospect of fly-fishing, and it seemed doubtful
whether even salmon could be hoped for. We had reached a new flora of fig-trees,
alders, and elms, with thorny shrubs for undergrowth. Beside the river, patches
of corn, ripe for the sickle, were being cut by men and women. The latter made
no pretence of covering their faces, and their crimson or scarlet bodices and petti
coats, though generally ragged, were extremely picturesque. As a rule handsome,
they had, like most women condemned to hard work out-of-doors, a sad expression.
Here the small fields were more or less fenced ; and the mountains, less precipitous
than at Hazar Champ, were clothed with forest to their summits, except where
patches of cultivation occupied moderately level spurs. Now and again the en
campments of the reapers, hard by the boiling river, showed where they ate, drank,
and slejd in the open, a tree felled by fire forming a bridge of ingress and egress
with some otherwise isolated field. At the foot of the Hazar Champ, the Ogham
Rud falls into the Chel-hauz. Up the rocky valley of the former river there is
a road to the mountainous district of Hazar Be-ar.
Three miles below the aforesaid confluence of the Ogham Rud, the Maka Rud,
with its gentle current, falls in on the left bank of the main river. The Maka Rud
valley is most picturesque, more cultivated and less rugged than any we have yet
seen. Half a mile below the bridge that crosses this tributary, a green sward hard
by the river, with a lovely view in front and picturesque rocks behind, lured us to
encamp. Here two alder trees, the one from the right bank having fallen over, as
it were, into the arms of the one on our side of the river, formed the piers to a
rustic bridge, leading to a small farmer’s homestead or huts.
Whilst our tents were being pitched, we crossed over to eat our lunch under the
shade of these trees, and were soon joined by a ragged but picturesque individual,
who gave us a saldm of welcome, and showed great interest in our proceedings.
He, like all Mazanderanis, was of more civil and gentlemanly instincts than the
ordinary Persian. Being one of the landed proprietors of the district, we dubbed
him the Laird of Rudbarek, from the name of his domain. He was one, he said,
of three brothers who had inherited the freehold of the mountains on either
side, and of the cultivated ground on both sides of the river below the confluence
of the Maka Rud, and that they paid taxes to the Nasru’s-Saltaneh. The Laird
was now threshing and winnowing his crop of barley, and anxious to sell us forage,
milk, and butter-milk. If only he had been better clad and cleaner, our friend
would have been quite an enviable personage. Accompanying us as he did during
the remainder of that day and the greater part of the following, we got to know
him very well. Indeed, from the first he seemed to have no reserve with us, and
we treated him accordingly ; moreover, as he was a keen sportsman, we had many
subjects of conversation in common. He had shot bears close by his domain, and
followed the Mazanderan stags every winter, when they were driven down from the
upper ranges. Looking at the lovely glades high up on the mountain-side, he
pointed out spots where he had killed extra fine animals, with antlers of twelve
points, and more. Strange to say, he knew nothing about preserving skins, and
the fact that they could be utilized as a warm covering for himself and children
seemed to him quite a revelation. Stags’ horns, he said, were'in demand, and
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