Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎53v] (109/154)

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FROM TEHERAN TOWARDS THE CASPIAN.
or wall prevents your seeing the abyss, some 1000 or 1500 feet in depth. We looked
to our surcingles. Perched on the top of a pack-saddle as high as if riding a lb-hand
horse, but with no command over your quadruped, you soon come to the conclusion
that such a position is far more dangerous than it would be if one were riding one’s
own horse, even if he were somewhat fresh, for, at all events, he would not insist on
always keeping along the outer edge of the track, as pack-mules obstinately do.
When we had once started, the road proved to be less risky than it looked, as it
had a width of 7 or 8 feet, and was in good repair. The view from it into the abyss
beneath is superb. Numerous cascades, hundreds of feet in height, failover the bare
rock faces of the lower precipices. Issuing from glades hundreds of feet below the
road, these cascades form a picture of great magnificence. From where they com
mence the mountains are more or less clothed in forest to their summits. Nothing
can be seen or heard of the torrent that is eating its way into the strata far, far
below.
Forty minutes’ trotting on our mules brought us to a point whence the road,
rounding a spur, dives zigzagging down the crumpled side of the gorge in the
Hazar champ, or 1000 twists. From hence is obtained the loveliest of the many
lovely views of the Chel-haus chasm. Thence it can be seen for some 20 or 25
miles of its length, viz. from the snow-clad watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. which marks the source of
the river to the south, to beyond the Takht-i-Shah (which is hereafter to be
described) on the north. Nothing in Kashmir, the Himalayas, or Switzerland
resembles it. Maybe it may find a parallel in the rifts in California. Here, close
to the road, a rough kind of pagoda has been erected to shelter the Shah when he
comes this way, and entice him to stop and admire the loveliest scene in his
dominions. Was this building the outcome of his Majesty’s own wish, or the re
sult of an inspiration on the part of the Austrian engineer who constructed the
road some twenty-six years ago ? The zigzags below the pagoda are so steep as to
make riding impossible, and the excuse to dismount may be appropriately made,
notwithstanding that a stout fence of stonework pillars, with wooden beams, now
precludes all danger of falling into space. Towering isolated rocks, which here over
hang the track, would each, in a more frequented country, have its distinctive
name, and be recognized as the “ Eagle’s nest,” the “ Cathedral rocks,” or the
“ Cheddar cliff,” respectively. About half a mile below the pagoda a boring or
tunnel, 15 feet in length, has been made in the live rock. Gasteiger Khan, the
Austrian who built the road, apparently made the most of this, to the Persian
mind, 'extraordinary feat in engineering. On the south side of the tunnel are
two inscriptions; and a bas-relief in alabaster has been let into the eastern side.
This slab represents his Majesty, Nasiru’d-din Shah, shooting from horseback at
a leopard or lion, whilst hounds and hawks pursue other game both in the fore
ground and on the horizon. In the rear of his Majesty is seen an escort drawn
up with military precision. On the north side and over the centre of the arch of
the tunnel, Gasteiger has immortalized himself in a Latin inscription, setting forth
his distinctions and titles. The strings of mules that bring charcoal, dried fish,
and the main rice supply from Mazanderan and the shores of the Caspian to Teheran
pass this way.
We soon got into less rocky ground, where the slopes are covered with forest
of sycamore, oak, and hornbeam, with underwood of medlar and crab-apple.
Butterflies flit about; a lovely large one with black wings is very remarkable.
From far below is heard the chop, chop, chop, of the charcoal-burner, while a thin
wreath of smoke marks the spot where his devastation is going on. In two places
small rills of water cross the track, and here and there rude limekilns show where
the stone had been burnt to make mortar for the pillars of the protecting parapet.