Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎52r] (106/154)

FROM TEHERAN TOWARDS THE CASPIAN. 505
"Xtcoar^oTri* Sied“e bade Mm",? ^ ^
revisit bim in the shooting season, and 'started homewards, Iktg theU'miles
to be covered one long race. In camp we were ininorl h, + • j T 1
delayed their departnre from Guiahek a day later than our»"U7nd\7s 0 \y a
personage who announced that he was the Shibarchi Bashi to the Sh7h Th7
last a spare wrry man, with small bright eyes and somewhat sly expr'ession
wtthal an mcessant talker mtroduced himself by saying that he hJbeen sen to
see that we got good sport, and received due honour and hospitality at theTands
of the popn atton. It was only by feigning inability to comprehend his eg, tS
chatter that we contrtved to „d ourselves of this intrusive aftoeM; so that a “
the first day s proceedings he changed his tactics, and favoured us but Me’ Mi
his company, except at the hour of starting in the morning. At such m^
would appear accompanied by his henchman, both decently mounted. H l u
pat.cn, apparently self-imposed, was to go ahead and turn out the
every village ftrough which we passed, all of whom appeared, bringing a lamb as
an offering Had we accepted these lambs, we should have been polses^of 7
arge flock before reaching Mazenderan. What the Shikarchi Bashi made out of
the transaction it was d.fhcult to gather. He probably told each headman th«
he had persuaded the Ms not to take the lambs, and therefore merited a small
sum for his good offices. As regards any service to ourselves, he never came nl
our camp when we reached the ibex-ground at Sheristanek; and the sam7thi7
happened on our entering the bear country in Mazenderan.
, „ Fro ” a Ucban our roa(i le<i U P the Egil river, a tributary of the Ja^er and
followed the actual bed of the stream for some distance. The valley is ru 2 <r e d and
less picturesque than that of the main stream. We passed Egil villas which has
an evil reputation, as it is said to harbour the much-dreaded “ stranger-biter ” (aharih
gez), or poisonous bug. ^ 10
We breakfasted in a lovely spot beyond a village named Ahah (altitudp
G700 feet), beneath the shade of walnuts, with a roaring torrent in front From
Ahah the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. which divides the sources of the Jagerud and She’ristanek
rivers has to be crossed by those who wish to get into the valley of the latter
This takes two and a half hours of mountain roads. The summit of the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins.
has an altitude of 8700 feet. Except for the first 600 feet, the road presented no
serious difficulty, and our muleteer, who lost an animal by falling over the mountain
side, was himself to blame for the mishap.
From the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. there is a wonderful view of bare mountains; not a tree is
to be seen anywhere. The contorted and variegated strata of the mountains to
the north-east, in which direction we were going, are suggestive of an enormous
slate quarry, about the size of an English county, with altitudes varying from 4000
to 10,000 feet. To the south, and close by, lie the northern slopes of the Touchal
range, the southern side of which forms so conspicuous a feature in the Teheran
landscape. The track, rising to nearly 12,000 feet, by which the distance from
Guiahek to Sheristanek may be traversed in eight hours in the late summer, was
visible, with large patches of snow lying across it.
From the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. down to the Sheristanek valley was a comparatively dull
march, though relieved by an occasional peep at the terraced fields and the sight
of the Shah’s red-roofed chateau, situated at the head of the valley. The river
appeared a perfectly white roaring torrent. The chateau looked prim enough, but
badly placed in what must be a stifling hole.
On reaching the valley, we found the crops all green and luxuriant, the
foliage of the poplars and walnuts in perfection, and the roaring river even more