"عبر بلاد فارس على سرج ركوب جانبي" [‎٢‎٢‎٨] (٣٦٠/٢٦٥)

228 THROUGH PERSIA ON A SIDESADDLE
At Kuhak we were perched on a hard, gravelly plateau
above the broad, boulder-strewn bed of the Mashkid River,
and behind us lay range after range of barren, arid hills,
where scarcely even a sand-partridge was to be seen.
The so-called river was dry at the point we touched it,
with the exception of some few pools at intervals, and it
was difficult to realise the Baluchi proverb that says, " He
is a dead man who stops to fasten his shoe in the bed of
the Mashkid " ; but of course this refers to later on in the
year, when the melting snows from distant mountains send
swirling torrents along these usually empty channels.
Kuhak, and indeed the whole of Persian Baluchistan, is a
' most distressful country' for horses. The ground is so
thickly strewn with boulders and stones that it is hardly
ever possible to go out of a foot's pace, which my brother
and I found so monotonous that we got into the habit of
walking all the short marches when they were only about
twelve to fifteen miles.
We were really in the country of the camel, and although
I was prejudiced against that slow-moving, evil-smelling
animal, yet its supreme usefulness grew upon me by degrees.
The Baluchi camels were for the most part small and
underfed, each one being led by a cord fastened through
its nostrils—a. most cruel arrangement—and having a
driver apiece, who had an interest in the animal, owning
one of its legs in lieu of pay or rations; and, in conse
quence, grumbling if it had to carry any save the smallest
of loads. As these burdens are fastened on in most care
less fashion, frequent halts have to be made to readjust
them, and this process appears to be extremely repugnant
to the camel mind. The creatures groan and roar as if
possessed during the operation, opening their long jaws