"تقرير عن رحلة إلى تستر، دزفول، بهبهان، وشيراز" [ظ‎‎١‎٤‎٨] (٢٨/١٨)

floundered through, and at 4.45 p.m. got to an encampment of Bouwy Arabs at a place
called Shakhe. Here we pitched our tents. The Arabs spoke hardly any Persian.
The Sheikh had just arrived, and the tribe was celebrating the event by executing a
weird and strange dance, flourishing swords and firing guns, all the while keeping up
a monotonous chant. The dance consisted of no regular step, all the dancers moved
independently one of another, and each man kicked his legs about as he thought fit.
One thing was observable during this scene, and that was the good quality of the
arms the men had. Hardly a man had a flint gun, nearly all being provided with
double-barrelled percussion fowling pieces. The swords also seemed ot good quality.
The distance from Ahwaz is called 8 farrakhs, we reckoned it at 26 miles. The
water at Shakhe is so salt as to be hardly drinkable, and fuel is scarce. The encamp
ment is said to contain 700 families. The tribe is rich, possessing very large flocks of
sheep, cows, and buffaloes.
All these Arabs are more or less tufbulent, and our road to-day was said to be very
unsafe. We never saw a human being till we got near the salt marsh, where two men
crossed the road.
kth December. —Left at 6.45 a.m., the air being intensely cold, and travelling east, in
an hour and a half reached the Gopal river, which comes down from Dehbeed, a place
five farrakhs from Ram Hormuz on the direct road to Shuster, and loses itself in the
salt marsh above mentioned. The water is very bitter. The Arabs of Shekhe camp
on the banks of this river during the summer and till the fields. Crossed the Gopal,
the road soon after entering a series of sandhills, after leaving which it crosses the
plain which extends to the mountains above Ram Hormuz. Passed the village of
Mir Batche and then a ruin called Ramleh, which was formerly the residence of Sheikh
Ibaret Khan, the father of Sheikh of Ja’bere Khan, the present Sheikh of Ram
Hormuz. Crossing another bitter stream we reached the camp of Sheikh Ja’bere,
which was pitched some distance from the village of Ram Hormuz, at 3.30 p.m. The
Arabs are of the El Khamir tribe.
Shtdkh Ja’bere himself came out to meet us mounted on a well-made Arab mare.
He is a fine man, between 35 and 40, of a dignified appearance. He took us to his
tent while our own was being pitched, and when the whole tribe assembled to gaze
at us.
From here to Kale Toul is two days’journey ; to Shuster, by the direct road, it is three
days, viz., Ram Hormuz to Dehbeed 5 farsakhs, Dehbeed to Bunei Daoud 6 farsakhs,
Bunei Daoud to Shuster 8 farsakhs. On this road are some naphtha wells which are
worked, the persons who farm them paying tomans 600 a year to the Government.
This revenue once belonged to Sheikh Ja’bere, but the Governor of Dizful has now
taken possession of it. The produce of the wells is taken to Shuster, Dizful, and
Mohammerah, and some even, I am assured, finds its way to Ispahan. What I saw at
Ram Hormuz appeared to me of pretty good quality.
The water at the camp was bad. The distance from Shakhe is called 6 farsakhs;
we made it 23^ miles.
Sheikh Ja’bere’s authority extends about half way to Shuster on the one side, and
almost to Behbehan on the T other.
bth December .—Rain fell during the night, and the morning was showery. We started,
however, with the horsemen given us by the Sheikh, the rain increasing as we went
on ; passed the little village of Keimek, and got to the banks of the Alai or Ram
Hormuz river, which is the stream we crossed after leaving Kale Toul, and which falls
into the ,Jerahi or Behbehan river. Here we waited for the mules, who were making
very slow progress through the deep mud, the rain coming down all the time in
torrents, and the river rising visibly. We had much difficulty in getting the mules
across, two of them narrowly escaping being drowned.
Passing a small Kohgelu village called Telleep we floundered on through deep rice
fields and .flooded ditches to a village called Rustem-abad. Our intention had been to
get to Sultan-abad, but the mules were getting on so slowly that we thought it wiser
to halt, which we did at 3.30 p.m.
We had now left the Arab country, and were among the Kohgelu Lurs. The people
of Rustem-abad emigrated from Pars, and are what is called “ badi,” or villagers whose
movements are free, in contradistinction to “ hakki ” who are not allowed to
emigrate. They pay taxes to Sheikh Ja’bere, but also something to the Government
of Pars. The village contains 100 families. It lies upon the banks of the Shour river,