"بلاد فارس ‎١٨٨٨. من ريشهر إلى بندر عباس." [ظ‎‎٧] (٦٩/١٩)

4
ROUTE No.
■contd.
dumber and names of stages.
Distances.
Inter
mediate.
Total.
M. F.
M. F.
Rivers and
streams.
Remarks.
would offer a good baiting ground. From 2| to 3 miles 6 furlongs rivulets about 2 to (5 feet
wide, apparently containing sulphur in solution, cross the roa"! at short intervals, and run off
to the low ground to west. At 9 miles 6 furlongs the village of Arabi, containing 4 or 5
houses and tafangchi towers of mud and stone, with some mat hovels, touches the road on
west.
At 18 miles 7 furlongs, Khurmuj, altitude above sea, 465 feet, the chief town of the Dashti
district. The fort, a substantial stone building wi'h lofty walls, is on the outskirts of the
town, which contains about 350 houses. Of these a third are built of mats, and the rest of
stone and mud.
Population (roughly estimated) about l y 400.
Supplies
Water
Barley and wheat, plentiful; mutton and beef procurable, but not
in large quantities.
Plentiful and good,conveyed from Kuh Khurmuj by open conduits
or ditches.
Fuel
Grazing
Camping-grounds
Very scanty.
Very good.
Good.
Note. —The following roads branch off from Khurmuj : —
(1) . To the town of Kaki, fording the river Mand, general direction S. S. E. From
Kaki to the sea-port Dayyir, general direction S. E. By native report.
(2) . To Fakiahmed on the sea-coast, general direction uncertain. By native report.
(3) . To Kelat, to the sea-coast, probably at Laurand Kogan, general direction S. S. VV, 5
4. Laveh
distance 25 miles,
tion.
12—3
Part of the road lies through hills. From native informa-
60—3
Leave Khurmuj. General direc
tion E. by S. J S. The road at first
runs, distant from Kuh Khurmuj
about a quarter of a mile, in the
general direction over a plain, extending from Kuh Khurmu j to the mountain range near the sea-
coast. The ground, gravelly and stony, is thinly clothed with grass. Within three mile the road
crosses three dry nullahs, which run to south from Kuh Khurmuj. At 1 mile 4 furlongs
a low range of hills, called “ Kuh Kar,” rise gradually from the plain at a distance of 2 miles
to the south of the road, and with Kuh Khurmuj to north form a valley about 3 miles broad.
As we advance this valley becomes gradually narrower. The ground slopes gently from Kuh
Khurmuj southward. At 3 miles 1 furlong the road crosses a dry nullah called “ Gandu,” flow
westward, and, skirting the low hills to south, runs through a defile about 300 yards broad.
The hills on either side are practicable for infantry and mountain guns. At 3 miles 4 8 fur
longs the road crosses a narrow rivulet of water, and immediately after the dry bed of a nullah,
flow of both westerly. Three furlongs further on the defile opens out into a valley from 1 to 1J
miles broad. At 4 miles 7 furlongs the road crosses a small spur, about 150 yards broad,
from Kuh Khurmuj, which bars the valley transversely. Two furlongs in advance the valley
increases in breadth to 2 miles, the road still skirting the hills on its south side. We then
cross, within the space of one mile, three dry nullahs, all ffowing westward. On passing the
last of these, the road traverses the middle of the valley, which is covered with fresh green
grass, and dotted with kanar and bramble,bushes. The ground, not stony, consists of a fine
gravel. The hills on the north side of the valley are rocky and difficult; those to south
much smaller, less rugged and more rounded in outline, apparently of gravel or clay forma
tion. At 8 miles 4 furlongs the road crosses a dry nullah, called by the natives “ Gaali,” flow
to north-east, the valley also sloping slightly in that direction. We then pass through wheat
and barley growing tracts for 7‘4 furlongs. The ground now is neither stony nor sandy, but