PAPERS READ BEFORE THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. I.-Geographical Notes, taken during a Journey in Persia in 1849 and 1850. By KEITH E. ABBOTT, Esq., H. M. Consul at Tehrán. Communicated by the EARL of CLARENDON. Read, January 8 and 22, 1855. [IT is my purpose in the following pages to describe some parts of a journey performed in the middle and southern countries of Persia in the years 1849-50. My route led me from Tehrán, the present capital of Persia, to Savé, Kúm, Kashán, and Ispahán, and thence to Yezd, Kermán, Shiráz, and Bunder Bushír,' on the Persian Gulf. From the last place I embarked in an Arab boat and crossed the Gulf to the mouth of the Shut-ul-Arab, as the joint stream of the Tigris and Euphrates is called, and thence proceeded to Mohummeráh and Baghdad by the river. Babylon was visited, and I returned to Tehrán by way of Kermanshá and Hamadán, having occupied about nine months on the journey. I therefore propose to describe only such parts of the route by land, as have been seldom or never visited by European travellers, or which have been incorrectly laid down in our maps.-K. E. A.] 1. Route from Tehran by Savé to Kúm. October 2.-Accompanied out of the town by some of my English friends, I quitted Tehrán at 2:25 P.M., my own party consisting of myself and eight servants. My purpose being to visit Savé, I avoided the direct road to Ispahán, and proceeded at first by that of Hamadán. Our direction was about W.S.W. to the village fort called Kalé Nú, situated at about 3 miles from Tehrán, and my friends having taken leave of me, I proceeded on my way, with the prospect before me of a long, lonely, and wearisome journey of many months. At the 6th mile we reached the mound S. of Yaftabád, an artificial elevation of considerable size. Villages. appeared in all directions about the plain, in general situated, for the sake of security, within high walls, with groves and gardens extending around them, and the plain more or less cultivated in their vicinity. At the time, the crops having been nearly all gathered VOL. XXV. B in, the plain presented an appearance sufficiently dreary and sterile. From the mound our direction was S. W. to the village Chehar-danghé at the 7th mile; that of Shah Terré at the 8th, and that of Malekabád at the 10th mile; from whence to the village Behrámabad, in a direction S.S.W., is a distance of about two-thirds of a mile. Here I found my baggage spread under a fine witch-elm in a large garden or vineyard, and three baskets of beautiful grapes, being brought as an offering by the gardeners, were speedily disposed of by my party. Fruit is hardly ever unacceptable to Persians, and the quantities they devour would set a sober European aghast were he previously unacquainted with their capacity for such food. From a building over the gate of this village I obtained the annexed bearings: The district of Feshavié, in which the above villages are situated, belongs to Tehrán; it contains altogether about 38 villages, is tolerably well watered, and produces a great deal of fruit, principally grapes, musk and water melons, apricots and mulberries, with which it supplies Tehrán, but it is less productive in grain, which is grown principally for the consumption of its own population. The vines on this plain are planted on banks between trenches, and are allowed to grow about 5 feet high in clumps. October 3.-We were in the saddle at a quarter to seven this morning, and, proceeding S.W., reached at the 2nd mile the village Cossemabad; after which the road, varying in direction from W. to W.S.W., brought us, at the 4th mile, to the village Salian. The only crops then on the ground in this part consisted of cotton, palma Christi, and water-melons in occasional patches. Close beyond Salian we came to the deep bed of the Kerrej, in which at this season there is little water, but during the floods this is a dangerous and difficult ford, and accidents frequently occur. I was therefore pleased to find my acquaintance Hadji Abd-ul-Kerrim, a wealthy inhabitant of Tehrán, superintending the erection of an excellent bridge here at his own expense. The bridge is of brick, and will be composed of three arches, the centre one to have a span of about 50 feet. From thence I proceeded N. by W., passing presently a weather-worn artificial mound and the village Kulmé, situated at the 5th mile; then S.W. by W. to that of Sultanabad at the 6th mile; and S. W. by S. and S.W. to that of Nussirabad, at a distance of 8 miles, the villages on the plain around becoming less frequent as we advanced. At the 12th mile we reached, in a direction W.S.W. and S.W. from the last village, that of Rebat Kerrim, a flourishing place of some 300 houses, where we put up. Being on the high road to Hamadán it is a station for caravans, for the use of which there is good accommodation. From this to Feizabad is a distance of 7 fursacks, or 28 miles, generally over a parched and desert tract, which we were recommended to traverse during the night, in order to avoid exposure to the great heats in a part where water, if procurable at all, is salt or brackish. We accordingly quitted Rebat Kerrim at ten minutes past 10 P.M., and, by the light of the moon, travelled 1 mile in a direction of 250°, along a magnificent highway; then 3 miles at 265° to a ruined caravanserai, overlooking a descent into a valley with a brackish streamlet. As the country here had a bad reputation, we closed up with and escorted our baggage until we got again into open ground. One of my servants pointed out a spot where he had, on a former journey. passed the body of a murdered Shah's messenger, and the rest of the party added their stock of intelligence regarding the dangers of this part of the road. We, however, encountered none but peaceable travellers, who, like ourselves, and from a similar motive, were proceeding over this parched tract by night. From the caravanserai we made 1 mile in a general direction of 60°, and, crossing the streamlet, ascended again, and proceeded 6 miles between the points 235° and 240°; after this, between W. and S.W. for 64 miles, when, quitting the Hamadán road, we commenced a slight descent of 3 miles to Salmanabad, in direction S.W. This village is inhabited by Turks of the Bayat tribe, who are also found in other parts of the district of Zerend, which we had now entered. It appeared a ruinous place, but has nicely-cultivated land around it, irrigated by brackish water. Two miles beyond it we crossed a dry watercourse by a bridge, and then moved in a direction W. for a short space, then S. W., and again W., in all 3 miles, and alighted at Feizabad, another Turk village, belonging to the Khalej tribe, which occupies much of this district, and from which the latter takes its name of Khalejistan, in addition to that of Zerend. Here also the water is brackish, but this is not the case throughout the district. The houses are generally domed, wood for rafters being scarce. The produce of the fields appears to be confined to barley and wheat, cotton and melons. From this part of the country the mountain of Demavend has a most imposing appearance, standing out in strong relief from the general range, and I could, early in the morning, discover a faint, narrow column B 2 of mist or vapour rising perpendicularly from its cone, giving it the appearance of an active volcano. Position of the half-ruined village of Zerend, as pointed out W. 30° S., about 4 miles distant. October 5.-We were in the saddle at a quarter past 2 A.M., and proceeded, by a clear moonlight, southwards for 1 mile past the village Shalgan, and then from S.S.W. to S.W. by W., by a good road and gentle ascent over a country frequently intersected by hills. The path afterwards became stony, and at about the 10th mile we commenced a long descent through a hilly country, towards the plain of Savé, which we traversed in a direction S.W. We reached this small and ruinous town at 9.5 A.M., after a ride of nearly seven hours, or about 21 miles, and, on approaching it, were met by some people sent out to welcome me by my friend Meer Hashim Khán, the governor, who gave me a very kind reception. Savé is situated towards the western extremity of a plain of inconsiderable breadth, which towards the E. gradually resolves itself into the Kevvir, or salt desert; large patches of which occur at about the 9th mile or so, E. of the town, and narrowing near the Kuh-e-Nemek (Hill of Salt), blends with that of Kúm. The plain is but partially cultivated, and is watered on the southern side by the Kara-chai, a slightly brackish stream flowing E., and having, from the bund or dam of Shah Abbass to near Mujidabad, 13 villages on its banks. The villages, which are far from the river, are ill supplied with water for irrigation, and many of them possess no garden-land at all; but the soil is said to be excellent where it does not run into the Kevvir. The cultivation of the plain is carried on in the most slovenly manner, the land not being even cleared of the small tufts and bushes which abound on it, but, after being watered, is sprinkled with seed, ploughed up, and smoothed over with a wooden drag. The produce is stated to be ten for one. The productions are wheat, barley, rice, cotton, palma Christi, melons, figs, grapes, and pomegranates renowned for their excellence. The people say that the ancient town of Savé was situated more to the W. of the present site, and that some traces of it exist; they also affirm that this plain was formerly covered by the sea, forming one with the Kevvir of Kúm, and that the subsidence of the waters was one of the miracles accomplished at the birth of their prophet. Savé, which, according to Macdonald Kinneir, is the ancient Tubus, is, I think, the most ruinous town I have ever visited, though I could not learn from its ignorant inhabitants the cause of its fallen condition. About two-thirds of the space within its walls are occupied by crumbling buildings and mounds of débris, and the inhabited part, I should imagine, cannot contain more than 300 or 400 houses, tenanted by about 1000 families. It has a small covered-in bazar, consisting of a line of about 50 shops, where various petty crafts are carried on, and provisions sold. It possesses no commerce, not even one of transit, as the caravans which frequent this road do not enter the town. I was shown a large domed building, which is said to be nearly in the centre of the area within the walls, but it now stands alone beyond the inhabited part. It is called the Chehar Su, and possesses a reservoir of filthy water. Internally it had been handsomely decorated with lacquered tiling, and measures in diameter 23 ordinary paces, or about 46 feet. The only other buildings to be noticed are the remains of a mosque of some pretensions, called the Musjid-e-Jumé, and near it a minaret, formerly highly ornamented. I was afterwards conducted to a manufactory of nitre carried on amidst the ruins. The process is simple. Earth taken from the ruins is allowed to soak in tanks of water; through the bottom the water filters, and escapes into a second reservoir, carrying with it the saline particles it has imbibed from the first process. The soil, particularly that of ruined mud walls, is, in Persia, frequently strongly impregnated with nitre. The water is next removed to caldrons, when it undergoes two boilings, the first of which frees it from most of its impurities, which fall to the bottom and are removed; the second renders it a rich-looking broth, and it is then ladled into large iron caldrons and allowed to cool, when a thick incrustation of nitre takes place; this being removed in a mass, is placed over a pit or vessel, when a certain oil escapes from it. Bearings taken from Savé. Village of Bagh-e-Sheikh, E.S.E., about 4 miles distant. Abdulabad, Nur-aly Beg, N. 65 W.,, 4 99 Avé (position as pointed out), S. 30° E." about 16 miles distant. Bund-e-Shah Abbass (a ruined dam in the hills), S. 60° W. Kuh-e-Nemek, S. 45° E. 20 miles off. The above-named bund or dam was built by Shah Abbass for |