2 JOURNEY THROUGH DISTRICTS N. OF ELBURZ, [Nov. 8, 1858. 



The Papers read were : — 



1. Journey through the Mountainous Districts North of the Elhurz, and 

 Ascent of Demavend^ in Persia. By E. F. Thomson, Esq., and Lord 

 ScHOMBERG H. Kerr, of H. M. Mission in Persia. 



Communicated by the Earl of Malmesbury, Foreign Office. 



From the Hon. C. A. Murray, c.b., cfcc, H. M. Minister in Persia, to the 

 Eight Hon. the Earl of Malmesbury, &c. &c. 



Camp at Lar, Aug. 2, 1858. 

 My Lord, — I have the honour to transmit herewith a narrative of an excur- 

 sion in the Elhurz chain of mountains, and of the subsequent ascent of the 

 lofty mountain of Demavend, lately made by Mr. R. F. Thomson, first attache 

 to this mission, and by his colleague Lord Schomberg Kerr. As this grand 

 and interesting mountain range is but little known either to the general or to 

 the scientific public in England, I would respectfully request your Lordship 

 to be kind enough to forward the narrative, with the accompanying map 

 and specimens, to the Pi-esident of the Eoyal Geographical Society. 1 

 feel assured that I am truly anticipating your Lordship's sentiments when 

 I express an opinion that the zeal, energy, and intelligence exhibited b}^ Mr. 

 Thomson and Lord Schomberg Kerr on this excursion, and in the graphic 

 description of it, reflect the highest credit upon them, especially when it is 

 borne in mind that neither of them have had the advantage of any specially 

 scientific education, and that they have been obliged to supply, in many 

 instances from their own ingenuity, resources which would have been easily 

 attainable in Europe. Notwithstanding the certain amount of fatigue which 

 they necessarily had to encounter, it is evident from their narrative, as well as 

 from the fact of the ascent of Demavend having been lately made by two 

 gentlemen who accompanied them, and by two members of the Russian 

 Mission, none of whom were practised mountain pedestrians, that there is no 

 mountain in the world, of the same elevation, the ascent of which is attended 

 with so little risk or difficulty, its crater being at least 6000 feet higher than 

 the summit of Mont Blanc, which, even with the aid of the skilful and expe- 

 rienced Swiss guides, it is generally a work of greater labour and duration to 

 attain. Mount Ararat, which has long been considered the monarch of the 

 great mountain chain extending over Central Asia, from the Caucasus to the 

 Northern Himalayas, has now been dethroned by the unerring fiat of Mercury, 

 and must be content to take a secondary place by the side of his true sove- 

 reign Demavend, who has thus recovered a portion of the long lost honours 

 and glories assigned to him in the legend of ancient Persia. 



I have, &c., 



Ch. a. Murray. 



The principal object of our excursion, of which the following is 

 a brief sketch, was to determine the exact elevation of the Peak of 

 Demavend, a point which has never, we believe, been satisfactorily 

 ascertained. But before doing so, we proposed making a short 

 circuit through the mountainous districts north of the Elbiirz, a 

 locality little frequented even by Persians, and almost entirely 

 unknown to Europeans. 



The mountains of Elburz, at the foot of the southern slopes of 



