Journey in Fars, S.W. Persia. 505 



notns leucotis, Sylvia nana) were not to he found in similar 

 country to that in which they were common at lower eleva- 

 tions; while in the same way, but more markedly, many birds 

 (e.g. Montifringilla alpicola, Accentor jerdoni, Melanocorypha 

 bimaculata, Saxicola chrysopygia, Cinclus albicollis, Linota 

 cannabina fringillirostris , Otocorys penicillata) were confined 

 to various altitudes above 6000 feet. The only bird found 

 at all elevations and in every variety of country was the 

 Chukar (Caccabis saxatilis cliukar). 



The route from Bushire to Shiraz is so well known that it 

 needs little description from me. For two days the traveller 

 passes along the hot and sandy coast-region. Then from 

 the little village of Daliki he steers straight for the hills 

 which fringe the plain, and, entering a gap in the steep 

 rock, begins to climb the first of the celebrated passes, or 

 kotals, as the Persians call them, which lie between the coast 

 and Shiraz. These passes have been called rock-ladders, 

 and with justice, for they are terribly rocky and steep, and 

 the track through them is merely a natural one, worn 

 smooth and slippery in places by the passage of innu- 

 merable mules, donkeys, horses, and camels. The life of 

 most of the beasts of burden ends in one or other of these 

 passes. The stones and rocks are often splashed with 

 blood, and there is always a fresh carcase for the Vultures, 

 Ravens, and Kites which haunt the kotal. It is extra- 

 ordinary that nothing is done to improve the track. Even 

 an Eastern people might be expected to spend a little on a 

 route used continually by thousands of valuable animals. 



Our first experience of a kotal was unhappy, for rain 

 had added to the difficulties of the pass by making it 

 exceedingly slippery, and our mules continually fell. Our 

 nerves had many shocks, for we had not yet become accus- 

 tomed to seeing our precious boxes bouncing like footballs 

 from rock to rock. However, we were greatly consoled by 

 the first sight of Rock-Nuthatches, with their wonderful 

 whistling notes and diverting manners. After some five 

 hours of climbing and slipping in the barren grey rooks of 

 this pass, we emerge^ suddenly on to the edge of a fertile 



SER. VIII. — Mil.. III. 2 I. 



