Journey in Furs, S.W. Persia. 511 



willow, and plane trees. Much to the gratification of the 

 inhabitants we camped in the town for the night; but 

 the people swarmed round our tent in hundreds, and their 

 curiosity overcame their politeness to such an. extent that 

 we were obliged to obtain the services of two of the chief's 

 strongest servants to keep them at a reasonable distance. 



For the next five or six days we were travelling north- 

 wards at elevations of between seven and nine thousand feet. 

 We had left the wooded country to tin; west, and now the 

 mountains, which rose some two thousand feet above the 

 track, were rocky and snow-covered at the top, while their 

 slopes were thickly overgrown with coarse grass and large 

 umbelliferous plants which had a heavy scent. In such a 

 country there were few birds, but we were delighted to find 

 new forms in the shape of Horned Larks, Red-tailed Wheat- 

 ears, and brightly-coloured Linnets. On May 24th we reached 

 the eastern slopes of the Kuh-i-Dmar, the high mountain 

 which 1 had been anxious to visit. The Pa Dinar (or foot 

 of Dinar) region consisted of undulating grassy country 

 rising gently to the base of the great mountain-ridge, which 

 towered high and dazzling in its whiteness to an altitude of 

 nearly 1-1,000 feet. 



A large tribe of the lliyats, called Farsi Medun, owners 

 of 2000 tents, had their summer- quarters in this excellent 

 grazing country. Their chief, Abdullah — a fine patriarchal 

 old man — received us most hospitably, as indeed the Iliyat 

 leaders always did, and since these people are implicitly 

 obedient to their chiefs we were universally well treated by 

 them. Although quite uneducated, the lliyats are in many 

 eases highly intelligent people. They are bold and outspoken 

 and have free and easy manners, but are possessed of a natural 

 and graceful politeness. At this place I had some most en- 

 joyable sport with Abdullah's son, by name Masti. The tribe 

 was celebrated for its fine horses, and they mounted note on a 

 beautiful mare. We set out with a large retinue of mounted 

 men and scoured the hills For " Chabk," as the Clinkar Par- 

 tridge is called. When the flankers signalled that they had 

 marked down birds, Masti and 1 galloped up and down the 



