IRAN 49 



which give valuable wool: hence two important indus- 

 tries are those of silk and wool rugs. Here, again, the 

 alternate availability of lowland and highland pastures 

 drives the shepherd regularly from one to the other, and 

 causes nomadism. 



Of the northern chain of Iran and the declivities 

 which face Turan, mention has been made already. 

 Towards the Caspian, the rain-bearing winds become 

 more generous, and that part of the Elburz which lies 

 along the southern margin of the Caspian is fairly abun- 

 dantly watered : hence the sharp line drawn between 

 the northern and southern slopes of the chain; while 

 the Persian side is arid, the Caspian side is well- wooded. 

 The tree-growth is decidedly of northern temperate, 

 winter-bare type, with a rich variety of species, and 

 here occurs the easternmost limit of our common beech. 

 The plane-tree, the walnut, the ash, the hornbeam, several 

 kinds of oaks, maples, and poplars, and, in addition, the 

 stately zelkova, compose the forests, which, to our eyes, 

 would thus have quite a familiar aspect. A character- 

 istic shrub is the box, which forms almost exclusive 

 scrub at higher levels in the centre of the range. The 

 winter appearance of the Caspian forests, with bare trees, 

 and snow lying on the ground, differs very little from 

 that of the mountain-forests of central and eastern 

 Europe ; the ground vegetation in summer reveals plants 

 equally familiar to us : in short, the southern margin of 

 the Caspian is in striking contrast with its drier sur- 

 roundings. 



Iran is in the belt of lands which have been 

 gradually drying up. Life has always been more con- 

 centrated in the elevated plain of Shiraz and Isfahan, 

 and in the north-west corner towards Armenia. The 

 Iranians were early devoted to agriculture, which they 



1169.1 K 



