148 THROUGH THE PORTALS OF PERSIA. 



mud-coloured torrent, and behold, the sterility is gone ! 

 All round vast forests have sprung up, where all the 

 trees of Europe grow in wild profusion. Soft-coloured 

 hills melt away imperceptibly into space, and a filmy 

 blue haze fills in the distance. The undergrowth is 

 tropical in luxuriance, English in its character. Wild- 

 flowers which thrive in the woods and lanes of England 

 crop up in all directions. No Aladdin's lamp or genie's 

 ring could transfer one more effectually from one world 

 to another than do the ragged ponies and decrepit 

 phaetons of the Teheran-Resht post-road. 



The road, as I have said, is Russian ; but I must 

 admit that it was some time before I in any way 

 realised what it was that Russia expected to gain when 

 she embarked on an undertaking which involved an 

 outlay out of all proportion to any tangible result. 

 Nearly £500,000, three-fourths of which were found 

 by the Russian Government, were expended in the 

 construction of an indifferent carriage-road 225 miles 

 in extent, of which 94 miles, lying over a level plain, 

 were already in existence prior to the advent of Russian 

 enterprise, and can claim to have received but scant 

 attention from the engineer ever since. 



As a military highway the road is inadequate, and, 

 in view of the lines of entry from Russia, both on the 

 north-west and on the north-east, superfluous ; as an 

 adjunct to the comfort of the traveller or as a means of 

 reducing the time expended on the journey, it is scarcely 

 an unqualified success, — I myself had to spend some 

 time kicking my heels on the road, while wood-cutters 

 were engaged in removing an obstruction in the shape 

 of a large tree, — and as an instrument for assisting 

 trade it can only be looked upon as a failure, since the 

 cost of transport has risen by fully 10 per cent since 

 the road was built. 



