SHIRAZ TO BUSHIRE. 47 



occupied the pastures around the ruins. These Eliauts, 

 lie said, would watch their opportunity, and, should 

 we visit the ruins, they would attack us, and most 

 inevitably cut our throats. Whether the gholaum 

 was right in his suppositions, or. whether it was 

 merely with a view to keep us on the straight road, 

 and so give himself and his horse less to do, I know 

 not. Red Beard, except to untie his horse from the 

 gate of the serai, never appeared to us again. We 

 saw the last of him as he jogged quietly away over 

 the hills, in the golden light of the setting sun. 



27th. "\Ve had a march of twenty-three miles 

 before us, so we were in the saddle by 3 A.M. The 

 gholaum had warned us the evening before that this 

 was a march of some danger, as it lay through a lonely 

 uninhabited country. It was only after considerable 

 remonstrance on his part that he would consent to 

 start so many hours before daybreak. He declared 

 that, if he did start so early, we took all responsibility 

 on our own shoulders. The Swede consoled him with 

 the reflection, that if anything did go wrong, the first 

 shot fired by us would be at his (the gholaum's) head. 

 To make our party as formidable in numbers as pos- 

 sible, some dozen or so keclieeckchees or guards from 

 the village were hired. These were to accompany 

 xi's for the first twelve miles of our march, as this was 

 considered the portion of it on which we were most 

 liable to attack. As day broke we forded the Khara- 

 hautch river. The increasing light showed us the 



