620 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 



of the Sprangschicht we have this condition of affairs — the cold layer coming 

 nearer to the surface at one end of the loch, and, conversely,the warmer layer attain- 

 ing a greater thickness at the opposite end. We thus have two fluids of different 

 densities superposed and the line of separation oblique, not horizontal. The 

 temporary equilibrium maintained by the gale ceases with it, and the two fluids 

 are thus free to oscillate. Owing to the slight dift'erence of density of the two 

 layers the period may be very long and the amplitude very great. In Loch Ness, 

 v/hen the Sprangschicht was at a depth of about 250 to 300 feet, the period was 

 about three days and the amplitude as much as 150 feet. This enormous oscilla- 

 tion can only be detected by means of observations of temperature. 



3. A Tour in South-east Persia, with an Account of the Ancient Cities 

 of Narmdshir. By Major P. Molesworth Sykes. 



The tour was undertaken by the author in connection with a commercial mis- 

 sion which reached Bandar Abbas in the autumn of 1904, and spent the last days 

 of that year at Kerman, the capital of South-east Persia. 



The start was made in January 1905, and the first night was spent at an altitude 

 of 7,000 feet, in intense cold. The second stage was of extraordinary interest, lying 

 through grim, gloomy defiles shut in by beetling cliffs which towered thousands 

 of feet above. The crux of the stage was an extremely steep pass, from the crest 

 of which the travellers enjoyed a superb view across a succession of rugged ranges 

 to the illimitable Lut, the great desert of Persia. 



At lihabis, which is situated in Gannsir, or Hot Country, the rigours of winter 

 were exchanged for warmth, and the eyes of the travellers were filled with the 

 beauty of the palm and orange groves, for which the centre is famous. 



After a short halt the uplands were again entered, and the large party crossed 

 a waterless stretch of thirty-eight miles in safety. Had the weather been bad, it 

 would have gone hard with the weaker members, blizzards in January at high 

 altitudes being extremely dangerous in Persia. 



Bam, a considerable town of 13,000 inhabitants, was the next centre of import- 

 ance. One striking fact is that from Bam to Quetta — a distance of some 700 miles — 

 there is not a single centre of any importance. This fact speaks for itself more 

 eloquently than any description. 



From Bam the district of Narmashir was entered, and its ruined cities were 

 visited. They are referred to as important centres by mediseval travellers, such as 

 Mukaddasi and Hamd Allah, but have never been identified by modern travellers. 

 The most important of the ruins, the erstwhile famous city of Narmashir, which 

 was once an entrepot for Khorasan merchants trading with Oman, is now absolutely 

 deserted. Crumbling walls and an artificial mound in the interior, on which the 

 Kush-va-Ran fort undoubtedly stood, ai-e all that is left of what was once a city 

 containing perhaps 40,000 or 50,000 inhabitants. 



From Narmashir the travellers made some long marches through a district 

 without supplies to Rudbar, the Reobarles of Marco Polo, whose route was struck. 

 Thence the Halil Rud was followed up to the district of Jiruft. 



Excellent francolin shooting was enjoyed near the site of Komadin, which is 

 another vast ruin covering an area of several square miles, and is the Camadi of 

 Marco Polo. 



From Jiruft the Jabal Bariz range was traversed in safety, although the rivers 

 were in flood, and the party marched to Rain, and thence to Mahiin. The beautiful 

 shrine at this latter centre was founded in honour of Shah Namat Ulia with funds 

 supplied from distant India. This saint, who flourished in the fourteenth century, 

 was a contemporary of Tamerlane, who treated him with great distinction. He 

 travelled widely, and Ahmad Shah, of the Bahmanid dynasty of Southern India, 

 was among his disciples. The prophecies of Shah Namat Ulla are still well known 

 in the Middle East. One of them foretold that Christianity would rule in India 

 for a century, and this saying was undoutedly a cause, if not a main cause, of the 

 Indian Mutiny. The author referred to the lovely tiled courts where minarets look 



