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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by E). K. De Witt 



A PERSIAN PLOWMAN 



In striking contrast to the sun-scorched desert, with its drifting sand and rock-strewn 

 wastes and toiling, thirsty caravans, is this oasis-like garden, a paradise, as the Persians often 

 call it, set down in the midst of barren wilderness. The slender, stately poplars and dense 

 foliage in the background indicate the abundance of the watercourses, and the good natured 

 smile of the young peasant plowman and the placid contentment of his beasts carry some 

 idea of the productiveness of the fertile soil he is scratching with his crudely fashioned plow. 



and sent expeditions through the neigh- 

 boring passes to subdue the impregnable 

 regions of Hyrcania. Following in his 

 footsteps came Antiochus the Great 

 against the Parthians, and westward 

 along this same route Genghis Khan, 

 Ilulagu Khan, and Tamerlane led their 

 ravaging Mongol hordes. 



A GUIDEPOST FOR GENERATIONS 



One can imagine that even Alexander 

 or Tamerlane, sweeping on to world con- 



quest, must have felt his insignificance as 

 he faced this unconquerable barrier. 



Rising not far from a great interna- 

 tional highway, Demavend has served as 

 a gigantic guidepost for scores of gener- 

 ations of daring merchants, who, long 

 before Columbus, exchanged the wares 

 of the West and the East by means of 

 their slow-crawling caravans ; and its 

 lonely grandeur has gripped the imagina- 

 tion of intrepid adventurers of all ages. 

 Within its shadow a score of great dy- 



