MODERN PERSIA AND ITS CAPITAL 



395 



nasties have risen and fallen, and today 

 it stands as one of the few remaining 

 glories of the Persian Empire. 



The Elburz Mountain range, of which 

 Demavend is an outstanding member, is 

 a unit in the great mountain system that 

 stretches from southern Europe to cen- 

 tral Asia, and, with regard to Persia, is 

 the great dividing line between the north- 

 ern limits of the Iranian plateau and the 

 Caspian depression — a 12,000-foot wall 

 separating a basin 81 feet below sealevel 

 from a table-land averaging 4,000 feet in 

 altitude. Beginning near Ardabil, in 

 Azerbaijan, it extends southeastward and 

 eastward more than 500 miles along the 

 southern shores of the Caspian and into 

 Khorasan. 



This great mountain wall gives north- 

 ern Persia the anomaly of two almost 

 contiguous but quite different climates. 

 The moisture of the Caspian basin is ex- 

 cluded from the interior, resulting, on the 

 northern side, in a semi-tropical climate, 

 with an annual rainfall of over 50 inches 

 and luxuriant orange groves and crops of 

 rice and cotton, and, on the mountain 

 sides themselves, dense forests of hard- 

 wood, while the southern escarpment is 

 barren and supplies scarcely enough 

 water for the narrow but fertile desert 

 fringe at its base, with its crops of grain 

 and fruits of the Temperate Zone. 



A QUIESCENT VOLCANO 



Demavend itself is about 45 miles 

 northeast of Teheran, in the central of 

 three parallel chains. It towers high 

 above these flanking mountains, whose 

 summits do not exceed two-thirds its ele- 

 vation, the only mountain peak among 

 endless series of ridges. Its conical form 

 and seemingly even slope of about 45 de- 

 grees from top to bottom at once indicate 

 its volcanic nature. 



Although there is no record of an erup- 

 tion in historic times, the volcano can be 

 called quiescent rather than extinct, for 

 about the base are numerous hot springs, 

 and at the summit one finds evidence of 

 volcanic heat at no great distance beneath 

 the surface. 



While from a distance its cone seems 

 to taper almost to a point, it really termi- 

 nates in a bowl-like crater about one hun- 

 dred yards in diameter, which is almost 



entirely filled with snow. The internal 

 heat is sufficient to melt the snow about 

 the summit, and thus uncover to view 

 masses of basalt and limestone rocks and 

 huge deposits of sulphur. 



Strange to say, the exact altitude of 

 Demavend still remains uncertain. Nu- 

 merous measurements have been made, 

 ranging from 18,000 to over 22,000 feet, 

 an average of the most reliable giving an 

 altitude of about 19,000, though the single 

 measurement commonly accepted is 18,- 

 464 feet. 



THE ASCENT 



For a mountain of this size, the ascent 

 cannot be considered especially difficult, 

 there being few obstacles other than the 

 cold, the rarity of the atmosphere, and 

 fatigue. 



Because of the superstitious awe with 

 which the inhabitants regard the moun- 

 tain, very few of them have tried to scale 

 it, and it requires the inducement of a 

 month's salary to secure a guide for the 

 climb, if one can be found at all. The 

 first European to make the ascent was 

 William T. Thomson, in 1837. Since then 

 it has been accomplished by several Eu- 

 ropeans, by three Americans, and in 1914 

 by seven Persian boy scouts. 



Late summer, with its settled weather 

 and minimum of snow, is, of course, the 

 best time of the year for the ascent. Al- 

 though Teheran, the nearest large city, is 

 the logical point of departure, the pre- 

 cipitous nature of the western scarp ne- 

 cessitates a circuitous approach. A three- 

 day trip takes one across the first range 

 of mountains by the Afcheh Pass, with 

 an elevation of 9,000 feet ; then, between 

 the two ranges, down the well- watered 

 Lar Valley, which during its brief sum- 

 mer season supports the flocks and herds 

 of nomadic tent-dwellers, who pass their 

 winters in the plain villages south of Te- 

 heran, and skirting the southern base of 

 the mountain itself, to the village of Rcna. 

 above the canyon cast of Demavend, 

 where the Heraz River cuts through on 

 its way to the Caspian. 



This mountain village, which has an 

 elevation of about 6,000 feet, makes an 

 excellent base, for from this point a well- 

 defined trail winds upward 7.000 feet, to 

 where a few shepherds pasture their 



