366 
PASSES. 
conjecture, contained in the Ser Dereh Khor or Khawar, and consist of 
a succession of passes, sometimes very narrow, and at others more ex¬ 
panded, through a Caveer'^% or desert, of a soft soil, broken into great 
inequalities, and through which flow many salt streams. Roads here 
branch out in different directions, one to Kashan, another to Firouz Koh, 
another to Tabbas; the principal roads lead to Semnan and Damgan. 
The commencement of the Dereh, or valley, is ten fursungs from Rey, 
which would be the probable distance that Alexander marched with light 
troops. This is the high road to Parthia, through which the great gene¬ 
rals of the east have passed ; but this particular dereh is described as 
being dangerous to strangers, who without good guides would be 
likely to lose themselves in the intricate passes formed by the ine¬ 
quality of the ground. Nadir Shah was stopt here by the Afghans, 
and he only succeeded to get through by sending part of his army in 
a devious direction, and then attacking the enemy on a given signal. 
The dry and thirsty tract mentioned by Pliny, comprehends perhaps 
the whole of the dereh through the Caveer, which is about twelve fur¬ 
sungs in length, and the eight miles of the pass, the narrowest part of 
the broken lands. There is a village and a district of the name of 
Khor or Khawar, which is generally coupled in its designation with the 
neighbouring tract of Veramin. 
After passing the Teng Ser enza and the Red Castle, the country 
loses much of its rocky appearance, and is broken up into a variety of 
volcanic hills, of various colours and strata. Grey, red, and ochreous 
soils were intermixed, whilst in the vallies formed by their bases were 
patches of pasture, with small streams and occasional swamps. The 
tract we travelled through was partially cultivated, but in no places were 
the habitations of the cultivators to be seen. In these fine climates 
the ground is tilled by peasants, who deem it no hardship to travel 
several miles, or even days’ journies from their houses. A little tempo¬ 
rary mud-wall serves them for a retreat, their cattle browse on the hill, 
and their food consists of bread and water. 
This tract is possessed by Zulfakar Khan, Governor of the town of 
* Saluginous ground wliere nothing grows. — Richardson. 
