172 
R. Burn —The Bakhtiarl Hills . 
[No. 3, 
distance along the stream in a very stony pass, and finally came out 
in another valley where are two villages, the name of the principle one 
being Khariji. Crossing the river again we skirted some high ground 
and then passed over undulating hills rising gradually higher, and came 
into sight of the massive ranges Zarda Kuh and Safid Kuh lying to 
the west and south-west. In the centre of the next valley lay the 
village of Shalamzar, 1 the halting place we should have reached the 
day before. There were a few trees, and the whole valley is carefully 
cultivated, but the only crop we saw was lucerne. The cemetery con¬ 
tained as usual three or four graves on which stood rudely carved leopards, 
whether as a symbol of the .qualities of the deceased, or to scare away 
wild beasts, is uncertain. There are no sarais on this road beyond 
Kava Rukh, and it was with some difficulty that at last we got an 
upper room. As usual a curious crowd watched all we did, and passed 
us the qalian, but the tobacco was rank and strong. In return I handed 
them a cigar, which was also handed round, but as they tried to 
inhale the smoke nobody got very far with it. 
November 3rd. We soon reached the foot of the hills on the 
south-west of the valley and the climb was exceedingly steep. The 
summit of the pass is 8,600' above the sea, and this is the highest point 
on the road. On the other side the descent of 600' is extremely rough, 
though but little engineering would be required to make it practicable 
even for artillery. The valley in spring is covered with grass and 
flowers, but at this season there was nothing but gorse. The road 
followed the Thalweg till the stream turned north when we crossed 
it and ascended the western hills. From the crest we saw the town 
or large village of Naghun at our feet in the midst of cultivated fields 
well watered by a stream. The descent was again very rough; just 
at the bottom of the hill was the house of the Ilbegi, rather a rude 
structure built of stone, but possessing a high square tower like a 
Norman Keep that could be strongly defended. The Ilbegi resides 
here on his way from Cighakhur, the sardslr to Mai Amir, the garmsir. 
At the time of our visit he was at Ardal, the residence of the Ilkhanl. 
We sent in a letter of introduction from the Governor of Isfahan to 
whom the Ilbegi is (nominally at any rate) subordinate, and a room 
30' x 12' in a building close by was allotted to us, and the usual 
“istiqbal ” of a sheep, a quantity of rice and clarified butter (raughan) 
was sent. From our room we could see the snow-capped Kuh-i-Gerra to 
the north-west. In the afternoon Haji All Quli Khan, brother of the 
Ilbegi Isfandiar Khan, who is Sartip or general of the Bakhtiarl cavalry 
in the Persian army, visited us. He was a most intelligent and pleasant 
1 The place where turnips abound. 
