174 
R. Burn —The Bajchticirl Hills. 
[No. 3, 
and no stalk to speak of, was plentiful. There were also flowers re¬ 
sembling that called “Bachelor’s buttons ” in country places in England, 
and hawthorn, now losing its leaves. The forest land also began here, 
most of the trees being chestnuts or scrub oak. 1 From the crest of 
the Hill we had a fine view of the Kuh-i-Gerra with the Karun river 
coming through a gorge to the north and flowing south. The track 
as usual was very bad, and we slipped about a good deal before we 
reached the collection of hovels forming the village of Dupulan. 2 The 
methods of our tufangci rather reminded me of a tahsill chaprasi, but 
the only lodging he could get for us was in a stable. 
November 6th. We bought some rugs of local manufacture, and 
when I enquired for coins a man produced some brass forgeries of 
ducats. There was no coherent inscription; but there were Roman 
letters, some upside down and some sideways. Just below the village we 
crossed a stream by a rickety wooden bridge with a flooring of brush¬ 
wood, and a little farther on crossed the Karun over the remains of a 
stone bridge repaired with branches of trees. Ascending the hill we 
caught up to a Persian travelling with a friend, and two or three tufangcis 
all being armed with Martinis in good condition. After a little con¬ 
versation he asked us point blank to give him a present, and as we 
refused, he left us. We halted for breakfast by a stream called the 
Sardab, after which the road crosses an undulating plateau, almost bare of 
trees, and hence called Pazhmurda. 3 The edge of the plateau is about 
7,500' and then came a steep descent of several hundred feet, at the 
bottom of which was another stream, by the side of which were the 
wdiite stones and heaps of rubbish marking the site of an encampment 
of the Iliats who had left for the Garmslr. The place is called Gan- 
dumkal, or the village of wheat, and it was surrounded by stubble. 
The stream had dried up, and crossing the bed and a dip beyond we 
ascended to a height of 7,550' by an easy climb. The road led south 
along the crest and there was a magnificent gorge to our right, which 
Ave finally reached by a tiring descent of 2,500'. The valley was very 
beautiful with high well-wooded hills on either side, and a river flowing 
through it. The autumnal tints were brilliant, and we passed many little 
streams with wild vines clinging to the trees on their banks. As we 
reached the village of Sarkhun, I heard a man call out “ Ai! Farangi! 
Inja barae shuma manzil nest” (Oh! Farangi! you can’t stay here), 
the first and only instance of incivility we experienced in these hills. 
1 The word balut is used for both. The Sartlp said that the trees were mostly 
chestnut (ehataigne) not oak (chene). 
2 = Two bridges, 
S => Withered. 
