178 
R. Burn — The BaJchtifiri Hills. 
[No. 3, 
middle with a door 3' high, and the caves came down still lower. All 
the huts in the village were of the same kind of reeds cut in the river¬ 
bed close by, and thatched with similar reeds. The walls are smeared 
with mud and straw (kah and gil). Our host visited us after dinner and 
apologised for not being able to give us anything but fowls. 
November 12th. The muleteer greeted us with the cheerful news 
that our march would be the worst of the whole way, and though he 
had lied to us on almost every possible occasion hitherto, we found that 
he was correct. For the first hour or two, we wandered up and down 
a labyrinth of small hills with hardly a track. In several places we 
passed over bare rock almost like the roof of a house, and once the 
mule our servant was riding went down such a drop, that, without its 
falling or even stumbling, it shot him over its head. We crossed 
several streams full of fish, and then began a very bad steep ascent, 
parts of which were the old causeway. The descent though not so bad 
was very steep, and we were glad to reach the bottom, where we found 
a few black tents by the stream; the road lay down the Thalweg over 
very rough and uneven ground, but when we had completed about 20 
miles we came out on a comparatively level plain, and the last four miles 
into Gugird 1 were easy. A stream we passed, called the Ab-i-Shur, is 
largely impregnated with sulphur, which caused it to smell badly. The 
low range of hills to the south of the road is called Asmari, and an 
Imamzada close by the road bears the name of Sultan Ibrahim. Gugird 
contains 50 or 60 reed huts much larger and better made than the one 
we had at Mai Saiyyidi. This is the limit of the Bakhtiarl rule, so our 
tufangci took leave of us. 
Noveviber 13tli. The march was over fairly level, but stony and 
barren country. According to Curzon’s Map, 2 we should have come to 
two villages named Tembi and Dara Kul, but we could find no trace of 
these. After marching about 25 miles we reached a slight elevation 
covered with mules belonging to a caravan on the march to Mai Amir. 
This place appeared to be the usual halting place and is called Labari. 
Three miles away to the south-west, we could see a village called Rail 
Dari. The only water we could get was brackish, and the mosquitoes 
were the most vicious I have ever known, except perhaps those at Puzeh 
near Persepolis. The only shelter we had was under a jujube bush. 
November 14th. The rain and mosquitoes kept us awake most of 
the night, and we made an early start at 5-30 a.m. The road was easy, 
but every stream we passed was brackish, and about 10 a.m. I was 
attacked by ague and fever. Distances in the plain of Persia are most 
1 = Sulphur. According to Curzon the name is Giirgir = wild ass catcher. 
2 Persia II p. 284. 
