226 THE BASIN OF EASTERN PERSIA AND SISTAN. 
assumes. Tlie whole country is sad and desolate — a region to be shunned b)- those 
who have dwelt in a happier land. 
"So far as the surface of the Persian plateau has been surveyed," wrote 
Blanford, thirty years ago, "it consists of a niunber of isolated plains of varying 
extent and elevation above the sea, all without an)- outlet, and separated from each 
other by ranges of hills, frequently of consideral)le height. The lowest portion of 
each of these plains is generally a salt lake or marsh. If there be a lake its level 
often fluctuates, and one or two seasons of deficient rainfall suffice to lay bare the 
greater portion of its bed, or to convert it into a marsh. Rivers are few in number 
and singiilarly small in volume; in fact, not the least striking feature of the 
country consists in their paucity or absence. The whole of Persia, except near the 
shores of the Caspian and on the western slopes of the Zagros, is, in fact, a desert, 
and all cultivated oases owe their fertilit)- to irrigation from springs or from the 
small streams fed by the rain or snow of winter." Such streams are so rare, how- 
ever, that Colonel Gore, as Sykes relates (p. 40), rode 400 miles from the Heri Rud 
to Hur, near Kinnan, without seeing a single stream of flowing water. 
Yet even in Eastern Persia, the worst part of the countr}-, there is another 
side to the picture. Among the mountains which border the basins, springs and 
little streams support small villages, where green fields and flourishing orchards 
drive away the thought 'of the desert for a while. Sad experience has taught 
the people to utilize the underground water by means of "kanats," long under- 
ground channels, which start deep underground at the foot of the mountains and 
gradually approach the surface, bringing water far out into the plains. Where the 
mountains are high and provide water for numerous "kanats" the plains are well 
dotted with villages, and even support cities. All of the few rivers are utilized for 
irrigation, and in Sistan the waters of the Hehnund support scores and perhaps 
hundreds of villages. 
In such a countr}- the conditions of life are extremely hard. Strange as it 
may seem, when the average population is less than 10 to the square mile the 
country is overpopulated. There are thousands upon thousands of square miles 
of fine-soiled plain which would be highly fertile if only they could be supplied 
with water. Ever}-where the cr}- goes up for water, and there is no water. In 
Western Persia conditions are better, but throughout the basin region of the center 
and east ever}- drop of water from above ground and below is utilized, and a scarcity 
of winter snow to .stock the mountains means gaunt famine. The distribution of 
population illustrates this. Harbors, trade routes, facilities for manufacturing, and 
the like are of secondar}' importance in detennining the location of cities. The 
primary consideration is water. Where water is abundant large cities are almost 
sure to grow up, if other conditions are in the least favorable. Accordingly the 
large cities of Persia are situated close to lofty mountains. As a rule, the density of 
population is in direct proportion to the height of the mountains. Sistan appears 
to be an exception, but, after all, its abundant population is a response to the 
tremendous mountains of Hindu Rush. The response is far from the cause, 
because the inter\'euing space can not be cultivated. 
