312 THE BASIN OF EASTERN PERSIA AND SISTAN. 
LEGENDS. 
Legends are proverbially untrustworthy, but there is usually a solid kernel of 
truth in their center. Smith (p. 350) relates an ancient tradition common among 
the natives of Bajistan to the effect that the whole country around Bajistan was 
once covered by the sea, and that the place derives its name from two words signi- 
fying " to take toll," alluding to the toll at the ferry paid by travelers for boat- 
hire when the waters had jiartly receded. Farther east along the borders of the 
same playa which lies near Bajistan, " Yunsi (the Persian form of Jonah) is marked 
by local tradition as the spot on which the prophet Jonah was cast by the whale, 
and where he lay for many days concealed under a ptimpkin plant." Sykes (p. 93) 
mentions these traditions and adds : " Again, further east, on the Herat road, is the 
village of Langar, signifying an anchor, and so a port, and according to M. Khanikoff, 
there is an ancient tradition that Langar was a harbor on the great inland sea. 
Although legends are as a rule far from tnistworthy, yet in the two instances given 
it is hard to understand how they came to exist, unless there had been an inland sea 
at some not ver>' remote period." Smith (p. 367) relates another legend which 
does not fit quite so well. Ja-i-Gharak is a village 20 miles south of Meshed, on the 
direct road to Nishapur. It is located in a mountain valley, 1,200 feet above Meshed. 
The name means "place of drowning," and is derived from an old tradition that 
the country here was once covered by the sea, and that a ship foundered here. 
Although Smith mentions a small lake which has been artificially dammed below 
the village, it is hardly possible that a large lake could ever have exi.sted here, as it 
may possibly have done near Bajistan, Yunsi, and Langar. It may be that the 
name has been transferred a few miles across the mountains from tlie borders of the 
Dasht-i-Lut, which must have been a lake if the rainfall was ever greatly in excess 
of that of to-day. 
THE LEGENDARY HISTORY OF SISTAN. 
Sistan has its own crop of legends. The village of Deh Abbas Khan lies on 
the shore of the lake 2 or 3 miles east of Kuh-i-Khoja, and is inhabited by Sayids, 
who are suppo.sed to be one of the oldest and purest Persian stocks in existence. 
According to their own traditions, they have inhabited the country from time 
immemorial, and are the descendants of the ancient Zoroastrian population. The 
chief of the village possesses an ancient book which has been handed down to him 
from many generations of ancestors, and is now his dearest treasure. From this 
book he partly read, but mostly related to me the following traditions : 
Long, long ago alJ Sistan was occupied by water, a great lake, which covered not only the swamp 
and the site of the modern villages, but the site of Zahidan and .the other ruins as well. King 
Sulinian (Solomon) saw the lake and perceived that if it were free from water the bottom would be 
very good for grain and melons and all sorts of fruit. At that time there was no more rain than 
now, but the rivers, which came from springs in tlie mountains, were very much larger. Desiring 
to benefit mankind, King Suliman sent for his " dhus," huge giants, each with a single eye looking 
upward from the top of his head, and ordered them to reclaim the lake. Swifter than man can 
imagine they went to work, and digging up earth from this side and from that, carried it on their 
shoulders in bags, and filled the lake. By noon the work was completed, and hence the country is 
sometimes called " Nim-ruz," or " Half day." When the work was finished the " dhus " went to the 
springs in the mountains and covered them, so that the waiter no longer came out. Since that time 
there 'has been some water in the lake, but far less than formerly. 
