Across Coveted Lands; or, a Journey from Flushing (Holland) to Calcutta Overland

Morad Khan Kella--The horrors of a camera--Seven high dunes--Three tracks--Where the railway will be laid--A fine old tamarisk turned into a Ziarat--Pagoda-like rest-houses--Sci...

The deserted city of Farmidan--More speculation--The Afghan invasion--Kerman surrenders to Agha Muhammed Khan--A cruel oppressor--Luft-Ali-Khan to the rescue--The Zoroastrians--...

The Beluch-Afghan boundary--Substantial advantages obtained--The Afghans driven from Chagai--Who owns Beluchistan?--How Beluchistan is subdivided--Treaties and engagements with...

Departure from Sistan--Dadi--Not one's idea of a pasture--The Kuh-i-Kwajah--Its altitude--The "City of roars of laughter"--Interesting ascent to the summit--A water reservoir--F...

The Shah's Palace--The finest court--Alabaster throne hall--A building in European style--The Museum--A chair of solid gold and silver--The _Atch_--Paintings--The banqueting roo...

Sand accumulations--A round tower--Mahommed Raza Chah--A burial ground--Rustam's city--An ancient canal--Rustam's house--The Persian hero's favourite room--A store room--Recepti...

Girdi-chah, a desolate spot--Its renowned water--Post-houses and Persian Customs soldiers--Nawar-chah and its well--The salt river Shela--Its course--Beautiful colours in salt c...

The Port of Enzeli--Troublesome landing--Flat-bottomed boats--A special permit--Civility of officials--Across the Murd-ap lagoon--Piri-Bazaar--A self-imposed golden rule--Where...

An ancient city as big as London--The citadel--Towers--Small rooms--The walls--Immensity of the city--Sand drifts--Why some parts are buried and some are not--An extensive wall-...

Cash and wealth--Capital as understood by Persians--Hidden fortunes--Forms of extravagance--Unbusiness-like qualities--Foreign examples--Shaken confidence of natives in foreigne...

Education--Educated but not instructed--The Mullahs--The Madrassahs--The Royal College in Teheran--Secular Schools--The brain of Persian students--Hints on commercial education...

South-west of Robat (at 210° bearings magnetic) stands a fine mountain, the Lahr Kuh, and from it descends a little stream flowing towards the north-east. There is a large _than...

A short historical sketch of Zaidan city--How it was pillaged and destroyed--Fortresses and citadels--Taimur Lang--Shah Rukh--Revolutions--The Safavi dynasty--Peshawaran, Pulki,...

The Guebres of Yezd--Askizar--The Sassanian dynasty--Yezdeyard--The name "Parsees"--The Arab invasion of Persia--A romantic tale--Zoroaster--Parsees of India--Why the Parsees re...

Intense cold--Dulled sense of taste--Characteristics of the country--Beautiful stones--Clouds of the desert--A salt stream--Icicles on the moustache and eyelashes--Longing for s...

My caravan disbanded--Birjand--Ruined fortress--The city--Number of houses--Population--The citadel--Artillery--Trade routes--Birjand as a strategical position--A trading centre...

Saindak--Beluch prisoners--Thana and Bungalow--Beluch bread--The Saindak mountain and its mineral resources--The Daftan volcano--_Surmah_ and lead--Mukak and its strong man--A s...

Early in the afternoon Khupah (altitude 5,920 feet) was reached, with its very large and dirty caravanserai to the west, just outside the town wall. From the roof--the only clea...

Resht--Impostors--A visit to the Head Mullah--Quaint notions--Arrangements for the drive to Teheran--The Russian concession of the Teheran road--The stormy Caspian and unsafe ha...

Desolate scenery--Anar--A word for Persian servants--Sadek's English--Bayas village--Sand deposits--Robber villagers--Kushkuhyeh Chappar khana--The post contractor, his rifle--C...

Mushki-Chah--A Ziarat--Beluch dwellings--The Beluch and the camera--Characteristics of Beluch--Three wells of good water at Kundi--The Kuh-i-Sultan and the "Spear of the Sultan"...

Yezd is the most central city of Persia, but from a pictorial point of view the least interesting city in the Shah's empire. There are a great many mosques--it is said about fif...

A journey by landau and four--Picturesque coachman--Tolls--Intense moisture--Luxuriant vegetation--Deschambe Bazaar--The silk industry of Ghilan--The cultivation and export of r...

Bambis--The Kashsan-Yezd high road--The Kevir plain--Minerals--Chanoh--Sand deposits--Sherawat--Kanats--Agdah--Stone cairns--Kiafteh--An isolated mount--A long sand bar--A forsa...

The Banks of Persia--The Imperial Bank of Persia--The most revered foreigner in Persia--Loans--The road concession--The action of the Stock Exchange injurious to British interes...

The evolution of Nushki--The Zagar Mengal tribe--Tribal feuds--Competition in trade--Venturesome caravans--Pasand Khan--Dalbandin and its geographical situation--Game big and sm...

A Persian wedding--Polygamy--Seclusion of women--Match-makers--Subterfuges--The _Nomzad_, or official betrothal day--The wedding ceremony in the harem--For luck--The wedding pro...

The history of the Sistan Vice-Consulate--Major Chevenix Trench--Laying the foundation of the Consulate--Hoisting the British flag--Major Benn--A terrible journey--A plucky Engl...

Illegitimate Bank-notes--Hampering the Bank's work--The grand fiasco of the Tobacco Corporation--Magnificent behaviour of the natives--The Mullahs and tobacco--The nation gives...

I had much difficulty in obtaining a really first-class servant, although many applied with glowing certificates. It has always been my experience that the more glowing the cert...

_Badjirs_--Below the sand level--Chappar service between Yezd and Kerman--The elasticity of a farsakh--Sar-i-Yezd--An escort--Where three provinces meet--Etiquette--Robbers' imp...

Sadek's wastefulness--Meeting two enterprising English traders--Another circular crater--Wind and electricity in the air--Their effects--A fortress--Soldiers and brigandage--Zem...

On a deserted road, sleepy and shaken, with the wind blowing so hard that it tore and carried away all the cotton curtains of the carriage, I arrived at Kum (3,200 feet above se...

The fast growing city of Nushki--The Tashil--the Tashildar--Beluch law--Hospital--Pneumonia and consumption--Lawn tennis--The Nushki Bazaar--Satisfactory trade returns--The proj...

A new city--The Bungalow--Numerous Beluch villages--Nomads--Beluch architecture--Weaving looms--Implements--Beluch diet--Cave dwellers of Nushki--Beluch dress--Children--The sal...

The London of the East--A city eighty-six miles long--The village of Bunjar--An ancient tower--Iskil--The _Kalantar_ of Sistan--Collection of ancient jewellery from the buried c...

Laid up with fever--Christmas Day--A visit to the Amir--Hashmat-ul-Mulk--An ancient city over eighty miles long--Extreme civility of Persian officials--An unusual compliment--Pr...

A visit to the eight-towered village--A hostile demonstration--Quaint houses--Stoned--Brigand villagers--A device--Peculiar characteristics of natives--Picturesque features--Con...

The start--The terrors of the Russian Custom-house--An amusing incident at the Russian frontier--Politeness of Russian officials--Warsaw: its sights; its lovely women--The talen...

Russia on the brain--The apprehended invasion of India--Absolute nonsense--Russia's tariff--In the House of Commons--A friendly understanding advisable--German competition--The...

Difficulties of crossing the Great Salt Desert--The trials of arranging a caravan--The ways of camel-men--A quaint man of the Desert--A legal agreement--Preparations for the dep...

Sick men and camels--What came of photographing Sahib Chah--Losing the track--Divided opinions--Allah _versus_ the compass--Sadek's way of locating positions--Picked up hungry a...

Sistan's state of transition--British Consul's tact--Advancing Russian influence--Safety--A fight between Sistanis and Afghans--The Sar-tip--Major Benn's pluck and personal infl...

Kashan--Silk manufactories--Indo-European Telegraph--The Zein-ed-din tower--The Meh-rab shrine--The Madrassah Shah--The Panja Shah--The hand of Nazareth Abbas--The Fin Palace--H...

Villages between Sher-i-Nasrya and Kuh-i-Kwajah--The last of the Kayani--Husena Baba--Thousands of sheep--The Patang Kuh--Protecting black walls--A marsh--Sand dunes--Warmal--Qu...

Departure from Birjand--A cloud like a skeleton hand--A downpour--The village of Muht--A ruined fortress--A beautiful sunset--A pass--Besieged by native callers--Two towers at G...

We remained at Sahlabad the whole afternoon, and we were visited in camp by a number of suspicious-looking people, who were most inquisitive to know what I possessed and how muc...

Lawah or Rawar--A way to Yezd--The bazaar--Trade--Ruined forts--Opium smoking and its effects--Beggar's ingenious device--In a local gentleman's home--The Tokrajie--Buying fresh...

temples, where they end into a fine point, from the nose, over which they are very frequently joined. The iris of the eye is abnormally large, of very rich dark velvety brown, w...

English fancy geographical names--Sher-i-Nasrya--The main street--The centre of the city--Reverence of the natives for Major Benn--A splendid type of British official--Indian an...

The British Bazaar--The pioneer traders of Sistan--Sistan a half-way house and not the terminus of the route--Comfortable route--Protection and redress--Indian tea in Persia--Pe...

Menzil and the winds--The historical Alamut mountain--A low plateau--Volcanic formation--Mol-Ali--A genuine case of smallpox--Characteristic sitting posture--A caravan of mules-...

The grand Avenue of Isfahan, much worn and out of repair, and having several lines of trees along its entire length of half a mile or so down to the river, is one of the sights...

Isfahan the commercial heart of Persia--Dangers of maps in argument--Bandar Abbas--The possibility of a Russian railway to Bandar Abbas--Bandar Abbas as a harbour--The caravan r...

Through the kindness of the Persian Legation in London I had received letters of introduction which I forwarded to their addresses on my arrival in Teheran. The first to answer,...

Four thousand feet above sea-level--Castellated walls--An obnoxious individual--Luggage weighing--The strange figure of an African black--How he saved an Englishman's life--Tehe...

The picturesque Gat mountain--Strange-looking mountains--Mirui--White covered country--Sotag--Desolate shed at Chakal--The _Karenghi rirri_ deadly plant--The Mesjid or Masit--Th...

A long detour--Mount Darband--A water-cut gorge--Abandoned watch towers--Passes into the desert--A wall-like mountain range--The tower and fortified caravanserai at camp Darband...

A loud explosion--Persian military officers--Dr. Abbas Ali Khan, British Agent in Birjand--His excellent work--Gratefulness of the natives--A quaint letter--The Russian Agent--A...

Persia's industrial, mineral and agricultural resources--Climate of various districts--Ghilan's trade--Teheran and the surrounding country--Khorassan and Sistan--The Caspian pro...

An excellent track--A quaint rock--A salt rivulet--Laskerisha--Mahommed Raza-chah--Beluch encampment--The horrors of photography--Maternal love--A track to Mirjawa--Kirtaka--Dir...

The Persian army--The Persian soldier as he is and as he might be--When and how he is drilled--Self-doctoring under difficulties--Misappropriation of the army's salary--Cossack...

The great square of Isfahan is looked upon as the centre of the city. It is a huge oblong, with the great and beautiful dome of the Mesjid-i-Shah on one side of the long rectang...

Captain Webb-Ware, C.I.E.--The Nushki route--An excellent track--Bungalows built and in course of construction--The water--Postal service--Important Government concession--The N...

Kiev--Its protecting Saint--Intellectuality and trade--Priests and education--Wherein lies the strength of Russia--Industries--A famous Monastery--The Catacombs of St. Theodosiu...

A visit to the Madrassah on the north side of the bazaar was extremely interesting, it being the best preserved building of that type I had so far seen in Persia. The Consul and...

I only halted a few days in Isfahan, during which time I was the guest of Mr. Preece, the British Consul-General. Mr. Preece's hospitality and popularity are proverbial among Eu...

Mahommerah--Where Russia's aims are directed--Advantages of Mahommerah--The navigation of the Karun River--Traffic--Rates on the Ahwaz-Isfahan track--The Government's attitude--...

Salt sediments as white as snow--Brilliant stars--Plaintive songs of the camel men--An improvisatore--Unpleasant odour of camels--A large salt deposit--No water and no fuel--A d...

The Shah's birthday--Illuminations--The Shah in his automobile--Ministers in audience--Etiquette at the Shah's Court--The Shah--A graceful speaker--The Shah's directness of spee...

An abandoned caravanserai--Fantastic hill tops--No water--A most impressive mountain--Sediments of salt--A dry river bed--Curious imprints in the rock--A row--Intense heat--Acci...

A carpet factory--Children at work--The process of carpet-making--Foreign influence in the design--Aniline dyes--"Ancient carpets" manufactured to-day--Types of carpets--Kerman...

On November 6th we were some fifty miles from Kerman. Again when midnight came and I was slumbering hard with the two kittens, who had made themselves cosy on my blankets, the h...

The excursion which I made into Afghan territory to the salt deposit of Gaud- or God-i-Zirreh, and a lower depression to the east of it, was of great interest to me.

Winding our way through the labyrinth of narrow streets, and meeting a crescendo of diabolical din as we approach it, we emerge into a more spacious and lighter arcade, where hu...

A description of Teheran is hardly necessary here, the city being so well-known, but for the help of people unfamiliar with its character a rough sketch of the place may be given.

From October, 1889, to December, 1891, a Christianised Jew of Teheran, named Mirza Korollah, worked in Isfahan as the representative of the Society for promoting Christianity am...

Crossing the Pass--Held up by robbers--Amusing courtesy--Brigands to protect from brigands--Parting friends--Soh--Biddeshk--Copper and iron--Robber tribes--An Englishman robbed-...

Baku--Unnecessary anxiety--A storm--Oil wells--Naphtha spouts--How the wells are worked--The native city--The Baku Bay--Fortifications--The Maiden's Tower--Depressing vegetation...

It was my intention to pay my respects to the British Consul for whom I had letters of introduction from the Minister at Teheran, and I at once proceeded through the city, enter...

Fortress-like cliffs--A long troublesome march--Sixteen hours on the saddle--All our fresh-water supply gone!--Fever--Electricity of the desert--Troublesome camel men--A small o...

As late as 1872 there were only four Legations in Teheran: the English, French, Russian and Turkish; but since then the Governments of Austria, Belgium, Holland, and the United...

Many misfortunes befel us at this place. We had made our camp in the oasis of palm trees at the foot of the mountain, and as the camels were much worn out we were unable to proc...

Captain Webb-Ware having most kindly arranged to "dak" camels for me, I was enabled to remain here one day by sending my own camels with loads ahead, I proposing to catch them u...

There is little to say of interest in connection with Missionary work in Persia, except that a considerable amount of good is being done in the educational and medical line. The...

Persia, they say, is the country of the loveliest women in the world. It probably has that reputation because few foreign male judges have ever seen them. The Persians themselve...

Well for unfaithful women, i. 202 Wheat from Arabistan, i. 342 Whirlwinds, i. 361 White, Captain, ii. 169 White, Dr. Henry, i. 392 Wife, price of a Beluch, ii. 404 Wind, ii. 75,...

Being somewhat of a sportsman myself, this highly-sporting clergyman appealed to me. Extremely gentlemanly, courteous, tactful, sensible and open-minded, he was not a bit like a...