National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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Overland to India : vol.1 |
I XVI
THE START FROM TEHERAN 177
them was ; they knew, indeed, that we were going to
Seistan, but not that I intended to force my way through
the most difficult parts of the desert. I therefore prepared
them for what lay before them, but quieted them also with
an assurance that there was not the slightest danger to
life, for we should never be far from an oasis, and that we
could always reach one on foot even without provisions.
A man in Veramin, however, reported that, four years
before, a caravan from Kum had gone astray and perished
on the way to the neighbourhood of Siah-kuh. About io
farsakh from the mountain it had fallen in with a khor-ab,
or salt-water swamp, where all the camels were irretriev-
ably lost with their loads ; they sank into the soft ground.
Two of their drivers had been frozen to death, and the
other three had made for the nearest villages to seek help,
but when they returned to the scene of the disaster all
attempts at rescue were vain. The same man was of the
opinion that our situation would be very critical if we
chanced to have heavy rain in the midst of the great
Kevir, which would soak the ground all round us and
render it impossible to travel in any direction.
But we were still in abad or inhabited country, and all
day long were heard the tinkling bells of the small caravans
which wandered to and from Teheran. Another night
descended on our camp. It was indescribably silent
around, in the neighbourhood of the great overpowering
desert. Only the bark of a dog in the distance was
audible.
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