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0275	Overland to India : vol.1
インドへの陸路 : vol.1

0275

Overland to India : vol.1

インドへの陸路 : 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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