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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

lime-plastered, down which the bullocks, drawing water in skins from the well,
were driven in the fashion still prevailing in the locality.

The observations made at the Chāh-buland strikingly illustrate the rapid pro-
gress of erosion on this ground once the rocky surface has been denuded. They
also help to explain the origin of similar but smaller towers to be seen in several
places within the depression south of Sabzābād.¹⁰ It deserves to be noted that
the mound explored by M. Pézard rises on a broad terrace within two northern
branches of the depression. According to the contours of the map on the scale
of 4 inches to 1 mile, the foot of the mound lies just 100 feet above sea-level,
whereas the bottom of the two ravines flanking the terrace lies more than 20
feet lower. The approximate rate of erosion since chalcolithic times indicated
here for the head of the nullah seems to correspond closely enough to the differ-
ence between the levels of the terraces previously described as bearing remains
of old walls (86 feet by the map) and of the adjacent plateau edge with qanāts
(100 feet). But, of course, erosion is likely to make itself felt with greater
effect at the lower portions of the nullah than at its head.

In this connexion it may be of some interest to note that according to the
meteorological records kept at the Consulate-General, Bushire receives a rainfall
which, though erratic, is on the average fairly adequate. During the years 1921
to 1931 it averaged 11·46 inches per annum, with a maximum of no less than
23·60 inches in 1924, and a minimum of only 2·92 inches in 1922. It is scarcely
necessary to note for the geographical student that the erosive force of rainfall
is far greater in an arid or comparatively arid region than in lands with a
temperate climate where vegetation protects the soil.

Before concluding these notes on points of some antiquarian interest at
Bushire two observations may find record. In several places of the bare ground
in the vicinity of the Residency groups of stone heaps attracted my attention by
their apparent resemblance to burial cairns such as became familiar to us in
Makrān and elsewhere. Some two dozen found scattered over the plateau to the
east of the Residency, and at a distance of about 1,000–1,200 yards north of
M. Pézard's mound, were all small, measuring up to 4 feet in diameter and not
exceeding 2 feet in height. Two of these were opened, but they yielded no finds.
Among another group, comprising about a dozen of somewhat larger 'cairns'
situated about half a mile to the south-east of the Residency on a plateau tongue,
one little mound, faced with unhewn stones and measuring about 16 by 14 feet at
ground level with a height of 4 feet, was carefully searched. In its centre, filled