Jules Verne - Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century

Basman is the last inhabited town of Beluchistan. At this spot there is a hot sulphureous spring, which the Belutchis consider a certain cure for cutaneous diseases.

The frontiers of Persia are far from "scientific," hence a large tract of country remains not neutral, but a subject of dispute, and is the scene of sanguinary contests.

The little town of Regan, in Nermanchir, is very pretty. It is a fort, or rather a fortified village, surrounded by high walls, in good repair, and furnished with bastions.

Further on, in Persia proper, lies Benn, a town which was formerly of importance, as the ruins which surround it sufficiently prove. Here Pottinger was cordially received by the governor.

"On approaching," says Pottinger, "he turned to one of his suite and asked where the 'Feringhi' was. I was pointed out to him. Making me a sign to follow him, his fixed look at me, which took me in from head to foot, proclaimed his astonishment at my costume, which in truth was strange enough to serve as an excuse for the impoliteness of his staring. I was wearing the long shirt of a Belutchi, and a pair of trousers which had once been white, but which in the six weeks I had worn them had become brown, and were all but in rags; in addition to this I had on a blue turban, a piece of rope served me as a girdle, and I carried in my hand a thick stick, which had assisted me greatly in my walking, and protected me from dogs."

In spite of the dilapidated appearance of the tatterdemalion who thus presented himself before him, the governor received Pottinger with as much cordiality as was to be expected from a Mussulman, and provided him with a guide to Kerman. The traveller reached that town upon the 3rd of May, feeling that he had accomplished the most difficult portion of his journey, and was almost in safety.

Kerman is the capital of ancient Karamania. Under the Afghan rule it was a flourishing town, and manufactured shawls which rivalled those of Cashmere.

Here Pottinger witnessed one of those spectacles which, common enough to countries where human life is of little value, always fill Europeans with horror and disgust. The governor of this town was both son-in-law and nephew of the shah, and also the son of the Shah's wife. "Upon the 15th of May," says Pottinger, "the prince himself judged certain persons who were accused of killing one of their servants. It is difficult to estimate the state of restlessness and alarm which prevailed in the village during the entire day. The gates of the town were shut, that no one might pass out. The government officials did not transact any business. People were cited as witnesses, without previous notice. I saw two or three taken to the palace in a state of agitation which could scarcely have been greater had they been going to the scaffold. About three in the afternoon the prince passed sentence upon those who had been convicted. Some had their eyes put out, some the tongue split. Some had the ears, nose, and lips cut off; others were deprived of their hands, fingers, or toes. I learned that whilst these horrible punishments were inflicted, the prince remained seated at the window where I had seen him, and gave his orders without the least sign of compassion or of horror at the scene which took place before him."

Leaving Kerman, Pottinger reached Cheré Bebig, which is equally distant from Yezd, Shiraz, and Kerman, and thence proceeded to Ispahan, where he had the pleasure of finding his companion Christie. At Meragha he met General Malcolm. It was now seven months since they had left Bombay. Christie had traversed 2250 miles, and Pottinger 2412. Meanwhile Christie had accomplished his perilous journey much better than he had anticipated.

Leaving Noutch upon the 22nd of March, he crossed the Vachouty mountains and some uncultivated country, to the banks of the Helmend, a river which flows into Lake Hamoun.

Christie in his report to the Company says: —

"The Helmend, after passing near Kandahar, flows south-west and west, and enters Sedjestan some four days march from Douchak; making a détour around the mountains, it finally forms a lake. At Peldalek, which we visited, it is about 1200 feet in width, and very deep; the water is very good. The country is cultivated by irrigation for half a mile on either side; then the desert begins, and rises in perpendicular cliffs. The banks of the river abound in tamarind-trees and provide pasturage for cattle."

Sedjestan, which is watered by this river, comprises only 500 square miles. The portions of this district which are inhabited are those upon the river Helmend, whose bed deepens every year.

At Elemdar Christie sent for a Hindu, to whom he had an introduction. This man advised him to dismiss his Belutchi attendants and to personate a pilgrim. A few days later he penetrated to Douchak, now known as Jellalabad. He says: —

"The ruins of the ancient city cover quite as large a space of ground as Ispahan. It was built, like all the towns of Sedjistan, of half-burned bricks, the houses being two stories high, with vaulted roofs. The modern town of Jellalabad is clean, pretty, and growing; it contains nearly 2000 houses and a fair bazaar." The road from Douchak to Herat was easy. Christie's sole difficulty was in carrying out his personation of a pilgrim. Herat lies in a valley, surrounded by high mountains and watered by a river, to which it is due that gardens and orchards abound. The town covers an area of about four square miles; it is surrounded by a wall flanked with towers, and a moat full of water. Large bazaars, containing numerous shops, and the Mechedé Djouna, or Mosque of Friday, are its chief ornaments.

No town has less waste land or a denser population. Christie estimates it at 100,000. Herat is the most commercial of all Asiatic towns under the dominion of native princes. It is the depôt for all the traffic between Cabul, Candahar, Hindustan, Cashmere, and Persia, and itself produces choice merchandize, silks, saffron, horses, and asafoetida.

"This plant," says Christie, "grows to a height of two or three feet, the stalk is two inches thick; it finishes off in an umbel which at maturity is yellow, and not unlike a cauliflower. It is much relished by Hindus and Belutchis. They prepare it for eating by cooking the stalks in ashes, and boiling the head like other vegetables; but it always retains its pungent smell and taste." Herat, like so many other Eastern towns, possesses beautiful public gardens, but they are only cultivated for the sake of the produce, which is sold in the bazaar. After a stay of a month at Herat, disguised as a horse-dealer, Christie, announcing that he would return after a pilgrimage to Meshid, which he contemplated, left the town. He directed his course to Yezd, across a country ravaged by the Osbeks, who had destroyed the tanks intended to receive the rain-water.

Yezd is a large and populous town on the skirts of a desert of sand. It is called "Dar-oul-Ehabet" or "The Seat of Adoration." It is celebrated for the security to be enjoyed there, which contributes largely to the development of its trade with Hindustan, Khorassan, Persia, and Bagdad. Christie describes the bazaar as large and well stocked. The town contains 20,000 houses, apart from those belonging to the Ghebers, who are estimated at 4000. They are an active and laborious people, although cruelly oppressed. From Yezd to Ispahan, where he alighted at the palace of the Emir Oud-Daoulé, Christie had travelled a distance of 170 miles upon a good road.

At Yezd, as we have seen, he met his companion, Pottinger. The two friends could but exchange mutual congratulations at the accomplishment of their mission, and their escape from the dangers of a fanatical country.

Pottinger's narrative, as may perhaps be gathered from the sketch we have given, was very curious. More exact than most of his predecessors, he had collected and offered to the public a mass of most interesting historical facts, anecdotes, and geographical descriptions.