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--Quaint
terraces--How roofs are built--A spacious residence built for
nine shillings--Facial characteristics of natives--Bread
making--Semi-spherical sand mounts--Natural protections against
the northerly winds.
We were benighted on the mountain and did not reach the village of
Deh-i-Husena till nearly nine o'clock, our friend and guide having lost
his way in the dark and having taken us round the country for a good many
more miles than was necessary. It is true the night was rather black and
it was not easy to see where the low mud-houses of his village were.
The distance in a direct line from Deh-i-Husena to the foot of the
Kuh-i-Kwajah mountain was 4 miles, and the village of Deh-i-Husena was
about 15 miles from Sher-i-Nasrya, the village of Dadi we had passed
being 9 miles off, and Sanchuli 14¾ miles from the city and only a
quarter of a mile from Deh-i-Husena. To the south of the latter village
was Deh-i-Ali-Akabar.
We spent the night at Deh-i-Husena, Mahommed Azin, the head village man
and guide, being so entertaining in his conversation that he kept us up
till all hours of the morning. He professed to be one of the only two
surviving members of the Kayani family which formerly reigned over
Sistan, his cousin being the other. According to his words--which,
however, could not always claim to be models of accuracy--his family had
a good deal of power in Sistan up to about forty years ago (1860). They
were now very poor.
Mahommed Azin had well-cut features and bore himself like a man of
superior birth, but he was very bitter in his speech against fate and
things in general. It was, nevertheless, wonderful how a man, living in a
small village secluded from everybody and everywhere, had heard of flying
machines, of submarine boats, of balloons that _ferenghis_ made. His
ideas of them were rather amusing, but he was very intelligent and quick
at grasping how they worked when I explained to him. Surgery interested
him intensely, and after that politics. The Ruski and Inglis he was sure
would have a great deal of trouble over Sistan. He could not quite make
up his mind as to which was the bigger nation. When he heard Ruski's
accounts of themselves he certainly thought the Ruski were the greater
people, but when he listened to the Inglis and what they could do he
really believed they must be stronger.
"Who do you think is the most powerful?" he inquired of me.
"Of course, the Inglis, without doubt."
"Then do you think that your king will grant me a pension, so that I can
live in luxury and without working to the end of my days?"
"The king does not usually grant pensions to lazy people. Pensions are
granted to people who have done work for the country."
"Well then, you see," exclaimed Mahommed Azin, in thorough unreasonable
Persian fashion, "you say your king is greater than the Ruski king, and
he would not grant me a pension, I the last of the Kayanis!" He was sure
the Ruski potentate would at once if he knew!
I left Husena at 9.30 a.m. on January 11th, striking south for Warmal.
There were a good many wretched villages in succession half a mile or so
apart from one another, such as Dubna, Hasan-Jafa, Luftulla and Husena
Baba. The ground was covered with white salt which resembled snow.
Husena Baba was quite a large and important village. The inhabitants came
out in great force to greet us. Although wood was extremely scarce at
this village, nearly all the houses had flat roofs supported on rough
rafters. Matting on a layer of reeds prevented the upper coating of mud
from falling through. I came across several horses laden with bundles of
long reeds which they dragged behind them, and which they had carried,
probably from the Naizar, where they were plentiful.
We had altered our course from south to east, and here I parted with
useful Gul Khan and the escort, who had to return to the Consulate. I
mounted my riding camel and started off, this time south-east, on my way
to Warmal.
Again we saw thousands of sheep grazing on the flat desert of dried mud
and salt cracked in innumerable places by the sun. Here and there a close
examination showed tiny tufts of dried grass, some two inches in
circumference, and not more than half an inch tall, and at an average
distance of about ten feet from one another. It was astounding to me that
so many animals could find sufficient nourishment for subsistence on so
scanty a diet, but although not very fat the sheep seemed to be in pretty
good condition.
To the west we had a high ridge of mountains--the Patang Kuh--and between
these mountains and our track in the distance an extensive marsh could be
distinguished, with high reeds in profusion near its humid banks.
To the east some miles off were Dolehtabad (village), then Tuti and
Sakawa, near Lutok.
South-east before us, and stretching for several miles, a flat-topped
plateau rose to no very great height above the horizon, otherwise
everything was flat and uninteresting all around us. Some very curious
walls of black mud mixed with organic matter, built to shelter sheep from
the fierce north winds while proceeding from one village to another, can
be seen in the _lut_. These black dashes on the white expanse of salt and
sand have about the same effect on the picturesqueness of the scenery as
coarse scrawls with a blunt pen on a fine page of calligraphy. You see
them here and there, scattered about, all facing north, like so many
black dashes in the otherwise delicate tones of grey and white of the
soil.
When we had gone some miles on this flat, hard stretch of ground, where
the heat was terrible, we had to make a detour round a large marsh. Then
beyond it stood five parallel banks of sand, 25 feet high, with
horizontal layers of half-formed stone up to half the height of the
dunes. The dunes were about 200 yards apart.
In the afternoon we arrived at Warmal, where water seemed plentiful and
good. Here too, as in the centre of most villages and towns of Persia, a
pond of stagnant filthy water could be seen. The pond at Warmal was of
unusually ample proportions and extended through the whole length of the
village, which was built on both sides of this dirty pond. Numerous
canals branched off from this main reservoir, and in fact, had one had a
little imagination, one might have named this place the Venice of Sistan.
At sunset swarms of mosquitoes rose buzzing from the putrid water, but
from a picturesque point of view the effect of the buildings reflected in
the yellow-greenish water was quite pretty.
To facilitate transit from one side of the village to the other, a
primitive bridge of earth had been constructed across the pond, but as
the central portion of it was under water it was necessary to remove
one's foot-gear in order to make use of the convenience.
Characteristic of Warmal were the quaint balconies or terraces, in shape
either quadrangular or rectangular, that were attached to or in close
proximity of each house. They were raised platforms of mud from 2 to 4
feet above the ground, with a balustrade of sun-burnt bricks. On these
terraces the natives seek refuge during the summer nights to avoid being
suffocated by the stifling heat inside their houses.
A difference in the construction and architecture of some of the roofs of
the houses could be noted here. The roofs were oblong instead of
perfectly circular, and when one examined how the bricks were laid it
seemed extraordinary that the vaults stood up at all. These were the only
roofs in Persia I had seen constructed on this particular principle.
The bricks were laid round the vaults for two-thirds of the roof at an
angle of 45° and the other third in a vertical position. There was the
usual upper central aperture and occasionally one or two side ones.
The natives were very civil and obliging, and as usual they all crowded
round to converse.
"Sahib," said one old man, "you must come to settle here."
"Why should I settle here?"
"It is very cheap to build houses at Warmal."
"How much does it cost to build a house?"
"Come and see and you will tell me whether you can build a house cheaper
in your country."
He took me to a spacious new residence, 14 feet by 14 feet inside, and 18
feet high.
"It is a fine house, is it not, Sahib?"
"Yes, very fine."
"It cost me exactly two tomans, four krans (about nine shillings) to
build it, as it stands."
Enumerating the various items of expenditure on the tips of his
fingers:--"Sun-baked bricks 1 kran (5_d._) per thousand," he continued;
"carpenter 1 kran a day for 5 days, and mason 1 kran a day. The people
who helped were not paid as they were relations!"
The dome of this house was very scientifically constructed, as can be
seen by the diagram, and formed a very strong vault. To make these
vaults, four workmen begin at the four corners of the quadrangular base
to lay bricks in successively enlarging concentric arcs of a circle, each
higher than the previous one, till each section meets the two side ones.
The small portion that remains above is filled in with bricks, laid
transversely, and these vaults are really of remarkable strength.
[Illustration: Vault, shewing how Bricks are laid.]
[Illustration: Semi-Spherical Roof, shewing how Bricks are laid.]
I have seen some built on this principle, and several centuries old,
standing in good preservation and as good as new.
The type of natives was quite different again from that in other places
already visited, and was most interesting. The men, like most men of the
desert, had elongated faces, with long, regular noses, slightly convex
and somewhat drooping. The nostrils were rather swollen and lacking
character, and not sharply cut. At the bridge the nose was very narrow,
but broad in its lower portion and quite rounded, which looked better in
profile than full face. The nostrils drooped considerably towards the
point of the nose and were high up where joining the cheek. The faces of
these fellows formed a long smooth oval with no marked cheek-bones and
vivid, dark, intelligent eyes, small but well-open, showing the entire
iris. The lips were the most defective part of their faces, being unduly
prominent, thick and coarsely-shaped.
The hair grew in a very normal way on their faces, and they possessed
very good arched eyebrows, slightly coarse but well-defined, and in most
cases meeting at the root of the nose. In fully-formed men the beard was
thick and curly, but did not grow to any great length. On the skull the
hair was jet-black and was soaked in oil, so that it had the appearance
or being perfectly straight.
Ample trousers, the usual long shirt and Afghan boots (which are not
unlike European military boots), made up the attire of the masculine
members of the community.
The women had, on a smaller scale, very similar features to those of the
men, and at a distance their oval faces appeared quite handsome, but on a
closer inspection the lineaments were much too elongated to be
attractive. They had a somewhat pulled appearance. Both men and women
were tall, slender and of very wiry build.
After sunset the women, with their heads wrapped up in a sort of white
chudder, thrown gracefully behind the shoulders and reaching down to the
feet, began to prowl about in a great state of excitement, carrying big
balls of flour paste and small wicker work plates, like shields, covered
over by a cloth. They lighted a big fire in one of the small domed ovens,
and after beating the paste on the wicker shields till it had spread into
a thin layer, they quickly took it up with their hands and, kneeling over
the blazing furnace, stuck the paste against the roof of the oven. They
used long leather gloves for the purpose. While being baked the bread was
constantly sprinkled with water from a bowl close at hand.
Nearly each house has its own outer oven, but the one I was near seemed
to be used by several families, judging by a string of clamouring women
who impatiently--and did they not let the others know how
impatiently!--waited with all necessaries in hand to bake bread for their
men. The respective husbands and sons squatted around on their heels,
languidly smoking their pipes and urging their women to be quick. A deal
of good-natured chaff seemed to take place during this daily operation,
but the women were quite in earnest and took themselves and the process
very seriously. They seemed much concerned if one piece got too much
burnt or another not enough.
To the east by south-east of Warmal, about a mile and a half off, were
four semi-spherical sand mounts standing prominent against the sky-line,
and a great number of sand hills of confused formation. The several
sand-banks which I had observed in the morning on our march to this place
extended to a great length towards the east, and were a great protection
to Warmal against the periodic northerly winds of the summer. Hence the
lack here of the familiar wind-catchers and wind-protectors, found
further north, the sight of which one missed on the roof tops after
having become accustomed to Sher-i-Nasrya and adjoining villages where no
roof was without one. Here there were only one or two wind-catchers
visible on the roofs of the few two-storeyed houses of the richer folks.
[Illustration: Sher-i-Rustam. (Rustam's City.)]
[Illustration: The Stable of Rustam's Legendary Horse.]
Another characteristic of dwellings in Warmal was that over each front
door there was a neat little fowl-house, subdivided into a number of
square compartments. The place was simply swarming with chickens.