n by our author, and form an excellent basis of
illustration for Polo's description.

Major Smith (accompanied at first by Colonel Goldsmid, who diverged to
Mekran) left Kerman on the 15th of January, and reached Bander Abbasi on
the 3rd of February, but, as three halts have to be deducted, his total
number of marches was exactly the same as Marco's, viz. 17. They divide as
follows:--

Marches
1. From Kerman to the caravanserai of Deh Bakri in the
pass so called. "The ground as I ascended became
covered with snow, and the weather bitterly cold"
(_Report_) . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Two miles _over very deep snow_ brought him to the
top of the pass; he then descended 14 miles to his halt.
Two miles to the south of the crest he passed a second
caravanserai: "The two are evidently built so near one
another to afford shelter to travellers who may be
unable to cross the ridge during heavy snow-storms."
The next march continued the descent for 14 miles, and
then carried him 10 miles along the banks of the
Rudkhanah-i-Shor. The approximate height of the pass
above the sea is estimated at 8000 feet. We have thus
for the descent the greater part of . . . . 2
3. "Clumps of date-palms growing near the village showed
that I had now reached a totally different climate."
(_Smith's Report_.) And Mr. Abbott says of the same
region: "Partly wooded ... and with thickets of reeds
abounding with francolin and _Jirufti_ partridge....
The lands yield grain, millet, pulse, French- and
horse-beans, rice, cotton, henna, Palma Christi, and dates,
and in part are of great fertility.... Rainy season from
January to March, after which a luxuriant crop of grass."
Across this plain (districts of Jiruft and Rudbar), the
height of which above the sea, is something under 2000
feet . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. 6-1/2 hours, "nearly the whole way over a most difficult
mountain-pass," called the Pass of Nevergun . . . 1
5. Two long marches over a plain, part of which is described
as "continuous cultivation for some 16 miles," and the rest
as a "most uninteresting plain" . . . . . 2
--