miles to the north and south, but to the west and east are most
intricate mountain masses where the robber bands find suitable hiding
places for themselves and their booty. To the north-west we have flat
open country, but to the west from Biddeshk there are as many as three
different ranges of mountains. To the east rises the peak Kehriz Natenz.
A great many low hill ranges lie between the main backbone of the high
and important range extending from north-west to south-east, and the
route we follow, and it is curious to notice, not only here but all over
the parts of Persia I visited, that the great majority of sand dunes, and
of hill and mountain ranges face north or north-east. In other words,
they extend either from north-west to south-east, or roughly from west to
east; very seldom from north to south.

From Biddeshk two soldiers insisted on escorting my luggage. I was
advised to take them, for in default, one cannot claim compensation from
the Persian Government should the luggage be stolen. In the case of _bona
fide_ European travellers, robbed on the road, the Persian Government is
extremely punctual in making good the damage sustained and paying ample
compensation.

The method employed by the local Governor, responsible for the safety of
travellers on the road, is to inflict heavy fines on all the natives of
the district in which the robbery has occurred,--a very simple and
apparently effective way, it would seem, of stopping brigandage, but one
which, in fact, increases it, because, in order to find the money to pay
the fines, the natives are driven to the road, each successive larceny
going towards part payment of the previous one.

[Illustration: Chapparing--the Author's Post Horses.]

[Illustration: Persian Escort firing at Brigands.]

One or two domed reservoirs of rain-water are found by the road-side, but
the water is very bad.

The soldiers, laden with cartridges, ran along by the side of my horses
and pretended to keep a sharp look-out for robbers. Every now and then
they got much excited, loaded their rifles, and fired away shot after
shot at phantom brigands, whom, they said, they perceived peeping above
sand hills a long way off.

At Murchikhar there is nothing to be seen. The post-horses were very good
here and I was able to go through this uninteresting part of the road at
a good speed of from six to seven miles an hour. To the west the
mountains were getting quite close, and, in fact, we h