rt of the way as it was too steep for the camels. We had great
trouble in taking them down to the dry river-bed--which we were to
follow, being quite flat and therefore easier for the animals. We went
along between low hills, getting lower and lower, and some two miles from
the Darband tower we emerged into the open, the river-bed losing itself
here in the desert.

During the night of the 13th-14th we travelled 28 miles on the flat until
we came to more low hills, which we entered by another river-bed, also
dry. We had come in a north-north-east direction so far, but we now
turned due east among high, flat-topped hills which resembled a mass of
ruined Persian houses of a quadrangular shape, so strangely had they been
carved out by the corrosive action of water. They were of solid rock, and
eaten into holes here and there, which from a distance gave the
appearance of windows and doors, and of caves.

The river-bed on which we travelled was of soft sand--very
troublesome--and minute gravel strewn here and there with large boulders
fallen from the cliffs at the sides. Cairns had been erected in various
prominent points by caravan men, to show future travellers the way to
Naiband for Birjiand and Meshed.

Following this in an easterly direction we came to a large basin, and
then further on to another. We continued in zig-zag for a short distance,
when we arrived at a place where the river-bed makes an elbow, turning to
the north. At this spot a caravanserai was in course of construction,
built at the expense of some charitable person. There was only one well
of brackish water, and very little of that, too. The workmen would not
let us partake of it. Everything, of course, had to be brought, as
nothing could be obtained there, and the few workmen complained bitterly
of the hardships they had to endure in going on with their work. They
feared they would soon run short even of water. They were all
fever-stricken, and two quite in a pitiable condition. They had little
food left; most of their animals had died, and they were unable to leave.
Chel-Payeh was the name of this well (altitude 4,420 feet).

We were thirty-two miles from our last camp, and reached here at 8 a.m.
On taking the loads down we had a great disappointment. Sadek, who was
not accustomed to ride camels, was suffering considerably, and in order
to make himself comfortable he had contrived a clever device to avoid
coming in immediate contact with the wooden f