Page:Kennedy, Robert John - A Journey in Khorassan (1890).djvu/25

 fresh and fairly good horses, we started for Aivan-i-Kaif. For the first mile or two we crossed several streams with shallow fords, and, leaving the village of Kazran on the right and Sherifabad on the left, reached Aivan-i-Kaif at 10.45 — twenty-seven miles in a little over three hours. Here we lunched in the bala khaneh, overlooking the stream of the Zamrood. The village, which contains three hundred houses, including a telegraph station, presents a flourishing appearance, surrounded by gardens and vineyards. The civil telegraph clerk in charge called upon us during luncheon, and, after partaking of a cigarette and a glass of cognac, undertook to send a telegram announcing our safe arrival to our friends at Tehran.

At 12.30 we resumed our journey. For the first three miles the road was good, and at six miles the defile of Surdar-i-Kuh was entered. It passes through a low range of clayey strata impregnated with salt, which, together with the warm sun, excited our thirst. The last mile of our ride lay over cultivated ground, and at twenty-one miles the post station at Kishlak was reached, after a three hours' gallop. Whilst