Page:Kennedy, Robert John - A Journey in Khorassan (1890).djvu/45

 Feringhis. In the meanwhile, Chivers, seated on her horse and guarded by Ali Akber, was an object of great interest to those of the crowd who were forced to remain outside. After drinking tea, eating excellent short-cake, and exchanging polite phrases in our best Persian we took leave of our host, and resumed our journey at half-past three. Scarcely had we emerged from the town when we found ourselves exposed to the full fury of the sand which had increased, instead of, as we had fondly hoped, diminished, in violence. Our route lay due east, over an undulating plain with gravelly soil, and our destination was the post-house of Zafarani, twenty-five miles distant, but after struggling for about fourteen miles against the storm, we resolved, in consequence of the night closing in, to seek shelter in a wayside village, Jouley, which was indicated to us by a wayfarer whom we chanced to pass. It was a wretched little place, a mere conglomeration of a few mud houses, and there being no 'manzil' or 'serai' of any kind, we had to depend upon native hospitality. A great dispute arose between some of the inhabitants as to who