Between the cultivations of Syria and Mesopotamia there stretches a wide extent of desert country of which, as yet, but little is known, as it is even now, not altogether too safe a land to travel in.
In the upper part of the Euphrates valley, at Mosul, which, to save space, is included in the two above tables, the climate, though hotter in summer, does not differ to any great extent from that of Palestine. The rainfall is, however, very much smaller and absolutely confined to the winter.
Of the lower and better known part of the valley; once the granary of the world, and even now a rich country; the climate of Bagdad, lat. circa 33° 30′ N., in Turkish Arabia, may serve as a specimen.
| Months | Mean Maximum Temperature | Mean Minimum Temperature | Relative Humidity % | Rainfall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F. | C. | F. | C. | Ins. | Mm. | ||
| January | 63·3 | 17·3 | 39·9 | 4·4 | 84 | 1·59 | 40·5 |
| February | 65·6 | 18·6 | 40·3 | 4·6 | 76 | 2·49 | 63·0 |
| March | 74·7 | 23·8 | 47·1 | 8·4 | 62 | 1·93 | 49·3 |
| April | 80·9 | 27·0 | 54·4 | 12·4 | 52 | 1·19 | 30·3 |
| May | 90·6 | 32·5 | 67·3 | 19·6 | 42 | 0·21 | 5·2 |
| June | 103·2 | 39·5 | 76·3 | 24·6 | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 106·8 | 41·6 | 78·8 | 25·9 | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 107·8 | 42·1 | 78·2 | 25·7 | 32 | 0·13 | 3·2 |
| September | 100·8 | 38·2 | 71·1 | 21·8 | 37 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 91·3 | 33·0 | 62·2 | 16·8 | 52 | 0·10 | 2·5 |
| November | 76·6 | 24·7 | 50·0 | 10·0 | 74 | 1·03 | 26·6 |
| December | 64·3 | 17·9 | 43·0 | 6·1 | 81 | 1·16 | 29·5 |
The intense heat and dryness of the summer months are very noticeable, but the locality does not suffer from hot nights to the same extent as parts of Northern India.
Persian Gulf.
—The delights of service in this inland sea are only too well known to most of H.M.’s Indian Marine, and to many naval officers, but it must be remembered that although the climate presents much resemblance to that of the Red Sea, the Gulf corresponds to the northern end of those unpleasant waters, and that in winter the climate is further tempered by breezes from the high Persian plateau, so that in the cold weather it would be difficult to choose a more pleasant scene for a yachting cruise, coral reefs and Arabs permitting, and it is only from the middle of June to that of October that anything like the stew-pan of the southern Red Sea is met with. This, combined with the circumstance that the passage of the Gulf should only last half as long as that of the Red Sea, is one of the strongest arguments in favour of the adoption of the Euphrates valley as a rapid route of communication with the East. The climate may best be realised by an inspection of the [climatic table] for Bushire, which is included in the following brief note on the climate of Persia.
Persia is continental and sub-tropical in geographical position, but does not, as a matter of fact, for the most part, properly come under the category of hot climates, as, with the exception of “the Dashtistan,” or narrow belt of recently upheaved coral forming the northern shore of the Gulf, the whole country is a mountainous mass, the lowest portions of which are sufficiently elevated to bring them, from the point of view of climate, within the temperate zone. For practical purposes the country is absolutely without roads, the tracks that connect the various towns being merely made by the constant passage of travellers without any assistance whatever from art, and was probably a good deal more “advanced” two thousand years ago than it is now. On this account travelling is a very slow business, and any one proposing to visit the country must necessarily be prepared for a somewhat extended stay. As all routes cross over a succession of passes which often closely approach the snow-line, intending visitors should bring not merely clothes suitable for an English winter, but some fur-lined garment, such as is used by an automobilist, only slit behind so as to be wearable when mounted, as any one unprovided with a semi-arctic outfit may have to endure a good deal of suffering in surmounting the passes even during the summer.
Properly provided, however, travel in Persia offers many attractions, as the people are a pleasant, intelligent race, who make excellent camp servants in any capacity but as cooks, for which an Indian servant is better suited if obtainable. They are often spoken of as “the French of the East,” and there is no doubt a good deal of justification for the parallel, but, however this may be, they are not at present likely to produce an Oriental Soyer.
The Dashtistan is simply an emerged portion of the coral bed of the Persian Gulf, and the abominable character of its climate goes far to counterpoise the bright, temperate weather of the rest of the country. It is often no more than 20 miles or less wide, and is badly off for fresh water, most of the wells being brackish. Even here, the cold weather is extremely pleasant, so that one is glad to sit over a big coal fire in February in rooms not directly warmed by the sun, and there is nothing much to complain of till early June—the earlier hot months being rendered quite endurable by strong breezes which make punkahs quite needless. This, however, is succeeded by a period of intense, damp, breathless heat, entirely unassuaged by a drop of rain, which requires to be endured to be thoroughly appreciated.