[38] Screw never became a friend or companion, scarcely a comrade, but showed plenty of pluck and endurance, climbed and descended horrible rock ladders over which a horse with a rider had never passed before, was steady in fords, and at the end of three and a half months of severe travelling and occasional scarcity of food was in better condition than when he left Julfa.
[39] He has since been baptized, but for safety had to relinquish his business and go to India, where he is supporting himself, and his conduct is satisfactory.
[40] I never returned, and only at the end of three and a half months emerged from the "Bakhtiari country" at Burujird after a journey of 700 miles.
[41] Hadji Hussein deserves a passing recommendation. I fear that he is still increasing his fortune and has not retired. The journey was a very severe one, full of peril to his mules from robbers and dangerous roads, and not without risk to himself. With the exception of a few Orientalisms, which are hardly worth recalling, he was faithful and upright, made no attempt to overreach, kept to his bargain, was punctual and careful, and at Burujird we parted good friends. He was always most respectful to me, and I owe him gratitude for many kindnesses which increased my comfort. It is right to acknowledge that a part of the success of the journey was owing to the efficiency of the transport.
[42] The writers who have dealt with some of the earlier portions of my route are as follows: Henry Blosse Lynch, Esq., Across Luristan to Ispahan—Proceedings of the R.G.S., September 1890. Colonel M. S. Bell, V.C., A Visit to the Karun River and Kûm—Blackwood's Magazine, April 1889. Colonel J. A. Bateman Champain, R.E., On the Various Means of Communication between Central Persia and the Sea—Proceedings of the R.G.S., March 1883. Colonel H. L. Wells, R.E., Surveying Tours in South-Western Persia—Proceedings of R.G.S., March 1883. Mr. Stack, Six Months in Persia, London, 1884. Mr. Mackenzie, Speech—Proceedings of R.G.S., March 1883. The following among other writers have dealt with the condition of the Bakhtiari and Feili Lurs, and with the geography of the region to the west and south-west of the continuation of the great Zagros chain, termed in these notes the "Outer" and "Inner" ranges of the Bakhtiari mountains, their routes touching those of the present writer at Khuramabad: Sir H. Rawlinson, Notes of a March from Zohab to Khuzistan in 1836—Journal of the R.G.S., vol. ix., 1839. Sir A. H. Layard, Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia, including a residence among the Bakhtiari and other wild tribes, 2 vols., London, 1887. Baron C. A. de Bode, Travels in Luristan and Arabistan, 2 vols., London, 1845. W. F. Ainsworth (Surgeon and Geologist to the Euphrates Expedition), The River Karun, London, 1890. General Schindler travelled over and described the Isfahan and Shuster route, and published a map of the country in 1884.
[43] Among the trees and shrubs to be met with are an oak (Quercus ballota), which supplies the people with acorn flour, the Platanus and Tamariscus orientalis, the jujube tree, two species of elm, a dwarf tamarisk, poplar, four species of willow, the apple, pear, cherry, plum, walnut, gooseberry, almond, dogwood, hawthorn, ash, lilac, alder, Paliurus aculeatus, rose, bramble, honeysuckle, hop vine, grape vine, Clematis orientalis, Juniperus excelsa, and hornbeam.
[44] In Persian haft is seven, and chakar four.
[45] This computation is subject to correction. Various considerations dispose the Ilkhani and the other Khans to minimise or magnify the population. It has been stated at from 107,000 to 275,000 souls, and by a "high authority" to different persons as 107,000 and 211,000 souls!
[46] Sir. H. Rawlinson sums up Bakhtiari character in these very severe words: "I believe them to be individually brave, but of a cruel and savage character; they pursue their blood-feuds with the most inveterate and exterminating spirit, and they consider no oath or obligation in any way binding when it interferes with their thirst for revenge; indeed, the dreadful stories of domestic tragedy that are related, in which whole families have fallen by each other's hands (a son, for instance, having slain his father to obtain the chiefship—another brother having avenged the murder, and so on, till only one individual was left), are enough to freeze the blood with horror.
"It is proverbial in Persia that the Bakhtiaris have been obliged to forego altogether the reading of the Fāhtihah or prayer for the dead, for otherwise they would have no other occupation. They are also most dexterous and notorious thieves. Altogether they may be considered the most wild and barbarous of all the inhabitants of Persia."—"Notes on a March from Zohab to Khuzistan," Journal of the R.G.S., vol. ix. Probably there is an improvement since this verdict was pronounced. At all events I am inclined to take a much more favourable view of the Bakhtiaris than has been given in the very interesting paper from which this quotation is made.