6-1/2 Hours, "Nearly The Whole Way Over A Most Difficult
Mountain-Pass," Called The Pass Of Nevergun .
. . 1
5.
Two long marches over a plain, part of which is described
as "continuous cultivation for some 16 miles," and the rest
as a "most uninteresting plain" . . . . . 2
-
Total as before . . . . 17
In the previous edition of this work I was inclined to identify Marco's
route absolutely with this Itinerary. But a communication from Major St.
John, who surveyed the section from Kerman towards Deh Bakri in 1872,
shows that this first section does not answer well to the description. The
road is not all plain, for it crosses a mountain pass, though not a
formidable one. Neither is it through a thriving, populous tract, for,
with the exception of two large villages, Major St. John found the whole
road to Deh Bakri from Kerman as desert and dreary as any in Persia. On
the other hand, the more direct route to the south, which is that always
used except in seasons of extraordinary severity (such as that of Major
Smith's journey, when this route was impassable from snow), answers
better, as described to Major St. John by muleteers, to Polo's account.
The first six days are occupied by a gentle ascent through the districts
of Bardesir and Kairat-ul-Arab, which are the best-watered and most
fertile uplands of Kerman. From the crest of the pass reached in those six
marches (which is probably more than 10,000 feet above the sea, for it was
closed by snow on 1st May, 1872), an easy descent of two days leads to
the Garmsir.
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