The First Six
Stages Performed By Marco Polo In Seven Days Go Through Fertile Plains And
Past Numerous Villages.
Regarding the cold, "which you can scarcely
abide," Marco Polo does not speak of it as existing on the mountains only;
he says, "From the city of Kerman to this descent the cold in winter is
very great," that is, from Kerman to near Jiruft.
The winter at Kerman
itself is fairly severe; from the town the ground gradually but steadily
rises, the absolute altitudes of the passes crossing the mountains to the
south varying from 8000 to 11,000 feet. These passes are up to the month
of March always very cold; in one it froze slightly in the beginning of
June. The Sardu Pass lies lower than the others. The name is Sardu, not
Sardu from sard, "cold." Major Sykes (Persia, ch. xxiii.) comes to the
same conclusion: "In 1895, and again in 1900, I made a tour partly with
the object of solving this problem, and of giving a geographical existence
to Sardu, which appropriately means the 'Cold Country.' I found that there
was a route which exactly fitted Marco's conditions, as at Sarbizan the
Sardu plateau terminates in a high pass of 9200 feet, from which there is
a most abrupt descent to the plain of Jiruft, Komadin being about 35
miles, or two days' journey from the top of the pass. Starting from
Kerman, the stages would be as follows: - I. Jupar (small town); 2.
Bahramjird (large village); 3.
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