Page 58 - 1930 October - To Dragma

OCTOBER, 1930 57

that, it seemed to me stupidly uninteresting. The desert had "got" me,
and I wanted to get back to it again. There were many things to do
in Teheran, however, besides learning the joy of sleeping in a bed once
more!—lovely climbs in the mountains behind the city, walks through
the old covered bazaars, trips to famous Persian gardens, and last but
far from least, I had a most amusing time and a lucky break in getting
into the palace of the Shah at a time when practically no permits were be-
ing issued to visitors, and saw there, among other interesting things, the
famous jewel-studded Peacock Throne, and, in an adjoining building,
the beautiful Marble Throne.

A great deal of my time in Teheran, however, was spent in following
up a chance suggestion that had been made. Someone asked me why,
instead of getting into the heat and the monsoons that I would be
sure to meet if I were to follow my original plan of going back from Persia
to Bombay through the Persian Gulf, thence to Colombo and from there
to Japan, I didn't see if I could go through Russia, and to Japan by way
of Siberia. There were no real obstacles in the path of such a plan, un-
less one considered my baggage which was strewn in every port, almost,
between Bombay and Kobe, awaiting my coming by boat from India.
I never dreamed that I could get a visa, but found it involved only
the filling out of three blanks, the cost of a telegram to Moscow, and
the wait until a reply could be received. There was everything to gain,
and nothing to lose, so I deposited the necessary blanks with the Soviet
Consul and in return was given a cable which I saw safely on its way
to Moscow. Then I said a not-too-regretful au revoir to Teheran, and
went back to my wanderings in the "open spaces," at the same time giv-
ing the Moscow message time to go through its processes.

This time there was no question of aeroplanes, or of a seat in a pri-
vate car. Henceforth I traveled in the front seats of lorries by choice—
and never failed to find a rich reward.

The chauffeurs were usually Armenians or Turks—a group which
formed a "clique" against the Persian drivers, just as the drivers in each
group were further subdivided into two camps—those who drove Chevro-
let lorries as against those who drove Dodge-Graham trucks! Very
few of them spoke English, and I found myself learning more and more
of the necessary Persian words and phrases. Sometimes the lorries car-
-n e o Passengers who squatted on the freight piled in the covered rear
oi the truck—pilgrims, merchants or travelers (almost always Persian
or Armenian or Turkish); sometimes the trucks were loaded to the last
ounce of their carrying power just with merchandise, and I was the only
numan cargo besides the chauffeur and his assistant. Often the men
ItK^v^'™* ^ e ^ ye a v l ° r " e s while they slept or rested. I enjoyed it, and

ink they enjoyed the looks of surprise on the faces of passing drivers

u of the people in the villages at seeing a woman at the wheel! Once,

I a D l t °f luck and a judicious use of the spark, I succeeded in getting

co H SU P a h i U t h e s t e e p s I o p e s o f w h i c h h a d d e f i e d t h e d r i v e r t h r o u h

lish ri P -a t t e mtsAfter that, my reputation was irrevocably estab-

e°-, and chauffeurs competed for the privilege of carrying as a pas-