(Edrisi,
I. 424; I. B. II. 230.)
I now proceed to recapitulate the main features of Polo's Itinerary from
Kerman to Hormuz. We have: -
Marches
1. From Kerman across a plain to the top of a
mountain-pass, where extreme cold was
experienced . . . . . . . . 7
2. A descent, occupying . . . . . . . 2
3. A great plain, called Reobarles, in a much warmer
climate, abounding in francolin partridge, and in
dates and tropical fruit, with a ruined city of former
note, called Camadi, near the head of the plain,
which extends for . . . . . . . . 5
4. A second very bad pass, descending for 20 miles, say 1
5. A well-watered fruitful plain, which is crossed to
Hormuz, on the shores of the Gulf . . . . 2
-
Total 17
No European traveller, so far as I know, has described the most direct
road from Kerman to Hormuz, or rather to its nearest modern representative
Bander Abbasi, - I mean the road by Baft. But a line to the eastward of
this, and leading through the plain of Jiruft, was followed partially by
Mr. Abbott in 1850, and completely by Major R. M. Smith, R.E., in 1866.
The details of this route, except in one particular, correspond closely in
essentials with those given by our author, and form an excellent basis of
illustration for Polo's description.
