New Britain herald., 1925-01-16
PERSIAN TRIBESMEN. MODERN ISRAELITES
Make Semi-Annual Pilgrimage
 RiYalins the Exodus

Washington. D, C., Jan. 16. --- Dakhtiari tribesmen, again in revolt against the Persian government, pro- vide a modern prototype of the march of the Children of Israel out of the wilderness, according to bulletin from the Washington, D. C., headquarters of the National Geo. graphic society
 "only in the case of the Bakh- laris, who live in the wild west of Persia, their pilgrimage is aceom- plished every six months, and the trail traverses snow covered noun tains, icy streams, ano hther obsta- cIes along what has been called the 'wickedest 200 miles in all the world
 Thunder of Half a Million Hoofs!
 "Along with 50,000 of the men, women and children on their semi annual Odyssey go some half mil lion cattle. The tribesmen live on the cattle and the cattle live on grass. Only during the winter months Is there grazing on the scorching littoral of the Persian Gulf; and only in the summer months is there gras son the plateau country back of the Bakhtiari noun tain range. Hence people and cattle have to move with the seasons.
 When the Bakhtiaris knock down their black and orange and white tents to go in search of grass they pile their household effects on the backs of their animals. and atop these cargoes ride the lambs. the calves and the chickens. Their women strap to their backs theit crude wooden cradles in which they carry their babies and their hus, bands guns.
 Goats Decline To Swim
 If an observer would get the epic quality of this mammoth migration he should station himself beside stream-one of the torrential, ic! cold mountain rivers. First tho tribesmen make rafts underlaid witt inflated goat skins and on these the! entrust women and children, th' younger animals and their meagr' household effects Then they driv' their horses, COWS. and sheep int the swirling stream. The goat alone refuse to swim, perhaps in re ? turn for the use of their dead com 7 rades skins, cross on the rafts. - "The rear of the falls above. tn screeching of animals, the cries o t the dying beasts caught in whirl pools, and the yelling of the men g to make up a din that Is wierd an unparalleled. Finally the me themselves take the icy plunge. Thi :, scene is not a matter of hours, bu . of days, and the crossing is con tinued through the moonlight night Cross Snow Trails In Bare Feet "The next high light of the tri comes with the mountains whe1 = men and wousen discard shoes an
 break trails through snow-filled rf
 vines and along icy passes, eN' n higher and higher, until, when tl y summit is reached, the weaker h.
 mans and animals have been le - bleeding, freezing and starving
 the steep trails. A panorama of Il ! serpentine line. twisting and twinil from the valley below, as far as u
 eye can see, Is one of the most pi
 turesque spectacles of human ge
 graphy. The climax of the mounta climing comes with the ascent of u giant and seemingly inaccessih l Zardeh Kuh, some 12,000 feet hig
 "The Bakhtiaris do not bow
 Teheran; they continually are at W
 with the Lurs and other neighboriI
 tribesmen. They are ruled by trit
 chieftains. Their men value wom
 lightly, using them as beasts of bu
 den, and pay slight attention to thu
 daughters. Their sons they teach
 shoot and swim and ride by {
 time they are nine or 10 years olt