HE WENT BACK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 June 1941, Page 6

HE WENT BACK

EXPEDITION ACROSS PLAIN OF DEATH. i Seistan is a barren upland region next door to Afghanistan. It was once la prosperous country with cities and gardens, but now it is a wilderness, blown upon by a wind which destroys all life except a few tamarisks. It is here that the Plain of Death lies. Klan Bahadur Shekh Mohiuddin. an Indian officer, determined to cross that plain. lie reached it when the gales', raging at 100 miles an hour, were at their height. The rest of his company said it was madness to go on, but on he went. | The. idea was to reach a point where jthere was fresh, water in a hollow, but when, after terrible marches over barren rocks and dried river beds, they came to the hollow the water was unfit to drink. Then began a hopeless journey. Some 'of the men turned back. For 55 miles there could be no water, and the Plain of Death had to be crossed. After the first day two guides went on to perish. The leader was found dead by the men who had tried to dig for water. While they had been digging the camels had wandered off. They began plodding on when one of their number, a coolie, turned back. He said he was going back for his master’s map—the map on which he had set his heart. The others called him. a fool, but ho went back. He was the only member of the expedition to cross the Plain of Death. AU the others died, but he crossed it. and was found by shepherds. He had the map. and the map is now in the possession of the Royal Geographical Society. . i His name was Saida.