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A Ride to India across Persia and Baluchistán
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1891
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55 people want to read
About the author
Harry De Windt
52 books3 followersExplorer, travel writer and aide-de-camp to his brother-in-law Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 11, 2022
One of a number of travel books written by Harry de Windt, adventurer, writer, Royal Geographic Society member, bon vivant three times married lastly to an actress. You might suspect an exotic travel book written by this man would be fun and you’d be right. This is my first de Windt read, but I plan to check out others.
De Windt starts in 1890 in Tiflis, Russia (Georgia) in January and ends his travels in India nearly 1,000 miles later. For the most part the journey is on horse or camel with short boat crossings here and there. He is accompanied by a Russian employee, sort of a Dr. Watson foil. I read an ebook but if you find a hard copy there will be maps, professional art work and drawings by de Windt. I really missed that.
The first part of his journey consists of mountain crossings in terrible weather. In northern Persia they depend on mountain huts for overnight shelter. Cold, vermin and rats are all taken in stride. On one icy pass one of the pack horses (they rent animals as they go) slides to the edge of a precipice and clings by the front legs only to tumble 300 feet. Not to worry. With difficulty they go to recover their goods and find the tough little horse up and grazing on bushes.
In the remainder of Persia he visits cities such as Teheran, sees some beautiful landscapes, meets characters and stays in some degree of luxury at diplomatic posts (British rule at this time) or Anglo telegraph offices/homes.
The author is not what you’d call an expert on antiquities or art but loves a good bazaar and never passes up the chance to visit one in every town and village. He also comments on people and their lives (typically ruling class English but not hideous), agriculture, produce and crafts.
Crossing into Baluchistan you see why he started in January. The landscape becomes barren and hot—up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The Pashtuns were mostly unfriendly and in a couple of cases threatening. Here they usually have guards and camp in tents.
The book ends pretty quickly once he gets to India. I guess that’s another book. The author reminds me of a better Lowell Thomas. As a kid I used to check out Thomas books from my library so maybe that’s why I found this book so appealing.
De Windt starts in 1890 in Tiflis, Russia (Georgia) in January and ends his travels in India nearly 1,000 miles later. For the most part the journey is on horse or camel with short boat crossings here and there. He is accompanied by a Russian employee, sort of a Dr. Watson foil. I read an ebook but if you find a hard copy there will be maps, professional art work and drawings by de Windt. I really missed that.
The first part of his journey consists of mountain crossings in terrible weather. In northern Persia they depend on mountain huts for overnight shelter. Cold, vermin and rats are all taken in stride. On one icy pass one of the pack horses (they rent animals as they go) slides to the edge of a precipice and clings by the front legs only to tumble 300 feet. Not to worry. With difficulty they go to recover their goods and find the tough little horse up and grazing on bushes.
In the remainder of Persia he visits cities such as Teheran, sees some beautiful landscapes, meets characters and stays in some degree of luxury at diplomatic posts (British rule at this time) or Anglo telegraph offices/homes.
The author is not what you’d call an expert on antiquities or art but loves a good bazaar and never passes up the chance to visit one in every town and village. He also comments on people and their lives (typically ruling class English but not hideous), agriculture, produce and crafts.
Crossing into Baluchistan you see why he started in January. The landscape becomes barren and hot—up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The Pashtuns were mostly unfriendly and in a couple of cases threatening. Here they usually have guards and camp in tents.
The book ends pretty quickly once he gets to India. I guess that’s another book. The author reminds me of a better Lowell Thomas. As a kid I used to check out Thomas books from my library so maybe that’s why I found this book so appealing.
May 28, 2021
Picturesque writing, bringing alive life in central Asia in the nineteenth century. It's a pity the kindle edition didn't have the author's sketches which I had to look up on Google images. The author writes about his adventures and misadventures in a wry reporting style, reminiscent of Jules Verne. Would be interesting to read his other travel accounts.
July 1, 2025
Would’ve loved to be able to browse through the illustrations, unfortunately the Apple version does not contain them. Will purchase a hardcover for the illustrations.
September 16, 2016
Good read, though I did read it slowly. the racial and cultural bias was a bit difficult to cope with at times, but the authentic window into a different world was good.
it's a shame that it is so difficult for most of us to go visit the places Harry describes in his travelogue.
I suppose we can read about them at least!
it's a shame that it is so difficult for most of us to go visit the places Harry describes in his travelogue.
I suppose we can read about them at least!
November 16, 2012
Very picturesque writing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews