Arid;
a few forests;
cedars;
a rutted track;
long grass;
ripe berries;
riders raising dust;
a cold, twisting, stony brook with muddy banks;
blue sky;
"High up there floated an eagle." (p. 97) (Yet another bird of prey.) (Scroll down.)
Everard wades upstream to avoid pursuers. There is a Lake District outdoor pursuit called scrambling, midway between walking and climbing. Scrambling can involve ascending a hill by crawling up a brook. I have always thought that the only practical application of this kind of scrambling would be to avoid leaving either a scent or a trail while moving surreptitiously through enemy territory. Everard tries to break his trail by taking to the brook.
Harpagus has pursued Everard with seven companions. Knowing that the "Greek" (Time Patrolman) is in the brook and not knowing which way he has gone, the pursuers divide into two groups. Running beside the brook faster than he can walk in it, they then subdivide again. Thus, Everard, who has gone upstream, is being followed by two men walking up the stream with one man walking on each bank above them. Similarly, he is being approached by two in the stream and two above them. Since one of the two approaching on a bank is Harpagus himself, Everard can climb up the bank to attack his principal enemy directly...
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think Persia used to be more heavily forested in Achaemenid times. But many centuries of logging off since then must have made much of Iran more semi-arid now than it was then.
And that's the advantage of having numbers when chasing a fugitive, more options in tracking down the man you are trying to catch.
Ad astra! Sean
Poul notes that while arid enough, Iran in that century still has -some- such forests.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
If Iran ever again has even a half way decent gov't, a good thing it could do would be to encourage reafforestation in appropriate places.
Ad astra! Sean
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