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Karun without an effective paddle wheel but he met every emergency with energy and resolve.
Wherever he went, he surveyed the river, recorded his observations and updated his map. He explored other waterways, first by sailing boat and then in the Shushan in order to establish which rivers in the area were navigable. The account of Shushan's journey of exploration up the River Diz in 1891 is still included in the current edition of the Admiralty Pilot for the Persian Gulf,
Life in Iran
Life in Iran for the young Cornell Plant was not all hard work. Game was plentiful and he enjoyed shooting it. If it was edible he ate it, if not, he just enjoyed the shooting. He shot hare, fox, jackal, wolf and deer and went pig sticking with mixed results. He was asked by representatives of one of the villages along the route to shoot a desert lion that had been raiding their herds. Less sportingly, he shot another lion that he spotted from the bridge of the Shushan. Far more dangerous was his encounter with a wild buffalo, which he dropped in the true tradition of the best heroic tales with a shot from his .577 Express, as it charged at him from a few yards away. The most amazing of his adventures was watching a formal battle between two warring Arab tribes from a concealed position on a hill overlooking the chosen battleground. It took several hours for the 600 or so mounted warriors to assemble and hurl insults at each other but once the battle proper started, it was over very quickly. One side felt they were losing and left the field at speed leaving their Sheikh and his family to fight on alone. The opposing warriors withdrew to allow the families of the two opposing sheikhs to fight it out - to the death which they did. Only one 14-year-old boy was spared from the losing Sheikh's family.
The whole area through which the Shushan travelled was under the direct control of the Nizam, an official appointed by the Shah but when he lost favour and another took over, law and order seemed to break down and Plant found himself threatened by gangs of river pirates. Fortunately, he kept on the move and away from trouble but on one occasion, when anchored overnight in a remote spot he and his team were stood to with their hunting rifles at the ready. The watch, while half asleep, had observed what he made out to be dusky figures stealing