96 :\Iajor H. A. F. Magrath on the 



(barren hills inhabited by independent Orakzai and Afridi 

 tribes) and the Sa£ed-Koh Range. This n;gged barrier of 

 hills is on the east as low as 3000 feet above sea-level, bnt 

 grarkially increases in height westward till it culminates in 

 the imposing snow-clad ramparts of the Sa£ed-Koh Range, 

 the highest peak of which, Sikaram (15,600 feet), lies at its 

 western extremity. To the west it is bounded by Afghan- 

 istan and Waziristan, to the south by the districts of Bannu 

 and Mianwali, and to the east by the R. Indus. 



The general aspect of Kohat is a confused mass of low 

 bare rocky hills, nullahs, and ravines, intersected by two 

 main depressions running parallel and with a general trend 

 from west to east. These depressions are formed, in the 

 first case, by the Miranzai and Kohat Valleys running in 

 prolongation of each other, and in the second by the Teri 

 Valley. Two alluvial plains are also noticeable, namely that 

 around and east of Kohat Station, and the oasis of Lachi. 

 The Kurram is a long valley, averaging some 2 miles in 

 width at its lower end and broadening into a stony plain 8 

 or 10 miles wide at its upper extremity and rising in the 

 70 miles from Thall 4000 feet. Down its centre rushes, 

 over a bed of stones and boulders, the river that gives its 

 name to the valley, which rises in Afghanistan some 20 

 miles beyond the valley-head. Consisting, as the district 

 does, for the most part of desert, the flora, compared with 

 that of the Himalayas, is not luxurious. Coarse grasp, 

 Olives, thorn-scrub, and Dwarf Palms sparsely cover the hills, 

 and in parts of the Miranzai Valley and around Thall the 

 two latter form thick scrub-jungle. Hex-Oaks, where their 

 branches are not ruthlessly lopped and the trees are permitted 

 to grow, attain a considerable size on the Samana, and here 

 and there on this hill some fine Ash-trees flourish. In the 

 Safed Koh Range, however, forests of Fir, Pine, and Cedar 

 clothe the mountain-sides from about 8000 to 12,000 feet, 

 and cover the top of the spur over vvhich the Peiwar Pass 

 runs. Below, these forests are gradually replaced by Ilex 

 trees, which again, as one descends to the low foot-hills, are 

 replaced by dense Ilex-scrub. 



