1895.] on a Recent Journey in Afghanistan. 575 



ride of nearly 400 miles through Afghanistan, and rejoined British 

 territory at Chaman in Beluchistan. 



It is now nearly fifteen years since, for the space of three weeks, 

 in the month of August 1880, the eyes of all England, and one might 

 well-nigh say of Europe, were riveted in anxious suspense upon that 

 portion of the distance — 320 miles in length — that intervenes between 

 Kabul and Kandahar. A brave English general, with 10,000 fighting 

 men, had vanished from all sight or ken within that gap ; and not 

 until he reappeared at the other end, and the wires were set going 

 under the ocean and over the land with the news of a signal victory, 

 gained on the very morrow of the completed march, could the world 

 be certain of the wisdom or the foolhardiness of the venture. English 

 readers then learned to be tolerably familiar with the features of the 

 route from Kabul to Kandahar ; and Sir F. Roberts' march, because 

 unattended with incident or, until its close, with fighting, did not lose 

 the credit attaching to admirable organisation and leadership, or the 

 romance of its dramatic plunge into the unknown. 



Lord Eoberts was, however, not the first British general, nor did 

 he command the first British army that marched that way. Only a 

 few months earlier Sir Donald Stewart, the gallant commander-in- 

 chief, had marched up in the reverse direction from Kandahar to 

 Kabul, to relieve Roberts and to open the road. His advance had 

 been not unattended with fighting, and it was the success with which 

 it was crowned that prepared the way and smoothed the path for the 

 returning and punitive column of the younger general. The modern 

 honours of the Kabul-Kandahar road were thus shared by the two 

 commanders. 



The physical difficulties of the route are small ; and the figures 

 of elevation will show how relatively modest, for a country of moun- 

 tains like Afghanistan, are the altitudes that require to be crossed. 

 Kabul itself is 5780 feet above the sea. Thence the road ascends by 

 easy slopes towards Ghuzni, which is 7280 feet, crossing on the way 

 the single pass of any height or seriousness that is to be found in the 

 entire distance. This is the Sher Dahan or Lion's Mouth, the hotal 

 or crest of which is 8500 feet above the sea. From Ghuzni the track 

 descends by a still less perceptible slope, following the broad valley 

 of the Tarnak river, until at Kelat-i-Ghilzai it again touches the 

 same elevation as Kabul. From there the descent is a little more 

 rapid, conducting to the fertile and well- watered plain from the midst 

 of which, embosomed in trees, rises, at a height of only 3400 feet, the 

 walled quadrilateral of Kandahar. But few rivers require to be 

 crossed in the interval, though occasional small nullahs must be 

 bridged for the passage of wheeled artillery. The track, though 

 sometimes encumbered with dust and sand, runs for the most part 

 over a hard and gravelly soil, and is equally accommodated to the 

 movements of infantry and horse. In the autumn and winter an agree- 

 able and inspiriting climate prevails; and although snow may be 

 expected as far south as Kelat-i-Ghilzai in December and January, 



