62 



V. Wildfowl in Seistan. 



" By observation it is found that wildfowl are the subtilest of birds, 

 and have the greatest regard for their own safety." 



IT would require a lifetime to know thoroughly 

 the Hamun in its many moods and aspects. The 

 fan of intricate channels that forms the delta ; the 

 periodically submerged area with its typical vege- 

 tation ; the naizar or reed - beds ; the great lake 

 itself with its expanses of open water and its reed- 

 fringed lagoons. Then there is its great seasonal 

 dilation and contraction. Sometimes the Koh-i- 

 Kwaja is a rocky island reflected in a mirror of 

 deep water, sometimes it stands high and dry. It 

 is when winter snows on distant highlands are 

 melting in the spring and the Helmund rolls a 

 flood of turgid water that the people of Seistan 

 have to look to the safety of their lands. They 

 see their irrigation bands swept away, the river 

 breaking out into new arid unexpected channels, 

 and from governor downwards they are hard put 

 to save their fields and villages. Then is the time 



