252 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



alarm by pushing a force down that way into the 

 valley of Peshawar, ten or twenty miles from that 

 city, where they would have had only a few com- 

 panies of native infantry and two troops of cavalry 

 to oppose them and to hold the forts. This kafila 

 route leaves the Peshawar valley and enters the hills 

 at a point about four miles west of Shubkudr fort. 

 For the first few miles it winds among low, dry, 

 rocky hills, having the Mohmund valley of Pandiali 

 on its right, beyond which comes another Mohmund 

 valley studded with large villages, through both of 

 which runs a fair side route into the Bajousi valley. 

 About ten miles from Shubkudr the main route 

 crosses a low pass into the Gandao valley, which is 

 almost circular, and with an area of over one hun- 

 dred square miles. It is well cultivated, and contains 

 many villages. In the centre of the valley stands a 

 low isolated hill, which would form, with the vil- 

 lages near it, a strong central position for any British 

 force sent to coerce the Mohmunds. As in all these 

 valleys the water-supply is precarious, a large water- 

 course the Eud-i-Gandao runs through the valley ; 

 but, as usual, the water in it often sinks below the 

 surface, though at other places the supply is so plen- 

 tiful that large rice crops are produced. Both here 

 and in the Shilman valley, "Persian wheels" are 

 used for irrigation. The fields continue over undu- 

 lating ground to the watershed of the valley Nahaki 

 Gakhe, after which is a rather sharp descent, down 



