724 EEPOET — 1886. 



It is a subject of much congratulation that Boundary Commissioners aro now 

 made the means of advancing the cause of Science as well as of political security. 

 Their proceedings are no longer confined to the little-attractive blue hook, nor 

 doomed to the disguise and dilution essential to adapt thein to the shelves of a cir- 

 culating library. The progress of a mission may now be reported stage by stao:e 

 for the^puhlic information, and fresh descriptions of fresh countries may be read in 

 the daily prints, recorded with the minute accuracy of a photograph. Nor are the 

 acts and words of the chief or members to be done and spoken in the interests of 

 Government alone, registered in official foolscap, and marked confidential. Out- 

 door diplomacy, especially in Eastern countries, may have its occasional solemn 

 aspect, but it is, in the main plain-spoken and Bohemian. The appearance of a 

 Commissioner may be described, his official or general conduct discussed, his opi- 

 nions and habits criticised, and his remarks, whether sober or facetious, given to- 

 the world — I might almost add the conferences in which he takes part, revealed — - 

 without let or hindrance of any kind. All this is a distinct gain to the public, and 

 can be no cause of distress to the Commissioner, working in an honest and loyal 

 spirit — thougli it may not always be politically expedient. In any case the in- 

 formation so imparted may be rendered invaluable, both in a patriotic and educa- 

 tional sense; for it is eminently calculated to elicit the' views of competent men 

 who have no other opportunity of acquii'ing the data on which to form them than 

 that aftbrded by the Press. Whether these views would always be held acceptable 

 is a separate question which need not here be considered. And now let me ask 

 you to accompany me for a few moments to the camp of the Russo- Afghan Boun- 

 dary Commission, of which we have telegraphic intelligence up to August 26, or 

 only a week ago, and from which a letter in the 'Indian Pioneer' of July 18 brings 

 full particulars under date Kham-i-Ab, June 15. For obvious reasons it would be 

 out of place here to refer to the political knot which the Commissioners are seeking 

 to untie. Had it been otherwise, I should have endeavoured to find a qualified 

 exponent to admit us into the diplomatic secret, one which is so closely allied to 

 geographical investigation. But the objection does not apply to the geography of 

 the country traversed by the mission. ' Kham-i-Ab ' — I have written it as printed 

 in the ' Pioneer ' — is a point near the Oxus, north of Andkiii. I shall not myself 

 attempt to travel so far ; but it affords me much pleasure to slate that the actual 

 scene of territorial demarcation and its immediate vicinity will be described by a 

 gentleman who has made a professional study of this as well as of similar questions 

 of political geography. In the meantime let us take a rapid glance at the tract 

 between Quetta and the Helmand, a distance estimated at nearly 320 miles, of 

 which Nushki is not quite third. I take my figures from Major Holdich's notes, 

 in the 'Proceedings of the Geographical Society,' which include the stages and 

 distances to Galicha ; and from a letter in the ' Pioneer ' of November 19, 1884, 

 giving the distance from Galicha to Khwajah Ali on the Helmand at 53 miles — 

 checked, moreover, by the above-named officer's statement that a place called Shah 

 Ismail is halfway between Nushki and Khwajah Ali. 



The country traversed was for the most part dreary and waste. "Within 40 

 miles from Quetta the soil seemed ' poor,' and ' the cultivation scanty,' while it was 

 not easy to obtain ' such necessary supplies as wood and chopped straw.' In 45 

 miles further it was ' diflicult to describe the general appearance of poverty and 

 desolation ' ; while for the next 31 miles water was only procurable at one place — 

 ' a narrow little oasis.' Then came a trying night march ' of 25 miles over ground 

 always rough and stony, and occasionally steep for laden camels.' As for the 

 climate, the sim was intensely hot in the daytime, the cold bitter at night, and a 

 ' fine white dry dust ' was blown about in constant clouds. The last 10 or 12 miles 

 into Nushki was mainly along the bed of a stream. From Nushki to the Helmand 

 there were three routes available, of which the Mission chose the most northerly, 

 on account of its greater facilities for securing a sufficient supply of water. For 

 nearly 80 miles of this distance — or to Gazchah — the characteristic of the ground 

 was a flat, hard surface, commonly known in India and neighbouring countries as 

 imt, easy to cross, but monotonous to contemplate, and the writer's description of 

 ' the same wide expanse of limitless plain, the same stunted undergrowth, andocca- 



