446 report— 1879. 



tary passage between India on the one hand, and Persia or Turkistan on the other. 

 It is for armies what the Suez Canal is for ships. 



The narrow strip of plain which this route traverses forms the interval between 

 the desert and the hilly country. The desert rolls up in undulating sand hills from 

 the far south. It is bounded by the rivers Arghandab and Dori, the thin lines of 

 running water seeming as if they had some magic influence in restraining the over- 

 flow of the sand. To the north are the mountains, bare and rugged, not a sign of 

 verdure anywhere about them, not an indication of moisture. The great peculiarity 

 of the country is that only the upper portions of the hills are exposed above ground. 

 The whole country, including the lateral valleys, appears to have been filled up at a 

 date subsequent to the elevation of the hills with a deposit of rubble, waterworn 

 boulders and pebbles, with hardly sufficient soil to hold them together. The 

 elevation of this part of the country is over 3,000 feet above the sea. This deposit, 

 though apparently level, in reality slopes considerably upwards from the rivers to 

 the base of the hills, while the valleys have a slope in the direction of their length. 

 Captain Beavan then explained how this formation aided the peculiar system of 

 irrigation by means of karez or underground aqueducts, which is constantly made 

 use of in this part of Afghanistan. 



At the junction of the two rivers Halmand and Arghandab, and from this point 

 along the banks of the Halmand to a considerable distance above Girishk, are scat- 

 tered the remains of numerous forts and entrenchments, showing the importance 

 that has always attached to this part of the Halmand river. Girishk itself is 

 simply a fort, commanding the Herat road. There is no town near it, but the 

 whole of the Halmand valley is full of small, scattered villages, with gardens, trees, 

 and fields. To the north-west from Girishk, by the Herat road, the country is 

 mountainous, and again towards the north-east, but in a northerly direction it 

 appears quite open and level as far as the eye can see. The only exception is that, 

 on very clear mornings after rain, a few snowy peaks are visible, just showing their 

 tops above the horizon. Captain Beavan found the old position of Girishk fairly 

 correct, and he ascertained the heights of the camping grounds along the route from 

 Kandahar to Girishk by aneroid and boiling point. He concluded his paper with 

 some valuable suggestions on the subject of the formula for barometric heights. 



4. Afghan War. — The Pishin Valley. 

 By Lieutenant St. George C. Gore, B.E. 



Lieutenant St. George C. Gore (writing from Gulistan,in Pishin) described the 

 Pishin Valley, which is now to be annexed by the British Government. Its 

 extreme length is about 48 miles, and its average width, including the hill ranges 

 on either side, from 25 to 30 miles. Its two sides are formed by the parallel ranges 

 of the Khwaja-Amran on the west, and the Mashalak-Ajiram (or Ghazarband 

 range) on the east ; the southern end being shut across by spurs of hilly ground 

 which separate Pishin from Shorawak. The upper end of the Pishin valley is shut 

 in by the high plateau of Toba on the north, and the ridges running between the 

 Kand and Takatu mountains on the east. 



The valley of Pishin is a perfectly open, nearly flat alluvial plain, with a very 

 barren aspect owing to the absence of trees, except fruit trees in a few gardens. 



Lieutenant Gore described the Khwaja-Amran mountains bounding the Pishin 

 valley on the west, which are but a spur of the Suliman range, the water-parting 

 being continuous and well marked from the Kand Peak along the southern edge of 

 the Toba plateau and thence down the Khwaja-Amran range. He also gave full 

 details respecting the river Lora, which waters the Pishin valley, and its affluents ; 

 the irrigation system by means of karez ; the passes over the mountain ranges ; and 

 the inhabitants of the valley. 



