172 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XX. 



but gradually increases in height westward till it culminates in the imposing 

 snowclad ramparts of the Safed-Koh Range, the highest peak of which, 

 Sikaram (15,600 feet), lies at its western extremity. To the west it is bounded 

 by Afghanistan and Waziristan, to the south by the districts of Bannu and 

 Mianwali, and to the east by the R. Indus. 



The general aspect of Kohat is a confused mass of low bare rocky hills, 

 nullahs, and ravines, intersected by two main depressions running parallel and 

 with a general trend from west to east. These depressions are formed, in the 

 first case, by the Miranzai and Kohat Valleys running in prolongation of each 

 other, and in the second by the Teri Valley. Two alluvial plains are also 

 noticeable, namely, that around and east of Kohat Station, and the oasis of 

 Lachi. The Kurram is a long valley, averaging some 2 miles in width at its 

 lower end and broadening into a stoney plain 8 or 10 miles wide at its upper 

 extremity and rising in the 70 miles from Thall 4,000 feet. Down its centre 

 rushes, over a bed of stones and boulders, the river that gives its name to the 

 valley, which rises in Afghanistan some 20 miles beyond the valley-head. 

 Consisting, as the district does, for the most part of desert, the flora, compared 

 with that of the Himalayas, is not luxurious. Coarse grass, Olives, thorn- 

 scrub, and Dwarf Palms sparsely cover the hills, and in parts of the Miranzai 

 Valley and around Thall the two latter form thick scrub-jungle. Ilex-Oaks, 

 where their branches are not ruthlessly lopped and the trees are permitted to 

 grow attain a considerable size on the Samana, and here and there on this hill 

 some fine Ash-trees flourish. In the Safed-Koh Range, however, forests of 

 Fir, Pine, and Cedar clothe the mountain-sides from about 8,000 to 12,000 feet, 

 and cover the top of the spur over which the Peiwar Pass runs. Below, these 

 forests are gradually replaced by Ilex trees which again, as one descends to the 

 low foot-hills, are replaced by dense Ilex-scrub. 



Where water is easily brought on to the land, as is the case in the plains 

 around Kohat and Lachi and in the Kurram, Hangu, and Teri Valleys, green 

 oases of cultivation relieve the general barrenness. A feature of the cultiva- 

 tion around Kohat and in the Miranzai Valley consists of the beautiful orchards 

 of Mulberry, Peach, Plum, Fig, and Vine which abound, and are supple- 

 mented, in the stonier parts, by groves of wild Olive-trees. The crops 

 consist mainly of wheat ; but Indian corn, barley, millet, cotton, and sugarcane 

 are also grown, and around Bangu, Thall, and in the Kurram Valley, 

 rice. Immediately south of the station of Kohat the Government grass- 

 farm, possesses many attractions for birds on migration, and, after irrigation, 

 is not a bad place to observe Waders : even Duck and Snipe have been 

 shot on it. The climate is very dry. As regards temperature : in the 

 plains of Kohat the winter might be compared to that of the south of France, 

 but the summer is decidedly hotter and probably most nearly approximates 

 to that of Egypt. In the Kurram Valley temperatures are much lower, and 

 the climate of Upper Kurram must be somewhat similar, both in summer and 

 in winter, to that of Northern Germany. 





