12 WYNNE: TRANS-INDUS EXTENSION OF THE PUNJAB SALT RANGE. 



but 14 feet apart and from 300 to 500 feet in height immediately on 

 either side (see Plate IV). A chasm of very- 

 similar character at the Barochi pass near Mulla 

 Khel leads some local drainage across the run of the hardest rocks for 

 a short distance, and indeed, generally speaking, it is only local drain- 

 age that can be regarded as deflected by these trans-Indus ranges. 



One of the most remarkable points connected with the meteoric 



agencies of the region is the joint evidence of 

 Torrential action. ,•■,,• -\ , ^ • wit 



torrential action and atmospheric erosion, attorned 

 both by the depth of the gorges or height of the cliffs and the amount 

 of coarse rock detritus spread out fan-wise along the southern and 

 eastern base of the mountains. The whole area is a dry one, capriciously 

 visited by rain enough to produce vegetation on the lower ground (about 

 one year in four according to Thorburn, I. c), so that the long-con- 

 tinued natural conditions of desert climates, i. e., 

 great extremes of heat and cold, drought, frost, 

 wind, and exceptional storms of rain, are sufficient to explain the signs 

 of energetic meteoric aqueous action accompanying the arid, stony and 

 barren, appearance of the ground. 



Along most of these hills, particularly on the desert side, drinking 



water is scarce and bad, being largely impregnated 

 Water. 



with the soda salts of the reh or Icallar so preva- 

 lent in the rocks and soil, a solution the use of which by those unaccus- 

 tomed is productive of illness. Streams, mainly flowing upon limestone, 

 are in some instances good, but very often so mingled with the discharge 

 from sulphurous springs as to become nauseous; while the ravines in 

 which these springs occur are so charged with sulphuretted hydrogen that 

 the atmosphere is more than perceptibly tainted with the noxious gas. 



Aspect oe the country. 



The mountains of this country are, in the cold season at least, 



all bare and rocky on their southern face and 



frequently upon other sides also, but many of 



the higher and northern declivities are thickly clothed with spear grass 



( 222 ) 



