SC/liNCE-COSSIP. 



163 



\Al.l.i:\' Ol-' Till': TOClll I-IIVER. 



liY Majok li. M. Skinnkk, R.A.M.C. 



"^^IIIS outlying cotiK-r of ihc IJrilish Empire in 

 India forms a portion of Wa/irislan, the Ijiiund- 

 ary of which was delineated in 1X94-5 ''>' •■^" Anglo- 

 Afghan Commission from the Afghan provinces of 

 Khost on the north and Birnml on the west. In 



Tociii V.\LLi:v.— Talus Slopes of NirauicLiTie 



LiMBSTONE. 



1S97 it was for a time 'a 

 spot of some interest, ow- 

 ing to an expedition which • 

 marched up there to 

 avenge a treacherous as- 

 sault upon our troops, 

 which was made at Maizar 

 in June of that year by the 

 Madda Khel, a section of 

 the tribe of the Darwesh 

 Khel Waziris whoiinhabit 

 the locality. 



The portion of the Tochi 

 Valley which forms theVsub- 

 ject of these remarks is a 

 small tract of country 

 lying between, roughly, 



69«.40 and 7o".loE.,and 32". 50 and 33°lo N., 

 through which the Tophi River flows from west 

 to east to empty itself into the Kurram. Generally 

 speaking, the vicinity of the Tochi river is a 

 rugged country of bare rocky hills, varying in 

 altitude from about 2,900 to 7,900ft. The land 

 rises from east to west, and is intersected by 

 precipitous water-channels. The only cultivation is 

 along the banks of the main streams, such as the 

 Tochi, and its tributaries the Kazha and Shawal 

 rivers. There patches of alluvial soil have been skil- 

 fully irrigated by carefully constructed water-courses, 

 so as to facilitate the production of grain, for the con- 

 sumption of the inhabitants of the numerous villages 

 dotteil along the banks. Such villages form oases in 

 an uninviting barren-looking region, and occasionally 

 pres'.Mit an almost civilised appearance, with their 

 crops of Indian corn, or rice, their fruit-trees, and 

 sometimes vines. . A feature that strikes one here. 



Lake Gravel lying on Ui'ti-rneh Strata. 



n common with other neighbouring Mohammedan 

 countries, is the extensive 'burial grounds with their 

 mounds of stones, often arranged in colour-p.ilterns, 

 to mark the graves. These mounds, lying as they 

 do over hollow graves, arc liable to sink in and so form 

 pitfalls for the unwary, who may then realise, should 

 such a mishap befall them, the origin of the old 

 tradition in England, that it is unlucky to walk over 

 a gra\e. 



The inhabitants appear to the white man as being 

 about as dirly-looUing as is possible. Their clothing, 

 sometimes worn for a year without washing, is so 

 offensive olfactorily, that it is advisable to stand to 

 windward of the wearer, if it becomes necessary 10 . 

 converse with him. They are essentially an agricul- 

 tural population, who in order to protect themselves 

 and their irrigation channels frcSm their neighbours of 

 adjacent villages, have to rely on their fortifications 

 for defence. For that purpose their villages contain 

 stone towers, similar structures being erected outlying 

 their villages to guard 

 their crops, and their wa- 

 ter-supply. They possess 

 an excellent breed of 

 sheep, whose mutton is of 

 high quality. The gener- 

 ally barren appearance of 

 the rock - strewn country 

 makes one wonder how 

 these flocks obtain sub- 

 sistence, but the scantiness 

 of the herbage is some- 

 what compensated by the 

 wide extent of the grazing 

 ground. The people can 

 not be .said to have any 

 man\ifactiiring industrv. 



On Ro.vo between Boia and ^Iiramshah. 



At one time iron-smelting was carried out in 

 the country towards the north. This has been 



