Topographical Remarks regarding Afghanistan. 325 



water is close to the surface. In the warm season the heat 

 is great and the climate variable : at times the wind is not 

 only hot by day, but sultry and oppressive at nights, and 

 loaded with dust. 



Fortunately, accommodation was found for the sick in a 

 village about 600 yards in the rear of the camp, in a well 

 ventilated building, which secured the sick from the extreme 

 heat to which they would have been exposed in tents ; the 

 thermometer rose as high as 1 12° in the subalterns 5 regula- 

 tion tent, and even to 120° in the soldiers' tents. 



A party of the regiment, 100 strong, was sent with the 

 force that was detached to occupy Ghirisk, a fort situated on 

 the left bank of the Helmund river, 70 miles to the west of 

 Candahar, and noted for its insalubrity. 



After leaving Candahar, the route to Guznee was up the 

 valley of the Turnuck ; and, with the exception of the narrow 

 strip of alluvial soil on the banks of the river, from a quarter 

 to half a mile in breath, which was fertile and well cultivated, 

 the general aspect of the country was barren. From the banks 

 of the river the ground rises by gentle undulations, is clayey 

 and stony, covered by a stunted herbage of wormwood and 

 prickly shrubs, and bounded on each side by bare rugged 

 mountains. 



From Killati Giljee, and about Guznee, the country is 

 more fertile and better cultivated. From Candahar to Guz- 

 nee there is a gradual rise in the elevation ; Guznee being esti- 

 mated at 7>726 feet above the level of the sea, and at Shash- 

 gou, 13 miles from Guznee on the road to Cabul, the top 

 of the pass is 9,000 feet. From thence there is a gradual de- 

 scent to Cabul, and the route followed is a succession of 

 defiles and small valleys well watered and cultivated, and 

 bounded on all sides by bare primitive rocks. 



Cabul— The city of Cabul in lat. 34° 38' 3" north, and long. 



68° 31' east, is situated at the foot of a range of hills that cross 



the Cabul valley. The Cabul river passes through a gorge in 



2 T 



