B02 Report on subjects connected with Affghanistan. QNo. 118, 



the nearest did not appear to be more than 1,000 or 1,500 feet higher 

 than the spot on which I stood. Patches of snow commenced about 

 sheltered situations at 13,500 feet, and towards the summit beds oc- 

 curred, except in the most exposed spots. The upper portion of the 

 range appeared entirely bare, the surface consisting of nothing but 

 angular fragments of the rock, of which the peaks are composed. The 

 snow in the upper beds was wrought, if I may so express myself, by 

 the action of frost and thaw into pinnacles, which during sunshine, 

 presented thousands of glittering objects. The few plants found above 

 13,500 fieet were different from any that I had met with elsewhere; the 

 only animals observed were a large hare, and a covey of the snow grouse, 

 Koki-i-dusrah of Affghanistan, the Tehoo or Gallus Neillii of Mr. 

 Gould. The general character of the Koh-i-Baba is great barrenness, 

 this it shares, I have been told, with the Hindoo Koosh, and generally 

 with the Paropamisus, of which portion I have not much direct know- 

 ledge. To these three ranges, the Hindoo Koosh, the Koh-i-Baba, and 

 Paropamisus, and perhaps with the western extremity of the Hima- 

 lyas Proper, I should be disposed to assign all the ranges to the 

 north of the valleys of Peshawur, Jilalabad, Cabul, Ghuzni, and 

 Candahar. 



The Sufaid Koh, or Espeen Gar, which in Pushtoo has the same sig- 

 'Sufaid Koh. nification as that of the Persian name, is perhaps as 



lofty as the Kohi Baba, and like it, although more exposed to the effects 

 of heat and the influence of the great plains of India, presents traces 

 of snow throughout the year. This range is seen to perfection from 

 the valley of Jilalabad, the southern boundary of which it forms. It 

 is continued directly, I believe, down in line with the right bank of the 

 Indus as far as Beloochistan, regaining, as far south as the Tukht-i- 

 Soliman, a considerable portion of its loftiness. The Sufaid Kohi is by 

 no means uniformly bare, as is the case with the previously mentioned 

 mountains ; many parts of the southern boundary of the Jilalabad 

 valley are covered with Fir forests. Similar forests occur on other 

 portions, such as those about Taizeen. Fir trees also occurred on cer- 

 tain parts of the return route of the Bombay Army, as I was in- 

 formed by Lieutenant Marriott, of the Bombay Engineers. 



To the Sufaid Kohi, I am disposed to refer all the ranges along the 

 right bank of the Indus, as far perhaps, or farther, than Brahooistan, 



