804 Report on subjects connected with Affghanistan, [No. 118. 



not appear to me difficult of access ; in this respect they are widely 

 General accessibility different from the other mountains I have travers, 

 of the mountains. ^^^ jj. ^^s found to be a general feature, that they 



might be ascended and descended, by making use of the beds of the 

 draining streams which are very generally dry, except in the season 

 of floods. These ravines, are gently inclined planes, the steep ascent 

 only commencing on reaching their heads ; and this perhaps in no 

 instance exceeds 1,200 feet. 



A section of an Himalayan ravine may be, I think, correctly taken 

 Ravines. as wedge- shaped v, that of the Affghanistan ravines 



would be a broadly truncated wedge u. The base line of an Hima- 

 layan ravine is again a succession of steps, with intermediate, more or 

 less level spaces ; that of an Affghan ravine is an uninterrupted in- 

 clined plane. The bottom of an ordinary hill ravine, again, is generally 

 choked up with fragments, torn from the sides, or by boulders of 

 various sizes rolled down from various distances. The bottom of an 

 Affghan ravine may be in contra-distinction stated, as being almost 

 evenly strewed with moderate sized boulders or shingle. 



The vallies, enclosed by these mountain ranges and their innumerable 

 Vallies. offsets, vary much in altitude, and a good deal in 



nature, and have been formed perhaps by two different causes. 



I am unable to state whether they usually present any definite direc- 

 tion with regard to the mountain ranges, except on the southern face of 

 the Koh-i-Baba, in which direction they are, in the usual manner of 

 the Himalayas, parallel to the chain. 



The ordinary form of these valleys is generally very narrow, the 

 tillable soil is confined to a narrow strip along the line of drainage. 

 The space between this portion, and the bases of the outcropping 

 boundary hills is an inclined plane,* strewed over, and indeed entirely 

 formed of boulders and shingle, generally without a particle of soil. 

 These slopes, very aptly termed by that talented officer Lieutenant 

 Durand, of the Bengal Engineers, glacis slopes, appear to my li- 

 mited experience, characteristic features in the physical configuration 

 of the country. I beg to subjoin a rude attempt at a sketch of a very 



* Without personal knowledge of the country, it is almost impossible to imagine 

 the extent of these glacis slopes, and the enormous proportion they have to that of the 

 tillable soil. 



