718 Sketch of the Physical Geography of Seistan. [No. 103. 



culture. The water of the Hamoon is salt (12), but not at all places equally 

 so, the intensity varying according to the depth, nature 

 of the soil on which it -rests, and the proximity to the 

 mouths of the rivers. The Seistanis boast that the water of their country 

 is the best in the world, that it gives an appetite, and promotes diges- 

 tion; even when most distasteful, it is said not to be injurious, and 

 the garrison of Koh-i-Khwajeh drank no other than that of the ditch path, 

 described above, which is so brackish that none of our horses after a 

 fatiguing march in the sun could be induced to drink it. 



It has been stated that the Hamoon is every year spreading over a large 

 superficies, which requires explanation, since it seems 



On the increase or at variance with the received theory of the other in- 

 diminution of the 

 waters. land lakes, the Caspian, Aral, &c. all of which are said 



to cover a less space now, than they did in former 



times. With only a general knowledge of the geography of those seas, it 



is dangerous to hazard a conjecture regarding them, but it seems by no 



means improbable that much of the land which is represented as shewing 



traces of having once formed part of the lakes in question, was covered 



with water before those lakes had occupied their present beds, proving 



therefore no more than that the water has changed its position, not that it 



is less in extent. The Caspian on the north, where traces of inundation 



on lands now dry are the most remarkable, is shallow, marshy, and covered 



with reeds, as if the water was gradually deserting it. It must however 



be borne in mind, that as the lake spreads, it offers a large surface to the 



action of evaporation, and that in proportion to the apparent increase, 



there is a real diminution in bulk. 



The evaporation in Seistan must be very great. The heat in summer 



„ is said to be more oppressive than that of Candahar. 



Evaporation. i ^ i i i 



and for half the year, a strong steady wind blows from 



the snowy mountains above Herat, to compensate the exhaustion of air in 



the burning desert to the south. This wind, which is called the " Bad i sud 



bist roz," " a wind of 120 days," is confined to a breadth of about 80 miles, 



being bounded on the west by the Bundau hills, and extending no further 



east, it is said, than Khash. 



I should have desired here to give some account of the natural history 



of Seistan, but of the study itself I am nearly ignorant; the field is, I 



suspect, a barren one, and the season at which I visited the country was 



12 Nothing but common salt is found in Seistan itself. The plain of Furrah is a saltpetre marsh. 

 Salt is found in patches in various parts of the desert, that of Peer i Rizre in the Gurmsehl is cele- 

 brated for its whiteness. 



