1839.] the Ghorband mines, and Hindu Kush. 525 



labdd and Peshawar, and even some as the Kalang or Indian crane to 

 the plains of Hindustan. The thermometer in our tents at this time 

 ranged between 45° and 65° Fahr. 



We lingered for three days amongst those delicious vales, passing 

 slowly through Shakar-darra, Kd-darra and so on to Istalif, but the 

 snow began to fall rapidly on the higher hills, and it became evident 

 that our attempt on Hindu Ktish, must be made immediately or 

 relinquished for the season. Without further delay, therefore we left 

 the skirts of the hills and marched to Charikar, a flourishing town 

 towards the northern extremity of the plain, where a few hours sufficed 

 to make the necessary preparations for our excursion. 



The entrance of the Ghorband pass by which we meant to penetrate 

 was but four or five miles in a northwest direction from the town, but 

 though the foot of the mountains was thus near, the road through them 

 was no less than fifty miles in length before it led us to the top of the 

 pass over Hindu Kdsh, by which the great caravans from Tartary or 

 Turkistan annually arrive in Kabul. As the Uzbeks at the other 

 side of the pass are notorious slave-dealers, secrecy and dispatch were 

 alike advisable ; accordingly on the morning of the 18th October, equip- 

 ped as Afghan horsemen and accompanied by four mounted attend- 

 ants, and a guide to whom alone we had entrusted our plans, we 

 marched from Charikar and halting an hour at noon to rest the horses, 

 succeeded by sunset in reaching Sherikui the last inhabited spot at 

 this side of the pass, irom which however it was still distant eighteen 

 miles. In the course of this day's journey we had first come on micace- 

 ous schist, dipping to the N. W. at an angle of about 45°, which soon 

 however increased until the strata became perfectly vertical. Gneiss 

 then succeeded, but soon gave way and the mica slate again came up 

 graduating insensibly into black slate, intersected by numerous thin 

 veins of quartz, and presenting in the neighbourhood of Sukht-i-chenar 

 a large, valuable though un wrought, iron mine, of the kind usually 

 denominated red sparry iron ore I This gradulation of the micaceous 

 into clay slate is well shown in some of the specimens I was enabled to 

 collect, and which with specimens of the different ores mentioned I 

 hope when an opportunity presents to have the honor of forwarding* 

 In the mica slate immediately over the entrance of the pass, and on 

 the very summit of the hill, occurs a vein of silver ore which how-- 

 ever appeared to me so poor that it would scarce pay the expense of 

 working. I heard of a much richer vein in the pass of Panjabirj 

 which was said to have been worked to a great extent in the time of 

 the Bhagatais, but this I had not one opportunity of seeing : during the 

 3 u 



