Q0 MIDDLEMISS: GEOLOGY OF HAZARA AND BLACK MOUNTAIN. 



of the Dore is normally a tiny rivulet that can be crossed on step- 

 ping-stones, but it is subject to rapid spates after a rain-storm of any 

 importance. The turbid brown or milky rush of water (according 

 as it is fed from the nearer hills or the melting of snow from the 

 higher crests) which then ensues makes the crossing of it, on a 

 dark and stormy night, a matter of some anxiety. The leaping 

 muddy stream rolls huge boulders along the bottom, which strike 

 one another with dull thuds ; and altogether it more nearly resem- 

 bles the midday torrent from a large glacier than an ordinary 

 rivulet. The circumstances which bring this about are chiefly the 

 steep gradient of the river-bed, and the bare nature of the slate 

 hills, which are the gathering ground near by, and which, for want 

 of vegetation, have no power of temporarily holding the water. 

 The view given in plate 9 of Sirban hill from the south includes a 

 large portion of the river-bed of the Dore and shews the steep gravel 

 cliffs which bound it. In many places several terraces rise one be- 

 hind the other above the present level of the river, and mark out 

 previous old channels of the same. Nearly all the streams and 

 smaller rivers of Hazara are liable to be suddenly flooded in this 

 way, but the Dore is more particularly addicted to it and more 

 violent than the rest. 



A few large villages such as Dhumtour, Rujoeeuh, and Huveliyan 

 lie along the course of the river and typify the wealth of the alluvial 

 country. Flat roofs and rubble masonry with narrow shut-in alleys 

 and an abomination of filth make them unpleasant to the susceptible 

 western nose. No tree has been left for shade, with the exception 

 of the u Kao " or wild olive, a grove of which in nearly every village 

 marks the graveyard ; its sombre green contrasting with the bright 

 verdure of an undergrowth of Justitia adhatoda. Water-power to 

 grind the produce of the crops is supplied by the river, and abundant- 

 ly utilised by an ingenious system of water-mills in tiers one above 

 another which border the stream at intervals, their places being 

 generally marked by a few willow trees. 



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