196 Account of the Lower Derdj'dt. [No. 3. 



town and sbrine of a Muhammadan Pir or saint bearing that name. 

 The town and shrine are built on a spur from the lowest range of 

 hills, beneath which, to the north, is the stony bed of a torrent or 

 mountain stream, but it is always dry save after heavy falls of rain in 

 the mountains. The Majawirs or attendants at the shrine cultivate 

 a small quantity of laud, which is dependent on the same sources 

 of irrigation as other lands already described. The people are 

 supplied with water, black and foetid in smell, from the sandy 

 bed of the torrent above mentioned, at a place three miles up the 

 defile through which it finds its way, in which large holes called 

 wells are dug, and on this supply they wholly depend. The hasty 

 sketch which accompanies this paper shows the entrance to the 

 defile referred to, and will give some idea of the style of country 

 and scenery. 



The country between this town and the Black Eange is generally 

 mountainous in the extreme, but here and there patches of available 

 land are to be met with. 



The Sukhi-Surwar pass is the direct route to Kandahar through 

 the district of Tall and the Pishin valley ; and in Akbar's time 

 couriers are said to have been in the habit of reaching Multan 

 from that city in six days. Water is plentiful along the whole 

 line of road, which is not only practicable for loaded camels, but 

 for artillery also, or at the worst could be made so very easily, 

 for there are no great natural obstructions to prevent it. I have 

 already given an account of the town and shrine in an article which 

 appeared in a former number of the Journal of the Asiatic Society 

 of Bengal for September, 1855. The town and pass both belong to 

 the Lagharis. 



There are several smaller valleys to the south of Sukhi-Surwar, 

 viz., Ghazi-war, Kun-hi-war, Sufaid Ghari, Khatti, and the Kaha 

 or Harrand pass, including that of Choti, so called after the village 

 of Choti Bala, or Higher Choti, situated close up with the hills, 

 but they are all within a few miles of each other, and of little 

 consequence. They are mostly uninhabited, and are very similar 

 to those already noticed. 



I was informed by Jellal Laghari, who visited me whilst at Sukhi- 

 Surwar in April 1853, that at the distance of a day's march inside 



