92 TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS. 



Commissioners of Kohat and Banrm ; they are, however, men of 

 splendid physique, inured to all weathers and of great endurance, 

 and it is a great pity that they do not accept employment under 

 our Government. 



Mr. Claudius surveyed a small area of ground, including Kohat 

 itself, and the hill sanitarium of Mirkhwaili. He states that the 

 whole of Tirah is well supplied with Sniders, and a number of men 

 carry good Martini rifles. They boast that these weapons are 

 plunder, secured during the recent campaigns in the Khaibar and 

 Kuram routes. For the Sniders they have such an abundance 

 of ammunition that cartridges are actually bought from Tirah by 

 our men cheaper than in India. The manufacture of cartridges 

 for the Martinis is even said to have been commenced by them 

 with success. 



The survey was finally brought to a conclusion in 1882-83, and 

 a large scale plan of Kohat city and cantonment was completed 

 the same year. The efforts made to reconnoitre the adjacent 

 frontier under the protection of the tribes proved very successful, 

 and thanks i:i great measure to the interest taken in the work by 

 Major Holdich, the results were to supply reliable maps of the whole 

 strip of territory extending from the Kabul river on the north to 

 the Gumal on the south, the only exception being a small tract of 

 country near the Gumal pass. With the assistance of No. 5 Topo- 

 graphical and No. 3 Revenue parties, Major Holdich was enabled 

 during the recess to complete for publication the whole nine standard 

 sheets of the survey of the Kohat district. The work being 

 completed, the party was broken up, and Major Holdich with most 

 of his assistants were transferred to the Baluchistan Survey. 



Baluchistan. — In September 1879 Major R. Beavan was directed to 

 proceed from Kandahar to Quetta to survey the country between and 

 around Quetta and Sibi. On arrival at Quetta, finding that an expe- 

 dition was about to start to explore the route to Sibi, via the Hanna 

 or Hamra pass, he accompanied them, arriving at Sibi on the 

 12th January 18S0, just in time to see the opening of this part of 

 the railway and the arrival of the first railway train. He subse- 

 quently visited Khost in the Dargi valley, and then Tal, from 

 which place he subsequently accompanied military expeditions 

 towards Chotiali and to Baghao and Smalan on the north-east. 

 Major Beavan's reconnaissance on the J-inch scale covered about 

 2,500 square miles, and extended from Quetta to Tal, Chotiali, and 



