TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS. 93 



down to Sibi. It proved of great use afterwards to the engineers 

 employed in laying out the new line of railway. Some valuable 

 survey work around Sibi, Mitri, and Dadur, was done by Messrs. 

 Coxen and Corkery, assistant surveyors, who showed great tact in 

 dealing with the Pathan and Baluchi inhabitants of the country. 

 The obstacles in the way of survey work in Baluchistan were 

 altogether exceptionally great. The local means of carriage were 

 monopolised for the service of the troops, and the camel owners 

 realised such enormous profits by carrying Government stores at so 

 much a maund that they refused to take service by the month. 

 Dust storms and haze were very persistent at times and prevented any 

 satisfactory observations from being taken, water was often terribly 

 scarce or almost unfit to drink, and as a natural result of bad water 

 and an unequable climate, sickness was rife among both Europeans 

 and natives. Another great drawback in Baluchistan is the 

 extremes of temperature experienced. From March to November 

 the low country is intensely hot, and from November to March the 

 highlands between Quetta and Khelat are intensely cold, while 

 during June, July, and August thick haze prevails. 



By an order of the 12th July 1880 the party under Major 

 Beavan's orders was organized as a regular party for the survey of 

 Southern Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and the adjacent country under 

 the designation of the " Baluchistan Topographical party." 



During October, November, and December 1880 Major Beavan 

 accompanied the expedition into the Marri country, but the unsettled 

 state of the country rendered it impossible to leave the line of 

 march in order to ascend any commanding heights. A survey of 

 the actual line of route with bearings and paces was taken by 

 Captain W. Gill, R.E. 



The work of Major Beavan's party was described by him as a 

 geographical reconnaissance on the J-inch scale of Sewestan and the 

 Marri hills, and a more elaborate survey on the ^-inch scale of 

 the territories subject to the Khan of Khelat. In a geographical 

 point of view Major Beavan applies the name Sewestan to the 

 district drained by the Nari river and its affluents, one of rugged 

 broken ranges of hills running mostly east and west. Huge cracks 

 or crevices have been formed across the line of hills, and through 

 these the drainage of the country makes its way, presenting the 

 anomalous condition of parallel valleys with rivers running at right 

 angles to them. In many parts the sandstone rocks lie broken and 



