1879] during the Campaign of 1878-79. 167 
On a subsequent occasion Major Tanner went to Sultanpur and sur- 
veyed astrip of the country south of the road, meeting nothing but a waste 
of stony hills and deep ravines. Low hills to the south prevented his see- 
ing the cultivated tract and villages under the Safed Koh. It had been 
intended that he should survey Burnes’ old route between Fathiabad- and 
Chapriar and also that he should, if possible, visit and report on the bridge 
over the Surkhab river near Gandamak and also visit the old British canton- 
ment at Kaja, but unfortunately heavy rain stopped the work and the 
party were obliged to return to Jelalabad. 
On the advance of the army to Gandamak, in April, Major Tanner, 
Capt. Strahan and Mr. Scott accompanied the Force and surveyed the road 
to Gandamak and the country north and south of it between the Surkhab 
and the Safed Koh, Capt. Strahan taking the northern portion and Mr. 
Seott the southern. 
In the reconnaissance to Gandamak Bridge (Safed Sang) Major Tan- 
ner found that the topography of the old map was very inaccurate. The 
general slope of the Surkhab is about 200 feet per mile and in one part 
the gradient of the plain which reaches to the foot of the Siah Koh was a 
great deal more, hence the unexpected bends and turns the streams make 
in a country covered with ridges and hillocks, where the southern edge has 
been upheaved in moderately late times. 
Major Tanner also made a reconnaissance to the Wara Gali Pass, over 
the Siah Koh Range, extending as far as the watershed. The pass is easy 
but rocky. The slopes of the Siah Koh are craggy and have only sparse 
serub for about half a mile. Unfortunately the weather at the time was 
bad and no observations could be made to peaks to the north. 
Capt. Strahan’s particular work was the survey of the country between 
Safed Sang and the Surkh Pdl and he made a really fair survey (much 
more than a sketch or reconnaissance) of about 80 square miles north of 
the road up to the Surkhab and got a good general sketch of the Siah Koh 
beyond, up to the crest of the first range. 
Capt. Strahan remarks that the name Safed Sang (white stone) had 
not been written against the camp so-called, because there is no village of 
that name, which refers to some big white stone in the river there. The 
nearest village is Hashim Kheyl. He also remarks that the weather at 
Safed Sang at the end of April was very changeable, one day high wind 
with dust, then cold wind with rain or hail, then a hot sultry day, the 
latter being the rarest and the other two about equal. The thermometer 
rose from 85° to 95° maximum, and was about 58° minimum. 
The valley at Safed Sang is of no great width, and all the low ground 
within easy reach of camp was mapped by Capt. Strahan with very fair 
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