418 



SOORKIIAB RIVER SULTAN PORE . 



general features of the country ; the Apocynea of Dadur and Bolai 

 (Nerioides) has re- appeared. 



At this season (October), throughout the way we came from Cabul, 

 there is a curious white efflorescence covering the Shootur Kari, I do 

 not know what it is, but it is not Conferva. A good deal of forest is 

 seen on some of the ranges to the north of this, bearing from camp 

 about NNE., certainly not firs, perhaps oaks. 



19M. — Yesterday we went to the Soorkhab, which runs east and 

 west along the northern boundary of the valley ; half the distance 

 down the bed of this stream the ground is strewed with boulders, 

 thence to the hills, and excepting the bed of the Soorkhab, is one sheet 

 of cultivation, consisting of large quantities of cotton and sugar-cane, 

 this latter of small size, and not very juicy, castor-oil plant, Corchorus 

 (Pat), Sun, Tel., radish, and among the other plants cultivated, the 

 Mudar is common : Nerioides of Dadur ; Epilobium sp. is the chief 

 Boreal form. This is one of the richest districts I have seen. 



Trees — Bukkhien,* Furas, Ficus, Cupressus, with much rice cul- 

 tivation. 



The vines are trained on mulberries, as Burnes says, or the Lilyoak. 

 Pomegranates are also to be mentioned among the fruits of this 

 place. 



The Soorkhab river is not seen after leaving the place of the 

 same name ; after it crosses the road, it runs due north through the 

 mountains, in a narrow, almost inaccessible bed ; its waters are of 

 a reddish colour. 



The villages here are larger, and not so fortified as those about 

 Cabul. Balabagh stands on a high bank of conglomerate, overhang- 

 ing the Soorkhab, and is in danger of being cut away by the river. 

 The peasantry are civil, and unarmed. Ravens, quails, minas, spar- 

 rows, and a beautiful swallow were seen about the Soorkhab river ; 

 the latter, with metallic blue on the back of the head, crown of head 

 tawny, tail short, two exterior feathers elongated into beautiful almost 

 setaceous bodies, exceeding the length of the bird. This swallow, 

 or one with a similar tail, was seen by Sanders on the Helmund, at 

 Girishk. 



20th. — We proceeded to Sultanpore, eight and a half miles, passed 

 Futtehabad, thence a gradual descent over a very stony slope to the 

 halting place, where the valley becomes narrow, and water plentiful in 



* Melia. 



