'Seistan. Irrigation report of the Perso-Afghan Arbitration Commission, 1902-1905. Volume I. Report and appendices. Simla: Government of India Foreign Department, 1906' [‎20r] (44/500)

5
Chap. I.J
sion of 1884 ; and will be referred to further on. Doubtless in the Secret and
Confidential Records of the Government of India there are very complete
accounts p{ the valleys drained by those tributaries of the Helmand, which
join the river at Kala‘hBist, because these valleys were occupied by our troops
in the Afghan wars of 1842 and 1880. These have not been studied, because
it is certain from the published accounts of travellers that all the waters'of these
rivers are consumed in irrigation, and that little or none reaches the Helmand
river in the critical time of the year; it is from these rivers, small though their
catchments are, that the far famed cultivation of Kandahar receives the water
needed to obtain agricultural wealth from that fertile soil. General Ferrier
mentions that in September 1845 the Argandab was nearly dry, being used up
in artificial irrigation, and the water that was left was distinctly brackish.
Charles Mason says the same of the Tarnak in the summer of 1827. The Dori
Arghastan, Tarnak and Argandab contribute little to the volume of the Helmand
at the time of low river in the late summer and early autumn, when water is
needed to mature the high class crops of the autumn harvest and sow the wheat.
Water only escapes down to the Helmand when the rains have caused floods
high enough to carry away the band or weirs at the canal heads. So that if
irrigation works are further extended and improved on these tributaries, they are
not likely to have any appreciable effect on the critical volume of the Helmand
River.
In Appendix 1 of this volume is given the invaluable description written
The Hazarajat or the mountain tVact drained by by Major Maitland of the Hazarajat J the
the main stream of the Upper Helmand. country drained by the main stream of
the Upper Helmand, and also that of the country in which the Farah Rud has
its source. The upper waters of the Helmand, which furnish the invaluable late
summer and early autumn supply to Seistan, drain an area of 24,121 square
miles of mountainous country of an average elevation of about 10,000 feet
resembling the highlands of Scotland. The mountains are covered with soil
and rise in great folds presenting a sharp contrast to the bare ridges of rock
with wide glacis so characteristic of the mountains on the Afghan frontier of
India. The valleys of the streams and rivers are generally narrow and the
further they are descended the deeper the ‘valley and the more frequent the
gorges become. In the Upper part of the country the valleys are not very deep,
and the hills on either side are low and well grassed in spring and summer.
The whole of the Hazarajat is treeless; no forests seem to exist. The juniper,
which is thickly sprinkled over many hills in most parts of Afghanistan, appears
to be rare. The only trees are small willows along the streams and hefe and
there some poplars. There are practically no fruit trees in all the northern
part, although on the north side of the Kuh-i-Baba they are abundant. The limit
of trees as well as that of permanently inhabited places is 8,000 feet of eleva
tion. Fuel is obtained from small bushes and low scrub, including wormwood
which grow over the hills. The soil is very fertile for so hilly a country; the
crops are for the most part raised without irrigation, though there appears to be
a small area of such cultivation in the valleys and glens. The higher parts
are almost too cold for wheat, but barley is successfully cultivated everywhere,
and the Hazaras rely on barley and pulses for their food supply. In the lower
and warmer valleys beans, melons, coarse rice, maize and tobacco are raised, and
fruit is grown. The climate is Very severe in winter, snow often falls at harvest,
about the beginning of October, but this fall is only slight, though it may do
much damage to the grain. Heavy falls take place in December, and the greater
part of the country is impassable for several months ; snow lies on the ground
for five months at the head waters of the river elsewhere for four months*
After the melting of the snow in April there is a month or six WefekS of
rain, when the clayey soil saturated with moisture renders travelling very diffi
cult, and all the streams are in flood. In the summer and autumn from May
or June to the end of September the climate is magnificent.
From Major Maitland’s graphic accounts we learn that the mountains
, rvi» jo j drainedbythe upper waters of the Farah
The sources of the Farah Rud and Harud Rod. 1-. ✓ i 1 fr 1 t-T/ i t- 1 .
Rud and Harud Rud he between 7,000 and
8,000 feet of elevation, the highest point of the country being at the sources of
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