'Notes on Persian Seistan' [‎30r] (64/142)

NOTES ON PERSIAN SEISTAtf.
49
existed, and have even necessitated a new channel being dug for the
Kud-i-Seistan, or Seistan branch of the Helmund, in its course through this
( istnct, These sandhills are of soft, fine sand, and would prevent the move
ment or wheeled artillery or transport.
Sheb-i-Ab. I his is the most extensively cultivated and thickly populated
Sheb.i-Ab. district in Seistan. The soil is uniformly
excellent, entirely free from either sand or
tamarisk, and is practically all under cultivation. The number of yoke of
oxen told off to each plough is here greater than elsewhere and the 'yield of
each plough of ground, by which all calculations in Seistan are made is
gieater than in other districts. As a result, the number of canals is great
many of the large villages having a broad and deep canal of their own, lead-’
ing direct from the Rud-i-Sheb-i-Ab, as the Rud-i-Seistan is here called,
with subsidiary watercuts branching off to all the smaller villa°-es.
The difficulty of movement is consequently great, and is increased by the
soil becoming very heavy and sticky after rain or floods. Extensive brido-ino-
operations ot a minor kind, for which there is no material close at hand, would
be necessary in order to make a road through this district.
ROUTES.
There is nothing at all resembling a road in Seistan, though there are
a number of tracks along the routes mainly used by the Seistanis which
except in the few places where there are fords, are provided with narrow
bridges sufficiently strong to bear, at most, a single loaded camel. For
wheeled artillery or transport to be able to move, it would be necessary to
bridge the required roads throughout, in which case it would he as easy to do
this directly between any two points desired as along the existing'tracks,
which are usually circuitous. Except in the localities about to be enumerated*
there is nothing to prevent the movement of wheeled ariillery or transport
anywhere in the inhabited area, when the canals had been bridged.
Consequently the negative method of pointing out tracts of country to he.
avoided, if possible, will prove more useful than enumerating the existing
tracks. ° &
The former from north to south are as follows
Mianfcangi, —The country lying- to the south of Burj-i-Mirgul as far as
the Band-i- Parian. The tamarisk jungle is
Miankangi. here high and dense, and the ground liable
to severe floods.
Pusht-i-Ab. From Deh Masti Khan, near which village the Rud-i-
Fusht-i-Ab. Hasinki, the main Pusht-i-Ab canal, separates
-• i. _ _ into a dozen different channels, in a north
westerly direction for about three miles. Here there is a network of canals
lying close to one another, which would require bridging, for which purpose
there is no timber close at hand. r '
Mahal-i-Nahrui.—Thv country at the foot of the Shahristan hill extend •
Mahal-i-NTahrui. ^og about a mile in all directions except
t . south, Ihe tamarisk is here dense, and the
ground much inundated during flood time.
Mahal-i’Sharaki. — r lhe tract of country lying between the villages of
Bah i am a bad, Kbamak, Burj-i-Sarband,
Kala-i-Nau, Dashtak, and Kala-i-Kang
E
Mahal-i- Sharaki,