'Military Report of the Nushki-Chagai-Western Sinjarani Country' [‎84v] (173/302)

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dye the trousers of their loved ones a beautiful red ; assafoetida, which
they use lor a relish and as a medicine ; and, lastly, there are many
springs of water in its recesses.
It is much frequented by Babars and Kakars, who come from Kan-
• dahar to take away the assafcetida ; after going about 12 miles we came
across the road by which they arrive from the Malik Dokand direction
carefully marked by heaps of stones. They come in parties of twenty
and thirty, about the end of March, and stay for three months or so
sending away the proceeds of their labour on camels. This fact is interest
ing and noteworthy, both as showing that there is a supply of water in
these months, and that the heat, though doubtless very great, is not so
bad, but that these people can vrork and travel in it. The names of the
P r , inc u ip ^ T P lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees J e . s there is water in the Koh-i-Sultan ridge are
Washab, kundi, Chakul, Padagi, Soru, and Gamichah.
The whole ground on the march was strewed with stone something
like a pumice stone, and called Sang-i-Purpok. It is used, so Mirza
informed me, for washing, and is very effective in removing dirt. One
o the peaks ol the Sultan range is very remarkable as seen from the east,
a iout 12 miles off. It is called Koh-i-Kansuri, and bears a resemblance
o the sphinx, at least close enough to seem as though a very little chisel-
^, n . ouc in g u p would make it exact. On approaching it, however,
n/f \ lsa PP^ ars > as we found the figure of the sphinx was formed
f 1 t rent 11 t( ? talI y opposite shape, which from a distance
seemed to be one. There is another really wonderful peak in the same
f me m -n V16W on the road ’ consisting of what looked
/•, 1 lu £ e P 1 . ar erected on west of one of its spurs; we
inn?f r f' 10 m, les off, and so of course hadnotsufficientoppor-
rarptnU 01 *!?" ln ^ ^ ' er y e ^ ac ^ description of it, but I had scanned it very
nf -mo ^ la P°" e . r ^ u ^ telescope and it looked as if it were the ruin
the 1 t ? we f s u whlch f ar f seen in various parts of Persia. Yet of
tn hp ft. C ° U 1 n< f one as it was of too enormous dimensions
be the work °f man. It is connected in the traditions of the wild
inhabitants w,th the wonderful Pir Kaisar and is called Niza-i-Sultan.
ir 1 V]l e, .^ a e e ^ uv ana Kaur, runs close under the east end of the
Koh-i-Su an and forms ain the desert." In 1903 it was found
flip u/ 1 u 1 ^ s P r, [ 1 ff s > rn cntioned, the water was undrinkable except in
j aS a in ' v ^ h lt: 18 on Jy salt. In the other springs the water is
impregnated with a kind of dye. r
Koh-i-Sultan and Kacha ranges appear for generations to have
f 6 , n ? mas er > ^ ie y are a no man’s land of ill repute, and the favoured
retreat of bands of badmashes, whose crimes and ill-deeds have driven
th^'djJf^f - ie S0 P! et y °J ^cir fellows. Though but sparsely inhabited
. ric f( . ls jeete*^ to continual raids. The chief, but by no means
fparp^l r’k° fi 0 u rC -*0^ ^ aman,s the Koh-i-Safed, whose name is
f f , 1 e . , at ^ arl Singh on the Peshawar frontier. The assurance
of these raiders is truly astonishing. Bands of from 5 to 25 raid with
impunity, coming from beyond the Persian frontier over an area
bounded by Mirui on the north, Galachah on the south and Dalbandin
c. pV. ^ ’ carr y in ff eff they can lay hands on ; if overpowered,
15 1°] t f r l° r t ^ ieir ” ai ” e inspires, their captors dare not chastise
. m an e t em go. Besides assafcetida the same barren range has