‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [‎75r] (148/949)

The summit, however, could easily he reached by a 1 —20 zis-zag, if
necessary, and beyond it there is absolutely no obstacle to a railway.
Moreover, this outlying range tails out to nothing in a northerly direction
amom* the sandhills of the Uegistan, and it is in that direction that the
permanent alignment should be looked for. Before, therefore, any detailed
surveys of the Umbai Pass should be attempted, an endeavour should be made
to turn the mountains by the route shown on the plan. I am sorry that I
cannot speak more definitely of this bit of the alignment, but my guide knew
of no path through the sandhills by which I could follow the dotted line, and
reioin the camp at Galur. It was all waterless sandhills, he said, and, as a
fact, he knew nothing of the country. I examined the range for about 8 miles
north of our line of march, and, the further I went, the lower grew the moun
tains, and the worse grew the sand. There was nothing formidable, however, in
the sandhills from a liailway Engineer’s point of view, so far as the limits of
my investigation took me, and the mountains appeared to tail out entirely.
An alternative pass from Gazi Chah to Galur, along another caravan
road south of Umbai, of which my surveyor took a section, was much more
difficult than the Umbai route.
Up to this point Zahro and Kani may be regarded as obligatory points
within limits, but the only really obligatory point between Nushki and the
Helmand is the spot selected for crossing this patch of sand and foothills.
From Galur at the head of the pass we descended to the Helmand in
three parties by as many lines of march as has already been mentioned. I
took the longest with the main body, as it seemed the least likely way to
attract attention. Our road ascended gradually over open stony glacis and
dasht for 55 miles to Mamu, along the northern flank of the Cbageh range.
NearinMamu were some wide and rather deep nulla-beds, elsewhere the
country was easy. Thence we turned N. W. and descended to the Helmand
for 74 miles on a general falling gradient of from 1—100 to 1—80.. With the
exception of a few miles of low insignificant sandhills on each side of Jalal
Khan’s Nawar, and the final ridge overlooking the Khadir of the Helmand,
which will require a little contouring, the country is stony plain on which the
rails could almost be laid direct. A railway, of course, would not take so
unnecessarily circuitous a route as this (for the caravan road is compelled
to follow a line of springs and wells at the foot of the mountains), and ascend
1,000 feet to Mamu, merely to descend again, but would keep much lower down
on the glacis, probably to the south of Arbu hill. If our objective were
Khwaja Ali, and not Landi Wali Muhammad Khan, a suitable alignment could
thus be obtained, via Arbu and Jalal Khan’s Nawar.
Mr. Ward’s road to Landi Wali Muhammad, after traversing a few miles
of low hills below Galur, emerged on a stony dasht bounded on the right by the
western fringe of the Kegistan. The level expanse of the plain was broken by
steep ridges about 40 or 50 feet high, not unlike the banks of some ancient
river or lake. Between the ridges the dasht dropped slightly to the Helmand,
but the main fall occurred at these ridges. The total fall was, however, very
much less than via Mamu, and only amounted to 1,400 feet in 80 miles. From
Mr. Ward’s description of the country, and from Mr. Tate’s account of the
intermediate route, I believe that the best alignment for a railway would be
in the general direction shown dotted on the plan. It would probably avoid a
rather abrupt rise of 250 feet in four miles, with a corresponding fall a little
further on, which is the one objectionable feature in an alignment directly
following Mr. Ward’s route from Alungi Pat. I am told that it would follow
what appears to be an old wide nulla-bed almost throughout. However that
may be, it is quite clear that there is no serious difficulty in reaching the
Helmand from Galur. Further, I am of opinion that, after taking all circum
stances into consideration, strategic and commercial, Landi Wali Muhammad,
at the great bend in the river from south to west, should be our objective, if
ever a railway from Nushki to the Helmand be undertaken. It is the shortest
route, gets to inhabited country first, traverses the minimum of desert and
the maximum of cultivation (though that cultivation is only a tenth of what
it might be), and offers facilities for an extension up the river bank to Girishk,