The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume XVI, No. 6 [‎376v] (105/232)

678 ON THE AFGHAN FRONTIER: A RECONNAISSANCE IN SHUGNAN.
services, which we were glad to accept. The night passed anxiously for all of us.
When day broke we set about doing what we could to fortify our position, am
to get reliable information as to the intentions of the Afghans. ow serious our
position really was, may be judged from the fact that, two days afterwards, the
Afghans came to within a mile from us, and several times fired at us.
°With July 28 began a series of wearisome days and nights, when we expecte
an attack at any moment. We had meanwhile received some reinforcements,
which put us on a more business-like footing, and enabled us to organize a more
satisfactory defence of the camp; but, nevertheless, we were not able to breathe
freely until August 13, i.e. seventeen days later, when General Yonov arrived with
a fresh detachment of infantrj* and cossacks. .
On the following day, early in the morning, the Afghans, having learnt of the
arrival of our reinforcements, hastily retreated first to Itosh-kala, and then further-
back to the left side of the Panj to the fortress Kala-i-Bar-Panja. As they had
destroyed in transit the bridge over the Shakh-Dara at Kosh-kala, and the full
state of the river rendered fording impossible, our detachment could only move on
to rejoin the Gund river reconnoitring party on August 20, by which date the
bridge had been roughly repaired by the Tajiks. We were now penetrating into a
country more and more under cultivation, but many of the fields had been either
burnt or trodden down by the Afghans, to revenge themselves on the proprietors
for going over to the Russians.
The fortress Rosh-kala, near which the detachment crossed to the right side of
the Shakh-Dara, stands on a steep cliff. The south part of the cliff, which faces the
river, rises to 1500 and even 2000 feet above the surrounding country. From
this side Rosh-kala is quite inaccessible, but from the east and west sides it is,
though with great difficulty, accessible. The north side (aces the mountains on
the right bank of the river, and is the weakest; but the fortress walls, made of
stone, mount here to a great height. This cliff was the scene of the execution of the
last independent ruler of Shakh-Dara, Mir Atam Bek, and his numerous followers,
who fought for their independence against the Shugnan ruler, Abdurhaim Khan.
By order of the latter these unfortunate men were precipitated from the height of
the cliff and dashed to pieces on the stones lying at the cliff’s base. Rosh-kala has
many shelters erected for men and horses. Having taken advantage of these, the
Afghans had ensconced themselves to their own comfort and convenience, and we
had many bitter regrets for not having arrived before them. An immense vista of
surrounding country can be seen from this cliff, and the kishlags, picturesquely
scattered on both sides of the Shakh-Dara, viewed from the great eminence, look
like small toys.
The nearer we approached the mouth of the Shakh-Dara, the denser grew the
papulation, and the more comfortable the roads. The two rivers, Shakh-Dara and
Gund, on joining, form the river Kharokh, which runs its course of about 3 to 4
miles, and then joins the river Wakhan Daria, thus forming the river Panj. The
valley of the Kharokh is cultivated in sections belonging to different proprietors,
who separate their lands from each other by small stone walls.
To get over to the right side of the Kharokh one has to cross the Gund by a
bridge situated a few thousand yards from the place where the Gund joins the Shakh-
Dara.
Having joined the Gund reconnoitring expedition here, the whole detachment
took up its position in several gardens 2 or 3 miles from the mouth of the
Kharokb, and remained here until September 15, waiting for further orders. The
interval was spent in reconnoitring the country, also the roads down the Panj to
Itoshan, and to the locally celebrated ruby-mines; and also in studying the Tajiks,