The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume IX, No. 4 [‎210v] (91/172)

408
THE SOUTHERN BORDERLANDS OF AFGHANISTAN.
supply, after much hard work in digging new wells, very scanty. It
would sometimes take the whole day to water our camp, as the small
wells soon were emptied, and took a long time to fill up again. At
night the water-skins for carrying on with us used to be filled, and it
sometimes took two or three nights to fill up all that were required for
the next waterless stage.
Marching via Darband and Amir Chah, we kept to the north of the
Koh-i-Sultan, Damodim, and other mountain ranges. At times our
journey lay through wide open level plains covered with black gravel,
at others we floundered our weary way through broad expanses of deep
sandhills which, near Amir fhah and other places, assumed the pro
portions of formidable sand-mountains. All the mountains we passed
were apparently volcanic; some, such as Damodim, retain their crater
form more than others. Lava, pumice-stone, and lava ash abound plenti
fully everywhere. These volcanoes have evidently long been inactive, but
some 90 miles to the south-west of them, and within the Persian border,
is a still active volcano, the Koh-i-Taftan, 12,600 feet high, of which
we occasionally caught glimpses on clear days. These mountains are
all being gradually covered up and buried in the sand, which is relent
lessly creeping further and further up their sides. Many are already
completely buried, and a high mountain of sand marks their burial-
place. Others have their black peaks just appearing out of the white
expanse of sand-slopes. Here and there a loftier mass still towers with
its black crags high above the devouring waste around, but the sand
banked up on their sides in places sometimes 1000 or 2000 feet above the
level of their base, foretells a similar fate in store for them. The general
effect of the scene they present is weird and unnatural in the extreme.
We experienced great difficulty from want of guides. Those few we
had were not all good. It is hard to realize the difficulty of finding
one’s way in a sandy desert even with experienced guides. Even in
the vast open stretches of flat plain the same difficulty exists; mirages
appear and lure one off the direction one should follow. It is not un
common for a guide to sit down on the march and refuse to go a foot
further, saying he sees nothing but water and trees all round, and that
his head is spinning round. At another time a sand-storm may get up,
and earth and sky become one moving mass of flying sand. It fares ill
at such times with any one who struggle even a few yards from the
line of march. Five minutes of a sand-storm would obliterate the deep
tiacks of an army corps. Some of our party had narrow escapes. On
one occasion three of our men were lost in a sand-storm. Two were
found in a critical condition after wandering about for two days without
water, and the third was found after being three days without food.
At another time one of our native surveyors, with a party of seven men,
failed to find our camp, and started off in a wrong direction, and their
guide deserted them. They fortunately hit upon water, and killed one