back to our quarters, a message was sent us, saying
that the passes into Kafiristan were not open just then; our reply was
that in that case we should return immediately to India. He then sent
for Sahib Gul, and eventually it was decided that I should defer my
visit to the Kafirs till some of their leading men should arrive, and
_ad interim_ I might pay a visit to the Dura Pass. No European had
hitherto been along this route, and thinking some information might be
collected, and notes on the geography of the route taken, I agreed,
though affecting disgust, and started on the 13th of May for Shali.

Andarthi was our next halting place; the fort commands the entrance
into the Arkari Valley; at the head of the valley are the three passes,
Agzam, Khartiza, and Nuksan, over the Hindu Kush, leading into
Badakshan, and a little below the Ozur Valley, which takes its rise
from the Tirach Mir Mountain, whose elevation is deduced
trigonometrically by Colonel Tanner to be 25,426 feet, presenting a
magnificent view.

The dorsal ridge of the Hindu Kush has here a mean elevation of some
16,000 feet, and this great mountain of Tirach Mir stands on a
southward spur from the main range from which it towers up thus 9,000
feet above the latter. The head of the Dura Pass, which leads to Zebak
and Ishkashim, is a little over 14,000 feet, the ascent being very
gradual and quite feasible for laden animals; but owing to the people
of Munjan and the Kafirs in the Bogosta Valley, traders prefer the
route _via_ the Nuksan Pass, which, as its name denotes, is much more
difficult. Neither pass is open for more than three months in the year.

In this valley between Daroshp and Gobor, I noticed several detached
oval ponds, evidently artificial, which I was told were constructed for
catching wild geese and ducks during their annual flight to India just
before the winter sets in, _i.e._, about the middle of October. The
plan adopted, though rude, is unique in its way, and is this:--By the
aid of narrow dug trenches, water from the running stream is let into
the ponds and turned off when full; the pond is surrounded by a stone
wall high enough to allow a man, when crouching, to be unobserved; over
and across one-half or less of this pond a rough trellis-work of thin
willow branches is put up: the birds on alighting are gradually driven
under this canopy, and a sudden rush is made by those on the watch.
Hundreds in this manner are daily caught during t