A long march--Karodak--Sandstorm--A salt
plain--Yadgar--Padag--Beluch huts--Fierce wind--Plants--Kuchaki
chah--Another double march--Mall--Two tracks--Peculiar cracks--A
gigantic geological fault--An old Beluch fort--Nushki.
Captain Webb-Ware having most kindly arranged to "dak" camels for me, I
was enabled to remain here one day by sending my own camels with loads
ahead, I proposing to catch them up by going three marches on January
27th. The distance was 54 miles 980 yards, and I covered it in nine
hours, which was quite good going.
"Sand mounts and high hill ranges were to the north and south, and the
track lay east-north-east (70° b.m.) with parallel sand ridges to the
north. Three long sand banks from 30 to 50 feet high, facing north,
accumulated by wind coming through gaps in the hills. To south, high
mountains as one approaches Karodak."
That is the only entry I find in my note-book for the march between
Dalbandin and Karodak (16 miles 380 yards). Here the camel that had been
sent ahead for me to ride to the next post-house had unluckily bolted,
and after wasting nearly an hour the Beluch were unable to capture him. I
bade good-bye to the _jemadar_ and his men, who had politely escorted me
thus far, and had to continue upon the same camel.
At Karodak (3,220 feet) there was a small _thana_ surrounded by sand
hills, with high tamarisks and good grazing for camels, but the water of
the wells was salt.
We trotted along in a terrific wind storm, with yellowish dust obscuring
everything like a fog, and went over numerous big stretches of mud and
salt, cracked by the sun in semicircles like the scales of a fish. Low
hills could now be perceived to north, south and east, when the wind
slightly abated and the dust settled down.
After crossing a sand ridge extending from north to south, we still going
east-north-east (70° b.m.), another large salt plain disclosed itself
before us. The old track went from this point towards the south, but the
new one was in a perfectly straight line. For the first time since
entering Beluchistan one began to see some little vegetation on the hill
sides, and a few high tamarisks could be noticed in the plain itself.
At Yadgar (altitude 3,100 feet) we found a four-towered _thana_, with one
_duffadar_, four sepoys, five _mari_ camels, and three wells of good
water, as well as a new bungalow, but I only remained just a few minutes
to change my belongings from Captain Webb-Ware's camel to mine, which
was waiting here for me, and speedily proceeded for Padag where, in a
terrible wind which had risen again after sunset, I arrived at eight
o'clock in the evening.
At Padag (3,080 feet) a number of semi-spherical Beluch huts, 4 to 5 feet
high, with domes thatched with tamarisk and palm leaves, were to be seen.
Most dwellings were in couples, enclosed in a circular wall for
protection against the wind as well as from the observation of intruders.
Although a cold wind was blowing fiercely at the time, and the
thermometer was only four degrees above freezing point, there were some
twenty children playing about perfectly naked, and they seemed quite
happy and comfortable.
From Padag we went across another plain of salt and mud, with _sorag_
grass and _drog_, two plants much cherished by camels. To the north of
our track was an extensive surface of salt deposits, extending from west
to east, which looked just as if the country were covered by snow.
Quantities of _eshwerk_--very pretty to look at when in flower, but most
poisonous--were now found, and _brug_, good for horses. There were three
parallel ranges of broken-up mountains on our south, and lots of
tamarisks on the south edge of the salt deposits. It was rather curious
that to the north of our track the vegetation consisted entirely of
_drog_ grass, whereas to the south there was only _eshwerk_.
A few yards from the track to the south we came upon a graveyard (a
Kabistan) with some fifteen or twenty graves. Water we had seen flowing
in two or three channels from the mountain to supply villages and forming
pools here and there. We passed between two mountains into another plain
with dried up _karankosh_ bushes, much liked by camels. Good grazing for
horses was to be found north, and extended as far as the foot of the
mountains.
[Illustration: Kuchaki Chah Rest House.]
[Illustration: Old Beluch Mud Fort near Nushki.]
Kuchaki Chah, an unroofed rest-house a few feet square--a photograph of
which can be seen in the illustration here appended--lies between two
high ranges of rocky mountains with high accumulations of sand to the
south-west and north-east respectively. The rugged mountains to the south
were called Bajin. Another shrub, _trat_, also much cherished by camels,
was plentiful here. Black precipitous rocks in vertical strata, splitting
into long slabs and blocks, were to be seen along the mountain range to
the South.
We had made another double march on that day, and reached Mall in the
middle of the night. Padag to Kuchaki Chah, 13 miles, 756 yards; Kuchaki
Chah to Mall, 15 miles, 1,154 yards. Total, 29 miles, 150 yards.
It was freezing hard, thermometer 28° Fahrenheit, and the wind bitterly
cold. My men felt it very much and so did my camels, which all became
ill.
We left Mall again very early the following morning, as I intended to
proceed direct to Nushki. There were two tracks here to Nushki, the old
and the new. The old track went in a straight line and was in
consequence some miles shorter; the new track more or less follows the
foot of the mountain range, probably taking this course for the
convenience of the several Beluch villages to be found in the Nushki
plain.
The rocky mountain range to the south got lower as we approached Nushki,
and was then crossed by another low range extending from north to south
while the longer and higher range stretched from north-north-east to
south-south-west. A few miles from Nushki we came across some most
peculiar and very deep cracks in the earth's crust. One could plainly see
that they were not caused by the erosion of water, but by a commotion
such as an earthquake. In fact, we came, soon after, to a place where the
whole sandy plateau had actually collapsed, and when we stood on the edge
of the portion which still remained unchanged, we could see it end
abruptly in perpendicular cliffs. What was the evident continuation of
the valley lay now some hundred or more feet below its former level. In
this lower valley there were a number of Beluch villages.
This crack and depression extends for no less than 120 miles, according
to Major MacMahon, who in 1896 went, I believe, along its entire length
into Afghan territory, and he describes it as "a well-defined, broad line
of deep indentations, in places as clearly defined as a deep railway
cutting. Springs of water are to be found along its course. The crack
extends north from Nushki along the foot of the Sarlat range, and then
diagonally across the Khwajah Amran range, cutting the crest of the main
range near its highest peak and crossing the Lora River. A well-marked
indentation was traceable at the edge of the plain near Murghachaman,
some 18 miles north of Chaman."
MacMahon states that the Beluch themselves attribute it to three
different earthquakes, of which accounts have been handed down by their
fathers, and at the time of which deep fissures appeared that have
subsequently extended. Major MacMahon adds that this crack marks the line
of a gigantic geological fault, with sedimentary rocks to the east of it
and igneous rocks to the west, and he believes, rightly, I think, that
the length of this fault line exceeds that of any other fault line yet
discovered.
On the upper plateau on which we travelled tamarisks altogether
disappeared for the last twenty miles or so, and _tagaz_ shrubs, varying
from one to six feet high, were practically the only plant we saw. In the
underlying plain tamarisk was most plentiful. Facing us on the mountain
side a white cliff could be seen from a a long distance, with a most
regular row of double black marks which looked exactly like windows.
On approaching Nushki we saw some patches of cultivation (wheat)--quite a
novelty to us, being the first crops of any extent we had seen since
leaving Sistan--and near at hand an old Beluch fort, of which a
photograph is given in the illustration. The fort possessed a picturesque
composite old tower, partly quadrangular, partly cylindrical.
We reached Nushki at night (31 miles, 1,320 yards from Mall).