1 OOUNTEY "WEST OF THB HELMTJND.
2 tioned, in the parallell of Kellot e Abdooreheem. But. except in the
3 most northerly part of this natural division, these slopes are so modf»-
4 rate that the tract may with propriety be described as a wavy pium,
5 scattered with hills. It is not infertile, and in many places it is well
6 cultivated ; but, in general, it is tlry, and a large portion of it is lelt
7 waste for that reason. It is destitute of trees. The uncultivated parts
8 abound in buolies, which serve for fuel and for the food of caiuels, but
9 which do not form continued tracts of brushwood, such as are common
10 in India. The breadth of this valley is about sixty miles, and the
11 Imigthof diepart IhairedeacsribeduTeiy UttlemoiA HuiBbabitod
12 by Ghfljies.
13 Hie Urg^nndanb is^iies from the mouiituiis to the north of Kdauti
14 Ghtljie. From that river to the Udmund, i* » hilly oountcy, cnnnectfid
15 on the north with the Fuopamiaan mountainst end reaching nearly to
16 the paraUd'ofCandahar on the south. The aouthem part of this tiaet
17 ia unfertile. Tbe rest, in which are tnduded the districts of Khauk-*
18 nix, Laum, and perhaps some others, contains some fertile plains^
19 among hiUSf which bear al m ond and other trees.
20 The country round Candahar is fertile^ and highly cultivated. Still
21 fiuther soothe it is poor, and becomes more so as it extends west | so
22 that, for many marches towards the left bank of the Uelmund, it Is a
23 complete desart. Both banks of the Helmund, however, are fertile,
24 and compose the country of (lurmsecr. Its limits on the east and
25 west are formed by the desart ; on the south it has Seestaun, and on
26 the north thr- part of the Doorraunoe countrv, lower down the Hel-
27 - mimd than dirishk. This, and the countiy round Girishk, are fertile,
28 near the Helmund. At a distance from the river it is sandy, but not a
29 desart* Still further up the river, on its right bank, lies the rich coun-
30 try of Zemeendawir, which has the I'aropamisan niountain.s on the
31 north, and some bills connected with that range are found within its
32 limits. This fine country exteiub for fer^ or fifty miles to the west of
33 theHdmund. To the nocthFweat of Zemeendawir, lies the oonnlay of
34 Seeahhund, dong thefeot of the Paiopamisan mountains.. It is nat»>.
35 II
36 Digitized by Google