Communications through Wakhan and Gharan still preserve their primitive character; but between Kala Panja and Kala Bar Panja, on the Afghan side of the river, there is a serviceable track which, if more a bridle path than suited for the requirements of wheeled traffic, is none the less superior to anything existing between these points on the Russian bank. The Russians have not troubled to make a clearance along the banks of the river, their principal objective having been to connect their military depôts in the Pamirs with the principal fords of the Upper Oxus and to provide first-class communications between their Pamir posts and their bases in Turkestan. The Afghan line of communications on the banks of the river proceeds from the energy and precautions taken by Abdur Rahman. Although no longer preserved with the same care, it nevertheless offers to the Afghan patrols a convenient road by which the frontier may be inspected. At many points along this riverside paths have been cleared of boulders, streams have been bridged and ramps have been constructed to facilitate the passage of the more troublesome spurs. Difficulties of movement must beset the traveller in Wakhan at all times, as progress through the valleys is dependent on the season. During the melting of the snows, which begins in May, the rivers which draw their waters from the mountain system of the Hindu Kush or from the Pamirs are in flood, the period of flood-water prevailing until the end of August. From September to March it is usually possible to proceed along the banks; but, so soon as the snow begins to break up, the Panja in its higher, no less than in its middle, reaches becomes so swollen that the great volume of water passing through the channel breaks its bounds and inundates the valley. At such a time wide détours over the mountains have to be made; from the end of October the streams freeze and it becomes possible to use their frozen surfaces. Certain difficulties attend this practice, as the rapidity of the current interferes with the formation of the ice. [Illustration: DIFFICULT “GOING” _Photo, Olufsen_]