The country between Jelalabad and the Khyber is well cultivated, and there are many villages on both sides of the river; but a good deal of ground is allowed to lie idle which could be made profitable, and the reason for this is, no doubt, that there are no cheap means of carrying produce for sale in India, and the people have no incentive to grow more than is sufficient for their own consumption. The soil is very productive, and most of the cereals, fruits, etc., suitable for a hot climate, grow well. The heat during the summer months is great, though not so much so as in the Peshawar district. It is, however, quite hot enough to render riding over that part of the country a very trying experience; and I remember when travelling up once in June how my mouth became so parched that I dare not let my tongue touch the roof of the mouth, as I was afraid it would stick there and choke me, and I was ready to drink from any of the stinking wells we came to, to get relief. Fortunately there was no cholera about at the time, or I might have fared worse, for no thought of disease would have deterred me from drinking. The temperature is made more trying than it would be because the rocks absorb the heat of the sun and become very hot, and the heat given out by them, together with that of the sun, makes the narrow defiles here and there feel like ovens, and they are so stifling that breathing more resembles gasping, until they are left behind, when the hot wind of the plains comes as a perfect relief after what has been gone through. “Like unto the shadow of a great rock in a dry land” has a fuller meaning to those who travel in such places. The route from Kabul to Peshawar is the shortest and the recognized one for those who travel to India. There are other roads which might be used to get there; but even if one had the opportunity of using them, there are few who would care to prolong the time spent on the journey by electing to travel that way. When the last day’s journey through Afghan territory brings one at last to the point where British territory begins, the line of demarcation is readily defined. Up to the point where the Afghan rule extends, one travels over the country as Nature made it, and the way is strewn with rocks and boulders, which are allowed to lie in the path, and necessitate the horses walking round, or in and out between them, and making them traverse thereby a much longer distance than a clear road would give. But from that point where British authority begins, there is a smooth graded road, which leads one high up over the hills and mountains of the Khyber to Lundi Kotal, and thence through the difficult mountain country of the Pass, and on into Peshawar, with gradients so easy that one can take a dog-cart and drive at a sharp trot the whole of the distance, and cover ground in a few hours which, on the Afghan side of the frontier, takes a long day’s tedious riding to get over. INDEX A