BRIDGE OVER THE UPPER OXUS
The bulk of the tributary streams of the Panja river is found between Langar Kisht and Namagut, the presence of the Hindu Kush glaciers being the source of an extensive water-supply draining into the river. The length of these streams seldom exceeds 15 kilomètres and the more general course is one of 10 kilomètres. Their period of greatest activity is at the time of the summer floods, when the ice melts and the heavy snows are broken up. At such a moment a large volume of water sweeps through their shallow channels carrying with it huge boulders, masses of ice, many tons of snow and running with too great force to present facilities for fording. North from Ishkashim the tributaries of the Panja diminish both in number and size. The rivers flowing from the Badakshan mountains and the streams from the southern valleys of the Pamirs are, save in one or two important instances, flood-water and dependent upon the break-up of the snows and ice. The most important exception is the Bartang, which is known as Murghab, Ak-tash and Ak-su. This river is certainly the longest tributary of the Panja in Roshan district. In the course of its descent from Lake Chakmaktin it receives no less than eight tributaries, three of which approach it from the north—the remaining five rising in small, separate streams in the hilly ground to the south. The Bartang is not the only river of importance which unites with the Panja after the main stream has swung out from the Wakhan valley towards the north. Two others, respectively the Ghund Daria and the Shakh Daria, join their waters at Sazan Bulak, flowing from that point under the name of Suchan Daria to a junction with the Panja. The waters of the Suchan Daria and the Panja meet at Charog, which lies on the right bank of the Panja somewhat south and east of Kala Bar Panja. This place, situated on the left bank, is the capital of Shignan.
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.
Photo, Olufsen
DIFFICULT “GOING”
The passage through the river valleys, particularly in the higher reaches along the Russian border, is always arduous. It is better to secure permission to go round than to endure the labour of clambering up the many steep mountain slopes where there is no path to guide one and very little foothold. It is practically useless to take animal transport, and coolies lightly laden are more reliable a means of effecting the journey. Beyond Ishkashim, as far as the junction of the Suchan Daria with the Panja, a distance of 50 miles, the river valley is so broken and complex that the road, where it exists at all, becomes a mere zigzag, half a dozen inches in breadth. Rugged and lofty, it is barely perceptible on the granite face of the mountain. Frequently, no better footing than the surface roughness of the rocks presents itself, Nature appearing to have gone out of her way in order to raise obstacles against the passing of the wayfarer.