From Girdi Tallao the road proceeds to Tilleri through a cultivated valley, always bordered by the bare hills. At Tilleri there is another rest-house built on the same pattern, but possessing the luxury of windows in the lower storey. After leaving Tilleri the road is level for the first few miles as far as the Sherinab stream. It then rises gradually for the ascent of the Barak pass, where there is a litter of rubble and stones and the ground is very much broken. Beyond the pass, in the vicinity of Murad Khan Killah, the valley spreads out to a level plain with sandy, well-cultivated soil—for Baluchistan. Up to this point in this stage there is not a vestige of a tree nor yet a camel-thorn bush; even the water is brackish. Moreover signs of agricultural activity do not continue. Soon after leaving Murad Khan the route lies across stony, uneven ground until the Kishingi valley is reached. Here the soil is once more sandy; camel-thorn abounds, and in spring there is the glow of crimson tulips. Beyond Kishingi, the road descends into the Nushki plain by a long, steep pass.

It has not been possible for Nushki to avoid the prosperity which follows in the train of the caravan. At the present moment it is an active but unfortunate settlement. Built at the foot of the hills which bound it on the north and only 2 or 3 miles from the range separating it from Kishingi, the winds from the west, sweeping along the plain to the hills and then eddying back again carrying clouds of dust, catch Nushki both ways. Although very seriously exposed and lying on the edge of the desert which stretches away westwards to the Helmund, there are evidences in the country around of attempts at agriculture. Irrigation is practised and the trickle of water from the Kaisar stream has been augmented by the careful sinking of wells, until the present state of Nushki is in near relation with that which seems to have existed many generations ago. On the top of a low spur of hills which runs south across the valley, where was once a Baluchi fort, now stands an ugly mud-coloured, flat-roofed bungalow, the traveller’s rest-house. The hill on which it is built is very stony and absolutely bare of vegetation. On its southern aspect is a pebbly water-course into which the water, after running close to the bazaar and supplying two cattle-fords, dribbles scantily. The water-course is a favourite place for the disposal of dead camels and donkeys; while the unwholesome little river, the germ-bearer of many maladies, serves to turn three rather primitive waterwheels for the grinding of wheat and barley. In the clay soil along the edges of the stream myriads of tiny mauve irises grow during spring, with here and there scarlet and yellow tulips.

The bazaar is somewhat uninteresting, for it has been built by a British officer in uncompromisingly straight lines. Of course it is all made of mud; the roofs are flat and there are no balconies or verandahs because wood is scarce. So also there are no white Hindu temples and shady peepul trees, no domed mosques and stately-arched gateways, no strings of chillies strung across the shop fronts crimsoning in the sun. There is no touch of colour anywhere; even the people seem to be clad in dirty white or dusty indigo-blue.

A wide street leads through the centre of the bazaar, and upon it are set two rows of one-storey mud-shops. Nearly all belong to Hindu bunnias from Shikarpur. Their effects are chiefly sacks of grain and Manchester cotton goods, a few native-made long overcoats, waistcoats broidered with gold or silver thread and the peaked Afghan kullah or semi-conical cap, worn in the centre of the puggaree. At the end of this thoroughfare are the police lines, post office and some attempts at a military cantonment in which the local levy is quartered. The population is liable to fluctuation. Three years ago there were 250 people and rather more than 200 houses, of which 120 were shops; but any estimate to-day would need to be much greater, as the numbers of the population have doubled. This increase is due primarily to the growing popularity of the Nushki-Seistan route and an influx of people who were concerned in the construction of the Quetta-Nushki railway. The completion of this work, which was opened to traffic on November 15, 1905, when a tri-weekly service was initiated, will probably cause the abandonment of the present position which Nushki occupies. The soil there has been infected by epidemics of cholera, and enteric is endemic among the villagers.

The actual terminus of the line has been placed 10 miles further on in the open valley, where there is both water and a better situation. There is little doubt that ultimately the preference of the caravans and the merchants will be given to the spot where the station premises are already located.

Work upon the railway began in the summer of 1902, when the difficulties which it presented were not formidable. The cost of construction has been but little more than half a million sterling. The line, which is 83 miles in length, branches off from the North-Western railway to Quetta above the Bolan pass, 3 miles from Shezand station and 12 miles short of Quetta itself, at a height of 5864 feet. The stations constructed on the line are very well appointed, far better than those upon the Bolan or Humai systems. They reflect the greatest credit on the engineers. They are as follows:

In general, Mr. Woodside may be congratulated upon the successful termination of his labours. Certain features in the construction are novel and create a somewhat daring precedent, as bridges have been built only over the large streams. Across the smaller streams the line runs, so that in heavy storms it may be washed away and the service dislocated. The experiment may prove troublesome, and it will be interesting to see how the system answers; with small traffic it may be a success. For a long time there will be little traffic beyond the Mastang district, although there is likely to be a large trade from there during the hot weather. The investigations of the engineers have proved that in all the valleys water is everywhere within practicable distance, under 150 feet generally. Where there was desolation before, and where it was not believed possible to find water, plentiful springs have been tapped.

Splendid work has been done by two young engineers, fresh from Scotland, Mr. Slee and Mr. Young. In two years or less these young men have learned the languages generally spoken by the workmen, and in dealing with the tribesmen, who numbered some thousands, they have had neither difficulty nor opposition. Their lives cannot be said to have been lonely. Day and night they were busy, orders or instructions being incessantly solicited, while their words were law in settling the disputes that so frequently arose between the tribesmen.

With the advent of the railway to Nushki, that place now becomes the starting-point of the great Indo-Perso overland caravan route. Prior to 1896, the existence of certain questions of a political nature prevented any definite steps being taken towards the construction of a trade-way between Seistan and Nushki. The Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman, whose fiscal policy was well calculated to stifle trade, was in occupation of the Chageh district, through which lay the direct route from Nushki to Seistan. It was eminently desirable that a change should be effected in the ownership of this district. In accordance with the Agreement of 1893, drawn up between Sir Mortimer Durand and Abdur Rahman, the Chageh district was assigned to the British sphere. In the following years, 1894-6, a Boundary Commission under Captain McMahon occupied itself in demarcating the frontier of Afghanistan south of the Helmund and up to Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah; in 1895, by agreement with the Shah, a second Commission under Colonel Holdich proceeded to define the Perso-Baluch frontier between Kohak and Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah—a distance of 300 miles. So soon as these two missions had completed their labours, Captain Webb Ware was appointed the Assistant Political Officer and was placed in charge of the stretch of country which had accrued to the Government of India as the result of the demarcation, Major Trench proceeding to Seistan. Captain Webb Ware at once set himself to work upon plans for the creation of a trade route between Seistan and Nushki, the good fortune which had attended his earlier efforts being carried a stage further in 1900, when the interests of the Khan of Kelat in the Nushki district were bought out at a perpetual quit-rent of 9000 rupees per annum. Success has been pronounced; and both the character and complexion of this barren region have been transformed. No more difficult country could have been found for development. In the days before the road was started the region was the home of roving parties of Baluchi and Afghan ruffians who periodically sallied forth to plunder passing caravans. Further, heat, the absence of water and the dangers of the journey to India over long desert stretches, militated against its adoption. Only at rare intervals did a caravan attempt the venture.