11th.—Entered the pass which is at first wide, with a gradual ascent, but which soon becomes narrowish, with a good though gradual and easy ascent: the mountains are of no height, and they are not generally precipitous: no limestone, but much clay slate occurs. The ravine up which we passed, or rather watercourse, was well stocked with Xanthoxylon, some of large size as to the diameter of trunk, but very stumpy: water is found not far from the entrance: some cultivation also occurs and one large walled village, Dera Abdoollah Khan, lay to our left. Not much change in the vegetation: Xanthoxylon is almost entirely confined to ravines, Cerasus common, and one or two other prickly shrubs, and a Ruta, Onosma, Linarea, coming into flower, are among the novelties.
We encamped where the pass becomes narrow, and the ascent steep, and where water is plentiful, but the stream being soon absorbed does not appear to run down the main ravine at this season.
12th.—Halted, to make the road where the main ascent commences about 400 yards from our camp, and which is about 300 feet high; thence there is a descent, and afterwards an ascent to about 600 feet above the camp, whence the low plains of Candahar are visible, as well as the range to the north of which Candahar stands. The road is good compared with places elsewhere to be seen, and for common traffic on camels may be easy enough; but for guns, it is steep and difficult. The way it has been made by the Engineers is admirable and rapid; three other passes without roads, and in their rude natural state are as yet to be crossed. The pass here is narrow, none of the hills rise more than 1,000 feet above it, they are easily accessible, and are composed chiefly of clay slate. Chikores are frequent. The cuckoo was heard to-day, as well as a beautifully melodious titmouse, with a black crown: a fine eagle, or falcon was seen.
The hills are as usual barren, all the shrubs are thorny, and all the plants unsocial, never coalescing into any thing like groups. The Xanthoxylon is found throughout in ravines up to nearly 7,000 feet, the utmost height of the pass. Fraxmus of Chiltera also occurs, Cerasus primus, in abundance, Cerasus alius, tertius, not uncommon, Berberis! here and there in ravines, Equisetoides, Caraganoides altera; the most common shrubs of any size are Cerasus primus. The other shrubs consist of the low customary Compositæ, and Astragaleæ, Umbelliferæ are common, among which last the Nari, a species of Assafœtida occurs? A beautiful Iris is common, as well as tufts of Berberideæ, Asphodelus major, and which is much eaten when cooked as a turkaree by our hungry followers, Eryngioides, Aconitoides, a Valeriana, three new small Veronicæ, small Cruciferæ, Silenaceæ, Boragineæ, and Labiatæ, form the bulk of the herbaceous vegetation. An Arenarioid, Muscoid, Cruciferæ, common at the head of the pass. A large Acanthoid leaved Umbellifera, a Rheoides papillis verrucosum, this is a true Rheum, and when cultivated becomes the Ruwash of the Affghanistans; it is very common on the Candahar face of the pass, particularly about Chokey, where it is in flower.
13th.—Proceeded to Chokey, not quite four miles. The top of the pass may be reached by three or four passes. I went by one to the right, which is easy enough, and the descent from which is much better adapted for camels than the made road, which is very steep, with two sharp turns, but soft. The descent thence is gradual, down one of the ordinary ravines, well clothed with the usual shrubs and Xanthoxylon: our camels were a good deal fagged, but more from the halt at the pass, where some cathartic plant abounds and weakens them very much, than fatigue. The view from the top of the pass is very extensive: the plains are seen to have nearly the same level, and are divided here and there very frequently to north-east and north, by the ordinary mountains.
14th.—Halt; water here is not abundant, and is obtained from driblets and pools; around these, the surface is covered with a rich sward, which affords fine fodder for a small number of horses. In the swampy spots, Beccabunga, Anagallis, Mentha, Carex, Glaux, apparently identical (so far as a memory of 7 years may be trusted,) with the English plant, the small variety of Leontodon, Medicaginoides, Phleum, and the very small Amaranthoid, Polygonea, occur.
The hills around Chokey, and below it are rounded, those towards the pass being more steep. They are covered with Centaurea fruticosa, and C. spinosa, a favourite food of camels when it has young shoots, Santonica, Statice, all of which grow precisely as before, Boragineæ, Compositæ, Labiatæ, and Papilionaceæ, are the predominant forms, and mostly of the same type: I observe a tendency among Boragineæ to have cup-shaped nuts. Generally speaking, the plants are the same as those before found. Rheas, Papaver, Glaucium purpureum, especially the two last are common, Labiata salvoides, Iris persica, and crocifolia (rare), Trichonema, Gentiana, Alyssoides.
The novelties were Rheum, Silena fruticosa, Linaria, Ruta, Astragalina, 2 small Silenaceæ, Iris, Glaucium aureo-croceum, a beautiful Boragineæ with cup-shaped nut, Lotoides, an Hippophaoid looking shrub, Scrophularia sp. singulous, Malthioloids spiralis, Allium, Glaux, Nitella, etc. (See Catalogue 482 to 516.) Graminea very common, Rottboellia and Anthistiria, 2 curious forms, the other more northern, Umbelliferæ common, Nari much less so than on the south face.
The vegetation of the summit which is nearly 7,000 feet, and of peaks which rise 600 to 700 feet above the pass, has no change, except the abundance of Cruciferæ and Muscoides; Cerasus is the chief shrub; Thymelæus frutex occurs at 6,500 feet. The prevailing rock is clay slate.
16th.—Marched to Dund-i-Golai, distance fifteen miles, we first descended gradually to the plain, and then traversed this until we skirted some low hills, about one and a half mile, from which a pool of water was situated, where we halted, and which was fed by a small cut coming from some distance. The road was very good throughout, the water-cuts although not unfrequent, being either shallow or skirting the left of the road. The vegetation continued the same as about Chokey, until the plains were reached, but the prickly shrub, habitu Berberidioides, became more common in the water-cuts below than I had seen it before, while Santonia, Centaurea spinosa, and the plants of Chokey, disappeared as we reached the plain, except some few herbaceous forms, which continued throughout. I was much indisposed during this march, and for the time we halted at Dund-i-Golai, a period of four days, was unable to go out, but Capt. Sanders and my people brought me many novelties, which I have not yet noted down. The chief vegetation of the plain is Salsola tertia, the surface is level and firm, clothed with scattered Salsola and a few stunted herbaceous plants, among which a yellow Centaureoid, a Crucifera siliquis junioribus clavati 4-gonis, were the most common, there was also a curious Thiscoid looking plant. A considerable change commenced about the low hills, a Thymelæus shrub, some curious grasses, an Erodium, a Santonica, occupying the places of the former shrubs, and Dipsacus or Scabiosa becoming very common. The height of this place is about 4,040 feet, the climate most variable. Fahr. thermometer 48° to 105° in single roofed tents. No cultivation seen, a pool of water is situated near the hill, and a little is reported as situated half-way between this place and Chokey, this however I did not see. The country is much parched up, and bears every appearance of always having been so; no remains of tanks, villages, etc. visible. Painted partridges were seen; and the eggs of a large bird like a plover? The wind inclining to be hot, but it is cool up to 7½ or 8 A.M.