mile and a half further we
had gone as low as 2,500 feet on a wide plain with undulations. The rocky
mountain, when seen edgewise from a distance, had appeared like a tower;
now, on approaching it on its broad side, its silhouette altered its
semblance into that of an elongated crouching lion.

Great quantities of gypsum could be seen in layers under the sand and
fragments that covered the surface. In places the ground was quite white
as if with snow. The track, until we had passed the isolated "lion"
mountain (about 20 miles from Mukak), maintained a direction of east,
east-south-east, and south-east, but about a mile further, it turned
sharply northwards in a bed of soft sand, between sand mounds to the
north-east and a sand bank facing north, the top of which, full of humps,
was not unlike a crocodile's back.

To the right we had an open space where one got a view of the desert and
mountains to the south, and then we wended our way, in zig-zag, among
sand hills bearing no unusual characteristics, and travelled across a
very sandy plain with clusters of _regheth_ here and there.

This was one of the worst bits of the Robat-Nushki road. The sand was
troublesome and the track absolutely obliterated by it in this portion.
Twenty-three miles, 660 yards from Mukak we arrived at Sahib Chah, a spot
which no traveller is ever likely to forget, especially if a few drops of
water from one of the wells are tasted. When the road was made it was
very difficult to find drinkable water in this part, and this
well--renowned all over Beluchistan and Sistan for its magic powers--has
up to the present time been the only successful attempt; but I understand
from Captain Webb-Ware, who is in charge of the road, that he hopes to
find or has found water further north, on the other side of the hill
range, and that in future the traveller will be spared the good fortune
of visiting this heavenly spot.

Most attractive iron troughs had been brought here and placed near the
four wells, and up-to-date wooden windlasses had been erected on the edge
of each well--conveniences that were not quite so common at the stations
we had already passed. This may lead the unwary traveller to believe that
the water of these wells must have some special charm.

One well was, fortunately, absolutely dry. The water of two was so
powerful in its lightning effects that unfortunate was the wretch who
succumbed to the temptation of tasting it; while the water of