harge of the mission.

On looking at the map, one might, if unaware of certain important
circumstances, be led rashly to believe that the natural geographical
boundary between Beluchistan and Afghanistan is along the course of the
river Halmund, or else that it should follow the watershed of the chain
of mountains extending, from west to east, from the Malek Siah, the Lahr
Kuh, the Kacha Kuh, Mirjawa or Saindak Mountains, to the mountain mass
extending as far as the Sultan Mountain. One cannot at first grasp why,
when two such excellent natural boundaries exist, the boundary has been
drawn right across the desert between the Halmund and these ranges--where
there is nothing to mark a division except the whitewashed pillar-posts
put up by the boundary commission.

This is what would appear, but here is what really happened. While we
were taking no trouble to spread our influence in that portion of the
country, the Afghans claimed as theirs a considerable portion of what
to-day makes part of N. Beluchistan. A point which it is well not to lose
sight of is that, after the Sistan Mission of 1872, when General Sir
Frederick Goldsmid, assisted by General Sir Richard Pollock, acted as
arbitrators between the Persian and Afghan Governments, it was agreed
that the Kuh-i-Malek-Siah (mountains), close to where the Ziarat has been
erected, should mark the most south-westerly point common to the two
countries. This point being given, when the Beluch-Afghan Boundary
Commission began its work in March, 1894, they found that the Afghans
claimed a great deal more land as theirs than was expected.

The line of boundary to be defined from Gomal to the Persian frontier was
some 800 miles, and during the two years which it took to complete the
laying down of the boundary line the Mission is said to have had very
great trouble with the Afghan Commissioners.

And here one can hardly forbear comparing the magnificently thorough
manner in which this frontier was fixed, with the shoddy, confused method
in which the Perso-Beluch frontier was "demarcated"--if the word can be
used in this case--by Sir Thomas Holdich at the same epoch.

In the case of the Afghan-Beluch frontier, 800 miles of frontier line was
carefully laid down under the direction of Captain (now Major) A. H.
MacMahon, to whom Great Britain may be grateful for possessing to-day
several hundred square miles of land more than she would have done; and,
mark you, these additional sq