er than nothing, and most undoubtedly a telegraph line should be
established without delay--possibly as far as the Sher-i-Nasrya
Consulate. Matters are much more urgent than we in England think, and if
warning is not taken we shall only have ourselves to blame for the
consequences.

From Nushki I went to a great extent along the line which is to be
followed by the future railway. It seemed very sensibly traced, avoiding
expensive difficulties, such as tunnels, as much as possible, but of
course this railway has to go over a good portion of mountainous country
and cannot be built on the cheap.

[Illustration: The Track between Nushki and Kishingi.]

I left Nushki on the 31st, following a limpid stream of water, and we
began a zig-zag ascent of the mountains before us to the east, leaving
behind to the north-east in a valley a large camp of railway engineers
and surveyors. After some two miles we reached a broad valley, and we
continued to rise until we had reached the pass, 4,820 feet. On the other
side we descended only 75 feet to a plain--a plateau, with hill ranges
rising on it, and a barrier of higher mountains behind. The vegetation
here was quite different from anything we had met in the desert, and
_kotor_ was plentiful--a plant, the Beluch say, eaten by no animal.
Tamarisk seemed to flourish--it is a wonderful plant that flourishes
almost everywhere.

The plain was subdivided into three. In the first portion, four miles
wide, and one broad, the _monguli_ shrub was abundant, and, like the
_kotor_, was pronounced a useless plant, despised by all beasts. In the
second plain we found more _kotor_, and in the last--very sandy--a lot of
tamarisk. The ground was cut about by numerous dry water-channels, and
after a very easy march of some eleven miles we came to the bungalow of
Kishingi, having ascended from 3,745 feet at the Nushki Tashil to 4,720
feet at the Kishingi rest-house. We had seen a great many white pillar
posts indicating the line of the future railroad.

We had now quite a different type of rest-houses--two-storied, and very
nice too, the two rooms being comfortably enough furnished. A
caravanserai was attached to the bungalow.

Still going east we crossed another narrow valley, through which the
railway was traced, and after going over a pass 5,250 feet we were in a
valley with a lot of _johr_ growing upon it--a plant which the Beluch say
is deadly to man and beast alike. On the top of the pass we s