which rising as steeply as ever on all sides are very peculiar. They rise from the bed of the stream at an angle of 45°, and are about thirty feet thick and of a height above the rest of the hill, diminishing from one hundred feet or so at the stream to six or eight at the top. They are quite straight, at right angles to the defile, and occur at regular intervals of thirty paces, the ends of one overlapping that behind, so that the road zigzags round each, and it seems as you round each that you have arrived at a cul-de-sac. From the north end of this defile, which is three quarters of a mile long, the road opens out into a small valley, and the first view of the Kullat-y-Nadir is visible. This consists of a straight ridge running east and west, crowned by cliffs from twenty to 200 feet high, without a single break or track by which a goat could ascend. On leaving Al the defile becomes exceedingly narrow for half a mile, not more than forty feet wide, and is commanded by an old fort in a very commanding position on the left, which also sees down the whole valley. This fort is now abandoned, but it is in such a strong position that its site would be sure to be occupied in the event of hostilities in this defile, and it would have to be taken before any force could proceed onwards; it would be a very hard nut to crack. The defile now opens slightly but does not reach the breadth of even the smallest glen, and it is still bounded by the same tremendous cliff. At seven and a half miles a stream joins from the right, and above the junction is a curious conical hill with scarped sides, called Panj Mara, which offers another impregnable site from which to command the pass. Here there is a small valley one mile long, and at the end of it the road splits in two, the direction of that to the left going by an exceedingly difficult defile called Tangi Shikasta, which I will presently describe; the other going over the hill dividing it from the right or Sreja defile, and going eventually two miles on, but the point where these roads separate is a position of surpassing strength. The road leads straight up to a noble cliff, going between precipices, and apparently coming to a cul-desac, as no sign of a road is seen The hill rises 400 feet above the defile and searches every foot of it for a mile, and the road on reaching it turns sharp to the right and left, only, however, to be confronted on both sides by cliffs of equal grandeur and equal inaccessibility which flank the road. This position could certainly not be forced in the face of any opposition, and there is no path near by which it could be turned that would not also be closed. It would be possible to ascend the hills on the south bank of the defile, and, going along their crest, get in behind the above position half a mile to the rear, and descending from this to the Tang-y-Shikasta, whence a break-neck path leads up to the rear of the hill; but this path is so close that it would be impossible to get up by it unperceived, and no troops could force their way up. It might be possible by making a long detour of five or six miles to turn this position on its right, but the hills are so open that there would be little chance of doing so without being exposed, and the paths up to it are all of an extremely impracticable nature. However, as there is no enemy in our way, we will go on, choosing the Tang-y-Shikasta as the shortest line. From the Koh-y-Na Mumkin the road for half a mile goes up a defile, which is not more difficult than that which has been passed through already; but here the "Broken Defile" begins. It is broken indeed, the road |