The Afghans' proper (who call themselves Beni Israel, or Sons of Israel, and claim descent from Saul) are Mohammedans, and belong to the orthodox or Sunnile sect, but the Hazaras and other tribes belong to the Shiite sect.

INDUSTRIES: The Afghans are mostly devoted to pastoral pursuits. There is little manufacturing industry, but a considerable amount of trade passes through Afghanistan, owing to its intermediate position between India and the countries of Weste:n Asia. The annual trade is valued at about £1,200,000.

Sir W. W. Hunter says: "The Afghans have been described as at once agriculturists, traders, and warriors. They spend their lives in carrying on traffic between India, Khorassan, and Bokhara, with strings of camels and ponies, banded in large armed caravans, to protect themselves, as far as possible, from the ever-recurring exactions on the road. Bullying, fighting, evading, or bribing, they battle their way twice a year between Bokhara and India.'

The only good roads in the country are those made by the British, from Peshawar to Kabul, and up the Bolan Pass to Kandahar, and goods are mostly conveyed by camels and other beasts of burden.

GOVERNMENT: Afghanistan has almost always been in an unsettled state, and the various tribes are more or less independent. The Amir of Kabul, the chief of the powerful Durani tribe, is, however, acknowledged as sovereign, and is recognised by the British Government as ruler of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was first invaded by British troops in 1838, but three years later the English army was destroyed and the country abandoned. It was again invaded in 1878, and Kabul and Kandahar were occupied for a time. As a result of this war, British India secured an extension of territory to the north-west, and a "scientific frontier" from the head of the Khyber Pass, by the Shutargardan Pass at the Afghan end of the Kuram valley, to the Koja Amran Pass north of Quetta, thus giving to India the command of the "north-west gates," by which alone any hostile advance can be made. The Amir also consented to receive an English Resident, but a fanatical outbreak at Kabul, resulting in the murder of Sir Louis Cavagnari and his escort, led to another Afghan war, at the end of which the British troops were withdrawn from the country.

Since the submission of the Tekke Turkomans to the Russians in 1884, the boundaries of Russian Turkestan and of Afghanistan are conterminous. The anxiety felt on account of the stealthy advance of the Russian outposts towards Herat, the key of Afghanistan, led to extensive war preparations, and at one time war between England and Russia seemed inevitable. But in 1886-7, the Frontier Commission succeeded in finally settling the boundary question; and since then plans have been matured for extending the Quetta Railway to Kandahar and Herat, so that ultimately any advance on India from the northwest will be met some hundreds of miles beyond the frontier.

1. Called Pathans in India.

2. The Bolan Pass is also traversed by a military railway.

3. In the disastrous retreat from Kabul only one man reached Jellalabad, which was held by Sir Robert So with a small force, until relieved by Genera' Pollock, who ordered the fortifications to be destroyed.

4. The Amir has a revenue of about 7 million rupees, and an annul subsidy of £120,000 from the Government of India. "Spoliation, exaction, and embezzlement are almost universal " among the provincial governors. The Indian rupee seems to be the ordinary currency, though some gold clus are in use.

DIVISIONS: The principal divisions of Afghanistan Proper are Kabul in the east, Kandahar in the south, Herat in the north-west, Seistan in the south-west, and Daman in the south-east.

Other large territories to the north-east are also included within Afghanistan, namely, Afghan Turkestan, between the Hindu-Kush and the Amu, and Kafiristan, between the Hindu-Kush and the Indian frontier.

TOWNS: The chief towns are Kabul (the capital), Kandahar, and Herat. These three towns form, as it were, the three angles of a triangle-Herat being the apex, and Kabul-Kandahar the base on the occupation of which depends the command of the

country.

KABUL, in the north-east, at an elevation of 6,400 feet, is defended by the Bala Hissar.' Being on the trade-route from Central Asia to the Punjab, it has a large transit trade. Kandahar, the " Key of India," is the largest town in Southern Afghanistan, and is a place of some commercial importance, being on the main route between India and Persia. In the north-west, almost at the point where the Afghan, Russian, and Persian boundaries converge, is Herat, the "Gate of India," and the focus of several commercial routes between India, Persia, and Russian Central Asia. Ghazni was, in the 10th century, the capital of an extensive and powerful empire, but is now a mere fortress, built on a rock 300 feet above the adjoining plain. It was stormed and taken by the British in 1839 and 1842, and was again occupied during the last Afghan war. Jellalabad lies on the right bank of the Kabul River, about midway between Peshawar and Kabul. Between Jellalabad and Kabul are the passes in which the British forces were annihilated during the winter of 1841-42.

AFGHAN TURKESTAN includes a number of small States, lying between the Hindu-Kush and the Oxus. These are Wakhan, Badakshan, Kunduz, Khulm, and Balkh, with four other States. Wakhan is the most easterly, forming a narrow wedge between British and Russian territory, and includes the valley of the Panja or Upper Oxus. Badakshan, which includes the fertile valley of the Kokcha, one of the upper affluents of the Oxus, is mountainous, but the valleys and lower grounds are cultivated to a considerable extent. The principal towns are Faizabad and Zebak. West of Badakshan lies

Kun luz, which is bounded on the north by the River Oxus, and on the south by the Hindu-Kush Mountains. The valley of the Kunduz River (an affluent of the Oxus) is on the whole fertile, but unhealthy. The capital is the mud village of Kunduz. On the route between Kunduz and Faizabad is the former capital, Talikhan.

Khulm lies between Kunduz ani Balkh. Its chief river and capital are also called Khulm. The higher grounds are rocky and arid, but the river valley is exceedingly fertile.

Balkh, the ancient Bactria, embraces the fertile and populous basin of the Dehas or Balkh River, the waters of which are drawn off into eighteen canals, and are entirely exhausted in irrigation. The capital, Balkh, now a mere village, is noted as being the birthplace of Zoroaster, and was in ancient times a magnificent city.

1. Here, in 1842, the British Envoys, Sir W. Mac-|tember, 179, Sir L. Cavagnari, were treacherously Naghten and Sir Alexander Burnes, and in Sep-murdered.'

Besides the al ove, four other small khanates-Shiberghan, Andkhui, Maimana, and Siri, ul-formerly independent, are included within the limits of Afghanistan. They lie between the province of Herat and Russian Turkestan. The total population, consisting mainly of Usbegs, is probably under 250,000.

BALUCHISTAN.

BALUCHISTAN1 is the general name given to the territory enclosed by an 1 lying between Afghanistan on the north, the Indian Ocean on the south, Persia on the west, and British India on the east. BRITISH BALUCHISTAN includes the north-eastern portion of Baluchistan, and extends from the Zhob Valley on the north to the Bolan Pass on the south, and from the Sulaiman Mountains on the east to the Pishin Valley on the west.

The area of Baluchistan is estimated at about 130,000 square miles. A straight line, from the port of Gwadar on the south to Quetta on the north, measures about 450 miles.

The coa t-line is about 700 miles in length, and contains a few inlets, which form indiferent harbours. The overland telegraph to India runs along the coast from Maksa to Karachi.

NATURAL FEATURES: The chief physical characteristics of Baluchistan are (1) the low coast desert of Makran, backed by mountain-ranges of moderate elevation, beyond which lies (2) the interior plateau, buttressed on the east by the Hala Mountains, but sloping on the north to (3) the sandy and stony plain which extends to the Halmand Valley in the south of Afghanistan.

An i regular chain of mountains extends from east to west at a distance of between 50 and 100 miles from the coast, terminating in a triple chain, which occupies the south-eastern part of Persia. To the east, the central plateau is bounded by the Hala Mountains and other ranges, which extend north from Cape Monze, near Karachi, to the Bolan Pass.

The only permanent river is the Dasht in Southern Baluchistan. The Ma hkid, in the interior, loses itself in the desert. The north-eastern districts are watered by various streams which flow into the Indus.

The climate exhibits extremes of heat and cold; the plains, and even the highlands, are intensely hot in summer, while in winter the cold is severe, snow lying on the ground for several months. In summer, the coast district of Makran is one of the hottest parts of the globe.

Several of the most useful minerals and metals are known to exist, and good coal has been obtained for some years at Khost, on the Sind-Pishin Railway. The vegetation resembles that of Persia, and in the low plains is of a decidedly tropical character. Leopards, wolves, hyenas, antelopes, and other wild animals are numerous, but the tiger and Asiatic lion are found only along the eastern frontier.

INHABITANTS: The total population of British and Independent Baluchistan numbers about 800,000.

1. Balu histan, so called from the Baluchi tribes, who occupy the larger portion of the country, but the Brakus have long been the dominant race.

The people belong to two entirely different races-the Baluchis proper, who are of Aryan origin, in the western part of the courty; and the Brahuis, of Mongolian descent, in the eastern districts.

The Baluchis proper speak a dialect closely allied to Persian; the language of the Brahuis is said to be of Sanskrit origin. Both the Baluchis and the Brahuis are Mohammedans; the former belong to the orthodox Sunnite se t, the latter to the sect of Omar.

Some agriculture is carried on in the immediate neighbourhood of the various towns, but the bulk of the people are nomads, depending entirely on their flocks and herds. Rice is extensively grown only in Gandava in the north-east. There are no manufactures of any importance. The commerce is in the hands of Hindus, and horses, drugs, &c., are exported to India. The trade in Baluchistan Proper is carried on by camel-caravans, there being no ron ls or navigable rivers. In British Baluchistan, the Sind-Pishin Railway is largely used for the conveyance of merchandize as well as military stores.

GOVERNMENT: The Baluchi tribes are nominally subject to the Khan of Kalat, who rules under the direction of a British Agent, the whole of the country being now a British Protectorate. British Baluchistan, Quetta, and the Bolan Pass are under British administration.

According to the "Statesman's Year Book," Baluchistan includes (1) Independent Baluchistan, ruled by a number of chiefs under the suzerainty of the Khan of Kalat; (2) Quetta and the Bolan, administered on the Khan's behalf by British officers; (3) British Baluchistan, which includes the assigned districts of Pishin, Sibi, &c., under direct British rule; (4) certain Afghan and Baluchi tribes on the Indian frontier; and (5) the Baluchi tribes known as the Marris and Bugtis. Quetta and the Bolan, with British Baluchistan, were placed under a Chief Commissioner in 1887. The district of Nushki was assigned in 1899.

TOWNS: There are no towns of any importance, the chief towns of most of the provinces being mere villages, containing a few hundred inhabitants.

44

KALAT, the nominal capital of Baluchistan, is the summer residence of the Khan, who removes to Gandava, in the Indus valley, in the winter. Kalat lies 8,000 feet above the sea, and was stormed by the British in 1839 and 18.11. Gwadar and Sonmiani are small ports on the coast of Baluchistan Proper. About 70 miles north of Kalat is the famous Bolan Pass, which is long (51 miles), narrow, and difficult, and although it passes 'over a lofty range by a continuous succession of ravines and gorges," it formed, even before the construction of the railway, one of the main channels of communication between India and Afghanistan. In 1877, the town of Quetta, to the north-west of it, was occupied by the British, and is virtually the capital of BRITISH BALU. CHISTAN, which practically includes the Pishin Valley as well as the adjoining assigned districts. Dadur and Sibi lie near the south-eastern entrance of the Bolan Pass. Dadur is one of the hottest places in the world. Sibi is a station on the Sind-Pishin Railway, which is now open as far as New Chaman, on the Afghan frontier, and may ultimately be extended to Kandahar.

...As a result of recent operations on the Indian North-West Frontier, more territory has been brought under British control, and British authority is now paramount in the country from the Zhob Valley to the Gomal Pass. Through the recently-annexed Zhob Valley a railway is to be constructed, which will unite the Sind-Pishin line with the Indus Valley Railway near Dera Ismail Khan,

The Zhob Valley Railway will afford an alternative route towards Kandahar, and facilitate the massing of troops on that point from Northern India, and will also shorten the route from the plains of the Punjab to Ghazni and Kabul, and, in the event of a hostile invasion of Afghanistan, will supply a speedy means of supporting the defence of the capital.

British authority has also been exerted to open up the old Kafila Route between India and Southern Persia, through Beyla and Panjgur. The route is not nearly so difficult as the Zhob Valley, and it leads directly towards Seistanthe "watch-tower" of Baluchistan and Khorassan; and besides, as Baluchistan is now to all intents and purposes a Protected State of British India, when the time comes for bridging over the gap between the European and Indian railway systems, this route through Southern Baluchistan to Karachi is an alternative line for the future railway to India. A new trade route was opened

in 1896 along the north of Baluchistan, from Quetta to Seistan, and a railway is now under construction between Quetta and Nushki, an important place on the route,

PERSIA.

PERSIA, or Iran, as it is called by the natives, is a country of Western Asia. It embraces the westerly and larger portion of an extensive plateau, which stretches from the Hindu-Kush to the Mountains of Armenia, and from the borders of the Caspian Sea to those of the Persian Gulf.

On the north, Persia is bounded by Trans-Caspia, the Caspian Sea, and TransCaucasia; on the west, by Asiatic Turkey; on the south, by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and on the east, by Afghanistan and Baluchistan.

According to the latest estimates, the country-extending for about 800 miles from north to south, and 900 miles from east to west-contains an area of 626,000 square miles, or a little more than eleven times that of England and Wales.

COASTS: The Caspian Sea on the north, and the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman on the south, wash the shores of Persia. Its northern coast-line is about 300 miles long, and its southern, 1,200 miles. The total length of coast-line is, therefore, 1,500 miles, equivalent to 1 mile of coast to every 432 square miles of area.

The Caspian Sea is the largest strictly inland body of water in the world, being upwards of 600 miles long and from 100 to 200 miles broad, and covering an area of about 150,000 square miles Although called a "sea," it has no communication with the ocean, and its surface is considerably below the general sea-level. This sea has no tides; its waters are slightly salt; it is shallow, stormy, and of difficult navigation, and has only a few indifferent ports. It is, politically and commercially, controlled by Russia, and is regularly navigated by the war and trading vessels of that power.

The Persian Gulf communicates with the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Ormuz and the Gulf of Oman. Its navigation is somewhat difficult, especially along

1. The Times.

2. It was called a "sea" by the ancients, who thought it communicated with the Northern Oce in, whi was most probably the fact at a comparative y recent geological period, but no such connection Das existed within historical times. The immense

supply of water poured into the Caspian by the Và ga, Unai, Kura, and other large rivers seems to be at present equal to the amount evaporated, bat at a former period this could not live bera the case, or its level would not be ɛow that of the ocean.