heavy, not smooth like the gravel of the sea-shore or beds of rivers, but rough and many-sided, like as if stone had been broken into particles and then become somewhat rounded from having been rubbed together.* This gravel has no doubt given the name to another Pass, a little to the west of that of Morah which we were ascending, known as the Charat Pass. I noticed the path leading into that Pass; and have been told that it is very steep and difficult, and only practicable for parties on foot, and animals without loads, The direction we proceeded in from Sherkhána'í first branched off a little to the right; and the path to the Charat Pass lay to our left, in a direction about north-west. I had collected a small quantity of charata'í to send to you, but lost it, somehow or other, before I reached Peshawar. In Upper Suwát they call it gitta', but this is the Pushto term for gravel in general. I have no doubt but that it is some mineral substance containing iron, and that it has become rounded by the action of water; for, in the winter, the ravines become the beds of torrents.

We saw numbers of partridges of two species, the grey and the black, besides a great many quail.

By degrees we had now reached the crest of the Pass; and on descending a short distance on the other side, we came to a plane tree, beneath which there is a spring of the most cool, pure, and sweet water; and round about it numerous spikenards were growing. In short, it was a very delightful spot; and we sat down and rested for some time, and refreshed ourselves with draughts of the crystal element. This is the only spot in the Pass where water is procurable. When standing on the crest of the mountain, at the summit of the Pass, I could see the Suwát valley to the north, but could not perceive Tárrnah, for it was screened, or hidden, by the mountains. I could, however, see the village of Nal-bánddah; and by going a little on one side, in an easterly direction, I could discern Shírkhána’í to the south.

We now commenced to descend into the Suwát valley. The southern side of the mountain which we had just ascended, was extremely steep; but we did not find it anything near so much so descending on the northern side, the Suwát valley being much more elevated than that of Báz-darah and Pala'í which we had recently * Emery ?

passed. At the foot of the Pass, and directly under the mountains, we came to the village of Nal-bánddah, the first we reached in Suwát. It is said, that a husbandman of this place once found a number of gold coins in a well close by; but the other villagers, hearing of it, took the treasure from him, and shared it amongst themselves, after which they filled up the well, that no one should get any thing out of it in future. We asked two or three parties on what side of the village the well was situated, but they would not point it out, and said to us: "So you are come here to discover treasure, are you! be under no concern; for your wishes will not be fulfilled."

After proceeding two coss or three miles further on, we reached the town of Tárrnah, to the west of which there is a small stream; and on the banks of it, there is a fine grove of chinár or plane trees, about a hundred in number, all very ancient, very large, and very lofty; and here we came to a halt.

Mír Ealam Khán, the chief of Tárrnah, came to pay his respects to the KHÁN SAHIB; and after some conversation, the chief, who had been eyeing me for some time, inquired who I was. The KHÁN SAHIB replied, "He is a Mullá, and is going on a pilgrimage to the Akhúnd Sahib." He replied, "He is no more a Mullá than I am; but you have made him one for the nonce." On this the KHÁN SAHIB observed, "Probably Amír Ullah Khán of Pala'í may have advised you of my being on my way into Suwát." He laughed, and replied: "The day you left Jamál Garraí I heard of your coming to pay your respects to the Akhúnd Sáhib. It is all well: allow no matter of concern whatever to enter your mind; but the people of Suwát are so celebrated for their stupidity and thick-headedness, that it is necessary you should be prudent and circumspect in every thing." The Kháns or Chiefs of Tárrnah are descendants of Hamzah Khán,* the founder of the village of that name in the Yusufzí district south of Suwát, and about eight miles north of Hotí Mardán. He lived in the time of Khushhál Khán, Khattak; for it was his daughter that Khushhál mentions in his poem on Suwát, as having married when there, or whom he was about to marry; and she was mother of his son, Sadi Khán. Hamzah Khán was the then ruler of Suwát, and held sway over the Samah also. It was he also fixed * See the extract from the poem at the end of this paper.

upon Tárrnah as the permanent residence of the Chiefs, as it was centrally situated, amongst his own clan, the Solízís of the Bá'í-zí division, by which name the people of Tárrnah are still called; but they are, sometimes, also styled the Khán-khel, or Chieftain's clan. The Khán-khel too may be subdivided, according to what the KHÁN SAHIB said. The one being the family to which the Chief de facto belongs, the whole of the males of which are called Kháns; and the other, the family to which the Chieftainship rightfully belongs, or the Chief de jure, but whose family may have been set aside, or passed over, which is merely the Khán-khel. For instance: if a Suwátí be asked to what clan a certain person belongs, he will say the Khán-khel; but it must be then asked whether the person is a Khán or only one of the Khán-khel. If he be a member of the family of the Chief de facto, he will reply he is a Khán; but if of the family who may be the rightful claimants to the Chieftainship, but passed over, or set aside, he will say he is of the Khán-khel. The Tárrnah Chiefs de facto, who are the heads of the Bá'í-zi division, are of two families, the bar-kor, or upper family or house, and the kúz-kor, or lower family or house, in reference to Tárrnah and its dependencies above the Morey Pass, and Pala'í, and its dependencies below. These two families are descended from Jalál Khán, son of Hamzah Khán, above referred to, and are always at feud. Mír Æalam Khán Chief of Tárrnah, Amír Ullah Khán ruler of Pala'í, and Maæsúm Khán, their brother, who dwells at Tárrnah, are of the bar-kor; and Khurásan Khán, ruler of Zor-manddaí, Sher-khána'í, and the two Báz-darah villages, and Bábú Khán, who resides . also at Tárrnah, belong to the kúz-kor. Mír Æalam Khán, who is considered the greatest of the Tárrnah Chiefs, is about fifty years of age. The next in rank and consideration is Maæsúm Khán, his brother, who is about thirty years old; then comes Amír Ullah of Pala'í, aged forty, and Khurásan Khán of Zor-mandda'í who is about fifty years of age; and Bábú Khán of Tárrnah aged fifty, besides numerous children.

The day passed away pleasantly enough under the shade of these beautiful trees; and in the evening we went to the residence of the chief; and in his guest chamber we remained the night.

Tárrnah, which is the most considerable town in Suwát, contains somewhat more than 1,000 houses, which, at the usual computation,

gives about 5,000 inhabitants. The people are Afgháns of the Bá-í-zí branch of the powerful and numerous tribe of the Yúsufzís. About a hundred houses are inhabited by Hindús, Paránchahs, and other traders, who also follow such occupations as that of shoemakers, smiths, barbers, &c.

The town of Tárrnah lies a short distance from the skirt of the mountains bounding Suwát to the south, and on the eastern bank of the river of the same name, the Suastus of the Greeks, from which it is distant about half a mile.

The village of Nal-Bánddah, which was previously referred to, lies at the very skirt of the Morah mountains, on a spur which has become separated from the higher range and runs about three, or three and half miles a little to the mouth of Tárrnah.

After passing Nal-Bánddah, the land slopes down to the river, but not in such a manner that anything set a-going will, of itself, ride down to the river. The land of the whole of Suwát, in fact, is like a boat, the sides of the boat are the mountains, and the bottom part the land, as different materially from the mountains. The lowest land in the valley is that portion through which the river flows; and it gradually rises until close up to the mountains. It may also be compared to the two hands placed together like as when one wishes to drink out of them; but only just sufficiently raised so as to prevent the water from running out.

I found, from what I heard of the most respectable inhabitants of Tárrnah, that Shaykh Malí was a Yusufzí Afghán, and that his descendants still dwell in Suwát; but they could not give me full particulars as to what village they might be found in; neither could they inform me regarding the place where the Shaykh was buried. Khán Kajú, or Kachú belonged to the Rárrnízí branch of the Yúsufzí tribe; and his descendants also dwell in the valley, at the village of Allah Ddaud, and will be mentioned in the notice of that place, further on.

The historical work written by Shaykh Malí is not in the possession of the Tárrnah chiefs; and they, moreover, informed us, that the work would not be found in the whole country, save in the possession of Khán Kajú’s family.

We now prepared to start from Tárrnah towards Upper Suwát. On the morning of the 22nd August, we left Tárrnah, bending our

steps towards the north, but inclining to the east, which might be
termed N. N. E. We passed the villages of Jalálá, Haibat Grám,*
and Ddandakaey, and reached the mountain of Landdakaey, close at
the foot of which the Suwát river runs. On this account, in the
summer months, when the river is swollen from the melting of the
snows towards its source, in the direction of Gilgit, the pathway,
lying along the banks, at the foot of the mountain, is impracticable
from the force of the stream, which foams and boils along with
great violence. A road, has, consequently, been made over the crest
of Landdakaey itself; but it is extremely narrow, and so frightfully
steep, that one of our own party, an Afghán, and accustomed to the
mountains from his childhood, passed with the greatest difficulty;
for when he ventured to look down he became quite giddy. In the
cold season, when the volume of water decreases, the path at the
foot of Landdakaey is used. This last named mountain has no con-
nection with that of Morah; but it is a spur of the range, of which
Morah is a part, that has come down close upon the river, or rather
the river washes its base, as appears from the map, which
you sent
with me to be filled up. In this part of the river, there are two
branches, one much more considerable than the other. The lesser
one becomes quite dry in the cold season, and in the hot season has
about three feet depth of water. This is very narrow, with steep
banks and rugged bed, along which the water rushes impetuously.
The other branch contains a much greater volume, and lies furthest
from the Landdakaey mountain. On ascending the mountain, up to
the end or extremity of the spur, where, in the map, I have brought
the mountain and river together, the road leading along the side of
the precipice is very difficult, being naturally scarped, like a wall,
for about fifty paces; and the road, if it can be so called, is built up
into rough steps with slabs of stone, so very smooth, that a person
is liable to slip. After this dangerous path has been passed over,
you have to ascend about fifteen paces, then some twenty more in a
horizontal direction; and, finally, fifteen paces, or thereabout, down
again. I mentioned before, that one of our party had great diffi-
culty in getting along this was no other than the KHÁN SAHIB
himself. When we came to this dangerous passage, he stopped and
waxed pale; and turning towards me said: "I die for you." I was

:

*Grám in Sanskrit signifies a village.

1