There are more mills in this part of the valley than in any other part of Suwát. Great quantities of honey are produced here also. The Suwátís make dwellings or hives for their bees, and take great care of them. The hives are thus made. They place a large earthen pot in a ták or niche in the wall of the house, with the bottom of the pot towards the outside part of the wall, and the mouth level with the interior part of the wall of the house. They then plaster all around with mud, so that the pot may not fall out of the niche. The mouth is then closed with mud, that the bees may enter from the hole made for them in the bottom of the pot, which is turned outside. When the pot is well stored with honey, the bees having taken up their residence in it, the mouth of the pot, which has been closed with mud is re-opened from the interior of the house, and a piece of burning cow-dung, that smokes, is applied thereto. On this the bees go out, and then the hand is inserted, and the honey removed; but some of the comb is allowed to remain for the bees. The mouth of the pot is then closed up again.

Scarfs called shálaka'i both white and black, are woven here in great numbers, which are exported for sale to Peshawar and other parts. This part of Suwát is also famous for its fruit, every description of which comes into season earlier in this vicinity than in any other part of the valley.

The complexion of the people of Upper Suwát is quite different to that of the people lower down the valley; and the men are generally fair and good-looking. I also saw some females of Káshkár, and the Kohistán, to the north of Suwát, at this village, who were very handsome indeed. The women of the villages, along the river, in this part of Suwát, go out every morning to bathe, during the summer months; and numerous bathing machines have been built for their convenience. These consist of four walls of mud, or mud and stone, and of sufficient height to conceal the bathers. The men, also, use them; but they are intended for the exclusive use of females in the mornings. These places are called chár chobaey.

The villages in this portion of Suwát are much smaller and more scattered than in the central parts of the valley; and the people of each village are generally at feud with each other; and, consequently, little or no intercourse takes place between them.

I should mention in this place, that from Tárrnah to Chhár-bágh

the ground rises gradually, and thence to Khúzah Khel still more and that at every hundred paces almost, the difference can be distinguished.

so;

From Petaey we proceeded onwards about three miles to Pí'á, the ground rising considerably and abruptly until we came to this village, the last held by the Yúsufzí Afgháns in the northern extremity of the Suwát valley, which here terminates. Beyond the country is called the Kohistán, which is, however, the Persian word for Highlands; generally used throughout most parts of Central Asia to designate all mountainous tracts. Between this and Petaey also, the river foams and boils along with great impetuosity; and is more considerable than the Arghandáb river, near Kandahár, even when at its greatest power and volume.

About four or five miles further up the valley, beyond the Yusufzí boundary, there are a few hamlets, the two principal of which are called Chur-rra'í, on this bank, and Tírátaey on the opposite side. These villages are inhabited by the descendants of the celebrated Akhúnd Darwezah, the great saint of the Afgháns, and successful opponent of Pír Roshán, the founder of the Rosháníán sect. It appears that the whole of Suwát, as far north as Pí'á, was conquered in Shaykh Mali's time; but these few villages just referred to, were acquired from the Káfirs (as all people are termed by the Afgháns, who are not of the same faith as themselves) about a hundred and fifty years after, in the time of Akhúnd Karún Dád, son of Akhúnd Darwezah. At the capture of Tírátaey Karún Dád lost his life.

I was informed by the people here, that some years since, a number of dead bodies were discovered, buried in a mound at the side of a hill, near Tírátaey. The bodies were quite perfect as if but recently dead; and had been buried with their arms, consisting of bows and arrows, axes, and swords. They were removed and re-interred along with their weapons, in some consecrated spot. When I heard this, the thought struck me that you would desire to possess specimens of these arms, but I could not obtain any without having one of these burying places opened, which, amongst such bigoted people, was dangerous and impracticable.

The people of Tírátaey also told me, that they possess the body of Akhand Karún Dád; whilst the people of the village of Kánjúán affirm that when he fell fighting against the Káfirs, he was buried

in their village. The reply of the Tírátaey's to this is, that they stole the body from Kánjúán, and carried it off to their own village and buried it there. All such statements as these are solely for their own interested purposes, in order to enable them to peel off the skin and flesh of poor people, in the shape of offerings at the shrines.

Having now reached the boundary or extremity of Upper Suwát, beyond which I could not then penetrate, we began to prepare to cross the river, and return home by the opposite bank; but before giving an account of our homeward journey, I will here give you the information I gained respecting the country beyond, up to the source of the Suwát river, which I obtained from an intelligent Afghán who passed several years there.

After leaving Pí'á, the boundary of Upper Suwát, the first village is that of Chúr-rra'í, beyond which the Pushto or Afghán language ceases to be spoken, and the Kohistání language is used. The first village is Birán-yál inhabited by Tor-wáls, which is situated on the left or western bank of the Kohistán river as the river of Suwát is also termed. The distance between this village of Birán-yál and the village of Chúr-rra'í is about eight miles, from the first of which the Kohistán may be said to commence. The people here too understand Pushto. From this to the extremity of the valley, at the mountain of Sar-dzáey, is a distance of seventy-five miles; but the valley is so narrow that a stone thrown from one side reaches the other; in short it is about a bow-shot across. The whole of this space is occupied by two tribes; first the Tor-wáls, sometimes also called Rúd-bárís; and above them again, the Gárwí tribe. The amount of the former is about 9,000 adult males, and the Gárwís about 3,000. Hence it will be seen, that this district is densely populated. The villages inhabited by Tor-wáls, from south to north, are; Birán-yál, to the west of the river, eight miles from Chúr-rra'í; Haranaey, to the east of the river, about twelve miles from Chúrrra'í; Cham, to the west of the river; Gornaey, to the east of the river; Chawat-grám, to the west; Rámett, to the east; Chúkíl, to the east; Ajrú-kalaey, to the west; and Mán-kíál, to the east,-these belong to the Tor-wál tribe; and Pash-mál, to the west; Har-yání, to the east; Ilá-hí-kott, to the west; Ushú, to the east; Kálám, to the west; and Utrorr, to the west, belong to the Gárwí tribe. After this, still proceeding north, are the three villages of the

Gújars, called the Bánddahs of the Gújarán, one of which is Sarbánddah, inhabited by about fifty families. It is close beneath the mountain of Sar-dzáey, the barrier closing the extremity of the valley to the north. The three villages contain, altogether, about six hundred houses.

A short distance to the south of Sar-bánddah, there is a marshy, meadow-like plain of some extent, probably about fifteen jaríbs of land.* This is called Jal-gah. This term is evidently derived from Sanskrit and Persian; the first being water, and the second & a place, "the place of water or streams." The rivulets issuing from this meadow having collected together, flow downwards towards the south; and this Jal-gah is the source of the Suwát river, which, united with the Indus, and the Panjab rivers, at last, pours its water from scores of mouths into the mighty ocean at Kurrachee, (or more correctly Karáchí) in Sindh, after a course of some fifteen hundred miles!

Flowing south, the stream, called the water of Jal-gah, enters the boundary of the Gárwí tribe; and thence flows on to Ut-rorr, which lies on its western bank. Thence under the name of the river of Ut-rorr it flows down opposite to the entrance of the darah of U'shú with its river, lying in a north-easterly direction, and unites with that stream near the village of Kálám, also on the western bank. Still lower down it receives the river of Chá-yal running through the darah or valley of that name, lying in a south-westerly direction, near the village of Shá-grám on the western bank. East of the Utrorr river, as it is termed from Shá-grám downwards, and about half a mile lower is the village of Chúr-rra'í, where its name again changes; and it is then known as the sind,† or river of Kohistán, On reaching the villages of Pí'á and Tírátaey, it receives the name of the Suwát river, having during its course received, little by little, the small rivulets on either side.

At the extreme head of the valley, near the mountain of Sardzáey there is a Pass leading into Káshkár; another road leads through the darah of Ushú, on the eastern side, into Gilgitt; and another leading into Panjkorah through the Chá-yal darah.

* A jarib of land is sixty yards in length and breadth.

A Sanskrit word, used in Pushto.

Throughout the whole of this valley, from Sar-bánddah to the boundary of Upper Suwát, there are immense numbers of trees, both along the river's banks, and on the mountains on either side, to their very summits. The trees mentioned as having been seized by the Suwátís, in a former paragraph, were felled in this valley, to be floated down to Peshawár. I saw one of the party who had gone to fetch them, and he informed me that trees, some of which were large pines, only cost, in felling, from three-pence to two shillings each.

The wild animals of this upper portion of the valley of the Suwát river are numerous; consisting of tigers,* bears, and monkeys, in great numbers, particularly the latter; wild boars, gazelles, a large species of deer, wild bulls, hares, foxes, wolves, and jackals without number. The mountain sheep is also common, as well as the muskdeer, called rámúsí by the Afgháns and Kohistánís.

The flocks and herds consist of bullocks, cows, sheep, mules, and numbers of goats. There are also hogs, brorrahs, (a species of wood-louse), and fleas in swarms. Indeed it is said the fleas of this part are more numerous than those of Suwát, from which, Heaven defend us!

The dress of the Kohistánís consists of garments woven wholly from pashm, the peculiar wool or fur of these parts, with which several animals are provided. They do not wear shoes, but twist strips of the leather of cows or goats about the feet and legs as far as the knee, but the feet are protected by sandals, the two great-toes being left bare. The women dress similarly to the men, with the exception of the covering for the legs.

The people are very fair and comely; and the women, who go about unveiled, are very handsome.

The cultivation depends upon rain. They do not use the plough, but a kind of hoe or mattock, to turn up the land with, or otherwise make holes in the ground, into which the seed is inserted. Wheat and barley are by no means plentiful; but joárí (holcus sorgum) is.

Fruit is more abundant in the Kohistán than in Suwát, but much of the same description. The winter is severe; and snow falls in great quantities.

The Suwátís import grain; and thread, needles, and coarse blue cotton cloths from Peshawar; and salt from the Khattak country is imported into the Kohistán,

* Leopards probably.