The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-13
TOPOGRAPHY OF AFGHANIsTAN.
Some of the Difficulties To Be Encountered
i'm Moving Armies.

ty-four miles from Penjdeh, and quite off the
main route 70 Herat the Russians have struck
the first blow at Penjdeh itself, and are now es-
tablished in force upon the direct road thence t.
the Robat Pass and the plateau Of Herat, with
fresh troops pressing on to help them from three
different points. True, the English are also
a greater distance to traverse and greater OBJ
stacles to overcome. Should the Russians ad-
vance upon Herat in earnest all will depend, for
the present at least, upon the resistance which
the local Afghan troops may be able to make to
the invaders. The Robat Pass, indeed, Steep
narrow and walled in by unscalable precipices,
might be held by handful of men against an
army and lying as it does, within forty for
ty FIVE miles Of Herat itself, would be easily
strengthened with fresh troops from the latter
place But Russia's possession of Pul-i-Khatun
ladies Bridget and the Zulfkar Pass give her
the power of dispatching flying column uT the
valley of the Heri-Rood, Selling masking the
frontier post of Kuhsan, forty-one miles west of
Herat and thus turning the line of the Paro-
pamisus hills and taking the defenders Of the
r obat Pass in the rear. In such case stimuli
taneous advance along the Heri-Rood from the
west and up the Kushk from the north, supple
men!ed by few timely brides to the chiefs of
the Jamshdi Turkomans, (who hold the line of
the latter river as far as Parwannah, eleven
miles from Herat itself would probably bring
the Russian armies without any serious loss to
the very gates of the coveted city.
The country around Herat is a succession of
bold, rocky, mountain ridges. attaining their
highest elevation in the snowy peak of Mount
Kitu, which looks Down upon the Robat Pass
from the east, and shelters between two of its
spurs the half-ruined fort of Kushk, 5000 feet
above the sea- In such region the soldiers of
Russias Army of the Caucasus" accustomed
to ford hill torrents, scale precipices, wade
through knee deep snow mud, and creep
along between perpendicular cliff above and a
roaring river far below, following broken and
slippery path barely wide enough for one man at
a time, would feel themselves quite at home.
In point of local transport, too, always an inn
portant matter in Eastern warfare, Russia's
recent purchases of camels in Bokhara would
smooth her way across the Turkoman steppes,
while for crossing the rocky ridges of the Safeid
koh White mountans), where the soft-footed
camel would be no longer available. she could
easily provide herself with abundance of hardy
mountain horses from her new vassals in Kho-
rassan. AS regards forage, it might always be
had in plenty so long as the advance followed
the course of the rivers, which it would do for
at least nine tenths of its entire length.
According to the latest reports, 90 900 Russian
troops of all arms are already in motion along
the Perso-Afghan border in two great divisions,
while several smaller bodies have actually come
within five marches (about seventy-f five miles,
of the Russian outposts on the Herr Rood and
vance, the one being the possession Of only
single direct line of supply, viz: The railway
from the Caspian across the desert to KiZll-Ar
vat and Askabad one section of which, between
Mulla- Kari and Bami is limited in its power of
transport to thirty two tons for each trip. The
other less formidable to hardy soldiers like the
Russians but by means to be despised even
by them is the terrific heat of the now opening
summer, which may be imagined by those who,
crossing the Afghan mountains even in the
he of her hav
found the stones around them too hot to be
touched with an ungloved hand.
But the obstacles which impede the progress
of the Russian army are ten-fold moro embar-
raising to that of the British. 1t is officially
stated that in addition to the 10000 men now
mustered at Rawal- Pindee-a Sikh town and fort
ress in the north of the Puniab on the Lahore
Peshawur raiway-35 900 of all arms have been
concentrated around Quetta, at the. northern
entrance of the Bolan Pass while -, 000 more are
planted III successive detachments along the
route, thence toward Candahar as far as the out
post of Chamar or the kodak Pass, the western
gateway of the famous Pishin valley. This
forms a total of 81. 900 men, against the 95 900
with which rumor credits Russia. apart alto
gether from the practically inexhauStible forces
placed at England's disposal by such recruiting
grounds as Nepaul and the Puniab. The Nepaulese
Goorkhas in particular have match in Asia
for headlong valor ard tiger-like ferocity, and
have been exercised from their childhood in
every form Of mountain warfare. But it is one
thing to possess these resources and another
thing to be able to bring them to bear upon the
right spot at the right moment.
To certain point England has undoubtedly
the advantage of her less civilized neighbor
She is enabled, by her splendid Indian railway
system, to concentrate large force upon her
western frontier within a marvelously short
time. She has now railroad across Beloochis-
tan and the Afghan border, which. avoiding the
terrible Bolan Pass by long circuit among the
frontier mountains comes down upon Quetta
from the north. But here Englands good fort
une ends. The peculiar conditions of English
transport, which require almost as many camels
as men in every wel-equipped army, are formid-
ably at variance with the desolation caused by
the dreadful campaign of $780, during which
5000 camels persisted IN rather less than four
months. None but young came!s are now to be
seen in or near the Bolan Pass, which is literally
white with the skeletons of those that persisted
in the famous advance on Candahar. Moreover
the prices of all local products-as any one who
has travelled in Afghanistan knows to his
cost-haye risen formidably since the
war. fat sheep, which could formerly
be bought for annas, rs cents, now
costs 3 rupees, $3.50 A horse that
would have fetched 80 rupees 1879 at the outside
previous to 1880 is not to be had at present under
200 rupees. and all other neceSsaries are III pro-
portion Under such circumstances it will be no
easy matter to carry so 900 or GO. 600 men, with
stores and artillery to match across the $50
miles Of rocky hills and parched uplands that
lie between Y uetta anu Candahar, or TO traverse
in the height OF an Asiatic summer the hot
dusty plain beyond Candahar to the northwest,
and the three rugged mountain ridges that lie
between it and Herat. Adding to the 150 miles
between Quota and Candahar the $50 which,
even by the nearest route. separate Candahar
from Herat, we have total of 430 miles, which.
taking the average rate of marching over similar
ground in the Soudan. would occupy between
four and five weeks. Moreover, even could the
British troops reach Herat first, they would find
it anything but land of promise, unless they
came thither well supplied, for city with 90, 600
mouths of its own to feed perched on bleak
mountain ridge 2, $50 feet in height, could GER
tainly do little to satisfy the appetite Of 10000
unexpected guests.
Herat was the city of the great Timur, the
Tartar Timur is often called Tamerlane in the
books. He was born $50 years before the dis
covery of America, and no made war against the
people of Herat, who had murdered his ENJOYS,
and this Tartar deliberately walled 1000 of them