Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-10-06
PERILs OF DESERT EXPLORERS.
Fate of a Party That Undertook to
Survey the Desert Of Seistan.

Survey the Desert Of Seistan.
The Seistan boundary commission,
which has now returned to India, was
one of those hazardous enterprises
that the survey officers Of the govern
ment Of India are every now and then
called upon to undertake In remote, un-
frequented and inhospitable regions, to
penetrate into which, even with such
supplies and escort as are feasible, Is
practically to carry ones life in ones
hand.
For many months the heat in Sells
tan is overpowering, while a wind
known as the "120 days wind" blows
from the northwest with the force Of
hurricane, it's pace varying up to sew
enty miles an hour In the winter there
are violent snowstorms and billiards.,
while the thermometer falls almost to
zero. In a great blizzard which ragged
for five days in March, 1908, during the
progress Of the mission, the wind ac-
tually rose to 120 miles an hour.
One conspicuous piece Of devotion on
the part of native surveyor named
Mohi- nd din deserves mention. He
was a man Of some distinction who had
won the title Of Khan Bahadur by pre-
vious notable surveys on the frontier
While in Seistan he was particularly
desirous of exploring the Dasha-i-
Margu, a very forbidding desert be-
tween the Helmund and Kash rivers,
and in June, 1903, in spite Of the ex-
treme heat, he struck out from point
west Of Rudbar on the Helmund. on
course nearly due north, his party con-
sisting Of four survey assistants, four
Afghan guides and two camel men.
They marched all night, called halt
in the early morning and continued the
march during the day. At nightfall the
water carried by the camels had given
out, and the guides urged that either
the return journey should be begun at
once or a route taken due west, so as
to strike the northern bend Of the Hell
mund. Mohi-ud-din. however. was de-
termined to push on and guide was
sent off on a camel to find water. He
returned with a leather skin full, but
it was so blackish that those who
drank it fell Ill and could not eat their
food. The party had then to march on,
and they were fortunate enough to
reach another we'll where a small sup
ply Of drinking water was obtained.
At midnight on the 14th they started
again, still steering northward, and at
daybreak they halted on a high desert
plain. There was no sign Of water, and
the position being critical, Mohi- din
reluctantly recognized the futility Of
further exploration. He agreed to re-
turn, but by night, after great suffer-
ings from thirst, two of the guides
became insensible. A third guide, Sui
tan Mahomed tied each Of them upon
a riding camel and himself on a third
camel The animals were then linked
together and left to go whittier their
instinct would lead them Sultan Ma
homed fell unconscious during the
night and remembered nothing till he
came to through water being poured
down his throat. He and his friends
had been rescued by hunter who had
wandered into the desert in quest OF
wild asses. The party were within an
ace of death. but were taken to Chak-
ansur an Afghan village on the Kash
river. and under careful treatment re-
covered.
The rest of the party under Mohi-
I'D din met with a melancholy fate.
They were too weak to march, and the
first to die was a camel man, who wan
dered into the desert and never re-
turned. The others remained all night
with Mohi- I'D din, and In the early
morning, seeing he was nearly dying,
they crawled to a ravine close by and
dug for water. No spring was found
and their only relief was to throw the
damp earth over their bodies. In the
evening some Of these men succeeded In
struggling back to camp, where they
found Mohi-ud din dead alongside Of
his horse.
His faithful attendant, strong In his
sense of duty, cut the map off the sur
veyor's plane table and wrapped 1t
round his body In his waistband. He