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rest makes the jaded visitor from the parched plains of the neighbouring countries forget his fatigue.
Opposite to the Takht stands the town of Istaliff ; houses piled upon one another, resembling a beehive from afar, and stretching to the shoulder of the mountain that overlooks it. A stream pursues its way in the bottom of the valley below Takht, which chafed and torn by its rocky bed, produces a sweet, melodious sound that lulls the weary traveller to sleep even in the day time.
Some of the best grapes in the world come from Koh Daman. It also furnishes much of the annual crop of excellent raisins that Afghanistan produces—raisins which are dried in the perforated rooms that one sees in most of the villages along the road. Some of the villages have a unique method of preserving grapes fresh for use in winter. Choice bunches are encased in hollow mud cells, called Kangina, where in the high dry air, they keep without much loss of moisture and but little spoiling.
GUL BAHAR : (Spring Blossom). In the north-eastern corner of Koh Daman is another lovely spot, called Gul Bahar, which lies on the banks of the Panjsher river, where
"The wine-like air calls visitors forth ;
Some wander far, some near ;
To shoot, to fish, make pictures or
To picnic by some mere".
Looking upward from Gul Bahar towards the lofty Hindukush, a snaky line of intermingled white and green water is seen leaping and twisting among the huge stones that pave its narrow bed. So beautifully transparent is the water that the stones at the bottom can be easily counted. Another stream of cold water, breaking through the Hindukush, comes down with
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.