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190 steady fall from the Khiar-Khana pass right up to Charikar. The chief stages en route are: Shakar Darrah (the Sugar-Valley), Sarai-Khoja and Karra-Bagh. From the last point a road leads to Istaliff, and the second runs to the Bagram plains, so famous in history. Charikar, a thriving town, and a busy commercial centre, forty miles from Kabul, lies at the northern extremity of Kohdaman, at the mouth of Ghorband Valley. Some have identified it with Alexandria-ad-Caucasum. Three miles west of the town, at the foot of the Paghman range, lies the historic village of Opian (or Hupian). A second road to the right, leads to Gul Bahar, which lies ten miles east of Charikar. Thence a road goes to Tagab, Nijrab (or Nijrao) and Sarobi, and a second to Panjsher. The main road from Charikar, running parallel to the Paghman range, crosses a small iron bridge, Puli-Mattak as it is called. A few furlongs ahead it branches off again, one part going to the right and leading to Jabalus-Seradj, a fascinating valley, at the entsance to the Salung Pass, where are located a hydro-electric station, supplying electricity to the capital, a cement factory, and a textile mill; the other branch, turning to the left, passes through a narrow gorge. This is the beautiful valley of Ghorband, which is some sixty miles long, and one to ten miles broad, while in some places the rocky cliffs on either side are hardly 100 yards apart. The road runs along the Ghorband River. It often skirts difficult hills with deep ascents and descents. The Ghorband Valley is very famous for fruits, especially peaches and almonds. The Valley of Muttak, too, has great charms. The roaring milky-white waters of the Muttak irrigate every beach-like low-land along its course; every inch of ground has been planted