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23 number of arms, dotted with little islands, all covered with stunted thorny bushes. Between Sersai and Nut, the stream forces its way through such a narrow rocky ravine that the boom of the falling waters echoes throughout the valleys. Below Nut the valley widens, and the banks of the river are covered with thick copses—the haunt of wild animals and the home of many beautiful birds. After making a semicircle round Badakhshan, the Amu enters the ancient plain of Bactria, so famous in history. Here it receives the waters of the Kokcha and the Kunduz (now Baghlan), which rise from the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush. The period of the greatest activity of these rivers begins in May, when the ice melts and the heavy snow breaks up. At such a moment a large volume of water sweeps their shallow channels, carrying with it huge masses of stones and ice, running with such a force as to make fording extremely difficult and dangerous. The main channel is so swollen that the great quantity of water passing through its bed breaks its bounds and totally inundates the adjoining valleys. From Hazrat-i-Imam onwards, the river flows in open country, and is no longer confined by the walls of mountains. Numerous feeders appear on either bank at this point of its course. The Kulab, Surkhab, and Durban appear on the right, while on the other side Kataghan and Mazar give rise to a large number of streams, but nearly all of them are exhausted (specially those of Mazar) before they have an opportunity to effect a junction with the Oxus. The Oxus is peculiarly liable to shift its channel, and has done so from time to time, forming new islands, taking fresh curves, and actually changing its destination from the Caspian