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98 pleasant valley where the Kabul river spreads out a hundred yards or more into a broad rapid stream and transforms sandy tracts into oases, There are poplar,cypress, mulberry, ash, and willow trees in Jalalabad, and their shade seem doubly deep be- cause of the brilliance of the sun on the bare rocks and hills to the north and south. Jalalabad is hot in summer, but its winters are quite pleasant. At the foot of the Speen Ghar there are some fine hill-stations, where people flock during the hot season. Kaja, Khogyani, and Mamakhel may be especially mentioned in this connection. One of the richest districts of this province is Laghman (Lampaka of old). This fertile valley lies to the west of Jalal- abad city along the Kabul-Peshawar road. The Kabul river, that has all along struggled through narrow gorges, here becomes a broad clear stream, more than 50 yards wide. The valley of Laghman is well-watered and must have always been populous. From the north the snow-capped peaks of the Nuristan mountains (southern off-shoots of the Hindukush) look down upon it, and among the forest clad valleys at the foot of these peaks two important river systems take their rise— the Alishang and Alingar, which, uniting, join the Kabul river in this flat plain, where each acre of land is extremely pro- ductive. The second valley of note is that of Kunar, which lies to the north of Jalalabad, and beyond which is situated the most fascinating region of Afghanistan, known as Nuristan (the old Kafiristan). The Kunar valley is of exceptional interest for many reasons. The ancient road from Kabul (or Capisia) to India