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16
Every sunset turns peaks from gray to pink, to gold, to mauve. Every sunrise turns the Hindu Kush into mountains of magic."
The Koh-i-Baba.—Commencing from Bamian it extends westwards for a distance of about 125 miles. Its average height is less than 13,000 feet. Its culminating peak, Shah-i-Foladi or Shakh-i-Foladi, (16,874 feet) overlooks the sources of the principal rivers of the country, such as the Hari Rud, the Kabul and the Helmand. Another beautiful peak in this range is the Koh-i-Arus (the Mountain of the Bride), which, with its rose-coloured conical summit and dazzling cap of snow, attracts the attention from a great distance.
The Koh-i-Baba, like the Oriental Hindu Kush, is mostly rugged, desolate and devoid of verdure.
The Firoz Koh.—Further west of Koh-i-Baba is a double range, called Firoz Koh. It runs roughly parallel to the Tirband-i-Turkestan, another range lying to the north. The northern branch of the Firoz Koh is called the Safid Koh (the White Mountain), not to be confused with the Speen Ghar (Mont Blanc) of the Nangrahar Province. The southern range is known by the general name of Siah Koh (the Black Mount-ain). This too is rugged, mostly barren and pathless, and follows a course nearly parallel to the last named mountain. The southern spurs of this range give rise to the Khash Rud and some minor feeders of the Helmand.
The Parapomisus.—This is a small range lying to the extreme west, between the districts of Herat and Badghisat. Its local name is Siah Babuk. It is comparatively low and is nowhere more than 9,000 feet high. From the city of Herat to the crest of the Parapomisus, which is pierced by several easy passes, such as Ardewan, Sabz, Sang, Hazrat Baba, and
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.