had followed across the Hindu Kush. They had proceeded from Bozai-Gumbaz to the Khora Bhort Pass (also called Baikra and
Tash-kupruk, and now by the Russians the " Yonoff"). They
had crossed this, and then turned westward up the head-waters of the Ashkuman or Karumbar River, and then across the lower
watershed into the valley of the Yarkhun River, and from there up to the Darkot Pass, the summit of which they reached, and looked down into the valley of Yasin. Since crossing the Khora Bhort they were on the Indian side of the watershed, and in territory generally considered to belong to Chitral. From the Darkot Pass they turned north again, and crossed the Baroghil Pass, or rather another depression in the range within a few miles of it, and, passing by the Afghan post of Sarhad, returned up the valley of the Panja to Bozai-Gumbaz. The Cossacks were all mounted, and they had some difficulty in getting over the Khora Bhort Pass, but they seemed well satisfied with the results of their trip. They imagined, however, that the existence of the Khora Bhort Pass was unknown to the English, and were astonished when I showed them a passage in the French traveller Capus's book with this pass mentioned in it. It had, too, as a matter of fact, been thoroughly surveyed by the English Engineer officer, Captain Tyler.
We spent a long evening together, squatting on the floor of the little tent, and talking very freely upon subjects of mutual interest. The Russian officers were very anxious to know how near on the other side of the range supplies could be obtained, for along the four hundred miles up to it from their starting-point at Osh, nothing in the way of grain is procurable. They said, too, that they wondered at our stationing a political agent in Gilgit, and making that place an important military outpost, while we had no representative in Chitral, and appeared to pay no attention to that place. At that time, though British officers had visited Chitral on temporary missions, we had no agent permanently stationed there, and, curiously enough, I was myself,
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