'Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde; accompanied by a geographical and historical account of those countries, with a map.' [‎253] (295/476)

BELOOCHISTAN.
253
rectly denominated an enlargement of a southern branch of that
enormous pile, known by the name of the Hindoo Koosh, or Indian
Caucasus, whence the Hazaruh or Paropamisan range has its origin,
and extends westerly to the borders of the Caspian sea. A branch of
it is also often called Kohe Sooleemanee, or the mountains of Solo
mon, from a celebrated peak called the Tukhte Sooleman *, that
constitutes its most elevated point; these lying, however, far beyond
the bounds, I have assigned to this sketch, demand no further notice
from me.
Within a few leagues of the same spot at which the western face
of the great body is repelled by the sandy desert, an immense mass
disengages itself, and diverges in a variety of ramifications to the
southward and westward ; one of the latter, of a superior bulk and
elevation, establishes a barrier against the further encroachments ol
that desolate waste, which I have allotted as the fifth division ot
Beloochistan, by running along its southern base, in a direct west-
wardly line, for upwards of two degrees ; thence it suddenly alters
its course, from a cause that shall bo hereafter exhibited, to north
west, which direction it retains for fifty miles, and then gradually
recedes still more westerly, converging with divers lesser ranges, that
here advance from the westward, to one focus. These all become
consolidated, about the thirty-first degree of north latitude, into
a narrow, though, at intervals, very lofty ridge, which extends
between the fifty-ninth and sixtieth degrees of longitude, so far to
the northward, that it seems to be in some measure united, by de
tached hills, with the Hazaruh or Paropamisan mountains, to the
westward of the city of Herat, the capital of the province of
Khorasan.
This chain divides the provinces of Seistan and that part of Kirman
called the desert f from each other ; and likewise marks the extent
* The throne of Solomon.
f See the account of that province, Chapter XVI. Part I.