district. Its soil is generally rocky and barren; but many of the
valleys are fertile, abounding with enchanting scenery and enjoying a
delightful climate. More especially is this the case in the neighborhood
of the city of Kabul, which is perhaps the Caspatyrus of Herodotus,
where Darius built the fleet which descended the Indus.

South of Aria and Gandaria, in the tract between the Great Desert
and the Indus valley, the plateau was occupied by four nations--the
Thamanseans, the Sarangians, the Sattagydians, and the Arachotians.
The Thamanaean country appears to have been that which lies south and
south-east of Aria (Herat), reaching from the Haroot-rud or river of
Subzawar to the banks of the Helmend about Ghirisk. This is a varied
region, consisting on the north and the north-east of several high
mountain chains which ramify from a common centre, having between
them large tracts of hills and downs, while towards the south and the
south-west the country is comparatively low and flat, descending to
the level of the desert about the thirty second parallel. Here the
Thamanseans were adjoined upon by the Sarangians, who held the land
about the lake in which the Helmend terminates--the Seistan of Modern
Persia. Seistan is mainly desert. One third of the surface of the soil
is composed of moving sands, and the other two thirds of a compact
sand, mixed with a little clay, but very rich in vegetable matter. It
is traversed by a number of streams, as the Haroot-rud, the river
of Furrah, the river of Khash, the Helmend, and others, and is
very productive along their banks, which are fertilized by annual
inundations; but the country between the streams is for the most part an
arid desert.

The Sattagydians and Arachotians divided between them the remainder of
Afghanistan, the former probably occupying south-eastern Kabul, from the