Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/98

 BANNU.

88 freshness

and

prettiness

this central oasis,

unknown

to other frontier Districts.

Circling

a zone of sandy undulating waste (the thal),

lies

strewn here and there with boulders, and scrubby with prickly bushes

Above

of camel-thorn.

it

rises

a rampart of mountains



— on the west,

the independent Wazfri Hills, barren and rugged to the eye, but topped

by the commanding peaks of Pi'r-ghal and Shiwidhar; on the north, the low Khatak Hills of Kohat, above which may be seen, on a clear day, the distant range of the Sufed Koh on the east, the Khatak-Niazai Hills and on the south, their continuation in a low range culminating On in the limestone rocks of Shekh Budfn, 4576 feet above sea level. the summit of Shekh Budi'n is a small European station, the sanitarium of Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan, distant from Bannu town 64 miles by road. The hill rises abruptly from the centre of the range. It is for the most part a mass of bare limestone rock, a few stunted wild The draw'olives, acacias, and dwarf palms being the sole vegetation.



backs to the place as a sanitarium are available

on the summit

latter defect has,

for building,

its

and

ugliness, the small space its

want of

springs.

The

however, been to a certain extent remedied by the

The

construction of masonry tanks.

climate, although salubrious,

is

not sufficiently bracing for persons whose health requires a radical

change of climate. The Bannu valley is drained and fertilized by the Kurram and Tochi (Gambila) rivers, which join a few miles beyond the town of Lakki, and the united stream, after turning the southern end of the Khatak-Niazai Hills, empties itself into a branch stream of the Indus by numerous channels. The Indus river pierces the salt range immediately above Kalabagh, on the northern confines of the District, through a narrow channel of its own boring. After passing Kalabagh, the river expands at once into a wide and open bed, and flows placidly on with a fall of about

one foot

to the mile through the centre of the District in a southerly

Dera Ismail Khan till it passes into The country to the west of the Indus has been described To the east lies a level plain, a portion of the sandy plain of

direction for about 40 miles, District.

above.

It is shut in towards the north-east by the Salt Range, which enters the District from that of Shahpur 25 miles due east from the town of Mianwali, and thence runs northwards till it meets the Indus at Mari, opposite Kalabagh. The range is barren and

the Sind Sagar Doab.

unproductive



and

its

drainage

is

carried

which are rapidly swallowed up by the

down

in short-lived torrents,

thirsty soil at

its

base.

The

Sakesar (4992 feet), in the extreme Only a small portion of the summit of the hill east of the District. is in Bannu, the remainder being within the boundary of Shahpur Sakesar is a charming hill, and unlike Shekh Budi'n, has District. sanitarium of the cis-Indus tract

is

abundant space, and generally plenty of water derived from springs,