letter xviu	RIVAL FACTIONS	47
came in quite cheerily, Cock o' the Walk leading the
caravan, with his fighting face on, shaking his grand mane,
and stamping as if he had not walked a mile.
The Sunday has been a very quiet one, except for the
fighting of the horses, which seem intent on murdering
each other, the fussiness of Aziz about a cut which his
mare got yesterday, and for which he expects my frequent
attention, and the torment of the sand-flies, which revel
in the heat which kills the mosquitos.
KalaJioma, July 11.—On Monday it was a pretty
march from the shadow of the sphinx through a well-
irrigated and cultivated valley with many camps, and
by a high pass, to the neighbourhood of the Euh-i-Shahan,
on which I rested for some hours at a height of 12,010
feet, the actual summit being somewhat higher. On its
north-east side the view was hideous, of scorched, rolling
gravel hills and wide scorched valleys, with two winding
streams, and some patches of wheat surrounding two
scorched mud villages.
The descent to Camp Kamarun, a deep ravine with a
rapid mountain stream, was blessed by a shower, which
cooled the air, and resulted in the only grand, stormy,
wild sunset that I have seen for months. This valley is
blocked at the east end by Gargunaki, on the west by the
Kala Kuh, and the rocky ranges of Faidun and the Kuh-
i-Shahan close in its sides.
Long, long ago tradition says a certain great chief had
eleven sons. They quarrelled and divided into hostile
factions of four and seven, forming the still hostile groups
of the Chahar Lang and the Haft Lang of to-day. For
some time past the ruling dynasty has been of the Haft
Lang division; Aziz also belongs to it, and we have been
almost entirely among its tribes hitherto. This ancient
feud, though modified in intensity, still -exists. At this
camp we were among tribes of the Chahar Lang, and there