ELD 002 — The Start from Nushki

• Owen, Charles (1884-86): Transcript of diary and letters, p. 87: “29 Sep. [1884] […] Marched at 5.30 pm for Sanauri, 10 miles. […] Marching across the desert with Pathan pipes playing and tom-toms beating, we reached camp about 9.20 pm. […]”
• The Graphic, Vol. 31 (1885/1), February 7, pp. 130-131: description of the march through the desert.
• Yate, A.C. (1887): Travels with the Afghan Boundary Commission, p. 34: “[…] some 300 riding and 100 puckali – i.e., for carrying water – camels have been assembled at Nushki for the conveyance of the infantry, followers, and water across the desert. […]”; p. 45: “[…] Nushki is hot enough, although much cooler than Rindli – in fact the nights are a bit chilly. They say the desert is cooler than this, and feels fresher. The air of a place that for six weeks has been the haunt of scores of Beluchis, Brahuis, and Pathans, their horses and their camels, is not likely to be of the balmiest. […]”; p. 52: “The despatch of the mission from Nushki in three days relay on the 29th and 30th ultimo [September] and 1st instant [October] has been accomplished satisfactorily. Men who are accustomed to the precision and discipline of the movements of regular troops provided with organised transport may possibly smile at the suggestion that the movement of 1400 men in three bodies presented serious difficulties. It must, however be remembered that the transport of this Mission, whether for man, food, water, or baggage, consists of hired camels, which are entirely in the hands of wild and undisciplined Pathan and Beluch drivers. […]”; f.p. 52: lithograph of the same sketch, “The Start from Nushki.”
• Holdich, T. H. (1901): The Indian Borderland, p. 104: “[…] It was from Nushki that the real business of tackling the desert commenced. Not that the physical obstacles to be overcome were of any great account. Nowhere in that desert does there exist an uninterrupted sea of deep sand for any great space. The sandhills form themselves on underlying alluvial ‘put,’ or gravel beds which the wind often leaves bare, and there is often excellent ground for marching over so long as this bareness lasts. […]”
• Moran, Neil K. (2005): Kipling and Afghanistan, p. 20: “[…] The report […] dated September 20 began: ‘The Afghan Mission is now at Camp Nushki, having descended a good thousand feet or more, probably, since leaving Quetta, and are hard at work making the last preparations for crossing the desert. […]”
• McChesney, R.D.; Khorrami, M.M. [Eds.] (2016): The history of Afghanistan, Fayz Muhammad Katib Hazarah’s Siraj al-tawarikh, Vol. 3, Part 1, p. 122: “Since Qazi Sa’d al-Din Khan [the representative of Amir Abdur Rahman Khan] arrived in Nushki on Thursday, the fourth of Zihijjah 1301 / 25 September 1884, met with the Englishman Barnes, the agent at Fushanj, and then settled into a tent which had been set up for him. They sat together inside the tent and conducted friendly talks regarding the size of the commission which, it had been agreed, was not to exeed 60 but was now at 1,000 men. […]”

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